Digital Commons Network^™

Conservation Easement Grantors: Doing Good And Doing Well, Nancy Oppenheimer

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Beginning in 2000, Colorado legislation authorized tax credits and cash refunds of up to $100,000 for grantors of conservation easements. Other benefits accruing to grantors are lower property tax rates, federal income tax credits and decreasing estate valuations subject to federal estate taxes. Private conservation easements preserve land for outdoor recreation, education, scenic views, open spaces, historic properties and protect relatively natural habitat. Because the development rights are permanently transferred, conservation easements provide permanent protection from development regardless of shifts in political winds.

Scwds Briefs: Volume 15, Number 4 (January 2000)

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

SCWDS BRIEFS
JANUARY 2000
Bovine tuberculosis (TB)
New Tick-borne Disease in the South
Dermacentor, Amblyomma, and Ixodes Dermacentor variabilis
Amblyomma americanum
Ixodes scapularis
"Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness"
Borrelia lonestari
Cowdria ruminantium
Amblyomma
A. cajennense, A. dissimile, and A. maculatum
Exotic Tortoise Ticks in Florida E. coli O157:H7 in Deer and Cattle
Kansas Bobwhites
Physaloptera.
Hemorrhagic Disease (HD) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wild Cervidae
Wildlife Disease Association (WDA)
New USGS Field Manual: Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases: General Field Procedures and Diseases of Birds

Parental Care And Clutch Sizes In North And South American Birds, Thomas E. Martin, P. R. Martin, C. R. Olson, B. J. Heidinger, J. J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The evolutionary causes of small clutch sizes in tropical and Southern Hemisphere regions are poorly understood. Alexander Skutch proposed 50 years ago that higher nest predation in the south constrains the rate at which parent birds can deliver food to young and thereby constrains clutch size by limiting the number of young that parents can feed. This hypothesis for explaining differences in clutch size and parental behaviors between latitudes has remained untested. Here, a detailed study of bird species in Arizona and Argentina shows that Skutch's hypothesis explains clutch size variation within North and South America. However, neither Skutch's hypothesis …

Terrestrial Natural Communities Of Nebraska - Version Ii, Gerry Steinauer, Steven B. Rolfsmeier

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

For more than a decade, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and state natural heritage programs, including the Nebraska Natural Heritage Program (NNHP), have used a “coarse filter/fine filter” approach to preserving biological diversity (The Nature Conservancy, 1994). This approach involves identification and protection of natural communities (coarse filter) as well as rare species (fine filter). Identifying and protecting representative examples of natural communities ensures conservation of most species, biotic interactions and ecological processes. Those species that “fall through” the community filters are generally the rare species. Identification and protection of viable occurrences of rare species serves as the fine filter for …

Conservation In A Highly Fragmented Landscape: The Central Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregional Conservation Plan, The Central Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion Planning Team

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

With the adoption of Conservation by Design in 1995, The Nature Conservancy recognized the importance of working at larger scales to achieve our mission which is: the long-term survival of all viable native species and community types through the design and conservation of portfolios of sites within ecoregions. The Conservancy set forth to design conservation plans on an ecoregional basis by working closely with various conservation partners. These plans are intended to provide a framework within which the Conservancy and our partners, such as the Natural Heritage Programs, can make decisions regarding conservation actions to be taken at the …

Managing For Enhancement Of Riparian And Wetland Areas Of The Western United States: An Annotated Bibliography, David A. Koehler, Allan E. Thomas

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

This annotated bibliography contains 1,905 citations from professional journals, symposia, workshops, proceedings, technical reports, and other sources. The intent of this compilation was to: (1) assemble, to the extent possible, all available and accessible publications relating to riparian management within a single source or document; (2) provide managers, field biologists, researchers, and others, a point of access for locating scientific literature relevant to their specific interest; and (3) provide, under one cover, a comprehensive collection of annotated publications that could disseminate basic information relative to the status of our knowledge.

Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2000 Annual Report

Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery: Annual Reports

Gray wolf populations (Canis lupus) were extirpated from the western U.S. by the 1930s. Subsequently, wolves from Canada occasionally dispersed south into Montana and Idaho but failed to survive long enough to reproduce. Public attitudes toward predators changed and wolves received legal protection with the passage of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973. Wolves began to successfully recolonize northwest Montana in the early 1980s. By 1995, 6 packs lived entirely in northwestern Montana. In 1995 and 1996, 66 wolves from southwestern Canada were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park (YNP) (31 wolves) and central Idaho (35 wolves).

