A new online bibliography features conservation
techniques that improve conditions for wildlife such as deer, birds and
fish. Photo courtesy of David Cappaert, Michigan State University,
Bugwood.org |
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Conservation Tactics to Help Fish and Wildlife
Thrive Featured in New Bibliography
By
Marcia Wood January 5, 2009
As temperatures fall and snowdrifts deepen, wildlife seek food and
shelter in parks, farms, forests and even spacious suburban backyards. It's a
time of year when conservation measures, designed to make these environments
more habitable for fish and wildlife, can greatly affect the animals' chance of
survival.
A new
bibliography of publications about effects of conservation practices on
dozens of different kinds of North American fish and wildlife is now available
free of charge from the National
Agricultural Library (NAL) in PDF and HTML formats.
The bibliography lists scientific journal articles, technical reports,
and other documents published mostly from 2000 to 2007. Dozens of different
kinds of wildlife--badger, bear, beaver, deer, ducks, grouse, songbirds and
more--are included, as are many species of fish such as largemouth bass,
walleye, salmon and trout.
Though primarily intended for natural resource management
professionals--particularly those involved in conservation and restoration of
natural environments--the bibliography is also useful for everyone interested
in conservation of fish and wildlife habitats.
Titled "Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Fish and
Wildlife: A Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Bibliography," this
resource features more than 2,000 citations, plus a search tool to help viewers
nimbly navigate favorite topics. Many citations include helpful summaries, or a
URL that takes them to the full document on the Web.
Conservation practices covered range from creating structures in
streams--to improve conditions for fish--to using fire, or prescribed burning,
to benefit elk.
Ecosystems addressed include croplands, grazinglands, forests,
streams, rivers, wetlands, and mixed habitats such as pine-grasslands.
Joseph
Makuch of the NAL's Water Quality
Information Center coordinated compilation of the bibliography, working
with librarian Stuart Gagnon, former library staffer Cassandra Harper, and
Charles Rewa of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS).
The bibliography is the newest in the NAL's conservation-effects
series, sponsored by the NRCS and described at:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/ceap/ceapbrochure.pdf.
The NAL, in Beltsville, Md., is part of the
Agricultural Research Service, a
scientific research agency in the USDA.