Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Landscape Ecology”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,531 records · Page 85Linked to original sources
USGS2013

NW CSC annual report fiscal year 2013

The Northwest Climate Science Center (NW CSC) was established in 2010 as one of eight regional Climate Science Centers created by the Department of the Interior (DOI). The NW CSC encompasses Washing-ton, Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana and has overlapping boundaries with three Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs): the Great Northern, the Great Basin, and the North Pacific. With guidance from its Executive Stakeholder Advisory Committee (ESAC), the NW CSC and its partner LCCs are addressing the highest priority regional climate science needs of Northwest natural and cultural resource managers. Climate Science Centers tap into the scientific expertise of both the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and academic institutions. The NW CSC is supported by an academic consortium with the capacity to generate climate science and tools in a coordinated fashion, serving stakeholders across the Northwest region. This consortium is primarily represented by Oregon State University (OSU), the University of Id-ho (UI), and the University of Washington (UW). The academic consortium and USGS provide capabilities in climate science, ecology, impacts and vulnerability assessment, modeling, adaptation planning, and advanced information technology, all necessary to address and respond to climate change in the Northwest. University members also recruit and train graduate students and early-career scientists. This Annual Report summarizes progress for the goals set out in the NW CSC Strategic Plan for 2012-2015 (http://www.doi.gov/csc/northwest/upload/Northwest-CSC-Strategic-Plan.cfm) and the NW CSC Work-plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 (October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013). The report follows the structure of the Strategic Plan, which describes the five core services (Executive, Science, Data, Communications, and Education and Training) provided by the NW CSC in support of the stated vision: Our Vision: To become nationally recognized as a best-practice model for the provision of climate science and decision support tools to address conservation and management issues in the Pacific Northwest Region.

Report↗
USGS1995

[Book review] The Eastern Screech Owl: Life History, Ecology and Behavior in the Suburbs and Countryside, by Frederick Gehlback

Review of: Eastern Screech Owl: Life History, Ecology, and Behavior in the Suburbs and Countryside. Frederick R. Gehlbach. Issue 16; Issue 2008 of W. L. Moody Jr. Natural History Series. Texas A&M University Press; 1st edition (November 1994). ISBN: 0890966095. For ornithologists and ecologists alike, Fred Gehlbach's book promises to hold both interest and information value as a comprehensive study of the eastern screech owl (Otus asio hasbroucki). Gehlbach was intrigued with screech owls as a boy and encouraged as an undergraduate by William Hamilton, who underscored that in-depth studies of familiar backyard species can be as fascinating as those in exotic sites. Correspondence with another owl-aficionado, the late H. N. Southern, inspired the author's long-term study of screech owls in a woodland landscape in central Texas and led him to provide nest boxes to enhance his access and sample size. This book is based on observations over a 25-year period-beginning in 1967, with intensive study during an 11-year period (1976-1987) in Texas south of Waco, where Gehlbach teaches at Baylor University. The study represents observations on 659 screech owls, covering several generations of birds and entire lives of many individuals. Gehlbach compares screech owl nesting behavior in a rural versus suburban setting and includes chapters on food supplies and predation tactics; egg-laying, incubation, and parental behavior; vocalizations; and population structure and flux. He discusses why screech owls are widespread across the eastern half of North America and why they succeed among people in suburban environments, where they adapt as easily to mailboxes and porch columns as to natural tree cavities. The book mixes two approaches: on the one hand the dense style of a technical book in which the professional biologist can find information on many aspects of screech owl behavior, life history, and population, including tables, figures, summary statistics, results of statistical comparisons, and experimental tests of hypotheses. On the other hand, each chapter begins with and includes vivid visual images, personal experiences, and thoughtful reflections to draw in the general reader, bridging the interesting topic to the technical details and making the information accessible to a wider audience. The reader is impressed with Dr. Gehlbach's love of his subject, his devotion to long-term study, and his care in presenting the work to his fellow ornithologists, ecologists, and all those interested in wildlife and conservation. It will be a useful reference because of its wealth of information on all aspects of screech owl life history. It is well documented and, in addition to its 10 chapters, includes 10 appendices with information on types of food supplies, bird species that mob screech owls, a daily chronology of nestling development, and a selection of edited field notes to provide background for each chapter. The book is thoroughly referenced and indexed. The Eastern Screech Owl will be read with interest by those with an interest in long-term, in-depth studies and those who love charming stories about remarkable birds with strong personalities and interesting behavior.

