PLJV Planning Enters Phase II
Over the past few months, the PLJV staff has conducted meetings with its six member states to exchange planning and implementation information and resources. The meetings marked the official start of Phase II of the planning process, where Phase I (biological foundation) work is adapted to state-specific conditions.
Representatives from more than 20 organizations attended the two-day meetings which were held throughout April and May. During the meetings, states provided updates on the comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies and project implementation efforts, and PLJV demonstrated several new interactive planning tools and provided updates on bird planning team progress. A few of the presentations are covered in the stories that follow.
PLJV Unveils New All-Bird Planning Tool
By Mike Carter, PLJV Coordinator
The PLJV is developing a system and associated tools to determine current carrying capacity of bird species on the PLJV landscape. The system allows users to compare this carrying capacity to stepped-down national objectives to determine where and what kind of habitat work needs to be done. This system and associated tools will be used to evaluate scenarios involving habitat programs and their likely affect on targeted species as well as associated species. Further, results (e.g., acres of restored wetlands) of habitat programs will be fed into the same system to determine species and numbers of birds supported by past habitat programs to answer the question "are we being efficient?"
The system involves defining bird/habitat 'associations' for specific geographic areas, defining 'conditions' under associations and stocking conditions with bird species and densities. Each bird species has an associated density which is multiplied by the acreage of association to determine carrying capacity of an area. Resultant carrying capacities are then compared to national population objectives for the area to determine where and how much habitat work needs to be done to meet a population goal. All of these considerations are tracked in the Hierarchical All-bird Strategy (HABS) Access database where changes in acreages cascade throughout the whole database, updating carrying capacities for all species. Future versions of the HABS database will be linked directly to acreage figures from GIS and will serve as an interactive planning tool.
New GIS Partnership, Analyst Hard at Work in Nebraska
The PLJV's new GIS analyst, Karin Callahan, has recently set up shop at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's GIS office in Grand Island, Nebraska. Callahan is working alongside other remote sensing experts that serve the region including the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RBJV). The team is currently acquiring new data layers to add to the PLJV GIS that will aid in habitat modeling for designated Species for Management Action, and also expanding the new and existing layers to cover all of Bird Conservation Regions (BCR) 18 and 19 that fall within the PLJV and RBJV boundaries. The team is also modifying the 'circularity' technique developed by Ducks Unlimited to find playas for areas outside the traditional playa lakes region where the wetlands are not always round. To do this, the team is using image-based approach using Landsat TM imagery, topographic basins and streams data. For more information email Karin Callahan.
Meetings and Conferences:
> Oklahoma's Wildlife Future
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is hosting a conference to bring together people interested in and knowledgable about the state's wildlife to help produce Oklahoma's comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. The conference will be held July 13 - 15 at the Wes Watkins Center in Stillwater. For more information, contact Andrea Crews.
>Wildlife Diversity Conference
The Texas Wildlife and Parks Department is hosting a conference to inform the public and partners about the state's comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. The conference will be held August 18-20 at Texas State University in San Marcos. For more information, contact Steve Bender.
>Association of State Wetland Managers 2004 National Symposium
The ASWM is hosting "Wetlands 2004: Wetlands and Migratory Birds: Protecting and Restoring Wetlands of International Significance" Oct. 19-20 at the Hilton Kansas City Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. The deadline to submit presentation abstracts is July 1. Contact Jon Kusler for more information.
>High Plains Groundwater Resources: Challenges and Opportunities
The Water Resources Center of Texas Tech University is conducting a conference on groundwater quality, hydrology and management issues Dec. 7-9 at the Lubbock Civic Center. Contact Ken Rainwater for more information.
Please help us communicate about science issues in the PLJV region by encouraging your colleagues to subscribe to the Science Circular. The PLJV also welcomes article submissions, recent publications and suggestions for future issues. Send names and email addresses of colleagues and/or submission materials to editor Debbie Slobe.
Over the past few months, the PLJV staff has conducted meetings with its six member states to exchange planning and implementation information and resources. The meetings marked the official start of Phase II of the planning process, where Phase I (biological foundation) work is adapted to state-specific conditions.
Representatives from more than 20 organizations attended the two-day meetings which were held throughout April and May. During the meetings, states provided updates on the comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies and project implementation efforts, and PLJV demonstrated several new interactive planning tools and provided updates on bird planning team progress. A few of the presentations are covered in the stories that follow.
PLJV Unveils New All-Bird Planning Tool
By Mike Carter, PLJV Coordinator
The PLJV is developing a system and associated tools to determine current carrying capacity of bird species on the PLJV landscape. The system allows users to compare this carrying capacity to stepped-down national objectives to determine where and what kind of habitat work needs to be done. This system and associated tools will be used to evaluate scenarios involving habitat programs and their likely affect on targeted species as well as associated species. Further, results (e.g., acres of restored wetlands) of habitat programs will be fed into the same system to determine species and numbers of birds supported by past habitat programs to answer the question "are we being efficient?"
