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Environmental Sciences Commons

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University of Massachusetts Amherst

2021

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Articles 31 - 43 of 43

Full-Text Articles in Environmental Sciences

Small-Area Estimation For The Usda Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey: Creating A Fine-Scale Land Cover And Ownership Layer To Support County-Level Population Estimates, Vance Harris, Jesse Caputo, Andrew Finley, Brett J. Butler, Forrest Bowlick, Paul Catanzaro Jan 2021

Small-Area Estimation For The Usda Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey: Creating A Fine-Scale Land Cover And Ownership Layer To Support County-Level Population Estimates, Vance Harris, Jesse Caputo, Andrew Finley, Brett J. Butler, Forrest Bowlick, Paul Catanzaro

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Small area estimation is a powerful modeling technique in which ancillary data can be utilized to “borrow” additional information, effectively increasing sample sizes in small spatial, temporal, or categorical domains. Though more commonly applied to biophysical variables within the study of forest inventory analyses, small area estimation can also be implemented in the context of understanding social values, behaviors, and trends among types of forest landowners within small domains. Here, we demonstrate a method for deriving a continuous fine-scale land cover and ownership layer for the state of Delaware, United States, and an application of that ancillary layer to facilitate …


Regulators And Utility Managers Agree About Barriers And Opportunities For Innovation In The Municipal Wastewater Sector, Alida Cantor, Luke Sherman, Anita Milman, Michael Kiparsky Jan 2021

Regulators And Utility Managers Agree About Barriers And Opportunities For Innovation In The Municipal Wastewater Sector, Alida Cantor, Luke Sherman, Anita Milman, Michael Kiparsky

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Despite pressures to improve performance and reduce costs, innovation in the municipal wastewater sector in the United States has been notoriously slow. Previous research has suggested that wastewater utility managers may see regulation as a barrier to developing and deploying new technologies. To better understand how environmental regulation may fuel or hinder innovation in this sector, we conducted a nationwide survey of wastewater utility managers and wastewater regulators in the United States, asking both populations about their perceptions of specific aspects of regulation and innovation. Survey results revealed broad agreement between the two groups that funding and capacity, regulatory relationships, …


Understanding The Combined Impacts Of Weeds And Climate Change On Crops, Montserrat Vilà, Evelyn M. Beaury, Dana M. Blumenthal, Bethany A. Bradley, Regan Early, Brittany B. Laginhas, Alejandro Trillo, Jeffery S. Dukes, Cascade J. B. Sorte, Inés Ibáñez Jan 2021

Understanding The Combined Impacts Of Weeds And Climate Change On Crops, Montserrat Vilà, Evelyn M. Beaury, Dana M. Blumenthal, Bethany A. Bradley, Regan Early, Brittany B. Laginhas, Alejandro Trillo, Jeffery S. Dukes, Cascade J. B. Sorte, Inés Ibáñez

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Crops worldwide are simultaneously affected by weeds, which reduce yield, and by climate change, which can negatively or positively affect both crop and weed species. While the individual effects of environmental change and of weeds on crop yield have been assessed, the combined effects have not been broadly characterized. To explore the simultaneous impacts of weeds with changes in climate-related environmental conditions on future food production, we conducted a meta-analysis of 171 observations measuring the individual and combined effects of weeds and elevated CO2, drought or warming on 23 crop species. The combined effect of weeds and environmental change tended …


Spatial Connectivity And Drivers Of Shark Habitat Use Within A Large Marine Protected Area In The Caribbean, The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary, Austin J. Gallagher, Oliver N. Shipley, Maurits P. M. Van Zinnicq Bergmann, Jacob W. Brownscombe, Craig P. Dahlgren, Michael G. Frisk, Lucas P. Griffin, Neil Hammerschlag, Sami Kattan, Yannis P. Papastamatiou Jan 2021

Spatial Connectivity And Drivers Of Shark Habitat Use Within A Large Marine Protected Area In The Caribbean, The Bahamas Shark Sanctuary, Austin J. Gallagher, Oliver N. Shipley, Maurits P. M. Van Zinnicq Bergmann, Jacob W. Brownscombe, Craig P. Dahlgren, Michael G. Frisk, Lucas P. Griffin, Neil Hammerschlag, Sami Kattan, Yannis P. Papastamatiou

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have emerged as potentially important conservation tools for the conservation of biodiversity and mitigation of climate impacts. Among MPAs, a large percentage has been created with the implicit goal of protecting shark populations, including 17 shark sanctuaries which fully protect sharks throughout their jurisdiction. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas represents a long-term MPA for sharks, following the banning of commercial longlining in 1993 and subsequent designation as a shark sanctuary in 2011. Little is known, however, about the longterm behavior and space use of sharks within this protected area, particularly among reef-associated sharks for which the …


Environment And Phenology Shape Local Adaptation In Thermal Performance, Andrew R. Villeneuve, Lisa M. Komoroske, Brian S. Cheng Jan 2021

