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Conclusions: Prescribed burns did not supply the stream ecosystem with potentially important nutrient pulses that are often observed after wildfires. Prescribing higher severity burns to more closely mimic wildfires would enhance N cycling in productivity in N-limited headwater watersheds. Thresholds/Learnings: Synopsis: This study aimed to compare the short-term effects of spring prescribed burns and wildfires on Nitrogen cycling dynamics in headwater watersheds of central Idaho. Fire affected N dynamics in both terrestrial and aquatic components of the watershed ecosystem after wildfires but were limited to the terrestrial ecosystem after prescribed burns. Streamwater NO3 concentrations were affected significantly...
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Synopsis: Natural habitats are considered inherently indispensable to the global economy by conservationists, but few natural ecosystems afford direct and quantifiable economic benefits. Quantification of natural land value can provide compelling evidence favoring preservation over development. Wild bees are important pollinators of many crop plants, and natural patches in agroecosystems enhance pollinator services and crop yield. Bee abundance was greatest in canola fields that had more uncultivated land within 750 m of field edges and seed set was greater in fields with higher bee abundance. A cost–benefit model that estimates profit in canola agroecosystems with different proportions of uncultivated land is presented....
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Conclusions: Habitat associations of prairie rattlesnakes appear to differ depending on whether snakes are hibernating, foraging, or reproducing. Most rattlesnake hibernacula occur within 4 km of a major river, drainage, or coulee, on relatively gentle slopes, but they migrate as far as 25 km away from dens in summer. High road densities present unfavorable habitat conditions for snakes because they are a significant cause of mortality. *Note that this study generated landscape level models with coarse variables, and the thresholds and values used may not be directly applicable to other areas or for site-specific analysis. Thresholds: Most rattlesnake hibernacula occur within 4 km of a major river, drainage, or...
Conclusions:Over time, native species richness increased slightly, but dropped dramatically after several years of burning. Year-to-year change in community composition was found to be affected by time since fire and fluctuations in growing season temperature and rainfall. Examining successional trajectory showed that the restoration has been most successful at reducing exotic species and increasing species heterogeneity, but has largely failed to increase native species richness at the level of remnant prairies, largely due to interspecies resource competition.Thresholds/Learnings:
Conclusions:The occurence of bull trout in mid-boreal stream is negatively related to two metrics of industrial activity: percent forest harvesting and road density. Bull trout abundance was positively related to elevation, and negatively related to stream width, slope, and levels of forest harvesting.Thresholds/Learnings:Timber harvest on up to 35% or more of individual subbasins is projected to result in the extripation of bull trout from up to 43% of stream reaches, especially those that support high densities of bull trout.
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Conclusions: The amount of upstream impervious area affects downstream fish habitat quality, channel stability, and water quality. The use of riparian buffers can reduce the magnitude of urban impacts, however, they cannot fully mitigate the impacts of upstream development in the watershed. Threshold percentages of impervious areas , as well as the percentage of forest cover in a watershed appear to be the most effective indicators of watershed health. Thresholds/Learnings: Impervious areas should be kept at or below 10% of a watershed, and forest cover should be maintained at a minimum of 65% in order to effectively mitigate the impacts of urbanization and development on watersheds. Synopsis: This paper articulates...
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Conclusions: The goal of the report is to set forth guidelines for increasing greater sage-grouse abundance by at least 33% by 2015, and overall distribution of greater sage-grouse by at least 20% by 2030. In summary, the guidelines presented include steps for improving vegetation management to 1) restore degraded habitat, followed by 2) steps to reduce habitat fragmentation. Thresholds/Learnings: Sage-grouse numbers on leks within 1600m of coal bed methane (CBM) compressor stations were lower than on leks unaffected b this disturbance. All drilling activities for gas and oil development should be prohibited within 5500m of active leks and their associated nesting areas. Leks are frequently abandoned once road use...
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Conclusions: Reduction in landscape carrying capacity for wolf population distribution and viability depends largely on the degree of road density, public land ownership, amount of forest cover and high elk densities (another indicator of suitable habitat). Synopsis: This study employed two types of spatial models to evaluate the potential of wolf reintroduction in the southern Rocky Mountain region. A multiple logistic regression was used to develop a resource-selection function relating wolf distribution in the Greater Yellowstone region with regional-scale habitat variables. Researchers also used a spatially explicit population model to predict wolf distribution and viability at several potential reintroduction...
