Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Photo-Identification Methods Reveal Seasonal And Long-Term Site-Fidelity Of Risso’S Dolphins (Grampus Griseus) In Shallow Waters (Cardigan Bay, Wales), Marijke N. De Boer, Josephine Clark, Mardik F. Leopold, Mark P. Simmonds, Peter J.H. Reijnders

Ecology Collection

A photo-identification study on Risso’s dolphins was carried out off Bardsey Island in Wales (July to September, 1997-2007). Their local abundance was estimated using two different analytical techniques: 1) mark-recapture of well-marked dolphins using a “closed-population” model; and 2) a census technique based on the total number of iden-tified individual dolphins sighted over the study period. The mark-recapture estimates of 121 (left sides; 64 - 178, 95% CI; CV 0.24) and 145 dolphins (right sides; 78 - 213, 95% CI; CV 0.24) closely matched the census technique estimates (population size of 90 - 151). It was found that the dolphins …

Limpopo River Basin Monograph, Sergio Sitoe, Peter Qwist-Hoffman

Policy

The purpose of the Limpopo River Basin Monograph Study (LRBMS) is to compile essential baseline information on the Limpopo River Basin. This is required for the preparation of alternative development scenarios and an Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy and Plan (IWRM Strategy and Plan) for the sustainable management of the Basin. Six themes were agreed for the structure of the monograph and each is described below: Basin Characteristics Socio-economy River Basin Ecosystem Water Resources Water Governance LIMIS There are two main elements of the monograph that are the core outputs of the study, and they bring together the information from …

Gathering "Wild" Food In The City: Rethinking The Role Of Foraging In Urban Ecosystem Planning And Management, Rebecca J. Mclain, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Melissa R. Poe

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Recent “green” planning initiatives envision food production, including urban agriculture and livestock production, as desirable elements of sustainable cities. We use an integrated urban political ecology and human–plant geographies framework to explore how foraging for “wild” foods in cities, a subversive practice that challenges prevailing views about the roles of humans in urban green spaces, has potential to also support sustainability goals. Drawing on research from Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, we show that foraging is a vibrant and ongoing practice among diverse urban residents in the USA. At the same time, as reflected in regulations, planning practices, …

Food Sovereignty: An Alternative Paradigm For Poverty Reduction And Biodiversity Conservation In Latin America, M Jahi Chappell, Hannah Wittman, Christopher M. Bacon, Bruce G. Ferguson, Luis García Barrios, Raúl García Barrios, Daniel Jaffee, Jefferson Lima, V. Ernesto Méndez,, Helda Morales, Lorena Soto-Pinto, John Vandermeer, Ivette Perfecto

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Strong feedback between global biodiversity loss and persistent, extreme rural poverty are major challenges in the face of concurrent food, energy, and environmental crises. This paper examines the role of industrial agricultural intensification and market integration as exogenous socio-ecological drivers of biodiversity loss and poverty traps in Latin America. We then analyze the potential of a food sovereignty framework, based on protecting the viability of a diverse agroecological matrix while supporting rural livelihoods and global food production. We review several successful examples of this approach, including ecological land reform in Brazil, agroforestry, milpa, and the uses of wild varieties in …

Introduction To Empowered Partnerships: Community-Based Participatory Action Research For Environmental Justice, Christopher M. Bacon, Saneta Devuono-Powell, Mary Louise Frampton, Tony Lopresti, Camille Pannu

Environmental Studies and Sciences

This article introduces a special section on empowered partnerships that deepens a dialogue initiated during the 2010 symposium titled EmPowered Partnerships: Community-Based Participatory Action Research for Environmental Justice. The articles in this section will be divided between issues 1 and 2 of the Journal. After briefly reviewing the definitions and the steps associated with community-based participatory action research (CBPAR), we identify the synergies connecting the underlying principles and values of the environmental justice (EJ) movement and CBPAR. The principles-based comparison is part of an ongoing effort to craft a framework that produces research partnerships that are simultaneously more responsive to …

