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Carroll L. Cordes

Publications and source records attributed to Carroll L. Cordes.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1997

Community involvement in a multimedia outreach project for Caddo Lake, Texas

Caddo Lake is located in northeast Texas and northwest Louisiana and is the largest freshwater lake in Texas. A portion of the lake in Texas has been designated a "Wetland of International Significance" under the Ramsar Convention of the United Nations. The human community in the watershed has experienced a number of hydrological alterations to Caddo Lake over the last 100 years by the Federal Government. Thus, many landowners in the area have become organized to protect Caddo Lake against what some view as harmful further alterations. In 1992, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for an initiative to conduct baseline studies of the natural resources of Caddo Lake in order to foster ecotourism and economic development in the surrounding counties. For the information gathering part of the initiative and in response to negative criticism of the Caddo Lake Initiative expressed at a public meeting, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wetlands Research Center invited public participation in developing a multimedia outreach system to improve the understanding of the natural resources at Caddo Lake and provide information about the studies. In the development of the outreach system we sought to strengthen working relationships with the State of Texas, local governments, and grassroots citizens groups. The outreach system consisted of an MS Windows-based interactive CD-ROM package that incorporated pictures, sound, animation, and video footage of the lake and the local culture. Public involvement in system development served as a catalyst for changing community perceptions about Federal and states studies at Caddo Lake and fostered community endorsement of the Caddo Lake Initiative.

Texas↗
USGS1993

Time-activity budget of Northern Pintails using nonhunted rice fields in southwest Louisiana (Presupuesto de actividades cotidianas por parte de individuos de anas acuta en campos de arroz no utilizados para cazar en el suroeste de Louisiana)

Monthly behavioral observations of Northern Pintails ( Anas acuta ) were conducted on five leased tracts of nonhunted private land, each including 60 ha of flooded rice fields, in southwest Louisiana during November-February 1988-1989. Pintails spent 52% of diurnal time resting, 21% feeding, 16% in comfort activities, 6% in locomotion, 4% courting and 1% in other behaviors. Activities differed among months and periods of the day. Pintails used nonhunted rice fields only during the day, departing after sunset. Pintail time budgets in Louisiana approximated those reported in California. Pintails using rice fields during the day, however, fed more than did those roosting on open water pools at Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Louisiana. Small (60 ha), nonhunted rice fields provided wintering Northern Pintails security plus food during the day. Desde noviembre a febrero de 1988-1989 hicimos observaciones mensuales de la conducta de individuos de Anas acuta en cinco localidades privadas y libres de cacería, del suroeste de Lousiana. Cada área incluyó un campo de arroz inundado de 60 hectáreas. Los patos emplearon el 52% del tiempo diurno para descansar, 21% para alimentarse, 16% para actividades de confort, 6% para locomoción, 4% para cortejo y 1% para otras actividades. Hubo diferencias en las actividades a través de los meses de estudio y períodos del día. Los patos utilizaron las áreas libres de cacería durante el período diurno y partieron de las mismas con la puesta del sol. El presupuesto de tiempo de las aves de Louisiana se aproximó a los informados en California para la especie. Sin embargo, los patos que utilizaron los campos de arroz se alimentaron más que los que descansaron en pozas del Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre de Lacassine. Los pequeños campos de arroz, libres de cacería, proveyeron a los patos invernales de lugares seguros y de alimentación durante el período diurno.

Louisiana↗
USGS1988

Habitat relationships of island nesting seabirds along Coastal Louisiana

Seabirds in the saline marsh of coastal Louisiana nest on the islands that are more isolated, smaller, have lower percentages of woody vegetation, and higher percentages of herbaceous vegetation and beach habitat. Only moderate variation in these habitat features was demonstrated among years of colonization. The factors causing these preferences appear to be protection from mammalian predators and presence of suitable nesting habitat. Forster's Terns colonized islands with a lower beach percentage than those colonized by Laughing Gulls or Black Skimmers due to interspecific differences in preferred nesting substrate. Nest site tenacity was weak in that the majority (57%) of colonies was active during only one of the three years of survey. Extreme nest site tenacity is probably selected against in these highly unstable wetlands. However, those islands colonized perennially were more geographically isolated and had higher percentages of beach cover. The relationship between seabird nesting abundance and the habitat variables was low, implying a lack of fine tuning of population numbers to habitat at a local scale. Numerous islands potentially suitable for colonization by seabirds may exist along coastal Louisiana. But the presence of alternative nesting islands may be required due to the ever changing nature of these saline marsh wetlands.

Louisiana↗