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At least 1,441 records · Page 80Linked to original sources
USGS2008

Land cover associations of nesting territories of three sympatric buteos in shortgrass prairie

Three species of Buteo hawks nest sympatrically in the southern Great Plains of the United States. Dietary overlap among them is broad and we tested the hypothesis these species partition their breeding habitat spatially. We compared land cover and topography around 224 nests of the three species breeding in shortgrass prairie in 2004 and 2005. Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) nested almost exclusively in riparian timber surrounded by prairie (95% prairie land cover around nests) and disproportionately used areas with greater topographic relief within prairie landscapes. Swainson's Hawks (B. swainsoni) commonly nested in low-relief areas dominated by small-grain production agriculture but generally used habitats in proportion to availability. Most nest sites of Ferruginous Hawks (B. regalis) were in prairie (78% prairie land cover around nests), but some were in areas that were at least partially agricultural. Ferruginous Hawks had at least two times more sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) around their nests than their two congeners. We conclude that sympatric breeding Buteos on the southern Great Plains spatially partitioned nest sites according to subtle differences in land cover and topography.

Wilson Journal of Ornithology↗
USGS2012

Characterizing invertebrate traits in wadeable streams of the contiguous US: differences among ecoregions and land uses

Much is known about invertebrate community traits in basins across Europe, but no comprehensive description of traits exists for the continental US. Little is known about the trait composition of invertebrates in reference or least-disturbed basins of the US, how trait composition varies among ecoregions, or how consistently traits respond to land use. These elements are essential to development of trait-based tools for conservation and assessment of biological integrity. We compared invertebrate traits of least-disturbed basins among ecoregions of the US. Benthic invertebrate data (presence/absence) from 1987 basins were translated into 56 binary traits (e.g., bivoltine, clinger). Basins were classified as least-disturbed, agricultural, or urban, and grouped into 9 ecoregions. Landuse, climatic, physiographic, and hydrologic data were used to describe ecoregions and to evaluate least-disturbed basin quality. The unique habitat template of each ecoregion selected for trait compositions in least-disturbed basins that differed among ecoregions. Among the traits examined, life-history (e.g., voltinism, development) and ecological traits (e.g., rheophily, thermal preference) differed most among ecoregions. Agricultural and urban land uses selected for trait compositions that differed from least-disturbed, but the extent of the differences depended on ecoregion and quality of the least-disturbed basins. No trait compositions unique to specific land uses were found. However, a disturbance syndrome was observed in that the magnitude and direction of trait responses to urban and agricultural land uses were consistent among ecoregions. Each ecoregion had a unique trait composition, but trait compositions could be used to aggregate ecoregions into 3 broad regions: Western Mountains, Plains and Lowlands, and Eastern Highlands. Our results indicate that large-scale trait-based assessment tools for the US will require calibration to account for regional differences in the trait composition of basins and in the quality of least-disturbed basins.

Freshwater Science↗
USGS2013

Land loss due to recent hurricanes in coastal Louisiana, U.S.A.

The aim of this study is to improve estimates of wetland land loss in two study regions of coastal Louisiana, U.S.A., due to the extreme storms that impacted the region between 2004 and 2009. The estimates are based on change-detection-mapping analysis that incorporates pre and postlandfall (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike) fractional-water classifications using a combination of high-resolution (<5 m) QuickBird, IKONOS, and GeoEye-1, and medium-resolution (30 m) Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. This process was applied in two study areas: the Hackberry area located in the southwestern part of chenier plain that was impacted by Hurricanes Rita (September 24, 2005) and Ike (September 13, 2008), and the Delacroix area located in the eastern delta plain that was impacted by Hurricanes Katrina (August 29, 2005) and Gustav (September 1, 2008). In both areas, effects of the hurricanes include enlargement of existing bodies of open water and erosion of fringing marsh areas. Surge-removed marsh was easily identified in stable marshes but was difficult to identify in degraded or flooded marshes. Persistent land loss in the Hackberry area due to Hurricane Rita was approximately 5.8% and increased by an additional 7.9% due to Hurricane Ike, although this additional area may yet recover. About 80% of the Hackberry study area remained unchanged since 2003. In the Delacroix area, persistent land loss due to Hurricane Katrina measured approximately 4.9% of the study area, while Hurricane Gustav caused minimal impact of 0.6% land loss by November 2009. Continued recovery in this area may further erase Hurricane Gustav's impact in the absence of new storm events.

