Focus on the SNEP Team: Frank Davis

Jan van Wagtendonk (left) and Frank Davis (right) examining a GIS map of Yosemite National Park

For the past four years Frank has been Principal Investigator of the California Gap Analysis Project (GAP). The goal of GAP is to identify plant communities and vertebrate species that are not well represented in existing parks, wilderness areas and reserves, and to locate areas that could increase protection for these biota relatively efficiently. To meet this goal, the project team, managed by David Stoms, has compiled a statewide spatial database describing current patterns of vegetation, wildlife habitats, land ownership, and land management. The Gap Analysis Project of the Sierra Nevada region is being completed under the auspices of SNEP.

Since 1993, Frank has been co-Principal Investigator with Mike Goodchild from University of California at Santa Barbara, of an IBM Environmental Research Program project entitled "A Spatial Decision Support System for the Analysis and Conservation of Biodiversity." This 4-year project will design and implement a computing facility to support the preparation, visualization, and analysis of biodiversity databases to support regional conservation planning. Some of the GIS tools developed under this project are being used to support wildlife habitat analyses, gap analysis, and database management.

With his colleague, David Stoms, Frank is participating in EPA's Biodiversity Research Consortium. They have been testing the utility of 1 kilometer resolution satellite imagery and GIS data for monitoring trends in wildlife habitat patterns and condition.

Frank is collaborating with Janine Stenback of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF&FP) on a NASA-sponsored project to monitor California land cover using multi-date satellite imagery. He recently completed a study with Greg Greenwood of CDF&FP that used historical air photos to analyze statewide trends in blue oak woodlands. With Ph.D. student Allan Hollander and Doug Updyke of California's Department of Fish and Game, Frank is developing new computer software to help model California wildlife habitats, most specifically habitats of feral pigs.

"Human use of the Sierra Nevada has always been piecemeal. Individuals and organizations invariably focus on a specific neighborhood, administrative unit, resource, or management issue, usually within a short time frame," notes Frank.

SNEP's goal is to develop a longer-term, regional view of the Sierra Nevada that spans boundaries, species, and special interests. "We will be successful to the degree that we can provide the public, resource managers, planners, and decision makers with data, information, and policy analyses. This will help them understand the implications of their actions from a broader historical and regional perspective," he says. Frank is overseeing the organization of SNEP GIS data in a manner which will facilitate the transfer of the data to appropriate state and federal agencies, and interested parties.

Like most others who enjoy the Sierra Nevada, Frank's relationship to the mountains is many-sided and constantly changing. "The Sierra Nevada is a collection of places where I go to backpack, fish, tour, and reflect-places to nourish my imagination and get back in touch," muses Frank. As a place to study ecology and evolution, Frank describes the Sierra Nevada region as immense, biologically rich, and unsurpassed in complexity among temperate regions because of the close packing of such a wide spectrum of environments, species, ecosystems, and human activities. "I can't think of a more challenging or more important area for a regional ecosystem study."