Digital Commons Network^™

Piñon And Juniper Field Guide: Asking The Right Questions To Select Appropriate Management Actions, Robin J. Tausch, R. F. Miller, B. A. Roundy, J. C. Chambers

Reports

Piñon-juniper woodlands are an important vegetation type in the Great Basin. Old-growth and open shrub savanna woodlands have been present over much of the last several hundred years. Strong evidence indicates these woodlands have experienced significant tree infilling and major expansion in their distribution since the late 1800s by encroaching into surrounding landscapes once dominated by shrubs and herbaceous vegetation. Both infilling and expansion affects soil resources, plant community structure and composition, water and nutrient cycles, forage production, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and fire patterns across the landscape. Another impact is the shift from historic fire regimes to larger and more …

Devine Ridge Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. The BLM Burns District implemented treatments at in the fall of 2007.

Marking Corral Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive reseeding. Treatments were implemented at this site in fall 2006.

A Procedure To Correct Proxy-Reported Weight In The National Health Interview Survey, 1976-2002, Eric N. Reither, Rebecca L. Utz

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Background

Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show a larger-than-expected increase in mean BMI between 1996 and 1997. Proxy-reports of height and weight were discontinued as part of the 1997 NHIS redesign, suggesting that the sharp increase between 1996 and 1997 may be artifactual.

Methods

We merged NHIS data from 1976–2002 into a single database consisting of approximately 1.7 million adults aged 18 and over. The analysis consisted of two parts: First, we estimated the magnitude of BMI differences by reporting status (i.e., self-reported versus proxy-reported height and weight). Second, we developed a procedure to correct biases in …

The Mormon Passage Of George D. Watt: First British Convert, Scribe For Zion, Ronald G. Watt

All USU Press Publications

Nineteenth century Mormonism was a frontier religion with roots so entangled with the American experience as to be seen by some scholars as the most American of religions and by others as a direct critique of that experience. Yet it was also a missionary religion that through proselytizing quickly gained an international, if initially mostly Northern European, makeup. This mix brought it a roster of interesting characters: frontiersmen and hardscrabble farmers; preachers and theologians; dreamers and idealists; craftsmen and social engineers. Although the Mormon elite soon took on, as elites do, a rather fixed, dynastic character, the social origins of …

Blue Mountain Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. The Doublehead Ranger District implemented treatments in the fall of 2007.

Saddle Mountain Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of cheatgrass invasion of sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. Treatments were implemented at this site in fall 2008.

Hart Mountain Gray Butte And Rock Creek Sites Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

These sites are part of the study of cheatgrass invasion of sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive reseeding. Treatments were implemented at Rock Creek in 2007 and Gray Butte in 2008.

Greenville Bench Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. Treatments were implemented at this site in fall 2007.

Owyhee Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of cheatgrass invasion of sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. Treatments were implemented at this site in fall 2008.

Walker Butte Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. The BLM Lakeview Resource Area implemented treatments in fall 2006.

Stansbury Big Pole Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. Treatments were implemented at this site in fall 2007.

Examination Of Assessment Practices For Engineering Design Projects In Secondary Education (Part 1), Todd R. Kelley, Robert C. Wicklein

Publications

The following descriptive study was designed to determine the national status of secondary technology education curriculum content and assessment practices as they relate to engineering design. The results of this study were divided into a three-part article series. Although this study focused on the larger construct of the national status of the infusion of engineering design into technology education, three separate sub-constructs emerged. The three sub-constructs were: a) status of engineering design curriculum content; b) the status of assessment practices of engineering design projects, and c) what selected challenges are identified by secondary technology educators in teaching engineering design.

