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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2018

A multiscale natural community and species-level vulnerability assessment of the Gulf Coast, USA

Vulnerability assessments combine quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of species or natural communities to current and future threats. When combined with the economic, ecological or evolutionary value of the species, vulnerability assessments quantify the relative risk to regional species and natural communities and can enable informed prioritization of conservation efforts. Vulnerability assessments are common practice in conservation biology, including the potential impacts of future climate scenarios. However, geographic variation in scenarios and vulnerabilities is rarely quantified. This gap is particularly limiting for informing ecosystem management given that conservation practices typically vary by sociopolitical boundaries rather than by ecological boundaries. To support prioritization of conservation actions across a range of spatial scales, we conducted the Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment (GCVA) for four natural communities and eleven focal species around the Gulf of Mexico based on current and future threats from climate change and land-use practices out to 2060. We used the Standardized Index of Vulnerability and Value (SIVVA) tool to assess both natural community and species vulnerabilities. We observed greater variation across ecologically delineated subregions within the Gulf Coast of the U.S. than across climate scenarios. This novel finding suggests that future vulnerability assessments incorporate regional variation and that conservation prioritization may vary across ecological subregions. Across subregions and climate scenarios the most prominent threats were legacy effects, primarily from habitat loss and degradation, that compromised the adaptive capacity of species and natural communities. The second most important threats were future threats from sea-level rise. Our results suggest that the substantial threats species and natural communities face from climate change and sea-level rise would be within their adaptive capacity were it not for historic habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,↗
USGS2018

A vision for documenting and sharing knowledge in conservation

As editors, we mark the launch of Conservation Science and Practice , a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), with the following remarks framing the purpose and aspirations of the journal. Our aim is to share scholarship on and experiences of the practice of conservation. We define conservation practice as the application of conservation principles or theory across conservation issues, from planning and directly managing nature to influencing public policy and private behaviors—at scales from local communities to international governing bodies. We are striving for Conservation Science and Practice to be a forum for sharing lessons learned from research and practice to reciprocally informing and improving both arenas.

Conservation Science and Practice↗
USGS2004

Fort Collins Science Center: Policy Analysis and Science Assistance

Most resource management decisions involve the integrated use of biological, sociological, and economic information. Combining this information provides a more comprehensive basis for making effective land management and conservation decisions. Toward this end, scientists in the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Branch (PASA) of the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) contribute expert knowledge for natural resources management by conducting biological, social, economic, and institutional analyses of conservation policies and management practices. PASA's mission is to integrate biological, social, and economic research so that resource managers can use the resulting information to make informed decisions and resolve resource management conflicts. PASA scientists pursue and conduct scientific analyses that help agencies and Native American tribes to (1) identify impending policy controversies and areas where social and natural science research is needed to address future policy questions; (2) develop methods and approaches to assist researchers in preparing scientific evidence; (3) assess habitat alteration in a manner consistent with policy needs; and (4) evaluate policy options. Branch scientists also evaluate policy options (e.g., effects of different land treatments, fish and wildlife management practices, or visitor/recreation management practices) in response to specific questions faced by policymakers and managers.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2018

The non-linear, interactive effects of population density and climate drive the geographical patterns of waterfowl survival

On-going climate change has major impacts on ecological processes and patterns. Understanding the impacts of climate on the geographical patterns of survival can provide insights to how population dynamics r espond to climate change and provide important information for the development of appropriate conservation strategies at regional scales. It is challenging to understand the impacts of climate on survival, however, due to the fact that the non-linear relationship between survival and climate can be modified by density-dependent processes. In this study we extended the Brownie model to partition hunting and non-hunting mortalities and linked non-hunting survival to covariates. We applied this model to four decades (1972–2014) of waterfowl band-recovery, breeding population s urvey, and precipitation and temperature data covering multiple ecological regions to examine the non-linear, interactive effects of population density and climate on waterfowl non-hunting survival at a regional scale. Our results showed that the non-linear effect of temperature on waterfowl non-hunting survival was modified by breeding population density. The concave relationship between non-hunting survival and temperature suggested that the effects of warming on waterfowl survival might be multifaceted. Furthermore, the relationship between non-hunting survival and temperature was stronger when population density was higher, suggesting that high-density populations may be less buffered against warming than low-density populations. Our study revealed distinct relationships between waterfowl non-hunting survival and climate across and within ecological regions, highlighting the importance of considering different conservation strategies according to region-specific population and climate conditions. Our findings and associated novel modelling approach have wide implications in conservation practice.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2009

