Digital Commons Network^™

Can Continental Bogs With Stand The Pressure Due To Climate Change?, Nigel T. Roulet, E R. Humphreys, Jianghua Wu, Steve Frolking, Julie Talbot, P M. Lafleur, Tim Moore

Earth Sciences

Not all peatlands are alike. Theoretical and process based models suggest that ombrogenic, oligotrophic peatlands can withstand the pressures due to climate change because of the feedbacks among ecosystem production, decomposition and water storage. Although there have been many inductive explanations inferring from paleo-records, there is a lack of deductive empirical tests of the models predictions of these systems’ stability and there are few records of the changes in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of peatlands that are long enough to examine the dynamics of the NECB in relation to climate variability. Continuous measurements of all the components of …

Ontology Of Close Human-Nature Relationships, Neil H. Kessler

Doctoral Dissertations

The world’s environmental problems call out for solutions. At root, many of the solutions currently being offered revolve around how modern humans relate to the environment. An array of theorists have offered perspectives and prescriptions for improvement of this relationship, with many seeking to promote a sense of closeness between human and nonhuman. But, in attempting to offer perspectives on how this might be achieved, theorists tend to neglect the relational structure and dynamics that produce closeness or, if exploring it, tend to characterize the nonhuman as incapable of participating in it as a truly close, relational partner. In this …

Impacts Of Wood Energy On Timber Markets In New England And New York, Iuliia Drach

Master's Theses and Capstones

Renewable energy has a number of environmental and socioeconomic advantages over the energy derived from finite fossil fuels, which is why it has been increasingly promoted on the state and federal levels. Growing interest in renewable energy calls for detailed analysis of the effects the potential increase in production of such energy might have on the existing markets.

The obvious choice for the source of renewable energy in New England and New York is wood biomass due to the region’s abundant forest resources and extensive wood harvesting and processing infrastructure. To analyze the impacts of increased wood biomass consumption for …

Tradeoffs Between Three Forest Ecosystem Services Across The State Of New Hampshire, Usa: Timber, Carbon, And Albedo, David A. Lutz, Elizabeth A. Burakowski, Mackenzie B. Murphy, Mark E. Borsuk, Rebecca M. Niemiec, Richard B. Howarth

All Materials

Forests are more frequently being managed to store and sequester carbon for the purposes of climate change mitigation. Generally, this practice involves long-term conservation of intact mature forests and/or reductions in the frequency and intensity of timber harvests. However, incorporating the influence of forest surface albedo often suggests that long rotation lengths may not always be optimal in mitigating climate change in forests characterized by frequent snowfall. To address this, we investigated trade-offs between three ecosystem services: carbon storage, albedo-related radiative forcing, and timber provisioning. We calculated optimal rotation length at 498 diverse Forest Inventory and Analysis forest sites in …

Assessing The Impact Of Industrial Oil Development, Human Population Growth, And Post-Conflict Regrowth In An African Biodiversity Hotspot, Nicholas Sean Dowhaniuk

Master's Theses and Capstones

Understanding the drivers of human population growth and landscape fragmentation surrounding protected areas is vital to the success of conservation initiatives worldwide. However, the drivers of land cover change and population growth can be complex. While natural population growth is a primary cause of population growth in Africa, migration due to major anthropogenic events is increasingly common in Sub-Saharan Africa. Unprecedented mineral and oil extraction is currently occurring in Africa, often in areas of high conservation importance. Additionally, conflict often plays a large role in human migration through refugee resettlement, and many people in the region are now moving in …

A Comparison Of Macrofaunal And Algal Communities In Oyster Aquaculture Gear, An Eelgrass Bed, Oyster Reef, And A Mudflat In Great Bay, New Hampshire, Megan Elizabeth Glenn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) are important ecosystem engineers in Great Bay, NH, however despite restoration efforts they have been in decline. In addition to loss of the resource, this degradation results in loss of associated ecosystem services such as habitat provision. It is possible that the recent increase in oyster farming in Great Bay could help mitigate habitat loss. My research objective was to quantify the biotic communities present in three natural habitats (eelgrass beds, oyster reefs and mudflats) in Great Bay NH and compare those to communities living on the type of gear (“racks and bags”) …

