Digital Commons Network^™

Using Migration Monitoring Data To Assess Bird Population Status And Behavior In A Changing Environment, Evan M. Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across the world, researchers use migration banding stations to document bird migration and study the phenomenon. In this dissertation, I focus on ways of analyzing bird migration banding data and the utility migrating birds as indicators of ecosystem health that make these monitoring efforts more useful to answering ecological questions and managing migratory species. In Chapter 1, we provide background on hierarchical modeling and an overview of our findings. In Chapter 2, we developed and validated new methods to estimate daily changes in migratory population size while controlling for changes in detectability due to environmental conditions. In Chapter 3, this …

Phenology And Effects Of Dams On The Success Of Atlantic Salmon Smolt Migrations In The Penobscot River, Maine, Daniel S. Stich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Atlantic salmon Salmo salar populations are diminished throughout their range and high marine mortality is among the drivers of the failure of many stocks to recover. A goal of salmon recovery is to maximize the number of juvenile ‘smolts’ entering the ocean to offset loss therein. Dam removals and changes to hydropower allocation in Maine’s largest river, the Penobscot River, have occurred as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project (PRRP). These activities, in addition to stocking have the potential to influence the number of smolts reaching the ocean. Telemetry was used to investigate factors influencing initiation of migratory behavior, …

The Impact Of Internet Gis On Access To Water Quality Information, Joseph H. Hoover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Empowering citizens to comprehend complex environmental issues affecting their daily lives is essential to sustaining a healthy and informed public. The work of many environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) center around helping their stakeholders become informed of, and in turn, better understand complex environmental problems. However, providing individual stakeholders with knowledge about environmental issues that is easily accessible and understandable represents a recurring challenge in today's society. As a result, a gap continues to exist between that which is known about environmental problems and the public's awareness and understanding of those issues. Arsenic contamination of …

Crowdsourcing Water Quality Data Using The Iphone Camera, Thomas Leeuw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ubiquity and advanced computing power of smartphones make them a potential tool for environmental monitoring on a global scale. In an attempt to tap this resource, a water quality application (HydroColor) was developed. Hydro- Color uses the iPhone’s digital color camera as a primitive three-band radiometer. Using three images taken by the user, HydroColor calculates the remote sensing reflectance in the red, green, and blue color channels of the camera. The absolute or relative reflectance between channels can be used to obtain estimates of chlorophyll, turbidity, suspended particle material, and the backscattering coefficient. In the future, HydroColor will be …

The Impact Of World Bank’S Conditionality-Ownership Hybrid On Forest Management In Cameroon: Policy Hybridity In International Dependence Development, Asongayi Venard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many developing countries depend on the World Bank for development assistance, which the Bank often provides with policy reform conditions. Resistance to World Bank’s conditionality caused the Bank to posit “ownership” as a country’s real assent to its development policies. The combination of ownership and conditionality invalidates the neocolonial, false-paradigm and dualism theses in explaining the international dependence development model. This study explains this model by investigating how the relationship between conditionality and ownership in the context of this model impacts forest management in Cameroon.

Integrating theoretical and methodological insights mainly from political science, economics, geosciences, and sociology, the study …

Late Pleistocene And Holocene Bison Of Grand Canyon And Colorado Plateau: Implications From The Use Of Paleobiology For Natural Resource Management Policy, Jeffrey M. Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bison spp. (bison) fossils are scarce on the Colorado Plateau, especially within the greater Grand Canyon region. Because of the poor fossil record for bison on the plateau and in Grand Canyon National Park, various resource managers have surreptitiously designated bison a nonnative and human-introduced species. The lack of evidence for bison seems to be the result of collection bias rather than a true lack of bison remains. Today, Grand Canyon National Park has a neighboring herd of 350 bison that have meandered unwantedly onto National Park lands from neighboring Forest Service and State of Arizona lands. This study spatiotemporally …

Integrated Remote Sensing And Forecasting Of Regional Terrestrial Precipitation With Global Nonlinear And Nonstationary Teleconnection Signals Using Wavelet Analysis, Lee Mullon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies have a demonstrable effect on terrestrial climate dynamics throughout the continental U.S. SST variations have been correlated with greenness (vegetation densities) and precipitation via ocean-atmospheric interactions known as climate teleconnections. Prior research has demonstrated that teleconnections can be used for climate prediction across a wide region at sub-continental scales. Yet these studies tend to have large uncertainties in estimates by utilizing simple linear analyses to examine chaotic teleconnection relationships. Still, non-stationary signals exist, making teleconnection identification difficult at the local scale. Part 1 of this research establishes short-term (10-year), linear and non-stationary teleconnection signals …

Zinc Sulfide: Manganese Doped Quantum Rods For Detection Of Metal Ions And A Business Model For Future Sales, Andrew Teblum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hexavalent chromium is an extremely carcinogenic chemical that has been widely produced in the United States. This has led to major waste contamination and pollution throughout the country. According to the Environmental Working Group Hexavalent chromium has been found in 89% of city tap water. Most people believe they are safe using regular home filter systems however that is not true. A more expensive ion exchange water treatment unit is required. Therefore to protect yourselves from this carcinogenic metal a reliable test is required. In this study we have developed a Zinc Sulfide Manganese doped Quantum Rod technology to detect …

Remote Sensing With Computational Intelligence Modelling For Monitoring The Ecosystem State And Hydraulic Pattern In A Constructed Wetland, Golam Mohiuddin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring the heterogeneous aquatic environment such as the Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) located at the northeast of the Everglades is extremely important in understanding the land processes of the constructed wetland in its capacity to remove nutrient. Direct monitoring and measurements of ecosystem evolution and changing velocities at every single part of the STA are not always feasible. Integrated remote sensing, monitoring, and modeling technique can be a state-of-the-art tool to estimate the spatial and temporal distributions of flow velocity regimes and ecological functioning in such dynamic aquatic environments. In this presentation, comparison between four computational intelligence models including Extreme …

Investigating Stormwater Drainage Basin Sediments As A Means Of Bacterial Accumulation And Transport Within A South Carolina Estaurine Watershed, Matthew Kyle Curtis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the presence of fecal indicator bacteria such as Escherichia coli in urban stormwater has been widely documented, their occurrence and persistence in sediments are not as well understood. Traditional research into bacterial contamination of surface waters has focused on overland transport of waste material and assumes fecal bacteria such as E. coli have short lifetimes in the environment. Recent investigations suggest that E. coli can accumulate in drainage basin sediments and act as a fecal bacterial reservoir within a watershed. This thesis investigated the prevalence of E. coli populations in the sediments and overlying waters of Withers Swash (a …

The Development And Application Of A Larval Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus Albus) Bioenergetics Model, Laura B. Heironimus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus are native fish of the Missouri and lower Mississippi River basins and currently listed as an endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act. As a result of anthropogenic alterations within the Missouri River, including dredging, channelization, and construction of large reservoirs, Pallid Sturgeon reproduction is reduced or eliminated throughout the species range. Due to a lack of wild progeny, little is known of the larval Pallid Sturgeon and their habitat or environmental requirements. To increase knowledge on the larval Pallid Sturgeon’s physiological requirements for growth and survival, the objective of this study was to develop …

A Continuous Hydrologic Model Structure For Applications At Multiple Time Scales, Jonathan Griffen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are many different controlling factors on the partitioning of rainfall into runoff. However, the influence of each of these controls varies across different temporal scales. Consequently, numerous water balance models have been developed in the literature for application across various time scales. These models are usually developed for a particular time scale so that the controls with the greatest influence on rainfall partitioning are captured. For example, the SCS curve number method was developed to simulate direct runoff at the event scale; the "abcd" model was developed as a monthly water balance model; and the Budyko model was developed …

