Endangered and Threatened Species of the Platte River (2005) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Summary
Summary
Pages 1-18
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
The central Platte River (as defined in this report) includes the reach from Lexington to Columbus, Nebraska, and the lower Platte River is the segment from Columbus to the confluence with the Missouri River (Figure S-1)
|
From page 2... ...
2 Source: meridian. 100th across position its including Basin, River Platte of features and location 2003.
|
From page 3... ...
Observations of the interior least tern are rare in the central Platte River. The estimated total number of birds in the lower Platte River area is now less than 500.
|
From page 4... ...
asked the National Academies to direct its investigative arm, the National Research Council, to evaluate independently the habitat requirements for the whooping crane, piping plover, interior least tern, and pallid sturgeon; to examine the scientific aspects of USFWS's instream-flow recommendations and habitat suitability guidelines; and to assess the scientific support for the connections among the physical systems of the river related to the habitat as explained and modeled by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
|
From page 5... ...
The committee will consider the scientific founda tions for the current federal designation of central Platte habitat as "critical hab itat" for the whooping crane and Northern Great Plains breeding population of the piping plover. The study will also examine the scientific aspects of (1)
|
From page 6... ...
3. Do current Central Platte habitat conditions affect the likelihood of survival of the piping plover?
|
From page 7... ...
The committee concluded that, given available knowledge, current central Platte habitat conditions adversely affect the likelihood of survival of the whooping crane, but to an unknown degree. The Platte River is important to whooping cranes: about 7% of the total whooping crane population
|
From page 8... ...
If habitat conditions on the central Platte River -- that is, the physical circumstances and food resources required by cranes -- decline substantially, recovery could be slowed or reversed. The Platte River is a consistent source of relatively well-watered habitat for whooping cranes, with its water source in distant mountain watersheds that are not subject to drought cycles that are as severe as those of the Northern Plains.
|
From page 9... ...
The committee concluded that current central Platte River habitat conditions adversely affect the likelihood of survival of the piping plover, and, on the basis of available understanding, those conditions have adversely affected the recovery of the piping plover. Changes in habitat along the river -- including reductions in open, sandy areas that are not subject to flooding during crucial nesting periods -- have been documented through aerial photography since the late 1930s and probably have adversely affected populations of the piping plover.
|
From page 10... ...
The number of terns using the Platte River is about two-thirds of the number needed to reach the interior least tern recovery goal for the Platte. The interior tern is nesting in substantial numbers on the adjacent lower Platte River, but numbers continue to decline on the central Platte, reflecting declining habitat conditions there.
|
From page 11... ...
7. Were the processes and methodologies used by the USFWS in developing its central Platte River instream-flow recommendations (i.e., species, annual pulse flows, and peak flows)
|
From page 12... ...
Are there other Platte River habitats that provide the same values that are essential to the survival of the listed avian species and their recovery? The committee concluded that the habitat characteristics described in USFWS's habitat suitability guidelines for the central Platte River were supported by the science of the time of the original habitat description during the 1970s and 1980s.
|
From page 13... ...
Department of the Interior about the interrelationship of sediment, flow, vegetation, and channel morphology in the central Platte River supported by the existing science? The committee concluded that DOI conclusions about the interrelationships among sediment, flow, vegetation, and channel morphology in the central Platte River were supported by scientific theory, engineering practice, and data available at the time of those decisions.
|
From page 14... ...
· There is no systemwide, integrated operation plan or data-collection plan for the combined hydrological system in the North Platte, South Platte, and central Platte Rivers that can inform researchers and managers on issues that underlie threatened and endangered species conservation. Natural and engineered variations in flows in one part of the basin have unknown effects on other parts of the basin, especially with respect to reservoir storage, groundwater storage, and river flows.
|
From page 15... ...
There are substantial gaps in integrative scientific understanding of the connections between species that use the habitats of the central and lower Platte River and adjacent habitat areas, such as the Rainwater Basin of southern Nebraska and the Loup, Elkhorn, and Niobrara Rivers and other smaller northern Great Plains rivers. The committee is confident that the central Platte River and lower Platte River are essential for the survival and recovery of the listed bird species and pallid sturgeon.
|
From page 16... ...
· Some of the basic facts of issues regarding threatened and endangered species in the central and lower Platte River are in dispute because of unequal access to research sites. Free access to all data sources is a basic tenet of sound science, but DOI agencies and Nebraska corporations managing water and electric power do not enter discussions about threatened and endangered species on the central and lower Platte River with the same datasets for species and physical environmental characteristics.
|
From page 17... ...
Potentially important localized controls on habitat for threatened and endangered species on the central and lower Platte River are likely to be related to urbanization, particularly near freeway exits and small cities and towns where housing is replacing other land uses more useful to the species. Off-road vehicle use threatens the nesting sites of piping plovers and interior least terns in many of the sandy reaches of the river.
|
From page 18... ...
The committee found numerous gaps in knowledge. Addressing them could substantially improve science and management for the river, its human population, and its threatened and endangered species.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.