Digital Commons Network^™

Land Conservation Planning For Flood Resilience In New Hampshire's Coastal Watershed, Michal Zahorik

Doctoral Dissertations

Land conservation plays an important role in managing flood risk. It enhances community resilience and supports multiple ecosystem functions. This qualitative study investigates how local and regional land conservation strategies advance flood resilience in New Hampshire’s coastal watershed. Focusing on the institutional context, this thesis analyzes the effectiveness of local land conservation planning efforts, explores cross-scale interactions between local and regional planning, and identifies barriers and opportunities for flood-focused conservation projects. The data for this research were collected through semi-structured interviews with representatives of municipalities, public and private conservation organizations, regional planning commissions, partnership organizations, and landowners. The secondary data …

Environmental Change And Population Dynamics Of Small Mammals In Northern Alaska, Jess K. Steketee

Doctoral Dissertations

Rodent populations at northern latitudes undergo cyclic dynamics characterized by high amplitude interannual fluctuations every 3-5 years. Population cycles have puzzled mammalogists for over a century and disentangling their drivers remains a central goal. Understanding which factors drive rodent populations and how these dynamics might change with warming is essential for predicting the impacts of climate change on arctic ecosystems as herbivore pressure shapes plant community composition, soil nutrient availability and carbon concentrations. My research focused on potential drivers of brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus) and tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) population fluctuations in Arctic Alaska. I combined field techniques with laboratory …

Unlocking The Permafrost Nutrient Bomb: Determining Plant And Microbial Transformations In Response To Manipulative Arctic Experiments, Natalie Kashi

Doctoral Dissertations

High latitude ecosystems are characterized by permafrost (perennially frozen ground), short growing seasons, and slow decomposition, and these characteristics of arctic ecosystems make them particularly sensitive to climate change. Alterations to arctic ecosystem functions are responding to recent climate disturbances such as increased active soil depths caused by thawing permafrost, transformation of dry ombrotrophic ecosystems to wetland communities, increased occurrence of wildfires in areas where wildfires are historically scarce, increased vegetation productivity, and shifts in plant phenology. Despite major ecosystem transformations and extreme climatic events in the Arctic during the previous decades, uncertainties persist largely because of nuances with climate …

How Mineral Fertilizer Affects Soil Nitrogen Pools And Microbial Activity, Lee Hildebrand

Master's Theses and Capstones

Nitrogen fertilizer is an essential aspect of modern agriculture; however, a substantial amount of applied nitrogen does not reach the crops it is intended for and leaches out of the soil. Soil organic matter and microbial activity are key regulators of the soil nitrogen cycle and the fate of nitrogen fertilizer. Understanding how fertilizer type impacts soil organic matter, nitrogen pools, and microbial activity will greatly improve our understanding regarding sustainable fertilizer application. To investigate this, I conducted an experiment using incubation with several fertilizer treatments and two soil types. I measured various soil nitrogen pools, soil respiration rates, and …

Evaluating The Effects Of Wildfires On Microbial Communities And Gene Expression Involved In Nitrogen Cycling In Arctic Tundra Soils, Alma Idali Hernandez

Master's Theses and Capstones

Wildfires in the Arctic tundra are increasing in frequency in response to global warming.Under this changing fire regime, important components of permafrost ecosystems, such as soils and their microbial communities, are disturbed by the burning of vegetation, organic soils, and their nutrients. Previous studies of wildfires have documented significant changes in nutrient availability following wildfires, including an increase in inorganic nitrogen (N), which is a key nutrient component of soil organisms. Microbes are the main drivers of transformation of soil N, which is ultimately taken up by both microbes and plants as a nutrient source. However, due to the historical …

Just Maps? Exploring The Development And Use Of Environmental Justice Mapping Tools In The United States, Claire Emrick

