Life Sciences Commons^™

Human Dimensions Of Woody Encroachment Management In Nebraska, Emily Rowen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody plant encroachment (WPE) is a social-ecological problem that will challenge conservation professionals and agricultural producers to adapt their management strategies. This research first examined WPE from the perspective of individual conservation professionals through an online survey. Conservation professionals’ attitudes about adaptation to vegetation transitions, such as WPE, were of interest because these attitudes are one measure of how prepared this group is to respond to WPE. Hypothesized predictors of adaptation attitude were tested through linear regression modeling. These predictors included ecological change, observation of WPE, or risk perception. It was found that risk perception was the strongest predictor of …

The Long-Term Effects Of Wildfire Severity On Oak-Pine Communities And Their Microclimates, Scott Glenn Culbert

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

In the eastern U.S., fire-dependent tree species have historically dominated upland forest communities, but are now experiencing widespread regeneration challenges as a result of 20^th century fire suppression policies, and are being replaced by mesophytic species. Wildfires that contain areas of high burn severity may provide an important means of mitigating these challenges and facilitating fire-dependent species regeneration and recruitment into larger size classes. One mechanism by which high-severity fire can accomplish this is by modifying understory microclimate characteristics to be more conducive to these species’ growth. A wildfire within the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, USA, provided the …

Editorial: Adaptation Of Trees To Climate Change: Mechanisms Behind Physiological And Ecological Resilience And Vulnerability, Andrea Ghirardo, James D. Blande, Nadine K. Ruehr, Raffaella Balestrini, Carsten Külheim

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate Adaptive Forest Management In The Northeastern Us: Social And Ecological Motivations, Barriers, And Responses Of Rural And Urban Foresters, Teresa Mcgann

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This project examines how foresters in a diversity of professional contexts perceive and respond to global change in the northeastern United States, with the goal of supporting foresters in broadening and deepening their use of climate adaptive strategies. Based on qualitative analysis of 32 in-depth semi-structured interviews with urban and rural foresters (n = 15 and n = 17, respectively) across New England and New York, a summary is presented of the i) important environmental drivers of adaptation; ii) commonly employed adaptive practices; iii) significant barriers to adaptation; and iv) approaches to working through named barriers. According to the motivations, …

Remote Sensing Of Ploidy Level In Quaking Aspen (Populus Tremuloides Michx.), Benjamin Blonder, Bente J. Graae, Burke Greer, Marja Haagsma, Kenny Helsen, Rozália E. Kapás, Henry Pai, Jolanta Rieksta, Dillon Sapena, Christopher J. Still, Richard Strimbeck

Aspen Bibliography

1. Ploidy level in plants may influence ecological functioning, demography and response to climate change. However, measuring ploidy level typically requires intensive cell or molecular methods.
2. We map ploidy level variation in quaking aspen, a dominant North American tree species that can be diploid or triploid and that grows in spatially extensive clones. We identify the predictors and spatial scale of ploidy level variation using a combination of genetic and ground‐based and airborne remote sensing methods.
3. We show that ground‐based leaf spectra and airborne canopy spectra can both classify aspen by ploidy level with a precision‐recall harmonic mean of 0.75–0.95 and …

Mountain Livelihoods In A Time Of Change: A Case Study Of Upper Mustang In Nepal, Sandesh Shrestha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A case study was conducted in a remote Himalayan village—Yara—in the Upper Mustang region of Nepal. The goal of this study was to understand and assess the livelihood strategies of local people in the village. The study focused on understanding the socio-economic and environmental driving factors of livelihood vulnerability, prevalent livelihood activities, emergent livelihood strategies, and resulting livelihood outcomes in the village. We used multiple data generation methods, which included both qualitative social science and quantitative biophysical components. For the qualitative component, we utilized multiple data generation methods including key informant interviews, semi-structured household interviews, group discussions, and field observations. …

Adaptation Strategies And Approaches For Forested Watersheds, P. Danielle Shannon, Christopher Swanston, Maria Janowiak, Stephen D. Handler, Kristen M. Schmitt, Leslie A. Brandt, Patricia Butler-Leopold

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Intentional climate adaptation planning for ecosystems has become a necessary part of the job for natural resource managers and natural resource professionals in this era of non-stationarity. One of the major challenges in adapting ecosystems to climate change is in the translation of broad adaptation concepts to specific, tangible actions. Addressing management goals and values while considering the long-term risks associated with local climate change can make forested watershed management plans more robust to uncertainty and changing conditions. We provide a menu of tiered adaptation strategies, which we developed with a focus on forests of the Midwest and Northeastern U.S., …

Adaptation Under The Canopy: Coffee Cooperative And Certification Contributions To Smallholder Livelihood Sustainability In Santa Lucía Teotepec, Oaxaca, Meghan C. Montgomery

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The collapse and reorganization of global coffee markets associated with the “coffee crisis” have had profound, negative impacts on smallholder producer livelihoods throughout the world. In Mexico, the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) coincided with withdrawal of government support for agriculture, which devastated producers dependent on coffee for their livelihoods. Smallholders responded by shifting livelihood strategies to diversify income, migrating, and converting primary forest cover to subsistence crops and pasture to support household livelihood security. In some instances, producers also joined or formed cooperative organizations to access specialty certifications that offer higher priced markets, extension information, and other …

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies And Approaches For Outdoor Recreation, Daniel O'Toole, Leslie A. Brandt, Maria K. Janowiak, Danielle Shannon, Patricia Leopold, Stephen D. Handler, Et Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

Climate change will alter opportunities and demand for outdoor recreation through altered winter weather conditions and season length, climate-driven changes in user preferences, and damage to recreational infrastructure, among other factors. To ensure that outdoor recreation remains sustainable in the face of these challenges, natural resource managers may need to adapt their recreation management. One of the major challenges of adapting recreation to climate change is translating broad concepts into specific, tangible actions. Using a combination of in-depth interviews of recreational managers and a review of peer-reviewed literature and government reports, we developed a synthesis of impacts, strategies, and approaches, …

Analysis Of Environment-Marker Associations In American Chestnut, Markus Müller, C. Dana Nelson, Oliver Gailing

Michigan Tech Publications

American chestnut (Castanea dentata Borkh.) was a dominant tree species in its native range in eastern North America until the accidentally introduced fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr, that causes chestnut blight, led to a collapse of the species. Different approaches (e.g., genetic engineering or conventional breeding) are being used to fight against chestnut blight and to reintroduce the species with resistant planting stock. Because of large climatic differences within the distribution area of American chestnut, successful reintroduction of the species requires knowledge and consideration of local adaptation to the prevailing environmental conditions. Previous studies revealed clear patterns of genetic diversity …

Analysis Of Environment-Marker Associations In American Chestnut, Markus Müller, Charles Dana Nelson, Oliver Gailing

Forest Health Research and Education Center Faculty Publications

American chestnut (Castanea dentata Borkh.) was a dominant tree species in its native range in eastern North America until the accidentally introduced fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr, that causes chestnut blight, led to a collapse of the species. Different approaches (e.g., genetic engineering or conventional breeding) are being used to fight against chestnut blight and to reintroduce the species with resistant planting stock. Because of large climatic differences within the distribution area of American chestnut, successful reintroduction of the species requires knowledge and consideration of local adaptation to the prevailing environmental conditions. Previous studies revealed clear patterns of genetic …

Natural And Anthropogenic Drivers Of Tree Evolutionary Dynamics, Brandon M. Lind

Theses and Dissertations

Species of trees inhabit diverse and heterogeneous environments, and often play important ecological roles in such communities. As a result of their vast ecological breadth, trees have become adapted to various environmental pressures. In this dissertation I examine various environmental factors that drive evolutionary dynamics in threePinusspecies in California and Nevada, USA. In chapter two, I assess the role of management influence of thinning, fire, and their interaction on fine-scale gene flow within fire-suppressed populations of Pinus lambertiana, a historically dominant and ecologically important member of mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada, California. Here, I find evidence …

Dendroclimatic Analysis Of White Pine (Pinus Strobus L.) Using Long-Term Provenance Test Sites Across Eastern North America, Sophan Chhin, Ronald S. Zalesny Jr, William C. Parker, John Brissette

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: The main objective of this study was to examine the climatic sensitivity of the radial growth response of 13 eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) provenances planted at seven test sites throughout the northern part of the species’ native distribution in eastern North America.

Methods: The test sites (i.e., Wabeno, Wisconsin, USA; Manistique, Michigan, USA; Pine River, Michigan, USA; Newaygo, Michigan, USA; Turkey Point, Ontario, Canada; Ganaraska, Ontario, Canada; and Orono, Maine, USA) examined in this study were part of a range-wide white pine provenance trial established in the early 1960s in the eastern United States and Canada. Principal …

Insect-Resistant Transgenic Crops: Retrospect And Challenges, Allah Bakhsh, Saber Delpasand Khabbazi, Faheem Shahzad Baloch, Ufuk Demi̇rel, Mehmet Emi̇n Çalişkan, Rüştü Hati̇poğlu, Sebahatti̇n Özcan, Hakan Özkan

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The advent of genetic engineering has revolutionized agriculture remarkably with the development of superior insect-resistantcrop varieties harboring resistance against insect pests.Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been used as a main source for insect-resistantgenes. In addition to Bt endotoxins, various plant lectins and other non-Bt genes from different sources have also been introduced incrop plants of economic importance. The insect-resistant crops have made a huge economic impact worldwide since their commercialrelease. The cultivation of insect-resistant cultivars has resulted both in increased crop productivity and in decreased environmentalpollution. Although insect-resistant crops have been allowed to be commercialized following proper biosafety guidelines and procedures,still …

Slides: Climate Change Adaptation And The Federal Lands, Robert L. Glicksman

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Robert L. Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law, George Washington University Law School (Washington, D.C.)

12 slides

Slides: Celebrating Flpma: Land Use Planning At The Blm, Marcilynn Burke

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Marcilynn Burke, BLM Deputy Director - Programs and Policy, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, (Washington, D.C.)

30 slides

Back To Nature: Ecological Genomics Of Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda, Pinaceae), Andrew J. Eckert, Andrew D. Bower, Santiago C. González-Martínez, Jill L. Wegrzyn, Graham Coop, David B. Neale

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Genetic variation is often arrayed in latitudinal or altitudinal clines, reflecting either adaptation along environmental gradients, migratory routes, or both. For forest trees, climate is one of the most important drivers of adaptive phenotypic traits. Correlations of single and multilocus genotypes with environmental gradients have been identified for a variety of forest trees. These correlations are interpreted normally as evidence of natural selection. Here, we use a genome-wide dataset of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) typed from 1730 loci in 682 loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees sampled from 54 local populations covering the full-range of the species to examine …

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Slides: Finding Flows: Fish Still Need Water Everyday, Melinda Kassen

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Melinda Kassen, Director of the Western Water Project, Trout Unlimited

12 slides

Slides: Groundwater Declines, Climate Change And Approaches To Adaptation, Katharine Jacobs

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Katharine Jacobs, Director of the Arizona Water Institute, University of Arizona

37 slides

Currents In Water Resources Law And Policy: How Is “Prior” Coping With New Stresses? [Outline], A. Dan Tarlock, David H. Getches

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

3 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"A. Dan Tarlock, Distinguished Professor of Law and Director, Program in Environmental and Energy Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law"

"David H. Getches, Dean and Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law, University of Colorado Law School"

Slides: Dam Building And Removal On The Elwha: A Prototype Of Adaptive Mismanagement And A Tribal Opportunity, William H. Rodgers, Jr.

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: William H. Rodgers, Jr., Stimson Bullitt Professor of Environmental Law, University of Washington School of Law

77 slides

Stability Of Grain Vitreousness In Durum Wheat (Triticum Durum L. Desf.) Genotypes In The North-Western Region Of Turkey, Kayihan Zahi̇t Korkut, Oğuz Bi̇lgi̇n, İsmet Başer, Nezi̇hi̇ Sağlam

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This study was carried out in order to determine the grain vitreousness percentage and stability performance of 44 durum wheat genotypes, which were tested in 3 different environments during 2 growing periods. Grain vitreousness percentage of the genotypes ranged between 69.2% and 90.0%. Svevo, Amanos 97, and Zenit varieties had the highest vitreousness kernel percentages and the lowest grain yields. The negative correlation coefficient between vitreous grain percentage and grain yield, according to correlation analysis, confirms this result. Mutant 47, Harran 95, Epidur, and Kızıltan 95 were the most stable genotypes with respect to all stability parameters studied for vitreousness. …

Growth, Yield, And Quality Of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Lam.) Cultivars In The Southeastern Anatolian And East Mediterranean Regions Of Turkey, Mehmet Emi̇n Çalişkan, Tahsi̇n Söğüt, Erkan Boydak, Eli̇f Ertürk, Hali̇s Arioğlu

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The study was carried out to determine the adaptation potential of sweet potato crops to different regions of Turkey. The study included 9 introduced genotypes of diverse origin and 2 local genotypes that were tested in 4 locations (Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa representing the southeastern Anatolia region, and Adana and Hatay representing the Mediterranean region) in 2000 and 2001. Haulm and storage root growth of the cultivars were monitored at monthly intervals. Total and graded storage root yield, and some quality parameters were determined at the final harvest. Although haulm and storage growth varied according to location and year, all cultivars …

Determination Of The Agronomic Performances Of Some Oilseed Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.) Hybrids Grown Under Erzurum Ecological Conditions, Hakan Özer, Erdoğan Öztürk, Taşkin Polat

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

In eastern Anatolia, the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has been grown as a confectionary crop for a long time, but oilseed sunflower types have more recently been grown commercially. No information on the performance of oilseed sunflower hybrids for this region is, however, available. Therefore, during the 1998 and 2001 growing seasons, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the agronomic performances and genotypic differences of some sunflower hybrids under Erzurum conditions. In this study 20 sunflower genotypes were used. The 2-year results showed that the genotypes differed significantly in all the characteristics investigated, except for kernel percentage. Similarly, the …

A Study On The Adaptations Of Some Natural Ground Cover Plants And On Their Implications In Landscape Architecture In The Ecological Conditions Of Trabzon, Cengi̇z Acar, Mustafa Var

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

In this research, the adaptation and ground cover properties of some plants with aesthetic and functional features, found in the natural flora of the province of Trabzon, were investigated. Nineteen different natural ground cover plants from 8 families were chosen as trial plant material. These materials, which were mostly from the alpine zone, were planted as plugs in 1994. Survival rates and plant cover area were recorded and measured at the beginning of the vegetation season, during flowering, and at the end of the vegetation season in 1995 and 1996. Moreover, observations were made on some of the morphological properties …

Adaptation And Stability Analysis In Some Bread Wheat Genotypes, Şevket Meti̇n Kara

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Genotype x environment interaction is a challenging issue to plant breeders in improving high-yielding, stable genotypes for variable environments. Several methods of measuring stability of genotypes tested across a range of environments have been proposed. The grain yields of fifteen bread wheat ( Triticum aestivumL.) genotypes grown at eight different locations were used to assess adaptation and stability characteristics of the genotypes and to study associations among these parameters. According to most of the parameters used in the present study, Kiraç 66, Es-kbvd-15 and Ank-92-1 appeared to have a good level of general adaptation to all environments. Mean yield was …