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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Other Environmental Sciences
Summer 2024 Research Proposal: Swanberg Sanctuary Prairie Plant Community Characterization And Management Testing, Jillian Becksfort
Summer 2024 Research Proposal: Swanberg Sanctuary Prairie Plant Community Characterization And Management Testing, Jillian Becksfort
Scholar Week 2016 - present
Prairie management is an involved process that is focused on maintaining existing grassland plant and animal communities. Invasive species and the spread of woody shrubs and trees presents a real threat to the existing prairie. Woody stems can affect resources such as water access and nutrient availability, which may cause changes to the prairie’s unique plant communities. Management techniques like burning and mowing are commonly used to prevent woody stems from causing changes to the prairie ecosystem. The Sanctuary was restored to natural prairie habitat in 2008 and a list of planted species is available. However, no plant surveys have …
Gaia Contributions To Agroecology By James Lovelock (1919-2022), Steve Gliessman, Charles A. Francis
Gaia Contributions To Agroecology By James Lovelock (1919-2022), Steve Gliessman, Charles A. Francis
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications
In writing about the history of agroecology we too often ignore the valuable contributions of British scientist James Lovelock who recently died on his 103rd birthday. A prolific inventor and influential theorist, Lovelock is best known for the Gaia hypothesis first proposed during his innovative work in the 1960s with the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He suggested that ‘the biosphere has a regulatory effect on the Earth’s environment that acts to sustain life’ as written in Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (Lovelock 1979). Lovelock further proposed that humans have strongly impacted the planet’s capacity …
Molecular Fossils From Phytoplankton Reveal Secular Pco2 Trend Over The Phanerozoic, Caitlyn R. Witkowski, Johan W. H. Weijers, Brian S. Blais, Stefan Schouten, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté
Molecular Fossils From Phytoplankton Reveal Secular Pco2 Trend Over The Phanerozoic, Caitlyn R. Witkowski, Johan W. H. Weijers, Brian S. Blais, Stefan Schouten, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté
Science and Technology Department Faculty Journal Articles
Past changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (PCO2) have had a major impact on earth system dynamics; yet, reconstructing secular trends of past PCO2 remains a prevalent challenge in paleoclimate studies. The current long-term PCO2reconstructions rely largely on the compilation of many different proxies, often with discrepancies among proxies, particularly for periods older than 100 million years (Ma). Here, we reconstructed Phanerozoic PCO2 from a single proxy: the stable carbon isotopic fractionation associated with photosynthesis (Ɛp) that increases as PCO2 increases. This concept has been widely applied to alkenones, but here, we …
Effects Of Habitat Restoration On Soil Retention On Santa Rosa Island, Michael Perez, Kathryn Mceachern, Ken Niessen
Effects Of Habitat Restoration On Soil Retention On Santa Rosa Island, Michael Perez, Kathryn Mceachern, Ken Niessen
STAR Program Research Presentations
Ranching began on Santa Rosa Island in the 1840’s, consequently introducing nonnative megafauna that put novel selective grazing pressures on endemic plant species. Their movement patterns also altered substrate integrity as the land became denuded of any stabilizing vegetation. Dense groves of island oak (Q. tomentella) are known to aid in sediment deposition and retention. The groves also function to collect water during periods of intense fog common to the island. This experiment sought to determine whether sediment is being lost or deposited on a ridge in the middle of the island containing a grove of Q. tomentella …