Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evolution In The Deep Sea: Scales And Mechanisms Of Population Divergence, Amanda E. Glazier

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The deep sea is the Earth’s largest ecosystem and harbors a unique and largely endemic fauna. Although most research has focused on the ecological mechanisms that allow coexistence, recent studies have begun to investigate how this remarkable fauna evolved.. My work quantifies geographic patterns of genetic variation and investigates potential mechanisms that shape evolution in the deep ocean.

Bathymetric genetic divergence is common in the deep sea with population structure typically decreasing with depth. The evolutionary mechanisms that underlie these patterns are poorly understood. Geographic patterns of genetic variation indicated that the protobranch bivalve Neilonella salicensis was composed of two …

An Exploratory Study On The Possible Effect Of Hydraulic Fracturing Activities On Air Quality In The Eagle Ford Shale Region Of Texas., Laura B. Fimibama

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eagle Ford Shale (EFS) play is one out of five major oil and gas formations in Texas, found in the South-Eastern region with approximately 30 counties. In addition to natural gas, it produces crude oil and petroleum liquids which in recent times has resulted in a surge in drilling due to a new drilling technology – hydraulic fracturing that injects massive quantities of water along with sand and chemical additives into a well to create tiny hairline cracks in rock formations. The success of this technology has made gas extraction more economically feasible. However, this technique has generated an array …

Reintroduction Of Brook Trout To The South River Via Upwelling Springs, Sydni L. Reinhold

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Populations of brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, throughout Virginia mountain streams have seen a rapid decline due to warmer conditions, decreased oxygen levels, and changes in the main stem streambed (Hudy et al., 2008). Current solutions have stocked more tolerant adult brook trout in the main stem rivers, which is costly and must be repeated yearly (Lennon, 1967). Finding an environment conducive for stocking brook trout eggs rather than adults would be ideal because they would return to this viable location to spawn, making them a self-sustaining population which is less costly and easier to implement. Upwelling springs connected to the …

Assessing The Impact Of A Constructed Wetland Biome On The Ecosystem Health Of Cedar Run, Thomas Vasilopoulos, Casey Lee

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A wetlands ecosystem is defined as “an area saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support...a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions” (Batzer and Sharitz, 2007). Wetlands serve as biofilters and thus have been used to treat sewage and wastewater, as well as to restore the health of polluted water systems. Solly Walker and Lorinda Palin, owners of a certified natural and biodynamic farm called Avalon Acres located in Broadway, Virginia, constructed a wetland two years ago, using the stream, Cedar Run, that flows through their property. Pollution from agricultural …

Impacts Of Long-Term Precipitation Manipulation On Hydraulic Architecture, Xylem Function, And Canopy Status In A Piñon-Juniper Woodland, Patrick J. Hudson

Biology ETDs

The Southwestern US is predicted to become hotter and drier, as global climate change forces increasing temperatures and variability in timing and size of precipitation inputs. Drought stress has become more frequent in recent decades, and resulted in massive forest mortality in piñon-juniper woodlands. During recent severe droughts (2000-2003, 2009-2012), piñon pine (Pinus edulis Englem.) suffered disproportionately high mortality compared to co-occurring one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma [Engelm.] Sarg.). A large-scale precipitation manipulation experiment was established in a piñon-juniper woodland in central New Mexico to test hypotheses regarding tree survival and mortality with respect to altered water regimes. Our …

An Investigation Into The Origin, Composition, And Commercial Significance Of A Sedimentary Subsalt Formation: Keathley Canyon, Gulf Of Mexico, David Aaron Brassieur

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Sub-salt oil and gas formations in deep-water northern Gulf of Mexico are high priority targets. Advances in seismic processing allow for high-resolution, below-salt imaging. Understanding the modes of salt emplacement provide insight into sub-salt traps and potential drilling hazards.

