Digital Commons Network^™

Gnome Waste Warriors: Waste Reduction Through Sustainability, Hayley E.R. Frost Rubino

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone Project was on how waste and waste reduction could positively impact a community. Waste reduction is an important issue because the negative impacts of waste affect the whole planet. By educating Monterey Gnome School (MGS) about waste, changes in daily habits are intended to result in lasting change. An evidence-based argument is offered that waste is a global issue that negatively impacts the earth's landmasses, oceans, and human health. Both MGS staff and students were interviewed and surveyed, as their perspectives provide unique aspects of thinking about waste issues. The themes that emerged from an …

The Role Of Sediment Resuspension In Estuarine Inorganic Nutrient Cycling, Kirsten Jo Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

Time-scaling of estuarine inorganic nitrogen cycling contains many assumptions due to biogeochemical interactions. Nitrogen, often a limiting factor for primary production, is transformed and utilized by many estuarine organisms. Inorganic nitrogen is especially high in porewater. High nutrient pore water, contained within the interstitial spaces of sediment, has been assumed to influx high concentrations of inorganic nutrients into surface waters during resuspension events. These short-term resuspension events rapidly introducing high concentration of nutrients into the water column. In order to determine the internal time scale of inorganic nitrogen cycling, a box-model nutrient budget, horizontal in situ transects, and vertical nutrient …

Enabling High Quality Oxygen Measurements During Robotic Based Studies Of Ocean Ecological And Biogeochemical Processes, Brianna A. Alanis

Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved oxygen is an essential parameter necessary for understanding marine ecological and biogeochemical processes. New robotic vehicles and autonomous platforms are being applied to an even wider range of ecological and biogeochemical studies. Thus, arises the opportunity for matching the best possible oxygen sensing techniques and methods to these new platforms. In so doing, we can enable both more targeted and higher resolution oxygen measurements than previously possible and potentially use oxygen measurements for a wider range of applications, including in situ incubation experiments and primary productivity measurements. This thesis tested three different oxygen sensors in a trade study for …

Climate Change Impacts On Phosphorus Loads In The Upper And Middle Charles River Watershed With Hspf Modeling, Meagan Riley

Graduate Masters Theses

Water quality in the Upper and Middle Charles River Watershed has improved over the past several decades primarily due to improvements statewide in wastewater management. However, climate change threatens this progress, with future projections promising increased precipitation and temperatures for the New England region. This study investigated the impact of climate change projections on total phosphorus loads in the Upper and Middle Charles River Watershed using the HSPF model. Model input data were extended through 2018 to update present day conditions represented by the previously calibrated and validated HSPF model. The updated model was then used to simulate the following …

The Prairie Naturalist, Vol. 51, Issue 2, December 2019

The Prairie Naturalist

45 EDITOR’S NOTE: Final Thoughts as Editor-in-Chief, by Christopher N. Jacques

RESEARCH ARTICLES

47 Bats of the Loess Hills Ecoregion of Southeast Nebraska, by Virgil Brack, Jr., Dale W. Sparks, and Darwin C. Brack

58 Serological Survey and Pathogen Exposure of Adult Female White-tailed Deer in the Western Dakotas, by Katherine L. Moratz, Bailey S. Gullikson, Eric S. Michel, Daniel M. Grove, Jonathan A. Jenks, and William F. Jensen

68 Factors Limting Reintroduced Plains Topminnow, Fundulus sciadicus, Populations in Central Great Plains Streams, by Joseph D. Thiessen, Keith D. Koupal, and Casey W. Schoenebeck

NOTES

77 Recent Observations of Water …

Factors Limiting Reintroduced Plains Topminnow, Fundulus Sciadicus, Populations In Central Great Plains Streams, Joseph Thiessen, Keith D. Koupal, Casey W. Schoenebeck

The Prairie Naturalist

The plains topminnow (Fundulus sciadicus) is an endemic Great Plains stream fish that has experienced declines in geographic range and local abundance. Due to these declines, the species has been considered for federal protection and designated with conservation status in states throughout its historic range. The reasons for declines are likely similar to hypothesized factors for other endemic stream fish declines in the Great Plains. To investigate potential limiting factors a suite of 17 historic sites with reintroduced plains topminnow populations across Nebraska were evaluated for current populations and if plains topminnow were absent, additional fish were introduced. …

