US army land condition-trend analysis (LCTA) program

The US Army Land Condition-Trend Analysis (LCTA) program is a standardized method of data collection, analysis, and reporting designed to meet multiple goals and objectives. The method utilizes vascular plant inventories, permanent field plot data, and wildlife inventories. Vascular plant inventories are used for environmental documentation, training of personnel, species identification during LCTA implementation, and as a survey for state and federal endangered or threatened species. The permanent field plot data documents the vegetational, edaphic, topographic, and disturbance characteristics of the installation. Inventory plots are allocated in a stratified random fashion across the installation utilizing a geographic information system that integrates satellite imagery and soil survey information. Ground cover, canopy cover, woody plant density, slope length, slope gradient, soil information, and disturbance data are collected at each plot. Plot data are used to: (1) describe plant communities, (2) characterize wildlife and threatened and endangered species habitat, (3) document amount and kind of military and nonmilitary disturbance, (4) determine the impact of military training on vegetation and soil resources, (5) estimate soil erosion potential, (6) classify land as to the kind and amount of use it can support, (7) determine allowable use estimates for tracked vehicle training, (8) document concealment resources, (9) identify lands that require restoration and evaluate the effectiveness of restorative techniques, and (10) evaluate potential acquisition property. Wildlife inventories survey small and midsize mammals, birds, bats, amphibians, and reptiles. Data from these surveys can be used for environmental documentation, to identify state and federal endangered and threatened species, and to evaluate the impact of military activities on wildlife populations. Short- and long-term monitoring of permanent field plots is used to evaluate and adjust land management decisions.     

Protecting endangered species under future climate change: From single-species preservation to an anticipatory policy approach

Anthropogenic climate climate change presents a unique challenge for endangered species policy and an opportunity for policy makers to develop a more predictive and robust approach to preserving the nation's biological resources. Biological and ecological reactions to shifting climate conditions and the potential feedbacks and synergistic effects of such changes may threaten the well-being of many species, particularly of those already in jeopardy of extinction. The United States Endangered Species Act of 1973 will fail to keep pace with increasing numbers of species needing protection as long as it remains focused on protecting species individually. The actmust not be abandoned, however; it holds tremendous promise for preserving biological diversity through a more proactive, anticipatory perspective. The current Endangered Species Act should be reinforced and improved by better integration of scientific expertise into habitat and community preservation listing decisions and recovery plan devlopment. Given the uncertainties surrounding long-term environmental consequences of human activities and resource use, a longer-term perspective must be integrated into all efforts to protect our biotic resources. Under appointment from the Graduate Fellowships for Global Change administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Ecducation for the US Department of Energy.     

Considerations for preserve design based on the distribution of rare plants in Great Smoky Mountains National Park,USA

Park design principles are proposed on the basis of consideration and analysis of rare plant species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Rare species richness can be used as a simple measure of preservation success. A semilogartihmic species-area model for the Smokies was used in this analysis. Species richness would increase logarathmically with expansion of the national park area. An analysis of the relationship between species richness and the distribution of geologic and topographic features in the national park was also reported. An asymptotic relation was documented for the accumulation of newly recorded rare and endangered vascular plant species in the Smokies region up to 1978. Several multiple regression linear models predicted rare vascular plant species richness in Great Smoky Mountains National Park from area and topographic variates.Preserve design criteria can be based upon species-area, environmental gradient, and natural features distribution patterns for the specific taxa and biogeographic region under consideration. In addition, natural history characteristics for particular vulnerable species must be assessed. Rather than concentrating on the preservation of undocumented immigration and extinction processes, preserve design should be directed towards protecting geographic components and gradient patterns characteristic of a region.     

Scope insensitivity in contingent valuation of complex environmental amenities

It has been argued that respondents in contingent valuation (CV) surveys, asked to value complex environmental amenities, will state willingness to pay (WTP) independently of the scope of the project. Such insensitivity to scope would be at odds with rational choice, and could therefore imply that CV is not a theoretically valid method for biodiversity valuation. The scope test in the present CV study was applied to endangered species preservation. Respondents were split in four sub-samples facing different scopes of endangered species preservation. The design allowed for both external and internal scope tests. Furthermore, the tests were split according to elicitation format. Of four external tests of insensitivity to scope, one was rejected, two gave mixed results, depending on either the type of test or elicitation format, and for the last one the null hypothesis could not be rejected. Of five internal tests, insensitivity to scope was rejected in three cases, one test gave mixed results, and one could not be rejected. Survey design features of the CV study, especially an unfamiliar sub-group of endangered species, could explain the apparent insensitivity to scope observed.     

