Digital Commons Network^™

Landscape Context Influences Nest Survival In A Midwest Grassland, Victoria L. Simonsen, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Although the management and restoration of habitat is the key method to conserve species of interest, local habitat management often fails to elicit desired responses in populations. Landscape features beyond the local habitat scale affect the population dynamics of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), but the mechanism behind this response is unknown. One possibility is that nest survival, which is primarily reduced by nest predation, is regulating pheasant responses to the landscape. We investigated the extent to which land use affected nest survival by studying 202 artificial nests on 12 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields in Nebraska, USA with …

Management Applications Of Discontinuity Theory, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Chris Barichievy, Tarsha Eason, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Nicholas A.J. Graham, Dean Granholm, Lance H. Gunderson, Melinda Knutson, Kristy L. Nash, R. John Nelson, Magnus Nystrom, Trisha L. Spanbauer, Craig A. Stow, Shana M. Sundstrom

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. Human impacts on the environment are multifaceted and can occur across distinct spatiotemporal scales. Ecological responses to environmental change are therefore difficult to predict, and entail large degrees of uncertainty. Such uncertainty requires robust tools for management to sustain ecosystem goods and services and maintain resilient ecosystems.

2. We propose an approach based on discontinuity theory that accounts for patterns and processes at distinct spatial and temporal scales, an inherent property of ecological systems. Discontinuity theory has not been applied in natural resource management and could therefore improve ecosystem management because it explicitly accounts for ecological complexity.

3. Synthesis …

Quantifying Spatial Resilience, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Graeme S. Cumming, Carl Folke, Dirac L. Twidwell, Daniel R. Uden

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. Anthropogenic stressors affect the ecosystems upon which humanity relies. In some cases when resilience is exceeded, relatively small linear changes in stressors can cause relatively abrupt and nonlinear changes in ecosystems.

2. Ecological regime shifts occur when resilience is exceeded and ecosystems enter a new local equilibrium that differs in its structure and function from the previous state. Ecological resilience, the amount of disturbance that a system can withstand before it shifts into an alternative stability domain, is an important framework for understanding and managing ecological systems subject to collapse and reorganization.

3. Recently, interest in the influence of …

Biological Invasions, Ecological Resilience And Adaptive Governance, Brian C. Chaffin, Ahjond S. Garmestani, David G. Angeler, Dustin L. Herrmann, Craig A. Stow, Magnus Nystrom, Jan Sendzimir, Matthew E. Hopton, Jurek Kolasa, Craig R. Allen

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In a world of increasing interconnections in global trade as well as rapid change in climate and land cover, the accelerating introduction and spread of invasive species is a critical concern due to associated negative social and ecological impacts, both real and perceived. Much of the societal response to invasive species to date has been associated with negative economic consequences of invasions. This response has shaped a war-like approach to addressing invasions, one with an agenda of eradications and intense ecological restoration efforts towards prior or more desirable ecological regimes. This trajectory often ignores the concept of ecological resilience and …

Avoiding Decline: Fostering Resilience And Sustainability In Midsize Cities, Craig R. Allen, Hannah E. Birge, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Rebecca Bevans, Jessica L. Burnett, Barbara A. Cosens, Ximing Cai, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Igor Linkov, Elizabeth A. Scott, Mark D. Solomon, Daniel R. Uden

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Eighty-five percent of United States citizens live in urban areas. However, research surrounding the resilience and sustainability of complex urban systems focuses largely on coastal megacities (>1 million people). Midsize cities differ from their larger counterparts due to tight urban-rural feedbacks with their immediate natural environments that result from heavy reliance and close management of local ecosystem services. They also may be less path-dependent than larger cities due to shorter average connection length among system components, contributing to higher responsiveness among social, infrastructural, and ecological feedbacks. These distinct midsize city features call for a framework that organizes information and …

Environmental Ethics And The Electric Power Grid: A Case For Technological Momentum, Paul A. Povlock

Ph.D. Dissertations (Open Access)

This qualitative analysis examines the effects of a growing environmental ethic on the electric power grid in southeastern New England from the late nineteenth century to the start of the new millennia. The increased awareness of the environment evolved into a new belief system of the population and altered the methods of construction, operation and maintenance of the advanced technology system of the electric power grid. The manner in which this occurred suggests that technological momentum is a better concept than technological determinism with which to examine the development of technological systems in the modern world.

