Science Projects

Southwest Wyoming land managers face the challenge of ensuring the persistence of the region’s abundant wildlife and important habitats while providing for development of Nationally important energy and mineral resources. Driven by local and regional leaders, the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was officially launched in 2007 with support from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The WLCI mission is to implement a long-term, science-based program of assessing, conserving, and enhancing fish and wildlife habitats while facilitating responsible energy and other development through local collaboration and partnerships. As the principal agency charged with conducting WLCI science, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides multidisciplinary scientific- and technical-assistance support to WLCI partners and works to advance the overall scientific understanding of ecosystems in Southwest Wyoming. Fulfilling these roles entails evaluating the effectiveness of habitat treatments implemented by WLCI partners and collaborators, assessing the cumulative effects of energy development and other land-use changes on wildlife and habitat in the WLCI area, coordinating work activities with the WLCI community, and demonstrating how to integrate research findings into on-the-ground management actions. Work is guided by a Science Strategy based on management needs and by intensive coordination with WLCI partners. The framework for conducting WLCI research and technical assistance work includes Baseline Studies, Targeted Monitoring and Research, Data and Information Management, Integration and Coordination, and Decision-making and Evaluation.

Data Management

• Data Management Framework and Clearinghouse for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative

  Providing, managing, analyzing, and using information assembled or generated for the WLCI is essential for supporting WLCI goals. The Data Management Framework and Clearinghouse work meets those needs by providing a Web-based platform for (1) discovering and taking advantage of existing data and information, (2) cataloging new data and information, (3) making these resources available online to the public and WLCI researchers and decisionmakers, and (4) collaboration promoted by the use of a document-management utility and a wiki for informal discussions. Cataloging appropriate data resources for the WLCI community requires identifying the existing availability, content, scale, and resolution of data for resources relevant to the WLCI. [...] (Read More)

• Outreach and Graphic Products for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative

  Scope and Methods A project as large, and with as many partners, as the WLCI requires excellent intra- and interagency communication, as well as dissemination of products and other information to users interested in learning about the WLCI and tracking its progress. To meet that need, the USGS developed a usable and content-rich Web presence for the WLCI. The WLCI Web site provides information about ongoing activities and eases discovery of additional resources, including publications, reports, newsletters, data products, and habitat and science projects. The WLCI CT and Communications Team manage content for the WLCI Website. The USGS data and information team routinely communicates with WLCI CT to identify modifications and issues [...] (Read More)

• Science and Conservation Projects Database for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative

  Scope and Methods Partners and stakeholders of the WLCI have expressed the need to have access to the descriptive information and locations of (1) "on-the-ground" conservation projects managed by the WLCI CT and (2) science projects being conducted by USGS and other science-agency partners. In response to this need, WLCI project database maps were developed for science and conservation projects and are now available on the WLCI Website. The system provides an interactive map environment, which enables users to click on geospatially placed points, view project information, link to additional resources, including data, and use search and filter capabilities to constrain information. Information on science and conservation projects is [...] (Read More)

Baseline Synthesis

• Application of Comprehensive Assessment to Support Decisionmaking and Conservation Actions

  Scope and Methods The comprehensive assessment is a collaborative effort to compile and analyze resource data to support the needs and efforts of WLCI. The comprehensive assessment is divided into two focus areas. The first focus area is to direct data synthesis and assessment activities to support LPDTs. This information will help the WLCI Coordination Team (CT) and LPDTs conduct conservation planning which includes developing conservation priorities and strategies, identifying priority areas for future conservation actions, and supporting the evaluation and ranking of conservation projects. The second focus area is referred to as the IA. Activities and products associated with the IA are designed to support decision making at the [...] (Read More)

• Development of Regional Curves Relating Bankfull-Channel Geometry and Discharge to Drainage Area for the Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Region in Wyoming

  Scope and Methods This new work activity entails developing regional curves that relate bankfull channel geometry and river discharge to drainage area, which is important for assessing baseline run-off conditions and the extent to which energy development alters these variables in the WLCI region. The term, bankfull, references the stage of streamflow during which a given stream completely fills its channel. Regional curves are statistical models (one-variable, ordinary least-squares regressions) that relate drainage area to bankfull discharge, bankfull cross-sectional area, bankfull width, and bankfull mean depth to drainage area in settings that are expected to have similar runoff characteristics. Equations describing the regional [...] (Read More)

