Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Disturbance Reduces Fungal White-Rot Litter Mat Cover In A Wet Subtropical Forest, D. Jean Lodge, Ashley E. Van Beusekom, Grizelle González, Mareli Sánchez-Julia, Sarah Stankavich

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Fungi that bind leaf litter into mats and produce white-rot via degradation of lignin and other aromatic compounds influence forest nutrient cycling and soil fertility. Extent of white-rot litter mats formed by basidiomycete fungi in Puerto Rico decreased in response to disturbances—a simulated hurricane treatment executed by canopy trimming and debris addition in 2014, a drought in 2015, a treefall, and two hurricanes 10 days apart in September 2017. Percent fungal litter mat cover ranged from 0.4% after Hurricanes Irma and Maria to a high of 53% in forest with undisturbed canopy prior to the 2017 hurricanes, with means mostly …

Drought Decisions: Profit Maximizing Decisions During And After Drought Conditions, Robert Tigner, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

In summary, using available price risk management tools can effectively reduce some of the market price risk variability that is inherent in agricultural production that are caused by either production or price risk.

Impact Of Saturated Thickness To Protect Farmers From Drought In High Plains Aquifer, Olivier Tuyizere, Taro Mieno

UCARE Research Products

●The High Plains aquifer is the primary source of water supply for irrigating major crops in the region including corn and soybeans ●Climate change is expected to reduce groundwater availability in High Plains Aquifer and increase extreme climatic events such as droughts. ●Aquifer depletion leads to lower well yields, which in turn diminish the effectiveness of irrigation against drought.

●Estimate the effect of saturated thickness to protect irrigated corn and soybeans production against severe drought in the High Plains Aquifer. ●Calculate the impact of aquifer depletion on farmers’ ability to protect against severe droughts based on the regression results.

Rangeland Management During Drought: Assessing Social-Ecological And Cognitive Indicators Of Ranchers’ Adaptive Capacity, Tonya Haigh

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Rangeland managers face challenges to adapt to climate extremes, and research is needed on how to support their adaptive capacity for managing climate risk. This study evaluates adaptive capacity using an integrated vulnerability and resilience conceptual model and three cognitive behavioral models. Overarching research questions focus on the relationship between protective action and impacts and the best predictors of taking action in response to drought. Three studies address these questions, using quantitative data collected from two post-drought surveys of rangeland-based livestock managers in the Northern Great Plains of the U.S. The studies find evidence of the roles of social-ecological sources …

A Sediment-Based Reconstruction Of Caribbean Effective Precipitation During The ‘Little Ice Age’ From Freshwater Pond, Barbuda, Michael J. Burn, Jonathan Holmes, Lisa M. Kennedy, Allison Bain, Jim D. Marshall, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Contemporary climate dynamics of the circum-Caribbean Region are characterized by significant precipitation variability on interannual and interdecadal timescales controlled primarily by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). However, our understanding of pre-industrial climate variability in the region is hampered by the sparse geographic distribution of paleoclimate archives. Here, we present a high-resolution reconstruction of effective precipitation for Barbuda since the mid-16th Century, based on biostratigraphic and stable isotope analyses of fossil ostracods and gastropods recovered from lake sediment cores from Freshwater Pond, the only freshwater lake on the island. We interpret episodic fluctuations in shell …

Three Essays On Biofuels, Drought, Livestock, And The Environment, Sunil P. Dhoubhadel

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay examines the impact of the 2012 drought and the biofuels mandate on the U.S. grain and livestock markets. A stochastic equilibrium displacement model is used to analyze the impact on eight commodity markets viz. beef, pork, poultry, corn, distillers’ grain (DG), soybean, soymeal, and ethanol. Among the eight markets, corn and beef are found to be the most vulnerable to drought. The use of Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits as an instrument to mitigate the impact of drought has limited effectiveness. A mandate waiver of about 23% is required to fully …

