Physical and Environmental Geography Commons^™

Red Wolf Reintroduction: Land Ownership And Protection Status Analysis, Anna Frisbie

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Red wolves (Canis rufus) are critically endangered, and currently the only wild population exists in northeast NC (“Red Wolf,” FWS, n.d.). Here, I use geospatial analysis to investigate the potential for another wild population to establish in the Delmarva Peninsula. I consider land ownership and protection status because these factors influence local public support (Nie, 2001; Naughton-Treves et al., 2003; Berger-Tal et al., 2020), as well as reintroduction success (Carroll et al., 2003; Wolf & Ripple, 2018). I compare the ownership and protection status of land in the Delmarva Peninsula to that in the Albemarle Peninsula, where the red wolf …

Unfair: Investigating The Links Between Richmond’S Air Quality Issues And Environmental Racism, Charles Miller

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

With breathable air being a resource inequitably distributed among populations based on race and socioeconomic status, this study’s objective was to analyze heat and air quality distributions in Richmond, Virginia and provide recommendations for minimizing its effects throughout the city. Richmond provided an ideal subject for this analysis as it has a lengthy history of racial segregation and discrimination and is one of the worst ranking cities for Asthma sufferers. Background was given on environmental racism as a means of systemic disproportionate pollution distribution to minorities, urban air pollution( via Fine Particulate Matter/PM 2.5) and the historical housing segregation process …

Invasive Plant Management At Huguenot Flatwater, Antonia Kempe

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Invasive plants have become a wicked problem of the 21st century. Brought to areas outside of their native range by humans, they cause ecological and economic harm by disrupting ecosystem dynamics that in turn affect humans. Management methods include mechanical, chemical, and biological treatments, but each of these have their own advantages and limitations, which further adds to the complexities of invasive plant management. Units of the James River Park System in Richmond, Virginia are plagued by invasive plants, which are managed by the Invasive Plant Task Force. One of these units, Huguenot Flatwater, is overrun by invasive plants but …

Economics Of Red Wolf Reintroduction, Logan West

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

In any animal reintroduction, one main component that is heavily evaluated is the economics of the reintroduction process of introducing an endangered animal to a specific area. Red wolves in specific, have a strong economic correlation between ecotourism and economics, as red wolves are an almost extinct species. In this analysis, I examined the economics of ecotourism as a benefit for red wolf reintroduction into the Delmarva. Additionally, I further examined how ecosystem services are an additional benefit to the economics in Delmarva. I used two case studies in my analysis to determine if the Delmarva Peninsula would enhance economically …

Feasibility Of Introduced Species Into The Westhampton Lake For Pollution Control, Kathryn Grage

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Westhampton Lake, located at the University of Richmond in Virginia is a man made lake that feeds into the James river. The lake itself suffers from pollution and above average nutrient loads from external sources. There have been efforts to try to reduce some pollution from the lake but this research proposes and explores the viability of introducing species into the lake for the same purpose. Two types of animals proposed for introduction into the lake are common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae). Sterilized common carp are proposed as a short term solution to removal of invasive …

Landslide Detection In The Himalayas Using Machine Learning Algorithms And U-Net, Sansar Raj Meena, Lucas Pedrosa Soares, Carlos H. Grohmann, Cees Van Westen, Kushanav Bhuyan, Ramesh P. Singh, Mario Floris, Filippo Catani

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Event-based landslide inventories are essential sources to broaden our understanding of the causal relationship between triggering events and the occurring landslides. Moreover, detailed inventories are crucial for the succeeding phases of landslide risk studies like susceptibility and hazard assessment. The openly available inventories differ in the quality and completeness levels. Event-based landslide inventories are created based on manual interpretation, and there can be significant differences in the mapping preferences among interpreters. To address this issue, we used two different datasets to analyze the potential of U-Net and machine learning approaches for automated landslide detection in the Himalayas. Dataset-1 is composed …

Tibetan Dust Accumulation Linked To Ecological And Landscape Response To Global Climate Change, Xianmei Huang, Xiaodong Miao, Qiufang Chang, Jiemei Zhong, Joseph A. Mason, Paul R. Hanson, Xianjiao Ou, Liubing Xu, Zhongping Lai

