Digital Commons Network^™

Controls Of Benthic Microbial Communities In Headwater Streams Across A Land Use Gradient In Northeastern Usa, Joshua Michael Buonpane

Master's Theses and Capstones

Benthic microbes are important drivers of biogeochemical cycling in streams, influencing the storage, transformation, and emission of carbon and nutrients. While the impact of land use and land cover on water quality has been extensively studied, the connection between water quality and microbial community composition and function remains unresolved. In this study, we examined how the water quality changes accompanying watershed development impact the diversity, composition, and functional potential of benthic bacterial/archaeal, and fungal communities. This was explored in headwater streams across an urbanization gradient in the northeastern US. We did not find a link between urbanization and α-diversity of …

The Blueberry Gall Midge Complex And Its Specialist Parasitoids, Monique Michele Raymond

Master's Theses and Capstones

The cosmopolitan blueberry gall midge complex causes serious damage to the terminal vegetation of blueberry plants. The nature of their infestation, paired with prolonged periods of abundance, requires an integrated pest management approach. Of all known parasitoids present in the system, members of the subfamily Platygastrinae are the only oligophagous clade specialized against true gall midges. In this study, we present the results of blueberry gall midge and platygastrid surveys in high- and low-bush blueberry crops in the northeastern and southeastern United States, along with an identification key, with emphasis on blueberry parasitoid Synopeas species to facilitate their identification.

Exploring Forest Structural Complexity: Scale Effects And Metric Relationships In New England Hardwood Forests, Alex Jed Siebert

Master's Theses and Capstones

Forest structural complexity (FSC) is an informative characteristic in forest management due to its connections to ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. Despite its widespread use, quantifying FSC remains a challenge because of the many attributes that can comprise an assessment of FSC and ambiguity around what exactly is meant by “complexity.” Many assessments of FSC involve metrics derived from lidar data, yet there is not a clear understanding of how spatial extent impacts metrics of FSC. This thesis investigates the influence of spatial extent on FSC metrics and metric relationships in the context of New England mixed hardwood forests. …

The Under-Appreciated Roles Of Spatial Scale, Individual Variation, And Nonlinearity In Spatial Ecology, David Heit

Master's Theses and Capstones

Spatial ecology is a central component of ecological inquiry. In an ever-changing world facing threats including climate change, human sprawl, and novel zoonotic diseases, understanding how animals use space and make habitat decisions can be invaluable to research, management, and conservation of animal species. The techniques and technology used in spatial ecology have advanced continuously over time to provide increasingly detailed data and analyses and mitigate potential statistical biases. However, there remain many potential biases that warrant further attention in the discipline of spatial ecology. This is especially true for conceptual biases, or biases inherent to the ways in which …

Impacts Of Human Development On Mammalian Wildlife In An Exurban And Rural Landscape, Mairi Poisson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Urbanization is increasing worldwide, with over half the world’s population living in urban areas. Urbanization impacts wildlife by fragmenting habitat and restricting space use, which can in turn lead to a decrease in biodiversity, ecosystem services, and species abundance. In some cases, wildlife can adapt to land-use change present in urban areas and will respond positively to urbanization. In these cases, urbanization can create new niches and enhance niche partitioning. With increased urban growth, suburban and exurban sprawl has also increased. Globally, this “exurbanization” is the most rapidly developing land use type, though research into the impacts of exurban development …

Alexandrium Spp. And Pseudo-Nitzschia Spp. Cohabitation In The Gulf Of Maine, Tiffany Winter

Master's Theses and Capstones

Globally, harmful algal blooms are a severe issue for marine ecosystems, animals, and humans both ecologically and economically. The Gulf of Maine is no stranger to harmful algal blooms, specifically the dinoflagellate, Alexandrium catenella, that has routinely been forming toxic blooms since the early 1970s. In 2016, a new species, the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia spp. formed a massive bloom and has had annual blooms since. Anecdotally, these two species do not bloom concurrently, suggesting there may be specific environmental conditions that promote bloom formation for each species. The intent of this research is to uncover potential parameters that are affecting bloom …

