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The Prairie Naturalist Volume 28, No. 1. March 1996

The Prairie Naturalist

SUMMER AVIAN ABUNDANCE, INVERTEBRATE BIOMASS, AND FORBS IN KANSAS CRP ▪ S. D. Hull, R.J. Robel, and K. E. Kemp

SUPPRESSION OF SMOOTH BROME BY ATRAZINE, MOWING, AND FIRE ▪ G. D. Willson, and J. Stubbendieck

NOTES

Continued Westward Dispersal of the Woodchuck in Kansas ▪ G. M. Wilson and J. R. Choate

Intraspecific Aggression Between GadwalIs Results in Mortality ▪ D. E. Naugle, K. F. Higgins and M. S. Wilsdon

Western Meadowlark Impaled on Barbed-wire Fence ▪ L. D. Igl

Cyperaceae in Dodge County Nebraska: New Records ▪ S. J. Rothenberger

BOOK REVIEWS

Native Habitats of the Twin Cities …

A Comparison Of Gross Pathology, Histopathology, And Mycobacterial Culture For The Diagnosis Of Tuberculosis In Elk(Cervus Elaphus), Elizabeth B. Rohonczy, Arumuga V. Balachandran, Thomas W. Dukes, Janet B. Payeur, Jack C. Rhyan, Dennis A. Saari, Terry L. Whiting, Susan H. Wilson, Jerald L. Jarnagin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Using the isolation of Mycobacterium bovis as the reference standard, this study evaluated the sensitivity, specificity and kappa statistic of gross pathology (abattoir postmortem inspection), histopathology, and parallel or series combinations of the two for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in 430 elk and red deer. Two histopathology interpretations were evaluated: histopathology I, where the presence of lesions compatible with tuberculosis was considered positive, and histopathology II, where lesions compatible with tuberculosis or a select group of additional possible diagnoses were considered positive. In the 73 animals from which M. bovis was isolated, gross lesions of tuberculosis were most often in …

A Trust For Whom?: Managing Colorado's 3 Million Acres Of State Land, John M. Evans, Reeves Brown, Mark A. E. Burget, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

A Trust for Whom?: Managing Colorado's 3 Million Acres of State Land: A Critique of the Constitutional Amendment (February 5)

14 pages.

Includes biographical information for John M. Evans, Reeves Brown, and Mark A. E. Burget.

State Land Board Commissioner Maxine Stewart was also a speaker for this program, but did not submit any written materials.

Contents:

A trust for whom? managing Colorado's 3 million acres of state land : a critique of the constitutional amendment / prepared by John Evans -- A cattlemen's [sic] perspective of state land management / presented by Reeves Brown -- Remarks outline / Mark A. E. Burget

Program was presented on Monday, February 5, 1996 at the offices of Holland & Hart in Denver, …

Global Climate Change Response Program, Water Yield In Semiarid Environment Under Projected Climate Change, United States Department Of The Interior

Water

This paper presents the practical application of a distributed parameter climate vegetation hydrologic model (CVHM) and its ability to simulate hydrologic response under existing conditions and under assumed CO₂-induced climate and vegetation change. Applying the model to the Weber River basin provided a basis for determining the impacts of climate change on the hydrologic response. By using a "what if" scenario this model included the changes in plant transpiration rates and in vegetation cover under a CO₂-altered climate change and the effects of these changes on water yield.

Water Current, Volume 28, No. 1, February 1996

Water Current Newsletter

Teachers Downlink Water Lessons
From the Director: Missouri, Platte Rivers Focus of Spring Events
Two Best Management Practices May Be More Practical and Effective Than a Current Label Requirement
Zhang Stretches Potential of Tiny Organisms
Nebraska Water News
Kamble Receives National Award
Conference Flier Mailed to Readers
Program Pays to Enroll Pivot Corners for Habitat
Pesticides Plentiful in Gardening, Lawn Care
Nebraska Field Days Influence Participants
WEF Announces Speciality Conference
Research, Teaching Intersect as Student Design Sampler

Geologic History Of Ash Hollow State Historical Park, Nebraska, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Roger K. Pabian, J. R. Thomasson

