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Utah State University

2015

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Articles 31 - 60 of 381

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Incorporating Hydrologic Data And Ecohydrologic Relationships Into Ecological Site Descriptions, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Kenneth E. Spaeth, Joel R. Brown, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Mark A. Weltz, Mark A. Nearing, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jan Boll, Peter R. Robichaud, David C. Goodrich, Phillip Heilman, D. Phillip Guertin, Mariano Hernandez, Haiyan Wei, Stuart P. Hardegree, Eva K. Strand, Jonathan D. Bates, Loretta J. Metz, Mary H. Nichols Oct 2015

Incorporating Hydrologic Data And Ecohydrologic Relationships Into Ecological Site Descriptions, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Kenneth E. Spaeth, Joel R. Brown, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Mark A. Weltz, Mark A. Nearing, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jan Boll, Peter R. Robichaud, David C. Goodrich, Phillip Heilman, D. Phillip Guertin, Mariano Hernandez, Haiyan Wei, Stuart P. Hardegree, Eva K. Strand, Jonathan D. Bates, Loretta J. Metz, Mary H. Nichols

Articles

The purpose of this paper is to recommend a framework and methodology for incorporating hydrologic data and ecohydrologic relationships in Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) and thereby enhance the utility of ESDs for assessing rangelands and guiding resilience-based management strategies. Resilience-based strategies assess and manage ecological state dynamics that affect state vulnerability and, therefore, provide opportunities to adapt management. Many rangelands are spatially heterogeneous or sparsely vegetated where the vegetation structure strongly influences infiltration and soil retention. Infiltration and soil retention further influence soil water recharge, nutrient availability, and overall plant productivity. These key ecohydrologic relationships govern the ecologic resilience of …

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Transcriptome Analysis Of Bifidobacterium Longum Strains That Show A Differential Response To Hydrogen Peroxide Stress, Taylor S. Oberg, Robert E. Ward, James L. Steele, Jeff Broadbent Oct 2015

Transcriptome Analysis Of Bifidobacterium Longum Strains That Show A Differential Response To Hydrogen Peroxide Stress, Taylor S. Oberg, Robert E. Ward, James L. Steele, Jeff Broadbent

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Consumer and commercial interest in foods containing probiotic bifidobacteria is increasing. However, because bifidobacteria are anaerobic, oxidative stress can diminish cell viability during production and storage of bioactive foods. We previously found Bifidobacterium longum strain NCC2705 had signifi- cantly greater intrinsic and inducible resistance to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) than strain D2957. Here, we explored the basis for these differences by examining the transcriptional responses of both strains to sub-lethal H2O2 exposure for 5- or 60-min. Strain NCC2705 had 288 genes that were differentially expressed after the 5-min treatment and 114 differentially expressed genes …

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Effect Of Shear Work Input On Steady Shear Rheology And Melt Functionality Of Model Mozzarella Cheeses, Prateek Sharma, Peter A. Munro, Tzvetelin T. Dessev, Peter G. Wiles, Robert J. Buwalda Oct 2015

Effect Of Shear Work Input On Steady Shear Rheology And Melt Functionality Of Model Mozzarella Cheeses, Prateek Sharma, Peter A. Munro, Tzvetelin T. Dessev, Peter G. Wiles, Robert J. Buwalda

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Model Mozzarella cheeses with varied amounts of shear work input were prepared by working molten cheese mass at 70 °C in a twin screw cooker. Rheology and melt functionality were found to be strongly dependent on total shear work input. A non-linear increase in consistency coefficient (K from power law model) and apparent viscosity and decrease in flow behaviour index (n from power law model) were observed with increasing amounts of accumulated shear work, indicating work thickening behaviour. An exponential work thickening equation is proposed to describe this behaviour. Excessively worked cheese samples exhibited liquid exudation, poor melting and poor …

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Role Of The Strengthened El Nino Teleconnection In The May 2015 Floods Over The Southern Great Plains, S.-Y. Wang, W.-R. Huang, H.-H. Hsu, R. R. Gillies Oct 2015

Role Of The Strengthened El Nino Teleconnection In The May 2015 Floods Over The Southern Great Plains, S.-Y. Wang, W.-R. Huang, H.-H. Hsu, R. R. Gillies

