Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Recommendations for Future ResearchWe conclude with brief recommendations about priorities for future research.These suggestions should be discussed in detail by spotted owl biologists andthe agencies that will carry out much of the work. The Recovery Team shouldhelp facilitate the discussion and ensure that all groups involved in owl conservationparticipate in developing the research priorities. The following discussionis intended to help meet that objective.Several suggestions for future research are included in Appendix A, some ofwhich involve studies of habitat suitability (e.g., study of dispersal habitat andthe behavior of dispersing juveniles, and development of the landscape model).Those studies are not repeated here.Standardize habitat measurementsA clear need exists to standardize measurements used to describe habitat atthe stand and landscape level. For example, the information on stand structureat utilized sites (e.g., Tables B.2 through B.5) would be more useful if thesame variables had been measured by all investigators. A draft protocol forsampling vegetation in spotted owl habitats developed by Bingham (pers.comm.) might serve as the basis for developing such standards.Prepare habitat mapsfor demographic study areasDetailed habitat maps are not yet available for all demographic study areas.Completing these maps and integrating the habitat and owl data in a geographicinformation system should be a high priority for the next few years.The resulting information would be of great value in all four types of habitatsuitability studies described earlier.Give high priority to studying selected areasMore information on the four issues described earlier is needed for certaingeographic areas. A few of these are described here.California Coast: As previously noted, preliminary results suggest that owldensity is particularly high on parts of Simpson Timber Company land,suggesting that the California Coast province could be of great value in theowl recovery program. At present, however, we know little of habitat use orsuitability in this province. More information on all aspects of habitatsuitability is being collected by Simpson and other private landowners.These efforts should be encouraged. Particular effort should be made toidentify the specific features that determine the suitability of 45 to 55-yearoldstands for owls and owl prey. Such information will be critical in determininghow to manage these stands in the future so that they will providesuitable habitat for owls.Eastern California: Little is known at present of what habitats are used byowls in these areas. Telemetry studies and continued estimation of demographicrates would greatly improve our knowledge of habitat requirements.The work begun by Self and Brown (pers. comm.) should be continued.Banding the birds on these study sites should be a particularly high priority.East Cascades (Oregon and Washington): Preliminary evidence summarizedin Thomas et al. (1990) and Buchanan (1991) indicated that owls insome of this region are abundant and are using a wide variety of habitat312