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Important policy issues concerning the mitigation of impacts from construction and development affecting wetlands are under examination by the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Environment and Public Works Committee of the U.S. Senate, and the National Wetlands Technical Council. The issues divide into two main parts: (1) how the current strategy to simplify federal regulation of wetlands is limiting the success of mitigation; and (2) how to change the present strategy for mitigation under the U.S. Clean Water Act, if at all. Requirements for site-specific analysis of impacts and their mitigation requirements are being replaced by simple, uniform national guidelines on impact mitigation; these...
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Natural landscapes in the Southwestern United States are changing. In recent decades, rising temperatures and drought have led to drier conditions, contributed to large-scale ecological impacts, and affected many plant and animal species across the region. The current and future trajectory of climate change underscores the need for managers and conservation professionals to understand the impacts of these patterns on natural resources. In this regional assessment of the Southwest Climate Change Initiative, we evaluate changes in annual average temperatures from 1951–2006 across major habitats and large watersheds and compare these changes to the number of species of conservation concern that are found within these...
This paper investigates the potential for systematic errors in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) widely used Annual Energy Outlook, focusing on the near- to midterm projections of energy demand. Based on analysis of the EIA’s 22-year projection record, we find a fairly modest but persistent tendency to underestimate total energy demand by an average of 2 percent per year after controlling for projection errors in gross domestic product, oil prices, and heating/cooling degree days. For 14 individual fuels/consuming sectors routinely reported by the EIA, we observe a great deal of directional consistency in the errors over time, ranging up to 7 percent per year. Electric utility renewables, electric utility...
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Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information. Soil surveys can be used for general farm, local, and wider area planning. Onsite investigation is needed in some cases, such as soil quality assessments and certain conservation and engineering applications....
Benthic macroinvertebrates from four habitat types (river channel, ephemeral side channel, river backwater, and seasonally inundated wetland) were examined from the Green River at the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Uintah County, UT, June-August 1991. For major taxa (Nematoda, Oligochaeta, Diptera: Ceratopogonidea, and Chironomidae) were quantified. Chuster analysis of densities showed that habitat types with comparable flow conditions were the most similar. Highest to lowest overall benthic invertebrate densities of the four habitats were as follows: ephemeral side channel, river backwater, seasonally inundated wetland, and river channel. Nematodes were the most abundant taxon in all habitat types and sample dates...
This paper investigates the potential for systematic errors in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) widely used Annual Energy Outlook, focusing on the near- to midterm projections of energy demand. Based on analysis of the EIA’s 22-year projection record, we find a fairly modest but persistent tendency to underestimate total energy demand by an average of 2 percent per year after controlling for projection errors in gross domestic product, oil prices, and heating/cooling degree days. For 14 individual fuels/consuming sectors routinely reported by the EIA, we observe a great deal of directional consistency in the errors over time, ranging up to 7 percent per year. Electric utility renewables, electric utility...
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Grasslands of the Sky Islands region once covered over 13 million acres in southeastern Arizona and adjacent portions of New Mexico, Sonora, and Chihuahua. Attempts to evaluate current ecological conditions suggest that approximately two thirds of these remain as intact or restorable grassland habitat. These grasslands provide watershed services such as flood control and aquifer recharge across the region, and continue to support dozens of species of concern. Prioritizing conservation interventions for these remaining grassland blocks has been challenging. Reliable data on condition and conservation value of grasslands in the region have not been systematically summarized. State and national boundaries further complicate...
Important policy issues concerning the mitigation of impacts from construction and development affecting wetlands are under examination by the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Environment and Public Works Committee of the U.S. Senate, and the National Wetlands Technical Council. The issues divide into two main parts: (1) how the current strategy to simplify federal regulation of wetlands is limiting the success of mitigation; and (2) how to change the present strategy for mitigation under the U.S. Clean Water Act, if at all. Requirements for site-specific analysis of impacts and their mitigation requirements are being replaced by simple, uniform national guidelines on impact mitigation; these...
In the Pacific Northwest, coastal wetlands support a wealth of ecosystem services including habitat provision for wildlife and fisheries and flood protection. The tidal marshes, mudflats, and shallow bays of coastal estuaries link marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats and provide economic and recreational benefits to local communities. Climate change effects such as sea-level rise are currently altering these habitats, but we know little about how these areas will change over the next 50-100 years. Our study examined the effects of sea-level rise on nine tidal marshes in Washington and Oregon, with the goal of providing scientific data to support future coastal planning and conservation. We compiled physical...
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Riparian grasslands dominated by big sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) once covered floodplains across the southwest, but have been reduced to some 5% of their historical extent. Sacaton stands that remain provide key resources for watershed function, wildlife, and livestock—yet may need special management to sustain these benefits. This report describes mapping methods and management recommendations that can be applied to riparian grasslands throughout the region. By examining sacaton grasslands in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, this project also refines methods for evaluating ecological condition, and provides managers at this site with detailed maps of both high-quality habitat and restoration needs.
