Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Deconstructing The Mangrove Carbon Cycle: Gains, Transformation, And Losses, M. F. Adame, N. Cormier, P. Taillardat, N. Iram, A. Rovai, T. M. Sloey, E. S. Yando, J. F. Blanco-Libreros, M. Arnaud, T. Jennerjahn, C. E. Lovelock, D. Friess, G. M. S. Reithmaier, C. A. Buelow, S. M. Muhammad-Nor, R. R. Twilley, R. A. Ribeiro

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mangroves are one of the most carbon-dense forests on the Earth and have been highlighted as key ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Hundreds of studies have investigated how mangroves fix, transform, store, and export carbon. Here, we review and synthesize the previously known and emerging carbon pathways in mangroves, including gains (woody biomass accumulation, deadwood accumulation, soil carbon sequestration, root and litterfall production), transformations (food web transfer through herbivory, decomposition), and losses (respiration as CO₂ and CH₄, litterfall export, particulate and dissolved carbon export). We then review the technologies available to measure carbon fluxes in …

Timing And Magnitude Of Drought Impacts On Carbon Uptake Across A Grassland Biome, Andrew Felton, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Although drought is known to negatively impact grassland functioning, the timing and magnitude of these impacts within a growing season remains unresolved. Previous small-scale assessments indicate grasslands may only respond to drought during narrow periods within a year; however, large-scale assessments are now needed to uncover the general patterns and determinants of this timing. We combined remote sensing datasets of gross primary productivity and weather to assess the timing and magnitude of grassland responses to drought at 5 km² temporal resolution across two expansive ecoregions of the western US Great Plains biome: the C₄-dominated shortgrass steppe and …

Levels Of Autotrophy And Heterotrophy In Mesophotic Corals Near The End Photic Zone, Amy Carmignani, Veronica Z. Radice, Kathryn M. Mcmahon, Alex I. Holman, Karen Miller, Kliti Grice, Zoe Richards

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mesophotic corals live at ~30-150 m depth and can sustain metabolic processes under light-limited conditions by enhancing autotrophy through specialized photoadaptations or increasing heterotrophic nutrient acquisition. These acclimatory processes are often species-specific, however mesophotic ecosystems are largely unexplored and acclimation limits for most species are unknown. This study examined mesophotic coral ecosystems using a remotely operated vehicle (Ashmore Reef, Western Australia at 40–75m depth) to investigate the trophic ecology of five species of scleractinian coral (from genera Leptoseris, Pachyseris, and Craterastrea) using stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of host and symbiont tissues …

Black Carbon And Organic Carbon Dataset Over The Third Pole, Shichang Kang, Yulan Zhang, Pengfei Chen, Junming Guo, Qianggong Zhang, Zhiyuan Cong, Susan Kaspari, Lekhendra Tripathee, Tanguang Gao, Hewen Niu, Xinyue Zhong, Xintong Chen, Zhaofu Hu, Xiaofei Li, Yang Li, Bigyan Neupane, Fangping Yan, Dipesh Rupakheti, Chaman Gul, Wei Zhang, Guangming Wu, Ling Yang, Zhaoqing Wang, Chaoliu Li

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

The Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings, also known as the Third Pole, play an important role in the global and regional climate and hydrological cycle. Carbonaceous aerosols (CAs), including black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), can directly or indirectly absorb and scatter solar radiation and change the energy balance on the Earth. CAs, along with the other atmospheric pollutants (e.g., mercury), can be frequently transported over long distances into the inland Tibetan Plateau. During the last decades, a coordinated monitoring network and research program named “Atmospheric Pollution and Cryospheric Changes” (APCC) has been gradually set up and continuously operated …

Geomorphic Gradients In Shallow Seagrass Carbon Stocks, Jahson Berhane Alemu, Siti Maryam Yaakub, Erik S. Yando, Rachel Yu San Lau, Cheng Chang Lim, Jun Yu Puah, Daniel A. Friess

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Seagrass meadows are important sinks of organic carbon (C_org), in particular the near-surface C_org pool (≤ 15 cm) compared to deeper sediments. Near-surface carbon is highly susceptible to disturbance and loss to the atmosphere, however, inadequate accounting for variability in this pool of carbon limits their uptake into carbon accounting frameworks. We therefore investigated the spatial variability in seagrass near-surface C_org and biomass C_org across different geomorphic (estuary, lagoonal and reef-associated) and community typologies (pioneer and persistent). Near-surface C_org stock in vegetated areas (25.78 Mg C_org ha⁻¹ ± 26.64) was twice that …

