This project was initially envisioned as an approach to identify priority areas for the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) in the Columbia Plateau ecoregion. It quickly became clear that working in a partnership-based setting would lead to a more holistic conservation design in the region, and NWRS priorities would follow from that design. Therefore, we aligned this project with an existing conservation partnership in the region, the Arid Lands Initiative (ALI).
Resources
LCCs have produced a wealth of informational documents, reports, fact sheets, webinars and more to help support resource managers in designing and delivering conservation at landscape scales.
Incorporating Climate Change Adaptation into Grizzly Bear Connectivity Restoration - Jeff Burrell
Understanding Fire Refugia and Their Importance to Conservation
Whitebark Pine Genetic Restoration Progam for the Northern Rockies - Mary Frances Mahalovich
What is Environmental DNA?
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in organisms that contains the biological instructions for building and maintaining them. The chemical structure of DNA is the same for all organisms, but differences exist in the order of the DNA building blocks, known as base pairs. Unique sequences of base pairs, particularly repeating patterns, provide a means to identify species, populations, and even individuals.
Determining accurate species distribution is crucial to conservation and management strategies for imperiled species, but challenging for small populations that are approaching extinction or being reestablished. We evaluated the efficacy of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for improving detection and thus known distribution of Chinook salmon in the Methow and Okanogan Sub-basins of the UpperColumbia River, Washington, USA.
When unifying genomic resources among studies and comparing data between species, there is often no better resource than a genome sequence. Having a reference genome for the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) will enable the extensive genomic resources available for Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon, and rainbow trout to be leveraged when asking questions related to the Chinook salmon. The Chinook salmon's wide distribution, long cultural impact, evolutionary history, substantial hatchery production, and recent wild-population decline make it an important research species.
Determining changes in distribution of imperiled species is important for developing effective conservation and management strategies. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, a genetic method that relies on the collection and analysis of exogenous DNA released by a species into the environment, offers a new way to determine the distribution of aquatic species.
Webinar: Sharing the Balance of Stewardship, The Blackfoot Drought Response Plan - J Schoonen
Social Network Analysis to Evaluate Change in a Large-Scale Collaborative Management Initiative
Webinar: Mapping and Modeling Annual Probability of Year Round Streamflow: A Case Study
On January 7, 2014, Dr. Francis Zwiers presented an overview of the Fifth IPCC Assessment Report.
Prioritizing Mitigation of Road Impacts on Wildlife Connectivity - Meredith McClure
RMPF Meeting--Update on Cold-Water Ecosystem Adaptation Project - Molly Cross
Science Delivery: Approaches and Influences on Success - V Wright
The Cabinet-Purcell Collaborative--A Trans-border Conservation Network
Conservation organizations in British Columbia have long acknowledged the lack of wetland habitat tracking as a serious deficiency in conserving wetlands at ecoregional scales in a changing climate. To help address this, in 2010 a group of partners, including the Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture (CIJV), came together on a multi-year initiative, the BC Wetland Trends Project, to assess wetland trends and develop an approach for future monitoring. One of their first steps was to commission a report to recommend opportunities for tracking wetlands in BC.
GNLCC Rocky Mountain Partner Forum Climate Change and Cold Water Systems Workshop
Workshop Summary Report, June 4-5, 2013
The workshop will focus on adaptation planning and action, how to link science to strategies to actions and scaling up (and down) within the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative region in terms of: assessing vulnerabilities, identifying adaptation options, prioritizing actions and sharing information on adaptation progress and lessons among practitioners in the region. This workshop is being led by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and EcoAdapt.
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.
February 4, 2014 GNLCC Rocky Mountain Partner Forum Meeting
Webinar: Heart of the Rockies Initiative Conservation Atlas
Summary: As the volume and complexity of spatial data increase, the ability of managers and analysts to use these critical data is compromised. Web/service based data delivery mechanisms provide one method to address this problem, but often require specialized expertise or tools to use. By integrating web services with a user-friendly interface in a commonly used geospatial application, we hope to demonstrate one model for overcoming these data consumption challenges.
Meso-carnivore Monitoring Workshop: Project Map Dec 9-10, 2015
LC MAP, the Landscape Conservation Management and Analysis Portal, allows GNLCC partners to discover, use, develop, manage, and distribute datasets that address LCC priority issues. In FY11, this effort will extend LCMAP to allow users to generate dynamic interactive map viewers, modeled output, and web services for use in ArcExplorer and other client tools.
Seasonal change is important to consider when managing conservation areas at landscape scales. The study of such patterns throughout the year is referred to as phenology. Recurring life-cycle events that are initiated and driven by environmental factors include animal migration and plant flowering. Phenological events capture public attention, such as fall color change in deciduous forests, the first flowering in spring, and for those with allergies, the start of the pollen season.
