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A Cost Effective Approach To Taxonomic Resolution For Bioassessment And Monitoring Programs In The State Of Georgia, Jodi Alene Williams Jul 2004

A Cost Effective Approach To Taxonomic Resolution For Bioassessment And Monitoring Programs In The State Of Georgia, Jodi Alene Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The Georgia Ecoregions Reference Sites Project has developed biological criteria for streams in Georgia according to the Rapid Bioassessment Protocols For Wadeable Streams and Rivers. Streams will ultimately be classified into categories of impairment so that management decisions can be made in accordance with the Clean Water Act. A cost-effective approach to accomplish mandates set forth by the Clean Water Act must be employed, as state budgets are limited. One means of examining costs is to assess taxonomic resolution. Taxonomic resolution not only assesses the sensitivity of biocriteria, it also allows one to make recommendations to state agencies regarding the …


Anthropogenic Lead Deposition And Four National Parks In Poland As Determined By Lead Isotope Ratios, Shannon Simcoe Jul 2004

Anthropogenic Lead Deposition And Four National Parks In Poland As Determined By Lead Isotope Ratios, Shannon Simcoe

OES Theses and Dissertations

Polluted soils are recognized by having high concentrations of heavy metals, including Pb. Partitioning of metals in geochemical fractions, by sequential chemical extractions, may indicate whether a metal has been recently deposited in the soil. While concentration levels alone cannot distinguish between natural and anthropogenic Pb, studies have demonstrated that anthropogenic pollution is accurately recorded by specific Pb isotope signatures, which differ from natural Pb isotopes. The objective of this project was to use 206Pb/207Pb and 206Pb/204Pb isotope ratios to differentiate between the anthropogenic Pb input and the naturally occurring Pb in four national …


A 700 Year Record Of Southern Hemisphere Extratropical Climate Variability, Paul A. Mayewski, Kirk A. Maasch, James W.C. White, Eric J. Steig, E A. Meyerson, Ian D. Goodwin, Vin Morgan, Tas D. Van Ommen, Mark Aj Curran, Joseph M. Souney Jr, K Kreutz Jun 2004

A 700 Year Record Of Southern Hemisphere Extratropical Climate Variability, Paul A. Mayewski, Kirk A. Maasch, James W.C. White, Eric J. Steig, E A. Meyerson, Ian D. Goodwin, Vin Morgan, Tas D. Van Ommen, Mark Aj Curran, Joseph M. Souney Jr, K Kreutz

All Materials

Annually dated ice cores from West and East Antarctica provide proxies for past changes in atmospheric circulation over Antarctica and portions of the Southern Ocean, temperature in coastal West and East Antarctica, and the frequency of South Polar penetration of El Niño events. During the period AD 1700–1850, atmospheric circulation over the Antarctic and at least portions of the Southern Hemisphere underwent a mode switch departing from the out-of-phase alternation of multi-decadal long phases of EOF1 and EOF2 modes of the 850 hPa field over the Southern Hemisphere (as defined in the recent record by Thompson and Wallace, 2000; Thompson …


Effects Of Microbial Processes On Electrolytic And Interfacial Electrical Properties Of Unconsolidated Sediments, Gamal Z. Abdal Aal, Estella A. Atekwana, Lee D. Slater, Eliot A. Atekwana Jun 2004

Effects Of Microbial Processes On Electrolytic And Interfacial Electrical Properties Of Unconsolidated Sediments, Gamal Z. Abdal Aal, Estella A. Atekwana, Lee D. Slater, Eliot A. Atekwana

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effect of microbial processes on electrical properties of unconsolidated sediments was investigated in a laboratory experiment consisting of biotic and abiotic sand columns. The biotic column (nutrient, diesel and bacteria) showed (a) temporal increase in the real, imaginary, and surface conductivity, and (b) temporal decrease in the formation factor. The abiotic columns (nutrient; and nutrient and diesel) showed no significant changes. Increase in microbial population numbers, decrease in organic carbon source, nitrate, and sulfate and increase in dissolved inorganic carbon and fluid conductivity were indicative of microbial activity in the biotic column. We also measure relative increase in the …


The Impact Of Urbanization On Macroinvertebrate Communities Of Creeks Within Western Georgia, Jeniffer Susan Lang Jun 2004

The Impact Of Urbanization On Macroinvertebrate Communities Of Creeks Within Western Georgia, Jeniffer Susan Lang

Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization is a major cause of stream impairment in the United States, altering stream ecological integrity in a variety of ways. While control of point source pollution has largely improved over the last twenty years, the control of non-point source pollution has proved to be more of a challenge. Urbanization in the area surrounding streams has been linked with elevated levels of sediment, heavy metals, organic matter, and nutrients within streams, as well as with other negative effects. Examining the macroinvertebrate communities within streams has proven to be an effective indicator of the effects of urbanization on water quality. This …


Enhanced Marine Productivity Off Western North America During Warm Climate Intervals Of The Past 52 K.Y., J.D. Ortiz, S.B. O’Connell, J. Delviscio, W. Dean, J.D. Carriquiry, T. Marchitto, Y. Zheng, A. Van Geen Jun 2004

Enhanced Marine Productivity Off Western North America During Warm Climate Intervals Of The Past 52 K.Y., J.D. Ortiz, S.B. O’Connell, J. Delviscio, W. Dean, J.D. Carriquiry, T. Marchitto, Y. Zheng, A. Van Geen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Studies of the Santa Barbara Basin off the coast of California have linked changes in its bottom-water oxygen content to millennial-scale climate changes as recorded by the oxygen isotope composition of Greenland ice. Through the use of detailed records from a sediment core collected off the Magdalena Margin of Baja California, Mexico, we demonstrate that this teleconnection predominantly arose from changes in marine productivity, rather than changes in ventilation of the North Pacific, as was originally proposed. One possible interpretation is that the modern balance of El Nino–La Nina conditions that favors a shallow nutricline and high productivity today and …


Potential Of Modis Ocean Bands For Estimating Co2 Flux From Terrestrial Vegetation: A Novel Approach, Abdullah Rahman, Vicente D. Cordova, John A. Gamon, Hans Peter Schmid, Daniel A. Sims May 2004

Potential Of Modis Ocean Bands For Estimating Co2 Flux From Terrestrial Vegetation: A Novel Approach, Abdullah Rahman, Vicente D. Cordova, John A. Gamon, Hans Peter Schmid, Daniel A. Sims

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

A physiologically-driven spectral index using two ocean-color bands of MODIS satellite sensor showed great potential to track seasonally changing photosynthetic light use efficiency (LUE) and stress-induced reduction in net primary productivity (NPP) of terrestrial vegetation. Based on these findings, we developed a simple ‘‘continuous field’’ model solely based on remotely sensed spectral data that could explain 88% of variability in flux-tower based daily NPP. For the first time, such a procedure is successfully tested at landscape level using satellite imagery. These findings highlight the unexplored potential of narrow-band satellite sensors to improve estimates of spatial and temporal distribution in terrestrial …


Twentieth Century Water Quality Trends In Minnesota Lakes Compared With Presettlement Variability, Joy M. Ramstack, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Daniel R. Engstrom May 2004

Twentieth Century Water Quality Trends In Minnesota Lakes Compared With Presettlement Variability, Joy M. Ramstack, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Daniel R. Engstrom

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Abstract: A diatom-based transfer function was used to reconstruct water chemistry before European settlement in 55 Minnesota lakes. The lakes span three natural ecoregions, which differ in their history of land use, as well as in surficial geology, climate, and vegetation. Postsettlement trends were compared with water chemistry change reconstructed from two presettlement core sections (circa 1750 and 1800) as a measure of natural variability. Presettlement water quality changes were generally small and nondirectional in all three ecoregions. In contrast, half of the urban lakes showed a statistically significant increase in chloride, whereas 30% of urban and 30% of agricultural …


Atrazine Contamination In A Rural Source-Water Supply: Spa Lake, Lewisburg, Kentucky, Kathryn Seadler May 2004

Atrazine Contamination In A Rural Source-Water Supply: Spa Lake, Lewisburg, Kentucky, Kathryn Seadler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In 1998, Western Kentucky University (WKU) worked in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Drinking Water Protection Division, to investigate methods to improve source-water quality for rural-water supply systems (RWSS). Through partial funding from the EPA, WKU developed a Technical Assistance Center for Water Quality (TACWQ), which focused resources and expertise toward assisting RWSS in achieving and maintaining capacity development goals and protecting public health. The TACWQ established the Source Water Protection Initiative (SWPI) to assist RWSS in acquiring and monitoring the technical, financial and managerial capacity needed to provide safe drinking water and achieve the public health protection …


Defining Archaeological Stratigraphy: Evaluating Microartifact Sampling, David N. Holycross May 2004

Defining Archaeological Stratigraphy: Evaluating Microartifact Sampling, David N. Holycross

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A variety of subsurface methods have been used to discover and evaluate buried archaeological occupations. Researchers such as Stafford (1993,1995) have proposed that micro artifacts are an effective means of defining the archaeological stratigraphy of deposits, but only limited evaluation of this approach has been undertaken. This study tested the utility of microartifacts within a range of sample size and site density characteristics at three Ohio Valley archaeological sites buried within early and late Holocene age landforms. Occupations were typically detected in unit-to-core comparisons, within acceptable margins of error, and microartifacts often revealed a more complex stratigraphy than reflected by …


Terrestrial Movements And Habitat Use Of Gopher Frogs (Rana Capito) At Fort Benning, Georgia, Jonathan H. Neufeldt May 2004

Terrestrial Movements And Habitat Use Of Gopher Frogs (Rana Capito) At Fort Benning, Georgia, Jonathan H. Neufeldt

Theses and Dissertations

Gopher frogs (Rana capito) were radio-tracked between the 2000 and 2001 breeding seasons to study their terrestrial movements and habitat use in a longleaf pine- sandhill area on the Fort Benning Military Reservation, Georgia. The telemetry research was conducted in response to the need for biological data concerning gopher frog terrestrial habits. Ultimately the data could aid biologists and land managers in describing critical habitat and the development of a management or recovery plan. Twelve gopher frogs were caught at a herpetofaunal array surrounding two neighboring breeding ponds during a post breeding migration, implanted with miniature transmitters, released and radio-tracked …


Waldo Lake Research In 2003, Mark D. Sytsma, John Rueter, Richard Petersen, Roy Koch, Scott A. Wells, Rich Miller, Laura Johnson, Robert Leslie Annear May 2004

Waldo Lake Research In 2003, Mark D. Sytsma, John Rueter, Richard Petersen, Roy Koch, Scott A. Wells, Rich Miller, Laura Johnson, Robert Leslie Annear

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes the first year of an effort to develop a more complete understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that drive the ecological processes of Waldo Lake. Modern limnology recognizes the importance of watershed processes as well as in- lake processes in lake ecosystem functioning. Therefore, the approach included consideration of watershed hydrology and forcing functions that determine hydrodynamics of the system as well physical and chemical factors that may be important in regulating primary production in the lake. Data collected since 1998 was summarized and bathymetry of the basin was mapped using state-of-the-art digital depth sounding …


The Effects Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) On Nerve Growth Factor (Ngf) In The Developing Frog, Xenopus Laevis, Cari Delong Apr 2004

The Effects Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) On Nerve Growth Factor (Ngf) In The Developing Frog, Xenopus Laevis, Cari Delong

Honors Theses

Polychlorinated biphenyls are ubiquitous, persistent environmental contaminants that cause a variety of adverse health effects wildlife and humans. PCBs are the major contaminant in the Kalamazoo River Superfund Site, in which the Environmental Institute is funded to study. Projects at the Environmental Institute are focused on developing molecular biotechnology tools that will improve environmental risk assessment. Previous acute studies involved the exposure of developing tadpoles, Xenopus laevis to PCBs through aquarium water in order to measure gene expression. Nerve growth factor (NGF) gene expression showed changes in these previous studies. NGF is a neurotrophic factor that regulates the growth and …


A North Dakota Geology Field Trip Primer, Joseph H. Hartman Apr 2004

A North Dakota Geology Field Trip Primer, Joseph H. Hartman

Geology and Geological Engineering Faculty Publications

The rocks containing vertebrate fossils in North Dakota represent an important archive of biological and geological events that took place from around 80 million years ago to the present (Figure 1). Although the record is not complete through this interval of time, significant exposures provide important sections of Earth’s geologic history (Figure 2). We continue to understand better how seas moved back and forth across North Dakota and the life that persisted in these seas and adjacent estuaries. The terrestrial habitats and river drainages that are recorded in nonmarine strata contain important insights into the patterns of dinosaur diversity up …


Prairie Wetlands Are Important For Carbon Storage, Jay Hestbeck Apr 2004

Prairie Wetlands Are Important For Carbon Storage, Jay Hestbeck

United States Geological Survey: Publications

USGS’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service collaborated to study the potential of prairie pothole region wetlands to sequester carbon emitted into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. Results suggest that wetlands traditionally functioned as sinks for atmospheric carbon, but cultivation, the current principal land use, has shifted their function to be sources of atmospheric carbon. Data suggest that equal or greater amounts of atmospheric carbon can be stored in wetlands through restoration programs when compared with cropland, even though the acreage of wetlands is much smaller. These restored wetlands will also provide improved …


Willamette River Basin Temperature Tmdl Model: Model Scenarios, Robert Leslie Annear, Michael Lee Mckillip, Sher Jamal Khan, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells Apr 2004

Willamette River Basin Temperature Tmdl Model: Model Scenarios, Robert Leslie Annear, Michael Lee Mckillip, Sher Jamal Khan, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is developing a TMDL for temperature in the Willamette River basin shown in Figure 1. The study area included the Willamette River and all major tributaries (except the Tualatin River where a TMDL process was already concluded). A large section of the Columbia River was also modeled to provide adequate boundary representation of tidal flows in the lower Willamette River. The Willamette River below the Oregon City Falls in the Portland metropolitan area has a typical diurnal tidal range of 1 m. The development of a dynamic model of temperature and …


Relating Water And Otolith Chemistry In Chesapeake Bay, And Their Potential To Identify Essential Seagrass Habitats For Juveniles Of An Estuarine-Dependent Fish, Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus), Emmanis Dorval Apr 2004

Relating Water And Otolith Chemistry In Chesapeake Bay, And Their Potential To Identify Essential Seagrass Habitats For Juveniles Of An Estuarine-Dependent Fish, Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus), Emmanis Dorval

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A quantitative understanding of habitat use of estuarine-dependent fishes is critical to the conservation of their most essential habitats. Because recruitment and fitness may be influenced by the quality of juvenile habitats, developing methods to quantify habitat-specific survivorship is pivotal to such understanding. An initial step to quantify survivorship is to validate the habitat-specific natural tags contained in otoliths. To this aim I investigated the variability in the chemistry of surface waters and otoliths of juvenile spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, in five seagrass habitats of Chesapeake Bay, namely: Potomac, Rappahannock, York, Island, and Eastern Shore. I measured Mg, Ca, …


Moisture--Temperature Management During Alfalfa Hay And Silage Making & Storing, Michael Collins Feb 2004

Moisture--Temperature Management During Alfalfa Hay And Silage Making & Storing, Michael Collins

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

In some areas of the country, producers store a substantial portion of their forage for winter feeding as silage or haylage. However, hay remains the most popular storage method for forage. Hay stores well for long periods and is better suited to cash sale and transportation than silage. Mechanical conditioning, which gained acceptance during the 1950's is probably still the greatest single change in hay harvesting and storage technology during this century. However, a number of other noteworthy changes and innovations have occurred in recent years which have helped to reduce the extent of losses during hay harvesting and storage.


Narrogin Townsite Test Pumping Results 2003, Louise Hopgood Feb 2004

Narrogin Townsite Test Pumping Results 2003, Louise Hopgood

Resource management technical reports

Test pumping of a production bore in Narrogin took place for 24 hours in August 2003. Data generated by the test pumping was analysed along with groundwater monitoring, climate and geological data. Laboratory analyses of water samples from the production bore indicate very high levels of salinity and hardness which may lead to severe scaling and corrosion of pumps, pipes and pipe fittings.


A Velociraptorine Tooth From Alabama And Its Paleogeographic Implications, David R. Schwimmer Jan 2004

A Velociraptorine Tooth From Alabama And Its Paleogeographic Implications, David R. Schwimmer

Faculty Bibliography

A single tooth recovered from the marine Mooreville Chalk Formation (Early Campanian) of western Alabama indicates the presence of dromaeosaurid theropods on the Appalachian subcontinent during the Late Cretaceous. The tooth compares closely with teeth referred to the small velociraptorine Saurornitholestes.


Urban Development And Effects To Transportation Systems Of Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, Wannaporn Jarupath Jan 2004

Urban Development And Effects To Transportation Systems Of Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, Wannaporn Jarupath

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Urban growth and its relationship to the transportation system of Lexington, Kentucky were investigated using temporal images of Landsat Thematic Mapper and multi-date line data. Land cover of the area was extracted using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Technologies. Change detection techniques were employed to identify areas of transformation between 1988 and 2000. Several digital image processes such as geometric registration, radiometric normalization, unsupervised classification, and accuracy assessment were applied to analyze the results. Vector analysis was utilized as well along with raster analysis to examine the effect of urban growth to the transportation system. Two datasets of line …


Greening Connecticut Cities And Towns, Managing Public Trees And Community Forests, Glenn D. Dreyer, Robert M. Ricard Jan 2004

Greening Connecticut Cities And Towns, Managing Public Trees And Community Forests, Glenn D. Dreyer, Robert M. Ricard

Other Publications and Reports

No abstract provided.


Sedimentology And Geochemistry Of An Urban Coastal Lake System: Coombabah Lake Nature Reserve, Gold Coast, Queensland, Tracy D. Frank, Christopher R. Fielding Jan 2004

Sedimentology And Geochemistry Of An Urban Coastal Lake System: Coombabah Lake Nature Reserve, Gold Coast, Queensland, Tracy D. Frank, Christopher R. Fielding

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

A study was initiated to address environmental concerns associated with changes in land use in the catchment area of Coombabah Lake, a brackish coastal lake system located in southeast Queensland. Sedimentological and geochemical data derived from a series of cores that penetrate the ca. 0–6000 year-old lacustrine sequence indicate that throughout much of its history, Coombabah Lake has remained a quiet, shallow, water body fed by fine-grained sediment dropped from suspension. Discrete and laterally continuous, shelly horizons form the basis for the stratigraphy developed for the lake sequence. A lithological transition in the upper 50 cm of the sediment column, …


Guano, Donald A. Mcfarlane Jan 2004

Guano, Donald A. Mcfarlane

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

This is an encyclopedia article.


Summary Of Total Mercury Concentrations In Fillets Of Selected Sport Fishes Collected During 2000–2003 From Lake Natoma, Sacramento County, California, Michael K. Saiki, Darell G. Slotten, Thomas W. May, Shaun M. Ayers, Charles N. Alpers Jan 2004

Summary Of Total Mercury Concentrations In Fillets Of Selected Sport Fishes Collected During 2000–2003 From Lake Natoma, Sacramento County, California, Michael K. Saiki, Darell G. Slotten, Thomas W. May, Shaun M. Ayers, Charles N. Alpers

United States Geological Survey: Publications

This report summarizes results of total mercury measurements in skinless fillets of sport fishes collected during August 2000, September–October 2002, and July 2003 from Lake Natoma, a small (8,760 acre-feet) afterbay for Folsom Dam on the lower American River. The primary objective of the study was to determine if mercury concentrations in fillets approached or exceeded guidelines for human consumption. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) human-health action level for methylmercury in commercially caught fish is 1.0 μg/g (microgram per gram); the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) human-health criterion for methylmercury residue in fish tissue is 0.30 μg/g. Wet weight …


Habitat Conservation Plan For The Cedar City Golf Course And The Paiute Tribal Lands, Cedar City Corporation, Paiute Tribe Of Utah Jan 2004

Habitat Conservation Plan For The Cedar City Golf Course And The Paiute Tribal Lands, Cedar City Corporation, Paiute Tribe Of Utah

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

No abstract provided.


Grass Or Trees? Performance Of Riparian Buffers Under Natural Rainfall Conditions, Australia, Lucy Mckergow, I Prosser, R Grayson, David Weaver, D Heiner Jan 2004

Grass Or Trees? Performance Of Riparian Buffers Under Natural Rainfall Conditions, Australia, Lucy Mckergow, I Prosser, R Grayson, David Weaver, D Heiner

Journal articles

Riparian vegetation can trap sediment and nutrients derived from hillslopes. Most research into the effectiveness of riparian buffers has been experimental and little quantitative data exists on performance under natural field conditions. This study reports on grass and tree buffer performance under natural rainfall conditions in two contrasting Australian environments. Buffers receiving runoff from hillslopes cropped with bananas were monitored over a 4-year period in the wet topics of Far North Queensland (FNQ). Runoff, bedload and suspended loads were measured leaving the crop and leaving 15 m wide dense grass and remnant rainforest riparian buffers. The grass buffer was able …


An Agricultural Drought Risk-Assessment Model For Corn And Soybeans, Hong Wu, Kenneth G. Hubbard, Donald A. Wilhite Jan 2004

An Agricultural Drought Risk-Assessment Model For Corn And Soybeans, Hong Wu, Kenneth G. Hubbard, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society. Published by Wiley InterScience. Used by permis-sion.


An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Pilbara Region, Western Australia, A M E Van Vreeswyk, K A. Leighton, A L. Payne, P Hennig Jan 2004

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Pilbara Region, Western Australia, A M E Van Vreeswyk, K A. Leighton, A L. Payne, P Hennig

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the Pilbara region, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia between 1995 and 1999, describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the natural area’s resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The area surveyed covers about 181 723 km². Seven …


Kellerberrin Townsite Test Pumping Results 2003, Louise Hopgood Jan 2004

Kellerberrin Townsite Test Pumping Results 2003, Louise Hopgood

Resource management technical reports

A production bore in Kellerberrin, Western Australia, was test pumped for 24 hours in August 2003. Data generated by the pumping were analysed with groundwater monitoring, climate and geological data. Laboratory analyses of water samples from the production bore indicate a low pH and very high levels of salinity, hardness, sodium, chloride, iron, sulphate, aluminium and manganese. This is likely to lead to scaling, blockages, staining and/or corrosion of pumps, pipes and pipe fittings.