Digital Commons Network^™

Designing Sustainable Landscapes: Wind Exposure Settings Variable, Kevin Mcgarigal, Brad Compton, Ethan Plunkett, Bill Deluca, Joanna Grand

Data and Datasets

Wind exposure is one of several ecological settings variables that collectively characterize the biophysical setting of each 30 m cell at a given point in time (McGarigal et al 2017). Wind exposure gives the mean sustained wind speed (m/s) at 50 m height. High wind speeds can shape natural communities, especially on exposed high peaks.

Designing Sustainable Landscapes: Water Salinity Settings Variable, Kevin Mcgarigal, Brad Compton, Ethan Plunkett, Bill Deluca, Joanna Grand

Data and Datasets

Water salinity is one of several ecological settings variables that collectively characterize the biophysical setting of each 30 m cell at a given point in time (McGarigal et al 2017). Salinity, which varies from 0‰ in freshwater to 30‰ in seawater, is a major driver of aquatic systems, as very few organisms can survive across this full range.

Designing Sustainable Landscapes: Index Of Ecological Integrity, Kevin Mcgarigal, Brad Compton, Ethan Plunkett, Bill Deluca, Joanna Grand

Data and Datasets

The index of ecological integrity (IEI) is a measure of relative intactness (i.e., freedom from adverse human modifications and disturbance) and resiliency to environmental change (i.e., capacity to recover from or adapt to changing environmental conditions driven by human land use and climate change). It is a composite index derived from up to 21 different landscape metrics, each measuring a different aspect of intactness (e.g., road traffic intensity, percent impervious) and/or resiliency (e.g., ecological similarity, connectedness) and applied to each 30 m cell (see technical document on integrity, McGarigal et al 2017). The index is scaled 0-1 by ecological system …

Ecological Integrity Metrics: All Integrity Data Products, Kevin Mcgarigal, Brad Compton, Ethan B. Plunkett, Bill Deluca, Joanna Grand

Data and Datasets

The ecological integrity products represent a set of metrics corresponding to our ecosystem-based ecological assessment in 2010 (see Integrity document for details). The ecological integrity metrics include a variety of measures of intactness and resiliency. The individual metrics are also combined into a composite local index of ecological integrity (IEI).

A Proposal To Umass Amherst For An Electronic Time Reporting System, Nicole Comeau

Student Showcase

This proposal to UMass Amherst is for all campus offices to switch their employee time reporting operations to a universal electronic system in the interest of reducing paper and saving time. Waste reduction, including paper consumption, is a top priority for the administration and the campus, as it is for college campuses across the nation. As a Green Office Fellow in the Green Office Program within Sustainable UMass at UMass Amherst I conducted an electronic survey for my fellowship project during the Fall 2018 semester. This survey asked campus offices for information about their time reporting operations.

The Importance Of Friends And Family To Recreational Gambling, At-Risk Gambling, And Problem Gambling, Alissa Mazar, Robert J. Williams, Edward J. Stanek Iii, Martha Zorn, Rachel A. Volberg

Biostatistics and Epidemiology Faculty Publications Series

Background

The variables correlated with problem gambling are routinely assessed and fairly well established. However, problem gamblers were all ‘at-risk’ and ‘recreational’ gamblers at some point. Thus, it is instructive from a prevention perspective to also understand the variables which discriminate between recreational gambling and at-risk gambling and whether they are similar or different to the ones correlated with problem gambling. This is the purpose of the present study.

Method

Between September 2013 to May 2014, a representative sample of 9,523 Massachusetts adults was administered a comprehensive survey of their past year gambling behavior and problem gambling symptomatology. Based on …