Digital Commons Network^™

Approaches For Delivering Integrated Forestry And Wildlife Extension Programs: The Missouri Woodland Steward Short Course And Missouri Master Wildlifer Program, Robert A. Pierce Ii, H. E. Stelzer

Triennial National Wildlife and Fisheries Extension Specialists Conference: 11th (2006)

Extension educational programs related to the stewardship of Missouri’s natural resources have been identified as a priority in the MU College of Agriculture Food and Natural Resource’s “Extension Base Program” (MU CAFNR 2001). Citizens own approximately 94% of the land in the state and therefore manage most of the natural resource base, including forests, agricultural lands, prairies and grasslands, wetlands, streams, and other natural habitats. Abundant natural resources, renewable and nonrenewable alike, provide for agriculture and timber production as well as recreational opportunities, each of which are directly or indirectly responsible for a majority of the economic activity within Missouri. …

The Center For Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution At Virginia Tech: A Model Of Future Use, James A. Parkhurst

Triennial National Wildlife and Fisheries Extension Specialists Conference: 11th (2006)

The Center for Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution, located at Virginia Tech, was created in mid-2004 to bring together representatives of state and federal agencies, private sector practitioners, non-governmental organizations, researchers, educators, and other stakeholders common to most human-wildlife conflicts as a means to facilitate and expedite the process of attaining realistic and publicly acceptable solutions to human-wildlife conflicts. The Center has four critical missions: coordination, information transfer, research, and training. Participating partners (i.e., members) in the Center adopted upon an Advisory Board organizational model and operate under a “majority rule” protocol. Increased awareness and understanding of the missions, regulatory mandates, and …

Slides: The Centennial Of The Antiquities Act: A Cause For Celebration?, James R. Rasband

Celebrating the Centennial of the Antiquities Act (October 9)

Presenter: Professor James R. Rasband, Brigham Young University School of Law

20 slides

Red Rock Desert Learning Center Stakeholder Phasing Meeting: October 5, 2006, Red Rock Desert Learning Center

Reports (RRLC)

• Our goals for this meeting

• What does phasing offer us?

• Possible phasing scenados

• Where do we go from here?

• Other business regarding RRDLC

Water Current, Volume 38, No. 4. Fall 2006

Water Current Newsletter

Contents
• ECONorthwest Says Nebraska Environment as Economic Engine Could Use Jump-Start by Steve Ress
• Future of Water Use in Agriculture
• From the Director -- Kyle D. Hoagland
• Meet the Faculty: Aris A. Holz, Mark A. Pegg,
• Grant Will Help UNL Refine Irrigation Management Tool by Dan Moser
• USGS Releases Findings on Domestic Well Water
• UNL Faculty Respond to Advisory Panel State Research Priorities by Jessica Harder
• Water Resources Advisory Panel Priorities
• Taking Drought Preparedness Messages to Congress by Kelly Helm Smith
• 2006 Water Colloquium Attracts Nearly 200 by Lorrie Benson …

Rapid Assessment For A New Invasive Species Threat: The Case Of The Gambian Giant Pouched Rat In Florida, Richard M. Engeman, John W. Woolard, Neil D. Perry, Gary W. Witmer, Scott Hardin, Lawrence Brashears, Henry Smith, Britta Muiznieks, Bernice Constantin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Gambian giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus) is a large rodent that has established a breeding population in the Florida Keys. Should it successfully disperse to mainland Florida, it could continue spreading through much of North America where significant negative ecological and agricultural consequences could result. We rapidly developed the information for implementing an efficient and successful eradication program before dispersal to the mainland occurs. This included development of monitoring and indexing methods and their application to define the animal’s range, the development of baits attractive to Gambian giant pouched rats, efficacy testing of toxicants, and development of …

