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USGS2006

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)-West: Summary of activities and accomplishments in South Dakota, 2000-2004

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)-West was initiated in South Dakota in 2000 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The two primary objectives of the surface waters component of EMAP-West were to (1) develop the monitoring tools (biological indicators, stream survey design, estimates of reference condition) necessary to produce unbiased estimates of the ecological condition of surface waters across a large geographic area of the West; and (2) demonstrate the effectiveness of those tools in a large-scale assessment. Although not specifically defined as an objective, data collected during EMAP-West also will help to establish a baseline for comparisons with data obtained from future monitoring efforts and could document changing biological conditions resulting from changing land-use or land-management practices associated with regulatory or restorative efforts. EMAP-West is a partnership between USEPA, States, Tribes, and other interested parties in USEPA Regions 8, 9, and 10. In South Dakota, the principle EMAP-West cooperators include the USEPA, South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Other agencies such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SDDENR), State Conservation Districts, and various Tribal departments also have provided valuable expertise and assistance. This fact sheet summarizes the activities and accomplishments associated with EMAP-West in South Dakota during 2000–2004. Efforts were focused on perennial streams that usually can be waded. Large rivers also were assessed during EMAP-West under the auspices of USEPA using boats and similar techniques, but are not included in the activities discussed here. Data-collection activities for wadeable streams were conducted under the auspices of USEPA in South Dakota during 2000 and by the USGS during 2001–2004. A more detailed description of EMAP-West activities and assessments in South Dakota is available in Heakin and others ( in press ).

South Dakota↗

USGS2014

Lesser prairie-chicken nest site selection, microclimate, and nest survival in association with vegetation response to a grassland restoration program

Climate models predict that the region of the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) will experience increased maximum and minimum temperatures, reduced frequency but greater intensity of precipitation events, and earlier springs. These climate changes along with different landscape management techniques may influence the persistence of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act and a priority species under the GPLCC, in positive or negative ways. The objectives of this study were to conduct (1) a literature review of lesser prairie-chicken nesting phenology and ecology, (2) an analysis of thermal aspects of lesser prairie-chicken nest microclimate data, and (3) an analysis of nest site selection, nest survival, and vegetation response to 10 years of tebuthiuron and/or grazing treatments. We found few reports in the literature containing useful data on the nesting phenology of lesser prairie-chickens; therefore, managers must rely on short-term observations and measurements of parameters that provide some predictive insight into climate impacts on nesting ecology. Our field studies showed that prairie-chickens on nests were able to maintain relatively consistent average nest temperature of 31 °C and nest humidities of 56.8 percent whereas average external temperatures (20.3–35.0 °C) and humidities (35.2–74.9 percent) varied widely throughout the 24 hour (hr) cycle. Grazing and herbicide treatments within our experimental areas were designed to be less intensive than in common practice. We determined nest locations by radio-tagging hen lesser prairie-chickens captured at leks, which are display grounds at which male lesser prairie-chickens aggregate and attempt to attract a female for mating. Because nest locations selected by hen lesser prairie-chicken are strongly associated with the lek at which they were captured, we assessed nesting habitat use on the basis of hens captured at individual leks, and then for all leks pooled. There was no clear pattern of selection for treatment type for nest placement among hens associated with individual leks; however, when hens from all leks were pooled, we found nesting lesser prairie-chickens selected control plots for nesting over plots that were grazed, treated with tebuthiuron, or were both grazed and treated with tebuthiuron. Overall, the probability of a nest surviving the incubation period was 0.57 for this study and did not vary significantly among treatment types. In contrast to nesting preference for untreated habitats, lek use exhibited no noticeable selection of treatment type. Over the 10 years of the habitat management study, there was 91 percent less sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) in treated areas than untreated areas. The removal of sand shinnery oak made environmental soil moisture more available for grasses and forbs to germinate and grow. Grasses increased by 149 percent and forbs increased by 257 percent in treated areas as compared to untreated areas throughout the study period. Our combined results, including our habitat selection analysis at the individual lek level, indicated that reduced rates of herbicide and short-duration grazing treatments were not detrimental to nesting lesser prairie-chickens and that populations of lesser prairie-chickens in shrub-dominated ecosystems may benefit from reduced rates of herbicide application and short duration of grazing that results in increased habitat heterogeneity.