Assessing Cultural Ecosystem Services Using Gis-Based Landscape Values Mapping. Case Study: Olympic Peninsula Human Ecology Mapping Project, Diane Besser, Rebecca J. Mclain, Lee Cerveny, David Banis

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on the Olympic Peninsula mapping project objectives:

• Develop and test a method for mapping sociocultural values at a Bioregional scale
• Test techniques for analyzing spatialized sociocultural values data
• Explore ways to integrate spatialized sociocultural values into forest management planning

Le Nature Degli American Studies, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

Al “Futures of American Studies Institute” di Dartmouth del 2003 lanciai una provocazione sulle “geografie immaginate” dell’americanistica. Volevo mettere in discussione sia le celebrazioni romantiche del “luogo” in quanto elemento in qualche modo autentico e particolare, minacciato da un mondo sempre più globalizzato e controllato dalle multinazionali, sia l’esaltazione della “delocalizzazione” nelle società in rete, negli “spazi di flusso”, nella mobilità senza attrito. Suggerivo che queste, come altre geografie poco studiate, si sposano troppo facilmente con molte correnti dell’eccezionalismo americano.

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring In Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2013 Annual Report, Isabel Ashton, Michael Prowatzke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Introduction

During the last century, much of the prairie within the Northern Great Plains has been plowed for cropland, planted with non-natives to maximize livestock production, or otherwise developed, making it one of the most threatened ecosystems in the United States. Within Nebraska, greater than 77% of the area of native mixed grass prairie has been lost since European settlement (Samson and Knopf 1994). The National Park Service (NPS) plays an important role in preserving and restoring some of the last pieces of intact prairies within its boundaries. The stewardship goal of the NPS is to “preserve ecological integrity and …

Integral Review Vol 9. No 3, September 2013 Full Issue, Bahman Shirazi

Founders Symposium

The articles included in this special issue of Integral Review represent a wide range of integral scholarship at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), founded in 1968 in San Francisco by Dr. Haridas and Bina Chaudhuri. Haridas Chaudhuri arrived in the United States in 1951 upon an invitation by professor Frederick Spiegelberg of Stanford University who was charged with directing a newly founded independent graduate school (American Academy of Asian Studies) devoted to introducing Asian studies to American higher education. Spiegelberg had traveled to India in the late 1940s to research the contemporary practices of the ancientspiritual traditions of …

Early Cenozoic Evolution Of Topography, Climate, And Stable Isotopes In Precipitation In The North American Cordillera, Ran Feng, Christopher J. Poulsen, Martin Werner, C. Page Chamberlain, Hari T. Mix, Andreas Mulch

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Paleoelevation reconstructions of the North American Cordillera inferred from the oxygen (δ¹⁸O) and hydrogen (δD) isotope ratios of terrestrial paleoclimate proxy materials (soils, ashes, lake sediments) suggest rapid north-to-south migration of topography in the early Cenozoic (pre-49 Ma to 28 Ma). The validation of this reconstruction relies on an accurate understanding of the δ¹⁸Op and the associated regional climate change in response to the uplift of the western North America. Here we study this response using a global climate model (GCM) with explicit δ¹⁸Op diagnostics (ECHAM5-wiso) focusing on the isotopic effects of different types of precipitation, vapor mixing, recycling and …

A Natural Resource Condition Assessment For Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks, Appendix 16 - Bats, Alice Chung-Maccoubrey

United States National Park Service: Publications

Scope of Analysis

North American bats are highly unique animals that have historically been overlooked by land managers and misunderstood by the public. Bats are unique as the only true flying mammals and due to their exceptionally long lives (5-15 years) and unusually low reproductive rates (typically one young per year) for their small size. Most North American bat species are insectivorous, serve as the primary predators of nocturnal insects, and can consume up to one-third of their weight in insects per night. Thus, bats play a role in regulating insect populations, insect-related ecological processes, and nutrient redistribution and cycling …

Impacts Of The Federal Farm And Ranch Lands Protection Program: An Assessment Based On Interviews With Participating Landowners, J. Dixon Esseks, Brian J. Schilling, Alexander Hahn

Center for Great Plains Studies: Staff and Fellows Publications

Focus of the Study

From mid-February to mid-May 2012, a research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln surveyed 506 owners whose agricultural land was protected from development through conservation easements that were funded in part by USDA’s Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP). This program “provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranchland in agricultural uses. Working through existing programs, USDA partners with State, tribal, or local governments and non-governmental organizations to acquire conservation easements or other interests in land from landowners, USDA provides up to 50 percent of the fair market easement …

Missouri National Recreational River 2012 Resource Brief, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Kara Paintner

United States National Park Service: Publications

Includes brief information on plant community monitoring, water quality monitoring, and weather and climate monitoring for the Missouri National Recreational River in the United States for 2012.

An Efficient Contracting Approach To Rural Electric Cooperatives And The Development Of Upper Midwest (U.S.) Wind Resources, Bart D. Finzel, Arne Kildegaard

Economics & Management Publications

Many factors support the likelihood of major wind power deployment in the Upper Midwest of the U.S. over the next two decades. This paper specifically considers the dilemma faced by the existing rural electric co-ops (RECs), to whom wind development poses simultaneously a threat and an opportunity. We argue that the threat can be ameliorated through more appropriate tariff strategies, and that there is an efficient-contracting rationale for RECs to take the lead in future development of the wind resource.

Missouri National Recreational River Visitor Study, Summer 2012, Marc F. Manni, Yen Le, Steven J. Hollenhorst

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This visitor study report profiles a systematic random sample of Missouri National Recreation River visitors during July 19 - 25, 2012. A total of 467 questionnaires were distributed to visitor groups. Of those, 256 questionnaires were returned, resulting in a 54.8% response rate.

Group size and type: Thirty-eight percent of visitor groups consisted of two or three people and 35% were in groups of six or more. Sixty-four percent of visitor groups consisted of family groups.

State or country of residence: United States visitors were from 29 states and comprised 99% of total visitation during the survey period, …

Community Controlled Forests, Carbon Sequestration And Redd+: Some Evidence From Ethiopia, Abebe D. Beyene, Randall Bluffstone, Alemu Mekonnen

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, “plus” afforestration) is a tool that supports forest carbon-enhancing approaches in the developing world in order to mitigate and hopefully reverse climate change. A key issue within REDD+ is to appropriately bring in the almost 25% of developing country forests that are effectively controlled by communities. Many authors have discussed the social aspects of appropriateness, but there is limited analysis of the actual carbon sequestration potential of better-managed community controlled forests (CCFs). Drawing on an analytical framework that relies heavily on the common property and social capital literatures, our paper contributes to …

Global Futures And Government Towns: Phosphates And The Production Of Western Sahara As A Space Of Contention, Mark Drury

Publications and Research

The study of natural resources lends itself to theorizing the politics of nature and the politics of time. The space of Western Sahara, where both remain highly contested, provides an opportunity to consider the ramifications of resources in political conflict at different historical moments. Drawing from environmental histories of North Africa and the Sahara, as well as the anthropology of time, the author focuses on two historical moments. The first, from 1945 to 1972, concerns the discovery of phosphate deposits during the Spanish colonial period and the implications of this discovery for political authority in the Sahara more broadly. The …

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument 2012 Resource Brief, Marcia Wilson, Kara Paintner, Isabel Ashton, Michael Prowatzke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Includes brief information on plant community monitoring, aquatic invertebrate monitoring, weather and climate monitoring at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska, USA from 2012.

Scotts Bluff National Monument 2012 Resource Brief, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Kara Paintner

United States National Park Service: Publications

Includes brief information on plant community monitoring, air quality monitoring, and weather and climate monitoring at Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska, USA in 2012.