Wildlife Review↗
USGS2006

Monitoring low density avian populations: An example using Mountain Plovers

Declines in avian populations highlight a need for rigorous, broad-scale monitoring programs to document trends in avian populations that occur in low densities across expansive landscapes. Accounting for the spatial variation and variation in detection probability inherent to monitoring programs is thought to be effort-intensive and time-consuming. We determined the feasibility of the analytical method developed by Royle and Nichols (2003), which uses presence-absence (detection-non-detection) field data, to estimate abundance of Mountain Plovers (Charadrius montanus) per sampling unit in agricultural fields, grassland, and prairie dog habitat in eastern Colorado. Field methods were easy to implement and results suggest that the analytical method provides valuable insight into population patterning among habitats. Mountain Plover abundance was highest in prairie dog habitat, slightly lower in agricultural fields, and substantially lower in grassland. These results provided valuable insight to focus future research into Mountain Plover ecology and conservation. ?? The Cooper Ornithological Society 2006.

Condor↗
USGS2019

Seeking shelter from the storm: Conservation and management of imperiled species in a changing climate

Climate change is anticipated to exacerbate the extinction risk of species whose persistence is already compromised by habitat loss, invasive species, disease, or other stressors. In coastal areas of the southeastern United States (USA), many imperiled vertebrates are vulnerable to hurricanes, which climate models predict to become more severe in the 21st century. Despite this escalating threat, explicit adaptation strategies that address hurricane threats, in particular, and climate change more generally, are largely underrepresented in recovery planning and implementation. We provide a basis for stronger emphasis on strategic planning for imperiled species facing the increasing threat of catastrophic hurricanes. Our reasoning comes from observations of short‐term environmental and biological impacts of Hurricane Michael, which impacted the Gulf Coast of the southeastern USA in October 2018. During this storm, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, located along the northern Gulf of Mexico's coast in the panhandle region of Florida, received storm surge that was 3.0–3.6 m (NAVD88) above sea level. Storm surge pushed sea water into some ephemeral freshwater ponds used for breeding by the federally threatened frosted flatwoods salamander ( Ambystoma cingulatum ). After the storm, specific conductance across all ponds measured varied from 80 to 23,100 µS/cm, compared to 75 to 445 µS/cm in spring 2018. For 17 overwashed wetlands that were measured in both spring and fall 2018, posthurricane conductance observations were, on average, more than 90 times higher than in the previous spring, setting the stage for varying population responses across this coastal landscape. Importantly, we found live individual flatwoods salamanders at both overwashed and non‐overwashed sites, although we cannot yet assess the demographic consequences of this storm. We outline actions that could be incorporated into climate adaptation strategies and recovery planning for imperiled species, like A. cingulatum , that are associated with freshwater coastal wetlands in hurricane‐prone regions.

Florida↗
USGS2005

Use of an urban intensity index to assess urban effects on streams in three contrasting environmental settings

To assess the effects of urbanization on assemblages (fish, invertebrate, and algal), physical habitat, and water chemistry, we investigated the relations among varying intensities of basin urbanization and stream ecology in three metropolitan areas: the humid northeastern United States around Boston, Massachusetts; the humid southeastern United States around Birmingham, Alabama; and the semiarid western United States around Salt Lake City, Utah. A consistent process was used to develop a multimetric urban intensity index (UII) based on locally important variables (land-use/land-cover, infrastructure, and socioeconomic variables) in each study area and a common urban intensity index (CUII) based on a subset of five variables common to all study areas. The UII was used to characterize 30 basins along an urban gradient in each metropolitan area. Study basins were located within a single ecoregion in each of the metropolitan areas. The UII, ecoregions, and site characteristics provided a method for limiting the variability of natural landscape characteristics while assessing the magnitude of urban effects. Conditions in Salt Lake City (semiarid climate and water diversions) and Birmingham (topography) required nesting sites within the same basin. The UII and CUII facilitated comparisons of aquatic assemblages response to urbanization across different environmental settings. ?? 2005 by the American Fisheries Society.

