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Waterfowl are ecologically, culturally, and economically important and their annual and long-term distributions in North America can substantially impact ecological relationships and have economic impacts. In Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana alone, recent annual sales of Federal Duck Stamps equal $2.4 million. An intensive study in Mississippi estimated the annual total economic impact of waterfowl hunting in that state was $86.8 million. North American waterfowl number in the millions, use a diversity of aquatic and terrestrial foraging niches, and can feed at rates capable of depleting local food resources. In recent years, waterfowl appear to be wintering at more northern latitudes. Sustained northern...
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Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), and caddisflies (Trichoptera) (a.k.a. EPT taxa) are the most environmentally sensitive of freshwater insects. They are utilized the world over as indicators of water quality in flowing waters. Their decline has been documented in Asia, Europe, and North America. A 220,321 record dataset of new and museum EPT specimen records covering much of the Midwest and Maximum Entropy (Maxent) software were used construct to current and future, climate influenced distribution models. Nearly 100 physical and historic vegetation variables and 9 BIOCLIM variables derived from downscaled climate data for the region were employed in this process. A total of 426 EPT species were...
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A key challenge in aquatic restoration efforts is documenting locations where ecological connectivity is disrupted in water bodies that are dammed or crossed by roads (road crossings). To prioritize actions aimed at restoring connectivity, we argue that there is a need for systematic inventories of these potential barriers at regional and national scales. Here, we address this limitation for the North American Great Lakes basin by compiling the best available spatial data on the locations of dams and road crossings. Our spatial database documents 38 times as many road crossings as dams in the Great Lakes basin, and case studies indicate that, on average, only 36% of road crossings in the area are fully passable...
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The Nature Conservancy - Great Lakes Program is leading the development of a scalable (Great Lakes wide, individual lake basin, to coastal reach within a lake basin) rule-based spatial model for ranking the relative importance of coastal lands and waters as habitat for migrating birds. Results will guide conservation actions including land acquisition, land and water management and restoration, and development of wind energy facilities. Specifically, the team will: 1) refine, create and integrate migratory bird stopover habitat models which depict the distribution of potential stopover sites along or near the shorelines of Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario; and, 2) develop an online portal that will deliver...
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Researchers assessed how an expansion of forest reserves and climate-adaptive management may improve ecological connectivity and resilience under different climate scenarios. Resilience is measured as the capacity for these systems to maintain extant forest communities and aboveground live biomass. Forest landscape change was simulated via a spatially explicit forest ecosystem model, LANDIS-II. Simulations covered areas in northern Minnesota and northern lower Michigan that represent northern Great Lakes forest types. Restoring and maintaining ecological connectivity is one of the primary climate change adaptation strategies available to land managers, in addition to silvicultural practices. This study is...
Forest-dominated landscapes provide a wide range of ecosystem services to many different sectors of society, including forest products (e.g., timber), recreational opportunities and support of tourism, carbon sequestration, and habitat for fish and wildlife and other biodiversity. However, many forests and embedded aquatic systems in the Northwoods are in degraded condition due to land and resource management decisions, impacts of over-abundant deer populations, and the spread of nonnative forest pests and pathogens that have led to “surprise” losses of key tree species. The long-term viability of these vast expanses of forest-dominated systems has great potential to be further compromised as climatic changes...
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Developing conservation strategies for threatened species increasingly requires understanding vulnerabilities to climate change, in terms of both demographic sensitivities to climatic and other environmental factors, and exposure to variability in those factors over time and space. Weconducted a range-wide, spatially explicit climate change vulnerability assessment for Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus), a declining endemic species in a region showing strong environmental change. Using active season and winter adult survival estimates derived from 17 data sets throughout the species’ range, we identified demographic sensitivities to winter drought, maximum precipitation during the summer, and the proportion...
The vast majority of the citizens of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes landscape live in metropolitan areas that have grown up around the region’s lakes and rivers.Many of these cities are important stopover sites for migratory birds, and all of these cities represent opportunities for re-greening and re-designing the sustainable and nature-connected cities of the future. Cities are increasingly showing leadership in developing innovative solutions to environmental problems, and across the region cities are adopting green infrastructure approaches to water management that benefit both economic and environmental sustainability. Working in urban areas is an opportunity for the LCC to connect with the people of the...
