Restoration of Heterogeneous Disturbance Regimes for the Preservation of Endangered Species Steven D

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Restoration of Heterogeneous Disturbance Regimes for the Preservation of Endangered Species Steven D RESEARCH ARTICLE Restoration of Heterogeneous Disturbance Regimes for the Preservation of Endangered Species Steven D. Warren and Reiner Büttner ABSTRACT Disturbance is a natural component of ecosystems. All species, including threatened and endangered species, evolved in the presence of, and are adapted to natural disturbance regimes that vary in the kind, frequency, severity, and duration of disturbance. We investigated the relationship between the level of visible soil disturbance and the density of four endan- gered plant species on U.S. Army training lands in the German state of Bavaria. Two species, gray hairgrass (Corynephorus canescens) and mudwort (Limosella aquatica), showed marked affinity for or dependency on high levels of recent soil disturbance. The density of fringed gentian (Gentianella ciliata) and shepherd’s cress (Teesdalia nudicaulis) declined with recent disturbance, but appeared to favor older disturbance which could not be quantified by the methods employed in this study. The study illustrates the need to restore and maintain disturbance regimes that are heterogeneous in terms of the intensity of and time since disturbance. Such a restoration strategy has the potential to favor plant species along the entire spectrum of ecological succession, thereby maximizing plant biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Keywords: fringed gentian, gray hairgrass, heterogeneous disturbance hypothesis, mudwort, shepherd’s cress cosystems and the species that create and maintain conditions neces- When the European Commission Einhabit them typically evolve in sary for survival. issued Directive 92/43/EEC (Euro- the presence of quasi-stable distur- The grasslands of northern Europe pean Economic Community 1992) bance regimes which are characterized lie within what would be mostly forest requiring all European Union nations by general patterns of perturbation, in the absence of disturbance. Prior to designate a certain percentage of including the types of disturbance and to recent anthropogenic alteration of their landmass as ‘special areas of their frequency, intensity, size, peri- disturbance regimes, the grasslands conservation’ in the NATURA 2000 odicity, and/or duration. Significant were maintained for approximately network, many nations recognized the alteration of the disturbance regimes 1.8 million years by wild ungulate her- ecological value of their military train- has the potential to negatively affect bivores (Pärtel et al. 2005). During the ing areas. As a result, they nominated native biodiversity. The restoration of last millennium, wild ungulates have large tracts of their training lands. For biodiversity is a common goal of res- been largely replaced by domestic her- example, Denmark nominated 45% of toration ecologists around the globe. bivores. More recently, the abandon- its military training landmass, while However, the process is often more ment of traditional grazing practices the Netherlands included 50%, and complicated than it initially appears, and increased use of agricultural fer- Belgium 70% (Gazenbeek 2005). and may well involve the restoration tilization have resulted in a dramatic In Germany, military training areas of the disturbance regime in addition decrease in the spatial extent and bio- provide suitable habitat for a greater to the reintroduction of native spe- diversity of the grasslands ( Jentsch and density of Red List (the European cies ( Jentsch 2007). This can be par- Beyschlag 2003, Butaye et al. 2005, counterpart of U.S. ‘threatened and ticularly important for threatened and Isselstein et al. 2005). endangered’) animal species than pro- endangered species that are dependent During the Cold War, military vided by most other ‘special areas of on a particular disturbance regime to training areas represented some of the conservation’ (Warren et al. 2007). largest tracts of grassland in northern In the post-Cold War era, numerous Ecological Restoration Vol. 32, No. 2, 2014 Europe. Disturbance created by mili- military training areas in Europe have ISSN 1522-4740 E-ISSN 1543-4079 tary training maneuvers provided an been abandoned or have experienced ©2014 by the Board of Regents of the effective surrogate for the disturbance a significantly diminished frequency University of Wisconsin System. under which the grasslands evolved. and intensity of military-related June 2014 ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION 32:2 • 189 disturbance. Many, with extensive Act. It grows erect to 25 cm and occurs FFTA is located approximately and diverse grasslands, have experi- on dry grasslands with soils similar 35 km northeast of HTA and 5 km enced encroachment of woody species to mudwort, but without the addi- southeast of the town of Amberg. It and concomitant reductions in the tional moisture (Rothmaler 1994, comprises approximately 138 ha. Due populations of species that depend on Rosenbauer 1996). Shepherd’s cress to intensive training activities during grasslands maintained by disturbance (Teesdalia nudicaulis) is a small annual the 1960’s, large areas were converted (IUCN 1996, Chojnacka et al. 2010, forb that is listed as endangered on into barren sand. While large sandy Tschöpe et al. 2011). the Bavarian Red List. It occurs on meadows and open sandy soil can Our hypothesis, based on years sandy, acidic grasslands (Schulze- still be found, the open character is of personal observation on the U.S. Motel 1986, Oberdorfer 1990). currently threatened by shrub inva- Army training areas in Germany, was sion and increasing crown density of that numerous Red List plant species Study Area reforested areas. were favored by the disturbance regime We sampled plant populations at four KTA comprises approximately related to military training activity. active U.S. Army training facilities 1,088 ha and is situated northeast The objective of this effort was to test in the state of Bavaria: Grafenwöhr of the town of Kitzingen. It lies in the hypothesis and determine the Training Area (GTA); Hohenfels a large Pleistocene sand dune area. degree to which it was valid. Assum- Training Area (HTA); Freihölser Mixed layers of sand and gravel depos- ing the hypothesis was supported by Forst Local Training Area (FFTA); its from the nearby Main River and the research data, the information will and Klosterforst Training Area (KTA). former sand dunes characterize the assist restoration ecologists in identi- GTA is approximately 23,000 ha in subsoil. The area has been used for fying and quantifying an appropri- size. It was first used by the Royal military training since before World ate disturbance regime to maintain Bavarian Army in 1910 and has been War I, first by the German Army these threatened and endangered plant used continuously since that time, and, since World War II, by the U.S. species. with control ceded to the U.S. Army Army. Prior to military usage, the area at the end of World War II (Burkhardt was mostly forested with a mixture Methods 1994). The training area is located of hardwood and coniferous forest. between the towns of Vilseck and Approximately 100 ha were cleared for Study Species Grafenwöhr, about 88 km northeast military maneuvers and have remained We evaluated four Red List plant spe- of Nürnberg. The western third of the open since that time. training area is characterized by calcar- cies occurring on U.S. Army training Data Collection areas in the German state of Bavaria. eous soils; the eastern part is composed Gray hairgrass (Corynephorus canes- mainly of sandy soils. It is situated in a Field methods varied based on the cens) is a densely tufted, glaucous low-lying area with numerous streams, species of interest. Gray hairgrass was perennial grass that grows to 30 cm. small lakes and swampy areas. Average found and surveyed at GTA, KTA and It is listed as endangered on the Bavar- annual precipitation is approximately FFTA. We used a plot size of 5 m × 630 mm. 5 m, or 25 m2. One hundred plots ian Red List. It occurs most frequently HTA is approximately 16,000 ha on sandy, acidic grasslands with loose were established; 29 at GTA, 21 at in size. It has been used almost con- sand (Oberdorfer 1990, Rothmaler KTA, and 50 at FFTA in areas where tinuously since it was established in 1994). Mudwort (Limosella aquatica) the species was found. Because the is a small annual forb that prefers 1938 by the German Army (Bur- objective was to ascertain the rela- loamy or clayey soils and occurs most khardt 1994). It is located approxi- tionship, if any, between disturbance commonly in moist areas along the mately 84 km southeast of Nürnberg. and species abundance, the plots were margins of ephemeral water puddles The training area is characterized by equally distributed among areas rep- hilly terrain with softly rounded rock resenting 5 levels of physical ground (Rothmaler 1994, Rosenbauer 1996). formations, karst topography, mixed It can grow to a height of 12 cm and disturbance (i.e. 0–20, 21–40, 41–60, coniferous and deciduous forest, and is listed as endangered on the Bavar- 61–80, and > 81%). A conservative dry valleys. The soils in the training ian Red List. Fringed gentian (Gen- definition of disturbance was used, tianella ciliata, syn. Gentiana ciliata area are mostly clay loams derived labeling as disturbed only the por- and Gentianopsis ciliata), is a small, from weathered limestone or dolo- tion of the plots where recent, defini- tive ground disturbance was evident late-flowering biennial that is listed mite. Dolomitic sands are also pres- ent. Average precipitation is between (e.g., visible vehicle tracks, damaged as endangered on the German Red plants, displaced soil, etc.); the mere List, is on the early warning list for 650 mm and 700 mm per year. Drain- absence of vegetation was considered Bavaria, and requires protection under age is predominantly internal, with Germany’s Federal Nature Protection much of the water entering the karst insufficient to definitively indicate system. recent disturbance. Six transects were 190 • June 2014 ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION 32:2 established at 1m intervals, and per- Table 1. The degrees of freedom (df), mean squares, F-ratios and p-values pendicular to one end of each plot.
