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Feature Papers In Horticulturae, Douglas D. Archbold

Horticulture Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Last Continuous Grasslands On Earth: Identification And Conservation Importance, Rheinhardt Scholtz, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Grasslands are the most threatened and least protected biome. Yet, no study has been conducted to identify the last remaining continuous grasslands on Earth. Here, we used World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifications to measure the degree of intactness remaining for the world's grassland ecoregions. This analysis revealed three findings of critical conservation importance. First, only a few large, intact grasslands remain. Second, every continent with a grassland ecoregion considered in this study contains at least one relatively intact grassland ecoregion. Third, the largest remaining continuous grasslands identified in this analysis have persisted …

High Temperatures Adversely Affect The Hoverfly Episyrphus Balteatus(Diptera: Syrphidae) Fitness And Aphid Prey Consumption, Gregoire Noel, Jessica Caetano, Solene Blanchard, Antoine Boullis, Frederic Francis

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Numerous studies have shown that an increase of environmental temperature could directly disturb insect larval development. Natural enemies of insect pests, particularly predators of aphid populations, are not spared. Following temperature predictions of Belgian climate change scenario, the goal of this study is to measure life-history traits, such as the mass, body length and aphid consumption (Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris, 1776)) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) of Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer, 1776) (Diptera: Syrphidae) larvae under three constant temperature treatments (i.e. 20, 23, and 26 °C). We detected no significant differences between 20 °C and 23 °C on the hoverflies larval development, their aphidophagous …

Responses Of Arthropods To Fire And How Pollinators And Pollination Services Are Affected By Fire Severity, Blyssalyn V. Bieber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fires impact ecosystems globally and due to climate change, there are shifts in fire regimes that impact ecological communities which provide essential ecosystem services. Focusing on arthropods, fire can influence this ubiquitous animal group in various way. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis evaluating how fires impact differing arthropod functional groups. We found that overall, fire negatively effects community level responses for most functional groups with herbivores as the only exception showing some positive effects of fire. We also studied mixed-severity fires that burned >20 years ago and compared floral visitor communities across fire severities. We implemented a pollinator exclusion experiment …

Adapting To A 4°C World, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

The Paris Agreement’s goal to hold warming to 1.5°-2°C above pre-industrial levels now appears unrealistic. Profs. Robin Kundis Craig and J.B. Ruhl have recently argued that because a 4°C world may be likely, we must recognize the disruptive consequences of such a world and respond by reimagining governance structures to meet the challenges of adapting to it. In this latest in a biannual series of essays, they and other members of the Environmental Law Collaborative explore what 4°C might mean for a variety of current legal doctrines, planning policies, governance structures, and institutions.

The Key Deer Is Headed For Extinction: How Repealing A Trump-Era Federal Rule Defining "Habitat" Could Allow Assisted Migration To Save Species Threatened By Climate Change, Kennedi Fichtel

St. Thomas Law Review

Climate change induced sea level rise is imminent. In fact, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has predicted that “[b]y 2045, the sea level in the Florida Keys will rise 15 inches . . . .” Such a projection usually invites questions about the implications for coastal residential homeowners. However, this projection means so much more for the voiceless inhabitants of the Florida Keys. Anthropogenic climate change that leads to sea level rise of this magnitude will be responsible for permanently destroying species’ habitats, and therefore impacting their ability to survive. For endangered and threatened species, this means extinction. As …

Biological And Geochemical Proxies In Sediment Cores Reveal Shifts In Marine Predator Population Dynamics Relative To Historic Anthropogenic Exploitation And Recent Climate Change At South Georgia Island Sub-Antarctic, Allyson K. Kristan, Kanchan Maiti, Kelton W. Mcmahon, Michael A. Dance, Michael J. Polito

Faculty Publications

Historical climate change and human exploitation are thought to have played important roles in shaping population dynamics of sub-Antarctic marine predators, such as king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) and Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazelle). For example, Antarctic fur seals on the sub-Antarctic South Georgia Island were nearly hunted to extinction by humans before the early 1900s. However, records of occupation history pre- and post-anthropogenic stress are often sporadic and challenging to interpret. In this study, we investigated paleoecological proxies in sediment cores from South Georgia Island to examine past marine predator population dynamics in the face of climate change and exploitation …

Improving The Heat Tolerance Of Vulnerable Corals Through Their Algal Symbionts, Cathryn M. Bowling

