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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Belowground Plant Communities: Seed Bank Dynamics And Relationship To Aboveground Vegetation In Grazing Allotment Of Klamath County, Oregon, Dellaina C. Morse, Scott M. Estepa Jan 2023

Belowground Plant Communities: Seed Bank Dynamics And Relationship To Aboveground Vegetation In Grazing Allotment Of Klamath County, Oregon, Dellaina C. Morse, Scott M. Estepa

Environmental Science & Management Senior Capstones

Seed banks are valuable resources for restoration but are understudied. The species present in the aboveground composition influence the seed bank through seed inputs. Land managers utilize herbicides to selectively reduce certain species in the above- and belowground composition. The aim of this paper is to observe and assess the species present in a seed bank post-herbicide application, and to discuss the seed bank potential for future restoration at the specific site in Klamath County, Oregon. Soil core samples were collected in the field and brought to the lab where they were processed and prepared for germination. We watered and …


Extreme Fire As A Management Tool To Combat Regime Shifts In The Range Of The Endangered American Burying Beetle, Alison K. Ludwig, Daniel R. Uden, Dirac Twidwell Apr 2020

Extreme Fire As A Management Tool To Combat Regime Shifts In The Range Of The Endangered American Burying Beetle, Alison K. Ludwig, Daniel R. Uden, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study is focused on the population of federally-endangered American burying beetles in south-central Nebraska. It is focused on changes in land cover over time and at several levels of spatial scale, and how management efforts are impacting both the beetle and a changing landscape. Our findings are applicable to a large portion of the Great Plains, which is undergoing the same shift from grassland to woodland, and to areas where the beetle is still found.


Effects Of Ecological Restoration Techniques In Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Simone Ka-Voka Jackson May 2019

Effects Of Ecological Restoration Techniques In Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Simone Ka-Voka Jackson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A better understanding of key ecological restoration techniques can inform land management in the Southwest on restoration options for areas infested by invasive grasses that can pose threats to ecosystems, from changes in nutrient cycling to altered fire regimes. In the semi-arid desert of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GLCA), several exotic grasses pose risks to local ecosystems: Saccharum ravennae, a relatively new invasive perennial grass, and Bromus rubens and Bromus tectorum, widespread annual grasses. In this study, multiple ecological restoration techniques were implemented to assess their effects on native and nonnative vegetation on sites invaded by the non-native grasses …


The Ecology Of Land Managers In Riparian Restoration, Lisa Buie Clark Jan 2018

The Ecology Of Land Managers In Riparian Restoration, Lisa Buie Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While previous studies in restoration ecology have focused on the efficacy of direct management actions, the driving forces on management decisions (e.g., managers' characteristics or attitudes, environmental conditions) and the indirect impacts on restoration outcomes from management decisions (such as whether to collaborate) are quantified here for the first time. As a case study, I used data from 244 sites across the riparian Southwest US where the invasive shrubby tree Tamarix sp. was removed using various different methods. I surveyed and interviewed the 45 land managers who were responsible for the removal projects to determine their characteristics, attitudes, and …


Ecosystem Services In Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, And Cross-Regional Patterns, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Tara Trammell Mar 2016

Ecosystem Services In Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, And Cross-Regional Patterns, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Tara Trammell

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems—namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively value various ecosystem services, 2) explore distinctive dimensions of those values, and 3) test the urban homogenization hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that urbanization leads to similarities in the social-ecological dynamics across cities in diverse biomes. By extension, the thesis suggests that residents’ ecosystem service priorities for residential …


Assessing The Homogenization Of Urban Land Management With An Application To Us Residential Lawn Care, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Chris Knudson, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Sharon J. Hall, James B. Heffernan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Christopher Neill, Kristen C. Nelson, Laura A. Ogden, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, Diane E. Pataki, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Meredith K. Steele Mar 2014

Assessing The Homogenization Of Urban Land Management With An Application To Us Residential Lawn Care, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Chris Knudson, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Sharon J. Hall, James B. Heffernan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Christopher Neill, Kristen C. Nelson, Laura A. Ogden, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, Diane E. Pataki, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Meredith K. Steele

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Changes in land use, land cover, and land management present some of the greatest potential global environmental challenges of the 21st century. Urbanization, one of the principal drivers of these transformations, is commonly thought to be generating land changes that are increasingly similar. An implication of this multiscale homogenization hypothesis is that the ecosystem structure and function and human behaviors associated with urbanization should be more similar in certain kinds of urbanized locations across biogeophysical gradients than across urbanization gradients in places with similar biogeophysical characteristics. This paper introduces an analytical framework for testing this hypothesis, and applies the framework …


Refuge Land Acquisition: Helping Preserve Back Bay's Wildlife Heritage, Julia Herrick, Ben Mathias, Janet Taylor Jan 1991

Refuge Land Acquisition: Helping Preserve Back Bay's Wildlife Heritage, Julia Herrick, Ben Mathias, Janet Taylor

V. Poster Abstracts

The once-renowned waterfowl populations and bass fishery of Back Bay, Virginia have declined dramatically in recent years. Lands surrounding Back Bay are increasingly threatened by on-going and potential land development. These lands serve as an important filter for pollutant and sediment-laden runoff from adjacent areas. The boundary of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge was expanded in 1989 to include an additional 6,340 acres of brackish marsh, forested swamp, and "critical edge" upland habitat, important to a variety of wildlife species and for its natural filtering effect. Within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's policy of working with willing sellers, …