Digital Commons Network^™

Integrating Naturalized Areas Onto The University At Albany Campus, Cassidy Drasser, Bryan King, Aidan Mcgovern, Ahren Von Schnell

Publications

The purpose of this management plan is to provide recommendations to create naturalized areas and increase biodiversity on the University at Albany campus. The University currently follows a number of environmental policies in an effort to promote uniformity. There are many benefits to increasing biodiversity on campus such as providing ecosystem services, increasing education and awareness, aiding in stormwater management, and support institutional advancement. There are already several areas on the campus that would serve as prime locations for projects of this nature including the front lawn and the Dutch and State parking lots. Future directions that the campus can …

Rooted In Soil, Laura Fatemi, Farrah Fatemi, Liam Heneghan

DePaul Art Museum Publications

No abstract provided.

Low Carbon Development For Cities: Methods And Measures, Stephanie Ohshita, N Zhou, L Price, D Fridley, N Khanna, L X. Hong, H Y. Lu, C Fino-Chen, G He

Environmental Science

Cities consume more than 60% of global energy and that share is expected to rise with the rapid rate of urbanization now underway (van der Hoeven, 2012). Cities' energy consumption, along with the reshaping and resurfacing of land and the food and other resources they demand, lead to a similarly large share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon-based and otherwise. With cities playing a crucial role in sustainable energy and climate systems, this chapter examines emerging efforts by cities around the world to shift to a development pattern with less energy and less carbon.

Controlling Environmental Crisis Messages In Uncontrollable Media Environments: The 2011 Case Of Blue-Green Algae On Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees, Ok, Alicia Mason, James Triplett

Faculty Submissions

This chapter documents a content analysis of 62 media reports related to the 2011 blue-green algae (BGA) outbreak on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, Oklahoma. A three-stage crisis model is used to understand the media framing and crisis communication related to the event. Media reports were categorized according to modality. The data set included: traditional media reports (n=21, 33%), online blogs (n=7, 11%), and online press releases (n=34, 54%). These units of analysis represent both controlled and uncontrolled media representations of the crisis event. The objectives of this analysis are to understand how risk and crisis communication strategies were utilized …

Density Dependent Double Brooding In Piping Plovers (Charadrius Melodus) In The Northern Great Plains, Usa, Kelsi L. Hunt, Lauren R. Dinan, Meryl J. Friedrich, Mary Bomberger Brown, Joel G. Jorgensen, Daniel H. Catlin, James D. Fraser

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) are primarily monogamous birds that usually raise only one brood per season, but rare instances of double brooding have been documented. Piping Plovers breeding in the northern Great Plains, USA were studied in two locations: the Missouri River near the Gavins Point Dam (2005- 2013) and the lower Platte River (2008-2013). There were 25 confirmed instances of double brooding on the Missouri River across the 9-year duration of the study. There were no instances of double brooding observed locally on the lower Platte River. However, in 2013, two female Piping Plovers successfully hatched eggs …

Evaluating Recreationists’ Awareness And Attitudes Toward Piping Plovers (Charadrius Melodus) At Lake Mcconaughy, Nebraska, Usa, Joel G. Jorgensen, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) are shorebirds federally protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act that often nest on beaches in proximity to human recreation. We evaluated whether awareness of piping plovers and their legally protected status and attitudes toward species management varied between groups of recreationists at Lake McConaughy, Keith County, Nebraska, USA. Awareness of piping plovers varied primarily by the respondents’ number of annual visits to Lake McConaughy; the respondents’ age, sex, or location of primary residence had less influence. Recreationists with increased awareness of piping plovers and their protected status did not have more favorable attitudes toward plovers …

Space Use, Daily Movements, And Roosting Behavior Of Male Wild Turkeys During Spring In Louisiana And Texas, John T. Gross, Andrew R. Little, Bret A. Collier, Michael J. Chamberlain

