Digital Commons Network^™

The Florida Beach Case And The Road To Judicial Takings, Michael C. Blumm, Elizabeth B. Dawson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld a state beach restoration project against landowner claims of an unconstitutional taking of the property. This result was not nearly as surprising as the fact that the Court granted certiorari on a case that turned on an obscure aspect of Florida property law: whether landowners adjacent to a beach had the rights to future accretions of sand and to maintain contact with the water.

The Court’s curious interest in the case was piqued by the landowners’ recasting the case from the regulatory taking …

Fourth Generation Environmental Law: Integrationist And Multimodal, Craig Anthony Arnold

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Institutional arrangements to protect the environment, manage natural resources, or regulate other aspects of society and the environment are not merely matters of optimal institutional design or choice. These arrangements result, at least in substantial part, from the evolution of interconnected social, legal, and ecological systems that are complex, dynamic, and adaptive. This Article makes the case that environmental law is evolving to become more integrationist and multimodal: using multiple modes and methods of environmental protection, often across multiple scales, but in integrated ways. Integrated multimodality is a feature of much of social life. Building on generational analyses of environmental …

Let's Face Facts, These Mountains Won't Grow Back: Reducing The Environmental Impact Of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining In Appalachia, Diana Kaneva

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Foraging Behavior And Risk Assessment Of Six Hummingbird Species In Monteverde, Costa Rica, May 2011, Emily Ellison

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The predation risk allocation hypothesis (RAH) theorizes that animals display more anti-predator behavior in high-risk situations, and should spend less time foraging in high risk situations. Hummingbirds are risk sensitive foragers, and this study examines whether several different species of tropical hummingbirds can assess risk, supporting the RAH. Hummingbirds were presented with feeder location and view obstruction risk situations, and their preferences and foraging behaviors were used to determine their ability to assess risk. This study indicated that hummingbirds have the ability to assess risk, although species differed in their ability depending on the type and severity of the risk …

Prey Preference Of Megaphobema Mesomelas (Theraphosidae) In Relation To Prey Abundance And Chemical Defense, May 2011, Brendan Boyer

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Food preference is an integral part of what defines a species’ niche. Predators within the arthropod community must be able to deal with a variety of anti-predatory defenses. Because spiders vary in their responses to prey defenses, it is difficult to predict how each spider species will cope with them. This knowledge is important because spiders are common in nearly all ecosystems. In this experiment, I studied the feeding preference of Megaphobema mesomelas, a tropical spider of the family Theraphosidae, in relation to the abundance of potential prey species and prey chemical defenses. I found that cockroach nymphs were the …

Terrestrial Invertebrate Community Composition As An Indicator Of Forest Regeneration, May 2011, Valerie R. Milici

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Forest regeneration will play an important role in the future of tropical biodiversity, as much has been lost to deforestation and continues to be degraded. Terrestrial arthropod composition in a community could be an indicator of succession level as arthropods are a highly diverse phylum and their short generation periods allow communities to adapt to changes much faster than plants or animals. This study tests the changes in community composition of terrestrial arthropods along a successional gradient. Pitfall traps were placed in four sites of varying regeneration, from farmland to old growth. It was found that abundance, species richness, and …

Foraging Efficiency And Polymorphism Of The Submajor Caste In E. Burchellii, May 2011, Nathan A. Sellers

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Army ants are superefficient in their retrieval of prey. There are four distinct worker castes in Eciton burchellii each important to the high efficiency of foraging. When prey is too large for an individual it is segmented by workers into manageable pieces then conveyed to the bivouac. Workers carrying prey were collected to determine the relationship between prey size and the worker(s) carrying prey as well as examine prey as an evolutionary pressure for selection of the submajor caste. Results show length and width are poor determinants of which caste is performing the retrieval task, as all castes are equally …

Bridge Building And Foraging Efficiency In The Army Ant Eciton Burchellii, May 2011, Daniel Brunelle

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Efficiency in food transport is vital for all organisms. Eusocial insects are efficient because of decentralized colony control, caste specialization, and unique behaviors. Bridge building in the army ant Eciton burchellii has been widely studied as a mechanism that augments prey transport efficiency. Little data exist on why bridges confer an advantage and how their dimensions facilitate rapid food delivery. It is also less well studied how efficiency on a bridge compares to the average efficiency of ant traffic on transport pathways that do not have ant bridges. Bridge lengths and widths were recorded and patterns were looked for between …

Behavior Of The Blue-Diademed Motmot (Momotus Lessonii) When Hearing Predator And Conspecific Calls, May 2011, Hannah Kornbrath

