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Chemical Defense And Mammalian Herbivores, Bruce A. Kimball, Frederick D. Provenza

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Plant Metabolism 2. Phytochemical Variation in Plants 3. Plant Defense Theory 4. Mammalian Metabolism of Phytochemicals 5. Mammalian Herbivory Related Chapters

Challenges Of Implementing The Double-Crested Cormorant Environmental Impact Statement, Kristina Casscles Godwin, D. Tommy King, Peter Butchko, Richard Chipman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Double-crested cormorant populations have increased over the last 20 years within the continental United States. Problems associated with this increase include impacts to commercial aquaculture, damage to property, vegetation, recreational fisheries, and natural resources, as well as concerns over inter-specific competition. Implementation of the forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement for the management of double-crested cormorants will be a monumental task. Several state and federal agencies, along with private citizens and various interest groups will have parts to play. USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services is expected to have a large part in the implementation of the plan. We discuss the proposed actions to be taken …

The Emergence Of Major Avian Diseases In North America: West Nile Virus And More, Robert G. Mclean

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Some major diseases of wild birds have emerged dramatically in North America recently due in part to the rapid global movement of animals and pathogens and major changes in the size, quality, and continuity of natural habitats. These diseases include invasive pathogens, emergence of new disease agents or syndromes, and reemergence of some established diseases. A prominent example is West Nile virus that invaded North America, became easily established, and has expanded throughout the continent within 4 years. A number of factors have influenced the frequency of occurrence, the variety of species affected, and the geographical extent of these emergent …

Beaver Population Size Estimation In Mississippi, Seth R. Swafford, Dale L. Nolte, Kris Godwin, Charles A. Sloan, Jeanne Jones

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Methods to better quantify beaver (Castor canadensis) population size need to be developed to assist in the direct control methods being implemented by Wildlife Services. Many state game and fish departments rely on lodge counts, cache counts, or fur harvest reports to estimate a station-wide or regional population of beaver. However, Wildlife Services is concerned with estimating population size on a per site basis to assist in estimating project costs and to minimize the number of non-target captures. Six sites in Mississippi were selected to test various methods of population estimation. Various methods included indexing population size based …

Management Of Rodent Populations At Airports, Gary W. Witmer, Jessica W. Fantinato

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Birds pose serious hazards at U.S. airports because of the potential for collisions with aircraft. Raptors, in particular, are hazardous to aircraft safety due to their size, hunting behavior, and hovering/soaring habits. Reduction of rodent populations at an airport may decrease raptor populations in the area and therefore, reduce the risk that raptors pose to aircraft. Rodent populations can be reduced by population management (i.e., use of rodenticides) or by habitat management (i.e., vegetation management, barriers, and land uses) that reduces the area’s carrying capacity for rodents. We discuss potential approaches to reduce rodent populations at airports within the context …

Feral Swine---Are They A Disease Threat To Livestock In The United States?, Gary W. Witmer, Robert B. Sanders, Arnold C. Taft

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine populations provide both benefits and liabilities to citizens of the United States. Their expanding range and increasing densities, however, have raised concern over the adverse environmental and agricultural effects and the increased risk of disease transmission between feral swine and livestock. We discuss the role of feral swine in the transmission of wildlife diseases and, in particular, in diseases of national significance to the livestock industry. We also discuss available management tools and strategies for reducing feral swine populations, minimizing damage or disease occurrences and eradicating populations when deemed appropriate. Finally, we note areas of research that may …

The Use Of Toxicants In Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management: An Overview, Gary W. Witmer, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Black-tailed prairie dogs pose management challenges to landowners and resource managers. They are viewed as either a pest when they cause damage to vegetation or property or pose a disease hazard or, conversely, as a valuable Akeystone@ species representative of reasonably intact prairie ecosystems. When conflicts arise with prairie dog colonies, the two main options are capture and relocation or lethal removal. There are a number of vertebrate toxicants registered for field use in the United States, but few are currently registered for prairie dog control. Only one, zinc phosphide, can be applied above ground as a grain bait. The …

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management In Urban-Suburban Settings: Opportunities And Challenges, Gary W. Witmer, Mark Brennan, Donna Dees, Brian Hoffmann, Frances Pusateri, Cary Richardson, David Seery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Among the many human-wildlife conflicts that occur across North America, some of the most contentious occur at the interface of urban and suburban lands and adjoining rural landscapes. Along the Colorado Front Range, one of the more difficult situations faced by local governments and municipalities involves black-tailed prairie dog colonies. These colonies are relicts of the expansive colonies that once occurred across much of the prairies of North America. Although these colonies are relatively small and, usually, highly fragmented, they represent an important link to our natural history, provide a valuable wildlife-viewing experience and allow the promotion of public education …

