SCE Report on
The Habitat and Species Protection Project

Publication Number: 600-00-014
Publication Date: October 1999

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Executive Summary

This report presents the results of research performed as part of the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program funded by the California Energy Commission. The Habitat and Species Protection Research Program involves three components that seek to minimize the impacts on habitats and species from the siting, operation, and maintenance of utility transmission and distribution systems. These three components are:

• Raptor Protection Research
• Multiple Species Habitat Conservation
• California Habitat Evaluation

The Habitat and Species Protection Research program involved a number of research tasks. Some of them, while in some cases seemingly dissimilar and not related, are in fact very much related. All of the tasks have the ultimate goal of protecting endangered and otherwise sensitive species and their associated habitat in Southern California, particularly in relation to the siting, operation and maintenance of electric utility transmission lines.

Raptor Protection Research

Raptors are defined as birds of prey, such as hawks and owls. Raptor mortality due to interactions with power lines is well documented in scientific literature and in utility industry publications. Raptors are protected under several state and federal regulations.

Objectives

• Characterize and quantify raptor use of power poles and towers as perches by surveying regions supporting particularly large concentrations of raptors during the time of year when they are most abundant.
• Search locations beneath the poles in an attempt to quantify raptor fatalities due to electrocution.
• Use this information to determine the relative risk to raptors associated with perching on power poles, as well as to determine factors influencing raptor perch selection. The results will allow poles that are likely perch sites to be made safer for raptor use.
• Evaluate the reporting procedures used in Southern California Edisonís (SCE) current Raptor Protection Program in an attempt to improve this already effective program and provide additional protection to raptors.

Outcomes

This component of the research documented actual levels of raptor use and mortality occurring on utility power line systems and provided recommendations to reduce this mortality using methods that are both cost-effective and likely to improve system reliability. These methods may be applied to power line systems not only within Southern California Edison's (SCEís) service territory, but throughout California to lower mortality of raptors statewide.

Conclusions

The results of this research indicate that raptor electrocutions on SCEís system are not as frequent as once thought. They also appear to be episodic in nature. By combining data and findings from the research performed in the Owens Valley and the San Jacinto Valley, SCE is much closer to a system-wide proactive approach to developing solutions for minimizing raptor electrocutions and overall compliance with agency regulations.

Recommendations

• Keep the SCE database of raptor electrocutions current as new fatalities occur. Use the updated information to modify preventative measures as needed.
• Focus future efforts on the development of predictive models that both identify regions, lines, or specific poles with a high probability of raptor use by vulnerable species, and identify pole line configurations that have documented raptor electrocutions associated with them.
• Use this pre-treatment versus post-treatment fatality survey data to move toward reducing electrocutions.
• Take steps to improve SCEís Raptor Protection Program by ensuring that raptor electrocutions at SCE facilities are not under-reported.

Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan

For years, the development of Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plans (MSHCPs) has been identified as a preferred mechanism for dealing with the innumerable conflicts between endangered species and sustainable economic development. With over 500 state and federally-listed species within California, the potential for conflict between these species and proposed economic development, even ongoing activities for infrastructure maintenance, is very high. One of the ways that SCE believes that this conflict can be reduced is to have MSHCPs in place that provide a mechanism for protecting multiple species and their associated habitats, that also allow for development to proceed in a controlled and predictable pattern.

The MSHCP research component directly addresses land use issues as they relate to sensitive species. Through research designed to facilitate the development of multiple species habitat reserves, this component will aid in providing protection for endangered species through an ecosystem approach at lower cost and with less conflict than the traditional species-by-species approach.

Objectives

• Organize and conduct a workshop dedicated to facilitating the development of MSHCPs in California. Publish the results to allow others involved in developing MSHCPs to benefit from the collective knowledge and experience of the workshop participants.
• Collect data on factors affecting patterns of dispersal by California gnatcatchers. Determine what factors influence annual variation in California gnatcatcher reproductive success, survivorship, and territory size, and what the implications are for research aimed at monitoring populations of these species.
• Update the California Gnatcatcher model that was developed and published in 1997, taking advantage of the two years' worth of new data that has become available since then. Apply information about the gnatcatcher's interaction with its habitat to determine the best method to maintain management and conservation of coastal sage scrub habitats.
• Build an assessment tool to examine potential population-level risks to the desert tortoise that would result from constructing and modifying transmission lines in the tortoise habitat.
• Develop an interactive web site that allows users to run a demo of RAMAS^TM GIS 3.0 software.
• Evaluate the USFWS listing protocol by comparing 60 species' risk classifications with those in a system used by the World Conservation Union.

