Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships -- Interagency Volunteer Program & Cooperative Conservation Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2005, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Database now contains 1,807 records, a 15% increase over the last quarter.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 38,399 hits per month, with an average of 3,537 pages viewed per month.
• Inaugural interagency volunteer recognition event held October 28, 2005.
• Interagency training program (phase 1) scheduled for February 2006 (four sessions).
• Alternative Workforce Survey completed and delivered to National Park Service.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2005, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Messaging campaign proposal approved by the federal Land Managers.
• Invitations sent to potential Community Steering Committee members.
• Project Manager Doug Joslin appointed to new county-wide Southern Nevada Recycling Advisory Committee.
• Four public service announcements produced by UNLV students.
• Contract with the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) in progress for prison crew site clean-ups.
• Plan for agency requests for additional dumpsters and/or roll-offs approved by team.

Preliminary Survey Of Rattlesnake Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Rattlesnake Brook is located in Assonet, MA, passing under Rte 24 near exit #9 and under South Main Street. The stream was accessed at three sites: NSTAR (just upstream from the South Main St. culvert), Rapoza (downstream at 114 South Main St.) and Narrows Road (just upstream from the Narrows Rd culvert prior to the stream’s confluence with the Assonet River). One major change in land use is the addition of the Stop & Shop distribution center on South Main St. behind the Rapoza site.

Initial data for temperature and DO indicate that dissolved oxygen is high at the first …

A Water Quality Study Of Germany Brook, A Tributary Of The Neponset River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Germany Brook is a first-order stream that originates in Westwood and travels two miles emptying into Ellis Pond in Norwood. Earlier sampling conducted by volunteers affiliated with the Neponset River Watershed Association on the lower reaches of the stream had indicated marginal water quality characterized by high nutrient and bacterial levels. In order to assess the potential impact of surrounding land uses on water quality in the stream, the benthic macroinvertebrate community was sampled at two stations during October, 2005.

It was hypothesized that the upstream station should have better water quality than its downstream counterpart as the upper reaches …

A Comparison Study: Fall Book And A Natural Spring; Focus: Water Chemistry

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of the study was to compare two fresh water resources in the Freetown Lakeville area. One site found was a natural spring located in Lakeville near Morgan Reserves off Long Pont Road. The Spring is located in the woods and in a remote location. The water from the spring enters into Little Quittacas Pond, a reservoir for New Bedford drinking water. The other freshwater site was a brook called Fall Brook in Freetown located off Gurney Road. The brook is located near Still Water Fastener Factory and flows under Gurney Road.

The focus of the study was on …

Macro Invertebrates Of Kirby Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of our project was to compare the relative abundance of Macroinvertebrates at two sites on Kirby Brook in Westport MA. One site was in the woods behind our high school approximately 1/4 of a mile along an overgrown trail. These woods are frequented in the winter for hunting purposes. At the time of the study, the water was stagnant due to lack of rain. The second site was across from a farm on Drift Rd. The water was low but flowing.

At both sites, Oligochaetes made up the majority of Macroinvertebrates (231 at site 1, 71 at site …

The Taunton River's Last Major Tributary: Chemical Analysis Of A Freshwater Dam System In The Upper Assonet River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Comparative Study Of Leonard Washburn Brook And Poquoy Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Leonard Washburn Brook is a tributary of Poquoy Brook. It is located in Lakeville, MA and was accessed on Cross Street. We considered this our pristine river environment. Poquoy Brook, also of Lakeville, MA was accessed on Taunton Street. We considered this our river with many land uses as it passes through both a cranberry bog and a golf course.

Initial data for temperature and DO indicate that dissolved oxygen is higher at the Leonard Washburn than Poquoy Brook. Poquoy follows a normal diurnal curve while Leonard Washburn fluctuates with temperature due to lack of vegetation in the water column. …

A Comparison Of Divergent Sites On The Farm River: Wetlands Vs. Industry

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Fore River Watershed initiates in the Blue Hills of Milton, Massachusetts. The Farm River, which flows through Braintree, Massachusetts, is one of the tributaries. It is a first order river that contributes to Great Pond, the major water supply for Braintree, Randolph and Avon. As the Farm River proceeds beyond Great Pond, it passes within thirty feet of an industrial park and shopping mall for approximately 1km. It also passes under a heavily traveled road, Granite Street. The amount of imperviousness in the area is considerable

