Agricultural Practices
Agricultural Practices
The significance placed on environmentally responsible land management is based in part on public recognition that social, aesthetic, and recreational values enhance the traditional uses of agricultural land. SEA scientists generate science-based information needed to guide management actions and policy decisions that support wildlife habitat and other environmental services compatible with both U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation goals and land managers. Under guidance from the USDA Farm Service Agency, SEA scientists provide biological, social, and economic information that integrates agriculture and conservation for USDA conservation programs. Results are provided to Federal and State conservation agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
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Science for effective pollinator conservation and improved food security
Pollinators, including bees, flies, butterflies, bats, birds, and other animals, are critically important to U.S. ecosystems and agriculture. Recent reports of declines of pollinator species have led to widespread actions to conserve pollinator habitat and recover imperiled species, but resource managers need accurate data and science to support management actions. USGS pollinator research helps...
Ecosystem change science in support of wildfire management, water conservation, public land reclamation, and food security
FORT researchers provide sound science to support the Department of the Interior in its efforts to manage wildfires, conserve water, reclaim public lands for multiple uses, and promote food security. This research is developed in partnership with resource managers from local, State, Federal and Tribal governments, industry, and nongovernmental organizations, empowering local and rural communities...
Integrated River and Riparian Ecosystem Studies
FORT scientists study interactions among river flow, riparian vegetation and channel change at low elevations across the western United States. Cooperators include the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation. Research areas include reservoir management, control of invasive species, drought response and flood erosion after fires...
Conservation Practices in Agriculturally Dominated Landscapes
Agricultural land use accounts for over 50 percent of the surface area of the contiguous United States. How these lands are managed has direct and indirect implications for wildlife, water quality, and air quality in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems locally and far beyond their extent. This project is focused on ways to greater maximize the potential of the US Department of Agriculture...
Agricultural Practices
Agricultural lands account for more than 50% of the lower 48 states and the effects of agricultural land use reach beyond individual fields and farms affecting terrestrial and migratory wildlife. Thus, it is important to know what long-term benefits US Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs and policies have on wildlife habitat and the American public. The USDAs Conservation...
Wild horse and livestock influences on vegetation and wildlife in sagebrush ecosystems: Implications for refining and validating Appropriate Management Level (AML)
USGS researchers are conducting a comprehensive study of wild horse and livestock records across the greater sage-grouse range to investigate impacts on vegetation and wildlife (specifically, sage-grouse and songbirds). Researchers will use these results to evaluate Appropriate Management Levels for wild horse and burros, and projections of vegetation productivity under changing conditions.
Native Pollinators in Agricultural Ecosystems
Beginning in 2012, the USGS collaborated with the USDA to assess the effectiveness of pollinator plantings and how alteration of landscapes has affected native pollinators and potentially contributed to their decline. The 2008 Farm Bill recognized contributions made by pollinators and made conservation of pollinator habitat a priority. The USGS is assessing native bee habitat, diversity, and...