Outcomes

• From the workshop, recommendations were developed for improving MSHCPs. Publications of the outcomes enhanced distribution of the recommendations.
• In the coastal Orange County study sites, populations of California gnatcatchers were essentially stable from 1993 ñ 1998. Comparisons of survivorship estimates between Orange County and Palos Verdes failed to detect any significant difference between the two localities for adults of either sex. The same was true of juvenile dispersal distances.
• With the medium parameter estimates, the updated gnatcatcher model predicted a substantial decline, but a low risk of extinction of the gnatcatcher populations. The risk of falling below the metapopulation threshold of 30 females within 50 years was about 10%. Although the extinction risk was low, the risk of a substantial decline was high.
• The RAMAS^TM Ecological Risk Model makes a number of predictions. Fragmentation, habitat loss (reduction in carrying capacity) and raven predation increase the risk of a decline in abundance for the tortoise metapopulation. The results of this model suggest that the potential impacts of transmission line siting and maintenance were dependent on which populations were affected, but the effects were usually moderate. This finding supports empirical studies indicating that these populations are experiencing a large decline in abundance.
• The RAMAS^TM GIS website contains three sections that are launched from the main page.

• Part 1: Conservation and Management of Coastal Sage Scrub
• Part 2: Desert Tortoise Metapopulation Dynamics (Phase II)
• Part 3: The metapopulation model as an educational tool

• Agreement between the USFWS and the IUCN selection criteria were compared for 60 native California species. The listing status of 19 of them did not fit into corresponding categories of the IUCN and the USFWS. Eight species were listed in a higher endangerment category by the USFWS, while 11 were either not listed (9) or listed in a lower threat category (2) by USFWS.

Conclusions

• The information gathered at the workshop will be invaluable both in the siting of new facilities and in the management of existing facilities and rights-of-way that traverse multiple species habitat preserves.
• Because of the major time investment involved in establishing uniquely-banded populations of known-age, known-natal area birds, and the value of such a study population in addressing regional conservation issues, the Palos Verdes/Orange County (coastal) project represents a critical research element contributing to the State of California's NCCP efforts.
• It would be inappropriate to use the results of the updated gnatcatcher model to conclude that gnatcatcher populations in Central/Coastal Orange County are either threatened by extinction or secure from such a threat. There is too much uncertainty to predict with confidence what the population size will be in 50 years, or what the risk of extinction might be. Despite this uncertainty, the model can potentially have practical application in several areas. These applications also indicate future research directions.
• The RAMAS^TM GIS web site will serve as an excellent educational tool. It also highlights SCE's commitment to environmental research and conservation of native species.
• The inconsistent use of biological criteria and heavy reliance on qualitative variables by the USFWS result in a low correspondence with the IUCN system and with its own "degree of threat" ranking under the recovery priority listing system. The low correspondence with the IUCN categories was found in spite of the assumption that each USFWS category corresponds to two IUCN categories.
• The IUCN listing system has several advantages over the USFWS protocol. The IUCN listing process was developed under wide consultation and is recognized internationally by the public and scientific community.

Recommendations

• Follow the recommendations determined at the workshop, some of which included:

• Revise the HCP handbook to clarify the standards for acceptable data in plan development.
• Provide further clarification and standardization. Establish standards for how all material used to build an HCP are referenced. Clarify the issue of "species-based" vs. "ecosystem-based" plans. Better explain the role of an HCP in recovering a species. Provide clear guidance on what constitutes acceptable mitigation from the standpoint of endangered species policy.
• Initiate project management, especially a detailed front-end scoping of a plan.
• Develop new funding mechanisms to increase the number of personnel available for assistance, and to expend the resources necessary to establish firm guidance for those people.
• View lands to be developed as research tools, so that ecological experiments can be performed prior to habitat destruction.

