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Synopsis: Wind erosion control is typically needed in areas with low and variable precipitation and frequent droughts, and where high winds, high temperature and consequent high evaporation are common conditions, such as in southern Alberta. Potential average annual erosion rates from wind erosion are predicted using the wind erosion equation E= f(I, K, C, L, V) where I is the soil erodibility index, K is the soil-ridge-roughness factor, C is the climactic factor, L is the unsheltered, weighted travel distance of the wind across a field and V is the equivalent vegetated cover. Wind erosion can be controlled with one or more of the following five basic principles of wind erosion control: · Reduce field widths...
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Synopsis: Recent reports clearly indicate that odor emitted from concentrated livestock production facilities in the Midwest of the US is a significant social problem that negatively impacts rural and state economies, human health, and the quality of rural life. A potential incremental approach to dealing with livestock odor is the use of shelterbelts arranged in strategic designs near and within livestock facilities. This review outlines the various ways that shelterbelts can be effective technology which biophysically mitigates odor thereby reducing social conflict from odor nuisance. The biophysical potential of shelterbelts to mitigate livestock odor arises from the tree/shrub impacts on the central characteristics...
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Synopsis: Researchers measured the effects of grassland amount and fragmentation on upland and wetland songbird and duck densities and nest success across 16 landscapes in southern Alberta. By comparing these landscape-level effects with local-scale responses, including distance to various edges and vegetation characteristics, the study demonstrated that few species were in fact influenced by grassland amount or fragmentation. In contrast, distance to edge and local vegetation characteristics had significant effects on densities and nest success of many species. Landscape level effects were much less apparent when local characteristics were included in the models. Therefore, researchers concluded that local habitat...
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Synopsis: This report evaluates habitat requirements of the American badger according to parameters of soil texture, graminoid cover, slope, and proximity to roads. Badgers tend to prefer sandy loam and silty loam, medium and moderately coarse textured soils. In terms of graminoid coverage, badgers generally prefer open grassland habitat, but can also be found in agriculturally dominated landscapes containing isolated pockets of Richardson 's ground squirrel colonies. Graminoid coverage of 23% was chosen as the minimum requirement for suitable badger habitat. As slope increases, habitat suitability decreases to a point at which the likelihood of badgers existing there (i.e. cliffs and badlands) is extremely low...
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Synopsis: The goal of this study was to examine contaminant loadings associated with stormwater runoff from recently burned areas in urban fringe areas of southern California, to derive regional patterns of runoff and contaminant loadings in this context. Postfire stormwater runoff was sampled from five wildfires that each burned between 115 and 658 km2 of natural open space between 2003 and 2009. The area is characterized by classic Mediterranean climate conditions of relatively mild to cool wet winter and warm to hot dry summers. Between two and five storm events were sampled per site over the first one to two years following the fires for basic constituents, metals, nutrients, total suspended solids, and polycyclic...
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Synopsis: Wind erosion is considered a problem when the erosion level exceeds the tolerable limit for the soil or when the erosion level is great enough to damage the crops being grown. Wind erosion control must be tailored to each farming situation and may be achieved through a combination of practices that ultimately create isolated fields, the key to wind erosion control systems. Wind erosion control measures can be grouped into four components: (1) tree and shrub windbreaks; (2) annual and perennial vegetative barriers; (3) strip cropping and trap strips; and (4) crop residues and cover crops. Wind control system design involves 4 basic principles: (1) erosion rates are predicted using the wind erosion equation;...
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Synopsis: Windbreaks are a major component of successful agricultural landscapes. At the farm scale, they help control erosion and blowing snow, improve animal health and survival under winter conditions, reduce energy consumption of the farmstead, and enhance habitat diversity. At a landscape scale, they provide habitat for various types of wildlife and have the potential to contribute significant benefits to the carbon balance equation, thereby easing the economic burdens associated with climate change. The effectiveness of a windbreak is determined partially by its external structure including its height, length, orientation, continuity, width, and cross-sectional shape and partially by its internal structure...
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Synopsis: This study examined the spatial patterns and factors influencing small terrestrial vertebrate road-kill aggregations in the Bow River Valley of Alberta, Canada. Mammal and bird road-kill indices were consistently higher on low volume parkway roads than on the high-speed, high volume Trans-Canada highway (TCH). Birds were more vulnerable to collisions than mammals on the TCH. Low volume parkway road-kills were less likely to occur on raised sections of road, and tended to occur close to vegetative cover far from wildlife passages and culverts. Highway sections with forested medians were less significant barriers to forest birds than open grassy medians. Since forest dwelling birds are reluctant to cross...
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Synopsis: This study examines the influence of landscape fragmentation on trophic cascades in southern California. Results indicate that, as habitat fragmentation negatively affects the persistence of coyote populations, the abundance of smaller meso-predators increase, resulting in higher mortality rates in scrub-breeding birds. Fragment size was a strong indicator of coyote abundance, and coyote abundance was a strong indicator of bird diversity, as coyotes kept down the number of meso-predators that prey on birds. The positive effect of fragment area and the negative effect of fragment age were the strongest determinants of bird diversity in this system. Conclusions: Fragment size correlates with coyote abundance,...
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Synopsis: This study summarized results of a comparative 15N-tracer study from a wide variety of sites throughout the United States, to derive general principles related to headwater streams and nitrogen dynamics. Standardized protocols were applied in 12 headwater streams representing a wide diversity of biomes throughout the United States. These sites were part of the Lotic Intersite Nitrogen eXperiment (LINX). The most rapid uptake and transformation of inorganic nitrogen occurred in the smallest streams. Ammonium entering these streams was removed within a few tens to hundreds of meters, primarily through assimilation by microorganisms, sorption to sediments, and nitrification. Nitrate was also removed from...
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Synopsis: This document details the Milk River Basin project, designed to produce innovative approaches to multi-species management in Southern Alberta. The Milk River basin contains a variety of ‘sensitive’, ‘at risk’, and ‘may be at risk’ species. The process of prioritizing the landscape for conservation and stewardship was driven by species inventories to identify known locations, and Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models to delimit suitable key habitat for the 17 selected species. The construction of the models was limited to the available variables and resolution of the databases. For MULTISAR: the Milk River Basin Project area this was the quarter section, the resolution of the Native Prairie Vegetation...
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Synopsis: Preliminary research and observations made by farmers suggest that shelterbelts placed around livestock production facilities may effectively reduce movement of odors emitted by manure to neighbouring properties. Essentially, trees can be 'put to work' to reduce the movement of livestock production odors off-site. An odor-emitting source can include a livestock production barn, manure storage or a farm field where manure is being spread. Shelterbelts have the ability to reduce odor concentrations significantly at or very near the source, which greatly improves the effectiveness of separation distances. There are five ways that treed windbreaks and shelterbelts can reduce the effects of livestock odor...
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Synopsis: This paper describes the spatial distribution of pH measurements from 60 sites distributed throughout the Kychlan River catchment, a 67km⊃2; boreal watershed in northern Sweden. Water samples were collected during a period of winter baseflow and during a spring flood episode. Chemical analyses included pH, Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), major cations (K, Mg, Na, Ca) and total filterable aluminum. Spring flood pH was shown to be highest in larger, lower altitude catchments underlain by fine sorted sediments, and lowest in small, higher altitude catchments underlain by a mixture of peat wetlands and forested till. There was also a trend with distance downstream of higher pH, acid neutralizing capacity and...
    map background search result map search result map Stormwater contaminant loading following southern California wildfires Mesopredator release and avifaunal extinctions in a fragmented system. Windbreaks in North American Agricultural Systems Using Shelterbelts to Reduce Odors Associated with Livestock Production Barns. Basic principles of wind erosion control Design and use of field windbreaks in wind erosion control systems Mitigating swine odor with strategically designed shelterbelt systems: a review. Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations. Control of Nitrogen Export from Watersheds by Headwater Streams The Milk River Basin Project; Habitat Suitability Models for Selected Wildlife Management Species No. 86. Alberta Species At Risk Report, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, 2004 A multi-scale analysis of avian response to habitat amount and fragmentation in the Canadian dry mixed-grass prairie. Spatial heterogeneity of the spring flood acid pulse in a boreal stream network. American Badger. A multi-scale analysis of avian response to habitat amount and fragmentation in the Canadian dry mixed-grass prairie. Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations. Stormwater contaminant loading following southern California wildfires Mesopredator release and avifaunal extinctions in a fragmented system. Spatial heterogeneity of the spring flood acid pulse in a boreal stream network. Control of Nitrogen Export from Watersheds by Headwater Streams Windbreaks in North American Agricultural Systems Using Shelterbelts to Reduce Odors Associated with Livestock Production Barns. Basic principles of wind erosion control Design and use of field windbreaks in wind erosion control systems Mitigating swine odor with strategically designed shelterbelt systems: a review.