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Long Term Bee Monitoring Reveals Little Change in Bee Species Richness in Response to Restoration of Intermountain Grassland Sites
No full textRestoration of reference plant communities is often a proximate goal of ecological restoration, and land managers may expect mobile organisms such as birds, mammals, and other vertebrates and invertebrates to respond to restoration efforts by recolonizing from nearby habitats. As diverse plant communities become established during the restoration process, there is evidence that native bee communities respond with increasing species richness over time. The objective of this study was to assess if efforts to restore grassland plant communities at former agricultural sites affected species richness of native bee communities. We analyzed a long-term dataset of bee captures from across a 6,000-ha intermountain grassland location in western Montana and found that rarified bee species richness was consistently lower in restoration sites compared to other habitats. Importantly, and contrary to expectations, bee richness did not increase in restoration sites across the 7-year sampling period. The reduced bee species richness at restoration sites was particularly pronounced in early season when surrounding reference habitats typically have high bee species richness and high flowering richness. Since many early-blooming native plant species common in intermountain grasslands are not commercially available or are difficult to establish, they are rarely included in restoration seed mixes, including at our restoration sites. This finding suggests that native seed selection likely plays a role in limiting bee community richness in restoration projects
Range Condition and Vegetative Response to 42 Years Of Grazing Management on the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area
No full textThe Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area, originally purchased in 1979 and currently totals approximately 11,000 acres, is managed to provide the best possible winter range for mule deer and elk and quality habitat for other native wildlife species. Range condition and vegetative trend surveys were initiated shortly after purchase of the property to establish baselines and monitor trends. Fourteen permanently marked transects were established and species’ cover values and frequencies were recorded every four years from 1979 - 2021. Rough fescue (Festuca scabrella), Hood’s phlox (Phlox hoodii) horizontal juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruiticosa) were selected as indicator species that reflect overall plant community trend. After a period of rest from grazing, a non-traditional rotational grazing system was initiated in 1990. Pastures are grazed from early June to late August once every 4 years. Vegetative monitoring indicates total vegetative cover remains relatively static varying between 35% - 50% with the lowest values coinciding with severe drought. Comparison of grazed versus ungrazed transects for the period of 1979 to 2001 indicated slightly more total vegetative cover for ungrazed transects, similar increasing trends for grass cover, and similar decreasing trends for forb cover. Relative cover for total grasses shows an increasing trend with rough fescue contributing a significant amount of the increase. Relative cover for total forb cover remains moderately static. Horizontal juniper cover is increasing while shrubby cinquefoil cover is decreasing. Overall range condition has improved from fair to good-excellent condition
When Every Bird Counts - Maximizing Survey Efforts for the Elusive Black Swift
No full textBlack Swifts (Cypseloides niger) are an unusual Neotropical migrant bird that initiates nesting in Montana when most other birds are completing their breeding seasons (late June/early July). They are considered at high risk of extirpation, due to climate change, as they rely on perennial streams to create the waterfalls they nest behind or near. Biologists in Canada listed Black Swifts (BLSW) as endangered in 2015 due to significant population declines. In Montana, BLSW are a species of greatest conservation need (S1B) and a species of greatest inventory need. Prior to 2011, biologists surveyed for colonies mid-day or late evening, and only three known BLSW nesting colonies had been identified in Montana. Since 2012, we have collaborated with multiple agencies and organizations to identify as many colonies as possible using systematic late evening surveys. Then in 2019, we began to conduct both evening and morning surveys at each site and recorded the high count of BLSW observed at any point during the survey. We conducted 37 paired tests to compare whether there was a difference in evening and morning surveys. We counted significantly more birds in morning surveys. We will use the high-count morning numbers to monitor trends in occupancy and abundance over time. We discuss strategies for monitoring BLSW abundance and population trends and share current maps of BLSW occupancy at Montana waterfalls
Whitebark Pine and Clark’s Nutcracker Abundance in Glacier National Park