Fecal Indicator Bacteria Removal By River Networks, Tao Huang

Master's Theses and Capstones

Fecal bacteria have a significant impact on downstream water quality. Removal of fecal bacteria in river systems potentially attenuates downstream impairments and would represent an important ecosystem service. However, few studies aimed to quantify in-stream removal of fecal bacteria. The goal of this study is to understand the ecosystem service of fecal bacteria removal at the river network scale in both water column and hyporheic zone across hydrologic conditions. I developed a module for routing fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) through river networks in the Framework for Aquatic Modeling of the Earth System (FrAMES) model to understand the fate and transport …

Natural Disasters, Foreign Aid And Economic Development, Valeriu Tomescu

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Attached Algae As An Indicator Of Water Quality: A Study Of The Viability Of Genomic Taxonomic Methods, Allison R. Wood

Honors Theses and Capstones

This research involved evaluating algae as an indicator of water quality in New Hampshire's rivers, with a focus on the Great Bay Estuary. The project had three main goals. First, determining whether or not algae would work as an indicator of water quality in the great bay ecosystem, an environment where tidal currents are strong and water composition is mixed. The second goal was to compare traditional microscopic methods of taxonomy with emerging genomic methods, increasing the economic viability of attached algae monitoring. The third project goal, still underway, is to evaluate massive amounts of genomic data from the Great …

Capital Opportunities, Jody Record

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Trump And Sanders Supporters Differ Sharply On Key Scientific Fact, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Carsey Publications

In this fact sheet, author Lawrence C. Hamilton reports the results of a recent WMUR/CNN poll by the UNH Survey Center asking more than 700 New Hampshire residents whether they would vote for Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders if the 2016 presidential election was being held on that day, and how candidate preferences matched up with people's beliefs about a basic scientific fact -- the rising con­centration of CO2 or carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Tracking Public Beliefs About Anthropogenic Climate Change, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Mary D. Lemcke-Stampone, David W. Moore, Thomas G. Safford

Sociology

A simple question about climate change, with one choice designed to match consensus statements by scientists, was asked on 35 US nationwide, single-state or regional surveys from 2010 to 2015. Analysis of these data (over 28,000 interviews) yields robust and exceptionally well replicated findings on public beliefs about anthropogenic climate change, including regional variations, change over time, demographic bases, and the interacting effects of respondent education and political views. We find that more than half of the US public accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is happening now, caused mainly by human activities. A sizable, politically opposite minority (about …

Trust In Scientists On Climate Change And Vaccines, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Kei Saito

Sociology

On climate change and other topics, conservatives have taken positions at odds with a strong scientific consensus. Claims that this indicates a broad conservative distrust of science have been countered by assertions that while conservatives might oppose the scientific consensus on climate change or evolution, liberals oppose scientists on some other domains such as vaccines. Evidence for disproportionately liberal bias against science on vaccines has been largely anecdotal, however. Here, we test this proposition of opposite biases using 2014 survey data from Oregon and New Hampshire. Across vaccine as well as climate change questions on each of these two surveys, …

Natural Dams And Biogeochemistry At The River Network Scale: Implications For Water Quality, Denise Burchsted, Mark B. Green, Jennifer M. Jacobs, Wil Wollheim

NH Water Resources Research Center Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Do Footprint-Based Cafe Standards Make Car Models Bigger?, Brianna Marie Jean

Economics

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards have historically been set equal across all manufacturer fleets of the same type. Concerns about varying costs across firms and safety implications of standards that are set homogeneously across firms and models resulted in a policy shift towards footprint-based standards. Under this type of standard, individual car models face targets based on the size of the area between the wheelbase and wheel track, so that larger models face less stringent standards, and manufacturers who make, on average, larger cars will face a lighter fleet standard. Theoretical models have shown that this type of policy …

