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2018

Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

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Articles 1 - 30 of 1178

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Remote Sensing Of Icebergs In Greenland's Fjords And Coastal Waters, Jessica Scheick Dec 2018

Remote Sensing Of Icebergs In Greenland's Fjords And Coastal Waters, Jessica Scheick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increases in ocean water temperature are implicated in driving recent accelerated rates of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Icebergs provide a key tool for gaining insight into ice-ocean interactions and until recently have been relatively understudied. Here we develop several methods that exploit icebergs visible in optical satellite imagery to provide insight on the ice--ocean environment and explore how iceberg datasets can be used to examine the physics of iceberg decay and parent glacier properties. First, a semi-automated algorithm, which includes a machine learning-based cloud mask, is applied to six years (2000-2002 and 2013-2015) of the Landsat archive …

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Climate Evolution Across The Mid-Brunhes Transition, Aaron M. Barth, Peter U. Clark, Nicholas S. Bill, Feng He, Nicklas G. Pisias Dec 2018

Climate Evolution Across The Mid-Brunhes Transition, Aaron M. Barth, Peter U. Clark, Nicholas S. Bill, Feng He, Nicklas G. Pisias

School of Earth & Environment Faculty Scholarship

The Mid-Brunhes Transition (MBT) began ∼ 430 ka with an increase in the amplitude of the 100 kyr climate cycles of the past 800 000 years. The MBT has been identified in ice-core records, which indicate interglaciations became warmer with higher atmospheric CO2 levels after the MBT, and benthic oxygen isotope (δ18O) records, which suggest that post-MBT interglaciations had higher sea levels and warmer temperatures than pre-MBT interglaciations. It remains unclear, however, whether the MBT was a globally synchronous phenomenon that included other components of the climate system. Here, we further characterize changes in the climate system across the MBT …

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Advantages And Limitations To The Use Of Optical Measurements To Study Sediment Properties, Emmanuel Boss, Christopher R. Sherwood, Paul Hill, Tim Milligan Dec 2018

Advantages And Limitations To The Use Of Optical Measurements To Study Sediment Properties, Emmanuel Boss, Christopher R. Sherwood, Paul Hill, Tim Milligan

Marine Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Measurements of optical properties have been used for decades to study particle distributions in the ocean. They are useful for estimating suspended mass concentration as well as particle-related properties such as size, composition, packing (particle porosity or density), and settling velocity. Measurements of optical properties are, however, biased, as certain particles, because of their size, composition, shape, or packing, contribute to a specific property more than others. Here, we study this issue both theoretically and practically, and we examine different optical properties collected simultaneously in a bottom boundary layer to highlight the utility of such measurements. We show that the …

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Stratigraphic Control Of Landscape Response To Base-Level Fall, Young Womans Creek, Pennsylvania, Usa, Roman A. Dibiase, Alison R. Denn, Paul R. Bierman, Eric Kirby, Nicole West, Alan J. Hidy Dec 2018

Stratigraphic Control Of Landscape Response To Base-Level Fall, Young Womans Creek, Pennsylvania, Usa, Roman A. Dibiase, Alison R. Denn, Paul R. Bierman, Eric Kirby, Nicole West, Alan J. Hidy

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Landscapes are thought to respond to changes in relative base level through the upstream propagation of a boundary that delineates relict from adjusting topography. However, spatially-variable rock strength can influence the topographic expression of such transient landscapes, especially in layered rocks, where strength variations can mask topographic signals expected due to changes in climate or tectonics. Here, we analyze the landscape response to base-level fall in Young Womans Creek, a 220 km2 catchment on the Appalachian Plateau, USA underlain by gently folded Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. We measured in situ 10Be concentrations in stream sands from 17 nested watersheds, and used …

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Validating And Highlighting The Advantages Of The Optimal Estimation Method For Rayleigh Lidar Middle Atmospheric Temperature Retrievals, Ali Jalali Dec 2018

Validating And Highlighting The Advantages Of The Optimal Estimation Method For Rayleigh Lidar Middle Atmospheric Temperature Retrievals, Ali Jalali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An improved understanding of temperature variations in Earth’s middle atmosphere is important for the improvement of our understanding of climate and weather on the surface. The optimal estimation method (OEM) is an inversion modeling approach, which uses regularized nonlinear regression to retrieve, in this case, the temperature of Earth’s middle atmosphere using Rayleigh-scatter lidar measurements. The OEM regularization term is the a priori knowledge of the atmospheric temperature profile. In this thesis I use lidar temperatures in the altitude range 30–110km to construct a temperature climatology using over 500 nights of measurements obtained by the Purple Crow Lidar in London, …

