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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Is Shallow Water A Suitable Surrogate For Assessing Efforts To Address Pallid Sturgeon Population Declines?, T R. Gemeinhardt, N.J C. Gosch, D M. Morris, M L. Miller, T L. Welker, J L. Bonneau Jan 2015

Is Shallow Water A Suitable Surrogate For Assessing Efforts To Address Pallid Sturgeon Population Declines?, T R. Gemeinhardt, N.J C. Gosch, D M. Morris, M L. Miller, T L. Welker, J L. Bonneau

US Army Corps of Engineers

It is hypothesized that slow, shallow water habitats benefit larval pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus; however, testing this hypothesis is difficult, given the low number of larval pallid sturgeon present in large rivers. In contrast, relatively large numbers of age-0 shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus have been sampled, providing a potentially useful baseline to assess the importance of slow, shallow water to age-0 sturgeon of both species (hereafter age-0 sturgeon) in the lower Missouri River. Thus, we investigated the potential relationships between the prevalence of shallow water <1.5m and the age-0 sturgeon catch rates at multiple scales. Age-0 sturgeon were usually sampled in water >1.5 m, and catch rates were usually highest in the upper half [i.e. river kilometer …


Estimating Survival Of Precocial Chicks During The Prefledging Period Using A Catch-Curve Analysis And Count-Based Age-Class Data, Conor P. Mcgowan, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Mark R. Ryan, Casey D. Kruse, Greg Pavelka Jan 2009

Estimating Survival Of Precocial Chicks During The Prefledging Period Using A Catch-Curve Analysis And Count-Based Age-Class Data, Conor P. Mcgowan, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Mark R. Ryan, Casey D. Kruse, Greg Pavelka

US Army Corps of Engineers

ABSTRACT: Estimating reproductive success for birds with pre-cocial young can be difficult because chicks leave nests soon after hatching and individuals or broods can be difficult to track. Researchers often turn to estimating survival during the pre-fledging period and, though effective, mark-recapture based approaches are not always feasible due to cost, time, and animal welfare concerns. Using a threatened population of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) that breeds along the Missouri River, we present an approach for estimating chick survival during the pre-fledging period using long-term (1993–2005), count-based, age-class data. We used a modified catch-curve analysis, and data collected …


Effects, Uptake, And Fate Of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Aged In Soil In Plants And Worms, Elly Ph Best, Henry E. Tatem, Kaaren N. Geter, Melissa L. Wells, Brian K. Lane Jan 2008

Effects, Uptake, And Fate Of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Aged In Soil In Plants And Worms, Elly Ph Best, Henry E. Tatem, Kaaren N. Geter, Melissa L. Wells, Brian K. Lane

US Army Corps of Engineers

The present study was aimed at providing data to be used at predicting exposure-based effects of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) aged in soil on endpoint organisms representing two trophic levels. These data can be used to define criteria or reference values for environmental management and conducting specific risk assessment. Long-term exposure tests were conducted to evaluate sublethal toxicity and uptake of aged soil-based explosives, with TNT as the main contaminant. In these tests, plants were exposed for 55 d, and biomass and explosives residues were determined. Worms were exposed for 28 and 42 d, and biomass, number, and tissue residues were determined. …


Plant-Feeding Hemiptera And Orthoptera Communities In Native And Restored Mesic Tallgrass Prairies, Kristine T. Nemec, Thomas B. Bragg Jan 2008

Plant-Feeding Hemiptera And Orthoptera Communities In Native And Restored Mesic Tallgrass Prairies, Kristine T. Nemec, Thomas B. Bragg

US Army Corps of Engineers

Aboveground Hemiptera and Orthoptera communities were compared among three native and three restored mesic tallgrass prairies along the Platte River in central Nebraska to assess both the relative success of restored sites and the relationship between insect and plant communities. Hemiptera and Orthoptera were sampled using sweep nets in early June, mid-July, and mid-August 2000. Plant species composition was assessed in early June and mid-August. A total of 89 Auchenorrhyncha (71 Cicadellidae, 15 Fulgoroidea, and 3 Membracidae) and 23 orthopterans (15 Acrididae and 8 Tettigoniidae) were collected. Eighty-five plant species were observed in combined study sites. Shannon diversity was significantly …


A Procedural Evaluation Of An Analytic-Deliberative Process: The Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment, Aimee Guglielmo Kinney, Thomas M. Leschine Jan 2002

A Procedural Evaluation Of An Analytic-Deliberative Process: The Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment, Aimee Guglielmo Kinney, Thomas M. Leschine

US Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Department of Energy's Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CRCIA) was an ambitious attempt to direct its cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation toward the most significant risks to the Columbia River resulting from past plutonium production. DOE's approach was uncommonly open, including tribal, regulatory agency, and other Hanford interest group representatives on the board that was to develop the assessment approach. The CRCIA process had attributes of the ``analytic-deliberative'' process for risk assessment recommended by the National Research Council. Nevertheless, differences between the DOE and other participants over what was meant by the term ``comprehensive'' in the group's …


Aquatic Dissipation Of The Herbicide Triclopyr In Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, Kurt D. Getsinger, David G. Petty, John D. Madsen, John G. Skogerboe, Bruce A. Houtman, William T. Haller, Alison M. Fox Jan 2000

Aquatic Dissipation Of The Herbicide Triclopyr In Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, Kurt D. Getsinger, David G. Petty, John D. Madsen, John G. Skogerboe, Bruce A. Houtman, William T. Haller, Alison M. Fox

US Army Corps of Engineers

A study of the aquatic fate of the triethylamine salt of triclopyr (3,5,6-trichloro-2- pyridinyloxyacetic acid) was conducted in three bays of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. Triclopyr is under review by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a selective aquatic herbicide. The primary purpose of this study was to determine dissipation rates of the parent active ingredient, triclopyr, and its major metabolites, 3,5,6-trichloropyridinol (TCP) and 3,5,6-trichloro-2-methoxypyridine (TMP) in selected matrices including water, sediment, plants, finfish and shellfish. Two 6.5- ha plots dominated by the weedy species Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L) were treated with triclopyr-triethylammonum at a rate of 2.5mg AE liter …