Environmental Sciences Commons^™

The Flow Of Power: Addressing Asymmetric Flood Risk In The Upper Valley, Eric Vr Hryniewicz

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

Floods are the most damaging natural disasters in America. Land use change in upland watersheds can increase the probability and severity of floods (Bronstert, Niehoff, & Burger, 2002). When watersheds are divided by political and private property boundaries it leads to a misalignment of incentives in which downstream users lack recourse for upstream land use decisions contributing to flood risk. In this thesis, researchers interrogate the attributes of town officials and towns that determine what motivates town governments to act on flooding and what motivates and enables town officials to collaborate on planning and how do they collaborate in practice. …

Assessment Of Phytoplankton Assemblages And Harmful Algal Blooms In New Jersey, Yaritza Acosta Caraballo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Urbanization, industrialization, and climate change have played a major role in the pollution of waterways, leading to a global increasing trend of harmful algal blooms (HAB) while jeopardizing water quality. Phytoplankton and HAB were evaluated within the highly urbanized and historically polluted state of New Jersey to help provide statewide baseline data for HAB and water quality management. A total of three studies were included in this dissertation. In the first study, phytoplankton communities were characterized in freshwaters of New Jersey during the cyanobacterial HAB season and their relationships to water quality at both statewide and ecoregion levels were examined. …

Arsenic : Risk, Exposure, Policy And Management, Nadia Binte Jamil

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Arsenic (As) contamination in drinking water is a global concern. About 150 million people from 70 countries in the world are at risk to health hazards associated with As contamination. In this study, we compared four As mitigation approaches practiced in Bangladesh and their costs. Our results show that intervention that is associated with the lowest cost of exposure reduction is testing and switching ($3/person), followed by intermediate wells ($28/person), deep tube wells ($143/person), and piped water supply system ($158/person). We then prioritized affected villages to reduce exposure and facilitate mitigation using three criteria: weighted exposure (mean As concentration x …

Present And Future Thermal Regimes Of Intertidal Groundwater Springs In A Threatened Coastal Ecosystem, Jason J. Karrisallen, Aaron A. Mohammed, Joseph Tamborski, Rob C. Jamieson, Serban Danielescu, Barret L. Kurylyk

OES Faculty Publications

In inland settings, groundwater discharge thermally modulates receiving surface water bodies and provides localized thermal refuges; however, the thermal influence of intertidal springs on coastal waters and their thermal sensitivity to climate change are not well studied. We addressed this knowledge gap with a field- and model-based study of a threatened coastal lagoon ecosystem in southeastern Canada. We paired analyses of drone-based thermal imagery with in situ thermal and hydrologic monitoring to estimate discharge to the lagoon from intertidal springs and groundwater-dominated streams in summer 2020. Results, which were generally supported by independent radon-based groundwater discharge estimates, revealed that combined …

Kudzu Invasion And Control In Southern Upland Forests Of Mississippi, Gina M. Profetto

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.), is a common invasive species throughout the American South. In southern upland mixed oak-pine forests of Mississippi, kudzu invasion generally and indiscriminately suppressed the pre-invasion plant community. Three different control methods reduced kudzu density but differed in the level of reduction achieved and in their effects on the pre-existing plant community. A combination of burning and herbicides produced the most desirable outcome in terms of restoring the pre-invasion community. Kudzu invasion significantly increased nitrate pools compared to control sites, but had no effect on ammonium or nitrite, or on the microbial processes of mineralization …

Application Of The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation To Develop A Management Plan In The Chittagong Hill Tracts Region Of Bangladesh, Nira Rahman

Theses

Land degradation from soil erosion is a major issue in hilly areas of tropical regions such as the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. The combination of an elevated topography, high-intensity storms that are further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, and farming practices increase the susceptibility of the region to soil erosion. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was developed in the mid-latitude dry climate zone of the United States during the 1990s to assist soil conservationists in implementing farming strategies that would address soil loss. Since then, researchers employed remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) …

Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Nutrients In The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin: Implications For Primary Production In Stream Ecosystems, Nolan Pearce

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Growing human populations and associated land use activities has increased the amount of nutrients delivered to surface waters. Eutrophication from the over-enrichment of nitrogen and phosphorus has degraded ecosystem conditions in streams, lakes, and coastal areas worldwide. Thus, the management of anthropogenic nutrient loading is a global concern. This thesis employed a combination of field and experimental research to provide watershed managers with information on the spatial and temporal patterns in stream nutrient enrichment, and the associated ecological effects of anthropogenic nutrient loading in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin. Four studies were completed to address this research goal. First, I …

Spatial And Seasonal Differences In The Top Predators Of Easter Island: Essential Data For Implementing The New Rapa Nui Multiple‐Uses Marine Protected Area, Naiti A. Morales, Erin E. Easton, Alan M. Friedlander, Euan S. Harvey, Rodrigo Garcia, Carlos F. Gaymer

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Reef fishes are an important component of marine biodiversity, and changes in the composition of the assemblage structure may indicate ecological, climatic, or anthropogenic disturbances. To examine spatial differences in the reef fish assemblage structure around Easter Island, eight sites were sampled during autumn and summer 2016–2017 with baited remote underwater video systems.
2. To determine seasonal changes, quarterly (seasonal) sampling was conducted at five of those eight sites. Fifteen pelagic species of fishes were recorded during this study, some of which have not previously been recorded in scuba surveys, including the Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis, Snodgrass & Heller, …

Post-Wildfire Recovery Of An Upland Oak-Pine Forest On The Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, Usa, Devin E. Black, Zachary W. Poynter, Claudia A. Cotton, Suraj Upadhaya, David D. Taylor, Wendy Leuenberger, Beth A. Blankenship, Mary A. Arthur

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Background: Many forests within the southern Appalachian region, USA, have experienced decades of fire exclusion, contributing to regeneration challenges for species such as oaks (Quercus spp. L.) and pines (Pinus spp. L.), and threatening the maintenance of oak-dominated forests in the future. While the use of prescribed fire as a forest management tool is increasing within this region, there remains a lack of information on the potential role of wildfire. A wildfire within the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, USA, provided an opportunity to investigate how wildfire affected forest vegetation response.