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Leveraging Student Experience With Water For Active Learning In A Large Introductory Oceanography Classroom, Rebecca Freeman Dec 2018

Leveraging Student Experience With Water For Active Learning In A Large Introductory Oceanography Classroom, Rebecca Freeman

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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The Circulation Of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical And Networking Strategies On Facebook, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Denise Tillery Dec 2018

The Circulation Of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical And Networking Strategies On Facebook, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Denise Tillery

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This study uses a topical, rhetorical approach to analyze how climate change denial circulates online through the 25 most popular posts on the Watts Up With That and the Global Warming Policy Forum Facebook pages. These groups adopt the appearance of credibility through reposting and hyperlinking, thus establishing a supportive, networked space among other skeptical sites, while distancing readers from original sources of scientific information. Visitors use a variety of rhetorical strategies to echo posts’ main themes and to discredit alternative viewpoints. Differences between the topoi and rhetorical strategies of WUWT and the GWPF show that the climate change denial …

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Species Richness, Diversity, And Abundance Of Sponge Communities In Broward County, Florida, 2000-2015, Jessica Price Dec 2018

Species Richness, Diversity, And Abundance Of Sponge Communities In Broward County, Florida, 2000-2015, Jessica Price

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Sponges (Porifera) are a major component of coral reef ecosystems. They outnumber coral species on the Florida Reef Tract, and in places, account for more living cover. Because coral reefs are a vital part of Florida’s economy, it is important to understand how local sponge assemblages vary spatially and temporally, especially as corals continue to decline. However, long-term observations of sponge assemblages (species richness, diversity and abundance) are lacking. To address this, annual photoquadrats were analyzed from a series of 25 sites off Broward County between 2000 and 2015. Variations in sponge assemblages were then compared to several natural and …

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Peruvian Pinnipeds As Archivists Of Enso Effects, Mickie Rae Edwards Dec 2018

Peruvian Pinnipeds As Archivists Of Enso Effects, Mickie Rae Edwards

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Environmental fluctuations in the eastern Pacific Ocean are reflected in the tissues of some of its most vulnerable apex predators, the Peruvian fur seal (PFS) Arctocephalus australis ssp.and the South American sea lion (SASL) Otaria byronia.These large pinnipeds live in sympatry along the Pacific coastline of South America and forage within the neritic waters over the continental shelf. The coastal waters off Peru are a region of great environmental fluctuations due to periodic, oscillating El Niño- La Niña- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, which result in ecosystem-wide food web changes. Pinniped vibrissae (whiskers) are continuously growing keratinous tissues and …

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Ecophysiology Of Lionfish Metabolic And Visual Systems: Are There Physiological Limits To Inshore Invasion?, Aaron Hasenei Dec 2018

Ecophysiology Of Lionfish Metabolic And Visual Systems: Are There Physiological Limits To Inshore Invasion?, Aaron Hasenei

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Lionfish (Pterois spp.), an invasive species native to the Indo-Pacific, have permanently established themselves throughout the greater Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and regions of the Western Atlantic ranging from as far north as North Carolina to central Brazil. As their fundamental range expands, lionfish threaten to migrate into estuarine environments as they have been found to tolerate low salinities and an eclectic range of temperatures. The physiological capacity of invasion was assessed by quantifying the visual ecology of lionfish utilizing corneal electroretinography (ERG) as well as their metabolic scope and hypoxia tolerances under various temperature-oxygen-regimes utilizing intermittent-flow respirometry. Seasonal …

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Coupling Between Land–Ocean–Atmosphere And Pronounced Changes In Atmospheric/Meteorological Parameters Associated With The Hudhud Cyclone Of October 2014, Akshansa Chauhan, Rajesh Kumar, Ramesh P. Singh Dec 2018

Coupling Between Land–Ocean–Atmosphere And Pronounced Changes In Atmospheric/Meteorological Parameters Associated With The Hudhud Cyclone Of October 2014, Akshansa Chauhan, Rajesh Kumar, Ramesh P. Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