American Fisheries Society Symposium↗
USGS1998

Assessing map accuracy in a remotely sensed, ecoregion-scale cover map

Landscape- and ecoregion-based conservation efforts increasingly use a spatial component to organize data for analysis and interpretation. A challenge particular to remotely sensed cover maps generated from these efforts is how best to assess the accuracy of the cover maps, especially when they can exceed 1000 s/km2 in size. Here we develop and describe a methodological approach for assessing the accuracy of large-area cover maps, using as a test case the 21.9 million ha cover map developed for Utah Gap Analysis. As part of our design process, we first reviewed the effect of intracluster correlation and a simple cost function on the relative efficiency of cluster sample designs to simple random designs. Our design ultimately combined clustered and subsampled field data stratified by ecological modeling unit and accessibility (hereafter a mixed design). We next outline estimation formulas for simple map accuracy measures under our mixed design and report results for eight major cover types and the three ecoregions mapped as part of the Utah Gap Analysis. Overall accuracy of the map was 83.2% (SE=1.4). Within ecoregions, accuracy ranged from 78.9% to 85.0%. Accuracy by cover type varied, ranging from a low of 50.4% for barren to a high of 90.6% for man modified. In addition, we examined gains in efficiency of our mixed design compared with a simple random sample approach. In regard to precision, our mixed design was more precise than a simple random design, given fixed sample costs. We close with a discussion of the logistical constraints facing attempts to assess the accuracy of large-area, remotely sensed cover maps.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗
USGS2015

Wetland habitat disturbance best predicts metrics of an amphibian index of biotic integrity

Regression and classification trees were used to identify the best predictors of the five component metrics of the Ohio Amphibian Index of Biotic Integrity (AmphIBI) in 54 wetlands in Ohio, USA. Of the 17 wetland- and surrounding landscape-scale variables considered, the best predictor for all AmphIBI metrics was habitat alteration and development within the wetland. The results were qualitatively similar to the best predictors for a wetland vegetation index of biotic integrity, suggesting that similar management practices (e.g., reducing or eliminating nutrient enrichment from agriculture, mowing, grazing, logging, and removing down woody debris) within the boundaries of the wetland can be applied to effectively increase the quality of wetland vegetation and amphibian communities.

Ecological Indicators↗
USGS2021

Spatial network clustering reveals elk population structure and local variation in prevalence of chronic wasting disease

Spatial organization plays prominent roles in disease transmission, genetics, and demography of wildlife populations and is therefore an important consideration not only for wildlife management, but also for inference about populations and processes. We used hierarchical agglomerative clustering of a spatial graph network to partition Wind Cave National Park (WICA) into five regions used by 163 female elk ( Cervus elaphus ) marked with global positioning system collars during 2005–08 and 2011–13. We grouped elk based on differential use of the five regions, developed a priori models for inter-group variation in the occurrence of chronic wasting disease (CWD), and used Akaike's information criterion to compare models and stratify regions. Previous descriptions of elk population structure, which have been based on social contact or overlap of individual ranges, have distinguished spatially disjunct population subsets. Constructing hierarchical partitions of the landscape enabled us to also discern and describe overlapping and nested subsets. During 2016–18, apparent park-wide prevalence of CWD was 0.18 (90% CI = [0.146, 0.182]); however, prevalence within three spatial strata used primarily by different elk ranged from 0.03 ([0.008, 0.074]) to 0.29 ([0.211, 0.375]). In context with published estimates of recruitment, predation, and anthropogenic mortality, such differences in prevalence equate to increasing local abundance of elk in southwestern WICA, stable to declining abundance in the west/northwest, and rapidly declining abundance in the east. Despite the modest size of WICA (11,357 ha), park-wide averages conflate effects of elk distribution and disease, obscuring spatial patterns with profound implications for study and management of elk and CWD. Graph networks have been used widely in ecology to describe such phenomena as social relationships, connectivity of habitat patches, animal movements, and the spread of disease. Extension to partitioning of geographic range is straightforward but entails different considerations. We discuss allocation of sampling effort, construction of an initial partition, specification of a model for graph cohesion, selection of a clustering algorithm, and identification of useful partitions.