Optimization Of Soilless Media For Alkaline Irrigation Water, Cody Alexander Tramp, Julie K. Chard, Bruce Bugbee

Hydroponics/Soilless Media

High root zone pH reduces nutrient availability and high alkalinity water is strongly buffered around an alkaline pH. Soilless media can be altered to improve nutrient availability. This study was conducted to optimize the composition of soilless media for use with high alkalinity water. Mixes of peat and/or perlite or vermiculite in 50/50 and 33/33/33 volumetric ratios were tested. In some studies, mixes were also amended with up to 2.4 g/L of dolomite limestone to neutralize the initial acidity of the peat. Mixes containing vermiculite settled more, had higher water holding capacity (WHC) and percent plant available water (%PAW), and …

Stansbury Site Quick Facts, Sagestep

Fact Sheets

This site is part of the study of woodland encroachment into sagebrush communities. The primary objective is to find out how much native sagebrush and bunchgrasses need to be present at the time of treatment in order for managers to improve land health without having to conduct expensive re-seeding. Treatments were implemented at this site in fall 2007.

A New Mouse-Adapted Strain Of Sars-Cov As A Lethal Model Forevaluating Antiviral Agents In Vitro And In Vivo, C. W. Day, R. Baric, S. X. Cai, M. Frieman, Y. Kumaki, John D. Morrey, Donald F. Smee, Dale L. Barnard

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a highly lethal emerging disease caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV. New lethal animal models for SARS were needed to facilitate antiviral research. We adapted and characterized a new strain of SARS-CoV (strain v2163) that was highly lethal in 5–6 week old BALB/c mice. It had nine mutations affecting 10 amino acid residues. Strain v2163 increased IL-1α, IL-6, MIP-1α, MCP-1, and RANTES in mice, and high IL-6 expression correlated with mortality. The infection largely mimicked human disease, but lung pathology lacked hyaline membrane formation. In vitro efficacy against v2163 was shown with known inhihibitors of SARSCoV …

Animal Models For The Study Of Influenza Pathogenesis And Therapy, Dale L. Barnard

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Influenza A viruses causes a variety of illnesses in humans. The most common infection, seasonal influenza, is usually a mild, self-limited febrile syndrome, but it can be more severe in infants, the elderly, and immunodeficient persons, in whom it can progress to severe viral pneumonitis or be complicated by bacterial superinfection, leading to pneumonia and sepsis. Seasonal influenza also occasionally results in neurologic complications. Rarely, viruses that have spread from wild birds to domestic poultry can infect humans; such “avian influenza” can range in severity from mild conjunctivitis through the rapidly lethal disease seen in persons infected with the H5N1 …

A Recombinant,Infectious Human Parainfluenza Virus Type 3 Expressing The Enhanced Green Fluorescentprotein For Use In High-Throughput Antiviral Assays, J. P. Roth, J. K. Li, Donald F. Smee, John D. Morrey, Dale L. Barnard

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

The ability to rescue an infectious, recombinant, negative-stranded, RNA virus from a cDNA clone, has led to new opportunities for measuring viral replication from a viral expressed reporter gene. In this study, the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene was inserted into the human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV-3) antigenome and a recombinant, infectious virus was rescued. Maximum EGFP expression levels, measured by fluorescence, were seen at day 3. Comparison of a three-day, viral expressed EGFP fluorescence assay to a seven-day, neutral red assay, based on complete cell destruction in virus infected MA-104 cells, yielded Z′-factor values of 0.83 and …

Development Of A Site-Specific Standard For Selenium In Open Waters Of Great Salt Lake, Utah, Harry M. Ohlendorf, Jeff Denbleyker, William O. Moellmer, Theron Miller

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Great Salt Lake is a unique terminal lake located adjacent to Salt Lake City, Utah. Beneficial uses of Great Salt Lake are protected through application of a narrative clause in the state water quality standards. The Utah Division of Water Quality initiated a process in 2004 to develop a site-specific water quality standard for selenium for open waters of Great Salt Lake in response to specific concerns expressed by the public. The process the Division of Water Quality initiated included formation of a stakeholders' Steering Committee and a Science Panel to identify the required studies, manage those studies, and recommend …

Microbial Biodiversity Of Great Salt Lake, Utah, Bart C. Weimer, Giovanni Rompato, Jacob Parnell, Reed Gann, Balasubramanian Ganesan, Cristian Navas, Martin Gonzalez, Mario Clavel, Steven Albee-Scott

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Microbial biodiversity is difficult to measure in extreme environments due to the inability to culture many of the species, especially from hypersaline environments. Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, USA offers a unique ecology to study microbial diversity across a salt gradient. GSL has increasing salt from South to North that varies from marine salt concentrations to saturation, respectively. We used three methods to examine the biodiversity of the GSL-traditional cultivation on solid media, 16s rRNA gene sequencing, multiplexed 16s rRNA gene hybridization to the phylochip, and DNA hybridization to the Geochip for metabolic diversity estimates. Over 40 isolates from the …

Biostromes, Brine Flies, Birds And The Bioaccumulation Of Selenium In Great Salt Lake, ,Utah, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Benthic organisms and substrates in Great Salt Lake, Utah, were sampled to measure selenium concentrations of prey organisms of the birds that utilize the lake for nesting and during migrations. The sampling was focused on stromatolite biostromes, as these solid reef-like structures cover approximately 23% of the oxic benthic area of the lake and are the principal habitat for brine fly (Ephydra cinerea) larvae and pupae. Samples were taken at depths of 1-5 m along two transects in Gilbert Bay were salinities ranged from 116-126 g 1-1...

Mercury Inputs To Great Salt Lake, Utah: Reconnaissance-Phase Results, David Naftz, Christopher Fuller, Jay Cederberg, David Krabbenhoft, John Whitehead, Jodi Garberg, Kimberly Beisner

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

In response to increasing public concern regarding mercury (Hg) cycling in Great Salt Lake (GSL) ecosystem, a series of studies were initiated to differentiate between the mass of Hg from riverine versus atmospheric sources to GSL. Cumulative riverine Hg load to GSL during a 1 year time period (April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008) was 6 kg, with almost 50% of the cumulative Hg load contributed by outflow from Farmington Bay. Comparison of cumulative annual atmospheric Hg deposition (32 kg) to annual riverine deposition (6 kg) indicates that atmospheric deposition is the dominant input source to GSL. A sediment …

Developing Vegetation Metrics For The Assessment Of Beneficial Uses Of Impounded Wetlands Surrounding Great Salt Lake, Utah, Usa, Heidi M. Hoven, Theron G. Miller

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Many wetlands around Farmington Bay of Great Salt Lake are managed waterfowl habitat by means of impounding the flow at the terminus of the Jordan River. The majority of the Jordan River flow is comprised of the secondary-treated effluent of several municipal waste water treatment plants (WWTP), resulting in elevated phosphorus concentrations. This study was initiated to determine whether the assimilative capacity for phosphorus of the impounded wetlands had been exceeded, resulting in a negative impact to the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the wetlands. The majority of the SAV is sago pondweed and western fineleaf pondweed (Stuckenia pectinata and …

Eutrophication, Nutrient Fluxes And Connectivity Between The Bays Of Great Salt Lake, Utah (Usa), Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, David L. Naftz, Shane R. Bradt

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

No abstract provided.

Dust Emission At Franklin Lake Playa, Mojave Desert (Usa): Response To Meteorological And Hydrologic Changes 2005-2008, Richard L. Reynolds, Rian Bogle, John Vogel, Harland Goldstein, James Yount

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Playa type, size, and setting; playa hydrology; and surface-sediment characteristics are important controls on the type and amount of atmospheric dust emitted from playas. Soft, evaporite-rich sediment develops on the surfaces of some Mojave Desert (USA) playas (wet playas), where the water table is shallow (< 4 m). These areas are sources of atmospheric dust because of continuous or episodic replenishment of wind-erodible salts and disruption of the ground surface during salt formation by evaporation of ground water. Dust emission at Franklin Lake playa was monitored between March 2005 and April 2008. The dust record, based on day-time remote digital camera images captured during high wind, and compared with a nearby precipitation record, shows that aridity suppresses dust emission. High frequency of dust generation appears to be associated with relatively wet periods, identified as either heavy precipitation events or sustained regional precipitation over a few months. Several factors may act separately or in combination to account for this relation. Dust emission may respond rapidly to heavy precipitation when the dissolution of hard, wind-resistant evaporite mineral crusts is followed by the development of soft surfaces with thin, newly formed crusts that are vulnerable to wind erosion and (or) the production of loose aggregates of evaporite minerals that are quickly removed by even moderate winds. Dust loading may also increase when relatively high regional precipitation leads to decreasing depth to the water table, thereby increasing rates of vapor discharge, development of evaporite minerals, and temporary softening of playa surfaces. The seasonality of wind strength was not a major factor in dust-storm frequency at the playa. The lack of major dust emissions related to flood-derived sediment at Franklin Lake playa contrasts with some dry-lake systems elsewhere that may produce large amounts of dust from flood sediments. Flood sediments do not commonly accumulate on the surface of Franklin Lake playa because through-going drainage prevents frequent inundation and deposition of widespread flood sediment.

Planktonic Bloom-Forming Nodularia In The Saline Lake Alchichica, Mexico, Maria Guadalupe Oliva, Alfonso Lugo, Javier Alcocer, Laura Peralata, Luis Alberto Oseguera

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Lake Alchichica displays a characteristic cyanobacterial bloom associated with the onset of the stratification period. It mostly consists of the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena. Filaments of Nodularia were straight, usually with an evident colorless, transparent sheath, with gas vesicles and without akinetes. The bloom developed in waters with a conductivity of 13.47 to 14.14 mS/cm. Water column temperature was between 14.1 and 21.2 C, the pH fluctuated between 8.8 and 10.0 and dissolved oxygen between 0 and 9.3 mg/l. The annual mean concentration of N-NO3 was highest in 2001 and lowest in 2000. For P-PO4 the highest mean value was …

Biodiversity Of Inland Saltscapes Of The Iberian Peninsula, Katia Hueso Kortekaas, Jesus-F. Carrasco Vaya

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

The Iberian Peninsula hosts a wide variety of inland saltscapes, from man-made solar evaporation salterns to hyper-saline lakes and salt rivers, most of them unknown to other European countries. The present contribution deals with this diversity of saltscapes, briefly introduces their main features and locations, and presents a general overview of their conservation status. Some of their natural values are not even well understood by the scientists themselves, and therefore they are very rare and fragile and in need of protection. However, many of these natural saltscapes have been and are currently under threat, having been desiccated, used as waste …

Natural Curative Factors Of The Solotvino Salt Lakes, Ivan S. Lemko, Margarita O. Haysak, Kateryna I. Vaherich, Yurij V. Andrashko, Irena J. Sharkany, Victoria G. Malynovska

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

No abstract provided.

Aral Sea: Water Level, Salinity And Long-Term Changes In Biological Communities Of An Endangered Ecosystem-Past, Present And Future, Nickolay V. Aladin, Igor S. Plotnikov, Philip Micklin, Thomas Ballatore

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

The Aral Sea, which before 1960 was the fourth largest lake in the world, has now split into four separate water bodies. This break-up and desiccation mainly resulted from upstream irrigation withdrawals from the two main influent rivers, the Syr Darya and and Amu Darya. The negative effects on the lake ecosystem due to declining water level and increasing salinity, as well as the profound socioeconomic and human impacts to the riparian populations, have been well documented. This paper focuses on the conservation and rehabilitation efforts for four remaining key water bodies of the Aral Sea: the Northern (Small) Aral …

Waterbirds Of The Saline Lakes Of The Paroo, Arid-Zone Australia: A Review With Special Reference To Diversity And Conservation, Brian V. Timms

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

About sixty species of waterbird live in the Paroo area of Australia and most of these have been recorded on its 150+ saline lakes of various salinities and sizes. Unlike water plants, invertebrates and fish, avian species richness is hardly influenced by salinity in the Paroo, although the data suggest that richness might be lower in hypersaline lakes. Common species at salinities , 30 g/l include Eurasian coot, Black swan, Pink-eared duck, Grey teal, and Australian pelican while at salinities > 100 g/l Red-necked avocets and stilts are common. Because saline lakes generally have more abundant food than freshwater lakes, waterbirds …