Insights Into The Deglacial Variability Of Phytoplankton Community Structure In The Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean Using [231Pa/230Th]Xs And Opal-Carbonate Fluxes, Danielle Schimmenti, Franco Marcantonio, Christopher T. Hayes, Jennifer Hertzberg, Matthew Schmidt, John Sarao

OES Faculty Publications

Fully and accurately reconstructing changes in oceanic productivity and carbon export and their controls is critical to determining the efficiency of the biological pump and its role in the global carbon cycle through time, particularly in modern CO₂ source regions like the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP). Here we present new high-resolution records of sedimentary ²³⁰Th-normalized opal and nannofossil carbonate fluxes and [²³¹Pa/²³⁰Th]xs ratios from site MV1014-02-17JC in the Panama Basin. We find that, across the last deglaciation, phytoplankton community structure is driven by changing patterns of nutrient (nitrate, iron, and silica) availability which, in …

Temporal Stability Of Seagrass Extent, Leaf Area, And Carbon Storage In St. Joseph Bay, Florida: A Semi-Automated Remote Sensing Analysis, Marie Cindy Lebrasse, Blake A. Schaeffer, Megan M. Coffer, Peter J. Whitman, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill, Kazi A. Islam, Jiang Li, Christopher L. Osburn

OES Faculty Publications

Seagrasses are globally recognized for their contribution to blue carbon sequestration. However, accurate quantification of their carbon storage capacity remains uncertain due, in part, to an incomplete inventory of global seagrass extent and assessment of its temporal variability. Furthermore, seagrasses are undergoing significant decline globally, which highlights the urgent need to develop change detection techniques applicable to both the scale of loss and the spatial complexity of coastal environments. This study applied a deep learning algorithm to a 30-year time series of Landsat 5 through 8 imagery to quantify seagrass extent, leaf area index (LAI), and belowground organic carbon (BGC) …

Quantifying How Coastal Flooding And Stormwater Runoff Drive Spatiotemporal Variability In Carbon And Nutrient Processing In Urban Aquatic Ecosystems, Matthew A. Smith

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal river networks alter the transport and transformation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can vary in concentration and composition across spatiotemporal scales. Given climate-induced shifts in rainfall and tidal variation in low-lying coastal regions, there is an increasing need to quantify effects of flooding on biogeochemical cycling. Specifically, urban flooding is becoming increasingly common due to biophysical alterations to hydrology from urbanization and climate change. Urban ecosystems have been characterized as having a distinct biogeochemistry compared to other systems, largely due to increased frequency and magnitude of riverine and coastal flooding. Consequently, the role …

Carbon And Nitrogen Dynamics Of A Lagoon Salt Marsh In Davenport, California, Mark D. Gormley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Wetlands are complex environments that play a critical role in regulating the global biogeochemical cycle of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Wetlands are critical contributors to global climate change and atmospheric chemistry since they store as much as 33% of the world’s soil organic carbon (SOC), release more than 20% of the atmospheric methane (CH₄), and produce nitrous oxide (N₂O), an extremely potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Despite the enormous radiative forcing potential of carbon dioxide (CO₂), CH₄ and N₂O derived from wetlands, uncertainties over the rates of C sequestration and GHG …

Eddy-Driven Transport Of Particulate Organic Carbon-Rich Coastal Water Off The West Antarctic Peninsula, Renato M. Castelao, Michael S. Dinniman, Caitlin M. Amos, John M. Klinck, Patricia M. Medeiros

CCPO Publications

The Southern Ocean is characterized by high eddy activity and high particulate organic carbon (POC) content during summer, especially near Antarctica. Because it encircles the globe, it provides a pathway for inter‐basin exchange. Here, we use satellite observations and a high‐resolution ocean model to quantify offshore transport of coastal water rich in POC off the West Antarctic Peninsula. We show that nonlinear cyclonic eddies generated near the coast often trap coastal water rich in POC during formation before propagating offshore. As a result, cyclones found offshore that were generated near the coast have on average higher POC content in their …

