Pacific Coast Joint Venture

Resources, Grants and Tools for Partners

Posted September 29th, 2009
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Announcements

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service releases climate change strategy for public review and comment
Deadline: November 23, 2009

Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology invite participation in 2010 Great Backyard Bird Count
Deadline: February 12-15, 2010

Birds and biodiversity

Digital Distribution Maps of the Birds of the Western Hemisphere
Version 3.0
This updated digital map library now covers 4,273 species. The maps are annotated to indicate sources, migratory status, historic versus current ranges, origin (native or introduced) and taxonomic decisions. The migratory status indications are particularly detailed, distinguishing where birds are permanent residents, breeding residents, non-breeding residents, or passage migrants.

SORA adds ornithology journal to archives
The Searchable Ornithological Research Archive (SORA) is an open access electronic journal archive for an extensive ornithological literature of international scope. Back issues of North American Birds and its predecessor journals have recently been added to the archive.

Re-Shuffling of Species with Climate Disruption: A No-Analog Future for California Birds
Stralberg, et al. PLoS ONE 4(9): e6825. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006825
"By facilitating independent shifts in species' distributions, climate disruption may result in the rapid development of novel species assemblages that challenge the capacity of species to co-exist and adapt….Efforts to conserve and manage biodiversity could be substantially improved by…including the potential for unprecedented changes in community composition and unanticipated consequences of novel species assemblages."

Opting Out of Migration: As Climate Warms, Arctic-Nesting Geese Elect to Winter in Alaska Instead of Mexico
USGS press release
The winter distribution of Pacific brant, a small, dark sea goose, has shifted northward from low-temperate areas such as Mexico to sub-Arctic areas as Alaska’s climate has warmed over the last four decades, according to a just-released article in Arctic.

Resources

IUCN releases toolkit to assess the real worth of wetlands
An Integrated Wetland Assessment Toolkit provides a set of methods that can be used to investigate the links between biodiversity, economics and livelihoods in wetlands, and to identify and address potential conflicts of interest between conservation and development objectives. It is intended to help overcome the current methodological and information gaps in wetland assessment.

Invasive species

Climate Change and Aquatic Invasive Species (Final Report)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
This report reviews available literature on climate-change effects on aquatic invasive species (AIS) and examines state-level AIS management activities. It also analyzes state and regional AIS management plans to determine their capacity to incorporate information on changing conditions generally, and climate change specifically.

Climate Change

Planning for Climate Change: a customizable workshop for planners and other coastal decision-makers
"Planning for Climate Change" was piloted in two locations in March 2009 in Washington State. If you are with another agency or institution, you are welcome to offer this workshop. All of the materials, PowerPoint presentations, and streaming video are available on the website for your use.

Climate Wizard—new online tool from The Nature Conservancy
ClimateWizard enables technical and non-technical audiences alike to access leading climate change information and visualize the impacts anywhere on Earth.

Calls for conference abstracts and symposia

Joint Meeting of the Cooper Ornithological Society, American Ornithologists' Union and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists
Deadline for abstracts: November 6, 2009
Meeting: February 7- 11, 2010
San Diego, California

37th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group
Abstracts due November 13, 2009
Meeting: February 17-20, 2010
Long Beach, California

Conferences, training and workshops

Facilitation Skills for Scientists and Resource Managers
Presented by Northwest Environmental Training Center
November 3-5, 2009
Sacramento, CA
Facilitation skills are used by scientists and resource managers to form productive teams, plan programs and projects, and to implement controversial projects and programs. This course is intended to be a practical approach to improving group meetings, and oriented specifically to the needs of scientists and resource managers.

Bird Conservation Alliance Meeting: Reversing the Decline of Neotropical Migratory Bird Species and Protecting Their Habitats
November 12, 2009, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
U.S. Capitol Visitors Center
Registration: http://www.abcbirds.org/membership/BCA_1109_reg.html
More info: Steve Holmer, sholmer@abcbirds.org, 202/234-7181
Panels include "Strategies to Address the Decline of Neotropical Migrant Species", "Reducing Threats to Migratory Birds", "Legislative and Administration Opportunities to Conserve Migratory Birds", and "Joint Ventures and other Partnerships Benefiting Migratory Birds."
Each panel will be followed by questions and discussion.

Joint Meeting of the Cooper Ornithological Society, American Ornithologists' Union and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists
February 7- 11, 2010
San Diego, California

Workshop of note: North American Ornithological Atlas Committee (NORAC). This workshop will facilitate the exchange of information on atlases and develop a compendium of "best practices." This compendium will function as a central resource for those considering implementing a breeding bird atlas.
Symposia of note: Saving Hawaii's Birds; Tri-national Bird Conservation: Shared Strategies for a Shared North American Avifauna; Birds and Ecosystem Services; Advances in Shorebird Conservation; and others.

37th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group
Early registration deadline: December 4, 2009
Meeting: February 17-20, 2010
Long Beach, California