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Developing An Integrated Model For The Corn, Ethanol, And Beef Systems Using A Loosely Coupled Web Framework, Ryan Anderson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With the global population approaching 9 billion people by the year 2050, the world’s food, energy, and water (FEW) resources must be used more intelligently to provide for everyone. While we understand how individual FEW systems behave using modeling, we cannot understand the full environmental and production impacts of decisions in each system without understanding how they are all linked together. An approach to coupling these systems is starting with identifying a few highly interconnected FEW systems. The corn, ethanol, and beef systems are large economic and agricultural drivers in the Midwest United States and are highly linked. Many individual …

Tradeoffs In Model Performance And Effort For Long-Term Phosphorus Leaching Based On In Situ Field Data, Ryan P. Freiberger, Derek M. Heeren, Dean E. Eisenhauer, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Guillermo Baigorria

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Phosphorus and N are critical nutrients for agriculture but are also responsible for surface water enrichment that leads to toxic algal growth. Although P loading to surface waters has traditionally been thought to occur primarily in surface runoff, contributions from subsurface transport can also be significant. The primary objectives of this research were to evaluate several methods of representing macropore flow and transport in a finite element model using plot-scale infiltration and leaching data and to compare several models of various levels of complexity to simulate long-term P leaching. To determine flow and transport parameters, single- and dual-porosity models in …

Predators Modify The Temperature Dependence Of Life-History Trade-Offs, Thomas M. Luhring, Janna M. Vavra, Clayton E. Cressler, John Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Although life histories are shaped by temperature and predation, their joint influence on the interdependence of life-history traits is poorly understood. Shifts in one life-history trait often necessitate shifts in another—structured in some cases by trade-offs— leading to differing life-history strategies among environments. The offspring size–number trade-off connects three traits whereby a constant reproductive allocation (R) constrains how the number (O) and size (S) of offspring change. Increasing temperature and size-independent predation decrease size at and time to reproduction which can lower R through reduced time for resource accrual or size-constrained fecundity. We investigated how O, S, and R in …

Portable Flux Tower Deployments Field Campaign Report, M. S. Torn, L Kuepper, S. C. Biraud, D. P. Billesbach

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Contents

Acronyms and Abbreviations...................................................................... iii

1.0 Summary ....................................................... 1

2.0 Results ........................................... 1

3.0 Publications and References ................................................. 2

4.0 Lessons Learned .................................................................... 2

Guide To Usda Agroforestry Research Funding Opportunities

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

This guide is intended for researchers and academics pursuing funding opportunities for research in agroforestry - the intentonal integration of trees and agriculture. The guide provides an overview of external agroforestry research funding opportunities offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies.

This publication was created for serveral reasons. Agroforestry is not always clearly identified in announcements about research funding opportunities. In addition, research on agroforestry can require a longer time horizon than research on annual systems, so awareness of multiple funding sources or multi-year funding opportunities can be useful. Last, though USDA offers grants that can support …

Book Reviews: Force Of Nature: George Fell, Founder Of The Natural Areas Movement. Arthur Melville Pearson., James R. Herkert

The Prairie Naturalist

Arthur Melville Pearson’s Force of Nature is a book that tells two very interesting and intertwined stories. One is a story of how perseverance and determination can drive an individual to accomplish great things. And the other is a story of how the modern day natural areas movement came to be. Fortunately for those interested in conservation and natural areas protection, those two stories were combined in the life of George Fell (1916-1994). In Fell’s home state of Illinois, where his impact is widely known, his name is synonymous with conservation. In other places where his impact is less well …

Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Waterfowl Disease Outbreaks In Kansas, Usa, Thomas A. Becker, Adam A. Ahlers, Shane Hesting, David A. Haukos

The Prairie Naturalist

Causes and impacts of disease outbreaks in wild bird populations are rarely studied beyond documentation of large epizootic events. In Kansas, USA, a central disease surveillance and reporting protocol currently does not exist within the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, which has led to a lack of available knowledge of disease occurrences that could be used to predict and manage future outbreaks. We compiled historic records of documented waterbird disease outbreaks in Kansas from 1967–2014 and related the frequency of outbreaks with light geese (Ross’s goose [Anser rossii]; Snow goose [A. caerulescens]) populations from 1970–2014. We found 32 …