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The climate anomalies leading to the May 2015 floods in Texas and Oklahoma were analyzed in the context of El Niño teleconnection in a warmer climate. A developing El Niño tends to increase late-spring precipitation in the southern Great Plains, and this effect has intensified since 1980. Anthropogenic global warming contributed to the physical processes that caused the persistent precipitation in May 2015: Warming in the tropical Pacific acted to strengthen the teleconnection toward North America, modification of zonal wave 5 circulation that deepened the stationary trough west of Texas, and enhanced Great Plains low-level southerlies increasing moisture supply from …

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Cytokine Gene Expression In The Maternal-Fetal Interface In Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Pregnancies In Small Ruminants, Heloisa M. Rutigliano, Amanda Wilhelm, Justin Hall, Bi Shi, Qinggang Meng, Rusty Stott, Tom D. Bunch, Kenneth L. White, Christopher J. Davies, Irina A. Polejaeva Oct 2015

Cytokine Gene Expression In The Maternal-Fetal Interface In Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Pregnancies In Small Ruminants, Heloisa M. Rutigliano, Amanda Wilhelm, Justin Hall, Bi Shi, Qinggang Meng, Rusty Stott, Tom D. Bunch, Kenneth L. White, Christopher J. Davies, Irina A. Polejaeva

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

The present retrospective study investigates pregnancy rates, incidence of pregnancy losses and large offspring syndrome (LOS), and immune-related gene expression of sheep and goat somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) pregnancies. We hypothesized that significantly higher pregnancy losses observed in sheep SCNT pregnancies compared to goats are due to the increased amounts of T-helper 1 cytokines and pro-inflammatory mediators at the maternal-fetal interface. Sheep and goat SCNT pregnancies were generated using the same procedure. Control pregnancies were established by natural breeding. Although SCNT pregnancy rates at 45 days were similar in both species, pregnancy losses between 45 and 60 days and …

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The Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Favipiravir Protects Guinea Pigs From Lethal Lassa Virus Infection Post-Disease Onset, David Safronetz, Kyle Rosenke, Cynthia Martellaro, Heinz Feldmann, Jonna B. Westover, Brian B. Gowen, Atsushi Okumura, Yousuke Furuta, Takashi Komeno, Greg Saturday, Joan Geisbert, Thomas W. Geisbert Oct 2015

The Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Favipiravir Protects Guinea Pigs From Lethal Lassa Virus Infection Post-Disease Onset, David Safronetz, Kyle Rosenke, Cynthia Martellaro, Heinz Feldmann, Jonna B. Westover, Brian B. Gowen, Atsushi Okumura, Yousuke Furuta, Takashi Komeno, Greg Saturday, Joan Geisbert, Thomas W. Geisbert

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

With up to 500,000 infections annually, Lassa virus (LASV), the cause of Lassa fever, is one of the most prevalent etiological agents of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) in humans. LASV is endemic in several West African countries with sporadic cases and prolonged outbreaks observed most commonly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. Additionally several cases of Lassa fever have been imported into North America, Europe and Asia making LASV a global threat to public health. Despite this, currently no approved therapeutic or vaccine exists to treat or prevent LASV infections. Here, using a passaged strain of LASV that is …

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Cobalt-Centred Boron Molecular Drums With The Highest Coordination Number In The Cob16− Cluster, Ivan A. Popov, Tian Jian, Gary V. Lopez, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Lai-Sheng Wang Oct 2015

Cobalt-Centred Boron Molecular Drums With The Highest Coordination Number In The Cob16− Cluster, Ivan A. Popov, Tian Jian, Gary V. Lopez, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Lai-Sheng Wang

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The electron deficiency and strong bonding capacity of boron have led to a vast variety of molecular structures in chemistry and materials science. Here we report the observation of highly symmetric cobalt-centered boron drum-like structures of CoB16−, characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The photoelectron spectra display a relatively simple spectral pattern, suggesting a high symmetry structure. Two nearly degenerate isomers with D8d(I) and C4v (II) symmetries are found computationally to compete for the global minimum. These drum-like structures consist of two B8 rings sandwiching a cobalt atom, which has the highest …

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The Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Favipiravir Protects Guinea Pigs From Lethal Lassa Virus Infection Post-Disease Onset, David Safronetz, Kyle Rosenke, Jonna B. Westover, Cynthia Martellaro, Atsushi Okumura, Yousuke Furuta, Joan Geisbert, Greg Saturday, Takashi Komeno, Thomas W. Geisbert, Heinz Feldmann, Brian B. Gowen Oct 2015

The Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Favipiravir Protects Guinea Pigs From Lethal Lassa Virus Infection Post-Disease Onset, David Safronetz, Kyle Rosenke, Jonna B. Westover, Cynthia Martellaro, Atsushi Okumura, Yousuke Furuta, Joan Geisbert, Greg Saturday, Takashi Komeno, Thomas W. Geisbert, Heinz Feldmann, Brian B. Gowen

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

With up to 500,000 infections annually, Lassa virus (LASV), the cause of Lassa fever, is one of the most prevalent etiological agents of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) in humans. LASV is endemic in several West African countries with sporadic cases and prolonged outbreaks observed most commonly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. Additionally several cases of Lassa fever have been imported into North America, Europe and Asia making LASV a global threat to public health. Despite this, currently no approved therapeutic or vaccine exists to treat or prevent LASV infections. Here, using a passaged strain of LASV that is …

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Analysis Of Environmental Effects On Leaf Temperature Under Sunlight, High Pressure Sodium And Light Emitting Diodes, Jacob A. Nelson, Bruce Bugbee Oct 2015

Analysis Of Environmental Effects On Leaf Temperature Under Sunlight, High Pressure Sodium And Light Emitting Diodes, Jacob A. Nelson, Bruce Bugbee

Publications

The use of LED technology is commonly assumed to result in significantly cooler leaf temperatures than high pressure sodium technology. To evaluate the magnitude of this effect, we measured radiation incident to and absorbed by a leaf under four radiation sources: clear sky sunlight in the field, sunlight in a glass greenhouse, and indoor plants under either high pressure sodium or light emitting diodes. We then applied a common mechanistic energy-balance model to compare leaf to air temperature difference among the radiation sources and environments. At equal photosynthetic photon flux, our results indicate that the effect of plant water status …

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Solar Greenhouses For The Home Introduction, Larry A. Sagers Oct 2015

Solar Greenhouses For The Home Introduction, Larry A. Sagers

Archived Gardening Publications

No abstract provided.

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Multi-Scale Environmental Filters And Niche Partitioning Govern The Distributions Of Riparian Vegetation Guilds, Nate Hough-Snee, Brian G. Laub, David M. Merritt, Arin Lexine Long, Lloyd L. Nackley, Brett B. Roper, Joseph Michael Wheaton Oct 2015

Multi-Scale Environmental Filters And Niche Partitioning Govern The Distributions Of Riparian Vegetation Guilds, Nate Hough-Snee, Brian G. Laub, David M. Merritt, Arin Lexine Long, Lloyd L. Nackley, Brett B. Roper, Joseph Michael Wheaton

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Across landscapes, riparian plant communities assemble under varying levels of disturbance, environmental stress, and resource availability, leading to the development of distinct riparian life-history guilds over evolutionary timescales. Identifying the environmental filters that exert selective pressures on specific riparian vegetation guilds is a critical step in setting baseline expectations for how riparian vegetation may respond to environmental conditions anticipated under future global change scenarios. In this study, we ask: (1) What riparian plant guilds exist across the interior Columbia and upper Missouri River basins? (2) What environmental filters shape riparian guild distributions? (3) How does resource partitioning among guilds influence …

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Multi-Scale Environmental Filters And Niche Partitioning Govern The Distributions Of Riparian Vegetation Guilds, Nate Hough-Snee, Brian G. Laub, David M. Merritt, Arin Lexine Long, Lloyd L. Nackley, Brett B. Roper, Joseph Michael Wheaton Oct 2015

Multi-Scale Environmental Filters And Niche Partitioning Govern The Distributions Of Riparian Vegetation Guilds, Nate Hough-Snee, Brian G. Laub, David M. Merritt, Arin Lexine Long, Lloyd L. Nackley, Brett B. Roper, Joseph Michael Wheaton

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Across landscapes, riparian plant communities assemble under varying levels of disturbance, environmental stress, and resource availability, leading to the development of distinct riparian life-history guilds over evolutionary timescales. Identifying the environmental filters that exert selective pressures on specific riparian vegetation guilds is a critical step in setting baseline expectations for how riparian vegetation may respond to environmental conditions anticipated under future global change scenarios. In this study, we ask: (1) What riparian plant guilds exist across the interior Columbia and upper Missouri River basins? (2) What environmental filters shape riparian guild distributions? (3) How does resource partitioning among guilds influence …

