Digital Commons Network^™

Range Expansion By Moose Into Coastal Temperate Rainforests Of British Columbia, Canada, C. T. Darimont, P. C. Paquet, T. E. Reimchen, V. Crichton

Biogeography and Ecological Opportunity Collection

Ranges of species are dynamic and respond to long-term climate change and contemporary effects such as habitat modification. We report here that moose (Alces alces) have recently colonized coastal temperate rainforests of British Columbia, Canada. Contrary to recent publications, field observations of moose and their sign, combined with their occurrence in wolf (Canis lupus) faeces, suggest that moose are now widespread on the coastal mainland and occur on least three islands. Traditional ecological knowledge (information accumulated by aboriginal peoples about their environment) suggests that colonization occurred during the mid 1900s, concomitant with logging of major watersheds that bisect the Coast …

The Effect Of Scaling-Up On Remotely Derived Leaf Area Index Estimators In The Brazilian Amazon, John I. Menzies

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research compared a traditional statistical technique with artificial neural networks to determine their effectiveness for modeling LAI in the Santarem region of the Brazilian Amazon. In addition, different satellite sensors in the form of ETM+, ASTER, MO DIS, and IKONOS were used to assess if spatial and spectral resolutions play a role in the ability to estimate LAI. This study focused on the following: (1) Determining if neural networks perform more accurately than multiple regression for LAI modeling (2) the effectiveness of different resolution satellite data including ETM+, ASTER, MODIS, and IKONOS for LAI estimation; (3) determining if spatial …

Streamlining The National Environmental Policy Act Reporting Requirements: A Hard Look At The Healthy Forests Initiative, Jeffrey Alan Geller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has implemented the Healthy Forests Initiative (HFI) (2002), which streamlines the NEPA process for proposed forest fuel reduction projects. A key question is whether the USFS’s streamlined NEPA process produces an adequate environmental document and fulfills regulatory requirements. This thesis evaluates whether the streamlined approach practiced by the USFS under the HFI satisfies the NEPA requirements. A review of four streamlined documents assesses whether these requirements are met. The following NEPA requirements in particular are explored for each project to determine whether the NEPA requirements are met: consideration of a reasonable range of alternatives to …

Feral Cats: An Overview, Margaret R. Slater, Stephanie Shain

State of the Animals 2005

Humans and cats have a long and complex history together. Since the nineteenth century, contradictory ideas about the need to protect and care for cats have moved us toward a shift in ideas, values, and behaviors to a more benign perception of cats than was generally the case in previous centuries. In some quarters, but not all, even feral cats have begun to be seen as worthy of our study and humane treatment. In many countries, the welfare of all cats has become a focus of public concern, but nowhere is the shift in values reflected more than in the …

Facts From A Year Of Drought: Forage Competition Between Livestock And The Mongolian Pika (Ochotona Pallasi) And Its Effects On Livestock Densities And Body Condition, Vroni Retzer

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Burrowing small mammals in grasslands have long been regarded as pests because they compete for forage with livestock and reduce the forage availability for livestock by destroying pastures through their intensive digging activity.

In order to investigate forage competition between the Mongolian Pika (Ochotona pallasi) and livestock an exclosure experiment consisting of four different treatments was set up. The treatments were: 1) accessible only for pikas, (only pika) 2) accessible only for livestock, (only livestock) 3) accessible for both herbivore groups (pika & livestock) and 4) no grazing (no grazing). During the investigation period all requirements for forage …

Preface, Georg Miehe, Ravčigijn Samjaa, Karsten Wesche

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Preface to Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei, band 9, 2005.

First paragraph:

The present volume 9 of ”Biologische Ressourcen der Mongolei” continues the cooperation between the National University of Mongolia, Ulaan Baatar, and German academic institutions, mainly led by the University of Halle-Wittenberg. Thus, the volume stands in a tradition stretching now over 40 years (described in the respective chapter written by Stubbe et al.), but also raises new issues and topics. The chapters provided by Ts. Jamsran, W. Hilbig, E. Jäger, M. Stubbe und A. Stubbe demonstrate nicely that this cooperation is not only based on continued institutional …

Foraging Behaviors Of Alouatta Palliata, Mantled Howling Monkeys, Jeffrey A. Baum

Nebraska Anthropologist

Research was conducted at the EI Zota biological field station to determine the amount and type of food processing exhibited by mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata) prior to consumption. Mantled howling monkeys have been labeled as behavioral folivores with limited morphological adaptations for foliage digestion. The purpose of this study was to determine if A. palliata displayed any food manipulations and how food was selected by the species. Breakdown of the data was done to evaluate differences based on sex for these feeding and foraging behaviors. Results showed no behaviors that could be classified as manipulating food items …

