Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons^™

Wilson Inlet Catchment Appraisal 2007, Ron Master

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Marchagee Oil Mallee Study : Drill Completion And Preliminary Hydrogeological Report, D L. Bennett, Adrian Goodreid

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

A System For Estimating Bowen Ratio And Evaporation From Waste Lagoons, Arturo I. Quintanar, Rezaul Mahmood, John H. Loughrin, Nanh Lovanh, Monica V. Motley

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

A low‐cost system was deployed above a swine waste lagoon to obtain estimates of Bowen ratios and characterize lagoon temperatures. The system consisted of humidity and temperature sensors and anemometers deployed above the lagoon, water temperature sensors, and a meteorological station located by the lagoon. To evaluate the system, data was analyzed from the 25th through 28th June 2007. Bowen ratios showed diurnal behavior near the lagoon surface characterized by negative values during day and positive ones at night. Latent (evaporation) and sensible heat fluxes were towards the atmosphere and the lagoon, respectively for most of the day. A diurnal …

Droughtscape, Winter 2009, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Bastrop TX: Feb. 12 Central CA: Feb. 24, 26

La Niña May Keep West and Gulf Coast Dry

Big Canoes to Launch

2008 in Review

U.S. Feels Drought Impacts in 2008

NDMC Welcomes Widhalm, Sakamoto

Climate Modelers at Workshop Look to Sea Surface Temperatures for Drought Prediction

Barriers And Drivers Influencing Adoption Of Perennial Pastures On The South Coast Of Wa, Jamie Bowyer, Rebecca Heath

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Farming For The Future : Industry Practice Baselines, Danielle England, Susan Murphy-White, John Noonan, Marie Shanks, Jon Warren

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem Jenga!, Natalie Umphlett, Tierney Brosius, Ramesh Laungani, Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Students are often taught that ecosystems are "delicately balanced," But what. exactly, does this mean? How do we help students relate what they learn in the classroom about ecosystems to the world immediately around them?

As scientists who work closely with middle school students as part of a National Science Foundation-funded Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education program called Project Fulcrum. we have learned that abstract concepts, such as "delicately balanced ecosystem," are often not truly understood. We addressed this concern in a seventh-grade science classroom in Lincoln. Nebraska. by introducing students to locally threatened saline wetlands and the endangered Salt …

State Of The River Report For Toxics, Bradley Carter

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strives to prevent pollution, protect water quality and improve ecosystems in order to reduce risks to human health and the environment. As outlined in the Agency’s Strategic Plan, the Columbia River Basin was identified as a "National Priority" and designated as one of our nation’s seven "Large Aquatic Ecosystems". This designation grants legislative status equal to the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, South Florida Ecosystem, Long Island Sound and Puget Sound. The Strategic Plan is the Agency’s road map of future work efforts, and targets specific goals that are expected to …

State Of The River Report For The Lower St. Johns River Basin, Florida: Water Quality, Fisheries, Aquatic Life, And Contaminants 2009, Environmental Protection Board, City Of Jacksonville, University Of North Florida, Jacksonville University

State of the River Report

No abstract provided.

Western Australian Natural Resource Management Plan 09, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Natural resources published reports

The purpose of the State Natural Resource Management [NRM] Plan is to communicate the direction for sustainably managing Western Australia's natural resources.

This direction has been informed by previous initiatives such as the 'Decade of Landcare', several programs focused on salinity, the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy (2009), and more recently a report commissioned by the State entitled The delivery of Natural Resources Management in Western Australia - a review (2006), which recommended preparation of an NRM Plan. The review noted that the most important issue for the State to clarify first was the outcome it seeks rather than how …

Setting Targets For Resource Condition In Yilliminning Catchment, Leon Van Wyk, Gregory Paul Raper

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Progress In Strategic Research Areas, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Three years ago through conversations with resource managers, assessing the status of knowledge of the scientific literature, and our own interests, we set forth several strategic research areas that we believed would be timely for advancing Mojave Desert conservation and management.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

Project 1. Relict Leopard Frog Monitoring, Management, and Research

• All milestones and deliverables associated with the MSHCP project are on schedule
• Completion of 2008 monitoring survey efforts
• Coordination is ongoing to identify potential translocation sites, including assisting efforts to identify a potential site in the western Grand Canyon
• RLFCT meeting hosted and minutes of meeting drafted
• Annual report provided to RLFCT, final draft in review
• Sampling for the amphibian chytrid fungus conducted at many sites

Project 2. Bald Eagle Winter Monitoring and Evaluation

• All MSHCP milestones and deliverables are on schedule
• Planning and coordination of the 2009 Eagle Count conducted …

Early Post-Fire Recovery On A Heavily Visited Mojave Desert Burn: Red Rock Canyon Near Las Vegas, Nevada, Scott R. Abella, E. Cayenne Engel, Christina L. Lund, Jessica E. Spencer

