Digital Commons Network^™

Projected Climate-Induced Faunal Change In The Western Hemisphere, Joshua J. Lawler, Sarah L. Shafer, Denis White, Peter Kareiva, Edwin P. Maurer, Andrew R. Blaustein, Patrick J. Bartlein

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Climate change is predicted to be one of the greatest drivers of ecological change in the coming century. Increases in temperature over the last century have clearly been linked to shifts in species distributions. Given the magnitude of projected future climatic changes, we can expect even larger range shifts in the coming century. These changes will, in turn, alter ecological communities and the functioning of ecosystems. Despite the seriousness of predicted climate change, the uncertainty in climate-change projections makes it difficult for conservation managers and planners to proactively respond to climate stresses. To address one aspect of this uncertainty, we …

From Cells To Coastlines: How Can We Use Physiology To Forecast The Impacts Of Climate Change?, Brian Helmuth

Faculty Publications

The interdisciplinary fields of conservation physiology, macrophysiology, and mechanistic ecological forecasting have recently emerged as means of integrating detailed physiological responses to the broader questions of ecological and evolutionary responses to global climate change. Bridging the gap between large-scale records of weather and climate (as measured by remote sensing platforms, buoys and ground-based weather stations) and the physical world as experienced by organisms (niche-level measurements) requires a mechanistic understanding of how ‘environmental signals’ (parameters such as air, surface and water temperature, food availability, water flow) are translated into signals at the scale of the organism or cell (e.g. body temperature, …

Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth’s fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious scarcity. Among others, consequences are likely to include severe flooding, extreme droughts, and meandering border-rivers. This, in turn, will affect human migration patterns, population growths, agricultural activities, economic development, and the environment. This article explores the impact that climate change will have on regional and global freshwater resources and the resulting legal and policy implications that …

Crop Updates 2009 - Farming Systems, Derk Bakker, Grey Poulish, Steve Lacy, Svetlana Micic, Peter Mangano, Tony Dore, Alan Lord, Vivien Vanstone, Helen Hunter, Sean Kelly, W. K. Anderson, Gary Lang, David Mccarthy, Ruhi Ferdowsian, Ian Rose, Andrew Van Burgel, David Ferris, Rob Grima, Natalie Hogg, John Davis, Jarrad Martin, Pippa Michael, Robert Belford, Kawsar P. Salam, Roy Murray-Prior, David Bowran, Moin U. Salam, Tim Scanlon, Len Wade, Megan Ryan, Megan Abrahams, Chad Reynolds, Caroline Peek, Dennis Van Gool, Kari-Lee Falconer, Daniel Gardiner, Geoff Anderson, Siva Sivapalan, Tim Mcclelland, James Hunt, Zvi Hochman, Bill Long, Dean Holzworth, Anthony Whitbread, Stephen Van Rees, Peter Devoil, Yvette Oliver, Michael Robertson, Peter Stone

Crop Updates

This session covers nineteen papers from different authors:

Decision support technology

1. The use of high resolution imagery in broad acre cropping, Derk Bakker and Grey Poulish, Department of Agriculture and Food

2. Spraywise decisions – online spray applicatiors planning tool, Steve Lacy, Nufarm Australia Ltd

3. Testing for redlegged earthmite resistance in Western Australia, Svetlana Micic, Peter Mangano, Tony Dore and Alan Lord, Department of Agriculture and Food

4. Screening cereal, canola and pasture cultivars for Root Lesion Nematode (Pratylenchus neglectus), Vivien Vanstone, Helen Hunter and Sean Kelly,Department of Agriculture and Food

Farming Systems Research

5. …

The Grizzly, February 10, 2009, Kristi Blust, Gabrielle Poretta, Gianna Paone, Roger Lee, Caitlin Dalik, Liz Kilmer, Serena Mithboakar, Laurel Salvo, Christopher Schaeffer, Zach Shamberg, Kevin Bendis, Frank Martin, Danielle Chmelewski

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Caught That Nasty Cold Bug? The Solution May Lie in the Gym, not the Pharmacy • The Black in History: Three Part Series • V-Day is not Just the Day of St. Valentine • Verizon Grant to Support ESL Program • Biology of Love • Teaching Assistants Spotlight Series: Cemile Tat • SIFE: Advice from Ursinus Alumni • Opinions: Environment in Crisis: Is Ursinus Preparing Students Well Enough? • Men's Basketball Captain Looks Fondly On His Four Years • Tumbles and Acrobatics: From Toddlerhood to Adulthood

