Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Air Pressure Propagation Through Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Can Air Pressure Signals Inside Barometric Caves Be Predicted From Surface Pressure Measurements?, Annika K. Gomell, Andreas Pflitsch

International Journal of Speleology

Recent speleoclimatological research has shed new light on air pressure dynamics inside barometric caves by identifying pressure-modifying processes and resulting systematic differences between cave and surface air pressure. Based on these new findings, a multi- step quantitative model is developed and explored to predict air pressure inside Wind Cave and Jewel Cave – two major barometric cave systems in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA – from external surface measurements. Therefore, each identified speleoclimatological pressure process is translated into a mathematical operation. Model evaluation based on Pearson correlation and mean (absolute) deviation between model outputs and control measurements yields …

In The Face Of Climate Change, Does Human Trampling Affect Dune Resilience And Alter Ecosystem Services?, Alexandra O. Findlay

Honors College Theses

Sand dunes play a valuable role on the coastline supporting unique native species and protecting beach communities. The City of Tybee Island, Georgia, USA has undergone extensive dune restoration to expand and rehabilitate its shoreline to better defend the town against the increasing frequency of hurricanes and storm surge. The project included the recovery of existing dune structures and construction of new dunes filled with sand pumped from offshore and vegetated with a variety of native species. To analyze the impact of human trampling on dune vegetation occurring adjacent to footpaths and crossovers in new and established dunes, we measured …

Isotopic Study Of The Waters From The Sulphur Springs Catchment, Tampa, Florida, Esra Zengin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A stable isotope study was carried out using precipitation, spring water, groundwater well sample, and a seawater sample during the wet season in the Sulphur Springs watershed in Tampa, Florida. Studies that track long term isotopic variation over wet seasons are limited in the region. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to quantify the contributions of precipitation and diffuse sources to discharge in Sulphur Springs. A three-component mixing model was applied using δ18O and δ2H values to determine different source water contributions to spring water discharge. The three-component mixing model calculations suggest spring water consists mainly of diffuse …

Surface Urban Heat Island In South Korea’S New Towns With Different Urban Planning, Kyungil Lee, Yoonji Kim, Hyun Chan Sung, Seung Hee Kim, Seong Woo Jeon

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

A new town is strategically built within a short period compared to naturally developed cities. It is considered an appropriate study area for analyzing the urban climate problems such as surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) that is differently generated according to urban planning and development. In this study, we suggest comprehensive method for determining and comparing changes in surface UHI distribution during 1989–2048 in two new towns with different urban planning. First, a substantial increase in built-up areas was observed from 1989 (< 5%) to 2018 (> 40%) in both new towns. However, SUHI phenomenon-increasing patterns were different of about 12.25% depending on urban …

Molecular Characterization Of Rickettsial Agents In Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) From Sri Lanka, Gregory A. Dasch, Marina Eremeeva, Maria L. Zambrano, Ranjan Premaratna, S. A. M. Kularatne

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Because the majority of spotted fever group rickettsiae are transmitted to humans by tick bites, it is important to understand which ticks might play a role in transmission of rickettsial pathogens in Sri Lanka. The purpose of our study was to conduct molecular surveillance of 847 ticks collected in different locations in central Sri Lanka to determine which were infected with Rickettsia and Anaplasmataceae. Molecular methods were used to identify the ticks and the agents detected. Most ticks (Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis, and Rhipicephalus) were collected by flagging, and lower number was collected from dogs, cattle, pigs, a …

Measuring Sustainable Development Through Tax Increment Financed Brownfield Redevelopment Statutes: A Florida Case Study, Jeff Burton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research measures the theoretically sustainable development synergy of United States’ redevelopment, tax increment, and brownfield statutes and questions local redevelopment professionals on this combination’s implementation. This policy’s integration and application measurements guide increased knowledge and best practice methods in the path of America’s population migration into urbanized areas, thus managing the economic, environmental, and social impacts for future generations.