Threatened and Endangered Species: At What Cost? The Corps of Engineers Looks at Expenditures and Priorities

Current political conditions, primarily budgetary uncertainty, and the related reluctance to make funding commitments for future generations, have raised questions about the costs of conservation and environmental protection that have not previously been asked. As Federal investments are scrutinized and budgets become ever more constrained, the costs associated with environmental requirements could begin to be of greater importance and to influence decisions on Federal projects. In response to concerns about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) spending under the Endangered Species Act (P.L. 93-205) (ESA), a limited investigation was performed to determine the accuracy of reported Corps expenditures. The investigation showed that, for particular groups of species, actual conservation costs for threatened and endangered species may be twice the amounts previously reported in the annual ESA expenditure reporting to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In light of this finding, the Corps has sought a means to provide more accurate and consistent reporting of expenditures for addressing threatened and endangered species. A Species Costs Template (template) has been developed to identify the types and magnitude of costs related to the ESA and to counteract the impediments (legal, institutional, and practical) to underreporting costs. The template will be used by the Corps for reporting ESA costs beginning with Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05) (reported in January 2006). Five broad categories of expenditures (effects determination costs, ESA protection and conservation costs, equipment costs, opportunity costs, and other species costs) are identified by the template.     

Balancing Army and Endangered Species Concerns: Green vs. Green

A number of endangered, threatened, or at-risk species have been identified on US Army training bases. Before further training is restricted or curtailed under provisions of the US Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Army can explore available proactive options for providing habitat protection and mitigation. This paper investigates the possibility of an Army habitat acquisition program to acquire (by lease or purchase) buffer zones of at-risk species' habitat around its bases and away from training. To identify the most cost-effective manner for acquiring habitat, auction market experiments are utilized for analyzing program design. Laboratory auction experiments provide a powerful and low-cost vehicle for investigating ex ante program design issues. We find the discriminative, as opposed to a uniform price, auction with a minimum quantity requirement to be the least-cost mechanism.     

Use of man-made impoundment in mitigating acid mine drainage in the North Branch Potomac River

The US Department of the Army, Baltimore District Corps of Engineers, oversees a long-term monitoring study to assess and evaluate effects of the Jennings-Randolph reservoir on biota in the North Branch Potomac River. The reservoir was intended, in part, to mitigate effects of acid mine drainage originating in upstream and headwater areas. The present study assessed recovery of benthos and fish in this system, six years after completion of the reservoir. Higher pH and lower iron and sulfate concentrations were observed upstream of the reservoir compared to preimpoundment conditions, suggesting better overall water quality in the upper North Branch. Water quality improved slightly directly downstream of the reservoir. However, the reservoir itself was poorly colonized by macrophytes and benthic organisms, and plankton composition suggested either metal toxicity and/or nutrient limitation. One large tributary to the North Branch and the reservoir (Stony River) was shown to have high (and possibly toxic) levels of manganese, iron, zinc, and aluminum due to subsurface coal mine drainage. Macroinvertebrate diversity and number of taxa were higher in sites downstream of the reservoir in the present study. Compared with previous years, the present study suggested relatively rapid recovery in the lower North Branch due to colonization from two major unimpacted tributaries in this system: Savage River and South Branch Potomac. Abundance of certain mayfly species across sites provided the most clear evidence of longitudinal gradients in water quality parameters and geomorphology. Fish data were consistent with macroinvertebrate results, but site-to-site variation in species composition was greater. Data collected between 1982 and 1987 suggested that certain fish species have unsuccessfully attempted to colonize sites directly downstream of the reservoir despite the more neutral pH water there. Our results show that recovery of biota in the North Branch Potomac was attributed to decreased acid inputs from mining operations and dilution from the Savage River, which contributed better water quality. Continued improvement of North Branch Potomac biota may not be expected unless additional mitigation attempts, either within the reservoir or upstream, are undertaken.     

