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Technology-Aided Participative Methods In Environmental Assessment: An International Perspective, Ainhoa Gonzalez, Alan Gilmer, Ronan Foley, John Sweeney, John Fry

Articles

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality …

The Effect Of Wetland Size And Surrounding Land Use On Wetland Quality Along An Urbanization Gradient In The Rocky River Watershed, Marilyn S. Gunsch

ETD Archive

An intensive floristic evaluation of 17 Cleveland Metroparks (CMP) wetlands in the Rocky River Watershed (RRW) was undertaken to determine whether wetland size or anthropogenic disturbance in the surrounding landscape is a better predictor of wetland quality in this protected parkland. Wetland study sites were selected in three reservations, Hinckley, Mill Stream Run, and Rocky River. My research adds valuable information to the CMP wetland database and will contribute to its wetland management policies. Wetland quality was determined using the following floristic indices: species richness, non-native species, wetland species, mean coefficient of conservatism (C of C), floristic quality assessment index …

A Diatom Phosphorus Inference Model For 30 Freshwater Lakes In Ne Ohio And Nw Pennsylvania, Kyle C. Scotese

ETD Archive

Nutrient enrichment in the form of anthropogenic phosphorous and nitrogen inputs has occurred in lakes worldwide. In the absence of historical water chemistry data, the extent to which this disturbance has impacted lakes in the Erie/Ontario drift and lake plain and Western Allegheny Plateau ecoregions remains to be determined. The objective of this study was to develop a diatom calibration set through analysis of surface sediments and water chemistry from 30 lakes spanning a phosphorous and nitrogen gradient in the glaciated regions of northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania with an additional lake in New York. No current training set exists …

Nondestructive Estimation Of Leaf Chlorophyll Content In Grapes, Mark Steele, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Donald Rundquist

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Leaf chlorophyll content provides valuable information about the physiological status of plants, and there is a need for accurate, efficient, practical methodologies to estimate this biophysical parameter. Reflectance measurement is a means of quickly and nondestructively assessing, in situ, the chlorophyll content in leaves. The objective of this study was to develop a precise, efficient, nondestructive technique to estimate leaf total chlorophyll (Chl) content in grapes. A relationship was established between Chl content and the red-edge chlorophyll index, based on reflectances in the red-edge (710–720 nm) and near-infrared (755–765 nm) spectral ranges, and the algorithm for Chl retrieval was calibrated. …

Remediating Explosive-Contaminated Groundwater By In Situ Redox Manipulation (Isrm) Of Aquifer Sediments, H.K. Boparai, Steven Comfort, Patrick J. Shea, J.E. Szecsody

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In situ chemical reduction of clays and iron oxides in subsurface environments is an emerging technology for treatment of contaminated groundwater. Our objective was to determine the efficacy of dithionite-reduced sediments from the perched Pantex Aquifer (Amarillo, TX) to abiotically degrade the explosives RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine), HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro- 1,3,5,7-tetrazocine), and TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene). The effects of dithionite/buffer concentrations, sediments-solution ratios, and the contribution of Fe(II) were evaluated in batch experiments. Results showed that reduced Pantex sediments were highly effective in degrading all three high explosives. Degradation rates increased with increasing dithionite/buffer concentrations and soil to solution ratios (1:80–1:10 w/v). When Fe(II) was …

Runoff Using A Combined Geographic Information System And Curve Number Approach, Keshia M. Koehn

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Stormwater runoff can transport nutrients, sediments, chemicals, and pathogens to surface water bodies. Managing runoff is crucial to preserving water quality in rapidly developing urban watersheds like Northwest Arkansas. A watershed containing much of the University of Arkansas campus was identified as the target area for this study because stormwater from this location drains into the West Fork of the White River, designated as an impaired water body due to siltation. The project objective was to develop a methodology to test existing stormwater drainage infrastructure, identify potential areas of improvement, and estimate potentially contaminated runoff by combining two widely used …

The Truth About Soviet Whaling: A Memoir, Alfred Berzin

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

In November 1993, Professor Alexei Yablokov, who at the time was the Science Advisor to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, stood on a podium in Galveston, Tex., and delivered a speech to the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s biennial conference, the premier international event in the field of marine mammal science. Addressing the 1,500 scientists present, he made what amounted to a national confession: that, beginning in 1948, the U.S.S.R. had begun a huge campaign of illegal whaling. Despite being a signatory to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (signed in Washington, D.C., just 2 years before in 1946), the …