Environment And Phenology Shape Local Adaptation In Thermal Performance, Andrew R. Villeneuve, Lisa M. Komoroske, Brian S. Cheng

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Populations within species often exhibit variation in traits that reflect local adaptation and further shape existing adaptive potential for species to respond to climate change. However, our mechanistic understanding of how the environment shapes trait variation remains poor. Here, we used common garden experiments to quantify thermal performance in eight populations of the marine snail Urosalpinx cinerea across thermal gradients on the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of North America. We then evaluated the relationship between thermal performance and environmental metrics derived from time-series data. Our results reveal a novel pattern of ‘mixed’ trait performance adaptation, where thermal optima were …


A Novel Framework To Predict Relative Habitat Selection In Aquatic Systems: Applying Machine Learning And Resource Selection Functions To Acoustic Telemetry Data From Multiple Shark Species, Lucas P. Griffin, Grace A. Casselberry, Kristen M. Hart, Adrian Jordaan, Sarah L. Becker, Ashleigh J. Novak, Bryan M. Deangelis, Clayton G. Pollock, Ian Lundgren, Zandy Hills-Star Jan 2021

A Novel Framework To Predict Relative Habitat Selection In Aquatic Systems: Applying Machine Learning And Resource Selection Functions To Acoustic Telemetry Data From Multiple Shark Species, Lucas P. Griffin, Grace A. Casselberry, Kristen M. Hart, Adrian Jordaan, Sarah L. Becker, Ashleigh J. Novak, Bryan M. Deangelis, Clayton G. Pollock, Ian Lundgren, Zandy Hills-Star

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Resource selection functions (RSFs) have been widely applied to animal tracking data to examine relative habitat selection and to help guide management and conservation strategies. While readily used in terrestrial ecology, RSFs have yet to be extensively used within marine systems. As acoustic telemetry continues to be a pervasive approach within marine environments, incorporation of RSFs can provide new insights to help prioritize habitat protection and restoration to meet conservation goals. To overcome statistical hurdles and achieve high prediction accuracy, machine learning algorithms could be paired with RSFs to predict relative habitat selection for a species within and even outside …


Diminished Warming Tolerance And Plasticity In Low-Latitude Populations Of A Marine Gastropod, Andrew R. Villeneuve, Lisa M. Komoroske, Brian S. Cheng Jan 2021

Diminished Warming Tolerance And Plasticity In Low-Latitude Populations Of A Marine Gastropod, Andrew R. Villeneuve, Lisa M. Komoroske, Brian S. Cheng

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Models of species response to climate change often assume that physiological traits are invariant across populations. Neglecting potential intraspecific variation may overlook the possibility that some populations are more resilient or susceptible than others, creating inaccurate predictions of climate impacts. In addition, phenotypic plasticity can contribute to trait variation and may mediate sensitivity to climate. Quantifying such forms of intraspecific variation can improve our understanding of how climate can affect ecologically important species, such as invasive predators. Here, we quantified thermal performance (tolerance, acclimation capacity, developmental traits) across seven populations of the predatory marine snail (Urosalpinx cinerea) from …


Abiotic Stress And Biotic Factors Mediate Range Dynamics On Opposing Edges, Alexej P. K. Sirén, Christopher S. Sutherland, Christopher A. Bernier, Kimberly J. Royar, Jillian R. Kilborn, Catherine B. Callahan, Rachel M. Cliché, Leighlan S. Prout, Toni Lyn Morelli Jan 2021

Abiotic Stress And Biotic Factors Mediate Range Dynamics On Opposing Edges, Alexej P. K. Sirén, Christopher S. Sutherland, Christopher A. Bernier, Kimberly J. Royar, Jillian R. Kilborn, Catherine B. Callahan, Rachel M. Cliché, Leighlan S. Prout, Toni Lyn Morelli

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Aim

In the face of global change, understanding causes of range limits are one of the most pressing needs in biogeography and ecology. A prevailing hypothesis is that abiotic stress forms cold (upper latitude/altitude) limits, whereas biotic interactions create warm (lower) limits. A new framework – Interactive Range‐Limit Theory (iRLT) – asserts that positive biotic factors such as food availability can ameliorate abiotic stress along cold edges, whereas abiotic stress can have a positive effect and mediate biotic interactions (e.g., competition) along warm limits.

