Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impact On The Gold Coast's Terrestrial Environments, Tor Hundloe

Tor Hundloe

Extract: We tend to think of the Gold Coast as a water environment. As tourists know, it sits on the shore of the vast Pacific Ocean. That is why most come. They have seen the magnificent photographs. If not perched on flattened dunes looking east to the ocean, a significant part of the urban Gold Coast environment is located around natural and human-made water environments. Of these we will say little here, other than to note their extent. The focus of this chapter is the city's terrestrial environments, reporting on and ultimately, after describing the environments, discussing what proportion of …

Contemporary Issues In Water Resources: U.S. Mexico Water, Food And Energy Nexus, Gina Warren

Gina Warren

No abstract provided.

Water Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Augustina Yaa Oye Odame

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation is made up of three separate studies under the unifying theme of “Water Decision-Making under Uncertainty.” The first study analyzed a farmer’s decision to invest in a more efficient irrigation system given uncertainty about future water supplies and his post-investment efficiency. It found the price at which farmers would no longer produce to be a bigger consideration in irrigation investment than previously thought. It also found support for a careful identification and consideration of all significant sources of uncertainty in order to create better policy incentives for irrigation technology investments.

The second study extended the first to allow …

The Impact Of Agriculture On African Civilization In The 21st Century, Andrew S. Targowski

International Journal of African Development

The purpose of this paper is to define the impact of agriculture on African Civilization in the 21^st century. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary big-picture view of the African Civilizations. The multifaceted layers of civilizations will be analyzed as interdependent with the agricultural development of African societies. Among the findings are: Sub-Saharan Africa falls short of meeting its agricultural needs. Only one of two individual Africans has access to clean and enough water. Energy and supply of electricity are woefully inadequate and unreliable. Agriculture as a foundation for development and modernization for Africa is too limited. Environmental …

Efficient Irrigation For Recreational Turfgrass In New England: Evapotranspiration And Crop Coefficients, James W. Poro

Masters Theses

As water demand increases it will become more imperative for golf course superintendents, landscape managers, and other industry professionals to improve water use efficiency in the management of recreational turfgrass. Scheduling irrigation according to actual turfgrass evapotranspiration rates (ET_T) is an integral component of efficient irrigation practices. Impracticality of field derived ET_T for industry use, however, directs the need of weather station derived reference (predicted) evapotranspiration (ET₀). To accurately predict (estimate) ET_T of turf and other crops, scientifically derived landscape (crop) coefficients (K_c values) are used in conjunction with mathematical models that incorporate …

Winter Rye As A Bioenergy Feedstock: Impact Of Crop Maturity On Composition, Biological Solubilization And Potential Revenue, Xiongjun Shao, Kay Dimarco, Tom L. Richard, Lee R. Lynd

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background:

Winter annual crops such as winter rye (Secale cereale L) can produce biomass feedstock on seasonally fallow land that continues to provide high-value food and feed from summer annuals such as corn and soybeans. As energy double crops, winter grasses are likely to be harvested while still immature and thus structurally different from the fully senesced plant material typically used for biofuels. This study investigates the dynamic trends in biomass yield, composition, and biological solubilization over the course of a spring harvest season.

Results:

The water soluble fraction decreased with increasing maturity while total carbohydrate content stayed …

Rain Barrels In Utah, Brian Greene, Nancy Mesner, Roslynn Brain

All Current Publications

Rain barrels are an easy way to conserve rain water and help protect our environment. This fact sheet tells how to find out about the current regulations in Utah and how to build a rain barrel for your own home.

Syllabus: Sustainable Living: Solutions For The 21st Century, Laurie Simmons

Sustainability Education Resources

Your generation has been handed an opportunity: the opportunity to change the story of our culture from one of blind consumption to one of conscious ecological living. As individuals, as a society and as a species, we are facing challenges related to sustainability including economic stability, social justice, resource depletion and waste management, biodiversity preservation, climate adaptation and food and agricultural resilience. In this interdisciplinary course you will learn how to seize this opportunity by working with your peers to research and understand how sustainability in different contexts presents solutions to many of these challenges facing modern society. “Sustainable Living” …

Father Convict Cichlids Bite Intruders More Often In Hot Temperatures, Jesse L. Heckendorf

STAR Program Research Presentations

Convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) have evolved to be extremely good parents by protecting their brood. Parental care leads to aggressive biting, chasing, and gill flaring to intimidate predators. In this experiment, we show that environmental factors, such as the changing of temperature in this case, affect a male convict cichlid’s aggression toward caring for his offspring when an intruder is introduced. Male convict cichlids attack more in warmer water.

