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Evaluating Stable Isotope And Geochronologic Techniques For Paleoclimate Reconstruction: Case Study Of The Santa Cruz Formation, Argentina, Robin B. Trayler

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Stable isotope analysis has become the method of choice for many studies investigating the paleoecology and paleoclimate of fossil mammal faunas. While organic tissues (collagen, keratins, proteins) persist for < 10⁵ years highly mineralized tooth enamel is resistant to alteration and degradation and faithfully preserves its isotopic composition for millions (> 10⁶) years. Reconstructing past climates from these records relies on both understanding both micro-scale mechanisms of isotope incorporation into individual teeth, and macro-scale changes in isotope compositions over hundreds of thousands or millions of years. In this dissertation I address three questions.

First, how does the geometry and …

Methanogens, Plausible Extraterrestrial Life Forms On Mars, And Their Tolerance To Increasing Concentrations Of Illite Clay, Chandler Kern

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Methanogens, some of Earth’s most primitive prokaryotic organisms, are candidates for possible life forms capable of inhabiting Mars. Specifically, four different species (Methanobacterium formicicum, Methanococcus maripaludis, Methanosarcina barkeri, Methanothermobacter wolfeii) were analyzed for their tolerance to the presence of illite clay. Illite is a crystalline mineral that has been identified from regions of Mars’s surface. Results indicated that all four species grew with some success in the illite at different concentrations. This experimentation with methanogens’ abilities to survive and reproduce in the presence of illite allows for a more accurate understanding of the potential capability of microbial …

Impacts Of Habitat Attributes And Community Gardens On Urban Bird Communities, Samuel Glenn Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations

The Rio Grande Valley of Southern Texas is a major agricultural region yet has some of the highest hunger rates in the USA. Urbanization and agriculture affect biodiversity, which is well studied, but little is known about how agriculture affects biodiversity in urban areas. We investigated how different urban attributes, including those related to urban farming, impact bird communities in Brownsville and Harlingen, TX, and compared sites that have community gardens to those that do not. To study three key urban habitat characteristics, we identified sites that exhibited all possible combinations of these factors, quantified land cover classes related to …

Evaluation Of A Sequential Pond System For Detention And Treatment Of Runoff At Skypark, Santa's Village, Elizabeth Caporuscio

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Understanding the extent to which human activities impact surface water resources has become increasingly important as both human population growth and related landscape changes impact water quality and quantity across varying geographical scales. Skypark, Santa’s Village is a 233.76-acre tourism-based outdoor recreation area located in Skyforest, California residing within the San Bernardino National Forest. The park is situated at Hooks Creek, the headwaters of the Mojave River Watershed, and is characterized by a diverse landscape that includes forest cover and human development, including impervious surfaces, a restored meadow, and recreational trails. In 2016, Hencks Meadow was considered degraded by human …

Chemical Treatment To Reduce Turbidity In Pumped Construction Site Water, James Jihoon Kang, Joshua W. Vetter, Richard A. Mclaughlin

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Many construction projects need to pump turbid water from borrow pits or other excavations into stilling basins or sediment filter bags prior to discharge. This study evaluated the effectiveness of these devices with polyacrylamide (PAM) injection to reduce effluent turbidity. Results from laboratory jar tests using two coastal plain sediments of North Carolina suggested that a cationic PAM was the most effective in reducing turbidity, followed by a nonionic PAM. Anionic PAM was effective in whole-soil jar tests but not when turbid supernatant was tested. A stilling basin was not effective in reducing the turbidity of the pumped water without …