India is vulnerable to all kinds of natural hazards associated with land, ocean, biosphere, atmosphere, and snow/glaciers. These natural hazards impact large areas and the population living in the affected regions. India is surrounded by ocean on three sides and is vulnerable to cyclonic activities. Every year cyclones hit the east and west coasts of India, affecting the population living along the coasts and infrastructure and inland areas. The extent of the affected inland areas depends on the intensity of the cyclone. On 12 October 2014, a strong cyclone “Hudhud” hit the east coast of India that caused a high …

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Simulating The Impacts Of Irrigation Levels On Soybean Production In Texas High Plains To Manage Diminishing Groundwater Levels, Vaishali Sharda, Prasanna H. Gowda, Gary Marek, Isaya Kisekka, Chittaranjan Ray, Pradip Adhikari Dec 2018

Simulating The Impacts Of Irrigation Levels On Soybean Production In Texas High Plains To Manage Diminishing Groundwater Levels, Vaishali Sharda, Prasanna H. Gowda, Gary Marek, Isaya Kisekka, Chittaranjan Ray, Pradip Adhikari

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

There is an increasing need to strategize and plan irrigation systems under varied climatic conditions to support efficient irrigation practices while maintaining and improving the sustainability of groundwater systems. This study was undertaken to simulate the growth and production of soybean [Glycine max (L.)] under different irrigation scenarios. The objectives of this study were to calibrate and validate the CROPGRO-Soybean model under Texas High Plains’ (THP) climatic conditions and to apply the calibrated model to simulate the impacts of different irrigation levels and triggers on soybean production. The methodology involved combining short-term experimental data with long-term historical weather data (1951–2012), …

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Transition Pathways To Sustainable Agricultural Water Management: A Review Of Integrated Modeling Approaches, Erin M.K. Haacker, Vaishali Sharda, Amanda M. Cano, R. Aaron Hrozencik, Agustin Nunez, Zachary Zambreski, Soheil Nozari, Garvey Engulu B, Smith, Lacey Moore, Sumit Sharma, Prasanna Gowda, Chittaranjan Ray, Meagan Schipanski, Reagan Waskom Dec 2018

Transition Pathways To Sustainable Agricultural Water Management: A Review Of Integrated Modeling Approaches, Erin M.K. Haacker, Vaishali Sharda, Amanda M. Cano, R. Aaron Hrozencik, Agustin Nunez, Zachary Zambreski, Soheil Nozari, Garvey Engulu B, Smith, Lacey Moore, Sumit Sharma, Prasanna Gowda, Chittaranjan Ray, Meagan Schipanski, Reagan Waskom

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Agricultural water management (AWM) is an interdisciplinary concern, cutting across traditional domains such as agronomy, climatology, geology, economics, and sociology. Each of these disciplines has developed numerous process-based and empirical models for AWM. However, models that simulate all major hydrologic, water quality, and crop growth processes in agricultural systems are still lacking. As computers become more powerful, more researchers are choosing to integrate existing models to account for these major processes rather than building new cross-disciplinary models. Model integration carries the hope that, as in a real system, the sum of the model will be greater than the parts. However, …

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Indirect Effects Of Ocean Warming And Acidification On The Realized Recruitment Of Agaricia Agaricites, Allan Anderson Dec 2018

Indirect Effects Of Ocean Warming And Acidification On The Realized Recruitment Of Agaricia Agaricites, Allan Anderson

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Over the past few decades, coral cover has declined worldwide due to overfishing, disease, and storms, and these effects have been exacerbated by ocean warming and acidification. Corals are extremely susceptible to these changes because they are already living close to their thermal and aragonite saturation thresholds. Ocean warming and acidification (OAW) may also impact coral survival and growth by impacting their settlement cues. Coral larvae use crustose coralline algae (CCA) and their associated biofilms as cues for settlement, i.e., habitat selection. Settlement cues can also be negatively affected by increased water temperature and acidity. It was hypothesized that the …

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Turbulent And Electromagnetic Signature Of Small- And Fine-Scale Biological And Oceanographic Processes, Cayla Whitney Dean Dec 2018

Turbulent And Electromagnetic Signature Of Small- And Fine-Scale Biological And Oceanographic Processes, Cayla Whitney Dean