New Mexico;Texas↗

USGS2015

U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake science strategy, 2015-2025—Informing ecosystem management of America’s largest estuary

Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the critical role of providing scientific information to improve the understanding and management of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The USGS works with Federal, State, and academic science partners to provide research and monitoring, and communicate results of these activities to enhance ecosystem management for both the Chesapeake and other National ecosystems. The USGS Chesapeake Science Strategy was prepared to guide science activities to address the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement (2014–2025), to support the Department of the Interior (DOI) involvement in the Bay restoration efforts, and align with the USGS Mission Area (MA) Science strategies. The Chesapeake Bay is our Nation’s largest estuary, and provides critical goods and services to the people, fish, and wildlife that use the 64,000-square-mile watershed. The Chesapeake Bay watershed contains over 3,600 species of fish, wildlife, and plants and provides spawning grounds for many ecologically and economically important species including striped bass and blue crabs. The Bay watershed lies in the heart of the Atlantic Flyway and has 29 species of waterfowl, about 1 million of which winter in the region. The size of the Chesapeake seafood harvest is third in the Nation, only behind the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Along with agricultural production, tourism, and recreation, the estimated economic value of the services from the Chesapeake Bay watershed is about $100 billion annually. However, the health of the Bay ecosystem began to decline at the beginning of the 20th century due to overfishing and increasing human population and associated land change. The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is the Federal-State cooperative effort that started in 1983 to restore the Bay and watershed. Given the ecological and economic importance of the Chesapeake ecosystem, President Obama issued an Executive Order (EO) in 2009 for increased Federal leadership in the CBP to enhance the pace of restoration, and the supporting strategy was released in 2010. The EO directed the Federal Government, including the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), represented by the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), and the USGS, to expand its efforts and increase leadership to restore the Bay and its watershed. The USGS and other Federal agencies expanded their activities in 2011 to meet the President’s Chesapeake EO. Since the EO was released, there have been several important changes in the USGS, DOI, and the CBP including: (1) the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, (2) increased DOI leadership in the CBP, and (3) the release of the USGS MA science strategies. The EO strategy served as a foundation for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement that was signed in 2014 by the CBP Partners, and has goals and outcomes to be met by 2025. The USGS developed the Chesapeake Science Strategy to guide our activities to address the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, DOI leadership in the CBP, and USGS MA strategies. Improving the understanding of fish and wildlife population and health, and the factors affecting their condition is the emphasis of the Strategy. The science focuses on documenting the critical ecosystem connections in the Chesapeake, and providing implications to enhance decision making for restoration and conservation activities. The revised Strategy has four themes that address 7 of the 10 goals in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement: Enhance science to support restoration, and conservation of fish, wildlife, and critical habitats. Characterize and explain changes in water quality, and its effect on freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. Assess and forecast effects of climate and land change on ecosystem conditions. Synthesize and provide information to support ecosystem management. The structure and function of biological communities of the Bay and its watershed are extremely complex and are affected by a variety of stressors and conditions. To better define the issues being addressed, the USGS has developed cross-cutting questions that define some of the most important scientific challenges where multiple disciplines and collaborators are needed to address an issue. The initial questions include: How do land and climate changes affect freshwater fish communities, health, and habitats? What are the relations among land use, water quality, contaminants, and the health of fish and wildlife? How are coastal wetlands and their carrying capacity for waterbirds affected by changing climate and land use? How is the water quality of rivers and estuaries responding to restoration actions, and changing land use? What are some of the best opportunities for management actions to benefit multiple restoration outcomes?

Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virgin↗

USGS2012

Olympic Fisher Reintroduction Project: Progress report 2008-2011

This progress report summarizes the final year of activities of Phase I of the Olympic fisher restoration project. The intent of the Olympic fisher reintroduction project is to reestablish a self-sustaining population of fishers on the Olympic Peninsula. To achieve this goal, the Olympic fisher reintroduction project released 90 fishers within Olympic National Park from 2008 to 2010. The reintroduction of fishers to the Olympic Peninsula was designed as an adaptive management project, including the monitoring of released fishers as a means to (1) evaluate reintroduction success, (2) investigate key biological and ecological traits of fishers, and (3) inform future reintroduction, monitoring, and research efforts. This report summarizes reintroduction activities and preliminary research and monitoring results completed through December 2011. The report is non-interpretational in nature. Although we report the status of movement, survival, and home range components of the research, we have not completed final analyses and interpretation of research results. Much of the data collected during the monitoring and research project will be analyzed and interpreted in the doctoral dissertation being developed by Jeff Lewis; the completion of this dissertation is anticipated prior to April 2013. We anticipate that this work, and analyses of other data collected during the project, will result in several peer-reviewed scientific publications in ecological and conservation journals, which collectively will comprise the final reporting of work summarized here. These publications will include papers addressing post-release movements, survival, resource selection, food habits, and age determination of fishers.

