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Long Term Stability Of A Terrestrial Cave Community, Claudio Di Russo, Gianmaria Carchini, Mauro Rampini, Marco Lucarelli, Valerio Sbordoni

International Journal of Speleology

We report data on the spatial structure and seasonal variation of the community of Valmarino cave, a medium sized sandstone cave, located a few kilometres from the coast line, in Central Italy. Due to both its habitat features and its relatively recent geological history, Valmarino cave is only inhabited by terrestrial, troglophilic elements, i.e facultative cave dwellers. By means of monthly censuses and density plot estimates we have investigated species abundance, diversity and their spatial organization, by considering separately samples from different cave sectors. Homogeneous sampling design allowed to compare series of samplings performed in 1974 and 1994. On the …

A Simple Scenario For Stygobitization In Stenobermuda Schultz, 1978 (Isopoda Asellota Stenetriidae), With Description Of A New Species From Andros Island, Bahamas, Lazare Botosaneanu, Thomas M. Iliffe

International Journal of Speleology

Description of a new stygobitic and troglomorphic species of Stenobermuda from a Blue Hole in the Bahamas, is an opportunity for speculation about hypogean colonization by this and by another cave-dwelling species from Bermuda, starting from populations of a widely distributed Western Atlantic shallow water marine species.

Are Troglobitic Taxa Troglobiomorphic? A Test Using Phylogenetic Inference, Laure Desutter-Grandcolas

International Journal of Speleology

Obligate cave dwelling organisms are frequently characterised by a peculiar morphological syndrome, named troglomorphosis or troglobiomorphosis. This hypothesis, which deals with the evolutionary influence of the subterranean environment on cave organisms is far from being universally accepted. Yet it has been adopted by many authors and is often included in the definitions of the current classification of cave taxa. In this paper I present a test of the troglobiomorphosis hypothesis, using the case study of the cricket clade Amphiacustae (Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Phalangopsidae). Such a test preliminarily requires that observations of the habitat of the taxa (achieved on present-day populations) are …

Genetic Divergence And Evolutionary Times: Calibrating A Protein Clock For South-European Stenasellus Species (Crustacea Isopoda), Valerio Ketmaier, Roberto Argano, Marina Cobolli, Elvira De Matthaeis

International Journal of Speleology

We studied genetic divergence in a group of exclusively stygobiont isopods of the family Stenasellidae. In particular, we assessed evolutionary relationships among several populations of Stenasellus racovitzai and Stenasellus virei. To place this study in a phylogenetic context. we used another species of Stenasellus, S. assorgiai, as an outgroup. S. racovitzai occurs in Corsica, Sardinia and in the fossil islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, while S. virei is a polytypic species widely distributed in the central France and Pyrenean area. This vicariant distribution is believed to be the result of the disjunction of the Sardinia-Corsica microplate from …

The Effects Of Wet Meadow Fragmentation On Grassland Birds, Christopher J. Helzer

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

No abstract provided.

Western Australian Salinity Action Plan, Agriculture Western Australia, Department Of Conservation And Land Management, Department Of Environmental Protection, Water And Rivers Commission

Natural resources published reports

Salinity is one of the State's most critical environmental problems, threatening major economic and social consequences. It is preventable and, in the long term, reversible. Complete elimination is not realistic, but we can dramatically reduce its impact.

Salinity is caused by replacing deep-rooted native plants with shallow-rooted crops and pastures. More rainfall passed below the root zone and accumulates as groundwater so that watertables rise. The groundwater mobilises natural salts in the soil as it rises and carries them towards the surface, eventually degrading land and streams.

Earth News, Fall 1996, Department Of Earth Science, University Of Northern Iowa.

Earth News

Inside this issue:

--- News from the Earth Science Staff
--- Profile: Ken De Nault
--- Earth Science Majors
--- Sigma Gamma Epsilon - Gamma Sigma Chapter
--- Gifts to the Department of Earth Science
--- 1996 Scholarships and Award Recipients
--- Student Research Presentations
--- 1996 Earth Science Graduates
--- Special Alumni Newsetter Profile - Lee Potter
--- Earth Science Alumni Notes

Impact Of Groundwater Contamination In East Multnomah County On The Interlachen Community, Scott A. Wells, Shuguang Li, Marvin Beeson, Michael L. Cummings, Richard Pratt, Robert Leslie Annear, Karann Brandt

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Friends of Blue and Fairview Lake through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) program contracted with Portland State University faculty and staff to provide an independent review of the groundwater contamination problem at the Boeing-Cascade site in East Multnomah County. An independent consultant, Karann Brandt, of PRC Environmental Management, Inc., was also assisting the panel with the review.

The region of groundwater contamination is a 2.5 square mile region bounded by NE Halsey Blvd. to the Columbia River and NE 178th to NE 223rd (see Figure 1). The groundwater contamination is primarily of volatile organic compounds …

The Effects Of The Kalamazoo Station No. 4 On The Nearby Kleinstuck Nature Preserve, Robert J. Buechler

Masters Theses

This was a 15 month study that studied the effects of Kalamazoos' Municipal Pumping Station No. 4 on the Kleinstuck Nature Preserve. The preserve is about a quarter of a mile in the up gradient direction of Station No. 4. This study demonstrates that there is a direct correlation between the pumping and the water levels at the preserve. Pumping records show that there is no correlation between precipitation and the water levels at the preserve.

There are other factors which exaggerate this effect. It has been found that the drain field at the Y.M.C.A. parking lot, the breaching of …

The Biology Of Alewife Alosa Pseudoharengus In Lake Ogallala, Nebraska, Eric A. Laux

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

No abstract provided.

Spatial And Temporal Variability In The Distribution Of Nitrate In An Agriculturally-Impacted Aquifer, Cass County, Michigan, Caroline Lovetere

Masters Theses

Ground-water sampling in a shallow unconfined aquifer within a predominantly agricultural area in southwestern Michigan indicated spatial and temporal variability in the distribution of nitrate. The unconfined aquifer, which is about 40 feet thick, consists of glacially-deposited sand and gravel with interbedded clay lenses and is separated from a lower semi-confined aquifer by a 3-to 26-feet-thick till layer.

The site of the study was a 47-acre agricultural field, characterized by corn and alfalfa hay production, to which hog manure and commercial fertilizers were frequently applied. The shallow water table and relatively permeable glacial sands in the vadose zone combined to …

Swath Mapping On The Continental Shelf And Slope: The Eel River Basin, Northern California, John A. Goff, Larry A. Mayer, John E. Hughes Clarke, Lincoln F. Pratson

Affiliate Scholarship

First Paragraph

The STRATAFORM program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (Nittrouer and Kravitz, 1996, this issue) seeks to understand how sedimentary processes lead to the formation of the stratigraphic sequences on continental margins. A central challenge facing this effort is to understand the transport of sediments in shore-parallel as well as shore-perpendicular directions• Multidimensionality is necessary to describe, for example, the accumulation of sediments from river inputs, the distribution of gullies and canyons on the slope, the meandering of channels, and the structure of slumps and slides.

Ua66/8/3 Annual Report, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Administration Documents

Annual report created by and about WKU Geography & Geology.

Effects Of Zebra, Mussel, Dreissena Polymorpha Infestation On Lake Dardanelle Water Quality, Charles J. Gagen, Joseph N. Stoeckel

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Zebra mussels recently invaded southern waterways including the Arkansas River. Large-scale filtration of suspended particulate matter by dense populations could alter reservoir ecosystem function. Furthermore, they attach to hard surfaces, thereby threatening normal operations of artificial structures. We designed this study to provide baseline data prior to establishment of high population levels of zebra mussels in Lake Dardanelle. The characterization of spatial and temporal variability in water quality, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and macrophytes will allow testing of several hypotheses. We sampled zebra mussel veliger and settling juvenile densities and zooplankton densities at four fixed sites and the key water quality variables …

Bioaccumulation Of Methyl Mercury Through A Food Chain, J. T. Knight

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The bioaccumulation of mercury through the food chain has received much attention in Arkansas during the last three years. The discovery of mercury contamination and subsequent fish consumption advisories in southwest Arkansas have increased public awareness of the potential for bioaccumulation of different toxic compounds. It is postulated that the mercury problem in Arkansas is a result of methylation and resulting bioaccumulation of mercury as methyl mercury. This study was designed to derive a Bioaccumulation Factor (BAF) for mercury in a simple food chain under controlled conditions. A BAF is calculated by dividing the concentration found in the organism by …

Formulation Enhanced Transport Of A Soil Applied Herbicide, V. P. Evangelou, Louis M. Mcdonald, Sandra Prima

KWRRI Research Reports

Because pesticides are applied as formulated particles and the affinity of the active ingredient for the formulation is higher than for the bulk water, we hypothesized that a formulation complex could affect active ingredient transport. Our objectives were to investigate the nature and extent of surfactant-atrazine-clay/oxide surface interactions. When atrazine and an anionic surfactant were dried onto plain or Fe-coated sand and leached, atrazine concentrations in the initial leachate were lower in the Fe-coated sand treatment. This was likely due to an electrostatic attraction between the sand and surfactant. When a nonionic surfactant was used, atrazine concentration in the initial …

An Avian Botulism Epizootic Affecting A Nesting Site Population Of Presbyornis : On A Carbonate Mudflat Shoreline Of Eocene Fossil Lake, V. Leroy Leggitt

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The shorebird-duck mosaic bird, Presbyornis, is best known from the Eocene Green River Formation where it often occurs in local monospecific bonebeds, suggestive of mass mortality events. The sedimentology, paleontology, taphonomy, XRD mineralogy, and the carbonate stable isotope signature (δ¹⁸O) of one of these bonebeds was studied on the southern margin of Eocene Fossil Lake.

A series of 408 standardized radiographs were used to construct the first large scale radiograph aided taphonomic map of a vertebrate fossil quarry (3,874 bones were recorded in 11.5 m²). A small group of 100 bones (including a complete skull …

Thermal Tolerances Of Platte River Fishes: Field And Laboratory Studies, Brett P. Fessell

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

No abstract provided.

Chronic Effects Of Baseflow Levels Of Atrazine On Platte River Algae, Karen J. Nelson

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

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Prey Availability On Walleye (Stizostedion Vitreum), Mark T. Porath

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

No abstract provided.

Hydrochemical Definition Of Ground Water And Surface Water, With An Emphasis On The Origin Of The Ground-Water Salinity In Southern Juab Valley, Juab County, Utah, Heidi K. Hadley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As part of a U.S. Geological Survey study in Juab Valley in central Utah from 1991 to 1994, the chemistry of ground - and surface -water samples was determined. Total dissolved solids in the ground water of southern Juab Valley have historically been higher, in general, than ground water in other areas of Utah. Total dissolved solids for ground-water samples from this study ranged from 623 to 3,980 milligrams/liter. High-sulfate chemical data of previous studies suggested that the major source of ground-water salinity is the dissolution of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate ) from the Arapien Shale. Sulfur-34 to sulfur-32 isotopic …

The Effect Of Salinity Level Upon The Yield, Root Growth, And Water Extraction Of Contrasting Rooting Subpopulations Of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa) Under Conditions Of Zero Leaching, Laura A. Vincent

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A major problem in irrigated agriculture in the Western U.S. is the gradual accumulation of salinity in the plant root zone. These nonuniformly saline soils contain increasing amounts of salinity with depth, and salt accumulation is accelerated in situations where leaching is minimized. Root growth and thus plant yield is limited in these soils due to decreased water uptake. We studied the root growth of two subpopulations of alfalfa differing in their ability to produce fibrous roots to determine if altering root morphology would increase plant yield and water extraction, in an irrigated saline soil.

Soil profiles for a control …

Paleoenvironmental And Stratigraphic Interpretation Of The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation, Northern Utah, Keith E. Eagan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation includes some 200 m of cyclically alternating carbonates and mud rocks. These are arranged in eight to nine, meter-scale, shallowing-upwards packages, representing deposition under predominantly subtidal conditions. The packages consist of vertical sequences of shale, silty limestone, oncolitic packstone, and oolitic grainstone that exhibit little variance in this general pattern. Small-scale unconformities separate the packages. The inferred depositional environment consists of an intrashelf basin that has a peritidal platform near its margins. The craton, which supplied most of the terrigenous sediment, was situated to the south (Cambrian orientation), and located near the equator. One cycle …

Esperance Region Catchment Planning Strategy, John Platt, Brendan Nicholas, Rod Short, Stephen Gee

Natural resources published reports

The Esperance Region Catchment Planning Strategy project was initiated by the Esperance Land Conservation District Committee.

This report provides a reference document for farmers and other land managers such as government agencies and local government, and should help them to strategically focus their catchment planning activities.

It will help land managers to identify the major catchments and land systems in their area, management issues for long term sustainability, and a regional strategy for catchment planning.

Catchment planning involves both technical and social processes.

Technically it is a process of planning the sustainable use of water resources within a catchment.

Factors Affecting Nitrogen Fixation Rates In Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae: Reticulitermes) And Termite Nitrogen Contributions Of Forest Ecosystems, Anthony Duane Curtis

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Termites host symbiotic bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen, which makes termites important in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen in ecosystems. The objective of this study was to estimate annual nitrogen contributions by termites by examining seasonal rates of nitrogen fixation, seasonal abundance of different termite castes and their nitrogenase activity, the effects of dietary nitrogen on nitrogenase activity, and low oxygen and high carbon dioxide atmospheres on termite nitrogenase activity, and the accuracy of mark-recapture studies to estimate termite population size.

Termite nitrogen fixation rates were monitored monthly for 10 Reticulitermes Holmgren colonies from June, 1993, to December, 1995. Rates …

Geologic History Of Ash Hollow State Historical Park, Nebraska, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Roger K. Pabian, J. R. Thomasson

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Contents:

Introduction
Acknowledgments
Cautions
General Stratigraphy
Oligocene Series-White River Group-Brule Formation-Whitney Member
Miocene Series-Ogallala Group-Ash Hollow Formation
Pliocene Series-Broadwater Formation
Quaternary deposits
Older colluvium and loess
Younger colluvium and alluvium
General Paleontology
Evidence of past life: fossils and subfossils
Collecting fossils
Vertebrate fossils
Fossils from the Whitney Member of the Brule Formation
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Fossils from the Ash Hollow Formation
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Fossils from the Broadwater Formation
Plants
Vertebrates
Quaternary fossils
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Additional studies of Nebraska fossils
Geologic History
Prehistory and History
References
Appendices I-IV

Paleolimnological Records Of Climatic Change In North America, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Lacustrine fossil records provide long time series of data on limnological and climatic conditions; these data are useful for establishing natural patterns of climate variability and for generating testable hypotheses about atmospheric circulation and climate-ecosystem linkages. Shoreline features can indicate past lake-level fluctuations that may reflect changes in moisture balance, but often these records are discontinuous and are evidence of only extreme conditions. The organisms, geochemistry, and sedimentology of lake sediments may provide a more continuous sequence of direct and indirect lake-climate interactions in the past. The most clearly interpretable paleolimnnological records of climatic change are those that use several …

Century-Scale Paleoclimatic Reconstruction From Moon Lake, A Closed-Basin Lake In The Northern Great Plains, Kathleen R. Laird, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Eric C. Grimm, Pietra G. Mueller

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Estimates of past lake-water salinity from fossil diatom assemblages were used to infer past climatic conditions at Moon Lake, a climatically sensitive site in the northern Great Plains. A good correspondence between diatom-inferred salinity and historical records of mean annual precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P - ET) strongly suggests that the sedimentary record from Moon Lake can be used to reconstruct past climatic conditions. Century-scale analysis of the Holocene diatom record indicates four major hydrological periods: an early Holocene transition from an open freshwater system to a closed saline system by 7300 B.P., which corresponds with a transition from spruce forest …

Linking Planktonic Diatoms And Climate Change In The Large Lakes Of The Yellowstone Ecosystem Using Resource Theory, Susan S. Kilham, Edward C. Theriot, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Resource-based physiology of the eight important planktonic diatom species in the large lakes of the Yellowstone region can be used to explain their relative abundances and seasonal changes. The diatoms are ranked along resource ratio gradients according to their relative abilities to grow under limitation by Si, N, P, and light. Hypotheses based on resource physiology can be integrated with observations on seasonal changes in diatom assemblages to explain the present distributions of diatoms and to test the causal factors proposed to explain diatom distributions over the Holocene. Knowledge of the limnology of these lakes and process-oriented physiology provide the …

Fire-Bgc -- A Mechanistic Ecological Process Model For Simulating Fire Succession On Coniferous Forest Landscapes Of The Northern Rocky Mountains, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

An ecological process model of vegetation dynamics mechanistically simulates long-term stand dynamics on coniferous landscapes of the Northern Rocky Mountains. This model is used to investigate and evaluate cumulative effects of various fire regimes, including prescribed burning and fire exclusion, on the vegetation and fuel complex of a simulation landscape composed of many stands. Detailed documentation of the model FIRE-BGC (a FIRE BioGeoChemical succession model) with complete discussion of all model parameters is followed with results of an application of the FIRE-BGC to a whitebark pine landscape in the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex. Simulation results of several management scenarios are …