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Natural Resource Conflict And Socioenvironmental Resistance In Arctic States: Assessing Domestic Risks To Circumpolar Security, Jen Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How does climate change contribute to domestic natural resource conflict and socioenvironmental resistance in the Arctic? The literature assumes that developed Arctic nations possess sufficient state capacity to overcome risks of domestic conflict and unrest posed by regional development and environmental change. Arctic policy correspondingly focuses on natural resource competition, disputes, and conflict at the international level. The mechanisms and processes of domestic natural resource conflict and socioenvironmental resistance in the Arctic have thus been largely ignored in the literature, even though 27 cases of contention have occurred since the ‘shock’ sea-ice melt of 2007.

In this study, I draw …

Reconnecting A Stream Channel To Its Floodplain: Implications For Benthic Diatoms And Macroinvertebrate Trophic Structure, Patrick M. Edwards, Nicole C. Popp, Yangdong Pan, Christine L. Weilhoefer, Aspen Peterman, Lauren Mork, Matthew F. Johnson, Megan Colley, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Streams systems draining upland landscapes provide valuable ecosystem services, but they are vulnerable to incision and channelization caused by anthropogenic disturbance. Restoring a degraded stream to its pre-disturbance condition by reconnecting the channel to its historical floodplain aims to recover lost hydro-morphological processes and functions. Seeking evidence to indicate whether that aim is met in practice, we examined diatoms and the stream macroinvertebrate trophic structures in three reaches of Whychus Creek, Oregon, United States. Two reaches were reconnected to their pre-disturbance floodplains in 2012 and 2016. The third, control reach, was not restored and was selected to represent the degraded …

An Analysis Of China’S Perceived Geographic Locations Of Interest By Use Of Value Informed Facility Location Models, Layton C. Hedge

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines China and derives insights specific to it and the First Island Chain and the Second Island Chain. In doing so, this research demonstrates a methodology to examine other competitors and their geostrategic interests. In the first phase of analysis, it develops a value hierarchy to depict objectives within subregions of the area of interest and considers four alternative weightings of the value hierarchy. In the second phase of analysis, it applies four location-covering models to assess how the competitor would emplace a range of limited resources to deter and/or control points of interest. Results indicate that land-based …

Simulating Human-Autonomous Aircraft Teams In An Anti-Access Area Denial (A2ad) Environment, Michael Kaminski

Theses and Dissertations

The role of autonomy has evolved recently, demanding tighter integration between human and autonomous systems, particularly in highly contested A2AD environments. Near-peer adversaries have modernized their integrated air defense systems (IADS), diminishing the current advantages of the United States Air Force. To regain air dominance, efforts like the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program are underway, aiming to deploy unmanned autonomous alongside manned next-generation fighter aircraft. This research assesses various operational concepts, focusing on autonomous tactics post-manned fighter loss, strike timing of independent teams, and weapon configuration observability. Using the Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration and Modeling (AFSIM), an agent-based model …

Relocating Lubra Village And Visualizing Himalayan Flood Damages With Remote Sensing, Ronan Wallace, Yungdrung Tsewang Gurung, Ryan Kastner

Journal of Critical Global Issues

As weather patterns change worldwide, isolated communities impacted by climate change go unnoticed and we need community-driven solutions. In Himalayan Mustang, Nepal, indigenous Lubra Village faces threats of increasing flash flooding. After every flood, residual muddy sediment hardens across the riverbed like concrete, causing the riverbed elevation to rise. As elevation increases, sediment encroaches on Lubra’s agricultural fields and homes, magnifying flood vulnerability. In the last monsoon season alone, the Lubra community witnessed floods swallowing several agricultural fields and damaging two homes. One solution considers relocating the village to a new location entirely. However, relocation poses a challenging task, as …

Codariocalyx Gyroides- A New Forage Option For The Humid Tropics, B L. Maass, L H. Franco, G Ramirez, J E. Velásquez

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Southeast Asian shrub legume, Codariocalyx gyroides is adapted to acid, low-fertility soils with poor drainage. Data from 19 RIEPT (International Network for Evaluation of Tropical Pastures) trial sites conducted in the American humid and subhumid tropics were used to define the range of adaptation of C. gyroides. The results show that C. gyroides performs better under high rainfall conditions of the humid tropics with hardly any dry season, and it responds to soil fertility (Ca, P). Future research needs are identified. The release of a commercial cultivar in Colombia is being prepared.