This examination used a pragmatic, qualitative, and quantitative mixed-method approach to identify, collect, code, and analyze redevelopment, tax increment, and state brownfields laws. An exhaustive literature review of the laws’ histories explained when and why they exist. In addition, a …

Thickness Of Fluvial Deposits Records Climate Oscillations, Xiaoping Yuan, Laure Guerit, Jean Braun, Delphine Rouby, Charles Shobe

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Fluvial deposits offer Earth’s best-preserved geomorphic record of past climate change over geological timescales. However, quantitatively extracting this information remains challenging in part due to the complexity of erosion, sediment transport and deposition processes and how each of them responds to climate. Furthermore, sedimentary basins have the potential to temporarily store sediments, and rivers subsequently rework those sediments. This may introduce time lags into sedimentary signals and obscure any direct correlation with climate forcing. Here, using a numerical model that combines all three processes—and a new analytical solution—we show that the thickness of fluvial deposits at the outlet of a …

Spatial And Temporal Variations Of Microplastic Concentrations In Portland's Freshwater Ecosystems, Rebecca Talbot, Elise F. Granek, Heejun Chang, Rosemary Wood, Susanne Brander

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

While microplastics are a pollutant of growing concern in various environmental compartments, less is known regarding the sources and delivery pathways of microplastics in urban rivers. We investigated the relationship between microplastic concentrations and various spatiotemporal factors (e.g., land use, arterial road length, water velocity, precipitation) in two watersheds along an urban-rural gradient in the Portland metropolitan area. Samples were collected in August, September, and February and were analyzed for total microplastic count and type. Nonparametric statistics were used to evaluate potential relationships with the explanatory variables, derived at both the subwatershed and near stream scales. In August, microplastic concentrations …

Mapping The Impact Of A Trailway System On The Amount Of Trash Present Within Two Watersheds Of Lynchburg City, Virginia, Lillian Smith

Student Scholar Showcase

Transportation of trash debris within water systems is a prominent occurrence which has been linked to natural and artificial processes such as wind, rain, and littering. Recreational areas, such as activities along greenway trails, have been determined to be a source of debris found in waterways. This study examines whether the presence of an established recreational trail system limits trash accumulation in the entirety of a watershed. Trash data collected at Blackwater Creek, which contains an established trail system, was compared to trash data collected at Fishing Creek, containing a non-established trail system, to answer this hypothesis. A distance of …

Sex With Robots And Human-Machine Sexualities: Encounters Between Human-Machine Communication And Sexuality Studies, Marco Dehnert

Human-Machine Communication

Sex robots are a controversial topic. Understood as artificial-intelligence enhanced humanoid robots designed for use in partnered and solo sex, sex robots offer ample opportunities for theorizing from a Human-Machine Communication (HMC) perspective. This comparative literature review conjoins the seemingly disconnected literatures of HMC and sexuality studies (SeS) to explore questions surrounding intimacy, love, desire, sex, and sexuality among humans and machines. In particular, I argue for understanding human-machine sexualities as communicative sexuotechnical-assemblages, extending previous efforts in both HMC and SeS for more-than-human, ecological, and more fluid approaches to humans and machines, as well as to sex and sexuality. This …

Adjustment Of Precipitation Measurements Using Total Rain Weighing Sensor (Trws) Gauges In The Cryospheric Hydrometeorology Observation (Choice) System Of The Qilian Mountains, Northwest China, Zhao Yanni, Chen Rensheng, Han Chuntan, Wang Lei

Journal of Arid Land

Precipitation is one of the most important indicators of climate data, but there are many errors in precipitation measurements due to the influence of climatic conditions, especially those of solid precipitation in alpine mountains and at high latitude areas. The measured amount of precipitation in those areas is frequently less than the actual amount of precipitation. To understand the impact of climatic conditions on precipitation measurements in the mountainous areas of Northwest China and the applicability of different gauges in alpine mountains, we established a cryospheric hydrometeorology observation (CHOICE) system in 2008 in the Qilian Mountains, which consists of six …

