Digital Commons Network^™

Move It Or Lose It: Interspecific Variation In Risk Response Of Pond-Breeding Anurans, Philip Matich, Christopher M. Schalk

Faculty Publications

Changes in behavior are often the proximate response of animals to human disturbance, with variability in tolerance levels leading some species to exhibit striking shifts in life history, fitness, and/or survival. Thus, elucidating the effects of disturbance on animal behavior, and how this varies among taxonomically similar species with inherently different behaviors and life histories is of value for management and conservation. We evaluated the risk response of three anuran species—southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus), Blanchard’s cricket frog (Acris blanchardi), and green tree frog (Hyla cinerea)—to determine how differences in microhabitat use (arboreal vs …

A New Site Index Model For Intensively Managed Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda) Plantations In The West Gulf Coastal Plain, Kynda R. Trim, Dean W. Coble, Yuhi Weng, Jeremy P. Stovall, I-Kuai Hung

Faculty Publications

Site index (SI) estimation for loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations is important for the successful management of this important commercial tree species in the West Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States. This study evaluated various SI models for intensively managed loblolly plantations in the West Gulf Coastal Plain using data collected from permanent plots installed in intensively managed loblolly pine plantations across east Texas and western Louisiana. Six commonly used SI models (Cieszewski GADA model, both Chapman-Richards ADA and GADA models, both Schumacher ADA and GADA models, and McDill-Amateis GADA model) were fit to the data and compared. …

Adoption Of Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Farmers In Kentucky, Usa, Bijesh Mishra, Buddhi R. Gyawali, Krishna P. Paudel, Neelam C. Poudyal, Marion F. Simon, Siddhartha Dasgupta, George Antonious

Faculty Publications

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Promoting the sustainable agricultural practices at an individual farm level is essential to ensure agricultural sustainability. This study analyzed whether and how various factors related to farm or farmers’ characteristics influence the adoption intensity of sustainable agriculture practices. We used a negative binomial regression model to fit the data collected from a mail survey of farmers in Kentucky, USA. Our results showed that the adoption intensity of sustainable agriculture practices varied significantly among agricultural districts in Kentucky. Farmers who grew row crops, had irrigation facilities, and were in favor of …

Walkable Urban Design Attributes And Japanese Older Adults' Body Mass Index: Mediation Effects Of Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior, Mohammad Javad Koohsari, Andrew T. Kaczynski, Tomoki Nakaya, Ai Shibata, Kaori Ishii, Akitomo Yasunaga, Ellen W. Stowe, Tomoya Hanibuchi, Koichiro Oka

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine associations between objectively measured walkable urban design attributes with Japanese older adults’ body mass index (BMI) and to test whether objectively assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior mediated such associations.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Participants: Participants were 297 older residents (aged 65-84 years) randomly selected from the registry of residential addresses.

Measures: Walkable urban design attributes, including population density, availability of physical activity facilities, intersection density, and access to public transportation stations, were calculated using geographic information systems. Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and BMI were measured objectively. …

Anticyclonic Eddy Edge Effects On Phytoplankton Communities And Particle Export In The Northern South China Sea, Lei Wang, Bangqin Huang, Edward A. Laws, Kuanbo Zhou, Xin Liu, Yuyuan Xie, Minhan Dai

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Anticyclonic Eddy Edge Effects On Phytoplankton Communities And Particle Export In The Northern South China Sea, Lei Wang, Bangqin Huang, Edward A. Laws, Kuanbo Zhou, Xin Liu, Yuyuan Xie, Minhan Dai

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Integration Of An Electrical Engineering Capstone Course With Social Justice And Global Studies, David Parent, Patricia Backer

Faculty Publications

A four course package (six units total) consisting of two general education (GE) classes and two electrical engineering capstone classes that are taught in a highly integrated manner, that not only meets university GE requirements, but also meets the new ABET criteria in which the need to address a societal need is embedded with design criteria. The prompts for the new integrated GE/capstone Assessment results are also presented, along with methods to increase student motivation for studying GE.

