Geology topics

John E. Cornely

Publications and source records attributed to John E. Cornely.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2002

Development of an expert system for assessing trumpeter swan breeding habitat in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

A decision support system for the management of the Rocky Mountain Population of Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinators) is being developed. As part of this, three expert systems are also in development: one for assessing the quality of Trumpeter Swan breeding habitat; one for making water level recommendations in montane, palustrine wetlands; and one for assessing the contribution a particular site can make towards meeting objectives from as flyway perspective. The focus of this paper is the development of the breeding habitat expert system, which currently consists of 157 rules. Out purpose is to provide decision support for issues that appear to be beyond the capability of a single persons to conceptualize and solve. We propose that by involving multiple experts in the development and use of the systems, management will be significantly improved. The knowledge base for the expert system has been developed using standard knowledge engineering techniques with a small team of ecological experts. Knowledge was then coded using production rules organized in decision trees using a commercial expert system development shell. The final system has been deployed on the world wide web.

Rocky Mountains↗

USGS2002

An application of queuing theory to waterfowl migration

There has always been great interest in the migration of waterfowl and other birds. We have applied queuing theory to modelling waterfowl migration, beginning with a prototype system for the Rocky Mountain Population of trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) in Western North America. The queuing model can be classified as a D/BB/28 system, and we describe the input sources, service mechanism, and network configuration of queues and servers. The intrinsic nature of queuing theory is to represent the spatial and temporal characteristics of entities and how they move, are placed in queues, and are serviced. The service mechanism in our system is an algorithm representing how swans move through the flyway based on seasonal life cycle events. The system uses an observed number of swans at each of 27 areas for a breeding season as input and simulates their distribution through four seasonal steps. The result is a simulated distribution of birds for the subsequent year's breeding season. The model was built as a multiagent system with one agent handling movement algorithms, with one facilitating user interface, and with one to seven agents representing specific geographic areas for which swan management interventions can be implemented. The many parallels in queuing model servers and service mechanisms with waterfowl management areas and annual life cycle events made the transfer of the theory to practical application straightforward.

Rocky Mountains↗

USGS1998

Selecting habitat management strategies on refuges

This report is a joint effort of the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to provide National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) managers guidance on the selection and evaluation of habitat management strategies to meet stated objectives. The FWS recently completed a handbook on writing refuge management goals and objectives (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1996a). the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires that National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) lands be managed according to approved Comprehensive Conservation Plans to guide management decisions and devise strategies for achieving refuge unit purposes and meeting the NWRS mission. It is expected that over the next several years most refuges will develop new or revised refuge goals and objectives for directing their habitat management strategies. This paper outlines the steps we recommend in selecting and evaluating habitat management strategies to meet specific refuge habitat objectives. We selected two examples to illustrate the process. Although each refuge is unique and will require specific information and solutions, these two examples can be used as guidance when selecting and evaluating habitat management strategies for other refuge resources: Example 1. Management of floodplain woods habitat for forest interior birds. The biological recourse of concern is the quality and quantity of floodplain woods habitat for eastern forest interior birds in the Cypress Creek NWR (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1996b). Example 2. Management of habitat for biodiversity: Historical landscape proportions. The biological resource of concern is the change in diversity associated with man-induced changes in the distribution and abundance of habitat types at the Minnesota Valley NWR (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1996c).

Information and Technology Report↗

USGS1985

Recent Red-shouldered Hawk range expansion north into Oregon including first specimen record

In this paper we review 46 Red-shouldered Hawk ( Buteo lineatus ) observation records from Oregon between 1971 and 1983. The literature contained only two records prior to 1971: Johnson's (1880) record without a specific date or locality from the Willamette Valley of western Oregon, and Bendire's (1892) two nests located in 1878 near Camp Harney in eastern Oregon. Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) placed the species on the Oregon hypothetical list because they doubted the validity of the previous identifications. However, Browning (1973) measured the eggs collected by Bendire, reviewed his field notes, and concluded that there was ample evidence the species had occurred in Oregon despite the absence of records for nearly 100 years.

Oregon↗