This document is primarily a review of Best Available Science applicable to Island County wetlands, as needed for categorizing wetlands for regulatory actions and determining widths for buffers (setbacks) that protect the functions of wetlands. The number of technical papers and reports published on these topics is enormous, and none...
Translocation experiments, in which researchers displace animals and then
monitor their movements to return home, are commonly used as tools to assess functional
connectivity of fragmented landscapes. Such experiments are purported to have important
advantages of being time efficient and of standardizing ‘‘motivation’’ to move across
individuals. Yet, we lack...
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connectivity
(Boscolo et al. 2008), and selection of forest fragments
while traveling (Hadley and Betts 2009
Human activities have altered Earth’s ecosystems. Most biomes have experienced a 20-50% conversion to human use. Loss of habitat has obvious effects on the persistence of species. Fragmentation, however, may also negatively affect biodiversity for those species that exhibit behavioral responses to changes in habitat configuration. Such behavioral changes include...
This follow-up study investigated the effect of a systems-oriented graduate
training program upon system thinking among practitioners who had completed training,
using a post-test only, treatment-comparison group design. The subjects consisted of
practitioners matriculated through two counselor-related programs at a medium-sized
college in the Northwest during the years 1985-1991. A...
Vessel disasters (e.g., vessels capsizing, sinking, grounding, burning) are the leading contributor to occupational fatalities in the U.S. commercial fishing industry. Vessel disasters are a vital area to target prevention efforts, yet it has been suggested that results produced in scientific studies are not efficiently exchanged between researchers, regulatory bodies...
This document partially addresses the Wetlands component of Island County’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO). It presents the results of a year-long collaborative project to compile, analyze, and summarize existing data pertinent to Island County wetlands. Similar in concept to the “report card” issued periodically for Puget Sound, this compilation attempts...