Consequences of stream fragmentation and climate change for rare Great Plains fishes

Rate of global biodiversity loss increased significantly during the 20th century associated with human environmental alterations. Specifically, mismanagement of freshwater resources contributed to historical and contemporary loss of stream-dwelling fish diversity and will likely play a role in determining the persistence of species in the future. We present a mechanistic pathway by which human alteration of streams has caused the decline of a unique reproductive guild of Great Plains stream-dwelling fishes, and suggest how future climate change might exacerbate these declines. Stream fragmentation related to impoundments, diversion dams and stream dewatering are consequences of increasing demand for freshwater resources...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, AR-04, CATFISHES/MINNOWS, CO-03, CT-04, All tags... Climate Change, Colorado, Conservation Planning, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Final Report, GPLCC, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Informing Conservation Delivery, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, Kansas, LA-04, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, MT-00, Map, Montana, ND-00, NE-03, NM-03, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, OK-01, OK-02, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Oklahoma, Plains Fish, Policy makers & regulators, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Prairie Rivers and Streams, Project, RIVERS/STREAM, Report, SD-00, South Dakota, State agencies, Stream Fragmentation, TX-03, TX-04, TX-05, TX-06, TX-08, TX-11, TX-12, TX-13, TX-17, TX-19, TX-24, TX-25, TX-26, TX-30, TX-31, TX-32, TX-33, Texas, WY-00, Wyoming, biota, completed, environment, inlandWaters, pelagic-spawning cyprinid, Fewer tags

Climate change and connectivity: Assessing landscape and species vulnerability

Habitat loss and fragmentation are widely recognized as among the most important threats to global biodiversity. New analytical approaches are providing improved ability to predict the effects of landscape change on population connectivity at vast spatial extents. This paper presents an analysis of population connectivity for three species of conservation concern [swift fox (Vulpes velox); lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus); massasuaga (Sistrurus catenatus)] across the American Great Plains region. We used factorial least-cost path and resistant kernel analyses to predict effects of landscape conditions on corridor network connectivity. Our predictions of population connectivity provide testable...

Categories: Data, Project, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, CO-01, CO-02, CO-03, CO-04, All tags... CO-05, CO-06, CO-07, Climate Change, Decision Support, Decision support, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Federal resource managers, GPLCC, GRASSLANDS, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, LCC, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Map, Map, NE-01, NE-03, NM-02, NM-03, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Policy makers & regulators, Policy makers & regulators, Population and Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Project, Publication, Publication, Report, SAVANNA, SD-00, State agencies, State agencies, TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS, TX-11, TX-13, TX-19, TX-23, Vulnerability Assessment, WY-00, biota, completed, geoscientificInformation, Fewer tags

Conservation status, genetics, and population vulnerability of Arkansas darter (Etheostoma cragini) in Colorado

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. We used seven microsatellite loci to describe population and landscape genetic patterns across 614 individuals from 12 remaining populations of Arkansas darter ( Etheostoma cragini) in...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, CATFISHES/MINNOWS, CO-03, CO-04, Climate Change, All tags... Colorado, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Fisheries Management, GPLCC, Gene Flow, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Genetics, Map, Plains Fish, Policy makers & regulators, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Prairie Rivers and Streams, Project, Publication, RIVERS/STREAM, State agencies, Vulnerability Assessment, biota, completed, environment, Fewer tags

Decision support for climate change adaptation in the GPLCC: Creating geospatial data products for ecosystem assessments and predictive species modeling

Species populations are in a state of flux due to the cumulative and interacting impacts of climate change and human stressors across landscapes. Invasive spread, pathogen outbreaks, land-use activities, and especially climate disruption and its associated impacts—severe drought (see Figure 3 or the GPLCC), reduced stream flow, increased wildfire frequency, extended growing season, and extreme weather events—are increasing, and in some cases accelerating. These impacts are outpacing management and conservation responses intended to support trust species and their critical habitats. Our common goal is to craft successful adaptation strategies in the face of these multiple, interacting drivers of environmental change....

