Life Sciences Commons^™

Iowa's Declining Flora And Fauna: A Review Of Changes Since 1980 And An Outlook For The Future, Neil P. Bernstein

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The status of Iowa's biodiversity was first summarized at a 1980 Iowa Academy of Science (IAS) symposium that was published in The Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science (Vol. 88, No. 1) in 1981. The 1980 symposium was updated in a recent IAS symposium, and the proceedings from this symposium are published, for the most part, in volume 105 of this journal. Most of the authors noted some positive trends, but, overall, species declines and habitat destruction remained a concern.

Ec98-787 Glossary Of Ecosystem Terms, Thomas G. Franti, R. Herpel, G.R. Lingle

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This extension circular contains ecosystem definitions from abiotic to wildlife refuge.

The Use Of Plot Surveys For The Study Of Ethnobotanical Knowledge: A Brunei Dusun Example, Jay H. Bernstein, Roy Ellen, Bantong Bin Antaran

Publications and Research

This paper describes a technique for using plot surveys to measure individual informants' ethnobotanical knowledge of forests, as applied to the Dusun community of Merimbun in Brunei. Two knowledgeable but non-literate Dusun informants enumerated marked plots of both recent and old secondary growth mixed dipterocarp forest near the village. They were able to provide names (other than life-forms or the most general basic and intermediate categories) for 86-97% of species growing in the plots. Between 152 and 170 plant names were elicited by the surveys. In all cases, about 88% of the names were at the basic naming level and …

Grounds For Argument: Local Understandings, Science, And Global Processes In Special Forest Products Harvesting, Thomas Love, Eric Jones

Faculty Publications

In posing the question "Where are the pickers?", Love and Jones suggest that the shifting paradigm in forestry is real and that academia is not leading the shift. Love and Jones illustrate the emergence of special forest products' legitimacy in competing uses of forests with their experience and research in mushroom harvesting in the Pacific Northwest.

The Role Of Riparian Water Law In Protecting Biodiversity: An Indiana (Usa) Case Study, Robert L. Fischman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article discusses how the rules affecting the use of surface water ground water in a typical riparian state, Indiana, can promote the conservation biological diversity. The article first surveys the basic water laws that apply to surface water, diffused surface water, underground streams, and ground water. The rules governing the uses of these waters originate in common law property doctrines and substantially clarified by state legislation. Next the article considers state administration of water. The article examines regulatory tools and administrative opportunities control uses of water in a manner that protects biodiversity. Programs requiring permits for construction in floodplains, …

Agenda: Biodiversity Protection: Implementation And Reform Of The Endangered Species Act, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Biodiversity Protection: Implementation and Reform of the Endangered Species Act (Summer Conference, June 9-12)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors Betsy Rieke, David H. Getches, Michael A. Gheleta and Charles F. Wilkinson.

All across the country--in Congress, in state legislatures and in urban and rural communities--people are discussing why we should or should not protect biodiversity and how best to do so. Since the Endangered Species Act is up for reauthorization, a variety of reform proposals are being debated. Speakers--including natural resource scholars, experts from the private and nonprofit sectors, and government officials--will examine the rationale for biodiversity protection, the legal framework of the Endangered Species Act, and …

Influence Of Adjacent Seagrass On The Fish Assemblages Off Sandy Beaches, Matthew A. Vanderklift

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As we attempt to maintain marine biodiversity mainly by focussing on habitats, we need to understand how marine biodiversity is affected by seagrass loss. Although managers and researchers widely acknowledge that habitat loss results in changes to marine biodiversity, quantitative knowledge of these changes is generally poor. In this study, fish assemblages (as one component of the biodiversity of sandy beaches) were examined in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, to assess patterns that may be related to presence or absence of adjacent seagrass beds, If consistent patterns are evident, they may enable predictions regarding the effects of seagrass loss on the …

Agenda: Challenging Federal Ownership And Management: Public Lands And Public Benefits, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

Conference organizers, speakers and/or moderators included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Michael A. Gheleta, Teresa Rice, Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Rieke and Charles F. Wilkinson.

