USGS invasive carp database management & integration support

Invasive carp tracking, monitoring, and contracted removal will continue throughout the Upper IWW system as part of an adaptive management effort to mitigate, control, and contain invasive carp. To help facilitate these actions, there is a need to compile and analyze data from the multitude of partner agencies that are collecting invasive carp-related data throughout the Illinois River system. These data are often in disparate formats, and integrating these data into a common format allows both researchers and managers to assess invasive carp monitoring, control, and removal efforts at several scales is necessary. Ensuring the interoperability of these data sets allows for their use in various analyses and modeling efforts. Implementing an interoperable data management framework also provides mechanisms for end users to find and use existing data. Integrating data for use in modeling and analysis furthers the MRWG partnership’s collective understanding of invasive carp life history, distribution, and movement and can be used to facilitate adaptive management actions (e.g., directing monitoring, sampling, and removal efforts; assessing invasive carp abundance to support modeling efforts; informing deployment of control actions). An effective data management strategy will streamline the database update process, providing partners with timely, well-organized, uniformly formatted data and analyses in support of informed decision-making processes.