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, Academics & scientific researchers, CO-01, CO-02, CO-03, All tags... CO-04, CO-05, CO-06, CO-07, Climate Change, Climate Change, Colorado, Conservation Planning, Data Acquisition and Development, Datasets/Database, Decision Support, FY 2010, FY 2010, GPLCC, GPLCC, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Habitat Modeling, Habitat Modeling, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, Kansas, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, NE-01, NE-03, NM-02, NM-03, Nebraska, New Mexico, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Oklahoma, Policy makers & regulators, Project, Report, SD-00, SOLAR-ATMOSPHERE/SPACE-WEATHER MODELS, South Dakota, TX-11, TX-13, TX-19, TX-23, Texas, WY-00, Website, Wyoming, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, completed, environment, Fewer tags

Implications of climate change for avian conservation in Great Plains landscapes

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

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, Avian, Avian, BIRDS, CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT MODELS, All tags... CO-01, CO-02, CO-03, CO-04, CO-05, CO-06, CO-07, Climate Change, Climate Change, Climatic Change, Climatic Change, Colorado, Conservation Planning, FY 2010, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, GPLCC, GPLCC, GRASSLANDS, Grassland Birds, Grassland Birds, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Habitat Models, Habitat Models, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, Kansas, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus), Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus), NE-01, NE-03, NM-02, NM-03, Native Grassland, Native Grassland, Nebraska, New Mexico, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Oklahoma, Playas, Playas, Policy makers & regulators, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Project, Publication, Report, SD-00, Sedimentation, Sedimentation, Shorebirds, Shorebirds, South Dakota, State agencies, TX-11, TX-13, TX-19, TX-23, Texas, WETLANDS, WY-00, Wetlands, Wetlands, Wyoming, biota, completed, environment, Fewer tags

Climate change planning for the Great Plains: Wildlife vulnerability assessment and potential for mitigation with grazing management

While we assessed the vulnerability of a number of different wildlife and plant species to climate change, none of those species exhibited high vulnerability to changes projected for the region and there was limited differentiation in vulnerability between the individual species. Given this shared level of vulnerability to climate change, we chose to focus our adaptation planning on grassland birds as they represent a large group with a diversity of habitat needs. These birds are obligate grassland wildlife species which have great potential to act as indicators for habitat quality since different species have distinct habitat structure needs. Participants in the adaptation planning workshop agreed that if the GP...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, Animal Agriculture, CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT MODELS, CO-01, CO-02, All tags... CO-03, CO-04, CO-05, CO-06, CO-07, Climate Change, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Final Report, GPLCC, GRASSLANDS, Grassland Birds, Grassland Conservation, Grassland Management, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Informing Conservation Delivery, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, NE-01, NE-03, NM-02, NM-03, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Policy makers & regulators, Private land owners, Project, Ranching, Report, SD-00, State agencies, TX-11, TX-13, TX-19, TX-23, Training/Outreach/Workshop, Vulnerability Assessment, WY-00, biota, completed, environment, Fewer tags

Development of regional planning tools to assess the impacts of climate and land use change on a sensitive grassland bird

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. Similarly, the Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido), is a species of conservation concern, with large home range, distributed across the northern portion of the GPLCC including portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska,...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, BIRDS, CO-01, CO-02, CO-03, All tags... CO-04, CO-05, CO-06, CO-07, Climate Change, Decision Support, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Final Report, GPLCC, Gene Flow, Grassland Birds, Grassland Conservation, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido), Habitat Modeling, Informing Conservation Delivery, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Genetics, Lek, Map, NE-01, NE-03, NM-02, NM-03, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Policy makers & regulators, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Project, Report, SAVANNA, SD-00, State agencies, TX-11, TX-13, TX-19, TX-23, WY-00, biota, completed, environment, Fewer tags

Provision and inventory of diverse aquatic ecosystem-related resources for the GPLCC

