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An Examination Of The Current Knowledge Of Contaminants In Mangroves: Hawaii And Globally, Geoffrey Szafranski

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The geographic range of mangrove forests is shifting quickly as they expand poleward in response to climate change while simultaneously being removed from their native extent to clear space for anthropogenic land-uses. Mangrove forests are also known to be sinks for anthropogenic contamination. Yet contamination research is under-researched in mangrove ecosystems, specifically the environmental fate, effect on biodiversity, and risk to human populations from contamination in the context of these changing conditions requires further research. The goal of this thesis is to address this data gap through analysis of contamination in the literature and through an investigational survey of mangrove …

Management Plan For The Western Painted Turtle At The Sandy River Delta In Troutdale, Oregon, Emma Scott

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

This management plan has been prepared for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and is intended to provide guidance for the improvement and protection of western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) habitat at the Sandy River Delta in Troutdale, Oregon. The Sandy River Delta is a 1500-acre natural area situated where the Columbia and Sandy Rivers meet. Its dynamic floodplain habitat supports a diverse assemblage of species, including the western painted turtle, an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species. A small, unknown number of western painted turtles utilize the wetland habitats of the Sandy River Delta, and the frequency in observations …

Water Current, Volume 55, No. 1, Spring 2023

Water Current Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Individual-Level Responses To Rapid Climate Change In Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo) And Arctic Terns (Sterna Paradisaea), Kaiulani A. Sund

Student Publications

This study examines fine-scale environmental changes and intraspecific variation in the diet and foraging behavior of two seabirds in the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest-warming regions of the ocean. This variation on the individual level, or behavioral plasticity, may help long-lived species to persist in rapidly changing environments. As the water warms, seabirds’ preferred prey (hake and herring) follow cooler waters deeper and farther offshore. It is unlikely that all individuals respond to changing food availability in the same way. For common terns (Sterna hirundo) and Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) breeding on Petit Manan …

The Role Of Citizen Science In Ecosystem Management: A Case Study Of The Middle Rio Grande Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, Hannah Miller

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Rapid advances in technology, especially smart phones, have changed citizen science around the world. Citizen science-generated data are growing exponentially, so there is increasing interest about what is happening with all this data. Some research suggests that governmental agencies are not using citizen science data to make ecosystem management decisions, although other studies contradict this finding. Regionally, the Middle Rio Grande bosque ecosystem extends for 162 miles along the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, or BEMP, was founded in 1996 following the efforts of the Bosque Initiative and the development of the Bosque Biological Management …

Rural Water Manager Challenges In New Mexico, Amy "Aj" Jones

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

New Mexico poses a valuable set of circumstances to study the challenges faced by drinking water systems. A general lack of resources for small systems, be it personnel and funding issues, lack of community engagement, lack or loss of institutional knowledge, ability to meet regulations, and aging managers were found to be very common and widespread. Rural water manager positions that are unsupported financially do not assist in alleviating rural poverty or draw the workforce. Therefore, the negative state demographic statistics are reinforced, further complicating rural water management rather than helping the issues. To look at drinking water management comprehensively, …

Securing Environmental Flows For The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow, Ashley Veihl

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Since 1997, the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) has been leasing water to provide habitat for the now-endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow (Minnow). The majority of leased water comes from the San-Juan Chama project, a trans-basin water delivery system that was originally implemented to secure flows to the Rio Grande for municipal and agricultural use. Limitations on water storage within reservoirs incentivize contractors that are allocated more surface water than they can use to lease the extra quantity. It is through this water leasing market that the Bureau has established the largest environmental flow program in the state of New Mexico. …

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Virus Outbreak In New England Seals, United States, Wendy Puryear, Kaitlin Sawatzki, Nichola Hill, Alexa Foss, Jonathon J. Stone, Lynda Doughty, Dominique Walk, Katie Gilbert, Maureen Murray, Elena Cox, Priya Patel, Zak Mertz, Stephanie Ellis, Jennifer Taylor, Deborah Fauquier, Ainsley Smith, Robert A. Digiovanni, Adriana Van De Guchte, Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, Zain Khalil, Harm Van Bakel, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jonathan Runstadler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) into marine mammals in the northeastern United States, coincident with H5N1 in sympatric wild birds. Our data indicate monitoring both wild coastal birds and marine mammals will be critical to determine pandemic potential of influenza A viruses.