Hunting Cetaceans With Sound: A Worldwide Review, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Douglas P. Nowacek, Katherine Ralls

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Cetaceans are sensitive to a variety of anthropogenic sounds because they normally use sound to navigate, communicate and capture prey. This paper reviews some fisheries that have taken advantage of this sensitivity by using sound to help capture numerous species of dolphins and whales. Fishermen in many parts of the world have independently developed methods that use sounds to drive (herd) various species of small cetaceans so that they can be killed and used for food, culled (i.e. to offset competition for fish), help capture fish (e.g. in the Eastern Tropical Pacific) or be taken into captivity. It is well …

Biological Background On Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Spp.) In The 'Live-Capture' Trade And Specifically On The Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin, T. Aduncus, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Randall Reeves

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The most significant cetacean trade items until commercial whaling all but ceased in the 1990s (aside from scientific exchanges of tissues etc.) were meat and blubber from baleen whales for human consumption. Since then, live dolphins and 'small' whales for display (and to some extent for research, military use, and 'therapy') have become the most significant cetacean 'products' in international trade. Trade in live cetaceans is presently dominated by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.), beluga whales (Debhinapterns leucas) and to a lesser extent killer whales (Orcinus orca) (Fisher and Reeves 2005). In the past, most of …

Harbor Seal Population Decline In The Aleutian Archipelago, Robert Small, Peter Boveng, G. Vernon Byrd, David Withrow

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Populations of Steller sea lions, northern fur seals, and northern sea otters declined substantially during recent decades in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands region, yet the population status of harbor seals has not been assessed adequately. We determined that counts obtained during skiff-based surveys conducted in 1977–1982 represent the earliest estimate of harbor seal abundance throughout the Aleutian Islands. By comparing counts from 106 islands surveyed in 1977–1982 (8,601 seals) with counts from the same islands during a 1999 aerial survey (2,859 seals), we observed a 67% decline over the ∼20-year period. Regionally, the largest decline of 86% was …

Taking Account Of Dependent Species In Management Of The Southern Ocean Krill Fishery: Estimating Crabeater Seal Abundance Off East Antarctica, Colin Southwell, Charles G. M. Paxton, David Borchers, Peter Boveng, William De La Mare

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

1. The crabeater seal Lobodon carcinophaga is considered to be a key species in the krill-based food web of the Southern Ocean. Reliable estimates of the abundance of this species are necessary to allow the development of multispecies, predator–prey models as a basis for management of the krill fishery in the Southern Ocean.

2. A survey of crabeater seal abundance was undertaken in 1500 000 km² of pack-ice off east Antarctica between longitudes 64–150° E during the austral summer of 1999/2000. Sighting surveys, using double observer line transect methods, were conducted from an icebreaker and two helicopters to estimate …

Determining Spatial And Temporal Scales For Management: Lessons From Whaling, P J. Clapham, Alex Aguilar, Leila Hatch

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Selection of the appropriate management unit is critical to the conservation of animal populations. Defining such units depends upon knowledge of population structure and upon the timescale being considered. Here, we examine the trajectory of eleven subpopulations of five species of baleen whales to investigate temporal and spatial scales in management. These subpopulations were all extirpated by commercial whaling, and no recovery or repopulation has occurred since. In these cases, time elapsed since commercial extinction ranges from four decades to almost four centuries. We propose that these subpopulations did not recover either because cultural memory of the habitat has been …

Linking Colonies To Fisheries: Spatio-Temporal Overlap Between Common Murres (Uria Aalge) From Tatoosh Island And Coastal Gillnet Fisheries In The Pacific Northwest, Usa, Nathalie J. Hamela, Julia K. Parrisha, Jeff Laake

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The population-level impact of seabird bycatch is difficult to assess because colony-of-origin is often unknown. As an alternative and complementary approach to ship-derived observations, we assessed the relative potential for bycatch of a known seabird population by quantifying spatio-temporal overlap with local fisheries. Common murres (Uria aalge) have been reported as the most abundant seabird inadvertently caught in Washington and British Columbia coastal gillnet fisheries. In 1999–2001, we tracked 48 common murres from Tatoosh Island, the closest colony to the fisheries, during post-breeding. Using capture- mark-recapture models, we estimated weekly murre movement probabilities to/from three strata (offshore of, …