Forest Views: Shifting Attitudes Toward The Environment In Northeast Oregon, Angela E. Boag, Joel N. Hartter, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Forrest R. Stevens, Mark J. Ducey, Michael W. Palace, Nils D. Christoffersen, Paul T. Oester

Carsey Publications

This brief reports on a telephone survey conducted in fall 2014 as part of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project. CAFOR focuses on seven counties in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon (Baker, Crook, Grant, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler), where the landscape and local livelihoods are changing in interconnected ways. In an effort to inform policy development around natural resource management, the study seeks to understand how public perceptions of climate change and forest management intersect. Authors Angela Boag, Joel Hartter, Lawrence Hamilton, Forrest Stevens, Mark Ducey, Michael Palace, Nils Christoffersen, and Paul Oester report that …

What People Know, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

No abstract provided.

Modeling Associations Between Public Understanding, Engagement And Forest Conditions In Theinland Northwest, Usa, Joel N. Hartter, Forrest R. Stevens, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Russell G. Congalton, Mark J. Ducey, Paul T. Oester

Sociology

Opinions about public lands and the actions of private non-industrial forest owners in the western United States play important roles in forested landscape management as both public and private forests face increasing risks from large wildfires, pests and disease. This work presents the responses from two surveys, a random-sample telephone survey of more than 1500 residents and a mail survey targeting owners of parcels with 10 or more acres of forest. These surveys were conducted in three counties (Wallowa, Union, and Baker) in northeast Oregon, USA. We analyze these survey data using structural equation models in order to assess how …

Modelling Associations Between Public Understanding, Engagement And Forest Conditions In The Inland Northwest, Usa., Joel N. Hartter, Forrest R. Stevens, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Russell G. Congalton, Mark J. Ducey, Paul T. Oester

Natural Resources & the Environment

Abstract Opinions about public lands and the actions of private non-industrial forest owners in the western United States play important roles in forested landscape management as both public and private forests face increasing risks from large wildfires, pests and disease. This work presents the responses from two surveys, a random-sample telephone survey of more than 1500 residents and a mail survey targeting owners of parcels with 10 or more acres of forest. These surveys were conducted in three counties (Wallowa, Union, and Baker) in northeast Oregon, USA. We analyze these survey data using structural equation models in order to assess …

2014 Unh/Noaa Joint Hydrographic Center Performance And Progress Report, Larry A. Mayer, Noaa-Unh Joint Hydrographic Center (Jhc/Ccom)

Progress Reports

Report Period: 01/01/2014 – 12/31/2014

2014 Unh/Noaa Joint Hydrographic Center Performance And Progress Report Executive Summary, Larry A. Mayer, Noaa-Unh Joint Hydrographic Center (Jhc/Ccom)

Progress Reports

Report Period: 01/01/2014 – 12/31/2014

Annual Reports Of The Town Officers Town Of Stoddard, New Hampshire For The Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2015., Stoddard Town Representatives

Stoddard, NH Annual Reports

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

Manager Perspectives On Communication And Public Engagement In Ecological Restoration Project Success, Caroline Gottschalk Druschke, Kristen C. Hychka

New Hampshire EPSCoR

We look to a particular social-ecological system, the restoration community in Rhode Island, USA and the rivers, wetlands, marshes, and estuaries they work to protect, to draw connections between communication, community involvement, and ecological restoration project success. Offering real-world examples drawn from interviews with 27 local, state, federal, and nonprofit restoration managers, we synthesize the mechanisms that managers found effective to argue that the communication employed by resource managers in each phase of the restoration process, in prioritization, implementation, and monitoring, and for garnering broad-based support, shapes the quality of public engagement in natural resources management, which, in turn, can …

Optimal Land Cover Mapping And Change Analysis In Northeastern Oregon Using Landsat Imagery., Michael J. Campbell, Russell G. Congalton, Joel N. Hartter

Natural Resources & the Environment

Abstract The necessity for the development of repeatable, efficient, and accurate monitoring of land cover change is paramount to successful management of our planet’s natural resources. This study evaluated a number of remote sensing methods for classifying land cover and land cover change throughout a two-county area in northeastern Oregon (1986 to 2011). In the past three decades, this region has seen significant changes in forest management that have affected land use and land cover. This study employed an accuracy assessment-based empirical approach to test the optimality of a number of advanced digital image processing techniques that have recently emerged …

