Digital Commons Network^™

Geospatial Analysis Of Eastern Oyster Habitat And Disease In The Chesapeake Bay, Hannah Bradley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Crassostrea virginica, common name eastern oyster, in the Chesapeake Bay is currently at 1% of its peak annual landings in 1884 (600,000 metric tons). This decline is in spite of being considered a resilient species. Causes of the decline include overharvesting, disease, and habitat loss. While efforts have been made to combat each cause, the key element to recovering the population is coordinated habitat restoration. This study aims to develop a GIS-based habitat model for the eastern oyster in the Chesapeake Bay. The first goal of this study was to determine the water quality parameters necessary for successful oyster …

A Farm Bill To Help Farmers Weather Climate Change, Peter H. Lehner, Nathan A. Rosenberg

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The Farm Bill has an enormous impact on climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture account for almost 10 percent of total U.S. emissions and up to a quarter of all emissions globally. The Farm Bill encourages the use of carbon-intensive agricultural practices and products responsible for these emissions, but nonetheless offers several opportunities to quickly expand carbon sequestration, making it a critical piece of climate legislation. This essay will examine the climate impact of the Farm Bill, focusing on the commodity, conservation, and crop insurance programs. It then proposes politically feasible changes to these programs aimed at minimizing agricultural …

How Does Body Size Affect Zooplankton Feeding In A Low Oxygen Environment?, Jacob Mikullitz

Honors Scholar Theses

Zooplankton grazers are essential to reducing the impact of algal blooms, especially as they become more frequent in a warming world. The size of these grazers is important as it determines how much algae they are able to consume. This study aims to investigate how low water oxygen content, another likely outcome of climate change, will impact competition between zooplankton of different size. When zooplankton of different sizes were tested against each other at different dissolved oxygen levels, it was found the larger species could feed more effectively at low oxygen. This suggests even in a future with reduced dissolved …

Phenology Of A Southern Population Of Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus Ponderosae), Anne Elise Mcmanis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, Hopkins) is a major disturbance agent in pine ecosystems of western North America. Adaptation to local climates has resulted in primarily univoltine (one generation per year) generation timing across a thermally diverse latitudinal gradient. We hypothesized that this pattern in total development time is shaped by selection for slower developmental rates, altered developmental thresholds, or oviposition rates in southern populations inhabiting warmer climates. To investigate traits responsible for latitudinal differences we measured lifestage-specific development of southern mountain pine beetle eggs, larvae and pupae across a range of temperatures. We also describe and model …

2018 3rd Place: The Growth And Characterization Of Psychromonas Aquimarina, A New Model Organism For Climate Change, Carrie Carpenter, Catherine Santai

Harrisburg University Research Symposium (2018 & 2019)

Climate change is currently affecting the Earth and will only increase with time1. A change to the environment means that wildlife will need to adapt. Adaptation occurs when an organism changes physiologically or otherwise to permit continued growth in the environment in which it resides. Scientists do not completely understand adaptation mechanisms. Psychromonas aquimarinais a novel bacterium, with little known. This bacteria will first be characterized and studied before conducting temperature studies. Psychromonas aquimarina is a psychrophile, a bacterium able to survive in colder regions where most bacteria would not. P. aquimarinais an ideal bacterium to study because climate change …

Reframing Humans (Homo Sapiens) In International Biodiversity Law To Frame Protections For Climate Refugees, Jullee Kim

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Currently, application of international environmental law assumes that humans are separate from nature. Yet, the terminology commonly adopted for persons displaced as a result of climate change, “climate refugees,” represents the ultimate expression of the nexus where impacts from both natural and human systems coalesce. “Climate” represents the physical conditions appearing as a result of climate change and altering a person’s home to render it no longer habitable. While suitability of the term “refugees” in the climate change context is debated, it represents the political and societal conditions forcing the person to flee from their home, potentially across national borders, …

Phenological Mismatch In Coastal Western Alaska May Increase Summer Season Greenhouse Gas Uptake, Katharine C. Kelsey, A. Joshua Leffler, Karen H. Beard, Ryan T. Choi, Joel A. Schmutz, Jeffery M. Welker