九岭幕阜山濒危植物资源的分布及其保护

本文论述了九岭幕阜山珍稀濒危植物种质资源的地理分布、区系结构及其保护现状．经多年调查研究已知本区分布有第一批国家重点保护植物３２种，它们具有物种多样性、分布局限性、生态脆弱性、区系复杂性、成分待有性和起源古老性等特点．并在分析珍稀物种濒危原因的基础上，提出了珍稀濒危植物种质资源的保护对策．     

Sea-level rise: Destruction of threatened and endangered species habitat in South Carolina

Concern for the environment has increased over the past century, and the US Congress has responded to this concern by passing legislation designed to protect the nation’s ecological biodiversity. This legislation, culminating with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, has been instrumental in defining methods for identifying and protecting endangered or threatened species and their habitats. Current legislation, however, assumes that the range of a protected species will stay constant over time. This assumption may no longer be valid, as the unprecedented increase in the number and concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has the potential to cause a global warming of 1.0–4.5°C and a sea-level rise (SLR) of 31–150 cm by the year 2100. Changes in climate of this magnitude are capable of causing shifts in the population structure and range of most animal species. This article examines the effects that SLR may have on the habitats of endangered and threatened species at three scales. At the regional scale 52 endangered or threatened plant and animal species were found to reside within 3 m of mean sea level in the coastal stages of the US Southeast. At the state level, the habitats of nine endangered or threatened animals that may be at risk from future SLR were identified. At the local level, a microscale analysis was conducted in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina, USA, on the adverse effects that SLR may have on the habitats of the American alligator, brown pelican, loggerhead sea turtle, and wood stork. Prepared by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA; managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems. Inc. for the US Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-84OR21400.     

A Profile and Management of the US Army's underground storage tanks

The US Army owns more than 10,000 underground storage tanks (USTs), many of which are old and may be leaking. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 required tank owners to collect and report data on them by May 1986. In order to manage the large amounts of information on its USTs, the Army developed a microcomputer-based data base system. The data base system is user friendly and allows the user to store, organize, and manipulate the UST data. A leak potential index (LPI) was also developed and calculated for each of the Army's USTs. The LPI is used to prioritize USTs so that those with higher LPIs can be monitored closely. A characteristic profile of Army USTs according to construction material, capacity, age, content, and LPI is presented in this paper.The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of the Army, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.     

珍稀濒危植物保护政策初探

本文根据我国珍稀濒危植物的保护现状和管理工作中存在的问题,系统地探讨了加强我国珍稀濒危植物和野生植物资源保护的政策措施。文中提出一系列具体、有效的政策构思,以及建立政府有关主管部门对珍稀濒危植物协调管理的体制等。     

Modeling Protected Species Habitat and Assigning Risk to Inform Regulatory Decisions

In the United States, environmental regulatory agencies are required to use “best available” scientific information when making decisions on a variety of issues. However, agencies are often hindered by coarse or incomplete data, particularly as it pertains to threatened and endangered species protection. Stakeholders often agree that more resolute and integrated processes for decision-making are desirable. We demonstrate a process that uses species occurrence data for a federally endangered insect (Karner blue butterfly), a readily available habitat modeling tool, and spatially explicit information about an important Michigan commodity (tart cherries). This case study has characteristics of many protected species regulatory decisions in that species occurrence data were sparse and unequally distributed; regulatory decisions (on pesticide use) were required with potentially significant impacts on a viable agricultural industry; and stakeholder relations were diverse, misinformed, and, in some situations, unjustly contentious. Results from our process include a large-scale, empirically derived habitat suitability map for the focal species and a risk ranking of tart cherry orchards with risk based on the likelihood that pesticide applications will influence the focal protected species. Although the majority (77%) of pesticide-influence zones overlapped Karner blue butterfly habitat, risk scores associated with each orchard were low. Through our process we demonstrated that spatially explicit models can help stakeholders visualize and quantify potential protected species effects. In addition, model outputs can serve to guide field activities (e.g., species surveys and implementation of pesticide buffer zones) that help minimize future effects.     

