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

The ACE Basin represents a unique opportunity for comparative studies between managed and unmanaged rice fields in the same location across a range of species and impoundment types (salinity, management objectives). However, a record growth in residential and commercial development on the fringes of the ACE Basin suggest the window of opportunity for science based decision-making in natural resources conservation and sustainability in this basin is quickly closing. The study we propose addresses two priority goals of SAMBI (South Atlantic Migratory Bird Initiative): (1) to provide optimal breeding habitat to maintain and increase populations of priority species, and (2) to provide high quality managed habitat to support requirements of species migrating through or spending winter in the region. outputs from this study will provide general information helpful to goals 2 and 6 outlined in the SSPD Resource Protection Funds. The ACE Basin is considered an Important an Important Bird Area for South Carolina by the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy and supports numerous priority habitats and species listed in the South Atlantic Migratory Bird Initiative (SAMBI) of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture.