Managers and scientists are working together in a new project to understand and optimally manage conservation lands along the Atlanta and Mississippi Flyways to support continental populations of waterbirds. It will advance the development of an integrated waterbird monitoring and management program to inform decision-makers and resource managers in an adaptive management context, resulting in improved resource contributions toward waterfowl, shorebirds, and long-legged waders. This project uses adaptive management and modeling tin an innovative way that incorporates their management expertise as well as new conservation planning and modeling tools. We are focusing on wetland-dependent migratory birds that use the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways of North America during winter and migration. Managers make decisions at three spatial scales: the flyway, the state or region, and locally at specific wetland management sites. The managers identified key factors that should be considered when making decisions at each spatial scale; then, they developed a conceptual model of how the scales are linked. Information collected at one scale informs decisions at other scales. A model will help guide management decisions.
