Wetland Management Information and Related
Links
This page provides lists of publications, software, CD-ROMS,
and other information sources of particular interest to wetland managers.
If you use information sources that you find especially useful but that
are not listed here, please let us know so that we can add them to this
page. You can reach us by sending email to msma_support@usgs.gov.
Publications
- Waterfowl Management
Handbook - This handbook synthesizes waterfowl information in a
management context. Much of this information exists in scientific
papers, unpublished reports, or has never been recorded, and thus is
not readily accessible by waterfowl managers. The handbook is
organized in chapters; each chapter is brief by design, and has figures
and tables to facilitate a rapid assessment of the information on a
specific topic. Titles of currently available chapters include:
nutritional values of waterfowl foods; life history traits and management
of the gadwall; life history strategies and habitat needs of the northern
pintail; life history and habitat needs of the wood duck; life history
and management of the blue-winged teal; life history traits and habitat
needs of the redhead; life history and habitat needs of the black brant;
waterfowl use of wetland complexes; avian botulism-geographic expansion
of a historic disease; avian cholera-a major new cause of waterfowl
mortality; lead poisoning-the invisible disease; identifying the factors
that limit duck production; rescue and rehabilitation of oiled birds;
decoy traps for ducks; increasing waterfowl nesting success on islands
and peninsulas; artificial nest structures for Canada geese; management
and habitat for breeding and migrating shorebirds in the midwest; human
disturbances of waterfowl-causes, effects, and management; invertebrate
response to wetland management, initial consideration for sampling wetland
invertebrates, aquatic invertebrates important for waterfowl production;
ecology of northern prairie wetlands; ecology of montane wetlands; ecology
of playa lakes; detrital accumulation and processing in wetlands; considerations
of community characteristics for sampling vegetation; economic and legal
incentives for waterfowl management of private lands; managing agricultural
foods for waterfowl; habitat management for molting waterfowl; a technique
for estimating seed production of common moist-soil plants; strategies
for water level manipulations in moist-soil systems; managing beaver
to benefit waterfowl; options for water-level control in developed wetlands;
preliminary considerations for manipulating vegetation; control of willow
and cottonwood seedlings in herbaceous wetlands; control of purple loosestrife;
control of phragmites or common reed; management and control of cattails;
chufa biology and management. This handbook is currently out of
print but the chapters are available
online.
- Management of Seasonally Flooded Impoundments for Wildlife - Moist-soil
management involves the manipulation of man-made impoundments to simulate
the dynamics of seasonally flooded wetlands. Plant and animal
species using such impoundments differ with latitude; however, there
are many ecological and management principles that are important in
moist-soil management regardless of location. This publication
discusses the advantages and disadvantages of moist-soil management,
development of moist-soil impoundments, management of seasonally flooded
impoundments, manipulations of water levels for wildlife, developing
integrated management plans, and includes an extensive list of selected
readings and an appendix on identifying seedlings of common moist-soil
plants. The complete citation for this document is Fredrickson,
L.H., and T.S. Taylor. 1982. Management of seasonally flooded
impoundments for wildlife. Fish and Wildlife Service Resource
Publication 148. 29pp. This publication can be borrowed
from Government Depository Libraries; contact you nearest public or
academic library for information on depository libraries in your area
or to request this item through Interlibrary Loan. It is also
available from the National Technical Information Service (phone: 703-487-4650)
as publication PB97152078.
- Shorebird Management Manual - Managers of wildlife refuges can easily
incorporate shorebird management strategies into the strategies that
they now use for waterfowl. With minor changes in wetland regimes,
they can adapt habitats for migrating shorebirds without compromising
waterfowl habitats, especially in the spring. This manual is a
reference for actively managing wetland habitats within four major geographic
regions of North America: the Interior, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and
the Gulf of Mexico. The management techniques offered are not
well known among wetland managers since much of the information is relatively
new and not yet available in the technical literature. The manual
is a publication of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network,
a division of Wetlands for the Americas, P.O. Box 1770, Manomet, MA
02345.
Software and CD-ROMS
- Know Your Waterfowl - This CD-ROM is organized like a field guide
and covers the 45 species of waterfowl that nest in North America.
The CD contains 500 color photos, a half hour of video, sketches, range
maps, habitats and audio clips of many of the calls. This information
is presented in two side-by-side windows; the user chooses what is displayed
in each window. For example, photos of two different species could
be compared, or the range map and call of the same species could be
selected. There is also a challenge mode that presents a photo,
call, map, sketch, or video and asks the user to identify the species.
