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Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Connecting The Nebraska Water Quality Index To The Aquatic Microbial Community Of The North Platte River Basin, Nebraska, Paula R. Guastello
Connecting The Nebraska Water Quality Index To The Aquatic Microbial Community Of The North Platte River Basin, Nebraska, Paula R. Guastello
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The Nebraska Water Quality Index, under development by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, summarizes in a single value eight environmental parameters that have been monitored in Nebraska for nearly 20 years. Water quality parameters including those used in the Nebraska Water Quality Index have been shown in previous studies to impact bacterial growth. As such, this index has the potential to correlate with the freshwater microbial community. Here, I relate the Nebraska Water Quality Index to microbial community composition and structure using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence data collected from the North Platte River Basin, Nebraska. This index …
Assessing Responses Of Betula Papyrifera (Paper Birch) To Climate Variability In A Remnant Population Along The Niobrara River In Nebraska Through Dendroecological And Remote Sensing Techniques, Evan Bumann
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Remnant populations of the boreal species Betula papyrifera, found along north-facing canyons and river banks of the Niobrara River Valley in north-central Nebraska, represent one of the southernmost distributions of the species in North America. Although, the species has persisted in the Great Plains after the Wisconsin Glaciation due to the local topography and microclimatic conditions, canopy dieback has been reported in recent years, which is believed to be attributed to temperature change. Therefore, the goals of this research are to: 1) use dendroecological techniques, or the study of tree rings to assess the responses B. papyrifera to intra- and …
Gaur (Bos Gaurus) Abundance, Distribution, And Habitat Use Patterns In Kuiburi National Park, Southwestern Thailand, Supatcharee Tanasarnpaiboon
Gaur (Bos Gaurus) Abundance, Distribution, And Habitat Use Patterns In Kuiburi National Park, Southwestern Thailand, Supatcharee Tanasarnpaiboon
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Population status of gaur (Bos gaurus), a wild cattle, in most habitats where they are present, is still unknown. As the use of camera traps in wildlife studies are widespread, I developed photographic individual identification procedures and utilized encounter histories of gaur individuals from camera trap data to estimate gaur abundance and density using the spatially explicit capture-recapture analysis. The study was conducted at Kuiburi National Park, southwestern Thailand, comprised of dry evergreen forest, moist evergreen forest, and man-modified secondary forest during November 2013- January 2015. I conducted 71 direct observations in a savannah-like habitat area to observe …
Occupancy Analysis And Density Estimation Of Kori Bustards (Ardeotis Kori) And Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida Meleagris) For Use In Landscape Conservation Planning In The Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana, Kathryn R. Mccollum
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
For understudied species, more informed conservation planning and decision-making on both the local and landscape levels may be attained through the use of occupancy and abundance estimations. Here, we focus on two iconic bird species in eastern Botswana, kori bustards (Ardeotis kori) and helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris). The overall goal of this project was to better understand the hierarchy of factors that influence occupancy (ψ) and density of kori bustard and helmeted guineafowl populations within the Northern Tuli Game Reserve and how these factors may interact to affect landscape conservation and usage. We performed distance sampling …
Shorebird Migratory Stopover Responses To Local And Regional Change: Habitat Decisions In A Vanishing Landscape, Caitlyn Gillespie
Shorebird Migratory Stopover Responses To Local And Regional Change: Habitat Decisions In A Vanishing Landscape, Caitlyn Gillespie
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Understanding the consequences of anthropogenic change for migratory species is challenging because although they have evolved to cope with environmental uncertainty, migrants still rely on predictable relationships within and among habitats to make informed decisions. Calidris shorebirds rely on ephemeral wetlands during northward migration through mid-continental North America, where favorable habitat conditions are annually and regionally unpredictable and increasingly altered by land-use change. During spring 2013 and 2014, we assessed Calidris habitat use in the Rainwater Basin (RWB) and the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) at both local and landscape scales. Although anthropogenic change has altered the wetland landscape in both …
Genetic And Morphological Variation In Ecuadorian Astroblepid Catfishes, Katherine M. Lawry
Genetic And Morphological Variation In Ecuadorian Astroblepid Catfishes, Katherine M. Lawry
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The Andean ichthyofauna remains a poorly understood component of Neotropical biodiversity, and stands in stark contrast to the lowland ichthyofauna in terms of number of species and range of distribution. The Climate Variability Hypothesis (CVH) predicts rapid turnover of species along elevational gradients in tropical climates, but it remains unclear whether stream fishes follow this pattern. Astroblepid catfishes represent a distinctive assemblage of species that inhabit high elevation streams throughout the Andes from Panama to Bolivia, and constitute the only native fish family present in the Ecuadorian highland region. In this research, population samples of Astroblepids collected throughout Ecuador’s Napo …
Interactions Of Zooplankton And Phytoplankton With Cyanobacteria, Rebecca Alexander
Interactions Of Zooplankton And Phytoplankton With Cyanobacteria, Rebecca Alexander
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Cyanobacteria are a major concern in Nebraska reservoirs and are capable of producing toxins that can cause skin irritations and gastrointestinal problems, as well as affect the nervous system. It is important to determine the mechanisms that can cause cyanobacteria blooms due to the effect they can have on human health. The interaction of zooplankton and other phytoplankton groups with cyanobacteria is important because there is a biological component in surface waters that should be taken into consideration along with the physical and chemical parameters that have been noted to promote cyanobacteria. For example, zooplankton have the ability to alter …