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<br />26 <br /> <br />CLOUD SEEDING <br /> <br />seeding agents, chemical complexes of silver iodide, were examined for <br />ecological effects (Cooper and Jolly 1970; Klein 1978); conclusions from <br />those studies point to little or no effects on terrestrial or aquatic biological <br />communities, either immediately or after many, many years of silver or <br />iodide application in the small dosages possible from cloud seeding. <br />The 1970s ecology studies have credibility, but caution may be appro- <br />priately exercised in accepting the conclusions outright. New scientific <br />advances in assessment of ecological response, if applied to cloud seed- <br />ing, might make earlier results outdated. Even if extreme environmental <br />shifts are not to be expected, potential lesser changes are to be respected. <br />Just as a cultivated crop may respond to enhanced precipitation, so may <br />certain elements in a natural ecosystem. The responses can be manifold, <br />possibly unexpected, and may follow multiple pathways (Figure 2.4). <br />The past decade has also seen changing interpretations of, and more <br />rigorous adherence to, regulatory statutes. For example, implications of <br />the National Environmental Policy Act regarding cumulative effects that <br />were completely unaddressed as recently as the early 1980s now often <br />require extensive analysis and documentation. Litigation on environ- <br />mental issues associated with land management in general has also ex- <br />panded multifold. <br /> <br /> <br />Precipitation <br /> <br /> <br />Level II <br />Microclimate <br /> <br />, <br />, <br />, <br />, <br />, <br />, <br />, <br />--~-~-------------------' <br /> <br />Avalanche <br /> <br />Levell! <br /> <br />Legend <br />. Good Li'lkage <br />.. Fair Lk1kage <br />------~ Poor Linkage <br /> <br />Figure 2.4- Pathways Linking Events at the Atmospheric Level <br />(precipitation) to Those Occurring at the Terrestrial and Aquatic <br />Levels. The Line Weight of the Arrows Shows How Well These <br />Interactions are Understood, not the Strength of the Linkages <br />(USDI1977b) <br /> <br />Level III <br />Water Quality <br /> <br /> <br />Subeurtace <br />