Multiple True–False Questions Reveal The Limits Of The Multiple-Choice Format For Detecting Students With Incomplete Understandings, Brian A. Couch, Joanna K. Hubbard, Chad E. Brassil

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

By having students select one answer among several plausible options, multiple-choice (MC) questions capture a student’s preferred answer but provide little information regarding a student’s thinking on the remaining options. We conducted a crossover design experiment in which similar groups of introductory biology students were assigned verbatim questions in the MC format or multiple true–false (MTF) format, which requires students to separately evaluate each option as either true or false. Our data reveal that nearly half of the students who select the correct MC answer likely hold incorrect understandings of the other options and that the selection rates for individual …

Integration Of Remote Sensing And Proximal Sensing For Improvement Of Field Scale Water Management, Foad Foolad

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

Water is one of the most precious natural resources, and sustainable water resources development ‎‎is a significant challenge facing water managers over the coming decades. Accurate estimation of ‎‎the different components of the hydrologic cycle is key for water managers and planners in order ‎‎to achieve sustainable water resources development. The primary goal of this dissertation was to ‎investigate techniques to combine datasets acquired by remote and proximal sensing and in-situ ‎sensors for the improvement of monitoring near surface water fluxes. This dissertation is ‎separated into three site-specific case studies. First study, investigated the feasibility of using ‎inverse vadose zone …

Evaluation Of Potential Translocation Sites For An Imperiled Cyprinid, The Hornyhead Chub, Brian T. Hickerson, Annika W. Walters

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Translocation of isolated species into suitable habitats may help to secure vulnerable, geographically limited species. Due to the decline of Wyoming Hornyhead Chub Nocomis biguttatus, conservation actions, such as the translocation of populations within the plausible historical range, are being considered to improve population redundancy and resiliency to disturbance events. Translocation of Wyoming Hornyhead Chub must be rigorously evaluated because a hatchery stock does not exist, so all fish used in translocations will come from the wild population. We present an approach to identify the best available translocation sites prior to translocation efforts taking place. We evaluated fish community composition …

Recta: Regulon Identification Based On Comparative Genomics And Transcriptomics Analysis, Xin Chen, Anjun Ma, Adam Mcdermaid, Hanyuan Zhang, Chao Liu, Huansheng Cao, Qin Ma

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Regulons, which serve as co-regulated gene groups contributing to the transcriptional regulation of microbial genomes, have the potential to aid in understanding of underlying regulatory mechanisms. In this study, we designed a novel computational pipeline, regulon identification based on comparative genomics and transcriptomics analysis (RECTA), for regulon prediction related to the gene regulatory network under certain conditions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this tool, we implemented RECTA on Lactococcus lactis MG1363 data to elucidate acid-response regulons. A total of 51 regulons were identified, 14 of which have computational-verified significance. Among these 14 regulons, five of them were computationally predicted to …

New Species Of Elateridae (Coleoptera) From Madre De Dios, Peru, With New Taxonomic Changes And Distribution Records, P. J. Johnson, Hannah K. Boyd, Caroline S. Chaboo

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The Elateridae fauna of Peru is updated with species new to science, new country records and new taxonomic combinations from the Madre de Dios region. Ten species representing eight genera are described as new: Conoderus wachiperi new species (Agrypninae, Oophorini) Cosmesus aca new species (Elaterinae, Pomachilini), Dipropus amarakaeri new species and Dipropus losamigos new species (Elaterinae, Ampedini, Dicrepidiina), Esthesopus machiguenga new species (Cardiophorinae), Glyphonyx peruanus new species (Elaterinae, Adrastini), Lissomus carmen new species (Lissominae), Paradonus kosnipata new species (Negastriinae), and Pomachilius qusqu new species and Pomachilius wayqecha new species (Elaterinae, Pomachilini). Aeolus platynotus Candèze is changed to Conoderus platynotus (Candèze) …

