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A total of 7724 fish were VIE tagged during this study, among these were 1505 Arkansas River Shiner, 5462 Plains Minnow, 757 were Peppered Chub. A total of 129 fish were recaptured after tagging and release. Twenty-one Arkansas River Shiner were recaptured at distances of 13.3- to 213.6-km upstream from the release site. Across all recaptures, including those from an earlier 2009-2010 study, the average rate of movement by Arkansas River Shiner, over a one-year period, is estimated to 0.42 km d-1 . Forty-four Plains Minnow were recaptured in this study.

Habitat fragmentation and flow regulation are significant factors related to the decline and extinction of freshwater biota. Pelagic-broadcast spawning cyprinids require moving water and some length of unfragmented stream to complete their life cycle. However, it is unknown how discharge and habitat features interact at multiple spatial scales to alter the transport of semi-buoyant fish eggs. Our objective was to assess the relationship between downstream drift of semi-buoyant egg surrogates (gellan beads) and discharge and habitat complexity.

Stopover use by migrating shorebirds is affected by patch-level characteristics of habitat, but the relative influence of broadscale  factors is poorly understood. We conducted surveys of ten 10-km-radius landscapes in north-central Oklahoma from 2007 through 2009  to examine the influence of the amount and composition of wetland habitats and surrounding land cover on shorebird use during migration.

Man-made water sources have been used as a management tool for wildlife, especially in arid regions, but the value of these water sources for wildlife populations is not well understood. In particular, the value of water as a conservation tool for Lesser Prairie-Chickens (*Tympanuchus pallidicinctus*) is unknown. However, this is a relevant issue due to a heightened conservation concern for the species and its occupancy of an arid landscape anticipated to experience warmer, drier springs and winters.

Quantitative studies focusing on the collection of semibuoyant fish eggs, which are associated with a pelagic broadcast-spawning reproductive strategy, are often conducted to evaluate reproductive success. Many of the fishes in this reproductive guild have suffered significant reductions in range and abundance. However, the efficiency of the sampling gear used to evaluate reproduction is often unknown and renders interpretation of the data from these studies difficult. Our objective was to assess the efficiency of a modified Moore egg collector (MEC) using field and laboratory trials.

Within grassland communities of the GPLCC one such key indicator species is the Lesser Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidinctus). Lesser Prairie-chicken range extends across the southern portion of the GPLCC area throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Kansas. Lesser Prairie-chickens are a good target species because they are widely distributed across the southern GPLCC, are a species of conservation concern, have large home ranges, and are likely sensitive to anthropogenic disturbances.

Playa wetlands on the west-central Great Plains of North America are vulnerable to sediment infilling from upland agriculture, putting at risk several important ecosystem services as well as essential habitats and food resources of diverse wetland-dependent biota. Climate predictions for this semi-arid area indicate reduced precipitation which may alter rates of erosion, runoff, and sedimentation of playas.

Genetic, demographic, and environmental processes affect natural populations synergistically, and understanding their interplay is crucial for the conservation of biodiversity. Stream fishes in metapopulations are particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation because persistence depends on dispersal and colonization of new habitat but dispersal is constrained to stream networks. Great Plains streams are increasingly fragmented by water diversion and climate change, threatening connectivity of fish populations in this ecosystem.

Genetic, demographic, and environmental processes affect natural populations synergistically, and understanding their interplay is crucial for the conservation of biodiversity. Stream fishes in metapopulations are particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation because persistence depends on dispersal and colonization of new habitat but dispersal is constrained to stream networks. Great Plains streams are increasingly fragmented by water diversion and climate change, threatening connectivity of fish populations in this ecosystem.

The Southwestern Crown Collaborative (SWCC) brings together residents, interested citizens, business enterprises, and conservation organizations to consider creative solutions in the management of National Forests in the Blackfoot, Clearwater, and Swan River valleys. It is an open, independent, volunteer organization that encourages broad participation by all interested parties.