Time: 11am-12pm MDT / 10am-11am PDT
US Forest Service Landscape Science Webinar
Dan Isaak – Fisheries Research Scientist, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
Produced various Intermoutain West Joint Venture website contnet
Climate Change Sensitivity Database Website
This is the primary access to the LC MAP Data Catalog tool, powered by ScienceBase. LC MAP was originally developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in coordination with the Great Northern LCC and is broadly available for ScienceBase users to share, access, and analyze common datasets. LC MAP was developed to aid resource managers share data across partners agencies and perform intensive geospatial analysis on a landscape scale.
Isaak, D., J. Ver Hoef, and E. Peterson. 2014. New information from old stream data through applications of spatial statistical network models. Atlantic Salmon Conference. Orono, ME, January 9. Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Eugene, OR, February 25-28. Idaho Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Idaho Falls, ID, February 11-13. Water quality workshop: Monitoring, assessment, and management. Boise, ID, February 4-6.
Stream Temperature Scenario Maps, Perennial stream temperature map, Model Prediction Accuracy: Lower Snake, Middle Columbia, John Day, and Deschutes watersheds (HUC 3 - 170601, 170701, 170602, 170703)
Modern climate change has already begun to alter ecological and human systems. Many of the changes projected for the coming century will necessitate management responses if we wish to maintain functioning ecosystems, protect rare species, and derive needed ecosystem services. Prioritizing management actions in the face of climate change and developing adaptation strategies requires an understanding of how climates will change and which species and systems will be most vulnerable to those changes.
One of the first steps towards developing strategies to address climate change is to understand how and to what degree ecological systems and species will be vulnerable to projected changes. The Pacific Northwest Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (PNWCCVA) is an ongoing effort to provide such an understanding for the systems and species of the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada.
NorWeST stream temperature scenario maps were developed at a 1-kilometer resolution using spatial statistical stream network models. Stream temperature data used to fit the temperature model that created the scenario maps were screened using a consistent set of criteria to ensure the use of accurate temperature measurements.
NorWeST summer stream temperature scenarios were developed for all rivers and streams in the western U.S. from the > 20,000 stream sites in the NorWeST database where mean August stream temperatures were recorded. The scenarios include: 1) Adobe PDF format maps depicting historical and future modeled mean August stream temperatures, 2) graphs (JPG format) demonstrating the accuracy of the temperature model, and 3) GIS shapefiles (SHP format) representing the spatially modeled stream temperatures.
A map service on the www that allows users to zoom to a specific area and the modeled prediction of the stream temperatures at 2040.
A map service on the www that allows users to zoom to a specific area and the modeled prediction of the stream temperatures at 2080.
A map service on the www that allows users to zoom to a specific area and see the historic august stream temperatures based on collected thermograph data.
A map service on the www that allows users to zoom to a specific area and see thermograph point locations in streams that have collected stream temeprature data.
A map service on the www that allows users to see the NorWeST project's production unit watersheds.
Isaak, D., S. Wenger, E. Peterson, J. Ver Hoef, C. Luce, S. Hostetler, J. Dunham, J. Kershner, B. Roper, D. Nagel, D. Horan, G. Chandler, S. Parkes, S. Wollrab. 2015. Development and application of NorWeST stream temperature climate scenarios for the Pacific Northwest. North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative webinar, January 27.
|
NorWeST |
Temperature in aquatic ecosystems is a fundamentally important property that dozens of resource agencies across the Northwest routinely monitor. Significant amounts of stream temperature data have been collected during the last two decades, but strategic coordination of these collection efforts within and among agencies is lacking and many redundancies exist.
Presenters:
Seth Wenger, is a staff scientist for Trout Unlimited whose current research focuses on potential effects of climate change on fish. He holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia.
The NorWeST webpage hosts stream temperature data and climate scenarios in a variety of user-friendly digital formats for streams and rivers across the western U.S. The temperature database was compiled from hundreds of biologists and hydrologists working for >100 resource agencies and contains >200,000,000 hourly temperature recordings at >20,000 unique stream sites.
Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus (Bonaparte) currently occupy approximately half of their historical distribution across western North America. Sage-grouse are a candidate for endangered species listing due to habitat and population fragmentation coupled with inadequate regulation to control development in critical areas. Conservation planning would benefit from accurate maps delineating required habitats and movement corridors.
Isaak, D, S. Wenger, E. Peterson, J. V. Hoef, C. Luce, D. Nagel, S. Hostetler, J. Dunham, J. Kershner, B. Roper, D. Horan, G. Chandler, S. Parkes, and S. Wollrab. 2015. NorWeST stream temperature model: Data structure, covariates, and applications. EPA Region 10 webinar. February 11.
These GIS data are intended to assist users in understanding general patterns in bull trout distributions and inferring potential alteration of these distributions with changes in future mean annual air temperatures. The data have been developed specifically for bull trout and are not intended for use with other aquatic organisms unless similar linkages with air temperatures can be established. The data are most appropriate for broad scale displays and inference (i.e., map scales ~ 1:1,000,000) and should not be applied at finer scales, where local conditions may cause significant deviati