After three years, dozens of trips to the field, hundreds of hours in front of the computer and at least 20 collaborative meetings, a simple idea that grew into a full-blown multi-agency project is approaching the finish line.
A comprehensive habitat mapping and assessment project coordinated by the Nongame Conservation Section of the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division will be completed this month, providing up-to-date information on the location and condition of natural communities in Georgia’s 11 coastal counties.
The vegetation mapping project is part of the larger Coastal Georgia Land Conservation Initiative. The collaborative effort between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Conservancy and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia is aimed at preserving critical coastal lands and promoting sustainable growth and development in the state’s coastal region. The coastal assessment was outlined as a priority conservation action in the State Wildlife Action Plan, a comprehensive strategy that guides Wildlife Resources and DNR efforts to conserve biological diversity.
To complete this massive mapping project within three years, the coastal counties were divided into two tiers. Georgia DNR botanists Eamonn Leonard and Jacob Thompson took the lead on the first six -- Camden, Glynn, McIntosh, Liberty, Bryan and Chatham. Here, Leonard and Thompson mapped natural communities at the association level, the most detailed level in an international vegetation classification system developed by NatureServe, a nonprofit conservation organization.
The other five counties, Effingham, Long, Wayne, Brantley and Charlton, were mapped at the ecological system level by Matt Elliott, a Nongame program manager, and Dylan Severens, a DNR GIS intern. While the ecological systems level is coarser in resolution, associations are nested within ecological systems in the NatureServe classification scheme, providing a common basis for conservation planning and regional assessments.
Jon Ambrose, assistant chief of the Nongame Conservation Section, said the products of the mapping project “represent an unprecedented data set that will be used in conservation planning for years to come.”
DNR and its conservation partners will use the information to identify high-priority conservation lands in the coastal region through the Coastal Georgia Land Conservation Initiative.
Leonard said the work also illustrates to county planners, other biologists and the public “the richness of natural communities and resources that make up the Georgia coast.”
The ecological communities of the coast represent a diverse set of natural resources that provide habitats for many rare plant and animal species, while also supporting basic ecological functions on which people rely. For example, the barrier islands and associated intertidal salt marshes help reduce the impact of storm surges on adjacent habitats, homes and developments.
The coastal assessment and mapping project has resulted in several notable discoveries. Seven previously undescribed plant associations have been documented and added to the international database of plant communities.
Thompson said botanists had to create names and descriptions for those natural communities. “For me, that was one of the more rewarding parts of the job," he said.
Efforts to define and protect globally rare natural communities will continue as a focus of the project in years to come.
YOU CAN HELP
Georgians can help conserve nongame wildlife, native plants and natural habitats through buying a wildlife license plate featuring a bald eagle or a ruby-throated hummingbird. They can also donate to the Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund through the state income tax checkoff and other ways. Contributions are vital to the Wildlife Resources Division’s Nongame Conservation Section, which receives no state general funds for its mission to help conserve wildlife not legally hunted, fished for or trapped, as well as rare plants and natural habitats in Georgia.
The license plates are available for a $35 fee at county tag offices, by checking the wildlife license plate box on mail-in registrations and through online renewals (http://mvd.dor.ga.gov/tags). Specialty plates include an annual renewal fee.
For the Give Wildlife a Chance checkoff, fill in any amount more than $1 on line 26 of the state’s long tax form (Form 500) or line 10 of the short form (Form 500-EZ). Contributions can be deducted from refunds or added to payments.
Georgians can also donate online at www.georgiawildlife.com. Click “Donate the Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund” and follow directions. The process is secure. Donations are tax-deductible.
For more information, go to www.georgiawildlife.com/node/338, or call Nongame Conservation Section offices in Social Circle (770-761-3035), Forsyth (478-994-1438) or Brunswick (912-264-7218). State income tax forms are available online at https://etax.dor.ga.gov/.
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Coastal Habitats Mapped; Seven New Natural Communities Described
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Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Georgia Power Announces Environmental Stewardship Grants
/PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power has announced two new and two continuing grants to conservation and natural resource agencies through the Power of Flight partnership program to protect birds in Georgia through habitat and species restoration and environmental education.
