Mammals Of Cedar Breaks National Monument, S. Nicole Frey, Natalie D'Souza, Ethan Hammer, Bryan Larsen, Jake Nielson

All Current Publications

This document is the result of a study of the terrestrial mammals found at Cedar Breaks National Monument from 2017-2019. During this time, we conducted a survey of mammals using a series of trail cameras. We used survey results to provide an index of terrestrial mammals (excluding bats) within the park. Our goal is to provide a beginner’s guide to the mammals at Cedar Breaks National Monument. We include information regarding appearance, diet, habitat, and population status according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The guide represents the species a visitor to Cedar Breaks National Monument …

A Framework For Incorporating Benefits From Urban Forests Into Planning For Livable Cities: A Case Study Of Forest Park, Carole Hardy

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Urban forests provide an escape from the noise and chaos of cities. Other services can be overlooked and under-valued. Urban forests cool and filter the air, sequester carbon, filter water removing toxins and sediments from urban runoff, provide habitat for wildlife and improve human health and well-being. Commonly urban forests in the United States (US) lack funds for restoration and research because there is lack of understanding of the need to actively manage what are perceived as wild lands. Generally urban forests are highly disturbed and novel ecosystems that require ongoing active management to remove invasive species, replant native species …

A Comparison Of Fuel Reduction Methods For Wildfire Risk Management And Climate Change Resiliency In Mixed Conifer Forests In The Sierra Nevada, Heather Navle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Wildfires in the mixed conifer forests of California’s Sierra Nevada have been a common and natural disturbance for thousands of years, historically occurring every 3 to 30 years. The flora and fauna of the mixed conifer forest have evolved to depend on low to moderate severity wildfires for reproduction, foraging, and habitat. However, the Sierra Nevada has experienced dramatic environmental changes over the past ~150 years as a result of three main factors: wildfire suppression, climate change, and habitat loss. Because of the threat wildfires pose to human lives, property and timber harvest, they have been suppressed to an extent …

Shifting Public Perception: Climate Change Means Living With Fire And Smoke, Robert Froembling

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The urgency to prepare for the climate crisis has never been greater. We are currently living in the sixth mass extinction and the effects are only going to accelerate. We will inherit more wildfires, larger wildfires, and more frequent wildfires.

This piece is not meant to stoke fear in its readers or be depressing, but to shift public perception on what our future holds by evaluating the laws and science presented to us. This piece will look at regional and federal regulations and assess the increased rate of forest fires and the grave public health concerns from stagnant smoke specifically …

A Floristic Survey Of Andalusia: A Historic Preservation Site In Baldwin County, Georgia, William Pharr

Biology Theses

A survey of the vascular plants of Andalusia, a historic preservation site located along Highway 441 north of Milledgeville in Baldwin County, Georgia, was conducted between August 2018 and February 2020. The site was the late home of esteemed author, Flannery O’Connor, and resides along the Georgia fall line, making it a historically significant area that could yield a unique plant community convergence, as well as rare endemic species. This floristic inventory provides baseline data on the species and plant communities of Andalusia for use in future studies regarding the flora of this area. A total of 191 vascular species …

Regional Forest Volume Estimation By Expanding Lidar Samples Using Multi-Sensor Satellite Data, Bo Xie, Chunxiang Cao, Min Xu, Barjeece Bashir, Ramesh P. Singh, Zhibin Huang, Xiaojuan Lin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Accurate information regarding forest volume plays an important role in estimating afforestation, timber harvesting, and forest ecological services. Traditionally, operations on forest growing stock volume using field measurements are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Recently, remote sensing technology has emerged as a time-cost efficient method for forest inventory. In the present study, we have adopted three procedures, including samples expanding, feature selection, and results generation and evaluation. Extrapolating the samples from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning is the most important step in satisfying the requirement of sample size for nonparametric methods operation and result in accuracy improvement. Besides, mean decrease Gini …

Remote Sensing Monitoring Of Vegetation Dynamic Changes After Fire In The Greater Hinggan Mountain Area: The Algorithm And Application For Eliminating Phenological Impacts, Zhibin Huang, Chunxiang Cao, Wei Chen, Min Xu, Yongfeng Dang, Ramesh P. Singh, Barjeece Bashir, Bo Xie, Xiaojuan Lin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Fires are frequent in boreal forests affecting forest areas. The detection of forest disturbances and the monitoring of forest restoration are critical for forest management. Vegetation phenology information in remote sensing images may interfere with the monitoring of vegetation restoration, but little research has been done on this issue. Remote sensing and the geographic information system (GIS) have emerged as important tools in providing valuable information about vegetation phenology. Based on the MODIS and Landsat time-series images acquired from 2000 to 2018, this study uses the spatio-temporal data fusion method to construct reflectance images of vegetation with a relatively consistent …

Drought In Temperate Mesic Regions Leads To Micro-Density Anomalies In White Pine, Elise Miller

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

Wood density and wood volume determine the amount of carbon fixed by trees; however, while we are beginning to understand normal seasonal variation in wood density, anomalies are common, and their drivers are poorly understood. In conifers, wood density normally increases continuously throughout the season, but intra-annual fluctuations in wood density can occur and have been linked to climatic events. The causes of these fluctuations in density at the micro-scale (hereafter micro-density anomalies) are still debated.