Using Brownfield Redevelopment To Mitigate Technological Hazards In Shreveport, Louisiana, David Farritor

LSU Master's Theses

Brownfields are "abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination" (USEPA 2003a). This thesis focuses on the practices of public and private institutions to redevelop brownfields in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a means of mitigating potential technological hazards. The theoretical concept framing this analysis is hazards-of-place, a model of vulnerability that proposes interactions among physical vulnerability, social vulnerability, and mitigation efforts. In this model, vulnerability is a process that involves not only the likelihood of a hazardous incident but also the processes of hazard creation and mitigation that occur …

Deer-Vehicle Collisions In Arkansas, Philip A. Tappe

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Plains Harvest Mouse In North Dakota, Robert W. Seabloom, Terry L. Shaffer

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The plains harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys montanus) is primarily a species of the central and southern plains of North America (Hall 1981, Wilkins 1986). Its published distribution extends from northwestern South Dakota south to the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango. To the west, it occurs in eastern Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and southeastern Arizona, while its eastern limits are in eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and southwestern Missouri. In South Dakota, R. montanus has been reported as far north as the vicinity of Ludlow, Harding County, which is the most northerly published location recorded for the species …

Bears Remain Top Summer Predators, Shannon M. Barber, L. David Mech, P. J. White

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

In the ten years since wolves (Canis lupus) were restored to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), elk (Cervus elaphus) numbers have substantially decreased. The northern range elk herd is the largest elk herd in Yellowstone, and constitutes the majority of the park’s elk population. During 1994–2005, early winter counts of northern Yellowstone elk decreased from 19,045 to 9,545. Also, during winters 2000–2004, calf:cow ratios declined from 29:100 to 12:100, and were among the lowest recorded during the past several decades. Though many factors (e.g., predation, hunting, and drought) likely contributed to this decreasing abundance and low recruitment, …

Education About The Environment Discover Mojave Programs, Public Lands Institute

Presentations (PLI Education)

Increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action” (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978)

European Conference, Cynhadledd Ceiliog Y Rhos = 3rd International Black Grouse Conference (Llys Fasi Agricultural College, Ruthin, North Wales: March 20-25, 2005): Conference Review

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Conference Proceedings

The Countryside Council for Wales: The 2005 Black Grouse Conference, Roger Lovegrove

Spatially explicit modelling of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix L.) habitat quality evolution induced by green alder (Alnus alnobetula (Ehrh.) C. Koch) expansion on abandoned meadows in the northern French Alps, Samuel Decout, Philippe Delcros, and Jean-Jacques Brun

Factors affecting black grouse numbers: An overview of the part of predators [Short note], M. Loneux, Karl-Heinz Kolb, J.-C. Ruwet, and P. Poncin

Modelling the influence of climate on black grouse population dynamics in Lüneburger Heide (North Germany), Michèle Loneux, Manfred Lütkepohl, Jann Wübbenhorst, and James K. Lindsey

Modelling …

Public Health Abstracts 2004

Florida Public Health Review

No abstract provided.

Size Matters: A Test Of Boldness In Eight Populations Of The Poeciliid Brachyraphis Episcopi, Culum Brown, Victoria Braithwaite

Sentience Collection

Individual variation in behaviour within populations may be explained in part by demographics and long-term, stable individual psychological differences. We examined the relation between boldness (taken as the time to emerge from a shelter and explore a novel environment) and body size in eight populations of the poeciliid Brachyraphis episcopi originating from sites upstream and downstream of waterfalls in four rivers that run into the Panama Canal. The relation between body size and time to emerge from a shelter was positive, with larger fish taking longer to emerge. This relation differed between downstream and upstream sites, being significant in the …

Brown-Headed Cowbirds In Grasslands: Their Habitats, Hosts, And Response To Management, Jill Shaffer, Christopher Goldade, Meghan Dinkins, Douglas Johnson, Lawrence Igl, Betty Euliss

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is an obligate brood parasite whose numbers have increased in recent decades to the potential detriment of the species that they parasitize. Thus, most management efforts focus on discouraging brown-headed cowbird parasitism or controlling brown-headed cowbird populations. Keys to discouraging cowbird parasitism or controlling populations of brown-headed cowbirds in the Great Plains are maintaining large expanses of grassland, eliminating foraging areas (e.g., feedlots) and perch sites, and reducing the extent of overgrazed pastures.

