Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Last Drought Frontier: Building A Drought Index For The State Of Alaska, Olivia Campbell

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Drought is characterized by periods of below average precipitation. There are five major types of drought recognized in the literature: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, socioeconomic, and ecological. A relatively new concept in the drought literature is “snow drought.” A key part of the definition of drought is that it is not always accompanied by extreme heat. This means drought can occur even in cold climates, cold seasons, and higher latitudes and altitudes, like Alaska. Drought is a natural part of climate variability, but Alaska’s climate is changing faster than any other state in the United States. Alaska is no stranger to …

New Office Supports Maine Climate Action, Parker Gassett, Ivan Fernandez

Maine Policy Review

Expanding and expediting access to climate change information can improve collective action outcomes. Accordingly, the Maine Climate Action Plan called for the creation of an information-coordinating hub, to enable effective and efficient use of climate information in Maine’s climate change response. To aid that need, the University of Maine created the Maine Climate Science Information Exchange (MCSIE) office as a gateway to information about climate-relevant research, the scientists conducting that research, and the most recent data and applied science efforts relating to Maine’s climate change strategies. The office was established in 2023, after a year of developing prototypes of the …

Agricultural Aerosols: The Impact Of Farming Activity On Ice Nucleating Particles, Joseph Robinson

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Farming activities cause particles such as soil dust and plant material to be emitted into the air. Some of these aerosols can become ice nucleating particles (INPs), serving as seeds for ice and mixed-phase clouds. While there have been ground-based studies of these particles in the western Great Plains and a single air-based study in Indiana, there is a distinct lack of ground-based studies in the Midwest. In Indiana, over two-thirds of the state is farmland, with over 75% of land in Tippecanoe County used for agriculture. Despite farming being such an essential part of life in Indiana, the connection …

Assessment Of Historical Climate Variability In Maine With Implications For Future Agricultural Productivity And Adaptation, Carly Frank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is a wicked problem with global impacts, one of which being the sustainability of the existing global food system. As temperatures and variability in precipitation are projected to increase, the challenges to agriculture are expected to intensify. This thesis examines the Maine historical climate record over the growing season, in combination with future projections, to assess how conditions have changed and will change with agricultural implications. In this analysis, relevant climatic variables are analyzed, and agriculture-significant measures are derived for Maine’s three climate divisions using four decades of daily and monthly gridded datasets. In addition, this thesis explores …

Prediction Of Cultivation Areas For The Commercial And An Early Flowering Wild Accession Of Salvia Hispanica L. In The United States, Mohammad Hassani, Thomas Piechota, Hagop S. Atamian

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Salvia hispanica L., commonly known as chia, is a plant-based alternative to seafood and is rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acid, protein, fiber, and antioxidants. In the Northern Hemisphere, chia flowering is triggered by the fall equinox (12-h light and dark, early October) and the seeds mature after approximately three months. Chia is sensitive to frost and end of season moisture which limits its cultivation to small areas in regions with temperate climate. The U.S. chia import has increased considerably over the years; however, chia is not widely cultivated in the United States. This study used the historical U.S. temperature …

Los Impactos Del Cambio Climático En Las Comunidades Aymaras En Putre, El Valle De Azapa Y Arica, Lindsey Kaufman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: How is climate change affecting Aymara communities in Putre, the valley of Azapa, and Putre?

Objectives: To understand the effects of climate on communities by 1) describing which environmental problems exist and their impact on agriculture and ranching, 2) understanding the patterns of migration away from the ancestral land, 3) exploring the connections to the social determinants of health that exist with these change, and 4) analyzing the significance of these changes in the agriculture for the communities’ traditions and connection to the land.

Background: Aymara communities have historically inhabited agricultural and ranching lands in …

Soil Resilience And Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: How Fungi Can Inform Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation In Maya Milpa Management, Courtney Mathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Mexico’s state of Yucatán, climate change impacts like prolonged and less predictable dry season length are manifesting as threats to agricultural production and food security. Nearly two thirds of Yucatán’s population is indigenous, many of whom live in rural communities that rely on rainfed subsistence agriculture (INEGI 2015). Ensuring sufficient food production in the face of climate change relies on the quality of agricultural soils. With both mismanagement of agricultural soils and climate change posing as threats to food production in Mexico, soil management practices that increase a soil quality should be identified and promoted. The primary objective of …

Institute For Global Health And Development : Issue 1 - December 2021, Institute For Global Health And Development

IGHD Newsletter

• Climate Change and Environment Sustainability
• Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition
• Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
• Sustainable Development Goals