Interactions: Newsletter Of The Wildlife Society Wildlife Damage Management Working Group, Interactions: Volume 14 Issue 4 Fall 2008

TWS Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Newsletter

Final Message - It’s Been Fun! Letters From Art; And Now…A Word From The Editor; Publication Announcement Urban Coyote Management; Publication Announcement Mule Deer Conservation; Candidate for Chairelect Gary Witmer; Candidate for Chairelect Kurt Vercauteren; Wdm Working Group Meeting; Candidate for Secretary Treasurer David Drake; Candidate for Secretary Treasurer Mike Mengak; Candidate for Secretary Treasurer Nicki Frey; Candidate for Board Member Travis Devault; Candidate for Board Member Denise Ruffino; Candidate for Board Member Bob Timm; Candidate for Board Member Paul Curtis; Candidate for Board Member Jimmy Taylor; Candidate for Board Member Phil Mastrangelo; Candidate for Board Member Kris Godwin; Candidate …

Newsletter Of The Wildlife Society Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Interactions: Volume 14 Issue 3 Summer 2008

TWS Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Newsletter

A Look at Wild Boar Problems In Slovenia; Plan Ahead….The Wildlife Damage Management Conference I S Coming! Letters From Art; Internet Resources New Wildlife Damage Management Blog; Publication Announcement Issue 2-2 of Human Wildlife Conflicts Now Available; Conference Announcement 6th International IPM Symposium; WDM Working Group Meeting; 2009 Wildlife Damage Management Conference Call for Papers And Abstract Guidelines; Save The Date!!! The 2009 Wildlife Damage Management Conference Is Coming Soon!!!; 2009 Wildlife Damage Management Committees and Chairs; Recent Wildlife Damage Management Research; The Wildlife Society Wildlife Damage Management Working Group; Upcoming Meetings, Conferences, And Events

Introgression And Dispersal Among Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis) Subspecies, W. Chris Funk, Eric D. Forsman, Thomas D. Mullins, Susan M. Haig

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Population genetics plays an increasingly important role in the conservation and management of declining species, particularly for defining taxonomic units. Subspecies are recognized by several conservation organizations and countries and receive legal protection under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA). Two subspecies of spotted owls, northern (Strix occidentalis caurina) and Mexican (S. o. lucida) spotted owls, are ESA-listed as threatened, but the California (S. o. occidentalis) spotted owl is not listed. Thus, determining the boundaries of these subspecies is critical for effective enforcement of the ESA. We tested the validity of previously recognized spotted …

Tools And Technology Article: Estimation And Correction Of Visibility Bias In Aerial Surveys Of Wintering Ducks, Aaron T. Pearse, Patrick D. Gerard, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Richard M. Kaminski, Kenneth J. Reinecke

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Incomplete detection of all individuals leading to negative bias in abundance estimates is a pervasive source of error in aerial surveys of wildlife, and correcting that bias is a critical step in improving surveys. We conducted experiments using duck decoys as surrogates for live ducks to estimate bias associated with surveys of wintering ducks in Mississippi, USA. We found detection of decoy groups was related to wedand cover type (open vs. forested), group size (1-100 decoys), and interaction of these variables. Observers who detected decoy groups reported counts that averaged 78% of the decoys actually present, and this counting bias …

Relations Between And Among Contaminant Concentrations And Biomarkers In Black Bass (Micropterus Spp.) And Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) From Large U.S. Rivers, 1995–2004, Jo Ellen Hinck, Christopher J. Schmitt, Mark R. Ellersieck, Donald E. Tillitt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Environmental contaminant and biomarker monitoring data from major U.S. river basins were summarized for black bass (Micropterus spp.) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) sampled over a nine year period. Cumulative frequency distributions revealed taxon differences for many organochlorine residue concentrations, elemental contaminant concentrations, and biomarkers, but few gender differences were evident for chemical concentrations. Concentrations of dacthal, pentachloroanisole, p,p'-DDE, endosulfan sulfate, barium, cadmium, copper, manganese, lead, selenium, vanadium, and zinc were greater in carp than bass, but concentrations of mercury and magnesium were greater in bass. Gender differences were evident in bass for mercury and in carp …

Impact Of Drought On Prehistoric Western Native Americans, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Some droughts that occurred during the so-called Medieval Climate Anomaly (approximately AD 800-1300) appear to have been catalysts for major changes in settlement patterns of two western Native American groups - the Lovelock culture in Nevada’s Great Basin and the Anasazi people of the Four Corners area. Both groups’ subsistence bases were impacted by diminished water supplies associated with prolonged drought, leading to the dispersal of these Native Americans from their former territories.

