Investigations of woodcock, snipe, and rails in 1956
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Special Scientific Report - Wildlife↗
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MOSS user's manual
The Map Overlay and Statistical System (MOSS) Users' Manual is specialized document has been designed for trained users of the MOSS interactive graphics software. Those totally unfamiliar with MOSS or Geographic Information Systems are referred elsewhere as described below: -- If you know nothing about MOSS or what it can do for you, and you wish introductory information on MOSS, or you want to deign an application and data entry process compatible with MOSS, or you want "hands-on" training, contact the WELUT Team Leader at the address below for a "hands-on" GIS training session. -- If you have been introduced to MOSS, have your application defined, data entered, and want to know how to use MOSS, start reading at Section 1 of this Manual. --If you are interested in the MOSS data structure, refer to Section 2 of this Manual. --If you have some experience in using MOSS and want to refer to the general types of MOSS commands, read Section 3 of this Manual. --If you are an experience MOSS user and want details on individual MOSS commands, refer to Section 4.3 of this Manual. --If you are interested in the Federation of Rocky Mountain States -- WELUT 02 Project contractual background results, turn to Appendices D and E of this Manual. MOSS has been operation for less than 3 months, and has received limited operational testing at the date of this printing (October 1978). Undiscovered software limitations and bugs may yet appear. All such bugs as well as documentation errors, obscurities, and inadequacies should be reported to: Team Leader Western Energy and Land Use Team (WELUT) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Drake Creekside Building 2625 Redwing Road Fort Collins, Colorado 80526
FWS/OBS↗
Distribution, migration behavior, habitat use, and species interactions of fall-released juvenile hatchery spring Chinook salmon on the Deschutes River, Oregon, 2002, Annual report 2002
In a review of National Fish Hatcheries (NFH), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) identified the need to assess the fate of hatchery-reared fish and their potential effect on the aquatic community (USFWS 1998). Additionally, in the Columbia River Biological Opinion, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recommended monitoring and evaluating ecological interactions between hatchery and wild fish (NMFS 1999). In 2002, a study was designed to investigate the fate of hatchery-reared fish and to assess habitat use and fish interactions in the Deschutes River, Oregon.
Oregon↗
Toward conservation of midcontinental shorebird migrations
Shorebirds represent a highly diverse group of species, many of which experience tremendous energy demands associated with long-distance migratory flights. Transcontinental migrants are dependent upon dynamic freshwater wetlands for stopover resources essential for replenishment of lipid reserves and completion of migration. Patterns of shorebird migration across midcontinental wetlands were detected from migration reports to American Birds and information provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges. Patterns in species composition and abundance varied geographically, emphasizing the uniqueness of different regions to migrating shorebirds. Smaller species and neotropical migrants moved primarily across the Great Plains, whereas larger species and North American migrants predominated in assemblages in the intermountain west Shorebirds were broadly dispersed in wetland habitats with dynamic water regimes. Whereas populations of shorebirds in coastal systems appear to concentrate at sites of seasonally predictable and abundant food resources, we propose that transcontinental shorebirds disperse and use wetlands opportunistically. This migration system exemplifies the need for large-scale, coordinated regional management efforts that recognize the dynamic nature of ecosystem processes.
