Publications

We examined the effects of fasting and refeeding on body composition in 9 captive adult gray wolves, Canis lupus (6 males, 3 females), during May-June 1995. Body composition was estimated by the technique of tritiated water dilution. Wolves were immobilized and weighed, baseline blood samples were taken, tritiated water was injected, and additional blood samples were taken before fasting

Numbers of wetlands and amount of surface water (ha) within a 105 km2 area increased substantially between 1958-60 and 1978-80 in southcentral Maine. Conversely, in 1978-80 mean numbers of black duck pairs (11.9/100 ha surface water) and broods (10.8/100 ha surface water) were lower than for 1958-60 (pairs = 23.3; broods = 13.3) for wetlands surveyed in both periods. Differences in pairs...

No abstract available.

The Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program of the Department of the Interior is focused to identify and understand effects of contaminant stressors on biological resources under their stewardship. Despite the desire of many to continuously monitor the environmental health of our estuaries, much can be learned by summarizing existing temporal, geographic, and...

The hydrogeomorphic approach (HGM) of wetland assessment emphasizes functional components of wetlands such as water storage, transformation and cycling of elements, accumulation of sediments, and preservation of habitats. Many of the elements measured in HGM are physical rather than ecological or biological. The HGM approach, therefore, provides information on certain aspects of wetlands...

Aviculturists often ask if semen collection will interfere with fertility in naturally fertile pairs of cranes. We used 12 naturally fertile Florida sandhill crane (Grus canadensis pratensis) pairs for this study, 6 control and 6 experimental. All pairs had produced fertile eggs in previous years and were in out-of-doors pens scattered throughout different pen complexes, within auditory...

Objectives were to determine if captive-reared cranes could be led behind an ultralight aircraft (UL) along a migration route and, if after release on a wintering area, they would integrate with wild cranes and migrate north in spring to their natal area without assistance. Greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) were used as the research surrogate for whooping cranes (Grus...

During 1984-95, 111 deaths were documented in the captive flock of Mississippi sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis pulla) housed at the Paluxent Wildlife Research Center. Trauma was the leading cause of death (37%), followed by infectious/parasitic diseases (25%), anatomic abnormalities (15%), and miscellaneous (8%). No positive diagnosis of cause of death was found in 19% of the necropsies...

No abstract available.

Designation of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge as a Class I Air Quality Area (given the highest level of protection possible from air pollutants under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977) affords mandatory protection of the Refuge's airshed through the permit-review process for planned developments. Rainfall is the major source of water to the swamp, and potential impacts from...

The Panel recently released the report and recommendations resulting from its work over the last six months. Although primarily focused on the Mariana Crow, the report highlights that this is a matter potentially far more serious than the preservation of the crow on Guam and Rota. The report includes major sections dealing with the need to intensify research and control activities on the...

Boreholes from Island Beach, Allaire, Atlantic City, and Mays Landing, NJ provide an excellent chronology of lower to middle Eocene passive margin sequences and allow analysis of long-term sea-level changes and sedimentation patterns. These New Jersey sequences are tied directly to the geomagnetic polarity time scale through magnetostratigraphy. Integrated stratigraphy (including