AU2014203751A1

AU2014203751A1 - Function-based habitat design method, system and means

Info

Publication number: AU2014203751A1
Application number: AU2014203751A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Benjamin Wilbur Breedlove
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-05-21
Filing date: 2014-07-09
Publication date: 2014-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 2027-05-21
Also published as: AU2014203751B2

Abstract

Abstract A function-based habitat design and construction method includes as a first step an 'as is' assessment of a terrain; as a second step assessing potential optimisation for human enjoyment of nature experience and/or habitat restoration in terms of four requirements (feeding, breeding, resting, nesting) for selected habitat guilds representing in simplified form a sustainable animal population; as a third step preparing instructions for implementation upgrading of the terrain in terms of the four requirements. The method is performed with computer assistance. Mapping Unit Types Terrain Feature Structural Unit Animal Decision Unit Design Animal Habitat Guild animal species combinations and numbers self-selecting as a habitat design unit (feeding, breeding, nesting, resting) Figure 1 Human Humans With Habitat Design - Animal Density- Diversity High Density High Low 1- Low Urban Suburban Periurban Rural Natural Core Core Landscape architecture as a tool for gain in habitat value (a) within a developed area Figure 15

Description

Function-Based Habitat Design Method, System and Means The present invention relates to a function-based habitat design method and to means for performing the method. The invention, in embodiments, also relates to a function-based habitat construction method. Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field. A method which is used by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service is known by the acronym HEP, meaning Habitat Evaluation Procedure (USFWS Habitat Evaluation Procedure Handbook (870 FW1.9A)). It provides a protocol for the evaluation of an existing habitat and assessing its utility for wildlife purposes. That procedure may be compared with a bookkeeping system. It employs the guilding concept to be explained further below as a means of grouping animals which tend to occupy a given habitat. The procedure determines to what extent the minimum requirements for a certain guild are satisfied and expresses these in terms of an HSI, meaning Habitat Suitability Index. This represents an evaluation of natural systems of habitat against hypothetical optimum conditions for various animals occurring in such habitat. It sets out the needs for those animals but makes no recommendations on how to improve the status quo. Procedures exist for characterising the locations, configuration and/or sizing of nature reserves, but serve solely for delimiting and isolating existing natural systems from humans and their activities (Scott & Sullivan, Environmental Management 26, suppl. 1 537-553 (2000) Springer Verlag). A Focal Species Approach has been described for the determination of spatial-functional configuration for sensitive species (Lambeck, Robert J., Conservation Biology 11 (4) 849 856 (1997), Freudenberger (2001) Bush for the Birds: Biodiversity enhancement guidelines for the Saltshaker Project, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra; Lesley Brooker, Landscape and Urban Planing 60 (2002) 185-210; www.elsevier.com/locate/landurbplan). That approach recognises a need to inform and induce landowning humans to practice social ecological concepts, but again limited to and directed at sizing and fencing off remnant forest to prevent use by domestic animals, to allow natural recovery of system structure and function without active human intervention.

A variation on the above approach (Sanderson, Redford et al; Landscape and Urban Planning 58 (2002) 41 -56; Coppolillo, Gomez et al. Biol. Conservation 115 (2004) 419-430) uses a landscape species approach and uses a suite of organisms as a basis for landscape or reserve planning. A functional resource-based approach to habitat has also been proposed (Dennis, Shreeve, et al., 01KOS102:2 (2003). In line with modem ecological consciousness, a trend has evolved to reverse ecological damage done to environments due to human exploitation or other interference. This is generally done by concentrating on quite specific forms of past damage, for example efforts at restoring previously drained wetlands or restoring riverine environments damaged by encroachment of alien vegetation, silting up due to upstream human induced soil erosion. Another example would be attempts at replanting forests after previous destruction by lumber extraction. A shortcoming of prior art methods has been a lack of a truly holistic approach and lack of adequate, correct and integrated consideration of all parameters which animals consider in their choice of and ability to use a terrain as their habitat. By way of contrast, embodiments of the present invention aims at overcoming shortcomings of the prior art and to optimise habitat functionality by a systematic assessment of potential habitat parameters and providing information and tools usable even by professionals having limited ecological knowledge and skills to produce optimised habitat features in or on a given terrain or development site in order to provide human occupants or future occupants or visitors with an improved nature experience and enjoyment. In other words, a method is aimed at which can achieve optimal habitat creation or improvement, even in close proximity to humans and their activities. Such method must be acceptable to the practicing professions responsible for designing, constructing and maintaining the built environment, where appropriate in close co-operation with laymen. Broadly speaking, embodiments of the present invention provide a function-based habitat design method.

In the following these various steps will be further explained and it will become clear how the invention attains its objects. In this context it must be understood that the Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map referred to in claim 3, depicts features bounding and containing inherent habitat determinants based on landscape and habitat function fundamentals. It is not a map of existing conditions or current vegetation cover types. Virtually all sites, including today's "natural areas" have been highly altered at one to many points in the past. Past land use change actions resulted in removal of cavities above and below ground and in local geology, at minimum. Current or extant vegetation patterns are a result of a combination of recent and ongoing forcing functions plus inherent and, therefore, long term drivers of vegetation cover and habitat potential. Inherent drivers include soil characteristics, aspect or exposure to sunlight, moisture regimes and geology among other stable long term perturbants or affectors determining natural system composition in the absence of human interference. According to an important preferred feature of the invention, the method includes organising animal species into potential Design Animal Habitat Guilds. The location, mapping and subsequent incorporation of spatial units containing (i) inherent natural system value determinants of habitat functionality and (ii) animal determined Habitat Decision Units into Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Maps is a unique requirement of this technique. These initial mappable features are aggregated based on (i) species habitat requirements and (ii) the consequent and subsequently determined Design Animal Habitat Guild Booleans, into spatial patterns bounding habitat. These bounded spatial patterns are the Habitat Pattern Maps for the Design Animal Habitat Guilds that are a follow-on and unique product of this technique. Stated very simply, a habitat pattern map is a map of the bases for animals' reaction to landscape features based on determinants of and consequent locations of functional value to an animal(s). This type of map is unique in that habitat functional value, as determined by animals, determines the map features and their shape. Aggregation of these features based on animal habitat functional requirements determines/bounds habitat for that/those animal(s). Typically, when designing at a habitat scale for animal species of conventional interest for lay persons, five to eight Design Animal Habitat Guilds are required to utilise all features listed in the Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Legend. A similar number is typically utilised to obtain total coverage of the area of design interest by the Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Map. Design at a smaller or finer spatial unit scale will require addition of Design Animal Habitat Guilds for the added scale of design interest. According to the preferred method after data for each animal species listed in each Design Animal Habitat Guild Requisites Template have been compiled in the template, a "one line" summary statement of most efficacious or best criteria determining the design of optimal habitat is extracted from the compiled data, which summary statement applies to the entirety of the animal habitat guild and defines the habitat conditions for all animals in the guild in terms of design of optimal habitat conditions achievable having regard to terrain constraints and which summary statement is then used as a Boolean to create Habitat Pattern Maps that are specific to each Design Animal Habitat Guild. This template is one of the core and unique elements of the design process. In it, three elements constituting functional habitat and constituting, therefore, a Function-based Habitat Design are linked for simplicity of efficacious application by other professions for the built environment, among others, and for the "non-built" but managed "natural" environment. The relationship formed in the template: (1) an animal species linked to (2) that species' habitat function best forcing optimal habitat linked to (3) the mapping unit for the terrain feature containing the habitat function, allows persons without habitat knowledge or applicable professional training to design functional habitat by using the design elements with which they are familiar. "Familiar design elements" in conventional use by other professions for the built and/or managed environment are primarily features of vegetation and/or vegetation associations and are known as "tree canopy," "grassland,' and other terms of convention or professional use. This linkage created by this Function-based Habitat Design technique among (1) the habitat related usage of this conventional mappable unit as viewed and known by other professions, (2) those vegetation species comprising this mappable unit that are also most closely associated with the habitat function that is also best for forcing design and habitat functionality within the mappable unit and (3) the guild of animals associated with the mappable units and the habitat functionality obtained therein, allows high levels of habitat functionality to be obtained by other designers for the built environment (i.e., landscape architects, architects, civil engineers) who do not have the detailed knowledge of habitat relationships and their application in space for service to user groups of animals that is typical of professional wildlife managers and those in the closely allied professions. Preferably, the said Booleans are modified, applying best fit principles in order to generate a Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Map in which overlaps of the initial Booleans are eliminated. Preferably, for a selected Design Animal Habitat Guild a specific Habitat Pattern Map is created. Preferably, a plurality of said habitat Pattern Maps are compiled within which the habitat requisites summarised in the Design Animal Habitat Guild Requisite Template are installed until at least threshold conditions for habitat or optimal habitat are reached or exceeded. The resulting absence of spatial overlap between the Habitat Pattern Maps or, stated differently, creation of area specific Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Map results in a simpler design process and in subsequent simpler habitat maintenance, assessment, management and improvement processes. The efficacy and simplicity of these follow-on activities are essential for acceptance, utility and success of the habitat design whether accomplished by specially trained and aware or by conventionally behaving maintenance organisations and by the similarly conventional or better comprehending design professionals for the built and managed environment(s). Neither habitat quality nor habitat functionality is limited by having spatially explicit, non overlapping, Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps. Animals in any one Design Animal Habitat Guild will also occur in one or more of the other habitat guilds and will obtain portions of their habitat requisites there. They will have one habitat guild with which they may be primarily associated and one to several habitat guilds with which they may or will have secondary and/or tertiary degrees of association. This fact of multiplicity of areas for an animal species' occurrence and varying degrees of fidelity of association with each of the areas adds an element of robustness to the design technique while retaining design and managerial simplicity. It is important to appreciate that the method according to embodiments of the invention is based entirely on an in-depth study of the decision making process performed by animals in their acceptance of portions of a terrain as part of their habitat. Within the meaning of the present description habitat is defined as feeding, breeding, nesting and resting opportunities suitably juxtaposed in time and space for all life stages operating at or above Minimum Viable Population levels. According to this definition, habitat is an all or nothing entity. Habitat must provide all life requisites, when, where and as needed, for all life stages and for both sexes at or above requirements to support at least a Minimum Viable Population of the species at issue. Anything less is perhaps a component of habitat but it is not habitat. The invention accordingly teaches producing a Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Features List for the project site plus for the habitat area of animals expected to use the site if optimal conditions were established and maintained both onsite and in the surrounding area, required to meet habitat criteria. In a process flow, this action occurs in time synchrony with the production of the list of animal and plant species of interest for inclusion in the Function-based Habitat Design process. It is inserted at this point in the uni-linear treatment of process following reaching a point of completion of use of materials included in the design process flowing from creation of the listings of plant and animal species. In the preferred method the aforesaid Habitat Pattern Maps are used as templates or patterns for planting vegetation species that are highly ranked for their habitat function support for the selected Design Animal Habitat Guilds. Likewise, the Habitat Pattern Maps are used as or as a basis for a Habitat Supplements Map for installing or constructing in the terrain features substituting for missing features of habitat.

Based on the aforegoing a Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Features List is prepared which comprises the map legend for the Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Features Map. Terrain Features, for purposes of this technique, are inherent and visually discernable elements in the terrain. They are mappable units defined by soil types, soil moisture, slope, aspect, and other determinants of ultimate land capability in the absence of human linked forcing functions. Terrain features are not the currently observable vegetation patterns although vegetation patterns may, at points in time, be coincident with inherent terrain features. Decision Units are animal determined features in the landscape where animals make habitat related decisions. A decision to move using a visually definable mappable terrain feature, feed, breed, nest or rest occurs at a mappable feature comprising an animal determined Decision Unit in the landscape. The Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map contains all terrain features and animal decision unit features comprising life requisites for animal species contained in the group of Design Animal Habitat Guilds used for a Function-based Habitat Design. The Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Habitat Pattern Map Booleans include those portions of the map features comprising habitat for the Design Animal Habitat Guild of interest. From the aforegoing there may then follow the production of a Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map which is a representation of baseline status in the terrain. It represents only extant site and vicinity features contained in functional habitat for the species comprising the Design Animal Habitat Guilds. This, in turn, is preferably followed by the production of Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps, wherein Booleans are used to create Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps for each Design Animal Habitat Guild using the necessary features in the Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map. The resulting site specific compilation of Habitat Pattern Maps becomes a spatial template within which the habitat requisites summarised in the Design Animal Habitat Guild Requisites Template are installed until threshold conditions for habitat or optimal habitat are reached or exceeded. Installation is essential (1) to meet the stipulations of the definition of habitat (and therefore to have habitat) and (2) to achieve habitat optimality (under conditions allowing or not allowing habitat design optimality). These are two qualitatively different goals. Installing habitat is the minimum step beyond attracting animals to a site from their habitat. Habitat Optimality occurs when habitat functionality per the habitat definition is reached and function density within that spatial unit has been optimised as measured by animal species diversity, population numbers and persistence of same through adverse conditions. Design Animal Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Maps can represent the requisite conditions for habitat either in natural terrain or in the built environment. Features of the built environment are design elements for inclusion in the maps and the habitat represented in the maps. Design Animal Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Maps are spatially non-overlapping for reasons mentioned previously. Overlap will occur in vegetation speciation, habitat functionality types and in animal species utilisation in many to most instances. The maps are templates or patterns within which the vegetation species contained in the Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Vegetation Planting Palettes that are highly ranked for their habitat function support for the Design Animal Habitat Guild, for which any particular habitat pattern map is intended, are planted. The maps serve far more as guidance and control tools for those humans having design installation, maintenance, assessment and habitat value optimisation responsibilities than for any animal related purposes once their design is complete. They are simplification tools for human actions and responsibilities related to achieving the design and its potential. The aforegoing may, in turn, be followed by the production of a Habitat Supplements Map for each Design Animal Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Map. Habitat Supplements are constructed features substituting for missing features of habitat. These missing features of habitat are typically cavities, ledges or other structures removed during land use alterations and are either slow to reoccur or unlikely to ever reoccur through natural means. Thev are critical features to add to a Function-based Habitat Design to assure habitat functionality and must be replaced using constructed features to avoid the time delay or improbability associated with their natural process for reoccurrence. Embodiments of the invention teach the provision of a large number of aids or tools to assist less specialised persons, including architects, landscape-designers and service providers in practising the invention, for example a Habitat Supplements Handbook which is a compilation of habitat supplements suited for use in architectural, landscape architectural and civil or other engineering structures and for insertion into natural environments. The primary deliverable of the technique is a habitat design process based upon habitat functions associated with meeting the life requisites of animals. The technique considers the spatial, temporal and behavioural aspects of the delivery of these life requisites to the groups or guilds of animals of design interest. The technique requires professionals in animal habitat for insertion of the habitat requisites for animals of design interest. However, the technique allows non-professionals in these areas, who may be professionals in other design professions, to employ the technique to add natural system habitat functionality to their area of design and management competency. It allows groups of habitat design professionals for the built and non-built or natural or managed environments to work in concert and achieve far higher levels of habitat quality and quantity than occurs at present through or with current interactions among these professions and professionals. There are several secondary deliverables from the design process. These include: A Function-based Habitat Design GIS Database, which Converts to an Asset Management Tool. The Function-based Habitat Design technique is GIS based. Therefore, it integrates well with the digital products of other project participants. However, its real value is as an asset management tool following the design phase of a project. Upon completion of the design phase, it is suited for tracking and managing the installation, management, assessment and optimisation phases of the project. Habitat must have people and economies as its ultimate point of delivery. This assures its integration with human systems and human interests. GIS is a simple means of assuring that this transition from design to use occurs within one simple software environment. Embodiments of the invention propose two habitat handbook types. These handbooks initiate and direct the long term operational phase of a project. They culminate in the production of optimal habitat benefits and their delivery to both the non-human animal populations occupying the habitat and to the human population that has assumed responsibility for and carried out it's responsibilities as knowledgeable members of the habitat. The first such handbook is a Habitat Maintenance Handbook, which is a handbook describing actions to be taken for routine maintenance of habitat in its post installation and maturation phases. Horticultural maintenance actions are inadequate for habitat maintenance as are those typical of landscape maintenance activities. Therefore, habitat maintenance personnel must be educated, trained and directed by this handbook to produce the habitat conditions resulting in a path toward habitat optimisation over time for a particular design and its site conditions. The second such handbook is a Habitat Manager's Handbook, which provides Management with achievable measurable goals and objectives. For habitat management the primary goal is achievement of habitat value within a parameter set defining habitat optima. Habitat management in the absence of design optima is management with suboptimal goals as a focus. A typical focus for suboptimal goals is "manage what you've got" instead of "manage to what you can get" using a habitat design optimisation technique. This undesirable approach is typified by early release of animals before reaching "most desirable" or even "significantly better" veld conditions. A Habitat Manager's Handbook presents the Function-based Habitat Design for a project and the set of actions that must be taken to move to achievement of the optimal end product achievable using the design. It incorporates by reference the Habitat Maintenance Handbook and the GIS-based project design. It indicates points in time for comparison of achievement vs. planned progress toward design goals. It suggests tests against design for betterment of optimisation goals and objectives. It is a document to control people, particularly habitat owners, in achievement of habitat goals. The "handbooks" herein referred to may be in any physical form suitable to convey the information to a user, be it in written or printed form as hardcopy, permanently bound or in loose-leaf form; it may be in digitally stored form on any suitable carrier such as magnetic media or CD-rom or downloaded or downloadable into a computer from any source. It may also be provided in audio- or audiovisual form.

