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At least 1,027 records · Page 57Linked to original sources
USGS2009

An estimate of the historic population size of adult pallid sturgeon in the upper Missouri river basin, Montana and North Dakota

Juvenile pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus raised in hatcheries and stocked in the wild are used to augment critically imperiled populations of this federally endangered species in the United States. For pallid sturgeon in recovery priority management area 2 (RPMA 2) of the Missouri River and lower Yellowstone River where natural recruitment has not occurred for decades, restoration programs aim to stock an annual minimum of 9000 juvenile pallid sturgeon for 20 years to re-establish a minimum population of 1700 adults. However, establishment of this target was based on general guidelines for maintaining the genetic integrity of populations rather than pallid sturgeon-specific demographic information because data on the historical population size was lacking. In this study, information from a recent population estimate (158 wild adults in 2004, 95% confidence interval 129-193 adults) and an empirically derived adult mortality rate (5%) was used in a cohort population model to back-estimate the historic abundance of adult pallid sturgeon in RPMA 2. Three back-estimation age models were developed, and assumed that adults alive during 2004 were 30-, 40-, or 50-years old. Based on these age assumptions, population sizes [??95% confidence intervals; (CI)] were back-estimated to 1989, 1979, and 1969 to approximate size of the population when individuals would have been sexually mature (15 years old) and capable of spawning. Back-estimations yielded predictions of 344 adults in 1989 (95% CI 281-420), 577 adults in 1979 (95% CI 471-704), and 968 adults in 1969 (95% CI 790-1182) for the 30-, 40-, and 50-year age models, respectively. Although several assumptions are inherent in the back-estimation models, results suggest the juvenile stocking program for pallid sturgeon will likely re-establish an adult population that equals in the short-term and exceeds in the long-term the predicted population numbers that occurred during past decades in RPMA 2. However, re-establishment of a large population in RPMA 2 that exceeds populations present 40+ years ago should be considered conservatively, as this strategy will increase the number of reproductive adults and thereby increase the likelihood for natural recruitment in this recruitment-limited system. ?? 2009 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2014

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

The national network of weather surveillance radars (WSR-88D) detects flying birds and is a useful remote-sensing tool for ornithological study. We used data collected during fall 2008 and 2009 by 16 WSR-88D radars in the northeastern U.S. to quantify the spatial distribution of landbirds during migratory stopover. We geo-referenced estimates based on radar reflectivity, of the density of migrants aloft at their abrupt evening exodus from daytime stopover sites, to the approximate locations from which they emerged. We classified bird stopover use by the magnitude and variation of radar reflectivity across nights; areas were considered “important” stopover sites for conservation if bird density was consistently high. We developed statistical models that predict potentially important stopover sites across the region, based on land cover, ground elevation, and geographic location. 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. 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. Preserving or enhancing patches of natural habitat, particularly deciduous forests, in developed or agricultural landscapes and along major coastlines could be a priority for conservation plans addressing the stopover requirements of migratory landbirds in the northeastern U.S. Our maps of important stopover sites can be used to focus conservation efforts and can serve as a sampling frame for fieldwork to validate radar observations or for ecological studies of landbirds on migratory stopover.

The Condor↗
USGS2009

The needs of salmon and steelhead in balancing their conservation and use

Over the past 100 years, Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and steelhead trout O. mykiss populations in the Pacific Northwest have experienced dramatic declines as a result of human population growth and associated development of the region's natural resources. Any strategy to reverse those declines will depend on achieving consensus among a diverse group of stakeholders willing to (1) restore damaged habitats and watersheds; (2) consider the biological needs of salmonid fishes; and (3) understand, conserve, and manage existing levels of biodiversity within an ecosystem context. The objective of this chapter is to review and summarize the needs of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout from perspectives that promote their sustainability and perpetuity, and, within that context, provide a framework, for the development of a sustainable fisheries strategy. Although volumes of information are available on the life histories and habitat requirements of Pacific salmonids, new concepts have begun to address the importance of habitat complexity, genetic diversity among locally adapted populations, and the need for appropriate units of conservation. Habitat variability and complexity are the templates that produce diverse, locally adapted populations of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout. Molded by conditions in the environments they colonized, salmon and steelhead have unique adaptations they may have taken hundred i?? perhaps thousands i?? of years to evolve. Any strategy to reverse the declines of salmon and steelhead must focus on conserving both current levels of genetic diversity as well as restoration and maintenance of habitats compatible with the specific needs of individual populations. An argument can be made that we know enough already about the needs of our salmon and steelhead to allow us to make appropriate decisions. There is strong need to integrate what we know about local salmonid adaptations and habitat needs with conservation and management strategies that address the problems we have created. It may be possible to have healthy, sustainable salmonid populations coastwide if we do not wait too long to make up our minds.

