Learning and adaptation in the management of waterfowl harvests

A formal framework for the adaptive management of waterfowl harvests was adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995. The process admits competing models of waterfowl population dynamics and harvest impacts, and relies on model averaging to compute optimal strategies for regulating harvest. Model weights, reflecting the relative ability of the alternative models to predict changes in population size, are used in the model averaging and are updated each year based on a comparison of model predictions and observations of population size. Since its inception the adaptive harvest program has focused principally on mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), which constitute a large portion of the U.S. waterfowl harvest. Four competing models, derived from a combination of two survival and two reproductive hypotheses, were originally assigned equal weights. In the last year of available information (2007), model weights favored the weakly density-dependent reproductive hypothesis over the strongly density-dependent one, and the additive mortality hypothesis over the compensatory one. The change in model weights led to a more conservative harvesting policy than what was in effect in the early years of the program. Adaptive harvest management has been successful in many ways, but nonetheless has exposed the difficulties in defining management objectives, in predicting and regulating harvests, and in coping with the tradeoffs inherent in managing multiple waterfowl stocks exposed to a common harvest. The key challenge now facing managers is whether adaptive harvest management as an institution can be sufficiently adaptive, and whether the knowledge and experience gained from the process can be reflected in higher-level policy decisions.     

Improving our legacy: incorporation of adaptive management into state wildlife action plans

The loss of biodiversity is a mounting concern, but despite numerous attempts there are few large scale conservation efforts that have proven successful in reversing current declines. Given the challenge of biodiversity conservation, there is a need to develop strategic conservation plans that address species declines even with the inherent uncertainty in managing multiple species in complex environments. In 2002, the State Wildlife Grant program was initiated to fulfill this need, and while not explicitly outlined by Congress follows the fundamental premise of adaptive management, 'Learning by doing'. When action is necessary, but basic biological information and an understanding of appropriate management strategies are lacking, adaptive management enables managers to be proactive in spite of uncertainty. However, regardless of the strengths of adaptive management, the development of an effective adaptive management framework is challenging. In a review of 53 State Wildlife Action Plans, I found a keen awareness by planners that adaptive management was an effective method for addressing biodiversity conservation, but the development and incorporation of explicit adaptive management approaches within each plan remained elusive. Only ~25% of the plans included a framework for how adaptive management would be implemented at the project level within their state. There was, however, considerable support across plans for further development and implementation of adaptive management. By furthering the incorporation of adaptive management principles in conservation plans and explicitly outlining the decision making process, states will be poised to meet the pending challenges to biodiversity conservation.     

Risk models for wildfowl diseases

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of computer models, including artificial intelligence systems, in the context of risk assessment and management for wildfowl diseases. In particular, the paper focuses on avian cholera and botulism in U.S. wildfowl, which are a source of continuing concern to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Severe outbreaks occur frequently, and some have been estimated to claim the lives of as many as 300 000 waterfowl. A potentially valuable support to the USFWS would be a set of models that assist in recognizing situations with high risk of an outbreak, assessing the anticipated severity of an outbreak, and advising on possible preventive measures. The USFWS has already initiated development of several potentially useful models. This paper reviews these as well as other related efforts, within the overall context of risk management for avian botulism and cholera.     

Missing the trees for the forest? Bottom-up policy implementation and adaptive management in the US natural resource bureaucracy

For decades, natural resource agencies in the United States have attempted to restore ecosystems using adaptive management, a process that emphasizes experimental learning to reduce uncertainty. Most studies show that it rarely occurs in practice and explain implementation failures as organizational issues. This study draws on policy implementation theory to suggest that behaviors and attitudes of individuals may better explain implementation gaps. This comparative case study finds differences between experts implementing adaptive management in the Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Geological Survey. These include differences in attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors aimed at promoting individual autonomy, performance standards, and defending individual interests on the job. Policy implications are twofold: first, that individual behaviors impact adaptive management implementation and intrinsic motivation to perform such functions. Second, regardless of agency, experts view their work as a social good. This suggests that a devolved planning process may remedy implementation obstacles.     

