Sample records for habitat management series
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Managing harvest and habitat as integrated components
Osnas, Erik; Runge, Michael C.; Mattsson, Brady J.; Austin, Jane E.; Boomer, G. S.; Clark, R. G.; Devers, P.; Eadie, J. M.; Lonsdorf, E. V.; Tavernia, Brian G.
2014-01-01
In 2007, several important initiatives in the North American waterfowl management community called for an integrated approach to habitat and harvest management. The essence of the call for integration is that harvest and habitat management affect the same resources, yet exist as separate endeavours with very different regulatory contexts. A common modelling framework could help these management streams to better understand their mutual effects. Particularly, how does successful habitat management increase harvest potential? Also, how do regional habitat programmes and large-scale harvest strategies affect continental population sizes (a metric used to express habitat goals)? In the ensuing five years, several projects took on different aspects of these challenges. While all of these projects are still on-going, and are not yet sufficiently developed to produce guidance for management decisions, they have been influential in expanding the dialogue and producing some important emerging lessons. The first lesson has been that one of the more difficult aspects of integration is not the integration across decision contexts, but the integration across spatial and temporal scales. Habitat management occurs at local and regional scales. Harvest management decisions are made at a continental scale. How do these actions, taken at different scales, combine to influence waterfowl population dynamics at all scales? The second lesson has been that consideration of the interface of habitat and harvest management can generate important insights into the objectives underlying the decision context. Often the objectives are very complex and trade-off against one another. The third lesson follows from the second – if an understanding of the fundamental objectives is paramount, there is no escaping the need for a better understanding of human dimensions, specifically the desires of hunters and nonhunters and the role they play in conservation. In the end, the compelling question is
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Headwater Stream Management Dichotomies: Local Amphibian Habitat vs. Downstream Fish Habitat
Jackson, C. R.
2002-12-01
Small headwater streams in mountainous areas of the Pacific Northwest often do not harbor fish populations because of low water depth and high gradients. Rather, these streams provide habitat for dense assemblages of stream-dwelling amphibians. A variety of management goals have been suggested for such streams such as encouraging large woody debris recruitment to assist in sediment trapping and valley floor formation, encouraging large woody debris recruitment to provide downstream wood when debris flows occur, providing continuous linear stream buffers within forest harvest areas to provide shade and bank stability, etc. A basic problem with analying the geomorphic or biotic benefits of any of these strategies is the lack of explicit management goals for such streams. Should managers strive to optimize downstream fish habitat, local amphibian habitat, or both? Through observational data and theoretical considerations, it will be shown that these biotic goals will lead to very different geomorphic management recommendations. For instance, woody debris greater than 60 cm diameter may assist in valley floor development, but it is likely to create subsurface channel flow of unknown value to amphibians. Trapping and retention of fine sediments within headwater streams may improve downstream spawning gravels, but degrades stream-dwelling amphibian habitat. In response to the need for descriptive information on habitat and channel morphology specific to small, non-fish-bearing streams in the Pacific Northwest, morphologies and wood frequencies in forty-two first- and second-order forested streams less than four meters wide were surveyed. Frequencies and size distributions of woody debris were compared between small streams and larger fish-bearing streams as well as between second-growth and virgin timber streams. Statistical models were developed to explore dominant factors affecting channel morphology and habitat. Findings suggest geomorphological relationships
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Chris Maser; Jack Ward Thomas; Ralph G. Anderson
1984-01-01
The relationships of terrestrial vertebrates to plant communities, structural conditions, and special habitats in the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon are described in a series of appendices. The importance of habitat components to wildlife and the predictability of management activities on wildlife are examined in terms of managed rangelands. ...
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Habitat Suitability Index Models: Yellow-headed blackbird
Schroeder, Richard L.
1982-01-01
Habitat preferences of the yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) are described in this publication. It is one of a series of Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models and was developed through an analysis of available infomration on the species-habitat requirements of the species. Habitat use information is presented in a review of the literature, followed by the development of an HSI model, designed for use in impact assessment and habitat management activities.
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Coherence between harvest and habitat management -- Joint venture perspectives
Baxter, C.K.; Nelson, J.W.; Reinecke, K.J.; Stephens, S.E.
2006-01-01
Introduction: In recent months, an ad hoc group of waterfowl scientists, representing the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) Adaptive Harvest Management (ARM) Task Force and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) Committee, have collaborated as a Joint Task Group (JTG) to assess options for unifying the population goals guiding waterfowl harvest management and habitat management. The JTG has been charged with bringing coherence to the population goals of the two programs. Characterizing the problem as one of coherence indicates value judgments exist regarding its significance or perhaps existence. For purposes of this paper, we characterize the lack of coherence as the absence of consistent population goals in the two related components of waterfowl conservation habitat and harvest management. Our purpose is to support continued dialogue on the respective goals of these programs and the possible implications of discordant goals to habitat joint ventures. Our objectives are two-fold: (1) illustrate how NAWMP habitat management goals and strategies have been interpreted and pursued in both breeding and wintering areas, and (2) provide perspectives on the linkages between regional habitat management programs and harvest management. The Lower Mississippi Valley and the Prairie Pothole joint ventures (LMVJV and PPJV, respectively) will be used as examples.
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Assessment and management of dead-wood habitat
Hagar, Joan
2007-01-01
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is in the process of revising its resource management plans for six districts in western and southern Oregon as the result of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the American Forest Resource Council. A range of management alternatives is being considered and evaluated including at least one that will minimize reserves on O&C lands. In order to develop the bases for evaluating management alternatives, the agency needs to derive a reasonable range of objectives for key issues and resources. Dead-wood habitat for wildlife has been identified as a key resource for which decision-making tools and techniques need to be refined and clarified. Under the Northwest Forest Plan, reserves were to play an important role in providing habitat for species associated with dead wood (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, 1994). Thus, the BLM needs to: 1) address the question of how dead wood will be provided if reserves are not included as a management strategy in the revised Resource Management Plan, and 2) be able to evaluate the effects of alternative land management approaches. Dead wood has become an increasingly important conservation issue in managed forests, as awareness of its function in providing wildlife habitat and in basic ecological processes has dramatically increased over the last several decades (Laudenslayer et al., 2002). A major concern of forest managers is providing dead wood habitat for terrestrial wildlife. Wildlife in Pacific Northwest forests have evolved with disturbances that create large amounts of dead wood; so, it is not surprising that many species are closely associated with standing (snags) or down, dead wood. In general, the occurrence or abundance of one-quarter to one-third of forest-dwelling vertebrate wildlife species, is strongly associated with availability of suitable dead-wood habitat (Bunnell et al., 1999; Rose et al., 2001). In
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Habitat Management to Suppress Pest Populations: Progress and Prospects.
Gurr, Geoff M; Wratten, Steve D; Landis, Douglas A; You, Minsheng
2017-01-31
Habitat management involving manipulation of farmland vegetation can exert direct suppressive effects on pests and promote natural enemies. Advances in theory and practical techniques have allowed habitat management to become an important subdiscipline of pest management. Improved understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships means that researchers now have a firmer theoretical foundation on which to design habitat management strategies for pest suppression in agricultural systems, including landscape-scale effects. Supporting natural enemies with shelter, nectar, alternative prey/hosts, and pollen (SNAP) has emerged as a major research topic and applied tactic with field tests and adoption often preceded by rigorous laboratory experimentation. As a result, the promise of habitat management is increasingly being realized in the form of practical worldwide implementation. Uptake is facilitated by farmer participation in research and is made more likely by the simultaneous delivery of ecosystem services other than pest suppression.
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Fisheries and Oceans Canada - habitat management program in Ontario
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
2011-07-01
On May 5, 2011, the Ontario Waterpower Association hosted the emergent hydro workshop in Peterborough. In the course of the workshop, Fisheries and Oceans Canada presented the habitat management program in Ontario. Fisheries and Oceans Canada explained that their role is to protect water resources. The Fisheries Act was passed to manage fisheries and fish habitats in Canada and to protect them from harmful alteration, disruption or destruction. The policy for the management of fish was written to interpret the Fisheries Act and enhance the productive capacity of fish habitats. In addition, two other Acts were passed, the Species at Risk Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, designed to protect species from extinction and improve coordination of, and public access to EA information. This presentation highlighted the different existing policies aimed at protecting fisheries and fish habitats in Canada.
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Habitat Management: A Tool to Modify Ecosystem Impacts of Nitrogen Deposition?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S.A. Power
2001-01-01
Full Text Available Atmospheric nitrogen deposition has been shown to affect both the structure and the function of heathland ecosystems. Heathlands are semi-natural habitats and, as such, undergo regular management by mowing or burning. Different forms of management remove more or less nutrients from the system, so habitat management has the potential to mitigate some of the effects of atmospheric deposition. Data from a dynamic vegetation model and two field experiments are presented. The first involves nitrogen addition following different forms of habitat management. The second tests the use of habitat management to promote heathland recovery after a reduction in nitrogen deposition. Both modelling and experimental approaches suggest that plant and microbial response to nitrogen is affected by management. Shoot growth and rates of decomposition were lowest in plots managed using more intensive techniques, including mowing with litter removal and a high temperature burn. Field data also indicate that ecosystem recovery from prolonged elevated inputs of nitrogen may take many years, or even decades, even after the removal of plant and litter nitrogen stores which accompanies the more intensive forms of habitat management.
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Towards a Caribou Habitat Management Strategy for Northwestern Ontario: Running the Gauntlet
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gerald D. Racey
1996-01-01
Full Text Available A management strategy for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou habitat is being developed in northwestern Ontario. This strategy is based upon a set of draft Timber Management Guidelines for the Provision of Woodland Caribou Habitat. These guidelines recommend maintaining a sustainable supply of winter habitat within large tracts of old forest, protecting calving areas and minimizing human disturbance. Due to the large temporal and spatial scale of caribou habitat management, an ecosystem-based approach is recommended. Public response to the strategy shows a strong dichotomy between environmental and utilitarian values among all the major stakeholder groups. The major issues raised by the public include security of industrial wood supply, quality of the knowledge base, level of awareness of caribou, economic impacts on remote communities, concern about environmental impacts and silvicultural know-how. The government is responding to these concerns as the strategy evolves. Current emphasis is placed on increasing awareness of the public, training resource managers in caribou biology, management and habitat planning, implementing interim habitat management prescriptions and studying the potential impact on wood supply. The final direction for a northwestern Ontario strategy to conserve woodland caribou habitat has yet to be decided, although a commitment has been made to strive for the conservation of woodland caribou populations and their habitat.
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Cost-effectiveness analysis of sandhill crane habitat management
Kessler, Andrew C.; Merchant, James W.; Shultz, Steven D.; Allen, Craig R.
2013-01-01
Invasive species often threaten native wildlife populations and strain the budgets of agencies charged with wildlife management. We demonstrate the potential of cost-effectiveness analysis to improve the efficiency and value of efforts to enhance sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) roosting habitat. We focus on the central Platte River in Nebraska (USA), a region of international ecological importance for migrating avian species including sandhill cranes. Cost-effectiveness analysis is a valuation process designed to compare alternative actions based on the cost of achieving a pre-determined objective. We estimated costs for removal of invasive vegetation using geographic information system simulations and calculated benefits as the increase in area of sandhill crane roosting habitat. We generated cost effectiveness values for removing invasive vegetation on 7 land parcels and for the entire central Platte River to compare the cost-effectiveness of management at specific sites and for the central Platte River landscape. Median cost effectiveness values for the 7 land parcels evaluated suggest that costs for creating 1 additional hectare of sandhill crane roosting habitat totaled US $1,595. By contrast, we found that creating an additional hectare of sandhill crane roosting habitat could cost as much as US $12,010 for some areas in the central Platte River, indicating substantial cost savings can be achieved by using a cost effectiveness analysis to target specific land parcels for management. Cost-effectiveness analysis, used in conjunction with geographic information systems, can provide decision-makers with a new tool for identifying the most economically efficient allocation of resources to achieve habitat management goals.
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Physical habitat simulation system reference manual: version II
Milhous, Robert T.; Updike, Marlys A.; Schneider, Diane M.
1989-01-01
stream system basis. Such analysis is outside the scope of this manual, which concentrates on simulation of physical habitat based on depth, velocity, and a channel index. The results form PHABSIM can be used alone or by using a series of habitat time series programs that have been developed to generate monthly or daily habitat time series from the Weighted Usable Area versus streamflow table resulting from the habitat simulation programs and streamflow time series data. Monthly and daily streamflow time series may be obtained from USGS gages near the study site or as the output of river system management models.
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Ecosystem management and the conservation of caribou habitat in British Columbia
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dale R. Seip
1998-03-01
Full Text Available Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou in British Columbia inhabit a wide variety of forest ecosystems. Numerous research projects have provided information that has been used to develop caribou habitat management recommendations for different areas. Recently, the province has implemented guidelines to protect biodiversity that are based on an ecosystem management strategy of mimicking natural forest conditions. There is a great deal of similarity between caribou management recommendations and biodiversity recommendations within different forest types. In mountain caribou habitat, both approaches recommend maintaining a landscape dominated by old and mature forests, uneven-aged management, small cutblocks, and maintaining mature forest connectivity. In northern caribou habitat, both approaches recommend maintaining some older stands on the landscape (but less than for mountain caribou, even-aged management, and a mosaic of large harvest units and leave areas. The ecosystem management recommendations provide a useful foundation for caribou habitat conservation. More detailed information on caribou and other management objectives can then be used to fine-tune those recommendations.
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Wildlife habitat management on college and university campuses
Bosci, Tierney; Warren, Paige S.; Harper, Rick W.; DeStefano, Stephen
2018-01-01
With the increasing involvement of higher education institutions in sustainability movements, it remains unclear to what extent college and university campuses address wildlife habitat. Many campuses encompass significant areas of green space with potential to support diverse wildlife taxa. However, sustainability rating systems generally emphasize efforts like recycling and energy conservation over green landscaping and grounds maintenance. We sought to examine the types of wildlife habitat projects occurring at schools across the United States and whether or not factors like school type (public or private), size (number of students), urban vs. rural setting, and funding played roles in the implementation of such initiatives. Using case studies compiled by the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program, we documented wildlife habitat-related projects at 60 campuses. Ten management actions derived from nationwide guidelines were used to describe the projects carried out by these institutions, and we recorded data about cost, funding, and outreach and education methods. We explored potential relationships among management actions and with school characteristics. We extracted themes in project types, along with challenges and responses to those challenges. Native plant species selection and sustainable lawn maintenance and landscaping were the most common management actions among the 60 campuses. According to the case studies we examined, we found that factors like school type, size, and location did not affect the engagement of a campus in wildlife habitat initiatives, nor did they influence the project expenditures or funding received by a campus. Our results suggest that many wildlife habitat initiatives are feasible for higher education institutions and may be successfully implemented at relatively low costs through simple, but deliberate management actions.
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77 FR 47356 - North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Essential Fish Habitat Amendments
2012-08-08
...-XA500 North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Essential Fish Habitat Amendments AGENCY: National... Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted the following essential fish habitat (EFH) amendments to NMFS... Scallop Fishery off Alaska; and Amendment 1 to the FMP for Fish Resources of the Arctic Management Area...
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Tang, Long; Gao, Yang; Wang, Cheng-Huan; Li, Bo; Chen, Jia-Kuan; Zhao, Bin
2013-07-01
Invasive species have to be managed to prevent adverse consequences. Spartina alterniflora has invaded many marshes where salinity and inundation are often key factors affecting vegetation. The former was surface clipped twice and native Phragmites australis was planted in invaded zones to examine the effects of habitat properties on the efficacy of invader control and native restoration. The results showed that two clipping treatments almost eliminated S. alterniflora in the zones with long inundation periods of 80 h/15 d but stimulated compensatory growth of S. alterniflora in the zones with short inundation periods. Transplanted P. australis performed better over time in zones with low salinity (removal of the above-ground parts of S. alterniflora should be used only in the middle tidal zones and that native vegetation should be planted in zones above the mean high water level while the others zones in the saltmarsh should be restored to mud flats. Usually, invasive plants can flourish in highly heterogeneous habitats, which can influence management efficacy by influencing the re-growth of treated invaders and the performance of restored native species. Therefore, habitat-specific management regimes for invasive species can be expected to be more efficient because of their dependence on specific habitats.
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Sherfy, Mark H.; Stucker, Jennifer H.; Anteau, Michael J.
2009-01-01
Habitat conditions are one of the most important factors determining distribution and productivity of least terns (Sternula antillarum) and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) in the upper Missouri River system (Ziewitz and others, 1992; Kruse and others, 2002). Habitat conditions are known to change within and among seasons in response to variation in river flows, weather conditions, and management actions targeted at providing for the needs of terns and plovers. Although these principles are generally agreed upon, there is little empirical information available on the quantity and quality of tern and plover habitats in this system, particularly with reference to the major life history events that must be supported (egg laying, incubation, and brood rearing). Habitat requirements for these events are composed of two major categories: nesting and foraging habitat. In the case of piping plovers, these two requirements must occur on the same area because plover chicks are constrained to foraging near nesting sites prior to fledging (Knetter and others, 2002; Haffner, 2005). In contrast, least terns chicks are fed by the adults, allowing food procurement for broods to occur outside the immediate nesting area; however, food resources must be close enough to nesting locations to minimize foraging time. The complexity and dynamics of the upper Missouri River system introduce considerable uncertainty into how best to manage tern and plover habitats, and how best to evaluate the effectiveness of this management. An extensive program of habitat monitoring will be needed to address this complexity and support the management of least terns and piping plovers under the Missouri River Recovery Program. These needs are being addressed, in part, through a program of habitat creation and management targeted at improving quality and quantity of habitats for terns and plovers. Given the momentum of these projects and their associated costs, it is imperative that the capacity be
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77 FR 66564 - North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Essential Fish Habitat Amendments
2012-11-06
...-XA500 North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Essential Fish Habitat Amendments AGENCY: National... Scallop Fishery off Alaska (Scallop FMP); and Amendment 1 to the FMP for Fish Resources of the Arctic Management Area (Arctic FMP). These amendments update the existing essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions in...
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Pyrovetsi
1997-09-01
/ An integrated management plan to create favorable nesting habitat for the world-endangered Dalmatian pelicans, was tested at Kerkini irrigation reservoir, a Ramsar wetland. The lake is the major wintering site of Dalmatian pelicans in Europe, where the species lives year-round without breeding. The rise of water level at the reservoir during spring (exceeding 5 m) has an impact on the whole system, including several birds, which lose their nesting habitat. Although the integrity of the wetland demands ecological restoration with changes in its hydrologic regime, local socioeconomic conditions allow only habitat level interventions. During the planning phase of the management plan, both the ecological and social context of the interventions were considered. Monitoring of all pelican habitats and populations provided the scientific basis, while a socioecological survey on knowledge/attitudes of local fishermen toward wetland identified conflicts with specific resources and planned management. To gain public support, a broad information/education program was implemented. The education program for fishermen was based on the findings of the socioecological survey. The in situ management involved experimental construction of floating rafts, platforms over water, dredged-spoil islands, and platforms at various sites of the wetland. Monitoring of the managed habitats showed that most waterbirds used them for resting and roosting. Common terns nested on the rafts, cormorants on the platforms, and Dalmatian pelicans on the man-made island. Under the prevailing hydrologic and weather conditions, islands seem to be the most suitable habitat for pelican nesting. It is concluded that wildlife habitat management should integrate the ecological component, related to the needs of the species and ecosystem, with the social one, expressed by cooperation and involvement of the local community.KEY WORDS: Integrated management; Pelican; Nesting habitat; Habitat management; Reservoir
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Habitat Demonstration Unit Project Leadership and Management Strategies
Kennedy, Kriss J.
2011-01-01
This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led multi-center Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project leadership and management strategies. The HDU project team constructed and tested an analog prototype lunar surface habitat/laboratory called the Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) during 2010. The prototype unit subsystems were integrated in a short amount of time, utilizing a tiger team approach that brought together over 20 habitation-related technologies and innovations from a variety of NASA centers. This paper describes the leadership and management strategies as well as lessons learned pertaining to leading and managing a multi-center diverse team in a rapid prototype environment. The PEM configuration went from a paper design to an operational surface habitat demonstration unit in less than 12 months. The HDU project is part of the strategic plan from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Directorate Integration Office (DIO) and the Exploration Mission Systems Office (EMSO) to test destination elements in analog environments. The 2011 HDU-Deep Space Habitat (DSH) configuration will build upon the PEM work, and emphasize validity of crew operations (remote working and living), EVA operations, mission operations, logistics operations, and science operations that might be required in a deep space context for Near Earth Object (NEO) exploration mission architectures. The 2011 HDU-DSH will be field-tested during the 2011 Desert Research and Technologies Studies (DRaTS) field tests. The HDU project is a "technology-pull" project that integrates technologies and innovations from multiple NASA centers. This project will repurpose the HDU 2010 demo unit that was field tested in the 2010 DRaTS, adding habitation functionality to the prototype unit. This paper will describe the strategy of establishing a multi-center project management team that put in place the key multi-center leadership skills and
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Methods for evaluating riparian habitats with applications to management
Platts, William S.; Armour, C.L.; Booth, G.D.; Bryant, M.; Bufford, J.L.; Cuplin, P.; Jensen, S.; Lienkaemper, G.W.; Minshall, G.W.; Monsen, S.T.; Nelson, R.L.; Sedell, J.R.; Tuhy, J.S.
1987-01-01
Riparian area planning and management is a major national issues today--something that should have been the case a century ago. A century of additive effects of land use has resulted in major impacts on many riparian stream habitats and their fisheries, wildlife, and domestic livestock use. Before scientists can evaluate the influences of various land and water uses on riparian environments, they must first understand these environments. This means being able to detect and measure with confidence the natural and artificial variation and instantaneous conditions of the riparian habitat. These conditions must then be related to the production capability of riparian habitat and any extraneous factors affecting this production potential.
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Managing for Caribou Survival in a Partitioned Habitat
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
H.G. Cumming
1996-01-01
Full Text Available Forest management guidelines for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou in Ontario need to be re-examined in light of the finding that caribou partition habitat with moose (Alces alces, partly to find virtual refuges from predation by gray wolves (Canis lupus. Forest-wide guidelines seem inappropriate for a species that is widely scattered and little known. Management should concentrate on and around currently used virtual refuges to ensure their continued habitability. Cutting these areas may force the caribou into places with higher densities of predators; winter use of roads might bring poachers, increased wolf entry, and accidents. A proposal for 100 km2 clear-cuts scheduled over 60+ years across the forest landscape would probably minimize moose/wolf densities in the long run as intended, but because of habitat partitioning might forfeit any benefits to caribou in the short-term. Sharply reducing moose densities near areas where caribou have sought refuge might incline wolves to switch to caribou. Cutting beyond caribou winter refuge areas should aim at maintaining current moose densities to prevent wolves from switching prey species. Operations level manipulation of the forest around each wintering area should provide winter habitat for the future, while treatment replications with controls across the whole forest would provide reliable knowledge about which approaches work best. The remainder of the forest should be managed to maintain suitable densities of all other species.
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Hagen, Christian A.; Grisham, Blake A.; Boal, Clint W.; Haukos, David A.
2013-01-01
The distribution and range of lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) has been reduced by >90% since European settlement of the Great Plains of North America. Currently, lesser prairie-chickens occupy 3 general vegetation communities: sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia), sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii), and mixed-grass prairies juxtaposed with Conservation Reserve Program grasslands. As a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act, there is a need for a synthesis that characterizes habitat structure rangewide. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of vegetation characteristics at nest sites and brood habitats to determine whether there was an overall effect (Hedges' d) of habitat selection and to estimate average (95% CI) habitat characteristics at use sites. We estimated effect sizes (di) from the difference between use (nests and brood sites) and random sampling sites for each study (n = 14), and derived an overall effect size (d++). There was a general effect for habitat selection as evidenced by low levels of variation in effect sizes across studies and regions. There was a small to medium effect (d++) = 0.20-0.82) of selection for greater vertical structure (visual obstruction) by nesting females in both vegetation communities, and selection against bare ground (d++ = 0.20-0.58). Females with broods exhibited less selectivity for habitat components except for vertical structure. The variation of d++ was greater during nesting than brooding periods, signifying a seasonal shift in habitat use, and perhaps a greater range of tolerance for brood-rearing habitat. The overall estimates of vegetation cover were consistent with those provided in management guidelines for the species.
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Habitat damage, marine reserves, and the value of spatial management
Moeller, Holly V.
2013-07-01
The biological benefits of marine reserves have garnered favor in the conservation community, but "no-take" reserve implementation is complicated by the economic interests of fishery stakeholders. There are now a number of studies examining the conditions under which marine reserves can provide both economic and ecological benefits. A potentially important reality of fishing that these studies overlook is that fishing can damage the habitat of the target stock. Here, we construct an equilibrium bioeconomic model that incorporates this habitat damage and show that the designation of marine reserves, coupled with the implementation of a tax on fishing effort, becomes both biologically and economically favorable as habitat sensitivity increases. We also study the effects of varied degrees of spatial control on fisheries management. Together, our results provide further evidence for the potential monetary and biological value of spatial management, and the possibility of a mutually beneficial resolution to the fisherman-conservationist marine reserve designation dilemma. © 2013 by the Ecological Society of America.
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Understanding Existing Salmonid Habitat Availability and Connectivity to Improve River Management
Duffin, J.; Yager, E.; Tonina, D.; Benjankar, R. M.
2017-12-01
In the Pacific Northwest river restoration is common for salmon conservation. Mangers need methods to help target restoration to problem areas in rivers to create habitat that meets a species' needs. Hydraulic models and habitat suitability curves provide basic information on habitat availability and overall quality, but these analyses need to be expanded to address habitat quality based on the accessibility of habitats required for multiple life stages. Scientists are starting to use connectivity measurements to understand the longitudinal proximity of habitat patches, which can be used to address the habitat variability of a reach. By evaluating the availability and quality of habitat and calculating the connectivity between complementary habitats, such as spawning and rearing habitats, we aim to identify areas that should be targeted for restoration. To meet these goals, we assessed Chinook salmon habitat on the Lemhi River in Idaho. The depth and velocity outputs from a 2D hydraulic model are used in conjunction with locally created habitat suitability curves to evaluate the availability and quality of habitat for multiple Chinook salmon life stages. To assess the variability of the habitat, connectivity between habitat patches necessary for different life stages is calculated with a proximity index. A spatial representation of existing habitat quality and connectivity between complimentary habitats can be linked to river morphology by the evaluation of local geomorphic characteristics, including sinuosity and channel units. The understanding of the current habitat availability for multiple life stage needs, the connectivity between these habitat patches, and their relationship with channel morphology can help managers better identify restoration needs and direct their limited resources.
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Red River Wildlife Management Area HEP Report, Habitat Evaluation Procedures, Technical Report 2004.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ashley, Paul
2004-11-01
A habitat evaluation procedures (HEP) analysis conducted on the 314-acre Red River Wildlife Management Area (RRWMA) managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game resulted in 401.38 habitat units (HUs). Habitat variables from six habitat suitability index (HSI) models, comprised of mink (Mustela vison), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), common snipe (Capella gallinago), black-capped chickadee (Parus altricapillus), yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), were measured by Regional HEP Team (RHT) members in August 2004. Cover types included wet meadow, riverine, riparian shrub, conifer forest, conifer forest wetland, and urban. HSI model outputs indicate that the shrub component is lacking in riparian shrub and conifer forest cover types and that snag density should be increased in conifer stands. The quality of wet meadow habitat, comprised primarily of introduced grass species and sedges, could be improved through development of ephemeral open water ponds and increasing the amount of persistent wetland herbaceous vegetation e.g. cattails (Typha spp.) and bulrushes (Scirpus spp.).
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elliott L Matchett
Full Text Available The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of agricultural and urban development that have impacted wildlife habitats. Future effects of urban development, changes in water supply management, and precipitation and air temperature related to global climate change on area of waterbird habitat in the Central Valley are uncertain, yet potentially substantial. Therefore, we modeled area of waterbird habitats for 17 climate, urbanization, water supply management, and wetland restoration scenarios for years 2006-2099 using a water resources and scenario modeling framework. Planned wetland restoration largely compensated for adverse effects of climate, urbanization, and water supply management changes on habitat areas through 2065, but fell short thereafter for all except one scenario. Projected habitat reductions due to climate models were more frequent and greater than under the recent historical climate and their magnitude increased through time. After 2065, area of waterbird habitat in all scenarios that included severe warmer, drier climate was projected to be >15% less than in the "existing" landscape most years. The greatest reduction in waterbird habitat occurred in scenarios that combined warmer, drier climate and plausible water supply management options affecting priority and delivery of water available for waterbird habitats. This scenario modeling addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the Central Valley landscape, use and management of related water supplies, and climate to inform waterbird habitat conservation and other resource management planning. Results indicate that increased wetland restoration
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Matchett, Elliott L; Fleskes, Joseph P
2017-01-01
The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of agricultural and urban development that have impacted wildlife habitats. Future effects of urban development, changes in water supply management, and precipitation and air temperature related to global climate change on area of waterbird habitat in the Central Valley are uncertain, yet potentially substantial. Therefore, we modeled area of waterbird habitats for 17 climate, urbanization, water supply management, and wetland restoration scenarios for years 2006-2099 using a water resources and scenario modeling framework. Planned wetland restoration largely compensated for adverse effects of climate, urbanization, and water supply management changes on habitat areas through 2065, but fell short thereafter for all except one scenario. Projected habitat reductions due to climate models were more frequent and greater than under the recent historical climate and their magnitude increased through time. After 2065, area of waterbird habitat in all scenarios that included severe warmer, drier climate was projected to be >15% less than in the "existing" landscape most years. The greatest reduction in waterbird habitat occurred in scenarios that combined warmer, drier climate and plausible water supply management options affecting priority and delivery of water available for waterbird habitats. This scenario modeling addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the Central Valley landscape, use and management of related water supplies, and climate to inform waterbird habitat conservation and other resource management planning. Results indicate that increased wetland restoration and additional
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Wetland Plant Guide for Assessing Habitat Impacts of Real-Time Salinity Management
Quinn, Nigel W.T.; Feldmann, Sara A.
2004-01-01
This wetland plant guide was developed to aid moist soil plant identification and to assist in the mapping of waterfowl and shorebird habitat in the Grassland Water District and surrounding wetland areas. The motivation for this habitat mapping project was a concern that real-time salinity management of wetland drainage might have long-term consequences for wildfowl habitat health -- changes in wetland drawdown schedules might, over the long term, lead to increased soil salinity and othe...
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Martin, Rodney A.
2017-01-01
Habitation systems provide a safe place for astronauts to live and work in space and on planetary surfaces. They enable crews to live and work safely in deep space, and include integrated life support systems, radiation protection, fire safety, and systems to reduce logistics and the need for resupply missions. Innovative health management technologies are needed in order to increase the safety and mission-effectiveness for future space habitats on other planets, asteroids, or lunar surfaces. For example, off-nominal or failure conditions occurring in safety-critical life support systems may need to be addressed quickly by the habitat crew without extensive technical support from Earth due to communication delays. If the crew in the habitat must manage, plan and operate much of the mission themselves, operations support must be migrated from Earth to the habitat. Enabling monitoring, tracking, and management capabilities on-board the habitat and related EVA platforms for a small crew to use will require significant automation and decision support software.Traditional caution and warning systems are typically triggered by out-of-bounds sensor values, but can be enhanced by including machine learning and data mining techniques. These methods aim to reveal latent, unknown conditions while still retaining and improving the ability to provide highly accurate alerts for known issues. A few of these techniques will briefly described, along with performance targets for known faults and failures. Specific system health management capabilities required for habitat system elements (environmental control and life support systems, etc.) may include relevant subsystems such as water recycling systems, photovoltaic systems, electrical power systems, and environmental monitoring systems. Sustainability Base, the agency's flagship LEED-platinum certified green building acts as a living laboratory for testing advanced information and sustainable technologies that provides an
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Remote sensing of Qatar nearshore habitats with perspectives for coastal management.
Warren, Christopher; Dupont, Jennifer; Abdel-Moati, Mohamed; Hobeichi, Sanaa; Palandro, David; Purkis, Sam
2016-04-30
A framework is proposed for utilizing remote sensing and ground-truthing field data to map benthic habitats in the State of Qatar, with potential application across the Arabian Gulf. Ideally the methodology can be applied to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of mapping the nearshore environment to identify sensitive habitats, monitor for change, and assist in management decisions. The framework is applied to a case study for northeastern Qatar with a key focus on identifying high sensitivity coral habitat. The study helps confirm the presence of known coral and provides detail on a region in the area of interest where corals have not been previously mapped. Challenges for the remote sensing methodology associated with natural heterogeneity of the physical and biological environment are addressed. Recommendations on the application of this approach to coastal environmental risk assessment and management planning are discussed as well as future opportunities for improvement of the framework. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Wildlife Habitats in Managed Forests the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington
Jack Ward [Technical Editor] Thomas
1979-01-01
The Nation's forests are one of the last remaining natural habitats forterrestrial wildlife. Much of this vast forest resource has changed dramatically in the last 200 years and can no longer be considered wild. It is now managed for multiple use benefits, including timber production. Timber harvesting and roadbuilding now alter wildlife habitat more than any...
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Matchett, Elliott L.; Fleskes, Joseph
2017-01-01
The Central Valley of California is one of the most important regions for wintering waterbirds in North America despite extensive anthropogenic landscape modification and decline of historical wetlands there. Like many other mediterranean-climate ecosystems across the globe, the Central Valley has been subject to a burgeoning human population and expansion and intensification of agricultural and urban development that have impacted wildlife habitats. Future effects of urban development, changes in water supply management, and precipitation and air temperature related to global climate change on area of waterbird habitat in the Central Valley are uncertain, yet potentially substantial. Therefore, we modeled area of waterbird habitats for 17 climate, urbanization, water supply management, and wetland restoration scenarios for years 2006–2099 using a water resources and scenario modeling framework. Planned wetland restoration largely compensated for adverse effects of climate, urbanization, and water supply management changes on habitat areas through 2065, but fell short thereafter for all except one scenario. Projected habitat reductions due to climate models were more frequent and greater than under the recent historical climate and their magnitude increased through time. After 2065, area of waterbird habitat in all scenarios that included severe warmer, drier climate was projected to be >15% less than in the “existing” landscape most years. The greatest reduction in waterbird habitat occurred in scenarios that combined warmer, drier climate and plausible water supply management options affecting priority and delivery of water available for waterbird habitats. This scenario modeling addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the Central Valley landscape, use and management of related water supplies, and climate to inform waterbird habitat conservation and other resource management planning. Results indicate that increased wetland restoration and additional
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New England wildlife: management forested habitats
Richard M. DeGraaf; Mariko Yamasaki; William B. Leak; John W. Lanier
1992-01-01
Presents silvicultural treatments for six major cover-type groups in New England to produce stand conditions that provide habitat opportunities for a wide range of wildlife species. Includes matrices for species occurrence and utilization by forested and nonforested habitats, habitat breadth and size class, and structural habitat features for the 338 wildlife species...
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A Markov decision process for managing habitat for Florida scrub-jays
Johnson, Fred A.; Breininger, David R.; Duncan, Brean W.; Nichols, James D.; Runge, Michael C.; Williams, B. Ken
2011-01-01
Florida scrub-jays Aphelocoma coerulescens are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to loss and degradation of scrub habitat. This study concerned the development of an optimal strategy for the restoration and management of scrub habitat at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which contains one of the few remaining large populations of scrub-jays in Florida. There are documented differences in the reproductive and survival rates of scrubjays among discrete classes of scrub height (Markov models to estimate annual transition probabilities among the four scrub-height classes under three possible management actions: scrub restoration (mechanical cutting followed by burning), a prescribed burn, or no intervention. A strategy prescribing the optimal management action for management units exhibiting different proportions of scrub-height classes was derived using dynamic programming. Scrub restoration was the optimal management action only in units dominated by mixed and tall scrub, and burning tended to be the optimal action for intermediate levels of short scrub. The optimal action was to do nothing when the amount of short scrub was greater than 30%, because short scrub mostly transitions to optimal height scrub (i.e., that state with the highest demographic success of scrub-jays) in the absence of intervention. Monte Carlo simulation of the optimal policy suggested that some form of management would be required every year. We note, however, that estimates of scrub-height transition probabilities were subject to several sources of uncertainty, and so we explored the management implications of alternative sets of transition probabilities. Generally, our analysis demonstrated the difficulty of managing for a species that requires midsuccessional habitat, and suggests that innovative management tools may be needed to help ensure the persistence of scrub-jays at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The development of a tailored monitoring
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Holmquist, Jeffrey G.; Schmidt-Gengenbach, Jutta; Haultain, Sylvia A.
2013-12-01
Grazing management necessarily emphasizes the most spatially extensive vegetation assemblages, but landscapes are mosaics, often with more mesic vegetation types embedded within a matrix of drier vegetation. Our primary objective was to contrast effects of equine grazing on both subalpine vegetation structure and associated arthropods in a drier reed grass ( Calamagrostis muiriana) dominated habitat versus a wetter, more productive sedge habitat ( Carex utriculata). A second objective was to compare reed grass and sedge as habitats for fauna, irrespective of grazing. All work was done in Sequoia National Park (CA, USA), where detailed, long-term records of stock management were available. We sampled paired grazed and control wet meadows that contained both habitats. There were moderate negative effects of grazing on vegetation, and effects were greater in sedge than in reed grass. Conversely, negative grazing effects on arthropods, albeit limited, were greater in the drier reed grass, possibly due to microhabitat differences. The differing effects on plants and animals as a function of habitat emphasize the importance of considering both flora and fauna, as well as multiple habitat types, when making management decisions. Sedge supported twice the overall arthropod abundance of reed grass as well as greater diversity; hemipteran and dipteran taxa were particularly abundant in sedge. Given the greater grazing effects on sedge vegetation, greater habitat provision for terrestrial arthropods, and value as aquatic arthropod habitat, the wetter sedge assemblage is worthy of additional consideration by managers when planning for grazing and other aspects of land usage.
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2011-06-17
... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration RIN 0648-XR75 Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Components of Fishery Management Plans (Northeast Multispecies, Atlantic Sea Scallop...: E-mail: Habitat[email protected] . Mail: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery...
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Humburg, Dale D.; Anderson, Michael G.; Brasher, Michael G.; Carter, Michael F.; Eadie, John M.; Fulton, David C.; Johnson, Fred A.; Runge, Michael C.; Vrtiska, Mark P.
2018-01-01
The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) has established a model for wildlife conservation planning over the last 3 decades. Management at a continental scale, leveraged funding, regional partnerships, and a strong science basis have been notable features. Periodic updates to the NAWMP occurred since implementation in 1986; however, a fundamental revision was accomplished in 2012 after extensive stakeholder engagement. An explicit fundamental goal for waterfowl conservation supporters was added in 2012, complementing existing goals for sustainable populations and sufficient habitat found in previous updates. We present a synopsis of progress toward implementation of the 2012 NAWMP and challenge the waterfowl management community to continue with meaningful steps toward achieving NAWMP goals. Adding goals and objectives for supporters increases potential relevance of NAWMP; however, it also presents a level of complexity that was not entirely anticipated. Additionally, the 2012 NAWMP recognized that traditional support from waterfowl hunters alone will not be sufficient to support waterfowl conservation in the future. Simultaneous consideration of multiple objectives, although implicit before, now is a specific focus for habitat and harvest management affecting hunters and other users of the waterfowl resource. The waterfowl management community is faced with revisiting objectives and management actions related to harvest regulations, landscape priorities, habitat conservation, and public engagement to garner broader support. These persistent management challenges are tangible and relevant candidates for greater integration. Ultimately, the structures and processes supporting waterfowl management also will need to be reconsidered.
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Investigating Targets of Avian Habitat Management to Eliminate an Ecological Trap
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bruce A. Robertson
2012-12-01
trees. Both sexes preferred standing dead perch trees (snags and these preferences were most obvious in harvested forest where snags are rarer. Because previous research shows that snag density is linked to habitat preference and spruce/fir trees are preferred nest substrate, my results suggest these two habitat components are focal habitat selection cues. I suggest alternative and complementary strategies for eliminating the ecological trap for Olive-sided Flycatchers including: (1 reduced retention and creation of snags, (2 avoiding selective harvest in spruce, fir, and larch stands, (3 avoiding retention of these tree species, and (4 selecting only even-aged canopy height trees for retention so as to reduce perch availability for female flycatchers. Because these strategies also have potential to negatively impact habitat suitability for other forest species or even create new ecological traps, we urge caution in the application of our management recommendations.
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Nicol, Sam; Wiederholt, Ruscena; Diffendorfer, James E.; Mattsson, Brady; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Semmens, Darius J.; Laura Lopez-Hoffman,; Norris, Ryan
2016-01-01
Mobile species with complex spatial dynamics can be difficult to manage because their population distributions vary across space and time, and because the consequences of managing particular habitats are uncertain when evaluated at the level of the entire population. Metrics to assess the importance of habitats and pathways connecting habitats in a network are necessary to guide a variety of management decisions. Given the many metrics developed for spatially structured models, it can be challenging to select the most appropriate one for a particular decision. To guide the management of spatially structured populations, we define three classes of metrics describing habitat and pathway quality based on their data requirements (graph-based, occupancy-based, and demographic-based metrics) and synopsize the ecological literature relating to these classes. Applying the first steps of a formal decision-making approach (problem framing, objectives, and management actions), we assess the utility of metrics for particular types of management decisions. Our framework can help managers with problem framing, choosing metrics of habitat and pathway quality, and to elucidate the data needs for a particular metric. Our goal is to help managers to narrow the range of suitable metrics for a management project, and aid in decision-making to make the best use of limited resources.
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Matchett, Elliott L.; Fleskes, Joseph
2018-01-01
California's Central Valley provides critical, but threatened habitat and food resources for migrating and wintering waterfowl, shorebirds, and other waterbirds. The Central Valley is comprised of nine basins that were defined by the Central Valley Joint Venture (CVJV) to assist in conservation planning. Basins vary in composition and extent of habitats, which primarily include croplands and wetlands that rely on water supplies shared with other competing human and environmental uses. Changes in climate, urban development, and water supply management are uncertain and could reduce future availability of water supplies supporting waterbird habitats and limit effectiveness of wetland restoration planned by the CVJV to support wintering waterbirds. We modeled 17 plausible scenarios including combinations of three climate projections, three urbanization rates, and five water supply management options to promote agricultural and urban water uses, with and without wetland restoration. Our research examines the reduction in quantity and quality of habitats during the fall migration-wintering period by basin under each scenario, and the efficacy of planned wetland restoration to compensate reductions in flooded areas of wetland habitats. Scenario combinations of projected climate, urbanization, and water supply management options reduced availability of flooded cropland and wetland habitats during fall-winter and degraded the quality of seasonal wetlands (i.e., summer-irrigation for improved forage production), though the extent and frequency of impacts varied by basin. Planned wetland restoration may substantially compensate for scenario-related effects on wetland habitats in each basin. However, results indicate that Colusa, Butte, Sutter, San Joaquin, and Tulare Basins may require additional conservation to support summer-irrigation of seasonal wetlands and winter-flooding of cropland habitats. Still further conservation may be required to provide sufficient areas of
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A Markov decision process for managing habitat for Florida scrub-jays
Johnson, Fred A.; Breininger, David R.; Duncan, Brean W.; Nichols, James D.; Runge, Michael C.; Williams, B. Ken
2011-01-01
Florida scrub-jays Aphelocoma coerulescens are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to loss and degradation of scrub habitat. This study concerned the development of an optimal strategy for the restoration and management of scrub habitat at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which contains one of the few remaining large populations of scrub-jays in Florida. There are documented differences in the reproductive and survival rates of scrubjays among discrete classes of scrub height (strategy that would maximize the long-term growth rate of the resident scrub-jay population. We used aerial imagery with multistate Markov models to estimate annual transition probabilities among the four scrub-height classes under three possible management actions: scrub restoration (mechanical cutting followed by burning), a prescribed burn, or no intervention. A strategy prescribing the optimal management action for management units exhibiting different proportions of scrub-height classes was derived using dynamic programming. Scrub restoration was the optimal management action only in units dominated by mixed and tall scrub, and burning tended to be the optimal action for intermediate levels of short scrub. The optimal action was to do nothing when the amount of short scrub was greater than 30%, because short scrub mostly transitions to optimal height scrub (i.e., that state with the highest demographic success of scrub-jays) in the absence of intervention. Monte Carlo simulation of the optimal policy suggested that some form of management would be required every year. We note, however, that estimates of scrub-height transition probabilities were subject to several sources of uncertainty, and so we explored the management implications of alternative sets of transition probabilities. Generally, our analysis demonstrated the difficulty of managing for a species that requires midsuccessional habitat, and suggests that innovative management tools may be needed to
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Groundwater management institutions to protect riparian habitat
Orr, Patricia; Colby, Bonnie
2004-12-01
Groundwater pumping affects riparian habitat when it causes the water table to drop beyond the reach of riparian plants. Riparian habitat provides services that are not directly traded in markets, as is the case with many environmental amenities. There is no direct market where one may buy or sell the mix of services provided by a riparian corridor. The objective of this article is to review groundwater management mechanisms and assess their strengths and weaknesses for preserving the ecological integrity of riparian areas threatened by groundwater pumping. Policy instruments available to those concerned with the effects of groundwater pumping on riparian areas fall into three broad categories: (1) command and control (CAC), (2) incentive-based economic instruments, and (3) cooperative/suasive strategies. The case of the San Pedro River illustrates multiple and overlapping strategies applied in an ongoing attempt to reverse accumulating damage to a riparian ecosystem. Policy makers in the United States can choose among a broad menu of policy options to protect riparian habitat from groundwater pumping. They can capitalize on the clarity of command-and-control strategies, the flexibility and less obtrusive nature of incentive-based economic strategies, and the benefits that collaborative efforts can bring in the form of mutual consideration. While collaborative problem solving and market-based instruments are important policy tools, experience indicates that a well-formulated regulatory structure to limit regional groundwater pumping is an essential component of an effective riparian protection strategy.
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Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Handbook.
Neilson, Edward L., Jr.; Benson, Delwin E.
The National 4-H Wildlife Invitational is a competitive event to teach youth about the fundamentals of wildlife management. Youth learn that management for wildlife means management of wildlife habitat and providing for the needs of wildlife. This handbook provides information about wildlife habitat management concepts in both urban and rural…
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K.J. Anlauf; D.W. Jensen; K.M. Burnett; E.A. Steel; K. Christiansen; J.C. Firman; B.E. Feist; D.P. Larsen
2011-01-01
1. The distribution and composition of in-stream habitats are reflections of landscape scale geomorphic and climatic controls. Correspondingly, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are largely adapted to and constrained by the quality and complexity of those in-stream habitat conditions. The degree to which lands have been fragmented and managed can...
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VisTrails SAHM: visualization and workflow management for species habitat modeling
Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Holcombe, Tracy R.; Talbert, Colin B.; Ignizio, Drew A.; Talbert, Marian; Silva, Claudio; Koop, David; Swanson, Alan; Young, Nicholas E.
2013-01-01
The Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling (SAHM) has been created to both expedite habitat modeling and help maintain a record of the various input data, pre- and post-processing steps and modeling options incorporated in the construction of a species distribution model through the established workflow management and visualization VisTrails software. This paper provides an overview of the VisTrails:SAHM software including a link to the open source code, a table detailing the current SAHM modules, and a simple example modeling an invasive weed species in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA.
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Use of microcomputers for planning and managing silviculture habitat relationships.
B.G. Marcot; R.S. McNay; R.E. Page
1988-01-01
Microcomputers aid in monitoring, modeling, and decision support for integrating objectives of silviculture and wildlife habitat management. Spreadsheets, data bases, statistics, and graphics programs are described for use in monitoring. Stand growth models, modeling languages, area and geobased information systems, and optimization models are discussed for use in...
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Routine road maintenance water quality and habitat guide : best management practices
2009-01-01
Since June 9, 1999 the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has implemented the Routine Road Maintenance: Water Quality and Habitat Guide Best Management Practices (the Guide), and is considered the cornerstone of the ODOT'd Office of Maintenan...
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Law, Bradley; Caccamo, Gabriele; Roe, Paul; Truskinger, Anthony; Brassil, Traecey; Gonsalves, Leroy; McConville, Anna; Stanton, Matthew
2017-09-01
Species distribution models have great potential to efficiently guide management for threatened species, especially for those that are rare or cryptic. We used MaxEnt to develop a regional-scale model for the koala Phascolarctos cinereus at a resolution (250 m) that could be used to guide management. To ensure the model was fit for purpose, we placed emphasis on validating the model using independently-collected field data. We reduced substantial spatial clustering of records in coastal urban areas using a 2-km spatial filter and by modeling separately two subregions separated by the 500-m elevational contour. A bias file was prepared that accounted for variable survey effort. Frequency of wildfire, soil type, floristics and elevation had the highest relative contribution to the model, while a number of other variables made minor contributions. The model was effective in discriminating different habitat suitability classes when compared with koala records not used in modeling. We validated the MaxEnt model at 65 ground-truth sites using independent data on koala occupancy (acoustic sampling) and habitat quality (browse tree availability). Koala bellows ( n = 276) were analyzed in an occupancy modeling framework, while site habitat quality was indexed based on browse trees. Field validation demonstrated a linear increase in koala occupancy with higher modeled habitat suitability at ground-truth sites. Similarly, a site habitat quality index at ground-truth sites was correlated positively with modeled habitat suitability. The MaxEnt model provided a better fit to estimated koala occupancy than the site-based habitat quality index, probably because many variables were considered simultaneously by the model rather than just browse species. The positive relationship of the model with both site occupancy and habitat quality indicates that the model is fit for application at relevant management scales. Field-validated models of similar resolution would assist in
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Wetland Plant Guide for Assessing Habitat Impacts of Real-Time Salinity Management
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Quinn, Nigel W.T.; Feldmann, Sara A.
2004-10-15
This wetland plant guide was developed to aid moist soil plant identification and to assist in the mapping of waterfowl and shorebird habitat in the Grassland Water District and surrounding wetland areas. The motivation for this habitat mapping project was a concern that real-time salinity management of wetland drainage might have long-term consequences for wildfowl habitat health--changes in wetland drawdown schedules might, over the long term, lead to increased soil salinity and other conditions unfavorable to propagation of the most desirable moist soil plants. Hence, the implementation of a program to monitor annual changes in the most common moist soil plants might serve as an index of habitat health and sustainability. Our review of the current scientific and popular literature failed to identify a good, comprehensive field guide that could be used to calibrate and verify high resolution remote sensing imagery, that we had started to use to develop maps of wetland moist soil plants in the Grassland Water District. Since completing the guide it has been used to conduct ground truthing field surveys using the California Native Plant Society methodology in 2004. Results of this survey and a previous wetland plant survey in 2003 are published in a companion LBNL publication summarizing 4 years of fieldwork to advance the science of real-time wetland salinity management.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Wildlife Program
2001-09-01
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) propose to continue to protect, enhance, and mitigate wildlife and wildlife habitat at the Wanaket Wildlife Area. The Wanaket Wildlife Area was approved as a Columbia River Basin Wildlife Mitigation Project by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Northwest Power Planning Council (NWPPC) in 1993. This management plan will provide an update of the original management plan approved by BPA in 1995. Wanaket will contribute towards meeting BPA's obligation to compensate for wildlife habitat losses resulting from the construction of the McNary Hydroelectric facility on the Columbia River. By funding the enhancement and operation and maintenance of the Wanaket Wildlife Area, BPA will receive credit towards their mitigation debt. The purpose of the Wanaket Wildlife Area management plan update is to provide programmatic and site-specific standards and guidelines on how the Wanaket Wildlife Area will be managed over the next five years. This plan provides overall guidance on both short and long term activities that will move the area towards the goals, objectives, and desired future conditions for the planning area. The plan will incorporate managed and protected wildlife and wildlife habitat, including operations and maintenance, enhancements, and access and travel management. Specific project objectives are related to protection and enhancement of wildlife habitats and are expressed in terms of habitat units (HU's). Habitat units were developed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP), and are designed to track habitat gains and/or losses associated with mitigation and/or development projects. Habitat Units for a given species are a product of habitat quantity (expressed in acres) and habitat quality estimates. Habitat quality estimates are developed using Habitat Suitability Indices (HSI). These indices are based on quantifiable habitat features such
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Kent E. Watson; Jim Horner; Louise Mozingo
1989-01-01
Innovative techniques for restoring riparian habitats are of little value without a community endorsed plan for their implementation. A flood control district commissioned the Arroyo Management Plan in order to determine how it might provide public access and improve habitat along its current and future channels in a fast-growing area of Northern California. The Plan,...
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Holland, John M; Bianchi, Felix Jja; Entling, Martin H; Moonen, Anna-Camilla; Smith, Barbara M; Jeanneret, Philippe
2016-09-01
Different semi-natural habitats occur on farmland, and it is the vegetation's traits and structure that subsequently determine their ability to support natural enemies and their associated contribution to conservation biocontrol. New habitats can be created and existing ones improved with agri-environment scheme funding in all EU member states. Understanding the contribution of each habitat type can aid the development of conservation control strategies. Here we review the extent to which the predominant habitat types in Europe support natural enemies, whether this results in enhanced natural enemy densities in the adjacent crop and whether this leads to reduced pest densities. Considerable variation exists in the available information for the different habitat types and trophic levels. Natural enemies within each habitat were the most studied, with less information on whether they were enhanced in adjacent fields, while their impact on pests was rarely investigated. Most information was available for woody and herbaceous linear habitats, yet not for woodland which can be the most common semi-natural habitat in many regions. While the management and design of habitats offer potential to stimulate conservation biocontrol, we also identified knowledge gaps. A better understanding of the relationship between resource availability and arthropod communities across habitat types, the spatiotemporal distribution of resources in the landscape and interactions with other factors that play a role in pest regulation could contribute to an informed management of semi-natural habitats for biocontrol. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Krstolic, Jennifer L.; Hayes, Donald C.; Ruhl, Peter M.
2006-01-01
streamflow-gaging stations were used to characterize the flow regime: North Fork Shenandoah River at Cootes Store, Va. (1925-2002), North Fork Shenandoah River at Mount Jackson, Va. (1943-2002), and North Fork Shenandoah River near Strasburg, Va. (1925-2002). The predominant mesohabitat types (14 percent riffle, 67.3 percent run, and 18.7 percent pool) were classified along the entire river (100 miles) to assist in the selection of reaches for hydraulic and fish community data collection. The upper section has predominantly particle substrate, ranging in size from sand to boulders, and the shortest habitat units. The middle section is a transitional section with increased bedrock substrate and habitat unit length. The lower section has predominantly bedrock substrate and the longest habitat units in the river. The model simulations show that weighted usable-habitat area in the upper management section is highest at flows higher than the 25-percent exceedance flow for July, August, and September. During these three months, total weighted usable-habitat area in this section is often less than the simulated maximum weighted usable-habitat area. Habitat area in the middle management section is highest at flows between the 25- and 75-percent exceedance flows for July, August, and September. In the middle section during these months, both the actual weighted usable-habitat area and the simulated maximum weighted usable-habitat area are associated with this flow range. Weighted usable-habitat area in the lower management section is highest at flows lower than the 75-percent exceedance flow for July, August, and September. In the lower section during these three months, some weighted usable-habitat area is available, but the normal range of flows does not include the simulated maximum weighted usable-habitat area. A time-series habitat analysis associated with the historic streamflow, zero water withdrawals, and doubled water withdrawals was completed. During s
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National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Schroeder, Richard
1999-01-01
.... and improving overall floristic quality. Selection of appropriate management strategies followed by monitoring and evaluation of habitat conditions will allow for adaptive management and appropriate modifications over time.
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Mattsson, Brady J.; Runge, M.C.; Devries, J.H.; Boomer, G.S.; Eadie, J.M.; Haukos, D.A.; Fleskes, J.P.; Koons, D.N.; Thogmartin, W.E.; Clark, R.G.
2012-01-01
We developed and evaluated the performance of a metapopulation model enabling managers to examine, for the first time, the consequences of alternative management strategies involving habitat conditions and hunting on both harvest opportunity and carrying capacity (i.e., equilibrium population size in the absence of harvest) for migratory waterfowl at a continental scale. Our focus is on the northern pintail (Anas acuta; hereafter, pintail), which serves as a useful model species to examine the potential for integrating waterfowl harvest and habitat management in North America. We developed submodel structure capturing important processes for pintail populations during breeding, fall migration, winter, and spring migration while encompassing spatial structure representing three core breeding areas and two core nonbreeding areas. A number of continental-scale predictions from our baseline parameterization (e.g., carrying capacity of 5.5 million, equilibrium population size of 2.9 million and harvest rate of 12% at maximum sustained yield [MSY]) were within 10% of those from the pintail harvest strategy under current use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To begin investigating the interaction of harvest and habitat management, we examined equilibrium population conditions for pintail at the continental scale across a range of harvest rates while perturbing model parameters to represent: (1) a 10% increase in breeding habitat quality in the Prairie Pothole population (PR); and (2) a 10% increase in nonbreeding habitat quantity along in the Gulf Coast (GC). Based on our model and analysis, a greater increase in carrying capacity and sustainable harvest was seen when increasing a proxy for habitat quality in the Prairie Pothole population. This finding and underlying assumptions must be critically evaluated, however, before specific management recommendations can be made. To make such recommendations, we require (1) extended, refined submodels with additional
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Habitat evaluation for outbreak of Yangtze voles (Microtus fortis) and management implications.
Xu, Zhenggang; Zhao, Yunlin; Li, Bo; Zhang, Meiwen; Shen, Guo; Wang, Yong
2015-05-01
Rodent pests severely damage agricultural crops. Outbreak risk models of rodent pests often do not include sufficient information regarding geographic variation. Habitat plays an important role in rodent-pest outbreak risk, and more information about the relationship between habitat and crop protection is urgently needed. The goal of the present study was to provide an outbreak risk map for the Dongting Lake region and to understand the relationship between rodent-pest outbreak variation and habitat distribution. The main rodent pests in the Dongting Lake region are Yangtze voles (Microtus fortis). These pests cause massive damage in outbreak years, most notably in 2007. Habitat evaluation and ecological details were obtained by analyzing the correlation between habitat suitability and outbreak risk, as indicated by population density and historical events. For the source-sink population, 96.18% of Yangtze vole disaster regions were covered by a 10-km buffer zone of suitable habitat in 2007. Historical outbreak frequency and peak population density were significantly correlated with the proportion of land covered by suitable habitat (r = 0.68, P = 0.04 and r = 0.76, P = 0.03, respectively). The Yangtze vole population tends to migrate approximately 10 km in outbreak years. Here, we propose a practical method for habitat evaluation that can be used to create integrated pest management plans for rodent pests when combined with basic information on the biology, ecology and behavior of the target species. © 2014 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
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Wildlife habitats in managed rangelands—the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon: manmade habitats.
Chris Maser; Jack Ward Thomas; Ira David Luman; Ralph. Anderson
1979-01-01
Manmade structures on rangelands provide specialized habitats for some species. These habitats and how they function as specialized habitat features are examined in this publication. The relationships of the wildlife of the Great Basin to such structures are detailed.
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Bisson, P.A.; Dunham, J.B.; Reeves, G.H.
2009-01-01
In spite of numerous habitat restoration programs in fresh waters with an aggregate annual funding of millions of dollars, many populations of Pacific salmon remain significantly imperiled. Habitat restoration strategies that address limited environmental attributes and partial salmon life-history requirements or approaches that attempt to force aquatic habitat to conform to idealized but ecologically unsustainable conditions may partly explain this lack of response. Natural watershed processes generate highly variable environmental conditions and population responses, i.e., multiple life histories, that are often not considered in restoration. Examples from several locations underscore the importance of natural variability to the resilience of Pacific salmon. The implication is that habitat restoration efforts will be more likely to foster salmon resilience if they consider processes that generate and maintain natural variability in fresh water. We identify three specific criteria for management based on natural variability: the capacity of aquatic habitat to recover from disturbance, a range of habitats distributed across stream networks through time sufficient to fulfill the requirements of diverse salmon life histories, and ecological connectivity. In light of these considerations, we discuss current threats to habitat resilience and describe how regulatory and restoration approaches can be modified to better incorporate natural variability. ?? 2009 by the author(s).
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Peter A. Bisson
2009-06-01
Full Text Available In spite of numerous habitat restoration programs in fresh waters with an aggregate annual funding of millions of dollars, many populations of Pacific salmon remain significantly imperiled. Habitat restoration strategies that address limited environmental attributes and partial salmon life-history requirements or approaches that attempt to force aquatic habitat to conform to idealized but ecologically unsustainable conditions may partly explain this lack of response. Natural watershed processes generate highly variable environmental conditions and population responses, i.e., multiple life histories, that are often not considered in restoration. Examples from several locations underscore the importance of natural variability to the resilience of Pacific salmon. The implication is that habitat restoration efforts will be more likely to foster salmon resilience if they consider processes that generate and maintain natural variability in fresh water. We identify three specific criteria for management based on natural variability: the capacity of aquatic habitat to recover from disturbance, a range of habitats distributed across stream networks through time sufficient to fulfill the requirements of diverse salmon life histories, and ecological connectivity. In light of these considerations, we discuss current threats to habitat resilience and describe how regulatory and restoration approaches can be modified to better incorporate natural variability.
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Will ecosystem management supply woodland caribou habitat in northwestern Ontario?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
David L. Euler
1998-03-01
Full Text Available Ecosystem management is emerging as an important concept in managing forests. Although the basic conceptual idea is not new, important defining principles are developing that elucidate some of the specific attributes of ecosystem management. These principles include: the maintenance of all ecosystems in the managed forest, rhe emulation of natural disturbance patterns on rhe landscape and the insurance that structure and function of forested ecosystems are conserved. Forest management has an impact on woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou, although the presence of wolves (Canis lupus and moose (Alces alces in the same northern ecosystems also affects the caribou-forestry interacrion. Specific management for caribou as a featured species has been proposed, based on managing large landscape blocks. Ecosystem management would also produce habitat in a manner that might accomplish the goal of conserving woodland caribou as well as maintaining other important ecosystem functions.
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Fred H. Everest; Gordon H. Reeves
2007-01-01
Management of riparian habitats is controversial because land use policies have historically emphasized economic values (e.g., timber production) at the expense of ecological and social values. Attempting to manage these valuable resources to attain the greatest combination of benefits has created a long-term controversy that continues to the present. Our analysis...
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Zeigenfuss, Linda C.; Johnson, Therese L.
2015-12-17
Since 2008, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado has been implementing an elk and vegetation management plan with the goal of managing elk populations and their habitats to improve the condition of key vegetation communities on elk winter range. Management actions that have been taken thus far include small reductions in the elk herd through culling of animals and temporary fencing of large areas of willow and aspen habitat to protect them from elk browsing. As part of the park’s elk and vegetation management plan (EVMP), a monitoring program was established to assess effectiveness of management actions in achieving vegetation goals. We collected data to monitor offtake (consumption) of upland herbaceous plants and willow annually from 2008 to 2014 and to assess aspen stand structure and regeneration and willow cover and height in 2013, 5 years after plan implementation. Loss of many willow and a few aspen monitoring sites to a fire in late 2012 complicated data collection and interpretation of results but will provide opportunities to observe habitat recovery following fire and in the presence and absence of elk herbivory, which will offer important insights into the use of prescribed fire as an additional management tool in these habitats.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray; Lockwood, Jr., Neil; Holmes, Darren
2003-10-01
In 2000 and 2001, the Kalispel Natural Resource Department (KNRD) continued to mitigate the wildlife habitat losses as part of the Albeni Falls Wildlife Mitigation Project. Utilizing Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funds, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians (Tribe) purchased three projects totaling nearly 1,200 acres. The Tacoma/Trimble Wildlife Management Area is a conglomeration of properties now estimated at 1,700 acres. It is the Tribe's intent to manage these properties in cooperation and collaboration with the Pend Oreille County Public Utility District (PUD) No. 1 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to benefit wildlife habitats and associated species, populations, and guilds.
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Burlington Bottoms wildlife mitigation site : five-year habitat management plan, 2001-2005
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Beilke, Susan G.