Toward immunogenetic studies of amphibian chytridiomycosis: Linking innate and acquired immunity

Recent declines in amphibian diversity and abundance have contributed significantly to the global loss of biodiversity. The fungal disease chytridiomycosis is widely considered to be a primary cause of these declines, yet the critical question of why amphibian species differ in susceptibility remains unanswered. Considerable evidence links environmental conditions and interspecific variability of the innate immune system to differential infection responses, but other sources of individual, population, or species-typical variation may also be important. In this article we review the preliminary evidence supporting a role for acquired immune defenses against chytridiomycosis, and advocate for targeted investigation of genes controlling acquired responses, as well as those that functionally bridge the innate and acquired immune systems. Immunogenetic data promise to answer key questions about chytridiomycosis susceptibility and host-pathogen coevolution, and will draw much needed attention to the importance of considering evolutionary processes in amphibian conservation management and practice. ?? 2009 by American Institute of Biological Sciences.

BioScience↗
USGS2010

Assessing conservation relevance of organism-environment relations using predicted changes in response variables

1. Organism–environment models are used widely in conservation. The degree to which they are useful for informing conservation decisions – the conservation relevance of these relations – is important because lack of relevance may lead to misapplication of scarce conservation resources or failure to resolve important conservation dilemmas. Even when models perform well based on model fit and predictive ability, conservation relevance of associations may not be clear without also knowing the magnitude and variability of predicted changes in response variables. 2. We introduce a method for evaluating the conservation relevance of organism–environment relations that employs confidence intervals for predicted changes in response variables. The confidence intervals are compared to a preselected magnitude of change that marks a threshold (trigger) for conservation action. To demonstrate the approach, we used a case study from the Chihuahuan Desert involving relations between avian richness and broad-scale patterns of shrubland. We considered relations for three winters and two spatial extents (1- and 2-km-radius areas) and compared predicted changes in richness to three thresholds (10%, 20% and 30% change). For each threshold, we examined 48 relations. 3. The method identified seven, four and zero conservation-relevant changes in mean richness for the 10%, 20% and 30% thresholds respectively. These changes were associated with major (20%) changes in shrubland cover, mean patch size, the coefficient of variation for patch size, or edge density but not with major changes in shrubland patch density. The relative rarity of conservation-relevant changes indicated that, overall, the relations had little practical value for informing conservation decisions about avian richness. 4. The approach we illustrate is appropriate for various response and predictor variables measured at any temporal or spatial scale. The method is broadly applicable across ecological environments, conservation objectives, types of statistical predictive models and levels of biological organization. By focusing on magnitudes of change that have practical significance, and by using the span of confidence intervals to incorporate uncertainty of predicted changes, the method can be used to help improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

Methods in Ecology and Evolution↗
USGS2005

The potential conservation value of unmowed powerline strips for native bees

The land area covered by powerline easements in the United States exceeds the area of almost all national parks, including Yellowstone. In parts of Europe and the US, electric companies have altered their land management practices from periodic mowing to extraction of tall vegetation combined with the use of selective herbicides. To investigate whether this alternate management practice might produce higher quality habitat for native bees, we compared the bee fauna collected in unmowed powerline corridors and in nearby mowed grassy fields at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (MD). Powerline sites had more spatially and numerically rare species and a richer bee community than the grassy fields, although the difference was less pronounced than we expected. Powerline sites also had more parasitic species and more cavitynesting bees. Bee communities changed progressively through the season, but differences between the site types were persistent. The surrounding, nongrassland landscape likely has a strong influence on the bee species collected at the grassland sites, as some bees may be foraging in the grasslands but nesting elsewhere. Improving habitat for native bees will help ameliorate the loss of pollination services caused by the collapse of wild and managed honeybee populations. This study suggests that powerline strips have the potential to provide five million acres of bee-friendly habitat in the US if utilities more generally adopt appropriate management practices.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2019

