Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Introduction
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC) is one of 16 biological research centers within the Biological Research Division (BRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Center operates to fulfill a three-fold mission:
- To develop research information on the quantitative ecological requirements for wildlife populations;
- To design and conduct studies of numbers and distribution of flora and fauna, including identification of change resulting from habitat loss and modification; and
- To disseminate the latest in technical information and research findings such that interested audiences benefit to the maximum extent possible.
As our name implies, current studies focus primarily on prairie wildlife and their habitats. Although the Center's programs formerly concentrated within the northern Great Plains, our role has expanded to one of broad responsibility for wildlife research throughout the northern and central grasslands. Additionally, the Center conducts long-term wolf research in the northeastern forests of Minnesota and elsewhere, and staff are involved in shorter-term studies throughout the central and western United States.
|
Both within and outside of the prairie states, our primary
goal is to develop strategies, including public education, to further
survival of our native flora and fauna in the face of anthropogenic change.
In the Great Plains, for example, many resident species are adapted to life
in vast stretches of unbroken grassland and exist nowhere else, while others,
primarily birds, breed in the prairies or are dependent upon food resources
of the grasslands or their embedded wetlands during migration. Intensive agriculture
and other human activities during the short span of time since European
settlement have eliminated huge areas of native grassland and modified what
little remains. Habitat loss and fragmentation, fire suppression, invasive
exotic species, wetland drainage and tillage, altered hydrology, intensive
grazing and pesticide use, and modified predator complexes place many species
at risk. Headquartered in Jamestown, North Dakota, in the heart of the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region, the Center has field stations in Columbia, Missouri, Fayetteville, Arkansas, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Ely, Minnesota. It also possesses a field research facility near Woodworth, North Dakota, which operates during the field season to provide housing and laboratory/logistic support for studies in the Missouri Coteau, and partially supports a Cooperative Park Studies Unit at the University of Minnesota that conducts social science studies for the National Park System and others. This report summarizes our activities during Fiscal Year 1999 (FY99) (October 1, 1998-September 30, 1999). In contrast to previous years, in which we have summarized our accomplishments, this year's report reviews progress of our |
 Interior grasslands and NPWRC locations |
|
A contact is provided for each of the projects discussed in this report. For further information about Center programs, contact David Fellows npwrc@usgs.gov or visit the NPWRC web page (http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/).
Return to Contents
Next Section -- Management Progress
