Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Simulated Climate Change On Native Southeastern Grassland Vegetation Using Open Top Chambers, Makaila Carpenter

Theses

The southeastern United States is a critical biodiversity hotspot once covered in prairie grassland ecosystems and now facing significant threats due to urbanization, habitat destruction, over-exploitation, biological invasions, pollution, and climate change. This study analyzes the response of Alabama’s native prairie ecosystem to climate change. We used open top chambers (OTCs) to simulate climate change-induced warming. We assessed the response of ecosystem function and structure to higher temperatures (1-3^oC). The indicators of ecosystem function included phenology, leaf surface area (LSA), specific leaf area (SLA), and aboveground and below net primary productivity (ANPP and BNPP respectively). Ecosystem structure was …

Removing Methane Via Atmospheric Oxidation Enhancement: The Legal Framework, Romany M. Webb, Martin Lockman, Korey Silverman-Roati

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

To achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the increase in global average temperatures to “well below 2 degrees Celsius,” and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius, above pre-industrial levels, global greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions must reach net zero in the second half of the century. The global community is not currently on track to achieve net zero emissions. In fact, with the exception of a slight dip during the Covid-19 pandemic, emissions have risen steadily in recent years. This, together with the increasingly visible impacts of climate change, has prompted growing interest in the possibility of removing GHGs directly from the …

The Role Of Social Capital In A Fishing Community’S Adaptation To Climate Change, Endah Saptutyningsih, Romi Bhakti Hartarto, Wanggi Jaung

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Climate change threatens the livelihoods of many communities around the world, including fishing communities. Low catches of fish caused by climate change may have devastating impacts on fishing communities, particularly on those poor communities with a lack of preparation for climate change adaptation. This study investigates how social capital influences fishermen’s support for climate change adaptation. We conducted a contingent valuation survey in a fishing community vulnerable to climate change in Lamongan, Indonesia. Our study results reveal that fishermen’s trust in a person and their community involvement played significant roles in their support for climate change adaptation. These study findings …

A Comparative Review Of Soil Carbon Sequestration Methods In Brazil’S Agriculture, Skylar Cheng

Discussions

Brazil is under unique pressure to adopt sustainable agricultural practices due to its intricate biodiversity and globally dominant agricultural sector. Increasing soil degradation, agricultural land expansion, and rising levels of atmospheric carbon are nationwide concerns that require multifaceted solutions. Integrated agricultural systems, which rehabilitate soils through crop, forage, and livestock rotation as well as biochar—a carbon-rich soil amendment—can address such concerns. These sustainable farming practices improve carbon sequestration and soil fertility; however, uptake remains minimal due to environmental, economic, and policy barriers. Accordingly, this paper proposes a comprehensive model of integrated systems and biochar, in which the benefits of one …

Socio-Economic And Climate Change In Mongolia - Effects On Grassland Ecosystems, C Opp

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Mongolia, in combination with strong changes of the whole society during the past 76 years, from the feudal system to socialism and from the socialist system of planned development to the market economy, there are a lot of changes in the use of natural resources all over the country. In consequence of this a lot of effects on grassland ecosystems, caused by socio-economic and climate driving factors, were observed and studied in different scales: zonal, regional, local.

Long-Term Effects Of Co2 Enrichment And Temperate Increase On Forage Quality In A Temperate Grass, J F. Soussana, J M. Besle, I Chabaux, P Loiseau, P C. De Faccio Carvalho

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Perennial ryegrass swards were grown during two years at two N fertilizer supplies in elevated (700 ppm) or ambient atmospheric CO2 concentration at outdoor temperature and at + 3°C in elevated CO2. Elevated CO2 and temperature increase had only minor impacts on the digestibility and on the fiber composition of the cut material. On average, the water soluble carbohydrate concentration of the leaf laminae was doubled in elevated CO2, whereas a 3°C temperature increase reduced this concentration by 25 %.

Co2 Enrichment And Temperature Effects On Productivity Of Field-Grown Phalaris And Subterranean Clover, J M. Lilley, T P. Bolger, R M. Gifford

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Pure and mixed swards of Phalaris aquatica and Trifolium subterraneum were exposed to cool (ambient) and warm (cool +3oC) temperatures, at both 380 and 690 ppm CO2 concentrations in field temperature gradient tunnels for 5 months. In general, clover and the mixture had similar forage productivity in each treatment, while phalaris was less productive. Elevated CO2 increased clover production 40% in the monoculture and the mixture. Higher temperatures reduced clover regrowth at ambient CO2 and reduced the response to elevated CO2 in the monoculture but not in the mixture. In contrast, phalaris regrowth in the monoculture was not increased by …

Effects Of Climate Change On Grassland Production In Switzerland, J Fuhrer, M Riedo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A mechanistic model for productive grassland was used to simulate annual dry matter yield in relation to fluxes of C, N, and water, and to test the sensitivity to climate change and to elevated [CO2] (2xCO2). Local weather scenarios were derived from the results of two General Circulation Models (GCM) by statistical down-scaling. Annual yield increased by a maximum of 10% without 2xCO2 effects, by 1-16% in response to 2xCO2, and by 6-24% with the combination of climate change and 2xCO2. Decreased evapotranspiration and increased water use efficiency in response to 2xCO2 were partially offset by climate change. The simulations …

Enhancing Integrated Observation Network Of Multi-Spherical Interaction In Zoige Wetland And Source Area Of Yellow River Supports Protection Of Yellow River Water Tower, Xianhong Meng, Lunyu Shang, Zhaoguo Li, Shaoying Wang, Lele Shu, Hao Chen, Lin Zhao, Peixi Su, Yu Zhang, Shihua Lyu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

An integrated observation network for the energy-water-carbon cycle, with the Zoige wetland and grassland as the focus and covering the source area of the Yellow River (YRSR), has been established, which systematically revealed the characteristics of ecosystem evolution and carbon cycle in grassland and wetland ecosystems of the Zoige Plateau from the leaf-community-ecosystem-regional scales and its response mechanism to climate change, and accordingly, the ecological monitoring and restoration techniques for different types of degraded grassland based on the degradation of the alpine grass mattic epipedon were established, which significantly reduced the cost and enhanced the sustainability of the ecological management. …

Technological Challenges And Development Directions Of Ecological Security Barrier Construction In Yun-Gui-Chuan-Yu Region, Peng Cui, Yongping Yang, Genxu Wang, Bo Zhu, Xuyang Lu, Geng Sun, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Yonggang Ge, Jiao Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The Yun-Gui-Chuan-Yu Ecological Security Barrier is situated in Southwest China, encompassing the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Yunnan. It serves as a vital water source conservation area and a core zone for biodiversity protection for the Yangtze, Yellow, and Pearl River basins, playing a crucial role in China’s national ecological security. Since the 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, the region has made significant strides in water resource protection, soil erosion and mountain disaster control, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem restoration, resulting in noticeable improvements in environmental quality …

Building Climate Resilience With Local Tools, Shelley Saxer

Georgia Law Review

The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, celebrated the grassroots environmental movement that began in the ‘60s and early ‘70s and ushered in the creation of a new legal framework for controlling pollution and addressing environmental concerns in the United States. However, more than fifty years later, some experts fear that the environmental progress achieved during the ‘70s and ‘80s has begun to stall as the United States and other nations experience broad economic hardship and must shift their focus to more immediate concerns. Therefore, even as the damaging effects of climate change threaten communities across the globe, the …

Resilient Forest Management And Climate Change, Blake Hudson

Georgia Law Review

Climate change threatens the very existence of the world’s forests as temperature increases outpace forests’ ability to adapt. Society must implement adaptation policies aimed at making forests more resilient. This Article describes how we can better manage for more resilient forests by first detailing some of the scientific and policy complexity affecting our ability to do so. The Article then details the primary adaptation solutions for creating greater forest resiliency (reducing fire risk and integrating more climate resilient species into forests), some of the impediments to implementing those solutions (federalism, geographic and ecological differences in forests, and scientific unknowns), and …

Ecosystem Sentinels As Early-Warning Indicators In The Anthropocene, Elliott L. Hazen, Matthew S. Savoca, T.J. Clark-Wolf, Max Czapanskiy, Peter M. Rabinowitz, Briana Abrahms

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

We are already experiencing the rapid pace of environmental perturbation in the Anthropocene, necessitating the development of new tools and techniques for measuring changes in ecosystem dynamics. Sentinel species, from birds to invertebrates, have been used to provide insights into ecosystem function, as leading indicators of risk to human health and as harbingers of future change, with implications for ecosystem structure and function. Here, we offer an update to previous research identifying marine top predators as indicators of ecosystem shifts and examine terrestrial sentinels and the latest research on sentinels of pollution and human health. Using ecosystem sentinels enables rapid …

Wildfire Smoke Impacts Lake Ecosystems, Mary Jade Farruggia, Janice Brahney, Andrew J. Tanentzap, Jennifer A. Bentrup, Ludmila S. Brighenti, Sudeep Chandra, Alicia Cortés, Rocio L. Fernandez, Janet M. Fischer, Alexander L. Forrest, Yufang Jin, Kenneth Larrieu, Ian M. Mccullough, Isabella A. Oleksy, Rachel M. Pilla, James A. Rusak, Facundo Scordo, Adrianne P. Smits, Celia C. Symons, Minmeng Tang, Samuel G. Woodman, Steven Sadro

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Wildfire activity is increasing globally. The resulting smoke plumes can travel hundreds to thousands of kilometers, reflecting or scattering sunlight and depositing particles within ecosystems. Several key physical, chemical, and biological processes in lakes are controlled by factors affected by smoke. The spatial and temporal scales of lake exposure to smoke are extensive and under-recognized. We introduce the concept of the lake smoke-day, or the number of days any given lake is exposed to smoke in any given fire season, and quantify the total lake smoke-day exposure in North America from 2019 to 2021. Because smoke can be transported at …

Rock Glaciers In Utah, Scott Hotaling, Kendall Becker, Matthew Morriss

All Current Publications

Utah’s primary water supply––winter snowpack––is in decline due to climate warming coupled with more precipitation falling as rain instead of snow. As snowpack dwindles, other sources of cold stream water, such as rock glaciers, will become more important. Rock glaciers contain significant volumes of internal ice covered by debris. This internal ice provides cold meltwater to mountain streams, sustaining flows in summer and supporting biodiversity. Rock glaciers are common in Utah’s mountains and are projected to be more stable under climate change than Utah’s snowpack. Thus, rock glaciers are likely to persist in their current form even as snowpack volumes …

Tree Rings Reveal The Transient Risk Of Extinction Hidden Inside Climate Envelope Forecasts, Margaret E. K. Evans, Sharmila M. N. Dey, Kelly A. Heilman, John R. Tipton, R. Justin Derose, Stefan Klesse, Emily L. Schultz, John D. Shaw

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Given the importance of climate in shaping species' geographic distributions, climate change poses an existential threat to biodiversity. Climate envelope modeling, the predominant approach used to quantify this threat, presumes that individuals in populations respond to climate variability and change according to species-level responses inferred from spatial occurrence data—such that individuals at the cool edge of a species' distribution should benefit from warming (the "leading edge"), whereas individuals at the warm edge should suffer (the "trailing edge"). Using 1,558 tree-ring time series of an aridland pine (Pinus edulis) collected at 977 locations across the species' distribution, we found …

Predicting Seagrass Ecosystem Resilience To Marine Heatwave Events Of Variable Duration, Frequency And Re-Occurrence Patterns With Gaps, Paula Sobenko Hatum, Kathryn Mcmahon, Kerrie Mengersen, Kieryn Kilminster, Paul Pao Yen Wu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Seagrass, a vital primary producer habitat, is crucial for maintaining high biodiversity and offers numerous ecosystem services globally. The increasing severity and frequency of marine heatwaves, exacerbated by climate change, pose significant risks to seagrass meadows. Aims: This study acknowledges the uncertainty and variability of marine heatwave scenarios and aims to aid managers and policymakers in understanding simulated responses of seagrass to different durations, frequencies and recurrence gaps of marine heatwaves. Materials and Methods: Using expert knowledge and observed data, we refined a global Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) model for a specific case study on Halophila ovalis in Leschenault …

The Lawyer's Duty Of Competence In A Climate-Imperiled World, John C. Dernbach, Irma S. Russell, Matthew Bogoshian

