Eco-informatics for decision makers advancing a research agenda
J.B. Cushing, T. Wilson, L. Brandt, V. Gregg, S. Spengler, A. Borning, L. Delcambre, G. Bowker, Mike Frame, J. Fulop, C. Hert, E. Hovy, J. Jones, E. Landis, J.L. Schnase, C. Schweik, W. Sonntag
Ludascher B.Raschid L., editor(s)
2005, Conference Paper, Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics (Subseries of Lecture Notes in Computer Science)
Resource managers often face significant information technology (IT) problems when integrating ecological or environmental information to make decisions. At a workshop sponsored by the NSF and USGS in December 2004, university researchers, natural resource managers, and information managers met to articulate IT problems facing ecology and environmental decision makers. Decision...
Diseases of amphibian eggs and embryos
D. E. Green, K. A. Converse
S.K. Majumdar, J.E. Huffman, F.J. Brenner, A.I. Panah, editor(s)
2005, Book chapter, Wildlife Diseases: Landscape Epidemiology, Spatial Distribution and Utilization of Remote Sensing Technology.
Amphibians generally are prolific egg producers. In tropical and semi-tropical regions, deposition of eggs may occur year-round or may coincide with rainy seasons, while in temperate regions, deposition of eggs usually occurs immediately after emergence from hibernation. Numbers of eggs produced by each species may vary from a few dozen...
Incorporating uncertainty in watershed management decision-making: A mercury TMDL case study
W. Labiosa, J. Leckie, R. Shachter, D. Freyberg, J. Rytuba
Moglen G.E., editor(s)
2005, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 2005 Watershed Management Conference - Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges
Water quality impairment due to high mercury fish tissue concentrations and high mercury aqueous concentrations is a widespread problem in several sub-watersheds that are major sources of mercury to the San Francisco Bay. Several mercury Total Maximum Daily Load regulations are currently being developed to address this problem. Decisions about...
Quantifying Northern Goshawk diets using remote cameras and observations from blinds
A. S. Rogers, S. DeStefano, M.F. Ingraldi
2005, Journal of Raptor Research (39) 303-309
Raptor diet is most commonly measured indirectly, by analyzing castings and prey remains, or directly, by observing prey deliveries from blinds. Indirect methods are not only time consuming, but there is evidence to suggest these methods may overestimate certain prey taxa within raptor diet. Remote video surveillance systems have been...
Predicting mining activity with parallel genetic algorithms
S. Talaie, R. Leigh, S.J. Louis, G. L. Raines
H.G. Beyer, U.M. O’Reilly, Arnold D. Banzhaf, W. Blum, C. Bonabeau, E.W. Cantu-Paz, E.Dasgupta, and others, editor(s)
2005, Conference Paper, GECCO 2005 - Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference
We explore several different techniques in our quest to improve the overall model performance of a genetic algorithm calibrated probabilistic cellular automata. We use the Kappa statistic to measure correlation between ground truth data and data predicted by the model. Within the genetic algorithm, we introduce a new evaluation function...
Development of ground-motion prediction equations relevant to shallow-mining-induced seismicity in the Trial Mountain area, Emery County, Utah
Art McGarr, Joe B. Fletcher
2005, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (95) 31-47
To provide a basis for assessing the seismic hazard to the Joes Valley Dam due to future coal mining in the nearby Cottonwood Tract, central Utah, we developed ground-motion prediction relations using data recorded by a seismic network, established and operated by the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. The network...
Attitudinal survey component of the study Quantity, quality, and support for research in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: An organizational assessment: Report of methods and frequencies
Jennifer R. Neilson, Berton Lee Lamb, Earlene M. Swann, Joan Ratz, Phadrea D. Ponds, Joyce Liverca
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1449
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is responsible for managing the Nation’s fish and wildlife resources so that these trust resources are preserved for the present and future use and enjoyment of the citizens of the United States. The FWS achieves this mission by managing many programs. These include...
