README.md

In jacob-ogre/LSRanalysis: Analysis of Lilaeopsis schaffneriana var. recurva Monitoring Data

LSR monitoring data analysis

This repository is an R package for the analysis of monitoring data for Lilaeopsis schaffneriana var. recurva (Huachuca water umbel) from San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuges in southeastern Arizona. The package can be installed to R using:

devtools::install_github("jacob-ogre/LSRanalysis")

The analysis can be reproduced by building the vignette during install with:

devtools::install_github(build_vignettes = TRUE)

or running with:

library(LSRanalysis)
run_vignette()

Abstract

Since 2007, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel have monitored populations of Lilaeopsis schaffneriana var. recurva (LSR), a species listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, at San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuges in southeast Arizona. The species is a desert wetland obligate whose range has been substantially reduced by more than a century of land use that reduced the number, extent, and natural dynamics of wetlands in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Here we analyze monitoring data for 2007 and 2010-2016. We show that the area occupied by and number of patches of LSR exhibits high inter-annual variability, with a general decline to 2015 and an increase in 2016. The number of sites (separate groups of patches) where LSR is found on the refuges has steadily increased from one in 2007 to five in 2016, adding resiliency and redundancy for these populations. These results paint a generally positive picture of LSR status on the refuges, but the variability of populations highlights how biological and hydrological variability still pose a significant risk to the species.

More information

jacob-ogre/LSRanalysis documentation built on May 18, 2019, 8 a.m.