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Species conservation has traditionally been based on individual species within the context of their requisite habitat, which is generally defined as the communities and ecosystems deemed necessary for their persistence. Conservation decisions are hampered by the fact that environmental stressors that potentially threaten the persistence of species can operate at organizational levels larger than the habitat or home range of a focal species. Resource managers must therefore simultaneously consider local, regional, and/or global scale stressors for effective conservation and management of...

Managers in southern Nevada are challenged with determining appropriate goals and objectives and developing viable approaches for maintaining and restoring sustainable ecosystems in a time of rapid socio-ecological and environmental change. Sustainable or “healthy” ecosystems supply clean air, water and habitat for a diverse array of plants and animals. As described in Chapter 1, sustainable ecosystems retain characteristic processes like hydrologic flux and storage, geomorphic processes, biogeochemical cycling and storage, biological activity and productivity, and population regeneration...

Southern Nevada is rich in irreplaceable cultural resources that include archeological remains, historic sites, cultural landscapes, and other areas of significance to Native Americans and other cultural groups. The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) seeks to provide for responsible use of Southern Nevada’s lands in a manner that preserves heritage resources and promotes an understanding of human interaction with the landscape. This chapter addresses Sub-goal 2.1 in the SNAP Science Research Strategy which is to develop an understanding of human interactions with the environment...

Southern Nevada’s cultural resources (heritage resources) include archeological remains, sacred sites, historic sites, and cultural landscapes of significance to Native Americans and many other groups. Locating, maintaining, and protecting these special places are part of the mandate of Nevada’s Federal and state agencies. This chapter addresses Sub-goal 2.2 in the SNAP Science Research Strategy, which is to preserve these resources through responsible use of southern Nevada’s lands (table 1.3; Turner and others 2009). It explores non-destructive means of identifying, recording, and...

Providing for appropriate, diverse, and high quality recreational use of southern Nevada’s lands and ensuring responsible visitor use is an ongoing challenge for the Federal agencies that manage the majority of the area (fig. 1.1). Over 87 percent (61,548,000 acres out of Nevada’s 70,275,000) of Nevada’s lands are administered by the Federal government, which is the highest percentage in the nation (DeLoney 2004). Some of the largest values are for the counties of southern Nevada. The amount of Federal land in Clark, Lincoln, and Nye Counties estimated from the Nevada State Library and...

Landmark legislation provides guiding principles for land management planning in southern Nevada and the rest of the United States. Such legislation includes, but is not limited to, the Forest Service Organic Administration Act of 1897 (16 U.S.C. 473-478, 479-482 and 551), National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 (U.S.C. Title 16, Secs. 1-4), Wilderness Act 1964 (P.L.88-577), National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L 91-190), Endangered Species Act of 1973 (P.L. 91-205), National Forest Management Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-588), and Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (P.L....

Nationwide, county-level supply curves have been estimated for forest-based biomass to evaluate their potential contributions to producing biofuels. This study builds on the estimates of potential supply in the Billion Ton Supply study prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. Forest biomass sources include logging residue, thinnings, other removals, unused mill residue, urban wood waste, and conventionally sourced wood (pulpwood size material). To make the estimates, we assume that lower cost forest biomass will be supplied from integrated harvesting...

How species diversity relates to productivity remains a major debate. To date, however, the underlying mechanisms that regulate the ecological processes involved are still poorly understood. Three major issues persist in early efforts at resolution. First, in the context that productivity drives species diversity, how the pathways operate is poorly-explained. Second, productivity per se varies with community or ecosystem maturity. If diversity indeed drives productivity, the criterion of choosing appropriate measures for productivity is not available. Third, spatial scaling suggests that...

Southern Nevada is characterized by an arid to semi-arid environment with numerous cultural resources and a high level of biological diversity. Since 1980, the human population of the region has increased at unprecedented rates largely due to the expansion of suburban areas (Hughson 2009). The various human activities associated with this growth and the interactions of those activities with the generally dry and highly variable climate result in numerous stresses to ecosystems, species, and cultural resources. In addition, climate models predict that the rate of temperature increase and,...

Key Issues Continued investment in clean energy, including energy efficiency and clean energy supply options, including for transportation. Maintenance of carbon sinks in the face of development pressures.