UMKC Law Review

The United States has more than 1.3 million practicing lawyers. Under Model Rule 1.1 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and every state’s rules of conduct, each of these lawyers owes clients competent representation. Under the rule, “[c]ompetent representation requires the knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the services.” While law and rules will undoubtedly change in response to the climate crisis, the duty of competence does not await such change or legal reform. The ubiquitous nature of the duty of competence means it is applicable to each lawyer now and will continue to evolve as …

Climate Considerations For Quaking Aspen Conservation, Douglas Shinneman, Susan Mcilroy, Paul C. Rogers

Aspen Bibliography

Human-caused climate change alters ecosystem processes ranging from local to global scales. As a consequence of climate change we should expect increased rates and intensities of disturbance events. Though we are only beginning to understand what those impacts might be to aspen forests and their diverse plant and animal assemblages, recent science suggests there may be unavoidable effects. In the face of anticipated climate-ecosystem challenges, contemporary managers are searching for guidance on preserving aspen resilience. We suggest crafting strategic yet cautious approaches to minimize effects and facilitate broad resilience. For instance, monitoring conditions in and near aspen forests will help …

Carbon Dioxide Availability In Inlands Rivers Is Driven By Dissolved Organic Carbon, Not Warming: A Case Study Of Tigris River, Batool Kadhim, Mohammed Hamdan

Baghdad Science Journal

Rivers became supersaturated with carbon dioxide (CO2), so they play an essential role in the global carbon budgets. To increase our understanding of the source of CO2 availability in rivers, we studied the role of climate-changed drivers of CO2 availability, which are ‘‘dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and warming’’. We sampled 45 locations of 3 parts within the Tigris River in Baghdad during autumn and winter. The results showed that all the studied variables (water temperature, pH, DOC, CO2) changed over time. The variations in CO2 availability are associated with changes in DOC concentration, not with water temperature. Overall, our results …

Opposition To Renewable Energy Facilities In The United States: June 2024 Edition, Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Harmukh Singh, Noah Schaffir

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Achieving lower carbon emissions in the United States will require developing a massive number renewable energy facilities at an unprecedented scale and pace. Although many renewable energy facilities are sited without any problem, local opposition often arises. This report updates and considerably expands three previous Sabin Center reports, published in September 2021, March 2022, and May 2023, which document local and state restrictions against, and opposition to, siting renewable energy projects, as well as energy storage and transmission projects that are closely tied to renewable energy generation. The time period covered by this report ranges from as early as 1995 …

Soil Saturation Limits Early Oak Establishment In Upland Pastures For Restoration Of Atlantic Oak Woodlands, Thomas R. Murphy, Mick E. Hanley, Jon S. Ellis, Paul H. Lunt

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

With woodland expansion providing a nature-based solution to help tackle anthropogenic climate change, the persistence and regeneration of fragmented Atlantic oak woodland is a critical feature of the wilding of uplands and conservation of Temperate Rainforests in Western Europe. Predicted shifts in precipitation with climate change are likely to be a major determinant of tree recruitment here, yet our understanding of the threshold effects of high soil moisture on oak establishment is limited, particularly at early-life-history stages when trees are most vulnerable. We address this gap in knowledge by investigating the effect of soil saturation states on; 1) the capacity …

Beach Autonomous Zone, Carl Garvey

Masters Theses

This thesis project responds to issues surrounding beach erosion on Long Island’s Atlantic Coast by envisioning policy and design decisions that activate a destabilization of the shoreline and a managed retreat away from beaches. Contrasted to methods and goals of conventional coastal engineering, a beach autonomous zone sets an extended, moving setback in which coastlines are treated, in effect, as conservation easements, allowing for and encouraging beaches to return to more natural states. On four sites of different scales representing different built beachfront conditions, I visualize the negotiations between human desires and the needs of a beach that arise under …

Innovative Climate Pedagogy: Interdisciplinary Approaches To Teaching Climate Change, Jennifer Sweeney Tookes, Lissa M. Leege