Tree-ring-based Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) reconstructions by Cook et al. (2004) indicate that over 50% of the western U.S. experienced drought conditions during the middle-12th and …

Grenetic Evidence Of Intercontinental Movement Of Avian Influenza In A Migratory Bird: The Northern Pintail (Anas Acuta), Anson V. Koehler, John M. Pearce, Paul L. Flint, J. Christian Franson, Hon S. Ip

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The role of migratory birds in the movement of the highly pathogenic (HP) avian influenza H5N1 remains a subject of debate. Testing hypotheses regarding intercontinental movement of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses will help evaluate the potential that wild birds could carry Asian-origin strains of HP avian influenza to North America during migration. Previous North American assessments of LPAI genetic variation have found few Asian reassortment events. Here, we present results from whole-genome analyses of LPAI isolates collected in Alaska from the northern pintail (Anas acuta), a species that migrates between North America and Asia. Phylogenetic analyses …

Degradation Of Chlorinated Ethenes In Mesocosms Simulating A Constructed Wetland, At Wpafb, Ohio, Dibyendu Mukherjee

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this research was to study the degradation of chlorinated ethenes in upwardflowing mesocosms, simulating a constructed wetland at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) in Dayton, Ohio. This research was intended to compare biogeochemical processes and PCE degradation occurring in the mesocosms and in the field site. This research also tries to look at the effects of vegetation and season on the degradation efficiency of the mesocosms. Twelve PVC column reactors were built within the greenhouse of Wright State University in September 2005 to simulate the hydraulic conditions of a constructed wetland at WPAFB. The columns …

A Synthesis Of Live Fuel Moisture And Wildland Fire And Development Of A National Historical Live Fuel Moisture Database, William M. Jolly Dr.

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Live fuels are a key component to the wildland fuel complex but little is know about their contribution to fire danger or fire behavior. This review attempts to quantify our current understanding of the role that live fuels play in combustion and how those characteristics are quantified into prediction systems that fire managers use to assess fire danger or fire behavior as well as how live fuel parameters for those systems are measured. We review how live fuels are incorporated into three fire danger and fire behavior prediction systems that have found widespread use throughout the world. We discuss the …

Behaveplus And Flammap Technology Transfer, Patricia Andrews, Mark Finney

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

This project was conducted in response to the need identified under Task 1 (RFP 2005-4)—extension of technology transfer activities beyond the conclusion of successfully completed JFSP funded projects or other applicable wildland fire research. Development of the BehavePlus fire modeling system and the FlamMap fire behavior analysis and mapping system and supporting technology transfer material was funded in part under JFSP project #98-1-8-02. After successful completion of that project, development of those systems and supporting material continued under other funding. FlamMap was used in JFSP project #01-1-3-21 “Cumulative effects of fuel management on landscape-scale fire behavior and effects.” A significant …

Bringing The Fire Effects Information System Up-To-Date And Improving Service To Land Managers, Jane Kapler Smith, Fire Modeling Institute Information Team

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

This project delivers up-to-date, science-based information about species nominated by wildland managers for revision in or addition to the Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). FEIS now provides 1,081 literature reviews covering 1,139 taxa. This JFSP task has supported the rewriting of 9% of FEIS reviews, addition of reviews that increase FEIS content by 9%, and small updates to 25% of the database. Each FEIS species review addresses the basic biology of the species, fire regimes, fire's role in the life history and persistence of the species, competition and successional patterns, and issues regarding fuel management, prescribed fire, and postfire rehabilitation. …

Burn Severity Mapping Using Simulation Modeling And Satellite Imagery, Robert E. Keane, Eva C. Karau, Elizabeth Reinhardt

