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CHANGES IN TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY RELATED TO A COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT: WISCONSIN POWER PLANT IMPACT STUDY
Citation:
Willard, D., W. Jones, AND J. Benforado. CHANGES IN TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY RELATED TO A COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT: WISCONSIN POWER PLANT IMPACT STUDY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-84/051 (NTIS PB84171701), 1984.
Description:
This report summarizes the effects of a coal-fired power plant on terrestrial plants and animals. Research was conducted from 1971 through 1977 at the Columbia Generating Station in the eastern flood-plain of the Wisconsin River in south-central Wisconsin. Initial studies were largely descriptive, involving development of species lists and documentation of habitats. Mapping plant communities documented extensive changes, most notably heavy losses of sedge meadow habitats and increases in open water. Impacts on plant communities caused concomitant changes in animal communities. Bird populations were analyzed through observations in a sampling system consisting of five permanent transects, each having 17 or 18 stations and representing the entire range of plant communities. Drift fence-pitfall trapping was used to obtain information on presence and abundance of species, migration routes and seasonal use of different habitats, and occurrence of rare and endangered species.