A Physiocratic Systems Framework For Open Source Agricultural Research And Development, Dorn Cox

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a new participatory approach to agricultural research and development. It surveys the biological, sociological, economic, and technical landscape and proposes a framework for adaptive management based on the 18th century Physiocratic school of land-based economics. Industrial specialization and heavy emphasis on deductive approaches to science have contributed to the disconnection of large portions of the population from natural systems. Conventional agriculture and agricultural research methods following this pattern have created expensive social, environmental, and economic external costs, while adaptive management and resilient agricultural systems have been hindered by the cost and complexity of quantifying environmental services. However, …

Silvopasture In The Northeastern United States, Joseph Nathan Orefice

Doctoral Dissertations

Silvopasture, the sustainable integration of livestock and trees on the same unit of land, may have the potential to contribute to agricultural productivity in the Northeastern United States and concurrently encourage the ecosystems services which trees provide. Extremely little is known regarding the ecological characteristics of silvopastures being utilized, their social and economic drivers, or their agricultural productivity. Silvopasture characteristics, management, and reasons for use were documented through a purposeful sample of silvopasture practitioners in New York and New England. Results document the functional role of silvopastures on regional farms. This research also investigated the ecological and production dynamics of …

Hybrid Zone Dynamics Between Saltmarsh (Ammodramus Caudacutus) And Nelson's (Ammodramus Nelsoni) Sparrows, Jennifer Walsh

Doctoral Dissertations

Hybrid zones in nature have long been equated to “windows on the evolutionary process” providing unique environments to understand patterns of gene flow and introgression and the role of these mechanisms in maintaining biodiversity. Ongoing hybridization and introgression can lead to a number of conservation and evolutionary outcomes; as such, identifying the role of introgression in natural populations can provide new insights into species interactions while contributing to our understanding of evolutionary theory.

The research presented below characterizes hybrid zone dynamics between two tidal marsh endemics – the Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson’s (Ammodramus nelsoni) sparrow. Both species co-inhabit salt …

Catch Share Management In The Northeast Multispecies Fishery: Implications For The Commercial Groundfish Fishery In New Hampshire, Rachel G. Feeney

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation tests theories about catch share approaches to fishery management, examining their validity and limits relative to the Northeast groundfish sector program, and potentially modifies them in light of research outcomes. Participants of the groundfish fishery based in New Hampshire are the particular focus of research, but broader impacts are considered. Studies of this catch share program have been limited to date, and studies of catch share programs generally have focused on a particular dimension (e.g., biological, social, economic) rather than integrate across dimensions, despite increasing needs to do so for management. Here, six key aspects of fishing are …

Nitrate Uptake Kinetics In Streams: Is Carbon The Driver?, Bianca Rodriguez-Cardona

Master's Theses and Capstones

The underlying mechanisms driving the coupled interaction of organic matter quantity and uptake of inorganic nitrogen are not well understood, particularly in surface waters. To determine the relationship between background dissolved organic carbon (DOC) quantity and nitrate (NO3-) uptake kinetics in streams, a series of NO3- TASCC additions were performed in four sites within the Lamprey River Watershed, New Hampshire, with a wide range in background DOC concentrations (1 mg C/L - 8 mg C/L). Experiments were performed between the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. Across all sites and experimental dates, ambient and dynamic uptake velocity (Vf) correlated negatively with …

Community Decisions About Innovations In Water Resource Management And Protection, James Jay Houle

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, economic and technological factors that influence rates of adoption of innovative stormwater management approaches in municipal organizations in the Great Bay watershed, NH. The scope of this study was to investigate how innovations spread through municipal populations in a specific region and watershed area of the US. The methodology used mixed qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, case studies, and surveys to examine perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that influence the adoption of innovative stormwater management solutions, as well as the governance characteristics of municipalities at different stages of adoption. Major findings …