Characterizing riparian forest habitat and predicting breeding bird and small mammal occurrences and diversity using discrete multiple return LIDAR along the Platte River, Nebraska, USA

Many studies have demonstrated the utility of developing species occurrences models, particularly breeding bird occurrences in forested landscapes, at the forest stand level. The success of these models often require forest stand structural metrics, in addition to metrics acquired in the surrounding landscape, for predicting species occurrences. While it is feasible to statistically estimate “how much” of this particular habitat structure at the stand level there is across the landscape through appropriate sampling schemes, in general, these estimates are not spatially explicit (e.g. what is the structure in the stand next to the one sampled, and then in the one next to that, etc.?). Remote sensing technologies, such as Landsat and [...]