Digital Commons Network^™

Long-Term Forest Growth And Decadal Soil Chemistry Change Across The White Mountain National Forest, Olivia L. Fraser

Doctoral Dissertations

Forest ecosystems are subject to a variety of stressors including human land use, air pollution and climate change. A challenge for detecting temporal change, however, is disentangling heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales. Therefore, we need a better understanding of the mechanisms influencing forest growth and soil formation, how to improve existing long-term sample designs, and quantify variability at multiple spatial scales. Identifying the areal extent of bedrock outcrops and shallow soils has important implications in understanding the spatial dynamics of surrounding vegetation, stream chemistry gradients, and soil properties. Manual methods of delineating bedrock outcrops and associated shallow soil are still …

Advancing The Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Within The White Mountain National Forest Using Lidar, Robert Andrew Colter

Doctoral Dissertations

Forest land managers need ecological classification to assess and describe resource conditions, vegetation conditions, outcomes resulting from various management prescription scenarios, and communicate environmental effects of land management planning alternatives. However, there is a need to incorporate more ecological classification into the land management plans. The U.S. Forest Service’s approach, the Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory (TEUI), relies heavily on field data collection and verification of map unit delineations that is time-consuming and costly. Traditional mapping methods far exceed the current financial capacity of the U.S. Forest Service. In order to justify new ecological classification mapping approaches, there needs to be …

Dish It Up! The Influence Of Kind Diningtm& Green House Model Food And Food Service Innovations On The Resident Experience In Residential Care Facilities., Mary E. Jensen

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to understand how innovative practices affect the satisfaction elder-care facility residents have with their food-related life. The study looks through the lenses of food and food service activities, related medical care activities, and facility design.

The Older Americans Act of 1965 defined the basic rights of elders in American society. The statement and objectives codified in that Act have provided the outline for eldercare in the community and in residential care facilities ever since. Legislative updates in 2017 more clearly identified “person-centered” care as the ideal in elderly care homes. Research using the diffusion …

The Impacts Of Terrestrial Invasive Plants On Streams And Natural And Restored Riparian Forests In Northern New England, Chad Frederick Hammer

Master's Theses and Capstones

Non-native invasive species are a major cause of ecosystem degradation and impairment of ecosystem service benefits in the United States. Riparian areas are at high risk for invasion because they are among the most human-disturbed ecosystems in the world. Forested riparian areas provide us with many ecosystem services and are vital to streams and rivers as they increase habitat complexity and available resources for organisms of many trophic levels. In this study, I quantified the impacts of terrestrial invasive plant invasions by Japanese knotweed and woody invasive plant species on riparian forest structure, stream physical habitat, soil structure, and soil …

Environmental Regulation Of Cyanobacteria Aerosols From Low Productivity Lakes, Katharine Lorena Langley

Master's Theses and Capstones

Cyanobacteria produce a range of toxins harmful to both humans and wildlife. Microcystins (MCs) are common and potent cyanotoxins that inhibit protein phosphatases in the liver. Chronic exposures can result in tumor promotion and cancer. Toxicity primarily follows ingestion of MCs, however inhalation may be an important secondary and compounding route of exposure to cyanotoxins. The LD50 of intratracheally applied MC-LR is 50x lower than the oral LD50. While MCs are well documented in water, little is known about cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in aerosols and the factors that regulate the movement of cells and toxins into the air. To begin …

Divergent Controls On Stream Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Across A Land Use Gradient, Allison Herreid

Master's Theses and Capstones

Inland waters can be significant sources of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere. However, considerable uncertainty remains in regional and global estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from freshwater ecosystems, particularly streams. Controls on GHG production in fluvial ecosystems, such as water chemistry and sediment characteristics, are also poorly understood. The main objective of this study was to quantify spatial and temporal variability in GHG concentrations in 20 streams across a landscape with considerable variation in land use and land cover. Stream water was consistently supersaturated in CO2, CH4, and N2O, suggesting that small …

