Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.76
Liaison Liz Davey
Submission Date Oct. 13, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Tulane University
OP-11: Biodiversity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Liz Davey
Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution own or manage land that includes or is adjacent to legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, and/or regions of conservation importance?:
No

A brief description of any legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, and/or regions of conservation importance on institution owned or managed land:
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Has the institution conducted an assessment or assessments to identify endangered and vulnerable species with habitats on institution-owned or –managed land?:
Yes

Has the institution conducted an assessment or assessments to identify environmentally sensitive areas on institution-owned or –managed land?:
Yes

The methodology(-ies) used to identify endangered and vulnerable species and/or environmentally sensitive areas and any ongoing assessment and monitoring mechanisms:

By assessing the endangered species in Louisiana through both the IUCN Red List and State records of endangered, threatened, and vulnerable species a rough draft of the endangered species that land owned by Tulane could support was created based on the regions that these animals were known to inhabit (2014). This list was sent to Dr. Thomas Sherry, an ecology professor at Tulane University, who made edits to the list for what animals were most likely to be found on land that Tulane manages. A list compiled by Dr. Steven Darwin, of the ecology and environmental biology department of Tulane University, identified ecologically important plant species, both native and nonnative that is regularly referred to when new landscaping is done on campus.


A brief description of identified species, habitats and/or environmentally sensitive areas:

The Least Tern tends to breed on flat-topped buildings in the New Orleans area so its possible that they could be found on some buildings on Tulane’s Riverside Property. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Gopher Tortoise, and Dusky Gopher Frog are all native to the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain where Tulane’s Primate Center is located. Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles have been seen in the New Orleans area for the winter or breeding and the habitat by Tulane’s Primate Center is suitable for them as well.


A brief description of plans or programs in place to protect or positively affect identified species, habitats and/or environmentally sensitive areas:

A tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance event, and the sponsorship of student service-learning projects serve to protect and maintain habitats on campus that could support environmentally important animals.


The website URL where information about the institution’s biodiversity policies and programs(s) is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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