USGS National Wetlands Research Center: FY03NWRC Accomplishments

NWRC STATUS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR FY03

The center has supported the following USGS BRD program goals:

PROGRAM: TERRESTRIAL, FRESH WATER, AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

Goal 1 – Develop Indexes of Ecosystem Sensitivity to Change and Vulnerability to Potential Stressors, and Tools to Predict Ecosystem Responses to Environmental Change

The center provided scientific leadership in a multiagency research effort to understand the causative factors leading to the massive die off of salt marsh that occurred in Louisiana and other Gulf of Mexico States in 2000. The center’s science team provided an example of how a well-coordinated unit of multiagency scientists could move rapidly to address an environmental disaster that was of high priority to DOI management agencies, State natural resource agencies, and conservation organizations in the region. During the FY a number of informational documents describing the extent and cause of the salt marsh die off were produced.

Goal 2 - Devise a Restoration and Adaptive Management Framework for Impaired Ecosystems

The center continues to play a significant role in the creation and evaluation of restoration alternatives developed under the $14 billion Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA), Louisiana Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Study. Conceptual ecological models designed to support the planning and evaluation processes of the LCA were initiated by center scientists early in the FY. This large scale modeling effort was co-chaired with Louisiana State University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. More than 40 participating scientists from 10 natural resource agencies, 5 universities, and a number of consulting organizations are involved in the effort to develop hydrodynamic, habitat change, water quality and other models in support of the LCA.

The center completed a 5-year interagency agreement with the EPA’s Gulf Ecology Division for monitoring and assessing environmental conditions in estuaries of the United States as part of EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program-Estuaries (EMAP-e). This major science effort involved cooperative partnerships with coastal States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Products and services provided by the center included a number of spatial analyses for selected bays and estuaries, quality assessment support for EMAP-e, and presentation support for the Ecological Condition of Estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico Report (EPA 620-R-98-004) and the National Coastal Condition Report (EPA-620-R-01-005).

Water quality contaminant issues and fish and wildlife habitat losses have caused the 954-mile long Lower Mississippi River (LMR) and its four backwater areas to be identified as an ecosystem of special concern by the USFWS, EPA, and numerous river conservation organizations. The Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee (LMRCC) and USGS sponsored a series of State-by-State (TN, KY, AR, and MO completed in FY03) Restoring America’s Greatest River Initiative workshops. At the workshops, representatives of several State and Federal agencies as well as the private sector were asked to assist in identification of aquatic resource habitat restoration opportunities along and adjacent the LMR. The USGS, working with its partners in the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee, and others, secured the support of the LMR Valley six State Governors, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Mississippi River Commission for support of the Lower Mississippi River Resource Assessment, a funding vehicle to support the science and restoration efforts of the Restoring America’s Greatest River initiative.

Goal 3 - Model Factors Controlling Ecosystem Patterns at Various Scales and Develop
Decision Support Systems Which Integrate this Information with Management Options

The center worked cooperatively with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
(Office of Coastal Restoration and Management) to address restoration of coastal wetland systems. The center provided critical models, maps, and other products that have been used by coastal planners and managers responsible for ground-level efforts to mitigate and retard wetland loss in the region.

PROGRAM: WILDLIFE AND TERRESTRIAL RESOURCES

Goal 5 - Continue a National Amphibian Research Program and Conservation Strategy

The center made major progress on the agency’s Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative during the FY. Major focus was on monitoring anurans (frogs) in the Atchafalaya River Basin of Louisiana and examining individuals for deformities. One major finding was that some species (e.g., the pig frog) was significantly fewer in number this year than last. Such population fluctuations will require multiyear monitoring to determine whether these numeric changes are related to natural population variation or to some causative factor such as environmental contaminants or habitat loss. Resource managers in the region are keenly interested in this effort and are expected to be major beneficiaries of the scientific findings.

PROGRAM: INVASIVE SPECIES AND EMERGING DISEASES

Goal 1 - Expand Research to Support Prevention and Control Invasive Species

Invasive species research was significantly expanded in Texas, from a focus on use of fire in coastal prairies to control the exotic Chinese Tallow tree, to a more generalized research effort on fire as a management tool for both invasive and noninvasive plants across a broad range of habitat types on Federal lands.

PROGRAM: BIOLOGICAL INFORMATICS

Publishing: Edited 636 information products and provided graphic support for 150 projects during fiscal year 03. Produced several high-profile international projects for USFWS: The Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (in press; 48 x 36 inches, two-sided) and six initiative plans (in press) for the Gulf Coast Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Produced two USGS series reports and five USGS fact sheets. Assisted in the production of 13 USGS Open-File Reports. Nominated A Guide to bottomland Hardwood Restoration for the Society for Technical Communicators competition and received a merit award. Branch Chief served as a member of the Publishing Issues Group, the PIG’s editing subteam, and the Visual Information Scoping team for Competitive Sourcing.

Library: Responded to about 300 information requests from staff and public; provided table of content and information dissemination services; provided and researched Journal Citation Reports; prepared Biological Report series bibliography (1992-96); created or modified more than 200 OPAC records; added 150 items to archive data base; acquired about a 100 new works; developed SOPs; scanned reports and developed an indexing schematic; established a Hall of Fame to display published journal articles and increased the number of recipients for table of contents of high-profile reports.

Education and Outreach: Contributed 4 articles for Sound Waves, 1 for People, Land and Water, 1 for Migratory Birds and Wetlands Link, 1 for Wild Birds Unlimited Newsletter; 4 press releases and advisories; 50 Weekly Highlights; contributed photos to be used in two textbooks.
Reached approximately 6,500 students and 10,000 members of the general public by participating in Wetlands Folklife Festival, Louisiana Science Teachers Association Annual Meeting, GIS Day, and Acadiana Migratory Bird Day and poster contest, all in Lafayette; Earth Day, Baton Rouge; Gueydan Prairie Restoration Project, Gueydan, Louisiana; Louisiana Science Teachers Association Annual Meeting, Society of Wetland Scientists National Meeting, National Association of Government Communicators Annual Communications School, and the Society for Environmental Journalists Annual Conference, all in New Orleans; center tours for K-12 and university students; teacher workshops; career fairs; Shadow a Scientist mentoring program; and the Science Olympiad. An additional 8,100 people used the conference room.
Branch Chief served as president of the National Association of Government Communicators and is a member of the Gulf of Mexico Program’s Communications Committee.

2002 Accomplishments

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