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At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Sustaining Namāēw (Lake Sturgeon): Partner-led climate adaptation for Indigenous fisheries in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Namāēw (Menominee; Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens ) have long supported Indigenous culture and food sovereignty but have declined by over 80% in the Laurentian Great Lakes, exacerbating their sensitivity to climate change. Following interest from Indigenous leaders, we initiated a partnership-driven effort to (1) assess climate effects and (2) develop potential adaptation options for Namāēw using a participatory, transdisciplinary approach that combines multiple ways of knowing. Through a literature review and nine semistructured conversations with officials from Indigenous Nations and organizations in the Great Lakes, we identified central themes including access, culture, and fish persistence. Other concerns included habitat, food web shifts, and water quality. Prominent adaptation themes involved population assessments, stocking, regulations, habitat restoration, interagency coordination, and cultural advocacy. These findings underscore the importance of partnership-driven research to support Indigenous fisheries through knowledge coproduction and equitable adaptation. Our approach provides a model to inform stewardship planning for fisheries that are facing global change.

Laurentian Great Lakes↗
USGS2014

Mechanisms driving recruitment variability in fish: comparisons between the Laurentian Great Lakes and marine systems

In his seminal work, Hjort (in Fluctuations in the great fisheries of Northern Europe. Conseil Parmanent International Pour L'Exploration De La Mar. Rapports et Proces-Verbaux, 20: 1–228, 1914) observed that fish population levels fluctuated widely, year-class strength was set early in life, and egg production by adults could not alone explain variability in year-class strength. These observations laid the foundation for hypotheses on mechanisms driving recruitment variability in marine systems. More recently, researchers have sought to explain year-class strength of important fish in the Laurentian Great Lakes and some of the hypotheses developed for marine fisheries have been transferred to Great Lakes fish. We conducted a literature review to determine the applicability of marine recruitment hypotheses to Great Lakes fish. We found that temperature, interspecific interactions, and spawner effects (abundance, age, and condition of adults) were the most important factors in explaining recruitment variability in Great Lakes fish, whereas relatively fewer studies identified bottom-up trophodynamic factors or hydrodynamic factors as important. Next, we compared recruitment between Great Lakes and Baltic Sea fish populations and found no statistical difference in factors driving recruitment between the two systems, indicating that recruitment hypotheses may often be transferable between Great Lakes and marine systems. Many recruitment hypotheses developed for marine fish have yet to be applied to Great Lakes fish. We suggest that future research on recruitment in the Great Lakes should focus on forecasting the effects of climate change and invasive species. Further, because the Great Lakes are smaller and more enclosed than marine systems, and have abundant fishery-independent data, they are excellent candidates for future hypothesis testing on recruitment in fish.

Laurentian Great Lakes↗
USGS2020

Using value of information to prioritize research needs for migratory bird management under climate change: A case study using federal land acquisition in the United States

In response to global habitat loss, many governmental and non‐governmental organizations have implemented land acquisition programs to protect critical habitats permanently for priority species. The ability of these protected areas to meet future management objectives may be compromised if the effects of climate change are not considered in acquisition decisions. Unfortunately, the effects of climate change on ecological systems are complex and plagued by uncertainty, making it difficult for organizations to prioritize research needs to improve decision‐making. Herein, we demonstrate the use of qualitative value of information analysis to identify and prioritize which sources of uncertainty should be reduced to improve land acquisition decisions to protect migratory birds in the face of climate change. The qualitative value of information analysis process involves four steps: ( i ) articulating alternative hypotheses; ( ii ) determining the magnitude of uncertainty regarding each hypothesis; ( iii ) evaluating the relevance of each hypothesis to acquisition decision‐making; and ( iv ) assessing the feasibility of reducing the uncertainty surrounding each hypothesis through research and monitoring. We demonstrate this approach using the objectives of 3 U.S. federal land acquisition programs that focus on migratory bird management. We used a comprehensive literature review, expert elicitation, and professional judgement to evaluate 11 hypotheses about the effect of climate change on migratory birds. Based on our results, we provide a list of priorities for future research and monitoring to reduce uncertainty and improve land acquisition decisions for the programs considered in our case study. Reducing uncertainty about how climate change will influence the spatial distribution of priority species and biotic homogenization were identified as the highest priorities for future research due to both the value of this information for improving land acquisition decisions and the feasibility of reducing uncertainty through research and monitoring. Research on how changes in precipitation patterns and winter severity will influence migratory bird abundance is also expected to benefit land acquisition decisions. By contrast, hypotheses about phenology and migration distance were identified as low priorities for research. By providing a rigorous and transparent approach to prioritizing research, we demonstrate that qualitative value of information is a valuable tool for prioritizing research and improving management decisions in other complex, high‐uncertainty cases where traditional quantitative value of information analysis is not possible. Given the inherent complexity of ecological systems under climate change, and the difficulty of identifying management‐relevant research priorities, we expect this approach to have wide applications within the field of natural resource management.