In the face of numerous proposals for privatizing, marketing, and changing the management of public lands, the Natural Resources Law Center will hold its third annual fall public lands conference October 11-13, at the CU School of Law in Boulder.

A panel of public land users and neighbors, including timber, grazing, mining, recreation, and environmental interests, will address current discontent with public land policy and management. There will also be discussion …

Resolving Technological Controversies In Regulatory Agencies, Sidney A. Shapiro

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

Professor Shapiro notes that, e.g., advisory committees may increase technical accuracy at the price of delaying already slow rule making and urges Congress and the courts to provide agencies with broad procedural discretion.

The Greening Of Technology Transfer: A Conference Summary, William O. Hennessey

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

Dr. Hennessey briefly reports on an international conference that explored the relationship between patent and other intellectual property laws and those designed to protect the environment and maintain biodiversity.

A New Pinworm, Didelphoxyuris Thylamisis N. Gen., N. Sp. (Nematoda: Oxyurida) From Thylamys Elegans (Waterhouse, 1839) (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) In Bolivia, Scott Lyell Gardner, Jean-Pierre Hugot

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Didelphoxyuris thylamisis n. gen., n. sp. is described from the caecum of Thylamys elegans (Waterhouse, 1839) (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) collected in the eastern region of the Andes of Bolivia. Didelphoxyuris thylamisis n. sp. differs from the only pinworm described from marsupials in the Neotropics (Neohilgertia venusti Navone, Suriano et Pujol, 1990) in having only three oesophageal teeth, non-operculated eggs, females that are didelphic, and males that possess no preanal papillae. Several other species of pinworms have been described from marsupials in Australia, but all are characterized by possessing a buccal capsule that is strongly cuticularized with inter-radial lamellae. These structures …

Evaluation And Utilization Of Biodiversity In Triticeae For Wheat Lmprovement, A. B. Damania, J. Valkoun

Herbarium Publications

To adapt new varieties to a wide spectrum of environments breeders and farmers have emphasized the need for broadening the current narrow genetic base of modern varieties of important cereal crops such as wheat and barley. In response to this need, several thousand samples of indigenously cultivated Triticeae species and their wild relatives have been collected from the centers of diversity. However, gene bank collections are of little use if they are not evaluated and the information disseminated widely. Evaluation is essentially the link between conservation and use. Some of the collected material has been evaluated at the International Center …

Flora Of An Unusually Diverse Old Growth Forest In The Southeastern Adirondacks, Gordon Tucker, Richard Mitchell

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

A lowland, virgin white pine-hemlock stand and associated old-growth habitats were studied at Pack Forest Preserve, Warren County, NY. An area of 48.1 acres, interrupted only by nature trails, has white pines up to 58 inches in diameter, and supports 355 native plant species-an unexpectedly high number, considering its location in the climatically severe Adirondack Mountains. This minimally disturbed old-growth forest and its associated wetlands are not only diverse, but essentially weed-free, making them ideal for future ecological research, botanical teaching and monitoring activities.

Flora Of An Unusually Diverse Old Growth Forest In The Southeastern Adirondacks, Gordon C. Tucker, Richard S. Mitchell

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

A lowland, virgin white pine-hemlock stand and associated old-growth habitats were studied at Pack Forest Preserve, Warren County, NY. An area of 48.1 acres, interrupted only by nature trails, has white pines up to 58 inches in diameter, and supports 355 native plant species-an unexpectedly high number, considering its location in the climatically severe Adirondack Mountains. This minimally disturbed old-growth forest and its associated wetlands are not only diverse, but essentially weed-free, making them ideal for future ecological research, botanical teaching and monitoring activities.

