Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

Plant Communities In Eastern Mongolia, Werner Hilbig, Naidan Narantuya

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In this contribution is presented a phytosociological description of plant communities, recorded in the phytogeographical district of Eastern Mongolia, including parts of the Dornod (Eastern) and the Choybalsan aymags. The whole district is characterized by steppe vegetation. Other vegetation types, like elm (Ulmus pumila) bush vegetation, shrubbery on sandy and rocky sites, Salix miyabeana bushes, meadow and reed vegetation in the river plains and lake basins, salt vegetation and ruderal plant communities were also recorded, documented by synoptic vegetation tables or single relevés and characterized by information on the ecological conditions of their habitats. Some of the observed …

Current Status And Conservation Of Mountain Ungulates In Mongolia, Badamjav Lkhagvasuren, Yansanjav Adiya, Garam Tsogtjargal, Garam Amgalanbaatar, Rich Harris

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In November 2009, we conducted a countrywide survey for wild sheep or argali and Siberian ibex. Field survey teams sampled in total 134 argali distribution units within Mongolia, which are estimated to occupy approximately 46,603 km² of the whole area of 60,237 km² that been previously mapped as populated by argali. They observed 385 groups of argali, totaling 3.373 individuals. Our point estimate of argali is 18,140 with a lower 95% confidence limit of 9,193 and an upper 95% confidence limit of 43,135.

At the same time the authors observed 162 groups of ibex, totaling 2,541 individuals and our point …

Wetland Condition Matters: Amphibian Richness And Abundance Change Across Wetland Condition Gradient, Kari Dupler

Online Theses and Dissertations

In the past century, Kentucky has lost more than 80% of its wetlands, and because state-wide monitoring was historically minimal, this number is likely underestimated. The Kentucky Division of Water, with Eastern Kentucky University and a technical working group, developed a rapid wetland assessment method (i.e. KY-WRAM) to assess wetland quality and aid in establishing mitigation levels and long-term monitoring. Validation of the KY-WRAM’s ability to reflect wetland condition requires comparison to intensive biotic assessments of amphibian, plant, and bird communities. Wetland and amphibian surveys for the 2014 and 2015 seasons were conducted at 42 riverine wetlands in the Kentucky …

Anthropogenic Influence On Blackfin Sucker (Thoburnia Atripinnis) Distribution, In The Upper Barren River System, Kentucky And Tennessee, Christa Rose Hurak

Online Theses and Dissertations

We evaluated the effects of land use and cover on endemic blackfin sucker (Thoburnia atripinnis) catch per unit effort and abundance within the Upper Barren River (UBR) system, a priority conservation area, in south-central Kentucky. Anthropogenic impacts have rendered T. atripinnis a “species of greatest conservation need” by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. This study focused on determining if land use surrounding blackfin sucker sampling sites and certain physicochemical parameters could be impacting their inhabitance at these sites. Data collection and ground truthing occurred between September 2015 and June 2016. ArcGIS was used to extract land use …

Biotic Assessment Of Two Central Kentucky Streams: Examining The Effects Of Wastewater Treatment And Anthropogenic Disturbance, Daniel John Ratterman

Online Theses and Dissertations

Globally, anthropogenic disturbance has altered many aquatic habitats, including lotic waters. Flowing, fresh water sustains life on Earth yet suffers the resulting waste products. Native, locally adapted ecosystems integrate or eliminate the byproducts of life. However an increase of human population, poor agricultural practices, accelerated overland runoff, a non-point source of pollution, and wastewater treatment plants (WTP), a point source of pollution, have all placed a strain on the world’s flowing, fresh, waters. The de-commissioning of two WTPs in the Kentucky River basin, and the commissioning of a new WTP in an adjacent watershed, provided an opportunity to examine the …

A Vegetation-Based Index Of Biotic Integrity For Wetlands Of Kentucky, Noelle Newman Smith

Online Theses and Dissertations

Wetland ecosystems have experienced severe declines across the United States, prompting efforts to assess the status of remaining wetlands and regulate their development. The Clean Water Act and the policy of “No Net Loss” have resulted in a system of permitting and mitigation for impacts to wetlands. Professional judgments of wetland quality are inherent in regulatory decisions related to preservation and mitigation, but many states, and until recently including Kentucky, have no standard, quantifiable means of assessing wetlands to guide the decision process. A rapid assessment method has recently been developed for Kentucky, but there is no intensive assessment method …