Unh Research Finds N.H. Residents Support Dam Removal Except When Used For Hydropower, Erika Mantz

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

What To Do With Dams: An Assessment Of Public Opinion To Inform The Debate In New Hampshire, Natallia Leuchanka Diessner, Catherine M. Ashcraft, Kevin H. Gardner, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Carsey Publications

Many of New Hampshire’s dams are reaching the end of their lifespan and require expensive maintenance or removal in order to meet safety standards. While engineers and public officials struggle with the scale of the challenge surrounding various dam management alternatives, including removal, what does the New Hampshire public think? In this brief, authors Natallia Leuchanka, Catherine Ashcraft, Kevin Gardner, and Lawrence Hamilton present results from statewide surveys in New Hampshire that explore public views about dam removal. They report that a majority of respondents in three Granite State Polls prefer to remove dams when the alternative is to keep …

Bathymetric Properties Of The Baltic Sea, Martin Jakobsson, Christian Stranne, Matt O'Regan, Sarah L. Greenwood, Bo Gustafsson, Christoph Humborg, Elizabeth Reed-Weidner

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Baltic Sea bathymetric properties are analysed here using the newly released digital bathymetric model (DBM) by the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). The analyses include hypsometry, volume, descriptive depth statistics, and kilometre-scale seafloor ruggedness, i.e. terrain heterogeneity, for the Baltic Sea as a whole as well as for 17 sub-basins defined by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM). We compare the new EMODnet DBM with IOWTOPO the previously most widely used DBM of the Baltic Se aproduced by the Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde (IOW), which has served as the primary gridded bathymetric resource in physical and environmental …

Losses Of Mineral Soil Carbon Largely Offset Biomass Accumulation Fifteen Years After Whole-Tree Harvest In A Northern Hardwood Forest, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Steven P. Hamburg, Chris E. Johnson, Jonathan Sanderman

All Materials

Changes in soil carbon stocks following forest harvest can be an important component of ecosystem and landscape-scale C budgets in systems managed for bioenergy or carbon-trading markets. However, these changes are characterized less often and with less certainty than easier-to-measure aboveground stocks. We sampled soils prior to the whole-tree harvest of Watershed 5 at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in 1983, and again in years 3, 8, and 15 following harvest. The repeated measures of total soil C in this stand show no net change in the O horizon over 15 years, though mixing with the mineral soil reduced observed …

Accuracies, Errors, And Uncertainties Of Global Cropland Products, Kamini Yadav

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

ACCURACIES, ERRORS, AND UNCERTAINTIES OF GLOBAL CROPLAND PRODUCTS

By

Kamini Yadav

University of New Hampshire, May 2019

Global cropland products are continuously being produced at different spatial resolutions using remotely sensed satellite imagery. Recently, with our increased accessibility to higher computing processing, three different cropland extent maps have been developed as a part of Global Food Security-Support Analysis Data (GFSAD) project at three spatial resolutions (i.e., GFSAD1km, GFSAD250m, and GFSAD30m). All cropland maps should be assessed for their accuracy, errors, and uncertainty for various agriculture monitoring applications. However, in previous assessment efforts appropriate assessment strategies have not always been …

Households' Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Hydrological Services In Veracruz, Mexico, Ian Mcginnis

Master's Theses and Capstones

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are transfer payments from governing bodies, households, firms, or non-governmental organizations to incentivize natural resource owners and managers to carry out environmental conservation efforts that promote the provision of ecosystem services. PES programs targeting reduction of deforestation have gained popularity due to the extensive ecosystem services of forests including carbon storage, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and the provision of hydrological services (HS), the ecosystem services that provide benefits such as water quality improvement, water damage mitigation, and non-use value.

