Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Using The Trees To Understand The Forest: Evaluating The Risks Of The Panama Canal Amplification Project, Caroline Gross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For over a decade, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and its United States predecessor have contemplated a Canal Amplification Project to allow larger boats to pass through the Panama Canal. This project, as it is currently understood, would involve the construction of a new, “third” set of locks with greater capacity, the widening of channels within the Canal, and the flooding of approximately 45,000 hectares of land currently occupied by campesinos/as. Since the passage of a 1999 law that expanded the definition of the Panama Canal Watershed by 63 percent, some campesinos/as have united to oppose the flooding of their …

Draft Aquaculure Plan For Exmouth Gulf, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

The Plan’s objective is to provide a sound strategy for developing future aquaculture activities in Exmouth Gulf, while at the same time conserving the unique environment of Exmouth Gulf for present and future generations, and minimising conflict with existing and future users of Exmouth Gulf.

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 6 - Anglers Guide To Assessing Reproductive Stage In Fish, Kim Smith, Mike Mackie, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

What is a gonad?

"Gonad" is a general term for a reproductive organ, and is used to describe both ovaries and testes. In male and female fish, the gonad is an elongated organ lying along the upper wall of the gut cavity (i.e. running immediately under the vertebral column). The gonad gonad has 2 lobes. Both lobes are attached to the body near the anus and extend forward inside the gut cavity.

As fish gonads ripen, they become larger, heavier and change colour. Immature and undeveloped adult gonads are very small, strap-like in shape, pinkish in colour and translucent (i.e. …

Defining Soil Type And Habitat Characteristics Of The Arctomecon Californica, Philip S. Childers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A. californica can be considered a rare endemic species, which is believed to be restricted by unique soil relationships. These relationships make the species vulnerable to anthropogenic habitat disturbance. Although A. californica is listed as critically endangered by the state of Nevada, further research is needed before the species can be listed as federally endangered or threatened. This study used primary observational data and secondary GIS compatible data to characterize A. californica habitat. Representative sampling techniques were used to select observations from derived soil types. Although a majority of A. californica populations were found to occur in gypsic soil types, …

A Comparison Of Anuran Species Richness Between Primary And Secondary Forest In São Francisco Do Pará, Michael Reichert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Deforestation in the Amazon has become a serious conservation issue. The process of destruction of primary forest results in the creation of secondary forest that differs from primary forest in a number of important ways. Anurans (frogs and toads) are one group that may be affected by the loss of primary forest and creation of secondary forest areas, and are an important focus for conservation efforts. Previous studies on anuran reactions to loss of primary forest have been few and inconclusive. This study examined anuran species richness in an area of primary and secondary forest in order to determine whether …

Draft Plan Of Management For The Kalbarri Blue Holes Fish Habitat Protection Area., Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

The overall objective of the proposed FHPA and the associated Plan of Management is to conserve and protect a portion of the near-shore reef ecosystem in the vicinity of the Blue Holes, and to manage activities within the area, to promote the observation and protection of fish living within the area. Strong community commitment has already been demonstrated, and this is crucial in the implementation of the proposed management plan

Fish Stock And Fishery Enhancement In Western Australia. A Summary Report., Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

This summary paper provides an overview of the key proposals set out in the full policy discussion paper, Fisheries Management Paper No 175. It does not discuss the theoretical background for the framework presented and therefore readers interested in such discussion are directed to Fisheries Management Paper No 175.

Both papers have been prepared to encourage public involvement in the development of policy for stock enhancement within Western Australian waters. Stock enhancement can involve an existing fishery or creation of a new fishery through the translocation of fish. It affects both public and private waters.

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 36, No.1 March 2004

The Prairie Naturalist

DUCK NESTING SUCCESS IN NORTH DAKOTA ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAYS ▪ J. Walker, S. S. Stephens, M. S. Lindberg, and J. 1. Rotella

DID TALLGRASS PRAIRIE EXTEND INTO PENNSYLVANIA? ▪ D. C. Laughlin

INFLUENCE OF PREY ABUNDANCE ON RAPTORS IN TALLGRASS PRAIRIE ▪ A. W. Reed, G. A. Kaufman, D. A. Rintoul, and D. W. Kaufman

AMERICAN BITTERN NESTING IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA ▪ L. C. Carroll and F. A. de Szalay

THE FLORA OF THE COTTONWOOD LAKE STUDY AREA, STUTSMAN COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA ▪ . D. M. Mushet, N. H. Euliss Jr., S. P. Lane, and C. M. Goldade …

Earth Day, Every Day, University Of South Alabama

Conservation/Energy Alternatives

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from the University of South Alabama.

