Fish and Wildlife Service

Description

THERE IS NO FULL ANNOUNCEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS OPPORUTUNITY. Salt marshes are ecotonal ecosystems that form the dominant transition zone between terrestrial and marine communities and are critical for absorbing the energy of ocean storms and preserving shorelines, improving water quality in bays and estuaries, providing nutrients to marine food webs, and supplying critical habitat for both the reproduction of a suite of ocean species and for use by an entire community of breeding and migratory birds. Wildlife species that depend on salt marshes are some of the highest conservation priorities, many of which occur in coastal US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuges. Most salt marshes are impacted to some extent by some type of anthropogenic alteration and are threatened by accelerated rates of sealevel. Understanding how best to measure the effects of these alterations on salt marsh condition and wildlife habitat quality of habitat were the focus of the project Development of a Salt Marsh Assessment Tool to Monitor System Integrity and Provide Management Priorities for WildlifeConservation in Response to a Hierarchy of Threats (Neckles et al. 2011). This project identified monitoring metrics that were linked to both management and fundamental objectives and tested each metric to determine which method (rapid vs. intensive) was most effective and efficient. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 is now planning to implement the Salt Marsh Integrity Monitoring Protocol (Neckles et al. 2011) to assess and track the condition of salt marsh habitats on USFWS Refuges with salt marsh habitats. To assist in the development of this long-term monitoring program we will draft a monitoring and test a monitoring protocol following Oakley et al. (2003) and USFWS I and M Standards that will provide the details necessary to fully implement the Salt Marsh Integrity monitoring in Region 5. This protocol will develop refuge specific sampling designs for all refuges in USFWS Region 5 with salt marsh habitat (Rachel Carson, Parker River, RI Complex, Stewart B. McKinney, Wertheim, Edwin B. Forsyth, Bombay Hook, Prime Hook, Chesapeake Bay Complex, Chincoteague, Fisherman Island, and Eastern Shore of Virginia) and integrate all the previously identified and tested metrics for monitoring salt marsh integrity. Objectives: 1) Work cooperatively with USFWS staff to draft the Salt Marsh Integrity Monitoring Protocol; 2) Define monitoring objectives for each metric or suite of metrics; 3) Develop sampling designs for all USFWS Refuges in Region 5 with salt marsh habitat that integrates existing sampling frames 4) Coordinate with the National Park Service, Northeast Coastal Barrier Inventory and Monitoring Network to identify and enhance similarities in salt marsh condition monitoring between refuges and parks; 5) Develop field sampling maps to be included in the appropriate SOPs; 6) Develop analytical procedures to analyze the monitoring data including the development of a bird community integrity index that standardizes scores across all refuges; 7) Coordinate a pilot field implementation season (2012) 8) Draft protocol with all SOPs Product Due Date: April 2013 Neckles, H. A., G. Guntenspergen, G. Shriver, N., Danz, W. Wiest, J. Nagel, and J. Olker. 2011. Development of a Salt Marsh Assessment Tool to Monitor System Integrity and Provide Management Priorities for Wildlife Conservation in Response to a Hierarchy of Threats. Draft report submitted to USFWS Region 5. Oakley, K. L., L. P. Thomas, and S. G. Fancy. 2003. Guidelines for longterm monitoring protocols. Wildlife Society Bulletin 31: 1000 through 1003

Who can apply

• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education

Contact

Daffny Jones, 413-253-8595<br/>daffny_jones@fws.gov<br/>
daffny_jones@fws.gov