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Management Techniques For The Control Of Sahara Mustard (Brassica Tournefortii) In The Mojave Desert, Dianne N. Bangle, Scott R. Abella, Public Lands Institute,

Vegetation Monitoring Presentations

In the southwestern United States, Brassica tournefortii(Sahara mustard) is a highly invasive plant that colonizes roadsides, beaches, sand dunes, and open desert threatening native annuals. Sahara mustard is believed to contribute to fuel loads in the Mojave Desert in areas where Schismussp. and Bromussp. occur. Sahara mustard may act as ladder fuel, thereby facilitating the spread of fire throughout the landscape. Manpower limitations and insufficient funding limits the abilities of managers to effectively control Sahara mustard. We tested seed germinability in Sahara mustard after fruiting plants were treated with either 2%, 5%, or 12% triclopyr. Sahara mustard seed pods were …

Exotic Annual Plant Invasions And Their Relationships To Roads And Native Perennial Species In The Mojave Desert, Southwestern Usa, Donovan J. Craig, Jill Pacovsky Craig, Scott R. Abella

Vegetation Monitoring Presentations

For the last five years, roadside monitoring for exotic invasive species has been a common practice for documenting distributions in Clark County, Nevada (Abella et al., in press). Yet, studies have shown that weed relationships to road corridors differ depending upon the natural system (Hansen and Clevenger, 2005). In the Mojave Desert, it is unknown whether exotic species are limited to or even predominant along roadsides.

Compounding this uncertainty, fertile islands under shrubs are known to enhance conditions for many annuals (Thompson et al., 2005). Thus, a site’s shrub composition could influence exotic invasive plant distributions.

Implications For Management Prioritization Of Exotic Annual Weed Monitoring Near Roadsides In The Eastern Mojave Desert, Usa, Donovan J. Craig, Jill E. Craig, Scott R. Abella, Public Lands Institute,

Vegetation Monitoring Presentations

Invasive exotic plants provide an unnatural conduit for fires in the Mojave Desert. For the last five years, roadside monitoring for exotic invasive species has been a common practice for documenting distributions in Clark County, Nevada (Abella et al., in press). Yet, studies have shown that weed relationships to road corridors differ depending upon the natural system (Hansen and Clevenger, 2005). In the Mojave Desert, it is unknown whether exotic species are limited to or even predominant along roadsides.

Compounding this uncertainty, fertile islands under shrubs are known to enhance conditions for many annuals (Thompson et al., 2005). Thus, a …

Response Of Sahara Mustard (Brassica Tournefortii) To Water Addition And Soil Disturbance, Alexis Suazo, Jessica E. Spencer, Scott R. Abella

Vegetation Monitoring Presentations

Invasive exotic species can have a significant impact on the structure, function, and diversity of ecological communities. Sahara mustard (Brassica tournefortii) is one of the top exotic invasive species spreading through the southwestern deserts of North America. In arid environments, it is well documented that species abundance is sensitive to rainfall (Beatly 1974, Ernest et al. 2000). In the Mojave Desert, winter precipitation can trigger massive germination events (Beatly 1974). As a winter annual, Sahara mustard may have a positive response to winter precipitation by germinating, growing, and reproducing before native annuals, monopolizing soil moisture and nutrients, and potentially changing …

Fire History And Forest Structural Change In The Spring Mountains, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Since early 2006 we have been working to develop a partnership with the Spring Mountains District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest to provide science support for understanding fire history and forest structural changes in support of ecologically based management strategies. We teamed up with the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) at Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona Tree Ring Lab to deliver a workshop on March 6, 2008 at the interagency office in Las Vegas, Nevada. On September 16-18, we again teamed up with colleagues at ERI to conduct a preliminary field assessment of forest change at 10 sites …

Opportunities For New Collaborative Projects, Scott R. Abella, Jill E. Craig

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

The Research Group is currently working in successful partnerships with Lake Mead National Recreation Area, BLM Las Vegas, Desert National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Joshua Tree National Park, and in collaboration with the Ecological Restoration Institute, the U.S. Forest Service (Region 3).

