Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, October 1, 2007 To December 31, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

Executive Summary

• The Weed Sentry program surveyed more than 750 miles of federal lands in Clark County for invasive, exotic plant species.
• Weed Sentry also removed more than 600,000 individual invasive plants from federal
  lands. These removals represent pro-active efforts that may have forestalled large
  infestations difficult and costly to eradicate.
• In response to a request by the manager of the Fish and Wildlife Service Desert National
  Wildlife Refuge, a major effort of surveying springs for plant community composition
  and invasive plants provided unique knowledge services by the Weed Sentry program.
  No such baseline information existed for the Sheep Range. …

Unresolved Issues With The Assessment Of Multidecadal Global Land Surface Temperature Trends, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Christopher A. Davey, Dev Niyogi, Souleymane Fall, Jesse Steinweg-Woods, Ken Hubbard, Xiaomao Lin, Ming Cai, Young-Kwon Lim, Hong Li, John Nielsen-Gammon, Kevin Gallo, Robert Hale, Rezaul Mahmood, Stuart Foster, Richard T. Mcnider, Peter Blanken

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This paper documents various unresolved issues in using surface temperature trends as a metric for assessing global and regional climate change. A series of examples ranging from errors caused by temperature measurements at a monitoring station to the undocumented biases in the regionally and globally averaged time series are provided. The issues are poorly understood or documented and relate to micrometeorological impacts due to warm bias in nighttime minimum temperatures, poor siting of the instrumentation, effect of winds as well as surface atmospheric water vapor content on temperature trends, the quantification of uncertainties in the homogenization of surface temperature data, …

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Exploration In The Rumford River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The students of Qualters Middle School performed a study called “Benthic Macroinvertebrate Exploration in the Rumford River”. The study was conducted on October 16, 2007 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The study location consisted of one site located at 143 Chauncy Street.

The purpose of this study was to introduce benthic macroinvertebrates and their role as indicators for evaluating stream water quality. Students utilized state of the art methods and techniques during all aspects of this study.

The Rumford River is listed on the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) National Priority List (NPL). The river was polluted with dioxins, furans and phenols by …

Comparative Nutrient Data For Two Locations On The Marstons Mills River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

On October 30, 2007, we deployed water samplers at two locations along the Marstons Mills River: River Road and Hyrdo Dam/Route 28. We programmed a Sigma at each location to take a water sample each hour for 24 hours, to determine the amount of dissolved nutrients in the water in the course of one day. When compared to the discharge at each site, we found that the Hydro Dam location moved nearly 117 000 000 liters of water, 10 000 grams of phosphorus, and 25 000 grams of nitrogen-nitrate each day. Only a short distance upstream, the River Road location …

How Healthy Is Furnace Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Located across the street from the High school is Furnace Brook. Mike Gilbert and I are conducting an independent Study to determine the relative health of the Furnace Brook. This small stream is a tributary of the South River in Marshfield, Ma. To access the health will we be using a macro-invertebrate biological index as our primary tool? We will also be conducting a riparian survey as well as both a stream profile and flow. To start with we scouted the watershed using both aerial photos and Google earth. After driving to several potential areas we designated three sample sites: …

Rumford River Monitoring Project

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Land use within a watershed can negatively impact water quality. Students investigated these impacts by collecting water samples at one sample site along the Rumford River at Route 123, Norton, MA. These samples were analyzed for phosphorus and nitrogen levels, as well as temperature and dissolved oxygen. Results of these tests are as follows:

The greatest potential impacts come from run off. Most of the land around the Rumford River has been developed for residential housing. These houses have septic systems for waste disposal. The TCP golf course is also located near the Norton Reservoir. Potential sources of nitrogen come …

Palmer River Water Discharge And Nutrient Study

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Can significant differences in Discharge and Nutrient concentration & load be determined or inferred for the Palmer River? Students studied 2 sites. These were located at Wilmarth Bridge Road (just off of Route 44) and at Reed Street (further south & downstream). Between the 2 sites are a few farms as well as a golf course. It is possible that runoff from these 2 sources has influenced the amount of phosphates &/or nitrates found in the Palmer River. Most Primary & Secondary habitat characteristics were the same for both sites; though Reed Street exhibited more variations

Students collected data on …

Rivernet Watershed Access Lab Program Overview - Dec. 2007, Kevin Curry

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Brief overview of the RiverNet Watershed Access program - its history and the achievements of the many participating teachers and students from throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.