A Comparative Plague Study Of Cacao Fungal Disease In Cacao Pods Within Monocultures And Indigenous Agroforests In Ecuador’S Napo Province, Seamus Mccarthy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study analyzes the composition of three major fungal diseases in Theobroma cacao fruits compared between monocultures and chakra agroforests in the Napo province of Ecuador with the goal of noting similarities and differences in the disease composition between the two systems, as well as investigate possible variation within this poorly understood category of agroforest to better structure future studies. Cacao pods on sampled trees were counted and fungal infections identified visually and by touch. Chakra systems were selected in the communities of Cinco de Enero and Seis de Marzo to the Southwest of Tena, Ecuador. Monoculture data was collected …

Biodiversidad De Plantas En La Reserva Natural Urbana Punta Popper En Río Grande: Una Propuesta Para Senderos Para La Gestión De La Conservación Y Métodos De Campo Replicables En Un Etorno Educativo, Lili Weir

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Patagonian Steppe is an ecoregion that is rich in plant biodiversity (both native and introduced), and the Urban Nature Reserves like Punta Popper in Río Grande provide an opportunity to preserve these sensitive species and educate the public, especially students, about the value of this trophic level. However, many beautiful species are being affected by human activities in the Reserve: such as the mismanagement of the trail systems which has led to erosion of the sand dunes, and the pressures of rapid urban expansion contributing to trash pollution. It is essential that stakeholder communities have access to information and …

Discovering Dune: Essays On Frank Herbert’S Epic Saga., Edited By Dominic J. Nardi And N. Trevor Brierly, G. Connor Salter

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

G. Connor Salter reviews Discovering Dune: Essays on Frank Herbert’s Epic Saga, edited by Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly, considering its new contributions to studies of Frank Herbert's work. Essays included fit into four categories (Politics and Power, History and Religion, Biology and Ecology, and Philosophy, Choice and Ethics) and range from Herbert's use of ecology in Dune to how game theory may help explain certain characters' apparent ability to see the future. Discovering Dune also includes an appendix which contains the only up-to-date bibliography of Herbert's work (primary and secondary sources).

Community Participation And Perspectives Of Ambondrolava Mangrove Restoration Project, Nadine Shannon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Madagascar’s mangrove forests are intertidal ecosystems that provide numerous valuable ecosystem services but are nonetheless under pressure from large amounts of deforestation. On the southwestern coast of Madagascar, the village of Ambondrolava practices community led management of the mangrove and its resources. This research project studied the evolution of the mangrove area using GIS data, and investigated, through interviews, the relationship between the local community of Ambondrolava and the organizations that manage the mangrove ecosystem. From 2000 to 2018, the zone of the mangrove has experienced a net loss in area every year, despite reforestation efforts. Most community members interviewed …

Spatial Ecology And Habitat Preference Of Yellow-Spotted Monitors (Varanus Panoptes) At Lizard Island National Park, Qld, Australia, Ryan Snyder

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Lizard Island National Park is an area of strong habitat diversity, especially given its small size. There are several distinct habitats represented, including open sclerophyll woodlands, mangrove swamps, dune grasslands, foothills elevations, and of course anthropogenically modified human habitats. The object of this study was to observe the abundances and behaviors of the yellow-spotted monitor lizard (V. panoptes) in each of these habitat settings to answer the question of which habitat type is preferred amongst V. panoptes in the landscape context of Lizard Island National Park.

