An Examination Of Intrinsic Existence Value Towards Wildlife Of Columbus Zoo And Aquariums Tourists: Evaluating The Impact Of Behind The Scenes Programming, 2016 Eastern Kentucky University
An Examination Of Intrinsic Existence Value Towards Wildlife Of Columbus Zoo And Aquariums Tourists: Evaluating The Impact Of Behind The Scenes Programming, Robert Maxwell Lakes
Online Theses and Dissertations
Changes in climate and the corresponding environmental issues are major concerns facing the world today. Human consumption, which is leading the rapid depletion of the earth’s finite resources and causing a dramatic loss of biodiversity, is largely to blame (Pearson, Lowry, Dorrian, & Litchfield, 2014). American zoos and aquariums are positioned to create positive experiential relationships between zoo tourists and animals that have the potential to positively change the zoo tourists’ conservation behaviors. Challenges to changing the conservation behaviors of zoo tourists are many. One particularly important challenge is conservation/environmental education. Zoos and aquariums aim to provide effective and quality …
Nemo's Plight: Political Economy, Green-Cultural Criminology, And Fish Abuse, 2016 Eastern Kentucky University
Nemo's Plight: Political Economy, Green-Cultural Criminology, And Fish Abuse, Jordan Edward Mazurek
Online Theses and Dissertations
Using the Marine Aquarium Fish Trade as a case study, I propose an integrated theoretical framework in green criminology that strengthens the political economic "treadmill of production" theory (see Lynch et al., 2013) by incorporating an analysis of the "cultural grease" that ensures the treadmill’s smooth operation. Choosing fish as a subject matter, though, requires challenging the "thoroughgoing speciesism" (Beirne, 1999) inherent in the mammalian-centric animal abuse literature. To do this I draw from research in marine biology and animal cognition to philosophically establish that fish are moral agents, "subjects-of-a-life" (Regan, 1983) on par with mammals and thus worthy of …
Evaluating The Biogeochemical Functioning Of A Constructed Fen On The Post-Mining Landscape Of Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Fort Mcmurray, Alberta, Canada, 2016 Wilfrid Laurier University
Evaluating The Biogeochemical Functioning Of A Constructed Fen On The Post-Mining Landscape Of Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Fort Mcmurray, Alberta, Canada, Felix C. Nwaishi
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
Peatlands have a unique biogeochemical function, characterized by an imbalance between the rates of biomass accumulation and decomposition. These characteristics facilitate the ability of peatlands to support the sequestration of nutrients and carbon. In disturbed peatlands, these functions are compromised. Thus, reclamation targets amongst other key functions, the recovery of biogeochemical functioning. These functions could serve as a measure of recovery to conditions that are present in natural analogues. This thesis examines the recovery of microbially-mediated nutrient transformation processes in a fen peatland that was constructed on a post-mining landscape in the Athabasca oil sands region, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The …
Summary Tables: City Of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, 2016 Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Summary Tables: City Of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon A. Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, David Stanhope, Karen Duhring
Reports
The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).
The Role Of Microbial Exopolymers In Determining The Fate Of Oil And Chemical Dispersants In The Ocean, 2016 Old Dominion University
The Role Of Microbial Exopolymers In Determining The Fate Of Oil And Chemical Dispersants In The Ocean, Antonietta Quigg, Uta Passow, Wei-Chun Chin, Chen Xu, Shawn Doyle, Laura Bretherton, Manoj Kamalanathan, Alicia K. Williams, Jason B. Sylvan, Zoe V. Finkel, Anthony H. Knap, Kathleen A. Schwehr, Saijin Zhang, Luni Sun, Terry L. Wade, Wassim Obeid, Patrick G. Hatcher, Peter H. Santschi
Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications
The production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by planktonic microbes can influence the fate of oil and chemical dispersants in the ocean through emulsification, degradation, dispersion, aggregation, and/or sedimentation. In turn, microbial community structure and function, including the production and character of EPS, is influenced by the concentration and chemical composition of oil and chemical dispersants. For example, the production of marine oil snow and its sedimentation and flocculent accumulation to the seafloor were observed on an expansive scale after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Northern Gulf of Mexico in 2010, but little is known about the underlying …
Adaptation On A Budget: How Vietnamese Innovators Are Trying To Design Their Way Out Of Climate Change, 2016 University of Montana
Adaptation On A Budget: How Vietnamese Innovators Are Trying To Design Their Way Out Of Climate Change, Shanti R. Johnson
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
In the rapidly developing Mekong Delta of Vietnam, young innovators are facing a challenge far greater than simply trying to catch up with the wealthier world. In a growing trend, the next generation of Vietnamese is acting under a common understanding: climate change is real, it’s here and the time to respond is growing short.
