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Brian Smith

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Amplifying Brush Management for the Birds - RaBET tool development in collaboration with NRCS and ARS
RaBET (Rangeland Brush Estimation Toolbox for Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs)) is an online ArcGIS toolbox that generates accurate geospatial and tabular data describing canopy cover at the tract level to streamline landowner agreements (USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife PFW) and/or NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts for brush management. Priority MLRAs cover 33.8 million acres with 20.6 million acres of grasslands. This project supports the integration of RaBET into project planning and contract development and is projected to increase the number of contracts and acres impacted by 25% (23,750 acres) in these MLRAs in Kansas and Nebraska through NRCS EQIP alone, based on 2020 enrollment....
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Pilot Aquatic Grassland Prioritization Tool Focused on Topeka Shiner and Cogeners. Objectives: 1) Identify data sets and develop methodology building on existing analyses of priority watersheds and fish habitat selection criteria across grassland ecosystem 2) Assess need and feasibility to develop decision tool for strategically addressing measureable, cross-programmatic conservation aquatic grassland benefits. Programs (Fish Habitat, Fish Passage, Partners and FAC, ES and NWR) and partners (Midwest Landscape Initiative and Great Plains FHP) can use this tool to support decisions for committing resources within and across grassland ecosystems to priority areas with multi-species benefits (initial focus on Topeka...
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Pollinator surveys are currently being conducted in North Dakota, but we are lacking data in other areas. Given likely petitions on the horizon, having baseline data for pollinators will be essential for an informed response. Additionally, these data will be important for habitat prioritization. Given the complexity and difficulty for comprehensive identification of all key pollinators and the urgency of threatened petitions, initial projects should likely focus on bees and butterflies. Results of these surveys will also help guide where and how to sample several at risk species in different habitat types across several states. Ultimately this information could inform a national pollinator survey database development.PI:...
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Grassland Ecosystem Team (GET)
The GET is a cross-programmatic, cross-regional team consisting of US Fish and Wildlife Service grassland ecosystem conservation practitioners.GET mission: We will work within and across US Fish and Wildlife Service programs and with external partners and partnerships to deliver strategic conservation actions and information for the grasslands biome and FWS trust species within the biome.GET vision: Our vision is a healthy, functional grasslands biome that supports wildlife and people.GET Principles: We bring people together for conservation - we engage people with diverse perspectives; listen to understand past and present circumstances, and then work together to address challenges; we co-develop and acquire science...
The American sand lance (Ammodytes americanus, Ammodytidae) and the Northern sand lance (A. dubius, Ammodytidae) are small forage fishes that play an important functional role in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA). The NWA is a highly dynamic ecosystem currently facing increased risks from climate change, fishing and energy development. We need a better understanding of the biology, population dynamics and ecosystem role of Ammodytes to inform relevant management, climate adaptation and conservation efforts. To meet this need, we synthesized available data on the (a) life history, behaviour and distribution; (b) trophic ecology; (c) threats and vulnerabilities; and (d) ecosystem services role of Ammodytes in the...
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