Study transects were conducted over the course of one month measuring abundance of V. …

Raise The Sun: A Qtbipoc Zine Workshop, Chris O. Stone , '23

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Characterizing The Response Of The Coastal Rio Grande To Upstream Damming, Timothy A. Goudge, John M. Swartz, Tian Y. Dong, David Mohrig

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Dams are major obstructions to the flow of water and the transport of sediment in rivers. Much work has shown the construction of dams, and storage of sediment in reservoirs, can lead to significant changes in the morphodynamic behavior of alluvial rivers; however, in most cases, the effect of damming has a finite downstream limit as sediment is supplied back to the river through channel bed/bank erosion and/or tributary inputs. Here we present a study of a natural experiment that isolates one source of sediment downstream of a dam – the lower Rio Grande, which has no major tributary inputs …

Generation Of Electricity By Using Microbial Fuel Cell Prototype Fed By Sewage: Case Study At The University Of Dar Es Salaam, Mahir M Said, Asia A Saad, Geoffrey R John, Aviti T Mushi

Tanzania Journal of Science

The access to electricity is still not reliable in Tanzania. Whilst, there are several locations within the country that have wastewater cites that are not economically used to produce electricity. At the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), there are main grid power, and few scattered solar panels. This study was intended to bridge the divide between the current increasing power demands of the UDSM by exploiting not so much used sources, such as electric energy from wastewater. This study was undertaken to develop a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) prototype fed by sewage in Dar es Salaam, for electricity generation …

Effects Of Climate Change, Land Use And Land Cover Variability On Green And Blue Water In Wami/Ruvu Basin, Tanzania, Benson Hm Lazaro, Martine M Hagai, Rubhera Ram Mato

Tanzania Journal of Science

Water basins are the primary food sources, giving green water and blue water worldwide. Despite the basins’ potential, information on the periodical variations in blue water and green water is sparse, particularly in developing countries. The study specifically evaluated the changes in land use and land cover variability (LULCV), effects of land use and land cover variability on green water and blue water variations, and effects of climatic changes on green water and blue water. The evaluation involved the Enhanced Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager satellite images of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020. Image processing utilized the Soil and …

Theoretical And Technological Difficulties And Countermeasures Of Deep Cbm Exploration And Development In The Eastern Edge Of Ordos Basin, Xu Fengyin, Yan Xia, Li Shuguang, Xiong Xianyue, Wang Yuxin, Zhang Lei, Liu Chuanqing, Han Jinliang, Feng Yanqing, Zhen Huaibin, Yang Yun, Wang Chengwang, Li Yuxin

Coal Geology & Exploration

Deep coalbed methane (CBM) resources (hereinafter referred to the CBM resources with the buried depth greater than 2 000 m) are abundant in China and have great potential in exploration and development. Since 2019, Daning‒Jixian block in the eastern edge of Ordos Basin has entered the stage of "scaled exploration + pilot test" of deep CBM, with the daily gas production exceeding 2 × 10⁴ m ³in vertical wells and 10 × 10⁴ m ³in horizontal wells. This remarkable achievement has broken through the traditional depth limitation in CBM exploration and development. Thus,the total resource of …

Comparison Of Soil Organic Carbon Stocks In Two Forest Types In Huron Mountains, Michigan, Nicholas Johnson

Research Days

It is of utmost importance to keep track of the soil organic carbon (SOC) level in forests due to how it affects atmospheric CO2 concentrations and how it mitigates climate change. This study investigates the amount of soil organic carbon that we have gathered from two different forest types such as the Red Pine and Hemlock Sugar Maple Forest. The soil samples used from these two forest types were taken from the Huron Mountain located in Michigan. The Red Pine forest is a plantation forest while the Hemlock Sugar Maple forest is natural. We will be comparing the levels of …