Risk Tradeoffs in Adaptive Ecosystem Management: The Case of the U.S. Forest Service

Natural resource planning processes on public lands in the United States are driven in large part by the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which dictates general processes for analyzing and disclosing the likely impacts of proposed actions. The outcomes of these processes are the result of multiple factors, many related to the manifold smaller incremental decisions made by agency personnel directing the processes. Through interviews with decision makers, team leaders, and team members on five NEPA processes within the U.S. Forest Service, this study examines those incremental decisions. Risk, in particular external relationship risk, emerged as a dominant lens through which agency personnel weigh and make process-related decisions. We discuss the tradeoffs associated with agency actors’ emphasis on this form of risk and their potential implications for adaptive ecosystem management and organizational performance.     

Effects of cattle grazing and haying on wildlife conservation at National Wildlife Refuges in the United States

The National Wildlife Refuge System is perhaps the most important system of federal lands for protecting wildlife in the United States. Only at refuges has wildlife conservation been legislated to have higher priority than either recreational or commercial activities. Presently, private ranchers and farmers graze cattle on 981,954 ha and harvest hay on 12,021 ha at 123 National Wildlife Refuges. US Fish and Wildlife Service policy is to permit these uses primarily when needed to benefit refuge wildlife. To evaluate the success of this policy, I surveyed grassland management practices at the 123 refuges. The survey results indicate that in fiscal year 1980 there were 374,849 animal unit months (AUMs) of cattle grazing, or 41% more than was reported by the Fish and Wildlife Service. According to managers' opinions, 86 species of wildlife are positively affected and 82 are negatively affected by refuge cattle grazing or haying. However, quantitative field studies of the effect of cattle grazing and haying on wildlife coupled with the survey data on how refuge programs are implemented suggest that these activities are impeding the goal of wildlife conservation. Particular management problems uncovered by the survey include overgrazing of riparian habitats, wildlife mortality due to collisions with cattle fences, and mowing of migratory bird habitat during the breeding season. Managers reported that they spend $919,740 administering cattle grazing and haying; thus refuge grazing and haying programs are also expensive. At any single refuge these uses occupy up to 50% of refuge funds and 55% of staff time. In light of these results, prescribed burning may be a better wildlife management option than is either cattle grazing or haying.     

Climate Change Adaptation for the US National Wildlife Refuge System

Since its establishment in 1903, the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) has grown to 635 units and 37 Wetland Management Districts in the United States and its territories. These units provide the seasonal habitats necessary for migratory waterfowl and other species to complete their annual life cycles. Habitat conversion and fragmentation, invasive species, pollution, and competition for water have stressed refuges for decades, but the interaction of climate change with these stressors presents the most recent, pervasive, and complex conservation challenge to the NWRS. Geographic isolation and small unit size compound the challenges of climate change, but a combined emphasis on species that refuges were established to conserve and on maintaining biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health provides the NWRS with substantial latitude to respond. Individual symptoms of climate change can be addressed at the refuge level, but the strategic response requires system-wide planning. A dynamic vision of the NWRS in a changing climate, an explicit national strategic plan to implement that vision, and an assessment of representation, redundancy, size, and total number of units in relation to conservation targets are the first steps toward adaptation. This adaptation must begin immediately and be built on more closely integrated research and management. Rigorous projections of possible futures are required to facilitate adaptation to change. Furthermore, the effective conservation footprint of the NWRS must be increased through land acquisition, creative partnerships, and educational programs in order for the NWRS to meet its legal mandate to maintain the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the system and the species and ecosystems that it supports.     

Federal Decentralization and Adaptive Management of Water Resources: Reservoir Reallocation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Reservoir operations must respond to changing conditions, such as climate, water demand, regulations, and sedimentation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) can reallocate reservoir storage to respond to such changes. We assembled and analyzed a database of reservoir reallocations implemented and proposed by the Corps. While only a small portion of total reservoir storage nationwide has been reallocated, there are substantial differences in reallocation frequency and magnitude across the nation: some Corps Districts and Divisions use reallocation while others do not, relying more on discretion and small‐scale adaptation of operations. This difference illustrates how water resource agencies like the Corps decentralize management decisions to allow responding to disparate conditions. Decentralized decision‐making provides a responsive approach to water management, while centralized and hierarchical decision‐making is a slower, more deliberative approach. Decentralized decision‐making may lead to the accumulation of short‐term, local decisions over time to the point that the system is managed differently than anticipated. Reallocation, which is a form of planned adaptive management, can be accommodating of multiple competing demands and different stakeholders, yet expensive and less temporally responsive. The challenge for any large water resource management agency is to balance between local‐level, responsive discretion vs. centralized, planned decision‐making.     

