Life Sciences Commons^™

Assessing A Fluorescence Spectroscopy Method For In-Situ Microbial Drinking Water Quality, Taylor Jeffery Sharpe

Dissertations and Theses

Waterborne disease is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease, in particular among high-risk populations in developing nations. State-of-the-art methods for the enumeration of microbial pathogens in drinking water sources have important limitations, including high initial cost, 24-48 hour delays in results, high staffing and facility requirements, and training requirements which all become especially problematic in the developing nation context.

A number of alternative approaches to microbial water quality testing have been proposed, with the goal of decreasing the required testing time, decreasing overall costs, leveraging appropriate technology approaches, or improving sensitivity or specificity of the water quality …

Anthropogenic Effects On The Fouling Community: Impacts Of Biological Invasions And Anthropogenic Structures On Community Structure, Whitney Elizabeth Mcclees

Dissertations and Theses

Coastal anthropogenic infrastructure has significantly modified nearshore environments. Because these structures often have a strong association with shipping as would be found in ports and harbors, they have been identified as invasion hotspots. Due to propagule pressure from shipping and recreational boating and suitable uncolonized substrate that provides a refuge from native predators, a greater number of non-native species have been found on these structures compared to nearby natural substrate. The mechanisms that limit the spread of non-native species from anthropogenic structures to natural substrate have been explored for several taxa at a species-specific level, but less so from an …

Ecosystem Recovery In Estuarine Wetlands Of The Columbia River Estuary, Sarah Ann Kidd

Dissertations and Theses

In the restoration of tidal wetland ecosystems, potential drivers of plant community development range from biotic controls (e.g. plant competition, seed dispersal) to abiotic controls (e.g. tidal flooding, salinity levels). How these controls influence the success of tidal wetland restoration are only partly understood, but have important implications for wetland habitat recovery. Specifically, the extent to which the existing native and non-native seed banks in tidally reconnected wetlands interact with these controls is not clear, yet the potential success of passive restoration methods depends upon this understanding.

For a 54-year chronosequence of eleven tidal wetland restoration sites in the Lower …

Using Critical Physical Geography To Map The Unintended Consequences Of Conservation Management Programs, Melanie Malone

Dissertations and Theses

A variety of conservation trends have gained and lost favor throughout the years in agriculture, with U.S. Farm Bills often influencing what conservation practices are implemented by farming communities throughout the U.S. This dissertation focuses on the unintended consequences of conservation management practices in the Fifteenmile Watershed of Wasco County, Oregon. Specifically, I seek to address how farmer enrollment in various conservation techniques, loosely defined as no-till agriculture, has affected soil and water quality through the increased use of herbicide, and subsequently rendered ecological and human health vulnerable. Using a critical physical geography framework, I address both the biophysical factors …