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Explore WARC's science publications.

Filter Total Items: 3350

Weak trophic interactions among birds, insects and white oak saplings (Quercus alba)

We examined the interactions among insectivorous birds, arthropods and white oak saplings (Quercus alba L.) in a temperate deciduous forest under 'open' and 'closed' canopy environments. For 2 y, we compared arthropod densities, leaf damage and sapling growth. Saplings from each canopy environment were assigned to one of four treatments: (1) reference, (2) bird exclosure, (3) insecticide and (4) e
Authors
J.S. Lichtenberg, D.A. Lichtenberg

Responses of coastal wetlands to rising sea level

Salt marsh ecosystems are maintained by the dominant macrophytes that regulate the elevation of their habitat within a narrow portion of the intertidal zone by accumulating organic matter and trapping inorganic sediment. The long-term stability of these ecosystems is explained by interactions among sea level, land elevation, primary production, and sediment accretion that regulate the elevation of
Authors
J. T. Morris, P.V. Sundareshwar, C.T. Nietch, B. Kjerfve, Donald R. Cahoon

Distribution, abundance and habitat use of American White Pelicans in the Delta Region of Mississippi and along the Western Gulf of Mexico Coast

Aerial surveys of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) were conducted over coastal Louisiana and the delta region of Mississippi on 1-2 days during December, February, and April each year from 1997 to 1999. Additional surveys were conducted in coastal Texas and Mexico during January 1998 and 1999. The numbers, location, and habitat of all pelicans observed were recorded. The coastal
Authors
D.T. King, T.C. Michot

Dynamics of pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) recruitment potential in relation to salinity and temperature in Florida Bay

Progress is reported in relating upstream water management and freshwater flow to Florida Bay to a valuable commercial fishery for pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum), which has major nursery grounds in Florida Bay. Changes in freshwater inflow are expected to affect salinity patterns in the bay, so the effect of salinity and temperature on the growth, survival, and subsequent recruitment and h
Authors
Joan A. Browder, Z. Zein-Eldin, Maria M. Criales, M. B. Robblee, S. Wong, Thomas L. Jackson, D. Johnson

[Book review] Green engineering: environmentally conscious design, by David T. Allen and David R. Shonnard

Review of: Green engineering: Environmentally conscious design / David T. Allen and David R. Shonnard / Prentice-Hall, Inc., One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. 2002. 552 pages. ISBN 0-13-061908-6.
Authors
R.G. Boustany

Effects of wastewater on forested wetlands

Cycling nutrient-enriched wastewater from holding ponds through natural, forested wetlands is a practice that municipal waste treatment managers are considering as a viable option for disposing of wastewater. In this wastewater cycling process, sewer effluent that has been circulated through aerated ponds is discharged into neighboring wetland systems. To understand how wastewater cycling affects
Authors
Thomas W. Doyle

Modeling the bathymetry of Catahoula Lake: Specialized technology for wetland management

Catahoula Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Louisiana, covering more than 46 square miles (120 km2) (fig. 1). The lake is a principal stopover and wintering site for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. Scientists from the USGS National Wetlands Research Center are applying some of the research facility's specialties?wetland plant research, aerial and ground su
Authors
T.W. Doyle, T.C. Michot, C. Wells

History and ecology of mangroves in the Dry Tortugas

Dry Tortugas National Park, which includes Bush, Long, Loggerhead, Garden, and Bird Keys, is a cluster of islands and coral reefs approximately 112.9 km (70 miles) west of Key West, Florida (fig. 1). These islands were explored in 1513 by Ponce de León, who named them for the abundance of sea turtles, “tortugas,” and the lack of fresh water in the area. Historically, the Tortugas shoals have been
Authors
T.W. Doyle, T.C. Michot, Richard H. Day, C.J. Wells

Streamflow and nutrient data for the Yazoo River below Steele Bayou near Long Lake, Mississippi, 1996-2000

Increased nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico from off-continent flux has been identified as contributing to the increase in the areal extent of the low dissolved-oxygen zone that develops annually off the Louisiana and Texas coast. The proximity of the Yazoo River Basin in northwestern Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and the intensive agricultural activities in the basin have led to specula
Authors
Michael S. Runner, D. Phil Turnipseed, Richard H. Coupe

The importance of functional form in optimal control solutions of problems in population dynamics

Optimal control theory is finding increased application in both theoretical and applied ecology, and it is a central element of adaptive resource management. One of the steps in an adaptive management process is to develop alternative models of system dynamics, models that are all reasonable in light of available data, but that differ substantially in their implications for optimal control of the
Authors
M.C. Runge, F.A. Johnson

Conditions and limitations on learning in the adaptive management of mallard harvests

In 1995, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service adopted a protocol for the adaptive management of waterfowl hunting regulations (AHM) to help reduce uncertainty about the magnitude of sustainable harvests. To date, the AHM process has focused principally on the midcontinent population of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), whose dynamics are described by 4 alternative models. Collectively, these
Authors
F.A. Johnson, W. L. Kendall, J.A. Dubovsky