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A century of fire exclusion across many forest types in the western U.S. has resulted in unforeseen changes, including high fuel accumulations, high densities of trees, and increasing dominance of fire-intolerant species. These changes are particularly acute in forests that historically experienced high frequency and low severity fires. In response, the NPS Pacific-West region supports a large prescribed fire program to reduce understory fuels and forest density. Prescribed fire has been generally successful at reducing understory fuels and threats of catastrophic fire, and treated stands are expected to be more resistant to future wildfire. Less well understood is how well prescribed fire confers resistance to...
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FY2011Increasingly large wildfires in the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau have led to large dust storms in areas historically without them. Large dust storms have adversely affected human health, energy production operations, soil fertility, and mountain snowpack hydrology. USGS research efforts have investigated the causes and consequences of post-fire dust storms. Publications from this work are being used by managers with the Bureau of Land Management, Department of Energy, and other land managers to develop management practices that will minimize dust production.
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Academics & scientific researchers, Aeolian transport, Data Acquisition and Development, Federal resource managers, Great Basin, All tags...
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The White House Council for Environmental Quality has identified two national watersheds to pilot large-scale drought resiliency implementation. The Missouri Headwaters Basin within the GNLCC region and High Divide landscape is one of these national demonstration areas, and the GNLCC can advance its collective mission with this opportunity. By delivering science to management and building a learning network among watershed groups, this project will align the large-scale watershed management efforts of the GNLCC with the National Drought Resiliency Program (NDRP) and the Montana Department of Natural Resources (DNRC) to build drought resilience into this important northern Rocky Mountain landscape.FY2015and FY2016The...
In the last two decades, the spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby) has killed >1.5 million ha of forest in Southcentral Alaska, and more than 350,000 cumulative hectares have been impacted since 2016. We need to understand what landscape and climate conditions predispose forests to stand level mortality during beetle outbreaks in order to identify areas most prone to beetle disturbance and to support the development of appropriate climatic indices that can serve as early warning of outbreaks. The goal of this project is to determine what initiated the recent beetle-kill event on the Kenai Peninsula so that appropriate indices can be monitored and/or effective adaptation strategies can be taken for future...
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This project developed a soil vulnerability index and map indicating where forest cover will be most affected by climate change. Using this map, researchers developed a greater understanding of potential changes in soil moisture and temperature regimes under future climate conditions. They then evaluated how this information could be used to improve vegetation models across the landscape. They compared the results of different modeling approaches to the soil vulnerability map, synthesized the state of knowledge and uncertainty, and introduced management implications for action.
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, AK, AK, AK, AK, All tags...
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems in the southeastern United States have declined substantially from an estimated 92 million acres in the pre-Columbian time period to 4.3 million acres at present, largely due to agricultural conversion, urbanization and replacement by other forest types, notably loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). The open landscape character of longleaf pine ecosystems is characterized by a lower carbon stocking and prairie-like understory dominated by grasses and low woody vegetation . Lower carbon stocking combined with greater drought tolerance in longleaf pine suggest that longleaf pine stands generally consume less water relative to loblolly pine and slash pine dominated stands. The...
Categories: Data, Project; Tags: Project, onGoing
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Contemporary observations suggest that water may disappear entirely from portions of some North Slope stream-beds during periods of drought or low flow. Climate models project even drier summers in the future. This could pose a problem for migrating fish that must be able to move back and forth from breeding and summer feeding areas to scarce overwintering sites. This work uses the best available long-term hydrologic data set for the North Slope (in the upper Kuparuk River watershed) to develop a model to assess the vulnerability of stream systems to periodic drought, and the vulnerability of migrating fish to a loss of stream connectivity.
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FY2023R6 SA (Science Applications), in cooperation with project collaborators and watershed stakeholders (watershed coordinators, Montana State University, MTDRC, EPA, conservation districts, TU) created the River Conditions Tool (RCT) to drive conservation actions via real-time stream gage data with predetermined aquatic, riverine, drought management science. Many watersheds Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado are in need of the various conservation science benefits this RCT expansion provides.Continuing this project in new watersheds would be an opportunity to create relationships with new partners and help underserved communities by providing landowners, land/watershed managers, scientists, and recreationalists...