Field Validation Of Bentazon Phytoremediation, Sajida Begum

LSU Master's Theses

Phytoremediation with black willow (Salix nigra) was conducted in 1996 by planting trees at a density of 2000 trees/hectare at BASF Corporation in a shallow groundwater plume containing low levels of bentazon. In this project, the roots, stems,and leaves of the black willow plants were extracted and analyzed to see if bentazon from the ground water was taken up by the plants. Different extraction procedures such as liquid-phase extraction and solid-phase extraction were compared. Final determination using different analytical techniques such as GC-MSD, GC-ECD, and HPLC with UV detection for the isolation and analysis of bentazon residues from the plant …

Surface Water Pesticide Contamination In The Upper Terrebonne Basin Of Louisiana, John S. Walther

LSU Master's Theses

Triazine herbicides are the most heavily used pesticides in the United States. Atrazine and Simazine are the primary triazine herbicides used for broadleaf weed control in the production of corn, sugarcane, and sorghum. Recent monitoring studies of surface waters in the Upper Terrebonne Basin of Louisiana indicate elevated amounts of triazines are running off fields and entering drinking water supplies. Atrazine has been classified as a possible carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Recent epidemiological studies have revealed increases in breast cancer and pre-term births following exposure to triazines at levels detected in drinking water. Non-point source pollution …

Pcr Inhibition And Toxic Effects By Sediment Samples Exposed To Drilling Muds, Neal Gilpin Satterly

LSU Master's Theses

This study evaluated the PCR inhibition and toxic effects by sediment samples exposed to drilling muds. This information was gathered in an attempt to identify what effect, if any, drilling muds had on the microbial community structure in sediments around four specific oil-drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Sediment samples were taken before and after drilling had taken place around two platforms (GB516 and VK916), and sediment samples were taken after drilling had taken place around two other platforms (MC292 and GB602). After using traditional, non-selective DNA extraction methods, successful amplification took place via PCR with all pre-drilling samples …

A Drop In The Bucket: Collective Efficacy Perceptions Affect Waste Minimising Behaviours, Leesa N. Bonniface

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The goal of this thesis was to inform a social marketing effort designed to increase environmentally friendly behaviours in an effort to ensure a more sustainable future. This study attempted to gain a better understanding of the discrepancy that exists between pro-environmental concerns and pro-environmental actions by exploring efficacy perceptions. Efficacy beliefs were compared for three groups of individuals: 1) environmentally active/members of an environmental group; 2) environmentally active/not members of an environmental group; 3) environmentally inactive and not members of an environmental group. Six focus groups were conducted and interviewees were recruited from the Earth Carers' organisation and the …

Fox Control In Urban Conservation Reserves: An Analysis Of Bait Uptake And Public Perceptions In The Perth Metropolitan Area, Jennifer Jackson

Theses : Honours

As the world's population becomes increasingly urbanised, the need for people to see nature on their doorstep is becoming more appealing. The city of Perth (Western Australia) has large areas of bushland that have been reserved as conservation estate, and therefore are only minimally modified by urban development. But while many of these urban bushland reserves contribute highly to biodiversity in the form of vegetation, vertebrate surveys have indicated a low diversity of fauna. These areas have the potential to function in a more complete manner as nature reserves with significant conservation value by supporting populations of native animals which …

Blackbirds And Corn In Ohio, Richard A. Dolbeer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Damage to corn by blackbirds (Icteridae) has been an economic problem throughout historical times in North America. Ohio, with the highest nesting season population density of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) in North America and large acreages of corn, has been a key State in this conflict. Surveys of damage from 1968 to 1979 revealed that blackbirds annually destroyed less than 1% of the corn crops in Ohio, a 4- to 6-million dollar loss at 1979 prices. This total dollar loss is somewhat misleading because of the uneven distribution of damage among fields. Over 97% of the cornfields in Ohio receive …

Evaluation Of Lasers To Disperse American Crows, Corvus Brachyrhynchos, From Urban Night Roosts, W.P. Gorenzel, B. F. Blackwell, G.D. Simmons, T.P. Salmon, R.A. Dolbeer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) have a long history of causing agricultural damage in North America. Shooting and bombing at crow night roosts have been employed to reduce such damage. Most roosts were located in rural locations, but in the latter half of the 1900s crows began to roost in urban locations. Urban crow roosts are presently a nationwide problem in the United States. Thousands of crows at a roost create problems for businesses and residents. Improved control techniques are needed. Lasers have been used in Europe to scare and disperse birds but the technique has only recently received formal testing. …

Fisheries Research Report No. 142 - Identifying The Development Stages Of Preserved Eggs Of Snapper, Pagrus Auratus, From Shark Bay, Western Australia, J. Norriss, Gary Jackson

Fisheries Research Reports

The characteristics used to identify 19 developmental stages of preserved eggs of snapper, Pagrus auratus, collected from Shark Bay, Western Australia, during annual plankton surveys, are described and illustrated. A key is provided to enable the age of each egg stage to be estimated based on sea surface temperature and salinity observed during sampling. This report is intended as a reference for inexperienced staff, to ensure that between-year comparisons of snapper spawning biomass, estimated using the daily egg production method, are based on consistent egg staging and ageing methods.