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

High latitude ecosystems are prone to phenological mismatches due to climate change- driven advances in the growing season and changing arrival times of migratory herbivores. These changes have the potential to alter biogeochemical cycling and contribute to feedbacks on climate change by altering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) through large regions of the Arctic. Yet the effects of phenological mismatches on gas fluxes are currently unexplored. We used a three-year field experiment that altered the start of the growing season and timing of grazing to …

The Response Of Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata) To Interannual Climate Variation Changes Across Its Range, Andrew R. Kleinhesselink, Peter B. Adler

Ecology Center Publications

Understanding how annual climate variation affects population growth rates across a species' range may help us anticipate the effects of climate change on species distribution and abundance. We predict that populations in warmer or wetter parts of a species' range should respond negatively to periods of above average temperature or precipitation, respectively, whereas populations in colder or drier areas should respond positively to periods of above average temperature or precipitation. To test this, we estimated the population sensitivity of a common shrub species, big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), to annual climate variation across its range. Our analysis includes 8,175 …

Climate Change And The American West, John T. Abatzoglou, Lauren E. Parker

Idaho Law Review

Global climate change is a topic that has garnered much attention in recent decades from both scientific and policy arenas. This article provides a synopsis of the current state of the science, and reviews the challenges of climate change in scientific, policy, and public arenas. Secondly, we provide a review of observed changes in global climate with a more detailed view of climatic changes and their subsequent impacts on terrestrial systems across the American West. We specifically highlight studies published since 2014 that provide current insights to the collection of science on climate change; its impacts on the American West; …

Carbon Flux And Weathering Processes In Icelandic Glacial-Fed Rivers, Allison Quiroga

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An investigation into the carbon dynamics and weathering processes occurring in Icelandic glacial-fed streams was conducted during the spring to summer seasonal transition in June of 2017. Four major outlet rives were sampled from the glaciers of Gígjökull, Steinsholtsjökull, Sólheimajökull, and Falljökull. Markarfljót, the major river that Gígjökull, Steinsholtsjökull, and many other glaciers drain into, was also sampled. Longitudinal sampling occurred at all sites to capture downstream trends in the hydrogeochemistry and carbon dynamics. Distinct differences in geochemistry between glacier surface meltwater, sub-glacial waters, pro-glacial lake water, and post-mixed downstream samples were evident in the data. Glacier surface streams were …

Population Density And Spatial Distribution Of Abyssal Epibenthic Holothurians Using Fine Scale Time Series Imagery (2007-2017), Larissa Lemon

SNS Master's Theses

Holothurians are one of the most abundant megafauna observed in abyssal deep-sea communities and are important in the distribution of nutrients in the deep-sea. Despite their abundance and importance, there is little known about their natural history and population dynamics. These taxa respond to fluctuations in organic carbon supply, which originates as surface primary production and sinks through the water column. Previous studies have estimated population density and spatial ecology based on seasonal or monthly observations, that cannot detect fine-scale temporal changes. This study examines the rapid changes in population of 16 holothurian species observed at Station M, a long-term …

Global Environmental Change Effects On Plant Community Composition Trajectories Depend Upon Management Legacies, Michael P. Perring, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann, Lander Baeten, Gabriele Midolo, Haben Blondeel, Leen Depauw, Dries Landuyt, Sybryn L. Maes, Emiel De Lombaerde, Maria Mercedes Carón, Mark Vellend, Jörg Brunet, Markéta Chudomelová, Guillaume Decocq, Martin Diekmann, Thomas Dirnböck, Inken Dörfler, Tomasz Durak, Pieter De Frenne, Frank S. Gilliam, Radim Hédl, Thilo Heinken, Patrick Hommel, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Keith J. Kirby, Martin Kopecký, Jonathan Lenoir, Daijiang Li, František Máliš, Fraser J.G. Mitchell, Tobias Naaf, Miles Newman, Petr Petřík

Faculty Publications

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd The contemporary state of functional traits and species richness in plant communities depends on legacy effects of past disturbances. Whether temporal responses of community properties to current environmental changes are altered by such legacies is, however, unknown. We expect global environmental changes to interact with land-use legacies given different community trajectories initiated by prior management, and subsequent responses to altered resources and conditions. We tested this expectation for species richness and functional traits using 1814 survey-resurvey plot pairs of understorey communities from 40 European temperate forest datasets, syntheses of management transitions since the …

The Fragile Menagerie: Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, And The Law, James M. Chen

