Digital Commons Network^™

Experimental Evidence For Drought Induced Alternative Stable States Of Soil Moisture, David A. Robinson, Scott B. Jones, Inma Lebron, Sabine Reinsch, Maria T. Dominguez, Andrew R. Smith, Davey L. Jones, Miles R. Marshall, Bridget A. Emmett

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Ecosystems may exhibit alternative stable states (ASS) in response to environmental change. Modelling and observational data broadly support the theory of ASS, however evidence from manipulation experiments supporting this theory is limited. Here, we provide long-term manipulation and observation data supporting the existence of drought induced alternative stable soil moisture states (irreversible soil wetting) in upland Atlantic heath, dominated by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Manipulated repeated moderate summer drought, and intense natural summer drought both lowered resilience resulting in shifts in soil moisture dynamics. The repeated moderate summer drought decreased winter soil moisture retention by ∼10%. However, intense summer drought, …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, January 19, 2016, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC Items for January 2016
• Budget and Faculty Welfare Committee (postponed to Feb)
• Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee
• 405.12.1 Annual Review of Faculty (Second Reading)
• 405.12.3 CFAC Policy (First Reading)

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, January 14, 2016, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Program Proposals

• Restructuring the current specialization within the Psychology PhD program in Professional Scientific Psychology to two separate specializations 1) combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology and 2) School Psychology
• Utilizing the existing MEd degree in Psychology but with a specialization as an en route degree for students in the School Psychology EdS program
• Suspending admissions in the Master of Science in Bioregional Planning
• Renaming the Master of Science and PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management to Environment and Society
• Discontinuing the Bachelor of Science degree in Geography Teaching

Other

• Syllabus task force update
• Curriculog reflections

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, January 14, 2016, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Course Approvals
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Educations Subcommittee

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, January 14, 2016, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Course Approvals
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, January 14, 2016, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Program Proposals

• Restructuring the current specialization within the Psychology PhD program in Professional Scientific Psychology to two separate specializations 1) combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology and 2) School Psychology
• Utilizing the existing MEd degree in Psychology but with a specialization as an en route degree for students in the School Psychology EdS program
• Suspending admissions in the Master of Science in Bioregional Planning
• Renaming the Master of Science and PhD in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management to Environment and Society
• Discontinuing the Bachelor of Science degree in Geography Teaching

Other

• Syllabus task force update
• Curriculog reflections

Faculty Senate Agenda, January 11, 2016, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC Items December 2015
• Council on Teacher Education
• Scholarship Advisory Board
• 405.12.1 Annual Review of Faculty (First Reading)

Blacksmith Fork - Little Bear Watershed Alternative Futures Study, Scott Mccomb, Emmet Pruss, Thomas Terry, Conner White

Bioregional Planning Studio Reports

The following project was carried out in conjunction with the Logan River Task Force, under the chairmanship of Dr. Frank Howe. The Logan River Task Force was formed to develop an overall approach for managing the Logan River that balances ecology with people's social values for the river including public safety and property protection. Although the work of the Task Force has focused primarily on the Logan river, the Bioregional Planning graduate students have provided the Task Force with contextual information about the watershed, by exploring alternative futures for the Blacksmith Fork and Little Bear watersheds. This work expands on …

Utah State Magazine, Winter 2016, Utah State University

Utah State Magazine

The quarterly magazine for friends and alumni of Utah State University

Cultivate Fall/Winter 2016, Utah State University

Cultivate Magazine

No abstract provided.

Cultivate Spring/Summer 2016, Utah State University

Cultivate Magazine

No abstract provided.

Playing With Knives: The Socialization Of Self-Initiated Learners, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Since Margaret Mead’s field studies in the South Pacific a century ago, there has been the tacit understanding that as culture varies, so too must the socialization of children to become competent culture users and bearers. More recently, the work of anthropologists has been mined to find broader patterns that may be common to childhood across a range of societies. One improbable commonality has been the tolerance, even encouragement, of toddler behavior that is patently risky, such as playing with or attempting to use a sharp-edged tool. This laissez faire approach to socialization follows from a reliance on children as …

Using Landscape Visualization To Inform Streetscape Design, Brent C. Chamberlain, Rebecca Liu, Jessica Canfield

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

The streets of commercial districts play an important role in the social fabric of communities. A well-designed streetscape provides an opportunity for thriving commerce, aesthetic enjoyment and public forum. The purpose of this study was to investigate how different elements of streetscape design influence a person’s preferences for the space. Using 3D visualizations of existing and possible future conditions, we studied the effects that infrastructure design had on perceived safety and attractiveness. Our study site was a small college town in the US. Results demonstrate that green infrastructure, including trees and bioswales, improve attractiveness and safety. Parking strategies also have …

Simple Landscape Irrigation Demand Estimation: Slide Rules, Roger Kjelgren

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Irrigated urban landscapes must increasingly maintain economic and ecosystem value with less water in response to drought amplified and shifted by climate change. Efficient landscape water management requires estimating water amount demanded by plants that can be replaced by irrigation to meet minimum performance expectations. The extant approach to estimating landscape water demand is conceptually muddled and often regionally inappropriate. Simplified Landscape Irrigation Demand Estimation (SLIDE) Rules distills scientifically credible assumptions about urban landscape biological and physical complexity into guidelines for estimating water demand that are conceptually accessible and operationally useful. SLIDE Rules are: 1) oasis urban reference evapotranspiration (ETo) …

