Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

Phased Assessment of Natural Resources Conditions for Big Bend National Park

Project ID: J8W07100038

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

Fiscal Year: 2010

Initial Funding: $32,226

Total Funding: $77,225

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Big Bend National Park

Principal Investigator: Drazkowski, Barry

Agreement Technical Representative: Reiser, Hildy

Abstract: This is a collaborative project to conduct a three-phased, ecological assessment of natural resource conditions for Big Bend National Park (BIBE). This assessment 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 NPS-managed ecological park 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 BIBE. The assessment will utilize a standardized NPS framework modeled around six essential ecological attributes at appropriate scales of analysis. The purpose of the assessment 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 park’s boundaries in order to establish context for park resources. This current effort will focus primarily on Phase I: conducting scoping, developing a framework, and initiating indicator data development in support of Phase II, which will be an indicator analysis of condition and documenting analysis findings in a standardized report. 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 BIBE.

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