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a hotspot of earth system research, and understanding its landscape and ecosystem evolution has been hampered by the lack of time-constrained geological records. Geochronological data from 14 loess sites covering a large region in the Tibetan interior show that the TP loess, rather than accumulating during glacial periods, began aggrading at either 13.4 ± 0.4 or 9.9 ± 0.2 ka. An ecological threshold was crossed, when warmer and wetter conditions resulted in increased vegetation cover enabling dust trapping. This dust accumulation model is out of phase with that of the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) where …

Pronounced Increases In Nitrogen Emissions And Deposition Due To The Historic 2020 Wildfires In The Western U.S., Patrick C. Campbell, Daniel Tong, Rick Saylor, Yunyao Lii, Siqi Ma, Xiaoyang Zhang, Shoba Kondragunta, Fangjun Li

GSCE Faculty Publications

Wildfire outbreaks can lead to extreme biomass burning (BB) emissions of both oxidized (e.g., nitrogen oxides; NOx= NO+NO2) and reduced form(e.g., ammonia; NH3) nitrogen (N) compounds. High N emissions aremajor concerns for air quality, atmospheric deposition, and consequential human and ecosystemhealth impacts. In this study, we use both satellite-based observations and modeling results to quantify the contribution of BB to the total emissions, and approximate the impact on total N deposition in the western U.S. Our results show that during the 2020 wildfire season of August–October, BB contributes significantly to the total emissions, with a satellite-derived fraction of NH3 to …

Introduction: Climate Change And Planned Retreat, Idowu Jola Ajibade, A. R. Siders

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chapter 1.

This edited volume advances our understanding of climate relocation (or planned retreat), an emerging topic in the fields of climate adaptation and hazard risk, and provides a platform for alternative voices and views on the subject. As the effects of climate change become more severe and widespread, there is a growing conversation about when, where and how people will move. Climate relocation is a controversial adaptation strategy, yet the process can also offer opportunity and hope. This collection grapples with the environmental and social justice dimensions from multiple perspectives, with cases drawn from Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, South …

Progressive Destabilization And Triggering Mechanism Analysis Using Multiple Data For Chamoli Rockslide Of 7 February 2021, Wenfei Mao, Lixin Wu, Ramesh P. Singh, Yuan Qi, Busheng Xie, Yingjia Liu, Yifan Ding, Zilong Zhou, Jia Li

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

A catastrophic rockslide occurred on 7 February 2021 in Chamoli area in the high Himalaya. In the absence of field data, multiple satellites data of decade span have been used to investigate and understand the progressive destabilization of rockslide body. A 3D geometric model was developed using geospatial information about geology, terrain, and ice cover to understand the triggering mechanism. Several causes are uncovered as: the pronounced long-term change of land surface temperature facilitated local permafrost degradation and led to ice cover shrinking since 2010; the occurrence of ice avalanche nearby in 2016 accompanying with sidewall-to-bedrock fracturing enhanced the ice …

Paleohydrological Context For Recent Floods And Droughts In The Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Canada, Becky L. Brice, Bethany L. Coulthard, Inga K. Homfeld, Laura A. Dye, Kevin J. Anchukaitis

Geoscience Faculty Publications

The recent intensification of floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin (FRB) of British Columbia has had profound cultural, ecological, and economic impacts that are expected to be exacerbated further by anthropogenic climate change. In part due to short instrumental runoff records, the long-Term stationarity of hydroclimatic extremes in this major North American watershed remains poorly understood, highlighting the need to use high-resolution paleoenvironmental proxies to inform on past streamflow. Here we use a network of tree-ring proxy records to develop 11 subbasin-scale, complementary flood-and drought-season reconstructions, the first of their kind. The reconstructions explicitly target management-relevant flood and …

Spatial Proximity Matters: A Study On Collaboration, Arianna Salazar Miranda, Matthew Claudel

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

As scientific research becomes increasingly cross-disciplinary, many universities seek to support collaborative activity through new buildings and institutions. This study examines the impacts of spatial proximity on collaboration at MIT from 2005 to 2015. By exploiting a shift in the location of researchers due to building renovations, we evaluate how discrete changes in physical proximity affect the likelihood that researchers co-author. The findings suggest that moving researchers into the same building increases their propensity to collaborate, with the effect plateauing five years after the move. The effects are large when compared to the average rate of collaboration among pairs of …

2021-22 Title Iii, Bruce Scovill

Title III Professional Development Reports

No abstract provided.