Urban Forest Justice And The Rights To Wild Foods, Medicines, And Materials In The City, Melissa R. Poe, Rebecca J. Mclain, Marla R. Emery, Patrick T. Hurley

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Urban forests are multifunctional socio-ecological landscapes, yet some of their social benefits remain poorly understood. This paper draws on ethnographic evidence from Seattle, Washington to demonstrate that urban forests contain nontimber forest products that contribute a variety of wild foods, medicines, and materials for the well-being of urban residents. We show that gathering wild plants and fungi in urban forests is a persistent subsistence and livelihood practice that provides sociocultural and material benefits to city residents, and creates opportunities for connecting with nature and enhancing social ties. We suggest that an orientation toward human-nature interactions in cities that conceptualizes the …

The Korean Buddhist Nun Chiyul (Jiyul) And Ecofeminism: Hunger Strikes, The Lawsuit For Salamanders, And Walking Protests, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

Chiyul (b. 1957), a nun of the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism, led protests against government construction of a KTX (Korea Train eXpress) tunnel passing through Mt. Ch’ŏnsŏng between 2002 and 2006 and participated in protests against the government’s nationwide four major rivers restoration project between 2008 and 2012, focusing on the Nakdong River. She has made serious efforts to protect environment as a nun in the culturally and institutionally sexist South Korean Buddhist order in particular and in the culturally, not institutionally, sexist South Korean society in general. She, when on hunger strikes five times totaling more than 341 …

Atrazine And Nitrate In Public Drinking Water Supplies And Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma In Nebraska, Usa, Martha G. Rhoades, Jane L. Meza, Cheryl L. Beseler, Patrick J. Shea, Andy Kahle, Julie M. Vose, Kent M. Eskridge, Roy F. Spalding

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A secondary analysis of 1999–2002 Nebraska case-control data was conducted to assess the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) associated with exposure to nitrate- and atrazine-contaminated drinking water. Water chemistry data were collected and weighted by well contribution and proximity of residence to water supply, followed by logistic regression to determine odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We found no association between NHL risk and exposure to drinking water containing atrazine or nitrate alone. Risk associated with the interaction of nitrate and atrazine in drinking water was elevated (OR, 2.5; CI, 1.0–6.2). Risk of indolent B-cell lymphoma was higher …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2012 Annual Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Stephen K. Wilson, Daniel J. Swanson, Michael Prowatzke, Phil Graeve

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) plays a vital role in protecting and managing some of the last remnants of native mixed-grass prairie in the region. The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Fire Ecology Program (FireEP) surveyed 12 long-term monitoring plots in Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in 2012 as part of an effort to better understand the condition of plant communities in the park. We measured plant diversity and cover, looked for the presence of exotic species that may be newly invading the park, and evaluated the amount of human and natural disturbance …

The Geography Of Global Urban Greenhouse Gas Emissions: An Exploratory Analysis, Jochen Albrecht, Peter Marcotullio, Amdrea Sarzynski, Niels Schulz, Jake Garcia

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to describe global urban greenhouse gas emissions by region and sector, examine the distribution of emissions through the urban-to-rural gradient, and identify covariates of emission levels for our baseline year, 2000.We usemultiple existing spatial databases to identify urban extent, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4 and SF6) and covariates of emissions in a “top-down” analysis. The results indicate that urban activities are significant sources of total greenhouse gas emissions (36.8 and 48.6 % of total). The urban energy sector accounts for between 41.5 and 66.3 % of total energy emissions. Significant differences exist in …

Tracking Trash: An Analysis Of Marine Debris From The Olympic Coast Clean-Up, Rebekah Paci-Green, Pamela Griswold, Kassandra Grimm

