Digital Commons Network^™

Pcor Partnership Atlas, Wesley D. Peck, Barry W. Botnen, Lisa S. Botnen, Daniel J. Daly, John A. Harju, Melanie D. Jensen, Erin M. O'Leary, Steven A. Smith, James A. Sorensen, Edward N. Steadman, Stephanie L. Wolfe, Darin R. Damiani, John T. Litynski, David W. Fischer

EERC Maps and Infographics

The Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership Atlas, revised 2nd edition, introduces global climate change and provides a regional profile of CO₂ sources and potential sinks across the PCOR Partnership region. Carbon sequestration offers a promising set of technologies through which CO₂ can be stored for long periods of time.

Lime For High Rainfall Pastures: Above 800mm Average Annual Rainfall, Mike Bolland, Bill Russell

Bulletins 4000 -

Conventional agriculture acidifies soil. As your soil becomes more acid, productive pasture species disappear and are replaced by species of low agricultural value. It is a waste of money to apply expensive fertiliser to pastures which are inherently poorly productive because they are growing in an acid soil.

The paper examines the types of lime available, how to select lime for quality and when and how much lime to apply. Maganese toxity and aluminum toxicity are examine, how to test your soil, and affect of soil acidity on bacteria and other microorgansims.

Optlime, A Bioecenomic Model Of Soil Acidity Management In Agricultural Systems, Chris Gazey

All other publications

Optlime is a model that represents the essential biological, physical and economic factors related to soil acidity management in Western Australia. The model allows users to define site and soil characteristics for an acidic scenario and then simultaneously assess likely outcomes for 2 different lime sources and application strategies. With and without liming scenarios are examined over a 20 year simulation so as to capture the long-term impacts of soil acidity management. Output provided allows you to examine the likely effect of liming on pH, exchangeable aluminium, yields, and profits. An investment appraisal is provided to show you how liming …

Loess Record Of The Pleistocene–Holocene Transition On The Northern And Central Great Plains, Usa, Joseph A. Mason, Xiaodong Miao, P.R. Hanson, William C. Johnson, Peter M. Jacobs, Ronald J. Goble

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Various lines of evidence support conflicting interpretations of the timing, abruptness, and nature of climate change in the Great Plains during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Loess deposits and paleosols on both the central and northern Great Plains provide a valuable record that can help address these issues. A synthesis of new and previously reported optical and radiocarbon ages indicates that the Brady Soil, which marks the boundary between late Pleistocene Peoria Loess and Holocene Bignell Loess, began forming after a reduction in the rate of Peoria Loess accumulation that most likely occurred between 13.5 and 15 cal ka. Brady Soil formation …

Gambel Oak Growth Forms: Management Opportunities For Increasing Ecosystem Diversity, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) clones have several different growth forms in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, and these growth forms each provide unique wildlife habitat and resource values. The purposes of this note are to review published growth-form classifications for Gambel oak, provide examples of ecological effects of different growth forms, and summarize management strategies for promoting desired growth forms. Four different growth-form classifications have been published, which generally recognize variants of three basic forms: shrubby thickets of small-diameter stems, pole-sized clumps, and large trees. These growth forms exemplify ecological and management tradeoffs. For example, shrubby forms provide browse …

Erosion And Trail Building: A Case Study Of The East Tennessee State University Trail System., Joshua Callahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural and accelerated erosion from trail users affects the sustainability of trail systems. Designing and building sustainable trail systems will greatly decrease the effect that erosion has on a trail. Trails that allow multiple types of users, such as hiking and mountain biking, must be able to sustain both groups. At East Tennessee State University the trail system was originally designed for hiking. Mountain bikers have become the main user group on the trail system leading to erosion problems on certain areas of the trail due to trail design flaws. The study seeks to identify the problem areas of trail …

The Mayan Ice Cap: Glacial Geology And Paleoclimate Of The Northern Guatemalan Highlands, Alex Joseph Roy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Sierra de los Cuchumatanes region of the northern Guatemalan highlands supported a large plateau ice cap with an area of -40 km2 along with a group of 5 cirque glaciers -1 to 2 km2 during the local last glacial maximum (LLGM). A comprehensive mapping reconstruction of the northern Guatemalan highlands is presented here, including glacial geology and an estimate of maximum ice limits from physical evidence and computer modeling. The glacial geologic map was produced via field mapping with global positioning system (GPS) surveying combined with aerial stereo photographic and topographic map analysis. This new field work on moraine …

