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Community Composition Of Dry Prairie In Iowa And Southeast Nebraska, Thomas R. Rosburg

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Results from quantitative research on the community composition of dry prairies across Iowa were consolidated from three different studies completed since 1983. Information is provided on the distribution and abundance of 204 dry prairie species. The most abundant species included little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torrey), prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis (Gray) Gray) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Multivariate analyses were completed using two independent measures of species abundance-relative cover and community constancy. When relative cover was used to determine community composition, the abundance of graminoids (tallgrasses vs. mid-grasses) …

Ontogenetic Habitat Shifts Of Juvenile Bear Lake Sculpin, J. Ruzycki, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Bear lake sculpin Cottus extensus exhibit ontogenetic habitat shifts during their initial year of life. Distribution and habitat switching was measured with bimonthly bottom-trawl surveys repeated throughout the summer. Patterns of daily growth increments on otoliths were used to measure the history of habitat residence, individual size at the time of the habitat switch, and habitat-specific growth rates. Laboratory experiments and known-age fish confirmed daily increment formation of otoliths. After dispersing during an initial pelagic larval stage, postlarval juveniles settled in both the warm, food-rich littoral zone and the cold, unproductive profundal zone. During summer, initial profundal-zone inhabitants underwent a …

Inventory Of The Central Mixed-Grass Prairie Ecoregion Of Kansas And Nebraska, Hillary Loring, Mike Bullerman, Kelly Kindscher

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

An inventory of potential high quality mixed-grass prairie ranches and large properties within the Central Mixed-Grass Prairie Ecoregion of Kansas and Nebraska was conducted in the spring and summer of 1999. Emphasis during the inventory was placed on identification of relatively intact landscapes. Significant ranches within those untilled landscapes were visited. An interview of the owners or managers of those properties was coupled with a survey of the vegetation. Assessments of quality were based on species composition, continuity of ground cover, observations of livestock impact, and viability of the community types present.

The objectives of this study were to:

1) …

Nightly And Seasonal Movements Of Boiga Irregularis On Guam, Mark Tobin, Robert Sugihara, Patricia Pochop, Michael Linnell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis, BTS), inadvertently introduced to the island of Guam shortly after World War II, have had catastrophic effects on the native fauna of this U.S. territory. We used radio-telemetry to monitor daytime refugia and nightly movements of 60 BTS (30 during each of two seasonal periods) to determine the extent of nightly, weekly, and monthly movements. Eighty-three percent of subadult daytime sightings were in trees, compared to only 49% of adult daytime sightings. Most measures of movement did not vary with seasonal period, sex, or age class. BTS moved an average of 64 m …

Methods In Historical Ecology: A Case Study Of Tintic Valley, Utah, Jeffrey A. Creque, Neil E. West, James P. Dobrowolski

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Through use of repeat photography, archival research, and field observation to reconstruct landscape vegetation patterns and changes across a 120 year period in the upper Tintic Valley of central Utah, researchers found significant changes in landscape vegetation pattern over time, including change in pinyon-juniper woodland area. Previously reported massive woodland harvest associated with early mining, domestic and agricultural activities elsewhere in the Intermountain West also took place in Utah. The impact on woodland area of the agricultural "bull" fence alone was significant. More recent study area woodland expansion also occurred. Because intensive industrial activity associated with development of the Tintic …

The Effects Of Urbanization And Human Disturbance Upon Plant Community Structure And Bird Species Richness, Diversity, And Abundance In A Natural Forested Area (Forest Park) In Portland, Oregon, Nancy Ellen Broshot

Dissertations and Theses

The effects of urbanization and continual human disturbance on the plant and avian communities of Forest Park and forested lands surrounding Portland, Oregon, were studied. I examined characteristics of plant and avian communities at 25 sites, 24 which were in Forest Park and surrounding areas and one which was in the Ancient Forest Preserve (old-growth stand) northwest of Forest Park. Data were analyzed using multiple regression, ANOV A, and Bonferonni/Dunn. Seven variables were selected representing different urbanization gradients. An additional covariable coded for the old-growth stand, allowing it to be used as a control.

Many tree variables, especially those related …

Management Of The Houtman Abrolhos System., Kim Nardi, Abrolhos Islands Management Advisory Committee

Fisheries Management Papers

The Abrolhos System is the Houtman Abrolhos Islands and adjoing State Territorial Waters. It is an important part of the Western Australian environment. Has major significance in conservation of flora and fauna and also in geological terms. The waters adjoining State Territorial Waters contain some of the most highly valued marine systems in the State. These include sites of historical shipwrecks in Australia. The are of great interest to visitors and support a relatively small but growing recreation and tourism industy.