Master's Theses and Capstones

The disparate distribution of environmental risks and benefits is well documented in the United States. In response, interactive mapping tools that attempt to represent and address environmental justice (EJ) issues have proliferated in recent years. By synthesizing socioeconomic and environmental data into a user-friendly interface, EJ mapping tools can inform advocacy and policy decisions that benefit disadvantaged communities. Numerous studies have contributed to the development and assessment of the indices and datasets found in these mapping tools, while other articles have highlighted approaches to and lessons learned from single cases of EJ mapping tool development. However, only a few studies …

Meet The 2024 Sustainability Fellows, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

A Family Affair: Mother And Daughter Graduating Together From Mba Program, Aaron Sanborn

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Annual And Seasonal Variability In Tundra Vole (Microtus Oeconomus) Diet, Mary Kathleen Lisi

Master's Theses and Capstones

Within arctic ecosystems, small mammals (voles and lemmings) influence plantcommunity composition, soil nutrient availability, and carbon cycling through foraging and the deposition of waste. Yet, little is known about rodent diet specifically and how it may vary annually and seasonally. Here, we characterize the composition and stability in tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) diet in northern Alaska using stable isotope analysis of fecal and hair samples collected over a seven-year period. Results from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models from both fecal and hair sample data show that tundra voles in northern Alaska predominately feed on rhizomatous sedges, Eriophorum vaginatum and Carex …

Uncovering Fragmented Information About Pfas Contamination In Private Wells And Its Role In Housing Market Response, Catherine Taylor

Master's Theses and Capstones

PFAS are emerging contaminants that continue to rise in their public and political saliency. Although causal health outcomes are still unclear, there is evidence that the widespread and widely used family of chemicals has been correlated with negative human health impacts. The state of New Hampshire was one of the first in the country to regulate PFAS, establishing a lower maximum contaminant limit (MCL) than the EPA at the federal level. As PFAS policy continues to develop at the federal and state levels, it is important to consider how New Hampshire residents perceive this issue. In particular, residents in Hillsborough, …

Notes From The Past Show How Local Variability Can Stymie Urchins And The Rise Of The Reds In The Gulf Of Maine, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Andrea Brown, Kate Sheridan, Tianna Peller, Jake Lawlor, Julien Beaulieu, Jenny Munoz

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The impacts of global change—from shifts in climate to overfishing to land use change—can depend heavily on local abiotic context. Building an understanding of how to downscale global change scenarios to local impacts is often difficult, however, and requires historical data across large gradients of variability. Such data are often not available—particularly in peer reviewed or gray literature. However, these data can sometimes be gleaned from casual records of natural history—field notebooks, data sheet marginalia, course notes, and more. Here, we provide an example of one such approach for the Gulf of Maine, as we seek to understand how environmental …

From A Shorter Winter Season To More Storm Damage: New Hampshire Outdoor Recreation Providers Feel Climate Impacts Far More Than Visitors, Maddie Smith, Michael D. Ferguson, Lauren A. Ferguson, Alexandra R. Contosta, Elizabeth Burakowski, Dovev Levine, Shannon Rogers

Carsey Publications

In this brief, the authors examine to what extent outdoor recreation providers and visitors in New Hampshire are impacted by annual climatic conditions representative of long-term trends, specifically, through the 2024–2028 New Hampshire Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP). For the first time, the New Hampshire SCORP included an investigation of climate-related impacts on outdoor recreation from the perspective of both visitors and providers.

The findings of the study uncovered notable disparities in how New Hampshire’s outdoor recreation providers and visitors perceive climate conditions’ impact on outdoor recreation, particularly in the categories of “winter” and “extreme weather.” Understanding the perspectives …

Natural Warming Differentiates Communities And Increases Diversity In Deep-Sea Ridge Flank Hydrothermal Systems, Anne M. Hartwell, Anna E. Wheat, Jennifer A. Dijkstra

