Digital Commons Network^™

Food Availability Modulates Temperature-Dependent Effects On Growth, Reproduction, And Survival In Daphnia Magna, Gustavo S. Betini, Xueqi Wang, Tal Avgar, Matthew M. Guzzo, John M. Fryxell

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Reduced body size and accelerated life cycle due to warming are considered major ecological responses to climate change with fitness costs at the individual level. Surprisingly, we know little about how relevant ecological factors can alter these life history trade‐offs and their consequences for individual fitness. Here, we show that food modulates temperature‐dependent effects on body size in the water flea Daphnia magna and interacts with temperature to affect life history parameters. We exposed 412 individuals to a factorial manipulation of food abundance and temperature, tracked each reproductive event, and took daily measurements of body size from each individual. High …

S1e8: What’S It Like Living And Doing Research In The World’S Most Remote Locations? (Part 2), Ron Lisnet, Paul Mayewski

The Maine Question

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Mayewski recalls drilling ice cores on glaciers and living in a tent for weeks while it’s minus 50 degrees C. In addition to sharing exciting adventures, Mayewski talks about the tremendous power and responsibility of the media to report on climate change. While climate change has become politicized, Mayewski says climate science is fact-based and that it’s important to be a fact-based society. Although he believes the climate has already entered a period of instability, Mayewski says he’s optimistic about how the world could evolve.

S1e7: What Is It Like In The Most Remote, Harsh And Spectacular Locations On Earth?, Ron Lisnet, Paul Mayewski

The Maine Question

In Part 1 of this two-part podcast, “The Maine Question” asks what it’s like in the most remote, harsh and spectacular locations on Earth? Anyone with a thirst for adventure has likely dreamed of seeing the South Pole, Mount Everest, or the massive ice sheets of Greenland. Paul Mayewski has done all of that and more. Here, he talks with host Ron Lisnet about his adventures during his 55-plus expeditions in extreme locales. Mayewski, a scientist, explorer and director of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, estimates he’s lived about four years’ total in a tent or under the …

Future Climate Change Will Have A Positive Effect On Populus Davidiana In China, Jie Li, Guan Liu, Qi Lu, Yanru Zhang, Guoqing Li, Sheng Du

Aspen Bibliography

Since climate change significantly affects global biodiversity, a reasonable assessment of the vulnerability of species in response to climate change is crucial for conservation. Most existing methods estimate the impact of climate change on the vulnerability of species by projecting the change of a species’ distribution range. This single-component evaluation ignores the impact of other components on vulnerability. In this study, Populus davidiana (David’s aspen), a tree species widely used in afforestation projects, was selected as the research subject under four future climate change scenarios (representative concentration pathway (RCP)2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5). Exposure components of range change as well …

Watching Grass Grow: How Soil Moisture Affects Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae And Growth In Little Bluestem, Laura M. Jones

Honors Scholar Theses

Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) are an ancient mutualism in which soil-dwelling fungi enhance plant absorption of phosphorus and nitrogen in exchange for photosynthates. VAM are sensitive to changes in soil moisture and nutrient content, fluctuating between mutualism and parasitism depending on conditions of drought stress and nutrient deficiency. Understanding how VAM respond to precipitation changes is crucial for both conservation and agricultural purposes. To test how soil moisture changes the effects of VAM colonization and growth in little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), a common prairie grass, I planted 300 seeds in a greenhouse in sterilized soil and soil inoculated with …

The Treadmill Of Information: Development Of The Information Society And Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Joseph M. Simpson, Riley E. Dunlap, Andrew S. Fullerton

Sociology Faculty Publications

The world is facing a crisis of global warming due to the release of CO₂ and other greenhouse gasses by human activities. Many scholars and stakeholders argue that information and communication technology (ICT) development will mitigate CO₂ emissions. Advocacy of technological solutions to CO₂ mitigation is consistent with ecological modernization theory's assertion that reflexive societies will modernize sustainably. In contrast, we define the “treadmill of information” as the unique contribution of ICT development to environmental degradation. We examine the impact of ICT development on total CO₂ emissions and source-sector emissions from electricity, buildings, manufacturing, and transportation …