The purpose of this study was to determine if a river flows through …

A River With History: Evaluating The Aberjona River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Autumn Leaf Drop On Water Quality At Turner's Pond Outlet

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact that the autumn leaf drop associated with the changing seasons has on water quality. Students in the senior elective, Botany, participated in this study of the main outlet of Turner’s Pond in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The students designated two test sites downstream from the dam that holds back Turner’s Pond. Testing was done October 6 and 7, 2005 and October 27 and 28, 2005. The first dates were prior to the leaf drop and the second dates occurred after leaf drop had started but not yet been completed. The macroinvertebrate sampling …

The Runnins Report

Watershed Access Lab Projects

For the past 4 years, students in AP Biology have performed summer Ecology research studies at Burr’s Pond in Seekonk. One goal of the summer research has been to provide the students with a relevant, meaningful inquiry-based learning experience. At the start of the school year, the students measure the dissolved oxygen as part of the required AP Laboratory Exercise 12. A second goal of the summer research has been to sustain an annual evaluation of the dissolved oxygen as well as the diversity and distribution of organisms in and around the pond. Unfortunately, the data is not very accurate …

The John Muir Newsletter, Winter 2005/2006, The John Muir Center For Environmental Studies

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

Radical Transcendentalism: Emerson, Muir and the Experience of Nature by James Brannon Palo Alto Center for Science and the Humanities, Palo Alto, CA ©2006 The uniquely American Transcendentalist School which formed in Harvard-influenced 1830's Cambridge brought a New Idea regarding man, spirit, and nature to a young country struggling to find its own voice. As its chief proponent, Ralph Waldo Emerson conveyed a philosophy that was considered radical in its time. The young John Muir, raised in an environment of harsh Puritan sensibilities and Christian dogma, took strongly to the Transcendental ideas as he was introduced to them at the …

Plant Information Compiled By The Utah Natural Heritage Program: A Progress Report, M. A. Franklin, State Of Utah Department Of Natural Resources

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The Utah Natural Heritage Program (UTHP) was initiated in late summer 1988 and has functioned as an ongoing biological survey of the state with an emphasis on rare or declining species. It serves as a centralized data repository, acquiring range wide information regarding rare plant and animal species for use by land managers as well as for the evaluation of conservation needs. As well as being used by government agencies, data are used in responding to requests for information from non-government organizations and private interests. Data can be used in the assessment of species’ conservation status state-wide and, in coordination …

Fisheries Research Report No. 152 - Development Of A Dna Database For Compliance And Management Of Western Australian Sharks., Rory Mcauley, K. Ho, R. Thomas

Fisheries Research Reports

Final FRDC Report - Project 2003/067

The capability to identify individual shark species from processed body parts is necessary for the WA Department of Fisheries to ensure the compliance of all WA fisheries with both existing protected species regulations and proposed new management measures for commercially important shark species. This project established a reference database of genetic profiles or ‘fingerprints’ for nine of Western Australia’s protected and commercially important shark species. Fingerprints from a 10th species, the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) could not be obtained due to probable primer sequence mismatching. The database, in conjunction with an associated inspection and …

Fisheries Research Report No. 151 - Biology And Stock Assessment Of The Thickskin (Sandbar) Shark, Carcharhinus Plumbeus, In Western Australia And Further Refinement Of The Dusky Shark, Carcharhinus Obscurus, Stock Assessment., Rory Mcauley, R Lenanton, J. Chidlow, R. Allison, E. Heist

Fisheries Research Reports

Final FRDC Report - Project 2000/134

The purpose of this project was to collect the biological and fishery information necessary to conduct a stock assessment of the sandbar (known locally as ‘thickskin’) shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus and to improve and update the existing stock assessment for the dusky shark, Carcharhinus obscurus. Results from this project have already been used by the Western Australian Department of Fisheries to determine appropriate management arrangements for the State’s shark fisheries to ensure the sustainable exploitation of these species. Results have also assisted the WA target-shark fisheries in conducting Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) assessment in order …

