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Appendix 1- An Outline for a Wildlife Management Area Study

The area, known as Havens Wildlife Management Area, is managed by the Virginia Commission of Game in Inland Fisheries. It is located north of Salem, Virginia, in Roanoke County at an elevation of about 2,500 feet (762 m). It extends over approximately 7,000 acres (2800 ha) of mountain land, with one main ridge and slopes about equally divided between northwest- and southeast-facing. The vegetative cover is largely mixed oak-hickory forest with patches of pitch and table mountain pine on southwest slopes.

The Havens project is planned as a comprehensive analysis of a state-owned wildlife area. It is to be conducted primarily by R.H. Giles, using whatever assistance can be obtained from other sources, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, Commission staff, and volunteer hunters, anglers, and others.

The objectives of the project are educational and research. The educational objectives are:

  1. To develop a training area in forest and wildlife ecology for many types of students.
  2. To provide for Giles an opportunity for intensive and direct study of forest systems analysis and management.
  3. To provide the source for a comprehensive book that is descriptive of the area and its management as a reference for similar areas.

The research objectives are:

  1. To develop computer systems useful in optimizing resource systems on a similar, state-owned wildlife areas in Virginia and other states.
  2. To describe the structure and dynamics of the ecology of the area, particularly as related to wildlife.

The project is nested in several concepts. One is that it is intended to be a long-term study, continuing to approximately 2010. The few long-term ecosystem studies that have been conducted and the special value of them have been written about extensively. Another aspect of the project is the desire to re-examine old questions and test some well-established practices that are lacking in research support. There is also the intention to test and determine the validity and accuracy of databases used by agencies, and to expand or suggest revisions to them where appropriate. A comprehensive book has been begun about the area (outline attached). A series of papers is also planned. These will report on reviews and studies conducted on the area and the questions stimulated by the work there.

The area has been selected because it is on state-owned land and, thus, studies on it are not likely to be disrupted. It can be readily accessed by students and visitors for significant educational and extension work. Public access to the area is limited by locked gates, an advantage when disturbances of research apparatus is considered. The area is believed to be representative of many thousands of hectares of forests and wildlife habitats through the region.

Encouragement, advice, financial support, and volunteer assistance on planned sub-projects are sought and welcome.

HAVENS: Comprehensive Analysis and Design of a State-Owned Wildlife Management Area

Part 1. Systems Design

  1. Overview and Perspectives
    1. Space
      • Conceptual
      • Physical
    2. Time
    3. Phenology
    4. Analytical Positions and Perspectives
      • Energetics
      • Watersheds
      • Esthetic Object
      • Research Question
      • General System Theory
      • Land Health
    5. Use and Users' Objectives
      • Positive
      • Negative (Vandalism, Arson, etc.)
  2. Systems Ecology
    • Systems Analysis
    • Game Theory
    • Bayesian Topics
    • Catastrophy Theory
    • Simulation
    • Optimization

Part 2. Basic Description and Objective Function

  1. Location
  2. Ownership and Access
  3. Time
    • Geological History - Refer to Part 3.1
    • History - Indians
    • History - Colonial
    • History - Recent
    • Planning Periods
  4. Valuation
  5. Taxation
  6. Risk
    • Fire (see Lightning below)
    • Insect and Disease
    • Noise
    • Poaching
    • Enforcement
    • Ecology of War
  7. Objective Functions
    • Influence in Systems Design
    • Simulation
    • Species Composition
    • Organization Influence
    • Probability of Satisfying a Population
  8. Artificial Intelligence and Guidance Systems
  9. Automated Ecosystems
  10. Information Systems
  11. The Noosphere

Part 3. The Lithosphere

  1. Geology
    • Continental Drift
    • Paleoecology
    • Caves
    • The Area and Boundaries
  2. Geomorphology
    • Forces
    • Elevation
    • Slope and Aspects
    • Rock Outcroppings
    • Rock Weathering
  3. Soils
    • Maps
    • Texture - Bulk Density
    • Temperatures
    • Erosion
    • Geotextiles
    • Sedimentation Rates
  4. Minerals and Mineral Cycles
  5. Radioactivity
  6. Gravity
  7. Magnetism
  8. Seismic Action
  9. Groundwater and Wells
  10. Streams
  11. Ponds and Waterholes
  12. Perculation
  13. Watersheds
  14. Tidal Forces

Part 4. The Atmosphere

  1. Paleoclimates
  2. Solar
    • Shadows
    • Albedo
    • Aspect Types and Relations
    • Forest Light
  3. Lunar Forces
  4. Climate
  5. Precipitation
    • Models and Factors
    • Rain
    • Acid Rain
    • Corrosion
    • Lead Shadow
    • Snow
    • Bioprecipitation
    • Sleet and Hail
    • Barometric Pressure
  6. Evapotranspiration
  7. Temperature
    • Frost
    • Degree Days
    • Holdridge Concepts
    • Climatographs
  8. Wind and Tornadoes
  9. Lightning and Fires
  10. Nitrogen in Ecosystems
  11. Visual Analyses

Part 5. The Biosphere

  1. Habitat Analysis
    • Food
    • Cover
    • Space
    • Information
    • Richness
    • Diversity
  2. Vegetation
    • Lichen, Mosses, and Mushrooms
    • Fern and Fern Allies
    • Grasses and Forbs
    • Plant checklists and state data
    • Shrubs(e.g., Dogwood,Ilex)
    • Mycorrhizae
    • Trees(e.g., Black Locust,Hemlocks, Sugar Maple)
    • Cavities
  3. Endangered Plant and Fragile Ecosystems
  4. Site Index
  5. Succession
  6. Forestry (to be expanded)
    • Species of trees and silvics (see above)
    • Silviculture
    • Fertilization
    • Biomass and carbon storage
    • Herbicides
  7. Trails
  8. Roads
  9. A Sugarbush (Maple Sugar System)
  10. Communities
    • SAF Types
    • Stands and Other Groups
    • CFI
    • An Experimental Bog
    • Litterbags
  11. Seeds and Dispersion
  12. Mast
  13. Turkeys
  14. Snails
  15. Invertebrates
    • Earthworm
    • Mites and Microarthropods
    • Millipedes
    • Spiders
    • Insects of the Area
    • Bees
    • Ants
    • Butterflies and Moths
    • Gypsy Moth
    • Crayfish
  16. Vertebrates
    • Salamanders
    • Snakes and Lizards
    • Box Turtle
    • Fish
    • Birds
    • Grouse
    • Sapsucker
    • Raptors
    • Blinds
    • Deer
    • Antlers and Calcium
    • Dogs
    • Bears
    • Raccoon
    • Bobcat
    • Groundhog
    • Squirrel
    • Bats
    • Small Mammals
    • State Wildlife Database
    • Bait Studies
  17. Population Estimations
  18. Home Range
  19. Scent Post Indices
  20. Feces and Hair
  21. Spatial Analyses
    • Edge
    • Interspersion
  22. Carrying Capacity
  23. Rasking

Part 6. Feedforward

Part 7. Discussion

Part 8. Conclusions

Part 9. Appendices

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Last revision September 13, 2000