• Development of Conceptual Models to Inform Long-Term Monitoring and Selection of Monitoring Indicators for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative

  Scope and Methods Initial conceptual models were developed to organize and document current knowledge about key ecosystems in Southwest Wyoming. The goal of this work was to provide a scientific means for identifying potential indicators of ecosystem change to be used in a long-term monitoring program. Models pertain to the atmospheric and human systems, and the focal ecosystems identified by WLCI partners: aspen foothill woodlands, mixed mountain shrubs, sagebrush steppe, riparian, and aquatic. Additional models were developed to illustrate the effects of disturbances on wildlife habitat and populations. A hierarchy of models was used to illustrate key components and processes of native systems and how systems respond to human-mediated [...] (Read More)

Targeted Monitoring and Research

• Use of Aspen Stands by Migratory Birds for Effectiveness Monitoring

  Scope and Methods The shrub-steppe system that dominates the WLCI region separates the northern and southern Rocky Mountains; thus, forested areas in the WLCI region are limited. In the Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming, riparian and aspen woodlands comprise only a small fraction of the landscape, but many agencies perceive them as priority habitats because they make important contributions to landscape connectivity and biodiversity at local, regional, and geographic scales. Not only do aspen communities support a unique and diverse suite of species in the WLCI region, they provide important forage and cover for ungulates, help maintain headwater stream function, and they may serve as stepping stones for migratory forest birds [...] (Read More)

• Herbivory, Stand Condition, and Regeneration Rates of Aspen on Burned and Unburned Plots in the Little Mountain Ecosystem Area

  Scope and Methods Since 1990, more than $2 million has been spent on habitat-restoration and enhancement projects in the Little Mountain Ecosystem. Many of these efforts have focused on restoring aspen communities to maintain or improve water quality and to enhance ungulate habitat. Indeed, both fish and ungulate populations appear to have increased as a result. During 2009, biologists from the WGFD Green River Regional Office established long-term monitoring plots to evaluate whether the increased number of ungulates using those stands is in balance with targets set for aspen regeneration. The USGS is supporting this effort by augmenting protocols used by the WGFD to study herbivory patterns at locations associated with historical [...] (Read More)

• Aspen Regeneration Associated with Mechanical Removal of Subalpine Fir

  Scope and Methods The WLCI has supported numerous aspen treatments in the Sierra Madre Range to reduce conifer densities, increase aspen regeneration, and diversify stand dynamics. Specifically, mechanical removal of subalpine fir and lodgepole pine has taken place on approximately 100 acres in the Medicine Bow National Forest. WLCI partners are seeking information on how aspen and under-canopy vegetation have responded to the treatments, the relationship between soil chemistry and mechanical removal of conifers, and the response of invasive species to soil and litter disturbance associated with mechanical removals. To address these and similar questions, the USGS developed a study during the summer of 2008 to investigate aspen regeneration [...] (Read More)

Integration and Coordination

• Coordination, Science Integration, Decisionmaking, and Evaluation for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative

  Scope and Methods A program as large and complex as the WLCI requires significant coordination and management, as well as the integration of what is learned from science with decisionmaking and program-evaluation processes. For the WLCI, coordination and integration are accomplished through the WLCI CT, which is composed of one member each from the USGS, BLM, FWS, WGFD, and WDA. There is also a USGS member on the Science and Technical Advisory Committee. Under the direction of the WLCI EC, the CT manages the fiscal and logistical operations necessary to meet the goals and objectives of the WLCI. The CT also is responsible for conservation planning and implementing adaptive management strategies to guide future conservation actions. [...] (Read More)

• Summary of Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative Coordination, Science Integration, Decisionmaking, and Evaluation Activities in FY2010

  Integration and Coordination activities continue to be critical components of USGS involvement in the WLCI. A full-time USGS scientist, who is a member of the WLCI CT, works with the WLCI CT to manage WLCI operations, coordinate WLCI teams and committees, and integrate science principles and concepts into WLCI activities to support conservation planning and to ensure that USGS science helps inform on-the-ground management actions and decisions. This individual serves as a direct connection between local managers, project developers, and administrators, and as a liaison for the scientific information and technical capabilities available through USGS and others. In addition to the CT, the USGS also supports and(or) provides leadership [...] (Read More)