Remote Sensing for Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Assessment on Military Lands: A Literature Review

The presence of federally listed threatened and endangered species and their habitats on Department of Defense (DoD) lands has a significant impact on current and future training and testing mission activities. To meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, the DoD requires accurate, cost-effective surveying and monitoring methods to characterize and monitor the habitats of TES on military training and testing lands. Remotely sensed imagery provides an ideal supplement, or surrogate, to field surveys and has the potential to greatly enhance the speed, accuracy, and economy of TES habitat assessments. This report provides a general overview of relevant literature describing the best available science and protocols currently implemented to characterize and monitor habitat for TES, with a particular emphasis on the seven high priority species of the DoD: Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), gray bat (Myotis grisescens), gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapillus), and the golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia). The original document contains color images. Project no. 622720A896. Task no. 5H1893.