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Small- and fine-scale biological and oceanographic processes may have a measurable electromagnetic signature. These types of processes inherently involve turbulence and three-dimensional dynamics. Traditional models of the electromagnetic signature of oceanographic processes are of an analytical nature, do not account for three-dimensional boundary layer dynamics or turbulence, self-inductance, and may not describe the variety of the environmental conditions occurring in the ocean. In order to address this problem, I have implemented magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools, which has allowed for the evaluation of the electromagnetic signature of a number of small- and fine-scale biological and oceanographic processes in …

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Analysis Of Land Surface Temperature Over Urban Landcover Types Using Satellite Remote Sensing And Ground-Based Applications, Makini Valentine, Justine Ginchereau Dec 2018

Analysis Of Land Surface Temperature Over Urban Landcover Types Using Satellite Remote Sensing And Ground-Based Applications, Makini Valentine, Justine Ginchereau

Publications and Research

Urban areas have discrete differences in their land surface temperatures (LST) compared to rural areas. These regions are covered with impermeable materials with less vegetation and moisture. Consequently, this phenomenon causes major thermal intensities of different land surfaces, negatively impact people and environment. The objective of this project is to examine and to compare land surface temperature obtained from in-situ data and satellite-based observations in order to understand the diurnal variation and heat transfer at each surface type. The study utilizes series of hand held thermal infrared cameras and one Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) infrared camera to find land surface …

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Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: December 2018 Report, Gregory V. Jones Dec 2018

Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: December 2018 Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report provides a summary of the weather and climate forecast for December 2018. It includes forecast information specific to the Pacific Northwest and the western United States, as well as forecast information for other portions of the United States and abroad.

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Attributing Accelerated Increases In Salinity In The Mediterranean Coastal Zone To Climate Change And Seawater Desalination Brine And The Resultant Unsustainability Of Modern Desalination Technology, Brandon W. Harper Dec 2018

Attributing Accelerated Increases In Salinity In The Mediterranean Coastal Zone To Climate Change And Seawater Desalination Brine And The Resultant Unsustainability Of Modern Desalination Technology, Brandon W. Harper

HCNSO Student Capstones

Anthropogenic climate change influences our oceans on a global scale and has brought about increased salinity levels in large areas of our oceans such as the North Atlantic (Dunbar 2009). Concentrations of large scale desalination plants around small bodies of water add to this pattern and have shown even larger increases in salinity due to desalination brine discharge (Purnama et al., 2005). Salinity profile data over time should show similar increases in salinity in the Mediterranean Sea due to climate change and localized data should show increased salinity due to brine discharge. This study aims to pinpoint the extent of …

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Optimization Of Light Irradiance During The Early Life Of Sexually-Produced Porites Astreoides And Agaricia Agaricites Recruits, Nicholas J. Mcmahon Dec 2018

Optimization Of Light Irradiance During The Early Life Of Sexually-Produced Porites Astreoides And Agaricia Agaricites Recruits, Nicholas J. Mcmahon

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Current solutions of coral restoration rely mainly on fragmentation. Though a reliable technique, this asexual form of reproduction does not benefit the genetic diversity of the coral reef. With many global and local stressors threatening corals’ existence, the resiliency of corals to future ocean conditions depends highly on sexual reproduction to produce new genotypes. New technology allows coral spawning/larval release, larval settlement and rearing to be carried out in an aquarium system. Many of the techniques necessary to maintain coral recruits are well-established, however the effects of light intensity remain to be studied for these early life stages. Newly …

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Empirical Validation And Comparison Of The Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (Hycom) Between The Gulf Of Mexico And The Tongue Of The Ocean, Cynthia A. Cleveland Dec 2018

Empirical Validation And Comparison Of The Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (Hycom) Between The Gulf Of Mexico And The Tongue Of The Ocean, Cynthia A. Cleveland

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Ocean models are increasingly able to synthesize a large temporal domain with fine spatial resolution. With this increase in functionality and availability, ocean models are in high demand by researchers, establishing a critical need for validating a model’s ability to represent interior ocean dynamics. Satellite measurements are typically used for validation, however these measurements are limited to the upper layers of the ocean and therefore satellite measurements of sea surface height and sea surface temperature are the most validated output parameters of three-dimensional ocean models. Unfortunately there is a paucity of model validation studies for the interior ocean. This study …