Louisiana↗
USGS2006

Effects of watershed-scale land use change on stream nitrate concentrations

The Walnut Creek Watershed Monitoring Project was conducted from 1995 through 2005 to evaluate the response of stream nitrate concentrations to changing land use patterns in paired 5000-ha Iowa watersheds. A large portion of the Walnut Creek watershed is being converted from row crop agriculture to native prairie and savanna by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR). Before restoration, land use in both Walnut Creek (treatment) and Squaw Creek (control) watersheds consisted of 70% row crops. Between 1990 and 2005, row crop area decreased 25.4% in Walnut Creek due to prairie restoration but increased 9.2% in Squaw Creek due to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland conversion back to row crop. Nitrate concentrations ranged between <0.5 to 14 mg L-1 at the Walnut Creek outlet and 2.1 to 15 mg L-1 at the downstream Squaw Creek outlet. Nitrate concentrations decreased 1.2 mg L-1 over 10 yr in the Walnut Creek watershed but increased 1.9 mg L-1 over 10 yr in Squaw Creek. Changes in nitrate were easier to detect and more pronounced in monitored subbasins, decreasing 1.2 to 3.4 mg L-1 in three Walnut Creek subbasins, but increasing up to 8.0 and 11.6 mg L-1 in 10 yr in two Squaw Creek subbasins. Converting row crop lands to grass reduced stream nitrate levels over time in Walnut Creek, but stream nitrate rapidly increased in Squaw Creek when CRP grasslands were converted back to row crop. Study results highlight the close association of stream nitrate to land use change and emphasize that grasslands or other perennial vegetation placed in agricultural settings should be part of a long-term solution to water quality problems. ?? ASA, CSSA, SSSA.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗
USGS2009

Sources and transformations of nitrate from streams draining varying land uses: Evidence from dual isotope analysis

Knowledge of key sources and biogeochemical processes that affect the transport of nitrate (NO 3 - ) in streams can inform watershed management strategies for controlling downstream eutrophication. We applied dual isotope analysis of NO 3 - to determine the dominant sources and processes that affect NO 3 - concentrations in six stream/river watersheds of different land uses. Samples were collected monthly at a range of flow conditions for 15 mo during 2004-05 and analyzed for NO 3 - concentrations, ?? 15 N NO3 , and ?? 18 O NO3 . Samples from two forested watersheds indicated that NO 3 - derived from nitrification was dominant at baseflow. A watershed dominated by suburban land use had three ?? 18 O NO3 values greater than +25???, indicating a large direct contribution of atmospheric NO 3 - transported to the stream during some high flows. Two watersheds with large proportions of agricultural land use had many ?? 15 N NO3 values greater than +9???, suggesting an animal waste source consistent with regional dairy farming practices. These data showed a linear seasonal pattern with a ?? 18 O NO3 :?? 15 N NO3 of 1:2, consistent with seasonally varying denitrification that peaked in late summer to early fall with the warmest temperatures and lowest annual streamflow. The large range of ?? 15 N NO3 values (10???) indicates that NO 3 - supply was likely not limiting the rate of denitrification, consistent with ground water and/or in-stream denitrification. Mixing of two or more distinct sources may have affected the seasonal isotope patterns observed in these two agricultural streams. In a mixed land use watershed of large drainage area, none of the source and process patterns observed in the small streams were evident. These results emphasize that observations at watersheds of a few to a few hundred km 2 may be necessary to adequately quantify the relative roles of various NO 3 - transport and process patterns that contribute to streamflow in large basins. Copyright ?? 2009 by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗
USGS2019

Digital mapping of ecological land units using a nationally scalable modeling framework

Ecological site descriptions (ESDs) and associated state-and-transition models (STMs) provide a nationally consistent classification and information system for defining ecological land units for management applications in the United States. Current spatial representations of ESDs, however, occur via soil mapping and are therefore confined to the spatial resolution used to map soils within a survey area. Land management decisions occur across a range of spatial scales and therefore require ecological information that spans similar scales. Digital mapping provides an approach for optimizing the spatial scale of modeling products to best serve decision makers and have the greatest impact in addressing land management concerns. Here, we present a spatial modeling framework for mapping ecological sites using machine learning algorithms, soil survey field observations, soil survey geographic databases, ecological site data, and a suite of remote sensing-based spatial covariates (e.g., hyper-temporal remote sensing, terrain attributes, climate data, land-cover, lithology). Based on the theoretical association between ecological sites and landscape biophysical properties, we hypothesized that the spatial distribution of ecological sites could be predicted using readily available geospatial data. This modeling approach was tested at two study areas within the western United States, representing 6.1 million ha on the Colorado Plateau and 7.5 million ha within the Chihuahuan Desert. Results show our approach was effective in mapping grouped ecological site classes (ESGs), with 10-fold cross-validation accuracies of 70% in the Colorado Plateau based on 1405 point observations across eight expertly-defined ESG classes and 79% in the Chihuahuan Desert based on 2589 point observations across nine expertly-defined ESG classes. Model accuracies were also evaluated using external-validation datasets; resulting in 56 and 44% correct classification for the Colorado Plateau and Chihuahuan Desert, respectively. National coverage of the training and covariate data used in this study provides opportunities for a consistent national-scale mapping effort of ecological sites.