Fisheries Research Report No. 143 - Methods Used In The Collection, Preparation And Interpretation Of Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus Commerson) Otoliths For A Study Of Age And Growth In Western Australia, Paul Lewis, M. C. Mackie

Fisheries Research Reports

The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) is wide ranging throughout the Indo-West Pacific region where it has been the subject of various age and growth studies. Methods used in these studies have varied considerably and in some cases may have led to misleading conclusions. The purpose of this report, therefore, is to document in detail the methods used in determining the age and growth during a FRDC funded stock assessment of the species in the waters off Western Australia. These methods are considered to optimise the collection, processing, accuracy of microincrement counts, and interpretation of the annuli in both whole …

The Role Of Climate In Modern Water Planning And Related Decisions: Nebraska Case Study, Donna L. Woudenberg

Open Access Master's Theses (through 2010)

Climate and weather play an integral role in the planning and decision-making processes for those involved in agricultural and natural resource fields. This project was conducted to determine whether climate and weather data are being efficiently and effectively used in these processes.

A survey was mailed to those who work in water-related fields in Nebraska and post-survey interviews were conducted to obtain greater detail. Survey results were analyzed in the following three ways: as a whole; stratified by respondent’s agency; and stratified by the educational background of respondents. It was found that climate and weather data are more likely to …

Crab Louse Infestation In Pre-Columbian America, F. M. Rick, G. C. Rocha, K. Dittmar, C. E. A. Coimbra Jr., Karl J. Reinhard, F. Bouchet, L. F. Ferreira, A. Araújo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Until now, Pthirus pubis infestation in ancient human populations had only been recorded in the Old World. We found crab lice on South American mummified bodies from the Atacama Desert region. Crab louse eggs were found attached to the pubic hairs of a 2,000-yr-old Chilean mummy. Well-preserved adults were found in sediment and clothing from a Peruvian mummy dated 1,000 yr ago. Paleoparasitological evidence expands the knowledge of the distribution of this ectoparasite in ancient populations. As with many other parasites, pubic lice recorded in Andean populations show the antiquity of this parasite in the New World. It is likely …

Water Current, Volume 34, No. 6. December 2002

Water Current Newsletter

• UNL Aquaculturist Sees Fish Farming Niche in Empty Hog Barns by Steve Ress

• From the Director

• Meet the Faculty

• The Army Corps’ Missouri River Mission by Brig. Gen. David A. Fastabend

• Water News Briefs

The Debate On The Health Effects Attributable To Low Radiation Exposure, Abel J. Gonzalez

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Few scientific issues have aroused passions more than the dispute about the health effects attributable to low levels of exposure to ionizing radiation (or radiation in short) and the currently authoritative dose response hypothesis, termed “linear non-threshold,” or LNT. Finding out whether health effects are induced by low-level radiation exposures, and if so, what they are, has become a kind of contest rather than a serious scientific inquiry. Sometimes it seems that rationality, or a methodical examination of the unknown, has disappeared from this debate. While the confrontation of different hypotheses is typical in academic discussions – at least …

Determining The Mobility Of Metals Through Coal Combustion Byproducts In Surface Impoundments By Analyzing Leachate From Modified Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Tests, Michael Joseph Trofinoff

Theses and Dissertations

Surface impoundments are used extensively throughout the utility industry to store the combustion byproducts, or ash, from coal-fired generating facilities. Following combustion, the metals, naturally contained within coal at low concentrations, may become highly concentrated within the ash. These combustion byproducts are then piped out in a water-ash slurry to the surface impoundments where the ash weathers to- a clay- like substance after approximately 10 years. It is feared that these metals that are contained within the ash could possibly leach into the ground and contaminate the local groundwater. Utilizing a open column percolation test to determine the hydraulic conductivity …

The U.S. And Mexico Sin Fronteras - Without Borders: Sustainable Development From A Local Perspective, Paulette Stenzel

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Historical Development Of The Linear Nonthreshold Dose-Response Model As Applied To Radiation, Ronald L. Kathren

