Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Droughtscape, Spring 2007, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

2007 Spring Drought Outlook & Winter Summary

VegDRI Expands to 15 States, Refines Views

DroughtScape

State Spotlight: Utah

International Panel Foresees Drought as Part of Climate Change

NIDIS Portal Advancing

How Do Women In Prek Toal Village (Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, Cambodia) Participate In And Benefit From Ecotourism?, Amy Dowley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Abstract This study assesses how women in the floating village of Prek Toal in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, participate and benefit from the ecotourism activities in their area. The study also investigates women’s perspective on ecotourism within their community, how it affects their lives, and if they have expectations of current and future benefits or changes resulting from ecotourism. This study is conducted in the context of current studies on livelihoods in the Tonle Sap region, including the recent technical report, “Influence of Built Structures on Local Livelihoods: Case Studies of Road Development, Irrigation, and Fishing Lots,”(ADB, 2007a) identifying …

Extensions Of Local Domains With Trivial Generic Fiber, William Heinzer, Christel Rotthaus, Sylvia Wiegand

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We consider injective local maps from a local domain R to a local domain S such that the generic fiber of the inclusion map R -> S is trivial, that is P R (0) for every nonzero prime ideal P of S. We present several examples of injective local maps involving power series that have or fail to have this property. For an extension R -> S having this property, we give some results on the dimension of S; in some cases we show dim S = 2 and in some cases dim S = 1.

Colorado College State Of The Rockies Report Card, Walter E. Hecox, Matthew K. Reuer, Christopher B. Jackson

Publications (SD)

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Industrial And Traditional Fishing In Sustainable Resource Management, Aime Schwartz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For decades, the notion of ‘sustainable development’ has been a source of international contention and debate. While the meanings and implications of sustainable development are widely disputed, it is interpreted by many as an ideal that encompasses social, environmental and economic spheres while promoting the value of human rights in development. Theoretically, this approach allows for the quality of life of current and future generations to be considered in environmental decision-making and formally recognized by national and international standards, dictated primarily by wealthy industrialized governments (Adebowale et al 138). Policy-makers in developing nations continuously face the struggle to balance the …

La Musique Malgache : Moyen De Protection De L’Environnement, Geneviève Pearthree

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Madagascar, dont la diversité naturelle et culturelle sont sans pareilles dans tout le monde, représente un microcosme de la lutte mondiale de satisfaire les besoins humains et en même temps protéger les ressources naturelles desquelles tout le monde dépend pour survivre. Madagascar est une des régions les plus biodiversifiées du monde : plus de 80% des espèces des flores et 90% des faunes qui se trouvent dans l’île sont endémiques à Madagascar. Partout à Madagascar, cependant, la balance fragile entre la capacité de l’environnement à fournir les humains à leurs besoins et durer pour la prochaine génération a commencé à …

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships -- Interagency Volunteer Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Volunteer database increased 10 percent over last quarter to contain 3,243 records.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 57,930 hits per month, with an average of 5,839 pages viewed per month (17 percent increase in pages viewed).
• Volunteer orientation program delivered to 30 active volunteers.
• Volunteer survey related to communication, training, and recognition complete.
• Volunteer spring training scheduled, developed, and publicized.
• Volunteers contributed 1,400 hours in the Great American Cleanup.
• National volunteer week recognition plan developed.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

Executive Summary

• Weed Sentry staff surveyed for exotic species on 208 miles of roads on NPS land and on 61 miles of BLM land. Due to sparse precipitation this winter, exotic species are much less abundant this year compared to last year at this time.
• Other exotic species projects initiated this quarter included an assessment of invasion patterns below native shrubs for early detection of potential invasion “hotspots,” and a community invasibility experiment established near the NPS nursery with substantial involvement from NPS ATR Ms. Alice Newton.
• A manuscript detailing several experiments with the invasive species Sahara mustard was submitted …

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

Fisheries Management Papers

The FHPA has been declared to protect and conserve an example of a near-shore reef community. In order to achieve this aim, and encourage the appreciation and conservation of fish, a number of management strategies have been identified which restrict recreational and commercial fishing. The FHPA is approximately 420 metres long and approximately 130 metres wide at the southern end and 140 metres wide at the northern end.

Vegetative Characteristics Of Pronghorn Bed Sites In Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, Christopher N. Jacques, Jonathan A. Jenks, Jaret D. Sievers, Daniel E. Roddy

The Prairie Naturalist

Much of the previous literature on pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) fawns has focused on fawn mortality (Beale 1978, Barrett 1984, Gregg et al. 2001) and social behavior (Kitchen 1974, Autenrieth and Fichter 1975, Bromley 1977). Selection of bed sites by pronghorn fawns is a major factor affecting fawn survival (Bromley 1978, Barrett 1981, O'Gara et al. 1986, VanSchmus 1990) because adequate cover is a crucial component of fawn bed site selection (Autenrieth 1984). Alldredge et al. (1991) reported that fawns selected dense shrub cover but avoided the most-dense cover in sagebrush-steppe communities in southcentral Wyoming while Tucker and Gamer …

Intraspecific And Interspecific Territoriality In Microtus Ochrogaster And M. Pennsylvanicus, David J. Tazik, Lowell L. Getz

The Prairie Naturalist

Adult female Microtus ochrogaster and M. pennsylvanicus displayed interspecific territorial behavior in a bluegrass site in Illinois. We concluded that within a site, interspecific territorial behavior might be a factor in non-synchronous population fluctuations characteristic of the two species.