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

As a “wicked problem,” climate change requires interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration in order to prepare future leaders to develop solutions. To this end, as an ecologist and an anthropologist at a mid-sized university in the southeastern U.S., we designed a pair of interdisciplinary, research-intensive courses for first-year Honors students with the goal of improving understanding and communicating the urgency of climate change. We employed High Impact Practices (HIPs) and Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) to accomplish learning outcomes during both years of the course. Gains in scientific knowledge and climate change-specific knowledge were assessed with quantitative and qualitative analysis of …

A View On Climate Change And Its Impact On The Mediterranean Fisheries, Evelyn Ragheb

Blue Economy

Fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea are multi-specific and multi-fleet; the artisanal or small-scale fisheries, the trawling fisheries, and the seining fisheries. Currently, the Mediterranean Sea is a hotspot of climate changes. The climate change is a global phenomenon affecting the whole world, its impact is different with regions, and is affected by uncertainty. In marine waters, three climatic changes are the most important: warming, acidification and oxygen loss (deoxygenation). There are many observed impacts (positive or negative impacts) on the different regions of the Mediterranean coastal waters, and many regional models are used to predict the implication of the climate …

Carbon Sequestration In Peatlands: Using Environmental Proxies To Understand The Impact Of A Changing Climate On Global Carbon Storage, Sarah Schuller, Don Sullivan

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Peatlands are a type of terrestrial wetland ecosystem in which consistently waterlogged conditions prevent the decomposition of organic matter. These conditions allow for sequestered carbon in plant matter to remain stored in the soil to such a great degree that peatlands store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. By inhibiting decomposition, the composition of water-rich peat soil remains representative of the environmental conditions during the period in which the peat was formed. The collected peat samples can then be utilized as environmental proxies to determine historical temperature, moisture, and carbon content and extrapolated to predict …

Rwandan High School Students' Productive Ideas About How The Sun Affects Earth's Climate, Esther Mutesi

Honors Projects

This study examines how students at a Rwandan high school understand phenomena related to the fundamental physics of Earth's climate, with a specific emphasis on the effects of solar radiation and energy. We conducted ten interviews with students in high school science classes in Bugesera district, Rwanda. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and (when necessary) translated from Kinyarwanda to English. Transcripts were analyzed through the lens of the resources theoretical framework, a constructivist theory that models science learning as activating, connecting, and refining "seeds of science," or conceptual resources, that are already available in the minds of learners." Our study uncovers …

The Potential Of Southeast Florida’S Coral Reef Tract To Enhance Climate Resilience Of Ecosystems And Communities, Michaella C. Sena

Master's Projects and Capstones

Increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have led to more heat being trapped in the atmosphere, raising our overall global temperature. The hottest recorded sea surface temperatures in Southeast Florida occurred in 2023 causing extreme coral bleaching and high mortality in part of the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). Coral reefs play a vital role in protecting coastal communities from storm surge and sea level rise, reducing wave energy by up to 97% across whole reefs. However, with increasing ocean acidity and thermal stress from climate change, coral ecosystems are struggling to maintain their structural complexity and overall health, much less provide …

Climate Migration In The United States: The Influence Of Natural Disasters, Resource Scarcity, And Perceived Climate Inhospitality, Sam Minard

Culture, Society, and Praxis

Climate change poses an urgent threat that necessitates adaptive strategies, and migration is an increasingly common choice. “Climate migration,” or migration in response to climate change, has attracted considerable attention, both scholarly and popular, but has primarily been considered an issue of the Global South. Climate migration in wealthy, industrialized nations such as the United States has been overlooked despite the rising severity of climate change impacts there. This study used content analysis of Reddit posts and comments to examine how the impacts of climate change are influencing migration decisions in the United States. Results showed that individuals migrated or …

Biodiversity Loss & Urban Heat: A Nature- Based Wildlife Policy For The Las Vegas Metro, Zachary Billot

Student Research

As the population of the Las Vegas Metro continues to grow, new developments expand on the periphery. As Las Vegas continues to increase in size and develop further into wildlife habitat, not only are native animals and plants endangered, but residents are at risk of increasingly dangerous urban heat given the increase in impervious cover that makes Las Vegas the 2nd fastest warming metro in the U.S. This policy brief examines current policy and practice in place to highlight the need for positive human-wildlife interaction that will address the growing threat of biodiversity loss and heat vulnerability. This policy brief …