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A Vision for the Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert, shared by two nations, is one of the most biologically rich desert ecoregions in the world, alive with large mammals, birds, reptiles and an unmatched diversity of cactus species. The desert’s rivers, streams and springs are considered to be of global significance, home to fish species found nowhere else on earth. Our vision is a Chihuahuan Desert where governments, local communities, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, landowners, and other stakeholders are working together to ensure that the richness and diversity of wildlife, habitats, natural communities, and ecological processes of the Chihuahuan Desert are conserved and, where necessary,...
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This project used species distribution modeling to assess the risk to habitat change under various climate change scenarios for rare plants. To predict the response of rare plant species to climate change, the project modeled the current distribution of the species using climate and environmental data (e.g., soils, disturbance, land-use), use these models to predict the species distribution given climate change, calculate current and future range size, calculate the amount of overlap of predicted future distribution with current distribution, and assess where barriers and protected areas are located with reference to the change in species distribution. Given the results of the distribution modeling, each species...
The seemingly irresistible growth of motorised transport and its environmental effects have led the NRP to also put mobility and transport (M & T) on its agenda. NRP questions are focused on psychosocial factors and mechanisms underlying the popularity of motorised transport, and on technical as well as behavioural measures and strategies to reduce global air pollution stemming from mobility and the use of motor vehicles. In Phase 1 of the programme, five NRP-funded Mssss & T projects have been conducted. Together with one or two related projects, these will be briefly summarised and commented upon. General observations, conclusions and some suggestions will be provided at the end of this paper.
The 576 abstracted references on nuclear facility decommissioning, uranium mill tailings management, and site remedial actions constitute the tenth in a series of reports prepared annually for the U.S. Department of Energy's Remedial Action Programs. Citations to foreign and domestic literature of all types—technical reports, progress reports, journal articles, symposia proceedings, theses, books, patents, legislation, and research project descriptions—have been included. The bibliography contains scientific, technical, economic, regulatory, and legal information pertinent to the U.S. Department of Energy's Remedial Action Programs. Major sections are (1) Surplus Facilities Management Program, (2) Nuclear Facilities...
This workshop is part of a broader research project aimed at better understanding how communities can engage in the process of wind energy development. The research is funded through a National Science Foundation grant (#SES 0724672) to Roopali Phadke at Macalester College. This report was prepared by a research team from Macalester College. Throughout the day of the workshop, the research team collected demographic data about participants, gauged their familiarity with wind energy, and elicited their perceptions about landscape impacts. This was done through the use of interactive keypad polling, photographic analysis within focus groups, open-ended writing exercises and a final evaluation. The data were brought...
Geothermal energy, carbon sequestration, and enhanced oil and gas recovery have a clear role in U.S. energy policy, both in securing cost-effective energy and reducing atmospheric CO2 accumulations. Recent publicity surrounding induced seismicity at several geothermal and oil and gas sites points out the need to develop improved standards and practices to avoid issues that may unduly inhibit or stop the above technologies from fulfilling their full potential. It is critical that policy makers and the general community be assured that EGS, CO2 sequestration, enhanced oil/gas recovery, and other technologies relying on fluid injections, will be designed to reduce induced seismicity to an acceptable level, and be developed...
This study proposes a new use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure the operational, environmental and both-unified efficiency measures of US coal-fired power plants. The power plants produce not only desirable outputs (e.g., electricity) but also undesirable outputs (e.g., CO2 and NOx) as a result of their plant operations. A Range-Adjusted Measure (RAM) is used as an original non-radial DEA model. Then, it is reformulated for handling undesirable (bad) outputs. The proposed use of DEA models measures the environmental and unified performance of power plants under two variable alternatives (with and without CO2 emission control) in order to examine both the influence of US Clean Air Act (CAA) on the acid...
The Swedish programme for geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel is approaching major milestones in the form of permit applications for an encapsulation plant and a deep geologic repository. This paper presents an overview of the bedrock and surface modelling work that comprises a major part of the on-going site characterization in Sweden and that results in syntheses of the sites, called site descriptions. The site description incorporates descriptive models of the site and its regional setting, including the current state of the geosphere and the biosphere as well as natural processes affecting long-term evolution. The site description is intended to serve the needs of both repository engineering with respect...
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Collection of 4 assessments for Upland Streams and Rivers. The Condition Index ranks stream segments according to how well they meet the Desired State described qualitatively and quantitatively in the draft Integrated Science Agenda (v4). From the Condition Index, 3 assessments are derived that rank opportunities for management and restoration of conditions included in the Condition Index – Watershed Land Use, Riparian Cover, and Stream Meander. Watershed Land Use management opportunities are based on the proportion of undisturbed land in the contributing (i.e. cumulative) watershed such that stream segments meeting the Desired State are considered Maintenance opportunities (values 5-6). Those that do not meet the...
