Life Sciences Commons^™

Direct Effects Of Warming Increase Woody Plant Abundance In A Subarctic Wetland, Lindsay G. Carlson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Climate change is expected to continue to cause large increases in temperature in Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems which has already resulted in changes to plant communities; for example, increased shrub biomass and range. It is important to understand how warmer temperatures could affect the plant community in a wetland system because this region provides crucial high-quality forage for migratory herbivores during the breeding season. One mechanism by which warming could cause change is directly, where warming influences the vital rates of a species; these effects may be either positive or negative. Warmer temperatures may also affect a species indirectly, by …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Climate Change On Plant Populations And Communities In Sagebrush Steppe, Andrew R. Kleinhesselink

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rapid climate change presents humanity with a number of big problems. Foremost among these is the sad fact that the climate we will pass on to our children will likely be nothing like the climate that we inherited from our parents. Ecologists have collected solid evidence that climate change has already begun to affect the living things around us and the ecosystems humans depend on. Unfortunately, predicting the future effects of climate change on life on earth is not easy. We focused on three research goals as part of an effort to improve our ability to predict how plants and …

Effects Of Slash Pile Burning After Restoring Conifer- Encroached Aspen, Christa M. Dagley, John-Pascal Berrill, Stephanie Coppeto, Kyle Jacobson

Aspen Bibliography

Removal of conifers encroaching aspen stands has been advocated and is being practiced in the Lake Tahoe Basin (EIP Project #10080: Aspen Community Restoration Projects). In remote and roadless areas, thinning of conifers is generating large volumes of wood and pile burning is currently being implemented to handle this biomass on site. However, the effects of pile burning on aspen are unknown, and there is an urgent need for guidelines to support design of thinning treatment prescriptions; specifically burn pile size and safe distances from live aspen trees of any size to prevent injury.

The Effects Of Forest Harvesting On Small Mammals In Western Newfoundland And Its Significance To Marten, Brian Tucker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The depauperate fauna of Newfoundland provides a limited prey base for marten. Only two small mammal prey species, Microtus pennsylvanicus and Sorex cinereus, were found in any abundance in the old-growth forests of the study area. Of these two, Microtus displayed population fluctuations typical of most microtines. Analysis of marten scats indicated that Microtus is a very important prey item to the marten with other food. items being of lesser importance particularly when Microtus are abundant.

Trapping in various habitats indicated that Sorex densities were three to five times higher in logged areas compared to uncut areas. Unfortunately, the …

Effects Of Clearcutting On Forage Production, Quality And Decomposition In The Caatinga Woodland Of Northeast Brazil: Implications To Goat And Sheep Nutrition, Robert D. Kirmse

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Clearing of trees from the so-called caatinga woodland that characterizes the vegetation of the semi-arid region of northeast Brazil offers possibilities for increasing forage production. This research analyzed the first-year effects of clearing caatinga on dry season forage for goats and sheep. In addition, factors affecting litter decomposition on cleared and uncleared caatinga were assessed to evaluate the viability of deferring grazing of forages during the wet season for use later in the dry season.

Removing the trees resulted in a sixfold increase in production of herbaceous vegetation, however, 88 percent of the increased yield on the cleared areas was …

Microenvironmental Effects Of Erosion Control Treatments On Seedling Survival In A Southeastern Utah Salt Desert Area, Ross W. Wein

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study of the microclimate of erosion control treatments was carried out in two habitat types in a semiarid southeastern Utah, salt desert shrub area. The soils are highly eroded Mancos shale and support a low density of salt desert shrub species which offers little protection against high intensity summer convectional rainstorms.

Gully plugs and contour furrows had been installed by the Bureaus of Reclamation and Land Management to prevent runoff of soil laden water which results from these summer rainfalls. Formerly this sediment was carried to the Colorado River and deposited in Lake Powell.

The purpose to t he …