Antipodean Inscapes: Reflection Of The Land As A Young Man, Michael Kantor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following paper contains a stand-alone piece of creative travel writing. ‘Cloud Juice’ is based on my interpretation of the experiences of the Fall 2006 Australia: Sustainability and the Environment semester. As it is my own personal interpretation it should not be placed in the category of non-fiction. Instead I have tried to write a story that presents the tone of my experience as honestly as possible, rather than simply telling the unbiased facts of the semester. My reason for writing this is to experiment with alternative methods of communicating the growth of an ecological ethic. By focusing on the …

Ley Y Desorden: La Participación, La Política, Y La Planificación En El Archipiélago De Bocas Del Toro, Sage E. Trombulak

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Bocas del Toro Archipelago is quickly becoming one of Panama’s most popular destinations, both for tourists pursuing temporary fun-in-the-sun type activities and for wealthy Panamanians, Americans, and Europeans seeking a more permanent location for their vacation homes, luxury resorts, and retirement communities. These dual phenomena have become a subject of escalating concern for the political leadership in Bocas del Toro and for a plethora of local, regional, and international NGOs, as unprecedented levels of development are leading to the degradation of one of Panama’s most beautiful and biologically diverse landscapes, stresses on urban infrastructure, and rapid economic growth that …

Tropic And East Fork Irrigation Company, Tropic Ditch Replacement Project, Environmental Assessment, Bureau Of Reclamation, Provo Area Office

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The purpose of this project is to reduce the amount of salt entering the Paria River and ultimately the Colorado River. One way to reduce the amount of salt reaching the Colorado River is to eliminate seepage from the historic Tropic Ditch. The Bureau of Reclamation, Provo Area Office has proposed funding for the project under the Colorado River Salinity Control Program. In addition to reducing the amount of salt loading, the project would also conserve water lost to evaporation and seepage.

The purpose of this Environmental Assessment (EA) is to analyze the potential environmental consequences of the proposed construction …

A Scoping Paper : Matters Relevant To The Development Of A Sustainable Allocation And Growout Modul For Western Lobster Pueruli, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

This Scoping Paper has been prepared as a first step in the development of a management framework for a commercial western rock lobster puerulus growout aquaculture industry in Western Australia. The purpose of this Scoping Paper is to identify and scope the issues associated with the development of such an industry and to identify matters which should be considered in the development of a management framework.

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 14 - Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: Development Of A National Translocation Policy Using Abalone And Prawns As Templates For Other Aquatic Species (Frdc Project No. 2004/080) Final Report, Brian Jones, Fran Stephens

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

The use of scientifically based hazard identification, risk analysis and risk management is fundamental to managing unwanted effects. Hazards, such as quarantine incursions, will continue to occur despite the use of risk assessment methodologies but the frequency and severity of their occurrence will be reduced.

This was recognised by the Ministerial Council on Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture in 1999 when they published the "National policy for the translocation of live aquatic organisms".

This FRDC project provides a simple risk assessment methodology based on the Australian Standard for Risk Management (AS/NZS 4360: 2004) and one that is consistent with the Ministerial …

The Phylogenetic Relationships And Biogeography Of True Porpoises (Mammalia: Phocoenidae) Based On Morphological Data, Liliana Fajardo-Mellor, Annalisa Berta, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Claudia Boy, R. Natalie Goodall

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Prior studies of phylogenetic relationships among phocoenids based on morphology and molecular sequence data conflict and yield unresolved relationships among species. This study evaluates a comprehensive set of cranial, postcranial, and soft anatomical characters to infer interrelationships among extant species and several well-known fossil phocoenids, using two different methods to analyze polymorphic data: polymorphic coding and frequency step matrix. Our phylogenetic results confirmed phocoenid monophyly. The division of Phocoenidae into two subfamilies previously proposed was rejected, as well as the alliance of the two extinct genera Salumiphocaena and Piscolithax with Phocoena dioptrica and Phocoenoides dalli. Extinct phocoenids are basal …

Data Summary From The Tampa Bay Interagency Seagrass Monitoring Program Through Year 2005, Walt Avery, Roger Johansson

Reports

Results regarding seagrass species abundance, distribution, and zonation over time are presented for the 1997-2005 period in Hillsborough Bay (HB, Figures 17-27) and the 1998-2005 period for Old Tampa Bay (OTB, Figures 3-14), Middle Tampa Bay (MTB, Figures 29-41), Lower Tampa Bay, including Terra Ceia Bay (LTB, Figures 43-57), and Boca Ciega Bay (BCB, Figures 59-69). For each transect, results are presented in a graphic format illustrating annual species composition, abundance, and distribution. Seagrass abundance is presented as percent coverage within a square meter using the Braun Blanquet coverage class system.