The future of recreational fisheries: Advances in science, monitoring, management, and practice

Recreational fisheries (RF) are complex social-ecological systems that play an important role in aquatic environments while generating significant social and economic benefits around the world. The nature of RF is diverse and rapidly evolving, including the participants, their priorities and behaviors, and the related ecological impacts and social and economic benefits. RF can lead to negative ecological impacts, particularly through overexploitation of fish populations and spread of non-native species and genotypes through stocking. Hence, careful management and monitoring of RF is essential to sustain these ecologically and socioeconomically important resources. This special issue on recreational fisheries contains diverse research, syntheses, and perspectives that highlight the advances being made in RF research, monitoring, management, and practice, which we summarize here. Co-management actions are rising, often involving diverse interest groups including government and non-government organizations; applying collaborative management practices can help balance social and economic benefits with conservation targets. Technological and methodological advances are improving the ability to monitor biological, social, and economic dynamics of RF, which underpin the ability to maximize RF benefits through management actions. To ensure RF sustainability, much research focuses on the ecological aspects of RF, as well as the development of management and angling practices that reduce negative impacts on fish populations. For example, angler behavior can be influenced to conform to conservation-minded angling practices through regulations, but is often best accomplished through growing bottom-up social change movements. Anglers can also play an important role in fisheries monitoring and conservation, including providing data on fish abundance and assemblages (i.e., citizen science). The increasing impacts that growing human populations are having on the global environment are threatening many of the natural resources and ecosystem services they provide, including valuable RF. However, with careful development of research initiatives, monitoring and management, sustainable RF can generate positive outcomes for both society and natural ecosystems and help solve allocation conflicts with commercial fisheries and conservation.

Fisheries Research↗
USGS2015

Moving environmental DNA methods from concept to practice for monitoring aquatic macroorganisms

The discovery that macroorganisms can be detected from their environmental DNA (eDNA) in aquatic systems has immense potential for the conservation of biological diversity. This special issue contains 11 papers that review and advance the field of eDNA detection of vertebrates and other macroorganisms, including studies of eDNA production, transport, and degradation; sample collection and processing to maximize detection rates; and applications of eDNA for conservation using citizen scientists. This body of work is an important contribution to the ongoing efforts to take eDNA detection of macroorganisms from technical breakthrough to established, reliable method that can be used in survey, monitoring, and research applications worldwide. While the rapid advances in this field are remarkable, important challenges remain, including consensus on best practices for collection and analysis, understanding of eDNA diffusion and transport, and avoidance of inhibition in sample collection and processing. Nonetheless, as demonstrated in this special issue, eDNA techniques for research and monitoring are beginning to realize their potential for contributing to the conservation of biodiversity globally.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2021

When introduced prey violates trophic hierarchy: Conservation of an endangered predator

Introduced species often disrupt established food webs, but some native predators can come to rely on introduced prey. Understanding the net effects of the non-natives on imperiled predators is crucial for planning conservation measures. The invasive American bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) can be prey, predator, and competitor for the critically endangered San Francisco garter snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia ). We examined the seasonal prey use of a San Francisco garter snake population that co-occurs with American bullfrogs to examine intraguild predation between these species. Juvenile and adult snakes mainly consumed native anurans instead of American bullfrogs, and this diet pattern peaked in spring, a critical foraging period for the snakes. In spring, large adult American bullfrogs also foraged heavily on native anurans and displayed a high degree of diet overlap with San Francisco garter snakes. Invasive American bullfrogs are detrimental to San Francisco garter snakes mainly through seasonal competition rather than reciprocal predation. Removal of invasive species provided further evidence that eliminating American bullfrogs can benefit San Francisco garter snakes by reducing predation pressure on their shared amphibian prey. Better understanding the interactions of invasive species with native species of conservation concern informs management practices and improves conservation outcomes.