Water-Quality Effects On Phytoplankton Species And Density And Trophic State Indices At Big Base And Little Base Lakes, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, June Through August, 2015, L. J. Driver, B. G. Justus

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Big Base and Little Base Lakes are located on Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, and their close proximity to a dense residential population and an active military/aircraft installation make the lakes vulnerable to water-quality degradation. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study from June through August 2015 to investigate the effects of water quality on phytoplankton species and density and trophic state in Big Base and Little Base Lakes, with particular regard to nutrient concentrations. Nutrient concentrations, trophic-state indices, and the large part of the phytoplankton biovolume composed of cyanobacteria, indicate eutrophic conditions were prevalent for Big Base …

Invertebrate Drift In The Upper Columbia River With Implications For Young-Of-The-Year White Sturgeon, Ryan W. Reihart

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the upper Columbia River have been in decline for over 60 years and are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Annual spawning produces dispersing larvae; however, recruitment into the juvenile age class has not occurred since the early 1970s. One hypothesis to explain this failure in recruitment is that larvae may not find adequate prey. Little is known about diet and prey availability for white sturgeon larvae, especially in Lake Roosevelt, a reservoir of the Columbia River. The Spokane Tribe of Indians collected littoral and mid-channel benthic drift samples …

Effects Of Mountaintop Removal Mining On Population Dynamics Of Stream Salamanders, Sara B. Freytag

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Mountaintop removal mining (MTR) is a notorious stressor of stream ecosystems in the Central Appalachians. Valley fills (VF) lead to reduced occupancy, abundance, and species richness of stream salamanders. Multiple factors may be responsible for these reductions, but specifically habitat fragmentation and degradation may reduce colonization rates and increase local extinction rates. From 2013-2015, repeated counts of salamanders were conducted in stream reaches impacted by MTR/VF and compared to counts in reference reaches to answer the question: do stream salamander population dynamics differ between stream reaches impacted by MTR/VF and reference stream reaches? I also investigated dynamics of stream habitat …

Ecology Of Two Reintroduced Black Bear Populations In The Central Appalachians, Sean Mccarthy Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Reintroduced populations are vulnerable to demographic and environmental stochasticity, deleterious genetic effects, and reduced population fitness, all of which can increase extinction probability. Population viability is principle to determining the status of reintroduced populations and for guiding management decisions. To attempt to reestablish black bear (Ursus americanus) populations in the central Appalachians, two reintroductions using small founder groups occurred during the 1990s in the Big South Fork area along the Kentucky-Tennessee border (BSF) and in the Jefferson National Forest along the Kentucky-Virginia border (KVP). My objectives were to estimate demographic and genetic parameters, and to evaluate long-term viability …

Key Biogeochemical Factors Affecting Soil Carbon Storage In Posidonia Meadows, Oscar Serrano, Aurora M. Ricart, Paul S. Lavery, Miguel-Angel Mateo, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Pere Masque, Mohammad Rozaimi, Andy D. L. Steven, Carlos Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Biotic and abiotic factors influence the accumulation of organic carbon (C_org) in seagrass ecosystems.We surveyed Posidonia sinuosa meadows growing in different water depths to assess the variability in the sources, stocks and accumulation rates of C_org. We show that over the last 500 years, P. sinuosa meadows closer to the upper limit of distribution (at 2-4m depth) accumulated 3- to 4-fold higher C_org stocks (averaging 6.3 kgC_org m^-2) at 3- to 4-fold higher rates (12.8 gC_org m^-2 yr^-1/ compared to meadows closer to the deep limits of distribution …

Predicting The Impact Of Future Climate On Ecologically Important Macroalgae, Charlie Phelps

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Macroalgae play an important role in coastal reef systems and are often referred to as ecosystem engineers. They serve as primary producers, supporting a diverse range of organisms, and are a sink for atmospheric CO2. Water acidification and ocean warming caused by anthropogenic activities are affecting many marine flora and fauna, potentially impacting the physical and chemical performance of macroalgae and the consumption rates of associated herbivores. Many studies have focused on ocean acidification or ocean warming individually but there is an overall lack of research investigating the combined effects and the ensuing repercussions on consumer-prey relationships.

