Digital Commons Network^™

The Wicked Problem Of Chemicals Policy: Opportunities For Innovation, Jennifer H. Allen

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Many environmental challenges facing society today, such as climate change and integrated water management, have been described as “wicked problems” due to their biological, physical, and social complexity. Wicked problems extend across media such as air, land, and water; across political jurisdictions and landscape boundaries; and across traditional policy arenas. Traditional policy approaches that are media-specific, rely on single agencies for implementation, and that do not effectively engage stakeholders and partners outside of government are generally ineffective in addressing these issues. The management of toxic chemicals is a classic “wicked problem.” Existing toxics policies often exacerbate the “wicked” nature of …

Uso De Hábitat Y Perspectivas De Lontra Longicaudis En Un Área Protegida De Tamaulipas, México, Piedad Esther Mayagoitia-González, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, Raul Valdez, Mark Andersen, David Cowley, Robert Steiner

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

El hábitat de la nutria neotropical (Lontra longicaudis) en el Área Natural Protegida (ANP) La Vega Escondida, ubicada al sur de Tamaulipas, se encuentra rodeado de un paisaje urbano en expansión. Los humedales en esta región están sometidos a una intensa presión debido a diversas actividades antropogénicas tales como la agricultura, ganadería y pesca comercial, así como construcciones y rellenos en orillas de laguna y río. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivos principales la evaluación y uso de hábitat de la nutria dentro del ANP La Vega Escondida, así como determinar la actitud de la población humana hacia esta especie. …

Old Dominion University Climate Change And Sea Level Rise Initiative, Summer 2013, Larry P. Atkinson (Editor), Hans-Peter Plag (Editor)

CCSLRI Newsletters

Summer 2013 Newsletter of the Old Dominion University Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative

Integrating Economics And System Dynamics Approaches For Modeling An Ecological-Economic System, Takuro Uehara, Yoko Nagase, Wayne Wakeland

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article describes collaboration between system dynamicists and economists to model a multi-sector, ecological-economic model of population and resource dynamics that is firmly based on economic theory and leverages the strengths of both fields. This model illuminates how an SD approach allows model complexity to be extended in order to effectively model interactions between an economic system and an ecological system. Specifically, the simulation exercise demonstrates how SD model analysis can help explain the counterintuitive model behaviors due to increases in the natural resource carrying capacity or regeneration rate. The simulation results also reveal that allowing for out-of-equilibrium states (adaptation) …

Evaluating The Contribution Of Groundwater To Wetland Water Budgets Central Piedmont Virginia, Kerby Morgan Dobbs

OES Theses and Dissertations

In the Piedmont region of Virginia, development pressures are increasing the demand for mitigation wetlands but appropriate construction sites are relatively scarce due to local topography and geology. Many existing water budget models used for planned mitigation sites exhibit considerable error when estimating groundwater fluxes, particularly for historical years that lack hydraulic head data. This difficulty has led many planners to neglect or underestimate the contribution of groundwater to wetland water budgets, resulting in mitigation sites that fail to create the appropriate hydrology for the desired vegetation community. However, reliable estimations of groundwater input contributing to wetland water budgets can …

Assessing The Release Of Bioactive Trace Elements From Coal Fly Ash Into Natural Fresh Waters, Candace E. Wall

OES Theses and Dissertations

Each year a significant amount of coal fly ash enters the environment, where it can potentially cause adverse effects by releasing a range of bioactive trace elements. In this context, environmental studies have largely focused on the leaching of trace elements from the coal ash in landfills by rainwater and groundwater, while there has been relatively little study of the release of bioactive trace elements from coal fly ash deposited in natural fresh waters such as rivers and lakes. Furthermore, the batch leaching methods that have been used to study the interaction of rainwater and groundwater with coal ash in …

Comparative Feedstock Analysis In Setaria Viridis L. As A Model For C4 Bioenergy Grasses And Panicoid Crop Species, Carloalberto Petti, Andrew Shearer, Mizuki Tateno, Mathew J. Ruwaya, Sue E. Nokes, Tom Brutnell, Seth Debolt

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Second generation feedstocks for bioethanol will likely include a sizable proportion of perennial C4 grasses, principally in the Panicoideae clade. The Panicoideae contain agronomically important annual grasses including Zea mays L. (maize), Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (sorghum), and Saccharum officinarum L. (sugar cane) as well as promising second generation perennial feedstocks including Miscanthus × giganteus and Panicum virgatum L. (switchgrass). The underlying complexity of these polyploid grass genomes is a major limitation for their direct manipulation and thus driving a need for rapidly cycling comparative model. Setaria viridis (green millet) is a rapid cycling C4 panicoid grass with a relatively …

Ocean Sustainability, Logan Levan, Joshua Millea, Woo Choi, Mark Powell, David Flint

Student Papers in Public Policy

Oceans cover over 70% of the Earth’s surface area. They provide more than 90% of the world’s oxygen production, account for 200 billion pounds of food each year, regulate the global climate, and are the primary mode of global shipping traffic (“www.marinebio.org”). With such social, economic, and environmental value, there is a clear need to enact sustainable policies and practices concerning marine zones.

Influence Of Media Composition On The Growth Rate Of Chlorella Vulgaris And Scenedesmus Acutus Utilized For Co2 Mitigation, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Xinyi E, Aubrey Shea, Michael D. Montross, Mark Crocker, Rodney Andrews

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased since the industrial revolution due to increasing combustion of fossil fuels. One possible CO₂ mitigation strategy is the use of microalgae for mitigation of CO₂. This paper focuses on the influence of media composition on the growth rate of two microalgae strains, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus actus. A KNO₃ based medium was found to work better for Chlorella, while a urea based equivalent worked better for Scenedesmus. The urea based media investigated here resulted in growth similar to that found with previously reported KNO₃ based media. …

Air-Quality And Climatic Consequences Of Bioenergy Crop Cultivation, William Christian Porter

Dissertations and Theses

Bioenergy is expected to play an increasingly significant role in the global energy budget. In addition to the use of liquid energy forms such as ethanol and biodiesel, electricity generation using processed energy crops as a partial or full coal alternative is expected to increase, requiring large-scale conversions of land for the cultivation of bioenergy feedstocks such as cane, grasses, or short rotation coppice. With land-use change identified as a major contributor to changes in the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), many of which are known contributors to the pollutants ozone (O₃) and fine particulate matter …

Recreation Displacement Of Bass Fishermen From Central Coast Lakes, Erin Gray

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

The purpose of this study was to assess the impacts of aquatic invasive species preventative measures on recreation displacement of bass fishermen from Central Coast lakes. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to participants at a local bass fishing tournament. Thirty-six respondents completed the questionnaire. The results indicated that boat inspection procedures do not necessarily cause bass fishermen to displace. This study found that fishermen are likely to avoid recreating at a Central Coast lake in fishing practice conditions rather than in tournament conditions, and are likely to avoid tournaments at their least favorite lake if boat inspection procedures take too …

Transforming The Teaching Of Geoscience And Sustainability, David Gosselin, Cathy Manduca, Timothy J. Bralower, David Mogk

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The geosciences have an important role to play in addressing whether humans can live sustainably on Earth. From water to energy, from climate change to natural hazards, geoscience is central to solving a wide range of problems.

Two projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) support faculty in incorporating aspects of sustainability in their teaching: the Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future ( InTeGrate) Center in the Geosciences and the On the Cutting Edge Faculty Development Program in the Geosciences. The former is funded by NSF’s Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Faculty Development Program, and the …

Contributions Of Stocked And Naturally Reproduced Rainbow Trout In The Deerfield Reservoir System, Jacob L. Davis, Jerry W. Wilhite, Greg Simpson, Michael E. Barnes, Kaite N. Bertrand, David W. Willis

The Prairie Naturalist

Deerfield Reservoir in the Black Hills of South Dakota and its tributary system are managed as hatchery supplemented rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fisheries. Three genetically unique strains of rainbow trout (Shasta, Erwin and McConaughy) are stocked into the system. Recently, juvenile rainbow trout of unknown origin were collected in the tributary system above Deerfield Reservoir, indicating potential natural reproduction. Understanding the genetic origins and ability of these rainbow trout to contribute to the fishery is essential in determining the proper management strategy for these waters. Our objectives were to 1) evaluate the genetic origins of potentially naturally reproduced rainbow trout …

A Natural Resource Condition Assessment For Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks, Appendix 16 - Bats, Alice Chung-Maccoubrey

United States National Park Service: Publications

Scope of Analysis

North American bats are highly unique animals that have historically been overlooked by land managers and misunderstood by the public. Bats are unique as the only true flying mammals and due to their exceptionally long lives (5-15 years) and unusually low reproductive rates (typically one young per year) for their small size. Most North American bat species are insectivorous, serve as the primary predators of nocturnal insects, and can consume up to one-third of their weight in insects per night. Thus, bats play a role in regulating insect populations, insect-related ecological processes, and nutrient redistribution and cycling …

Patch Burning: Integrating Fire And Grazing To Promote Heterogeneity, John R. Weir, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, David M. Engle, Terrence G. Bidwell, D. Chad Cummings, R. Dwayne Elmore, Ryan F. Limb, Brady W. Allred, J. Derek Scasta, Stephen L. Winter