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Tropical coral reefs are one of the most impressive and diverse ecosystems on the face of the earth. Found in warm, tropical waters around the globe, these reefs are major supporters of the immense biodiversity of the area. The health of coral reefs is highly influential on the overall health of the entire ecosystem. In recent years, intensifying climate change has resulted in an accelerated rise in seawater temperatures and the frequency and severity of coral bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs in response to harsh environmental conditions that cause corals to enter a period of extreme stress. During this time, corals …

Constitutional Authority, Common Resources, And The Climate, Anthony L. Moffa

Faculty Publications

This work sets out to re-examine and challenge the history of the property clause with an eye towards increased congressional reliance on it in the face of daunting threats to our natural environment. No one could seriously question the primary motivations of the Framers, but that does not foreclose the importance of searching for secondary motivations that deepen our understanding of arguably the Constitution’s most explicitly environmental provision. Eugene Gaetke’s work in the 1980’s and Peter Appel’s work twenty years later laid the groundwork for the argument here by pushing back on the originalist argument for a narrow interpretation of …

Arctic Navigation And Climate Change: Projections From Science For The Law Of The Sea, Charles H. Norchi, Amanda H. Lynch

Faculty Publications

Above latitude 66°33’44” north of the Equator lies the Arctic Circle. The center of the Circle is water, mostly covered by ice. The smallest of the world’s five oceans, it has been paddled, sailed, and traversed over centu-ries—to access its abundant resources, to reach the magnetic north pole, to discover routes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to expand sci-entific knowledge, to live, to discover, and to conquer. Peoples indigenous to the Arctic have long thrived in the lands and near-shore environments that bound the ocean.

By the age of European exploration of the Arctic, the 1648 Peace of Westphalia …

The Grave Barrier Reef, Savannah J. Szamborski

GLO 100 Introduction to Global Studies: Policy Analysis Papers

The Great Barrier Reef, located off the Northern East coast of Australia, has been experiencing significant levels of coral bleaching since 1998 when it experienced its first major bleaching. When water temperatures rise due to climate change, corals lose their bright colors and turn white. Once a coral is bleached, it becomes more vulnerable to other factors, increasing its chance of mortality. Greenhouse gas emissions have been seen to be one of the major factors that lead to climate change. The Australian and Queensland governments have put many different acts and policies into place to protect the Great Barrier Reef …

The Legal Role In Building Sustainable Public Health (Symposium Transcript), Joanna K. Sax

Faculty Scholarship

The article presents a discussion of food as a public health issue, beginning with why science matters and utilizing science to solve food as a public health issue, especially as it relates to sustainability and climate change. Consumer misperceptions of the risk created by new scientific technologies (e.g., GMOs), or even older scientific technologies, may thwart use of such technologies to solve sustainability problems. The talk addresses why consumers might inappropriately assign risk to certain scientific applications and ways that we might want to think about resolving that issue or closing the divide between consumer misperception of risk and evidence-based …

Plague Risk In The Western United States Over Seven Decades Of Environmental Change, Colin J. Carlson, Sarah N. Bevins, Boris V. Schmid

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

After several pandemics over the last two millennia, the wildlife reservoirs of plague (Yersinia pestis) now persist around the world, including in the western United States. Routine surveillance in this region has generated comprehensive records of human cases and animal seroprevalence, creating a unique opportunity to test how plague reservoirs are responding to environmental change. Here, we test whether animal and human data suggest that plague reservoirs and spillover risk have shifted since 1950. To do so, we develop a new method for detecting the impact of climate change on infectious disease distributions, capable of disentangling long-term trends (signal) and …

Investigating The Effect Of A Facultative Symbiont, Hamiltonella Defensa, On Pea Aphid, Acyrthosiphon Pisum, Fecundity And Behavior In Elevated Co₂ Atmospheres, Tyler J. Follman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

As atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels continue to rise, it is important to study how economically important organisms, like the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, will react to these conditions. The pea aphid feeds on the phloem of crop plants like alfalfa, peas, and fava beans, where it not only directly harms the plant but also can spread plant viruses. A wide variety of factors can influence pea aphid fecundity and behavior. Some of these factors are abiotic, like atmospheric conditions, and some are biotic, like microorganisms with which the pea aphid has a mutualistic relationship. In this thesis, …

Energy Grid Decarbonization: A Tale Of Resistance And Compliance In Florida, Rachel Tennant

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Green Energy Usage In The United States, Chad Hyer

Ballard Brief

Greenhouse gas emissions are the largest contributor to climate change. Green energy solutions prove a promising approach to remedying these emissions, but major economic reliance on fossil fuels, complacent and dismissive attitudes towards climate change, and political polarization and gridlock have encouraged inaction regarding the adoption of green energy in the United States. Such inaction has led to a host of consequences that are detrimental to the United States's environment, economy, and international image. Some efforts by NG0s and for-profit companies have helped remediate such inaction. This brief aims to address the context, contributing factors, and consequences of this inaction …

Editorial: Carbon Cycling In Aquatic Critical Zones, Peng Yao, Thomas S. Bianchi, David J. Burdige, Xiaojuan Feng, Peter A. Raymond

OES Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Adaptive Governance To Protect Oregon’S Water Resources, Lauren Butz

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Over 30 years ago, Oregon adopted the innovative In-Stream Water Rights Act, which introduced new regulatory tools and incentives for encouraging efficient water consumption, and paved the way for the emergence of water trusts. However, Oregon’s water resources are under increasing strain as the state faces the challenges of over-appropriation and climate change. New solutions are needed to augment the existing regulatory framework. This Comment draws on the principles of adaptive governance and ecological resilience to formulate possible legal solutions to help the state adapt to increasing demands for water, proposing that Oregon leverage corporate social responsibility to encourage investments …

Global Climate Governance In 3d: Mainstreaming Geoengineering Within A Unified Framework, Gabriel Weil

Scholarly Works

The failure of conventional climate change mitigation to reduce climate-related risks to tolerable levels has spurred interest in more unconventional—and riskier—climate interventions. What currently sounds like science fiction could become a reality in the not-so-distant future: planes blasting particles into the sky to block the sun, vast deserts covered with mirrors, algae sucking carbon into the depths of the ocean. Scholars tend to lump all these unconventional climate measures together in a fuzzy category called “geoengineering,” and set them apart from conventional climate change mitigation. But the characteristics of climate interferences vary across three distinct dimensions, which the mitigation-geoengineering dichotomy …

Significant Impacts Under Nepa: The Social Cost Of Greenhouse Gases As A Tool To Mitigate Climate Change, Sydney Hofferth

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The increased severity of the impacts of climate change demand a re-evaluation of the legal tools that could combat it. The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) was passed to force government agencies to account for the environmental impacts of their actions. However, as it exists today, NEPA fails to require agencies to consider how their actions will mitigate or exacerbate climate change. This Note argues that agencies should be required to consider the social cost of the greenhouse gases associated with potential major actions at various stages of NEPA analysis. This change would result in increased transparency and public engagement …

Fire Emissions In The Tropical Indonesia: Improved Estimation And Driving Forces Investigation, Xiaoman Lu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indonesia has experienced frequent fires since the 1970s due to large-scale peatland conversion and extensive drainage for agricultural development. Fire emissions released from these fires have led to Indonesia being the world’s 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases in certain years. Given that fire emissions severely affect climate, weather, and the human environment, numerous approaches have been developed to estimate fire emissions. However, existing emission estimates differ largely by a factor of four in this tropical country because of frequent cloud interferences and low-temperature smoldering fires. Therefore, this dissertation aims to improve the quantification of Indonesian fire emissions through enhanced …

What Will The “Foreseeable Future” Bring For Climate- Imperiled Species?, Olivia Bauer

Indiana Law Journal

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the strongest source of federal protection for species that are at risk of extinction, and the ESA is becoming increasingly important as climate change threatens species and their habitats more than ever. In 2019, the Trump Administration amended the ESA to provide clarity and predictability when making decisions to list a species as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The Administration defined “foreseeable future” in a way that starkly limits how far into the future the listing agencies may look when assessing risks to species. Prior to the 2019 definition of “foreseeable future,” the …

Developing High-Resolution Meteorological Datasets To Assess The Short-Term Association Between Meteorological Factors And Green Space And Mental Disorders, Xinlei Deng

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Global climate change is linked to the frequency and intensity of local climate extremes such as heatwaves, cold spells, and flooding. Scientific evidence indicates that heatwaves and higher ambient temperature could increase the risk of hospital admission and emergency department (ED) visits for mental disorders (MDs). On the other hand, urban green space is considered a way to reduce heat island effects and provide comfort for area residents. However, there still exist huge research gaps. Except for temperature, few studies have examined how other meteorological factors (relative humidity (RH), solar radiation (SR), heat index (HI), and rainfall) are associated with …

Laurentian Great Lakes Warming Threatens Northern Fruit Belt Refugia, Robert Warren

Biology Faculty Datasets

Climate refugia are anomalous ‘pockets’ of spatially or temporally disjunct environmental conditions that buffer distinct flora and fauna against prevailing climatic conditions. Physiographic landscape features, such as large water bodies, can create these micro-to-macro-scale terrestrial habitats, such as the prevailing westerly winds across the Laurentian Great Lakes that create relatively cooler leeward conditions in spring and relatively warmer leeward conditions in autumn. The leeward Great Lakes climate effects create a refugia (popularly known as a ‘fruit belt’) favorable for fruit-bearing trees and shrubs. This fruit belt refugia owes its existence to seasonal inversions whereby spring cooling prevents early flower budding …

Delegating Climate Authorities, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

The science is clear: the United States and the world must take dramatic action to address climate change or face irreversible, catastrophic planetary harm. Within the U.S.—the world’s largest historic emitter of greenhouse gas emissions—this will require passing new legislation or turning to existing statutes and authorities to address the climate crisis. Doing so implicates existing and prospective delegations of legislative authority to a large swath of administrative agencies. Yet congressional climate decision-making delegations to any executive branch agency must not dismiss the newly resurgent nondelegation doctrine. Described by some scholars as the “most dangerous idea in American law,” the …

Before And After: Investigating The Effect Of Thaw On The Permafrost Microbiome, Joy M. O'Brien

Master's Theses and Capstones

Arctic systems are experiencing warming at more than twice the rate of the global average, causing permafrost—permanently frozen soil—to thaw. Permafrost thaw exposes previously unavailable soil carbon and nutrients to decomposition—a process mediated by microbes—which releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. Permafrost is thawing at an accelerated rate, and while there is evidence that the composition and function of the permafrost microbiome changes with thaw, there is still much unknown about the taxa that increase with thaw, particularly among different types of permafrost. Here, I address how permafrost thaw impacts the microbiome, particularly the …

Combating Climate Change: Saving American Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure, Seamus Quinn

Honors Theses and Capstones

Climate change is a significant issue currently facing the United States’ wastewater treatment sector. It is becoming increasingly clear that its effects have the potential to damage and disrupt the operations of both treatment facilities and associated systems. This study aims to determine which effects of climate change contribute to this risk based on feedback from a combination of academic researchers and industry professionals. A case study of the city of Warwick, Rhode Island’s wastewater treatment facility was used to supplement this information based on an evaluation of how this particular system has been impacted by the effects of climate …

Controls On Carbon Gas Fluxes From A Temperate Forest Soil, Natalie A. White, Ruth K. Varner, Clarice R. Perryman

Honors Theses and Capstones

Forest soils consume atmospheric methane (CH₄), serving as a major global CH₄ sink that uptake an estimated 22 ± 12 Tg of CH₄ per year. Temperature and soil moisture have been identified as key controls of the microbial consumption of CH₄ in forest soils. Climate-driven warming and changing moisture regimes may impact forest soils’ role in the carbon cycle, and recent works suggests that forests could become weaker CH₄ sinks. Long-term monitoring sites can capture these changes, leading to better predictions of CH₄ exchange between the atmosphere and soils under climate change. This study …

Deep Roots In Eroding Soil: Building Decolonial Resilience Amidst Climate Violence And Displacement In A Louisiana Bayou Indigenous Community, Lia Mcgrath Kahan

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Pointe-au-Chien Indigenous community of coastal Louisiana is fighting for survival as climate change and socio-political factors threaten to displace them from their ancestral home. This project takes an ethnographic and historical approach to exploring how colonization and climate change have influenced Pointe-au-Chien tribal members’ ability to stay on their ancestral land. Climate projections estimate that the bayou this community has lived alongside of for generations will soon be unrecognizable, leading to potential displacement and devastating cultural loss. Due to the increasing severity of climate change, it is crucial to look to the experiences of frontline Indigenous communities to support …

More Than A Rake: Toward A Statutory Solution For Wildfire Threats To Department Of Defense Installations, Steven L. Spencer Ii Major

Natural Resources Journal

Over the past four decades, the average area annually burned in wildfires in the United States has roughly quadrupled. Larger, more powerful wildfires increasingly threaten inhabited areas as well as vital infrastructure, including many installations of the United States Armed Forces. This article first introduces readers to what wildfire is and the unique challenges it creates to the environment, health and, specifically, to the Department of Defense (DoD). Next, it discusses the dominant approaches to addressing the wildfire threat, prescribed fire and mechanical treatment. It then summarizes the primary laws, policies and partners involved in wildfire policy in the United …