Species Distribution and Land Use

Alexandra Lange, Eleanor Smith, & Marissa Wollebeck, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW-Bothell

In anticipation of changes in land use permissions on protected lands in light of House Joint Resolution 46, we investigate land use impacts on biodiversity, focusing on the known geographic ranges of five Washington State listed species. Using geostatistical analysis techniques at the county level we are able to compare the impacts of anthropogenic land use on state listed species. We examine the spatial distribution of species in relation to land use, overlaying the distribution of those species to find hot spots. Land use at the regional level is then quantified by percentage of land use in each county.