Biological Conservation↗
USGS2005

An introduction to mid-Atlantic seasonal pools

Seasonal pools, also known as vernal ponds, provide important ecological services to the mid-Atlantic region. This publication serves as an introduction to seasonal pool ecology and management; it also provides tools for exploring seasonal pools, including a full-color field guide to wildlife. Seasonal pools are defined as having four distinctive features: surface water isolation, periodic drying, small size and shallow depth, and support of a characteristic biological community. Seasonal pools experience regular drying that excludes populations of predatory fish. Thus, pools in the mid-Atlantic region provide critical breeding habitat for amphibian and invertebrate species (e.g., spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), wood frog (Rana sylvatica), and fairy shrimp (Order Anostraca)) that would be at increased risk of predation in more permanent waters. The distinctive features of seasonal pools also make them vulnerable to human disturbance. In the mid-Atlantic region, land-use changes pose the greatest challenges to seasonal pool conservation. Seasonal pools are threatened by direct loss (e.g., filling or draining of the pool) as well as by destruction and fragmentation of adjoining terrestrial habitat. Many of the species that depend on seasonal pools for breeding spend the majority of their lives in the surrounding lands that extend a radius of 1000 feet or more from the pools; these vital habitats are being transected by roads and converted to other land uses. Other threats to seasonal pools include biological introductions and removals, mosquito control practices, amphibian diseases, atmospheric deposition, and climate change. The authors recommend a three-pronged strategy for seasonal pool conservation and management in the mid-Atlantic region: education and research, inventory and monitoring of seasonal pools, and landscape-level planning and management.

Report↗
USGS2001

What is the Ohio Gap Analysis Program (GAP)?

The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is a program for identifying the degree to which native species and natural communities are represented in present-day conservation lands. Those areas where unique biological communities and conservation lands do not overlap constitute gaps in our conservation effort. GAP aids in the protection of biodiversity through a regional assessment of the conservation status of native species and natural land-cover types. This assessment provides a practical approach based on available data to identify potential conservation areas and strategies. GAP is a preliminary step to the more focused, local studies needed to establish boundaries for potential biodiversity management areas. GAP is conducted as state-level projects and is coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Biological Resources Discipline (BRD). It is a cooperative effort among regional, state, and Federal agencies and private groups.

Ohio↗
USGS2021

The local responses of aquatic ecosystems to adjacent grassland conservation: Can streams of dreams exist in a degraded riverscape?

Landscape homogenization and the removal of riparian areas have altered stream ecosystems worldwide. Numerous conservation programmes attempt to improve water quality and increase instream habitat heterogeneity to elicit desired biological responses. However, the effectiveness of many conservation efforts on isolated stream fragments remains unknown, especially in grassland regions. The effects of grassland conservation practices and the re-establishment of riparian corridors in the James River basin, South Dakota (USA) on stream water quality, habitat availability and aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages were studied in an agriculturally dominated prairie landscape. Grassland conservation efforts may have repaired riparian condition, reduced turbidity and created more diverse instream habitat complexes at conservation sites based on comparisons with paired reference reaches. Reference sites were relatively homogeneous, with prevalent siltation, bank erosion and disturbances to the riparian vegetation. Owing to significant riparian vegetation development, overhanging and aquatic vegetation, benthic detritus and woody materials were significantly more common at conservation reaches. Restoration efforts that assume ‘if you (re-)build it, they will come’ (i.e. the ‘field of dreams’ hypothesis) underestimate other important barriers to biodiversity restoration in dynamic, grassland riverscapes. Although aquatic organisms in grassland ecosystems are adapted to rapidly inhabit available habitats, the development of niche space at conservation reaches did not directly result in colonization by aquatic life. Grassland management actions did not address stream connectivity issues or overcome land use influences elsewhere in the riverscape that may govern the responses of aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish. Stream fragmentation and continuing, damaging land use patterns seemed to exceed the positive effects of restoring isolated stream reaches in these heavily degraded catchments. Catchment-scale management strategies that combine reach-level restoration actions with efforts to improve connectivity are likely to be more successful in degraded riverscapes.