2001-01-01
Historically the lower Columbia and Willamette River Basins were ecologically rich in both the habitat types and the species diversity they supported. This was due in part to the pattern of floods and periodic inundation of bottomlands that occurred, which was an important factor in creating and maintaining a complex system of wetland, meadow, and riparian habitats. This landscape has been greatly altered in the past 150 years, primarily due to human development and agricultural activities including cattle grazing, logging and the building of hydroelectric facilities for hydropower, navigation, flood control and irrigation in the Columbia and Willamette River Basins. The Burlington Bottoms (BB) wetlands contains some of the last remaining bottomlands in the area, supporting a diverse array of native plant and wildlife species. Located approximately twelve miles northwest of Portland and situated between the Tualatin Mountains to the west and Multnomah Channel and Sauvie Island to the east, the current habitats are remnant of what was once common throughout the region. In order to preserve and enhance this important site, a five-year habitat management plan has been written that proposes a set of actions that will carry out the goals and objectives developed for the site, which includes protecting, maintaining and enhancing wildlife habitat for perpetuity
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Kennedy, Kriss J.; Toup, Larry; Gill, Tracy; Tri, Terry; Howe, Scott; Smitherman, David
2011-01-01
This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led multi-center Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project leadership and management strategies being used by the NASA HDU team for a rapid prototyping project. The HDU project team constructed and tested an analog prototype lunar surface habitat/laboratory called the Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) during 2010. The prototype unit subsystems were integrated in a short amount of time, utilizing a tiger team rapid prototyping approach that brought together over 20 habitation-related technologies and innovations from a variety of NASA centers. This paper describes the leadership and management strategies as well as lessons learned pertaining to leading and managing a multi-center diverse team in a rapid prototype environment. The PEM configuration went from a paper design to an operational surface habitat demonstration unit in less than 12 months. The HDU project is part of the strategic plan from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Directorate Integration Office (DIO) and the Exploration Mission Systems Office (EMSO) to test destination elements in analog environments. The 2011 HDU-Deep Space Habitat (DSH) configuration will build upon the PEM work, and emphasize validity of crew operations (remote working and living), EVA operations, mission operations, logistics operations, and science operations that might be required in a deep space context for Near Earth Object (NEO) exploration mission architectures. The 2011 HDU-DSH will be field-tested during the 2011 Desert Research and Technologies Studies (DRaTS) field tests. The HDU project is a "technology-pull" project that integrates technologies and innovations from multiple NASA centers. This project will repurpose the HDU 2010 demo unit that was field tested in the 2010 DRaTS, adding habitation functionality to the prototype unit. This paper will describe the strategy of establishing a multi-center project
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Resource use of Japanese macaques in heavy snowfall areas: implications for habitat management.
Enari, Hiroto; Sakamaki-Enari, Haruka
2013-07-01
Populations of Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) that inhabit the northernmost distribution of any nonhuman primates have been listed as endangered in Japan; however, macaques are widely known for being pests that cause agricultural damage. This study identified priority areas for the conservation and management of macaque habitats, by comparing the resource use of troops occupying remote mountains (montane troops) against troops inhabiting disturbed forests adjacent to settlements (rural troops). We collected species presence data across 2 years by radio-tracking two montane troops and two rural troops in the Shirakami Mountains. We developed seasonal utilization distributions by using the kernel method, and identified habitat characteristics by using ecological-niche factor analysis (ENFA). Our results indicate that environmental factors influencing the potential habitat varied widely with season in montane troops as compared with that in rural troops. ENFA results demonstrated that rural troops exhibited more biased resource use and narrower niche breadths than montane troops. Based on our findings, we propose that (1) primary broadleaf forests are the spring habitat conservation priority of montane troops; (2) the habitat unit--the product of habitat suitability index and its surface area--for montane troops is enhanced by removing old conifer plantations from the forest edge at low elevations; (3) such removal around settlements may also contribute toward removing a frontline refuge for rural troops intruding farmlands; and (4) intensive prevention measures against macaque intrusions into settlements during the bottleneck snowy season contribute toward reducing the habitat unit of rural troops.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chantel E Markle
Full Text Available Point Pelee National Park, located at the southern-most tip of Canada's mainland, historically supported a large number of herpetofauna species; however, despite nearly a century of protection, six snake and five amphibian species have disappeared, and remaining species-at-risk populations are thought to be in decline. We hypothesized that long-term changes in availability and distribution of critical habitat types may have contributed to the disappearance of herpetofauna. To track habitat changes we used aerial image data spanning 85 years (1931-2015 and manually digitized and classified image data using a standardized framework. Change-detection analyses were used to evaluate the relative importance of proportionate loss and fragmentation of 17 habitat types. Marsh habitat diversity and aquatic connectivity has declined since 1931. The marsh matrix transitioned from a graminoid and forb shallow marsh interspersed with water to a cattail dominated marsh, altering critical breeding, foraging, and overwintering habitat. Reduced diversity of marsh habitats appears to be linked to the expansion of invasive Phragmites australis, which invaded prior to 2000. Loss of open habitats such as savanna and meadow has reduced availability of high quality thermoregulation habitat for reptiles. Restoration of the northwestern region and tip of Point Pelee National Park to a mixed landscape of shallow wetlands (cattail, graminoid, forb, open water and eradication of dense Phragmites stands should improve habitat diversity. Our results suggest that long-term landscape changes resulting from habitat succession and invasive species can negatively affect habitat suitability for herpetofauna and protection of land alone does not necessarily equate to protection of sensitive herpetofauna.
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Markle, Chantel E; Chow-Fraser, Gillian; Chow-Fraser, Patricia
2018-01-01
Point Pelee National Park, located at the southern-most tip of Canada's mainland, historically supported a large number of herpetofauna species; however, despite nearly a century of protection, six snake and five amphibian species have disappeared, and remaining species-at-risk populations are thought to be in decline. We hypothesized that long-term changes in availability and distribution of critical habitat types may have contributed to the disappearance of herpetofauna. To track habitat changes we used aerial image data spanning 85 years (1931-2015) and manually digitized and classified image data using a standardized framework. Change-detection analyses were used to evaluate the relative importance of proportionate loss and fragmentation of 17 habitat types. Marsh habitat diversity and aquatic connectivity has declined since 1931. The marsh matrix transitioned from a graminoid and forb shallow marsh interspersed with water to a cattail dominated marsh, altering critical breeding, foraging, and overwintering habitat. Reduced diversity of marsh habitats appears to be linked to the expansion of invasive Phragmites australis, which invaded prior to 2000. Loss of open habitats such as savanna and meadow has reduced availability of high quality thermoregulation habitat for reptiles. Restoration of the northwestern region and tip of Point Pelee National Park to a mixed landscape of shallow wetlands (cattail, graminoid, forb, open water) and eradication of dense Phragmites stands should improve habitat diversity. Our results suggest that long-term landscape changes resulting from habitat succession and invasive species can negatively affect habitat suitability for herpetofauna and protection of land alone does not necessarily equate to protection of sensitive herpetofauna.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kozusko, Shana
2003-12-01
The Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) currently manages a 15,325 acre parcel of land known as the Precious Lands Wildlife Management Area that was purchased as mitigation for losses incurred by construction of the four lower Snake River dams. The Management Area is located in northern Wallowa County, Oregon and southern Asotin County, Washington (Figure 1). It is divided into three management parcels--the Buford parcel is located on Buford Creek and straddles the WA-OR state line, and the Tamarack and Basin parcels are contiguous to each other and located between the Joseph Creek and Cottonwood Creek drainages in Wallowa County, OR. The project was developed under the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-501), with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The acreage protected under this contract will be credited to BPA as habitat permanently dedicated to wildlife and wildlife mitigation. A modeling strategy known as Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and adopted by BPA as a habitat equivalency accounting system. Nine wildlife species models were used to evaluate distinct cover type features and provide a measure of habitat quality. Models measure a wide range of life requisite variables for each species and monitor overall trends in vegetation community health and diversity. One product of HEP is an evaluation of habitat quality expressed in Habitat Units (HUs). This HU accounting system is used to determine the amount of credit BPA receives for mitigation lands. After construction of the four lower Snake River dams, a HEP loss assessment was conducted to determine how many Habitat Units were inundated behind the dams. Twelve target species were used in that evaluation: Canada goose, mallard, river otter, downy woodpecker, song sparrow, yellow warbler, marsh wren, western meadowlark, chukar, ring-necked pheasant, California quail, and mule deer. The U.S. Army Corp of
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We compare changes in the distributions of seagrass, benthic, macroalgal, saltmarsh, and shellfish habitat in Narragansett Bay (U.S.A.) since the 1700s to changes in stressors and management decisions over the same time period, and describe a method that management programs can u...
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Vaz, Sandrine; Carpentier, Andre; Loots, Christophe; Koubbi, Philippe
2004-01-01
Valuable marine habitats and living resources can be found in the Eastern English Channel and in 2003, a Franco-British Interreg IIIA project, ‘Eastern Channel Habitat Atlas for Marine Resource Management’ (CHARM), was initiated to support decision-making for management of essential fish habitats. Fish habitat corresponds to geographic areas within which ranges of environmental factors define the presence of a particular species. Habitat Suitability index (HSI) modelling was used to relate fi...
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Habitat selection and management of the Hawaiian crow
Giffen, J.G.; Scott, J.M.; Mountainspring, S.
1987-01-01
The abundance and range of the Hawaiian crow, or alala, (Corvus hawaiiensis) have decreased drastically since the 1890's. Fewer than 10 breeding pairs remained in the wild in 1985. A sample of 82 nests during 1970-82 were used to determine habitat associations. Two hundred firty-nine alala observations were used to estimate densities occurring in different vegetation types in 1978. Compared to available habitat, more nests and higher bird densities during the breeding season occurred in areas where: (1) canopy cover was > 60%; (2) koa (Acacia koa) and ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha) were dominant species in the crown layer; (3) native plants constituted > 75% of the understory cover; and (4) the elevation was 1,100-1,500 m. Compared to breeding habitat, nonbreeding habitat tended to lie at lower elevations and in wetter forests having the crown layer dominated by ohia but lacking koa. Habitat loss is a major factor underlying the decline of this species although predation on fledgings, avian disease, and shooting also have reduced the population. Remaining key habitat areas have little or no legal protection through zoning and land ownership. Preserves should be established to encompass the location of existing pairs and to assure the provision of optimum breeding habitat and suitable nonbreeding habitat.
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75 FR 66780 - Suisun Marsh Habitat Management, Preservation, and Restoration Plan, California
2010-10-29
..., migratory birds, and waterfowl; support existing wildlife populations; and are vital to the heritage of... the current managed wetland habitat is vital to ensure stability of the many species that depend on... Alternative All action alternatives of the SMP include the same basic components, which provide a framework...
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Michael E. Akresh; David I. King; Brad C. Timm; Robert T. Brooks
2017-01-01
Eastern Hognose Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) are considered a species of conservation concern in the northeast United States because of their association with rare and declining habitats such as pine barrens and shrublands. These are disturbance-dependent habitats that currently require management to persist. We studied Eastern Hognose Snakes on...
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Perennial Grass and Native Wildflowers: A Synergistic Approach to Habitat Management
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shereen S. Xavier
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Marginal agricultural land provides opportunities to diversify landscapes by producing biomass for biofuel, and through floral provisioning that enhances arthropod-mediated ecosystem service delivery. We examined the effects of local spatial context (adjacent to woodland or agriculture and irrigation (irrigation or no irrigation on wildflower bloom and visitation by arthropods in a biofeedstocks-wildflower habitat buffer design. Twenty habitat buffer plots were established containing a subplot of Napier grass (Pennisetum perpureum Schumach for biofeedstock, three commercial wildflower mix subplots, and a control subplot containing spontaneous weeds. Arthropods and flowers were visually observed in quadrats throughout the season. At the end of the season we measured soil nutrients and harvested Napier biomass. We found irrespective of buffer location or irrigation, pollinators were observed more frequently early in the season and on experimental plots with wildflowers than on weeds in the control plots. Natural enemies showed a tendency for being more common on plots adjacent to a wooded border, and were also more commonly observed early in the season. Herbivore visits were infrequent and not significantly influenced by experimental treatments. Napier grass yields were high and typical of first-year yields reported regionally, and were not affected by location context or irrigation. Our results suggest habitat management designs integrating bioenergy crop and floral resources provide marketable biomass and habitat for beneficial arthropods.
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Roger N. Clark; Dave R. Gibbons; Gilbert B. Pauley
1985-01-01
Public and private lands in the United States are used by millions of people for recreational activities. Many of these activities occur in or near streams and coastal areas that produce various species of anadromous fish. A major concern of fishery managers is the possible adverse effect of recreational uses on fish habitat. Conversely, the management of fish habitats...
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Gregory, Stephen D.; Brook, Barry W.; Goossens, Benoît; Ancrenaz, Marc; Alfred, Raymond; Ambu, Laurentius N.; Fordham, Damien A.
2012-01-01
Background Southeast Asian deforestation rates are among the world’s highest and threaten to drive many forest-dependent species to extinction. Climate change is expected to interact with deforestation to amplify this risk. Here we examine whether regional incentives for sustainable forest management will be effective in improving threatened mammal conservation, in isolation and when combined with global climate change mitigation. Methodology/Principal Findings Using a long time-series of orangutan nest counts for Sabah (2000–10), Malaysian Borneo, we evaluated the effect of sustainable forest management and climate change scenarios, and their interaction, on orangutan spatial abundance patterns. By linking dynamic land-cover and downscaled global climate model projections, we determine the relative influence of these factors on orangutan spatial abundance and use the resulting statistical models to identify habitat crucial for their long-term conservation. We show that land-cover change the degradation of primary forest had the greatest influence on orangutan population size. Anticipated climate change was predicted to cause reductions in abundance in currently occupied populations due to decreased habitat suitability, but also to promote population growth in western Sabah by increasing the suitability of presently unoccupied regions. Conclusions/Significance We find strong quantitative support for the Sabah government’s proposal to implement sustainable forest management in all its forest reserves during the current decade; failure to do so could result in a 40 to 80 per cent regional decline in orangutan abundance by 2100. The Sabah orangutan is just one (albeit iconic) example of a forest-dependent species that stands to benefit from sustainable forest management, which promotes conservation of existing forests. PMID:22970145
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Non-Profit/Higher Education Project Management Series: Project Management (PM) Foundations
Burgher, Karl E.; Snyder, Michael B.
2012-01-01
This is the first in a series of forum articles on applying project management (PM) techniques and tools to the nonprofit sector with a focus on higher education. The authors will begin with a traditional look at project management because they believe that the integration of the tools and the processes associated with PM into many campus offices…
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Evaluating the habitat capability model for Merriam's turkeys
Mark A. Rumble; Stanley H. Anderson
1995-01-01
Habitat capability (HABCAP) models for wildlife assist land managers in predicting the consequences of their management decisions. Models must be tested and refined prior to using them in management planning. We tested the predicted patterns of habitat selection of the R2 HABCAP model using observed patterns of habitats selected by radio-marked Merriamâs turkey (
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Viña, Andrés; Bearer, Scott; Chen, Xiaodong; He, Guangming; Linderman, Marc; An, Li; Zhang, Hemin; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Liu, Jianguo
2007-06-01
Global biodiversity loss is largely driven by human activities such as the conversion of natural to human-dominated landscapes. A popular approach to mitigating land cover change is the designation of protected areas (e.g., nature reserves). Nature reserves are traditionally perceived as strongholds of biodiversity conservation. However, many reserves are affected by land cover changes not only within their boundaries, but also in their surrounding areas. This study analyzed the changes in habitat for the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) inside Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China, and in a 3-km buffer area outside its boundaries, through a time series of classified satellite imagery and field observations. Habitat connectivity between the inside and the outside of the reserve diminished between 1965 and 2001 because panda habitat was steadily lost both inside and outside the reserve. However, habitat connectivity slightly increased between 1997 and 2001 due to the stabilization of some panda habitat inside and outside the reserve. This stabilization most likely occurred as a response to changes in socioeconomic activities (e.g., shifts from agricultural to nonagricultural economies). Recently implemented government policies could further mitigate the impacts of land cover change on panda habitat. The results suggest that Wolong Nature Reserve, and perhaps other nature reserves in other parts of the world, cannot be managed as an isolated entity because habitat connectivity declines with land cover changes outside the reserve even if the area inside the reserve is well protected. The findings and approaches presented in this paper may also have important implications for the management of other nature reserves across the world.
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Thorne, Lesley H.; Johnston, David W.; Urban, Dean L.; Tyne, Julian; Bejder, Lars; Baird, Robin W.; Yin, Suzanne; Rickards, Susan H.; Deakos, Mark H.; Mobley, Joseph R.; Pack, Adam A.; Chapla Hill, Marie
2012-01-01
Predictive habitat models can provide critical information that is necessary in many conservation applications. Using Maximum Entropy modeling, we characterized habitat relationships and generated spatial predictions of spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) resting habitat in the main Hawaiian Islands. Spinner dolphins in Hawai'i exhibit predictable daily movements, using inshore bays as resting habitat during daylight hours and foraging in offshore waters at night. There are growing concerns regarding the effects of human activities on spinner dolphins resting in coastal areas. However, the environmental factors that define suitable resting habitat remain unclear and must be assessed and quantified in order to properly address interactions between humans and spinner dolphins. We used a series of dolphin sightings from recent surveys in the main Hawaiian Islands and a suite of environmental variables hypothesized as being important to resting habitat to model spinner dolphin resting habitat. The model performed well in predicting resting habitat and indicated that proximity to deep water foraging areas, depth, the proportion of bays with shallow depths, and rugosity were important predictors of spinner dolphin habitat. Predicted locations of suitable spinner dolphin resting habitat provided in this study indicate areas where future survey efforts should be focused and highlight potential areas of conflict with human activities. This study provides an example of a presence-only habitat model used to inform the management of a species for which patterns of habitat availability are poorly understood. PMID:22937022
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Gormley, Kate S G; Porter, Joanne S; Bell, Michael C; Hull, Angela D; Sanderson, William G
2013-01-01
The aims of this study were to determine the extent and distribution of an OSPAR priority habitat under current baseline ocean temperatures; to illustrate the prospect for habitat loss under a changing ocean temperature scenario; and to demonstrate the potential application of predictive habitat mapping in "future-proofing" conservation and biodiversity management. Maxent modelling and GIS environmental envelope analysis of the biogenic bed forming species, Modiolus modiolus was carried out. The Maxent model was tested and validated using 75%/25% training/test occurrence records and validated against two sampling biases (the whole study area and a 20km buffer). The model was compared to the envelope analysis and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Area Under the curve; AUC) was evaluated. The performance of the Maxent model was rated as 'good' to 'excellent' on all replicated runs and low variation in the runs was recorded from the AUC values. The extent of "most suitable", "less suitable" and "unsuitable" habitat was calculated for the baseline year (2009) and the projected increased ocean temperature scenarios (2030, 2050, 2080 and 2100). A loss of 100% of "most suitable" habitat was reported by 2080. Maintaining a suitable level of protection of marine habitats/species of conservation importance may require management of the decline and migration rather than maintenance of present extent. Methods applied in this study provide the initial application of a plausible "conservation management tool".
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kate S G Gormley
Full Text Available The aims of this study were to determine the extent and distribution of an OSPAR priority habitat under current baseline ocean temperatures; to illustrate the prospect for habitat loss under a changing ocean temperature scenario; and to demonstrate the potential application of predictive habitat mapping in "future-proofing" conservation and biodiversity management. Maxent modelling and GIS environmental envelope analysis of the biogenic bed forming species, Modiolus modiolus was carried out. The Maxent model was tested and validated using 75%/25% training/test occurrence records and validated against two sampling biases (the whole study area and a 20km buffer. The model was compared to the envelope analysis and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Area Under the curve; AUC was evaluated. The performance of the Maxent model was rated as 'good' to 'excellent' on all replicated runs and low variation in the runs was recorded from the AUC values. The extent of "most suitable", "less suitable" and "unsuitable" habitat was calculated for the baseline year (2009 and the projected increased ocean temperature scenarios (2030, 2050, 2080 and 2100. A loss of 100% of "most suitable" habitat was reported by 2080. Maintaining a suitable level of protection of marine habitats/species of conservation importance may require management of the decline and migration rather than maintenance of present extent. Methods applied in this study provide the initial application of a plausible "conservation management tool".
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Kennedy, Kriss J.
2009-01-01
the 1) surface habitat concept definition, 2) inflatable surface habitat development, and 3) autonomous habitat operations, and 4) cross-cutting / systems engineering. In subsequent years, the SHS-FIG will solicit a call for innovations and technologies that will support the development of these four development areas. The other development areas will be assessed yearly and identified on the SHS-FIG s Strategic Development Roadmap. Initial investment projects that are funded by the Constellation Program Office (CxPO), LSSPO, or the Exploration Technology Development Projects (ETDP) will also be included on the Roadmap. For example, in one or two years from now, the autonomous habitat operations and testbed would collaborations with the Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) and Automation for Operations ETDP projects, which will give the surface habitat projects an integrated habitat autonomy testbed to test software and systems. The SHS-FIG scope is to provide focused direction for multiple innovations, technologies and subsystems that are needed to support humans at a remote planetary surface habitat during the concept development, design definition, and integration phases of that project. Subsystems include: habitability, lightweight structures, power management, communications, autonomy, deployment, outfitting, life support, wireless connectivity, lighting, thermal and more.
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Coates, Peter S; Casazza, Michael L; Ricca, Mark A; Brussee, Brianne E; Blomberg, Erik J; Gustafson, K Benjamin; Overton, Cory T; Davis, Dawn M; Niell, Lara E; Espinosa, Shawn P; Gardner, Scott C; Delehanty, David J
2016-02-01
Predictive species distributional models are a cornerstone of wildlife conservation planning. Constructing such models requires robust underpinning science that integrates formerly disparate data types to achieve effective species management.Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus , hereafter 'sage-grouse' populations are declining throughout sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America, particularly within the Great Basin, which heightens the need for novel management tools that maximize the use of available information.Herein, we improve upon existing species distribution models by combining information about sage-grouse habitat quality, distribution and abundance from multiple data sources. To measure habitat, we created spatially explicit maps depicting habitat selection indices (HSI) informed by >35 500 independent telemetry locations from >1600 sage-grouse collected over 15 years across much of the Great Basin. These indices were derived from models that accounted for selection at different spatial scales and seasons. A region-wide HSI was calculated using the HSI surfaces modelled for 12 independent subregions and then demarcated into distinct habitat quality classes.We also employed a novel index to describe landscape patterns of sage-grouse abundance and space use (AUI). The AUI is a probabilistic composite of the following: (i) breeding density patterns based on the spatial configuration of breeding leks and associated trends in male attendance; and (ii) year-round patterns of space use indexed by the decreasing probability of use with increasing distance to leks. The continuous AUI surface was then reclassified into two classes representing high and low/no use and abundance. Synthesis and application s. Using the example of sage-grouse, we demonstrate how the joint application of indices of habitat selection, abundance and space use derived from multiple data sources yields a composite map that can guide effective allocation of management
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Coates, Peter S.; Casazza, Michael L.; Ricca, Mark A.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Blomberg, Erik J.; Gustafson, K. Benjamin; Overton, Cory T.; Davis, Dawn M.; Niell, Lara E.; Espinosa, Shawn P.; Gardner, Scott C.; Delehanty, David J.
2016-01-01
Predictive species distributional models are a cornerstone of wildlife conservation planning. Constructing such models requires robust underpinning science that integrates formerly disparate data types to achieve effective species management. Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter “sage-grouse” populations are declining throughout sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America, particularly within the Great Basin, which heightens the need for novel management tools that maximize use of available information. Herein, we improve upon existing species distribution models by combining information about sage-grouse habitat quality, distribution, and abundance from multiple data sources. To measure habitat, we created spatially explicit maps depicting habitat selection indices (HSI) informed by > 35 500 independent telemetry locations from > 1600 sage-grouse collected over 15 years across much of the Great Basin. These indices were derived from models that accounted for selection at different spatial scales and seasons. A region-wide HSI was calculated using the HSI surfaces modelled for 12 independent subregions and then demarcated into distinct habitat quality classes. We also employed a novel index to describe landscape patterns of sage-grouse abundance and space use (AUI). The AUI is a probabilistic composite of: (i) breeding density patterns based on the spatial configuration of breeding leks and associated trends in male attendance; and (ii) year-round patterns of space use indexed by the decreasing probability of use with increasing distance to leks. The continuous AUI surface was then reclassified into two classes representing high and low/no use and abundance. Synthesis and applications. Using the example of sage-grouse, we demonstrate how the joint application of indices of habitat selection, abundance, and space use derived from multiple data sources yields a composite map that can guide effective allocation of management intensity across
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Instream Physical Habitat Modelling Types
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Conallin, John; Boegh, Eva; Krogsgaard, Jørgen
2010-01-01
The introduction of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is providing member state water resource managers with significant challenges in relation to meeting the deadline for 'Good Ecological Status' by 2015. Overall, instream physical habitat modelling approaches have advantages and disadvanta......The introduction of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is providing member state water resource managers with significant challenges in relation to meeting the deadline for 'Good Ecological Status' by 2015. Overall, instream physical habitat modelling approaches have advantages...... suit their situations. This paper analyses the potential of different methods available for water managers to assess hydrological and geomorphological impacts on the habitats of stream biota, as requested by the WFD. The review considers both conventional and new advanced research-based instream...... physical habitat models. In parametric and non-parametric regression models, model assumptions are often not satisfied and the models are difficult to transfer to other regions. Research-based methods such as the artificial neural networks and individual-based modelling have promising potential as water...
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Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Management Plan for Los Alamos National Laboratory
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hathcock, Charles Dean [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Keller, David Charles [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Thompson, Brent E. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2017-10-16
Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Management Plan (HMP) fulfills a commitment made to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the “Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility Mitigation Action Plan” (DOE 1996). The HMP received concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1999 (USFWS consultation numbers 2-22-98-I-336 and 2-22-95-I-108). This 2017 update retains the management guidelines from the 1999 HMP for listed species, and updates some descriptive information.
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Sound solutions for habitat monitoring
Mary M. Rowland; Lowell H. Suring; Christina D. Vojta
2015-01-01
For agencies and organizations to effectively manage wildlife, knowledge about the status and trend of wildlife habitat is critical. Traditional wildlife monitoring, however, has focused on populations rather than habitat, because ultimately population status drives long-term species viability. Still, habitat loss has contributed to the decline of nearly all at-risk...
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Cathryn H. Greenberg; Beverly S. Collins; Frank R. Thompson III
2011-01-01
There is a rising concern among natural resource scientists and managers about decline of the many plant and animal species associated with early Âsuccessional habitats. There is no concise definition of early successional habitats. However, all have a well developed ground cover or shrub and young tree component, lack a closed, mature tree canopy, and are created or...
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Riparian Habitat - Product of 2 riparian habitat workshops
California Natural Resource Agency — In two riparian habitat workshops held between 2001 and 2002, scientists and managers identified the need for determining the scope of a consistent and acceptable...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eliningaya J Kweka
Full Text Available Larval control is of paramount importance in the reduction of malaria vector abundance and subsequent disease transmission reduction. Understanding larval habitat succession and its ecology in different land use managements and cropping systems can give an insight for effective larval source management practices. This study investigated larval habitat succession and ecological parameters which influence larval abundance in malaria epidemic prone areas of western Kenya.A total of 51 aquatic habitats positive for anopheline larvae were surveyed and visited once a week for a period of 85 weeks in succession. Habitats were selected and identified. Mosquito larval species, physico-chemical parameters, habitat size, grass cover, crop cycle and distance to nearest house were recorded. Polymerase chain reaction revealed that An. gambiae s.l was the most dominant vector species comprised of An.gambiae s.s (77.60% and An.arabiensis (18.34%, the remaining 4.06% had no amplification by polymerase chain reaction. Physico-chemical parameters and habitat size significantly influenced abundance of An. gambiae s.s (P = 0.024 and An. arabiensis (P = 0.002 larvae. Further, larval species abundance was influenced by crop cycle (P≤0.001, grass cover (P≤0.001, while distance to nearest houses significantly influenced the abundance of mosquito species larvae (r = 0.920;P≤0.001. The number of predator species influenced mosquito larval abundance in different habitat types. Crop weeding significantly influenced with the abundance of An.gambiae s.l (P≤0.001 when preceded with fertilizer application. Significantly higher anopheline larval abundance was recorded in habitats in pasture compared to farmland (P = 0.002. When habitat stability and habitat types were considered, hoof print were the most productive followed by disused goldmines.These findings suggest that implementation of effective larval control programme should be targeted with larval
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Wildlife habitat considerations
Helen Y. Smith
2000-01-01
Fire, insects, disease, harvesting, and precommercial thinning all create mosaics on Northern Rocky Mountain landscapes. These mosaics are important for faunal habitat. Consequently, changes such as created openings or an increase in heavily stocked areas affect the water, cover, and food of forest habitats. The âno actionâ alternative in ecosystem management of low...
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O'Donnell, Michael S.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Doherty, Kevin E.; Fedy, Bradley C.
2015-01-01
With rapidly changing landscape conditions within Wyoming and the potential effects of landscape changes on sage-grouse habitat, land managers and conservation planners, among others, need procedures to assess the location and juxtaposition of important habitats, land-cover, and land-use patterns to balance wildlife requirements with multiple human land uses. Biologists frequently develop habitat-selection studies to identify prioritization efforts for species of conservation concern to increase understanding and help guide habitat-conservation efforts. Recently, the authors undertook a large-scale collaborative effort that developed habitat-selection models for Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) across large landscapes in Wyoming, USA and for multiple life-stages (nesting, late brood-rearing, and winter). We developed these habitat models using resource selection functions, based upon sage-grouse telemetry data collected for localized studies and within each life-stage. The models allowed us to characterize and spatially predict seasonal sage-grouse habitat use in Wyoming. Due to the quantity of models, the diversity of model predictors (in the form of geographic information system data) produced by analyses, and the variety of potential applications for these data, we present here a resource that complements our published modeling effort, which will further support land managers.
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Salmon River Habitat Enhancement, 1989 Annual Report.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rowe, Mike
1989-04-01
This project was funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The annual report contains three individual subproject papers detailing tribal fisheries work completed during the summer and fall of 1989. Subproject 1 contains summaries of evaluation/monitoring efforts associated with the Bear Valley Creek, Idaho enhancement project. Subproject 2 contains an evaluation of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River habitat enhancement project. This report has been sub-divided into two parts: Part 1; stream evaluation and Part 2; pond series evaluation. Subproject 3 concerns the East Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho. This report summarizes the evaluation of the project to date including the 1989 pre-construction evaluation conducted within the East Fork drainage. Dredge mining has degraded spawning and rearing habitat for chinook salmon and steelhead trout in the Yankee Fork drainage of the Salmon River and in Bear Valley Creek. Mining, agricultural, and grazing practices degraded habitat in the East Fork of the Salmon River. Biological monitoring of the success of habitat enhancement for Bear Valley Creek and Yankee Fork are presented in this report. Physical and biological inventories prior to habitat enhancement in East Fork were also conducted. Four series of off-channel ponds of the Yankee Fork are shown to provide effective rearing habitat for chinook salmon. 45 refs., 49 figs., 24 tabs.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Yde, Chis
1990-06-01
The Libby hydroelectric project, located on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana, resulted in several impacts to the wildlife communities which occupied the habitats inundated by Lake Koocanusa. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, in cooperation with the other management agencies, developed an impact assessment and a wildlife and wildlife habitat mitigation plan for the Libby hydroelectric facility. In response to the mitigation plan, Bonneville Power Administration funded a cooperative project between the Kootenai National Forest and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to develop a long-term habitat enhancement plan for the bighorn sheep and mule deer winter and spring ranges adjacent to Lake Koocanusa. The project goal is to rehabilitate 3372 acres of bighorn sheep and 16,321 acres of mule deer winter and spring ranges on Kootenai National Forest lands adjacent to Lake Koocanusa and to monitor and evaluate the effects of implementing this habitat enhancement work. 2 refs.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Victor K Muposhi
Full Text Available An understanding of the habitat selection patterns by wild herbivores is critical for adaptive management, particularly towards ecosystem management and wildlife conservation in semi arid savanna ecosystems. We tested the following predictions: (i surface water availability, habitat quality and human presence have a strong influence on the spatial distribution of wild herbivores in the dry season, (ii habitat suitability for large herbivores would be higher compared to medium-sized herbivores in the dry season, and (iii spatial extent of suitable habitats for wild herbivores will be different between years, i.e., 2006 and 2010, in Matetsi Safari Area, Zimbabwe. MaxEnt modeling was done to determine the habitat suitability of large herbivores and medium-sized herbivores. MaxEnt modeling of habitat suitability for large herbivores using the environmental variables was successful for the selected species in 2006 and 2010, except for elephant (Loxodonta africana for the year 2010. Overall, large herbivores probability of occurrence was mostly influenced by distance from rivers. Distance from roads influenced much of the variability in the probability of occurrence of medium-sized herbivores. The overall predicted area for large and medium-sized herbivores was not different. Large herbivores may not necessarily utilize larger habitat patches over medium-sized herbivores due to the habitat homogenizing effect of water provisioning. Effect of surface water availability, proximity to riverine ecosystems and roads on habitat suitability of large and medium-sized herbivores in the dry season was highly variable thus could change from one year to another. We recommend adaptive management initiatives aimed at ensuring dynamic water supply in protected areas through temporal closure and or opening of water points to promote heterogeneity of wildlife habitats.
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Trisnawati, Indah; Azis, Abdul
2017-06-01
Many farms in regions of intensive crop production lack the habitats that historically provided resources to beneficial insects, and this lack has compromised the ability of farmers to rely on natural enemies for pest control. One of the strategies to boost populations of existing or naturally occurring beneficial insects is to supply them with appropriate habitat and alternative food sources, such as diversifying trap crop systems and plant populations in or around fields include perennials and flowering plants. Trap cropping using insectary plant that attracts beneficial insects as natural enemies, especially flowering plants, made for provision of habitat for predators or parasitoids that are useful for biological control. Perimeter trap cropping (PTC) is a method of integrated pest management in which the main crop is surrounded with a perimeter trap crop that is more attractive to pests. We observed PTC habitat modification and conventionaly-managed tobacco farms in Purwosari Village, Pasuruan (East Java) to evaluate the effectiveness of habitat modification management prescription (perimeter trap crop using flowering plant Crotalaria juncea) on agroecosystem natural enemies. Field tests were conducted in natural enemies (predator and parasitoid) abundance dynamic and diversity on tobacco field in Purwoasri, Pasuruan. Yellow pan trap, sweep net and hand collecting methods were applied in each 10 days during tobacco growth stage (vegetative, generative until reproductive/harvesting. The results showed that application perimeter trap crop with C. juncea in tobacco fields able to help arthropod conservation of natural enemies on all tobacco growth stages. These results were evidenced the increase in abundance of predators and parasitoids and the increased value of the Diversity Index (H') and Evenness Index (EH) in all tobacco growth phases. Composition of predator and parasitoid in the habitat modification field were more diverse than in the conventional field
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Optimal energy management for a series-parallel hybrid electric bus
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Xiong Weiwei; Zhang Yong; Yin Chengliang
2009-01-01
This paper aims to present a new type of series-parallel hybrid electric bus and its energy management strategy. This hybrid bus is a post-transmission coupled system employing a novel transmission as the series-parallel configuration switcher. In this paper, the vehicle architecture, transmission scheme and numerical models are presented. The energy management system governs the mode switching between the series mode and the parallel mode as well as the instantaneous power distribution. In this work, two separated controllers using fuzzy logic called Mode Decision and Parallel-driving Energy Management are employed to fulfill these two tasks. The energy management strategy and the applications of fuzzy logic are described. The strategy is validated by a forward-facing simulation program based on the software Matlab/Simulink. The results show that the energy management strategy is effective to control the engine operating in a high-efficiency region as well as to sustain the battery charge state while satisfy the drive ability. The energy consumption is theoretically reduced by 30.3% to that of the conventional bus under transit bus driving cycle. In addition, works need future study are also presented.
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Ground beetle habitat templets and riverbank integrity
Van Looy, Kris; Vanacker, Stijn; Jochems, Hans; De Blust, Geert; Dufrêne, M
2006-01-01
The habitat templet approach was used in a scale-sensitive bioindicator assessment for the ecological integrity of riverbanks and for specific responses to river management. Ground beetle habitat templets were derived from a catchment scale sampling, integrating the overall variety of bank types. This coarse-filter analysis was integrated in the reach scale fine-filtering approaches of community responses to habitat integrity and river management impacts. Higher species diversity was associat...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Todd K. BenDor
2014-03-01
Full Text Available The US Fish and Wildlife Service will make an Endangered Species Act listing decision for the lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus; “LPC” in March 2014. Based on the findings of a single, Uzbek antelope study, conservation plans put forth for the LPC propose to modify and re-position habitat in the landscape through a series of temporary preservation/restoration efforts. We argue that for certain species, including the LPC, dynamic habitat offsets represent a dangerous re-interpretation of habitat provision and recovery programs, which have nearly-universally viewed ecosystem offsets (habitat, wetlands, streams, etc. as “stocks” that accumulate characteristics over time. Any effort to create a program of temporary, moving habitat offsets must consider species’ (1 life history characteristics, (2 behavioral tendencies (e.g., avoidance of impacted areas, nesting/breeding site fidelity, and (3 habitat restoration characteristics, including long temporal lags in reoccupation. If misapplied, species recovery programs using temporary, moving habitat risk further population declines.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Junior A. Tremblay
2009-06-01
Full Text Available We investigated home-range characteristics and habitat selection by Black-backed Woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus in an unburned, boreal forest landscape managed by mosaic harvesting in Quebec, Canada. Habitat selection by this species was specifically examined to determine home-range establishment and foraging activities. We hypothesized that Black-backed Woodpeckers would respond to harvesting by adjusting their home-range size as a function of the amount of dead wood available. Twenty-two birds were tracked using radiotelemetry, and reliable estimates of home-range size were obtained for seven breeding individuals (six males and one female. The average home-range size was 151.5 ± 18.8 ha (range: 100.4-256.4 ha. Our results indicate that this species establishes home ranges in areas where both open and forested habitats are available. However, during foraging activities, individuals preferentially selected areas dominated by old coniferous stands. The study also showed that the spatial distribution of preferred foraging habitat patches influenced space use, with home-range area increasing with the median distance between old coniferous habitat patches available within the landscape. Finally, these data show that Black-backed Woodpeckers may successfully breed in an unburned forest with at least 35 m3 ha-1 of dead wood, of which 42% (15 m3 ha-1 is represented by dead wood at the early decay stage.
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Predicting freshwater habitat integrity using land-use surrogates
African Journals Online (AJOL)
2007-04-02
Apr 2, 2007 ... Quantification of potential surrogates of freshwater habitat integrity. We chose a series of land-use variables that might be suitable predictors for assessing freshwater habitat integrity from the land cover map (CSIR 2005) and added separate GIS surfaces for human population density and the distribution of ...
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Water cycle and its management for plant habitats at reduced pressures
Rygalov, Vadim Y.; Fowler, Philip A.; Wheeler, Raymond M.; Bucklin, Ray A.
2004-01-01
Experimental and mathematical models were developed for describing and testing temperature and humidity parameters for plant production in bioregenerative life support systems. A factor was included for analyzing systems operating at low (10-101.3 kPa) pressure to reduce gas leakage and structural mass (e.g., inflatable greenhouses for space application). The expected close relationship between temperature and relative humidity was observed, along with the importance of heat exchanger coil temperature and air circulation rate. The presence of plants in closed habitats results in increased water flux through the system. Changes in pressure affect gas diffusion rates and surface boundary layers, and change convective transfer capabilities and water evaporation rates. A consistent observation from studies with plants at reduced pressures is increased evapotranspiration rates, even at constant vapor pressure deficits. This suggests that plant water status is a critical factor for managing low-pressure production systems. The approach suggested should help space mission planners design artificial environments in closed habitats.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tara M Cornelisse
Full Text Available Despite their role in providing ecosystem services, insects remain overlooked in conservation planning, and insect management approaches often lack a rigorous scientific basis. The endangered Ohlone tiger beetle (Cicindela ohlone occurs in a 24-km(2 area in Santa Cruz County, California. The once larger metapopulation now consists of subpopulations inhabiting five patches of coastal prairie where it depends on bare ground for mating, foraging, and oviposition. Human activities have eliminated natural disturbances and spread invasive grasses, reducing C. ohlone's bare-ground habitat. Management actions to restore critical beetle habitat consist of cattle and horse grazing, maintaining slow bicycle speeds on occupied public trails, and artificial creation of bare-ground plots. Recreational biking trails help maintain bare ground, but can cause beetle mortality if left unregulated. We tracked C. ohlone survivorship and estimated fecundity for three years. We then constructed a stage-structured population projection matrix model to estimate population viability among the five patches, and to evaluate the success of management interventions. We demonstrate that habitat creation, regulation of bicycle speed, and migration between patches increase C. ohlone survival and population viability. Our results can be directly applied to management actions for conservation outcomes that will reduce species extinction risk and promote recolonization of extirpated patches.
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Coates, Peter S.; Casazza, Michael L.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Gustafson, K. Benjamin; Overton, Cory T.; Sanchez-Chopitea, Erika; Kroger, Travis; Mauch, Kimberly; Niell, Lara; Howe, Kristy; Gardner, Scott; Espinosa, Shawn; Delehanty, David J.
2014-01-01
(high and low-to-no) and intersected with the HSI categories to create potential management prioritization scenarios based oninformation about sage-grouse occupancy coupled with habitat suitability. This provided an example of a conservation planning application that uses the intersection of the spatially-explicit HSI and empirically-based SUI to identify potential spatially explicit strategies for sage-grouse management. Importantly, the reported categories for the HSI and SUI can be reclassified relatively easily to employ alternative conservation thresholds that may be identified through decision-making processes with stake-holders, managers, and biologists. Moreover, the HSI/SUI interface map can be updated readily as new data become available.
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Chadwick D. Rittenhouse; Stephen R. Shifley; William D. Dijak; Zhaofei Fan; Frank R., III Thompson; Joshua J. Millspaugh; Judith A. Perez; Cynthia M. Sandeno
2011-01-01
We demonstrate an approach to integrated land-management planning and quantify differences in vegetation and avian habitat conditions among 5 management alternatives as part of the Hoosier National Forest planning process. The alternatives differed in terms of the type, extent, magnitude, frequency, and location of management activities. We modeled ecological processes...
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Filyushkina, Anna; Strange, Niels; Löf, Magnus
2018-01-01
This study applied a structured expert elicitation technique, the Delphi method, to identify the impacts of five forest management alternatives and several forest characteristics on the preservation of biodiversity and habitats in the boreal zone of the Nordic countries. The panel of experts...... as a valuable addition to on-going empirical and modeling efforts. The findings could assist forest managers in developing forest management strategies that generate benefits from timber production while taking into account the trade-offs with biodiversity goals....
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The U.S. EPA is evaluating the effectiveness of green infrastructure (GI) stormwater best management practices (BMPs) on stream habitat at the small watershed (< HUC12) scale in New England. Predictive models for thermal regime and substrate characteristics (substrate size, % em...
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Managing heart rot in live trees for wildlife habitat in young-growth forests of coastal Alaska
Paul E. Hennon; Robin L. Mulvey
2014-01-01
Stem decays of living trees, known also as heart rots, are essential elements of wildlife habitat, especially for cavity-nesting birds and mammals. Stem decays are common features of old-growth forests of coastal Alaska, but are generally absent in young, managed forests. We offer several strategies for maintaining or restoring fungal stem decay in these managed...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rodolfo M Pelinson
Full Text Available Because of their strong dependence on the environment, the spatial distribution of pond-breeding amphibians can be greatly influenced by anthropogenic habitat alteration. In some agricultural landscapes in Brazil, the anuran Pseudopaludicola mystacalis appears to be highly influenced by land use. Because adult males and tadpoles of this species are usually found in marshy areas with cattle hoof prints, we hypothesized that P. mystacalis preferentially occupies aquatic habitats with marshy areas that are trampled by cattle. To test our hypothesis, we assessed whether the occurrence of P. mystacalis is associated with the presence of cattle and trampled marshy areas, and which environmental features best explain the spatial distribution and abundance of P. mystacalis. To do so, we sampled 38 aquatic habitats in an area intensely used for livestock in southeastern Brazil. We found that the presence of cattle and trampled marshy areas in aquatic habitats are positively associated to P. mystacalis occurrence. Additionally, the abundance of calling males is better predicted by variables of landscape and local habitat structure. Specifically, the size of trampled marshy areas and the proportion of herbaceous vegetation within the aquatic habitat are positively associated with abundance, while distance to nearest aquatic habitat are negatively associated with abundance of calling males. All three of these variables can be directly or indirectly linked to the presence of cattle or grazing management. Therefore, this work shows evidence that Pseudopaludicola mystacalis is positively influenced by grazing management with cattle, and draws attention to other unknown potential consequences of different land use to fresh water diversity.
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Naito, Risa; Yamasaki, Michimasa; Lmanishi, Ayumi; Natuhara, Yosihiro; Morimoto, Yukihiro
2012-09-01
In Japan, rice paddies play an important role as a substitute habitat for wetland species, and support rich indigenous ecosystems. However, since the 1950s, agricultural modernization has altered the rice paddy environment, and many previously common species are now endangered. It is urgently necessary to evaluate rice paddies as habitats for conservation. Among the species living in rice paddies, frogs are representative and are good indicator species, so we focused on frog species and analyzed the influence of environmental factors on their habitat use. We found four frog species and one subspecies (Hyla japonica, Pelophylax nigromaculatus, Glandirana rugosa, Lithobates catesbeianus, and Pelophylax porosa brevipoda) at our study sites in Shiga prefecture. For all but L. catesbeianus, we analyzed the influence of environmental factors related to rice paddy structure, water management and availability, agrochemical use, connectivity, and land use on breeding and non-breeding habitat use. We constructed generalized additive mixed models with survey date as the smooth term and applied Akaike's information criterion to choose the bestranked model. Because life histories and biological characteristics vary among species, the factors affecting habitat use by frogs are also expected to differ by species. We found that both breeding and non-breeding habitat uses of each studied species were influenced by different combinations of environmental factors and that in most cases, habitat use showed seasonality. For frog conservation in rice paddies, we need to choose favorable rice paddy in relation to surrounding land use and apply suitable management for target species.
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Livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and rangeland values
Paul R. Krausman; David E. Naugle; Michael R. Frisina; Rick Northrup; Vernon C. Bleich; William M. Block; Mark C. Wallace; Jeffrey D. Wright
2009-01-01
Livestock managers make and implement grazing management decisions to achieve a variety of objectives including livestock production, sustainable grazing, and wildlife habitat enhancement. Assessed values of grazing lands and ranches are often based on aesthetics and wildlife habitat or recreational values, which can exceed agricultural values, thus providing...
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Urban Marine Habitat Use by Waterbirds in Narragansett Bay
We examined patterns of habitat use by waterbirds (waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds) at a series of urban and non-urban marine habitats in Narragansett Bay during 2005-2007. Average waterbird abundance at urban sites was significantly higher than at rural sites (304 ± 59.7...
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Chadwick P. Lehman; Mark A. Rumble; Michael A. Battaglia; Todd R. Mills; Lance A. Asherin
2016-01-01
Understanding response of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest development following a mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) epidemic has important management implications for winter habitat conditions for Merriamâs wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami; hereafter, turkeys). Therefore, we quantified habitat changes over time for turkeys...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ashley Alun Rowden
2016-11-01
implications for how regional and habitat differences in benthic communities are incorporated into spatial management options for the deep sea.
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Hugue, F.; Lapointe, M.; Eaton, B. C.; Lepoutre, A.
2016-01-01
(V) over the 17-km Kiamika reach. The joint distribution of D and V variables over wetted zones then is used to reveal structural patterns in hydraulic habitat availability at patch, reach, and segment scales. Here we analyze 156 bivariate (D, V) density function plots estimated over moving reach windows along the satellite scene extent to extract 14 physical habitat metrics (such as river width, mean and modal depths and velocity, variances and covariance in D and V over 1-m pixels, HMID, entropy). A principal component analysis on the set of metrics is then used to cluster river reaches in regard to similarity in their hydraulic habitat composition and heterogeneity. Applications of this approach can include (i) specific fish habitat detection at riverscape scales (e.g., large areas of riffle spawning beds, deeper pools) for regional management, (ii) studying how river habitat heterogeneity is correlated to fish distribution and (iii) guidance for site location for restoration of key habitats or for post regulation monitoring of representative reaches of various types.
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Roshnath, Ramesh; Sinu, Palatty Allesh
2017-12-01
Wetland ecosystems, particularly the mangrove forest, are the primary wild habitat of heronry birds. However, urban ecosystems have become a favorite breeding habitat of these birds. To provide inputs into the habitat management for conservation of these birds, we investigated the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nesting trees of heronry birds in the urban environment of the North Kerala region of peninsular India. Census on nesting trees was done in 3 major microhabitats of the urban ecosystem: avenues of national highways and towns, nonresidential plots, and residential areas apart from the mangrove islets in the peri-urban locality. The study found that 174 trees of 22 species hosted 1,928 heronry bird nests in the urban habitats; mangrove forests, although plentiful in the study area, hosted only about 20% of the total nests encountered in the study. Rain trees Samanea saman (43.7%) were the most available nesting tree. The greatest number of nests and nesting trees were encountered on the roads of urban areas, followed by nonresidential areas and residential areas. The differences in the observed frequencies of nesting trees in 3 microhabitats and in 3 types of roads (national highways > state highways > small pocket road) were significant. Canopy spread, girth size, and quality of the trees predicted the tree selection of the heronry birds in urban environments. Therefore, we recommend proper management and notification of the identified nesting trees as protected sites for the conservation of herorny birds.
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Chris Maser; Jack Ward Thomas; Ralph G. Anderson
1984-01-01
The relationships of terrestrial vertebrates to plant communities, structural conditions, and special habitats in the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon are described. The importance of habitat components to wildlife and the predictability of management activities on wildlife are examined in terms of managed rangelands. The paper does not provide guidelines but rather...
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Human Resource Management in Virtual Organizations. Research in Human Resource Management Series.
Heneman, Robert L., Ed.; Greenberger, David B., Ed.
This document contains 14 papers on human resources (HR) and human resource management (HRM) in virtual organizations. The following papers are included: "Series Preface" (Rodger Griffeth); "Volume Preface" (Robert L. Heneman, David B. Greenberger); "The Virtual Organization: Definition, Description, and…
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Pennino, Maria Grazia; Mérigot, Bastien; Fonseca, Vinícius Prado; Monni, Virginia; Rotta, Andrea
2017-07-01
Effective management and conservation of wild populations requires knowledge of their habitats, especially by mean of quantitative analyses of their spatial distributions. The Pelagos Sanctuary is a dedicated marine protected area for Mediterranean marine mammals covering an area of 90,000 km2 in the north-western Mediterranean Sea between Italy, France and the Principate of Monaco. In the south of the Sanctuary, i.e. along the Sardinian coast, a range of diverse human activities (cities, industry, fishery, tourism) exerts several current ad potential threats to cetacean populations. In addition, marine mammals are recognized by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive as essential components of sustainable ecosystems. Yet, knowledge on the spatial distribution and ecology of cetaceans in this area is quite scarce. Here we modeled occurrence of the three most abundant species known in the Sanctuary, i.e. the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), using sighting data from scientific surveys collected from 2012 to 2014 during summer time. Bayesian site-occupancy models were used to model their spatial distribution in relation to habitat taking into account oceanographic (sea surface temperature, primary production, photosynthetically active radiation, chlorophyll-a concentration) and topographic (depth, slope, distance of the land) variables. Cetaceans responded differently to the habitat features, with higher occurrence predicted in the more productive areas on submarine canyons. These results provide ecological information useful to enhance management plans and establish baseline for future population trend studies.
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Habitat corridor utilization by the gray mouse lemur, Microcebus ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Deforestation and habitat fragmentation, caused by logging and agricultural practices, are the leading causes of biodiversity de- cline worldwide (e.g., Fischer and Lindenmayer 2007, Habel and. Zachos 2012). Fragmentation can result in a series of small sub- populations in the residual habitat, each with a high risk of going.
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Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Jones, Leslie A.; Kotter, D.; Miller, William J.; Geise, Doran; Tohtz, Joel; Marotz, Brian
2012-01-01
Hungry Horse Dam on the South Fork Flathead River, Montana, USA, has modified the natural flow regimen for power generation, flood risk management and flow augmentation for anadromous fish recovery in the Columbia River. Concern over the detrimental effects of dam operations on native resident fishes prompted research to quantify the impacts of alternative flow management strategies on threatened bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) habitats. Seasonal and life‐stage specific habitat suitability criteria were combined with a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic habitat model to assess discharge effects on usable habitats. Telemetry data used to construct seasonal habitat suitability curves revealed that subadult (fish that emigrated from natal streams to the river system) bull trout move to shallow, low‐velocity shoreline areas at night, which are most sensitive to flow fluctuations. Habitat time series analyses comparing the natural flow regimen (predam, 1929–1952) with five postdam flow management strategies (1953–2008) show that the natural flow conditions optimize the critical bull trout habitats and that the current strategy best resembles the natural flow conditions of all postdam periods. Late summer flow augmentation for anadromous fish recovery, however, produces higher discharges than predam conditions, which reduces the availability of usable habitat during this critical growing season. Our results suggest that past flow management policies that created sporadic streamflow fluctuations were likely detrimental to resident salmonids and that natural flow management strategies will likely improve the chances of protecting key ecosystem processes and help to maintain and restore threatened bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout populations in the upper Columbia River Basin.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Wildlife Program
2003-01-01
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) propose to protect, enhance, and mitigate wildlife and wildlife habitat and watershed resources in the Iskuulpa Watershed. The Iskuulpa Watershed Project was approved as a Columbia River Basin Wildlife Fish and Mitigation Project by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Northwest Power Planning Council (NWPPC) in 1998. Iskuulpa will contribute towards meeting BPA's obligation to compensate for wildlife habitat losses resulting from the construction of the John Day and McNary Hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River. By funding the enhancement and operation and maintenance of the Iskuulpa Watershed, BPA will receive credit towards their mitigation debt. The purpose of the Iskuulpa Watershed management plan update is to provide programmatic and site-specific standards and guidelines on how the Iskuulpa Watershed will be managed over the next three years. This plan provides overall guidance on both short and long term activities that will move the area towards the goals, objectives, and desired future conditions for the planning area. The plan will incorporate managed and protected wildlife and wildlife habitat, including operations and maintenance, enhancements, and access and travel management.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yolanda Navarro-Abal
2012-12-01
Full Text Available Television fiction series sometimes generate an unreal vision of life, especially among young people, becoming a mirror in which they can see themselves reflected. The series become models of values, attitudes, skills and behaviours that tend to be imitated by some viewers. The aim of this study was to analyze the conflict management behavioural styles presented by the main characters of television fiction series. Thus, we evaluated the association between these styles and the age and sex of the main characters, as well as the nationality and genre of the fiction series. 16 fiction series were assessed by selecting two characters of both sexes from each series. We adapted the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II for observing and recording the data. The results show that there is no direct association between the conflict management behavioural styles presented in the drama series and the sex of the main characters. However, associations were found between these styles and the age of the characters and the genre of the fiction series.
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Diet preferences of goats in a subtropical dry forest and implications for habitat management
Genie M. Fleming; Joseph Wunderle Jr.; David N. Ewert
2016-01-01
As part of an experimental study of using controlled goat grazing to manage winter habitat of the Kirtlandâs warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii), an endangered Nearctic neotropical migratory bird, we evaluated diet preferences of domesticated goats within early successional subtropical dry forest in The Bahamas. We expected goats would show a low preference for two plants (...
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Beilke, Susan G.
2001-09-01
Historically the lower Columbia and Willamette River Basins were ecologically rich in both the habitat types and the species diversity they supported. This was due in part to the pattern of floods and periodic inundation of bottomlands that occurred, which was an important factor in creating and maintaining a complex system of wetland, meadow, and riparian habitats. This landscape has been greatly altered in the past 150 years, primarily due to human development and agricultural activities including cattle grazing, logging and the building of hydroelectric facilities for hydropower, navigation, flood control and irrigation in the Columbia and Willamette River Basins. The Burlington Bottoms (BB) wetlands contains some of the last remaining bottomlands in the area, supporting a diverse array of native plant and wildlife species. Located approximately twelve miles northwest of Portland and situated between the Tualatin Mountains to the west and Multnomah Channel and Sauvie Island to the east, the current habitats are remnant of what was once common throughout the region. In order to preserve and enhance this important site, a five-year habitat management plan has been written that proposes a set of actions that will carry out the goals and objectives developed for the site, which includes protecting, maintaining and enhancing wildlife habitat for perpetuity.
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A multidisciplinary database for geophysical time series management
Montalto, P.; Aliotta, M.; Cassisi, C.; Prestifilippo, M.; Cannata, A.
2013-12-01
The variables collected by a sensor network constitute a heterogeneous data source that needs to be properly organized in order to be used in research and geophysical monitoring. With the time series term we refer to a set of observations of a given phenomenon acquired sequentially in time. When the time intervals are equally spaced one speaks of period or sampling frequency. Our work describes in detail a possible methodology for storage and management of time series using a specific data structure. We designed a framework, hereinafter called TSDSystem (Time Series Database System), in order to acquire time series from different data sources and standardize them within a relational database. The operation of standardization provides the ability to perform operations, such as query and visualization, of many measures synchronizing them using a common time scale. The proposed architecture follows a multiple layer paradigm (Loaders layer, Database layer and Business Logic layer). Each layer is specialized in performing particular operations for the reorganization and archiving of data from different sources such as ASCII, Excel, ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity), file accessible from the Internet (web pages, XML). In particular, the loader layer performs a security check of the working status of each running software through an heartbeat system, in order to automate the discovery of acquisition issues and other warning conditions. Although our system has to manage huge amounts of data, performance is guaranteed by using a smart partitioning table strategy, that keeps balanced the percentage of data stored in each database table. TSDSystem also contains modules for the visualization of acquired data, that provide the possibility to query different time series on a specified time range, or follow the realtime signal acquisition, according to a data access policy from the users.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hoek, Wim van der; Amerasinghe, F P; Konradsen, F
1998-01-01
, potential secondary vectors, were characterized by site, exposure to sunlight, substratum, turbidity of the water, presence of vegetation, and presence of fauna. Availability of pools of stagnant water in the stream near the village and along the edge of the village tank was highly predictive for presence......In and around a village in the Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka anopheline larvae were sampled from July 1994 to April 1996 in all surface water bodies. Samples positive for Anopheles culicifacies, the established vector of malaria in Sri Lanka, and for An. barbirostris, An. vagus, and An. varuna...... clear water pools, was able to exploit habitats that were shaded and contained turbid water. Environmental management interventions to control An. culicifacies breeding have to take into account that the secondary vectors of malaria exploit other habitats and would not be affected by the interventions....
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L-Reactor Habitat Mitigation Study
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1988-02-01
The L-Reactor Fish and Wildlife Resource Mitigation Study was conducted to quantify the effects on habitat of the L-Reactor restart and to identify the appropriate mitigation for these impacts. The completed project evaluated in this study includes construction of a 1000 acre reactor cooling reservoir formed by damming Steel Creek. Habitat impacts identified include a loss of approximately 3,700 average annual habitat units. This report presents a mitigation plan, Plan A, to offset these habitat losses. Plan A will offset losses for all species studied, except whitetailed deer. The South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department strongly recommends creation of a game management area to provide realistic mitigation for loss of deer habitats. 10 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs
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Kalarus, Konrad; Nowicki, Piotr
2015-01-01
Most studies dealing with species distribution patterns on fragmented landscapes focus on the characteristics of habitat patches that influence local occurrence and abundance, but they tend to neglect the question of what drives colonization of previously unoccupied patches. In a study of the dryad butterfly, we combined classical approaches derived from metapopulation theory and landscape ecology to investigate the factors driving colonization from a recent refugium. In three consecutive transect surveys, we recorded the presence and numbers of imagos in 27 patches of xerothermic grassland and 26 patches of wet meadow. Among the predictors affecting the occurrence and abundance of the dryad, we considered environmental variables reflecting (i) habitat patch quality (e.g., goldenrod cover, shrub density, vegetation height); (ii) factors associated with habitat spatial structure (patch size, patch isolation and fragmentation); and (iii) features of patch surroundings (100-m buffers around patches) that potentially pose barriers or provide corridors. Patch colonization by the dryad was strongly limited by the distance from the species refugium in the region; there was a slight positive effect of shrub density in this respect. Butterfly abundance increased in smaller and more fragmented habitat patches; it was negatively impacted by invasive goldenrod cover, and positively influenced by the density of watercourses in patch surroundings. Nectar plant availability was positively related to species abundance in xerothermic grassland, while in wet meadow the effect was the reverse. We conclude that dryad colonization of our study area is very recent, since the most important factor limiting colonization was distance from the refugium, while the habitat quality of target patches had less relevance. In order to preserve the species, conservation managers should focus on enhancing the quality of large patches and should also direct their efforts on smaller and more
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Konrad Kalarus
Full Text Available Most studies dealing with species distribution patterns on fragmented landscapes focus on the characteristics of habitat patches that influence local occurrence and abundance, but they tend to neglect the question of what drives colonization of previously unoccupied patches. In a study of the dryad butterfly, we combined classical approaches derived from metapopulation theory and landscape ecology to investigate the factors driving colonization from a recent refugium. In three consecutive transect surveys, we recorded the presence and numbers of imagos in 27 patches of xerothermic grassland and 26 patches of wet meadow. Among the predictors affecting the occurrence and abundance of the dryad, we considered environmental variables reflecting (i habitat patch quality (e.g., goldenrod cover, shrub density, vegetation height; (ii factors associated with habitat spatial structure (patch size, patch isolation and fragmentation; and (iii features of patch surroundings (100-m buffers around patches that potentially pose barriers or provide corridors. Patch colonization by the dryad was strongly limited by the distance from the species refugium in the region; there was a slight positive effect of shrub density in this respect. Butterfly abundance increased in smaller and more fragmented habitat patches; it was negatively impacted by invasive goldenrod cover, and positively influenced by the density of watercourses in patch surroundings. Nectar plant availability was positively related to species abundance in xerothermic grassland, while in wet meadow the effect was the reverse. We conclude that dryad colonization of our study area is very recent, since the most important factor limiting colonization was distance from the refugium, while the habitat quality of target patches had less relevance. In order to preserve the species, conservation managers should focus on enhancing the quality of large patches and should also direct their efforts on smaller and
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The Pelagics Habitat Analysis Module (PHAM): Decision Support Tools for Pelagic Fisheries
Armstrong, E. M.; Harrison, D. P.; Kiefer, D.; O'Brien, F.; Hinton, M.; Kohin, S.; Snyder, S.
2009-12-01
PHAM is a project funded by NASA to integrate satellite imagery and circulation models into the management of commercial and threatened pelagic species. Specifically, the project merges data from fishery surveys, and fisheries catch and effort data with satellite imagery and circulation models to define the habitat of each species. This new information on habitat will then be used to inform population distribution and models of population dynamics that are used for management. During the first year of the project, we created two prototype modules. One module, which was developed for the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, is designed to help improve information available to manage the tuna fisheries of the eastern Pacific Ocean. The other module, which was developed for the Coastal Pelagics Division of the Southwest Fishery Science Center, assists management of by-catch of mako, blue, and thresher sharks along the Californian coast. Both modules were built with the EASy marine geographic information system, which provides a 4 dimensional (latitude, longitude, depth, and time) home for integration of the data. The projects currently provide tools for automated downloading and geo-referencing of satellite imagery of sea surface temperature, height, and chlorophyll concentrations; output from JPL’s ECCO2 global circulation model and its ROM California current model; and gridded data from fisheries and fishery surveys. It also provides statistical tools for defining species habitat from these and other types of environmental data. These tools include unbalanced ANOVA, EOF analysis of satellite imagery, and multivariate search routines for fitting fishery data to transforms of the environmental data. Output from the projects consists of dynamic maps of the distribution of the species that are driven by the time series of satellite imagery and output from the circulation models. It also includes relationships between environmental variables and recruitment. During
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77 FR 67029 - Arden Investment Series Trust and Arden Asset Management LLC; Notice of Application
2012-11-08
... Investment Series Trust and Arden Asset Management LLC; Notice of Application November 2, 2012. AGENCY... disclosure requirements. Applicants: Arden Investment Series Trust (the ``Trust'') and Arden Asset Management... Company Regulation, Division of Investment Management). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a...