Legacy- December 2019, South Carolina Institute Of Archaeology And Anthropology--University Of South Carolina

SCIAA Newsletter - Legacy & PastWatch

Contents:

New Evidence that an Extraterrestrial Collision 12,800 Years Ago Triggered an Abrupt Climate Change for Earth…p. 1

Director’s Notes…p. 2

A Tribute to Roland C. Young…p. 5

Award to Explore for Shipwrecks Offshore Port Royal Sound…p. 8

CSS Pee Dee Cannons Installed in Florence, South Carolina…p. 10

Three-Dimensional Photogrammetric Modeling Program…p. 14

Reconstructing Lowcountry Plantation Waterfronts…p. 16

Underwater Archaeology Film Track Debuts at 7^th Annual Arkhaios Cultural Hertiage and Archaeology Film Festival in Columbia, South Carolina…p. 18

The Mysterious Island Fort in Charleston Harbor: Breaking Ground at Castle Pinckney…p. 20

Archaeology on the Widdicom Tract at Hobcaw Barony…p. …

Changes In The Diet And Body Size Of A Small Herbivorous Mammal (Hispid Cotton Rat, Sigmodon Hispidus) Following The Late Pleistocene Megafauna Extinction, Catalina P. Tomé, Emma A. Elliott Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, Seth D. Newsome, Felisa A. Smith

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The catastrophic loss of large-bodied mammals during the terminal Pleistocene likely led to cascading effects within communities. While the extinction of the top consumers probably expanded the resources available to survivors of all body sizes, little work has focused on the responses of the smallest mammals. Here, we use a detailed fossil record from the southwestern United States to examine the response of the hispid cotton rat Sigmodon hispidus to biodiversity loss and climatic change over the late Quaternary. In particular, we focus on changes in diet and body size. We characterize diet through carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen …

Critical Issues In Transportation 2019: Climate Change Resilience, Vicki Arroyo

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The climate is rapidly changing, bringing more frequent and extreme floods, droughts, and heatwaves, along with stronger hurricanes and more intense wildfires. Each year brings new record-breaking weather extremes; in the first six months of 2019, for example, a record number of U.S. counties flooded. July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded for the world as a whole (1). Climate change is also melting glaciers, reducing the amount of sea ice, and raising sea levels, bringing devastation to coastal areas. From Louisiana to Alaska, many coastal communities are forced to make difficult decisions about whether to relocate …

Working With Environmental Economists, Annika Marie Rieger, Joerg Rieger

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Awareness of environmental degradation, culminating in the broad global transformations of human-caused climate change, is no longer a peripheral issue. And while there may be some debate of climate change, a simple denial is no longer an option in light of the data and the agreement of 97 per cent of scientists. In light of the sheer magnitude of the challenge, which has the potential to threaten human survival, much of what we know must be rethought, including traditional academic disciplines. In this essay, an environmental sociologist and a theologian enter into a conversation with environmental economists and others concerned …

Vegetation, Rainfall, And Pulsing Hydrology In The Pantanal, The World's Largest Tropical Wetland, Sarah J. Ivory, Michael M. Mcglue, Stephanie Spera, Aguinaldo Silva, Ivan Bergier

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services and play a central role in global carbon cycling. Changes in rainfall and the flood-pulse are likely to disrupt the processes that maintain these landscapes; further, landscape modification may dramatically alter wetlands and promote terrestrialization. The Pantanal, South America, is the world's largest wetland due to flooding along the Upper Paraguay River. Predicting how water resources in the Pantanal may change is problematic due to a complex drainage network, resulting in the out-of-phase timing of rainfall and the flood pulse. We use remote sensing data of vegetation and climate to better understand the relationships among …

A Comparative Assessment Of Climate Change Related Knowledge And Perception Of Coastal And Tribal Community, Kirti K Kalinga, Navaneeta Rath

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Climate change is a global problem with local ramifications. It supposed to impact all nations and states across borders. But the way it is perceived by different stakeholders varies. Perception towards climate change matters because it will shape the way knowledge is framed and risk is calculated. It is also important to examine the knowledge of those people who are affected the most due to climate change. The present paper tries to understand the perception of farmers on climate change. As agriculture is one of the most climate sensitive sectors, it becomes pertinent here to explore are the farmers aware …

Outcome Report On The Climate Crisis, Global Land Use And Human Rights Conference, Mateusz Kasprowicz, Sam Szoke-Burke, Kaitlin Y. Cordes

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

On September 27^th, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Landesa, the New York City Bar Association International Environmental Law Committee, and Wake Forest Law School hosted a day-long conference on the intersection between land use, the climate crisis and clean energy transition, and human rights.

Held at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, the conference brought together individuals from civil society organizations, governments, and academia, as well as lawyers, climate scientists, land-rights experts, indigenous representatives and other stakeholder groups. The panelists analyzed the critical role that land plays in …

Epidemic Spruce Beetle Outbreak Changes Drivers Of Engelmann Spruce Regeneration, Jessika M. Pettit, Julia I. Burton, R. Justin Derose, James N. Long, Steve L. Voelker

Ecology Center Publications

Climate‐mediated disturbances outside the range of historical variability can have severe consequences on vital, post‐disturbance regeneration processes. High‐elevation forests of the Rocky Mountains that are dominated by Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) are expected to be sensitive to climate change. Additionally, these forests have experienced recent epidemic spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) outbreaks that have often resulted in >95% mortality of overstory Engelmann spruce. Therefore, the future distribution of Engelmann spruce forests depends largely on natural regeneration processes. We examined Engelmann spruce seedlings across gradients in soil moisture and stand structural …

How Will Climate Change Shape Climate Opinion?, Peter D. Howe, Jennifer R. Marlon, Matto Mildenberger, Brittany S. Shield

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

As climate change intensifies, global publics will experience more unusual weather and extreme weather events. How will individual experiences with these weather trends shape climate change beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors? In this article, we review 73 papers that have studied the relationship between climate change experiences and public opinion. Overall, we find mixed evidence that weather shapes climate opinions. Although there is some support for a weak effect of local temperature and extreme weather events on climate opinion, the heterogeneity of independent variables, dependent variables, study populations, and research designs complicate systematic comparison. To advance research on this critical topic, …

Multi‐Scale Integration Of Tree Recruitment And Range Dynamics In A Changing Climate, Paige E. Copenhaver-Parry, Charles J. W. Carroll, Patrick H. Martin, Matthew V. Talluto

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Aim: The rate and magnitude of climate‐induced tree range shifts may be influenced by range‐wide variation in recruitment, which acts as a bottleneck in tree range dynamics. Here, we compare range predictions made using standard species distribution models (SDMs) and an integrated metamodelling approach that assimilates data on adult occurrence, seedling recruitment dynamics, and seedling survival under both current and future climate, and evaluate the degree to which information provided by seedling data can improve predictions of range dynamics.

Location: The interior west region of the United States.

Time period: 1990–2015.

Major taxa studied: Five widespread conifer tree species.

Methods: …

Phenotypically Plastic Responses To Predation Risk Are Temperature Dependent, Thomas M. Luhring, Janna M. Vavra, Clayton E. Cressler, John Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Predicting how organisms respond to climate change requires that we understand the temperature dependence of fitness in relevant ecological contexts (e.g., with or without predation risk). Predation risk often induces changes to life history traits that are themselves temperature dependent. We explore how perceived predation risk and temperature interact to determine fitness (indicated by the intrinsic rate of increase, r) through changes to its underlying components (net reproductive rate, generation time, and survival) in Daphnia magna. We exposed Daphnia to predation cues from dragonfly naiads early, late, or throughout their ontogeny. Predation risk increased r differentially across temperatures …

Asynchronous Nitrogen Supply And Demand Produce Nonlinear Plant Allocation Responses To Warming And Elevated Co2, Genevieve L. Noyce, Matthew L. Kirwan, Roy L. Rich, J. Patrick Megonigal