North Dakota↗
USGS2018

Native peoples’ relationship to the California chaparral

Ethnographic interviews and historical literature reviews provide evidence that for many tribes of California, chaparral plant communities were a rich source of food, medicines, and technologies and that they supplemented natural fires with deliberate burning of chaparral to maximize its ability to produce useful products. Many of the most important chaparral plant species used in the food and material culture have strong adaptations to fire. Particularly useful were many annual and perennial herbs, which proliferate after fire from seed and bulb banks, shrub resprouts that made superb cordage and basketry material, as well as animals that were more readily caught in postfire environments. The reasons for burning in chaparral are grouped into seven ecological categories, each relying on a known response to fire of the chaparral community. The authors posit that tribes employed intentional burning to maintain chaparral in different ages and size classes to meet diverse food and material needs, tracking the change in plant and animal abundance and diversity, and shifts in shrub architecture and habitat structure during the recovery of the chaparral community. Areas were burned in ways designed to create a mosaic of open grassland and recently burned, young and mature stands of chaparral with different combinations of species and densities. This management conferred on chaparral plant communities a degree of spatial, structural, successional, and biotic diversity that exceeded what would have been the case in the absence of human intervention. These impacts are still evident on contemporary landscapes.

California↗
USGS1999

MOAB: a spatially explicit, individual-based expert system for creating animal foraging models

We describe the development, structure, and corroboration process of a simulation model of animal behavior (MOAB). MOAB can create spatially explicit, individual-based animal foraging models. Users can create or replicate heterogeneous landscape patterns, and place resources and individual animals of a goven species on that landscape to simultaneously simulate the foraging behavior of multiple species. The heuristic rules for animal behavior are maintained in a user-modifiable expert system. MOAB can be used to explore hypotheses concerning the influence of landscape patttern on animal movement and foraging behavior. A red fox (Vulpes vulpes L.) foraging and nest predation model was created to test MOAB's capabilities. Foxes were simulated for 30-day periods using both expert system and random movement rules. Home range size, territory formation and other available simulation studies. A striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis L.) model also was developed. The expert system model proved superior to stochastic in respect to territory formation, general movement patterns and home range size.

Ecological Modelling↗
USGS2020

Vegetation sampling and management

What is the utility of vegetation measurements for wildlife managers? In the prairie, savanna, tundra, forest, steppe, and wetland regions of the world, mixtures of plant species provide wildlife with food, cover and, in some circumstances, water; the 3 essential habitat elements necessary to sustain viable wildlife populations. We define habitat in reference to use of a vegetation type by an animal (e.g., deer habitat) and vegetation type when referring to differences in vegetation stands (e.g., marsh vegetation type versus tall grass prairie vegetation type; Hall et al. 1997). In strict definition, the variety of wildlife using plants ranges from snails and voles (Microtus spp.) to bison (Bison bison) and elephants (Loxodonta spp.) in uplands and from mosquitoes and ducks to muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) and manatees (Trichechus manatus) in wetlands. Through evolutionary processes, some wildlife species are totally dependent on vegetation for all annual life requirements, whereas other species use vegetation only for cover or food. Regardless of the role of vegetation in the sustenance of wildlife, any management or research project that requires evaluation of wildlife and vegetation type relationships on a unit of land will necessitate some form of vegetation measurement. The term vegetation can refer to a single plant or species on a specific site or a community in the landscape. Vegetation may occur naturally or be introduced, and may be live or dead. Uses of vegetation measurements are many: (1) evaluation of vegetation response to management practices, (2) estimation of carrying capacity and/or forage production, (3) characterization of cover and habitat components for an endangered species, or (4) long-term monitoring of the general trend of plant vigor or vegetation type condition. Surveying and measuring quantity and quality of vegetation within habitats are basic to wildlife research and management. Grassland, shrubland, and woodland vegetation types are comprised of populations in which individual plants are usually too numerous to inventory completely. Consequently, wildlife biologists usually use sampling techniques to make inferences about the total plant population within a given vegetation type. Vegetation sampling methodologies have evolved within several ecological disciplines (e.g., plant ecology, forestry, rangeland science) and for a variety of management or research objectives (e.g., estimating forage for ungulates, describing habitat use by passerine birds). Description of every method that has been used to sample vegetation is beyond the scope of this chapter. We describe how to measure vegetation structure, which Dansereau (1957) defined as the spatial organization (distribution) of individuals that form a stand. We have organized this chapter into a description of basic methods of vegetation sampling with examples of how those methods have been applied or modified in wildlife research and management. We assume the investigator/reader has adequate knowledge of the concepts of wildlife ecology, primary habitat requirements of wildlife species under study, and ability to systematically identify the species of wildlife and vascular plants within the geographical area of investigation.