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Despite the nearly universal adoption of the linear nonthreshold dose response model (LNT) as the primary basis for radiation protection standards for the past half century, the LNT remains highly controversial and a contentious topic of discussion among health physicists, radiation biologists, and other radiological scientists. Indeed, it has been pointed out that the LNT has assumed the status of a paradigm, synonymous with an ideal, standard, or paragon or perhaps to some, a sacred cow. Reduced to its very basics, the LNT postulates that every increment of ionizing radiation dose, however small, carries with it a commensurate increase …

Ocean Zoning For The Gulf Of Maine: A Background Paper, Fara Courtney, Jack Wiggin

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

Coastal and ocean management is a constantly evolving practice. For at least two decades, coastal communities around the world have been experimenting with new ways to control a multitude of activities in their urban and rural harbors. The number and diversity of Marine Protected Areas are growing, with an increasing focus on protecting integrated biological communities, rather than individual species of concern. The United States and Canada are each developing new, comprehensive ocean polices, looking to better integrate management functions at all levels of government.

All of these initiatives – from local to national - reflect some common truths about …

Assessment Of Groundwater Resources In Selected Areas Of Al Ain In The U.A.E., Fatma Abdullatif Al Shahi

Theses

The sustainable development of any region depends on the availability of water resources. In arid and semi-arid regions, the shortage in freshwater resources constitutes the major constraint against the expansion in agricultural and industrial activities. Therefore, every possible effort should be made to assess, develop and sustain the limited freshwater water resource in such regions.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is located in an arid region, where the climate is harsh and the renewable freshwater resources are very limited. Despite the severe shortage in water resources, water is misused and sometimes wasted. The per capita daily consumption in the UAE …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 34, No. 3/4 September/December 2002

The Prairie Naturalist

SEASONAL FOOD HABITS OF COYOTES IN NORTHEASTERN KANSAS ▪ J. F. Kamler, P. S. Gipson, and C. C. Perchellet

SELECTION OF NESTING HABITAT BY SHARP-TAILED GROUSE IN THE NEBRASKA SANDHILLS ▪ B. L. Prose, B. S. Cade, and D. Hein

PATTERNS OF REPRODUCTION FOR WESTERN HARVEST MICE IN NORTH-CENTRAL KANSAS ▪ J. R. Goheen, G. A. Kaufman, and D. W. Kaufman

THE IMPACT OF RECREATIONAL TRAILS AND GRAZING ON SMALL MAMMALS IN THE COLORADO PIEDMONT ▪ C. A. Meaney, A. K. Ruggles, N. W. Clippinger, and B. C. Lubow

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS FOR NORTH DAKOTA 2001 ▪ R. N. Randall …

Pig Industry Biosecurity Plan - March 2003 - Protecting The Pig Industry Is Everyone's Business, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Biosecurity published reports

Farmnote 71/2002 - Farm Biosecurity

Farmnote 43/2002 - Biosecurity in the livestock industries

StockGuard has been initiated to develop a series of biosecurity plans for the animal industries in Western Australia. Through StockGuard, representatives from the animal industries have been working with the Western Australian Department of Agriculture to identify potential threats to each of the animal industries and to develop action plans detailing how these threats can be managed.

The overall purpose of StockGuard is to identify threats to the animal industries and to develop effective ways to minimise the potential impact of these threats.

If an emergency pig …

Breeding Bird Community Response To Vegetation Succession In Hardwood Shelterwood Cuts In The Virginia Piedmont, Pamela Coleman

Theses & Honors Papers

Population declines of many Neotropical migrant bird species (NTMs) in parts or all of their North American breeding ranges have prompted concern regarding the conservation of these species. Many NTMs have specific habitat requirements and are thus negatively affected by habitat alteration. In eastern North America, habitats have changed significantly since European settlement and those changes have had different impacts on different suites of breeding birds. Forest birds are frequently identified as species particularly sensitive to habitat changes though, more recently,marked declines of shrubland or early successional songbirds have raised concern. My goal was to examine the effects of a …

A Socioeconomic And Biological Evaluation Of Current And Hypothetical Crappie Regulations In Sardis Lake, Mississippi: An Integrated Approach, Brian Dorr, Ian A. Munn, Keith O. Meals

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted a socioeconomic survey and review of existing biological data in an integrated evaluation of current and hypothetical fishery regulations on crappies Pomoxis spp. in Sardis Lake, Mississippi. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess angler acceptance of current and hypothetical harvest restrictions, (2) determine the recreational value of the crappie fishery to its participants, (3) estimate possible changes in recreational value based on angler responses to hypothetical regulations, and (4) integrate the results of the socioeconomic surveys with existing biological information. Using the travel cost method, we estimated mean expenditures at US$29.48 and average consumer surplus …