Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Birch Bay Village Lakes 2009 Final Report, Robin A. Matthews, Joan Vandersypen, Jessie Rosanbalm

Birch Bay/Village Lakes

The Institute for Watershed Studies was contracted by the Birch Bay Village Lakes Committee to continue water testing at two sites in Kwann Lake and two sites in Thunderbird Lake (Figure 1, page 4). The sampling effort was initiated in August 2007 and the results were summarized in the Birch Bay Village Lakes 2008 Final Report. The 2009 final report summarizes all results collected from August 2007 through August 2009.

The Rock And Ice Problem In National Parks: An Opportunity For Monitoring Climate Change Impacts, Andrew Godard Bunn

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The fundamental physics of an enhanced greenhouse effect due to fossil fuel combustion is well understood, and Earth is warming (IPCC 2007). Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the impacts of climate change, but high latitudes and high elevations are thought to be leading indicators of future trends. The suite of high-elevation lands protected by the National Park Service is ideal in terms of documenting and monitoring the physical, floral, and faunal impacts of climate change. Indeed, the network of alpine lands managed by the Park Service in the mountainous western United States spans maritime-to-arid ecosystems over a dozen degrees of latitude …

Environmental Citizenship And Carbon Intensity; Evaluating The Carbon Masters Educational Program, Andrea Jean Thomas

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This honors senior project is composed of two separate, but integrated documents which, taken together, act as the foundation for a formal, systematic program evaluation model for the climate change education group Carbon Masters. The first section is comprised of a “policy analysis" proposal which outlines a policy problem, two solutions by which to address it, and a method by which to analyze the solutions for their effectiveness, efficacy, and community-building. The policy problem is defined as the fact that there are too little educational programs available to the public that offer valid, proactive, constructive and informational tools to empower …

Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project 2007/2008 Report, Robin A. Matthews, Michael Hilles, Joan Vandersypen, Robert J. Mitchell, Geoffrey B. Matthews

Lake Whatcom Annual Reports

This report is part of an on-going series of annual reports and special project reports that document the Lake Whatcom monitoring program. This work is conducted by the Institute for Watershed Studies and other departments at Western Washington University.

The major objective of this program is to provide long-term baseline water quality monitoring in Lake Whatcom and selected tributaries. Each section contains brief explanations about the water quality data, along with discussions of patterns observed in Lake Whatcom.

Retention Of Salmon-Derived N And P By Bryophytes And Microbiota In Mesocosm Streams, Michael G. (Michael George) Peterson, Robin A. Matthews

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Annual migrations of anadromous salmon are an important source of nutrients for many coastal streams. Much of the current research on salmon-derived nutrients has focused on nutrient retention via carcass consumption by mammals, birds, and macroinvertebrates, whereas retention and transfer of nutrients by microbiota has received less attention. Our research objective was to investigate nutrient movement from decomposing salmon tissue into periphyton, bryophytes, leaf-pack microbiota, and amphipods in laboratory mesocosm streams. We measured δ¹⁵N of microbiota growing on unglazed tiles (periphyton), microbiota growing on leaf packs, bryophytes on partially submerged stones, and amphipods; C:N and C:P ratios of …