This dissertation examines the …

Gross And Microscopic Lesions In Corals From Micronesia, T. M. Work, G. S. Aeby, K. A. Hughen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The authors documented gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in corals on 7 islands spanning western, southern, and eastern Micronesia, sampling 76 colonies comprising 30 species of corals among 18 genera, with Acropora, Porites, and Montipora dominating. Tissue loss comprised the majority of gross lesions sampled (41%), followed by discoloration (30%) and growth anomaly (29%). Of 31 cases of tissue loss, most lesions were subacute (48%), followed by acute and chronic (26% each). Of 23 samples with discoloration, most were dark discoloration (40%), with bleaching and other discoloration each constituting 30%. Of 22 growth anomalies, umbonate growth anomalies composed …

Water Current, Volume 48, No. 1, Winter 2016

Water Current Newsletter

2016 tour to Colorado’s South Platte basin June 14-16

Research, awards, speaking engagements, new staff position

Development Of A Dreissena Bioassay To Assess The Toxicity Of Contaminants Across Two Life-History Stages, Caroline Joyce Addis

Wayne State University Theses

Dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis) have rapidly become widespread and ubiquitous in North America since their introduction into the Great Lakes in the 1980s. The resulting environmental and economic impacts of their invasion have been extensive, negatively affecting biodiversity and costing millions of dollars in control efforts and damage to power generation and water treatment facilities. Although dreissenids are often associated with negative impacts, they may present a practical tool for toxicology studies. The typically sessile behavior of the benthic adults coupled with the planktonic nature of the veligers allow for a more complete evaluation of water quality …

Land Cover Mapping And Change Analysis At The Tensleep Preserve In Wyoming, Tyler Richard Grupa

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Mapping land cover and land cover change are important, especially for land managers who protect natural lands and generate restoration projects. Accurate land cover assessment of rangelands can be difficult because the spectral difference between plant species may be minimal. The goal of this research is to map the land cover in the Tensleep Preserve and highlight change that has occurred over the past twenty-three years using the Feature Analyst extension. The land cover change map will highlight significant changes and Feature Analyst will accurately identify different land covers using historical aerial photographs and ground truthing data collected in 2013. …

Elk Summer-Autumn Habitat Selection In The Clearwater Basin Of North-Central Idaho, Calla R. Hetzner Hagle

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Since the 1960's, Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) populations have declined steadily in the Clearwater Basin in north-central Idaho. The Clearwater Basin Collaborative (CBC) was formed with the goal of restoring healthy elk populations to the Clearwater Basin. They initiated this study by collaring 53 cow elk from four distinct areas. I analyzed elk detection and GIS-based habitat data from June 15-September 15 2014 to address one of the CBC's objectives: identifying elk habitat use responses on summer-autumn range. Ground-truth surveys are necessary to verify satellite-derived data are analogous to actual vegetation components. I used a proportion analysis to …

Impacts Of The Invasive Brook Stickleback (Culaea Inconstans) On Wandering Garter Snake (Thamnophis Elegans Vagrans) Fitness, Feeding Behavior And Diet, Adam C. Gilles

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

There are multiple examples of Natricine snakes not only changing their diet to utilize an invasive fish, but deriving a fitness benefit from the new and often abundant prey item as well. To investigate a potentially similar scenario arising on the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (Spokane Co., Wash.), we analyzed the morphometrics, fitness, feeding behavior, and diet of wandering garter snakes from three study sites: invaded, historically invaded (recent but not present invasion) and uninvaded. We used mass and snout-vent length (SVL) measurements to infer fitness using a scaled mass index, recorded garter snakes feeding on brook stickleback in the …

Evaluating The Biogeochemical Functioning Of A Constructed Fen On The Post-Mining Landscape Of Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Fort Mcmurray, Alberta, Canada, Felix C. Nwaishi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Peatlands have a unique biogeochemical function, characterized by an imbalance between the rates of biomass accumulation and decomposition. These characteristics facilitate the ability of peatlands to support the sequestration of nutrients and carbon. In disturbed peatlands, these functions are compromised. Thus, reclamation targets amongst other key functions, the recovery of biogeochemical functioning. These functions could serve as a measure of recovery to conditions that are present in natural analogues. This thesis examines the recovery of microbially-mediated nutrient transformation processes in a fen peatland that was constructed on a post-mining landscape in the Athabasca oil sands region, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The …

Nickel And Copper Mixture Toxicity To Daphnia In Soft Water, Prachi Deshpande

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Industrially important metals, such as Cu and Ni, sometimes are present at elevated concentrations in lakes, including those in the Sudbury, ON region. Although they are essential metals, their divalent-cation state (Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺) can be toxic at high concentrations in the water. The free-ion toxicity of each of these metals has been studied in isolation, but rarely as a mixture. The economic importance of Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ makes them essential to study in the context of mixture toxicity. The objectives were to: (1) determine Cu and Ni mixture toxicity to Daphnia through acute LC50 …

Tracking Silver, Gold, And Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Through Drinking Water Systems By Single Particle - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry, Ariel Renee Donovan

Masters Theses

"Single particle (SP)-ICP-MS methods were developed to characterize and quantify Ti-containing, titanium dioxide, silver, and gold NP concentration, size, size distribution and dissolved metal element concentration in surface water and treated drinking water. The effectiveness of conventional drinking water treatments (including lime softening, alum coagulation, filtration, and disinfection) to remove NPs from surface water was evaluated using six-gang stirrer jar test simulations. Six-gang stirrers were used to simulate drinking water treatments including lime softening, alum coagulation, powdered activated carbon sorption, filtration, and disinfection by free chlorine. Lime softening effectively removed most nanoparticles added. Source and drinking waters from three large …

Effects Of Chemical Amendments To Swine Manure On Runoff Quality, Elizabeth L. Bullock, Dwayne R. Edwards, Phillip A. Moore Jr., Richard S. Gates

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Land-applied swine manure can be an environmental concern when runoff losses of manure constituents occur. The use of chemical amendments to mitigate these losses has been investigated for poultry litter, but materials such as swine manure have received less attention in this context, particularly at the plot scale or larger. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the impacts of aluminum sulfate (alum; Al₂(SO₄)₃), aluminum chloride (AlCl₃), and ferric chloride (FeCl₃) addition on runoff of selected constituents of land-applied swine manure. Manure was collected from feeder pigs fed a …

The Roles Of Introduced Eucalyptus In The Conservation And Expansion Of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests In The Northern Ethiopian Highlands, Janice Liang

Honors Theses

Species of the genus Eucalyptus (common name eucalyptus) are widely planted all across Ethiopia – including on large areas of land previously allocated to food production. In recent decades eucalyptus has also increasingly been planted on lands around and within “church forests,” sacred groves of old-aged Afromontane trees surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido churches. These revered holy sites have long been recognized for their cultural values and also for their ecosystem services – including their potential to support species conservation and restoration, as church forests are some of the only remaining sanctuaries for many of Ethiopia’s indigenous and endemic plant and …