Conservation Biology↗
Habitat Suitability Index Models: Osprey
A review and synthesis of existing information were used to develop a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the osprey (Pandion haliaetus). The model consolidates habitat use information into a framework appropriate for field application, and is scaled to produce an index between 0.0 (unsuitable habitat) to 1.0 (optimum habitat). HSI models are designed to be used with Habitat Evaluation Procedures previously developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
FWS/OBS↗
Results of a workshop concerning ecological zonation in bottomland hardwoods
Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulatory responsibilities concerning the discharge of dredged or fill material into the Nation's waters. In addition to its advisory role in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' permit program, EPA has a number of specific authorities, including formulation of the Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines, use of Section 404(c) to prohibit disposal at particular sites, and enforcement actions for unauthorized discharges. A number of recent court cases focus on the geographic scope of Section 404 jurisdiction in potential bottomland hardwood (BLH) wetlands and the nature of landclearing activities in these areas that require a permit under Section 404. Accordingly, EPA needs to establish the scientific basis for implementing its responsibilities under Section 404 in bottomland hardwoods. EPA is approaching this task through a series of workshops designed to provide current scientific information on bottomland hardwoods and to organize that information in a manner pertinent to key questions, including the following. What are the characteristics of bottomland hardwoods (in terms of hydrology, soils, vegetation, fish, wildlife, agricultural potential, and the like) and how can the functions (e.g., flood storage, water quality maintenance, detrital export) that they perform best be quantified? How do perturbations like landclearing, levee construction, and drainage impact the functions that bottomland hardwoods perform and how can these effects best be quantified? And finally, how significant are the impacts and how is their significance likely to change under various management scenarios? The first workshop in this series was held December 3-7, 1984, in St. Francisville, Louisiana. The workshop was attended by over 40 scientists and regulators (see ACKNOWLEDGMENTS section) and facilitated by the editors of this report under an Interagency Agreement between EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The general objective of the workshop was to examine ways in which the structure and function of BLH ecosystems can be characterized and, in particular, to investigate the utility of a conceptual framework developed at a workshop held in Lake Lanier, Georgia, in 1980. In this framework, the transition from aquatic habitats to upland habitats through a BLH ecosystem is divided into six zones based on concomitant variation in the soil moisture regime and associated vegetation (Table 1). The zonation concept is of particular interest to EPA from at least two perspectives. The first is simply as a framework for organizing information. If the zones are discernible in the field, have recognizable characteristics, and perform identifiable functions, they might form a useful basis for tasks such as assessing the impacts of a particular site-specific activity. The second is the potential utility of the zonation concept in identifying the wetland portions of BLH communities. If the zones can be recognized in the field, and if one or more of them can be shown consistently to have wetland characteristics (i.e., perform functions, such as detrital export, often attributed to wetlands), while others do not, then the zones might have utility in identifying areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Section 404. The workshop itself was divided into two parts. The first was a series of papers in which authors described current research and data-synthesis activities in the context of the zonation concept. The second was a series of six workgroups in which participants discussed the zonation concept from the perspective of hydrology, soils, vegetation, fish, wildlife, and ecosystem processes. This report is a compilation of the written material from those workgroups, much of which was produced at the workshop. The formal papers presented in the first part of the workshop have been distributed to participants under separate cover, but are referenced in this report by citations such as: (Jones, workshop presentation).
Report↗
Air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction in the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2011
This report provides air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction data collected on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2011 by the U.S. Department of the Interior's climate monitoring array, part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost. In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality control methodology. This array of 16 monitoring stations spans 68.5°N to 70.5°N and 142.5°W to 161°W, an area of roughly 150,000 square kilometers. Climate summaries are presented along with provisional quality-controlled data. Data collection is ongoing and includes several additional climate variables to be released in subsequent reports, including ground temperature and soil moisture, snow depth, rainfall, up- and downwelling shortwave radiation, and atmospheric pressure. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in close collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗
Houston-Galveston Bay area, Texas, from space; a new tool for mapping land subsidence
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a powerful new tool that uses radar signals to measure displacement (subsidence and uplift) of the Earth's crust at an unprecedented level of spatial detail and high degree of measurement resolution. The Houston-Galveston Bay area, possibly more than any other metropolitan area in the United States, has been adversely affected by land subsidence. Extensive subsidence, caused mainly by ground-water pumping but also by oil and gas extraction, has increased the frequency of flooding, caused extensive damage to industrial and transportation infrastructure, motivated major investments in levees, reservoirs, and surfacewater distribution facilities, and caused substantial loss of wetland habitat. Ongoing patterns of subsidence in the Houston area have been carefully monitored using borehole extensometers, Global Positioning System (GPS) and conventional spirit-leveling surveys, and more recently, an emerging technology—Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)—which enables development of spatially-detailed maps of land-surface displacement over broad areas. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, briefly summarizes the history of subsidence in the area and the local consequences of subsidence and describes the use of InSAR as one of several tools in an integrated subsidence-monitoring program in the area.
