Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Rethinking Holocene Ecological Relationships Among Caribou, Muskoxen, And Human Hunters On Banks Island, Nwt, Canada: A Stable Isotope Approach, Jordon S. Munizzi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explores the ecology of caribou (Rangifer tarandus spp.) and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), and its relevance to human hunters on Banks Island, NWT, Canada, over the last 4000 years, primarily through the isotopic analysis of modern and archaeological faunal remains.

First, we establish baseline carbon and nitrogen isotope relationships between modern vegetation and caribou and muskox bone collagen using Bayesian mixing models. The models indicate that dwarf shrub (Salix arctica) does not contribute significantly to bone collagen isotopic compositions in either species, while sedges and yellow lichen (Cetraria tilesii) do. These findings …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

Desert Pool {If Every Desert Was Once A Sea}, Karen Miranda Abel

The Goose

Desert Pool {If every desert was once a sea} is a site-specific art project by Canadian artist Karen Miranda Abel completed in 2016 while artist-in-residence at Joya: arte + ecología, an arts-led research centre situated in an alpine desert within a national park in southern Spain. The elemental installation represents an envisioning of the ancient sea that occupied the Sierra de María-Los Vélez Natural Park millions of years before the current desert ecology, a time when its highest mountain peaks may have been islands.

Middle Miocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Of The Central Great Plains From Stable Carbon Isotopes In Large Mammals, Willow H. Nguy

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

Middle Miocene (18-12 Mya) mammalian faunas of the North American Great Plains contained a much higher diversity of apparent browsers than any modern biome. This has been attributed to greater primary productivity, which may have supported greater browser diversity that commonly corresponds with densely vegetated habitats. However, several lines of proxy evidence suggest that open woodlands or savannas dominated middle Miocene biomes; neither of which support many browsers today. Stable carbon isotopes in mammalian herbivore tooth enamel were used to reconstruct vegetation structure of middle Miocene biomes.

Stable carbon isotopes in C₃ dominated environments reflect vegetation density and herbivores …

Fish And Macroinvertebrate Response To Restored Off Channel Habitats On The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Caleb Uerling

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

Anthropogenic alterations to large rivers ranging from impoundments to levees have caused many rivers to no longer access the floodplain. The ecological integrity of floodplain rivers depends on the interaction between main-channel and floodplain habitats. Fish communities inhabiting floodplain habitats are often dictated by the type of habitat and conditions within that habitat. As restoration projects are undertaken it is imperative that managers understand how fish and macroinvertebrates respond to these events. We collected fish, macroinvertebrates, and habitat parameters on two restored floodplain habitats on the lower Platte River, Nebraska to answer questions about aquatic community response to floodplain restoration …

The Effects Of Urbanization On Nitrogen Processing In Urban Streams, Peter Francissen, Dr. Kevin Geedey, Dr. Michael Reisner

Celebration of Learning

Urban stream syndrome is described as the deterioration of stream health in an urbanized watershed and is associated with the loss of ecosystem services, which in turn degrades downstream environments. One key symptom of the urban stream syndrome is reduced processing of inorganic nitrogen. Previous research suggests that as urbanization increases and water quality decreases, the uptake length (Sw) of inorganic N increases. This indicates that the stream is increasing the export of N downstream compared to in situ incorporation of N into the ecosystem. We measured uptake length (Sw) of NO3, using a pulse addition method, along 9 different …

Effects Of Habitat Restoration On Soil Retention On Santa Rosa Island, Michael Perez, Kathryn Mceachern, Ken Niessen

STAR Program Research Presentations

Ranching began on Santa Rosa Island in the 1840’s, consequently introducing nonnative megafauna that put novel selective grazing pressures on endemic plant species. Their movement patterns also altered substrate integrity as the land became denuded of any stabilizing vegetation. Dense groves of island oak (Q. tomentella) are known to aid in sediment deposition and retention. The groves also function to collect water during periods of intense fog common to the island. This experiment sought to determine whether sediment is being lost or deposited on a ridge in the middle of the island containing a grove of Q. tomentella …