How Will Wildlife Crossings Mitigate Roads for Wildlife in the Face of Climate Change?

This paper will address the developing trends in wildlife crossing structure research across the western U.S. and along US 93 South in Montana. This discussion may help to better design and retrofit structures to facilitate wildlife movement in the face of climate change. The objectives of our wildlife crossing structure research across the west are to determine wildlife use of crossing structures and structure designs that work best in passing large and medium mammals. Many of today’s wildlife crossing structures and existing culverts and bridges along roadways were designed before the science of transportation ecology had developed enough to understand what designs worked for different species. Our method of evaluating these new and existing structures is to place motion-sensed camera traps 10 m from the entrances to the culverts and bridges to monitor wildlife reactions to the structures. Wildlife approaches, successful passages through the structure, and repels away from the structure are tallied for every individual. Species’ reactions to culverts and bridges differ. White-tailed deer are willing to use many different sized culverts and bridges, while mule deer are more cautious. Carnivores use structures of all types, although the landscape factors such as human development may play a role in their willingness to use some structures. These and other results have greater implications for species adaptations to climate change: it will be critical that roads be permeable for the entire suites of species in an area as they need to move to adapt to changing conditions

Moving Wildlife Under US Highway 93 in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley through Wildlife Crossing Structures

The impediment that the Bitterroot Valley’s roads and vehicle traffic pose for wildlife movement can be partially mitigated with wildlife crossing structures. This study evaluates 18 wildlife crossing structures installed by Montana Department of Transportation along US Highway 93, south of Missoula. Through the use of camera traps, this ongoing study evaluates the efficacy of these crossing in allowing wildlife to move safely under the road, and in reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions between the communities of Lolo and Hamilton. Photographic data on white-tailed deer use were analyzed for success rate and rate of repellence. Use of structures by other species of wildlife was also analyzed. In three years of post-construction monitoring, success rates ranged from zero to two white tailed-deer passes per day. Carnivores were photographed using crossings and moving over the highway at grade. At this time, bridge structures have a higher success at passing white-tail deer that approach them than culverts, except for a large (6 m wide and high) steel culvert, which worked as well as bridges. Fencing to crossings is important: bridges without wildlife fencing had success rates well under 0.2 deer passes per day. At this time overall trends appear to suggest that: wildlife fencing, more vegetation at the ends of structures, and wider structures result in higher success rates for white-tailed deer. When the study is completed in 2015 we will have a better understanding of the structure and landscape variables important to facilitate wildlife use of wildlife crossing structures

The Pauli Repulsion-Lowering Concept in Catalysis

Contains fulltext : 244866.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access

Editorial: Performance enhancement in rugby

There has been a growth in performance related research in rugby union over the last decade, with much attention paid to the physical and psychological factors of performance (1, 2). Similarly, there has been an increase in scientific publications focusing on injury and injury prevention (3), and specifically on concussion (4). Our aim was to build on the existing scientific literature and further explore training, testing, and performance at the amateur and elite levels of rugby. This Research Topic of Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, “Performance Enhancement in Rugby” contains 6 original manuscripts that meet our aim

Depositional and Structural Challenges of the Wilcox Lobo Natural Gas Trend, South Texas

To increase understanding and utilization of gas resources in the Wilcox Lobo play of South Texas, this report reviews current geological knowledge of the Lobo trend. An additional objective of this report is to identify areas where advancements in geological understanding could lead to substantial improvements in efficient development of the Wilcox Lobo trend natural gas resource. According to published accounts, Lobo sandstones formed in a variety of depositional environments in both shallow and deep marine waters. During and after deposition, the Lobo experienced repeated episodes of erosion, faulting, and diagenesis. Thus, accurate prediction of reservoir sandstone attributes is difficult, and this difficulty is cited by operators as a significant challenge to efficiently targeting the remaining gas resource. Knowledge that would aid in the emergence of this resource includes information on sandstone correlation and accurate zone identification, depositional systems and facies interpretations, controls on fault pattern variability, and, to a lesser extent, recognition of diagenetic patterns and faults and fractures that are below seismic resolution. Geologic challenges of the Lobo trend are opportunities for targeting increasingly smaller and more difficult-to-detect compartments with advanced technology.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Texas Salt Domes--Aspects, Affecting Disposal of Toxic-Chemical Waste in Solution-Mined Caverns

This report represents Phase II of a one-year contract aimed at analyzing technical considerations linked to the potential isolation of toxic chemical waste within solution-mined caverns situated in Texas salt domes. A key objective of Phase II research was to characterize the properties of salt domes that could impact this form of waste disposal.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Technical Issues for Chemical Waste Isolation in Solution-Mined Caverns in Salt Domes

Many factors contribute to assessing the technical viability of isolating chemical waste in solution-mined caverns within salt domes. Our investigation highlights several key factors of primary importance, including geohydrology, engineering considerations, and the stability of the geologic isolation system, encompassing the cavern, cap rock, and surrounding strata. These factors are largely interconnected and mutually dependent. An essential initial step involves detailed mapping of the domal system, including the cap rock, salt stock, and surrounding domed strata, a level of detail often lacking in public sources and geological literature. Postulated release scenarios typically involve waste transport via groundwater, making the direction and rates of groundwater flow critical. Groundwater flow is influenced by various factors such as rock matrix composition, depositional systems, sand-body geometry, and fault patterns. The cap rock serves as a focal point for many domal processes and is a dynamically changing region of a salt dome. Studies on cap-rock properties can help determine whether salt domes are undergoing uplift or dissolution. The cap rock plays a crucial role in either facilitating or impeding dome dissolution and cavern stability. Further research on salt domes should focus on defining the geometry and structure of cap rocks, identifying cap-rock lost-circulation zones, understanding the geometry, structure, and stratigraphy of salt stocks and caverns, assessing salt-cavern stability, and investigating domal geohydrology. In the following sections, we discuss various issues that need to be addressed to evaluate the technical feasibility of isolating chemical waste in solution-mined caverns within salt domes.Bureau of Economic Geolog