Geology topics

Craig J. Palmer

Publications and source records attributed to Craig J. Palmer.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2016

Announcement—guidance document for acquiring reliable data in ecological restoration projects

The Laurentian Great Lakes are undergoing intensive ecological restoration in Canada and the United States. In the United States, an interagency committee was formed to facilitate implementation of quality practices for federally funded restoration projects in the Great Lakes basin. The Committee's responsibilities include developing a guidance document that will provide a common approach to the application of quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) practices for restoration projects. The document will serve as a “how-to” guide for ensuring data quality during each aspect of ecological restoration projects. In addition, the document will provide suggestions on linking QA/QC data with the routine project data and hints on creating detailed supporting documentation. Finally, the document will advocate integrating all components of the project, including QA/QC applications, into an overarching decision-support framework. The guidance document is expected to be released by the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office in 2017.

Restoration Ecology↗

USGS2015

Assessing accuracy and precision for field and laboratory data: a perspective in ecosystem restoration

Unlike most laboratory studies, rigorous quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures may be lacking in ecosystem restoration (“ecorestoration”) projects, despite legislative mandates in the United States. This is due, in part, to ecorestoration specialists making the false assumption that some types of data (e.g. discrete variables such as species identification and abundance classes) are not subject to evaluations of data quality. Moreover, emergent behavior manifested by complex, adapting, and nonlinear organizations responsible for monitoring the success of ecorestoration projects tend to unconsciously minimize disorder, QA/QC being an activity perceived as creating disorder. We discuss similarities and differences in assessing precision and accuracy for field and laboratory data. Although the concepts for assessing precision and accuracy of ecorestoration field data are conceptually the same as laboratory data, the manner in which these data quality attributes are assessed is different. From a sample analysis perspective, a field crew is comparable to a laboratory instrument that requires regular “recalibration,” with results obtained by experts at the same plot treated as laboratory calibration standards. Unlike laboratory standards and reference materials, the “true” value for many field variables is commonly unknown. In the laboratory, specific QA/QC samples assess error for each aspect of the measurement process, whereas field revisits assess precision and accuracy of the entire data collection process following initial calibration. Rigorous QA/QC data in an ecorestoration project are essential for evaluating the success of a project, and they provide the only objective “legacy” of the dataset for potential legal challenges and future uses.

Restoration Ecology↗

USGS2012

Threats and stressors to the health of the ecosystems of Lakes Mead and Mohave: Chapter 6 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave

Ecosystem impacts from visitor activities or natural environmental change are important concerns in all units of the National Park system. Possible impacts to aquatic ecosystems at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA) are of particular concern because of the designation of Lakes Mead and Mohave as critical habitat for the federally listed endangered razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), the significance of the sport fishery, and the regional importance of its habitats to more than 90 documented species of waterbirds. Potential threats to shoreline habitats are of concern not only for their ecosystem values but also for maintaining the recreational setting. Many areas adjacent to the shorelines of Lakes Mead and Mohave are designated wilderness areas. For purposes of this document, stressors are any chemical, biological, or physical agent that has a detrimental effect on aquatic ecosystems at the organism, population, or community level. Human-made stressors at Lakes Mead and Mohave include direct effects of recreation on the lakes, like boating and fishing, as well as indirect effects of activities away from the lakes, such as growing population and increasing urbanization. Common natural environmental stressors include extended changes in climate (precipitation or temperature), or the erosion, transport, and loading of chemical constituents in rocks and sediments to aquatic environments. Human activity also can exacerbate natural stressors in a variety of ways.

Circular↗