Location

Northeastern United States

Taxon

Carnivora

Methods

We evaluated two hypotheses of iRLT using occupancy and …


Daily Patterns Of River Herring (Alosa Spp.) Spawning Migrations: Environmental Drivers And Variation Among Coastal Streams In Massachusetts, Henry D. Legett, Adrian Jordaan, Allison H. Roy, John J. Sheppard, Marcelo Somos-Valenzuela, Michelle D. Staudinger Jan 2021

Daily Patterns Of River Herring (Alosa Spp.) Spawning Migrations: Environmental Drivers And Variation Among Coastal Streams In Massachusetts, Henry D. Legett, Adrian Jordaan, Allison H. Roy, John J. Sheppard, Marcelo Somos-Valenzuela, Michelle D. Staudinger

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

The timing of life history events in many plants and animals depends on the seasonal fluctuations of specific environmental conditions. Climate change is altering environmental regimes and disrupting natural cycles and patterns across communities. Anadromous fishes that migrate between marine and freshwater habitats to spawn are particularly sensitive to shifting environmental conditions and thus are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. However, for many anadromous fish species the specific environmental mechanisms driving migration and spawning patterns are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the upstream spawning migrations of river herring Alosa spp. in 12 coastal Massachusetts streams. …


Global Plastic Pollution Observation System To Aid Policy, Michael S. Bank, Peter W. Swarzenski, Carlos M. Duarte, Matthias C. Rillig, Albert A. Koelmans, Marc Metian, Stephanie Wright, Jennifer F. Provencher, Monica Sanden, Adrian Jordaan, Martin Wagner, Yong Sik Ok Jan 2021

Global Plastic Pollution Observation System To Aid Policy, Michael S. Bank, Peter W. Swarzenski, Carlos M. Duarte, Matthias C. Rillig, Albert A. Koelmans, Marc Metian, Stephanie Wright, Jennifer F. Provencher, Monica Sanden, Adrian Jordaan, Martin Wagner, Yong Sik Ok

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges and has received commensurate widespread attention. Although it is a top priority for policymakers and scientists alike, the knowledge required to guide decisions, implement mitigation actions, and assess their outcomes remains inadequate. We argue that an integrated, global monitoring system for plastic pollution is needed to provide comprehensive, harmonized data for environmental, societal, and economic assessments. The initial focus on marine ecosystems has been expanded here to include atmospheric transport and terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. An earth-system-level plastic observation system is proposed as a hub for collecting and assessing …


Plasma Proteomics Of Green Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) Reveals Pathway Shifts And Potential Biomarker Candidates Associated With Health And Disease, David P. Marancik, Justin R. Perrault, Lisa M. Komoroske, Jamie A. Stoll, Kristina N. Kelley, Charles A. Manire Jan 2021

Plasma Proteomics Of Green Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) Reveals Pathway Shifts And Potential Biomarker Candidates Associated With Health And Disease, David P. Marancik, Justin R. Perrault, Lisa M. Komoroske, Jamie A. Stoll, Kristina N. Kelley, Charles A. Manire

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Evaluating sea turtle health can be challenging due to an incomplete understanding of pathophysiologic responses in these species. Proteome characterization of clinical plasma samples can provide insights into disease progression and prospective biomarker targets. A TMT-10-plex-LC–MS/MS platform was used to characterize the plasma proteome of five, juvenile, green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and compare qualitative and quantitative protein changes during moribund and recovered states. The 10 plasma samples yielded a total of 670 unique proteins. Using ≥1.2-fold change in protein abundance as a benchmark for physiologic upregulation or downregulation, 233 (34.8%) were differentially regulated in at least one turtle …


First Records Of Perdita Bequaerti (Hymenopertera: Andrenidae) From New England, Justin C. Roch, Deicy Carolina Muñoz Agudelo, Lynn S. Adler, Joan Milam Jan 2021

First Records Of Perdita Bequaerti (Hymenopertera: Andrenidae) From New England, Justin C. Roch, Deicy Carolina Muñoz Agudelo, Lynn S. Adler, Joan Milam

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

We document the first New England records of the bee Perdita bequaerti Viereck. Perdita bequaerti is a specialist on Asteraceae flowers, especially Helianthus, and is native to much of eastern North America, where it is often associated with predominantly sandy habitats. Previous records indicated P. bequaerti reached the northeastern extent of its range in the state of New York, but in August 2019, during a survey of bees on Helianthus, we collected five specimens of P. bequaerti at two sites in western Massachusetts. Both sites were located on small-scale farms with abundant non-native Helianthus, on soils characteristic …


Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors As A Treatment For Wastewater And Biogas Production At University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Marley Norton, Brady Bell, Ariel Fine Jan 2021

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors As A Treatment For Wastewater And Biogas Production At University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Marley Norton, Brady Bell, Ariel Fine

Student Showcase

Achieving carbon net neutrality at UMass by the year 2032 would require an unprecedented scale of renovation. However, we stand before an opportunity to set a nationwide standard in college campus sustainability. The usage of water also requires energy, as both are inextricable commodities, high in demand and often non-renewable. The central heating plant (CHP) distributes heat across the 1,400+ acre campus and consumes copious amounts of natural gas. A viable solution to relieving the dominant reliance on non-renewable energy without leaving the CHP as a stranded asset revolves around the implementation of a hybrid low temperature hot water system …