Digital Commons Network^™

Heat Mitigation Impacts Of Agriculture, Greenspace, And Riparian Forest In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Brennan Davis

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Albuquerque, New Mexico, alongside the larger American desert Southwest, is already living the reality of climate change – temperatures have risen faster than the global average and, left unchecked, will continue to rise at an ever-increasing pace (NOAA 2022, Garfin et al. 2014). Alongside this disproportionate warming, the Southwest has experienced worsening drought which further stresses an already arid system (White et al. 2023, Dunbar et al. 2022). At the intersection of these changes lie a myriad of interrelated consequences for both ecosystems and communities. The urban heat island effect is one of many such consequences and is responsible for …

Mushroom Composition Across An Elevational Gradient During The 2024 Wet Season In Mazumbai Forest Reserve, Tanzania, Christopher Brady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mushrooms are key bioindicators that contribute greatly to ecological health, and their diversity is indicative of a healthy ecosystem. However, even with the vital role they play in ecological health, there are few studies which measure the diversity of mushrooms in Mazumbai Forest Reserve (MFR), Tanzania, Africa, and none which focus on diversity along the elevational gradient within the reserve (1300-1900m). This study measures the diversity and equitability of mushrooms growing in six elevational zones within MFR during the rainy season of 2024. A species checklist of mushrooms growing in MFR during the 2024 rainy season was created, tracking the …

“It’S A No Brainer”: Ensuring Just Transitions In Iceland’S Fishing Industry, Olivia Bowers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Iceland’s government intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, aiming to target various economic sectors and industries for increased renewable-energy usage. One of its most important plans revolves renewable-energy usage in the fishing industry, which accounts for almost 12% of the country’s GHG emissions. This study aims to understand the perspectives of different stakeholders concerning renewable energy in the fishing industry, using these opinions and existing literature to provide recommendations for a just, equitable, and achievable energy transition. Additionally, this study particularly focuses on the opinions of actors in Vestmannaeyjar, an island community of 4,300 with an especially vibrant, significant, …

Assessing The Progress And Effects Of Exotic Plant Invasions In A Sustainably Used Littoral Forest Fragment In Southeastern Madagascar, Grant Gerhardt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

While it is important to conserve Madagascar’s unique natural forest environments and the biodiversity they contain, it is also essential that populations reliant on these ecosystems for their income and survival have access to the resources they provide. Sustainable use forests, designated by the IUCN as category VI protected areas, are the solution to meeting both of these conditions. At the same time, it is often the case that the use of forests invites disturbance, which in turn encourages the introduction and establishment of nonnative or invasive plant species. This study examines the degree to which the intensity of use …

Género Y Resiliencia En La Amazonía Peruana: Las Experiencias Y Respuestas De Agricultoras Indígenas Ante El Cambio Climático, Zoe Klausner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El cambio climático antropogénico está redefiniendo rápidamente las relaciones humano-ambientales, especialmente en la Amazonía peruana, donde más de 66 comunidades indígenas enfrentan mayores sequías y temperaturas, afectando profundamente sus medios de vida. Crucialmente, desde la visión ecofeminista central a esta investigación se subraya que las mujeres indígenas experimentan los impactos del cambio climático más severamente y son a menudo los líderes en el fomento de la resiliencia ambiental. Esta investigación explora cómo las agricultoras indígenas de la Amazonía peruana viven el cambio climático y sus estrategias de adaptación y resiliencia. El trabajo de campo se realizó en la comunidad Ese'Eja …

Beneath The Surface: Exploring The Power Of Aquatic Rewilding In Europe, Jose Cornejo

Posters - 2024

This relatively new concept has been used mainly in various European projects that in words of the European Rewilding project, the leading organization in rewilding, is helping preserve Europe biodiversity richness and enhance benefits that nature provides to humans (Rewilding Europe, n.d.). This rewilding method is also applied in the aquatic ecosystem, which is often called marine rewilding or freshwater rewilding, and it can be applied to any freshwater, brackish, or saltwater. Therefore, for the purpose of uniting them we will call it aquatic rewilding.