Chihuahuan Desert, Colorado Plateau↗
USGS2010

What you should know about land-cover data

Wildlife biologists are using land-characteristics data sets for a variety of applications. Many kinds of landscape variables have been characterized and the resultant data sets or maps are readily accessible. Often, too little consideration is given to the accuracy or traits of these data sets, most likely because biologists do not know how such data are compiled and rendered, or the potential pitfalls that can be encountered when applying these data. To increase understanding of the nature of land-characteristics data sets, I introduce aspects of source information and data-handling methodology that include the following: ambiguity of land characteristics; temporal considerations and the dynamic nature of the landscape; type of source data versus landscape features of interest; data resolution, scale, and geographic extent; data entry and positional problems; rare landscape features; and interpreter variation. I also include guidance for determining the quality of land-characteristics data sets through metadata or published documentation, visual clues, and independent information. The quality or suitability of the data sets for wildlife applications may be improved with thematic or spatial generalization, avoidance of transitional areas on maps, and merging of multiple data sources. Knowledge of the underlying challenges in compiling such data sets will help wildlife biologists to better assess the strengths and limitations and determine how best to use these data.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗
USGS2010

Land use and small mammal predation effects on shortgrass prairie birds

Grassland birds endemic to the central shortgrass prairie ecoregion of the United States have experienced steep and widespread declines over the last 3 decades, and factors influencing reproductive success have been implicated. Nest predation is the major cause of nest failure in passerines, and nesting success for some shortgrass prairie birds is exceptionally low. The 3 primary land uses in the central shortgrass prairie ecoregion are native shortgrass prairie rangeland (62), irrigated and nonirrigated cropland (29), and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP, 8). Because shortgrasscropland edges and CRP may alter the community of small mammal predators of grassland bird nests, I sampled multiple sites on and near the Pawnee National Grasslands in northeast Colorado, USA, to evaluate 1) whether small mammal species richness and densities were greater in CRP fields and shortgrass prairiecropland edges compared to shortgrass prairie habitats, and 2) whether daily survival probabilities of ground-nesting grassland bird nests were negatively correlated with densities of small mammals. Small mammal species richness and densities, estimated using trapping webs, were generally greater along edges and on CRP sites compared to shortgrass sites. Vegetation did not differ among edges and shortgrass sites but did differ among CRP and shortgrass sites. Daily survival probabilities of artificial nests at edge and CRP sites and natural nests at edge sites did not differ from shortgrass sites, and for natural nests small mammal densities did not affect nest survival. However, estimated daily survival probability of artificial nests was inversely proportional to thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) densities. In conclusion, these data suggest that although land-use patterns on the shortgrass prairie area in my study have substantial effects on the small mammal community, insufficient data existed to determine whether land-use patterns or small mammal density were affecting grassland bird nest survival. These findings will be useful to managers for predicting the effects of land-use changes in the shortgrass prairie on small mammal communities and avian nest success. ?? 2010 The Wildlife Society.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗
USGS1999

Land subsidence in the United States

This report explores the role of science in defining and understanding subsidence problems, and shows that the optimal use of our land and water resources may depend on improved scientific understanding to minimize subsidence. More than 80 percent of the identified land subsidence in the Nation is a consequence of human impact on subsurface water, and is an often overlooked environmental consequence of our land- and water-use practices. Nine illustrative case studies demonstrate the role of subsurface water in human-induced land subsidence. These studies represent three distinct processes that account for most of the water-related subsidence--compaction of aquifer systems, drainage and subsequent oxidation of organic soils, and dissolution and collapse of susceptible rocks. The compaction of alluvial aquifer systems that can accompany excessive ground-water pumping and resulting ground-water level declines is, by far, the single largest cause of subsidence.

