Science-based Management of Ravens Tool (SMaRT)

The Science-based Management of Ravens Tool (SMaRT) supports a science-based adaptive management framework that incorporates recent quantitative analyses and mapping products for addressing areas with elevated common raven (Corvus corax) numbers and minimizing potential adverse impacts to sensitive species, agricultural damage, and human safety (Dettenmaier et al. 2021). This is a web-based application outfitted with a user-friendly interface that guides managers through the steps of the adaptive management framework to develop a fully customized adaptive plan for raven management at a user-defined area of interest. In the SMaRT interface, users can: (1) interact with pre-loaded maps of raven occupancy and density and define their own areas of interest to delineate proposed survey or treatment sites; (2) enter site-level density from distance sampling methods or perform estimation of raven densities using the rapid assessment protocol that we provide; (3) compare site-level density to an identified ecological threshold; and (4) produce a list of potential management actions for their consideration. The SMaRT supports decision-making by operationalizing science for raven management and facilitates meeting diverse management goals including sensitive species conservation, protection of livestock and agriculture, safeguarding human health, and addressing raven overabundance and expansion.

Software citation:
Roth, C.L., Coates, P.S., Webster, S.C., Dettenmaier, S.J., O'Neil, S.T., and Brussee, B.E., 2021, Science-based Management of Ravens (SMaRT): U.S. Geological Survey software release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9B5ANSM.

Associated manuscript:
Dettenmaier, S.J., Coates, P.S., Roth, C.L., Webster, S.C., O'Neil, S.T., Tull, J.C., and Jackson, P.J. 2021. A science-driven actionable adaptive management framework for common ravens. Human-Wildlife Interactions.