There are many aquatic restoration projects and research compared to aquatic rewilding projects and organizations …

Remote, Rugged Field Scenarios For Archaeology And The Field Sciences: Object Avoidance And 3d Flight Planning With Suas Photogrammetry, Carla Klehm, Malcolm D. Williamson, Leland C. Bement, Brandi Bethke

Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies Publications and Presentations

Advances built into recent sUASs (drones) offer a compelling possibility for field-based data collection in logistically challenging and GPS-denied environments. sUASs-based photogrammetry generates 3D models of features and landscapes, used extensively in archaeology as well as other field sciences. Until recently, navigation has been limited by the expertise of the pilot, as objects, like trees, and vertical or complex environments, such as cliffs, create significant risks to successful documentation. This article assesses sUASs’ capability for autonomous obstacle avoidance and 3D flight planning using data collection scenarios carried out in Black Mesa, Oklahoma. Imagery processed using commercial software confirmed that the …

Exploring Cation Exchange: Unveiling Its Significance In Biochar And Bioenergetics Applications, Gyanendra Kharel

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Cation exchange, a cornerstone of soil chemistry and nutrient cycling, is a fundamental chemical process that occurs in soils, sediments, membranes, and other solid materials. It involves the interchange of positively charged ions, or cations, between a solid matrix and a surrounding solution. This process is crucial in various natural and engineered systems, leading to a range of applications across different fields.

This dissertation presents an extensive investigation into the applications of cation exchange in the fields of biochar and bioenergetics, encompassing three distinct aims. The first aim concentrates on the surface oxygenation of biochar through ozonization, aiming to achieve …

Time Series Modeling To Ascertain Age In Fisheries Management, Kathleen Sue Kirch

OES Theses and Dissertations

The ability to assign accurate ages of fish is important to fisheries management. Accurate ageing allows for the most reliable age-based models to be used to support sustainability and maximize economic benefit. Structures used to age include bones, scales, and most commonly ear bones (otoliths). Assigning age relies on validating putative annual marks by evaluating accretional material laid down in patterns in fish otoliths, typically by marginal increment analysis. These patterns often take the shape of a sawtooth wave with an abrupt drop in accretion yearly to form an annual band and are typically validated qualitatively. Researchers have shown keen …

Interactive Effects Of Co2, Temperature, And Nitrate Limitation On The Growth And Physiology Of Marine Cyanobacterium Synechococcus Sp. Ccmp 1334, Alyssa K. Sharbaugh

LSU Master's Theses

The marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. CCMP 1334 was grown in a continuous culture system on a 12:12 h light:dark cycle at all combinations of low and high pCO2 (400 and 1000 ppmv, respectively), nitrate availability (nitrate-limited and nutrient-replete conditions), and temperatures of 21°C, 24°C, 28°C, 32°C, and 35°C. The maximum median nutrient-replete growth rate was ~1.15 d−1 at 32 –35°C. Median growth rates at 1000 ppmv pCO2 were higher than those at 400 ppmv at all temperatures, but most of the differences were statistically insignificant. Carbon:nitrogen ratios were independent of pCO2 at a fixed relative growth rate but decreased with …

Review On Quarrying Methods Suitable For Space Mining Missions, Daniel Chpolianski, Zong-Xian Zhang

Journal of Sustainable Mining

In this review paper, existing mining techniques and technologies are scrutinized for the purpose of superterrestrial use. Different aspects and challenges of a space mining mission are examined in light of the viable iron-nickel quarry operation on M-Type (metallic) asteroids. The research and findings presented in this work cover different disciplines of science and engineering, including Geology, Rock Engineering, Space Exploration, and Explosives Engineering. The particular focus of this study is on the application of shaped charge explosives in military munitions, oil well perforations, tunneling, open-pit mines, and bolder fracturing that could be deployed in asteroid mining missions. The central …

Municipal Waste Management Based On Geomechanical Assessments Of The Landfill Site Slope – A Case Study In Southern Poland, Tomasz Janoszek, Phu Minh Vuong Nguyen, Jacek Grabowski

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Over time, municipal waste landfills tend to go higher and become larger. The stability of the municipal landfill slope is one of the basic geotechnical tasks. This task ensures continuous waste deposition on the landfill surface and safety in its surroundings. With the increasing height and volume of the landfill, it is difficult to estimate the available area of the municipal landfill, where more waste can be safely deposited due to a number of variable factors, such as the geotechnical conditions of the municipal landfill, the morphological composition, age, and degree of compaction and decomposition of the deposited waste.

This …

Integrated Process Modeling, Techno-Economic Analysis And Life Cycle Assessment For Enhanced Biogas-To-Energy Sustainability And Efficiency, Rarosue Jennifer Amaraibi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to enhance the cost competitiveness and minimize the environmental footprint of technologies that convert biogas to energy, contributing to global climate change mitigation efforts. Biogas, a by-product of the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste from various sources, is a renewable energy source with the potential to reduce carbon emissions and meet local energy needs. However, widespread adoption requires the development of economically viable and environmentally friendly technologies.The central hypothesis of this dissertation suggests that by adopting a holistic strategy that combines cutting-edge techniques to purify biogas and improve its conversion into valuable liquid fuels, we can substantially …

Hurricane Impacts On Water Resources: A Look At Nature-Based Solutions To Improve Long-Term Resilience, Fautemeh Sajadi Bami

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Severe storms are a common occurrence in the state of Florida. Hurricane events may cause hazards such as flooding, property damage, death, and many others. Such far-reaching impacts may potentially result in dangerous consequences where they occur. Of interest to this study were the impacts on water resources and water quality caused by storms. Hurricanes can bring about a deluge. An apparent excess of water may cause the notion of water scarcity to seem less significant. However, problems with potable water can be quite frequent due to storms.

This research sought to address the impacts of severe storms on water …

The Impacts Of Nature-Based Sediment Restoration Practices On Coastal Wetland Soil Biogeochemistry, Jacob Z. Cheng

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal marshes provide many valuable ecosystem services. However, these wetlands are threatened worldwide, being subject to sea level rise, sediment starvation, subsidence, coastal edge erosion, etc. Many efforts are being made to counteract this wetland loss and preserve the ecosystem services. Two such methods are sediment diversion and the thin layer placement (TLP) of dredged sediment.

Sediment diversion involves reconnecting the main channel of a river body to disconnected wetlands, supplying much needed soil-building materials. However, this method affects the salinity of the waters, introducing large amounts of freshwater into the system. Salinity changes can affect marsh biogeochemistry. Most ecological …

Law Governing Variations In Water-Pressure Transmission Rate In Confined Aquifers, Wang Wenxue, Wang Bosen, Gao Yanwei, Wu Bing, Nie Tianyu

Coal Geology & Exploration

The water pressure in aquifers is transmitted as energy, with a transmission rate much higher than the migration rate of water particles. The water-pressure transmission rate holds great significance for the safe construction and disaster forecast and prediction of underground engineering under high-pressure water aquifers and bodies. Focusing on the confined aquifers bearing no cohesive soil, this study explored the law governing the changes in the water-pressure transmission rate through theoretical analysis, numerical simulations, field experiments, and laboratory physical model tests. Key findings are as follows: (1) The transmission of water-pressure changes in the aquifers exhibited noticeable hysteresis. The transmission …

Considerations For The Use Of Porcine Organ Donation Models In Preclinical Organ Donor Intervention Research, Frazer I. Heinis, Shaheed Merani, Nicholas W. Markin, Kim F. Duncan, Michael J. Moulton, Lance Fristoe, William E. Thorell, Raechel A. Sherrick, Tami R. Wells, Matthew T. Andrews, Marian Urban

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Use of animal models in preclinical transplant research is essential to the optimization of human allografts for clinical transplantation. Animal models of organ donation and preservation help to advance and improve technical elements of solid organ recovery and facilitate research of ischemia–reperfusion injury, organ preservation strategies, and future donor-based interventions. Important considerations include cost, public opinion regarding the conduct of animal research, translational value, and relevance of the animal model for clinical practice. We present an overview of two porcine models of organ donation: donation following brain death (DBD) and donation following circulatory death (DCD). The cardiovascular anatomy and physiology …

Cool Genomics, Melody Clark

Sustainability Seminar Series

Remarkably, the marine life in the Southern Ocean is incredibly biodiverse and clearly thriving, although the organisms (fish and invertebrates) live for most of the year below 0°C. These freezing conditions have been present in the Antarctic for 10-15 Million Years and have resulted in the evolution of some bizarre adaptations to the cold. In this talk, I will discuss some of the adaptations to life below 0°C and how these animals respond to climate change. In particular, I will highlight the use of molecular tools to understand marine organisms responses to change.