A sub-salt sedimentary unit lies in the Keathley Canyon protraction. Autosutures created the transport-parallel lineaments of the upper surface of the unit. In addition, highly variable sediment aggradation rates created ramps, flats, and basal cutoffs along the base of the allochthon as salt and sediment competed for space. Seismic models identify modes of salt emplacement, salt/sediment interactions, and mechanisms responsible for …

Flight Of The Freshwater Fish, Michael H. Wilson

Capstones

Michael H. Wilson

Capstone Abstract

December 27, 2016

Flight of the Freshwater Fish

The Hudson River provides for millions of people as a path for commercial and private transportation, a source of food and energy, and perhaps most importantly for many living in the tri-state area as a destination for recreation and relaxation. The most overlooked feature of the river is how the wildlife shows clear signs of a changing climate and rapid environmental response to the impacts of global warming on the river.

Entire populations of fish species in the lower Hudson have been forced to leave the river …

Natural Burial: Being Green In Life, Now In Death Too, Brandon C. Shaik

Capstones

Nearly 80 million baby boomers are approaching the end of their lives. Being more environmentally conscious than previous generations, the environmentally minded individuals are increasingly choosing natural burial as the next progression of sustainability — reducing an individual impact even after death. A 2015 poll conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of the Funeral and Memorial Information Council found that 64 percent of adults over the age of 40 were interested in natural burial, up from 21 percent in 2010. Individuals who have chosen natural burial indicate the environmental benefit as a primary reason for their decision. There are currently …

A Green Oasis: What Makes Community Gardens Worth Saving? While Researchers Amass Evidence Of Benefits, Advocates Develop New Strategy To Prove Their Value., Joel Wolfram

Capstones

Green Valley Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn, is one of about a dozen gardens on land owned by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development that are being uprooted by plans to build affordable housing. The gardeners are fighting back to prevent the garden’s destruction, saying that the food-producing green space is a source of healthy eating in a community with high rates of health problems, like diabetes and obesity. Researchers are attempting to tease out the public health benefits of community gardens as one metric of their value, but the science is still catching up with …

An Analysis Of Gulf Of Maine Cod Metapopulation Structure And Localized Stability, With Application To Area-Based Fisheries Management, Derek Olson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complex metapopulation structure of groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine, particularly Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), is largely ignored under the current system of broad-scale stock assessment and management. This mismatch of biological and administrative scales has contributed to severe overall stock decline and localized serial depletion of Gulf of Maine cod. Such chronic management failure has led to growing calls for a more area-based, finer-scale approach to managing groundfish in the Gulf of Maine. A primary difficulty hindering the development of finer-scale groundfish management has been the challenge of estimating fishing mortality upon local stock components. …

Land Use And Land Cover Based Habitat Analyses Of Invasive Species Along The Lower Tonawanda Creek Applying Unmanned Helicopter Remote Sensing, Chenliuli Jiang

Great Lakes Center Masters Theses

Trapa natans (water chestnut) is an exotic annual aquatic plant, which is native to Eurasian and African continents. It is an invasive species in North America and has already caused serious environmental problems because of its strong capability of adaption and propagation. The objectives of this research were to survey and map water chestnut in the lower Tonawanda Creek (Erie Canal) applying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), evaluate the current management of controlling and removing water chestnut, and analyze how land use and land cover (LULC), as well as habitat conditions, influence the growth of water chestnut. The UAV was not …

Compounding Fire Disturbance History Encourages Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) Regeneration And Community Dominance, Matthew R. Brousil

Master's Theses

Disturbance is fundamental to forest ecosystem function and overall health, but climate change is likely to increase both disturbance frequency and intensity in the future. Forests subject to increasingly frequent and intense disturbances are more likely to experience compounding disturbance effects. Compounding disturbances may exert unpredicted, non-additive stresses on ecosystems, leading to novel conditions that may exceed the capacity for local species to survive and regenerate. I further hypothesize that compounding disturbances could create conditions misaligned with species’ adaptations by altering physical and chemical growing conditions in forest soils, affecting forest composition, structure, and, subsequently, function for many years following …

The Impact Of Nanomaterial Functionalization And Core Chemical Composition On Toxicity To Daphnia Magna, Jared S. Bozich