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Characterizing Temperature Variability States Across Southern South America And Associated Synoptic-Scale Meteorological Patterns, Judah Adam Detzer Dec 2018

Characterizing Temperature Variability States Across Southern South America And Associated Synoptic-Scale Meteorological Patterns, Judah Adam Detzer

Dissertations and Theses

The aim of this thesis is to understand spatiotemporal temperature variability in southern South America by identifying overarching temperature variability states and their associated synoptic-scale meteorological patterns. Further, the temporal frequency of occurrence of those temperature variability states is investigated as is the role of recurrent low-frequency modes of climate variability (El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Southern Annular Mode) on temperature variability. K-means cluster analysis is used to group all months during the period 1980-2015 into four primary categories for summer and winter separately. Monthly maps of temperature anomalies are provided as input to the k-means algorithm and the …

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Summertime Connecticut River Water Pathways And Wind Impacts, Yan Jia, Michael M. Whitney Dec 2018

Summertime Connecticut River Water Pathways And Wind Impacts, Yan Jia, Michael M. Whitney

Department of Marine Sciences

Long Island Sound is a large macrotidal estuary. Connecticut River as the primary freshwater source enters near the sound’s mouth. The summertime pathways of river water under low discharge and mild wind conditions are studied through both numerical simulations with a passive dye pulse and field surface drifter observations. Within the 19-day modeling analysis period, a third of the river dye pulse moves up-estuary with the near-bottom dense inflow into central and western sound with a spring-neap tidal modulation; another third leaves the sound with the near-surface outflow towards the continental shelf through Block Island Sound. The latter pathway is …

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Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy And Paleoecology Of The Fort Hays Limestone Of Western Kansas, Western Interior Basin (Wib), Bryan Hermosillo Dec 2018

Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy And Paleoecology Of The Fort Hays Limestone Of Western Kansas, Western Interior Basin (Wib), Bryan Hermosillo

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Investigations of Upper Cretaceous hemi-pelagic sediments from the Western Interior Basin suggest that high surface water fertility caused increased production of biogenic carbonate, resulting in the deposition of limestone. We examined calcareous nannofossils from the Turonian/Coniacian Fort Hays Member of the Niobrara Formation to evaluate the correlation between nannofossil surface water fertility proxies and associated lithology. Our paleoecology results indicate that oligotrophic surface water conditions were present during limestone deposition. This stands at odds with existing depositional models for the Western Interior Seaway (WIS). Paleoecological data within the interbedded marls was artificially skewed due to the prevalence of etching caused …

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Multispectral Classification Of Gulf Of Maine Surface Waters: Seasonal And Interannual Variability, Brianna M. King Dec 2018

Multispectral Classification Of Gulf Of Maine Surface Waters: Seasonal And Interannual Variability, Brianna M. King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bio-optically, surface waters of the northeastern US continental shelf are strongly heterogeneous, exhibiting highly variable distributions in both time and space of suspended sediment, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and phytoplankton concentration and community structure. These render the standard global NASA satellite chlorophyll algorithm suspect. However, spectral signatures of the water are well quantified by the actual satellite-based multispectral reflectance (Rrs) measurements. Here, we use 6 bands of Rrs measurements from 19 years (1998-2016) of monthly composite SeaWiFS and MODIS data to identify the spectral signatures of dominant water types present over the northeast shelf. A merged multivariate clustering approach …

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Uncovering The Role Of Propagule Pressure In Determining Establishment Success Using A Synthetic Biology Approach, Michael D. Dressler Dec 2018

Uncovering The Role Of Propagule Pressure In Determining Establishment Success Using A Synthetic Biology Approach, Michael D. Dressler

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The spread of invasive species poses a major ecological and economical threat. Consequently there are ongoing efforts to develop a generalizable mechanism to predict establishment success of non-native species. One proposed mechanism to predict establishment success is propagule pressure, which is defined as the number of individuals introduced at a given time. Although some studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between propagule pressure and establishment success, others have not, and the effect of propagule pressure on establishment success remains unclear. To address this challenge, a strain of bacteria engineered with an Allee effect, a growth dynamic that is often associated …

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Predicted Deepwater Bathymetry From Satellite Altimetry: Non-Fourier Transform Alternatives, Maxsimo Salazar Dec 2018