Parasites As Probes For Biodiversity, Scott Lyell Gardner, Mariel L. Campbell

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Cestodes of the genus Linstowia, parasitic in marsupials, show patterns of coevolution and ancient historical-ecological connections. Correlated with the breakup of the austral landmasses (Gondwanaland) of the Neotropical and Australian regions from the Antarctic continent, the age of this host-parasite community is estimated to be between 60 and 70 million years old. Based on the data from the survey of parasites of mammals from throughout Bolivia and from the phylogenetic analysis of the cestodes, we urge the planners of biodiversity preserves in the neotropics to consider the Yungas of Bolivia as a region that supports an ancient ecological community …

The Plight Of Cranes: A Case Study For Conserving Biodiversity, J. Christopher Haney, Mark E. Eiswerth

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Cranes provide an exemplary case for evaluating conservation policy because (1) they are a charismatic group with high public visibility, (2) as migratory vertebrates they provide an umbrella for the protection of aquatic habitats and a wider set of species, (3) they are a widely-distributed avian family, consequently protection efforts have favored international cooperation, (4) genetic and taxonomic relationships have been studied, and (5) populations of at least 7 crane species are threatened, endangered, or otherwise considered at direct risk. We use comparisons among the world's cranes to show how biogeographic, taxonomic, and genetic data bases can be linked for …

Biological Diversity And Environmental Protection: Authorities To Reduce Risk, Robert L. Fischman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Agenda: Moving The West's Water To New Uses: Winners And Losers, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Moving the West's Water to New Uses: Winners and Losers (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado Law School professors Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Mark Squillace.

Moving the West's Water to New Uses: Winners and Losers will be the theme for this year's water conference, June 6-8 at the Law School in Boulder. The conference will consider the changing demands for water in the West and the need to reallocate a portion of the existing uses of water to new uses.

The first day will provide the background by looking at the most likely sources of water to meet these demands, including agriculture, federal water projects, interstate transfers, and …

Freshwater Fishes Of Shipstern Nature Reserve, Caspar F. A. Bijleveld

Physiology Faculty Research Publications

A survey of fishes in and around Shipstern Nature Reserve in Northern Belize, Central America, was carried out over a period of eight months, from February to September 1990. Its purpose was to establish a preliminary list of the fishes of Shipstern Nature Reserve, including descriptions, distribution and collecting data and additionally to describe some of the habitats in which the fishes were found. This study focuses on fishes considered to be freshwater species. These occurred for the greater part in brackish habitats. Nevertheless, a few fish considered as marine species were caught in the waters of the reserve and …

Leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) Of North America, Donald J. Klemm

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

The previous manual, "Freshwater Leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) of North America," Identification Manual No. 8, Biota of Freshwater Ecosystems, published in 1972, was prepared under contract with the Oceanography and Limnology Program, Smithsonian Institution, with funds provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

In the ten years that have elapsed since publication of the above manual, additional work has been done in North America on the ecology and systematics of the leeches. This publication serves to correct several errors found in the above manual, to make several desirable taxonomic changes, to add new sections and various relevant information to the …

Rare Vascular Plants Of Maine : A Critical Areas Program Report, Susan C. Gawler, L. M. Eastman

Maine Collection

Rare Vascular Plants of Maine : A Critical Areas Program Report

Based on Rare Vascular Maine Plants (1978) with Additional Herbarium Data and Rare Plants Information by L.M. Eastman.

Introduction, Criteria, Annotated Rare Plant List, Species Accounts, Additional Herbarium Data, County & Town Index Editing by Susan C. Gawler.

Executive Department, State Planning Office, 189 State Street, Augusta, Maine, 04333 (June 1981).

Contents: Acknowledgements / List of Tables / List of Figures / Part One: Introduction / Part Two: List of the Rare Vascular Plants of Maine / Part Three: Species Accounts / Part Four: Subspecific Taxa / Appendices / …

An Analysis Of The Habitat Distribution Of The Vertebrate Fauna Of A Stream- Bank Association In Western Kansas, Olive Falls

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This present paper is chiefly concerned with the distribution of animals. The environmental and faunal conditions of Western Kansas have not been studied, and they are rapidly changing, due to human occupancy of the region. Therefore, a major object of this report is to put on record information in regard to the present vertebrate animal life in Western Kansas. Profound changes in the native conditions have already been recognized; for example, many animals have become extinct, and others are gradually vanishing. It is in the hope of contributing something of the facts of the status of the species in this …