Book chapter↗
USGS2023

Turkey Vulture survival is reduced in areas of greater road density

The demography of, and factors that influence these metrics, are largely unknown for most vultures in the Americas. Survivorship of Turkey Vultures ( Cathartes aura ) may be influenced by landscape heterogeneity and human disturbance. We quantified the effects of landscape composition (Shannon’s diversity index) and configuration (contagion, edge density, and largest patch index), and human disturbance (road density) on the annual and seasonal survival probabilities of the three North American breeding populations (western, central, and eastern) of Turkey Vultures that spend the nonbreeding season in the southeastern portion of the Nearctic and the northern Neotropics during a 17-year period. We used Cox’s proportional hazards models with time-varying covariates to estimate spatial and temporal changes in survival rates of adult Turkey Vultures. Road density, but not landscape composition or configuration, influenced survival rates in space and time. Overall annual survival averaged 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.74–0.98). Mortality risk was low in western and central populations (hazard ratio < 1) but was 3.7 times greater for vultures in the eastern population. Survival during the breeding (0.97, 95% CI: 0.96–0.98) and outbound migration (1.0, 95% CI: 1–1) seasons was significantly higher than the other seasons. Average survival tended to be higher for nonbreeding (0.81, 95% CI: 0.71–0.88) compared to return migration (0.69, 95% CI: 0.56–0.81) seasons. The risk of mortality for all vulture populations increased with road density, and this was greater during the nonbreeding and return migration seasons. The spatial variation in road density across the Americas may generate a network of ecological traps for Turkey Vultures induced to stop in areas of greater road-kill abundance. Road-killed animals acting as an attractant for vultures can increase the occurrence of vulture–vehicle collisions and potentially aggravate human–wildlife conflicts. Further analyses are needed to address survivorship and mortality factors for young birds. Our results may help the implementation of specific mitigation efforts to reduce human–vulture conflicts and vulture mortality. For instance, concentrating efforts to remove road-killed animals in areas where road density is highest can likely reduce vulture–vehicle collisions and associated mortalities of these birds.

Article↗
USGS2006

Stand and landscape level effects of a major outbreak of spruce beetles on forest vegetation in the Copper River Basin, Alaska

From 1989 to 2003, a widespread outbreak of spruce beetles (Dendroctonus rufipennis) in the Copper River Basin, Alaska, infested over 275,000 ha of forests in the region. During 1997 and 1998, we measured forest vegetation structure and composition on one hundred and thirty-six 20-m ?? 20-m plots to assess both the immediate stand and landscape level effects of the spruce beetle infestation. A photo-interpreted vegetation and infestation map was produced using color-infrared aerial photography at a scale of 1:40,000. We used linear regression to quantify the effects of the outbreak on forest structure and composition. White spruce (Picea glauca) canopy cover and basal area of medium-to-large trees [???15 cm diameter-at-breast height (1.3 m, dbh)] were reduced linearly as the number of trees attacked by spruce beetles increased. Black spruce (Picea mariana) and small diameter white spruce (<15 cm dbh) were infrequently attacked and killed by spruce beetles. This selective attack of mature white spruce reduced structural complexity of stands to earlier stages of succession and caused mixed tree species stands to lose their white spruce and become more homogeneous in overstory composition. Using the resulting regressions, we developed a transition matrix to describe changes in vegetation types under varying levels of spruce beetle infestations, and applied the model to the vegetation map. Prior to the outbreak, our study area was composed primarily of stands of mixed white and black spruce (29% of area) and pure white spruce (25%). However, the selective attack on white spruce caused many of these stands to transition to black spruce dominated stands (73% increase in area) or shrublands (26% increase in area). The post-infestation landscape was thereby composed of more even distributions of shrubland and white, black, and mixed spruce communities (17-22% of study area). Changes in the cover and composition of understory vegetation were less evident in this study. However, stands with the highest mortality due to spruce beetles had the lowest densities of white spruce seedlings suggesting a longer forest regeneration time without an increase in seedling germination, growth, or survival. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Forest Ecology and Management↗
USGS2018

On the development of a magnetic susceptibility‐based tracer for aeolian sediment transport research

Aeolian processes — the erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment by wind — play important geomorphological and ecological roles in drylands. These processes are known to impact the spatial patterns of soil, nutrients, plant‐available water, and vegetation in many dryland ecosystems. Tracers, such as rare earth elements and stable isotopes have been successfully used to quantify the transport and redistribution of sediment by aeolian processes in these ecosystems. However, many of the existing tracer techniques are labor‐intensive and cost‐prohibitive, and hence simpler alternative approaches are needed to track aeolian redistribution of sediments. To address this methodological gap, we test the applicability of a novel metal tracer‐based methodology for estimating post‐fire aeolian sediment redistribution, using spatio‐temporal measurements of low‐field magnetic susceptibility (MS). We applied magnetic metal tracers on soil microsites beneath shrub vegetation in recently burned and control treatments in a heterogeneous landscape in the Chihuahuan desert (New Mexico, USA). Our results indicate a spatially homogeneous distribution of the magnetic tracers on the landscape after post‐burn wind erosion events. MS decreased after wind erosion events on the burned shrub microsites, indicating that these areas functioned as sediment sources following the wildfire, whereas they are known to be sediment sinks in the undisturbed (e.g., not recently burned) ecosystem. This experiment represents the first step toward the development of a cost‐effective and non‐destructive tracer‐based approach to estimate the transport and redistribution of sediment by aeolian processes.

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms↗
USGS2001

. Ecological conceptual models: a framework and case study on ecosystem management for South Florida sustainability

The Everglades and South Florida ecosystems are the focus of national and international attention because of their current degraded and threatened state. Ecological risk assessment, sustainability and ecosystem and adaptive management principles and processes are being used nationally as a decision and policy framework for a variety of types of ecological assessments. The intent of this study is to demonstrate the application of these paradigms and principles at a regional scale. The effects-directed assessment approach used in this study consists of a retrospective, eco-epidemiological phase to determine the causes for the current conditions and a prospective predictive risk-based assessment using scenario analysis to evaluate future options. Embedded in these assessment phases is a process that begins with the identification of goals and societal preferences which are used to develop an integrated suite of risk-based and policy relevant conceptual models. Conceptual models are used to illustrate the linkages among management (societal) actions, environmental stressors, and societal/ecological effects, and provide the basis for developing and testing causal hypotheses. These models, developed for a variety of landscape units and their drivers, stressors, and endpoints, are used to formulate hypotheses to explain the current conditions. They are also used as the basis for structuring management scenarios and analyses to project the temporal and spatial magnitude of risk reduction and system recovery. Within the context of recovery, the conceptual models are used in the initial development of performance criteria for those stressors that are determined to be most important in shaping the landscape, and to guide the use of numerical models used to develop quantitative performance criteria in the scenario analysis. The results will be discussed within an ecosystem and adaptive management framework that provides the foundation for decision making.

Science of the Total Environment↗
USGS2025

The scientific benefits of a statewide, standardized, coastal wetland monitoring program in Hawaiʻi

In this viewpoint, we provide a scientific justification for a statewide, standardized, coastal wetland monitoring program for Hawaiʻi, USA. Hawaiian coastal wetlands provide important habitat for endangered waterbirds, invertebrates, plants, and the Hawaiian hoary bat (ʻōpeʻapeʻa; Lasiurus semotus ) as well as support Indigenous food systems. Currently, numerous agencies and groups in Hawaiʻi collect data on coastal wetlands, but information is not typically shared and methods are not standardized. A statewide, standardized, coastal wetland monitoring program with a centralized database would allow managers to keep better track of progress toward restoration goals, population changes of conservation-reliant species, outbreaks and impacts of avian botulism, rates of coastal salinization, and many other critical issues across space and time. Monitoring combined with targeted research could fill critical knowledge gaps about the types, functions, values, and biodiversity of Hawaiian coastal wetlands. Ultimately, the improved knowledge gained from long-term coastal wetland monitoring could inform landscape-scale restoration actions and adaptive management of coastal wetlands under sea-level rise and climate change.

Hawaii↗
USGS2009

Wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface: A simulation study in northwestern Wisconsin

The rapid growth of housing in and near the wildland–urban interface (WUI) increases wildfire risk to lives and structures. To reduce fire risk, it is necessary to identify WUI housing areas that are more susceptible to wildfire. This is challenging, because wildfire patterns depend on fire behavior and spread, which in turn depend on ignition locations, weather conditions, the spatial arrangement of fuels, and topography. The goal of our study was to assess wildfire risk to a 60,000 ha WUI area in northwestern Wisconsin while accounting for all of these factors. We conducted 6000 simulations with two dynamic fire models: Fire Area Simulator (FARSITE) and Minimum Travel Time (MTT) in order to map the spatial pattern of burn probabilities. Simulations were run under normal and extreme weather conditions to assess the effect of weather on fire spread, burn probability, and risk to structures. The resulting burn probability maps were intersected with maps of structure locations and land cover types. The simulations revealed clear hotspots of wildfire activity and a large range of wildfire risk to structures in the study area. As expected, the extreme weather conditions yielded higher burn probabilities over the entire landscape, as well as to different land cover classes and individual structures. Moreover, the spatial pattern of risk was significantly different between extreme and normal weather conditions. The results highlight the fact that extreme weather conditions not only produce higher fire risk than normal weather conditions, but also change the fine-scale locations of high risk areas in the landscape, which is of great importance for fire management in WUI areas. In addition, the choice of weather data may limit the potential for comparisons of risk maps for different areas and for extrapolating risk maps to future scenarios where weather conditions are unknown. Our approach to modeling wildfire risk to structures can aid fire risk reduction management activities by identifying areas with elevated wildfire risk and those most vulnerable under extreme weather conditions.

Wisconsin↗
USGS2015

Management and the conservation of freshwater ecosystems

Riparian areas are the terrestrial environment adjacent to water that both influences and is influenced by the aquatic feature (Gregory et al ., 1991; Naiman et al ., 2010). Riparian areas along streams provide shade, sources of wood and organic matter, contribute to bank stability, filter sediments, take up excess nutrients from groundwater inputs, and other key processes that protect freshwaters (e.g. Naiman et al ., 2010; Richardson & Danehy, 2007; Figure 9.1). Riparian areas also increase biodiversity through habitat complexity and close juxtaposition of aquatic and terrestrial environments (Quinn et al ., 2004; Naiman et al ., 2010). Alterations to riparian areas, despite their small area relative to the landscape, have disproportionate effects on habitats and fish communities (Naiman et al ., 2010; Wipfli & Baxter, 2010). Key habitat losses and alterations are derived from modification of riparian areas by reducing instream habitat complexity (Bilby & Ward, 1989; Fausch & Northcote, 1992; Naiman et al ., 2010), diminishing the productive basis of freshwater food webs (Belsky et al ., 1999; Quinn et al ., 2004), increasing nutrient, contaminant and sediment intrusion (Muscutt et al ., 1993; Daniels & Gilliam, 1996; Nguyen et al ., 1998; Waters, 1999). Riparian and freshwater ecosystems are typically tightly coupled, especially in their natural states, and the linkages that couple them frequently exert strong influence on their associated invertebrate and fish fauna (e.g. Gregory et al ., 1991; Naiman et al ., 2010). Riparian habitats, and the condition of these habitats, further plays a key role in the ecology of these fresh waters, influencing critical processes such as water, nutrient and sediment delivery and dynamics; prey resources for fish and other consumers, and other organic materials exchanged between aquatic and terrestrial habitats (Nakano et al ., 1999; Naiman et al ., 2010); light and water temperature dynamics that in turn affect food web processes and fish metabolism and growth; aquatic physical habitat (wood); and terrestrial consumers that prey upon fishes (Bisson & Bilby, 1998; Naiman et al ., 2010; Wipfli & Baxter, 2010). These processes in turn directly or indirectly influence fishes in freshwater systems (Wang et al ., 2001; Pusey & Arthington, 2003; Allan, 2004; Richardson et al ., 2010a).

Book chapter↗