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Molecular Phylogeny And Systematics Of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): Redefining Subfamily Boundaries And The Origin Of The Family, Caleb T. Walker, J. Rodriguez, M. S. Wasbauer, Carol D. Von Dohlen, James P. Pitts Oct 2015

Molecular Phylogeny And Systematics Of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): Redefining Subfamily Boundaries And The Origin Of The Family, Caleb T. Walker, J. Rodriguez, M. S. Wasbauer, Carol D. Von Dohlen, James P. Pitts

Biology Faculty Publications

Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) constitute a monophyletic family supported by numerous morphological and behavioural traits. The subfamilial and tribal classifications, however, have a history of conflicting and confusing designations and nomenclature. Here, we reconstruct a molecular phylogeny of Pompilidae from Bayesian and maximum-likelihood analyses of four nuclear molecular markers (elongation factor-1 ë± F2 copy, long-wavelength rhodopsin, RNA polymerase II, and 28S ribosomal RNA). A Bayesian divergence-time estimation analysis was performed using four calibration points and an ancestral-area reconstruction was performed with a Bayesian binary Markov chain Monte Carlo method. New relationships are recovered, and new subfamilial delimitations are proposed and …

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Invasive Insect Look-Alikes, Mistaken Insect Identity, Lori R. Spears, Ryan S. Davis, Ricarado A. Ramirez Oct 2015

Invasive Insect Look-Alikes, Mistaken Insect Identity, Lori R. Spears, Ryan S. Davis, Ricarado A. Ramirez

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides a quick identification reference guide for the most common look-alike species.

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Rainwater Harvesting For The Home And Farm, Matthew Palmer, Kohl Carter, Roslynn Brain, Shannon Cromwell Oct 2015

Rainwater Harvesting For The Home And Farm, Matthew Palmer, Kohl Carter, Roslynn Brain, Shannon Cromwell

All Current Publications

This fact sheet covers the basic components of a rain harvesting system, Utah's laws for rain harvesting, how to estimate the volume of water storage you will need, ideas for increasing water pressure in your system, as well as tips and insights for building a rain harvesting system.

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Goji In The Garden, Tiffany Maughan, Brent Black Oct 2015

Goji In The Garden, Tiffany Maughan, Brent Black

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes goji, a small orange to red fruit. It lists recommended cultivars, how to grow goji, including site selection, soil, plant material, spacing, irrigation, fertilizer and pruning. Problems such as weeds, insects and diseases are described, as well as harvesting, productivity and use of goji.

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Soil Moisture Measurement And Sensors For Irrigation Management, Tiffany Maughan, L. Niel Allen, Dan Drost Oct 2015

Soil Moisture Measurement And Sensors For Irrigation Management, Tiffany Maughan, L. Niel Allen, Dan Drost

All Current Publications

This fact sheet introduces several soil water monitoring options that, when used correctly, can help growers avoid over and under watering.

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Collection Procedure For Submitting Pcr Samples To Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory For Avian Influenza Testing In Turkeys, Chickens, And Game Birds, David D. Frame, Arnaud Van Wettere Oct 2015

Collection Procedure For Submitting Pcr Samples To Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory For Avian Influenza Testing In Turkeys, Chickens, And Game Birds, David D. Frame, Arnaud Van Wettere

All Current Publications

This fact sheets gives information on collecting procedures for PCR samples to be sent to the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, for avian influenza testing of turkeys, chickens, and game birds. It includes needed supplies, how to collect samples, and how to ship the samples.

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Weed Control Options For Residential Lawns In Utah, Taun Beddes, Kelly Kopp, Ralph Whitesides, Jaydee Gunnell, Michael Caron Oct 2015

Weed Control Options For Residential Lawns In Utah, Taun Beddes, Kelly Kopp, Ralph Whitesides, Jaydee Gunnell, Michael Caron

All Current Publications

An important aspect of landscape maintenance includes suppressing lawn weeds, including broadleaf and grassy forms, which may disrupt the uniformity of turf. Weed prevention through proper turf establishment and maintenance is the best practical approach for long-term weed control, and is less expensive than controlling weeds later. This fact sheet discusses using best management practices such as proper mowing height along with irrigation and nutrient management, and In certain situations, herbicides.