Biological Reviews↗
USGS2021

Improving species status assessments under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and implications for multispecies conservation challenges worldwide

Despite its successes, the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) has proven challenging to implement due to funding limitations, workload backlog, and other problems. As threats to species survival intensify and as more species come under threat, the need for the ESA and similar conservation laws and policies in other countries to function efficiently has grown. Attempts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to streamline ESA decisions include multispecies recovery plans and habitat conservation plans. We address species status assessment (SSA), a USFWS process to inform ESA decisions from listing to recovery, within the context of multispecies and ecosystem planning. Although existing SSAs have a single-species focus, ecosystem-based research can efficiently inform multiple SSAs within a region and provide a foundation for transition to multispecies SSAs in the future. We considered at-risk grassland species and ecosystems within the southeastern United States, where a disproportionate number of rare and endemic species are associated with grasslands. To initiate our ecosystem-based approach, we used a combined literature-based and structured World Café workshop format to identify science needs for SSAs. Discussions concentrated on 5 categories of threats to grassland species and ecosystems, consistent with recommendations to make shared threats a focus of planning under the ESA: (1) habitat loss, fragmentation, and disruption of functional connectivity; (2) climate change; (3) altered disturbance regimes; (4) invasive species; and (5) localized impacts. For each threat, workshop participants identified science and information needs, including database availability, research priorities, and modeling and mapping needs. Grouping species by habitat and shared threats can make the SSA process and other planning processes for conservation of at-risk species worldwide more efficient and useful. We found a combination of literature review and structured discussion effective for identifying the scientific information and analysis needed to support the development of multiple SSAs.

Conservation Biology↗
USGS2024

The dynamic feasibility of resisting (R), accepting (A), or directing (D) ecological change

Ecological transformations are occurring as a result of climate change, challenging traditional approaches to land management decision-making. The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework helps managers consider how to respond to this challenge. We examined how the feasibility of the choices to resist, accept, and direct shifts in complex and dynamic ways through time. We considered 4 distinct types of social feasibility: regulatory, financial, public, and organizational. Our commentary is grounded in literature review and the examples that exist but necessarily has speculative elements because empirical evidence on this newly emerging management strategy is scarce. We expect that resist strategies will become less feasible over time as managers encounter situations where resisting is ecologically, by regulation, financially, or publicly not feasible. Similarly, we expect that as regulatory frameworks increasingly permit their use, if costs decrease, and if the public accepts them, managers will increasingly view accept and direct strategies as more viable options than they do at present. Exploring multiple types of feasibility over time allows consideration of both social and ecological trajectories of change in tandem. Our theorizing suggested that deepening the time horizon of decision-making allows one to think carefully about when one should adopt different approaches and how to combine them over time.