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Heterogeneity refers to the differences in habitats across the landscape, and it is required for diverse plant and wildlife communities. Some heterogeneity is inherent, caused by differences in soils, while most heterogeneity is disturbance driven. Climate, fire, and grazing are the main three disturbance factors that have historically shaped the landscape. All three are still very important to the continued diversity and health of the plants and animals associated with our prairies, shrublands, and forestlands across the Great Plains. While we cannot control the climate, we can manage grazing by stocking rate, season of use, and kind and type of …

Decomposition And Nutrient Release Of Different Cover Crops In Organic Farm Systems, Jianru Shi

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

Cover crops act as green manure adding organic matter to agricultural-soils. For legume green manures to be an effective nitrogen (N) source for organic farming systems, their N release must be in synchrony with crop N demand. The objectives of this study were 1) determine the decomposition rates of three common cover crops (white clover, (Trifolium repens,L ) red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and soybean (Glycine max L) in order to determine when most N was released and its synchrony with subsequent corn crop uptake; 2) we focused on the effect of cover crops on soil …

Abundance, Distribution, And Habitat Of The Threatened Minnows Campostoma Ornatum And Notropis Chihuahua In The Trans-Pecos Region Of Texas, Seiji Miyazono, Christopher M. Taylor

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The Rio Grande and its tributaries in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas have been impacted by a variety of anthropogenic activities such as dewatering and the introduction of nonnative species. These environmental manipulations have negatively affected the native fishes leading to extirpations and declining populations throughout the region. Campostoma ornatum and Notropis chihuahua inhabit tributary streams of the Rio Grande in the Trans-Pecos region and are considered as state-listed threatened species. Little is known about their status and ecological requirements in the region. We hypothesized that the distribution and abundance of these threatened minnows in these spring-fed habitats can be …

Distribution Of Burrowing Owls In East- Central South Dakota, Jiill A. Shaffer, Jason P. Thiele

The Prairie Naturalist

Western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) populations have declined across much of western North America, particularly at the northern and eastern edges of the species’ breeding range (Martell et al. 2001, Murphy et al. 2001, Shyry et al. 2001, Skeel et al. 2001, Klute et al. 2003). In South Dakota, the burrowing owl is a summer resident that historically was relatively common throughout the state, but its range has decreased in recent decades, especially in the eastern half of the state (Whitney et al. 1978, South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union [SDOU] 1991, Peterson 1995). Tallman et al. (2002) described the species …

Notes: Nesting Patterns Of Red-Tailed Hawks And Great-Horned Owls In South-Cen- Tral Kansas, William Langley

The Prairie Naturalist

Red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus) can influence the nesting behavior of each other through direct competition for nesting sites. For instance, owls begin nesting before hawks and, thus, can use nests from the previous year and prevent hawks from occupying those sites (Orians and Kuhl- man 1956, Gilmer et al. 1983, Minor et al. 1993). However, both species sometimes kill the nestlings of the other (Craig- head and Craighead 1956, Bosakowski et al. 1989).

The objective of my study was to investigate nesting patterns of these two raptors at the edge of the tallgrass prairie over …

Research Notes Vs. Research Articles, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! I hope this email finds you well, winding down another academic year, and looking forward to the summer field season. Warm temperatures, peak foliage, and heightened anticipation of the start of another field season are upon us following a long winter season and unusually wet spring for many of us across the Great Plains. Here in westcentral Illinois, wild turkeys are gobbling, neotropical migrants are singing and establishing breeding territories, and white-tailed deer are within days of giving birth to the next generation of fawns. Granted, there are many outdoor activities to participate in, though oppressive heat …

Evidence Of Songbird Intoxication From Rozol Application At A Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colony, Nimish B. Vyas, Craig S. Hulse, Carol U. Meteyer, Clifford P. Rice

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Concerns about avian poisonings from anticoagulant rodenticides have traditionally focused on secondary poisoning of raptors exposed by feeding on contaminated mammalian prey. However, ground foraging songbirds can be directly poisoned from operational applications of the anticoagulant rodenticide RozolH (0.005% chlorophacinone, active ingredient) applied as a grain bait, at black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus colonies. A dead western meadowlark Sturnella neglecta recovered from the study prairie dog colony displayed hemorrhaging in brain and pectoral muscle tissue, and it contained chlorophacinone residue concentrations of 0.59 and 0.49 mg/g (wet weight) in the liver and intestinal contents, respectively. Chlorophacinone residues from two Rozol-colored …

Putting The “And” Back Into Genesis 2:15, Kevin Timmer

Pro Rege

This article is a revised version of a paper presented by Kevin Timmer at the Christian Engineering Education Conference held at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, in June 2009.

