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Rapid Ecological Assessment Of The Northern Mixedgrass Prairie Ecoregion (Nebraska Portion), Gerry Steinauer

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This study was conducted as part of The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) project to conduct ecoregional conservation planning throughout the continental United States. TNC contracted with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) to conduct a rapid ecological assessment (REA) of the portion of the Northern Mixedgrass Prairie ecoregion (NMGP) occurring in Nebraska. This report concludes that agreement. Roughly the northern 1/5 of central Nebraska occurs within the NMGP (Figure 1). This ecoregion also includes extensive area of central South Dakota and central North Dakota. The objective of this study was to conduct a REA of the untilled landscapes within the …

Fisheries Research Report No. 130 - Environmental Requirements And Tolerances Of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) And Brown Trout (Salmo Trutta) With Special Reference To Western Australia: A Review, Brett W. Molony

Fisheries Research Reports

Both Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout) and Salmo trutta (brown trout) have a long history of translocation and culture and a wide knowledge base exists. O.mykiss is being considered as a candidate for inland aquaculture in the salinity affected areas of southern Western Australia and this review aims, in part, at providing relevant information to those considering a trout-framing venture in Western Australia. Both species of trout can survive a wide range of environmental conditions, including temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen and ammonia, with O.mykiss having a higher temperature tolerance than S.trutta. However, within the ranges of environmental conditions, each species …

Intermediate Rings Between A Local Domain And Its Completion, Ii, William Heinzer, Christel Rotthaus, Sylvia Wiegand

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We present results connecting flatness of extension rings to the Noetherian property for certain intermediate rings between an excellent normal local domain and its completion. We consider conditions for these rings to have Cohen-Macaulay formal fibers. We also present several examples illustrating these results.

Fish Protection Measures To Ensure Fish For The Future, Jo Bunting

Fisheries Management Papers

The protection of Western Australia's aquatic animals, plants and habitats is important for many reasons. Fish, and many aquatic invertebrates, have significant commercial, recreational and social importance. Aquatic habitats provide food, refuge and breeding areas for fish and other animals. In addition, some habitats, such as rocky reefs and seagrass meadows, act as nursery sites for juvenile animals. Some habitats and their inhabitants (such as coral reefs) also have aesthetic values which support economically and socially important industries, such as tourism.

Fisheries Research Report No. 125 - A History Of Foreign Fishing Activities And Fishery-Independent Surveys Of The Demersal Finfish Resources In The Kimberley Region Of Western Australia, G Nowara, Stephen J. Newman

Fisheries Research Reports

The aim of this project was to collate all historical information regarding fishing activities relevant to the Northern Demersal Scalefish Fishery. Three primary sources of information were identified; foreign Taiwanese pair-trawl fishing activities; traditional Indonesian fishing activities; and fishery-independent (CSIRO) survey data.

The Taiwanese pair-trawl fishing catch and effort from 1980 to 1990 was concentrated into two main regions, the Broome area (120°-122°E) and the Holothuria Banks area (124°-126°E) in the north. The majority of trawls were undertaken in the mid-continental shelf region (60-100 m). The total catch of these vessels reached a peak of 4,394 tonnes in 1985. Effort …

Yellow Jackets (Vespula Spp.) Disperse Trillium (Spp.) Seeds In Eastern North America, Jennifer A. Zettler, Timonthy P. Spira, Craig R. Allen

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Approximately 70 plant families worldwide have ant-dispersed seeds (myrmecochory). In this putative ant-plant mutualism, ants are attracted to and disperse seeds that have a lipid-rich elaiosome. We observed yellow jackets (Vespula spp.) dispersing seeds of three elaiosome-bearing species-Trillium cuneatum, T. undulatum and T catesbaei-in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and South Carolina. Moreover, we estimated the mean distance yellow jackets dispersed seeds of T. cuneatum by placing intact fruits on index cards and recovering dispersed seeds on sheets placed on the ground surface. Of the seeds presented, 41% were recovered and the average dispersal distance …

Horse Creek Fen, Birdwood Creek And Kelly Ranch Inventory, Robert F. Steinauer

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

Horse Creek Fen preserve is a complex of wetland communities (Sandhills fen, Sandhills freshwater marsh, and northern sedge wet meadow) associated with Horse Creek, a ditched stream that drains the Allen Valley fen. Fen vegetation on the preserve is limited to approximately 20 acres on the western boundary of the preserve where it abuts the eastern end of the Allen Valley fen (Steinauer et al. 1996). The fen vegetation is surrounded primarily by Sandhills freshwater marsh, which in turn is surrounded by northern sedge wet meadow. Additional Sandhills freshwater marsh occurs near the eastern boundary of the preserve. The eastern …

