Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

Natural Resources Condition Assessments for Padre Island National Seashore and Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site

Project ID: J8W07110018

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

Fiscal Year: 2011

Initial Funding: $15,000

Total Funding: $135,000

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Intermountain Region

Principal Investigator: Drazkowski, Barry

Agreement Technical Representative: McPherson, R. Dale

Abstract: This is a collaborative project to conduct ecological assessments of natural resource conditions for Padre Island National Seashore (PAIS) and Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site (PAAL). These assessments will rely on existing scientific data from multiple sources, combined with best professional judgment from an interdisciplinary team of specialists, to evaluate overall functional status and integrity for park ecological resources. Project scope is comprehensive in that a wide range of biotic, abiotic, landscape, and ecological resources and interactions will be considered, and that conditions will be evaluated for selected critical ecological indicators for PAIS and PAAL. The assessments will utilize a standardized National Park Service (NPS) framework modeled around six essential ecological attributes at appropriate scales of analysis. The purpose of the assessments is to understand and report on the condition of resources for park-managed ecological components. However, some analyses (e.g., threats/stressors, current conditions) will likely be conducted at broader watershed or landscape scales that encompass areas extending beyond the parks’ boundaries in order to establish context for park resources. The project will be conducted in three phases: Phase I, a detailed definition of project goals and objectives, ranking of management issues and resources, and a determination of key data required for assessments; Phase II includes data compilation and review, and expert discussion/synthesis to support the assessments; and Phase III, collaborative assessments of resource condition, trends, recommendations, and reporting consistent with the NPS technical report series. The effort covered by this Task Agreement focuses on Phase I: conducting scoping, and developing a framework. A key element in this process is that NPS will provide a significant level of support for the scoping process, framework development, and most importantly, the project’s data mining efforts specific to the identified indicators for PAIS and PAAL. The public benefits include better understanding, insight, management awareness, and sustainability of the natural resources and their current conditions in PAIS and PAAL

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