VIMS Articles

Terrestrial ecosystem responses to climate change are mediated by complex plant–soil feedbacks that are poorly understood, but often driven by the balance of nutrient supply and demand. We actively increased aboveground plant-surface temperature, belowground soil temperature, and atmospheric CO₂ in a brackish marsh and found nonlinear and nonadditive feedbacks in plant responses. Changes in root-to-shoot allocation by sedges were nonlinear, with peak belowground allocation occurring at +1.7 °C in both years. Above 1.7 °C, allocation to root versus shoot production decreased with increasing warming such that there were no differences in root biomass between ambient and +5.1 °C plots …

Going Beyond Cookie Cutter Outreach: A Climate Change Film Series And Dialogue, Jennifer Bonnet, Cindy Isenhour

Library Staff Publications

In the fall of 2013, the University of Maine approved a new major, the Human Dimensions of Climate Change. Coursework aimed to address critical interdisciplinary concerns about human impacts on the environment. To provide a cocurricular opportunity for students to explore this topic, which was also relevant to larger community interests and campus research agendas, an anthropology professor and her liaison librarian partnered to create the Human Dimensions of Climate Change Film Series + Dialogue. This series is now in its sixth iteration.

Green Infrastructure Solutions To Health Impacts Of Climate Change: Perspectives Of Affected Residents In Detroit, Michigan, Usa, Christine Carmichael, Cecilia Danks, Christine Vatovec

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Cities worldwide are incorporating green infrastructure to mitigate climate change and achieve health cobenefits. However, green infrastructure projects are often distributed inequitably based on race and class. Residents' perspectives are necessary to develop and enact effective and equitable 'green' strategies to address climate change and its health impacts. This study reports findings from interviews and ethnographic observations with diverse residents of Detroit, Michigan, USA, who have experience with both green infrastructure projects and intense weather events (flooding). Residents expressed widespread support for green infrastructure solutions, while also sharing concerns about unintended health consequences from unsatisfactory governance of green spaces and …

The Legitimacy Of Judicial Climate Engagement, Katrina Fischer Kuh

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Courts in key climate change cases have abdicated their constitutional responsibility to protect a prejudiced and disenfranchised group (nonvoting minors and future generations) and remedy an insidious pathology in public discourse and the political process: the industry-funded climate disinformation campaign. This Article posits that this abdication results from courts' uneasiness about displacing the prerogatives of democratically elected bodies. This uneasiness is misplaced. Court engagement with climate cases would strengthen democracy in accord with widely accepted justifications for countermajoritarian judicial review. This Article first describes in detail how courts exhibit a frustrating reticence to accept jurisdiction over cases that present questions …

Combining Ecological Niche Modeling With Genetic Lineage Information To Predict Potential Distribution Of Mikania Micrantha Kunth In South And Southeast Asia Under Predicted Climate Change, Achyut Kumar Banerjee, Abhishek Mukherjee, Wuxia Guo, Wei Lun Ng, Yelin Huang

Journal Articles

Ecological niche models (ENM), an effective tool to predict the potential distribution of invasive species, are often built on assumptions of niche conservatism between native and invasive ranges and genetic uniformity of the invasive population. In this study, we have incorporated genetic information with ENM to generate projected distribution of the invasive species Mikania micrantha for which two genetic clusters were identified in South and Southeast Asia. Climatic niches were compared between native and invasive ranges, as well as between invasive ranges of two lineages by using multivariate and univariate analyses. Ecological niche models were built with MaxEnt, using occurrence …

Ex Situ Preservation Of Historic Monuments In The Era Of Climate Change, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Cultural heritage (historic buildings, landscapes, and natural monuments) is being threatened by all manner of evils--attacks by belligerents seeking military advantages, increased consumptive uses, and significantly, the idiosyncratic effects of climate change. Climate change portends sea level rise and coastal erosion threats that will inundate coastal areas and the historic structures located there. Melting permafrost and changes in soil composition threaten the loss of buried archaeological evidence and compromise the integrity of ancient buildings designed for a less malevolent climate.

