Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Riparian Vegetation Assemblages And Associated Landscape Factors Across An Urbanizing Metropolitan Area, Christa Von Behren, Andrew Evans Dietrich, J. Alan Yeakley

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

While diverse, native riparian vegetation provides important functions, it remains unclear to what extent these assemblages can persist in urban areas, and under what conditions. We characterized forested riparian vegetation communities across an urbanizing metropolitan area and examined their relationships with surrounding land cover. We hypothesized that native and hydrophilic species assemblages would correlate with forest cover in the landscape. For each of 30 sites in the Portland–Vancouver metro area, we recorded vegetation at 1-cm intervals along 3 transects using the line-intercept method. Land cover was characterized at 2 scales: within 500 m of each site and across the entire …

Spatial Ecology Of Urban Raccoons In Northeastern Ohio: Implications For Oral Rabies Vaccination, Are R. Berentsen, Mike R. Dunbar, Chadd E. Fitzpatrick, W. David Walter

The Prairie Naturalist

In 1977, rabies was detected in a raccoon (Procyon lotor) in West Virginia, and since the mid-1980s raccoon variant rabies has spread throughout the eastern United States and moved west as far as the eastern edge of Cleveland, Ohio. The primary tool to combat this spread is the distribution of oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. A thorough knowledge of raccoon space use is critical in determining bait placement, particularly in urban areas. We monitored nine raccoons in urban areas of Cleveland, Ohio, calculated home range sizes, monitored raccoon movement with respect to potential movement barriers, and used resource selection functions …

The National Environmental Policy Act In The Urban Environment: Oxymoron Or A Useful Tool To Combat The Destruction Of Neighborhoods And Urban Sprawl?, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

To some, applying the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to decisions affecting land use in an urban or built environment is an oxymoron. Cities have historically not been seen “as natural entities but as foreign impositions upon the native landscape,” places where the physical environment is already largely destroyed or reduced to insignificant remnants. Moreover, detecting the required federal presence to trigger NEPA may initially seem difficult when decisions affecting urban resources appear to be principally made by local or state agencies.

At the Institute for Public Representation (IPR) at the Georgetown University Law Center, the author has learned that …

Coyotebytes.Org: A New Educational Web Site, Robert M. Timm

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

A web site, www.CoyoteBytes.org, has been developed as a tool to provide sciencebased management recommendations to homeowners and municipal officials on methods to reduce conflicts with coyotes (Canis latrans) in urban and suburban areas. Such conflicts include aggression toward or attacks on children and adults; attacks on pet dogs and cats; attacks on hobby animals, such as poultry, sheep, and goats; and damage to drip irrigation systems, garden crops, and to other resources. In addition to providing information, the website allows individuals to upload photos or video clips of urban and suburban coyotes, and to submit firsthand reports …

Institutions And The Urban Environment In Developing Countries: Challenges, Trends, And Transitions, Carlos A. Linares

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

The paper discusses challenges, trends, and transitions in the urban environment field and offers an approach to meeting Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets in water supply and sanitation in urban areas. It updates the author’s 1994 publication Urban Environmental Challenges: New Directions for Technical Assistance to Cities inDeveloping Countries, published by the World Resources Institute. This paper begins by describing governance, decentralization, and privatization trends and drawing lessons from international development experiences in cities in developing countries. It argues that pervasive governance problems have led to environmental service deficits, particularly amongst the poor, who, at the same time, have demonstrated …