Roads are often identified as sources of ecological process disruption. Roads can damage aquatic ecosystems by altering hydrologic, wood, and sediment regimes, degrade water quality, and reduce habitat suitability for aquatic biota. Often sedimentation is singled out as a premiere contributor to degradation. Over the past half century, thousands of miles of roads have been built across federal lands for a variety of purposes.

Water is an extraordinarily precious resource across the United States, particularly in the semi-arid West.  Efforts to manage this resource effectively have often focused on our public lands, which are the source of more than 75% of the water for millions of people.  The challenges associated with managing water sustainably continue to mount with increasing demands, the advent of new stressors like climate change, and other stressors like water quality and habitat degradation associated with expanding watershed development. 

This document describes the long-term monitoring program of the Southwestern Crown of the

Continent Collaborative (SWCC) developed as part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration

Program (CFLRP). It explains the goals, principles, organizational structure, and monitoring approach of

the SWCC. It was developed by the members of the SWCC Monitoring Committee during 2011/2012 and

was reviewed by the full SWCC. It represents a common vision for evaluating and improving forest

Summary: Over the last several decades, tens of thousands of miles of simple dirt and gravel roads have been built across forested public land in the United States. Today, managers from the U.S. Forest Service (and other federal and state agencies) have insufficient funding to maintain these roads and have been directed to begin strategically reducing road densities, despite a lack of public support in many regions.

Alaska and Canada’s hundreds of millions of acres of public protected lands are large and currently well-connected, but will face pressures. Providing for landscape connectivity is a core climate adaptation strategy. But shifting treelines, species compositions, and climates make planning for future corridors difficult.Dr. Dawn Magness from the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge uses a method that relies on enduring feature of the landscape that climate change will not change.The project is a collaboration between the NWB LCC and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

The Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool (SMRT) provides the ability to search a vast, curated database for the Northwest Boreal region in one place. Users can explore thousands of curated scholarly articles, state and federal resource reports, land management plans, and unique transboundary datasets. Each entry includes geographic information about the area of study, allowing users to draw a box on a map to narrow searches to information directly related to a specific region in Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, and Northwest Territories.

This geodatabase contains layers pertaining to the Public Land Survey. It included a pre-settlement landcover polygon shapefile (KankLandcover.shp) for the area of interest in Indiana: Elkhart, Newton, Jasper, Starke, Marshall, and the north and central portion of Kosciusko, and northwest portion of Benton County, Lake, Porter, LaPorte, and St. Joseph Counties as well as the area of interest in Illinois: Will, Kankakee, and Iroquois Counties along with townships within surrounding counties (Grundy, Ford, Vermillion) within the Kankakee watershed .

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 the Great Northern LCC and its partners that is directly comparable with other landscapes and BCRs.

The Western Gulf Coast (WGC) is home to approximately 90% of the worldwide population of mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula), a non-migratory species that must satisfy its annual cycle needs within a small geographic range. Available population data suggest the WGC mottled duck population has experienced a slight to moderate decline across its range since 1985 (Gulf Coast Joint Venture [GCJV] Mottled Duck Working Group, Unpublished report). Because of its population status and reliance on a restricted geography, the mottled duck has been identified as a focal species for the U.S.

CCAST Non-Native Aquatic Species Webinar Series

Webinar recording link here

Date: Thursday 23 July 2020

Presenters: Betsy Grube and Brett Montgomery, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ 

CCAST Non-Native Aquatic Species Webinar Series

Webinar recording link here

Date: Tuesday, 19 May 2020

Presenter: Heidi Blasius, Fisheries Biologist, Bureau of Land Management, Safford Field Office, Arizona

The Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative Land Cover Map shows land cover at a regional scale (1:2,500,000).  The files provided are graphic design files that can be used to plot a publication-quality, poster-size map.



Scale: 1:2,500,000 



Map poster dimensions: 34 x 44 inches 



Data sources:

The Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative Watersheds Map shows hydrographic features including watersheds, streams and lakes at a regional scale. The files provided are graphic design files that can be used to plot a publication-quality, poster-size map. 



Scale: 1:2,500,000



Map poster dimensions: 34 x 44 inches



Data sources: