Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Soil Processes Drive Seasonal Variation In Retention Of 15N Tracers In A Deciduous Forest Catchment, Christine L. Goodale, Guinevere Fredriksen, Marissa S. Weiss, Carmody K. Mccalley, Jed P. Sparks, Steven A. Thomas

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Seasonal patterns of stream nitrate concentration have long been interpreted as

demonstrating the central role of plant uptake in regulating stream nitrogen loss from forested

catchments. Soil processes are rarely considered as important drivers of these patterns. We

examined seasonal variation in N retention in a deciduous forest using three whole-ecosystem

¹⁵N tracer additions: in late April (post-snowmelt, pre-leaf-out), late July (mid-growingseason),

and late October (end of leaf-fall). We expected that plant ¹⁵N uptake would peak in

late spring and midsummer, that immobilization in surface litter and soil would peak the

following autumn leaf-fall, and that leaching losses …

A Global Perspective On Wetland Salinization: Ecological Consequences Of A Growing Threat To Freshwater Wetlands, Ellen R. Herbert, Paul Boon, Amy J. Burgin, Scott C. Neubauer, Rima B. Franklin, Marcelo Ardón, Kristine N. Hopfensperger, Leon P.M. Lamers, Peter Gell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Salinization, a widespread threat to the structure and ecological functioning of inland and coastal wetlands, is currently occurring at an unprecedented rate and geographic scale. The causes of salinization are diverse and include alterations to freshwater flows, land-clearance, irrigation, disposal of wastewater effluent, sea level rise, storm surges, and applications of de-icing salts. Climate change and anthropogenic modifications to the hydrologic cycle are expected to further increase the extent and severity of wetland salinization. Salinization alters the fundamental physicochemical nature of the soil-water environment, increasing ionic concentrations and altering chemical equilibria and mineral solubility. Increased concentrations of solutes, especially sulfate, …

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 …

Biotic And Climatic Controls On Interannual Variability In Carbon Fluxes Across Terrestrial Ecosystems, Junjiong Shao, Xuhui Zhou, Yiqi Luo, Bo Li, Mika Aurela, David Billesbach, Peter D. Blanken, Rosvel Bracho, Jiquan Chen, Marc L. Fischer, Yuling Fu, Lianhong Gu, Shijie Han, Yongtao He, Thomas Kolb, Yingnian Li, Zoltan Nagy, Shuli Niu, Walter C. Oechel, Krisztina Pinter, Peili Shi, Andrew E. Suyker, Margaret Torn, Andrej Varlagin, Huimin Wang, Junhua Yan, Guirui Yu, Junhui Zhang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Interannual variability (IAV, represented by standard deviation) in net ecosystem exchange of CO₂ (NEE) is mainly driven by climatic drivers and biotic variations (i.e., the changes in photosynthetic and respiratory responses to climate), the effects of which are referred to as climatic (CE) and biotic effects (BE), respectively. Evaluating the relative contributions of CE and BE to the IAV in carbon (C) fluxes and understanding their controlling mechanisms are critical in projecting ecosystem changes in the future climate. In this study, we applied statistical methods with flux data from 65 sites located in the Northern Hemisphere to address this …

Estimation And Analysis Of Gross Primary Production Of Soybean Under Various Management Practices And Drought Conditions, Pradeep Wagle, Xiangming Xiao, Andrew E. Suyker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Gross primary production (GPP) of croplands may be used to quantify crop productivity and evaluate a range of management practices. Eddy flux data from three soybean (Glycine max L.) fields under different management practices (no-till vs. till; rainfed vs. irrigated) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived vegetation indices (VIs) were used to test the capabilities of remotely sensed VIs and soybean phenology to estimate the seasonal dynamics of carbon fluxes. The modeled GPP (GPP_VPM) using vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM) was compared with the GPP (GPP_EC) estimated from eddy covariance measurements. The VIs tracked soybean …

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 …

Modeling Actual Evapotranspiration With Routine Meteorological Variables In The Data-Scarce Region Of The Tibetan Plateau: Comparisons And Implications, Ning Ma, Yinsheng Zhang, Chong-Yu Xu, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Quantitative estimation of actual evapotranspiration (ET_a) by in situ measurements and mathematical modeling is a fundamental task for physical understanding of ETa as well as the feedback mechanisms between land and the ambient atmosphere. However, the ETa information in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has been greatly impeded by the extremely sparse ground observation network in the region. Approaches for estimating ET_a solely from routine meteorological variables are therefore important for investigating spatiotemporal variations of ETa in the data-scarce region of the TP. Motivated by this need, the complementary relationship (CR) and Penman-Monteith approaches were evaluated against in …

Complementary-Relationship-Based 30 Year Normals (1981–2010) Of Monthly Latent Heat Fluxes Across The Contiguous United States, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Thirty year normal (1981–2010) monthly latent heat fluxes (ET) over the conterminous United States were estimated by a modified Advection-Aridity model from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) radiation and wind as well as Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) air and dew-point temperature data. Mean annual ET values were calibrated with PRISM precipitation (P) and validated against United States Geological Survey runoff (Q) data. At the six-digit Hydrologic Unit Code level (sample size of 334) the estimated 30 year normal runoff (P – ET) had a bias of 18 mm yr^-1, a root-mean-square error of …

Atmospheric Circulation Processes Contributing To A Multidecadal Variation In Reconstructed And Modeled Indian Monsoon Precipitation, Qianru Wu, Qi Hu

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

An analysis of the recently reconstructed gridded May–September total precipitation in the Indian monsoon region for the past half millennium discloses significant variations at multidecadal timescales. Meanwhile, paleo-climate modeling outputs from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model 4.0 show similar multidecadal variations in the monsoon precipitation. One of those variations at the frequency of 40–50 years per cycle is examined in this study. Major results show that this variation is a product of the processes in that the meridional gradient of the atmospheric enthalpy is strengthened by radiation loss in the high-latitude and polar region. Driven …

Nephrotoxic Contaminants In Drinking Water And Urine, And Chronic Kidney Disease In Rural Sri Lanka, Tewodros Rango, Marc Jeuland, Herath Manthrithilake, Peter G. Mccornick

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Chronic kidney disease of unknown (“u”) cause (CKDu) is a growing public health concern in Sri Lanka. Prior research has hypothesized a link with drinking water quality, but rigorous studies are lacking. This study assesses the relationship between nephrotoxic elements (namely arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and uranium (U)) in drinking water, and urine samples collected from individuals with and/or without CKDu in endemic areas, and from individuals without CKDu in nonendemic areas. All water samples—from a variety of source types (i.e., shallow and deep wells, springs, piped, and surface water)—contained extremely low concentrations of nephrotoxic elements, and all …

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) …

Mercury Speciation, Retention, And Abundance Of Genes Involved With Mercury Methylation In Fertilized Salt Marsh Sediments, Caroline Collins

Biology Honors Papers

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant which exists in both aquatic and terrestrial systems in three main forms including elemental Hg, ionic mercury, and methyl mercury, (MeHg), and Hg cycling plays an important role in ecosystems. Great Sippewisset Marsh, (GSM) in Falmouth MA has been chronically treated with fertilizer that contains heavy metals such as Hg in varying concentrations since the early 1970s and provides for an excellent location to study Hg contamination. The overall goal of this study is to analyze the key geochemical and microbial conditions that lead to MeHg production in the presence of the applied fertilizer. …

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 …

La Igualdad De Género En Las Carreras De Conservación: Ucayali, Peru En Un Contexto Global, Anna Sangree, Mary Finley-Brook

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Las mujeres aportan las habilidades y las perspectivas importantes para la conservación, pero menos mujeres completan estudios superiores en campos como la silvicultura y la agronomía. Las mujeres que entran en estos campos profesionales también tienen menos oportunidades de alcanzar las posiciones del liderazgo. Las investigaciones internacionales sugieren que muchas veces los esfuerzos hacia la sostenibilidad son perjudicados por los bajos niveles de participación de las mujeres y la falta del liderazgo femenino. Este estudio conecta los resultados de una revisión de la literatura internacional con experiencias personales de los estudiantes, los docentes, y los administradores en la Universidad Nacional …

The Adolescent Social Group In Outdoor Adventure Education: Social Connections That Matter, Jeremy Jostad, Jim Sibthorp, Mandy Pohja, John Gookin

Research in Outdoor Education

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) experiences provide a unique context for adolescents to develop social connections with their peers. The social group atmosphere is a complex area to study due to the group's multiple components. This study examined key components of a social group model to understand the influences they have on the development of social connections. Using a group identification framework, this study investigated how 237 students from 22 different courses from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) connected with their groups. The results suggest that goal conflict with other students, social status, leadership consideration and gender ratio were significantly …

Influences Of Resident Camp Experiences On Career Choice: A Case Study Of Female Alumnae, Barry A. Garst, Sarah Baughman, Anja Whittington, Ryan J. Gagnon

Research in Outdoor Education

Few studies have explored the long-term impacts of camp experiences on career choice, although there is a need to better understand how camp experiences may influence this decision to guide staff recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of camp experiences on future career paths for women. Twenty-two camp alumnae who attended an all-girls camp completed a retrospective online survey. Salient themes related to career impacts included human service career interest, outdoor career interest, leadership and interpersonal skill development, and social-emotional skill development. Considerations for future research include a national study of a …

The Use Of Biomarkers In Outdoor Education Research: Promises, Challenges, And The Development Of Evidence, Alan Ewert

Research in Outdoor Education

While widely used in research connected with outdoor education, self-report data can be subject to a number of issues related to validity and generalizability. This paper argues that biomarkers present another type of evidence that is equally or even more rigorous than self-report data. The paper describes several types of biomarkers that are commonly measured in other disciplines along with how data from those biomarkers are collected. Data from a recent study using two biomarkers commonly used for measuring stress is presented as an example of how the use of biomarkers can broaden the body of evidence being developed in …

St. Norbert College As Arboretum: Mapping The Trees On Campus, Jordan A. Mayer, Jason Mills, David Hunnicut

GIS Library

St. Norbert College as Arboretum: Mapping the Trees on Campus - Take a virtual tour of the trees on campus.