Environmental Finance Charette, Hyannis Park On Lewis Bay: A Case Study, New England Environmental Finance Center, Environmental Finance Center Of University Of Maryland

Water

The town of Yarmouth currently has a $30 million septic sludge treatment plant and transport lines in place. The vast majority of the dwellings and businesses in the Hyannis Park area are on septic systems that are viable and Title 5 compliant, regardless of age. Conventional, "non-failing" septic systems, however, were never intended to remove form their effluent nutrients such as nitrogen. These have become recognized as an environmental threat only as our understanding of the impacts of excess nutrients on ecosystems has increased in recent decades.

Aquaculture Plan For The Recherche Archipelago, Fisheries Western Australia.

Fisheries Management Papers

Land supply and land cost for aquaculture may become a limiting factor in the foreseeable future. At present, adequate appropriately zoned land is available at reasonable cost. The most prospective land for aquaculture in or near Esperance is where suitable zoned land occurs over saline ground water aquifers or adjacent to the coast. Careful site selection would be necessary to ensure water supply, waste water disposal, services and operational space can be achieved at reasonable cost.

Terrestrial Natural Communities Of Nebraska - Version Ii, Gerry Steinauer, Steven B. Rolfsmeier

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

For more than a decade, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and state natural heritage programs, including the Nebraska Natural Heritage Program (NNHP), have used a “coarse filter/fine filter” approach to preserving biological diversity (The Nature Conservancy, 1994). This approach involves identification and protection of natural communities (coarse filter) as well as rare species (fine filter). Identifying and protecting representative examples of natural communities ensures conservation of most species, biotic interactions and ecological processes. Those species that “fall through” the community filters are generally the rare species. Identification and protection of viable occurrences of rare species serves as the fine filter for …

Conservation In A Highly Fragmented Landscape: The Central Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregional Conservation Plan, The Central Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion Planning Team

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

With the adoption of Conservation by Design in 1995, The Nature Conservancy recognized the importance of working at larger scales to achieve our mission which is: the long-term survival of all viable native species and community types through the design and conservation of portfolios of sites within ecoregions. The Conservancy set forth to design conservation plans on an ecoregional basis by working closely with various conservation partners. These plans are intended to provide a framework within which the Conservancy and our partners, such as the Natural Heritage Programs, can make decisions regarding conservation actions to be taken at the …

Fisheries Research Report No. 114 - The Western Australian Scallop Industry, D C. Harris, L M. Joll, R A. Watson

Fisheries Research Reports

Five separate commercial fisheries target the saucer scallop, Amusium balloti (Bernadi 1861) in Western Australian waters. While the average annual catch from these fisheries is around 600 tonnes of scallop meat, past catches have been highly variable with annual landings ranging from 150 to 4,400 tonnes of meat worth between $2 and $59 million. Consequently, scallops represent one of the larger single-species fisheries operating in Western Australia (WA).

A. balloti has a distribution spanning most of the WA coast, from Broome in the north around to Esperance in the south. Despite this extensive distribution, saucer scallops tend to be restricted …

Intermediate Rings Between A Local Domain And Its Completion, William Heinzer, Christel Rotthaus, Sylvia Wiegand

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We consider the structure of certain intermediate domains between a local Noetherian domain Rand an ideal-adic completion R* of R that arise as the intersection of R* with a field containing R. In the case where the intersection domain A can be expressed as a directed union of localized polynomial extension rings of R, the computation of A is easier. We examine conditions for this to happen. We also present examples to motivate and illustrate the concepts considered.

1999 Nebraska Central Mixedgrass Prairie Rapid Ecological Assessment, Mike Bullerman

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This document has been prepared in partial fulfillment of the 1999 Central Mixedgrass Prairie ecoregion [CMGP] Rapid Ecological Assessment [REA] contract between the Nebraska Chapter of The Nature Conservancy [TNC] and Michael J. Bullerman [“contractor”]. The contract provided for the survey of selected untilled landscapes within the Nebraska portion of the CMGP ecoregion, excluding the Sandhills. The objectives of this study were to:

1) Identify relatively intact CMGP landscapes within the state of Nebraska,

2) Determine the ecological condition, threats, unique features, and conservation potential of these landscapes,