On Aqueducts And Anxiety: Water Infrastructure, Ruination, And A Region-Scaled Anthropocene Imaginary, Sayd Randle

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper explores popular expectations for and meanings of the U.S. West's environmental future, as articulated through recent artistic representations of the Los Angeles's expansive water provision network. Weaving together material from participant observation and readings of creative works, I show how infrastructural imagery is used to index anxieties about a future of water scarcity. Presenting familiar, currently functional water infrastructures as ruins-in-the-making, these artists use the physical stuff of water provision networks to advance critiques of longstanding modes of development and the material basis of urban-rural relations in the U.S. West. Doing so, these imagined ruins draw the global-scale …

Gis Map Report Of The Robert Porter Allen Natural Area At The Sylvan Dell Environmental Center, Matthew Semeraro

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

How Do Environmental Factors Affect Drivers’ Gaze And Head Movements?, Arash Tavakoli, Vahid Balali, Arsalan Heydarian

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Studies have shown that environmental factors affect driving behaviors. For instance, weather conditions and the presence of a passenger have been shown to significantly affect the speed of the driver. As one of the important measures of driving behavior is the gaze and head movements of the driver, such metrics can be potentially used towards understanding the effects of environmental factors on the driver’s behavior in real-time. In this study, using a naturalistic study platform, videos have been collected from six participants for more than four weeks of a fully naturalistic driving scenario. The videos of both the participants’ faces …

Butte Reclamation Evaluation System Field Manual, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

El Atlas De Las Carreteras Propuestas En La Zona Transfronteriza Ucayali, Perú-Acre, Brasil, David S. Salisbury, Stephanie A. Spera, Elspeth Collard*, Anna Frisbie*, M. R. Place*, Yunuen Reygadas Langarica, Elizabeth Zizzamia

Multimedia

El Atlas de las Carreteras Propuestas en la Zona Transfronteriza Ucayali, Perú-Acre, Brasil incluye una serie de 15 mapas de dos carreteras propuestas: 1) Pucallpa, Perú-Cruzeiro do Sul, Brasil; 2) Nuevo Italia-Puerto Breu, Perú. El objetivo del atlas es presentar los mapas, posters, e información geográfica para dar una perspectiva geográfica de las propuestas de carreteras y entender mejor los posibles impactos socio-ambientales en estas áreas fronterizas con altos índices en diversidad ambiental y cultural. Los mapas y posters son de acceso público.

Connectivity: Insights From The U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network, David M. Iwaniec, Michael Gooseff, Katharine Suding, David Samuel Johnson, Daniel C. Reed, Debra Peters, Byron Adams, John E. Barrett, Brandon Bestelmeyer, Max C.N. Castorani, Elizabeth M. Cook, Melissa J. Davidson, Peter F. Groffman, Niall Hanan, Laura Huenneke, Pieter T.J. Johnson, Diane Mcknight, Robert J. Miller, Gregory Okin, Daniel Preston, Andrew Rassweiler, Chris Ray, Osvaldo Sala, Robert L. Schooley, Timothy Seastedt, Marko Spasojevic, Enrique R. Vivoni

Sustainable Futures Lab Publications

Ecosystems across the United States are changing in complex and surprising ways. Ongoing demand for critical ecosystem services requires an understanding of the populations and communities in these ecosystems in the future. This paper represents a synthesis effort of the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network addressing the core research area of “populations and communities.” The objective of this effort was to show the importance of long-term data collection and experiments for addressing the hardest questions in scientific ecology that have significant implications for environmental policy and management. Each LTER site developed at least one compelling case …

