South Carolina\u27s Probability Based Approach for Assessing Water Quality and Estuarine Condition using Integrated Indices

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Technical report no. 021-2020

This monitoring strategy establishes the overall goals and objectives for those key elements of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control water quality monitoring program to achieve the goals of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act. This monitoring strategy document also serves as the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the ambient surface water quality monitoring program

Technical Report No. 1008-19

This monitoring strategy establishes the overall goals and objectives for those key elements of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control water quality monitoring program to achieve the goals of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act. This monitoring strategy document also serves as the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the ambient surface water quality monitoring program

Prey of reintroduced fishers and their habitat relationships in the Cascades T Range, Washington

Conservation and recovery of forest carnivores requires an understanding of their habitat requirements, as well as requirements of their prey. In much of the western United States, trapping and habitat loss led to extirpations of fishers (Pekania pennanti) by the mid-20th century, and reintroductions are ongoing to restore fishers to portions of their former range. Fisher recovery in Washington State has been limited by isolation from other populations, but other potentially important factors, such as diet of fishers in this region and prey availability, have not been thoroughly investigated. We collected hair samples from potential prey and fishers for stable isotope analysis to identify important prey items for fishers within a reintroduction area in southern Washington. We then estimated the abundance of prey species at 21 sites across a gradient of forest structural classes within the fisher reintroduction area, and assessed the effects of forest age and vegetation on the prey community using permutational multivariate analysis of variance and non-metric multidimensional scaling. Stable isotopes revealed that larger prey items, including snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and/or mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa), were the most important prey item(s) for fishers in the southern Cascades. We found distinct but equally diverse prey communities in old-growth (unmanaged) and young (heavily managed) forest stands, with snowshoe hares and mountain beavers most common in young forests, while chipmunks (Neotamius spp.) and small mammals were more common in older forests. Our results suggest a discrepancy between the habitats where important fisher prey are most abundant and habitat requirements of fishers. Snowshoe hares and mountain beavers were most abundant in young forests, whereas fishers are associated with landscapes dominated by older forest stands or those that provide large woody structures, which fishers use for denning and resting. Our results add to growing evidence that forest landscape mosaics provide valuable habitat for fishers in the Pacific Northwest, suggesting that both mature and younger forest stands are important for fishers and fisher recovery

Range-wide sources of variation in reproductive rates of northern spotted owls

We conducted a range-wide investigation of the dynamics of site-level reproductive rate of northern spotted owls using survey data from 11 study areas across the subspecies geographic range collected during 1993–2018. Our analytical approach accounted for imperfect detection of owl pairs and misclassification of successful reproduction (i.e., at least one young fledged) and contributed further insights into northern spotted owl population ecology and dynamics. Both nondetection and state misclassification were important, especially because factors affecting these sources of error also affected focal ecological parameters. Annual probabilities of site occupancy were greatest at sites with successful reproduction in the previous year and lowest for sites not occupied by a pair in the previous year. Site-specific occupancy transition probabilities declined over time and were negatively affected by barred owl presence. Overall, the site-specific probability of successful reproduction showed substantial year-to-year fluctuations and was similar for occupied sites that did or did not experience successful reproduction the previous year. Site-specific probabilities for successful reproduction were very small for sites that were unoccupied the previous year. Barred owl presence negatively affected the probability of successful reproduction by northern spotted owls in Washington and California, as predicted, but the effect in Oregon was mixed. The proportions of sites occupied by northern spotted owl pairs showed steep, near-monotonic declines over the study period, with all study areas showing the lowest observed levels of occupancy to date. If trends continue it is likely that northern spotted owls will become extirpated throughout large portions of their range in the coming decades