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Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Located on six hundred acres along the James River Valley near Jamestown, North Dakota, the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is one of seventeen USGS Science Centers that develop and disseminate the scientific information needed to understand, conserve, and manage the Nation’s rich biological resources.

Our Science

Migratory Bird Center of Excellence

Two male and two female mallard ducks swimming in lake near ice

The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is known for its long history of meeting the migratory-bird research needs of Department of the Interior and the Nation.

NPWRC History

NPWRC Science Topics

Science conducted by Northern Prairie scientists can be grouped into six primary research topics:

NPWRC Science

Meet the Northern Prairie Staff

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center external office photo

Our employee directory contains names, position titles, phone numbers, email addresses, and biographies of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center staff.

Employee Directory

News

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Friday's Findings - March 24 2023

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USGS Friday's Findings - February 24th 2023

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Friday's Findings - August 12, 2022

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Publications

Large increases in methane emissions expected from North America’s largest wetland complex

Natural methane (CH4) emissions from aquatic ecosystems may rise because of human-induced climate warming, although the magnitude of increase is highly uncertain. Using an exceptionally large CH4 flux dataset (~19,000 chamber measurements) and remotely sensed information, we modeled plot- and landscape-scale wetland CH4 emissions from the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), North America’s largest wetla
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)

Keys to Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) management include providing grasslands with a shrub or forb component or shrub-dominated edge habitat, which includes dense grass and moderately high litter cover, and avoiding disturbances that completely eliminate woody vegetation. Clay-colored Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 20–186 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 3–50
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Persistence and quality of vegetation cover in expired Conservation Reserve Program fields

For nearly 40 years, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has implemented practices to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators on highly erodible cropland in the United States. However, an approximately 40,470 ha (10 million acres) decline in enrolled CRP land over the last decade has greatly reduced the program's environmental benefits. We so
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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Science

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Aerial View of the Tatanka Wind Energy Farm

Tools for the Mitigation of Habitat-Based Impacts to Birds

Compensatory mitigation is applied in grassland and wetland ecosystems to offset environmental damage from disturbances such as energy development. Energy facilities continue to proliferate across the United States, yet implementation of mitigation tools to ameliorate habitat loss or behavioural effects on wildlife is rare. NPWRC scientists conducted a 10-year Before-After, Control-Impact (BACI)...
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Species Management Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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Tools for the Mitigation of Habitat-Based Impacts to Birds

Compensatory mitigation is applied in grassland and wetland ecosystems to offset environmental damage from disturbances such as energy development. Energy facilities continue to proliferate across the United States, yet implementation of mitigation tools to ameliorate habitat loss or behavioural effects on wildlife is rare. NPWRC scientists conducted a 10-year Before-After, Control-Impact (BACI)...
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A Prairie Wetland

Climate-driven state shifts in the Prairie Pothole Region: assessing future impacts relevant to the management of wetland habitats critical to waterfowl

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) covers parts of five states and three Canadian provinces. The region contains millions of wetlands that annually produce 50-80% of the continent’s duck population. Previous modeling efforts indicated that climate change would result in a shift of waterfowl habitat from the central PPR to the southeast PPR where the majority of wetlands have been drained. However...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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Climate-driven state shifts in the Prairie Pothole Region: assessing future impacts relevant to the management of wetland habitats critical to waterfowl

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) covers parts of five states and three Canadian provinces. The region contains millions of wetlands that annually produce 50-80% of the continent’s duck population. Previous modeling efforts indicated that climate change would result in a shift of waterfowl habitat from the central PPR to the southeast PPR where the majority of wetlands have been drained. However...
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Photograph of an adult Hygrotus water beetle

Temporal and spatial patterning of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in response to changing environmental conditions

An increased understanding of prairie-pothole-wetland macroinvertebrate dynamics is crucial to better inform conservation strategies related to waterfowl production, biodiversity enhancement, and wetland function/health maintenance. Wetlands in general are highly variable in space and time, and wetland macroinvertebrates are adapted to this great variability. Wetland ecosystems are also influenced...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Status and Trends Program (unpublished), Wildlife Program (unpublished), Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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Temporal and spatial patterning of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in response to changing environmental conditions

An increased understanding of prairie-pothole-wetland macroinvertebrate dynamics is crucial to better inform conservation strategies related to waterfowl production, biodiversity enhancement, and wetland function/health maintenance. Wetlands in general are highly variable in space and time, and wetland macroinvertebrates are adapted to this great variability. Wetland ecosystems are also influenced...
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