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Arkansas Bulletin Of Water Research - Issue 2020, Erin Scott, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research

The Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research is a publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC). This bulletin is produced in an effort to share water research relevant to Arkansas water stakeholders in an easily searchable and aesthetically engaging way. This is the third publication of the bulletin and will be published annually. The submission of a paper to this bulletin is appropriate for topics at all related to water resources, by anyone conducting water research or investigations. This includes but is not limited to university researchers, consulting firms, watershed groups, and other agencies. Prospective authors should read the “Introduction …

The Interplay Between Economic Growth And The Environment: The Case Of China, Christian D. Carpio-Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, economic development has come at the cost of environmental degradation. Since the 1980s, neoliberalism rooted in neoclassical theory has dominated mainstream economic thought. The result has been a dramatic increase in environmental degradation in favor of economic growth. The neoliberal recommendations toward development are encapsulated in the Washington and post-Washington Consensuses which promote the liberalization of trade and foreign investment as well as a reliance on market mechanisms. Ultimately, the goal of neoliberalism is to generate growth regardless of the impact that it places on the environment. The case of China presents an example of an economy which pursued …

A Systematic Review Of Participatory Scenario Planning To Envision Mountain Social-Ecological Systems Futures, Kelly A. Hopping

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mountain social-ecological systems (MtSES) provide crucial ecosystem services to over half of humanity. However, populations living in these highly varied regions are now confronted by global change. It is critical that they are able to anticipate change to strategically manage resources and avoid potential conflict. Yet, planning for sustainable, equitable transitions for the future is a daunting task, considering the range of uncertainties and the unique character of MtSES. Participatory scenario planning (PSP) can help MtSES communities by critically reflecting on a wider array of innovative pathways for adaptive transformation. Although the design of effective approaches has been widely discussed, …

Genetic Analysis Of Snow Leopard Population Employing Next Generation Sequencing For Its Improved Conservation And Management, Safia Janjua

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are an enigmatic, high-altitude species whose challenging habitat, low population densities and patchy distribution have presented challenges for scientists studying its biology, population structure, and genetics. To address these important ecological, conservation, and evolutionary questions, scientists are tailoring laboratory and computational methods to better extract the information from non-invasive samples, only available source of DNA for this species. These samples with very low quantity and quality of DNA, present unique methodological challenges. ddRAD-seq, one of next generation sequencing method is used here to develop reference sequence library for snow leopard using five blood samples from Mongolian …

Critical Analysis Of The Value Of Drought Information And Impacts On Land Management And Public Health, Tingting Liu, Kelly Helm Smith, Richard Krop, Tonya Haigh, Mark Svoboda

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

This paper reviews previous efforts to assign monetary value to climatic or meteorological information, such as public information on drought, climate, early warning systems, and weather forecast information. Methods and tools that have been explored to examine the benefits of climatic and meteorological information include the avoided cost, contingent valuation, choice experiments, benefit transfer, and descriptive approaches using surveys. The second part of this paper discusses specific considerations related to valuing drought information for public health and the Bureau of Land Management. We found a multitude of connections between drought and the land management and health sectors in the literature. …

Using Climate To Explain And Predict West Nile Virus Risk In Nebraska, Kelly Smith, Andrew Tyre, Jeff Hamik, Michael Hayes, Yuzhen Zhou, Li Dai

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

We used monthly precipitation and temperature data to give early warning of years with higher West Nile Virus (WNV) risk in Nebraska. We used generalized additive models with a negative binomial distribution and smoothing curves to identify combinations of extremes and timing that had the most influence, experimenting with all combinations of temperature and drought data, lagged by 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months. We fit models on data from 2002 through 2011, used Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) to select the best‐fitting model, and used 2012 as out‐of‐sample data for prediction, and repeated this process for each successive year, …

Wku Greeks Go Green: Mobilizing Community For A Cause, Claire Kaelin

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Sustainability, or meeting the needs of current generations without sacrificing the needs of future generations, has become an increasingly pressing issue as more and more people realize that humanity is living far beyond its means. Greeks Go Green was a new competition on campus seeking to address this issue, by harnessing the power of the Greek competitive spirit and pitting organizations against each other to have the most sustainable chapter. Its goal was to not only have a tangible impact as a community, but to also show members of the Greek community how easy it is to make a difference …

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Bradley Hamilton

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

• Chapter 1 - Literature Review: Hunting as a Management Tool for the Invasive Eurasian-Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
• Chapter 2 - Grant Proposal: Impacts of the Invasive Eurasian-Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) on the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) in Northeastern Colorado
• Chapter 3 - Journal Manuscript: High Elevations and Cold Temperatures Influence American Pika (Ochotona princeps) Distributions in the White River National Forest
• Chapter 4: Resolving Refugee-Elephant Conflict in Bangladesh via Education and Rebuilding

The Importance Of Understanding Trophic Transfer In Top Marine Predators Due To An Increase In Plastic Production, Annika M. Markovich

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

Thirty Years Of Data Sheds Light On Plastic Pollution In The Deep Sea, Adam Warren

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

Dolphin Study Gives Insight Into Marine Mammal Threat Response, Marshall Hawkins

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

Sources And Toxicity Of Mercury In The San Francisco Bay Area, Spanning California And Beyond., Mietek Kolipinski, Mani Subramanian, Kristina Kristen, Steven Borish, Stacy Ditta

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Scholarship

This report synthesizes and evaluates published scientific literature on the environmental occurrence and biomagnification of mercury with emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA), California. Mercury forms various compounds, well known for their toxicity in humans and environmental ecosystems. Elemental mercury is transported and distributed by air, water, and sediments. Through the metabolic processes of algae and bacteria, mercury is converted into organic compounds, such as methylmercury (MeHg), which then bioaccumulates up through trophic levels. In fish, it is found primarily in skeletal muscle, while in humans, the primary target organs are the brain and kidneys. Health concerns exist …

What Is Happening To Our Common Home: Reflections From One Catholic Scientist And One Theological Ethicist, M. Shulski, D.R. Dileo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Geographic Distribution Of Chronic Wasting Disease Resistant Alleles In Nebraska, With Comments On The Evolution Of Resistance, H. Vazquez-Miranda, R. M. Zink

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Uptake, Metabolism, And Elimination Of Fungicides From Coated Wheat Seeds In Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica), Michael S. Gross, Thomas G. Bean, Michelle L. Hladik, Barnett A. Rattner, Kathryn M. Kuivila

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pesticides coated to the seed surface potentially pose an ecological risk to granivorous birds that consume incompletely buried or spilled seeds. To assess the toxicokinetics of seeds treated with current-use fungicides, Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica) were orally dosed with commercially coated wheat seeds. Quail were exposed to metalaxyl, tebuconazole, and fludioxonil at either a low dose (0.0655, 0.0308, and 0.0328 mg/kg of body weight, respectively) or a high dose (0.196, 0.0925, and 0.0985 mg/kg of body weight, respectively). Fungicides were rapidly absorbed and distributed to tissues. Tebuconazole was metabolized into tert-butylhydroxy-tebuconazole. All compounds were eliminated to below detection limits …

Gulls As Sources Of Environmental Contamination By Colistin-Resistant Bacteria, Alan B. Franklin, Andrew M. Ramey, Kevin T. Bentler, Nicole L. Barrett, Loredana M. Mccurdy, Christina A. Ahlstrom, Jonas Bonnedahl, Susan A. Shriner, Jeffrey C. Chandler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In 2015, the mcr-1 gene was discovered in Escherichia coli in domestic swine in China that conferred resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used in treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in humans. Since then, mcr-1 was found in other human and animal populations, including wild gulls. Because gulls could disseminate the mcr-1 gene, we conducted an experiment to assess whether gulls are readily colonized with mcr-1 positive E. coli, their shedding patterns, transmission among conspecifics, and environmental deposition. Shedding of mcr-1 E. coli by small gull flocks followed a lognormal curve and gulls shed one strain >101 …

Piscivorous Bird Use Of Aquaculture And Natural Water Bodies In Mississippi, Paul C. Burr, Jimmy I. Avery, Garrett M. Street, Bronson K. Strickland, Brian S. Dorr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Double crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) and great egrets (Ardea alba) have an extensive history of human wildlife conflict with the aquaculture industry of western Mississippi, USA, due to

their depredation of cultured catfish (Ictalurus spp.). Although aquaculture is abundant, western Mississippi also contains naturally occurring water bodies that offer alternative forage opportunities to these species. How cormorants or egrets distribute themselves among these 2 foraging options is unknown, but it has been generally assumed each species uses aquaculture disproportionately more because of the high density of available prey. To test this assumption, we surveyed these …