Texas↗
Abundance, Timing of Migration, and Egg-to-Smolt Survival of Juvenile Chum Salmon, Kwethluk River, Alaska, 2007 and 2008
To better understand and partition mortality among life stages of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), we used inclined-plane traps to monitor the migration of juveniles in the Kwethluk River, Alaska in 2007 and 2008. The migration of juvenile chum salmon peaked in mid-May and catch rates were greatest when water levels were rising. Movement of chum salmon was diurnal with highest catch rates occurring during the hours of low light (that is, 22:00 to 10:00). Trap efficiency ranged from 0.37 to 4.04 percent (overall efficiency = 1.94 percent). Total abundance of juvenile chum salmon was estimated to be 2.0 million fish in 2007 and 2.9 million fish in 2008. On the basis of the estimate of chum salmon females passing the Kwethluk River weir and age-specific fecundity, we estimated the potential egg deposition (PED) upstream of the weir and trapping site. Egg-to-smolt survival, calculated by dividing the estimate of juvenile chum salmon emigrating past the weir site by the estimate of PED, was 4.6 percent in 2007 and 5.2 percent in 2008. In addition to chum salmon, Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), as well as ten other fish species, were captured in the traps. As with chum salmon, catch of these species increased during periods of increasing discharge and peaked during hours of low light. This study successfully determined the characteristics of juvenile salmon migrations and estimated egg-to-smolt survival for chum salmon. This is the first estimate of survival for any juvenile salmon in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska and demonstrates an approach that can help to partition mortality between freshwater and marine life stages, information critical to understanding the dynamics of salmon in this region.
Open-File Report↗
A Natural History Summary and Survey Protocol for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) has been the subject of substantial research, monitoring, and management activity since it was listed as an endangered species in 1995. When proposed for listing in 1993, relatively little was known about the flycatcher's natural history, and there were only 30 known breeding sites supporting an estimated 111 territories rangewide (Sogge and others, 2003a). Since that time, thousands of presence/absences surveys have been conducted throughout the historical range of the flycatcher, and many studies of its natural history and ecology have been completed. As a result, the ecology of the flycatcher is much better understood than it was just over a decade ago. In addition, we have learned that the current status of the flycatcher is better than originally thought: as of 2007, the population was estimated at approximately 1,300 territories distributed among approximately 280 breeding sites (Durst and others, 2008a). Concern about the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher on a rangewide scale was brought to focus by Unitt (1987), who described declines in flycatcher abundance and distribution throughout the Southwest. E. t. extimus populations declined during the 20th century, primarily because of habitat loss and modification from activities, such as dam construction and operation, groundwater pumping, water diversions, and flood control. In 1991, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher as a candidate category 1 species (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1991). In July 1993, the USFWS proposed to list E. t. extimus as an endangered species and to designate critical habitat under the Act (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1993). A final rule listing E. t. extimus as endangered was published in February 1995 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1995); critical habitat was designated in 1997 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1997). The USFWS Service released a Recovery Plan for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher in 2002 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2002), and re-designated critical habitat in 2005 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2005).
Techniques and Methods↗
Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Great Sitkin Volcano, Alaska
Great Sitkin Volcano is a composite andesitic stratovolcano on Great Sitkin Island (51°05’ N latitude, 176°25’ W longitude), a small (14 x 16 km), circular volcanic island in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Great Sitkin Island is located about 35 kilometers northeast of the community of Adak on Adak Island and 130 kilometers west of the community of Atka on Atka Island. Great Sitkin Volcano is an active volcano and has erupted at least eight times in the past 250 years (Miller and others, 1998). The most recent eruption in 1974 caused minor ash fall on the flanks of the volcano and resulted in the emplacement of a lava dome in the summit crater. The summit of the composite cone of Great Sitkin Volcano is 1,740 meters above sea level. The active crater is somewhat lower than the summit, and the highest point along its rim is about 1,460 meters above sea level. The crater is about 1,000 meters in diameter and is almost entirely filled by a lava dome emplaced in 1974. An area of active fumaroles, hot springs, and bubbling hot mud is present on the south flank of the volcano at the head of Big Fox Creek (see the map), and smaller ephemeral fumaroles and steam vents are present in the crater and around the crater rim. The flanking slopes of the volcano are gradual to steep and consist of variously weathered and vegetated blocky lava flows that formed during Pleistocene and Holocene eruptions. The modern edifice occupies a caldera structure that truncates an older sequence of lava flows and minor pyroclastic rocks on the east side of the volcano. The eastern sector of the volcano includes the remains of an ancestral volcano that was partially destroyed by a northwest-directed flank collapse. In winter, Great Sitkin Volcano is typically completely snow covered. Should explosive pyroclastic eruptions occur at this time, the snow would be a source of water for volcanic mudflows or lahars. In summer, much of the snowpack melts, leaving only a patchy distribution of snow on the volcano. Glacier ice is no longer present on the volcano or on other parts of Great Sitkin Island as previously reported by Simons and Mathewson (1955). Great Sitkin Island is presently uninhabited and is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗
Visitor and community survey results for Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge: Completion report
