Other Life Sciences Commons^™

Seasonal Origins Of Soil Water Used By Trees, Scott T. Allen, James W. Kirchner, Sabine Braun, Rolf T. W. Siegwolf, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Rain recharges soil water storages and either percolates downward into aquifers and streams or is returned to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration. Although it is commonly assumed that summer rainfall recharges plant-available water during the growing season, the seasonal origins of water used by plants have not been systematically explored. We characterize the seasonal origins of waters in soils and trees by comparing their midsummer isotopic signatures (δ2H) to seasonal isotopic cycles in precipitation, using a new seasonal origin index. Across 182 Swiss forest sites, xylem water isotopic signatures show that summer rain was not the predominant water source …

Close But No Cigar: How A Near-Miss Wildfire Event Influences The Risk Perceptions And Mitigation Behaviors Of Residents Who Experienced A Recent, Nearby Wildfire, Lauren Nicole Dupey, Jordan W. Smith

All Current Publications

This research used Protection Motivation Theory to examine if and how individuals who experience a near-miss wildfire event (i.e., a recent, proximal wildfire that did not harm these individuals or their properties) intend to protect themselves against future risks. We administered a drop-off pick-up survey to residents living in Durango, Colorado, a community heavily impacted by the 416 fire in the spring and summer of 2018. The survey, completed by 195 residents, solicited information about wildfire mitigation behaviors taken before and after the 416 fire. Data were also collected on four of the dimensions of Protection Motivation Theory which may …

Phylogenetic And Biogeographic Controls Of Plant Nighttime Stomatal Conductance, Kailiang Yu, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Yujie Wang, William R. L. Anderegg

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The widely documented phenomenon of nighttime stomatal conductance (g_sn) could lead to substantial water loss with no carbon gain, and thus it remains unclear whether nighttime stomatal conductance confers a functional advantage. Given that studies of g_sn have focused on controlled environments or small numbers of species in natural environments, a broad phylogenetic and biogeographic context could provide insights into potential adaptive benefits of g_sn.

We measured g_sn on a diverse suite of species (n = 73) across various functional groups and climates‐of‐origin in a common garden to study the phylogenetic and biogeographic/climatic controls …

The Intrepid Urban Coyote: A Comparison Of Bold And Exploratory Behavior In Coyotes From Urban And Rural Environments, Stewart W. Breck, Sharon A. Poessel, Peter J. Mahoney, Julie K. Young

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are highly adaptable, medium-sized carnivores that now inhabit nearly every large city in the United States and Canada. To help understand how coyotes have adapted to living in urban environments, we compared two ecologically and evolutionarily important behavioral traits (i.e., bold-shy and exploration-avoidance behavior) in two contrasting environments (i.e., rural and urban). Boldness is an individual’s reaction to a risky situation and exploration is an individual’s willingness to explore novel situations. Our results from both tests indicate that urban coyotes are bolder and more exploratory than rural coyotes and that within both populations there are …

A Pilot Study Of The Effects Of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae Exposure On Domestic Lamb Growth And Performance, Thomas E. Besser, Jessica Levy, Melissa Ackerman, Danielle Nelson, Kezia R. Manlove, Kathleen A. Potter, Jan Busboom, Margaret Benson

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is a globally distributed pathogen that has been associated with pneumonia in both domestic and wild Caprinae. It is closely related to M. hyopneumoniae, a respiratory pathogen of swine that is associated with decreased growth rates of pigs as well as clinical respiratory disease. In order to assess the effects of M. ovipneumoniae on lamb performance, we generated a cohort of lambs free of M. ovipneumoniae by segregation of test negative ewes after lambing, then compared the growth and carcass quality traits of M. ovipneumoniae-free and -colonized lambs from weaning to harvest. Some signs of respiratory disease …

Estimability Of Migration Survival Rates From Integrated Breeding And Winter Capture–Recapture Data, Clark S. Rushing

Ecology Center Publications

Long‐distance migration is a common phenomenon across the animal kingdom but the scale of annual migratory movements has made it difficult for researchers to estimate survival rates during these periods of the annual cycle. Estimating migration survival is particularly challenging for small‐bodied species that cannot carry satellite tags, a group that includes the vast majority of migratory species. When capture–recapture data are available for linked breeding and non‐breeding populations, estimation of overall migration survival is possible but current methods do not allow separate estimation of spring and autumn survival rates. Recent development of a Bayesian integrated survival model has provided …

Ecological Response Of Phytoplankton To The Oil Spills In The Oceans, Danling Tang, Jing Sun, Li Zhou, Sufen Wang, Ramesh P. Singh, Gang Pan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Oil spills in oceans have substantial influence on marine ecosystems. This study investigates 21 oil spills in the world. Analyzing Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiomerer (MODIS) data after Penglai oil spills on 4 June 2011, found a bloom with peak value of Chl-a (13.66 mg m⁻³) spread over an area of 800 km² during 18–25 June 2011, and a pronounced increase in the monthly Chl-a concentration (6.40 mg m⁻³) on June 2012 in the Bohai Sea. Out of the 21 oil spills, 14 blooms were observed, while 11 …

Geospatial Modeling Of Land Cover Change In The Chocó-Darien Global Ecoregion Of South America; One Of Most Biodiverse And Rainy Areas In The World, José Camilo Fagua, R. Douglas Ramsey

Ecology Center Publications

The tropical rain forests of northwest South America fall within the Chocó-Darien Global Ecoregion (CGE). The CGE is one of 25 global biodiversity hotspots prioritized for conservation due to its high biodiversity and endemism as well as threats due to deforestation. The analysis of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change within the CGE using remotely sensed imagery is challenging because this area is considered to be one of the rainiest places on the planet (hence high frequency of cloud cover). Furthermore, the availability of high-resolution remotely sensed data is low for developing countries before 2015. Using the Random Forest ensemble learning …

Back To The Future: Conserving Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity In The Amphibian-Climate Refuges, Ricardo Lourenço-De-Moraes, Felipe S. Campos, Rodrigo B. Ferreira, Mirco Solé, Karen H. Beard, Rogério P. Bastos

Ecology Center Publications

Climate refuges have been used by several species over historical climate change. Ectothermic species often display good models for climate change studies because they are highly sensitive to temperature. Analysis of species loss with ecosystem and evolutionary values helps to understand environmental processes and climate change consequences. We determined the functional and phylogenetic diversity of amphibians in the Atlantic Forest hotspot, using multiple models representing present and future conditions. Through a novel approach, we predict species’ threat status by 2080, following the IUCN’s criterion B1. Our results estimate a drastic reduction in species richness, ecosystem functioning and evolutionary history at …

The Effects Of Electric Power Lines On The Breeding Ecology Of Greater Sage-Grouse, Michel T. Kohl, Terry A. Messmer, Benjamin A. Crabb, Michael R. Guttery, David K. Dahlgren, Randy T. Larsen, Shandra Nicole Frey, Sherry Liguori, Rick J. Baxter

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic infrastructure can negatively affect wildlife through direct mortality and/or displacement behaviors. Some tetranoids (grouse spp.) species are particularly vulnerable to tall anthropogenic structures because they evolved in ecosystems void of vertical structures. In western North America, electric power transmission and distribution lines (power lines) occur in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) landscapes within the range of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended using buffer zones near leks to mitigate the potential impacts of power lines on sage-grouse. However, recommended buffer distances are inconsistent across state and federal agencies because data are …

Climate Change Adaptation In The Delta Nile Region Of Egypt: Implications For Agricultural Extension, Hazem S. Kassem, Abdel Raouf Suleiman Bello, Bader M. Alotaibi, Fahd O. Aldosri, Gary S. Straquadine

Extension Research

This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data, using questionnaires and interviews, from 792 randomly-selected farmers in two of the governorates in the Nile Delta Region, Egypt. A workshop was organized for 59 extension professionals working in the two governorates, looking at how the adaptive capacity of the agricultural sector towards climate change was being guided by policy-makers. Two focus groups were used: one with senior officials from the regional governorates and the other with central government administrators from the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. The study findings suggested that 51.9% of the investigated farmers at the …

Recoupling Fire And Grazing Reduces Wildland Fuel Loads On Rangelands, Heath D. Starns, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, R. Dwayne Elmore, Dirac Twidwell, Eric T. Thacker, Torre J. Hovick, Barney Luttbeg

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Fire suppression and exclusion, the historically dominant paradigm of fire management, has resulted in major modifications of fire-dependent ecosystems worldwide. These changes are partially credited with a recent increase in wildfire number and extent, as well as more extreme fire behavior. Fire and herbivory historically interacted, and research has shown that the interaction creates a unique mosaic of vegetation heterogeneity that each disturbance alone does not create. Because fire and grazing have largely been decoupled in modern times, the degree to which the interaction affects fuels and fire regimes has not yet been quantified. We evaluated effects of fire-only and …

Intensification Of The Decadal Activity In Equatorial Rossby Waves And Linkage To Changing Tropical Circulation, Wan-Ling Tseng, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Huang-Hsiung Hsu, Jonathan D.D. Meyer

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Equatorial Rossby waves (ERWs) are manifest as westward-propagating, planetary-scale waves that feature a symmetric pair of pressure and zonal wind fields about the equator. ERWs can modulate tropical convective activity, especially in South Asia and the Maritime Continents, and represent an important mode of intraseasonal variability additional to the Madden-Julian Oscillation. Changes in the frequency and intensity of ERWs during the recent decades were investigated based on observations of tropospheric winds and tropical convection. Spectral analyses indicated that ERWs appear to have intensified especially in the upper troposphere; this is associated with increased convective activity located off the equator. The …