The …

Mapping The Boulder City Wetlands Using A Global Positioning System (Gps) And A Geographic Information System (Gis), Jennifer Lea Bishop

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Boulder City Wetlands is a constructed wetlands park located in Boulder City, Nevada, approximately 23 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Currently, a baseline study of water quality is being conducted in the Boulder City Wetlands. This baseline study of the wetlands is an important step in understanding the development of the Boulder City Wetlands over time. As wastewater is eventually introduced into the existing community tap water running through the wetlands, it is expected that the nitrogen within the water will enhance the growth of vegetation in the surrounding area. Comparing the vegetation growth over time is only …

Managing Population-Environment Systems: Problems Of Institutional Design, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In population–environment systems human activity is inherently part of the system rather than something to be minimized in order to maintain or restore “natural” environmental conditions. Issues arising in managing such systems are discussed in this paper. The system’s boundaries must be identified, defining its human participants and its ecological content. Procedures for monitoring demographic and environmental change in the system must be set up and consensus must be reached on how to evaluate that change.

Biogeography Of A Changing Landscape: Pipidinny Swamp, Yanchep National Park Western Australia, Bradley W. Boucher

Theses : Honours

The resources of Pipidinny Swamp were utilised by the Nyoongar Aboriginal people for possibly 40,000 years. Since the late 1800s, the resources of Pipidinny Swamp were used by non-Indigenous settlers. More recently, the wetland was incorporated in the Yanchep National Park in 1991.This study sought to reconstruct the changes to the natural and cultural environments within the wetland to provide background knowledge for the management board of the Park. Field investigations abo demonstrated the dynamic state of the wetland over a six-month period between low water (Feb-Apr) and high water (Aug-Oct) by monitoring the groundwater system, the vegetation system, and …

An Analysis Of Pteropus Livingstonii Roost Habitat: Indicators For Forest Conservation On Anjouan And Moheli, Elise F. Granek

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Livingstone's fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii) is an endangered and endemic species found only on the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli, Comoros. A study was conducted into the habitats selected by P. livingstonii, as part of a project to assess areas for nature reserves which will be able to protect and conserve forest resources in the islands; the bat is postulated to be a useful indicator of undisturbed forest. Known roost sites (n=9) before the survey were between 500 and 1100 m altitude, on steeply sloping land, with some indigenous forest cover present. Thirteen new potential roost sites were identified, of …

S C O R P State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan Nebraska Action Program

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Over a third of nonresidents who visit Nebraska in the summer months go to attractions and events. For each attraction or event visited, they spend an average of a halfday longer stay in Nebraska and spend an additional $64, according to data from Nebraska's OED. Outdoor recreation will likely continue to increase with active families, climbing incomes, and shorter work weeks. However, Nebraskans may spend more on long weekends and vacations closer to home in coming years if fuel prices keep climbing. If Nebraska is to meet existing and expected recreation and tourism demands, the long-range statewide forecasts to meet …

The Effect Of Leaf Movement On Algal Epiphytes In Seagrass Meadows, T. R. Reid

Theses : Honours

Artificial seagrass units were used to determine whether seagrass leaf movement influences the biomass, species richness and composition of epiphytic macroalgae on the leaves of seagrasses, and whether the influence of leaf movement is altered by the degree of exposure to water movement and to depth. The influence of leaf movement on epiphytic biomass is important from an environmental management perspective, as there is the potential for epiphytic productivity to be underestimated if leaf movement is reducing the standing crop of epiphytes on seagrass leaves. Two forms of artificial seagrass units were used in three experiments to achieve these objectives; …

Susceptibility Of The Legume Flower Thrips To Metarhizium Anisopliae On Different Varieties Of Cowpea, S. Ekesi, N. K. Maniania, W. Lwande

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The susceptibility of Megalurothrips sjostedti to Metarhizium anisopliae when reared on susceptible, tolerant, and moderately resistant varieties of cowpea at different constant temperatures was evaluated in the laboratory. Insects were exposed either to direct spray of the conidia or to fungus-treated floral tissues. Mortality was significantly higher on the moderately resistant variety at all temperatures compared to the susceptible and tolerant varieties. Correspondingly, lethal time and lethal concentration values were significantly shorter and lower, respectively, on the moderately resistant variety compared to the other varieties, thus indicating that the two control methods are compatible as part of an integrated pest …

Department Of Fisheries Annual Report Highlights 1999 - 2000, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Department of Fisheries Annual Reports

1999/2000 has marked a 'sea change' in fisheries management throughout Australia towards the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). This is a dynamic concept with an evolving framework that requires a balancing of social, economic and environmental considerations.