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Because wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are an important game species and turkey hunter numbers are increasing, the need for better information on how turkeys use their environment is critical. With the recent advent of GPS technology suitable for use on wild turkeys, we are now able to collect data on a scale not previously possible. We used backpack style GPS units to detail home range and core area sizes, daily movement distances, and roosting characteristics of male Eastern (M. g. silvestris) and Rio Grande (M. g. intermedia) wild turkeys in Louisiana and Texas. Mean …

Habitat Characteristics Of Eastern Wild Turkey Nest And Ground-Roost Sites In 2 Longleaf Pine Forests, Mary M. Streich, Andrew R. Little, Michael J. Chamberlain, L. Mike Connor, Robert J. Warren

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Managing and restoring longleaf pine forests throughout the Southeast is a conservation priority. Prescribed fire is an integral part of these activities, as it is the primary means of controlling hardwood encroachment and maintaining native groundcover. Nest site and preflight brood groundroost site selection of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) has not been well studied in longleaf pine systems. Therefore, we determined habitat characteristics associated with wild turkey nests and ground-roosts in 2 longleaf pine forests in southwestern Georgia. We radio-tagged 45 female turkeys and evaluated habitat characteristics associated with 84 nests and 51 ground-roosts during the …

Sturgeon In The Sacramento–San Joaquin Watershed: New Insights To Support Conservation And Management, A. Peter Klimley, Eric D. Chapman, Joseph J. Cech Jr., Dennis E. Cocherell, Nann A. Fangue, Marty Gingras, Zachary Jackson, Emily A. Miller, Ethan A. Mora, Jamilynn B. Poletto, Andrea M. Schreier, Alicia Seesholtz, Kenneth J. Sulak, Michael J. Thomas, David Woodbury, Megan T. Wyman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The goal of a day-long symposium on March 3, 2015, Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Watershed: New Insights to Support Conservation and Management, was to present new information about the physiology, behavior, and ecology of the green (Acipenser medirostris) and white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) to help guide enhanced management and conservation efforts within the Sacramento–San Joaquin watershed. This symposium identified current unknowns and highlighted new electronic tracking technologies and physiological techniques to address these knowledge gaps. A number of presentations, each reviewing ongoing research on the two species, was followed by a round-table discussion, in which …

Fish-Protection Devices At Unscreened Water Diversions Can Reduce Entrainment: Evidence From Behavioural Laboratory Investigations, Jamilynn B. Poletto, Dennis E. Cocherell, Timothy D. Mussen, Ali Ercan, Hossein Bandeh, M. Levent Kavvas, Joseph J. Cech Jr., Nann A. Fangue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Diversion (i.e. extraction) of water from rivers and estuaries can potentially affect native wildlife populations if operation is not carefully managed. For example, open, unmodified water diversions can act as a source of injury or mortality to resident or migratory fishes from entrainment and impingement, and can cause habitat degradation and fragmentation. Fish-protection devices, such as exclusion screens, louvres or sensory deterrents, can physically or behaviourally deter fish from approaching or being entrained into water diversions. However, empirical assessment of their efficacy is often lacking or is investigated only for particular economically or culturally important fishes, such as salmonids. The …

In-Service Teachers' Attitudes, Knowledge And Classroom Teaching Of Global Climate Change, Shiyu Liu, Gillian Roehrig, Devarati Bhattacharya, Keisha Varma

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Simultaneous Cr(Vi) Reduction And Methylene Blue Removal By Bacillus Sp. Jh2-2 Isolated From Mining Site Soil, Jaehong Shim, Patrick Shea, Jeong-Muk Lim, Byung-Taek Oh

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A Bacillus sp. strain (JH2-2), isolated from soil at an abandoned mine site, reduced Cr(VI) to Cr(III) under aerobic conditions. At pH 7, the strain reduced essentially all of the Cr(VI) in M9 minimal medium to Cr(III) at initial concentrations ≤50 mg Cr(VI) L⁻¹ within 100 h. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the Cr(III) precipitate matched chromium (III) hydrogen phosphate (CrH₂P₃O₁₀∙2H₂O). The JH2-2 strain showed high tolerance to other heavy metal (loid)s, with minimal inhibitory concentrations in liquid medium of (mg L−1): As (500), Cd (100), Cu (350), Ni (300), Zn …