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes Winter 2008, Scott R. Abella, E. Cayenne Engel, Jill E. Craig

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes

Mojave Desert collaborative projects, fire history in Spring Mountains, Northshore Road rehabilitation, wildfires and invasive plants in American deserts conference, weed sentry surveys

Intermittent Water Supplies: Challenges And Opportunities For Residential Water Users In Jordan, David E. Rosenberg, Samer Talozi, Jay Lund

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Intermittent access to improved urban water supplies is a large and expanding global problem. This paper describes 16 supply enhancement and 23 demand management actions available to urban residential water users in Jordan to cope with intermittent supplies. We characterize actions by implementation, costs, and water quantities and qualities acquired or conserved. This effort systematically identifies potential options prior to detailed study and shows that water users have significant capacity to affect demand. We suggest several methods to evaluate options and highlight the need to include local water management decisions in integrated water resources management and planning at utility and …

The National Environmental Policy Act In The Urban Environment: Oxymoron Or A Useful Tool To Combat The Destruction Of Neighborhoods And Urban Sprawl?, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

To some, applying the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to decisions affecting land use in an urban or built environment is an oxymoron. Cities have historically not been seen “as natural entities but as foreign impositions upon the native landscape,” places where the physical environment is already largely destroyed or reduced to insignificant remnants. Moreover, detecting the required federal presence to trigger NEPA may initially seem difficult when decisions affecting urban resources appear to be principally made by local or state agencies.

At the Institute for Public Representation (IPR) at the Georgetown University Law Center, the author has learned that …

Sex-Specific Feeding Rates And Provisioning Of Fruit To Nestling Bell's Vireo, Greg H. Farley

The Prairie Naturalist

Provisioning of fruit to nestlings and possible sex-specific differences in feeding rate have not been reported for Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii; Brown 1993). While studying nesting ecology of Bell's vireo on Konza Prairie Biological Station, Geary and Riley counties, Kansas, I quantified feeding rate by sex and food type delivered to nestlings. Sex was determined by capturing adults with mist-nets and inspecting for a cloacal protuberance, as well as conducting behavioral observations of uniquely-marked individuals. Males sing regularly while moving around territories, as well as during incubation (Nolan 1960). I assigned "female" to the individual in these socially …

Riparian Owner's Guidebook For Watershed Management, Annis Water Resources Institute

Environmental Guidebooks and Model Ordinances

This guidebook can help riparian landowners manage and maintain their property to ensure the continued existence of safe, clean, and natural waterways. It can also provide a better understanding of problems facing our water supplies and what preventative and corrective action we as landowners can put into effect. The guidebook is divided by issues that affect water quality, with possible problems and best management practices (BMPs) mentioned for each topic.

Bringing In The Green: Pharma Stands To Win Hearts, Minds, And Tax Credits By Launching An Eco Bandwagon, Porcher L. Taylor Iii, David E. Kitchen

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

A green mind-set can lead to a black bottom line. Becoming nvironmentally friendly can help boost brand image and ROi -- and pharma can get there with a few easy steps.

First, with about 90,000 sales representatives on the road, the industry could lead a revolution in transportation if it bought hybrid cars. By replacing the current fleet, the benefits would be substantial. Each hybrid is cheaper to maintain, more fuel-efficient, and leaves a far smaller greenhouse-gas footprint on the environment. Imagine extrapolating these benefits to thousands of ca rs: That's an environmentally friendly signature that shows leadership in the …

Roots And Remedies Of Ginseng Poaching In Central Appalachia, Randi Jeannine Pokladnik

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Ginseng, panax quinquefolius, is a perennial plant found in the understory growth of mesophytic forests of Appalachia. Illegal harvesting of the plant from both wild and cultivated populations has become very problematic for public land managers and private landowners engaged in cultivation of the species. Techniques aimed at curtailing the incidents of poaching have only been moderately successful. Given the economic value of the plant, its cultural significance, and the dramatic decrease of wild plant populations, it has become increasingly important to address this problem.

Several studies have linked illegal wildlife harvesting to economic problems, inadequate policies or laws, and …

Dwelling, Walking, Serving: Organic Preservation Along The Camino De Santiago Pilgrimage Landscape, Mercedes Chamberlain Quesada-Embid

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study is an exploration of the people and the landscape of the well-known Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. Although there are many routes that make up the entirety of the pilgrimage, this research is specifically focused on the landscape of the Camino Francés, or French Route, in northern Spain. The path has been written about in many ways and for a myriad of reasons since it became affiliated with the Christian tradition in the early ninth century. This research, however, is different. By way of an environmental history and hermeneutic approach, an investigation of the interrelated and overlapping human …

Removal Of Selected Heavy Metals From Wash Water Generated From Ready-Mix Concrete Trucks, Dubai, Uae., Imad Juma Mohammed Abunqira

Theses

Dubai is one of seven Emirates that form the United Arab Emirates. The Emirate of Dubai is currently undergoing a fast-paced construction boom that involves huge amounts of concrete mixes. Such mixes are usually delivered to the site in ready form. The major environmental issue with ready-mix concrete production around the world is water pollution. The wash water generated from ready-mix concrete trucks is extremely alkaline and contains significant levels of heavy metals. Removal of heavy metals from the wash water is an environmental problem and economic concern. This demonstrates the urgent need for safe, feasible and economical methods for …