Results: We examined the effects of fire …

Global Capacity, Potentials And Trends Of Solid Waste Research And Management, Michael A. Nwachukwu, Mersky Ronald, Huan Feng

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this study, United States, China, India, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Egypt, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Australia, Canada and Mexico were selected to represent the global community. This enabled an overview of solid waste management worldwide and between developed and developing countries. These are countries that feature most in the International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management (ICSW) over the past 20 years. A total of 1452 articles directly on solid waste management and technology were reviewed and credited to their original country of research. Results show significant solid waste research potentials globally, with the United States leading by 373 …

North American Butterfly Association Counts At Congaree National Park: A Case Study For Connecting Citizen Science To Management, Austin Clarridge

Theses and Dissertations

Citizen science is becoming an ever more popular way for scientists and resource managers to deal with needs for large temporal and spatial scale datasets. It provides a free or low cost means for collection of extensive amounts of data across time and space while acting as a public education and outreach tool, empowering communities to be involved in the management decisions being made in their back yard. Though large, well-known citizen science programs such as the Christmas Bird Counts are being used extensively for peer reviewed literature and management decisions, there are numerous smaller, local counts that have the …

Drought And Health In The Context Of Public Engagement, Nicole Wall, Michael Hayes

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Droughts have profoundly affected societies around the world from the earliest beginnings. A recent estimate from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) claims that more than 1 billion people have been affected by drought during the twenty-year period between 1994 and 2013. Because of the characteristics of drought, drought impacts are often difficult to identify and quantify, and this is especially true with public health-oriented drought consequences, including those resulting from low water quantities, poor water quality, mental health and stress, dust and windblown agents, and wildlife intrusion. However, when officials emphasize adopting a proactive risk …

Capacity Building In Stakeholders Around Detroit Riverfish Consumption Advisory Issues, Donna R. Kashian, Ann E. Krause, Larissa Sano, Branda Nowell, Ken G. Drouillard

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

The Detroit River is an international water body that has several fish consumption advisories for contaminants that affect human health and economic revenue for the USA and Canada. Despite the importance of these advisories, little progress has been made in developing effective management strategies or coordinating monitoring, research, and policy efforts between the 2 nations. We engaged 44 stakeholder organizations to in- crease community capacity on these issues for the Detroit River. We assessed capacity with key informant interviews and a network survey. Our analysis identified weak ties in information sharing and collaboration between countries. We used this information to …

Factors Influencing Nest Site Selection By Wood Turtles (Glyptemys Insculpta) In An Altered Forest Landscape, Ellery Ruther

Theses & Honors Papers

There have been many studies concerning wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) nest site selection, including studies that evaluate nest site conditions when stream sand banks are not available. However, because of the unique landscape at our study site (high gradient, first order streams) and rapidly diminishing wood turtle populations in Virginia, I am evaluating wood turtle nest site selection. Nine physiographic and vegetative characteristics from nest, positive, negative-one and negative-two control locations were evaluated using binomial generalized linear models and then best fit models were chosen using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC). It was found that in lieu of typical stream …

Drinking Water Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This document is intended to help local and regional planning agencies, and their constituent water utilities, integrate drinking water infrastructure planning and investments into plans for sustainable development. Resources listed here provide guidance on making land use decisions that protect water resources, setting adequate and sustainable drinking water rates, controlling water loss, funding water infrastructure projects, and managing water utilities.

The directory was developed by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. Through this program, EFCN is providing capacity …

Process-Based Management Of Downy Brome In Salt Desert Shrublands: Assessing Pre- And Post- Rehabilitation Soil And Vegetation Attributes, Merilynn Carol Hirsch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As an ecosystem driver, downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.) presents obstacles to land rehabilitation efforts, including restoring desirable species cover. Because damaged ecosystems may have crossed both abiotic and biotic thresholds, ecologically-based control strategies may assist with altering successional trajectories and restoring desirable plant species. My thesis research had three objectives: 1) assess soil and vegetation relationships in degraded salt desert ecosystems prior to implementing downy brome control treatments, 2) determine the effects of control treatments on soil properties and resident plant species, and 3) evaluate the relative importance of shrubland soil type, herbicide type, and herbicide rate on seedling …

Slides: Climate Change And The Death Of Stationarity: A New Era For Western Water?, Stephen T. Gray

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Steven T. Gray, Wyoming State Climatologist, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

48 slides

Designing Dispute Resolution Systems For Water Policy And Management, Karen L. Barclay, Matthew J. Mckinney

Innovation in Western Water Law and Management (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

34 pages.

Contains references.

Preparation And Implementation Of The State Water Plan In Kansas, Stephen A. Hurst

Innovation in Western Water Law and Management (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

12 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains footnotes.

Prairie Dog Population Growth: Relationships To Population Density, Habitat, And Livestock Grazing Management, Kelly A. Cable

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

No abstract provided.