Report To The Commissioner Of Soil And Land Conservation On The Condition Of The Western Australian Pastoral Resource Base 2013, Paul Novelly, Philip Thomas

Natural resources published reports

This report updates changes in the Western Australian pastoral rangelands at the Land Conservation District (LCD) scale, providing information on seasonal quality, stock numbers and changes in the density/frequency of perennial shrubs and grasses. It is based on data from the Bureau of Meteorology, the Annual return of livestock and improvements (submitted annually by pastoral lessees) and the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS). The sixth assessment of the Kimberley grassland sites (Epoch 6) was completed in 2011. The second full cycle (i.e. 3 assessments) was completed for shrubland sites in 2010. This report includes the most recently collected data …

Gouldian Finch Breeding Surveys 2013: Ord-East Kimberley Expansion Project - Weaber Plain Development Area, Sarah R. Pryke, Nina Svedin

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 (Feb-May 2013).

Interview With Candace Russo, Linus Pauling Institute, 2013 (Audio), Candace Russo

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Candace Russo by Kevin Foster in Corvallis, Oregon on May 31st, 2013.

The interview index is available for download.

Climate Change Impacts On Precipitation Extremes Over The Columbia River Basin Based On Downscaled Cmip5 Climate Scenarios, Ghulam Hussain Dars

Dissertations and Theses

Hydro-climate extreme analysis helps understanding the process of spatio-temporal variation of extreme events due to climate change, and it is an important aspect in designing hydrological structures, forecasting floods and an effective decision making in the field of water resources design and management. The study evaluates extreme precipitation events over the Columbia River Basin (CRB), the fourth largest basin in the U.S., by simulating four CMIP5 global climate models (GCMs) for the historical period (1970-1999) and future period (2041-2070) under RCP85 GHG scenario.

We estimated the intensity of extreme and average precipitation for both winter (DJF) and summer (JJA) seasons …

Interview With Maggie Michaels, Portland Public Schools, 2013 (Audio), Maggie Michaels

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Maggie Michaels by Carmen Vigil in NE Portland, Oregon on May 23rd, 2013.

The interview index is available for download.

Coevolution Of Nonlinear Trends In Vegetation, Soils, And Topography With Elevation And Slope Aspect: A Case Study In The Sky Islands Of Southern Arizona, Jon D. Pelletier, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, David D. Breshears, Paul D. Brooks, Jon Chorover, Matej Durcik, Ciaran J. Harman, Travis E. Huxman, Kathleen A. Lohse, Rebecca Lybrand, Tom Meixner, Jennifer C. Mcintosh, Shirley A. Papuga, Craig Rasmussen, Marcel Schaap, Tyson L. Swetnam, Peter A. Troch

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Feedbacks among vegetation dynamics, pedogenesis, and topographic development affect the “critical zone”—the living filter for Earth’s hydrologic, biogeochemical, and rock/sediment cycles. Assessing the importance of such feedbacks, which may be particularly pronounced in water-limited systems, remains a fundamental interdisciplinary challenge. The sky islands of southern Arizona offer an unusually well-defined natural experiment involving such feedbacks because mean annual precipitation varies by a factor of five over distances of approximately 10 km in areas of similar rock type (granite) and tectonic history. Here we compile high-resolution, spatially distributed data for Effective Energy and Mass Transfer (EEMT: the energy available to drive …

Source And Magnitude Of Error In An Inexpensive Image-Based Water Level Measurement System, Troy E. Gilmore, François Birgand, Kenneth W. Chapman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Recent technological advances have opened the possibility to use webcams and images as part of the environmental monitoring arsenal. The potential sources and magnitude of uncertainties inherent to an image-based water level measurement system are evaluated in an experimental design in the laboratory. Sources of error investigated include image resolution, lighting effects, perspective, lens distortion and water meniscus. Image resolution and meniscus were found to weigh the most in the overall uncertainty of this system. Image distortion, although largely taken into account by the software developed, may also significantly add to uncertainty. Results suggest that ‘‘flat’’ images with little distortion …

Growing A Sustainable Biofuels Industry: Economics, Environmental Considerations, And The Role Of The Conservation Reserve Program, Christopher M. Clark, Yolanda Lin, Britta G. Bierwagen, Laurence M. Eaton, Matthew H. Langholtz, Philip Morefield, Caroline E. Ridley, Laura Vimmerstedt, Steve Peterson, Brian W. Bush

Dartmouth Scholarship

Biofuels are expected to be a major contributor to renewable energy in the coming decades under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). These fuels have many attractive properties including the promotion of energy independence, rural development, and the reduction of national carbon emissions. However, several unresolved environmental and economic concerns remain. Environmentally, much of the biomass is expected to come from agricultural expansion and/or intensification, which may greatly affect the net environmental impact, and economically, the lack of a developed infrastructure and bottlenecks along the supply chain may affect the industry's economic vitality. The approximately 30 million acres (12 million hectares) …