Recommended publications
  • Effects of Human Disturbance on Terrestrial Apex Predators
    diversity Review Effects of Human Disturbance on Terrestrial Apex Predators Andrés Ordiz 1,2,* , Malin Aronsson 1,3, Jens Persson 1 , Ole-Gunnar Støen 4, Jon E. Swenson 2 and Jonas Kindberg 4,5 1 Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-730 91 Riddarhyttan, Sweden; [email protected] (M.A.); [email protected] (J.P.) 2 Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Postbox 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway; [email protected] 3 Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden 4 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway; [email protected] (O.-G.S.); [email protected] (J.K.) 5 Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: The effects of human disturbance spread over virtually all ecosystems and ecological communities on Earth. In this review, we focus on the effects of human disturbance on terrestrial apex predators. We summarize their ecological role in nature and how they respond to different sources of human disturbance. Apex predators control their prey and smaller predators numerically and via behavioral changes to avoid predation risk, which in turn can affect lower trophic levels. Crucially, reducing population numbers and triggering behavioral responses are also the effects that human disturbance causes to apex predators, which may in turn influence their ecological role. Some populations continue to be at the brink of extinction, but others are partially recovering former ranges, via natural recolonization and through reintroductions.
    [Show full text]
  • (ALSC) Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938 to Present
    Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938 to present 2014 Medal Winner: Locomotive, written and illustrated by Brian Floca (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing) 2014 Honor Books: Journey, written and illustrated by Aaron Becker (Candlewick Press) Flora and the Flamingo, written and illustrated by Molly Idle (Chronicle Books) Mr. Wuffles! written and illustrated by David Wiesner (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing) 2013 Medal Winner: This Is Not My Hat, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press) 2013 Honor Books: Creepy Carrots!, illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division) Extra Yarn, illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) Green, illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press) One Cool Friend, illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo (Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group) Sleep Like a Tiger, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company) 2012 Medal Winner: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.) 2013 Honor Books: Blackout by John Rocco (Disney · Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group) Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership) Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.) 2011 Medal Winner: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E.
    [Show full text]
  • Science Magazine Podcast Transcript, 17 May 2013
    Science Magazine Podcast Transcript, 17 May 2013 http://podcasts.aaas.org/science_news/SciencePodcast_130517_ScienceNOW.mp3 Promo The following is an excerpt from the Science Podcast. To hear the whole show, visit www.sciencemag.org and click on “Science Podcast.” Music Interviewer – Sarah Crespi Finally today, I’m here with David Grimm, online news editor for Science. He’s here to give us a rundown of some of the recent stories from our daily news site. I’m Sarah Crespi. So Dave, first up we have “dam” deforestation. Interviewee – David Grimm Sarah, this story is about hydropower. This is a major source of power in the world; turbines hooked up to dams, the water flows down, spins the turbine, and can power a lot. In fact, there is a dam that’s being constructed in Brazil called the Belo Monte Dam, which is a 14 billion dollar project. And when it’s complete, it will have the third greatest capacity for generating hydropower in the world. Interviewer – Sarah Crespi Okay, so what about the trees? Interviewee – David Grimm Well, there’s a problem: to build these dams you’ve got to cut down a lot of trees, and that has its own ecological problems. But engineers didn’t worry about the cutting down the trees themselves as a problem for the dam power; in fact, they thought that cutting down the trees would actually improve hydroelectric power, the reason being that trees suck up a lot of water from the soil. It’s a process known as evapotranspiration, where the water gets sucked up into the trees, the trees transpire the water through their leaves, and that water enters the atmosphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Disturbance Processes and Ecosystem Management
