Western habitats - Session summary

Determining the status of all habitats in the nine western states considered in this symposium is a difficult task. The authors of habitat status papers commented that the diversity of habitat classification systems limited their ability to relate habitat status to raptors. Differences of scale, objectives and survey design have hindered integration of habitat classification methods used by land managers with the habitat relationships understood by wildlife biologists, but examples now exist for successful integration of these methods. We suggest that land managers and wildlife biologists use common survey and classification schemes so that data can be combined and that results will be applicable over broader areas.