Digital Commons Network^™

A Multiscale Approach To Balance Trade-Offs Among Dam Infrastructure, River Restoration, And Cost, Samuel G. Roy, Emi Uchida, Simone P. De Souza, Ben Blachly, Emma Fox, Kevin H. Gardner, Arthur J. Gold, Jessica Jansujwicz, Sharon Klein, Bridie Mcgreavy, Weiwei Mo, Sean M. C. Smith, Emily Vogler, Karen Wilson, Joseph Zydlewski, David Hart

New Hampshire EPSCoR

Aging infrastructure and growing interests in river restoration have led to a substantial rise in dam removals in the United States. However, the decision to remove a dam involves many complex trade-offs. The benefits of dam removal for hazard reduction and ecological restoration are potentially offset by the loss of hydroelectricity production, water supply, and other important services. We use a multiobjective approach to examine a wide array of trade-offs and synergies involved with strategic dam removal at three spatial scales in New England. We find that increasing the scale of decision-making improves the efficiency of trade-offs among ecosystem services, …

A Dam Passage Performance Standard Model For American Shad, Daniel S. Stich, Timothy F. Sheehan, Joseph D. Zydlewski

New Hampshire EPSCoR

Objectives for recovery of alosines commonly involve improving fish passage at dams during migration. However, a quantitative basis for dam passage performance standards is largely absent. We describe development of a stochastic life-history-based simulation model for American shad, Alosa sapidissima, to estimate effects of dam passage and migratory delay on abundance, spatial distribution of spawning adults, and demographic structuring in space and time. We used the Penobscot River, Maine, USA, as a case study to examine sensitivity of modeled population metrics and probability of achieving specific management goals to inputs. Spawner abundance and percentage of repeat spawners were most sensitive …

Slow And Deliberate Cooperation In The Commons, Chris Brozyna, Todd Guilfoos, Stephen Atlas

New Hampshire EPSCoR

We test how fast and slow thought processes affect cooperation for sustainability by manipulating time pressure in a dynamic common-pool resource experiment. Sustainable management of shared resources critically depends on decisions in the current period to leave enough stock so that future generations are able to draw on the remaining limited natural resources. An intertemporal common-pool resource game represents a typical dynamic for social dilemmas involving natural resources. Using one such game, we analyse decisions throughout time. We find that people in this context deplete the common resource to a greater extent under time pressure, which leads to greater likelihood …

Does What Goes Up Also Come Down? Using A Recruitment Model To Balance Alewife Nutrient Import And Export, Betsy L. Barber, A. Jamie Gibson, Andrew O'Malley, Joseph D. Zydlewski

New Hampshire EPSCoR

Migrating adult Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus are a source of marine-derived nutrients on the East Coast of North America, importing nitrogen and phosphorus into freshwater habitats. Juvenile migrants subsequently transport freshwater-derived nutrients into the ocean. We developed a deterministic model to explore the theoretical nutrient dynamics of Alewife migrations at differing spawner abundances. Net nutrient balance was calculated relative to these abundances along the spawner–recruit curve. The ecological consequences of these subsidies in a particular watershed depend on the magnitude of adult escapement relative to the habitat's carrying capacity for juveniles. At low escapement levels and assuming complete habitat access, the …

I’Ll Be Dammed! Public Preferences And The Future Of Dams In New Hampshire, Natallia Leuchanka Diessner, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Kevin H. Gardner, Catherine Ashcraft

New Hampshire EPSCoR

No abstract provided.

A Change In The Wind? Us Public Views On Renewable Energy And Climate Compared, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Erin Bell, Joel Hartter, Jonathan D. Salerno

New Hampshire EPSCoR

Background: Renewable energy development is a necessary step toward climate change mitigation, so these topics have often been linked. In US public discourse, however, they have somewhat different profiles—climate change views are tied closely to partisan identity, whereas renewable energy exhibits more cross-cutting appeal, and sometimes more cross-cutting opposition as well. To what extent are such differences reflected in survey data tracking rates of change, respondent characteristics, and local or regional variations in public opinion on renewable energy and climate?

Methods: We explore similarities and differences in views of renewable energy and climate change using a unique collection of 18 …