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Casco Bay Community Guidebook, Building A Resilient Future, Greater Portland Council Of Governments

Publications

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Trends In The 7-Day Sustained Low-Flow Time Series Of Irish Rivers, Ahmed Nasr, Michael Bruen

Articles

A combination of statistical hypothesis testing methods (Mann-Whitney, Mann-Kendall and Spearman’s rho) and visual exploratory analysis were used to investigate trends in Irish 7-day sustained low-flow (7SLF) series possibly driven by changes in summer rainfall patterns. River flow data from 33 gauging stations covering most major Irish rivers were analysed, after excluding catchments where low flows are influenced by significant human interventions. A statistically significant increasing trend in the 7SLF series was identified by all three tests at eight gauging stations; in contrast, a statistically significant decreasing trend was identified by all three tests at four stations. The stations with …

Exploring Historical Coffee And Climate Relations In Southern Guatemala: An Integration Of Tree Ring Analysis And Remote Sensing Data, Diego Pons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation makes use of a physical geography perspective to examine the relationship between agriculture and climate in Guatemala using dendrochronology. I examined the potential of high-resolution climate proxy data from dendrochronology to help fill in the gaps of past climate information to better understand the natural and anthropogenic variability of precipitation which, in turn, can inform Guatemala’s agriculture sector. This research has demonstrated successful cross-dating and climate sensitivity of Abies guatemalensis in the Pacific slope of Guatemala. Based on this, I have produced a 124-year record of mean precipitation from June-July-August. The mean precipitation from June-July-August at this site …

Differential Response Of Barrier Island Dune Grasses To Species Interactions And Burial, April Harris, Julie C. Zinnert, Donald R. Young

Biology Publications

Barrier islands are at the forefront of storms and sea-level rise. High disturbance regimes and sediment mobility make these systems sensitive and dynamic. Island foredunes are protective structures against storm-induced overwash that are integrally tied to dune grasses via biogeomorphic feedbacks. Shifts in dune grass dominance could influence dune morphology and susceptibility to overwash, altering island stability. In a glasshouse study, two dune grasses, Ammophila breviligulata and Uniola paniculata, were planted together and subjected to a 20 cm burial to quantify morphological and physiological responses. Burial had positive effects on both plants as indicated by increased electron transport rate and …

Climate Dynamics, Invader Fitness, And Ecosystem Resistance In An Invasion-Factor Framework, Stephen L. Young, David R. Clements, Antonio Ditommaso

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

As researchers and land managers increasingly seek to understand plant invasions and the external (climate) and internal (plant genetics) conditions that govern the process, new insight is helping to answer the elusive question of what makes some invasions successful and others not. Plant invasion success or failure is based on a combination of evolutionary and ecological processes. Abiotic (e.g., climate) and biotic (e.g., plant competition) conditions in the environment and plant genetics (e.g., fitness) combine in either decreasing or increasing invasion, yet it has proven challenging to know exactly which of these conditions leads to success for a given species, …

Blood Biofuels, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Habitat Use By Wintering Passerines In Fire-Managed Forests Along The U.S. Gulf Coast, Justin Michael Michaud

Online Theses and Dissertations

Coastal habitats are being impacted by land development, fragmentation, and disturbance related to climate change. The remaining natural areas need to use planned management that may, in some cases, include the use of prescribed fire to maintain habitat quality. Numerous species of passerines, including some with declining populations, use the Gulf Coast as a wintering area, and some depend on habitats managed by fire. To provide information for land managers, I studied the winter bird community at Naval Live Oaks in Gulf Islands National Seashore with two primary objectives: (1) to describe the distribution, abundance, and diversity of the non-breeding …

Political Ecology Of Medicinal Plant Use In Rural Nepal: Globalization, Environmental Degradation, And Cultural Transformation, Emily Dovydaitis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Prior to the advent of biomedicine, rural communities in Nepal relied on phytochemically active compounds in medicinal plants as their primary source of medicine; however, ethnobotanical practices have shifted over time due to economic, environmental, and sociocultural stimuli. Findings from 2016 fieldwork conducted in Dumrikharka, Nepal and Tutung, Nepal are compared to existing literature to describe the political ecology of medicinal plants in rural Nepal.

Anthropogenic climate change threatens individual plant species and ecosystem biodiversity. Globalized markets unabated by weak conservation programs place increasing demands on medicinal plants. As indigenous plants become overharvested and more difficult to access, Nepalis incorporate …

How Did Federal Environmental Impact Statements Address Climate Change In 2016?, Saloni Jain, Omri Klagsbald, Giovanna Leigh Crozier-Fitzgerald, Taylor Quinn, Elana Sulakshana

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

In partnership with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, this project surveyed 31 federal environmental impact statements (EISs) published from September through November 2016. The objective was to evaluate how federal agencies were implementing the guidance released in August 2016 by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on how to account for climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the environmental review process.