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With the ultimate goal of conserving and restoring threatened native grassland prairies and the wildlife that depend on them, the National Audubon Society (Audubon) is facilitating a landscape conservation design for the grassland birds in the greater Chicago region. As a first step in this process standardized avian point count surveys conducted primarily by citizen volunteers were combined with landcover composition and configuration, soils, and vegetation productivity data to model abundance of five grassland bird species. Models were updated with additional data and expert review in 2015 and now provide map outputs of existing grassland bird habitat and population estimates for species of conservation concern...
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Full life-cycle vulnerability assessments are identifying the effects of climate change on nongame migratory birds that are of conservation concern and breed in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. Full life-cycle analyses are critical, as current efforts likely underestimate the vulnerability of migratory land birds due to a focus on assessing only one component of the annual cycle. The approach provides a framework for integrating exposure to climate changes, sensitivity to these changes, and the potential for adaptation in both winter and summer seasons, and accounts for carry-over effects from one season to another. The results of this work will inform regional management by highlighting both local and...
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Ecological connectivity between the Great Lakes and their tributaries is widely impaired, and many agencies and organizations are currently investing in restoring these connections to enhance target fish and wildlife populations. To assist in targeting these investments, we have been developing spatial data on the location and attributes of barriers (dams and road-stream crossings) and fish breeding habitat throughout the Great Lakes basin to analyze the optimum strategy for enhancing connectivity and restoring fish migrations. The proposed work will result in guidance for barrier restoration at scales from individual watersheds to the entire basin, refine methodologies for spatial analysis of barriers, and provide...
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The emerald ash borer (EAB) poses a tremendous threat to ash forest habitats across the upper Great Lakes. Of particular concern is the impact EAB will have on the ecology and functioning of black ash ( Fraxinus nigra) forested wetlands, which cover over 500,000 ha in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and represent the region’s most common ash forest habitat. Black ash often occurs in relatively pure stands on poorly drained sites where it serves as a foundation species exerting a strong control over ecosystem structure and functioning. Correspondingly, extirpation of this species by EAB could have negative cascading effects, including dramatic rises in water tables and shifts in vegetation composition towards...
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This project directly addresses the need for integration of climate change information and strategies into Wisconsin’s Wildlife Action Plan (WWAP) as identified by Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Land Conservation Cooperative. Wisconsin’s WWAP is used as a major conservation planning tool by state agencies and partners, but this tool currently lacks information on climate change. At the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), the WWAP informs master planning for state‐owned properties, influences land acquisition priorities, and provides direction for management, inventory, and research. As a user‐friendly, detailed, web‐based resource, the WWAP is also available to other conservation organizations and private...
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In the United States, many resources devoted to conservation are routed through states, but animal and plant populations do not conform to state boundaries. Consequently, neighboring states can enhance their collective conservation impact by coordinating natural resources management. In order to support managers as they review and revise state Wildlife Action Plans in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, this project identified regional conservation priorities for streams and grasslands of the Upper Midwest.Specifically, we (1) selected stream and grassland species of common conservation interest to partnering states, (2) modeled and mapped regional distributions of these species, and (3) used predicted species...
Midwestern states within the Upper Mississippi River watershed currently contribute the greatest nutrient load to the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Often called “dead zones,” hypoxic areas have oxygen levels that can decrease to the point where the zone can no longer support living aquatic species. High concentration of nutrients — particularly nitrogen and phosphorous — is one of the major events that contribute to Gulf hypoxia. To reduce water quality impacts downstream to fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, the conservation community identified the need for tools that prioritize the design and configuration of actions that appeal to upstream agricultural communities. As a result, theMississippi River Basin/Gulf Hypoxia...
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This project will improve tribal and First Nation engagement in cooperative natural resource conservation efforts. Researchers are fostering networking among tribes, First Nations and other relevant partners in the upper Midwest – Great Lakes region, and engaging tribal and First Nation representatives in the development of a set of principles and strategies for their authentic, robust inclusion in regional resource conservation cooperative frameworks. The project is conducting an environmental scan of current climate and landscape change planning initiatives as well as mitigation and resilience-building projects being implemented by tribes and First Nations in the region. The results will lead to broader inclusion...
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This scenario planning decision support tool for the Kankakee River basin as a first case study/proof-of concept. Hydrology models, both surface water and groundwater, and ecology of the Kankakee River watershed will be combined to evaluate the effects of habitat restoration on water suppy ecosystem services, agricultural irrigation demands, urbanization, and waterfowl habitat, and sportsman and recreational user interests. Various scenarios for restoration identified with peer input were tested for the watershed. Each scenario results in different individual and aggregate values for ground water recharge, surface water storage, waterfowl habitat, sportsman and recreational use, and agricultural capacity. Some...