A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although fresh water is one of Ecuador’s most abundant resources, high quality drinking water for its inhabitants is scarce (Wingfield et al., 2021). The most prevalent sources of water pollution in Ecuador are domestic waste, silver and gold mining, oil production, and agricultural chemicals (Buckalew et al., 1997). El Placer, a village located in Tungurahua, Ecuador, is highly dependent on agriculture as a source of income. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of agriculture on the El Placer’s Tía Anita Stream through comparing the water quality at three sites with varying agricultural influence. The second …

Investigating The Impact Of Land Use On Avian Diversity And Abundance In Areas Surrounding Mabamba Swamp, Uganda, Sydney Marie Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wetland-adjacent land use on avian species richness and abundance areas surrounding Mabamba Swamp, Uganda. Four types of land use were investigated: Eucalyptus plantations, wetland-edge agricultural fields, residential areas, and mature secondary forests. A total of 40-morning point counts were conducted for ten days in late November and late December of 2021. One-way ANOVA tests and Tukey’s HSD tests revealed significant differences in mean avian richness and abundance between all sites except residential areas and Nkima Forest. Additionally, Nkima Forest was found to contain the most number of specialist …

Shaping Soil: Examining Relationships Between Agriculture And Climate Change, Lindsay Barbieri

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

As the ripple-effects of a changing climate shape our planet, understanding relationships between agriculture and climate change is critical. With agricultural practices shaping soils on over a third of the earth’s land surface, the soils and lands where food is produced are integral grounds for examining these relationships. While not all humans practice agriculture in similar or damaging ways, nevertheless, dominant agricultural practices are displacing beings and ecosystems and perturbing global nutrient cycles across the planet. These entwined imbalances of dominance and nutrients result in flows of excess nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon that are responsible for nearly three-fourths of the …

Strategies For Reducing Greenhouse Gases From Liquid Dairy Manure, Vera Sokolov

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Livestock production, including the storage, handling, and spreading of manure, are among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. Liquid dairy manure storages are hot spots of methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and ammonia (NH₃). Both CH₄ and N₂O are greenhouse gases (GHG) which contribute to global warming, while NH₃ is an indirect source of N₂O and a risk to human health. Reducing emissions from manure storages is important not only for protection of environment and humans, but also for conserving the nutrients in …

Trend Of Thornthwaite's Aridity Index (Ai) At Atakpame (Togo), Komlan Koudahe

English Language Institute

Drought can severely affect agricultural production potential, destroying the local economy and creating famine. Data were collected (1990 to 2014) from the Meteorological Department of Togo. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) varied with two peaks obtained on March 28 (5.84mm) and on November 17 (4.87mm). There was water deficit in all years except 2005 and 2007. Also, there was non-significant increasing trend of aridity index (AI). Specific actions should target efficient water management in Atakpame.

Assessing Agricultural Risk Management Using Historic Crop Insurance Loss Data Over The Ogallala Aquifer, Julian Reyes, Emile Elias, Erin M.K. Haacker, Amy Kremen, Lauren Parker, Caitlin Rottler

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Much of the agricultural production in the Ogallala Aquifer region relies on groundwater for irrigation. In addition to declining water levels, weather and climate-driven events affect crop yields and revenues. Crop insurance serves as a risk management tool to mitigate these perils. Here, we seek to understand what long-term crop insurance loss data can tell us about agricultural risk management in the Ogallala. We assess patterns and trends in crop insurance loss data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency. Indemnities, or insurance payments, totaled $22 billion from 1989–2017 for the 161 counties that overlie the Ogallala Aquifer. …

Water Use Governance In A Temperate Region: Implications For Agricultural Climate Change Adaptation In The Northeastern United States, Rachel E. Schattman, Meredith T. Niles, Hannah M. Aitken

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Climate change and access to water are interrelated concerns for agriculture and other sectors, even in temperate regions. Governance approaches and regulatory frameworks determine who has access to water, for what purpose, and when. In the northeastern United States, water governance has historically been conducted by states through a combination of statutory guidance and common law. However, it is unclear what effect if current governance approaches will be sufficient for achieving resource conservation and equitable allocation in a changing climate. To provide insight into these issues, we conducted the first review of freshwater governance in the 12 states that comprise …

Climate-Smart Agriculture: Building Resilience For Women Farmers In Kalchebeshi, Nepal, Annika Ruben

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This case study outlines women’s involvement in climate-smart agriculture and key climate adaptation strategies which are being implemented in the town of Kalchebeshi, Nepal. Kalchebeshi is considered a Resilient Mountain Village because of the town’s integrated approach to addressing climate change and building resilience for farmers. Key findings examined gender differences in farming responsibilities and the significance of farmers’ groups in women’s overall decision making and community involvement. Additionally, changes in water management and pesticide use have been shown to have a positive impact on the lives of women farmers in Kalchebeshi. This paper reinforces the importance of involving vulnerable …

