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At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources
USGS2022

Understanding the Avian-Impact Offset Method—A tutorial

Biodiversity offsetting, or compensatory mitigation, is increasingly being used in temperate grassland and wetland ecosystems to compensate for unavoidable environmental damage from anthropogenic disturbances such as energy development and road construction. Energy-extraction and -generation facilities continue to proliferate across the natural landscapes of the United States, yet mitigation tools to ameliorate the negative behavioral effects on wildlife from these types of facilities are rarely implemented. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a 10-year before-after-control-impact (commonly referred to as BACI) study that evaluated the displacement effects of wind facilities on breeding grassland birds. The study determined behavioral avoidance for 7 of 9 species. This research is notable because of its design, geographical scope, and duration, which allowed for the determination of immediate, short-term effects; delayed or sustained effects; and discrete distances at which effects occurred. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited conducted a 3-year concurrent-year paired-reference study to determine behavioral avoidance for five species of dabbling ducks. By quantifying displacement rate from these two studies, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists developed the Avian-Impact Offset Method (AIOM) to quantify and compensate for loss in value of breeding habitat. The AIOM converts the biological value (that is, number of bird pairs) lost by way of avoidance and estimates the site-specific number of hectares of grasslands and number of wetlands needed to compensate for displaced pairs of grassland birds and waterfowl. By converting biological value to traditional units of measure in which land is described and purchased or sold, the AIOM lends itself readily to the delivery of offsetting measures such as easement protections and restoration projects. The AIOM tool is applicable to wind, solar, oil, gas, and transportation infrastructure. This tutorial was designed to increase awareness of the AIOM and to promote its proper application. The tutorial is divided into four sections, each of which explains a discrete topic concerning aspects of behavioral displacement. The first section provides geographical and biological context, and the second section describes the field and statistical methods and results. The third section provides step-by-step instructions for applying the AIOM to several scenarios involving grassland birds or waterfowl at wind or oil facilities. The fourth section describes decision-support tools created to implement the AIOM. The appendices provide the actual field protocols constituting the methods for the research, provide detailed results by species and wind facility for that research, and provide detailed instructions for downloading and applying the decision-support tools.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2018

Optimization of salt marsh management at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Delaware, through use of structured decision making

Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances tradeoffs among objectives. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, applied an existing, regional framework for structured decision making to develop a prototype tool for optimizing salt marsh management decisions at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. Refuge biologists, refuge managers, and research scientists identified multiple potential management actions to improve the ecological integrity of eight salt marsh management units within the refuge and estimated the outcomes of each action in terms of performance metrics associated with each management objective. Value functions previously developed at the regional level were used to transform metric scores to a common utility scale, and utilities were summed to produce a single score representing the total management benefit that would be accrued from each potential management action. Constrained optimization was used to identify the set of management actions, one per salt marsh management unit, that would maximize total management benefits at different cost constraints at the refuge scale. Results indicated that for the objectives and actions considered here, total management benefits would increase consistently up to approximately \$300,000, but that further expenditures would yield diminishing return on investment. Management actions selected within optimal portfolios at total costs less than \$300,000 included hydrologic restoration, recontouring adjacent uplands to facilitate marsh migration, and burning the marsh. The prototype presented here provides a framework for decision making at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge that can be updated as new data and information become available. Insights from this process may also be useful to inform future habitat management planning at the refuge.

Delaware↗
USGS1990

National contaminant biomonitoring program: Residues of organochlorine chemicals in U.S. Freshwater Fish, 1976–1984

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service periodically determines concentrations of organochlorine chemicals in freshwater fish collected from a nationwide network of stations as part of the National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP, formerly a part of the National Pesticide Monitoring Program). From late 1984 to early 1985, a total of 321 composite fish samples were collected from 112 stations and analyzed for organochlorine chemical residues. The mean concentrations of total DDT did not change from 1980–81 to 1984, following a period of steady decline through the 1970's; however, the mean concentrations of p,p′ -DDT declined significantly. The most persistent DDT homolog ( p,p′ -DDE) was detected at 98% of the stations sampled in 1984, and constituted 73% of total DDT residues, up from 70% in 1974–79. Collectively, these findings indicate a low rate of influx and continued weathering of DDT in the environment. Residues of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) also remained widespread, but a significant downward trend in total PCBs was evident, and early eluting PCB components were present at fewer stations than in the past. Mean concentrations of dieldrin have not changed since 1978–79; concentrations remained highest in Hawaii and in the Great Lakes. Toxaphene concentrations declined from 1980–81 to 1984, especially in the Great Lakes, and the incidence of toxaphene declined from 88% of the stations sampled in 1980–81 to 69% in 1984. Mean chordane concentrations did not change from 1980–81 to 1984, following a period of decline; however, trans -nonachlor replaced cis -chlordane as the most abundant component, suggesting a lower influx of chlordane to the aquatic environment. Residues of other organochlorines—mirex, pentachloroanisole (PCA), benzene hexachloride (BHC) isomers, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and Dacthal ® (DCPA)—were either found at relatively few (<25%) of the stations sampled in 1984 or were characterized by relatively low concentrations. In general, organochlorine concentrations were lower in 1984 than at any time reported previously.