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Control of invasive sea lamprey recruitment from tributary streams is a major management objective in the Great Lakes, and benefits from barriers that prevent access to spawning habitat. As society moves toward removal of more tributary barriers due to concerns about native migratory fishes, aging infrastructure, and vulnerability to climate-driven flooding, it is important to assess the costs of alternative options for sea lamprey control. This project is integrating cost estimates for application of a lamprey-specific pesticide into cost-benefit optimization models used to support decisions about barrier removals that maximize restoration of habitat for native species. By integrating lamprey control options...
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This project connects scientists and managers from federal, tribal and state agencies and nongovernmental organizations to exchange information and establish common priorities for management of terrestrial wildlife populations. To achieve these goals, we are organizing interactive workshops with partners across the region. In year 2, we will assess the risk posed by climate change and other major stressors to a subset of priority species (as identified by regional partners). This assessment will integrate available data and scientific understanding in a transparent process, detailing assumptions and uncertainties to project population-level responses of target species to climate change.
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The concept of adaptive management provides a set of good business principles to guide strategic habitat conservation, but these principles are only useful if they are put into practice through a complimentary set of business operations. To that end, if conservation is going to be successful operating at landscape scales, the conservation community must start thinking and functioning like a conservation enterprise. Much more emphasis must be placed on developing and supporting business operations that facilitate the flow of information and other resources at landscape scales. Just like successful national and global businesses, we need to develop an information supply chain to support the communication, coordination,...
map background search result map search result map Manajiwin: Respecting tribes, First nations and cultural resources in cooperative landscape and climate change decision-making Full life cycle vulnerability assessments for the birds of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes Predicting climate change effects on riverine aquatic insects in the Upper Midwest Re-establishing ecological connectivity between the Great Lakes and their tributaries: Prioritization in a complex system Integrated models for estimating influences of climate change on waterfowl populations, waterfowl habitat, and hunter opportunity and demographics Assessment of Waterfowl Habitat Restoration as an Adaptive Mechanism for Water Sustainability in the Grand Kankakee River Watershed Grassland Bird Conservation Design in the Chicago Region Climate Change Impacts on Wisconsin's Natural Communities and Conservation Opportunities Areas: Updating Wisconsin's Wildlife Action Plan Integrating lampricide options into a decision support tool for barrier management in Great Lakes tributaries Quantifying and mitigating the impacts of emerald ash borer on black ash forests in the upper Great Lakes region Report: Building partnerships and establishing consensus on regional priorities across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Cooperative Business Plan: Great Lakes Information Management and Delivery System Aquatic Connectivity business plan Publication: Restoring aquatic ecosystem connectivity requires expanding inventories of both dams and road crossings Report: On-a-wing and a (GIS) Layer: Prioritizing migratory bird habitat along Great Lakes shoreline Publication: Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species Report: Scenarios for forest reserve expansion and adaptive management under alternative climate change scenarios in the northern Great Lakes Datasets: Identifying Regional Priority Areas for Focusing Conservation Actions in Streams and Grasslands Assessment of Waterfowl Habitat Restoration as an Adaptive Mechanism for Water Sustainability in the Grand Kankakee River Watershed Grassland Bird Conservation Design in the Chicago Region Climate Change Impacts on Wisconsin's Natural Communities and Conservation Opportunities Areas: Updating Wisconsin's Wildlife Action Plan Report: Scenarios for forest reserve expansion and adaptive management under alternative climate change scenarios in the northern Great Lakes Report: Building partnerships and establishing consensus on regional priorities across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Cooperative Manajiwin: Respecting tribes, First nations and cultural resources in cooperative landscape and climate change decision-making Full life cycle vulnerability assessments for the birds of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes Predicting climate change effects on riverine aquatic insects in the Upper Midwest Re-establishing ecological connectivity between the Great Lakes and their tributaries: Prioritization in a complex system Integrating lampricide options into a decision support tool for barrier management in Great Lakes tributaries Quantifying and mitigating the impacts of emerald ash borer on black ash forests in the upper Great Lakes region Business Plan: Great Lakes Information Management and Delivery System Aquatic Connectivity business plan Publication: Restoring aquatic ecosystem connectivity requires expanding inventories of both dams and road crossings Report: On-a-wing and a (GIS) Layer: Prioritizing migratory bird habitat along Great Lakes shoreline Datasets: Identifying Regional Priority Areas for Focusing Conservation Actions in Streams and Grasslands Publication: Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species Integrated models for estimating influences of climate change on waterfowl populations, waterfowl habitat, and hunter opportunity and demographics