A Comparison Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Between Perennial And Intermittent Headwater Streams Of The Mattole River In Northern California, Usa, Mason S. London

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Intermittent streams are common throughout the world and comprise 60% or more of total river lengths in the conterminous United States. Despite their prevalence, intermittent streams are understudied, particularly first-order headwater streams, which are vital for maintaining the function, health and biotic diversity of river networks. In June 2016, I sampled five intermittent and five perennial headwater streams in the Mattole River watershed in northwestern coastal California, USA, to compare benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) assemblages between intermittent and perennial streams. BMI samples were collected using a 500µm mesh D-net at eight randomly located riffles along a 150-m reach, and then composited, …

Shifts In Thermal Habitats In The Gulf Of Maine Under Climate Change: A Case Study On American Lobster, Xinyi Zheng

Honors Theses

The rapid ocean warming observed in and predicted for the Gulf of Maine (GoM) raises uncertainties in the future distribution of American lobster (Homarus americanus). The location of lobsters is crucial to the long-term sustainability as well as management of Maine lobster fishery. This study provides a literature review of lobsters’ thermal preferences in the summer lobstering season and analyzes high-resolution sea surface temperature data in Geographic Information System in order to predict the changes in thermal habitats in the GoM under different climate change scenarios. The results show a projected decrease in cooler thermal habitats (11-15 °C) …

Twenty-First Century Climate Change And Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In A Temperate Estuary: The Case Of Chesapeake Bay, Thomas M. Arnold, Richard C. Zimmerman, Katharina A.M. Engelhardt, J. Court Stevenson

OES Faculty Publications

Introduction: The Chesapeake Bay was once renowned for expansive meadows of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). However, only 10% of the original meadows survive. Future restoration effortswill be complicated by accelerating climate change, including physiological stressors such as a predicted mean temperature increase of 2-6°C and a 50-160% increase in CO2 concentrations.

Outcomes: As the Chesapeake Bay begins to exhibit characteristics of a subtropical estuary, summer heat waves will become more frequent and severe. Warming alone would eventually eliminate eelgrass (Zostera marina) from the region. It will favor native heat-tolerant species such as widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) while facilitating colonization by …

Climate Change, Spruce Root Phenology, And Allocation Of Carbon Below- And Above-Ground, Marie Louise Orton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tree ring analysis has relied on a close relationship between climate and photosynthetically-derived stem enlargement. Lengthening growing seasons associated with climate warming have been predicted to enhance carbon sequestration as wood in trees, but this

Patterns And Drivers Of Carbon Fluxes In Temperate Forests, Andrew Ouimette

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite decades of carbon cycling research in terrestrial ecosystems, a complex suite of biotic and abiotic interactions make a complete understanding of the natural carbon cycle elusive. This thesis aims to advance our understanding of the carbon cycle, and stems from several ongoing projects aimed at quantifying carbon dynamics in forest ecosystems across a range of scales, with a specific effort to include both above and belowground components of forest ecosystems. I begin with a project using detailed chemical measurements on specific segments of root systems from two different tree species, in order to help refine methods that quantify the …

Global Gross Primary Productivity And Water Use Efficiency Changes Under Drought Stress, Zhen Yu, Jingxin Wang, Shirong Liu, James S. Rentch, Pengsen Sun, Chaoqun Lu

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Drought can affect the structure, composition and function of terrestrial ecosystems, yet drought impacts and post-drought recovery potentials of different land cover types have not been extensively studied at a global scale. We evaluated drought impacts on gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), and water use efficiency (WUE) of different global terrestrial ecosystems, as well as the drought-resilience of each ecosystem type during the period of 2000 to 2011. Using GPP as biome vitality indicator against drought stress, we developed a model to examine ecosystem resilience represented by the length of recovery days (LRD). LRD presented an evident gradient of …

Moving In Opposite Directions? Exploring Trends In Consumer Demand And Agricultural Production, Susan A. Schneider

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Climate Legislation And Litigation In Brazil, Gabriel Wedy

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Brazil plays a major role in the global fight against climate change, especially because of its vast forests. However, the amount of deforestation now occurring is in great dispute. Between August 2014 and July 2015, for example, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest increased by 215% according to Imazon Research Institute. Contrarily, according to the Brazil Government, the increase was only 16%.

This paper discusses the role that legislation and litigation are playing, and the roles they may and should play in the future, in combatting deforestation and other factors relevant to climate change in Brazil.