Improving The Sustainability Of The Channeled Whelk (Busycotypus Canaliculatus) Fishery: An Investigation Into Alternative Baits, Feeding Behavior, And Circadian Rhythms, Mary Munley

Master's Theses and Capstones

The channeled whelk (Busycotypus canaliculatus) is a large predatory marine gastropod that supports an important commercial fishery along the eastern coast of the United States. Channeled whelk fisheries are state regulated, with each state enforcing slightly different regulations. In Massachusetts, the fishery is regulated by the Massachusetts’s Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF). Massachusetts’ channeled whelk landings peaked in 2012 at 3.6 million lbs., valued at $6.2 million. Since 2012, landings have decreased, 766,975 lbs. were landed in 2021 worth $3.1 million. Catch per unit effort (CPUE; lbs per trap haul) has also steadily decreased, indicating the resource is likely …

Unfiltered: Endangered Species And Social Media, Sarah Schaier

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Radon Removal Using A Venturi Injector-Based Household Aeration System, Jordan Meaney

Master's Theses and Capstones

Radon-222 is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas that is colorless, tasteless, and odorless and has been a known carcinogenic since the early 1920’s. Radon in groundwater can lead to inhalation of radon through off gassing caused by water-use processes such as showering, flushing toilets, and washing machines. The objective of this study is to develop a simple ground water aeration system to remove radon at the individual household level. The aeration system studied in this research utilized a venturi injector, which is considered a passive method of aeration unlike the aeration systems currently available in the market. With enough …

Annual Report Of The Town Council, Departments, Boards, Committees, And Commissions Of The Town Of Hooksett, New Hampshire. Hooksett Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2021., Hooksett Town Representatives

Hooksett, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Radon Removal Using A Venturi Injector-Based Household Aeration System, Jordan Meaney

Master's Theses and Capstones

Radon-222 is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas that is colorless, tasteless, and odorless and has been a known carcinogenic since the early 1920’s. Radon in groundwater can lead to inhalation of radon through off gassing caused by water-use processes such as showering, flushing toilets, and washing machines. The objective of this study is to develop a simple ground water aeration system to remove radon at the individual household level. The aeration system studied in this research utilized a venturi injector, which is considered a passive method of aeration unlike the aeration systems currently available in the market. With enough …

Pearl River Negotiation Simulation: Negotiating The Future Of Dams, Natallia Leuchanka Diessner, Catherine Ashcraft, Weiwei Mo, Cuihong Song

New Hampshire EPSCoR

The role-play included in this packet is a facilitated, multi-issue negotiation simulation for eight or nine participants about the management of five dams in the hypothetical Pearl River basin. This role-play is meant to be used in conjunction with a system dynamics model, which simulates potential environmental and economic outcomes under different dam management alternatives in the Pearl River basin. The user interface for the system dynamics model can be accessed at: https://ddc.unh.edu/dam-system-dynamics/. The science-based role-play negotiation simulation provides opportunity for discussion of complex topics surrounding human-environment interactions, use of scientific data and modeling in environmental decision-making under uncertainty, …

Forecasting Vibrio Parahaemolyticus In A Changing Climate, Meghan Ann Hartwick

Doctoral Dissertations

The distribution, transmission and adaptation patterns of infectious diseases are changing worldwide. Though there are many potential mechanisms that can transmit infectious agents to new areas, the ability of pathogens to persist in new locations can be largely attributed to changing climate conditions, especially in temperate regions. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a naturally occurring bacteria in most marine and estuarine systems, provides a model example of these globally observed climate-related changes to disease dynamics that are occurring locally in the Northeast, US. Like many Vibrio species, pathogenicity in human hosts is believed to be limited to a subset of strains, whereas the …