A Longitudinal Analysis Of Socioeconomic Differences In Obesity And Weight Change During The Early Adult Years, Young-Taek Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in American society. However, not enough attention has been given to weight change by temporal and dynamic detailed social characteristics, controlled for unobserved heterogeneities nested in county and state. Using the National Longitudinal Survey Youth (NLSY79), this study examined weight change and its development into unhealthy conditions like being overweight or obese, in relation to change in social characteristics including life course events. This study also examined the social characteristics of remaining at a normal weight through all time intervals over a 19-year period. Using hierarchical linear multilevel analysis, this study found that changes in …

A Spatial Analysis Of The Impact Of Development On Wetland Habitat In Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Jenna Medlin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In response to growing concerns over wetland habitat loss and the associated impact on water resources, federal and state legislation has been enacted to protect vulnerable wetland habitats from the impacts of humans. In order to examine the efficacy of current coastal resource policy and its implementation, a study was conducted in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a coastal city of the Atlantic, focusing on the quantification of wetland habitat change over time within a specific area of interest. The study incorporated an assessment of the effects of escalating population pressures and subsequent urban development on local wetland habitats due to …

Ten Suggestions To Strengthen The Science Of Ecology, Gary E. Belovsky, Daniel B. Botkin, Todd A. Crowl, Kenneth W. Cummins, Jerry F. Franklin, Malcolm L. Hunter, Anthony Joern, David B. Lindenmayer, James A. Macmahon, Chris R. Margules, J. Michael Scott

Papers in Ecology

There are few well-documented, general ecological principles that can be applied to pressing environmental issues. When they discuss them at all, ecologists often disagree about the relative importance of different aspects of the science’s original and still important issues. It may be that the sum of ecological science is not open to universal statements because of the wide range of organizational, spatial, and temporal phenomena, as well as the sheer number of possible interactions.We believe, however, that the search for general principles has been inadequate to establish the extent to which generalities are possible.We suggest that ecologists may need to …

Introduction To Online Ecological And Environmental Data, Virginia A. Baldwin

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The advent of the Internet and proliferation of materials on it has brought significant and rapid change in scholarly communication. Perhaps more gradually has come the posting of research data for sharing with other researchers in the field. This volume describes several projects that have made environmental and ecological researchers' data freely available online. Librarians from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), from one regional agency based in Oregon, one university, and one research corporation describe aspects of the online data projects developed by their respective institutions. A sixth paper, from a librarian …

The Relationship Between Place Management And Physical Environment In Apartment Crime, Eric Steven Mccord

Theses Digitization Project

The focus of this research is crime in multi-unit rental structures, Specifically, apartment complexes. It seeks to identify management policies and environmental attributes that are associated with lower crime and police calls for service rates.

Prehistoric Marine Mammal Overkill In The Northeastern Pacific: A Review Of New Evidence, Terry L. Jones, William R. Hildebrandt, Douglas J. Kennett, Judith F. Porcasi

Social Sciences

A model of prehistoric marine mammal overexploitation advanced by Hildebrandt and Jones (1992) for the northeastern Pacific has been challenged by Colten (1995) and Colten and Arnold (1998) who argue that diachronic patterns in faunal remains from California’s Channel Islands reflect climatically-induced decline in marine productivity and local socio-cultural developments not over predation. In this paper, we point out that some Channel Islands faunal trends are consistent with overexploitation, while others reflect methodological variation between studies. Newly available paleoenvironmental data raise questions about previous characterizations of late Holocene marine productivity, while new zooarchaeological findings from Monterey Bay, San Miguel and …

Curassows, Guans And Chacalacas: Status Survey And Conservation Action Plan (2000-2004), Stuart D. Strahl, Daniel M. Brooks

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Reports and Other Materials

Executive Summary

Introduction

• Scope, structure, and objectives of the plan
• Rationale for the action plan
• Relevance of the action plan to general biodiversity conservation
• Cracid Specialist Group activities, strategy, and history
• Symposia and workshops
• Cracid Specialist Group publications
• Other activities related to cracid conservation
• Cracid natural history
• Evolution and ecology
• Biogeography, distribution, and habitat association
• The role of cracids in ecosystems
• Cracids as biological indicators of ecosystem health
• Socio-economic importance of cracids
• Sustainable use
• Potential for ecotourism
• Taxonomic definitions used in this action plan
• Threats to cracids
• Hunting pressure
• Habitat destruction
• Lack of knowledge
• Action needed to secure the future …

Guide For A Wildlife Education Program Emphasizing Environmental Concepts, Marylou Felch

Theses Digitization Project

This project is based on a need for creating wildlife education programs that can effectively enable young children to acquire wildlife awareness, wildlife knowledge, and positive attitudes with respect to wildlife and the environment. Additionally, there is a need in the field of environmental education to expand the ideas taught through classroom environmental education to other locations. This project aims to meet these needs by providing a wildlife education program that combines the field of wildlife education with the field of environmental education.

