WERC Highlights -- November 2003

Amphibian Monitoring in Taiwan: USGS herpetologist Gary Fellers of the Western Ecological Research Center has been invited to travel to Taiwan as a visiting scholar, Dec 5-14, 2003. He will give a talk at Tunghai University, participate in a workshop on amphibian research techniques, participate in field work on declining amphibians, and work on one or two manuscripts that he will coauthor with Taiwanese biologists. USGS ecologist Patrick Kleeman of the Western Ecological Research Center will also participate in the workshop. It is anticipated that biologists from Taiwan as well as other Asian countries will attend both the lecture and the workshop and gain insight for establishing their own successful amphibian monitoring programs. The lecture, workshop, field work, and collaboration on publications will help USGS share knowledge gained as part of the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) program which has been established to monitor declining amphibians across the United States. (Gary Fellers, Point Reyes, CA, 415-464-5185, gary_fellers@usgs.gov; Patrick Kleeman, Point Reyes, CA, 415-464-5184, pkleeman@usgs.gov)

Conquering the Giant Reed: USGS employees and contractors Amanda Young, Eric Knapp, and Wil Mundy of the Western Ecological Research Center recently joined with local residents and a multi-agency task force (including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, the Tulare County Resource Conservation District, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Sequoia Riverlands Trust) in a joint public-private effort to remove the invasive giant reed Arundo donax from the Kaweah River drainage in California's Sierra Nevada. With local community volunteers, the group helped map, cut, haul, and chemically treat numerous stands of the highly invasive plant. Elsewhere in California, the reed has crowded out native riparian vegetation and formed dense, highly flammable stands. Local residents believe that as a result of the cooperative effort, the Kaweah River's chances are very good for a complete eradication. (Wil Mundy, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-4265, wil_mundy@usgs.gov)

Southern California Wildlife: USGS scientist Robert N. Fisher of the Western Ecological Research Center will give a free public lecture on the effects of urban sprawl on wildlife in San Diego, Nov. 21. The lecture is the last in a series of lectures on environmental science. Sponsored by the Fallbrook Land Conservancy and San Diego State University. (Robert N. Fisher, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6882, rfisher@usgs.gov)

Vertebrate Survey in Yosemite: USGS scientist Les Chow was quoted in a Nov. 19 story in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the resurvey of sites in Yosemite National Park that were surveyed for wildlife by Joseph Grinnell nearly nine decades ago to discover changes that have occurred. (Leslie Chow, El Portal, CA, 209-379-1307, les_chow@usgs.gov)

Fire: USGS scientist Jan van Wagtendonk of the Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed about thinning and prescribed fire as treatments to reduce fuels buildup in Sierra Nevada forests in a Nov. 21 story in the Los Angeles Times. Jon Keeley was interviewed for a story in the San Bernardino Sun regarding prescription burning. (Jan van Wagtendonk, El Portal, CA, 209-379-1306, jan_van_wagtendonk@usgs.gov; Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov)

Monitoring Streams for Water Quality: USGS research geologist Mary Ann Madej of the Western Ecological Research Center is an invited speaker at a water quality monitoring workshop co-sponsored by the University of California and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to be held Dec. 1-2, 2003, in Redding, California. The workshop is geared towards land managers and regulatory agencies that try to detect land management impacts in streams and monitor trends over time. Madej will be explaining "Scales of Variability in Monitoring Changes in Channel Morphology." (Mary Ann Madej, Arcata, CA, 707- 825-5148, mary_ann_madej@usgs.gov)

California Fires: USGS scientist Jon Keeley of the Western Ecological Research Center was invited to participate in a live interview Nov. 20 on the KPFK (Los Angeles) Lawyers Guild radio show to discuss recent California fires and their effect on ecosystems. He was interviewed about the fires for the Emergency Preparedness Newsletter and was quoted in stories in the Baltimore Sun (Nov. 10) and in the Sacramento Bee (Nov. 10). (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov)

Contaminants Research Meeting: USGS scientists will participate in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 24th Annual Meeting in North America to be held in Austin, Texas, Nov. 9-13, 2003. The theme is developing solutions for global environmental challenges and has a wide variety of topics including research and monitoring of amphibians, species that are highly sensitive to contaminants. For more information: http://www.setac.org/austinmain.html. (Robert N. Fisher, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6882, rfisher@usgs.gov; Steven Schwarzbach, Sacramento, CA, 916-379-3745, steven_schwarzbach@usgs.gov)