This CD-ROM was developed by Axia International Inc., Suite 510, Atrium
2, 840-6 Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3E5 (telephone 403-262-2942).
- Key to Wetland Woody Plants of North America - This Windows software
uses MEKA (pronounced "mecca"), an interactive Multiple-Entry
Key Algorithm, to enable rapid identification of plants. The database
pertaining to wetland woody plants of North America includes 830 species.
The user selects characteristics (e.g., leaf shape, leaf margin, height,
flower type, seed shape, bark, geography, habit) that are present or
absent in the plant from a list of possibilities. As the characteristics
are selected, MEKA eliminates taxa that no longer match the list of
selected characteristics. Several windows display different aspects
of the underlying data base. As identification progresses, the windows
are updated automatically. An index screen makes it easy to find and
select particular classes of characteristics. MEKA does not force the
user through a fixed series of questions as in a dichotomous key. Instead,
the user can perform identifications by selecting characteristics in
any order. This software can be downloaded from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory, Ecology Section.
Related Links
- The UF/IFAS (University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences) Center for Aquatic Plants is a multi-disciplinary research,
teaching and extension unit devoted to the study and management of freshwater
aquatic plants. Personnel from about a dozen university departments
contribute to its programs and projects. APIRS, the Aquatic and Wetland
Plant Information Retrieval System, is the Information Office of the
Center for Aquatic Plants. APIRS maintains the world's largest aquatic
and wetland plant research database, and produces a variety of educational
materials relating to aquatic ecosystems. The computerized bibliographic
database (Copyright University of Florida, 1997) devoted to freshwater
aquatic and wetland plants includes citations for more than 44,000 research
articles, books, and reports about aquatic plant ecology, physiology,
utilization and control. Items in many languages dating back to the
18th century are in this inclusive database. Other resources provided
through the Center include photographs and line drawings of aquatic
and wetland plants, videotape programs, aquatic and wetland plant ID
cards, information on management and control of aquatic weeds, and links
to other aquatic and wetland plant resources.
- Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC), located near Jamestown,
North Dakota, is one of many science centers operated by the Biological Resources Discipline of the U.S. Geological Survey, a bureau of the U.S.
Department of the Interior. The Center was established in 1965
to conduct research needed for management and preservation of migratory
birds and their habitats. From its inception through 1993, primary
emphasis was placed upon waterfowl; biologists stationed at Center headquarters
in Jamestown, North Dakota, concentrated on breeding ground ecology,
while field stations in Dixon, California, and LaCrosse, Wisconsin,
investigated wintering and migrating populations, respectively.
Visitors to the Northern Prairie homepage can download biological data,
distribution maps, bibliographies, and software; and search the database
of over 1,000 articles authored by Northern Prairie staff.
- The PLANTS database encompasses plant information used by the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (formerly the Soil Conservation
Service) for automated applications utilized by the agency. PLANTS
contains a list of the plants known to occur as native or naturalized
within the boundaries of the United States, including its territories.
This currently encompasses approximately 45,000 individual taxon, plus
synonyms. These taxa include vascular and nonvascular plants. It is
updated routinely and reflect the most up-to-date information available
from the botanical community. The primary access to the public PLANTS
database is via Internet World Wide Web (WWW) browser from the National
PLANTS Database Access Page. User's can search the database by scientific
name, common name, symbol, family, or genus. Available information
on each plant includes: symbol, family, growth habit, duration, origin,
plant synonyms, distribution by state, wetlands information (e.g., obligate
wetland), and literature citations.
- The National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS) is a database
developed from the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Surveys (CAPS) and
is maintained by the Center for Environmental and Regulatory Information
Systems (CERIS).
NAPIS provides plant pest survey data on a national scale. NAPIS
has replaced hardcopy publications which formerly reported survey results.
All NAPIS data is referenced to a State and county, and each record
may have point-location referencing. NAPIS data downloads can
be used with standard geographic information systems (GIS) software
to create maps and analytical reports.
- Of particular interest is the Pest/Biological Control Information
section. For many noxious weeds (e.g., purple loosestrife), you
can access photographs, background and control information, surveys
and maps of plant distribution and biocontrol release areas, and links
to other sites concerning that weed.
Also at FORT
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