Structures And Dynamics Of Quasi-2d Mesoscale Convective Systems, Matthew D. Parker, Richard H. Johnson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Recently, three distinct archetypes for midlatitude linear mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) have been identified. This article focuses on the fundamentals of two of these archetypes: convective lines with trailing stratiform (TS) precipitation and convective lines with leading stratiform (LS) precipitation. Both the TS and LS modes typically exhibit quasi-2D reflectivity patterns and quasi-2D environmental storm-relative wind fields. Ongoing work has revealed that there are three common flow structures for these quasi-2D MCSs: front-fed TS systems (which are sustained by front-to-rear storm-relative inflow), as well as front-fed LS and rear-fed LS systems (which are sustained by rear-to-front storm-relative inflow). This paper …

Notes And Correspondence Uncertainties Of Derived Dewpoint Temperature And Relative Humidity, X. Lin, Kenneth Hubbard

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This paper presents an evaluation of derived dewpoint temperature and derived relative humidity, in which the dewpoint temperature is calculated using measured ambient air temperature and measured relative humidity variables and the derived relative humidity is calculated from measured dewpoint temperature. The derived dewpoint temperature and relative humidity are calculated using algorithms provided by the World Meteorological Organization. The method of uncertainty analysis, provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is applied to calculate the uncertainties of an indirect measurement of derived dewpoint temperature and derived relative humidity. The results from the uncertainty analyses of derived and observed …

Sensor And Electronic Biases/Errors In Air Temperature Measurements In Common Weather Station Networks*, X. Lin, Kenneth Hubbard

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The biases of four commonly used air temperature sensors are examined and detailed. Each temperature transducer consists of three components: temperature sensing elements, signal conditioning circuitry, and corresponding analog-to-digital conversion devices or dataloggers. An error analysis of these components was performed to determine the major sources of error in common climate networks. It was found that, regardless of microclimate effects, sensor and electronic errors in air temperature measurements can be larger than those given in the sensor manufacturer’s specifications. The root-sum-of-squares (RSS) error for the HMP35C sensor with CR10X datalogger was above 0.2􏰆C, and rapidly increases for both lower (􏰋􏰂20􏰆C) …

Variations In The Teleconnection Of Enso And Summer Rainfall In Northern China: A Role Of The Indian Summer Monsoon*, Song Feng, Qi Hu

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Observational studies have created a dilemma on how El Nin ̃o–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may have affected interannual variations of summer rainfall in northern China; some suggested a consistent effect while others showed a complete lack of effect. This dilemma is resolved in this study, which shows that ENSO has affected the summer rainfall in northern China and the effect has varied at multidecadal scales. The question of how the ENSO teleconnection with northern China rainfall variation was established is addressed, and an answer pointing to the Indian summer monsoon as a ‘‘facilitator’’ connecting ENSO and northern China rainfall variation is …

Late Albian Dinosaur Tracks From The Cratonic (Eastern) Margin Of The Western Interior Seaway, Nebraska, Usa, R. M. Joeckel, J. M. Cunningham, R. G. Corner, P. L. Phillips, G. A. Ludvigson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Accounting For Stream-Aquifer Interactions In The State-Space Discretization Of The Kmn-Cascade For Streamflow Forecasting, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Visitors Motivations To Provide Learning Opportunities At Water-Based Recreation Areas, Taylor V. Stein, Christine B. Denny, Lisa A. Pennisi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Heuristic Continuous Base Flow Separation, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

White-Tailed Deer, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is one of two members of the deer family (Cervidae) commonly found in the Great Plains. When alarmed, white-tailed deer hold their tails erect, baring their white underside and white rump. Bucks (males) begin growing bonelike antlers early each summer and by early fall the antlers stop growing and harden. The antlers have a main beam with tines erupting from the top and are used for fighting and establishing rank in the social hierarchy.

Comparison Of Modis And Avhrr 16-Day Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Composite Data, Kevin P. Gallo, Lei Ji, Brad Reed, John Dwyer, Jeffrey Eidenshink

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data derived from visible and near-infrared data acquired by the MODIS and AVHRR sensors were compared over the same time periods and a variety of land cover classes within the conterminous USA. The relationship between the AVHRR derived NDVI values and those of future sensors is critical to continued long term monitoring of land surface properties. The results indicate that the 16-day composite values are quite similar over the 23 intervals of 2001 that were analyzed, and a linear relationship exists between the NDVI values from the two sensors. The composite AVHRR NDVI data were …

Animal Anti–Apoptotic Genes Enhance Recovery From Drought Stress In Tobacco, Tala Awada, David D. Dunigan, Martin B. Dickman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The anti–apoptotic nematode CED–9 gene and a 3’ non–coding mRNA region of the human Bcl–2 gene, referred to as 161–1, enhanced resistance to drought and recovery after re–watering in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum L. CV Glurk plants. The effect of drought on plant functions was investigated by withholding water from pots for 6, 8, 10 and 13 days. Results showed that controls and transgenic tobacco did not differ among each other under well–watered conditions. Differences appeared however, on day 3 of water deprivation, where controls exhibited a significantly steeper decline in photosynthesis (A) compared to the transgenic lines. On day 10 …

Regional Modis Analysis Of Abandoned Agricultural Lands In The Kazakh Steppes, Kirsten M. De Beurs, Geoffrey M. Henebry, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The institutional consequences of the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 have been greatly underestimated as a significant forcing on the boundary layer through changes in land surface phenology. Upon independence, Kazakhstan lost the centralized agricultural planning, crop subsidy system, and access to international markets that the Soviet Union had been providing. These institutional changes led to substantial decreases in livestock populations, especially sheep, and in arable land area cultivated, especially rain-fed spring wheat in northern Kazakhstan. As a result the fallow fields reverted to weedy species and idle pastures produced denser grass cover.