3) Determine land use practices implemented by landowners,

4) Determine landowner attitudes …

1999 Wildlife Management Area Threatened And Endangered Species Inventory, Final Report, Robert F. Steinauer

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This study was undertaken to determine the extent of threatened and endangered (T&E) species habitats and high-quality native plant communities on Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). The Nebraska Natural Heritage Program (NHP) is responsible for environmental reviews of state projects that may impact threatened and endangered (T&E) species in Nebraska, including proposed management actions on state Wildlife Management Areas (WMA). These environmental reviews require a significant amount of NHP staff time, and frequently find no adverse impacts associated with the proposed management actions. This survey was undertaken to improve Nebraska Game and Parks Commissions (NGPC) …

Inventory Of The Central Mixed-Grass Prairie Ecoregion Of Kansas And Nebraska, Hillary Loring, Mike Bullerman, Kelly Kindscher

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

An inventory of potential high quality mixed-grass prairie ranches and large properties within the Central Mixed-Grass Prairie Ecoregion of Kansas and Nebraska was conducted in the spring and summer of 1999. Emphasis during the inventory was placed on identification of relatively intact landscapes. Significant ranches within those untilled landscapes were visited. An interview of the owners or managers of those properties was coupled with a survey of the vegetation. Assessments of quality were based on species composition, continuity of ground cover, observations of livestock impact, and viability of the community types present.

The objectives of this study were to:

1) …

Fisheries Research Report No. 110 - A Research Vessel Survey Of Bottom Types In The Area Of The Abrolhos Islands And Mid-West Trawl Fishery., C. J. Dibden, L. M. Joll

Fisheries Research Reports

To address the concern expressed by Commercial rock lobster fishers operating in the Abrolhos Islands area, that expanding saucer scallop trawl activity was damaging the sea floor biota in areas which they considered good rock lobster habitat and poor scallop habitat, an underwater video survey was conducted by the Fisheries Department Research Division, with the following objectives:

1. Examine, classify and map the benthic habitat of areas currently and historically trawled for scallops in the Abrolhos Islands area and adjacent waters;

2. Examine, classify and map the benthic habitat of areas adjacent to these trawled areas, where potential for conflict …

Inventory For Endangered, Threatened And Rare Plant And Animal Species Within The Floodplain Corridor Of The Middle Loup River Basin In Nebraska, Michael I. Fritz, Gerry Steinauer

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This survey was conducted by Nebraska Natural Heritage Program of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission with funding received from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Island office. This agreement was entered into on April 16, 1996. The objective of the agreement was to conduct a survey of a portion of the Loup River basin floodplain corridor for rare plant communities and plant and animal species. This is the final report of that survey. This report includes not only data collected directly as a result of field survey work associated with the project but also previous …

Fisheries Management Report No. 2 - Use Of Market Mechanisms For The Allocation Of Commercial Fishing Access Entitlements In Western Australia, Economics Consulting Services Pty Ltd

Fisheries Published Reports

This publication has been prepared as a discussion paper on the potential use of market-based mechanisms for allocating commercial fishing entitlements in Western Australia. The aim has been to explore alternative mechanisms for allocating entitlements and the circumstances under which various methods might be more effective.

Fisheries Research Report No.109 - The Western Rock Lobster Fishery 1991/92 To 1992/93, C. F. Chubb, E. H. Barker

Fisheries Research Reports

The 1991/92 and 1992/93 seasons produced 12,200 and 12,300 tonnes of rock lobsters, taken by 12.8 and 11.8 million pot lifts respectively.

This report covering these two seasons is the latest in a series of reports covering The Western Rock Lobster Fishery, which is Western Australia's largest and most valuable fishery.

These reports are a historical record of various data for use by industry and research personnel now and in the future and covers such issues as: management/legislative changes, value of the product and licences, input costs (fuel, bait etc), changes in fishing practices, gear, technology and boats, together with …

1997 Inventory For Spiranthes Diluvialis Sheviak In Western Nebraska: A Final Report, Volume I, Terri Hildebrand

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This study resulted from an agreement between Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW). After the 1996 discovery of Spiranthes diluvialis, in western Nebraska, NGPC was seeking to determine the extent of the Nebraska population. Information on the wet meadow community of orchid occurrence in Nebraska and eastern Wyoming was needed. This report includes descriptions of communities inventoried, Spiranthes diluvialis populations, and additional species monitored by Nebraska and Wyoming Natural Heritage programs.

