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Pollinators

The global declines in many kinds of pollinator species could potentially impact the global food supply, as many plants depend upon specific pollinators to reproduce. The Web site of the NBII Pollinators Project provides access to information about the biology, ecology, conservation status, and threats to native pollinators, pollinator-dependent More...

  • animation of a hummingbird pollinating a flower

SAGEMAP: GIS Database for Sage Grouse and Shrubsteppe Management in the Intermountain West

SAGEMAP - Spatial Data for Sage Grouse and Shrubsteppe Systems is needed for research and management of sage grouse and sagebrush steppe habitats in the western United States. This website is a product of the NBII Great Basin Information Project. Find out more from this resource on sage grouse as endangered species, habitat information, More...

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Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems

Fire occurs in many North American ecosystems, and most of these systems are resilient to fires that occur within a broad range of variability in frequency and intensity. In a recent USFS publication (General Technical Report PNW-GTR-779, ), USGS scientist Jon Keeley led a team of scientists from various agencies and academic institutions in More...

  • cover, USFS General Technical Report PNW-GTR-779

Monitoring Populations of Sage-Grouse: Proceedings of a Symposium at Idaho State University Hosted by University of Idaho and Idaho State University

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and the Gunnison sage-grouse (C. minimus) are species of concern because of their population declines and shrinking geographic distributions. Of continuing interest is the question of population abundance and trends. This publication answers the questions that deal with sage-grouse population, More...

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Human Influence on California Fire Regimes

Periodic wildfire maintains the integrity and species composition of many ecosystems, including the Mediterranean-climate shrublands of California. However, human activities alter natural fire regimes, which can lead to cascading ecological effects. Increased human ignitions at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) have recently gained attention, but More...

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Vegetation responses to natural regulation of elk in Rocky Mountain National Park

A quasi-experimental situation exists in Rocky Mountain National Park, where elk (Cervus elaphus) populations have increased 3-fold since 1968 following their release from artificial controls within the park. Increases in elk habitat use and decreases in deer habitat use were observed. Significant increases in cover of mosses and lichens occurred More...

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Symbiosis as a Potential Mechanism of Non-Indigenous Plant Invasiveness and Novel Control Strategy

The objective of this research is to determine if symbiotic fungi are responsible for the invasiveness of plants in non-native habitats. One of the least studied but critical aspects of plant community structure and dynamics involves symbiotic interactions with endophytic and mycorrhizal fungi. In the last several decades it has become apparent More...

  • Image of growth enhancements in tomato plants

Coastal Prairie: Cogongrass alert

Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) is an agressive, perennial grass from Southeast Asia. Introduced into the United States on at least two separate occasions, this weed is currently invading Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana and has recently been discovered in East Texas. Cogongrass is considered one of the 10 worst weeds worldwide and is More...

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Wyoming Sagebrush Fire

Periodic fire is a natural part of sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the Great Basin. However, a suite of human-caused factors has dramatically changed fire regimes in many of these systems. Decades of fire suppression and livestock grazing have produced dense, single-aged sagebrush stands and invasion by cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) has increased More...

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Biological Soil Crusts: An Introduction

The Biological Soil Crusts website studies the community of organisms that live at the surface of desert soils. Components include cyanobacteria, green algae, microfungi, mosses, liverworts, and lichens. The website discusses structure and formation of crusts, species composition, ecological functions (soil stability, water infiltration, effects More...

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Development of Ecological Indicator Guilds

The whole study, conducted at Fort Benning, Georgia, partially funded through the US Army, involves testing of water and soil quality, physical and biotic indicators of stress at both the population and community level. Anthropogenic stress in the present study comes from disturbance by vehicles, particularly tanks used in army training, and from More...

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Patterns and Abundance of Aquatic Vegetation in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers

Aquatic vegetation flourished in the 1930s immediately after the locks and dams were constructed to accommodate barge traffic on the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). The distribution of aquatic vegetation, however, has fluctuated drastically in the 1980s and 1990s. As the navigation system ages, the fate of this important ecosystem component More...

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