Report↗

USGS2023

Combining resilience and resistance with threat-based approaches for prioritizing management actions in sagebrush ecosystems

The sagebrush biome is a dryland region in the western United States experiencing rapid transformations to novel ecological states. Threat-based approaches for managing anthropogenic and ecosystem threats have recently become prominent, but successfully mitigating threats depends on the ecological resilience of ecosystems. We used a spatially explicit approach for prioritizing management actions that combined a threat-based model with models of resilience to disturbance and resistance to annual grass invasion. The threat-based model assessed geographic patterns in sagebrush ecological integrity (SEI) to identify core sagebrush, growth opportunity, and other rangeland areas. The resilience and resistance model identified ecologically relevant climate and soil water availability indicators from process-based ecohydrological models. The SEI areas and resilience and resistance indicators were consistent—the resilience and resistance indicators showed generally positive relationships with the SEI areas. They also were complementary—SEI areas provided information on intact sagebrush areas and threats, while resilience and resistance provided information on responses to disturbances and management actions. The SEI index and resilience and resistance indicators provide the basis for prioritizing conservation and restoration actions and determining appropriate strategies. The difficulty and time required to conserve or restore SEI areas increase as threats increases and resilience and resistance decrease.

Conservation Science and Practice↗

USGS2018

Insect communities in big sagebrush habitat are altered by wildfire and post‐fire restoration seeding

Natural resource managers sow grass, forb, and shrub seeds across millions of hectares of public lands in the western United States to restore sagebrush‐steppe ecosystems burned by wildfire. The effects of post‐fire vegetation treatments on insect communities in these ecosystems have not been investigated. We conducted the first investigation of insect community responses to post‐fire seeding on public rangelands by comparing the composition of insect communities at burned‐and‐seeded (treatment) and burned‐and‐unseeded (control) sagebrush‐steppe ecological sites in southwestern Idaho. Insect communities in burned areas were compared to unburned (reference) areas. Insect communities in burned plots did not resemble those in reference plots. Treatment plots had greater inter‐annual variability in insect community composition than control or reference plots, suggesting that communities may be less stable in seeded areas. The vegetation composition of the landscape surrounding plots influenced mobile species. Wildfire and post‐fire seeding may have lasting effects on insect communities in sagebrush‐steppe ecosystems. Wildfires decrease shrub cover. Post‐fire seeding increases perennial bunchgrasses and, where successful, reduces non‐native annual grasses. These habitat changes influence insect community composition. Future studies are needed to expand the inference of this study.

Insect Conservation and Diversity↗

USGS2025

Stressor-driven changes in freshwater biological indicators inform spatial management strategies using expert knowledge, observational data, and hierarchical models

Stream ecosystems face continuous pressures from multiple anthropogenic stressors that reshape biological communities and impact ecosystem health and services. Managers can encounter challenges in stewarding ecosystems threatened by multiple stressors, in part because most multiple stressor studies are experimental and, while valuable, offer limited management relevance in targeting these stressors on the landscape. Recent advances in causal inference coupled with large biomonitoring data sets could further understanding of observational stressor-response relationships, aiding management. In this study, we use bioassessment data in the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States to identify how water quality and physical habitat stressors influence key benthic macroinvertebrate response metrics, considering hierarchical relationships using Bayesian networks. Results suggest water temperature and specific conductivity were prevalent stressors in a mountainous region (northern Appalachians), whereas in an agriculturally dominated region (southern Appalachians) physical habitat alterations were the predominant stressor. In mixed-land use regions (Piedmont & Coastal Plains), specific conductivity was a key stressor, but habitat heterogeneity was important for macroinvertebrate metrics. To illustrate how these stressor-response relationships can be used to guide management decisions, we applied the resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework to develop a portfolio of management options based on predicted changes in macroinvertebrate metrics in response to physical habitat and water quality stressors. For example, accepting changes in areas with co-occurring stressors may be the most feasible option, whereas directing changes through stream restoration or water quality improvements may be effective in areas with single stressor groups. By leveraging observational bioassessment data and causal inference to identify key stressor-response relationships, this research supports decision making by building a simple, strategic management portfolio.

Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virgin↗

USGS2021

Resilience to fire and resistance to annual grass invasion in sagebrush ecosystems of US National Parks

