Integrating Multiple Datasets for the Remote Quantification of Woodland Bird Habitat Quality

Vegetation structure influences habitat selection for woodland birds and is a key component determining habitat quality. At Scandlaser 2003, and elsewhere, we have demonstrated the application of airborne LiDAR data for organism-habitat modelling. In this paper we review the results of our pilot study which focussed on two species of tits, Great Tit Parus major and Blue Tit Parus caeruleus, in a mixed broadleaved woodland in lowland England. We showed that reproductive performance can be related to woodland structure, but that this varies temporally in relation to local and regional scale climatic drivers. This paper outlines the planned future direction of this research project. We are examining the integration of airborne and ground-based LiDAR data and the development of analytical techniques to derive information on underlying terrain, canopy height, density, gap fraction, surface roughness and the under-storey shrub layer. We are also examining the integration of LiDAR and multispectral data for mapping thematic classes that combine plant species and canopy structure information. With the acquisition in 2003-04 of remotely sensed data (LiDAR and multispectral) and bird census data (nestbox and territory mapping) for a number of woods in lowland Britain, we will construct and test habitat quality maps to relate species distributions, abundances and patterns of persistence to habitat structure and composition.