Exploring Ways Social Media Data Inform Public Issues Communication: An Analysis Of Twitter Conversation During The 2012-2013 Drought In Nebraska, Adam Wagler, Karen J. Cannon

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Social networking sites often are used to maintain close social ties, but increasingly they are used for information and news dissemination, specifically about major events and crises. In 2012, a historic drought struck the Midwest, destroying or damaging portions of major field crops in major agricultural production states. By the end of August 2012, 90% of Nebraska was declared in extreme or exceptional drought, leading to bans on irrigation, damaged crops, and record-low yields as well as damaging the state’s leading economic sector. This case study used social media monitoring and analysis to explore online Twitter conversations related to this …

Late Holocene Activation History Of The Stanton Dunes, Northeastern Nebraska, Rebecca A. Puta, Paul R. Hanson, Aaron R. Young

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The Nebraska Sandhills have been an important resource for better understanding dune activation and the nature of prehistoric Great Plains drought events. However, until recently, few studies have focused on documenting the activation histories of smaller dune fields found along the Great Plains' eastern margin. This study focuses on the Stanton dune field, which lies about 145 km east of the Nebraska Sandhills on an alluvial terrace of the Elkhorn River in northeastern Nebraska. Sediments in the Stanton Dunes were dated with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to determine when these dunes were active. The ages indicate three activation periods that …

Roles Of Perceived Control And Planning In Ranch Drought Preparedness, Tonya Haigh, Cody Knutson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Ranchers in the Great Plains and across the United States face the threat of periodic drought. Though ranchers might minimize losses through drought-preparedness activities, many do not adequately prepare for drought, in part because of perceptions that the outcomes of drought management are not controllable. We explore how drought planning activities affect ranchers' perceptions of control and drought preparedness using the theories of planned behavior and goal attainment as guiding frameworks. Ten Great Plains ranchers who had engaged in drought management activities were interviewed about their plans. From the interviews, three activities emerged that appeared to increase ranchers' perceived control …

Evaluating Vegetation Response To Water Stress Using Close-Range And Satellite Remote Sensing, Sharmistha Swain

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Drought is a weather related natural disaster that occurs in virtually all climatic zones of the world. In the last century, almost all parts of the contiguous United States have experienced several prolonged drought events with considerable impacts on the agricultural economy and environment. With changing climates, the droughts are expected to be more severe, longer, and widespread in many parts of the world including sections of the United States. Understanding the response of vegetation to water stress using remote sensing technologies will enhance our ability to detect and monitor drought. This research evaluates the response of vegetation to drought-related …

Measuring Economic Impacts Of Drought: A Review And Discussion, Ya Ding, Michael J. Hayes, Melissa Widhalm

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A comprehensive assessment of drought economic impacts provides critical information to rational decisions supporting drought mitigation policies and programs. The objective of this paper is to increase the understanding of the full scope of drought economic impacts and the associated quantitative assessment methodologies. To accomplish this, the paper reviews the literature of drought economic impact studies in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, summarizes the methods and data employed, compares the various results, and investigates the problems and limitations of previous studies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges and directions of future improvement on drought economic impact assessment.

The Impact Of Weather Extremes On Agricultural Production Methods: Does Drought Increase Adoption Of Conservation Tillage Practices?, Ya Ding, Karina Schoengold, Tsegaye Tadesse

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

One benefit of conservation tillage practices is an increase in soil moisture. The paper combines panel data techniques with spatial analysis to measure the impact of extreme weather events on the adoption of conservation tillage. Zellner’s SUR technique is extended to spatial panel data to correct for cross-sectional heterogeneity, spatial autocorrelation, and contemporaneous correlation. Panel data allows the identification of differences in adoption rates as a function of the severity of past drought or flood events. The adoption of no-till, alternative conservation tillage, and reduced till are estimated relative to conventional tillage. Extremely dry conditions in recent years are found …