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Interspecific interactions between predators and prey have lead to a number of evolutionary adaptations that benefit predator and prey, such as pursuit-deterrent signals. These non-aggressive signals from prey to predator are advantageous for both: the predator wastes no energy on what would be an unsuccessful attack and the prey conserves energy by avoiding the need to escape. The blue-diademed motmot (Momotus lessonii) is a species that benefits from its pursuit-deterrent tail wag display, which tells predators that it is aware of their presence and is prepared to flee. The behavioral responses of M. lessonii in the Monteverde area to conspecific, …

Alimentación De La Vaca Seca, Fernando Diaz Royon, Alvaro Garcia, Kenneth Kalscheur

SDSU Extension Extra Archives

En condiciones ideales las vacas lecheras pro¬ducirían leche durante 305 días del año y per-manecerían secas 60 días (tabla 1). La alimentación para niveles de producción altos en realidad comienza durante este periodo seco o hacia fines de la lactancia previa. Con periodos de secado menores a 40 días no existe suficiente tiempo para la regeneración del tejido mamario lo que puede resultar en pérdidas de producción durante la lactancia siguiente de entre 20 y 40%. Periodos secos mayores a 70 días no prom¬ueven un aumento en la producción y pueden resultar en complicaciones al parto lo cual es costoso …

Nabokovilia: References To Vladimir Nabokov In British And American Literature And Culture, 1960-2009, Juan Martinez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The dissertation examines allusions to the Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov in the work of 147 contemporary cultural producers and – through this filter – the way in which allusion functions as symbolic capital in the field of cultural production. Critics have traditionally considered allusion a strictly localized phenomenon, but this approach – which draws upon the work of sociologists of literature such as Franco Moretti and Pierre Bourdieu, as well as the poetics of Gérard Genette – considers how a Nabokov allusion operates as an intra-authorial calling card, where Nabokov appears as an idealized, intransigent autonomous authorial figure in the …

Lead Concentrations In Extracted Primary Teeth Among Clark County Pediatric Patients, Jennifer A. Berger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Childhood lead poisoning is a completely preventable condition, yet only a small portion of children in Nevada are screened for elevated blood lead levels. In 2009 only 6.11 percent of children in Nevada were screened for lead indicating that Nevada would benefit from an alternative method of screening for childhood lead exposure. Deciduous teeth are not currently recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as diagnostic samples for the measurement for lead exposure. However, this unique and innovative detection method utilizes opportunistic samples that will contribute to the childhood lead poisoning prevention efforts in Nevada.

The objectives of …

After The Fall: The Post-Apocalyptic Frontier In The Road And 28 Days Later, Jeffrey J. Lavigne

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Previous scholars have identified three scenes of the American frontier myth: the sea, the west, and space. This evolution of frontiers reflected key changes in the expression of America’s cultural identity. While Janice Hocker Rushing called space “the final frontier,” the prominent place in contemporary society held by zombies and other minions of the occult hint at the emergence of yet another scene of the American mythos: the post apocalypse. In contrast to previous frontiers, which are defined geographically, the post-apocalypse is much broader, for in the wake of a global cataclysm, everywhere is a potential frontier. This decentralization of …

Summerview, Laura Breitenbeck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Summerview is a thesis-length work of fiction in fulfillment of the requirements of the MFA program in Creative Writing. It is a story about a religious family with a disruptive event in its past. It is also about objects such as billboards. Everyone in the story lives in the United States of America and is afraid of something.

Playing With Fire Or Arson? Identifying Predictors Of Juvenile Firesetting Behavior, Mary Ellen Britt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Firesetting is a complex behavior that spans a wide range of developmental stages in childhood and adolescence and involves varying motivations and intents. A better understanding of this destructive behavior is critical to developing strategies to control its devastating effects. The purpose of this research project was to identify potential predictors of juvenile firesetting behavior by studying youth who were enrolled in a regional firesetting intervention program. Data collected from firesetting assessment instruments completed by parents or guardians of program participants were examined. In the analyses, special emphasis was placed on evaluating associations between juvenile firesetting behavior and the socioeconomic …

A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Principal Communication And School Climate, Reece Oswalt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mixed methods triangulation research design was used in order to explore the relationship between principal communication and school climate. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) and interview protocols on principal communication were administered to principals and teachers at three elementary schools each having between 700-1000 students in an urban school district consisting of approximately 300,000 students. Each school had between 80-100% Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL), was designated Adequate according to No Child Left Behind Act (2001) as published in the 2009-2010 School Accountability Reports, and had a principal that had been assigned to that school for …

