Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Meeting Flier: Innovative Approaches To Watershed Protection And Restoration (May 12, 2009), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Project Update: Taunton River Watershed Plan (May 12, 2009 Meeting), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Taunton River Watershed Management Plan Potential Demonstration Projects (May 12, 2009), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Fisheries Research Report No. 191 - Maximising Survival Of Released Undersize West Coast Reef Fish, Rodney C J Lenanton, Jill St John, Brent S. Wise, Ian S. Keay, D J. Gaughan

Fisheries Research Reports

Final FRDC Report – Project 2000/194

In Australia, most fishery managers regulate the catch of recreational fishes using size and bag limits. The effectiveness of these regulations depends on the fish surviving capture and then release back into the water. Effective management of fishing using size or bag limits therefore requires an understanding of the rates of mortality of released fish and what factors are causing mortality so that these might be alleviated. The rates and likely causes of mortality of released WA dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum) and snapper (Pagrus auratus), breaksea cod (Epinephelides armatus) and baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens) off …

Management Of Grassy Balds Communities In The Roan Highlands, James T. Donaldson, Nora Schubert, L. C. Huff

ETSU Faculty Works

The Highlands of Roan Mountain best exemplify that which is rare and unique within high elevation communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Roan Highlands are protected through a landscape-level conservation initiative originally established by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) and the U. S. Forest Service (USFS) in 1974. The Roan massif rises more than 6,000 feet above mean sea level and straddles the border of North Carolina and Tennessee in the Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests, respectively. Among its unique aspects, the Roan supports at least 800 known plant species, 27 rare plant communities, and 33 federally or …

Phylogeography Of The Rufous-Naped Wren (Campylorhynchus Rufinucha): Speciation And Hybridization In Mesoamerica, Hernan Vazquez-Miranda, Adolfo G. Navarro-Siguenza, Kevin E. Omland

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Rufous-naped Wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha) is a sedentary, morphologically variable species distributed in the dry forests of Mesoamerica. It ranges from Colima, Mexico, south to Costa Rica along the Pacific slope, with a disjunct population in central Veracruz. Populations of two forms on the Pacific slope intergrade in Chiapas, Mexico, apparently as a result of secondary contact. We sequenced a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene to explore phylogeographic patterns and hybridization. We found three divergent lineages, two geographically spanning the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and a disjunct Veracruz population. Analyses of molecular variation and statistics are consistent with genetically distinct …

Baselines Newsletter, No. 4, Spring 2009, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

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

No abstract provided.

National Parks In China: A New Model For Nature Conservation, Katherine Fritz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

When the author of “China has First National Park” published in The Science News-Letter in 1948, he could not foresee the next 60 years of China’s struggle to develop an effective nature conservation system. If he had, he would have known that simply recognizing the value of precious land, as China did in 1948, does not automatically lead to a sophisticated, nation-wide national park system.

National parks are the hallmark of advanced civil society and complex government conservation schemes. Since the State Forestry Department declared China’s first officially protected space at Dinghu Shan Nature Reserve in Guangdong province in 1956 …

Droughtscape, Spring 2009, Kelly Smith

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

U.S. Drought Monitor Publishes Map 500!

Weakening La Niña May Mean Relief for Texas

Upcoming Workshops

Drought Impacts Worst in California, Texas

CoCoRaHS to Request Drought Impact Data, Too

NDMC Adds Researcher

K-12 Students Learn About Drought

Using Gis To Locate Areas For Growing Quality Coffee In Honduras, Ellen Mickle

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Small-scale coffee producers worldwide remain vulnerable to price fluctuations after the 1999-2003 coffee crisis. One way to increase small-scale farmer economic resilience is to produce a more expensive product, such as quality coffee. There is growing demand in coffee-producing and coffee-importing countries for user-friendly tools that facilitate the marketing of quality coffee. The purpose of this study is to develop a prototypical quality coffee marketing tool in the form of a GIS model that identifies regions for producing quality coffee in a country not usually associated with quality coffee, Honduras. Maps of areas for growing quality coffee were produced …

Guardians Of The Grassland: A Qualitative Assessment Of The Success Of Community-Based Wildlife Conservation In Mongolia’S Eastern Steppe, Alexandra Sprague

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Community-based conservation is a newer type of conservation that includes people in the ecosystem and attempts to simultaneously promote development and conservation. One organization in Mongolia that is facilitating the implementation of community-based conservation is the Wildlife Conservation Society. Their goal is:

My research questions concerning this NGO’s project are: what are the perceived benefits and problems with CBC? What makes it successful and how can it be improved? My location of study was the easternmost aimags of Mongolia, Dornod and Sukhbaatar. I spent 1 week travelling to 9 of the WCS’s 13 active herder communities asking their opinions about …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, January 1, 2009 To March 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

Executive Summary

• The Weed Sentry program surveyed over 126 miles (981 acres) of federal land by vehicle and foot in Clark County for incipient populations of exotic plants.
• Weed Sentry staff continue to survey never before surveyed sites, and trails and regions within Red Rock and Sloan Canyon NCAs requested by BLM managers.
• The 2009 rare plant monitoring was initiated and in progress.
• Northshore Road reconstruction monitoring was initiated and active monitoring and care of salvaged plants was performed by UNLV staff.
• Rana onca vegetation monitoring and reporting was completed.