Conservation Biology↗
USGS2022

Reducing uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes: A decision-path approach

Climate change will continue to be an important consideration for conservation practitioners. However, uncertainty in identifying appropriate management strategies, particularly for understudied species and regions, constrains the implementation of science-based solutions and adaptation strategies. Here, we share a decision-path approach to reduce uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes to inform conservation and adaptation planning. With the Fish and Climate Change database (FiCli), a comprehensive, online, public database of peer-reviewed literature on documented and projected climate impacts to inland fishes, users can identify relevant studies and associated management recommendations via geographic regions, response types (i.e., fish assemblage dynamics, demographic, distributional, evolutionary, phenological), fish taxa, and traits (e.g., thermal guilds, feeding type, parental care, habitat type) and use a suite of summary tools to make more informed decisions. For both data-rich and data-poor scenarios, we demonstrate that this approach can reduce uncertainty in understanding climate change responses. Using thermal sensitivity as an example, we also establish the utility of FiCli database to address other user-defined, management-relevant questions via supplementary analyses. This decision-path approach can be applied to rapid assessments, management decisions, and policy development and may serve as a model for other conservation decision-making processes.

Conservation Science and Practice↗
USGS2025

Conserving climate-change refugia: Insights from research and practice

As the impacts of anthropogenic climate change increase, conservation of climate-change refugia has become a key strategy for effective environmental stewardship. Over the last 5 years, the field of climate-change refugia conservation has made exciting advances, shifting from concepts and theory to refugia mapping and implementation. However, few studies have advanced to action on the ground; while 84% of studies identified and mapped refugia, only 4% involved implementing management action. Moreover, taxonomic and geographic gaps remain, with most studies focused on terrestrial plants and vertebrates in Europe and North America. Here, we outline impediments to implementation following the steps of the Climate-Change Refugia Conservation Cycle. Based on a systematic literature review, we elucidate advances and obstacles with examples from a diversity of systems and sectors from across the world and highlight emerging work bridging the gap between research and implementation.

Conservation Science and Practice↗
USGS2026

Adaptive capacity of alpine fauna in Australia

Climate change is leading to rapid and unprecedented changes to Australia's alpine ecosystems. The impacts of these changes at a species level are not fully understood, making it challenging to holistically assess the impacts of a changing climate in these ecosystems. To address this gap, we combine a literature review with expert opinion to conduct individual adaptive capacity analyses for 29 species of Australia's alpine animals. We conduct these analyses using a published framework which encompasses key themes, such as life history, capacity for movement, genetic variation, and distribution. Our results highlight diversity in the adaptive capacity of Australia's alpine animals and suggest that climate change will impact even closely related species in surprisingly disparate ways. Our study also provides an example of how to overcome perceived data deficiency and support conservation practitioners with what is known. We have created an important resource for land managers in Australia's Alps that systematically integrates diverse data to provide insight into the mechanisms behind the vulnerability of some of Australia's most threatened species to climate change. The evidence this study collates should be considered in conservation planning to ensure species-level natural history information is included in decisions about management actions to mitigate climate change impacts.

Conservation Science and Practice↗
USGS2023

Stocking fish in inland waters: Opportunities and risks for sustainable food systems

Stocking is one of the foremost tools in the inland fisheries management toolbox, but it comes with both opportunities and risks. Stocking is often used as compensation for depleted wild populations, particularly where recruitment processes have been disrupted, but it can introduce disease, disrupt community structures, reduce genetic integrity, and cause conflicts between fishery stakeholders. Despite its widespread use, examples of effective stocking for food fisheries in inland waters are sparse in the peer-reviewed literature. Nevertheless, it is well established that stocking is frequently used to maintain fish yield, so there is a need to conduct the practice in a robust manner that minimises the potential risks. This paper serves as the front matter for a special section of Fisheries Management and Ecology focused on fresh waters feeding the world, which resulted from two panel sessions, one focused on aquaculture and one focused on stocking, hosted by the international InFish research network ( https://infish.org/ ). The paper highlights current practices of fish stock enhancement in inland waters for food, examines potential synergies and interactions of stock enhancement programmes with aquaculture, and provides an outline framework for responsible management of fish stock enhancement.