Western North American sagebrush shrublands and steppe face accelerating risks from fire-driven feedback loops that transition these ecosystems into self-reinforcing states dominated by invasive annual grasses. In response, sagebrush conservation decision-making is increasingly done through the lens of resilience to fire and annual grass invasion resistance. Operationalizing resilience and resistance concepts requires place-based understanding of resilience and resistance variation among landscapes over time. Place-based insights allow for landscape prioritization in targeted areas of significance such as protected-area sagebrush ecosystems that exhibit inherently low resilience and are therefore at high risk of loss. We used a multi-scale approach to evaluate sagebrush resiliency and strategic planning across 1) the US National Park system, 2) a regional suite of five parks, and 3) for two specific park case studies. First, we summarized broad patterns of relative resilience to fire and resistance to annual grass invasion across all parks with sagebrush ecosystems. We found that national parks represented ~11% of US protected-area sagebrush ecosystems and reflected a similar low-resilience bias that occurs across the biome, broadly. Climate change is likely to shift both low- and high-resilience park sagebrush ecosystems towards moderate resiliency, creating new opportunities and constraints for park conservation. Approximately seventy park units include at least some sagebrush shrublands or steppe, but we identified 40 parks with substantial amounts (>20% of park area) that can be included in an agency-wide conservation strategy. Second, we examined detailed patterns of resilience and resistance, fire history and fire risk, cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum ) invasion, and sagebrush shrub ( Artemisia spp.) persistence in five national park units in Columbia Basin and Snake River Plain sagebrush steppe, contextualized by the broader summary. In these five parks, fire frequency and size increased in recent decades. Cheatgrass invasion and sagebrush persistence correlated strongly with resilience, burn frequency (0–3 fires since ~1940), and burn probability, but with important variation, in part mediated by local-scale topography. Third, we used these insights to assemble strategic sagebrush ecosystem fire protection mapping scenarios in two additional parks – Lava Beds National Monument and Great Basin National Park. Readily available and periodically updated geospatial data including soil surveys, fire histories, vegetation inventories, and long-term monitoring support resiliency-based adaptive management through tactical planning of pre-fire protection, post-fire restoration, and triage. Our assessment establishes the precarious importance of the US national park system to sagebrush ecosystem conservation and an operational strategy for place-based and science-supported conservation.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New↗

USGS2021

Waterfowl use of wetland habitats informs wetland restoration designs for multi‐species benefits

Extensive global estuarine wetland losses have prompted intensive focus on restoration of these habitats. In California, substantial tracts of freshwater, brackish and tidal wetlands have been lost. Given the anthropogenic footprint of development and urbanization in this region, wetland restoration must rely on conversion of existing habitat types rather than adding new wetlands. These restorations can cause conflicts among stakeholders and species that win or lose depending on identified restoration priorities. Suisun Marsh on the San Francisco Bay Estuary is the largest brackish marsh on the U.S. Pacific coast. To understand how conversion of brackish managed wetlands to tidal marsh would impact waterfowl populations and whether future tidal marsh restorations could provide suitable habitat for dabbling ducks, we examined waterfowl wetland use with a robust GPS‐GSM tracking dataset (442,017 locations) from six dabbling duck species (N=315). Managed wetlands, which comprise 47% of Suisun Marsh, were consistently and strongly selected by waterfowl over tidal marshes, with use ~98% across seasons and species. However, while use of tidal marsh (only 14% of Suisun Marsh) was generally <2%, almost half our ducks (~44%) spent some time in this habitat and exhibited strong utilization of pond‐like features. Ponds only comprise ~10% of this habitat but attracted 44% use (~4.5 times greater than availability). Synthesis and applications : Managed wetlands were vital to dabbling ducks, but losses from conversion of these habitats may be partially mitigated by incorporating pond features that are more attractive to waterfowl, and likely to offer multi‐species benefits, into tidal marsh restoration designs. While waterfowl are presently a common taxon, previously seen calamitous population declines can be avoided through informed ecosystem‐based management that promotes species richness, biodiversity and helps “keep common species common”.

California↗

USGS2003

Soil seed banks and the potential restoration of forested wetlands after farming

1 Changes in farming practice provide an opportunity to restore once extensive forested wetlands on agricultural land. In some parts of the world, however, it has proved difficult to restore the full complement of plant species through natural regeneration. Similarly, the restoration of forested wetlands by replanting has often resulted in ecosystems of low diversity. Better methods of restoring these important ecosystems are now required and baldcypress swamps provide an opportunity to investigate alternative approaches to the restoration of forested wetlands. This study examined the composition of seed banks of farmed fields to determine their value in restoring swamps in the south-eastern United States. 2 A seed bank assay of soils from baldcypress swamps was conducted to determine the extent to which seeds are maintained during farming for various lengths of time. Soils from swamps that were farmed for 0–50 years were collected near the northern boundary of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley along the Cache River, Illinois. Soils were placed in a glasshouse setting in flooded and freely drained conditions, and the numbers and species of seeds germinating were recorded. 3 Woody species including trees, shrubs, and vines were poorly represented in seed banks of both farmed and intact sites (51 and 9 sites, respectively). Missing dominants in the seed banks included tree species with short-lived seeds such as Taxodium distichum and Nyssa aquatica . Cephalanthus occidentalis constituted the most abundantly dispersed seed of all woody species. 4 Herbaceous species were well represented in the seed banks of both farmed and intact swamps (species richness of 207 vs. 173 species, respectively) suggesting that herbaceous species may live longer than woody species in seed banks. Few of the herbaceous species decreased in seed density in seed banks with time under cultivation, although seed density was lower at sites that had not been farmed. Species that relied on vegetative organs for dispersal were absent in the seed banks of farmed sites including Heteranthera dubia , Hottonia inflata , Lemna minor , Lemna trisulca and Wolffia columbiana . These species may require active reintroduction during restoration. 5 Synthesis and applications. Both restoration ecologists and managers of nature conservation areas need to be cognisant of seed bank and dispersal characteristics of species to effectively restore and manage forested wetlands. In the case of baldcypress swamps, critical components of the vegetation are not maintained in seed banks, which may make these floodplain wetlands difficult to restore via natural recolonization. Ultimately, the successful restoration of abandoned farm fields to forested wetlands may depend on the re-engineering of flood pulsing across landscapes to reconnect dispersal pathways.

