Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Environmental Factors Associated With Triploid Aspen Occurrence In Intermountain West Landscapes, Karen E. Mock, James A. Walton

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Polyploidy is common among plants and can contribute to physiological and morphological differences, altering how plants respond to environmental changes, promoting genetic diversification, and even species radiation. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), a keystone species associated with high plant and animal diversity is frequently found in mixed diploid/triploid populations in the Intermountain West. High mortality rates and widespread population declines in aspen are of increasing concern in the Intermountain West, often ascribed to changing climates and drought stress events. The goal of this study was to better understand environmental factors influencing the distribution of triploid aspen population in the Intermountain West. …

Data For: Channel Response To Flow Augmentation: Diamond Fork River, Ut Dataset, Diane Wagner, Peter Wilcock

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A river's physical features and channel dimensions are determined by the water and sediment supplied to it. The Diamond Fork River, located in central Utah–received large trans-basin diversion flows from 1915-2003, providing an exceptional opportunity to explore the response of a river to a large increase in flow.

Our project goals were to describe 1) channel response to this large and long artificial flow augmentation and 2) how the channel recovered after the removal of the diversion flows. The objective of this thesis is to document the channel condition throughout the 20th century to present day as a basis for …

Data From: Climate Change-Driven Cumulative Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused Whitebark Pine Mortality In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, William W. Macfarlane

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In 2018-2019 the Landscape Assessment System (LAS), an aerial survey method was used to assess mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB) - caused mortality of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (59000 km2; GYE). This consisted of 11,942 km of flightlines, along which 4,434 geo-tagged, oblique aerial photos were captured and processed. A mortality rating of none to severe (0 to 4 nt attack or 5.0 5.4 old attack) was assigned to each photo based on the amount of red (recent attack) and gray (old attack) trees visible. The method produced a photo inventory of 74 percent …

Data From: Root Distributions Predict Shrub-Steppe Responses To Precipitation Intensity, Andrew Kulmatiski, Karen H. Beard

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Precipitation events are becoming more intense around the world, changing the way water moves through soils and plants. Plant rooting strategies that sustain water uptake under these conditions are likely to become more abundant (e.g., shrub encroachment). Yet, it remains difficult to predict species responses to climate change because we typically do not know where active roots are located or how much water they absorb. Here, we applied a water tracer experiment to describe forb, grass, and shrub root distributions. These measurements were made in 8 m by 8 m field shelters with low or high precipitation intensity. We used …

Pariette Wetlands Water, Sediment And Plant Total Selenium Concentration, Colleen P. Jones, Paul R. Grossl, Astrid R. Jacobson

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We measured total Selenium in plants from July through November of 2012 and in water, macroinvertebrates, plants, and sediments from July of 2014 from Pariette Wetlands, Utah, U.S.A. to test for spatial, temporal, plant species and plant tissue distribution of Selenium.

Data From: Yellow Air Day Advisory Study, Arthur J. Caplan

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Using a dataset consisting of daily vehicle trips, PM2.5 concentrations, along with a host of climactic control variables, we test the hypothesis that “yellow air day” advisories provided by the Utah Division of Air Quality resulted in subsequent reductions in vehicle trips taken during northern Utah’s winter-inversion seasons in the early 2000s. Winter inversions occur in northern Utah when climactic conditions are such that PM2.5 concentrations (derived mainly from vehicle emissions) become trapped in the lower atmosphere, leading to unhealthy air quality (concentrations of at least 35 µg/m3) over a span of what are called “red air days”. When concentrations …

Data On The Effects Of Persuasive Message Content On Retweet Counts During Natural Hazard Events, Yajie Li, Amanda L. Hughes, Peter D. Howe

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This dataset contains Twitter messages about heat hazards posted by U.S. National Weather Service accounts in 2016. The dataset also contains the retweet counts of the heat-related tweets and whether several types of persuasive message content were included in each tweet. The population and temperature for the forecast area of each sending National Weather Service account are also included.

