Using a custom landscape classification to understand the factors driving site occupancy by a rapidly declining migratory songbird

USING CUSTOM LANDSCAPE CLASSIFICATION TO UNDERSTAND THE FACTORS DRIVING SITE OCCUPANCY BY A RAPIDLY DECLINING MIGRATORY SONGBIRD By Elizabeth Schold, M.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018 Major Director: Lesley Bulluck, Ph.D. Department of Biology, Center for Environmental Studies Virginia Commonwealth University Land cover classifications are useful in a broad range of ecological applications, yet publicly available classifications are not always useful for the needs of specific projects. Custom classifications are always a possibility, however, they can be financially or computationally out of reach for many researchers. Here we present a custom 1m resolution land cover classification created using freely available imagery and a random forest classification approach. This classification detected shrub cover more accurately and at a finer resolution than previous classifications. With the creation of this map, we were then able to examine landscape factors influencing occupancy dynamics of the golden-winged warbler, a rapidly declining shrubland