Book chapter↗
USGS2017

Temporal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations with comparisons to conservation practices and agricultural activities in the Lower Grand River, Missouri and Iowa, and selected watersheds, 1969–2015

This report presents the results of a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations at monitoring sites within and near the Lower Grand River hydrological unit. The primary objectives of the study were to quantify temporal changes in TN and TP concentrations and compare those concentrations to conservation practices and agricultural activities. Despite increases in funding during 2011–15 for conservation practices in the Lower Grand River from the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, decreases in flow-normalized TN and TP concentrations during this time at the long-term Grand River site were less than at other long-term sites, which did not receive funding from the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative. The relative differences in the magnitude of flow-normalized TN and TP concentrations among long-term sites are directly related to the amount of agricultural land use within the watershed. Significant relations were determined between nitrogen from cattle manure and flow-normalized TN concentrations at selected long-term sites, indicating livestock manure may be a substantial source of nitrogen within the selected long-term site watersheds. Relations between flow-normalized TN and TP concentrations with Conservation Reserve Program acres and with nitrogen and phosphorus from commercial fertilizer indicate that changes in these factors alone did not have a substantial effect on stream TN and TP concentrations; other landscape activities, runoff, within-bank nutrients that are suspended during higher streamflows, or a combination of these have had a greater effect on stream TN and TP concentrations; or there is a lag time that is obscuring relations. Temporal changes in flow-adjusted TN and TP concentrations were not substantial at Lower Grand River Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative sites, indicating factors besides stream variability did not have substantial effects on TN and TP concentrations. Flow-weighted TN and TP concentrations at Lower Grand River Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative sites increase with increasing streamflow, which indicates runoff, within-bank nutrients that are suspended during higher streamflows, or both, have more effect on stream TN and TP concentrations than consistent point sources or groundwater sources. Timing of TN and TP concentration increases compared to streamflow increases indicate that nitrogen and phosphorus loads are more strongly related to streamflow than to a particular period of the year, indicating that runoff, within-bank nutrients that are suspended during higher streamflows, or both are a substantial source of nutrients regardless of timing.

Iowa, Missouri↗
USGS2014

A nuclear DNA perspective on delineating evolutionarily significant lineages in polyploids: the case of the endangered shortnose sturgeon ( Acipenser brevirostrum )

The shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum , oft considered a phylogenetic relic, is listed as an “endangered species threatened with extinction” in the US and “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Effective conservation of A. brevirostrum depends on understanding its diversity and evolutionary processes, yet challenges associated with the polyploid nature of its nuclear genome have heretofore limited population genetic analysis to maternally inherited haploid characters. We developed a suite of polysomic microsatellite DNA markers and characterized a sample of 561 shortnose sturgeon collected from major extant populations along the North American Atlantic coast. The 181 alleles observed at 11 loci were scored as binary loci and the data were subjected to multivariate ordination, Bayesian clustering, hierarchical partitioning of variance, and among-population distance metric tests. The methods uncovered moderately high levels of gene diversity suggesting population structuring across and within three metapopulations (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast) that encompass seven demographically discrete and evolutionarily distinct lineages. The predicted groups are consistent with previously described behavioral patterns, especially dispersal and migration, supporting the interpretation that A. brevirostrum exhibit adaptive differences based on watershed. Combined with results of prior genetic (mitochondrial DNA) and behavioral studies, the current work suggests that dispersal is an important factor in maintaining genetic diversity in A. brevirostrum and that the basic unit for conservation management is arguably the local population.