Recycled Substrates: Plant Biomass And Plant Cover Correlation, Richard K. Sutton

Landscape Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Green roofs extend roof membrane life and reduce waste to landfills. However, green roof costs must be reduced if their benefits are to accrue more widely. Use of recycled materials may reduce costs and also keep those materials out of landfills. Some work has been done on use of local recycled materials for green roof substrates, but none describe the characteristics, proportions and results of using an entire suite of blended recycled materials in admixtures (i.e., mixtures of very different materials) such as crumb rubber (CR), crushed used brick (CB) and compost (CPT) in concert with greens grade sand (#10), …

Using Art And Story To Explore How Primary School Students In Rural Tanzania Understand Planetary Health: A Qualitative Analysis, Elizabeth Vanwormer, Jesca Mlawa, Elizabeth Komba, Christopher Gustafson, Hilda Mrema, Jenny M. Dauer

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Background The global planetary health community increasingly recognises the need to prepare students to investigate and address connections between environmental change and human health. As we strive to support education on planetary health themes for students of all ages, understanding students’ concepts of linkages between the health of people and animals, and their shared environments might advance educational approaches. Children living in villages bordering Ruaha National Park in Iringa Region, Tanzania, have direct experience of these connections as they share a water-stressed but biodiverse environment with domestic animals and wildlife. Livelihoods in these villages depend predominantly on crop and livestock …

Mensurative Approach To Examine Potential Interactions Between Age-0 Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) And Bluegill (Lepomis Macrochirus), Mark A. Kaemingk, David W. Willis

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) andyellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations are often sympatric in the Great Plains region of the U.S.A. and portions of Canada; however, very little attention has been given to potential interactions between these species for available resources, especially during the early life stages. Relationships between age-0 bluegill and yellow perch growth and relative abundance were explored across multiple lakes and years within the Nebraska Sandhill region, USA. In addition, four habitat patch types (open water, Phragmites spp., Typha spp., Scirpus spp.) were sampled for age-0 bluegill and yellow perch, and food habits were examined for each species during …

Factors Associated With Bluegill Nest Site Selection Within A Shallow, Natural Lake, Mark A. Kaemingk

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Aquatic Invertebrate Communities In Nebraska Sandhill Lakes Reveals Potential Alternative Ecosystem States, Mark A. Kaemingk

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Organochlorine Chemical Residues In Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis) Eggs From Greater Washington, Dc Usa, Christopher J. Schmitt, Kathy E. Echols, Paul H. Peterman, Carl E. Orazio, K. Christiana Grim, Shirlee Tan, Nora E. Diggs, Peter P. Marra

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Northern Cardinal eggs from six neighborhoods near Washington DC were analyzed for organochlorine pesticides and PCBs. All compounds were detected more frequently and at higher concentrations in more heavily urbanized neighborhoods. DDT (mostly as p,pʹ-DDE) was detected in all neighborhoods. p,pʹ-DDT was typically 0.5‒16 ng/g (ww) in most suburban neighborhoods but was not detected (< 0.1 ng/g) in more rural areas; however, p,pʹ-DDT was 127‒1130 ng/g in eggs from two suburban Maryland nests and comprised 65.7% of total p,pʹ-DDT isomers in the most contaminated sample, indicating recent exposure to un-weathered DDT. Total chlordane (sum of 5 compounds) was 2‒70 ng/g; concentrations were greatest in older suburban neighborhoods. Total PCB (sum of detected congeners) was < 5‒21 ng/g. Congener patterns were similar in all neighborhoods and resembled those typical of weathered mixtures. Results indicate that wildlife remains exposed to low concentrations of legacy contaminants in suburban neighborhoods and that cardinal eggs can be used to monitor local- ized contamination.