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Washington coast beaches during annual cleanup events. WWU researchers used historical data from 2009-2012 provided by the Washington CoastSavers to establish a baseline for common marine debris trends and compared these baselines with cleanup data obtained from the 2013 CoastSavers cleanup and WWU in-depth assessments of debris removed from four beaches during this 2013 event. Debris from the tsunami, like debris from local sources, can have a significant impact on marine species. Noteworthy harmful effects of certain debris types, including polystyrene on marine biota include ingestion, entanglement, and accumulation along the ocean floor and surface. Debris from the tsunami event …

Interactions Of Insects, Fire And Climate On Fuel Loads And Fire Behavior In Mixed Conifer Forest, Daniel Girard Gavin, Aquila Flower, Gregory M. Cohn, Emily K. Heyerdahl, Russell A. Parsons

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Mixed-conifer forests in the interior Pacific Northwest are subject to sporadic outbreaks of the western spruce budworm, the most destructive defoliator in western North America. Such outbreaks usually occur synchronously over broad regions and lead to widespread decreases in growth rates and low to moderate levels of mortality. In the last century, changing land use and fire suppression have led to an increase in the amount and density of host tree species, and changed fire regimes. This has altered the severity and frequency of both fire and western spruce budworm. In spite of the ecological and economic significance of these …

Review: Re-Rooting The Learning Space: Minding Where Children's Mathematics Grow, By Jennifer S. Thom, Nicholas Stanger

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Jennifer Thom’s first single-authored book is an engaging and organic approach to complex learning theory and mathematics. At first glance, the reader is met with an intertextual exploration of mathematics education through ecological sensibility, thought, and diverse ways of knowing. Yet what is most striking about this book is its playfulness, and the ease with which Thom explains concepts. As the reader opens the first page, she/he is invited to consider the living systems of a tree as an analogy of learning systems, and is invited to interact with this book as one might with various parts of a tree: …

Winter Counts As Transformative Inquiry: The Role Of Creative Imagery As An Expression Of Adaptive Change, Nicholas Stanger, Michele T. D. Tanaka, Vanessa V. Tse, Lisa J. Starr

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Pre-service teachers face a complex educational context and Transformative Inquiry is a useful approach for negotiating this terrain. We interpret the movement of students via the adaptive cycle put forth in panarchy theory as they engage in the inquiry process through ‘winter counts’, a Plains First Nation tradition, as expressions of their understanding. These image-based expressions demonstrate the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical movement students have made within their inquiry. Panarchy theory moves beyond interpreting systems using simplistic equilibrium models and acknowledging the more complex and dynamic set of equilibria that describes transformation in ecological, social, and economic systems and …

International Organizations, Free Trade And Environmental Citizenship: Mexico And Chile In Comparative Perspective, Sherrie Baver

Publications and Research

This paper focuses on the potential of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and specific International Organizations (IOs) to promote democratic and effective environmental governance. FTAs are often cited in the political science literature for their negative impacts; yet, they are central to the present stage of economic globalization. Given that U.S. FTAs have environmental requirements as do accession agreements to developed country IOs (e.g. OECD), they remain under-explored institutions providing space for activists to expand environmental citizenship. The specific research question explored here is how might activists use these institutions to promote procedural environmental rights to information, participation, and justice, collectively …

Quality Revolutions, Solidarity Networks, And Sustainability Innovations: Following Fair Trade Coffee From Nicaragua To California, Christopher M. Bacon

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Nicaraguan smallholder cooperative leaders working in partnership with a California-based small-scale roasting company pioneered an alternative approach to confronting the post-1999 coffee crisis. They built coffee tasting laboratories and integrated grassroots organizing efforts to create a national smallholder cooperative association that dramatically improved the quality, consistency, and prices from of the coffee they exported. Cooperative leaders used this development project to gain a more significant share of political economic power in a domestic coffee industry historically dominated by colonial powers, and corporate and domestic elites. This alliance between the artisanal small-scale roasting companies and cooperative leaders also proved that smallholders …