Ecology Of Two Reintroduced Black Bear Populations In The Central Appalachians, Sean Mccarthy Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Reintroduced populations are vulnerable to demographic and environmental stochasticity, deleterious genetic effects, and reduced population fitness, all of which can increase extinction probability. Population viability is principle to determining the status of reintroduced populations and for guiding management decisions. To attempt to reestablish black bear (Ursus americanus) populations in the central Appalachians, two reintroductions using small founder groups occurred during the 1990s in the Big South Fork area along the Kentucky-Tennessee border (BSF) and in the Jefferson National Forest along the Kentucky-Virginia border (KVP). My objectives were to estimate demographic and genetic parameters, and to evaluate long-term viability …

The Role Of Microbial Exopolymers In Determining The Fate Of Oil And Chemical Dispersants In The Ocean, Antonietta Quigg, Uta Passow, Wei-Chun Chin, Chen Xu, Shawn Doyle, Laura Bretherton, Manoj Kamalanathan, Alicia K. Williams, Jason B. Sylvan, Zoe V. Finkel, Anthony H. Knap, Kathleen A. Schwehr, Saijin Zhang, Luni Sun, Terry L. Wade, Wassim Obeid, Patrick G. Hatcher, Peter H. Santschi

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by planktonic microbes can influence the fate of oil and chemical dispersants in the ocean through emulsification, degradation, dispersion, aggregation, and/or sedimentation. In turn, microbial community structure and function, including the production and character of EPS, is influenced by the concentration and chemical composition of oil and chemical dispersants. For example, the production of marine oil snow and its sedimentation and flocculent accumulation to the seafloor were observed on an expansive scale after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Northern Gulf of Mexico in 2010, but little is known about the underlying …

Powerlessness Repurposed: The Feminist Ethos Of Judy Bonds, Mary Beth Pennington

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Habitat Selection In Transformed Landscapes And The Role Of Novel Ecosystems For Native Species Persistence, Lina Maria Sanchez Clavijo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To understand native species persistence in transformed landscapes we must evaluate how individual behaviors interact with landscape structure through ecological processes such as habitat selection. Rapid, widespread landscape transformation may lead to a mismatch between habitat preference and quality, a phenomenon known as ecological traps that can have negative outcomes for populations. I applied this framework to the study of birds inhabiting landscapes dominated by forest remnants and shade coffee plantations, a tropical agroforestry system that retains important portions of native biodiversity. I used two different approaches to answer the question: What is the role of habitat selection in the …

Mobility Of Escherichia Coli Within Karst Terrains, Kentucky, Usa, Ashley M. Bandy

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Bacterial contamination of karst aquifers is a concern as water quality across the globe deteriorates in the face of decreasing water security. This study examined the transport and attenuation of two non-virulent isolates of Escherichia coli in relation to traditional groundwater tracers such as rhodamine WT dye and latex microspheres in two karst regions in Kentucky. Differential movement between the four tracers was observed in both epikarst and karst aquifer traces, with differences in behavior dependent on flow conditions. Attenuation was greater for the bacterial isolate containing the iha gene, compared to the isolate containing the kps gene. Microspheres of …

Stochastic Models Of Evidence Accumulation In Changing Environments, Alan Veliz-Cuba, Zachary P. Kilpatrick, Krešimir Josić

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Organisms and ecological groups accumulate evidence to make decisions. Classic experiments and theoretical studies have explored this process when the correct choice is fixed during each trial. However, we live in a constantly changing world. What effect does such impermanence have on classical results about decision making? To address this question we use sequential analysis to derive a tractable model of evidence accumulation when the correct option changes in time. Our analysis shows that ideal observers discount prior evidence at a rate determined by the volatility of the environment, and the dynamics of evidence accumulation is governed by the information …

University Of North Florida Environmental Center Annual Report 2016, Natalie Sassine, Tiffany Torres, James W. Taylor, Maria Mark

Annual Reports

2016 Annual Report of the Environmental Center at the University of North Florida

Feeling And Healing Eco-Social Catastrophe: The "Horrific" Slipstream Of Danis Goulet's Wakening, Salma Monani

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Cree/Métis filmmaker Danis Goulet’s science fiction short Wakening (2013) is set in Canada’s near future, yet the film reveals a slipstream of time where viewers are invited to contemplate the horrors of ecosocial crises—future, past, and present. I argue Wakening, as futuristic ecohorror, produces horrific feelings in the moment of its viewing that are inevitably entangled with the past, inviting its audiences to experience the monstrous contexts of Indigenous lives across time. To articulate this temporal dynamism, I overlay two key conceptual understandings: Walter Benjamin’s critiques of Western progress and historicism, and Indigenous notions of a Native slipstream. When brought …

In God’S Land: Cinematic Affect, Animation And The Perceptual Dilemmas Of Slow Violence, Salma Monani

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

In this paper, I argue that Indian independent filmmaker Pankaj Rishi Kumar's documentary In God’s Land (2012) blends animation and live-action to illuminate the destructive nuances of postcolonial literary scholar, Rob Nixon's notion of slow violence. In turning to cinema, I also suggest that In God’s Land’s “aesthetic strategies” further eco-film scholarship’s recent interests in animation, which have tended to highlight the mode's "feel good affect." I draw attention to In God's Land's hybrid of dark, discordant animation spectacle interspliced in the documentary live-action to articulate the potential of eco-animation outside of this affect. Ultimately, the film not only draws …

Interfacing Of Neuromorphic Vision, Auditory And Olfactory Sensors With Digital Neuromorphic Circuits, Anup Vanarse

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The conventional Von Neumann architecture imposes strict constraints on the development of intelligent adaptive systems. The requirements of substantial computing power to process and analyse complex data make such an approach impractical to be used in implementing smart systems.

Neuromorphic engineering has produced promising results in applications such as electronic sensing, networking architectures and complex data processing. This interdisciplinary field takes inspiration from neurobiological architecture and emulates these characteristics using analogue Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). The unconventional approach of exploiting the non-linear current characteristics of transistors has aided in the development of low-power adaptive systems that can be implemented …

Influence Of Increased Sediment Exposure On Suspension-Feeder Assemblages In A Temperate Seagrass Meadow, Pierre Bouvais

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The impact of increased sediment exposure on coastal marine ecosystems is one of the most important contemporary environmental issues. Sediment exposure is defined as the concentrations of sediment particles suspended in the water column and the amount of sediment depositing on the seabed. In addition to natural events, such as land erosion, rainfall, and tidal currents, anthropogenic activities such as land use, road building, logging, mining, port maintenance and dredging, contribute to the discharge of a great amount of sediment in the water column. As sessile suspension-feeder assemblages play a critical role in marine ecosystems through their active transfers of …

An Evaluation Of Exposures To Respirable Particulates, Environmental Pm2.5, Pahs And Metal Compounds In Western Australia, Desmond D. Menon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

It has been well established that air pollution is associated with health impacts. This study investigated the relationship between exposure to air pollutants and potential biomarkers of health effects. The research project was conducted in 2 separate study locations and cohorts.

Study 1: An Evaluation of Children’s Exposures to Respirable Particulates, Environmental PM2.5, PAHs and Metal Compounds in The South West of Western Australia. A cross sectional study to evaluate the exposures of children (n=18), and controls (n=15) to respirable particulates PAHs and metal compounds in the South West of Australia during 2011. Ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were found …

Gene Flow And Genetic Structure Of The Seagrass Thalassia Hemprichii In The Indo-Australian Archipelago, Udhi Eko Hernawan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

How genetic variation is distributed across space (genetic structure) and what factors influence the spatial genetic structuring is one of the primary questions in population genetics. The interaction between species biology (e.g. life-history traits) and physical processes operating in the seascape over time, including palaeo-historical events (e.g. sea level fluctuations) and contemporary processes (e.g. ocean currents), have been predicted to influence the extent of gene flow and the spatial genetic structuring in marine organisms. However, the relative contribution of each factor in governing the genetic pattern remains unclear. This study examined the pattern of genetic structure and the factors influencing …