Control Or Eradication: Problems In The Management Of Invasive Birds, Michael L. Avery, Chris J. Feare

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Humans have captured, transported and intentionally released wild birds for centuries (Blackburn et al., 2009). Motivations for such purposeful introductions include food (West and Zhou, 2007), religion (Agoramoorthy and Hsu, 2007), sport (McDowall, 1994), biocontrol (Bennett and Hughes, 1959; Kurdila, 1995) and aesthetics (Ryan, 1906; Thomson, 1922). Many purposeful bird introductions were the work of acclimatization societies, particularly in North America, New Zealand and Australia. These societies were formed in the 19th century by European settlers to transport bird species from their homelands in efforts to establish them in the newly settled regions (Thomson, 1922; Dunlap, 1997). As a result …

Diurnal Activity Patterns Of Walia Ibex (Capra Walie) In Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia, D. Ejigu, A. Bekele, L.A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Pocatello Supply Depot: A History And Update, Patrick A. Darrow

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Since the Pocatello Supply Depot (PSD) was created in 1936, the PSD has gone through many transformation and organizational changes. The most recent of these changes occurred in 2014, when the PSD transitioned from a cooperative service agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce, to a fully federal facility within USDA. Despite the many organizational changes, the purpose of the PSD has remained the same. The PSD manufactures and provides specialized wildlife damage management materials and services that are not readily available from commercial sources, for use by USDA Wildlife Services (WS), …

Assessing Beaver Occupancy And Dam Building Potential: A Case Study In The Umpqua Watershed Of Southwestern Oregon, Vanessa M. Petro, John Stevenson, Jimmy Taylor

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Interest in beaver-related restoration is growing in the western U.S. but understanding the basic ecology of American beaver and their population dynamics is often overlooked when integrating beaver into stream restoration goals. Our study investigated the spatial-temporal distribution of beaver colonies and their damming activities to better inform stream restoration projects in the West Fork Cow Creek Basin of the Umpqua Watershed in southwestern Oregon. During fall 2017, we conducted beaver activity surveys at 144 randomly selected reaches predicted to be either suitable or unsuitable for damming, but suitable for beaver occupation. We categorized beaver use at each reach using …

Automated Aerial Baiting For Invasive Brown Treesnake Control: System Overview And Program Status, Shane R. Siers, John D. Eisemann, William C. Pitt, Larry Clark, Scott M. Goetz, Robert J. Gosnell, Aaron F. Collins, Eric T. Hileman, Melia G. Nafus, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Michael C. Messaros, William G.N. Coon

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

The economically and ecologically catastrophic introduction of invasive brown treesnakes to the Pacific Island of Guam has long served as a cautionary tale about the dangers of invasive species and the seeming impossibility of their management on a landscape scale. USDA Wildlife Services and federal and private partners have engineered a system for the automated manufacture and aerial delivery of toxic baits for landscape-scale suppression of brown treesnakes in large and remote forest plots. The helicopter-borne dispensing module can launch four bait cartridges per second, and a single payload of 3,600 cartridges can treat 30 ha of forest at 120 …

A Preliminary Field Evaluation Of Candidate Repellents To Reduce Black Bear Damage To Western Larch Trees, G. W. Witmer, Michael Pipas

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Bear damage to western larch trees on intensively managed public and private forest lands of the Intermountain West continues to be a problem for forest managers. Bark stripping and subsequent cambium feeding by bears commences upon den emergence in the spring, when foraging options are most restrictive. Various damage reduction methods are often controversial (snaring, hunting, supplemental feeding), or do not always adequately resolve the problem (silvicultural strategies); hence, a need exists for the development of alternative nonlethal techniques to reduce damage. We tested the efficacy of three candidate repellents (Hot Sauce®, Tree Guard™, and grizzly bear feces) to reduce …

Understanding And Preventing Bird Damage On Dairies, Amber Adams-Progar, Karen Steensma, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Julie L. Elser, Susan Kerr, Tyler P. Caskin

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Wild birds cause significant damage to dairy farms through the consumption and spoilage of cattle feed. A survey of Washington State dairy farmers revealed approximately $14 million in bird damage losses for the Washington State dairy industry, annually. Furthermore, farms that reported the presence of more than 10,000 birds per day were more likely to report the presence of Salmonella spp. or Johne’s disease (caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis). Over the course of three years, we assessed the impact of bird populations on the presence of bacteria in bird feces and the nutritional composition of cattle feed. Five dairies …

Island Rodent Eradications: Little Things Make Big Things Happen, Araceli Samaniego-Herrera, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Island rodent eradication is often a prerequisite for ecological restoration. These operations have been scaling up in size and complexity, and typically revolve around the thorough distribution of rodenticides in bait stations, by hand broadcast, by helicopter-borne spreading buckets, or by combinations of these methods. Many of the requirements of an eradication can be met by simply purchasing the right materials and following published best practices. However, intangible factors such as training and mindset of personnel are equally critical, and less commonly understood. We briefly review these factors and highlight issues such as the limited pool of experienced eradication practitioners, …

If At First You Don’T Eradicate: Remediating Rat Eradication Failure On Wake Atoll, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers, Kristen Rex, Chad Hanson

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Island rodent eradication operations have been remarkably successful at eliminating damages caused by these harmful vertebrate pests. As efforts increase in scale and complexity, so does risk of eradication failure. In this paper we present the example of a partially successful rodent eradication project to highlight how best practices and lessons learned are being integrated to reduce risk of failure during a second attempt. In 2012 the U.S. Air Force (USAF) commissioned an attempted eradication of two rat species from Wake Atoll in the Western Pacific. Asian house rats were successfully eradicated, but it was soon confirmed that some Polynesian …

Laboratory Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Fertility Control Bait Contrapest® On Wild-Captured Black Rats (Rattus Rattus), Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Brandy R. Pyzyna, Gary Witmer

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

A non-toxic liquid fertility control bait for rats has recently become commercially available (ContraPest® from SenesTech, Inc.). This product contains two chemicals, both of which impair spermatogenesis in male and reduce ovulations in female rats. We tested the efficacy of this bait in wild-caught adult black rats from the island of Hawai’i in a short-term laboratory trial. A control group (n = 25) was offered placebo bait and the treatment group (n = 25) was offered fertility control bait, both ad libitum, during a 15-day introduction period and during the first of four breeding rounds, for a total of 58 …

Development And Testing Of A Matrix For Mongoose Toxic Bait: Nontoxic Bait Acceptance Cage Trials, Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Daniel Sedgwick, Chris N. Niebuhr, Emily W. Ruell

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

The only pesticide currently registered for mongoose control is a product developed for rats that consists of a hard-cereal bait block. Although the active ingredient (diphacinone) is known to be highly effective for mongoose, previous studies indicate that carnivorous and omnivorous mongooses do not readily consume the hard bait matrix designed for gnawing rodents. A palatable bait matrix with a consistency more appropriate to mongoose dentition and feeding behavior will be required to develop a more effective mongoose pesticide. We evaluated the acceptance and consumption of nontoxic versions of four candidate bait matrices: FOXECUTE® and FOXSHIELD® (Animal Control Technologies, Australia; …

Feasibility Of A Successful Rat Eradication On Wake Atoll Following Initial Partial Failure: Potential Causes, Remedial Actions, And Remaining Knowledge Gaps, Chad Hanson, Kristen Rex, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

A 2012 attempt to remove two rat species (Rattus tanezumi and R. exulans) from Wake Atoll was partially successful. R. tanezumi was eradicated from all three islands (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale), and R. exulans was eradicated from Peale. However, R. exulans remained on Wake and Wilkes and have since recovered to very high densities. In 2013, a panel of experts reviewed the eradication operation and offered a list of possible causes of the partial failure. Since that time, further research has been conducted to address several of the issues identified in the review. In this paper, we conduct a current …

Placebo Bait Uptake Trial To Test Feasibility Of Polynesian Rat (Rattus Exulans) Eradication On Wake Atoll, Chris N. Niebuhr, Israel Leinbach, Thomas W. Mcauliffe, Dean K. Foster, Shane R. Siers

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 29th (2020)

Rodent eradications have contributed to the recovery of many threatened species, but challenges often exist for campaigns that occur on tropical islands when compared to more temperate regions. A post-operational review of a rat eradication operation on Wake Atoll indicated that certain areas, such as those with high alternative food abundance, may have contributed to the failure to remove all Polynesian rats. We conducted a nontoxic bait uptake trial to evaluate whether the maximum prescribed bait application rate for Brodifacoum-25W rodenticide pellets was sufficient to expose all rats to a lethal dose at three sites on Wake Atoll, including around …