• Ensure that plans are complete. Define the uncertainty associated with each major data set, and state specific goals and criteria for meeting them.
• Place greater emphasis on stakeholders, including agencies, at all stages of the planning process. Provide a basic understanding of project financing.
• Improve the planning process. Utilize planners possessing a wider range of skills, begin the planning using best land management practices, and incorporate independent peer review at each major stage of the process.
• Each HCP should contribute to the overall understanding of ecological processes driving the HCP concept. That is, projects should be planned so that successes and failures in strategy and implementation can be documented and future projects can benefit from the knowledge.

• Conduct further fieldwork to narrow down uncertainties in the PVA model parameters, making model predictions more accurate and reliable.
• Expand the PVA model to include the populations of California Gnatcatcher in other areas.
• Use metapopulation modeling to provide guidance in reserve design, by identifying the ecological and economic consequences of each design configuration.
• Assess the effects of management actions and human impact in terms of model parameters, to determine potential consequences and rank alternative actions.
• Express the worth, in conservation terms, of a location by using the habitat-based metapopulation modeling approach on a list of selected species. Create habitat suitability maps and metapopulation models for all species in the list. Combine each of the individual habitat suitability maps into a single aggregate map.
• Conduct additional empirical studies of the tortoise, especially in the area of density dependence and predation.
• Create a new decision-making process for selection of species to protect, similar in structure to the IUCN system but modified to satisfy the specifications of the ESA.

California Habitat Evaluation

The California Habitat Evaluation research component developed operational protocols to characterize and monitor critical habitats in California using high-resolution airborne multi-spectral imagery obtained using a system called Advanced Digital Airborne Registration (ADAR). This research supported the establishment of multiple species reserves with the highest habitat values, and will aid in more timely management responses to changes in the environment.

The availability of ADAR technology to support management of preserves will not only assist SCE, as a permittee with coastal sage scrub habitat in Natural Communities Conservation Planning (NCCP) preserves, but can also assist other NCCP participants (such as San Diego Gas & Electric) as well as the regulatory public agencies (California Department of Fish & Game and USFWS). Mapping and monitoring tools also have the potential to serve conservation needs within California and beyond that are outside the regulatory purview of the NCCP. As multi-species and habitat-based conservation programs proliferate in California, the demand for cost-effective habitat management tools will increase. As a rapid, efficient method for collection of digital, landscape-level data, ADAR has the potential to provide the real-time data necessary to drive monitoring and management tools such as RAMAS^TM GIS 3.0 and other meta-population models. Development of mapping and monitoring tools through this research lays the groundwork for a wide range of capabilities that comprise the toolbox for managing Californiaís legacy of habitat preserves.

Objectives

• Enlarge the mapping capabilities of ADAR methodologies to include numerous habitat types not previously established within the technologyís repertoire, in order to better understand the limits and capabilities of ADAR as a mapping tool.
• Examine the feasibility of detecting changes in habitats over time, based on multi-date ADAR imagery.
• Describe the relative costs and benefits of using ADAR for mapping and monitoring compared to using conventional mapping methods.
• Synthesize the procedures employed in the various tasks and case studies of this research, and present them in a well-documented format to be used as a Procedures Handbook by SCE's GIAS Laboratory staff.

Outcomes

During this task, the applications of the ADAR tool were expanded to other habitat types and tested, and work was continued on existing areas.

• Classification of habitat types based on ADAR image data was achieved with a satisfactory degree of accuracy for both the Hidden Ranch and Etiwanda sites. At the Hidden Ranch site, differences between the map produced by field biologists (conventional methods) and ADAR classification are mostly attributable to standard sources of error: mapper subjectivity, image displacement, and limited field verification.
• Because ADAR-based classification is computer-assisted, classification criteria can be codified to allow for more consistent application, potentially reducing subjectivity error.
• Land cover changes and/or changes in habitat quality were detected by several of the change detection techniques employed. Results of the study demonstrate that important information about habitat condition and change in condition can be derived from ADAR imagery.