Continental United States↗
USGS1978

The Energy Lands Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, fiscal year 1976

The Energy Lands Program of the U.S. Geological Survey comprises several projects that conduct basic and interpretive earth-science investigations into the environmental aspects of energy-resource recovery, transmission, and conversion. More than half the coal reserves of the United States occur west of the Mississippi River; therefore, the program concentrates mostly on coal-producing regions in the Western interior. Additional studies involve the oil-shale region in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, and coal-related work in Alaska and Appalachia. The work is done both by USGS personnel and under USGS grants and contracts through the Energy Lands Program to universities, State Geological Surveys, and private individuals. Maps and reports characterizing many aspects of environmental earth science are being prepared for areas of Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Types of studies underway include bedrock, surficial, and interpretive geology; engineering geology, geochemistry of surface materials and plants; climatic conditions as they influence rehabilitation potential of mined lands; and feasibility of surface vs. underground mining. The purpose common to all investigations in the Energy Lands Program is to provide timely earth-science information for use by managers, policy-makers, engineers, scientists, planners, and others, in order to contribute to an environmentally sound, orderly, and safe development of the energy resources of the Nation.

Circular↗
USGS2006

Land-Cover and Imperviousness Data for Regional Areas near Denver, Colorado; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; and Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin - 2001

This report describes the processing and results of land-cover and impervious surface derivation for parts of three metropolitan areas being studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems (EUSE). The data were derived primarily from Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) satellite imagery from the period 1999-2002, and are provided as 30-meter resolution raster datasets. Data were produced to a standard consistent with data being produced as part of the USGS National Land Cover Database 2001 (NLCD01) Program, and were derived in cooperation with, and assistance from, NLCD01 personnel. The data were intended as surrogates for NLCD01 data because of the EUSE Program's time-critical need for updated land-cover for parts of the United States that would not be available in time from the NLCD01 Program. Six datasets are described in this report: separate land-cover (15-class categorical data) and imperviousness (0-100 percent continuous data) raster datasets for parts of the general Denver, Colorado area (South Platte River Basin), Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area (Trinity River Basin), and Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin area (Western Lake Michigan Drainages).

Data Series↗
USGS2010

Chesapeake bay watershed land cover data series

To better understand how the land is changing and to relate those changes to water quality trends, the USGS EGSC funded the production of a Chesapeake Bay Watershed Land Cover Data Series (CBLCD) representing four dates: 1984, 1992, 2001, and 2006. EGSC will publish land change forecasts based on observed trends in the CBLCD over the coming year. They are in the process of interpreting and publishing statistics on the extent, type and patterns of land cover change for 1984-2006 in the Bay watershed, major tributaries and counties.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed↗
USGS2007

The U.S. Geological Survey Land Remote Sensing Program

The fundamental goals of the U.S. Geological Survey's Land Remote Sens-ing (LRS) Program are to provide the Federal Government and the public with a primary source of remotely sensed data and applications and to be a leader in defining the future of land remote sensing, nationally and internationally. Remotely sensed data provide information that enhance the understand-ing of ecosystems and the capabilities for predicting ecosystem change. The data promote an understanding of the role of the environment and wildlife in human health issues, the requirements for disaster response, the effects of climate variability, and the availability of energy and mineral resources. Also, as land satellite systems acquire global coverage, the program coordinates a network of international receiving stations and users of the data. It is the responsibility of the program to assure that data from land imaging satellites, airborne photography, radar, and other technologies are available to the national and global science communities.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2013

National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive

The National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive (NSLRSDA) resides at the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Through the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, the U.S. Congress directed the Department of the Interior (DOI) to establish a permanent Government archive containing satellite remote sensing data of the Earth's land surface and to make this data easily accessible and readily available. This unique DOI/USGS archive provides a comprehensive, permanent, and impartial observational record of the planet's land surface obtained throughout more than five decades of satellite remote sensing. Satellite-derived data and information products are primary sources used to detect and understand changes such as deforestation, desertification, agricultural crop vigor, water quality, invasive plant species, and certain natural hazards such as flood extent and wildfire scars.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2010

Using land-cover change as dynamic variables in surface-water and water-quality models

Land-cover data are typically used in hydrologic modeling to establish or describe land surface dynamics. This project is designed to demonstrate the use of land-cover change data in surface-water and water-quality models by incorporating land-cover as a variable condition. The project incorporates three different scenarios that vary hydrologically and geographically: 1) Agriculture in the Plains, 2) Loon habitat in New England, and 3) Forestry in the Ozarks.