The aforesaid possibilities and modifications also apply to other aids for performing the invention referred to in what follows. Protection is sought as well for these means for performing the teachings of the invention. Preferably, embodiments of the invention also provide Vegetation Planting Palettes which are Design Animal Habitat Guild specific. The sequence of vegetation species presentation is in accordance with a habitat function support value ranking achieved by employing the sequence of habitat functions most important in achieving optimal habitat. This habitat function valuation prioritisation sequence acts to sort an assigned numerical ranking, e.g. ranging from 1 to 6 employed and assigned to each vegetation species for each Design Animal Habitat Guild. Highest ranked vegetation species associated with each Design Animal Habitat Guild are planted within the Habitat Pattern Map patterns and are used to extend and increase the size of those units where warranted by design and habitat functionality criteria. The design and habitat functionality criteria are contained in the Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Habitat Templates. Cross Design Animal Habitat Guild checks are made to assure that chosen vegetation species for installation are of high habitat function support value for several Design animal Habitat Guilds. It is preferable that these checks assure that different and multiple habitat functions are chosen for cross-guild indications of high habitat functionality support design suitability. Preferably, embodiments of the invention also provide a Habitat Supplements Handbook which assures that suitable habitat supplement types and numbers per type are installed within each habitat pattern map type. It offers both generic and species specific application information. From the aforegoing it will be understood that the invention teaches a highly sophisticated method and set of tools for upgrading and greatly improving the commercial and/or ecological value of existing terrains and items of real estate. In order to further ease the practising of the invention, embodiments of the invention teach the provision and use of specialised software and of computer hardware in which such software has been installed as well as the performance of the method according to this invention by means of such soft- and hardware.

The method according to embodiments of the invention is, in practice, performed with the aid of computer software, programmed to perform steps of the method on the basis of data collected regarding the terrain and fed to the software. Indeed, preferably all essential steps thereof are performed computer-assisted. According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of function-based habitat construction, i.e. a method of actually implementing (on site) the design features so determined in the terrain being subject of the function-based habitat design method. This may include one or more, preferably all, of the following (not necessarily all at the same time): habitat supplements as determined by the function-based habitat design method are installed at localities identified by the function-based habitat design method; plant species as determined by the function-based habitat design method are planted at localities identified by the function-based habitat design method; seed balls are distributed in localities where specific plant growth is to be procreated, the seed balls being double layer clay balls having an inner core portion, comprising a seed and litter/mycorrhizae mix, the seed being selected as determined by the function-based habitat design method, and an outer layer forming a clay coat protecting the inner core portion until conditions are appropriate for germination; live animal species as determined by the function-based habitat design method are introduced into and released in the terrain, more particularly, so that viable populations representative of each design animal habitat guild determined by the function-based habitat design method are present in the terrain; infrastructure is established in the terrain selected and located as identified by the function-based habitat design method, more particularly the infrastructure includes roads and/or buildings and/or dams; topographic features are added or modified in the terrain as determined by the function-based habitat design method; closely spaced Vee-shaped depressions are made in soil using a heavy profiled roller implement to facilitate rainfall retention and accumulation of organic matter. The scope of the invention extends to a software package combined with instruction manual in digital and/or written and/or audio form, characterised in that, used in combination and with the software loaded into a computer, it instructs and guides an operator/implementer or team through the performance of the method as set out in the aforegoing.

13 The scope of the invention also extends to a computer loaded with software which alone or in combination with one or more manuals in digital and/or written and/or audio form instructs and guides an operator/implementer or team through the performance of the method set out above. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for providing a Function-Based Habitat Design for conversion of a given terrain into an upgraded form, the method comprising: providing one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the one or more computers or one or more computer servers having a processor and memory storage with instructions which when executed by the processor perform predetermined functions; providing a database stored on memory storage accessible by the at least one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the database storing functional habitat acceptance criteria, including Animal Decision Units, relating to prior decision making processes and sequences performed by (non-human) animals in their acceptance of the terrain, or similar terrains, or portions thereof as part of their habitat in terms of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; identifying animal needs, by analysing the terrain on the basis of the functional habitat acceptance criteria, and classifying animal species using at least some information accessed from the database for which the terrain can potentially provide viable habitats in terms of habitat guilds; selecting from the classified habitat guilds a number of habitat guilds representative of the animal species populations which the terrain can be made to sustain; organizing Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the animal species as set out in the selected habitat guilds, by the one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the organization including ranking on the basis of optimal habitat design intent-based combinations of criteria, thereby the prior decision making processes and sequences of animals in the database at least in part providing anticipated consequent actions and an increased likelihood of achieving habitat optimality; and generating a set of implementation instructions in any physical form, according to the animal determined needs, for use by an implementer or implementation team, for converting the given terrain into an upgraded form incorporating the appropriate Function-Based Habitat Design features.

14 According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a habitat supplementation system, comprising: one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the one or more computers or one or more computer servers having a processor and memory storage with instructions which when executed by the processor perform predetermined functions; a database stored on memory storage accessible by the at least one or more computers or one or more computer server, the database storing functional habitat acceptance criteria, including Animal Decision Units, relating to prior decision-making processes and sequences performed by (non-human) animals in their acceptance of one or more terrains, or portions thereof, as part of their habitat in terms of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; a catalogue, having a plurality of supplement devices and/or supplement information, each supplement device and/or implemented supplement information increasing the availability of, or restricting access to, one or more of the four basic functional animal needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; each supplement device, and/or implemented supplement information, thereby at least in part operable to encourage or discourage certain animals through the conversion of at least a portion of a given terrain into the upgraded form in accordance with designed Function-Based Habitat Design features; an animal needs identification function that analyses a given terrain on the basis of the functional habitat acceptance criteria, and classifies animal species using at least some information accessed from the database for which the given terrain can potentially provide viable habitats in terms of habitat guilds, the potential provision including consideration of supplementation or prevention of access to the functional animal needs; a selection function that selects from the classified habitat guilds a number of habitat guilds representative of the animal species populations which the given terrain can be made to sustain; an organization function, that organizes Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the animal species as set out in the selected habitat guilds, by the one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the organization including ranking on the basis of optimal habitat design intent-based combinations of criteria, thereby the prior decision making processes and sequences of animals in the database at least in part providing 15 anticipated consequent actions and an increased likelihood of achieving habitat optimality; and a set of implementation instructions in any physical form, according to the animal determined needs, for use by an implementer or implementation team, for converting the given terrain into an upgraded form incorporating the appropriate Function-Based Habitat Design features and incorporating one or more supplementation devices selected from the catalogue thereby to encourage or discourage certain animals species in relation to the given terrain on the basis of the organization ranking. According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions in a given terrain, the method comprising: providing one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the one or more computers or one or more computer servers having a processor and memory storage with instructions which when executed by the processor perform predetermined functions; providing a database stored on memory storage accessible by the at least one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the database storing aggregations of Animal Decision Units associated with identifiable and mappable structural landscape features; each Animal Decision Unit being a behaviour and an associated occurrence of a feature in a landscape and the feature attributes, the feature thereby suggestive of a functional content in the animal's habitat that can prompt an animal action related to an animal obtaining a life requisite or satisfying at least one of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; the aggregations providing patterns of behaviours in relation to the occurrence of landscape features; analysing the given terrain and identifying landscape features therein and based upon the landscape features, identifying, by the one or more computers or one or more computer servers, in the aggregations of Animal Decision Units stored in the database, animal species likely to accept or reject the landscape features as locations where opportunities may be available or created for the four basic functional needs to take place and in doing so allows life requisites of animals or guilds of animals to be met or served; and 16 identifying Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the identified animal species and generating one or more non-overlapping Design Animal Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps in the given terrain; thereby synthesizing likely animal decisions that would be taken by animals or representative animals in the given terrain, without reference to or interference from human reasoning. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more computers or computer servers are operable to cause the one or more computers or computer servers to perform operations to implement a habitat supplementation, the operations to implement the supplementation comprising: a database storage operation that includes a database storing functional habitat acceptance criteria, including Animal Decision Units, relating to prior decision-making processes and sequences performed by (non-human) animals in their acceptance of one or more terrains, or portions thereof, as part of their habitat in terms of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; a catalogue operation that includes accessing of information relating to a plurality of supplement devices and/or supplement information, each supplement device and/or implemented supplement information increasing the availability of, or restricting access to, one or more of the four basic functional animal needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; each supplement device, and/or implemented supplement information, thereby at least in part operable to encourage or discourage certain animals through the conversion of at least a portion of a given terrain into the upgraded form in accordance with designed Function-Based Habitat Design features; an animal needs identification operation that includes analysing a given terrain on the basis of the functional habitat acceptance criteria, and classifies animal species using at least some information accessed from the database for which the given terrain can potentially provide viable habitats in terms of habitat guilds, the potential provision including consideration of supplementation or prevention of access to the functional animal needs; a selection operation that includes selection from the classified habitat guilds a number of habitat guilds representative of the animal species populations which the given terrain can be made to sustain; an organization operation, that includes organizing Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the animal species as set out in the selected habitat guilds, the organization including 17 ranking on the basis of optimal habitat design intent-based combinations of criteria, thereby the prior decision making processes and sequences of animals in the database at least in part providing anticipated consequent actions and an increased likelihood of achieving habitat optimality; and an operation that generates a set of implementation instructions in any physical form, according to the animal determined needs, for use by an implementer or implementation team, for converting the given terrain into an upgraded form incorporating the appropriate Function-Based Habitat Design features and incorporating one or more supplementation devices selected from the catalogue thereby to encourage or discourage certain animals species in relation to the given terrain on the basis of the organization ranking. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more computers or computer servers are operable to cause the one or more computers or computer servers to perform operations to implement artificial synthesis of animal decisions in a given terrain, the operations to implement the synthesis comprising: a database storage operation that includes a database storing aggregations of Animal Decision Units associated with identifiable and mappable structural landscape features; each Animal Decision Unit being a behaviour and an associated occurrence of a feature in a landscape and the feature attributes, the feature thereby suggestive of a functional content in the animal's habitat that can prompt an animal action related to an animal obtaining a life requisite or satisfying at least one of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; the aggregations providing patterns of behaviours in relation to the occurrence of landscape features; an analysis operation, that includes analysing the given terrain and identifying landscape features therein and based upon the landscape features, identifying in the aggregations of Animal Decision Units stored in the database, animal species likely to accept or reject the landscape features as locations where opportunities may be available or created for the four basic functional needs to take place and in doing so allows life requisites of animals or guilds of animals to be met or served; 18 an identifying operation, identifying Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the identified animal species and generating one or more non-overlapping Design Animal Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps in the given terrain; thereby synthesizing likely animal decisions that would be taken by animals or representative animals in the given terrain, without reference or interference from human reasoning. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words "comprise", "comprising", and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to". In what follows the invention will be further elucidated with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent: Fig. 1: is a diagram showing the three-way relationship among a Design Animal Habitat Guild (DAHG), a habitat function and a mapping unit in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2: represents a function-based habitat design process flow chart for the method according to the invention; Fig. 3: is a diagram showing steps in the method according to the invention, showing transitions in relationships among terrain features, structural units, decision units and design units; Fig. 4: is a Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map (VTD map), prepared in an example of the method of Figs. 1 and 2. At the same time it also serves as a terrain feature and Animal Decision Unit(s) map in the working example; Fig. 5: is a conformed Design Animal Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Map for the same experimental site terrain as covered by Fig. 4. For purposes of the working example, this Figure 5 doubles as a Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units map; 19 Fig. 6: is a process diagram illustrating steps in part of the method according to the invention for establishing animal species-structure-habitat function relationships to support achievement of habitat functional optimality; Fig. 7: is a diagram showing a minimum number of mapping unit types required to depict terrain feature and structural unit types - savannah; Fig. 8: is a diagram showing a minimum number of mapping unit types required to depict terrain feature and structural unit types - aquatic; Fig. 9: is a diagram corresponding to Fig. 7 showing habitat guild decision unit types associated with savannah terrain features and structural unit types; Fig.10: represents habitat structural units and habitat supplements in an example of the method according to the invention as architectural adjuncts; Figs. 11 -14: illustrate examples of landscape architectural structural opportunities to incorporate habitat functionality in a method according to the invention in the following situation: "Natural" System (Fig. 11), Horticultural Systems (Fig. 12), Hardscape (Fig. 13) and Softscape (Fig. 14); Fig. 15: illustrates diagrammatically how in landscape architecture the method according to the invention serves as a tool for gain in habitat value (a) within a developed area; Figs. 16 - 21: illustrate printed data sheets in the form of tables 1 to 6 for use in the method according to the invention, including in diagrammised form how these tables are to be completed, wherein Table 1 (Fig. 16) includes an animal species list, candidate habitat guild labels, habitat function prioritisation and mapping unit's degree of association; Table 2 (Fig. 17) reflects a ranking protocol for either habitat function support value or degree of association; Table 3 (Fig. 18) represents a mappable unit types list; Table 4 (Fig. 19) represents a design animal habitat guild requisites template; Table 5 (Fig. 20) serves to tabulate vegetation species rankings for design animal habitat guild specific habitat function support value; Table 6 (Fig. 21) represents a design habitat guild specific vegetation planting palette. Fig. 22: represents a development plan (low density housing estate) applied to the experimental site terrain as covered by Figs. 4 and 5 (working example); Fig. 23: shows a completed Table 7, being a housing estate space allocation for the experimental site terrain of Fig. 22; Fig. 24: represents a diagram placing the habitat design according to the invention in a human decision making context; Fig. 25: represents Table 8, being part of a modified form of mammal species list, candidate habitat guild labels, habitat function design, prioritisation and mappable unit type degree of association as part of the working example; Fig. 26: represents Table 9, "Mappable Unit Type Legend", of Table 3 (Fig. 18) for the working example. Fig. 27: represents as part of the working example a larger scale map illustrating conformance of stand to site scale mappable units. Fig. 28: represents the map according to Fig. 27 showing (superposed) conformance of landscape architectural and architectural footprints to stand scale mappable units. Fig. 29: represents Table 10 illustrating the degree of association between each design habitat guild and small mammal species - sorted for DAHG 9 for the working example; Fig. 30: represents Table 11, illustrating Design Animal Habitat Guild Boolean constructs as part of the working example; Fig. 31: represents superposed on Fig 5 terrain features polygons to serve as a composite habitat guild map in the form of a Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map; Fig. 32: shows Table 12 in respect of vegetation cover types, terrain features and habitat decision unit legends; Referring now to the drawings: In the Function-based Habitat Design (FBHD) process the habitat functions feeding (f), breeding (b), nesting (n) and resting (r) are used as bases for habitat design in a three-way relationship among: (1) A ranked set of habitat functions (f,b,n,r), (2) An animal habitat guild and (3) An aggregation of structural units and Animal Decision Unit(s) within which selected habitat functions and a habitat guild co-occur (Figure 1). A habitat function is selected as part of the label for a Design Animal Habitat Guild. The selected habitat function is the one best suited to drive the achievement of habitat optimality for a particular animal guild through a habitat design process. An animal guild is a group of animals making a similar use of a similar resource. An animal habitat guild is a group of animals associated with the obtaining or satisfying of a design emphasised habitat function in association with a mappable terrain feature, structural unit or Animal Decision Unit(s). Terrain features, structural units and Animal Decision Unit(s) are mappable units having distinct inherent or innate value for the provision of components of habitat. The inherent or innate value attributes of a terrain feature are primary determinants of the structural units that can or will occur on the feature. Structural units may be vegetative, edaphic, lithic or hydrologic in nature but are correlated with a habitat function and an animal habitat guild. Structural units contain Animal Decision Unit(s). Animal Decision Unit(s) are animal selected point or small area features in which a habitat function is or can be satisfied at a point in time. Animal Decision Unit(s) include decision units associated with life requisite pre-obtainment and post obtainment activities. Determination of the three-way relationship is fundamental for co-placement of structural units, animals and habitat functionality. The relationship is physically established then functionally optimised. Steps 1, 2 and 3 of the habitat design process involve the conversion of conventional lists of habitat components to establish this three-way relationship (Figure 2). Listed animal species are initially linked at the species level with closely associated structural unit types (Fig. 16, Table 1). A habitat function support value ranking is assigned, based on each mapping unit type's value to each animal species (Fig. 17, Table 2). Terrain features, structural units and Animal Decision Unit(s) are compiled then categorised considering habitat function-based innate and inherent value potential rather than extant conditions (Fig. 18, Table 3). Vegetation species for the site and region are compiled. Their assignment of habitat function support value occurs after the three-way relationships groupings required for design, are established. The Step 3 Habitat Guild Requisites Template format contains both the end products of the initial data lists conversion processes and the basis for production of the interim products for habitat design (Fig. 19, Table 4). A Habitat Guild Design Template is constructed for each Design Animal Habitat Guild required for a habitat design. The template contains: (1) The animal species names comprising the guild (Columns B & C). The species names are assigned a ranking for the degree of association with the Design Animal Habitat Guild. (2) The mapping unit types selected as bases for Habitat Guild specific spatial patternings best supporting achievement of habitat optimality (Columns K-AX) and (3) Rankings indicating the degree of habitat function support value for each animal species-structural unit-habitat function combination (species-fbnr matrix). Sortings of the Degree of Association and other rankings are used to establish animal groupings for degree of habitat function-structural unit of association. The Degree of Association rankings, when sorted, suggest animal species groupings relative to an opinion based valuation of the three-way relationship between an animal, a best design option habitat function and the structural unit within which that life requisite is met (Table 4, Column D) in Fig. 19. Several different mapping unit types are typically required to comprise habitat for an animal species (Table 4, Rows 6 & 7). The extent to which any one type of mapping unit can satisfy a life requisite requirement varies from the others (Table 4, Rows 8, 9, 10). A habitat function weighted summation of these relative rankings indicates the relative value of each Mapping Unit type in satisfying habitat functions at the level of the individual function (Table 4, Labels F, B, N, R). Similarly, an Across Mapping Units Habitat Functional Value Synopsis can be used to assess relative value of any combination of mapping units for the production of opportunities for delivery of habitat function support value to any animal species or grouping of animal species (Table 4, Columns AX-BC). The mapping units, if design protocols are met, will eventually contain those structures suited for and closely linked with successful completion of actions and behaviours that are required for life cycle completion (Table 4, Columns BD-BG). Listing them is important for several reasons. They may not occur in either the extant condition or during the post installation era. The number and types of these features required for habitat optimality likely far exceeds that occurring under either natural or well-managed conditions. Listing these requisites for functional habitat is the initiation point leading to design process elements to characterise and build in these structures (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverables 2 & 4). Doing so satisfies both design and habitat optimality benchmarking requirements. From sortings prior decision-making and choices relative to Design Animal Habitat Guilds and related data can be reviewed. Revisions should be made where warranted at any point of or level within the preceding efforts. Upon reaching an acceptable status for content of and relationships within the template, production of interim products can proceed. Interim Products (IP) of the habitat design process are: (1) Habitat Guild specific Habitat Pattern Map Booleans (Figure 2, Step 4) (Fig. 19, Table 4, Rows 2, 4 & 14). (2) A Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map Legend (VTD Legend) (Figure 2, Step 4), (3) A Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Function Support Value Ranked Vegetation Species List (Figure 2, Step 4), (4) A Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Animal Decision Unit(s) Map (VTD Map) (Figure 2, Step 4) and (5) A Conformed Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Animal Decision Unit(s) Map (Conformed Map) (Figure 2, Step 4). The Habitat Pattern Map Booleans are a summation of a portion of the list of mapping unit types (Table 4, Rows 6 & 7). The highest scoring mapping unit types are a presumed core portion of the Habitat Pattern Maps. Other mapping unit types may be added to a Boolean to form a contiguous set of mapping unit types that are highly ranked for their habitat function support value. Use of a Mapping Unit type for more than one type of Design Animal Habitat Guild is not allowed. Design, installation, management, maintenance and benchmarking activities require defined areas within which tasks occur and any overlap among Habitat Pattern Maps would lead to confusion and ambiguity. Comparisons among Degree of Association rankings among different habitat guilds will generally indicate that many species have strong associations with mapping units occurring within other Habitat Pattern Maps. This functional overlap rather than structural overlap is considered a strength of the technique.