Estimating Wildfire Potential On A Mojave Desert Landscape Using Remote Sensing And Field Sampling, Peter F. Van Linn Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Landscape level wildfire prediction can be used to allocate wildfire resources and guide land management practices. Wildfire prediction in arid habitats in the Southwestern United States is of specific concern because of the negative ecological impacts of fire on desert habitats and the current lack of accurate fire prediction tools for such areas. This study examines the ability to predict previous fire occurrences and estimate future fire potential using satellite imagery and on the ground field survey techniques along with ignition potential data (lightning strikes and distance to roads), topographical data (elevation and aspect), and climate information (maximum and minimum …

Relationships Of Exotic Plant Invasions With Biological Soil Crust, Desert Pavement, And Soil Carbon In The Eastern Mojave Desert, Adria Decorte

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In a matter of 50 years, exotic annual plants have become widespread in the Mojave Desert, contributing to drastic landscape changes such as those caused by recent fires. Invasions by exotics threaten native Mojave Desert plant communities by altering community functions (e.g. fire regimes) and by reducing plant diversity. Because it is not practical, or even possible, to eradicate these exotics, developing effective prevention techniques is the key to controlling these invasions.

This thesis used a greenhouse experiment, a field experiment, and a correlational field study to examine the affect soil surface types have on the establishment of three exotic …

Safety Of Cervical Manipulation: Are Adverse Events Preventable And Are Manipulations Being Performed Appropriately?, Joseph Anders, Jessica March, Amber Perez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objectives: Documented case reports found in medical literature describing adverse events associated with cervical spine manipulation (CSM) were reviewed to determine if the CSM was used appropriately and if the events could have been prevented. Our hypothesis was that CSM had been used inappropriately and that adverse events could have been prevented. This study also looked to identify potential characteristics that may put the patient at risk for injury, or even death as a result of a CSM.

Methods: One hundred and thirty four cases, reported in 93 articles, published between 1950 and 2010, were reviewed. CSMs were categorized as …

Homocysteine: A Potential Molecular Link Between Alzheimer's Disease And Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Cyndel Carreau

Biological Sciences

In order to elucidate some of the mechanisms through which Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) are linked, this study investigated the effects of elevated plasma homocysteine levels – a risk factor for AD – in a rat model of T2DM. Both elevated plasma homocysteine levels and T2DM are associated with cognitive deficits and are recognized as strong risk factors for the development of AD. The present experiment examined the effects of diet-induced hyperhomocysteinemia on the development of cognitive impairments and insulin-resistance, as well as on the insulin signaling cascade, in a diet-induced obese rat model of …

Help Of Southern Nevada Analysis Project, Lauren Cella, Carly Dunlap, Jonathon Nunes, Anna Vaillancourt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

HELP of Southern Nevada (HELP), a not-for-profit agency, would like to expand their current services by operating a thrift store. It is anticipated that this thrift store would bring in additional revenue and also benefit their current programs. In direct conversations with the Chief Operating Officer of HELP, areas of concern were expressed regarding the implementation process of the thrift store. These areas pertained to size and location of their potential facility, staffing issues, and distribution priority of donated goods to their existing programs. Analysis was conducted through on-site interviews with other executives of Southern Nevada not-for profit thrift stores …

Analysis Of Rice Blast Resistance Genes In The National Small Grains Collection (Nsgc), Moytri Roychowdhury

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Identification of blast resistance genes in rice germplasm is one of the most important activities of rice breeding programs in worldwide. The objective of this research was to characterize two major blast resistance genes, Pi-z and Pi-b, in selected rice germplasm. A simple sequence repeat DNA marker, AP5659-1 linked to the Pi-z gene, and a Pib dominant marker derived from the Pi-b gene were first used to screen a rice core collection consisting of 1700 accessions estimated to represent 70% of the genetic diversity of rice in the US National Small Grains Collection. There were 131 rice germplasm accessions with …

The Role Of Indulgences In The Building Of New Saint Peter’S Basilica, Ginny Justice

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

New St. Peter’s Basilica is the second largest church in the world and considered by many to be the most beautiful. Built mainly during the sixteenth century, it took over a century to complete, and withstood corruption, wars, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, good popes and evil ones, and inched its way toward completion in 1626. The main funding for the early stages of building New St. Peter’s came from the sale of indulgences. Indulgences did more than help pay for the basilica, however. The abusive means of selling indulgences, including lies from priests and the papacy about their efficacy, resulted …

Analysis Of The Threat Of Genetically Modified Organisms For Biological Warfare, Jerry B. Warner, Alan J. Ramsbotham Jr., Ewelina Tunia, James J. Valdes

Defense and Technology Papers

This study seeks to better understand the evaluation of the potential threats posed by advances in biotechnology, especially genetically modified organisms and synthetic biology. It narrows the scope of consideration into two parts: defining a catastrophic biological attack focused on bioterrorism and that this attack would be restricted to the United States.