The system involves defining bird/habitat 'associations' for specific geographic areas, defining 'conditions' under associations and stocking conditions with bird species and densities. Each bird species has an associated density which is multiplied by the acreage of association to determine carrying capacity of an area. Resultant carrying capacities are then compared to national population objectives for the area to determine where and how much habitat work needs to be done to meet a population goal. All of these considerations are tracked in the Hierarchical All-bird Strategy (HABS) Access database where changes in acreages cascade throughout the whole database, updating carrying capacities for all species. Future versions of the HABS database will be linked directly to acreage figures from GIS and will serve as an interactive planning tool.
New GIS Partnership, Analyst Hard at Work in Nebraska
The PLJV's new GIS analyst, Karin Callahan, has recently set up shop at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's GIS office in Grand Island, Nebraska. Callahan is working alongside other remote sensing experts that serve the region including the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RBJV). The team is currently acquiring new data layers to add to the PLJV GIS that will aid in habitat modeling for designated Species for Management Action, and also expanding the new and existing layers to cover all of Bird Conservation Regions (BCR) 18 and 19 that fall within the PLJV and RBJV boundaries. The team is also modifying the 'circularity' technique developed by Ducks Unlimited to find playas for areas outside the traditional playa lakes region where the wetlands are not always round. To do this, the team is using image-based approach using Landsat TM imagery, topographic basins and streams data. For more information email Karin Callahan.
Meetings and Conferences:
> Oklahoma's Wildlife Future
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is hosting a conference to bring together people interested in and knowledgable about the state's wildlife to help produce Oklahoma's comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. The conference will be held July 13 - 15 at the Wes Watkins Center in Stillwater. For more information, contact Andrea Crews.
>Wildlife Diversity Conference
The Texas Wildlife and Parks Department is hosting a conference to inform the public and partners about the state's comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. The conference will be held August 18-20 at Texas State University in San Marcos. For more information, contact Steve Bender.
>Association of State Wetland Managers 2004 National Symposium
The ASWM is hosting "Wetlands 2004: Wetlands and Migratory Birds: Protecting and Restoring Wetlands of International Significance" Oct. 19-20 at the Hilton Kansas City Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. The deadline to submit presentation abstracts is July 1. Contact Jon Kusler for more information.
>High Plains Groundwater Resources: Challenges and Opportunities
The Water Resources Center of Texas Tech University is conducting a conference on groundwater quality, hydrology and management issues Dec. 7-9 at the Lubbock Civic Center. Contact Ken Rainwater for more information.
>Winter PLJV Management Board Meeting
The PLJV Management Board and teams will meet in conjunction with the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society Feb. 22-24, 2005 at the Lubbock Civic Center.
Please help us communicate about science issues in the PLJV region by encouraging your colleagues to subscribe to the Science Circular. The PLJV also welcomes article submissions, recent publications and suggestions for future issues. Send names and email addresses of colleagues and/or submission materials to editor Debbie Slobe.
Toward the end of last year, PLJV began establishing planning teams for specific bird taxa - waterfowl/sandhill cranes, shorebirds, waterbirds and landbirds. These four teams are comprised of highly-trained bird experts from around the PLJV region who are connected to national bird conservation initiatives. Among the teams' many tasks is to determine which species warrant habitat work, develop population and habitat objectives, identify important habitats and develop habitat management guidelines. The following summaries written by Brian Sullivan, Biological Team Leader for the PLJV, detail the progress of the waterfowl/sandhill crane and shorebird planning teams.
Waterfowl: The PLJV has a 12-member waterfowl and sandhill crane (SHC) team working to revise population and habitat objectives. Per guidance in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP), work is directed at Northern Pintails and Mallards during the nonbreeding season. An energetics approach is being used to develop habitat conservation objectives, which assumes that foraging habitat is the primary factor limiting bird numbers and vital rates in the region. This approach requires consideration of other common waterfowl in the region that overlap in foraging habitat use with Mallards and Pintails, including geese, other dabbling ducks, and diving ducks. Using local migration chronology data, midwinter population objectives from NAWMP are being translated to 'use-day' objectives for the nonbreeding season. Fourteen important waterfowl/SHC habitats have been identified. Foraging value (expressed in use-days per acre) for each habitat has been assigned using a combination of empirical data and assumptions. A model to determine waterfowl/SHC carrying capacity has been developed. Model inputs include acreage and foraging value of each habitat. Model output is 'use-days', which is compared to use-day objectives. Deficits indicate that habitat work is needed to increase carrying capacity. Potential refinements and next steps in the planning process were discussed. States are being encouraged to begin summarizing midwinter survey data for the PLJV portion of the state, and to include the Northern Pintail in state comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies.
