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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
USGS2012

Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–A is the first in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Western United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes B, C, and D provide similar analyses for the Great Plains, the Midwest–South Central United States, and the Eastern United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Western United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Western United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research. This report is only one of the products produced by USGS on land-use and land-cover change in the United States. Other reports and land-cover statistics are available online at http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov .

Professional Paper↗
USGS2015

Status and trends of land change in the Great Plains of the United States--1973 to 2000

Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–B is the second in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Great Plains of the United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, C, and D provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the Midwest–South Central United States, and the Eastern United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Great Plains of the United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Great Plains of the United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research. This report is only one of the products produced by USGS on land-use and land-cover change in the United States. Other reports and land-cover statistics are available online at http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov .

Great Plains↗
USGS2016

Status and trends of land change in the Eastern United States—1973 to 2000

Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–D is the fourth in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Eastern United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, B, and C provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the Great Plains of the United States, and the Midwest–South Central United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Eastern United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Eastern United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research. This report is only one of the products produced by USGS on land-use and land-cover change in the United States. Other reports and land-cover statistics are available online at http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov .

Professional Paper↗
USGS1996

Fishes of the White River basin, Indiana

Since 1875, researchers have reported 158 species of fish belonging to 25 families in the White River Basin. Of these species, 6 have not been reported since 1900 and 10 have not been reported since 1943. Since the 1820's, fish communities in the White River Basin have been affected by the alteration of stream habitat, overfishing, the introduction of non-native species, agriculture, and urbanization. Erosion resulting from conversion of forest land to cropland in the 1800's led to siltation of streambeds and resulted in the loss of some silt-sensitive species. In the early 1900's, the water quality of the White River was seriously degraded for 100 miles by untreated sewage from the City of Indianapolis. During the last 25 years, water quality in the basin has improved because of efforts to control water pollution. Fish communities in the basin have responded favorably to the improved water quality.

Indiana↗
USGS1991

Wigeongrass ( Ruppia maritima ): a literature review

Wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima L.) is a submersed macrophyte of nearly cosmopolitan distribution and worldwide importance as a waterfowl food. Unfortunately, the plant no longer inhabits vast areas disturbed by human activities. Taxonomic status of the plant is uncertain, especially in North America. In mild climates, in habitats subject to environmental extremes, the plant behaves as an annual (vegetation perishes), or as a perennial in deeper, more stable habitats (some vegetative parts grow year round). Drupelets (seeds) provide a mechanism for wigeongrass to survive periods of drought and excessive water salinity. These sexual propagules can be washed ashore or carried by birds or fish for long distances.Wigeongrass mostly occurs in temporarily to permanently flooded mesohaline-hyperhaline estuarine wetlands, but it also occurs inland in fresh to hypersaline palustrine and lacustrine wetlands. Most populations inhabit warm, relatively unpolluted, and well lit waters <2.0 m deep where fetches and wave action are not great. The species is probably best adapted to stable water levels but can tolerate significant water level fluctuations, including periodic exposure in tidal areas. Robust growth occurs in areas of slow current. Wigeongrass is alone among the submersed North American angiosperms in tolerance to high salinity, but it is likely at a competitive disadvantage among specialist taxa in soft or acidic waters. The species grows in nearly all common bottom substrates, but growth is favored by aerobic and low H 2 S conditions. Turbidity frequently limits wigeongrass growth in waters overlying easily suspendible bottom substrates.Wigeongrass often occurs in monotypic stands, yet grows with many other submersed and emergent macrophytes. Dominance in certain wetlands sometimes alternates with dominance by other submersed macrophytes as salinities, seasonal temperature cycles, or other environmental factors change. The shading effect of metaphytic, planktonic, or epiphytic algae often reduces production.Wigeongrass and its detritus provide food and cover for a large invertebrate biota, although direct consumption of the living plants is minimal. Wigeongrass beds in coastal wetlands are heavily used by fish. The plant is recognized worldwide as an important food of migrant and wintering waterfowl, wading birds, and shorebirds. In subtropical climates, wintering waterfowl can quickly consume entire stands.Propagation and management of wigeongrass has occurred for nearly 60 years in the southern and eastern United States. During the seventies and eighties, sophisticated water level and salinity management techniques have been developed to encourage growth of the plant.Future research should concentrate on determining the means to reduce light-limiting turbidity in many wetland types; understanding the ways in which human activities on and near wetlands affect wigeongrass production; and developing reliable and predictable techniques to stimulate wigeongrass production by water level manipulations and other means in different environmental settings. Trophic interactions and the effects of biomanipulation of fish populations in managed wigeongrass habitat--now little understood--also require more study.

Fish and Wildlife Research↗
USGS1979

Distribution and status of marine birds breeding along the coasts of the Chukchi and Bering seas

The Alaska coast fronting on the Chukchi and Bering seas, exclusive of the Aleutian Islands, supports seven complexes of marine bird colonies numbering more than 1 million birds each, nine colonies of 100,000 to almost 1 million birds, and many smaller colonies. Colonies are found on most headlands and islands and are dominated numerically by alcids and kittiwakes (Rissa sp.). Estuarine habitats (mainly the lowlands of northern Seward Peninsula, Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, and the north side of the Alaska Peninsula) are extremely important for breeding and migrating marine waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls (Larus sp.), and terns (Sterna sp.). Information on population size and distribution of breeding marine birds within this area is extensive for only a few of the more heavily hunted species of waterfowl. Except for the intensive and systematic censusing of a few colonies in this region, population data on cliff-, burrow-, and crevice-nesting birds are such that all but gross changes in numbers may go unnoticed, and if noticed they could not be measured.

