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Flora and vegetation of a 12-yr-old coal surface-mined area in Rockcastle County, Kentucky
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Selected Abstracts discussed in terms of the six sciemific/ecological criteria which MitcheU (1987) identified for the comparative evaluation of marine habitats and communities for nature conservation purposes. -from Authors 92Z/00041 An overview of conservation in South Africa and future perspectives U. de V. Pienaar, Koedoe, 34(1), 1991, pp 73-80. The history of environmental protection is briefly outlined before presenting figures on the land area designated as state-owned conservation areas. The c6% of total area comprises 17 national parks, Cape and Transvaal provincial nature reserves, Natal parks and reserves, and Orange Free State provincial nature reserves, most of which were established during the last 25 yr. A further 3% of the land has been set aside for conservation and multiple-use wildlife areas by private individuals or agencies. With reference to the five major terrestrial biomes of fynbos, forest, karoo, grassland and savanna, an attempt is made to assess the extent to which the conservation area system includes a true representation of these environments and their indigenous floras and faunas. Figures are presented for the proportional area of biomes under conservation status compared to their total area in South Africa; although the representation of many .groups of organisms is unexpectedly good, there are gaps m (eg) the representation of the large number of veld types. Turning to conservation measures, it is suggested that the present plan could be improved by descheduling areas which are mere duplicates of others, and putting more resources into conserving plant and animal associations that are underrepresented in the present system. -J.W.Cooper 92Z/00042 Earth, air, fire, water, oil and war F. Dipper & F. Pearce, BBC Wildlife, 9(3), 1991, pp 190-195. Investigates possible consequences of the Gulf oil slick and the fires from the burning oil wells in Kuwait. The first part discusses the effects of the oil slick on marine life and birds, noting how mangroves and underwater vegetation could be affected by oil and the reduction of light on the sea bed. If the oil reaches offshore islands coral reefs could suffer, while migrating birds and those that breed in the Gulf States may also be victims. The second part examines ossible implications of the oil-well fires for the greeenouse effect, the ozone levels in the atmosphere and at the ground, acid rain, and the shade factor relating to the dense smoke cover, and monsoon failure. -G.M.Sheail
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92Z/00043 Ripe plywood F. Pearce, BBC Wildlife, 9(1), 1991, pp 56-60. In August 1989 an earthquake hit the highlands of Irian Jaya. Survivors of the Hupla tribe were air-lifted to a lowland refugee camp. Many conservationists fear that the departure of the indigenous inhabitants from the interior will be followed by the disappearance of the highland vegetation, which, after the Amazon and Zaire basins, is the largest continuous tract of rain forest in the world. -G.M.Sheail
92Z/00044 Silvicultural research for sustained wood production and biosphere conservation in the pine plantations and native eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia R. O. Squire, D. W. Flinn & R. G. Campbell, FRI Bulletin - New Zealand Ministry o f Forestry, Forest Research Institute, 161, 1991, pp 3-28. Describes how the Department of Conservation and Environment in the State of Victoria is meeting the challenge for forested public land, addressing silvicultural research to sustain wood production in second and subsequent rotations of pine plantations, and to balance sustained wood production and ecosystem conservation in native forests. A serious irreversible decline is unlikely to be caused by pines in themselves. It is more likely to be caused by silvtcultural practices that compact the soft and, especially in the case of sandy soils, deplete soft organic matter. A reversible decline is mostly likely to be due to a water × nutrient interaction related to water consumption by weeds and nutrient losses from practices such as slashburning and litter harvesting. -from Authors
Restoration ecology 92Z/00045 Large-scale establishment of Ammophila arenaria and quantitative assessment by remote sensing W . H . Van der Putten & E. H. Kloosterman, Journal o f Coastal Research, 7(4), 1991, pp 1181-1194. New methods for establishment of marram grass (sowing seeds and disk-harrowing rhizomes) were compared with the traditional method (planting bundles of culms). After the first growing season, the planted culms had produced less biomass and percentage cover than stands established via the new methods. In the second growing season the traditional method was the most productive. During the first growing season >90% of the total area had been successfully by the new vegetation. Remote sensing could be used to assess above-ground biomass, percentage cover and heterogeneity of foredune vegetation. -from Authors 92Z/00046 Flora and vegetation of a 12-yr-old coal surface-mined area in Rockcastle County, Kentucky R.L. Thompson & G. L. Wade, Castanea, 56(2), 1991, pp 99-116. An annotated list of vascular plants comprised 272 specific and infraspecific taxa (220 indigenous, 52 nonindigenous) from 62 families. Hedoma hispidum, an endangered species in Kentucky, was present on the site. Vegetation consists of a complex mosaic of natural and semi-natural plant communities on unplanted and planted areas on the mined site. Flora and vegetation are a result of invading native and naturalized species, planted native and exotic species, mine softs characterisucs, and habitat diversity created by surface mining and reclamation in 1975. -from Authors
