Adaptive Management

Alaska is simultaneously a landscape of extremes requiring specialized adaptations by plants and animals to survive the winters and a landscape of abundance that supports breeding birds each summer from as far away as Africa. Terrestrial Alaska also supports iconic species such as caribou and muskoxen whose population dynamics, predator/prey relationships and habitat ecology are researched by USGS...

USGS researchers, in collaboration with the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative and other partners, are developing a statistically based prioritization tool that will aid agencies in their management decisions.

The USGS partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its conservation partners to develop 16 Biological Planning Units (BPU) and six Aquatic Extensions and compile population objectives for 166 species that are representative of habitats within each BPU.

Using an iterative qualitative coding process, WARC researchers are identifying objectives, stressors, and management priorities to support the implementation of adaptive management in restoration programs across the Gulf of Mexico.

Assessing vulnerability to climate change is a key step in anticipating climate impacts on species.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and USGS will jointly lead the development of foundational components for Gulf region-wide monitoring.

National Wildlife Refuges provide habitat for important fish and wildlife species and services that benefit coastal communities, like storm-surge protection. USGS scientists are helping coastal refuges plan for and adapt to sea-level rise.

This project centers on assimilation of data, interpretation of results, updating quantitative models, and providing policy-neutral, high-quality information to the agencies and stakeholders in the Missouri River Basin.

More than 100,000 ha of native tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the northern Great Plains. Although prairies in this region evolved with grazing, fire, and climatic variability, management of FWS grasslands often has been passive and involved extended periods of rest. In 2008, the USGS and the FWS initiated a collaborative effort, the...

The extent of native prairie throughout the north-central United States has sharply declined since European settlement, and much that remains has been invaded by introduced cool-season grasses, reducing floristic diversity and quality. On lands under its ownership, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to restore native prairie integrity by reducing occurrence of introduced species under...

Widespread habitat deterioration due to fire and invasive species in the Great Basin have created a need for coordination across land agencies and between science and management activities in the Great Basin.

Conifer forests in the Pacific Northwest are biologically and economically important, are intensively managed for multiple uses, and represent a large area in public domain. Therefore, understanding how management of conifer forests affects biodiversity across a range of spatial and temporal scales is critical for land management agencies.