Fisheries Management and Ecology↗
USGS2017

States and rates: Complementary approaches to developing flow‐ecology relationships

In recognition of the influence of flow on riverine habitats and organisms, stream ecologists have devoted considerable effort to the development of quantitative predictive relationships describing ecological responses to flow variability, i.e. flow‐ecology relationships. Methods used to generate flow‐ecology relationships can be thought of as a continuum bookended by pure states approaches on one end and by rates approaches on the other. In pure states approaches, the ecological response is a snapshot of a condition or property (i.e. a state) derived from a single measurement in time. In contrast, ecological responses in rates approaches reflect temporal change (i.e. a rate) and are thus reliant on repeated measurements made over time. Here, we elaborate on the fundamental characteristics of different approaches (pure states, rates and an intermediate approach we call repeated states) for generating flow‐ecology relationships, examine how commonly the different approaches are used in the flow‐ecology literature, conduct an independent analysis to illustrate the different outcomes achieved by applying repeated‐states and rates approaches using a dataset for stream fish diversity in relation to flow magnitude, and identify some of the different ways ecologists are applying rates approaches in flow ecology. Our literature review revealed that repeated‐states approaches (53% of reviewed studies) were used far more commonly than either pure states (19%) or rates (12%) approaches to generate flow‐ecology relationships. The remaining hybrid studies (17%) used both state and rate responses, and thus also relied on repeated measurements over time. Despite frequent collection of data suitable for rates approaches, flow‐ecology relationships have generally been developed using states approaches that relate changes in ecological states to different long‐term average flow conditions, rather than to specific flow sequences over much shorter time intervals. Such flow‐ecology relationships cannot generate temporally specific predictions of ecological responses to changing flow conditions (i.e. the expected change in state following a specific flow sequence), nor can they describe demographic processes underlying observed changes. While there are different scenarios in which a pure or repeated‐states approach would be useful, more frequent use of rates approaches would increase our ability to test flow‐ecology hypotheses and our mechanistic understanding of flow‐ecology relationships.

Freshwater Biology↗
USGS2011

Vulnerability of riparian ecosystems to elevated CO 2 and climate change in arid and semiarid western North America

Riparian ecosystems, already greatly altered by water management, land development, and biological invasion, are being further altered by increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations ([CO 2 ]) and climate change, particularly in arid and semiarid (dryland) regions. In this literature review, we (1) summarize expected changes in [CO 2 ], climate, hydrology, and water management in dryland western North America, (2) consider likely effects of those changes on riparian ecosystems, and (3) identify critical knowledge gaps. Temperatures in the region are rising and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense. Warmer temperatures in turn are altering river hydrology: advancing the timing of spring snow melt floods, altering flood magnitudes, and reducing summer and base flows. Direct effects of increased [CO 2 ] and climate change on riparian ecosystems may be similar to effects in uplands, including increased heat and water stress, altered phenology and species geographic distributions, and disrupted trophic and symbiotic interactions. Indirect effects due to climate-driven changes in streamflow, however, may exacerbate the direct effects of warming and increase the relative importance of moisture and fluvial disturbance as drivers of riparian ecosystem response to global change. Together, climate change and climate-driven changes in streamflow are likely to reduce abundance of dominant, native, early-successional tree species, favor herbaceous species and both drought-tolerant and late-successional woody species (including many introduced species), reduce habitat quality for many riparian animals, and slow litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Climate-driven changes in human water demand and associated water management may intensify these effects. On some regulated rivers, however, reservoir releases could be managed to protect riparian ecosystem. Immediate research priorities include determining riparian species' environmental requirements and monitoring riparian ecosystems to allow rapid detection and response to undesirable ecological change.

Global Change Biology↗
USGS2012

The resilience and functional role of moss in boreal and arctic ecosystems

Mosses in northern ecosystems are ubiquitous components of plant communities, and strongly influence nutrient, carbon and water cycling. We use literature review, synthesis and model simulations to explore the role of mosses in ecological stability and resilience. Moss community responses to disturbance showed all possible responses (increases, decreases, no change) within most disturbance categories. Simulations from two process-based models suggest that northern ecosystems would need to experience extreme perturbation before mosses were eliminated. But simulations with two other models suggest that loss of moss will reduce soil carbon accumulation primarily by influencing decomposition rates and soil nitrogen availability. It seems clear that mosses need to be incorporated into models as one or more plant functional types, but more empirical work is needed to determine how to best aggregate species. We highlight several issues that have not been adequately explored in moss communities, such as functional redundancy and singularity, relationships between response and effect traits, and parameter vs conceptual uncertainty in models. Mosses play an important role in several ecosystem processes that play out over centuries – permafrost formation and thaw, peat accumulation, development of microtopography – and there is a need for studies that increase our understanding of slow, long-term dynamical processes.

