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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Decline Of Lake Superior's Woodland Caribou: A Historical Gis Analysis, Jordan W. Kelley
The Decline Of Lake Superior's Woodland Caribou: A Historical Gis Analysis, Jordan W. Kelley
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
Lake Superior’s woodland caribou have been declining since the early 1800s. This thesis asks: why? We hypothesize that as settlers expanded into the region, industrial development in woodland caribou habitat reduced woodland caribou persistence. Using an Historical Geospatial Information System (HGIS) analysis, we find that historical mining and railroad infrastructure are associated with woodland caribou extirpation, while wetlands and protected areas are associated with caribou persistence. We also conducted a stakeholder synthesis of the region to help understand diverse perspectives within and between advocacy coalitions that take different positions on the most effective caribou restoration policies. Beliefs on recovery options …
Impacts Of Forest Tax Programs On Property Tax Rates In Michigan's Upper Peninsula And Northern Wisconsin, Elsa Schwartz
Impacts Of Forest Tax Programs On Property Tax Rates In Michigan's Upper Peninsula And Northern Wisconsin, Elsa Schwartz
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
Forest tax programs offer reduced property taxes to private forest owners as incentive to sustainably manage their forests and to encourage the provision of ecosystem services. They also protect forests from conversion to other land uses and ensure the viable supply of timber for forest products industries. Despite the benefits that these programs provide, they can negatively impact local municipalities by reducing the property tax base, which can then cause local governments to increase tax rates for non-preferential properties in order to maintain revenue needed to run their services. This shifts the tax burden from participating properties to nonparticipating properties. …
Characterization Of Ecological Water Stress In The U.S. Great Lakes Region Using A Geospatial Modeling Approach, Sara Alian
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
Anthropocentric water resources management affects aquatic habitats by changing streamflow regime. Understanding the impacts of water withdrawal from different sources and consumption by various economic sectors at different spatial and temporal scales is key to characterizing ecologically harmful streamflow disturbances. To this end, we developed a generic, integrative framework to characterize catchment scale water stress at annual and monthly time scales. The framework accounts for spatially cumulative consumptive and non-consumptive use impacts and associated changes in flow due to depletion and return flow along the stream network. Application of the framework to the U.S. Great Lakes Region indicates that a …