Biological Control Of Fusarium Oxysporum Wilt Disease Of Tomato By Antagonistic And Plant Growth Promoting Actinomycetes, Nada Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shugairan

Theses

Soil-borne fungal plant pathogens cause some of the most widespread and serious plant diseases. Root diseases caused by these pathogens such as wilt, root rot, collar rot, foot rot, seedling pre- and post-emergence damping-off are the foremost of problems which are gaining importance from day to day in the world and for which no direct control measures have been evolved so far. Fusarium spp. is a widespread soil-borne plant pathogen and is the causal agents of wilt disease of many economically important crops. Fusarium spp. is a limiting factor in the plant productivity in most agricultural soils. Wilt disease of …

Estimation Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge From Bulk Ground Electrical Conductivity Measurements, Thomas Stieglitz, John Rapaglia, Henry Bokuniewicz

Biology Faculty Publications

The utility of bulk ground conductivity (BGC) measurements in the estimation of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) was investigated at four sites covering a range of hydrogeological settings, namely Cockburn Sound (Australia); Shelter Island (USA); Ubatuba Bay (Brazil) and Flic-en-Flac Bay (Mauritius). At each of the sites, BGC was surveyed in the intertidal zone, and seepage meters were used for direct measurements of SGD flow rates. In the presence of detectable salinity gradients in the sediment, a negative correlation between SGD and BGC was recorded. The correlation is site-specific and is dependent on both the type of sediment and the mixing …

Life History Of The Predatory Mite Phytoseiulus Fragariae On Tetranychus Evansi And Tetranychus Urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae) At Five Temperatures, Geraldo José Nascimento De Vasconcelos, Gilberto José De Moraes, Ítalo Delalibera Júnior, Markus Knapp

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tetranychus evansi Baker and Pritchard and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) are important pests of Solanaceae in many countries. Several studies have demonstrated that T. urticae is an acceptable prey to many predatory mites, although the suitability of this prey depends on the host plant. T. evansi, has been shown to be an unfavorable prey to most predatory mites that have been tested against it. The predator Phytoseiulus fragariae Denmark and Schicha (Acari: Phytoseiidae) has been found in association with the two species in Brazil. The objective of this work was to compare biological parameters of P. fragariae on T. …

Evaluating U.S. Federal Marine Protected Areas Programs: A Comparative Analysis And Conceptual Framework, Rosemarie Ann Bradley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Federal area-based marine protection and management in the United States is overseen by the National Marine Sanctuary Program, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, the National Park Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Each agency and program represents a different approach to managing the oceans. Currently, no federal agency or program is responsible for evaluating the overall effectiveness of these programs. Evaluation is needed to determine whether programs are achieving their management objectives and conservation goals. Although evaluation protocols are legislatively mandated, implementation is inconsistent across programs.

Federal agencies have been criticized for failing …

Evaluation Of Nutrient (Protein) – Organism (Fish) Relationship Using A Saturation Kinetic Model, Zainab Saad Abdul Rahman

Theses

The primary objective of this thesis was to demonstrate that the net nutrient (protein) deposition and weight gain as a function of nutrient (protein) intake fits the Saturation Kinetic Model and utilize the model parameters to describe and predict intake-deposition relationship.

Groups of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, fry (0.01 g) and small fingerlings (0.15 g) were each separately fed twelve semi purified diets in triplicates to the fingerling and duplicate to the fry trial. Each test diet contains a percentage of protein. Protein levels were 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 54 percent …

Effect Of Oilfield Brine On Groundwater Quality In Marmul Area, Sultanate Of Oman, Salim Ahmed Sakroon

Theses

During a period of 28 years, more than 96 million m³ of oilfield produced water was re-injected in the shallow aquifer at Marmul oilfield area, and changed groundwater characteristics. The 10 wells of Shallow Water Disposal (SWD) have been used to inject water in shallow groundwater aquifers of Dammam and Rus formations. The disposal of oilfield produced water to shallow aquifer has been continuing since 1980, with approximately 96 Mm³ of produced water having been disposed and an estimation of approximately 9600 m³ oil has been disposed of in this case until the beginning of 2008.

