Birds eye view lab (part 1)
.docx
School
Utah State University**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
ENVS 3600
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 16, 2024
Pages
6
Uploaded by DrWaterBuffalo4945
Bailey ParkinsonStudy area:Portland, Oregon 1. Follow the below instructions to choose two residentialareas of differing median household income (one of highermedian household income and one of lowermedian household income) within your study city and capture a map of each neighborhood.●Zoom into your study area onthis mapand choose one low income (darker purplish-blue) residential area and one high income (darker green) residential area. *Note that the income data will not show up on the map until you zoom in far enough.* ○Ensure that the areas that you choose are mostly residential(i.e., occupied mostly by places where people live – not shop or work, etc.). To check this, toggle the income dataoff/on to better seewhat is there: to dothis, click the“Content” tab on thetop left, thenuncheck/check thebox next to “ACSMedian HouseholdIncome Variables”.2. As you choose each of your focalresidential areas, do the following inorder to capture a screen-shot mapof each: navigate to each residentialarea then toggle off the income dataso that the map shows only the satellite view(see previous bullet point for instructions) so that the map shows only the satellite view. Zoom in further (if needed) and Measure tool buttonDistance/length buttonChange unitsBirds eye view lab (part 1)Landscape scale:
take one screenshot (you may have to Google how to take a screenshot on the type of computer you are using) of an approximately 1,000ft x 1,000ft area within eachof your chosen two neighborhoods -use the “Measure” toolon the top center-right of the page to determine lengths (be sure to change the units to US feetandclick the distance/length optionrather than area - see diagram to the right above). If you’re having trouble, see this linkfor a YouTube video with instructions for how to use the measuringtool. Add both of these screenshotted maps to the corresponding location on this lab report below:Figure 1.A low-income neighborhood in Portland, Oregon
Figure 2.A high-income neighborhood in Portland, Oregon3. Now, pretend you are a bird flying over each neighborhood, then a deer walking through them, and do the following:A. Composition:For each of your screenshotted maps, do your best to roughly guess the percent of the land within it that looks liketree cover, natural water (i.e. rivers, ponds, lakes, etc. - not pools), lawn, or impervious surface (buildings, roads, driveways, parking lots, etc.). Fill in the Table 1 belowwith these roughly estimated percentages. Note that some of the satellite imagery may have been taken in the winter (i.e. no leaves on trees) and/or on a sunny day (i.e. many shadows are present) making it more difficult to determine the percent cover of things like trees – just do your best when estimating. Because percent cover estimates are so subjective, we won't dock points for your estimates unless they are blatantly wrong. Table 1.Landscape-scale percent cover estimates for a low and high-income neighborhood in Portland, Oregon
Neighborhoodmedianhouseholdincome level% areacovered byimpervioussurface% areacovered bytrees% areacovered bylawn% areacovered bywaterNeighborhood 1Low30%40%30%0%Neighborhood 2High6025%15%0%B. Structure:Answer the following questions (when answering, be sure to use concepts and language discussed in lecture):Within each of your screenshotted maps of lower- vs. higher-income neighborhoods... i.Where is habitat(e.g. trees or natural water)clumped or nonexistent/sparse, or are areas of habitat evenly dispersed/spaced throughout? Use directions to describe this e.g. "In the top right and central parts of the map of the lower income neighborhood there is a lot of tree canopy clumped together, but in the bottom left, there is hardly any".ii.How well connected/fragmented/isolated do the patches of habitat appear to be in each map? Do there appear to be habitat corridors(i.e. if you were a bird or deer, do you feel like you could safely navigate from habitat patch to habitat patch, or are there fences or busy/dangerous roads in between, or perhaps habitat patches seem too far apart in some areas but not in others). If there are corridors, are these corridors long strips of habitat or “hopscotch” style? Note that "evenly spaced" habitat patches could be well connected or not depending on how close habitat patches are to each other.In the lower-income neighborhoods, many tree canopies are clumped together and spread throughoutthe map. Birds would likely be better able to safely navigate from habitat-to-habitat patch in the incomeneighborhood due to the tree coverage. In the bottom left corner of the map, there is a long strip ofhabitat that would be better for deer than birds because of the lack of trees in that area. In the higher-income neighborhoods, the trees are very sparse throughout the neighborhood. There are morestructures in the higher-income neighborhood than there are in the lower-income neighborhood. Thisprovides less space for deer or birds to safely navigate from habitat patch to habitat patch. Between thelower-income and higher-income neighborhoods, I feel like wildlife would do better in the lower-income.Local scale:
1. Within eachof your screen-shotted maps,choose onerandom block or ~500ft street segment that is entirely residential(or mostly residential if entirely is not possible). If needed, you can use the “Measure” tool to determine segments as per the instructions and YouTube video above. Next, open a new tab on your internet browser and navigate to both of these blocks/street segments in Google street-view and explore them(click here if you need a tutorial on how to use Google Street View). As you do so, collect and record the following data in Table 2 below:For each chosen block/street segment,record the requested information in Table 2 about the block/street segment overall(*both sides of the street*). Note that yards that are less well-kept/tidy can be good for wildlife e.g. if they have a lot of flowering weeds or bare ground that pollinators can use; well-kept/tidy yards can suggest heavy use of herbicides and pesticides which can pose a threat to wildlife. Table 2. Local-scale general observations of a block/street segment in both a low- and high-income neighborhood in Portland, OregonNeighborhoodmedian householdincome levelWhat is the dominant or most common overstory condition?(large older trees/small trees/no trees)Are properties neat and well kept? (mostly yes/mostly no/mixed)Are gardens and flowers visible? (mostly yes/mostly no/mixed)– note that if the street-view of your blocks were taken during the winter, you’ll have to do your best/some guesswork for this oneLowLarge Older TreesMixedIt’s fall in Google Street View, but I would have to say mostly no.HighLarge Older TreesYesIt’s fall in Google Street View, but I would have to say mostly yes2.Fill out Table 3 below using two random residential properties on each of your selected blocks/road segments(does not matter which side of the street they are each on). When filling out this table, look only at the portion of the residential property that extends from the front of the home or apartment
building to the street(i.e., residential front yards) and record the following data: number of trees and estimation of the percent of the total front yard area that is covered by pavement (e.g. sidewalk and driveways), lawn, garden, shrubbery, and bare ground (note that bare ground can be important habitat e.g. for ground-nesting bees).Table 3. Local-scale percent cover and number of trees estimates for two properties in both a low- and high-income neighborhood in Portland, OregonNeighborhoodmedian householdincome level% areacoveredbypavement% areacoveredby lawn% areacoveredbygarden% areacoveredby shrubs% areacoveredby baregroundNumberof treesProperty 1low10%70%0%5%0%1Property 2low30%30%0%20%0%3Property 1high35%40%15%10%0%1Property 2high10%50%10%30%0%1