Digital Commons Network^™

Gouldian Finch Breeding Surveys 2015: Ord-East Kimberley Expansion Project - Weaber Plain Development Area, Sarah R. Pryke

Irrigated Agricultural Development in the North

As part of the requirement for State approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and the Gouldian Finch Management Plan (GFMP), a baseline assessment and on-going monitoring of the endangered Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) is required during the construction and operation of the Ord River Irrigation Area Weaber Plain Development Project in the eastern Kimberley, Western Australia. This report details the findings from surveys of Gouldian finches during their annual breeding season (2015).

Grass Finishing Systems For Lambs, Erin Leigh Smyth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is strong interest in sustainably produced meat. Grass-fed lamb could fulfill this market by reducing off-farm inputs. The objective was to examine the effect of grass-finishing or minimal supplementation on performance of lambs in the southeastern US. Katahdin lambs born in October 2013 and 2014 and February 2014 were weaned in January 2014/2015 and May 2014, respectively. Lambs were blocked by gender (fall; winter included only ram lambs) and randomly assigned to receive no (NON) or grain co-product supplement (SUP; 15% CP) at 0.5% of BW/d. Lambs were rotationally grazed on predominantly grass. Body weight, fecal egg counts (FEC), …

Iron-Mediated Stabilization Of Soil Carbon Amplifies The Benefits Of Ecological Restoration In Degraded Lands, Lucas C. R. Silva, Timothy A. Doane, Rodrigo S. Correa, Vinicius Valverde, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, William R. Horwath

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Recent observations across a 14‐year restoration chronosequence have shown an unexpected accumulation of soil organic carbon in strip‐mined areas of central Brazil. This was attributed to the rapid plant colonization that followed the incorporation of biosolids into exposed regoliths, but the specific mechanisms involved in the stabilization of carbon inputs from the vegetation remained unclear. Using isotopic and elemental analyses, we tested the hypothesis that plant‐derived carbon accumulation was triggered by the formation of iron‐coordinated complexes, stabilized into physically protected (occluded) soil fractions. Confirming this hypothesis, we identified a fast formation of microaggregates shortly after the application of iron‐rich biosolids, …

The Energetic Value Of Land-Based Foods In Western Hudson Bayand Their Potential To Alleviate Energy Deficits Of Starving Adult Male Polar Bears, Linda J. Gormezano, Robert F. Rockwell

Publications and Research

Climate change is predicted to expand the ice-free season in western Hudson Bay and when it grows to 180 days, 28–48% of adult male polar bears are projected to starve unless nutritional deficits can be offset by foods consumed on land. We updated a dynamic energy budget model developed by Molnar et al. to allow influx of additional energy from novel terrestrial foods (lesser snow geese, eggs, caribou) that polar bears currently consume as part of a mixed diet while on land. We calculated the units of each prey, alone and in combination, needed to alleviate these lethal energy deficits …

The Biological Consequences Of Kaolin Geophagia, Deloris Alexander, Desire Richardson, Lakisha Odom, Kara Cromwell, Dejuana Grant, Micoya Myers, Eddy Cadet, Hamid Mahama, Vijaya Rangari, Ralphenia Pace, Ramble Ankumah, Kokoasse Kpomblekou-A, Curtis Fluker

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Abstract

Kaolin geophagia is associated with the relief of gastrointestinal distress, but it may also cause adverse health effects on the body. This study was designed to: assess kaolin composition; test if 129SvEv mice would consume kaolin and determine the consequences of consumption; and assess rotational stress modulation of consumption. Thirteen kaolin samples were purchased from Alabama and Georgia stores. Chemical and physical properties were characterized for each sample using a Munsell chart, pH meter, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Visible Near-InfraRed Spectra, and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry. Kaolin was then given to mice as food supplements and …

Dietary Microrna Database (Dmd): An Archive Database And Analytic Tool For Food-Borne Micrornas, Kevin Chiang, Jiang Shu, Janos Zempleni, Juan Cui

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

With the advent of high throughput technology, a huge amount of microRNA information has been added to the growing body of knowledge for non-coding RNAs. Here we present the Dietary MicroRNA Databases (DMD), the first repository for archiving and analyzing the published and novel microRNAs discovered in dietary resources. Currently there are fifteen types of dietary species, such as apple, grape, cow milk, and cow fat, included in the database originating from 9 plant and 5 animal species. Annotation for each entry, a mature microRNA indexed as DM0000*, covers information of the mature sequences, genome locations, hairpin structures of parental …

Examining The Toxicity, Exposure, And Regulatory Approach To Potential Human Health Risks Of The Algal Toxin Domoic Acid, Thomas H. Angus

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced by the marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia and causes cell death primarily in the area of the brain responsible for long-term memory. The resulting severe illness has been termed amnesic shellfish poisoning. Domoic acid accumulates in shellfish and planktivorous fish that consume Pseudo-nitzschia, resulting in exposure to humans through consumption of planktivorous seafood. A regulatory standard in seafood was developed shortly after its discovery in 1987 to protect against acute effects. This regulatory standard has not been revised despite significant recent data in the scientific literature.

This dissertation is divided into four sections: (1) …

Climate-Smart Agriculture: Farmer's Bane Or Boon?, Jeeva Mary Jacob

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is one of the solutions that simultaneously address the issues of food security, climate change and agricultural productivity. It has been gaining momentum in the last five years among policy circles and development organizations have prioritized CSA interventions in developing countries around the world. In this paper, CSA interventions are examined from the small farmer's perspective and the purpose of this paper is to find out whether Climate-Smart Agriculture truly empowers the farmer in the face of climate change. Such a study emerged from the fact that in the past, agricultural interventions like the Green Revolution promised …

Bad Apple: Complexities Of New York City Food Aid Programs, Rose Meagan Jimenez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The only universal thing about food is that everyone needs to eat. In the United States, there are more instances of food insecurity than impoverishment. Governmental and local food aid programs are complex but are essentially motivated by socioeconomic issues. Food aid programs, from community gardening to Food Stamps, initially stem from a depression-era need to stimulate the economy. However, as socioeconomic issues change, food aid programs also evolve to meet those needs. By excavating different pieces of literature that discuss issues in food aid, the forms of structural violence that cause hunger come to life. This piece discusses community …

Assessing Water Quality In The Gulf Of Mexico Using Remote Sensing Data., Alliyah Thomas

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, is a process that occurs in conjunction with eutrophication. In hypoxic conditions the dissolved oxygen levels in the water column sink to unlivable conditions for the marine organisms causing them to flee or die. Despite efforts of improvement, the annual summer Gulf of Mexico dead zone continues to be a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems. The 2012 smaller than usual dead zone was a false indicator of future improvement. The 2012 dead zone decrease was connected to the drought and inability of large amounts of runoff to flow into the gulf. Water quality analysis was done …

Estimating Stormwater Runoff For Community Gardens In New York City, Mara Gittleman

Theses and Dissertations

While much of the literature cites community gardens as providing urban ecosystem services, there is very little research quantifying these benefits. This thesis compares the stormwater runoff rates of urban vacant lots, community gardens, and residential developments in New York City and evaluates community gardens as green infrastructure.

Insomniac Of The Soil: A Collection Of Poetry And Essays, Sarah E. Golibart

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

“Insomniac of the Soil” is a homage to a landscape that has deeply informed Sarah Golibart's life and her artistic voice – the tidewater flatlands of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay peninsula where her family lives and where Golibart has worked on farms since high school. Both her poems and essays are earthy, imagistic, and grounded – quite literally – in the soil as well as in a sensibility of ecological ethics and sustainability. “Insomniac of the Soil” is also a love song to the fervent and fallow cycles of the soil.

Water Balance Of Flooded Rice In The Tropics, Siva Sivapalan

Books & book chapters

Department of Agriculture and Food, WA staff member authored "Water Balance of Flooded Rice in the Tropics" in the publication Irrigation and Drainage - Sustainable Strategies and Systems’, edited by Muhammad Salik Javaid, published by INTECH, May 2015

Chapter Summary: Excess groundwater recharge rates under irrigated agriculture may lead to problems such as rising watertable, waterlogging and salinity. In irrigated areas, growers may need to manage this water and hence, understanding what leakage is attributed to what crops will become more important. In this study, evaporation, transpiration, and deep percolation losses were estimated for ponded rice culture, using a …

Assessing And Mapping Vulnerability And Risk Perceptions To Groundwater Arsenic Contamination : Towards Developing Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation Models, Sushant Kumar Singh

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study focuses on the arsenic-affected rural communities in Bihar located within the mid-Gangetic Plain in India. A random stratified sampling method is applied to survey 340 households in three villages (Suarmarwa, Rampur Diara, and Bhawani Tola), through a structured questionnaire. A reliable arsenic field testing kit is used to analyze the drinking water sources in the field, followed by a confirmatory test of a subset of water samples through Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The study has two major goals: 1) Develop sustainable arsenic-mitigation models; and 2) Create a “composite vulnerability index,” and present the information as a map for use …

Acute Toxicity Of Β-N-Methylamino-L-Alanine (Bmaa) To Fathead Minnow (Pimephales Promelas) And Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Jiayi Wang

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

β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is a neurotoxic amino acid produced by most species of cyanobacteria. Exposure to BMAA has been hypothesized as a cause of ALS and possibly Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases for several decades. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that exposure to elevated concentrations of BMAA can damage motor neurons and cause motor dysfunctions. However, the exact mechanism of BMAA-induced neurotoxicity has not been well understood.

