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Trends Of Sediment Resuspension And Budget In Southern Lake Michigan Under Changing Wave Climate And Hydrodynamic Environment, Longhuan Zhu, Pengfei Xue, Guy Meadows, Chenfu Huang, Jianzhong Ge, Cary D. Troy, Chin H. Wu

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Sediment suspension and transport driven by waves and currents play a significant role in both the ecological and physical environments of large lakes. Lake Michigan has faced a rapidly increasing water level associated with intensified wind waves in the past decade. To investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and associated coastal sediment budgets in southern Lake Michigan, a 30-year (1991–2020) hindcast was performed using a coupled wave-current-sediment model (SWAN-FVCOM-CSTMS). We found that in southern Lake Michigan, the basin-wide mean SSC increased, and the coastal sediment loss accelerated dramatically, corresponding with intensified waves, currents and lake water level …

Climate Change-Associated Declines In Water Clarity Impair Feeding By Common Loons, Walter H. Piper, Max R. Glines, Kevin C. Rose

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change has myriad impacts on ecosystems, but the mechanisms by which it affects individual species can be difficult to pinpoint. One strategy to discover such mechanisms is to identify a specific ecological factor related to survival or reproduction and determine how that factor is affected by climate. Here we used Landsat imagery to calculate water clarity for 127 lakes in northern Wisconsin from 1995 to 2021 and thus investigate the effect of clarity on the body condition of an aquatic visual predator, the common loon (Gavia immer). In addition, we examined rainfall and temperature as potential predictors …

Relocating Lubra Village And Visualizing Himalayan Flood Damages With Remote Sensing, Ronan Wallace, Yungdrung Tsewang Gurung, Ryan Kastner

Journal of Critical Global Issues

As weather patterns change worldwide, isolated communities impacted by climate change go unnoticed and we need community-driven solutions. In Himalayan Mustang, Nepal, indigenous Lubra Village faces threats of increasing flash flooding. After every flood, residual muddy sediment hardens across the riverbed like concrete, causing the riverbed elevation to rise. As elevation increases, sediment encroaches on Lubra’s agricultural fields and homes, magnifying flood vulnerability. In the last monsoon season alone, the Lubra community witnessed floods swallowing several agricultural fields and damaging two homes. One solution considers relocating the village to a new location entirely. However, relocation poses a challenging task, as …

The Impact Of Sea-Level Rise On Coastal Wetlands Using In-Situ Mesocosm Experiments, Landscape Modeling, And Traditional Ecological Knowledge Mapping, Kelly San Antonio

Master's Theses

Sea-level rise is an escalating threat to coastal wetlands as increased inundation and saltwater intrusion can lead to lowered productivity, decreased biomass, and plant death – and ultimately land loss. In chapter one, I detailed the interactive effects of inundation and nitrogen on two commonly found saltmarsh species, Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens. I examined productivity and metrics to these stressors using a controlled mesocosm experiment in the western channel of the Pascagoula River, Mississippi. I found varying strategies of growth between species and differing responses between the short- and long-term. Overall Spartina alterniflora performed better with increased inundation …

Analysis And Assessment Of Land Use / Land Cover Impact On Human And Natural Ecosystems In The Salton Sea Watershed, 2013 - 2021, Diego Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study represents an interdisciplinary analysis of the changing landscape of the Salton Sea Watershed from 2013 to 2021, focusing on land use land cover (LULC) category changes, climatic variations, and socioeconomic factors. The findings of this research show a shift in land cover categories, portrayed by the changes of natural landscapes and vegetative areas into rapidly increasing urbanized expansion and increased impervious surfaces. These changes pose concerns about increased temperature in the region, a decrease in overall water availability and groundwater infiltration, and an increase in pollution. The study explores 10 sub-watersheds within the Salton Sea Watershed basin, focusing …

Tree Planting As An Adaptive Management Tool For Climate Change In Morocco, Stephanie J. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of planting fruit trees to combat climate change impacts in Morocco has been growing in popularity with support from the Moroccan government and non-profit organizations. Although it is often considered a successful adaptive management tool, tree planting initiatives (TPIs) in arid lands have not been thoroughly analyzed, their management is unstandardized, and these initiatives can cause harm when trees are planted in areas that cannot support them. To implement tree planting better these TPIs need to find areas where the trees they are introducing have the best chance of survival without negatively impacting the surrounding ecosystem and human …