The Prairie Naturalist, Volume 37, No.4 December 2005

The Prairie Naturalist

AVIAN COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO CONSTRUCTION OF A NATURALISTIC GOLF COURSE IN TALL GRASS PRAIRIE IN KANSAS ▪ R. J. Robel, S. L. Bye, K. E. Kemp, and S. J. Thien

SECOND REPORT OF THE NORTH DAKOTA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE: 2002-2003 ▪ D. Svingen, and R. E. Martin

RECENT RECORDS OF FORMERLY EXTIRPATED CARNIVORES IN NEBRASKA ▪ J. D. Hoffman, and H. H. Genoways

PLAINS HARVEST MOUSE IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ R. W. Seabloom, and T. L. Shaffer

Book Reviews

A Primer on Prairie Ecology ▪ M. A. Cunningham

Range Wars: Have Prairie Dogs Lost the Battle for the West? ▪ …

Assessing The Relationships Between The Spatial Variation In Land-Use Spatial Patterns And Surface Water Quality, Majed A. Khater

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the association between the spatial patterns of urban land uses and surface water quality parameters at the watershed outlet. The aim of the study was to understand the strength and nature of this relationship, and examine new methods of classifying and quantifying contributing urban land-uses and their spatial patterns. The hypothesis of this research was: in an urban watershed, the variation in the spatial patterns of contributing land uses will have a significant impact on the surface water quality parameters at the watershed outlet.

This relationship between urbanization and water quality is …

Freshwater Mussel Survey Of The 39-Mile District - Missouri National Recreational River, South Dakota And Nebraska, Jeff Shearer, Doug Backlund, Stephen K. Wilson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionida) surveys were conducted on the 39-Mile District of the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) between Ft. Randall Dam, South Dakota and Running Water, South Dakota from October 2004 to September 2005. Fortynine locations within the 39-Mile District were inspected for the presence of mussel populations. Mussels (live individuals or dead shells) were collected at only 37% (18 of 49) of the sites. Of the seven mussel species collected during this survey, the fragile papershell Leptodea fragilis and pink papershell otamilus ohiensis were the most common. The paper pondshell Utterbackia imbecillis and mapleleaf Quadrula quadrula were rare …

Measuring The Expression Of Hypovirulence In A Segregating Population Of Bc2f2 Castanea Dentata Hybrids, Lisa Michelle Worthen

Honors Theses

The American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata) was reduced from an important canopy hardwood to an understory shrub by the chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica). Hypovirulence, a phenomenon whereby Cryphonectria parasitica is weakened in its ability to incite chestnut blight, is caused by doublestranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules of viral origin in the cytoplasm of the fungus.Hypovirulence serves as a biological control of C. parasitica in Europe and small, isolated areas in North America, but has not been an effective, widespread biological control in North America. It has been hypothesized that the moderately higher levels of host resistance of the European chestnut …

Description Of A Database Support Tool For Retrospective Georeferencing Of Natural History Museum Specimen Collections, Rachel A. Simpson, Jeremy B. Young

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The locations at which natural history museum specimens were collected can be visualized using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology when explicit and standardized references to geospatial locations are available. We describe a database support tool which automates the association of localities with explicit geospatial coordinates for named places included in an electronic gazetteer. The tool furthermore facilitates simple manual review and correction of results.

Development Of Biological Reference Conditions Of Wadeable Streams In The Major Ecoregions And Subecoregions Of Georgia, Duncan L. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

One bioassessment tool available to resource managers to indicate NPS impairment of wadeable streams and rivers are multi-metric invertebrate indices. Such indices are assembled from metrics in broad categories that represent different aspects of community structure and function (e.g. richness, composition, tolerance/intolerance, feeding group, and habit). Indices must incorporate suites of metrics that are ecologically relevant, quantifiable, non-redundant, and that best individually discriminate between reference sites and impaired sites. More than 240 wadeable streams in Georgia were sampled during the September thru February index period using RBP protocols during three successive sample seasons (1999-2003). Ecoregional reference (minimally impaired) sites, as …

Utah Resource Assessment, Utah Association Of Conservation Districts, Utah Department Of Agriculture And Food, Natural Resource Conservation Service

