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Speedy conversion of science into management at Rocky Mountain National Park

By Terry Terrell and Judy Visty

Applying science to park management at Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, happens quickly, sometimes the same day staff becomes aware of research results. Generally speaking, Natural Resource Challenge programs and universities are working together to develop and apply science-based manage- ment information throughout the National Park System; the following examples from Rocky Mountain National Park demonstrate that inserting good science into park practices does not need to take years.

Using a biocontr ol to fight exotic species Some species of native penstemon (e.g., Penstemon virgatus and P. whippleanus, fig. 1) are among the most common wildflowers in Rocky Mountain National Park. By contrast, the endemic Harbour’s beardtongue (P. harbourii) is listed as vulnerable by NatureServe, a nonprofit conservation organi- zation and leading source of information about rare and Figure 1. Native penstemon species are very important to the biodiversity of Rocky Mountain National Park. This endangered species and threat- beardless sidebells penstemon (P. virgatus) is common ened ecosystems. These flowering throughout most of the park at mid-summer, while plants, in addition to making signifi- Harbour’s beardtongue (not pictured) is rare. Both species cant contributions to visitor enjoyment, are threatened by invasive, nonnative Dalmatian toadflax are important to park biodiversity. The (page 54). NPS exotic invasive species Dalmatian toadflax

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( spp. dalmatica, fig. 2) and yellow toadflax (L. vulgaris) are threatening native penstemon. Closing back country campsite Though biocontrols such as Calophasia lunala (a leaf- and flower-eating ), intermediella (a root- to protect threatened species boring moth), and Mecinus janthinus (a stem-boring wee- The boreal toad (Bufo borealis), like many amphibian vil) are available to fight these pest species, until recently species, has suffered dramatic declines in the last decade park staff did not know what the impact of such controls and is a threatened species in Colorado. The same day would be on the native penstemon population in Rocky that a researcher from the U.S. Mountain National Park. In particular, as members of Geological Survey (USGS), Erin the same plant family Scrophulariaceae (figwort), toad- Park staff did Muths, discovered the toads spawn- flaxes are closely related to native penstemon, suggesting not know ing in a pond adjacent to a backcoun- that predators of one may also attack the other. A disas- what the try campsite, park managers closed trous outcome would be introducing a biocontrol that impact of the campsite and relocated campers; attacked both native penstemon and nonnative toadflax. thereby, disturbance to the pond and In order to test the host specificity of the biocontrol [bio]contr ols adjoining areas was limited. organisms in a controlled location, the Continental would be on Divide Research Learning Center, Rocky Mountain the native Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, and University of Colorado–Boulder provided cooperative funding penstemon for graduate student Nehalem Breiter to use penste- population. mon salvaged from the recent widening of Bear Lake Road, a main transportation corridor in the park (fig. 3). Breiter placed the salvaged plants in a greenhouse environment at an off-park location and exposed them to the biocontrol . This study determined that the biocontrol organisms did not attack native penstemon. Because the park’s invasive species man- agement plan permits the use of biocontrols when proven not to threaten native biodiversity, park resource managers approved the use of the stem-bor- ing weevil within one week of receiving the researcher’s final report (Breiter 2005).

Changing prescribed burning practices to preser ve rare communities Researchers from the University of Northern Colorado reported that at the current level of ungu- Figure 2. As a result of research at the late herbivory (as many as 3,500 elk inhabit the park University of Colorado–Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park now has a bio- and Estes Valley during the summer—a historical logical control available to fight high), prescribed burns in shrub communities pre- Dalmatian toadflax, pictured here. vented the regeneration of the globally rare steppe COPYRIGHT LEANNE BENTON; USED BY PERMISSION shrub communities in the park (Nesvacil 2003). Additionally, as lands east of the Continental Divide undergo rapid development in Colorado, shrublands, which are primary habitat for nine species of birds, Figure 3. Researchers used samples are being lost. Graduate student Kelly Nesvacil pre- of native penstemon species sal- sented these findings at a staff seminar. Park resource vaged from the widening of Bear and fire managers met immediately after the presenta- Lake Road in Rocky Mountain tion and changed prescribed burning practices in National Park in 2004–2005 to test order to protect shrub communities in the park. biocontrol insects for host specificity. NPS

