NASA John C. Stennis Space Center
Mississippi Ecological Forecasting

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>> Meredith: The Golden Toad was declared extinct in 2007 followed by the Holdridge Toad in 2008. In 2001, the Dusky Gopher Frog population was estimated to be less than 250 and in 2012, less than 100. Without proper recovery efforts the Dusky Gopher Frog could be the next. 

>> Rudy, Michael, Meredith: And that’s why we are here

>> Rudy: My name is Rudy Bartels 

>> Michael: My name is Michael Brooke

>> Meredith: My name is Meredith Williams

>> Meredith: We are the Mississippi Ecological Forecasting and Dusky Gopher Frog Investigation Team here at John C. Stennis Space Center. The objective of our project was to use NASA Earth observations to find a suitable habitat for the endangered Dusky Gopher Frog.

>> Meredith: The DGF is in the top 100 most endangered species in the world and the most endangered species of frog in North America. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Mississippi Gopher Frog under the Endangered Species Act on December 4, 2001 and listed the frog with a recovery priority number of 6, indicating a high degree of threat, low potential recovery and classification of subspecies. On June 12, 2012, the taxonomic status was changed to “species” and changed the name to the dusky gopher frog instead of the subspecies Mississippi Gopher Frog. The recovery priority number was changed to 5 reflecting this taxonomic change.

>> Meredith: Historic records indicate, the Dusky Gopher Frog existed from East of the Mississippi River to the West of Mobile Bay. The study area for our project consisted of three Mississippi counties (Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson) and one parish, St. Tammany in Louisiana. 

>> Michael: All of the preparation, analysis, and support from our partners was greatly appreciated. The partners for our project were the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service: DeSoto Ranger District, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Nature Conservancy.

>> Michael: Atmospherically corrected Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper data were downloaded from the US Geological Survey’s Earthexplorer website for use in this project. Additional data included Land cover from the US Geological Survey, Soil data from the US Department of Agriculture, and precipitation data from Prism.

>> Michael: Landsat data were used to calculate the change in surface water coverage between wet and dry seasons. A change detection was performed on the infrared bands of dry and wet images using ERDAS IMAGINE image processing software. The bands were then stacked into a single image which was classified into seasonal water and non-water areas. This image was then analyzed with soil, precipitation, and land cover data in ArcGIS to help pinpoint potential Dusky gopher frog habitat.

>> Rudy: A final weighted overlaid map was produced using the selected layers pond locations, precipitation, soil type, and forest type with canopy cover. The values created by the overlay were then divided by the total possible sum and multiplied by 100 to create a habitat probability percentage for the Dusky Gopher Frog. For quality control proposes, the summary statistics were calculated to determine the probability distribution. The probable pixels with a value above 70% were quality checked with landsat 8 imagery. After the quality control the probable habitat model proved to be 75% accurate in predicting the dusky gopher frog habitats.  

>> Rudy: NASA Earth observations can be used to accurately predict a potential habitat for an endangered species such as the Dusky Gopher Frog. By using the tools of remote sensing, and ArcGIS many potential habitats from 60 to 100% habitable were found to help maintain the frogs habitat and reproduce. It is important to note that with the timeframe of the data and rapid urbanization Occurring the habitat placement and potential is likely to change. 


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