NRCS Conservation Practices and Materials
Forest Service Honored for Leadership in Promoting Climate Change Adaptation
For their outstanding work in raising awareness and addressing the impacts of climate change on the nation’s natural resources, the Forest Service was honored today as the first-ever recipients of the Climate Adaption Leadership Award for Natural Resources.
A Stream Classification for the Appalachian LCC PDF
A classification system and map was developed for stream and river systems in the Appalachian LCC region, encompassing parts of 17 states. The product is intended to complement state-based stream classifications by unifying them into a single consistent system that represents the region’s natural flowing-water aquatic habitats. The results can be used to understand ecological flow relationships and inform conservation planning for aquatic biodiversity in the region.
Core Team Meeting Notes, 10-01-2015
Notes/summary from October 2015 Core Team Meeting
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of Species of Concern in West Virginia
Elizabeth Byers and Sam Norris. 2011. Climate change vulnerability assessment of species of concern in West Virginia. West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Elkins, WV. This project assessed and ranked the relative climate change vulnerability of 185 animal and plant species in West Virginia.
Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Species in the Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service
In this study, we evaluate the climate change vulnerability of a subset of key species found in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS), an ecologically important and diverse region. We developed a list of species of conservation concern (globally and sub-nationally) within each of the fourteen NPS units in the CUPN. Next, we employed NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) in order to determine which of those species may be most vulnerable to climate change, based on each species’ 1) direct exposure to climate change, 2) indirect exposure to climate change, 3) sensitivity, and 4) documented/ modeled response to climate change. CCVI results showed a range of vulnerability scores among taxonomic groups, including high vulnerability for mollusks and low vulnerability for migrant songbirds. Furthermore, we found that species of conservation concern were not necessarily those most vulnerable to climate change.
Natural Resources Conservation Service
NRCS provides America's farmers and ranchers with financial and technical assistance to voluntarily put conservation on the ground, not only helping the environment but agricultural operations too.
Steering Committee Meeting Participants
List of those who attended the 2015 Appalachian LCC Steering Committee Meeting.
National LCC Presentation
Given by National LCC Coordinator Elsa Haubold.
Notes from 06-12-2015 Connecticut River Pilot Core Team Meeting
Summary of discussion and outcomes, including maps used to facilitate discussion during the meeting.
Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)
The Soil Moisture/Soil Temperature (SM/ST) Pilot Project, a cooperative effort by the Resource Inventory Division and the Soil Survey Division of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was designed to examine network communications, sensors, data collection electronics, station maintenance, data management, system interfaces, and management of a large cooperative nationwide, comprehensive soil moisture and climate information system. SCAN (Soil Climate Analysis Network) is a continuous climate monitoring program that is an outgrowth of the SM/ST Pilot Project.
New Farm Bill Guide Now Available
The North American Bird Conservation Initiative released the 2014 Farm Bill Field Guide to Fish and Wildlife Conservation.
Plan for the Population Restoration and Conservation of Imperiled Freshwater Mollusks of the Cumberland Region
The goal of this Plan is to provide a framework for the restoration of freshwater mollusk resources and their ecological functions to appropriate reaches of the Cumberlandian Region through the reintroduction, augmentation (R/A) and controlled propagation of priority mollusks. The Plan prioritizes propagation and R/A activities for Region mollusks and provides guidelines for resource managers and recovery partners. The Plan is not a legal document and is not intended to replace or supersede published recovery plans for listed mollusks.
Predicting Brook Trout Occurrence in Stream Reaches throughout their Native Range in the Eastern United States
Abstract The Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis is an important species of conservation concern in the eastern USA. We developed a model to predict Brook Trout population status within individual stream reaches throughout the species’ native range in the eastern USA. We utilized hierarchical logistic regression with Bayesian estimation to predict Brook Trout occurrence probability, and we allowed slopes and intercepts to vary among ecological drainage units (EDUs). Model performance was similar for 7,327 training samples and 1,832 validation samples based on the area under the receiver operating curve (»0.78) and Cohen’s kappa statistic (0.44). Predicted water temperature had a strong negative effect on Brook Trout occurrence probability at the stream reach scale and was also negatively associated with the EDU average probability of Brook Trout occurrence (i.e., EDU-specific intercepts). The effect of soil permeability was positive but decreased as EDU mean soil permeability increased. Brook Trout were less likely to occur in stream reaches surrounded by agricultural or developed land cover, and an interaction suggested that agricultural land cover also resulted in an increased sensitivity to water temperature. Our model provides a further understanding of how Brook Trout are shaped by habitat characteristics in the region and yields maps of stream-reach-scale predictions, which together can be used to support ongoing conservation and management efforts. These decision support tools can be used to identify the extent of potentially suitable habitat, estimate historic habitat losses, and prioritize conservation efforts by selecting suitable stream reaches for a given action. Future work could extend the model to account for additional landscape or habitat characteristics, include biotic interactions, or estimate potential Brook Trout responses to climate and land use changes.
Document: January Core Team Meeting Notes/Summary
Notes and summary of presentations and discussions at the January Core Team meeting.
Proposed Timing and Process for Design Review
Short and long-term proposed steps for timing and process of design review and finalization
Conservation Strategy for Imperiled Aquatic Species in the UTRB
The Strategy provides guidance to Field Offices in reevaluating current ("status quo") conservation approaches in order to deliver the most cost effective approach toward the conservation and management of imperiled freshwater fish and mussel species in the Upper Tennessee River Basin.
AMJV Partnership Receives $8 Million RCPP Award to Enhance Cerulean Habitat
A project proposal from the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) Partnership was one of 115 high-impact projects to receive in total more than $370 million as part of the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today.
UTRB Imperiled Aquatic Species Conservation Strategy [2015 presentation]
pdf copy of the UTRB Imperiled Aquatic Species Conservation Strategy briefing slides for team discussion on proposal to use UTRB strategy as the foundation upon which to pursue a landscape conservation design (LCD) project within the AppLCC. (2 slides/page). Note the slides with the (H) indicate those that are Hidden and not actually presented. (These are provided as background resources to the speaker.)
Pennsylvania Energy Impacts Assessment
In 2010, TNC scientists focused on projections of how new energy development could impact natural habitats in Pennsylvania to shape strategies that avoid or minimize those impacts.
AMJV Partnership Successes for Song Birds and Game Species
The benefits from managing habitat for game species and managing habitat for songbirds are not mutually exclusive. Creating and enhancing a variety of habitats supports a diversity of wildlife and activities, from birdwatching to hunting.
