MAC URISA 2016

Wildlife habitat change trend information is a necessary and fundamental component for successful assessment and management of wildlife species. Habitat loss and fragmentation continue to be the two most serious threats to wildlife populations. To effectively protect endangered and threatened species populations and to evaluate protection and management efforts, it is important for wildlife agencies to actively identify and monitor habitat for each listed species. New Jersey’s Division of Fish and Wildlife adopted a habitat change analysis approach to track wildlife habitat transition and fragmentation trends over time. The programmatic GIS analysis approach extracts potential habitat from available Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) data based on species habitat associations and range extents. The analysis spans four time periods between 1986 and 2012. Analysis outputs provide readily available, up-to-date, multi-level, species-specific habitat change information to support agency initiatives. Resulting maps and data serve as a guide to help prioritize work for particular species and their habitats and provide baseline information for the development of species status assessments and recovery plans. Outputs also provide a basis for additional analyses such as evaluating habitat change in regulated vs. unregulated areas, evaluating habitat conservation planning efforts, and other land-use planning, land management and preservation efforts.