Increasing Physical Activity Through Non-Weight Bearing Modality, Jacquelyn N. Zera

Exercise Science and Sports Studies

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of A Modified Monod Model For Predicting Algal Dynamics In Lake Tai, Jian Huang, Qiujin Xu, Xixi Wang, Beidou Xi, Keli Jia, Shouliang Huo, Hongliang Liu, Changyou Li, Bingbing Xu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Several modified versions of the Monod model have been proposed to simulate algal dynamics in lakes by keeping the parent model's advantages of simplicity and low data requirement. This study evaluated the performance of a widely-used modified Monod model in predicting algal dynamics at various time scales in Lake Tai, a typical shallow lake in east China, using multiple time series. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration was used as a surrogate for algal (CyanoHABs: cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms) growth and the independent variables were total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and either water temperature or air temperature. The evaluation indicated that the …

After-Effect Of Long-Term Soil Management On Soil Respiration And Otherqualitative Parameters Under Prolonged Dry Soil Conditions, Dalia Feiziene, Dalia Janusauskaite, Virginijus Feiza, Agne Putramentaite, Ausra Sinkeviciene, Skaidre Suproniene, Vytautas Seibutis, Grazina Kadziene, Irena Deveikyte, Sigitas Lazauskas, Daiva Janusauskaite, Virmantas Povilaitis

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Climatic conditions of environmental zone Nemoral 2 of Europe are favorable for agricultural development. However, more frequent events of hot air-waves and prolonged droughts occurring as a consequence of climate change lead to soil moisture content reduction down to the plant wilting point. Dry soil conditions may have negative consequences for soil as a habitat. The goal of this study was to evaluate the cumulative after-effect of long-term conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) application in combination with or without crop residues on soil physicochemical properties, microbiological activity, and soil respiration (SR) under prolonged dry soil conditions. Long-term CT with residue …

Coastal Environmental Policies And Water: Environmental Values In Ghana And Senegal, Molly R. Loftus

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of the environmental values present in Ghana’s and Senegal’s coastal regions, and the implications that those have for the surrounding environment. The countries approaches to urban farming, mining and oil and gas extraction, fishing, marine debris and municipal waste management are assessed in order to reach a greater understanding of these environmental issues. In undertaking this thesis, I attempted to draw a correlation between the handling of these issues and how people perceive their environment. Through the comparison of environmental degradation and the level of effort to achieve a more sustainable developmental framework in …

Aquaporins As Targets For Stress Tolerance In Plants: Genomic Complexity And Perspectives, Wonkeun John Park, Benjamin Todd Campbell

Turkish Journal of Botany

As a multigene family, plant aquaporins function not only in water transport but also in transport of small elements that are important for vegetative and reproductive growth of plants. Increasing evidence exhibits the relevance of aquaporins to tolerance against abiotic and biotic stresses such as drought, nutrient deficiency, and herbivore attack. With the accumulation of crop genome sequencing, it is suggested that several aquaporin genes are conserved in subchromosomal locations as tandem duplicated members. In this review, we will discuss the compelling nature of aquaporins as multifunctional transport channels that are often encoded in clustered regions of genomes and relevant …

Micro Topographic And Ph Effects On Sphagnum Growth, Ziad Shwaiki

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

We performed two experiments to examine the effects of different water treatments and micro topographic conditions on the growth of sphagnum species. In order to examine the effects of different micro topographic conditions on sphagnum regeneration, we worked with two species of sphagnum; Sphagnum palustre and Sphagnum capillifolium. The focus of this experiment revolved around identifying which species of sphagnum has the greater capacity to regenerate and which of these two sphagnum species has the competitive advantage. The final results will center around which test container of sphagnum displayed the greatest growth in biomass making it a potential candidate for …

Over-Expression Of Copper/Zinc Superoxide Dismutase In The Median Preoptic Nucleus Attenuates Chronic Angiotensin Ii-Induced Hypertension In The Rat., John P. Collister, Mitch Bellrichard, Donna Drebes, David Nahey, Jun Tian, Matthew C. Zimmerman

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

The brain senses circulating levels of angiotensin II (AngII) via circumventricular organs, such as the subfornical organ (SFO), and is thought to adjust sympathetic nervous system output accordingly via this neuro-hormonal communication. However, the cellular signaling mechanisms involved in these communications remain to be fully understood. Previous lesion studies of either the SFO, or the downstream median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) have shown a diminution of the hypertensive effects of chronic AngII, without providing a clear explanation as to the intracellular signaling pathway(s) involved. Additional studies have reported that over-expressing copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), an intracellular superoxide (O2·-) scavenging enzyme, in …