The area is integral to the Western rock lobster fishery, which is that State's premier primary industries. The Abrolhos …

Earth News, Fall 1998, Department Of Earth Science, University Of Northern Iowa.

Earth News

Inside this issue:

--- Faculty Achievements and Activities
--- 1998 Earth Science Graduates
--- Student Research Presentations
--- Sigma Gamma Epsilon - Gamma Sigma Chapter
--- Earth Science Majors
--- Observatory: Room with a Stellar View
--- Gifts to the Department of Earth Science
--- 1998 Scholarship and Award Recipients
--- Earth Science Seminar Series
--- UNI Students Get Up Close and Personal with Nature
--- Earth Science Alumni Notes

Directory Of Water Related Courses Offered At Colleges And Universities In Arkansas As Of November 1998, Kenneth F. Steele

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

This publication lists the water and water-related courses at several universities and colleges in Arkansas as reported during the Fall of 1 998. It is anticipated that users of this directory will extend beyond college students, and will include professionals seeking continuing education, and professors desiring to exchange Information on courses. This directory is not an "absolute" source of water and water-related courses because all of the higher learning Institutions In Arkansas are not listed, and, secondly, because the definition of "water and water-related" varies from institution to institution. None-the-less this directory provides a very valuable and impressive reference on …

Epa Superfund Record Of Decision: Murray Smelter Murray City, Ut, Epa

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

The Murray Smelter Site ("the Site") is located in the city of Murray, Utah, in Salt Lake County as illustrated on Figure 1. The Site includes the former operational areas of the Murray Smelter and adjacent Germania Smelter which are referred to as the "on-facility" area., as well as surrounding residential and commercial areas where airborne emissions from the smelters impacted the environment or where contamination in shallow ground water may be transported in the future. These surrounding areas are referred to as the "off-facility" area. The on-facility area is approximately 142 acres. Its boundaries are 5300 South Street to …

Trophic Diversity Of A Mesopelagic Fish Community., Tracey Sutton, Thomas L. Hopkins, Thomas M. Lancraft

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

To understand the character of prey partitioning in a low latitude oligotrophic region, a composite picture of the trophic structure of a mesopelagic fish community was made from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Two hundred and twenty three species were collected in the area of which I61 species were abundant enough for analyses. Fifteen major categories of prey biomass are identified for diet analyses: viz. copepods, ostracods, amphipods, euphausiids, decapods, larvaceans, salps, coelenterates (primarily siphonophores), unidentified gelatinous prey, polychaetes, gastropods, cephalopods, chaetognaths, fish, other food. Prey partitioning is minimal across major prey categories as the vast majority of mesopelagic fishes …

Environmental Science Curriculum For Eleventh Through Twelfth Grade Classes, Jenelle Sue Bryan

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Measuring & Monitering Plant Populations, Caryl L. Elzinga, Daniel W. Salzer, John W. Willoughby

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

This technical reference describes the role of effective monitoring and provides a step-by-step overview of the entire monitoring process for single plant species. The challenges of successful monitoring involve efficient and specific design and a commitment to implementation of the monitoring project, from data collection to reporting and using results. The material in this reference is presented in a logical progression from planning and objective setting, designing the methodology, and taking the measurements in the field to analyzing and presenting the data and making the necessary management responses. However, many of the steps occur simultaneously or provide feedback for the …

A Literature Review And Survey Of The Status Of Iowa's Terrestrial Flora, Deborah Q. Lewis

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

A survey of Iowa's floristic literature and herbarium resources indicates that while there is not uniform coverage of plant groups and regions, a great deal is known about the Iowa flora. Taxonomic and floristic studies are ongoing, despite evidence of a decreased number of researchers with expertise and interest in Iowa's flora and changing emphases in academic research. Current knowledge is sufficient for the production of an Iowa Flora, and an Iowa Flora committee to initiate this project is proposed.

Comparison Of Recent Coral Life And Death Assemblages To Pleistocene Reef Communities: Implications For Rapid Faunal Replacement On Recent Reefs, Benjamin J. Greenstein, Lora A. Harris, H. Allen Curran

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Marine ecologists and paleoecologists are increasingly recognizing that the Pleistocene and Holocene fossil record of coral reefs is the exclusive database from which an assessment of the long-term responses of reef communities to environmental perturbations may be obtained. The apparent persistence of coral communities in the face of intense fluctuations in sea level and sea surface temperature during glacial and interglacial stages of Pleistocene time is in marked contrast to dramatic fluctuations in reef community structure documented by short-term monitoring studies. We compared the taxonomic structure of live and dead coral communities on a modem patch reef currently undergoing a …

