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University At Albany Stars Report, University At Albany, State University Of New York

STARS reports

Gold Rating: STARS Version 2.1

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS®) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to gauge relative progress toward sustainability. STARS was developed by AASHE with broad participation from the higher education community.

STARS is designed to:

• Provide a framework for understanding sustainability in all sectors of higher education.

• Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

• Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability.

• Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and …

Designing A Protected Area To Safeguard Imperiled Species From Urbanization, Stephanie S. Romanach, Brad Stith, Fred A. Johnson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Reserve design is a process that can address ecological, social, and political factors to identify parcels of land needed to sustain wildlife populations and other natural resources. Acquisition of parcels for a large terrestrial reserve is difficult because it typically occurs over a long timeframe and thus invokes consideration of future conditions such as climate and urbanization changes. In central Florida, the U.S. government has authorized a new protected area, the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge. The new refuge will host important threatened and endangered species and habitats, and will be located to allow for species adaptation from climate change …

Review: Canids Of The World: Wolves, Wild Dogs, Foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, And Their Relatives. José R. Castelló., Jonathan (Jon) Way

The Prairie Naturalist

Canids of the World is one of those reads where just when you think that something cannot be beat, this book comes out. What I mean by that is that I have read many works on wolves and other canids, most recently Nate Blakeslee’s American Wolf (Way 2017), and I have enjoyed and been enthralled with many of them. But Canids of the World may take the cake for being the most impressive book available on canids. For a modest price of just under $30.00, you can own a book that has over 600 amazing high-resolution glossy photographs of every …

Review: Behavior Of The Golden Eagle: An Illustrated Ethogram. David H. Ellis (Illustrated By N. John Schmitt)., Jeremy E. Guinn

The Prairie Naturalist

Author David H. Ellis and illustrator N. John Schmitt deliver precisely what is promised in Behavior of the Golden Eagle: An Illustrated Ethogram. This “little volume,” as the author coins it, represents a single source for defining, identifying, and describing behaviors of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). With the inclusion of Schmitt’s exceptional drawings, the book is a piece of art, as well as the most useful manual describing Golden Eagle behaviors. Nearly four decades earlier, Ellis (1979) authored the very first Golden Eagle ethogram—the set of repeated standard behaviors for a species called action patterns—and in his new book, …

A Trail Plan For The Prairie Corridor, Michaela Daugherty

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

South of Lincoln, Nebraska a conservation project is underway to create a passage between Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center and Pioneers Park Nature Center. The passage way between the two parks will be restored to its natural state of tallgrass prairie. Eventually, a walking and bike path will be constructed through the corridor to join the parks. The passage has the potential to educate the surrounding community about their natural history and to connect them to their environment and their cultural heritage. Through this thesis and a systematic literature review, we examine different modes of outdoor education, interpretations, guided and …

Effect Of Macrograzers (Campostoma Spp. And Faxonius Spp.) On Periphyton In Ozark Streams With Considerations Given To Macrograzer Biomass, Phosphorus, And Season: Mensurative And Manipulative Studies, Kayla R. Sayre

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient and benthic algal biomass relationships can guide numeric nutrient criteria development in lotic systems. However, herbivorous macrograzers may confound this relationship by reducing the slope of the positive relationship between nutrients and periphyton biomass in streams. I conducted a mensurative field study to determine if stoneroller and crayfish abundance related to algal biomass at varying nutrient concentrations and manipulated macrograzer presence with electrical exclosures in streams to examine macrograzer effects on algal biomass and understand whether these effects on periphyton varied with total phosphorus (TP) or season. Macrograzer density was quantified across a TP gradient (n=15 streams; range = …

Assessment Of Soil Properties And Vegetation In A Mounded Native Tallgrass Prairie With An Aquic And Udic Soil Moisture Regime In The Ozark Highlands Region Of Northwest Arkansas, Tyler Joseph Durre

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Native tallgrass prairies were once considered to be the dominant pre-settlement vegetation type in the eastern third of the Great Plains, but are now designated as America’s most endangered ecosystem due to conversion to agricultural land. Prairie mounds are unique soil features still present in remnant native tallgrass prairies across the United States. The main objective was to determine the effects of soil moisture regime (i.e., aquic and udic), mound position, (i.e., mound summit, backslope, toeslope, inter-mound), soil depth (i.e., 10-cm intervals from 0 to 90 cm), and their interactions on soil physical, chemical, and hydraulic properties in a mounded …