Based on the available literature and in spite of its water-soluble and non-protein nature, BMAA appears to be able to bioaccumulate in organisms. The ubiquity of cyanobacteria and the potential for bioaccumulation …

Empowering Community Partners: A Case Study Motivating Environmentally Sustainable Behavioral Changes In Latino Migrant Agricultural Families, Jessica Ivy Thomson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Environmental sustainability outreach programs can benefit significantly through adaptation that connects to and fosters change within the Spanish speaking community. This article demonstrates a case study in which the authors partnered with a local Latino organization through an undergraduate service-learning project. The goal of this project was to incorporate environmentally sustainable behaviors both with young Latino students in school and with their families at the household level.

Perceptions Of Potable Water In Rajasthan’S Jodhpur And Barmer Districts, Melissa Spross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at differences and similarities in various populations’ perceptions of safe drinking water (SDW) within Rajasthan (RJ), India, developing suggestions for future initiatives addressing the movement for safe drinking water for all. For this study, surveys were used; the survey was conducted in RJ, India, both in urban Jodhpur and in surrounding rural villages. To analyze the data, all the responses were entered into Excel format to discover patterns, themes and trends within four subtopics: access, storage, quality and cultural significance. The responses indicate that while a distinct water culture spans the geographic area, each different population retains …

Valuing “Green” How “Going Green” Affects A Company’S Stock Price, Alexia Bayer

Honors Projects in Finance

Environmentally conscious decision making has become a prominent topic in business that has the potential to affect the public opinion and performance of companies. This project seeks to identify whether or not positive changes in excess return might offer an incentive for companies to adopt green initiatives. It examines the ways in which companies’ green initiatives, as measured by their annual Carbon Disclosure Project S&P 500 Climate Change Report score, impact their stock price. In other words, is there value in “going green”? It is hypothesized that companies exhibiting greater variance in their environmental initiatives from one year to the …

International Water And Food Security Development: Performance Evaluation And Assessment Of Research Needs At Multiple Scales, Caitlin Anne Grady

Open Access Dissertations

Water and food security remain the top development challenges of the decade, and perhaps the century. Since the Millennium Development Goals were established in 2000, billions of people have obtained access to more food, better nutrition, improved water, and basic sanitation facilities worldwide. This progress has been accomplished through the dedication of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, country-level governments, private corporations, and individuals at international, regional, and local scales. Truly tremendous strides have been made in water and food provisioning for humans worldwide. These past two decades have also seen the largest population growth on record, the highest rates of childhood …

Food Security In The Free State Province: Meaning Making As Democratic Agency, Jacqueline Del Valle Hanoman Ambrosio

Open Access Dissertations

People's stories are powerful means of explaining their realities, for their narratives reveal what meanings they make of the situations they are living, how they face these situations and what strategies they formulate to overcome them. Their meaning making is one of the most powerful tools of their agency, and this is what this study reveals. In it, I tell the stories of people in the Free State Province, South Africa, who face food insecurity within abundance, and their critical consciousness and agency as they struggle to survive in their democracy. Poverty is a rawness...Poverty is struggle... Poverty is shame...these …

Drougthscape, Spring 2015, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s column.

South Plains ranch workshops 3

First quarter drought summary

First quarter impacts summary

Gary’s favorite pond, D1-4

NDMC’s Haigh leads U2U pubs

SW Montana watersheds convene

Wind River monitors drought

Morocco’s new drought index

Northeast Brazil drought monitoring

EU’s drought initiative

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum

How Colorado tourism coped in 2012

Volume 07, Rachel C. Lombardi, Ben Osterhout, Lindsay Graybill, Rebecca E. Dey, Skyler T. Carpenter, Emma Beckett, Jason Ware, Mollie Andrews, James Bates, Landon Cooper, Tiffani Jeffries, Maria Wheaton, Dallas Price, Laura Kahler, Sarah Charlton, Anna Bultrowicz, Emily Spittle, Erin Godwin, Eamon Brokenbrough

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Interim Dean Dr. Jennifer Apperson

Spatial Analysis of Potential Risk Factors Associated with Addition of Atlantic Coast Pipeline Through Virginia by Rachel C. Lombardi

"Delicate Matters with No Speaking," "Hope and Nothing," "Mono Duality" by Ben Osterhout