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Habitat modeling for biodiversity conservation.
Bruce G. Marcot
2006-01-01
Habitat models address only 1 component of biodiversity but can be useful in addressing and managing single or multiple species and ecosystem functions, for projecting disturbance regimes, and in supporting decisions. I review categories and examples of habitat models, their utility for biodiversity conservation, and their roles in making conservation decisions. I...
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Oldemeyer, John L.; Biggins, Dean E.; Miller, Brian J.; Crete, Ronald
1993-01-01
The workshop featured a review of current knowledge in the biology of prairie dogs in the context of managing black-footed ferret habitat. The review addressed two main components. The first consisted of a series of papers on prairie dog habitat and biology. The second component of the workshop was a summary of the participants' discussion about managing prairie dog complexes. This discussion was based on the previously identified papers and profited from the participants' expertise on the ecology of black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs. The report provides current and comprehensive information about management of habitat for prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets and is a useful guide for agencies and individuals that manage black-footed ferrets.
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Ocock, J. F.; Bino, G.; Wassens, S.; Spencer, J.; Thomas, R. F.; Kingsford, R. T.
2018-03-01
Freshwater turtles face many threats, including habitat loss and river regulation reducing occupancy and contributing to population decline. Limited knowledge of hydrological conditions required to maintain viable turtle populations in large floodplain wetlands hinders effective adaptive management of environmental water in regulated rivers. We surveyed three turtle species over 4 years across the Lower Murrumbidgee River floodplain, a large wetland complex with a long history of water resource development. Using site and floodplain metrics and generalized linear models, within a Bayesian Model Averaging framework, we quantified the main drivers affecting turtle abundance. We also used a hierarchical modeling approach, requiring large sample sizes, quantifying possible environmental effects while accounting for detection probabilities of the eastern long-necked turtle ( Chelodina longicollis). The three species varied in their responses to hydrological conditions and connectivity to the main river channel. Broad-shelled turtles ( Chelodina expansa) and Macquarie River turtles ( Emydura macquarii macquarii) had restricted distributions, centered on frequently inundated wetlands close to the river, whereas the eastern long-necked turtles were more widely distributed, indicating an ability to exploit variable habitats. We conclude that turtle communities would benefit from long-term management strategies that maintain a spatiotemporal mosaic of hydrological conditions. More specifically, we identified characteristics of refuge habitats and stress the importance of maintaining their integrity during dry periods. Neighboring habitats can be targeted during increased water availability years to enhance feeding and dispersal opportunities for freshwater turtles.
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Smartphone technologies and Bayesian networks to assess shorebird habitat selection
Zeigler, Sara; Thieler, E. Robert; Gutierrez, Ben; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Hines, Megan K.; Fraser, James D.; Catlin, Daniel H.; Karpanty, Sarah M.
2017-01-01
Understanding patterns of habitat selection across a species’ geographic distribution can be critical for adequately managing populations and planning for habitat loss and related threats. However, studies of habitat selection can be time consuming and expensive over broad spatial scales, and a lack of standardized monitoring targets or methods can impede the generalization of site-based studies. Our objective was to collaborate with natural resource managers to define available nesting habitat for piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) throughout their U.S. Atlantic coast distribution from Maine to North Carolina, with a goal of providing science that could inform habitat management in response to sea-level rise. We characterized a data collection and analysis approach as being effective if it provided low-cost collection of standardized habitat-selection data across the species’ breeding range within 1–2 nesting seasons and accurate nesting location predictions. In the method developed, >30 managers and conservation practitioners from government agencies and private organizations used a smartphone application, “iPlover,” to collect data on landcover characteristics at piping plover nest locations and random points on 83 beaches and barrier islands in 2014 and 2015. We analyzed these data with a Bayesian network that predicted the probability a specific combination of landcover variables would be associated with a nesting site. Although we focused on a shorebird, our approach can be modified for other taxa. Results showed that the Bayesian network performed well in predicting habitat availability and confirmed predicted habitat preferences across the Atlantic coast breeding range of the piping plover. We used the Bayesian network to map areas with a high probability of containing nesting habitat on the Rockaway Peninsula in New York, USA, as an example application. Our approach facilitated the collation of evidence-based information on habitat selection
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Joseph J. Apodaca
2015-03-01
Full Text Available Forestry practices are placing ever increasing emphasis on sustainability and the maintenance of ecological processes, biodiversity, and endangered species or populations. Balancing timber harvest and the management of imperiled species presents a particularly difficult challenge during this shift, as we often know very little about these species’ natural history and how and why silviculture practices affect their populations. Accordingly, investigation of and improvement on current management practices for threatened species is imperative. We investigated the effectiveness of habitat buffers as a management technique for the imperiled Red Hills salamander (Phaeognathus hubrichti by combining genetic, transect, and body-condition data. We found that populations where habitat buffers have been employed have higher genetic diversity and higher population densities, and individuals have better overall body condition. These results indicate that buffering the habitat of imperiled species can be an effective management tool for terrestrial salamanders. Additionally, they provide further evidence that leaving the habitat of imperiled salamanders unbuffered can have both immediate and long-term negative impacts on populations.
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Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Management Plan for Los Alamos National Laboratory
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Keller, David Charles [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Hathcock, Charles Dean [Los Alamos National Laboratory
2015-11-17
Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Threatened and Endangered Species Habitat Management Plan (HMP) fulfills a commitment made to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the “Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility Mitigation Action Plan” (DOE 1996). The HMP received concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1999 (USFWS consultation numbers 2-22-98-I-336 and 2-22-95-I-108). This 2015 update retains the management guidelines from the 1999 HMP for listed species, updates some descriptive information, and adds the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) and Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) which were federally listed in 2014 (Keller 2015: USFWS consultation number 02ENNM00- 2015-I-0538).
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Reptile habitat preference in heathland: implications for heathland management
Stumpel, A.H.P.; Werf, van der D.C.
2012-01-01
A two-year reptile survey was conducted in a heathland in the north of the Netherlands, using artificial refuges placed in different habitats. The studied habitats differed in their botanical composition and physical structure. Five reptile species were recorded: slow worm (Anguis fragilis),
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Disease management with ARIMA model in time series.
Sato, Renato Cesar
2013-01-01
The evaluation of infectious and noninfectious disease management can be done through the use of a time series analysis. In this study, we expect to measure the results and prevent intervention effects on the disease. Clinical studies have benefited from the use of these techniques, particularly for the wide applicability of the ARIMA model. This study briefly presents the process of using the ARIMA model. This analytical tool offers a great contribution for researchers and healthcare managers in the evaluation of healthcare interventions in specific populations.
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Ochs, Konstantin; Rivaes, Rui P; Ferreira, Teresa; Egger, Gregory
2018-01-01
Mediterranean rivers in intensive agricultural watersheds usually display outgrowths of macrophytes - notably alien species - due to a combination of high concentrations of nutrients in the water runoff and low flows resulting from water abstraction for irrigation. Standard mechanical and chemical control is used to mitigate the problems associated with excessive growth of plant biomass: mainly less drainage capacity and higher flood risk. However, such control measures are cost and labor-intensive and do not present long-term efficiency. Although the high sensitivity of aquatic vegetation to instream hydraulic conditions is well known, management approaches based on flow management remain relatively unexplored. The aim of our study was therefore to apply physical habitat simulation techniques promoted by the Instream Flow Incremental Method (IFIM) to aquatic macrophytes - the first time it has been applied in this context - in order to model shifts in habitat suitability under different flow scenarios in the Sorraia river in central Portugal. We used this approach to test whether the risk of invasion and channel encroachment by nuisance species can be controlled by setting minimum annual flows. We used 960 randomly distributed survey points to analyze the habitat suitability for the most important aquatic species (including the invasive Brazilian milfoil Myriophyllum aquaticum , Sparganium erectum , and Potamogeton crispus ) in regard to the physical parameters 'flow velocity,' 'water depth,' and 'substrate size'. We chose the lowest discharge period of the year in order to assess the hydraulic conditions while disturbances were at a low-point, thus allowing aquatic vegetation establishment and subsistence. We then used the two-dimensional hydraulic River2D software to model the potential habitat availability for different flow conditions based on the site-specific habitat suitability index for each physical parameter and species. Our results show that the growth
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Non-Profit/Higher Education Project Management Series: The Project Plan
Burgher, Karl E.; Snyder, Michael
2012-01-01
This is the second installment of the AACRAO management series focusing on project management in the academy. In this article, the authors focus on white papers (often called charters, briefs, or fact sheets) and their partner, the work plan. The work plan is a detailed document that defines each aspect of a project. It is often preceded by a…
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Allen, Arthur W.; Vandever, Mark W.
2012-01-01
The following bibliography presents brief summaries of documents relevant to Conservation Reserve Program relations to wildlife habitat, habitat management in agriculturally dominated landscapes, and conservation policies potentially affecting wildlife habitats in agricultural ecosystems. Because the literature summaries furnished provide only sweeping overviews, users are urged to obtain and evaluate those papers appearing useful to obtain a more complete understanding of study findings and their implications to conservation in agricultural ecosystems. The bibliography contains references to reports that reach beyond topics that directly relate to the Conservation Reserve Program. Sections addressing grassland management and landowner surveys/opinions, for example, furnish information useful for enhancing development and administration of conservation policies affecting lands beyond those enrolled in conservation programs. Some sections of the bibliography (for example, agricultural conservation policy, economics, soils) are far from inclusive of all relevant material written on the subject. Hopefully, these sections will serve as fundamental introductions to related issues. In a few instances, references may be presented in more than one section of the bibliography. For example, individual papers specifically addressing both non-game and game birds are included in respective sections of the bibliography. Duplication of citations and associated notes has, however, been kept to a minimum.
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Loges, Brian W.; Lyons, James E.; Tavernia, Brian G.
2017-08-23
The Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge (CCNWR) in the Mississippi River flood plain of eastern Missouri provides high quality emergent marsh and moist-soil habitat benefitting both nesting marsh birds and migrating waterfowl. Staff of CCNWR manipulate water levels and vegetation in the 17 units of the CCNWR to provide conditions favorable to these two important guilds. Although both guilds include focal species at multiple planning levels and complement objectives to provide a diversity of wetland community types and water regimes, additional decision support is needed for choosing how much emergent marsh and moist-soil habitat should be provided through annual management actions.To develop decision guidance for balanced delivery of high-energy waterfowl habitat and breeding marsh bird habitat, two measureable management objectives were identified: nonbreeding Anas Linnaeus (dabbling duck) use-days and Rallus elegans (king rail) occupancy of managed units. Three different composite management actions were identified to achieve these objectives. Each composite management action is a unique combination of growing season water regime and soil disturbance. The three composite management actions are intense moist-soil management (moist-soil), intermediate moist-soil (intermediate), and perennial management, which idles soils disturbance (perennial). The two management objectives and three management options were used in a multi-criteria decision analysis to indicate resource allocations and inform annual decision making. Outcomes of the composite management actions were predicted in two ways and multi-criteria decision analysis was used with each set of predictions. First, outcomes were predicted using expert-elicitation techniques and a panel of subject matter experts. Second, empirical data from the Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring Initiative collected between 2010 and 2013 were used; where data were lacking, expert judgment was used. Also, a
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Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential
Lerman, Susannah B.; Nislow, Keith H.; Nowak, David J.; DeStefano, Stephen; King, David I.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd
2014-01-01
The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat to sustain bird and other wildlife populations. The primary goal of this study was to integrate wildlife suitability indices to an existing national urban forest assessment tool, i-Tree. We quantified available habitat characteristics of urban forests for ten northeastern U.S. cities, and summarized bird habitat relationships from the literature in terms of variables that were represented in the i-Tree datasets. With these data, we generated habitat suitability equations for nine bird species representing a range of life history traits and conservation status that predicts the habitat suitability based on i-Tree data. We applied these equations to the urban forest datasets to calculate the overall habitat suitability for each city and the habitat suitability for different types of land-use (e.g., residential, commercial, parkland) for each bird species. The proposed habitat models will help guide wildlife managers, urban planners, and landscape designers who require specific information such as desirable habitat conditions within an urban management project to help improve the suitability of urban forests for birds.
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Kasprak, A.; Wheaton, J. M.; Bouwes, N.; Weber, N. P.; Trahan, N. C.; Jordan, C. E.
2012-12-01
River managers often seek to understand habitat availability and quality for riverine organisms within the physical template provided by their landscape. Yet the large amount of natural heterogeneity in landscapes gives rise to stream systems which are highly variable over small spatial scales, potentially complicating site selection for surveying aquatic habitat while simultaneously making a simple, wide-reaching management strategy elusive. This is particularly true in the rugged John Day River Basin of northern Oregon, where efforts as part of the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program to conduct site-based surveys of physical habitat for endangered steelhead salmon (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are underway. As a complete understanding of the type and distribution of habitat available to these fish would require visits to all streams in the basin (impractical due to its large size), here we develop an approach for classifying channel types which combines remote desktop GIS analyses with rapid field-based stream and landscape surveys. At the core of this method, we build off of the River Styles Framework, an open-ended and process-based approach for classifying streams and informing management decisions. This framework is combined with on-the-ground fluvial audits, which aim to quickly and continuously map sediment dynamics and channel behavior along selected channels. Validation of this classification method is completed by on-the-ground stream surveys using a digital iPad platform and by rapid small aircraft overflights to confirm or refine predictions. We further compare this method with existing channel classification approaches for the region (e.g. Beechie, Montgomery and Buffington). The results of this study will help guide both the refinement of site stratification and selection for salmonid habitat monitoring within the basin, and will be vital in designing and prioritizing restoration and management strategies tailored to the distribution of river styles found
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Gamblin Lake, Technical Report 2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-05-01
On August 12, 2003, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Gamblin Lake property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in December 2002. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, muskrat, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Gamblin Lake Project provides a total of 273.28 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Conifer forest habitat provides 127.92 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Forested wetland habitat provides 21.06 HUs for bald eagle, black-caped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Wet meadow provides 78.05 HUs for Canada goose and mallard. Emergent wetland habitat provides 46.25 HUs for mallard, muskrat, and Canada goose. The objective of using HEP at the Gamblin Lake Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Estuaries and Tidal Marshes. Habitat Pac.
Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. of Interior), Washington, DC.
This educational packet consists of an overview, three lesson plans, student data sheets, and a poster. The overview examines estuaries and tidal or salt marshes by discussing the plants and animals in these habitats, marsh productivity, benefits and management of the habitats, historical aspects, and development and pollution. A glossary and list…
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James A. Youtz; Russell T. Graham; Richard T. Reynolds; Jerry. Simon
2008-01-01
Developing and displaying forest structural targets are crucial for sustaining the habitats of the northern goshawk, a sensitive species in Southwestern forests. These structural targets were described in Management Recommendations for the Northern Goshawk in the Southwestern United States (MRNG) (Reynolds, et al., 1992). The MRNG were developed in a unique food-web...
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GIS habitat analysis for lesser prairie-chickens in southeastern New Mexico
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Neville Paul
2006-12-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background We conducted Geographic Information System (GIS habitat analyses for lesser prairie-chicken (LPCH, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus conservation planning. The 876,799 ha study area included most of the occupied habitat for the LPCH in New Mexico. The objectives were to identify and quantify: 1. suitable LPCH habitat in New Mexico, 2. conversion of native habitats, 3. potential for habitat restoration, and 4. unsuitable habitat available for oil and gas activities. Results We found 16% of suitable habitat (6% of the study area distributed in 13 patches of at least 3,200 ha and 11% of suitable habitat (4% of the study area distributed in four patches over 7,238 ha. The area converted from native vegetation types comprised 17% of the study area. Ninety-five percent of agricultural conversion occurred on private lands in the northeastern corner of the study area. Most known herbicide-related conversions (82% occurred in rangelands in the western part of the study area, on lands managed primarily by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM. We identified 88,190 ha (10% of the study area of habitats with reasonable restoration potential. Sixty-two percent of the primary population area (PPA contained occupied, suitable, or potentially suitable habitat, leaving 38% that could be considered for oil and gas development. Conclusion Although suitable LPCH habitat appears at first glance to be abundant in southeastern New Mexico, only a fraction of apparently suitable vegetation types constitute quality habitat. However, we identified habitat patches that could be restored through mesquite control or shin-oak reintroduction. The analysis also identified areas of unsuitable habitat with low restoration potential that could be targeted for oil and gas exploration, in lieu of occupied, high-quality habitats. Used in combination with GIS analysis and current LPCH population data, the habitat map represents a powerful conservation and management tool.
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GIS habitat analysis for lesser prairie-chickens in southeastern New Mexico.
Johnson, Kristine; Neville, Teri B; Neville, Paul
2006-12-04
We conducted Geographic Information System (GIS) habitat analyses for lesser prairie-chicken (LPCH, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) conservation planning. The 876,799 ha study area included most of the occupied habitat for the LPCH in New Mexico. The objectives were to identify and quantify: 1. suitable LPCH habitat in New Mexico, 2. conversion of native habitats, 3. potential for habitat restoration, and 4. unsuitable habitat available for oil and gas activities. We found 16% of suitable habitat (6% of the study area) distributed in 13 patches of at least 3,200 ha and 11% of suitable habitat (4% of the study area) distributed in four patches over 7,238 ha. The area converted from native vegetation types comprised 17% of the study area. Ninety-five percent of agricultural conversion occurred on private lands in the northeastern corner of the study area. Most known herbicide-related conversions (82%) occurred in rangelands in the western part of the study area, on lands managed primarily by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We identified 88,190 ha (10% of the study area) of habitats with reasonable restoration potential. Sixty-two percent of the primary population area (PPA) contained occupied, suitable, or potentially suitable habitat, leaving 38% that could be considered for oil and gas development. Although suitable LPCH habitat appears at first glance to be abundant in southeastern New Mexico, only a fraction of apparently suitable vegetation types constitute quality habitat. However, we identified habitat patches that could be restored through mesquite control or shin-oak reintroduction. The analysis also identified areas of unsuitable habitat with low restoration potential that could be targeted for oil and gas exploration, in lieu of occupied, high-quality habitats. Used in combination with GIS analysis and current LPCH population data, the habitat map represents a powerful conservation and management tool.
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Zhang, W.; Hu, B.; Brown, G.
2018-04-01
The black duck population has decreased significantly due to loss of its breeding habitat. Wetlands are an important feature that relates to habitat management and requires monitoring. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems are helpful to map the wetland as the microwave signals are sensitive to water content and can be used to map surface water extent, saturated soils, and flooded vegetation. In this study, RadarSat 2 Polarimetric data is employed to map surface water and track changes in extent over the years through image thresholding and reviewed different approaches of Polarimetric decompositions for detecting flooded vegetation. Also, object-based analysis associated with beaver activity is conducted with combined multispectral SPOT satellite imagery. Results show SAR data has proven ability to improve mapping open water areas and locate flooded vegetation areas.
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Microhabitat features influencing habitat use by Florida black bears
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dana L. Karelus
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Understanding fine-scale habitat needs of species and the factors influencing heterogeneous use of habitat within home range would help identify limiting resources and inform habitat management practices. This information is especially important for large mammals living in fragmented habitats where resources may be scarcer and more patchily distributed than in contiguous habitats. Using bihourly Global Position System (GPS location data collected from 10 individuals during 2011–2014, we investigated microhabitat features of areas within home ranges that received high vs. low intensity of use by Florida black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus in north-central, Florida. We identified areas receiving high and low levels of use by bears based on their utilization distributions estimated with the dynamic Brownian bridge movement model, and performed vegetation sampling at bear locations within high- and low-use areas. Using univariate analyses and generalized linear mixed models, we found that (1 canopy cover, visual obstruction, and hardwood density were important in defining high-use sites; (2 the probability of high use was positively associated with principal components that represented habitat closer to creeks and with high canopy and shrub cover and higher hardwood densities, likely characteristic of forested wetlands; and (3 the probability of high use was, to a lesser extent, associated with principal components that represented habitat with high canopy cover, high pine density, and low visual obstruction and hardwood density; likely representing sand pine and pine plantations. Our results indicate that the high bear-use sites were in forested wetlands, where cover and food resources for bears are likely to occur in higher abundance. Habitat management plans whereby bears are a focal species should aim to increase the availability and quality of forested wetlands. Keywords: Habitat selection, Heterogeneous habitat use, Forest management
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Testing hypotheses about management to enhance habitat for feeding birds in a freshwater wetland.
Lindegarth, M; Chapman, M G
2001-08-01
The level of water was manipulated in a freshwater wetland, with the aim of enhancing abundances of benthic animals and, ultimately, improving habitat for feeding birds (Japanese Snipe, Gallinago hardwickii). We tested whether these actions had the predicted and desired effects on benthic animals, by contrasting changes in two managed locations to one control location which was left unmanipulated. The number of taxa and abundances of chironomids decreased strongly and significantly in the manipulated locations, while the abundance of oligochaetes appeared to vary in a seasonal manner. Temporal variability of the structure and composition of assemblages was also increased in manipulated locations. Such effects have previously been suggested to indicate stress in benthic assemblages. Therefore, in contrast to what was predicted, managerial actions made benthic fauna less abundant and thus, less suitable as habitat for feeding birds. Several general lessons can be learned from these results. (1) Effects of managerial actions like these are difficult to predict a priori and can only be reliably evaluated with an experimental framework. (2) Because abundances of animals vary naturally, evaluations of managerial actions must include appropriate spatial replication. (3) Sampling at hierarchical temporal scales is important, because abundances of animals may vary in an unpredictable manner at short temporal scales and because changes in temporal variability may be a symptom of stress. (4) Combined use of uni- and multivariate techniques provides a comprehensive set of tools to assess the effects of restoration and creation of new habitats. Finally, these results emphasise the need for clear predictions about desired outcomes and specific experimental plans about how to test whether the desired results were achieved, before managerial actions are taken. Although this is often very difficult to achieve in real situations, it is necessary for practices of management to evolve
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Beaver Lake, Technical Report 2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-05-01
On August 14, 2003, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Beaver Lake property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in November 2002. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, mallard, muskrat, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Beaver Lake Project provides a total of 232.26 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Conifer forest habitat provides 136.58 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Forested wetland habitat provides 20.02 HUs for bald eagle, black-caped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Scrub-shrub wetland habitat provides 7.67 HUs for mallard, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Grassland meadow provides 22.69 HUs for Canada goose and mallard. Emergent wetlands provide 35.04 HUs for Canada goose, mallard, and muskrat. Open water provided 10.26 HUs for Canada goose, mallard, and muskrat. The objective of using HEP at the Beaver Lake Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Ochs, Konstantin; Rivaes, Rui P.; Ferreira, Teresa; Egger, Gregory
2018-01-01
Mediterranean rivers in intensive agricultural watersheds usually display outgrowths of macrophytes – notably alien species – due to a combination of high concentrations of nutrients in the water runoff and low flows resulting from water abstraction for irrigation. Standard mechanical and chemical control is used to mitigate the problems associated with excessive growth of plant biomass: mainly less drainage capacity and higher flood risk. However, such control measures are cost and labor-intensive and do not present long-term efficiency. Although the high sensitivity of aquatic vegetation to instream hydraulic conditions is well known, management approaches based on flow management remain relatively unexplored. The aim of our study was therefore to apply physical habitat simulation techniques promoted by the Instream Flow Incremental Method (IFIM) to aquatic macrophytes – the first time it has been applied in this context – in order to model shifts in habitat suitability under different flow scenarios in the Sorraia river in central Portugal. We used this approach to test whether the risk of invasion and channel encroachment by nuisance species can be controlled by setting minimum annual flows. We used 960 randomly distributed survey points to analyze the habitat suitability for the most important aquatic species (including the invasive Brazilian milfoil Myriophyllum aquaticum, Sparganium erectum, and Potamogeton crispus) in regard to the physical parameters ‘flow velocity,’ ‘water depth,’ and ‘substrate size’. We chose the lowest discharge period of the year in order to assess the hydraulic conditions while disturbances were at a low-point, thus allowing aquatic vegetation establishment and subsistence. We then used the two-dimensional hydraulic River2D software to model the potential habitat availability for different flow conditions based on the site-specific habitat suitability index for each physical parameter and species. Our results show
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Czuba, Christiana; Czuba, Jonathan A.; Gendaszek, Andrew S.; Magirl, Christopher S.
2010-01-01
The Cedar River in Washington State originates on the western slope of the Cascade Range and provides the City of Seattle with most of its drinking water, while also supporting a productive salmon habitat. Water-resource managers require detailed information on how best to manage high-flow releases from Chester Morse Lake, a large reservoir on the Cedar River, during periods of heavy precipitation to minimize flooding, while mitigating negative effects on fish populations. Instream flow-management practices include provisions for adaptive management to promote and maintain healthy aquatic habitat in the river system. The current study is designed to understand the linkages between peak flow characteristics, geomorphic processes, riverine habitat, and biological responses. Specifically, two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling is used to simulate and quantify the effects of the peak-flow magnitude, duration, and frequency on the channel morphology and salmon-spawning habitat. Two study reaches, representative of the typical geomorphic and ecologic characteristics of the Cedar River, were selected for the modeling. Detailed bathymetric data, collected with a real-time kinematic global positioning system and an acoustic Doppler current profiler, were combined with a LiDAR-derived digital elevation model in the overbank area to develop a computational mesh. The model is used to simulate water velocity, benthic shear stress, flood inundation, and morphologic changes in the gravel-bedded river under the current and alternative flood-release strategies. Simulations of morphologic change and salmon-redd scour by floods of differing magnitude and duration enable water-resource managers to incorporate model simulation results into adaptive management of peak flows in the Cedar River. PDF version of a presentation on hydrodynamic modelling in the Cedar River in Washington state. Presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2010.
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Linking habitat management and conservation biocontrol through gut-content analysis
Increasing the habitat diversity of agricultural fields can lead to more effective biocontrol of arthropod pests. Annual cropping systems are exposed to frequent disturbance and lack habitat diversity; therefore it is important to develop strategies that can improve ecosystem services such as bioco...
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Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database
Mairota, P.; Buckley, P.; Suchomel, C.; Heinsoo, K.; Verheyen, K.; Hédl, Radim; Terzuolo, P. G.; Sindaco, R.; Carpanelli, A.
2016-01-01
Roč. 9, AUG 2016 (2016), s. 560-568 ISSN 1971-7458 Institutional support: RVO:67985939 Keywords : biodiversity * habitats directive * forest habitat types Subject RIV: GK - Forestry Impact factor: 1.623, year: 2016
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Priest River Project, Technical Report 2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-05-01
On July 6, 2004, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Priest River property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in 2001. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, mallard, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Priest River Project provides a total of 140.73 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Conifer forest habitat provides 60.05 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, and white-tailed deer. Grassland meadow habitat provides 7.39 HUs for Canada goose and mallard. Scrub-shrub vegetation provides 71.13 HUs for mallard, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Open water habitat provides 2.16 HUs for Canada goose and mallard. The objective of using HEP at the Priest River Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; North Eaton Lake, Technical Report 2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-11-01
On July 6, 2005, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the North Eaton Lake property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in November 2004. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, mallard, muskrat, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The North Eaton Lake Project provides a total of 235.05 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Open water habitat provides 9.38 HUs for Canada goose, mallard and muskrat. Emergent wetland habitat provides 11.36 HUs for Canada goose, mallard and muskrat. Forested wetland provides 10.97 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard and white-tailed deer. Conifer forest habitat provides 203.34 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. The objective of using HEP at the North Eaton Lake Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Coates, Peter S.; Casazza, Michael L.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Gustafson, K. Benjamin; Sanchez-Chopitea, Erika; Mauch, Kimberly; Niell, Lara; Gardner, Scott; Espinosa, Shawn; Delehanty, David J.
2016-05-20
Successful adaptive management hinges largely upon integrating new and improved sources of information as they become available. As a timely example of this tenet, we updated a management decision support tool that was previously developed for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereinafter referred to as “sage-grouse”) populations in Nevada and California. Specifically, recently developed spatially explicit habitat maps derived from empirical data played a key role in the conservation of this species facing listing under the Endangered Species Act. This report provides an updated process for mapping relative habitat suitability and management categories for sage-grouse in Nevada and northeastern California (Coates and others, 2014, 2016). These updates include: (1) adding radio and GPS telemetry locations from sage-grouse monitored at multiple sites during 2014 to the original location dataset beginning in 1998; (2) integrating output from high resolution maps (1–2 m2) of sagebrush and pinyon-juniper cover as covariates in resource selection models; (3) modifying the spatial extent of the analyses to match newly available vegetation layers; (4) explicit modeling of relative habitat suitability during three seasons (spring, summer, winter) that corresponded to critical life history periods for sage-grouse (breeding, brood-rearing, over-wintering); (5) accounting for differences in habitat availability between more mesic sagebrush steppe communities in the northern part of the study area and drier Great Basin sagebrush in more southerly regions by categorizing continuous region-wide surfaces of habitat suitability index (HSI) with independent locations falling within two hydrological zones; (6) integrating the three seasonal maps into a composite map of annual relative habitat suitability; (7) deriving updated land management categories based on previously determined cut-points for intersections of habitat suitability and an updated index of sage
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Habitat edge, land management, and rates of brood parasitism in tallgrass prairie.
Patten, Michael A; Shochat, Eyal; Reinking, Dan L; Wolfe, Donald H; Sherrod, Steve K
2006-04-01
Bird populations in North America's grasslands have declined sharply in recent decades. These declines are traceable, in large part, to habitat loss, but management of tallgrass prairie also has an impact. An indirect source of decline potentially associated with management is brood parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), which has had substantial negative impacts on many passerine hosts. Using a novel application of regression trees, we analyzed an extensive five-year set of nest data to test how management of tallgrass prairie affected rates of brood parasitism. We examined seven landscape features that may have been associated with parasitism: presence of edge, burning, or grazing, and distance of the nest from woody vegetation, water, roads, or fences. All five grassland passerines that we included in the analyses exhibited evidence of an edge effect: the Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), Henslow's Sparrow (A. henslowii), Dickcissel (Spiza americana), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), and Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna). The edge was represented by narrow strips of woody vegetation occurring along roadsides cut through tallgrass prairie. The sparrows avoided nesting along these woody edges, whereas the other three species experienced significantly higher (1.9-5.3x) rates of parasitism along edges than in prairie. The edge effect could be related directly to increase in parasitism rate with decreased distance from woody vegetation. After accounting for edge effect in these three species, we found evidence for significantly higher (2.5-10.5x) rates of parasitism in grazed plots, particularly those burned in spring to increase forage, than in undisturbed prairie. Regression tree analysis proved to be an important tool for hierarchically parsing various landscape features that affect parasitism rates. We conclude that, on the Great Plains, rates of brood parasitism are strongly associated with relatively recent road cuts
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Chapter 5: Application of state-and-transition models to evaluate wildlife habitat
Anita T. Morzillo; Pamela Comeleo; Blair Csuti; Stephanie Lee
2014-01-01
Wildlife habitat analysis often is a central focus of natural resources management and policy. State-and-transition models (STMs) allow for simulation of landscape level ecological processes, and for managers to test âwhat ifâ scenarios of how those processes may affect wildlife habitat. This chapter describes the methods used to link STM output to wildlife habitat to...
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Birnie-Gauvin, Kim; Aarestrup, Kim; Riis, Torsten M. O.
2017-01-01
modified by agriculture and other human activities for centuries, leaving management practitioners wondering how much change is acceptable to maintain sustainable fish populations and fisheries practices. 4. With examples from Denmark, this paper attempts to conceptualize the loss in habitat as a result...... of barriers in lowland streams and rivers, and the repercussions that such alterations may have on rheophilic fish populations. Furthermore, the need for management to address habitat loss and its related consequences concurrently with the improvement of fish passage is emphasized...
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rudin, M.J.; Garcia, R.S.
1992-02-01
This report, Volume 3 of the National Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of carbon-14. The report also discusses waste streams that contain carbon-14, waste forms that contain carbon-14, and carbon-14 behavior in the environment and in the human body
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Advantages of a Modular Mars Surface Habitat Approach
Rucker, Michelle A.; Hoffman, Stephan J.; Andrews, Alida; Watts, Kevin
2018-01-01
Early crewed Mars mission concepts developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) assumed a single, large habitat would house six crew members for a 500-day Mars surface stay. At the end of the first mission, all surface equipment, including the habitat, -would be abandoned and the process would be repeated at a different Martian landing site. This work was documented in a series of NASA publications culminating with the Mars Design Reference Mission 5.0 (NASA-SP-2009-566). The Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) explored whether re-using surface equipment at a single landing site could be more affordable than the Apollo-style explore-abandon-repeat mission cadence. Initial EMC assumptions preserved the single, monolithic habitat, the only difference being a new requirement to reuse the surface habitat for multiple expedition crews. A trade study comparing a single large habitat versus smaller, modular habitats leaned towards the monolithic approach as more mass-efficient. More recent work has focused on the operational aspects of building up Mars surface infrastructure over multiple missions, and has identified compelling advantages of the modular approach that should be considered before making a final decision. This paper explores Mars surface mission operational concepts and integrated system analysis, and presents an argument for the modular habitat approach.
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report : West Beaver Lake, 2004-2005 Technical Report.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-02-01
On September 7, 2004, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the West Beaver Lake property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in September 2004. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, muskrat, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The West Beaver Lake Project provides a total of 103.08 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Emergent wetland habitat provides 7.17 HUs for mallard and muskrat. Conifer forest habitat provides 95.91 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. The objective of using HEP at the West Beaver Lake Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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M.D. Bryant; Trent McDonald; R. Aho; B.E. Wright; Michelle Bourassa Stahl
2008-01-01
We describe a protocol to monitor the effectiveness of the Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) management standards for maintaining fish habitat. The protocol uses juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in small tributary streams in forested watersheds. We used a 3-year pilot study to develop detailed methods to estimate juvenile salmonid...
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Carey Creek, Technical Report 2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-05-01
In August 2002, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Carey Creek property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in December 2001. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, mallard, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Carey Creek Project provides a total of 172.95 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Conifer forest habitat provides 4.91 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, and white-tailed deer. Forested wetlands provide 52.68 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Scrub-shrub wetlands provide 2.82 HUs for mallard, yellow warbler and white-tailed deer. Wet meadow and grassland meadow provide 98.13 HUs for mallard and Canada goose. Emergent wetlands provide 11.53 HUs for mallard, muskrat, and Canada goose. Open water provides 2.88 HUs for Canada goose, mallard, and muskrat. The objective of using HEP at the Carey Creek Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tiffany A Sprague
Full Text Available Species conservation requires a thorough understanding of habitat requirements. The northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2014. Natural resource managers are interested in understanding the ecology of this subspecies to guide management decisions and to determine what features are necessary for habitat creation and restoration. Our objective was to identify habitat selection of northern Mexican gartersnakes in a highly managed, constructed wetland hatchery. We deployed transmitters on 42 individual gartersnakes and documented use of habitat types and selection of specific habitat features. Habitat selection was similar between males and females and varied seasonally. During the active season (March-October, gartersnakes primarily selected wetland edge habitat with abundant cover. Gestating females selected similar locations but with less dense cover. During the inactive season (November-February, gartersnakes selected upland habitats, including rocky slopes with abundant vegetation. These results of this study can help inform management of the subspecies, particularly in human-influenced habitats. Conservation of this subspecies should incorporate a landscape-level approach that includes abundant wetland edge habitat with a mosaic of dense cover for protection and sparsely vegetated areas for basking connected to terrestrial uplands for overwintering.
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Trade-offs between wood supply and caribou habitat in northwestern Ontario
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniel McKenney
1998-03-01
Full Text Available Woodland caribou habitat management in northwestern Ontario is a complex spatial problem. The Strategic Forest Management Model (SFMM, a linear programming PC-based planning tool being developed in Ontario, was used to examine the impacts of alternative management strategies on caribou habitat. The management alternatives investigated included the cessation of timber management and maximising the present value of wood production without any explicit concern (in the model for caribou. Three major findings are worth noting: 1 trying to maintain prime caribou habitat within active Forest Management Units will come at a cost to wood supply but the cost will depend on the absolute amount of area affected and the spatial configuration of that land in relation to mills. The cost of maintaining caribou habitat in one management unit at a level about 25 000 hectares is roughly $324 000 per year (about 3 cents for each Ontario resident. The imposition of an even-flow constraint on wood production is in fact potentially more costly; 2 Given the region is heavily dominated by spruce aged 90 years and over, forest succession and fire disturbance will likely cause large declines in prime caribou habitat in the near to medium term (20 to 40 years even if no timber harvesting occurs; 3 The complexities of the trade-offs in this resource management problem highlight the limitations of any single modelling tool to satisfactorily address all issues. Planners need to take advantage of a wide range of analytical techniques to quantify the issues and formulate integrated policies.
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Management of conservation reserve program grasslands to meet wildlife habitat objectives
Vandever, Mark W.; Allen, Arthur W.
2015-01-01
Numerous studies document environmental and social benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). This report offers a synopsis of findings regarding effects of establishing CRP conservation practices on the quality and distribution of wildlife habitat in agricultural landscapes. On individual farms, year-round provision of wildlife habitat by the CRP may appear relatively insignificant. However, considered from multi-farm to National scales, such improvements in habitat and wildlife response have proven to be extensive and profound.
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Riparian Habitat Management for Reptiles and Amphibians on Corps of Engineers Projects
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Dickerson, Dena
2001-01-01
... important taxonomic groups such as reptiles and amphibians. This note provides an overview of the importance of riparian habitat at Corps projects for reptiles and amphibians, identifies riparian zone functions and habitat characteristics, provides examples of representative taxa and regional comparisons, and describes impacts of riparian habitat modification.
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rudin, M.J.; Stanton, C.; Patterson, R.G.; Garcia, R.S.
1992-02-01
This report, Volume 2 of the National Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses radiological and chemical characteristics of technetium-99. This report also includes discussions about waste streams in which technetium-99 can be found, waste forms that contain technetium-99, and technetium-99's behavior in the environment and in the human body
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Calispell Creek Project, Technical Report 2004-2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-02-01
On July 13, 2004, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Calispell Creek property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in February 2004. Evaluation species and appropriate models include Canada goose, mallard, muskrat, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Calispell Creek Project provides a total of 138.17 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Emergent wetland habitat provides 5.16 HUs for mallard and muskrat. Grassland provides 132.02 HUs for mallard and Canada goose. Scrub-shrub vegetation provides 0.99 HUs for yellow warbler and white-tailed deer. The objective of using HEP at the Calispell Creek Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Surgical management of generalized gingival enlargement - a case series
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Akhtar, M.U.; Nazir, A.; Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore; Kiran, S.; Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore
2014-01-01
Generalized gingival enlargement is characterized by massive and exuberant gingival overgrowth that poses social, aesthetic, phonetic and functional problems for the patient. Therefore, it requires meticulous management. Objective: To describe the surgical management of generalized gingival enlargement by electrosurgical excision of patients presenting to a tertiary care centre. Study Design: Case series. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, de'Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore, from January 2010 to December 2012. A total of sixteen patients were operated by using electrosurgical approach under general anaesthesia for surgical excision of generalized gingival enlargement. Results: All of the sixteen patients, 11 males and 5 females, showed excellent healing postoperatively without any recurrent gingival overgrowth. Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, the current study presents the largest case series of generalized gingival enlargement. Most of these cases were with massive disease due to lack of information of the study population about their disease, delay in referral by the general dental practitioners, painless and innocent nature of the problem. Early referral of such patients to tertiary care centers can prevent the patients from social and psychological embarrassment. Conclusion: Electrosurgical excision is an excellent surgical technique for management of generalized gingival enlargement. Moreover, cross comparative studies are required to establish some diagnostic and therapeutic standards for such patients. (author)
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; West Beaver Lake Project, Technical Report 2005
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-05-01
On September 7, 2004, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the West Beaver Lake property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in September 2004. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, muskrat, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The West Beaver Lake Project provides a total of 82.69 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Emergent wetland habitat provides 8.80 HUs for mallard, muskrat, and Canada goose. Conifer forest habitat provides 70.33 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Open water provides 3.30 HUs for mallard, muskrat, and Canada goose. The objective of using HEP at the West Beaver Lake Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Stopover habitats of spring migrating surf scoters in southeast Alaska
Lok, E.K.; Esler, Daniel; Takekawa, John Y.; De La Cruz, S.W.; Sean, Boyd W.; Nysewander, D.R.; Evenson, J.R.; Ward, D.H.
2011-01-01
Habitat conditions and nutrient reserve levels during spring migration have been suggested as important factors affecting population declines in waterfowl, emphasizing the need to identify key sites used during spring and understand habitat features and resource availability at stopover sites. We used satellite telemetry to identify stopover sites used by surf scoters migrating through southeast Alaska during spring. We then contrasted habitat features of these sites to those of random sites to determine habitat attributes corresponding to use by migrating scoters. We identified 14 stopover sites based on use by satellite tagged surf scoters from several wintering sites. We identified Lynn Canal as a particularly important stopover site for surf scoters originating throughout the Pacific winter range; approximately half of tagged coastally migrating surf scoters used this site, many for extended periods. Stopover sites were farther from the mainland coast and closer to herring spawn sites than random sites, whereas physical shoreline habitat attributes were generally poor predictors of site use. The geography and resource availability within southeast Alaska provides unique and potentially critical stopover habitat for spring migrating surf scoters. Our work identifies specific sites and habitat resources that deserve conservation and management consideration. Aggregations of birds are vulnerable to human activity impacts such as contaminant spills and resource management decisions. This information is of value to agencies and organizations responsible for emergency response planning, herring fisheries management, and bird and ecosystem conservation. Copyright ?? 2011 The Wildlife Society.
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Smith, L.M.; Nestlerode, J.A.; Harwell, L.C.; Bourgeois, P.
2010-01-01
The availability of wetlands and shallow water habitats significantly influences Gulf of Mexico (GOM) penaeid shrimp fishery productivity. However, the GOM region has the highest rate of wetland loss in the USA. Protection and management of these vital GOM habitats are critical to sustainable shrimp fisheries. Brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) are a major component of GOM fisheries. We present an approach for estimating the areal extent of suitable habitat for post-larval and juvenile brown shrimp in Mobile Bay, Alabama, using an existing habitat suitability index model for the northern GOM calculated from probabilistic survey of water quality and sediment data, land cover data, and submerged aquatic vegetation coverages. This estuarine scale approach is intended to support targeted protection and restoration of these habitats. These analyses indicate that approximately 60% of the area of Mobile Bay is categorized as suitable to near optimal for post-larval and juvenile shrimp and 38% of the area is marginally to minimally suitable. We identify potential units within Mobile Bay for targeted restoration to improve habitat suitability. ?? 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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McGregor, Hugh W; Legge, Sarah; Jones, Menna E; Johnson, Christopher N
2014-01-01
Intensification of fires and grazing by large herbivores has caused population declines in small vertebrates in many ecosystems worldwide. Impacts are rarely direct, and usually appear driven via indirect pathways, such as changes to predator-prey dynamics. Fire events and grazing may improve habitat and/or hunting success for the predators of small mammals, however, such impacts have not been documented. To test for such an interaction, we investigated fine-scale habitat selection by feral cats in relation to fire, grazing and small-mammal abundance. Our study was conducted in north-western Australia, where small mammal populations are sensitive to changes in fire and grazing management. We deployed GPS collars on 32 cats in landscapes with contrasting fire and grazing treatments. Fine-scale habitat selection was determined using discrete choice modelling of cat movements. We found that cats selected areas with open grass cover, including heavily-grazed areas. They strongly selected for areas recently burnt by intense fires, but only in habitats that typically support high abundance of small mammals. Intense fires and grazing by introduced herbivores created conditions that are favoured by cats, probably because their hunting success is improved. This mechanism could explain why, in northern Australia, impacts of feral cats on small mammals might have increased. Our results suggest the impact of feral cats could be reduced in most ecosystems by maximising grass cover, minimising the incidence of intense fires, and reducing grazing by large herbivores.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hugh W McGregor
Full Text Available Intensification of fires and grazing by large herbivores has caused population declines in small vertebrates in many ecosystems worldwide. Impacts are rarely direct, and usually appear driven via indirect pathways, such as changes to predator-prey dynamics. Fire events and grazing may improve habitat and/or hunting success for the predators of small mammals, however, such impacts have not been documented. To test for such an interaction, we investigated fine-scale habitat selection by feral cats in relation to fire, grazing and small-mammal abundance. Our study was conducted in north-western Australia, where small mammal populations are sensitive to changes in fire and grazing management. We deployed GPS collars on 32 cats in landscapes with contrasting fire and grazing treatments. Fine-scale habitat selection was determined using discrete choice modelling of cat movements. We found that cats selected areas with open grass cover, including heavily-grazed areas. They strongly selected for areas recently burnt by intense fires, but only in habitats that typically support high abundance of small mammals. Intense fires and grazing by introduced herbivores created conditions that are favoured by cats, probably because their hunting success is improved. This mechanism could explain why, in northern Australia, impacts of feral cats on small mammals might have increased. Our results suggest the impact of feral cats could be reduced in most ecosystems by maximising grass cover, minimising the incidence of intense fires, and reducing grazing by large herbivores.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
K.A. Nishadh
2012-11-01
Full Text Available In a study of the metazoan community composition in tree hole aquatic habitat of a tropical rainforest, Silent Valley National Park, and the adjacent moist deciduous forest, New Amarambalam Reserve Forest, of the Western Ghats, 28 different species were recorded from 150 tree hole aquatic habitats with an average of 3-5 species per tree hole. Most of the recorded organisms (96.8% belong to Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies, Heteroptera (bugs, Diptera (flies, Coleoptera (beetles and Trichoptera (caddisflies. The study reports the first record of toe-winged beetle larvae (Ptilodactylidae in a tree hole aquatic habitat. The most significant observation is the prolific occurrence of trichopteran larvae as the second most abundant taxa in tree holes of Silent Valley National Park, and this stands as the first comprehensive record of the entire order in the habitat studied. The study upholds the importance of less explored microhabitats in the Western Ghats region in terms of sustaining unique community composition in the most delicate and extreme habitat conditions. It also puts forward important ecological research questions on biodiversity ecosystem functionality which could impart important lessons for managing and conserving the diminishing tropical evergreen forests which are significant for these unique habitats.
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Upper Trimble Project, Technical Report 2004-2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-02-01
On July 13, 2004, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Upper Trimble property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in March 2004. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, mallard, muskrat, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Upper Trimble Project provides a total of 250.67 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Wet meadow provides 136.92 HUs for mallard, muskrat, and Canada goose. Mixed forest habitat provides 111.88 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. Scrub-shrub vegetation provides 1.87 HUs for yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. The objective of using HEP at the Upper Trimble Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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National low-level waste management program radionuclide report series, Volume 15: Uranium-238
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Adams, J.P.
1995-09-01
This report, Volume 15 of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of uranium-238 ( 238 U). The purpose of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series is to provide information to state representatives and developers of low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities about the radiological, chemical, and physical characteristics of selected radionuclides and their behavior in the waste disposal facility environment. This report also includes discussions about waste types and forms in which 238 U can be found, and 238 U behavior in the environment and in the human body
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Habitat loss and gain: Influence on habitat attractiveness for estuarine fish communities
Amorim, Eva; Ramos, Sandra; Elliott, Michael; Franco, Anita; Bordalo, Adriano A.
2017-10-01
habitat changes on fish due to coastal development and urbanisation and emphasises that ecosystem management and conservation will benefit from a wider understanding of habitat functional roles and habitat changes influencing the functioning and structure of the fish communities.
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Wang, L.; Infante, D.; Esselman, P.; Cooper, A.; Wu, D.; Taylor, W.; Beard, D.; Whelan, G.; Ostroff, A.
2011-01-01
Fisheries management programs, such as the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), urgently need a nationwide spatial framework and database for health assessment and policy development to protect and improve riverine systems. To meet this need, we developed a spatial framework and database using National Hydrography Dataset Plus (I-.100,000-scale); http://www.horizon-systems.com/nhdplus). This framework uses interconfluence river reaches and their local and network catchments as fundamental spatial river units and a series of ecological and political spatial descriptors as hierarchy structures to allow users to extract or analyze information at spatial scales that they define. This database consists of variables describing channel characteristics, network position/connectivity, climate, elevation, gradient, and size. It contains a series of catchment-natural and human-induced factors that are known to influence river characteristics. Our framework and database assembles all river reaches and their descriptors in one place for the first time for the conterminous United States. This framework and database provides users with the capability of adding data, conducting analyses, developing management scenarios and regulation, and tracking management progresses at a variety of spatial scales. This database provides the essential data needs for achieving the objectives of NFHAP and other management programs. The downloadable beta version database is available at http://ec2-184-73-40-15.compute-1.amazonaws.com/nfhap/main/.
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Sydenham, Markus A K; Moe, Stein R; Stanescu-Yadav, Diana N; Totland, Ørjan; Eldegard, Katrine
2016-02-01
Anthropogenic landscape elements, such as roadsides, hedgerows, field edges, and power line clearings, can be managed to provide important habitats for wild bees. However, the effects of habitat improvement schemes in power line clearings on components of diversity are poorly studied. We conducted a large-scale experiment to test the effects of different management practices on the species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of wild bees in power line clearings (n = 19 sites across southeastern Norway) and explored whether any treatment effects were modified by the environmental context. At each site, we conducted the following treatments: (1) Cut: all trees cut and left to decay in the clearing; (2) Cut + Remove: all trees cut and removed from the plot; and (3) Uncut: uncleared. The site-specific environmental context (i.e., elevation and floral diversity) influenced the species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity within bee species assemblages. The largest number of species was found in the Cut + Remove treatment in plots with a high forb species richness, indicating that the outcome of management practices depends on the environmental context. Clearing of treatment plots with many forb species also appeared to alter the phylogenetic composition of bee species assemblages, that is, more closely related species were found in the Cut and the Cut + Remove plots than in the Uncut plots. Synthesis and applications: Our experimental simulation of management practices in power line clearings influenced the species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of bee species assemblages. Frequent clearing and removal of the woody debris at low elevations with a high forb species richness can increase the value of power line clearings for solitary bees. It is therefore important for managers to consider the environmental context when designing habitat improvement schemes for solitary bees.
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Chinook salmon use of spawning patches: relative roles of habitat quality, size, and connectivity.
Isaak, Daniel J; Thurow, Russell F; Rieman, Bruce E; Dunham, Jason B
2007-03-01
Declines in many native fish populations have led to reassessments of management goals and shifted priorities from consumptive uses to species preservation. As management has shifted, relevant environmental characteristics have evolved from traditional metrics that described local habitat quality to characterizations of habitat size and connectivity. Despite the implications this shift has for how habitats may be prioritized for conservation, it has been rare to assess the relative importance of these habitat components. We used an information-theoretic approach to select the best models from sets of logistic regressions that linked habitat quality, size, and connectivity to the occurrence of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) nests. Spawning distributions were censused annually from 1995 to 2004, and data were complemented with field measurements that described habitat quality in 43 suitable spawning patches across a stream network that drained 1150 km2 in central Idaho. Results indicated that the most plausible models were dominated by measures of habitat size and connectivity, whereas habitat quality was of minor importance. Connectivity was the strongest predictor of nest occurrence, but connectivity interacted with habitat size, which became relatively more important when populations were reduced. Comparison of observed nest distributions to null model predictions confirmed that the habitat size association was driven by a biological mechanism when populations were small, but this association may have been an area-related sampling artifact at higher abundances. The implications for habitat management are that the size and connectivity of existing habitat networks should be maintained whenever possible. In situations where habitat restoration is occurring, expansion of existing areas or creation of new habitats in key areas that increase connectivity may be beneficial. Information about habitat size and connectivity also could be used to strategically
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Selection of nest-site habitat by interior least terns in relation to sandbar construction
Sherfy, Mark H.; Stucker, Jennifer H.; Buhl, Deborah A.
2012-01-01
Federally endangered interior least terns (Sternula antillarum) nest on bare or sparsely vegetated sandbars on midcontinent river systems. Loss of nesting habitat has been implicated as a cause of population declines, and managing these habitats is a major initiative in population recovery. One such initiative involves construction of mid-channel sandbars on the Missouri River, where natural sandbar habitat has declined in quantity and quality since the late 1990s. We evaluated nest-site habitat selection by least terns on constructed and natural sandbars by comparing vegetation, substrate, and debris variables at nest sites (n = 798) and random points (n = 1,113) in bare or sparsely vegetated habitats. Our logistic regression models revealed that a broader suite of habitat features was important in nest-site selection on constructed than on natural sandbars. Odds ratios for habitat variables indicated that avoidance of habitat features was the dominant nest-site selection process on both sandbar types, with nesting terns being attracted to nest-site habitat features (gravel and debris) and avoiding vegetation only on constructed sandbars, and avoiding silt and leaf litter on both sandbar types. Despite the seemingly uniform nature of these habitats, our results suggest that a complex suite of habitat features influences nest-site choice by least terns. However, nest-site selection in this social, colonially nesting species may be influenced by other factors, including spatial arrangement of bare sand habitat, proximity to other least terns, and prior habitat occupancy by piping plovers (Charadrius melodus). We found that nest-site selection was sensitive to subtle variation in habitat features, suggesting that rigor in maintaining habitat condition will be necessary in managing sandbars for the benefit of least terns. Further, management strategies that reduce habitat features that are avoided by least terns may be the most beneficial to nesting least terns.
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A single centre case series of gallstone sigmoid ileus management
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nicholas Farkas
2017-01-01
Conclusions: This is the first case series highlighting the differing strategies and challenges faced by clinicians managing gallstone sigmoid ileus. Conservative measures (including manual evacuation, endoscopy, lithotripsy and surgery all play important roles in relieving large bowel obstruction. It is essential to tailor care to individual patients’ needs given the complexities of this potentially life threatening condition.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Quinn, Nigel W.T.
2004-12-20
The San Joaquin River Riparian Habitat Restoration Program (SJRRP) has recognized the potential importance of real-time monitoring and management to the success of the San Joaquin River (SJR) restoration endeavor. The first step to realizing making real-time management a reality on the middle San Joaquin River between Friant Dam and the Merced River will be the installation and operation of a network of permanent telemetered gauging stations that will allow optimization of reservoir releases made specifically for fish water temperature management. Given the limited reservoir storage volume available to the SJJRP, this functionality will allow the development of an adaptive management program, similar in concept to the VAMP though with different objectives. The virtue of this approach is that as management of the middle SJR becomes more routine, additional sensors can be added to the sensor network, initially deployed, to continue to improve conditions for anadromous fish.
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Kline, Jeffrey D; Harmon, Mark E; Spies, Thomas A; Morzillo, Anita T; Pabst, Robert J; McComb, Brenda C; Schnekenburger, Frank; Olsen, Keith A; Csuti, Blair; Vogeler, Jody C
2016-10-01
Forest policymakers and managers have long sought ways to evaluate the capability of forest landscapes to jointly produce timber, habitat, and other ecosystem services in response to forest management. Currently, carbon is of particular interest as policies for increasing carbon storage on federal lands are being proposed. However, a challenge in joint production analysis of forest management is adequately representing ecological conditions and processes that influence joint production relationships. We used simulation models of vegetation structure, forest sector carbon, and potential wildlife habitat to characterize landscape-level joint production possibilities for carbon storage, timber harvest, and habitat for seven wildlife species across a range of forest management regimes. We sought to (1) characterize the general relationships of production possibilities for combinations of carbon storage, timber, and habitat, and (2) identify management variables that most influence joint production relationships. Our 160 000-ha study landscape featured environmental conditions typical of forests in the Western Cascade Mountains of Oregon (USA). Our results indicate that managing forests for carbon storage involves trade-offs among timber harvest and habitat for focal wildlife species, depending on the disturbance interval and utilization intensity followed. Joint production possibilities for wildlife species varied in shape, ranging from competitive to complementary to compound, reflecting niche breadth and habitat component needs of species examined. Managing Pacific Northwest forests to store forest sector carbon can be roughly complementary with habitat for Northern Spotted Owl, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and red tree vole. However, managing forests to increase carbon storage potentially can be competitive with timber production and habitat for Pacific marten, Pileated Woodpecker, and Western Bluebird, depending on the disturbance interval and harvest intensity chosen
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report : Hellsgate Project, 1999-2000 Technical Report.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Berger, Matthew
2000-05-01
A Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) study was conducted on lands acquired and/or managed (4,568 acres total) by the Hellsgate Big Game Winter Range Wildlife Mitigation Project (Hellsgate project) to mitigate some of the losses associated with the original construction and operation of Grand Coulee Dam and inundation of habitats behind the dams. Three separate properties, totaling 2,224 acres were purchased in 1998. One property composed of two separate parcels, mostly grassland lies southeast of the town of Nespelem in Okanogan County (770 acres) and was formerly called the Hinman property. The former Hinman property lies within an area the Tribes have set aside for the protection and preservation of the sharp-tailed grouse (Agency Butte unit). This special management area minus the Hinman acquisition contains 2,388 acres in a long-term lease with the Tribes. The second property lies just south of the Silver Creek turnoff (Ferry County) and is bisected by the Hellsgate Road (part of the Friedlander unit). This parcel contains 60 acres of riparian and conifer forest cover. The third property (now named the Sand Hills unit) acquired for mitigation (1,394 acres) lies within the Hellsgate Reserve in Ferry County. This new acquisition links two existing mitigation parcels (the old Sand Hills parcels and the Lundstrum Flat parcel, all former Kuehne purchases) together forming one large unit. HEP team members included individuals from the Colville Confederated Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department (CTCR), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The HEP team conducted a baseline habitat survey using the following HEP species models: mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), mink (Mustela vison), downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), bobcat (Lynx rufus), yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia), and sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus). HEP analysis and results are discussed within the body of the text. The cover types
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[Habitat factor analysis for Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii based on spatial information technology].
Wang, Xiao-ming; Wang, Ke; Ao, Wei-jiu; Deng, Jin-song; Han, Ning; Zhu, Xiao-yun
2008-11-01
Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii, a tertiary survival plant, is a rare tree species of significant economic value and expands rapidly in China. Its special habitat factor analysis has the potential value to provide guide information for its planting, management, and sustainable development, because the suitable growth conditions for this tree species are special and strict. In this paper, the special habitat factors for T. grandis cv. Merrillii in its core region, i.e., in seven villages of Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province were analyzed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a series of data, such as IKONOS image, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and field survey data supported by the spatial information technology. The results showed that T. grandis cv. Merrillii exhibited high selectivity of environmental factors such as elevation, slope, and aspect. 96.22% of T. grandis cv. Merrillii trees were located at the elevation from 300 to 600 m, 97.52% of them were found to present on the areas whose slope was less than 300, and 74.43% of them distributed on sunny and half-sunny slopes. The results of PCA analysis indicated that the main environmental factors affecting the habitat of T. grandis cv. Merrillii were moisture, heat, and soil nutrients, and moisture might be one of the most important ecological factors for T. grandis cv. Merrillii due to the unique biological and ecological characteristics of the tree species.
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Ecosystem process interactions between central Chilean habitats
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Meredith Root-Bernstein
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Understanding ecosystem processes is vital for developing dynamic adaptive management of human-dominated landscapes. We focus on conservation and management of the central Chilean silvopastoral savanna habitat called “espinal”, which often occurs near matorral, a shrub habitat. Although matorral, espinal and native sclerophyllous forest are linked successionally, they are not jointly managed and conserved. Management goals in “espinal” include increasing woody cover, particularly of the dominant tree Acacia caven, improving herbaceous forage quality, and increasing soil fertility. We asked whether adjacent matorral areas contribute to espinal ecosystem processes related to the three main espinal management goals. We examined input and outcome ecosystem processes related to these goals in matorral and espinal with and without shrub understory. We found that matorral had the largest sets of inputs to ecosystem processes, and espinal with shrub understory had the largest sets of outcomes. Moreover, we found that these outcomes were broadly in the directions preferred by management goals. This supports our prediction that matorral acts as an ecosystem process bank for espinal. We recommend that management plans for landscape resilience consider espinal and matorral as a single landscape cover class that should be maintained as a dynamic mosaic. Joint management of espinal and matorral could create new management and policy opportunities.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series
Full Text Available ... Patient Webcasts / Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series This series of five videos ... member of our patient care team. Managing Your Arthritis Managing Your Arthritis Managing Chronic Pain and Depression ...
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Ackerman, Joshua T.; Hartman, C. Alex; Herzog, Mark P.; Smith, Lacy M.; Moskal, Stacy M.; De La Cruz, Susan E. W.; Yee, Julie L.; Takekawa, John Y.
2014-01-01
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 50–90 percent of former salt evaporation ponds into tidal marsh in South San Francisco Bay, California. However, large numbers of waterbirds use these ponds annually as nesting and foraging habitat. Islands within ponds are particularly important habitat for nesting, foraging, and roosting waterbirds. To maintain current waterbird populations, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project plans to create new islands within former salt ponds in South San Francisco Bay. In a series of studies, we investigated pond and individual island attributes that are most beneficial to nesting, foraging, and roosting waterbirds.
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Habitat Use and Selection by Giant Pandas
Hull, Vanessa; Zhang, Jindong; Huang, Jinyan; Zhou, Shiqiang; Viña, Andrés; Shortridge, Ashton; Li, Rengui; Liu, Dian; Xu, Weihua; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Zhang, Hemin; Liu, Jianguo
2016-01-01
Animals make choices about where to spend their time in complex and dynamic landscapes, choices that reveal information about their biology that in turn can be used to guide their conservation. Using GPS collars, we conducted a novel individual-based analysis of habitat use and selection by the elusive and endangered giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). We constructed spatial autoregressive resource utilization functions (RUF) to model the relationship between the pandas' utilization distributions and various habitat characteristics over a continuous space across seasons. Results reveal several new insights, including use of a broader range of habitat characteristics than previously understood for the species, particularly steep slopes and non-forest areas. We also used compositional analysis to analyze habitat selection (use with respect to availability of habitat types) at two selection levels. Pandas selected against low terrain position and against the highest clumped forest at the at-home range level, but no significant factors were identified at the within-home range level. Our results have implications for modeling and managing the habitat of this endangered species by illustrating how individual pandas relate to habitat and make choices that differ from assumptions made in broad scale models. Our study also highlights the value of using a spatial autoregressive RUF approach on animal species for which a complete picture of individual-level habitat use and selection across space is otherwise lacking. PMID:27627805
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Habitat Use and Selection by Giant Pandas.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vanessa Hull
Full Text Available Animals make choices about where to spend their time in complex and dynamic landscapes, choices that reveal information about their biology that in turn can be used to guide their conservation. Using GPS collars, we conducted a novel individual-based analysis of habitat use and selection by the elusive and endangered giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca. We constructed spatial autoregressive resource utilization functions (RUF to model the relationship between the pandas' utilization distributions and various habitat characteristics over a continuous space across seasons. Results reveal several new insights, including use of a broader range of habitat characteristics than previously understood for the species, particularly steep slopes and non-forest areas. We also used compositional analysis to analyze habitat selection (use with respect to availability of habitat types at two selection levels. Pandas selected against low terrain position and against the highest clumped forest at the at-home range level, but no significant factors were identified at the within-home range level. Our results have implications for modeling and managing the habitat of this endangered species by illustrating how individual pandas relate to habitat and make choices that differ from assumptions made in broad scale models. Our study also highlights the value of using a spatial autoregressive RUF approach on animal species for which a complete picture of individual-level habitat use and selection across space is otherwise lacking.
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Seasonal habitat associations of the wolverine in central Idaho
Jeffrey P. Copeland; James M. Peek; Craig R. Groves; Wayne E. Melquist; Kevin S. Mckelvey; Gregory W. McDaniel; Clinton D. Long; Charles E. Harris
2007-01-01
Although understanding habitat relationships remains fundamental to guiding wildlife management, these basic prerequisites remain vague and largely unstudied for the wolverine. Currently, a study of wolverine ecology conducted in Montana, USA, in the 1970s is the sole source of information on habitat requirements of wolverines in the conterminous United States. The...
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Scribner, Kim T.; Lowe, Winsor H.; Landguth, Erin L.; Luikart, Gordon; Infante, Dana M.; Whelan, Gary; Muhlfeld, Clint C.
2015-01-01
Environmental variation and landscape features affect ecological processes in fluvial systems; however, assessing effects at management-relevant temporal and spatial scales is challenging. Genetic data can be used with landscape models and traditional ecological assessment data to identify biodiversity hotspots, predict ecosystem responses to anthropogenic effects, and detect impairments to underlying processes. We show that by combining taxonomic, demographic, and genetic data of species in complex riverscapes, managers can better understand the spatial and temporal scales over which environmental processes and disturbance influence biodiversity. We describe how population genetic models using empirical or simulated genetic data quantify effects of environmental processes affecting species diversity and distribution. Our summary shows that aquatic assessment initiatives that use standardized data sets to direct management actions can benefit from integration of genetic data to improve the predictability of disturbance–response relationships of river fishes and their habitats over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales.
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Cheminée, Adrien; Rider, Mary; Lenfant, Philippe; Zawadzki, Audrey; Mercière, Alexandre; Crec'hriou, Romain; Mercader, Manon; Saragoni, Gilles; Neveu, Reda; Ternon, Quentin; Pastor, Jérémy
2017-06-15
Coastal nursery habitats are essential for the renewal of adult fish populations. We quantified the availability of a coastal nursery habitat (shallow heterogeneous rocky bottoms) and the spatial variability of its juvenile fish populations along 250km of the Catalan coastline (France and Spain). Nurseries were present in 27% of the coastline, but only 2% of them benefited from strict protection status. For nine taxa characteristic of this habitat, total juvenile densities varied significantly between nursery sites along the coastline, with the highest densities being found on the northern sites. Recruitment level (i.e. a proxy of nursery value) was not explained by protection level, but it was moderately and positively correlated with an anthropization index. Patterns of spatial variations were taxa-specific. Exceptional observations of four juveniles of the protected grouper Epinephelus marginatus were recorded. Our data on habitat availability and recruitment levels provides important informations which help to focus MPA management efforts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Chinook salmon use of spawning patches: Relative roles of habitat quality, size, and connectivity
Isaak, D.J.; Thurow, R.F.; Rieman, B.E.; Dunham, J.B.
2007-01-01
Declines in many native fish populations have led to reassessments of management goals and shifted priorities from consumptive uses to species preservation. As management has shifted, relevant environmental characteristics have evolved from traditional metrics that described local habitat quality to characterizations of habitat size and connectivity. Despite the implications this shift has for how habitats may be prioritized for conservation, it has been rare to assess the relative importance of these habitat components. We used an information-theoretic approach to select the best models from sets of logistic regressions that linked habitat quality, size, and connectivity to the occurrence of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) nests. Spawning distributions were censused annually from 1995 to 2004, and data were complemented with field measurements that described habitat quality in 43 suitable spawning patches across a stream network that drained 1150 km 2 in central Idaho. Results indicated that the most plausible models were dominated by measures of habitat size and connectivity, whereas habitat quality was of minor importance. Connectivity was the strongest predictor of nest occurrence, but connectivity interacted with habitat size, which became relatively more important when populations were reduced. Comparison of observed nest distributions to null model predictions confirmed that the habitat size association was driven by a biological mechanism when populations were small, but this association may have been an area-related sampling artifact at higher abundances. The implications for habitat management are that the size and connectivity of existing habitat networks should be maintained whenever possible. In situations where habitat restoration is occurring, expansion of existing areas or creation of new habitats in key areas that increase connectivity may be beneficial. Information about habitat size and connectivity also could be used to strategically
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Duberstein, Corey A.
2011-04-01
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) provides the primary operational management of the Missouri River Main Stem Reservoir System. Management of the Missouri River has generally reduced peak river flows that form and maintain emergent sandbar habitat. Emergent sandbars provide non-vegetated nesting habitat for the endangered interior least tern (Sternula antillarum athalassos) and the threatened Northern Great Plains piping plover (Charadrius melodus). Since 2000, piping plover nesting habitat within the Gavins Point Reach, Garrison Reach, Lake Oahe, and Lake Sakakawea has fledged the majority of piping plovers produced along the Missouri River system. Habitats within Lewis and Clark Lake have also recently become important plover production areas. Mechanical construction of emergent sandbar habitat (ESH) within some of these reaches within the Missouri River began in 2004. Through 2009, 11 sandbar complexes had been constructed (10 in Gavins Point Reach, 1 in Lewis and Clarke Lake) totaling about 543 ac of piping plover and interior least tern nesting habitat. ESH Construction has resulted in a net gain of tern and plover nesting habitat. Both terns and plovers successfully nest and fledge young on constructed sandbars, and constructed habitats were preferred over natural habitats. Natural processes may limit the viability of constructed sandbars as nesting habitat. Continued research is needed to identify if changes in constructed sandbar engineering and management increase the length of time constructed habitats effectively function as nesting habitat. However, the transfer of information from researchers to planners through technical research reports may not be timely enough to effectively foster the feedback mechanisms of an adaptive management strategy.
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A Review of Bioeconomic Modelling of Habitat-Fisheries Interactions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Naomi S. Foley
2012-01-01
Full Text Available This paper reviews the bioeconomic literature on habitat-fisheries connections. Many such connections have been explored in the bioeconomic literature; however, missing from the literature is an analysis merging the potential influences of habitat on both fish stocks and fisheries into one general, overarching theoretical model. We attempt to clarify the nature of linkages between the function of habitats and the economic activities they support. More specifically, we identify theoretically the ways that habitat may enter the standard Gordon-Schaefer model, and nest these interactions in the general model. Habitat influences are defined as either biophysical or bioeconomic. Biophysical effects relate to the functional role of habitat in the growth of the fish stock and may be either essential or facultative to the species. Bioeconomic interactions relate to the effect of habitat on fisheries and can be shown through either the harvest function or the profit function. We review how habitat loss can affect stock, effort, and harvest under open access and maximum economic yield managed fisheries.
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Saproxylic Hemiptera Habitat Associations
Michael D. Ulyshen; James L. Hanula; Robert L. Blinn; Gene. Kritsky
2012-01-01
Understanding the habitat requirements of organisms associated with dead wood is important in order to conserve them in managed forests. Unfortunately, many of the less diverse saproxylic taxa, including Hemiptera, remain largely unstudied. An effort to rear insects from dead wood taken from two forest types (an upland pine-dominated and a bottomland mixed hardwood),...
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Kurt Schnier; Dan Holland
2005-01-01
Fisheries managers in the United States are required to identify and mitigate the adverse impacts of fishing activity on essential fish habitat (EFH). There are additional concerns that the viability of noncommercial species, animals that are habitat dependent and/or are themselves constituents of fishery habitat may still be threatened. We consider a cap-and-trade system for habitat conservation, individual habitat quotas for fisheries, to achieve habitat conservation and species protection ...
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Structure, function and management of semi-natural habitats for conservation biological control
Holland, John M.; Bianchi, Felix J.J.A.; Entling, Martin H.; Moonen, Anna Camilla; Smith, Barbara M.; Jeanneret, Philippe
2016-01-01
Different semi-natural habitats occur on farmland, and it is the vegetation's traits and structure that subsequently determine their ability to support natural enemies and their associated contribution to conservation biocontrol. New habitats can be created and existing ones improved with
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Davies, J. S.; Guillaumont, B.; Tempera, F.; Vertino, A.; Beuck, L.; Ólafsdóttir, S. H.; Smith, C. J.; Fosså, J. H.; van den Beld, I. M. J.; Savini, A.; Rengstorf, A.; Bayle, C.; Bourillet, J.-F.; Arnaud-Haond, S.; Grehan, A.
2017-11-01
Cold-water corals (CWC) can form complex structures which provide refuge, nursery grounds and physical support for a diversity of other living organisms. However, irrespectively from such ecological significance, CWCs are still vulnerable to human pressures such as fishing, pollution, ocean acidification and global warming Providing coherent and representative conservation of vulnerable marine ecosystems including CWCs is one of the aims of the Marine Protected Areas networks being implemented across European seas and oceans under the EC Habitats Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the OSPAR Convention. In order to adequately represent ecosystem diversity, these initiatives require a standardised habitat classification that organises the variety of biological assemblages and provides consistent and functional criteria to map them across European Seas. One such classification system, EUNIS, enables a broad level classification of the deep sea based on abiotic and geomorphological features. More detailed lower biotope-related levels are currently under-developed, particularly with regards to deep-water habitats (>200 m depth). This paper proposes a hierarchical CWC biotope classification scheme that could be incorporated by existing classification schemes such as EUNIS. The scheme was developed within the EU FP7 project CoralFISH to capture the variability of CWC habitats identified using a wealth of seafloor imagery datasets from across the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean. Depending on the resolution of the imagery being interpreted, this hierarchical scheme allows data to be recorded from broad CWC biotope categories down to detailed taxonomy-based levels, thereby providing a flexible yet valuable information level for management. The CWC biotope classification scheme identifies 81 biotopes and highlights the limitations of the classification framework and guidance provided by EUNIS, the EC Habitats Directive, OSPAR and FAO; which largely
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Assessing habitat connectivity for ground-dwelling animals in an urban environment.
Braaker, S; Moretti, M; Boesch, R; Ghazoul, J; Obrist, M K; Bontadina, F
maps can thus serve as an important tool for city planners to identify habitat corridors and plan appropriate management and conservation measures for urban animals. The analytical framework we describe to model such connectivity maps is generally applicable to different types of habitat-use data and can be adapted to the movement scale of the focal species. It also allows evaluation of the impact of future landscape changes or management scenarios on habitat connectivity in urban landscapes.
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Benthic food webs support the production of sympatric flatfish larvae in estuarine nursery habitat
Identifying nursery habitats is of paramount importance to define proper management and conservation strategies for flatfish species. Flatfish nursery studies usually report upon habitat occupation, but few attempted to quantify the importance of those habitats to larvae developm...
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2011-10-26
... Habitat Section 3 of the Act defines critical habitat as the specific areas within the geographical area... management considerations or protection, and specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by a... minimize impacts to critical habitat. Based on this reasoning, we also do not anticipate critical habitat...
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Sage-grouse habitat selection during winter in Alberta
Carpenter, Jennifer L.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Boyce, Mark S.
2010-01-01
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are dependent on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) for food and shelter during winter, yet few studies have assessed winter habitat selection, particularly at scales applicable to conservation planning. Small changes to availability of winter habitats have caused drastic reductions in some sage-grouse populations. We modeled winter habitat selection by sage-grouse in Alberta, Canada, by using a resource selection function. Our purpose was to 1) generate a robust winter habitat-selection model for Alberta sage-grouse; 2) spatially depict habitat suitability in a Geographic Information System to identify areas with a high probability of selection and thus, conservation importance; and 3) assess the relative influence of human development, including oil and gas wells, in landscape models of winter habitat selection. Terrain and vegetation characteristics, sagebrush cover, anthropogenic landscape features, and energy development were important in top Akaike's Information Criterionselected models. During winter, sage-grouse selected dense sagebrush cover and homogenous less rugged areas, and avoided energy development and 2-track truck trails. Sage-grouse avoidance of energy development highlights the need for comprehensive management strategies that maintain suitable habitats across all seasons. ?? 2010 The Wildlife Society.
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Maloney, Kelly O.; Lellis, William A.; Bennett, Randy M.; Waddle, Terry J.
2012-01-01
1. To manage the environmental flow requirements of sedentary taxa, such as mussels and aquatic insects with fixed retreats, we need a measure of habitat availability over a variety of flows (i.e. a measure of persistent habitat). Habitat suitability measures in current environmental flow assessments are measured on a ‘flow by flow’ basis and thus are not appropriate for these taxa. Here, we present a novel measure of persistent habitat suitability for the dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon), listed as federally endangered in the U.S.A., in three reaches of the Delaware River. 2. We used a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model to quantify suitable habitat over a range of flows based on modelled depth, velocity, Froude number, shear velocity and shear stress at three scales (individual mussel, mussel bed and reach). Baseline potentially persistent habitat was quantified as the sum of pixels that met all thresholds identified for these variables for flows ≥40 m3 s−1, and we calculated the loss of persistently suitable habitat by sequentially summing suitable habitat estimates at lower flows. We estimated the proportion of mussel beds exposed at each flow and the amount of change in the size of the mussel bed for one reach. 3. For two reaches, mussel beds occupied areas with lower velocity, shear velocity, shear stress and Froude number than the reach average at all flows. In the third reach, this was true only at higher flows. Together, these results indicate that beds were possible refuge areas from the effects of these hydrological parameters. Two reaches showed an increase in the amount of exposed mussel beds with decreasing flow. 4. Baseline potentially persistent habitat was less than half the areal extent of potentially suitable habitat, and it decreased with decreasing flow. Actually identified beds and modelled persistent habitat showed good spatial overlap, but identified beds occupied only a portion of the total modelled persistent
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Tacoma Creek South Project, Technical Report 2003-2005.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Entz, Ray
2005-02-01
On July 6, 2004, the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) was used to determine baseline habitat suitability on the Tacoma Creek South property, an acquisition completed by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in June 2004. Evaluation species and appropriate models include bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, mallard, muskrat, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values were visually estimated and agreed upon by all HEP team members. The Tacoma Creek South Project provides a total of 190.79 Habitat Units (HUs) for the species evaluated. Emergent wetlands provide 20.51 HUs for Canada goose, mallard, and muskrat. Grassland provides 1.65 HUs for Canada goose and mallard. Scrub-shrub vegetation provides 11.76 HUs for mallard, yellow warbler, and white-tailed deer. Conifer forest habitat provides 139.92 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, and white-tailed deer. Deciduous forest also provides 19.15 HUs for bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, mallard, and white-tailed deer. The objective of using HEP at the Tacoma Creek South Project and other protected properties is to document the quality and quantity of available habitat for selected wildlife species. In this way, HEP provides information on the relative value of the same area at future points in time so that the effect of management activities on wildlife habitat can be quantified. When combined with other tools, the baseline HEP will be used to determine the most effective on-site management, restoration, and enhancement actions to increase habitat suitability for targeted species. The same process will be replicated every five years to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in improving and maintaining habitat conditions while providing additional crediting to BPA for enhanced habitat values.
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Modern Spirometry Supports Anesthetic Management in Small Animal Clinical Practice: A Case Series.
Calice, Ivana; Moens, Yves
2016-01-01
Modern spirometry, like no other monitoring technique, allows insight into breath-to-breath respiratory mechanics. Spirometers continuously measure volume, airway pressure, and flow while calculating and continuously displaying respiratory system compliance and resistance in the form of loops. The aim of this case series is to show how observation of spirometric loops, similar to electrocardiogram or CO2 curve monitoring, can improve safety of anesthetic management in small animals. Spirometric monitoring cases described in this case series are based on use of the anaesthesia monitor Capnomac Ultima with a side stream spirometry sensor. The cases illustrate how recognition and understanding of spirometric loops allows for easy diagnosis of iatrogenic pneumothorax, incorrect ventilator settings, leaks in the system, kinked or partially obstructed endotracheal tube, and spontaneous breathing interfering with intermittent positive-pressure ventilation. The case series demonstrates the potential of spirometry to improve the quality and safety of anesthetic management, and, hence, its use can be recommended during intermittent positive-pressure ventilation and procedures in which interference with ventilation can be expected.
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Cienciala, P.; Nelson, A. D.
2017-12-01
The field of fluvial eco-geomorphology strives to improve the understanding of interactions between physical and biological processes in running waters. This body of research has greatly contributed to the advancement of integrated river science and management. Arguably, the most popular research themes in eco-geomorphology include hydrogemorphic controls of habitat quality and effects of disturbances such as floods, sediment transport events or sediment accumulation. However, in contrast to the related field of ecology, the distinction between direct and indirect mechanisms which may affect habitat quality and biotic response to disturbance has been poorly explored in eco-geomorphic research. This knowledge gap poses an important challenge for interpretations of field observations and model development. In this research, using the examples of benthic invertebrates and fish, we examine the importance of direct and indirect influences that geomorphic and hydraulic processes may exert on stream biota. We also investigate their implications for modeling of organism-habitat relationships. To achieve our goal, we integrate field and remote sensing data from montane streams in the Pacific Northwest region with habitat models. Preliminary results indicate that indirect hydrogeomorphic influences of stream organisms, such as those mediated by altered availability of food resources, can be as important as direct influences (e.g. physical disturbance). We suggest that these findings may also have important implications for modeling of riverine habitat.
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Pelagic habitat visualization: the need for a third (and fourth) dimension: HabitatSpace
Beegle-Krause, C; Vance, Tiffany; Reusser, Debbie; Stuebe, David; Howlett, Eoin
2009-01-01
Habitat in open water is not simply a 2-D to 2.5-D surface such as the ocean bottom or the air-water interface. Rather, pelagic habitat is a 3-D volume of water that can change over time, leading us to the term habitat space. Visualization and analysis in 2-D is well supported with GIS tools, but a new tool was needed for visualization and analysis in four dimensions. Observational data (cruise profiles (xo, yo, z, to)), numerical circulation model fields (x,y,z,t), and trajectories (larval fish, 4-D line) need to be merged together in a meaningful way for visualization and analysis. As a first step toward this new framework, UNIDATA’s Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) has been used to create a set of tools for habitat analysis in 4-D. IDV was designed for 3-D+time geospatial data in the meteorological community. NetCDF JavaTM libraries allow the tool to read many file formats including remotely located data (e.g. data available via OPeNDAP ). With this project, IDV has been adapted for use in delineating habitat space for multiple fish species in the ocean. The ability to define and visualize boundaries of a water mass, which meets specific biologically relevant criteria (e.g., volume, connectedness, and inter-annual variability) based on model results and observational data, will allow managers to investigate the survival of individual year classes of commercially important fisheries. Better understanding of the survival of these year classes will lead to improved forecasting of fisheries recruitment.
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2013 Graduate Management Education in Canada. GMAC® Data-to-Go Series
Graduate Management Admission Council, 2013
2013-01-01
This latest report in the GMAC® Data-to-Go Series provides an overview of trends in graduate management education in Canada and a brief look at jobs and employment trends for recent 2013 business school graduates in Canada. Key themes of internationalization, program portfolio, and student recruitment appear in data throughout. Data presented here…
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Meta-replication reveals nonstationarity in multi-scale habitat selection of Mexican Spotted Owl
Ho Yi Wan; Kevin McGarigal; Joseph L. Ganey; Valentin Lauret; Brad C. Timm; Samuel A. Cushman
2017-01-01
Anthropogenic environmental changes are leading to habitat loss and degradation, driving many species to extinction. In this context, habitat models become increasingly important for effective species management and conservation. However, most habitat studies lack replicated study areas and do not properly address the role of nonstationarity and spatial scales in...
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RFID-Based Asset Management for Space Habitats
Fink, Patrick W.
2013-01-01
Remote habitats are often densely packed - items necessary to sustain life - items necessary to conduct work center dot Inhabitant's time is often quite valuable, if not priceless. Resupply shipments can be infrequent and expensive. Inaccurate inventory knowledge can lead to unnecessary overstocking, which can lead to insufficient work and/or living volume. Not being able to find items when they are needed can present: - safety issues - morale issues. RFID technology has the potential solve a lot of these issues.
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Marine habitat mapping at Labuan Marine Park, Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia
Mustajap, Fazliana; Saleh, Ejria; Madin, John; Hamid, Shahimah Abdul
2015-06-01
Marine habitat mapping has recently become essential in coastal marine science research. It is one of the efforts to understand marine ecosystems, and thus to protect them. Habitat mapping is integral to marine-related industries such as fisheries, aquaculture, forestry and tourism. An assessment of marine habitat mapping was conducted at Labuan Marine Park (LMP), a marine protected area in the Federal Territory of Labuan. It is surrounded by shallow water within its islands (Kuraman, Rusukan Kecil and Rusukan Besar) with an area of 39.7 km2. The objectives of the study are to identify the substrate and types of marine habitat present within the park. Side scan sonar (SSS) (Aquascan TM) was used to determine the substrates and habitat while ground truthings were done through field observation and SCUBA diving survey. Seabed classification and marine habitat was based on NOAA's biogeography program. Three substrate types (sand, rock, silt) were identified in this area. The major marine habitats identified are corals, macro algae and small patches of sea grass. The study area is an important refuge for spawning and juvenile fish and supports the livelihood of the coastal communities on Labuan Island. Therefore, proper management is crucial in order to better maintain the marine protected area. The findings are significant and provide detailed baseline information on marine habitat for conservation, protection and future management in LMP.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
LaGory, K.E.; Chang, Young-Soo; Chun, K.C.; Reeves, T.; Liebich, R.; Smith, K.
2001-06-04
This report, conducted from May through July 2000, addressed the potential effect of compressor noise on breeding birds in gas-production areas administered by the FFO, specifically in the Rattlesnake Canyon Habitat Management Area northeast of Farmington, New Mexico. The study was designed to quantify and characterize noise output from these compressors and to determine if compressor noise affected bird populations in adjacent habitat during the breeding season.
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Sun, Dongye; Lin, Xinyou; Qin, Datong; Deng, Tao
2012-11-01
Energy management(EM) is a core technique of hybrid electric bus(HEB) in order to advance fuel economy performance optimization and is unique for the corresponding configuration. There are existing algorithms of control strategy seldom take battery power management into account with international combustion engine power management. In this paper, a type of power-balancing instantaneous optimization(PBIO) energy management control strategy is proposed for a novel series-parallel hybrid electric bus. According to the characteristic of the novel series-parallel architecture, the switching boundary condition between series and parallel mode as well as the control rules of the power-balancing strategy are developed. The equivalent fuel model of battery is implemented and combined with the fuel of engine to constitute the objective function which is to minimize the fuel consumption at each sampled time and to coordinate the power distribution in real-time between the engine and battery. To validate the proposed strategy effective and reasonable, a forward model is built based on Matlab/Simulink for the simulation and the dSPACE autobox is applied to act as a controller for hardware in-the-loop integrated with bench test. Both the results of simulation and hardware-in-the-loop demonstrate that the proposed strategy not only enable to sustain the battery SOC within its operational range and keep the engine operation point locating the peak efficiency region, but also the fuel economy of series-parallel hybrid electric bus(SPHEB) dramatically advanced up to 30.73% via comparing with the prototype bus and a similar improvement for PBIO strategy relative to rule-based strategy, the reduction of fuel consumption is up to 12.38%. The proposed research ensures the algorithm of PBIO is real-time applicability, improves the efficiency of SPHEB system, as well as suite to complicated configuration perfectly.
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Project Management Series Case Study: The Office of Registration and Records
Burgher, Karl E.; Snyder, Michael
2012-01-01
This is the third in a series of eight articles on project management (PM) in the academy. In this article, the authors describe the step-by-step implementation of a structural change to Indiana State University's (ISU's) Office of Registration and Records (ORR). The process described may vary as it is implemented elsewhere, but the authors…
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Developing user-friendly habitat suitability tools from regional stream fish survey data
Zorn, T.G.; Seelbach, P.; Wiley, M.J.
2011-01-01
We developed user-friendly fish habitat suitability tools (plots) for fishery managers in Michigan; these tools are based on driving habitat variables and fish population estimates for several hundred stream sites throughout the state. We generated contour plots to show patterns in fish biomass for over 60 common species (and for 120 species grouped at the family level) in relation to axes of catchment area and low-flow yield (90% exceedance flow divided by catchment area) and also in relation to axes of mean and weekly range of July temperatures. The plots showed distinct patterns in fish habitat suitability at each level of biological organization studied and were useful for quantitatively comparing river sites. We demonstrate how these plots can be used to support stream management, and we provide examples pertaining to resource assessment, trout stocking, angling regulations, chemical reclamation of marginal trout streams, indicator species, instream flow protection, and habitat restoration. These straightforward and effective tools are electronically available so that managers can easily access and incorporate them into decision protocols and presentations.
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Pacella, Stephen R; Brown, Cheryl A; Waldbusser, George G; Labiosa, Rochelle G; Hales, Burke
2018-04-10
The role of rising atmospheric CO 2 in modulating estuarine carbonate system dynamics remains poorly characterized, likely due to myriad processes driving the complex chemistry in these habitats. We reconstructed the full carbonate system of an estuarine seagrass habitat for a summer period of 2.5 months utilizing a combination of time-series observations and mechanistic modeling, and quantified the roles of aerobic metabolism, mixing, and gas exchange in the observed dynamics. The anthropogenic CO 2 burden in the habitat was estimated for the years 1765-2100 to quantify changes in observed high-frequency carbonate chemistry dynamics. The addition of anthropogenic CO 2 alters the thermodynamic buffer factors (e.g., the Revelle factor) of the carbonate system, decreasing the seagrass habitat's ability to buffer natural carbonate system fluctuations. As a result, the most harmful carbonate system indices for many estuarine organisms [minimum pH T , minimum Ω arag , and maximum pCO 2(s.w.) ] change up to 1.8×, 2.3×, and 1.5× more rapidly than the medians for each parameter, respectively. In this system, the relative benefits of the seagrass habitat in locally mitigating ocean acidification increase with the higher atmospheric CO 2 levels predicted toward 2100. Presently, however, these mitigating effects are mixed due to intense diel cycling of CO 2 driven by aerobic metabolism. This study provides estimates of how high-frequency pH T , Ω arag , and pCO 2(s.w.) dynamics are altered by rising atmospheric CO 2 in an estuarine habitat, and highlights nonlinear responses of coastal carbonate parameters to ocean acidification relevant for water quality management.
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On Safari: Animals and Their Habitats. Grades 2/3. Tapestries for Learning Series.
McDonald, Heather
This thematic unit involves 2nd and 3rd grade students in an in-depth study of wild animals and their habitats. The interdisciplinary unit connects knowledge related to art, language arts, applied mathematics, social studies, and science. Students think about different types of animals from around the world and consider how they are alike and…
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Gendaszek, Andrew S.; Burton, Karl D.; Magirl, Christopher S.; Konrad, Christopher P.
2017-01-01
In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, salmon eggs incubating within streambed gravels are susceptible to scour during floods. The threat to egg-to-fry survival by streambed scour is mitigated, in part, by the adaptation of salmon to bury their eggs below the typical depth of scour. In regulated rivers globally, we suggest that water managers consider the effect of dam operations on scour and its impacts on species dependent on benthic habitats.We instrumented salmon-spawning habitat with accelerometer scour monitors (ASMs) at 73 locations in 11 reaches of the Cedar River in western Washington State of the United States from Autumn 2013 through the Spring of 2014. The timing of scour was related to the discharge measured at a nearby gage and compared to previously published ASM data at 26 locations in two reaches of the Cedar River collected between Autumn 2010 and Spring 2011.Thirteen percent of the recovered ASMs recorded scour during a peak-discharge event in March 2014 (2-to 3-year recurrence interval) compared to 71% of the recovered ASMs during a higher peak-discharge event in January 2011 (10-year recurrence interval). Of the 23 locations where ASMs recorded scour during the 2011 and 2014 deployments, 35% had scour when the discharge was ≤87.3 m3/s (3,082 ft3/s) (2-year recurrence interval discharge) with 13% recording scour at or below the 62.3 m3/s (2,200 ft3/s) operational threshold for peak-discharge management during the incubation of salmon eggs.Scour to the depth of salmon egg pockets was limited during peak discharges with frequent (1.25-year or less) recurrence intervals, which managers can regulate through dam operations on the Cedar River. Pairing novel measurements of the timing of streambed scour with discharge data allows the development of peak-discharge management strategies that protect salmon eggs incubating within streambed gravels during floods.
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Habitat suitability and nest survival of white-headed woodpeckers in unburned forests of Oregon
Hollenbeck, Jeff P.; Saab, Victoria A.; Frenzel, Richard W.
2011-01-01
We evaluated habitat suitability and nest survival of breeding white-headed woodpeckers (Picoides albolarvatus) in unburned forests of central Oregon, USA. Daily nest-survival rate was positively related to maximum daily temperature during the nest interval and to density of large-diameter trees surrounding the nest tree. We developed a niche-based habitat suitability model (partitioned Mahalanobis distance) for nesting white-headed woodpeckers using remotely sensed data. Along with low elevation, high density of large trees, and low slope, our habitat suitability model suggested that interspersion–juxtaposition of low- and high-canopy cover ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) patches was important for nest-site suitability. Cross-validation suggested the model performed adequately for management planning at a scale >1 ha. Evaluation of mapped habitat suitability index (HSI) suggested that the maximum predictive gain (HSI = 0.36), where the number of nest locations are maximized in the smallest proportion of the modeled landscape, provided an objective initial threshold for identification of suitable habitat. However, managers can choose the threshold HSI most appropriate for their purposes (e.g., locating regions of low–moderate suitability that have potential for habitat restoration). Consequently, our habitat suitability model may be useful for managing dry coniferous forests for white-headed woodpeckers in central Oregon; however, model validation is necessary before our model could be applied to other locations.
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The radioactive waste management videoconference training series for an international audience
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Callan, C.; Hylko, J.M.
1996-01-01
A proven cost-effective method for delivering new educational opportunities to employees in different locations simultaneously is by using the live videoconference format. Also, the videotapes produced from this format allows employees to participate who are not routinely available for traditional classroom training. However, the primary challenge is to design a distance learning series that meets the requirements of a diverse audience. The National Environmental Technology Network (NETN), a program associated with the College of Engineering at the University of New Mexico, has a proven track record in developing and producing effective videoconference and distance learning programs for industry, government, national laboratories, and universities. Specifically, The Radioactive Waste Management Videoconference Training Series is comprised of eight individual programs: (1) Introduction to Radioactive Waste Management, (2) Interactions Between Radiation and Matter; (3) Decommissioning and Decontamination; (4) Transportation; (5) Low-Level Radioactive Waste; (6) High-Level Radioactive Waste; (7) Transuranic Waste; and (8) New and Other Technologies for Radioactive Waste Management. Each program consists of a tiered approach featuring an introduction, case studies, legal and regulatory issues, radioactive waste characteristics, disposal Options, and transfer of technology. The participants receive a packet containing a full outline of the course, including charts and illustrations used by the presenters. At the conclusion of each program, the interactive question/answer period allows viewers to ask pertinent questions and to participate as a group
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Scale-dependent seasonal pool habitat use by sympatric Wild Brook Trout and Brown Trout populations
Davis, Lori A.; Wagner, Tyler
2016-01-01
Sympatric populations of native Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis and naturalized Brown Trout Salmo truttaexist throughout the eastern USA. An understanding of habitat use by sympatric populations is of importance for fisheries management agencies because of the close association between habitat and population dynamics. Moreover, habitat use by stream-dwelling salmonids may be further complicated by several factors, including the potential for fish to display scale-dependent habitat use. Discrete-choice models were used to (1) evaluate fall and early winter daytime habitat use by sympatric Brook Trout and Brown Trout populations based on available residual pool habitat within a stream network and (2) assess the sensitivity of inferred habitat use to changes in the spatial scale of the assumed available habitat. Trout exhibited an overall preference for pool habitats over nonpool habitats; however, the use of pools was nonlinear over time. Brook Trout displayed a greater preference for deep residual pool habitats than for shallow pool and nonpool habitats, whereas Brown Trout selected for all pool habitat categories similarly. Habitat use by both species was found to be scale dependent. At the smallest spatial scale (50 m), habitat use was primarily related to the time of year and fish weight. However, at larger spatial scales (250 and 450 m), habitat use varied over time according to the study stream in which a fish was located. Scale-dependent relationships in seasonal habitat use by Brook Trout and Brown Trout highlight the importance of considering scale when attempting to make inferences about habitat use; fisheries managers may want to consider identifying the appropriate spatial scale when devising actions to restore and protect Brook Trout populations and their habitats.
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Anantha M. Prasad; Louis R. Iverson; Stephen N. Matthews; Matthew P. Peters
2016-01-01
Context. No single model can capture the complex species range dynamics under changing climates--hence the need for a combination approach that addresses management concerns. Objective. A multistage approach is illustrated to manage forested landscapes under climate change. We combine a tree species habitat model--DISTRIB II, a species colonization model--SHIFT, and...
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Using catenas for GIS-based mapping of NW Mediterranean littoral habitats
Mariani, Simone; Cefalì, Maria Elena; Terradas, Marc; Chappuis, Eglantine; Ballesteros, Enric
2014-06-01
Studies aimed at describing habitats and mapping their distributions are pivotal to implementing management plans and to effectively guide conservation measures. We developed a novel approach of data collection and entry (CAT-LIT) to establish a detailed cartography of the littoral habitats found along the Catalan coast (Spain). Field data were recorded using coded, two-digit hierarchical lists (e.g. Aa, Ab, etc.) of horizons found at each point along the coast, called catenas. The horizons were either dominated by species (on the rocky bottoms) or sediment types (on the beaches) and corresponded to LPRE, EUNIS and CORINE habitats. Catenas were transferred into a database and calculations about the extent of bottom types, habitats, and catenas themselves along the coast were carried out with GIS tools. In addition, habitat link richness was calculated and represented using network analysis programs. The application of CAT-LIT to the Catalan coast showed that the habitats dominated by the lichen Verrucaria amphibia and the flattened barnacle Euraphia depressa and those dominated by the barnacle Chthamalus spp. were almost ubiquitous. Those dominated by the red alga Corallina elongata, the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the red alga Rissoella verruculosa were also common. Because of the frequency of their connections, those habitats formed a huge hub of links in the networks. By using catenas, the habitats can be viewed using GIS based programs keeping the catena as the main informational and ecological unit. The catenas allow maximum compactness when vertically distributed habitats are to be shown on a 2D map. The complete cartography and dataset on the spatial distribution of the littoral habitats from Catalonia is valuable for coastal management and conservation to study changes in the habitat distribution and relate such changes to anthropogenic pressures. Furthermore, the CAT-LIT can be easily adapted to shores of other seas and oceans to obtain accurate
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Habitat features and predictive habitat modeling for the Colorado chipmunk in southern New Mexico
Rivieccio, M.; Thompson, B.C.; Gould, W.R.; Boykin, K.G.
2003-01-01
Two subspecies of Colorado chipmunk (state threatened and federal species of concern) occur in southern New Mexico: Tamias quadrivittatus australis in the Organ Mountains and T. q. oscuraensis in the Oscura Mountains. We developed a GIS model of potentially suitable habitat based on vegetation and elevation features, evaluated site classifications of the GIS model, and determined vegetation and terrain features associated with chipmunk occurrence. We compared GIS model classifications with actual vegetation and elevation features measured at 37 sites. At 60 sites we measured 18 habitat variables regarding slope, aspect, tree species, shrub species, and ground cover. We used logistic regression to analyze habitat variables associated with chipmunk presence/absence. All (100%) 37 sample sites (28 predicted suitable, 9 predicted unsuitable) were classified correctly by the GIS model regarding elevation and vegetation. For 28 sites predicted suitable by the GIS model, 18 sites (64%) appeared visually suitable based on habitat variables selected from logistic regression analyses, of which 10 sites (36%) were specifically predicted as suitable habitat via logistic regression. We detected chipmunks at 70% of sites deemed suitable via the logistic regression models. Shrub cover, tree density, plant proximity, presence of logs, and presence of rock outcrop were retained in the logistic model for the Oscura Mountains; litter, shrub cover, and grass cover were retained in the logistic model for the Organ Mountains. Evaluation of predictive models illustrates the need for multi-stage analyses to best judge performance. Microhabitat analyses indicate prospective needs for different management strategies between the subspecies. Sensitivities of each population of the Colorado chipmunk to natural and prescribed fire suggest that partial burnings of areas inhabited by Colorado chipmunks in southern New Mexico may be beneficial. These partial burnings may later help avoid a fire
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program radionuclide report series. Volume 2, Niobium-94
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Adams, J.P.; Carboneau, M.L.
1995-04-01
The Purpose of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series is to provide information to, state representatives and developers of low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities about the radiological chemical, and physical characteristics of selected radionuclides and their behavior in the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility environment. Extensive surveys of available literature provided information used to produce this series of reports and an introductory report. This report is Volume 11 of the series. It outlines the basic radiological, chemical, and physical characteristics of niobium-94, waste types and forms that contain it, and its behavior in environmental media such as soils, plants, groundwater, air, animals and the human body
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75 FR 51240 - Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings
2010-08-19
... 5. Salmon Essential Fish Habitat Review D. Pacific Halibut Management 1. 2010 Pacific Halibut... Management 1. Ecosystem Fishery Management Plan I. Groundfish Management 1. Groundfish Essential Fish Habitat... the Groundfish Fisheries E. Habitat 1. Current Habitat Issues 2. National Marine Fisheries Service...
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Campbell, Stuart J.
2012-10-01
Abstract One of the major goals of coral reef conservation is to determine the most effective means of managing marine resources in regions where economic conditions often limit the options available. For example, no-take fishing areas can be impractical in regions where people rely heavily on reef fish for food. In this study we test whether coral reef health differed among areas with varying management practices and socio-economic conditions on Pulau Weh in the Indonesian province of Aceh. Our results show that gear restrictions, in particular prohibiting the use of nets, were successful in minimizing habitat degradation and maintaining fish biomass despite ongoing access to the fishery. Reef fish biomass and hard-coral cover were two- to eight-fold higher at sites where fishing nets were prohibited. The guiding principle of the local customary management system, Panglima Laot, is to reduce conflict among community members over access to marine resources. Consequently, conservation benefits in Aceh have arisen from a customary system that lacks a specific environmental ethic or the means for strong resource-based management. Panglima Laot includes many of the features of successful institutions, such as clearly defined membership rights and the opportunity for resource users to be involved in making, enforcing and changing the rules. Such mechanisms to reduce conflict are the key to the success of marine resource management, particularly in settings that lack resources for enforcement. © 2012 Fauna & Flora International.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rahmat Kurnia
2014-04-01
Full Text Available There are several option management measures in preventing sustainability stock of the blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus, i.e., nursery ground conservation. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyses habitat characteristic and its population biology in the PGN marine embayment of Labuhan Maringgai, as one among crab habitat essential in East Lampung coastal water. The potential nursery ground conservation was assessed by habitat suitability index, carrying capacity, distribution and abundance as well as crabs size. The result shows that environmental condition was still suitable, even though the habitat carrying capacity tend to degraded by an increasing of turbidity and sedimentation at the embayment mouth. The crabs captured were also not representing of peak abundance season and recruitment during sampling period, while those crab size almost 100% under Lm50. The strategic management directive is required to control in utilization of crab’s essential habitat, including crab fishing by any fishing gear resulted undersize captured crabs. Meanwhile, to propose habitat essential conservation might need more consideration and comprehensive study, including social economic and cultural aspects and co-management approach may be required in management measure applied.
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Nutritional management of Eosinophilic Gastroenteropathies: Case series from the community
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Basilious Alfred
2011-05-01
Full Text Available Abstract Eosinophilic gastroenteropathies, such as eosinophilic esophagitis and eosinophilic colitis, have classically been treated with swallowed inhaled corticosteroids or oral corticosteroids. More recent studies have found elimination and elemental diets to be effective treatment alternatives to steroids. In this case series we describe the treatment of three children using nutritional management in a community setting. Elimination diets and elemental diets based on patch testing and skin prick tests reduced the eosinophil counts to normal levels in all three children. Food items which tested positive were then reintroduced while symptoms and eosinophil counts were monitored. Nutritional management of eosinophilic esophagitis and eosinophilic colitis was found to be effective in reducing symptoms. However, obstacles facing patients who choose this type of therapy include limitations due to the cost of repeated endoscopies, palatability of elimination/elemental diets and the availability of subspecialists trained in management (e.g. Allergy, Gastroenterology, and Pathology. It may be a worthwhile endeavour to overcome these obstacles as nutritional management minimizes the potential long-term effects of chronic steroid therapy.
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2010-10-01
..., road maintenance, utilities construction, water system management, and prairie habitat management... ``take'' is defined under the ESA to mean to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap... significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly...
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Demographic Characteristics of a Maine Woodcock Population and Effects of Habitat Management
Dwyer, T.J.; Sepik, G.F.; Derleth, E.L.; McAuley, D.G.
1988-01-01
immigration seemed to fit best. Only the number of males in the population changed significantly during the study. An increase from 88 males in 1976 to 156 in 1980 was attributed to habitat management. Singingmale surveys on our area detected little change in the number of singing males, but our independent population estimates from mark-recapture data showed a larger total male population by 1980. Annual density estimates for all age and sex classes ranged from 19 to 25 birds/l00 ha. A hypothesis on the breeding system of the American woodcock is presented as well as a discussion of management implications, including the importance of creating high-quality habitat on private lands.
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Aldridge, Cameron L.; Boyce, Mark S.
2007-01-01
Detailed empirical models predicting both species occurrence and fitness across a landscape are necessary to understand processes related to population persistence. Failure to consider both occurrence and fitness may result in incorrect assessments of habitat importance leading to inappropriate management strategies. We took a two-stage approach to identifying critical nesting and brood-rearing habitat for the endangered Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Alberta at a landscape scale. First, we used logistic regression to develop spatial models predicting the relative probability of use (occurrence) for Sage-Grouse nests and broods. Secondly, we used Cox proportional hazards survival models to identify the most risky habitats across the landscape. We combined these two approaches to identify Sage-Grouse habitats that pose minimal risk of failure (source habitats) and attractive sink habitats that pose increased risk (ecological traps). Our models showed that Sage-Grouse select for heterogeneous patches of moderate sagebrush cover (quadratic relationship) and avoid anthropogenic edge habitat for nesting. Nests were more successful in heterogeneous habitats, but nest success was independent of anthropogenic features. Similarly, broods selected heterogeneous high-productivity habitats with sagebrush while avoiding human developments, cultivated cropland, and high densities of oil wells. Chick mortalities tended to occur in proximity to oil and gas developments and along riparian habitats. For nests and broods, respectively, approximately 10% and 5% of the study area was considered source habitat, whereas 19% and 15% of habitat was attractive sink habitat. Limited source habitats appear to be the main reason for poor nest success (39%) and low chick survival (12%). Our habitat models identify areas of protection priority and areas that require immediate management attention to enhance recruitment to secure the viability of this population. This novel
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Fire ecology of Montana forest habitat types east of the Continental Divide
William C. Fischer; Bruce D. Clayton
1983-01-01
Provides information on fire as an ecological factor for forest habitat types occurring east of the Continental Divide in Montana. Identifies "Fire Groups" of habitat types based on fire's role in forest succession. Describes forest fuels and suggests considerations for fire management.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
C. M. Wood
2018-05-01
in a series of contract reports and are summarised in the present paper, showing for example that valuable habitats were restricted in all landscapes, with the majority located within protected areas of countryside according to different UK designations. The dataset provides major potential for analyses, beyond those already published, for example in relation to climate change, agri-environment policies and land management. Precise locations of the plots are restricted, largely for reasons of landowner confidentiality. However, the representative nature of the dataset makes it highly valuable for evaluating the status of ecological elements within the associated landscapes surveyed. Both land cover data and vegetation plot data were collected during the surveys in 1992 and 1993 and are available via the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.5285/7aefe6aa-0760-4b6d-9473-fad8b960abd4. The spatial masks are also available from https://doi.org/10.5285/dc583be3-3649-4df6-b67e-b0f40b4ec895.
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Kowalski, K.P.; Wilcox, D.A.; Wiley, M.J.
2009-01-01
Coastal wetland seed banks exposed by low lake levels or through management actions fuel the reestablishment of emergent plant assemblages (i.e., wetland habitat) critical to Great Lakes aquatic biota. This project explored the effectiveness of using portable, water-filled cofferdams as a management tool to promote the natural growth of emergent vegetation from the seed bank in a Lake Erie coastal wetland. A series of dams stretching approximately 450??m was installed temporarily to isolate hydrologically a 10-ha corner of the Crane Creek wetland complex from Lake Erie. The test area was dewatered in 2004 to mimic a low-water year, and vegetation sampling characterized the wetland seed bank response at low, middle, and high elevations in areas open to and protected from bird and mammal herbivory. The nearly two-month drawdown stimulated a rapid seed-bank-driven response by 45 plant taxa. Herbivory had little effect on plant species richness, regardless of the location along an elevation gradient. Inundation contributed to the replacement of immature emergent plant species with submersed aquatic species after the dams failed and were removed prematurely. This study revealed a number of important issues that must be considered for effective long-term implementation of portable cofferdam technology to stimulate wetland seed banks, including duration of dewatering, product size, source of clean water, replacement of damaged dams, and regular maintenance. This technology is a potentially important tool in the arsenal used by resource managers seeking to rehabilitate the functions and values of Great Lakes coastal wetland habitats.
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Biological conservation of aquatic inland habitats: these are better days
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ian J. Winfield
2013-08-01
Full Text Available The biodiversity of aquatic inland habitats currently faces unprecedented threats from human activities. At the same time, although much is known about the functioning of freshwater ecosystems the successful transfer of such knowledge to practical conservation has not been universal. Global awareness of aquatic conservation issues is also hampered by the fact that conditions under the water surface are largely hidden from the direct experience of most members of society. Connectivity, or lack of it, is another challenge to the conservation of freshwater habitats, while urban areas can play a perhaps unexpectedly important positive role. Freshwater habitats frequently enjoy benefits accruing from a sense of ownership or stewardship by local inhabitants, which has led to the development of conservation movements which commonly started life centred on the aquatic inland habitat itself but of which many have now matured into wider catchment-based conservation programmes. A demonstrable need for evidence-based conservation management in turn requires scientific assessments to be increasingly robust and standardised, while at the same time remaining open to the adoption of technological advances and welcoming the rapidly developing citizen science movement. There is evidence of real progress in this context and conservation scientists are now communicating their findings to environmental managers in a way and on a scale that was rarely seen a couple of decades ago. It is only in this way that scientific knowledge can be efficiently transferred to conservation planning, prioritisation and ultimately management in an increasingly scaled-up, joined-up and resource-limited world. The principle of ‘prevention is better than cure’ is particularly appropriate to most biological conservation issues in aquatic inland habitats and is inextricably linked to educating and/or nudging appropriate human behaviours. When prevention fails, some form of emergency
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Stratification of habitats for identifying habitat selection by Merriam's turkeys
Mark A. Rumble; Stanley H. Anderson
1992-01-01
Habitat selection patterns of Merriamâs Turkeys were compared in hierarchical analyses of three levels of habitat stratification. Habitat descriptions in first-level analyses were based on dominant species of vegetation. Habitat descriptions in second-level analyses were based on dominant species of vegetation and overstory canopy cover. Habitat descriptions in third-...
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Establishment of blue mussel beds to enhance fish habitats
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Kristensen, Louise Dahl; Stenberg, Claus; Støttrup, Josianne
2015-01-01
Human activity has impacted many coastal fjords causing degeneration of the structure and function of the fish habitats. In Nørrefjord, Denmark, local fishermen complained of declining fish catches which could be attributed to eutrophication and extraction of sediments over several decades. This ...... directly on hemp sacs hanging on long-lines was the most effective method. This new method is potentially a useful management tool to improve fish habitats...
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Data management by using R: big data clinical research series.
Zhang, Zhongheng
2015-11-01
Electronic medical record (EMR) system has been widely used in clinical practice. Instead of traditional record system by hand writing and recording, the EMR makes big data clinical research feasible. The most important feature of big data research is its real-world setting. Furthermore, big data research can provide all aspects of information related to healthcare. However, big data research requires some skills on data management, which however, is always lacking in the curriculum of medical education. This greatly hinders doctors from testing their clinical hypothesis by using EMR. To make ends meet, a series of articles introducing data management techniques are put forward to guide clinicians to big data clinical research. The present educational article firstly introduces some basic knowledge on R language, followed by some data management skills on creating new variables, recoding variables and renaming variables. These are very basic skills and may be used in every project of big data research.
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Enhancing and restoring habitat for the desert tortoise
Abella, Scott R.; Berry, Kristin H.
2016-01-01
Habitat has changed unfavorably during the past 150 y for the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii, a federally threatened species with declining populations in the Mojave Desert and western Sonoran Desert. To support recovery efforts, we synthesized published information on relationships of desert tortoises with three habitat features (cover sites, forage, and soil) and candidate management practices for improving these features for tortoises. In addition to their role in soil health and facilitating recruitment of annual forage plants, shrubs are used by desert tortoises for cover and as sites for burrows. Outplanting greenhouse-grown seedlings, protected from herbivory, has successfully restored (>50% survival) a variety of shrubs on disturbed desert soils. Additionally, salvaging and reapplying topsoil using effective techniques is among the more ecologically beneficial ways to initiate plant recovery after severe disturbance. Through differences in biochemical composition and digestibility, some plant species provide better-quality forage than others. Desert tortoises selectively forage on particular annual and herbaceous perennial species (e.g., legumes), and forage selection shifts during the year as different plants grow or mature. Nonnative grasses provide low-quality forage and contribute fuel to spreading wildfires, which damage or kill shrubs that tortoises use for cover. Maintaining a diverse “menu” of native annual forbs and decreasing nonnative grasses are priorities for restoring most desert tortoise habitats. Reducing herbivory by nonnative animals, carefully timing herbicide applications, and strategically augmenting annual forage plants via seeding show promise for improving tortoise forage quality. Roads, another disturbance, negatively affect habitat in numerous ways (e.g., compacting soil, altering hydrology). Techniques such as recontouring road berms to reestablish drainage patterns, vertical mulching (“planting” dead plant material
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Essential coastal habitats for fish in the Baltic Sea
Kraufvelin, Patrik; Pekcan-Hekim, Zeynep; Bergström, Ulf; Florin, Ann-Britt; Lehikoinen, Annukka; Mattila, Johanna; Arula, Timo; Briekmane, Laura; Brown, Elliot John; Celmer, Zuzanna; Dainys, Justas; Jokinen, Henri; Kääriä, Petra; Kallasvuo, Meri; Lappalainen, Antti; Lozys, Linas; Möller, Peter; Orio, Alessandro; Rohtla, Mehis; Saks, Lauri; Snickars, Martin; Støttrup, Josianne; Sundblad, Göran; Taal, Imre; Ustups, Didzis; Verliin, Aare; Vetemaa, Markus; Winkler, Helmut; Wozniczka, Adam; Olsson, Jens
2018-05-01
Many coastal and offshore fish species are highly dependent on specific habitat types for population maintenance. In the Baltic Sea, shallow productive habitats in the coastal zone such as wetlands, vegetated flads/lagoons and sheltered bays as well as more exposed rocky and sandy areas are utilized by fish across many life history stages including spawning, juvenile development, feeding and migration. Although there is general consensus about the critical importance of these essential fish habitats (EFH) for fish production along the coast, direct quantitative evidence for their specific roles in population growth and maintenance is still scarce. Nevertheless, for some coastal species, indirect evidence exists, and in many cases, sufficient data are also available to carry out further quantitative analyses. As coastal EFH in the Baltic Sea are often found in areas that are highly utilized and valued by humans, they are subjected to many different pressures. While cumulative pressures, such as eutrophication, coastal construction and development, climate change, invasive species and fisheries, impact fish in coastal areas, the conservation coverage for EFH in these areas remains poor. This is mainly due to the fact that historically, fisheries management and nature conservation are not integrated neither in research nor in management in Baltic Sea countries. Setting joint objectives for fisheries management and nature conservation would hence be pivotal for improved protection of EFH in the Baltic Sea. To properly inform management, improvements in the development of monitoring strategies and mapping methodology for EFH are also needed. Stronger international cooperation between Baltic Sea states will facilitate improved management outcomes across ecologically arbitrary boundaries. This is especially important for successful implementation of international agreements and legislative directives such as the Baltic Sea Action Plan, the Marine Strategy Framework
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mike M Webster
Full Text Available Habitat-specific morphological variation, often corresponding to resource specialization, is well documented in freshwater fishes. In this study we used landmark based morphometric analyses to investigate morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L. from four interconnected habitat types within a single lowland drainage basin in eastern England. These included the upper and lower reaches of the river, the estuary, a connected ditch network and a coastal salt marsh. We found significant habitat-specific differences in morphology, with three axes of variation describing differences in orbit diameter, body depth, caudal peduncle shape and pectoral fin positioning as well as variation in relative dorsal and pelvic spine size. Interestingly, the ditch system, an artificial and heavily managed habitat, is populated by sticklebacks with a characteristic morphology, suggesting that human management of habitats can in some circumstances lead to morphological variation among the animals that inhabit them. We discuss the mechanisms that conceivably underlie the observed morphological variation and the further work necessary to identify them. Finally, we consider the implications of habitat-specific body shape variation for the behavioural ecology of this ecologically generalist species.
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Webster, Mike M.; Atton, Nicola; Hart, Paul J. B.; Ward, Ashley J. W.
2011-01-01
Habitat-specific morphological variation, often corresponding to resource specialization, is well documented in freshwater fishes. In this study we used landmark based morphometric analyses to investigate morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) from four interconnected habitat types within a single lowland drainage basin in eastern England. These included the upper and lower reaches of the river, the estuary, a connected ditch network and a coastal salt marsh. We found significant habitat-specific differences in morphology, with three axes of variation describing differences in orbit diameter, body depth, caudal peduncle shape and pectoral fin positioning as well as variation in relative dorsal and pelvic spine size. Interestingly, the ditch system, an artificial and heavily managed habitat, is populated by sticklebacks with a characteristic morphology, suggesting that human management of habitats can in some circumstances lead to morphological variation among the animals that inhabit them. We discuss the mechanisms that conceivably underlie the observed morphological variation and the further work necessary to identify them. Finally, we consider the implications of habitat-specific body shape variation for the behavioural ecology of this ecologically generalist species. PMID:21698269
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Habitat risk assessment for regional ocean planning in the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Wyatt, Katherine H; Griffin, Robert; Guerry, Anne D; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Fogarty, Michael; Arkema, Katie K
2017-01-01
Coastal habitats provide important benefits to people, including habitat for species targeted by fisheries and opportunities for tourism and recreation. Yet, such human activities also can imperil these habitats and undermine the ecosystem services they provide to people. Cumulative risk assessment provides an analytical framework for synthesizing the influence of multiple stressors across habitats and decision-support for balancing human uses and ecosystem health. To explore cumulative risk to habitats in the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Planning regions, we apply the open-source InVEST Habitat Risk Assessment model to 13 habitats and 31 stressors in an exposure-consequence framework. In doing so, we advance the science priorities of EBM and both regional planning bodies by synthesizing the wealth of available data to improve our understanding of human uses and how they affect marine resources. We find that risk to ecosystems is greatest first, along the coast, where a large number of stressors occur in close proximity and secondly, along the continental shelf, where fewer, higher consequence activities occur. Habitats at greatest risk include soft and hard-bottom nearshore areas, tidal flats, soft-bottom shelf habitat, and rocky intertidal zones-with the degree of risk varying spatially. Across all habitats, our results indicate that rising sea surface temperatures, commercial fishing, and shipping consistently and disproportionally contribute to risk. Further, our findings suggest that management in the nearshore will require simultaneously addressing the temporal and spatial overlap as well as intensity of multiple human activities and that management in the offshore requires more targeted efforts to reduce exposure from specific threats. We offer a transparent, generalizable approach to evaluating cumulative risk to multiple habitats and illustrate the spatially heterogeneous nature of impacts along the eastern Atlantic coast and the importance of
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Lawrence, David J.; Olden, Julian D.; Torgersen, Christian E.
2012-01-01
1. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) have been widely introduced to fresh waters throughout the world to promote recreational fishing opportunities. In the Pacific Northwest (U.S.A.), upstream range expansions of predatory bass, especially into subyearling salmon-rearing grounds, are of increasing conservation concern, yet have received little scientific inquiry. Understanding the habitat characteristics that influence bass distribution and the timing and extent of bass and salmon overlap will facilitate the development of management strategies that mitigate potential ecological impacts of bass.2. We employed a spatially continuous sampling design to determine the extent of bass and subyearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) sympatry in the North Fork John Day River (NFJDR), a free-flowing river system in the Columbia River Basin that contains an upstream expanding population of non-native bass. Extensive (i.e. 53 km) surveys were conducted over 2 years and during an early and late summer period of each year, because these seasons provide a strong contrast in the river’s water temperature and flow condition. Classification and regression trees were applied to determine the primary habitat correlates of bass abundance at reach and channel-unit scales.3. Our study revealed that bass seasonally occupy up to 22% of the length of the mainstem NFJDR where subyearling Chinook salmon occur, and the primary period of sympatry between these species was in the early summer and not during peak water temperatures in late summer. Where these species co-occurred, bass occupied 60–76% of channel units used by subyearling Chinook salmon in the early summer and 28–46% of the channel units they occupied in the late summer. Because these rearing salmon were well below the gape limitation of bass, this overlap could result in either direct predation or sublethal effects of bass on subyearling Chinook salmon. The upstream extent of bass increased 10–23
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Lowland tapir distribution and habitat loss in South America
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jose Luis Passos Cordeiro
2016-09-01
Full Text Available The development of species distribution models (SDMs can help conservation efforts by generating potential distributions and identifying areas of high environmental suitability for protection. Our study presents a distribution and habitat map for lowland tapir in South America. We also describe the potential habitat suitability of various geographical regions and habitat loss, inside and outside of protected areas network. Two different SDM approaches, MAXENT and ENFA, produced relative different Habitat Suitability Maps for the lowland tapir. While MAXENT was efficient at identifying areas as suitable or unsuitable, it was less efficient (when compared to the results by ENFA at identifying the gradient of habitat suitability. MAXENT is a more multifaceted technique that establishes more complex relationships between dependent and independent variables. Our results demonstrate that for at least one species, the lowland tapir, the use of a simple consensual approach (average of ENFA and MAXENT models outputs better reflected its current distribution patterns. The Brazilian ecoregions have the highest habitat loss for the tapir. Cerrado and Atlantic Forest account for nearly half (48.19% of the total area lost. The Amazon region contains the largest area under protection, and the most extensive remaining habitat for the tapir, but also showed high levels of habitat loss outside protected areas, which increases the importance of support for proper management.
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Lowland tapir distribution and habitat loss in South America.
Cordeiro, Jose Luis Passos; Fragoso, José M V; Crawshaw, Danielle; Oliveira, Luiz Flamarion B
2016-01-01
The development of species distribution models (SDMs) can help conservation efforts by generating potential distributions and identifying areas of high environmental suitability for protection. Our study presents a distribution and habitat map for lowland tapir in South America. We also describe the potential habitat suitability of various geographical regions and habitat loss, inside and outside of protected areas network. Two different SDM approaches, MAXENT and ENFA, produced relative different Habitat Suitability Maps for the lowland tapir. While MAXENT was efficient at identifying areas as suitable or unsuitable, it was less efficient (when compared to the results by ENFA) at identifying the gradient of habitat suitability. MAXENT is a more multifaceted technique that establishes more complex relationships between dependent and independent variables. Our results demonstrate that for at least one species, the lowland tapir, the use of a simple consensual approach (average of ENFA and MAXENT models outputs) better reflected its current distribution patterns. The Brazilian ecoregions have the highest habitat loss for the tapir. Cerrado and Atlantic Forest account for nearly half (48.19%) of the total area lost. The Amazon region contains the largest area under protection, and the most extensive remaining habitat for the tapir, but also showed high levels of habitat loss outside protected areas, which increases the importance of support for proper management.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fazlul Karim
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Understanding the nature of frequent floods is important for characterising channel morphology, riparian and aquatic habitat, and informing river restoration efforts. This paper presents results from an analysis on frequency estimates of low magnitude floods using the annual maximum and partial series data compared to actual flood series. Five frequency distribution models were fitted to data from 24 gauging stations in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR lagoon catchments in north-eastern Australia. Based on the goodness of fit test, Generalised Extreme Value, Generalised Pareto and Log Pearson Type 3 models were used to estimate flood frequencies across the study region. Results suggest frequency estimates based on a partial series are better, compared to an annual series, for small to medium floods, while both methods produce similar results for large floods. Although both methods converge at a higher recurrence interval, the convergence recurrence interval varies between catchments. Results also suggest frequency estimates vary slightly between two or more partial series, depending on flood threshold, and the differences are large for the catchments that experience less frequent floods. While a partial series produces better frequency estimates, it can underestimate or overestimate the frequency if the flood threshold differs largely compared to bankfull discharge. These results have significant implications in calculating the dependency of floodplain ecosystems on the frequency of flooding and their subsequent management.
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Maladaptive habitat selection of a migratory passerine bird in a human-modified landscape.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Franck A Hollander
Full Text Available In human-altered environments, organisms may preferentially settle in poor-quality habitats where fitness returns are lower relative to available higher-quality habitats. Such ecological trapping is due to a mismatch between the cues used during habitat selection and the habitat quality. Maladaptive settlement decisions may occur when organisms are time-constrained and have to rapidly evaluate habitat quality based on incomplete knowledge of the resources and conditions that will be available later in the season. During a three-year study, we examined settlement decision-making in the long-distance migratory, open-habitat bird, the Red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio, as a response to recent land-use changes. In Northwest Europe, the shrikes typically breed in open areas under a management regime of extensive farming. In recent decades, Spruce forests have been increasingly managed with large-size cutblocks in even-aged plantations, thereby producing early-successional vegetation areas that are also colonised by the species. Farmland and open areas in forests create mosaics of two different types of habitats that are now occupied by the shrikes. We examined redundant measures of habitat preference (order of settlement after migration and distribution of dominant individuals and several reproductive performance parameters in both habitat types to investigate whether habitat preference is in line with habitat quality. Territorial males exhibited a clear preference for the recently created open areas in forests with higher-quality males settling in this habitat type earlier. Reproductive performance was, however, higher in farmland, with higher nest success, offspring quantity, and quality compared to open areas in forests. The results showed strong among-year consistency and we can therefore exclude a transient situation. This study demonstrates a case of maladaptive habitat selection in a farmland bird expanding its breeding range to human
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The problems in the formation of the habitat of fisheries
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Agarkov S. A.
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Habitat as a combination of political, economic, social and environmental conditions of human activity plays an important role in raising productivity and efficiency of the national economy. On the basis of actual data the essence of problems of formation and management of the fishery complex habitat has been revealed. The authors consider the working conditions of the crews of fishing vessels as an important component of habitat, the influence of climatic conditions and inadequate social infrastructure on turnover of out-migration from the northern regions, the low level of training that generally has a negative impact on results of the fishing industry activity. The state government fishery development programme does not contain measures to shape habitats: improving the quality of life of fishermen and their families, promoting social and environmental infrastructure. On the basis of researches some practical recommendations allowing solve the problems in formation and development of the fishery habitat have been proposed. There are the following recommendations: improving the working conditions of the crews of fishing vessels, economically advantageous working conditions for shipowners, efforts to combat poaching, training of highly qualified personnel, the development of programme of staff motivation and its interest in the work on the internal market, the development of social programmes for the protection of seafarers and their families. For successful implementation of all measures to increase the competitiveness of fisheries of Russia on the international market it is necessary to improve the quality and effectiveness of the system of fisheries complex management, including its socio-ecological-economic habitat
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Wood, Claire M.; Bunce, Robert G. H.; Norton, Lisa R.; Smart, Simon M.; Barr, Colin J.
2018-05-01
Since 1978, a series of national surveys (Countryside Survey, CS) have been carried out by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) (formerly the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, ITE) to gather data on the natural environment in Great Britain (GB). As the sampling framework for these surveys is not optimised to yield data on rarer or more localised habitats, a survey was commissioned by the then Department of the Environment (DOE, now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, DEFRA) in the 1990s to carry out additional survey work in English landscapes which contained semi-natural habitats that were perceived to be under threat, or which represented areas of concern to the ministry. The landscapes were lowland heath, chalk and limestone (calcareous) grasslands, coasts and uplands. The information recorded allowed an assessment of the extent and quality of a range of habitats defined during the project, which can now be translated into standard UK broad and priority habitat classes. The survey, known as the "Key Habitat Survey", followed a design which was a series of gridded, stratified, randomly selected 1 km squares taken as representative of each of the four landscape types in England, determined from statistical land classification and geological data ("spatial masks"). The definitions of the landscapes are given in the descriptions of the spatial masks, along with definitions of the surveyed habitats. A total of 213 of the 1 km2 square sample sites were surveyed in the summers of 1992 and 1993, with information being collected on vegetation species, land cover, landscape features and land use, applying standardised repeatable methods. The database contributes additional information and value to the long-term monitoring data gathered by the Countryside Survey and provides a valuable baseline against which future ecological changes may be compared, offering the potential for a repeat survey. The data were analysed and described in a series of
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Influence of Habitat and Intrinsic Characteristics on Survival of Neonatal Pronghorn.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Christopher N Jacques
Full Text Available Increased understanding of the influence of habitat (e.g., composition, patch size and intrinsic (e.g., age, birth mass factors on survival of neonatal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana is a prerequisite to successful management programs, particularly as they relate to population dynamics and the role of population models in adaptive species management. Nevertheless, few studies have presented empirical data quantifying the influence of habitat variables on survival of neonatal pronghorn. During 2002-2005, we captured and radiocollared 116 neonates across two sites in western South Dakota. We documented 31 deaths during our study, of which coyote (Canis latrans predation (n = 15 was the leading cause of mortality. We used known fate analysis in Program MARK to investigate the influence of intrinsic and habitat variables on neonatal survival. We generated a priori models that we grouped into habitat and intrinsic effects. The highest-ranking model indicated that neonate mortality was best explained by site, percent grassland, and open water habitat; 90-day survival (0.80; 90% CI = 0.71-0.88 declined 23% when grassland and water increased from 80.1 to 92.3% and 0.36 to 0.40%, respectively, across 50% natal home ranges. Further, our results indicated that grassland patch size and shrub density were important predictors of neonate survival; neonate survival declined 17% when shrub density declined from 5.0 to 2.5 patches per 100 ha. Excluding the site covariates, intrinsic factors (i.e., sex, age, birth mass, year, parturition date were not important predictors of survival of neonatal pronghorns. Further, neonatal survival may depend on available land cover and interspersion of habitats. We have demonstrated that maintaining minimum and maximum thresholds for habitat factors (e.g., percentages of grassland and open water patches, density of shrub patches throughout natal home ranges will in turn, ensure relatively high (>0.50 neonatal survival rates
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Influence of habitat and intrinsic characteristics on survival of neonatal pronghorn
Jacques, Christopher N.; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Grovenburg, Troy W.; Klaver, Robert W.
2015-01-01
Increased understanding of the influence of habitat (e.g., composition, patch size) and intrinsic (e.g., age, birth mass) factors on survival of neonatal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a prerequisite to successful management programs, particularly as they relate to population dynamics and the role of population models in adaptive species management. Nevertheless, few studies have presented empirical data quantifying the influence of habitat variables on survival of neonatal pronghorn. During 2002–2005, we captured and radiocollared 116 neonates across two sites in western South Dakota. We documented 31 deaths during our study, of which coyote (Canis latrans) predation (n = 15) was the leading cause of mortality. We used known fate analysis in Program MARK to investigate the influence of intrinsic and habitat variables on neonatal survival. We generated a priori models that we grouped into habitat and intrinsic effects. The highest-ranking model indicated that neonate mortality was best explained by site, percent grassland, and open water habitat; 90-day survival (0.80; 90% CI = 0.71–0.88) declined 23% when grassland and water increased from 80.1 to 92.3% and 0.36 to 0.40%, respectively, across 50% natal home ranges. Further, our results indicated that grassland patch size and shrub density were important predictors of neonate survival; neonate survival declined 17% when shrub density declined from 5.0 to 2.5 patches per 100 ha. Excluding the site covariates, intrinsic factors (i.e., sex, age, birth mass, year, parturition date) were not important predictors of survival of neonatal pronghorns. Further, neonatal survival may depend on available land cover and interspersion of habitats. We have demonstrated that maintaining minimum and maximum thresholds for habitat factors (e.g., percentages of grassland and open water patches, density of shrub patches) throughout natal home ranges will in turn, ensure relatively high (>0.50) neonatal survival rates
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Habitat Use Database - Groundfish Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Habitat Use Database (HUD)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Habitat Use Database (HUD) was specifically designed to address the need for habitat-use analyses in support of groundfish EFH, HAPCs, and fishing and nonfishing...
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Habitat Distribution of Birds Wintering in Central Andros, The Bahamas: Implications for Management
DAVE CURRIE; JOSEPH M. WUNDERLE JR.; DAVID N. EWERT; MATTHEW R. ANDERSON; ANCILLENO DAVIS; JASMINE TURNER
2005-01-01
We studied winter avian distribution in three representative pine-dominated habitats and three broadleaf habitats in an area recently designated as a National Park on Andros Island, The Bahamas, 1-23 February 2002. During 180 five-minute point counts, 1731 individuals were detected (1427 permanent residents and 304 winter residents) representing 51 species (29...
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Movements and habitat use of mallard broods in northeastern California
Mauser, D.M.; Jarvis, R.L.; Gilmer, D.S.
1994-01-01
To increase recruitment of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), wildlife managers must understand the habitat and space needs of mallard broods. During 1989-90, we examined the movements, home range, and habitat use of 27 radio-marked mallard broods on Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, California. Twelve of the 27 broods made 22 relocation movements (>1,000 m in 24 hr) in the first week (n = 6) and after the fourth (n = 16) week of life. Mean home range size was 0.93 km2 (SE = 0.25) and did not differ between years (P = 0.26). Brood-rearing females selected seasonally flooded wetlands with a cover component and avoided open or permanently flooded habitats. In 1989, broods hatched in permanent wetlands were less successful in fledging (P = 0.006) radio-marked ducklings than broods from seasonal wetlands, suggesting habitat availability or movement to preferred habitats may affect duckling survival.
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Wetland and floodplain habitats management and solutions in Lower Meadow of Prut Natural Park
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Florin VARTOLOMEI
2013-04-01
Full Text Available The pressure of economic development from the last 50 years in the area of Prut river, the protection measures against floods by building dams in the major river bed and the building of the hydrotechnical knot Stânca-Costeşti have been the causes of the transformation of the typical habitats in the humid areas at the border of Prut river, thus of the flood area favouring the breeding of fish and birds, endangering the ecological integrity of the area eco-system complex.In the past, Romanian Waters National Company the main manager of the water resources from Romania has started the preparation at the request of the Ministry of Water Forest and Environment Protection the inventory of the wetland and floodplains at national level, including the potential for restoration according with the particular case from Romania, where the process of land restitution to the previous owners is one important problem even in present time.In Prut catchment area is presented a large number of existing wetlands with a large restoration potential (about 200 wetlands recorded for whole Prut basin, many of them are less than 1 sqkm surface.It has to be mentioned that several wetlands which in present are in natural stage are included or will be included in the List of Protected Areas under the legislation preservation. In this regard the planning of wetlands and floodplains rehabilitation is underdevelopment and will depend by the finalization of the land restitution action.For all the types of existing habitats housing a large variety of fauna (especially avifauna, sedentary as well as migrating or passing fauna, the Maţa – Rădeanu humid area, with a surface of 386 ha, is similar to the special preservation areas from the Danube Delta.Among the protected areas within lower Prut basin, according to the criteria of habitat identification, three of them (Ostrovul Prut, Lower Prut river meadow and Vlascuta swamp have been indicated to include some wetlands as well
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Pacella, Stephen R.; Brown, Cheryl A.; Waldbusser, George G.; Labiosa, Rochelle G.; Hales, Burke
2018-04-01
The role of rising atmospheric CO2 in modulating estuarine carbonate system dynamics remains poorly characterized, likely due to myriad processes driving the complex chemistry in these habitats. We reconstructed the full carbonate system of an estuarine seagrass habitat for a summer period of 2.5 months utilizing a combination of time-series observations and mechanistic modeling, and quantified the roles of aerobic metabolism, mixing, and gas exchange in the observed dynamics. The anthropogenic CO2 burden in the habitat was estimated for the years 1765–2100 to quantify changes in observed high-frequency carbonate chemistry dynamics. The addition of anthropogenic CO2 alters the thermodynamic buffer factors (e.g., the Revelle factor) of the carbonate system, decreasing the seagrass habitat’s ability to buffer natural carbonate system fluctuations. As a result, the most harmful carbonate system indices for many estuarine organisms [minimum pHT, minimum Ωarag, and maximum pCO2(s.w.)] change up to 1.8×, 2.3×, and 1.5× more rapidly than the medians for each parameter, respectively. In this system, the relative benefits of the seagrass habitat in locally mitigating ocean acidification increase with the higher atmospheric CO2 levels predicted toward 2100. Presently, however, these mitigating effects are mixed due to intense diel cycling of CO2 driven by aerobic metabolism. This study provides estimates of how high-frequency pHT, Ωarag, and pCO2(s.w.) dynamics are altered by rising atmospheric CO2 in an estuarine habitat, and highlights nonlinear responses of coastal carbonate parameters to ocean acidification relevant for water quality management.
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Marino, Michael J; Luong, Amber; Yao, William C; Citardi, Martin J
2018-01-01
Odontogenic cysts and tumors of the maxilla may be amendable to management by endonasal endoscopic techniques, which may reduce the morbidity associated with open procedures and avoid difficult reconstruction. To perform a systematic review that evaluates the feasibility and outcomes of endoscopic techniques in the management of different odontogenic cysts. A case series of our experience with these minimally invasive techniques was assembled for insight into the technical aspects of these procedures. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was used to identify English-language studies that reported the use of endoscopic techniques in the management of odontogenic cysts. Several medical literature data bases were searched for all occurrences in the title or abstract of the terms "odontogenic" and "endoscopic" between January 1, 1950, and October 1, 2016. Publications were evaluated for the technique used, histopathology, complications, recurrences, and the follow-up period. A case series of patients who presented to a tertiary rhinology clinic and who underwent treatment of odontogenic cysts by an endoscopic technique was included. A systematic review identified 16 case reports or series that described the use of endoscopic techniques for the treatment of odontogenic cysts, including 45 total patients. Histopathologies encountered were radicular (n = 16) and dentigerous cysts (n = 10), and keratocystic odontogenic tumor (n = 12). There were no reported recurrences or major complications for a mean follow-up of 29 months. A case series of patients in our institution identified seven patients without recurrence for a mean follow-up of 10 months. Endonasal endoscopic treatment of various odontogenic cysts are described in the literature and are associated with effective treatment of these lesions for an average follow-up period of >2 years. These techniques have the potential to reduce morbidity associated with the resection of these
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
N. Zamani
2016-03-01
Full Text Available Evaluation of habitat sustainability indexes is essential in wildlife management and conservation of rare species. Suitable habitats are required in wildlife managements and conservation also, they increase reproduction and survival rate of species. In this study in order to mapping habitat sustainability and recognizing habitat requirements of Iranian Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus, field data from Dare Anjir wildlife refuge were collected since autumn 2009 until summer 2011. Ecological Niche Factor Analysis approach has been used to develop habitat suitability model. In this method primary maps of habitat variables including elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation cover, distance from water sources and environmental monitoring stations have been produced by Idrisi and Biomapper software and imported in Biomapper. The output scores obtained from the analysis showed that Iranian cheetah tends to mountain areas where has more topographical features for camouflage in order to hunting, and northern aspects which have more humidity, denser vegetation cover and more preys . Our result showed that the Iranian cheetah has medium niche width and prefer marginal habitats.
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Habitat suitability and movement corridors of grey wolf (Canis lupus) in Northern Pakistan
Kabir, Muhammad; Hameed, Shoaib; Ali, Hussain; Bosso, Luciano; Din, Jaffar Ud; Bischof, Richard; Redpath, Steve
2017-01-01
Habitat suitability models are useful to understand species distribution and to guide management and conservation strategies. The grey wolf (Canis lupus) has been extirpated from most of its historic range in Pakistan primarily due to its impact on livestock and livelihoods. We used non-invasive survey data from camera traps and genetic sampling to develop a habitat suitability model for C. lupus in northern Pakistan and to explore the extent of connectivity among populations. We detected suitable habitat of grey wolf using a maximum entropy approach (Maxent ver. 3.4.0) and identified suitable movement corridors using the Circuitscape 4.0 tool. Our model showed high levels of predictive performances, as seen from the values of area under curve (0.971±0.002) and true skill statistics (0.886±0.021). The main predictors for habitat suitability for C. lupus were distances to road, mean temperature of the wettest quarter and distance to river. The model predicted ca. 23,129 km2 of suitable areas for wolf in Pakistan, with much of suitable habitat in remote and inaccessible areas that appeared to be well connected through vulnerable movement corridors. These movement corridors suggest that potentially the wolf range can expand in Pakistan’s Northern Areas. However, managing protected areas with stringent restrictions is challenging in northern Pakistan, in part due to heavy dependence of people on natural resources. The habitat suitability map provided by this study can inform future management strategies by helping authorities to identify key conservation areas. PMID:29121089
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ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF HABITAT PATCHES ON WILDLIFE ROAD-KILL
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. Seok
2015-10-01
Full Text Available The ecosystem fragmentation due to transportation infrastructure causes a road-kill phenomenon. When making policies for mitigating road-kill it is important to select target-species in order to enhance its efficiency. However, many wildlife crossing structures have been questioned regarding their effectiveness due to lack of considerations such as target-species selection, site selection, management, etc. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of habitat patches on wildlife road-kill and to suggest that spatial location of habitat patches should be considered as one of the important factors when making policies for mitigating road-kill. Habitat patches were presumed from habitat variables and a suitability index on target-species that was chosen by literature review. The road-kill hotspot was calculated using Getis-Ord Gi*. After that, we performed a correlation analysis between Gi Z-score and the distance from habitat patches to the roads. As a result, there is a low negative correlation between two variables and it increases the Gi Z-score if the habitat patches and the roads become closer.
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Analyze the Impact of Habitat Patches on Wildlife Road-Kill
Seok, S.; Lee, J.
2015-10-01
The ecosystem fragmentation due to transportation infrastructure causes a road-kill phenomenon. When making policies for mitigating road-kill it is important to select target-species in order to enhance its efficiency. However, many wildlife crossing structures have been questioned regarding their effectiveness due to lack of considerations such as target-species selection, site selection, management, etc. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of habitat patches on wildlife road-kill and to suggest that spatial location of habitat patches should be considered as one of the important factors when making policies for mitigating road-kill. Habitat patches were presumed from habitat variables and a suitability index on target-species that was chosen by literature review. The road-kill hotspot was calculated using Getis-Ord Gi*. After that, we performed a correlation analysis between Gi Z-score and the distance from habitat patches to the roads. As a result, there is a low negative correlation between two variables and it increases the Gi Z-score if the habitat patches and the roads become closer.
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Daytime habitat selection for juvenile parr brown trout (Salmo trutta in small lowland streams
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Conallin J.
2014-03-01
Full Text Available Physical habitat is important in determining the carrying capacity of juvenile brown trout, and within freshwater management. Summer daytime physical habitat selection for the parr lifestage (7–20 cm juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta was assessed in 6 small lowland streams. Habitat preference was determined for the four variables; water velocity, water depth, substrate and cover, and the preferences for physical habitat selection were expressed in terms of habitat suitability indices (HSI’s. The statistical confidence of HSI’s was evaluated using power analysis. It was found that a minimum of 22 fish observations was needed to have statistical confidence in the HSIs for water depth, and a minimum of 92 fish observations for water velocity during daytime summer conditions. Generally parr were utilising the deeper habitats, indicating preference for deeper water. Cover was also being selected for at all sites, but selection was inconsistent among sites for the variables substrate and velocity. The results indicate that during daytime summer conditions water depth is a significant variable for parr habitat selection in these small lowland streams, with cover also being important. Therefore, daytime refugia may be a critical limiting factor for parr in small lowland streams, and important for stream management actions under the Water Framework Directive.
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McCann, Thomas; Cooper, Alan; Rogers, David; McKenzie, Paul; McErlean, Thomas
2017-07-01
European hedged agricultural landscapes provide a range of ecosystem services and are an important component of cultural and biodiversity heritage. This paper investigates the extent of hedges, their woody species diversity (including the influence of historical versus recent hedge origin) and dynamics of change. The rationale is to contribute to an ecological basis for hedge habitat management. Sample sites were allocated based on a multivariate classification of landscape attributes. All field boundaries present in each site were mapped and surveyed in 1998 and 2007. To assess diversity, a list of all woody species was recorded in one standard 30 m linear plot within each hedge. There was a net decrease in hedge habitat extent, mainly as a result of removal, and changes between hedges and other field boundary types due to the development and loss of shrub growth-form. Agricultural intensification, increased rural building, and variation in hedge management practices were the main drivers of change. Hedges surveyed at baseline, which were lost at resurvey, were more species rich than new hedges gained. Hedges coinciding with historical land unit boundaries of likely Early Medieval origin were found to be more species rich. The most frequent woody species in hedges were native, including a high proportion with Fraxinus excelsior, a species under threat from current and emerging plant pests and pathogens. Introduced species were present in circa 30% of hedges. We conclude that since hedge habitat distribution and woody species diversity is a function of ecology and anthropogenic factors, the management of hedges in enclosed agricultural landscapes requires an integrated approach. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Jacobson, R.B.
2013-01-01
The physical habitat template is a fundamental influence on riverine ecosystem structure and function. Habitat dynamics refers to the variation in habitat through space and time as the result of varying discharge and varying geomorphology. Habitat dynamics can be assessed at spatial scales ranging from the grain (the smallest resolution at which an organism relates to its environment) to the extent (the broadest resolution inclusive of all space occupied during its life cycle). In addition to a potentially broad range of spatial scales, assessments of habitat dynamics may include dynamics of both occupied and nonoccupied habitat patches because of process interactions among patches. Temporal aspects of riverine habitat dynamics can be categorized into hydrodynamics and morphodynamics. Hydrodynamics refers to habitat variation that results from changes in discharge in the absence of significant change of channel morphology and at generally low sediment-transport rates. Hydrodynamic assessments are useful in cases of relatively high flow exceedance (percent of time a flow is equaled or exceeded) or high critical shear stress, conditions that are applicable in many studies of instream flows. Morphodynamics refers to habitat variation resulting from changes to substrate conditions or channel/floodplain morphology. Morphodynamic assessments are necessary when channel and floodplain boundary conditions have been significantly changed, generally by relatively rare flood events or in rivers with low critical shear stress. Morphodynamic habitat variation can be particularly important as disturbance mechanisms that mediate population growth or for providing conditions needed for reproduction, such as channel-migration events that erode cutbanks and provide new pointbar surfaces for germination of riparian trees. Understanding of habitat dynamics is increasing in importance as societal goals shift toward restoration of riverine ecosystems. Effective investment in restoration
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Keeping Pace with Climate Change: Habitat Protection in the Face of Uncertainty
Flitcroft, R. L.; Burnett, K.; Giannico, G.
2014-12-01
Estuaries provide critical habitat for many economically and culturally important species. In the Pacific Northwest, intertidal and subtidal areas provide critical habitat for production of native and commercial oysters (Olympia oyster Ostrea lurida and Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, respectively) that in turn provide refuge and rearing habitat for Dungeness Crab, Metacarcinus magister. Environments ranging from subtidal through freshwater zones provide nursery areas for juvenile salmonids at different development stages in their life history. Most Oregon estuaries have been significantly altered by humans over the past century, reducing the quantity and diversity of available habitats. Management agencies have responded with projects to restore and enhance estuarine habitats. Unfortunately, future climate change and sea-level rise could render many current restoration projects ineffective over time. Planning for habitat restoration that keeps pace with climate change will be critical to the sustainable production of seafood and maintenance of ecosystem function. However, land managers and citizens lack the spatially-explicit data needed to incorporate the potential effects of climate change and sea-level rise into planning for habitat improvement projects in estuarine areas. To meet this need, we developed simple models using LiDAR to characterize the geomorphologies of multiple Oregon estuaries. We were able to map the margin of current mean high tide, and contour intervals associated with different potential increases in mean high tide. Because our analysis relied on digital data, we compared three types of digital data in one estuary to assess the utility of different data sets in predicting changes in estuary shape. For each estuary, we assessed changes in the amount and complexity of edge habitats. The simple modeling approach we applied can also be used to identify areas that may be most amenable to pre-emptive restoration actions to mitigate or enhance
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Galbraith, Heather S.; Blakeslee, Carrie J.; Cole, Jeffrey C.; Talbert, Colin; Maloney, Kelly O.
2016-01-01
Defining habitat suitability criteria (HSC) of aquatic biota can be a key component to environmental flow science. HSC can be developed through numerous methods; however, few studies have evaluated the consistency of HSC developed by different methodologies. We directly compared HSC for depth and velocity developed by the Delphi method (expert opinion) and by two primary literature meta-analyses (literature-derived range and interquartile range) to assess whether these independent methods produce analogous criteria for multiple species (rainbow trout, brown trout, American shad, and shallow fast guild) and life stages. We further evaluated how these two independently developed HSC affect calculations of habitat availability under three alternative reservoir management scenarios in the upper Delaware River at a mesohabitat (main channel, stream margins, and flood plain), reach, and basin scale. In general, literature-derived HSC fell within the range of the Delphi HSC, with highest congruence for velocity habitat. Habitat area predicted using the Delphi HSC fell between the habitat area predicted using two literature-derived HSC, both at the basin and the site scale. Predicted habitat increased in shallow regions (stream margins and flood plain) using literature-derived HSC while Delphi-derived HSC predicted increased channel habitat. HSC generally favoured the same reservoir management scenario; however, no favoured reservoir management scenario was the most common outcome when applying the literature range HSC. The differences found in this study lend insight into how different methodologies can shape HSC and their consequences for predicted habitat and water management decisions. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Burns, Ashley V. [Univ. of Denver, CO (United States)
2014-05-30
Feral horses (Equus caballus) are free-roaming descendants of domesticated horses and legally protected by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which mandates how feral horses and burros should be managed and protected on federal lands. Using a geographic information system to determine the home range and suitable habitat of feral horses on the federally managed Nevada National Security Site can enable wildlife biologists in making best management practice recommendations. Home range was estimated at 88.1 square kilometers. Site suitability was calculated for elevation, forage, slope, water presence and horse observations. These variables were combined in successive iterations into one polygon. Suitability rankings established that 85 square kilometers are most suitable habitat, with 2,052 square kilometers of good habitat 1,252 square kilometers of fair habitat and 122 square kilometers of least suitable habitat.
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Temporal and Spatial Scales Matter: Circannual Habitat Selection by Bird Communities in Vineyards.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Claire Guyot
Full Text Available Vineyards are likely to be regionally important for wildlife, but we lack biodiversity studies in this agroecosystem which is undergoing a rapid management revolution. As vine cultivation is restricted to arid and warm climatic regions, biodiversity-friendly management would promote species typical of southern biomes. Vineyards are often intensively cultivated, mostly surrounded by few natural features and offering a fairly mineral appearance with little ground vegetation cover. Ground vegetation cover and composition may further strongly vary with respect to season, influencing patterns of habitat selection by ecological communities. We investigated season-specific bird-habitat associations to highlight the importance of semi-natural habitat features and vineyard ground vegetation cover throughout the year. Given that avian habitat selection varies according to taxa, guilds and spatial scale, we modelled bird-habitat associations in all months at two spatial scales using mixed effects regression models. At the landscape scale, birds were recorded along 10 1-km long transects in Southwestern Switzerland (February 2014 -January 2015. At the field scale, we compared the characteristics of visited and unvisited vineyard fields (hereafter called parcels. Bird abundance in vineyards tripled in winter compared to summer. Vineyards surrounded by a greater amount of hedges and small woods harboured higher bird abundance, species richness and diversity, especially during the winter season. Regarding ground vegetation, birds showed a season-specific habitat selection pattern, notably a marked preference for ground-vegetated parcels in winter and for intermediate vegetation cover in spring and summer. These season-specific preferences might be related to species-specific life histories: more insectivorous, ground-foraging species occur during the breeding season whereas granivores predominate in winter. These results highlight the importance of
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Törnroos, Anna; Nordström, Marie C; Bonsdorff, Erik
2013-01-01
Due to human impact, there is extensive degradation and loss of marine habitats, which calls for measures that incorporate taxonomic as well as functional and trophic aspects of biodiversity. Since such data is less easily quantifiable in nature, the use of habitats as surrogates or proxies for biodiversity is on the rise in marine conservation and management. However, there is a critical gap in knowledge of whether pre-defined habitat units adequately represent the functional and trophic structure of communities. We also lack comparisons of different measures of community structure in terms of both between- (β) and within-habitat (α) variability when accounting for species densities. Thus, we evaluated a priori defined coastal habitats as surrogates for traditional taxonomic, functional and trophic zoobenthic community structure. We focused on four habitats (bare sand, canopy-forming algae, seagrass above- and belowground), all easily delineated in nature and defined through classification systems. We analyzed uni- and multivariate data on species and trait diversity as well as stable isotope ratios of benthic macrofauna. A good fit between habitat types and taxonomic and functional structure was found, although habitats were more similar functionally. This was attributed to within-habitat heterogeneity so when habitat divisions matched the taxonomic structure, only bare sand was functionally distinct. The pre-defined habitats did not meet the variability of trophic structure, which also proved to differentiate on a smaller spatial scale. The quantification of trophic structure using species density only identified an epi- and an infaunal unit. To summarize the results we present a conceptual model illustrating the match between pre-defined habitat types and the taxonomic, functional and trophic community structure. Our results show the importance of including functional and trophic aspects more comprehensively in marine management and spatial planning.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Grant, J.C.
1983-01-01
In June 1982, a study of black-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus californicus) ecology was initiated at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). This study will provide data necessary to evaluate the role of jack rabbits in radionuclide transport away from the Subsurface Disposal Area of the RWMC. Primary goals are to document radionuclide concentrations in jack rabbit tissues, and determine population size, movement patterns, habitat use, and food habits of jack rabbits inhabiting the RWMC area. Study design and prelimianry results are discussed
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CisLunar Habitat Internal Architecture Design Criteria
Jones, R.; Kennedy, K.; Howard, R.; Whitmore, M.; Martin, C.; Garate, J.
2017-01-01
Lunar Habitat Internal Architecture Study is to become a forcing function to establish a common understanding of CisLunar Phase-1 Habitation Internal Architecture design criteria, processes, and tools. The scope of the CisLunar Habitat Internal Architecture study is to design, develop, demonstrate, and evaluate a Phase-1 CisLunar Habitat common module internal architecture based on design criteria agreed to by NASA, the International Partners, and Commercial Exploration teams. This task is to define the CisLunar Phase-1 Internal Architecture Government Reference Design, assist NASA in becoming a "smart buyer" for Phase-1 Habitat Concepts, and ultimately to derive standards and requirements from the Internal Architecture Design Process. The first step was to define a Habitat Internal Architecture Design Criteria and create a structured philosophy to be used by design teams as a filter by which critical aspects of consideration would be identified for the purpose of organizing and utilizing interior spaces. With design criteria in place, the team will develop a series of iterative internal architecture concept designs which will be assessed by means of an evaluation criteria and process. These assessments will successively drive and refine the design, leading to the combination and down-selection of design concepts. A single refined reference design configuration will be developed into in a medium-to-high fidelity mockup. A multi-day human-in-the-loop mission test will fully evaluate the reference design and validate its configuration. Lessons learned from the design and evaluation will enable the team to identify appropriate standards for Phase-1 CisLunar Habitat Internal Architecture and will enable NASA to develop derived requirements in support of maturing CisLunar Habitation capabilities. This paper will describe the criteria definition process, workshop event, and resulting CisLunar Phase-1 Habitat Internal Architecture Design Criteria.
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Intercohort density dependence drives brown trout habitat selection
Ayllón, Daniel; Nicola, Graciela G.; Parra, Irene; Elvira, Benigno; Almodóvar, Ana
2013-01-01
Habitat selection can be viewed as an emergent property of the quality and availability of habitat but also of the number of individuals and the way they compete for its use. Consequently, habitat selection can change across years due to fluctuating resources or to changes in population numbers. However, habitat selection predictive models often do not account for ecological dynamics, especially density dependent processes. In stage-structured population, the strength of density dependent interactions between individuals of different age classes can exert a profound influence on population trajectories and evolutionary processes. In this study, we aimed to assess the effects of fluctuating densities of both older and younger competing life stages on the habitat selection patterns (described as univariate and multivariate resource selection functions) of young-of-the-year, juvenile and adult brown trout Salmo trutta. We observed all age classes were selective in habitat choice but changed their selection patterns across years consistently with variations in the densities of older but not of younger age classes. Trout of an age increased selectivity for positions highly selected by older individuals when their density decreased, but this pattern did not hold when the density of younger age classes varied. It suggests that younger individuals are dominated by older ones but can expand their range of selected habitats when density of competitors decreases, while older trout do not seem to consider the density of younger individuals when distributing themselves even though they can negatively affect their final performance. Since these results may entail critical implications for conservation and management practices based on habitat selection models, further research should involve a wider range of river typologies and/or longer time frames to fully understand the patterns of and the mechanisms underlying the operation of density dependence on brown trout habitat
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Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.
2012-01-01
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) is preparing a long term management plan for sediments that affect the authorized project purposes of the Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor reservoirs (hereafter, the lower Snake River reservoirs), and the area from the mouth of the Snake River to Ice Harbor Dam. We conducted a study from spring 2010 through winter 2011 to describe the habitat use by juvenile Chinook salmon within a selected group of shallow water habitat complexes (spoils to create shallow water habitat, (2) provide evidence for shallow water habitat use by natural subyearlings, (3) provide evidence against large-scale use of shallow water habitat by reservoir-type juveniles, (4) suggest that the depth criterion for defining shallow water habitat (i.e., food web, and intra-specific competition would help to better inform the long-term management plan.
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Aquatic habitats of Canaan Valley, West Virginia: Diversity and environmental threats
Snyder, C.D.; Young, J.A.; Stout, B. M.
2006-01-01
We conducted surveys of aquatic habitats during the spring and summer of 1995 in Canaan Valley, WV, to describe the diversity of aquatic habitats in the valley and identify issues that may threaten the viability of aquatic species. We assessed physical habitat and water chemistry of 126 ponds and 82 stream sites, and related habitat characteristics to landscape variables such as geology and terrain. Based on our analyses, we found two issues likely to affect the viability of aquatic populations in the valley. The first issue was acid rain and the extent to which it potentially limits the distribution of aquatic and semi-aquatic species, particularly in headwater portions of the watershed. We estimate that nearly 46%, or 56 kilometers of stream, had pH levels that would not support survival and reproduction of Salvelinuw fontinalis (brook trout), one of the most acid-tolerant fishes in the eastern US. The second issue was the influence of Castor canadensis (beaver) activity. In the Canaan Valley State Park portion of the valley, beaver have transformed 4.7 kilometers of stream (approximately 17% of the total) to pond habitat through their dam building. This has resulted in an increase in pond habitat, a decrease in stream habitat, and a fragmented stream network (i.e., beaver ponds dispersed among stream reaches). In addition, beaver have eliminated an undetermined amount of forested riparian area through their foraging activities. Depending on the perspective, beaver-mediated changes can be viewed as positive or negative. Increases in pond habitat may increase habitat heterogeneity with consequent increases in biological diversity. In contrast, flooding associated with beaver activity may eliminate lowland wetlands and associated species, create barriers to fish dispersal, and possibly contribute to low dissolved oxygen levels in the Blackwater River. We recommend that future management strategies for the wildlife refuge be viewed in the context of these two issues
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Lehnen, Sarah E; Krementz, David G
2013-08-01
Populations of many shorebird species are declining; habitat loss and degradation are among the leading causes for these declines. Shorebirds use a variety of habitats along interior migratory routes including managed moist soil units, natural wetlands, sandbars, and agricultural lands such as harvested rice fields. Less well known is shorebird use of freshwater aquaculture facilities, such as commercial cat- and crayfish ponds. We compared shorebird habitat use at drained aquaculture ponds, moist soil units, agricultural areas, sandbars and other natural habitat, and a sewage treatment facility in the in the lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (LMAV) during autumn 2009. Six species: Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), Killdeer (Charadrius vociferous), Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), Pectoral Sandpiper (C. melanotos), Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), accounted for 92 % of the 31,165 individuals observed. Sewage settling lagoons (83.4, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 25.3-141.5 birds/ha), drained aquaculture ponds (33.5, 95 % CI 22.4-44.6 birds/ha), and managed moist soil units on public lands (15.7, CI 11.2-20.3 birds/ha) had the highest estimated densities of shorebirds. The estimated 1,100 ha of drained aquaculture ponds available during autumn 2009 provided over half of the estimated requirement of 2,000 ha by the LMAV Joint Venture working group. However, because of the decline in the aquaculture industry, autumn shorebird habitats in the LMAV may be limited in the near future. Recognition of the current aquaculture habitat trends will be important to the future management activities of federal and state agencies. Should these aquaculture habitat trends continue, there may be a need for wildlife biologists to investigate other habitats that can be managed to offset the current and expected loss of aquaculture acreages. This study illustrates the potential for freshwater aquaculture to
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Habitat Selection and Activity Pattern of GPS Collared Sumateran Tigers
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dolly Priatna
2012-12-01
Full Text Available Although translocation has been used in mitigating human-carnivore conflict for decades, few studies have been conducted on the behavioral ecology of released animals. Such information is necessary in the context of sustainable forest management. In this study we determine the type of land cover used as main habitat and examine the activity pattern of translocated tigers. Between 2008 and 2010 we captured six conflict tigers and translocated them 74-1,350 km from their capture sites in Sumatera. All tigers were fitted with global positioning system (GPS collars. The collars were set to fix 24-48 location coordinates per day. All translocated tigers showed a preference for a certain habitat type within their new home range, and tended to select the majority of natural land cover type within the landscape as their main habitat, but the availability of natural forest habitat within the landscape remains essensial for their survival. The activity of male translocated tigers differed significantly between the six time intervals of 24 hours, and their most active periods were in the afternoon (14:00-18:00 hours and in the evening (18:00-22:00 hours. Despite being preliminary, the findings of this study-which was the first such study conducted in Sumatera-highlight the conservation value of tiger translocation and provide valuable information for improving future management of conflict tigers.Keywords: activity pattern, GPS collars, habitat selection, sumateran tiger, translocation
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Concurrent assessment of fish and habitat in warmwater streams in Wyoming
Quist, M.C.; Hubert, W.A.; Rahel, F.J.
2006-01-01
Fisheries research and management in North America have focused largely on sport fishes, but native non-game fishes have attracted increased attention due to their declines. The Warmwater Stream Assessment (WSA) was developed to evaluate simultaneously both fish and habitat in Wyoming streams by a process that includes three major components: (1) stream-reach selection and accumulation of existing information, (2) fish and habitat sampling and (3) summarisation and evaluation of fish and habitat information. Fish are sampled by electric fishing or seining and habitat is measured at reach and channel-unit (i.e. pool, run, riffle, side channel, or backwater) scales. Fish and habitat data are subsequently summarised using a data-matrix approach. Hierarchical decision trees are used to assess critical habitat requirements for each fish species expected or found in the reach. Combined measurements of available habitat and the ecology of individual species contribute to the evaluation of the observed fish assemblage. The WSA incorporates knowledge of the fish assemblage and habitat features to enable inferences of factors likely influencing both the fish assemblage and their habitat. The WSA was developed for warmwater streams in Wyoming, but its philosophy, process and conceptual basis may be applied to environmental assessments in other geographical areas. ?? 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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M. Matonis; R. Hubbard; K. Gebert; B. Hahn; C. Regan
2014-01-01
The Future Forest Webinar Series facilitated dialogue between scientists and managers about the challenges and opportunities created by the mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic. The series consisted of six webinar facilitated by the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, the Northern and Rocky Mountain Regions, and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. The series...
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Predicting habitat distribution to conserve seagrass threatened by sea level rise
Saunders, M. I.; Baldock, T.; Brown, C. J.; Callaghan, D. P.; Golshani, A.; Hamylton, S.; Hoegh-guldberg, O.; Leon, J. X.; Lovelock, C. E.; Lyons, M. B.; O'Brien, K.; Mumby, P.; Phinn, S. R.; Roelfsema, C. M.
2013-12-01
Sea level rise (SLR) over the 21st century will cause significant redistribution of valuable coastal habitats. Seagrasses form extensive and highly productive meadows in shallow coastal seas support high biodiversity, including economically valuable and threatened species. Predictive habitat models can inform local management actions that will be required to conserve seagrass faced with multiple stressors. We developed novel modelling approaches, based on extensive field data sets, to examine the effects of sea level rise and other stressors on two representative seagrass habitats in Australia. First, we modelled interactive effects of SLR, water clarity and adjacent land use on estuarine seagrass meadows in Moreton Bay, Southeast Queensland. The extent of suitable seagrass habitat was predicted to decline by 17% by 2100 due to SLR alone, but losses were predicted to be significantly reduced through improvements in water quality (Fig 1a) and by allowing space for seagrass migration with inundation. The rate of sedimentation in seagrass strongly affected the area of suitable habitat for seagrass in sea level rise scenarios (Fig 1b). Further research to understand spatial, temporal and environmental variability of sediment accretion in seagrass is required. Second, we modelled changes in wave energy distribution due to predicted SLR in a linked coral reef and seagrass ecosystem at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Scenarios where the water depth over the coral reef deepened due to SLR and minimal reef accretion, resulted in larger waves propagating shoreward, changing the existing hydrodynamic conditions sufficiently to reduce area of suitable habitat for seagrass. In a scenario where accretion of the coral reef was severely compromised (e.g. warming, acidification, overfishing), the probability of the presence of seagrass declined significantly. Management to maintain coral health will therefore also benefit seagrasses subject to SLR in reef environments. Further
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Habitat use of Alburnoides namaki, in the Jajroud River (Namak Lake basin, Iran)
Melahat Hoghoghi; Soheil Eagderi; Bahmen Shams-Esfandabad
2016-01-01
A fish species prefer a particular habitat where provides its biological requirements, hence, understanding their habitat use and preferences are crucial for their effective management and protection. This study was conducted to assess the habitat use and selection patterns of Alburnoides namaki, an endemic fish in Jajroud River, Namak Lake basin, Iran. The river was sampled at 18 equally spaced sites. A number of environmental variables, including elevation, water depth, river width, river s...
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Adaptive breeding habitat selection: Is it for the birds?
Chalfoun, Anna D.; Schmidt, Kenneth A.
2012-01-01
The question of why animals choose particular habitats has important implications for understanding behavioral evolution and distribution of organisms in the wild and for delineating between habitats of different quality for conservation and management. Habitats chosen by animals can influence fitness outcomes via the costs (e.g., predation risk) and benefits (e.g., food availability) of habitat use. Habitat preferences should therefore be under selection to favor those that confer fitness advantages (Clark and Shutler 1999). Indeed, prevailing theory suggests that the habitat preferences of animals should be adaptive, such that fitness is higher in preferred habitats (Hildén 1965, Southwood 1977, Martin 1998). However, studies have often identified apparent mismatches between observed habitat preferences and fitness outcomes across a wide variety of taxa (Valladares and Lawton 1991, Mayhew 1997, Kolbe and Janzen 2002, Arlt and Pärt 2007, Mägi et al. 2009). Certainly, one limitation of studies may be that assessment of “fitness” is typically constrained to fitness surrogates such as nest success rather than lifetime reproductive success or classic Fisherian fitness (Endler 1986). Nevertheless, important habitat choices such as nest sites influence the probability that temporarily sedentary, dependent young are discovered by enemies such as predators and parasites. We therefore expect, on average, to see congruence between evolved habitat preferences and relevant components of fitness (e.g., nest success). Here, we (1) review the prevalence of apparent mismatches between avian breeding-habitat preferences and fitness outcomes using nest-site selection as a focus; (2) describe several potential mechanisms for such mismatches, including anthropogenic, methodological, and ecological–evolutionary; and (3) suggest a framework for understanding the contexts in which habitat preferences represent adaptive decisions, with a primary focus on ecological information
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Susan C. Loeb; Joy M. O' Keefe
2006-01-01
Knowledge and understanding of bat habitat associations and the responses of bats to forest management are critical for effective bat conservation and management. Few studies have been conducted on bat habitat use in the southeast, despite the high number of endangered and sensitive species in the region. Our objective was to identify important local, stand, and...
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Vanderpham, J P; Nakagawa, S; Senior, A M; Closs, G P
2016-04-01
An investigation of intraspecific habitat-related patterns of variation in oculoscapular lateral-line superficial neuromasts (SN) identified a decrease in the ratio of total SNs to pores, and a trend towards decreased asymmetry in SNs in the habitat-generalist common bully Gobiomorphus cotidianus from fluvial habitats compared to lacustrine habitats, suggesting habitat-related phenotypic variability. A greater ratio of pores to SNs, as well as less variation in the total number and asymmetry of SNs observed in the fluvial habitat-specialist redfin bully Gobiomorphus huttoni may provide further evidence of variations in the oculoscapular lateral-line morphology of fluvial habitat G. cotidianus individuals serving as adaptations to more turbulent environments. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
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"Stiction Syndrome": Non-Operative Management of Patients With Difficult AMS 700 Series Inflation.
Kavoussi, Nicholas L; Viers, Boyd R; VanDyke, Maia E; Pagliara, Travis J; Morey, Allen F
2017-09-01
Static friction (stiction) is a mechanical phenomenon in which a state of increased resistance exists across a control valve mechanism. To present a strategy for non-operative management of inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) cases with pump malfunction from pump valve stiction. All patients had American Medical Systems (AMS; Minnetonka, MN, USA) 700 series Momentary Squeeze IPPs with transient pump malfunction owing to pump valve stiction after extended periods of device inactivity. Our evolving non-operative management experience with the "forced deflation" maneuver is described. This technique has successfully prevented the need for surgical pump replacement. Of patients with IPP who were instructed to inflate and deflate daily to prevent stiction recurrence, none have re-presented with difficult inflation. Of 306 patients receiving the AMS 700 series IPP at our institution from 2007 through 2015, 6 (1.9%) presented with difficulty activating the Momentary Squeeze pump (from 2011 through 2015). Four additional patients were referred from outside institutions with the same complaint. All patients (10 of 10, 100%) presented after a prolonged period of inactivity (minimum = 6 weeks) during which the IPP was not cycled and remained stagnant. Although the initial four patients (40%) underwent surgical exploration with pump mobilization and replacement, the six most recent patients (60%) were successfully instructed in the forced deflation maneuver in the office, which enabled the device to cycle normally thereafter. Device inactivity, for as little as 6 weeks, can predispose to Momentary Squeeze pump valve malfunction; and a regimen of daily IPP cycling could prevent stiction-related malfunction. Our findings should encourage practitioners to attempt conservative management of patients with "stiction syndrome" whenever possible, thereby avoiding unnecessary surgery. Kavoussi NL, Viers BR, VanDyke ME, et al. "Stiction Syndrome": Non-Operative Management of Patients
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Habitat Fragmentation and Native Bees: a Premature Verdict?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
James H. Cane
2001-06-01
Full Text Available Few studies directly address the consequences of habitat fragmentation for communities of pollinating insects, particularly for the key pollinator group, bees (Hymenoptera: Apiformes. Bees typically live in habitats where nesting substrates and bloom are patchily distributed and spatially dissociated. Bee studies have all defined habitat fragments as remnant patches of floral hosts or forests, overlooking the nesting needs of bees. Several authors conclude that habitat fragmentation is broadly deleterious, but their own data show that some native species proliferate in sampled fragments. Other studies report greater densities and comparable diversities of native bees at flowers in some fragment size classes relative to undisrupted habitats, but find dramatic shifts in species composition. Insightful studies of habitat fragmentation and bees will consider fragmentation, alteration, and loss of nesting habitats, not just patches of forage plants, as well as the permeability of the surrounding matrix to interpatch movement. Inasmuch as the floral associations and nesting habits of bees are often attributes of species or subgenera, ecological interpretations hinge on authoritative identifications. Study designs must accommodate statistical problems associated with bee community samples, especially non-normal data and frequent zero values. The spatial scale of fragmentation must be appreciated: bees of medium body size can regularly fly 1-2 km from nest site to forage patch. Overall, evidence for prolonged persistence of substantial diversity and abundances of native bee communities in habitat fragments of modest size promises practical solutions for maintaining bee populations. Provided that reserve selection, design, and management can address the foraging and nesting needs of bees, networks of even small reserves may hold hope for sustaining considerable pollinator diversity and the ecological services pollinators provide.
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Global habitat preferences of commercially valuable tuna
Arrizabalaga, Haritz; Dufour, Florence; Kell, Laurence T.; Merino, Gorka; Ibaibarriaga, Leire; Chust, Guillem; Irigoien, Xabier; Santiago, Josu; Murua, Hilario; Fraile, Igaratza; Chifflet, Marina; Goikoetxea, Nerea; Sagarminaga, Yolanda; Aumont, Olivier; Bopp, Laurent; Herrera, Miguel Angel; Marc Fromentin, Jean; Bonhomeau, Sylvain
2015-01-01
In spite of its pivotal role in future implementations of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management, current knowledge about tuna habitat preferences remains fragmented and heterogeneous, because it relies mainly on regional or local studies that have used a variety of approaches making them difficult to combine. Therefore in this study we analyse data from six tuna species in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans in order to provide a global, comparative perspective of habitat preferences. These data are longline catch per unit effort from 1958 to 2007 for albacore, Atlantic bluefin, southern bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin and skipjack tunas. Both quotient analysis and Generalised Additive Models were used to determine habitat preference with respect to eight biotic and abiotic variables. Results confirmed that, compared to temperate tunas, tropical tunas prefer warm, anoxic, stratified waters. Atlantic and southern bluefin tuna prefer higher concentrations of chlorophyll than the rest. The two species also tolerate most extreme sea surface height anomalies and highest mixed layer depths. In general, Atlantic bluefin tuna tolerates the widest range of environmental conditions. An assessment of the most important variables determining fish habitat is also provided. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
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Global habitat preferences of commercially valuable tuna
Arrizabalaga, Haritz
2015-03-01
In spite of its pivotal role in future implementations of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management, current knowledge about tuna habitat preferences remains fragmented and heterogeneous, because it relies mainly on regional or local studies that have used a variety of approaches making them difficult to combine. Therefore in this study we analyse data from six tuna species in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans in order to provide a global, comparative perspective of habitat preferences. These data are longline catch per unit effort from 1958 to 2007 for albacore, Atlantic bluefin, southern bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin and skipjack tunas. Both quotient analysis and Generalised Additive Models were used to determine habitat preference with respect to eight biotic and abiotic variables. Results confirmed that, compared to temperate tunas, tropical tunas prefer warm, anoxic, stratified waters. Atlantic and southern bluefin tuna prefer higher concentrations of chlorophyll than the rest. The two species also tolerate most extreme sea surface height anomalies and highest mixed layer depths. In general, Atlantic bluefin tuna tolerates the widest range of environmental conditions. An assessment of the most important variables determining fish habitat is also provided. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
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Clinical Decision Making in the Management of Patients With Cervicogenic Dizziness: A Case Series.
Jung, Francis C; Mathew, Sherin; Littmann, Andrew E; MacDonald, Cameron W
2017-11-01
Study Design Case series. Background Although growing recognition of cervicogenic dizziness (CGD) is emerging, there is still no gold standard for the diagnosis of CGD. The purpose of this case series is to describe the clinical decision making utilized in the management of 7 patients presenting with CGD. Case Description Patients presenting with neck pain and accompanying subjective symptoms, including dizziness, unsteadiness, light-headedness, and visual disturbance, were selected. Clinical evidence of a temporal relationship between neck pain and dizziness, with or without sensorimotor disturbances, was assessed. Clinical decision making followed a 4-step process, informed by the current available best evidence. Outcome measures included the numeric rating scale for dizziness and neck pain, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Patient-Specific Functional Scale, and global rating of change. Outcomes Seven patients (mean age, 57 years; range, 31-86 years; 7 female) completed physical therapy management at an average of 13 sessions (range, 8-30 sessions) over a mean of 7 weeks. Clinically meaningful improvements were observed in the numeric rating scale for dizziness (mean difference, 5.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.0, 7.5), neck pain (mean difference, 5.4; 95% CI: 3.8, 7.1), and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (mean difference, 32.6; 95% CI: 12.9, 52.2) at discontinuation. Patients also demonstrated overall satisfaction via the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (mean difference, 9) and global rating of change (mean, +6). Discussion This case series describes the physical therapist decision making, management, and outcomes in patients with CGD. Further investigation is warranted to develop a valid clinical decision-making guideline to inform management of patients with CGD. Level of Evidence Diagnosis, therapy, level 4. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(11):874-884. Epub 9 Oct 2017. doi:10.2519/jospt.2017.7425.
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Loss and modification of habitat
Lemckert, Francis; Hecnar, Stephen; Pilliod, David S.; Wilkinson, John W.; Heatwole, Harold
2012-01-01
Amphibians live in a wide variety of habitats around the world, many of which have been modified or destroyed by human activities. Most species have unique life history characteristics adapted to specific climates, habitats (e.g., lentic, lotic, terrestrial, arboreal, fossorial, amphibious), and local conditions that provide suitable areas for reproduction, development and growth, shelter from environmental extremes, and predation, as well as connectivity to other populations or habitats. Although some species are entirely aquatic or terrestrial, most amphibians, as their name implies, lead a dual life and require a mosaic of habitats in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. With over 6 billion people on Earth, most species are now persisting in habitats that have been directly or indirectly influenced by human activities. Some species have disappeared where their habitats have been completely destroyed, reduced, or rendered unsuitable. Habitat loss and degradation are widely considered by most researchers as the most important causes of amphibian population decline globally (Barinaga 1990; Wake and Morowitz 1991; Alford and Richards 1999). In this chapter, a background on the diverse habitat requirements of amphibians is provided, followed by a discussion of the effects of urbanization, agriculture, livestock grazing, timber production and harvesting, fire and hazardous fuel management, and roads on amphibians and their habitats. Also briefly discussed is the influence on amphibian habitats of natural disturbances, such as extreme weather events and climate change, given the potential for human activities to impact climate in the longer term. For amphibians in general, microhabitats are of greater importance than for other vertebrates. As ectotherms with a skin that is permeable to water and with naked gelatinous eggs, amphibians are physiologically constrained to be active during environmental conditions that provide appropriate body temperatures and adequate
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Zhou, Xi-Yin; Lei, Kun; Meng, Wei
2017-09-01
Coastal zones are population and economy highly intensity regions all over the world, and coastal habitat supports the sustainable development of human society. The accurate assessment of coastal habitat degradation is the essential prerequisite for coastal zone protection. In this study, an integrated framework of coastal habitat degradation assessment including landuse classification, habitat classifying and zoning, evaluation criterion of coastal habitat degradation and coastal habitat degradation index has been established for better regional coastal habitat assessment. Through establishment of detailed three-class landuse classification, the fine landscape change is revealed, the evaluation criterion of coastal habitat degradation through internal comparison based on the results of habitat classifying and zoning could indicate the levels of habitat degradation and distinguish the intensity of human disturbances in different habitat subareas under the same habitat classification. Finally, the results of coastal habitat degradation assessment could be achieved through coastal habitat degradation index (CHI). A case study of the framework is carried out in the Circum-Bohai-Sea-Coast, China, and the main results show the following: (1) The accuracy of all land use classes are above 90%, which indicates a satisfactory accuracy for the classification map. (2) The Circum-Bohai-Sea-Coast is divided into 3 kinds of habitats and 5 subareas. (3) In the five subareas of the Circum-Bohai-Sea-Coast, the levels of coastal habitat degradation own significant difference. The whole Circum-Bohai-Sea-Coast generally is in a worse state according to area weighting of each habitat subarea. This assessment framework of coastal habitat degradation would characterize the landuse change trend, realize better coastal habitat degradation assessment, reveal the habitat conservation tendency and distinguish intensity of human disturbances. Furthermore, it would support for accurate coastal
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A guide to calculating habitat-quality metrics to inform conservation of highly mobile species
Bieri, Joanna A.; Sample, Christine; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Earl, Julia E.; Erickson, Richard A.; Federico, Paula; Flockhart, D. T. Tyler; Nicol, Sam; Semmens, Darius J.; Skraber, T.; Wiederholt, Ruscena; Mattsson, Brady J.
2018-01-01
Many metrics exist for quantifying the relative value of habitats and pathways used by highly mobile species. Properly selecting and applying such metrics requires substantial background in mathematics and understanding the relevant management arena. To address this multidimensional challenge, we demonstrate and compare three measurements of habitat quality: graph-, occupancy-, and demographic-based metrics. Each metric provides insights into system dynamics, at the expense of increasing amounts and complexity of data and models. Our descriptions and comparisons of diverse habitat-quality metrics provide means for practitioners to overcome the modeling challenges associated with management or conservation of such highly mobile species. Whereas previous guidance for applying habitat-quality metrics has been scattered in diversified tracks of literature, we have brought this information together into an approachable format including accessible descriptions and a modeling case study for a typical example that conservation professionals can adapt for their own decision contexts and focal populations.Considerations for Resource ManagersManagement objectives, proposed actions, data availability and quality, and model assumptions are all relevant considerations when applying and interpreting habitat-quality metrics.Graph-based metrics answer questions related to habitat centrality and connectivity, are suitable for populations with any movement pattern, quantify basic spatial and temporal patterns of occupancy and movement, and require the least data.Occupancy-based metrics answer questions about likelihood of persistence or colonization, are suitable for populations that undergo localized extinctions, quantify spatial and temporal patterns of occupancy and movement, and require a moderate amount of data.Demographic-based metrics answer questions about relative or absolute population size, are suitable for populations with any movement pattern, quantify demographic
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Bowden, David A.; Rowden, Ashley A.; Leduc, Daniel; Beaumont, Jennifer; Clark, Malcolm R.
2016-01-01
Growing economic interest in seabed resources in the deep-sea highlights the need for information about the spatial distribution and vulnerability to disturbance of benthic habitats and fauna. Categorisation of seabed habitats for management is often based on topographic features such as canyons and seamounts that can be distinguished using regional bathymetry ('mega-habitats'). This is practical but because such habitats are contiguous with others, there is potential for overlap in the communities associated with them. Because concepts of habitat and community vulnerability are based on the traits of individual taxa, the nature and extent of differences between communities have implications for strategies to manage the environmental effects of resource use. Using towed video camera transects, we surveyed mega-epifaunal communities of three topographically-defined habitats (canyon, seamount or knoll, and continental slope) and two physico-chemically defined meso-scale habitats (cold seep and hydrothermal vent) in two regions off New Zealand to assess whether each supports a distinct type of community. Cold seep and hydrothermal vent communities were strongly distinct from those in other habitats. Across the other habitats, however, distinctions between communities were often weak and were not consistent between regions. Dissimilarities among communities across all habitats were stronger and the density of filter-feeding taxa was higher in the Bay of Plenty than on the Hikurangi Margin, whereas densities of predatory and scavenging taxa were higher on the Hikurangi Margin. Substratum diversity at small spatial scales (the general utility of topographically-defined mega-habitats in environmental management, (2) fine-scale survey of individual features is necessary to identify the locations, characteristics, and extents of ecologically important or vulnerable seabed communities, and (3) evaluation of habitat vulnerability to future events should be in the context of
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Stream habitat structure influences macroinvertebrate response to pesticides
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rasmussen, Jes Jessen; Wiberg-Larsen, Peter; Baattrup-Pedersen, Annette; Friberg, Nikolai; Kronvang, Brian
2012-01-01
Agricultural pesticides continue to impair surface water ecosystems, although there are few assessments of interactions with other modifications such as fine sediment and physical alteration for flood drainage. We, therefore, surveyed pesticide contamination and macroinvertebrates in 14 streams along a gradient of expected pesticide exposure using a paired-reach approach to differentiate effects between physically modified and less modified sites. Apparent pesticides effects on the relative abundance of SPEcies At Risk (SPEAR) were increased at sites with degraded habitats primarily due to the absence of species with specific preferences for hard substrates. Our findings highlight the importance of physical habitat degradation in the assessment and mitigation of pesticide risk in agricultural streams. - Highlights: ► %SPEAR abundance significantly decreased with increasing TU (D. magna). ► %SPEAR abundance was significantly lower when soft sediment was dominant. ► Species specific habitat preferences influenced the total effect of pesticides. ► This study has strong implications for future stream management and risk assessment. - Ecological impacts of pesticides on stream macroinvertebrates are influenced by the heterogeneity and physical structure of micro-habitats.
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Habitat selection of Tragulus napu and Tragulus javanicus using MaxEnt analysis
Taher, Taherah Mohd; Lihan, Tukimat; Mustapha, Muzzneena Ahmad; Nor, Shukor Mohd
2018-04-01
Large areas are converted into commercial land use such as agriculture and urban as a result from the increasing economic and population demand. This situation is largely affecting wildlife and its habitat. Malaysia as one of the largest oil palm-producing countries, should take precaution into conserving its forest and wildlife diversity. Although big mammal such as elephant and tiger are significant for wildlife diversity, medium and small mammals also contribute to the biological richness in Malaysia. This study aims to predict suitable habitat of medium mammal, Tragulus napu and Tragulus javanicus in the study area and identify its habitat characteristics. The method applied in this study uses maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling which utilized species distribution data and selected environmental variables to alienate potential habitat in the study area. The characteristic of the habitat was identified from the result of MaxEnt analysis. This method of habitat modeling shows different extent of predicted suitable habitat in the study area of both species in which Tragulus napu has a limited distribution compared to Tragulus javanicus. However, some characteristics are similar in both habitats. The knowledge on species habitat characteristics is important to predict wildlife habitat in order to make best decision on land use management and conservation.
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Wetland Plants of Great Salt Lake, A Guide to Identification, Communities, & Bird Habitat
Downard, Rebekah; Frank, Maureen; Perkins, Jennifer; Kettenring, Karin; Larese-Casanova, Mark
2017-01-01
Wetland Plants of Great Salt Lake: a guide to identification, communities, & bird habitat is a wetland plant identification guide, resulting from collaborative research efforts about Great Salt Lake (GSL) wetland conditions and bird habitat. Dr. Rebekah Downard collected dissertation field data from GSL wetlands during 2012–2015, the majority of which informed this work. Dr. Maureen Frank contributed her guide to GSL wetland vegetation and how to manage native plants as high-quality habitat f...
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Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert
Drake, Karla K.; Esque, Todd C.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; DeFalco, Lesley; Scoles, Sara; Modlin, Andrew T.; Medica, Philip A.
2015-01-01
Wildfires burned 24,254 ha of critical habitat designated for the recovery of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in southern Nevada during 2005. The proliferation of non-native annual grasses has increased wildfire frequency and extent in recent decades and continues to accelerate the conversion of tortoise habitat across the Mojave Desert. Immediate changes to vegetation are expected to reduce quality of critical habitat, yet whether tortoises will use burned and recovering habitat differently from intact unburned habitat is unknown. We compared movement patterns, home-range size, behavior, microhabitat use, reproduction, and survival for adult desert tortoises located in, and adjacent to, burned habitat to understand how tortoises respond to recovering burned habitat. Approximately 45% of home ranges in the post-fire environment contained burned habitat, and numerous observations (n = 12,223) corroborated tortoise use of both habitat types (52% unburned, 48% burned). Tortoises moved progressively deeper into burned habitat during the first 5 years following the fire, frequently foraging in burned habitats that had abundant annual plants, and returning to adjacent unburned habitat for cover provided by intact perennial vegetation. However, by years 6 and 7, the live cover of the short-lived herbaceous perennial desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) that typically re-colonizes burned areas declined, resulting in a contraction of tortoise movements from the burned areas. Health and egg production were similar between burned and unburned areas indicating that tortoises were able to acquire necessary resources using both areas. This study documents that adult Mojave desert tortoises continue to use habitat burned once by wildfire. Thus, continued management of this burned habitat may contribute toward the recovery of the species in the face of many sources of habitat loss.
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Innovative study methods for the Mediterranean coralligenous habitats
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P.A. Zapata-Ramírez
2013-11-01
Full Text Available Coralligenous habitats are of special interest in the Mediterranean Sea because they represent one of the most important biodiversity ‘hot-spots’ and are considered of great relevance for fisheries activities in the region. Despite their importance, however, there are missing consensual methodologies for their monitoring and, despite some attempts, no environmental or ecological quality indices have been established yet. This situation could be related to the difficulties associated with their exploration and their spatial heterogeneity. These habitats are in urgent need of efficient standard monitoring and management protocols programmes to develop an effective network for their conservation. Here we reviewed the available methodologies and robotics tools used to evaluate and monitor benthic habitats, highlighting the importance of defining rapid cost-effective sampling and analyses approaches and architectures for future monitoring of changes in coralligenous habitats based on current technological developments. We identified still images acquisitions as the most effective data gathering system. Stereo photogrammetry, photomosaic elaboration and three-dimensional (3D modelling may largely improve the data analysis and therefore the quality status assessment of the coralligenous habitats. The advantage and efficiency of different approaches and methods, and whether they should be applied and standardised for further monitoring activities, were discussed.
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National low-level waste management program radionuclide report series, Volume 14: Americium-241
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Winberg, M.R.; Garcia, R.S.
1995-09-01
This report, Volume 14 of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of americium-241 ( 241 Am). This report also includes discussions about waste types and forms in which 241 Am can be found and 241 Am behavior in the environment and in the human body
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program radionuclide report series. Volume 13, Curium-242
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Adams, J.P.
1995-08-01
This report, Volume 13 of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of curium-242 ( 242 Cm). This report also includes discussions about waste types and forms in which 242 Cm can be found and 242 Cm behavior in the environment and in the human body
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Birds and burns of the interior West: descriptions, habitats, and management in western forests.
Victoria Saab; William Block; Robin Russell; John Lehmkuhl; Lisa Bate; Rachel White
2007-01-01
This publication provides information about prescribed fire effects on habitats and populations of birds of the interior West and a synthesis of existing information on bird responses to fire across North America. Our literature synthesis indicated that aerial, ground, and bark insectivores favored recently burned habitats, whereas foliage gleaners preferred unburned...
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Movement reveals scale dependence in habitat selection of a large ungulate
Northrup, Joseph; Anderson, Charles R.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Wittemyer, George
2016-01-01
Ecological processes operate across temporal and spatial scales. Anthropogenic disturbances impact these processes, but examinations of scale dependence in impacts are infrequent. Such examinations can provide important insight to wildlife–human interactions and guide management efforts to reduce impacts. We assessed spatiotemporal scale dependence in habitat selection of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Piceance Basin of Colorado, USA, an area of ongoing natural gas development. We employed a newly developed animal movement method to assess habitat selection across scales defined using animal-centric spatiotemporal definitions ranging from the local (defined from five hour movements) to the broad (defined from weekly movements). We extended our analysis to examine variation in scale dependence between night and day and assess functional responses in habitat selection patterns relative to the density of anthropogenic features. Mule deer displayed scale invariance in the direction of their response to energy development features, avoiding well pads and the areas closest to roads at all scales, though with increasing strength of avoidance at coarser scales. Deer displayed scale-dependent responses to most other habitat features, including land cover type and habitat edges. Selection differed between night and day at the finest scales, but homogenized as scale increased. Deer displayed functional responses to development, with deer inhabiting the least developed ranges more strongly avoiding development relative to those with more development in their ranges. Energy development was a primary driver of habitat selection patterns in mule deer, structuring their behaviors across all scales examined. Stronger avoidance at coarser scales suggests that deer behaviorally mediated their interaction with development, but only to a degree. At higher development densities than seen in this area, such mediation may not be possible and thus maintenance of sufficient
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rudin, M.J.; Garcia, R.S.
1992-02-01
This volume serves as an introduction to the National Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series. This report includes discussions of radionuclides listed in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 61.55, Tables 1 and 2 (including alpha-emitting transuranics with half-lives greater than five years). Each report includes information regarding radiological and chemical characteristics of specific radionuclides. Information is also included discussing waste streams and waste forms that may contain each radionuclide, and radionuclide behavior in the environment and in the human body. Not all radionuclides commonly found at low-level radioactive waste sites are included in this report. The discussion in this volume explains the rationale of the radionuclide selection process
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Libby/Hungry Horse Dams Wildlife Mitigation Habitat Protection : Interim Report.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wood, Marilyn
1991-04-01
The Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program identified mitigation goals for Hungry Horse and Libby dams (1987). Specific programs goals included: (1) protect and/or enhance 4565 acres of wetland habitat in the Flathead Valley; (2) protect 2462 acres of prairie habitat within the vicinity of the Tobacco Plains Columbian sharp-tailed grouse; (3) protect 8590 acres riparian habitat in northwest Montana for grizzly and black bears; and (4) protect 11,500 acres of terrestrial furbearer habitat through cooperative agreements with state and federal agencies and private landowners. The purpose of this project is to continue to develop and obtain information necessary to evaluate and implement specific wildlife habitat protection actions in northwestern Montana. This report summarizes project work completed between May 1, 1990, and December 31, 1990. There were three primary project objectives during this time: obtain specific information necessary to develop the mitigation program for Columbian sharp-tailed grouse; continue efforts necessary to develop, refine, and coordinate the mitigation programs for waterfowl/wetlands and grizzly/black bears; determine the opportunity and appropriate strategies for protecting terrestrial furbearer habitat by lease or management agreements on state, federal and private lands. 19 refs., 1 tab.
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Gillig, Dhazn; McCarl, Bruce A.; Jones, Lonnie L.; Boadu, Frederick
2004-04-01
Groundwater management in the Edwards Aquifer in Texas is in the process of moving away from a traditional right of capture economic regime toward a more environmentally sensitive scheme designed to preserve endangered species habitats. This study explores economic and environmental implications of proposed groundwater management and water development strategies under a proposed regional Habitat Conservation Plan. Results show that enhancing the habitat by augmenting water flow costs $109-1427 per acre-foot and that regional water development would be accelerated by the more extreme possibilities under the Habitat Conservation Plan. The findings also indicate that a water market would improve regional welfare and lower water development but worsen environmental attributes.
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Habitat suitability models for cavity-nesting birds in a postfire landscape
Robin E. Russell; Victoria A. Saab; Jonathan G. Dudley
2007-01-01
Models of habitat suitability in postfire landscapes are needed by land managers to make timely decisions regarding postfire timber harvest and other management activities. Many species of cavity-nesting birds are dependent on postfire landscapes for breeding and other aspects of their life history and are responsive to postfire management activities (e.g., timber...
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Bianchi, F.J.J.A.; Schellhorn, N.A.; Cunningham, S.A.
2013-01-01
1 Landscape management for enhanced natural pest control requires knowledge of the ecological function of the habitats present in the landscape mosaic. However, little is known about which habitat types in agricultural landscapes function as reproduction habitats for arthropod pests and predators
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Monitoring and mapping selected riparian habitat along the lower Snake River
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Downs, J. L; Tiller, B. L [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States); Witter, M. [Shannon and Wilson, Inc., Seattle, WA (United States). Geotechnical and Environmental Consultants, Seattle, Washington (United States); Mazaika, R. [Corps of Engineers, Portland, OR (United States)
1996-01-01
Studies in this document were initiated to establish baseline information on riparian and wetland habitat conditions at the areas studied under the current reservoir operations on the lower Snake River. Two approaches were used to assess habitat at 28 study sites selected on the four pools on the lower Snake River. These areas all contribute significant riparian habitat along the river, and several of these areas are designated habitat management units. At 14 of the 28 sites, we monitored riparian habitat on three dates during the growing season to quantify vegetation abundance and composition along three transects: soil nutrients, moisture, and pH and water level and pH. A second approach involved identifying any differences in the extent and amount of riparian/wetland habitat currently found at the study areas from that previously documented. We used both ground and boat surveys to map and classify the changes in vegetative cover along the shoreline at the 14 monitoring sites and at 14 additional sites along the lower Snake selected to represent various riparian/wetland habitat conditions. Results of these mapping efforts are compared with maps of cover types previously generated using aerial photography taken in 1987.
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Knick, Steven T.; Hanser, Steven E.; Grace, James B.; Hollenbeck, Jeff P.; Leu, Matthias
2017-01-01
Piñon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands have been expanding their range across the intermountain western United States into landscapes dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) shrublands. Management actions using prescribed fire and mechanical cutting to reduce woodland cover and control expansion provided opportunities to understand how environmental structure and changes due to these treatments influence bird communities in piñon-juniper systems. We surveyed 43 species of birds and measured vegetation for 1–3 years prior to treatment and 6–7 years post-treatment at 13 locations across Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. We used structural equation modeling to develop and statistically test our conceptual model that the current bird assembly at a site is structured primarily by the previous bird community with additional drivers from current and surrounding habitat conditions as well as external regional bird dynamics. Treatment reduced woodland cover by >5% at 80 of 378 survey sites. However, habitat change achieved by treatment was highly variable because actual disturbance differed widely in extent and intensity. Biological inertia in the bird community was the strongest single driver; 72% of the variation in the bird assemblage was explained by the community that existed seven years earlier. Greater net reduction in woodlands resulted in slight shifts in the bird community to one having ecotone or shrubland affinities. However, the overall influence of woodland changes from treatment were relatively small and were buffered by other extrinsic factors. Regional bird dynamics did not significantly influence the structure of local bird communities at our sites. Our results suggest that bird communities in piñon-juniper woodlands can be highly stable when management treatments are conducted in areas with more advanced woodland development and at the level of disturbance measured in our study.
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Cribb, Nardi; Miller, Cara; Seuront, Laurent
2013-02-01
Limited information is available regarding the habitat preference of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) in South Australian estuarine environments. The need to overcome this paucity of information is crucial for management and conservation initiatives. This preliminary study investigates the space-time patterns of habitat preference by the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin in the Port Adelaide River-Barker Inlet estuary, a South Australian, urbanised, coastal environment. More specifically, the study aim was to identify a potential preference between bare sand substrate and seagrass beds, the two habitat types present in this environment, through the resighting frequency of recognisable individual dolphins. Photo-identification surveys covering the 118 km2 sanctuary area were conducted over 2 survey periods May to August 2006 and from March 2009 to February 2010. Sighting frequency of recognisable individual Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins established a significant preference for the bare sand habitat. More specifically, 72 and 18% of the individuals sighted at least on two occasions were observed in the bare sand and seagrass habitats respectively. This trend was consistently observed at both seasonal and annual scales, suggesting a consistency in the distinct use of these two habitats. It is anticipated that these results will benefit the further development of management and conservation strategies.
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Strategies for monitoring terrestrial animals and habitats
Richard Holthausen; Raymond L. Czaplewski; Don DeLorenzo; Greg Hayward; Winifred B. Kessler; Pat Manley; Kevin S. McKelvey; Douglas S. Powell; Leonard F. Ruggiero; Michael K. Schwartz; Bea Van Horne; Christina D. Vojta
2005-01-01
This General Technical Report (GTR) addresses monitoring strategies for terrestrial animals and habitats. It focuses on monitoring associated with National Forest Management Act planning and is intended to apply primarily to monitoring efforts that are broader than individual National Forests. Primary topics covered in the GTR are monitoring requirements; ongoing...
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Complementary habitat use by wild bees in agro-natural landscapes.
Mandelik, Yael; Winfree, Rachael; Neeson, Thomas; Kremen, Claire
2012-07-01
Human activity causes abrupt changes in resource availability across the landscape. In order to persist in human-altered landscapes organisms need to shift their habitat use accordingly. Little is known about the mechanisms by which whole communities persist in human-altered landscapes, including the role of complementary habitat use. We define complementary habitat use as the use of different habitats at different times by the same group of species during the course of their activity period. We hypothesize that complementary habitat use is a mechanism through which native bee species persist in human-altered landscapes. To test this idea, we studied wild bee communities in agro-natural landscapes and explored their community-level patterns of habitat and resource use over space and time. The study was conducted in six agro-natural landscapes in the eastern United States, each containing three main bee habitat types (natural habitat, agricultural fields, and old fields). Each of the three habitats exhibited a unique seasonal pattern in amount, diversity, and composition of floral resources, and together they created phenological complementarity in foraging resources for bees. Individual bee species as well as the bee community responded to these spatiotemporal patterns in floral availability and exhibited a parallel pattern of complementary habitat use. The majority of wild bee species, including all the main crop visitors, used fallow areas within crops early in the season, shifted to crops in mid-season, and used old-field habitats later in the season. The natural-forest habitat supported very limited number of bees, mostly visitors of non-crop plants. Old fields are thus an important feature in these arable landscapes for maintaining crop pollination services. Our study provides a detailed examination of how shifts in habitat and resource use may enable bees to persist in highly dynamic agro-natural landscapes, and points to the need for a broad cross-habitat
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program radionuclide report series. Volume 13, Curium-242
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Adams, J.P.
1995-08-01
This report, Volume 13 of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of curium-242 ({sup 242}Cm). This report also includes discussions about waste types and forms in which {sup 242}Cm can be found and {sup 242}Cm behavior in the environment and in the human body.
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Disentangling urban habitat and matrix effects on wild bee species.
Fischer, Leonie K; Eichfeld, Julia; Kowarik, Ingo; Buchholz, Sascha
2016-01-01
In face of a dramatic decline of wild bee species in many rural landscapes, potential conservation functions of urban areas gain importance. Yet effects of urbanization on pollinators, and in particular on wild bees, remain ambiguous and not comprehensively understood. This is especially true for amenity grassland and extensively managed wastelands within large-scale residential housing areas. Using Berlin as a study region, we aimed to investigate (a) if these greenspaces are accepted by wild bee assemblages as foraging habitats; (b) how assemblage structure of bees and individual bee species are affected by different habitat (e.g., management, flower density) and urban matrix variables (e.g., isolation, urbanization); and (c) to what extent grassland restoration can promote bees in urban environments. In summer 2012, we collected 62 bee species belonging to more than 20% of the taxa known for Berlin. Urbanization significantly affected species composition of bees; 18 species were affiliated to different levels of urbanization. Most bee species were not affected by any of the environmental variables tested, and urbanization had a negative effect only for one bee species. Further, we determined that restoration of diverse grasslands positively affected bee species richnesss in urban environments. We conclude that differently structured and managed greenspaces in large-scale housing areas can provide additional foraging habitats and refuges for pollinators. This supports approaches towards a biodiversity friendly management within urban regions and may be of particular importance given that anthropogenic pressure is increasing in many rural landscapes.
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Using Video to Communicate Scientific Findings -- Habitat Connections in Urban Streams
Harned, D. A.; Moorman, M.; Fitzpatrick, F. A.; McMahon, G.
2011-12-01
The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) provides information about (1) water-quality conditions and how those conditions vary locally, regionally, and nationally, (2) water-quality trends, and (3) factors that affect those conditions. As part of the NAWQA Program, the Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems (EUSE) study examined the vulnerability and resilience of streams to urbanization. Completion of the EUSE study has resulted in over 20 scientific publications. Video podcasts are being used in addition to these publications to communicate the relevance of these scientific findings to more general audiences such as resource managers, educational groups, public officials, and the general public. An example of one of the podcasts is a film examining effects of urbanization on stream habitat. "Habitat Connections in Urban Streams" explores how urbanization changes some of the physical features that provide in-stream habitat and examines examples of stream restoration projects designed to improve stream form and function. The "connections" theme is emphasized, including the connection of in-stream habitats from the headwaters to the stream mouth; connections between stream habitat and the surrounding floodplains, wetlands and basin; and connections between streams and people-- resource managers, public officials, scientists, and the general public. Examples of innovative stream restoration projects in Baltimore Maryland; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Portland Oregon are shown with interviews of managers, engineers, scientists, and others describing the projects. The film is combined with a website with links to extended film versions of the stream-restoration project interviews. The website and films are an example of USGS efforts aimed at improving science communication to a general audience. The film is available for access from the EUSE website: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/urban/html/podcasts.html. Additional films are
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State-of-the-art techniques for inventory of Great Lakes aquatic habitats and resources
Edsall, Thomas A.; Brock, R.H.; Bukata, R.P.; Dawson, J.J.; Horvath, F.J.; Busch, W.-Dieter N.; Sly, Peter G.
1992-01-01
This section of the Classification and Inventory of Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat report was prepared as a series of individually authored contributions that describe, in various levels of detail, state-of-the-art techniques that can be used alone or in combination to inventory aquatic habitats and resources in the Laurentian Great Lakes system. No attempt was made to review and evaluate techniques that are used routinely in limnological and fisheries surveys and inventories because it was felt that users of this document would be familiar with them.
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Safeguarding saproxylic fungal biodiversity in Apennine beech forest priority habitats
Maggi, Oriana; Lunghini, Dario; Pecoraro, Lorenzo; Sabatini, Francesco Maria; Persiani, Anna Maria
2015-04-01
The FAGUS LIFE Project (LIFE11/NAT/IT/135) targets two European priority habitats, i.e. Habitat 9210* Apennine beech forests with Taxus and Ilex, and Habitat 9220* Apennine beech forests with Abies alba, within two National Parks: Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni; Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga. The current limited distribution of the target habitats is also due to the impact of human activities on forest systems, such as harvesting and grazing. The FAGUS project aims at developing and testing management strategies able to integrate the conservation of priority forest habitats (9210* and 9220*) and the sustainable use of forest resources. In order to assess the responses to different management treatments the BACI monitoring design (Before-After, Control-Intervention) has been applied on forest structure and diversity of focus taxa before and after experimental harvesting treatments. Conventional management of Apennine beech forests impacts a wealth of taxonomic groups, such as saproxylic beetles and fungi, which are threatened throughout Europe by the lack of deadwood and of senescing trees, and by the homogeneous structure of managed forests. Deadwood has been denoted as the most important manageable habitat for biodiversity in forests not only for supporting a wide diversity of organisms, but also for playing a prominent role in several ecological processes, creating the basis for the cycling of photosynthetic energy, carbon, and nutrients stored in woody material. Especially fungi can be regarded as key group for understanding and managing biodiversity associated with decaying wood. The before-intervention field sampling was carried out in Autumn 2013 in 33 monitoring plots across the two national Parks. The occurrence at plot level of both Ascomycota and Basidiomycota sporocarps was surveyed. All standing and downed deadwood with a minimum diameter of 10 cm was sampled for sporocarps larger than 1 mm, and information on decay class and fungal morphogroups
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Bears, Big and Little. Young Discovery Library Series.
Pfeffer, Pierre
This book is written for children 5 through 10. Part of a series designed to develop their curiosity, fascinate them and educate them, this volume describes: (1) the eight species of bears, including black bear, brown bear, grizzly bear, spectacled bear, sun bear, sloth bear, polar bear, and giant panda; (2) geographical habitats of bears; (3)…
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GIS-based approach for quantifying landscape connectivity of Javan Hawk-Eagle habitat
Nurfatimah, C.; Syartinilia; Mulyani, Y. A.
2018-05-01
Javan Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus bartelsi; JHE) is a law-protected endemic raptor which currently faced the decreased in number and size of habitat patches that will lead to patch isolation and species extinction. This study assessed the degree of connectivity between remnant habitat patches in central part of Java by utilizing Conefor Sensinode software as an additional tool for ArcGIS. The connectivity index was determined by three fractions which are infra, flux and connector. Using connectivity indices successfully identified 4 patches as core habitat, 9 patches as stepping-stone habitat and 6 patches as isolated habitat were derived from those connectivity indices. Those patches then being validated with land cover map derived from Landsat 8 of August 2014. 36% of core habitat covered by natural forest, meanwhile stepping stone habitat has 55% natural forest and isolated habitat covered by 59% natural forest. Isolated patches were caused by zero connectivity (PCcon = 0) and the patch size which too small to support viable JHE population. Yet, the condition of natural forest and the surrounding matrix landscape in isolated patches actually support the habitat need. Thus, it is very important to conduct the right conservation management system based on the condition of each patches.
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Estimating fish exploitation and aquatic habitat loss across diffuse inland recreational fisheries.
de Kerckhove, Derrick Tupper; Minns, Charles Kenneth; Chu, Cindy
2015-01-01
The current state of many freshwater fish stocks worldwide is largely unknown but suspected to be vulnerable to exploitation from recreational fisheries and habitat degradation. Both these factors, combined with complex ecological dynamics and the diffuse nature of inland fisheries could lead to an invisible collapse: the drastic decline in fish stocks without great public or management awareness. In this study we provide a method to address the pervasive knowledge gaps in regional rates of exploitation and habitat degradation, and demonstrate its use in one of North America's largest and most diffuse recreational freshwater fisheries (Ontario, Canada). We estimated that (1) fish stocks were highly exploited and in apparent danger of collapse in management zones close to large population centres, and (2) fish habitat was under a low but constant threat of degradation at rates comparable to deforestation in Ontario and throughout Canada. These findings confirm some commonly held, but difficult to quantify, beliefs in inland fisheries management but also provide some further insights including (1) large anthropogenic projects greater than one hectare could contribute much more to fish habitat loss on an area basis than the cumulative effect of smaller projects within one year, (2) hooking mortality from catch-and-release fisheries is likely a greater source of mortality than the harvest itself, and (3) in most northern management zones over 50% of the fisheries resources are not yet accessible to anglers. While this model primarily provides a framework to prioritize management decisions and further targeted stock assessments, we note that our regional estimates of fisheries productivity and exploitation were similar to broadscale monitoring efforts by the Province of Ontario. We discuss the policy implications from our results and extending the model to other jurisdictions and countries.
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Daytime habitat selection for juvenile parr brown trout (Salmo trutta) in small lowland streams
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Conallin, J.; Boegh, E.; Olsen, M.
2014-01-01
Physical habitat is important in determining the carrying capacity of juvenile brown trout, and within freshwater management. Summer daytime physical habitat selection for the parr lifestage (7-20 cm) juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta) was assessed in 6 small lowland streams. Habitat preference...... was determined for the four variables; water velocity, water depth, substrate and cover, and the preferences for physical habitat selection were expressed in terms of habitat suitability indices (HSI's). The statistical confidence of HSI's was evaluated using power analysis. It was found that a minimum of 22...... fish observations was needed to have statistical confidence in the HSIs for water depth, and a minimum of 92 fish observations for water velocity during daytime summer conditions. Generally parr were utilising the deeper habitats, indicating preference for deeper water. Cover was also being selected...
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Santoro, M.; Dubois, G.; Schulz, M.; Skøien, J. O.; Nativi, S.; Peedell, S.; Boldrini, E.
2012-04-01
The number of interoperable research infrastructures has increased significantly with the growing awareness of the efforts made by the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). One of the Social Benefit Areas (SBA) that is benefiting most from GEOSS is biodiversity, given the costs of monitoring the environment and managing complex information, from space observations to species records including their genetic characteristics. But GEOSS goes beyond the simple sharing of the data as it encourages the connectivity of models (the GEOSS Model Web), an approach easing the handling of often complex multi-disciplinary questions such as understanding the impact of environmental and climatological factors on ecosystems and habitats. In the context of GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot - Phase 3 (AIP-3), the EC-funded EuroGEOSS and GENESIS projects have developed and successfully demonstrated the "eHabitat" use scenario dealing with Climate Change and Biodiversity domains. Based on the EuroGEOSS multidisciplinary brokering infrastructure and on the DOPA (Digital Observatory for Protected Areas, see http://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu/), this scenario demonstrated how a GEOSS-based interoperability infrastructure can aid decision makers to assess and possibly forecast the irreplaceability of a given protected area, an essential indicator for assessing the criticality of threats this protected area is exposed to. The "eHabitat" use scenario was advanced in the GEOSS Sprint to Plenary activity; the advanced scenario will include the "EuroGEOSS Data Access Broker" and a new version of the eHabitat model in order to support the use of uncertain data. The multidisciplinary interoperability infrastructure which is used to demonstrate the "eHabitat" use scenario is composed of the following main components: a) A Discovery Broker: this component is able to discover resources from a plethora of different and heterogeneous geospatial services, presenting them on a single and
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Does Wyoming's Core Area Policy Protect Winter Habitats for Greater Sage-Grouse?
Smith, Kurt T.; Beck, Jeffrey L.; Pratt, Aaron C.
2016-10-01
Conservation reserves established to protect important habitat for wildlife species are used world-wide as a wildlife conservation measure. Effective reserves must adequately protect year-round habitats to maintain wildlife populations. Wyoming's Sage-Grouse Core Area policy was established to protect breeding habitats for greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus). Protecting only one important seasonal habitat could result in loss or degradation of other important habitats and potential declines in local populations. The purpose of our study was to identify the timing of winter habitat use, the extent which individuals breeding in Core Areas used winter habitats, and develop resource selection functions to assess effectiveness of Core Areas in conserving sage-grouse winter habitats in portions of 5 Core Areas in central and north-central Wyoming during winters 2011-2015. We found that use of winter habitats occured over a longer period than current Core Area winter timing stipulations and a substantial amount of winter habitat outside of Core Areas was used by individuals that bred in Core Areas, particularly in smaller Core Areas. Resource selection functions for each study area indicated that sage-grouse were selecting habitats in response to landscapes dominated by big sagebrush and flatter topography similar to other research on sage-grouse winter habitat selection. The substantial portion of sage-grouse locations and predicted probability of selection during winter outside small Core Areas illustrate that winter requirements for sage-grouse are not adequately met by existing Core Areas. Consequently, further considerations for identifying and managing important winter sage-grouse habitats under Wyoming's Core Area Policy are warranted.
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Coastal vertebrate exposure to predicted habitat changes due to sea level rise
Hunter, Elizabeth A.; Nibbelink, Nathan P.; Alexander, Clark R.; Barrett, Kyle; Mengak, Lara F.; Guy, Rachel; Moore, Clinton; Cooper, Robert J.
2015-01-01
Sea level rise (SLR) may degrade habitat for coastal vertebrates in the Southeastern United States, but it is unclear which groups or species will be most exposed to habitat changes. We assessed 28 coastal Georgia vertebrate species for their exposure to potential habitat changes due to SLR using output from the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model and information on the species’ fundamental niches. We assessed forecasted habitat change up to the year 2100 using three structural habitat metrics: total area, patch size, and habitat permanence. Almost all of the species (n = 24) experienced negative habitat changes due to SLR as measured by at least one of the metrics. Salt marsh and ocean beach habitats experienced the most change (out of 16 categorical land cover types) across the three metrics and species that used salt marsh extensively (rails and marsh sparrows) were ranked highest for exposure to habitat changes. Species that nested on ocean beaches (Diamondback Terrapins, shorebirds, and terns) were also ranked highly, but their use of other foraging habitats reduced their overall exposure. Future studies on potential effects of SLR on vertebrates in southeastern coastal ecosystems should focus on the relative importance of different habitat types to these species’ foraging and nesting requirements. Our straightforward prioritization approach is applicable to other coastal systems and can provide insight to managers on which species to focus resources, what components of their habitats need to be protected, and which locations in the study area will provide habitat refuges in the face of SLR.
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Spatial patterns in gravel habitats and communities in the central and eastern English Channel
Coggan, Roger; Barrio Froján, Christopher R. S.; Diesing, Markus; Aldridge, John
2012-10-01
The distribution of sediment type and benthic communities in the central and eastern English Channel is shown to be polarised around a distinctive local hydrodynamic feature. The seabed in the region includes an extensive area of gravel substrate which is both an important habitat for benthic marine fauna and a valuable source of material for the marine aggregate industry. Effective management of the area is predicated on an understanding of whether it represents a single homogeneous unit, or several different units that may need to be managed in different ways. The aim of this study was to provide information that would inform such management decisions. Spatial patterns in gravel habitats and communities were studied by investigating the physical environment through modelled and empirical data, and the distribution of infauna and epifauna along an east-west trending transect. A common spatial pattern was observed in both physical and biological parameters, but rather than indicating a simple longitudinal gradient, there was a distinct polarisation around a central feature, a bedload parting (BLP) zone situated between the Isle of Wight and Cotentin peninsula. Sediments and communities at the eastern and western ends of the transect were more similar to each other than to those in the middle. The strong hydrodynamic regime in the BLP area controls sediment distribution, transporting finer material, mainly sand, away from the mid transect area. The pattern in sand content of the substrate mirrors the magnitude of the potential bedload transport, which is complex in this region due to the interplay between the M2 and M4 tidal constituents and produced a series of erosional and depositional zones. The structure of benthic communities reflected the local substrate and hydrodynamic conditions, with sponges observed among the stable substrates and stronger currents that characterised the mid transect area, while infauna became more diverse towards the ends of the
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
McIntosh, Bruce A.; Clark, Sharon E.; Sedell, James R.
1995-01-01
This document contains summary reports of stream habitat-surveys, conducted in the Willamette River basin, by the Bureau of Fisheries (BOF, now National Marine Fisheries Service) from 1934-1942. These surveys were part of a larger project to survey streams in the Columbia River basin that provided, or had provided, spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead (Rich, 1948). The purpose of the survey was, as described by Rich, 'to determine the present condition of the various tributaries with respect to their availability and usefulness for the migration, breeding, and rearing of migratory fishes'. Current estimates of the loss of anadromous fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin are based on a series of reports published from 1949-1952 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The reports were brief, qualitative accounts of over 5000 miles of stream surveys conducted by the BOF from 1934-1946 (Bryant, 1949; Bryant and Parkhurst, 1950; Parkhurst, 1950a-c; Parkhurst et al., 1950). Despite their brevity, these BOF reports have formed the basis for estimating fish habitat losses and conditions in the Columbia River Basin (Fulton, 1968, 1970; Thompson, 1976; NPPC, 1986). Recently, the field notebooks from the BOF surveys were discovered. The data is now archived and stored in the Forest Science DataBank at Oregon State University (Stafford et al., 1984; 1988). These records are the earliest and most comprehensive documentation available of the condition and extent of anadromous fish habitat before hydropower development in the Columbia River Basin. They provide the baseline data for quantifying changes and setting a benchmark for future restoration of anadromous fish habitat throughout the Basin. The summaries contained in this book are exact replicates of the originals. Due to discrepancies between the field data and the summaries, the database should be used to assess pool and substrate conditions. This data is available from the Bonneville Power
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Paramesha Mallegowda
2015-02-01
Full Text Available Most wildlife habitats and migratory routes are extremely threatened due to increasing demands on forestland and forest resources by burgeoning human population. Corridor landscape in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT is one among them, subjected to various anthropogenic pressures. Human habitation, intensive farming, coffee plantations, ill-planned infrastructure developments and rapid spreading of invasive plant species Lantana camara, pose a serious threat to wildlife habitat and their migration. Aim of this work is to create detailed NDVI based land change maps and to use them to identify time-series trends in greening and browning in forest corridors in the study area and to identify the drivers that are influencing the observed changes. Over the four decades in BRT, NDVI increased in the core area of the forest and reduced in the fringe areas. The change analysis between 1973 and 2014 shows significant changes; browning due to anthropogenic activities as well as natural processes and greening due to Lantana spread. This indicates that the change processes are complex, involving multiple driving factors, such as socio-economic changes, high population growth, historical forest management practices and policies. Our study suggests that the use of updated and accurate change detection maps will be useful in taking appropriate site specific action-oriented conservation decisions to restore and manage the degraded critical wildlife corridors in human-dominated landscape.
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Watershed Evaluation and Habitat Response to Recent Storms : Annual Report for 1999.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rhodes, Jonathan J.; Huntington, Charles W.
2000-02-01
Large and powerful storm systems moved through the Pacific Northwest during the wet season of 1995--96, triggering flooding, mass erosion, and, alteration of salmon habitats in affected watersheds. This project study was initiated to assess whether watershed conditions are causing damage, triggered by storm events, to salmon habitat on public lands in the Snake River basin. The storms and flooding in 1995--96 provide a prime opportunity to examine whether habitat conditions are improving, because the effects of land management activities on streams and salmon habitat are often not fully expressed until triggered by storms and floods. To address these issues, they are studying the recent storm responses of watersheds and salmon habitat in systematically selected subbasins and watersheds within the Snake River system. The study watersheds include several in the Wenaha and Tucannon subbasins in Washington and Oregon, and the watersheds of Squaw Creek (roaded) and Weir Creek (unroaded) in the Lochsa River subbasin, Idaho. The study was designed to examine possible differences in the effects of the storms in broadly comparable watersheds with differing magnitudes or types of disturbance. Watershed response is examined by comparing storm response mechanisms, such as rates of mass failure, among watersheds with similar attributes, but different levels of land management. The response of salmon habitat conditions is being examined by comparing habitat conditions before and after the storms in a stream and among streams in watersheds with similar attributes but different levels of land management. If appropriate to the results, the study will identify priority measures for reducing the severity of storm responses in watersheds within the Snake River Basin with habitat for at-risk salmon. This annual report describes the attributes of the study watersheds and the criteria and methods used to select them. The report also describes the watershed and fish habitat attributes
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Watershed evaluation and habitat response to recent storms; annual report for 1999
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rhodes, Jonathan J.; Huntington, Charles W.
2000-01-01
Large and powerful storm systems moved through the Pacific Northwest during the wet season of 1995--96, triggering flooding, mass erosion, and, alteration of salmon habitats in affected watersheds. This project study was initiated to assess whether watershed conditions are causing damage, triggered by storm events, to salmon habitat on public lands in the Snake River basin. The storms and flooding in 1995--96 provide a prime opportunity to examine whether habitat conditions are improving, because the effects of land management activities on streams and salmon habitat are often not fully expressed until triggered by storms and floods. To address these issues, they are studying the recent storm responses of watersheds and salmon habitat in systematically selected subbasins and watersheds within the Snake River system. The study watersheds include several in the Wenaha and Tucannon subbasins in Washington and Oregon, and the watersheds of Squaw Creek (roaded) and Weir Creek (unroaded) in the Lochsa River subbasin, Idaho. The study was designed to examine possible differences in the effects of the storms in broadly comparable watersheds with differing magnitudes or types of disturbance. Watershed response is examined by comparing storm response mechanisms, such as rates of mass failure, among watersheds with similar attributes, but different levels of land management. The response of salmon habitat conditions is being examined by comparing habitat conditions before and after the storms in a stream and among streams in watersheds with similar attributes but different levels of land management. If appropriate to the results, the study will identify priority measures for reducing the severity of storm responses in watersheds within the Snake River Basin with habitat for at-risk salmon. This annual report describes the attributes of the study watersheds and the criteria and methods used to select them. The report also describes the watershed and fish habitat attributes
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Monitoring Natura 2000 habitats: habitat 92A0 in central Italy as an example
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Emanuela Carli
2016-10-01
Full Text Available The evaluation and the subsequent monitoring of the conservation status of habitats is one of the key steps in nature protection. While some European countries have tested suitable methodologies, others, including Italy, lack procedures tested at the national level. The aim of this work is to propose a method to assess the conservation status of habitat 92A0 (Salix alba and Populus alba galleries in central Italy, and to test the method using data from the Molise region. We selected parameters that highlight the conservation status of the flora and vegetation in order to assess habitat structures and functions at the site level. After selecting the parameters, we tested them on a training dataset of 22 unpublished phytosociological relevés taken from the whole dataset, which consists of 119 relevés (49 unpublished relevés for the study area, and 70 published relevés for central Italy. We detected the most serious conservation problems in the middle and lower course of the Biferno river: the past use of river terraces for agriculture and continual human interventions on the river water flow have drastically reduced the riparian forests of Molise. Our results show that in areas in which forest structure and floristic composition have been substantially modified, certain alien plant species, particularly Robinia pseudoacacia, Amorpha fruticosa and Erigeron canadensis, have spread extensively along rivers. In the management of riparian forests, actions aimed at maintaining the stratification of the forest, its uneven-agedness and tree species richness may help to ensure the conservation status, as well as favour the restoration, of habitat 92A0.
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De Vita, A; Bernardo, L; Gargano, D; Palermo, A M; Peruzzi, L; Musacchio, A
2009-11-01
Many factors have contributed to the richness of narrow endemics in the Mediterranean, including long-lasting human impact on pristine landscapes. The abandonment of traditional land-use practices is causing forest recovery throughout the Mediterranean mountains, by increasing reduction and fragmentation of open habitats. We investigated the population genetic structure and habitat dynamics of Plantago brutia Ten., a narrow endemic in mountain pastures of S Italy. Some plants were cultivated in the botanical garden to explore the species' breeding system. Genetic diversity was evaluated based on inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) polymorphisms in 150 individuals from most of known stands. Recent dynamics in the species habitat were checked over a 14-year period. Flower phenology, stigma receptivity and experimental pollinations revealed protogyny and self-incompatibility. With the exception of very small and isolated populations, high genetic diversity was found at the species and population level. amova revealed weak differentiation among populations, and the Mantel test suggested absence of isolation-by-distance. Multivariate analysis of population and genetic data distinguished the populations based on genetic richness, size and isolation. Landscape analyses confirmed recent reduction and isolation of potentially suitable habitats. Low selfing, recent isolation and probable seed exchange may have preserved P. brutia populations from higher loss of genetic diversity. Nonetheless, data related to very small populations suggest that this species may suffer further fragmentation and isolation. To preserve most of the species' genetic richness, future management efforts should consider the large and isolated populations recognised in our analyses.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Noun, R. J.
1983-06-01
The SERI Wind Energy Program manages the areas or innovative research, wind systems analysis, and environmental compatibility for the U.S. Department of Energy. Since 1978, SERI wind program staff have conducted in-house aerodynamic and engineering analyses of novel concepts for wind energy conversion and have managed over 20 subcontracts to determine technical feasibility; the most promising of these concepts is the passive blade cyclic pitch control project. In the area of systems analysis, the SERI program has analyzed the impact of intermittent generation on the reliability of electric utility systems using standard utility planning models. SERI has also conducted methodology assessments. Environmental issues related to television interference and acoustic noise from large wind turbines have been addressed. SERI has identified the causes, effects, and potential control of acoustic noise emissions from large wind turbines.
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Naturescope, 1987
1987-01-01
Consists of activities which address the causes of habitat destruction and the effects of habitat loss on animals and plants. Identifies habitat loss as the major reason for the endangerment and extinction of plant and animal species. (ML)
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McKenna, Thomas M; Bawa, Gagandeep; Kumar, Kamal; Reifman, Jaques
2007-04-01
The physiology analysis system (PAS) was developed as a resource to support the efficient warehousing, management, and analysis of physiology data, particularly, continuous time-series data that may be extensive, of variable quality, and distributed across many files. The PAS incorporates time-series data collected by many types of data-acquisition devices, and it is designed to free users from data management burdens. This Web-based system allows both discrete (attribute) and time-series (ordered) data to be manipulated, visualized, and analyzed via a client's Web browser. All processes occur on a server, so that the client does not have to download data or any application programs, and the PAS is independent of the client's computer operating system. The PAS contains a library of functions, written in different computer languages that the client can add to and use to perform specific data operations. Functions from the library are sequentially inserted into a function chain-based logical structure to construct sophisticated data operators from simple function building blocks, affording ad hoc query and analysis of time-series data. These features support advanced mining of physiology data.
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Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Grasshopper Sparrow
Dechant, Jill A.; Sondreal, Marriah L.; Johnson, Douglas H.; Igl, Lawrence D.; Goldade, Christopher M.; Nenneman, Melvin P.; Euliss, Betty R.
1998-01-01
Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on grassland birds were summarized from information in more than 5,500 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the relative densities of the species in North America, based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data. Although birds frequently are observed outside the breeding range indicated, the maps are intended to show areas where managers might concentrate their attention. It may be ineffectual to manage habitat at a site for a species that rarely occurs in an area. The species account begins with a brief capsule statement, which provides the fundamental components or keys to management for the species. A section on breeding range outlines the current breeding distribution of the species in North America, including areas that could not be mapped using BBS data. The suitable habitat section describes the breeding habitat and occasionally microhabitat characteristics of the species, especially those habitats that occur in the Great Plains. Details on habitat and microhabitat requirements often provide clues to how a species will respond to a particular management practice. A table near the end of the account complements the section on suitable habitat, and lists the specific habitat characteristics for the species by individual studies. A special section on prey habitat is included for those predatory species that have more specific prey requirements. The area requirements section provides details on territory and home range sizes, minimum area requirements, and the effects of patch size, edges, and other landscape and habitat features on abundance and productivity. It may be futile to manage a small block of suitable habitat for a species that has minimum area requirements that are larger than the area being managed. The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is an obligate brood parasite of many grassland birds. The section on cowbird brood parasitism summarizes rates
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The importance of distance to resources in the spatial modelling of bat foraging habitat.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ana Rainho
Full Text Available Many bats are threatened by habitat loss, but opportunities to manage their habitats are now increasing. Success of management depends greatly on the capacity to determine where and how interventions should take place, so models predicting how animals use landscapes are important to plan them. Bats are quite distinctive in the way they use space for foraging because (i most are colonial central-place foragers and (ii exploit scattered and distant resources, although this increases flying costs. To evaluate how important distances to resources are in modelling foraging bat habitat suitability, we radio-tracked two cave-dwelling species of conservation concern (Rhinolophus mehelyi and Miniopterus schreibersii in a Mediterranean landscape. Habitat and distance variables were evaluated using logistic regression modelling. Distance variables greatly increased the performance of models, and distance to roost and to drinking water could alone explain 86 and 73% of the use of space by M. schreibersii and R. mehelyi, respectively. Land-cover and soil productivity also provided a significant contribution to the final models. Habitat suitability maps generated by models with and without distance variables differed substantially, confirming the shortcomings of maps generated without distance variables. Indeed, areas shown as highly suitable in maps generated without distance variables proved poorly suitable when distance variables were also considered. We concluded that distances to resources are determinant in the way bats forage across the landscape, and that using distance variables substantially improves the accuracy of suitability maps generated with spatially explicit models. Consequently, modelling with these variables is important to guide habitat management in bats and similarly mobile animals, particularly if they are central-place foragers or depend on spatially scarce resources.
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, Volume 17: Plutonium-239
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Adams, J.P.; Carboneau, M.L.
1999-01-01
This report, Volume 17 of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of plutonium-239 (Pu-239). This report also discusses waste types and forms in which Pu-239 can be found, waste and disposal information on Pu-239, and Pu-239 behavior in the environment and in the human body
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National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, Volume 17: Plutonium-239
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
J. P. Adams; M. L. Carboneau
1999-03-01
This report, Volume 17 of the National Low-Level Waste Management Program Radionuclide Report Series, discusses the radiological and chemical characteristics of plutonium-239 (Pu-239). This report also discusses waste types and forms in which Pu-239 can be found, waste and disposal information on Pu-239, and Pu-239 behavior in the environment and in the human body.
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William J. Zielinski; Andrew N. Gray; Jeffrey R. Dunk; Joseph W. Sherlock; Gary E. Dixon
2010-01-01
New knowledge from wildlife-habitat relationship models is often difficult to implement in a management context. This can occur because researchers do not always consider whether managers have access to information about environmental covariates that permit the models to be applied. Moreover, ecosystem management requires knowledge about the condition of habitats over...
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Finchum, R. N.
1964-01-01
Adequate maintenance of school buildings representing a public investment of billions of dollars is a problem of grave concern to both taxpayers and school officials. This publication, one of a series dealing with school plant management problems, identifies, describes, shows the function of, and outlines maintenance procedures for many components…
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Breininger, David R.; Foster, Tammy E.; Carter, Geoffrey M.; Duncan, Brean W.; Stolen, Eric D.; Lyon, James E.
2018-01-01
The combined effects of fire history, climate, and landscape features (e.g., edges) on habitat specialists need greater focus in fire ecology studies, which usually only emphasize characteristics of the most recent fire. Florida scrub-jays are an imperiled, territorial species that prefer medium (1.2-1.7 m) shrub heights, which are dynamic because of frequent fires. We measured short, medium, and tall habitat quality states annually within 10 ha grid cells (that represented potential territories) because fires and vegetative recovery cause annual variation in habitat quality. We used multistate models and model selection to test competing hypotheses about how transition probabilities vary between states as functions of environmental covariates. Covariates included vegetative type, edges (e.g., roads, forests), precipitation, openings (gaps between shrubs), mechanical cutting, and fire characteristics. Fire characteristics not only included an annual presence/absence of fire covariate, but also fire history covariates: time since the previous fire, the longest fire-free interval, and the number of repeated fires. Statistical models with support included many covariates for each transition probability, often including fire history, interactions and nonlinear relationships. Tall territories resulted from 28 years of fire suppression and habitat fragmentation that reduced the spread of fires across landscapes. Despite 35 years of habitat restoration and prescribed fires, half the territories remained tall suggesting a regime shift to a less desirable habitat condition. Edges reduced the effectiveness of fires in setting degraded scrub and flatwoods into earlier successional states making mechanical cutting an important tool to compliment frequent prescribed fires.
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Headwater biodiversity among different levels of stream habitat hierarchy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Göthe, Emma; Friberg, Nikolai; Kahlert, Maria
2014-01-01
of a- and b-diversity to y-diversity between two levels of stream habitat hierarchy (catchment and region level). The relationship between species community structure and local environmental factors was also assessed. Our results show that both a- and b-diversity made a significant contribution to y......-diversity. b-diversity remained relatively constant between the two levels of habitat hierarchy even though local environmental control of the biota decreased from the catchment to the region level. To capture most of headwater y-diversity, management should therefore target sites that are locally diverse......, but at the same time select sites so that b-diversity is maximized. As environmental control of the biota peaked at the catchment level, the conservation of headwater stream diversity is likely to be most effective when management targets environmental conditions across multiple local sites within relatively...
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Hydrologic characteristics of freshwater mussel habitat: novel insights from modeled flows
Drew, C. Ashton; Eddy, Michele; Kwak, Thomas J.; Cope, W. Gregory; Augspurger, Tom
2018-01-01
The ability to model freshwater stream habitat and species distributions is limited by the spatially sparse flow data available from long-term gauging stations. Flow data beyond the immediate vicinity of gauging stations would enhance our ability to explore and characterize hydrologic habitat suitability. The southeastern USA supports high aquatic biodiversity, but threats, such as landuse alteration, climate change, conflicting water-resource demands, and pollution, have led to the imperilment and legal protection of many species. The ability to distinguish suitable from unsuitable habitat conditions, including hydrologic suitability, is a key criterion for successful conservation and restoration of aquatic species. We used the example of the critically endangered Tar River Spinymussel (Parvaspina steinstansana) and associated species to demonstrate the value of modeled flow data (WaterFALL™) to generate novel insights into population structure and testable hypotheses regarding hydrologic suitability. With ordination models, we: 1) identified all catchments with potentially suitable hydrology, 2) identified 2 distinct hydrologic environments occupied by the Tar River Spinymussel, and 3) estimated greater hydrological habitat niche breadth of assumed surrogate species associates at the catchment scale. Our findings provide the first demonstrated application of complete, continuous, regional modeled hydrologic data to freshwater mussel distribution and management. This research highlights the utility of modeling and data-mining methods to facilitate further exploration and application of such modeled environmental conditions to inform aquatic species management. We conclude that such an approach can support landscape-scale management decisions that require spatial information at fine resolution (e.g., enhanced National Hydrology Dataset catchments) and broad extent (e.g., multiple river basins).
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Influences of forest and rangeland management on salmonid fishes and their habitats
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Meehan, William R
1991-01-01
Contents : Stream ecosystems - Salmonid distributions and life histories - Habitat requirements of salmonids in streams - Natural processes - Timber harvesting, silvicultrue and watershed processes - Forest...
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Richard D. Woodsmith; James R. Noel; Michael L. Dilger
2005-01-01
The condition of aquatic habitat and the health of species dependent on that habitat are issues of significant concern to land management agencies, other organizations, and the public at large in southeastern Alaska, as well as along much of the Pacific coastal region of North America. We develop and test a set of effectiveness monitoring procedures for measuring...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andrew Lowe
2014-12-01
Full Text Available Land managers often respond to declining numbers of target species by creating additional areas of habitat. If these habitats are also subject to human disturbance, then their efforts may be wasted. The European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus is a ground-nesting bird that is listed as a species of European Conservation Concern. It appears to be susceptible to human disturbance during the breeding season. We examined habitat use and reproductive success over 10 years in a breeding population on 1335 ha of managed land in Nottinghamshire, England. The study site was divided into a heavily disturbed section and a less disturbed section of equal habitat availability, forming a natural long-term experiment. The site is open to the public, and visitor numbers approximately doubled during the study. We found that overall Nightjar density was significantly lower and there were significantly fewer breeding pairs in the heavily disturbed habitat compared with the less disturbed habitat. However, average breeding success per pair, in terms of eggs and fledglings produced, was not significantly different between the two sections across years. Our findings suggest that human recreational disturbance may drastically alter settlement patterns and nest site selection of arriving females in some migratory ground-nesting species and may reduce the utility of apparently suitable patches of remnant and created habitat. Land managers should bear this in mind when creating new areas of habitat that will also be accessible to the public. Our study also highlights the value of long-term population monitoring, which can detect trends that short-term studies may miss.
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Grizzly bear habitat selection is scale dependent.
Ciarniello, Lana M; Boyce, Mark S; Seip, Dale R; Heard, Douglas C
2007-07-01
The purpose of our study is to show how ecologists' interpretation of habitat selection by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) is altered by the scale of observation and also how management questions would be best addressed using predetermined scales of analysis. Using resource selection functions (RSF) we examined how variation in the spatial extent of availability affected our interpretation of habitat selection by grizzly bears inhabiting mountain and plateau landscapes. We estimated separate models for females and males using three spatial extents: within the study area, within the home range, and within predetermined movement buffers. We employed two methods for evaluating the effects of scale on our RSF designs. First, we chose a priori six candidate models, estimated at each scale, and ranked them using Akaike Information Criteria. Using this method, results changed among scales for males but not for females. For female bears, models that included the full suite of covariates predicted habitat use best at each scale. For male bears that resided in the mountains, models based on forest successional stages ranked highest at the study-wide and home range extents, whereas models containing covariates based on terrain features ranked highest at the buffer extent. For male bears on the plateau, each scale estimated a different highest-ranked model. Second, we examined differences among model coefficients across the three scales for one candidate model. We found that both the magnitude and direction of coefficients were dependent upon the scale examined; results varied between landscapes, scales, and sexes. Greenness, reflecting lush green vegetation, was a strong predictor of the presence of female bears in both landscapes and males that resided in the mountains. Male bears on the plateau were the only animals to select areas that exposed them to a high risk of mortality by humans. Our results show that grizzly bear habitat selection is scale dependent. Further, the
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Leigh Combrink
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Habitat features can have a profound effect on the nesting success of birds. Savannas are often managed with predators and large herbivores as priority species, with little thought to the many bird species that management decisions could affect. Using a data set spanning seven breeding seasons, we examined how nesting success of Southern Ground-hornbills (SGHs Bucorvus leadbeateri in the Kruger National Park varied as a result of various environmental and habitat factors within a radius of 3 km surrounding the nest site. Identifying which factors affect nesting success will allow for targeted management efforts to ensure the long-term survival of SGHs both within and outside of protected areas. Habitat structure and diversity of the vegetation surrounding the nest were the most influential factors on SGH nesting success. SGHs require open grassy areas for foraging and areas with large trees for nesting. Savanna habitat drivers such as elephants and fire should be managed to ensure that sufficient large trees are able to establish in the landscape and to control for bush encroachment. This is especially important in areas earmarked for SGH reintroductions. Nest sites of SGHs should be monitored to mitigate any structural changes in the habitat surrounding the nests. Nests should be modified or artificial nest sites provided, where nests have been damaged or lost, to ensure the continued presence of these birds in African savannas. Conservation implications: Habitat structure and diversity surrounding Southern Groundhornbill nests has a significant impact on their nesting success. This highlights the importance of monitoring vegetation change in savanna habitats where they occur. Management of savanna areas should take factors that influence bush encroachment, such as fire and elephants, into account to ensure the long-term persistence of these birds.
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Bats and bat habitats : guidelines for wind power projects
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2010-03-01
Bat mortality has been documented at wind power projects in a number of habitats across North America. Wind power projects in Ontario have reported annual estimates ranging from 4 to 14 bat mortalities per turbine per year. This document presented guidance on identifying and addressing potential negative effects on bats and bat habitats during the planning, construction, and operation of wind power projects in Ontario. The guidelines supported the Ministry of Environment's renewable energy approval regulation and applied on both Crown and privately-owned land. The document presented the regulatory framework and discussed the assessment process for bats and bat habitats. This process included project site; records review; site investigation; and evaluation of significance. Other topics that were presented included an environmental impact study and an environmental effects monitoring plan such as post construction monitoring and post construction mitigation. Several appendices were also included regarding the potential effects of wind power project on bats; best management practices; methods for evaluating bat wildlife habitat; and post construction monitoring methods. 10 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs., 4 appendices.
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Bats and bat habitats : guidelines for wind power projects
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
2010-03-15
Bat mortality has been documented at wind power projects in a number of habitats across North America. Wind power projects in Ontario have reported annual estimates ranging from 4 to 14 bat mortalities per turbine per year. This document presented guidance on identifying and addressing potential negative effects on bats and bat habitats during the planning, construction, and operation of wind power projects in Ontario. The guidelines supported the Ministry of Environment's renewable energy approval regulation and applied on both Crown and privately-owned land. The document presented the regulatory framework and discussed the assessment process for bats and bat habitats. This process included project site; records review; site investigation; and evaluation of significance. Other topics that were presented included an environmental impact study and an environmental effects monitoring plan such as post construction monitoring and post construction mitigation. Several appendices were also included regarding the potential effects of wind power project on bats; best management practices; methods for evaluating bat wildlife habitat; and post construction monitoring methods. 10 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs., 4 appendices.
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Disentangling urban habitat and matrix effects on wild bee species
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Leonie K. Fischer
2016-11-01
Full Text Available In face of a dramatic decline of wild bee species in many rural landscapes, potential conservation functions of urban areas gain importance. Yet effects of urbanization on pollinators, and in particular on wild bees, remain ambiguous and not comprehensively understood. This is especially true for amenity grassland and extensively managed wastelands within large-scale residential housing areas. Using Berlin as a study region, we aimed to investigate (a if these greenspaces are accepted by wild bee assemblages as foraging habitats; (b how assemblage structure of bees and individual bee species are affected by different habitat (e.g., management, flower density and urban matrix variables (e.g., isolation, urbanization; and (c to what extent grassland restoration can promote bees in urban environments. In summer 2012, we collected 62 bee species belonging to more than 20% of the taxa known for Berlin. Urbanization significantly affected species composition of bees; 18 species were affiliated to different levels of urbanization. Most bee species were not affected by any of the environmental variables tested, and urbanization had a negative effect only for one bee species. Further, we determined that restoration of diverse grasslands positively affected bee species richnesss in urban environments. We conclude that differently structured and managed greenspaces in large-scale housing areas can provide additional foraging habitats and refuges for pollinators. This supports approaches towards a biodiversity friendly management within urban regions and may be of particular importance given that anthropogenic pressure is increasing in many rural landscapes.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series
... Corner / Patient Webcasts / Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series This series of five videos ... Your Arthritis Managing Chronic Pain and Depression in Arthritis Nutrition & Rheumatoid Arthritis Arthritis and Health-related Quality of Life ...
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Linking snake habitat use to nest predation risk in grassland birds: the dangers of shrub cover.
Klug, Page E; Jackrel, Sara L; With, Kimberly A
2010-03-01
Extremes in rangeland management, varying from too-frequent fire and intensive grazing to the suppression of both, threaten rangeland ecosystems worldwide. Intensive fire and grazing denude and homogenize vegetation whereas their suppression increases woody cover. Although habitat loss is implicated in grassland bird declines, degradation through intensive management or neglect also decreases breeding habitat and may reduce nesting success through increased rates of nest predation. Snakes are important nest predators, but little is known about how habitat use in snakes relates to predation risk for grassland birds nesting within tallgrass prairie subjected to different grazing and fire frequencies. We evaluated nest survival in the context of habitat used by nesting songbirds and two bird-eating snakes, the eastern yellowbelly racer Coluber constrictor flaviventris and Great Plains ratsnake Pantherophis emoryi. Daily nest survival rates decreased with increasing shrub cover and decreasing vegetation height, which characterize grasslands that have been neglected or intensively managed, respectively. Discriminant function analysis revealed that snake habitats were characterized by higher shrub cover, whereas successful nests were more likely to occur in areas with tall grass and forbs but reduced shrub cover. Because snakes often use shrub habitat, birds nesting in areas with increased shrub cover may be at higher risk of nest predation by snakes in addition to other predators known to use shrub habitat (e.g., mid-sized carnivores and avian predators). Depredated nests also occurred outside the discriminant space of the snakes, indicating that other predators (e.g., ground squirrels Spermophilus spp. and bullsnakes Pituophis catenifer) may be important in areas with denuded cover. Targeted removal of shrubs may increase nest success by minimizing the activity of nest predators attracted to shrub cover.
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Dawson, Lucas; Elbakidze, Marine; Angelstam, Per; Gordon, Johanna
2017-07-15
Due to a long history of intensive land and water use, habitat networks for biodiversity conservation are generally degraded in Sweden. Landscape restoration (LR) is an important strategy for achieving representative and functional green infrastructures. However, outcomes of LR efforts are poorly studied, particularly the dynamics of LR governance and management. We apply systems thinking methods to a series of LR case studies to analyse the causal structures underlying LR governance and management in Sweden. We show that these structures appear to comprise of an interlinked system of at least three sets of drivers and four core processes. This system exhibits many characteristics of a transformative change towards an integrated, adaptive approach to governance and management. Key challenges for Swedish LR projects relate to institutional and regulatory flexibility, the timely availability of sufficient funds, and the management of learning and knowledge production processes. In response, successful project leaders develop several key strategies to manage complexity and risk, and enhance perceptions of the attractiveness of LR projects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Site occupancy of brown-headed nuthatches varies with habitat restoration and range-limit context
Richard A. Stanton; Frank R. Thompson; Dylan C. Kesler
2015-01-01
Knowledge about speciesâ responses to habitat restoration can inform subsequent management and reintroduction planning. We used repeated call-response surveys to study brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) patch occupancy at the current limits of its apparently expanding range in an area with active habitat restoration. We fit a probit occupancy...
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Athabasca caribou landscape management options report : executive summary
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
2009-05-15
The woodland caribou are listed as threatened under Alberta's Wildlife Act and the federal Species at Risk Act. The key factors that directly or indirectly affect the population size and distribution of woodland caribou population include habitat change due to wildfire or human land-use activities, predation and hunting. The Alberta Woodland Caribou Recovery Plan outlines a time line to progressively improve conditions for caribou in Alberta. The 2 main goals are to achieve self-sustaining woodland caribou populations and maintain the distribution of caribou in Alberta; and ensure that long-term habitat requirements for woodland caribou are met within Alberta's caribou range. The Athabasca Landscape Team conducted 2 analyses from which it developed management options. The first was a rating or relative risk to caribou persistence within 4 Athabasca ranges based on a series of 8 risk criteria, including both biological and land use factors. The second analysis conducted for each planning area involved simulation modeling using ALCES to forecast likely caribou populations and habitat conditions under 3 scenarios, including non-industrial, business and usual, and alternative futures. 1 tab.
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2013-06-28
... habitat within the Presidio; and (3) restoring the natural ecological interactions of the species with its... ecological interactions of the species with its habitat or areas with additional management that may be...-0067; 4500030114] RIN 1018-AY63 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical...
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Benton, Joshua J.
The North Rainier Elk Herd (NREH) is one of ten designated herds in Washington State, all managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). To aid in the management of the herd, the WDFW has decided to implement a spatial ecosystem analysis. This thesis partially undertakes this analysis through the use of a suite of software tools, the Westside Elk Nutrition and Habitat Use Models (WENHUM). This model analyzes four covariates that have a strong correlation to elk habitat selection: dietary digestible energy (DDE); distance to roads open to the public; mean slope; and distance to cover-forage edge and returns areas of likely elk habitation or use. This thesis includes an update of the base vegetation layer from 2006 data to 2011, a series of clear cuts were identified as areas of change and fed into the WENHUM models. The addition of these clear cuts created improvements in the higher quality DDE levels and when the updated data is compared to the original, predictions of elk use are higher. The presence of open or closed roads was simulated by creating an area of possible closures, selecting candidate roads within that area and then modeling them as either "all open" or "all closed". The simulation of the road closures produced increases in the higher levels of predicted use.
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Population and Habitat Objectives for Breeding Shorebirds in California’s Central Valley
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Khara M. Strum
2017-03-01
Full Text Available http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2836q0qgThe Central Valley of California provides important breeding habitat to numerous species of wetland-dependent birds, despite the loss of over 90% of naturally occurring wetlands. A majority of shorebirds breeding in this region rely on shallow-flooded habitat adjacent to sparsely vegetated uplands as provided by rice (Oryza sativa, managed wetlands, and other habitats. We estimated the current extent of potential breeding shorebird habitat provided by rice and managed permanent and semi-permanent wetlands in each of four major planning regions of the Central Valley, and estimated the average breeding densities and current population sizes of two species of shorebirds: the Black-Necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus and American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana. Using a population status framework based on principles of conservation biology, we estimated that stilt populations are small (<10,000 individuals or very small (<1,000 individuals in three of the four planning regions, and avocet populations are small or very small in all four planning regions. We then used the framework to define long-term (100-year population objectives for stilts, avocets, and a third species, Killdeer (Charadrius vociferous, designed to meet our long-term conservation goal of supporting self-sustaining, genetically robust, and resilient populations of breeding shorebirds in the Central Valley. We also estimated the long-term species’ density and wetland habitat objectives necessary to achieve the population objectives for all three species. The corresponding short-term (10-year conservation objectives are to restore semi-permanent wetlands to provide an additional 11,537 ha (28,508 ac of habitat for breeding shorebirds (by planning region: 2,842 ha in Sacramento, 2,897 ha in Yolo–Delta, 2,943 ha in San Joaquin, and 2,855 ha in Tulare, and to enhance existing habitat to support density objectives. Our approach provides a
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Leicht-Young, Stacey A.; Pavlovic, Noel B.; Grundel, Ralph
2013-01-01
Fire effects on invasive species are an important land management issue in areas subjected to prescribed fires as well as wildfires. These effects on invasive species can be manifested across life stages. The liana Celastrus orbiculatus (oriental bittersweet) is a widespread invader of eastern US habitats including those where fire management is in practice. This study examined if prescribed fire makes these habitats more susceptible to invasion of C. orbiculatus by seed at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Four treatments (control, litter removed, high and low intensity fire) were applied in six habitat types (sand savanna/woodland, sand prairie, moraine prairie, sand oak forest, beech-maple forest, and oak-hickory forest) and germinating seedlings were tracked over two growing seasons. Treatment did not have a significant effect on the germination, survival, or biomass of C. orbiculatus. However, habitat type did influence these responses mostly in the first growing season. Moraine prairie, beech-maple forest, and oak-hickory forests had the greatest peak percentage of germinants. Moraine prairie had significantly greater survival than oak forest and savanna habitats. Control plots with intact litter, and the moraine prairie habitat had the tallest seedlings at germination, while tallest final heights and greatest aboveground biomass were highest in oak forest. Thus, fire and litter removal did not increase the susceptibility of these habitats to germination and survival of C. orbiculatus. These results indicate that most eastern US habitats are vulnerable to invasion by this species via seed regardless of the level or type of disturbance to the litter layer.
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Flitcroft, Rebecca L; Falke, Jeffrey A.; Reeves, Gordon H.; Hessburg, Paul F.; McNyset, Kris M.; Benda, Lee E.
2016-01-01
which in-stream habitat for most life stages has a consistently positive response to fire. This compares to the historic distribution of spring Chinook, in which in-stream habitat exhibited a variable response to fire, including decreases in habitat quality overall or for specific life stages. This suggests that as the distribution of spring Chinook has decreased, they now occupy those areas with the most positive potential response to fire. Our work shows the potentially positive link between wildfire and aquatic habitat that supports forest managers in setting broader goals for fire management, perhaps leading to less fire suppression in some situations.
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Modeling mountain pine beetle habitat suitability within Sequoia National Park
Nguyen, Andrew
Understanding significant changes in climate and their effects on timber resources can help forest managers make better decisions regarding the preservation of natural resources and land management. These changes may to alter natural ecosystems dependent on historical and current climate conditions. Increasing mountain pine beetle (MBP) outbreaks within the southern Sierra Nevada are the result of these alterations. This study better understands MPB behavior within Sequoia National Park (SNP) and model its current and future habitat distribution. Variables contributing to MPB spread are vegetation stress, soil moisture, temperature, precipitation, disturbance, and presence of Ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa) and Lodgepole (Pinus contorta) pine trees. These variables were obtained using various modeled, insitu, and remotely sensed sources. The generalized additive model (GAM) was used to calculate the statistical significance of each variable contributing to MPB spread and also created maps identifying habitat suitability. Results indicate vegetation stress and forest disturbance to be variables most indicative of MPB spread. Additionally, the model was able to detect habitat suitability of MPB with a 45% accuracy concluding that a geospatial driven modeling approach can be used to delineate potential MPB spread within SNP.
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Ye, Shao-Wen; Li, Zhong-Jie; Cao, Wen-Xuan
2007-07-01
This paper studied the spatial distribution of small fishes in a shallow macrophytic lake, Niushan Lake in spring 2003, and its relations with habitat heterogeneity. Based on the macrophyte cover condition, distance from lake shore and water depth, two representative habitat types in the lake were selected. Habitat A was near the shore with dense submersed macrophyte, while habitat B was far from the shore with sparse submersed macrophyte. Small fishes were sampled quantitatively by block net (180 m2), and their densities within the net area were estimated by multiple mark-recapture or Zippin's removal method. The results showed that there were some differences in species composition, biodiversity measurement, and estimated density of small fishes between the two habitats: 1) the catches in habitat A consisted of 14 small fish species from 5 families, among which, benthopelagic species Rhodeus ocellatus, Paracheilognathus imberbis and Pseudorasbora parva were considered as dominant species, while those in habitat B consisted of 9 small fish species from 3 families, among which, bottom species Rhinogobius giurinus and Micropercops swinhonis were dominant; 2) the Bray-Curtis index between the two small fish communities was 0.222, reflecting their low structure similarity, and no significant difference was observed between their rank/ abundance distributions, both of which belonged to log series distribution; 3) the total density of 9 major species in habitat A was 8.71 ind x m(-2), while that of 5 major species in habitat B was only 3.54 ind x m(-2). The fact that the spatial distribution of the small fishes differed with habitats might be related to their habitat need for escaping predators, feeding, and breeding, and thus, aquatic macrophyte habitat should be of significance in the rational exploitation of small fish resources as well as the conservation of fish resource diversity.
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Bee assemblage in habitats associated with Brassica napus L.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rosana Halinski
2015-09-01
Full Text Available ABSTRACTAssessments in agricultural crops indicate that alterations in the landscape adjacent to the crops can result in reduced productivity due to loss or low abundance of pollinating agents. In the canola crop, production is partially dependent on insect pollination. Therefore, knowledge of the faunal diversity within and near crop fields is key for the management of these insects and consequently for the increase in productivity. This study aimed to determine and compare the diversity of bees in habitats associated with canola fields in southern Brazil. Bees were captured in four agricultural areas using pan traps in three habitat classes: (1 flowering canola crop, (2 forest remnant, and (3 grassland vegetation. The highest abundance of bees was observed in the grassland vegetation (50% and in the flowering canola field (47%. Eight species common to the three habitat classes were recorded, four of which are represented by native social bees. In addition, a single or a few individuals represented species that were exclusive to a specific habitat class; eight species were collected exclusively in the interior of the canola field, 51 in the grassland vegetation, and six in the forest remnant. The majority of the rare species recorded exhibits subsocial or solitary behaviour and inhabit open places. The composition of bee groups differed between the habitats showing the importance of maintaining habitat mosaics with friendly areas for pollinators, which promote the pollination service for canola flowers.
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A System for Fault Management and Fault Consequences Analysis for NASA's Deep Space Habitat
Colombano, Silvano; Spirkovska, Liljana; Baskaran, Vijaykumar; Aaseng, Gordon; McCann, Robert S.; Ossenfort, John; Smith, Irene; Iverson, David L.; Schwabacher, Mark
2013-01-01
NASA's exploration program envisions the utilization of a Deep Space Habitat (DSH) for human exploration of the space environment in the vicinity of Mars and/or asteroids. Communication latencies with ground control of as long as 20+ minutes make it imperative that DSH operations be highly autonomous, as any telemetry-based detection of a systems problem on Earth could well occur too late to assist the crew with the problem. A DSH-based development program has been initiated to develop and test the automation technologies necessary to support highly autonomous DSH operations. One such technology is a fault management tool to support performance monitoring of vehicle systems operations and to assist with real-time decision making in connection with operational anomalies and failures. Toward that end, we are developing Advanced Caution and Warning System (ACAWS), a tool that combines dynamic and interactive graphical representations of spacecraft systems, systems modeling, automated diagnostic analysis and root cause identification, system and mission impact assessment, and mitigation procedure identification to help spacecraft operators (both flight controllers and crew) understand and respond to anomalies more effectively. In this paper, we describe four major architecture elements of ACAWS: Anomaly Detection, Fault Isolation, System Effects Analysis, and Graphic User Interface (GUI), and how these elements work in concert with each other and with other tools to provide fault management support to both the controllers and crew. We then describe recent evaluations and tests of ACAWS on the DSH testbed. The results of these tests support the feasibility and strength of our approach to failure management automation and enhanced operational autonomy
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series
Full Text Available ... Corner / Patient Webcasts / Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series Rheumatoid Arthritis Educational Video Series This series of five videos ... Your Arthritis Managing Chronic Pain and Depression in Arthritis Nutrition & Rheumatoid Arthritis Arthritis and Health-related Quality of Life ...
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Carlisle, Jason D.; Chalfoun, Anna D.; Smith, Kurt T.; Beck, Jeffery L.
2018-01-01
The “umbrella species” concept is a conservation strategy in which creating and managing reserve areas to meet the needs of one species is thought to benefit other species indirectly. Broad-scale habitat protections on behalf of an umbrella species are assumed to benefit co-occurring taxa, but targeted management actions to improve local habitat suitability for the umbrella species may produce unintended effects on other species. Our objective was to quantify the effects of a common habitat treatment (mowing of big sagebrush [Artemisia tridentata]) intended to benefit a high-profile umbrella species (Greater Sage-Grouse [Centrocercus urophasianus]) on 3 sympatric songbird species of concern. We used a before–after control-impact experimental design spanning 3 yr in Wyoming, USA, to quantify the effect of mowing on the abundance, nest-site selection, nestling condition, and nest survival of 2 sagebrush-obligate songbirds (Brewer's Sparrow [Spizella breweri] and Sage Thrasher [Oreoscoptes montanus]) and one open-habitat generalist songbird (Vesper Sparrow [Pooecetes gramineus]). Mowing was associated with lower abundance of Brewer's Sparrows and Sage Thrashers but higher abundance of Vesper Sparrows. We found no Brewer's Sparrows or Sage Thrashers nesting in the mowed footprint posttreatment, which suggests complete loss of nesting habitat for these species. Mowing was associated with higher nestling condition and nest survival for Vesper Sparrows but not for the sagebrush-obligate species. Management prescriptions that remove woody biomass within a mosaic of intact habitat may be tolerated by sagebrush-obligate songbirds but are likely more beneficial for open-habitat generalist species. By definition, umbrella species conservation entails habitat protections at broad spatial scales. We caution that habitat manipulations to benefit Greater Sage-Grouse could negatively affect nontarget species of conservation concern if implemented across large spatial extents.
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Floodplain farm fields provide novel rearing habitat for Chinook salmon.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jacob V E Katz
Full Text Available When inundated by floodwaters, river floodplains provide critical habitat for many species of fish and wildlife, but many river valleys have been extensively leveed and floodplain wetlands drained for flood control and agriculture. In the Central Valley of California, USA, where less than 5% of floodplain wetland habitats remain, a critical conservation question is how can farmland occupying the historical floodplains be better managed to improve benefits for native fish and wildlife. In this study fields on the Sacramento River floodplain were intentionally flooded after the autumn rice harvest to determine if they could provide shallow-water rearing habitat for Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Approximately 10,000 juvenile fish (ca. 48 mm, 1.1 g were reared on two hectares for six weeks (Feb-March between the fall harvest and spring planting. A subsample of the fish were uniquely tagged to allow tracking of individual growth rates (average 0.76 mm/day which were among the highest recorded in fresh water in California. Zooplankton sampled from the water column of the fields were compared to fish stomach contents. The primary prey was zooplankton in the order Cladocera, commonly called water fleas. The compatibility, on the same farm fields, of summer crop production and native fish habitat during winter demonstrates that land management combining agriculture with conservation ecology may benefit recovery of native fish species, such as endangered Chinook salmon.
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Vogiatzakis, I.N.; Stirpe, M.T.; Rickebusch, S.; Metzger, M.J.; Xu, G.; Rounsevell, M.D.A.; Bommarco, R.; Potts, S.G.
2015-01-01
Changes in landscape composition and structure may impact the conservation and management of protected areas. Species that depend on specific habitats are at risk of extinction when these habitats are degraded or lost. Designing robust methods to evaluate landscape composition will assist decision-
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Mutuku, Francis M; Bayoh, M Nabie; Gimnig, John E; Vulule, John M; Kamau, Luna; Walker, Edward D; Kabiru, Ephantus; Hawley, William A
2006-01-01
The productivity of larval habitats of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae for pupae (the stage preceding adult metamorphosis) is poorly known, yet adult emergence from habitats is the primary determinant of vector density. To assess it, we used absolute sampling methods in four studies involving daily sampling for 25 days in 6 habitat types in a village in western Kenya. Anopheles gambiae s.s. comprised 82.5% of emergent adults and Anopheles arabiensis the remainder. Pupal production occurred from a subset of habitats, primarily soil burrow pits, and was discontinuous in time, even when larvae occupied all habitats continuously. Habitat stability was positively associated with pupal productivity. In a dry season, pupal productivity was distributed between burrow pits and pools in streambeds. Overall, these data support the notion that source reduction measures against recognizably productive habitats would be a useful component of an integrated management program for An. gambiae in villages.
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McKenna, J.E.; Castiglione, C.
2010-01-01
Classification is a valuable conservation tool for examining natural resource status and problems and is being developed for coastal aquatic habitats. We present an objective, multi-scale hydrospatial framework for nearshore areas of the Great Lakes. The hydrospatial framework consists of spatial units at eight hierarchical scales from the North American Continent to the individual 270-m spatial cell. Characterization of spatial units based on fish abundance and diversity provides a fish-guided classification of aquatic areas at each spatial scale and demonstrates how classifications may be generated from that framework. Those classification units then provide information about habitat, as well as biotic conditions, which can be compared, contrasted, and hierarchically related spatially. Examples within several representative coastal or open water zones of the Western Lake Erie pilot area highlight potential application of this classification system to management problems. This classification system can assist natural resource managers with planning and establishing priorities for aquatic habitat protection, developing rehabilitation strategies, or identifying special management actions.
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Florida panther habitat use response to prescribed fire
Dees, Catherine S.; Clark, Joseph D.; van Manen, Frank T.
2001-01-01
The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) is one of the most endangered mammals in the world, with only 30-50 adults surviving in and around Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and the adjacent Big Cypress National Preserve. Managers at these areas conduct annual prescribed burns in pine (Pinus sp.) as a cost-effective method of managing wildlife habitat. Our objectives were to determine if temporal and spatial relationships existed between prescribed fire an panther use of pine. to accomplish this, we paired fire-event data from the Refuge an the Preserve with panther radiolocations collected between 1989 and 1998, determined the time that had elapsed since burning had occurred in management units associated with the radiolocations, and generated a frequency distribution based on those times. We then generated ant expected frequency distribution, based on random use relative to time since burning. This analysis revealed that panther use of burned pine habitats was greatest during the first year after a management unit was burned. Also, compositional analysis indicated that panthers were more likely to position their home ranges in areas that contained pine. We conclude that prescribed burning is important to panther ecology. We suggest that panthers were attracted to effects of shorter burning intervals on vegetation composition and evaluate the landscape-scale changes that would result.
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Grande, Valentina; Angeletti, Lorenzo; Campiani, Elisabetta; Conese, Ilaria; Foglini, Federica; Leidi, Elisa; Mercorella, Alessandra; Taviani, Marco
2016-01-01
Abstract Historically, a number of different key concepts and methods dealing with marine habitat classifications and mapping have been developed to date. The EU CoCoNET project provides a new attempt in establishing an integrated approach on the definition of habitats. This scheme combines multi-scale geological and biological data, in fact it consists of three levels (Geomorphological level, Substrate level and Biological level) which in turn are divided into several h...
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Diversity and Community Composition of Vertebrates in Desert River Habitats
Free, C. L.; Baxter, G. S.; Dickman, C. R.; Lisle, A.; Leung, L. K.-P.
2015-01-01
Animal species are seldom distributed evenly at either local or larger spatial scales, and instead tend to aggregate in sites that meet their resource requirements and maximise fitness. This tendency is likely to be especially marked in arid regions where species could be expected to concentrate at resource-rich oases. In this study, we first test the hypothesis that productive riparian sites in arid Australia support higher vertebrate diversity than other desert habitats, and then elucidate the habitats selected by different species. We addressed the first aim by examining the diversity and composition of vertebrate assemblages inhabiting the Field River and adjacent sand dunes in the Simpson Desert, western Queensland, over a period of two and a half years. The second aim was addressed by examining species composition in riparian and sand dune habitats in dry and wet years. Vertebrate species richness was estimated to be highest (54 species) in the riverine habitats and lowest on the surrounding dune habitats (45 species). The riverine habitats had different species pools compared to the dune habitats. Several species, including the agamid Gowidon longirostris and tree frog Litoria rubella, inhabited the riverine habitats exclusively, while others such as the skinks Ctenotus ariadnae and C. dux were captured only in the dune habitats. The results suggest that, on a local scale, diversity is higher along riparian corridors and that riparian woodland is important for tree-dependent species. Further, the distribution of some species, such as Mus musculus, may be governed by environmental variables (e.g. soil moisture) associated with riparian corridors that are not available in the surrounding desert environment. We conclude that inland river systems may be often of high conservation value, and that management should be initiated where possible to alleviate threats to their continued functioning. PMID:26637127
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alessandro Ossola
2015-10-01
Full Text Available Habitat complexity is a major determinant of structure and diversity of ant assemblages. Following the size-grain hypothesis, smaller ant species are likely to be advantaged in more complex habitats compared to larger species. Habitat complexity can act as an environmental filter based on species size and morphological traits, therefore affecting the overall structure and diversity of ant assemblages. In natural and semi-natural ecosystems, habitat complexity is principally regulated by ecological successions or disturbance such as fire and grazing. Urban ecosystems provide an opportunity to test relationships between habitat, ant assemblage structure and ant traits using novel combinations of habitat complexity generated and sustained by human management. We sampled ant assemblages in low-complexity and high-complexity parks, and high-complexity woodland remnants, hypothesizing that (i ant abundance and species richness would be higher in high-complexity urban habitats, (ii ant assemblages would differ between low- and high-complexity habitats and (iii ants living in high-complexity habitats would be smaller than those living in low-complexity habitats. Contrary to our hypothesis, ant species richness was higher in low-complexity habitats compared to high-complexity habitats. Overall, ant assemblages were significantly different among the habitat complexity types investigated, although ant size and morphology remained the same. Habitat complexity appears to affect the structure of ant assemblages in urban ecosystems as previously observed in natural and semi-natural ecosystems. However, the habitat complexity filter does not seem to be linked to ant morphological traits related to body size.
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Nash, Michael A.; Christie, Fiona J.; Hahs, Amy K.; Livesley, Stephen J.
2015-01-01
Habitat complexity is a major determinant of structure and diversity of ant assemblages. Following the size-grain hypothesis, smaller ant species are likely to be advantaged in more complex habitats compared to larger species. Habitat complexity can act as an environmental filter based on species size and morphological traits, therefore affecting the overall structure and diversity of ant assemblages. In natural and semi-natural ecosystems, habitat complexity is principally regulated by ecological successions or disturbance such as fire and grazing. Urban ecosystems provide an opportunity to test relationships between habitat, ant assemblage structure and ant traits using novel combinations of habitat complexity generated and sustained by human management. We sampled ant assemblages in low-complexity and high-complexity parks, and high-complexity woodland remnants, hypothesizing that (i) ant abundance and species richness would be higher in high-complexity urban habitats, (ii) ant assemblages would differ between low- and high-complexity habitats and (iii) ants living in high-complexity habitats would be smaller than those living in low-complexity habitats. Contrary to our hypothesis, ant species richness was higher in low-complexity habitats compared to high-complexity habitats. Overall, ant assemblages were significantly different among the habitat complexity types investigated, although ant size and morphology remained the same. Habitat complexity appears to affect the structure of ant assemblages in urban ecosystems as previously observed in natural and semi-natural ecosystems. However, the habitat complexity filter does not seem to be linked to ant morphological traits related to body size. PMID:26528416
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Controlling cheatgrass in winter range to restore habitat and endemic fire
Jennifer L. Vollmer; Joseph G. Vollmer
2008-01-01
Habitat managers can better prepare a program for prescribed burns, wildfire management, and maximum forage biomass by understanding the response of key shrubs to the tools utilized to reduce cheatgrass (Bromus spp.) competition. Application of Plateau® herbicide, prior to annual brome germination, at rates up to 8 oz/acre with or without surfactant...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
McIntosh, B.A.; Clark, S.E.; Sedell, J.R.
1995-07-01
This document contains summary reports of stream habitat surveys, conducted in the Cowlitz River basin, by the Bureau of Fisheries (BOF, now National Marine Fisheries Service) from 1938--1942. These surveys were part of a larger project to survey streams in the Columbia River basin that provided, or had provided, spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. The purpose of the survey was to determine the present condition of the various tributaries with respect to their availability and usefulness for the migration, breeding, and rearing of migratory fishes. Current estimates of the loss of anadromous fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin are based on a series of reports published from 1949--1952 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
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Wayne Spencer; Heather Rustigian-Romsos; James Strittholt; Robert Scheller; William Zielinski; Richard Truex
2011-01-01
An isolated population of the fisher (Martes pennanti) in the southern Sierra Nevada, California, is threatened by small size and habitat alteration from wildfires, fuels management, and other factors. We assessed the population’s status and conservation options for its habitat using a spatially explicit population model coupled with a...
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Hardy, Andrew J; Gamarra, Javier G P; Cross, Dónall E; Macklin, Mark G; Smith, Mark W; Kihonda, Japhet; Killeen, Gerry F; Ling'ala, George N; Thomas, Chris J
2013-01-01
Larval source management is a promising component of integrated malaria control and elimination. This requires development of a framework to target productive locations through process-based understanding of habitat hydrology and geomorphology. We conducted the first catchment scale study of fine resolution spatial and temporal variation in Anopheles habitat and productivity in relation to rainfall, hydrology and geomorphology for a high malaria transmission area of Tanzania. Monthly aggregates of rainfall, river stage and water table were not significantly related to the abundance of vector larvae. However, these metrics showed strong explanatory power to predict mosquito larval abundances after stratification by water body type, with a clear seasonal trend for each, defined on the basis of its geomorphological setting and origin. Hydrological and geomorphological processes governing the availability and productivity of Anopheles breeding habitat need to be understood at the local scale for which larval source management is implemented in order to effectively target larval source interventions. Mapping and monitoring these processes is a well-established practice providing a tractable way forward for developing important malaria management tools.
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Kachingwe, Aimie F; Grech, Steven
2008-12-01
A case series of 6 athletes with a suspected sports hernia. Groin pain in athletes is common, and 1 source of groin pain is athletic pubalgia, or a sports hernia. Description of this condition and its management is scarce in the physical therapy literature. The purpose of this case series is to describe a conservative approach to treating athletes with a likely sports hernia and to provide physical therapists with an algorithm for managing athletes with this dysfunction. Six collegiate athletes (age range, 19-22 years; 4 males, 2 females) with a physician diagnosis of groin pain secondary to possible/probable sports hernia were referred to physical therapy. A method of evaluation was constructed and a cluster of 5 key findings indicative of a sports hernia is presented. The athletes were managed according to a proposed algorithm and received physical therapy consisting of soft tissue and joint mobilization/manipulation, neuromuscular re-education, manual stretching, and therapeutic exercise. Three of the athletes received conservative intervention and were able to fully return to sport after a mean of 7.7 sessions of physical therapy. The other 3 athletes reached this outcome after surgical repair and a mean of 6.7 sessions of physical therapy. Conservative management including manual therapy appears to be a viable option in the management of athletes with a sports hernia. Follow-up randomized clinical trials should be performed to further investigate the effectiveness of conservative rehabilitation compared to a homogeneous group of patients undergoing surgical repair for this condition. Therapy, level 4.
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Abolition of set-aside schemes and its impacts on habitat styructure in Denmark from 2007-2008
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Levin, Gregor
2010-01-01
Agriculture accounts for 65% of the Danish land area. Habitats for wild species are characterized by small patches, surrounded by intensive agriculture. Due to extensive management, set-aside land can if located close to habitats, improve habitat structure in terms of patch size and connectivity....... In 2008 set-aside schemes were abolished, leading to a decline in the area of set-aside land from 6% of all agricultural land in 2007 to 3% in 2008. We developed an indicator aiming to measure the effect of the reduced area of set-aside land on habitat structure. The indicator combines distance...... to habitats, potential corridors between habitats and area percentage of set-aside land. Analyses show that the halving of the area of set-aside land has led to a 55% reduction of the effect of set-aside land on habitat structure....
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Laith Yakob
Full Text Available Integrated vector management for malaria control has received a lot of recent interest. Attacking multiple points in the transmission cycle is hoped to act synergistically and improve upon current single-tool interventions based on the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs. In the present study, we theoretically examined the application of larval habitat source reduction with ITNs in reducing malaria transmission. We selected this type of environmental management to complement ITNs because of a potential secondary mode of action that both control strategies share. In addition to increasing vector mortality, ITNs reduce the rate at which female mosquitoes locate human hosts for blood feeding, thereby extending their gonotrophic cycle. Similarly, while reducing adult vector emergence and abundance, source reduction of larval habitats may prolong the cycle duration by extending delays in locating oviposition sites. We found, however, that source reduction of larval habitats only operates through this secondary mode of action when habitat density is below a critical threshold. Hence, we illustrate how this strategy becomes increasingly effective when larval habitats are limited. We also demonstrate that habitat source reduction is better suited to human populations of higher density and in the presence of insecticide resistance or when the insecticidal properties of ITNs are depleted.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
McIntosh, Bruce A.; Clark, Sharon E.; Sedell, James R.
1996-01-01
This document contains summary reports of stream habitat surveys, conducted in the Yakima River basin, by the Bureau of Fisheries (BOF, now National Marine Fisheries Service) from 1934-1942. These surveys were part of a larger project to survey streams in the Columbia River basin that provided, or had provided, spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead (Rich, 1948). The purpose of the survey was, as described by Rich, 'to determine the present condition of the various tributaries with respect to their availability and usefulness for the migration, breeding, and rearing of migratory fishes'. Current estimates of the loss of anadromous fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin are based on a series of reports published from 1949-1952 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The reports were brief, qualitative accounts of over 5000 miles of stream surveys conducted by the BOF from 1934-1946 (Bryant, 1949; Bryant and Parkhurst, 1950; Parkhurst, 1950a-c; Parkhurst et al., 1950). Despite their brevity, these BOF reports have formed the basis for estimating fish habitat losses and conditions in the Columbia River Basin (Fulton, 1968, 1970; Thompson, 1976; NPPC, 1986). Recently, the field notebooks from the BOF surveys were discovered. The data is now archived and stored in the Forest Science DataBank at Oregon State University (Stafford et al., 1984; 1988). These records are the earliest and most comprehensive documentation available of the condition and extent of anadromous fish habitat before hydropower development in the Columbia River Basin. They provide the baseline data for quantifying changes and setting a benchmark for future restoration of anadromous fish habitat throughout the Basin. The summaries in this book are exact replicates of the originals. Due to discrepancies between the field data and the summaries, the database should be used to assess pool and substrate conditions. This data is available from the Bonneville Power Administration
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Spatially dynamic forest management to sustain biodiversity and economic returns.
Mönkkönen, Mikko; Juutinen, Artti; Mazziotta, Adriano; Miettinen, Kaisa; Podkopaev, Dmitry; Reunanen, Pasi; Salminen, Hannu; Tikkanen, Olli-Pekka
2014-02-15
Production of marketed commodities and protection of biodiversity in natural systems often conflict and thus the continuously expanding human needs for more goods and benefits from global ecosystems urgently calls for strategies to resolve this conflict. In this paper, we addressed what is the potential of a forest landscape to simultaneously produce habitats for species and economic returns, and how the conflict between habitat availability and timber production varies among taxa. Secondly, we aimed at revealing an optimal combination of management regimes that maximizes habitat availability for given levels of economic returns. We used multi-objective optimization tools to analyze data from a boreal forest landscape consisting of about 30,000 forest stands simulated 50 years into future. We included seven alternative management regimes, spanning from the recommended intensive forest management regime to complete set-aside of stands (protection), and ten different taxa representing a wide variety of habitat associations and social values. Our results demonstrate it is possible to achieve large improvements in habitat availability with little loss in economic returns. In general, providing dead-wood associated species with more habitats tended to be more expensive than providing requirements for other species. No management regime alone maximized habitat availability for the species, and systematic use of any single management regime resulted in considerable reductions in economic returns. Compared with an optimal combination of management regimes, a consistent application of the recommended management regime would result in 5% reduction in economic returns and up to 270% reduction in habitat availability. Thus, for all taxa a combination of management regimes was required to achieve the optimum. Refraining from silvicultural thinnings on a proportion of stands should be considered as a cost-effective management in commercial forests to reconcile the conflict
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jason G Estes
Full Text Available The approximately 300 (298, 95% CI: 152-581 elephants in the Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo are a priority sub-population for Borneo's total elephant population (2,040, 95% CI: 1,184-3,652. Habitat loss and human-elephant conflict are recognized as the major threats to Bornean elephant survival. In the Kinabatangan region, human settlements and agricultural development for oil palm drive an intense fragmentation process. Electric fences guard against elephant crop raiding but also remove access to suitable habitat patches. We conducted expert opinion-based least-cost analyses, to model the quantity and configuration of available suitable elephant habitat in the Lower Kinabatangan, and called this the Elephant Habitat Linkage. At 184 km(2, our estimate of available habitat is 54% smaller than the estimate used in the State's Elephant Action Plan for the Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (400 km(2. During high flood levels, available habitat is reduced to only 61 km(2. As a consequence, short-term elephant densities are likely to surge during floods to 4.83 km(-2 (95% CI: 2.46-9.41, among the highest estimated for forest-dwelling elephants in Asia or Africa. During severe floods, the configuration of remaining elephant habitat and the surge in elephant density may put two villages at elevated risk of human-elephant conflict. Lower Kinabatangan elephants are vulnerable to the natural disturbance regime of the river due to their limited dispersal options. Twenty bottlenecks less than one km wide throughout the Elephant Habitat Linkage, have the potential to further reduce access to suitable habitat. Rebuilding landscape connectivity to isolated habitat patches and to the North Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (less than 35 km inland are conservation priorities that would increase the quantity of available habitat, and may work as a mechanism to allow population release, lower elephant density, reduce
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Expert knowledge as a foundation for the management of secretive species and their habitat
Drew, C. Ashton; Collazo, Jaime
2012-01-01
In this chapter, we share lessons learned during the elicitation and application of expert knowledge in the form of a belief network model for the habitat of a waterbird, the King Rail (Rallus elegans). A belief network is a statistical framework used to graphically represent and evaluate hypothesized cause and effect relationships among variables. Our model was a pilot project to explore the value of such a model as a tool to help the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) conserve species that lack sufficient empirical data to guide management decisions. Many factors limit the availability of empirical data that can support landscape-scale conservation planning. Globally, most species simply have not yet been subject to empirical study (Wilson 2000). Even for well-studied species, data are often restricted to specific geographic extents, to particular seasons, or to specific segments of a species’ life history. The USFWS mandates that the agency’s conservation actions (1) be coordinated across regional landscapes, (2) be founded on the best available science (with testable assumptions), and (3) support adaptive management through monitoring and assessment of action outcomes. Given limits on the available data, the concept of “best available science” in the context of conservation planning generally includes a mix of empirical data and expert knowledge (Sullivan et al. 2006).
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Habitat selection by female northern pintails wintering in the Grassland Ecological Area, California
Fleskes, Joseph P.; Gilmer, David S.; Jarvis, Robert L.
2004-01-01
To determine relative importance of habitats available in the Grassland Ecological Area (GEA) to wintering female northern pintails, Anas acuta, we studied habitat use relative to availability (i.e., habitat selection) in the GEA during September through March, 1991-94 for 196 Hatch-Year (HY) and 221 After-Hatch-Year (AHY) female pintails that were radio tagged during August-early October in the GEA (n = 239), other San Joaquin Valley areas (n = 132), or other Central Valley areas (n = 46). Habitat availability and use varied among seasons and years, but pintails always selected shallow and, except on hunting days, open habitats. Swamp timothy, Heleochloa schoenoides, marsh was the most available, used, and selected habitat. Watergrass, Echinochloa crusgalli, marsh in the GEA was used less than available at night in contrast to previous studies in other SJV areas. Preferred late-winter habitats were apparently lacking in the GEA, at least relative to in the Sacramento Valley and Delta where most pintails moved to in December each year. Impacts on pintails of the increasing practice of managing marshes for increased emergent vegetation to attract other species should be monitored. Shallow, open habitats that produce seeds and invertebrates available to pintails in late winter would help maintain pintail abundance in the GEA.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Diop, D.
2004-06-01
This work presents the energy management of a series hybrid vehicle. It is a platform equipped with three sources of energy, two thermal engines involving each one an alternator-rectifier, and a battery. The objective is to provide energy necessary for the operation of the traction motors and the auxiliaries. The study was undertaken by a hierarchical step. The first chapter models the sources of energy while starting with the battery. The estimate of its state of charge is obtained by parametric identification. Then a look-up table model of the thermal engine is developed. Two alternators - converters are modelled and associated to diesel engines.The chapter 2 treats the optimal sharing of power between the two power generating units of which one is at fixed speed and the other at variable speed. The solved problem is an optimization with like constraint the minimization of the fuel consumption. The results obtained show the interest of the group at variable speed at low power. The last part of the report is devoted to simulation and the implementation in real time of the system. This chapter studies the management of the instructions of injection for the thermal engines and the development of the instructions for control of current through the DC side of the rectifiers. The interconnection of the models of the sources to the signals of the calculator or HEART of the system made it possible to simulate the behaviour of the sources of energy of the vehicle. Finally the diagram of implementation in real time is presented, the models being replaced by the real subsets of the bench. It appears, through this study, the undeniable interest of the series hybrid vehicle to answer the insufficiencies of the electric vehicle limited by its autonomy. The first tests showed the direct impact of the laws of energy management and their performance on the use of series hybrid electric vehicle. (author)
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Photo series for quantifying forest residues in managed lands of the Medicine Bow National Forest
John B. Popp; John E. Lundquist
2006-01-01
This photo series presents a visual representation of a range of fuel loading conditions specifically found on the Medicine Bow National Forest. The photos are grouped by forest type and past management practices. This field guide describes the distribution of different types of woody fuels and includes some vegetation data.
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Evaluation the impact of habitat quality on the soil fauna in Jajarm region
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
G.A. Rassam
2016-04-01
Full Text Available The effects of land use, crop type and crop management on soil fauna were investigated with survey of four habitats in Jajarm. The habitats included rangelands, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. fields and low-input and high-input of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. fields, each with four sample units. In each sample unit, the macrofauna collected with pitfall traps, sorted and counted in terms of family. The analysis of data conducted using of contrast analysis, analysis of similarities and principal component analysis (PCA. In rangelands the taxonomic richness, Simpson diversity index and abundance of macrofauna families tremendously were lower than agricultural habitats. These were attributed to low of plant diversity and pressure of livestock grazing. In alfalfa fields, increased abundance of beneficial macrofauna than wheat fields due to use not of chemical inputs, low disturbance and perennial of alfalfa. The crop management dad not has any significant impact on soil macrofauna. However, soil important macrofauna showed great tendency to occupancy in low-input wheat fields.
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1999 international workshop on sustainable riverine fish habitat: proceedings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1999-01-01
The workshop ended April 24, 1999 with attendance by 75 participants from Brazil, Canada, Kenya, Norway, the UK and the US. Sponsors included the World Bank, the US Dept of Energy, the provincial government of British Columbia and the Institute of Hydrology in the UK. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together a multi-disciplinary team of experts concerned with the effect of water management on the sustainability of fish resources in rivers. Those in attendance constituted a mix of scientists, utility engineers, and government regulators. There were presentations on the science and regulatory aspects of riverine fish habitat/instream flow issues from all these countries. Each day was introduced with a key note address: (1) evolution of US instream flow needs; (2) the mission of the World Commission on dams; and (3) fish habitat simulation models, verification studies and applications in multi-objective decision support systems. Three papers of interest are abstracted separately on a unique application of the instream flow incremental methodology to predict impacts on riverine aquatic habitat, total gas pressure and biological responses and fish habitat simulation models and integrated assessment tools
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The effects of wetland habitat structure on Florida apple snail density
Karunaratne, L.B.; Darby, P.C.; Bennetts, R.E.
2006-01-01
Wetlands often support a variety of juxtaposed habitat patches (e.g., grass-, shrub- or tree-dominated) differentially suited to support the inhabiting fauna. The proportion of available habitat types has been affected by human activity and consequently has contributed to degrading habitat quality for some species. The Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) has drawn attention as a critical prey item for wetlands wildlife and as an indicator of wetlands restoration success in peninsular Florida, USA. An apparent contradiction has evolved wherein this species appears intolerant of drying events, but these disturbances may be necessary to maintain suitable habitat structure for apple snails. We recently reported that assertions regarding intolerance to dry downs in this species were inaccurate. Here, we compared snail density in habitats with (wet prairie) and without (slough) emergent macrophytes, as well as evaluating the effects of structural attributes within the broad wet prairie habitat type. Snail densities were greater in prairies relative to sloughs (??2= 12.90, df=1, P=0.0003), often by a factor of two to three. Within wet prairie habitats, we found greater snail densities in Panicum hemitomon as compared to Eleocharis cellulosa (??2=31.45, df=1, P=0.0001). Significantly fewer snails were found in dense E. cellulosa as compared to habitats with lower stem density (??2= 10.73, df=1, P=0.011). Our results indicate that wet prairie habitat supports greater snail densities than nymphaea-dominatd slough. Our results have implications for wetlands water management in that continuous inundation has been shown to convert wet prairie to slough habitat, and we suggest this should be avoided in support of apple snails and their predators. ?? 2006, The Society of Wetland Scientists.
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Diurnal stream habitat use of juvenile Atlantic salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout in winter
Johnson, J. H.; Douglass, K.A.
2009-01-01
The diurnal winter habitat of three species of juvenile salmonids was examined in a tributary of Skaneateles Lake, NY to compare habitat differences among species and to determine if species/age classes were selecting specific habitats. A total of 792 observations were made on the depth, velocity, substrate and cover (amount and type) used by sympatric subyearling Atlantic salmon, subyearling brown trout and subyearling and yearling rainbow trout. Subyearling Atlantic salmon occurred in shallower areas with faster velocities and less cover than the other salmonid groups. Subyearling salmon was also the only group associated with substrate of a size larger than the average size substrate in the study reach during both winters. Subyearling brown trout exhibited a preference for vegetative cover. Compared with available habitat, yearling rainbow trout were the most selective in their habitat use. All salmonid groups were associated with more substrate cover in 2002 under high flow conditions. Differences in the winter habitat use of these salmonid groups have important management implications in terms of both habitat protection and habitat enhancement.
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Manny, Bruce A.; Roseman, Edward F.; Kennedy, Gregory W.; Boase, James C.; Craig, Jaquelyn; Bennion, David H.; Read, Jennifer; Vaccaro, Lynn; Chiotti, Justin A.; Drouin, Richard; Ellison, Roseanne
2015-01-01
Loss of functional habitat in riverine systems is a global fisheries issue. Few studies, however, describe the decision-making approach taken to abate loss of fish spawning habitat. Numerous habitat restoration efforts are underway and documentation of successful restoration techniques for spawning habitat of desirable fish species in large rivers connecting the Laurentian Great Lakes are reported here. In 2003, to compensate for the loss of fish spawning habitat in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers that connect the Great Lakes Huron and Erie, an international partnership of state, federal, and academic scientists began restoring fish spawning habitat in both of these rivers. Using an adaptive management approach, we created 1,100 m2 of productive fish spawning habitat near Belle Isle in the Detroit River in 2004; 3,300 m2 of fish spawning habitat near Fighting Island in the Detroit River in 2008; and 4,000 m2 of fish spawning habitat in the Middle Channel of the St. Clair River in 2012. Here, we describe the adaptive-feedback management approach that we used to guide our decision making during all phases of spawning habitat restoration, including problem identification, team building, hypothesis development, strategy development, prioritization of physical and biological imperatives, project implementation, habitat construction, monitoring of fish use of the constructed spawning habitats, and communication of research results. Numerous scientific and economic lessons learned from 10 years of planning, building, and assessing fish use of these three fish spawning habitat restoration projects are summarized in this article.
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DLR-EnviHab - A closed environmental Habitat
Rabbow, E.; Koch, B.; Rettberg, P.; Horneck, G.; Graef, P.; Gerzer, R.
Closed habitats intended for different purposes like confinement studies, life in extreme environments (Antarctica) and as simulation testbeds for complex closed life support systems have been built and achieved different degrees of closure. Those that were built in preparation of space missions oriented themselves on the need of a crew of astronauts during a long term mission in Space, on Mars or Moon. At DLR in Cologne, a modular approach is followed to build a closed environmental habitat for scientific and medical studies, the DLR-EnviHab. This modular structure of the EnviHab is designed to include humans as integral part in a bioregenerative life support system, and allows a step-wise realization of the project, ensuring useful results for a wide field of scientific research during each phase. The DLR-EnviHab provides a platform for international and interdisciplinary research and the development of innovative solutions for cultivation and habitation on Earth as well as for long term space or planetary missions. By the inclusion of humans as integral component of the system, medical research areas including physiological and psychological health and rehabilitation as well as environmental research and monitoring and modelling of coupled and controlled systems are addressed in EnviHab. Results of the research conducted in the individual and combined EnviHab modules will also contribute to most urgent issues like water(recycling) management, food management, pollution/waste management and atmosphere(air) management. In addition, EnviHab contributes to public education and outreach with the open visible and partly accessible structure, an exhibition and an explanatory module.
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Vigliano, Pablo H; Rechencq, Magalí M; Fernández, María V; Lippolt, Gustavo E; Macchi, Patricio J
2018-09-15
Habitat use in relation to the thermal habitat availability and food source as a forcing factor on habitat selection and use of Percichthys trucha (Creole perch), Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout), Salmo trutta (brown trout) and Salvelinus fontinalis (brook trout) were determined as well as future potential thermal habitat availability for these species under climate change scenarios Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5. This study was conducted in three interconnected lakes of Northern Patagonia (Moreno Lake system). Data on fish abundance was obtained through gill netting and hydroacoustics, and thermal profiles and fish thermal habitat suitability index curves were used to identify current species-specific thermal habitat use. Surface air temperatures from the (NEX GDDP) database for RCP scenarios 4.5 and 8.5 were used to model monthly average temperatures of the water column up to the year 2099 for all three lakes, and to determine potential future habitat availability. In addition, data on fish diet were used to determine whether food could act as a forcing factor in current habitat selection. The four species examined do not use all the thermally suitable habitats currently available to them in the three lakes, and higher fish densities are not necessarily constrained to their "fundamental thermal niches" sensu Magnuson et al. (1979), as extensive use is made of less suitable habitats. This is apparently brought about by food availability acting as a major forcing factor in habitat selection and use. Uncertainties related to the multidimensionality inherent to habitat selection and climate change imply that fish resource management in Patagonia will not be feasible through traditional incremental policies and strategic adjustments based on short-term predictions, but will have to become highly opportunistic and adaptive. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Fieberg, John R.; Forester, James D.; Street, Garrett M.; Johnson, Douglas H.; ArchMiller, Althea A.; Matthiopoulos, Jason
2018-01-01
“Species distribution modeling” was recently ranked as one of the top five “research fronts” in ecology and the environmental sciences by ISI's Essential Science Indicators (Renner and Warton 2013), reflecting the importance of predicting how species distributions will respond to anthropogenic change. Unfortunately, species distribution models (SDMs) often perform poorly when applied to novel environments. Compounding on this problem is the shortage of methods for evaluating SDMs (hence, we may be getting our predictions wrong and not even know it). Traditional methods for validating SDMs quantify a model's ability to classify locations as used or unused. Instead, we propose to focus on how well SDMs can predict the characteristics of used locations. This subtle shift in viewpoint leads to a more natural and informative evaluation and validation of models across the entire spectrum of SDMs. Through a series of examples, we show how simple graphical methods can help with three fundamental challenges of habitat modeling: identifying missing covariates, non-linearity, and multicollinearity. Identifying habitat characteristics that are not well-predicted by the model can provide insights into variables affecting the distribution of species, suggest appropriate model modifications, and ultimately improve the reliability and generality of conservation and management recommendations.
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Habitat preferences of foraging red-cockaded woodpeckers at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Franzreb, Kathleen, E.
2004-12-31
Franzreb, Kathleen, E. 2004. Habitat preferences of foraging red-cockaded woodpeckers at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina. In: Red-cockaded woodpecker; Road to Recovery. Proceedings of the 4th Red-cockaded woodpecker Symposium. Ralph Costa and Susan J. Daniels, eds. Savannah, Georgia. January, 2003. Chapter 9. Habitat Management and Habitat Relationships. Pp 553-561. Abstract: I constructed a foraging study to examine habitat use of red-cockaded woodpeckers at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina. Because much of the land had been harvested in the late 1940s and early 1950s prior to being sold to the Department of Energy, the available habitat largely consisted of younger trees (e.g., less than 40 years old). From 1992 to 1995, I examined the foraging behavior and reproductive success of 7 groups of red-cockaded woodpeckers.
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Mapping habitat for multiple species in the Desert Southwest
Inman, Richard D.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; Esque, Todd C.; Vandergast, Amy G.; Hathaway, Stacie A.; Wood, Dustin A.; Barr, Kelly R.; Fisher, Robert N.
2014-01-01
Many utility scale renewable energy projects are currently proposed across the Mojave Ecoregion. Agencies that manage biological resources throughout this region need to understand the potential impacts of these renewable energy projects and their associated infrastructure (for example, transmission corridors, substations, access roads, etc.) on species movement, genetic exchange among populations, and species’ abilities to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Understanding these factors will help managers’ select appropriate project sites and possibly mitigate for anticipated effects of management activities. We used species distribution models to map habitat for 15 species across the Mojave Ecoregion to aid regional land-use management planning. Models were developed using a common 1 × 1 kilometer resolution with maximum entropy and generalized additive models. Occurrence data were compiled from multiple sources, including VertNet (http://vertnet.org/), HerpNET (http://www.herpnet.org), and MaNIS (http://manisnet.org), as well as from internal U.S. Geological Survey databases and other biologists. Background data included 20 environmental covariates representing terrain, vegetation, and climate covariates. This report summarizes these environmental covariates and species distribution models used to predict habitat for the 15 species across the Mojave Ecoregion.
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Using multiscale spatial models to assess potential surrogate habitat for an imperiled reptile.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jennifer M Fill
Full Text Available In evaluating conservation and management options for species, practitioners might consider surrogate habitats at multiple scales when estimating available habitat or modeling species' potential distributions based on suitable habitats, especially when native environments are rare. Species' dependence on surrogates likely increases as optimal habitat is degraded and lost due to anthropogenic landscape change, and thus surrogate habitats may be vital for an imperiled species' survival in highly modified landscapes. We used spatial habitat models to examine a potential surrogate habitat for an imperiled ambush predator (eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus; EDB at two scales. The EDB is an apex predator indigenous to imperiled longleaf pine ecosystems (Pinus palustris of the southeastern United States. Loss of native open-canopy pine savannas and woodlands has been suggested as the principal cause of the species' extensive decline. We examined EDB habitat selection in the Coastal Plain tidewater region to evaluate the role of marsh as a potential surrogate habitat and to further quantify the species' habitat requirements at two scales: home range (HR and within the home range (WHR. We studied EDBs using radiotelemetry and employed an information-theoretic approach and logistic regression to model habitat selection as use vs.We failed to detect a positive association with marsh as a surrogate habitat at the HR scale; rather, EDBs exhibited significantly negative associations with all landscape patches except pine savanna. Within home range selection was characterized by a negative association with forest and a positive association with ground cover, which suggests that EDBs may use surrogate habitats of similar structure, including marsh, within their home ranges. While our HR analysis did not support tidal marsh as a surrogate habitat, marsh may still provide resources for EDBs at smaller scales.
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Paul C. Banko; Steven C. Hess; Paul G. Scowcroft; Chris Farmer; James D. Jacobi; Robert M. Stephens; Richard J. Camp; David L. Leonard; Kevin W. Brinck; J. O. Juvik; S. P. Juvik
2014-01-01
Under the multiple-use paradigm, conflicts may arise when protection of an endangered species must compete with other management objectives. To resolve such a conflict in the Critical Habitat of the endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, palila (Loxioides bailleui), federal courts ordered the eradication of introduced ungulates responsible for damaging...
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Halliday, William D; Gilmour, Kathleen M; Blouin-Demers, Gabriel
2015-01-01
Measuring habitat suitability is important in conservation and in wildlife management. Measuring the abundance or presence-absence of a species in various habitats is not sufficient to measure habitat suitability because these metrics can be poor predictors of population success. Therefore, having some measure of population success is essential in assessing habitat suitability, but estimating population success is difficult. Identifying suitable proxies for population success could thus be beneficial. We examined whether faecal corticosterone metabolite (fCM) concentrations could be used as a proxy for habitat suitability in common gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). We conducted a validation study and confirmed that fCM concentrations indeed reflect circulating corticosterone concentrations. We estimated abundance, reproductive output and growth rate of gartersnakes in field and in forest habitat and we also measured fCM concentrations of gartersnakes from these same habitats. Common gartersnakes were more abundant and had higher reproductive outputs and higher growth rates in field habitat than in forest habitat, but fCM concentrations did not differ between the same two habitats. Our results suggest either that fCM concentrations are not a useful metric of habitat suitability in common gartersnakes or that the difference in suitability between the two habitats was too small to induce changes in fCM concentrations. Incorporating fitness metrics in estimates of habitat suitability is important, but these metrics of fitness have to be sensitive enough to vary between habitats.
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Wendy D. Jones; Carlton M. Jones; Peter F. Ffolliott; Gerald J. Gottfried
2005-01-01
The encinal savannas of the sub-mogollon southwestern United States are important for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Little data have been collected on the ecology of these Sierra Madrean types of woodland land areas, which makes management difficult. Obtaining information such as habitat preferences for selected wildlife species and livestock can be an...
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Galparsoro, Ibon; Connor, David W; Borja, Angel; Aish, Annabelle; Amorim, Patricia; Bajjouk, Touria; Chambers, Caroline; Coggan, Roger; Dirberg, Guillaume; Ellwood, Helen; Evans, Douglas; Goodin, Kathleen L; Grehan, Anthony; Haldin, Jannica; Howell, Kerry; Jenkins, Chris; Michez, Noëmie; Mo, Giulia; Buhl-Mortensen, Pål; Pearce, Bryony; Populus, Jacques; Salomidi, Maria; Sánchez, Francisco; Serrano, Alberto; Shumchenia, Emily; Tempera, Fernando; Vasquez, Mickaël
2012-12-01
The EUNIS (European Union Nature Information System) habitat classification system aims to provide a common European reference set of habitat types within a hierarchical classification, and to cover all terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats of Europe. The classification facilitates reporting of habitat data in a comparable manner, for use in nature conservation (e.g. inventories, monitoring and assessments), habitat mapping and environmental management. For the marine environment the importance of a univocal habitat classification system is confirmed by the fact that many European initiatives, aimed at marine mapping, assessment and reporting, are increasingly using EUNIS habitat categories and respective codes. For this reason substantial efforts have been made to include information on marine benthic habitats from different regions, aiming to provide a comprehensive geographical coverage of European seas. However, there still remain many concerns on its applicability as only a small fraction of Europe's seas are fully mapped and increasing knowledge and application raise further issues to be resolved. This paper presents an overview of the main discussion and conclusions of a workshop, organised by the MeshAtlantic project, focusing upon the experience in using the EUNIS habitats classification across different countries and seas, together with case studies. The aims of the meeting were to: (i) bring together scientists with experience in the use of the EUNIS marine classification and representatives from the European Environment Agency (EEA); (ii) agree on enhancements to EUNIS that ensure an improved representation of the European marine habitats; and (iii) establish practices that make marine habitat maps produced by scientists more consistent with the needs of managers and decision-makers. During the workshop challenges for the future development of EUNIS were identified, which have been classified into five categories: (1) structure and hierarchy; (2
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Habitats and Species Covered by the EEC Habitats Directive
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Pihl, S.; Søgaard, B.; Ejrnæs, R.
of Conservation (SAC's), Natura 2000. The designations are based upon the presence of 60 of the natural habitat types listed in Annex I of the Directive and approx. 44 of the species listed in Annex II which occur within the territory of Denmark and for the conservation of which the Community has a special...... and the Danish county authorities have initiated a co-operative programme to provide and compile the data necessary to assess the conservation status of the natural habitat types and species concerned. The purpose of this report is to present the conservation status of the habitats and species in Denmark...
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Mushet, David M.; Euliss, Ned H.; Stockwell, Craig A.
2012-01-01
The conversion of the Northern Great Plains of North America to a landscape favoring agricultural commodity production has negatively impacted wildlife habitats. To offset impacts, conservation programs have been implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies to restore grassland and wetland habitat components. To evaluate effects of these efforts on anuran habitats, we used call survey data and environmental data in ecological niche factor analyses implemented through the program Biomapper to quantify habitat suitability for five anuran species within a 196 km2 study area. Our amphibian call surveys identified Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens), Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), Boreal Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris maculata), Great Plains Toads (Anaxyrus cognatus), and Woodhouse’s Toads (Anaxyrus woodhousii) occurring within the study area. Habitat suitability maps developed for each species revealed differing patterns of suitable habitat among species. The most significant findings of our mapping effort were 1) the influence of deep-water overwintering wetlands on suitable habitat for all species encountered except the Boreal Chorus Frog; 2) the lack of overlap between areas of core habitat for both the Northern Leopard Frog and Wood Frog compared to the core habitat for both toad species; and 3) the importance of conservation programs in providing grassland components of Northern Leopard Frog and Wood Frog habitat. The differences in habitats suitable for the five species we studied in the Northern Great Plains, i.e., their ecological niches, highlight the importance of utilizing an ecosystem based approach that considers the varying needs of multiple species in the development of amphibian conservation and management plans.
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High Resolution Habitat Suitability Modelling For Restricted-Range Hawaiian Alpine Arthropod Species
Stephenson, N. M.
2016-12-01
Mapping potentially suitable habitat is critical for effective species conservation and management but can be challenging in areas exhibiting complex heterogeneity. An approach that combines non-intrusive spatial data collection techniques and field data can lead to a better understanding of landscapes and species distributions. Nysius wekiuicola, commonly known as the wēkiu bug, is the most studied arthropod species endemic to the Maunakea summit in Hawai`i, yet details about its geographic distribution and habitat use remain poorly understood. To predict the geographic distribution of N. wekiuicola, MaxEnt habitat suitability models were generated from a diverse set of input variables, including fifteen years of species occurrence data, high resolution digital elevation models, surface mineralogy maps derived from hyperspectral remote sensing, and climate data. Model results indicate that elevation (78.2 percent), and the presence of nanocrystalline hematite surface minerals (13.7 percent) had the highest influence, with lesser contributions from aspect, slope, and other surface mineral classes. Climatic variables were not included in the final analysis due to auto-correlation and coarse spatial resolution. Biotic factors relating to predation and competition also likely dictate wēkiu bug capture patterns and influence our results. The wēkiu bug range and habitat suitability models generated as a result of this study will be directly incorporated into management and restoration goals for the summit region and can also be adapted for other arthropod species present, leading to a more holistic understanding of metacommunity dynamics. Key words: Microhabitat, Structure from Motion, Lidar, MaxEnt, Habitat Suitability
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2013-07-01
Van der Molen , H. F. P. Van den Boogaard, and H. Van der Klis. 2006. Uncertainty analysis of a spatial habitat suitability model and implications...Brooks 1997, Brown et al. 2000, Store and Jokimaki 2003, Shifley et al. 2006, Van der Lee et al. 2006 and others). The Clear Creek study team made the...nature preserves (Brown et al. 2000, Ortigosa et al. 2000, Store and Kangas 2001, Felix et al. 2004, Ray and Burgman 2006, Van der Lee et al. 2006 and
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Anna-Liisa Sippola
2002-01-01
The present status of species and habitats in Finnish wilderness areas is largely a consequence of past administrative, use, and management traditions in northern Finland. The existing wilderness legislation sets a framework for management, but historical uses and administrative decisions have influenced many prevailing practices. In addition, management of many uses...
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Brian G. Tavernia; Mark D. Nelson; Michael E. Goerndt; Brian F. Walters; Chris Toney
2013-01-01
Large-scale and long-term habitat management plans are needed to maintain the diversity of habitat classes required by wildlife species. Planning efforts would benefit from assessments of potential climate and land-use change effects on habitats. We assessed climate and land-use driven changes in areas of closed- and open-canopy forest across the Northeast and Midwest...
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Robert T. Brooks; W. Mark Ford
2006-01-01
Forest bats of eastern North America select habitats for roosting, foraging, and winter hibernation/migration over a myriad of scales. An understanding of forest-bat habitat use over scales of time and space is important for their conservation and management. The papers in this Special Section report studies of bat habitat use across multiple scales from locations...
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Elizabeth A. Roznik; Steve A. Johnson; Cathryn H. Greenberg; George W. Tanner
2009-01-01
Many animals exhibit changes in patterns of movement and habitat use as they age, and understanding such ontogenetic shifts is important for ensuring that habitat management is appropriate for all life stages. We used radiotelemetry to study movements and habitat use of juvenile and adult gopher frogs (Rana capito) as they migrated from the same ponds following...
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Early efforts in wildlife management focused on reducing population variability and maximizing yields of select species. Aldo Leopold proposed the concept of habitat management as superior to population management. More recently, ecosystem management, whereby ecological processes...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dongkyun Im
2011-12-01
Full Text Available River corridors, even if highly modified or degraded, still provide important habitats for numerous biological species, and carry high aesthetic and economic values. One of the keys to urban stream restoration is recovery and maintenance of ecological flows sufficient to sustain aquatic ecosystems. In this study, the Hongje Stream in the Seoul metropolitan area of Korea was selected for evaluating a physically-based habitat with and without habitat structures. The potential value of the aquatic habitat was evaluated by a weighted usable area (WUA using River2D, a two-dimensional hydraulic model. The habitat suitability for Zacco platypus in the Hongje Stream was simulated with and without habitat structures. The computed WUA values for the boulder, spur dike, and riffle increased by about 2%, 7%, and 131%, respectively, after their construction. Also, the three habitat structures, especially the riffle, can contribute to increasing hydraulic heterogeneity and enhancing habitat diversity.
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Physical stream habitat dynamics in Lower Bear Creek, northern Arkansas
Reuter, Joanna M.; Jacobson, Robert B.; Elliott, Caroline M.
2003-01-01
We evaluated the roles of geomorphic and hydrologic dynamics in determining physical stream habitat in Bear Creek, a stream with a 239 km2 drainage basin in the Ozark Plateaus (Ozarks) in northern Arkansas. During a relatively wet 12-month monitoring period, the geomorphology of Bear Creek was altered by a series of floods, including at least four floods with peak discharges exceeding a 1-year recurrence interval and another flood with an estimated 2- to 4-year recurrence interval. These floods resulted in a net erosion of sediment from the study reach at Crane Bottom at rates far in excess of other sites previously studied in the Ozarks. The riffle-pool framework of the study reach at Crane Bottom was not substantially altered by these floods, but volumes of habitat in riffles and pools changed. The 2- to 4-year flood scoured gravel from pools and deposited it in riffles, increasing the diversity of available stream habitat. In contract, the smaller floods eroded gravel from the riffles and deposited it in pools, possibly flushing fine sediment from the substrate but also decreasing habitat diversity. Channel geometry measured at the beginning of the study was use to develop a two-dimensional, finite-element hydraulic model at assess how habitat varies with hydrologic dynamics. Distributions of depth and velocity simulated over the range of discharges observed during the study (0.1 to 556 cubic meters per second, cms) were classified into habitat units based on limiting depths and Froude number criteria. The results indicate that the areas of habitats are especially sensitive to change to low to medium flows. Races (areas of swift, relatively deep water downstream from riffles) disappear completely at the lowest flows, and riffles (areas of swift, relatively shallow water) contract substantially in area. Pools also contract in area during low flow, but deep scours associated with bedrock outcrops sustain some pool area even at the lowest modeled flows. Modeled
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Novais, Samuel M A; Macedo-Reis, Luiz E; DaRocha, Wesley D; Neves, Frederico S
2016-06-01
Human pressure on natural habitats increases the importance of agroforests for biodiversity conservation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of cacao traditional cultivation system (CTCS) on the conservation of the herbivorous insect community when compared with a monodominant rubber agroforest, a type of agricultural system for cacao cultivation. The insects were sampled in three habitats in Southeastern Bahia, Brazil: native forests, CTCS and rubber agroforests. In each habitat, 18 plots of 10 m2 were established, and the structural measures were collected and herbivorous insects were sampled with a Malaise/window trap. The diversity of folivorous decreased with the simplification of vegetation structure, but species composition was similar among habitats. In addition to a decrease in the availability of resources in monodominant rubber agroforests, the latex present in these systems have limited the occurrence of species that cannot circumvent latex toxicity. The diversity of sap-sucking insects was similar among habitats, but species composition was similar only in the CTCS and native forest, and it was different in the rubber agroforest. We observed turnover and a higher frequency of individuals of the family Psyllidae in the rubber agroforest. The biology and behavior of Psyllids and absence of natural enemies enable their diversity to increase when they are adapted to a new host. We observed a shift in the composition of xylophagous insects in the rubber agroforest compared to that in other habitats. Moreover, this agroforest has low species richness, but high individual abundance. Latex extraction is likely an important additional source of volatile compounds discharged into the environment, and it increases the attraction and recruitment of coleoborers to these sites. We concluded that CTCS has an herbivorous insect community with a structure similar to the community found in native forests of the region, and they present a more
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How do dispersal costs and habitat selection influence realized population connectivity?
Burgess, Scott C; Treml, Eric A; Marshall, Dustin J
2012-06-01
Despite the importance of dispersal for population connectivity, dispersal is often costly to the individual. A major impediment to understanding connectivity has been a lack of data combining the movement of individuals and their survival to reproduction in the new habitat (realized connectivity). Although mortality often occurs during dispersal (an immediate cost), in many organisms costs are paid after dispersal (deferred costs). It is unclear how such deferred costs influence the mismatch between dispersal and realized connectivity. Through a series of experiments in the field and laboratory, we estimated both direct and indirect deferred costs in a marine bryozoan (Bugula neritina). We then used the empirical data to parameterize a theoretical model in order to formalize predictions about how dispersal costs influence realized connectivity. Individuals were more likely to colonize poor-quality habitat after prolonged dispersal durations. Individuals that colonized poor-quality habitat performed poorly after colonization because of some property of the habitat (an indirect deferred cost) rather than from prolonged dispersal per se (a direct deferred cost). Our theoretical model predicted that indirect deferred costs could result in nonlinear mismatches between spatial patterns of potential and realized connectivity. The deferred costs of dispersal are likely to be crucial for determining how well patterns of dispersal reflect realized connectivity. Ignoring these deferred costs could lead to inaccurate predictions of spatial population dynamics.
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Erwin, R.M.
1996-01-01
Waterbirds (waterfowl, colonially nesting wading and seabirds, ospreys [Pandion haliaetus], and bald eagles [Haliaeetus leucocephalus]) and shorebirds (sandpipers, plovers, and relatives) may constitute a large fraction of the top level carnivore trophic component in many shallow-water areas of the mid-Atlantic region. The large biomass of many species (>1 kg body mass for the two raptors and some waterfowl) and enormous populations (e.g., >1 million shorebirds in late May in parts of Delaware Bay) reveal the importance of waterbirds as consumers and as linkages in nutrient flux in many shallow-water habitats. Salt and brackish marsh shallow-water habitats, including marsh pannes and tidal pools and creeks as well as constructed impoundments, are used intensively during most months of the year; in fall and winter, mostly by dabbling ducks, in spring and summer by migrant shorebirds and breeding colonial wading birds and seabirds. In adjacent estuaries, the intertidal flats and littoral zones of shallow embayments are heavily used by shorebirds, raptors, and colonial waterbirds in the May to September periods, with use by duck and geese heaviest from October to March. With the regional degradation of estuarine habitats and population declines of many species of waterbirds in the past 20 yr, some management recommendations relevant to shallow waters include: better protection, enhancement, and creation of small bay islands (small and isolated to preclude most mammalian predators) for nesting and brooding birds, especially colonial species; establishment of sanctuaries from human disturbance (e.g., boating, hunting) both in open water (waterfowl) and on land, better allocation of sandy dredged materials to augment islands or stabilize eroding islands; improvement in water management of existing impoundments to ensure good feeding, resting, and nesting opportunities for all the waterbirds, support for policies to preclude point and nonpoint source runoff of chemicals
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Loss and modification of habitat: Chapter 1
Lemckert, Francis; Hecnar, Stephen; Pilliod, David S.
2012-01-01
Amphibians live in a wide variety of habitats around the world, many of which have been modified or destroyed by human activities. Most species have unique life history characteristics adapted to specific climates, habitats (e.g., lentic, lotic, terrestrial, arboreal, fossorial, amphibious), and local conditions that provide suitable areas for reproduction, development and growth, shelter from environmental extremes, and predation, as well as connectivity to other populations or habitats. Although some species are entirely aquatic or terrestrial, most amphibians, as their name implies, lead a dual life and require a mosaic of habitats in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. With over 6 billion people on Earth, most species are now persisting in habitats that have been directly or indirectly influenced by human activities. Some species have disappeared where their habitats have been completely destroyed, reduced, or rendered unsuitable. Habitat loss and degradation are widely considered by most researchers as the most important causes of amphibian population decline globally (Barinaga 1990; Wake and Morowitz 1991; Alford and Richards 1999). In this chapter, a background on the diverse habitat requirements of amphibians is provided, followed by a discussion of the effects of urbanization, agriculture, livestock grazing, timber production and harvesting, fire and hazardous fuel management, and roads on amphibians and their habitats. Also briefly discussed is the influence on amphibian habitats of natural disturbances, such as extreme weather events and climate change, given the potential for human activities to impact climate in the longer term. For amphibians in general, microhabitats are of greater importance than for other vertebrates. As ectotherms with a skin that is permeable to water and with naked gelatinous eggs, amphibians are physiologically constrained to be active during environmental conditions that provide appropriate body temperatures and adequate
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75 FR 62507 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
2010-10-12
... jointly with the Habitat Plan Development Team to discuss management alternatives related to minimizing the adverse effects of fishing on Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), which are being developed for the... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat/MPA/Ecosystem...
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The fate of threatened coastal dune habitats in Italy under climate change scenarios.
Prisco, Irene; Carboni, Marta; Acosta, Alicia T R
2013-01-01
Coastal dunes worldwide harbor threatened habitats characterized by high diversity in terms of plant communities. In Italy, recent assessments have highlighted the insufficient state of conservation of these habitats as defined by the EU Habitats Directive. The effects of predicted climate change could have dramatic consequences for coastal environments in the near future. An assessment of the efficacy of protection measures under climate change is thus a priority. Here, we have developed environmental envelope models for the most widespread dune habitats in Italy, following two complementary approaches: an "indirect" plant-species-based one and a simple "direct" one. We analyzed how habitats distribution will be altered under the effects of two climate change scenarios and evaluated if the current Italian network of protected areas will be effective in the future after distribution shifts. While modeling dune habitats with the "direct" approach was unsatisfactory, "indirect" models had a good predictive performance, highlighting the importance of using species' responses to climate change for modeling these habitats. The results showed that habitats closer to the sea may even increase their geographical distribution in the near future. The transition dune habitat is projected to remain stable, although mobile and fixed dune habitats are projected to lose most of their actual geographical distribution, the latter being more sensitive to climate change effects. Gap analysis highlighted that the habitats' distribution is currently adequately covered by protected areas, achieving the conservation target. However, according to predictions, protection level for mobile and fixed dune habitats is predicted to drop drastically under the climate change scenarios which we examined. Our results provide useful insights for setting management priorities and better addressing conservation efforts to preserve these threatened habitats in future.
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Using small unmanned aerial vehicle for instream habitat evaluation and modelling
Astegiano, Luca; Vezza, Paolo; Comoglio, Claudio; Lingua, Andrea; Spairani, Michele
2015-04-01
Recent advances in digital image collection and processing have led to the increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for river research and management. In this paper, we assess the capabilities of a small UAV to characterize physical habitat for fish in three river stretches of North-Western Italy. The main aim of the study was identifying the advantages and challenges of this technology for environmental river management, in the context of the increasing river exploitation for hydropower production. The UAV used to acquire overlapping images was a small quadcopter with a two different high-resolution (non-metric) cameras (Nikon J1™ and Go-Pro Hero 3 Black Edition™). The quadcopter was preprogrammed to fly set waypoints using a small tablet PC. With the acquired imagery, we constructed a 5-cm resolution orthomosaic image and a digital surface model (DSM). The two products were used to map the distribution of aquatic and riparian habitat features, i.e., wetted area, morphological unit distributions, bathymetry, water surface gradient, substrates and grain sizes, shelters and cover for fish. The study assessed the quality of collected data and used such information to identify key reach-scale metrics and important aspects of fluvial morphology and aquatic habitat. The potential and limitations of using UAV for physical habitat survey were evaluated and the collected data were used to initialize and run common habitat simulation tools (MesoHABSIM). Several advantages of using UAV-based imagery were found, including low cost procedures, high resolution and efficiency in data collection. However, some challenges were identified for bathymetry extraction (vegetation obstructions, white waters, turbidity) and grain size assessment (preprocessing of data and automatic object detection). The application domain and possible limitation for instream habitat mapping were defined and will be used as a reference for future studies. Ongoing activities include the
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jochem Kail
Full Text Available River biota are affected by global reach-scale pressures, but most approaches for predicting biota of rivers focus on river reach or segment scale processes and habitats. Moreover, these approaches do not consider long-term morphological changes that affect habitat conditions. In this study, a modelling framework was further developed and tested to assess the effect of pressures at different spatial scales on reach-scale habitat conditions and biota. Ecohydrological and 1D hydrodynamic models were used to predict discharge and water quality at the catchment scale and the resulting water level at the downstream end of a study reach. Long-term reach morphology was modelled using empirical regime equations, meander migration and 2D morphodynamic models. The respective flow and substrate conditions in the study reach were predicted using a 2D hydrodynamic model, and the suitability of these habitats was assessed with novel habitat models. In addition, dispersal models for fish and macroinvertebrates were developed to assess the re-colonization potential and to finally compare habitat suitability and the availability/ability of species to colonize these habitats. Applicability was tested and model performance was assessed by comparing observed and predicted conditions in the lowland Treene River in northern Germany. Technically, it was possible to link the different models, but future applications would benefit from the development of open source software for all modelling steps to enable fully automated model runs. Future research needs concern the physical modelling of long-term morphodynamics, feedback of biota (e.g., macrophytes on abiotic habitat conditions, species interactions, and empirical data on the hydraulic habitat suitability and dispersal abilities of macroinvertebrates. The modelling framework is flexible and allows for including additional models and investigating different research and management questions, e.g., in climate impact
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Novais, Samuel M. A.; Macedo-Reis, Luiz E.; DaRocha, Wesley D.; Neves, Frederico S.
2016-01-01
AbstractHuman pressure on natural habitats increases the importance of agroforests for biodiversity conservation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of cacao traditional cultivation system (CTCS) on the conservation of the herbivorous insect community when compared with a monodominant rubber agroforest, a type of agricultural system for cacao cultivation. The insects were sampled in three habitats in Southeastern Bahia, Brazil: native forests, CTCS and rubber agroforests. In...
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Barr, Kelly R; Kus, Barbara E; Preston, Kristine L; Howell, Scarlett; Perkins, Emily; Vandergast, Amy G
2015-05-01
Achieving long-term persistence of species in urbanized landscapes requires characterizing population genetic structure to understand and manage the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on connectivity. Urbanization over the past century in coastal southern California has caused both precipitous loss of coastal sage scrub habitat and declines in populations of the cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). Using 22 microsatellite loci, we found that remnant cactus wren aggregations in coastal southern California comprised 20 populations based on strict exact tests for population differentiation, and 12 genetic clusters with hierarchical Bayesian clustering analyses. Genetic structure patterns largely mirrored underlying habitat availability, with cluster and population boundaries coinciding with fragmentation caused primarily by urbanization. Using a habitat model we developed, we detected stronger associations between habitat-based distances and genetic distances than Euclidean geographic distance. Within populations, we detected a positive association between available local habitat and allelic richness and a negative association with relatedness. Isolation-by-distance patterns varied over the study area, which we attribute to temporal differences in anthropogenic landscape development. We also found that genetic bottleneck signals were associated with wildfire frequency. These results indicate that habitat fragmentation and alterations have reduced genetic connectivity and diversity of cactus wren populations in coastal southern California. Management efforts focused on improving connectivity among remaining populations may help to ensure population persistence. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
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Valentine, Page C.; Cochrane, Guy R.; Scanlon, Kathryn M.
2003-01-01
The National Marine Sanctuary System requires seabed and habitat maps to serve as a basis for managing sanctuary resources and for conducting research. NOAA, the agency that manages the sanctuaries, and the USGS have conducted mapping projects in three sanctuaries (Stellwagen Bank NMS, Flower Garden Banks NMS, and Channel Islands NMS) with an emphasis on collaboration of geologists and biologists from the two agencies and from academic institutions. Mapping of seabed habitats is a developing field that requires the integration of geologic and biologic studies and the use of swath imaging techniques such as multibeam and sidescan sonar. Major products of swath mapping are shaded-relief topographic imagery which shows seabed features in great detail, and backscatter imagery which provides an indication of the types of materials that constitute the seabed. Sea floor images provide an excellent basis for conducting the groundtruthing studies (using video, photo, and sampling techniques) that are required to collect the data necessary for making meaningful interpretative maps of the seabed. The compilation of interpretive maps showing seabed environments and habitats also requires the development of a sea floor classification system that will be a basis for comparing, managing, and researching characteristic areas of the seabed. Seabed maps of the sanctuaries are proving useful for management and research decisions that address commercial and recreational fishing, habitat disturbance, engineering projects, tourism, and cultural resources.
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Farris, Zach J.; Golden, Christopher D.; Karpanty, Sarah; Murphy, Asia; Stauffer, Dean; Ratelolahy, Felix; Andrianjakarivelo, Vonjy; Holmes, Christopher M.; Kelly, Marcella J.
2015-01-01
The wide-ranging, cumulative, negative effects of anthropogenic disturbance, including habitat degradation, exotic species, and hunting, on native wildlife has been well documented across a range of habitats worldwide with carnivores potentially being the most vulnerable due to their more extinction prone characteristics. Investigating the effects of anthropogenic pressures on sympatric carnivores is needed to improve our ability to develop targeted, effective management plans for carnivore c...
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European red list of habitats. Part 1: Marine habitats
Gubbay, S.; Sanders, N.; Haynes, T.; Janssen, J.A.M.; Rodwell, J.R.; Nieto, A.; Garcia Criado, M.; Beal, S.; Borg, J.
2016-01-01
The European Red List of Habitats provides an overview of the risk
of collapse (degree of endangerment) of marine, terrestrial and
freshwater habitats in the European Union (EU28) and adjacent
regions (EU28+), based on a consistent set of categories and
criteria, and detailed data -
77 FR 5774 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
2012-02-06
... management measures for further development and analysis in Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2. Two... fishing on Essential Fish Habitat and (2) alternatives to protect deep-sea corals from the impacts of... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat/MPA/Ecosystem...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yajie Zeng
Full Text Available Francois' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi is an endangered primate and endemic to the limestone forests of the tropical and subtropical zone of northern Vietnam and South-west China with a population of about 2,000 individuals. Conservation efforts are hampered by limited knowledge of habitat preference in its main distribution area. We surveyed the distribution of Francois' langur and modeled the relationship between the probability of use and habitat features in Mayanghe National Nature Reserve, Guizhou, China. The main objectives of this study were to provide quantitative information on habitat preference, estimating the availability of suitable habitat, and providing management guidelines for the effective conservation of this species. By comparing 92 used locations with habitat available in the reserve, we found that Francois' langur was mainly distributed along valleys and proportionally, used bamboo forests and mixed conifer-broadleaf forests more than their availability, whereas they tended to avoid shrubby areas and coniferous forests. The langur tended to occur at sites with lower elevation, steeper slope, higher tree canopy density, and a close distance to roads and water. The habitat occupancy probability was best modeled by vegetation type, vegetation coverage, elevation, slope degree, distances to nearest water, paved road, and farmland edge. The suitable habitat in this reserve concentrated in valleys and accounted for about 25% of the total reserve area. Our results showed that Francois' langur was not only restricted at the landscapes level at the regions with karst topography, limestone cliffs, and caves, but it also showed habitat preference at the local scale. Therefore, the protection and restoration of the langur preferred habitats such as mixed conifer-broadleaf forests are important and urgent for the conservation of this declining species.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elly C. Knight
2014-06-01
Full Text Available Extensive fragmentation of the sagebrush shrubsteppe of western North America could be contributing to observed population declines of songbirds in sagebrush habitat. We examined whether habitat fragmentation impacts the reproduction of songbirds in sagebrush edge habitat near agriculture, and if potential impacts vary depending on the adjacent crop type. Specifically, we evaluated whether nest abundance and nest survival varied between orchard edge habitat, vineyard edge habitat, and interior habitat. We then examined whether the local nest predator community and vegetation could explain the differences detected. We detected fewer nests in edge than interior habitat. Nest abundance per songbird was also lower in edge than interior habitat, although only adjacent to vineyards. Nest predation was more frequent in orchard edge habitat than vineyard edge or interior habitat. Predators identified with nest cameras were primarily snakes, however, reduced nest survival in orchard edge habitat was not explained by differences in the abundance of snakes or any other predator species identified. Information theoretic analysis of daily survival rates showed that greater study plot shrub cover and lower grass height at nests were partially responsible for the lower rate of predation-specific daily nest survival rate (PDSR observed in orchard edge habitat, but additional factors are likely important. Results of this study suggest that different crop types have different edge effects on songbirds nesting in sagebrush shrubsteppe, and that these reproductive edge effects may contribute to observed declines of these species. Habitat managers should avoid the creation of new orchard-sagebrush habitat edges to avoid further impacts on already declining songbird populations.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Doug W. Schindler
2007-04-01
Full Text Available The Owl Lake boreal woodland caribou population is the most southerly population in Manitoba. It is provincially ranked as a High Conservation Concern Population. Forestry operations exist in the area and there are plans for further forest harvest and renewal. The Happy Lake logging road is the only main access through the Owl Lake winter range. This logging road is currently closed to the public and access is limited to forestry operations during specific times of the year. An integrated forestry/caribou management strategy for the area provides for the maintenance of minimum areas of functional habitat. Habitat quality along the road was compared to habitat quality in the winter core use areas, within the winter range and outside the winter range. To evaluate the extent of functional habitat near the road, we conducted animal location and movement analysis using GPS data collected from January 2002 to March 2006. Habitat quality in the winter range, core use areas and along the road were assessed and found to be similar. Analysis of caribou locations and movement illustrate less use of high quality habitat adjacent to the Happy Lake Road. Loss of functional habitat is suggested to occur within 1 kilometre of the road. This potential loss of functional habitat should be incorporated into integrated forestry and caribou conservation strategies. Road management is recommended to minimize the potential sensory disturbance and associated impacts of all weather access on boreal woodland caribou.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
White, Philip M.; Innes, Brian; Sellar, Robin J.; Gilmour, John N.; Weir, Nicholas W.
2008-01-01
Endovascular coiling of intracranial aneurysms carries a risk of complications. Early detection and management of complications can improve clinical outcomes. AngioCT is a new imaging technology enabling CT-like images to be generated on a flat-panel digital subtraction angiography system, which can provide immediate ''on angio table'' identification and thorough assessment of such complications. We prospectively audited its utility during aneurysm coiling in patients following subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). A prospective series of 44 patients with SAH undergoing endovascular coiling with AngioCT was audited for image quality and the influence of the AngioCT on patient management. In a parallel experimental study, radiation doses were measured and image quality parameters on standard phantoms were established. In all patients, AngioCT provided adequate diagnostic information. In 40.9% of patients, AngioCT was a substantial or major factor in determining the management immediately after coiling. Using a 10-s high-dose acquisition technique, acceptable image quality could be obtained rapidly with a radiation dose just over half that for a conventional CT scan of the head (35 mGy versus approximately 60 mGy). No patient in this series required conventional CT to clarify the AngioCT appearance. AngioCT has many applications in the neurointerventional setting. In particular during coiling, AngioCT provides a rapid way to clarify concerns or identify complications and in some cases was the major factor influencing further patient management immediately after coiling. AngioCT images were judged of adequate quality to be clinically useful in all patients in this series. (orig.)
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Impacts of Columbia River discharge on salmonid habitat: 2. Changes in shallow-water habitat
Kukulka, Tobias; Jay, David A.
2003-09-01
This is the second part of an investigation that analyzes human alteration of shallow-water habitat (SWH) available to juvenile salmonids in the tidal Lower Columbia River. Part 2 develops a one-dimensional, subtidal river stage model that explains ˜90% of the stage variance in the tidal river. This model and the tidal model developed in part 1 [, 2003] uncouple the nonlinear interaction of river tides and river stage by referring both to external forcing by river discharge, ocean tides, and atmospheric pressure. Applying the two models, daily high-water levels were predicted for a reach from rkm-50 to rkm-90 during 1974 to 1998, the period of contemporary management. Predicted water levels were related to the bathymetry and topography to determine the changes in shallow-water habitat area (SWHA) caused by flood control dikes and altered flow management. Model results suggest that diking and a >40% reduction of peak flows have reduced SWHA by ˜62% during the crucial spring freshet period during which juvenile salmon use of SWHA is maximal. Taken individually, diking and flow cycle alteration reduced spring freshet SWHA by 52% and 29%, respectively. SWHA has been both displaced to lower elevations and modified in its character because tidal range has increased. Our models of these processes are economical for the very long simulations (seasons to centuries) needed to understand historic changes and climate impacts on SWH. Through analysis of the nonlinear processes controlling surface elevation in a tidal river, we have identified some of the mechanisms that link freshwater discharge to SWH and salmonid survival.
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Vegetation habitats and small mammals in a plague endemic area ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Keywords: plague, vegetation, habitats, rodents distribution, Tanzania ... diseases (Eisen et al., 2007), and for the development of pest management .... This study received approval from Directorate of Research and Post-Graduate Studies of ..... be explained by the nature of human activities including grazing, bush fires, fire.
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75 FR 43928 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
2010-07-27
... effects of fishing on Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) across all Council FMPs. These management options are being developed as part of Phase 2 of Essential Fish Habitat Omnibus Amendment 2. Broadly speaking, the... England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat/MPA/Ecosystem...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ashley, P.R.; Ratassepp, J.; Berger, M.; Judd, S.L.
1997-01-01
This Habitat Evaluation Procedure study was conducted to determine baseline habitat units (HUs) on the Scotch Creek, Mineral Hill, Pogue Mountain, Chesaw and Tunk Valley Habitat Areas (collectively known as the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area) in Okanogan County, Sagebrush Flat and the Dormaler property in Douglas County, and the Berg Brothers ranch located in Okanogan County within the Colville Reservation. A HEP team comprised of individuals from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (Appendix A) conducted baseline habitat surveys using the following HEP evaluation species: mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus), pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginiana), mink (Mustela vison), Canada goose (Branta canadensis), downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), Lewis woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis), and Yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia). Results of the HEP analysis are listed below. General ratings (poor, marginal, fair, etc.,) are described in Appendix B. Mule deer habitat was marginal lacking diversity and quantify of suitable browse species. Sharp-tailed grouse habitat was marginal lacking residual nesting cover and suitable winter habitat Pygmy rabbit habitat was in fair condition except for the Dormaier property which was rated marginal due to excessive shrub canopy closure at some sites. This report is an analysis of baseline habitat conditions on mitigation project lands and provides estimated habitat units for mitigation crediting purposes. In addition, information from this document could be used by wildlife habitat managers to develop management strategies for specific project sites
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ashley, Paul R.
1997-01-01
This Habitat Evaluation Procedure study was conducted to determine baseline habitat units (HUs) on the Scotch Creek, Mineral Hill, Pogue Mountain, Chesaw and Tunk Valley Habitat Areas (collectively known as the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area) in Okanogan County, Sagebrush Flat and the Dormaler property in Douglas County, and the Berg Brothers ranch located in Okanogan County within the Colville Reservation. A HEP team comprised of individuals from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (Appendix A) conducted baseline habitat surveys using the following HEP evaluation species: mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus), pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginiana), mink (Mustela vison), Canada goose (Branta canadensis), downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), Lewis woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis), and Yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia). Results of the HEP analysis are listed below. General ratings (poor, marginal, fair, etc.,) are described in Appendix B. Mule deer habitat was marginal lacking diversity and quantify of suitable browse species. Sharp-tailed grouse habitat was marginal lacking residual nesting cover and suitable winter habitat Pygmy rabbit habitat was in fair condition except for the Dormaier property which was rated marginal due to excessive shrub canopy closure at some sites. This report is an analysis of baseline habitat conditions on mitigation project lands and provides estimated habitat units for mitigation crediting purposes. In addition, information from this document could be used by wildlife habitat managers to develop management strategies for specific project sites.
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Impact of experimental habitat manipulation on northern bobwhite survival
Peters, David C.; Brooke, Jarred M.; Tanner, Evan P.; Unger, Ashley M.; Keyser, Patrick D.; Harper, Craig A.; Clark, Joseph D.; Morgan, John J.
2015-01-01
Habitat management for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) should affect vital rates, but direct linkages with survival are not well documented; therefore, we implemented an experiment to evaluate those responses. We conducted our experiment on a reclaimed surface mine, a novel landscape where conditions were considered sub-optimal because of the dominance of non-native vegetation, such as sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), which has been reported to provide marginal habitat for northern bobwhite and may negatively affect survival. Nonetheless, these areas have great potential for contributing to bobwhite conservation because of the amount of early successional cover they provide. Our study site, a 3,330-ha reclaimed surface mine in western Kentucky, consisted of 2 tracts (Sinclair and Ken, 1,471 ha and 1,853 ha, respectively) that served as replicates with each randomly divided into a treatment (i.e., habitat manipulation through a combination of disking, burning, and herbicide application) and an undisturbed control (n = 4 experimental units). Habitat treatments were applied October 2009 to September 2013. We used radio telemetry to monitor northern bobwhite (n = 1,198) during summer (1 Apr–30 Sep) and winter (1 Oct–31 Mar), 2009–2013. We used the known-fate model in Program MARK to evaluate treatment effects on seasonal survival rates. We included biological, home-range, landscape, and microhabitat metrics as covariates to help improve model sensitivity and further elucidate experimental impacts. Survival varied annually, ranging from 0.139 (SE = 0.031) to 0.301 (SE = 0.032), and seasonally (summer, 0.148 [SE = 0.015]; winter, 0.281 [SE = 0.022]). We found a treatment effect (β = 0.256, 95% CI = 0.057–0.456) with a seasonal interaction (β = −0.598, 95% CI = −0.898 to −0.298) with survival being higher in summer (0.179 [SE = 0.022] vs. 0.109 [SE = 0.019]) and lower in winter (0.233 [SE
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Mekonnen, Addisu; Fashing, Peter J; Bekele, Afework; Hernandez-Aguilar, R Adriana; Rueness, Eli K; Nguyen, Nga; Stenseth, Nils Chr
2017-07-01
Understanding the extent to which primates in forest fragments can adjust behaviorally and ecologically to changes caused by deforestation is essential to designing conservation management plans. During a 12-month period, we studied the effects of habitat loss and degradation on the Ethiopian endemic, bamboo specialist, Bale monkey (Chlorocebus djamdjamensis) by comparing its habitat quality, activity budget, ranging ecology and habitat use in continuous forest and two fragments. We found that habitat loss and fragmentation resulted in major differences in vegetation composition and structure between forest types. We also found that Bale monkeys in continuous forest spent more time feeding and traveling and less time resting and socializing than monkeys in fragments. Bale monkeys in continuous forest also had higher movement rates (m/hr) than monkeys in fragments. Bale monkeys in continuous forest used exclusively bamboo and mixed bamboo forest habitats while conspecifics in fragments used a greater variety of habitats including human use areas (i.e., matrix). Our findings suggest that Bale monkeys in fragments use an energy minimization strategy to cope with the lower availability of the species' primary food species, bamboo (Arundinaria alpina). We contend that Bale monkeys may retain some of the ancestral ecological flexibility assumed to be characteristic of the genus Chlorocebus, within which all extant species except Bale monkeys are regarded as ecological generalists. Our results suggest that, like other bamboo eating primates (e.g., the bamboo lemurs of Madagascar), Bale monkeys can cope with a certain threshold of habitat destruction. However, the long-term conservation prospects for Bale monkeys in fragments remain unclear and will require further monitoring to be properly evaluated. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Habitat characteristics provide insights of carbon storage in seagrass meadows
Mazarrasa, Inés
2018-02-17
Seagrass meadows provide multiple ecosystem services, yet they are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth. Because of their role as carbon sinks, protection and restoration of seagrass meadows contribute to climate change mitigation. Blue Carbon strategies aim to enhance CO2 sequestration and avoid greenhouse gasses emissions through the management of coastal vegetated ecosystems, including seagrass meadows. The implementation of Blue Carbon strategies requires a good understanding of the habitat characteristics that influence Corg sequestration. Here, we review the existing knowledge on Blue Carbon research in seagrass meadows to identify the key habitat characteristics that influence Corg sequestration in seagrass meadows, those factors that threaten this function and those with unclear effects. We demonstrate that not all seagrass habitats have the same potential, identify research priorities and describe the implications of the results found for the implementation and development of efficient Blue Carbon strategies based on seagrass meadows.
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Sharps, Katrina; Henderson, Ian; Conway, Greg; Armour-Chelu, Neal; Dolman, Paul
2015-01-01
In Europe, the consequences of commercial plantation management for birds of conservation concern are poorly understood. The European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus is a species of conservation concern across Europe due to population depletion through habitat loss. Pine plantation-forest is now a key Nightjar nesting habitat, particularly in northwestern Europe, and increased understanding of foraging habitat selection is required. We radiotracked 31 Nightjars in an extensive (185-km2) comple...
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Mapping critical habitat of waterbirds in the Arctic for risk management in respect of IFC PS6
Hilarides, Lammert; Langendoen, Tom; Flink, Stephan; van Leeuwen, Merijn; Steen, Bart; Kondratyev, Alexander; Kölzsch, Andrea; Aarvak, Tomas; Kruckenberg, Helmut; Vangeluwe, Didier; Todorov, Emil; Harrison, Anne L.; Rees, Eileen; Dokter, Adriaan; Nolet, Bart; Mundkur, Taej
2017-01-01
Economic development and energy exploration are increasing in the Arctic. Important breeding habitats for many waterbird species, which have previously been relatively undisturbed, are now being subjected to these anthropogenic pressures. The conservation of the habitats and the species they support
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Stovall, Stacey H.
1994-08-01
The Idaho Water Rental Pilot Project was implemented in 1991 as part of the Non-Treaty Storage Fish and Wildlife Agreement between Bonneville Power Administration and the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority. The goal of the project is to quantify resident fish and wildlife impacts resulting from salmon flow augmentation releases made from the upper Snake River Basin. Phase I summarized existing resource information and provided management recommendations to protect and enhance resident fish and wildlife habitat resulting from storage releases for the I improvement of an adromous fish migration. Phase II includes the following: (1) a summary of recent biological, legal, and political developments within the basin as they relate to water management issues, (2) a biological appraisal of the Snake River between American Falls Reservoir and the city of Blackfoot to examine the effects of flow fluctuation on fish and wildlife habitat, and (3) a preliminary accounting of 1993--1994 flow augmentation releases out of the upper Snake, Boise, and Payette river systems. Phase III will include the development of a model in which annual flow requests and resident fish and wildlife suitability information are interfaced with habitat time series analysis to provide an estimate of resident fish and wildlife resources.
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Gilby, Ben L.; Olds, Andrew D.; Connolly, Rod M.; Yabsley, Nicholas A.; Maxwell, Paul S.; Tibbetts, Ian R.; Schoeman, David S.; Schlacher, Thomas A.
2017-12-01
Species surrogates, the use of particular species to index habitat condition or to represent ecological assemblages are commonly identified in many ecosystems, but are less tested, and therefore less employed in estuaries. Estuaries provide important ecosystem goods (e.g. harvestable species) and services (e.g. carbon processing, coastal armouring), but require protection from multiple human activities, meaning that finding surrogates for estuarine condition or faunal assemblages is a significant knowledge gap. In this study, we test the efficacy of the threatened estuary ray Hemitrygon fluviorum, as a suitable indicator of ecosystem condition and management umbrella surrogate species for conservation prioritisation and monitoring purposes within estuaries. We surveyed fish assemblages and ray presence at ten sites within each of 22 estuaries in southeast Queensland, Australia, using one hour deployments of baited video arrays. We then tested for correlations between ray presence, a series of environmental variables considered important to ecosystem management within estuaries (i.e. testing rays as indicator species), and the co-occurring fish species (i.e. testing rays as umbrella species). Estuary rays function as both umbrella species and ecological indicators of habitat status in subtropical Australian estuaries. As umbrellas, ray occurrence concords with elevated species richness. As ecological indicators, ray distribution concords with habitats of good water quality (especially low turbidity) and more natural vegetation remaining in the catchment. These results highlight the potential for other threatened aquatic vertebrates that are both readily detectable and that are reliable proxies for ecosystems status to be become useful management tools in estuaries. The protection of such large, threatened species in coastal seascapes allows managers to address multiple targets for conservation, especially; (1) protecting species of conservation concern; (2
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Jordan, M. S.; Alexander, J. D.; Grant, G. E.; Bartholomew, J. L.
2011-12-01
Management strategies for parasites with complex life cycles may target not the parasite itself, but one of the alternate hosts. One approach is to decrease habitat for the alternate host, and in river systems flow manipulations may be employed. Two-dimensional hydraulic models can be powerful tools for predicting the relationship between flow alterations and changes in physical habit, however they require a rigorous definition of physical habitat for the organism of interest. We present habitat characterization data for the case of the alternate host of a salmonid parasite and introduce how it will be used in conjunction with a 2-dimensional hydraulic model. Ceratomyxa shasta is a myxozoan parasite of salmonids that requires a freshwater polychaete Manayunkia speciosa to complete its life cycle. Manayunkia speciosa is a small (3mm) benthic filter-feeding worm that attaches itself perpendicularly to substrate through construction of a flexible tube. In the Klamath River, CA/OR, C. shasta causes significant juvenile salmon mortality, imposing social and economic losses on commercial, sport and tribal fisheries. An interest in manipulating habitat for the polychaete host to decrease the abundance of C. shasta has therefore developed. Unfortunately, there are limited data on the habitat requirements of M. speciosa or the influence of streamflow regime and hydraulics on population dynamics and infection prevalence. This work aims to address these data needs by identifying physical habitat variables that influence the distribution of M. speciosa and determining the relationship between those variables, M. speciosa population density, and C. shasta infection prevalence. Biological samples were collected from nine sites representing three river features (runs, pools, and eddies) within the Klamath River during the summer and fall of 2010 and 2011. Environmental data including depth, velocity, and substrate, were collected at each polychaete sampling location. We tested
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Zhang, Jinglan; Lu, Jiakai; Zhou, Xiaorui; Xu, Xuefeng; Ye, Qing; Ou, Qitan; Li, Yanna; Huang, Jiapeng
2018-03-07
The mortality of pregnant women with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is very high. There are limited data on the management of idiopathic PAH during pregnancy. The authors aimed to examine systematically the characteristics of parturient women with idiopathic PAH, to explore the adverse effects of idiopathic PAH on pregnancy outcomes, and to report the multidisciplinary perioperative management strategy from the largest comprehensive cardiac hospital in China. Observational case series study. Tertiary referral acute care hospital in Beijing, China. The cases of 17 consecutive pregnant idiopathic PAH patients undergoing abortion or parturition at Anzhen Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperative characteristics, anesthesia method, intensive care management, PAH-specific therapy, and maternal and neonatal outcomes were analyzed in this case series study. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were the main measures. The mean ages of the 17 parturient women with idiopathic PAH were 28.3 ± 5.4 years, and the mean systolic pulmonary arterial pressure was 97.9 ± 18.6 mmHg. Fifteen patients (88.2%) received PAH-specific therapy before delivery, including sildenafil, iloprost, and treprostinil. All except 1 parturient received epidural anesthesia for surgery due to an emergency Caesarean section. Three patients experienced pulmonary hypertension crisis that necessitated conversion to general anesthesia. Ten parturients underwent Caesarean delivery at a median gestational age of 31 weeks. Three patients developed acute pulmonary hypertensive crisis intraoperatively. Two patients underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. The maternal mortality was 17.6% (3/17). Of the 10 delivered neonates, 9 (90.0%) survived. The maternal mortality of the idiopathic PAH parturient was high in this case series from China. The authors applied epidural anesthesia, early management with multidisciplinary approaches, PAH
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Multiscale habitat use and selection in cooperatively breeding Micronesian kingfishers
Kesler, D.C.; Haig, S.M.
2007-01-01
Information about the interaction between behavior and landscape resources is key to directing conservation management for endangered species. We studied multi-scale occurrence, habitat use, and selection in a cooperatively breeding population of Micronesian kingfishers (Todiramphus cinnamominus) on the island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. At the landscape level, point-transect surveys resulted in kingfisher detection frequencies that were higher than those reported in 1994, although they remained 15-40% lower than 1983 indices. Integration of spatially explicit vegetation information with survey results indicated that kingfisher detections were positively associated with the amount of wet forest and grass-urban vegetative cover, and they were negatively associated with agricultural forest, secondary vegetation, and upland forest cover types. We used radiotelemetry and remote sensing to evaluate habitat use by individual kingfishers at the home-range scale. A comparison of habitats in Micronesian kingfisher home ranges with those in randomly placed polygons illustrated that birds used more forested areas than were randomly available in the immediate surrounding area. Further, members of cooperatively breeding groups included more forest in their home ranges than birds in pair-breeding territories, and forested portions of study areas appeared to be saturated with territories. Together, these results suggested that forest habitats were limited for Micronesian kingfishers. Thus, protecting and managing forests is important for the restoration of Micronesian kingfishers to the island of Guam (United States Territory), where they are currently extirpated, as well as to maintaining kingfisher populations on the islands of Pohnpei and Palau. Results further indicated that limited forest resources may restrict dispersal opportunities and, therefore, play a role in delayed dispersal and cooperative behaviors in Micronesian kingfishers.
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Household disposables as breeding habitats of dengue vectors: Linking wastes and public health
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Banerjee, Soumyajit, E-mail: soumyajitb@gmail.com [Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700 019 (India); Aditya, Gautam, E-mail: gautamaditya2001@gmail.com [Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700 019 (India); Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Golapbag, Burdwan 713 104 (India); Saha, Goutam K, E-mail: gkszoo@rediffmail.com [Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700 019 (India)
2013-01-15
Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An assessment of different household wastes as larval habitats of dengue vectors Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus was made using Kolkata, India as a model geographical area. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Household wastes of four major categories namely earthen, porcelain, plastic and coconut shells varied significantly for Aedes immature depending on species, month and location. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Based on the relative density of Aedes immature, cluster analyses allowed segregation and classification of the waste containers and relative importance as mosquito larval habitats. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Conversion of disposed wastes into larval habitats cautions for continuance of Aedes population in Kolkata and similar cities of tropics lacking suitable waste management practices. - Abstract: An assessment of the household wastes as larval habitats of the dengue vectors was made considering Kolkata, India, as geographical area. Wastes of four major categories, namely, earthen, porcelain, plastic and coconut shells were monitored for positive with immature of either Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus. Twenty six types of wastes with varying size and shape, resembling containers, were identified that hosted mosquito immature. The number of waste containers positive for Aedes immature varied significantly (P < 0.05) with respect to location, type and month. The relative density of Aedes immature in the waste containers varied significantly (P < 0.05) with the types and months. The significant interaction between the month, waste container types and density of Aedes immature suggest that the household wastes are important contributors to the maintenance of the population of Aedes mosquito in the city. Based on the relative density of mosquito immature in the wastes, cluster analysis allowed segregation and classification of the wastes and their importance as mosquito larval habitats. Apparently, the containers that
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Household disposables as breeding habitats of dengue vectors: Linking wastes and public health
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Banerjee, Soumyajit; Aditya, Gautam; Saha, Goutam K
2013-01-01
Highlights: ► An assessment of different household wastes as larval habitats of dengue vectors Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus was made using Kolkata, India as a model geographical area. ► Household wastes of four major categories namely earthen, porcelain, plastic and coconut shells varied significantly for Aedes immature depending on species, month and location. ► Based on the relative density of Aedes immature, cluster analyses allowed segregation and classification of the waste containers and relative importance as mosquito larval habitats. ► Conversion of disposed wastes into larval habitats cautions for continuance of Aedes population in Kolkata and similar cities of tropics lacking suitable waste management practices. - Abstract: An assessment of the household wastes as larval habitats of the dengue vectors was made considering Kolkata, India, as geographical area. Wastes of four major categories, namely, earthen, porcelain, plastic and coconut shells were monitored for positive with immature of either Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus. Twenty six types of wastes with varying size and shape, resembling containers, were identified that hosted mosquito immature. The number of waste containers positive for Aedes immature varied significantly (P < 0.05) with respect to location, type and month. The relative density of Aedes immature in the waste containers varied significantly (P < 0.05) with the types and months. The significant interaction between the month, waste container types and density of Aedes immature suggest that the household wastes are important contributors to the maintenance of the population of Aedes mosquito in the city. Based on the relative density of mosquito immature in the wastes, cluster analysis allowed segregation and classification of the wastes and their importance as mosquito larval habitats. Apparently, the containers that are most frequently disposed off contributed largely to the sustenance of Aedes mosquito population
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Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Burlington Bottoms, Technical Report 1993-2003.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Beilke, Susan
1993-08-01
Burlington Bottoms, consisting of approximately 417 acres of riparian and wetland habitat, was purchased by the Bonneville Power Administration in November 1991. The site is located approximately 1/2 mile north of the Sauvie Island Bridge (T2N R1W Sections 20, 21), and is bound on the east side by Multnomah Channel and on the west side by the Burlington Northern Railroad right-of-way and U.S. Highway 30 (Figures 1 and 2). Wildlife habitat values resulting from the purchase of this site will contribute toward the goal of mitigating for habitat lost as outlined in the Columbia and Willamette River Basin's Fish and Wildlife Program and Amendments. Under this Program, mitigation goals were developed as a result of the loss of wildlife habitat due to the development and operation of Federal hydro-electric facilities in the Columbia and Willamette River Basins. In 1993, an interdisciplinary team was formed to develop and implement quantitative Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) to document the value of various habitats at Burlington Bottoms. Results of the HEP will be used to: (1) determine the current status and habitat enhancement potential of the site consistent with wildlife mitigation goals and objectives; and (2) develop a management plan for the area. HEP participants included; Charlie Craig, BPA; Pat Wright, Larry Rasmussen, and Ron Garst, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service; John Christy, The Nature Conservancy; and Doug Cottam, Sue Beilke, and Brad Rawls, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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Coastal Bend Texas Benthic Habitat Mapping Patchy Shapefile Map - Lower Laguna Madre
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) requested the creation of benthic habitat data along the southern Texas coast to support the Texas Seagrass Monitoring...
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Cerame, Blain; Cox, James A; Brumfield, Robb T; Tucker, James W; Taylor, Sabrina S
2014-01-01
Bachman's Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis) is a fire-dependent species that has undergone range-wide population declines in recent decades. We examined genetic diversity in Bachman's Sparrows to determine whether natural barriers have led to distinct population units and to assess the effect of anthropogenic habitat loss and fragmentation. Genetic diversity was examined across the geographic range by genotyping 226 individuals at 18 microsatellite loci and sequencing 48 individuals at mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Multiple analyses consistently demonstrated little genetic structure and high levels of genetic variation, suggesting that populations are panmictic. Based on these genetic data, separate management units/subspecies designations or translocations to promote gene flow among fragmented populations do not appear to be necessary. Panmixia in Bachman's Sparrow may be a consequence of an historical range expansion and retraction. Alternatively, high vagility in Bachman's Sparrow may be an adaptation to the ephemeral, fire-mediated habitat that this species prefers. In recent times, high vagility also appears to have offset inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity in highly fragmented habitat.
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A smartphone app and analysis framework for rapidly characterizing and predicting shorebird habitat
Thieler, E. R.; Zeigler, S. L.; Plant, N. G.; Gutierrez, B.; Winslow, L. A.; Hines, M. K.; Read, J. S.; Walker, J. I.
2016-12-01
We developed a smartphone application called iPlover as a distributed data collection system to gather synoptic observations of shorebird habitat selection preferences, and a Bayesian network that exploits the data to predict habitat suitability. We tested this approach to modeling habitat suitability for the federally listed piping plover (Charadrius melodus) on coastal beaches and barrier islands along 1500 km of coast from North Carolina to Maine, USA. Using agile software development approaches, the iPlover application was conceived, developed and deployed in just a few months following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This application supported collaborative efforts of nearly 100 stakeholders, resulting in over 2000 data points describing piping plover habitat selection patterns. The data were analyzed in a Bayesian network to evaluate the probability that a specific combination of habitat variables is associated with a nesting site. Subsequent testing shows that iPlover data are robust to variability in user classification and that the Bayesian network has a high level of predictive accuracy. Our work addresses a variety of scientific problems in understanding and managing dynamic coastal landscapes for beach-dependent species that require biological and geological data that (1) span the range of relevant environments and habitats, (2) can be updated seasonally to interannually, and (3) capture spatial detail. It is difficult to acquire such data; the data often have limited focus due to resource constraints, can be challenging to coordinate between different regions, are collected by non-specialists, or lack observational uniformity. Furthermore, associated data analysis techniques are often limited in their ability to consider new information as data are collected from additional study sites and updated. We present examples of how this approach can be used to map past, present, and future habitat suitability for sites of interest. We also describe lessons learned
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A NEW HABITAT CLASSIFICATION AND MANUAL FOR STANDARDIZED HABITAT MAPPING
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. KUN
2007-01-01
Full Text Available Today the documentation of natural heritage with scientific methods but for conservation practice – like mapping of actual vegetation – becomes more and more important. For this purpose mapping guides containing only the names and descriptions of vegetation types are not sufficient. Instead, new, mapping-oriented vegetation classification systems and handbooks are needed. There are different standardised systems fitted to the characteristics of a region already published and used successfully for surveying large territories. However, detailed documentation of the aims and steps of their elaboration is still missing. Here we present a habitat-classification method developed specifically for mapping and the steps of its development. Habitat categories and descriptions reflect site conditions, physiognomy and species composition as well. However, for species composition much lower role was given deliberately than in the phytosociological systems. Recognition and mapping of vegetation types in the field is highly supported by a definition, list of subtypes and list of ‘types not belonging to this habitat category’. Our system is two-dimensional: the first dimension is habitat type, the other is naturalness based habitat quality. The development of the system was conducted in two steps, over 200 mappers already tested it over 7000 field days in different projects.
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Lower Columbia River and Estuary Habitat Monitoring Study, 2011 - Final Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Borde, Amy B. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Kaufmann, Ronald M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Cullinan, Valerie I. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zimmerman, Shon A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Thom, Ronald M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Wright, Cynthia L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2012-03-01
The Ecosystem Monitoring Program is a collaborative effort between the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (LCREP), University of Washington, Wetland Ecosystem Team (UW), US Geological Survey, Water Science Center (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA-Fisheries, hereafter NOAA), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Marine Sciences Laboratory (PNNL). The goal of the program is to conduct emergent wetland monitoring aimed at characterizing salmonid habitats in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE) from the mouth of the estuary to Bonneville Dam (Figure 1). This is an ecosystem based monitoring program focused on evaluating status and trends in habitat and reducing uncertainties regarding these ecosystems to ultimately improve the survival of juvenile salmonids through the LCRE. This project comprehensively assesses habitat, fish, food web, and abiotic conditions in the lower river, focusing on shallow water and vegetated habitats used by juvenile salmonids for feeding, rearing and refugia. The information is intended to be used to guide management actions associated with species recovery, particularly that of threatened and endangered salmonids. PNNL’s role in this multi-year study is to monitor the habitat structure (e.g., vegetation, topography, channel morphology, and sediment type) as well as hydrologic patterns.
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Habitat Ecology Visual Surveys of Demersal Fishes and Habitats off California
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Since 1992, the Habitat Ecology team has been conducting fishery independent, visual surveys of demersal fishes and associated habitats in deep water (20 to 900...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Laura Cardador
Full Text Available European agriculture is undergoing widespread changes that are likely to have profound impacts on farmland biodiversity. The development of tools that allow an assessment of the potential biodiversity effects of different land-use alternatives before changes occur is fundamental to guiding management decisions. In this study, we develop a resource-based model framework to estimate habitat suitability for target species, according to simple information on species' key resource requirements (diet, foraging habitat and nesting site, and examine whether it can be used to link land-use and local species' distribution. We take as a study case four steppe bird species in a lowland area of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. We also compare the performance of our resource-based approach to that obtained through habitat-based models relating species' occurrence and land-cover variables. Further, we use our resource-based approach to predict the effects that change in farming systems can have on farmland bird habitat suitability and compare these predictions with those obtained using the habitat-based models. Habitat suitability estimates generated by our resource-based models performed similarly (and better for one study species than habitat based-models when predicting current species distribution. Moderate prediction success was achieved for three out of four species considered by resource-based models and for two of four by habitat-based models. Although, there is potential for improving the performance of resource-based models, they provide a structure for using available knowledge of the functional links between agricultural practices, provision of key resources and the response of organisms to predict potential effects of changing land-uses in a variety of context or the impacts of changes such as altered management practices that are not easily incorporated into habitat-based models.
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Pai, H.; Sivakumaran, K.; Villamizar, S. R.; Flanagan, J.; Guo, Q.; Harmon, T. C.
2013-12-01
Balancing ecosystem health in water-scarce, agriculturally dominated river basins remains a challenge. In dry water years, maintaining conditions for restored and sustained indigenous fish populations (a frequently used indicator for ecosystem health) is particularly challenging. Competing human demands include urban and agricultural water supplies, hydropower, and flood control. In many semi-arid regions, increasing drought intensity and frequency under future climate scenarios will combine with population increases to water scarcity. The goal of this work is to better understand how reservoir releases affect fish habitat and overall river aquatic ecosystem quality. Models integrating a diverse array of physical and biological processes and system state are used to forecast the river ecosystem response to changing drivers. We propose a distributed parameter-based Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) approach for assessing fish habitat quality. Our river ecosystem HSI maps are based on a combination of the following: (1) In situ data describing stream flow and water quality conditions; (2) Spatial observations, including surveyed cross-sections, aerial imagery and digital elevation maps (DEM) of the river and its riparian corridor; and (3) Simulated spatially distributed water depths, flow velocities, and temperatures estimated from 1D and 2D river flow and temperature models (HEC-RAS and CE-QUAL-W2, respectively). With respect to (2), image processing schemes are used to classify and map key habitat features, namely riparian edge and shallow underwater vegetation. HSI maps can be modified temporally to address specific life cycle requirements of indicator fish species. Results are presented for several reaches associated with the San Joaquin River Restoration Project, focusing on several components of the Chinook salmon life cycle. HSI maps and interpretations are presented in the context of a range of prescribed reservoir release hydrographs linked to California water
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Submarine canyons as coral and sponge habitat on the eastern Bering Sea slope
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Robert J. Miller
2015-07-01
Full Text Available Submarine canyons have been shown to positively influence pelagic and benthic biodiversity and ecosystem function. In the eastern Bering Sea, several immense canyons lie under the highly productive “green belt” along the continental slope. Two of these, Pribilof and Zhemchug canyons, are the focus of current conservation interest. We used a maximum entropy modeling approach to evaluate the importance of these two canyons, as well as canyons in general, as habitat for gorgonian (alcyonacean corals, pennatulacean corals, and sponges, in an area comprising most of the eastern Bering Sea slope and outer shelf. These invertebrates create physical structure that is a preferred habitat for many mobile species, including commercially important fish and invertebrates. We show that Pribilof canyon is a hotspot of structure-forming invertebrate habitat, containing over 50% of estimated high-quality gorgonian habitat and 45% of sponge habitat, despite making up only 1.7% of the total study area. The amount of quality habitat for gorgonians and sponges varied in other canyons, but canyons overall contained more high-quality habitat for structure-forming invertebrates compared to other slope areas. Bottom trawling effort was not well correlated with habitat quality for structure-forming invertebrates, and bottom-contact fishing effort in general, including longlining and trawling, was not particularly concentrated in the canyons examined. These results suggest that if conserving gorgonian coral habitat is a management goal, canyons, particularly Pribilof Canyon, may be a prime location to do this without excessive impact on fisheries.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
McIntosh, Bruce A.; Clark, Sharon E.; Sedell, James R.
1995-01-01
This document contains summary reports of stream habitat surveys, conducted in the Cowlitz River basin, by the Bureau of Fisheries (BOF, now National Marine Fisheries Service) from 1938-1942. These surveys were part of a larger project to survey streams in the Columbia River basin that provided, or had provided, spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. The purpose of the survey was, as described by Rich, [open quotes]to determine the present condition of the various tributaries with respect to their availability and usefulness for the migration, breeding, and rearing of migratory fishes[close quotes]. Current estimates of the loss of anadromous fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin are based on a series of reports published from 1949-1952 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The reports were brief, qualitative accounts of over 5000 miles of stream surveys conducted by the BOF from 1934-1946. Despite their brevity, these BOF reports have formed the basis for estimating fish habitat losses and conditions in the Columbia River Basin.
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Williams, Neal M; Kremen, Claire
2007-04-01
floral resources growing at the farm site when seminatural areas were too distant. Overall local habitat conditions (farm management practices) can help bolster pollinators, but maintaining functional connectivity among habitats will likely be critical for persistence of pollinator populations as natural habitats are increasingly fragmented by human activities.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Irene D. Alabia
2016-11-01
Full Text Available The understanding of the spatio-temporal distributions of the species habitat in the marine environment is central to effectual resource management and conservation. Here, we examined the potential habitat distributions of Japanese common squid (Todarodes pacificus in the Sea of Japan during a four-year period. The seasonal patterns of preferential habitat were inferred from species distribution models, built using squid occurrences detected from night-time visible images and remotely-sensed environmental factors. The predicted squid habitat (i.e., areas with high habitat suitability revealed strong seasonal variability, characterized by a reduction of potential habitat, confined off of the southern part of the basin during the winter–spring period (December–May. Apparent expansion of preferential habitat occurred during summer–autumn months (June–November, concurrent with the formation of highly suitable habitat patches in certain regions of the Sea of Japan. These habitat distribution patterns were in response to changes in oceanographic conditions and synchronous with seasonal migration of squid. Moreover, the most important variables regulating the spatio-temporal patterns of suitable habitat were sea surface temperature, depth, sea surface height anomaly, and eddy kinetic energy. These variables could affect the habitat distributions through their impacts on growth and survival of squid, local nutrient transport, and the availability of favorable spawning and feeding grounds.
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Patino, Eduardo; Conrads, Paul; Swain, Eric; Beerens, James M.
2017-10-30
IntroductionThe Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) provides scientists and resource managers with regional maps of daily water levels and depths in the freshwater part of the Greater Everglades landscape. The EDEN domain includes all or parts of five Water Conservation Areas, Big Cypress National Preserve, Pennsuco Wetlands, and Everglades National Park. Daily water-level maps are interpolated from water-level data at monitoring gages, and depth is estimated by using a digital elevation model of the land surface. Online datasets provide time series of daily water levels at gages and rainfall and evapotranspiration data (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/). These datasets are used by scientists and resource managers to guide large-scale field operations, describe hydrologic changes, and support biological and ecological assessments that measure ecosystem response to the implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. EDEN water-level data have been used in a variety of biological and ecological studies including (1) the health of American alligators as a function of water depth, (2) the variability of post-fire landscape dynamics in relation to water depth, (3) the habitat quality for wading birds with dynamic habitat selection, and (4) an evaluation of the habitat of the Cape Sable seaside sparrow.
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Habitat Blocks and Wildlife Corridors
Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Habitat blocks are areas of contiguous forest and other natural habitats that are unfragmented by roads, development, or agriculture. Vermonts habitat blocks are...
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Habitat Scale Mapping of Fisheries Ecosystem Service Values in Estuaries
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Timothy G. O'Higgins
2010-12-01
Full Text Available Little is known about the variability of ecosystem service values at spatial scales most relevant to local decision makers. Competing definitions of ecosystem services, the paucity of ecological and economic information, and the lack of standardization in methodology are major obstacles to applying the ecosystem-services approach at the estuary scale. We present a standardized method that combines habitat maps and habitat-faunal associations to estimate ecosystem service values for recreational and commercial fisheries in estuaries. Three case studies in estuaries on the U.S. west coast (Yaquina Bay, Oregon, east coast (Lagoon Pond, Massachusetts, and the Gulf of Mexico (Weeks Bay, Alabama are presented to illustrate our method's rigor and limitations using available data. The resulting spatially explicit maps of fisheries ecosystem service values show within and between estuary variations in the value of estuarine habitat types that can be used to make better informed resource-management decisions.
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Habitat characteristics provide insights of carbon storage in seagrass meadows.
Mazarrasa, Inés; Samper-Villarreal, Jimena; Serrano, Oscar; Lavery, Paul S; Lovelock, Catherine E; Marbà, Núria; Duarte, Carlos M; Cortés, Jorge
2018-02-16
Seagrass meadows provide multiple ecosystem services, yet they are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth. Because of their role as carbon sinks, protection and restoration of seagrass meadows contribute to climate change mitigation. Blue Carbon strategies aim to enhance CO 2 sequestration and avoid greenhouse gasses emissions through the management of coastal vegetated ecosystems, including seagrass meadows. The implementation of Blue Carbon strategies requires a good understanding of the habitat characteristics that influence C org sequestration. Here, we review the existing knowledge on Blue Carbon research in seagrass meadows to identify the key habitat characteristics that influence C org sequestration in seagrass meadows, those factors that threaten this function and those with unclear effects. We demonstrate that not all seagrass habitats have the same potential, identify research priorities and describe the implications of the results found for the implementation and development of efficient Blue Carbon strategies based on seagrass meadows. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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2010-06-21
... Estuary Habitat Restoration Council's Intent to Revise its Estuary Habitat Restoration Strategy; Request... interagency Estuary Habitat Restoration Council, is providing notice of the Council's intent to revise the ''Estuary Habitat Restoration Strategy'' and requesting public comments to guide its revision. DATES...
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Vacant habitats in the Universe.
Cockell, Charles S
2011-02-01
The search for life on other planets usually makes the assumption that where there is a habitat, it will contain life. On the present-day Earth, uninhabited habitats (or vacant habitats) are rare, but might occur, for example, in subsurface oils or impact craters that have been thermally sterilized in the past. Beyond Earth, vacant habitats might similarly exist on inhabited planets or on uninhabited planets, for example on a habitable planet where life never originated. The hypothesis that vacant habitats are abundant in the Universe is testable by studying other planets. In this review, I discuss how the study of vacant habitats might ultimately inform an understanding of how life has influenced geochemical conditions on Earth. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Barbier, Pierrick; Meziane, Tarik; Forêt, Martin; Tremblay, Réjean; Robert, René; Olivier, Frédéric
2017-03-01
Marine habitat function has been typically investigated in terms of biogeochemical regulation but rarely in terms of population renewal, which is mainly controlled by recruitment dynamics. The recruitment phase is crucial for organisms with a bentho-pelagic life cycle, such as bivalves, and it regulates the population renewal success. This study provides new insight on the role of temperate benthic habitats on bivalve recruitment, as a function of nursery areas. Six dominant benthic habitats of the Chausey archipelago (Normandy, France) were studied. In each habitat, bivalve recruit assemblages were described at the end of two reproductive seasons. Furthermore, Ostrea edulis juveniles were immerged on each habitat during two months to compare growth performances and feeding status, estimated by fatty acid composition. Recruit assemblages differ from each habitat according to sediment grain-size composition and bathymetrical levels. Subtidal habitats, and especially Crepidula fornicata banks and Glycymeris glycymeris coarse sands, supported the highest species abundance and richness of recruits. All O. edulis juveniles fed on the same trophic resources but digestive glands of juveniles from C. fornicata banks were more concentrated in total fatty acids than those from subtidal G. glycymeris coarse sands and maerl banks. Our results depict the key role of subtidal and structured habitats, composed of ecosystem engineers, in enhancing bivalve recruitment and extending the bivalve population renewal. This study suggests that the crucial role of these habitats as bivalve nurseries must be integrated in management perspectives. 2-column fitting image. 1-column fitting image.
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Herbivore body condition response in altered environments: mule deer and habitat management.
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Eric J Bergman
Full Text Available The relationships between habitat, body condition, life history characteristics, and fitness components of ungulates are interwoven and of interest to researchers as they strive to understand the impacts of a changing environment. With the increased availability of portable ultrasound machines and the refinement of hormonal assays, assessment of ungulate body condition has become an accessible monitoring strategy. We employed body condition scoring, estimation of % ingesta-free body fat (%IFBF, assessment of free thyroid hormones (FT4 and FT3, and assessment of pregnancy, as metrics to determine if landscape-level habitat treatments affected body condition of adult (≥ 1.5 years old female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus. All body condition related metrics were measured on 2 neighboring study areas--a reference area that had received no habitat treatments and a treatment study area that had received mechanical removal of pinyon pine (Pinyus edulis--Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma forest, chemical control of weeds, and reseeding with preferred mule deer browse species. A consistent trend of higher %IFBF was observed in the treatment study area [Formula: see text] than in the reference study area [Formula: see text], although variation of estimates was larger than hypothesized. A similar pattern was observed with higher thyroid hormones concentrations being observed in the treatment study area, but large amounts of variation within concentration estimates were also observed. The consistent pattern of higher body condition related estimates in our treatment study area provides evidence that large mammalian species are sensitive to landscape change, although variation within estimates underlie the challenge in detecting population level impacts stemming from environmental change.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ana-Maria CALOMFIR (METESCU
2015-12-01
Full Text Available In recent years, research in the capital markets and management of portfolios has been producing more questions than it has been answering: the need for a new paradigm or a new way of looking at things has become more and more concludent. The existing and classical view of capital markets, based on efficient market hypothesis, has a definite theory for the last six decades, but it is still not capable of significantly increase the understanding of how capital markets function. The purpose of this article is to theoretically describe a less used statistic coefficient, having a vast area of applicability due to its robustness, and which can easily divide the random series from a non-random series, even if the random series is non-Gaussian: the Hurst exponent.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sarah Praskievicz
2017-12-01
Full Text Available The physical characteristics of river systems exert significant control on the habitat for aquatic species, including the distribution of in-stream channel habitat units. Most previous studies on channel habitat units have focused on midlatitude rivers, which differ in several substantive ways from tropical rivers. Field delineation of channel habitat units is especially challenging in tropical rivers, many of which are remote and difficult to access. Here, we developed an approach for delineating channel habitat units based on a combination of field measurements, remote sensing, and hydraulic modeling, and applied it to a 4.1-km segment of the Bladen River in southern Belize. We found that the most prevalent channel habitat unit on the study segment was runs, followed by pools and riffles. Average spacing of channel habitat units was up to twice as high on the study segment than the typical values reported for midlatitude rivers, possibly because of high erosion rates in the tropical environment. The approach developed here can be applied to other rivers to build understanding of the controls on and spatial distribution of channel habitat units on tropical rivers and to support river management and conservation goals.
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Lizard activity and abundance greater in burned habitat of a xeric montane forest
Fouts, Kevin L.; Moore, Clinton; Johnson, Kristine D.; Maerz, John C.
2017-01-01
Restoring the natural or historical state of ecosystems is a common objective among resource managers, but determining whether desired system responses to management actions are occurring is often protracted and challenging. For wildlife, the integration of mechanistic habitat modeling with population monitoring may provide expedited measures of management effectiveness and improve understanding of how management actions succeed or fail to recover populations. Southern Appalachia is a region of high biodiversity that has undergone dramatic change as a result of human activities such as historic logging, exotic invasions, and alteration of disturbance regimes—including reduction in application of fire. Contemporary efforts to restore fire-maintained ecosystems within southern Appalachian forests require tools to assess the effects of fire management practices on individual animal fitness and relate them to corresponding influences on species abundance. Using automated sensing equipment, we investigated the effects of burned forests on reptile habitat suitability within the western portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Specifically, we used microclimate measurements to model northern fence lizard Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus diurnal activity budgets in unburned and variable burn age (3–27-y) forest stands. We estimated northern fence lizard occurrence and abundance along transects through burned and unburned forests. Burned forest stands had microclimates that resulted in longer modeled daily activity periods under most conditions during summer. S. undulatus abundance was 4.75 times greater on burned stands compared to paired unburned stands, although the relationship between burn age and abundance was not well determined. Results suggest the more open habitat structure of burned areas within these xeric pine–oak forests may benefit S. undulatus.
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Buonomo, Roberto; Assis, Jorge; Fernandes, Francisco; Engelen, Aschwin H; Airoldi, Laura; Serrão, Ester A
2017-02-01
Effective predictive and management approaches for species occurring in a metapopulation structure require good understanding of interpopulation connectivity. In this study, we ask whether population genetic structure of marine species with fragmented distributions can be predicted by stepping-stone oceanographic transport and habitat continuity, using as model an ecosystem-structuring brown alga, Cystoseira amentacea var. stricta. To answer this question, we analysed the genetic structure and estimated the connectivity of populations along discontinuous rocky habitat patches in southern Italy, using microsatellite markers at multiple scales. In addition, we modelled the effect of rocky habitat continuity and ocean circulation on gene flow by simulating Lagrangian particle dispersal based on ocean surface currents allowing multigenerational stepping-stone dynamics. Populations were highly differentiated, at scales from few metres up to thousands of kilometres. The best possible model fit to explain the genetic results combined current direction, rocky habitat extension and distance along the coast among rocky sites. We conclude that a combination of variable suitable habitat and oceanographic transport is a useful predictor of genetic structure. This relationship provides insight into the mechanisms of dispersal and the role of life-history traits. Our results highlight the importance of spatially explicit modelling of stepping-stone dynamics and oceanographic directional transport coupled with habitat suitability, to better describe and predict marine population structure and differentiation. This study also suggests the appropriate spatial scales for the conservation, restoration and management of species that are increasingly affected by habitat modifications. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Jones, Leslie A.; Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Marshall, Lucy A.; McGlynn, Brian L.; Kershner, Jeffrey L.
2013-01-01
Understanding the vulnerability of aquatic species and habitats under climate change is critical for conservation and management of freshwater systems. Climate warming is predicted to increase water temperatures in freshwater ecosystems worldwide, yet few studies have developed spatially explicit modelling tools for understanding the potential impacts. We parameterized a nonspatial model, a spatial flow-routed model, and a spatial hierarchical model to predict August stream temperatures (22-m resolution) throughout the Flathead River Basin, USA and Canada. Model comparisons showed that the spatial models performed significantly better than the nonspatial model, explaining the spatial autocorrelation found between sites. The spatial hierarchical model explained 82% of the variation in summer mean (August) stream temperatures and was used to estimate thermal regimes for threatened bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) habitats, one of the most thermally sensitive coldwater species in western North America. The model estimated summer thermal regimes of spawning and rearing habitats at <13 C° and foraging, migrating, and overwintering habitats at <14 C°. To illustrate the useful application of such a model, we simulated climate warming scenarios to quantify potential loss of critical habitats under forecasted climatic conditions. As air and water temperatures continue to increase, our model simulations show that lower portions of the Flathead River Basin drainage (foraging, migrating, and overwintering habitat) may become thermally unsuitable and headwater streams (spawning and rearing) may become isolated because of increasing thermal fragmentation during summer. Model results can be used to focus conservation and management efforts on populations of concern, by identifying critical habitats and assessing thermal changes at a local scale.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ciccotti E.
2013-02-01
Full Text Available The aim of this work was to develop a methodological framework for the management of local eel stocks that integrates habitat restoration with optimal fishery management. The Bolsena lake (Viterbo, Italy and its emissary, the river Marta, were taken as a reference system. The river flows in the Mediterranean sea but its course is fragmented by a number of dams built in the past century preventing eel migration from and to the sea. Eel fishery in the Bolsena lake is thus sustained by periodic stocking of glass eels caught at the Marta river estuary. A detailed demographic model was applied to simulate fishery yields and potential spawner escapement under different recruitment and management scenarios. It was estimated that the high exploitation rates occurring in the nineties reduced the potential spawner escapement from the Bolsena lake to less than 1 t; under current harvesting rates, the potential spawner escapement is estimated in about 12 t while in pristine conditions (i.e. high recruitment and no fishing estimated spawner escapement is about 21 t. This analysis thus showed that current fishery management would comply with the 40% spawner escapement requirement of the EU regulation 1100/2007 if the connections between the Bolsena lake emissary and the sea were fully re-established. This confirms the opportunity of an integrated approach to management at the catchment area level scale for eel populations, that shall hopefully contribute to the conservation of the global stock.
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Fish assemblage structure and habitat associations in a large western river system
Smith, C.D.; Quist, Michael C.; Hardy, R. S.
2016-01-01
Longitudinal gradients of fish assemblage and habitat structure were investigated in the Kootenai River of northern Idaho. A total of 43 500-m river reaches was sampled repeatedly with several techniques (boat-mounted electrofishing, hoop nets and benthic trawls) in the summers of 2012 and 2013. Differences in habitat and fish assemblage structure were apparent along the longitudinal gradient of the Kootenai River. Habitat characteristics (e.g. depth, substrate composition and water velocity) were related to fish assemblage structure in three different geomorphic river sections. Upper river sections were characterized by native salmonids (e.g. mountain whitefish Prosopium williamsoni), whereas native cyprinids (peamouth Mylocheilus caurinus, northern pikeminnow Ptychocheilus oregonensis) and non-native fishes (pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, yellow perch Perca flavescens) were common in the downstream section. Overall, a general pattern of species addition from upstream to downstream sections was discovered and is likely related to increased habitat complexity and additions of non-native species in downstream sections. Assemblage structure of the upper sections were similar, but were both dissimilar to the lower section of the Kootenai River. Species-specific hurdle regressions indicated the relationships among habitat characteristics and the predicted probability of occurrence and relative abundance varied by species. Understanding fish assemblage structure in relation to habitat could improve conservation efforts of rare fishes and improve management of coldwater river systems.
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Habitat stability and occurrences of malaria vector larvae in western Kenya highlands
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Atieli Harrysone
2009-10-01
occurrence of An. gambiae larvae. While An. gambiae and An. funestus larvae occurred throughout the study period along the streams, a total of only 15 An. gambiae larvae were counted in the hilltops, and no An. funestus were found. Moreover, no larvae managed to develop into adults in the hilltops, and the density of adult An. gambiae was consistently low, averaging at 0.06 females per house per survey. Conclusion The occurrence of malaria vector larvae in the hilltop area was uncommon as a result of the low availability and high instability of habitats. To optimize the cost-effectiveness of malaria interventions in the western Kenya highlands, larval control should be focused primarily along the streams, as these are likely the only productive habitats at high altitude.
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Combrink, Leigh; Combrink, Hendrik J.; Botha, André J.; Downs, Colleen T.
2017-01-01
Habitat features can have a profound effect on the nesting success of birds. Savannas are often managed with predators and large herbivores as priority species, with little thought to the many bird species that management decisions could affect. Using a data set spanning seven breeding seasons, we examined how nesting success of Southern Ground-hornbills (SGHs) Bucorvus leadbeateri in the Kruger National Park varied as a result of various environmental and habitat factors within a radius of 3...
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Barr, W Andrew
2014-11-01
Bovid astragali are one of the most commonly preserved bones in the fossil record. Accordingly, astragali are an important target for studies seeking to predict the habitat preferences of fossil bovids based on bony anatomy. However, previous work has not tested functional hypotheses linking astragalar morphology with habitat while controlling for body size and phylogenetic signal. This article presents a functional framework relating the morphology of the bovid astragalus to habitat-specific locomotor ecology and tests four hypotheses emanating from this framework. Highly cursorial bovids living in structurally open habitats are hypothesized to differ from their less cursorial closed-habitat dwelling relatives in having (1) relatively short astragali to maintain rotational speed throughout the camming motion of the rotating astragalus, (2) a greater range of angular excursion at the hock, (3) relatively larger joint surface areas, and (4) a more pronounced "spline-and-groove" morphology promoting lateral joint stability. A diverse sample of 181 astragali from 50 extant species was scanned using a Next Engine laser scanner. Species were assigned to one of four habitat categories based on the published ecological literature. A series of 11 linear measurements and three joint surface areas were measured on each astragalus. A geometric mean body size proxy was used to size-correct the measurement data. Phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) was used to test for differences between habitat categories while controlling for body size differences and phylogenetic signal. Statistically significant PGLS results support Hypotheses 1 and 2 (which are not mutually exclusive) as well as Hypothesis 3. No support was found for Hypothesis 4. These findings confirm that the morphology of the bovid astragalus is related to habitat-specific locomotor ecology, and that this relationship is statistically significant after controlling for body size and phylogeny. Thus, this study
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Arthur, Benjamin; Hindell, Mark; Bester, Marthan; De Bruyn, P. J. Nico; Trathan, Phil; Goebel, Michael; Lea, Mary-Anne
2017-06-01
Quantification of the physical and biological environmental factors that influence the spatial distribution of higher trophic species is central to inform management and develop ecosystem models, particularly in light of ocean changes. We used tracking data from 184 female Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) to develop habitat models for three breeding colonies for the poorly studied Southern Ocean winter period. Models were used to identify and predict the broadly important winter foraging habitat and to elucidate the environmental factors influencing these areas. Model predictions closely matched observations and several core areas of foraging habitat were identified for each colony, with notable areas of inter-colony overlap suggesting shared productive foraging grounds. Seals displayed clear choice of foraging habitat, travelling through areas of presumably poorer quality to access habitats that likely offer an energetic advantage in terms of prey intake. The relationships between environmental predictors and foraging habitat varied between colonies, with the principal predictors being wind speed, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, bathymetry and distance to the colony. The availability of core foraging areas was not consistent throughout the winter period. The habitat models developed in this study not only reveal the core foraging habitats of Antarctic fur seals from multiple colonies, but can facilitate the hindcasting of historical foraging habitats as well as novel predictions of important habitat for other major colonies currently lacking information of the at-sea distribution of this major Southern Ocean consumer.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jeff R. Troy
2017-10-01
Full Text Available The endangered Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis is endemic to the main Hawaiian Islands and has undergone a breeding range contraction since the arrival of humans. Using abiotic and biotic environmental variables, we developed a terrestrial habitat suitability model for the species on the island of Kauai based on contemporary sites where the species is known (or strongly suspected to nest, as well as a habitat/threat-isolation index that combined predictions from this suitability model with spatial information on two anthropogenic threats to the species. After accounting for large-scale relative spatial positioning of sites in modeling procedures, the habitat suitability model suggests that the probability that a location on Kauai could be suitable for Hawaiian petrel nesting activity increases with increasing mean annual wind speed, and may also increase somewhat with increasing slope and native vegetation cover. The habitat suitability model (which does not incorporate spatial information on anthropogenic threats to the species predicts approximately 74 km2 of Kauai, mostly in the interior of the island, as being potentially suitable with predicted probability > 0.7 for Hawaiian petrel terrestrial activity, and about 35 km2 with predicted probability > 0.9. Encouragingly, almost 50 km2 of land with predicted probability > 0.7 and almost 24 km2 with predicted probability > 0.9 is currently protected, being located on either government or private reserve land. Based on the habitat/threat-isolation index, most land predicted to be both suitable (based on environmental variables and as isolated from threats as a large number of the known contemporary Hawaiian petrel sites, is found in government and private reserves. Some degree of predicted habitat overlap between the Hawaiian petrel and Newell’s shearwater (Puffinus newelli, another Hawaiian seabird of conservation concern, suggests that some of the same larger tracts of land