Concept Inventories As A Resource For Teaching Evolution, Robert E. Furrow, Jeremy L. Hsu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding evolution is critical to learning biology, but few college instructors take advantage of the body of peer-reviewed literature that can inform evolution teaching and assessment. Here we summarize the peer-reviewed papers on tools to assess student learning of evolutionary concepts. These published concept inventories provide a resource for instructors to design courses, gauge student preparation, identify key misconceptions in their student population, and measure the impact of a lesson, course, or broader curriculum on student learning. Because these inventories vary in their format, target audience, and degree of validation, we outline and explain these features. In addition to summarizing …

Appalachian Economic Futures, Dewayne Barton, John Deskins, Paul Corbit Brown, William Hal Gorby, Jill Moles Mullins, Nicholas F. Stump, Matt Winans, Brenden E. Mcneil, Eloise Elliott, Chris Haddox, E Gordon Gee, Eddie Brzostek, Audra Slocum, Trevor Mckenzie, Tom Hansell

Exhibit Panels

When people talk about the future of Appalachia, they typically mean economic futures: What will happen to coal jobs? How will Appalachia diversify its economy? What about poverty? Stereotypes about our region represent our people as disinterested in education, and hostile to innovation, technology, and sustainability. We see a different story. This part of the exhibit looks at ways that Appalachians are taking their strong sense of culture, their linguistic distinctiveness, and their relationship to the natural world to imagine new futures in diverse industries, sustainable practices, and stronger education systems.

Dough Properties And Baking Characteristics Of White Bread, As Affected By Addition Of Raw, Germinated And Toasted Pea Flour, Kim A. Millar, Catherine Barry-Ryan, Roisin Burke, Sinead Mccarthy, Eimear Gallagher

Articles

Thermal and non-thermal processing may alter the structure and improve the techno-functional properties of pulses and pulse flours, increasing their range of applications in protein-enhanced foods. The effects of germination and toasting of yellow peas (Pisum sativum) on flour and dough characteristics were investigated. Wheat flour was substituted with raw, germinated and toasted pea flour (30%). The resulting bread-baking properties were assessed. Toasting increased dough water absorption and improved dough stability compared with germinated and raw pea flour (p < 0.05). This resulted in bread loaves with comparable specific volume and loaf density to that of a wheat flour control. Significant correlations between dough rheological properties and loaf characteristics were observed. Addition of pea flours increased the protein content of the breads from 8.4% in the control white bread, to 10.1–10.8% (p < 0.001). Toasting demonstrated the potential to improve the techno-functional properties of pea flour. Results highlight the potential application of pea flour in bread-making to increase the protein content.

The Match-Play Sprint Performance Of Elite Senior Hurlers During Competitive Games, Damien Young, Giuseppe Coratella, Shane Malone, Kieran Collins, Laurent Mourot, Marco Beato

Articles

The typical sprint profile in elite hurling has yet to be established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sprinting demands of elite hurling competition and characterize the sprinting patterns of different playing positions. GPS (10-Hz, STATSports Viper) were used to collect data from 51 hurlers during 18 games. The total sprint (≥22 km·h^-1) distance (TSD), the number of sprints (NOS) classified as length (<20 >m, ≥20 m) and relative speed thresholds (90%), the between-sprint duration and the number of repeated-sprint bouts (≥2 sprints in ≤60 s) were analyzed. The NOS was 22.2 ± 6.8 accumulating …

Metabolic Power In Hurling With Respect To Position And Halves Of Match-Play, Damien Young, Shane Malone, Kieran Collins, Laurent Mourot, Marco Beato, Giuseppe Coratella

Articles

The current investigation compared the metabolic power and energetic characteristics in team sports with respect to positional lines and halves of match-play. Global positioning system (GPS) technology data were collected from 22 elite competitive hurling matches over a 3-season period. A total of 250 complete match-files were recorded with players split into positional groups of full-back; half-back; midfield; half-forward; full-forward. Raw GPS data were exported into a customized spreadsheet that provided estimations of metabolic power and speed variables across match-play events (average metabolic power [Pmet], high metabolic load distance [HMLD], total distance, relative distance, high-speed distance, maximal speed, accelerations, and …

Defending Behavior Of Peer Victimization In School And Cyber Context During Childhood And Adolescence: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Individual And Peer-Relational Characteristics, Ting-Lan Ma, Diana J. Meter, Wei-Ting Chen, Yen Lee

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Adolescent defending of peer victimization in the school and cyber context has received increased attention in developmental science and is an important component of antibullying interventions. However, the overall prevalence, and individual characteristics that correlate with defending in adolescence, have not been systematically and statistically reviewed. Framed in Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological theory, this meta-analytic review included 172 reports out of 155 studies of defending including 150,978 children and adolescent participants from 4 continents (i.e., North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia) to analyze two aspects: (1) the average proportion of defenders in the population and (2) associations between defending and individual and …