    Vegetation Management and Protection Research DISTURBANCE PROCESSES AND ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT The paper was chartered by the Directors of Forest Fire and Atmospheric Sciences Research, Fire and Aviation Management, Forest Pest Management, and Forest Insect and Disease Research in response to an action item identified in the National Action Plan for Implementing Ecosystem Management (February 24, 1994). The authors are: Robert D. Averill, Group Leader, Forest Health Management, Renewable Resources, USDA Forest Service Region 2, 740 Sims St., Lakewood, CO 80225 Louise Larson, Forest Fuels Management Specialist, USDA Forest Service Sierra National Forest, 1600 Tollhouse Road, Clovis, CA 93612 Jim Saveland, Fire Ecologist, USDA Forest Service Forest Fire & Atmospheric Sciences Research P.O. Box 96090, Washington, DC 20090 Philip Wargo, Principal Plant Pathologist, USDA Forest Service Northeastern Center for Forest Health Research, 51 Mill Pond Road, Hamden, CT 06514 Jerry Williams, Assistant Director, Fire Operations, USDA Forest Service Fire & Aviation Management Staff, P.O. Box 96090, Washington, DC 20090 Melvin Bellinger, retired, made significant contributions. Abstract This paper is intended to broaden awareness and help develop consensus among USDA Forest Service scientists and resource managers about the role and significance of disturbance in ecosystem dynamics and, hence, resource management. To have an effective ecosystem management policy, resource managers and the public must understand the nature of ecological resiliency and stability and the role of natural disturbance on sustainability. Disturbances are common and important in virtually all ecosystems. Executive Summary "Ecosystems are not defined so much by the objects they contain as by the processes that regulate them" -- Christensen and others 1989 Awareness and understanding of disturbance ecology and the role disturbance plays in ecosystem dynamics, and the ability to communicate that information, is essential in understanding ecosystem potentials and the consequences of management choices.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Changing Disturbance Regimes, Ecological Memory, and Forest Resilience 2 3 4 Authors: Jill F
    1 Changing disturbance regimes, ecological memory, and forest resilience 2 3 4 Authors: Jill F. Johnstone1*§, Craig D. Allen2, Jerry F. Franklin3, Lee E. Frelich4, Brian J. 5 Harvey5, Philip E. Higuera6, Michelle C. Mack7, Ross K. Meentemeyer8, Margaret R. Metz9, 6 George L. W. Perry10, Tania Schoennagel11, and Monica G. Turner12§ 7 8 Affiliations: 9 1. Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2 Canada 10 2. U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Jemez Mountains Field Station, Los 11 Alamos, NM 87544 USA 12 3. College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA 13 4. Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 USA 14 5. Department of Geography, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 USA 15 6. Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 16 59812 USA 17 7. Center for Ecosystem Science and Society and Department of Biology, Northern Arizona 18 University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA 19 8. Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, 20 Raleigh, NC 27695 USA 21 9. Department of Biology, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR 97219 USA 22 10. School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand 23 11. Department of Geography and INSTAAR, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO 24 80309 USA 25 12. Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53717 26 27 * corresponding author: [email protected]; 28 § co-leaders of this manuscript 29 30 Running title: Changing disturbance and forest resilience 31 1 32 33 Abstract 34 Ecological memory is central to ecosystem response to disturbance.
    [Show full text]
  • Disturbance Versus Restoration
    Disturbance and Restoration of Streams P. S. Lake Prelude “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen.” Aldo Leopold “Round River. From the Journals of Aldo Leopold” ed., L. B. Leopold. Oxford U.P. 1953. Read: 1963. Lake George Mining Co., 1952, Captains Flat, N.S.W. Molonglo River. Heavy metals (Z+Cu) + AMD. Black (Lake 1963) clear (Norris 1985) ---Sloane & Norris (2002) Aberfoyle Tin NL, 1982. Rossarden, Tasmania. Tin and Tungsten (W). Cd, Zn. South Esk River, 1974 Lake Pedder, south west Tasmania. • Pristine, remote lake with a remarkable, glacial sand beach, endemic fish (Galaxias pedderensis) and ~5 spp., of invertebrates. • Flooded by two dams to produce hydro-electricity in 1973 • Sampled annually for 21 years. • Initial “trophic upsurge” then a steady decline to paucity. Ecological Disturbance • Interest triggered by Connell J.H (1978) Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis • Disturbances are forces with the potential capability to disrupt populations, communities and ecosystems. Defined by their type, strength, duration and spatial extent---not by their impacts. • Pulse, Press (Bender et al., 1984) and Ramp disturbances (Lake 2000) and responses. Disturbances within Disturbances • Distinct disturbances nested within enveloping disturbances. – Droughts—ramps of water loss, high temperatures, low water quality, loss of connectivity etc. – Climate change with ramps (sea level rise, temperature increase, acidification). Compound Disturbances • Natural e.g. drought and fire – Effect on streams: recovery from catchment-riparian fire impact exacerbated by drought cf., fire alone. (Verkaik et al., 2015). – Sites: Idaho, Catalonia, Victoria, Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • CRY of the Nameless 130 August 1959