Effects of Mowing and Prescribed Fire on Plant Community Structure and Function in Rare Coastal Sandplains,Nantucket Island,MA, USA

Coastal sandplains provide habitat for a suite of rare and endangered plant and wildlife species in the northeastern United States. These early successional plant communities were maintained by natural and anthropogenic disturbances including salt spray, fire, and livestock grazing, but over the last 150 years, a decrease in anthropogenic disturbance frequency and intensity has resulted in a shift towards woody shrub dominance at the expense of herbaceous taxa. This study quantified the effects of more than a decade of dormant season disturbance-based vegetation management (mowing and prescribed fire) on coastal sandplain plant community composition on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, USA. We used time-series plant cover data from two similar sites to evaluate the effectiveness of disturbance management for restoring herbaceous species cover and reducing woody shrub dominance. Our results indicate that applying management outside of the peak of the growing season has not been effective in maintaining or increasing the cover of herbaceous species. While management activities resulted in significant (P < 0.01) increases in herbaceous species immediately after treatment, woody species recolonized and dominated treated sites within 3-years post treatment at the expense of graminoids and forbs. These results highlight the difficulties associated with directing ecological succession using disturbance-based management to maintain rare, herbaceous species in coastal sandplain systems that were once a prevalent landscape component under historically chronic anthropogenic disturbance. Further experimentation with growing season disturbance-based management and different combinations of management techniques could provide insights into management alternatives for maintaining herbaceous conservation targets in coastal sandplains.     

Assessing impacts of introduced aquatic species: Grass carp in large systems

Introduced species have created environmental benefits and unanticipated disasters so a priori assessments of species introductions are needed for environmental management. A checklist for assessing impacts of introduced species was developed from studies of introduced species and recommendations for planning introductions. Sterile, triploid grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) are just beginning to be used as a biocontrol agent for the management of aquatic vegetation in open waterways. Potential impacts of grass carp in open systems were identified by reviewing grass carp biology relative to the impact assessment checklist. The potential consequences of introduced grass carp were reviewed for one case study. The case study demonstrated that conclusions about potential impacts and monitoring needs can be made despite incomplete information and uncertainty. Indicators of environmental impact and vulnerability of host systems were grouped into six categories: population control, hybridization, diseases and parasites, habitat alterations, biological effects, and management issues. Triploid grass carp can significantly alter habitat and biological resources through the secondary effects of reductions in aquatic vegetation. Potential impacts and significant uncertainties involve fish dispersions from plant control areas, inability to control vegetation loss, loss of diverse plant communities and their dependent species, and conflicts with human use of the water resource. Adequate knowledge existed to assess most potential consequences of releasing large numbers of triploid grass carp in Guntersville Reservoir, Alabama. However, the assessment of potential impacts indicated that moderate, incremental stockings combined with monitoring of vegetation and biological resources are necessary to control the effects of grass carp and achieve desirable, intermediate plant densities. Cooperators: Auburn University (Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Department of Zoology and Wildlife Sciences), US Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama Game and Fish Division, and the Wildlife Management Institute.     

Protection of biota on nonpark public lands: Examples from the US Department of Energy Oak Ridge Reservation

Security buffers of Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DOE) reservations provide long-term habitat protection for many rare and endangered species. The importance of these government-owned reservations as nationally valuable resources has been relatively unrecognized. During the last 50 years, the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) has been a relatively protected island in a region of rapidly expanding urbanization and land clearing. Consisting of the Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park and associated lands surrounding DOE facilities at Oak Ridge Tennessee, the unique nature of the ORR in the surrounding landscape is clearly visible from the air and has been documented using remote sensing data. Although forests dominate much of other regions of eastern Tennessee, this 15,000-ha tract of mostly natural forest habitat is unique in the southern Ridge and Valley physiographic province, which is otherwise widely developed for pasture, marginal cropland, woodlot, and urban uses. Twenty state-listed and federal-candidate plant species are known to be present on the ORR. This richness of species, which are provided protection by state and federal laws, exceeds that of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a species area basis and is an index of the value of the ORR both regionally and nationally in conserving biodiversity. With the end of the Cold War, changing DoD and DOE missions combined with increasing development pressure contribute to uncertainty in the future management of security reservations.     

