KS-GAP Wildlife-Habitat Relationship (WHR) Models

KS-GAP included the analysis of distributions of 190 breeding birds, 72 mammals, 71 reptiles, and 26 amphibians, for a total of 359 species of vertebrates.  The process used to map species distributions in Kansas involved three steps.  First, we established and mapped the species range extent to the county level based on distributions described in recent books on birds, reptiles and amphibians in Kansas.  Several distributional databases for birds were also consulted.  Because there is not an up-to-date book on mammals in Kansas, species distributions of mammals were derived from extensive museum collections.  Published accounts in the primary literature were used to complete distribution maps for each species.  Second, we defined species habitat relationships based on literature accounts and the expert opinions of the Scientific Advisory Committee.  KS-GAP developed a relational database decision support system to link habitat associations identified in the literature to the land cover classes identified on the land cover map (DASC, GAP Analysis Program).  Third, we converted the county distribution of each species to Environmental Monitoring Assessment Program (EMAP) hexagon distributions and identified appropriate habitats (land cover classes) within the range distributions.  The final distribution models for each species were then identified as at the location of appropriate habitat within each putatively occupied hexagon.  See the KS-GAP Final Report for more detailed methods for each taxon and a description of the database.

Click on a taxa to view species lists and models.