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS2019

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units program—2018 year in review

The Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units (CRU) program had an interesting and challenging year in 2018. We made significant strategic advances on many fronts and had setbacks in others. Our relationship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency we belonged to from 1935 to the mid-1990s, was further reinforced through strategic efforts with the Service’s Science Applications senior staff. This is bearing fruit in terms of research collaborations and funding support. As part of a larger effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Ecosystems Mission Area and the Service’s endangered species program, we are also collaborating to address science needs for species in pre-listing status. Barry Grand, Unit Supervisor (South), has been instrumental in this effort. Tom Edwards of the Utah Unit has met with representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to promote training of leaders and “hands dirty” biologists in species distribution modeling. The Association passed a unanimous resolution endorsing the training at their midyear meeting in March. Tom held a workshop at the annual meeting of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in September, and future workshops, supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will be held bringing State agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists together to work on species of common concern. Wyoming Unit Leader Matt Kauffman’s pioneering work in identifying and mapping big-game migration corridors has captured the attention of conservationists far and wide. In the spring, the Secretary of the Interior signed Secretarial Order No. 3362, "Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big-Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors" directing efforts of several U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus to collaborate with States in identifying and protecting big-game corridors in 11 States. Matt has conducted several workshops that directly support the Secretarial order, and more are planned. Corridor mapping efforts supported by the USGS and the DOI, based in the States and coordinated by Matt, are unfolding. Unit Administrative Officer Shana Coulby and her staff hosted a training program for university support staff at USGS National Headquarters in March. Shana’s team did a superb job, and the camaraderie among all was evident. We co-sponsored the third in a series of workshops at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in March on bridging the gap between science and management. The State Department requested that we coordinate a workshop that would bring CRU scientists and other U.S. representatives together with Brazilian, Colombian, and Peruvian scientists and decision makers to develop best practices to minimize environmental damage from infrastructure development in the Amazon and to collaborate on science needs. The workshop was held in Iquitos, Peru, in the heart of the Amazon during August. Our cooperator community, represented by the National Cooperators Coalition, was very active in response to the President’s budget proposal that would have redirected funding for the CRU program to other priorities. Their efforts are reflected in the House and Senate marks on the fiscal year 2019 budget that not only restored funding, but recommended increases. You will see in this report many other accomplishments of our individual scientists and students during 2018. It was an impressive and productive year! What you won’t see chronicled is the work of the CRU headquarters staff and University support staff. These folks are extraordinary in their dedication to working with cooperators and scientists to solve problems and ensure the important work gets accomplished with minimal interference. We are truly fortunate to have such skilled and dedicated folks in the trenches. I was fortunate to visit several units during 2018. For me, this is the most enriching part of my duties. I get to see firsthand the work our scientists do, the incredible students being mentored, and meet our cooperators on their turf. As we look forward towards the horizon, 2019 looks brighter for the CRU program. Efforts by our cooperators to generate support for filling our vacancies are materializing. Our cadre of scientists is second to none, and the breadth and depth of our work are nothing short of impressive. Thanks to all who are part of this cooperative endeavor—conservation is the ultimate winner in our efforts!

Circular↗
USGS2016

Hydraulic model and flood-inundation maps developed for the Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina

A one-dimensional step-backwater model was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina, to provide a means for predicting flood-plain inundation. The model was developed for selected reaches of the Pee Dee River, Brown Creek, and Rocky River, using the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) software. Multiple cross sections were defined on each modeled stream, and hydrologic data were collected between August 2011 and August 2013 at selected locations on the Pee Dee River and on its tributaries Brown Creek, Rocky River, and Thoroughfare Creek. Cross-section, stage, and flow data were used to develop the model and simulate water-surface profiles at 1.0-foot increments at the USGS streamgage Pee Dee River at Pee Dee Refuge near Ansonville, N.C. The profiles were produced for 31 selected water levels that ranged from approximately 193.0 feet to 223.0 feet in elevation at the Pee Dee River at Pee Dee Refuge streamgage. A series of digital flood-inundation maps were developed on the basis of the water-surface profiles produced by the model. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Program Web site at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation , depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels at the USGS streamgage Pee Dee River at Pee Dee Refuge near Ansonville, N.C. These maps, when combined with real-time water-level information from USGS streamgages, provide managers with critical information to help plan flood-response activities and resource protection efforts.

