Forecasting the Effects of Agricultural Practices on Prairie Wetlands: Implications for the Conservation of Migratory Shorebirds

FORT Science

FORT Science Home

Science Features

Science Priorities

Current Research

Find FORT Science by

Research Staff

Research Task: 8327CM9.1.0
Task Manager: Susan Skagen

The interplay of agriculturally driven environmental change and global warming modifies conditions and habitats for breeding, en-route, and wintering avian species across prairie and wetland landscapes. The remaining native prairies and wetlands in the mid-continental region of North America are highly vulnerable to agricultural policies and practices, land conversion, hydrology alteration, and water pollution. Understanding the relations among bird populations, agricultural practices, and changing climate is necessary for the protection of migratory bird species, and developing this understanding is a charge of many agencies within the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior. This project will combine syntheses of the scientific literature, conceptual and mathematical modeling, and targeted field applications to build a broad framework for understanding the complex and far-reaching conservation challenges faced by managers of prairie wetlands and associated bird species in the coming decades. The conceptual and mathematical models will serve the conservation planning process in many ways, not only in clarifying the roles and relative importance of myriad factors, but also serving as a catalyst for further discussion and as a tool in educating managers, landowners, and scientists.

For more information contact Susan Skagen