Landscape Ecology-Sensitivity of a white-tailed deer habitat-suitability index model to error in satellite land-cover data: Implications for wildlife habitat-suitability studies

摘要: Biologists are increasingly using classified satellite data in habitat analyses, especially due to the recent availability of the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) and Gap Analysis Project (GAP) classified maps. However, this type of land-cover data may contain substantial class error incorporated during the classification process. Accuracy assessments provide a measure of class-specific error, but they do not provide information on the spatial distribution of error. Error simulation procedures allow users to gauge the sensitivity of their analyses output to errors in the input land-cover data, although these procedures tend to be computationally intensive. We used pixel- and patch-based error simulation to evaluate the effect of class error in the NLCD on the calculation of habitat-suitability index (HSI) values for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in a high-suitability (agricultural) landscape and a low-suitability …