scholarly journals Debris flows and landslides resulting from the June 27, 1995, storm on the North Fork of the Moormons River, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.A. Morgan ◽  
G.F. Wieczorek
Author(s):  
George Montopoli ◽  
Nick Visser ◽  
Hank Harlow

In 1994 and 1995, a high abundant winter snowfall at higher elevations appeared to result in long distance movement patterns by yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) over snow to lower, snowfree elevations where food was more available. As the snow melted and food became abundant, the marmots return to higher altitudes. In 1996, we continued to investigate the potential for migrational movements, by studying two study sites at different elevations in the North Fork of Cascade Canyon. Four marmots at each site were implanted with intraperitoneal tracking transmitters. Of eight marmots that were equipped with intraperitoneal transmitters, six demonstrated significant movements of greater than 0.5 km, one did not, and one most likely died as a result of predation before any movement could be observed. Of the six that demonstrated significant movements within the canyon, only one moved distances greater than 1 km. Marmots, after emerging from hibernation, migrated down canyon to snowfree areas as they become available. With progressive snow melt, most marmots move upward to higher elevations, but not to the extent originally expected. Instead, they moved to the first available habitat where food was obtainable, and other (dominant) marmots accepted their presence. This movement is exhibited in both males and females, yearlings and adults, and melanistic and normal colored marmots.


2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (8) ◽  
pp. 727-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Eisenberg ◽  
David E. Hibbs ◽  
William J. Ripple ◽  
Hal Salwasser

To assess the relationship between predation risk perceived by elk (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) as evidenced by vigilance, we conducted focal animal observations in elk winter range. We stratified our observations in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, and Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada, in valleys with three wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) population levels (Saint Mary Valley: no wolf; Waterton Valley: moderate wolf; North Fork Valley: high wolf). Although the lowest elk vigilance occurred in Saint Mary and the highest in the North Fork, our analysis revealed a complex picture. Our model included distance to forest edge, group size, distance to road, social class, and impediments to detecting and escaping wolves. In Saint Mary, none of the variables were significant. In Waterton, vigilance decreased as elk group size increased (p < 0.00001) and increased as impediments increased (p = 0.0005). In the North Fork, vigilance increased as group size increased (p = 0.03), bulls were more vigilant (p = 0.02), and the interaction between group size and impediments was significant (p = 0.03). Where a high wolf population existed, elk did not exhibit uniform or expected response to predation risk factors. High wolf presence may necessitate adaptive elk behaviour that differs from response to moderate wolf presence.


1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 1711-1720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Barrett ◽  
Stephen F. Arno ◽  
Carl H. Key

We conducted a detailed investigation of fire frequencies, patterns of fire spread, and the effects of fire on tree succession in the western larch – lodgepole pine (Larixoccidentalis – Pinuscontorta var. latifolia) forests west of the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, Montana. Master fire chronologies for 1650 to the present were constructed based on tree fire scars and fire-initiated age-classes. Two kinds of primeval fire regimes were identified: (i) a mixed-severity regime ranging from nonlethal underburns to stand-replacing fires at mean intervals of 25–75 years and (ii) a regime of infrequent stand-replacing fires at mean intervals of 140–340 years. The former regime is characteristic of the North Fork Flathead valley and appears to be linked to a relatively dry climate and gentler topography compared with the McDonald Creek – Apgar Mountains and Middle Fork Flathead areas, where the latter fire regime predominates. Fire frequency in the entire North Fork study area was 20 fire years per century prior to 1935 and 2 per century after 1935. In the other two study areas it was 3–5 per century both before and after 1935. We suggest that fire suppression has altered the primeval fire regime in the North Fork, but not in the central and southern areas.


