WERC Highlights -- April 2003

High Number of California Sea Otter Deaths: Forty-four* southern sea otters have washed up on California beaches during April 2003, more than double the 10-year average of 20 strandings for this month. Since January 2003, about 91 (83 recovered dead or moribund and 8 that are in rehabilitation) sea otters have washed ashore throughout the population’s range, already reaching half the 2002 total of 181 strandings. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which earlier this month released its comprehensive recovery plan for the threatened southern sea otter, may declare that the deaths, as yet unexplained, constitute an “unusual mortality event.” The dead include adults in the prime breeding population, as well as pups and older animals. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which cares for otters that strand alive on beaches and rocky-shore areas, has logged a record 17 animals in 2003, compared with the previous high: 12 otters during the first four months of the year in 1998. In 2002, only four live-stranded animals came to the aquarium during the same period. The sea otter stranding network includes California Department of Fish and Game, USGS (coordinating agency), the Monterey Bay Aquarium, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Academy of Sciences, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, various city beach clean-up crews and others who contribute by reporting and/or retrieving stranded otters. The 2003 spring survey of the California sea otter begins in May. (Jim Estes, Santa Cruz, CA, 831-459-2820, jim_estes@usgs.gov; Brian Hatfield, San Simeon, CA, 805-927-3893, brian_hatfield@usgs.gov) *Note: As of May 1, this preliminary number for April strandings has risen to 48.

USGS Scientist Recipient of National Wilderness Award: The U.S. Forest Service has named Jan van Wagtendonk, a USGS research forester with the Western Ecological Research Center, recipient of a 2002 National Wilderness Award, in the category of excellence in wilderness stewardship research. The award recognizes van Wagtendonk’s career of over 30 years in wilderness science. His research at Yosemite National Park has assisted in the development of wilderness fire management and visitor use management programs for the park that have contributed substantially to interagency wilderness stewardship programs in the Sierra Nevada. His work on fuels dynamics, fire prescriptions, remote sensing, and GIS application to fire management has made major contributions to wilderness fire programs both in the Sierra Nevada and across the country. USFS chief Dale Bosworth will present the award to van Wagtendonk at the USFS Annual Chief's Awards Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, Thurs., June 12, 2003. (Jan van Wagtendonk, El Portal, CA, 209-379-1306, jan_van_wagtendonk@usgs.gov) Official news release

Salt Pond Research: On an April 29 field trip, USGS scientist Keith Miles of the Western Ecological Research Center gave an overview of the past and future of San Francisco Bay salt ponds to a University of San Francisco biology class. Leading the class to research sites, he discussed USGS studies of the ponds and provided a demonstration of bird and invertebrate sampling, and nutrient and water quality sampling analyses. (A. Keith Miles, Davis, CA, 530-752-5365, keith_miles@usgs.gov)

Data Management: USGS scientist Chris Brown of the Western Ecological Research Center gave a presentation on USGS integrated data management in coordination with other agency partners at a meeting for natural resource data managers of the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program in Phoenix, Arizona, April 29-May 2, 2003. For additional information: http://www1.nature.nps.gov/im/datamgt/dm_meeting.htm. (Chris Brown, San Diego, CA, 858- 637-6883, cwbrown@usgs.gov)

Sea Otters: USGS scientists Jim Estes and Brian Hatfield of the Western Ecological Research Center were interviewed by the Sacramento Bee and San Luis Obispo Tribune regarding the record high number of stranded California sea otters during the month of April. This news was reported also by Associated Press, Reuters, Environmental News Network, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Monterey County Herald, KFBK radio, KTVU TV, and seafood.com. (Jim Estes, Santa Cruz, CA, 831-459-2820, jim_estes@usgs.gov; Brian Hatfield, San Simeon, CA, 805-927-3893, brian_hatfield@usgs.gov)

Fallen Giants: USGS scientist Nate Stephenson of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed by the Oakland Tribune about two giant sequoias that recently fell in Yosemite National Park. Stephenson noted that the event, though rare, was probably not out of the ordinary when viewed in the context of the normal life cycle of sequoias. (Nate Stephenson, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3176, nstephenson@usgs.gov)

Las Vegas Open House: USGS scientist Todd Esque of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed live on May 1 by KLAS-TV in Las Vegas for the News ONE at 9 segment. Esque highlighted the upcoming open house event (May 2-3, 2003) of the USGS Las Vegas Integrated Science office, and his research on desert ecosystems. (Todd Esque, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4506, todd_esque@usgs.gov)

Fire Monitoring Task Force: USGS fire ecologists will meet in Herndon, Virginia, in a workshop to develop a document that will guide the preparation of monitoring plans used to assess the environmental consequences of fire fuel treatments and post-fire stabilization and rehabilitation activities. USGS leads this interagency-intergovernmental effort at the request of Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture coordinators of the National Fire Plan. Among presentations for the workshop by task force members is one by Jon Keeley of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center on the Fire and Fire Surrogate Network project. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov)