Indiana Law Journal

I. THE HIPPODROME OF THE GODS: RACING AGAINST ECOLOGICAL AND

EVOLUTIONARY APOCALYPSE....................................................................... 304

II. ACROSS THE APOCALYPSE ON HORSEBACK: LEGAL RESPONSES

TO BIODIVERSITY LOSS .................................................................................... 310

A. OVERKILL ........................................................................................... 310

B. ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES ..................................................................... 316

C. HABITAT DESTRUCTION AND PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT .................. 321

1. ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY .............................................................. 321

2. PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT..................................................... 325

III. THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: FROM PRIVATE LANDS TO

GLOBAL COMMONS .......................................................................................... 329

A. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT MECHANICS .............................................. 330

1. LISTING ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES....................... 330

2. CRITICAL HABITAT ..................................................................... 333

3. INTERAGENCY CONSULTATION .................................................... 333

B. HABITAT CONSERVATION ON PRIVATE LANDS...................................... 335

C. …

Our Rising Sea Of Islands: Pan-Pacific Regionalism In The Age Of Climate Change, Katerina Teaiwa

Pacific Studies

"Both Oceania Rising and the Climate Warriors represent postcolonial, antihegemonic movements that are grounded in contemporary customs, realities, and cultural identities, while simultaneously championing broader regional identities and unifying concerns. This essay tentatively explores these twenty-first century expressions of a shared Oceania in relation to earlier unifying concepts such as those expressed by the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara (1997) and Professor Epeli Hau‘ofa (1994)."

Anticipating Climatic Variability: The Potential Of Ecological Calendars, Karim Aly Kassam, Morgan Ruelle, Cyrus Samimi, Antonio Trabucco, Jianchu Xu

Sustainability and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Envh 7232 - Water Quality, Asli Aslan

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course is designed for graduate students and it will provide students with an introduction and overview of the key areas of water quality and health. Students will gain an understanding of the physical, chemical and biological principles of water quality, the potential impact on health of water pollution, and local, national and international environmental policies pertinent to water issues along with current treatment and remediation strategies to ameliorate pollution. The major topics include introduction to water quality and health; physical and chemical agents in water, emerging infectious diseases related to water quality, drinking and recreational water quality criteria, drinking …

Using Dialogue To Engage Agricultural Audiences In Cooperative Learning About Climate Change: A Strategy With Broad Implications, Julie E. Doll, Cheryl L. Eschbach, James Dedecker

Journal of Extension

Dialogue with stakeholders has been recognized as an effective educational strategy for addressing complex topics such as climate change. We report here on the Carbon, Energy, and Climate fishbowl discussion series developed by Michigan State University Extension to assist the state's agricultural community in understanding and adapting to the changing climate. Facilitated dialogue reduced barriers to communication and promoted cooperative learning for target audiences and the project team, generating useful information on the current status of climate change adaptation within Michigan's agriculture sector and revealing needs to be addressed by future Extension programming. Using a dialogue-based approach such as the …

Influence Of Black Mangrove Expansion On Salt Marsh Faunal Communities Of Eastern Coastal Louisiana, Christina Powell

LSU Master's Theses

The salt marshes along the Gulf of Mexico provide a critical habitat for many species, but their spatial distribution is changing, because Avicennia germinans (black mangroves) are expanding due to warmer winters. Currently, little is known about how A. germinans are used as habitat providing food and refuge for aquatic fauna. Therefore, the overall goal of this study was to determine how A.germinans expansion into the Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) marshes of Louisiana’s Mississippi River delta plain affects salt marsh-dependent organisms. This study analyzed three habitat types: Spartina-dominated, Avicennia-dominated, and a mix of the two, focusing on habitat use and …

Ecosystem Functional Response Across Precipitation Extremes In A Sagebrush Steppe, Andrew T. Tredennick, Andrew R. Kleinhesselink, J. Bret Taylor, Peter B. Adler

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Background

Precipitation is predicted to become more variable in the western United States, meaning years of above and below average precipitation will become more common. Periods of extreme precipitation are major drivers of interannual variability in ecosystem functioning in water limited communities, but how ecosystems respond to these extremes over the long-term may shift with precipitation means and variances. Long-term changes in ecosystem functional response could reflect compensatory changes in species composition or species reaching physiological thresholds at extreme precipitation levels.