Policy Options To Streamline The Carbon Market For Agricultural Nitrous Oxide Emissions, Meredith T. Niles, Hannah Waterhouse, Robert Parkhurst, Eileen L. Mclellan, Sara Kroopf

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

The majority of emissions of nitrous oxide – a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) – are from agricultural sources, particularly nitrogen fertilizer applications. A growing focus on these emission sources has led to the development in the United States of GHG offset protocols that could enable payment to farmers for reducing fertilizer use or implementing other nitrogen management strategies. Despite the development of several protocols, the current regional scope is narrow, adoption by farmers is low, and policy implementation of protocols has a significant time lag. Here we utilize existing research and policy structures to propose an ‘umbrella’ approach for nitrogen …

Green Energy At Any Cost: How Ethanol Producer Magazine Uses Science To Frame Ethanol Production, Ashley Kappers

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the use of science by media to shape discussions about policy in society. Specifically, it investigates how one influential trade publication, Ethanol Producer Magazine, used science in its construction of pro-ethanol production stories. This study is a multi-method analysis of Ethanol Producer Magazine’s feature articles. To determine how sources and writers use science to frame ethanol production during policy changes in the industry, 36 feature stories from four issues in 2009 and 2010 of Ethanol Producer Magazine were analyzed. The results of this study found that Ethanol Producer Magazine is a publication that presents one side of …

Seeing Is Not Always Believing: Crop Loss And Climate Change Perceptions Among Farm Advisors, Meredith T. Niles, Sarah Wiener, Rachel E. Schattman, Gabrielle Roesch-Mcnally, Julian Reyes

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

As climate change is expected to significantly affect agricultural systems globally, agricultural farm advisors have been increasingly recognized as an important resource in helping farmers address these challenges. While there have been many studies exploring the climate change belief and risk perceptions as well as behaviors of both farmers and agricultural farm advisors, there are very few studies that have explored how these perceptions relate to actual climate impacts in agriculture. Here we couple survey data from United States Department of Agriculture farm service employees (n = 6, 514) with historical crop loss data across the United States to explore …

Does Household Capital Mediate The Uptake Of Agricultural Land, Crop, And Livestock Adaptations? Evidence From The Indo-Gangetic Plains (India), Sameer H. Shah, Courtney Hammond Wagner, Udita Sanga, Hogeun Park, Lia Helena Monteiro De Lima Demange, Carolina Gueiros, Meredith T. Niles

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains produce much of the wheat and rice grown in India. However, food production and millions of farm-based livelihoods in this region will continue to be adversely affected by hydro-climatic change and variation, reduced land productivity, and declining groundwater levels. Thus, agricultural adaptations are essential for protecting and improving upon intersecting goals of food security, poverty alleviation, and wellbeing. Household “capital” (e.g., natural, human, financial, physical, and social) is commonly cited as an indicator of livelihood adaptability and innovation. We develop a series of mediated structural equation models to empirically evaluate the validity of capital as …

Uas Flight Operations In Complex Terrain: Assessing The Agricultural Impact From Hurricane Maria In The Central Mountainous Region Of Puerto Rico, Kevin Adkins

Publications

Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm causing major damage to infrastructure, agriculture and natural ecosystems, as well as the loss of many lives. Among the crops hardest hit was coffee, one of the most important crops in Puerto Rico. As a perennial system, coffee takes various production forms along a gradient from high shade/biodiversity coffee farms to low shade coffee monocultures and therefore offers an ideal means for the study of resistance and resilience of an agroecosystem to weather and climate disturbance. During the summer of 2018, 14 impacted farms across the production …

Through The Eyes Of Locals: A Changing Climate In Bolivia, Jacob D. Rex

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Deforestation and Agricultural Land-Use Change in Bolivia as a Function of Socio-Economic Realities.

This research combines semi-structured interviews of key informants and local participants, as well as field observations, which were conducted between January and April of 2019 in the Departments of Santa Cruz & Chuquisaca.