The Post-Wildfire Impact Of Burn Severity And Age On Black Carbon Snow Deposition And Implications For Snow Water Resources, Cascade Range, Washington, Ted M. Uecker, Susan D. Kaspari, Keith N. Musselman, S. Mckenzie Skiles

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Wildfires in the snow zone affect ablation by removing forest canopy, which enhances surface solar irradiance, and depositing light absorbing particles [LAPs, such as black carbon (BC)] on the snowpack, reducing snow albedo. How variations in BC deposition affects post-wildfire snowmelt timing is poorly known and highly relevant to water resources. We present a field-based analysis of BC variability across five sites of varying burn age and burn severity in the Cascade Range, Washington State, United States. Single particle soot photometer (SP2) analyses of BC snow concentrations were used to assess the impact of BC on snow albedo, and radiative …

Synergistic Use Of Remote Sensing And Modeling For Estimating Net Primary Productivity In The Red Sea With Vgpm, Eppley-Vgpm, And Cbpm Models Intercomparison, Wenzhao Li, Surya Prakash Tiwari, Hesham El-Askary, Mohamed Ali Qurban, Vassilis Amiridis, K. P. Manikandan, Michael J. Garay, Olga V. Kalashnikova, Thomas C. Piechota, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Primary productivity (PP) has been recently investigated using remote sensing-based models over quite limited geographical areas of the Red Sea. This work sheds light on how phytoplankton and primary production would react to the effects of global warming in the extreme environment of the Red Sea and, hence, illuminates how similar regions may behave in the context of climate variability. study focuses on using satellite observations to conduct an intercomparison of three net primary production (NPP) models--the vertically generalized production model (VGPM), the Eppley-VGPM, and the carbon-based production model (CbPM)--produced over the Red Sea domain for the 1998-2018 time period. …

Payment For Ecosystem Services: Incentives To Support Environmental Quality & Farming In Vermont, Stephen Posner, Taylor Ricketts, Eric Roy

Reports and Policy Briefs

Environmental quality is an ongoing concern in the Lake Champlain Basin. Vermont farmers are in a unique position to manage land in a way that maintains and improves environmental quality. A payment for ecosystem services (PES) program for Vermont would both support the economic vi- ability of Vermont farms and incentivize farmers to improve water quality and soil health. How- ever, conceptual and practical implementation challenges remain.

The Climate Sensitivity Of Carbon, Timber, And Species Richness Covaries With Forest Age In Boreal–Temperate North America, Dominik Thom, Marina Golivets, Laura Edling, Garrett W. Meigs, Jesse D. Gourevitch, Laura J. Sonter, Gillian L. Galford, William S. Keeton

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Climate change threatens the provisioning of forest ecosystem services and biodiversity (ESB). The climate sensitivity of ESB may vary with forest development from young to old-growth conditions as structure and composition shift over time and space. This study addresses knowledge gaps hindering implementation of adaptive forest management strategies to sustain ESB. We focused on a number of ESB indicators to (a) analyze associations among carbon storage, timber growth rate, and species richness along a forest development gradient; (b) test the sensitivity of these associations to climatic changes; and (c) identify hotspots of climate sensitivity across the boreal–temperate forests of eastern …

Estuarine Dissolved Organic Carbon Flux From Space: With Application To Chesapeake And Delaware Bays, Sergio R. Signorini, Antonio Mannino, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent, John Wilkin, Aboozar Tabatabai, Raymond G. Najjar, Eileen E. Hofmann, Fei Da, Hanqin Tian, Yuanzhi Yao

CCPO Publications

This study uses a neural network model trained with in situ data, combined with satellite data and hydrodynamic model products, to compute the daily estuarine export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) at the mouths of Chesapeake Bay (CB) and Delaware Bay (DB) from 2007 to 2011. Both bays show large flux variability with highest fluxes in spring and lowest in fall as well as interannual flux variability (0.18 and 0.27 Tg C/year in 2008 and 2010 for CB; 0.04 and 0.09 Tg C/year in 2008 and 2011 for DB). Based on previous estimates of total organic carbon (TOCexp) exported by …

Carbon Dioxide Measurement In Irish Blanket Peatlands: An Assessment Of Pool-Soil Flux Variability, Mariya Radomski, Alan Gilmer, Vivienne Byers, Eugene Mcgovern