South Dakota↗
USGS2013

Spatial capture-recapture

Spatial Capture-Recapture provides a revolutionary extension of traditional capture-recapture methods for studying animal populations using data from live trapping, camera trapping, DNA sampling, acoustic sampling, and related field methods. This book is a conceptual and methodological synthesis of spatial capture-recapture modeling. As a comprehensive how-to manual, this reference contains detailed examples of a wide range of relevant spatial capture-recapture models for inference about population size and spatial and temporal variation in demographic parameters. Practicing field biologists studying animal populations will find this book to be a useful resource, as will graduate students and professionals in ecology, conservation biology, and fisheries and wildlife management.

Book↗
USGS2026

Wildfire smoke reduces the vocal activity of imperiled grassland birds in New York State

Smoke from new fire regimes driven by climate change may affect biodiversity in new regions of the world. Wildfires that occurred in eastern Canada in 2023 burned nearly 7.8 million hectares of forest, sending smoke throughout the northeastern United States. We leveraged passive acoustic monitoring to investigate real-time effects of wildfire smoke on vocalization behavior of globally imperiled grassland birds during the breeding season in open land covers across New York State. We determined an overall negative effect of elevated smoke levels on breeding grassland bird vocal activity. We observed the strongest vocalization responses in Bobolink ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus ) – a colonial breeding, grassland-obligate species; Bobolink vocal activity sharply dropped during intense smoke early in the breeding season, yet increased during a milder smoke event later in the breeding season. Our results indicate that wildfire smoke can present an additive stressor to already imperiled grassland bird species via potential fitness reductions from decreased communication. While some aspects of smoke exposure may be uncontrollable, our results suggest that increased attention to conservation practices that promote grassland birds in the Northeast could be prioritized to offset negative effects of increased smoke associated with global change.

New York↗
USGS1988

Conservation of North American rallids

The Rallidae are a diverse group in their habitat selection, yet most North American species occur in or near wetlands As a consequence, most species are subject to habitat enhancement or perturbation from waterfowl management programs. The overall effects of these management programs relative to rallid conservation have been assessed for few species, and there is a need for synthesis of such information. In the cases of some species or raves, population status is not known, and suggested directions for conservation and management are needed. Rare, endangered, or status undetermined species or races often occur in areas where related species are classified as game birds, and the effects of such hunting on rarer forms are not known. Their generally secretive nature, the endangered status of several races and populations, and continued loss of habitat and threats to present habitat, warrant an examination of the conservation status of the North American taxa in this group. In 1977, a committee of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies summarized available information on management and biology of American Coots ( Fulica americana ), rails, and gallinules in North America (Holliman 1977). That summary was intended to provide relatively complete information on conservation of these species, and also to provide guidance for research within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Accelerated Research Program for Webless Migratory Shore and Upland Game Birds (ARP). Subsequently, a number of rallid studies were funded under this program. The program was eliminated in 1982, following substantial research activities on North American rallids. Since the demise of the ARP, additional research on rallids in North America has focused on an area the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies report failed to cover in detail--that of endangered rallids in the U.S. and their possessions. Most of these studies have been of threatened and endangered taxa in western coastal marshes. This report updates and summarizes information on North American rallids since the ARP report and identifies the major conservation problems of this group with the intent of focusing future efforts on these priority issues. Consideration of island forms occurring within U.S. possessions is beyond the scope of this report, mainly because of the special conservation problems associated with their insular distribution. The major topics include habitat requirements, effects of habitat and hunting management techniques currently practiced on wetland areas, and conservation of endangered and threatened populations. Research needs are identified. Habitats of the American Coot are similar to those of several waterfowl species, and the biology of coots is considered only as it is typical of rails in general.

The Wilson Bulletin↗