Carrion Beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) Of Northeastern Iowa: A Comparison Of Baits For Sampling, David R. Coyle, Kirk J. Larsen

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) were inventoried over a 8-week period from June into August of 1996 at 10 sites in 4 counties of extreme northeastern Iowa. Carrion preference and relative abundance of carrion beetles were studied by use of non-lethal pitfall traps constructed from large plastic plant pots and baited with aged fish, beef liver, chicken, or piglets. A total of 3,183 carrion beetles were collected, representing 11 different species. The most commonly encountered species of carrion beetles in northeastern Iowa included Necrophila americana (71.5%) and Oiceoptoma novaboracense (18.5%). When comparing baits, chicken and fish attracted the greatest number of …

Mammals Of Iowa: Holocene To The End Of The 20th Century, John B. Bowles, Daryl L. Howell, Richard P. Lampe, Howard P. Whidden

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

This review of Iowa's mammal fauna at the close of the 20th century summarizes changes in distributional patterns following Euroamerican settlement in the early 1800s. Data from historical records, museum specimens, and presettlement late Holocene fossils indicate presence of 69 resident mammals at that time. Hunting pressures and the conversion of prairie and forest to agricultural fields reduced the populations and ranges of many state mammals, and 14 species were extirpated by 1900. An additional 15 species are either uncommon or rare today, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources lists four species as endangered, three as threatened and one …

Adding Nutrients To Enhance The Growth Of Endangered Sockeye Salmon: Trophic Transfer In An Oligotrophic Lake, Phaedra E. Budy, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, listed under U.S. law as endangered in 1991 in response to a decline in anadromous adult numbers, spend their first 1–2 years in Redfish Lake, Idaho, before migrating to the sea. To determine how nutrient enhancement might influence phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish production, we performed fertilization experiments in large enclosures in this oligotrophic lake using juvenile kokanee (lacustrine O. nerka) as analogues for endangered sockeye salmon. Fertilization of the metalimnion substantially increased chlorophyll a (150%), phytoplankton biovolume (75%), primary productivity (250%), and zooplankton biomass (200%), and moderately increased fish growth (12%) over our control …

The Distribution And Long-Term Change In Banksia Ilicifolia Communities On The Gnangara Mound, Ryan Gurner

Theses : Honours

The Gnangara Mound is a large shallow groundwater aquifer which occurs in the superficial formations bounded by the Swan River, Ellenbrook, Gingin Brook, Moore River and the Indian Ocean on the northern Swan Coastal Plain. To protect terrestrial vegetation on the Gnangara Mound. groundwater levels must be maintained to allow plants access to water which is required for their survival. In areas with a shallow depth to groundwater, studies have shown that groundwater drawdown (reduction of the water table by any processes or factors) has a high potential to impact on the vegetation (Havel. 1968: Aplin. 1976: Heddle. 1980a: Dodd …

1998 Platte River Basin Ecosystem Symposium Proceedings

Water Current Newsletter

No abstract provided.

A Framework For Understanding Social Science Contributions To Ecosystem Management, Joanna Endter-Wada, Dale Blahna, Richard Krannich, Mark W. Brunson

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

We propose a framework for understanding the role that the social sciences should play in ecosystem management. Most of the ecosystem management literature assumes that scientific understanding of ecosystems is solely the purview of natural scientists. While the evolving principles of ecosystem management recognize that people play an important role, social considerations are usually limited to political and decision-making processes and to development of environmental education. This view is incomplete. The social science aspect of ecosystem management has two distinct components: one that concerns greater public involvement in the ecosystem management decision-making process, and one that concerns integrating social considerations …

Reefs As Contributors To The Diversity Of Epiphytic Algal Communities In Seagrass Meadows, B. R. Van Elvan

Theses : Honours

It has recently become dogma that reef systems arc a source of diversity to algal epiphyte communities in adjacent seagrass meadows. While this theory had not been tested, it was often cited as the reason for unexpected results in algal studies and marine pollution monitoring. This study examined whether reefs do in fact contribute to the diversity of seagrass epiphytes by testing the effect of distance from reef on seagrass epiphyte communities. The study was conducted in the vicinity of Carnac and Garden Islands and Parmelia Bank, off the coast of Fremantle, Western Australia. Three habitat types were selected as …

The Birds And Habitat Of Kings Park, Bradley W. Cox

Theses : Honours

Kings Park is a large urban park in the centre of Perth with extensive areas of semi-natural bushland. The park is an important refuge for birds in the metropolitan area but is losing species through habitat disturbance. Understanding the way in which birds are related to their habitat helps to understand the effect of habitat disturbance on the bird community. The aim of this project was to generate guidelines which will aid in the management and conservation of birds in the park, through an understanding of the relationship of the birds to their habitat. The avifauna and various habitat factors …