Effects Of Temperature And Precipitation On Giardiasis In Missouri, Lori Michelle Calderas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Global Climate Change has empirical evidence to support the idea that CO2 levels may be affecting weather and health, including rates of infectious diseases. The Midwest region of the United States of America has had the highest increase in giardiasis rates in recent years, and Missouri was chosen for this study as a representative state in the Midwest. There is no definitive answer as to why the rates of giardiasis have changed from 2003 - 2013. The Theory of Climate Change was used as the theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of this research was to determine whether temperature, …

Projections Of Temperature-Related Excess Mortality Under Climate Change Scenarios, Antonio Gasparrini, Yurning Guo, Francesa Sera, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Veronika Huber, Shilu Tong, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, Paulo Saldiva, Eric Lavigne, Patricia Correa, Nicolas Valdes Ortega, Haidong Kan, Samuel Osorio, Jan Kysely, Ales Urban, Jauni Jaakkola, Niilo Ryti, Mathilde Pascal, Patrick J. Goodman, Ariana Zeka, Paola Michelozzi, Matteo Scortichini, Masahiro Hashizume, Yasushi Honda, Magali Hurtado-Diaz, Julio Cruz, Xerxes Seposo, Ho Kim, Aurelio Tobias, Carmen Iniguez, Bertil Forsberg, Daniel Astrom, Martina Ragettli, Yue Guo, Chang-Fu Wu, Antonella Zaobetti, Joel Schwartz, Michelle Bell, Tran Ngoc Dang, Duong Do Van, Clare Heaviside, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Shakoor Hajat, Andy Haines, Ben Armstrong

Articles

Summary Background Climate change can directly affect human health by varying exposure to non-optimal outdoor temperature. However, evidence on this direct impact at a global scale is limited, mainly due to issues in modelling and projecting complex and highly heterogeneous epidemiological relationships across different populations and climates. Methods We collected observed daily time series of mean temperature and mortality counts for all causes or non-external causes only, in periods ranging from Jan 1, 1984, to Dec 31, 2015, from various locations across the globe through the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Research Network. We estimated temperature–mortality relationships through a two-stage time series …

An Analysis Of Long-Term Effects Of Climate Change And Socioeconomic Activities On Grassland Productivity Of Inner Mongolia, Siyu Fan

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, researchers have recognized the complexity of the interactions between the ecological system and the economic development of human society. However, the complicated relationships overwhelm traditional statistical procedures and require an innovative approach to investigate their dynamics. We proposed this study to provide a unique perspective in analyzing the long-term causal relationships between the grassland productivity, climate change, and socioeconomic development of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) of China. Our attempt began with acquiring remotely sensed satellite imagery, climatic variations, and aggregated annual reports of the socio-economy of the IMAR in vegetation growing seasons for 15 years. The …

The Biology Of Climate Change: The Effects Of Changing Climate On Migrating And Over-Wintering Species At A High-Elevation Field Station, Carrie A. Wu, Ellwein Amy

Biology Faculty Publications

Students engage with long-term environmental and phenology data sets (spanning over 40 years) collected at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, a high-elevation field station in Colorado, to explore the effects of climate change on the phenology of migrating and hibernating species. After becoming familiar with the geographic context, people involved with the data collection, and organisms studied through background readings and videos, students explore the raw data set in Excel or using an interactive data visualization tool. In small groups, students reproduce figures and regressions from Inouye et al. (2000) based on those data, then expand their analyses with data …

Testing Alternative Hypotheses For The Cause Of Population Declines: The Case Of The Red-Headed Woodpecker, Walter D. Koenig, Eric L. Walters, Paul G. Rodewald

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) has experienced strong population declines during the past 3 decades. Using North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) data, we investigated 4 hypotheses that may explain this decline, including: (1) interspecific competition with native Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) and nonnative European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris); (2) predation by Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) and Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus); (3) climate change; and (4) changes in forested area within their range. In analyses of both the breeding and overwintering periods, our results indicated …

Moose Density, Habitat, And Winter Tick Epizootics In A Changing Climate, Kyle Ball

Master's Theses and Capstones

Unregulated hunting and habitat loss led to a near extirpation of moose (Alces alces) in New Hampshire in the 1800s. After state protection in 1901, the estimated population increased slowly to ~500 moose in 1977, then increased rapidly in the next 2 decades to ~7500 following an increase in browse habitat created by spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) and related timber salvage operations, and then halved from 1998-2016 despite highly available optimal habitat. The declining population was partially related to the specific management objective to reduce moose-vehicle collisions, and a possible change in deer hunter and moose behavior that influence population …

Understanding Community Character As A Socio-Ecological Framework To Enhance Local-Scale Adaptation: An Interdisciplinary Case Study From Rural Northwest Connecticut, Joanna Wozniak-Brown

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Around the world, municipalities are facing new challenges, not the least of which is climate change. This is especially true for rural communities that, for a variety of reasons, will be disproportionately affected by the climatic changes and accompanying policies or programs.