Reinterpreting The Pollen Data From Dos Cabezas, Karl J. Reinhard, Vaughn M. Bryant, Sheila D. Vinton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The published pollen analysis of the Dos Cabezas giants, Geyer et al. (2003), lists variety of purported dietary pollen types. The paper also hypothesises that the giants were poisoned with plant toxins. We have severe reservations about the pollen evidence of diet and poisoning. We suggest that the analysts made several errors in their interpretation. Firstly, some of the discovered pollen types are not prehistoric endemics to the Dos Cabezas region of coastal Peru. These include the pollen of fava beans (cultivated in the Old World), and specified species of agave and sage. We believe that some or all of …

If Larvae Were Smart: A Simple Model For Optimal Settlement Behavior Of Competent Larvae, Robert J. Toonen, Andrew J. Tyre

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Much research has been done on larval settlement cues. Rather than having simple fixed responses to constant environmental stimuli, it seems likely that settlement decisions made by individual larvae should vary depending on the individual and the conditions under which it encounters that cue. Here, we present a simple stochastic dynamic programming model that explores the conditions under which larvae may maximize their lifetime fitness by accepting lower quality habitat rather than continuing to search for superior habitat. Our model predicts that there is a relatively narrow range of parameter values over which larval selectivity among habitat types changes dramatically …

An Environmental Assessment Of Little Black Lake, Alan D. Steinman, Mary Ogdahl, Carl Ruetz

Scientific Technical Reports

A limnological survey was conducted of Little Black Lake and its tributaries during summer 2007 by researchers at the Annis Water Resources Institute of Grand Valley State University. Water quality, sediment composition, and phytoplankton, macrophyte, and fish abundance and composition were analyzed. In general, the water quality of both the inflows to, and Little Black Lake itself, was good. Nutrient concentrations occasionally exceeded existing guidelines, but no systemic problems were detected. Phosphorus concentrations did increase during stormflow conditions, but this is typical and concentrations were not considered excessive. One site in the lake had very high sediment phosphorus concentrations. Because …

Priority Of Concerns Worksheet (November 2007 Interactive Public Meetings), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Interactive Public Meetings Announcement - November 2007, Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

List Of Issues Identified By Participants In The November 2007 Public Meetings, Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Management Plan Figure (November 2007 Interactive Public Meetings), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Taunton River Water Budget (November 2007 Interactive Public Meetings), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Taunton River Watershed Study Public Meeting Presentation (November 2007 Interactive Public Meetings), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering July 6 – Oct. 5, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Don’t Trash Nevada website traffic remains strong despite no separate marketing.

• Project Manager Douglas Joslin has been assisting the IVP team due to the resignation of Donna Grady.

• A new ad created in cooperation with Republic Services of Southern Nevada appeared in five different View newspapers in July.

• The messaging campaign year two plan is in development and will be ready in November.

• Forty-three people took the anti-litter pledge this quarter, bringing the total number of pledges to 431.

• Planning for the Don’t Trash Nevada exhibit at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum continued …

Interactions Across Spatial Scales Among Forest Dieback, Fire, And Erosion In Northern New Mexico Landscapes, Craig D. Allen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Ecosystem patterns and disturbance processes at one spatial scale often interact with processes at another scale, and the result of such cross-scale interactions can be nonlinear dynamics with thresholds. Examples of cross-scale pattern-process relationships and interactions among forest dieback, fire, and erosion are illustrated from northern New Mexico (USA) landscapes, where long-term studies have recently documented all of these disturbance processes. For example, environmental stress, operating on individual trees, can cause tree death that is amplified by insect mortality agents to propagate to patch and then landscape or even regional-scale forest dieback. Severe drought and unusual warmth in the southwestern …

Baselines Newsletter, No. 1, Fall 2007, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

Drought Scape- Fall 2007, The National Drought Mitigation Center

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

Fall 2007 Outlook

Diverse Impacts Reported in Summer of 2007

Decadal Climate Cycles Hold Predictive Potential

Drought Experts Take Roadmap to Congress

NDMC Research Updates

Why Logging? A Value Assessment Of Forestry Uses In The Huon Forest District, Ryan Bailey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Huon Forest District comprises 762,800 hectares of forests in southwest Tasmania, with 128,900 hectares of that total designated as state forest managed by Forestry Tasmania. These forests are used primarily for wood production, although tourism, carbon storage, leatherwood honey and the specialty timbers industry are competing for access to these forests. This study examines the socio-economic values of these uses and determines whether the Huon Forest District is being utilized efficiently.

