Abstract: Extensive habitat loss and changing agricultural practices have caused widespread declines in grassland birds throughout North America. The Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma—the largest remaining tallgrass prairie—is important for grassland bird conservation despite supporting a major cattle industry. In 2004 and 2005, we assessed the community, population, and demographic responses of grassland birds to the predominant management practices (grazing, burning, and haying) of the region, including grasslands restored under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). We targeted 3 species at the core of this avian community: the Dickcissel (Spiza americana), Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), and Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna). Bird diversity was higher in native prairie hayfields and grazed pastures than CRP fields, which were dominated by Dickcissels. Although Dickcissel density was highest in CRP, their nest success was highest and nest parasitism by Brown‐headed Cowbirds (Moluthrus ater) lowest in unburned hayfields (in 2004). Conversely, Grasshopper Sparrow density was highest in grazed pastures, but their nest success was lowest in these pastures and highest in burned hayfields, where cowbird parasitism was also lowest (in 2004). Management did not influence density and nest survival of Eastern Meadowlarks, which were uniformly low across the region. Nest success was extremely low (5–12%) for all 3 species in 2005, perhaps because of a record spring drought. Although the CRP has benefited grassland birds in agricultural landscapes, these areas may have lower habitat value in the context of native prairie. Hayfields may provide beneficial habitat for some grassland birds in the Flint Hills because they are mowed later in the breeding season than elsewhere in the Midwest. Widespread grazing and annual burning have homogenized habitat—and thus grassland‐bird responses—across the Flint Hills. Diversification of management practices could increase habitat heterogeneity and enhance the conservation potential of the Flint Hills for grassland birds.相似文献
Objective: The purpose of this study was to statistically determine which combination(s) of drug-related signs and symptoms from the Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) protocol best predict the drug category used by the suspected drug-impaired driver.
Methods: Data from 1,512 completed DEC evaluations of suspected impaired drivers subsequently found to have ingested central nervous system (CNS) depressants, CNS stimulants, narcotic analgesics, and cannabis were analyzed using a multinomial logistic regression procedure. A set of evaluations completed on drug-free subjects was also included. The relative importance of clinical, behavioral, and observational measures in predicting drug categories responsible for impairment was also examined.
Results: Thirteen drug-related indicators were found to significantly contribute to the prediction of drug category, including being under the care of a doctor or dentist, condition of the eyes, condition of the eyelids, mean pulse rate, assessment of horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN), convergence, performance on the One Leg Stand (OLS) Test, eyelid tremors, pupil size in darkness, reaction to light, presence of visible injection sites, systolic blood pressure, and muscle tone. Indicators related to the appearance and physiological response of the eye contributed the most to the prediction of drug category, followed closely by clinical indicators and performance on the psychophysical tests.
Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that drug recognition experts (DREs) should be careful to review a set of key signs and symptoms when determining the category of drug used by suspected drug-impaired drivers. Drug use indicators related to the appearance and physiological response of the eye were found to contribute the most to the prediction of the drug category responsible for the impairment. These results could help form the basis of a core set of indicators that DREs could initially consult to form their opinion of drug influence. This in turn may enhance the validity, effectiveness, and efficiency of drug detection and identification by DREs and lead to a more effective and efficient DEC program, improved enforcement of drug-impaired driving, and greater acceptance of the DEC program by the courts. 相似文献
Nine sites on streams in the Platte River Basin in central Nebraska were sampled as part of the US Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program during 1993–1994. A combination of canonical correspondence analysis and an index of biotic integrity determined from fish community data produced complementary evaluations of water-quality conditions. Results of the canonical correspondence analysis were useful in showing which environmental variables were significant in differentiating fish communities at the nine sites. Five environmental variables were statistically significant in the analysis. Median specific conductance of water samples collected at a site accounted for the largest amount of variability in the species data. Although the percentage of the basin as cropland was not the first variable chosen in a forward selection process, it was the most strongly correlated with the first ordination axis. A rangeland-dominated site was distinguished from all others along that axis. Median orthophosphate concentration of samples collected in the year up to the time of fish sampling was most strongly correlated with the second ordination axis. The index of biotic integrity produced results that could be interpreted in terms of the relative water quality between sites. Sites draining nearly 100% cropland had the lowest scores for two individual metrics of the index of biotic integrity that were related to species tolerance. Effective monitoring of water quality could be achieved by coupling methods that address both the ecological components of fish communities and their statistical relationships to environmental factors. 相似文献
