1. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Platte River Ecology: Boosting the Roost

2. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Nine million years and counting . . . 3. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Source: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/comroost/index.htm#contents Government Agencies Have Published Data on Sandhill Crane Roosting Behavior 4. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Wetland restoration The Service has determined that wetland restoration projects are not likely to adversely affect federally-listed species or designated or proposed critical habitat. On the contrary, restoration projects whose objective is to restore natural functions that were formerly provided by a wetland at that location are considered to contribute to the recovery of federally-listed species in the Platte River basin. Also, they help preclude the need to list new species pursuant to the ESA. Consequently, any depletion to the Platte River system due to wetland restoration is considered to be offset by the habitat benefits provided to federally-listed species and other fish and wildlife within the basin. Guidance Regarding Wetland Activities and Platte River Basin Depletions U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region September 4, 2008 Land Management Activities Can Help Provide Good Habitat Source: http://www.fws.gov/platteriver/Documents/platte%20wetland%20guidance%204Sep2008.pdf 5. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3029/ Quality of Habitat Makes a Difference 6. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Source: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/comroost/results.htm#figure1 Data on Habitat Usage by Sandhill Cranes 7. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Habitat Preferences Discovered by Air National Guard 8. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Provides A Visual Summary of All the Studies Integrates Knowledge with Professional Practice Prepares Wildlife Managers to Make Judgments What Platte River Ecology Does 9. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Key Elements of Platte River Ecology Simulation Native Grassland Hayfield Shallow, Braided River Cornfield Non-native Invasive Plants Deep River 10. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Initial Animation http://dm.gatech.edu/~lmarion3/project2/PlatteRiver 11. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 First Interaction Click OK Click Button 12. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Second Interaction Click OK Click Button New Counter New Counter 13. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Third Interaction Click OK Click Button 14. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Invitation to Replay Click OK Click Browser Reload Button Simulation Restarts 15. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Theres too much of something here. Look what happens when you get rid of invasive plants. Testing Your Powers of Observation 16. How Platte River Ecology Illustrates Rules Choices Visual Display Rule Illustrated Stop Screen stops animating Shows result of previous choice Increase Hayfields More hayfield quadrants, more grassland quadrants, fewer cornfield quadrants Increasing grassland/hayfields increases crane habitation Do Nothing More invasive plant quadrants, fewer cornfield and grassland quadrants Letting invasive plants grow decreases crane habitation Cut Invasive Plants Fewer invasive plant quadrants, more grassland quadrants Decreasing or eliminating invasive plant species increases crane habitation Continue Screen restarts animation at current frame Depends on what part of the sequence is playing at restart Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Reload Screen restarts animation at beginning Initial animation gives overview of basic natural process studied 17. Laurie Marion LCC6313 Project2 Future Enhancements Coding a way to clear the board between each step so that interactions can occur in a different order Fine tuning the ability to control the amount of change at any given time (e.g. subtracting 3 invasive plant quadrants vs. subtracting 5 invasive plant quadrants) Additional parameters such as political mood or economic conditions that can affect decision making Possibly a click-and-drag way of changing the display instead of buttons