Beyond Ecology: Bugs Reveal The Deep Roots Of Grassland Ecoregions, K. G.A. Hamilton

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Northern grassland faunas that were most affected by glaciation, induced climate shifts include more than 225 endemic phytophagous bugs (leafhoppers and related insects, the Homoptera,Auchenorrhyncha) on Canadian plains, and another 275 in Pacific Northwest intermontane grasslands. These exceptionally rich endemic faunas include many insect,plant associations common to related species of bugs, suggesting adaptation to certain environmental factors that persisted over millions of years despite radical environmental changes induced by glacial advances and retreats. Smaller, but significant, endemic faunas of Homoptera,Auchenorrhyncha in other glaciated areas also reveal patterns of ancient ecological areas. Groups of these grassland,endemic bugs are common to grassland …

Influence Of Matrix Elements On Prairie-Inhabiting Curculionidae, Tenebrionidae, And Scarabaeidae In The Palouse, Timothy D. Hatten, Sandford D. Eigenbrode, Nilsa A. Bosque-Pérez, Sarah Gebbie, Frank Merickel, Chris Looney

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

It is well established that the invertebrate community in cropland under conservation-tillage (consT) is often enriched relative to the community under conventional-tillage (CT) systems. The question posed in this research is whether consT contributes to the maintenance of regional biodiversity and to the conservation of prairie-inhabiting species in agriculturally dominated landscapes that contain prairie remnants. During 2002, we sampled the grounddwelling beetle fauna of remnant Palouse prairie and surrounding cropland (under CT and consT) in the Palouse region of northwestern Idaho and southeastern Washington. Biological diversity of the representative taxa-Curculionidae (weevils), Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) and Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles)-is significantly higher …

Potential Habitat Factors Influencing Carrion Beetles Communities Of Palouse Prairie Remnants, Chris Looney, Benjamin T. Caldwell, Timothy D. Hatten, Christopher Lorion, Sanford D. Eigenbrode

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The bunchgrass prairies of the Palouse region in eastern Washington state and adjacent Idaho were almost completely converted to agriculture in the past century. Today, prairie habitat exists only on small remnants scattered across the landscape. The invertebrate fauna of these habitat remnants is poorly known, both in terms of species diversity and community composition. Pitfall traps baited with carrion were used to sample carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) during June and July of 2003. Prairie remnants were selected based on size to test whether habitat area influenced the diversity of this important insect community. Three size classes were identified; greater …

Adapting A Floral Biogeography Model To Prairie-Dependent Lepidoptera, Eric H. Metzler, John A. Shuey, Leslie A. Ferge, Richard A, Henderson, Paul Z. Goldstein

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Analysis of data collected for a study of prairie dependent Lepidoptera in the northern tallgrass prairies showed four distributional patterns. A logical distributional pattern links species' distribution, i.e. Catocala abbreviatella, to larval host plants. Absence of larval host plant data, which is the case for most species of moths, requires inference based on habitat data of known specimens, i.e. Tarachidia binocula, or in the case of infrequently encountered species, i.e. Crambus murellus, capture data for a limited number of specimens. A fourth distributional pattern, i. e. Atrytone arogos, can be explained by hypotheses which explain the …

Mediterranean Landscape Archaeology Past And Present, Effie F. Athanassopoulos, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Recent studies of Mediterranean landscapes have emphasized their diversity, their fragmentation, and the high degree of contact between their diverse areas, that is, their connectivity (Horden and Purcell 2000). Moreover, the Mediterranean landscape record is recognized for its length and richness and the opportunity it offers to study long-term interaction between humans and their landscape, however landscape is defined. At the same time, the particular histories of archaeological perspectives that have dominated fieldwork in the region make it difficult to compare with other areas, for example, the New World. Thus, with this volume, our intent is to address issues of …

Developing Integrated Object-Oriented Conception Of Geomarketing As A Tool For Promotion Of Regional Sustainable Development: The Case Study Of Ukraine, Volodymyr M. Anderson

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

In the paper we propose and discuss new vision of geomarketing as a tool for promotion of regional sustainable development. Integrated object-oriented conception of geomarketing was designed by adoption and elaboration of some new ideas and approaches, such as “place marketing”, “non-profit marketing”, “counter-marketing”, “collaborative spatial decision-making”, “endogenous regional development”, “regional sustainable development”, “public-private partnership”. We explore how geomarketing in such a comprehension may be implemented in business and public administration, regional development policy making on example of some Ukrainian firms, regional governments, and communities. The proposed geomarketing conception is based on integration of three different interpretations of geomarketing: 1) …