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This study focused on sensitivity of high-elevation ecosystems in Hawai‘i to climate change. These Hawaiian ecosystems are becoming warmer and drier, and are relevant because they house many rare species, represent the last remaining stretches of uninvaded landscapes, and include wao akua – the small-statured cloud forests of great cultural significance that are the ‘realm of the gods’. Rapid climate change here presents a disproportionately high climate change impact risk. We provided models that relate current, past, and future distribution of plant species from 6000 – 7500’ feet in elevation on Haleakalā, to mean climate, extreme drought events, and soil properties. We constructed 24 models of current vegetation...
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Drought and climate change have been having severe impacts on USFWS water and aquatic resources in the semi-arid western U.S. and the Mountain-Prairie Region (MPR), and a recent study showed that compromised water management capability and flow alteration, often related to drought and climate change, are the greatest threats to National Wildlife Refuges across the region. Better quantitative information is needed on the extent of our region-wide water resources, and current and potential impacts of drought and climate change on water and aquatic habitats. This goal of this study is for FWS and USGS to work cooperatively using the USGS Monthly Water Balance Model to evaluate potential future impacts of climate change...
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Water resource managers rely on hydrologic planning and decision-making models to understand and evaluate current and future water operations in the face of endangered species needs, drought, and climate change. Current climate change projections, such as those used in the West-Wide Climate Risk Assessment programs, are trending toward more extreme instances of drought within the Southern Rockies LCC region. Accurately estimating agricultural water consumption both under present conditions and under modeled future scenarios will help water resource managers project how much water might be available for allocation toward current ecological projects. It will also improve their understanding of the challenges a more...
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The Conservation Biology Institute is developing a tool that managers in all watersheds of the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative can use to project the effects of climate change on soil vulnerability conditions and help resource managers develop appropriate strategies to mitigate negative climate impacts.Specifically, they will develop a spatially-explicit soil vulnerability index for the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative that can be used to forecast short-term response of plants to current drought conditions and test a vegetation model of plant response to drought.Conservation Biology Institute will use the soil vulnerability index to compare historical and future simulations...
Recent work to extend the instrumental record of Hawaiian rainfall (available since the early 1900s ) back several centuries indicates the presence of large and significant variations in rainfall on decadal time scales (see time series graphic above). Parallel efforts to understand agricultural changes in the Hawaiian Islands prior to European influences suggests that after about 1650 CE there was a shift in emphasis to productive maximizing strategies, with implications for the region’s economic and socio-political stability.The above is one of the motivating ideas for conducting this workshop. Previous work by several of the participants argued that an increased reliance on risky product maximization strategies...
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Vegetation transformations after wildfires are a growing issue for forest and shrubland managers in the Inland Pacific Northwest. Severe fires combined with persistent drought and invasive species can slow or prevent the recovery of burned forests and shrublands to their pre-fire states, resulting in ecological, economic, and cultural losses. Forests may be converted to shrub fields or grasslands, and shrublands may be replaced by invasive grasses. While shrublands and grasslands can be important components of these ecosystems, there is growing concern about the increased extent of these vegetation types on the landscape. Despite the severe post-fire vegetation transformations, little is known about where, when,...
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The California Coast has hundreds of tree groves where dual management practices aim to reduce the risk of fire and to conserve habitat for overwintering monarch butterflies. As the climate changes, longer high-intensity droughts can increase mortality and/or limb loss in grove trees which causes an accumulation of fire-prone fuels. Moreover, these trees provide the critical habitat for overwintering monarch butterflies. Every year only certain trees in certain groves accumulate clusters of thousands of monarch butterflies. Should trees die or important roosting branches collapse, monarchs may not return in the future. The overall goal of this project is to understand how the dual management goals of fire management...
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Managers typically estimate wildlife abundance using surveys within a timeframe that favors increased detectability; however, the ability to account for probabilities of inclusion, detection, and/or presence within a given sampling area is often limited. Cranes provide a good opportunity to research count accuracy because they are large, conspicuous, and often congregate during part of the year, typically on staging areas (i.e., fall and spring) or on wintering grounds. The objectives of this paper are twofold: (1) to evaluate how environmental factors influence crane movement in and out of crane survey areas to identify the best window of availability for annual survey counts, and (2) to evaluate environmental...