Selected Abstracts discussed in terms of the six sciemific/ecological criteria which MitcheU (1987) identified for the comparative evaluation of marine habitats and communities for nature conservation purposes. -from Authors 92Z/00041 An overview of conservation in South Africa and future perspectives U. de V. Pienaar, Koedoe, 34(1), 1991, pp 73-80. The history of environmental protection is briefly outlined before presenting figures on the land area designated as state-owned conservation areas. The c6% of total area comprises 17 national parks, Cape and Transvaal provincial nature reserves, Natal parks and reserves, and Orange Free State provincial nature reserves, most of which were established during the last 25 yr. A further 3% of the land has been set aside for conservation and multiple-use wildlife areas by private individuals or agencies. With reference to the five major terrestrial biomes of fynbos, forest, karoo, grassland and savanna, an attempt is made to assess the extent to which the conservation area system includes a true representation of these environments and their indigenous floras and faunas. Figures are presented for the proportional area of biomes under conservation status compared to their total area in South Africa; although the representation of many .groups of organisms is unexpectedly good, there are gaps m (eg) the representation of the large number of veld types. Turning to conservation measures, it is suggested that the present plan could be improved by descheduling areas which are mere duplicates of others, and putting more resources into conserving plant and animal associations that are underrepresented in the present system. -J.W.Cooper 92Z/00042 Earth, air, fire, water, oil and war F. Dipper & F. Pearce, BBC Wildlife, 9(3), 1991, pp 190-195. Investigates possible consequences of the Gulf oil slick and the fires from the burning oil wells in Kuwait. The first part discusses the effects of the oil slick on marine life and birds, noting how mangroves and underwater vegetation could be affected by oil and the reduction of light on the sea bed. If the oil reaches offshore islands coral reefs could suffer, while migrating birds and those that breed in the Gulf States may also be victims. The second part examines ossible implications of the oil-well fires for the greeenouse effect, the ozone levels in the atmosphere and at the ground, acid rain, and the shade factor relating to the dense smoke cover, and monsoon failure. -G.M.Sheail
~
92Z/00043 Ripe plywood F. Pearce, BBC Wildlife, 9(1), 1991, pp 56-60. In August 1989 an earthquake hit the highlands of Irian Jaya. Survivors of the Hupla tribe were air-lifted to a lowland refugee camp. Many conservationists fear that the departure of the indigenous inhabitants from the interior will be followed by the disappearance of the highland vegetation, which, after the Amazon and Zaire basins, is the largest continuous tract of rain forest in the world. -G.M.Sheail
92Z/00044 Silvicultural research for sustained wood production and biosphere conservation in the pine plantations and native eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia R. O. Squire, D. W. Flinn & R. G. Campbell, FRI Bulletin - New Zealand Ministry o f Forestry, Forest Research Institute, 161, 1991, pp 3-28. Describes how the Department of Conservation and Environment in the State of Victoria is meeting the challenge for forested public land, addressing silvicultural research to sustain wood production in second and subsequent rotations of pine plantations, and to balance sustained wood production and ecosystem conservation in native forests. A serious irreversible decline is unlikely to be caused by pines in themselves. It is more likely to be caused by silvtcultural practices that compact the soft and, especially in the case of sandy soils, deplete soft organic matter. A reversible decline is mostly likely to be due to a water × nutrient interaction related to water consumption by weeds and nutrient losses from practices such as slashburning and litter harvesting. -from Authors
Restoration ecology 92Z/00045 Large-scale establishment of Ammophila arenaria and quantitative assessment by remote sensing W . H . Van der Putten & E. H. Kloosterman, Journal o f Coastal Research, 7(4), 1991, pp 1181-1194. New methods for establishment of marram grass (sowing seeds and disk-harrowing rhizomes) were compared with the traditional method (planting bundles of culms). After the first growing season, the planted culms had produced less biomass and percentage cover than stands established via the new methods. In the second growing season the traditional method was the most productive. During the first growing season >90% of the total area had been successfully by the new vegetation. Remote sensing could be used to assess above-ground biomass, percentage cover and heterogeneity of foredune vegetation. -from Authors 92Z/00046 Flora and vegetation of a 12-yr-old coal surface-mined area in Rockcastle County, Kentucky R.L. Thompson & G. L. Wade, Castanea, 56(2), 1991, pp 99-116. An annotated list of vascular plants comprised 272 specific and infraspecific taxa (220 indigenous, 52 nonindigenous) from 62 families. Hedoma hispidum, an endangered species in Kentucky, was present on the site. Vegetation consists of a complex mosaic of natural and semi-natural plant communities on unplanted and planted areas on the mined site. Flora and vegetation are a result of invading native and naturalized species, planted native and exotic species, mine softs characterisucs, and habitat diversity created by surface mining and reclamation in 1975. -from Authors