Review Of Grasslands And Climate Change By David J. Gibson And Jonathan A. Newman, Neal D. Noemuth

The Prairie Naturalist

The last decade has seen an explosion of information about climate change, some of which is contradictory, much of which is confusing, and the entirety of which is too much for the typical biologist or scientist to assemble and comprehend. This is why reviews such as Grasslands and Climate Change, edited by David Gibson and Jonathan Newman, are so valuable. To produce this review of climate change issues and influences relative to grasslands, Gibson and Newman recruited 30 scientists—predominantly from Europe and North America—who wrote 19 chapters dealing with various aspects of grasslands and climate change. The chapters are grouped …

A Landscape-Scaled And Community Ecology Approach To Wildlife Corridor Design In South Texas, James A. Stilley

Theses and Dissertations

A formidable challenge in landscape ecology is developing a sound resolution to mitigate the impacts of habitat fragmentation and restore connectivity to a degraded landscape. The problem is worldwide landscapes are becoming primarily anthropogenic and areas set aside for wildlife are small and isolated. Researchers’ have developed the concept of the wildlife corridor to mediate this situation but a proper methodology to implement this concept is still in its infancy. This study aims to uncover a quantitative and repeatable wildlife corridor design methodology based on the least cost analysis strategy with both a singular focal taxa approach and a comprehensive …

Benchmarking On-Farm Maize Nitrogen Balance In The Western U. S. Corn Belt, Fatima Amor Tenorio

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A nitrogen (N) balance, calculated as the difference between N inputs and grain-N removal, provides an estimate of the potential N losses. We used N balance with other N-related metrics (partial factor productivity for N inputs, and yield-scaled N balance), to benchmark maize yields in relation with N input use in the US Corn Belt. We first used experimental data on grain-N concentration (GNC) to assess variation in this parameter due to biophysical and management factors. Subsequently, we used N balance and N-related metrics to benchmark yields in relation with N inputs in irrigated and rainfed fields in Nebraska using …

Viability Of Wetland Crops For Use In Treatment Wetlands: Nitrogen Removal From Water And Production Of Food, Andrew Denson Corder

Theses and Dissertations

Treatment wetlands are used to treat wastewater from a variety of sources, but their functionality depends on the macrophytes present therein. To better understand the viability of wetland macrophytes both as sources of food and as agents of nitrogen removal from wastewater, this study quantified plant growth, food production, and nitrogen removal capacity of three common wetland crops as well as three locally dominant graminoid species in a variety of relevant ecological contexts. All six plant species and a control were grown over a ten-week period in three related experiments: (1) under three moisture regimes, (2) with or without competition …

Assessing Beaver Dam Dynamics In The Logan-Little Bear Watershed, Connor Penrod

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper seeks to address a knowledge gap concerning how flood events impact beaver dams over time. To address this gap, I took four time-snapshots of beaver dams, mapping them across the Utah portion of the Logan-Little Bear watershed, from 2009 to 2016 to bookend a large flood event in 2011. I assessed dam status (intact, breached, or blown out) for each dam mapped to assess the impact of the large spring runoff on the dam status. Assessing dam status over time allowed me to assess the change in condition over time, from before to several years after, while also …

Modeling Lake Temperature Response To Climate Change In The Alaskan Arctic, Thomas Balkcom

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This thesis study focuses on simulating lake temperature and ice duration for four lakes at the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research site, near the Toolik Field Station in Alaska. Model projections were driven by the representative global climate model outputs under different carbon emission scenarios. Results show that my simple lake model can reproduce historical lake temperature and ice duration observations, indicating the reliability of the model for future projections. Model projections show that JuneSeptember lake temperatures would increase by 4.3-5.8 °C from the historical period with most progressive carbon emission scenarios, but by 0.7-2.2 °C in the conservative scenarios. Results …

Assessing & Protecting Dark Night Skies In El Morro National Monument, Leslie Kobinsky