Air Pollution In South Texas: A Short Communication Of Health Risks And Implications, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Esmeralda Mendez, Ismaila Ibrahim, Md. Salahuddin Majumder, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Air pollution is a major public health concern. The region of South Texas in the United States has experienced high levels of air pollution in recent years due to an increase in population, cross-border trade between the U.S.A. and Mexico, and high vehicular activity. This review assesses the relationships between human health and air pollution in South Texas. A thorough scientific search was performed using PubMed, Science Direct, and ProQuest, with most of the literature focusing on the source apportionment of particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less in width (PM2.5), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), Black Carbon …

Diverse Portfolios: Investing In Tributaries For Restoration Of Large River Fishes In The Anthropocene, Kristen L. Bouska, Brian D. Healy, Michael J. Moore, Corey G. Dunn, Jonathan J. Spurgeon, Craig P. Paukert

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Rehabilitation of large Anthropocene rivers requires engagement of diverse stakeholders across a broad range of sociopolitical boundaries. Competing objectives often constrain options for ecological restoration of large rivers whereas fewer competing objectives may exist in a subset of tributaries. Further, tributaries contribute toward building a “portfolio” of river ecosystem assets through physical and biological processes that may present opportunities to enhance the resilience of large river fishes. Our goal is to review roles of tributaries in enhancing mainstem large river fish populations. We present case histories from two greatly altered and distinct large-river tributary systems that highlight how tributaries contribute …

Influence Of Coal Mining Disturbance On Soil Physiochemical Properties And The Response Mechanism Of Microbial Community, Song Ziheng, Liu Gang, Sun Liping, Wang Fei, Guo Junting

Coal Geology & Exploration

The ecological problems caused by coal mining in Yellow River Basin are becoming more serious. In order to explore the influence characteristics of coal mining disturbance on soil factors and microbial community in Yellow River Basin, and to clarify the differences in soil microbial communities between the marginal coal mining subsidence area and the unmined area, equidistant sampling was performed from the marginal subsidence area, the start point (HD), to the unmined area in the study area of Shangwan Mine in Inner Mongolia. Specifically, sampling points at 150 (D1), 300 (D2), 450 (D3), 600 (D4) and 750 m (D5) from …

Body Dimension And Length-Weigh Relationships Of Invasive Exotic Earthworm Species In Huron Mountains Forests, Paula Arroyo, Xiaoyong Chen, Timothy Gsell, John A. Yunger, Mary E. Carrington

Research Days

Invasive exotic earthworms have undesired ecological effects on structure, function, and biodiversity of forest ecosystems in the Great Lakes region. Biological parameters including body length, weight, growth rate, and regeneration patterns of earthworms are necessary to understand their life cycle and impacts on ecological processes such as nutrient biogeochemistry cycling and carbon sequestration in the forests, as well as for forest management practices. In this work, earthworms were surveyed in main forest types of the Huron Mountains Preserve of Michigan, Upper Peninsula during the period of May 2021 to October 2022. Earthworms were captured from established sampling quadrates using a …

Margalefidinium Polykrikoides Cyst Resuspension In The Lafayette River, A Sub-Tributary Of The Chesapeake Bay, Gabrielle Greaney, Eduardo Perez Vega, Katherine Crider, Dreux Chappell, Kimberly Powell, Richard Hale, Peter Bernhardt, Margaret Mulholland

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Harmful Algal Blooms are a collection of algae in a body of water that can cause serious environmental issues and health problems in both people and aquatic organisms. Dinoflagellates are microscopic, unicellular, and eukaryotic organisms that are well known for forming harmful algal blooms because of eutrophication. Coastal Virginia suffers from HABs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. A common species of dinoflagellate, known as Margalefidinium polykrikoides exists in the Chesapeake Bay. The purpose of this study is to determine if sediment resuspension produced by wind generated surface gravity waves cause cysts (dinoflagellate resting stages) to be suspended into …