Origin Of The World's Collection Of The Tropical Forage Legume Chamaecrista Rotundifolia, B C. Pengelly, B L. Maass, B D. Thomas, J B. Hacker

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Round leaf cassia (Chamaecrista rotundifolia) cv. Wynn is an important legume in light textured soils in sub-tropical Queensland and forage evaluators in other regions of the tropics frequently wish to include in their evaluation trials this cultivar plus other accessions which represent the variation in the species. Provenance data of a world collection of 130 accessions of round leaf cassia were examined and a core set of 26 accessions selected.

Rates Of Diagenesis Of Tropical Insectivorous Bat Guano Accumulations: Implications For Potential Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg

International Journal of Speleology

Cave guano deposits are increasingly being recognized as valuable repositories of paleo-climatic and paleo-environmental information. However, that value is constrained by rates of guano decomposition, and these rates have not been previously well-studied. Here we show that field and laboratory studies of deep insectivorous bat guano sequences in the caves of Borneo demonstrate the extreme dependence of decomposition rate on guano water content. Under tropical conditions, moist guanos exhibit decomposition coefficients (k) values of ~ 0.01, implying the loss of most of the organic content on decadal timescales. Under similar temperatures but drier conditions, k values drop to …

Scaled Datasets Through Leveraging Technology Better Represent Plant Communities Classified Within National Land Cover Database (Nlcd), D. M. Johnston, D. B. Murray, Y. Y. Tsang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Technological advances in remote sensing have allowed for access to and application of large- scale datasets of plant communities using cover classification and chlorophyll content measurement with the use of multispectral sensors and vegetation indices. The United States’ primary remote sensing platform Landsat Thematic Mapper is a series of satellites providing 30-meter resolution imagery of the Earth’s surface. Efforts have been made to best utilize Landsat derivative National Land Cover Database (NLCD) datasets and provide spatial resolution commensurate with the needs of plant ecologists and range managers. However, usage of 30-meter spatial resolution imagery and indices does not allow detection …

Predicting Forage Provision Of Grasslands Across Climate Zones By Hyperspectral Measurements, F. A. Männer, J. Muro, J. Ferner, S. Schmidtlein, A. Linstädter

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The potential of grasslands’ fodder production is a crucial management measure, while its quantification is still laborious and costly. Remote sensing technologies, such as hyperspectral field measurements, enable fast and non-destructive estimation. However, such methods are still limited in transferability to other locations or climatic conditions. With this study, we aim to predict forage nutritive value, quantity, and energy yield from hyperspectral canopy reflections of grasslands across three climate zones. We took hyperspectral measurements with a field spectrometer from grassland canopies in temperate, tropical and semi-arid grasslands, and analyzed corresponding biomass samples for their quantity (BM), metabolizable energy content (ME) …

The Fuxi Farm: Practice Exploration And Reflection On Integrated Innovation Of Smart Agriculture Technology, Yucheng Zhang, Xiaobo Zhang, Shuqin Gao, Congcong Zheng, Jingyao Zhang, Ya Wen, Lujun Li, Zhuo Wang, Tie Li, Honglong Zhao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Smart agriculture plays a pivotal role in enhancing food security by optimizing resource use and improving crop yields through the application of AI technologies. The establishment of smart farms is critical to rapidly integrating AI into agricultural production, offering platforms for both the deployment and testing of AI solutions and equipment. This paper examines the development of smart farms, with a focus on practices from developed countries, and assesses the current status of smart farming in China. We then focus on exploring the content, pathways, and practices for constructing a smart agricultural production system in China through the establishment of …

