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Monday, 07 May 2012 16:00 |
Federal Registry - May 9, 2012
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), as part of an interagency effort with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is announcing the availability of the final 2012 National Wetland Plant List (NWPL). The NWPL is used to determine whether the hydrophytic vegetation parameter is met when conducting wetland determinations under the Clean Water Act and the Wetland Conservation Provisions of the Food Security Act. Other applications of the list include wetland restoration, establishment, and enhancement projects. The list will become effective on June 1, 2012 and will be used in any wetland delineation performed after this date. Delineations received prior to this date may still use the 1988 list, or you may chose to use the 2012 list. For the Federal Registry Notice, May 9, 2012, click here. |
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Monday, 07 May 2012 15:25 |
By Ann Perry – Phys.org News – April 24, 2012 About 50 years ago, scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) devised the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), a formula farmers could use to estimate losses from soil erosion. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists will soon release a version that integrates models generated by cutting-edge computer technology, an updated soils database, and new findings about erosion processes. For full story, click here. |
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Wednesday, 28 March 2012 00:00 |
March 27, 2012A Brown University student, known as Steph Y., won the Beneath the Waves Film Fest for her film on Cape Cod salt marsh ecology. All of the illustrations and artwork in the video are original, and the music is used with permission from Oyster Boy (oysterboy.bandcamp.com). The images were photographed at the Brown University Science Center. Video originally appeared on CreatureCast.org. For more information about salt marsh ecology, visit bertnesslab.com/. To watch the video, click here. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 30 March 2012 13:49 |
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Monday, 07 May 2012 15:27 |
By Juliet Eilperin – The Washington Post – May 6, 2012 It wasn’t too hard for the Fish and Wildlife Service to decide the fate of 92 freshwater snails, or 17 dragonflies, or indeed more than 500 species over the past year. But when it comes to the dunes sagebrush lizard, trouble looms. The small spiny reptile seeks refuge from the hot sun and potential predators in the shinnery oak dunes of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Ranchers have been clearing the oak shrubs, and oil and gas companies are drilling in the dunes. If the lizard is designated as an endangered species, some of those activities could be in jeopardy. To read full story, click here.
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Thursday, 29 March 2012 00:00 |
Contact: John Nevin – GLIN – March 28, 2012 The International Upper Great Study (IUGLS) today announced they have recommended an improved regulation plan for outflows from Lake Superior. The new plan – Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012 – is more robust than the existing plan and provides important benefits, especially to the environment. Made up of a panel of experts from Canada and the U.S., the recommendation is the highlight of their final, peer-reviewed report to the International Joint Commission (IJC), marking the end of the $14.6 million ($17.6 million Cdn.) five-year study. The report provides cutting edge scientific information regarding the impacts of climate change on the upper Great Lakes. In particular, the Study found that changes in lake levels may not be as extreme over the next 30 years as previous studies have predicted. This finding reflects a trend of increasing evaporation, likely due to lack of ice cover, and increasing water temperatures and wind speeds, with the resulting reduction in water supplies largely offset by increased precipitation. Projections suggest that lake levels will remain within a relatively narrow historical range with lower levels likely though higher levels are possible at times. For the full report, click here. |
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Friday, 23 March 2012 00:00 |
By Jennifer Hogan, Miles Daniels, et. al. Applied & Environmental Microbiology – March 2012 Fecal pathogen contamination of watersheds worldwide is increasingly recognized, and natural wetlands may have an important role in mitigating fecal pathogen pollution flowing downstream. Given that waterborne protozoa such asCryptosporidium and Giardia are transported within surface waters, this study evaluated associations between fecal protozoa and various wetland-specific and environmental risk factors. This study focused on three distinct coastal California wetlands: 1) a tidally-influenced slough bordered by urban and agricultural areas, 2) a seasonal wetland adjacent to a dairy and 3) a constructed wetland that receives agricultural runoff. Wetland type, seasonality, rainfall, and various water quality parameters were evaluated using longitudinal Poisson regression to model effects on protozoa and indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli and total coliform) concentrations. To go to abstract and for full article, click here.
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