In the Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Legend (VTD Legend) (Figure 2, Step 4) the previous emphasis on terrain features (Figure 2, Step 1), structural units (Table 1) and Animal Decision Unit(s) (Table 1) changes. During site characterisation inherent value loci are mapped as terrain features; Animal Decision Unit(s) are noted and located; and structural units are ignored for mapping but are later linked during a desktop exercise to animal species and behaviours essential to life cycle completion (Fig. 16, Table 1). Habitat design must result in high densities of high habitat function support value structures occurring and persisting on the initially mapped terrain features units. Therefore, a return to consideration of structural unit types with diversity and density attributes suited to terrain feature types is a design requisite. This is best treated as a series of vegetation cover type labels for the complex of vegetative structures with their embedded habitat functions and animal decision units that will be installed and benchmarked to optimality. The labels may be conventional or arise from the design process when composition, structure, function and utility of the given Habitat Pattern Map's components are realised. The shift from initial characterisation and listing of Animal Decision Unit(s) to beginning the design and installation of Habitat Decision Units follows a similar logic. The need to catalogue animal-structure-function relationships is based on animal decisions and behaviours. In the habitat design process these enter the process as animal determined essentially point-focused actions required to meet a life requisite (Figure 1) (Table 1) (Fig. 18, Table 3), a process of reaggregation from animal action focused on a point (Table 4) to an area-based feature type amenable to design. This aggregation is necessary to have design features that can be progressed toward habitat optimality by human actions. The shift in nomenclature from "animal decision" to "habitat decision" is a shift from recognition of a fine-grain sized point-based action within a structure type by an animal to design recognition of the structural unit type within which these point-focused actions occur (Figure 3). A Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Function Support Value Ranked Vegetation Species List (Vegetation Species List) (Fig. 20, Table 5) is required for each Design Animal Habitat Guild (Figure 2, Step 2) (Table 4). In the Vegetation Species List the same three-way relationship among animal group-habitat functions-structure is again ranked for habitat functional significance. However, the ranking relationships are now specific for each Design Animal Habitat Guild and, therefore, for each Habitat Pattern Map used in the design. Because the vegetation species have been ranked that subset of the species providing the majority of the habitat value for a guild can be placed in a Vegetation Planting Palette specific to a guild and its Habitat Pattern Map (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverable 1) (Fig. 21, Table 6). Thereby, control over spatial units is asserted. This control is necessary for design, installation, maintenance, management and benchmarking activities required to achieve habitat optimality. The rationale expressed above for the VTD Legend is applicable to and spatially expressed in the Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map (VTD Map) (Figure 4). Terrain Features will occur on the map only if they will remain unvegetated. In all other instances the structural unit types depicted are those that would occur within each terrain feature type at habitat optimality. Some Habitat Decision Units may warrant individual depiction. However, most to virtually all Habitat Decision Units will be adequately represented within the vegetation cover type depictions. Habitat Supplements are a special case of habitat decision units requiring spatial depiction and are treated in their appropriate section (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverable 2). Conformance 2 (Figure 2, Step 4) occurs after all data have been processed and converted from an animal and site characteristics perspective to a design and human interests perspective. The achievement of habitat optimality will occur only with a strong, perpetual and positive link to human interests. The lower standard for conformance success is spatial conformance with the other participating designs. Professional competence is presumed. Therefore, intended animal occurrence and usage per design goals is normative. The minimal design goal for the wildlife professional is the sufficient, self-willed, perpetual incorporation of knowledgeable laypersons into the habitat design end product as fully functional components of habitat. Fully drawing the expertise of the other project professionals into the habitat design is a necessity. An awareness that, while habitat design for most animals requires knowledge of structure-function-animal requisite relationships with a limited requirement for behavioural factors, the reverse is true when designing the human component of habitat.

Step 5: Deliverables: The five deliverables (Figure 2, Step 5) from the habitat design process provide the specifications for the pursuit of habitat optimality within the design area. They have a similar utility for but differ in their applicability to off-site areas. Application elsewhere in many locations on a piecemeal basis by professionals and laypersons is an intended use of the deliverables. Most application sites will be sub-threshold for the spatial requirements necessary for habitat optimality. Therefore, continual upgrading of habitat potential at larger than habitat spatial scale will be a chronic need. These products will receive most of their use in such areas outside of the design site. The deliverables from the habitat design process, presented in order of general value or for a piecemeal application in areas not having a habitat design, are: (1) Vegetation Planting Palette: - For a general usage each Vegetation Planting Palette (Fig. 21, Table 6) is generally suited for use within one primary vegetation structure type. Vegetation structure types are typically readily recognisable by individuals without formal training. The inclusion of a vegetative structure type within the label serves to direct appropriate siting for plantings. The ranking of vegetation species within each habitat guild or structure type can serve as a recommendation for purchase and plantings by commercial nurseries. In contrast to this ad hoc near random usage of the Vegetation Planting Palettes the within design area planting locales (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverable 3) (Figure 1 blank) are linked to the initial site mapping of terrain features and Animal Decision Unit(s) (Figure 2, Step 1). This link of (1) structural unit type to (2) site conditions best supporting that structural unit type for a (3) specific animal habitat guild should offer a best opportunity for achievement of habitat functional optimality. This duality of intended usage type, within-design area and elsewhere, by professional or laity, could result in a general increase in habitat value in a region over time. The lists and their widespread usage may increase the likelihood of commercial offerings of vegetation having higher habitat utility. Obviously the species can be further associated with aesthetics and other criteria affecting choice for installation. (2) Habitat Supplements Location Map: - Provision of cavities of suitable dimensions in locations and densities required for acceptance and local area perpetuation of using species is a necessity. It ranks on-Dar with the presence of suitable vegetation species as a life requisite provision. Provision of the Habitat Supplements Location Map (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverable 4) is ranked above provision of the supplements because the intent of the habitat design process is achievement of habitat optimality and not human entertainment. The map specifies supplement type and the location or area of installation. It parallels a detailed vegetation planting plan in its detail. Utility is the installation objective. The Habitat Supplements variety of type installed is a function of and essential for achievement of habitat optimality and consequent delivery of human pleasure. In a formal design a balanced installation of types is driven by design goals. (3) Habitat Spatial Design Units: - Humans and the general installation of functional habitat would be well served by an appropriately sized spatial unit that is applicable for generation and management of functional habitat in the absence of a formal habitat sized design (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverable 3). Habitat functional success can occur over many different sizes of spatial units. However, its success in a human system context is a function of human interest and willingness to act. Human habitat vegetation patch size and a positive economic relationship occur at a spatial unit threshold size of 150 metres. Certain high-value habitat functions are associated with a similar or smaller patch size. This patch size is not a determination from the habitat design process. It is a recommendation for generation of human involvement in habitat creation and management in association with a spatial unit having a positive economic feedback affect. (4) Habitat Supplements Handbook: - The Habitat Supplements Handbook (Figure 2, Step 5, Deliverable 4) contains the knowledge base required for successful utilisation of Habitat Supplements. Successful utilisation of Habitat Supplements is characterised by: 1) A high level of utilisation success by intended species of animal users and 2) Nominal progress towards optimal Habitat Supplements utilisation using human inputs to install, maintain and achieve benchmark indices. Habitat Supplements are preferably generic in use to the extent practicable and species specific where warranted. Interspecies competition and user species vulnerability are reasons for species specificity of design whether the intent is to facilitate use by one species or the exclusion of another. Unintended uses are fortuitous and offer opportunities to examine the potential offered to achieve habitat optimality.

(5) Conformed Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Maps: - The Conformed Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Maps (Figure 5) are a product of a specific habitat design and applicable only to the design site. However, they have significant inferential value that could be of use elsewhere. For design application each Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Map depicts the area for which it is applicable, the structural types comprising the map and a label for each included terrain feature type (Figure 5). The Habitat Spatial Design Unit sizing recommendations (Figure 2, Step 5) can be used to delineate where these units could or should occur within a conformed Habitat Pattern Map. The landscape architectural integration with the Habitat Pattern Maps, and vice versa, should be total. Each aesthetic element must incorporate habitat functionality fully; then agree on conformance. The reverse is also true. Architectural and engineering products have structural mandates that limit the extent of conformance and design integration. However, far more opportunities exist for conformance than are incorporated into designs. Overpasses and underpasses should be incorporated into the design until demand and ease of access criteria are met rather than forcing usage of limited choices. Cavities should be part of the initial design for both built-in and add-on options. The design criteria must be habitat optimality with carrying capacity as the dictate of adequacy of habitat function related opportunities. The end product conformed design is a component for use in benchmarking on-site habitat optimality and as an example informing design efforts and ad hoc efforts elsewhere. Professional Role: - This technique is expressly intended to place the wildlife management professional on a par basis with the other built environment design and land use change and managing professionals. The Habitat Guild Requisites Template is the core product and focal point for the wildlife professional involved in habitat design. Its content quality largely determines potential for achievement of habitat optimality. Lay Role: - The foregoing habitat design process requires perpetual involvement of humans for achievement of habitat optimally. Outside of this habitat design process but intimately associated with it must occur the tools and a knowledge and skills set required for habitat installation, management, maintenance, benchmarking and, ultimately, achievement of habitat optimality. Further, each of these project phases, activity types, tools, knowledge and skills must be integrated into a single workable whole. In what follows, the above summarised steps are further particularised: STEP 1: Compile and Inventory Habitat Design Requisites List Animal Species: List the mammals and birds occurring and potentially occurring on the site and in the region, including migrants. List Vegetation Species: List the vegetation species occurring and potentially occurring on the site and in the region including non-native or a non-indigenous species. List Vegetation Cover Types: List the vegetation cover types that do and could occur on the site and in the region. Include vegetation cover types representing: * optimal responses to inherent value sets of terrain conditions 0 responses to disturbance regimes * responses to management and maintenance regimes List Mappable Terrain Features and Animal Decision Unit(s) Types: A mappable terrain feature is a function of spatial scale. A mappable terrain feature is also a structure having inherent values that are determinants of habitat value (Figure 1) (Table 3). The habitat value of a mapped terrain feature may or may not be expressed either when feature is mapped or when selected as a feature type for mapping. An Animal Decision Unit(s) is a feature with a functional content that can prompt an animal action. The action taken is related to an animal obtaining a life requisite or satisfying a related need. An Animal Decision Unit(s) is typically a structural subunit of a mappable terrain feature type. Prior land use can affect current terrain condition and content. Recovery of inherent value potential may require determining these effects and assessing consequences on achieving habitat optimality. Review Site Findings: Review habitat related site findings with other involved design professionals. Review the site appraisal and definition findings of the other involved design professionals whose products and actions will affect site habitat potential.

STEP 2: Select Design Animal Habitat Guilds In Step 2 (Figure 2, Step 2) the suite of animal habitat guilds is listed that could occur on the site and in the vicinity under optimal habitat conditions during both the predevelopment context and the regional post-buildout period (Table 3). Based on the characteristics of these guilds a set of Design Animal Habitat Guilds (Table 4) is selected. The Design Animal Habitat Guilds are that minimum set of spatially non-overlapping guilds offering the best opportunity to design and manage the site to habitat optimality. Habitat optimality is a design construct determined considering two states. State 1 is defined as regional predevelopment habitat optimality. State 2 is determined by the extent to which anticipated regional post-buildout conditions can approximate predevelopment conditions of habitat optimality. Design Animal Habitat Guilds (Figure 2, Step 2) (Table 4) are a construct. The list of animal habitat guilds (Figure 2, Step 2) (Table 1) and their attributes are a basis from which Design Animal Habitat Guilds are constructed. The suite of Design Animal Habitat Guilds used for habitat design may be one of the listed animal habitat guilds, a derivative of them or a construct made using the knowledge gained during listing and attribution of the animal habitat guilds. The Design Animal Habitat Guilds are determined by first specifying the complete three-way animal-structure-function relationships for each animal species (Figure 1) (Table 1) (Table 3). For each animal species, a primary structure type associated with the animal species must be stated. For the primary structure type a primary associated habitat function must be stated and ranked for its habitat support value. After this is accomplished the remaining three habitat functions are ranked for their relative value (Table 2) for the animal species in that habitat structure type (Figure 6). This process is repeated until rankings have been made for each animal species-structure type-habitat function combination. Sex and life stages are treated as species were warranted, e.g. where life cycle completion either cannot occur or would be significantly affected without incorporation of the information into the habitat design. The forms (Table 1) (Table 3) are organised so that structure types associated with an animal species and the habitat function for that species can be listed to show associations among them. The animal species (sex) (age)-structural label-habitat function relationship characterisation forms a basis for examination followed by species clustering within determined relationship groupings. A re-examination of listed animal species and animal species groupings relationship rationales should be used to improve the characterisation specificity of the within species relationships and the consistency in structure type labelling across relationships and relationships groupings. The objective of this habitat design step is to assure that an animal species-associated structures specificity and relationship-habitat function(s) is correctly and explicitly characterised recognising that the design goal is achievement of habitat optimality for the determined grouping of animals and the specified three-way relationship. This step of the habitat design process is not used to consider relative rankings or merit of the determined relationship's contribution to habitat functional value. The step is intended to force characterisation specificity of animal-structure-function relationships. It is also intended to concomitantly drive proper grouping and labelling of site features and Animal Decision Unit(s).This grouping and labelling, in turn, considers site inherent value types, associated habitat guild groupings and the confirming Animal Decision Unit(s) types occurring in the inherent value features (Table 3). Other Animal Decision Unit(s) types and not occurring on the site but required for habitat optimality must be listed at this time for consideration during design. Step 2 Conformance: Conformance Opportunity 1: This first conformance opportunity is used to assure that all participating design professionals understand the habitat design process and the extent to which and when their designs will be exposed to habitat design related examination and change. All design products at this point are preliminary and conceptual. They probably best express the designers' pre-habitat design related understanding of the relationship between a site situation and the application of their professional skills. In this conformance step the suite of Design Animal Habitat Guilds are presented to demonstrate where and how they will affect design and where other designs may affect the habitat design. Conformance then ensues. STEPS 3 & 4 Overview: Development of Internal Products Steps 3 and 4 are internal to the wildlife management profession. They require no communication with or inputs from other design professions. In these two steps the Design Animal Habitat Guilds are, first, attributed as required for achievement of habitat design optimality (Figure 2, Step 3). Then, the attributed data and information are converted into interim products. From these interim products design end products or deliverables are produced (Figure 2, Step 4). Step 3 requires intensive data input. The data characterise the relationship of those individual animal species comprising a Design Animal Habitat Guild, mapping unit type and its associated and prioritised habitat functions. Animal behaviour linked features that affect mapping unit animal occupancy, density and utility as habitat are considered in this step. Step 4 consists of two related tasks. First, the value of the relationships among vegetation species, habitat functional value and mappable units are recast to support habitat design requirements. Second, a one line Boolean statement is constructed using the data compiled in Step 3. The Boolean characterises that best minimal set of structural units most likely to result in achievement of habitat optimality for that particular Design Animal Habitat Guild. These two interim products drive the development of four of the five habitat design process end products. STEP 3: Attribution of Design Value to Design Animal Habitat Guilds The Habitat Guild Requisites Template is one of two primary data repository types for design support. It is a primary decision support tool within the habitat design process (Table 4). A template is required for each Design Animal Habitat Guild. During attribution, habitat characterisation data are compiled, reviewed and used as a basis for a ranking the habitat function support value relationship between an animal species and the mapping unit types comprising its habitat (Table 4). The animal species comprising a Design Animal Habitat Guild (Table 3) are listed (Table 4, Columns B and C). The mapping unit types comprising its habitat are listed (Table 4, Rows 6 & 7). The guild composition and Mapping Units Type and label standardisation are determined in Tables 1 and 3. The rankings matrix (Table 4, Cells K-19 through AX-62) is completed from the literature and using professional opinion where data are either missing or deficient. A comment can be placed in each cell citing either the source of support for the ranking or referring out to a citations repository. Data tracking is used as a part of benchmarking. Based on the foregoing, a relative value ranking (Table 2) is assigned for each habitat function (f, b, n, r,) within each animal species-mapping unit type relationship. The habitat function specific rankings can be summed to form a mapping unit type habitat function support index at the mapping unit type level (Table 4, Column 0 and others with a X). Three habitat function rankings are summated per mapping unit type (Table 4, Rows 8, 9 & 10). Further, the sequence of sorting within each mapping unit type is assigned a number indicating the relative importance of a function for achievement of habitat optimality for the mapping unit type for that Design Animal Habitat Guild. This within mapping unit type sum (Table 4, Columns 0, T, ... ) dictates the relative value of each mapping unit type for each animal species associated with the Design Animal Habitat Guild. Across mapping unit type comparisons of the same summation scores (Y) indicate the relative habitat functional value of each mapping unit type. The summation of within mapping unit type rankings suggests the relative importance of each mapping unit type for inclusion in a Habitat Boolean for the Design Animal Habitat Guild (Table 4, Cells 0-62 through AX-62). The mapping unit type ranking summations are further summarised as the Across Mapping Units Functional Value Synopsis Scores (Table 4, Columns AY-BC). These are both habitat function specific summaries of rankings and a "Sum of Sums" score. When sorted by ranking score or by the sum of ranking scores, these scores show those animal species and the sequencing of species having habitat functions best met by the mix of mapping unit types. This sorting by degree of service or support provided can be varied to select animal groupings receiving similar and/or different levels of habitat functional support. The degree of generic association between an animal species and mapping unit type is ranked (Table 4 Column D) (Table 2). This professional opinion synthesis based ranking affords another and simple means to sort animal species according to their degree of association with a Design Animal Habitat Guild. Bases for assignment of ranking scores may differ. However, this ranked expression of (1) opinion and (2) related applicable data is subject to cross checks within the form (Z and JZ) and by inputs from others.