No full textWhitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is in decline in many places across its range, and most notably in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem which includes Glacier National Park (GNP). White pine blister rust, caused by non-native fungus Cronartium ribicola, is the prevailing cause of whitebark mortality in the ecosystem, with an estimated mortality rate of 69.3% in GNP. The local population of Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), whitebark pine mutualist and sole seed dispersal vector, is not well studied. Using in-person point count surveys and automated acoustic recorders, we modelled nutcracker abundance at sites throughout GNP using Bayesian joint likelihood
Leveraging Community Science to Increase Knowledge of Understudied Species in Montana
No full textUnderstanding species range and habitat associations is imperative for assessing the conservation status of the species and identifying Species of Concern. Global status assessments used by the IUCN and NatureServe and state status assessments by the Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) to identify rare or threatened species are based on measures of rarity, of which geographic range extend is a core metric. Delineating range and assessing the area occupied by a species is often difficult for species that lack sufficient observation data. Although structured surveys performed by natural resource professionals can provide these data, resources to perform these surveys are often limited. Use of tools that allow the public to report observations of organisms have increased significantly in use over the past decade and have the potential to provide a significant number of observation records of both common and rare species. MTNHP has begun to vet and import species observation data from eBird and iNaturalist, two well used community science applications. We have imported 1,782,651 records from these sources representing 1,075 species. We have used these data to review range for all vertebrate species and to increase geographic coverage of observations use in predicted habitat suitability modeling. Currently MTNHP is tracking approximately 7,600 invertebrate species of which 8.7% have range polygons and 0.6% have predicted habitat models. Community science applications provide a rich source of data to begin to address these deficiencies as well as engaging members of the public in actionable science without incurring significant costs to agencies
Montana Wildlife and Transportation Partnership Project Program
No full textFollowing the December 2018 Montana Wildlife and Transportation Summit, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), and a coalition of conservation non-governmental organizations focused on wildlife and transportation issues formed the Montana Wildlife & Transportation Partnership. The Partnership Steering Committee is releasing the MWTP Project Program to establish an avenue for public-private partnerships to propose wildlife accommodation projects. The Program addresses the need for transportation projects specifically dedicated to accommodating wildlife with the collaborative engagement of stakeholders, including the leveraging of capacity and capital investment. These projects are expected to be proposed by interested parties outside of the agencies. An applicant can be a member of the public, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, public agencies, local governments, community groups, or Tribal governments. Projects that have a strong purpose and need and demonstrated collaboration and partnerships are more likely to advance. Applicants can propose projects that are of various scales and stages of development. The Steering Committee will review project applications through a standardized process with selection criteria to determine whether the project will advance to the next step in development. The number, types, scale, scope, and locations of projects previously accepted into the Program, agency capacity, and available resources will play a role in determining the suite of projects selected in each cycle. Details regarding the MWTP Project Program, the project application guidance, and the project selection process will be shared with participants in preparation for the program launch
Policy, Predators and The Public Trust
No full textAlthough frustrating for many biologists (public trust managers), legislators and commissions (public trustees) play a legitimate role in establishing policy and providing direction for wildlife management and conservation to benefit the public (beneficiaries of the trust). Professional wildlife biologists need to remain objective and remain unbiased amid the often emotional and highly contentious political fray to maintain our own credibility. Biological inputs are only one aspect of the considerations that decision makers use when making determinations that influence wildlife policy. Recent (and ongoing) political action about predator management may at times seem short sighted or ill informed, yet it is important to carefully evaluate the effects of policy changes. Direction to reduce or increase predator populations by decision makers is not inherently incorrect because biologists do not have a definitive “right” number of predators to manage towards. Predators and prey may be managed at relatively low or high abundance without inflicting harm on the natural communities in which they live. Political hyperbole is damaging to the credibility for all that use it, and wildlife biologists must maintain high professional standards to avoid irreparable harm to the profession. Based on the article with the same title from the Jan-Feb 2023 issue of The Wildlife Professional
Yellowstone Safe Passages - A Community Approach to Addressing Wildlife-Vehicle Conflicts in Montana’s Upper Yellowstone Watershed