Using Satellite Remote Sensing To Study The Impact Of Climate And Anthropogenic Changes In The Mesopotamian Marshlands, Iraq, Reyadh Albarakat, Venkat Lakshmi, Compton J. Tucker

Faculty Publications

The Iraqi Marshes in Southern Iraq are considered one of the most important wetlands in the world. From 1982 to the present, their area has varied between 10,500 km² and 20,000 km². The marshes support a variety of plants, such as reeds and papyrus, and are home to many species of birds. These marshes are Al-Hammar, Central or Al-Amarah, and Al-Huwaiza. Freshwater supplies to the marshes come from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq and from the Karkha River from Iran. For this analysis, we used the Land Long-Term Data Record Version 5 (LTDR V5) Normalized …

The Impact Of The Deepwater Horizon Blowout On Historic Shipwreck-Associated Sediment Microbiomes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Leila J. Hamdan, Jennifer Salerno, Allen H. Reed, Samantha B. Joye, Melanie Damour

Faculty Publications

More than 2,000 historic shipwrecks spanning 500 years of history, rest on the Gulf of Mexico seafloor. Shipwrecks serve as artificial reefs and hotspots of biodiversity by providing hard substrate, something rare in deep ocean regions. The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill discharged crude oil into the deep Gulf. Because of physical, biological, and chemical interactions, DWH oil was deposited on the seafloor, where historic shipwrecks are present. This study examined sediment microbiomes at seven historic shipwrecks. Steel-hulled, World War II-era shipwrecks and wooden-hulled, 19th century shipwrecks within and outside of the surface oiled area and subsurface plume were examined. Analysis …

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 …

Exposure To Crude Oil And Chemical Dispersant May Impact Marine Microbial Biofilm Composition And Steel Corrosion, Jennifer Salerno, Brenda Little, Jason Lee, Leila J. Hamdan

Faculty Publications

The release of hydrocarbons and chemical dispersant in marine environments may disrupt benthic ecosystems, including artificial reefs, formed by historic steel shipwrecks, and their associated organisms. Experiments were performed to determine the impacts of crude oil, dispersed crude oil, and dispersant on the community structure and function of microorganisms in seawater (SW) and biofilms formed on carbon steel, a common ship hull construction material. Steel corrosion was also monitored to illustrate how oil spills may impact preservation of steel shipwrecks. Microcosms were filled with seawater (SW) and incubated at 4°C. Carbon steel disks (CSDs) were placed in each tank, and …

Measuring Student Mastery Of Sustainability Competencies, Vanessa R. Levesque

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Spatial Dynamics And Mixing Of Bluefin Tuna In The Atlantic Ocean And Mediterranean Sea Revealed Using Next-Generation Sequencing, Gregory N. Puncher, Alessia Cariani, Gregory E. Maes, Jeroen Van Houdt, Koen Herten, Rita Cannas, Naiara Rodriguez-Ezpeleta, Aitor Albania, Andone Estonba, Molly Lutcavage, Alex Hanke, Jay Rooker, James S. Franks, Joseph M. Quattro, Gualtiero Basilone, Igaratza Fraile, Urtzi Laconcha, Nicolas Goñi, Ai Kimoto, David Macías, Francisco Alemany, Simeon Deguara, Salem W. Zgozi, Fulvio Garibaldi, Isik K. Oray, Firdes Saadet Karakulak, Noureddine Abid, Miguel N. Santos, Piero Addis, Haritz Arrizabalaga, Fausto Tinti

Faculty Publications

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is a highly migratory species emblematic of the challenges associated with shared fisheries management. In an effort to resolve the species’ stock dynamics, a genomewide search for spatially informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was undertaken, by way of sequencing reduced representation libraries. An allele frequency approach to SNP discovery was used, combining the data of 555 larvae and young‐of‐the‐year (LYOY) into pools representing major geographical areas and mapping against a newly assembled genomic reference. From a set of 184,895 candidate loci, 384 were selected for validation using 167 LYOY. A highly discriminatory genotyping panel of 95 …

The Sabine Block, Gulf Of Mexico: Promontory On The North American Margin?, Peter D. Clift, Paul Heinrich, Dennis Dunn, Andrew Jacobus, Jerzy Blusztajn

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Vignettes: Implications For Lis Research, Allison Benedetti, John Jackson, Lili Luo

Faculty Publications

Vignettes, brief descriptions of fictional characters and situations, serve as a tool to study people’s lives, perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about specific situations. Although not widely used in library and information science (LIS) research, vignettes can depersonalize responses to controversial situations or behavioral responses related to abstract concepts when employed in focus groups, in-depth interviews, or surveys. We use two research projects, one focused on the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and one on the vocabulary used to describe library services, to discuss the strengths of vignettes and implications for LIS research.