Identifying Water Vapor Sources Of Precipitation In Forest And Grassland In The North Slope Of The Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia, Chen Haiyan, Chen Yaning, Li Dalong, Li Weihong, Yang Yuhui

Journal of Arid Land

Identifying water vapor sources in the natural vegetation of the Tianshan Mountains is of significant importance for obtaining greater knowledge about the water cycle, forecasting water resource changes, and dealing with the adverse effects of climate change. In this study, we identified water vapor sources of precipitation and evaluated their effects on precipitation stable isotopes in the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, China. By utilizing the temporal and spatial distributions of precipitation stable isotopes in the forest and grassland regions, Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, and isotope mass balance model, we obtained the following results. (1) The …

Fungi In A Warmer World: Fungal Diversity In The Tropical Miocene Climate Optimum Of The Clarkia Region Of Idaho, Usa, J. Fairchild, L. Lennex-Stone, T. Horsfall, L. Tarlton, S. Jones, A. Caldwell, O. Vanderespt, L. Smallwood, A. Patel, J. O'Keefe, I. Romero, N. Nunnez Otano, M. Pound

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

A knowledge gap associated with how fungal communities change in response to climate was identified in the 2018 State of the World Fungi report (Willis, 2018). While it is virtually impossible to test in the present, fungal assemblage changes can be studied in sediments from a warmer-than-present period such as the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO) (Romero et al. 2021; O’Keefe 2017). The Fungi in a Warmer World project aims to generate and analyze a global-scale data set of fungal biodiversity, ecology, and associated flora from MCO sediments. This dataset will be used to model past fungal assemblage changes across the …

Survey Of Spiders Within Eastern Kentucky, Mercy Hailu, Bailey Bullock, Joshua Hicks, Eliana Eldridge, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Biodiversity is known to be the variation of living organisms compromising several levels, beginning from genes, then species, communities, then finally ecosystems. Biodiversity is crucial in maintaining ecological balance, boosting ecosystem productivity, and determining the quality of ecosystem services such as pest management in agriculture. Being aware of biodiversity's importance can also help with the prevention of continuous threats to biodiversity and be best prepared to manage conservation challenges. Typically, mammals, birds, and plants are used to assess biodiversity. However, spiders may be effective in indicating environmental change because they are taxonomically quite diverse, species fill a variety of ecological …

Fungi In A Warmer World: Middle Miocene Fungal Assemblages And Diversity From Alum Bluff, Florida, Savannah Jones, Taylor Horsfall, Laikin Tarlton, Abigayle Caldwell, Liberty Smallwood, Jolene Fairchild, Libby Lennex-Stone, Alyssa Patel, Olivia Vanderespt, Ingrid Romero, Jennifer O'Keefe, Noelia Nunez Otano, Sophie Warny, Matthew Pound

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Fungi play a key role in the terrestrial carbon cycle, soil formation, and overall plant growth as terrestrial decomposers (1, 2). Thus, the study of fungi, especially in the fossil record, is critical to understanding how fungal assemblages will react to future warming events. Fossil fungi provide a large-scale, long-term dataset unavailable from modern records, allowing for the generation of viable paleoclimate reconstructions and predictions (3, 4). Despite their importance and advantages in forming ecological and climatological interpretations, deep-time fungi have been underutilized (3). The Fungi in a Warmer World (FiaWW) project aims to deliver the first global view of …

Downscaling Of Physical Risks For Climate Scenario Design, Enrico Biffis, Shuai Wang

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Southeast Asia is arguably one of the areas most vulnerable to natural disasters due to its dense population, coastal urbanization, and rainfall variability driven by the local monsoon systems. In this report, we focus on the impact of global warming in the region along four climate dimensions: temperature, precipitation, wind speed and coastal surge. The latter represents the surge of water from the ocean in excess of astronomical tides. Our objective is to downscale the outputs of global climate models to temporal and spatial resolutions of interest to market participants wishing to quantify climate risk vulnerability via climate stress testing …