Data For "Arch_Covid_Crowding_Vc", Wayne Freimund, Zachary D. Miller

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Monitoring of visitor use in Arches National Park to assess social distancing behaviors of visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genetic Variation At The Species And Population Levels In The Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel (Gonidea Angulata) – Supplementary Material, James A. Walton, Karen E. Mock, Steven F. R. Brownlee, Jon H. Mageroy, Greg Wilson, Ian R. Walker

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Freshwater mussels in western North America are threatened by water diversions, climate change, loss of required host fish, and other factors, and have experienced marked decline in the past several decades. All four of the primary lineages (potentially species) of freshwater mussels in the western U.S. and Canada are widespread and have somewhat generalist host fish requirements. Of these lineages, perhaps the most poorly understood and of greatest conservation concern is Gonidea angulata (Rocky Mountain ridged mussel). Gonidea is a monotypic genus occurring only in the western continental U.S. and southern Canada. Here we describe the patterns of genetic variation …

Technology Belmont Data, Christopher Monz, Vera Hausner, Jennifer Schmidt

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The data is based on semi-structured household interviews conducted in Noatak (n = 12), Noorvik (n = 11), and Brevig Mission (n = 12) in the March of 2017. Information gathered consists of individuals use of technology, perceptions about how technology has helped or hindered their ability to do subsistence and address the changing climate, and the role of technology in the community. Demographic information includes gender, race, education, household size, and employment status. Individuals who were particularly knowledgeable and amendable participated in a q-sort exercise to assess values and beliefs regarding technology in their community. Individual records are confidential …

Determining How Increasing Precipitation Intensity Will Impact Rangelands In Utah., Karen H. Beard, Andrew Kulmatiski

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As the atmosphere warms, precipitation events become larger, but less frequent. Yet, there is fundamental disagreement about how increased precipitation intensity will affect vegetation. Walter’s two-layer hypothesis and experiments testing it have demonstrated that precipitation intensity can increase woody plant growth. Observational studies have found the opposite pattern. Not only are the patterns contradictory, but inference is largely limited to grasslands and savannas. We tested the effects of increased precipitation intensity in a shrub-steppe ecosystem that receives >30% of its precipitation as snow. We used 11 (8 m x 8 m) shelters to collect and redeposit rain and snow as …

Coqui Frog Predator Avoidance And Recognition, Karen H. Beard

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether coqui frogs from their non-native range responded to native predators the same way as frogs from their native range. Frogs were collected from two sites in Puerto Rico (El Yunque and Rio Abajo) in May 2006 and one site in Hawaii (Hilo) in June 2006. At each site, frogs were collected from a high (> 700 m) and low (< 300 m) elevation population. Of the total number of frogs collected, 100 males were randomly selected to be used in this study (45 and 55 from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, respectively). Three tailless whipscorpions (Phrynus longipes) and three tarantulas (Avicularia laeta) were also collected in Puerto Rico in field sites where frogs were collected and shipped back to a laboratory.

Supplemental Material For Cotterill Et Al. 2020: Parsing The Effects Of Demography, Climate, And Management On Recurrent Brucellosis Outbreaks In Elk. Journal Of Applied Ecology., Gavin G. Coterill, Johan T. Du Toit, Paul C. Cross

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Zoonotic pathogens can harm human health and wellbeing directly or by impacting livestock. Pathogens that spillover from wildlife can also impair conservation efforts if humans perceive wildlife as pests. Brucellosis, caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus, circulates in elk and bison herds of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and poses a risk to cattle and humans. Our goal was to understand the relative effects of climatic drivers, host demography, and management control programs on disease dynamics.

Synthesis and applications: Positive serostatus is often weakly correlated with infectiousness but is nevertheless used to make management decisions including lethal removal in wildlife disease …

Isotope Summary Data, Andrew Kulmatiski

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Data includes deuterium tracer uptake data from plant species at the US Sheep Experiment Station.