Articles

Peatlands have been recognised as having a significant role in the mediation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels with direct implications for global climate change. Longitudinal in situ measurement systems for CO2 concentrations in blanket peatland ecosystems are difficult to implement where the nature of terrestrial–aquatic connectivity and hydrodynamics have a significant effect on the carbon cycle. The need for greater data on CO2 concentrations and flux monitoring in these settings has been well recognised. However, applying the most appropriate monitoring approach presents a special challenge. This paper sets out the development of a direct method for field based longitudinal …

Ice And Guano Deposits In El Malpais Lava Tubes: Potential Paleoclimate Archives For The Southwest United States, Dylan S. Parmenter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Three ice cores and one guano core were obtained from lava tubes in El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, in the Southwest United States. A large hiatus in the Bat Cave guano record, resulting from mining activities in the early 1900's, left us with only ~50 years of data (from AD 1955-2006) to use in analysis. 13C values in guano (-18 to -11.6‰) primarily fall within the range of C4 plants, and likely indicate a tendency of Tadarida brasiliensis to feed on insects over grasslands to the North or South of the park. Variations in 13C values for this period …

Climate Change, Spruce Root Phenology, And Allocation Of Carbon Below- And Above-Ground, Marie Louise Orton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tree ring analysis has relied on a close relationship between climate and photosynthetically-derived stem enlargement. Lengthening growing seasons associated with climate warming have been predicted to enhance carbon sequestration as wood in trees, but this

Iron Reduction In Soot, Hector Casique

All Master's Theses

Ferrous iron (Fe(II)) has been implicated as one contributor in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from ambient particles emitted during the incomplete combustion of fossil and biomass fuels. Although ROS are known to induce unhealthy oxidative stress in cellular systems, the mechanisms of Fe(II) formation and stabilization in aerosol particles are still not well understood. Here, we investigate the role of soot on Iron reduction from Fe(III) to Fe(II), under various conditions including those encountered in the tailpipe of a vehicle. Aqueous leaching experiments of soot-hematite mixtures were carried out while analyzing for Fe(II) spectrophotometrically, and changes in …

13c Composition In Bryophyte Primary Sugars As An Indicator Of Water Availability, Olivia Hope Williamson

Honors Theses

Bryophytes (mosses and their relatives) are a major carbon sink, and their productivity, is expected to be affected by climate change. Changes in plant productivity caused by changes in the climate can be tracked through stable carbon isotopes. This research aims to find a connection between stable carbon isotope signatures and water availability in bryophytes by examining the composition of 13C in soluble sugars and bulk tissue. Similar to trees, which leave rings of growth every year, mosses build up peat deposits, which can be used to gain information about the weather and water availability of a region. Information on …

Trade-Offs Between Three Forest Ecosystem Services Across The State Of New Hampshire, Usa: Timber, Carbon, And Albedo, David A. Lutz, Elizabeth A. Burakowski, Mackenzie B. Murphy, Mark E. Borsuk

Dartmouth Scholarship

Forests are more frequently being managed to store and sequester carbon for the purposes of climate change mitigation. Generally, this practice involves long-term conservation of intact mature forests and/or reductions in the frequency and intensity of timber harvests. However, incorporating the influence of forest surface albedo often suggests that long rotation lengths may not always be optimal in mitigating climate change in forests characterized by frequent snowfall. To address this, we investigated trade-offs between three ecosystem services: carbon storage, albedo-related radiative forcing, and timber provisioning. We calculated optimal rotation length at 498 diverse Forest Inventory and Analysis forest sites in …

A Bat-Guano-Derived Δ15N And Δ13C Record Of Paleoenvironmental Change: Zidită Cave, Romania, Daniel Martin Cleary

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because nitrogen isotopes are fractionated along the soil-plant-insect-bat-guano pathway, it may be possible to reconstruct environmental and climatic changes reflected in the nitrogen isotopic composition of guano. A 1.5-m core of bat guano from Zidită Cave (western Romania) provides a record of climatic and anthropogenic influence on the regional nitrogen cycle and paleoenvironmental controls on nitrogen transforming processes. Increasing and decreasing trends of nitrogen isotopic composition (δ¹⁵N values) correspond well with changes in the influence of farming practices, deforestation, and forest expansion. These influences likely had a significant effect on the openness of the nitrogen cycle, resulting in …

Controlling Carbon: A Study Of National And Regional Emissions Trading Systems, Jordan Pulling