Morphological And Histological Description Of Small Metoposaurids From Petrified Forest National Park, Az, Usa And The Taxonomy Of Apachesaurus, Bryan M. Gee, William G. Parker

United States National Park Service: Publications

Metoposaurids are Late Triassic temnospondyls that are abundant components of freshwater deposi- tional settings. Although metoposaurids are represented by hundreds of specimens in collections around the world, the vast majority pertain to large-bodied, relatively mature individuals, and as a result, the early stages of ontogeny are still poorly characterised. Small-bodied metoposaurids from North America have traditionally been assigned to Apachesaurus gregorii, interpreted as a diminutive taxon, but this interpretation has not been rigorously tested. Here we provide a morphological description of two new small-bodied metoposaurid specimens from Petrified Forest National Park, AZ, USA. Both provide various anatomical details that improve …

Parasite Rearing And Infection Temperatures Jointly Influence Disease Transmission And Shape Seasonality Of Epidemics, Marta S. Shocket, Daniela Vergara, Andrew J. Sickbert, Jason M. Walsman, Alexander T. Strauss, Jessica L. Hite, Meghan A. Duffy, Carla E. Caceres, Spencer R. Hall

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Seasonal epidemics erupt commonly in nature and are driven by numerous mechanisms. Here, we suggest a new mechanism that could determine the size and timing of seasonal epidemics: rearing environment changes the performance of parasites. This mechanism arises when the environmental conditions in which a parasite is produced impact its performance—independently from the current environment. To illustrate the potential for “rearing effects”, we show how temperature influences infection risk (transmission rate) in a Daphnia-fungus disease system through both parasite rearing temperature and infection temperature. During autumnal epidemics, zooplankton hosts contact (eat) fungal parasites (spores) reared in a gradually cooling environment. …

Song Recognition And Heterospecific Associations Between 2 Fairy-Wren Species (Maluridae), Allison E. Johnson, Christina Masco, Stephen Pruett-Jones

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Although heterospecific associations beneficial to one or both species involved (e.g. commensalisms or mutualisms) are common, it is generally assumed that interactions between species are transient and not particular to individuals. However, long-term interactions between individuals of different species do occur. In such heterospecific social groups, discrimination between heterospecific individuals may be beneficial, allowing individuals to direct beneficial or aggressive behaviors towards appropriate targets. Here, we describe heterospecific groups composed of splendid and variegated fairy-wrens (Malurus splendens and M. lamberti) and provide the first experimental evidence that recognition of heterospecific group members occurs across species. In these species, …

Adult Bobcat (Lynx Rufus) Habitat Selection In A Longleaf Pine Savanna, Andrew R. Little, L. Mike Conner, Michael J. Chamberlain, Nathan P. Nibbelink, Robert J. Warren

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Background: Pine savannas are primarily managed with frequent prescribed fire (≤ 3 years) to promote diversity of flora and fauna, and to maintain open, park-like conditions needed by species such as the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis). However, a knowledge gap exists in our understanding of bobcat (Lynx rufus) habitat selection in longleaf pine savannas and research is warranted to direct our future management decisions.

Methods: We examined bobcat habitat selection in a pine savanna managed with frequent fires at two spatial scales (i.e., study area boundary [hereafter, landscape scale]) and annual area of use [95% …

Testing Methods To Mitigate Caribbean Yellow-Band Disease On Orbicella Faveolata, Carly J. Randall, Elizabeth M. Whitcher, Tessa Code, Clayton Pollock, Ian Lundgren, Zandy Hillis-Starr, Erinn M. Muller

United States National Park Service: Publications

Outbreaks of coral diseases continue to reduce global coral populations. In the Caribbean, yellow band is a severe and wide-spread disease that commonly affects corals of the Orbicella spp. complex, significantly impeding coral reproduction, and hindering the natural recovery of Orbicella spp. populations. Caribbean yellow-band disease (CYBD) lesions may be severe, and often result in the complete loss of coral tissue. The slow spread of CYBD, however, provides an opportunity to test methods to mitigate the disease. Here we report the results of in situ experiments, conducted within Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix, USVI, to test the …