PLoS ONE↗
USGS2021

Impacts of a non-indigenous ecosystem engineer, the American beaver (Castor canadensis), in a biodiversity hotspot

Non-native species having high per capita impacts in invaded communities are those that modulate resource availability and alter disturbance regimes in ways that are biologically incompatible with the native biota. In areas where it has been introduced by humans, American beaver ( Castor canadensis ) is an iconic example of such species due to its capacity to alter trophic dynamics of entire ecosystems and create new invasional pathways for other non-native species. The species is problematic in several watersheds within the Southern California-Northern Baja California Coast Ecoregion, a recognized hotspot of biodiversity, due to its ability to modify habitat in ways that favor invasive predators and competitors over the region's native species and habitat. Beaver was deliberately introduced across California in the mid-1900s and generally accepted as non-native to the region up to the early 2000s; however, articles promoting the idea that beaver may be a natural resident have gained traction in recent years, due in large part to the species' charismatic nature rather than by presentation of sound evidence. Here, we discuss the problems associated with beaver disturbance and its effects on conserving the region's native fauna and flora. We refute arguments underlying the claim that beaver is native to the region, and review paleontological, zooarchaeological, and historical survey data from renowned field biologists and naturalists over the past ~160 years to show that no evidence exists that beaver arrived by any means other than deliberate human introduction. Managing this ecosystem engineer has potential to reduce the richness and abundance of other non-native species because the novel, engineered habitat now supporting these species would diminish in beaver-occupied watersheds. At the same time, hydrologic functionality would shift toward more natural, ephemeral conditions that favor the regions' native species while suppressing the dominance of the most insidious invaders.

California↗
USGS1990

The quantification of instream flow rights to water

Energy development of all types continues to grow in the Rocky Mountain Region of the western United States. Federal resource managers increasingly need to balance energy demands, their effects on the natural and human landscape, and public perceptions towards these issues. The Western Energy Citation Clearinghouse (WECC v.1.0), part of a suite of data and information management tools developed and managed by the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI), provides resource managers with a searchable online database of citations that covers a broad spectrum of energy and landscape related topics relevant to resource managers, such as energy sources, natural and human landscape effects, and new research, methods and models. Based on the 2011 USGS Open-file Report "Abbreviated bibliography on energy development" (Montag, et al. 2011), WECC is an extensive collection of energy-related citations, as well as categorized lists of additional online resources related to oil and gas development, best practices, energy companies and Federal agencies. WECC incorporates the powerful web services of Sciencebase 2.0, the enterprise data and information platform for USGS scientists and partners, to provide secure, role-based data management features. For example, public/unauthenticated WECC users have full search and read access to the entire energy citation collection, while authenticated WLCI data stewards can manage WECC's citation collection using Sciencebase data management forms.

Book↗
USGS2010

Can lowland dry forests represent a refuge from avian malaria for native Hawaiian birds?

Hawaii's native birds have become increasingly threatened over the past century. Introduced mosquito borne diseases such as avian malaria may be responsible for the near absence of endemic Hawaiian forest birds in low-elevation habitats. The recent recognition that some native Hawaiian forest birds may be repopulating moist lowland habitats as a result of evolved resistance to this disease has increased the conservation value of these areas. Here, we investigate whether remnant low elevation dry forests on Hawaii Island provide natural 'refuges' from mosquito-transmitted malaria by nature of their low rainfall and absence of suitable natural sources of water for mosquito breeding. Unlike lowland wet forests where high rates of disease transmission may be selecting for disease resistance, lowland dry forests may provide some refuge for native forest birds without natural resistance to malaria. We mistnetted forest birds in two lowland dry forests and tested all native birds by microscopy and serology for avian malaria caused by the Plasmodium relictum parasite. We also conducted surveys for standing water and mosquito larvae. Overall prevalence of infections with Plasmodium relictum in the Hawaii Amakihi Hemignathus virens virens was 15%. Most infected birds had lowlevel parasitemias, suggesting chronic infections. Although avian malaria is present in these lowland dry forest Amakihi populations, infection rates are significantly lower than in wet forest populations at similar elevations. Sources of breeding mosquitoes in these forests appeared to be largely anthropogenic; thus, there is potential to manage dry forests as mosquito-free habitat for Hawaii Amakihi and other Hawaiian forest birds.

Hawai'i↗
USGS1963

Ground-water contamination and legal controls in Michigan

The great importance of the fresh ground-water resources of Michigan is evident because 90 percent of the rural and about 70 percent of the total population of the State exclusive of the Detroit metropolitan area are supplied from underground sources. The water-supply and public-health problems that have been caused by some cases of ground-water contamination in the State illustrate the necessity of protecting this vital resource. Manmade and natural contaminants, including many types of chemical and organic matter, have entered many of the numerous aquifers of the State. Aquifers have been contaminated by waste-laden liquids percolating from the surface or from the zone of aeration and by direct injection to the aquifer itself. Industrial and domestic wastes, septic tanks, leaking sewers, flood waters or other poor quality surface waters, mine waters, solids stored or spread at the surface, and even airborne wastes all have been sources of ground-water contamination in Michigan. In addition, naturally occurring saline waters have been induced into other aquifers by overpumping or unrestricted flow from artesian wells, possibly by dewatering operations, and by the deepening of surface stream channels. Vertical migration of saline waters through open holes from formations underlying various important aquifers also has spoiled some of the fresh ground waters in the State. In spite of the contamination that has occurred, however, the total amount of ground water that has been spoiled is only a small part of the total resource. Neither is the contamination so widespread as that of the surface streams of Michigan. Overall legal authority to control most types of ground-water contamination in the State has been assigned by the Michigan Legislature to the Water Resources Commission, although the Department of Conservation and the Health Department also exercise important water-pollution control functions. The Michigan Supreme Court, in an important case upholding the power of the Water Resources Commission to control pollution of ground water, in effect has introduced the doctrine of reasonable use into the law of the State. Excluding controls administered by the Department of Conservation on activities of the oil and gas industry, however, legal controls have not been used abate intrusion of natural saline waters into fresh-water aquifers in response to pumping and other manmade changes in the hydrologic regimen.

Michigan↗
USGS1998

Walden Pond, Massachusetts: Environmental setting and current investigations

Introduction Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, is famous among lakes because of its unique social history. Walden was the setting for American naturalist Henry David Thoreau's well-known essay 'Walden; or, Life in the Woods,' first published in 1854. Thoreau lived and wrote at Walden Pond from July 1845 to September 1847. In 'Walden,' Thoreau combined highly admired writing on Transcendental philosophy with pioneering observations of aquatic ecology and physical aspects of limnology, the study of lakes. Because Thoreau also defended so effectively the value of living close to nature in the Walden woods, the pond is considered by many to be the birthplace of the American conservation movement. Visitors come from all over the world to the pond, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and its fame has resulted in a major fund drive to preserve the surrounding woods. Walden Pond has no surfacewater inflow or outflow, and much of its ground-water contributing area likely is preserved within the Walden Pond Reservation area (fig. 1). Only 15 miles from Boston, the pond is unusually clear and pristine for an urban-area lake. However, point sources of nutrients near the pond, and a large annual visitor attendance, concentrated during the summer when the swimming beach (fig. 2) is open, may contribute a nutrient load sufficient to change the pond environment. The occurrence of nuisance algal species, a recent beach closing, and an awareness of water-quality problems suffered by other ponds in the region raise concerns about the risk of ecological change at Walden Pond. Despite the role of Walden Pond as a cultural and environmental icon, little is known about the pond's ecological features, such as its internal nutrient cycling or the structure of its food web, nor have consistent measurements been made to determine whether these features are changing or are stable. Production rates of aquatic plants in lakes and ponds naturally undergo a slow increase as plant nutrients, organic matter, and soil are leached and eroded from the surrounding watershed. This process is known as eutrophication. The term 'cultural eutrophication' refers to an accelerated form of the natural process in which extra soil and nutrients are derived from people's use of fertilizer, rerouting of surface drainage, and disposal of domestic and industrial waste. Cultural eutrophication can lead to excessive growth of aquatic plants, pond filling by decayed plants and eroded soils, reduced water clarity, and depletion of dissolved oxygen in deep water with subsequent loss of cold-water fish habitat. In order to document the longterm ecological health of Walden Pond, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), working in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (MDEM), is investigating factors that could contribute to cultural eutrophication of Walden. Through measurements of mass balance of nutrients and oxygen in the pond's deep water, the investigation will establish a baseline data set on Walden's trophic state, which is a measure of the pond's ability to support plant growth. The baseline data will be used to detect trends and give early warning of trophic changes or trophic response to pond remediation projects. This Fact Sheet provides background information on the environmental setting, limnological features, and cultural eutrophication of Walden Pond, and describes the joint USGS/MDEM study.

