Highquality diverse emergent wetland communities are important breeding and migratory stopover habitat for secretive marsh birds SMB includes piedbilled grebe american bittern least bittern sora…

This $299,928.90 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 3, under the National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements program (CFDA 15.654) aims to better understand how changes to the landscape over the past 24 years, including historic and current wetland restoration efforts, have influenced secretive marsh bird populations across the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The project will collect new data on current secretive marsh bird occupancy using call-broadcast surveys and autonomous recording units, coupled with an analysis of wetland characteristics and comparisons between habitats created, restored, or enhanced through the Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project (HREP) and reference sites. The University of Wisconsin System, through its Accounts Payable Department, will conduct this research to provide refuge managers with a better understanding of the efficacy of wetland restoration projects, including those planned and funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. The award period is from August 1, 2024, to May 31, 2027.

Highquality diverse emergent wetland communities are important breeding and migratory stopover habitat for secretive marsh birds SMB includes piedbilled grebe american bittern least bittern sora king rail virginia rail and common gallinule. Many of these species continue to suffer population declines and are listed as statethreatened or species of special concern. They are considered highpriority species for region 3 of the U.S. Fish and wildlife service and identified as a refuge priority resource of concern for the upper mississippi river national wildlife and fish refuge refuge. As a group they are vulnerable to changes in hydrology shifts in wetland plant communities and increasing invasive species. Due to this changes to SMB occupancy over time may indicate wetland stability or degradation related to changing climate and hydrology. The refuge along with federal and state partners has restored thousands of acres of wetlands through the upper mississippi river restoration umrr programs habitat rehabilitation and enhancement project element hrep.many of these restoration efforts sought to create restore or enhance habitats for smbs. However there is a need to better understand how smbs use these restored habitats on the refuge as well as which habitat characteristics are most important for SMB occupancy. Secretive marsh bird callbroadcast surveys were conducted across the refuge from 19992004 2006 and 2008. Since the most recent surveys occurred in 2008 there is a GAP in current SMB occupancy data. Secretive marsh bird monitoring has proven difficult due to the cryptic nature of these species. The standardized north american marsh bird monitoring protocol i.e. callbroadcast surveys has improved SMB detection. More recently autonomous recording units arus have been effective in detecting smbs and may improve detection by reducing many of the factors inherent in callbroadcast surveys. The goal of this project is to better understand how changes to the landscape over the past 24 years including historic and current wetland restoration efforts have influenced SMB populations across the refuge. We will do this by using historic callbroadcast survey data as well as by collecting new data on current SMB occupancy using callbroadcast surveys and arus. This data will be coupled with wetland characteristics and comparisons between habitats created restored or enhanced by the hrep and reference sites that are not part of hrep. The project will cover an approximately 75MILE stretch of the upper mississippi river incorporating land on both sides of the river including minnesota wisconsin and iowa. Overall we aim to provide managers with a better understanding of the efficacy of wetland restoration projects including projects currently being planned that are or will be funded by the inflation reduction act IRA funds awarded to the refuge.