Atlas of Idaho's wildlife: integrating gap analysis and Natural Heritage information

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In 1986, the National Biological Service’s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Idaho launched a pilot project in Idaho referred to as "Gap Analysis" (Scott et al. 1987, Groves 1992, Scott et al. 1993). This project involves mapping distributions of individual animal species and vegetation cover types within the state, comparing these distributions with the existing network of preserves or protected areas, and finally, determining which animal species and vegetation types are not protected (i.e., identifying the "gaps") in the state. A powerful computer mapping technology referred to as GIS (geographic information system) has been used in this project to produce and overlay distributional maps of species and vegetation type with information on land ownership and management patterns. An atlas of distribution maps that includes each of the state’s 364 breeding vertebrates (13 amphibians, 22 reptiles, 230 birds, 99 mammals) is one of the principal products in the Idaho Gap Analysis project. The distributions represented by these maps are predicted from known county-of-occurrence data combined with information on which habitats or vegetation types within counties are occupied by each species (see GIS Model Number, below). With the exception of eight species of upland game birds, only native species were included. A few rare breeding birds that don’t consistently breed in the state were excluded. Also excluded were the winter distributions of birds and distributions of bird species that migrate through but do not breed in Idaho. Finally, this atlas excludes fishes, although we hope to include them in later editions as we model their distributions in the future with GIS. These maps provide the most up-to-date information on the distribution of Idaho’s wildlife. The purpose of this atlas is to make these distributional maps, along with information on population status, ecology, and important state references, available to a wide variety of users. These users should include the academic community, natural resource managers, researchers, and interested members of the public. The maps in this atlas represent our best judgment on where and in what habitats these animals are likely to be found. Because systematic inventories of the state’s fauna have not been conducted and because habitat relationships of many species are poorly known, documentation and verification of these distributions is difficult. For example, for several species of bats and small mammals, only a few individual animals have ever been collected or observed in the state. Our hope is that publication of this atlas will draw attention to how little is known about Idaho’s wildlife and will spur new inventories and research. We would appreciate receiving information that extends our predicted distributions into additional areas or corrects our distribution maps where we have inaccurately noted a species’ presence.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology

SWAP (2/19/2016) citation (with publisher as document shows it):
Groves CR, Butterfield B, Lippincott A, Csuti B, Scott JM. 1997. Atlas of Idaho's wildlife: integrating gap analysis and natural heritage information. Boise (ID): Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program. 372 p. [accessed 2016 Feb 02]. http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/atlswf.pdf

Other information: A cooperative project of Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Conservation Data Center; The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Science Division; and University of Idaho and U. S. Geological Survey, Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.