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This is a collaborative project between the National Park Service (NPS) and Oregon State University (OSU) for the purpose of studying the genetic connectivity of pika populations in five NPS units. OSU researchers will use individual and population-based genetic analyses to systematically estimate genetic distances among individuals and gene flow among patches or populations in NPS units in two very different habitats (talus vs. lava beds). Genetic distances among individuals or gene flow among groups reflect (in part) the degree that individuals are related and that populations are interacting via dispersal. Thus, researchers will use variation in genetic distance or gene flow to infer how landscapes (e.g., dispersal...
The National Park Service and Portland State University will collaborate in a field-based project to accurately map the spatial extent and status of the rapidly changing glacial ice on Mount Rainier. In particular, areas of active (moving) ice will be distinguished from stagnant (non-moving) ice, which is of premier importance for hazard planning. In the future, glacier maps can be updated rapidly using remotely sensed data, and avoiding expensive future field efforts. Deliverables will include identifying the true spatial extents of the glaciers, including: rock and debris covered areas (usually not mapped correctly in earlier surveys), and stagnant (versus active, moving) ice. Additionally, the bedrock topography...
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Pelagic seabirds (albatrosses and petrels) find food by relying on distinct oceanographic features like transition zones, upwelling, and large eddies. These oceanographic features change intensity, distribution, and duration during El Niño/La Niña events resulting in poor breeding performance in seabirds. Climate models predict that these perturbations will last longer, be more variable, and in some cases, cause major shifts in oceanographic regimes. We analyzed our decade-­‐long dataset of tracked Laysan and black-­‐footed albatrosses (N = 192 individual trips) the breed in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to investigate the mechanistic role that oceanography plays in affecting the foraging distributions and its...
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In the Great Plains, climate change is expected to result in more frequent and intense droughts, severe rainfall events, and heat waves. Adapting to changing conditions will require coordination in the research and observation capabilities of multiple organizations, institutions, and government programs. In light of these needs, researchers worked with federal, state, tribal, university, and non-governmental organization partners to (1) synthesize the current state of ecosystems in the Great Plains; (2) assess the ability of human and ecological communities in the region to adapt to climate change; and (3) develop a process to improve future assessments of the vulnerability of the region’s natural and cultural resources...
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Executive Summary: Our project combined field surveys of fish communities and habitat characteristics with estimates of population genetic structure to identify and evaluate critical factors influencing fish communities in the Gila River basin of New Mexico. Fish communities were structured along a strong habitat gradient associated with stream size, with distinct differences in the distribution of native and nonnative fishes. Nonnative warm-water species generally occurred in mainstem habitats, whereas coldwater nonnative salmonids occurred in high elevation tributaries. Habitat affinities of native species varied, with some occurring in mainstem habitats and others in tributaries. Several native species, such...
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Within the five states of its range (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado), the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, LEPC) remains present on sand sagebrush (Artemesia filifolia), mixed- and short- grass prairies of western Kansas and eastern Colorado, through portions of northwest Oklahoma, the northeast Texas panhandle, and into the shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) and sand sagebrush habitat of eastern New Mexico and western Texas. Agencies in these states monitor LEPC breeding populations annually within the known occupied range of the species, however, monitoring efforts have differed markedly among agencies and inferences have been made about populations using a variety of methods....
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This study focused on sensitivity of high-elevation ecosystems in Hawai‘i to climate change. These Hawaiian ecosystems are becoming warmer and drier, and are relevant because they house many rare species, represent the last remaining stretches of uninvaded landscapes, and include wao akua – the small-statured cloud forests of great cultural significance that are the ‘realm of the gods’. Rapid climate change here presents a disproportionately high climate change impact risk. We provided models that relate current, past, and future distribution of plant species from 6000 – 7500’ feet in elevation on Haleakalā, to mean climate, extreme drought events, and soil properties. We constructed 24 models of current vegetation...
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The study seeks to provide a retrospective analysis of the relationships among bird abundance and distribution and changes in land cover and climate in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. The resultant models will be used to provide spatially explicit forecasts of future avian responses. Using data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and a hierarchical modeling framework that accounts for imperfect detection during surveys, species distribution and abundance is estimated. Historic aerial photos are being digitized and classified to measure landscape covariates. Once species-specific relationships between distribution parameters (i.e., occupancy, colonization, extinction) and landscape covariates...
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Although it is certain that climate change will affect the hydrology and biota of Great Plains streams, how and where these effects will be manifested is not known. This project will predict the effects of climate change on these streams by creating watershed hydrology and fish assemblage models that are both linked to watershed characteristics, then predicting changes resulting from climate change using an ensemble of general circulation models. We will identify the areas of primary conservation concern by calculating Index of Biotic Integrity values for 1,600 samples in an existing regional fish database and compare them to the areas that are most likely to experience change under future climate scenarios.
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The project will use baseline data on pre-restoration measures of baseline hydrology and water quality to evaluate the impacts of large scale wetland and prairire restorations on hydrology and water quality including: recovery of key habitats and functions; abilities of wetlands to buffer variable water flows; ability of groundwater to buffer water flows; groundwater and surface water quality; changes in groundwater movement; rates of denitrification and carbon storage/ transport.