Tree Planting As An Adaptive Management Tool For Climate Change In Morocco, Stephanie J. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of planting fruit trees to combat climate change impacts in Morocco has been growing in popularity with support from the Moroccan government and non-profit organizations. Although it is often considered a successful adaptive management tool, tree planting initiatives (TPIs) in arid lands have not been thoroughly analyzed, their management is unstandardized, and these initiatives can cause harm when trees are planted in areas that cannot support them. To implement tree planting better these TPIs need to find areas where the trees they are introducing have the best chance of survival without negatively impacting the surrounding ecosystem and human …

Relationships Between Vector Mosquitoes And Climate Change Derived From Long Term Ecological Data In The United States, Nicholas Scott

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Climate change has significant ecological and societal consequences as evident from the past few decades. It has had a large impact on many species, including vector mosquitoes. Although how climate change impacts mosquitoes of the tropical world has been explored, temperate areas remain inadequately studied. Therefore, the medical and healthcare sectors are underprepared for treating mosquito-borne diseases (EEE and Western Nile virus). Based on a long-term ecological dataset covering the past ~10 years across 45 sites, we streamlined, processed, and subsequently analyzed data by building statistical models to understand changes among mosquito populations in the US in response to climate …

Net-Zero Target And Emissions From Land Conversions: A Case Study Of Maryland's Climate Solutions Now Act, Philip Hutton

All Theses

Many climate change “solution” plans include net-zero goals, which involve balancing the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) with their removal. Achieving net-zero goals is particularly problematic for soils because they are often excluded from GHG inventories and reduction plans. For example, Maryland’s Climate Solutions Now Act (Senate Bill 528) put forward a target of net-zero emissions by 2045. To achieve these goals, the state of Maryland (MD) needs to quantify GHG emissions. Soils are currently excluded from MD’s GHG assessments. This study examines the challenges in meeting net-zero goals by using carbon dioxide (CO₂). The current study quantified …

Predicting The Impact Of Climate Change On The Distribution Of Rhipicephalus Sanguineus In The Americas, Marcos Sánchez Pérez, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo, Crystian Sadiel Venegas Barrera, Carolina Sosa-Gutiérrez, Javier Torres, Katherine A. Brown, Guadalupe Gordillo Pérez

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change may influence the incidence of infectious diseases including those transmitted by ticks. Rhipicephalus sanguineus complex has a worldwide distribution and transmits Rickettsial infections that could cause high mortality rates if untreated. We assessed the potential effects of climate change on the distribution of R. sanguineus in the Americas in 2050 and 2070 using the general circulation model CanESM5 and two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), SSP2-4.5 (moderate emissions) and SSP2-8.5 (high emissions). A total of 355 occurrence points of R. sanguineus and eight uncorrelated bioclimatic variables were entered into a maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) to produce 50 replicates per …

Identifying Factors To Develop And Validate A Heat Vulnerability Tool For Pakistan – A Review, Salman Muhammad Soomar, Sarmad Muhammad Soomar

Department of Emergency Medicine

Objective: This review will provide better insight into developing and validating a heat vulnerability assessment tool for Pakistan.
Methods: A literature search was done to identify studies onon heat vulnerability assessment published from January 2012 to January 2021 (10 years). Online databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of science were used for the literature search.
Results: Heat vulnerability can be evaluated by some specific determinants that have heat-related health events, including social, economic, environmental, housing, and geographical factors.
Conclusion: This tool will identify heat vulnerability risks and mitigate morbidity and mortality.

The Impact Of Climate Change On Environmental Sustainability And Human Mortality, Xingzhi Mara Chen, Andrew Sharma, Hua Liu

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Climate dictates the critical aspects of human environmental conditions. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions due to human-induced climate change have alarmingly increased. Consequently, climate change directly affects environmental sustainability and human mortality in the short term and creates prolonged and complicated long-term indirect grave risks. This paper examines three-level environmental impact risks associated with climate change on human mortality. It proposes a conceptual framework for developing an empirical event-based human mortality database related to climate change and communication strategies to enhance global environmental adaptation, resilience, and sustainability.