Conclusions

• Results of our comparison of methods indicate that third-party geometric processing of ADAR image data is not currently cost-effective. This is due in part to the rapidly evolving and unperfected state of commercially available image processing technologies.
• Comparison of relative benefits of using ADAR technology rather than conventional mapping methods indicated that ADAR has distinct advantages over conventional techniques, which inevitably translates to greater cost-effectiveness.

Recommendations

Results of this study indicate at least three important areas for further research.

• Apply image processing and classification techniques to other habitat types, such as conifer forest, and other woodland and upland plant communities.
• Establish a long-term change detection study to further define and refine ADARís valuable change detection capabilities.
• Identify ADAR image attributes that correspond to habitat quality.

All three of these research topics would significantly advance ADARís utility in areas that, based on results of this study, ADAR technology offers the most promise for realizing its cost-effective potential.

Abstract

Southern California Edison undertook research with California Energy Commission funds as part of the Commission's PIER (Public Interest Energy Research) research program.

This research, entitled Habitat and Species Protection, involved three main components that seek to minimize the impacts on habitats and species from the siting operation and maintenance of utility transmission and distribution systems. The three main components are: 1) Raptor mortality studies in southern California; 2) Multiple species habitat protection; and, 3) California habitat evaluation.

The research on raptor mortality examined the interactions of raptors and power lines within two raptor concentration areas within SCE's service territory. Similar techniques were used in both study areas to examine the level of raptor mortality in each area. This research demonstrated that mortality does occur, but at very low levels. In the San Jacinto Valley study area, a total of 7 dead raptors were found, only two of which could be attributed to electrocution. In the Owens Valley study area, 11 raptors were found, 6 of which were known or suspected electrocutions. These data yield a mortality rate of 0.00010 electrocutions per month per surveyed pole in the San Jacinto Valley, and 0.00048 electrocutions per month per surveyed pole in the Owens Valley. These are extremely low numbers, especially when compared to what other western utilities have experienced.

The multiple species habitat conservation protection (MSHCP) research component consisted of a number of tasks designed to enhance species conservation by promoting the use of multiple species habitat conservation planning, education and management of multiple species preserves. These tasks consisted of holding a workshop on MSHCP planning in order to facilitate the process; furthering the data base on the California gnatcatcher, a primary species for protection of the coastal sage scrub community in southern California; ecological risk modeling of the desert tortoise; using the metapopulation tools developed for the desert tortoise and the gnatcatcher as an educational tool by providing access to RAMAS^TM GIS 3.0 software; and an examination of correspondence between the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's classification of species at risk.. This research has resulted in research reports designed to enhance development of multiple habitat preserves, aid in their management and will assist in the management of existing and future facilities which traverse many of the current and proposed multiple species habitat preserves.

The California habitat evaluation research component develops operational protocols to characterize and monitor critical habitats in California using high resolution airborne multi-spectral imagery using a system called Advanced Digital Airborne Registration (ADAR). This research will support the development and management of multiple species habitat preserves by closely monitoring small changes in measured environmental variables to detect how effective certain management prescriptions are performing and how the habitat is responding to biotic and abiotic variables. This research has established the value of ADAR technology to support management of preserves and species in southern California.

Table of Contents

Preface

Executive Summary

Abstract

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Approach

3.0 Research Results

4.0 Research Program Overview

5.0 References

Appendices

I             Assessing Power Line Use and Electrocutions by Raptors

II           An Assessment of SCEís Raptor Protection Training Program

III          Facilitating the Development of Multiple-species Habitat Conservation Plans: An SCE-sponsored Workshop

IV          Population Dynamics, Dispersal and Demography of California Gnatcatchers in Orange Co., California (1998 Progress Report)

V           Conservation and Management of Coastal Sage Scrub

VI          RAMAS^TM Ecological Risk Model for Desert Tortoise

VII        The Metapopulation Model as an Educational Tool: Providing Internet Access to RAMAS^TM GIS Software

VIII       IUCN vs. USFWS Classifications of Threatened Species

IX         Procedures for Creation and Use of ADAR-based Vegetation Maps to Support Habitat Management

List of Figures

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the RAMAS^TM website