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

• Ayers' Visit Canceled; University Cites Financial and Security Issues
• Briefs
• Opinions
• News
• Features
• Classifieds
• Sports

Status, Trends, And Conservation Of Eelgrass In Atlantic Canada And The Northeastern United States: Workshop Report, Hilary A. Neckles, Al R. Hanson, Phil Colarusso, Robert N. Buchsbaum, Fred T. Short

Publications

Eelgrass (Zostera marina L) is the dominant seagrass occurring in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, where it often forms extensive meadows in coastal and estuarine areas. Eelgrass beds are extremely productive and provide many valuable ecological functions and ecosystem services. They serve as critical feeding and nursery habitat for a wide variety of commercially and recreationally important fish and shellfish and as feeding areas for waterfowl and other waterbirds. Eelgrass detritus is also transported considerable distances to fuel offshore food webs. In addition, eelgrass beds stabilize bottom sediments, dampen wave energy, absorb nutrients from surrounding waters, and retain …

Climate Change And The World’S “Sacred Sea”—Lake Baikal, Siberia, Marianne V. Moore, Stephanie E. Hampton, Lyubov R. Izmest'eva, Eugene A. Silow, Ekaterina V. Peshkova, Boris K. Pavlov

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Lake Baikal—the world's largest, oldest, and most biotically diverse lake—is responding strongly to climate change, according to recent analyses of water temperature and ice cover. By the end of this century, the climate of the Baikal region will be warmer and wetter, particularly in winter. As the climate changes, ice cover and transparency, water temperature, wind dynamics and mixing, and nutrient levels are the key abiotic variables that will shift, thus eliciting many biotic responses. Among the abiotic variables, changes in ice cover will quite likely alter food-web structure and function most because of the diverse ways in which ice …

Aquilegia, Vol. 33 No. 1, Spring 2009, Newsletter Of The Colorado Native Plant Society, Leo P. Bruederle, Koren Nydick, Marilyn Ritter Colyer, Jan Loechell Turner, Jenny Neale, Scott Dressel-Martin, Al Schneider, Susan Smith

Aquilegia - Colorado Native Plant Society

No abstract provided.

Standing And Future Generations: Does Massachusetts V. Epa Open Standing For Generations To Come?, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Many issues, especially potential environmental catastrophes caused by climate change, affect not just the living, but also future generations. The bias in our political system against addressing the interests of future generations poses serious obstacles in solving long-term environmental problems such as global warming. Because future generations cannot vote, unelected federal judges are more suited to protect their interests than the political branches.

An important question is whether anyone has standing to sue on behalf of future generations in the federal courts. The Supreme Court's Article III standing test requires plaintiffs to demonstrate that they have personally suffered an injury …

How Do We Come To Know? Exploring Maple Syrup Production And Climate Change In Near North Ontario, Brenda Murphy, Annette Chrétien, Laura J. Brown

Geography

This paper reports on a pilot project exploring the impacts of climate change on maple syrup production in understudied near north, Ontario spaces. Maple syrup is produced by settler, Métis and First Nations communities for commercial distribution and as part of a mixed subsistence economy. The focus on maple syrup is opportune, since syrup production and sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) are extremely susceptible to climate change and the biophysical and social impacts of climate change on maple syrup production in the near north of Ontario have yet to be understood. Given that the process of developing research …

The Missing Instrument: Dirty Input Limits, David M. Driesen, Amy Sinden

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

This article evaluates an environmental protection instrument that the literature has hitherto largely overlooked, Dirty Input Limits (DILs), quantitative limits on the inputs that cause pollution. DILs provide an alternative to cumbersome output-based emissions trading and performance standards. DILs have played a role in some of the world's most prominent environmental success stories. They have also begun to influence climate change policy, because of the impossibility of imposing an output-based cap on transport emissions. We evaluate DILs' administrative advantages, efficiency, dynamic properties, and capacity to better integrate environmental protection efforts. DILs, we show, not only have significant advantages that make …

An Hsus Report: The Implications Of Farm Animal-Based Bioenergy Production, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