There is evidence in the literature that PES programs, while theoretically beneficial, face issues with long-term financial …

Dyf Recipients Honored At Grc, Kristen Melamed

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Dissertation Year Fellows Get To Work, Kristen Melamed

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Top Honor: Siobhan Senier, Professor Of English, Named 2019 Lindberg Award Winner In Cola, Susan Dumais

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Designing Transdisciplinary Approaches To Enact Solutions, Vanessa R. Levesque, Aram J. K. Calhoun, Kathleen P. Bell

Faculty Publications

Sustainability science uses a transdisciplinary research process in which academic and non-academic partners collaborate to identify a common problem and co-produce knowledge to develop more sustainable solutions. Sustainability scientists have advanced the theory and practice of facilitating collaborative efforts such that the knowledge created is usable. There has been less emphasis, however, on the last step of the transdisciplinary process: enacting solutions. We analyzed a case study of a transdisciplinary research effort in which co-produced policy simulation information shaped the creation of a new policy mechanism. More specifically, by studying the development of a mechanism for conserving vernal pool ecosystems, …

Generational Aspects Of U.S. Public Opinion On Renewable Energy And Climate Change, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Erin Bell

Sociology

The topics of climate change and renewable energy often are linked in policy discussions and scientific analysis, but public opinion on these topics exhibits both overlap and divergence. Although renewable energy has potentially broader acceptance than anthropogenic climate change, it can also sometimes face differently-based opposition. Analyses of U.S. and regional surveys, including time series of repeated surveys in New Hampshire (2010–2018) and northeast Oregon (2011–2018), explore the social bases of public views on both issues. Political divisions are prominent, although somewhat greater regarding climate change. Such divisions widen with education, an interaction effect documented in other studies as well. …

2018 Annual Town Report And 2019 Town Warrant And Budget Auburn, New Hampshire, Auburn Town Representatives

Auburn, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership 2018 Annual Report, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

University Of New Hampshire Graduate Academic Catalog, 2019-2020, University Of New Hampshire

Graduate Catalog

No abstract provided.

Coastal Conflicts And Cross-Sectoral Engagement: Learning From Disputes Over Science In Coastal And Ocean Systems, Lindsey C. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

It is widely accepted that public policy decisions that account for scientific and technical advice are likely to improve outcomes for all. With more data and information available though, it is becoming increasingly difficult to even agree on the baseline facts. This research explores the question: How do cross-sectoral engagement opportunities influence science intensive disputes over the management of coastal and ocean resources? To address this question, I studied two cases in New England: 1) marine fisheries management (Northeast Multispecies Complex aka groundfish) and 2) estuarine water quality management (Great Bay, New Hampshire). Informed by participant observation and semi-structured interviews …

Estimation Of Measurement Uncertainty Of Seafloor Acoustic Backscatter, Mashkoor Malik

Doctoral Dissertations

In the last three decades, Multibeam echo sounders (MBES) have become the tool of choice to study the seafloor. MBES collects two distinct types of data: bathymetry that provides topographic details of the seafloor and backscatter that has the potential to characterize the seafloor. While the uncertainty associated with MBE bathymetry has been well studied, the uncertainty in MBES backscatter measurement has received relatively little attention, hindering the improvements in quantitative analysis of backscatter data. Both acquisition and processing stages can introduce uncertainty in the final seafloor backscatter products. Application of well-established uncertainty quantification principles to seafloor backscatter data is …

Forecasting Vibrio Parahaemolyticus In A Changing Climate, Meghan Ann Hartwick

Doctoral Dissertations

The distribution, transmission and adaptation patterns of infectious diseases are changing worldwide. Though there are many potential mechanisms that can transmit infectious agents to new areas, the ability of pathogens to persist in new locations can be largely attributed to changing climate conditions, especially in temperate regions. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a naturally occurring bacteria in most marine and estuarine systems, provides a model example of these globally observed climate-related changes to disease dynamics that are occurring locally in the Northeast, US. Like many Vibrio species, pathogenicity in human hosts is believed to be limited to a subset of strains, whereas the …