Decision Support Tools To Address Climate Change: Climate Model - Land Surface Models, Zea Mays L. (Corn) Phenology And Evapotranspiration-Yield Sensitivity Models For Nebraska, Usa., Jane A. Okalebo

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

Nebraska's climate is highly variable and is expected to change in the future with anthropogenic global warming (AGW), resulting in warmer spring and summer temperatures coupled with more erratic rainfall events. This has strong implications for agriculture in the region, yet it is not clear that current modeling and decision-support tools are adequate to address these looming changes and provide planning, mitigation and adaptation strategies. To address climate change and its implications to agriculture in Nebraska, a set of robust decision support tools are very crucial. This study herein are divided into three chapters, with each chapter addressing a specific …

Studies On The Initial Stage Of Lipid Oxidation In Bulk Oils., Elizabeth Budilarto.

Theses

During the oxidation of bulk oils, oxidation products (i.e. peroxide values, conjugated dienes and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) are formed gradually and increased sharply at the end of the induction period. Tocophero1s were consumed, some water was formed, and micelles increased in size during the induction period of vegetable oils oxidized in bulk. The evidence that the evolution of micellar size was in parallel with the end of induction period corroborates the recognition that micelles are the active site of oxidation. The interaction of α-tocophero1 and three synergists: ascorby1 palmitate, phosphatidy1choline and L-lysine were studied in cod liver oil, to …

Studies On The Initial Stage Of Lipid Oxidation In Bulk Oils, Elizabeth Budilarto

Dissertations

During the oxidation of bulk oils, oxidation products (i.e. peroxide values, conjugated dienes and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) are formed gradually and increased sharply at the end of the induction period. Tocopherols were consumed, some water was formed, and micelles increased in size during the induction period of vegetable oils oxidized in bulk. The evidence that the evolution of micellar size was in parallel with the end of induction period corroborates the recognition that micelles are the active site of oxidation. The interactions of α-tocopherol and three synergists: ascorbyl palmitate, phosphatidylcholine and L-lysine were studied in cod liver oil, to …

Wet Webs Work Better: Humidity, Supercontraction And The Performance Of Spider Orb Webs, Todd Blackledge, Cecilia Boutry

Todd A. Blackledge

Like many biomaterials, spider silk responds to water through softening and swelling. Major ampullate silk, the main structural element of most prey capture webs, also shrinks dramatically if unrestrained or develops high tension if restrained, a phenomenon called ‘supercontraction’. While supercontraction has been investigated for over 30 years, its consequences for web performance remain controversial. Here, we measured prey capture performance of dry and wet (supercontracted) orb webs of Argiope and Nephila using small wood blocks as prey. Prey capture performance significantly increased at high humidity for Argiope while the improvement was less dramatic for Nephila. This difference is likely …

Approaches For Studying Fish Production: Do River And Lake Researchers Have Different Perspectives? – Extended Abstract, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Nicholas A. Heredia, Brian G. Laub, Christy S. Meredith, Harrison E. Mohn, Sarah E. Null, David A. Pluth, Brett B. Roper, W. Carl Saunders, David King Stevens, Richard H. Walker, Kit Wheeler

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Biased perspectives of fisheries researchers may hinder scientific progress and effective management if limiting factors controlling productivity go unrecognized. We investigated whether river and lake researchers used different approaches when studying salmonid production and whether any differences were ecologically supported. We assessed 564 peer‐reviewed papers published between 1966 and 2012 that studied salmonid production or surrogate variables (e.g., abundance, growth, biomass, population) and classified them into five major predictor variable categories: physical habitat, fertility (i.e., nutrients, bottom‐up), biotic, temperature, and pollution. The review demonstrated that river researchers primarily analyzed physical habitat (65% of studies) and lake researchers primarily analyzed fertility …

Fragipan Horizon Fragmentation In Slaking Experiments With Amendment Materials And Ryegrass Root Tissue Extracts, Anastasios D. Karathanasis, Lloyd W. Murdock, Christopher J. Matocha, John H. Grove, Yvonne L. Thompson