    CRY of the Nameless 130 August 1959 T CARR TAFF (Over my dead body.........BRT) This is indeed. Gry, the Precarious Monthly Fanzine. We have here issue 7/130, dated August, 1959- In deference to its predecessors, issue #130 claims residence at Box 92,. 920-3rd Ave, Seattle 4? Wash. Cry is sometimes obtained for 250 (5/$l, 12/02). Sterling characters in the UK may send moneys (1/9 per copy, 5 for 7/-, or 12 for 14/-) to John Berry, 31 Campbell park Ave, Belmont, Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, it should be mentioned that Mr Berry will be away from home for a few weeks- toward the latter part of August and for a goodly portion of September (like, hoo-HAE) so patience is urged upon our sterling subbers during that period. Cry also goes to contributors, upon publication. This includes writers of letters that are printed, * or which miss publication due to lack of space rather than lack of interest, as adjudged by Elinor. Up to and including this issue, editors of zines reviewed in Cry also receive a copy of the issue containing the review. Read on; we also have The Contents (in new, Quick-Drying Black i Cover by Don Franson; Liultigraphy by Toskey page 1 All this, and the Editorial, too F H Busby 3 The Science-Fiction Field Plowed Under Renfrew Pemberton 4 Fandom Harvest Terry Carr 8 I Was A Fakefan For The FBI John Berry 10 CRYing Over Bent Staples Rich Brown & Bob Lichtman 1-4 "CrudCon I: 0 What Fun!" Es Adams 16 Charlie Phan at the Detention Les Nirenberg 18 Little Eustace's After-School Hour Terry Carr 20 High CRYteria Leslie Gerber 23 MINUTES Wally Weber 24 CRY of the Readers conducted by Elinor Busby 26 (If this Q-D Black reduces offset as promised, we stay Black except for specials.,.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Disturbance and Succession on Wildlife Habitat And
    This file was created by scanning the printed publication. Errors identified by the software have been corrected; however, some errors may remain. 11 The Effects of Disturbance K EVIN S. McKELVEY and Succession on Wildlife Habitat and Animal Communities his chapter discusses the study of disturbance and al l affect both the postdisturbance wildlife community Tsuccession as they relate to wildlife. As such, the and, more importantly, the trajectory of the postdistur­ discussion is confined to those disturbance processes bance community. Even for well-studied species, co­ that change the physical attributes of habitat, leading herent understandings of their relationships to distur­ to a postdisturbance trajectory. However, even with bance across time and space are therefore often vague. this narrowing of the scope of disturbances discussed, Commonly, we look at successional changes in habi­ there remain formidable obstacles prior to any co­ tat quality by using spatial samples of different ages as if herent discussion of disturbance. The first, and most they were a temporal series, which implies spatiotem­ fundamental, is definitional: what constitutes distur­ poral constancy in successional dynamics. This assump­ bance and succession, and what is habitat? The con­ tion has served wildlife research well, but in the face of cepts of disturbance, habitat, and succession are highly directional climate change and the nearly continuous scale-dependent; disturbances at one scale become addition of exotic species, this approach is becoming part of continuous processes at a larger scale, and ideas increasingly untenable. We need to embrace the idea associated with succession require assumptions of con­ that postdisturbance succession is increasingly unlikely stancy, which become highly problematic as spatiotem­ to produce communities similar to those that the dis­ poral scales increase.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 September 8, 2014 Todd K. Grimm, State Director Idaho Wildlife Services
    September 8, 2014 Todd K. Grimm, State Director Idaho Wildlife Services (“WS”) 9134 West Blackeagle Dr. Boise, ID 83709 [email protected] VIA EMAIL AND CERTIFIED MAIL Re: Idaho Wildlife Services compliance with NEPA, ESA Dear Mr. Grimm: In accordance with the 60-day notice requirement of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g), Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Friends of the Clearwater hereby provide notice of intent to sue for violations of the ESA relating to Idaho Wildlife Service’s ongoing operations and programs, as well as violations of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). NEPA ISSUES The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service- Wildlife Services (“WS”) issued a Central and Northern Idaho Predator Control Environmental Assessment (“EA”) in 1996, along with a subsequent finding of no significant impact (“FONSI”) in 2004. It issued an EA and FONSI for Predator Damage Management in Southern Idaho in 2002, with a “five year update” in 2007 and another FONSI in 2008. A subsequent EA and FONSI issued in 2011 concerned Idaho wolf management only. After examining these documents, it is apparent that WS’s operations in Idaho have been and are being conducted with either no or inadequate compliance with NEPA. Because Idaho WS’s EAs tier to the outdated 1994/1997 Animal Damage Control Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (“PEIS”), and because much of the literature upon which WS relies is outdated or uninformed by the best available science, we request that WS conduct a new environmental analysis – either new EAs or a cumulative environmental impact statement (“EIS”) for the State of Idaho, and that in the meantime it cease and desist all operations until adequate analyses are undertaken.