Assessing The Relationships Of Winter Ticks, Weather And A Declining Moose Population In Northern New Hampshire, Brent Illig Powers

Master's Theses and Capstones

ASSESSING ABUNDANCE AND QUESTING BEHAVIOR OF WINTER TICKS (DERMENCENTOR ALBIPICTUS) IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Brent Illig Powers

University of New Hampshire

Recent decline in New Hampshire’s moose (Alces alces) population is attributed to parasitism by winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) associated with high calf mortality and reduced adult cow productivity. Research has focused mainly on moose (host) population dynamics with minimal study of abundance and distribution of winter ticks (parasite) on the landscape. Importantly, tick location is dictated by where ticks drop from moose in April, when they principally forage in regenerating forest. This research was designed with 4 primary objectives: …

Addressing The Nitrogen Challenge: Footprint Tools And On-Farm Solutions, Allison M. Leach

Doctoral Dissertations

Nitrogen management presents a unique dilemma: We must use nitrogen to grow our food and sustain life on earth, but excess reactive nitrogen that accumulates in the environment contributes to a cascade of negative impacts to human and ecosystem health. Addressing this nitrogen challenge will require a suite of solutions. This dissertation presents and explores three nitrogen management strategies: 1) The first ever integrated carbon and nitrogen footprint tool for campus sustainability management; 2) Exporting compost to improve a farm’s nitrogen efficiency; and 3) Methods for reducing gas emissions from aerated static pile heat recovery composting.

Nitrogen footprint tools connect …

Dissertation Year Fellows Get To Work, Kristin Melamed

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Dissertation Year Fellows Get To Work, Kristin Melamed

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Variation In Plant Water Use, Growth, And Water-Use Efficiency Of Planted Mixtures And Monocultures: Toward Proper Species Selection For Reforestation Efforts In The Seasonally Dry Tropics, Katherine Sinacore

Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, there has been a trend towards reforesting previously degraded areas by planting trees. While plantations offer an opportunity to restore ecosystem functions and diversity, most reforested plantations currently consist of monocultures, or single-species systems. Originally planted to provide wood for both global and regional markets, monocultures provide only a few goods and services and reduce plant biodiversity in comparison to multi-species systems, like forests. An alternative to the current plantation design is planting mixed species systems. Beyond diversifying a plantation, mixed species stands provide an opportunity to enhance ecosystem services that include non-timber forest products, carbon sequestration, …

The Bioeconomics Of Shade-Grown Coffee Production Under Climate And Price Risks In Puerto Rico, Yixuan Gao

Master's Theses and Capstones

Coffee production is severely affected by global climate change. One of the important impacts comes from the increasing infestation and distribution of coffee berry borer (CBB), the most damaging coffee pest worldwide. Shade-grown coffee (SGC) systems can alleviate the impacts and increase the resilience of coffee farms by providing non-market and market ecosystem services.

From an ecological perspective, SGC systems can provide many non-market ecosystem services such as pest risk mitigation, soil water retention, soil fertility, and pollination, which are all critical factors affecting coffee yields. From a financial perspective, SGC systems can benefit farmers by increasing the prices through …

Lateral Marsh Edge Erosion As A Source Of Sediments For Vertical Marsh Accretion, Charles S. Hopkinson, James T. Morris, Sergio Fagherazzi, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Peter A. Raymond

Faculty Publications

With sea level rise accelerating and sediment inputs to the coast declining worldwide, there is concern that tidal wetlands will drown. To better understand this concern, sources of sediment contributing to marsh elevation gain were computed for Plum Island Sound estuary, MA, USA. We quantified input of sediment from rivers and erosion of marsh edges. Maintaining elevation relative to the recent sea level rise rate of 2.8 mm yr−1 requires input of 32,299 MT yr−1 of sediment. The input from watersheds is only 3,210 MT yr−1. Marsh edge erosion, based on a comparison of 2005 and 2011 LiDAR data, provides …