|
CSP Home
Course Descriptions
Course Resources
Schedule:
**Policy & Planning
**Science & Statistics
Staff
************************
Request a Course
|
A
partnership between the USGS-Cooperative Research Units and the USFWS.
The USFWS
and USGS Cooperative Research Units (CRU) have developed a web conferencing
program to increase communication and transfer of technical information between
USFWS and CRU on topics for which CRU has expertise. This program is
being facilitated by the USFWS's National Conservation Training Center
(NCTC). A key to the success of the program is matching the expertise of
CRU scientists with the information needs of USFWS managers.
Web
conferencing is a way to hold group meetings or live presentations over the
Internet. It minimizes travel, reduces costs, facilitates collaboration,
and is real time. At a web conference, participants sit at their personal
computer and share information with each other through the Internet.
Visual communication on the computer is usually accompanied by voice
communication through a telephone conference call. Typical features of
web conferences include a slide presentation, application sharing such as
spreadsheet manipulation, whiteboards, Internet co-browsing, chat, file
sharing, and polls.
The
web conferences are similar to a graduate seminar, last about 1 hour, and
feature an interactive question-and-answer session. Topics are related to
the expertise of CRU scientists as applied to issues of regional or national
importance to USFWS managers. The conferences are targeted at a technical
level equivalent to that of a graduate seminar and assume that the participants
already have some knowledge of and background with the topic.
Pre-conference materials are made available by NCTC as appropriate to the
topics. Students are encouraged to have questions prepared to ask the CRU
scientist during the conference.
The web conferences use the Microsoft Live Meeting software program. Conference advertisement and registration is through DOI LEARN.
Each conference. All conferences,
including questions and answers, are recorded and available in NCTC’s web
library.
College
Credit: N/A
Who
should attend: Any
Service biologist or scientist who desires to keep up-to-date with current
research conducted by CRU across the country.
Non-Department of Interior Applicants: There is not a tuition charge for these Webinars. To register, please follow these instructions:
- Use the “Public Catalog Login” in DOI Learn to register for the Webinars
- Once in the Catalog, search on “Conservation Science” or "CSP3900"
- Click on title of topic
- Scroll down the course description until you find the webinar session you are interested in
- Select “Apply”
- Fill out the registration form; where it asks for Payment Type, select “none required”; Click “Go”; then click on “Submit Order”
Scheduled Sessions:
Date |
Time |
Topic |
Instructor |
| 06/18/2009 |
2:00-4:00pm EDT |
"Ecology and Management of New Zealand Mud Snails" - Aquatic alien, invasive species have been introduced throughout the world via shipping and transportation systems including ballast and hull fouling transfers. Of increasing concern to regulators and managers is the introduction of invasive species with aquaculture products, bait, and fish stock enhancement programs. Invasive species (both micro and macro organisms) are a risk to successful production at aquaculture facilities, and infested facilities can pose a risk to the environment. The New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS) Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a hydrobiid snail native to New Zealand, has been introduced into several continents and North America. Populations of NZMS are now reported in nearly all of the western United States, in the Great Lakes, and Wisconsin and Minnesota. Populations of NZMS are often able to expand rapidly as because snails are ovoviviparous, and reproduce sexually or asexually via parthenogenesis. In high densities NZMS can affect ecosystem function by dominating nitrogen and carbon cycling, and compete for resources with native aquatic invertebrates and insects. In some circumstances, New Zealand mudsnails can survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract of fish, and thus fish can serve as vectors for spreading NZMS. In this webinar we will review the most recent data and approaches to estimate risks of infestations of New Zealand mudsnails in aquatic systems, and provide information on control methods and procedures that can be used to reduce the likelihood transfer of snails into and out of fish hatcheries. |
Christine Moffitt, Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, USGS-Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID |
| 07/16/2009 |
2:00-4:00pm EDT |
"Estimating Fish Mortality Rates Using Telemetry and Conventional Tagging" - Tag-return studies are an efficient and effective method for estimating fish mortality rates. Releases of tagged fish on multiple occasions (e.g., months or years) make it possible to estimate the total mortality rate (Z). When factors such as tag loss, tagging mortality, and angler non-reporting can be addressed, it is possible to partition Z into fishing (F) and natural (M) mortality components. For many species, tag returns from catch-and-release fishing can also be incorporated to provide useful information about mortality. Telemetry methods offer an alternative way of estimating F and M. Advantages of telemetry, compared to a conventional tag-return study, include estimating mortality rates on a finer temporal scale (e.g. monthly or seasonal) and providing ecological information about movements and habitat use. Studies that combine conventional and telemetry tags blend the strengths of each method. Conventional tags are inexpensive and provide direct information about F through tag returns. Telemetry tags are expensive but provide direct information about M and estimates are unaffected by angler non-reporting of tags. Future improvements in transmitter and receiver technology will further enhance the value of combining conventional and telemetry tags to estimate these important population parameters. |