Public access management as an adaptive wildlife management tool
Douglas S. Ouren, Raymond D. Watts
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1349
Wildlife populations across the United States are benefiting from improved wildlife management techniques. However, these benefits also create new challenges including overpopulation, disease, increased winter kill, and forage degradation. These issues have become the challenges for natural resource managers and landowners. Specifically, elk (Cervus elaphus) populations in the Gunnison River...
Regional economic effects of current and proposed management alternatives for Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge
Lynne Koontz, Heather Lambert
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1415
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires all units of the National Wildlife Refuge System to be managed under a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). The CCP must describe the desired future conditions of a Refuge and provide long range guidance and management direction to achieve Refuge purposes....
Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science - Tampa Bay Study - Historical and Prehistorical Record of Tampa Bay Environments
Terry Edgar
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1016
To study how Tampa Bay, Florida, has changed over time, the prehistorical conditions and natural variations in the bay environment are being evaluated. These variations can be tracked by examining the sediments that have accumulated in and around the bay. The prehistorical record, which pre-dates settlers' arrival in the Tampa...
2004 annual progress report: Stratton Sagebrush Hydrology Study Area: Establishment of a long-term research site in a high-elevation sagebrush steppe
Kate Schoenecker, Bob Lange, Mike Calton
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1426
In 2004 the U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rawlins Field Office (RFO), began a cooperative effort to reestablish the Stratton Sagebrush Hydrology Study Area (Stratton) as a research location, with the goal of making it a site for long-term research...
Stakeholder survey results for Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge: Completion report
Natalie R. Sexton, Susan C. Stewart, Lynne Koontz, Katherine D. Wundrock
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1378
Lake Umbagog is a newly established Refuge (in 1993) with an increasing visitation. Current visitation numbers are around 55,000 visits/year. Though limited visitor services are currently offered, additional services will be proposed in the CCP. The purpose of this survey is to assess interested publics' and stakeholders' satisfaction with existing...
Evaluation of models and data for assessing whooping crane habitat in the central Platte River, Nebraska
Adrian H. Farmer, Brian S. Cade, James W. Terrell, Jim H. Henriksen, Jeffery T. Runge
2005, Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5123
The primary objectives of this evaluation were to improve the performance of the Whooping Crane Habitat Suitability model (C4R) used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for defining the relationship between river discharge and habitat availability, and to assist the Service in implementing improved model(s) with existing hydraulic...
Taking the pulse of Colorado's Front Range: Developing regional indicators of environmental and quality of life condition
Jill S. Baron
2005, Fact Sheet 2005-3021
Indicators are routinely used to report the status and trends of human health, economy, educational achievement, and quality of life. Some environmental indicators, such as for water and air quality, are routinely reported and used to inform personal, management, or policy decisions. Other environmental indicators, particularly those that do not...
Advancing migratory bird conservation and management by using radar: An interagency collaboration
Janet M. Ruth, Wylie C. Barrow, Richard S. Sojda, Deanna K. Dawson, Robert H. Diehl, Albert Manville, Michael T. Green, David J. Krueper, Scott Johnston
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1173
Migratory birds face many changes to the landscapes they traverse and the habitats they use. Wind turbines and communications towers, which pose hazards to birds and bats in flight, are being erected or proposed across the United States and offshore. Human activities can also destroy or threaten habitats critical to...
Cibola High Levee Pond annual report 2004
Gordon A. Mueller, Jeanette Carpenter, Paul C. Marsh
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1075
This represents the fourth and last annual report of a five year study investigating the early life ecology of the bonytail and razorback sucker at Cibola High Levee Pond. The work in 2004 included: telemetry studies, collection of physical water quality measurements, zooplankton samples, netting fish, the collection of scale...
Statistical analysis of long-term hydrologic records for selection of drought-monitoring sites on Long Island, New York
Ronald J. Busciolano
2005, Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5152
Ground water is the sole source of water supply for more than 3 million people on Long Island, New York. Large-scale ground-water pumpage, sewering systems, and prolonged periods of below-normal precipitation have lowered ground-water levels and decreased stream-discharge in western and central Long Island. No method is currently (2004) available...
Regional economic effects of current and proposed management alternatives for Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Lynne Koontz, Heather Lambert
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1195
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires all units of the National Wildlife Refuge System to be managed under a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). The CCP must describe the desired future conditions of a Refuge and provide long range guidance and management direction to achieve Refuge purposes....
Time-specific variation in passerine nest survival: New insights for old questions
T.A. Grant, T.L. Shaffer, E.M. Madden, P.J. Pietz
2005, The Auk (122) 661-672
Nest survival likely varies with nest age and date, but until recently researchers had only limited tools to efficiently address those sources of variability. Beginning with Mayfield (1961), many researchers have averaged survival rates within time-specific categories (e.g. egg and nestling stages; early and late nesting dates). However, Mayfield's estimator...
Invasion history, proliferation, and offshore diet of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus in western Lake Huron, USA
Jeffrey S. Schaeffer, Anjanette Bowen, Michael Thomas, John R. P. French III, Gary L. Curtis
2005, Journal of Great Lakes Research (31) 414-425
We used data from three trawl surveys during 1996–2003 to document range expansion, population trends, and use of offshore habitats by round gobies in the U.S. waters of Lake Huron. Round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) were not detected in any survey until 1997, but by 2003 they had been recorded at...
Decision making with environmental indices
Dana L. Hoag, James C. Ascough II, C. Keske-Handley, Lynne Koontz
A.R. Burk, editor(s)
2005, Book chapter, New trends in ecology research
Since Ott's seminal book on environmental indices (1978), the use of indices has expanded into several natural resource disciplines, including ecological studies, environmental policymaking, and agricultural economics. However, despite their increasing use in natural resource disciplines, researchers and public decision makers continue to express concern...
NPLichen: a database of lichens in the U.S. national parks
J. P. Bennett, C. M. Wetmore
2005, Evansia (22) 39-42
NPLichen, a database of lichens in the U. S. National Parks (Wetmore and Bennett, 1992), has been extensively revised and expanded, and is now available for public use at www.ies.wisc.edu/nplichen. As of this writing, the database contains 25,995 records of lichens in 144 national park units. The number of records...
Distribution and seasonal abundance of trematode parasites (Trematoda: Allocreadiidae: Crepidostomum spp.) in burrowing mayfly nymphs (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae: Hexagenia spp.) from connecting rivers of the Laurentian Great Lakes
Don W. Schloesser
2005, Hydrobiologia (548) 177-189
Burrowing-mayfly nymphs such as Hexagenia spp. have been used extensively in North America and Europe as a biomonitoring tool to indicate mesotrophic water quality, yet infestation by associated parasites has not been well documented. We performed laboratory analysis of archived samples of Hexagenia spp. nymphs collected in 1985 and 1986...
Conceptualization and simulation of the Edwards aquifer, San Antonio region, Texas
K.J. Lindgren, A.R. Dutton, S.D. Hovorka, S.R.H. Worthington, S. Painter
Beck B.F., editor(s)
2005, Conference Paper, Geotechnical Special Publication
Numerical ground-water flow models for the Edwards aquifer in the San Antonio region of Texas generally have been based on a diffuse-flow conceptualization. That is, although conduits likely are present, the assumption is that flow in the aquifer predominantly is through a network of small fractures and openings sufficiently numerous...
Application of neural networks to prediction of fish diversity and salmonid production in the Lake Ontario basin
James E. McKenna Jr.
2005, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (134) 28-43
Diversity and fish productivity are important measures of the health and status of aquatic systems. Being able to predict the values of these indices as a function of environmental variables would be valuable to management. Diversity and productivity have been related to environmental conditions by multiple linear regression and discriminant...