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Light pollution is causing the disappearance of dark night skies around the world. In the United States alone, 1/3 of people are unable to see the Milky Way where they live (Ramlagan, 2016). National Park Service sites contain some of the darkest skies in the country. Here at El Morro National Monument, these dark skies are a beautiful and healthy benefit to people in the local community and visitors traveling from afar. El Morro’s current park legislation does not include specific measures of protection for the night sky. This capstone project will create a baseline data set of night sky …

Wildfire In The West: An Initial Analysis Of Wildfire Impacts On Hydrology And Riverbed Grain Size In Relation To Salmonid Habitat, Natalie J. Gillard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Historically wildfires have been beneficial to forests, however, human developments have encroached on forests when wildfire was artificially suppressed by federal and state agencies. The area burned by wildfire each year has increased twenty-fold in the past three decades. Large, high severity fires pose increased threats to human and aquatic communities within and downstream of the burned area due to post-wildfire effects on flooding and sedimentation. We need to understand the impacts of wildfires to be able to mitigate their damages and to recognize their potential benefits. This research addresses the questions: 1) Do wildfires impact rural and urban economies …

A Model Explaining Medusahead Invasion And Novel Targeted Grazing Approaches Of Control, Casey N. Spackman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski) is currently one of the biggest threats to rangelands and livestock operations in the Western US. High silica concentrations in medusahead contribute to its invasiveness. I developed a model to explain how silica is involved in the invasion process, and attempted to manipulate silica to increase use of the grass by livestock. Experiments were conducted to determine: 1) whether rotational grazing on established forages of improved nutritional quality would provide supplemental nutrients to increase cattle use of medusahead; 2) evaluate intake of and preference for medusahead treated with a glyphosate herbicide at different rates …

Evaluation Of Stream Bank Restoration To Improve Water Quality In A Semi-Arid Stream, Johnathan Neenan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Human watershed activities such as converting land cover to agriculture and livestock grazing have negatively impacted stream water quality worldwide. One such case is Utah’s Upper Sevier River where a loss of woody bank vegetation (reduced shading) and accelerated bank erosion (increased fine sediment inputs) has led to increased stream temperature and water turbidity. As a result, the state of Utah sought to improve water quality conditions using streambank restoration. While commonly recommended and performed, the effectiveness of this sort of restoration has rarely been quantified. Here, I evaluated a restored reach of the Upper Sevier River near Hatch, UT …

Production Of Biscuits By Substitution With Different Ratios Of Yellow Pea Flour, Jikai Zhao, Xin Liu, Xiang Bai, Fengcheng Wang

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

To promote the commercialization of yellow pea flour (YPF) due to its nutritional benefits. Four biscuits with different YPF ratio (10%–50%) were conducted to explore the optimal addition percentage. The effects of YPF on the rheological and baking performance of biscuits were performed. The results showed that the substitution ratio of YPF and milling methods had a critical impact on the rheological properties of dough. The dough stability decreased gradually while a softening degree increased with YPF ratio increased. In a term of biscuits, the dimensions of length (L), width (W), thickness (T) and color (L*) of biscuits reduced as …

Using Paleosols To Reconstruct Past Environments Before, During And After Periods Of Anatomically Human Migration At Gona, Ethiopia, Kevin Takashita-Bynum

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Environmental change is thought to have driven dispersals of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) out of Africa, yet the precise landscape context of these migrations remains unclear. Furthermore, river-based archives of paleoenvironment during periods of dispersal are scarce. Gona, an area in northeastern Ethiopia with one of the most continuous records of East African Paleolithic and Neolithic archaeology, contains abundant Middle to Late Pleistocene river deposits interbedded with volcanic ash. This study examines the physical and chemical changes of 11 fossilized soils (paleosols) extracted from Gona’s paleoanthropological sites that range in age from the Middle to the Late Pleistocene (~380-11 ka). …

Exposure And Potential Effects Of Pesticides And Pharmaceuticals In Protected Streams Of The Us National Park Service Southeast Region, Paul M. Bradley, Kristin M. Romanok, Jeffrey R. Duncan, William A. Battaglin, Jimmy M. Clark, Michelle L. Hladik, Bradley J. Huffman, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Kelly L. Smalling