Research Report↗
USGS1982

Effects of soils and grazing on breeding birds of uncultivated upland grasslands of the Northern Great Plains

The principal use of uncultivated upland grasslands in the northern Great Plains is for livestock production. However, on lands set aside for wildlife or for scientific or recreational use, grazing by livestock may be used as a management measure to enhance populations of game species or to create conditions that increase the diversity of plant or animal species. To determine the effects of grazing on the avifauna of various types of Great Plains grasslands, we conducted bird censuses and plant surveys during 1974-78 on 615 plots of lightly, moderately, or heavily grazed native rangeland.Numbers of horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), lark bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys), and chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus) accounted for 65-75% of the total bird population, regardless of grazing intensity. For the entire area sampled (600,000 km2), horned lark, western meadowlark, and chestnut-collared longspur were the dominant birds. Major differences in composition of the dominant species and species richness occurred among the major soils. Increased mean annual soil temperature seemingly had a greater negative influence on avian species richness than did decreased soil moisture or organic matter content. Differences in total bird density were not significant among soils and among grazing intensities within most soils. For the area as a whole, light or moderate grazing resulted in increased species richness. Of the 29 species studied, 2 responded significantly to grazing for the area as a whole and 6 others to grazing on the soil in which peak densities occurred. Response of several other species to grazing effects evidently varied among strata.A list of plants with mean cover values of more than 1% in any of the 18 combinations of soils and grazing intensities contained less than 25 species, attesting to the relative simplicity of the grassland vegetation in the northern Great Plains. Agropyron spp. and Bouteloua gracilis were the dominant plants that provided greater than average cover on the best habitat for the most bird species. Optimum habitat for each bird species is given in terms of grazing, soils, and dominant plant species. Increased soil temperature probably had a negative effect on plant species richness, especially among soils with a high organic matter content that supported perennial grasses and other mesophytes.

Wildlife Research Report↗
USGS1974

Life history of the spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius) in southeastern Lake Michigan, the Kalamazoo River, and western Lake Erie

In southeastern Lake Michigan spottail shiners in samples ranged from ages 0 to V, but most were in age groups I-IV. In the Kalamazoo River (a tributary of southeastern Lake Michigan) age group II was commonest in the catches, and no fish older than age IV were sampled. In western Lake Erie, most shiners were in age groups 0-II, and none were older than age IV. Mortality of males was much higher than that of females after age II in Lake Michigan and after age I in Lake Erie. Growth of spottail shiners was fastest in western Lake Erie (125 mm at the end of the third year, sexes combined) and slowest (77 mm) in the Kalamazoo River; in all three waters growth declined rapidly after the first year. Females grew faster than males. Young shiners started growing earlier in the year than older ones in all three waters. Males and females of the same age resumed growth at about the same time. The growing season began as early as mid-May in the Kalamazoo River and continued as late as September or early October in the other two waters. Small spottail shiners in Lake Michigan and the Kalamazoo River weighed about the same at a given length, but at lengths greater than about 100 mm the lake fish were heavier. In all three waters, spottail shiners matured at about the same length, and males at a somewhat smaller size than females. Smallest mature fish were 65-69 mm long, and the largest immatures were 80-84 mm. In Lake Michigan about half and in Lake Erie about three-quarters of age-I fish were mature, as were all age-II fish in both lakes. In the Kalamazoo River a few fish of age II and all of age III were mature. The spawning season in Lake Michigan in 1964 was from late June or early July to late July, whereas in 1972, which had a colder spring, spawning occurred from mid-July to late August or early September. All shiners in the Kalamazoo River had spawned by the end of June if 1964. Lake Erie spottail shiners spawned during early June to early or mid-July in 1958. Spottail shiners 87-143 mm long from the different waters contained 915 to 8,898 mature eggs.

Research Report↗
USGS2005

Research for the development of best management practices for minimizing horse trail impacts on the Hoosier National Forest

This research investigates horse trail impacts to gain an improved understanding of the relationship between various levels of horse use, horse trail management alternatives, and subsequent horse trail degradation. A survey of existing horse trails on the Hoosier National Forest was used to collect data on use-related, environmental and management factors to model horse trail impacts. Results are analyzed to identify which factors are most easily manipulated by managers to effectively avoid and minimize horse trail impacts. A specific focus includes evaluating the relative effect of trail use level, surfacing, grade, and water control on indices of erosion and trafficability such as trail cross sectional area, estimated erosion, muddiness, and incision. Overall, the Hoosier National Forest horse trails could be significantly improved by relocating or closing inherited trails that directly ascend slope or are excessively steep, reducing the distance between water control structures, and by applying gravel to harden trail surfaces and reduce soil erosion. A set of Best Management Practices for trails are included as a product of this work, with recommendations based on this research.

U.S. Forest Service, Final Research Report↗