These Degree of Association scores can be sorted. The resulting pattern of rankings forms groupings of species that vary in degree of association with or fidelity to the Design Animal Habitat Guild. This animal species ranking sequence and its sets of association groupings can be compared with those of individual Mapping Unit Types as well as those contained in the Across Mapping Units Functional Value Synopsis. Based on comparisons among these sort outcomes the choices of Mapping Unit Types to be used for a Habitat Pattern Map formation and a logic processes associated with prior decision sequences can be reviewed to select those Mapping Unit Types delivering an increased likelihood of achieving habitat optimality. These highest ranked Mapping Unit Types will be used to form the Habitat Booleans for each Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Map. The data filled set of Design Animal Habitat Guilds form the core of the wildlife professional's participation in the habitat design process. The number of animal species selected for a site and its regional context is a relatively limited and fixed design process starting point. In contrast, properly delimiting terrain features based on those inherent value attributes driving habitat functionality requires understanding of structure-function relationships at the level of specific soil-plant-animal interactions. Therefore, Step 1 data capture and site characterisation decisions have a decided effect on the Step 4 output products. The outcomes of options for the varied sorts and ranking sequences associated with the set of Design Animal Habitat Guild Templates offer an opportunity to examine the appropriateness of these early actions. They also serve as indicators of the utility value of spatial, structural and functional aspects of the final design. The achievable degree of habitat optimality is strongly affected by the expertise associated with the content of this form and its relationship to the site's inherent determinants of habitat functionality. The form serves both as a basis for design and as a benchmarking tool when assessing progress toward optimality. The structure-function-animal relationship represented in the form can be tested for efficacy by measuring animal presence and usage attributes. Testing can occur at the detail level of any within the cell ranking or out to any sort grouping. Upon completion of attribution the Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Guild Requisites Template becomes the data and information source for development of interim products leading to final products useful for habitat design.

STEP 4: Production of Interim Products (IP) IP 1: Habitat Pattern Map Booleans: - A Habitat Pattern Map Boolean is a logic statement composed of highest ranked, closely associated mapping unit types narrowly defining a habitat area for a Design Animal Habitat Guild (Table 4, Line 9). The Habitat Pattern Map Boolean, when applied to the mapping unit types of the Terrain Features and Habitat Guild Decision Units Map, defines a Habitat Pattern Map for a specific Design Animal Habitat Guild. Each Mapping Unit Type is used only once among all Booleans. This prevents spatial overlap among Habitat Pattern Maps for the set of Design Animal Habitat Guilds. IP 2: Habitat Function Support Value Ranked Vegetation Species List: - The Habitat Function Support Value Ranked Vegetation Species List (Table 5) is the second and other major data repository type and decision support tool within the habitat design process. Within it the vegetation species best supporting achievement of habitat optimality are associated with the Design Animal Habitat Guilds at the level of individual habitat functions. All vegetation species occurring in the region and adapted to site and vicinity conditions up to at least a habitat sized area are ranked for their habitat function support value for each Design Animal Habitat Guild (Table 5) (Table 2). Each vegetation species is assigned a ranking value for its habitat function support value for each habitat function within each Design Animal Habitat Guild. The value of the individual habitat functions as bases for achievement of habitat optimality vary among vegetation species and within habitat guilds. Therefore, after vegetation species are ranked they are sorted by habitat function support value within each habitat guild habitat function type to identify those vegetation species within each habitat guild that best achieve habitat optimality (Table 5, Rows l-J-K-L ... N-O-P-Q ...). Following ranking and sorting, habitat function value support rankings can be summarised across the set of habitat functions within habitat guilds (Table 5, all columns with X). This determines and allows grouping of those vegetation species best serving a broader or selected range of habitat functions within a habitat guild. Comparisons among sort types are used to select those vegetation species best meeting the habitat functional requirements of a habitat guild. Summaries of rankings can also be made across a set of functionally and/or structurally related habitat guilds and used to assess value of vegetation species. Site wide rankings or rankings made across all habitat guilds, while possible, begin to blur high value habitat guild related uses of vegetation species. These generalist rankings do serve as a means to compare general recommendations for plantings to laity for "backyard wildlife" or "indigenous" values with this more formalised approach to value determination. From the ranked and sorted Vegetation Species List a set of Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Vegetation Planting Palettes is subsetted (Figure 4). IP 3: Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map Legend: This legend is compiled using column headings contained in the Vegetation Cover Types List and the Habitat Guild Requisites Templates. The legend listings correlate with the terminology and mapping units contained in the Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Map Booleans. The vegetation cover types used in a habitat design can be of three types. The types can: (1) Closely mimic a naturally occurring cover type in composition, form and function, (2) Be a conventional appearing landscape architectural product from a human perspective but be constructed using high habitat function support value components, or (3) Be a strict design construct of that vegetation species mix delivering a highest possible habitat functional value density in expectation that it will result in optimal habitat. The natural system mimics potential for self-organisation with its consequent structural and functional stability and resilience. These would tend to be large area systems having a relatively low money density with a probability of low-level extensive management inputs. For these system types the Vegetation Planting Palettes and Habitat Supplements Handbook would likely be used for habitat improvement without the use of a significant, if any, habitat design component. The dual functionality content of vegetation species used in the landscape architectural approach would likely be the most frequently used design approach. For this design approach a design impetus and budget would exist. Long term management under conditions of design and budget would be likely. Once Vegetation Planting Palettes that are suited to a region enter general usage, presumably following an initial designed application, the design community's familiarity with their content is likely' to result in a shift in planting specifications toward hiaher habitat function support value species. Ease of recognition within the design community and within the lay community of vegetation structural unit types will make selection of appropriate habitat guilds a simple activity. The third option for constructing this map legend is more problematical. It may be more necessary. Habitat is a variable. Current natural vegetation associations and their associated mixes of animals are subject to and will change. Just as Clementsian succession was replaced by directed succession, current apparent stable associations are shifting due to fragmentation effects and climate change. This habitat design protocol offers a means to characterise new conditions and design accordingly. The new conditions and vegetation species mixes may warrant new and different labels. Limitations such as money, human effort, roadways, rivers and other barriers suggest that Animal Decision Unit(s) groupings be developed considering future structural unit and terrain feature conditions. Further, these groupings may have to function at a higher level while in close proximity to human activities with their high money densities and likelihood of long term management. Associations of these groupings of high habitat functional value vegetation species tailored to possible near future conditions should perhaps be a priority for present-day plantings. Having presented the circumstances that may affect labelling of these spatial units, other factors affecting labels warrant attention. The terms Mapping Unit, Terrain Feature, Structural Unit, Animal Decision Unit(s) and Habitat Decision Unit have distinct meanings, relationships and applications (Table 6). They have been used to indicate clarity of purpose for actions taken at different points in the habitat design process. The design process begins with a focus on the loci for inherent value in terrain. These loci are most likely to be a Terrain Feature which is a type of mapping unit. It would be presumptuous, and perhaps derailing of design intent, to assign either a structural unit type or animal habitat decision unit types to a terrain feature at the outset of the design process. Therefore, adherence to fundamental determinants of inherent value was sought as a decision base for determining initial mapping units. Vegetative structure would emanate from these inherent value loci in most cases. Vegetative structure types have good correlation with the inherent value. However, there is a range and amplitude of vegetative response that is possible and these, for design value, are best saddled within the context of the design process and not as the fait accompli of a field decision.

Where no vegetation exists, a terrain feature will. Therefore, the fall-back mapping convention is the terrain feature associated with an inherent value set that has habitat functional value distinct from adjacent terrain features. An Animal Decision Unit(s) is a small discreet space that prompts an animal action. The common actions are ingestion and egestion plus rest which is a form of action. The other common act is that of positioning. Positioning may take the form of travelling, crouching, perching or any of the many other acts that occur to facilitate opportunities for ingestion and egestion. In their broadest forms, ingestion is to take into the body and egestion is to expel from the body. In this context sex and territory related acts are forms of ingestion and egestion. Therefore, Animal Decision Unit(s) have a habitat function and these habitat functions are summarised for habitat design purposes as feeding, breeding, nesting and resting. Animal Decision Unit(s) are identified by observing animal decisions or consequences of actions taken by animals. Their value to the animal is a function of nutritive value, energy conservation, service as refugia and other uses facilitating reproduction and life cycle completion. Cataloguing of Animal Decision Unit(s) with their functional attributes and values are best means for assuring the potential for design elements necessary for achievement of habitat optimality. However, at the outset of the habitat design process, examples of the actions of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting are best logged in correlation with a mapped terrain feature or structural unit for subsequent consideration during the design process. Information from the literature and professional opinion are also useful in constructing the Animal Decision Unit(s) portion of the map legend. For design utility, Animal Decision Unit(s) are aggregated by habitat function type then associated with a structural unit type. This composite source of opportunities for a type of animal action to be used to meet a life requisite is labelled a Habitat Decision Unit for habitat design purposes. Habitat Decision Units will be most often mapped as a structural unit type without mention of the habitat function(s) served. In other instances, separate mapping may be warranted if the unit is of distinct value or is not customarily associated with a mapped structural unit. In explanation, a feeding Habitat Decision Unit for a small to medium-sized carnivore may be a patchy dense grass area. This structural unit may or may not be a maroina unit deoendina on mar scale and the bases used to establish the relationship between Design Animal Habitat Guild member species, a mapping unit type and the linked habitat function. Based on the foregoing, the Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Units Map Legend must be composed with a clear understanding of the relationship among the initial site mapping units, Animal Decision Unit(s) and their aggregation in the structural units within which habitat functions are met and life requisites satisfied. IP 4: Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Guild Decision Units Map: This (Figure 2, Step 4) is a synthesis of two production streams within the habitat design process. It combines the map legend of the same name with elements of the mapping unit types (Table 4) used for Design Animal Habitat Guild Booleans and the terrain features map (Figure 2, Step 1) to produce the map to be used in the habitat design. The Terrain Features Map contains the spatial units forming the base of the Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Guild Decision Units Map. The map legend has the labels applicable to the map unit types. Any modifications to or specialisation of mapping units terminology required for habitat guild Boolean development would be recorded in the Design Animal Habitat Guild Templates (Table 4). Vegetation cover types are reintroduced as label types for use in this map. However, as explained in Step 4, these labels may or may not represent conventional vegetation cover types. For this map and the subsequent design these labels are new terms of convention for the vegetative structural unit types and vegetation species associations that will be planted and developed on the site Terrain Features and Habitat Guild Decision Units. -The labels should provide ease of reference and communication for future managers and beneficiaries of the site while reasonably characterising the spatial units comprising the site. No structural unit type labels are used as labels for this map. However, Structural Unit Types do influence decisions concerning Mapping Unit Types and Terrain Feature characterisation. Any vegetative structural unit type is probably a subset characteristic of a vegetation cover type used as a mapping unit label. Structure is a primary determinant of function. There is the need to simplify and minimise the number of structural unit types that could occur in a habitat design and do so in the context of terrain feature types (Figure 7, Figure 8) with their associated subsets of vegetative structural unit types (Figure 9).

IP 5: Conformed Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Guild Decision Units Map: General: Conformance requires two types of actions. First, it requires the removal of spatial overlap among the Habitat Pattern Maps for the Design Animal Habitat Guilds. Spatial overlap among the Design Animal Habitat Guild Habitat Pattern Maps must not occur. Similarly, spatial overlap must not occur between the Habitat Pattern Maps area and the area occupied by the other project designs. Second, this conformance step is used to obtain the extension of the habitat design into and onto the features of the other design types. An acceptable conformed Vegetation Cover Types, Terrain Features and Habitat Guild Decision Units Map is a function of virtually al preceding tasks associated with the habitat design process. However, as a basis for explaining the conformance process only the relationship between landscape architectural design and the habitat design will be treated in detail for each of the interim and final products associated with the habitat design process. Civil Engineering - Habitat Design Conformance: Civil engineering infrastructure design and habitat design are conformed in two primary ways. First, conformance occurs through incorporation of habitat features into engineering infrastructure. Second, habitat value is added to pervious surface areas associated with hardscape or impervious surface areas. Transport corridor habitat related modifications such as animal specific designs for overpasses, underpasses, roadside plantings, bridge modifications, infrastructure add-ons and add-ins, etc, are now accepted practices with production of standardised designs. More recently web pages have been initiated for communication of current state-of-the-art and practice. However, these current practices are primarily a result of regulatory requirements rather than portions of a deliberate habitat design. Further, they tend to cater to requirements of large animals or seasonal pulsing of animal movement. Routine movements and activities of most animals are still not a consideration for infrastructure design except for certain major structure types. Significant opportunities exist for many more types of and density of interventions to facilitate habitat functionality relating to engineered features within the built environment and within areas undergoing land-use change. Design conformance between habitat and engineered infrastructure within the habitat design process is intended, first, to emphasise the elimination of obstructions to access to habitat and, second, to opportunities within the engineering environment wherein these modifications become a functional components of habitat without impeding either habitat or engineering design. Architectural - Habitat Design Conformance: - Architectural structural modifications adding habitat value plus Habitat Supplements as add-ons and add-ins to built structure as design components are desirable. Opportunities for the installation of these structures begin above rooftop level, extend through each structural feature type and terminate with below ground habitat structures (Figure 10). A successful conformance opportunity should add both habitat value and architectural value for each point or feature examined for conformance opportunities. The civil engineering and architectural interfaces with habitat and with habitat design occur on surfaces and extend well within the structures both as elements of design and of operation. The civil engineering incorporation of natural systems functions into design has tended toward acceptance of and incorporation of regulatory compliance with its concept of avoidance of impact and mitigation of affects. Architecture has remained further removed from incorporation of animal based habitat and habitat design into its structures. Incorporation of green roofs, passive heating-cooling, green buildings and other techniques and standards have fundamentally been a process of incorporation of environmental related structural design standards into architecture. This is significantly different than considering architectural structures as a component of or a structure on and into which to place a habitat design component then have it serve as an extension of or integral part of a natural system. Both animals and plants, to include listed species of regulatory interest, have colonised architectural features not designed for them. Conformance requires consideration of this both to achieve full design integration and to achieve the animal based habitat potential of architectural products. Landscape Architecture - Habitat Design Conformance: - The relationship between landscape architecture and habitat is more complex and involved than that for the relationships between habitat, architecture and civil engineering. Landscape architecture has more points and types of contact with natural systems than do the other two professions (Figures 11 - 15). Landscape architecture deals with natural systems, horticultural systems and the hardscape associated with the intrusion of humans into natural systems.