Woodland Bird Use Of In-Channel Islands In The Central Platte River, Nebraska, William C. Scharf

The Prairie Naturalist

Recapture data showed woodland obligate birds from riparian habitats made substantial use of thinly vegetated, adjacent small islands in the Platte River. During the bird nesting and spring migration seasons of 200 I through 2004, there were 4,360 individuals of 90 species captured on both mainland and in: hannel island sites. Island locafion captures totaled 595 individuals of 47 species )etween 2002 and 2004. Islands formerly were considered inconsequential for coraging and nesting of passerines. My study substantiated passerine use of Islands and provided a rationale for additional consideration of islands for migration and nesting management. Assemblages of bird species …

Mallard Brood Movements In The Canadian Prairie Parklands, Garnet H. Raven, Todd W. Arnold, David W. Howerter, Llwellyn M. Armstrong

The Prairie Naturalist

We radiotracked 308 mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) broods from hatching until 30 days of age Oij 15 study areas located throughout the Canadian Prairie Parklands to examine patterns of variation in movement frequency and distance. Broods moved an average of 350 m from nests to first wetlands (SO = 390), with 94% of broods moving less than I km. After leaving the nest, broods had a 23% probability of moving to a new wetland each day, but movement probability was a complex function of study area, hatch date, and ducking age, with younger and earlier-hatched broods exhibiting greater movement …

Partial Characterization Of Two Moderately Halophilic Bacteria From A Kansas Salt Marsh, Aileen M. Johnson, Lance R. Thurlow, Sam R. Zwenger, Eric T. Gillock

The Prairie Naturalist

Two bacterial species were isolated from a salt marsh located on privately owned land in Russell County, Kansas. Water samples from the saIt marsh were streaked for isolation on tryptic soy agar supplemented with 12 % NaCI. Visual scanning of the plates revealed two prominent colony types. The two colony types were subcultured repeatedly until axenic cultures were obtained. 80th of these organisms were shown to be moderately halophilic. The organisms were characterized partially by fatty acid methyl ester analysis, 16S rRNA sequencing, and scanning electron microscopy. These studies revealed that the bacteria previously were unreported members of genera Marinococcus …

The Prairie Naturalist, Volume 39, No.1, March 2007

The Prairie Naturalist

CONTENTS

MALLARD BROOD MOVEMENTS IN THE CANADIAN PRAIRIE PARKLANDS G. H. Raven, T. W. Arnold, D. W. Howerter, and L. M. Armstrong

WOODLAND BIRD USE OF IN-CHANNEL ISLANDS IN THE CENTRAL PLATTE RIVER, NEBRASKA, W. C. Scharf

PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO MODERATELY HALOPHILIC BACTERIA FROM A KANSAS SALT MARSH, A. M. Johnson, L. R. Thurlow, S. R. Zwenger, and E. T. Gillock

INTRASPECIFIC AND INTERSPECIFIC TERRITORIALITY IN MICROTUS OCHROGASTER AND M. PENNSYLVANICUS, D. J. Tazik and L. L. Getz

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PRONGHORN BED SITES IN WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA, C. N. Jacques, J. A. Jenks, J. D. …

Fisheries Research Report No.159 - A 12-Month Survey Of Recreational Estuarine Fishing In The South Coast Bioregion Of Western Australia During 2002/03, C.B. Smallwood, N. R. Sumner

Fisheries Research Reports

The Recreational Fisheries Program of the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, has a strategic plan to conduct comprehensive creel surveys of recreational fishing in each of the state’s marine bioregions (Penn et al., 2003). These bioregions are the West Coast, Gascoyne, Pilbara/ Kimberley and South Coast (Figure 1). To record and monitor changes in recreational catch and fishing effort, an integrated approach where all bioregions are to be surveyed on a regular basis was proposed. Until this study, the South Coast was the only bioregion in which a survey of recreational fishing had not been undertaken. Although originally intended to …

Dental Wash: A Problematic Method For Extracting Microfossils From Teeth (Galley Proofs), Célia H. C. Boyadjian, Sabine Eggers, Karl J. Reinhard

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A variety of microfossils, originating from plant foods, become trapped in the dental calculus matrix. Processing of dental calculus allows extraction of these microfossils. The resulting data can be used to reconstruct diet at the individual and population levels as the identification of microfossils like starch grains and phytoliths to the generic level, and sometimes to the species level, is possible. However, in some archaeological sites, dental calculus deposits do not preserve well enough to be processed. To prevent the loss of information in such cases, we present a technique, called ‘‘dental wash’’. It permits extracting microfossils from cryptic dental …

Comment On Reinterpreting The Pollen Data From Dos Cabezas, Karl J. Reinhard, Vaughn M. Bryant, Sheila Dorsey Vinton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The published pollen analysis of the Dos Cabezas giants, Geyer et al. ([2003]), lists a variety of purported dietary pollen types. The paper also hypothesizes that the giants were poisoned with plant toxins. We have severe reservations about the pollen evidence of diet and poisoning. We suggest that the analysts made several errors in their interpretation. Firstly, some of the discovered pollen types are not prehistoric endemics to the Dos Cabezas region of coastal Peru. These include the pollen of fava beans (cultivated in the Old World), and specified species of agave and sage. We believe that some or all …

Handle With Care, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Conservation/Energy Alternatives

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Energy Conservation, St. Mary's University, Texas

Conservation/Energy Alternatives

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from St. Mary's University, Texas.