State and local governments have been undertaking measures to build sustainable communities to mitigate the coming changes in the climate, …

An Evaluation Of Soils On Sólheimajökull Glacier Foreland: Using Invertebrates And Decomposition As Bio-Indicators Of Soil Quality, Carolyn Weisman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Anthropogenic climate change has led to the retreat of glaciers globally. As glaciers melt, they expose the underlying land- termed the glacier foreland. These forelands provide a natural laboratory for studying ecological succession after a massive disturbance, which is in this case glaciation. In this study, soil invertebrates and decomposition are used as bio-indicators of the soil quality in the foreland of Sólheimajökull Outlet Glacier. Soil cores were collected from five sites (A-E) located 300m apart moving away from the glacier terminus. The abundance of each observed invertebrate taxa and the dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were taken for 30 soil …

Fun With Reverse Ejusdem Generis, Jay D. Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

In the canon of statutory construction canons, perhaps no canon is more canonical than the canon known as ejusdem generis. This canon, which translates as “of the same kind,” states that when a statute includes a list of terms and a catch-all phrase, the set of items covered by the catch-all phrase is limited to the same kind or type of items that are in the list. The canon of ejusdem generis has a long and storied history in the law, has been used by judges in countless cases, and has been the subject of a large body of scholarly …

Transnational Perspectives On The Paris Climate Agreement Beyond Paris: Redressing American Defaults In Caring For Earth’S Biosphere, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Anxiety about the fate of human civilization is rising. International Law has an essential role to play in sustaining community of nations. Without enhancing International Environmental Law, the biosphere that sustains all nations is imperiled. Laws in the United States can either impede or advance global environmental stewardship. What is entailed in such a choice?

The biosphere is changing. At a time when extraordinary technological prowess allows governments the capacity to know how deeply they are altering Earth's biosphere, nations experience a perverse inability to cooperate together. The Arctic is melting rapidly, with knock on effects for sea level rise …

Importance Of Tree-And Species-Level Interactions With Wildfire, Climate, And Soils In Interior Alaska: Implications For Forest Change Under A Warming Climate, Adrianna C. Foster, Amanda H. Armstrong, Jacquelyn K. Shuman, Herman H. Shugart, Brendan M. Rogers, Michelle C. Mack, Scott J. Goetz, K. Jon Ranson

Aspen Bibliography

The boreal zone of Alaska is dominated by interactions between disturbances, vegetation, and soils. These interactions are likely to change in the future through increasing permafrost thaw, more frequent and intense wildfires, and vegetation change from drought and competition. We utilize an individual tree-based vegetation model, the University of Virginia Forest Model Enhanced (UVAFME), to estimate current and future forest conditions across sites within interior Alaska. We updated UVAFME for application within interior Alaska, including improved simulation of permafrost dynamics, litter decay, nutrient dynamics, fire mortality, and postfire regrowth. Following these updates, UVAFME output on species-specific biomass and stem density …

Precipitation Trends Over The Indus Basin, Nir Krakauer, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ghulam Hussain Dars

Publications and Research

A large population relies on water input to the Indus basin, yet basinwide precipitation amounts and trends are not well quantified. Gridded precipitation data sets covering different time periods and based on either station observations, satellite remote sensing, or reanalysis were compared with available station observations and analyzed for basinwide precipitation trends. Compared to observations, some data sets tended to greatly underestimate precipitation, while others overestimate it. Additionally, the discrepancies between data set and station precipitation showed significant time trends in many cases, suggesting that the precipitation trends of those data sets were not consistent with station data. Among the …

Earth: "Un-Human Me", Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams

Peace and Justice Studies Faculty Publications

He took a rib from your side and made others.

So you considered Others your children, forever.

He told you to go forth and produce and multiply so you made capitalism.

He told you to go forth and conquer and pillage and mark your name and plant your flag where-ever you wanted.

So now the moon is yours. Jupiter, beware! [excerpt]

Exploring The Impacts Of Climate Change Interpretation On Leisure Experiences, Mu He

TTRA Canada 2019 Conference

No abstract provided.