Bird Mortality in Oil Field Wastewater Disposal Facilities

Commercial and centralized oilfield wastewater disposal facilities (COWDFs) are used in the Western United States for the disposal of formation water produced from oil and natural gas wells. In Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, COWDFs use large evaporation ponds to dispose of the wastewater. Birds are attracted to these large evaporation ponds which, if not managed properly, can cause wildlife mortality. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted 154 field inspections of 28 COWDFs in Wyoming from March 1998 through September 2008 and documented mortality of birds and other wildlife in 9 COWDFs. Of 269 bird carcasses recovered from COWDFs, grebes (Family Podicipedidae) and waterfowl (Anatidae) were the most frequent casualties. Most mortalities were attributed to oil on evaporation ponds, but sodium toxicity and surfactants were the suspected causes of mortality at three COWDFs. Although the oil industry and state and federal regulators have made much progress in reducing bird mortality in oil and gas production facilities, significant mortality incidents continue in COWDFs, particularly older facilities permitted in the early 1980’s. Inadequate operation and management of these COWDFs generally results in the discharge of oil into the large evaporation ponds which poses a risk for birds and other wildlife.     

Assessing impacts of introduced aquatic species: Grass carp in large systems

Introduced species have created environmental benefits and unanticipated disasters so a priori assessments of species introductions are needed for environmental management. A checklist for assessing impacts of introduced species was developed from studies of introduced species and recommendations for planning introductions. Sterile, triploid grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) are just beginning to be used as a biocontrol agent for the management of aquatic vegetation in open waterways. Potential impacts of grass carp in open systems were identified by reviewing grass carp biology relative to the impact assessment checklist. The potential consequences of introduced grass carp were reviewed for one case study. The case study demonstrated that conclusions about potential impacts and monitoring needs can be made despite incomplete information and uncertainty. Indicators of environmental impact and vulnerability of host systems were grouped into six categories: population control, hybridization, diseases and parasites, habitat alterations, biological effects, and management issues. Triploid grass carp can significantly alter habitat and biological resources through the secondary effects of reductions in aquatic vegetation. Potential impacts and significant uncertainties involve fish dispersions from plant control areas, inability to control vegetation loss, loss of diverse plant communities and their dependent species, and conflicts with human use of the water resource. Adequate knowledge existed to assess most potential consequences of releasing large numbers of triploid grass carp in Guntersville Reservoir, Alabama. However, the assessment of potential impacts indicated that moderate, incremental stockings combined with monitoring of vegetation and biological resources are necessary to control the effects of grass carp and achieve desirable, intermediate plant densities. Cooperators: Auburn University (Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Sciences), US Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama Game and Fish Division, and the Wildlife Management Institute.     

Adaptive Management of Flows in the Lower Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA

The lower Roanoke River in North Carolina, USA, has been regulated by a series of dams since the 1950s. This river and its floodplain have been identified by The Nature Conservancy, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the State of North Carolina as critical resources for the conservation of bottomland hardwoods and other riparian and in-stream biota and communities. Upstream dams are causing extended floods in the growing season for bottomland hardwood forests, threatening their survival. A coalition of stakeholders including public agencies and private organizations is cooperating with the dam managers to establish an active adaptive management program to reduce the negative impacts of flow regulation, especially extended growing season inundation, on these conservation targets. We introduce the lower Roanoke River, describe the regulatory context for negotiating towards an active adaptive management program, present our conservation objective for bottomland hardwoods, and describe investigations in which we successfully employed a series of models to develop testable management hypotheses. We propose adaptive management strategies that we believe will enable the bottomland hardwoods to regenerate and support their associated biota and that are reasonable, flexible, and economically sustainable.     

A Comparison of Protocols and Observer Precision for Measuring Physical Stream Attributes1

Abstract: Stream monitoring programs commonly measure physical attributes to assess the effect of land management on stream habitat. Variability associated with the measurement of these attributes has been linked to a number of factors, but few studies have evaluated variability due to differences in protocols. We compared six protocols, five used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and one by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on six streams in Oregon and Idaho to determine whether differences in protocol affect values for 10 physical stream attributes. Results from Oregon and Idaho were combined for groups participating in both states, with significant differences in attribute means for 9 out of the 10 stream attributes. Significant differences occurred in 5 of 10 in Idaho, and 10 of 10 in Oregon. Coefficients of variation, signal‐to‐noise ratio, and root mean square error were used to evaluate measurement precision. There were differences among protocols for all attributes when states were analyzed separately and as a combined dataset. Measurement differences were influenced by choice of instruments, measurement method, measurement location, attribute definitions, and training approach. Comparison of data gathered by observers using different protocols will be difficult unless a core set of protocols for commonly measured stream attributes can be standardized among monitoring programs.     

Managing Endangered Species Within the Use–Preservation Paradox: The Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) as a Tourism Attraction

A significant challenge to wildlife managers in tourism settings is to provide visitors with opportunities to observe rare and endangered wildlife while simultaneously protecting the target species from deleterious impacts. Nearly 100,000 people annually visit Crystal River, Florida, USA to observe and swim with the Florida manatee, an endangered species. This research aimed to investigate and describe human-manatee interactions in a tourism context, to understand the salient issues related to such interactions as identified by stakeholders, and to recommend a course of action to address multiple interests in the planning and management of human-manatee interactions. Five issues were identified by all stakeholder groups: water quality, harassment, density and crowding, education, and enforcement. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for manatee management, does not have mechanisms in place to manage the tourism component of the manatee encounter. Although a regulatory approach can be taken, a better approach would be to create an organization of tour operators to establish "best practices" that reflect the goal of the managing agency to enhance manatee protection (and thus ensure their livelihood) and to enhance the visitor experience.     

USE OF THE DELPHI METHOD IN RESOLVING COMPLEX WATER RESOURCES ISSUES1

ABSTRACT: The tri‐state river basins, shared by Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, are being modeled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help facilitate agreement in an acrimonious water dispute among these different state governments. Modeling of such basin reservoir operations requires parallel understanding of several river system components: hydropower production, flood control, municipal and industrial water use, navigation, and reservoir fisheries requirements. The Delphi method, using repetitive surveying of experts, was applied to determine fisheries' water and lake‐level requirements on 25 reservoirs in these interstate basins. The Delphi technique allowed the needs and requirements of fish populations to be brought into the modeling effort on equal footing with other water supply and demand components. When the subject matter is concisely defined and limited, this technique can rapidly assess expert opinion on any natural resource issue, and even move expert opinion toward greater agreement.     

Habitat Conservation Plans Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act: The Legal Perspective

Habitat Conservation Plans under the federal Endangered Species Act have become an increasingly popular tool for resolving conflicts between land development and species conservation. Their primary purpose, however, is legal and regulatory rather than biological. They are what landowners must prepare in order to obtain a permit to "take" animals listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened or endangered. Unfortunately, many professionals involved in the HCP process aren't sufficiently cognizant of the legal and regulatory functions and the purposes and limitations of HCPs. I provide an overview of the regulatory structure of the ESA, the role HCPs play in that structure, and the specific legal requirements associated with HCPs. I then discuss the practice of crafting an HCP and the most common issues that arise in the process. Finally, I assess several very fundamental current problems with the HCP program, problems that threaten to undermine the HCP program to such a degree as to end its utility to landowners and thereby end the tremendous conservation opportunities the HCP program represents.     

Patterns of Aquatic Species Imperilment in the Southern Appalachians: An Evaluation of Regional Databases

/ For regional analyses of species imperilment patterns, data on species distributions are available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and from the state heritage programs. We compared these two different databases as sources of best available information for regional analyses of patterns of aquatic species imperilment for 132 counties in the southern Appalachians and examined patterns produced from the databases. The heritage program database contained information about a greater number of imperiled species because species need not be federally listed as threatened or endangered to be included in this database. In the southern Appalachians, about half of imperiled molluscs and about one-fourth of imperiled fish were listed as threatened or endangered; much smaller proportions of other taxonomic groups were federally listed. Most threatened and endangered species appeared on both lists, but for about 40% of the species inconsistencies exist, notably a lack of recent records in the heritage program dataset. Numbers of species in each county were significantly different between the two datasets for Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia, where the largest number of threatened and endangered species reside. Nevertheless, some counties always appeared as centers of imperilment, and the general spatial patterns of imperilment were similar.     