The grants are part of Southern Company's partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Two new grants were awarded under Power of Flight:
* National Wild Turkey Federation – to establish and maintain Golden-winged Warbler habitat in the Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area and the Chattahoochee National Forest in north Georgia's Rabun County through commercial timber thinning, timber stand improvement, herbicide stump treatment, non-native invasive species eradication, native warm-season grass establishment, road and ditch improvements and prescribed burning.
* Avian Research and Conservation Institute – to produce a rangewide strategic plan for recovery of the remnant, steadily-declining population of Southeastern American Kestrel. This project will prioritize specific sites; improve management of habitat and nesting opportunities; perform and evaluate translocations; and select reintroduction sites to establish captive-reared falcons. This project includes activities across the Southeast, including Georgia.
Continuing support was provided to two grants under the Power of Flight program:
* Operation Migration USA – to increase by approximately one-third the number of whooping cranes led south each year using an ultralight aircraft. Through this award increase, Operation Migration will assemble six staff members to condition, train and care for whooping cranes over the summer; imprint and condition up to 12 whooping cranes for southward migration in the fall; and conduct actual southward migration from Wisconsin to Florida. The migration route includes southwest Georgia.
* Milliken Forestry Company – to accelerate translocation efforts for the red-cockaded woodpecker over a five-year period. Funds are supporting a biologist on the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida who monitors potential donor families, with the goal of increasing from 20 to 40 the number of woodpeckers available for translocation each year. This is a continuation of a grant formerly made to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over several years. The project includes activities across the Southeast, including Georgia.
Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy, two major Southern Company and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation partnership programs, have provided more than $11.3 million through 96 grants since 2002. In addition, grant recipients have contributed more than $45.8 million in matching funds, resulting in an on-the-ground conservation impact of about $57.2 million since the program's inception. These two programs will help more than 279,367 acres of longleaf pine and other critical habitat on public and private lands to be restored, enhancing bird populations across the Southeast.
"Our partnership with Georgia Power is generating tangible, on-the-ground results through the restoration of longleaf pine forests in Georgia," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. "In addition to protecting land and water systems, these projects also provide critical habitat for native bird populations. The benefits to both our natural resources and our wildlife are far-reaching."
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, established by Congress in 1984, is an international leader in developing public and private funding to protect wildlife and natural resources. In 26 years, NFWF has funded 3,700 organizations and leveraged $490 million in federal funds into $1.6 billion for conservation. The achievement of clear, measurable results is central to NFWF's work, bringing together diverse stakeholders — from industry to Congress to local leaders — to accomplish positive outcomes. To learn more, visit www.nfwf.org.
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), one of the nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties.
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Wednesday, June 02, 2010
DNR Researchers Use Low-cost Sonar to Map Stream Habitat
It’s a question every researcher who studies fish or other aquatic life eventually faces:
What exactly is beneath the surface of that murky stream?
Or as DNR aquatic resources biologist Adam Kaeser said, talking about detailed landscape maps, “Once you get to the edge of the water … you come to the edge of the information.”
Not for long. That lack of information is giving way to advances Kaeser and DNR GIS specialist Thom Litts have made translating imagery from a blue-collar, side-imaging sonar unit into a GIS layer that probes the underwater side of streams.
Kaeser and Litts have published their findings in American Fisheries Society journals (December 2008 and April 2010), trained some 200 people in using the sonar and scaled their methods to suit the most common level of ArcGIS. They are also providing software tools needed to process the sonar imagery for free. Results from the habitat mapping initiative offer biologists with limited training a low-cost, relatively fast way to document wood, substrate and other habitat in navigable streams.
“It would be extremely difficult to map large, muddy streams any other way,” Litts said. “I think we’ll see some good things come of this.”
The side-scan sonar method is already being used to explore habitat preferences of state-listed Barbour’s map turtles in southwest Georgia’s Ichawaynochaway Creek, search out spawning sites for the rare robust redhorse in the Ocmulgee River and study habitat relationships between three bass species in the upper Flint River. For the Auburn University bass study on the Flint, Kaeser and Litts covered nearly 15 miles of river in one day and produced the map in a week. Traditional methods – measuring habitat along transects and extrapolating findings to the entire area – would have taken several weeks, or longer.
