A comparison of forest resource inventory, provincial land cover maps and field surveys for wildlife habitat analysis in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence forest.

摘要

In a portion of central Ontario, Canada we assessed the classification agreement between field-based estimates of forest stand composition and each of two mapped data sources used in wildlife habitat studies, the Forest Resource Inventory (FRI) and satellite-image derived Provincial Land Cover (PLC). At two study areas, Algonquin Provincial Park (APP) and Wildlife Management Unit 49 (WMU49), we surveyed 119 forest stands and 40 water and wetland stands. Correspondence levels between FRI and field classifications were 48% in APP and 44% in WMU49 when assessing six forest cover types. With only four simplified forest cover types, levels improved to 77% in APP and 63% in WMU49. Correspondence between PLC and field classifications for three forested stand types was approximately 63% in APP and 55% in WMU49. Because of the poor to moderate level of correspondence we detected between map and field classifications, we recommend that care be exercised when FRI or PLC maps are used in forest and wildlife research and management planning.