Lower Dietary Inflammatory Index Scores Are Associated With Lower Glycemic Index Scores Among College Students, Yeonsoo Kim, Jie Chen, Michael Wirth, Nitin Shivappa, James R. Hébert

Faculty Publications

The association between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII^®), the glycemic index (GI), and the glycemic load (GL) is not known, although it is known that carbohydrates are pro-inflammatory. We aimed to measure the association between the DII and both GI and GL among college students. In this cross-sectional study, 110 college students completed a 3-day food diary, which was used to calculate the DII, the GI, the GL, and the healthy eating index (HEI)-2010. Least square means and 95% confidence intervals of the GI, the GL, and the HEI-2010 were presented per DII tertile using generalized linear mixed …

The Sabine Block, Gulf Of Mexico: Promontory On The North American Margin?, Peter D. Clift, Paul Heinrich, Dennis Dunn, Andrew Jacobus, Jerzy Blusztajn

Faculty Publications

© 2017 The Authors. The crust underlying the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, known as the Sabine block, is largely unknown as far as its origin and age are concerned. We date zircons in granite xenoliths and from pyroclastic rocks from the Prairie Creek lamproite pipe that penetrates the block. Zircons from the granites show U-Pb ages ranging from 1800 to 1600 Ma, quite different from adjacent Grenville or Gondwana-affiliated blocks. This age range correlates with rocks in the Yavapai-Mazatal terrane of North America, implying that the Sabine block could be a promontory to the continental core. The …

Examining The Impact And Influence Of The Leisure Science Literature, Mat D. Duerden, Michael B. Edwards, Michael C. Goates, Justin Dyer

Faculty Publications

This study explored the impact and influence of the leisure sciences literature through an analysis of highly cited articles. Discriminant function analysis identified whether articles had more exclusive impact inside or outside the field. Research themes and methodologies were examined based on these classifications. Results indicate articles with the greatest impact within the leisure literature tended to be quantitative studies drawing upon survey data and non-experimental designs focused on general leisure and outdoor/forest recreation. Articles with the greatest impact outside the leisure literature were more recent and focused on place attachment, psychological motivation, or community parks and recreation and used …

Biotime: A Database Of Biodiversity Time Series For The Anthropocene, Maria Dornelas, Laura H. Antão, Faye Moyes, Amanda E. Bates, Anne E. Magurran, Sarah R. Supp

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (Nefi): Facing The Challenges And Pathways Of Global Change In The Twenty-First Century, Pavel Ya. Groisman, Herman Shugart, David Kicklighter, Geoffrey Henebry, Nadezhda Tchebakova, Shamil Maksyutov, Erwan Monier, Garik Gutman, Sergey Gulev, Jiaguo Qi, Alexander Prishchepov, Elena Kukavskaya, Boris Porfiriev, Alexander I. Shiklomanov, Tatiana Loboda, Nikolay Shiklomanov, Son Nghiem, Kathleen Bergen, Jana Albrechtova, Jiquan Chen, Maria Shahgedanova, Anatoly Shvidenko, Nina Speranskaya, Amber Soja

Faculty Publications

During the past several decades, the Earth system has changed significantly, especially across Northern Eurasia. Changes in the socio-economic conditions of the larger countries in the region have also resulted in a variety of regional environmental changes that can have global consequences. The Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI) has been designed as an essential continuation of the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), which was launched in 2004. NEESPI sought to elucidate all aspects of ongoing environmental change, to inform societies and, thus, to better prepare societies for future developments. A key principle of NEFI is that these developments …

Comparison Of Ecosystem Processes In A Woodland And Prairie Pond With Different Hydroperiods, Daniel J. Hornbach, Mark C. Hove, Mira W. Ensley-Field, Matthew R. Glasenapp, Ian A. Goodbar, J. Douglas Harman, Benjamin D. Huber, Emily A. Kangas, Kira X. Liu, Molly Stark-Ragsdale, Long K. Tran

Faculty Publications

Shallow lakes and ponds constitute a significant number of water bodies worldwide. Many are heterotrophic, indicating that they are likely net contributors to global carbon cycling. Climate change is likely to have important impacts on these waterbodies. In this study, we examined two small Minnesota ponds; a permanent woodland pond and a temporary prairie pond. The woodland pond had lower levels of phosphorus and phytoplankton than the prairie pond. Using the open water oxygen method, we found the prairie pond typically had a higher level of gross primary production (GPP) and respiration (R) than the woodland pond, although the differences …