The basic task of inventorying biodiversity has actually been under way for many years. Existing natural history museum collections, like those in which we work, can provide major contributions to such inventories in the form of valuable historic organism occurrence records, and their specimens can be used in many ways for basic research and applied conservation planning. Unfortunately, much of the wealth of information stored in natural history collections requires substantial investment to be made accessible and useful to natural resource managers and researchers. We were charged by the GPLCC with providing some of the inventory data that will be required, and to assess what other data may be available and what...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, CO-03, CO-04, Climate Change, Colorado, All tags... ConsNet, Data Acquisition and Development, Data Acquisition and Development, Data Management and Integration, Data Management and Integration, Datasets/Database, Datasets/Database, FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Federal resource managers, Final Report, GPLCC, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Habitat Modeling, KS-01, KS-04, Kansas, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Map, Map, NE-03, NM-01, NM-02, NM-03, New Mexico, OK-01, OK-02, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Oklahoma, Plains Fish, Policy makers & regulators, Policy makers & regulators, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Population and Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Praire Rivers and Streams, Project, RIVERS/STREAM, Report, Report, State agencies, State agencies, TX-01, TX-02, TX-03, TX-04, TX-05, TX-06, TX-07, TX-08, TX-09, TX-10, TX-11, TX-12, TX-13, TX-14, TX-15, TX-16, TX-17, TX-18, TX-19, TX-20, TX-21, TX-22, TX-23, TX-24, TX-25, TX-26, TX-27, TX-28, TX-29, TX-30, TX-31, TX-32, TX-33, TX-34, TX-35, TX-36, Texas, WY-00, amphibians, aquatic reptiles, biota, cave invertebrates, completed, fish occurrence, freshwater mussels, inlandWaters, Fewer tags

Integrated monitoring within BCR’s: Creating a wildlife monitoring grid for the GPLCC

We used the United States National Grid to develop a sampling grid for monitoring programs in the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, delineated by Bird Conservation Regions 18 and 19. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are science based partnerships with the goal to inform and guide conservation at regional landscape levels. Developing a standardized sampling grid for a LCC is a new endeavor and is designed to reduce program costs, avoid repetition in sampling, and increase efficiency in monitoring programs. This is possible because the grid’s nationwide coverage, uniform starting point, and scalability allow researchers to expand their monitoring programs from a small, local level to a regional or...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, Academics & scientific researchers, BIRDS, CO-01, CO-02, All tags... CO-03, CO-04, CO-05, CO-06, CO-07, Colorado, FY 2010, FY 2010, Final Report, Final Report, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS, GPLCC, GPLCC, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Habitat Modeling, Habitat Modeling, KS-01, KS-02, KS-04, Kansas, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Methodology/Protocol, Monitoring, NE-01, NE-03, NM-02, NM-03, Nebraska, New Mexico, OK-03, OK-04, OK-05, Oklahoma, Project, Report, SD-00, STATISTICAL APPLICATIONS, South Dakota, TX-11, TX-13, TX-19, TX-23, Texas, WY-00, Wildlife Monitoring, Wildlife Monitoring, Wyoming, biota, completed, environment, Fewer tags

Understanding the ecology, habitat use, phenology and thermal tolerance of nesting Lesser Prairie-Chickens to predict population level influences of climate change

We found few reports in the literature containing useful data on the nesting phenology of lesser prairie-chickens; therefore, managers must rely on short-term observations and measurements of parameters that provide some predictive insight into climate impacts on nesting ecology. Our field studies showed that prairie-chickens on nests were able to maintain relatively consistent average nest temperature of 31 °C and nest humidities of 56.8 percent whereas average external temperatures (20.3–35.0 °C) and humidities (35.2– 74.9 percent) varied widely throughout the 24 hour (hr) cycle. Grazing and herbicide treatments within our experimental areas were designed to be less intensive than in common practice. We determined...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, BIRDS, BREEDING PRODUCTIVITY, CLIMATE INDICATORS, Climate Change, All tags... FY 2010, Federal resource managers, Federal resource managers, Final Report, GPLCC, Grassland Conservation, Great Plains, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Lesser Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), Monitoring, Monitoring, NM-02, NM-03, New Mexico, Policy makers & regulators, Policy makers & regulators, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Population and Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Private land owners, Project, Publication, Report, State agencies, State agencies, TX-19, Texas, Wildlife Management, biota, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, completed, Fewer tags