The Material Ethics Of Juana Manuela Gorriti’S Peregrinaciones De Una Alma Triste, Elisabeth L. Austin

Decimonónica

Juana Manuela Gorriti’s novella Peregrinaciones de una alma triste (1876) opens in a most Romantic vein: Laura, the protagonist, suffers from tuberculosis and is subjected to arsenic poisoning by her doctor in an attempt to cure her.¹ As her doctor prescribes “mañana doble dosis; triple, pasado mañana” (4), he declares, with the zeal of a true believer, “niña mía [. . .] desde hoy comienza usted a tomar para curarse aquello que a otros da la muerte: el arsénico. Arsénico por la mañana, arsénico en la tarde, arsénico en la noche…¡Horrible! ¿no es cierto?” (4). The lovesick Laura promptly …

The Flâneur In Paris And Mexico City: Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera’S Transnational Search For Modern Beauty, Kelly Comfort

Decimonónica

In their introductory chapter to Geomodernisms: Race, Modernism, Modernity, Laura Doyle and Laura Winkiel examine the relevance of “place, proximity, [and] position” to diverse modernist discourses and invite a “dialogue about ‘placedness’” to constitute their proposed rethinking of modernist studies (1). By breaking modernism “open” into something they call “geomodernisms,” Doyle and Winkiel advocate for “a locational approach to modernisms’ engagement with cultural and political discourses of global modernity” (3). I take up their concern with literary works that display “a self- consciousness about positionality” in the present analysis of two chronicles by Mexican modernista author Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera …

A Guide To The Identification Of Tailed Myxobolidae Of The World: Dicauda, Hennegoides, Henneguya, Laterocaudata, Neohenneguya, Phlogospora, Tetrauromena, Trigonosporus And Unicauda, Eric J. Wagner

Textbooks

The phylum Myxozoa contains over 2100 species of parasites that principally infect fish, although some species infect amphibian and reptilian hosts (Kudo 1920; Lom and Dykova 2006; Yokoyama et al. 2012). Myxozoans are multicellular, comprised of 1 to 7 spore shell valves, 1-2 infective germ sporoplasms, and 2 to 7 polar capsules (Lom and Dyková 1992). The polar capsules contain an extrudible filament used for attachment to a host, similar to the stinging cells of Cnidaria. After attachment, 1 to 2 amoeboid sporoplasms infect the target tissue and begin development. See Lom and Dyková (1992) for details on development of …

Evaluating Wildlife–Vehicle Collision Hotspots Using Kernel-Based Estimation: A Focus On The Endangered Asiatic Cheetah In Central Iran, Alireza Mohammadi, Mohammad Kaboli

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The transportation networks within and adjacent to protected areas degrade natural habitats and contribute to a higher risk of mortality through roadkill. Following years of unplanned and unsustainable road network development in Iran, the protected areas of significant biodiversity value have suffered from such phenomenon. Yazd Province, one of Iran’s important biodiversity reservoirs for large mammals, especially the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), has witnessed a noticeable rate of road expansion along with an associated anthropogenic development. A large percentage (7 out of 50–70) of Asiatic cheetahs has been lost due to vehicle collisions in the region over …

Opinion The “Non-Native” Enigma, Danny Caudill, Gretchen Caudill

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Non-native species have been introduced to ecosystems throughout the world, and in some instances, have degraded the invaded system. Consequently, the distinction between native and non-native species has become an integral component of conservation planning. Recently however, the conservation value of the distinction has been questioned. We examine how the native versus non-native dichotomy is intrinsically ambiguous, which therefore limits the conservation utility of the designation in and of itself. A large degree of uncertainty exists as to whether many species are or are not native. Measures outside the non-native dichotomy (e.g., impacts, evolutionary ecology, paleontology) could better inform conservation …

Opinion The Non-Mystery Of Non-Native Species, James T. Carlton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

No abstract provided.

Declining Populations Of Greater Sage-Grouse: Where And Why, Michael R. Conover, Anthony J. Roberts

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Scientists have been predicting the extinction of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) since 1916, and sage-grouse populations have declined relentlessly during the last century despite attempts to reverse the decline. In this review paper, we examined the scientific literature to evaluate hypotheses about why sage-grouse populations have declined. There is little support for the hypotheses that the decline is due to overhunting, parasites, food shortages, or collisions with power lines or fences. West Nile Virus (WNV) reduced sagegrouse up to 25% when the virus first reached the West during 2002, but sage-grouse have developed resistance to the virus since …

Road Scholars For The Western States: Protecting Natural Areas By Improving Road Management Research, Brian Cooke, Charlie Luce, Tom Black, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A poorly placed or unsuitably designed road can result in landslides, flooding, gullies, stream damage, and wildlife habitat destruction. Particularly in natural areas, benefits of roads, such as accessibility and convenience, must be weighed against potential water quality degradation, scenic and wildlife habitat destruction, and hazardous driving conditions.

Scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station helped create two free tools—GRAIP (Geomorphic Road Analysis and Inventory Package) and GRAIP-Lite—to help land managers make better decisions about road management in environmentally sensitive areas. GRAIP helps land managers analyze and predict surface erosion, gully risk, landslide risk, stream crossing failure risks, and other …

Comparing Process-Based And Constraint-Based Approaches For Modeling Macroecological Patterns, Xiao Xiao

Biology Faculty Publications

Ecological patterns arise from the interplay of many different processes, and yet the emergence of consistent phenomena across a diverse range of ecological systems suggests that many patterns may in part be determined by statistical or numerical constraints. Differentiating the extent to which patterns in a given system are determined statistically, and where it requires explicit ecological processes, has been difficult. We tackled this challenge by directly comparing models from a constraint-based theory, the Maximum Entropy Theory of Ecology (METE) and models from a process-based theory, the size-structured neutral theory (SSNT). Models from both theories were capable of characterizing the …

Utah Air Quality: Pm 2.5, Randy Martin, Roger Coulombe, Roslynn Brain

All Current Publications

Particulate matter two-point-five (PM_2.5) is a tiny suspended particle of air pollution that can penetrate deeply into our lungs and potentially enter the bloodstream. The 2.5 unit means that the particles are smaller than 2.5 micrometers (a micrometer is one millionth of a meter). In Cache Valley and along the Wasatch Front, these tiny particles form and accumulate to unhealthy levels when air is trapped in the bottom of the valley during cold winter days.

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, December 14, 2015, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC Items December 2015
• Council on Teacher Education Report
• Scholarship Advisory Board
• 405.12.1 Annual Review of Faculty (First Reading)

How Do Changes To The Railroad Causeway In Utah’S Great Salt Lake Affect Water And Salt Flow?, James S. White, Sarah E. Null, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Managing terminal lake elevation and salinity are emerging problems worldwide. We contribute to terminal lake management research by quantitatively assessing water and salt flow for Utah’s Great Salt Lake. In 1959, Union Pacific Railroad constructed a rock-filled causeway across the Great Salt Lake, separating the lake into a north and south arm. Flow between the two arms was limited to two 4.6 meter wide rectangular culverts installed during construction, an 88 meter opening (referred to locally as a breach) installed in 1984, and the semi porous material of the causeway. A salinity gradient developed between the two arms of the …

Long-Term Winter Inversion Properties In A Mountain Valley Of The Western United States And Implications On Air Quality, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Lawrence E. Hipps, Oi-Yu Chung, Robert R. Gillies, Randy S. Martin

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Because of the geography of a narrow valley and surrounding tall mountains, Cache Valley (located in northern Utah and southern Idaho) experiences frequent shallow temperature inversions that are both intense and persistent. Such temperature inversions have resulted in the worst air quality in the nation. In this paper, the historical properties of Cache Valley’s winter inversions are examined by using two meteorological stations with a difference in elevation of approximately 100 m and a horizontal distance apart of ~4.5 km. Differences in daily maximum air temperature between two stations were used to define the frequency and intensity of inversions. Despite …

Improving The Resilience Of Mixed-Farm Systems To Pending Climate Change In Far Western Nepal: Endline Survey Report, D. Layne Coppock

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

This report presents general findings from an endline survey carried out during May 2015 in Jugada, Budhiganga, Attichaur and Gudukhati Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Bajura District. A total of 320 households were surveyed, a total of 80 per VDC. Two of the VDCs—Jugada and Budhiganga—received capacity-building interventions for 16 months concerning climate-change adaptation, poverty reduction, and other aspects of well-being, while two VDCs—Attichaur and Gudkhati—were their "paired controls," respectively, that did not receive interventions. The interventions were largely delivered as informal educational or training modules.

Alabama And Mississippi: A Case Study In School Trust Land Management, John Morgan Maynes

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

School trust lands are an enormous, yet often overlooked resource for public education. In some states, they have the potential to fund public education in an entirely tax-free manner, and they contribute tax-free funding for schools in many states. Before the Constitution of the United States was written, Congress established a system for granting lands to support common schools. However, there is a gap in the scholarly discourse about this legacy. Souder and Fairfax (1996) noted in their comprehensive work on school trust lands that “other than noting the initial grant to Ohio, most texts ignore the remaining details surrounding …

Improving Patient-Centered Communication Of The Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis, Sandra H. Sulzer, Elizabeth Muenchow, Annabelle Potvin, Jessica Harris, Grant Gigot

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has historically been difficult to diagnose, and laden with stigma, leading to a variety of clinical responses to patients who present with symptoms. Aims: (1) To understand how clinicians communicate the diagnosis of BPD with patients. (2) To compare these practices with patient communication preferences. (3) To use patient preferences to evaluate clinician practices. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with mental health care providers and experts (n = 32) were compared with patients (n = 10) and primary patient-written accounts (n = 22). Grounded theory was used to explore causal pathways between clinical practice and patient responses. …