The Structure, Limits, And Drivers Of Daphnid Diversity, Richard Joseph Knecht

Master's Theses and Capstones

In 1961 Hutchinson proposed the “Paradox of the Plankton” questioning how sympatric planktonic species can coexist for long periods of time while seemingly avoiding the competitive exclusion principle. As this ‘paradox’ became a focus of inquiry, one researcher conducted a 2-year study (1961-1962; Tappa 1965) on Aziscohos Lake Daphnia to address the question. While the study did not solve the enigma, it provided a detailed record of the dynamics and interactions of six coexisting species. Aziscohos Lake and its zooplankton have not been studied since. This study revisits the ‘paradox of the plankton’ by establishing the dynamics of extant Daphnid …

Four Years Of Unmanned Aerial System Imagery Reveals Vegetation Change In A Sub-Arctic Mire Due To Permafrost Thaw, Jessica Delgreco

Master's Theses and Capstones

Warming trends in sub-arctic regions have resulted in thawing of permafrost which in turn induces change in vegetation across peatlands both in areal extent and composition. Collapse of palsas (i.e. permafrost plateaus) has also been correlated with increases in methane (CH4) emission to the atmosphere. Vegetation change provides new microenvironments that promote CH4 production and emission, specifically through plant interactions and structure. By quantifying the changes in vegetation at the landscape scale, we will be able to scale the impact of thaw on CH4 emissions in these complex climate-sensitive northern ecosystems. We combine field-based measurements of vegetation composition and Unmanned …

No Consistent Evidence For Advancing Or Delaying Trends In Spring Phenology On The Tibetan Plateau, Xufeng Wang, Jingfeng Xiao, Xin Li, Guodong Cheng, Mingguo Ma, Tao Che, Shaoying Wang, Jinkui Wu

Faculty Publications

Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator of climate change and has significant effects on the exchange of carbon, water, and energy between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere. The Tibetan Plateau, the Earth's “third pole,” is a unique region for studying the long‐term trends in vegetation phenology in response to climate change because of the sensitivity of its alpine ecosystems to climate and its low‐level human disturbance. There has been a debate whether the trends in spring phenology over the Tibetan Plateau have been continuously advancing over the last two to three decades. In this study, we examine the trends …

Ancient Amazonian Populations Left Lasting Impacts On Forest Structure, Michael W. Palace, C. N. H. Mcmichael, Bobby H. Braswell, S. C. Hagen, M. B. Bush, E. Neves, E. Tamanaha, Christina Herrick, Stephen E. Frolking

Earth Systems Research Center

Amazonia contains a vast expanse of contiguous tropical forest and is influential in global carbon and hydrological cycles. Whether ancient Amazonia was highly disturbed or modestly impacted, and how ancient disturbances have shaped current forest ecosystem processes, is still under debate. Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs), which are anthropic soil types with enriched nutrient levels, are one of the primary lines of evidence for ancient human presence and landscape modifications in settings that mostly lack stone structures and which are today covered by vegetation. We assessed the potential of using moderate spatial resolution optical satellite imagery to predict ADEs across the …

The Social Indicators Final Project Report, Simone Barley-Greenfield

PREP Reports & Publications

New Hampshire’s 1000 square mile coastal zone is showing signs of stress in its rivers, shorelines, and two major estuaries. This stress stems from significant population increases and subsequent development, as well as intensifying weather events coupled with land use policies inadequate to manage the impacts of these anthropogenic and natural stressors.1 To effectively manage this complex social ecological system, the management community must expand its current monitoring efforts. Tracking ecological data only tells half the story; collecting social data sheds light on how people engage coastal ecosystems and highlights values crucial for affecting behavior change. The goal of this …

Approaches For Advancing Scientific Understanding Of Macrosystems, Ofir Levy, Becky A. Ball, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Kendra S. Cheruvelil, Andrew O. Finley, Noah R. Lottig, Surangi W. Punyasena, Jingfeng Xiao, Jizhong Zhou, Lauren B. Buckley, Christopher T. Filstrup, Tim H. Keitt, James R. Kellner, Alan K. Knapp, Andrew D. Richardson, David Tcheng, Michael Toomey, Rodrigo Vargas, James W. Voordeckers, Tyler Wagner

