Research Task: 9354CZ5.612.0
Task Manager: Daniel Manier
Exploration and development of domestic oil and gas resources is a national priority. Oil and gas development in the lower 48 states is focused primarily in five main geologic basins across Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Individual oil and gas wells within each geologic basin are located primarily within large areas of sagebrush habitat containing significant populations of sage-grouse and other wildlife. In Wyoming, with its 115,000 existing wells, more than 10,000 new oil and gas wells are expected to be drilled each year for the next 10-15 years. Similar development is planned for other oil and gas regions in the sagebrush biome. The rapid increase in oil and gas exploration and development has a significant potential to alter not only the distribution and abundance of sage-grouse and other wildlife but to change the underlying ecosystem dynamics sustaining their habitats. However, we understand little of the direct, indirect, or cumulative effects of energy development on the viability of sagebrush ecosystems. The Bureau of Land Management needs this information to ensure that wildlife impacts are minimized in the face of increasing development. FORT scientists are undertaking research to determine how oil and gas development (1) influences the patterns of habitat and wildlife populations and (2) affects the underlying mechanisms sustaining sagebrush ecosystems. The overall goal is to identify cause-effect relationships between oil and gas development and the primary components of sagebrush ecosystems. These biological attributes then can be incorporated into an adaptive management program to mitigate future impacts based on a scientific understanding of how oil and gas development influences those attributes. Investigators will emphasize the multi-scale nature of disturbance from oil and gas development that can range from specific well-pads and individual development fields to range-wide and regional effects. The biological attributes and the range of effects identified in this project will be important to land and wildlife management agencies in developing land-use actions to mitigate or anticipate the effects of oil and gas.
For more information contact Daniel Manier
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Research/research_tasks.asp
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