Regime Of National Park Group Based On Protected Area System In Tibetan Plateau, Dong Chen, Yafei Wang, Dengsheng Wu, Jie Fan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China’s national park reform has entered a new stage of promoting reform based on the protected area system. The national park team of the second comprehensive scientific investigation and research on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) took the lead in putting forward the construction plan of the TP protected area, which is dominated by national park in area and function. The TP national park group, including “small group” which refer to national park, and “large group” which refer to different protected areas, innovates the long-term mechanism for the construction of national ecological security barriers on TP. The national park group requires …

A Brief Early History Of The Unlv Department Of Geoscience, Matthew S. Lachniet

Geoscience Faculty Research

This project represents four years of part-time research and investigation. It started as something simple, a need for a spreadsheet for me, as a new Department Chair in January of 2020, to assemble the tenure and promotion timelines of existing faculty based on their employment starting dates. It then expanded to document every Geoscience faculty member, which revealed so many interesting stories along the way. Once it began it was hard to stop, with the research taking on a mind of its own as it meandered down the historical archive of the Department. And why stop with people? Buildings? Fair …

Development Of An Empirical Ground-Motion Model For Post-Mining Induced Seismicity Near Gardanne, France, Pierre Gehl, Pascal Dominique, Hideo Aochi, Mickael Delatre, Jannes Kinscher, Isabelle Contrucci

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Since the closure of mining activities in 2003, the coal basin of Gardanne in South-East France has experienced thousands of small-magnitude earthquake events, mostly triggered by the flooding of mine workings. Some of these events have been powerful enough to be strongly felt by the population, generating nuisance and concern about potential damage to buildings. The aim of this study is to improve the characterisation of the level of ground motion at the surface, by developing a ground-motion model for post-mining induced seismicity, based on several years of recorded data. A Bayesian-based method is applied to the data in order …

Integrating Multiscale Geospatial Analysis For Monitoring Crop Growth, Nutrient Distribution, And Hydrological Dynamics In Large-Scale Agricultural Systems, Olatunde D. Akanbi, Deepa C. Bhuvanagiri, Erika I. Barcelos, Arafath Nihar, Brian Gonzalez Hernandez, Jeffrey M. Yarus, Roger H. French

Faculty Scholarship

Monitoring crop growth, soil conditions, and hydrological dynamics are imperative for sustainable agriculture and reduced environmental impacts. This interdisciplinary study integrates remote sensing, digital soil mapping, and hydrological data to elucidate intricate connections between these factors in the state of Ohio, USA. Advanced spatiotemporal analysis techniques were applied to key datasets, including the MODIS sensor satellite imagery, USDA crop data, soil datasets, Aster GDEM, and USGS stream gauge measurements. Vegetation indices derived from MODIS characterized crop-specific phenology and productivity patterns. Exploratory spatial data analysis show relationships of vegetation dynamics and soil properties, uncovering links between plant vigor, edaphic fertility, and …

Grazing Behavior Of The Endemic Lagune Cattle In The Sub-Humid Savannahs Of Benin, E. Sonon, G. G. Alowanou, B. I. Koura, O. J. Makinde, A. B. Gbangboche

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The indigenous Lagune, a breed tolerant to trypanosomiasis, is an excellent candidate to meet the ongoing environmental changes sustainably. This cattle breed could be kept like small ruminants, tethered in grasslands, or free grazing. A study was conducted to assess the grazing behavior of Lagune cattle under the two grazing systems to identify the best systems for sustainable production and conservation of the breed. For this study, four Lagune cattle farms, 02 under free-roaming and 02 others in the tethered system, were selected in the original belt of the Lagune cattle, the agro-ecological (AEZ) zones of Valley and Pobe. The …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Frameworks For Measuring Population Health: A Scoping Review, Sze Ling Chan, Clement Zhong Hao Ho, Nang Ei Ei Khaing, Ezra Ho, Candelyn Pong, Jia Sheng Guan, Calida Chua, Zongbin Li, Trudi Lim Wenqi, Sean Shao Wei Lam, Lian Leng Low, Choon How How