For over a decade, Southern Vietnam has consistently been ranked by international organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as one of the most vulnerable places in the world to the impacts of climate change. That vulnerability is heightened by the fact that the …
Amino Acid Specific Stable Nitrogen Isotope Values In Avian Tissues: Insights From Captive American Kestrels And Wild Herring Gulls, 2016 National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa
Amino Acid Specific Stable Nitrogen Isotope Values In Avian Tissues: Insights From Captive American Kestrels And Wild Herring Gulls, C.E. Hebert, B.N. Popp, K.J. Fernie, C. Ka’Apu-Lyons, B.A. Rattner, N. Wallsgrove
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Through laboratory and field studies, the utility of amino acid compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis (AA-CSIA) in avian studies is investigated. Captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were fed an isotopically characterized diet and patterns in δ15N values of amino acids (AAs) were compared to those in their tissues (muscle and red blood cells) and food. Based upon nitrogen isotope discrimination between diet and kestrel tissues, AAs could mostly be categorized as source AAs (retaining baseline δ15N values) and trophic AAs (showing 15N enrichment). Trophic discrimination factors based upon the source (phenylalanine, Phe) and trophic (glutamic acid, Glu) AAs were 4.1 (muscle) …
Non-Linear Responses Of Glaciated Prairie Wetlands To Climate Warming, 2016 South Dakota State University, Brookings
Non-Linear Responses Of Glaciated Prairie Wetlands To Climate Warming, W. Carter Johnson, Brett Werner, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
The response of ecosystems to climate warming is likely to include threshold events when small changes in key environmental drivers produce large changes in an ecosystem. Wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) are especially sensitive to climate variability, yet the possibility that functional changes may occur more rapidly with warming than expected has not been examined or modeled. The productivity and biodiversity of these wetlands are strongly controlled by the speed and completeness of a vegetation cover cycle driven by the wet and dry extremes of climate. Two thresholds involving duration and depth of standing water must be exceeded …
A Spatio-Temporal Comparison Of Avian Migration Phenology Using Citizen Science Data, 2016 Georgetown University
A Spatio-Temporal Comparison Of Avian Migration Phenology Using Citizen Science Data, Ali Arab, Jason R. Courter, Jessica Zelt
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
The effects of climate change have wide-ranging impacts on wildlife species and recent studies indicate that birds’ spring arrival dates are advancing in response to changes in global climates. In this paper, we propose a spatio-temporal approach for comparing avian first arrival data for multiple species. As an example, we analyze spring arrival data for two long-distance migrants (Rubythroated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris; and Purple Martin Progne subis) in eastern North America from 2001–2010 using Citizen Science data. The proposed approach provides researchers with a tool to compare mean arrival dates while accounting for spatial and temporal variability. Our results show …
In-Air Hearing Of A Diving Duck: A Comparison Of Psychoacoustic And Auditory Brainstem Response Thresholds, 2016 U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
In-Air Hearing Of A Diving Duck: A Comparison Of Psychoacoustic And Auditory Brainstem Response Thresholds, Sara E. Crowell, Alicia M. Wells-Berlin, Ronald E. Therrien, Sally E. Yannuzzi, Catherine E. Carr
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Auditory sensitivity was measured in a species of diving duck that is not often kept in captivity, the lesser scaup. Behavioral (psychoacoustics) and electrophysiological [the auditory brainstem response (ABR)] methods were used to measure in-air auditory sensitivity, and the resulting audiograms were compared. Both approaches yielded audiograms with similar U-shapes and regions of greatest sensitivity (2000-3000 Hz). However, ABR thresholds were higher than psychoacoustic thresholds at all frequencies. This difference was least at the highest frequency tested using both methods (5700 Hz) and greatest at 1000 Hz, where the ABR threshold was 26.8 dB higher than the behavioral measure of …
Non-Linear Responses Of Glaciated Prairie Wetlands To Climate Warming, 2016 South Dakota State University
Non-Linear Responses Of Glaciated Prairie Wetlands To Climate Warming, W. Carter Johnson, Brett Werner, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
The response of ecosystems to climate warming is likely to include threshold events when small changes in key environmental drivers produce large changes in an ecosystem. Wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) are especially sensitive to climate variability, yet the possibility that functional changes may occur more rapidly with warming than expected has not been examined or modeled. The productivity and biodiversity of these wetlands are strongly controlled by the speed and completeness of a vegetation cover cycle driven by the wet and dry extremes of climate. Two thresholds involving duration and depth of standing water must be exceeded …
Phosphorus Retention In A Lowland Neotropical Stream Following An Eight-Year Enrichment Experiment, 2016 University of St Thomas, St Paul