Environmental Fate And Microbial Effects Of Monensin, Lincomycin, And Sulfamethazine Residues In Soil, Matteo D'Alessio, Lisa M. Durso, Daniel N. Miller, Brian Woodbury, Chittaranjan Ray, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The impact of commonly-used livestock antibiotics on soil nitrogen transformations under varying redox conditions is largely unknown. Soil column incubations were conducted using three livestock antibiotics (monensin, lincomycin and sulfamethazine) to better understand the fate of the antibiotics, their effect on nitrogen transformation, and their impact on soil microbial communities under aerobic, anoxic, and denitrifying conditions. While monensin was not recovered in the effluent, lincomycin and sulfamethazine concentrations decreased slightly during transport through the columns. Sorption, and to a limited extent degradation, are likely to be the primary processes leading to antibiotic attenuation during leaching. Antibiotics also affected microbial respiration …

The Role Of Mites In The Construction And Weathering Of Siliceous Biospeleothems, María José López-Galindo

International Journal of Speleology

Acarines are well-documented as formative elements in the biocenosis of soils. However, their role in the construction and weathering of siliceous speleothems has received very little attention in previous research. The present study describes different groups of cavities (nesting/molting sites) excavated by these organisms in the surface of siliceous speleothems that are deposited in the fissures between various granite boulders in Southern Spain. There is evidence that there are immature stages that would survive the heat and drought of summer in the form of small larvae, or euedaphic nymphs, in the soil. This study provides the first description of how …

Observing Soil Changes Under Common Cropping Practices In Kentucky, Samantha Peterson, Iin Handayani, Alyx Shultz Dr, Brian Parr

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Cropping production and tillage systems lead to loss of soil organic matter (SOM), lowering soil pH, and soil compaction in Kentucky. However, the magnitude of the changes varied among the soil properties. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the changes in SOM, soil pH, and soil compaction under different cropping systems like corn-soybean-tobacco rotation (Field #1), continuous corn field (Field #2), hemp field (Field #3), wheat field (Field #4), pasture with animal grazing (Field #5), and canola field (Field #6). The prominent soil textures in all fields are silt loam and silty clay loam. Disturbed soil samples …

High-Precision Lead Isotope Analysis On Modern Populations To Determine Geolocation Reliability, Gennifer M. Goad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forensic anthropologists increasingly use chemical isotope analysis in the investigation of unidentified human remains, as biochemical georeferencing continually improves with the development of modern reference data of known origins. Isotope variations in trace elements such as strontium (Sr) and lead (Pb) in human teeth are some of the most useful indicators of past domicile in archaeological research and thus have high potential for modern, forensic applications. In this study, high-precision lead isotope analysis was conducted on 63 modern human teeth, which were previously analyzed for strontium isotopes. The results present new lead isotope data for the following countries: United States …

Relating Cyanobacteria And Physicochemical Water-Quality Properties In Willow Creek Lake, Nebraska, 2012–14, David L. Rus, Brent M. Hall, Steven A. Thomas

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Document abstract

Cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) are naturally present members of phytoplankton assemblages that may detract from beneficial uses of water because some strains produce cyanotoxins that pose health hazards to people and animals. Cyanobacteria populations observed in Willow Creek Lake during 2012 through 2014 were compared to external nutrient loading from the Willow Creek drainage basin and several other physicochemical properties within the lake, including internal nutrient loading. This report is part of a cooperative study between the United States Geological Survey, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the Nebraska …

Proceedings Of The First Annual Symposium On The Wright State Woods, College Of Science And Mathematics, College Of Liberal Arts

1st Annual Wright State Woods Symposium

The proceeding of the Woods Symposium held at Wright State University and sponsored by the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Liberal Arts.

