Digital Commons Network^™

Soil Health And Ecosystem Services: Lessons From Sub-Sahara Africa (Ssa), J. Kihara, P. Bolo, M. Kinyua, S. S. Nyawira, R. Sommer

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Management practices to improve soil health influence several ecosystem services including regulation of water flows, changes in soil biodiversity and greenhouse gases that are important at local, regional and global levels. Unfortunately, the primary focus in soil health management over the years has been increasing crop productivity and to some extent the associated economics and use efficiencies of inputs. There are now efforts to study the inter-relationship of associated ecosystem effects of soil health management considering that sustainable intensification cannot occur without conscious recognition of these associated non-provisioning ecosystem services. This review documents the current knowledge of ecosystem services for …

Potential Adoption Of Integrated Pest Management Strategy For Suppression Of Mango Fruit Flies In East Africa: An Ex Ante And Ex Post Analysis In Ethiopia And Kenya, Beatrice W. Muriithi, Nancy G. Gathogo, Gracious M. Diiro, Samira A. Mohamed, Sunday Ekesi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

To sustain agricultural development in Africa, innovative strategies for addressing a myriad of biotic and abiotic constraints facing the agricultural systems must be established. One current biotic stress is the mango infesting fruit flies. In the effort to contain the widely spreading and damaging invasive species of tephritid fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) (Hendel), an area-wide integrated pest management (IPM) program is being promoted in the horticultural sub-sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Such a new technology in which farmers have limited information before commercialization may have diffusion paths that are different from the often-assumed sigmoid (or “s”) shaped curve. We apply the …

A Nexus Between Carbon Emissions And Land Surface Temperature In The Six Ecological Zones Of Nigeria, Folasade Oderinde

Tanzania Journal of Science

The increase in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has been identified as a driving cause of global climate change which is a threat to the normal functioning of human and natural systems. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between the emissions of CO2 and land surface temperature (LST) in the six ecological zones of Nigeria. High resolution satellite imageries of land surface temperature and carbon were downloaded from the website of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) between January 2002 and December 2012 and were utilized for the study. The data were processed using Arc …

Developing Alternatives To Protect Domestic Sheep From Predation In South Africa, David L. Bergman, Nico L. Avenant, Michael J. Bodenchuk, Eddie Steenkamp

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

South Africa has approximately 8,000 commercial small livestock farms and 5,800 communal/subsistence farmers throughout the country. Reported rates of small livestock loss to predation range from 3-13% and 0.5-19% from communal farming areas. A range of predators exist on the African continent, but in southern Africa major livestock losses are primarily due to black-backed jackal and caracal. South Africans have been managing caracals and jackals for over 300 years with no elimination of predation. During the aforementioned time frame, producers have used and/or developed a number of techniques including lethal, nonlethal, and integrated predator damage management to address predation losses. …

Analysis Of Paleoclimatic Cycles In The Ultra Thick Coal Seam Of Yan'an Formation In The Southern Ordos Basin, Dong Guoqi, Wang Dongdong, Liu Haiyan, Mao Qiang, Yin Lusheng

Coal Geology & Exploration

Coal is a climate-sensitive sediment that contains abundant paleoclimate information. In order to find out the paleoclimate information contained in the coal seam and the evolution of its controlling factors, the No.4 thick coal seam in the first member of Yan’an Formation in the south of Ordos basin was studied. Based on the intensive sampling of the thick coal seam, the information of organic macerals, major and trace elements, and stable carbon isotopes of organic matter were systematically tested. By using the macerals, characteristic elements and carbon isotopes of coal and rocks, four cycles of paleoclimate with alternation of warm-wet …

Biogeochemical Cycling Of Nutrients And Carbon In Subtropical Wetlands, Lauren N. Griffiths

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As human development intensifies, ecosystems around the word are being exponentially destroyed and degraded. Wetlands have the capacity to mitigate some of the possible problems by retaining nutrients and carbon, keeping them from harming downstream ecosystems or being released into the atmosphere. This project focuses on the processes that make wetlands successful by studying two unique ecosystems: 1) a created urban stormwater treatment wetland and 2) mangrove wetlands in Florida and Puerto Rico that were affected by hurricanes in 2017.

