Over the last month, I expanded our natural resource indicator spreadsheet to include new sources.  I’m almost finished, but I’m still very interested in your input–so please let me know within the next two weeks (by 9/14) if you have any new sources to suggest!  So far, the spreadsheet contains all of the indicator sources either on our initial list or suggested through feedback from the web forum, indicator team meetings, and my previous blog post. 

 

Indicator sources:

  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biologist Conference for the South Atlantic
  • Atlantic Coast Joint Venture (ACJV)/Partners in Flight
  • Albermarle Pamlico Sound National Estuary Program (APNEP) – 2012 Ecosystem Assessment
  • Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP) – Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan
  • America’s Longleaf Conservation Plan
  • National Parks Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M)
  • NOAA Southeast and Caribbean Regional Team (SECART)
  • State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) – priority species of Greatest Conservation Need (GCN)

 

I’m particularly excited about the SWAPs!  I cross-compared each of the SWAPs for the six states in the SALCC’s jurisdiction–VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, and FL–to determine which species are geographically widely-distributed and commonly prioritized.  I’ll upload the SWAP database soon so anyone interested can take a look!  If you’re following along, you’ll notice the spreadsheet now contains a new column for the number of SWAPs that specify each suggested indicator as a species of GCN, and I added the SWAP count to the total number of plans that name each indicator.  I sorted each habitat type so the indicators named in the most plans appear at the top.  Here’s a sneak peek of the top contenders for a few habitat types—for a complete list, visit the spreadsheet!  It is live and constantly updating on the indicators page.

 

Estuarine and Marine:

loggerhead seaturtle

West Indian manatee

Nelson’s (sharp-tailed) sparrow

green seaturtle

Atlantic ridley seaturtle

wood stork

shortnose sturgeon

 

Southern Pine:

red-cockaded woodpecker

Henslow’s sparrow

brown-headed nuthatch

eastern rattlesnake

Northern bobwhite

loggerhead shrike

 

Forested Wetlands – organic soil:

Swainson’s warbler

red-cockaded woodpecker

swallow-tailed kite

black bear

Wayne’s black-throated green warbler

cerulean warbler

 

Next, I’ll visit the targets.  The sources listed below have already set conservation targets for many of our potential indicator species, so I’ll note that in the spreadsheet.

 

Target sources:

  • Federal threatened and endangered species list
  • Atlantic Coast Joint Venture (ACJV)/Partners in Flight
  • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission management plans
  • South Atlantic Fishery Management Council management plans
  • National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NCBI) 2.0

 

Also, two organizations are currently developing indicator reports, so I will add them as soon as they are published!

 

Indicator sources in the works:

  • Eastern North Carolina/Southeastern Virginia (ENCSEVA) Strategic Habitat Conservation Program
  • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Longleaf Stewardship Fund

 

Have I missed any indicator sources?  Here at your cooperative, we want to wrap this process up soon so we can move on to choosing our conservation indicators and targets and applying them to the blueprint!  So, let me know within the next two weeks (by 9/14) if you want to suggest another source. Email me at hlcole@ncsu.edu!