John Rice Science Coordinator

April 29 – May 1, 2014

•  Focus

•  Strategy

•  Focus •  Landscape-scale focus: A landscape that

supports and sustains desired conditions for focal resources

•  Local-scale focus –where are conservation actions most effective?

•  Site-scale actions – where do partners have the desire and dollars to implement conservation actions?

•  Strategy •  Shared understanding of current and projected

ecological conditions •  Conservation Objectives •  Capacity •  Allocation of scarce resources: time/talent/

treasure

•  Funding Applied Science – BOR/FWS

•  Collaboration with other LCCs and CSCs

•  Supporting Science Developed by Partners

•  Spatial Data Management for Decision Support- BLM/FWS/USGS

•  Research Ecologist (John Bradford) - USGS

Science Development

Funding Applied Science

•  24 Projects

•  >$2m– BOR/FWS •  Matching funds >$1m – Many Partners

•  >$3.5m

Science Development

Funding Applied Science

•  Acquisition and analysis of spatial data

•  Climate modeling and development of climate change scenarios

•  Vulnerability assessments

•  Resource inventories and monitoring strategies

Science Development

Work with partners to discuss their priorities

and identify any shared resources

Identify Priority Managed Elements for Shared

Resources within SRLCC

Identify measurable conservation/management targets for Shared Resources

and corresponding Priority Managed Elements

Assess current state of knowledge and identify

limiting factors

Compile and apply decision support tools

(i.e. climate models, PVA, etc.)

Formulate conservation strategy (including

specific management actions) to reach desired

objectives and goals

Conservation Delivery (implement conservation

strategy and specific management actions)

Monitor effects of management actions on

conservation targets

Measure success toward reaching desirable

outcomes (objectives)

Measure efficacy of accomplishments towards

larger group of conservation priorities)

Revise conservation targets, objectives, or

conservation strategy as necessary

Resource Planning

Conservation Delivery

Conservation Design

Monitoring And Research

Adaptive Management Framework

Completed Projects

•  Digitizing NWI Wetland maps

•  Evaluation of Fremont cottonwood stand dynamics - Mapping and modeling longevity of cottonwood stands along regulated rivers

•  Building Resilience to Climate Change: Development and Demonstration in Colorado’s Gunnison Basin

Science Development

Funding Applied Science

•  Soil Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Southern Rockies - a tool that managers can use to project the effects of climate change on soil vulnerability and to develop strategies for mitigating climate impacts

•  Development of the Western States Crucial Habitat Assessment Tools

Science Development

Completed Projects

•  Vulnerability, Resilience & Connectivity of Landscapes & Riparian Habitat in the SRLCC - provides foundational information about habitat fragmentation and connectivity and identifies the vulnerability of key habitats to climate change.

Science Development

Completed Projects

•  Bear River Refuge and Watershed - conservation and outreach strategies to build support for land protection and a framework for implementation

•  Evaluation of Decision Support System Platforms and Tools for Integrated Water Management in the Colorado River Basin

•  http://southernrockieslcc.org/products/science-projects/

Science Development

Collaboration with other LCCs and CSCs

•  Multi-LCC Sage-grouse projects – FWS •  $0.5m funding; with leverage almost $1m •  Remote sensing of conifer encroachment •  Population size and trend estimation •  Cheatgrass control using soil bacteria •  Regional fuel breaks to protect large

tracts of habitat •  Shared funding for applied science – DLCC

Science Development

Supporting Science Developed by Partners

•  Colorado Plateau REA– FWS/BLM •  Data Analyst -

•  Specific projects that support focal resource management

•  Assist with analysis of Colorado Plateau REA data and development of decision support

•  Provide support with geospatial data management, analysis, and visualization

Science Development

Spatial Data Management and Tools

•  LC MAP – USGS cataloging effort •  Data Manager (Jared Hansen) – USGS/FWS

•  Identify, obtain, and make available existing data sets

•  Apply spatial data to fundamental questions relevant to landscape management

•  Shared understanding of current and projected ecological conditions

•  Conservation Planning Atlas

Science Development

Research Ecologist (John Bradford) - USGS

Science Development

Full list at: http://southernrockieslcc.org/project  

•  Effects of Bio-control and Restoration on Wildlife in Southwestern Riparian Habitats. Arizona State University

•  Science-Based Riparian Restoration Planning on the Colorado and Dolores Rivers. The Nature Conservancy

•  A GIS-Based Evaluation of Fremont Cottonwood Stand Dynamics in the SRLCC. US Geological Survey

•  Assessment of connectivity and enhancement of adaptive management capacity on Navajo Nation lands. UC Davis

•  A Regional Model for Building Resilience to Climate Change: Development and Demonstration in Colorado’s Gunnison Basin. The Nature Conservancy

•  National Wetland Inventory Mapping . Colorado Natural Heritage Program

•  Vulnerability of Riparian Obligate Species in the Rio Grande to the Interactive Effects of Fire, Hydrological Variation and Climate Change. FS - Rocky Mountain Research Station