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Refuge Update Article Index

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

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Robin Lite 3d Fmcw Bird Radar: Revolutionizing Airport Birdstrike Prevention, Addy Borst

Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada Joint Annual Meeting: 11th (2009)

Table of Contents:
The avian radar arena
A new kid in town: ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW avian radar
Our roots in radar technology
Our roots in avian radars
From raw radar data to realtime info bird movements
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW: System design requirements driven by users
Main avian radar system requirements
System design conclusions ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW implementation
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW: Horizontal radar
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW: Vertical radar
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW: Data acquisition electronics
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW Signal/image processing
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW ground clutter filter
ROBIN Lite 3D FMCW …

Raptors On Three Rnlaf Airbases, Numbers, Strikes, Trapping And Relocation.

Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada Joint Annual Meeting: 11th (2009)

Since gulls, pigeons, starlings, waders and corvids are the dominant bird species on NW European airfields it is not surprising that habitat management systems are aimed at reducing the numbers of these species from the runway environment. In the RNLAF this is realized by a “poor grass” regime. This is based on the idea that by bottoming out the soil the available biomass will decrease and hence the number of birds foraging on this biomass. In practice this means that the grass is mown and the clippings are removed without applying any fertilization. Neither length nor species composition of the …

Refuge Update – May/June 2010, Volume 7, Number 3

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:

After Rehab, Vessel Starts Over in Alaska The latest addition to the Refuge System’s fleet of vessels in Alaska spent much of its life on the wrong side of the law.

In Arizona, Refuges Are Oases for Fish Fish in the desert? Yes. At San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuges, protecting fish is in the establishing mission.

FOCUS: Marine National Monuments The four marine national monuments are among the Refuge System’s most distinctive components. As such, they present special challenges, rare opportunities and unparalleled beauty.

Can You Hear Me Now? Looking for a low-cost way …

An Artesian Well System In Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, It's Development And Demise, Mary Lanik

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

ABSTRACT

Nebraska has a veritable wealth of groundwater. The High Plains Aquifer underlies most of the state, and within its sand and gravel deposits, many interconnected aquifers provide fresh water for a variety of uses.

One of the most spectacular examples of this resource is the artesian well. Beaver Crossing, Nebraska was once home to one of the most prolific artesian systems in the state before its demise. Founded in the 1880’s, Beaver Crossing soon became known for its many artesian wells, that provided leisure activities and supported profitable business ventures such as small farming, ice production and aquiculture. Eventually …

A Proposed Plan For Managing Eastern Nebraska's Saline Wetlands, Vandhana Rabadinanth

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Eastern Nebraska’s saline wetlands play a major role in Nebraska’s environmental place in the world. Besides the role of scientific changes being important, education also is essential in the conservation of these wetlands. Through the observation of Salt Creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana) and soil electroconductivity, I propose that we need to reform Nebraska’s education system to help schools play a bigger part in environmental issues such as this one. There is a drastic trend in the correlations between Salt Creek tiger beetle populations and wetland degradation. Since many Lincoln residents have a limited knowledge of what is …

Interactions: Newsletter Of The Wildli Fe Society Wildlife Damage Management Working Group, Volume 16 Issue 2, Spring 2010

TWS Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Newsletter

SUMMER IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING -- Gary San Julian
C O N F E R E NC E ANNOUNCEMENT SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 17TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY
NEW ON-LINE TWS MENTORING PROGRAM
TWS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT -- GOOSE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT -- SHOOTING IN SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENTS
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT -- BIRD STRIKE USA
RECENT WILDLIFE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
13TH WDM CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS NOW AVAILABLE
UPCOMING MEETINGS, CONFERENCES, AND EVENTS

Minimum Riparian Buffer Width For Maintaining Water Quality And Habitat Along Stevens Creek, Sammi Bray

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

ABSTRACT Riparian buffer zones are important sites of biodiversity, sediment trapping, pollutant removal, and hydrologic regulation that have significant implications for both people and wildlife. Urbanization’s influence on and need for adequate water quality increases the need for careful planning in regards to riparian areas. Wildlife are key components in the ecosystem functions of riparian zones and require consideration in peri-urban planning as well. This study reviews relevant literature to determine the recommended minimum riparian buffer width for maintaining water quality and habitat along Stevens Creek in Lincoln, Nebraska. Only sources that listed a specific purpose related to water quality …

Comparative Analysis Of Recycling Programs: A Case Study Of Three Universities, Jenny Jones

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract

The goal of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of three university recycling programs. This study looked at several aspects of the programs that included the diversion rates, per capita ratios of materials recycled and disposed, and the average net costs of waste disposal and waste diversion. The universities included in this study were the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Oregon.