The first phase of this study investigates the role of sedimentation and vegetative and algal uptake of nutrients to retain …

Effects Of Pyric Herbivory On Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus Spp) Habitat, Heath D. Starns, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Robert D. Elmore, Dirac Twidwell, Eric T. Thacker, Torre J. Hovick, Barney Luttbeg

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The reduction and simplification of grasslands has led to the decline of numerous species of grassland fauna, particularly grassland-obligate birds. Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus spp.) are an example of obligate grassland birds that have declined throughout most of their distribution and are species of conservation concern. Pyric herbivory has been suggested as a land management strategy for enhancing prairie-chicken habitat and stabilizing declining population trends. We assessed differences in vegetation structure created by pyric herbivory compared to fire-only treatments to determine whether pyric herbivory increased habitat heterogeneity for prairie-chickens, spatially or temporally. Our study was performed at four sites in the …

Effects Of Temperature And Antioxidants On The Oxidation Of Biodiesel Derived From Waste Vegetable Oil, Randy L. Maglinao, Torrey J. Wagner, Keegan Duff

Faculty Publications

Biodiesel offers several environmental benefits and improvements to some fuel performance properties, but its poor oxidative stability has been a major concern. Currently, the accepted practice to improve biodiesel oxidative stability is the addition of antioxidants; numerous antioxidants have been studied but their effectiveness in inhibiting biodiesel oxidation is difficult to predict due to variation with resonance stability, solubility, reactivity, and volatility. To improve prediction efforts, this study explored the Rapid Small-Scale Oxidation Test (RSSOT) as a means to investigate how biodiesel oxidation is affected by antioxidant concentration and temperature, and compared its results with the oxidative stability index test. …

Vegetation And Large Carnivore Responses In An Encroached Landscape, Hugh Ellerman

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

The Great Plains biome supports biodiverse plant and animal communities, provides a wide array of ecosystem services, and is depended upon by agricultural economies. Despite these advantages, however, Great Plains grasslands are becoming increasingly degraded by landcover changes due to agriculture and urbanization, fragmentation, loss of biodiversity and invasion by woody species. Woody encroachment is a biome-wide threat to Great Plains plant and wildlife communities and is therefore managed, though with variable success. I investigated the efficacy of invasive tree management projects in restoring tallgrass prairies in southeast Nebraska and regenerating oak gallery forests along the Niobrara River. I measured …

Long-Term Ndvi And Recent Vegetation Cover Profiles Of Major Offshore Island Nesting Sites Of Sea Turtles In Saudi Waters Of The Northern Arabian Gulf, Rommel H. Maneja, Jeffrey D. Miller, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Ace Vincent B. Flandez, Joshua J. Dagoy, Joselito Francis A. Alcaria, Abdullajid U. Basali, Khaled A. Al-Abdulkader, Ronald A. Loughland, Mohamed A. Qurban

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Vegetation is an important ecological component of offshore islands in the Arabian Gulf (AG), which maintains long-term resilience of these islands. This is achieved by influencing sediment retention and moisture acquisition via condensation during periods of high humidity and by providing a variety of microhabitats for island fauna. The resilience of offshore islands’ ecosystems in the Saudi waters is important because they host the largest number of nesting hawksbill and green turtles in the AG. This study defines the characteristics and the long-term trends in vegetation cover of the offshore islands used by sea turtles as nesting grounds in the …

Vertebrates On The Brink As Indicators Of Biological Annihilation And The Sixth Mass Extinction, Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich, Peter H. Raven

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

The ongoing sixth mass species extinction is the result of the destruction of component populations leading to eventual extirpation of entire species. Populations and species extinctions have severe implications for society through the degradation of ecosystem services. Here we assess the extinction crisis from a different perspective. We examine 29,400 species of terrestrial vertebrates, and determine which are on the brink of extinction because they have fewer than 1,000 individuals. There are 515 species on the brink (1.7% of the evaluated vertebrates). Around 94% of the populations of 77 mammal and bird species on the brink have been lost in …

Benchmarking And Parameter Sensitivity Of Physiological And Vegetation Dynamics Using The Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (Fates) At Barro Colorado Island, Panama, Charles D. Koven, Ryan G. Knox, Rosie A. Fisher, Jeffrey Q. Chambers, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Stuart J. Davies, Matteo Detto

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Plant functional traits determine vegetation responses to environmental variation, but variation in trait values is large, even within a single site. Likewise, uncertainty in how these traits map to Earth system feedbacks is large. We use a vegetation demographic model (VDM), the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES), to explore parameter sensitivity of model predictions, and comparison to observations, at a tropical forest site: Barro Colorado Island in Panama. We define a single 12-dimensional distribution of plant trait variation, derived primarily from observations in Panama, and define plant functional types (PFTs) as random draws from this distribution. We compare several …

Plastic Rain In Protected Areas Of The United States, Janice Brahney, Margaret Hallerud, Eric Heim, Maura Hahnenberger, Suja Sukumaran

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Eleven billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in the environment by 2025. Because plastics are persistent, they fragment into pieces that are susceptible to wind entrainment. Using high-resolution spatial and temporal data, we tested whether plastics deposited in wet versus dry conditions have distinct atmospheric life histories. Further, we report on the rates and sources of deposition to remote U.S. conservation areas. We show that urban centers and resuspension from soils or water are principal sources for wet-deposited plastics. By contrast, plastics deposited under dry conditions were smaller in size, and the rates of deposition were related …

