Galbreath Special Status Species Assessment

Special status species are species listed with some level of protection by non-governmental organizations or state or federal agencies. A team of students and Preserve staff mapped potential habitat for 110 special status plants and animals on the Galbreath Wildlands Preserve. The work was undertaken as a management resource to avoid environmental impacts for Preserve activities (faculty development, research, education) and conserve biodiversity on site. The project created professional experience for Biology and Geography undergraduates and graduate students who worked on an interdisciplinary team to develop assessment techniques and methods.

We identified special status species with potential to occur in the Study Area using existing agency databases and publications. A likelihood of occurrence analysis was conducted for 110 species by compiling species-specific habitat information, mapping species-specific habitat using Geographic Information System (GIS), and evaluating the likelihood of occurrence in the Preserve. Species were given one of four likelihood of occurrence ratings based upon habitat quality, habitat quantity, distribution, and commonness: known to occur, likely to occur, unlikely to occur, and not expected to occur.