Decision Science

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...

Wildlife management boundaries frequently lack biological context, such as information on habitat resource availability and wildlife movements. To address this, we developed multiple levels of biologically relevant and hierarchically nested greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) population units that could facilitate management and conservation of populations and habitats.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center is home to the Northeast Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (NEARMI), one of 7 ARMI regions across the United States. NEARMI works on public lands in thirteen states from Maine to Virginia, including many National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges.

Renewable energy development, such as solar and wind energy, is growing in the United States and is expected to continue expanding for the foreseeable future. However, renewable energy infrastructure can be a risk to some wildlife including threatened and endangered species. Wildlife managers and energy developers need wildlife risks to be assessed and effective strategies to mitigate those risks...

The Eastern Ecological Science Center is working closely with federal, state, and tribal partners to help inform decisions that reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans to North American wildlife, including bats.

WARC researchers partnered with managers and species experts to develop a Bayesian network model and a geospatial habitat characteristics dataset to predict the number of Brown Pelican breeding pairs on islands in the northern Gulf.

Eastern Ecological Science Center adds the decision analytical skill set to the existing body of USGS expertise on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), in support of our sister DOI agencies.

Along the Santa Clara River in California, populations of the federally and state-listed Least Bell's Vireo ( Vireo bellii pusillus) are recovering from near extirpation. Habitat protection and restoration, as well as reducing brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds ( Molothrus ater), are thought to be the primary drivers of this recovery. The challenge going forward is to find the right balance...

Assessing Impacts of Emerging and Established Diseases to Aquatic Ecosystems The role of disease in freshwater mussel declines has been largely ignored due to the lack of appropriate diagnostic tools. Furthermore, health assessment of mussels in conjunction with restoration and propagation has not been considered during stocking and augmentation activities. This project will develop standard...

Bombus affinis, the rusty patched bumble bee, was federally listed as an endangered species in 2017 and has been identified as one of the top priority species for recovery nationally. Shortly after listing the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and other partners prioritized the research needed to prevent the extinction of B. affinis. Some of the top research needs that were identified...

Bison have played a key role in shaping the grasslands of the Great Plains for millennia. National Parks are a major last bastion for wild herds of the national mammal and symbol of the Department of the Interior. However, even as the National Park Service aims to maintain as natural as possible ecosystem conditions within its parks’ boundaries, managers regularly make decisions affecting their...

Applying quantitative methods to evaluate ecological hypotheses for wild animal populations is inherently challenging due to the complexity of ecological systems and the sampling process that is used to monitor them.