Changes In Ecosystem Processes And Functional Traits Over An Elevational Gradient, Tiana Issa

Honors Theses

Elevation gradients have been used to understand how climate change impacts various ecosystems processes by substituting distance across elevation with time, reflecting a previous, colder climate. To monitor the changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), plant community, and functional traits across time in the face of climate change, this study used space-for-time substitution to emulate a long-term study with elevational gradients and revisited the same gradient for nearly two decades to monitor elevational effects across time. With this research, I aim to answer the following questions: (1) How does elevation impact ecosystem processes and alpine plant traits? (2) How does …

The Effect Of Climate Change On Avian Offspring Production: A Global Meta-Analysis, Lucyna Halupka, Debora Arlt, Jere Tolvanen, Alexandre Millon, Pierre Bize, Peter Adamík, Pascal Albert, Wayne J. Arendt, Alexander V. Artemyev, Vittorio Baglione, Jerzy Bańbura, Mirosława Bańbura, Emilio Barba, Robert T. Barrett, Peter H. Becker, Eugen Belskii, Mark Bolton, E. Keith Bowers, Joël Bried, Lyanne Brouwer, Monika Bukacińska, Dariusz Bukaciński, Lesley Bulluck, Kate F. Carstens, Inês Catry, Motti Charter, Anna Chernomorets, Rita Covas, Monika Czuchra, Donald Dearborn, Florentino De Lope

All Faculty Scholarship

Climate change affects timing of reproduction in many bird species, but few studies have investigated its influence on annual reproductive output. Here, we assess changes in the annual production of young by female breeders in 201 populations of 104 bird species (N = 745,962 clutches) covering all continents between 1970 and 2019. Overall, average offspring production has declined in recent decades, but considerable differences were found among species and populations. A total of 56.7% of populations showed a declining trend in offspring production (significant in 17.4%), whereas 43.3% exhibited an increase (significant in 10.4%). The results show that climatic changes …

Gendered Perceptions Of Climate Change And Agricultural Adaptation Practices: A Systematic Review, A. T. M. Sanaul Haque, Lalit Kumar, Navjot Bhullar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The present systematic review was undertaken to obtain a detailed understanding of how climate change perceptions and adaptation differ globally by gender and different intersections among the farmers. Findings from 41 studies selected following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, mostly from Africa and Asia, suggest that climate change perceptions and adaptation are highly contextual and considerably varied by gender and different intersections. Existing gender role, farmers’ age, education, knowledge, marital status, intra-household power structure, religion, social status and ethnicity were intersecting with gender and climate change perception and adaptation. Apart from gender and intersectionality, access …

A Sky Island Perspective: New England Alpine Plant Distributions Across The Region, Andrea Tirrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alpine ecosystems around the globe are at risk due to climate change, human disturbance, and habitat loss. New England alpine zones are small and fragmented, which could make them vulnerable to global change. However, the persistence of tundra relics throughout the Holocene suggests the persistence of these communities in microclimate refugia. Assessing the near-term vulnerability of alpine plant communities is challenged by a lack of standardized, repeat surveys and long-term monitoring data, which presents a challenge for the many agencies monitoring New England’s alpine zones. Island biogeography theory predicts that alpine species richness is a function of area, but this …

Predictions And Drivers Of Sub-Reach-Scale Annual Streamflow Permanence For The Upper Missouri River Basin: 1989–2018, Kendra E. Kaiser

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The presence of year-round surface water in streams (i.e., streamflow permanence) is an important factor for identifying aquatic habitat availability, determining the regulatory status of streams, managing land use change, allocating water resources, and designing scientific studies. However, accurate, high resolution, and dynamic prediction of streamflow permanence that accounts for year-to-year variability at a regional extent is a major gap in modeling capability. Herein, we expand and adapt the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) PRObability of Streamflow PERmanence (PROSPER) model from its original implementation in the Pacific Northwest (PROSPER_PNW) to the upper Missouri River basin (PROSPER_UM), a …

Species Data And Vector Modeling: Evaluating Datasets For Improved Models Of Ixodes Ricinus Tick Distribution In Europe Under A Changing Climate, Steven Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To increase capacity for monitoring and surveillance of tick-borne diseases, publicly available tick distribution and climate change datasets are required to create accurate predictive distribution models. It is difficult, however, to assess model accuracy and utility when using incomplete datasets.  The more recent development of comprehensive tick databases for Europe and availability of climate change scenarios from multiple IPCC Assessment Reports allows for improved modeling efforts. Multiple tick datasets were combined and three climate change projections were compared by predicting current and future distributions of Ixodes ricinus ticks in Europe using the MaxEnt species distribution model. Overall, much of Europe …

Predictions Of Household Water Affordability Under Conditions Of Climate Change, Demographic Growth, And Fresh Groundwater Depletion In A Southwest Us City Indicate Increasing Burdens On The Poor, Josiah M. Heyman, Alex S. Mayer, Jessica Alger

Michigan Tech Publications

Reduced river flows and groundwater depletion as a result of climate change and population growth have increased the effort and difficulty accessing and processing water. In turn, residential water costs from municipal utilities are predicted to rise to unaffordable rates for poor residential water customers. Building on a regional conjunctive use model with future climate scenarios and 50-year future water supply plans, our study communicates the effects of climate change on poor people in El Paso, Texas, as water becomes more difficult and expensive to obtain in future years. Four scenarios for future water supply and future water costs were …

Estimation Of Economic Risk From Coastal Natural Hazards In Louisiana, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Louisiana, U.S.A., is among the most vulnerable areas globally to coastal natural hazards, with risk vulnerability likely increasing. The risks associated with non-tropical-cyclone hazards in Louisiana’s coastal zone have been understudied. This research enhances present and future (i.e., 2050) Louisiana risk assessment using locally-weighted, model-based hazard frequency/intensity and population projections.

Results suggest that property risks associated with extreme cold temperature and tornado are and will remain costlier than those for hail and lightning. Property risks of extreme cold temperature and hail are projected to decrease with the expected warming temperatures, with those of all four of these hazards peaking in …

Disturbances In North American Boreal Forest And Arctic Tundra: Impacts, Interactions, And Responses, Adrianna C. Foster, Jonathan A. Wang, Gerald V. Frost, Scott J. Davidson, Elizabeth Hoy, Kevin W. Turner, Oliver Sonnentag, Howard Epstein, Logan T. Berner, Amanda H. Armstrong, Mary Kang, Brendan M. Rogers, Elizabeth Campbell, Kimberley R. Miner, Kathleen M. Orndahl, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, David A. Lutz, Nancy H. F. French, Dong Chen, Jinyang Du, Tatiana A. Shestakova, Jacquelyn K. Shuman, Ken Tape, Anna Maria Virkkala, Christopher Potter, Scott Goetz

Michigan Tech Publications

Ecosystems in the North American Arctic-Boreal Zone (ABZ) experience a diverse set of disturbances associated with wildfire, permafrost dynamics, geomorphic processes, insect outbreaks and pathogens, extreme weather events, and human activity. Climate warming in the ABZ is occurring at over twice the rate of the global average, and as a result the extent, frequency, and severity of these disturbances are increasing rapidly. Disturbances in the ABZ span a wide gradient of spatiotemporal scales and have varying impacts on ecosystem properties and function. However, many ABZ disturbances are relatively understudied and have different sensitivities to climate and trajectories of recovery, resulting …

Evaluating Current And Future Potential Distribution Of Epiphytic Orchids In The Congo Basin With Ecological Niche Models, Michael L. Ngoh

Masters Theses

The Congo Basin Forest harbors a rich diversity of epiphytic communities, with the Orchidaceae alone making up more than 50% of all epiphytes in the region. Despite the huge diversity of epiphytes, many species, including epiphytic orchids, are at risk to a diverse array of threats. Climate change for instance poses severe threats to epiphytic orchids due to elevated temperatures, prolonged periods of droughts, as well as reduced rainfall across the Congo Basin Forest. In this study, we used ecological niche modeling and GIS techniques to identify spatial patterns of species richness, potential future climate refugia, and novel climatic suitability …

Flood Hazard Index Application In Arid Catchments: Case Of The Taguenit Wadi Watershed, Lakhssas, Morocco, Mustapha Ikirri, Farid Faik, Fatima Zahra Echogdali, Isabel Margarida Horta Ribeiro Antunes, Mohamed Abioui, Kamal Abdelrahman, Mohammed S. Fnais, Abderrahmane Wanaim, Mouna Id-Belqas, Said Boutaleb, Kochappi Sathyan Sajinkumar, Adolfo Quesada-Román

Michigan Tech Publications

During the last decade, climate change has generated extreme rainfall events triggering flash floods in short periods worldwide. The delimitation of flood zones by detailed mapping generally makes it possible to avoid human and economic losses, especially in regions at high risk of flooding. The Taguenit basin, located in southern Morocco, is a particular case. The mapping of the flood zones of this basin by the method of the Flood Hazard Index (FHI) in a GIS geographic information systems environment was based on the multi-criteria analysis, taking into consideration the seven parameters influencing these extreme phenomena, namely rainfall, slope, flow …

Effects Of Forest Restoration On The Recovery Of Dead Wood, Associated Arthropods, And Insect-Mediated Wood Decomposition, Estefania Fernandez Barrancos

Dissertations

Dead wood represents 8% of terrestrial carbon stocks and is an important source of habitat and food for decomposer and non-decomposer arthropods. However, anthropogenic disturbance reduces the amount of dead wood, putting at risk the presence of a habitat that is essential for many arthropods and other organisms that rely on it for food and shelter. Forest restoration aims to assist the recovery of ecosystems that have been damaged or destroyed and could be a means to recover both dead wood and its associated arthropod communities. This doctoral dissertation lies at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity loss and ecological …

How Environmental Change Will Impact Mosquito-Borne Diseases, Arsal Khan

Master's Projects and Capstones

Mosquitos, the most lethal species throughout human history, are the most prevalent source of vector-borne diseases and therefore a major global health burden. Mosquito-borne disease incidence is expected to shift with environmental change. These changes can be predicted using species distribution models. With the wide variety of methods used for models, consensus for improving accuracy and comparability is needed. A comparative analysis of three recent modeling approaches revealed that integrating modeling techniques compensates for trade-offs associated with a singular approach. An area that represents a critical gap in our ability to predict mosquito behavior in response to changing climate factors, …

The Relationship Between Urban Heat Islands And Redline Districts, Emily Cornwell

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

As climate change worsens and the world attempts to find solutions to global changes, it is important to identify how climate change will affect individual communities. Climate resilience tactics aim to protect vulnerable populations against environmental harms, such as excess heat. Historically, communities of color face forms of environmental racism. One example of structural racism includes the loans given out by the Home Owners Loan Corporation during the 1940s which “redlined” certain communities of color by refusing to give these neighborhoods loans and rated these areas undesirable for loaners. Urban heat islands occur in residential, densely populated areas with lots …

Sex, Body Size, And Winter Weather Explain Migration Strategies In A Partial Migrant Population Of American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius), Sadie Claire Ranck

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Partially migratory systems describe populations that consist of both individuals that migrate away from the breeding grounds for the winter, and others that remain resident near their nesting sites year-round. Partial migration is the most common type of migration across all animal taxa, but the evolution, maintenance, and consequences associated with different movement strategies are still poorly understood. Studying the factors that drive migratory strategies and the associated consequences of those decisions is important to understand how migratory animals may adapt to climate change. Partial migrant populations offer a great opportunity for which to study these questions because individuals with …

Seasonal Trends In Adult Apparent Survival And Reproductive Trade-Offs Reveal Potential Constraints To Earlier Nesting In A Migratory Bird, Kathleen R. Callery, John A. Smallwood, Anjolene R. Hunt, Emilie R. Snyder, Julie A. Heath

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Birds aim to optimize resources for feeding young and self-maintenance by timing reproduction to coincide with peak food availability. When reproduction is mistimed, birds could incur costs that affect their survival. We studied whether nesting phenology correlated with the apparent survival of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) from two distinct populations and examined trends in clutch-initiation dates. We estimated apparent survival using multi-state mark-recapture models with nesting timing, nesting success, sex, age, and weather covariates. Nesting timing predicted the apparent survival of successful adults; however, the effect differed between populations. Early nesting kestrels had higher apparent survival than later …

Black Carbon Dominated Dust In Recent Radiative Forcing On Rocky Mountain Snowpacks, Kelly E. Gleason, Joseph R. Mcconnell, Monica M. Arienzo, Graham Sexstone, Stefan Rahimi

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The vast majority of surface water resources in the semi-arid western United States start as winter snowpack. Solar radiation is a primary driver of snowmelt, making snowpack water resources especially sensitive to even small increases in concentrations of light absorbing particles such as mineral dust and combustion-related black carbon (BC). Here we show, using fresh snow measurements and snowpack modeling at 51 widely distributed sites in the Rocky Mountain region, that BC dominated impurity-driven radiative forcing in 2018. BC contributed three times more radiative forcing on average than dust, and up to 17 times more at individual locations. Evaluation of …

Temporal Changes In Surface Water Availability: Patterns Of Seasonal Shift On Water Stress In The Conterminous Us Under A Changing Climate, Quinn Montana

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The argument could be made that there is nothing more valuable on the planet than water. Our lives depend upon it. Climate change is already having an impact on the United States (US) and water stress will be one of the problems we increasingly face in coming decades. Regional research has shown that one or another part of the conterminous US (CONUS) is expected to experience an annual deficit or a surplus in runoff. Further studies have looked at changing patterns over the CONUS as a whole. Other research has focused on a particular season. This work addresses a gap …