Factors Affecting Female Space Use In Ten Populations Of Prairie Chickens, Virginia L. Winder, Kaylan M. Carrlson, Andrew J. Gregory, Christian A. Hagen, David A. Haukos, Dylan C. Kesler, Lena C. Larsson, Ty W. Matthews, Lance B. Mcnew, Michael A. Patten, Jim C. Pitman, Larkin A. Powell, Jennifer A. Smith, Tom Thompson, Donald H. Wolfe, Brett K. Sandercock

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Conservation of wildlife depends on an understanding of the interactions between animal

movements and key landscape factors. Habitat requirements of wide-ranging species often vary spatially,

but quantitative assessment of variation among replicated studies at multiple sites is rare. We investigated

patterns of space use for 10 populations of two closely related species of prairie grouse: Greater Prairie-

Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) and Lesser Prairie-Chickens (T. pallidicinctus). Prairie chickens require large,

intact tracts of native grasslands, and are umbrella species for conservation of prairie ecosystems in North

America. We used resource utilization functions to investigate space use by female prairie chickens during …

The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (Awssi), Barbara E. Mayes Boustead, Steven D. Hilberg, Martha Shulski, Kenneth Hubbard

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The character of a winter can be defined by many of its features, including temperature averages and extremes, snowfall totals, snow depth, and the duration between onset and cessation of winter-weather conditions. The accumulated winter season severity index incorporates these elements into one site-specific value that defines the severity of a particular winter, especially when examined in the context of climatological values for that site. Thresholds of temperature, snowfall, and snow depth are assigned points that accumulate through the defined winter season; a parallel index uses temperature and precipitation to provide a snow proxy where snow data are unavailable or …

The Uncertain Climate Footprint Of Wetlands Under Human Pressure, Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Annalea Lohila, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Dennis D. Baldocchi, Ankur R. Desai, Nigel T. Roulet, Timo Vesala, Albertus Johannes Dolman, Walter C. Oechel, Barbara Marcolla, Thomas Friborg, Janne Rinne, Jaclyn Hatala Matthes, Lutz Merbold, Ana Meijide, Gerard Kiely, Matteo Sottocornola, Torsten Sachs, Donatella Zona, Andrej Varlagin, Derrick Y.F. Lai, Elmar Veenendaal, Frans-Jan W. Parmentier, Ute Skiba, Magnus Land, Arjan Hensen, Jacobus Van Huissteden, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Narasinha J. Shurpali, Thomas Grünwald, Elyn R. Humphreys, Marcin Jackowicz-Korczynski, Mika A. Aurela, Tuomas Laurila, Carsten Grüning, Chiara A.R. Corradi, Arina P. Schrier-Uijl, Torben R. Christensen, Mikkel P. Tamstorf, Mikhail Mastepanov, Pertti J. Martikainen, Shashi Verma, Christian Bernhofer, Alessandro Cescatti

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Significant climate risks are associated with a positive carbon–temperature feedback in northern latitude carbon-rich ecosystems,making an accurate analysis of human impacts on the net greenhouse gas balance of wetlands a priority. Here, we provide a coherent assessment of the climate footprint of a network of wetland sites based on simultaneous and quasi-continuous ecosystem observations of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes. Experimental areas are located both in natural and in managed wetlands and cover a wide range of climatic regions, ecosystem types, and management practices. Based on direct observations we predict that sustained CH₄ emissions in natural ecosystems are …

Advocating For Mother Earth In The Undergraduate Classroom: Uniting Twenty-First Century Technologies, Local Resources, Art, And Activism To Explore Our Place In Nature, Christina Triezenberg Ph.D., Ilse A. Schweitzer Vandonkelaar

