Light detection and ranging (lidar) and tide data will be used to refine existing marsh habitat maps and produce a rapid high marsh potential dataset for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast. The first component is developing a rapid high marsh potential dataset. Scientists from USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and Mississippi State University are collaborating on the high marsh mapping associated with this project. This project, led by Mississippi State University, includes co-investigators and collaborations with 12 universities, Federal and State agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The framework will inform decisions by helping researchers and resource managers test predictions and improve the understanding of how these birds interact with high marsh ecosystems and prescribed fire. In response, a new multidisciplinary project will investigate the effects of fire on Gulf of Mexico marshes by mapping high marsh and monitoring black rail ( Laterallus jamaicensis), yellow rail ( Coturnicops noveboracensis), and mottled duck ( Anas fulvigula) responses to prescribed fire application using an adaptive management framework. Without an understanding of how prescribed fire impacts high marsh ecosystems, including several high-priority bird species, natural resource managers will be limited in their ability to manage and conserve the biodiversity of the Gulf Coast. Land managers’ decisions about prescribed fire in high marsh systems are complicated by uncertainty around the response of birds to the application of prescribed fire. High marsh is a unique habitat type threatened by sea-level rise and characterized by a community of specialized emergent vegetation that tolerates irregular tidal inundation. Since the Charter was founded in 1999 it has responded to 576 disasters including tsunami in Indonesia and Thailand in 2004, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the earthquake in Nepal in 2015 and Hurricane Irma last year in the Caribbean.Although extensive work has been devoted to understanding the role of fire in maintaining ecosystem functions in upland systems, little research has focused on understanding the impact of fire on coastal wetlands or the response of birds to fire in high marsh wetlands.
#Map of gulf of mexico fire free#
The Charter is made up of 16 agencies, including the UK Space Agency, who work in partnership with Airbus to provide images and other satellite information free of charge to emergency response agencies around the world, whenever major disasters strike. Maps and scientific analysis from satellite imagery including the Charter were provided to Guatemalan civil protection and local volcanologists. In a further demonstration of the UK’s expertise in this area, UK scientists at the University of Bristol recently made a major contribution to assessing the hazard of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano. From the Caribbean to the moorlands of Manchester, satellite data can play a major role in helping first responders coordinate relief efforts and potentially save lives. The UK space sector plays a major role in using satellites for disaster risk management including the International Disaster Charter which brings together a collection of satellites from all over the world to collect data and images from areas suffering from natural and man-made disasters. Sara Huntingdon from the UK Space Agency said: Initial delineation map of the burn area.
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