Tools for Landscape Assessment
Tools for Landscape Assessment
Filter Total Items: 40
Synthesis of sage-grouse genetic information to support conservation and land management actions
Sage-grouse, iconic birds of the American West, have experienced dramatic reductions and fragmentation of habitat, resulting in significant conservation concern. Genetic information can help inform priorities for protection and habitat restoration as well as strategies for translocations, but may be difficult for resource managers to find, interpret, and use in their decision making. In this work...
New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: Forest Ecosystem Research
Below are ongoing or completed research projects related to forest ecosystems at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station.
New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: Fire Research
Below are ongoing or completed research projects related to fire at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station.
A user-friendly decision support tool for monitoring and managing greater sage-grouse populations
Researchers within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University (CSU) worked with BLM and State Wildlife Agencies to develop a hierarchical population monitoring framework for managing greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) populations and the sagebrush ecosystems that they depend upon for survival and reproduction. This hierarchical population monitoring strategy now...
Hierarchical Population Monitoring Framework for Greater Sage-Grouse
Greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) are at the center of state and national land use policies largely because of their unique life-history traits as an ecological indicator for health of sagebrush ecosystems. Researchers within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University (CSU) worked with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and state wildlife agencies to develop a...
A targeted annual warning system (TAWS) for identifying aberrant declines in greater sage-grouse populations
Land and wildlife managers require accurate estimates of sensitive species’ trends to help guide conservation decisions that maintain biodiversity and promote healthy ecosystems. Researchers within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Colorado State University (CSU) worked with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and State Wildlife Agencies to develop a hierarchical population monitoring...
Developing science syntheses to facilitate climate-informed land management decisions and NEPA analyses on rangelands in the sagebrush biome
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal public land managers to assess potential environmental impacts of proposed actions. The USGS, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado State University, and North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center are working together to develop science syntheses that can facilitate considerations of climate change in...
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Approximately 35% of the US and approximately 82% of DOI lands are “drylands” found throughout the western US. These lands contain oil, gas, oil shale, shale oil, and tar sand deposits and the exploration for and extraction of these resources has resulted in hundreds of thousands of operating and abandoned wells across the West. These arid and semi-arid lands have unique soil and plant communities...
Gunnison Sage-grouse Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET)
In partnership with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and other partners, scientists from USGS Fort Collins Science Center are working to create a suite of prioritization scenarios that will inform adaptive management for Gunnison sage-grouse.
Predicting the phenology of invasive grasses under a changing climate to inform mapping and management
Cheatgrass, an invasive annual grass, reduces ecosystem productivity, negatively impacts biodiversity, and is increasingly problematic in higher elevation ecosystems with climate change. Cheatgrass phenology (that is, the timing of yearly growth and lifespan) varies greatly with elevation, climate, and weather from year to year, which can make management planning difficult and reduce the ability...
Road Ecology
Roads and their associated infrastructure can cause substantial and pervasive effects on adjacent ecosystems but are necessary for the movement and redistribution of goods, people, wealth, and natural resources in modern societies. The Fort Collins Science Center has initiated research looking at how roads and traffic may be impacting sagebrush ecosystems and the wildlife inhabiting them. This...
Prioritizing restoration and conservation of sagebrush ecosystems in northwestern Colorado
We are working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to pilot an expansion of the Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET; Duchardt et al. 2021) across northwestern Colorado. We are in the initial phase of a two-phase project where we are leveraging existing data resources to provide customized scenarios that directly guide landscape-scale conservation delivery by CPW. This...