Health And Safety Effects Of Airborne Soil Dust In The Americas And Beyond, Daniel Q. Tong, Thomas E. Gill, William A. Sprigg, Robert Scott Van Pelt, Alexander Baklanov, Bridget Marie Barker, Jesse E. Bell, Juan Castillo, Santiago Gassó, Cassandra Gaston, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Risks associated with dust hazards are often underappreciated, a gap between the knowledge pool and public awareness that can be costly for impacted communities. This study reviews the emission sources and chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of airborne soil particles (dust) and their effects on human and environmental health and safety in the Pan-American region. American dust originates from both local sources (western United States, northern Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina) and long-range transport from Africa and Asia. Dust properties, as well as the trends and interactions with criteria air pollutants, are summarized. Human exposure to dust is associated …

Invertebrate Metrics Based On Few Abundant Taxa Outperform Functional And Taxonomic Composition As Indicators Of Agricultural Impacts In Atlantic Rainforest Streams, Rafael Feijó‑Lima, Steven A. Thomas, Flavia Tromboni, Eugenia Zandonà, Eduardo F. Silva‑Junior, Timothy P. Moulton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Metacommunity studies have demonstrated that local macroinvertebrate communities are structured not only by local environmental conditions but also by spatial processes. Effective bioassessment tools should account for spatial processes while doing so with the least amount of cost. In this study, we applied variance partition techniques based on redundancy analysis to assess the performance of three sets of benthic invertebrate metrics in detecting agricultural land-use effects in a SE Brazil rainforest watershed. Macroinvertebrate data were analyzed separately regarding their taxonomic, functional structure and bioindicator metrics developed for the study region. We stipulated that groups of metrics most sensitive to land-use …

Something Fishy About Crime: How To Teach Conservation And Sustainable Use Of The Oceans, Seas, And Resources For Sustainable Development In An Animal Cruelty Criminal Justice Elective Course, Cassandra L. Reyes

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

Professor Cassandra L. Reyes, Criminal Justice - Something Fishy about Crime: How to Teach Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Oceans, Seas, and Resources for Sustainable Development in an Animal Cruelty Criminal Justice Elective Course

Ecological And Environmental Changes And Protection Measures Of Lakes In China, Ganlin Zhang, Xiaohong Gu, Tao Zhao, Yunlin Zhang, Ligang Xu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Lakes (including artificial reservoirs) are important surface water resources, and they are also an important part of the earth surface system consisting of "mountains, waters, forests, fields, lakes, grassland and desert". Based on the lake survey data and long-term monitoring data collected by the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as other institutions, this paper systematically analyzed the overall status and long-term trends of the ecological and environmental changes of natural and artificial lakes in China, focused on the ecological and environmental status and changes of typical lakes in the five major lake zones …

Achievement Of Wetland Protection And Restoration And Development Strategies In China, Hui Zhu, Haitao Wu, Xiaoxu Xing, Tian Xie, Changchun Song, Guodong Wang, Ming Jiang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Wetland provides various ecological functions, and wetland protection and restoration directly affect national security, sustainability of economy and society, as well as human well-being. This study has systematically summarized the current status of wetland resource and the achievement of wetland protection in China, and the conclusions will provide scientific support for the policy making in wetland protection and management. The area of wetland in China was 41.2×104 km2 based on remote sensing monitoring in 2020, which lead the first in Asia. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the area of wetland has showed a …

Mountain Protection And Mountain Development In China: Review And Prospect, Anbang Wen, Qing Tang, Chaojun Ouyang, Bo Zhu, Yukuan Wang, Ainong Li, Shuai Li, Wanze Zhu, Lijun Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China is a large mountainous country in the world, where the mountainous area is about two-thirds of the land area. In the past ten years, the coverage rate of mountain forest and grass vegetation has increased by 8.2%, the average value of mountain green coverage index has reached 82.1%, and vegetation coverage has reached the highest value since the founding of the People's Republic of China; The area of water and soil erosion has decreased by 275 000 square kilometers, and the annual soil erosion in mountainous areas has decreased by 27%. At present, the backbone system of mountain ecological …