Golden Gate Trails: USGS scientists of the Western Ecological Research Center will be on hand to showcase their carnivore research at a public event called “Trails Forever,” sponsored by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy on Sunday, May 4, 2003. The event will be centered at Tennessee Valley in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the most popular entrances to the park. USGS scientist Erin Boydston leads a team that is currently studying the recolonization of coyotes in the park. (Erin Boydston, Sausalito, CA, 415-331-0639, eboydston@usgs.gov)

Asian Clam: USGS scientist John Takekawa of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed by National Geographic about USGS studies on diving ducks consuming Asian clams and their bioaccumulation of contaminants in San Francisco Bay, for a documentary on invasive species. (John Takekawa, Vallejo, CA, 707-562-2000, john_takekawa@usgs.gov)

Fire Research: An abbreviated version of the videotaped Joint Fire Science Program 2002 Principal Investigator Workshop will be broadcast via satellite from the Bureau of Land Management’s National Training Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 22, 2003. Presentations by USGS scientists Matt Brooks, Steve Hostetler, and Tom Bobbe on invasive grasses, climate, and remote sensing, respectively, are included in the broadcast. For more information: http://www.ntc.blm.gov/coming_events/ce-254.html. (Matt Brooks, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4615, matt_brooks@usgs.gov)

Southern California Riparian Birds: USGS scientists Barbara Kus and David Kisner of the Western Ecological Research Center will give lectures at the 75th annual meeting of the Cooper Ornithological Society, April 30-May 3 at the du Bois Conference Center on the Northern Arizona University campus, Flagstaff, Arizona. Kus will speak on cowbird parasitism of least Bell’s vireos, and Kisner on the impact of the exotic giant reed on riparian birds of southern California. For more information: http://www.usgs.nau.edu/cos2003/. (Barbara Kus, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6881, barbara_kus@usgs.gov; David Kisner, 858-637-6913, dkisner@usgs.gov)

Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition and Alien Plants: Desert regions subjected to high nitrogen deposition rates may be more easily invaded and dominated by alien annual plants than areas of lower soil fertility, according to a recently published USGS study in the Journal of Applied Ecology reporting the effects of nitrogen deposition on the dominance of alien annual plants in the Mojave Desert. USGS scientist Matt Brooks of the Western Ecological Research Center found that increased levels of soil nitrogen can increase productivity of invasive alien plants in the Mojave Desert, enhancing their ability to invade and dominate landscapes where naturally low soil fertility may otherwise inhibit their establishment and growth. Soil nitrogen addition increased the density and biomass of alien annual plants during two years of contrasting rainfall and annual plant productivity, suggesting that the benefits of nitrogen deposition to alien annuals may be significant during years of high or low rainfall. During the year of higher annual plant productivity, nitrogen addition also led to decreased diversity and abundance of native species, possibly due to increased competitive stress for soil water and other nutrients caused by the increased biomass of aliens. A summary of this article, with management implications, can be found in a new WERC Publication Brief at: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/brookspbapr2003.html. (Matt Brooks, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4615, matt_brooks@usgs.gov)

Integrated Fire and Resource Mangement Course: USGS scientists Matt Brooks and Craig Allen are instructors in a course designed to bring fire and resource managers of the National Park Service together and faciliate the drafting of fire management plans. The first of several such meetings for various NPS biogeographic units, this course focuses on the Colorado Plateau. In the “Role of Fire on the Colorado Plateau” session, Brooks will provide background information on the historic and current fire regimes and ecological effects of fire in semi-arid shrublands and grasslands. In “Adaptive Management,” Allen will speak on the topics of goals, objectives, and monitoring, providing examples of park programmatic goals and fire management goals, and identifying areas of interdisciplinary work. The Colorado Plateau course will be held in Arizona at the Albright Training Center in Grand Canyon National Park, Apr. 28–May 2, 2003. (Matt Brooks, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4615, matt_brooks@usgs.gov; Craig Allen, Los Alamos, NM, 505-672-3861 x541, craig_allen@usgs.gov)

Aquatic Health in Southern California: Several USGS scientists of the Western Ecological Research Center will give presentations on southern California aquatic studies at the joint annual meeting of the Western Division and California-Nevada Chapter of the American Fisheries Society in San Diego, Calif., Apr.14-17, 2003. Their topics include the status of native amphibian and aquatic reptile fauna, ongoing research on the mountain yellow-legged frog, effects of exotic amphibians, and introduced parasites of freshwater fish. For more information: http://www.fisheries.org/wd/meet/2003/meet2003_new.htm. (Robert N. Fisher, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6882, rfisher@usgs.gov)