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Located in the Rocky Mountain Region, Utah derives its name from the Native American Ute tribe and means “people of the mountains”. Utah is 84,900 square miles and is ranked the 11th largest state (in terms of square miles) in the US. As hosts of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Utah boasts the “greatest snow on earth” and is the home of 18 colorful National Parks and monuments. Utah's peaks are, on average, the tallest in the country and create great contrasts that range from the snow covered peaks of the Uinta Range in the east, to the renowned natural …

Drowning Shangrila: Balancing Environmental Protection With Development In China, Tessa A. Vennell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Análisis Del Desarrollo Sustentable En La Industria Del Salmón En Chile, Theresa Mohin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The focus of this independent study project is sustainable development, in the context of the Chilean salmon industry. The project centers on the environmental impacts of the salmon business, from its introduction as a fledgling industry in the eighties, to its arrival as one of the most important exporting markets in the Chilean economy. The discussion focuses on the economic history of the salmon industry, its environmental consequences, and the role of the government in environmental regulation, to discover whether or not current environmental programs in place are in fact sustainable. I conclude that while the efforts of the Chilean …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 32 - Allocation Of The Western Australian Abalone Resource Between User Groups, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

In this submission to the Integrated Fisheries Allocation Advisory Committee (IFAAC), the Department will outline what it believes are the most practical and cost effective ways of managing a system for allocating the abalone resource between the commercial, customary and recreational sectors.

In preparing this submission, it has been noted that because of the limited data on recreational catch outside of the metropolitan area, the Sustainable Harvest Limit (SHL) set for the fishery relates only to the area that is equivalent to Area 7 of the commercial fishery. Further, it is acknowledged that the Minister has approved that proportional catch …

Agroecology Of The Naso-Teribe: The Management And Conservation Of Traditional Agroecological Systems, Maisie Ganz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The term “agroecology” is used to describe the sustainable design and management of agricultural systems by the application of ecological concepts and principles. The resulting agroecosystems, often practiced by indigenous or poor farmers in marginal environments without access to external technologies, are systems of food production that integrate cultivated crops into surrounding ecosystems. The Naso-Teribe, an indigenous community of approximately 3,800 individuals living in the forests of western Panama, practice a complex agroecological system. The Naso farmers’ agricultural practices contribute to, and are dependent on, the biodiversity of resources available. The ways in which Naso farmers manage, maintain, and preserve …

Periodismo Medioambiental, Peter Weisberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

INTAG is a community run, environmental newspaper that serves the county of Intag on the western slopes of the Andes in northern Ecuador. For the month of November 2005, I worked for the newspaper, writing articles and researching ways in which the paper can increase communication among different organizations that formed over the last eleven years of resistance to proposed mining. After interviewing eleven community leaders, I conclude that the paper can 1) do more to elicit the participation of groups that are currently inactive and 2) maintain its ecological position while gaining credibility by constructively criticizing the anti-mining community …

The Finding Of Echinostoma (Trematoda: Digenea) And Hookworm Eggs In Coprolites Collected From A Brazilian Mummified Body Dated 600–1,200 Years Before Present, L. Sianto, Karl J. Reinhard, M. Chame, S. Chaves, S. Mendonça, M. L. C. Gonçalves, A. Fernandes, L. F. Ferreira, A. Araújo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The identification of parasites from ancient cultures expands our list of parasites infective to extant humans. A partially mummified human body from the archeological site of Lapa do Boquete, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, was recently discovered. It was interred between 600 and 1,200 yr ago. Dietary analysis showed that the mummified body was from a society that had a mixed subsistence of agriculture and gathering of wild foods. Coprolites from the body contained numerous helminth eggs. The eggs were identified as those of Echinostoma sp. and hookworm. Hookworm infection in pre-Columbian populations is already established, but this is the first …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2005, Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada

Anti-littering Programs

• Interagency Anti-Litter Team met on August 22 and September 14, 2005.
• Community Anti-Litter Steering Committee participants have been identified.
• Project Manager Doug Joslin has been recommended for appointment to the new county-wide Southern Nevada Recycling Advisory Committee.
• Five Take Pride in America public service announcements were produced and delivered to television stations in southern Nevada.
• A messaging campaign proposal will be shared with the federal land managers on October 27, 2005.
• An initial review of progress on the Spring Mountains anti-litter pilot project has been conducted.
• Three Take Pride in America clean-up events were supported by the Anti-Litter Team. The …