Fish Distributions And Nutrient Cycling In Streams: Can Fish Create Biogeochemical Hotspots, Peter B. Mcintyre, Alexander S. Flecker, Michael J. Vanni, James M. Hood, Brad W. Taylor, Steven A. Thomas

Dartmouth Scholarship

Rates of biogeochemical processes often vary widely in space and time, and characterizing this variation is critical for understanding ecosystem functioning. In streams, spatial hotspots of nutrient transformations are generally attributed to physical and microbial processes. Here we examine the potential for heterogeneous distributions of fish to generate hotspots of nutrient recycling. We measured nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) excretion rates of 47 species of fish in an N-limited Neotropical stream, and we combined these data with population densities in each of 49 stream channel units to estimate unit- and reach-scale nutrient recycling. Species varied widely in rates of N …

Mechanical Properties Of Plant Underground Storage Organs And Implications For Dietary Models Of Early Hominins, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Erin R. Vogel, Justin D. Yeakel, Paul J. Constantino, Peter W. Lucas

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The diet of early human ancestors has received renewed theoretical interest since the discovery of elevated d13C values in the enamel of Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. As a result, the hominin diet is hypothesized to have included C4 grass or the tissues of animals which themselves consumed C4 grass. On mechanical grounds, such a diet is incompatible with the dental morphology and dental microwear of early hominins. Most inferences, particularly for Paranthropus, favor a diet of hard or mechanically resistant foods. This discrepancy has invigorated the longstanding hypothesis that hominins consumed plant underground storage organs (USOs). Plant USOs are …

Compost Production And Use In Horticulture, Bob Paulin, Peter O'Malley

Bulletins 4000 -

Maintaining and improving soil organic carbon levels is becoming an increasingly important aspect of modern farming. Compost provides potentially one of the most effective ways of applying organic matter to soils and improving organic carbon levels.

Improving soil organic carbon is directly related to soil quality and performance. Increased quality reflects improved biological function (soil health), fertility and physical attributes that include better drainage, reduced compaction and erosion, and improved moisture-holding capability, at least for lighter soils.

Compost is not the only option available. Others include the use of cover or break crops, reducing the use of cultivations, selecting safe …

Gsi: Geo Scene Investigation! On-Site Programming, Support Materials (Grade 7), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

What happened geologically to produce the landscape we see today? What was the stage like that ultimately produced the Colorado River? What are the processes that are still at work today?

To begin exploring and discovering the answers to these questions, we can look at what’s happened in the past and also examine the clues that are evident on today’s landscape. Lake Mead’s geologic past can be organized like acts in a play. These geologic “acts” represent the area’s significant geologic events. The acts are not equal in terms of time (millions of years), nor is all geologic time accounted …

Microtextures Of Cyanobacterial Mats In Siliciclastic Sedimentary Environments (Modern & Ancient): Applications To The Search For Life On Mars, Dina M. Bower

OES Theses and Dissertations

The current Mars Exploration Rover Program (MER) is one of NASA's most successful missions. The aim of the MER is to explore for possible life on the surface of Mars. My thesis developed new methods of how to detect and to identify microbial mats in siliciclastic sediments (modern and ancient), and to make recommendations on the applicability of MISS as biosignatures. Predominantly, I employed instrumentation portable by future rovers. To search for life on other planets, we need to have information on how this life might look. Most astrobiological studies therefore focus on Earthly analogues of life and its habitats. …

Comparison Of Instantaneous And Constant-Rate Stream Tracer Experiments Through Parametric Analysis Of Residence Time Distributions, Robert A. Payn, Michael N. Gooseff, David A. Benson, Olaf A. Cirpka, Jay P. Zarnetske, W. Breck Bowden, James P. Mcnamara, John H. Bradford

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Artificial tracers are frequently employed to characterize solute residence times in stream systems and infer the nature of water retention. When the duration of tracer application is different between experiments, tracer breakthrough curves at downstream locations are difficult to compare directly. We explore methods for deriving stream solute residence time distributions (RTD) from tracer test data, allowing direct, non-parametric comparison of results from experiments of different durations. Paired short- and long-duration field experiments were performed using instantaneous and constant-rate tracer releases, respectively. The experiments were conducted in two study reaches that were morphologically distinct in channel structure and substrate size. …

Alaska's Pavlof Volcano Ends 11-Year Repose, Christopher F. Waythomas, Stephanie G. Prejean, Stephen R. Mcnutt

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

After an 11-year period of repose, Pavlof volcano on the Alaska Peninsula (Figure 1) began an episode of Strombolian eruption lasting 31 days, from 14 August to 13 September 2007.

The eruption began abruptly on 14 August after a minor increase in seismicity the previous day. Nearly continuous lava fountaining, explosions, and lahars caused by minor disruption of the ice and snow cover on the volcano characterized the eruption. The eruption also produced diffuse ash plumes that reached 5–6 kilometers above sea level, but the plumes were too small and did not extend high enough to affect local or regional …

Foundations And Interpretations Of Quantum Mechanics, Cory Johnson

Honors Theses

The first famous thought experiment of Einstein gives rise to his theories of relativity, the bedrock of modern astrophysics and cosmology. His second famous thought experiment begins the investigation into the foundations of quantum mechanics. It leads to a paradox, inspiring various 'no-go' theorems proven by Bell, Kochen, and Specker. Physicists and philosophers worldwide become increasingly dissatisfied with the probabilistic complementarity interpretation (Born-Bohr) and eventually offer their own accounts of the theory. By the end of the 20th century two alternative approaches stand out as the best candidates: Both the hidden variables interpretation (de Broglie-Bohm) and the many worlds interpretation …

Effects Of Context Of Natural And Artifactual Objects On Categorization, Linsey Walker

Honors Theses

Categorization of animals and vehicles in different contexts was investigated in three experiments using event related potentials (ERPs). The presence of a background and congruency of the background in relation to the object were both manipulated in order to determine the effects of context on visual processing. In Experiment 1, adults were presented with images of animals and vehicles in two conditions: situated in a congruent context (e.g. an animal in a field) and in the absence of a context (an animal in a white homogeneous background). In experiment 2, adults were presented with images of animals and vehicles in …

Assessing The Impact Of Water Harvesting On Water Resources, Jennifer Oblinger

All Theses

Clean water supplies, like all natural resources, are becoming scarce all over the world, but especially in developing countries where special interest groups (such as city governments, commercial farmers, other villages downstream, etc.) fight over water rights. The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) is a non-government organization in India whose mission is to restore degraded lands through cooperation with rural villages. In order to increase the water supply to the ecosystem, FES constructs water harvesting structures (WHS) which impound rainfall, water that would have otherwise runoff and contributed to erosion, in surface storage. This study was conducted to assess the …

Modern Nutrient Limitation And Geologic Record Of Organic Matter Sources In The Bioluminescent Bays Of Vieques, Puerto Rico, Erin Algeo

Earth and Environmental Geosciences Student Honors Theses

The factors contributing to the success of the bioluminescent dinoflagellate, Pyrodinium bahamense var. bahamense in the bays of Vieques, Puerto Rico, are not fully understood, although the dinoflagellate’s success is closely tied to its environment and the nutrients within that environment. Exploring the present and past nutrient concentrations and sources of organic material within the bioluminescent bays of Vieques assists in determining the status of and potential threat to the population of Pyrodinium bahamense var. bahamense. Modern carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus nutrient concentrations were measured, primarily in the seagrass Thalassia testudinum, to evaluate the distribution and potential limitation of those …

Occurrence And Fate Of Pesticides In Four Contrasting Agricultural Settings In The United States, Gregory V. Steele, Henry M. Johnson, Mark W. Sandstrom, Paul D. Capel, Jack E. Barbash

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Occurrence and fate of 45 pesticides and 40 pesticide degradates were investigated in four contrasting agricultural settings—in Maryland, Nebraska, California, and Washington. Primary crops included corn at all sites, soybeans in Maryland, orchards in California and Washington, and vineyards in Washington. Pesticides and pesticide degradates detected in water samples from all four areas were predominantly from two classes of herbicides—triazines and chloroacetanilides; insecticides and fungicides were not present in the shallow ground water. In most samples, pesticide degradates greatly exceeded the concentrations of parent pesticide. In samples from Nebraska, the parent pesticide atrazine [6-chloro-N-ethyl-N′-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4- diamine] was about the same concentration …

Rapid Evolution In Introduced Species, ‘Invasive Traits’ And Recipient Communities: Challenges For Predicting Invasive Potential, Kenneth D. Whitney, Christopher A. Gabler

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The damaging effects of invasive organisms have triggered the development of Invasive Species Predictive Schemes (ISPS). These schemes evaluate biological and historical characteristics of species and prioritize those that should be the focus of exclusion, quarantine, and/or control. However, it is not clear how commonly these schemes take microevolutionary considerations into account. We review the recent literature and find that rapid evolutionary changes are common during invasions. These evolutionary changes include rapid adaptation of invaders to new environments, effects of hybridization, and evolution in recipient communities. Strikingly, we document 38 species in which the specific traits commonly associated with invasive …

Transport And Fate Of Nitrate At The Ground-Water/Surface-Water Interface, Larry J. Puckett, Celia Zamora, Hedeff Essaid, John T. Wilson, Henry M. Johnson, Michael Brayton, Jason R. Vogel

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Although numerous studies of hyporheic exchange and denitrification have been conducted in pristine, high-gradient streams, few studies of this type have been conducted in nutrient-rich, low-gradient streams. This is a particularly important subject given the interest in nitrogen (N) inputs to the Gulf of Mexico and other eutrophic aquatic systems. A combination of hydrologic, mineralogical, chemical, dissolved gas, and isotopic data were used to determine the processes controlling transport and fate of ₃− in streambeds at five sites across the USA. Water samples were collected from streambeds at depths ranging from 0.3 to 3 m at three to five …

Preferences For Rural Amenities In Lancaster County, K. Koehler-Cole

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

No abstract provided.

Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2007, Nathan A. Slaton

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Rapid technological changes in crop management and production require that the research efforts also be presented in an expeditious manner. The contributions of soil fertility and fertilizers are major production factors in all Arkansas crops. The studies described within will allow producers to compare their practices with the university’s research efforts. Additionally, soil test data and fertilizer sales are presented to allow comparisons among years, crops, and other areas within Arkansas.

Potential Future Changes Of The Terrestrial Ecosystem Based On Climate Projections By Eight General Circulation Models, Clement Alo, Guiling Wang

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A number of previous modeling studies have assessed the implications of projected CO2-induced climate change for future terrestrial ecosystems. However, although current understanding of possible long-term response of vegetation to elevated CO2 and CO2-induced climate change in some geographical areas (e.g., the high-latitude regions) has been strengthened by dint of accumulating evidence from these past studies, it is still weak in others. This study examines the responses of global potential natural vegetation distribution, net primary production (NPP), and fire emissions to future changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate using the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Land Model's dynamic …

Oyster Harbour Catchment Appraisal 2007, Ron Master, South Coast Agricultural Rca Team

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

A Large New Species Of Lobatus (Gastropoda: Stromnidae) From The Neogene Of The Dominican Republic, With Notes On The Genus, Bernard M. Landau, Gijs C. Kronenberg, Gregory S. Herbert

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Economics Of Soil Conservation Adoption In High-Rainfall Areas Of The Ethiopian Highlands, Menale Kassie, Stein Holden, Gunnar Köhlin, Randall Bluffstone

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study measures the impact of fanya juu bunds (an important soil and water conservation technology and the most popular type of contour bund in east Africa) on the value of crop production in a high-rainfall area in the Ethiopian highlands using cross-sectional multiple plot observations. We applied switching regression, stochastic dominance analysis (SDA), and decomposition and propensity score matching methods to ensure robustness. The switching regression, SDA, and decomposition analyses relied on matched observations, which was important because regression and SDA often do not ensure that comparable plots with conservation technology (conserved) and plots without (unconserved) actually exist in …

Alfalfa Hay And Balage: Testing For Quality, Kimberly Field

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Why Test Your Hay?

• By knowing the percentages and protein levels you can increase/decrease the amount of supplements needed from your analysis report and will help the producer set feeding rations
• If you do not know what you have in your forage you are over or under feeding your livestock – therefore affecting the health of your animal and your pocket book

Alfalfa: Forage Crop Of The Future, Neal P. Martin, David Mertens, Ronald Hatfield, Hans Jung

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

In 2007, U.S. farmers harvested 23.6 million acres of alfalfa. Alfalfa harvested as hay and haylage produced 82.8 million tons valued at approximately $9.4 billion, ranking behind only corn and soybeans. Alfalfa hay supports dairy, beef, sheep, and horse production in the U.S. as well as a growing export market.

Haymaking: A Trip Down Memory Lane, Garry D. Lacefield, John E. Baylor

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

On a hot day in August, I climbed into the dust-free air-conditioned cab of a new tractor to assist in a hay baling demonstration during a field day. Hay yield was low as a result of the drought, so it was important that I get everything from the small windrow. I adjusted the volume on the surround sound stereo where I had just inserted a CD of the Eagles Greatest Hits. Now we’re ready to bale – first let me check the GPS and get a check on the moisture of the hay coming into the bale chamber – moisture …