Tortoise Workshop: On Nov. 8, USGS scientist Kristin Berry of the Western Ecological Research Center will give 3 lectures at the Desert Tortoise Council’s 12th Annual Desert Tortoise Surveying, Monitoring, and Handling Techniques Workshop in Ridgecrest, California. The lectures include a general overview of desert tortoises living in the Mojave and Colorado deserts, threats to tortoises and their habitats, field evaluations for health and disease, and effects of diseases on populations. The 2-day workshop of lectures and field training is designed to introduce 100 federal and state biologists and contractors to this threatened species. For more information: http://www.deserttortoise.org/workshop/2003/index.html. (Kristin H. Berry, Moreno Valley, CA, 909-697-5361, kristin_berry@usgs.gov)

Patterns of Plant Diversity in California Shrublands: A new journal article by USGS scientist Jon Keeley of the Western Ecological Research Center and coauthor C. J. Fotheringham of the University of California, Los Angeles, is a special paper in the Nov. issue of the Journal of Biogeography. Because the world’s five mediterranean-climate regions are hotspots of plant diversity and of human population growth, factors driving patterns of plant diversity are of immense concern to resource managers. The researchers investigated a wide range of California ecosystems to determine the most appropriate mathematical model to describe species area relationships and the underlying ecological explanations for different relationships. Keeley has summarized this publication, and a related article recently published in the journal Diversity and Distributions, in a publication brief for resource managers, available at: http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypbnov2003a.html. Journal citations: Keeley, J. E. and C. J. Fotheringham. 2003. Species area relationships in mediterranean-climate plant communities. Journal of Biogeography 30:1629-1657. Keeley, J. E. 2003. Species abundance and species area relationships in two mediterranean-climate communities. Diversity and Distributions 9:253-259. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov)

Documenting Vegetation Change in the Mojave Desert: A new USGS publication describes the longest ecological dataset from the Mojave Desert. Because of this 40-year dataset, long-term changes in annual plants, perennial vegetation, and rodent populations can be detected and compared with climatic fluctuations or other variables that create conditions for environmental change. The overall increase in biomass of perennial vegetation that took place over this period is striking and can be observed in a selection of photo pairs showing repeat photography. Part of the plot design was to compare recovery following different kinds of disturbances. Despite increases in woody vegetation, the scientists have extrapolated that as long as a millennium may be needed for the species composition to recover after disturbance. The report contains ecological data that Janice C. Beatley collected on 68 permanent plots established in 1962 and measured periodically from 1963 through 1975 at the Nevada Test Site. The publication also presents the data for perennial vegetation collected from 2000 through 2003. Beatley established 68 permanent plots in 1962 and measured them periodically until 1975. The authors of this report measured 67 of the plots, which range from 935 to 2,274 meters in elevation; the remaining plot was destroyed at some time between 1975 and 1993. Citation: USGS Open-File Report 03-336, “Perennial Vegetation Data from Permanent Plots on the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada,” by R. H. Webb, M. B. Murov, T. C. Esque, D. E. Boyer, L. A. DeFalco, D. F. Haines, D. Oldershaw, S. J. Scoles, K. A. Thomas, J. B. Blainey, and P. A. Medica. The report was prepared as part of the USGS Recoverability and Vulnerability of Desert Ecosystems Project. (Robert H. Webb, Tucson, AZ, 520-670-6671 x238, rhwebb@usgs.gov; Todd Esque, Henderson, NV, 702-564-4506, todd_esque@usgs.gov)

Ravens and Tortoises: William I. Boarman was interviewed in a Nov. 3 San Diego Union-Tribune story on the risk of common raven predation on young desert tortoises. (William I. Boarman, San Diego, CA, 858-637-6880, william_boarman@usgs.gov)

California Fires: USGS scientists of the Western Ecological Research Center were interviewed by reporters about chaparral ecosystems and wildlife. Jon Keeley: Time Magazine (Nov. 10 issue), the Los Angeles Times (Nov. 2 and 4), San Diego Union-Tribune, Orange County Register, Newsday, Ventura County Star (Nov. 2), Associated Press, Land Letter, Missoulian (Nov. 5), Baltimore Sun, KPCC (NPR Los Angeles affiliate), and (Nov. 4) KPFK (Los Angeles), and was cited in a reader’s letter to the editor in the San Diego Union-Tribune (Nov. 4). Robert N. Fisher and Jon Keeley: Sacramento Bee. Eric Knapp: Netherlands Press Association. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170, jon_keeley@usgs.gov; Robert N. Fisher, San Diego, 858-637-6882, rfisher@usgs.gov; Eric Knapp, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3175, eknapp@usgs.gov)