Water, Energy, And Carbon Footprints Of Bioethanol From The U.S. And Brazil, Mesfin Mekonnen, Thiago L. Romanelli, Chittaranjan Ray, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Adam Liska, Christopher M. U. Neale

Adam Liska Papers

Driven by biofuel policies, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase domestic energy supply, global production and consumption of bioethanol have doubled between 2007 and 2016, with rapid growth in corn-based bioethanol in the U.S. and sugar cane-based bioethanol in Brazil. Advances in crop yields, energy use efficiency in fertilizer production, biomass-to-ethanol conversion rates, and energy efficiency in ethanol production have improved the energy balance and GHG emission reduction potential of bioethanol. In the current study, the water, energy, and carbon footprints of bioethanol from corn in the U.S. and sugar cane in Brazil were assessed. The …

Variations Of Soil Qualities In Urban And Rural Areas, Gabby Barnes, Iin Handayani, Steve Still

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variations of soil characteristics under different management practices in rural soils versus urban soils. In this study, soil samples from rural areas in Kentucky were collected from a woodland plot, a no-till plot, and a tilled plot. The soil samples from the rural were taken from two depths in order to better evaluate the effect of tillage on the soil. A shallow depth of 0-7cm and a deep depth of 7-15cm were used. Soil samples were also taken from urban plots in Memphis, TN. The sampled plots included were an animal …

Microbial Diversity In Urban Environments: Concern For Antibiotic Resistance, Ality Aghedo, Mangala Tawde, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

We are almost oblivious to the presence of microorganisms in our daily lives, but they exist and come into contact with us all the time. While some bacteria are harmless, and even beneficial, other bacteria can cause infections. A common treatment to bacterial infections is antibiotics and the success of an antibiotic depends on the resistance of the bacteria to the antibiotic. We conducted experiments to identify the types of bacteria that can be found on surfaces or within soil environments that come into contact with a vast number of people on a daily basis and how this can affect …

Examining Patterns In Nest Predation Using Artificial Nests, Victoria L. Simonsen

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

The use of artificial nests to study the predation of avian nests has faced disregard by ecologists due to inconsistencies found between the survival rates of real and artificial nests across studies and reviews. The negative perception of artificial nests providing an inconsistent assessment of survival has thus fostered the perception that artificial nests are a secondary option to be used to overcome logistical hurdles associated with achieving sufficient sample sizes in systems where study species are rare or elusive, or as merely a preliminary method to study predation across gradients. We argue that the greatest mistake ecologists have made …

Postseismic Restoration Of The Ecological Environment In The Wenchuan Region Using Satellite Data, Zhibin Huang, Min Xu, Wei Chen, Xiaojuan Lin, Chunxiang Cao, Ramesh Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Using Landsat remote-sensing data combined with geological information extracted from ALOS and Sentinel-1A radar data, the ecological environment was evaluated in the years 2007, 2008, 2013, and 2017 through gray correlation analysis on the basis of the construction of the pressure-state-response model. The main objective of this research was to assess the ecological environment changes in Wenchuan County before and after the earthquake, and to provide reference for future social development and policy implementation. The grading map of the ecological environment was obtained for every year, and the ecological restoration status of Wenchuan County after the earthquake was evaluated. The …

Writing And Designing A Chapter On Mercury And Pluto For The Textbook Exploring The Planets (Explanet.Info), Braxton Clark Spilker

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the Planets (http://explanet.info) is a free online college textbook covering thebasic concepts of planetary science emphasizing the character and evolution of the planetarybodies in the Solar System. The latest edition (3rd edition) was published online in 2007 by EricH Christiansen. Since the release of the third edition, two important planetary missions havebeen completed: MESSENGER (to Mercury) and New Horizons (to Pluto). These missionsprovided new information and fundamental insights into these planetary bodies, which have notyet been included in Exploring the Planets. The modern results based on recent investigations ofMercury and Pluto are critical for our understanding of the nature …

Mesobot : An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle For Tracking And Sampling Midwater Targets, Dana R. Yoerger, Molly Curran, Justin Fujii, Christopher R. German, Daniel Gomez-Ibanez, Annette F. Govindarajan, Jonathan C. Howland, Joel K. Llopiz, Peter H. Wiebe, Brett W. Hobson, Kakani Katija, Michael Risi, Bruce H. Robison, Cailean J. Wilkinson, Stephen M. Rock, John A. Breier

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Mesobot, a new class of autonomous underwater vehicle, will address specific unmet needs for observing slow-moving targets in the midwater ocean. Mesobot will track targets such as zooplankton, fish, and descending particle aggregates using a control system based on stereo cameras and a combination of thrusters and a variable buoyancy system. The vehicle will also be able to collect biogeochemical and environmental DNA (eDNA) samples using a pumped filter sampler.