Illinois↗

USGS2018

Blue carbon as a tool to support coastal management and restoration: Bringing wetlands to market case study

A collaborative research approach involving substantial end user and stakeholder engagement was applied to great effect to guide broad, integrated investigation of the science, policy, and management of blue carbon and carbon markets as drivers for coastal wetland management and restoration. Expanding awareness about blue carbon concepts among local, state, and federal agencies and the public was found to be effective at stimulating interest in taking climate-change mitigation action through wetland protection and restoration, as well as increasing understanding about the overall value of coastal wetlands and the services they provide. Interest in blue carbon is high regardless of the potential for financial benefits through a carbon market. For end users such as the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration and National Park Service Cape Cod National Seashore and many others, the ability to highlight the climate benefits of ecological restoration to stakeholders may have greater value than financial benefits from sale of carbon market credits.

Book chapter↗

USGS2021

Demography and loss of genetic diversity in two insular populations of the bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Among felids worldwide, only 6 of 38 species have stable or increasing populations, and most felid species are threatened by anthropogenic influences, especially habitat loss and fragmentation. We documented changes in genetic diversity in an isolated, reintroduced population of bobcats on Cumberland Island (CUIS), Georgia, USA, compared to another bobcat population on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, USA, that was naturally established and experiences limited immigration from the mainland. The CUIS population declined from 32 reintroduced bobcats in 1989 to 10–24 individuals during 2012–2019, and observed heterozygosity declined from 0.742 to 0.634 (SD = 0.240). Observed heterozygosity of bobcats on Kiawah was 0.699 (SD = 0.153). We estimated that one bobcat immigrated to Kiawah Island every 5.3 years. We compared the predictions of a novel population viability analysis ( PVA ) to empirical estimates of abundance and genetic diversity on CUIS and used our PVA to identify management actions that are likely to support long-term viability. Mean heterozygosity from the PVA (0.588, SD = 0.065) was within 1 standard deviation of the empirical estimate. The PVA estimated the population would decline following population restoration due to loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression. Translocations of one female every four years would stabilize allele heterozygosity similar to the Kiawah Island population, but even translocations of two females every two years would not restore heterozygosity to founder levels. The PVA predicted no management action would result in a one in five probability of extinction within 50 years of reintroduction, but all translocation strategies nearly eliminated extinction risk through 100 years.

Georgia, South Carolina↗

USGS2020

Using reproductive potential to assess oyster population sustainability

Ensuring that oysters remain sustainable in the face of significant coastal restoration activities, high local subsidence rates, and predicted sea-level rise requires a deeper understanding of basic population demographics, including reproductive potential. We quantified fecundity (eggs ind −1 ) of oysters at high- and low-salinity sites during a fall and spring spawn season. We assessed the relationships between oyster size, the relative proportion of females across size classes, and fecundity. Finally, we quantified reproductive potential (eggs m −2 ) of an engineered reef by connecting fecundity with annual oyster population demographic data as a means to assess population sustainability. The proportion of females generally increased with shell height, achieving a population with >50% females in Biloxi oysters >75 mm, and Grand Isle oysters >100 mm. Fecundity across both sites and seasons ranged from approximately 2,000 to >55 million eggs oyster −1 . Mean fecundity generally increased with shell height, varying significantly by site, with Grand Isle (high salinity) oysters having greater fecundity than Biloxi (low salinity) oysters. Fecundity did not differ by season. Mean reproductive potential (eggs m −2 ) was driven by density and size distribution. Reefs with high densities and higher counts of market-sized oysters had reproductive potentials 5× greater than those with low densities and low counts of juvenile oysters. With increasing changes in water quality from coastal management and climate, impacts on oyster reproduction may critically impact population sustainability. Reproductive potential provides critical data to assess individual reef ecosystem services, and to assess the potential for maintenance of local metapopulations.

