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Climate Change And Coastal Development Impacts On Oyster Abundances In Mosquito Lagoon, Fl, Emily Suchonic

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Live eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs have declined by 62.6% in Mosquito Lagoon (ML) along the eastern Florida coast since 1943. While this species creates reefs by successive generations of oysters recruiting to conspecific shells, C. virginica can also attach to non-reef substrates including mangrove roots and armoring (e.g., seawalls), which may help counteract reef habitat loss. In recent decades, warmer winters have enabled red (Rhizophora mangle) and black (Avicennia germinans) mangrove expansion in subtropical salt marshes and temperate estuaries where oyster reefs occur. Additionally, 11.8% of ML's shorelines have been armored as of …

Impact Of Climate Change On Storms And Coastal Morphodynamics, Kelsey Perez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Storms have been impacting coastal morphodynamics directly due to its intensifying effects over the years. Climate change has caused an exponential impact on storms and therefore morphodynamic changes in the coasts. A specific land that has constantly been threatened is Dauphin Island, a barrier island in Alabama. Over time, it has experienced a total land loss of 100 ft of shoreline over the past of 3 decades and an overall 16% land loss of the island due to the intensifying effects of storms due to a changing climate. In this study, we use Hurricane Ivan as an example. In order …

Political Ecology Of Medicinal Plant Use In Rural Nepal: Globalization, Environmental Degradation, And Cultural Transformation, Emily Dovydaitis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Prior to the advent of biomedicine, rural communities in Nepal relied on phytochemically active compounds in medicinal plants as their primary source of medicine; however, ethnobotanical practices have shifted over time due to economic, environmental, and sociocultural stimuli. Findings from 2016 fieldwork conducted in Dumrikharka, Nepal and Tutung, Nepal are compared to existing literature to describe the political ecology of medicinal plants in rural Nepal.

Anthropogenic climate change threatens individual plant species and ecosystem biodiversity. Globalized markets unabated by weak conservation programs place increasing demands on medicinal plants. As indigenous plants become overharvested and more difficult to access, Nepalis incorporate …

Comprehensive Modeling Of Optimal Paths To Reach Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (Nzebs) For New Constructions In Europe, Florida Solar Energy Center, Delia D'Agostino

FSEC Energy Research Center®

As established by the recast of the European Union (EU) Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD), all new buildings have to be nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) by the end of 2020. However, reaching this result considering cost-optimality is still an open challenge. Balancing renewable power generation with energy efficiency to reach the nZEB target is a key goal of all EU Member States. We describe results obtained from the modeling of nZEBs for new constructions in Europe using the energy performance software EnergyPlus. The model performs hourly sequential simulations showing how to best achieve nearly zero energy home …

Risk Perceptions Of Climate Change In International Environmental Negotiations, Christine Dellert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change poses an unprecedented risk to global human security and future generations. Yet actions to mitigate or adapt to the changing climate system vary greatly among countries and their constituencies. Despite mounting evidence detailing the economic, social, and ecological risks of climate change, many scholars agree that the greatest threats associated with climate change involve delaying or ignoring necessary action. Using theorizing of “risk society” from Ulrich Beck and others, this thesis examines how countries, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and business interests construct the risk of climate change and how their respective discourses conflict in international environmental negotiations. This …

Identifying Inundation-Driven Effects Among Intertidal Crassostrea Virginica In A Commercially Important Gulf Of Mexico Estuary, Joshua Solomon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sea level rise and changing storm frequency and intensity resulting from climate change create tremendous amounts of uncertainty for coastal species. Intertidal species may be especially affected since they are dependent on daily inundation and exposure. The eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica is an economically and biologically important sessile intertidal species ranging from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Declines and changes in distribution of oyster populations has forced commercial harvesting to spread from subtidal to intertidal reefs. We investigated the potential responses of intertidal C. virginica to sea level rise, and the response of larval settlement to sedimentation which is …

Climate And Landscape Controls On Seasonal Water Balance At The Watershed Scale, Xi Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this dissertation is to develop a seasonal water balance model for evaporation, runoff and water storage change based on observations from a large number of watersheds, and further to obtain a comprehensive understanding on the dominant physical controls on intra-annual water balance. Meanwhile, the method for estimating evaporation and water storage based on recession analysis is improved by quantifying the seasonal pattern of the partial contributing area and contributing storage to base flow during low flow seasons. A new method for quantifying seasonality is developed in this research. The difference between precipitation and soil water storage …

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 …

Relating Climate Change To The Nesting Phenology And Nest Environment Of Marine Turtles, Monette Schwoerer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ectotherms (including marine turtles) being especially sensitive to climate, are at risk to the accelerated rate of human-driven climate change. This study addresses two concerns associated with marine turtles and climate change – the relationship between the timing of marine turtle nesting and sea surface temperature; and the concern over the feminization of marine turtle populations due to rising sand temperatures. Previous studies of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) have documented the relationship between sea surface temperatures and nesting phenology. Earlier nesting behaviors in both species have been associated with warmer sea surface temperatures. …

Sex Ratios Of Juvenile Green Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) In Three Developmental Habitats Along The Coast Of Florida, Cheryl Sanchez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The concept of temperature dependent sex determination (TSD) has been somewhat of an evolutionary enigma for many decades and has had increased attention with the growing predictions of a changing climate, particularly in species that are already threatened or endangered. TSD taxa of concern include marine turtles, which go through various life stages covering a range of regions. This, in turn, creates difficulties in addressing basic demographic questions. Secondary sex ratios (from life stages post-hatchling) were investigated by capturing juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas), 22.6-60.9 cm in straight carapace length (SCL), from three developmental areas along the east coast of …

Climate Change Impacts On Rainfed Corn Production In Malawi, Kondwani Msowoya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in Malawi and accounts for 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90% of the export revenues. Corn (maize) is the major cereal crop grown as staple food under rainfed conditions, covers over 92% of the total agricultural area, and contributes 54% of the caloric intake. Corn production is the principle occupation and major source of income for over 85% of the total population in Malawi. Issues of hunger and food insecurity for the entire nation are associated with corn scarcity and low production. Global warming is expected to cause climate change …

The Response Of A General Circulation Climate Model Tohigh Latitude Freshwater Forcing In The Atlantic Basinwith Respect Totropi, Victor Paulis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current cycle of climate change along with increases in hurricane activity, changing precipitation patterns, glacial melt, and other extremes of weather has led to interest and research into the global correlation or teleconnection between these events. Examination of historical climate records, proxies and observations is leading to formulation of hypotheses of climate dynamics with modeling and simulation being used to test these hypotheses as well as making projections. Ocean currents are believed to be an important factor in climate change with thermohaline circulation (THC) fluctuations being implicated in past cycles of abrupt change. Freshwater water discharge into high-latitude oceans …

The Greenhouse Effect, Florida Solar Energy Center, Ingrid Melody

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Use of conventional energy sources - in Florida and throughout the world - has produced a global problem known as "the greenhouse effect." While the scientific community does not always agree on the greenhouse effect's potential impacts on the planet, and while policy makers do not always agree on methods to ameliorate or adapt to it, most concur on at least a few points: The greenhouse effect does indeed exist and is primarily a result of our use of carbon-based energy supplies. The greenhouse effect is changing the planet's climate. The greenhouse effect presents circumstances unique in human history - …