The Hilltop Review

Despite the growing evidence of humanity’s impact on the natural world and the urgent need to shape citizens who understand the impact that their choices and actions have on their local and global environments, colleges and universities throughout the United States have been slow to add environmental education as a core component of their undergraduate curricula. Harnessing our shared interest in environment issues and the humanities, we designed and taught an experimental course in environmental literature for the honors program at Western Michigan University that we hope will become a template of what is possible in postsecondary environmental education. Using …

Assessment Of Village Chicken Production Systems In Kambata Tambaro And Wolaita Zones, Snnpr, Ethiopia, Aman Getiso, Fitsum Tessema, Mesfin Mekonnen, Addisu Jimma, Bereket Zeleke

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The study was conducted in four woredas (Damot Gale,Of a, Angacha and Hadero Tunto) the first two of them found in Wolaita zone and two of them in Kambata Tambaro Zone of SNNPR, Ethiopia respectively. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the study areas to assess village chicken production systems, productive and reproductive performance of village chicken and identifying constraints to village chicken production. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 240 farming households and administer a pre-tested and structured questionnaire. The results showed that the mean age of interviewed farmers was 37.8±9.3 years; average family size & chicken …

Yield Gap Analysis Of Field Crops: Methods And Case Studies, V. O. Sadras, Kenneth Cassman, Patricio Grassini, W. G.M. Bastiaanssen, A. G. Laborte, A. E. Milne, G. Sileshi, P. Steduto

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The challenges of global agriculture have been analysed exhaustively and the need has been established for sustainable improvement in agricultural production aimed at food security in a context of increasing pressure on natural resources. Whereas the importance of R&D investment in agriculture is increasingly recognised, better allocation of limited funding is essential to improve food production. In this context, the common and often large gap between actual and attainable yield is a critical target. Realistic solutions are required to close yield gaps in both small and large scale cropping systems worldwide; to make progress in this direction, we need (1) …

Bulletin No. 40: Salt Marsh Plants Of Long Island Sound, R. Scott Warren, Juliana Barrett, Margaret Van Patten

Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of The Freshwater Mussel Community Of The Upper Mahoning River Watershed And Factors Influencing Diversity And Abundance In Small Streams, Matthew T. Begley

ETD Archive

Freshwater mussel communities have experienced drastic declines in diversity and abundance in many streams throughout North America. Among the reasons for these declines is the human-driven alteration of the landscape, as urban and agricultural use impart many known stressors to aquatic systems. Impairments include increased sedimentation, increased pollutants, increased flood frequency and intensity, and decreased diversity and abundance of many organisms, including fish, macroinvertebrates, and mussels. Attempts to explain the abundance and diversity of mussel communities using small-scale factors such as substrate type and flow velocity provided little to no predictive power. Instead, reach-scale variables, such as stream morphology and …

What Is Valuable?, Kelly Harer

SR & SC Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Turning Toward Feeling, Elizabeth D. Mcgrew

SR & SC Masters Projects

Five years ago, upon completing a 200-hour, 30-day intensive yoga teacher-training course, we took this group photo. Painted on the wall behind us are the words, “Feel pain? Change positions.” At that time in my life, my understanding of this assertion was shallow: if it feels as though something is ripping, pulling, or tearing, move out of the yoga pose. But as for other physical and emotional pain, I had been taught to sit with it and accept it, and by doing so I would demonstrate strength and continue to grow stronger. Turning away from pain seemed cowardly. It wasn’t …

Mitigation And Beautification: Placing Rain Gardens In The Keystone Neighborhood Of Rock Island, Illinois, Rosalie K. Starenko

Independent Research Projects

With new stormwater management regulations, cities are looking for strategies to reduce urban runoff, and rain gardens are one of several strategies that capture runoff and encourage infiltration and evaporation. In doing so, pollution from runoff is mitigated and combined sewer systems experience fewer overflow events. I argue as well that the implementation of rain gardens would act as a movement for neighborhood beautification. This research develops a new methodology for placing rain gardens that: 1) maximizes the aesthetic value of the gardens by favoring high-visibility locations and 2) targets locations that would best benefit from reduced stormwater runoff. The …