The principles of ESD - of using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of fisheries, now and in the future, can be increased - are vital in a state, national and international context for Fisheries WA and its clients. Having fisheries that are governed under ESD principles is …

Evaluation Of A Radar-Activated, Demand-Performance Bird Hazing System, Gwen R. Stevens, Jamie Rogue, Richard Weber, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We evaluated a radar-activated integrated hazing system for the protection of waterfowl at large contaminated ponds at a power plant. The hazing devices in the system included acoustic alarm calls, pyrotechnics and chemical repellents dispersed in the form of a bird tear-gas. Unlike, timed interval systems, or systems with random activation sequences, birds did not habituate to the demand-performance system tested. Over the course of a year, we documented that waterfowl were 12.5 times less likely to fly over the hazed contaminated ponds relative to a non-hazed control pond. Of the waterfowl that did fly over both ponds, the likelihood …

Modeling The Bull Run River-Reservoir System, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The City of Portland, Water Bureau currently operates 2 Bull Run reservoirs, Reservoir #2 and Reservoir #1 as a water supply source in the Bull Run watershed shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. The Water Bureau wants to operate their water supply system in order to meet both water supply objectives and fish habitat objectives downstream of the Bull Run reservoirs in Bull Run River. In addition, a third Bull Run reservoir has been proposed as an additional water supply source. This reservoir also may be used to meet water supply and fish habitat objectives in Bull Run River. …

Cattle And Amblyomma Variegatum Odors Used In Host Habitat And Host Finding By The Tick Parasitoid, Ixodiphagus Hookeri, Fanuel A. Demas, Ahmed Hassanali, Esther N. Mwangi, Edna C. Kunjeku, Audrey R. Mabveni

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The response of mated naive Ixodiphagus hookeri females to cattle and Amblyomma variegatum nymphal odors was tested in a Y-tube olfactometer. I. hookeri females were attracted to cattle urine, dung, and odors from tick- free feeding sites of A. variegatum nymphs on cattle, e.g., dewlaps, front heels, and hind heels. Tick-free scrotal odors did not attract the parasitoids. Furthermore, odors from off-host unfed and fed A. variegatum nymphs did not attract the parasitoids, despite an increase in the number of the nymphs to amplify any odor signal. A blend of odors from feeding on-host nymphs and cattle scrota attracted the …

The Use Of Stable Isotopic Signatures Of Marine Biota To Map Sewage Effluent Disposed Into The Marine Environment, Adam Gartner

Theses : Honours

Recent work indicates that nitrogen stable isotopic signatures of aquatic biota can be used to link nutrient inputs in the marine environment to terrestrial sources. While this technique of tracing nutrients has been shown to be effective in environments that are not nutrient limited, it has not been proved that this method is effective in oligotrophic environments. This study examined whether nitrogen stable isotopic signatures of marine biota can be used to trace the distribution of sewage effluent in highly mixed, nitrogen limited waters, by examining the δ¹⁵N values of marine biota situated close to and distant from …

Single-Dilution Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay For Quantification Of Antigen-Specific Salmonid Antibody, Stewart W. Alcorn, Ronald J. Pascho

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed on the basis of testing a single dilution of serum to quantify the level of antibody to the p57 protein of Renibacterium salmoninarum in sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). The levels of antibody were interpolated from a standard curve constructed by relating the optical densities (OD) produced by several dilutions of a high-titer rainbow trout (O. mykiss) antiserum to the p57 protein. The ELISA OD values produced by as many as 36 test sera on each microplate were compared with the standard curve to calculate the antigen-specific antibody activity. Repeated …

Agroforestry In The United States: Research And Technology Transfer Needs For The Next Millennium

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

If society's needs and aspirations for forestderived goods, services, and amenities truely are to be met, we must find ways of augmenting traditional forestry by gleaning some portion of these benefits from agricultural lands. For example: windbreaks, riparian forest buffers, hybrid poplar trees, farm woodlots, and grazing/timber systems.

Viability Of Piping Plover Charadrius Melodus Metapopulations, Jonathan H. Plissner, Susan M. Haig

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The meta-population viability analysis package, vortex, was used to examine viability and recovery objectives for piping plovers Charadrius melodus, an endangered shorebird that breeds in three distinct regions of North America. Baseline models indicate that while Atlantic Coast populations, under current management practices, are at little risk of near-term extinction, Great Plains and Great Lakes populations require 36% higher mean fecundity for a significant probability of persisting for the next 100 years. Meta-population structure (i.e. the delineation of populations within the meta-population) and inter-population dispersal rates had varying effects on model results; however, spatially-structured meta-populations exhibited lower viability than …

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

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

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 …

Sheep-Predation Behaviors Of Wild-Caught, Confined Coyotes: Some Historical Data, Ray T. Sterner, Kenneth Crane

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As part of efforts to develop The Livestock Protection Collar (U.S. EPA Reg. No. 56228-22), we videotaped sheep-predation events by 23 (15 males and 8 females) wild-caught, confined coyotes (Canis latrans) in a 31 x 41 m enclosure. Coyotes were paired individually with a sheep (Ovis aries) during 1 h daily trials. Nineteen (13 males and 6 females) of the coyotes made 75 fatal attacks of 1 to 7 sheep each; 4 coyotes (2 males and 2 females) made no fatal attacks despite 19 to 39 daily pairings. Of coyotes that made fatal attacks, 13 (9 …

