Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The goals of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

The Relative Effects Of Forest Amount, Forest Configuration, And Urban Matrix Quality On Forest Breeding Birds, Alexandra V. Shoffner, Andrew M. Wilson, Wenwu Tang, Sara A. Gagné

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Urbanization modifies landscape structure in three major ways that impact avian diversity in remnant habitat: habitat amount is reduced and habitat configuration and matrix quality are altered. The relative effects of these three components of landscape structure are relatively well-studied in agricultural landscapes, but little is known about the relative effect of urban matrix quality. We addressed this gap by investigating the relative effects of forest amount, forest configuration, and matrix quality, indicated by degree of urbanization and agriculture amount, on the diversity of three guilds of forest birds using data from 13,763 point counts from Pennsylvania, USA. Forest amount …

An Investigation Of Habitat Suitability Factors And Their Interactions For Predicting Gopher Tortoise Habitat, Abigail V. Lavallin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates the interaction between four habitat factors vital to the gopher tortoise in Florida. Federally and state listed as threatened throughout its entire range, the gopher tortoise is vital to protect, not only for itself individually but its burrows provide an essential habitat to over 300 species making it a key stone species within its environment. Historic habitat modeling methods are reviewed for the gopher tortoise to highlight the gap on this topic. This research expanded on the methods utilized by Baskaran et al. (2006) evaluating the soil, landcover, percentage of canopy cover and the depth to water …

Role Of Water Flow Regime In The Swimming Behaviour And Escape Performance Of A Schooling Fish, Lauren E. Nadler, Shaun S. Killen, Paolo Domenici, Mark I. Mccormick

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Animals are exposed to variable and rapidly changing environmental flow conditions, such as wind in terrestrial habitats and currents in aquatic systems. For fishes, previous work suggests that individuals exhibit flow-induced changes in aerobic swimming performance. Yet, no one has examined whether similar plasticity is found in fast-start escape responses, which are modulated by anaerobic swimming performance, sensory stimuli and neural control. In this study, we used fish from wild schools of the tropical damselfish Chromis viridis from shallow reefs surrounding Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The flow regime at each site was measured to ascertain differences …

The Pacific Salmon Explorer: A Data Driven Look At Salmon Populations And Their Habitats, Katrina Connors, Eileen Jones, Leah Honka, Katy Kellock, Eric Hertz, Brian E. Riddell

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The lack of a centralized, standardized, and easily accessible repository of information on the state of natural resources, and threats to them, can undermine efforts to make informed, transparent, and evidenced-based management and conservation decisions. This is the case with Pacific salmon in British Columbia (BC), where a lack of information on the current status of salmon population and their habitats is undermining public confidence in the ability of government agencies to sustainability manage Pacific salmon populations. In an effort to provide broader public access to salmon datasets, the Pacific Salmon Foundation embarked on a major initiative to synthesize the …

Bull Kelp Bed Surveys In Island County, Washington Usa, Linda Rhodes, Vernon W. Brisley, Gregg Ridder, Debra Paros, Paulette Brunner, Barbara Brock, Barbara Bennett, Anna Toledo

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Although bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) is a prevalent nearshore habitat throughout the Salish Sea, its distribution and seasonal bed area dynamics are poorly characterized. Island County contains bull kelp beds that are positioned in dramatically different oceanographic situations. The western part of the County is fully exposed to marine conditions of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, while the eastern part is exposed to the strong freshwater influence of the largest rivers in Puget Sound. Each part contains bull kelp beds, providing an opportunity to compare their seasonal dynamics. Since 2015, the Island County Marine Resources Committee …

New Brighton Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project, Mike Tranmer

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The New Brighton Park Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project is situated within New Brighton Park along the south side of Burrard Inlet, west of the Second Narrows Bridge in Vancouver, B.C. The project was undertaken through a partnership with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, along with Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. The project was part of the port authority’s Habitat Enhancement Program, which focuses on creating, restoring and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat. The project presented a significant opportunity to restore coastal wetland habitat on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. The creation …

If You Build It, They Will Come: Marine Habitat Provided By A Wastewater Outfall, Kimberle Stark, Jeffrey Lundt, Wendy Eash-Loucks

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

King County built a new marine outfall in 2008 that discharges treated wastewater effluent to the Puget Sound Central Basin about 1.6 kilometers offshore at a depth of 183 meters (m). The outfall consists of two 1.6 m diameter HDPE pipes weighted with concrete anchors. To assess the artificial reef effect of the exposed pipes and its use as habitat by marine organisms, underwater video has been collected annually since 2009 at the shallower depths (to -91 m MLLW). Initial video showed rapid colonization by barnacles and other invertebrates. Several rockfish species have routinely been seen on the pipes, particularly …

Intertidal Habitat Utilization By Endangered Green Sturgeon (Acipenser Medirostris), Willapa Bay, Washington, Luke Stilwater

All Master's Theses

This study looks at a portion of the designated critical habitat for the threatened southern distinct population segment of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) in Willapa Bay, Washington. Willapa Bay is an intermediate size (258.7mi2) estuary on the southwest coast of Washington State, approximately 30 miles north from the mouth of the Columbia River. Recent studies completed by the National Marine Fisheries Service have shown that significant aggregations of green sturgeon in Willapa Bay occur during the late summer months, and foraging activity for burrowing ghost shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) is evidenced by small round feeding pits (30-60 cm diameter) in the …

Annual Report 2018, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership

Publications

CBEP has been collaborating for over 25 years with a multitude of partners working hard to protect Casco Bay. 2018 brought us new and exciting collaborations.

The Casco Bay Nutrient Council, convened by CBEP, met for almost two years and produced a report that laid a path forward for all partners to tackle nutrient pollution.

CBEP worked closely with the EPA to establish the Casco Bay Monitoring Network, made up of over 20 member organizations, aimed at coordinating and upgrading monitoring in the Bay. The Network is currently updating the Casco Bay Monitoring Plan.

CBEP is an active participant in …