This dissertation, written in manuscript-style, integrates climate change and social-ecological scholarship to address the unique character of rural communities, to communicate the complexity of rural identity through the term "rural character"; and to empower rural communities to incorporate adaptation strategies into their daily municipal operations and planning.

Specifically, this dissertation seeks to answer the following questions: What is …

Enter Sandman: The Viability Of Environmental Personhood To Us Soil Conservation Efforts, Thomas E. Johnson

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The US agricultural system relies on healthy soil for economic and environmental stability. The federal government established soil conservation efforts following the Dust Bowl, and state and local entities later developed legal tools to supplement soil conservation. These efforts, however, are insufficient to protect the nation's soil in the face of a changing climate. Conservation techniques are available that could substantially mitigate the effects of climate change, but the federal government lacks the tools to encourage their uniform adoption. The rigidity of prior state efforts, moreover, has disabled some landowners from adapting conservation lands to modern challenges. This Note recommends …

Climate Change Crisis: Prescribing Alternative Economic Policy Using An Austrian Framework, Elina N. Mcgill

Honors Program Theses

This paper reviews the literature surrounding climate change adaptation and mitigation to assess the possible contributions and limitations of heterodox economics to climate change policy. Through interdisciplinary research between economics and environmental issues, this paper aims to stress the importance of utilizing heterodox schools of economics to create more pragmatic and dynamic policy. The secondary aim is to use Austrian frameworks to contribute to the construction of feasible, efficient, and equitable climate change policy. This paper used qualitative and textual analysis of the Austrian schools of economics conceptualize possible policy responses to climate change. Research found that the Austrian prescription …

Effects Of Small-Scale Turbulence On Phytoplankton Growth And Metabolism, Wilton Gray Burns

Master's Theses and Capstones

Our current understanding of how turbulence affects small planktonic organisms is based on fluid dynamic theory, ocean models, and laboratory experiments that often have conflicting results. Atmospheric models predict that global temperature rise associated with climate change will affect turbulence patterns within the marine photic zone, where phytoplankton reside. To investigate how small-scale turbulence affects growth (growth rates, cell counts and extracted chlorophyll, and nutrient quotas) and metabolism (production of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP)) of marine primary producers, phytoplankton in monoculture and natural assemblages were incubated under a range of turbulent treatments. Results indicate that early in exponential growth of …

Climate Change And The Threat Of Novel Marine Predators In Antarctica, Kathryn E. Smith, Richard B. Aronson, Brittan V. Steffel, Margaret O. Amsler, Sven Thatje, Hanumant Pratap Singh, Jeffrey S. Anderson, Cecilia J. Brothers, Alastair Brown, Daniel S. Ellis, J. N. Havenhand, W. R. James, P.-O. Moksnes, A. W. Randolph, T. Sayre-Mccord, J. B. Mcclintock

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Historically low temperatures have severely limited skeleton-breaking predation on the Antarctic shelf, facilitating the evolution of a benthic fauna poorly defended against durophagy. Now, rapid warming of the Southern Ocean is restructuring Antarctic marine ecosystems as conditions become favorable for range expansions. Populations of the lithodid crab Paralomis birsteini currently inhabit some areas of the continental slope off Antarctica. They could potentially expand along the slope and upward to the outer continental shelf, where temperatures are no longer prohibitively low. We identified two sites inhabited by different densities of lithodids in the slope environment along the western Antarctic Peninsula. Analysis …

Repeated Thermal Stress, Shading, And Directional Selection In The Florida Reef Tract, Robert Van Woesik, Kelly R. Mccaffrey

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Over the last three decades reef corals have been subjected to an unprecedented frequency and intensity of thermal-stress events, which have led to extensive coral bleaching, disease, and mortality. Over the next century, the climate is predicted to drive sea-surface temperatures to even higher levels, consequently increasing the risk of mass bleaching and disease outbreaks. Yet, there is considerable temporal and spatial variation in coral bleaching and in disease prevalence. Using data collected from 2,398 sites along the Florida reef tract from 2005 to 2015, this study examined the temporal and spatial patterns of coral bleaching and disease in relation …

Genotype × Environment × Management: Implications For Selection To Heat Stress Tolerance And Nitrogen Use Efficiency In Soft Red Winter Wheat, Kathleen Russell

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The complex interaction of genetics, environment and management in determination of crop yields can interfere with selection progress in breeding programs. Specifically, the impact on selection for nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under changing climatic conditions can be confounded by these interactions. Temperature increases for the southeastern United States are projected to range from 1-3°C by 2050 with nighttime temperatures increasing more rapidly than day temperatures. High temperatures are known to affect crop development and breeding for tolerance to heat stress is difficult to achieve in field environments. We utilized a multi-environment trial to assess …