Earth Systems Research Center

The emergence of macrosystems ecology (MSE), which focuses on regional- to continental-scale ecological patterns and processes, builds upon a history of long-term and broad-scale studies in ecology. Scientists face the difficulty of integrating the many elements that make up macrosystems, which consist of hierarchical processes at interacting spatial and temporal scales. Researchers must also identify the most relevant scales and variables to be considered, the required data resources, and the appropriate study design to provide the proper inferences. The large volumes of multi-thematic data often associated with macrosystem studies typically require validation, standardization, and assimilation. Finally, analytical approaches need to …

Bacterial Community Profiles And Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Abundance In Individual Oysters And Their Association With Estuarine Ecology, Ashley L. Marcinkiewicz, Brian M. Schuster, Stephen H. Jones, Vaughn S. Cooper, Cheryl A. Whistler

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

Oysters naturally harbor the human gastric pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus, but the nature of this association is unknown. Because microbial interactions could influence the accumulation of V. parahaemolyticus in oysters, we investigated the composition of the microbiome in water and oysters at two ecologically unique sites in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire using 16s rRNA profiling. We then evaluated correlations between bacteria inhabiting the oyster with V. parahaemolyticus abundance quantified using a most probable number (MPN) analysis. Even though oysters filter-feed, their microbiomes were not a direct snapshot of the bacterial community in overlaying water, suggesting they selectively accumulate some …

Excellence In Ecology, Larry Clow

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Use Of Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uas) For Collecting Thematic Mapping Accuracy Assessment Reference Data In New England Forest Communities, Benjamin Thomas Fraser

Master's Theses and Capstones

To overcome the main drivers of global environmental change, such as land use and land cover change, evolving technologies must be adopted to rapidly and accurately capture, process, analyze, and display a multitude of high resolution spatial variables. Remote sensing technologies continue to advance at an ever-increasing rate to meet end-user needs, now in the form of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones). UAS have bridged the gap left by satellite imagery, aerial photography, and even ground measurements in data collection potential for all matters of information. This new platform has already been deployed in many data collection scenarios, being …

Simultaneous Measurements Of Soil Moisture And Streamflow In Small Catchments Reveal Varied Coupling Across Sites, Seasons, And Timescales, Brian Timothy Godbois

Master's Theses and Capstones

Soil moisture is an important component in the interaction of terrestrial and aquatic systems, as it may play a role in regulating streamflow and the delivery of nutrients from soils to streams. There are few studies that collect in situ soil moisture and stream discharge data simultaneously at the same location across different land uses at a fine enough temporal resolution to understand processes at sub-daily timescales. I examined the relationship between soil moisture and streamflow over varying timescales using concurrent, high temporal frequency (one hour) in situ measurements of soil volumetric water content and stream discharge at five headwater …

The Ecologist's Field Guide To Sequence-Based Identification Of Biodiversity, Simon Creer, Kristy Deiner, Serita D. Frey, Dorota Porazinska, Pierre Taberlet, W. Kelley Thomas, Caitlin Potter, Holly M. Bik

Faculty Publications

The past 100 years of ecological research has seen substantial progress in understanding the natural world and likely effects of change, whether natural or anthropogenic. Traditional ecological approaches underpin such advances, but would additionally benefit from recent developments in the sequence-based quantification of biodiversity from the fields of molecular ecology and genomics. By building on a long and rich history of molecular taxonomy and taking advantage of the new generation of DNA sequencing technologies, we are gaining previously impossible insights into alpha and beta diversity from all domains of life, irrespective of body size. While a number of complementary reviews …

Anthropogenic Habitats Facilitate Dispersal Of An Early Successional Obligate: Implications For Restoration Of An Endangered Ecosystem, Katrina E. Amaral, Michael W. Palace, Kathleen M. O'Brien, Lindsey E. Fenderson, Adrienne I. Kovach

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation disrupt the connectivity of natural landscapes, with major consequences for biodiversity. Species that require patchily distributed habitats, such as those that specialize on early successional ecosystems, must disperse through a landscape matrix with unsuitable habitat types. We evaluated landscape effects on dispersal of an early successional obligate, the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Using a landscape genetics approach, we identified barriers and facilitators of gene flow and connectivity corridors for a population of cottontails in the northeastern United States. We modeled dispersal in relation to landscape structure and composition and tested hypotheses about the influence …