Louisiana↗

USGS2007

Investigation of wind and water level for the Giacomini Wetland Restoration Project, Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS), comprising unique elements of geological, biological, and historical interest, is located on the central California coast approximately 60 km northwest of San Francisco. The National Seashore contains nearly 130 km of exposed and protected shorelines, spectacular coastal cliffs and headlands, lagoons, open grasslands, bushy hillsides, and forested ridges. Approximately 30 km of the shoreline are coastal-dune habitat that supports 11 federally listed species, including the threatened western snowy plover and the endangered plants Tidestrom's lupine ( Lupinus tidestromii ) and beach layia ( Layia carnosa ). The San Andreas Fault, a right-lateral strike-slip fault, trends northwest along the northeastern side of the park. Tomales Bay, which is straight, long, narrow, and shallow, runs along the northeastern boundary of PRNS. The Bay, which fills the northwestern end of a rift valley at the intersection of the San Andreas Fault with the coastline, is approximately 20 km long, 2 km wide, and 6 m deep with mountainous terrain to the southwest and rolling hills to the northeast. Tomales Bay is one of the cleanest estuaries on the West Coast. In winter, approximately 17,000 to 20,000 shorebirds inhabit Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay, which lies directly to the north. At the head of Tomales Bay, the Giacomini Ranch comprises 563 acres of pastureland currently being used for grazing dairy cattle. After more than 50 years of operation as a dairy, the National Park Service acquired the Giacomini property with the intention to restore most of it and the nearby Olema Marsh to tidal wetland. Restoration will add approximately 4% to the existing coastal wetlands in California. The project will return the headwaters of Tomales Bay and two major stream intersections to an intertidal marsh environment, enhancing habitat for both wildlife and fish populations and contributing to the long-term health of Tomales Bay. Prior to the establishment of the ranch, the area was primarily salt marsh that formed as the delta of Lagunitas Creek expanded into Tomales Bay. In converting the salt marsh to dairy land, levees and tide gates were constructed to prevent tidal incursion and stream flooding. Those levees have significantly altered the patterns of estuarine circulation and sediment deposition. To restore natural hydrologic processes within the area and to promote the return of ecological functions and processes, the levees will have to be breached or removed. Developing a successful restoration strategy requires knowledge of elevations within the pastureland and the range of water depths that can be expected from tidal, river, and wind action. In support of the restoration program, the USGS provides technical assistance to PRNS in the form of a scientific study focusing on understanding the physical processes that could affect the Giacomini wetland restoration. The study will yield scientific products that NPS resource managers can use in designing and implementing the restoration project. Research elements include: - Develop a Geodetic Control Network (GCN) throughout PRNS that meets the standards specified National Geodetic Survey data base (the NGS "Bluebook"). The grid will allow this and future studies to be conducted to a precision commensurate with the expressed goals of PRNS. The survey will consist of three steps: (1) verify existing GPS control monuments in the area; (2) tie control monuments in the study areas to the GPS control monuments; and (3) establish NAVD88 elevations using a digital electronic level. - Conduct a detailed survey of the Giacomini site to produce an accurate topographic map of the property. The site survey can be coupled with on-site water-level measurements to produce an empirical flooding model. - Measure water level and wind regime at the Giacomini site. The water-level range is critical to determining the wetland types based on the elevation of the dairy land. Water level at Sacramento Landing, in central Tomales Bay, will also be measured for comparison. As of November 2005, we have created a GCN, produced a detailed topographic map of the Giacomini site, and collected approximately three years of water-level and wind data at the Giacomini site and over one year of usable water-level data at the Sacramento Landing pier.

California↗

USGS2002

Impacts of aquatic nonindigenous invasive species on the Lake Erie ecosystem

Lake Erie is particularly vulnerable to the introduction and establishment of aquatic nonindigenous invasive species (NIS) populations. A minimum of 144 aquatic NIS have been recorded in the Lake Erie basin including several species [e.g., Eurasian watermilfoil ( Myriophyllum spicatum ); zebra mussel ( Dreissena polymorpha ); quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis); an amphipod (Echinogammarus ischnus); round goby (Neogobius melanostomus); and sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus )] that have had discernible impacts on the lake's ecology. NIS pose threats to the Lake Erie ecosystem for a variety of reasons including their ability to proliferate quickly, compete with native species, and transfer contaminants (e.g., PCBs) and disease through the food web. Six of the 14 beneficial use impairments listed in Annex 2 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are impaired in Lake Erie, in part as a result of the introduction of NIS. The Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) has adopted an ecosystem approach to restore beneficial use impairments in the lake. Furthermore, a research consortium, known as the Lake Erie Millennium Network, is working alongside the LaMP, to address research problems regarding NIS, the loss of habitat, and the role of contaminants in the Lake Erie ecosystem.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2019