Assessment Of Urban Flood Vulnerability Using The Social-Ecological-Technological Systems Framework In Six Us Cities, Heejun Chang, Arun Pallathadka, Jason Sauer, Nancy B. Grimm, Rae Zimmerman, Chingwen Cheng, David Iwaniec, Yeowon Kim, Multiple Additional Authors

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

As urban populations continue to grow through the 21st century, more people are projected to be at risk of exposure to climate change-induced extreme events. To investigate the complexity of urban floods, this study applied an interlinked social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) vulnerability framework by developing an urban flood vulnerability index for six US cities. Indicators were selected to reflect and illustrate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to flooding for each of the three domains of SETS. We quantified 18 indicators and normalized them by the cities’ 500-yr floodplain area at the census block group level. Clusters of flood vulnerable areas were …

Evaluating Urban Parks Accessibility And Equity: A Case Study Of Hartford, Ct And New Haven, Ct, Natalie Roach, Mara Tu

Honors Scholar Theses

Public parks provide cities with environmental benefits, positive health effects, recreational opportunities, community building, educational spaces, and public amenities. However, certain populations have been systematically denied their fair share of these benefits because of unjust practices in the creation and maintenance of urban parks. With a lens of environmental justice, the goal of this research was to assess park quality and accessibility of two Connecticut cities, Hartford and New Haven, by gathering publicly available information as well as using GIS tools.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has an existing ParkScore rating system that evaluates the quality of a city’s …

Análisis De Los Impactos Socio-Ambientales De Dos Rutas De La Carretera Propuesta Entre Pucallpa, Perú Y Cruzeiro Do Sul, Brasil., A. Frisbie *, E. Collard *, E. Zizzamia, D. S. Salisbury, V. Galati, S. Spera

Conference Presentations and Posters

À medida que a construção de estradas na Amazônia continua a ser proposta e promovida por governos do Brasil e do Peru, torna-se cada vez mais importante considerar os efeitos que essa infraestrutura pode ter nas diversas culturas e ecossistemas da Amazônia. Uma das propostas em discussão é uma rodovia de 200 km que ligaria as cidades de Pucallpa, no Peru, e Cruzeiro do Sul, no Brasil. Embora a estrada seja promovida como economicamente vantajosa, a rota passará perto, se não cruzar, territórios indígenas e áreas de conservação protegidas, notadamente o Parque Nacional Sierra del Divisor. A região de Sierra …

Aspects Of Climate Change, Anthony Defusco

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Climate change continues to become a global issue, and with that, more people being affected by the harmful factors that come with it. Climate change not only effects the environment, but also has aspects of cultural and health issues. Different cultures view this problem differently than other as it affects different aspects of that culture. Health risk is on the rise as air pollution is more prominent and diseases spread. The climate is being warmed, causing extreme weather and drought. These different perspectives on global warming allow for new and unknowing people to be exposed to this issue and allow …

Análisis De Los Impactos Socio-Ambientales De La Carretera Propuesta Trocha Uc-105 Entre Nuevo Italia Y Puerto Breu, Ucayali, Perú, M. R. Place *, E. Zizzamia, D. S. Salisbury, V. Galati, S. Spera

Conference Presentations and Posters

La construcción de carreteras se promueve cada vez más en las zonas fronterizas que comparten Perú y Brasil a pesar de una comprensión incompleta de los impactos socioambientales de la infraestructura de transporte en la región. Las carreteras amazónicas a menudo se expanden de manera informal, sin un proceso gubernamental oficial, consulta previa de las poblaciones indígenas y declaraciones de impacto ambiental. La expansión de las carreteras amazónicas también suele seguir un ciclo de retroalimentación progresiva, con carreteras nuevas y no planificadas que generan caminos de tala ilegal y una expansión agrícola que a su vez amplía y formaliza los …

Análisis De Los Impactos Socio-Ambientales De Las Carretera Propuesta Trocha Uc-105 Entre Nuevo Italia Y Puerto Breu, Ucayali, Perú, M. R. Place *, E. Zizzamia, D. S. Salisbury, V. Galati, S. Spera

