Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Arkansas
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

In grasslands, the North American biome with the greatest loss of biodiversity, documentation of successful restoration and management is imperative for building large-scale restoration programs. However, quantifying outcomes from grassland management efforts is made difficult by the lack of tools to rapidly map and track core grassland habitats and grassland biodiversity responses to management. In this project, we will address this need by developing a rapid mapping tool to quantify grassland management outcomes on public and private lands. To accomplish this, we will complete two objectives: 1) develop a tool to identify and map grassland habitat cores, and 2) use this tool to quantify grassland habitat core and grassland bird community responses to management in and surrounding three US Fish & Wildlife Service Arkansas refuges, focusing on Southeastern grassland species of conservation concern. Tools and products from this project will facilitate grassland management strategies in the Arkansas FWS refuges, provide grassland bird community and population trends, and will help determine the applicability of this approach for public and private lands across the Southeast region. Other collaborators include Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Quail Forever.