Phosphorus Retention In A Lowland Neotropical Stream Following An Eight-Year Enrichment Experiment, Gaston E. Small, Marcelo Ardón, John H. Duff, Alan P. Jackman, Alonso Ramírez, Frank J. Triska, Catherine M. Pringle
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Human alteration of the global P cycle has led to widespread P loading in freshwater ecosystems. Much research has been devoted to the capacity of wetlands and lakes to serve as long-term sinks for P inputs from the watershed, but we know much less about the potential of headwater streams to serve in this role. We assessed storage and retention of P in biotic and abiotic compartments after an 8-y experimental P addition to a 1st-order stream in a Neotropical wet forest. Sediment P extractions indicated that nearly all P storage was in the form of Fe- and Al-bound P …
Gross And Microscopic Lesions In Corals From Micronesia, 2016 US Geological Survey
Gross And Microscopic Lesions In Corals From Micronesia, T. M. Work, G. S. Aeby, K. A. Hughen
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
The authors documented gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in corals on 7 islands spanning western, southern, and eastern Micronesia, sampling 76 colonies comprising 30 species of corals among 18 genera, with Acropora, Porites, and Montipora dominating. Tissue loss comprised the majority of gross lesions sampled (41%), followed by discoloration (30%) and growth anomaly (29%). Of 31 cases of tissue loss, most lesions were subacute (48%), followed by acute and chronic (26% each). Of 23 samples with discoloration, most were dark discoloration (40%), with bleaching and other discoloration each constituting 30%. Of 22 growth anomalies, umbonate growth anomalies composed …
Urban Sprawl As A Risk Factor In Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2016 University of Utah
Urban Sprawl As A Risk Factor In Motor Vehicle Crashes, Reid Ewing, Shima Hamidi, James B. Grace
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
A decade ago, compactness/sprawl indices were developed for metropolitan areas and counties which have been widely used in health and other research. In this study, we first update the original county index to 2010, then develop a refined index that accounts for more relevant factors, and finally seek to test the relationship between sprawl and traffic crash rates using structural equation modelling. Controlling for covariates, we find that sprawl is associated with significantly higher direct and indirect effects on fatal crash rates. The direct effect is likely due to the higher traffic speeds in sprawling areas, and the indirect effect …
Polaris: A 30-Meter Probabilistic Soil Series Map Of The Contiguous United States, 2016 Princeton University
Polaris: A 30-Meter Probabilistic Soil Series Map Of The Contiguous United States, Nathaniel W. Chaney, Eric F. Wood, Alexander B. Mcbratney, Jonathan W. Hempel, Travis W. Nauman, Colby W. Brungard, Nathan P. Odgers
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
A newcomplete map of soil series probabilities has been produced for the contiguous United States at a 30mspatial resolution. This innovative database, named POLARIS, is constructed using available high-resolution geospatial environmental data and a state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm (DSMART-HPC) to remap the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database. This 9 billion grid cell database is possible using available high performance computing resources. POLARIS provides a spatially continuous, internally consistent, quantitative prediction of soil series. It offers potential solutions to the primary weaknesses in SSURGO: 1) unmapped areas are gap-filled using survey data from the surrounding regions, 2) the artificial discontinuities at …
Geochemical Evidence For Seasonal Controls On The Transportation Of Holocene Loess, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska, Usa, 2016 U.S. Geological Survey
Geochemical Evidence For Seasonal Controls On The Transportation Of Holocene Loess, Matanuska Valley, Southern Alaska, Usa, Daniel R. Muhs, James R. Budahn, Gary Skipp, John P. Mcgeehin
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Loess is a widespread Quaternary deposit in Alaska and loess accretion occurs today in some regions, such as the Matanuska Valley. The source of loess in the Matanuska Valley has been debated for more than seven decades, with the Knik River and the Matanuska River, both to the east, being the leading candidates and the Susitna River, to the west, as a less favorable source. We report here new stratigraphic, mineralogic, and geochemical data that test the competing hypotheses of these river sources. Loess thickness data are consistent with previous studies that show that a source or sources lay to …
Retrospective: Adjusting Contaminant Concentrations In Bird Eggs To Account For Moisture And Lipid Loss During Their Incubation, 2016 U.S. Geological Survey
Retrospective: Adjusting Contaminant Concentrations In Bird Eggs To Account For Moisture And Lipid Loss During Their Incubation, Barnett A. Rattner, Stanley N. Wiemeyer, Lawrence J. Blus
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
By the 1960s, research and monitoring efforts on chlorinated
pesticide residues in tissues of wildlife were well
underway in North America and Europe. Conservationists
and natural resource managers were attempting to resolve
whether pesticide exposure and accumulated residues were
related to population declines in several species of predatory
and scavenging birds (e.g., bald eagle Haliaeetus
leucocephalus, peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus, brown
pelican Pelecanus occidentalis and osprey Pandion haliaetus).
