Control livestock insects without pesticides thus preventing pollution of water, soil, and food. Develop improved methods for preventing and controlling parasitic diseases of livestock. Develop large-scale fermentation process for spore production at a cost less than $0.50 per 1013 spores. Preventing, controlling or correcting environmental degradation caused by natural resource management and utilization and natural phenomona, Develop methods for predicting effects of alternative land treatment, water harvest, and watershed protection measures upon streamflow and ground water supply. Methods of converting vegetational cover of low productivity to range for livestock and wildlife. Methods of converting vegetative cover of shrubs and small trees to grass in an attempt to increase water yield. Methods of converting vegetatial cover of low productivity to range for livestock and wildlife. Methods for reduction of amounts of forest fuels through control of vegetative cover. Quality standards and processes to use low-grade hardwood to be converted to high productivity forests. Mechanical systems to aid regeneration following type conversion. Determine costs and benefits of programs for modifications of vegetation and land use to enhance water supplies. Develop methods of cutting to maintain vigorous, thirfty forests, to provide site protection, to assure prompt regeneration of desirable species, and to retain desirable appearance. Economics of managing forests for multiple uses. Methods and programs for the prevention of the occurrence of fires in forests and related lands. Protect and conserve forests and the quality of the forest environment by controlling organizms causing decays, stains, cankers, rusts, dwarf mistletoes, etc. Reduce growth loss and tree mortality resulting from the activities of bark beetles, weevils, and defoliating insects. Methods to increase water yield through manipulation of vegetation. Methods to improve the appearance and productivity of rangelands grazed by livestock. Aerial logging systems, and sytems for logging steep unstable and inaccessible sites and for harvesting scattered small timber. Develop systems for removing bark from wood chips to enable in-the-woods chipping and utilization of more of the tree including tops, branches, roots, small trees and culls. Establishing and managing shelterbelts to protect man, crops, and animals from climatic and other environmental extremes. Determine economic opportunities for intensifying forest management on different classes of forest ownerships. Improving and managing recreation resources. Determine leisure time activities of a cross section of the population, recreational benefits from multipurpose resource development, legal and administrative basis for policy on user fees, and management practices for conservation and maximum enjoyment of outdoor recreation resources. Supply and demand of outdoor recreation, assess recreation planning in rural areas, identify and measure benefits from investment in recreation. Study the dying back and general decline of forest trees to determine their role in relation to overall environmental stress in the forest. Continue investigations of dying and dead tree hazards to human health and personal property and methods to reduce these hazards. Methods to improve the management, use, human benefits, and landscape beauty of forest environments for all recreation interests. Reduce growth loss and tree mortality resulting from the activities of defoliators, needle miners, and bark beetles affecting trees in recreation areas. Fisheries and wildlife conservation and enhancement. Develop a broad basis of data to assist in wise management decisions. Furnish a supply of wildlife and fish that satisfies increasing demand on a diminishing land base. Satisfy habitat demands of wildlife and fish without, diminishing supply of trees for commercial harvesting. Methods to preserve and enhance aquatic habitats in rivers and lakes in forested regions. Methods to enhance the productivity, of rangelands for game and nongame wildlife. Methods to improve habitats for game and nongame wildlife. Systems for logging and road building that prevent siltation of fisheries. Methods to prevent and suppress forest fires that damage habitats for wildlife and fish, and methods of using fire to improve habitat for wildlife. Investigate the biology and possibilities for control of rusts and other diseases of browse plants and determine the organisms and conditions that adversely affect wildlife habitat. Reduce growth loss and mortality of hardwoods, woody plants and lesser plants producing browse and mast for wildlife. Develop knowledge of the physiology, genetics, breeding and adaptability of commercially important plants; varieties resistant to diseases and insect pests adapted to urban environments; more attractive flowers and plants with better keeping qualities; and more precise control of growth and timing of ornamentals to meet specific market demands. Develop more efficient handling procedures for ornamentals, shrubs and flowers. Develop superior varieties of turf, and trees. Study the associated disease and insect complexes. Improve methods for propagation, culture and care of ornamentals, turf and trees. Cutting systems, breeding trees for amenity values. Methods for preventing and suppressing fires that mar natural beauty of forests and related lands. Reduce growth loss, tree deformity and mortality resulting from the activities of defoliators, bark beetles, aphids, and scales affecting trees growing on roadsides, vista areas, and shelterbelts. Develop new and improved controls for disease of roadside trees, trees in shelterbelt plantings, and trees in greenbelt areas around urban and suburban concentrations. Improving community environments. Methods for culturing trees in urban areas, breeding varieties adapted to urban conditions. Methods for manipulating vegetation to suppress noise in urban areas. More effective use of wood construction materials and increased serviceability of wood in use. Determine the fundamental