Methods

We conducted a five year precipitation manipulation experiment in a sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Idaho, United States. We …

Climate Change And The Challenges To Democracy, Marcello Di Paola, Dale Jamieson

University of Miami Law Review

This Article explores the uneasy interaction between climate change and democracy, particularly liberal democracy. Its central claim is that climate change and other problems of the Anthropocene—this new epoch into which no earthly entity, process, or system escapes the reach and influence of human activity—expose and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities in democratic theory and practice, particularly in their currently dominant liberal form; and that both democracies’ failures and their most promising attempts at managing these problems expose democracies to significant legitimacy challenges.

Changing Rainfall Frequency Rather Than Drought Rapidly Alters Annual Soil Respiration In A Tropical Forest, Qi Deng, Deqiang Zhang, Xi Han, Guowei Chu, Quanfa Zhang, Dafeng Hui

Biology Faculty Research

Tropical forests play an important role in global carbon (C) cycling due to high primary productivity and rapid litter and soil organic C decomposition. However, it is still unclear how changing rainfall will influence soil CO2 losses (i.e. via soil respiration) in tropical forests. Here, using a rainfall and litter manipulation experiment in a tropical forest, we show that enhanced litter-leached dissolved organic carbon (DOC) production with increased rainfall frequency drives substantial CO2 loss via soil respiration. A 50% increase in rainfall frequency (no change in total rainfall amount) enhanced inputs of DOC by 28%, total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) by …

Indiana’S Climate Trends: A Resource For The Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Melissa Widhalm, Scott Robeson, Beth Hall, Mike Baldwin, Jill Coleman

Climate Change Reports

This white paper was developed by members of the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment – Climate Working Group. It describes historical observations and trends in Indiana’s climate over the last century.

Landscape-Scale Effects Of Supra-Seasonal Drought On Semi-Aquatic Snake Assemblages, Philip N. Vogrinc, Andrew M. Durso, Christopher T. Winne, John D. Willson

Biology Faculty Publications

Climate change is predicted to alter the frequency and intensity of precipitation events, placing stress on freshwater aquatic ecosystems and their associated wildlife. Thus, understanding interspecific variation in drought sensitivity and the repeatability of those responses across heterogeneous landscapes is critical. Semi-aquatic snakes serve important roles within aquatic ecosystems and several species are threatened. Yet, little is known about the effects of drought on semi-aquatic snake populations or assemblages. We systematically trapped 20 isolated wetlands in South Carolina before (2006) and after (2013) a multi-year supra-seasonal drought to determine drought-induced shifts in occupancy and detection for five semi-aquatic snake species. …

Cumulative Stress Restricts Niche Filling Potential Of Habitat-Forming Kelps In A Future Climate, Nathan G. King, David C. Wilcockson, Richard Webster, Dan A. Smale, Laura S. Hoelters, Pippa J. Moore

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Climate change is driving range contractions and local population extinctions across the globe. When this affects ecosystem engineers the vacant niches left behind are likely to alter the wider ecosystem unless a similar species can fulfil them.
Here, we explore the stress physiology of two coexisting kelps undergoing opposing range shifts in the Northeast Atlantic and discuss what differences in stress physiology may mean for future niche filling.
We used chlorophyll florescence (F_v/F_m) and differentiation of the heat shock response (HSR) to determine the capacity of the expanding kelp, Laminaria ochroleuca, to move …

Infrared Heater System For Warming Tropical Forest Understory Plants And Soils, Bruce Kimball, Auro M. Alonso-Rodriguez, Molly A. Cavaleri, Sasha Reed, Grizelle Gonzalez, Tana E. Wood

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The response of tropical forests to global warming is one of the largest uncertainties in predicting the future carbon balance of Earth. To determine the likely effects of elevated temperatures on tropical forest understory plants and soils, as well as other ecosystems, an infrared (IR) heater system was developed to provide in situ warming for the Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. Three replicate heated 4‐m‐diameter plots were warmed to maintain a 4°C increase in understory vegetation compared to three unheated control plots, as sensed by IR thermometers. The equipment was …

Temperate And Tropical Forest Canopies Are Already Functioning Beyond Their Thermal Thresholds For Photosynthesis, Alida C. Mau, Sasha C. Reed, Tana E. Wood, Molly A. Cavaleri

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Tropical tree species have evolved under very narrow temperature ranges compared to temperate forest species. Studies suggest that tropical trees may be more vulnerable to continued warming compared to temperate species, as tropical trees have shown declines in growth and photosynthesis at elevated temperatures. However, regional and global vegetation models lack the data needed to accurately represent such physiological responses to increased temperatures, especially for tropical forests. To address this need, we compared instantaneous photosynthetic temperature responses of mature canopy foliage, leaf temperatures, and air temperatures across vertical canopy gradients in three forest types: tropical wet, tropical moist, and temperate …

Juvenile Rockfish Show Resilience To Co2-Acidification And Hypoxia Across Multiple Biological Scales, Brittany E. Davis, Lisa M. Komoroske, Matthew J. Hansen, Jamilynn B. Poletto, Emily N. Perry, Nathan A. Miller, Sean M. Ehlman, Sarah G. Wheeler, Andrew Sih, Anne E. Todgham, Nann A. Fangue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

California’s coastal ecosystems are forecasted to undergo shifting ocean conditions due to climate change, some of which may negatively impact recreational and commercial fish populations. To understand if fish populations have the capacity to respond to multiple stressors, it is critical to examine interactive effects across multiple biological scales, from cellular metabolism to species interactions. This study examined the effects of CO₂-acidification and hypoxia on two naturally cooccurring species, juvenile rockfish (genus Sebastes) and a known predator, cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus). Fishes were exposed to two PCO₂ levels at two dissolved oxygen (DO) levels: ~600 …

The Perpetual State Of Emergency That Sacrifices Protected Areas In A Changing Climate, Dirac Twidwell, Carissa L. Wonkka, Christine H. Bielski, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Jacob Drozda, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Julia Johnson, Larkin A. Powell, Caleb P. Roberts

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A modern challenge for conservation biology is to assess the consequences of policies that adhere to assumptions of stationarity (e.g., historic norms) in an era of global environmental change. Such policies may result in unexpected and surprising levels of mitigation given future climate-change trajectories, especially as agriculture looks to protected areas to buffer against production losses during periods of environmental extremes. We assessed the potential impact of climate-change scenarios on the rates at which grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are authorized for emergency harvesting (i.e., biomass removal) for agricultural use, which can occur when precipitation for the …

A Look At A Water Exhibit In Appalachia, Megan Kruger, Sally Deskins

Text

Climate change is an oft-controversial challenge – even uttering that term can cause discomfort, especially in the heavily rural areas where land is central to living, such as Appalachia. Visual art exhibitions and creatively designed educational information have the potential to open minds and transform perspectives. We explored this idea through a recent collaborative, interdisciplinary project between the West Virginia Water Research Institute and the West Virginia University Libraries, two organizations that don’t read as necessarily creative in the hills of Appalachia.

Changing Climatic Averages And Variance: Implications For Mesophication At The Eastern Edge Of North America’S Eastern Deciduous Forest, Evan Kutta, Jason A. Hubbart

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Observed conversion of xerophytic warm genera species to mesophytic cool genera species in North America’s Eastern Deciduous Forest (EDF) suggests species composition is in disequilibrium with recent climatic warming. However, increasing annual average temperatures is an oversimplification of long-term climatic change and the importance of climate variance is often neglected. Seven-year moving averages and standard deviations of annually averaged maximum temperatures, minimum temperatures, daily precipitation, and vapor pressure deficits (VPD) in West Virginia, USA were quantified over a 111-year period of record (1906–2016). Maximum temperatures decreased significantly (−5.3%; p < 0.001), minimum temperatures increased significantly (7.7%; p < 0.001), and precipitation increased (2.2%; p = 0.107). Additionally, maximum temperature variance decreased (−17.4%; p = 0.109), minimum temperature variance decreased significantly (−22.6%; p = 0.042), and precipitation variance increased significantly (26.6%; p = 0.004). Results indicate a reduced diurnal temperature range and significant reductions in estimated VPD (10.3%; p < 0.001) that imply increased relative humidity, cloud cover, and soil moisture that may support increasingly abundant mesophytic cool genera species. Feedback mechanisms associated with extensive changes in land use, fire suppression, and browser population may have exacerbated climatic changes. Long-term assessments of changing climatic averages and variance are needed to ensure sustainability of forest ecosystem services, health, and productivity in a swiftly changing climate across the broader EDF region and similar temperate forest ecosystems globally.