Audit report on the City of Schaller, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Schaller, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Robins, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Robins, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Fairfield, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Fairfield, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Springville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Springville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Postville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Postville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Monticello, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Monticello, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Leon, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Leon, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Clarinda, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Clarinda, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Special investigation of the City of Modale Volunteer Fire Department for the period January 1, 2006 through January 31, 2010

Special investigation of the City of Modale Volunteer Fire Department for the period January 1, 2006 through January 31, 2010

Agreed upon procedures report on the City of Lacona, Iowa for the period August 16, 2008 through August 31, 2010

Agreed upon procedures report on the City of Lacona, Iowa for the period August 16, 2008 through August 31, 2010

Report on a special investigation of the City of Adair for the period January 1, 2007 through July 31, 2010

Report on a special investigation of the City of Adair for the period January 1, 2007 through July 31, 2010

Audit report on the City of Urbana, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Urbana, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Dyersville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the City of Dyersville, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2010

Plant species richness and environmental heterogeneity in a mountain landscape: effects of variability and spatial configuration

The loss of biodiversity has become a matter of urgent concern and a better understanding of local drivers is crucial for conservation. Although environmental heterogeneity is recognized as an important determinant of biodiversity, this has rarely been tested using field data at management scale. We propose and provide evidence for the simple hypothesis that local species diversity is related to spatial environmental heterogeneity. Species partition the environment into habitats. Biodiversity is therefore expected to be influenced by two aspects of spatial heterogeneity: 1) the variability of environmental conditions, which will affect the number of types of habitat, and 2) the spatial configuration of habitats, which will affect the rates of ecological processes, such as dispersal or competition. Earlier, simulation experiments predicted that both aspects of heterogeneity will influence plant species richness at a particular site. For the first time, these predictions were tested for plant communities using field data, which we collected in a wooded pasture in the Swiss Jura mountains using a four-level hierarchical sampling design. Richness generally increased with increasing environmental variability and "roughness" (i.e. decreasing spatial aggregation). Effects occurred at all scales, but the nature of the effect changed with scale, suggesting a change in the underlying mechanisms, which will need to be taken into account if scaling up to larger landscapes. Although we found significant effects of environmental heterogeneity, other factors such as history could also be important determinants. If a relationship between environmental heterogeneity and species richness can be shown to be general, recently available high-resolution environmental data can be used to complement the assessment of patterns of local richness and improve the prediction of the effects of land use change based on mean site conditions or land use history.

Reaudit report on the Ottumwa Transit Authority in the City of Ottumwa, Iowa for the period July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009

Reaudit report on the Ottumwa Transit Authority in the City of Ottumwa, Iowa for the period July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009