Practical Conservation

My colleagues just completed a multi-state northern bobwhite research initiative. The final report was just published by NRCS and is available online.  It summarizes a suite of research projects that will improve conservation on farms. A quote from the Foreward should pique your interest – “You will find clear, concise recommendations and the kind of conservation practices to use on your farm or recommend to others for quail restoration. Much of the bobwhite’s needs are supported by farm bill programs approved by Congress and administered by USDA NRCS.” – L. Pete Heard

Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog thinks that landscape agro-ecology – the study of agriculture and its biodiversity beyond the field scale – is coming of age.  I agree with them.

USDA’s Conservation Assessment Effects Project has just released two extensive reviews of the effects of agricultural conservation practices – like those used in CRP and other conservation programs  (public announcement here).  Part A addresses terrestrial habitats and Part B addresses aquatic habitats.  Even better is the dynamic bibliography.

Here is a good summary about the effects of European conservation programs on mammals.  The applications to North American programs are easy to see.  Good thing, too, because N. American research on mammals in CRP and other programs is sorely lacking.

McDonald, D.W., F.H. Tattersall, K.M. Service, L.G.Firbank, and R. E. Feber.  2007.  Mammals, agric-environment schemes and set-aside – what are the putative benefits. Mammal Review 37:259-277.

The Comprehensive Review of Farm Bill Benefits to Wildlife reviews the impacts of USDA Conservation Programs on wildlife habitat and populations from 1885-2000. Much of the document focuses on grassland birds because the vast majority of the enrolled acres are in grass practices, and most of the available research is on birds. There are chapters specifically on waterfowl & CRP, grassland birds & CRP, and grassland birds & buffer practices. The Southeast and Midwest each get their own chapter. There are chapters on Swampbuster, WRP, WHIP and EQUIP. The list of authors is impressive – Pete Heard, Douglas Johnson, Louis Best, just to name a few. The highlight of the document is an extensive annotated bibliography. Fifteen years of ag-wildlife research in one volume. The individual chapters are available HERE. The chapters by Burger, Ryan, and Best are central texts in my Ag-Wildlife course.

In 2005, the NRCS in conjunction with the Wildlife Society produced two additional reviews.

The first one – Fish & Wildlife Benefits of Farm Bill Conservation Programs – covers the first half of this decade. Some chapters from the 1985-2000 document are present in revised form (e.g., Johnson, Grassland Bird Use of CRP in the Great Plains; Burger, The CRP in the Southeast; Reynolds, The CRP and Duck Production in the US Prairie Pothole region). There are also several new chapters on the CREP, the Grassland Reserve Program, and the Conservation Security Program. This update lacks the annotated bibliography of the first document. Individual chapters are available HERE. Hard copy can be be purchased from the Wildlife Society.

The second one – Fish & Wildlife Benefits of Farm Bill Conservation Practices – organizes the reviews by particular types of conservation practices, which can be useful from an objective-oriented planning perspective. Chapters include ones on cropland conservation practices, grassland establishment, agricultural buffers, grassland conservation practices, wetland establishment practices, and effects of conservation practices on aquatic habitats and fauna. The final chapter summarizes ways of “Using Adaptive Management to Meet Conservation Goals.” Individual chapters are available HERE. Hard copy can be be purchased from the Wildlife Society.