Spatial And Temporal Structure Of A Canid Community In Nebraska, Lucia Corral Hurtado

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

Understanding patterns of space-use by individuals, their distribution, and how they coexist with ecologically similar species is crucial to address various issues in ecology, evolution, conservation biology, and wildlife management. However, the study of such patterns challenging because the relationship among species and their environment is shaped by multiple ecological processes, many of which are acting at different scales, often in a hierarchical manner. In the Canidae family, for instance, where interference competition appears critical, larger species such as coyotes (Canis latrans), can often affect smaller species, such as red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and swift fox …

Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko

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

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …

Managing For Vegetation Heterogeneity On Rangelands: An Exploration Of Rancher Attitudes, Stephanie Marie Kennedy

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

Grasslands provide food, fiber, and numerous ecosystem services to human populations as well as habitat for wildlife. They are also some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world because of their productive soils and open topography. This problem is exacerbated by the accelerating conversion of grassland to cropland and encroaching trees and shrubs. The quality of remaining grasslands will be of increasing importance because of the biodiversity and vital ecosystem services they provide. Heterogeneity is a term specific to rangeland science that is illustrative of grassland health. Grassland species require very specific and differing habitats and without the variation …

The Biological Significance And Utility Of Feeding By Dermestes Maculatus, Braymond Adams

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

With their efficient feeding habits and tolerance to very low moisture and humidity, beetles in the Family Dermestidae are especially adapted to variable environments and habitats. Dermestid cultures have been in use since 1922 in cleaning tissue and flesh from bones, and proven benefit in multiple fields, including zoology, ornithology, and forensics. Dermestid feeding behaviors when coupled with known life stage and insect succession information aids in providing significant entomological evidence. However, the feeding activities of insects, like those of vertebrate scavengers and predators, change remains and may leave artifacts that can be sometimes be difficult to assign to a …

Aquatic Invasions: Causes, Consequences, And Solutions, Corey Ackerson, Melissa Carmichael, Olivia Carpenter, Hannah Crull, Jillian Henrichon, Maeve Mcgowan, Allison Mills, Nicholas Paolini, Everett Pierce, Nicole Scherer, Nicole Volosin, Kady Winsor, Markus Frederich

Marine Sciences Student Projects

Invasive species represent a global threat to ecosystems, human health, and the economy. A basic knowledge of invasive species biology is crucial to understand current and future impacts and implications. The purpose of this book is to provide a broad background on invasive species, and also details on specific examples through case studies.

The students in the course Aquatic Invasive Species (MAR 442) at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, have researched and reviewed scientific literature to educate readers about these issues. The class, comprised of twelve junior and senior Marine Science, Marine Affairs, Applied Mathematics, and Environmental …

Impacts Of Habitat Attributes And Community Gardens On Urban Bird Communities, Samuel Glenn Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations

The Rio Grande Valley of Southern Texas is a major agricultural region yet has some of the highest hunger rates in the USA. Urbanization and agriculture affect biodiversity, which is well studied, but little is known about how agriculture affects biodiversity in urban areas. We investigated how different urban attributes, including those related to urban farming, impact bird communities in Brownsville and Harlingen, TX, and compared sites that have community gardens to those that do not. To study three key urban habitat characteristics, we identified sites that exhibited all possible combinations of these factors, quantified land cover classes related to …

Trash Talk: The Effects Of Plastic Pollution On Seabirds In Narragansett Bay, Erin A. O'Neill

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global concern with more than 8 million tons of plastic dumped into our oceans every year. This policy paper assesses plastic pollution in Narragansett Bay and the negative implications it holds on local seabird populations. Also, essential background information on plastic production and throwaway culture is provided. Moreover, the biological significance of seabirds is described, highlighting the vital role such populations play in local ecosystems such as Narragansett Bay. This paper contributes research to the global issue of plastic pollution by observing declining native wildlife life populations, such as seabirds, on a local …

5th Annual Sustainability Report, Saint Mary's College Of California

Sustainability Report

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Northern Flying And Red Squirrel Phylogenies With Focus On The Insular United States, Alyssa M. Kiesow, Hugh B. Britten

The Prairie Naturalist

Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) populations are endemic to northern North America, including the Black Hills. The Black Hills populations are considered disjunct from other populations within their range. We examined insular populations to determine whether arboreal squirrels in the Black Hills each represent a unique population. We trapped and collected ear samples from northern flying and red squirrels in the Black Hills and in areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to infer population phylogenies with special consideration of the Black Hills population. Microsatellite loci and two mtDNA sequences were used for …

Metabolic Gas Emissions From Prairie Soil Containing Foraging Termites, Charles E. Konemann, B.M. Kard, Tom A. Royer, Mark E. Payton

The Prairie Naturalist

Differences in subterranean termite metabolic gas emissions are readily observed in laboratory experiments. However, in natural field ecosystems a primary difficulty in measuring subterranean termite gases is non-homogeneous distribution of foraging termites in soil. Our field experiment was designed to aggregate foragers of the 'eastern subterranean termite', Reticulitermes flavipes Kollar (EST), in one of four flux chamber configurations placed on a tallgrass prairie throughout 2014 and 2015. We used differently configured flux chambers to measure metabolic gas emissions from soil with or without foraging termites on The Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (TGPP) in north-central Oklahoma. Foraging termitesaggregated in …

The Prairie Naturalist: The Journal Of The Great Plains Natural Science Society Volume 50 No. 2

The Prairie Naturalist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

43 EDITOR’S NOTE

RESEARCH ARTICLES

46 Metabolic Gas Emissions from Prairie Soil Containing Foraging Termites Charles E. Konemann, B. M. Kard, Tom A. Royer, and Mark. E. Payton

59 Comparison of northern flying and red squirrel phylogenies with focus on the insular United States Alyssa M. Kiesow, and Hugh B. Britten

NOTES

70 Two-Headed White-Tailed Deer Fetus

72 Red-Bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomacilata) Copulation in South Dakota

74 New Breeding Record and Location for Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) in the Nebraska Great Plains, USA

BOOK REVIEWS

76 Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota: The Complete Guide to Species Identification. …

The Ecology Of Fecal Indicators, Dennis A. Gilfillan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Animal and human wastes introduce pathogens into rivers and streams, creating human health and economic burdens. While direct monitoring for pathogens is possible, it is impractical due to the sporadic distribution of pathogens, cost to identify, and health risks to laboratory workers. To overcome these issues, fecal indicator organisms are used to estimate the presence of pathogens. Although fecal indicators generally protect public health, they fall short in their utility because of difficulties in public health risk characterization, inconsistent correlations with pathogens, weak source identification, and their potential to persist in environments with no point sources of fecal pollution. This …

Evaluation Of A Sequential Pond System For Detention And Treatment Of Runoff At Skypark, Santa's Village, Elizabeth Caporuscio

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Understanding the extent to which human activities impact surface water resources has become increasingly important as both human population growth and related landscape changes impact water quality and quantity across varying geographical scales. Skypark, Santa’s Village is a 233.76-acre tourism-based outdoor recreation area located in Skyforest, California residing within the San Bernardino National Forest. The park is situated at Hooks Creek, the headwaters of the Mojave River Watershed, and is characterized by a diverse landscape that includes forest cover and human development, including impervious surfaces, a restored meadow, and recreational trails. In 2016, Hencks Meadow was considered degraded by human …

“I Really Don’T Look For Certifications, It All Has To Do With Personal Relationships”: The Construction Of A Meat Philosophy And Innovation Adoption By Culinary Professionals In The Rocky Mountain Region, Kailie B. Leggett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Demand for new methods of beef production is rising due to concern over potential impacts on human health, animal welfare, and the environment. Researchers at Utah State University have developed a method of beef production from cattle finished on tannin-containing legume forages in the Rocky Mountain Region in order to address those concerns. To ensure success of this product, the demand and marketability needed to be assessed. Food values addressed through new production standards and certifications are communicated through labeling by culinary professionals in the kitchen and behind service counters. This research study utilized qualitative methods to understand how culinary …

A Systems Perspective Of Changes Within Pastoralist Populations In And Around Sibiloi National Park, Kenya, Cody Willnerd

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In recent years, pastoralist settlement around Sibiloi National Park in Kenya has increased illegal grazing within the park’s boundaries. This issue stems from a myriad of causes, such as; food aid, sedentism, better access to healthcare, lack of grazing land, increase in number of droughts and increase in number of livestock head. The region has a significant lack of research on the topic and a systems perspective will be constructed in this research paper. The systems perspective will be constructed with the use of past literature and interviews answered by those who live in the East Turkana region. Findings have …

Chemical Treatment To Reduce Turbidity In Pumped Construction Site Water, James Jihoon Kang, Joshua W. Vetter, Richard A. Mclaughlin