As the current and potential impacts of climate change become more evident and increasingly urgent, entities such as governments, corporations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are seeking out non-fossil fuelbased sources of energy to mitigate those effects. In addition, many governments are investigating ways to promote their own domestic energy sources as a result of rising oil prices. Bioenergy—made from recently living organic matter, such as plants, agricultural waste and crop residue, meat processing wastes, or farmed animals’ fats and manure—has quickly become one of the fastest growing, and controversial, alternative energy sources. Globally, production of biofuels, generally used for transport, …

Interactive Effects Of Warming And Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition On Plant Net Productivity And Species Composition In A Temperate Old Field, Jennifer S. Hutchison

Digitized Theses

Both climate warming and atmospheric nitrogen deposition are predicted to alter plant productivity and species composition over the next century; however, the extent to which their effects may interact is unclear. I measured plant productivity and species composition in response to warming (winter-only or year-round) and nitrogen in a temperate old field. I used shoot allometric relationships and spectral data to estimate productivity non-destructively, and sampled root biomass destructively, throughout two growing seasons. In 2007 there were no treatment effects on plant growth. However, in 2008, both warming and nitrogen addition increased aboveground productivity, and these effects were additive, resulting …

Sustainability In A Time Of Climate Change: Developing An Intensive Research Framework For The Platte River Basin And The High Plains. Proceedings From The 2008 Climate Change Workshop, May 19-22., University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Office Of Research

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing a research partnership to better understand, adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change in the Platte River Basin and the High Plains. The Climate Change 2008 Workshop, “Sustainability in a Time of Climate Change: Developing an Intensive Research Framework for the Platte River Basin and the High Plains” was designed to inventory our mutual research strengths and resources in this area and to bring key stakeholders and decision-makers into the process to build further partnerships.

The native grasslands and farmlands of Nebraska comprise one of …

Could Litigation Help Torres Strait Islanders Deal With Climate Impacts?, Donna Green, Kirsty Ruddock

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Tension Between Hydroelectric Energy’S Benefits As A Renewable And Its Detrimental Effects On Endangered Species, Janet M. Hager

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Avoiding The Derailment Of Wind Power Development: Why Federal Siting Regulations Are Necessary Now For U.S. Development, Nathan Borgford-Parnell

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Environmental Litigation Standing After Massachusetts V. Epa: Center For Biological Diversity V. Epa , Andy Hosaido

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Adjudicating Climate Change, Scott M. Richey, Karla O. Torres

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Increased Pco2 And Temperature On The North Atlantic Spring Bloom. Iii. Dimethylsulfoniopropionate, Peter A. Lee, Jamie R. Rudisill, Aimee R. Neeley, Jennifer M. Maucher, David A. Hutchins, Yuanyuan Feng, Clinton E. Hare, Karine Leblanc, Julie M. Rose, Steven W. Wilhelm, Janet M. Rowe, Giacomo R. Ditullio

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

The CLAW hypothesis argues that a negative feedback mechanism involving phytoplankton- derived dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) could mitigate increasing sea surface temperatures that result from global warming. DMSP is converted to the climatically active dimethylsulfide (DMS), which is transferred to the atmosphere and photochemically oxidized to sulfate aerosols, leading to increases in planetary albedo and cooling of the Earth’s atmosphere. A shipboard incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of increased temperature and pCO₂ on the algal community structure of the North Atlantic spring bloom and their subsequent impact on particulate and dissolved DMSP concentrations (DMSP_p and DMSP_{d …}

The Use Of Aridity Index To Assess Implications Of Climatic Change For Land Cover In Turkey, Derya Önder, Mehmet Aydin, Süha Berberoğlu, Sermet Önder, Tomohisa Yano

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This study was carried out to determine the impacts of climate change on aridity and land cover in Turkey. Data for future (2070s) climate change, according to present conditions (1990s), were estimated from the prediction results of a regional climate model (RCM). The RCM, which was developed in Japan, is based on the MRI model. The potential impacts of climate change were estimated according to the A2 scenario of Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). Aridity index, the ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration, was computed by using measured data for the present condition and estimated data by the RCM …

Scaling "Local": The Implications Of Greenhouse Gas Regulation In San Bernardino County, Hari M. Osofsky

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Essay analyzes local climate regulation in San Bernardino County as a window into the complexities of defining a local scale in an interconnected world. In so doing, it aims to contribute to the Symposium's broader dialogue about "Territory Without Boundaries" and the Panel's more specific discussion of "Urban Territory in a Global World." As a purely territorial matter, U.S. cities and counties differ substantially in their sizes, the quantity and physical characteristics of their land, the size and density of their populations, and the needs of their citizens. Structurally, these localities remain administrative subunits of states, but they also …