Quantity And Quality Limit Detritivore Growth: Mechanisms Revealed By Ecological Stoichiometry And Co-Limitation Theory, Halvor M. Halvorson, Erik Sperfeld, Michelle A. Evans-White

Faculty Publications

Resource quantity and quality are fundamental bottom-up constraints on consumers. Best understood in autotroph-based systems, co-occurrence of these constraints may be common but remains poorly studied in detrital-based systems. Here, we used a laboratory growth experiment to test limitation of the detritivorous caddisfly larvae Pycnopsyche lepida across a concurrent gradient of oak litter quantity (food supply) and quality (phosphorus : carbon [P:C ratios]). Growth increased simultaneously with quantity and quality, indicating co-limitation across the resource gradients. We merged approaches of ecological stoichiometry and co-limitation theory, showing how co-limitation reflected shifts in C and P acquisition throughout homeostatic regulation. Increased growth …

Climatic History Of The Northeastern United States During The Past 3000 Years, Jennifer R. Marlon, Neil Pederson, Connor Nolan, Simon Goring, Bryan Shuman, Ann Robertson, Robert Booth, Patrick J. Bartlein, Melissa A. Berke, Michael Clifford, Edward Cook, Ann Dieffenbacher-Krall, Michael C. Dietze, Amy Hessl, J. Bradford Hubeny, Stephen T. Jackson, Jeremiah Marsicek, Jason Mclachlan, Cary J. Mock, David J.P. Moore, Jonathan Nichols, Dorothy Peteet, Kevin Schaefer, Valerie Trouet, Charles Umbanhowar, John W. Williams, Zicheng Yu

Faculty Publications

Many ecosystem processes that influence Earth system feedbacks - vegetation growth, water and nutrient cycling, disturbance regimes - are strongly influenced by multidecadal- to millennial-scale climate variations that cannot be directly observed. Paleoclimate records provide information about these variations, forming the basis of our understanding and modeling of them. Fossil pollen records are abundant in the NE US, but cannot simultaneously provide information about paleoclimate and past vegetation in a modeling context because this leads to circular logic. If pollen data are used to constrain past vegetation changes, then the remaining paleoclimate archives in the northeastern US (NE US) are …

Parasite Biodiversity Faces Extinction And Redistribution In A Changing Climate, Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Eric R. Dougherty, Anna J. Phillips, Veronica M. Bueno, Christopher F. Clements, Giovanni Castaldo, Tad Dallas, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Jorge Doña, Nyeema C. Harris, Roger Jovani, Sergey Mironov, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Heather C. Proctor, Wayne M. Getz

Faculty Publications

Climate change is a well-documented driver of both wildlife extinction and disease emergence, but the negative impacts of climate change on parasite diversity are undocumented. We compiled the most comprehensive spatially explicit data set available for parasites, projected range shifts in a changing climate, and estimated extinction rates for eight major parasite clades. On the basis of 53,133 occurrences capturing the geographic ranges of 457 parasite species, conservative model projections suggest that 5 to 10% of these species are committed to extinction by 2070 from climate-driven habitat loss alone. We find no evidence that parasites with zoonotic potential have a …

Parasite Biodiversity Faces Extinction And Redistribution In A Changing Climate, Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Eric R. Dougherty, Anna J. Phillips, Veronica M. Bueno, Christopher F. Clements, Giovanni Castaldo, Tad A. Dallas, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Jorge Doña, Nyeema C. Harris, Roger Jovani, Sergey Mironov, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Heather C. Proctor, Wayne M. Getz

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved. Climate change is a well-documented driver of both wildlife extinction and disease emergence, but the negative impacts of climate change on parasite diversity are undocumented. We compiled the most comprehensive spatially explicit data set available for parasites, projected range shifts in a changing climate, and estimated extinction rates for eight major parasite clades. On the basis of 53, 133 occurrences capturing the geographic ranges of 457 parasite species, conservative model projections suggest that 5 to 10% of these species are committed to extinction by 2070 from climate-driven habitat loss alone. We find …

Assessing Re-Composition Of Xing’An Larch In Boreal Forests After The 1987 Fire, Northeast China, Junjie Wang, Cuizhen Wang, Shuying Zang