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University, M. K. Watry, personal communication, Testing for mercury in fish December 2005). During air-quality studies, USGS researchers detected In a related study, data from collared also mercury in snowpack adjacent to remote, high-elevation revealed that migrant deer may play a more significant lakes in the park. These results sparked curiosity as to role in spreading the disease than dispersing deer, at least whether investigators had ever analyzed fish in Rocky in north-central Colorado. For example, about half of the Mountain National Park for mercury. A search of records mule deer that winter in the Estes Park area (adjacent to turned up previous analysis of fish tissue in 1999 (U.S. the national park) migrated from winter to summer range, Geological Survey, D. P. Krabbenhoft, personal commu- but only 2% actually dispersed (left the area and did not nication, January 2004) that showed total mercury wet- return) (Conner and Miller 2004). weight concentrations averaging between 0.01 and 0.12 Results from both the ongoing “test and cull” and deer- parts per million (ppm). However, individual trout had movement studies have provided information that is use- concentrations as high as 0.15 ppm, that is, about half the ful in predicting the likely spread of chronic wasting dis- amount of EPA guidelines (i.e., 0.3 ppm) for mercury in ease and perhaps controlling local outbreaks where they fish tissue intended for human consumption. Because occur. some lakes receive more precipitation and the surround- ing topography favors drainage into some lakes, poten- tially more mercury is deposited; therefore biologists sur- Facilitating manag ement actions mised that fish with higher concentrations of toxic methyl During the often frenetic, day-to-day operations in mercury might be present in park waters. The 1999 analy- parks, research reports may come in and get filed without sis report and follow-up discussion triggered a rapid col- receiving the attention needed to turn results into action. laborative effort among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, At Rocky Mountain National Park, staff uses several U.S. Geological Survey, and park staff to conduct system- mechanisms to ensure that research informs decision atic fish surveys. Analysis of tissue did not identify any making. fish that exceeded consumption guidelines; hence, park A park staff member serves as a project shepherd, mak- managers have not issued any mercury advisories. ing a special point to be involved throughout the duration Nevertheless, scientists are continuing analysis to deter- of a study and taking necessary post-project action. mine general patterns regarding mercury accumulation in An informal presentation brings key people together to high-elevation lakes. discuss results with the researcher. This is especially valu- able when the project investigator is a graduate student who may be moving out of the area. Removing deer with chronic Sometimes the research partner personally requests a wasting disease management action such as the closure of an area to visi- tors. Having a designated point of contact for researchers Researchers from the Colorado Division of Wildlife helps ensure that recommendations are addressed and and park staff have been using tonsillar biop- appropriate action can be taken. sies since 2002 to test for chronic wasting Now that investigators’ annual reports disease in deer. They collar tested animals Having a desig- (https://science1.nature.nps.gov/research/ ac/ and remove from the herd the deer that test nated point of ResearchIndex) can be exported into file for- positive. Chronic wasting disease, like mad- mats that are easy to share electronically (e.g., cow disease, is caused by abnormal proteins contact for PDF), staff entering these reports into the sys- called prions. Although studies do not indi- researchers tem can forward concise documents to other cate that the disease can be transmitted to interested staff. This approach is very helpful humans, eating meat from infected animals helps ensur e that recommen- in providing a manageable amount of infor- is not recommended. The National Park mation about multiple projects. Service classifies the disease as nonnative, dations are Rocky Mountain National Park hosts a and park staff is cooperating with the State addr essed and biennial research conference during a relative- of Colorado in limiting its spread. appropriate ly quiet time of the year, thereby encouraging Preliminary results indicate this “test and staff participation. The conference focuses cull” method may be helping to reduce action can be attention on project results and is also a forum prevalence of the disease among mule deer taken. for sharing science-based information with in the Estes Park–Rocky Mountain National the public and media, alerting stakeholders to Park herd. However, investigators will not the need for management action. complete the study until spring 2007 (Colorado State