North Carolina↗
USGS2000

Assessment of the effect of road construction and other modifications on surface-water flow at St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge, Franklin County, Florida

St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The refuge was acquired in 1968 from a private land owner and occupies all of St. Vincent Island, a barrier island located off the southern coast of the Florida Panhandle near Apalachicola (fig. 1). The island, which covers 12,358 acres, is about 9 miles long and 4 miles across at its widest point. Eighty miles of unpaved roads that grid the island are presently used for refuge management, law enforcement, and visitor hiking trails. Prior to becoming a refuge, the natural flow of surface water on the island was altered by road and ditch construction that enabled timbering of pine. Restoring the natural flow of surface water on the island to its historical state is one of the USFWS's goals for ecosystem restoration. During past road construction activities, fill was placed in the creeks to create raised roadbeds. This activity changed the natural flow of surface water by (1) acting as an earthen dam that impounded creeks; (2) restricting flow, thus increasing the depth of water in the channels of creeks; or (3) blocking the natural movement of saltwater in the creeks in coastal areas, thus altering water salinity. Along some sections of road, grading substantially lowered land-surface elevations. Along these sections of roads, adjacent creeks commonly flowed into one another during high-water conditions, thus allowing the transfer of water from one drainage basin to another. In some areas on the island, ditches were dug to manipulate the movement of surface water.

Florida↗
USGS2015

Incorporating temporal variation in seabird telemetry data: time variant kernel density models

A key component of the Mid-Atlantic Baseline Studies project was tracking the individual movements of focal marine bird species (Red-throated Loon [Gavia stellata], Northern Gannet [Morus bassanus], and Surf Scoter [Melanitta perspicillata]) through the use of satellite telemetry. This element of the project was a collaborative effort with the Department of Energy (DOE), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Sea Duck Joint Venture (SDJV), among other organizations. Satellite telemetry is an effective and informative tool for understanding individual animal movement patterns, allowing researchers to mark an individual once, and thereafter follow the movements of the animal in space and time. Aggregating telemetry data from multiple individuals can provide information about the spatial use and temporal movements of populations. Tracking data is three dimensional, with the first two dimensions, X and Y, ordered along the third dimension, time. GIS software has many capabilities to store, analyze and visualize the location information, but little or no support for visualizing the temporal data, and tools for processing temporal data are lacking. We explored several ways of analyzing the movement patterns using the spatiotemporal data provided by satellite tags. Here, we present the results of one promising method: time-variant kernel density analysis (Keating and Cherry, 2009). The goal of this chapter is to demonstrate new methods in spatial analysis to visualize and interpret tracking data for a large number of individual birds across time in the mid-Atlantic study area and beyond. In this chapter, we placed greater emphasis on analytical methods than on the behavior and ecology of the animals tracked. For more detailed examinations of the ecology and wintering habitat use of the focal species in the midAtlantic, see Chapters 20-22.

Report↗
USGS2000

Mercury bioaccumulation in fish in a region affected by historic gold mining: The South Yuba River, Deer Creek, and Bear River watersheds, California, 1999

Mercury that was used historically for gold recovery in mining areas of the Sierra Nevada continues to enter local and downstream water bodies, including the Sacramento Delta and the San Francisco Bay of northern California. Methylmercury is of particular concern because it is the most prevalent form of mercury in fish and is a potent neurotoxin that bioaccumulates at successive trophic levels within food webs. In April 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with several other agencies the Forest Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture), the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California State Water Resources Control Board, and the Nevada County Resource Conservation District began a pilot investigation to characterize the occurrence and distribution of mercury in water, sediment, and biota in the South Yuba River, Deer Creek, and Bear River watersheds of California. Biological samples consisted of semi-aquatic and aquatic insects, amphibians, bird eggs, and fish. Fish were collected from 5 reservoirs and 14 stream sites during August through October 1999 to assess the distribution of mercury in these watersheds. Fish that were collected from reservoirs included top trophic level predators (black basses, Micropterus spp.) intermediate trophic level predators [sunfish (blue gill, Lepomis macrochirus; green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus; and black crappie, Poxomis nigromaculatus)] and benthic omnivores (channel catfish, Ictularus punctatus). At stream sites, the species collected were upper trophic level salmonids (brown trout, Salmo trutta) and upper-to-intermediate trophic level salmonids (rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss). Boneless and skinless fillet portions from 161 fish were analyzed for total mercury; 131 samples were individual fish, and the remaining 30 fish were combined into 10 composite samples of three fish each of the same species and size class. Mercury concentrations in samples of black basses (Micropterus spp.), including largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, ranged from 0.20 to 1.5 parts per million (ppm), wet basis. Mercury concentrations in sunfish ranged from less than 0.10 to 0.41 ppm (wet). Channel catfish had mercury concentrations from 0.16 to 0.75 ppm (wet). The range of mercury concentrations observed in rainbow trout was from 0.06 to 0.38 ppm (wet), and in brown trout was from 0.02 to 0.43 ppm (wet). Mercury concentrations in trout were greater than 0.3 ppm in samples from three of 14 stream sites. Mercury at elevated concentrations may pose a health risk to piscivorous wildlife and to humans who eat fish on a regular basis. Data presented in this report may be useful to local, state, and federal agencies responsible for assessing the potential risks associated with elevated levels of mercury in fish in the South Yuba River, Deer Creek, and Bear River watersheds.