To accomplish this, an extensive literature review of past research was conducted. This information supplemented 7 semi-structured interviews that were conducted with experts from the forestry industry, tourism …

Implementing Uganda’S National Wetlands Policy: A Case Study Of Kabale District, Sophie Glass

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Uganda’s “National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources” was launched in 1995 to promote the protection of Uganda’s wetlands in order to sustain their ecological and socioeconomic functions. Despite the formal policy, wetlands continue to be drained and converted. This report examines factors that account for the divide between the National Wetlands Policy and reality. Six weeks were spent researching the challenges associated with implementing the National Wetlands Policy. Kabale District was used as a case-study to better understand the issues that institutions and stakeholders face when trying to abide by the precepts of the policy. Rapid …

To Live With The Sea: Community-Based Management Of Marine Resources In Southwest Madagascar, Hannah Pitt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“God intended us to fish, and we will fish until the end,” the elderly Vezo fisherman explained, shrugging his shoulders as if in resignation to an unavoidable truth (Niry). For a people whose history, culture, and economy have revolved around the sea for generations, the idea of preservation is just not palatable, he seemed to be saying. The momentum of tradition, in other words, cannot be stopped. Yet in 23 Vezo fishing villages in the region of Andavadoaka, along the southwest coast of Madagascar, communities have collectively established seasonal and permanent restrictions on critical fishing grounds that together make up …

Ground Water Dependence Of Endangered Ecosystems: Nebraska’S Eastern Saline Wetlands, F. Edwin Harvey, Jerry F. Ayers, David C. Gosselin

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Many endangered or threatened ecosystems depend on ground water for their survival. Nebraska’s saline wetlands, home to a number of endangered species, are ecosystems whose development, sustenance, and survival depend on saline ground water discharge at the surface. This study demonstrates that the saline conditions present within the eastern Nebraska saline wetlands result from the upwelling of saline ground water from within the underlying Dakota Aquifer and deeper underlying formations of Pennsylvanian age. Over thousands to tens of thousands of years, saline ground water has migrated over regional scale flowpaths from recharge zones in the west to the present-day discharge …

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands – Phase Ii: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering July 1 - September 30, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• The number of records in the volunteer database increased 11% over last quarter. The database now contains 4,343 records.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 121,313 hits per month, an increase of 31% from last quarter, with an average of 11,475 pages viewed per month.
• Volunteer fall training has been scheduled, developed and publicized.
• Three National Public Land Day Events are planned.
• Volunteer recognition banquet event is being planned and developed.
• Transition in the program manager position took place. The position is currently filled with an interim volunteer program associate.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Analysis: Year-End Progress Report, October 1, 2006 To September 30, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

Executive Summary

• The Weed Sentry program surveyed more than 750 miles of federal lands in Clark County for invasive, exotic plant species.
• Weed Sentry also removed more than 600,000 individual invasive plants from federal
  lands. These removals represent pro-active efforts that may have forestalled large
  infestations difficult and costly to eradicate.
• In response to a request by the manager of the Fish and Wildlife Service Desert National
  Wildlife Refuge, a major effort of surveying springs for plant community composition
  and invasive plants provided unique knowledge services by the Weed Sentry program.
  No such baseline information existed for the Sheep Range. …

Soil Carbon And Tree Litter Dynamics In A Red Cedar–Scotch Pine Shelterbelt, Thomas J. Sauer, Cynthia A. Cambardella, James R. Brandle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Carbon sequestration in the woody biomass of shelterbelts has been investigated but there have been no measurements of the C stocks in soil and tree litter under this agroforestry practice. The objective of this study was to quantify C stored in surface soil layers and tree litter within and adjacent to a 35-year-old shelterbelt in eastern Nebraska, USA. The 2-row shelterbelt was composed of eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris). A sampling grid was established across a section of the shelterbelt on Tomek silt loam (fine, smectitic, mesic Pachic Argiudolls). Four soil …

Strategies For The Future Of Conservation, Bradford Gentry, Rebecca Sanborn, Gordon Clark

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

2006 Berkley Workshop Summary and Background Materials

Potantico Conference Center, Tarrytown, New York, June 8-10, 2006 Hosted by The Land Trust Alliance and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Land Cover Types Of The Las Vegas Wash, Nevada, Seth A. Shanahan, Dave Silverman, Art Ehrenberg

Publications (WR)

Vegetation type, extent, continuity, and structure are some of the most important factors that determine wildlife diversity and distribution. Other contributing factors that shape wildlife communities include disturbance, competition, climate, and water availability. Because vegetation communities in the southwestern U.S. gradate sharply along zones of soil moisture, wildlife are often restricted to specific vegetation types. Along the Las Vegas Wash (Wash), Nevada, more than 250 wildlife species have been documented to occur in distinct wetland, riparian, and upland vegetation types. Recent studies have investigated the diversity and distribution of amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles (Shanahan 2005, 2005a, Van Dooremolen …