In spite of increasing annual expenditures for flood control, losses from flooding continue to rise in the United States. This seeming contradiction arises from overdependence on federally supported structural solutions to flood problems. Nonstructural controls are initiated reluctantly at local levels of government because of constitutional questions, restrictions of local tax bases, lack of federal subsidies for nonstructural solutions, and the high costs of delineating flood hazard areas. The success of the National Flood Insurance Program is doubtful since only about five percent of the flood-prone communities in the United States have qualified for the regular program. Future reduction of flood losses is dependent upon increasing popular awareness of flood hazards and altering federal subsidy policies to reduce the impact of local land-use regulations. 相似文献
There have been no published performance evaluations of nongovernmental, voluntary habitat stewardship programs. The Operation Burrowing Owl (OBO) stewardship program, initiated in 1987, was evaluated for its effectiveness in conservation of grassland habitat during 1986–1993. The 108 OBO sites from 1987 to 88 and 98 randomly selected non-OBO sites that were grassland in 1986 in the Regina-Weyburn, Saskatchewan study area were classified by size and agricultural soil suitability. By 1993, 41 (38%) of the 108 OBO sites had been withdrawn from the program. The 1986 area of grassland was compared with grassland area calculated from digitized 1993 LANDSAT imagery. A correction for satellite inaccuracies was determined. Grassland retention in 1993 was significantly higher at OBO sites (66%) than at random sites (49%), demonstrating that the OBO voluntary program effectively conserved habitat. Also, grassland retention was significantly lower on sites with better agricultural soils, and for sites <12 ha in size. Site type (OBO or random), size and their interaction, followed by agricultural soil suitability, had the greatest effects on grassland retention. During an era of accelerated grassland loss, OBO strongly and positively (statistically significant) affected conservation of grassland sites most at risk: sites <12 ha in size and with good to excellent agricultural soils. This suggests that grassland conservation efforts focus on vulnerable sites (small size and/or good agricultural soils) to provide nesting habitat for burrowing owls. Our study demonstrates that a voluntary stewardship program can significantly increase conservation of habitat. 相似文献
We utilized landscape and breeding bird assemblage data from three Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes sampled from 1965–1995
to develop and test a grassland integrity index (GII) in a mixed-grass prairie area of Oklahoma. The overall study region
is extensively fragmented from long-term agricultural activity, and native habitat remnants have been degraded by recent encroachment
of woody vegetation, namely eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.). The 50 individual bird survey points along the BBS routes, known as stops, were used as sample sites. Our process first
focused on developing a grassland disturbance index (GDI) as a measure of cumulative landscape disturbances for these sites.
The GDI was based on five key landscape variables identified in an earlier species-level study of long-term avian community
dynamics: total tree, shrub, and herbaceous vegetation cover indices, overall mean landscape patch size, and grassland patch
core size. The GII was then developed based on breeding bird assemblage data. Assemblages were based on commonly used response
guilds reflective of five avian life history parameters: foraging mode/location, nesting location, habitat specificity, migratory
pattern, and dietary guild. We tested the response of 78 candidate assemblage metrics to the GDI, and eliminated those with
no or poor response or with high correlations (redundant), resulting in 13 metrics for use in the final index. Individual
metric scores were scaled to fall between 0 and 10, and the cumulative index to range from 0 to 100. Although broader application
and refinement are possible, the avian-based GII has an advantage over labor-intensive, habitat-based monitoring in that the
GII is derived from readily available long-term BBS data. Therefore, the GII shows promise as an inexpensive tool that could
easily be applied over other areas to monitor changes in regional grassland conditions. 相似文献
Assessing groundwater resources in the arid and semiarid borderlands of the United States and Mexico represents a challenge for land and water managers, particularly in the Transboundary Santa Cruz Aquifer (TSCA). Population growth, residential construction, and industrial activities have increased groundwater demand in the TSCA, in addition to wastewater treatment and sanitation demands. These activities, coupled with climate variability, influence the hydrology of the TSCA and emphasize the need for groundwater assessment tools for decision‐making purposes. This study assesses the impacts of changes in groundwater demand, effluent discharge, and climate uncertainties within the TSCA from downstream of the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant to the northern boundary of the Santa Cruz Active Management Area. We use a conceptual water budget model to analyze the long‐term impact of the different components of potential recharge and water losses within the aquifer. Modeling results project a future that ranges from severe long‐term drying to positive wetting. This research improves the understanding of the impact of natural and anthropogenic variables on water sustainability, with an accessible methodology that can be globally applied. 相似文献
A workshop was held in Berlin September 12–14th 2012 to assess the state of the science of the data supporting low dose effects and non-monotonic dose responses (“low dose hypothesis”) for chemicals with endocrine activity (endocrine disrupting chemicals or EDCs). This workshop consisted of lectures to present the current state of the science of EDC action and also the risk assessment process. These lectures were followed by breakout sessions to integrate scientists from various backgrounds to discuss in an open and unbiased manner the data supporting the “low dose hypothesis”. While no consensus was reached the robust discussions were helpful to inform both basic scientists and risk assessors on all the issues. There were a number of important ideas developed to help continue the discussion and improve communication over the next few years. 相似文献