Surveying Environmental Attitudes, Behavior And Knowledge At A Christian Liberal Arts University: Exploring Faith, Stewardship, And The "New Ecological Paradigm", Kathryn R. Rudy

Master of Environmental Science (MES) Theses

A survey of undergraduate students (N=208) at a private, Christian university assessed environmental attitude with the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), environmental knowledge with the National Environment Education & Training Foundation NEEFT)/Roper Survey, and self-reported environmental behaviors. Some additional survey components explored the relationships of Christian faith and environmental attitudes of students. Sampling occurred among students in a few select classes and via all-campus student email announcements for voluntary and anonymous responses. This survey can serve in program and curriculum development, survey tool development and as a benchmark study for Taylor University.

Students overwhelmingly recognize a relationship between their Christian faith …

2015 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

Explorations In The Gray Morality Of Conservation, Avery Whitlock

Art Honors Papers

I am interested in the areas of gray morality associated with conservation science. This science focuses on the protection of biological diversity primarily through the protection of species and their environments, and the management of human impact upon these.

This interest was sparked by personal explorations in scientific illustration and the field of conservation. The scientific observations and dynamic illustrations of John James Audubon led to my focus specifically on birds.

Similarly vital in realizing this interest were initial studies of motion I created through animation. Animated studies of motion, as fabrications of life, evolved into an interest of how …

When Wells Run Dry: Water And Tourism Along The Western Coast Of Nicaragua, Gary Thomas Lavanchy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses a political ecology approach to examine the relationship between tourism development and groundwater in southwest Nicaragua. Tourism in Nicaragua is a booming industry bolstered by ‘unspoiled’ natural beauty, low crime rates, and government incentives. This growth has led to increased infrastructure, revenue, and employment opportunities for many local communities along the Pacific coast. Not surprisingly, it has also brought concomitant issues of deeper poverty, widening gaps between rich and poor, and competition over natural resources. Adequate provisions of freshwater are necessary to sustain the production and reproduction of tourism; however, it remains uncertain if groundwater supplies can …

Price Cointegration And Leadership In Regional Tilapia And Roundscad Markets In The Philippines,1990-2007, Yolanda T. Garcia

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

This study aims to investigate the price dynamics between the wholesale and retail prices of roundscad and tilapia in the regional markets of the Philippines. It also seeks to analyze how the observed dynamics in these prices could be linked to the development in market-related infrastructures that can promote trade, e.g., telecommunication and transportation facilities. Results of the study reveal that there is a general decrease in the number of regions that show cointegrated wholesale and retail prices over time in both fish species. Moreover, price leadership under the “Granger-causality” sense (of either wholesale or retail price) seems to diminish …

Role Of Low Exposure To Metals As Male Reproductive Toxicants, H. Anna Jeng, Yeou-Lih Huang, Chih-Hong Pan, Norou Diawara

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The objective of the study was to examine the associations between environmentally relevant low metal concentrations and semen quality parameters in men. The concentrations of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), and lead (Pb) in the seminal plasma and urine were measured from 196 male human subjects in Taiwan. Urinary Cd concentrations were negatively associated with sperm viability (p=0.006). Seminal plasma Cu concentrations of the normal group (>= 15 x 10(6)/ml) were significantly lower than those of the abnormal group (p=0.023). However, the linear regression analysis showed a weak association between Cu concentration and sperm …

The Impacts Of Climate Change Mitigation Strategies On Animal Welfare, Sara Shields, Geoffrey Orme-Evans

Animal Welfare Collection

The objective of this review is to point out that the global dialog on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in animal agriculture has, thus far, not adequately considered animal welfare in proposed climate change mitigation strategies. Many suggested approaches for reducing emissions, most of which could generally be described as calls for the intensification of production, can have substantial effects on the animals. Given the growing world-wide awareness and concern for animal welfare, many of these approaches are not socially sustainable. This review identifies the main emission abatement strategies in the climate change literature that would negatively affect animal welfare and …