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Ridge Flank Hydrothermal Systems have discrete pockets of fluid discharge that mimic climate-induced ocean warming. Unlike traditional hydrothermal fluids, those discharged by Ridge Flank Hydrothermal Systems have a chemical composition indistinguishable from background water, enabling evaluation of the effect of warming temperature. Here we link temperature and terrain variables to community composition and biodiversity by combining remotely operated vehicle images of vent and non-vent zone communities with associated environmental variables. We show overall differences in composition, family richness, and biodiversity between zones, though richness and diversity were only significantly greater in vent zones at one location. Temperature was a contributing …

Sec’S Historic Climate Disclosure Rule – Better Late (And Light) Than Never, Alley Leach, Jenn Andrews

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

Snow Depth A Key Factor In Regional Fox Populations, Maeve Gifford

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Three Essays On The Economics Of Sustainable Consumer Choices, Muhammad Jawad Khan

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) within key sustainability contexts, focusing on the remediation of forever chemicals (PFAS) in municipal water systems, forest diversification for climate-resilient maple syrup production, and reduced ecological footprints in farming. The first chapter highlights factors influencing public support for a municipal water filtration system. A contingent valuation survey was conducted in September 2021 among the New England households to estimate their WTP for PFAS filtration in municipal drinking water systems. Health factors are primary: those concerned about water quality show a higher WTP. Income, water expenditures, and filtration status at home …

Avian Functional Diversity Response To Changes In Forest Structure And Degradation In Northern New England, Michael Christopher Thompson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Exploitative forest harvesting has led to widespread economic degradation of forests across the northeastern United States. Tree species composition and structure vary across degradation categories, which may lead to differences in wildlife communities and the ecosystem functions wildlife provide. Avian communities in particular respond quickly to changes in habitat, are easy to survey, and contribute to a variety of important ecosystem functions. Here, we investigated the relationship between economic degradation and avian functional diversity focusing on the ecosystem functions of seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, and pest control. We found that avian functional diversity responded to degradation in a unimodal manner …

The Potential Of Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Epiphytes To Acclimate To A Drier Microclimate., Emily Anders

Master's Theses and Capstones

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF) are characterized by frequent cloud immersion and host a rich community of canopy epiphytes. Epiphytes rely on atmospheric inputs of water, making them susceptible to reductions in cloud immersion. We used an experimental cloud reduction experiment in a Peruvian TMCF to examine the potential of five functional groups of vascular epiphytes (orchids, ferns, shrubs, bromeliads, and succulents) to acclimate to reduced cloud immersion via plasticity in morphological and physiological traits related to water use, water storage, and productivity. Complementary data for vascular and nonvascular epiphyte growth and dieback collected over a 3-year period provided additional …

Multidimensional Comparison Of Underwater Soundscapes Using The Soundscape Code, Dylan C. Wilford, Jennifer L. Miksis-Olds, S. Bruce Martin

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The soundscape of a given habitat is a product of its physical environment, human activity, and presence of soniferous marine life, which can be used to understand ecosystem processes, habitat quality, and biodiversity. Shallow coral habitats are hotspots of biodiversity and marine life. Deep-sea coral environments, in comparison, are generally poorly understood. Four soundscapes along the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and one soundscape from the Great Barrier Reef were quantified to explore how differences in habitat, depth, and substrate manifest acoustically. Comparisons were made between (1) deep, cold-water and shallow, warm-water coral reefs and (2) deep-sea coral and sandy …

The Under-Appreciated Roles Of Spatial Scale, Individual Variation, And Nonlinearity In Spatial Ecology, David Heit

Master's Theses and Capstones

Spatial ecology is a central component of ecological inquiry. In an ever-changing world facing threats including climate change, human sprawl, and novel zoonotic diseases, understanding how animals use space and make habitat decisions can be invaluable to research, management, and conservation of animal species. The techniques and technology used in spatial ecology have advanced continuously over time to provide increasingly detailed data and analyses and mitigate potential statistical biases. However, there remain many potential biases that warrant further attention in the discipline of spatial ecology. This is especially true for conceptual biases, or biases inherent to the ways in which …