Ua3/9/5 Wku Energy Policy Announcement, Wku President's Office

WKU Administration Documents

Remarks and announcement by WKU president Gary Ransdell regarding WKU's energy policy and enumerating conservation efforts.

Project Update: Taunton River Watershed Management Plan (March 12, 2009 Meeting), Horsley Witten Group, Inc.

Public Meetings

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 84, No. 37, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles:

• Ulber, Emily. West Campus Greenways Project Moves to Phase 2
• Simpson, Mandy. Western to Offer Summer Developmental Courses – College Prep
• Claybourn, Cole. The Right Spot – Vagina Monologues
• Moore, Josh. Pulitzer Prize Winning Alumnus Speaks to Crowded Auditorium – Rick Loomis
• Bennett, Emily-Rose. A Thousand Words – Matt Coffelt
• Barczak, Mary. Student Government Association Attendance Down 6 Percent
• Barczak, Mary. Student Government Association Approves Study Abroad Scholarship
• Erskine, Anne. Editorial Cartoon re: Spring Break
• Winter Break Part II: Spring Break Should Be Moved Back to Spring
• Browning, …

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 20 - Risk Assessment Of The Record Brook Inter-Basin Water Transfer Scheme To The Aquatic Fauna Of The Donnelly And Warren Rivers, M. De Graaf, D. L. Morgan, S. J. Beatty, C. W. Hugh

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

Report to the Water Corporation of Western Australia

This report describes the fishes and freshwater crayfishes of the Donnelly and Warren River catchments and provides a risk assessment to these fauna of the proposed extraction of water from Record Brook (tributary of the Donnelly River) and subsequent transfer to Scabby Gully Dam (Warren River catchment). The proposed location of the structure in Record Brook is at the gauging station ~1 km upstream from the confluence with the Donnelly River. The project aims to divert peak flows in the winter and spring flow period, transferring around 500 ML each year. The …

Vegetation, Environmental Characteristics, And Their Relationships: Variation Within The Annually Flooded Riparian Zones Of The John Day River Basin, Oregon, Samuel J. Hartsfield

Dissertations and Theses

I hypothesized that vegetation and physical environmental characteristics would differ between the upper and lower extents of the annually flooded riparian zone on the John Day River, and that relationships between species and environmental variables would display differences between these two zones. Vegetation, environmental variables, and relationships between them were assessed for the entire annually flooded riparian zone, and for the proposed upper and lower zones. Data were collected from 60 one-square-meter quadrats: 30 in each the upper and lower zones. Sites were randomly selected and located so that flood duration was roughly equal at all sites within each zone. …

Development Of A Healthy Farm Index To Assess Ecological, Economic, And Social Function On Organic And Sustainable Farms In Nebraska's Four Agroecoregions., James R. Brandle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Evaporation Estimation Method Based On The Coupled 2-D Turbulent Heat And Vapor Transport Equations, Jozsef Szilagyi, Janos Jozsa

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The analytical solution of the coupled turbulent diffusion equations of heat and vapor transport across a moisture discontinuity under near-neutral atmospheric conditions and constant energy available at the evaporating surface yields a simple equation (i.e., the wet-surface equation [WSE]) that relates the change in surface temperature to the change in the land surface moisture content as the environment dries. With the help of percent possible sunshine, air temperature, and humidity measurements at selected weather stations as well as land surface temperature values from MODIS data, monthly, warm-season evaporation rates were estimated for five rectangular regions across the contiguous U.S. employing …

Complementary Relationship Of Evaporation And The Mean Annual Water-Energy Balance, Jozsef Szilagyi, Janos Jozsa

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

By combining the complementary relationship of evaporation with the coupled long-term water-energy balance of Porporato et al. (2004) in a Budyko-type framework, one can, from atmospheric measurements alone, derive important ecosystem characteristics, such as the mean effective relative soil moisture and the maximum soil water storage, as well as predict changes in the rooting depth of vegetation as a response to climate variations.

