Project Team: Colombia Ecological Forecasting Team
Team Location: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
Edge density, a metric that identifies intact forest, was used for prioritizing reforestation and conservation efforts within Cotton-top tamarin habitat. Image Credit: Colombia Ecological Forecasting Team.
Authors:
Caren Remillard
Mohamed Amin
Erick Braun
Ning Chen
Hillary Essig
Peter Hawman
Tunan Hu
Mentors/Advisors:
Dr. Marguerite Madden (University of Georgia)
Dr. Thomas Jordan (University of Georgia)
Dr. Nathan Nibbelink (University of Georgia)
Daniel Mesa (University of North Georgia)
Steve Padgett-Vasquez (University of Georgia)
Past/Other Contributors:
Nikos Kavoori (DEVELOP)
Suravi Shrestha (DEVELOP)
Zennure Ucar (DEVELOP)
Xiaohe Yu (DEVELOP)
Abstract:
The Cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), a New World primate endemic to the forests of northwest Colombia, is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with approximately 6,000 individuals remaining. The majority of the forest within the tamarin’s range has been cleared for agriculture or ranching. To address the plight of the Cotton-top tamarin, NASA DEVELOP partnered with Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Proyecto TitÌ_, a conservation program that makes the preservation of natural resources feasible for local communities in Colombia through education, field work, and community outreach. This project utilized data collected by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) onboard Terra to examine suitable tamarin habitat and identify practical areas to implement reforestation and conservation efforts. The team developed a multi-input GIS model called the Cotton-top Tamarin Suitable Forest Model (CTSFM). The CTSFM integrated landscape metric calculations, slope, field data, and proximity to selected features with a land use/cover classification map constructed during a previous DEVELOP project. The results will assist Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Proyecto TitÌ_ in purchasing and protecting land with the most potential for forest connectivity. This will ultimately provide a more continuous habitat for the Cotton-top tamarins and sympatric species.