Theses and Dissertations

Nanomaterials (NMs) are being developed for a variety of industrial, biomedical, and environmental applications. Initially these materials consisted of simple metal oxides or carbon based NMs. More recently NMs have become increasingly complex consisting of multiple transition metals and surfaces functionalized with polymers, surfactants and ligands that have the ability to alter their physiochemical properties and enhance performance. As manufactured NM production increases, so does the concern about their release into the environment and potentially harmful effects. The focus of toxicology has largely been on first generation materials and we have comparatively less information about the potential impacts of complex …

A Multi-Faceted Biogeochemical Approach To Analyzing Hypoxia In Green Bay, Lake Michigan, Shelby Labuhn

Theses and Dissertations

Green Bay, Lake Michigan is a large freshwater estuary that has experienced seasonal hypoxia for decades. Hypoxia, or dissolved oxygen concentrations less than 2 mg L-1, is a problem in coastal ecosystems around the world because it has a negative impact on ecosystem health by decreasing biodiversity and fisheries. In order to create adequate management policies for hypoxia, it is important to understand the sources and sinks of oxygen within Green Bay. This study utilizes a number of traditional and novel field methods to measure the production and respiration of oxygen within lower Green Bay, defined as south of Chambers …

Determining The Impacts Of Environmental Contaminants To Zebra Mussels Using Genetic Biomarkers, Nicklaus James Neureuther

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

DETERMINING THE IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS TO ZEBRA MUSSELS USING GENETIC BIOMARKERS

by

Nicklaus James Neureuther

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Rebecca Klaper, PhD

Persistent legacy contaminants and emerging chemicals of concern continue to be a threat to the function and health in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). While chemical monitoring programs traditionally sample water and sediment, these studies can only provide information of the type and level of contamination within an (AOC). This being said, information on the biological impacts to the biota are needed to measure impairments of chemical exposure, …

Identifying With “The Native” In Anglo-American Environmental Writing: A Rhetorical Study, Alexis Piper

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

IDENTIFYING WITH “THE NATIVE”

IN ANGLO-AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING:

A RHETORICAL STUDY

by

Alexis F. Piper

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Anne Wysocki

In an effort to contribute to rhetorical theories of “identification” this dissertation examines Anglo nature writing written for Anglo audiences in the United States over several centuries. In my conclusion, I suggest approaches current nature writers might use to offer audiences ways of engaging with Indigenous peoples and Native conceptions of environment that are more ethical, appropriate, and effective than approaches used in previous centuries. I maintain that such approaches could potentially …

Bringing The Outside In: Examining The Impacts That Climate, Exchange, And Identity Processes Have On Organizationally-Beneficial Employee Green Behavior, Sashi C. Sekhar

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation contributes to growing practitioner and researcher interest in the corporate social responsibility topic of employee green behavior, a key strategic input to organizational environmental sustainability efforts. While it has been recognized that employee behavior can significantly impact sustainability efforts (Daily, Bishop, and Govindarajulu, 2009; Ones and Dilchert, 2012), the psychological mechanisms through which this occurs and the precise nature of these behaviors have not been rigorously examined. To address the gaps, my research investigates the interrelationship between organizational and individual factors in motivating organizational citizenship behavior directed toward the natural environment (OCB-E). The model, which derives from social …

Characterization And Delineation Of Karst Geohazards Along Rm652 Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography, Culberson County, Texas, Adam F. Majzoub

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Delaware Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico is the major western subdivision of the Permian Basin and a northern extension of the Chihuahuan Desert. The major evaporite unit within the Delaware Basin is the Castile Formation, which consists of gypsum/anhydrite and is highly susceptible to dissolution and karsting. Manifestations of karst within the Castile outcrop are abundant and include sinkholes, subsidence features and caves, both epigene and hypogene in origin.