Landscape architectural design and habitat design can have a range of spatial overlap varying from total to none. Options for conformance also vary. Placements of habitat function within landscape architectural features can range from applications that are obvious to the lay observer to those that appear to be and are visually conventional but are also fully integrated functionally, spatially conformed and have high functional merit for both animal and human users of the design. Each design conformance task offers an opportunity for increased design integration while maintaining the design objectives of both parties. The extent of conformance achievement and type varies with the location of the project site along the "fully natural to fully developed" gradient (Figure 15). It also varies when considering the ratio of pervious to impervious surface area in the design. Land-use also affects opportunities for types of design outcomes. Design integration can be partial or complete. Design products can similarly be used in a stand-alone or a melded approach. In pursuing a complete habitat design process and taking full advantage of conformance opportunities the following design process with its intermediate and final design products are points and types of communication between these two professions. LA - Habitat Designer Step 1 Communication Opportunity: - Terrain Features and Animal Decision Unit(s) List From an animal habitat design perspective, the Terrain Features and Animal Decision Unit(s) List (Figure 2, Step 1) is compiled considering animal species, their decision units, vegetation species and cover types that could occur within the design and larger area. The lists and animal groupings within the list are affected by habitat design related decision making and by a landscape architectural decision-making. This Step 1 Communication Opportunity forces consideration of the extent to which species that could occur will occur following installation of the design and buildout both on the site and in the region surrounding the site. The compilation offers a first opportunity for communication concerning both habitat design and landscape architectural input. Divergence between habitat design goals and landscape architectural design goals are acceptable and expected. From a landscape architectural perspective a Terrain Features and Animal Decision Unit(s) List is also of interest at this ooint in the Drocess. Humans, as an animal type, will pass through, make uses of and decisions within the landscape. The features on which they move, rest and play will tend to be constructed of hard and impervious, high thermal stability materials. Such materials have merit as Habitat Supplements if cavities, ledges and other features designed for animals are built into and on to them. Customarily, at present, they are not. However, in the intensely managed and maintained systems associated with high human density and usage intensity, it is these designed built-in materials that are unlikely to be lost from the system. Therefore, while cavities and cavity opportunities are routinely and systematically removed from this landscape, from agricultural landscapes and for natural landscapes, they can be added, to the extent practicable, into features used by humans with an expectation of their retention and management. Similarly, if landscape architects are made aware of opportunities to design in structures promoting human interest in surroundings, they will probably design them. In this circumstance, deliberately designed perches, nest boxes, watering and other habitat related opportunities that would be removed as threats to public safety and well-being if occurring naturally, can be placed in a habitat context with reasonable assurances of long-term budgetary and maintenance support. Step 1 offers the opportunity to create this interest. LA - Habitat Designer Step 2: Conformance Opportunity One: - Animal Habitat Guilds and Design Animal Habitat Guilds: The first formal conformance is the last task within this habitat design step. Gaining an understanding of in-common and divergent design goals will promote a more complete listing of animal habitat guild types and an improved determination of Design Animal Habitat Guilds. Again, a distinction between design intended to achieve habitat optimality and design having other purposes should be made and understood by all parties to the design process. The group of Design Animal Habitat Guilds can be modified to include guilds satisfying particular landscape architectural design goals. The original or initial design intent was habitat optimality. However, humans are a habitat component and delivery of pleasure to humans is a valid habitat design objective. Habitat guilds can and should be designed to provide this function. It is also necessary to convert a certain percentage of the humans into knowledgeable, skilled, in perpetuity, habitat components providing management and maintenance functions outside of formal programs. Habitat optimality cannot be achieved without this input type and without a certain level of these inputs sustained through time. Having habitat guilds that serve to capture and entrain humans as part of functional habitat to serve these objectives is a design requisite. The human capture and entrainment process for habitat design purposes begins on, within and/or adjacent to hardscape or impervious surfaces where humans are most often found. Their initial capture is best accomplished using a visual attractant. Motion, colour and out-of context objects are primary visual attractants. Entrainment is a function of an induced emotion-based response and/or an interest-based reaction. The initial capture related contact with habitat must be followed by an entrainment process or a series of opportunities to deepen the feelings and interest generated at capture. The last stage in this process is entrapment wherein the person chooses to remain in a high-value relationship with a natural system. This process of involvement and commitment has been presented as a transition with a person beginning as a novice and ending as connoisseur, wherein beginning interest of "What is that?" becomes over time a thorough knowledge of and an interest in animal behaviours. Design of obvious visual focal points to begin the transition and gain better natural systems through a higher value directed human participation to retrieve and up optimal habitat would be an improvement over current approaches in which habitat is construed as entertainment or put added distance as sacred. Design Animal Habitat Guilds can be used to further these or other ends. How design conformance is achieved can affect the habitat-human interface and the society's individuals located on either side of the interface. LA - Habitat Designer Step 4: Conformance Opportunity 2: - The Interim Products (Table 1, Step 4) are primary points for checking design conformance between the landscape architectural and the wildlife management habitat designs. This formal conformance task does not substitute for collaboration opportunities during the production of the interim products. This conformance is a full formal end-of-step conformance activity taken to assure that the full range and extent of design conformance opportunities has been taken that will best promote achievement of habitat optimality. LA - Habitat Designer Step 5: Conformance Opportunity Three: - Vegetation Planting Palettes: These can be used as freestanding design process deliverables apart from any other habitat design end product. They are suited for use by lay and professional persons elsewhere in the design region as guidance in conventional landscaping. They can be derived initially as an end product from a complete design process to allow testing of their breadth and depth of utility. The Vegetation Planting Palettes for each habitat guild can be tailored for added usage by incorporation of landscape architectural design criteria. Vegetation species having high aesthetic appeal, height categories, smells, habitat appeal for specific animal categories, suitability for particular land uses, and other design categories can be derived for design use. Habitat Supplements: For landscape architectural purposes Habitat Supplements are desirable both as in-sight and as out-of-sight objects. They constitute points of interest and are visual focal points due to their out-of-kind appearance. They serve as beginning points for the human interest and conversion process for human involvement with habitat design either as receivers of pleasure or as candidates for becoming long-term habitat components. In many cases the functional utility of Habitat Supplements can be combined with design effects or the products of other professionals to achieve landscape architectural, architectural and engineering goals without diminishing the utility of the Habitat Supplement. This multipurpose utility should be discussed and exploited for its market related value, its habitat value and for its potential to attract and convert humans into service as habitat components. Habitat Pattern Maps: These are one of the primary tools resulting from design. They direct and support the subsequent installation, management, maintenance and benchmarking activities that will support progress toward habitat optimality. Areas and features within Habitat Pattern Maps may have landscape architectural goals and a features composition that diverges from the pure design habitat optimality related intent of a Habitat Pattern Map. However, one function of conformance is to push, to the extent practicable, the achievement of both purposes within a common area. STEP 5: DELIVERABLES There are five formal deliverables from the habitat design process from a wildlife management perspective. These are: (1) Habitat Guild Specific Vegetation Planting Palettes, (2) Habitat Supplements Location Map, (3) Habitat Spatial Design Units, a (4) Habitat Supplements Handbook, and a set of (5) Conformed Habitat Guild Specific Habitat Pattern Maps. Each of these has been discussed in the aforegoing concerning landscape architectural conformance. Their content and utility is a function both of site design requirements and the potential for use in the larger surrounding area. Step 5 Conformance: Conformance Opportunity 3: - Deliverables represent a point-of transfer. Their completion represents the end of the habitat design process and the beginning of the process of habitat optimisation and initiation of activities by the group of persons having various responsibilities associated with achievement of habitat optimisation. As a consequence, this conformance opportunity is a final chance to assure that the deliverables represent a best chance for achievement of habitat optimisation and that the documents will serve as an efficacious means for its achievement. The design process deliverables should be handed over with an accompanying set of documents detailing the performance requirements and standards for the groups and persons responsible for achievement of the design intent. The receiving parties include: (1) a habitat owner, (2) a habitat manager, (3) habitat maintainers and (4) habitat benchmarking specialists. These types of persons either do not exist at present as professions or, otherwise, are probably only partially qualified to assume their responsibilities. As a consequence, in addition to the habitat design deliverables, handbooks are to be supplied, tailored to their users to ensure success based on the skills and understanding of their intended audience. Examples The Function-based Habitat Design process (FBHD) (Figure 2) is suited for application over the range of conditions occurring from natural through intensely developed systems. The process is intended for ease of application in design processes by laity, those in the design professions for the built environment and by natural systems professionals. As a first step (steo 1) inherent site value features are captured to determine optimal habitat functional value. These values (captured as terrain features) determine habitat functionality when assigning final design features and criteria to spatial units (Steps 4 and 5). These spatial units and related end products are recognised and routinely used by the types of professionals responsible for the planning, design, installation, maintenance, management and benchmarking of the natural and built environments. The technical core of the design process is obtained from the refereed literature and each data cell is referenced. The design support tools or in products from the habitat design process become suited for "compile once - apply repeatedly" usage (Figure 2 Step 5). This is similar to uses made of reference and design sources for other professions. For this initial trial application of the FBHD process both completion of the core technical content form (Figure 2 Step 3) and conversion of its content into design support tools and a design are presented (Figure 2 Step 5). Working Example: Development of a low density housing estate, covering 176 ha and including 160 1 hectare private properties and communal facilities as set out in Fig. 23, Table 7 and the development plan of Fig. 22. Stand-scale architectural and landscape architectural designs were the responsibility of individual owners. A project scale FBHD was completed. A single stand-scale habitat design was conformed as a subset design of the project scale design. Architectural and landscape architectural designs were conformed both to the stand owner's wishes and to the stand-scale habitat design (Fig. 24). The procedure of Fig. 2 was followed: Step 1: Records of vegetation occurring in the area and of animal species common to and suited to the area were obtained. Site terrain feature types, including distinctive vegetation cover differences, and Animal Decision Unit(s) were listed. Step 2: The data were organised into "Most Obvious Associated Structure Unit Type" associated with each animal species (Fig. 25, Table 8 Column E). Structural units (SU) associated with animal's habitat requirements were listed, Table 8 Col. N-AG and a ranking assigned (Table 8 Cell N6 and beyond). The site was noted for its lack of active larger Animal Decision Unit(s). The four habitat functions were ranked (Fig. 19). One function was picked as part of the candidate guild label components (Fig. 25, Table 8, Col. 5) for being most likely to result in designed habitat optimality for that animal species. In contrast, the animal species name portion of a Design Animal Habitat Guild (DAHG) label is that species name best serving to convert humans into knowledgeable, long-term efficacious habitat components (Fig. 24). The ranking of a Mappable Unit Type (MNT) suggests its relative contribution to design habitat optimality and is used for the DAHG Boolean construction process, Step 4. Each column is sorted, followed by a row of species sorts denoting a best suite of candidate DAHGs and appropriate DAHG labels (Table 8). The following summarises the rationale for the evocative animal species name choices and candidate DAHGs label construction: DAHG No. 1: Lesser Bush Baby, Bush Canopy Feeder Habitat Guild (1. LLB BC F HG), Sort FNR The species, Lesser Bush Baby (Galago moholi), has high recognition value by professionals and laity: charismatic, immediate association with canopy structure; positively affects human behaviour. Table 8 (Fig. 25) lists animals typically and closely associated with this DAHG. Bush Canopy: easily recognised, mappable primary SU type, suitable for routine usage, land use design and change management. Feeder: Acacia gum is a bush baby life requisite (feeding), most critical of the four habitat functions. The nesting support is the next best habitat function support value. Habitat guild: included with each DAHG label, as label for a particular type of design product. DAHG No. 2: Tawny-flanked Prinia Patchy Emergent Wetland Nester Habitat Guild (2. TFP PEW HG), Sort NFR The Tawny-flanked Prinia (Prinia subflava) attracts strong attention in the field, nesting in a wetland; positive market value and of interest to lay persons. Its wetland nesting habitat is an inducement to perpetuation thereof by management, rewarded by excellent aquatic viewing benefit from the housing or development area. Patchy Emergent Wetland: very high diversity-complexity. The DAHG label implies the vegetation structural unit mix aimed at as a management end product, near shore and property proximal, where these SU types occur.

Nester: the Tawny-flanked Prinia nest, as a benchmarking criterion, dictates an aquatic structural unit mix for management toward habitat functional optimality and perpetuation of habitat quality. It optimises support for fish, invertebrates, herptiles and birds occupying this SU type. DAHG No. 3: Fish Eagle Open Water Feeder Habitat Guild (3. FE OW F HG), sort FNR The African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) is a large, visually obvious, widely recognised, charismatic species; a food web top carnivore, vulnerable to pesticides, eutrophication and aquatic system maturity, therefore suited as the evocative animal species name of this DAHG, forces awareness of reasons for its occurrence; adapts quickly to easily installed Habitat Supplements (feeding perches and nesting platforms) near human activity and observation nodes. Open water: a major habitat design SU type having major aesthetic and thus economic potential. Also benefits many other aquatic species. Feeder: design focus on the aquatic food web - large fish, clear water. Nesting habitat function of second primary importance (offshore nesting platforms for waterfowl, sub-surface Habitat Supplements for other aquatic species). DAHG No. 4: Grey Duiker Dense Bush Breeder Habitat Guild (4. GD DB B HG), Sort BRF The grey duiker (or common duiker - sylvicapra grimmia) has widespread general recognition and charisma with broad lay understanding of its association with dense cover (bush). Dense Bush: a major standard structural unit type. Dense bush and its structural equivalents are important screening and privacy providing structures. Breeding: This habitat function provides mating rituals/behaviours and copulation. Breeding is distinct from nesting; dense cover is a common locus for breeding related activities for many species. The resting habitat function is the second most important. DAHG No. 5: Freshwater Crab Water Edge Feeder Habitat Guild The Freshwater Crab (Potamonautes spp) was chosen as part of the guild label, because 'it is a primary food source for otter in South Africa and people are interested in otter. The designer and management objectives of the invention are served by this choice because crab function best in clear unpolluted water. Homeowner interest in otter is an incentive to manage water quality. Water Edge: Plant material, aquatic, at water's edge or immediate vicinity is needed as a food source for the crab. Emphasis on this affords opportunities to manage unwanted sediment and stream pollution. Feeder: Lack of water persistence at the test site dictates emphasis on the crab, its food supply and survival in burrows under dry conditions; therefore a resting habitat function is a second most important design habitat function. DAHG No. 6: Small-Spotted Genet Bushveld Breeder-Rester Habitat Guild (6. SSG BV BR HG), sort BRF The Small-Spotted Genet (Genetta genetta) uses cavities in trees and bush; readily habituates to human habitat and presence; source of pleasure and problems. As a DAHG label component, it forces attention to woody cavities in designing and managing. Bushveld: wood cavity uses; bush as mappable unit type Breeder-Rester: a dual habitat function, woody cavity criticality for many species of this habitat guild. Feeding habitat function ranks third in importance. DAHG No. 7: Yellow Mongoose Bushveld Feeder Habitat Guild (7. YM BV F HG), sort FNR The Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) is a generalist feeder occupying a group of primary structural unit types. This habitat guild emphasises managing this major vegetation cover type and rock and rocky cavities. Fine and coarse grain-sized design area maps to be combined with extensive and intensive habitat installation and management for habitat optimality. Bushveld: a structural unit mix chosen to emphasise inclusive and extensive approach to habitat characterisation and design. Feeder: management priority guild occurs through and feeds using virtually all bushveld structural unit types. Second habitat design priority is nesting. Rock and rocky cavities as refugia against fire and weather. Limited availability, increasing need with time. DAHG No. 8: Porcupine Savannah Rester Habitat Guild (8. P S R HG), sort RFN) The porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) is widely and easily recognised and of interest. Ground or ground level creator and below ground level modifier of cavities. Savannah: same structural unit types as bushveld. Rester: Porcupine cavities suited for use by other species. Habitat guild includes all savannah occurring users of ground level and below ground cavities. Feeding function secondary high priority. DAHG No. 9: Common Hottentot Butterfly Larvae Grassveld Feeder Habitat Guild (9. CHBL GV F HG), sort FNR This species (Papilio niso niso) and use of its larval life stage, was selected because these larvae feed on Red Grass (Themeda triandra) which is a decreaser species, high in crude protein and an easy to recognise indicator of high-quality grassland as a design and management tool. Grassveld: focus on grassveld mapping unit type and its included structural unit types of the savannah biome or bushveld complex on the application site (spatially dominant vegetation cover type, negatively affected by homeowner's interest in planting trees). Therefore monitoring needed. Feeder: grassland primary food source for many animals; nesting usage common. The next three DAHGs were selected and constructed only for application on a single stand high detail scale (1 hectare) in contrast to the previous focus on the entire 174 hectare project. This required a shift in grain size of mappable units. DAHG No. 10: Banded Mongoose Acacia Shade Feeder Habitat Guild (10. BM AS F HG), sort FRN) The banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is associated with wooded savannah and termite mounds, hurries across open spaces, favours undergrowth and is of human interest. Acacia Shade: Often populated by a number of species of forbs and shrubs serving as a resource for millipedes, beetles and other animals on which feed banded mongoose and other animals. This SU type is reasonably distinct and deserves functional optimisation in the context of the single homeowner's purview, interests and budget. Feeder: This function, for design purposes, applies to the full range of invertebrates and vertebrates feeding within the Acacia Shade suite of structures which include the overhead canopy and vegetation in the shade zone, all meeting this as part of their habitat requirements, including the decomposers and subsoil animals, fungi, bacteria and other organisms. DAHG No. 11: Grey Duiker Puzzle-bush Clump Rester Habitat Guild (11. GD PBC R HG), sort RFN The Grey Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) was chosen as an image evocative of a dense vegetative SU refugia and of physical and visual isolation from disturbance. The Puzzle bush clump is a structure type intended for retention and incorporation into the detailed design occurring at the stand/lot/erf scale. The Puzzle-bush clump in contrast to the Acacia Shade structural unit: This structural unit is sealed on the sides, It offers limited penetration opportunities, has the chlorophyll layer essentially restricted to its exterior and the habitat support services are a function of the Puzzle-bush structure and function rather than to any variety of associated vegetation species. Refugia for animals persisting among humans are important for achieving animal densities and intimate human proximity to animals for human pleasure. Rester: sufficient clump size and clump side visual sealing contribute to making it suitable as a rest site. The feeder function ranks secondary and the nesting function third. DAHG No. 12: Vleilourie Bush Clump Nester Habitat Guild (12. VL BC N HG), sort NFR The Vleilourie (Burchell's Coucal) (Centropus burchelli) is a canopy nester and rester. It prefers tall bush and bush clumps. The Vleilourie evokes a design and interest focus toward taller bush clumps and the upper portions of those bush clumps as a specific design element. This structural unit type was a significant component of the site vegetation cover for retention and improvement through management. Bush Clumps are relatively few in number within the design space and difficult to replace if lost. Nester: Vleilourie nests are restricted to taller bush clump structures. While this is a distinct structural unit type, many of the attributes assigned to other structural unit types are associated with this type. As shown in Fig 25 (Table 8) animal species associated with the site and region were assigned degree of association rankings with mappable unit types, here exclusively vegetative structural types. Based on these association rankings, a suite of candidate DAHGs was constructed (Table 8, Row 162). Next, the degree of association between mammal species and design designated DAHGs was ranked and sorted for each DAHG specific rankings sort. In the next step 3 DAHG Requisites Templates were prepared. In this process step the data base for designing optimal habitat is established. These parameters, relationships and rankings are the technical core of a habitat design. From these data all design end products are developed and using these parameters, benchmarks are set and tested. Each mappable unit (MU), typically a vegetative SU, is composed of different, but not equally valuable vegetation species from a habitat functional support value perspective. These vegetation species vary widely in their habitat function support potential for the species comprising the DAHG. After ranking, these vegetation species are sorted and grouped for their habitat function specific support value for each DAHG. After the listed vegetation species list are ranked, that subset of vegetation species providing the highest habitat function support value for each DAHG is selected for design usage. Because the project site size was less than habitat size requirements for the animal species comprising the DAHGs and the habitat definition and for budgetary reasons, the habitat spatial unit sizing and habitat related behavioural criteria were not used for this application. Instead, design emphasis was placed on the DAHG Habitat Pattern Maps and the vegetation species best supporting the ranked habitat functions associated with each DAHG. At this point in the design process, the site focused characterisation terminology is converted to spatial unit nomenclature best characterising the mature stage of the vegetative and vegetation related end products of the design process. This is necessary for ease of communication among the different design profession types and for a best future understanding of site factors and design intent as the designed system matures. In the next step 4 design support products were identified. A DAHG-specific Habitat Pattern Map Boolean Construction was prepared (Fig. 30). Booleans were constructed for the six site-scale Desian Animal Habitat Guilds (Firn 30, Table 11). These DAHG Booleans incorporated all but four of the mappable unit types. One type (Table 11 Type 19) was mapped only at the stand scale of detail. The other three (Table 11 Types 2, 11, 14) occurred on a small portion of the site and had low-quality habitat support potential. Their exclusion from use in the Booleans indicates a lack of any high habitat function support value for these terrain feature types for the selected Design Animal Habitat Guilds. The Habitat Pattern Map coverage of the site and by the six DAHGs is non-overlapping. Non-overlapping design area DAHG Habitat Pattern Maps provide necessary locational clarity for vegetation installation and for control over subsequent management and maintenance activities. For example, vegetation plantings are species, location and DAHG specific. That specificity assures that those vegetation species providing the highest habitat function support value for the animals in a particular DAHG will be planted in terrain features and in a spatial pattern most likely to provide habitat functional optimality. This non overlap among Habitat Pattern Maps neither limits animal movement nor habitat function related uses of any area. Animal fidelity or degree of association design changed from the ranked norms (Fig. 29, Table 10). No overlap among the Habitat Pattern Maps assures that a basis is created at the habitat design stage to install and produce high-value habitat throughout the range of Habitat Pattern Map types that are likely to be used by any given animal species. Also, a Vegetation Cover Type, Terrain Features and Habitat Decision Unit (VTD Map) (Fig. 31) was prepared. This VTD map is specific for the DAHGs used in a habitat design and is also specific for the issues comprising each DAHG Habitat Pattern Map within the design space VTD Map. It depicts a future condition rather than the current or past status or characteristics of the site. The design system will develop and mature primarily as a set of vegetation structural units (Fig. 32, Table 12). These will probably superficially appear as fairly typical vegetation cover types although the vegetative species composition will be modified slightly or be of a unique composition that best facilitates achieving the intended design habitat functional optimality. The nomenclature for the VTD Map (Figure 31) best serves to communicate as a mix of conventional and contrived terms. Contrived terms should be both evocative and descriptive of the visual and other experiences of the design spatial units.