Perception Of Drought Hazard And Its Sociological Impacts In South-Central Nebraska, Donna L. Woudenberg, Donald A. Wilhite, Michael Hayes

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The lion's share of financial losses caused by drought is shouldered by crop and livestock producers. Producers' perceptions of and responses to drought were studied in the mid-1960s, the mid-1980s, and again in this study. Direct and indirect impacts are experienced by nonfarm businesses, communities, and individuals as well; some of those impacts have not been well researched and were integral to this project. Interviews with crop producers, livestock producers, and community members were conducted in Frontier County, NE, in late summer 2006. Producers are very perceptive of the drought hazard, a result found in the two previous studies. Adoption …

Physiological Responses Of Four Hazelnut Hybrids To Water Availability In Nebraska, Tala Awada, Scott Josiah

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Responses of hazelnut hybrids (88BS, BOX1, Gl7, and GEL502) to water availability (watered and nonwatered) were examined in the field. The study site received 35% of long-term average precipitation between July and September. Photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (g_s), water potential (Ψ), and specific leaf area were generally lower in the nonwatered than in the watered treatment and exhibited significant seasonal decline, which was accompanied by an increase in water use efficiency (WUE) under both water treatments. Hybrids exhibited different strategies to cope with water availability. The hybrid 88BS was more water conserving, with the most decline in g …

Natural Areas, Regions, And Two Centuries Of Environmental Change On The Great Plains, David J. Wishart

Great Plains Quarterly

A careful reading of recent issues of the Natural Areas Journal, the publication of the Natural Areas Association, will leave you with the conclusion that humans are not a part of natural areas. When humans do appear, it is either as disturbing agents, disrupting the naturalness through, for example, the introduction of exotic plants and animals, or as managers, enhancing the naturalness through, for example, prescribed burning. This is an explicit and purposeful exclusion: "We can probably all agree," wrote the editor of the journal in 2004, "that 'natural' places are areas where human actions have minimally changed the …

Migration Out Of 1930s Rural Eastern Oklahoma: Insights For Climate Change Research, Robert Mcleman

Great Plains Quarterly

I undertook an investigation of how rural populations responded to a period of adverse climatic conditions in rural eastern Oklahoma during the 1930s, with particular interest in those households that adapted by migrating to rural California. This is not the first time that 19305 Oklahoma has been the subject of research into how people and communities adapt to difficult environmental conditions. In the wake of a 1985 conference entitled "Social Adaptation to Semi-Arid Environments" at the Center for Great Plains Studies in Lincoln, Great Plains Quarterly presented a series of papers by well-known scholars exploring human-environment interactions that gave rise …

Wither The Fruited Plain: The Long Expedition And The Description Of The "Great American Desert", Kevin Z. Sweeney

Great Plains Quarterly

The view from Pikes Peak is breathtaking. Situated where the Great Plains meets the Rocky Mountains, one feels as if the whole nation is laid out before you. It is the perfect vantage point from which to write an inspirational anthem to the environmental magnificence of the United States. In the summer of 1893, Katherine Lee Bates, a Wellesley College English professor, sat on the summit of Pikes Peak, inspired by the panorama to pen the words to "America the Beautiful." Her poem was set to the tune "Materna" by Samuel Augustus Ward two years later to become one of …

Nebraska Droughts A Study Of Their Past Chronological And Spatial Extent With Implications For The Future, Merlin P. Lawson, Allan Reiss, Randy Phillips, Kenneth Livingston

Department of Geography: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to measure the spatial and temporal dimensions of drought occurrence in Nebraska. Such interpretations were facilitated by the computer generation of 468 maps showing monthly values of drought in Nebraska, from 1931 through 1969. While it was found that the frequency of consecutive drought is least in the central portion of the state, the intensity of drought is greatest in this region. Maps of correspondence which relate the areal correlation between rural population density and precipitation also indicate high positive relationships for central Nebraska. Interpretation of tree ring growth values using moving t-test plots …