Skip to main content
Advanced Search

Filters: Tags: {"type":"Fiscal Year"} (X) > partyWithName: LCC Network Data Steward (X) > partyWithName: Plains & Prairie Potholes LCC Data Manager (X)

28 results (41ms)   

View Results as: JSON ATOM CSV
thumbnail
Native grasslands have been reduced to a fraction of their original extent, with estimated total loss prior to the 1990s of 70% for prairie grassland (Federal Provincial and Territorial Governments of Canada 2010). Conversion of native grassland to cropland and tame hayfields or pasture has been one of the leading drivers of native grassland loss in North America. Degradation of native grasslands also continues in some areas due to changes in natural disturbance regimes such as fire suppression and intensive prolonged cattle grazing, threats from invasive non-native species, fragmentation, intensification of agriculture, and economic development associated with population growth(Federal Provincial and Territorial...
thumbnail
The Williston Basin, located in the NorthernGreat Plains, is experiencing rapid energy developmentwith North Dakota and Montana being the epicenter ofcurrent and projected development in the USA. Theaverage single-bore well pad is 5 acres with an estimated58,485 wells in North Dakota alone. This landscapeleveldisturbance may provide a pathway for the establishmentof non-native plants. To evaluate potentialinfluences of energy development on the presence andabundance of non-native species, vegetation surveyswere conducted at 30 oil well sites (14 ten-year-oldand 16 five-year-old wells) and 14 control sites in nativeprairie environments across the Williston Basin. Nonnativespecies richness and cover were recorded...
thumbnail
The project will utilize a 4.5 million acre study area on the Montana Glaciated Plains. The objectives are to (1) identify environmental conditions and management practices that will maintain habitat for grassland birds but not impact ranching sustainability, and (2) identify areas on the landscape that have the greatest conservation potential for grassland birds. This spatial analysis will provide the framework for a rigorous assessment of management actions on the Montana Glaciated Plains.
thumbnail
Land transformations occurring from energy development and agrarian use have altered the natural connectivity of fish communities inhabiting prairie waterways. The nation’s prairie waterways are obstructed by thousands of barriers that include road culverts, irrigation diversions, and dams. Connectivity is essential for the long term viability of aquatic species. One of the most promising adaptive management strategies for addressing impacts to aquatic systems by climate change and other landscape stressors is increasing connectivity. The purpose of this research is to characterize swimming abilities of three northern plains fish species; the sauger, the longnose dace, and the fathead minnow. The results of the...
thumbnail
Cottonwood forests are in decline becasue of losses from land use conversion and reduced regeneration from river regulation. Projecting lon-term implications of current trends and policies, or alterations of these, will help to identify the importance and scale of restoration activities needed to offset losses. This project developed a landscape dynamic model to project future (eig. 25, 50, 100 year) trends in cottonwood forst area and age distribution for four remnant floodplain reches on the Missouri River, based on recent rates (or alternative scenarios) of land use change, cottonwood recruitment, and succession. For two reaches, these changes are used to project the effects onabundances of selected songbird...
thumbnail
Habitat loss is one of the key factors contributing to loss of wildlife, but ultimately it comes down to decisions made at he private landowner. Economin pressures from comodity prices probably heavily wieght in decisions. However, understanding how a private landowner responds to economic incentives and pressures may identify strategies to reduce habitat loss in the plains and prairie pothole region. Also, farmers & ranchers generally have more thn an econominc interest in their lands with strong social and cultura ties. The aging trend inteh agricultrual industry is another factor contributing to decisions about land, foten with farm/rances being split among surviving relatives who may not continue to...
thumbnail
Rapid expansion of cropland threatens grassland ecosystems across western North America and broad-scaleplanning can be a catalyst motivating individuals and agencies to accelerate conservation. Sprague’s Pipit(Anthus spragueii) is an imperiled grassland songbird whose population has been declining rapidly in recent decades.Here, we present a strategic framework for conservation of pipits and their habitat in the northern GreatPlains.We modeled pipit distribution across its million-km2 breeding range in Canada and the U.S.We describefactors shaping distribution, delineate population cores and assess vulnerability to future grassland losses. Pipitsselected landscapes with a high proportion of continuous grassland...
thumbnail
The Matador Ranch Grassbank is the most successful grassbank in the country, annually incentivizing conservation actions on over 200,000 acres of participating ranches. Incentives for management actions are in the form of discounts, which reduce the cost of leased grazing at the Matador Ranch. One of the required discounts for participating in the grassbank is a ranch management plan that guides grazing and benefits natural communities and the wildlife dependent upon them. This report details the results of our work to assess resource conditions and craft management plans with eight ranches on over 113,000 acres. Our analysis found that overall ranches implemented grazing management practices that maintained ecological...
thumbnail
In this thesis I explore a derivation of the MSAM using the DDO survey method to create a multispecies dependent double-observer abundance (MDAM) model. I use this tool to explore how two widely used grazing systems affect the abundance of eight songbird species with varying reliance on grassland vegetation in a sagebrush ecosystem.
thumbnail
The Plains and Prairie Potholes Ecoregion (PPPE), is located in the north-central contiguous United States and is one of the most imperiled grassland regions in the world. Most of the region is privately owned and used for the production of agricultural commodities. In addition to its direct benefits to humanity, the PPPE provides multiple ecosystem services including, soil and water quality improvements, carbon sequestration, weather amelioration, and wildlife habitat. Recent increases in expansion of row crop agriculture concerns conservation practitioners about the long-term integrity of the PPPE. Conservation practitioners are looking to improve their private landowner conservation initiatives in the region....
thumbnail
