Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) Report; Yakama Nation Wildlife Management Areas, Technical Report 1999-2000.

Construction of the Dalles, Bonneville, McNary, and John Day Dams on the Columbia River by the federal government resulted in a substantial loss of riparian bottomland along the Columbia River. Impacts associated with the Mid-Columbia Projects were assessed for several wildlife species using the Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USDI-FWS 1980). The studies documented the loss of riparian habitat and established a baseline against which mitigation measures could be developed (USDI-FWS 1990 and USDE-BPA 1990). The impact assessments established a mitigation goal, a portion of which would be satisfied by the creation, restoration, and enhancement of riparian lands on tributaries to the Columbia River, including the Yakima Valley. The Yakama Nation (YN), the Northwest Power Planning Council, and the Bonneville Power Administration have agreed that the Yakama Nation would be funded to implement habitat restoration on lands within and adjacent to their reservation. Some of the targeted lands are owned by the Yakama Nation, some are trust lands, and some lands have been in private ownership. Since the early 1990s, the Yakama Nation has been in the process of assembling riparian lands into Wildlife Management Areas, and restoring natural hydrology and natural cover-types on these lands. The Northwest Power Planning Council, through the Bonneville Power Administration, has supported the program. HEP studies were performed by the Yakama Nation in 1990 (Bich et al. 1991) to establish baseline conditions and inventory wildlife habitat at the initiation of the restoration project. The 1990 HEP used a simplified version of the HEP to quantify baseline conditions. The present assessment is designed to evaluate the progress of the mitigation plan in meeting its stated goals. The 1999 HEP assessment has two distinct tasks: (1) Evaluation of the mitigation plan as currently implemented using the simplified YN HEP methodologies for the Wildlife Management Areas; and (2) Evaluation of the simplified YN HEP methodologies as a means of measuring mitigation progress

Food security, nutrition and health of food pantry participants

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 9, 2007)Vita.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.This research examines the relationship between food security and nutrition and health of food pantry participants. In this cross-sectional study, food security and self-reported health information were collected in face-to-face interviews with 1,314 food pantry participants in 58 different pantry locations in central and northeast Missouri. A subset of 928 frequent pantry users was used in this research. Results suggest that food security was not predictive of gardening or hunting/fishing. For each point increase on the food security scale, there was a .564 decrease in total fruit and vegetable intake. Body mass index (BMI) was not predictive of food security. As food insecurity increased, the odds of having diabetes, hypertension or hypercholesterolemia increased. Food pantries offer a unique setting in which nutrition professionals can become involved in improving the health of a vulnerable, and often overlooked, population.Includes bibliographical reference

Rural Livelihoods and Agroforestry Practices in the Missouri Flood Plains

This paper was presented at the International Farming Systems Association - Small Farms in an Ever Changing World: Meeting the challenges of sustainable livelihoods and food security in diverse rural communities on Nov 17-20, 2002, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.Agroforestry practices, new to many small farms in the United States, may offer many economic and environmental benefits. Small farmers in Northeast and Southeast Missouri were interviewed to understand the relationship between their knowledge and interest in agroforestry practices and their livelihood strategies. Different income diversification strategies were found. The Southeast, with richer cropland, has a more diversified crop portfolio. In the Northeast, crop livestock production systems and part-time farming prevail, reflecting a rural lifestyle option where some household members engage in off-farm activities. Given differences in production systems and income from agriculture, the study finds that those interviewed have some knowledge and interest in agroforestry practices. Windbreaks and riparian buffers ranked highest in knowledge and interest in the Southeast, where household strategies focus on commercial crops and there is concern for the environment. Windbreaks and forest farming were first in the Northeast, where farm households are concerned about the environment, future generations, and new economic opportunities. This finding coincides with perceptions of the importance of trees to the environment, future generations, and economic benefits.This work was funded under cooperative agreement CR 826704-01-0 with the US EPA. The results are the sole responsibility of the investigators at the University of Missouri Columbia, and may not represent the policies or positions of the Environmental Protection Agency

Missouri Hunger Atlas 2013

This atlas assesses the extent of food insecurity in the state of Missouri. It also begins to gauge how well public programs are doing in meeting the needs of those of our fellow citizens who have difficulty acquiring sufficient amounts and qualities of food. The concept of food security, as the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program within the United States Department of Agriculture defines it, refers to "access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life." Food insecurity in this country is normally due to insufficient resources for food purchases, and the majority of food insecure households avoid hunger by relying on a more narrow range of foods or acquiring food through private and public assistance programs. In 2011, 50.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 16.7 million were children. The USDA reported that 14.7 percent of households in the US experienced "low food security" in 2011. Households experiencing "very low food security" accounted for 5.6% of households, meaning the food intake of some household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns were disrupted because of the lack of money and other resources

Teammate Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors Predict Task Cohesion and Burnout:The Mediating Role of Affect

The manner in which teammates behave toward each other when playing sport could have important achievement-related consequences. However, this issue has received very little research attention. In this study, we investigated whether (a) prosocial and antisocial teammate behaviors predict task cohesion and burnout, and (b) positive and negative affect mediates these relationships. In total, 272 (Mage = 21.86, SD = 4.36) team-sport players completed a multisection questionnaire assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated that prosocial teammate behavior positively predicted task cohesion and negatively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by positive affect. The reverse pattern of relationships was observed for antisocial teammate behavior which negatively predicted task cohesion and positively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by negative affect. Our findings underscore the importance of promoting prosocial and reducing antisocial behaviors in sport and highlight the role of affect in explaining the identified relationships

Land Owner Characteristics and Perceptions in Northeast and Southeast Missouri: The Economic and Social Value of Flood Plain Agroforestry to Rural Development Projects

Agroforestry is a familiar land-use strategy in many areas of the tropics, where intensive management systems integrate trees, crops and livestock to maximize production on minimal acreage, mitigating the impacts of slash and burn agriculture. Agroforestry as a practice is slowly gaining recognition in the United States, where it is defined as “intensive land management that optimizes the benefits (physical, biological, economic and social) from biophysical interactions created when trees and/or shrubs are deliberately combined with crops and/or livestock” (Gold et al., 2000).The research project on social and economic benefits of agroforestry practices aims to identify how and when these practices can become an activity of the portfolio of choices that individuals and their families in rural areas pursue in their livelihood strategies. This study aims at understanding the characteristics of land owners that are not engaged in farming, and who may be interested in agroforestry practices.This work was funded through the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry under cooperative agreements 58-6227-1-004 with the ARS and C R 826704-01-2 with the US EPA. The results presented are the sole responsibility of the P.I. and/or MU and may not represent the policies or positions of the ARS or EPA

A review of Bayesian belief network models as decision-support tools for wetland conservation : are water birds potential umbrella taxa?

10 pagesCreative approaches to identifying umbrella species hold promise for devising effective surrogates of ecological communities or ecosystems. However, mechanistic niche models that predict range or habitat overlap among species may yet lack development. We reviewed literature on taxon-centered Bayesian belief network (BBN) models to explore a novel approach to identify umbrella taxa identifying taxonomic groups that share the largest proportion of habitat requirements (i.e., states of important habitat variables) with other wetland-dependent taxa. We reviewed and compiled published literature to provide a comprehensive and reproducible account of the current understanding of habitat requirements for freshwater, wetland-dependent taxa using BBNs. We found that wetland birds had the highest degree of shared habitat requirements with other taxa, and consequently may be suitable umbrella taxa in freshwater wetlands. Comparing habitat requirements using a BBN approach to build species distribution models, this review also identified taxa that may not benefit from conservation actions targeted at umbrella taxa by identifying taxa with unique habitat requirements not shared with umbrellas. Using a standard node set that accurately and comprehensively represents the ecosystem in question, BBNs could be designed to improve identification of umbrella taxa. In wetlands, expert knowledge about hydrology, geomorphology and soils could add important information regarding physical landscape characteristics relevant to species. Thus, a systems-oriented framework may improve overarching inferences from BBNs and subsequent utility to conservation planning and management.Postprin

Parent Motivational Climate, Sport Enrollment Motives, and Young Athlete Commitment and Enjoyment in Year-Round Swimming

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(5): 358-372, 2022. Parents are known to influence the athlete sport experience through motivational climates. Athletes’ perception of motivational climates and their own motives for sport participation influence enjoyment and long-term sport commitment. It is unknown, however, the extent parent motives for initially enrolling their child in a year-round sports program associate with children’s sport participation enjoyment and commitment. The purposes of this study were to (a) determine parent motives for enrolling their child (5-8 years) in year-round swimming and (b) explore the relationships of parent motives and motivational climates with child enjoyment and commitment. Parents (n = 40) completed questionnaires on enrollment motives and motivational climate, while children (n = 40) answered questions on enjoyment and commitment. Of the seven motives measured, parents enrolled children in swimming primarily for fitness benefits (M = 4.5, SD = .45) followed by skill mastery (M = 4.31, SD = .48) and fun (M = 4.10, SD = .51) reasons. Findings revealed the fitness motive was moderately, negatively correlated with the success-without-effort facet of a performance climate (r = -.50, p \u3c .01). The fun motive was moderately, positively associated with commitment (r = .43, p \u3c .01). Parent motives for enrolling their child in sport may impact the young child sport experience and long-term sport continuation via motivational climates, enjoyment, and commitment

Missouri Hunger Atlas 2010

According to the US Department of Agriculture, 15.8 percent of Missouri's nearly six million residents were food insecure in 2008. This suggests that 934,034 residents faced uncertainty in acquiring sufficient food for their household. Further, the USDA estimates that 5.8 percent of the population, or roughly 344,000 Missourians, had very low food security (formerly food insecure with hunger) in 2008, suggesting they experienced hunger. Trends in food insecurity and hunger are not positive ones for our state, as current averages for both measures have continuously increased over the first decade of this century. Public spending on hunger programs (e.g., SNAP/Food Stamps) totaled more than 1.4 billion dollars in 2008. The Missouri Hunger Atlas 2010is a collaborative effort of University of Missouri faculty to document, at the county-level, the breadth and extent of hunger need, and the performance of public and private programs in meeting that need