Land reconnaissance surveys conducted during the summer of 2015 documented abundant karst landforms in close proximity to a major thoroughfare, RM 652, in Culberson County, Texas. 2D …

Determining The Effects Of The Think Risk Initiative As Implemented By The Southern Nevada Health District, Karalin Nichole Cronkhite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the United States, someone becomes infected with a foodborne illness every 2 seconds, is hospitalized by a foodborne illness every 4 minutes and dies due to a foodborne illness every 3 hours. Foodborne illness is preventable, yet each year, 1 in 6 Americans is affected by it from contaminated foods or beverages. There are over 250 different foodborne diseases, and in 2015, there were 73 confirmed cases of Salmonella infection in Southern Nevada alone. Since the emergence of public health, food establishment inspections have been an important part of the regulation of food safety. Risk-based inspections were developed by …

From Access To Excess: Agribusiness, Federal Water Programs, And The Historical Roots Of The California Water Crisis, Tracy Marie Neblina

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to show the link between water use, land consolidation, agribusinesses, and the water crisis that California began to experience in 2011. In order to better understand the relationship between the growth of agribusiness in the state and the evolution of water policy, this paper explores the historical context of land policy, the growth of farming in the San Joaquin Valley, and the development of federally funded water projects in the Central Valley. Years of expanding farmland and use of surface and underground water with limited regulation played an important role in exacerbating California’s water …

Quantifying Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Dynamics With Mechanistically-Based Biogeochemistry Models And In Situ And Remotely Sensed Data, Shaoqing Liu

Open Access Dissertations

Terrestrial ecosystem plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle and climate system. Therefore, it is important to accurately quantify the carbon dynamics of terrestrial ecosystem under future climatic change condition. This dissertation evaluates the regional carbon dynamics by using upscaling approach, mechanistically-based biogeochemistry models and in situ and remotely sensed data.

The upscaling studies based on FLUXNET network has provided us the spatial and temporal pattern of the carbon fluxes but it fails to consider the atmospheric CO2 effect given its important physiological role in carbon assimilation. In the second chapter, we consider the effect of atmospheric CO2 …

Policy Design Tool For Managing Indoor Residential Water Demand In Water-Scarce Regions, Mujahed M. Thneibat

Open Access Dissertations

In view of population growth; climate change; and economic evolution, water resources in numerous parts of the world have reached their natural capacities. Consequently, the ability of many countries to grow; meet the basic needs of inhabitants; and protect the environment will be endangered like never before unless water resources are smartly handled and managed. ^ In the past few decades, many developed and developing countries have suffered from water scarcity, and more are certain to follow. The water security dilemma is much more challenging in developing countries. Water utilities have had to follow regulatory plans to manage demand on …

Lower Food Web Dynamics In Lakes Michigan And Huron: Spatial And Temporal Responses To Recent Oligotrophication, Margaret Hutton Stadig

Open Access Theses

Nutrient abatement programs, originally enacted to counter eutrophication have successfully suppressed nutrient loads and relative primary production in marine and freshwater systems. Recently, the additive impacts of invasive filter feeders have further reduced offshore primary production in several aquatic systems throughout the world. It has been hypothesized that the biological activity of these invasive species may sequester nutrients within the nearshore benthic environment, creating steep gradients in primary production between nearshore and offshore habitats. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, past studies of oligotrophication have primarily focused on food web responses in offshore habitats. Organisms at higher trophic levels have been …

Gonadal Intersex In Teleosts: Mechanisms, Molecular Biomarkers And Diagnostic Assays, Ahmed M.E. Abdel-Moneim Mohamed

Open Access Dissertations

Natural and synthetic estrogenic and androgenic compounds are continuously released into aquatic ecosystems. Exposure of teleost fishes to these contaminants can negatively impact sex differentiation and reproductive output. Specifically, development of gonadal intersex in gonochoristic (fixed sex) fish species has been studied extensively in relation to exposure to this class of compounds. The main objectives of this dissertation were to: 1) conduct field and laboratory studies to investigate the molecular signaling pathways behind the development of gonadal intersex; and 2) establish molecular biomarkers and assays for testing the ability of environmental pollutants to develop this condition using a battery of …

Unraveling The Fingerprints Of Nox Using Stable Isotopes: Implications For Nox Source Partitioning And Oxidation Chemistry, Wendell William Walters