Fluxes Of Methane, Non-Methane Hydrocarbons And Carbon Dioxide From Natural Gas Well Pad Soils In Eastern Utah, Seth Lyman

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We measured fluxes of methane, non-methane hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide from natural gas well pad soils and from nearby undisturbed soils in eastern Utah. Methane fluxes varied from less than zero to more than 38,000 mg m-2 h-1. Fluxes from well pad soils were almost always greater than from undisturbed soils. Fluxes were greater from locations with higher concentrations of total combustible gas in soil and were inversely correlated with distance from well heads. Several lines of evidence show that the majority of emission fluxes (about 70%) were due to subsurface sources of raw gas that migrated to the atmosphere, …

Fault Formation In Porous Sedimentary Rocks At High Strain Rates, Wendy R.O. Key

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Paleoecology Of Early Jurassic Navajo Sandstone Interdune Deposits, Nathan Daniel Wilkens

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

The Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone represents a desert that covered more than 366,000 square kilometers. Localized interdune deposits commonly occur along the eastern edge of this desert that include carbonates, bioturbated layers, and plant fossils. Previous studies of these deposits focused on specific fossil types or isolated sites. This study involved a comprehensive analysis of the paleoecology of interdune deposits with an integrated approach combining paleontology, sedimentology and geochemistry. The methods used in this study were devised to test specific paleoecological and preservational questions, including water sources and geochemistry, sedimentation mechanisms, fossil identification and paleoecology, taphonomy, and diagenesis. Three hypotheses …

Temporal Variation In Community Composition, Pigmentation, And Fv/Fm Of Desert Cyanobacterial Soil Crusts, M. A. Bowker, S. C. Reed, J. Belnap, S. L. Phillips

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

Summers on the Colorado Plateau (USA) are typified by harsh conditions such as high temperatures, brief soil hydration periods, and high UV and visible radiation. We investigated whether community composition, physiological status, and pigmentation might vary in biological soil crusts as a result of such conditions. Representative surface cores were sampled at the ENE, WSW, and top microaspects of 20 individual soil crust pedicels at a single site in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, in spring and fall of 1999. Frequency of cyanobacterial taxa, pigment concentrations, and dark adapted quantum yield (Fv/Fm) were measured for each core. The frequency of major …

Safeguarding Species, Languages, And Cultures In The Time Of Diversity Loss: From The Colorado Plateau To Global Hotspots, Gary Paul Nabhan, Patrick Pynes, Tony Joe

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

Hotspots of biodiversity have become priority areas for land conservation initiatives, oftentimes without recognition that these areas are hotspots of cultural diversity as well. Using the Colorado Plateau ecoregion as a case study, this inquiry (1) outlines the broad geographic patterns of biological diversity and ethnolinguistic diversity within this ecoregion; (2) discusses why these two kinds of diversity are often influenced by the same geographic and historic factors; and (3) suggests what can be done to integrate traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples into multicultural conservation collaborations.

Utah State University Extension Addressing Energy Issues, Dennis Hinkamp

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No abstract provided.

Energy Efficiency Can Help You Get A Home, Dennis Hinkamp

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It is a little known and seldom used financing tool, but Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEMs) can increase your buying power when looking for a home.

Renters, Too, Can Save On Utility Costs, Donna Falkenborg

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“Most energy conservation information is designed for homeowners, even though an increasing number of people are renting,” says Leona K. Hawks, Utah State University Extension housing specialist. “Many renters develop a short-timer mentality and don’t worry much about energy savings. However, utility bills do add up quickly so renters may wish to conserve on their energy use,” she advises.

Windows Are Key To Keeping Warm In Winter, Donna Falkenborg

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“With the price of fuel skyrocketing, now is the time to think about energy-saving projects around the house, and the best place to start is with your windows,” advises Leona K. Hawks, Utah State University Extension housing specialist.

