Land Disturbance and Pygmy Rabbit Occupancy Values Associated With Oil and Gas Extraction in Southwestern Wyoming, 2012
Dates
Publication Date
2017
Start Date
2011
End Date
2013
Citation
Germaine, S.S., Carter, S.K., Ignizio, D.A., and Freeman, A.T., 2017, Analysis of Land Disturbance and Pygmy Rabbit Occupancy Values Associated With Oil and Gas Extraction in Southwestern Wyoming, 2012: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7BR8QDD.
Summary
Pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Wyoming. They are designated as such because they are sagebrush obligates and entrained in the health and intactness of sagebrush steppe landscapes. Southwest Wyoming, where pygmy rabbits occur, has become an epicenter of domestic oil and gas exploration and this activity contributes to loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitats. This tabular file that was used for analysis contains the following data/information: survey site, plot, and gas field; pygmy rabbit occupancy status; UTM coordinates associated with occupancy (dithered to protect pygmy rabbits from further disturbance); an index value indicating amount of fresh pygmy rabbit sign present [...]
Summary
Pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Wyoming. They are designated as such because they are sagebrush obligates and entrained in the health and intactness of sagebrush steppe landscapes. Southwest Wyoming, where pygmy rabbits occur, has become an epicenter of domestic oil and gas exploration and this activity contributes to loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitats. This tabular file that was used for analysis contains the following data/information: survey site, plot, and gas field; pygmy rabbit occupancy status; UTM coordinates associated with occupancy (dithered to protect pygmy rabbits from further disturbance); an index value indicating amount of fresh pygmy rabbit sign present on each survey plot; UTM coordinates (dithered) associated with the single greatest concentration of fresh pygmy rabbit sign on each plot; shrub and sagebrush cover values on each plot, extracted from Wyoming Sagebrush Map data (Homer, C. G., C. L. Aldridge, D. K. Meyer, and S. J. Schell. 2012. Multi-scale remote sensing sagebrush characterization with regression trees over Wyoming, USA: Laying a foundation for monitoring. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 14:233–244); area covered by each of 10 gas field infrastructure elements; vegetative cover and infrastructure all were mapped within 0.5 km and 1 km radius of each plot focal point (i.e., UTM coordinates associated with occupancy). Full description of each variable in this data set are provided in Germaine, et al. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1817).
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Purpose
Studies on other sagebrush vertebrate wildlife species have demonstrated adverse impacts from oil and gas field development. The dataset described in this metadata is the first of its kind to focus on pygmy rabbits. The models presented in the publication (named above) of this data demonstrate the relationships between gas field development and pygmy rabbits in Wyoming and are suitable for extrapolation/generalization to other areas. This data is the benchmark data set against which evaluations of pygmy rabbit response to oil and gas development may be made in the future, under alternative development scenarios, and/or in other geographic areas.
