Use of satellite imagery and GIS to model brood-rearing habitat for Rio Grande wild turkey populations occurring in the Western Cross Timbers region of Texas (Meleagris gallopavo)

Remote sensing and GIS have become a standard tool for evaluating spatial components of wildlife habitats. These techniques were implemented to evaluate Rio Grande wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) poult-rearing habitat in the Western Cross Timbers region of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) random roving turkey counts for 1987–1989 and 1998–2000 were selected, indicating locations where hens with poults were observed. Satellite imagery from 1988 and 1999 was classified and processed with Patch Analyst. To add robustness, stream, road and census population densities were also evaluated for each turkey location.; Analysis of the 1988 canopy cover image, comparing observed locations with randomly-selected habitat cells (N = 20) indicated significant differences (P < .05) for patch edge variables. Mean patch edge was significantly greater for habitat locations where hens with poults were observed than for those selected at random. Spatial data for 1999 did not indicate a significant difference (P < .05) between sampling groups (observed vs. random, N = 30). Significant differences (P < .05) did occur for turkey locations observed in both 1988 and 1999 (N = 7). This demonstrates the adaptability of wild turkey hens; as habitats change over time, hens continued to visit the same locations even though the habitat had significantly changed for select spatial variables.