Faculty Publications

Xing’an larch, a deciduous coniferous species, is the zonal tree of the Greater Xing’an Mountains in Northeast China. In May 1987, a catastrophic fire broke out in the mountains and burned 1.3 million hectares of forests in 26 days. While studies have shown that forest greenness has come back to normal in certain years, the re-composition of this zonal species has not been studied after the 1987 fire. With a series of Landsat 8 OLI images acquired in 2013–2015, this study builds the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Green Vegetation Index (GVI) time series in a complete growing cycle. …

Metagenomic Identification Of Active Methanogens And Methanotrophs In Serpentinite Springs Of The Voltri Massif, Italy, William J. Brazelton, Christopher N. Thornton, Alex Hyer, Katrina I. Twing, August A. Longino, Susan Q. Lang, Marvin D. Lilley, Gretchen L. Früh-Green, Matthew O. Schrenk

Faculty Publications

The production of hydrogen and methane by geochemical reactions associated with the serpentinization of ultramafic rocks can potentially support subsurface microbial ecosystems independent of the photosynthetic biosphere. Methanogenic and methanotrophic microorganisms are abundant in marine hydrothermal systems heavily influenced by serpentinization, but evidence for methane-cycling archaea and bacteria in continental serpentinite springs has been limited. This report provides metagenomic and experimental evidence for active methanogenesis and methanotrophy by microbial communities in serpentinite springs of the Voltri Massif, Italy. Methanogens belonging to family Methanobacteriaceae and methanotrophic bacteria belonging to family Methylococcaceae were heavily enriched in three ultrabasic springs (pH 12). Metagenomic …

Applying Population And Community Ecology Theory To Advance Understanding Of Belowground Biogeochemistry, Robert W. Buchkowski, Mark A. Bradford, A. Stuart Grandy, Oswald J. Schmitz, William R. Wieder

Faculty Publications

Approaches to quantifying and predicting soil biogeochemical cycles mostly consider microbial biomass and community composition as products of the abiotic environment. Current numerical approaches then primarily emphasise the importance of microbe–environment interactions and physiology as controls on biogeochemical cycles. Decidedly less attention has been paid to understanding control exerted by community dynamics and biotic interactions. Yet a rich literature of theoretical and empirical contributions highlights the importance of considering how variation in microbial population ecology, especially biotic interactions, is related to variation in key biogeochemical processes like soil carbon formation. We demonstrate how a population and community ecology perspective can …

Marine Microalgae: Climate, Energy, And Food Security From The Sea, Charles H. Greene, Mark E. Huntley, Ian Archibald, Léda N. Gerber, Deborah L. Sills, Joe Granados, Jefferson W. Tester, Colin M. Beal, Michael J. Walsh, Robert R. Bidigare, Susan L. Brown, William P. Cochlan, Zackary I. Johnson, Xin Gen Lei, Stephen C. Machesky, Donald Redalje, Ruth E. Richardson, Viswanath Kiron, Virginia Corless

Faculty Publications

Climate, energy, and food security are three of the greatest challenges society faces this century. Solutions for mitigating the effects of climate change often conflict with solutions for ensuring society’s future energy and food requirements. For example, BioEnergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) has been proposed as an important method for achieving negative CO2 emissions later this century while simultaneously producing renewable energy on a global scale. However, BECCS has many negative environmental consequences for land, nutrient, and water use as well as biodiversity and food production. In contrast, large-scale industrial cultivation of marine microalgae can provide society with …

Fluctuating Asymmetry In Two Common Freshwater Fishes As A Biological Indicator Of Urbanization And Environmental Stress Within The Middle Chattahoochee Watershed, William I. Lutterschmidt, Samantha L. Martin, Jacob F. Schaefer

Faculty Publications

Deviations in bilateral symmetry or fluctuating asymmetry of an organism may result under environmental stressors that reduce developmental homeostasis and stability. Anthropogenic stressors such as increased urbanization can negatively impact environmental quality of aquatic ecosystems. Researchers have stressed the value in finding easy, accurate and inexpensive methods for assessing potential stress within ecosystems. Here we use fluctuating asymmetry (FA) as a useful quantitative tool in assessing the environmental quality and potential urban-based stressors within eight creeks of the Bull and Upatoi Creeks Watershed within the larger watershed of the Middle Chattahoochee. Using Geographic Information System (GIS), we characterize land-use patterns …