For the foregoing reasons the VTD Map legend (Table 12) will usually not have a nomenclatural correspondence to the initial Terrain Features Map List (Fig. 26, Table 9). Decisions made in establishing DAHG content may have altered initial conditions as may have the determination of the DAHG Habitat Pattern Map Booleans. Further changes may occur during VTD Map conformance with design products from the participating professions. In particular the landscape architectural design element should be discussed in determining labels likely to be understood and accepted by the range of professions having areas of responsibility affecting the design outcomes. Based on the final sort set of conditions best expressing potential for habitat optimality the vegetation species occurring in the region and pertinent to the design space were ranked for their habitat function support value for each DAHG. The three habitat functions having the greatest potential to affect design potential for achieving habitat optimality were summed. The sums were sorted within each DAHG to associate those vegetation species providing the greatest habitat function support value for a DAHG. These highest ranked vegetation species became the Vegetation Planting Palette for the DAHG. The last step 5 (Fig. 2) concerns deliverables. The VTD Map (Figure 31) and spatial utilisation maps of the other design professions are conformed to each other. The resulting version of the VTD Map is a project deliverable. The Habitat Supplements Map is indicative and suggestive for the placement of Habitat Supplements in public spaces as a deliverable for this application. Stand scale designs will be added to the site-scale Habitat Supplements map as the stand scale designs are produced. The Habitat Supplements Map becomes a management, maintenance and benchmarking tool. The Vegetation Planting Palettes (VPP) are DAHG specific. They are a high habitat function support value subset of the vegetation species associated with a DAHG. They can be used for landscaping, aesthetic and other analyses by expanding the categories for analysis and data content of the spreadsheet.

57 The Habitat Supplements Handbook (Appendix D) provides the design, installation and maintenance guidance required for successful use of Habitat Supplements. A Habitat Spatial Design Unit (HSDU) is DAHG specific. It is a nesting or subsetting of animal species habitat related spatial units. They are used to determine achievable types of space usage for DAHG animal groupings. The five deliverables or end products from the habitat design process (Figure 2 Step 5) are intended for use by the other design and land-use change related professions. The DAHG specific Vegetation Planting Palettes are of primary importance for several reasons. First, they can be applied at random without benefit of or adherence to a habitat design. The Vegetation Planting Palettes can be used by individuals for random plantings over a variety of spatial units scales and can still be expected to contribute positively to an increase in habitat value. Second, by its existence and correspondence to major or a primary vegetation structural unity types the Vegetation Planting Palettes can be expected to influence nursery stock composition, sales and use within a region. Clarification of some Basic Terminology in the Context of Function-Based Habitat Design Procedure 1. Habitat As previously indicated, "Habitat" consists of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting opportunities suitably juxtaposed in time and space for all life stages and operating at or above minimum viable population levels. This definition is from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; it was used in the habitat evaluation procedure (HEP) documentation and in the course for which the inventor/applicant was certified in about 1983. The fundamental component parts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat Evaluation Procedure were re-evaluated, using first principles, and reconstructed to create the Function-Based Habitat Design Procedure (FBHD). The re-evaluation was conceptual rather than literal. In the HEP procedure there are many structural and/or functional units that must be evaluated. While this is appropriate for the evaluation procedure it is impractical and, furthermore, unwarranted from a design procedure standpoint. Consequently, this is one area where conceptual re-evaluation occurred and a different approach was utilised. 2. Animal Decision Unit(s) (ADUs) 58 For purposes of the FBHD concept according to preferred embodiments of the present invention, a new feature of Animal Decision Unit(s) (ADUs) is proposed as herein described. ADUs are small discrete mappable structural sub-units within a broader mappable terrain feature type. However, this simple definition can perhaps be better understood in context. It is important to understand that any time an animal makes a decision, that event creates an Animal Decision Unit(s). Each time its foot touches the ground, it reaches out to smell or ingest something, each time it plays down, or gets up, or takes any other action, each action creates an Animal Decision Unit(s). These ADUs form a pattern in time and space. Further, these patterns of ADUs can be associated with structural units in the landscape that are associated with one or more of the habitat functions mentioned in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service definition. For example, both feeding and nesting commonly occur in tree or bush canopies. This again is a simplifying technique that places patterns and types of ADUs within features in the landscape that can be commonly mapped by biologists, landscape architects and many other professionals that deal with natural systems. 3. Design Animal Habitat Guilds The Design Animal Habitat Guild (DAHG) is a term in four parts. As previously indicated, a "guild" is a group of animals making a similar use of a similar resource (Root 1967). For example, the "Lesser Bushbaby Tree Canopy Feeder Habitat Guild" is a name for a particular Design Animal Habitat Guild. The four parts of the guild being the (1) Lesser Bushbaby (2) Tree Canopy (3) Feeder (4) Habitat. In this label the guild continues to be defined as above; it is a true and classically functioning component of the label. However, for purposes of habitat design, the word "guild" has come to be associated with the word "habitat". In a Function-Based Habitat Design, the proper term of "Habitat Guilds" is used. "Feeder" is the third term in this label. Any one of the four habitat functions can be inserted here (feeding, breeding, nesting and resting). However, not all four habitat functions will result in a closest approach to functional optimality for the design. For design purposes, the habitat function is chosen that, after deliberation, is most likely to push the design configuration furthest toward achieving functional optimality at habitat maturity.

59 "Tree Canopy" is the second term in the label. This term location in the label will always be used for a structural unit in the landscape and one containing the habitat function and group of animals comprising the Habitat Guild. Further, the structural units are ones that are easily recognisable by all humans and easily drawn. Last, we treat the animal name that has been included in the label ("Lesser Bushbaby"). This is best understood as a "synthetic" animal; it is not a Lesser Bushbaby as such, nor are any one of the other terms used for any of the specified Design Animal Habitat Guilds a real animal, as such. This "synthetic" animal chosen for the label serves two purposes. First, some means must be conveyed by which any and all persons that, in any way or manner, become associated with any function-Based habitat design, can associate with and understand the design process. To meet this need an animal name is needed that is both quickly and easily recognised by virtually all members of the public and which the public is already likely to have some knowledge regarding its habitat, behaviours and so forth; the phrase "Lesser Bushbaby" meets this need. Second, the animal must be part of a group of animals that are near obligates for the structural unit mentioned as part of the label and for the habitat function included in the label. The Lesser Bushbaby label serves as a means to conveniently focus on this group of animals that comprise a Habitat Guild for the function occurring in the structural unit. This is a more technical usage of the name for design purposes, and clearly a far different cry than the association made with the name by the general public. Now, all four parts can be put together to form a label that concisely expresses the basis for design for one of the Habitat Guilds comprising a portion of the design. Clarification and Scale of the Function-Based Habitat Design Procedure When each of the above terms are understood in terms of the embedded concepts and the number of features with their associated attributes and values, it becomes clear that computer processing is needed. In summary, many animals of many different species, many different age classes, and two sexes are travelling through a design space using feeding, breeding, nesting and resting functions at many different locations within the terrain where opportunities for obtaining and satisfying life requisites are met. Within the terrain are many different soils classes, slopes, aspect, vegetation species, associations of vegetation species, and other variables that affect the habitat quality, the behaviours of animals, and their patterns and durations of movements and activities within the terrain.

60 Animal Decision Unit(s) (ADU) are simple, definitive animal determined responses to obtaining life requisites through the four habitat functions. Aggregations of these Animal Decision Unit(s) are associated with easily viewed and mapped features within the terrain. Put differently, Animal Decision Unit(s) are assigned to terrain features where habitat functions can be satisfied. Further, these same terrain units are associated with one or more of the habitat functions. Animals use travel to move to terrain features where they use habitat functions to obtain and satisfy life requisites. Both the Animal Decision Unit(s) type and the habitat function are associated with each of the various Habitat Guilds. We now have a triangular relationship between each of the Design Animal Habitat Guilds, mapped features in the terrain, habitat functions satisfied at those features within the terrain; and patterns become available of animal habitat decision units within terrain indicating where and how animals move and the behaviours exhibited in the process of acquiring life requisites within habitat. Complexity and detail have been allocated in a relationship of habitat function Based simplicity, as shown in figure 1. When habitat design is complete it is then fed into a development process. That development process may be for human related construction or for improved habitat in a natural setting. The process of habitat feature characterisation and assignment of feature attributes and values for a wide range of animal species of varying age classes and two sexes must be done systematically and logically with due consideration for all parts of the process and the many features and functions feeding into and out of that process. A computer is necessary to ensure end product reliability and to make use of the varied outputs from the process. This means that for each of the wide range of animal species of each of the selected Design Animal Habitat Guilds, a database must be available or created, setting out the information from which the aforesaid characterisation and allocation of features, feature attributes and values and quantum requirements can be made. The database that is created will almost certainly undergo efforts to constrain it; there will always be budgetary considerations and there will almost certainly always be the presumption that project space must be dictated by human or human related considerations. However, a Function-Based Habitat Design must occur at the scale that ensures long-term persistence of the animal species considered during the course of the design process. Therefore, each Function-Based Habitat Design must occur at a spatial scale that will encompass a Minimum Viable Population of the species of design concern. By designing at this spatial and population scale, lesser included smaller areas may be designed in more detail with the reasonable assurance that they will conform to and fit spatially, structurally and functionally within the features of the design with 61 their sub-setted attributes and their, in turn, sub-setted values associated with the Function Based Habitat Design at the Minimum Viable Population scale. A consequence of the foregoing approach to design is that the true habitat scale Function Based Habitat Design can have an included lesser area that will spatially incorporate a project space dictated by humans for development or other uses and a somewhat larger area that must integrate with it to facilitate viability of the Function-Based Habitat Design subset. Further sub-setting of function-Based habitat design is desirable. It is highly desirable that individual homeowners and other humans with requirements or desires to establish function-Based habitat at the scale of an individual property or similar spatial unit can do so with a high degree of assurance that it will conform to the design occurring at the scale of larger spatial units. This integration is desirable although random plantings with due consideration for appropriate Vegetation Planting Palettes associated with appropriate Design Animal Habitat Guild's can and will provide significant increases in habitat value over the possibility of simply planning to current dicta such as "plant indigenous", as will be desirable to meet the feeding requirements of local fauna adapted to indigenous flora and the climatic adaptation of such flora, including drought resistance, low water consumption and local/regional legislation against exotic invader species. As this spatial scale decreases in size there are concomitant criteria considered during design. While the Minimum Viable Population scale is the basis for determinant determination of the largest spatial unit to be considered for design. As the spatial unit sizes decrease there will be, in turn, a requirement to consider home ranges, foraging areas territorial defence areas and so forth for lesser included animal units such as coveys, flocks, breeding pairs and similar units. Incorporation of these varied spatial units with their functional criteria will allow the construction of templates that are size, structure, and function specific for either animal species or Design Animal Habitat Guilds. These templates can then be deliberately placed in the landscape based on terrain characteristics and the Design Animal Habitat Guild Booleans. The Design Animal Habitat Guild Booleans are used to create the Design Animal Habitat Guild specific sub-portions of the Habitat Pattern Maps filling the design space intended for implementation of all or a portion of a Function-Based Habitat Design. Some of the criteria to be considered include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Species Territorial requirements: territory is defended area. This probably is the smallest size spatial unit to be considered in habitat design.

62 2. Minimum Viable Population (MVP): a Minimum Viable Population is considered to be that population size at which genetic viability can be maintained either over a specified period of time or, essentially, in perpetuity. While this is a large spatial unit it forces the habitat design process to realistically consider those species which can be considered for inclusion in a Design Animal Habitat Guild that is realistic for the larger area of consideration, if necessary, augmented by human managerial intervention. 3. Cohesive units: these are the group formations that are characteristic of a species. For example, quail groupings vary in size from a few individuals to 20 or more and are called covies; cattle form cohesive groups known as herds; waterfowl and other birds form flocks. These are the basic units formed by the animals and maintained as they move through terrain to locations where their life requisites can be met or satisfied using the four habitat functions of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting. This is the basic unit considered for the composition of Design Animal Habitat Guilds during the Function-Based Habitat Design process. It should be noted that the literature repeatedly uses the term "attracting birds" for activities associated with homeowners and birds. Function Based Habitat Design has no association with nor any utility for these types of activities. Once a Function-Based Habitat Design is complete there are components such as the Vegetation Planting Palettes and the Habitat Pattern Maps that can be used to assist homeowners and others with small properties to significantly modify their landscaping and the utilisation of Vegetation Planting Palettes and Habitat Supplements to provide higher levels of habitat functionality within a property that on its own is inadequate to consider as habitat for species of primary interest. 4. Minimum viable accessible terrain size (including accessible adjoining properties): Radio tracking or satellite tracking of animals is a common means used to determine home range size and location. Typically the outer points of the point scatter collected over some period of time such as a year are connected to indicate and measure home range. However, only portions of the included area constitute locations where the four habitat functions of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting can be satisfied. It is this lesser area that should be delineated and considered when determining the habitat area of the species or Design Animal Habitat Guilds at issue.