Combining Multi-View Uav Photogrammetry, Thermal Imaging, And Computer Vision Can Derive Cost-Effective Ecological Indicators For Habitat Assessment, Qiao Hu, Ligang Zhang, Jeff Drahota, Wayne Woldt, Dana Varner, Andy Bishop, Ted Lagrange, Christopher M. U. Neale, Zhenghong Tang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Recent developments in Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs), thermal imaging, and Automachine learning (AutoML) have shown high potential for precise wildlife surveys but have rarely been studied for habitat assessment. Here, we propose a framework that leverages these advanced techniques to achieve cost-effective habitat quality assessment from the perspective of actual wildlife community usage. The framework exploits vision intelligence hidden in the UAV thermal images and AutoML methods to achieve cost-effective wildlife distribution mapping, and then derives wildlife use indicators to imply habitat quality variance. We conducted UAV-based thermal wildlife surveys at three wetlands in the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska. Experiments were …

Dissolved Nitrogen Removal In Biochar Amended, High Permeability Media For Urban Stormwater Treatment, Mark Vicciardo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient pollution in stormwater drives the eutrophication of inland and costal waterbodies which leads to sea grass retreat and the proliferation of harmful algal blooms (HAB). These anthropogenic effects destabilize ecosystems, and some HABs can pose direct human health risk. Bioretention, or the storage and controlled discharge of stormwater run-off in an ecologically engineered setting, is a potential solution to this problem. However, it relies heavily on the settling of particles as a nutrient removal mechanism, and thus struggles with pollutants, such as dissolved nitrogen, which is a particular problem in Florida where the geological prominence of phosphorus leaves nitrogen …

Challenges To Reindeer, Reciprocity, And Indigenous Sami Sovereignty Amidst The Impact Of Green Energy Developments, Lisa Heikka-Huber

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

The Indigenous people of Europe known as the Sami, (also spelled Saami) many of whom live throughout the world, have continued to maintain active nomadic communities today as their ancestors did. A wide spanning region of Northern Europe’s Arctic Zone or Sampi often referred to as Fennoscandia, encompasses four countries, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia’s Kola Peninsula (Roland & Löffler, 2012). The nomadic Sami people follow the migration pathways of their reindeer herds through the wilderness bi-annually. This paper will discuss many perspectives, including the battle Sami people and other Indigenous communities have endured while combating green energy development from …

Bird Strike Hazard Assessment For The Tampa International Airport, Florida, Usa, Yakubu Ogwu Isah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Managing wildlife at airports poses a challenge for ensuring safety for aviation traffic. Airports, with their surrounding habitats and infrastructure, serve as attractants for avian species. Threats created by these species have led managers to develop management techniques in and around airports (DeVault et al 2013). One approach is the use of geographic information systems (GIS) for analyzing avian strike data and airport bird surveys. Spatial analysis of strike data identifies species of threat by categorizing strike occurrence, species sizes, phase of flight, and risk of damage. In addition, GIS can be used to map hotspots of bird strikes. These …

The Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Environmental Perceptions Of College Students, Sydney H. Kaylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the environmental perception changes in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic were investigated. During the almost worldwide lockdown between March and December 2020, many students experienced dramatic changes in their socioeconomic life that have affected their well-being, ability to learn, and environmental perceptions. Students were sent home from college campuses, many businesses were shut down, and changes were seen in the environment throughout the world. The many industries and businesses that were shut down decreased the pollution that was in the atmosphere, in our water, and on the land. In many places, lockdown policies lead to improved …

Spatial Distribution And Movement Of Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops Atlanticus) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Shane A. Stephens, Michael A. Dance, Michelle Zapp Sluis, Richard J. Kline, Matthew K. Streich, Gregory R. Stunz, Aaron J. Adams, R. J. David Wells, Jay R. Rooker

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are capable of long-distance migrations (hundreds of kilometers) but also exhibit resident behaviors in estuarine and coastal habitats. The aim of this study was to characterize the spatial distribution of juvenile tarpon and identify migration pathways of adult tarpon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Spatial distribution of juvenile tarpon was investigated using gillnet data collected by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) over the past four decades. Generalized additive models (GAMs) indicated that salinity and water temperature played a significant role in tarpon presence, with tarpon occurrences peaking in the fall and increasing …

When And Why Ecological Systems Respond To The Rate Rather Than The Magnitude Of Environmental Changes, Karen C. Abbott

Faculty Scholarship

Ecologists and conservation biologists have become quite familiar with the concept of tipping points: abrupt changes in an ecosystem's state that occur after a period of relative stasis. Most of the familiar ecological examples of tipping points occur either because a once-stable state has lost stability, or the system has been subjected to a particularly large perturbation and transitions to an alternative stable state, distinct from the pre-perturbed state. A different class of tipping points, known as rate-induced tipping (or r-tipping) points, are likely present in many ecological communities but remain little known in the field. Rate-induced tipping occurs when …

Human-Wildlife Conflict And The Likelihood Of Reporting Losses In Nepal, Gita Bhushal, Bernabas Wolde, Pankaj Lal

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

All development indices are changing due to increased exploitation of nature and growing economies in developing countries. This situation may increase the intensity of conflict between humans and wild species, such as large carnivores. Despite the increasing intensity of human-wildlife conflicts and the existing compensation scheme that compensates for the loss, most losses to human-wildlife conflicts are not reported to authorities. Thus, this study was conducted in the Banke National Park of Nepal to explore possible factors influencing the propensity to report losses. All 197 surveyed participants reported suffering from crop raids by wild animals, and 80 respondents (40.60 %) …

Reconnecting A Stream Channel To Its Floodplain: Implications For Benthic Diatoms And Macroinvertebrate Trophic Structure, Patrick M. Edwards, Nicole C. Popp, Yangdong Pan, Christine L. Weilhoefer, Aspen Peterman, Lauren Mork, Matthew F. Johnson, Megan Colley, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Streams systems draining upland landscapes provide valuable ecosystem services, but they are vulnerable to incision and channelization caused by anthropogenic disturbance. Restoring a degraded stream to its pre-disturbance condition by reconnecting the channel to its historical floodplain aims to recover lost hydro-morphological processes and functions. Seeking evidence to indicate whether that aim is met in practice, we examined diatoms and the stream macroinvertebrate trophic structures in three reaches of Whychus Creek, Oregon, United States. Two reaches were reconnected to their pre-disturbance floodplains in 2012 and 2016. The third, control reach, was not restored and was selected to represent the degraded …

Rising Water Temperature In Rivers: Ecological Impacts And Future Resilience, Matthew F. Johnson, Lindsey K. Albertson, Adam C. Algar, Stephen J. Dugdale, Patrick Edwards, Judy England, Christopher Gibbins, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rising water temperatures in rivers due to climate change are already having observable impacts on river ecosystems. Warming water has both direct and indirect impacts on aquatic life, and further aggravates pervasive issues such as eutrophication, pollution, and the spread of disease. Animals can survive higher temperatures through physiological and/or genetic acclimation, behavioral and phenological change, and range shifts to more suitable locations. As such, those animals that are adapted to cool-water regions typically found in high altitudes and latitudes where there are fewer dispersal opportunities are most at risk of future extinction. However, sub-lethal impacts on animal physiology and …

Pollinator Communities And Their Ecosystem Services At Conservation Grasslands And Adjacent Croplands, Araceli Gomez Villegas

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pollinators are intrinsically linked to the success of unmanaged and managed ecosystems by providing pollination services that aid in the reproduction of wildflowers and many crops. Land use change, habitat loss, fragmentation, and related landscape-level phenomena (for example, increased pesticide exposure) threaten pollinators and have been associated with population declines. In the Midwestern region of the United States, land conversion of native prairies and grasslands to row-crop agriculture has been one of the largest contributors to pollinator habitat loss. Conservation programs, such as the Conservation Reserve Program, have worked towards removing environmentally sensitive lands from agriculture production and enrolling them …

Water Quality Assessment For San Luis Obispo Creek And Stenner Creek, Brent Flemmer

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Water quality was assessed in five stream segments in San Luis Obispo and Stenner Creeks in Spring of 2023. Two of the five sites were located along San Luis Obispo Creek, and three located along Stenner Creek. Criteria to evaluate these aquatic systems was provided by the Standard Operating Procedures of the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program, formulated by the State Water Resources Control Board. These procedures describe the methodology surrounding the collection of chemical, physical, and biological parameters of stream systems; streamflow, substrate, flow habitat, chemical water quality, and benthic macroinvertebrates are some of the criteria collected that allows …