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Abstract: Wetlands serve critical functions including natural flood control and providing wildlife habitat, yet despite these values they remain highly threatened systems. Here we present a landscape-scale geospatial assessment of wetlands in Wyoming. Areas containing high densities of wetlands were identified and mapped, and wetland complexes were quantified as a function of their biological diversity, protection status, susceptibility to climate change, and proximity to sources of impairment. Our results indicate there are 280591 wetlands in Wyoming, totaling 371758 surface hectares, and 222 wetland complexes. The majority (67%) of wetlands are classified as temporary. Low elevation wetland complexes are the least...
Concern regarding the effect of energy development on greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is increasing as the search for fossil fuel intensifies. Sage-grouse may be especially sensitive to energy development because they require large, diverse areas of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitat to complete their life cycle. Additionally, the network of pipelines, roads, and wells required by energy development may fragment sagebrush habitat isolating populations and contributing to genetic drift, inbreeding, local extinction, or rapid divergence. Seep Ridge, located in northeastern Utah, is one area where sage-grouse habitat and energy development plans overlap. Approved leases call for the construction of...
We assessed species composition, richness and abundance of understory vegetation, as well as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) inoculum potential on the San Francisco Peaks, tallest mountains in Arizona, crossing a steep, south-facing elevational gradient. These mountains have a high conservation value due to their rare habitats but previous vegetation studies have been limited. Because mature trees in the Pinaceae do not form associations with AM fungi, there may be more variation in plant community and AM fungal associations in coniferous forest than in ecosystems where all species associate with AM fungi. Differences in species composition between forest types reflected differences in the historical disturbance regimes....
Protected areas are crucial for biodiversity conservation because they provide safe havens for species threatened by land-use change and resulting habitat loss. However, protected areas are only effective when they stop habitat loss within their boundaries, and are connected via corridors to other wild areas. The effectiveness of protected areas is threatened by development; however, the extent of this threat is unknown. We compiled spatially-detailed housing growth data from 1940 to 2030, and quantified growth for each wilderness area, national park, and national forest in the conterminous United States. Our findings show that housing development in the United States may severely limit the ability of protected...
This cooperative effort by USDA Forest Service Research and the National Forest System assesses the state of knowledge related to the conservation status of four forest carnivores in the western United States: American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine. The conservation assessment reviews the biology and ecology of these species. It also discusses management considerations stemming from what is known and identifies information needed. Overall, we found huge knowledge gaps that make it difficult to evaluate the species' conservation status. In the western United States, the forest carnivores in this assessment are limited to boreal forest ecosystems. These forests are characterized by extensive landscapes with...
Concern is growing across the U.S. among land managers who are seeing increasing numbers of farmers not renewing contracts to keep marginal lands enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Driving this trend in agricultural land use change is a trend in the development of ethanol production techniques and initiatives that would use ethanol as a fuel source to help achieve energy independence. In Pennsylvania many CRP/CREP lands have a subsoil horizon known as a fragipan, which is partly responsible for drainage/rooting problems resulting in poor crop yields. Production of biofuels on such lands poses risks of crop...