63 a. With natural inbreeding management; use of the Minimum Viable Population concept is the means by which inbreeding management occurs. b. Without natural inbreeding management. Most projects done by humans, other than those in large natural system tracts, will be of insufficient spatial size to manage inbreeding. Further, as urbanisation increases both in density and in the area covered by facilities needed for components of human habitat the ability to manage inbreeding or even animal population stability diminishes. Therefore, many of the species of concern for habitat design should be considered members of a sink population rather than of a source population. A sink population is one whose perpetuation is reliant upon recruitment of members from elsewhere where source populations, those producing excess individuals, exist and can supply individuals to the sink populations and sink population area. 5. Maximum daily travel distances. Animals travel to mate, to migrate, to feed and to reach locations where other life requisites can be met or satisfied. Daily travel, therefore, may be very short in duration and length or quite long. For example, the otter male may travel up to around 17 km per night to feed while the female may cover a distance of approximately 13 km to satisfy the same habitat function. 6. Feeding requirements, food types and quantities. Vegetation Planting Palettes differ from the total list of vegetation species that could conceivably be available for planting in a given region in that Vegetation Planting Palettes are specifically selected Design Animal Habitat Guild specific vegetation species naturally occurring in or adapted to a Function-Based Habitat Design space and best suited or having highest value among those vegetation species to support the feeding, breeding, nesting and resting requirements for that Design Animal Habitat Guild. The carrying capacity that will result from these plantings is a function of terrain conditions and the willingness of involved humans to optimise the functionality of that terrain for the Design Animal Habitat Guilds of interest. 7. Breeding requirements. Habitat features needed (and quantum) for successful procreation and raising through all stages of immaturity. Breeding begins with courtship and terminates with the end of copulation. It is followed by the nesting function. Breeding often has specific requirements for the occurrence of courtship. Gallinaceous birds often have particular requirements for areas where 64 the males demonstrate and compete for access to females. The end of the nesting phase often has dispersal of the young as a terminating event. Habitat requirements for each of these stages and types of areas associated with the various habitat functions must also consider both sexes and the requirements of the young that are often specialised for early feeding and perhaps for dispersal and formation of new groups either cohesive units or breeding units. 8. Nesting requirements (see also breeding requirements (7) above) and locations for nesting (e.g. rock faces, vegetation types and parts thereof, open lairs, tunnels or other cavities underground). Nesting requirements are typically species specific and may vary from having a very narrow set of requirements to seemingly no requirements at all in that eggs or other reproductive units are placed in the landscape with little or no devotion to creation of structures that hide, protect or otherwise facilitate this safety security feeding and other functions associated with successful nesting. Where applicable dimensional preferences for nesting structures. 9. Resting requirements. Type of location, vegetation or otherwise, sheltered, shaded or open, special needs, e.g. distance from sources of disturbance. For many species, the above particulars are readily available in text books and scientific literature. In other cases, local knowledge or further study may be needed. Geographic Information System (GIS) Software The words features, attributes and values that have been used in the sections above are "GIS" specific terms (GIS refers to Geographic Information System software). The feature is a mappable unit; a tree, a cliff face, bare ground or anything else that occurs in either natural systems or man-made systems may be considered to be mappable and a feature. The three types of symbols for a feature are a point, a line, and a polygon. Each feature has an attribute and each attribute, in turn, has a value. For example, the mappable feature may be water. One attribute of water may be dissolved oxygen. And the dissolved oxygen parameter on a given day might be 4.2 mg/L. A GIS consists of a map display and a related database wherein the features, attributes and values are catalogued, related to each other and to mapped features. Each and every term and application mentioned heretofore requires a GIS within a computer if a Function-Based Habitat Design is to occur.

65 Although not necessarily, the Function-Based Habitat Design (FBHD) method is designed to and often expected to operate as a software within another software. This is a situation, therefore, where one major construct labelled generically as "GIS" - the parent software or programme - functions alone with certain capabilities, but is expected to also function with added capabilities by incorporating the FBHD or minor software or programme. Doing so enables the parent software to have products or outputs that were heretofore not available to it/through it. In the case of FBHD, the parent software is generically known as GIS or Geographic Information System software; the sub-setted software operating within this other, larger, overarching, parent software is called an "Extension." For some parent softwares, the sub-setted software may be called an "add-in" or "add-on". Other names may be in use for this common type of new operational capability that functions as an added part of a larger system. In all cases, the added and sub-setted software or programme - the type or capability of the added software would be and/or express construct(s) - adds a capability to an existing parent software. The extension software is not something that a person of ordinary skill can accomplish manually or by mental process nor something that functions in concert with the patented parent software with the associated numerous linkages between the two softwares and all the associated operating systems linked to the parent software. All the constructs software protocols for enacting/processing each of the steps/functions/procedures required to produce a Function-Based Habitat Design - must, in fact, operate as part of a larger GIS system software. The sub-setted or sub-programme FBHD protocol requires linkages out to the parent software for its required constructs/operating procedures for producing both the new maps of terrain developed according to data, about where and how animals themselves would choose to make decisions about obtaining life requisites in a landscape i.e., to feed, breed, nest, rest and to travel efficaciously across the landscape to reach those particular locations where those life requisites can be reasonably expected to be met. This new map is, in turn, linked to Booleans; a Boolean being a mathematical statement used to associate patches of Animal Decision Unit(s) types for different Design Animal Habitat Guilds (DAHG) into single non-overlapping, DAHG specific Habitat Pattern Maps, showing where each DAHG is expected to make use of the terrain with its pattern of life requisite opportunities. This stage/operation/construct is where the Animal Decision Unit(s) expectations of occurrence are aggregated to become habitat with a boundary for each DAHG. This map of expected habitat type occurrence and pattern, and therefore potential for animals to occupy, is produced to demonstrate expected/likely animal use of the landscape. This, in turn, is tested 66 against the desired human use plans/designs for the same terrain or else it is used for the animals functioning in the absence of human activity and effects as a design beginning point to achieve and maintain functionally optimal habitat for that area of terrain. The GIS software is a parent protocol offering those constructs and means to establish those linkages to life requisite locations. The FBHD software protocol, operating as a further and sub-setted construct of the many related constructs of the parent GIS software, is the means for specifying where and how animals or, more specifically and appropriate to the FBHD procedure, guilds of animals, and yet more specific to the design procedure, Design Animal Habitat Guilds, used for habitat design purposes, would act within a landscape with a particular terrain with its particular mixture and pattern of life requisite locations for feeding, breeding, nesting, resting and travelling opportunities among points within that terrain where those attributes of habitat components occur. The Animal Decision Unit(s) (ADUs, their types, location and functional efficacy are the reasonable result of animal decisions, based on animal expectations through knowing about and reaching the physical locations of any desired or sought habitat function, including the varied vegetative, chemical and physical structures containing the opportunities for the existence of functions where and how the animal might feed, breed, nest and rest and travel when meeting those life requisites. Put differently, ADUs take the animal to locations where feeding, breeding, nesting, resting events or opportunities for same take place and in doing so allows life requisites of animals or guilds of animals to be met or served using further sets of ADUs. Aggregating these patterns of behaviour and related occurrence of features in the landscape results in patterns of DAHG specific use in the landscape. Aggregating the foregoing results in non-overlapping Design Animal Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps in the terrain of interest. These Habitat Pattern Map indications of utility are then compared to planned uses of the terrain which may vary from development for human usage to optimisation of habitat where no negative human influence is expected. The collation and manipulation of the ADU database information enables program to process terrain information synthetically like an animal (as dictated by the genes of such animals) and to eliminate any interference by a human reasoning process; thereby synthesising decisions that would be made by the actual animal in question. Example: ADU requirements of African otters African otter species are expected to move approximately 17 km per night for males and a slightly shorter distance for females. This movement occurs usually within 20m of the water's edge. Slight outward movements occur to locations where spraints or mixtures of faecal and 67 other substances are deposited as part of the socialisation and mating behaviours. This set of behaviours can be associated easily with terrain features if the terrain has been suitably mapped and if the Booleans are properly constructed. When applied, through the extension or sub-setted programme's constructs, a new map is produced through the parent programme detailing where this mix of habitat features with their included attributes occurs. To this map of the feeding component and nesting/resting components of habitat can be added with similar ease if the terrain is suitably mapped and if perhaps missing features containing habitat function possibilities are added into the terrain as part of a habitat design protocol. Once the travel and mating possibilities in the terrain are located it becomes possible to add the other habitat function-containing/producing features into the terrain at needed locations and in needed amounts. Then, the software, because the design from the outset is one of functional optimality, converts, in use or application, to a base for achieving functional optimality in the terrain by continually updating the relationship between habitat functional optimality as expressed in design constructs, as implemented on the ground and as used for habitat by the animal species and guilds of design interest. The discussion above refers to the initial mapping of terrain for the otter or for the Design Animal Habitat Guild that includes the otter, as well as for all other animal species or Design Animal Habitat Guilds used in the design process. At the physical scale of the discussion in the paragraphs above, and for the otter, distance is a fair and considered substitute that is inclusive of habitat functionality. It is an assumption, but a very reasonable one, that within this distance, which is the normal ranging activity of the otter, that all life requisites can be met. However, with each further iteration of the Function-Based Habitat Design process there can be and should be added detail at a finer scale of detection of locations where features capable of supporting functions for life requisites can be met and which of the type of life requisites - feeding, breeding, nesting and resting - could be met at each of those locations. This addition of features, attributes and values to the prior and coarser terrain map can be accomplished by a human checking conditions along the edge of the waterway. During this check a field biologist will be locating spoor and other signs of where otters occur or where they do not occur and indicating on a GPS or global positioning system where and how these new features might be added into the landscape. The biologist may well be also locating where other habitat function-Based improvements can be made as well as where the otter are currently satisfying their needs to feed, breed, nest and rest.

68 The animals of interest can be used to determine many features and uses of habitat. An animal equipped with a radio or GPS (global positioning system) collar can be used to collect much of the same data that would be collected by field biologist. Based on where an otter would stop, where they move, how long they stay in a given location, and their patterns of localised movements, they can be used to infer and further refine areas of use and areas which the otter would pass through and not utilise other than for travel. These data can be retrieved by recapture of the animal and downloaded from the GPS or they can be downloaded via satellite without having to recapture the animal and go, after post processing, into the computer used for the Function-Based Habitat Design. This newly acquired map is then compared with previous maps of similar types of activities and behaviours. The differences between or among maps is used for change detection where differences in spatial and timing patterns of data points are used to infer either uses of the natural system or changes in the natural system causing different locations to be used for certain habitat functions. For example, because the food habits of the otter are generally known and because the otter will have sites where it goes to the bank and deposits faeces, these "scent posts" are a primary form of communication among otter. The faeces can be collected and assessed to determine the food habits of the otter. The intent of the Function-Based Habitat Design process is to produce functionally optimal habitat and to continue to improve the potential to increase the density of locations and quality of feeding, breeding, nesting, resting locations thereby decreasing the range over which an otter must move to satisfy its life requisites. This, in turn, means that one can produce more otter within a given area. The computer is critical for making these comparisons and tracking the data that will be collected initially with a continuance over a period of years and a wide range of conditions. As animal densities increase habitat optimisation concerns may shift to other parameters such as concern over inbreeding or shifts in the composition of food resources. Data collected will then be shifted, accordingly, to address these concerns. Habitat modifications are then made to remove the concern while continuing to assess progression toward a further modified definition of optimality. A standard area of concern when population densities increase is the concomitant shift in the composition of the species' food resource. This concern may well shift the focus of habitat functional optimality from the initial suite of Design Animal Habitat Guilds to another suite having a modified composition. Climate changes may also cause such shifts. Consequently, the system according to the invention may perform its functional habitat design and construction function not merely as a once-off operation, but change such 69 function to that of a continuous or semi-continuous habitat monitoring, management and/or redesigning system, fully or largely operating automatically. For example, in Southern Africa the primary food source of the otter is not fish but freshwater crab. One benefit of crab as otter food is that they can persist in areas that are pools for part of the year, but that dry for significant periods. For a long period of time during periods when the streambed is dry, there will be water in the bottom of the burrows occupied by the crabs. The crabs will exit their burrows and move landward to graze in what is now, from the standpoint of fish habitat, a water free area. The crabs will pick up vegetative material and carry it back to their hole where it will be used as a food resource. When shifting the Design Animal Habitat Guild mix to incorporate crab and possibly other smaller animals, the mapped grain size of the terrain units utilised by crab as components of their habitat are now well within the scale of the features mapped as otter habitat. This results in a finer grain sized map and an inclusion of features within that map depicting structures containing the components of crab habitat that, moving up one trophic level, comprise the primary food source of the otter. This more detailed mapping of structures containing habitat features can be expanded, in turn, to deal, for example, with the water resource. Obtaining regulatory approvals for stream flow improvements is a habitat forcing function and, therefore, a true component of the habitat of both the otter and the crab. Increasing the likelihood of maintaining water for longer periods of time in the bottom of the burrows that are essential for crab livelihood will probably result in more crab and, therefore, better otter habitat. This process of further definition of habitat components necessary to extend and improve the approach to achieving functional optimality can be continued until all materials supporting otter habitat, or crab habitat, are known and are incorporated into the software and computer analysis as thoroughly as was presumably done for the otter at the outset of the design process. Example: ADU requirements of Bobwhite Quail As a further expression of an approach to design using a different animal: The Bobwhite Quail flies using short quick flight events. These are used for travel and avoidance behaviour. Travel also occurs over the ground. While this would appear to be a series of almost random behaviours, each covey or group of birds behaving, for function purposes as one unit seldom exceeds moving out of a well-defined area of about 200 acres. Therefore, in fact and in practice, it is possible to define size units within which covey's operate and remain through seasons. The optimisation procedure then operates within these spatial units to proceed to design, install and optimise habitat functional optimality. The functions used 70 remain the same while the parameters used to contain that functionality vary. This provides constancy in approaches to both constructs required to achieve design pattern and design content at both structural and functional levels of the end product DAHG specific Habitat Pattern Maps, Vegetation Pattern Maps, Vegetation Planting Palettes, and when and where Habitat Supplements will be required to either expedite or to reach functional optimality for each habitat type and for each Design Animal Habitat Guild type. Bobwhite quail habitat is optimised when its predators are minimised and vegetation associations are optimised for the bobwhite quail's food and cover. Lightly bushy and grassy vegetative conditions are managed to provide areas for nesting and resting of the quail and for production of the primary plant and insect material on which the bobwhite quail feed. The bobwhite quail nest is a small depression or open cavity in fairly dense grassy vegetation. It is open on one end and the eggs can be seen, while the quail is protected from aerial predators due to the overhead cover that the vegetation provides. The nests are particularly vulnerable to fox, bobcat, and snakes for predation on the very young and the eggs. It is now and has been for several decades a typical management effort to roller chop the terrain. This facilitates fire management. The prescribed burns facilitate maintenance of the vegetation conditions and consequent production of insects serving as quail food. The brush cutter gridded patterns facilitate access to the quail by the hunting dogs and the hunters during the quail season. During the early growth stages of the young quail protein food sources, insects and arthropods, are particularly important. These tend to be most available during spring and summer months after the quail have hatched and the young are moving through the terrain with the parents. Movement of these young allows utilisation of denser vegetation than the adults will usually use. This occurs because for a while the young are flightless and, once flying, do not have the flight characteristics or competency of the adults for some time. Therefore, shorter flights are required and at their landing points cover is needed that also serves as a food resource. This higher level or finer grain size of habitat detail can be incorporated through continuing mapping and feature characterisation efforts made in the pursuit of functional optimality. Hyper-spectral Imagery The purpose of Function-Based Habitat Design is the achievement of functionally optimal habitat conditions for each of the Design Animal Habitat Guilds in a certain terrain. The design resulting from the initial software application is used as a baseline condition. This baseline condition is tested against both design alternatives and data feedback from the nascent habitat. Tracking of habitat parameters useful as measures of functional optimality 71 indicate by continuing improvement or plateauing of resulting trend lines where optimality is being achieved and where further improvements are possible. One way to achieve added signatures associated with additional features, attributes and values in the system is to use hyper-spectral imagery or false colour infrared imagery obtained from either satellites or aircraft. Because more spectra are available it is possible to associate more vegetation signatures with either vegetation species or vegetation associations. This detection capability is usually associated with a smaller sized mapping unit. For non-vegetated areas the same capability can be used to indicate attributes such as soil moisture levels and mineralogy as well as the size and shape of the area associated with these attributes. The computer is needed to compile, process and present these data in map, tabular and other forms of output. The initial map and the initial mapping units are relatively large in size and coarse in characterisation compared to the final product that is obtained when new capabilities and data sources are used. Typically new technology serves to diminish the size of each of the mapped units and allow new and more detailed allocation of the four functions of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting on any one the new polygons in what, for all practical purposes, is essentially a new map. This "new map" is still a sub-setting of the initial information; therefore, the original coarser scale polygons and their shape will not change, but the encompassed area will contain more detail and types of detail because it will have been sub-setted into a series of smaller polygons and each of these may have their own and new assignment of type of feature, attributes and values. Once this process of further delineation of polygons and assignment of types and values to the new subset of polygons is complete the computer can then be fed additional data and information. Some of these new data and information will concern the best habitat related juxtaposing in space of the four habitat functions. Further, we can assign to polygons at the various locations the type of Animal Decision Unit(s) that could be expected to occur at each of these locations. Similarly, in setting up the various Booleans for each of the Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps, embedded data can be used to specify distances apart that would be either optimal, minimal or a maximum distance the animals might be expected to travel in accessing these resources. The computer can then contrast the new potential design information with the old and indicate possible problem areas where habitat factors can then be added or subtracted to further increase the functional optimality for the Design Animal Habitat Guild and for the issue that is pertinent in that area. This is 72 merely one example of the utility of the design process. Because it is habitat function based, the range of included feature types with their associated attributes and values is not limited. The outputs from the habitat design process can be produced at any one of or all of three scales of human organisation. The scales of human organisation are, for purposes of Function-Based Habitat Design: (1.) habitat scale as determined through the Function-Based Habitat Design process, (2.) community scale as determined by humans seeing themselves as a community and (3.) the scale of the individual home owner. These scales of human organisation correspond to three habitat design scales of area in the landscape. First and largest is the true habitat scale at which a Function-Based Habitat Design must be developed. While the design must occur at this scale to assure habitat functional feasibility, it is unlikely that it will be fully implemented at this scale because of the area, typically associated with, having and maintaining a Minimum Viable Population of the animals of design interest. Design at this largest area scale is probably a product of government or of a landowner where large privately owned land holdings occur. At this largest design scale we can represent the true habitat for the animal groups of design interest. Moving further down scale in size and into a smaller geographical or terrain unit the outlines of major vegetation association types are mapped or are derived by the software from existing data. From these data the association between vegetation species and Design Animal Habitat Guilds is used to produce Design Animal Habitat Guild specific Vegetation Planting Palettes. Habitat Pattern Maps are produced using Booleans expressing the relationships between Design Animal Habitat Guilds and vegetation associations. The resulting maps indicate primary patterns of vegetation types in the landscape associated with animal species of primary design interest. The vegetation associations created may not represent classical or typical species mixes. The above Vegetation Planting Palettes and Habitat Pattern Maps are to be widely and repeatedly made available to end users through the Internet, through nurseries and at governmental offices. This dissemination will enable many people in many locations, but with awareness and knowledge at the community scale to install many types of habitat components on their property that will be in accordance with the components, patterns and functions of the larger area Function-Based Habitat Design done by a presumed governmental unit or large privately-owned land holding proprietor. This is the "to be hoped for" type of installation in suburban areas.