Predicted Deepwater Bathymetry From Satellite Altimetry: Non-Fourier Transform Alternatives, Maxsimo Salazar

Dissertations

Robert Parker (1972) demonstrated the effectiveness of Fourier Transforms (FT) to compute gravitational potential anomalies caused by uneven, non-uniform layers of material. This important calculation relates the gravitational potential anomaly to sea-floor topography. As outlined by Sandwell and Smith (1997), a six-step procedure, utilizing the FT, then demonstrated how satellite altimetry measurements of marine geoid height are inverted into seafloor topography. However, FTs are not local in space and produce Gibb’s phenomenon around discontinuities. Seafloor features exhibit spatial locality and features such as seamounts and ridges often have sharp inclines. Initial tests compared the windowed-FT to wavelets in reconstruction of …

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From The Household To Watershed: A Cross-Scale Analysis Of Residential Intention To Adopt Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Donna Rizzo, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia Dec 2018

From The Household To Watershed: A Cross-Scale Analysis Of Residential Intention To Adopt Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Donna Rizzo, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Improved stormwater management for the protection of water resources requires bottom-up stewardship from landowners, including adoption of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). We use a statewide survey of Vermont paired with a cross-scale and spatial analysis to evaluate the influence of interacting spatial, social, and physical factors on residential intention to adopt GSI across a complex social-ecological landscape. Specifically, we focus on how three GSI practices, (“rain garden (bio retention),” “infiltration trenches,” and “actively divert roof runoff to a rain barrel/lawn/garden instead of the street/sewer”) vary with barriers to adoption, and household attributes across stormwater contexts from the household to watershed …

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Similarity Of Introduced Plant Species To Native Ones Facilitates Naturalization, But Differences Enhance Invasion Success, Jan Divíšek, Milan Chytrý, Brian Beckage, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Zdeňka Lososová, Petr Pyšek, David M. Richardson, Jane Molofsky Dec 2018

Similarity Of Introduced Plant Species To Native Ones Facilitates Naturalization, But Differences Enhance Invasion Success, Jan Divíšek, Milan Chytrý, Brian Beckage, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Zdeňka Lososová, Petr Pyšek, David M. Richardson, Jane Molofsky

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

The search for traits associated with plant invasiveness has yielded contradictory results, in part because most previous studies have failed to recognize that different traits are important at different stages along the introduction–naturalization–invasion continuum. Here we show that across six different habitat types in temperate Central Europe, naturalized non-invasive species are functionally similar to native species occurring in the same habitat type, but invasive species are different as they occupy the edge of the plant functional trait space represented in each habitat. This pattern was driven mainly by the greater average height of invasive species. These results suggest that the …

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From The Household To Watershed: A Cross-Scale Analysis Of Residential Intention To Adopt Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Donna Rizzo, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia Dec 2018

From The Household To Watershed: A Cross-Scale Analysis Of Residential Intention To Adopt Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Sarah Coleman, Stephanie Hurley, Donna Rizzo, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Improved stormwater management for the protection of water resources requires bottom-up stewardship from landowners, including adoption of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). We use a statewide survey of Vermont paired with a cross-scale and spatial analysis to evaluate the influence of interacting spatial, social, and physical factors on residential intention to adopt GSI across a complex social-ecological landscape. Specifically, we focus on how three GSI practices, (“rain garden (bio retention),” “infiltration trenches,” and “actively divert roof runoff to a rain barrel/lawn/garden instead of the street/sewer”) vary with barriers to adoption, and household attributes across stormwater contexts from the household to watershed …

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Breeding For Resilience To Increasing Temperatures: A Field Trial Assessing Genetic Variation In Soft Red Winter Wheat, Kathleen Russell, David Van Sanford Dec 2018

Breeding For Resilience To Increasing Temperatures: A Field Trial Assessing Genetic Variation In Soft Red Winter Wheat, Kathleen Russell, David Van Sanford

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Breeding for resilience to climate change is a daunting prospect. Crop and climate models tell us that global wheat yields are likely to decline as the climate warms, causing a significant risk to global food security. High temperatures are known to affect crop development yet breeding for tolerance to heat stress is difficult to achieve in field environments. We conducted an active warming study over two years to quantify the effects of heat stress on genetic variation of soft red winter (SRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Forty SRW cultivars and breeding lines were chosen based on marker genotypes at …

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