New Phytologist↗
USGS2005

Conservation of the Yellowstone grizzly bear

We review literature relevant to the conservation of Yellowstone's grizzly bear population and appraise the bear's long-term viability. We conclude that the population is isolated and vulnerable to epidemic perturbation and that the carrying capacity of the habitat is likely to shift downward under conditions of climate change. Viability analyses based on the assumption that future habitats will closely resemble those existing at present have limited applicability; more information is needed on the autecology of important bear foods and on the implications of landscape-scale changes for bear population dynamics. Optimism over prospects of long-term persistence for Yellowstone's grizzly bears does not seem to be warranted and management of this population should be conservative and not unduly swayed on short-term positive trends.

Yellowstone National Park↗
USGS2006

Understanding barriers to implementation of an adaptive land management program

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manages over 650,000 ha, including 26 wildlife management and environmental areas. To improve management, they developed an objective-based vegetation management (OBVM) process that focuses on desired conditions of plant communities through an adaptive management framework. Our goals were to understand potential barriers to implementing OBVM and to recommend strategies to overcome barriers. A literature review identified 47 potential barriers in six categories to implementation of adaptive and ecosystem management: logistical, communication, attitudinal, institutional, conceptual, and educational. We explored these barriers through a bureau-wide survey of 90 staff involved in OBVM and personal interviews with area managers, scientists, and administrators. The survey incorporated an organizational culture assessment instrument to gauge how institutional factors might influence OBVM implementation. The survey response rate was 69%. Logistics and communications were the greatest barriers to implementing OBVM. Respondents perceived that the agency had inadequate resources for implementing OBVM and provided inadequate information. About one-third of the respondents believed OBVM would decrease their job flexibility and perceived greater institutional barriers to the approach. The 43% of respondents who believed they would have more responsibility under OBVM also had greater attitudinal barriers. A similar percentage of respondents reported OBVM would not give enough priority to wildlife. Staff believed that current agency culture was hierarchical but preferred a culture that would provide more flexibility for adaptive management and would foster learning from land management activities. In light of the barriers to OBVM, we recommend the following: (1) mitigation of logistical barriers by addressing real and perceived constraints of staff, funds, and other resources in a participatory manner; (2) mitigation of communication barriers through interpersonal and electronic communication channels; (3) development of an OBVM external advisory committee; and (4) adoption of characteristics of an organizational culture that promotes flexibility and learning. ??2006 Society for Conservation Biology.

Conservation Biology↗
USGS2006

Arsenic in ground water of the Western United States

Natural occurrences of ground water with moderate (10 to 50 micrograms per liter) to high (greater than 50 micrograms per liter) concentrations of arsenic are common throughout much of the Western United States. High concentrations of arsenic are generally associated with one of four geochemical environments: (1) basin-fill deposits of alluvial-lacustrine origin, particularly in semiarid areas, (2) volcanic deposits, (3) geothermal systems, and (4) uranium and gold-mining areas. These findings are based on an extensive literature review, compilation of unpublished reports and data, and the review of data bases containing more than 7,000 analyses of ground-water samples for arsenic. In the first two environments, arsenic appears to be associated with sediments derived, in part, from volcanic rocks of intermediate to acidic composition. Dissolved arsenic concentrations in water from volcanic aquifers in the same regions, however, may be low (less than 10 micrograms per liter). Solid phases (minerals, amorphous solids, and sedimentary organic matter) that supply the dissolved arsenic have not been identified in most areas. Alluvial and lacustrine sedimentary deposits appear to be an important source of arsenic in volcanic areas (such as Lane County, Oregon) and in areas underlain by basin-fill deposits (such as Carson Desert in Nevada and the Tulare Lake basin in California). Mobilization of arsenic in sedimentary aquifers may be, in part, a result of changes in the geochemical environment due to agricultural irrigation. In the deeper subsurface, elevated arsenic concentrations are associated with compaction caused by groundwater withdrawals.

