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National wildlife refuges administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service
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The ecology of Humboldt Bay, California, an estuarine profile
Synthesizes data on the ecological relationships and functions of the estuary, including information on physical aspects of the bay environment; describes the biotic communities and their relationships; provides management considerations in terms including environmental concerns; and identifies research and management information gaps. Portions of the bay are managed as a national wildlife refuge. Management issues for this ecosystem include loss of habitat and degradation of the environment by additional industrial development and nonpoint source pollution. -from Authors
Cooperative Instream Flow Service Group, September 1977-December 1978
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Nest boxes for wood ducks
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Decision analysis in support of the National Elk Refuge bison and elk management plan
Preface This report was developed to evaluate the performance of a set of proposed alternatives for Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) and Bison bison (bison) management at the National Elk Refuge (NER) in Wyoming, U.S.A., and to inform a National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Impact Statement focused on developing the next “Bison and Elk Management Plan” (BEMP). The U.S. Geological Survey facilitated a structured decision-making process for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the alternatives and the criteria (performance metrics) for evaluating the alternatives. Chapter A provides scoping details of the report, a summary of the 19 metrics that are used to evaluate the performance of each of 6 alternatives, and methodological details of 2 performance metrics that were not covered in other technical chapters. Chapter B analyzes elk population and chronic wasting disease dynamics under the five initial alternatives. Chapter C evaluates elk space-use based on data collected from global positioning system collars on elk and expert elicitation for scenarios with limited data. Chapter D evaluates bison population dynamics, conflict, and harvest patterns under the five initial alternatives. Chapter E assesses social and economic consequences. Chapter F is newly added to this superseding report and details the analysis and results of a new alternative that was developed after discussion among the lead and cooperating agencies working on the BEMP. The full set of six alternatives are anticipated to have varying affects on bison and elk population abundance and private land use, wildlife-related recreation and tourism, and hunters and outfitters in the region. Each chapter was developed under advisement of a technical team, made up science experts from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Decision analysis in support of the National Elk Refuge bison and elk management plan
Preface This report was developed to evaluate the performance of a set of proposed alternatives for Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) and Bison bison (bison) management at the National Elk Refuge (NER) in Wyoming, U.S.A., and to inform a National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Impact Statement focused on developing the next “Bison and Elk Management Plan” (BEMP). The U.S. Geological Survey facilitated a structured decision-making process for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the alternatives and the criteria (performance metrics) for evaluating the alternatives. Chapter A provides scoping details of the report, a summary of the 19 metrics that are used to evaluate the performance of each of 5 alternatives, and methodological details of 2 performance metrics that were not covered in other technical chapters. Chapter B analyzes elk population and chronic wasting disease dynamics under the five alternatives. Chapter C evaluates elk space-use based on data collected from global positioning system collars on elk and expert elicitation for scenarios with limited data. Chapter D evaluates bison population dynamics, conflict, and harvest patterns under the five alternatives. Chapter E assesses social and economic consequences. The alternatives are anticipated to have varying affects on bison and elk population abundance and private land use, wildlife-related recreation and tourism, and hunters and outfitters in the region. Each chapter was developed under advisement of a technical team, made up science experts from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Habitat Suitability Index Models: Field sparrow
Habitat preferences of the field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) are described in this report, which is one of a series of Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models. A review and synthesis of the literature is followed by the development of a habitat model for the field sparrow throughout its breeding range in the United States. HSI models are designed to be used in conjunction with Habitat Evaluation Procedures previously developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Effects of flood control alternatives on fish and wildlife resources of the Malheur-Harney lakes basin
Malheur Lake is the largest freshwater marsh in the western contiguous United States and is one of the main management units of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon. The marsh provides excellent waterfowl production habitat as well as vital migration habitats for birds in the Pacific flyway. Water shortages have typically been a problem in this semiarid area; however, record snowfalls and cool summers have recently caused Malheur Lake to rise to its highest level in recorded history. This has resulted in the loss of approximately 57,000 acres of important wildlife habitat as well as extensive flooding of local ranches, roads, and railroad lines. Because of the importance of the Refuge, any water management plan for the Malheur-Harney Lakes Basin needs to consider the impact of management alternatives on the hydrology of Malheur Lake. The facilitated modeling workshop described in this report was conducted January 14-18, 1985, under the