    [Show full text]
  • 495 the Honorable Paul W. Grimm* & David
    A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO DISCOVERY REFORM: HOW SMALL CHANGES CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN CIVIL DISCOVERY The Honorable Paul W. Grimm & David S. Yellin I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 495 II. INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS IN CIVIL PRACTICE .......................................... 501 A. The Vanishing Jury Trial ..................................................................... 501 B. A Lack of Active Judicial Involvement ................................................. 505 C. The Changing Nature of Discovery ..................................................... 507 1. The Growth of Discovery Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ...................................................................................... 508 2. The Expansion in Litigation .......................................................... 510 3. The Advent of E-Discovery ........................................................... 511 III. PROPOSED REFORMS TO CIVIL DISCOVERY ................................................ 513 A. No. 1. Excessively Broad Scope of Discovery ...................................... 514 B. No. 2. Producing Party Pays vs. Requesting Party Pays ..................... 520 C. No. 3. The Duty to Cooperate During Discovery ................................ 524 IV. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 533 I. INTRODUCTION In 2009, the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation conducted a survey
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Habitat Disturbance on Tropical Forest Biodiversity
    Effects of habitat disturbance on tropical forest biodiversity John Alroya,1 aDepartment of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia Edited by Hugh P. Possingham, University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072, Australia and approved April 4, 2017 (received for review July 22, 2016) It is widely expected that habitat destruction in the tropics will cause Ecologists do make extensive use of methods that remove a mass extinction in coming years, but the potential magnitude of sampling biases, but such research has focused almost entirely on the loss is unclear. Existing literature has focused on estimating local samples. Many of these standardization analyses (8, 17, 18, global extinction rates indirectly or on quantifying effects only at 21) have used species counts interpolated to a least common local and regional scales. This paper directly predicts global losses in denominator level by means of the long-established method of 11 groups of organisms that would ensue from disturbance of all rarefaction (22, 23), which is problematic because rarefaction remaining tropical forest habitats. The results are based on applying compresses differences between samples (24). a highly accurate method of estimating species richness to 875 eco- However, the compression problem can be solved using meth- logical samples. About 41% of the tree and animal species in this ods of either interpolation or extrapolation. Four different ap- dataset are absent from disturbed habitats, even though most proaches are used in this paper (Methods). Two are analytical samples do still represent forests of some kind. The individual figures subsampling methods that seek to make samples comparable by are 30% for trees and 8–65% for 10 animal groups.
    [Show full text]
  • From Tenino to Ghana
    Halloween Edition Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 Reaching 110,000 Readers in Print and Online — www.chronline.com Battle of the Swamp W.F. West to Take On Centralia in Rivalry Classic / Inside Food Stamp Increase Expires REDUCTION: Cuts Depend the American Recovery and Rein- maximum benefit, for example, will vestment Act, which raised Supple- see a reduction of $29 a month from on Income, Expenses mental Nutrition Assistance Pro- $526 to $497. By Lisa Broadt gram benefits to help people affected A single adult receiving the maxi- by the recession. [email protected] mum benefit will go from $189 to Monthly food benefits vary based $178. The federal government’s tem- on factors such as income, living ex- Pete Caster / [email protected] Households that receive help porary boost in food assistance pro- penses and the number of people in through the state-funded Food Lisa and Jerry Morris stand outside the Lewis County oice of grams ends Friday. the household. the Department of Social and Health Service in Chehalis Oct. 2. In April 2009, Congress passed A family of three receiving the please see FOOD, page Main 11 Overbay, Students Gather Books and Supplies, Sending Support Others to Headline From Tenino to Ghana ‘Men’s Night Out’ ADVICE: Prostate Cancer Survivor, Lyle Overbay and Health Experts to Share Experiences at Tuesday Forum By Kyle Spurr [email protected] Arnie Guenther, a retired Centralia banker, avoided the doctor’s office for physical checkups until last year when his wife finally convinced him to make an appointment. Guenther felt fine, but results from the checkup showed he had prostate cancer.
    [Show full text]