Optimal Foraging In Leafcutter Ants (Atta Cephalotes) Selection Of Leaves Based On Proximity To The Nest, May 2011, Robert O. Snowden

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The foraging tendencies of Atta cephalotes, a leaf-cutting ant, have been widely studied. Optimal foraging theory dictates that ants should maximize rate of energy intake while minimizing costs by harvesting from suitable food sources closer to the nest. However, actual foraging patterns are more disparate and do not always reflect optimal strategies. Here I measure harvesting rates and recruitment speeds at different distances from the nest of A. cephalotes colonies by offering six leaf disk samples every 15 minutes at 5, 10, and 15 meters from the nest entrance. Harvesting rate was significantly higher closer to the nest, with 54% …

Food Resource Density And Territorial Behavior Of Monteverde Cloud Forest Hummingbirds, May 2011, Sarah Sawtelle

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The determinants of territorial behavior patterns in aggressive organisms are not well understood. Hummingbirds provide an ideal model for studying territoriality as they exhibit obvious territorial behaviors that are likely to change in response to food resource manipulations. I studied trends in territorial behaviors of hummingbirds in response to varied food density. Observations were made on three different arrangements of hummingbird feeders: small: with twelve feeders in a 1m squared square, medium: with twelve feeders in a 25m squared square, and large: with six feeders in a 50m squared, 5x10m rectangle. There was no significant difference in the number of …

Mist Frequency And Butterfly Emergence From The Chrysalis: Implications For Tropical Cloud Forest Climate Change, May 2011, Lindsay Davies

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The cloud bank in Monteverde, Costa Rica is rising due to global warming. This is causing fewer misty days and is impacting the habitats of local organisms. Butterflies have been shown to be negatively impacted by moisture in terms of livelihood. Heliconius charithonia, a butterfly species occurring from 0-1200 meters, and Heliconius hecale zuleika, occurring from 0-1700 meters, were exposed to intermittent (five minutes mist, five minutes dry over the course of the day) and intense mist conditions (10 hours of constant mist a day) to measure the effect of mist on survivorship, days to eclosion, and development (in terms …

Nectarivorous Bat (Anoura Geoffroyi, Glossophaga Soricina And Hylonycteris Underwoodi) Preference For Nectar Quality, May 2011, Madeleine Parsell

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

In pollination mutualisms, plants offer rewards for pollen delivery. In the case of nectarivorous bats, the reward is food, and in order to maximize net energy gain, bats need to forage optimally. Presumably, nectar offering a more balanced diet would allow the bat more time to forage at flowers. To see if bats prefer nectars of higher quality, 24 individuals comprising three species of nectarivorous bats were presented with a variety of solutions of variable sugar type and amount, with and without additional nutrients, like proteins and amino acids. Preference was determined by number of visits to each solution type …

Associative Learning In Relation To Foraging Of Neotropical Stingless Bee Trigona, May 2011, Rebecca Johnson

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Organisms, if capable, will invest in learning when it results in the improvement of overall fitness. Learning ability may allow organisms to outperform competitors or better survive in a variable environment. Order Hymenoptera exhibits a broad spectrum of learning abilities, including landmark navigation, time-place learning, and associative learning. These abilities are fairly well studied in North American genera such as Apis, but remain relatively unexplored in Neotropical species such as those in the genus Trigona, an essential stingless bee pollinator of rainforest ecosystems. In this study, I test whether Trigona bees in Monteverde, Costa Rica possess the capacity to associatively …

Effect Of Resource Manipulation On Aggression In The Steely-Vented Hummingbird (Amazilia Saucerrottei), May 2011, Hannah G. Crane

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Amount of resource available for individuals within a species strongly influences levels of intraspecific competition. Aggression is a direct result of this competition. Aggressive behavior was studied in the Steely-vented Hummingbird (SVH, Amazilia saucerrottei) in normal and reduced resource treatments. The purpose of this study was to determine if reduction in resource availability affects amount of aggression in SVHs. Half of a resource (field of flowers) was covered with bug nets for an experimental condition. Number of chases between two or more hummingbirds was observed to quantify aggression. SVHs were significantly more aggressive with a limited resource, with anywhere from …