joint sponsorship of the Portland Ecological Services Field Office and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The Portland Field Office is responsible for FWS reporting requirements on Federal water resource projects while the Refuge staff has management responsibility for much of the land affected by high water levels in the Malheur-Harney Lakes Basin. The primary objective of the workshop was to begin gathering and analyzing information concerning potential fish and wildlife impacts, needs, and opportunities associated with proposed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) flood control alternatives for Malheur Lake. The workshop was structured around the formulation of a computer model that would simulate the hydrologic effects of the various alternatives and any concommitant changes in vegetation communities and wildlife use patterns. The simulation model is composed of three connected submodels. The Hydrology submodel calculates changes in lake volume, elevation, and surface area, as well as changes in water quality, that result from the proposed water management projects (upstream storage, upstream diversions, drainage canals) and the no action alternative. The Vegetation submodel determines associated changes in the areal extent of wetland and upland vegetation communities. Finally, the Wildlife submodel calculates indices of abundance or habitat suitability for colonial nesting birds (great egret, double-crested cormorant, white-faced ibis), greater sandhill crane, diving ducks, tundra swan, dabbling ducks, and Canada goose based on hydrologic and vegetation conditions. The model represents the Malheur-Harney Lakes Basin, but provides water quantity and quality indicators associated with additional flows that might occur in the Malheur River Basin. Several management scenarios, representing various flood control alternatives and assumptions concerning future runoff, were run to analyze model behavior. Scenario results are not intended as an analysis of all potential management actions or assumptions concerning future runoff. Rather, they demonstrate the type of analysis that could be conducted if the model was sufficiently refined and tested. Early in a model development project, the process of building the model is usually of greater benefit than the model itself. The model building process stimulates interaction among agencies, assists in integrating existing information, and helps identify research needs. These benefits usually accrue even in the absence of real predictive power in the resulting model. This workshop initiated interaction among the primary State and Federal resource and development agencies in a nonadversarial forum. The exchange of information and expertise among agencies provided the FWS with the best information currently available for use in the Planning Aid Letter it will develop at the Reconnaissance state of the COE study. If the COE subsequently initiates a Feasability Study, this information will be refined further and will aid the FWS in preparing its Coordination Act Report on any flood control alternative proposed by the COE. The model building and testing process also helped identify model limitations and more general information needs that should be evaluated for further study prior to preparation of an FWS Coordination Act Report. Major needs associated with the Hydrology submodel include a more detailed representation of hydrologic units (separately consider Harney Lake, Mud Lake, and Malheur Lake or the three hydrological units within Malheur Lake, rather than a combined lake system) and explicitly representation of groundwater storage and discharge in water budget calculations. A better representation of the hydrological units will require more detailed topographic data for the basin, capacity-elevation and elevation-surface area curves for each unit, and better water flow data between the units. Additional water quality parameters and constraints on proposed canal operation due to conditions in the Malheur River might also be added. Key Vegetation submodel needs include fine-tuning existing vegetation relationships in the model and adding relationships to address the influence of historical conditions on vegetation development, effects of very rapid changes in lake level, effects of wildlife populations (e.g., carp, muskrat), responses of vegetation to habitat management actions (e.g, haying, grazing, burning), and better representation of sago pondweed dynamics. A complementary geographic information system might also be developed for spatial analyses. Major needs that should be evaluated for the Wildlife submodel include addition of other wildlife species that have important effects on habitat on the Refuge (e.g., carp, muskrat) and consideration of additional life-cycle requisites and controlling variable for species presently in the model. Some of these limitations could perhaps be overcome if historical data on habitat conditions were developed to use with historical data on wildlife populations.
Model of whooping crane energetics as foundation for development of a method to assess potential take during migration
A whooping crane energetic model was developed as a component of a larger effort to ascertain potential take, as defined by the Endangered Species Act, of whooping cranes from proposed development of wind-energy infrastructure in the Great Plains of North America. The primary objectives of this energetic model were to (1) predict extra flight energy that whooping cranes may require to find suitable migration stopover sites if they are unable to use a primary site; and (2) express energy expended as additional time required to replenish lipid reserves used to fuel flight. The energetic model is based on three elements related to energy: expenditure of energy, intake of energy, and constraints to energy intake. The energetic model estimates each element and recognizes interactions among them. This framework will be most useful when integrated into a migration model that predicts incidence of avoidance of wind towers by whooping cranes and distances they might fly to find alternative stopover habitat. This report details work conducted in accordance with the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Quick Response Program funded in fiscal year 2011 and will serve as a final report.