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Introduction Many regions in the world are using the population health approach and require a means to measure the health of their population of interest. Population health frameworks provide a theoretical grounding for conceptualization of population health and therefore a logical basis for selection of indicators. The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview and summary of the characteristics of existing population health frameworks that have been used to conceptualize the measurement of population health. Methods We used the Population, Concept and Context (PCC) framework to define eligibility criteria of frameworks. We were interested in frameworks applicable …

College Of Natural Sciences 2023 Year-End Publication, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 3 Department Highlights
Page 4 One Day for State
Page 5 Noble Prize Winner Speaks on Campus
Page 6-7 Faculty Excellence
Page 8-9 Student Excellence
Page 10 Outreach Program
Page 10 Events and Traditions
Page 11 Connections Abroad
Page 12 Student Spotlight
Page 13 Alumni Spotlight
Page 14 First Ever Drone Day
Page 15 Grand Opening of POET Bioproducts Center
Page 16 Work Anniversaries

Mapping Urban Form Into Local Climate Zones For The Continental Us From 1986–2020, Meng Qi, Chunxue Xu, Wenwen Zhang, Matthias Demuzere, Perry Hystad, Tianjun Lu, Peter James, Benjamin Bechtel, Steve Hankey

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Urbanization has altered land surface properties driving changes in micro-climates. Urban form influences people’s activities, environmental exposures, and health. Developing detailed and unified longitudinal measures of urban form is essential to quantify these relationships. Local Climate Zones [LCZ] are a culturally-neutral urban form classification scheme. To date, longitudinal LCZ maps at large scales (i.e., national, continental, or global) are not available. We developed an approach to map LCZs for the continental US from 1986 to 2020 at 100 m spatial resolution. We developed lightweight contextual random forest models using a hybrid model development pipeline that leveraged crowdsourced and expert labeling …

Agricultural Groundcover Update January 2024, Justin Laycock

Natural resources published reports

Summary

• About 94% of the grainbelt had adequate (more than 50%) vegetative groundcover to prevent wind erosion in January 2024.
• In the northern half of the grainbelt, a larger-than-average area has 51–60% groundcover, which is expected to decrease to below 50% over the coming months.
• Just under 6% of the grainbelt (855,000 ha) had less than 50% groundcover, which is inadequate to prevent wind erosion. West Midlands Ag Soil Zone had the highest risk of wind erosion and 14.5% of this farmland had inadequate groundcover.
• Less than 0.5% of the grainbelt had a high to very high risk of wind …

Low Elevation Coastal Zone (Lecz) Population Social Vulnerability And Risk: A Spatial Analysis Based On The 2015-16 National Family Health Survey (Nfhs-4) Of India, Paradorn Wongchanapai

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background & Problem Statement:

This study assessed social vulnerability and risk to hydroclimate hazards of Indian urban and rural populations in the Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ), a contiguous coastal area with elevations less than 10 meters. The LECZ is considered an at-risk area as hydroclimate hazards tend to be heightened. Moreover, being the most populous country in the world, any hydroclimate hazards that hit the LECZ would disproportionately impact a large number of Indian populations. Understanding the social vulnerability and risk of the LECZ populations can help mitigate and prevent potential adverse outcomes for the populations.

Importantly, this study …

Examining The Health Risks Of Particulate Matter 2.5 In New York City: How It Affects Marginalized Groups And The Steps Needed To Reduce Air Pollution, Freddy Castro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The following examines the impact of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) on public health, focusing on its sources and effects on vulnerable populations in New York City. PM2.5 is a particle that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter and, because of its size, can enter the bloodstream affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and further complicating the health of the immunocompromised. Recent studies have shown that PM2.5 can come from various sources, including transportation and industrial emissions, as well as indoor sources like cigarettes and gas-operated stoves. Despite reduced levels of PM2.5 due to recent policy changes and initiatives taken …