The avian egg was a favored sampling matrix even
before the realization that eggshell thinning was linked to
population declines (Ratcliffe 1967; Hickey and Anderson
1968) and that the …
Evaluating Land Cover Influences On Model Uncertainties—A Case Study Of Cropland Carbon Dynamics In The Mid-Continent Intensive Campaign Region, 2016 South Dakota State University
Evaluating Land Cover Influences On Model Uncertainties—A Case Study Of Cropland Carbon Dynamics In The Mid-Continent Intensive Campaign Region, Zhengpeng Li, Shuguang Liu, Xuesong Zhang, Tristram O. West, Stephen M. Ogle, Naijun Zhou
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
tQuantifying spatial and temporal patterns of carbon sources and sinks and their uncertainties acrossagriculture-dominated areas remains challenging for understanding regional carbon cycles. Character-istics of local land cover inputs could impact the regional carbon estimates but the effect has not beenfully evaluated in the past. Within the North American Carbon Program Mid-Continent Intensive (MCI)Campaign, three models were developed to estimate carbon fluxes on croplands: an inventory-basedmodel, the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model, and the General Ensemble biogeo-chemical Modeling System (GEMS) model. They all provided estimates of three major carbon fluxes oncropland: net primary production (NPP), net ecosystem production (NEP), and …
Component Greenhouse Gas Fluxes And Radiative Balance From Two Deltaic Marshes In Louisiana: Pairing Chamber Techniques And Eddy Covariance, 2016 U.S. Geological Survey
Component Greenhouse Gas Fluxes And Radiative Balance From Two Deltaic Marshes In Louisiana: Pairing Chamber Techniques And Eddy Covariance, Ken W. Krauss, Guerry O. Holm Jr., Brian C. Perez, David E. Mcwhorter, Nicole Cormier, Rebecca F. Moss, Darren J. Johnson, Scott C. Neubauer, Richard C. Raynie
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Coastal marshes take up atmospheric CO2 while emitting CO2, CH4, and N2O. This ability to sequester carbon (C) is much greater for wetlands on a per area basis than from most ecosystems, facilitating scientific, political, and economic interest in their value as greenhouse gas sinks. However, the greenhouse gas balance of Gulf of Mexico wetlands is particularly understudied. We describe the net ecosystem exchange (NEEc) of CO2 and CH4 using eddy covariance (EC) in comparison with fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O using …
Mapping Marginal Croplands Suitable For Cellulosic Feedstock Crops In The Great Plains, United States, 2016 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
Mapping Marginal Croplands Suitable For Cellulosic Feedstock Crops In The Great Plains, United States, Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) for biofuel is more environmentally sustainable than cornbased ethanol. Specifically, this practice can reduce soil erosion and water quality impairment from pesticides and fertilizer, improve ecosystem services and sustainability (e.g., serve as carbon sinks), and minimize impacts on global food supplies. The main goal of this study was to identify high-risk marginal croplands that are potentially suitable for growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) in the US Great Plains (GP). Satellitederived growing season Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, a switchgrass biomass productivity map obtained from a previous study, US Geological Survey (USGS) irrigation and crop …