Completing Canyonlands, Rober B. Keiter

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

Focuses on the proposal to follow the basin that defines the national boundaries of the Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Background of the establishment of the park; Role of the National Park Conservation Association and other environmentalist in advocating the proposal; Factors involved in the completion of the proposal.

The Yellowed Archives Of Yellowcake, Ken Silver

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

Extensive historical documentation of exposures and releases at government-owned energy facilities is a unique and valuable resource for analyzing and communicating health risks. Facilities at all stages of the atomic fuel cycle were the subject of numerous industrial hygiene, occupational health, and environmental assessments during the Cold War period. Uranium mines and mills on the Colorado Plateau were investigated as early as the 1940s. One such facility was the mill in Monticello, Utah, which began operation as a vanadium extraction plant in 1943 and was later adapted to recover uranium from camotite ores. The mill ceased operation in 1960. The …

Shrub-Grassland Small Mammal And Vegetation Responses To Rest From Grazing, Steven S. Rosenstock

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

Between 1989-1991, I studied the effects of livestock grazing on vegetation and small mammals in semiarid shrub-grassland habitats of south-central Utah. Responses were measured at 2 spatial habitat scales; patches and macrohabitats. Patch-scale data were obtained from 4 small (<1 ha) livestock exclosures and nearby grazed areas. Macrohabitat-scale data were collected at 4 actively grazed sites and 4 comparable, excellent condition sites, ungrazed for 30+ years. Ungrazed patch and macrohabitat sites had more surface litter, greater perennial grass cover, and taller perennial grass plants, but treatment response varied among sites. Small mammal responses were apparent only at the macrohabitat scale, where ungrazed sites had 50% greater species richness and 80% higher abundance. Small mammal reproductive activity and biomass were not affected by rest from grazing at either scale. Small mammal community composition varied greatly among sites and within treatments. This variability has important implications for ecological monitoring efforts involving these species.

Vandalism Of Rock Art For Enhanced Photography, S. D. Chaffee, M. Hyman, M. W. Rowe

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

Direct radiocarbon dating of pictographs has recently become possible. The authors report here the deleterious effects on such dating of hydrocarbon contamination of a pictograph in southeastern Utah. In order to enhance contrast between a pictograph and its rock substrate, some photographers have wetted pictographs with kerosene or similar substances; such 'enhancement' renders radiocarbon dates useless. Some treatments proposed for rock art deterioration may cause similar problems.

Tamias Rufus, Stephanie L. Burt, Troy L. Best

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Revegetation Of Disturbed Semiarid Grassland In Canyonlands National Park, Susan B. Goldberg

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

A grassland restoration project was conducted in Canyonlands National Park on an area recently disturbed due to construction. Two native grasses (Oryzopsis hymenoides and Stipa comata) were seeded with 18 different soil treatments. Stipa density and relative mycorrhizal colonization were measured. None of the soil treatments resulted in significantly greater Stipa density than the control treatment of seeding only plus water. There was very little correlation between Stipa density and mycorrhizal colonization based on the treatments (r2= 0.011 p = 0.05). Three treatments produced 3 to 5 times the VAN colonization as the control including spring cryptobiotic soil crusts, with …

Successional Trends In An Ungrazed, Arid Grassland Over A Decade, Edgar F. Kleiner

Canyonlands Research Bibliography

A study has been made of the vegetational condition of a formerly grazed area, Chesler Park, in Canyonlands National Park. A comparison was made with the same area 10 years earlier. The 10-year successional changes are also compared to baseline data of 10 years earlier from Virginia Park, an adjacent ungrazed area. Because of inaccessibility and long isolation from disturbances, Virginia Park is presumed to be in climax condition and is the control for this study. Chesler Park shows a successional trend after 10 years toward the vegetational condition of Virginia Park. This is exemplified, with only one major exception …