Natural resource condition assessment: Channel Islands National Park

The Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA) Program aims to provide documentation about the current conditions of important Park natural resources through a spatially explicit, multidisciplinary synthesis of existing scientific data and knowledge. Findings from the NRCA will help Channel Islands National Park (CINP) managers to develop near-term management priorities. The central objectives of this assessment were to evaluate the current conditions and trends of key Park resources, identify important knowledge gaps, and determine key stressors and threats. Because a recent report provided an assessment of marine resources (Engle 2006), which constitute 50% of the park, this NRCA focused on terrestrial resources. For this NRCA, CINP resource managers identified that the greatest Park need was to know whether or not vegetation (primarily woody vegetation) is recovering on the Channel Islands and how this may be influencing recovery of the native terrestrial vertebrates. To address this, the CINP NRCA team evaluated the condition of island vegetation and vertebrate communities using both: 1) already available, summarized information from reports, theses, and journal articles and 2) new analyses of recently available, existing data collected on the islands. Descriptions of specific methods used to analyze available data by the NRCA team are provided within the assessment sections in Chapter 4 of this report. The Team used the Vital Signs indicators as identified by Fancy et al. (2009) for monitoring the condition of Natural Resources in U.S. National Parks. Using this framework, the focal study resource components were the five CINP islands, because these are the bio-geophysical resources of greatest interest to the CINP. Each of the islands has its own unique history of human impacts, ecological conditions, restoration efforts, and natural resource monitoring. The Team evaluated island scrub recovery by assessing changes over time in two metrics: 1) vegetation community structure (species composition, cover, and spatial extent), and 2) vertebrate abundance, relative to the reference condition of each island. The reference conditions for this NRCA were the particular island’s ecological state prior to European settlement or ranching, which represent the ecological state to which the NPS desires the park return. For each metric, the Team determined the Reference Conditions/Values, Current Condition, Trend, and Recovery Potential (based on a review of the literature and from the NRCA team’s analysis of newly available data), Threats and Stressors, Data Gaps, Overall Condition. A qualitative statement of overall current condition was created for each metric, after all data and literature relevant to the measures (i.e., vegetation and vertebrates) of each resource component (i.e., island) were reviewed and evaluated. All information gathered for this NRCA is available and managed by CINP, so that the compilation of resources would be available not only for the assessment team, but will be provided for future Park reference. Chapter 1 of this NRCA provides a descriptive background of NRCAs. Chapter 2 provides Park-wide natural resource background information, while Chapter 3 describes the overall methodological approach used in this assessment. Chapter 4 provides a detailed assessment of each island’s condition, which is then summarized Park-wide and for each island in Chapter 5. Based on both vegetation recovery and vertebrate population abundances, our assessment found Santa Cruz Island (SCI), Santa Rosa Island (SRI), San Miguel Island (SMI), and Anacapa Island (AI) to be, overall, in moderate condition and slowly recovering following the removal of non-native herbivores. The condition of Santa Barbara Island (SBI) is poor and remains in a state that is not likely to improve without assisted recovery by the Park. All islands have exhibited some level of native vegetation recovery, with most of the observed natural recovery occurring on SCI, SRI, SMI, and AI; very little recovery has occurred at present on SBI. Vegetation recovery is uneven across each island and largely limited to mesic areas, such as north-facing slopes. Areas that will likely require some assisted recovery efforts are those that are: at risk of erosion, isolated, lacking native seed banks, and plagued with high competition of non-native grasses and other invasives. Some plant communities, such as exposed upland vegetation on SRI, also have lower natural recovery potential and will likely require assisted recovery. The overall condition of the Park’s terrestrial island vertebrate species generally appears to be good and improving, with high potential for further recovery to reach pre-ranching era reference conditions. This is particularly true for vertebrates on SCI, SRI, and SMI. Although there are limited data for AI, the data that are available suggest that vertebrates on that island are in good condition and improving as well. However, the condition of SBI vertebrates is only moderate, with natural recovery potential being low, with many landbird species’ populations currently declining, extinct, or not improving. An overarching theme across the Park’s terrestrial island vertebrate populations is that many of them are in good condition because the particular animals are habitat generalists, so their population dynamics are not strongly tied to habitat conditions. However, those landbirds associated with riparian vegetation are not showing signs of recovery across the Park islands, and riparian areas appear to be one of the habitats with limited natural recovery potential on the islands. Overwhelmingly, the most critical data gap that emerged from our analysis was the lack of current vegetation maps for most of the islands (AI, SCI, SRI, SMI). The lack of this information made it difficult to assess spatial changes in island vegetation over time, and to relate those changes to observed changes in vertebrate species abundances. Therefore, we were limited in our spatial assessment of vegetation recovery for AI, SCI, SRI, and SMI, and were only able to relate the current vegetation with island landbird analysis for SBI. Another common theme across islands was the lack of information on best techniques for shrub reintroduction and recovery, and the success of invasive species removal and re-vegetation efforts. Abundance, distribution, and habitat affinities of reptiles and amphibians are poorly known for AI, SCI, SRI, and SMI, making it difficult to assess their population condition and trends, and their potential responses to shrub recovery. Mammal and landbird populations are reasonably well-sampled across most of the islands, but data are lacking for most vertebrates from AI, especially West and Middle AI where no vertebrate sampling occurs. The population status, cause of declines, and recovery needs are lacking for several landbird species across multiple islands, including loggerhead shrikes ( Lanius ludovicianus ssp.) on SCI and SRI, and Santa Cruz Island rufous crowned sparrows ( Aimophila ruficeps obscura ) on AI. Additionally, island song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia graminea ) remain extirpated on SBI and data are needed for assessing their recovery potential on the island. The potentially major threats facing the islands’ flora and fauna today are: areas of continued erosion, potential new non-native introductions, and climate change. The Park islands have already experienced warming over the last several decades due to human-induced climate change, and are projected to experience continued warming. These increasing stresses imposed by climate change may slow and inhibit natural recovery potentials for island fauna, and especially flora.

