Ecological Studies Related to the Construction of the Defense Waste Processing Facility on the Savannah River Site. Annual Report, FY-1994 and FY-1995

Download or read book Ecological Studies Related to the Construction of the Defense Waste Processing Facility on the Savannah River Site. Annual Report, FY-1994 and FY-1995 written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory initiated ecological studies related to the construction of the DWPF on the SRS in FY-1979. Two areas have been used for biological surveys and long-term monitoring: the DWPF construction site (S-Area and Z-Area), and two control sites (Rainbow Bay and Tinker Creek). The Rainbow Bay study area and S-Area are located within 5 km of each other on the SRS, and both once contained Carolina bays which were very similar ecologically. One goal of the SREL's faunal studies is to compare the natural variation in amphibian populations at the Rainbow Bay control site to the variation observed at the human-altered site (Sun Bay, formerly on the DWPF construction site). Pre-construction biological surveys included data on vegetation, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and several invertebrate groups. No species on the Federal Endangered or Threatened lists were found on either site, but several plants and animals of threatened or special-concern status in South Carolina were present and the gopher frog (Rana areolata) currently is being considered for federal listing. Continuing studies are directed towards assessing construction impacts on the biota and towares modeling the effects of alteration of wetland hydroperiod on the biota. Primary emphasis is being paced on evaluation the effectiveness of mitigation measures undertaken by DOE.