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The purpose of this data set is support resource allocation decisions (i.e. where to invest conservation effort) within the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The Protection Opportunity action map for the Upland Hardwood (Woodland) habitat system ranks pixels (250-m) based primarily on the Upland Hardwood (Woodland) Condition Index such that unprotected sites within healthy landscapes are ranked higher than those in very fragmented landscapes. Ranks are increased by information on existing partner interest (i.e. stated priority areas), elevated risk of change by 2060, and predicted occupancy of a majority of species identified in the GCPO LCC’s draft Integrated Science Agenda (v4)....
Waste frying oils (WFO) can be a good source for the production of biodiesel because this raw material is not part of the food chain, is low cost and can be used in a way that resolves environmental problems (i.e. WFO is no longer thrown into the sewage network). The goal of this article is to propose a method to evaluate the costs of biodiesel production from WFO to develop an economic assessment of this alternative. This method embraces a logistics perspective, as the cost of collection of oil from commercial producers and its delivery to biodiesel depots or plants can be relevant and is an issue that has been little explored in the academic literature. To determine the logistics cost, a mathematical programming...
Ecological evaluation is essential for remediation, restoration, and Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), and forms the basis for many management practices. These include determining status and trends of biological, physical, or chemical/radiological conditions, conducting environmental impact assessments, performing remedial actions should remediation fail, managing ecosystems and wildlife, and assessing the efficacy of remediation, restoration, and long-term stewardship. The objective of this paper is to explore the meanings of these assessments, examine the relationships among them, and suggest methods of integration that will move environmental management forward. While remediation, restoration, and NRDA,...
Ecological indicators can be used to detect, diagnose, and summarize information about environmental problems. Despite these important values, few indicators have been systematically validated. Broad information on relevance, feasibility, estimates of variance, and interpretation of the ecological indicator is needed for initial validation. Comparisons of ecological indicators can only be accomplished if they are contrasted with standard published criteria. In this paper, information on the potential use of butterflies as indicators of riparian quality is provided within a standard framework. Additionally, data from riparian areas along the Arkansas, Green, Pecos, Rio Grande, and Yampa rivers were collected to validate...
What are current conditions for important park natural resources? What are the critical data and knowledge gaps? What are some of the factors that are influencing park resource conditions? Natural Resource Condition Assessments (NRCAs) evaluate and report on the above for a subset of important natural resources in national park units (hereafter, parks). Focal study resources and indicators are selected on a park-by-park basis, guided by use of structured resource assessment and reporting frameworks. Considerations include park resource setting and enabling legislation (what are this park's most important natural resources?) and presently available data and expertise (what can be evaluated at this time?). In addition...
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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...
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This assessment presents GIS data containing results of all freshwater assessment analyses conducted by The Nature Conservancy for Washington State. This data set includes values for biodiversity metrics (e.g. suitability, threat, number of species) across all HUC6 watersheds in Washington State, as well as identifies rivers, watersheds, and wetlands that provide the best opportunities for conservation of Washington's native freshwater species and ecological systems. Fore more information, visit waconservation.org .
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This file represents the final version of an assessment of the extent, condition, and distribution of grassland types in Arizona as indicated by expert interviews and field verification. Coverage includes the state of Arizona, Southwestern portions of the state of New Mexico, and the Northern portion of Sonora, Mexico.
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Grasslands comprise a small part of the Chihuahuan Desert but are vital to the biological diversity of the ecoregion. Characteristic grasses of the Chihuahuan Desert are tobosa (Pleuraphis mutica) and black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda) but other common species include alakali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), big alkali sacaton (S. wrightii), mesa dropseed (S. flexuosus), blue grama (B. gracilis), sideoats grama (B. curtipendula ), hairy grama (B. hirsuta), slender grama (B. filiformis), chino grama (B. brevista), spruce top grama (B. chondrosioides), bush muhly (Muhlenbergia porteri), several three awns (Aristida spp.), and fluff grass (Dasyochloa pulchela) (Johnson 1974, Dinerstein et al. 2000). Many of the sites discussed...
map background search result map search result map Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) 305b Streams for Wyoming Assessing and Mapping Rare Plant Species Vulnerability to Climate Change Washington State Statewide Freshwater Assessment Extent and Condition of Grasslands in Arizona, Northern Mexico, and Southwestern New Mexico Natural Resource Condition Assessments Status and Distribution of Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands in the United States and Mexico Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States Ecoregion-Based Conservation in the Chihuahuan Desert Upland Hardwood Woodland Protection Opportunities Upland Streams & Rivers Grouped Assessments Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) 305b Streams for Wyoming Washington State Statewide Freshwater Assessment Extent and Condition of Grasslands in Arizona, Northern Mexico, and Southwestern New Mexico Assessing and Mapping Rare Plant Species Vulnerability to Climate Change Upland Streams & Rivers Grouped Assessments Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States Upland Hardwood Woodland Protection Opportunities Ecoregion-Based Conservation in the Chihuahuan Desert Status and Distribution of Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands in the United States and Mexico Natural Resource Condition Assessments