Open Access Dissertations

The nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) stable isotope composition (δ15N & δ18O) of nitrogen oxides (NOx )may be a useful tool for constraining NOx emission sources as well as for understanding the atmospheric oxidation pathways responsible for its removal if various NOx sources and sink processes exhibit characteristic isotopic compositions (“fingerprints”). However, this requires (1) an accurate and complete inventory of δ15N(NOx) values from major emission sources, (2) an assessment of the kinetic and equilibrium isotope effects that can impact δ15N and δ18O values of NOx, (3) and test these assumptions by conducting accurate in situ δ15N and δ18O measurements …

A Study Of Short-Season Winter Cover Crops For Organic High Tunnel Production Systems, Luke Riley Freeman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This two-year study investigated short-season winter cover crops to improve soil quality and growth of subsequent vegetable crops in an organic high tunnel production system. Five winter cover crop treatments including a nontreated control, Austrian winter peas (Pisum arvense), bell beans (Vicia faba), mustard (Brassica juncea cv. Kodiak), and Daikon radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) were grown in a high tunnel in a randomized complete block design from mid-November to mid-March, mowed and incorporated into the soil, and followed by a succession of vegetable crops including tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum, cv. ‘Plum Dandy’) and broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica, cv. ‘Bay …

Assessing Tennessee Landowners' Attitudes Toward Wild Hogs And Support For Control Options, Carlotta Anne Caplenor

Masters Theses

Wild hogs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species with destructive habits, particularly rooting and wallowing, which can directly impact agricultural crops, pasture land, and water quality. Considering wild hogs are widely dispersed across the landscape, it is extremely difficult to control them. Moreover, disagreements can arise among different stakeholders over whether and how their population should be managed. The purpose of this study was to examine Tennessee landowners’ attitudes toward wild hogs, to compare acceptability of control methods, and to evaluate the factors significantly influencing public support for wild hog control regulations. Logistic regression was used to analyze …

Field Emissions Of (Hydro)Chlorofluorocarbons And Methane From A California Landfill, Alexander H. Sohn

Master's Theses

A comprehensive field investigation was conducted at Potrero Hills Landfill (PHL) located in Suisun City, California to quantify emissions of twelve (hydro)chlorofluorocarbons (i.e. F-gases). The specific target constituents for this study included CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, CFC-114, HCFC-21, HCFC-22, HCFC-141b, HCFC-142b, HCFC-151a, HFC-134a, HFC-152a, and HFC-245fa. The majority of the F-gas emission studies have been conducted outside of the United States and very limited field landfill emission data are available in the United States. Because of historical usage of blowing agents in insulation foams including CFC-11, HCFC-142b, HFC-134a, and HFC-245fa, models reported in literature predicted high F-gas emissions from a landfill …

Willingness To Pay For Irrigation Water Under Scarcity Conditions, Tyler Robert Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliance of Arkansas agricultural producers on groundwater for irrigation has led to depletion of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Without intervention, consequences include insufficient groundwater to meet irrigation demand as well as drawdown of the deeper Sparta Aquifer, upon which communities in eastern Arkansas rely for non-agricultural use. Among proposed solutions to combat groundwater decline is the construction of off-farm surface water infrastructure to meet the irrigation needs of producers. Despite the importance of irrigated agriculture to Arkansas, there is little know about the economic value of irrigation water to producers. Thus, we implement a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent …

Corrosion Of Aluminum Current Collector In Cost Effective Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries, Shengyi Li

Theses and Dissertations

Rechargeable lithium ion batteries (LIB) have been widely used as commercial energy storage systems for portable equipment, electronic devices and high power applications (e.g. electronic vehicles). One issue with the commercialized LIB is that expensive, highly toxic and flammable organic solvents are used in the electrolyte and the fabrication process of electrodes. The toxic organic based solvents increase the production cost and lead to significant safety concerns in the event of a battery overcharge or short circuit. The recent development of “green manufacturing” technology allows manufacturers to replace the organic solvents used in the cathode coating process by aqueous based …