Conference Presentations and Posters

A construção de estradas é cada vez mais promovida nas fronteiras compartilhadas pelo Peru e pelo Brasil, apesar de uma compreensão incompleta dos impactos socioambientais da infraestrutura de transporte na região. As estradas amazônicas geralmente se expandem informalmente, sem processo oficial do governo, consulta prévia das populações indígenas e declarações de impacto ambiental. A expansão das estradas na Amazônia também freqüentemente segue um ciclo de feedback progressivo, com novas estradas não planejadas gerando caminhos ilegais de extração de madeira e expansão agrícola que, por sua vez, expande e formaliza os sistemas de estradas. Um sistema de estradas em expansão está …

Análisis De Los Impactos Socio-Ambientales De Dos Rutas De La Carretera Propuesta Entre Pucallpa, Perú Y Cruzeiro Do Sul, Brasil., A. Frisbie *, E. Collard *, E. Zizzamia, D. S. Salisbury, V. Galati, S. Spera

Conference Presentations and Posters

A medida que los gobiernos de Brasil y Perú continúan proponiendo y promoviendo la construcción de carreteras a través de la Amazonía, se vuelve cada vez más importante considerar los efectos que esta infraestructura podría tener en las diversas culturas y ecosistemas de la Amazonía. Una de las propuestas en discusión es una vía de 280+ km que conectaría las ciudades de Pucallpa, Perú y Cruzeiro do Sul, Brasil. Si bien la carretera se promociona como económicamente beneficiosa, la ruta pasará cerca, si no cruzará, territorios indígenas y áreas de conservación protegidas, en particular el Parque Nacional Serra do Divisor. …

Global Studies Initiative Faculty Report: Interdisciplinary Collaborations, Brooke Ferguson

Global Studies Initiatives in Social Sciences 2020 - 2021

No abstract provided.

Building A Long-Time Series For Weather And Extreme Weather In The Straits Settlements: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach To The Archives Of Societies, Fiona Williamson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In comparison to the Northern Hemisphere, especially Europe and North America, there is a scarcity of information regarding the historic weather and climate of Southeast Asia and the Southern Hemisphere in general. The reasons for this are both historic and political, yet that does not mean that such data do not exist. Much of the early instrumental weather records for Southeast Asia stem from the colonial period and, with some countries and regions changing hands between the European powers, surviving information tends to be scattered across the globe making its recovery a long and often arduous task. This paper focuses …

Protocol For Monitoring Fish Communities In Small Streams In The Heartland Inventory And Monitoring Network, Version 2.0, Hope R. Dodd, David G. Peitz, Gareth Rowell, Janice A. Hinsey, David E. Bowles, Lloyd W. Morrison, Michael D. Debacker, Jennifer L. Haack-Gaynor, Jeffrey M. Williams

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Fish communities are an important component of aquatic systems and are good bioindicators of ecosystem health. Land use changes in the Midwest have caused sedimentation, erosion, and nutrient loading that degrades and fragments habitat and impairs water quality. Because most small wadeable streams in the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network (HTLN) have a relatively small area of their watersheds located within park boundaries, these streams are at risk of degradation due to adjacent land use practices and other anthropogenic disturbances. Shifts in the physical and chemical properties of aquatic systems have a dramatic effect on the biotic community. …

Ecological Risk Assessment Of Managed Relocation As A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, Aviv Karasov-Olson, Mark W. Schwartz, Julian D. Olden, Sarah Skikne, Jessica J. Hellmann, Sarah Allen, Christy Brigham, Danielle Buttke, David J. Lawrence, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Gregor W. Schuurman, Melissa Trammell, Cat Hawkins Hoffman

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Changing climate and introduced species are placing an increasing number of species at risk of extinction. Increasing extinction risk is increasing calls to protect species by relocating, or translocating, them to locations with more favorable biotic or climatic conditions. Managed relocation, or assisted migration, of species entails risks to both the conservation target organisms being moved as well as the recipient ecosystems into which they are moved.

Recognizing this risk, calls have been made for practitioners interested in considering a managed relocation project to engage in a serious risk assessment prior to advancing a project. We engaged a …