Massachusetts↗
USGS2007

Disentangling the role of hybridization in the evolution of the endangered Arizona cliffrose (Purshia subintegra; Rosaceae): A molecular and morphological analysis

Hybridization may threaten the conservation status of rare species through genetic assimilation and may confound the ability to distinguish among taxa. We studied these issues in an endangered shrub, Purshia subintegra (Rosaceae), known from four populations growing on limestone outcrops in central Arizona (USA). Using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) and the Bayesian clustering algorithm implemented in STRUCTURE, we identified three distinct genetic lineages among Arizona Purshia subintegra and P. stansburiana. An initial split divided San Carlos Basin P. subintegra (considered P. pinkavae by Schaack) from northern P. stansburiana populations (FST = 0.394). A subsequent split separated northern P. stansburiana from two P. subintegra populations at Horseshoe Lake and Burro Creek (FST = 0.207), which comprised a nearly perfect admixture of the two lineages identified in the initial analysis. In the Verde River Valley P. subintegra is sympatric with P. stansburiana and exhibited an average 27% P. stansburiana genes for 5 of 6 stands analyzed, indicating ongoing hybridization and backcrossing with P. subintegra. Individuals carrying >90% P. subintegra markers are identifiable 68% of the time based on morphology, with leaf lobing, leaf size, and leaf length acting as the most reliable indicators of taxonomic status. However, the genetic and morphological distance correlation among individuals was low (r = 0.17, P = 0.0002), indicating that morphology cannot always accurately predict genetic admixture or taxonomy. Overall, our study confirmed the genetic distinctiveness of the San Carlos Basin population, an ancient natural hybrid origin of P. subintegra, and the presence of a hybrid swarm in the Verde Valley, whose conservation value may lie in its heightened genetic diversity. ?? 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Conservation Genetics↗
USGS2016

Distributions of small nongame fishes in the lower Yellowstone River

The Yellowstone River is the longest unimpounded river in the conterminous United States. It has a relatively natural flow regime, which helps maintain diverse habitats and fish assemblages uncommon in large rivers elsewhere. The lower Yellowstone River was thought to support a diverse nongame fish assemblage including several species of special concern. However, comprehensive data on the small nongame fish assemblage of the lower Yellowstone River is lacking. Therefore, we sampled the Yellowstone River downstream of its confluence with the Clark’s Fork using fyke nets and otter trawls to assess distributions and abundances of small nongame fishes. We captured 42 species (24 native and 18 nonnative) in the lower Yellowstone River with fyke nets. Native species constituted over 99% of the catch. Emerald shiners Notropis atherinoides , western silvery minnows Hybognathus argyritis , flathead chubs Platygobio gracilis , sand shiners Notropis stramineus , and longnose dace Rhinichthys cataractae composed nearly 94% of fyke net catch and were caught in every segment of the study area. We captured 24 species by otter trawling downstream of the Tongue River. Sturgeon chubs Macrhybopsis gelida , channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus , flathead chubs, stonecats Noturus flavus , and sicklefin chubs Macrhybopsis meeki composed 89% of the otter trawl catch. The upstream distributional limit of sturgeon chubs in the Yellowstone River was the Tongue River; few sicklefin chubs were captured above Intake Diversion Dam. This study not only provides biologists with baseline data for future monitoring efforts on the Yellowstone River but serves as a benchmark for management and conservation efforts in large rivers elsewhere as the Yellowstone River represents one of the best references for a naturally functioning Great Plains river.