Shorebirds: The PLJV has a 15-member team working to develop nonbreeding shorebird population and habitat objectives. Work is directed at nonbreeding shorebirds that use primarily wetland habitats. Breeding shorebirds are being addressed by the landbird team because they are primarily upland nesters. An energetics approach is being used to develop habitat conservation objectives, which assumes that foraging habitat is the primary factor limiting nonbreeding shorebird numbers and vital rates in the region. Using local shorebird survey data and other information, regional shorebird population estimates were developed, translated to use-days, and adjusted upward per population increases recommended in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. The vital rate objective is to increase shorebird body mass by one gram per day during migration. A model to determine acres of shorebird foraging habitat needed to support use-day objectives has been developed. Model inputs include daily food needs, forage density, and shorebird use-day objectives. Shorebird population and habitat objectives have been developed for the PLJV and stepped-down to BCRs and states. These are available upon request. The next task is to determine the total acreage of important wetland habitats, to determine if currently available habitat meets acreage needs specified by the model.
Latest Publications from PLJV Partners:
>Anderson, J.T., and D.H. Haukos. 2003. Breeding Ground Affiliation and Movements of Greater White-fronted Geese Staging in Northwestern Texas. Southwest. Nat. 48(3): 365-372. To obtain a copy email David Haukos.
Waterfowl: The PLJV has a 12-member waterfowl and sandhill crane (SHC) team working to revise population and habitat objectives. Per guidance in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP), work is directed at Northern Pintails and Mallards during the nonbreeding season. An energetics approach is being used to develop habitat conservation objectives, which assumes that foraging habitat is the primary factor limiting bird numbers and vital rates in the region. This approach requires consideration of other common waterfowl in the region that overlap in foraging habitat use with Mallards and Pintails, including geese, other dabbling ducks, and diving ducks. Using local migration chronology data, midwinter population objectives from NAWMP are being translated to 'use-day' objectives for the nonbreeding season. Fourteen important waterfowl/SHC habitats have been identified. Foraging value (expressed in use-days per acre) for each habitat has been assigned using a combination of empirical data and assumptions. A model to determine waterfowl/SHC carrying capacity has been developed. Model inputs include acreage and foraging value of each habitat. Model output is 'use-days', which is compared to use-day objectives. Deficits indicate that habitat work is needed to increase carrying capacity. Potential refinements and next steps in the planning process were discussed. States are being encouraged to begin summarizing midwinter survey data for the PLJV portion of the state, and to include the Northern Pintail in state comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies.
Shorebirds: The PLJV has a 15-member team working to develop nonbreeding shorebird population and habitat objectives. Work is directed at nonbreeding shorebirds that use primarily wetland habitats. Breeding shorebirds are being addressed by the landbird team because they are primarily upland nesters. An energetics approach is being used to develop habitat conservation objectives, which assumes that foraging habitat is the primary factor limiting nonbreeding shorebird numbers and vital rates in the region. Using local shorebird survey data and other information, regional shorebird population estimates were developed, translated to use-days, and adjusted upward per population increases recommended in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. The vital rate objective is to increase shorebird body mass by one gram per day during migration. A model to determine acres of shorebird foraging habitat needed to support use-day objectives has been developed. Model inputs include daily food needs, forage density, and shorebird use-day objectives. Shorebird population and habitat objectives have been developed for the PLJV and stepped-down to BCRs and states. These are available upon request. The next task is to determine the total acreage of important wetland habitats, to determine if currently available habitat meets acreage needs specified by the model.
Latest Publications from PLJV Partners:
>Anderson, J.T., and D.H. Haukos. 2003. Breeding Ground Affiliation and Movements of Greater White-fronted Geese Staging in Northwestern Texas. Southwest. Nat. 48(3): 365-372. To obtain a copy email David Haukos.
>Kostecke, R.M., and L.H. Smith. 2003. Nocturnal Behavior of American Avocets in Playa Wetlands on the Southern High Plains of Texas, USA. Waterbirds 26(2): 192-195. To obtain a copy email Loren Smith or Richard Kostecke.
>Bain, M.R., and G.H. Farley. 2002. Display by Apparent Hybrid Prairie-Chickens in a Zone of Geographic Overlap. The Condor. 104: 683-687. To obtain a copy, email Matt Bain.
>Samuel, Michael D., D.R. Goldberg, D.J. Shadduck and W.P. Johnson. 2004. The Role of Lesser Snow Geese as Carriers of Avian Cholera in the Playa Lakes Region. Currently in review by a science journal. Colorado writer Rita-Lyn Sanders wrote an article on the study which appeared in the Colorado Division of Wildlife magazine: "Outbreak: Bacteria in Snow Geese Cause for Concern".
> A coalition of Texas wildlife managers, ranchers and conservation groups recently completed a plan to conserve the black-tailed prairie dog and its grassland habitat. The Texas Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Working Group has set a goal to have 293,129 acres of occupied prairie dog habitat in Texas by 2011. To obtain a copy of the plan, click here.
>Svedarsky, W. D., J. E. Toepfer, R. L. Westemeier, and R. J. Robel. 2003. Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds: Greater Prairie-Chicken. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.
Online Resources:
> PRAIRIEMAP Grassland Project Viewer launched in February of this year. Scientists interested in having their research, planning, management, or mapping effort included should contact Cara Meinke.