OpportunityTitle: BLM Utah Reptile and Amphibian Inventory and Monitoring
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This financial assistance opportunity is also open to all partners under any Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) program.  CESUs are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education.  If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, indirect costs are limited to a rate of no more than 17.5% of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner&apos;s Federal Agency-approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA).
Description: 1. Background: Amphibians and reptiles are important components of our vertebrate diversity yet they are some of the least studied species and this lack of information limits implementation of best management practices in habitats and ecosystems. Amphibians are closely tied to water and riparian areas and are sensitive to disturbance (e.g., fire), drought, non-native predators, and water quality. Reptiles are abundant in warmer, drier environments, including pinyon-juniper woodlands, sagebrush shrublands, salt desert, and canyonlands, habitats that are under consideration for fuels management, weed management, energy development, and habitat modifications targeting Greater sage-grouse. Utah has some of the highest diversity of amphibians and reptiles in United States. The goal of this project is to improve basic knowledge of the distribution, abundance, and habitat associations of these diverse taxa, and evaluate effects of resource and land management actions on amphibian and reptile populations. Information on movement patterns and gene flow in relation connectivity and habitat fragmentation is also of interest, especially in the context of current and future management scenarios and ecosystem shifts as a result of invasive species, fire, and climate change. Since habitat loss is the largest threat to these species (Novarro et al, 2015) it is important to discover how the decisions the BLM is making across the state of Utah might potentially impact these species into the future. Some activities are planned to increase, such as vegetation treatments within sagebrush ecosystems. These treatments will be favorable towards sagebrush ecosystems and be targeted towards Greater Sage-Grouse. There is not much information about what these treatments will do to non-target species such as amphibians and reptiles. Since habitat loss along with habitat alteration and fragmentation are threats to reptiles and amphibians and BLM is a multiple use, it is important for to understand how all projects impact all aspects of the ecosystem including herpetofauna. Objectives: The objectives of this project are to 1) Gather information for a baseline inventory for reptiles and amphibians in SW Utah, 2) Understand how these species use and move on the different habitats, 3) develop an understanding of the basic needs of reptiles and amphibians in southwest Utah 5) begin to understand how these species use landscapes in Utah, 3) understand how climatic factors might affect how these species use the habitats 4) strive to understand if and how vegetation treatments that have been completed and continue to be completed have impacts on species and their demographics movements within certain habitats in southwest Utah. Public Benefit: The public benefit of this project is to gather baseline information. This project would also attempt to forecast past and forecast future conditions for herps in the region in order to adapt activities and actions in order to better manage for these species. Smaller species like herps are very important to all other aspects of the ecosystem. If the BLM is inadvertently impacting these species and therefore impacting the entire sagebrush or juniper ecosystem then many of the species within that system (food chain, etc.) may eventually be impacted.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: mbeckstead@blm.gov
GrantorContactText: Grants Management Specialist Melanie Beckstead (801) 539-4169&lt;br/&gt;mbeckstead@blm.gov&lt;br/&gt;