State Of The Arctic October 2006, J. Richter-Menge, J. Overland, A. Proshutinsky, V. Romanovsky, L. Bengtsson, L. Brigham, M. Dyurgerov, J.C. Gascard, S. Gerland, R. Graversen, C. Hahaas, M. Karcher, P. Kuhry, J. Maslanik, H. Melling, W. Maslowski, J. Morison, D. Perovich, R. Przybylak, V. Rachold, I. Rigor, A. Shiklomanov, J. Stroeve, D. Walker, J. Walsh

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

This State of the Arctic Report presents a review of recent data by an international group of scientists who developed a consensus on the information content and reliability. The report highlights data primarily from 2000 to 2005 with a first look at winter 2006, providing an update to some of the records of physical processes discussed in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA, 2004, 2005). Of particular note:

• Atmospheric climate patterns are shifting (Fig. 1). The late winter/spring pattern for 2000–2005 had new hot spots in northeast Canada and the East Siberian Sea relative to 1980–1999. Late winter 2006, …

Are Vultures Birds, And Do Snakes Have Venom, Because Of Macro- And Microscavenger Conflict?, John A. Shivik

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

I outline models that describe vertebrate and microbial competition for carrion resources and help explain the resultant morphologies observed in extant vertebrate scavengers. Odors from microbial decomposition signal the presence of a carcass to vertebrate scavengers. Therefore, microbes must consume carcasses rapidly or evolve toxic defenses to protect themselves and their resource from their vertebrate competitors. Similarly, macroscavengers must evolve traits that allow rapid detection of carcasses or develop chemical defenses against microbial toxins. My modeling suggests that the most efficient macroscavenger adaptations increase the probability of carcass detection, which explains why highly vagile species, such as vultures, are the …

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 15 - Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: Pilchard Herpesvirus Infection In Wild Pilchards (Frdc Project No. 2002/044) Final Report, Brian Jones, Melanie Crockford, Richard Whittington, Mark Crane, Graham Wilcox

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

In 1995 and again in 1998/9, millions of pilchards (Sardinops sagax neopilchardus) were found dead or dying off the coast of Australia. Some pilchards in New Zealand were also affected during the 1995 epizootic. The epizootics moved progressively in a "bushfire-like" manner against the prevailing currents at a rapid speed. An uncharacterised herpesvirus, pilchard herpesvirus (PHV), was associated with both mortality events and, based on its occurrence in affected fish and the disease pathogenesis, generally accepted as the causative agent, although experimental evidence of its role was not established. Until recently, rapid and sensitive methods to detect PHV were not …

Investigating The Feasibility Of A Passive Tracking Index For Monitoring Wildlife In The Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia, Richard M. Engeman, Paul Evangilista

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In many places in Africa, constraints in human, financial and physical resources are common problems that limit the effectiveness of wildlife researchers and managers. In an attempt to identify a useful tool for monitoring African wildlife populations, we tested a passive tracking index (PTI) methodology on a unique wildlife resource area in the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia. The methodology had previously proved valuable for monitoring a wide variety of wildlife species, including ungulates and carnivores in North America and Australia. Two ungulates (lesser kudu and dikdik), a carnivore (hyena), a primate (baboon), and a ground foraging bird (guineafowl) were simultaneously …

Fire Making Fuel: How A Surface Fire In A Primary Forest Affected The Availability Of Potential Fuel One Year Later, Alex Leckie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Fires affect millions of hectares of tropical forests around the world. These fires result in great environmental damage and economical losses. Many farmers are dependent on fire for managing their lands and many times their fires accidentally spread into forests via fuels on the forest floor. This study attempted to analyze and quantify the difference of potential fuel in a primary forest which burned one year before and an unburned part of the same forest at a primary forest fragment surrounded by farms and with a history of anthropogenic accidental fires burning it. This was done by making three sample …

Assessment Of Small-Scale Biogas Systems And Their Widespread Dissemination In Can Tho City, Viet Nam, Tracy Zhu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Mekong Delta hosts suitable conditions for promoting the widespread dissemination of biogas systems, such as tropical temperatures, high population density, and widespread animal husbandry. The low-cost polyethylene biodigester (BD) is the most common model in the Mekong Delta, although concrete and brick biodigesters have been implemented to a lesser extent. Biogas systems offer a wide range of benefits, such as improving water quality, enhancing integrated farming systems, and meeting rural energy demand while improving public health. Many projects, especially through Can Tho University (CTU), have promoted the installation of biogas systems, but little research has been done to follow …

Koll Center Wetlands Natural Resources Maintenance Management Plan, Meredith Clayton

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The intention of this plan is to provide a vision and guidelines for maintaining and improving the ecological health of Koll Center Wetlands in the short and long term. Although the plan will change over time, the goal is to quantify natural resource needs spatially, temporally, and economically.

Koll Center Wetlands is part of the Greenway/Fanno Creek/Koll Center Wetlands Park complex. The nearly 13 acre park is dominated by aquatic habitats that attract a wide variety of wildlife, particularly birds. The park grounds are not easily traversed and experience limited human use, but there are many viewpoints from which the …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Management: Final Close-Out Report, Time Period: October 1, 2005 To September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

The National Park Service (NPS) at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME) entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to accomplish vegetation monitoring and management activities. This report summarizes activities that took place by UNLV under this task agreement between October 1, 2005, and September 30, 2006. The activities included:

• Weed Sentry mapping and treating incipient populations of exotic invasive plants throughout Clark County, including along shorelines of Lakes Mead and Mohave;
• Monitoring of targeted rare native plant species;
• Sahara mustard research; and
• Providing technical assistance upon request to the NPS vegetation manager.

In …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area National Park Service: Final Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

This task agreement was awarded by the National Park Service (NPS), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME), to the Public Lands Institute (PLI) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) on October 1, 2005. This monitoring, research, and management project consisted of several project elements focused on: bald eagles, peregrine falcons, rare songbird species (including southwest willow flycatcher); aquatic birds, relict leopard frog, desert tortoise, and bighorn sheep. In general, actions associated with this project focused on the development and implementation of inventory and monitoring programs to determine the distribution, status, abundance, trends, and potential threats to these animals, …

Planning For Robust Reserve Networks Using Uncertainty Analysis, Atte Moilanen, Michael C. Runge, Jane Elith, Andrew Tyre, Yohay Carmel, Eric Fegraus, Brendan A. Wintle, Mark Burgman, Yakov Ben-Haim

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Planning land-use for biodiversity conservation frequently involves computer-assisted reserve selection algorithms. Typically such algorithms operate on matrices of species presence–absence in sites, or on species-specific distributions ofmodel predicted probabilities of occurrence in grid cells. There are practically always errors in input data—erroneous species presence–absence data, structural and parametric uncertainty in predictive habitat models, and lack of correspondence between temporal presence and long-run persistence. Despite these uncertainties, typical reserve selection methods proceed as if there is no uncertainty in the data or models. Having two conservation options of apparently equal biological value, one would prefer the option whose value is relatively …

Ecophysiology Of Two Native Invasive Woody Species And Two Dominant Warm-Season Grasses In The Semiarid Grasslands Of The Nebraska Sandhills, Kathleen D. Eggemeyer, Tala Awada, David A. Wedin, F. Edwin Harvey, Xinhua Zhou