To gather the information necessary for this analysis, I contacted each of the university’s recycling coordinators. To determine the average net costs of waste disposal and waste diversion …

Yellowstone Super-Volcano: Evaluation, Potential Threats, And Possible Effects On Nebraska Citizens Health And Prosperity, Jennie Korgie

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Yellowstone National Park is located over a hot spot under the North American tectonic plate and holds a potentially explosive super-volcano that has the ability to cause deadly consequences on the North American continent. After an eruption the surrounding region would see the greatest devastation, covered by pyroclastic deposits and thick ash fall exterminating most all life and destroying all structures in its path. In landscapes of greater distance from the event the consequences will be less dramatic yet still substantial. Records of previous eruption data from the Yellowstone super-volcano show that the ash fall out from the eruption …

Distribution Of Rain Gardens In Lincoln Nebraska: Are Rain Gardens More Likely To Be Built Near Bodies Of Water, Eric Voecks

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Rain gardens are an important tool in reducing the amount of stormwater runoff and accompanying pollutants from entering the city’s streams and lakes, and reducing their water quality. This thesis project analyzed the number of rain gardens installed through the City of Lincoln Nebraska Watershed Management’s Rain Garden Water Quality Project in distance intervals of one-eighth mile from streams and lakes. This data shows the distribution of these rain gardens in relation to streams and lakes and attempts to determine if proximity to streams and lakes is a factor in homeowners installing rain gardens. ArcGIS was used to create …

Scwds Briefs: Volume 27, Number 1 (April 2010), Gary L. Doster , Editor, Scwds Briefs, Michael J. Yabsley

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

White Nose Syndrome Update

Respiratory Disease in Gopher Tortoises

Feral Hog Information

Frogs and Salmonella

Feral Cats and Wildlife

The Early Worm Gets the Bird

TB in Elephants

Accolades

Relatin Dissolved Oxygen Concentration To Fish Distribution In Jarecki Lake, Adam Sutton

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Water temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) profiles were measured once every month from mid July to mid February in a relatively deep sand-pit lake in southeast Nebraska. These profiles showed depleted DO concentrations below the thermocline during summer stratification indicating areas fish will likely avoid in summer months. Colder temperatures in fall caused complete mixing of the water column allowing fish to inhabit all depths of the lake. An inverse temperature stratification occurred directly below the ice during winter months as ice cover cooled the surface water to below 4 degrees Celsius. Ice cover also blocked air – water …

Herbicides And Amphibian Populations, Zach Shirk

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Amphibians are a unique class of species that are found worldwide except Antarctica and Greenland. They range in size from a few millimeters to over six feet long. Amphibian’s habitats are as various as their size, but one thing in common is that amphibians require an aquatic location to breed. Amphibians live in deserts, mountain prairies, rain forest, wetlands, and almost everywhere in between. Amphibians are an integrated part of most natural ecosystems across the world. Amphibians are a critical part of many food chains; they provide the important link between secondary and tertiary consumers. Amphibians are indicator species in …

Adverse Outcome Pathways And Ecological Risk Assessment: Bridging To Population-Level Effects, Vincent J. Kramer, Matthew A. Etterson, Markus Hecker, Cheryl A. Murphy, Guritno Roesijadi, Daniel J. Spade, Julann A. Spromberg, Magnus Wang, Gerald T. Ankley

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Maintaining the viability of populations of plants and animals is a key focus for environmental regulation. Population-level responses integrate the cumulative effects of chemical stressors on individuals as those individuals interact with and are affected by their conspecifics, competitors, predators, prey, habitat, and other biotic and abiotic factors. Models of population-level effects of contaminants can integrate information from lower levels of biological organization and feed that information into higher-level community and ecosystem models. As individual-level endpoints are used to predict population responses, this requires that biological responses at lower levels of organization be translated into a form that is usable …

Challenges And Prospects Of Sustainable Groundwater Management In The Indus Basin, Pakistan, Asad Sarwar Qureshi, Peter G. Mccornick, A. Sarwar, Bharat R. Sharma

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

In Pakistan, on-demand availability of groundwater has transformed the concept of low and uncertain crop yields into more assured crop production. Increased crop yields have resulted in food security and improved rural livelihoods. However, this growth has also led to problems of overdraft, falling water tables, and degradation of groundwater quality, and yields generally remain well below potential levels. Over the last three decades, Pakistan has tried several direct and indirect management strategies for groundwater management. However the success has been limited. This paper argues that techno-institutional approaches such as introducing water rights, direct or indirect pricing, and permit systems …

The Challenges Of Wastewater Irrigation In Developing Countries, M. Qadir, D. Wichelns, L. Raschid-Sally, Peter G. Mccornick, P. Drechsel, A. Bahri, P. S. Minhas

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The volume of wastewater generated by domestic, industrial, and commercial sources has increased with population, urbanization, improved living conditions, and economic development. The productive use of wastewater has also increased, as millions of small-scale farmers in urban and peri-urban areas of developing countries depend on wastewater or wastewater-polluted water sources to irrigate high-value edible crops for urban markets, often as they have no alternative sources of irrigation water. Undesirable constituents in wastewater can harm human health and the environment. Hence, wastewater irrigation is an issue of concern to public agencies responsible for maintaining public health and environmental quality. For diverse …

Scwds Briefs: Volume 25, Number 4 (January 2010), Gary L. Doster , Editor, Scwds Briefs, Michael J. Yabsley

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

Table of Contents:

White Nose Syndrome News

CWD Found in Virginia

Serosurveys of Feral Swine

AI Serology in Wild Birds

Chagas Disease Studies

SCWDS Bont Tick Surveillance

Brain Tumor in Deer

Exotic Animal Imports and Public Health

Loss of Two SCWDS Friends

Scwds Briefs: Volume 26, Number 1 (April 2010), Gary L. Doster , Editor, Scwds Briefs, Michael J. Yabsley

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

Table of Contents:

AI Diagnostics Research

White Nose Syndrome Update

More CWD News

Pneumonia Kills Bighorn Sheep

MCF in a Key Deer

National Feral Swine Mapping System

Brucella suis in North America

Sam Hamilton

Refuge Update – January/February 2010, Volume 7, Number 1

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:
Encouraging Kids to Look Closely A falconer and a Friend connect young people with nature. Page 5
FOCUS: Citizen Science Citizens of all ages engage with refuges by collecting data about buds and birds or raising turtle hatchlings. Pages 8 to 13
Protected Stopovers Help Restore Shorebirds Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, MA, plays a key role in researching and restoring red knots. Page 16
Leaders on the Move Relocation. Incentives. Motivations. Page 18

2010 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain good quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on the over 18,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, our greater than 280,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, and the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

A New Process For Organizing Assessments Of Social, Economic, And Environmental Outcomes: Case Study Of Wildland Fire Management In The Usa, Randall Jf Bruins, Wayne R. Munns Jr., Stephen J. Botti, Steve Brink, David Cleland, Larry Kapustka, Danny Lee, Valerie Luzadis, Laura Falk Mccarthy, Naureen Rana, Douglas B. Rideout, Matt Rollins, Peter Woodbury, Mike Zupko

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Ecological risk assessments typically are organized using the processes of planning (a discussion among managers, stakeholders, and analysts to clarify ecosystem management goals and assessment scope) and problem formulation (evaluation of existing information to generate hypotheses about adverse ecological effects, select assessment endpoints, and develop an analysis plan). These processes require modification to be applicable for integrated assessments that evaluate ecosystem management alternatives in terms of their ecological, economic, and social consequences.We present 8 questions that define the steps of a new process we term integrated problem formulation (IPF), and we illustrate the use of IPF through a retrospective case …

Refuge Update – November/December 2009, Volume 6, Number 6

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:

Tufted Puffin Released A rehabilitated puffin gingerly tests freedom at Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

FOCUS: Stories of Hope From cemeteries to woodpeckers, to newspaper columns and support at the ballot box, refuges represent stories of hope as they pursue their mission.

Bats in the Barn Scientists and volunteers wrap a barn in plastic and count the bats inside.

Sense of Wonder Award Jim Burkhart shares the joy and mysteries of the natural world with visitors to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, GA.

Scwds Briefs: Volume 25, Number 3 (October 2009), Gary L. Doster , Editor, Scwds Briefs, Michael J. Yabsley

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

Table of Contents:

Clams & AI Virus

SCWDS Funded to Study WNS

USDA Program Changes Proposed

TB in Captive Cervids

CWD Prions in Deer Feces

TWS Position Statement on Lead

WDA Awards For SCWDS Staff

New Brochure for Hog Hunters

A Tribute To Richard A. Dolbeer: Scientist, Innovator, Manager, And Mentor, Bradley F. Blackwell, Travis L. Devault

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Richard A. Dolbeer retired in September 2008 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services (WS) program. Over the last 30 years, his research has encompassed the areas of population dynamics of pest species, economic assessment of losses, development of practical management techniques for resolving human–wildlife conflicts, and integrated pest management programs in the United States and abroad (Africa, Asia, Latin America). Most notably, he is one of a few individuals who recognized, early on, the cost in lives and property due to wildlife collisions with aircraft and that much of that cost is avoidable through the application of findings …

Suspending Vulture Effigies From Roosts To Reduce Bird Strikes, Steven A. Ball

Human–Wildlife Interactions

I observed very few vultures over the airfield after deploying the effigies, and vultures were completely absent most days. Hanging vulture effigies seemed to be effective in pushing the vultures farther away by denying them their observation point looking over the Coastal Plain near the airfield. This meant that their forage center point had been relocated far enough from the airfield that few individuals extended their range as far as the airport.

Management Of Bayberry In Relation To Tree-Swallow Strikes At John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, Glen E. Bernhardt, Zachary J. Paton, Lisa A. Kutschbach-Brohl, Richard A. Dolbeer

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) have been a periodic bird-strike problem at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFKIA), New York, New York, causing runway closures, flight delays, and damage to aircraft following the ingestion of bird flocks into engines. We examined 65 tree swallows collected at JFKIA in October 2001 to determine food sources that were attracting the birds to the airport. Digestive tracts of all 65 specimens contained northern bayberry fruits (Myrica pensylvanica), averaging 15.6 fruits per bird or 3.4% of the bird’s body mass in specimens where the entire tract was dissected. Bayberry fruits are …

Safety Management Systems: How Useful Will The Faa National Wildlife Strike Database Be?, Richard A. Dolbeer, Sandra E. Wright

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The National Wildlife Strike Database for Civil Aviation in the United States became operational in 1995 with the initiation of data entry of all strike reports beginning in 1990. The database contained 82,057 reported strikes from 1990 to 2007. About 9,800 of these strike reports noted damage to the aircraft, of which 2,700 indicated the damage was substantial. The database has proven to be a useful source of objective information on the extent and nature of wildlife strikes for personnel at individual airports and for researchers and regulatory agencies at the national level. With the impending requirement for airports in …

Role Of Near-Miss Bird Strikes In Assessing Hazards, Matthew W. Klope, Robert C. Beason, Timothy J. Nohara, Michael J. Begier

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Management of problem wildlife within the airfield environment is a difficult job. Today’s Bird–Animal Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) program managers require as much information as possible to accomplish their tasks. Bird censuses and actual bird-strike events in and around the air operations area are used to make airfield management decisions and to assess the risk of bird hazards to aircraft. Both types of information are sampled rather sparsely. Avian radar is now being used as a new tool to provide continuous sampling of bird activity that significantly supplements visual censuses. The measure of risk used today is commonly expressed as …

Observations Of Neck-Collared Canada Geese Near John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, Thomas W. Seamans, Scott E. Clemons, Allen L. Gosser

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Canada geese (Branta canadensis) often cause significant damage when they strike aircraft. They are responsible for a reported minimum of $2.6 million in damage per year to civil aviation in the United States. Knowledge of goose movements in relation to airports would allow wildlife managers to allocate time and funds to manage those populations that pose the greatest threat to aircraft. We placed alpha-numeric neck collars on 300 Canada geese within 8 km of both John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFKIA) and LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York. We conducted weekly observations for 2 years within a …