Three species of …

Determining The Effects Of Non-Native Brook Stickleback (Cualea Inconstans) On The Lentic Systems At Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Cheney, Wa, Jenae N. Yri

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"The introduction of non-native fishes can cause trophic cascades in freshwater habitats; these effects may be amplified in ephemeral/temporary habitats. Non-native brook stickleback fishes (Culaea inconstans) were first documented on the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (WA) in 1999 and are now present in many portions of the refuge. The consequences of their presence on the refuge's perennial/permanent and temporary habitats are poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of my project was to determine if brook stickleback are affecting habitat characteristics that are important for waterfowl nesting success. From April-August 2015, I compared the macro invertebrate and macrophyte community characteristics, fingernail clam …

Assessing The Impacts Of Climate Change On The Surface Temperature Of Inland Lakes In Michigan, Kaitlin Reinl

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The aim of this study was to validate and apply a lake model for predicting the susceptibility of small inland lakes in Michigan to changes in thermal regime and increased cyanobacteria growth as a result of future climate conditions. The Freshwater Lake Model was selected, tested for sensitivity to various inputs, and validated through comparison to observed conditions. The sensitivity analysis showed that the lake model was most sensitive to solar radiation, air temperature, and air humidity. Comparison of predicted climate data with observed conditions revealed highly variable climate model error. The lake model validation was conducted using 10 lakes …

Synthesis Of Satellite Microwave Observations For Monitoring Global Land-Atmosphere Co2 Exchange, Lucas Alan Jones

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation describes the estimation, error quantification, and incorporation of land surface information from microwave satellite remote sensing for modeling global ecosystem land-atmosphere net CO₂ exchange. Retrieval algorithms were developed for estimating soil moisture, surface water, surface temperature, and vegetation phenology from microwave imagery timeseries. Soil moisture retrievals were merged with model-based soil moisture estimates and incorporated into a light-use efficiency model for vegetation productivity coupled to a soil decomposition model. Results, including state and uncertainty estimates, were evaluated with a global eddy covariance flux tower network and other independent global model- and remote-sensing based products.

Response Of Fishes To Restoration Projects In Bayou St. John Located Within The City Of New Orleans, Louisiana, Including Hydrological Characterization And Hydrodynamic Modelling, Patrick W. Smith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Quantifying the impacts of restoration on coastal waterways is crucial to understanding their effectiveness. Here, I look at the impacts of multiple restoration projects on urban waterways within the city limits of New Orleans, LA, with an emphasis on the response of fishes. First I report the effects of two projects designed to improve exchange down estuary on the hydrologic characteristics of Bayou St. John (BSJ). Within BSJ, flow is dominated by subtidal wind driven processes. Removal of an outdated flood control structure did not appear to alter exchange in BSJ, but removal combined with sector gate openings did. I …

A Desert In Disguise: The Resilience Of The Nebraska Sandhills, Jeff Hartman

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Nebraska Sandhills are the largest sand dune system in the Western Hemisphere, and are unique because they remain relatively undisturbed from row crop agriculture. Research in the past two decades demonstrated that the Sandhills are dynamic on millennial timescales, switching between stabilized, vegetated states to non-vegetated, mobilized states. The Sandhills are currently stabilized, but understanding how ecological processes are altered as sand dunes transition from stabilized to mobilized states, provides insight into the thresholds, stability, and resilience of this grassland ecosystem. My research investigated the impacts of vegetation disturbances on ecological processes and the sand dune surface stability. For …

Feeding Ecology Of The Invasive Lionfish (Pterois Spp.) And Comparison With Two Native Species: Schoolmaster Lutjanus Apodus (Walbaum, 1792) And Graysby Cephalopholis Cruentata (Lacepède, 1802), Jesse J. Secord

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Predator satiation and prey-size preference were determined for locally caught lionfish, schoolmaster, and graysby, all co-occurring predatory fishes in the Florida coral reef ecosystem. Individuals were evaluated by exposing them to wild-caught killifish over a gradient of four size classes (20 mm to 60 mm, in 10 mm increments). Preference trials extended over a 2 hr time period and were filmed to determine the order in which each prey item was consumed. Satiation was evaluated by exposing the predators to an equal number of excess prey items for 24 hrs and evaluating consumed prey weight. Lionfish and schoolmaster showed a …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2014, Daniel M. Dauer, Todd A. Egerton, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson, Monika Arora