Season, Not Long-Term Warming, Affects The Relationship Between Ecosystem Function And Microbial Diversity, Melissa S. Shinfuku, Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta, Mallory J. Choudoir, Serita D. Frey, Kristen M. Deangelis

Faculty Publications

Across biomes, soil biodiversity promotes ecosystem functions. However, whether this relationship will be maintained under climate change is uncertain. Here, using two long-term warming experiments, we investigated how warming affects the relationship between ecosystem functions and microbial diversity across seasons, soil horizons, and warming duration. The soils in these warming experiments were heated +5 °C above ambient for 13 or 28 years. We measured seven different ecosystem functions representative of soil carbon cycling, soil nitrogen cycling, or nutrient pools. We also surveyed bacterial and fungal community diversity. We found that the relationship between ecosystem function and bacterial diversity and the …

Grad School Dean, Ph.D. Students Meet With Lawmakers In D.C., Keith Testa

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Creating Impact While Nurturing Leaders, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

Creating Impact While Nurturing Leaders, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

Unh Honors Sustainability Champions At Third Annual Award Event, Keith Testa

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Modernism On The Edge Of The Anthropocene: The Ecological Imagination Of Forster, West, Warner, Woolf, And Eliot, Leanna Jean Lostoski-Ho

Doctoral Dissertations

By reading modernist literature on the edge of the Anthropocene, I argue in this dissertation that modernist authors, through the experimental aesthetics of their works, are able to articulate the beginnings of anthropogenic climate change in the early-twentieth century. The early-twentieth century, and particularly the interwar period, in which British modernist authors such as E. M. Forster, Rebecca West, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Virginia Woolf, and T. S. Eliot were writing coincides with the early-twentieth-century ramp up period of human activity rising to the level of a geological force before the beginning of the Anthropocene. While this dissertation does not argue …

Using Imagery Collected By An Unmanned Aerial System To Monitor Cyanobacteria In New Hampshire, Usa, Lakes, Christine Bunyon

Master's Theses and Capstones

With the increasing occurrence and growing public health concern that cyanobacteria blooms pose, it is crucial that we continue to explore ways to improve our ability to accurately, efficiently, and safely monitor water quality in impacted lakes. Also known as blue-green algae, cyanobacteria are naturally occurring in many waters globally. Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (CHABs) release various toxins which can cause skin irritations and dog fatalities while the effects of long-term exposure to the neurotoxins for humans has stirred additional studies. Although possibly harmful if CHABs are present, monitoring this biological component is nonetheless an integral factor when studying freshwater …

Legacy Effects Of Land Cover And Land Use On Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta) Populations Over A 20-Year Period In Southeastern New Hampshire, Benjamin Phillips

Master's Theses and Capstones

More than half of all freshwater turtles and tortoises are threatened with extinction. Human land use practices and land cover conversion often decrease adult turtle survivorship and dampen the reproductive potential of turtle populations. The ability to make informed conservation and management decisions depends on understanding the relative impacts of different landscape contexts on turtle populations, and the spatial extent over which they have an impact. We surveyed painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) populations along an urbanization gradient in southeastern New Hampshire, USA to assess the relative impact of land cover, land use, and chemical contaminants on population density and sex …

Characterization Of Arthropod Communities And The Environmental Variables That Influence Them, Christopher Ziadeh

Master's Theses and Capstones

Arthropods are active during the winter in temperate regions, and many use seasonal snowpack to buffer themselves from harsh ambient conditions in a refugium known as the subnivium, an area that occurs under the snowpack and above the soil. This thesis focuses on subnivium arthropod communities, how they differ from summer communities, and how silvicultural management influences these communities. Arthropods were collected using modified pitfall traps from the Second College Grant, a forested township in northern New Hampshire which has areas of land dedicated to the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change study. In the first chapter of this thesis we …

Graduate Research Conference 2023: 2nd Annual Sustainability Track, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.