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Using A Rising Plate Meter To Determine Paddock Size For Rotational Grazing, Jennifer W. Macadam, Sara R. Hunt Oct 2015

Using A Rising Plate Meter To Determine Paddock Size For Rotational Grazing, Jennifer W. Macadam, Sara R. Hunt

All Current Publications

For rotational grazing of pastures to be most successful, it’s important to match pasture production to ruminant intake, because both can change during the grazing season. This publication shows how a rising plate meter can be used to calculate available pasture dry matter, allowing pasture managers to optimize pasture utilization and ruminant production on pasture.

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Rose Stem Girdler [Agrilus Cuprescens], Diane Alston Oct 2015

Rose Stem Girdler [Agrilus Cuprescens], Diane Alston

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides information on the rose stem girdler, a common cane-boring beetle of raspberry and blackberry plants in northern Utah. It includes a description, host plants, life history, monitoring and thresholds, and management strategies.

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Key To The Trees Of Logan Canyon, Michael R. Kuhns Oct 2015

Key To The Trees Of Logan Canyon, Michael R. Kuhns

All Current Publications

This fact sheet is designed to help people who are not tree experts identify trees found in Logan Canyon in northern Utah. This key includes native and commonly found non-native trees found on wild lands in northern Utah, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming.

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Metabolism, Gas Exchange, And Carbon Spiraling In Rivers, Robert O. Hall Jr, Jennifer L. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Erin R. Hotchkiss Sep 2015

Metabolism, Gas Exchange, And Carbon Spiraling In Rivers, Robert O. Hall Jr, Jennifer L. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Erin R. Hotchkiss

Biology Faculty Publications

Ecosystem metabolism, that is, gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), controls organic carbon (OC) cycling in stream and river networks and is expected to vary predictably with network position. However, estimates of metabolism in small streams outnumber those from rivers such that there are limited empirical data comparing metabolism across a range of stream and river sizes. We measured metabolism in 14 rivers (discharge range 14–84 m3 s−1) in the Western and Midwestern United States (US). We estimated GPP, ER, and gas exchange rates using a Lagrangian, 2-station oxygen model solved in a Bayesian framework. GPP ranged from …

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Translational Training For Tomorrow’S Environmental Scientists, Mark W. Brunson, Michelle A. Baker Sep 2015

Translational Training For Tomorrow’S Environmental Scientists, Mark W. Brunson, Michelle A. Baker

Biology Faculty Publications

Environmental science exists to seek solutions to problems related to human-nature interactions. Unfortunately, in many cases, environmental research findings are not effectively used because scientists are not able to convey their knowledge effectively to policy makers and the public, and/or because the questions they address are not directly linked to the answers stakeholders need. To address this issue, Schlesinger (2010) called for development of a “translational ecology” that would be understandable and usable by decision-makers, interest groups, and citizens. A barrier to usable science is that researchers are not usually trained to be translational. We convened a multi-disciplinary group of …

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Improving Patient-Centered Communication Of The Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis, Sandra H. Sulzer, Elizabeth Muenchow, Annabelle Potvin, Jessica Harris, Grant Gigot Sep 2015

Improving Patient-Centered Communication Of The Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis, Sandra H. Sulzer, Elizabeth Muenchow, Annabelle Potvin, Jessica Harris, Grant Gigot

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has historically been difficult to diagnose, and laden with stigma, leading to a variety of clinical responses to patients who present with symptoms. Aims: (1) To understand how clinicians communicate the diagnosis of BPD with patients. (2) To compare these practices with patient communication preferences. (3) To use patient preferences to evaluate clinician practices. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with mental health care providers and experts (n = 32) were compared with patients (n = 10) and primary patient-written accounts (n = 22). Grounded theory was used to explore causal pathways between clinical practice and patient responses. …

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Evaluation Of Harvest Indices For Monitoring Cougar Survival And Abundance, Michael L. Wolfe, Eric M. Gese, Patricia A. Terletzky, David C. Stoner, Lise M. Aubry Sep 2015

Evaluation Of Harvest Indices For Monitoring Cougar Survival And Abundance, Michael L. Wolfe, Eric M. Gese, Patricia A. Terletzky, David C. Stoner, Lise M. Aubry

