Benjamin Hoose
An eye-opening 2019 study published in Science found an approximate net loss of roughly 3 billion birds across North America since 1970. Of this overall decline, grassland birds have experienced the largest decrease of any terrestrial biome with a 74% reduction across species.
“The decline of North American grassland birds is widely recognized as an unfolding conservation crisis,” said Benjamin Hoose, pursuing a doctoral degree in rangeland, wildlife and fisheries management. “Scaled quail are a part of this broader decline and have experienced a sustained reduction in abundance over recent decades.”
Native to the desert grasslands of West Texas and the Southwest United States, Hoose said ideal scaled quail habitat consists of functionally and structurally diverse vegetation that is commonly associated with mid-seral grasslands or grassland-shrubland mosaics.
However, ongoing research indicates these grassland communities are threatened by multiple factors including woody encroachment, introduction of invasive grasses associated with improved pasture, overgrazing, and land use change such as agricultural intensification and urbanization.
“Considering the pervasive influence of anthropogenic landscape change throughout their native range, addressing the ongoing threats of habitat loss and fragmentation will likely be integral to reversing declines scaled quail populations,” Hoose said.
To accomplish this, Hoose will focus on understanding the spatiotemporal dymanics of scaled quail populations and their habitat utilizing 35 years of quail survey data from the U.S. Geological Survey Breeding Bird Survey and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s roadside quail count survey.
“The study area is divided into distinct ecoregions including the Trans-Pecos, High Plains, Rolling Plains, Edward’s Plateau and South Texas Plains,” Hoose said. “I anticipate that this will result in over 100,000 observations.”
After compiling landscape data within each survey segment using Landsat satellite imagery, Hoose will utilize a variety of statistical models to shed light on scaled quail population trends, temporal and spatial dynamics and evaluate the relative contributions of habitat loss and fragmentation in explaining scaled quail relative abundance.
“I’m leveraging big datasets within habitat models to inform conservation and management of this species.” Hoose said. “More generally, I hope to apply data science principles to add to the critical body of knowledge required to address the conservation crisis facing North American grassland birds.”
As a Data Science Ambassador, Hoose works to empower students to elevate and streamline their research by adopting data science principles.
Hoose said he is eager to help students in many capacities including refining research questions and selecting the best analytical method; compiling spatiotemporal data in Google Earth Engine; programming in the statistical software R; interpreting model outputs and more.
“Students can stop by Room 301 of the Horticulture and Forest Science Building on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. or set up an alternative time to meet virtually or in person,” Hoose said.
He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in wildlife and wildlands conservation with a minor in statistics from Brigham Young University.