Fire Science Presentations

Wildfire has become widespread in southwestern USA deserts. In a record 2005 fire season in the Mojave Desert, for example, more than 385,000 hectares burned (Brooks and Matchett 2006). This burned area is approximately 3% of the entire Mojave Desert. Fueled in large part by exotic annual grasses, these fires burned desert ecosystems thought to have only burned infrequently historically. Burns now occupy significant portions of desert landscapes, posing prominent management challenges. Improving our understanding of plant recovery on desert burns is important for evaluating future fire hazard, whether natural revegetation will meet management objectives, and for planning active revegetation …

Post-Fire Plant Recovery In The Mojave And Sonoran Deserts Of Western North America, Scott R. Abella, Public Lands Institute, Department Of Environmental Studies, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fire Science Presentations

Fire is thought to have been generally rare historically in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. However, invasion by exotic grasses (e.g., Schismus spp.) has increased fuel continuity, promoting fire in these deserts. Succession and recovery are not well understood processes in deserts, nonetheless for a novel disturbance like fire. In addition to helping build theories of desert succession and recovery, information on post-fire recovery has numerous practical implications (e.g., determining whether active revegetation is needed). Systematic reviews provide a means for obtaining literature using reproducible search criteria. This approach facilitates a balanced appraisal of available information, synthesizes scattered literature, and …

What Impact Does Sustainable Certification Have? A Comparison Of Aquatic Nitrate And Phosphate Levels Between Two Golf Courses In The Bloomington-Normal Community, Jason Koval, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Two golf courses in the Bloomington-Normal community in central Illinois were tested for nitrate and phosphate concentrations in their ponds. One golf course (The Den) is Audubon International certified while the other golf course (Ironwood) is not. This study tries to establish if differing environmental management practices can contribute to significantly different concentrations of nutrients. It was determined that the nitrate concentration was higher at the non-certified golf course, while the phosphate concentrations at both courses were essentially negligible. The implications of these findings are discussed and were presented to both golf courses. It is the hope of this paper …

On The Movement Of Beluga Whales In Cook Inlet, Alaska: Simulations Of Tidal And Environmental Impacts Using A Hydrodynamic Inundation Model, Tal Ezer, Roderick Hobbs, Lie-Yauw Oey

CCPO Publications

The population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska, is in decline, and since 2000 these whales have been under consideration for designation as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act (and were placed on the list in October 2008, just before this article went to press). In order to study environmental and hydrodynamic impacts on the belugas' movements and survival in the unique habitat of the inlet, a three-dimensional ocean circulation and inundation model is combined with satellite-tracked beluga whale data. Model-wale data comparisons from two whale paths during a five-day period (september 17-21, 2000) covering 10 tidal cycles suggest …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2007, Daniel M. Dauer, Harold G. Marshal, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Frederick A. Hoffman

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems were related to deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the establishment of …

Annual Pastural Land Condition Report: 2007 / 2008 Financial Year, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Natural resources published reports

The Commissioner of Soil and Land Conservation is required under section 137 (2) of the Land Administration Act 1997 to provide the Pastoral Lands Board with a report on the current condition of land under pastoral leases in the State. This report presents information from the Department of Agriculture and Food’s pastoral lease inspection program for the 2007/2008 financial year.

Pastoral leases cover 36% (89 million hectares) of Western Australia and range from the tropical grasslands in the north through to the arid shrublands in the south, with rainfall ranging from 1,400 mm in the north Kimberley to less than …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No.72 - Western Rock Lobster Ecological Effects Of Fishing Research Plan., Rhys Brown

Fisheries Occasional Publications

The commercial West Coast Rock Lobster Fishery (WCRLF) targets the western rock lobster (WRL), Panulirus cygnus, averaging approximately 10,000 tonnes of lobsters each year. Currently approximately 450 to 500 boats operate in the Fishery in waters ranging from 5 m to 200 m depth adjacent to the Western Australian coast and stretching from Cape Leeuwin in the south to Shark Bay in the north. The Fishery is managed by the Department of Fisheries (DoF) in Western Australia, using an input control system designed to constrain exploitation/fishing effort and deliver sustainable catches. The annual value of the catch is estimated at …

Droughtscape, Fall 2008, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Washington Workshops Scheduled for November

Look for Warm West, Rainy Gulf, Easing Drought

New Drought Monitor Authors Profiled

Drought Impact Awareness Growing: Weather Forecast Offices, Geographers Highlight Issue

NDMC Takes on New Projects

Hundreds+ See NDMC at Ag Trade Show

NDMC Welcomes New Employees

Droughtscape, Fall 2008, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Washington Workshops Scheduled for November

Look for Warm West, Rainy Gulf, Easing Drought

New Drought Monitor Authors Profiled

Drought Impact Awareness Growing: Weather Forecast Offices, Geographers Highlight Issue

NDMC Takes on New Projects

Hundreds+ See NDMC at Ag Trade Show

NDMC Welcomes New Employees

Effect Of A Water Treatment Bmp On Nutrient Spiraling And Leaf Litter Breakdown In An Urban Stream, Megan Leclair Wheeler

Theses and Dissertations

Alterations to stream conditions caused by urbanization can compromise valuable ecosystem services, such as nutrient attenuation and carbon processing. A best management practice (BMP) water facility was installed to restore an impaired urban stream in Columbus, GA. This study was conducted to determine the effect of this BMP on nutrient spiraling and leaf litter decomposition in a 2 km stretch of Weracoba Creek. I hypothesized the BMP would (1) reduce leaf mass loss over time and (2) interfere with nutrient concentrations and uptake lengths. I characterized leaf litter decomposition using tulip tree leaves {Liriodendron tulipifera) in 1mm mesh bags deployed …

Designing More Effective Air Quality Advisories, Justin Olexy

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Background: There is increasing concern about the impact of air quality on human health in urban environments and how to best reduce impacts through public policies. An NSF Biocomplexity Project - "Feedbacks between Urban Systems and the Environment" (FUSE), led by Portland State University, studies the human feedbacks and responses to air quality and heat advisories through data collected in city-wide phone surveys in Portland, OR and Houston, TX. On days when ozone levels are predicted to exceed air quality standards, regulatory agencies issue air quality advisories which ask residents to reduce certain air polluting behaviors such as driving …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

Project 1. Relict Leopard Frog Monitoring, Management, and Research

• Completion of translocation and augmentation efforts for 2008
• Summer egg mass surveys completed
• Coordination is ongoing to identify potential translocation sites near Moapa
• Habitat improvements coordinated for Bighorn Sheep Spring
• Annual Project Review Presentation provided to Clark County
• All milestones and deliverables associated with the MSHCP project are on schedule

Project 2. Bald Eagle Winter Monitoring and Evaluation

• Initial habitat suitability models and maps developed
• Annual Project Review and Presentation given to Clark County
• All MSHCP milestones and deliverables associated with this project are on schedule

Project 3. Peregrine Falcon Monitoring …

Emissions Scenarios In The Face Of Fossil-Fuel Peaking, Robert J. Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

Emissions scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are based on detailed energy system models in which demographics, technology and economics are used to generate projections of future world energy consumption, and therefore, of greenhouse gas emissions. We propose in this paper that it is useful to look at a qualitative model of the energy system, backed by data from short- and medium-term trends, to gain a sense of carbon emission bounds. Here we look at what may be considered a lower bound for 21st century emissions given two assumptions: first, that extractable fossil-fuel resources follow the …

Droughtscape, Summer 2008, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

VegDRI Expands West

Spring Rains Ease Drought But CA Still Dry

Scholar Donates Books

NDMC Welcomes Employees Bathke, Nothwehr

Latest Workshop Info Up

State Lawmakers to Focus on Drought Planning

Decadal Variation -- Clues to Droughts and Floods?

Benthic Biological Monitoring Program Of The Elizabeth River Watershed (2007), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

Macrobenthic communities of the Elizabeth River watershed have been quantitatively sampled since summer 1999. This report presents the data from the ninth year of sampling in 2007. The three objectives of the Benthic Biological Monitoring Program of the Elizabeth River watershed are: (1) To characterize the health of the tidal waters of the Elizabeth River watershed as indicated by the structure of the benthic communities. (2) To conduct trend analyses on long-term data at 14 fixed-point stations to relate temporal trends in the benthic communities to changes in water and/or sediment quality. Trend analyses will be updated annually …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending June 30, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

Project 1. Relict Leopard Frog Monitoring, Management, and Research

• Translocation program completed this quarter at current active translocation sites.
• Egg mass surveys at Blue Point Spring conducted approximately weekly; two additional egg massed collected from site for head-starting.
• Frogs released at Blue Point and Rogers from egg masses collected at Blue Point in March and April, further augmentations planned.
• Spring nocturnal surveys completed.
• Coordination for potential translocation sites on BLM lands ongoing.
• Habitat improvements coordinated and conducted at one new translocation site on BLM lands in the Gold Butte; site received frogs in April.
• All milestones and deliverables associated with …

Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System For Grasslands: Field Manual, Andrew Craig, Philip Thomas

Bulletins 4000 -

Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS) sites are designed to provide defined areas for repeated photography and collection of vegetation composition, shrub/tree cover and landscape function (soil surface assessment) data. This manual defines the procedures for installing and monitoring WARMS sites in the grasslands of northern Western Australia. It provides a documented reference of site stratification at regional scale, and site allocation at station (property) scale. Different procedures apply for sites in the shrublands of the southern pastoral zone. WARMS is designed to be interpreted at the vegetation type or regional scale, rather than lease (station) scale. Information gathered is …