Groundwater↗
USGS2021

Historic coregonine habitat use and assessment of larval nursery locations in Lake Erie

Coregonine fishes (Coregonus spp.) are important components of Great Lake food webs and support lucrative commercial and recreational fisheries. Due to a combination of several factors including habitat loss, over-exploitation, and introduction of exotic species, the distribution and abundance of coregonines have been reduced. Examples of these declines are evident in Lake Erie where cisco (C. artedi) have been nearly extirpated, and lake whitefish (C. clupeaformis), while still abundant, are declining. To identify key habitat locations of coregonines in Lake Erie, we conducted a literature review of historical spawning, nursery, and adult habitat sites where coregonines have been observed. We used these sites as a reference for larval sampling at six locations across the southern shore of Lake Erie during spring 2017. Paired bongo samplers were used to collect larvae, and average densities were calculated for comparison across sites. Larval coregonine (46 visually identified as lake whitefish; 8 classified as coregonines) densities were highest at Huron, OH (0.880/1,000 m3 ± 1.61), followed by Sandusky, OH (0.426/1,000 m3 ± 1.05), Dunkirk, NY (0.208/1,000 m3 ± 0.703), Fairport, OH (0.185/1,000 m3 ± 0.680), Erie, PA (0.120/1,000 m3 ± 0.532), and Conneaut, OH (0.1196/1,000 m3 ± 0.528). Using contemporary sampling data coupled with historical spawning locations, we identified sites that are currently being used as nursery locations by lake whitefish. By validating the contemporary use of historic spawning and nursery sites, this study identifies locations where habitat protection and restoration or future stocking of coregonids could be conducted in Lake Erie in efforts to recover populations and improve fishery production.

Lake Erie↗
USGS2024

Volcanism and tectonics of young basaltic fields in the eastern California shear zone, California, USA

Circa 12 Ma, there was a fundamental reorganization of magmatism and tectonics in the Mojave Desert, California, USA, from basaltic to rhyolitic fields associated with extensional tectonics to dispersed basaltic monogenetic fields associated with the northwest- or east-striking strike-slip faults. The broad zone of strike-slip faults associated with the San Andreas transform margin stretched east to Arizona, but the high slip-rate central part that is known as the Quaternary eastern California shear zone is the locus of the post–12 Ma volcanism. We compiled a literature review of 29 basaltic fields, conducted detailed and reconnaissance study of several fields, and conducted geochemistry on many. Most of the volcanic fields are near or cut by the long fault systems, but more importantly, in nearly two-thirds of the fields that have scoria cones, the cones are <1 km from one of these faults. Eighteen volcanic fields have geochemistry data, and of the 441 analyses of major elements, 286 are new U.S. Geological Survey data that include comprehensive trace elements. The data are used to compare fields and determine the compositional variations during the formation of each field. Comparisons between fields show that several nearby volcanic fields have similar geochemical compositions and trends compared to distant fields; we suggest that six magmatic clusters formed, some with 200–300 k.y. duration. Spatial patterns change over the 12 m.y. span, with early fields forming in the north and south and the youngest in a central area from Pisgah to Amboy fields. The volume of magma also changed, most notably with a sixfold increase ca. 4 Ma followed by a 2–3 m.y. quiescence. In addition to the fracture control provided by strike-slip faults as magma conduits, we advance arguments for shear melting in the mantle along the most active faults, with secondary controls of local tectonic interactions, to explain spatial and temporal patterns in the fields.

California↗
USGS1999

Alpha status, dominance, leadership, and division of labor in wolf packs

The prevailing view of a wolf ( Canis lupus ) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance but held in check by the "alpha" pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs, however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social order as it occurs in nature, discuss the alpha concept and social dominance and submission, and present data on the precise relationships among members in free-living packs, based on a literature review and 13 summers of observations of wolves on Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. I conclude that the typical wolf pack is a family, with the adult parents guiding the activities of the group in a division-of-labor system in which the female predominates primarily in such activities as pup care and defense and the male primarily during foraging and food-provisioning and the travels associated with them.

Canadian Journal of Zoology↗