General Information Product↗
USGS2000

2nd interface between ecology and land development in California

The 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development Conference was held in association with Earth Day 1997, five years after the first Interface Conference. Rapid population growth in California has intensified the inevitable conflict between land development and preservation of natural ecosystems. Sustainable development requires wise use of diminishing natural resources and, where possible, restoration of damaged landscapes. These Earth Week Celebrations brought together resource managers, scientists, politicians, environmental consultants, and concerned citizens in an effort to improve the communication necessary to maintain our natural biodiversity, ecosystem processes and general quality of life. As discussed by our keynote speaker, Michael Soule, the best predictor of habitat loss is population growth and nowhere is this better illustrated than in California. As urban perimeters expand, the interface between wildlands and urban areas increases. Few problems are more vexing than how to manage the fire prone ecosystems indigenous to California at this urban interface. Today resource managers face increasing challenges of dealing with this problem and the lead-off section of the proceedings considers both the theoretical basis for making decisions related to prescribed burning and the practical application. Habitat fragmentation is an inevitable consequence of development patterns with significant impacts on animal and plant populations. Managers must be increasingly resourceful in dealing with problems of fragmentation and the often inevitable consequences, including susceptibility to invasive oganisms. One approach to dealing with fragmentation problems is through careful landplanning. California is the national leader in the integration of conservation and economics. On Earth Day 1991, Governor Pete Wilson presented an environmental agenda that promised to create between land owners and environmentalists, agreements that would guarantee the protection of -endangered species and out of this grew the pioneering initiative, known as the Natural Communities Conservation Planning (NCCP) program. California's vast expanse of seemingly endless resources has traditionally been viewed as justification for abusive land use practices. The modem day recognition that resources are finite has led to greater concern, not only for conserving what is left, but for restoring abused landscapes. Ecological restoration is a new science devoted to returning disturbed environments to a semblance of their 'pristine' state. Based on principles of 'revegetation,' restoration goes far beyond simple replanting, rather the ambition of ecological restoration is to return landscapes to functioning ecosystems and is the focus of the last section.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

The Blackwater NWR inundation model. Rising sea level on a low-lying coast: land use planning for wetlands

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (BNWR), on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay (figure 1), occupies an area less than 1 meter above sea level. The Refuge has been featured prominently in studies of the impact of sea level rise on coastal wetlands. Most notably, the refuge has been sited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a key example of 'wetland loss' attributable to rising sea level due to global temperature increase. Comparative studies of aerial photos taken since 1938 show an expanding area of open water in the central area of the refuge. The expanding area of open water can be shown to parallel the record of sea level rise over the past 60 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages the refuge to support migratory waterfowl and to preserve endangered upland species. High marsh vegetation is critical to FWS waterfowl management strategies. A broad area once occupied by high marsh has decreased with rising sea level. The FWS needs a planning tool to help predict current and future areas of high marsh available for waterfowl. 'Wetland loss' is a relative term. It is dependant on the boundaries chosen for measurement. Wetland vegetation, zoned by elevation and salinity (figure 3), respond to rising sea level. Wetlands migrate inland and upslope and may vary in areas depending on the adjacent land slopes. Refuge managers need a geospatial tool that allows them to predict future areas that will be converted to high and intertidal marsh. Shifts in location and area of coverage must be anticipated. Viability of a current marsh area is also important. When will sea level rise make short-term management strategies to maintain an area impractical? The USGS has developed an inundation model for the BNWR centered on the refuge and surrounding areas. Such models are simple in concept, but they require a detailed topographic map upon which to superimpose future sea level positions. The new system of LIDAR mapping of land and shallow water surfaces has solved this problem. Our team has developed a detailed LIDAR map of the BNWR area at a 30 centimeter (ca. 1 ft) contour interval (figure 2). The new map allows us to identify the present marsh vegetation zones and to predict the location and area of future zones on a decade-by- decade basis over the next century at increments of sea level rise on the order of 3 cm/decade (ca. 1 inch). We have developed two scenarios for the model. The first is a steady-state model that uses the historic rate of sea level rise of 3.1 mm/yr to predict marsh areas. The second is a 'global warming' scenario utilizing a conservative IPCC model with an exponentially-increasing rate of sea level rise. Under either scenario, the BNWR is progressively inundated with an expanding core of open water. Although their positions change in the future, the areas of intertidal marsh as well as those of the critical high marsh remain fairly constant until the year 2050. Beyond that time, the low-lying land surface is overtopped by rising sea level and the area is dominated by open water. Our model suggests that wetland habitat in the Blackwater area might be maintained and sustained through a combination of public and private preservation efforts through easements in combination with judicious Federal land acquisition into the predicted areas of suitable marsh formation - but for only the next 50 years. Beyond that time much of this area will become open water.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Coordinated bird monitoring: Technical recommendations for military lands

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

Open-File Report↗