Amy J. Symstad, PhD
Amy Symstad serves as a Research Ecologist and Chief of the Climate and Land-use Branch for the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and is stationed at the Hot Springs, South Dakota duty station.
Amy Symstad is a plant ecologist whose research seeks to advance the understanding of prairie plant communities, their natural and anthropogenic drivers, and management practices to sustain and restore them. Most of her work serves National Park Service units in the northern Great Plains, where altered fire and grazing regimes, invasive species, and climate change present conservation and management challenges.
Professional Experience
2003-present: Research Ecologist, USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Ecology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 1998.
S.B., Environmental Engineering Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992
Science and Products
Supplemental vegetation monitoring plots at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to accelerate learning of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) model
Biodiversity–productivity relationships in a natural grassland community vary under diversity loss scenarios
Climate change scenario planning for resource stewardship at Wind Cave National Park
Coflowering invasive plants and a congener have neutral effects on fitness components of a rare endemic plant
Fire controls annual bromes in northern great plains grasslands—Up to a point
A new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks
Managing invasive plants on Great Plains grasslands: A discussion of current challenges
A draft decision framework for the National Park Service Interior Region 5 bison stewardship strategy
Management opportunities and research priorities for Great Plains grasslands
Implications of climate scenarios for Badlands National Park resource management
Model-based scenario planning to inform climate change adaptation in the Northern Great Plains—Final report
Multiple methods for multiple futures: Integrating qualitative scenario planning and quantitative simulation modeling for natural resource decision making
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 43
Supplemental vegetation monitoring plots at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to accelerate learning of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) model
The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) project is a consortium of seven parks in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) working together to better understand how to control invasive annual grasses (including Bromus species) through an adaptive management approach. This approach is supported by a quantitative model that uses current data from standardized vegetation monitoring plots in all seven parkAuthorsAmy Symstad, Timm Richardson, Dan SwansonBiodiversity–productivity relationships in a natural grassland community vary under diversity loss scenarios
Understanding the biodiversity–productivity relationship and underlying mechanisms in natural ecosystems under realistic diversity loss scenarios remains a major challenge for ecologists despite its importance for predicting impacts of rapid loss of biodiversity worldwide. Here we report the results of a plant functional group (PFG) removal experiment conducted on the Mongolian Plateau, the largesAuthorsQingmin Pan, Amy Symstad, Yongfei Bai, Jianhui Huang, Jianguo Wu, Shahid Naeem, Dima Chen, Dashuan Tian, Qibing Wang, Xingguo HanClimate change scenario planning for resource stewardship at Wind Cave National Park
This report explains scenario planning as a climate change adaptation tool in general, then describes how it was applied to Wind Cave National Park as the second part of a pilot project to dovetail climate change scenario planning with National Park Service (NPS) Resource Stewardship Strategy development. In the orientation phase, Park and regional NPS staff, other subject-matter experts, naturalAuthorsAmber N. Runyon, Gregor W. Schuurman, Brian W. Miller, Amy Symstad, Amanda HardyCoflowering invasive plants and a congener have neutral effects on fitness components of a rare endemic plant
Network analyses rarely include fitness components, such as germination, to tie invasive plants to population-level effects on the natives. We address this limitation in a previously studied network of flower visitors around a suite of native and invasive plants that includes an endemic plant at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. Eriogonum visheri coflowers with two abundant invasive plantAuthorsDiane L. Larson, Jennifer L Larson, Amy Symstad, Deborah A. Buhl, Zachary M. PortmanFire controls annual bromes in northern great plains grasslands—Up to a point
