Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Forest Management In The Context Of Global Change: Impacts Of Disturbance, Adaptive Management, And Invasive Species On Northeastern Forests, Jennifer Santoro

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Climate change is predicted to have variable and uncertain effects on forested ecosystems globally. In the northeastern US, natural disturbances have historically been a central driver of forest successional dynamics, but as climate warming is projected to alter the frequency and severity of these events, post-disturbance management strategies to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services must adaptively change to promote forest resilience. A suite of adaptive silvicultural actions has been proposed to promote forest resilience in the face of uncertainty, but due to the multi-decadal scale of forest management, initial field experiments are only beginning to show results. To address these …

Socio-Ecological Economic Impact Analysis Of Food Systems Initiatives Using Mixed Methods And Community-Based Research Approaches, Josiah J. Taylor

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Many NGO and government community development programs seek to alleviate complex problems related to food systems and agriculture. Yet, without integrated social, ecological, and economic impact analysis we cannot understand or communicate the value of such interventions. For this research, we partnered with food and agriculture organizations using participatory action research approaches to co-develop and test tools for holistic program analysis. We then used these tools to conduct and co-produce a holistic analysis and evaluation of program impacts. The first chapter provides background and context for the body of the dissertation. Chapter two details work with Hunger Free Vermont to …

Groundwater Governance And Agricultural Sustainability: Examining Farmer Interactions With California’S Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Zachary Matthew Goldstein

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Climate change has exacerbated groundwater depletion globally, and policymakers have struggled to effectively manage groundwater resources. California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 to restore groundwater to sustainable levels.

The first paper of this thesis examines the drivers associated with uptake of groundwater conservation practices in agriculture. While a rich body of research has explored farmers’ conservation practice adoption, understanding of groundwater conservation practices is more limited. This study explores how information sources influence the actual and intended adoption of groundwater management practices in California. Using survey data from farmers (n = 553) in three largely agricultural …

Paleolimnological Data Synthesis To Assess Long-Term Ecological Change In Vermont Lakes, Ismar Biberovic

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Lakes are excellent early indicators of environmental change on a landscape scale. Due to their connectedness in the landscape, any alteration of land-cover extends beyond a single watershed and can only be amplified by the effects of climate change. These processes can reflect differently across lakes of various characteristics, however, combined, they can leave a lasting impact on biogeochemical processes of a lake, resulting in profound effects on biological communities residing in it. Lake sediments are terrific archives that integrate and preserve this evidence, which then allows us to investigate the extent to which a lake has changed given its …