AMPHIBIAN RESEARCH AND MONITORING INITIATIVE (ARMI) IN THE MIDWEST

Samuel J. Bourassa, James E. Lyon, and Melinda G. Knutson
U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, 
WI 54603

In 2000 President Clinton and members of the United States Congress directed the 
Department of the Interior (DOI) to develop and implement a plan to determine 
the status of populations of amphibians on the vast lands managed by DOI, to 
monitor populations, and to conduct research on the causes of any declines 
observed in these populations.  As the science and research bureau of DOI, the 
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was given the lead responsibility to develop and 
implement ARMI in cooperation with the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.  This overall effort was 
called the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI).

The USGS divided the continental United States into seven regions to be studied 
under ARMI, with each region under the management of scientists from regional 
science centers of the USGS.  Scientists from the Upper Midwest Environmental 
Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse, Wisconsin, were given responsibility for 
implementing ARMI in the Upper Mississippi Region, an area that includes 13 
states. 

Monitoring efforts for the Upper Mississippi Region of ARMI during 2001 were 
focused on developing products of general application to amphibian monitoring in 
the Upper Mississippi region based on our experiences with research on small 
farm ponds, and pilot monitoring efforts on federal land (U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and the National Park Service).  Drafts of two documents:  "Monitoring 
amphibians in farm ponds", and "Managing farm ponds as wildlife habitat" are in 
preparation.  These papers are joint products of the farm pond research project 
(externally funded by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources) and the 
Upper Mississippi Region of ARMI.  In addition, Melinda Knutson participated in 
the task force that drafted the implementation plan for the National ARMI 
program.

During 2002, in cooperation with partners from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and the National Park Service, UMESC intends to further implement ARMI 
in the Upper Mississippi Region by studying populations of amphibians within the 
Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge, the St. Croix National Scenic 
Riverway, Voyageurs National Park, and other smaller areas of habitat in the 
region.  We will also be working to broaden and coordinate our research efforts 
with Federal and State agencies and nongovernmental organizations in these and 
other Midwestern states.  Ultimately, we hope to be a part of a larger web of 
standardized sampling and monitoring efforts within the region that will also 
work in close concert with other regions of the ARMI program to produce valuable 
information about the status of amphibians throughout the various regions of the 
United States.  This information will be made available to land managers, 
regulators, and other decision makers, as well as to the scientific community 
and the general public, so that they can make informed decisions regarding 
natural resources.

Keywords:  ARMI, Upper Mississippi Region, USGS, Upper Midwest Environmental 
Sciences Center, amphibian monitoring, amphibian declines