Making Forests, Making Communities: An Ethnography Of Reforestation In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Megan Brown

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

Reforestation is not just planting trees in the ground. More than net increase in forest cover, reforestation is a complex political endeavor undertaken by both humans and non-humans and a popular climate change mitigation tactic. However, little research has examined the dynamics between selection of specific reforestation strategies, health, and community resilience, particularly with attention to entanglements between the lives of both human and non-human forest dwellers. This ethnographic work, based on six months of in-person fieldwork and six months of digital ethnography, examines reforestation and forest relations in Costa Rica’s Monte Verde zone, a region which experienced widespread deforestation, …

A Small Business' Efforts To Support Mental Health, Leigha Schaefer-Ortega

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

No abstract provided.

Preserving The Monarchs, Martin Brannaman, Abby Schroeder, Stephany Pinzon Perez

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, spring 2022

Poster titled Preserving the Monarchs with client Lincoln Electric System.

A Tectonic Geomorphic Study Of Neotectonics And Seismic Hazard Of The Fold And Thrust Belt Complex Of Bengal Basin, Eastern Himalayan Range, Niroj Shrestha

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Tectonic activity continues to shape and create challenges for human populations in tectonically active areas. The Bengal Basin is one of the most important sedimentary basins of the Eastern Himalayan Range, aiding in one of the densely populated regions of the world. The basin is part of the tectonically active Himalayan Orogen that is undergoing oblique subduction between the Eurasian Plate and the Indian Plate. As a result of this subduction-related convergence, the eastern part of the Basin, particularly the Chittagong-Tripura Fold Belt (CTFB) and western part of the Indo-Burman Range (IBR) has structurally deformed into a series of mostly …

A Remote Sensing And Machine Learning-Based Approach To Forecast The Onset Of Harmful Algal Bloom (Red Tides), Moein Izadi

Dissertations

In the last few decades, harmful algal blooms (HABs, also known as “red tides”) have become one of the most detrimental natural phenomena all around the world especially in Florida’s coastal areas due to local environmental factors and global warming in a larger scale. Karenia brevis produces toxins that have harmful effects on humans, fisheries, and ecosystems. In this study, I developed and compared the efficiency of state-of-the-art machine learning models (e.g., XGBoost, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machine) in predicting the occurrence of HABs. In the proposed models, the K. brevis abundance is used as the target, and 10 …

Changes In Demographic Factors’ Influence On Regional Productivity Growth: Empirical Evidence From China, 2000–2010, Xiaoxi Wang, Yaojun Zhang, Danlin Yu, Xiwei Wu, Ding Li

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Improving total factor productivity is an important way for China’s economy to avoid the middle income trap. Demographic changes are believed to have significant impacts on productivity growth. Using the census and socioeconomic data of 358 prefecture cities in mainland China, this paper analyzes the changes in the global and local spatial dependence of total factor productivity. We then employ spatial regression methods to investigate the role of changes in population factors in productivity growth in 2000 and 2010. We draw three observations from the analysis. First, population density plays an important role in both years. There is an inverted …

The Effect Of Channel Stability On Fish Condition And Diet In Thompson Creek, La, Alexia Lagrone

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Framing On Natural Gas Pipeline Siting In Virginia, Ritvik Shukla

Theses and Dissertations

Natural gas has become a major share of energy consumption in the U.S. over the past two decades. This rise has resulted in considerable investment in the natural gas pipeline network so that the supply can be maximized. However, pipeline infrastructures, much like other fossil fuel energy infrastructures and activities, have an uneven distribution of benefits and costs across different regions. In regions where natural gas activities and infrastructure are being developed, local communities can become increasingly dependent on natural gas systems for stable revenue and employment. Such communities risk becoming “locked in” to carbon energy at a time when …