biology of decay in lumber and related wood products and develop means of preventing or controlling deterioration of wood used for construction purposes. Reduce growth loss and tree mortality of shade trees and reduce damage to wood products caused by termites. Conduct studies of urban growth as it affects rural areas; develop methods for identifying lands of critical environmental importance; assess housing situations and needs in rural communities. Methods to improve wildlife habitat in urban areas and to increase wildlife visibility for urban dwellers. Methods to improve use and human benefits of forest environment in urban areas. Weather Modification Methods and devices to increase snow accumulation. Development of cloud seeding technology for suppressing lightning storms that produce forest fires. Environmental Measurement, Observation and Prediction Activities for the Purpose of Describing and Predicting Weather Compile and interpret macro and micro climatological and phenological information with respect to its application to agriculture and to prepare regional summaries of these data. Aid in the coordination; standardization and assembling of data recorded and reported by various institutions and government agencies so that similar studies may follow the same pattern and be amenable to regional summarizations and interpretation. Methods for measuring, observing and predicting the weather in relation to fire danger and fire behavior. Survey Activities for Locating and Describing Natural Resources Develop remote sensing techniques for measuring surface soil moisture and nutrient levels; identifying soil and land use patterns; detecting soil and water salinity and plant stress effects. Establish baseline data for forest and range resources to employ for assessing change regardless of the causative agency. Develop rapid and accurate techniques for data reduction and computer analysis. Develop techniques for satellite sensing and high altitude aerial photography for survey. Ascertain relationships between soil properties and suitability for nonagricultural uses. Examine and evaluate the potential of agricultural remote sensing for the improvement of agricultural and forestry programs which depend upon the rapid accumulation, analysis, and application of information on crops, forests, soils, and water conditions. Inventory and appraisal of land and water resources, evaluate alternative means of conserving resource value of water in agriculture and competing uses, evaluate alternative means for conserving and developing land, demand for agricultural and urban use of land. Methods for measuring and describing trees and forest environment. Remote sensing to determine moisture status of wildlands and extent of snow accumulation. Remote sensing and direct methods for surveying vegetation on rangelands to detemine its productivity conditions. Methods for locating and describing combustible fuels on forests and related lands. Develop new and improved survey, detection, and appraisal methods for disease of trees and forest stands. Characterizing and identifying wood resources. Determine present and prospective supplies of timber from areas available for commercial forest use. Detect the presence of destructive insects and describe the extent of damage they cause using remote sensing and ground survey techniques. Ecology and Related Studies Research in cooperation with the International Biological Programs using a multidisciplinary approach to problems in grassland management, improving the grazing capacity of rangeland and the aerobiology of plant disease organisms. The objective is to integrate study throughout the world of the biological basis of productivity and human welfare. Ecology of native and introduced rangeland grasses, forage and brush. Determine stability of forest ecologies subjected to pressure of recreational use. Broaden the base of knowledge by including study of forest ecologies that are classed as non-commercial. Determine physiological mechanisms that cause ecological changes. Acquire a more complete knowledge of range and wildland ecosystems. To increase capability of such land for multiple usage including wildlife, recreation, watershed values and livestock production without deterioration of the resource. Silviculture of more than 40 forest types, pioneering research on tree growth, and development of forest floor. Role of fire in establishing the ecology of forest and range types. Clarify the ecological relationships among soil microorganisms and between these and forest trees for prevention and control of diseases and the encouragement of beneficial organisms. Ecology essential to the rehabilitation of eroded land. Reduce growth loss and tree mortality through a better understanding of the life histories, ecology, and population dynamics of forest insects. Environmental conditions related to wood formation. Ecology of more than 25 range types. 64-737-71-pt. 2- -3 Population Distribution Size, distribution, composition, and changes of farm and rural population; volume, direction, and composition of migration between rural and urban areas. Safe Water and Food for Human Consumption Research on pesticide metabolism, excretion of pesticides or other metabolites, and deposition of residues in food products. Research on toxin producing molds including occurrence of mycotoxins; investigate their nutritional, biochemical, physiological and pathological effects; research studies to destroy mycotoxins and prevent development of molds in processed peanuts, cottonseed and their food and feed products; off-farm handling, curing and storage practices related to the development of mycotoxins in stored agricultural products. Study the fate of insecticides and the control of insects by physical and biological methods. Study the control of microbiological, physical and chemical deterioration of food and food products. Improve methods for control and eliminate infections of salmonella from poultry, poultry products, milk and dairy products and other agricultural commodities. Identify residues in foods