Author(s):  
C. Marcum ◽  
Daniel Pletscher ◽  
Michael Bureau

The overall objective of this two-year investigation is to study gray wolf (Canis lupus): ungulate interrelationships in a multi-prey system. This study focuses on elk (Cervus elaphus), and is being conducted in the North Fork of the Flathead River drainage, in Montana and British Columbia, the main area of grey wolf recovery.We address questions that resource managers will be asked as wolf recovery occurs. From a National Park Service perspective, the results could be used to educate the public about the role of predation in natural systems. Glacier National Park has the opportunity to lead the way in conducting research on this keystone predator and its prey, and to demonstrate the role biosphere reserves can play in ecological research. Information that will be important for future informed resource management is being gathered. Management of public lands might require a balance accommodation between wolves, their prey, and sport hunting, along with other forms of recreation. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks needs information on the impacts of wolves on game populations in order to maintain numbers and recreational opportunities. As reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park is considered and debated, knowledge gained from this study will be helpful. Finally, this study can expand ecological knowledge of the role of a major predator on the prey population dynamics and interrelationships. To expand knowledge of the study area prey base available to wolves, these specific parameters will be addressed: 1. Age and cause-specific mortality of elk. 2. Seasonal distribution and key elk seasonal use areas. 3. Age, sex distribution/composition of the elk population. 4. Long-term elk abundance and distribution monitoring plan.


Author(s):  
Catherine Raley ◽  
Wayne Hubert ◽  
Stanley Anderson

At least 56 external threats which endanger the ecology of Glacier National Park (GNP) have been identified (National Park Service 1980). And while this is a park wide situation, Park managers have identified the North Fork Basin of the Flathead River as a region that is particularly sensitive to external land use activities, and as a unique unit within the Park. This area possesses substantial wilderness features (solitude, primitiveness), and provides habitat for threatened and endangered species such as the grizzly bear, gray wolf, and bald eagle, as well as other species of special interest like the westslope cutthroat and bull trout. We proposed a problem solving analysis to develop a cause and effect model for evaluating the impacts of external land use activities on the North Fork system within GNP. The cause and effect model would provide a qualitative assessment of the impacts on the natural resources of the Park, as well as on recreational quality. The specific objectives of this project were: 1. Identify the problem that exists in the North Fork region; 2. Identify the causes and effects of the environmental problem; 3. Identify tasks to help solve the problem; and 4. Provide a methodology which could be used to help organize and solve problems that the involved agencies might encounter.


Author(s):  
C. Marcum ◽  
Daniel Pletscher ◽  
John Weigand ◽  
Bruce McLellan

The overall objective of this research is to study gray wolf (Canis lupus) ungulate interrelationships in a multi-prey system. This study will focus on elk (Cervus elaphus); others will focus on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virqinianus) and moose (Alces alces). The study is being conducted in the North Fork of the Flathead River drainage, in Montana and British Columbia, Canada. Work will be concentrated on the western side of Glacier National Park, the main area of wolf recovery.


1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1627-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne D. Koterba ◽  
James R. Habeck

A series of 40 grassland communities occurring in the North Fork Valley in Glacier National Park was subjected to detailed phytosociological investigation. These grasslands are somewhat phytogeographically isolated from other northern Rocky Mountain grasslands in Washington, Idaho, and Montana in the United States, and from the Alberta fescue grasslands in Canada. Compositionally, the North Fork grasslands display features characteristic of grassland vegetation on both the west and east sides of the Continental Divide. The four major grass species achieving dominance in the North Fork Valley are Agropyron spicatum, Festuca idahoensis, Festuca scabrella, and Danthonia intermedia. Environmental factors possibly important in the distribution, composition, and maintenance of these grasslands are discussed.


1954 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waldo R. Wedel

In the late summer of 1952, as the author was breaking camp at conclusion of the Smithsonian-Princeton field investigations at the Horner site, near Cody, Wyoming, a large earthenware vessel was brought to him for examination. According to its owner, Mr. Don Marquess, the vessel had recently been found “ … under an overhanging rock near Goff Creek Lodge, which is located 43 miles from Cody, Wyoming, on the North Fork of the Shoshoni River, 10 miles from the East gate to Yellowstone National Park. The ledge of rock under which it was found is on the bank of Goff Creek, a mountain stream which runs through the camp and empties into the Shoshoni River. The bottom [of the pot] was protruding slightly from the surface of the ground. The rocks under which it was buried are of a flat nature of various sizes …” (Marquess to Wedel, letter of October 31, 1952).


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