Managing Risk In Grazing Operations, Christopher D. Teutsch, Kenneth H. Burdine

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Risk is an inherent part of agricultural production systems. Crane and coworkers (2013) identified five primary areas of risk in grazing operations: 1) MARKETING risk, 2) PRODUCTION risk, 3) LEGAL risk, 4) HUMAN risk, and FINANCIAL risk. These types of risk are described in the accompanying publication entitled “Controlling Risk in Grazing-Based Production Systems” by J. Parsons. This article will discuss the risk associated with “production” in grazing systems, focusing specifically on managing drought in grass based production operations.

Keys To Optimizing Profitability In Cow-Calf Production -- Rooster's Beef, 3 Generations Of Farming & Beef, William Slaton, Becky Slaton

Kentucky Grazing Conference

Rooster's Beef ultimately began with our family farm -Rocky Bluff Farm - now owned by William and Becky Slaton. It is the cattle producer for our beef sold. The farm is named after two Natural Rock Formations on our property. We have several acres of pasture and including some wooded acres. With rotational grazing and intense management, we are able to have 65 cows in a spring calving group, 15 cows in a fall calving group, 3 bulls, 13 replacement heifers, unweaned calves and 12 calves on finisher feed. We also rent ground to raise and put up our own …

Turning Grass Into Cash With Small Ruminants, Kenneth Andries

Kentucky Grazing Conference

As agriculture continues to change, it is important to consider sustainability before starting or expanding any enterprise. One critical factor in any animal agriculture enterprise is controlling feeding costs. Most research indicates feeding is the largest expenses in any livestock enterprise. However, nutrition is critical to overall productivity and the income of the enterprise. Because of this, producers need to find ways to improve nutrient availability while minimizing costs to optimize production and profitability for their livestock enterprise.

Considerations For Making A Profit With Stocker Cattle, Jeff Lehmkuhler

Kentucky Grazing Conference

The southeast is home to more than 7.3 million beef cows (USDA 2018). At an estimated 80% weaning rate and 20% heifer retention, the southeast region would be expected to produce more than 4.6 million feeder calves that would go to market in 2018. The cow-calf industry in the region provides an opportunity for the stocker and backgrounding operations to co-exist. Much of the land in the region is best suited for forage and pasture production, which at the current moment, provides a low cost feed for adding pounds to light weight feeder cattle. Yet, the stocker and backgrounding segments …

Measuring Profitability In Grazing Operations, Kenneth H. Burdine

Kentucky Grazing Conference

When producers make investments in extending their grazing season, they do so in order to obtain an economic benefit. These benefits usually include a reduction in the number of days that stored feed (typically hay) is fed, an increase in carry capacity or stocking rate, or an increase in production level (rates of gain, weaning weights, etc). While all of these are potential benefits of improved grazing systems, a reduction in winter feeding days is often the simplest way to start. When the grazing season is extended, winter feeding days are reduced, and this cost savings can be weighed against …

Quantitative Appraisal Of Non-Irrigated Cropland In South Dakota, Shelby Riggs

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This appraisal attempts to remove subjectivity from the appraisal process and replace it with quantitative analysis of known data to generate a fair market value of the subject property. Two methods of appraisal were used, the income approach and the comparable sales approach. For the income approach, I used the average cash rent for the region, the current property taxes for the subject property, and a capitalization rate based on Stokes' (2018) capitalization rate formula to arrive at my income-based valuation. For the comparable sales approach, I utilized Stokes' (2018) research in optimization modeling to estimate a market value for …

