PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 9: Invasive Species I: Theory and Modeling.
Presiding: E Rykiel
Monday, August 4. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 201.

Invasion of the National Wildlife Refuges.

Simonson, Sara^*,1, Barnett, David¹, Stohlgren, Thomas^{1, 2}, Ielmini, Michael ³, ¹ Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO² Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO³ National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington, VA

ABSTRACT- We report great success in Phase I of the National Invasive Species Survey, an electronic questionnaire of all federally designated U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuges. We conducted this survey to assess the current status and management of invasive plants, non-indigenous animals and emerging diseases of plants and animals throughout the refuge system. We summarize the responses of managers, administrators and biologists from more than 440 national wildlife refuges (representing almost 90% of the organizational units with direct land management responsibilities). This initial snapshot of the survey results is based on the 670 + non-native plants, non-indigenous animals and emerging diseases reported by refuge managers, biologists and administrators. These refuges include an impressive diversity of terrestrial and aquatic habitats and range in size from 0.5 acres to over 26 million acres. The survey results will be available to the refuge system through on-line databases with custom search capabilities for information at local, regional and national scales. An invasive species web portal will contribute to improved support for management action on the refuges and informed decision-making at local, regional and national levels. National-scale datasets will be combined with the refuge system information to encourage early detection of invading species and improve prediction of vulnerable habitats. Dataset integration is an important first step in preventing harmful effects of future invasions in the world's largest network of public lands and waters set aside specifically for the protection of wildlife.

Key words: non-native plants, emerging diseases, survey questionnaire, non-indigenous animals