Biology In Your Backyard
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Invasive species are plants or animals that are present in an ecosystem beyond their native range. They may have few natural controls in their new environment and proliferate. They can threaten native species and interfere with human activities. The Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC) has been conducting research to understand how non-native species invade and affect ecosystems, thus aiding management efforts. (more...) For approximately 90 years, two hydroelectric dams have blocked the annual return of anadromous fish to over 70 miles of the Elwha River in Washington's Olympic National Park. The Department of Interior proposes to remove both dams to fully restore the Elwha River ecosystem and native anadromous fisheries as authorized by the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act of 1992. (more...)  amThe Conservation Reserve Program is the largest environmental program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture , with enrollment exceeding 34 million acres across all 50 states. In Washington, over 1.4 million acres are in the CRP on 4,804 farms. Based on average rental payments, the CRP brings in more than $78.5 million per year to Washington's farm economy. Improvement in program performance is an enduring goal of CRP administrators. For the past 7 years, and continuing into FY05 and beyond, USGS scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center (CO) have been working in partnership with the USDA Farm Service Agency to help improve program performance by evaluating program performance both socially (how is it working for CRP contractees?) and ecologically (how is wildlife habitat improved?). Throughout the world, riparian habitats have been dramatically modified from their natural condition. Dams are one of the principal causes of these changes, via their alteration of water and sediment regimes. Efforts to restore riparian habitats and other riverine ecosystems have included managing flow releases downstream of dams to more closely mimic natural flows, but dam removal has received little attention as a possible approach to riparian restoration. Fort Collins Science Center (CO) researchers are evaluating the effects of dam removal by (1) observing riparian vegetation responses associated with current or proposed dam removals; (2) studying historic or surrogate situations that produce similar types of responses; and (3) synthesizing existing information on likely mechanisms of response of riparian vegetation to dam removal. Salmon in the Pacific Northwest are well known for their remarkable migrations. To complete their complex life cycle, juvenile salmon make downriver migrations to grow in the food-rich north Pacific Ocean, and adults return to spawn their eggs in natal streams and tributaries. (more...) Infectious diseases are increasingly recognized as an important component of the ecology of fish in the wild. Many of the viral, bacterial, protozoan and fungal pathogens of fish that were initially discovered in captive fish have their origin among wild populations; however, the impact of disease among these free-ranging stocks has been difficult to study. At the Western Fisheries Research Center, combinations of field and laboratory investigations, aided by the tools of molecular biology, have begun to provide information on the ecology of infectious diseases among natural populations of fish in both freshwater and marine ecosystems. (more...)  Fish population studies range from determining the effects of environmental influences on fish populations, describing the distribution and abundance of particular species, examining passage related behavior of juvenile salmonids at hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, developing computer models to describe fish population viability and energy expenditure, and collecting information to assist with the restoration and possible enhancement of fish populations. (more...) For millennia, human dependence on water for consumption, irrigation, and as a source of food has resulted in the establishment of settlements adjacent to aquatic systems. As the human population has expanded the demands for water and food have increased. (more...) Greater Sage-Grouse currently inhabit 56% of their historic range, leaving some populations isolated from each other. Questions remain about the genetic viability of and distinctions between different populations of this bird. Scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center (CO) are completing DNA analysis of Greater Sage-Grouse sampled across their entire range of 11 states (including central Washington) and two Canadian provinces. These data will provide information to help understand gene flow, genetic diversity, and evolutionary history between many populations of grouse and enable comparisons between all surveyed populations. With this information, managers can develop species-wide management strategies that take into account the entire "genetic landscape" of this species. The importance of the Columbia River estuary to salmon, resident fishes, migratory birds, and other species is well established. Relatively little is known, however, about long-term, historic variations in biological processes and conditions within the estuary. (more...) More than 6,500 non-indigenous species are now established in the United States, causing huge economic losses and disrupting valued American ecosystems. Biological invaders pose risks to native species, human and wildlife health, and the productivity of agricultural food supplies. (more...)  Distributing sampling for long-term ecological monitoring in space and time is a challenging endeavor. The sampling frame must be statistically robust and provide the greatest possible inference while being technically feasible given the constraints of topography and allowed travel modes in National Parks. (more...)Rapid population growth in the Western United States over the last century has placed increasing strains on our water supplies and aquatic ecosystems. (more...)  OwlA major goal of the Northwest Forest Plan is to protect and enhance habitat for the northern spotted owl through many methods, including development of a monitoring strategy. As a result, an effectiveness monitoring plan was developed for the northern spotted owl. This effectiveness monitoring plan poses a number of questions, some of which are pertinent to this study. (more...) The Yakima Basin in Washington historically sustained diverse and abundant salmon and steelhead runs. Since 1900, however, anadromous fish runs have declined or have been extirpated. Although numerous out-of-basin mechanisms may be involved in the decline, in-basin changes in the characteristics and dynamics of the riverine habitat have been identified as primary causal agents. Land managers have been assigned the task of improving flow and habitat for the basin's remaining anadromous fisheries. The Fo  rt Collins Science Center (CO), in collaboration with the Columbia River Research Laboratory (WA) and the Washington Water Science Center (WRD), is developing an integrated water management/habitat response tool that will allow managers to quantify the feasibility, effectiveness, and risks associated with various water management alternatives. |
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://biology.usgs.gov/wro/backyard/wa.html
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Page Last Modified:
Monday, 23-Oct-2006 14:54:34 MDT