Documentation Of Uncertainties And Biases Associated With Surface Temperature Measurement Sites For Climate Change Assessment, Roger A. Pielke Sr., John Nielsen-Gammon, Christopher Davey, Jim Angel, Odie Bliss, Nolan Doesken, Ming Cal, Souleymane Fall, Dev Niyogi, Kevin Gallo, Robert Hale, Kenneth Hubbard, Xiaomao Lin, Hong Li, Sethu Raman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Davey and Pielke (2005) presented photographic documentation of poor observation sites within the U.S. Historical Climate Reference Network (USHCN) with respect to monitoring long-term surface air temperature trends. [These photographs were first shown to the community at the 2002 Asheville, North Carolina, meeting of the American Association of State Climatologists (see information online at www. stateclimate.org/meetings/minutes/2002minutes).] Peterson (2006) compared the adjusted climate records of many of these stations and concluded that the similarity between the homogeneity adjusted time series from the good and poorly sited stations supports the view that even stations that do not, upon visual inspection, appear to …

Development Of The Soil Moisture Index To Quantify Agricultural Drought And Its “User Friendliness” In Severity-Area-Duration Assessment, Venkataramana Sridhar, Kenneth Hubbard, Jinshing You, Eric D. Hunt

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This paper examines the role of soil moisture in quantifying drought through the development of a drought index using observed and modeled soil moisture. In Nebraska, rainfall is received primarily during the crop-growing season and the supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico determines if the impending crop year is either normal or anomalous and any deficit of rain leads to a lack of soil moisture storage. Using observed soil moisture from the Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN), the actual available water content for plants is calculated as the difference between observed or modeled soil moisture and wilting point, …

Impacts Of Predators On Northern Bobwhites In The Southeast, John P. Carroll, Susan N. Ellis-Felege, William E. Palmer

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) is an important game bird that is intensively managed for hunting recreation in the southeastern United States. Despite interest regionwide, populations have been declining for much of the last 40 years (Brennan 1999). Population declines in the Southeast have occurred as a result of widespread habitat loss associated with land-use changes (Brennan 1999). These land-use changes include both conversion from agricultural to forest landscapes and changes in forest management practices, which result in dense forest canopies that shade required ground vegetation (Brennan 1999, Rollins and Carroll 2001). In addition, low-quality habitats may …

Vegetative And Invertebrate Community Characteristics Of Conservation Reserve Program Fields Relative To Gamebirds In Western Kansas, Elizabeth D. Doxon, John P. Carroll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We examined vegetation and invertebrate characteristics, including insect biomass, insect-prey, six Families and seven Orders in four varieties of Conservation Reserve Program (CP10, improved CP10, CP2 and CP25) and wheat fields in western Kansas during Jun. and Jul., 2004 and 2005 relative to gamebird chick ecology. CP10 fields had less bare ground and forbs compared to the other Conservation Practices and CP25 fields had lost much of their original forb component by the end of the study. Although there was little forb component, CP10 fields had high invertebrate biomass. However, CP10 fields demonstrated sizeable declines in the estimated effect size …

Nutrient Cycling In Forage Production Systems, David A. Wedin, Michael P. Russelle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In most forage production systems, the nutrients needed for plant growth are provided by microbially mediated breakdown and release of plant-available mineral nutrients from dead plant tissues, livestock excreta, soil organic matter, and geochemically bound mineral forms. Even in fertilized forage systems, determining appropriate fertilizer application rates requires a "systems" approach on the part of the manager (e.g., Di and Cameron, 2000; Rotz et al., 2002). Fertilizer additions are simply one input in the system of inputs, outputs, pools, and fluxes that characterize nutrient cycling in a particular ecosystem.

Analysis Of The Nonlinearity In The Runoff Response To Precipitation Through Numerical Modeling, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

On Diurnal Riparian Zone Groundwater-Level And Streamflow Fluctuations, Jozsef Szilagyi, Zoltan Gribovszki, Peter Kalicz, Mihaly Kucsara

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

On The Inherent Asymmetric Nature Of The Complementary Relationship Of Evaporation, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Estimation Of Catchment-Scale Evapotranspiration From Baseflow Recession Data: Numerical Model And Practical Application Results, Jozsef Szilagyi, Zoltan Gribovszki, Peter Kalicz

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hungarian National Report On Iahs: 2003-2006, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.