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

As wildfires becomes an increasingly important issue affecting our nation’s landscapes, fire managers must quickly assess possible adverse fire effects to efficiently allocate resources for rehabilitation or remediation. While burn severity maps derived from satellite imagery can provide a landscape view of relative fire impacts, fire effects simulation models can also provide spatial fire severity estimates along with the biotic context in which to interpret severity. In this project, we evaluated two methods of mapping burn severity for four wildfires in western Montana using 64 plots as field reference: 1) an image-based burn severity mapping approach using the Differenced Normalized …

Carbon Cycling At The Landscape Scale: The Effect Of Changes In Climate And Fire Frequency On Age Distribution, Stand Structure, And Net Ecosystem Production., Michael G. Ryan, Daniel M. Kashian, Erica A.H. Smithwick, William H. Romme, Monica G. Turner, Daniel B. Tinker

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Understanding the interactions between climate, fire and forest characteristics-- and how carbon dynamics are affected by these factors--remains an important challenge in ecology. As the size and severity of fires in the western US continues to increase (Westerling et al. 2006), it has become increasingly important to understand carbon dynamics in response to fire. In this study, we investigated these key interactions in the landscape of Yellowstone National Park (YNP). We asked how initial post-fire heterogeneity in forest structure (especially tree density and stand age) controls carbon dynamics over the full life cycle of individual forest stands, and how climate-mediated …

Delayed Tree Mortality Following Fire In Western Conifers, Sheri Smith, Danny Chuck, Elizabeht Reinhardt, Kevin Ryan, Charles Mchugh

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

We developed 3-year post-fire mortality models for 12 western conifer species by pooling data collected from multiple fire-injury studies. Models were developed for white fir, red fir, subalpine fir, incense cedar, western larch, lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, ponderosa pine, Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, Engelmann spruce, and Douglas-fir. Two sets of models were created, one for use in pre-fire planning where only crown injury and DBH were potential variables, and a second, optimal model for use in post-fire planning that used all significant variables. Predictive accuracy of all models was compared to the accuracy of the mortality model currently used in …

Effects Of Fuels Treatments And Wildfire On Understory Species And Fuels In The Ponderosa Pine Zone Of The Colorado Front Range, Paula Fornwalt, Merrill Kaufmann

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The first clear indication that unnaturally dense forest conditions existed in ponderosa pine – Douglas-fir forests of the Colorado Front Range was the Buffalo Creek Fire, a large, catastrophic wildfire that burned in 1996. Ongoing research in the Front Range indicated that the Buffalo Creek Fire likely would have burned very differently under pre-settlement forest conditions; early photographs and written descriptions, as well as fire history and stand reconstruction data, all suggested that historically these forests were characterized by a matrix of low-density forests and shrubland or grassland openings that was created and maintained by a mixed-severity fire regime. As …

Effects Of Mechanically Generated Slash Particle Size On Prescribed Fire Behavior And Subsequent Vegetation Effects, Richy J. Harrod, David W. Peterson, Roger Ottmar, Peter Ohlson, Brad Flatten, Arlo Vanderwoude

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Forest managers have begun to restore ecosystem structure and function in fire-prone ecosystems that have experienced fire exclusion, commodity based resource extraction, and extensive grazing during much of the 20th century. Mechanical thinning and prescribed burning are the primary tools for thinning dense stands and restoring pre-settlement forest structure, reducing the likelihood of devastating crown fires. Mechanical thinning can be costly when trees are nonmerchantable and prescribed burning can be risky unless fuel loadings are first reduced. Furthermore, stands that remain dense after commercial thinning can produce undesirable wildland fire- or even prescribed fire- effects on vegetation and soils. Land …

Expansion Of The Southern Variant Of The Fire And Fuels Extension For The Forest Vegetation Simulator, S. M. Zedaker, S. A. Rebain, P. J. Radtke

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

This project specifically addressed AFP 2006-3, Task 3, by providing guidance for maintaining effective fire and non-fire fuels treatments, with the aim of supporting long-term fuels management. The overall goals of the project were to parameterize, expand, and improve the Southern Variant of the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE) to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) with the best data currently available, to identify data weaknesses and gaps that may require additional research to reduce the uncertainty of Southern FFE model predictions, and to determine a validation framework for the Southern FFE. A wide variety of fire and fuels data and …