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Many construction projects need to pump turbid water from borrow pits or other excavations into stilling basins or sediment filter bags prior to discharge. This study evaluated the effectiveness of these devices with polyacrylamide (PAM) injection to reduce effluent turbidity. Results from laboratory jar tests using two coastal plain sediments of North Carolina suggested that a cationic PAM was the most effective in reducing turbidity, followed by a nonionic PAM. Anionic PAM was effective in whole-soil jar tests but not when turbid supernatant was tested. A stilling basin was not effective in reducing the turbidity of the pumped water without …

Effectiveness Of Prescribed Fire On Meeting Fuel Load And Wildlife Habitat Management Objectives In East Texas National Forests, Trey Wall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using standardized methodology outlined by the United States Forest Service and the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas’ Fire Monitoring Program for data collection, the efficacy of current Forest Service prescribed burn regimes were analyzed for 24 study sites in East Texas National Forests. Study sites were located within Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and Angelina/Sabine National Forests. Efficacy was determined by comparing defined management objectives established by the Forest Service to the data collected at the study sites. The results conclude that most objectives, as outlined by the Forest Service, are not being met with the current practices. Re-visitation of …

Environmental Fate And Microbial Effects Of Monensin, Lincomycin, And Sulfamethazine Residues In Soil, Matteo D'Alessio, Lisa M. Durso, Daniel N. Miller, Brian Woodbury, Chittaranjan Ray, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The impact of commonly-used livestock antibiotics on soil nitrogen transformations under varying redox conditions is largely unknown. Soil column incubations were conducted using three livestock antibiotics (monensin, lincomycin and sulfamethazine) to better understand the fate of the antibiotics, their effect on nitrogen transformation, and their impact on soil microbial communities under aerobic, anoxic, and denitrifying conditions. While monensin was not recovered in the effluent, lincomycin and sulfamethazine concentrations decreased slightly during transport through the columns. Sorption, and to a limited extent degradation, are likely to be the primary processes leading to antibiotic attenuation during leaching. Antibiotics also affected microbial respiration …

Constructing A Data-Based Mortality Profile For Avian Tower Kills At Telecommunication Towers In Illinois, Rachel Dipietro

Theses and Dissertations

During spring and fall seasons, Neotropical migratory passerines travel nocturnally across the Western Hemisphere between their wintering and breeding grounds, often encountering man-made threats. One hazard that has gained considerable publicity in recent decades is the communication tower. While there have been many tower kill studies recorded, there has been no attempt at predicting the risk of towers based on their different attributes (e.g., height, type of light, landscape placement) spatially on a regional scale. The objective of this study was to create seasonal mortality profile maps in GIS for Illinois, based on tower attributes combined with key factors such …

The Relative Effects Of Forest Amount, Forest Configuration, And Urban Matrix Quality On Forest Breeding Birds, Alexandra V. Shoffner, Andrew M. Wilson, Wenwu Tang, Sara A. Gagné

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Urbanization modifies landscape structure in three major ways that impact avian diversity in remnant habitat: habitat amount is reduced and habitat configuration and matrix quality are altered. The relative effects of these three components of landscape structure are relatively well-studied in agricultural landscapes, but little is known about the relative effect of urban matrix quality. We addressed this gap by investigating the relative effects of forest amount, forest configuration, and matrix quality, indicated by degree of urbanization and agriculture amount, on the diversity of three guilds of forest birds using data from 13,763 point counts from Pennsylvania, USA. Forest amount …

Relating Cyanobacteria And Physicochemical Water-Quality Properties In Willow Creek Lake, Nebraska, 2012–14, David L. Rus, Brent M. Hall, Steven A. Thomas

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Document abstract

Cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) are naturally present members of phytoplankton assemblages that may detract from beneficial uses of water because some strains produce cyanotoxins that pose health hazards to people and animals. Cyanobacteria populations observed in Willow Creek Lake during 2012 through 2014 were compared to external nutrient loading from the Willow Creek drainage basin and several other physicochemical properties within the lake, including internal nutrient loading. This report is part of a cooperative study between the United States Geological Survey, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the Nebraska …

The Firece Green Fire: Vol. 9 Issue 11, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Proceedings Of The First Annual Symposium On The Wright State Woods, College Of Science And Mathematics, College Of Liberal Arts

1st Annual Wright State Woods Symposium

The proceeding of the Woods Symposium held at Wright State University and sponsored by the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Liberal Arts.