Projects By Category: Population and Habitat Evaluation or Projection

This project developed hydrologic projections for diverse wetland habitats (e.g.

The Open Space Institute (OSI) disseminated knowledge and tools across the northeast U.S. and the Canadian Maritimes to advance the application of NA LCC data sets for land conservation.

The goal of this project is to develop a detailed national sampling frame for bat monitoring at various spatial scales similar to the recently designed Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring Initiative, which will allow biologists and managers to assess the status of North American bats.

This project applied sea-level rise (SLR) modeling approaches along the Pacific coast tidal gradient at a parcel scale through improved data collection tools and collaboration relevant to land managers.

The primary objective of the research is to develop a rule-based decision support system to predict the relative vulnerability of nearshore species to climate change.

Classifying estuarine and marine habitats was identified as a priority need for a variety of purposes in the Northeast.

Fishery and aquatic scientists often assess habitats to understand the distribution, status, threats, and relative abundance of aquatic resources. Due to the spatial nature of habitats and associated temporal changes, using traditional analytical methods is often difficult.

Vernal or seasonal pools are small, temporary bodies of water that can serve as critical habitat for frogs, salamanders, reptiles, invertebrates, and other species.

This project will focus on analysis of 10 years of GPS telemetry data for 60 grizzly bears across the threatened and fragmented trans-border grizzly bear subpopulations in the Cabinet, Yaak, Purcell, and Selkirk Mountain (Proctor et al.

Funded project resulted in 6 publications covering various aspects related to shorebird/grassland bird migration, climate and nesting success in the great plains region.

We developed multi-scale habitat suitability models for black-tailed prairie dogs (BTPD) in the southwestern Great Plains, corresponding to the western region of the Great Plains LCC.

Within the five states of its range (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado), the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, LEPC) remains present on sand sagebrush (Artemesia filifolia), mixed- and short- grass prairies of western Kansas and eastern Colorado, through portions

We propose to use long-term fish-population data from a relict reach of the Pecos River, New Mexico to assess population dynamics of imperiled prairie-river minnows, including Arkansas River shiner. Development of viable management strategies requires basic understanding of population ecology.

The potential implications of climate change to fishes in Great Plains rivers and streams could range from drastic shifts in distribution to extirpation.

This project highlights the potential for LCCs to facilitate collaboration among conservation practitioners and research scientists to plan for the future.

This project highlights the potential for LCCs to facilitate collaboration among conservation practitioners and research scientists to plan for the future.

Numerous studies show that ongoing climate change will have major effects on the distribution and conservation status of much of our biodiversity.

Numerous studies show that ongoing climate change will have major effects on the distribution and conservation status of much of our biodiversity.

The goal of this study is to use eDNA as a cost effective tool for documenting the occurrence and distribution of ESA-listed spring-chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) throughout the Okanogan and Methow watersheds in an effort to map habitat use and connectivity.

The Western Governors Association has sponsored an assessment of crucial habitats which will be used for the evaluation of landscape-scale energy, land use, and transportation projects.

Despite extensive knowledge and data surrounding the status and threats to Yellowstone cutthroat trout there is currently no comprehensive framework for prioritizing conservation of populations and metapopulations (i.e., locations) and potential actions that could be taken in these locations to s

This project studies the Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) as an indicator of Gulf Coast tidal marsh habitat change.

This project will support the hiring of a detail position to work with the Geomatics Coordinator to complete current assessments of terrestrial systems focusing on landscape endpoints as described in the GCPO LCC's Integrated Science Agenda, then begin the process of applying species endpoints to

This region-wide coordinated bird monitoring program, supported by state, federal, tribal, nongovernmental organizations, and two statewide bird conservation partnerships, is designed to provide spatially-referenced baseline data for science-based biological planning and conservation design for t

The results of this proposed project would provide the first comprehensive identification of fisher distribution in the northern Rocky Mountains, which may serve as a baseline for identifying population trends and changes in distribution over time.

We propose a regional assessment of aquatic species vulnerabilities and responses to climate change as the basis for adaptive management for aquatic ecosystems in the Great Northern LCC, using the Transboundary Flathead Ecosystem as a case example.

This proposal is to deliver the pilot component of a wetland tracking project initiated by the CIJV in 2010.

FY2014

FY2014

This project links downscaled climate data to an ecosystem model (LINKAGES) to a landscape simulator (LANDIS) to wildlife models (HSI). Collectively, these models offer a means to assess the response of wildlife to climate change - mediated through habitat.

This project will use more than 10 years of monitoring data to develop biometric habitat models for 9 of the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative's species endpoints within the open pine woodland and savanna habitat type.

Understanding the physiological impacts of climate change on arid lands species is a critical step towards ensuring the resilience and persistence of such species under changing temperature and moisture regimes.

In FY12, hydrogeomorphic methodology was being applied along 670 miles of the Missouri River from Decatur, Nebraska to St. Louis, Missouri.

FY2013

FY2013

FY2013
Cheatgrass die-offs are unexplained instances of stand failure observed in areas of Nevada and Utah, where cheatgrass fails to grow even though it has been a dominant component of plant communities in the past. The goals of this project are to:

FY2013
The proposed project's objective is to provide a scientific review of

Delivering adequate water supplies to support expanding human enterprise while maintaining the necessary flow regimes to support desired riparian ecosystems and formally protected wildlife species that depend upon them is increasingly difficult in the arid western United States.

Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists initiated a study in the 1990s on avian distribution and habitat associations within the Sky Islands.

The importance of riparian ecosystems in semiarid and arid regions has generated interest in understanding processes that drive the distribution and abundance of dominant riparian plants.

A strong data foundation is needed to inform science-based decisions for fisheries management at a watershed level.

The Grassland, Shrubland, Desert Program of the U.S.

Our approach will include sampling a wide range of habitats and environmental conditions throughout the middle and lower Pecos River basin, across an 18 month time-span to account for seasonal and phenological events.

Assessing the vulnerability of species or ecosystems to climate change and formulating appropriate management responses requires predictions of the exposure and sensitivity of the species or ecosystems to projected changes.

The substantially natural hydrography of the upper Gila River supports one of the highest levels of aquatic and riparian biodiversity in the region, including the largest complement of native fishes and some of the best remaining riparian habitat in the lower Colorado River Basin.

Explore climate change impacts on vegetation across the Desert and Southern Rockies LCCs using historical monitoring data collected from 23 sites across the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, Mojave and Colorado Plateau deserts for 30-50 years.

Freshwater systems are critically imperiled and continue to be threatened by human encroachment and water development.

Perennial streams in the Desert LCC support riparian trees such as cottonwood (Populus spp) and box elder (Acer negundo) that are critical components of habitat for riparian obligate birds and other wildlife species (Webb et al. 2007).

Riparian vegetation provides crucial habitat for wildlife and is a high conservation priority for land managers throughout the Southwest but a central scientific challenge is to generate quantitative predictions of how changes in water availability will affect the amount and quality of riparian w

Freshwater fishes are globally among the most imperiled major biodiversity groups and they are especially endangered in the North American deserts of the vast binational Desert LCC.