The 1996 discovery of Spiranthes diluvialis in Nebraska by Hazlett merited the need for further inventory for the species …

Drought-Induced Shift Of A Forest–Woodland Ecotone: Rapid Landscape Response To Climate Variation, Craig Allen, David D. Breshears

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In coming decades, global climate changes are expected to produce large shifts in vegetation distributions at unprecedented rates. These shifts are expected to be most rapid and extreme at ecotones, the boundaries between ecosystems, particularly those in semiarid landscapes. However, current models do not adequately provide for such rapid effects—particularly those caused by mortality—largely because of the lack of data from field studies. Here we report the most rapid landscape-scale shift of a woody ecotone ever documented: in northern New Mexico in the 1950s, the ecotone between semiarid ponderosa pine forest and pinon– juniper woodland shifted extensively (2 km or …

1998 Southeast Nebraska Tallgrass Praire Inventory: Johnson, Gage, And Jefferson Counties, Final Report, Robert F. Steinauer

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report is prepared as a requirement of the 1998 Southeast Nebraska Prairie Survey contract between the Platte/Rainwater Basin Project Office of the Nature Conservancy and Robert F. Steinauer. The original contract called for the examination of Johnson County south of Highway 136, and Gage County east of Beatrice. Due to the scarcity of prairies in these areas, the survey region was expanded to include northern Johnson County, and southern Jefferson County.

Prairies in these areas were identified using infrared and black and white photos, driving on county and within grassland roads, and conversations with landowners. Heritage Program “Site Survey …

1997 Inventory For Spiranthes Diluvialis Sheviak In Western Nebraska: A Final Report, Volume Ii, Terri Hildebrand

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This study resulted from an agreement between Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW). After the 1996 discovery of Spiranthes diluvialis, in western Nebraska, NGPC was seeking to determine the extent of the Nebraska population. Information on the wet meadow community of orchid occurrence in Nebraska and eastern Wyoming was needed. This report includes descriptions of communities inventoried, Spiranthes diluvialis populations, and additional species monitored by Nebraska and Wyoming Natural Heritage programs.

Between May and September 1997, potential Spiranthes diluvialis habitat was inventoried for occurrences of the orchid. For all sites …

Terrestrial Natural Communities Of Nebraska - Version I, Gerry Steinauer, Steven B. Rolfsmeier

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

The Nebraska Natural Heritage Program has been collecting information and data including published literature, field observations and vegetation plot data over the last 10 years of development of Nebraska’s natural community classification. The classification contains 27 wetland and 36 upland communities including forest, woodland, shrubland, herbaceous, and sparsely vegetated (e.g. rock outcrop) types. The community types were distinguished primarily on plant species composition and to a lesser extent on soils, hydrology and geographic location. The classification contains descriptions of each community type that include dominant species, soils, range, and other ecological information. The classification is designed to be flexible enough …

Idealwise Algebraic Independence For Elements Of The Completion Of A Local Domain, William Heinzer, Christel Rotthaus, Sylvia Wiegand

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Over the past forty years many examples in commutative algebra have been constructed using the following principle: Let k be a field, let S k[xl Xn]x,xn) be a localized polynomial ring over k, and let a be an ideal in the completion S of S such that the associated prims of a are in the generic formal fiber of S; that is, p N S (0) for each p Ass(S/a):. Then S embeds in S/a, the fraction field Q(S) of S embeds in the fraction ring of S/a, and for certain choices of a, the intersection D Q(S) f3 (S/a) …

1997 Rapid Ecological Assessment Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecoregion: Western And Central South Dakota, Northwestern Nebraska, Eastern Wyoming, A Final Report, Terri Hildebrand

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

In an effort to gain a more complete understanding of existing vegetative communities of the Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecoregion, rapid ecological assessment was undertaken throughout the ecoregion during the field season of 1997. Field office personnel of The Nature Conservancy and private contractors evaluated previously delineated regions in accordance with methodology determined in May of 1997. The following document presents results of the rapid ecological assessments performed by Hildebrand Contracting. The purpose of this document is to provide The Nature Conservancy with information to help determine the vegetative features of regions sampled. The specific areas and boundaries for evaluation …

Fisheries Research Report No 105 - The Western Rock Lobster Fishery 1986/87 To 1990/91, C. F. Chubb, E. H. Barker, R. S. Brown

Fisheries Research Reports

This report on the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus, George 1962) fishery covers the five seasons 1986/87 to 1990/91 and is the latest in a series of reports on the State's largest and most valuable fishery. While more detailed data bases exist, these reports form a historical record of basic data for use by both industry and research workers, now and in the future. Catch and fishing effort in the seasons (1986/87 to 1990/91) varied between 8500 and 12300 tonnes and 11.3 and 12.8 million pot lifts respectively. This report provides detail on the distribution of catches and fishing effort; …

Reform Of The Endangered Species Act: Overview Of Administrative Reforms [Congressional Hearing Material Submitted By Bruce E. Babbitt, Secretary, Department Of Interior], Dinah Bear

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

31 pages.

A Tribal Perspective On Esa Reform, Ted Strong

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

4 pages.