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Making decisions in complex landscapes: headwater stream management across multiple agencies

Project Leader:
Project Investigators:
Michael C Runge, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Benjamin Letcher, Leetown Science Center
Keith Nislow, U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station
Rick Bennett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5
Mary Foley, National Park Service Northeast Region
Rachel Katz, Postdoctoral Fellow, UMass Amherst
+1 more
States:
New Hampshire
Vermont
Massachusetts
Status:
Completed

Overview

There is growing evidence that headwater stream ecosystems are especially vulnerable to changing climate and land use, but their conservation is challenged by the need to address the threats at a landscape scale, often through coordination with multiple management agencies and landowners. This project sought to provide an example of cooperative landscape decision-making by addressing the conservation of headwater stream ecosystems in the face of climate change at the watershed scale. Predictive models were built for critical resources to examine the effects of the potential alternative actions on the objectives, taking account of climate effects and examining whether there were key uncertainties that impede decision making.  Results provide decision analyses that are (1) relevant to the management partners in question; (2) emblematic of landscape-scale cooperative decisions; and (3) sensitive to the practical consequences of climate change.

The successful application of structured decision making (SDM) requires the involvement of resource managers at each step in the decision. By involving federal, state, local and non-profit management organizations, the PIs ensure that the decision outcomes are suitable for all involved. Though they may identify a decision which is not optimal for each management organization, species group, or protected area of a given watershed individually, collectively results will be able to satisfy the regional objectives for headwater stream systems. All SDM workshop materials are found on the project webpage at https://sites.google.com/site/headwaterstreams/.

Presentations

ESA Organized Oral Session on the use of Decision Analytics in Ecology and Conservation and conference presentation: "Decision analysis in ecology: introduction and applications for research and conservation," August 2016
MA Coop Unit Symposium, MassWildlife, May 2016
Linking science and management: Challenges and opportunities for the conservation of stream fishes. Seminar at University of Connecicutt's Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, October 2015.
Society for Freshwater Science Not All Scientific Uncertainties Are Created Equal for Landscape Scale Headwater Stream Management May 19, 2015. Milwaukee, WI
Northeast Fish and Wildlife Association Conference (presentation, April 2015). Evaluating collaborative landscape conservation for headwater stream ecosystems in two northeastern U.S. watersheds, April 20, 2015