California↗
USGS2013

Quantitative determination of selenium and mercury, and an ICP-MS semi-quantitative scan of other elements in samples of eagle tissues collected from the Pacific Northwest--Summer 2011

Eagle tissues from dead eagle carcasses were collected by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel at various locations in the Pacific Northwest as part of a study to document the occurrence of metal and metalloid contaminants. A group of 182 eagle tissue samples, consisting of liver, kidney, brain, talon, feather, femur, humerus, and stomach contents, were quantitatively analyzed for concentrations of selenium and mercury by atomic absorption techniques, and for other elements by semi-quantitative scan with an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. For the various tissue matrices analyzed by an ICP-MS semiquantitative scan, some elemental concentrations (micrograms per gram dry weight) were quite variable within a particular matrix; notable observations were as follows: lead concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 31 in femurs, 0.1 to 29 in humeri, 0.1 to 54 in talons, less than (<) 0.05 to 120 in livers, <0.05 to 34 in kidneys, and 0.05 to 8 in brains; copper concentrations ranged from 5 to 9 in feathers, 8 to 47 in livers, 7 to 43 in kidneys, and 7 to 28 in brains; cadmium concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 10 in kidneys. In stomach contents, concentrations of vanadium ranged from 0.08 to 5, chromium 2 to 34, manganese 1 to 57, copper 2 to 69, arsenic <0.05 to 6, rubidium 1 to 13, and barium <0.5 to 18. Selenium concentrations from highest to lowest based on the matrix mean were as follows: kidney, liver, feather, brain, stomach content, talon, femur, and humerus. For mercury, the highest to lowest concentrations were feather, liver, talon, brain, stomach content, femur, and humerus.

Data Series↗
USGS2022

Climate change adaptation thinking for managed wetlands

Climate change presents new and ongoing challenges to natural resource management. To confront these challenges effectively, managers need to develop proactive adaptation strategies to prepare for and deal with the effects of climate change. We engaged managers and biologists from several midwestern U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field stations to understand recent and future climate change effects, identify adaptation barriers and opportunities, and pilot an approach for integrating adaptation thinking into management planning. To start, three structured discussions informed our understanding of how managers currently deal with climate change effects, the strategies being implemented to cope, and the barriers that limit climate change adaptation efforts. We used these insights to develop a multiday virtual workshop geared toward identifying potential adaptation strategies for managed wetlands. First, we developed a conceptual model to visualize how management actions are used to meet habitat objectives within wetland management systems. Next, we discussed how climate change may affect management actions and objectives; we used this understanding of potential effects to spatially assess vulnerability of managed wetlands to climate change. Using a scenario planning approach, we incorporated multiple potential future conditions and identified effects and adaptation strategies that could be considered for each scenario. As a result, several adaptation strategies for managed wetlands under dry and wet future scenarios were identified that can be applied when developing site-specific adaptation plans. Based on our piloted approach, we determined it would be important to have an adaptation team composed of scientists and managers to facilitate discussions, develop appropriate scenarios, and identify realistic adaptation options. We document the tools, findings, and adaptation thinking process taken to enhance adaptation efforts of managed wetlands. The adaptation thinking process can be applied to advance adaptation efforts in other habitats, ecosystems, and site-specific land management.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Coordinated bird monitoring: Technical recommendations for military lands

The Department of Defense (DoD) is subject to several rules and regulations establishing responsibilities for monitoring migratory birds. The Sikes Act requires all military installations with significant natural resources to prepare and implement Integrated Natural Resources Management Plans (INRMPs). These plans guide the conservation and long-term management of natural resources on military lands in a manner that is compatible with and sustains the military mission. An INRMP also supports compliance with all legal requirements and guides the military in fulfilling its obligation to be a good steward of public land.The management and conservation of migratory birds is addressed in installation INRMPs. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to evaluate and disclose the potential environmental impacts of their proposed actions. More recently, DoD signed an MOU (http://www.dodpif.org/downloads/EO13186_MOU-DoD.pdf) for migratory birds, under Executive Order 13186, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in July 2006 and a Migratory Bird Rule (http://www.dodpif.org/downloads/MigBirdFINALRule_FRFeb2007.pdf) was passed by Congress in February 2007. The Migratory Bird Rule addresses the potential impacts of military readiness activities on populations of migratory birds and establishes a process to implement conservation measures if and when a military readiness activity is expected to have a significant adverse impact on a population of migratory bird species (as determined through the NEPA process). The MOU states that for nonmilitary readiness activities, prior to initiating any activity likely to affect populations of migratory birds DoD shall (1) identify the migratory bird species likely to occur in the area of the proposed action and determine if any species of concern could be affected by the activity, and (2) assess and document, using NEPA when applicable, the effect of the proposed action on species of concern. By following these procedures, DoD will minimize the possibility for a proposed action to unintentionally take migratory birds at a level that would violate any of the migratory bird treaties and potentially impact mission activities. In addition, implementing conservation and monitoring programs for migratory birds supports the ecosystem integrity necessary to sustain DoD's natural resources for the military mission.Non-compliance with the procedural requirements of the MBTA could result in a private party lawsuit under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). A lawsuit filed under APA involving a Navy bombing range is the basis for a court ruling that unintentional take of migratory birds applies to federal actions. Ensuring the necessary data is available to adequately assess impacts of a proposed action will help avoid lawsuits or help ensure such lawsuits have no grounds. The data gathered in a bird monitoring program will provide the best scientific data available to assess the expected impacts of a proposed action on migratory bird species through the NEPA process. This report presents recommendations developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Department of Defense (DoD) on establishing a "Coordinated Bird Monitoring (CBM) Plan." The CBM Plan is intended to ensure that DoD meets its conservation and regulatory responsibilities for monitoring birds (Chapter 1). The report relies heavily on recommendations in the report, "Opportunities for improving avian monitoring" (http://www.nabci-us.org/aboutnabci/monitoringreportfinal0307.pdf), by the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (U.S. NABCI Monitoring Subcommittee, 2007) and on a review of 358 current DoD bird monitoring programs carried out as part of this project (Chapter 2). This report contains 12 recommendations which, if followed, would result in a comprehensive, efficient, and useful approach to bird monitoring. The recommendations are based on the entire report but are presented together at the end of Chapter 1. DoD has agreed to consider implementing these recommendations; however, final decisions will be based upon such factors as the availability of resources and military mission considerations. These recommendations from USGS can be summarized into 6 major themes: A major report on monitoring was released in 2007 by the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (http://www.nabci-us.org/main2.html). DoD can be consistent with this report by establishing policy that monitoring will be explicitly acknowledged as an integral element of bird management and conservation (Recommendation 1). The design of monitoring and assessment programs for birds should include the following steps: Preparation of a document describing the program's goals, objectives, and methods similar to a format we provide (Recommendation 2, Chapter 4). Selection of field methods using an "expert system" developed in this project (Recommendation 3, Chapter 5) or another well-documented system. Preparation and storage of metadata describing the monitoring program in the Natural Resources Monitoring Partnership (NRMP), and other appropriate databases Recommendation 4, Chapter 6). Entry of the survey data using eBird (http://ebird.org/content/dod) or the Coordinated Bird Monitoring Database (CBMD) and long-term storage of the data in the CBMD and the Avian Knowledge Network (AKN; Recommendation 5, Chapter 6; http://www.avianknowledge.net/). Submission of major results from the monitoring program for publication in a peer reviewed journal (Recommendation 6). The DoD Legacy Resource Management Program (Legacy; https://www.dodlegacy.org), Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP; http://www.serdp.org/), and Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP; http://www.serdp.org/) should be encouraged to continue their significant contributions to the foundations of bird monitoring (Recommendation 7, Chapters 1 and 3). Appropriate monitoring should be conducted to identify species of concern on installations. A year-round, one-time survey of birds on installations with habitat for migratory birds would provide the most information to assist compliance with the MOU, the Final Rule, and the NEPA analyses of proposed actions. However, less intensive survey efforts can still be conducted to yield useful information. We describe how various levels of survey effort might be organized and conducted. In addition, continuing surveys, as feasible, would further assist in documenting effects of military readiness and non-readiness activities on species of concern (SOC) (Recommendation 8, Chapter 7). Participation in well-designed, large-scale surveys [(e.g., North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS; http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/), Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS; http://www.birdpop.org/maps.htm)] on land that DoD manages or on lands where the results will be of high interest to DoD, will provide DoD and other NABCI members with information important to bird conservation (Recommendation 9, Chapter 8). Review and implementation of the CBM Plan should involve both higher level management and installation-level natural resources managers (Recommendation 11), be implemented through cooperative partnerships (Recommendation 12), and be followed on U.S territory lands and Army Corps of Engineers projects (Recommendation 10).Additional recommendations that pertain to implementing the DoD CBM Plan are discussed in Chapter 9.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2021

Impacts of sediment removal from and placement in coastal barrier island systems

Executive Summary On June 24, 2019, Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, sent a letter to the directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to request their assistance in answering questions regarding coastal sediment resource management within the Coastal Barrier Resources System as defined by the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (Public Law 97–348; 96 Stat. 1653; 16 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). For the purposes of this response, coastal sediment resource management refers to the removal of sediment from one part of a barrier island system for placement in another part of the coastal system, for either hazard mitigation (for example, erosion or flood control) or coastal restoration (for example, expansion or restoration of beach, dune, and [or] marsh habitats). The specific topics of concern are as follows (paraphrased from Congressman Grijalva’s letter): 1. Disruption of coastal sediment supply resulting from sediment removal and placement, including the replenishment rate of removed sediments and impacts to other components of the barrier island system (discussed in sec. 3). 2. Physical and biological impacts of sediment removal and placement on benthic habitats (discussed in sec. 4). 3. Impacts of sediment removal and placement on fish and other marine species (discussed in sec. 5). 4. Changes in migratory bird nesting and foraging habitats resulting from sediment removal and placement (discussed in sec. 6). 5. Long-term impacts of sediment removal and placement on physical coastal resiliency (discussed in sec. 7).

Open-File Report↗
USGS2017

An update of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system transient model, Nevada and California

Since the original publication of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system (DVRFS) numerical model in 2004, more information on the regional groundwater flow system in the form of new data and interpretations has been compiled. Cooperators such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Energy, and Nye County, Nevada, recognized a need to update the existing regional numerical model to maintain its viability as a groundwater management tool for regional stakeholders. The existing DVRFS numerical flow model was converted to MODFLOW-2005, updated with the latest available data, and recalibrated. Five main data sets were revised: (1) recharge from precipitation varying in time and space, (2) pumping data, (3) water-level observations, (4) an updated regional potentiometric map, and (5) a revision to the digital hydrogeologic framework model. The resulting DVRFS version 2.0 (v. 2.0) numerical flow model simulates groundwater flow conditions for the Death Valley region from 1913 to 2003 to correspond to the time frame for the most recently published (2008) water-use data. The DVRFS v 2.0 model was calibrated by using the Tikhonov regularization functionality in the parameter estimation and predictive uncertainty software PEST. In order to assess the accuracy of the numerical flow model in simulating regional flow, the fit of simulated to target values (consisting of hydraulic heads and flows, including evapotranspiration and spring discharge, flow across the model boundary, and interbasin flow; the regional water budget; values of parameter estimates; and sensitivities) was evaluated. This evaluation showed that DVRFS v. 2.0 simulates conditions similar to DVRFS v. 1.0. Comparisons of the target values with simulated values also indicate that they match reasonably well and in some cases (boundary flows and discharge) significantly better than in DVRFS v. 1.0.

California, Nevada↗
USGS2008

Status of the Island Night Lizard and Two Non-Native Lizards on Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island, California

More than 900 individually marked island night lizards (Xantusia riversiana) were captured on San Nicolas Island, California, between 1984 and 2007 as part of an ongoing study to monitor the status of this threatened species. Our data suggest that at least a few lizards are probably more than 20 years old, and one lizard would be 31.5 years old if it grew at an average rate for the population. Ages of 20 and 30 years seem reasonable given the remarkably slow growth during capture intervals of more than a decade for five of the lizards which we estimated to be 20 or more years old. Like other lizards, island night lizard growth rates vary by size, with larger lizards growing more slowly. In general, growth rates were somewhat greater on San Nicolas Island (compared with Santa Barbara Island), and this increase was sustained through all of the intermediate size classes. The higher growth rate may account for the somewhat larger lizards present on San Nicolas Island, although we cannot discount the possibility that night lizards on San Nicolas are merely living longer. The high percentage of small lizards in the Eucalyptus habitat might seem to reflect a healthy population in that habitat, but the high proportion of small lizards appears to be caused by good reproduction in the 1900s and substantially poorer reproduction in subsequent years. The Eucalyptus habitat has dried quite a bit in recent years. Night lizards in the Haplopappus/Grassland habitat have shown an increase in the proportion of larger lizards since 2000. There has also been an increase in the proportion of large lizards in the Rock Cobble habitat at Redeye Beach. However, there are has been some change in habitat with more elephant seals occupying the same area just above the high tide as do the night lizards. Southern alligator lizards and side-blotched lizards are both non-native on San Nicolas Island. Neither lizard causes obvious harm to island night lizards, and management time and effort should be directed toward much more pressing problems, such as general habitat restoration, erosion control, and the removal of feral cats. The island night lizard (Xantusia riversiana) is endemic to three of the California Channel Islands: Nicolas, San Clemente, and Santa Barbara Islands. Due to its restricted range and apparently small population levels, both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game have listed the island night lizard as a threatened species. Our study was conducted on San Nicolas Island, which lies offshore 120 km southwest of Los Angeles, California. The island is managed by the U.S. Navy who refers to the island as Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island. The Navy maintains radar, telemetry, and communications equipment on San Nicolas Island to support its mission of testing and evaluating weapons systems. The Navy has dual requirements for ensuring military readiness and sustainability while complying with the Federal Endangered Species Act. A comprehensive understanding of the status and stability of the species on San Nicolas Island is essential for effective island management and may aid in the eventual delisting of the species. Previous work on the San Nicolas Island (Fellers and others, 1998) demonstrated that island night lizards were distributed over the eastern half of San Nicolas Island where there is suitable shrubby habitat. On the eastern half of the island, they occur primarily in or near cactus/sage scrub habitats on the north beach terrace, in scattered patches of scrub on the central mesa, and in boulder and cactus habitats on the southern escarpment of the island. Fellers and others (1998) evaluated data from 1984-85 and 1992-95 and estimated that there were 15,300 island night lizards present on San Nicolas Island. There are two non-native lizards on San Nicolas Island, the side-blotch lizard (Uta stansburiana) and the southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata). Both of the