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The park’s electronic morning report includes research “Buffelgrass Fuel Loads” continued from page 37 report citations along with information about obtaining Rogers, G. F. 1985. Mortality of burned Cereus giganteus. Ecology the full report (e.g., in the park’s library). 66:630–632. Based on the number of research permits issued at Rocky Mountain National Park, the park’s research pro- Rogers, G. F., and J. Steele. 1980. Sonoran Desert fire ecology. Pages 15–19 gram has nearly doubled over in M. A. Stokes and J. H. Dietrich, technical coordinators. Proceedings of the fire history workshop. General Technical Report RM-81. USDA, the last six years. Founded in Forest Service. The Continental 2001 as part of the Natural Divide Research Resource Challenge, the Rutman, S., and L. Dickson. 2002. Management of buffelgrass on Organ Learning Center Continental Divide Research Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. Pages 311–318 in B. Tellman, Learning Center, hosted in editor. Invasive exotic species in the Sonoran region. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, USA. … handles the Rocky Mountain National task of improving Park, handles the task of Schmid, M. K., and G. F. Rogers. 1988. Trends in fire occurrence in the information improving information transfer Arizona Upland Subdivision of the Sonoran Desert, 1955 to 1983. The of research results. Research Southwestern Naturalist 33:437–444. transfer of learning center staff has found Stevens, R. 2004. Fuel loading, fuel moisture are important components of that using the aforementioned research results. prescribed fire. Ag News & Views. January 2004. The Samuel Noble routes to share information is Foundation. Available at http://www.noble.org/Ag/Wildlife/FireFuelLoad/. extremely useful. Many parks have these types of communication mechanisms already Thomas, P. A, and P. Goodson. 1992. Conservation of succulents in desert in place. Hence, ensuring that critical research results grasslands managed by fire. Biological Conservation 60:91–100. turn into swift, beneficial actions may be as simple and van Wilgen, B. W., R. J. Scholes. 1997. The vegetation and fire regimes of feasible as coordinating and applying these already estab- southern hemisphere Africa. Pages 27–46 in B. W. van Wilgen, M. O. lished communication strategies. Andreae, J. G. Goldammer, and J. A. Lindesay, editors. Fire in the south- ern African savannas: Ecological and atmospheric perspectives. Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, South Africa.

References Williams, D. G., and Z. Baruch. 2000. African grass invasion in the Breiter, N. 2005. How selective are biological controls? Evaluating the Americas: Ecosystem consequences and the role of ecophysiology. potential for nontarget herbivory by Mecinus Janthinus Germar Biological Invasions 2:123–140. [Coeoptera: Curculionidae], a biological control agent for Dalmatian ( L. P. Mill.) and yellow toadflax ( P. Wilson, R. C., M. G. Narog, A. L. Koonce, and B. M. Corcoran. 1994. Mill.) [Scrophulariaceae]. Master’s thesis. University of Colorado, Postfire regeneration in Arizona’s giant saguaro shrub community. Boulder, Colorado. Pages 424–431 in L. F. DeBano, G. J. Gottfried, R. H. Hamre, C. B. Edminster, P. F. Ffolliott, and A. Ortega-Rubio, editors. Biodiversity and Conner, M. M., and M. M. Miller. 2004. Movement patterns and spatial management of the Madrean Archipelago: The sky islands of south- epidemiology of a prion disease in mule deer population units. western United States and northwestern Mexico. USDA Forest Service, Ecological Applications 14(6):1870–1881. Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Nesvacil, K. 2003. Plant, herbivore, and prescribed fire interactions in the upland bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) communities of Rocky Mountain About the authors National Park, Colorado. Master’s thesis. University of Northern Todd C. Esque, PhD, is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Survey, 160 N. Stephanie St., Henderson, Nevada 89074. He can be reached at 702-564-4506 and [email protected]. Cecil Schwalbe is a research ecologist with the USGS Sonoran Desert Research Station in Tucson, Arizona. Jessica A. Lissow worked as a biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, in About the author s Henderson, Nevada. Dustin F. Haines is with the Department of Ecology, Terry Terrell was, until retirement, the science officer at Rocky Mountain Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Danielle National Park and the director of the Continental Divide Research Learning Foster is an ecologist with the National Park Service at Carlsbad Caverns Center. Judy Visty is the science education coordinator for the Continental National Park, New Mexico. Megan C. Garnett is a biologist with the U.S. Divide Research Learning Center and acting science officer at Rocky Geological Survey in Henderson, Nevada. Mountain National Park. She can be reached at [email protected] and S 970-586-1302. S

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