Ecological Neighborhoods As A Framework For Umbrella Species Selection, Erica F. Stuber, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Umbrella species are typically chosen because they are expected to confer protection for other species assumed to have similar ecological requirements. Despite its popularity and substantial history, the value of the umbrella species concept has come into question because umbrella species chosen using heuristic methods, such as body or home range size, are not acting as adequate proxies for the metrics of interest: species richness or population abundance in a multi-species community for which protection is sought. How species associate with habitat across ecological scales has important implications for understanding population size and species richness, and therefore may be a …

Morphological Traits As Indicators Of Sexual Dimorphism In Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Viridis), Colleen Rothe-Groleau, Claudia M. Rauter, James D. Fawcett

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

As humans encroach into areas inhabited by predators, the potential of human-predator confrontations increases and the predators become regarded as dangerous pests. Predators exert a measure of population control over pest species such as small rodents, as well as limit the quantity and scope of diseases (e.g. spread of Hantavirus by these prey species). Control of these small rodent pest species can be aided by conserving and managing their predators like rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp). Management of any population requires detailed information on population composition and the ability to determine the key information (especially age and sex) for each individual …

Potential Minimum Threshold For Pallid Sturgeon Relative Condition In The Lower Missouri River, Kirk D. Steffensen

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) condition has declined in the lower Missouri River but the cause and the effects of this decline remain uncertain. Adult Pallid Sturgeon are becoming reproductively ready less frequently and sub-adult Pallid Sturgeon are likely delaying sexual maturation. Even more concerning, Pallid Sturgeon capture rates have declined the past two years (i.e., 2016 and 2017), despite the ongoing Pallid Sturgeon stocking program. Several Pallid Sturgeon that have been captured are visually emaciated but a minimum condition threshold has not been described. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present a potential lethal condition level for …

Evaluation Of Bacillus Strains For Plant Growth-Promotion Potentials On Corn (Zea Mays), Wheat (Triticum Aestivum), And Soybean (Glycine Max)., Rufus John Akinrinlola

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

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can increase plant growth and yield by facilitating nutrient availability, hormone production, and inhibiting plant deleterious microorganisms. Twelve strains of bacillus (endospore-forming bacteria belonging to the genera Bacillus, Paenibacillus and Lysinibacillus) isolated from wheat rhizospheres were assessed for plant-growth promotion attributes in greenhouse and laboratory experiments. The objectives were to assess each strain’s potential to promote growth in corn, wheat, and soybean; and to determine whether the physiological traits expressed in vitro by the strains related to their effectiveness in promoting plant growth. Greenhouse experiments to assess growth-promotion potential were conducted by applying the strains …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 30, No. 2, May 2018

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Congratulations -- Meeting News -- Student News -- Welcome -- Blast from the Past -- Publications -- Faculty News -- Condolences

Sex Differences In Aripiprazole Sensitization From Adolescence To Adulthood, Elizabeth Freeman, Joanne Lin, Shinnyi Chow, Collin Davis, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study investigated the potential sex differences in repeated aripiprazole (ARI) treatment-induced behavioral sensitization from adolescence to adulthood, and to determine whether ARI sensitization can be transferred to olanzapine (OLZ) and/or clozapine (CLZ) using the conditioned avoidance response (CAR) and phencyclidine-induced (PCP) hyperlocomotion tests of antipsychotic activity. Male and female Sprague-Dawley adolescence rats (P46) were first treated with ARI (10 mg/kg) for 5 consecutive days (P46–50) and tested for avoidance response and ARI-induced inhibition of PCP-induced hyperlocomotion. After they became adults (>P68), rats were challenged with ARI (1.5 mg/kg, sc) (P70), OLZ (0.5 mg/kg, sc; P73), CLZ (5 …

Adam J. Liska: Curriculum Vitae, Adam Liska

Adam Liska Papers

Associate Professor, George Dempster Smith Chair of Industrial Ecology, Departments of Biological Systems Engineering and Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 236 L.W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0726, Ph: (402) 472-8744, e-mail: [email protected]

Ph.D. 2003 Biology (magna cum laude), Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany