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Information about streamflow and streamflow variability is critical to assist natural resource managers when they make decisions related to the water needs of both human communities and ecosystems. In order for managers to effectively plan for and adapt to future climate and land cover conditions, they require information on changes that could occur in the distribution and quantity of water resources. Yet every watershed has a unique set of characteristics – such as differing topographies and geology – that affect how much water is available, the sources of water, and how it flows through the system. This means that water availability in every watershed can be affected differently by changes in climate and land...
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) documents the status and trends of marine fish stocks that represent approximately 80% of global marine catch. These stocks are routinely monitored, and the FAO assessment describes the extent of exploitation against different reference points - such as underfished, sustainable fished, or overfished. Although inland fisheries, which represent 12% of total global capture fishery production, provide important economic and social services, including accessible and affordable high-quality protein to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, FAO has no comparable system for assessing the state of inland fisheries. This is a critical knowledge gap...
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Fish that are harvested from rivers and lakes play an important role in ensuring global food security. However, data on river fisheries is not collected in any standardized format globally. Although targeted analyses have been conducted on certain river systems, the approaches used, such as intensive field sampling, are not feasible at a global scale. Most river fish are harvested by small-scale operations and in countries that lack the necessary infrastructure and technology that would enable regular reporting of harvests. Therefore, alternative approaches are needed for estimating the harvest potential of river fisheries at a global scale. Given changing climate conditions and the potential impact of these changes...
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The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database and Alert System (https://nas.er.usgs.gov/default.aspx) provides a framework for the rapid dissemination of new invasions as they are incorporated into the NAS Database. The system notifies registered users of new sightings of >1,330 non-native aquatic species as part of national-scale early detection and rapid response systems (EDRR), and in support of several federal programs: National Invasive Species Council, Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, and other Department of the Interior agencies. The NAS group has developed a new tool, the Alert Risk Mapper (ARM; https://nas.er.usgs.gov/AlertSystem/default.aspx), to characterize river reaches, lakes, and other waterbodies...
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Fire size, frequency, overall area burned, and severity are increasing across many vegetation types in the southwestern U.S. In many cases, large contiguous areas are burning repeatedly at high severity, triggering vegetation type conversions (VTC), where once-dominant coniferous forests fail to return to their pre-fire state, often transitioning to shrub- or grass-dominated systems. Loss of these forests affects biodiversity, ecosystem services, and culturally-valued resources. The science and management communities, however, currently lack a comprehensive understanding of VTC in this region. This study will help identify and fill sizable research gaps by synthesizing manager observations and the current scientific...
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Every 10 years, state fish and wildlife management agencies must comprehensively review, and if necessary revise, their State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). These are important planning documents that serve as blueprints for conserving fish, wildlife, and their habitat, and for preventing species listings in each state. These plans focus on species that have been identified as being of greatest conservation need, but also address the full array of wildlife and wildlife-related issues in a state. States last reviewed and revised their SWAPs in 2015, and will do so again in 2025. In 2016-2017, the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA) synthesized the 14 SWAP reports from the Northeast region....
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The South Atlantic LCC is committed to an iterative approach for both refining the information that drives the Conservation Blueprint as well as the utility of the Blueprint to inform conservation decisions. The South Atlantic LCC wishes to provide additional funding to the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit’s existing contract to build on prior deliverables and expand research involving science delivery needs of its cooperative members and communicating science delivery products.Project Objectives 2017-2018To support the South Atlantic LCC in the roles of extension and research by working with cooperative members.1. Continue to assist the GIS Coordinator maintain the Conservation Planning Atlas (CPA) by: responding...
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Sagebrush steppe is one of the most widely distributed ecosystems in North America. Found in eleven western states, this important yet fragile ecosystem is dominated by sagebrush, but also contains a diversity of native shrubs, grasses, and flowering plants. It provides critical habitat for wildlife like pronghorn and threatened species such as the greater sage-grouse, and is grazed by livestock on public and private lands. However, this landscape is increasingly threatened by shifts in wildfire patterns, the spread of invasive grasses, and changing climate conditions. While sagebrush is slow to recover after fires, non-native grasses such as cheatgrass thrive in post-fire conditions and the spread of these species...
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The Missouri River system is the life-blood of the American Midwest, providing critical water resources that drive the region’s agriculture, industry, hydroelectric power generation, and ecosystems. The basin has a long history of development and diversion of water resources, meaning that streamflow records that reflect natural, unmanaged flows over the past century have been rare. As a result, research on the complex interactions between temperature and precipitation in driving droughts and surface water variability in the Missouri River Basin has lagged behind similar work done in other major basins in the country, and has hindered drought planning efforts. To address this need, researchers will use tree-rings...
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Plants and animals undergo certain recurring life-cycle events, such as springtime flowering or migrations between summer and winter habitats, that are often strongly controlled by changes in environmental conditions, including climate. Because species interact, shifts in one species’ phenology can have cascading effects throughout entire food webs and ecosystems. Recent advances have helped grow the body of literature surrounding phenology. We now know, for example, that invasive species often show greater flexibility in the timing of their phenological events, enabling them to outcompete native species as climate and environmental conditions change. Natural resource managers recognize that changes in phenology...
The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC) Natural Resources Workforce Development (NRWD) Fellowship was developed to provide graduate students with opportunities for training and practice in developing use-inspired and actionable science to inform natural resource management decisions. Key aspects of the training include: methods to foster collaborations and the development of science that informs resource management decisions; experience in interacting and collaborating with natural resource management decision-makers; and experience in effective communication of research results to enable use of that research. Each year, the fellowship will have a different science theme. The fellowship is...
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Ecosystem services, or the benefits that natural ecosystems provide to people, are inherently spatial, tied to the specific ecosystems that create them. Mapping where ecosystem services are abundant or in short supply and identifying what lands provide certain services is useful for a variety of purposes, including land-use planning, assessment of conservation and restoration priorities, and identification of environmental justice issues. This project maps current ecosystem services, potential for future changes, and opportunity areas for management actions to enhance or protect ecosystem services for the southeastern United States. Data from publicly available, national-scale sources was used wherever possible...
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The climate in Hawai‘i is changing, and alterations in rainfall amount and distribution have implications for future vegetation cover, non-native species invasions, watershed function, and fire behavior. As novel ecosystems and climates emerge in Hawai‘i, particularly hotter and drier climates, it is critical that scientists produce locally relevant, timely and actionable science products and that managers are able to access the best-available science. Managers and researchers have identified that a knowledge exchange process is needed for drought in Hawai‘i to allow for formal collaboration between the two groups to co-produce drought data and products. To address this need, this project will pilot a focused...
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USGS will soon transition to the international metadata standards known collectively as ISO 19115. The open-ended nature of ISO benefits with much greater flexibility and vocabulary to describe research products. However, that flexibility means few constraints that can guide authors and ensure standardized, robust documentation across the bureau. This project proposed that the USGS data community develop content specifications to define standard USGS ISO metadata content requirements. These specifications would be modular in order to meet documentation needs of the diverse range of research data that USGS produces. Using the specifications, metadata authors will be guided to include appropriate metadata fields for...
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Understanding freshwater flow is frequently highlighted as a priority in land management planning and assessments. Changes in climate can impact streamflow through reduced snowpack and snowfall, earlier spring runoff, increased winter flow and flooding, and decreased summer flow. In Southeast Alaska, streamflow is expected to shift dramatically in response to changes in factors such as precipitation and air temperature. Understanding how streamflow might change is instrumental not only for predicting changes in plant distribution and soil moisture, but also for infrastructure planning. Culvert replacement, bridge design, hydropower development, water reservoir placement, and floodplain restoration planning all require...
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The northeastern U.S. is highly exposed to climate change; in fact, the rate of change is higher than most places on earth (Karmalkar and Bradley 2017). The forests of the Northeast CASC region, and the wildlife that inhabit them, are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In particular, the boreal forests, a biome that reaches from Alaska to the Northeast, and the northern hardwoods, including sugar maple and paper birch, are expected to be intolerant of climate warming. Likewise, many of the birds, mammals, amphibians, fish, and insects that inhabit these forest ecosystems are at their southern range edges here and are considered sensitive to climate change. Furthermore, local species’ adaptive capacity...
