Digital Commons Network^™

Biology And Impacts Of Pacific Island Invasive Species. 8. Eleutherodactylus Planirostris, The Greenhouse Frog (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae), Christina A. Olson, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The greenhouse frog, Eleutherodactylus planirostris, is a direct developing (i.e., no aquatic stage) frog native to Cuba and the Bahamas. It was introduced to Hawai‘i via nursery plants in the early 1990s and then subsequently from Hawai‘i to Guam in 2003. The greenhouse frog is now widespread on five Hawaiian Islands and Guam. Infestations are often overlooked due to the frog’s quiet calls, small size, and cryptic behavior, and this likely contributes to its spread. Because the greenhouse frog is an insectivore, introductions may reduce invertebrates. In Hawai‘i, the greenhouse frog primarily consumes ants, mites, and springtails and obtains …

Genetic Evaluation Of An Attempted Rattus Rattus Eradication On Congo Cay, U.S. Virgin Islands, Identifies Importance Of Eradication Units, Julie A. Savidge, Matthew W. Hopken, Gary W. Witmer, Susan M. Jojola, Judy J. Pierce, Patrick W. Burke, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Congo Cay, U.S. Virgin Islands, has high value for breeding seabirds and is a potential reintroduction site for the endangered Virgin Islands tree boa (Epicrates monensis granti). However, introduced ship rats (Rattus rattus) undermine its conservation value. Three unsuccessful eradication attempts have been conducted since 1990, with the latest in 2006; rats were trapped 1.5 years later. We examined microsatellite DNA and mitochondrial DNA sequences of ship rats from Congo Cay and three other nearby cays to determine if rats found after the most recent eradication effort were surviving individuals or reinvaders from neighboring cays; we …

Using Three-Dimensional Flight Patterns At Airfields To Identify Hotspots For Avianeaircraft Collisions, W. David Walter, Justin W. Fischer, John S. Humphrey, Trey S. Daughtery, Michael P. Milleson, Eric A. Tillman, Michael L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In the United States, black vulture (Coragyps atratus) and turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) pose significant birdstrike risks to aircraft. Understanding flight behaviors of vultures in and around military and civilian airfields is necessary to alleviate these risks. Using satellite telemetry data collected from 11 black vultures and 7 turkey vultures equipped with Global Positioning System backpack harness technology, we collected data on location and altitude near the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Beaufort, South Carolina from September 2006 to September 2008. We used military aircraft flight landing patterns to visualize a new concept, a flight …

Coyote (Canis Latrans), 100+ Years In The East: A Literature Review, Lauren L. Mastro, Eric M. Gese, Julie K. Young, John A. Shivik

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) have expanded into the eastern United States over the last 100 years. Increases in their distribution and abundance have been documented and concerns about their presence in urban areas and their impact on both native wildlife and domestic livestock are growing. These impacts require further investigation and may require changes to management strategies. Two documents, a book and a technical bulletin, provide general overviews of eastern coyote biology. However, these documents are not comprehensive, and are either not readily available or were published >15 years ago. We provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature …

Ensemble Forecast Spread Induced By Soil Moisture Changes Over Mid-South And Neighbouring Midwestern Region Of The Usa, Arturo I. Quintanar, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This study investigated the potential impact of soil moisture perturbations on the statistical spread of an ensemble forecast for three different synoptic events during the summer of 2006. Soil moisture was perturbed from a control simulation to generate a 12 member ensemble with six drier and six moister soils. The impacts on the near-surface atmospheric conditions and on precipitation were analysed. It was found, as previous studies have confirmed, that soil moisture can change the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation and of the overlying circulation. It was found that regardless of the conditions in synoptic forcing, temperature, relative humidity …

Water Borne Diseases: A Cry Of A Trapped Community, Passmore Mudundulu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand the problem of attaining safe and clean water that has contributed to high incidence of water borne diseases and to investigate its effects on the residents of Chawama Township, Lusaka, Zambia. A survey was used to collect data from 400 male and female participants to determine their source, treatment and storage of water; sanitary facilities; attitude, experience and knowledge of waterborne diseases. Findings indicated that, the most common source of water was communal city taps and residents did not boil or add chlorine to make it safe for use, making it susceptible …

Characterizing The Performance Of Ecosystem Models Across Time Scales: A Spectral Analysis Of The North American Carbon Program Site-Level Synthesis, Michael C. Dietze, Rodrigo Vargas, Andrew D. Richardson, Paul C. Stoy, Alan G. Barr, Ryan S. Anderson, M. Altaf Arain, Ian T. Baker, T. Andrew Black, Jing M. Chen, Philippe Ciais, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Christopher M. Gough, Robert F. Grant, David Hollinger, R. Cesar Izaurralde, Christopher J. Kucharik, Peter Lafleur, Shugang Liu, Erandathie Lokupitiya, Yiqi Luo, J. William Munger, Changhui Peng, Benjamin Poulter, David T. Price, Daniel M. Ricciuto, William J. Riley, Alok Kumar Sahoo, Kevin Schaefer, Andrew E. Suyker, Hanqin Tian, Christina Tonitto, Hans Verbeeck, Shashi B. Verma, Weifeng Wang, Ensheng Weng

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Ecosystem models are important tools for diagnosing the carbon cycle and projecting its behavior across space and time. Despite the fact that ecosystems respond to drivers at multiple time scales, most assessments of model performance do not discriminate different time scales. Spectral methods, such as wavelet analyses, present an alternative approach that enables the identification of the dominant time scales contributing to model performance in the frequency domain. In this study we used wavelet analyses to synthesize the performance of 21 ecosystem models at 9 eddy covariance towers as part of the North American Carbon Program’s site-level intercomparison. This study …

Missouri National Recreational River, Natural Resource Condition Assessment, Kevin J. Stark, Lucas J. Danzinger, Michael R. Komp, Andy J. Nadeau, Shannon Amberg, Eric J. Iverson, David Kadlec, Barry Drazkowski

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

As a unit in the National Park Service (NPS), Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) is responsible for the management and conservation of natural resources within its boundaries. This mandate is supported by the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916, which directs the NPS to:

conserve the scenery and natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

In 2003, NPS Water Resources Division received funding through the Natural Resource Challenge …

Scotts Bluff National Monument Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring, 2011 Annual Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Michael R. Bynum, Tim Shepherd, Stephen K. Wilson, Kara Paintner-Green

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (NGPN) was established to develop and provide scientifically credible information on the current status and long-term trends of the composition, structure, and function of ecosystems in thirteen parks located in five northern Great Plains states. NGPN identified upland plant communities, exotic plant early detection, and riparian lowland communities as vital signs that can be used to better understand the condition of terrestrial park ecosystems (Gitzen et al. 2010). Upland and riparian ecosystems are important targets for vegetation monitoring because the status and trends in plant communities provide critical insights into …

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring, 2011 Annual Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Michael R. Bynum, Tim Shepherd, Stephen K. Wilson, Kara Paintner-Green

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (NGPN) was established to develop and provide scientifically credible information on the current status and long-term trends of the composition, structure, and function of ecosystems in thirteen parks located in five northern Great Plains states. NGPN identified upland plant communities, exotic plant early detection, and riparian lowland communities as vital signs that can be used to better understand the condition of terrestrial park ecosystems (Gitzen et al. 2010). Upland and riparian ecosystems are important targets for vegetation monitoring because the status and trends in plant communities provide critical insights into …

Sensitivity Analysis On Mapping Evapotranspiration At High Resolution Using Internal Calibration (Metric), Venkata Naga Ravi Kumar Choragudi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution using Internal Calibration (METRIC) is most widely used to quantify evapotranspiration (ET) spatially and temporally. It is essential to inspect the model’s response to errors in various parameters used in the model. Landsat 5 images from May 30 2009, July 1 2009 and a Landsat 7 image from September 27 2009 are used in this study. Fourteen different fields composed of Corn, Soybeans, Alfalfa are randomly chosen for each crop type.

Two kinds of errors are addressed in this study. One, with the errors that are transferred and potentially compensated by calibration (Global error) and …

A Gis Approach For Estimating Optimal Sites For Grid-Connected Photovoltaic (Pv) Cells In Nebraska, Tomotoshi Funabashi

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In the context of rising energy concerns and increased spotlight on solar energy, this study examines and draws attention to the state of mid potential sunlight. The purpose of this study is to estimate the optimal sites for grid-connected photovoltaic cells in Nebraska, which is ranked 13th nationally in terms of insolation potential. Five factors – insolation potential, adjacency to roads, accessibility to grid, topography, and acreage – are examined with the use of Geographic Information System (GIS). Insolation potential was quantitatively analyzed by averaging, plotting, and interpolating the 20 years of datasets recoded at 28 weather stations of High …

A Health Impact Assessment Of Mixed Use Redevelopment Nodes And Corridors In Lincoln, Nebraska, Katie Clear