An Analysis Of The Dismal Theorem, William D. Nordhaus

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In a series of papers, Martin Weitzman has proposed a Dismal Theorem. The general idea is that, under limited conditions concerning the structure of uncertainty and preferences, society has an indefinitely large expected loss from high-consequence, low-probability events. Under such conditions, standard economic analysis cannot be applied. The present study is intended to put the Dismal Theorem in context and examine the range of its applicability, with an application to catastrophic climate change. I conclude that Weitzman makes an important point about selection of distributions in the analysis of decision-making under uncertainty. However, the conditions necessary for the Dismal Theorem …

Primary Productivity And Water Balance Of Grassland Vegetation On Three Soils In A Continuous Co2 Gradient: Initial Results From The Lysimeter Co2 Gradient Experiment, Philip A. Fay, Alexia M. Kelley, Andrew C. Procter, Dafeng Hui, Virgina L. Jin, Robert B. Jackson, Hyrum B. Johnson, H. Wayne Polley

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Field studies of atmospheric CO₂ effects on ecosystems usually include few levels of CO₂ and a single soil type, making it difficult to ascertain the shape of responses to increasing CO₂ or to generalize across soil types. The Lysimeter CO₂ Gradient (LYCOG) chambers were constructed to maintain a linear gradient of atmospheric CO₂ (~250 to 500 µ 1^-1) on grassland vegetation established on intact soil monoliths from three soil series. The chambers maintained a linear daytime CO₂ gradient from 263 µ 1^-1 at the subambient end of the gradient to 502 …

Leaf Isoprene Emission Rate As A Function Of Atmospheric Co2 Concentration, Michael J. Wilkinson, Russell K. Monson, Nicole Trahan, Stanfield Lee, Erin Brown, Robert B. Jackson, H. Wayne Polley, Philip A. Fay, Ray Fall

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

There is considerable interest in modeling isoprene emissions from terrestrial vegetation, because these emissions exert a principal control over the oxidative capacity of the troposphere.

Genetic And Evolutionary Considerations In Fishery Management: Research Needs For The Future, Robin Waples, Kerry A. Naish

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Genetic methods have become indispensable for sound fishery management and will become even more so in the twenty-first century. Selectively neutral genetic markers are widely used in stock identification, mixed-stock fishery analysis, monitoring levels of genetic diversity within populations and levels of connectivity among populations, and for a range of other applications. We expect that future research will continue to provide incremental improvements in the number and type of genetic markers available, as well as in the methods for data analysis and the necessary computational resources. Topics that will merit special consideration include: (1) developing a better understanding of the …

Human Rights Implications Of Climate Change, David Hunter

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Tourism And The Law: Coping With Climate Change, Navamin Chatarayamontri

Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation addresses the critical relationship between the tourism sector and sustainable development, examining global trends and the problems they raise, exploring the current set of solutions being implemented, and offering some new ideas for better managing the relationship. Among these, the most important and comprehensive is the “Climate and Sustainable Tourism Model” a framework developed to encapsulate many of the issues explored in this dissertation and offering insights for policy makers seeking to develop better solutions. Moreover, this dissertation acknowledges the continuing importance of market-based solutions for harmonizing the development of the tourism sector with the demands of sustainability. …

Understanding How Disease And Environment Combine To Structure Resistance In Estuarine Bivalve Populations, Eileen E. Hofmann, David Bushek, Susan E. Ford, Ximing Guo, Dale Haidvogel, Dennis Hedgecock, John M. Klinck, Coren Milbury, Diego Narvaez, Eric Powell, Yongping Wang, Zhiren Wang, Liusuo Zhang

CCPO Publications

Delaware Bay oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations are influenced by two lethal parasites that cause Dermo and MSX diseases. As part of the US National Science Foundation Ecology of Infectious Diseases initiative, a program developed for Delaware Bay focuses on understanding how oyster population genetics and population dynamics interact with the environment and these parasites to structure he host populations, and how these interactions might modified by climate change. Laboratory and field studies undertaken during this program include identifying genes related to MSX and Dermo disease resistance, potential regions for refugia and the mechanisms that allow them to exist, …