USGS Biological Expertise for FWS Review Effort: USGS scientists Matt Brooks and Kathleen Longshore of the Western Ecological Research Center will be among about 20 participants (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and California Department of Fish and Game and USGS), in the Wildlife and Habitat Management Review Team for the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., Apr. 14-17, 2003. This review is part of the FWS Comprehensive Conservation Planning Process, and the team will discuss the biological issues at the two units in the complex, Desert NWR and Ash Meadows NWR. Brooks was asked to participate based on his knowledge fire and vegetation ecology and management; Longshore on her knowledge of behavior and ecology of desert bighorn sheep. (Matt Brooks, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4615, matt_brooks@usgs.gov; Kathy Longshore, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4505, longshore@usgs.gov)

His Job’s a Drop in the Bucket: A story in The Irvine Ranch Land Reserve’s periodical “Forever Wild” features the amphibian and reptile survey being conducted on the reserve by USGS scientists of the Western Ecological Research Center, highlighting T’Shaka Touré. In the 8 years of survey work, USGS has documented 35 out of 43 species of amphibians and reptiles known to exist in Orange County. Reptile photographs by USGS scientist Chris Brown also appear in the publication. The Irvine Ranch Land Reserve, comprising more than half of the historic 93,000-acre Irvine Ranch, is home to hundreds of species of native plants and animals. The Nature Conservancy serves as steward of the major wildlands on the reserve. For more information: http://www.irvineranchlandreserve.com/. (T’Shaka Touré, Irvine, CA, 714-227-1109, ttoure@usgs.gov; Chris Brown, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6883, cwbrown@usgs.gov)

From Salt Pond to Tidal Marsh: USGS scientist John Takekawa was interviewed in an April 6 story by the San Francisco Chronicle on the transformation of South Bay salt ponds into natural tidal marshes as part of a habitat restoration project: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/06/MN296187.DTL. (John Takekawa, Vallejo, CA, 707-562-2000, john_takekawa@usgs.gov)

“Garden” Turtles: USGS scientist Jeff Lovich of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed by Water Gardening magazine for a story about how to care for painted turtles in a garden pond for the June issue. (Jeff Lovich, Sacramento, CA, 916-379-3742, jeffrey_lovich@usgs.gov)

Mountains as “Natural Experiments”: Mountains as “Natural Experiments”: USGS scientist Nate Stephenson of the Western Ecological Research Center will give an invited presentation at the 20th annual Pacific Climate (PACLIM) Workshop on April 7 at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, Calif. Stephenson's talk, “Mountain climatic gradients as natural ecological experiments: results from the Sierra Nevada Global Change Research Program,” will feature the results of more than a decade of research on the effects of changing climate and fire regimes on forests of the Sierra Nevada. The talk will be part of a special session on “Integrated Climate Research in Mountain Regions.” For more information: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/paclim/. (Nate Stephenson, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3176, nstephenson@usgs.gov)

Pooling Puma Research in California: Mountain lions occur in low densities, and individual research efforts often involve working with small numbers of this carnivore in limited areas, such as in a park or reserve. Mountain lion researchers from across California gathered this week at the USGS San Diego Field Station to plan how they might form a statewide collaborative puma project, to more effectively address managers’ information needs for different regions and habitats in the state (e.g., across ecoregions or across boundaries of habitat conservation plans). This collaborative effort involving state, federal, and university researchers would also provide a means to share and maximize research resources, data collection schedules and strategies including methods and standards of data analysis, and data sharing and archiving. Lisa Lyren of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center and Steve Torres of the California Department of Fish and Game are the lead scientists for developing this collaborative effort. (Lisa Lyren, Corona, CA, 909-735-0773, llyren@usgs.gov)

Dual Threat to Tortoise Habitat: Alien plants and fire have recently been recognized as significant land management problems in the Mojave and Colorado deserts, especially as they relate to management of the federally threatened desert tortoise. USGS scientists Matt Brooks and Todd Esque of the Western Ecological Research Center recently published a state-of-knowledge synthesis on invasive plants and fire in the Mojave and Colorado deserts in the journal Chelonian Conservation Biology. Alien plants produce some of the most hazardous fuels, and fires promote alien plant dominance and may facilitate plant invasions. Changes in plant communities caused by alien plants and recurrent fire may negatively affect native animals such as the desert tortoise by altering habitat structure and the species composition of their food plants. Surveys conducted among land managers and field scientists identified 116 species of alien plants in the Mojave and Colorado desert flora, mostly annuals. A summary of this article, with management implications, can be found in a new WERC Publication Brief at: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/brookspbmar2003.html. (Matt Brooks, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4615, matt_brooks@usgs.gov; Todd Esque, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4506, todd_esque@usgs.gov)

Rodents Chewing Joshua Trees: USGS scientist Todd Esque of the Western Ecological Research Center was quoted in a Riverside Press-Enterprise story on April 1 regarding the de-barking of Joshua trees by rodents seeking nutrition or water during drought conditions in the Mojave Desert. Url: http://www.press-enterprise.com/news/1049171171.html. (Todd Esque, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4506, todd_esque@usgs.gov)