Utility participation in a multispecies plan

Single-species listings under provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) have caused, or have been accused of causing, significant regional economic impact. In an attempt to avoid such adverse effects on regional economic development, the state of California passed the Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act (NCCP) in 1991. It is a voluntary, consensus-based approach to balancing protection of sensitive biota and biodiversity with regional economic development. The pilot NCCP program for the conservation of several threatened, endangered, and category 1 species, plus an additional 35 coastal sage scrub-related species in southern California, was completed and submitted to the public for review and comment in December 1995. This program proposes the voluntary establishment of a 86,600-ha multispecies reserve system. Once completed, participating landowners will receive ESA Section 10(a) incidental take permits for present and identified future projects. Utility rights-of-way are incorporated into the program as important connective linkages between reserve units and other adjacent important habitat areas. All data and information regarding the proposed results of the NCCP are subject to change pending agency response to public comments on the draft Habitat Conservation Plan and joint EIR/EIS.     

Environmental problems from practicing agriculture in Prespa National Park,Greece

Summary Prespa National Park is situated at the northwestern corner of Greece bordering Yugoslavia and Albania and covers 25,690 ha of which 8,114 ha are lake. The remaining area is forest, rangeland and arable land in the vicinity of twelve villages. The objectives of the park authority are to preserve the wetland with its special fauna of rare bird species, its flora, the geomorphological formations of the lake and the natural environment. The nucleus of the park is comprised by Lake Mikri Prespa and the surrounding wetland. It is in this wetland that an exceptional assemblage of rare and endangered species breed. However, the park is recently undergoing rapid development of its agroecosystems in terms both of higher subsidiary energy inputs, notably irrigation, and of acreage, i.e. of substituting some of the wetland for cropland. The objective of this study was to assess the potential environmental hazards from practicing agriculture in the park and to propose measures of abatement. Assessment was based on field surveys, administration documents and interviews. Cropland is not intensively used at present. Two thirds is covered by winter cereals and the remaining by other row crops (beans and potatoes). There are no deciduous orchards. Practices are carried out without regard for environmental conservation. Farmers' attitudes towards the wildlife range from indifference to hostility because they attribute the lag in their economic development to the past restrictions imposed by the National Park Administration. The main environmental consequences from the ongoing agricultural development in Prespa are assessed to be a dramatic increase of nonpoint agricultural pollution of the lake, with phosphorus and pesticides as the primary pollutants. Moreover, accidents in the use of pesticides may lead to immediate deterioration of the nucleus wildlife habitats. Since irrigated agroecosystems are there to stay and grow in subsidiary energy, measures are needed to prevent harmful consequences. Such measures are the alleviation of the land ownership problem, adoption of cultural practices to limit soil erosion, rational use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and education of farmers. It is concluded that the internationally invaluable natural ecosystems of the park are definitely threatened by the development of the irrigated agroecosystems. The measures proposed will limit this threat and at the same time will help to perpetuate the productivity of the agroecosystems themselves.Mrs. M. D. Pyrovetsi is a lecturer in the Department of Biology and Professor P. A. Gerakis is Head of the Department of Agriculture; both are within the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.     

Critical habitat designation: Is it prudent?

The critical habitat provision of the US Endangered Species Act was believed by many to be a key feature of the Act. It was believed that this provision would benefit federally listed endangered and threatened species. However, only 23% of the listed species in the United States have their critical habitats designated. The current trend is to forego critical habitat designation because the federal government believes that the Endangered Species Act can protect most listed species without resort to the critical habitat provision. Required publication of critical habitat locations in theFederal Register may draw vandals and collectors to rare species. In other cases, existing habitat protection already provides adequate protection for species. In a few instances critical habitat changes over time and is difficult to delineate. Lastly, designating critical habitat is time consuming, delays species listing, and is controversial, detracting from the positive image of the Endangered Species Act.     

Endangered species: Deciding which species to save

Many species face extinction because preservation organizations do not have the resources to mount all of the interventions that are needed. Decision analysis provides techniques that can help managers of these organizations to make judgments about which species they will attempt to rescue. A formal analysis of the choices available to the US Fish and Wildlife Services' endangered species program with regard toIsotria medeoloides illustrates how the difficulties of making preservation decisions can be lessened.I. medeoloides is perhaps the rarest orchid in the United States. Little is known of the species' biology and less about effective management. Yet unless a preservation effort is mounted, the species will continue to be threatened by habitat destruction and botanical collecting. The analysis employs formal probabalistic techniques to weigh the utility of possible intervention strategies, that is, their likelihood of achieving different amounts of increase in the longevity of the species, and to balance these gains against their costs. If similar decision analyses are performed on other endangered species, the technique can be used to choose among them, as well as among strategies for individual species.