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Contents:

Introduction
Acknowledgments
Cautions
General Stratigraphy
Oligocene Series-White River Group-Brule Formation-Whitney Member
Miocene Series-Ogallala Group-Ash Hollow Formation
Pliocene Series-Broadwater Formation
Quaternary deposits
Older colluvium and loess
Younger colluvium and alluvium
General Paleontology
Evidence of past life: fossils and subfossils
Collecting fossils
Vertebrate fossils
Fossils from the Whitney Member of the Brule Formation
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Fossils from the Ash Hollow Formation
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Fossils from the Broadwater Formation
Plants
Vertebrates
Quaternary fossils
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Additional studies of Nebraska fossils
Geologic History
Prehistory and History
References
Appendices I-IV

Environmental Air Pollution Analysis In Selected Areas Of Abu Dhabi Emirate, Mahfoodh Abdulla Mohammed Darbool

Theses

There are little data available for environmental pollution, as well as air pollution and statistical information published in the United Arab Emirates. Especially, Abu Dhabi Emirate, has been the location of the UAE's most persistent and extreme levels of industrial oil waste and chemical smog and air pollutants which produces sulphur dioxide emission. In addition, has a high vehicle population, which produces carbon monoxide emission from the motor vehicle exhaust. The acute toxicity of carbon monoxide (CO) has long been recognized and well documented. The motor vehicle is by far the largest contributor to Co accounting for 55% of total …

The Effects Of Chromated Copper-Arsenate (Cca) Pressure-Treated Wood On Local Sediments And Benthos In A Freshwater Lake, William A. Romeo

Theses

This study looked at the sediment and benthic organism effects of exposure to a Chromated Copper-Arsenate (CCA) treated wood bulkhead in a lake environment with respect to 1) the leaching and accumulation of chromium, copper and arsenic in the nearby sediments, 2) accumulation of these metals in local benthic organisms and 3) the effects of these metals on the local benthic community structure. Sediment samples, taken at regular distances away from a CCA bulkhead and three reference areas in a freshwater lake in Wayne, NJ, were sieved to remove the fine particle fraction (<70µm) which was then analyzed for the metals of concern. Benthic organisms were sampled at the same locations, enumerated, identified, dried and also analyzed for the metals in question. Analysis of sediment metal concentrations revealed high levels of copper at all sampling locations. This was attributed to the annual addition and accumulation Of CuS0₄ added to the lake. There …

Dioxin: Reassessing The Risk, Linda-Jo Schierow

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Schierow briefly summarizes the status of a draft Environmental Protection Agency report reassessing the appropriate treatment of dioxin and describes ongoing intra- and extramural reviews of the reassessment.

Predicting Future Sources Of Mass Toxic Tort Litigation, Jeffrey A. Foran, Bernard D. Goldstein, John A. Moore, Paul Slovic

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors describe the efforts of an expert working group to identify potential sources, over the next five to ten years, of future mass litigation and report on the group's consensus conclusions.

Why Do We Worry About Trace Poisons?, Allan Mazur

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Mazur relates how protests by the political left against nuclear tests and by the political right against fluoridation set the stage for Silent Spring to move the public toward being concerned about latent risks.

Evaluating Bighorn Habitat: A Landscape Approach, William C. Dunn

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

This technical note describes a method that incorporates a landscape approach with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIs) to measure habitat and impacts for Rocky Mountain and desert bighorn sheep and to rank potential transplant sites. A landscape approach, in which habitat is viewed from a large-scale perspective as an assemblage of patches, is used because: (1) bighorn habitat is naturally patchy due to the affinity of bighorn for terrain that is both open and mountainous; (2) fragmentation (i.e., increased patchiness) often is the most severe consequence of human disturbance; and (3) the proximity and distribution of neighboring bighorn …

Novel Algorithms For Remote Sensing Of Chlorophyll Content In Higher Plant Leaves, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Mark N. Merzlyak, Yuri Grits

