Digital Preservation and Access of Natural Resources Documents

Digitization and preservation of natural resource documents were reviewed and the current status of digitization presented for a North American university. It is important to present the status of the digitation process for natural resources and to advocate for increased collections of digital material for ease of reference and exchange of information. Digital collections need to include both published documents and ancillary material for research projects and data for future use and interpretation. The methods in this paper can be applied to other natural resource collections increasing their use and distribution. The process of decision making for documents and their preservation and inclusion in ScholarWorks is presented as a part of the Forest Sciences Commons as a subset of the Life Sciences Commons of the Digital Commons Open Network launched and maintained by bepress. Digitization has increased the roles and skillsets needed for librarians and from libraries. This creates new challenges and opportunities for the library as publisher and as an advocate for open access. Digital curation melds together digitization and knowledge management and enhances community engagement. Digitization of collections are reviewed and natural resource documentation presented for faculty publications, Research Projects and Centers, eBooks, Journals, Galleries and electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). Recommendations are made to increase the digital curation of the collection by encouraging community participation and use. Digital archives are important to natural resource professionals as society-ready natural resource graduates need to deal effectively with complex ecological, economic and social issues of current natural resources management. Natural resource research for the future needs to ensure that professionals have a greater breath of knowledge as they interpret and apply new knowledge, understanding, and technology to complex, transdisciplinary social and biological issues and challenges

Research Notes : Relay intercropping of soybeans and small grains

During the past two years we have been comparing several cropping systems: relay intercropping of soybeans with wheat, relay intercropping of soybeans with oats, and soybean monoculture. The purpose of the study was to determine if a need for separate breeding programs for these specialized cultural practices exists . Last year McBroom et al. (1979) reported a significant cultivar x cropping system interaction that would seem to indicate that such a need did exist

Research notes: Relay cropping of soybeans and oats

One possibility of increasing land productivity in Illinois is to double crop soybeans following wheat. This practice has been limited to the southern half of the state because of the shorter growing season in the northern half. A modification of double cropping known as relay cropping might allow the earlier establishment of soybeans in wheat or oats and extend the northern limit of double cropping in the state

Mercury Concentrations in Streams of East Texas

Recent studies on potential mercury (Hg) contamination of fish from East Texas lakes and waterways have caused concern about mercury levels in East Texas waters. Historical records of Hg concentrations in 33 East Texas streams showed that median concentrations for each stream segment were no different than other U.S. streams. All the means and medians for stream segments having at least 20 recorded measurements were less than Texas (2.4 µg/L) water quality standards. Water samples collected in December 1995 and March 1996 from 6 different stream sites in Nacogdoches County had concentrations similar to historical records. Due to biological magnification, fish Hg levels can be 20,000 times greater than water Hg levels and levels are greater in large fish than in small fish. Although a recent study on sediment cores in 13 East Texas reservoirs and lakes suggested possible increases in mercury concentrations across the region, all Hg concentrations in water and sediment were far below Texas acute and chronic quality standards. No significant correlations were found between fish mercury concentrations and mercury concentrations in water or sediment. Potential agricultural inputs of Hg in East Texas are very low; the most likely source of Hg is atmospheric deposition from fossil fuel combustion and other industrial practices. The following may be considered to minimize potential health risks: 1) consume smaller fish from a variety of waterbodies, 2) increase consumption interval, 3) avoid eating skin and fatty tissues, and 4) limit consumption to quantities recommended by the Texas Health Department

Implementation of Collaborative Learning as a High-Impact Practice in a Natural Resources Management Section of Freshman Seminar

Forestry and environmental science students enrolled in a one credit hour freshman seminar course participated in a land management evaluation and water quality sampling excursion using canoes and water sampling equipment. The purpose of this assessment was to engage students with hands-on, field based education in order to foster connections to their chosen profession and the resource. This culminated in poster symposium of the experience. Broad competency areas for high impact practices in natural resource management were emphasized for learning. Students were engaged in the exercise and commented that the project helped them develop a sense of place and forming connections within their peer group. The use of water quality sampling and collection of real-world data increased the teaching a learning effectiveness of the course

Web-Based Spatial Decision Support System and Watershed Management with a Case Study

In order to maintain a proper balance between development pressure and water resources protection, and also to improve public participation, efficient tools and techniques for soil and water conservation projects are needed. This paper describes the development and application of a web-based watershed management spatial decision support system, WebWMPI. The WebWMPI uses the Watershed Management Priority Indices (WMPI) approach which is a prioritizing method for watershed management planning and it integrates land use/cover, hydrological data, soils, slope, roads, and other spatial data. The land is divided into three categories: Conservation Priority Index (CPI) land, Restoration Priority Index (RPI) land, and Stormwater Management Priority Index (SMPI) land. Within each category, spatial factors are rated based on their influence on water resources and critical areas can be identified for soil conservation, water quality protection and improvement. The WebWMPI has user-friendly client side graphical interfaces which enable the public to interactively run the server side Geographic Information System to evaluate different scenarios for watershed planning and management. The system was applied for Dry Run Creek watershed (Cedar Falls, Iowa, US) as a demonstration and it can be easily used in other watersheds to prioritize crucial areas and to increase public participation for soil and water conservation projects

Runoff of Silvicultural Herbicides Applied Using Best Management Practices

Nine small (2.2 to 2.9 ha) and four large (70 to 135 ha) watersheds in East Texas, USA, were instrumented to compare herbicide runoff under different silvicultural systems with best management practices (BMPs). Two treatments were evaluated: conventional, with clearcutting, aerial herbicide site preparation, and hand-applied banded herbaceous release; and intensive, in which subsoiling, aerial fertilization, and a second-year aerial herbicide application were added. Herbicides were applied as operational tank mixes. The highest imazapyr concentration found in stream water was 39 mg L‑1 during the first storm after application (23 days after treatment, DAT) and in-stream concentrations during runoff events dropped to L‑1 in all streams by 150 DAT. The highest hexazinone concentration was 8 mg L‑1 for the banded application and 35 mg L‑1 for the broadcast application the following year and fell to L‑1 in all streams by 140 DAT. The highest sulfometuron methyl concentration found during a runoff event was 4 mg L‑1 and fell to L‑1 in all streams by 80 DAT. About 1 to 2% of applied imazapyr and less than 1% of hexazinone and sulfometuron methyl were measured in storm runoff. Herbicide was found in streams during storm events only (all herbicides wereµg/L in all true baseflow samples), and peak concentrations during runoff events persisted for relatively short times (\u3c 24 h). These results suggest that silvicultural herbicide applications implemented with contemporary BMPs are unlikely to result in chronic exposure of aquatic biota; therefore, herbicide use under these conditions is unlikely to degrade surface waters

Runoff and Sediment Losses from Annual and Unusual Storm Events from the Alto Experimental Watersheds, Texas: 23 Years After Silvicultural Treatments

Evaluating the potential impacts of intensive silvicultural practices on water quality is critical for establishing the long-term sustainability of contemporary forest management practices. From 1979 to 1985, a study involving nine small (~2.5 ha) forested watersheds was conducted near Alto, Texas in the upper western Gulf-Coastal Plain to evaluate the impacts then-current silvicultural practices on water quality. In the years following the study, silvicultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) including Streamside Management Zones (SMZs) and other erosion control practices evolved and questions arose about the applicability of earlier results to current practices. In 1999, these same watersheds were reinstrumented to evaluate the water quality effects of intensive silviculture using modern BMPs. Three years of pre-treatment data were collected to calibrate the watersheds. During the calibration phase, in June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison struck southeastern Texas, dumping almost 11.8 cm of rainfall on saturated soils in about 3 hours. This single storm event resulted in over 73% of the annual flow and over 95% of the annual sediment for 2001. In a little over three hours, the watersheds clearcut and chopped in 1980 generated over 2.5 times more sediment that the entire year following harvest and site-preparation. 1Comparisons of data from the 1979 Alto Watershed study with pretreatment data from the current study suggest that these watersheds have a high potential for geologic erosion even with mature forest cover. Large natural variation in runoff and sediment makes it difficult to detect treatment effects for these forested watersheds

Expansion of the MANAGE Database with Forest and Drainage Studies

The “Measured Annual Nutrient loads from AGricultural Environments” (MANAGE) database was published in 2006 to expand an early 1980s compilation of nutrient export (load) data from cultivated and pasture/range land at the field or farm scale. Then in 2008, MANAGE was updated with 15 additional studies, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in runoff were added. Since then, MANAGE has undergone significant expansion adding N and P water quality along with relevant management and site characteristic data from: (1) 30 runoff studies from forested land uses, (2) 91 drainage water quality studies from drained land, and (3) 12 additional runoff studies from cultivated and pasture/range land uses. In this expansion, an application timing category was added to the existing fertilizer data categories (rate, placement, formulation) to facilitate analysis of 4R Nutrient Stewardship, which emphasizes right fertilizer source, rate, time, and place. In addition, crop yield and N and P uptake data were added, although this information was only available for 21 and 7% of studies, respectively. Inclusion of these additional data from cultivated, pasture/range, and forest land uses as well as artificially drained agricultural land should facilitate expanded spatial analyses and improved understanding of regional differences, management practice effectiveness, and impacts of land use conversions and management techniques