Decision Science

USGS science in support of the Department of the Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative.

Along the Santa Clara River in California, populations of the federally and state-listed Least Bell's Vireo ( Vireo bellii pusillus ) are recovering from near extirpation. Habitat protection and restoration, as well as reducing brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds ( Molothrus ater ), are thought to be the primary drivers of this recovery. The challenge going forward is to find the right...

Assessing Impacts of Emerging and Established Diseases to Aquatic Ecosystems The role of disease in freshwater mussel declines has been largely ignored due to the lack of appropriate diagnostic tools. Furthermore, health assessment of mussels in conjunction with restoration and propagation has not been considered during stocking and augmentation activities. This project will develop standard...

Bombus aff inis, the rusty patched bumble bee, was federally listed as an endangered species in 2017 and has been identified as one of the top priority species for recovery nationally. Shortly after listing the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and other partners prioritized the research needed to prevent the extinction of B. affinis . Some of the top research needs that were identified...

Bison have played a key role in shaping the grasslands of the Great Plains for millennia. National Parks are a major last bastion for wild herds of the national mammal and symbol of the Department of the Interior. However, even as the National Park Service aims to maintain as natural as possible ecosystem conditions within its parks’ boundaries, managers regularly make decisions affecting their...

Applying quantitative methods to evaluate ecological hypotheses for wild animal populations is inherently challenging due to the complexity of ecological systems and the sampling process that is used to monitor them.

Joint Ecosystem Modeling (JEM) provides real-time habitat suitability models for species of interest in Everglades restoration planning, including the federally endangered Everglades snail kite.

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to systematically explore the issues, viewpoints, and concerns within the Service in relation to conservation introductions. Conservation introduction is the planned, intentional moving of species, populations or genotypes to a location outside a target’s native range.

Through the Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) Initiative, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is informing key resource management decisions by better understanding how wildlife populations of special interest to the Department of the Interior (DOI) are responding to rapid physical changes in the Arctic. Below are some examples of how CAE research is informing decision-making on the status and trends...

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...

Natural resource decision makers face numerous challenges in terms of making choices to solve complex management problems. Many of these challenges stem from being overwhelmed by too many choices, uncertain or delayed outcomes, and multiple stakeholders with conflicting desires. Decision analysis (a.k.a. structured decision making) is set of qualitative and quantitative tools for structuring an...

The presence or absence of an endangered species on the landscape can have significant policy implications for public land managers and private landowners. The Dakota Skipper, a grassland dependent butterfly, was recently listed as a threatened species under The Endangered Species Act in 2014. This listing has created controversy in the states of North and South Dakota because of the potential...