Seasonal Transport Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon And Total Alkalinity Across The Louisiana Shelf, Michelle M. Anderson

LSU Master's Theses

Rivers and wetlands are a major source of terrestrial derived carbon for coastal ocean margins. Unfortunately, Louisiana’s wetlands are threatened by ongoing high rates of erosion, deterioration, and unprecedented rates of river water discharge that changes seasonally, leading to a net loss of terrestrial carbon into the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM). There exists a current lack of understanding about the distribution of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TAlk) within the shallowest regions of the Louisiana shelf. Even less is known about how the transport of DIC alters seasonally with changes in river outflow and shelf currents. Quantifying …

Estimating The Onset And Extent Of Dieback Of Phragmites Australis Using The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index And Remotely Sensed Land Cover Classifications, Aimee M. Beaudette

LSU Master's Theses

Phragmites australis is cosmopolitan plant species with an invasive variety present throughout most of North America. In the Balize Delta, Louisiana, USA, P. australis plays an important role in combatting subsidence, maintaining navigation channels, and protecting interior fish and wildlife habitat from waves and storm surge. In 2016 a dieback of P. australis was reported by wetland managers, coinciding with the appearance of an invasive Asian scale insect (Nipponaclerda biwakoensis), though the specific cause is still unknown. Two previous efforts attempted to identify the onset of dieback conditions met with limited success. Using Landsat images from 1985 to …

Microplastics In Mississippi River Fishes: A Watershed Approach, Ahmed Gad

LSU Master's Theses

Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5mm that come from different sources, such as industrial products, cosmetics, and the breakdown of the macroplastics. Microplastics derive from terrestrial sources but concentrate in flowing freshwaters where they may enter aquatic food webs. The northern Gulf of Mexico has shown very high microplastic concentrations, which are assumed to be sourced from the Mississippi River and its watershed. This study seeks to study microplastics in fish in the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Fish stomachs and intestines from fish underwent chemical digestion, filtration, and microplastics identification and enumeration through FT-IR spectrometry. Chapter …

Exploring The Potential Of Nutrient Retention And Recycling With Wetlaculture Systems In Ohio With Physical And Landscape Models, Bingbing Jiang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Significant expansion of agricultural land use has been widely recognized for leading to global and regional negative environmental impacts, especially increased eutrophication of surface water systems for the last half-century. The landscape-scale environmental problem of overloading nutrients to lakes and streams by excessive fertilizer use and increased human-caused N-fixation is in urgent need of a sustainable landscape-scale solution. Wetlands have long been considered as an effective way to remove nutrients from surface water. However, the influence of regional seasonality and hydrologic conditions on agricultural runoff treatment wetlands still needs more investigation. A new approach, “wetlaculture,” has recently described as a …

A Multi-Scale Assessment Of The Relationship Between The Riparian Landscape And The Health Of Streams In Portland, Oregon, Dylan Esmonde

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The riparian areas adjacent to streams are sensitive and important environments that have a great deal of influence on the overall health of the streams they border. In cities, riparian areas are routinely impacted and degraded by property developments, urban infrastructure, and other alterations to the natural environment. In this study, I worked with the City of Portland to determine how a wide range of landscape features occurring in riparian areas affect the overall health of streams at multiple scales. Data were collected from buffer areas of widths ranging from 15 ft to 500 ft that were digitally generated around …

Can Increased Training And Awareness Take Forest Research To New Heights?, David L. Anderson, Sarah Schulwitz, Matthew May, Gregory Hill, Will Koomjian, Christopher J. W. Mcclure

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2020

Forest canopies contribute significantly to global forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, yet are declining and understudied. One reason for a knowledge gap is that accessing forest canopies can be difficult and dangerous. Thus, lack of relevant canopy access skills may compromise knowledge gain and personal safety. We assessed skill levels in canopy access methods and self-perception of skills amongst ecologists worldwide via a web-based survey, available in four languages. We obtained responses from expert arborists as a control group. From 191 respondents who said canopy access is relevant to their research (of 1,070 total responses), we found that ecologists are …

Trip Bs01 - Perc Pll Trip Bs01 - Jun-July 2020 Set Data, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 1, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 3, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 4, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Bs01 - Perc Pll Trip Bs01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 1, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 7, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 5, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 9, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 10, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 12, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.

Trip Dk01 - Perc Pll Trip Dk01 - Jun-July 2020 Set 8, David Kerstetter, Sean T. Wilms, Brittany N. Savercool, Ellyn Willse

PERC Pelagic Longline Field Datasheets

Field datasheets from pelagic longline sets in the western North Atlantic from 2020-2022.