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Synopsis: This study examined the effect of road improvement and environmental variables on exotic and native plant diversity in roadside verges and adjacent semi-arid grassland, shrubland, and woodland communities of southern Utah. Researchers measured the cover of exotic and native species in roadside verges and both the richness and cover of exotic and native species in adjacent interior communities (50 meters beyond the edge of the road) along 42 roads stratified by level of road improvement (paved, improved surface, graded, and four-wheel drive track). Exotic species richness and cover were more than 50% greater, and the richness of native species 30% lower, at patch interiors adjacent to paved roads than those...
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Synopsis: This study monitored the response of a species of pine bark beetle, Trypodendron lineatum, to direct and indirect measures of habitat availability in a forest subjected to various levels of harvest intensities. Four stand types (conifer dominated, mixed, deciduous dominated, and deciduous dominated with conifer understory) were treated with four levels of harvest intensity (unharvested, 50%, 80%, and 90% harvested). Prior to harvest, the pine bark beetle was most abundant in stands with many host trees (conifer dominated stands). In the first and second summers after harvest, pine beetle abundance increased exponentially with percent spruce cover and the number of spruce stumps in the stand. Beetles were...
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Synopsis: This model is based around Native Prairie Cover types, and Soil Texture. Native Prairie Class (NPC) is derived from the Native Prairie Vegetation Baseline Inventory developed by AlbertaEnvironment. Class I is comprised of greater than 75% native prairie components (i.e. shrubs, graminoids, riparian areas, lakes, wetlands, and trees), Class 2 is 50 - 75%, Class 3 is 25 - 50%, Class 4 is 1 - 25%, and Class 5 is no native prairie components. Native prairie is probably the most important and limiting factor for ferruginous hawks. Although hawks have been found in areas that were primarily under cultivation), they were in close proximity to prairie in good condition. Overall NPC was selected over its individual...
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Conclusions: Nest predators with different home-range sizes and habitat affinities responded to landscape configuration in different ways. Influence of landscape structure varied across scale. Thresholds/Learnings: Herbaceous cover was negatively associated with predation in roadsides whereas the proximity of woody cover was positively associated with predation rates. Synopsis: This study evaluated the influence of habitat structure and spatial configuration on nest predation in central Iowa. In a multi-scale analysis of 10 artificial ground nests along 136 roadsides across six watersheds, researchers found that predation was affected by the surrounding landscape mosaic. Nest predators with different home-range...
Conclusions:Habitat fragmentation results in demographic changes in plant populations associated wtih increased extinction risk.Thresholds/Learnings:Trillium populations in forest remnants within 65m of forest clear-cut edges have almost no recruitment of young plants
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Conclusions: Emigration rates are closely tied to edge structure. Low contrast edges promote edge permeability Thresholds/Learnings: Synopsis: The behavior of two butterfly species, one habitat specialist and one habitat generalist, were tracked at four prairie edges to determine the extent to which edge structure affects emigration. The specialist species responded strongly to all edges, and was particularly affected by edge density. The generalist species responded strongly only to high contrast edges. Emigration rates are closely tied to edge structure. Therefore, promoting low contrast edges in conservation planning may positively influence edge permeability and species richness in highly fragmented landscapes.
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Conclusions: Four plant species have been tested in the majority of field evaluations, while plants native to the test area and perennial plants are particularly underrepresented. Native plants useful in restoration of rare ecosystems can increase natural enemy abundance and provide ecosystem services as much as widely recommended non-natives. Thresholds/Learnings: Synopsis: The intentional provision of flowering plants and plant communities in managed landscapes to enhance natural enemies is termed habitat management and is a relatively new but growing aspect of conservation biology. The focus of most habitat management research has been on understanding the role of these plant-provided resources on natural enemy...