Concern about the impacts of two invasive annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome, Bromus tectorum L. and B. japonicus Thunb. ex Murray) on the mixed-grass prairie of North America's northern Great Plains (NGP) is growing. Cheatgrass is well known west of the NGP, where replacement of fire-intolerant, native sagebrush steppe by fire-prone, exotic annual grasslands is widespread. ConseqAuthorsAmy Symstad, Deborah A. Buhl, Daniel J SwansonA new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks
National Park Service (NPS) units in the northern Great Plains (NGP) were established to preserve and interpret the history of America, protect and showcase unusual geology and paleontology, and provide a home for vanishing large wildlife. A unifying feature among these national parks, monuments, and historic sites is mixed-grass prairie, which not only provides background scenery but is the veryAuthorsIsabel W. Ashton, Amy Symstad, Heather Baldwin, Max Post van der Burg, Steven Bekedam, Erin Borgman, Milton Haar, Terri Hogan, Stephanie Rockwood, Daniel J Swanson, Carmen Thomson, Cody WienkManaging invasive plants on Great Plains grasslands: A discussion of current challenges
The Great Plains of North America encompass approximately 1,300,000 km2 of land from Texas to Saskatchewan. The integrity of these lands is under continual assault by long-established and newly-arrived invasive plant species, which can threaten native species and diminish land values and ecological goods and services by degrading desired grassland resources. The Great Plains are a mixture of privaAuthorsJohn F. Gaskin, Erin Espeland, Casey D. Johnson, Diane L. Larson, Jane M. Mangold, Rachel A. McGee, Chuck Milner, Shishir Paudel, Dean E. Pearson, Lora B. Perkins, Chadley W. Prosser, Justin B. Runyon, Sharlene E. Sing, Zachary A. Sylvain, Amy Symstad, Daniel R. TekielaA draft decision framework for the National Park Service Interior Region 5 bison stewardship strategy
The Department of the Interior Bison Conservation Initiative calls for its bureaus to plan and implement collaborative American bison conservation and to ensure involvement by tribal, state, and local governments and the public in that conservation. Four independently managed and geographically separated National Park Service (NPS) units in Interior Region 5 (IR5) preserve bison and other componenAuthorsAmy Symstad, Brian W. Miller, Tanya M Shenk, Nicole D Athearn, Michael C. RungeManagement opportunities and research priorities for Great Plains grasslands
The Great Plains Grassland Summit: Challenges and Opportunities from North to South was held April 10-11, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The geographical focus for the summit was the entire Great Plains. The summit was designed to provide syntheses of information about key grassland topics of interest in the Great Plains; networking and learning channels for managers, researchers and stakeholders; andAuthorsDeborah M Finch, Carolyn Baldwin, David P Brown, Katelyn P. Driscoll, Erica Fleishman, Paulette L. Ford, Brice Hanberry, Amy Symstad, Bill Van Pelt, Richard ZabelImplications of climate scenarios for Badlands National Park resource management
Badlands National Park (BADL) hosts a myriad of natural and cultural resources, including bison and black-footed ferrets, the mixed grass prairie they live in, 37-75 million-year-old fossils, and historic buildings, trails, and roads. All are sensitive to climate, but anticipating precisely how each will be affected by climate change is difficult. In the face of this challenge, park resource managAuthorsBrian W. Miller, Amy Symstad, Gregor SchuurmanModel-based scenario planning to inform climate change adaptation in the Northern Great Plains—Final report
Public SummaryWe worked with managers in two focal areas to plan for the uncertain future by integrating quantitative climate change scenarios and simulation modeling into scenario planning exercises.In our central North Dakota focal area, centered on Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, managers are concerned about how changes in flood severity and growing conditions for native andAuthorsAmy J. Symstad, Brian W. Miller, Jonathan M. Friedman, Nicholas A. Fisichelli, Andrea J. Ray, Erika Rowland, Gregor W. SchuurmanMultiple methods for multiple futures: Integrating qualitative scenario planning and quantitative simulation modeling for natural resource decision making
Scenario planning helps managers incorporate climate change into their natural resource decision making through a structured “what-if” process of identifying key uncertainties and potential impacts and responses. Although qualitative scenarios, in which ecosystem responses to climate change are derived via expert opinion, often suffice for managers to begin addressing climate change in their plannAuthorsAmy J. Symstad, Nicholas A. Fisichelli, Brian W. Miller, Erika Rowland, Gregor W. Schuurman - Science
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