Final version of habitat suitability project for the Earth Analytics Data Science Bootcamp.

This project analyzes soil, topographic, and climate data to determine whether the Sheyenne and Caddo National Grasslands in the United States will be suitable habitats for the grass species Sorghastrum nutans from 2076-2080 depending on the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). The Sheyenne National Grasslands are in the southeastern corner of the state of North Dakota and the Caddo National Grasslands are in the northwestern part of Texas, near the Texas-Oklahoma border.

For the soil data, pH is the analyzed variable. The topographic variable is aspect (degrees) derived from elevation (m), and the climate vairable is precipitation (mm). More specifically for the climate variable, the predicted average annual precipitation (mm) from 2076-2080 is being compared between two different emissions scenarios: RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. To look at all three data together, it is assumed that soil pH and aspect will be very similar, if not the same, between current day, 2024, and 2076-2080. So current day soil pH and aspect will be used.

habitat-suitability Earth Analytics Final

Class final project