United States National Park Service: Publications

Globally, protected areas offer refugia for a broad range of taxa including threatened and endangered species. In the United States (US), the National Park Service (NPS) manages public lands to preserve biodiversity, but increasing park visitation and development of surrounding landscapes increase exposure to and effects from bioactive contaminants. The risk (exposure and hazard) to NPS protected-stream ecosystems within the highly urbanized southeast region (SER) from bioactive contaminants was assessed in five systems based on 334 pesticide and pharmaceutical analytes in water and 119 pesticides in sediment. Contaminant mixtures were common across all sampled systems, with approximately 24% of the …

Male Burmese Pythons Follow Female Scent Trails And Show Sex-Specific Behaviors, Shannon A. Richard, Eric A. Tillman, John S. Humphrey, Michael L. Avery, M. Rockwell Parker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Animals communicate with potential mates using species-specific signals, and pheromones are powerful sexual signals that modify conspecific behavior to facilitate mate location. Among the vertebrates, snakes are especially adept in mate searching via chemical trailing, which is particularly relevant given that many snake species are invasive outside their native ranges. Chemical signals used in mate choice are, thus, potentially valuable tools for management of invasive snake species. The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is an invasive snake in the Florida Everglades where it is negatively impacting native fauna. In this study, we sought to: (i) determine if males can follow conspecific …

Variation In Host Home Range Size Decreases Rabies Vaccination Effectiveness By Increasing The Spatial Spread Of Rabies Virus, Katherine M. Mcclure, Amy T. Gilbert, Richard B. Chipman, Erin E. Rees, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Animal movement influences the spatial spread of directly transmitted wildlife disease through host-host contact structure. Wildlife disease hosts vary in home range- associated foraging and social behaviours, which may increase the spread and intensity of disease outbreaks. The consequences of variation in host home range movement and space use on wildlife disease dynamics are poorly understood, but could help to predict disease spread and determine more effective disease management strategies.
2. We developed a spatially explicit individual-based model to examine the effect of spatiotemporal variation in host home range size on the spatial spread rate, persistence and incidence of rabies virus …

Mitogenomic Phylogenetic Analyses Of Leptogorgia Virgulata And Leptogorgia Hebes (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) From The Gulf Of Mexico Provides Insight On Gorgoniidae Divergence Between Pacific And Atlantic Lineages, Samantha Silvestri, Diego F. Figueroa, David Hicks, Nicole J. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The use of genetics in recent years has brought to light the need to reevaluate the classification of many gorgonian octocorals. This study focuses on two Leptogorgia species—Leptogorgia virgulata and Leptogorgia hebes—from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). We target complete mitochondrial genomes and mtMutS sequences, and integrate this data with previous genetic research of gorgonian corals to resolve phylogenetic relationships and estimate divergence times. This study contributes the first complete mitochondrial genomes for L. ptogorgia virgulata and L. hebes. Our resulting phylogenies stress the need to redefine the taxonomy of the genus Leptogorgia in its entirety. The fossil-calibrated divergence …

Insights To The Genetic Structure Of Calanus Helgolandicus (Calanoida: Copepoda) From Deep-Sea Specimens In The Balearic Sea, Diego F. Figueroa, Joan E. Cartes, Nicole J. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Calanus helgolandicus is widely distributed across the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, and also found in the Black Sea where it is referred to as Calanus euxinus. Previous genetic studies do not include deep-water specimens despite high abundances at bathypelagic and mesopelagic depths. Our objective is to compare the genetic structure of C. heloglandicus from the deep Balearic Sea to that of coastal populations in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the Adriatic Sea, and the Black Sea defined from previous research. We use a portion of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I from 41 individuals of C. helgolandicus collected at 2170 m …

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Tanacetipathes Thamnea Warner, 1981 (Antipatharia: Myriopathidae), Diego F. Figueroa, David Hicks, Nicole J. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Specimens of the black coral Tanacetipathes thamnea were collected from the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The complete mitochondrial genome of one of these specimens was obtained from genomic DNA by next-generation sequencing technology on the Illumina HiSeq 2500. Only three species of black corals have a completely sequenced mitochondrial genome. These were used to reconstruct the phylogeny for the order Antipatharia. The mitochondrial genome of T. thamnea is 17,712 base pairs and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, and 2 transfer RNAs in the following order: 16s RNA, COX3, COX1 (with intron), ND4L, COX2, ND4, …