"Connect" Graphic Design Senior Project by Lindsay Graybill

Phenolic Acids in Brassicaceae Plants: Ovipositional Stimulants or Deterrents for Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae? by Rebecca E. Dey And Skyler T. Carpenter

"Abecedarian Cards" by Emma Beckett, Jason Ware, And Mollie Andrews

Helvetica: A Type Specimen Book by James Bates, Landon Cooper, Tiffani Jeffries, And Maria Wheaton

“Things Left Behind” by Dallas …

The Adequacy Of Programs In Nsw In Supporting Vulnerable Households To Transition To Renewable Energy, Madison Dell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Rising electricity prices in Australia have caused low-income households to take drastic measures to reduce their energy consumption, cutting back on essential needs like food and heating. At the same time, prices for renewable energies like solar PV are decreasing, making renewable energy a more viable option for low-income households than grid electricity. In support of increasing the nation’s supply of renewable energy, the New South Wales government is funding the Zero Net Energy Town (Z-NET) project. The Z-NET project is a new initiative to create Australia’s first town that supplies all of its energy through renewable energy sources, using …

Existential Avalanche The Lived Experience Of Climate Change In Dolpo And Mustang, Nepal, Keegan Mcchesney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Himalayan communities stand precariously in an era of phenomenological uncertainty. Climate change is merely a lens through which we may observe and begin to understand such localized modern complexities. The people of the Tarap Valley in Dolpo, Nepal have experienced an increase in avalanches, snow leopard attacks and unpredictable precipitation patterns in recent years. In upper Mustang, Nepal, people have endured the harshest winter in generations and suffered from reduced water access. Environmental, climatic and weather related changes in both Himalayan districts have severely impacted traditional livelihoods and led some to adopt modern means of adaptation. Despite the scientific evidence …

Development Modeling Of Lucilia Sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Amanda Roe, Leon G. Higley

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The relationship between insect development and temperature has been well established and has a wide range of uses, including the use of blow flies for postmortem (PMI) interval estimations in death investigations. To use insects in estimating PMI, we must be able to determine the insect age at the time of discovery and backtrack to time of oviposition. Unfortunately, existing development models of forensically important insects are only linear approximations and do not take into account the curvilinear properties experienced at extreme temperatures. A series of experiments were conducted with Lucilia sericata, a forensically important blow fly species, that met …

Fundamental Principles Of Plant Pathology For Agricultural Producers [2015], Paul C. Vincelli

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

All crop plants produced in Kentucky have the potential to become diseased under certain conditions. Diseases of crops can affect yield and/or quality of the harvested commodity, which can impact profitability and increase the risks of farming.

Role Of Engineering In Sustainable Water Management, Balázs M. Fekete, János J. Bogárdi

Publications and Research

The recognition of the limits of resources is almost as old as the realization that our planet is a sphere leading to concerns about sustainable resources management. Water resources in particular receive growing attention given its uneven distribution in many parts of the world. Engineering solutions to address water management challenges played significant roles in the past in areas such as access to clean water and sanitation, providing water for irrigation, offering protection against floods, allowing power generation, etc. Despite their proven benefits, engineering solutions are receiving increasing criticism due to their negative environmental and societal impacts and the high …

Risk Factors And Costs Influencing Hospitalizations Due To Heat-Related Illnesses: Patterns Of Hospitalization, Michael T. Schmeltz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The objective of this dissertation was to identify individual and environmental risk factors, investigate outcomes and hospital resource use, including costs, and document the pattern of heat-related illness hospitalizations in the United States. The main data source for the study population was the 2001-2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). The study population for heat-related illnesses (HRIs) consists of patients in the NIS with at least one diagnosis of a heat-related illness (ICD-9 codes 992.0 - 992.9) from 2001 to 2010. Outcome analysis included a study population of patients who had primary or secondary diagnoses of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory illnesses, nephritic …

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

DePaul Art Museum Publications

No abstract provided.

Making Better Fertiliser Decisions For Cropping Systems In Western Australia. Soil Test – Crop Response Relationships And Critical Soil Test Values And Ranges, Geoff Anderson, Ross Brennan, Richard Bell, Wen Chen

Bulletins 4000 -

The better fertiliser decisions for cropping project (BFDC) (2009-2012) was completed to provide comprehensive information to improve fertiliser decisions for the cropping industry in Australia (Speirs et al. 2013a). The WA component provides interpretation of results from crop nutrient application experiments for the WA cropping system, and developed a tool for estimating nutrient losses from cropping systems soils.

The BFDC-WA project aims to use the 4R principles by producing a series of bulletins on nutrient management for the cropping system of WA.