Comment On ‘‘Power Law Catchment-Scale Recessions Arising From Heterogeneous Linear Small-Scale Dynamics’’ By C. J. Harman, M. Sivapalan, And P. Kumar, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

It is demonstrated that a near-linear subsurface runoff response from a short and relatively steep slope segment and a nonlinear response at the watershed scale may primarily arise from geometry rather than from an assumed linear nature of the subsurface runoff response from the hillslope, as Harman et al. [2009] employed for the Panola Mountain Research (PMR) catchment in Georgia. The authors caution in their paper that hydraulic theory (exemplified by the study of Brutsaert and Nieber [1977]) cannot generally account for the heterogeneity in the watershed scale and therefore should be used with certain reservation when employing it for …

Movements, Distribution, And Abundance Of Great Argus Pheasants (Argusianus Argus) In A Sumatran Rainforest, Nurul L. Winarni, Timothy G. O'Brien, John P. Carroll, Margaret F. Kinnaird

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We used radiotelemetry, habitat sampling, camera trapping, and line-transect surveys to explore movement patterns, distribution, and abundance of Great Argus Pheasants (Argusianus argus) in Sumatra, Indonesia. We radiotracked six adult and one subadult males. Territories averaged 14.5 ± 8.5 ha, and home-range size did not vary by month or by relative abundance of selected plant foods. Daily travel distance (849 ± 211 m) varied significantly between months but did not reflect changes in plant foods. Territories were used almost exclusively by resident males. Males preferentially used undisturbed forest (habitat I). Vegetation structure at male display sites and random points indicated …

A Phylogenetic Supertree Of The Fowls (Galloanserae, Aves), Soo Hyumg Eo, Olaf R.P. Bininda-Emonds, John P. Carroll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The fowls (Anseriformes and Galliformes) comprise one of the major lineages of birds and occupy almost all biogeographical regions of the world. The group contains the most economically important of all bird species, each with a long history of domestication, and is an ideal model for studying ecological and evolutionary patterns. Yet, despite the relatively large amount of systematic attention fowls have attracted because of their socio-economic and biological importance, the species-level relationships within this clade remain controversial. Here we used the supertree method matrix representation with parsimony to generate a robust estimate of species-level relationships of fowls. The supertree …

Modeling Lakes And Reservoirs In The Climate System, M. D. Mackay, P. J. Neale, C. D. Arp, L. N. De Senerpont Domis, X. Fang, G. Gal, K. D. Johnk, G. Kirillin, J. D. Lenters, E. Litchman, S. Macintyre, P. Marsh, J. Melack, W. M. Mooij, F. Peeters, A. Quesada, S. G. Schladow, M. Schmid, C. Spence, S. L. Stokes

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Modeling studies examining the effect of lakes on regional and global climate, as well as studies on the influence of climate variability and change on aquatic ecosystems, are surveyed. Fully coupled atmosphere–land surface–lake climate models that could be used for both of these types of study simultaneously do not presently exist, though there are many applications that would benefit from such models. It is argued here that current understanding of physical and biogeochemical processes in freshwater systems is sufficient to begin to construct such models, and a path forward is proposed. The largest impediment to fully representing lakes in the …

First Record Of Pseudorabies In Feral Swine In Nebraska, Sam Wilson, Alan R. Doster, Justin D. Hoffman, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In 2007, two new populations of feral swine were discovered in Nance and Valley counties, Nebraska, USA. Necropsies and serologic testing was done on two individuals from the Nance County herd. Results indicated that a lactating sow had positive antibodies for pseudorabies virus (PRV). Investigations conducted by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Law Enforcement division confirmed that the infected individual was transported illegally to Nebraska, USA, from Texas, USA. All domestic swine herds located within an 8 km radius of the infected individual tested negative for antibodies to PRV. Our results provide a clear example of how diseases can spread …

A Modified Advection-Aridity Model Of Evapotranspiration, Jozsef Szilagyi, Michael T. Hobbins, Janos Jozsa

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Analytical Solution Of The Coupled 2-D Turbulent Heat And Vapor Transport Equations And The Complementary Relationship Of Evaporation, Jozsef Szilagyi, Janos Jozsa

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Estimating Spatially Distributed Monthly Evapotranspiration Rates By Linear Transformations Of Modis Daytime Land Surface Temperature Data, J. Szilagyi, J. Jozsa

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ecological Divergence Of Two Sympatric Lineages Of Buggy Creek Virus, An Arbovirus Associated With Birds, Charles R. Brown, Abinash Padhi, Amy T. Moore, Mary Bomberger Brown, Jerome E. Foster, Martin Pfeffer, Valerie A. O'Brien, Nicholas Komar

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Most arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) show distinct serological subtypes or evolutionary lineages, with the evolution of different strains often assumed to reflect differences in ecological selection pressures. Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) is an unusual RNA virus (Togaviridae, Alphavirus) that is associated primarily with a cimicid swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius) as its vector and the Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) as its amplifying hosts. There are two sympatric lineages of BCRV (lineages A and B) that differ from each other by .6% at the nucleotide level. Analysis of 385 …

2009 Interior Least Tern And Piping Plover Monitoring, Research, Management, And Outreach Report For The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Mary Bomberger Brown, Joel G. Jorgensen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This document reports on our monitoring, research, management, and outreach activities during the past 12 months (2009). We prepared it to inform our partners, cooperating agencies, funding sources, and other interested parties of our activities and to provide a preliminary summary of our results.

The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership (TPCP), based at the University of Nebraska–School of Natural Resources, and the Nongame Bird Program (NBP), based at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) work cooperatively on Interior Least Tern and Piping Plover monitoring, research, management, and education-outreach activities. While the proximate focus of our work is the Lower …