RW TIG - Colonial Waterbird Monitoring
Implementing Organization
State of Alabama; State of Louisiana; State of Mississippi; State of Texas; US Department of the Interior; US Environmental Protection Agency
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$2,494,256
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)
Funding Program
Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA
Details
Project Category
Science
Project Actions
Monitoring and Observations
Targeted Resources
Other
Project Description
Colonial waterbirds (CWB) are well known to respond to the dynamic and ever-shifting spatio-temporal distribution of breeding sites and foraging areas in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) both within and among seasons. As future CWB restoration projects will be implemented throughout the nGOM, a cumulative monitoring approach would be beneficial in quantifying effects (e.g., benefits) of restoration at the scale of the entire nGOM. Due to the large geographic scale of the restoration effort, the lengthy timeframe by which restoration funding is being allocated, and the capabilities of colonial waterbirds to move among different breeding localities (including across state and international lines), a Regionwide monitoring effort which emphasizes the use of comparable methods and protocols would document effects of restoration to some colonial waterbird populations. This Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activity utilizes established methods and protocols which have been successfully implemented throughout a portion of the nGOM. These activities are one means by which Trustees will document and partially evaluate CWB breeding population performance at a Regionwide scale. It is envisioned that these efforts will be fully integrated with established, ongoing, smaller-scale monitoring programs thereby providing Trustees with a more comprehensive means to characterize benefits generated from Deepwater Horizon (DWH) bird restoration activities. Other potential benefits associated with this MAM activity include: (1) population trend data necessary to contextualize outcomes from restoration activities throughout the Gulf; (2) documen...click on "More Info" link below
Contact
Jon Hemming(251) 517-8018
jon_hemming@fws.gov
Project Website
None
For official trustee information regarding the Deepwater Horizon NRDA, including information regarding the NRDA process and the status of projects, see https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/