In this case study we used MODIS …

The Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index And Its Potential Utility For Gap Analysis, Geoffrey M. Henebry, Andrés Viña, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In this brief note, the authors illustrate the prevalence of reduced sensitivity of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), introduce the Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI), and illustrate the advantages of the WDVRI over the NDVI using Landsat ETM+ data that spans a range of canopy densities.

Non-Destructive Assessment Of Chlorophyll Carotenoid And Anthocyanin Content In Higher Plant Leaves: Principles And Algorithms, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Mark N. Merzlyak

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Leaf pigment content provides valuable information about the physiological status of plants. Reflectance measurement makes it possible to quickly and non-destructively assess, in situ, the pigment content in leaves. The objective was to investigate the spectral behavior of the relationship between reflectance and pigment content (total chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanins, which are the main pigments of leaves, and provide valuable information about plant physiological status) and to develop techniques for non-destructive pigment estimation in leaves using reflectance in a few spectral bands.

Satellite Monitoring Of Vegetation Dynamics: Sensitivity Enhancement By The Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index, Andrés Viña, Geoffrey Henebry, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Synoptic monitoring of vegetation dynamics relies on satellite observations of the distinctive spectral contrast between red and near infrared reflectance that photosynthetically active green vegetation exhibits. It has long been recognized that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) suffers a rapid decrease of sensitivity at moderate-to-high densities of photosynthetic green biomass. This decrease can conceal detection of vegetation change in croplands, woodlands, and productive grasslands.We applied a recent, straightforward modification of the NDVI, the Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI), to a standard AVHRR dataset to assess its sensitivity to variability within ecoregions and across years, relative to NDVI. In …

Remote Estimation Of Net Ecosystem Co2 Exchange In Crops: Principles, Technique Calibration And Validation, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Andrés Viña, Shashi Verma, Donald C. Rundquist, Timothy J. Arkebauer, Galina P. Keydan, Bryan Leavitt, Veronica Ciganda, George G. Burba, Andrew E. Suyker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Accurate and synoptic estimation of spatially distributed CO2 fluxes is of great importance for regional and global studies of carbon balance. A technique solely based on remotely sensed data was developed and tested for estimating net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) in maize and soybean. The model is based on the reflectance in two spectral channels: the near-infrared and either the green or red-edge around 700 nm. The technique provides accurate estimations of mid-day NEE in both crops under either rainfed or irrigated conditions, explaining more than 85% of NEE variation in maize and more than 81% in soybean, and shows …

Collecting Spectral Data Over Cropland Vegetation Using Machine-Positioning Versus Hand-Positioning Of The Sensor, Donald Rundquist, Richard L. Perk, Bryan Leavitt, Galina P. Keydan, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The paper describes an all-terrain motorized platform for deploying sensors and compares data collected by means of that system with those collected by means of hand-held sensors. The results not only highlight the greater variability in spectra that can be expected when deploying field radiometers by hand but, more importantly, they quantify the difference. Researchers should be aware of the potential for diminishing the validity of findings based on reflectance spectra acquired by means of hand-held sensors.

Forecasting Vegetation Greenness With Satellite And Climate Data, Lei Ji, Albert J. Peters

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A new and unique vegetation greenness forecast (VGF) model was designed to predict future vegetation conditions to three months through the use of current and historical climate data and satellite imagery. The VGF model is implemented through a seasonality-adjusted autoregressive distributed-lag function, based on our finding that the normalized difference vegetation index is highly correlated with lagged precipitation and temperature. Accurate forecasts were obtained from the VGF model in Nebraska grassland and cropland. The regression R² values range from 0.97–0.80 for 2–12 week forecasts, with higher R² associated with a shorter prediction. An important application would be to …

Application Of Snowfall And Wind Statistics To Snow Transport Modeling For Snowdrift Control In Minnesota, Martha Shulski, Mark W. Seeley

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Models were utilized to determine the snow accumulation season (SAS) and to quantify windblown snow for the purpose of snowdrift control for locations in Minnesota. The models require mean monthly temperature, snowfall, density of snow, and wind frequency distribution statistics. Temperature and precipitation data were obtained from local cooperative observing sites, and wind data came from Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS)/Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) sites in the region. The temperature-based algorithm used to define the SAS reveals a geographic variability in the starting and ending dates of the season, which is determined by latitude and elevation. Mean seasonal snowfall …

Snake River Birds Of Prey National Conservation Area Case Study, Kathryn M. Mutz, Doug Cannon, Chris Simmons, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

34, A-5, B-2 p. : ill., map

Special Use Provisions In Wilderness Legislation, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

[69] p.