California↗

USGS2024

How well do existing surveys track fish community performance measures in the St. Clair-Detroit River System?

The St. Clair-Detroit River System (SCDRS) connects Lake Huron to Lake Erie and provides important habitats for many fishes of economic and ecological importance. Portions of the SCDRS are designated as Great Lakes Areas of Concern and fish production and conservation may be compromised. Efforts to address beneficial use impairments have focused on restoring habitat for native fishes and improving aquatic ecosystem health. Considerable site-specific research and long-term, annual fish surveys have examined responses to habitat improvements. However, there is uncertainty surrounding whether individual studies and surveys can assess (1) population-level benefits of habitat enhancements and (2) whether management objectives are being met. To identify monitoring gaps and inform long-term monitoring program development, we compared outputs from SCDRS fish monitoring surveys (based on discussions with regional agencies) with performance measures specified in management plans (obtained through gray literature searches). Performance measures for harvested species aligned well with outputs of existing surveys. In contrast, at-risk fishes often had objectives and performance measures that reflected knowledge gaps and study needs. Although harvested species were well-monitored relative to specified performance measures, at-risk fishes were less reliably collected by existing surveys, except for lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens . Effective evaluation of restoration efforts for at-risk fishes may require additional survey efforts that target species-specific habitat use and life history characteristics.

Michigan↗

USGS2020

RestoreNet: An emerging restoration network reveals controls on seeding success across dryland ecosystems

Drylands are Earth's largest terrestrial biome and support one‐third of the global population. However, they are also highly vulnerable to land degradation. Despite widespread demand for dryland restoration and rehabilitation, little information is available to help land managers effectively re‐establish native perennial vegetation across drylands. RestoreNet is an emerging dryland restoration network that systematically tests revegetation techniques across environmental gradients. Using the RestoreNet experimental framework, we tested the effectiveness of restoration treatments (i.e. ConMod nurse plant structures, mulch, pits) that increase soil moisture and seed mixes with different climatic niches to achieve revegetation goals. Across sites, seedling recruitment was consistently influenced by treatment and seed mix type. Pit and mulch treatments increased total seedling density, with pits promoting the highest seeded species recruitment while limiting non‐native species establishment. Seeding increased total seedling density regardless of seed mix type, but cooler‐adapted seed mixes promoted greater seeded species density and resulted in lower density of unseeded (non‐native) species relative to warmer‐adapted mixes. Seedling recruitment was also controlled by the temporal and environmental context of restoration with the positive effect of high precipitation greatest in the weeks immediately following seeding. Above‐average precipitation during the study period across most of the sites may partially explain why the highest seeded species recruitment occurred in pit treatments and seed mixes with cooler, wetter niche requirements. Synthesis and applications . Results from the dryland restoration network, RestoreNet help to better understand variation in seeding and restoration treatment success across space and time in drylands. Relationships between restoration practices and environmental conditions in our study suggest the importance of anticipatory restoration strategies that forecast seasonal and sub‐seasonal weather conditions and select plant species with climate niche requirements appropriate for current and future climate conditions. This information is critical to land managers tasked with improving ecosystem conditions across degraded dryland regions.

Arizona↗