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Obesity is a growing threat to America’s health. The national rate of obesity is 34% (Health Consequences, 2011), and Lincoln, Nebraska is not far behind that trend at 20.7% (BRFSS, 2011). Increasing physical activity is one way to reduce weight gain, (Edwards, 2008) and further studies show that small changes to the built environment can induce people to use alternative and more active forms of transportation such as biking, walking, and public transportation (Edwards, 2008; Zheng, 2008). The 2040 Comprehensive Plan for Lincoln, NE includes language to create a more walkable community. The proposal is to redevelop existing areas within …

Ecological Revival And Sustainable Living In The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Of Tamil Nadu: A Measurement Of Residential Perception In Sadhana Forest, Elizabeth Collette Mcguire

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Since 1970, the role and function of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been to promote environmental quality and to form strategies for carrying out environmental policy¹. The EPA has committed to sustainability as the next level of environmental protection. The agency states that sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs². Presently, society’s requirements have resulted in natural resource exploitation and population distention- projected to reach 10 billion people within two human generations³. These paired occurrences are …

The Urban Fabric Of The Great Plains, Andrew Becker

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

To most Americans the Great Plains region of North America is mysterious place. There are disagreements when defining its limits, and some people just refer to it as the Midwest. The Great Plains has been a place under an ocean, a place under glaciers, and a place on fire. It was once dubbed “the Great American Desert,” but is now known for its agricultural viability. The Great Plains sparks imagination because it is so massive and was one of the final frontiers for Euro-American settlement. The Great Plains is seen as a rural place but the majority of the region’s …

Print Vs. Online Journalism: Are Believability And Accuracy Affected By Where Readers Find Information?, Burton Speakman

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Believability and accuracy of print and online news is studied via the comments of newspaper readers of a small Texas community. The readers of the Normangee Star were chosen to be the survey recipients to learn if readers in a small community had the same attitude about their local newspaper that national surveys have indicated exist about newspapers in general. The expectation was that those who read more news online would consider their local paper to be less believable and accurate than those who read little to no news online. Surveys were mailed to 200 subscribers of the Star, …

Identifying Barriers And Incentives Related To Attending The Performing Arts: An Examination Of First Year College Students, Laura J. Sweet

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Young adults entering their first year of academic study beyond high school face seemingly limitless opportunities. For the first time, they’re on their own: deciding everything from when to eat to where to study and what to do in their free time. Campuses are rich with possibilities. From official student organizations and clubs, to impromptu pizza parties and dorm floor trivia contests, daily decisions create the experiences that shape the life to come. On many large campuses, alongside academic buildings are art galleries and performance spaces. Research shows that early exposures to the arts lead to increased engagement during student …

Mapping Injustice: The World Is Witness, Place-Framing, And The Politics Of Viewing On Google Earth, Joshua P. Ewalt

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Working from assumptions that inequality is often spatially informed, a set of interactive cartographies has recently proliferated on Google Earth. In this essay, I analyze one of those interactive cartographies: The World is Witness produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). I read the map as an organizational rhetoric that frames place as "embedded injustice." I also argue that thorough analysis of the framing of local place on Google Earth must inherently question whether the map can create a disruption in the viewing subject. While the map presents vital information on excruciatingly despicable acts of injustice, and the …

Living Well: The Value Of Teaching Place, Catherine M. English

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation is a teaching memoir that examines the implementation of a place conscious pedagogy as a means to teach sustainable living practices into a secondary English classroom in a rural Nebraska school. It is framed upon the premise of instilling five senses of place consciousness into students as defined by Haas and Nachtigal (1998) including living well in community or a sense of belonging; living well spiritually or a sense of connection; living well economically or a sense of worth; living well politically or a sense of civic involvement; and living well ecologically or a sense of place. I …

Rocky Mountain Birds: Birds And Birding In The Central And Northern Rockies, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

“The Rocky Mountain region has fascinated me ever since I traveled to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as a teenager, and saw for the first time such wonderful birds as ospreys, American dippers, and Lew­is’s woodpeckers.”

This book is in part based on the author’s earlier Birds of the Rocky Moun­tains (1986, revised 2009), but over a third of the original text has been eliminated. The rest has been updated, expanded and modified to be less technical and more useful to birders in the field. Bird enthusiasts will find viewing loca­tions and updated contact information for hundreds of sites in …

Hyphenated Identities As A Challenge To Nation-State School Practice?, Edmund T. Hamann, William England

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This chapter concludes the edited volume Hyphenated Identities and affords a chance to juxtapose how transnational students negotiate school and identity with how school systems in turn view such students, and then it allows the examination of two different strategies -- situational ethnicity versus the assertion of hyphenated identity -- as a glimpse into the cosmology of transnationally mobile students as they come into adulthood.