73 There is a third, final and still smaller scale of land ownership. This smallest area scale is that of the individual homeowner. This smallest property unit is a norm. The homeowners may not be aware of the possibilities of complying with the habitat design, but they do want to be responsible and to have the benefits of higher habitat quality. These people can simply obtain Vegetation Planting Palettes and proceed to replace their current landscaping over time with species from the various Vegetation Planting Palettes, assembled to conform to the overall largest area design. While the small areas of random plantings are not necessarily prescribed in detail in accordance with either the medium scale or the larger terrain scale governmentally produced Function-Based Habitat Design recommendations it is a process of substitution of less valuable vegetation species with the higher value ones from the Vegetation Planting Palettes. Therefore, through this random plantings process one continues to gain increases in habitat value. Over time and through added information going into the habitat design process using feedback from either animal monitoring of their habits in use of the terrain or through better information to the homeowners a further increase in habitat optimality would occur at this finest level of design detail. However, optimally these changes and additions of detail are handled by the computer once the terrain mapping has an adequate level of detail, thereby eliminating human decision-making even at this finest detail level and substituting therefor synthesized animal decision-making. Dataflow can go from the false-colour infrared and hyper-spectral types of imagery of the properties of the individual landowners back into the computer-Based habitat design process. This is a norm today where the larger scale entities such as government will remap terrain repeatedly and as necessary using a finer level of detail. In doing so they provide increasingly valuable information to both larger area and small area landowners which information according to the invention can be applied for improvement of habitat within each of their property types; tests have shown that it is even feasible to identify individual trees and shrubs and their species and differentiate these from other species. As a result, the feasibility has been proven in these tests to apply such refinements of either aerial photography or satellite imagery, to both expedite terrain features mapping and increase the specificity of assignment of features represented by signatures contained in the imagery base. Multispectral imagery, due to the increased spectral capture, offers additional means to distinguish among features, attributes of features and values of attributes within and among terrain mapping units. It thereby, depicts increasingly smaller units and features of terrain. Hyperspectral imagery collects more and finer spectra and, thereby, offers further potential for determining terrain unit features, their attributes and values. These components 74 of the imagery offer increased potential for determination of vegetation species, vegetation associations, soil and water conditions and other factors that can be correlated with animal usage of associated terrain mapping units. These capabilities of the newer imagery make it possible to determine terrain units and features at the scale and grain size of decision units at which many animals respond to terrain. This, therefore, creates the possibility that more automated terrain mapping can be done at the level of detail required for assigning terrain features to the labelling required to produce Habitat Pattern Maps. Habitat Pattern Maps (HPM) are aggregations of terrain mapping unit types highly correlated with the occurrence of Animal Decision Unit(s) associated with a particular Design Animal Habitat Guild (DAHG). To obtain life requisites an animal must make decisions. Many, if not most decisions, require some form of physical contact between an animal and its immediate surroundings. A habitat function is, either directly or indirectly, associated with each animal decision. The habitat functions are feeding, breeding, nesting and resting. Travel is a subsidiary function required by an animal to move to a location where a combination of conditions allows a particular habitat function to be served or met. Each action taken by an animal resulting in contact between the animal and its environment is an Animal Decision Unit (ADU). An Animal Decision Unit(s) is an individual point of contact between an animal and its surroundings. However, for habitat mapping purposes and for animal utilisation of habitat purposes based on decisions made by that animal it is the patterns and density of patterning that determines terrain mapping units. Sometimes, a single bush offering, for example, feeding opportunities to an animal may well be below the size threshold or scale at which it is worthwhile for an animal to search for or locate the resource. In that case, it may be more practicable for the animal to search for clustered, high density occurrences of resources that would support one or more life requisites of the animal. For example, stingless bees, also commonly known as solitary bees, are quite small and tend to function at the scale of the individual in the environment. However, based on one literature reference, they prefer to locate and utilise food resource patches that are 9 m 2 or larger in size. These smaller resource patches sizes are within the detection limits of current satellite imagery as well as those of aerial photography. Furthermore, given the increased detection potential of multispectral imagery and hyperspectral imagery, it is far more possible to now assign species specific, vegetation association specific and terrain condition specific labels to features associated with the imagery.

75 This capability can now be applied by a resource analyst to spend less time in groundtruthing and to extrapolate with far greater certainty over a far greater area the signatures for terrain unit types, vegetation association types and patterns of clusters that can be associated with various Animal Decision Unit(s) and Animal Decision Unit(s) Types and, therefore, the type and intensity of use to be expected by various animals in these areas when meeting their habitat requirements. Example As an example of this type of application, Morning Sun Nature Reserve a site in the Soutpansberg area of the northern Limpopo Province, South Africa, was analysed using WorldView-2 imagery. This private nature reserve covers an area of about 2000 hectare of mountainous and, in part, difficultly accessible terrain and is recognised as a biodiversity hotspot, being home to 370 species of indigenous trees, and an estimated 300 species of Lepidoptera. Of the more than 500 species of birds occurring in the region, some 350 are expected to occur at least seasonally on the reserve, besides a wide variety of indigenous mammal and reptile species. On the false colour imagery, besides different areas of vegetation and groundcover types, ground signatures a few metres across were easily detectable. If groundtruthing had occurred these delineated areas would amount to only a few square metres and, thereby, suitable for depicting the smaller if not smallest areas that could be expected to be routinely accessed and utilised by animals while meeting their needs for life requisites. Because this finer level of detail can be depicted and assigned categories related to habitat functionality was found possible to take the resulting maps and make a further use such as depicting trail locations for human related usage of the areas. One specific area was selected for more detailed study, where the false colour images showed two major adjoining areas of strongly contrasting vegetation associations, likely to be associated with the habitat preferences and needs and, therefore, ADU-aggregations of distinct different animal species populations, notably of birdlife. This information has been applied to locating the routing of a foot trail that would be useful to people with an interest in birds. The trail alignment, placed between strongly contrasting vegetation associations enables people to experience two different types of birding experience as they walk the trail. Further, as a consequence of these two different types of depiction of terrain features and potential usage as a consequence of these features, it has become possible to depict a habitat restoration process that will further enhance both the 76 habitat and the associated birder experience. This work, facilitated by the improved access afforded by the foot trail, is planned as an ongoing refinement programme, coupled with the correlation of false colour features with field studies and data storage in databases, subsequently to be applied to the terrain as a whole. In order to minimise its ecological footprint, the foot trail, wherever possible, makes use of remnants of pre-historic human footpaths and game trails and helps in observing and recording spoor, faeces and other identifiable evidence of animals using or crossing the foot trail, for purposes of ongoing function-based habitat designing, monitoring and management. Once again, it is to be emphasized that the use of the system according to the invention is not confined to the initial stage of upfront Function-Based Habitat Designing in order to upgrade a terrain deficient in functional habitat to one having a superior capacity to sustain desirable animal populations. The computer-driven system and its software also serve as tools for ongoing, perpetuated function-Based habitat monitoring, management and improvement and, if necessary, adaptation of function-Based habitat features in terms of ADUs in response to animal population or ecological changes, such as climatic or vegetation changes, or other factors. This may be performed automatically or semi-automatically and either continuously or intermittently.

Claims

2. The method for providing a Function-Based Habitat Design of claim 1, the method further including prior to the identifying step, the step of assessing the terrain and preparing an initial baseline assessment of the terrain, or portions thereof, in its existing state, as a basis for consideration of potential acceptance by animal species likely to be adapted to the terrain after a function-based habitat has been implemented thereon. 78
3. A habitat supplementation system, comprising: one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the one or more computers or one or more computer servers having a processor and memory storage with instructions which when executed by the processor perform predetermined functions; a database stored on memory storage accessible by the at least one or more computers or one or more computer server, the database storing functional habitat acceptance criteria, including Animal Decision Units, relating to prior decision-making processes and sequences performed by (non-human) animals in their acceptance of one or more terrains, or portions thereof, as part of their habitat in terms of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; a catalogue, having a plurality of supplement devices and/or supplement information, each supplement device and/or implemented supplement information increasing the availability of, or restricting access to, one or more of the four basic functional animal needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; each supplement device, and/or implemented supplement information, thereby at least in part operable to encourage or discourage certain animals through the conversion of at least a portion of a given terrain into the upgraded form in accordance with designed Function-Based Habitat Design features; an animal needs identification function that analyses a given terrain on the basis of the functional habitat acceptance criteria, and classifies animal species using at least some information accessed from the database for which the given terrain can potentially provide viable habitats in terms of habitat guilds, the potential provision including consideration of supplementation or prevention of access to the functional animal needs; a selection function that selects from the classified habitat guilds a number of habitat guilds representative of the animal species populations which the given terrain can be made to sustain; an organization function, that organizes Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the animal species as set out in the selected habitat guilds, by the one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the organization including ranking on the basis of optimal habitat design intent-based combinations of criteria, thereby the prior decision making processes and sequences of animals in the database at least in part providing anticipated consequent actions and an increased likelihood of achieving habitat optimality; and a set of implementation instructions in any physical form, according to the animal determined needs, for use by an implementer or implementation team, for converting the given terrain into an upgraded form incorporating the appropriate Function-Based Habitat 79 Design features and incorporating one or more supplementation devices selected from the catalogue thereby to encourage or discourage certain animals species in relation to the given terrain on the basis of the organization ranking.
4. The habitat supplementation system of claim 3, wherein after the organization function, locations potentially suitable for the ranked animal species are identified in the given terrain.
5. The habitat supplementation system of claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the incorporation of the supplementation devices and/or implemented supplement information selected from the catalogue is provided independently of other supplementation devices or implemented supplement information, or combined or assembled with one or more other supplementation devices and/or implemented supplement information at locations identified in order to encourage or discourage certain animals species in the given terrain, or in one or more portions thereof, on the basis of the organization ranking.
6. The habitat supplementation system of any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, wherein the supplement information includes instructions for the provision of a modified environment and/or the creation of onsite supplement devices that support the feeding, breeding, nesting and resting requirements for one or more Design Animal Habitat Guilds species in the given terrain, or in one or more portions thereof.
7. The habitat supplementation system of any one of the preceding claims 3 to 6, wherein the supplement information includes instructions for the provision of Vegetation Planting Palettes that support the feeding, breeding, nesting and resting requirements for one or more Design Animal Habitat Guilds species to provide higher levels of habitat functionality in the given terrain, or in one or more portions thereof.
8. The habitat supplementation system of any one of the preceding claims 3 to 7, wherein the spatial scale and details of the conversion are adapted to one or more of the sizes of terrain or portions thereof to which they are to be applied, selected from the group containing the following scales of human organisation: habitat scale as determined through the Function-Based Habitat Design; community scale as determined by humans constituting a community; and the scale of an individual home owner. 80
9. The method for providing a Function-Based Habitat Design of any one of the preceding claims 3 to 7, wherein the spatial scale and details of the conversion are adapted to one or more of the sizes of terrain or portions thereof to which they are to be applied, selected from the following scales of human organisation: habitat scale as determined through the Function-Based Habitat Design; community scale as determined by humans constituting a community; or the scale of an individual home owner; and wherein the one or more computers or servers are programmed to progressively and on an ongoing basis monitor habitat optimality of a terrain or portion thereof at increasing levels of design detail and to detect and respond to changes in habitat optimality criteria in terms of Animal Decision Units, thereby eliminating human decision-making even at finest detail level and substituting therefore synthesized animal decision-making.
10. A method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions in a given terrain, the method comprising: providing one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the one or more computers or one or more computer servers having a processor and memory storage with instructions which when executed by the processor perform predetermined functions; providing a database stored on memory storage accessible by the at least one or more computers or one or more computer servers, the database storing aggregations of Animal Decision Units associated with identifiable and mappable structural landscape features; each Animal Decision Units being a behaviour and an associated occurrence of a feature in a landscape and the feature attributes, the feature thereby suggestive of a functional content in the animal's habitat that can prompt an animal action related to an animal obtaining a life requisite or satisfying at least one of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; the aggregations providing patterns of behaviours in relation to the occurrence of landscape features; analysing the given terrain and identifying landscape features therein and based upon the landscape features, identifying, by the one or more computers or one or more computer servers, in the aggregations of Animal Decision Units stored in the database, animal species likely to accept or reject the landscape features as locations where 81 opportunities may be available or created for the four basic functional needs to take place and in doing so allows life requisites of animals or guilds of animals to be met or served; and identifying Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the identified animal species and generating one or more non-overlapping Design Animal Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps in the given terrain; thereby synthesizing likely animal decisions that would be taken by animals or representative animals in the given terrain, without reference to or interference from human reasoning.
11. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of claim 10, the method further comprising comparing the one or more Habitat Pattern Maps against planned uses of the given terrain; uses ranging from possible development for human usage to optimisation of habitat where no negative human influence is expected.
12. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of claim 10 or claim 11, the landscape features comprising many different soils classes, slopes, aspect, vegetation species, associations of vegetation species, and other variables that affect the habitat quality, the behaviours of animals, and their patterns and durations of movements and activities within a terrain.
13. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of any one of the preceding claims 10 to 12, the method further comprising using the artificially synthesized animal or animal representative decisions in the design and implementation of a Function-Based Habitat Design.
14. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of any one of the preceding claims 10 to 13, the method further comprising using the synthetically approximated animal or animal representative decisions to provide a baseline condition for a given terrain and for further functional optimisation through subsequent iterations of design alternatives and data feedback from the nascent habitat.
15. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of any one of the preceding claims 10 to 14, the method further comprising tracking habitat parameters useful as measures of functional optimality as indicated by continuing improvement or plateauing of resulting trend lines where optimality is being achieved and where further improvements are possible. 82
16. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of any one of the preceding claims 10 to 15, the method further comprising using hyper-spectral imagery or false colour infrared imagery to achieve added signatures associated with features, feature attributes and feature values in the given terrain.
17. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of any one of the preceding claims 10 to 16, the method further comprising using hyper-spectral imagery or false colour infrared imagery to achieve added signatures associated with features, feature attributes and feature values in the given terrain; the hyper-spectral imagery or false colour infrared imagery providing increased availability of spectra, associating more vegetation signatures with either vegetation species or vegetation associations and, for non-vegetated areas, indicating attributes such as soil moisture levels and mineralogy as well as the size and shape of the area associated with these attributes.
18. The method for artificially synthesizing animal decisions of any one of the preceding claims 10 to 17, wherein the aggregations account for a wide range of animal species of varying age classes and two sexes.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more computers or computer servers are operable to cause the one or more computers or computer servers to perform operations to implement a habitat supplementation, the operations to implement the supplementation comprising: a database storage operation that includes a database storing functional habitat acceptance criteria, including Animal Decision Units, relating to prior decision-making processes and sequences performed by (non-human) animals in their acceptance of one or more terrains, or portions thereof, as part of their habitat in terms of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; a catalogue operation that includes accessing of information relating to a plurality of supplement devices and/or supplement information, each supplement device and/or implemented supplement information increasing the availability of, or restricting access to, one or more of the four basic functional animal needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; each supplement device, and/or implemented supplement information, thereby at least in part operable to encourage or discourage certain animals through the conversion of at least a portion of a given terrain into the upgraded form in accordance with designed Function-Based Habitat Design features; 83 an animal needs identification operation that includes analysing a given terrain on the basis of the functional habitat acceptance criteria, and classifies animal species using at least some information accessed from the database for which the given terrain can potentially provide viable habitats in terms of habitat guilds, the potential provision including consideration of supplementation or prevention of access to the functional animal needs; a selection operation that includes selection from the classified habitat guilds a number of habitat guilds representative of the animal species populations which the given terrain can be made to sustain; an organization operation, that includes organizing Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the animal species as set out in the selected habitat guilds, the organization including ranking on the basis of optimal habitat design intent-based combinations of criteria, thereby the prior decision making processes and sequences of animals in the database at least in part providing anticipated consequent actions and an increased likelihood of achieving habitat optimality; and an operation that generates a set of implementation instructions in any physical form, according to the animal determined needs, for use by an implementer or implementation team, for converting the given terrain into an upgraded form incorporating the appropriate Function-Based Habitat Design features and incorporating one or more supplementation devices selected from the catalogue thereby to encourage or discourage certain animals species in relation to the given terrain on the basis of the organization ranking.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more computers or computer servers are operable to cause the one or more computers or computer servers to perform operations to implement artificial synthesis of animal decisions in a given terrain, the operations to implement the synthesis comprising: a database storage operation that includes a database storing aggregations of Animal Decision Units associated with identifiable and mappable structural landscape features; each Animal Decision Units being a behaviour and an associated occurrence of a feature in a landscape and the feature attributes, the feature thereby suggestive of a functional content in the animal's habitat that can prompt an animal action related to an animal obtaining a life requisite or satisfying at least one of the four basic functional needs of feeding, breeding, nesting and resting; 84 the aggregations providing patterns of behaviours in relation to the occurrence of landscape features; an analysis operation, that includes analysing the given terrain and identifying landscape features therein and based upon the landscape features, identifying in the aggregations of Animal Decision Units stored in the database, animal species likely to accept or reject the landscape features as locations where opportunities may be available or created for the four basic functional needs to take place and in doing so allows life requisites of animals or guilds of animals to be met or served; an identifying operation, identifying Design Animal Habitat Guilds from the identified animal species and generating one or more non-overlapping Design Animal Guild specific Habitat Pattern Maps in the given terrain; thereby synthesizing likely animal decisions that would be taken by animals or representative animals in the given terrain, without reference or interference from human reasoning.