Anthropogenic Habitats Facilitate Dispersal Of An Early Successional Obligate: Implications For Restoration Of An Endangered Ecosystem, Katrina E. Amaral, Michael W. Palace, Kathleen M. O'Brien, Lindsey E. Fenderson, Adrienne I. Kovach

Faculty Publications

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation disrupt the connectivity of natural landscapes, with major consequences for biodiversity. Species that require patchily distributed habitats, such as those that specialize on early successional ecosystems, must disperse through a landscape matrix with unsuitable habitat types. We evaluated landscape effects on dispersal of an early successional obligate, the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Using a landscape genetics approach, we identified barriers and facilitators of gene flow and connectivity corridors for a population of cottontails in the northeastern United States. We modeled dispersal in relation to landscape structure and composition and tested hypotheses about the influence …

Genetic Variation Within And Among Asexual Populations Of Porphyra Umbilicalis Kützing (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) In The Gulf Of Maine, Usa, Renee L. Eriksen, Lindsay A. Green, Anita S. Klein

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

The intertidal marine red alga Porphyra umbilicalis reproduces asexually in the Northwest Atlantic. We looked for population substructure among typical open-coastal and atypical estuarine habitats in seven asexual populations of P. umbilicalis from Maine to New Hampshire using eight expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSR) or microsatellite loci. Six genotypes were identified, four of which may represent recombinant genotypes from a recombination event that took place locally, or that took place prior to introduction to the Northwest Atlantic. Genotypic diversity was lowest in a population from Wiscasset, Maine, which inhabits an atypical habitat high in the intertidal zone of a …

Channeled Whelk (Busycotypus Canaliculatus) Ecology In Relation To The Fishery In Vineyard And Nantucket Sounds, Massachusetts, Shelley Ann Edmundson

Doctoral Dissertations

Channeled whelks (Busycotypus canaliculatus) are predatory marine gastropods that support lucrative commercial fisheries along the east coast of the United States, with areas around Massachusetts supplying the largest landings. In the absence of a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of channeled whelk biology, it is unclear how to sustainably manage their fisheries. Within this dissertation, various aspects of whelk ecology were investigated to determine how to protect this species, while effectively managing the local fishery.

Early life history experiments revealed channeled whelk egg strings may incubate for 8 to 9 months in MA water temperatures. Incubation period decreased with increasing …

A Comparison Of Macrofaunal And Algal Communities In Oyster Aquaculture Gear, An Eelgrass Bed, Oyster Reef, And A Mudflat In Great Bay, New Hampshire, Megan Elizabeth Glenn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) are important ecosystem engineers in Great Bay, NH, however despite restoration efforts they have been in decline. In addition to loss of the resource, this degradation results in loss of associated ecosystem services such as habitat provision. It is possible that the recent increase in oyster farming in Great Bay could help mitigate habitat loss. My research objective was to quantify the biotic communities present in three natural habitats (eelgrass beds, oyster reefs and mudflats) in Great Bay NH and compare those to communities living on the type of gear (“racks and bags”) …

Tradeoffs Between Three Forest Ecosystem Services Across The State Of New Hampshire, Usa: Timber, Carbon, And Albedo, David A. Lutz, Elizabeth A. Burakowski, Mackenzie B. Murphy, Mark E. Borsuk, Rebecca M. Niemiec, Richard B. Howarth

Earth Systems Research Center

Forests are more frequently being managed to store and sequester carbon for the purposes of climate change mitigation. Generally, this practice involves long-term conservation of intact mature forests and/or reductions in the frequency and intensity of timber harvests. However, incorporating the influence of forest surface albedo often suggests that long rotation lengths may not always be optimal in mitigating climate change in forests characterized by frequent snowfall. To address this, we investigated trade-offs between three ecosystem services: carbon storage, albedo-related radiative forcing, and timber provisioning. We calculated optimal rotation length at 498 diverse Forest Inventory and Analysis forest sites in …