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Radar analysis of fall bird migration stopover sites in the Northeastern U.S.

The national network of weather surveillance radars (WSR-88D/NEXRAD) detects birds in flight, and has proven to be a useful remote-sensing tool for ornithological study. We used data collected during Fall 2008 and 2009 by 16 WSR-88D and 3 terminal Doppler weather radars in the northeastern U.S. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5) to study the spatial distribution of landbirds shortly after they leave daytime stopover sites to embark on nocturnal migratory flights. The aerial density of birds, as estimated by radar reflectivity, was georeferenced to the approximate locations on the ground from which birds emerged. We classified bird stopover use by the magnitude and variation of radar reflectivity across nights; areas were considered ‘important’ stopover sites from a conservation perspective if relative bird density was consistently or occasionally high. These results were used to develop models to predict potentially important stopover sites in portions of the region not sampled by the radars, based on land cover, ground elevation, and geographic location. Locally important stopover sites generally were associated with deciduous forests embedded within landscapes dominated by developed or agricultural lands, or near the shores of major water bodies. Large areas of regionally important stopover sites were located along the coastlines of Long Island Sound, throughout the Delmarva Peninsula, in areas surrounding Baltimore and Washington, along the western edge of the Adirondack Mountains, and within the Appalachian Mountains of southwestern Virginia and West Virginia. Important stopover sites, both within and outside radar-sampled areas and on 34 national wildlife refuges sampled by the radars, were mapped in a Geographic Information System, providing base maps for conservation uses and a sampling frame for field surveys to ‘ground truth’ the radar and analytical results. Our analysis indicates that preserving patches of natural habitat, particularly deciduous forests, in developed or agricultural landscapes and along major coastlines should be a priority for conservation plans addressing the stopover requirements of migratory landbirds.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachuse↗
USGS2019

Effects of microcystin-LR on juvenile Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) during feeding trials, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2014−16

Executive Summary Historically, populations of Lost River suckers ( Deltistes luxatus ) of the Upper Klamath Basin were so numerous that they were commercially harvested; however, declining numbers throughout the 20th century led to the listing of the species under the United States Endangered Species Act in 1988. Habitat destruction, poor water quality, competition with (and predation by) nonnative species, especially fathead minnows ( Pimephales promelas ) and yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ), are hypothesized as primary causes of population decline (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2013). Age data indicate that almost all adult suckers presently in Upper Klamath Lake spawning populations were hatched in the early 1990s. While entrainment of young fish (especially larvae) may contribute, catch-at-length and age data suggest consistently high mortality during the first year of life may be preventing the recruitment of young adults. The specific causes of juvenile sucker mortality are unknown; however, the absence of juvenile suckers in trap net catches coincides with degraded water quality associated with the decay of cyanobacteria blooms and exposure to toxic microcystin produced by Microcystis cyanobacteria. Water-quality data collected in Upper Klamath Lake from 2011 to 2016 suggest that microcystin concentrations in Upper Klamath Lake reached potentially lethal levels based on literature findings from studies on a variety of fish species. We conducted a laboratory feeding trial to determine if microcystin toxicity could potentially be a direct cause of juvenile Lost River sucker mortality. We examined the effects of environmentally relevant doses of microcystin on the survival and health of hatchery-reared juvenile Lost River suckers. Results from this laboratory study suggest that Lost River suckers are very tolerant of the microcystin-LR toxin. Histopathological analysis revealed no evidence of tissue changes associated with microcystin-LR exposure. Although no direct effects of microcystin-LR exposure were detected, suckers could potentially be negatively affected through added energy expenditures and stress associated with excretion of microcystin. Furthermore, microcystin may adversely affect other organisms in Upper Klamath Lake that could alter food availability or habitat of the suckers.