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Slaking experiments were conducted of fragipan clods immersed in solutions of poultry manure, aerobically digested biosolid waste (ADB), fluidized bed combustion byproduct (FBC), D-H₂O, CaCO₃, NaF, Na-hexa-metaphosphate, and ryegrass root biomass. The fragipan clods were sampled from the Btx horizon of an Oxyaquic Fragiudalf in Kentucky. Wet sieving aggregate analysis showed significantly better fragmentation in the NaF, Na-hexa-metaphosphate, and ryegrass root solutions with a mean weight diameter range of 15.5-18.8 mm compared to the 44.2-47.9 mm of the poultry manure, ADB, and FBC treatments. Dissolved Si, Al, Fe, and Mn levels released in solution were ambiguous. …

Mother Convict Cichlids Inflict More Bites Upon An Intruder In Hot Temperatures, Jesse L. Heckendorf

STAR Program Research Presentations

Convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) have developed to be extremely good parents by protecting their brood. Parental care leads to aggressive biting, chasing, and gill flaring to intimidate known predators. In this experiment, we show that environmental factors, such as the changing of temperature in this case, affect a female convict cichlid’s aggression toward caring for her offspring when an intruder is introduced. Females attack more in warmer water.

The Overwintering Biology Of The Acorn Weevil, Curculio Glandium In Southwestern Ontario., Hiroko Udaka, Brent J Sinclair

Biology Publications

The acorn weevil, Curculio glandium, is a widespread predator of acorns in eastern North America that overwinters in the soil as a larva. It is possible that low temperatures limit its northern geographic range, so we determined the cold tolerance strategy, seasonal variation in cold tolerance, and explored the physiological plasticity of overwintering larvae. Weevil larvae were collected from acorns of red and bur oak from Pelee Island, southwestern Ontario in fall 2010 and 2011. C. glandium larvae are freeze avoidant and larvae collected from bur oak acorns had lower supercooling points (SCPs: -7.6±0.36°C, LT50: -7.2°C) than those collected from …

Maine’S Contested Waterfront: The Project To Remake Sebago Lake’S Lower Bay, 1906-1930, David B. Cohen

Maine History

Throughout the nation’s history, few resources have been considered as ubiquitous as water. The issue of who controls the use of water, however, has seldom been straight forward. This was no less true in the Progressive Era, when many growing urban areas significantly altered their water infrastructure to meet increased demands. When debate arose over water use, these municipalities often relied on the relatively new authority of scientific knowledge, particularly in the area of public health and safety. In this article, the author describes how the Portland Water District was able to conserve Sebago Lake’s Lower Bay as a clean, …

Development Of A Public Education Website: Building Bridges Over Water, Angelina Mckee

Agricultural Education and Communication

Website created by Angelina McKee to educate the public about water resource issues. Water is the basic unit of life, water resources are the basis for what societies and ecosystems are founded upon. Water shortages and droughts are more prevalent in our ever-changing world. It is no shock that there are discrepancies between various stockholders on either sides of the dry riverbed. This senior project resulted in the development of a website that addresses global water resources, water use in California, water conservation, and water allocation. The website informs the public on water resources and related issues and will hopefully …

An Examination Of An Environmental Change In Beverages Available To High School Students In Santa Maria, California On Their Consumption Behavior, Susan Eileen Klucker

Master's Theses

Hypothesis: "By an environmental change in high school vending machines, making water available, students will choose water over the sugar sweetened sodas."

This document highlights a case study analysis of vendor-provided refill data for forty-five beverage vending machines at two campus sites in one high school district in 2003 and 2004. The innovative study and publicized negotiated soda contract of a 50:50 (healthy to unhealthy) beverage ratio stipulation became the “Win-Win-WEAN” compromise, in which exposure to healthier beverage options for students might prove to provide the same income opportunity for the school district.

An overview of the political …

The 2014 National Community Summit On Green Infrastructure: Summary Report, Stuart Mendel, Justin Glanville, Julie Quinn

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report presents key points from each dialogue session, as well as overall themes from the Summit as a whole. These key points and themes were synthesized by dialogue facilitators and representatives from CSU, NEORSD and EPA. In addition, this report presents narrative versions of the lead presentations for each session. These are meant to serve as case studies of best practices to address each session topic.

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 …

Agriculture, Environmental Restoration And Ecosystem Services: Assessing The Costs Of Water Storage On Agricultural Lands In South Florida, Kayla Ouellette

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A large part of the environmental restoration required by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan calls for more water-storage on lands south of Lake Okeechobee in order to restore the natural water flows of the Everglades watershed. The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) can be used for increased water storage in order to relieve coastal estuaries of excess water in the rainy season. This water storage can deliver additional ecosystem services of soil retention and reduced CO2 emissions that could compensate farmers for the cost of water storage by increasing long term farm profitability. The goals of this study were 1) to …