This study was commissioned by the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in support of the Comprehensive Conservation Planning at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge (Prime Hook NWR or Refuge). The National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-57, USC668dd) mandates a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for every refuge in the system. A refuge CCP outlines goals, objectives, and management strategies for all refuge programs over the next 15 years, while providing opportunities for compatible, wildlifedependent public uses. The plan evaluates refuge wildlife, habitat, land protection, and visitor service priorities during the planning process. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; Public Law 91-190:852-859.42, U.S.C. and as Amended (P.L. 94-52 and P.L. 94-83) 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) mandates that the CCP for each refuge must contain an analysis of social and economic conditions (the affected environment) and evaluate social and economic results from likely management scenarios. In addition, public review and comment on alternatives for future management is required. To that end, this research was conducted by the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Branch (PASA) of the U.S. Geological Survey/Fort Collins Science Center in order to determine how current and proposed CCP planning strategies for Prime Hook NWR could affect: Visitor use Visitor experiences Visitor spending Community residents’ perceptions and opinions Data for this study were collected using a survey administered to visitors to Prime Hook NWR and individuals living in the communities surrounding the Refuge. Surveys were randomly distributed to both consumptive and nonconsumptive use visitors over a one year period (September 2004 to September 2005) to account for seasonal variation in Refuge use. Three hundred thirty-two visitor surveys were returned for a response rate of 80 percent with a confidence interval of ± 5.4. Surveys were also distributed to a stratified random sample of community members in adjacent and surrounding areas (Slaughter Beach, Broadkill Beach, Prime Hook Beach, Milton, Lewes, Milford, and surrounding communities). Four hundred ninety-one surveys from the overall community sample were returned for a response rate of 39 percent with a ± 4.4 confidence interval. Community member results were weighted by U.S. Census Bureau data to correct for age and gender bias, and for community proportionality.
Delaware↗
DOI/GTN-P Climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2015
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2015; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality-control methods. The array of 16 monitoring stations spans lat 68.5°N. to 70.5°N. and long 142.5°W. to 161°W., an area of approximately 150,000 square kilometers. Climate summaries are presented along with quality-controlled data. Data collection is ongoing and includes the following climate- and permafrost-related variables: air temperature, wind speed and direction, ground temperature, soil moisture, snow depth, rainfall totals, up- and downwelling shortwave radiation, and atmospheric pressure. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in close collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗
DOI/GTN-P climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998-2019
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2019; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality-control methods. The array of 16 monitoring stations spans lat 68.5°N. to 70.5°N. and long 142.5°W. to 161°W., an area of approximately 150,000 square kilometers. Climate summaries are presented along with quality-controlled data. Data collection is ongoing and includes the following climate- and permafrost-related variables: air temperature, wind speed and direction, ground temperature, soil moisture, snow depth, rainfall totals, up- and downwelling shortwave radiation, and atmospheric pressure. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in close collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗
DOI/GTN-P climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve: Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998-2011
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2011; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost, (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality-control methodology. This array of 16 monitoring stations spans lat 68.5°N. to 70.5°N. and long 142.5°W. to 161°W., an area of approximately 150,000 square kilometers. Climate summaries are presented along with quality-controlled data. Data collection is ongoing and includes the following climate- and permafrost-related variables: air temperature, wind speed and direction, ground temperature and soil moisture, snow depth, rainfall, up- and downwelling shortwave radiation, and atmospheric pressure. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in close collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗
DOI/GTN-P climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2013; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost, (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality-control methods. This array of 16 monitoring stations spans lat 68.5°N. to 70.5°N. and long 142.5°W. to 161°W., an area of approximately 150,000 square kilometers. Climate summaries are presented along with quality-controlled data. Data collection is ongoing and includes the following climate- and permafrost-related variables: air temperature, wind speed and direction, ground temperature, soil moisture, snow depth, rainfall totals, up- and downwelling shortwave radiation, and atmospheric pressure. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in close collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗
DOI/GTN-P Climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2014
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2014; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality-control methods. The array of 16 monitoring stations spans lat 68.5°N. to 70.5°N. and long 142.5°W. to 161°W., an area of approximately 150,000 square kilometers. Climate summaries are presented along with quality-controlled data. Data collection is ongoing and includes the following climate- and permafrost-related variables: air temperature, wind speed and direction, ground temperature, soil moisture, snow depth, rainfall totals, up- and downwelling shortwave radiation, and atmospheric pressure. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in close collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alaska↗