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The general features of reflectance spectra of higher plant leaves are considered with special reference to remote sensing of chlorophyll. Wavelengths with maximum sensitivity to chlorophyll content were found in the wide spectral range from 550 to 630 nm and near 700 nm. The wavelength of the red edge position of the reflectance spectrum correlated very closely with the reflectance at 550 and 700 nm. The ratios of reflectances in the near infra-red range of the spectrum (above 750 nm) to that at 700 nm R_NIR/R₇₀₀ and R_NIR/R₅₅₀ were directly proportional to the leaves' …

Forest Resources Of Northern Utah Ecoregions, Renee A. O'Brien

Elusive Documents

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting Interannual Movements Of Snowy Plovers, Peter W. C. Paton, Thomas C. Edwards Jr.

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

We studied the interannual movements of 361 individually color-banded adult Snowy Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) at Great Salt Lake, Utah from 1990 to 1993. In northern Utah, Snowy Plovers nested in a dynamic environment; suitable breeding habitat declined by 50% at two study areas in four years. Male Snowy Plovers were more site faithful than females; 40% of males exhibited fidelity compared with 26% of females (P < 0.01). However, as the amount of available suitable nesting habitat declined, male site fidelity diminished, whereas female fidelity remained relatively constant. We found strong evidence that female site fidelity was affected by nesting success in the previous year. Females that nested unsuccessfully were less likely than successful females to exhibit site fidelity the following year; males did not exhibit this nest-success bias. In addition, unsuccessful females breeding at sites with high densities of nests tended to disperse the following year, whereas male site fidelity did not appear to be affected by either a study site's overall nesting success the previous year or a study site's nest density the previous year. Female avoidance of areas with high densities of nests may be an antipredator strategy. Snowy Plovers in northern Utah have biparental incubation duties, but only males care for broods. Familiarity with brood-rearing areas was one plausible explanation for male-biased fidelity. However, we could not eliminate an alternative hypothesis that both focal study sites represented scarce breeding areas due to the presence of freshwater, and male Snowy Plovers preferred to use the same areas rather than disperse. We propose that more landscape-level studies are needed to address questions concerning local and regional movement patterns.

Conservation Biology & U.S. Forest Service Views Of Ecosystem Management And What They Imply About Policies Needed To Achieve Sustainability Of Biodiversity, David W. Crumpacker, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

53 p. ; 28 cm

Issues Raised By Economic Definitions Of Sustainability, Richard W. Wahl, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

19 p. ; 28 cm

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 36, Winter Issue, Jan. 1996, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Restoring The West's Waters: Opportunities For The Bureau Of Reclamation, Volume I: Section One: Summary Of Findings, Section Two: Case Studies, Lawrence J. Macdonnell, Teresa A. Rice, Judith Jacobsen, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

2 v. : ill. ; 28 cm

V. 1. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: Introduction -- Summary of Phase One findings -- Summary of Phase Two findings -- Selected illustrations from area studies -- Overview of changes under way -- Conclusion -- CASE STUDIES: Rapid Valley Unit, and Project, Rapid Creek, South Dakota / Daniel Reimer -- Nelson Reservoir, Milk River Project, Montana / Roberta Hoy -- Canyon Ferry Dam, Missouri River, Montana / Daniel Reimer -- Hungry Horse Dam, South Fork Flathead River, Montana / Robert Hoy -- Glendo Dam, North Platte River, Wyoming / Beth Doherty -- Seminoe Dam to …

People As Part Of Ecosystems, William E. Riebsame, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

30 p. : ill. ; 28 cm

The Cumulative Impacts Of Management Decisions On Nitrogen Loading To The Rhode Island Salt Ponds, Laura M. Ernst

Marine Affairs Theses and Major Papers

Calculations and measurements of nitrogen in groundwater, stream flow and atmospheric deposition were used to see if the cumulative impacts of management decisions over a fifteen year period of time resulted in measurable changes in nitrogen loading to six of the salt ponds on the south shore of Rhode Island. The changes in the source and transmission of nitrogen were tested by comparing calculated and measured nitrogen data from 1980 and 1995. The calculated method included a nitrogen budget based on land-use and literature values for nitrogen loss to groundwater. The second method compared concentrations of nitrogen in groundwater taken …

A Partnership For Coral Reef Protection: A Case Study Of The International Coral Reef Initiative, Karla M. Boreri

Marine Affairs Theses and Major Papers

Coral reef are considered the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems on earth. They are a world-wide symbol of the economic and ecological importance of all types of coastal environments. The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) was developed in 1994 to increase the awareness of the human and anthropogenic threats facing reefs. Initially a U.S.-focused initiative, ICRI now includes over 70 like-minded governments and a growing list of UN organizations, science and academic organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector as its partners. This qualitative case study was developed based on actual participation in the initiative and hundreds of pages of …

The Influence Of Sea Power Upon Oceanography: A Historical And Policy Analysis Of Governmental Support For Marine Science, Daniel Stuart Schwartz

Marine Affairs Theses and Major Papers

In a time of austere funding for national ocean science R & D programs and Congressional balanced budget constraints, marine science investigators and program managers must increasingly ponder how committed to the support of oceanography our government will continue to be. The questions might better be phrased as how, in the absence of a credible open-ocean naval threat (the traditional focus of both basic and applied research), will policy makers justify the expenditure of scarce public revenues on marine science programs? Sea Power-as broadly defined in the works of Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sergei Gorshkov-has driven, and will continue to …

Protection Of Marine Fish Habitat: Towards An Integrated Approach To Management, Andrea L. Oliver

Marine Affairs Theses and Major Papers

This paper focuses on the problems associated with marine fish habitat protection and conservation at the federal level in the United States. The intent of the study is to provide a general overview of the issues, impacts, management problems and potential solutions. Federal statutory legislation that impacts marine fish habitat and agency authority derived from those legislative mandates are examined with a view toward promoting integrated management for marine biodiversity and overall ecosystem health. The concepts of coordinated and integrated approaches to management are discussed in the context of the present management regimes. Given the fragmented authority over the policy …

More Than Trees: An Interdisciplinary, Literature-Based Unit, Emphasizing Drama And Hands-On Activities, Tracee Joanne Vickery

Theses Digitization Project

This guide was developed to provide a hands-on, interdisciplinary curriculum, based on children's literature for grades four through six. It is a resource for teachers incorporating environmental education into their regular curriculum, revolving around a common theme, trees.

The Development Of An Ecological Teaching Perspective: A Teacher Education Program, Caroline Conway Kolbert

Theses Digitization Project

This project describes a four-year teacher education program conducted at the Living Desert, a botanical and wildlife park located in Palm Desert, California. The program brought 12 classroom teachers and 3 zoological educators together to expand their understanding and practice of environmental education. This project concentrates on how the program affected my educational philosophy, strategy and practice as an educator at The Living Desert, and how it shifted the focus of our department's docent (volunteer guide) education in general.

Amazopoly A Game Of Survival In A Tropical Rain Forest, Michael William Morris

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Incorporating Environmental Education Into The Curriculum Through The Use Of Children's Literature, Tina Marie Prosch

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Environmental Development In The Game Parks Of Kenya, Carolyn G. Ginter

Theses Digitization Project

Kenya has one of the oldest and most developed national park and reserve systems among developing nations in Africa. Kenya's ecosystems have felt the impact of tourists, from big game hunters to photographic safaris, for over a century. This project contains the research on which the author intends to base a future book about Kenyan ecoturism for the general public.

Land Use Patterns In Relation To Lake Water Quality In The North Pond Watershed, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: East and North Ponds (2011, 1999, 1996, 1991)

Human activity within the watershed can greatly accelerate the eutrophication process by increasing the rate at which nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen enter the lake (Fernandez et al. 1992). Increased nutrient loading causes dramatic increases in algal populations resulting in algal blooms. Many New England lakes develop a greenish tint because of algal blooms during early summer or early fall. Populations of bacteria which feed on organic material rise because of increased food supply. Bacterial activity decreases the level of dissolved oxygen in the lake (Henderson-Seller and Markland, 1987). A sharp decrease in dissolved oxygen levels can cause massive …