whose chronic intake at low levels alters the nutrient requirements of humans and adjust dietary recommendations accordingly. Identify which individuals consuming pesticides would benefit from altered dietary recommendations. Research to determine the environmental and genetic factors controlling the production and stability of staphylococcal enterotoxins in meat and meat products: develop standardized methods for detection and enumeration of microorganisms in foods; determine source and magnitude of microbial contamination in processing frozen vegetables and evaluate the influence of new processing methods on microbial contamination. Reduce use of antibiotics and other chemicals in treatment of mastitis and thereby reduce the resulting residue in milk. Reduce foodborne diseases by eliminating Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Clostridia, viruses and molds from food products. Determine the occurrance, deposition, and metabolism of pesticide residues by animals to reduce pesticide residue levels in animal feeds, animals, and animal products. Study the metabolism of pesticide residues by plants and microorganisms as factors in modifying residue levels in food chains and in the environment. Investigate physical factors involved in the degradation, and persistence of pesticides. Methods of managing vegetation and soils on municipal watersheds to augment flows of high quality water. QUESTION 4(b). What proportion of this work would you consider "basic" research, defined as research producing fundamental, theoretical knowledge which was not sought for immediate problem-solving purposes? What proportion is devoted to technology development? To technology assessment? Research supported by USDA is about 35 percent basic, and 65 percent applied (technology development). About 10 percent of all of the research is devoted to technology assessment. QUESTION 5. List your current research projects on ecosystem structure and function, if any. There are literally hundreds of specific projects which are related to the subject question. We have classified these into seven broad areas as per the list below: (1) Preventing, controlling or correcting environmental degradation caused by natural resource exploitation or other activities. (2) Enhancing the environment through "natural beauty", such as highway beautification activities. (3) Large scale environmental modifications such as range management research. (4) Understanding and predicting the environment through research and development on the use of remote sensing for determining soil and plant characteristics and through intensive ecological study of a grasslands area as a part of the International Biological Program. (5) Providing safe water and food for human consumption. Effort includes research on pesticides, toxic molds, food bacteria, food residues and chemicals in foods. (6) Control and abatement of agricultural-related pollution. Research is related to pollution of air, water, and land, and pollutants in or on animals, and plants. (7) Avoidance of the use of pesticides. Research includes that related to nonchemical methods of pest control, plant breeding for insect and disease control, and biological control methods such as the use of sterile insects. COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH SERVICE Research or Ecosystem Structure and Function Determine stability of forest ecologies subjected to pressure of recreational use. Broaden the base of knowledge by including study of forest ecologies that are classed as non-commercial. Determine physiological mechanisms that cause ecological changes. Acquire a more complete knowledge of range and wildland ecosystems. Increase capability of such land for multiple usage including wildlife recreation, watershed values and livestock production without deterioration of the resource. Assess the impact on rural communities of urbanization policies. Acquire a knowledge of the process of adjustment to the natural environment among in-migrant populations. USDA FOREST SERVICE Current Research Programs on Ecosystem Structure and Functioning (1) Silvical requirements, distribution, and successional trends of forest tree species. (2) Productivity of forest ecosystems. (3) Biometeorological relationships in forest and range ecosystems. (4) Nutrient cycling in forest and range ecosystems. (5) Study of terrestrial-aquatic interfaces in northern conifer forests. (6) Role of soil fauna in decomposition of forest floor. (7) Ecological subdivisions of forest types as a basis for management. (8) Effects of radiation in forest ecosystems. (9) Ecological requirements, distribution, and successional trends of range plant species. (10) Remote sensing techniques for study of range ecosystems. (11) Classification and description of western range ecosystems. (12) Use of trees to modify grassland environments. (13) Feeding habits of vertebrate herbivores. (14) Structure and functioning of tropical forest ecosystems. (15) Ecology of Alaska forests and tundra. (16) Effects of fire on forest and range ecosystems. (17) Ecology, natural enemies, host relations and population dynamics of important forest insects. (18) Remote sensing techniques for study of occurrence, spread, decline and impacts of forest insect and disease outbreaks. (19) Improvement of the urban environment through tree culture. (20) Biology, ecology, and control of forest insects and diseases in urban ecosystems. List of research topics SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE Chemistry, physics, and mineralogy of named kinds of soils. Soil-plant-animal nutrition relations. Interrelationships of soil genetic factors that produce specific kinds of soil. Bearing capacity of different kinds of soil. Capacity of different kinds of soil to absorb wastes. QUESTION 6. How much of your environmental research is conducted at your own facilities? How much is done by contract to other institutions? Please indicate the proportion of contract work assigned to each of various types of institutions (university, independent research firm, industry, etc.) |