Attempted Relocation Of A Ring-Billed Gull Roost At Washington National Airport, Jessica Dewey, Martin Lowney

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Gulls, particularly ring-billed gulls [Larus delawarensis], have been identified as a threat to aircraft operations at Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan National Airport) in northern Virginia. Through bird surveys conducted in 1992, 1993, and 1997, an estimated 7,000 gulls were observed roosting during winter on the Potomac River near the airport. A harassment program was run on 5 consecutive evenings, 24-28 February 1997, to relocate the roosting gulls. Six to 8 people shot pyrotechnics from shore and 2 boats for 2 hours prior to dusk each evening. Each evening the gulls arrived consistently later than the prior …

Bird Abundance At Accomack County Southern Landfill, Melfa, Virginia, In Relation To Various Management Activities, Laura Francoeur, Martin Lowney

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Birds, especially gulls (Larus spp.), are attracted to landfills, and when landfills are close to airports, birds can pose a threat to aircraft safety. We conducted a 1-year ecological study to address concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Accomack County, Virginia, officials over potential wildlife hazards caused by the Accomack County Southern Landfill. During 48 surveys conducted from December 1995 to December 1996, we observed 112,693 birds at the landfill (x̄=503). Nine species represented 97% of all observations. Bird numbers varied during the year, increasing during winter and declining during summer. Bird abundance appeared unaffected by …

Abalone Aquaculture In Western Australia. Discussion Paper And Draft Policy Guidelines., Cameron Westaway, Jeff Norriss

Fisheries Management Papers

The purposes of this discussion paper is to highlight relevant issues associated with abalone aquaculture development and outline a set of draft policy guidelines. The paper is being disseminated to members of the aquaculture industry, commercial and recreational fishing bodies and the broader community to allow comment.

Attempted Relocation Of A Ring-Billed Gull Roost At Washington National Report, Jessica Dewey, Martin Lowney

Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference: 8th (1997)

Gulls, particularly ring-billed gulls [Larus delawarensis ], have been identified as a threat to aircraft operations at Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan National Airport) in northern Virginia. Through bird surveys conducted in 1992, 1993, and 1997, an estimated 7,000 gulls were observed roosting during winter on the Potomac River near the airport. A harassment program was run on 5 consecutive evenings, 24-28 February 1997, to relocate the roosting gulls. Six to 8 people shot pyrotechnics from shore and 2 boats for 2 hours prior to dusk each evening. Each evening the gulls arrived consistently later than the prior …

Bird Abundance At Accomack County Southern Landfill, Melfa, Virginia, In Relation To Various Management Activities, Laura Francoeur, Martin Lowney

Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference: 8th (1997)

Birds, especially gulls (Larus spp.), are attracted to landfills, and when landfills are close to airports, birds can pose a threat to aircraft safety. We conducted a 1-year ecological study to address concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Accomack County, Virginia, officials over potential wildlife hazards caused by the Accomack County Southern Landfill. During 48 surveys conducted from December 1995 to December 1996, we observed 112,693 birds at the landfill ( x =503). Nine species represented 97% of all observations. Bird numbers varied during the year, increasing during winter and declining during summer. Bird abundance appeared unaffected …

An Evaluation Of Plant Community Structure, Fish And Benthic Meio- And Macrofauna As Success Criteria For Reclaimed Wetlands, Thomas Crisman, William J. Streever, John H. Kiefer, David L. Evans

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

As a result of legislative action in 1975 (Florida Administrative Code Section 16C-16, 16C-17), landscape reclamation is required on all lands mined for phosphate in the State of Florida. Between 1975 and 1991, for example, approximately 40,000 ha of land in Florida were strip mined for phosphate and thus subject to provisions of this legislation. In excess of 2,700 ha of mitigation wetlands have been constructed as part of the land reclamation effort, but the degree to which these systems mimic both the structural and functional properties of natural wetlands is poorly known.

There has been a great diversity in …

The Probe, Issue 175 – April 1997

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

Building a BASH Program* ("BASH stands for Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard), by Eugene LeBoeuf, Bird Strike Scientist, HQ Air Force Safety Center, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and President, NADCA
Video Review: Pocker Gopher Trapping by Ken Carver

More Abstracts Published at the 3rd Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society
Social and economic assessment of black bear damage in coastal North Carolina, by Robert C. Maddrey and M.R. Pelton
Options for wildlife contraception in California, by Terry M. Mansfield
Cooperative beaver management in the Riding Mountain National Park region, by Constance E.L. Menzies, Richard K Baydack, and Jack E. DuBois
Wildlife …