Joseph E. Hightower,
USGS, North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Department of Biology, NC State University
Raleigh, NC |
| 08/20/2009 |
2:00-4:00pm EDT |
"Distribution and Feeding Behavior of Coastal Stocks of Striped Bass in Massachusetts" - Striped bass (Morone saxatilis), a highly mobile predator in Atlantic estuaries
and coastal waters, has been historically important to fisheries and ecosystem
function. The US Atlantic striped bass stocks spawn in three areas: Chesapeake
Bay, Delaware River, and the Hudson River. These migrants move northward along
the Atlantic coast in spring then return southward in the fall. Since 1995,
striped bass have become extremely abundant in New England estuaries and many
striped bass feed seasonally off the Massachusetts coast. Since 1999, my
colleagues and I have researched the behavior of migratory striped bass in
Massachusetts estuaries. In this webinar, I synthesize some basic ecology and
background about migratory striped bass, review our findings on diet, and
summarize our research on acoustic tagging and habitat use in Massachusetts
estuaries. Some of these findings are quite surprising. For example, 60% of the
schoolie striped bass (335-634 mm TL) that were acoustically tagged in Plum
Island Estuary (PIE), Massachusetts (MA), in 2005 (n=14) and 2006 (n=46), stayed
there for > 30 days (average of 66.0 days in 2005 and 72.2 days in 2006). These
results suggest that highly mobile striped bass that have traveled hundreds of
kilometers to feed (474-939 km for a 1 way migration from Hudson River, Delaware
Bay, Chesapeake Bay) can cease their mobile lifestyle and remain in a relatively
localized area for a prolonged period. Then 32 of these 46 Massachusetts summer
residents were detected in Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, or both the fall and
winter of 2006-2007. So, striped bass tagged in MA in summer may have
overwintered in multiple areas and fish overwintering in a single location may
have used multiple routes to get there. Consequently, a seemingly homogeneous
group of striped bass tagged at the same time in the same non-natal feeding
location exhibited a surprising diversity of southward movement patterns that
could affect population level processes. Following a review of concepts, data,
and emerging tools, I suggest areas that merit coastwide synthesis in order to
better manage the restored striped bass population for commercial and
recreational yield while still conserving important prey populations.
|
Martha Mather, USGS, Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resources Conservation,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA |
09/17/2009 Part 1
09/18/2009 Part 2
(You will only need to sign up in DOI Learn for Part 1) |
2:00-4:00pm EDT
2:00-3:30pm EDT
|
"Modeling Mercury Accumulation in Fishes Using Bioenergetic Models" - Fish are a healthy component of our diet and provide an important source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, concern about mercury levels in fishes has increased in recent years and is warranted in two situations: 1) for persons who include predominantly fish in their diet and 2) for persons who eat fish that have relatively high mercury concentrations. In our culture, it is the latter (high Hg levels in fish) that generates most concern with regard to human health issues. The purpose of this workshop is to increase our understanding of mercury (Hg) contamination in freshwater environments and provide participants a working knowledge of quantitative methods for modeling mercury accumulation in fishes. We will review mercury dynamics in aquatic food webs and the theory, methodologies and application of bioenergetic models. Modeling simulations will be demonstrated using the computer program ‘Fish Bioenergetics’ (Version 3.0) to predict mercury accumulation in fishes.
|
Steven R. Chipps, Instructor
USGS South Dakota Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit,
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences,
South Dakota State University.
Brookings, SD 57007
Steven.chipps@sdstate.edu; 605.688.6121 |
| 11/19/2009 |
2:30-4:00pm EDT |
"Migration and Dam Passage of American Eels in a Mid-Atlantic Watershed, USA" -
The apparent decline of the American eel population has prompted recent management and conservation concerns. Management plans have emphasized a need to evaluate the impact of barriers on both upstream and downstream eel movements, as well as investigate and develop technologies for upstream and downstream passage. Our research on migration of American eels within the Potomac River watershed of Chesapeake Bay has focused on upstream migration of yellow-phase eels, and downstream migration of silver-phase eels. In this webinar, I will focus on results from studies on upstream migration, emphasizing data on size and age, environmental cues to migration, and the success of eel ladders for dam passage.
|
Stuart Welsh, Assistant Unit Leader, Fisheries with the West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Division of Forestry, Morgantown, WV |
|