Montana↗
USGS2023

Assessing impacts of human stressors on stream fish habitats across the Mississippi River basin

Effective conservation of stream fishes and their habitats is complicated by the fact that human stressors alter the way in which natural factors such as stream size, catchment geology, and regional climate influence stream ecosystems. Consequently, efforts to assess the condition of stream fishes and their habitats must not only attempt to characterize the effects of human stressors but must account for the effects of natural influences as well. This study is an assessment of all stream fish habitats in the Mississippi River basin, USA. The basin supports over 400 stream fish species, drains a land area of 3.2 M km 2 , and includes a myriad of human stressors such as intensive agriculture, urbanization, nutrient loading, and habitat fragmentation by dams and road/stream crossings. To effectively characterize types and levels of human stressors specifically impacting the basin’s stream fish species, our assessment approach first accounted for the influence of natural landscape conditions on species abundances with multiple steps, including stratifying our analyses by region and stream size and quantitatively modeling the influences of natural factors on stream fishes. We next quantified individual fish species responses to explicit human stressors for different measures of land use, fragmentation, and water quality, including summaries of measures in local vs. catchment extents. Results showed that many species had negative threshold responses to human stressors and that impacts varied by species, by region, and by the spatial extents in which stressors were summarized. Our spatially explicit results indicated the degree of stream reach impairment for specific stressor categories, for individual species, and for entire assemblages, all of which are types of information that can aid decision makers in achieving specific conservation goals in the region.

Mississippi River basin↗
USGS2015

Conservation planning for offsetting the impacts of development: a case study of biodiversity and renewable energy in the Mojave Desert

Balancing society’s competing needs of development and conservation requires careful consideration of tradeoffs. Renewable energy development and biodiversity conservation are often considered beneficial environmental goals. The direct footprint and disturbance of renewable energy, however, can displace species’ habitat and negatively impact populations and natural communities if sited without ecological consideration. Offsets have emerged as a potentially useful tool to mitigate residual impacts after trying to avoid, minimize, or restore affected sites. Yet the problem of efficiently designing a set of offset sites becomes increasingly complex where many species or many sites are involved. Spatial conservation prioritization tools are designed to handle this problem, but have seen little application to offset siting and analysis. To address this need we designed an offset siting support tool for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) of California, and present a case study of hypothetical impacts from solar development in the Western Mojave subsection. We compare two offset scenarios designed to mitigate a hypothetical 15,331 ha derived from proposed utility-scale solar energy development (USSED) projects. The first scenario prioritizes offsets based precisely on impacted features, while the second scenario offsets impacts to maximize biodiversity conservation gains in the region. The two methods only agree on 28% of their prioritized sites and differ in meeting species-specific offset goals. Differences between the two scenarios highlight the importance of clearly specifying choices and priorities for offset siting and mitigation in general. Similarly, the effects of background climate and land use change may lessen the durability or effectiveness of offsets if not considered. Our offset siting support tool was designed specifically for the DRECP area, but with minor code modification could work well in other offset analyses, and could provide continuing support for a potentially innovative mitigation solution to environmental impacts.

California↗
USGS2025

Integrating the resist–accept–direct framework into natural resource decision-making processes for climate adaptation

The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework for climate adaptation is a useful tool, particularly when conservation practitioners know they need to address climate change but do not know where to start or when they struggle to implement conservation actions that are outside the status quo. Some conservation practitioners may view RAD as a decision process that will lead them through selecting climate adaptation actions to meet their objectives; however, RAD may be better suited for use with existing decision processes. RAD can improve adaptation planning processes by helping conservation practitioners examine a broader portfolio of climate adaptation actions. Choosing the actions that meet organizational objectives and long-term goals relies on a sound decision process through which to select RAD-generated actions to implement across space and time. The good news for conservation practitioners is that RAD can easily be integrated into the decision processes they are already using—that is, a new decision process for RAD is not necessary. We examined 6 commonly used decision frameworks in the context of RAD for climate adaptation: structured decision-making, adaptive management, conservation standards, climate-smart conservation, strategic habitat conservation, and scenario planning. Each decision framework can easily incorporate RAD methodologies to create climate adaptation menus and portfolios within existing structures, allowing conservation practitioners to continue to utilize existing frameworks for their valuable decision-making tools. Integrating the RAD framework can enhance them by explicitly considering future uncertainties and providing a menu of climate adaptation actions for navigating changing ecosystems.