Dung Beetle Ecology: Habitat And Food Preference, Hypoxia Tolerance, And Genetic Variation, Sean Doyle Whipple

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Four studies were conducted on dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), which are insects of great ecological and economic importance. Range management practices were found to impact dung beetle diversity and abundance. While sampling on organic and conventionally managed ranches in Nebraska, 93% (5,767) of total dung beetle capture was from the organically managed ranch. Only 480 dung beetles (7% of total) were collected from the conventionally managed ranch. Results indicated that organic ranching had increased numbers and diversity of dung beetles.

Comparison of the attractiveness of native and exotic herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore dung yielded 9,089 dung beetles from 15 species. …

The Freshwater Mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionoida) Of Nebraska, Ellet Hoke

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

This paper reports the results of the first statewide survey of the freshwater mussels of Nebraska. Survey goals were: (1) to document current distributions through collection of recent shells; (2) to document former distributions through collection of relict shells and examination of museum collections; (3) to identify changes in distribution; (4) to identify the primary natural and anthropomorphic factors impacting unionids; and (5) to develop a model to explain the documented distributions. The survey confirmed 30 unionid species and the exotic Corbicula fluminea for the state, and museum vouchers documented one additional unionid species. Analysis of museum records and an …

The Vascular Flora Of Brown County, Nebraska, Megan K. Killion, Steven J. Rothenberger

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Brown County, located in north-central Nebraska contains several native vegetation types including sand hills mixed-grass prairie, gravelly mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forests/savannas, sand hills-borders/mixed-grass prairie, upland deciduous forest, and wet lands. The Nebraska Sand Hills, which make up approximately 80% of Brown County, cover about 20,000 square miles of the state. This study reports a total of 726 plant species, subspecies, and varieties for Brown County, representing 105 families and 358 genera. Fourteen new county records were collected. A list of the vascular flora for Brown County is given and an index of similarity is used to compare Brown County …

Approaches To Open Data For Science In Spain, E Wulff-Barreiro

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

As observational data has attained new legal status, allowing their integration into open Internet systems, and experimental data continues to be assembled in common and free platforms, state of the art, easy to access data repositories have been designed in Spain. These repositories have removed many obstacles to re-utilization of GIS and other data. European legislation has also made advances in opening biodiversity data, including a European space in the Latin-American grid infrastructure. Open access biomedical repositories attract commercial attention while astronomical, meteorological, and oncological institutions promote data quality and access. This paper describes recent approaches to open access data …

Maryland Politics And Government, Herbert C. Smith, John T. Willis

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

Tucked between the larger commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia and overshadowed by the political maneuverings of its neighbor, Washington, D.C., Maryland has often been overlooked and neglected in studies of state governmental systems. With the publication of Maryland Politics and Government, the challenging demographic diversity, geographic variety, and dynamic Democratic pragmatism of Maryland finally get their due. Two longtime political analysts, Herbert C. Smith and John T. Willis, conduct a sustained inquiry into topics including the Maryland identity, political history, and interest groups; the three branches of state government; and policy areas such as taxation, spending, transportation, and the …

The French Colonial Mind, Volume 1, Martin Thomas

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

What made France into an imperialist nation, ruler of a global empire with millions of dependent subjects overseas? Historians have sought answers to this question in the nation’s political situation at home and abroad, its socioeconomic circumstances, and its international ambitions. But all these motivating factors depended on other, less tangible forces, namely, the prevailing attitudes of the day and their influence among those charged with acquiring or administering a colonial empire. The French Colonial Mind explores these mindsets to illuminate the nature of French imperialism. The first of two linked volumes, Mental Maps of Empire and Colonial Encounters brings …

The French Colonial Mind, Volume 2, Martin Thomas

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

olence was prominent in France’s conquest of a colonial empire, and the use of force was integral to its control and regulation of colonial territories. What, if anything, made such violence distinctly colonial? And how did its practitioners justify or explain it? These are issues at the heart of The French Colonial Mind: Violence, Military Encounters, and Colonialism. The second of two linked volumes, this book brings together prominent scholars of French colonial history to explore the many ways in which brutality and killing became central to the French experience and management of empire. Sometimes concealed or denied, at …

Droughtscape, Fall 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Drought Preparedness Community Options

Drought Likely to Persist, Intensify Across South

Database Will Help Planners Find Options

Impacts: Ag Losses, Fire, Water Restrictions

NDMC Welcomes International Visitors

New Drought Impact Reporter Online

Sim-Drought, Available Now at Select Agencies

Great Plains Quarterly Volume 31 / Number 4/ Fall 2011

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Contents

Book Reviews

Notes and News