Disaster Site Structure Analysis: Examining Effective Remote Sensing Techniques In Blue Tarpaulin Inspection, Madeline G. Miles

Theses

This thesis aimed to evaluate three methods of analyzing blue roofing tarpaulin (tarp) placed on homes in post natural disaster zones with remote sensing techniques by assessing the different methods- image segmentation, machine learning (ML), and supervised classification. One can determine which is the most efficient and accurate way of detecting blue tarps. The concept here was that using the most efficient and accurate way to locate blue tarps can aid federal, state, and local emergency management (EM) operations and homeowners. In the wake of a natural disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, thunderstorm, or similar weather events, roofs are …

A Mixed Methods Case Study: Effects Of Instructors’ Beliefs On Incorporation Of Sustainability Curriculum At A Midwestern University, Anna Oetting

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

The degree to which sustainability is taught is often varied and inconsistent across colleges, departments, and higher education institutions. However, educating students and future generations regarding the different pillars of sustainability, including economic, social, and environmental topics, is increasing in importance and urgency. A mixed methods case study utilized surveys and interviews to investigate why instructors incorporate sustainability, what impacts course incorporation of sustainability, and barriers that instructors face. This study found that instructors’ beliefs regarding the importance of sustainability relate to the extent to which sustainability is incorporated into their curriculum. Topics of sustainability incorporated into a class are …

The Role Of Physical Geographic Features In Video Games, Dexter Ferguson

Theses

This thesis examines how physical geographic features affect individuals when interacting with video game environments. There are very few studies on the geography of video games. I aim to bridge the gap between game studies and geography, a naturally occurring link. The observation of elements such as the geography of an area is critical when exploring an individual’s perception of a video game environment. Individuals interact with the geography of their location on a day-to-day basis, whether it be physical or human geography; how they can relate a video game’s geography to the real world dramatically affects their immersion. An …

Safe Water For All: A Multi-Modal Approach To North Alabama's Water Resources, Elijah Walker

Theses

Environmental degradation is a destructive force produced by the human disturbance of pollution. It is a phenomenon that gradually evolves landscapes over time resulting in irreversible outcomes. Environmental degradation physically affects spaces’ resources, objects, and inhabiting humans. This study observes the impacts of pollution beyond physical boundaries and how it affects human identity/sense of place through the utilization of geographic information systems. Specifically, it examines cultural identity developed through human experiences and connections to landscapes containing water resources. Following, pollution contaminates water resources disrupting experiences and connections thus causing the cultural identity to disappear. The case study applied to this …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, March & April 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 3

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2-3 Awards and Recognition
Page 4 2022 URSCAD - CNS Snaps
Page 5 Geography Convention Recap
Page 6 Attention Students!
Page 7-8 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 9 Spring Break Outreach, Adopt the Pantry,
Page 10 Discovery on Tap Event
Page 11 CNS Students Visit State Capital
Page 12 Celebrating 50 Years of Sally
Page 13 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 14 Grants Awarded and Bio-Micro Day of Scholars
Page 15 -17 2022 Geography Convention Snaps
Page 18 Sally Krueger's 50th Work Anniversary

Extreme Winds Alter Influence Of Fuels And Topography On Megafire Burn Severity In Seasonal Temperate Rainforests Under Record Fuel Aridity, Cody Evers, Andres Holz, Sebastian Upton Busby, Max Nielsen-Pincus

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nearly 0.8 million hectares of land were burned in the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) over two weeks under record-breaking fuel aridity and winds during the extraordinary 2020 fire season, representing a rare example of megafires in forests west of the Cascade Mountains. We quantified the relative influence of weather, vegetation, and topography on patterns of high burn severity (>75% tree mortality) among five synchronous megafires in the western Cascade Mountains. Despite the conventional wisdom in climate-limited fire regimes that regional drivers (e.g., extreme aridity, and synoptic winds) overwhelm local controls on vegetation mortality patterns (e.g., vegetation structure and …