The …

Flow In Porous Media And Environmental Impact, Noujoud M Jawhar

Theses

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Demographic Disparities Associated With The Proposed U.S.-Mexico Border Fence In Cameron County, Texas, J. Gaines Wilson, Jude A. Benavides, E. Anthony Reisinger, Joseph Lemen, Zachary Hurwitz, Jessica Spangler, Karen Engle

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction: The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to install a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by late December 2008. While much attention has been drawn to the environmental, social and political issues surrounding the fence, analysis of demographic data on the populations that will be directly affected has been limited. This paper utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) and U.S. Census Bureau data with the objective of understanding the underlying demographics in areas along the proposed Rio Grande Valley section of the border fence located in Cameron County, Texas.

Data and Methods: Demographic measures of income, education, …

Beyond The Debate: Exploring The Underlying Values And Assumptions Of Biodiversity Conservation In Protected Areas, Leon-Charl Malan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines the current disagreement among scientists and scholars about best practices for biodiversity conservation in protected areas. There is no clear consensus among the scientific community about the most effective approach to conserve biodiversity and several conflicting positions form part of an ongoing debate in the field. Most disagreements and conflicts are based on differences in the underlying values and assumptions of the parties involved in the conflict. The more we know and understand those underlying values, the more constructive the dialog, and the more likely acceptable policy decisions will be developed. This study, presented in three parts, …

Connecting With Nature Through Land Use Decision Making, Cathy Setterlin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This narrative inquiry, which draws on my experience as a land use decision maker, environmental educator, and scholar, examines the complexities of our human-nature relationship as we use and protect the life of the land in local communities. I began this research by interviewing seventeen land use decision makers representing a range of land use perspectives in New Milford, Connecticut, focusing on their views of land as a living community, their connections to land, and their sense of duty and responsibility.

Their responses led me to further inquiry and drew me into a process that transformed my views of both …

The Ecology Of Paradox: Disturbance And Restoration In Land And Soul, Rowland S. Russell

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This heuristic study explores environmental disturbance and ecological restoration in several North American settings in order to uncover epistemological, philosophical, aesthetic and ethical considerations revolving around those place-based processes. With fire as one of the central metaphors of this work, the initial place-based chapter examines Northern New Mexico's Pajarito Plateau to explore the region's fire ecology. The study then moves to the Pacific Northwest to draw restoration practice that attempt to restore wild salmon to urban Seattle habitat. The third place-based chapter focuses on the Midwest grass and farmlands in order to investigate the seeming contradictions between commodity and diversity …

Septic System Owner's Guidebook For System Performance, Annis Water Resources Institute

Environmental Guidebooks and Model Ordinances

This guidebook can help onsite system owners understand and care for their septic systems by explaining their basic components and function, techniques for caring for them, and where the waste goes when it is removed from the system.

Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation Of Mono Azo Dye Orange Ii: Catalyst Selection, Reaction Kinetics, And Modeling, Pinar Ozdural

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wastewaters generated as byproducts of dyeing processes are not treatable with conventional methods. It has been estimated that among the 900,000 tons of different dyes produced annually in the world, approximately 10–15% are lost in wastewater streams during manufacturing and processing operations. Once in rivers and streams, dyes cause major problems, such as reducing light penetration, or displaying toxic effects on aquatic life. Therefore, it is essential that dyes are removed from wastewaters before being discharged into the environment.

This study focuses on the catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of Orange II, a mono azo dye used in large amounts …

Rapid Evolution In Introduced Species, ‘Invasive Traits’ And Recipient Communities: Challenges For Predicting Invasive Potential, Kenneth D. Whitney, Christopher A. Gabler

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The damaging effects of invasive organisms have triggered the development of Invasive Species Predictive Schemes (ISPS). These schemes evaluate biological and historical characteristics of species and prioritize those that should be the focus of exclusion, quarantine, and/or control. However, it is not clear how commonly these schemes take microevolutionary considerations into account. We review the recent literature and find that rapid evolutionary changes are common during invasions. These evolutionary changes include rapid adaptation of invaders to new environments, effects of hybridization, and evolution in recipient communities. Strikingly, we document 38 species in which the specific traits commonly associated with invasive …

Hydrologic Response To Extreme Warm And Cold Summers In The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica, Peter T. Doran, Christopher P. Mckay, Andrew G. Fountain, Thomas H. Nylen, Diane M. Mcknight, Chris Jaros, John E. Barrett

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The meteorological characteristics and hydrological response of an extreme warm, and cold summer in the McMurdo Dry Valleys are compared. The driver behind the warmer summer conditions was the occurrence of down-valley winds, which were not present during the colder summer. Occurrence of the summer down-valley winds coincided with lower than typical mean sea level pressure in the Ross Sea region. There was no significant difference in the amount of solar radiation received during the two summers. Compared to the cold summer, glaciological and hydrological response to the warm summer in Taylor Valley included significant glacier mass loss, and 3- …