Honors Theses

The release of carbon and other chemicals into the atmosphere is a growing environmental problem. The use of carbon-based processes is at an all-time high with the continued growth in carbon-fueled transportation, electric power generation and other carbon-intensive industrial processes. With climate change increasingly threatening the daily lives of Earth's population, many countries are beginning to take steps to reduce their impact on the Earth and its climate. Over the last decade, carbon markets have been established in 18 countries worldwide. While all of these emissions trading systems have similarities, each also has some unique traits, including differences in allowance …

Using Green Building To Mitigate Climate Change In The Twenty-First Century, Lisa Battiste

Honors Theses

The need for green buildings are rapidly becoming more important as the nation faces impending energy crises and the world heats up from the overabundance of greenhouse gases. Buildings in America are one of the largest consumers of energy and one of the greatest contributors to CO2 emissions; more than the total emissions from all the transportation vehicles used every day. By making the construction and use of buildings more resource efficient, this can help alleviate the environmental strain of climate change. Neutralizing or eliminating carbon emissions from building use will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the …

Modeling The Effects Of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid On Carbon Storage In Northern New England Forests, Jeffrey John Krebs

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA, Adelges tsugae Annand) is an invasive insect that threatens to eradicate native eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) across the eastern United States. In southern New England and southern Appalachian forests, HWA-induced hemlock mortality has impacted carbon (C) flux by altering stand age, litter composition, species composition, and coarse woody debris levels. However, no one has examined how total C storage and sequestration may be impacted by these changes. Further, while projections are that HWA will ultimately infest hemlock across its entire geographic range, the majority of studies have been limited to southern New …

Slides: What Does Climate Change Mean For Cold Water Fisheries, Stan Bradshaw

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

1 page "Abstract" and 8 slides

Shedding Light On Plant Litter Decomposition: Advances, Implications And New Directions In Understanding The Role Of Photodegradation, Jennifer Y. King, Leslie A. Brandt, E. Carol Adair

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Litter decomposition contributes to one of the largest fluxes of carbon (C) in the terrestrial biosphere and is a primary control on nutrient cycling. The inability of models using climate and litter chemistry to predict decomposition in dry environments has stimulated investigation of non-traditional drivers of decomposition, including photodegradation, the abiotic decomposition of organic matter via exposure to solar radiation. Recent work in this developing field shows that photodegradation may substantially influence terrestrial C fluxes, including abiotic production of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Research has also produced contradictory results regarding controls on …

Drafting Model Laws On Indoor Pollution For Developing And Developed Nations Workshop, July 12-13, 2012, Boulder, Colorado: Introduction, Lakshman Guruswamy

Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations (July 12-13)

11 pages.

"This Essay introduces the framework for deliberation and legislative drafting undertaken at the workshop: Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations on July 12-13, 2012, in Boulder, Colorado. There are a number of fundamental premises upon which the workshop was based, and this Essay refers to the most salient among them."-- Excerpted from 24 Colo. Nat. Resources, Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 319 (2013).

Agenda: Drafting Model Laws On Indoor Pollution For Developing And Developed Nations, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, Colorado Natural Resources, Energy And Environmental Law Review

Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations (July 12-13)

On July 12 and 13, 2012, experts convened at Colorado Law to demonstrate the extent to which a model law could help address the global problem of indoor air pollution from inefficient cook stoves. The air pollution that results from inefficiently burning biomass as fuel for cooking has serious health and climatic consequences. The workshop produced two sets of Model Laws and commentaries to help nations solve the problem, and the commentaries were published in the Colorado Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law Review.

Variability Of Black Carbon Deposition To The East Antarctic Plateau, 1800-2000 Ad, M. M. Bisiaux, R. Edwards, J. R. Mcconnell, M. R. Albert

Dartmouth Scholarship

Refractory black carbon aerosols (rBC) from biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion are deposited to the Antarctic ice sheet and preserve a history of emissions and long-range transport from low- and mid-latitudes. Antarctic ice core rBC records may thus provide information with respect to past combustion aerosol emissions and atmospheric circulation. Here, we present six East Antarctic ice core records of rBC concentrations and fluxes covering the last two centuries with approximately annual resolution (cal. yr. 1800 to 2000). The ice cores were drilled in disparate regions of the high East Antarctic ice sheet, at different elevations and net snow …