This paper investigates the potential for systematic errors in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) widely used Annual Energy Outlook, focusing on the near- to midterm projections of energy demand. Based on analysis of the EIA’s 22-year projection record, we find a fairly modest but persistent tendency to underestimate total energy demand by an average of 2 percent per year after controlling for projection errors in gross domestic product, oil prices, and heating/cooling degree days. For 14 individual fuels/consuming sectors routinely reported by the EIA, we observe a great deal of directional consistency in the errors over time, ranging up to 7 percent per year. Electric utility renewables, electric utility...
This paper investigates the potential for systematic errors in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) widely used Annual Energy Outlook, focusing on the near- to midterm projections of energy demand. Based on analysis of the EIA’s 22-year projection record, we find a fairly modest but persistent tendency to underestimate total energy demand by an average of 2 percent per year after controlling for projection errors in gross domestic product, oil prices, and heating/cooling degree days. For 14 individual fuels/consuming sectors routinely reported by the EIA, we observe a great deal of directional consistency in the errors over time, ranging up to 7 percent per year. Electric utility renewables, electric utility...
As electricity demand increases, policymakers must make decisions about which energy resources will meet future demands. Much of the recent literature has focused on the contribution of new coal power plants to carbon emissions (Milford et al., 2005; Milford et al., 2007; MIT 2007). However, policymakers and industry are increasingly interested in job creation and economic development analyses to understand the full impacts of new electricity generation projects.1 Additionally, economic development impacts are often a critical piece in building public support for wind power projects. The purpose of this research is to look at the specific factors that drive wind-power-related economic development and to better understand...
Abstract (from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425716300682): Wetlands are valuable ecosystems for maintaining biodiversity, but are vulnerable to climate change and land conversion. Despite their importance, wetland hydrology is poorly understood as few tools exist to monitor their hydrologic regime at a landscape scale. This is especially true when monitoring hydrologic change at scales below 30 m, the resolution of one Landsat pixel. To address this, we used spectral mixture analysis (SMA) of a time series of Landsat satellite imagery to reconstruct surface-water hydrographs for 750 wetlands in Douglas County, Washington State, USA, from 1984 to 2011. SMA estimates the fractional abundance...
As electricity demand increases, policymakers must make decisions about which energy resources will meet future demands. Much of the recent literature has focused on the contribution of new coal power plants to carbon emissions (Milford et al., 2005; Milford et al., 2007; MIT 2007). However, policymakers and industry are increasingly interested in job creation and economic development analyses to understand the full impacts of new electricity generation projects.1 Additionally, economic development impacts are often a critical piece in building public support for wind power projects. The purpose of this research is to look at the specific factors that drive wind-power-related economic development and to better understand...
Juvenile razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) in a managed wetland adjacent to the Green River, credited to Modde, Timothy, published in 1996. Published in Western North American Naturalist, volume 56, issue 4, on pages 375 - 376, in 1996.
A generalized yet detailed wetland ecosystem model was calibrated and validated with 3 years’s data from four similarly constructed wetlands in northeastern Illinois, USA. The model was used to explore the role of different wetland structure and function in relation to phosphorus retention, to integrate collected data and provide a better understanding at the ecosystem level about constructed wetlands, and to predict the sediment and phosphorus retentions under different hydrologic conditions. Four submodels — hydrology, primary productivity, sediments, and phosphorus — were included in the model. Phosphorus cycling was reasonably simulated with one set of parameters for a total of 10 wetland-years. The model showed...
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This report is volume 2 of a two-volume ecological assessment of grassland ecosystems in the Southwestern United States. Broad-scale assessments are syntheses of current scientific knowledge, including a description of uncertainties and assumptions, to provide a characterization and comprehensive description of ecological, social, and economic components within an assessment area. Volume 1 of this assessment focused on the ecology, types, conditions, and management practices of Southwestern grasslands. Volume 2 (this volume) describes wildlife and fish species, their habitat requirements, and species-specific management concerns, in Southwestern grasslands. This assessment is regional in scale and pertains primarily...
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Most groundwater conservation and management efforts focus on protecting groundwater for drinking water and for other human uses with little understanding or focus on the ecosystems that depend on groundwater. However, groundwater plays an integral role in sustaining certain types of aquatic, terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, and their associated landscapes. Our aim was to illuminate the connection between groundwater and surface ecosystems by identifying and mapping the distribution of groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in California. This layer includes watersheds from the Watershed Boundary Database at the 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC12) scale. Each watershed is attributed with summary information...
Nitrate-nitrogen retention as a result of river water diversions is compared in experimental wetland basins in Ohio for 18 wetland-years (9 years × 2 wetland basins) and a large wetland complex in Louisiana (1 wetland basin × 4 years). The Ohio wetlands had an average nitrate-nitrogen retention of 39 g-N m−2 year−1, while the Louisiana wetland had a slightly higher retention of 46 g-N m−2 year−1 for a similar loading rate area. When annual nitrate retention data from these sites are combined with 26 additional wetland-years of data from other wetland sites in the Basin Mississippi River (Ohio, Illinois, and Louisiana), a robust regression model of nitrate retention versus nitrate loading is developed. The model...
map background search result map search result map Web Soil Survey Sustaining the Grassland Sea Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States: Wildlife and Fish, Volume 2 Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States Sacaton Riparian Grasslands Mapping Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in California Sacaton Riparian Grasslands Sustaining the Grassland Sea Mapping Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in California Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States: Wildlife and Fish, Volume 2 Web Soil Survey