Population viability analysis as a tool in wildlife conservation policy: With reference to Australia

Wildlife conservation policy for endangered species restoration follows a six-phase process. Population viability analysis (PVA) can play a major contributing role in four of these. PVA, as discussed here, is a technique where extinction vulnerabilities of small populations are estimated using computer simulation modeling. The benefits and limitations of using PVA in wildlife decision and policy processes are reviewed based on our direct experience. PVA permits decision makers to set time frames for management, estimate the required magnitude of restoration efforts, identify quantitative targets for species recovery, and select, implement, monitor, and evaluate management strategies. PVA is of greatest value for rare species policy and management. However, a limitation of PVA simulation models is that they are constrained by the amount of biological data available, and such data are difficult to obtain from small populations that are at immediate risk of extinction. These problems may be overcome with improved models and more data. Our experience shows benefits of PVA far outweigh its limitations, and applications of the approach are most useful when integrated with decision analysis and completed within an adaptive management philosophy. PVAs have been carried out for 14 Victorian species and less used elsewhere in Australia. Management and recovery plans are developed from these PVAs. We recommend that PVA be used to guide research programs, develop conservation strategies, and inform decision and policy making for both endangered and nonendangered species because it can significantly improve many aspects of natural resource policy and management.     

Land Use, Spatial Scale, and Stream Systems: Lessons from an Agricultural Region

We synthesized nine studies that examined the influence of land use at different spatial scales in structuring biotic assemblages and stream channel characteristics in southeastern Minnesota streams. Recent studies have disagreed about the relative importance of catchment versus local characteristics in explaining variation in fish assemblages. Our synthesis indicates that both riparian- and catchment-scale land use explained significant variation in water quality, channel morphology, and fish distribution and density. Fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages can be positively affected by increasing the extent of perennial riparian and upland vegetation. Our synthesis is robust; more than 425 stream reaches were examined in an area that includes a portion of three ecoregions. Fishes ranged from coldwater to warmwater adapted. We suggest that efforts to rehabilitate stream system form and function over the long term should focus on increasing perennial vegetation in both riparian areas and uplands and on managing vegetation in large, contiguous blocks. Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is jointly sponsered by U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, the University of Minnesota, The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Wildlife Management Institute.     

Threatened and Endangered Species: At What Cost? The Corps of Engineers Looks at Expenditures and Priorities

Current political conditions, primarily budgetary uncertainty, and the related reluctance to make funding commitments for future generations, have raised questions about the costs of conservation and environmental protection that have not previously been asked. As Federal investments are scrutinized and budgets become ever more constrained, the costs associated with environmental requirements could begin to be of greater importance and to influence decisions on Federal projects. In response to concerns about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) spending under the Endangered Species Act (P.L. 93-205) (ESA), a limited investigation was performed to determine the accuracy of reported Corps expenditures. The investigation showed that, for particular groups of species, actual conservation costs for threatened and endangered species may be twice the amounts previously reported in the annual ESA expenditure reporting to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In light of this finding, the Corps has sought a means to provide more accurate and consistent reporting of expenditures for addressing threatened and endangered species. A Species Costs Template (template) has been developed to identify the types and magnitude of costs related to the ESA and to counteract the impediments (legal, institutional, and practical) to underreporting costs. The template will be used by the Corps for reporting ESA costs beginning with Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05) (reported in January 2006). Five broad categories of expenditures (effects determination costs, ESA protection and conservation costs, equipment costs, opportunity costs, and other species costs) are identified by the template.     

A Structured Approach to Incidental Take Decision Making

Decision making related to incidental take of endangered species under U.S. law lends itself well to a structured decision making approach. Incidental take is the permitted killing, harming, or harassing of a protected species under the law as long as that harm is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity and does not “reduce appreciably the probability of survival and recovery in the wild.” There has been inconsistency in the process used for determining incidental take allowances across species and across time for the same species, and structured decision making has been proposed to improve decision making. I use an example decision analysis to demonstrate the process and its applicability to incidental take decisions, even under significant demographic uncertainty and multiple, competing objectives. I define the example problem, present an objectives statement and a value function, use a simulation model to assess the consequences of a set of management actions, and evaluate the tradeoffs among the different actions. The approach results in transparent and repeatable decisions.