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concerted research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

Effects Of Wind Turbine Noise On Male Greater Prairie-Chicken Vocalizations And Chorus, Cara E. Whalen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wind energy facilities are constructed without full knowledge of their effects on birds, and the noise generated by wind turbines is a particular concern. I investigated the effects of wind turbine noise on male Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) vocalizations and chorus near Ainsworth, NE, USA in 2013 and 2014. I studied 14 leks located in the area surrounding a 36-turbine wind energy facility. I used two main approaches in this study. First, I recorded Greater Prairie-Chicken boom, cackle, whine, and whoop vocalizations at each of the study leks and measured the duration, sound pressure level, peak frequency, …

Occupancy Analysis And Density Estimation Of Kori Bustards (Ardeotis Kori) And Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida Meleagris) For Use In Landscape Conservation Planning In The Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana, Kathryn R. Mccollum

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

For understudied species, more informed conservation planning and decision-making on both the local and landscape levels may be attained through the use of occupancy and abundance estimations. Here, we focus on two iconic bird species in eastern Botswana, kori bustards (Ardeotis kori) and helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris). The overall goal of this project was to better understand the hierarchy of factors that influence occupancy (ψ) and density of kori bustard and helmeted guineafowl populations within the Northern Tuli Game Reserve and how these factors may interact to affect landscape conservation and usage. We performed distance sampling …

Macrobenthic Communities In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Hypoxic Zone: Testing The Pearson-Rosenberg Model, Shivakumar Shivarudrappa

Dissertations

The Pearson and Rosenberg (P-R) conceptual model of macrobenthic succession was used to assess the impact of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen [DO] ≤ 2 mg/L) on the macrobenthic community on the continental shelf of northern Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The model uses a stress-response relationship between environmental parameters and the macrobenthic community to determine the ecological condition of the benthic habitat. The ecological significance of dissolved oxygen in a benthic habitat is well understood. In addition, the annual recurrence of bottom-water hypoxia on the Louisiana/Texas shelf during summer months is well documented.

The P-R model illustrates the decreasing …

Exploring, Exploiting And Evolving Diversity Of Aquatic Ecosystem Models: A Community Perspective, Annette B.G. Janssen, George B. Arhonditsis, Arthur Beusen, Karsten Bolding, Louise Bruce, Jorn Bruggeman, Raoul-Marie Couture, Andrea S. Downing, J. Alex Elliott, Marieke A. Frassl, Gideon Gal, Daan J. Gerla, Matthew R. Hipsey, Fenjuan Hu, Stephen C. Ives, Jan H. Janse, Erik Jeppesen, Klaus D. Jöhnk, David Kneis, Xiangzhen Kong, Jan J. Kuiper, Moritz K. Lehmann, Carsten Lemmen, Deniz Özkundakci, Thomas Petzoldt, Karsten Rinke, Barbara J. Robson, René Sachse, Sebastiaan A. Schep, Martin Schmid, Huub Scholten, Sven Teurlincx, Dennis Trolle, Tineke A. Troost, Anne A. Van Dam, Luuk P.A. Van Gerven, Mariska Weijerman, Scott A. Wells, Wolf M. Mooij

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Here, we present a community perspective on how to explore, exploit and evolve the diversity in aquatic ecosystem models. These models play an important role in understanding the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, filling in observation gaps and developing effective strategies for water quality management. In this spirit, numerous models have been developed since the 1970s. We set off to explore model diversity by making an inventory among 42 aquatic ecosystem modellers, by categorizing the resulting set of models and by analysing them for diversity. We then focus on how to exploit model diversity by comparing and combining different aspects of …

Hydrology-Biology Response Relationships In The Ozark Highlands, Dustin Thomas Lynch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined flow-ecology relationships among stream communities in the Ozark Highlands, USA. I sampled fish, crayfish, and benthic macroinvertebrates during two consecutive summers, including a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). Biological response variables related to community structure were assessed via two different statistical methods: an Information Theoretic approach relating response variables to a priori selected predictor variables incorporating hydrology, habitat, geomorphology, and water quality, and canonical ordination using forward selection to relate these same response variables to a large assortment of hydrologic metrics. In addition to assessing metrics related to predicted natural flow, flow alteration at gaged …

