Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe United States has more than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams that, along with closely associated floodplain and upland areas, comprise corridors of great economic, social, cultural, and environmental value. These corridors support higher rates of biological productivity than almost any other landscape feature. They also contribute significantly to each military installation's unique character. Interest in restoring stream corridor ecosystems is expanding rapidly in the United States. With this in mind, 15 federal agencies formed the Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group in 1995 to seek consensus on the fundamentals of modern approaches to stream restoration and to promote awareness and use of these methods throughout the nation. This unprecedented collaboration produced a comprehensive publication, entitled Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and Practices, which has begun to serve as a foundation of stream corridor restoration knowledge and practice nationwide. Attention to these aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is a common theme of both Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) program and stream corridor restoration. ITAM is the Army's strategy for focusing on sustained use of training and testing lands. Cross‐program innovation and field‐tested stream restoration methods can combine to provide greater sustainability for Department of Defense maneuver areas and ranges over both the short and long term.

AbstractThis paper describes a framework for estimating the effectiveness of riparian vegetation in modifying the water temperature in streams. A physically‐based model was incorporated into the framework and used to demonstrate that planting trees in strategic locations can have a substantial effect on water temperature in streams and, consequently, on the survival of target fish populations. Application of the framework suggested that equivalent plantings in different configurations can have markedly different outcomes in terms of resultant stream temperature. There is no single best solution for all stream‐restoration projects but, through the use of this framework, environmental planners, designers and managers can compare scenarios and make appropriate decisions for specific streams.

Throughout the process of developing the states' case in the Natural Resource Damage Claim, I have felt very confident that the state has assembled a team of scientists who could solve the problems that are identified, if they are solvable. I am encouraged to continue in that belief by the hiring of Carol Fox as coordinator of the program at this time. It will take a strong leader to guide everyone through the maze of complexities involved in allocating settlement funds. Chris Clancy pointed out that state biologists are spread thin and it will take additional manpower to implement projects that are funded. He also discussed some of the work that is being done by the biologists and technicians. It should be noted that there is a tremendous amount of training and on-the-ground-experience among Region 2 fisheries workers in river mechanics, biology and implementing stream rehabilitation projects. This experience should be drawn on in the selection of projects to be funded by the NRD settlement. It will require the kind of experience these people have to be able to judge what is best for the aquatic ecosystem. There are many relatively small projects that are worthy of funding and are very necessary to restore the river to its former condition. I hope there will be a mechanism for getting projects such as these through the screening process without a lot of delay. For example, Chris Brick noted that there is a lot of bank erosion along the mainstem of the river. Some of this is because the river has been straightened. Several of these artificially straight sections could be put back in old channel meanders by simply removing portions of the old Milwaukee Railroad bed. In most cases the old channel is relatively unchanged from when it was cut off by the railroad. Projects such as this will improve fish habitat in the mainstem, possibly get the river away from metals contaminated riverbed and reduce erosive forces. Because the process of selecting projects for funding with NRD settlement dollars is political in nature, the advisory committee needs to make a special effort to inform and encourage the public to be involved in the process. Everyone interested in river restoration should know what the money can and cannot be used for.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of plates -- List of figures -- List of tables -- List of species boxes -- Acknowledgements -- Series introduction -- 1 Introduction -- Impacts of physical factors -- Ecological aspects -- Colonisation and establishment -- Adaptations and characteristics -- Geographical influences -- 2 The Ecology of Urban Habitats -- Terrestrial urban habitats -- Woods, trees and parklands -- Parks, gardens and allotments -- Playing fields, golf courses and other grasslands -- Demolition sites -- Industrial wasteland, spoil heaps, quarries and mines -- Refuse tips -- Road verges and railways -- Walls, buildings and paved areas -- Churchyards and cemeteries -- Aquatic urban habitats -- Marshes and reedbeds -- Streams, rivers and canals -- Ponds, lakes and reservoirs -- Sand and gravel pits -- Sewage works -- Coastal features -- 3 Management and Conservation -- Pollution -- Heavy metals and woodlands -- Lichens and sulphur dioxide pollution -- Freshwaters and pollution -- Noxious species -- Noxious plants -- Noxious animals -- Managing noxious species -- Habitat management -- Ecological guidelines -- Reclamation and restoration of derelict land -- Strategies for nature conservation -- Urban wildlife and city people -- 4 Case Studies -- Reclaiming limestone quarry faces in Derbyshire -- Ecological parks in London -- Habitat initiatives in Merseyside -- Landlife -- Sutton Mill Dam -- Mersey Community Forest -- The Forth and Clyde Canal in Glasgow -- A stormwater retention basin in the West Midlands -- Coastal habitats in Cardiff -- 5 Practical Work -- Experimental design -- Health and safety -- Distribution of pavement plants -- Flora of urban wasteland -- Distribution of tar-spot fungus on sycamore trees -- Colonisation of stones by invertebrate animals.