Towards Sociobiogeochemistry: Critical Perspectives On Anthropogenic Alterations To Soil Nitrogen Chemistry Via U.S. Urban And Suburban Development, Christopher D. Ryan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ecological impacts of changes to land use are relevant to concerns about climate change, eutrophication of waterbodies, and reductions in biodiversity. As a foundational component of ecosystem functioning, changes to soil biogeochemistry have significant effects on overall ecosystem health. With cities continuing to grow and develop in extent, the impacts of urbanization and suburbanization on soils are of particular concern. Despite a wide range of natural climatic and geologic conditions, several factors have driven similar patterns of land transformation and management across the United States. In particular, federal initiatives including the Home Owners Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, …

Analyzing The Effects Of Data Variability & Volume On Predicting Particulate Matter (Pm2.5): Insights From A Machine Learning Approach, Jada A. Macharie

Theses and Dissertations

Accurately predicting PM_2.5 concentrations are imperative to the future of public health and environmental policies. Machine learning models incorporating spatial and temporal datasets to predict PM_2.5 are often limited by data availability constraints and poor resolution satellite imagery.

Inventory Of Western United States Glaciers- 2020, Shrinidhi Ambinakudige, Bernard Abubakari

CAS Publications

The dataset employed for delineating glacier boundaries in the Western United States comprises a compilation of original Sentinel-2 images obtained from the European Space Agency's Copernicus website. These images were instrumental in generating the glacier inventory. Additionally, the dataset includes a Python and R script specifically crafted for processing and classifying Sentinel images. The outcome of this process is represented in an ESRI shapefile, which contains an inventory of glaciers extracted from Sentinel images.

Machine Learning Of Big Data: A Gaussian Regression Model To Predict The Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Ground Ozone, Jerry Gu

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Tracking pollution levels on the ground is important to the environment and public health. One of the pollutants of concern is ozone, which, at high concentrations, can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has published valuable ozone data obtained from ground-based sensors installed at selected locations. Because it is unfeasible to measure the exact ozone levels everywhere at any time, it would be valuable to predict the temporal-spatial distributions of ozone concentration based on existing data. This would help us better understand the patterns and trends in the data and make better decisions to …

Landslide Susceptibility Assessment Of The Asi Watershed, Southern Türkiye, Senem Teki̇n, Adolfo Quesada Román, Tolga Çan

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Landslides constitute recurrent natural hazards worldwide with greater socioeconomic impacts in low-income places. Landslide susceptibility studies are carried out to determine the potential for landslides to occur in a region, to predict possible risks in the future and to integrate this information into sustainable planning and management strategies. Slip-type landslides occur in limited areas of less than 1% of the Asi watershed in Southern Türkiye. Therefore, meaningful estimations cannot be made with classical statistical models. So, using the maximum entropy approach (MaxEnt), a technique for estimating based on a small number of observations, a landslide susceptibility assessment was constructed. The …

The Future Of Clovers In Forage Systems And As Cover Crops, J. H. Bouton, John R. Caradus

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Clovers (Trifolium spp.) are the most widely used genera of legumes in forage systems, although only a limited number of the hundreds of perennial and annual species are commercially available. The number of varieties available within each of the main commercial species can be high and demonstrates past breeding achievements. Success relates to any clover’s ability to persist in mixtures with other forage species, across a range of soil types, management systems, and climates, while providing animal nutrition and biologically fixed nitrogen benefits. Uses range from traditional pasture mixtures with grasses to inclusion in multi-species mixtures, and as cover …

Modelling Leucaena Biomass Under Rainfed Production Systems Of Semiarid Regions, M. J. D. Cândido, J. L. G. Santos, A. C. R. Cavalcante, S. R. Maranhão, M. A. Santos, J. M. Osorio Leyton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The climatic variability of semiarid regions is the main source of uncertainties associated with forage and animal production, indicating a need for tools that accurately estimate forage production in order to construct a forage budgeting plan for livestock. This study simulated the biomass of Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) using the PHYGROW model in four locations located in Brazilian Semiarid. The work was carried out based on field data collected from 2019 to 2021. After sowing in 2018, leucaena was harvested when it reached 200 cm and to a target residual height of 70 cm. The biomass (fresh matter) was …