Assessing The Importance Of Nurse Plant Associations To The Growth Of Pre-~Reproductive Yucca Brevifolia, Eric James Chameroy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Facilitation and competition among plant species, in addition to abiotic factors, play an important role in determining plant community structure in arid and semi-arid environments. I conducted a study in Dry Lake Valley, Lincoln County, Nevada, USA to investigate the importance of nurse plant associations to pre-reproductive Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree). Dry Lake Valley lies within a transition desert between the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts with ecotonal plant communities consisting of species representative of both deserts. A vegetation survey described the communities in which this study was conducted as a Y. brevifolia woodland dominated by an understory of Ephedra …

Climate. A Period Of Consequence: Environmental Literature Of 2006 (2006), Shaun O’Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

The author talks about the consequences of not respecting the climate and understanding global warming will cause ecocide and our own extinction.

Reprinted from New England Journal of Public Policy 21, no. 2 (2007), article 5.

Understanding Acceptable Level Of Risk: Incorporating The Economic Cost Of Under-Managing Invasive Species, Alisha D. Davidson, Chad L. Hewitt, Donna R. Kashian

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Management of nonindigenous species includes prevention, early detection and rapid response and control. Early detection and rapid response depend on prioritizing and monitoring sites at risk for arrival or secondary spread of nonindigenous species. Such monitoring efforts require sufficient biosecurity budgets to be effective and meet management or policy directives for reduced risk of introduction. Such consideration of risk reduction is rarely considered, however. Here, we review the concepts of acceptable level of risk (ALOR) and associated costs with respect to nonindigenous species and present a framework for aligning risk reduction priorities with available biosecurity resources. We conclude that available …

Modeling Micro-Topographic Controls On Boreal Peatland Hydrology And Methane Fluxes, F. Cresto Aleina, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, T. Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, J. Schneider, V. Brovkin

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small-scale surface heterogeneities can influence land-atmosphere fluxes and therefore carbon, water and energy budgets on a larger scale. This effect is of particular relevance for high-latitude ecosystems, because of the great amount of carbon stored in their soils. We introduce a novel micro-topographic model, the Hummock-Hollow (HH) model, which explicitly represents small-scale surface elevation changes. By computing the water table at the small scale, and by coupling the model with a process-based model for soil methane processes, we are able to model the effects of micro-topography on hydrology and methane emissions in a typical boreal peatland. In order to assess …

Temporal Variation In Optical Properties Of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (Cdom) In Southern California Coastal Waters With Nearshore Kelp And Seagrass, Catherine D. Clark, Warren J. De Bruyn, Paige Aiona

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Optical properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) were measured in surf zone waters in diurnal field studies at a Southern California beach with nearshore kelp and seagrass beds and intertidal plant wrack. Absorption coefficients (aCDOM(300 nm)) ranged from 0.35 m21 to 3.7 m21 with short-term variability<1 h, increases at ebb and flood tides and higher values (6 m21) during an offshore storm event. Spectral slopes (S) ranged from 0.0028 nm21 to 0.017 nm21, with higher values after the storm; S was generally inversely correlated with aCDOM(300 nm). 3-D excitation–emission matrix spectra (EEMs) for samples with lower S values had humic-type peaks associated with terrestrial material (A, C), marine microbial material (M) and protein peaks, characteristic of freshly produced organic material. Samples with high S values had no or reduced protein peaks, consistent with aged material. Fluorescent indexes (f450/f500 >2.5, BIX>1.1) were consistent with microbial aquatic sources. Leachates of senescent kelp and seagrass had protein and humic-type EEM peaks. After solar simulator irradiation (4 h), protein peaks rapidly photochemically degraded, humic-type peak C increased in intensity and peak M disappeared. Optical characteristics of kelp leachates were most similar to field samples, …

Ecoscience + Art Initiative: Designing A New Paradigm For College Education, Scholarship, And Service, Changwoo Ahn

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

The paper presents a new initiative, EcoScience + Art, which blooms at George Mason University. The creator explains the background, history, and recent activities of the initiative, and also introduces an on-going special project called “The Rain Project”, a student participatory project to design, construct, and monitor a green infrastructure (i.e., floating wetland) for sustainable stormwater management on campus. The special project is geared to design and present a new paradigm to integrate college education, scholarship, and service. The relevance of the initiative and the special project to STEAM education is discussed.