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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 study evaluated the effects of landscape management on the spread of mountain pine beetle colonization in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Researchers used annual aerial survey data and geo-referenced locations of colonized trees that were cut and removed to assess if the area colonized and the spatial extent of pine beetles differed between monitoring and management zones. Pine beetles were allowed to follow their natural course in the monitoring zone, while an extensive eradication program involving cutting and burning colonized trees was established in the management zone. Management resulted in no detectable effect on the scale of the zone. However, at the sub-zone scale, the area affected...
Synopsis: This book addresses issues of landscape fragmentation and ecology emanating from the construction and use of roads. The text highlights ecosystem implications of this type of linear disturbance in relation to the following topics: · Roads, vehicles, and transportation planning · Vegetation and roadsides · Wildlife populations and collision mortality · Water, sediment, and chemical flows · Aquatic ecosystems · Wind, noise, and atmospheric effects · Road networks and landscape fragmentation Conclusions: Book addresses issues of landscape fragmentation and ecology emanating from the construction and use of roads. The text highlights ecosystem implications...
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Synopsis: Wildfires can negatively affect water quality by altering watershed hydrology and increasing sediment and nutrient delivery to surface waters. The Angora Fire (summer of 2007) was the largest and most severe wildfire in recent history within the Lake Tahoe basin of the Sierra Nevada. The fire burned 839 ha within the watershed (56% of the total watershed area), with 22% of the watershed affected by a high severity burn. To determine the watershed response to fire and assess the potential for downstream impacts of nutrient and sediment delivery to Lake Tahoe, the post-fire hydrology and stream water chemistry was monitored for 2 years at four locations along the length of Angora Creek, a perennial stream...
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Synopsis: Beneficial arthropods, including native bees, predators, and parasitoids, provide valuable ecosystem services worth $8 billion to US agriculture each year. These arthropod-mediated ecosystem services (AMES) include crop pollination and pest control, which help to maintain agricultural productivity and reduce the need for pesticide inputs. Maximizing survival and reproduction of beneficial arthropods requires provision of pollen and nectar resources that are often scarce in modern agricultural landscapes. Increasingly, native plants are being evaluated for this purpose. Native plants can outperform recommended non-natives and also provide local adaptation, habitat permanency, and support of native biodiversity....
map background search result map search result map Butterfly responses to habitat edges in highly fragmented prairies of central Iowa. Effects of spring prescribed burning and wildfires on watershed nitrogen dynamics of central Idaho headwater areas Maximizing ecosystem services from conservation biological control: The role of habitat management Ferruginous Hawk. Water quality response to the Angora Fire, Lake Tahoe, California A blueprint for sage-grouse conservation and recovery Impacts of landscape change on wolf restoration success: planning a reintroduction program based on static and dynamic spatial models. Effects of landscape structure on nest predation on roadsides of a mid-western agroecosystem: a multi-scale analysis. Urbanization of aquatic systems: degradation thresholds, stormwater detection, and the limits of mitigation. Distribution of bark beetle, Trypodendron lineatum in a harvested landscape Effect of management on spatial spread of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in Banff National Park. Pollinators provide economic incentive to preserve natural land in agroecosystems Maximizing arthropod-mediated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: the role of native plants. Prairie Rattlesnake. Roads as conduits for exotic plant invasions in a semi-arid landscape. Using Shelterbelts to Reduce Odors Associated with Livestock Production Barns. Water quality response to the Angora Fire, Lake Tahoe, California Effects of spring prescribed burning and wildfires on watershed nitrogen dynamics of central Idaho headwater areas Urbanization of aquatic systems: degradation thresholds, stormwater detection, and the limits of mitigation. Effect of management on spatial spread of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in Banff National Park. Distribution of bark beetle, Trypodendron lineatum in a harvested landscape Butterfly responses to habitat edges in highly fragmented prairies of central Iowa. Effects of landscape structure on nest predation on roadsides of a mid-western agroecosystem: a multi-scale analysis. Roads as conduits for exotic plant invasions in a semi-arid landscape. A blueprint for sage-grouse conservation and recovery Maximizing arthropod-mediated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: the role of native plants. Pollinators provide economic incentive to preserve natural land in agroecosystems Impacts of landscape change on wolf restoration success: planning a reintroduction program based on static and dynamic spatial models. Maximizing ecosystem services from conservation biological control: The role of habitat management Using Shelterbelts to Reduce Odors Associated with Livestock Production Barns.