Oregon↗
USGS2015

Translating climate change effects on species into everyday language: an example of more driving and less fishing

Climate change is expected to result in widespread changes in species distributions (e.g., shifting, shrinking, expanding species ranges; e.g., Parmesan and Yohe, 2003), especially for freshwater fish species (Heino et al. 2009). Although anglers and other resource users could be greatly affected by changes in species distributions, predicted changes are rarely reported in ways that can be easily understood by the general public. In contrast, climate science that more directly affects human welfare or livelihoods is often more readily communicated to the general public because it is of greater concern or closely related to everyday life. For example, most people can readily interpret how increases in the number of &ldquo;hot&rdquo; days above a given temperature threshold might affect their lives, and property owners in coastal areas can use predictive maps to determine how they might be affected by sea level rise (for more examples, see the Third National Assessment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at globalchange.gov ). However, the effects of climate change on species are usually reported to the general public using summary metrics or maps designed to communicate concepts that are not normally encountered in everyday life, including changes in habitat suitability, range shifts, or increasing risks from disease or extreme events (e.g., National Audubon Society 2009; Groffman et al. 2014). Though these metrics are necessary, meaningful, and understood by scientists, many people lack the necessary training and background to readily understand them. Further, scientists and nonscientists alike may struggle to convert these metrics into a currency that directly affects day-to-day life. Climate science is a complex issue, and we argue that when communicating potential responses of vegetation, fish, and wildlife to nonscientists, creative thinking with respect to the currency of communication will facilitate discussions between scientists, policy makers, and the public. We posit that with some additional thought and relatively simple summaries, the responses of fish and other species to climate change can be translated into everyday language that will facilitate climate science communication. Although such translations are rare, one example of this type of creativity is the translation from changes in habitat suitability for tree species to potential reductions in maple syrup production (West over 2012), which is arguably more interesting and understandable for the general public. Similar translations could be especially important for communicating climate change effects on game fish and other species that are socially and economically important to large groups of people. We demonstrate this translation by communicating the potential effects of climate change on the distribution of a coldwater fish species, the eastern Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis . Rather than communicating the potential forecasted contraction of the Brook Trout's distribution in terms of habitat loss, we report the predicted increases in the driving distance to streams likely offering Brook Trout angling opportunities under a climate change scenario. Travel costs based on distance have been widely used to value ecosystem services such as angling under climate change scenarios (e.g., Pendleton and Mendelsohn 1998; Mendelsohn and Markowski 1999; Ahn et al. 2000) but, to the best of our knowledge, have not been used for communicating potential changes to the public despite the intrinsic link to everyday life.

New York, Pennsylvania↗
USGS2025

Evaluating elk distribution and conflict under proposed management alternatives at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming

We evaluated measurable attributes describing the current and future distribution of Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) across a region surrounding Jackson, Wyoming, for five feedground management alternatives proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a revision to the 2007 “Bison and Elk Management Plan” of the National Elk Refuge. A resource selection function evaluated measurable attributes of interest to managers, including elk use of private property and sensitive habitat types at monthly timesteps and varying winter conditions. The study area boundaries were created through an expert elicitation process and consist of the Jackson Elk Herd Unit, Grand Teton National Park, the National Elk Refuge, and the northern third of the Fall Creek Elk Herd Unit. For each of the five alternatives, we distributed monthly elk numbers calculated in a concurrent analysis that simulated chronic wasting disease dynamics in this system for 20 years. Measurable attributes representing potential elk use of (1) private property, (2) cattle properties as an index of Brucella abortus risk, and sensitive habitats consisting of (3) Populus tremuloides Michx. (quaking aspen), (4) Populus angustifolia E. James (narrowleaf cottonwood), and (5) Salix L. (willow) in core winter use areas all closely followed the declines of elk abundance projected by the elk chronic wasting disease model. After 20 years, the continue feeding alternative ranked most favorably in terms of limiting elk days on private property and reducing brucellosis risk from elk to cattle because this alternative concentrated elk on the National Elk Refuge and resulted in the lowest elk population sizes. However, other management alternatives, including increase harvest and reduce feeding, tended to limit elk use of sensitive quaking aspen, narrowleaf cottonwood, and willow habitats during winter (December–April).

Wyoming↗