Definitions
Study Area
The region of study between and including the towns of Oliver and Osoyoos (~ 476 sq km)
Constraints
Criteria that limit our analysis to particular regions and are in the form of boolean images.
Factors
Criteria that show continuous varying levels of suitability throughout the particular regions.
As mentioned in the introduction, the purpose of this project is to explore and display areas of varying suitability for the Tiger Salamander throughout the south western Okanagan. The study area was confined to the region around Oliver, BC, extending southward to Osoyoos. The maximum extent of the study area was ~17 km moving west to east and ~ 28 km moving north to south. The size of the study region was determined based on available data, personal research within the area, and the resolution needed to view areas of suitable habitat. Due to the Tiger Salamanders desire to inhabit small ponds, a study area greater than the one used would make it difficult to observe the varying level of suitability across the landscape.
Furthermore, this region of interest possesses features that are important to understand and study if we are to protect the habitat and this species.
Some of these features include:
- Rapidly growing population
- Rapidly growing agriculture and wine industry
- Increasing ratio of water demand to water supply
- Vulnerability to Climate Change
- Changes in suitability of the land throughout the year
As mentioned in the introduction, the number of factors involved in determining where suitable areas for the Tiger Salamander are located, suits the use of a Multi-Criteria Evaluation. The MCE will be used to produce outputs to represent:
- Habitat Suitability during the early spring when water resources are abundant
- Habitat Suitability during the late summer when water resources are scarce
- Habitat Suitability under a hypothetical climate change scenario
Variables used in the MCE's include two constraints and seven factors, these will be discussed further in the Methodology section