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Climate change and the extreme weather associated with it can be a major challenge to landowners and land managers interested in the protection, restoration, recovery, and management of wetlands and wildlife habitats. The Midwest is not only experiencing an increase in average temperatures and precipitation, but also an increase in the frequency of extreme events, such as heat waves and floods. Forecasting the potential impacts of the changes over the next 25 to 50 years will be important for decision makers and landowners seeking to minimize the impacts to infrastructure and to the habitats themselves and prepare for the future. Changes in flood frequency threaten habitat management infrastructure and actions,...
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Alligator Gar, Atractosteus spatula, is an iconic species native to lowland floodplain river systems where they play an important role as top predators and by linking landscapes through their movement. Alligator Gar is also an important native fisheries species in the Trinity River. Disruption of river-floodplain connectivity is implicated in declining populations of Alligator Gar across much of its range. Successful management and conservation of Alligator Gar populations will be aided by an understanding of the relationship between flow and recruitment, particularly the availability and suitability of off-channel habitats utilized by this species for reproduction.
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This project will be conducted in 6 phases:Phase 1: Formulation - Compile a list of all interested stakeholders; work with Foundations of Success facilitators to provide background information, project goals, expectations and deliverables in preparation for Phase 2.Phase 2: Convening - facilitated webinars and face-to-face meetings among stakeholders; establishment of a core team of experts to guide the LCD process; draft conceptual model, conservation strategies,Phase 3: Draft blueprint for Focus Area - conduct spatial analysis to develop a draft ecological-social/political/economic blueprint for the Focus AreaPhase 4: Re-convening for review of Draft Blueprint and Decision Support Tool - The draft conservation...
map background search result map search result map Quantification of Alligator Gar Recruitment Dynamics Using a River-Stage Specific Floodplain Inundation Model Developing a process and conservation application for Landscape Conservation Design for the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative Identifying science delivery needs of cooperative members Improving the Success of Post-Fire Adaptive Management Strategies in Sagebrush Steppe Characterizing Historic Streamflow to Support Drought Planning in the Upper Missouri River Basin Projecting Future Streamflow in Southeast Alaska Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Projected Changes in Water Quality and Quantity for Protected Areas in the Upper Mississippi Watershed Increasing the Resilience and Resistance of Climate-Vulnerable Species and Ecosystems Assessing Climate Change Threats and Adaptation Strategies in Northeast State Wildlife Action Plans Collaborating with Resource Managers to Identify and Address Phenological Information Needs Understanding Fire-caused Vegetation Type Conversion in Southwestern Conifer Forests under Current and Future Climate Conditions Working with Natural Resource Managers to Co-Produce Drought Analyses in Hawai‘i Assessment of Water Availability and Streamflow Characteristics in the Southeastern U.S. for Current and Future Climatic and Landscape Conditions Estimating Global River Fisheries Harvest Potential Assessing the State of Global Inland Fisheries Ecosystem Services Mapping Datasets Quantification of Alligator Gar Recruitment Dynamics Using a River-Stage Specific Floodplain Inundation Model Developing a process and conservation application for Landscape Conservation Design for the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative Projecting Future Streamflow in Southeast Alaska Improving the Success of Post-Fire Adaptive Management Strategies in Sagebrush Steppe Identifying science delivery needs of cooperative members Collaborating with Resource Managers to Identify and Address Phenological Information Needs Understanding Fire-caused Vegetation Type Conversion in Southwestern Conifer Forests under Current and Future Climate Conditions Assessing Climate Change Threats and Adaptation Strategies in Northeast State Wildlife Action Plans Working with Natural Resource Managers to Co-Produce Drought Analyses in Hawai‘i Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Projected Changes in Water Quality and Quantity for Protected Areas in the Upper Mississippi Watershed Characterizing Historic Streamflow to Support Drought Planning in the Upper Missouri River Basin Ecosystem Services Mapping Datasets Increasing the Resilience and Resistance of Climate-Vulnerable Species and Ecosystems Assessment of Water Availability and Streamflow Characteristics in the Southeastern U.S. for Current and Future Climatic and Landscape Conditions Estimating Global River Fisheries Harvest Potential Assessing the State of Global Inland Fisheries