Geology topics

H. P. Laskowski

Publications and source records attributed to H. P. Laskowski.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2011

Adaptive management in the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System: Science-management partnerships for conservation delivery

Adaptive management is an approach to recurrent decision making in which uncertainty about the decision is reduced over time through comparison of outcomes predicted by competing models against observed values of those outcomes. The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a large land management program charged with making natural resource management decisions, which often are made under considerable uncertainty, severe operational constraints, and conditions that limit ability to precisely carry out actions as intended. The NWRS presents outstanding opportunities for the application of adaptive management, but also difficult challenges. We describe two cooperative programs between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to implement adaptive management at scales ranging from small, single refuge applications to large, multi-refuge, multi-region projects. Our experience to date suggests three important attributes common to successful implementation: a vigorous multi-partner collaboration , practical and informative decision framework components , and a sustained commitment to the process. Administrators in both agencies should consider these attributes when developing programs to promote the use and acceptance of adaptive management in the NWRS.

Journal of Environmental Management↗

USGS2008

Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management

In a natural resource management setting, monitoring is a crucial component of an informed process for making decisions, and monitoring design should be driven by the decision context and associated uncertainties. Monitoring itself can play >3 roles. First, it is important for state-dependent decision-making, as when managers need to know the system state before deciding on the appropriate course of action during the ensuing management cycle. Second, monitoring is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of management actions relative to objectives. Third, in an adaptive management setting, monitoring provides the feedback loop for learning about the system; learning is sought not for its own sake but primarily to better achieve management objectives. In this case, monitoring should be designed to reduce the critical uncertainties in models of the managed system. The United States Geological Survey and United States Fish and Wildlife Service are conducting a large-scale management experiment on 23 National Wildlife Refuges across the Northeast and Midwest Regions. The primary management objective is to provide habitat for migratory waterbirds, particularly during migration, using water-level manipulations in managed wetlands. Key uncertainties are related to the potential trade-offs created by management for a specific waterbird guild (e.g., migratory shorebirds) and the response of waterbirds, plant communities, and invertebrates to specific experimental hydroperiods. We reviewed the monitoring program associated with this study, and the ways that specific observations fill >1 of the roles identified above. We used observations from our monitoring to improve state-dependent decisions to control undesired plants, to evaluate management performance relative to shallow-water habitat objectives, and to evaluate potential trade-offs between waterfowl and shorebird habitat management. With limited staff and budgets, management agencies need efficient monitoring programs that are used for decision-making, not comprehensive studies that elucidate all manner of ecological relationships.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗

USGS2007

The R3/R5 impoundment study: A large-scale management experiment

Managed wetlands provide a broad spectrum of resources to migratory waterbirds (shorebirds, wading birds, and waterfowl) throughout the annual cycle. Successful conservation and management of waterbirds depends on integrated approaches that (1) incorporate larger spatial and temporal scales than traditional approaches to wetland management, and (2) use experimental designs to reduce uncertainty about the response of the systems to management. In a previous experiment on USFWS National Wildlife Refuges in the Northeast, we explored the effects of water-level management on migratory shorebirds in spring. We documented regional patterns of shorebird use of Refuge wetlands and showed that across the region, a slow drawdown was superior to 2 alternatives. USGS and USFWS have now cooperatively undertaken an expanded study focusing on 3 waterbird guilds in the context of the complete annual cycle and over a larger spatial extent. For this 3-yr study, now in its first year, 2 impoundments were selected at each of 23 NWRs across the Northeast and Upper Midwest Regions. Two experimental treatments (annual water regimes focused on early-season or late-season drawdowns) are being applied each year in a cross-over design. This experimental design will increase our understanding of cross-seasonal interactions which result from specific hydrologic regimes aimed at a particular waterbird guild. Monitoring will allow waterbird responses to be linked with direct effects of water management on plant and invertebrate populations. Results of this large-scale experiment will be used to motivate formal adaptive management of wetlands and waterbirds at refuges following completion of this experiment.

Conference Paper↗