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Populations of Pinus ponderosa and Juniperus virginiana are expanding into semiarid Sandhills grasslands in Nebraska. To evaluate the physiological basis of their success, we measured the seasonal course of leaf gas exchange, plant water status, and carbon isotope discrimination in these two native trees and two native C₄ grasses (Schizachyrium scoparium and Panicum virgatum). Compared to the trees, grasses had higher net photosynthetic rates (A_net) and water use efficiency (WUE) and more negative predawn and midday water potentials (Ψ) in June and July. While leaf Ψ and rates of leaf gas exchange declined for all …

Waterfowl Management Plan, Lake Restoration Task Force, Wade Worthen, Wes Dripps

Furman Lake Restoration Book Gallery

A six page document submitted by The Lake Restoration Task Force. The document lists the members of the task force, gives an overview of waterfowl overpopulation at the Furman Lake, goals for the future, and the strategy to solve this problem. The document provides a specific implementation plan and concludes with an assessment of the plan.

Five-Year Watershed Action Plan For The Taunton River Watershed, Geosyntec Consultants

Reference Documents

No abstract provided.

A Rough Guide To Interdisciplinarity: Graduate Student Perspectives, Jessica K. Graybill, Sarah Dooling, Vivek Shandas, John Withey, Adrienne I. Greve, Gregory L. Simon

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

A widely held belief is that only through interdisciplinarity can academics effectively address today's complex ecological problems, because these problems demand cross-disciplinary efforts and specialized knowledge from natural and social scientists. Innovative interdisciplinary research and curricula have been created to train a new generation of scientists to engage with complex issues. It seems critical that those most affected by interdisciplinary education—doctoral students—provide feedback about such innovations. Without understanding students' experiences in interdisciplinary programs, faculty will not know whether they are "getting it right" for future generations of interdisciplinarians. From our experiences as doctoral students, we provide reflections and perspectives on …

Fisheries Research Report No. 158 - An Assessment Of The Blue Swimmer Crab Fishery In Geographe Bay, Lynda M. Bellchambers, K. D. Smith, D. Harris

Fisheries Research Reports

The study was undertaken to provide detailed information on blue swimmer crabs in Geographe Bay so that the recreational and commercial fishery issues could be addressed using more accurate data than was previously available. A ministerial decision that banned commercial fishing for blue swimmer crabs in Geographe Bay was made in January 2005 while this study was underway. The intention of this report was to provide a summary of information on crab stocks in the region, not to alter the current management arrangements. This report describes experimental sampling, commercial catch statistics, commercial catch monitoring and surveys of recreational fishers to …

Wmi Outdoor News Bulletin * September 2006, Volume 60, No. 9

Wildlife Management Institute Outdoor News Bulletin

Contents:

Related meeting and function requests being accepted for 72nd North American Conference

Waterfowl gain reprieve from plan to expand oil and gas development in Alaska

Matt Dunfee to join WMI

Antis take a shot at the mourning dove hunting season in Michigan

McGraw Wildlife Foundation extends the Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow program

New CRP initiative in Prairie Pothole Region bodes well for ducks

Oil shale potential in the West rises once again

Workshop on aquatic nuisance species slated for North American Conference

Exhibiting at the 72nd North American Conference

U.S. citizens strongly back hunting and fishing

Worth reading: House …

Refuge Update – September/October 2006, Volume 3, Number 5

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:

Birds On Every Refuge, page 5 New Refuge System Birding Initiative aims to help birders fully appreciate the importance of refuges in the lives of their favorite species.

Focus on . . Farm Bill, pages 10-16 America’s farmers and ranchers play a critical role in sustaining healthy fi sh and wildlife populations, making the Farm Bill an especially important issue.

Where Has All the Cordgrass Gone, page 21 Sudden wetland dieback is the rapid loss of vegetation in salt marshes. So, why does it happen?

Less Than “Purr-Fect” in the Wild, page 26 Feral cars threaten birds …