Livestock grazing practices are managed by private landowners and federal and state agencies across the western U.S. Increasingly, grazing strategies by these entities are incorporating conservation objectives and developing goals that include livestock production that is compatible with wildlife conservation objectives. This project evaluates the impact of conservation-oriented, rest-rotation livestock grazing and climate changes on migratory bird species associated with sagebrush habitat to better inform grazing management practices. Rest-rotation grazing management is likely to enhance important components of sagebrush, shrubland, and grassland habitat for a wide range of species, but little work has been done...
thumbnail
Estimating species abundance is important for land managers, especially for monitoringconservation efforts. The two main survey methods for estimating avian abundance are point counts and transects. Previous comparisons of these two methods have either been limited to a single species or have not included detection probability. During the 2012 breeding season, we compared and assessed the efficiency (precision for amount of effort) of point count time of detection (PCTD) and dependent double-observer transect (TRMO) methods based on detection probabilities and abundance estimates of five species of songbirds that use a range of habitats in a prairie system in Montana dominated by sagebrush and grassland vegetation....
thumbnail
Montana's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is a comprehensive strategy to maintain the health and diversity of wildlife within the state, including reducing the need for future listings under the Endangered Species Act. Special emphasis is given to addressing wildlife species that have received less attention in the past, including those that are not hunted or fished. All 50 states have developed SWAPs, providing a framework for planning and coordination on wildlife issues that cross state boundaries. The development and implementation of SWAPs is supported by the US Fish and Wildlife Services' State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program.Montana's SWAP addresses a variety of wildlife and habitat management challenges,...
thumbnail
Temperate grasslands are among earth’s most imperiled ecosystems. In North America,steep declines of endemic songbird populations indicate that grassland loss and degradation may be approaching critical levels. Grasslands are agricultural landscapes largely (~85%) under private ownership with little formal protection status. Remaining bird populations depend on grazing lands that have not been converted to cropland. We combine regional data from a hotspot for grassland bird diversity (northeast Montana,USA; 26,500-km2) with continental data spanning the northern Great Plains (1,000,000- km2) to evaluate how land use and management influence bird distribution and abundance. Regionally, habitat used by seven grassland...
thumbnail
Wetland hydroperiod, the length of time water is available in wetlands, is particularly sensitive to changes in precipitation, temperature and timing due to climate variation. Truncated hydroperiod has major implications for wetland-dependent species (e.g., waterfowl) and human water allocation. Researchers aim to link hydroperiod to current climatic variation and use this relationship to predict wetland hydroperiod across the moisture gradient from sage steppe to grasslands.
thumbnail
The goal of this project was to develop a landscape dynamics model to project future trends in forest area, age class distribution, and forest type (cottonwood vs. non-cottonwood) for four remnant floodplain segments on the Missouri River and, for two river segments, project effects of forest changes on abundances of forest bird species. These four river segments have not been channelized or inundated by reservoirs and thus still retain some of the natural abiotic and biotic processes of the Missouri River as it existed before human alteration. Fluvial geomorphic processes on all four, however, were significantly altered by the construction of six dams on the main stem of the river in the mid twentieth century....
thumbnail
Iowa's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is a comprehensive strategy to maintain the health and diversity of wildlife within the state, including reducing the need for future listings under the Endangered Species Act. Special emphasis is given to addressing wildlife species that have received less attention in the past, including those that are not hunted or fished. All 50 states have developed SWAPs, providing a framework for planning and coordination on wildlife issues that cross state boundaries. The development and implementation of SWAPs is supported by the US Fish and Wildlife Services' State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program.Iowa's SWAP addresses a variety of wildlife and habitat management challenges, the...
thumbnail
PLAN VISIONThe South Dakota Wildlife Action Plan assesses the health of South Dakota's fish and wildlife and associated habitats, evaluates the problems they face, and outlines actions to help conserve them for the long term. This plan encourages voluntary partnerships among governmental entities, tribes, organizations, and private citizens to help prevent fish and wildlife from becoming endangered and to provide for the needs of the full array of fish and wildlife and habitat diversity for the future sustained enjoyment and use by South Dakota's residents and visitors.WILDLIFE ACTION PLANThe entire South Dakota Wildlife Action Plan is provided below. Due to the plan's large size, sections have been broken into...
thumbnail
Numerous studies have documented the effects of landscape disturbance, including that associated with energy development, on increased abundance of invasive and non-native species. As of February 2012, over 43,000 new petroleum wells have been drilled in the Williston Basin since the first successful Bakken test well drilled in 2000 in the Elm Coulee field of Montana. With the average single well pad approximating five acres, this large scale and regional land disturbance provides a pathway for the introduction and establishment of invasive species throughout the PPP LCC.The presence of invasive species has biological and economic implications across the PPP LCC. Leafy spurge has been shown to reduce habitat...
thumbnail
Conservation of biological communities requires accurate estimates of abundance for multiple species. Recent advances in estimating abundance of multiple species, such as Bayesian multispecies N-mixture models, account for multiple sources of variation, including detection error. However, false-positiveerrors (misidentification or double counts), which are prevalent in multispecies data sets, remain largely unaddressed. The dependent-double observer (DDO) method is an emerging method that both accounts for detection error and is suggested to reduce the occurrence of false positives because it relies on two observers working collaboratively to identify individuals. To date, the DDO method has not been combined with...