Life Sciences Commons^™

The Ecological Significance Of The Herbaceous Layer In Temperate Forest Ecosystems, Frank S. Gilliam

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Despite a growing awareness that the herbaceous layer serves a special role in maintaining the structure and function of forests, this stratum remainsan underappreciated aspect of forest ecosystems. In this article I review and synthesize information concerning the herb layer’s structure,composition, and dynamics to emphasize its role as an integral component of forest ecosystems. Because species diversity is highest in the herb layeramong all forest strata, forest biodiversity is largely a function of the herb-layer community. Competitive interactions within the herb layer candetermine the initial success of plants occupying higher strata, including the regeneration of dominant overstory tree species. Furthermore, …

Sheep Updates 2007 - Part 4, Dean Thomas, Dominique Blache, Dean Revell, Hayley Norman, Phil Vercoe, Zoey Durmic, Serina Digby, Di Mayberry, Megan Chadwick, Martin Sillence, David Masters, R. Silberstein, F. Byrne, P. G. H. Nichols, J. Young, L. Aitkins, M. G. Wilmot, A. J. Rintoul, T. Lambert, D. R. Mcclements, P. Raper, P. Ward, C. Walton, T. York, David Pethick, David Hopkins, Malcolm Mcphee, D. B. Savage, J. V. Nolan, I. R. Godwin, A. Aoetpah, T. Nguyen, N. Baillie, C. Lawler, Ken Geenty, John Smith, Darryl Smith, Tim Dyall, Grant Uphill, John Young, Michael Paton, John Dorrian

Sheep Updates

This session covers eight papers from different authors:

GRAZING

1. The impact of high dietary salt and its implications for the management of livestock grazing saline land, Dean Thomas, Dominique Blache, Dean Revell, Hayley Norman, Phil Vercoe, Zoey Durmic, Serina Digby, Di Mayberry, Megan Chadwick, Martin Sillence and David Masters, CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, WA.

2. Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands - outcomes from the WA1 research project, H.C. Norman^1,2, D.G. Masters^1,2, R. Silberstein^1,2, F. Byrne^2,3, P.G.H. Nichols …

Slides: The Future Public Law Of Private Ecosystems, J. B. Ruhl

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: J.B. Ruhl, Florida State University Law School

18 slides

Saving Special Places: Trends And Challenges With Protecting Public Lands [Outline], Robert B. Keiter

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

7 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Robert B. Keiter, Wallace Stegner Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law"

Agenda: The Future Of Natural Resources Law And Policy, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

The Natural Resources Law Center's 25th Anniversary Conference and Natural Resources Law Teachers 14th Biennial Institute provided an opportunity for some of the best natural resources lawyers to discuss future trends in the field. The conference focused on the larger, cross-cutting issues affecting natural resources policy. Initial discussions concerned the declining role of scientific resource management due to the increased inclusion of economic-cost benefit analysis and public participation in the decision-making process. The effectiveness of this approach was questioned particularly in the case of non-market goods such as the polar bear. Other participants promoted the importance of public participation and …

Homogenization Of Forest Plant Communities And Weakening Of Species-Environment Relationships Via Agricultural Land Use, Mark Vellend, Kris Verheyen, Kathryn M. Flinn, Hans Jacquemyn, Annette Kolb, Hans Van Calster, George Peterken, Bente Jessen Graae, Jesse Bellemare, Olivier Honnay, Jörg Brunet, Monika Wulf, Fritz Gerhardt, Martin Hermy

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Disturbance may cause community composition across sites to become more or less homogenous, depending on the importance of different processes involved in community assembly. In north-eastern North America and Europe local (alpha) diversity of forest plants is lower in forests growing on former agricultural fields (recent forests) than in older (ancient) forests, but little is known about the influence of land-use history on the degree of compositional differentiation among sites (beta diversity). Here we analyse data from 1446 sites in ancient and recent forests across 11 different landscapes in north-eastern North America and Europe to demonstrate decreases in beta diversity …

Cadaver Decomposition In Terrestrial Ecosystems, David O. Carter, David Yellowlees, Mark Tibbett

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

A dead mammal (i.e. cadaver) is a high quality resource (narrow carbon:nitrogen ratio, high water content) that releases an intense, localized pulse of carbon and nutrients into the soil upon decomposition. Despite the fact that as much as 5,000 kg of cadaver can be introduced to a square kilometer of terrestrial ecosystem each year, cadaver decomposition remains a neglected microsere. Here we review the processes associated with the introduction of cadaver-derived carbon and nutrients into soil from forensic and ecological settings to show that cadaver decomposition can have a greater, albeit localized, effect on below-ground ecology than plant and fecal …

Biodiversity Conservation And Natural Resources Management In Nsw: Complexity, Coordination And Common Sense, Carla J. Mooney, Andrew H. Kelly, Malcolm D. Farrier

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Most environmental lawyers, like ecologists, wish to see broad scale landscape change, better management of land and improved protection of remnant vegetation and threatened species. Incorporating scientific knowledge into effective strategic planning is one step. Implementing strategic planning is another, necessitating the flow of priorities into statutory planning and regulation. The translation of broad landscape scale conservation objectives on to the ground requires not only improved understanding but also active use of the legal system. The law relating to the regulation of land use and vegetation clearing, threatened species conservation and catchment management is complex, inter-dependent and dynamic. While planning …

Research Note: Hymenolepis Horrida (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) And Catenotaenia Peromysci (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae) In Voles From The Canadian Rockies, Yeen Ten Hwang, Scott Lyell Gardner, John S. Millar

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Cestodes from Clethrionomys gapperi (n=34) and Microtus longicaudus (n=8) from Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada are reported. Two species of cestodes, Hymenolepis horrida (sensu lato) and Catenotaenia peromysci, were found in Clethrionomys gapperi, and one species of cestode, H. horrida, was found in Microtus longicaudus. Clethrionomys gapperi represents a new host record for C. peromysci. The Canadian Rockies is a new locality record for both cestode species.

Biodiversity In Space And Time: Towards A Grid Mapping For Mongolia, Michael Stubbe, Annegret Stubbe, Henrik Von Wehrden, Nayamsuren Batsaikhan, Ravčigijn Samjaa

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In the future, grid mapping of animal and plant organisms will also play a major role in Mongolia. Based on geographical coordinates, a grid with a resolution of 100 x 100 km was created, which contained 561 cells. Methods and level of current understanding are exemplified by means of two raptors and three mammal species. This establishes a basis for an initial project, which will summarize all breeding occurrences of raptors based on all records, publications, or diary notes. For the first time, the short toed eagle was verified in Mongolia as a breeding bird in 2004. By 2006, ten …

Chumming On The Chesapeake Bay And Complexity Theory: Why The Precautionary Principle, Not Cost-Benefit Analysis, Makes More Sense As A Regulatory Approach, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay ("Bay") and Puget Sound are in grave trouble. They each suffer from poor water quality, loss of habitat, and declining biodiversity, and efforts to restore their health are straining both public and private resources. While accomplishments are often recorded in the fight against these ills, it is clear these accomplishments "are not yet equal to the scale of the problems." The focus of this article is on the nation's largest estuary, the Bay. Despite the investment of billions of dollars to improve water quality, the Bay continues to suffer from severe environmental degradation that impairs …