An evaluation of habitat models for the common loon (Gavia immer)

The Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) has been collecting field data for the common loon (Gavia immer) in New Hampshire for thirty-six years. A habitat model for lakes throughout New Hampshire was created by Dr. Mark Brennan for the time period 1980--2002. This project re-evaluates Brennan's habitat model using new data from 2003--2008. Two additional models, one with all lakes and another with the three largest lakes excluded, were created and compared to Brennan's model to see if the overall accuracy improved. These models show which lakes have high and low potential for loon habitat. The results of the re-evaluation of Brennan's model show that his model fits well using the new data. The first new model has similar overall accuracy to Brennan's model. The second new model has higher overall accuracy than Brennan's model.