Conservation Biology↗
USGS2025

Sequoia and Sequoiadendron: Two paleoendemic megatrees with markedly different adaptive responses to recent high-severity fires

Premise Coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ) and giant sequoia ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) are two iconic paleoendemic species with limited distributions, well known for their spectacular size. Recently, they have been exposed to high-severity crown fires, with starkly contrasting responses. Methods We used all available published literature and field observations to understand the responses to fire in an evolutionary context. Results Coast redwoods, found in California's coastal rainforests, were highly resilient to high-severity fires, with most trees surviving due to their ability to resprout from the base and trunk, though seedling regeneration was largely lacking. In contrast, giant sequoias, native to the Sierra Nevada, do not resprout, leading to significant tree mortality after very high-severity fires; they released seeds only in patches where some trees survived moderately high-severity fires. Conclusions These high-severity fires were novel events for giant sequoias, but not for coast redwoods. Fire suppression has disrupted the natural fire regime in the giant sequoia ecosystem by preventing frequent lightning-caused surface fires, resulting in high-severity fires that killed a substantial number of these giants. In coast redwood forests, infrequent but high-severity crown fires were the norm before burning by Native Americans. Frequent, low-severity burning by Native Americans over the past few hundred years was localized and 20 th -century fire suppression has returned the natural fire regime to these forests. The recent crown fires do not represent a threat to redwood conservation; however, other management goals may require emulating Native American burning practices and in some cases may be best termed cultural restoration.

American Journal of Botany↗
USGS2016

Cryptic invasion of Northern Leopard Frogs ( Rana pipiens ) across phylogeographic boundaries and a dilemma for conservation of a declining amphibian

Anthropogenic introduction of species is a major contributor to loss of biodiversity. Translocations within the range of a species are less frequently recognized, but have the potential for negative effects as well. Genetic mixing may lead to loss of local adaptations or further decline through outbreeding depression. These cryptic invasions may be quite difficult to recognize, but genetic tools can be used to recognize and monitor such intraspecific introductions. Conversely, translocations within species can be an important conservation tool to reduce inbreeding depression and replace lost genetic diversity. Thus, cryptic invasions can be either an aid or a hindrance to conservation efforts. We tested for the presence of non-native genotypes and assessed the extent and nature of introgression in populations of Northern Leopard Frog ( Rana pipiens ) in the southwestern US, where populations have declined to a few remnant populations. The most abundant and diverse complex of populations in the region contained a mitochondrial haplotype that was not native to the western US, probably resulting from the introduction of released pets, laboratory animals, or release during fish stocking. These non-native haplotypes were well integrated into a large complex of ponds and lakes, contributing to high genetic diversity in this area. Logistically, the geographic extent of non-native genetic influence within this population precludes eliminating or controlling the non-native component of this population. We recommend assessing the progress and fate of the introgression over time—along with population fitness parameters—to determine whether this introduction is beneficial or detrimental to population persistence. Meanwhile, translocations from nearby locations with similar environmental conditions have the best prospects for avoiding problems with outbreeding depression in other declining populations and will also most effectively preserve regional genetic diversity.

Biological Invasions↗
USGS2019

Selecting ecological models using multi-objective optimization

Choices in ecological research and natural resource management require balancing multiple, often competing objectives. Examples include maximizing species persistence in a wildlife conservation context, while minimizing cost, or balancing opposing stakeholder objectives when managing wildlife populations. Multiple-objective optimization (MOO) provides a unifying framework for solving multiple objective problems. Model selection is a critical component of ecological inference and prediction and requires balancing the competing objectives of model fit and model complexity. The tradeoff between model fit and model complexity provides a basis for describing the model-selection problem within the MOO framework. We discuss MOO and two strategies for solving the MOO problem; modeling preferences pre-optimization and post-optimization. Most conventional model selection methods can be formulated as solutions of MOO problems via specification of pre-optimization preferences. We reconcile model selection within the MOO framework. We also consider model selection using post-optimization specification of preferences. That is, by first identifying Pareto optimal solutions, and then selecting among them. We demonstrate concepts with an ecological application of model selection using avian species richness data in the continental United States.

Ecological Modelling↗