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The concept of adaptive management provides a set of good business principles to guide strategic habitat conservation, but these principles are only useful if they are put into practice through a complimentary set of business operations. To that end, if conservation is going to be successful operating at landscape scales, the conservation community must start thinking and functioning like a conservation enterprise. Much more emphasis must be placed on developing and supporting business operations that facilitate the flow of information and other resources at landscape scales. Just like successful national and global businesses, we need to develop an information supply chain to support the communication, coordination,...
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After two funding cycles, the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes (UM&GL) Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) decided a more strategic approach was needed to address theconservation priorities of the region. LCC Staff sought a needs assessment that would better highlight the shared priorities and concerns of the conservation community, in addition to helping the LCC find its most effective niche in a region where collaborative conservation is fairly standard practice. This assessment was intended to: • Clarify the most effective role(s) for the LCC in this region• Identify the criteria that would guide the bounds of work undertaken by the LCC • Gather information regarding participant understanding and familiarity...
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Temperate grassland ecosystems are imperiled globally, and habitat loss in North America has resulted in steepdeclines of endemic songbirds. Commercial livestock grazing is the primary land use in rangelands that supportremaining bird populations. Some conservationists suggest using livestock as “ecosystem engineers” to increasehabitat heterogeneity in rangelands because birds require a spectrum of sparse to dense vegetation cover.However, grazing effects remain poorly understood because local studies have not incorporated broad-scaleenvironmental constraints on herbaceous growth. We surveyed grassland birds across a region spanning26 500 km2 in northeast Montana, United States to assess how distribution and abundance...
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Within the time frame of the longevity of tree species, climate change will change faster than the ability of natural tree migration. Migration lags may result in reduced productivity and reduced diversity in forests under current management and climate change. We evaluated the efficacy of planting climate-suitable tree species (CSP), those tree species with current or historic distributions immediately south of a focal landscape, to maintain or increase aboveground biomass, productivity, and species and functional diversity. We modeled forest change with the LANDIS-II forest simulation model for 100 years (2000–2100) at a 2-ha cell resolution and five-year time steps within two landscapes in the Great Lakes region...
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USGS researchers assessed how climate change can affect land cover and flow in river systems, examining a variety of resolutions for detecting and projecting the conditions of aquatic habitats and species.
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The USGS and South Atlantic LCC worked with stakeholders and managers across the Southeast to identify and assess landscape-level strategies for conserving multiple species. These strategies incorporated predictions from downscaled climate models, sea level rise, and changes to aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
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The Southeastern United States spans a broad range of physiographic settings and maintains exceptionally high levels of faunal diversity. Unfortunately, many of these ecosystems are increasingly under threat due to rapid human development, and management agencies are increasingly aware of the potential effects that climate change will have on these ecosystems. Natural resource managers and conservation planners can be effective at preserving ecosystems in the face of these stressors only if they can adapt current conservation efforts to increase the overall resilience of the system. Climate change, in particular, challenges many of the basic assumptions used by conservation planners and managers. Previous conservation...
map background search result map search result map Potential Climate Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in the Great Plains Range-wide Population Estimation and Monitoring for Lesser Prairie-Chickens: Sampling Design and Pilot Implementation Great Lakes Information Management and Delivery System Distribution and abundance of breeding birds in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region as influenced by climate and land cover change Managing for Resilience in Prairie-Wetland Landscapes of the PPP - Sustaining Habitats and Services under Accelerating Climate Change Predicting Effects of Climate Change on Native Fishes in Northern Great Plains Streams SERAP: The Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Species and Habitat in the Southeast Future Distribution of Cloud Forests and Associated Species in Hawaii SERAP: Decision Support for Stakeholders and Managers Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP): Assessing Global Change Impacts on Natural and Human Systems in the Southeast Responses of Hawaiian Albatrosses to Environmental Change Shared Conservation Priorities Assessment 2012 Final Report: Metacommunity Dynamics of Gila River Fishes Publication: Climate-suitable planting as a strategy for maintaining forest productivity and functional diversity Precipitation and Soil Productivity Explain Effects of Grazing on Grassland Songbirds Final Report: Metacommunity Dynamics of Gila River Fishes SERAP: The Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Species and Habitat in the Southeast Future Distribution of Cloud Forests and Associated Species in Hawaii Precipitation and Soil Productivity Explain Effects of Grazing on Grassland Songbirds SERAP: Decision Support for Stakeholders and Managers Range-wide Population Estimation and Monitoring for Lesser Prairie-Chickens: Sampling Design and Pilot Implementation Publication: Climate-suitable planting as a strategy for maintaining forest productivity and functional diversity Potential Climate Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in the Great Plains Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP): Assessing Global Change Impacts on Natural and Human Systems in the Southeast Predicting Effects of Climate Change on Native Fishes in Northern Great Plains Streams Managing for Resilience in Prairie-Wetland Landscapes of the PPP - Sustaining Habitats and Services under Accelerating Climate Change Great Lakes Information Management and Delivery System Shared Conservation Priorities Assessment 2012 Distribution and abundance of breeding birds in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region as influenced by climate and land cover change Responses of Hawaiian Albatrosses to Environmental Change