Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Estimating Floodplain Storage And Prioritizing Floodplain Reconnection In The Northern Lake Champlain Basin In Vermont, Stephanie Drago

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Floodplains play a major role in maintaining the health and sustainability of riverine systems, but human interventions have reduced the connectivity between stream channels and floodplains. Geomorphic assessments of streams and rivers in Vermont (USA) show they have been significantly altered within the past two centuries due to straightening, berming, and armoring channels to accommodate development, agriculture, roads, and rail lines. These alterations in river-floodplain connectivity have decreased floodplain functioning, specifically their capacity to store water during flood events. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the amount of floodwater, sediment, and nutrient retention provided by Vermont’s floodplains. This …

Trace Metal Contamination In Urban Soils: A Field To Laboratory Methodological Framework For Characterization And Education, Sandra Leighanne Walser

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Urban soils around the world have been found to possess elevated concentrations of toxic trace metals such as As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Mn, Hg, Zn known to pose human health risks. Tightening environmental legislation and further elucidation of the detrimental health impacts from trace metals has necessitated more efficient means of contamination assessment, as well as greater public awareness. Within this thesis, I sought to develop an array of tools to holistically approach the socially relevant environmental challenges derived from heavy metal soil contamination. These tools consist in providing means to simplify Pb, Zn and Cu analysis in-situ, develop strategies …

The Molecular Evolution Of Non-Coding Dna And Population Ecology Of The Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone Spinifera) In Lake Champlain, Lucas Edward Bernacki

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

Spiny softshell turtles (Apalone spinifera) occur at the northwest limit of their range in Lake Champlain. This species, although widespread across North America, is listed as threatened in Vermont due to habitat destruction and disturbances of anthropogenic origin. The population of spiny softshell turtles in Lake Champlain is isolated from other North American populations and is considered as an independent management unit. Efforts to obtain information on the biology of spiny softshell turtles in Lake Champlain precede 1936 with conservation measures being initiated in 1987.

Methods of studying spiny softshell turtles in Lake Champlain have included direct …