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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
A Programmatic Geographic Information Systems Analysis Of Plant Hardiness Zones, Andrew Bowen
A Programmatic Geographic Information Systems Analysis Of Plant Hardiness Zones, Andrew Bowen
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Plant Hardiness Zone Map consists of thirteen geographical zones that describe whether a plant can survive based on average annual minimal temperatures. As climate change progresses, minimum temperatures in all regions are expected to change. This work programmatically evaluates predicted future climate projection data and converts it to United States Department of Agriculture-defined hardiness zones. Through the next 80 years, hardiness zones are projected to move poleward; in effect, colder zones will lose area and warmer zones will gain area globally. Some implications include changes in crop growing degree days, which could alter crop productivity, migration and settlement of …
Characterizing The Vegetation And Effects Of Climate Change On Parris Island, A Sea Island Ecosystem, Cody Hart Goodson
Characterizing The Vegetation And Effects Of Climate Change On Parris Island, A Sea Island Ecosystem, Cody Hart Goodson
Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
Coastal habitats provide many ecosystem services, protecting coastlines from storm surges and erosion, diminishing the effects of eutrophication, sequestering large amounts of carbon, and acting as vital wildlife habitat. Sea-level rise and increased storm surge intensity associated with climate change are increasingly disrupting coastal habitats. These disturbances can shift environmental gradients that drive the zonation of coastal vegetation types, driving habitat conversion. Monitoring coastal habitat conversion can improve our understanding of the dynamic effects of climate change on these landscapes. Therefore, our objectives for chapter 1 were to identify and describe the distributions of vegetation types present on Marine Corps …
Effects Of Climate Change And Landscape-Scale Forest Management On Avian Communities, Abundance, And Nest Success In The Appalachian Mountains, Hannah L. Clipp
Effects Of Climate Change And Landscape-Scale Forest Management On Avian Communities, Abundance, And Nest Success In The Appalachian Mountains, Hannah L. Clipp
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Birds are integral components of ecosystems and account for billions of dollars in tangible benefits to humans. As such, recent continental declines of bird species have ecological and economic consequences, providing the impetus for my dissertation research. I identified knowledge gaps and proposed novel questions about how birds in the Appalachian Mountains are influenced by changing environmental conditions due to climate change and forest management. The Appalachian Mountains encompass an important biogeographical region with high conservation value due to its myriad habitats and corresponding bird species diversity. Thus, there is a critical need to evaluate the effects of shifting climate …
Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson
Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson
Scripps Senior Theses
We are experiencing a climate crisis that must be confronted with strategic mitigation. Pomona College contributes to the climate crisis through its emissions for which there is a baseline record. However there is no baseline record of the climate mitigation currently performed by the trees on Pomona’s campus through carbon storage. This study seeks to determine a current baseline quantity of carbon stored and sequestrated by Pomona’s trees as well as possible courses of climate mitigation for Pomona College to take. Initial information gathering was conducted through interviews with several stakeholders. This study was conducted using data collected prior to …
Paleolimnological Data Synthesis To Assess Long-Term Ecological Change In Vermont Lakes, Ismar Biberovic
Paleolimnological Data Synthesis To Assess Long-Term Ecological Change In Vermont Lakes, Ismar Biberovic
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
Lakes are excellent early indicators of environmental change on a landscape scale. Due to their connectedness in the landscape, any alteration of land-cover extends beyond a single watershed and can only be amplified by the effects of climate change. These processes can reflect differently across lakes of various characteristics, however, combined, they can leave a lasting impact on biogeochemical processes of a lake, resulting in profound effects on biological communities residing in it. Lake sediments are terrific archives that integrate and preserve this evidence, which then allows us to investigate the extent to which a lake has changed given its …
Application Of The Fine Sediment Biotic Index To Three Drain Tiled And Ditched Agricultural Systems In Southern Minnesota, Bailey Sanders
Application Of The Fine Sediment Biotic Index To Three Drain Tiled And Ditched Agricultural Systems In Southern Minnesota, Bailey Sanders
All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects
Artificial drainage is a common agricultural management technique in the United States used to remove excess water from poorly drained soils. Approximately 22.48 million hectares of crop land are drain-tiled in the United States, providing long-term economic benefits to farmers. However, artificial drainage increases sediment transport in agricultural watersheds, which can degrade aquatic systems, destroy habitats, and limit biological diversity. Biotic indices based on benthic macroinvertebrates are commonly used to assess surface water quality, but recent studies show potential in developing sediment biotic indices using benthic macroinvertebrates to estimate fine sediment in streams. The objective of this study was to …