Multiyear Patterns In Benthic Algal Fatty-Acid Compounds Under Agricultural Stress, Sarah Whorley, John Wehr

Articles & Book Chapters

Benthic algae are the nutritional base of most freshwater food webs. Here we consider the nutritional contribution of benthic algae in the form of fatty acids (FAs) over multiple seasons and years. Our study was conducted in the Upper Delaware River watershed (New York, USA), where best-management practices (BMPs) had been implemented over varying numbers of years (BMP age) to mitigate effects of agricultural activities in the watershed. We defined 4 BMP categories by the presence and duration of management used in each stream drainage prior to initiating our study: 1) reference (unaffected), 2) no BMP (agriculturally affected), 3) new …

Farm Service Agency Employee Intentions To Use Weather And Climate Data In Professional Services, Rachel E. Schattman, Gabrielle Roesch-Mcnally, Sarah Wiener, Meredith T. Niles, David Y. Hollinger

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.. Agricultural service providers often work closely with producers, and are well positioned to include weather and climate change information in the services they provide. By doing so, they can help producers reduce risks due to climate variability and change. A national survey of United States Department of …

Salmon-Safe Farms, Ellen Southard, Amelia Bahr

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Stewardship Partners recognizes the crucial role farmers play in the protection of our watersheds and salmon populations, leading us to implement the Salmon-Safe program in Washington in 2004 to support landowners who are promoting and practicing sustainable land management to combat environmental degradation. To date, we have added more than 100 different Washington State farms and vineyards to the program — ensuring the restoration and maintenance of watershed health across tens of thousands of agricultural acres. Since the major salmon streams in the Puget Sound basin flow through the most productive agricultural valleys, conservation efforts aimed at protecting salmon and …

Listening To Farmers: The Farming In The Floodplain Project, Spencer Easton

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Farming in the Floodplain Project (FFP) is an effort to engage farmers in the Clear Creek area, just east of Tacoma, in the planning and design of a multiple-benefit floodplain reconnection project. The foundation of the FFP is to understand and document technical information on the needs of the agricultural community in the area so that those needs can be incorporated into the project. Environmental Science Associates (ESA) conducted technical work on the FFP on behalf of PCC Farmland Trust. Over the course of the FFP, we learned to let the viewpoints of farmers guide how we conducted our …

Soil Conductivity Study And Implications For Fish And Farming Compatibility In The Swinomish Agricultural Area, Nicole Casper, Todd A. Mitchell, Karen J.R. Mitchell, Jason J. Thompson

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Swinomish agricultural area, along the Swinomish Channel, is part of the Skagit River Delta, a major agrarian region in Puget Sound. Historically a complex system of tidal channels serving as salmon habitat, the tidelands have since been diked and drained. In 2005, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC) began restoration to demonstrate compatibility of fish habitat and agriculture. Muted tidal regulators (MTRs) operated to optimize tidal inundation and fish passage, replaced traditional tidegates, and prompted a study to evaluate soil conductivity impacts on agriculture. Objectives included electromagnetic (EM) surveying of soil conductivity, qualitatively assessing EM results utilizing two additional …

Integrating Watershed-Scale And River-Reach Protection And Restoration Planning To Promote Climate Resilience In The South Fork Nooksack River (Sfnr), Oliver Grah, Susan Dickerson-Lange

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Nooksack Indian Tribe reservation is located at the foot of the North Cascades Mountains, approximately 13 miles east of Bellingham, WA and the Salish Sea. The Tribe relies on a harvestable surplus of Pacific salmon in the Nooksack River for cultural, subsistence, and commercial purposes. Today, Pacific salmon runs are less than 10 percent of the runs in the late 1800’s. Causes of the declines are complex; however, it is well understood that the legacy of commercial forestry, agriculture, and development has increased sediment loading and water temperature. Climate impacts will cumulatively add to the legacy impacts, which are …

Integrated Agricultural Riparian Stewardship In The Stillaguamish And Snohomish Watersheds, Kristin Marshall, Cindy Dittbrenner, Carrie Byron, Colin Hume

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Stillaguamish and Snohomish River watersheds are regionally important to the health of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea and in particular for the recovery of salmon. The habitat gains needed to achieve salmon recovery in these watersheds include much of the agricultural landscape in Snohomish County, a situation that often results in conflicts between salmon recovery and agricultural communities. The Snohomish Conservation District’s National Estuary Program-funded Integrated Riparian Stewardship project is one of several efforts aimed at simultaneously achieving agricultural land preservation and salmon habitat protection and restoration in one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, …

Rain Rituals As A Barometer Of Vulnerability In An Uncertain Climate, L. Jen Shaffer

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Researchers and aid agencies, seeking to improve their understanding of local climate change responses, adaptation, and vulnerability, frequently interact with communities around the world who strongly emphasize their religious beliefs and practices. Dismissal and misunderstandings of these local perspectives can slow assessments of local climate vulnerability and development of adaptive capacity. In this paper, I show how analysis of rain ritual failure exposes the multiple stressors Ronga communities in southern Mozambique face, and as such, serves as a proxy measure for climate vulnerability at the local level. Oral histories and targeted interviews with participating elders, local chiefs, and community members …