First Observations Of Volcanic Eruption Clouds From The L1 Earth-Sun Lagrange Point By Dscovr/Epic, Simon Carn, N. A. Krotov, B. L. Fisher, C. Li, A. J. Prata

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions have been measured by ultraviolet sensors on polar‐orbiting satellites for several decades but with limited temporal resolution. This precludes studies of key processes believed to occur in young (~1–3 hr old) volcanic clouds. In 2015, the launch of the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) provided an opportunity for novel observations of volcanic eruption clouds from the first Earth‐Sun Lagrange point (L1). The L1 vantage point provides continuous observations of the sunlit Earth, offering up to eight or nine observations of volcanic SO₂ clouds in the …

Nutrient Addition And Drought Interact To Change The Structure And Decrease The Functional Diversity Of A Mediterranean Grassland, Carla Nogueira, Alice Nunes, Miguel N. Bugalho, Cristina Branquinho, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Maria Conceição Caldeira

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic activities are increasing nutrient availability and altering precipitation regimes. This may lead to critical changes in grasslands functioning. This is particularly important for grasslands in the Mediterranean Basin that have evolved in nutrient poor soils, and where more frequent and prolonged droughts are projected to occur. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the interacting effects of multiple nutrient inputs and rainfall variability on the plant functional structure and diversity of Mediterranean grasslands. We conducted a nutrient addition experiment in a Mediterranean grassland during four contrasting precipitation years. We established four treatments that varied in the number of added nutrients, …

Detection, Occurrence And Fate Of Emerging Contaminants In Agricultural Environments, Daniel D. Snow, David A. Cassada, Saptashati Biswas, Mohammedreza Shafieifini, Xu Li, Matteo D'Alessio, Laura Carter, J. Brett Sallach

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

A total of 75 papers published in 2017 were reviewed ranging from detailed descriptions of analytical methods, to fate and occurrence studies, to ecological effects and sampling techniques for a wide variety of emerging contaminants likely to occur in agricultural environments. New methods and studies on veterinary pharmaceuticals, steroids, antibiotic resistance genes, and engineered nanoparticles agricultural environments continue to expand our knowledge base on the occurrence and potential impacts of these compounds. This review is divided into the following sections: Introduction, Analytical Methods, Fate and Occurrence, Pharmaceutical Metabolites, Anthelmintics, Antibiotic Resistance Genes, and Engineered Nanomaterials.

Indirect Greenhouse Gas Dynamics In Karst Groundwater Systems Under Agricultural Land Use, Stacy Wayne Antle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are a major global environmental concern, because their concentrations have continuously increased over the past few centuries, due to global population growth, fossil fuel dependency, and the Industrial Revolution. Since these gases are naturally occurring phenomena, they will never be completely eliminated. Efforts to reduce them span numerous scientific attempts, with minimal improvements in reducing their atmospheric concentrations. In agricultural land practices, greenhouse gases are common byproducts that affect the atmosphere and, potentially, the groundwater where livestock and fertilizers are key contributors. Little is known about the fate of such greenhouse gases in dissolved form, known as …

Controls On Speleogenesis In The Upper-Mississippian Pennington Formation On The Western Cumberland Plateau Escarpment, Hali Steinmann

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Much of the pioneering work on caves of the Cumberland Plateau (province spanning Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia) has been stratigraphically located within the Mississippian Bangor and Monteagle Limestones, wherein some of the region’s largest and most spectacular caves occur. Of interest to the understanding of this karst landscape, but severely underrepresented in the literature thereof, are caves and karst features in a heterogeneous sequence of clastics and carbonates known collectively as the Pennington Formation (Upper Mississippian). This work consisted of a regional study of Pennington caves on the western Cumberland Plateau escarpment (Alabama and Tennessee), and a case study …

Land-Use Impacts On The Hydrology Of The Hidden River Groundwater Subbasin, Horse Cave, Hart County, Kentucky, Cesalea N. Osborne

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

No abstract provided.