The tour is a multimedia ArcGIS Online story map and is available here.

Many of the trees on the St. Norbert Campus were planted by Fr. Anselm Keefe (1895- 1974) in the mid 20th century. It was Fr. Keefe’s vision to beautify the campus by creating gardens that were accessible to the public. This included planting a diverse variety of trees, including one of every tree species native to Wisconsin. It was Keefe’s mission to make St. Norbert College …

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 …

Desktop Study Report : Linking Management Of Natural Coastal Resources To Socioeconomic Development, Henrik Nilsson, Dariusz P. Fey, Piotr Margonski, Michael Van Laak, Nardine Stybel

HERRING

The HERRING Desktop Study Report links management of natural coastal resources to socioeconomic development.

Cultivating Sustainable Cities: A Comparative Study Of Urban Agriculture In Mumbai, India And New York City, Usa, Kristina Satterlee

Environmental Studies Honors Papers

Urban agriculture has the potential to be a source of great social and environmental good within a city. This study couples in-depth interviews with urban farmers with secondary research to provide a holistic understanding of the urban agriculture movement in Mumbai, Maharastra, India and New York City, New York, USA. Through this resource, it became apparent that the two movements vary drastically in terms of size, scope, resource availability, and movement goals. Despite these differences, the research points to one striking similarity. In both cities, farms and gardens in lower income areas have access to a far smaller body of …

Defining Terms: Greywater, Blackwater And Clearwater, Roslynn Brain, Jeremy Lynch, Kelly Kopp

Natural Resources

Why irrigate with treated drinking water when you can meet your irrigation needs through an effective greywater system?

What is greywater*? Greywater includes all wastewater generated in the home, except toilet water (which is considered “blackwater”). In Utah, kitchen sink and dishwasher water are also categorized as “blackwater”. Greywater is an abundant resource in both residential and commercial buildings. According to Brad Lancaster of the Watershed Management Group in Tucson, Arizona, “greywater harvesting is the practice of directing greywater to the primary root zone (top 2 feet or 0.6m of the soil) of perennial plants to help grow beautiful and …

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.

Cometabolic Biodegradation Of Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons By Ammonia-Oxidizing Microorganisms Naturally Associated With Wetland Plant Roots, Ke Qin

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Bench-scale microcosms with wetland plant roots were investigated to characterize the microbial contributions to contaminant degradation of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons (HAHs) with ammonium. The batch system microcosms consisted of a known mass of wetland plant roots in aerobic growth media where the roots provided both an inoculum of root-associated ammonium-oxidizing microorganisms and a microbial habitat. Aqueous growth media, ammonium, and HAHs including trichloroethene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), chloroform (CF), 1,1,2-trichloroethane (1,1,2-TCA), ethylene dibromide (EDB, or 1,2-dibromoethane, 1,2-DBA) and 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) were replaced weekly in batch microcosms while retaining roots and root-associated biomass.

Molecular biology results indicated that ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were …

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 …

Daily Soil Surface Co2 Flux During Non-Flooded Periods In Flood-Irrigated Rice Rotations, J. M. Motschenbacher, K. R. Brye, M. M. Anders, E. E. Gbur, N. A. Slaton, M. A. Evans-White

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate Driven Changes To Malaria Transmission Patterns In Ethiopian Highlands, Amir Said Siraj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the highlands of East Africa, the most populated regions in Africa, temperature is assumed to be intimately connected to the patterns of malaria both in time and space. A large section of the Ethiopian population in this region has historically been shielded from the disease mainly due to the altitudes in the highland regions that have remained free of the disease. However, the region has also seen a large part of its population being affected by malaria in epidemic outbreaks that seem to follow climatic anomalies, especially those of inter-annual increases in temperature. This project examines the inter-annual variability …

Constructing A Man-Made Oyster Reef In The Little Hellgate Salt Marsh, Randall's Island, New York: A Project Overview, Beryl C. M. Kahn, Howard R. Feldman, Christopher D. Girgenti, Daniel M. Molinaro

Lander College for Women - The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School Publications and Research

Atlantic oyster beds provide instrumental estuarine infrastructure, shaping waterways and mediating the impacts of storm surge. In addition, the reefs provide habitat for numerous species. The oysters themselves are expert filter feeders, remediating poor water quality at little cost to the organism. As the free-swimming oyster larvae (spat) only settle on the shells of their forbears, the reefs are essential in perpetuation of the species, as well as for the continuation of such invaluable ecosystem services. Oyster reefs of the New York City waterway system have long been subject to environmental degradation, from water pollution and sedimentation to dredging. Randall’s …

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 …