The Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is a widespread, colonial, North American waterbird with bicoastal and inland distributions. Four subspecies have been described within North America corresponding to five geographic breeding regions: Interior and North Atlantic cormorants (P. a. auritus); Southeastern cormorants (P. a. floridanus); Alaskan cormorants (P. a. cincinnatus); and...
The impact that pesticides may have had on the mortality rates and productivity rates of non-game birds during the last 25 years was evaluated by studying the population dynamics of 16 species. A mathematical model showing the relationships between population parameters that yielded stable populations was developed. The information needed...
Mankind is facing the spectre of a planet stripped of the resources necessary to sustain the human populations that currently exist-not to mention those unborn multitudes which seem certain to he added in the coming decades. Time is rapidly running out for scientists and engineers to find new resources to...
Dual use pasture systems, sometimes referred to as dual purpose pasture systems, take advantage of the land being used to maximize multiple outputs from a single area. Developing a system to support both production of grazing livestock as well as pollinator health is of increasing importance in pasture-based farming systems....
Management practices following forest harvest can affect long-term soil productivity through alteration of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools, but processes contributing to change are poorly understood. I assessed effects of three levels of logging-debris retention in combination with initial or annual applications of competing vegetation control (CVC) following...
A fundamental objective of ecology and population biology is to identify factors that drive population dynamics and determine the population-level consequences of their interaction with the environment. Studies of reproductive performance can illuminate population dynamic processes, including the links between organismal biology, the environment, and life history theory. A central...
This report examines environmental factors influencing the die-off and transport of fecal coliform bacteria present in wastes applied to the land surface. These factors are examined specifically for dairy waste management systems and the net effect each system has on runoff water quality. A model is developed that considers the...
Three trends are occurring today in the United States which inspired this research. First, America is growing increasingly urbanized. Today, more Americans are living in cities than in rural environments, and this pattern is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future. Urban living has benefits, but there are also challenges...