Forecast Of Chinese Investment In Us Shale Gas, Zhizhou Zhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will make a forecast of the future growth of Chinese investment in the US shale gas industry in the short term (within the next 5 years) and in the long term (in more than 10 years). The thesis's purpose is to study the purpose, trend as well as the impact on China itself in China's recent asset acquisition activities in the US shale gas. Following an introduction to the shale gas development in the US and China, this thesis will make a forecast with the methodology including extrapolation, qualitative analysis, political risk analysis and scenario analysis. The conclusion …

Location, Location: Factors Influencing Greenhouse Gas Fluxes From The Mississippi Delta Agricultural Region, Michael P. Keating

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from agricultural landscapes may contribute significantly to regional greenhouse gas budgets due to stimulation of soil microbial activity through fertilizer application. Few studies have made measurements of CH4, N2O, and CO2 from the dominant landscape features of the agricultural landscape: farmland, riparian zone, and wetland habitat. This study assessed gas emission variability from the Mississippi Delta agricultural landscape and explored the effects of hydrology and hydrophytic vegetation on gas emissions.

Gas collection chambers were utilized to make gas measurements from soybean and corn farmland, vegetated riparian buffer, and two vegetated …

The Role Of Ugandan Women In Rural Agriculture And Food Security, Karen Ann Mckenna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women engaged in small-scale rural agriculture in Iganga, Uganda for the purpose of household food security and/or income generation face a number of challenges to creating sustainable livelihoods. This analysis is presented in the form of a case study based on research conducted over the period of one year in Uganda between September 2012 and September 2013. Three conceptual orientations are used to guide the research, including sustainable livelihoods, gender and agricultural development, and food security. Pertinent economic, political, and social contexts are identified for each of these orientations. The author then identifies key challenges that women in Iganga face …

Determining Impacts Of Mountain Lions On Bighorn Sheep And Other Prey Sources In The Black Hills, Joshua B. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 2009 to 2013, we assessed cougar (Puma concolor) feeding habits and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) population dynamics in the Black Hills, South Dakota. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry to locate 1,506 cougar feeding events and found deer (Odocoileus spp.; 83%), primarily white-tailed deer (O. virginianus), dominated cougar diets. Overall ungulate kill rate averaged 0.79 ungulates/week (range = 0.13–1.75 ungulates/week), and was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in summer (xˉ = 0.92; SE = 0.06) than in winter (xˉ = 0.62; SE = 0.06). In contrast, biomass consumed was significantly higher (P = 0.033) in winter (xˉ = 8.23 kg/day; SE = 0.96) than in summer (xˉ = 5.45 kg/day; SE = 0.43), primarily as a result of increased scavenging (winter = 0.21 events/week; summer = 0.08 events/week), which represents the highest documented rate for cougar populations studied. We also documented a relatively high rate of chronic wasting disease- (CWD) infected elk in 2 cougar (1 male; 1 female) diets (64%; 95% CI = 50.3–78.3%) and speculate that CWD infection likely increased elk predation risk. Annual lamb survival was 0.02 (SE = 0.01) with pneumonia (36%) and predation (30%) the leading causes of mortality. We found pneumonia and predation were temporally heterogeneous with lambs most susceptible to predation during the first 2–3 weeks of life, while the greatest risk from pneumonia occurred from weeks 4–8. Annual ewe survival was 0.81 (SE = 0.04) with pneumonia (19%) and predation (19%) the leading causes of documented mortality; 48% were unknown. Additionally, we used vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) to assess capture efficiency and document parturition and neonate lamb bed site selection for bighorn sheep. We found successful VITs increased capture efficiency (95%) over unsuccessfully-vitted ewes (81%) and ewes not equipped with VITs (70%). Bighorn ewes selected for rugged terrain at both macro- and microhabitat scales, while at the macrohabitat scale ewes selected for areas that were close to perennial streams on south and west facing slopes and against anthropogenic disturbance. At the microhabitat scale, neonate lambs tended to select for greater cover and against north facing slopes.