Soil-Moisture Preferences And Soil-Use Behaviors Of Northern Pocket Gophers, Ray T. Sterner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Factors affecting soil-contact and –manipulation behaviors of pocket gophers (Thomomys and Geomys spp.) are poorly understood. Delineation of these behaviors is crucial to development of new repellent systems that seek to exploit the fossorial activity of these rodents. In a laboratory study involving northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides), I examined the effects(s) of gravimetric soil moisture (i.e., 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) upon soil-contact and –use behaviors. Six gophers received successive, 0.5 h/day exposures to one of the moist soils compared to dry (0%) soil in a 2-choice apparatus. Times in each compartment and observed …

Strychnine Alkaloid And Avian Reproduction: Effects Occur At Lower Dietary Concentrations With Mallard Ducks Than With Bobwhite Quail, C. A. Pedersen, R. T. Sterner, M. J. Goodall

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Separate subchronic reproductive toxicity studies were conducted using mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). Three groups (32/group; 16 male-female pairs) of 17-week-old ducks (F₀ generation) were fed Purina® Game Bird Breeder Layena® diets containing mean (±SD) 33.2 (±2.7), 68.9 (±1.8), and 140.9 (± 5.1) μg/g strychnine for 20 weeks, with some pairs in each group fed control diet during a subsequent 3-week recovery period. Three groups (32/group; 16 male-female pairs) of 19-week-old quail (F₀ generation) were fed similar diets containing mean (±SD) 279.2 (±10.1), 557.4 (±43.5), and 1,113.6 (±46.6) μg/g …

Response Of Captive Coyotes To Renardine Coyote Repellent, D. E. Zemlicka, J. R. Mason

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Renardine is a bone tar product available for use as a coyote (Canis latrans) repellent in Canada. The substance is applied to pasture borders to prevent coyotes from entering and attacking sheep. Because data regarding the effectiveness of Renardine are lacking, we designed two experiments. In the first, six pairs of coyotes were first presented with 400 g of ground meat in two pans (200 g/pan) with false screen bottoms. Beneath the screens were absorbent tubes wetted with 10 ml of distilled water. Subsequently, during a treatment period, the absorbent tube was wetted with 10 ml of Renardine. …

Hazing And Movements Of Canada Geese Near Elmendorf Air Force Base In Anchorage, Alaska, Darryl L. York, John L. Cummings, Richard M. Engeman, Kate L. Wedemeyer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bird strikes to aircraft are a serious economic and safety problem in the United States, annually causing millions of dollars in damage to civilian and military aircraft and the occasional loss of human life. We observed movements of 1236 neckbanded lesser Canada geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) to determine efficacy of hazing as a means to reduce goose presence at Elmendorf Air Force Base (EAFB), Anchorage, Alaska from August to October 1997. Emphasis was on movements of geese onto EAFB with additional data collected at the other two major airports in the area, Anchorage International Airport (AIA) and Merrill …

Evaluation Of Flight ControlTm And Mesurol® As Repellents To Reduce Horned Lark (Eremophila Alpestris) Damage To Lettuce Seedlings, Darryl L. York, John L. Cummings, Richard M. Engeman, James E. Davis Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted enclosure trials near Huron, CA in the San Joaquin Valley from 12 to 23 January 1999 to determine the efficacy of Flight Control™ (50% anthraquinone) and Mesurol® (75% methiocarb) in preventing horned lark damage to lettuce seedlings. Flight Control™ (FC) and Mesurol® were evaluated as foliar sprays at application rates of 2.79 and 2.27 kg ha^-1, respectively. Homed lark damage to lettuce seedlings treated with antraquinone was greater (p = 0.015) than for rnethiocarb®, 60 versus 20%, respectively, and seedlings in control plots were 100% destroyed. While this level of damage is probably unacceptable to lettuce …

Home Ranges And Habitat Selection Of White-Tailed Deer In A Suburban Nature Area In Eastern Nebraska, Scott Hygnstrom, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We evaluated the movements of 59 radio-collared female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at the Gifford Point Wildlife Management Area (GP) and Fontenelle Forest Nature Area (FF) in eastern Nebraska from 1994 to 1997. Annual home ranges averaged 276 ha (CI = 166 ha). Forty-four of the deer maintained relatively small home ranges (0=129 ha) and resided in the GP lowlands (n=14), FF lowlands (n=ll), and FF uplands-Bellevue residential area (BR) (n= 19). Deer in the latter area were frequently observed in backyards, at deer feeders, and on city streets. Seven of the deer were transients, maintaining seasonal home …