Surface water-quality and water-quantity data from selected urban runoff-monitoring sites at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Commerce City, Colorado, water years 1988-2004
The U.S. Geological Survey has monitored the quality and quantity of streamflow at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) northeast of Denver, Colorado, since the early 1990s in cooperation with the U.S. Army. This report, prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, documents existing surface-water-quality conditions on the RMA. All RMA water-quality data for the Irondale Gulch and First Creek Basins adjacent to and on the RMA were reviewed. Where applicable, water-quality data were compared to State standards established by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. At both the Havana Interceptor below 56th Avenue gaging station and the Uvalda Interceptor below 56th Avenue gaging station, all of the dissolved-oxygen concentrations met the State standard requiring at least 5.0 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of dissolved oxygen for the protection of aquatic life. In contrast, the dissolved-oxygen concentrations at the Peoria Interceptor below 56th Avenue gage commonly were less than 5.0 mg/L. Excluding one suspect concentration of 1.6 mg/L, the dissolved-oxygen concentrations for the First Creek Basin ranged from 4.2 to 12.6 mg/L. Excluding the one suspect value, three dissolved-oxygen concentrations failed to meet the State standard of 5.0 mg/L at the First Creek below Buckley Road site. At the Peoria Interceptor below 56th Avenue site, all pH values were within the range specified by the State standard (6.50-8.99). Results of seven sampling events at the Havana Interceptor below 56th Avenue gaging station indicated a pH greater than or equal to 9 (pH values of 9 or greater exceed the upper limit of the standard). No sampling events indicated a pH less than 6.50. Results from one sampling event at the Uvalda Interceptor below 56th Avenue indicated pH values outside the range specified by the State standard. The concentrations obtained for chloride, magnesium, and sodium generally were below 200 mg/L at all three Irondale Gulch monitoring stations for the entire period of record, but there were a few sampling events at each of these sites where much higher concentrations for these analytes were obtained. The median concentrations for calcium, magnesium, and sodium generally were higher at the First Creek below Buckley Road site than in the three Irondale Gulch sites, while the 90th percentile and maximum concentrations for magnesium and sodium generally were higher at the three Irondale Gulch sites than at the First Creek below Buckley Road site. The urban runoff flowing onto the RMA had low concentrations and few, if any, detections for most organic contaminants. Part of the reason for low detections of organic contaminants may be in how the samples are collected. The existing surface-water sampling program was not designed specifically to target storm runoff and therefore does not characterize water quality for all hydrologic regimes, most notably storm runoff. As a result, the existing data may not adequately represent potential contaminant transport onto the RMA. In addition, during stormwater-runoff events, the sites examined for this report frequently are subject to sharp increases in discharge, and just as quickly the discharge rapidly recedes. These types of transient flow events make water-quality sampling difficult, and none of the sites have a safe place to sample the higher flows that occur in any given year. As a result, most of the surface-water-quality samples were collected after the flow had decreased substantially from the peak flow, which may have transported much of the chemical contaminant load through the system. Thus, little is known about the water quality during the critical initial stormwater-runoff period when contaminants are most likely to be mobilized and transported through the stormwater conveyances past the locations where gaging stations are located.
Assessment of wave attenuation, current patterns, and sediment deposition and erosion during winter storms by living shoreline structures in Gandys Beach, New Jersey
This study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and Northeastern University in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy. This report summarizes field investigation and analysis of waves, current patterns, and sediment deposition and erosion along the Gandys Beach, New Jersey, salt marsh vegetated shoreline and mudflat, where living shoreline structures (for example, oyster reefs) were constructed to protect the marsh shoreline and enhance habitat for oyster and other species. Constructed oyster reefs (CORs, also known as oyster castles) provide shoreline protection and habitat for fish and shellfish communities via wave energy attenuation. However, the processes and mechanism of CORs on wave attenuation and current circulation remain unclear, thus limiting the assessment of COR effectiveness for shoreline protection. This report presents the results of the field investigation on wave characteristics, current patterns, and marsh edge erosion along a shoreline with CORs in Delaware Bay. To measure the effectiveness of these CORs, six pressure transducers, six tilt current meters, multiple sediment traps, and marsh edge erosion pins were deployed from February to April 2018 in Gandys Beach in upper Delaware Bay. The spatial variations of wave heights measured on both sides of the CORs indicate a strong dependence of wave attenuation on the ratio between the freeboard of the CORs and the offshore wave heights. It was found that swell energy originating from the Atlantic Ocean can penetrate the CORs without any dampening even when the CORs are emergent, whereas the wind seas are more impacted by the CORs. Tidal current velocity and circulation patterns near the CORs (for example, the current velocity was higher than 10 centimeters per second [cm/s] and even up to 30 cm/s in the gaps between the CORs compared to less than 10 cm/s in the control area) differ from those in the control area without protection from the CORs and are greatly affected by the surrounding bathymetry. The combined effect of living shoreline structures on wave attenuation and changes in circulation patterns over the study period resulted in the reduction of shoreline erosion both vertically and laterally compared to that in the control area and also resulted in changes in the grain size distribution in both the water column and the salt marsh and mudflat areas.
Habitat Suitability Index Models: Gadwall (breeding)
A review and synthesis of existing information were used to develop a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the gadwall (Anas strepera). 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.
Habitat Suitability Index Models: Snowshoe hare
A review and synthesis of existing information were used to develop a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). 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.
Habitat Suitability Index Models: Greater prairie-chicken (multiple levels of resolution)
A review and synthesis of existing information were used to develop a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus). 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.
Habitat Suitability Index Models: Least tern
A review and synthesis of existing information were used to develop a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the least tern (Sterna antillarum). 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.