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FY2014Recent drought, change agents and the spectrum of greater management needs have highlighted the relative dearth of in situ weather and climate measurement stations in the Great Basin. Thus, interest has grown in supplementing or initiating atmospheric and hydrologic measurements.The purpose of this project was: To review the existing station networks in the context of management needs by providing examples of how climate observation gaps can be assessed Provide some guidelines for the placement of new or augmented stations.This project was funded as a target of opportunity.
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FY2014Recent drought, change agents and the spectrum of greater management needs have highlighted the relative dearth of in situ weather and climate measurement stations in the Great Basin. Thus, interest has grown in supplementing or initiating atmospheric and hydrologic measurements.The purpose of this project was: To review the existing station networks in the context of management needs by providing examples of how climate observation gaps can be assessed Provide some guidelines for the placement of new or augmented stations.This project was funded as a target of opportunity.
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FY2014Recent drought, change agents and the spectrum of greater management needs have highlighted the relative dearth of in situ weather and climate measurement stations in the Great Basin. Thus, interest has grown in supplementing or initiating atmospheric and hydrologic measurements.The purpose of this project was: To review the existing station networks in the context of management needs by providing examples of how climate observation gaps can be assessed Provide some guidelines for the placement of new or augmented stations.This project was funded as a target of opportunity.
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Our project focuses on understanding patterns and causes of recent population declines in the Haleakala silversword that are associated with decreasing precipitation, increasing temperature, and related climate changes in Hawaii’s high-elevation ecosystems. The Haleakala silversword is an ideal taxon with which to assess impacts from climate change. It forms the foundation of a diverse alpine community and likely reflects wider ecological changes; it is already exhibiting patterns of mortality consistent with an upslope shifting distribution; and its high visibility and symbolic status make it unmatched in educational potential. Building on extensive research infrastructure, we propose to collect the demographic...
map background search result map search result map Pacific Northwest Forest Soils: Creating a Soil Vulnerability Index to Identify Drought Sensitive Areas Soil Vulnerability to Future Climate Change in the Southern Rockies LCC, with Implications for Vegetation Change and Water Cycle Improving Crop Coefficients for the Middle Rio Grande Future Distribution of Cloud Forests and Associated Species in Hawaii Understanding how climate change is affecting Hawaii's high-elevation ecosystems: an assessment of the long-term viability of Haleakala silverswords and associated biological communities Building Large Scale Drought Resiliency in the Missouri Headwaters Basin Linking North Slope Climate, Hydrology, and Fish Migration Dust Erosion Following Wildfires and Drought Assessment of Climate Monitoring For Land Management in the Great Basin Assessment of Climate Monitoring For Land Management in the Great Basin Assessment of Climate Monitoring For Land Management in the Great Basin River Conditions Tool (RCT) Geographic Expansion Modeling and Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources at National Wildlife Refuges in the USFWS Mountain-Prairie Region Linking Ecological Processes and Animal Movements to Inform Timing of Long-term Surveys of a Migratory Game Bird Reducing Wildfire Risk While Maintaining Critical Monarch Habitat Along the California Coast Understanding Post-fire Transformations in Inland Northwest Forests and Shrublands Understanding how climate change is affecting Hawaii's high-elevation ecosystems: an assessment of the long-term viability of Haleakala silverswords and associated biological communities Linking North Slope Climate, Hydrology, and Fish Migration Building Large Scale Drought Resiliency in the Missouri Headwaters Basin Improving Crop Coefficients for the Middle Rio Grande Future Distribution of Cloud Forests and Associated Species in Hawaii Pacific Northwest Forest Soils: Creating a Soil Vulnerability Index to Identify Drought Sensitive Areas Reducing Wildfire Risk While Maintaining Critical Monarch Habitat Along the California Coast Understanding Post-fire Transformations in Inland Northwest Forests and Shrublands River Conditions Tool (RCT) Geographic Expansion Dust Erosion Following Wildfires and Drought Assessment of Climate Monitoring For Land Management in the Great Basin Assessment of Climate Monitoring For Land Management in the Great Basin Assessment of Climate Monitoring For Land Management in the Great Basin Soil Vulnerability to Future Climate Change in the Southern Rockies LCC, with Implications for Vegetation Change and Water Cycle Modeling and Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources at National Wildlife Refuges in the USFWS Mountain-Prairie Region Linking Ecological Processes and Animal Movements to Inform Timing of Long-term Surveys of a Migratory Game Bird