Using side-scan sonar was once the realm of deep-water marine research with tow-behind-the-boat units worth tens of thousands of dollars. But Litts and Kaeser use a Humminbird 900-series Side Imaging system priced at less than $2,000. They motor along the middle of a stream at 5 mph, taking depth readings and sonar “snapshots” that reach from bank to bank.
Computer programs piece together the digital images, a process Litts wrote tools for and smoothed out the remaining kinks. It takes time to interpret the imagery, which looks like a moonscape, with boulders as bumps and logs as lines. Accuracy is confirmed through field spot-checks. The images taken by sound instead of light are rich in detail.
“We’re on our third or fourth generation of refinement,” Litts said.
But they are definitely on to something.
Kaeser envisions a biologist on a blackwater stream pulling up the data on his smartphone. “I think you’re going to see an explosion” in use, Kaeser said.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Expert tips for creating a backyard habitat for colorful summer birds
NF Note: Fayette County is blessed to have so much green space and citizens who are environmentally conscious. Spend some time enticing more wildlife to your backyard. It's a great way to spend the end of the day- just watching the birds and hearing their songs.
(ARA) - Whether city or country, bird watching is fun and you can create an environment for it in your own backyard in less time than you think. Summer is a great time to get started because the most colorful birds with beautiful songs are around to enhance your outdoor environment.
"Late May, June and July are great times to bird watch because lots of birds are nesting," says John Robinson, chief ornithologist and manager of Scotts Birding Center of Excellence. He goes on to explain that the colorful males are displaying their plumage to attract the females so you can see plenty of beautiful species. In addition, once the baby birds are old enough to leave the nest, the mother will show them where food is, making your backyard feeder a much-appreciated resource.
Robinson says there are three components to making your backyard an oasis for feathered friends:
1. Vegetation provides shelter
Having a variety of shrubs and trees in your yard makes it bird friendly. Birds use trees, shrubs and plants to hide from both the elements and their natural predators, as well as to roost or nest in. Additionally, the right types of vegetation also provide fruit or seeds for the birds to eat.
White pine, arborvitae, spruce, juniper, cedar, holly and other broadleaf and needle evergreens provide essential protection all year as well as food. Hedges of serviceberry or viburnum provide food, shelter and nesting spots. Flowers like columbine and trumpet vine attract hummingbirds with their sweet nectar.
2. Quality food nourishes
Not all bird food is created equal. Look for blends that were researched in the field and created to attract the types of birds you want to see in your backyard. Avoid filler material like milo, wheat or cracked corn.
To attract colorful birds, Robinson recommends Scotts Songbird Selections Colorful Bird Blend, which was developed by ornithologists. This mix is made from 10 high-quality ingredients that are blended in a specific ratio designed to attract more colorful birds. Results may vary by region and/or season, but Colorful Bird Blend has been proven to attract up to twice as many than with ordinary wild bird food. The mix is also less attractive to blackbirds, grackles and cowbirds, which are often considered a nuisance.
Another good option is Scotts Songbird Selections Wild Finch & Small Songbird Blend, which was scientifically mixed to attract goldfinches. Field research done across the country by Robinson, his team, and university partners, shows that while results may vary by region and/or season, this mix can attract up to two times the amount of finches as other types of ordinary wild bird food. Additionally, it also attracts other interesting small birds such as nuthatches, chickadees and native sparrows.
3. Water quenches thirst
Putting out a birdbath, especially one with a trickle or fountain, makes your garden a very popular spot. Whether you put a decorative birdbath in your backyard or simply place a large clay saucer on the ground or on top of a tree stump, make sure it has a rough surface and a shallow bowl. If you have a pond or stream, place flat rocks in them for bird perches.
Birds require fresh water, so clean birdbaths often and replace water every couple of days.
For more information and additional ideas on how to create a bird habitat in your own backyard, visit www.scottswildbirdfood.com.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
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