Marbled murrelet habitat suitability in redwood timberlands of Northern Coastal California utilizing LiDAR-derived individual tree metrics.

ABSTRACT: The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a threatened seabird found from Southern California to Alaska that forages at sea but nests in near coastal forests. Marbled murrelet nesting habitat is generally comprised of old-growth or mature forests with large trees having platforms suitable for nesting. Here, we estimate a habitat suitability model (HSM) that relates evidence of nesting to characteristics of putative trees derived from high resolution light imaging detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. Our study area in Northern California contained stands of old-growth forests on state, federal, and private lands but was predominated by private second-growth redwood and Douglas-fir timberlands. We estimated a two-sample HSM using Maxent software and implemented objective and repeatab

SUBMITTER: Lamphear DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11841878 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature