Life Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Effectiveness Of Ecotourism As A Funding Source For Protected Area Management In Guyana, Jordan S. Flagel

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Protected areas in tropical rainforests serve many important ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration. These areas are often in need of donor or grant funding to operate as governments in tropical forested countries are not always able to provide adequate funds for protection. This paper focuses on the Iwokrama International Center for Rainforest Conservation and Development in the South American country of Guyana, which has had funding issues since the global economic crisis of 2008 and an accompanying shift in donor country financial priorities. Increasing the amount of sustainable ecotourism in the Iwokrama reserve was identified as a potential source for …

Methane Production By A Packed-Bed Anaerobic Digester Fed Dairy Barn Flush Water, Sean Richard Thomson

Master's Theses

Packed-bed digesters are an alternative to covered lagoon digesters for methane production and anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters such as dairy barn flush water. The physical media of packed-beds retain biofilms, often allowing increased treatment rates. Previous studies have evaluated several types of media for digestion of dilute wastewaters, but cost and media fouling have setback commercial development. A major operational cost has been effluent recirculation pumping.

In the present effort, a novel approach to anaerobic digestion of flush dairy water was developed at pilot-scale: broken walnut shells were used as a low-cost packed-bed medium and effluent recirculation was replaced …

Switchgrass Cultivar, Harvest Frequency, Fertilizer Source, And Irrigation Effects On Near-Surface Soil Properties In West-Central Arkansas, Alayna A. Jacobs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been identified as a model bioenergy feedstock crop and is expected to become an important feedstock for future renewable fuel generation. Agronomic management combinations that maximize monoculture switchgrass yield are generally well understood; however, little is known about corresponding effects of differing switchgrass management combinations on near-surface soil properties. The objective of this research was to determine the residual near-surface soil property effects of three years (2008 to 2011) of consistent management combinations to maximize switchgrass biomass production, including cultivar (‘Alamo’ and ‘Cave-in-Rock’), harvest frequency (1-cut and 2-cut systems per year), fertilizer source (poultry …

Predictors Patterns And Processes Of Extinction Risk In Porgies And Seabreams (Family: Sparidae), Mia Theresa B. Conteros

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A variety of human-induced changes are having profound impacts on the marine environment, and no area on the planet remains unaffected by the detrimental effects of our activities. These stressors can potentially lead to synergistic effects, causing accelerated biodiversity loss and diminished ecosystem functioning. Identification and understanding of the factors that drive species to heightened risk of extinction are important goals in conservation.

The Sparidae are commercially important and ecologically complex marine fishes; global extinction risk assessments using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species methodology show that 9% (13 species) have increased vulnerability to population declines from intense fishing …

The Effect Of Increasing Rates Of Biochar On Corn Grown In Salinas Clay Loam, Joshua Fridlund

Agricultural Education and Communication

In order to sustain the ever growing global population, agriculture needs to not only increase yields but to increase yields in a way that is sustainable and is either environmentally neutral or has a positive effect on the environment. Biochar offers a solution to this challenge with numerous environmental benefits, as well as agricultural benefits (Lehman and Joseph 2009). The agricultural benefits of biochar have been well documented in tropical climates, with the benefits of biochar for other climates, such as temperate climates and Mediterranean climates, relatively unknown (Blackwell et. al. 2009). To determine the effect of biochar on agricultural …

Biodynamic Agriculture: A Valuable Alternative To The Industrial Farming System, Eden K. Olsen

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the Scientific and Industrial revolutions, advancing technologies and cutting-edge science have enabled our society to continually promote a growing global economy. Industrial growth has increasingly become a top priority for most governments, notably in the agricultural realm. The advances towards agricultural industrialization began in the 17^th century and escalated during the Green Revolution, which examined the possibility of using synthetic fertilizers and mechanization in farming to decrease labor and improve yields. Although seen as economically beneficial, the shift from an agrarian lifestyle to industrial farming has created an ecological, economic, and ideological crisis to our modern world. This …

Water Water Everywhere: Analyzing Long Island's Water Issues And Finding Solutions For A Sustainable Future, Anthony T. Becker

2014 Student Theses

Over three million people call Long Island their home. With access to beautiful landscapes, world-renowned beaches, and proximity to New York City, it is no wonder that so many proudly call this geographic stretch of glacial till their home. However, throughout the years our actions do not necessarily reflect this affection we have to our home. Years of sprawl and human infestation across the island have resulted in widespread environmental degradation. Specifically, the water we drink and the beaches we enjoy have become endangered. I plan on studying the urban ecology of how intensified population growth led to the eutrophication …

Spreading The Char: The Importance Of Local Compatibility In The Diffusion Of Biochar Systems To The Smallholder Agriculture Community Context, Laura C. V. Munoz

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis enters the context of smallholder agriculture communities in the developing world. It explores the potentials of biochar and what biochar systems could bring to the smallholder communities while simultaneously bringing environmental benefits. It then acknowledges the challenges of diffusion –the spreading of an unfamiliar innovation. It seeks to answer the question of what will make diffusion of biochar systems more successful in the smallholder context, fixating on the characteristic of compatibility as well as the role local community members can play in making a new biochar system more visible to the rest of the communities.

Deforestation Of Cloud Forest In The Central Highlands Of Guatemala: Soil Erosion And Sustainability Implications For Q'Eqchi' Maya Communities, Ian Christopher Pope

Open Access Theses

Understanding the nexus between deforestation, food production, land degradation, and culture contributes knowledge that is useful for development practitioners working to enhance conservation and food security. Documenting deforestation and soil erosion in the Sierra Yalijux and Sierra Sacranix in the Central Highlands of Guatemala adds new knowledge about the rates and dynamics of deforestation and land degradation in areas with unique and sensitive cloud forest ecosystems. It also suggests possible areas of emphasis for efforts targeted at combining cloud forest conservation with sustainability for indigenous Q'eqchi' communities. In addition, this work contributes to a small but growing body of literature …

Study Of The Sustainbility Issues Of Food Production Using Vertical Farm Methods In An Urban Environment Within The State Of Indiana, Victor Mendez Perez

Open Access Theses

There are several problems around the globe related to water scarcity, energy shortages, deforestation and loss of fertile land, and food security. Climate change is making environmental and social issues arise. Issues such as, changes in the agricultural landscape, increasing population (9 billion is the expected population for 2040), rising food borne illnesses, scarcity of drinking water, and more crop failure due to plant pathogens and insect pests, among other factors make this study specially significant. Vertical farming could be a potencial solution to some of these problems.

Due to these problems the present thesis analyzed vertical farming as a …

Enzyme Optimization For Lignocellulose Hydrolysis Using Mechanistic Modeling, Adam S. Marlowe

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A novel mechanistic model for the saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose is utilized to predict the products of hydrolysis over a range of enzyme loadings and times. The mechanistic model considers the morphology of the substrate and the kinetics of enzymes to optimize enzyme concentrations for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose simultaneously. Substrates are modeled based on their fraction of accessible sites, glucan content, xylan content, and degree of polymerizations. This enzyme optimization model takes into account the kinetics of six core enzymes for lignocellulose hydrolysis: endoglucanase I (EG1), cellobiohydrolase I (CBH1), cellobiohydrolase II (CBH2), and endo-xylanase (EX) …