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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Exploring The Consistency Of Flow Regimes Within And Among Ecoregions Of The Southeastern United States, Frank Paul Braun Iv Jan 2024

Exploring The Consistency Of Flow Regimes Within And Among Ecoregions Of The Southeastern United States, Frank Paul Braun Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human manipulation of river systems has long been a known contributor to the loss of freshwater biodiversity. By accounting for environmental causes of hydrologic variation among rivers, we can better understand how ecoregion mediates flow regimes and forecast species that may be at risk. Presumably, natural variation associated with ecoregion boundaries exerts strong influence on flow regimes, and may mediate relationships between other features (e.g., land use, dam operations) and hydrology. However, such between-ecoregion variation is poorly investigated, particularly at fine spatial and temporal scales. I characterized 10 hydrologic metrics, representing the five key dimensions of the flow regime (magnitude, …


Modelling The Encroachment Of Farmhouse Culture On Private Village Pastures And Its Environmental Fall-Out In Northern Western Ghats, India, S. B. Nalavade, K. R. Sahasrabuddhe, A. A. Patwardhan Mar 2023

Modelling The Encroachment Of Farmhouse Culture On Private Village Pastures And Its Environmental Fall-Out In Northern Western Ghats, India, S. B. Nalavade, K. R. Sahasrabuddhe, A. A. Patwardhan

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Tropical India harbours numerous pasturelands across small landholdings ranging up to few hectares which are covered with grass that is suitable as fodder. These grazing lands are commonly known as ‘Gairan’ in urbanised northern Western Ghats mountain tract in Western India). Such grasslands comprise about 20% of the total area of a village (Jodha, 1986), support livestock and supplement the agro-economy of the village. These pasturelands are being replaced by fenced ‘farmhouses’ of the urban elite, resulting in land use changes that caused drastic qualitative and quantitative changes in terms of area, fodder species composition and livestock they …


Winter Dynamics Of Storm Water Management Ponds And Winter Tolerance In Three Aquatic Plant Species, Patrick Strzalkowski Jan 2023

Winter Dynamics Of Storm Water Management Ponds And Winter Tolerance In Three Aquatic Plant Species, Patrick Strzalkowski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The vast majority of the research into the performance of stormwater management ponds (SWMPs) has been performed in warm regions or during the warmer seasons in temperate regions. It is presumed that SWMPs are inactive in the winter as any potential stormwater is trapped in snow and ice. The main goal of this thesis was to test this presumption and to study the dynamics and performance of three SWMPs during the winter. Remote water level loggers were installed into the three SWMPs and daily grab samples from the influents and effluents were taken and analyzed for total phosphorus (TP), chloride, …


Analysis Of Urbanization And Climate Change Effects On Community Resilience In The Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, George Atisa, Alexis Racelis Jul 2022

Analysis Of Urbanization And Climate Change Effects On Community Resilience In The Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, George Atisa, Alexis Racelis

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Disruptive development events have tested and will continue to test community resilience as people work to balance healthy living, economic growth, and environmental quality. Aspects of urbanization, if not designed and guided by healthy living strategies, convert natural areas into built environments, thus reducing the diversity of plant and animal species that are the foundation of resilience in communities. In this study, we attempted to answer the following question: What are the most effective ways to ensure that ongoing urbanization and climate change do not negatively affect ecological services and community resilience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV)? The region …


Vignette 07: Stormwater Effluent Exerts A Key Pressure On The Salish Sea, Emily Howe May 2021

Vignette 07: Stormwater Effluent Exerts A Key Pressure On The Salish Sea, Emily Howe

Institute Publications

One of the primary terrestrial pressures on the Salish Sea estuarine and marine environment is urban stormwater runoff. When rainfall runs across hard, impervious surfaces, rather than soaking into the soil, it picks up and delivers toxic contaminants directly to nearby streams, rivers, and eventually the Salish Sea. In fact, for most toxic substances, surface runoff is the largest contributing source of loading to Puget Sound. Unfortunately, the Salish Sea’s relationship with stormwater effluent is no outlier; stormwater is the fastest growing cause of surface water impairment in the United States as urbanization transitions forested and other natural landscapes to …


Section 2: Context, Kathryn L. Sobocinski May 2021

Section 2: Context, Kathryn L. Sobocinski

Institute Publications

Section 2 sets a foundation for understanding the Salish Sea ecosystem by describing its fundamental biophysical processes and structure, including estuarine circulation, ecological productivity, and an overview of several important biogenic habitats.


A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Urbanization, Mesophication And Prescribed Burns On Oak Woodlands In The Chicago Metropolitan Area, Chad Populorum May 2018

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Urbanization, Mesophication And Prescribed Burns On Oak Woodlands In The Chicago Metropolitan Area, Chad Populorum

Celebration of Learning

Urban expansion has had devastating impacts on forest ecosystems, especially within the past century. Human attempts to dominate nature have diminished natural disturbance regimes, which have maintained the biodiversity and historic composition of these ecosystems. Fires have been a prominent force in maintaining the structure of oak, hickory and other heliophytic (sun loving and fire-adapted) forest systems. Human induced fire suppression has led to mesophication across North America. Mesophication is the transition from drier conditions with open canopies to wetter conditions with closed canopies. These new conditions decrease the survival rates of these important species and begin to favor mesophytic …


The Effects Of Urbanization On Nitrogen Processing In Urban Streams, Peter Francissen, Dr. Kevin Geedey, Dr. Michael Reisner May 2017

The Effects Of Urbanization On Nitrogen Processing In Urban Streams, Peter Francissen, Dr. Kevin Geedey, Dr. Michael Reisner

Celebration of Learning

Urban stream syndrome is described as the deterioration of stream health in an urbanized watershed and is associated with the loss of ecosystem services, which in turn degrades downstream environments. One key symptom of the urban stream syndrome is reduced processing of inorganic nitrogen. Previous research suggests that as urbanization increases and water quality decreases, the uptake length (Sw) of inorganic N increases. This indicates that the stream is increasing the export of N downstream compared to in situ incorporation of N into the ecosystem. We measured uptake length (Sw) of NO3, using a pulse addition method, along 9 different …


Qualitative And Comparative Analysis Of Stormwater Management In The Tan Brook Watershed, Natalia Von Hausen, Robert F. Smith Jan 2014

Qualitative And Comparative Analysis Of Stormwater Management In The Tan Brook Watershed, Natalia Von Hausen, Robert F. Smith

Research

The Tan Brook Watershed is both a daylighted and diverted underground stream that runs through the Town Center of Amherst and the campus of UMass Amherst. Various stormwater management practices have been used to infiltrate stormwater runoff from streets, lots, buildings and/or vehicles. These systems are custom-designed relative to the surrounding permeability of the soil, vegetation and geographical topography. Some systems have higher success rates than others.


Dynamics Of Land Use/Land Cover Changes And Its Implication On Food Security In Anyigba, North Central, Nigeria, Tokula E. Arome, Sunday P. Ejaro (Phd) May 2012

Dynamics Of Land Use/Land Cover Changes And Its Implication On Food Security In Anyigba, North Central, Nigeria, Tokula E. Arome, Sunday P. Ejaro (Phd)

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This study assessed land use/land cover changes and its effect on Agricultural land in Anyigba. The objectives were to identify and delineate different land use / land cover categories, assess the rate of change that occurred and examine the impact of land use/land cover change on food security using satellite remote sensing data collected at three different years (1987 Land sat TM, 2001 Land Sat TM and 2011 Land Sat ETM). The study utilized GIS software such as Idrisi Andes academic and ArcGIS 9.3. The study area covers approximately 31.8km2, and four major land use/cover classes were utilized (built up, …