Breaking Coastal Hypoxia: Destratification Of Gulf Of Mexico Deadzone To Encourage Oxygen Transport Downwards To Maintain Marine Fauna, Veda Thipparthi

LSU Master's Theses

As a consequence of seasonal eutrophication and human input, a vast hypoxic area termed The Dead Zone develops every year in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during summer along the Louisiana coastline characterized by vertical seawater density-stratification with oxygen concentrations less than 2 mg.l^-1 at the seafloor. It poses a threat to bottom-dwelling faunae and their environment which has negative ecological and economic consequences. This project aims to mitigate hypoxia by employing mechanical impellers placed at strategic water depths and locations in the Gulf. Enhanced transport of oxygen results by mixing oxygen-enriched seawater at the surface, downward into the …

Changes In Students’ Mental Models From Computational Modeling Of Gene Regulatory Networks, Joseph Dauer, Heather E. Bergan-Roller, Gretchen P. King, Mckenzie Kjose, Nicholas J. Galt, Tomáš Helikar

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Background: Computational modeling is an increasingly common practice for disciplinary experts and therefore necessitates integration into science curricula. Computational models afford an opportunity for students to investigate the dynamics of biological systems, but there is significant gap in our knowledge of how these activities impact student knowledge of the structures, relationships, and dynamics of the system. We investigated how a computational modeling activity affected introductory biology students’ mental models of a prokaryotic gene regulatory system (lac operon) by analyzing conceptual models created before and after the activity.

Results: Students’ pre-lesson conceptual models consisted of provided, system-general structures (e.g., activator, repressor) …

Non-Invasive Methods For Measuring And Monitoring Stress Physiology In Imperiled Amphibians, Edward J. Narayan, Zachery R. Forsburg, Drew R. Davis, Caitlin R. Gabor

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Global climate change is negatively impacting global biodiversity and ectothermic vertebrates, with amphibians being the most imperiled vertebrate taxa. Increased mean global atmospheric temperatures, high rates of habitat degradation, and exposure to infectious diseases, such as chytridiomycosis, have contributed to population declines and extinctions of rare and endangered amphibian species. Field-based monitoring of physiological endocrine traits can help determine the sub-lethal effects of environmental stressors and provide early alerts when populations are chronically stressed. Recent advances in amphibian stress endocrinology include the development and use of non-invasive methods to quantify the glucocorticoid, or stress biomarker, corticosterone. Non-invasive methods, such as …

Water‐Borne And Plasma Corticosterone Are Not Correlated In Spotted Salamanders, Alice R. Millikin, Sarah K. Woodley, Drew R. Davis, Ignacio T. Moore, James T. Anderson

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Water‐borne hormone measurement is a noninvasive method suitable for amphibians of all sizes that are otherwise difficult to sample. For this method, containment‐water is assayed for hormones released by the animal. Originally developed in fish, the method has expanded to amphibians, but requires additional species‐specific validations. We wanted to determine physiological relevance of water‐borne corticosterone in spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) by comparing concentrations to those taken using established corticosterone sampling methods, such as plasma. Using a mixture of field and laboratory studies, we compared water‐borne corticosterone levels to other traditional methods of sampling corticosterone for spotted salamander larvae, metamorphs, and …

Investigations Of Aerobic Methane Oxidation In Two Marine Seep Environments: Part 1—Chemical Kinetics, Eric W. Chan, Allan M. Shiller, Dongjoo J. Joung, Eleanor C. Arrington, David L. Valentine, Molly C. Redmond, John A. Breier, Scott A. Socolofsky, John D. Kessler

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Microbial aerobic oxidation is known to be a significant sink of marine methane (CH4), contributing to the relatively minor atmospheric release of this greenhouse gas over vast stretches of the ocean. However, the chemical kinetics of aerobic CH4 oxidation are not well established, making it difficult to predict and assess the extent that CH4 is oxidized in seawater following seafloor release. Here we investigate the kinetics of aerobic CH4 oxidation using mesocosm incubations of fresh seawater samples collected from seep fields in Hudson Canyon, U.S. Atlantic Margin and MC118, Gulf of Mexico to gain a fundamental chemical understanding of this …

The Firece Green Fire: Vol. 10 Issue 10, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.