No full textSeveral decades of credible research in North America have demonstrated the efficacy of wildlife crossing structures (wildlife overpasses, underpasses, and large culverts paired with diversion fences). Bringing these solutions to the ground in rural communities, however, is often easier said than done; Road ecologists, agencies, non-governmental organizations, and stakeholders seeking to advance wildlife-vehicle conflict (WVC) reduction strategies are bound to face complex social and political dynamics at the local level, particularly where private landholdings exist adjacent to roadways. The work invariably requires a thoughtful, community-oriented approach. The following presentation is a reflection from Yellowstone Safe Passages (YSP) - a group of citizens, organizations, agencies, elected officials, and philanthropists on a mission to address and resolve WVCs on US89 between Livingston and Gardiner, Montana. Throughout the presentation I elevate the importance of collaboration. It begins by bringing information into the community, inviting community members into the problem-solving circle, and raising awareness about solutions. I encourage subtle culture shifts, where transparency of knowledge and data becomes an unspoken mantra; where deeper awareness of landownership and private property rights invites novel partnerships; and where framing WVCs as an impact on livelihoods enables leaders to consider that human safety is not a measure of life and death, but rather of an individual’s ability to thrive. The purpose of this presentation is to articulate how YSP’s experiences might apply to other communities across the State of Montana
Energetic Trade-Offs Explain Birth Timing in Grizzly Bears
No full textIn grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and other temperate-zone ursids, the seasonality of births during winter hibernation is best explained by ancestral traits of delayed implantation, altricial young, and obligate maternal denning. But drivers determining parturition timing within the 3- to 6-month hibernation period are unknown. Capitalizing on latitudinal and den timing variation among four grizzly bear populations, we tested two alternative hypotheses. The first was that birth timing is temporally associated with den entry because of proximate cues linking implantation and hibernation physiologies. The second was that birth timing is associated with den emergence to balance the energetic trade-off between minimizing lactation time (to protect the mother’s lifetime fitness) and maximizing developmental time (to increase offspring survival) during the winter fast. Based on activity sensor data, we estimated 91 parturition dates using anomaly detection methods and associated first and last dates of dormancy using change point analyses. Observed birth dates ranged from 31 Dec to 27 Feb and day of year increased with latitude. Days between first day of dormancy and birth were positively correlated with latitude, but days between birth and last day of dormancy were not. Implantation dates (birth date - 56 days) ranged from 41 days before to 83 days after the first day of dormancy. Evidence supported the energetic trade-off hypothesis. Although the high variation observed may have been partially explained by individual age- or body condition-related adjustments to the trade-off, it also signaled that optimality may rarely be achieved given the stochastic nature of annual green-up
Leveraging Hunters as Citizen Scientists for Monitoring Statewide Moose Populations
No full textHunter populations can provide a tremendous workforce of citizen scientists afield when queried for data. Soliciting incidental observations of non-target species from hunters may be a relatively important but untapped population monitoring resource in systems where hunter effort is common and widespread. During 2012-2016, we queried hunters of deer and elk for observations of a non-target species, moose, across their statewide distribution in Montana. We analyzed data in an abundance-detection framework with n-mixture models and evaluated the effects of covariates such as hunter effort, survey response totals, weekly session, and forest cover on detection probability before using models to predict moose abundance. We collected an average of 3,409 moose observations per year and our best n-mixture model included effects of week, year (number of responses), site (proportionate forest cover), and site-year (hunter effort) on detection probability, as well as an effect of site (area of forest and shrub habitat) on abundance. Density estimates averaged 0.099 (range 0.002-0.439) moose/km2 across sites or 0.200 (range 0.017-0.799) moose/km2 when limited to density within shrub and forest cover specifically. Statewide abundance totals across the five-year study period averaged 10,755 (range 9,925-11,620). Goodness-of-fit tests showed that models were identifiable and overdispersion of the data was low, yet some caution is still warranted when extrapolating these data to abundance estimates. Synthesis and applications. Querying a sample of deer-elk hunters for observations of a non-target species yielded thousands of spatially georeferenced detections per year and analysis in a temporally structured framework yielded estimates of both detection probability and abundance. Abundance estimates at this scale are unprecedented for moose in Montana and are encouraging for long-term monitoring over space and time