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Harvest indices are used by state wildlife management agencies to monitor population trends and set harvest quotas for furbearer species. Although harvest indices may be readily collected from hunters, the reliability of harvest indices for monitoring demography and abundance of the harvested species is rarely examined, particularly amongst large carnivores. The overall objective of this study was to assess whether cougar (Puma concolor) harvest statistics collected by wildlife managers were correlated with changes in cougar demography, mainly survival rates and abundance. We estimated key demographic parameters for 2 cougar populations in Utah over 17 years during which we …

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Unusual Behavior In Parental Care By A House Wren (Troglodytes Aedon): Post Fledging Use Of An Old Nest During Cold Nights, Micah N. Scholer Sep 2015

Unusual Behavior In Parental Care By A House Wren (Troglodytes Aedon): Post Fledging Use Of An Old Nest During Cold Nights, Micah N. Scholer

Articles

I report on the unusual behavior of an adult House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) leading recently fledged young back to the nest for two consecutive nights. The ambient temperature reached below 0°C during both nights. Despite disadvantages associated with remaining in the nest, this observation suggests that adult birds may assess trade-offs between perceived risks versus the benefits of engaging in other activities, in this case roosting communally for thermoregulation.

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Burrowing Owls, Pulex Irritans And Plague, James R. Belthoff, Scott A. Bernhardt, Christopher Ball, Michael Gregg, David H. Johnson, Rachel Ketterling, Emily Price, Juliette K. Tinker Sep 2015

Burrowing Owls, Pulex Irritans And Plague, James R. Belthoff, Scott A. Bernhardt, Christopher Ball, Michael Gregg, David H. Johnson, Rachel Ketterling, Emily Price, Juliette K. Tinker

Biology Faculty Publications

Western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are small, ground-dwelling owls ofwestern North America that frequent prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) towns and other grasslands.As they rely on rodent prey and occupy burrows once or concurrently inhabited by fossorialmammals, the owls often harbor fleas. We examined the potential role of fleas found onburrowing owls in plague dynamics by evaluating prevalence of Yersinia pestis in fleas and inowl blood. During 2012-2013 fleas and blood were collected from burrowing owls in portionsof five states with endemic plague: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and South Dakota.Fleas were enumerated, taxonomically identified, pooled by nest and assayed for …

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Targeted Informal Education Promotes Improved Well-Being, Innovation, And Climate-Change Adaptation Among Residents In Bajura District, Nepal, D. Layne Coppock, Nirmala Pandey, Sanoj Tulachan, Divakar Duwal, Maghana Dhungana, Bishnu Prasad Dulal, Dale Davis Sep 2015

Targeted Informal Education Promotes Improved Well-Being, Innovation, And Climate-Change Adaptation Among Residents In Bajura District, Nepal, D. Layne Coppock, Nirmala Pandey, Sanoj Tulachan, Divakar Duwal, Maghana Dhungana, Bishnu Prasad Dulal, Dale Davis

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Western Nepal is a remote region home to a wide variety of traditional small farm and livestock production systems. Communities here lack direct access to a suitable road infrastructure and thus are isolated from the modern world. Farm families are often poverty stricken. Western Nepal is also enduring significant climate change, resulting in warmer and drier conditions that negatively affect crop and livestock productivity. Here we report findings from a novel, quasi-experimental approach where the residents of two communities were provided with an intervention package and their perceptions of change over a 16-month period were contrasted with those from residents …

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Methods And Costs For Pond-Catchment Rehabilitation On The Borana Plateau, D. Layne Coppock, Brien E. Norton, Demisachew Tadele, Dereje Teshome, Bedasa Eba, Jaldesa Doyo, Seyoum Tezera Sep 2015

Methods And Costs For Pond-Catchment Rehabilitation On The Borana Plateau, D. Layne Coppock, Brien E. Norton, Demisachew Tadele, Dereje Teshome, Bedasa Eba, Jaldesa Doyo, Seyoum Tezera

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The Borana Plateau is an important rangeland for Ethiopia. One key limitation for people and livestock is lack of drinking water. Hundreds of ponds are important water sources for most of the year. Pond catchments are poorly managed because livestock access is uncontrolled. Catchments are stripped bare of vegetation due to trampling and heavy grazing, and unprotected soil is prone to erosion. When the rains come the ponds quickly fill with sediment. Sedimentation reduces pond holding capacity and much labor is required to clean them out. As part of a pilot research project we rehabilitated four ponds and their immediate …

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