Mesic regions are experiencing more droughts, but micro-density anomalies are rarely studied in these ecosystems. This study examined micro-density anomaly distribution within the boles …

Comparing Canopy Metric Estimations Using Three Conifer Species In The Netherlands, Alan Duncan Hibler, Brian P. Oswald, Nienke Brouwer, Ester Willemsen, Hans M. Williams

Faculty Publications

A growing concern associated with fire in The Netherlands is estimating the spread of wildfire, however often the data needed to estimate canopy fires are lacking. The primary parameter required is canopy bulk density (CBD), which requires estimations of canopy gap fraction and leaf area index (LAI). The accuracy of three indirect methods of estimating CBD (a densiometer, hemispherical canopy photographs (HCP), and a LI-COR LAI 2200c plant canopy analyzer) was compared for three common tree species in the Netherlands [Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco)]. No …

Integration Of Citygreen Landscape Ecological Analysis Into A Capstone Environmental Science Course, David L. Kulhavy, Daniel R. Unger, Reid Viegut, I-Kuai Hung, Yanli Zhang

Faculty Publications

CITYgreen Geographic Information Systems software was used to develop a campus wide cover type map for Stephen F. Austin State University in an environmental science landscape ecology course. The finding indicated an equal division of forest cover type compared to impervious surface of buildings and paved surface. Once the classification was completed, students chose an area for reforestation identified in CITYgreen, while raising funds for the purchase of trees for the project. Before completing the project, students reviewed tenets of landscape ecology, civic ecology education, and benefits of urban forestry. At the completion of the project, students reviewed service-learning aspects …

Soil Sustainability Of Forest Bioenergy Feedstocks Across The Americas, Michelle Brill

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Many sources of woody biofuels provide alternative options to fossil fuels that can help mitigate greenhouse gases. One key component of feedstock sustainability from an ecosystem service perspective is soil sustainability. We examined eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis) plantations in the warm-temperate entic and mollic soils of Northeastern Argentina, oil palm plantations (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the tropical alfic soils of Southeastern Mexico, and aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the cool-temperate spodic soils of Northeastern United States. The following elements were measured in soil increments of 15 cm, down to a total of 60 cm: carbon (C), nitrogen …

Stable Aggregate Dynamics And Carbon Storage In Acidified Forest Soils: Influence Of Atmospheric Deposition And Conifer Conversion At The Fernow Experimental Forest, J E. Kemner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research explored effects of ecosystem change from increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition and stand conversion from mixed-species hardwood to Norway spruce in three experimental watersheds at the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF). I measured soil aggregation and organic matter (OM) content to investigate the influence of forest fertilization in Watershed 3 (WS3), a hardwood forest receiving (NH₄)₂SO₄ fertilizer, versus Watershed 7 (WS7), a natural hardwood forest. I compared WS7 to Watershed 6 (WS6), a converted Norway spruce (Picea abies) monoculture. I quantified WS6 and WS7 C and N ecosystem pools, including vegetation biomass, …

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Forestry, Abdul Salam

Computer Information Technology Faculty Publications

Forests and grasslands play an important role in water and air purification, prevention of the soil erosion, and in provision of habitat to wildlife. Internet of Things has a tremendous potential to play a vital role in the forest ecosystem management and stability. The conservation of species and habitats, timber production, prevention of forest soil degradation, forest fire prediction, mitigation, and control can be attained through forest management using Internet of Things. The use and adoption of IoT in forest ecosystem management is challenging due to many factors. Vast geographical areas and limited resources in terms of budget and equipment …

Comparison Of The Batch And Individual Log Study Methods For Use In Determining Log Breakeven Pricing, Levi Eric Sisler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Understanding log yields and overrun is critical to a profitable sawmill operation. Lumber yield and overrun data can be gathered through one of two types of sawmill studies: batch studies or individual log studies. Little to no research has previously been conducted to determine if one method provides more reliable results than the other method. For this effort, 16 batch studies were conducted. Individual log studies were also conducted on the same logs, allowing a direct comparison of the results from both study types. A breakeven analysis was conducted for each study type, which determined the amount of variability in …

Senescent Trees Stabilize Aboveground Wood Net Primary Production Immediately After Disturbance, Maxim S. Grigri

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, forests sequester 17% of national carbon (C) emissions annually (UGCRP, 2018), however shifting forest disturbances threaten the stability of this essential C sink. Unlike the high severity, stand-replacing disturbances that were widespread a century ago, today’s eastern temperate forests experience frequent low-to-moderate severity disturbances from invasive pests and pathogens with mixed effects on net primary production (NPP). Carbon cycling stability after disturbance has been reported, however, the mechanisms underlying immediate NPP stability or decline are not well understood. Through weekly measurements of production in a landscape scale experiment, we show that the sustained growth of senescent …

Interspecific Gene Flow Potentiates Adaptive Evolution In A Hybrid Zone Formed Between Pinus Strobiformis And Pinus Flexilis, Mitra Menon

Theses and Dissertations

Species range margins are often characterised by high degrees of habitat fragmentation resulting in low genetic diversity and higher gene flow from populations at the core of the species range. Interspecific gene flow from a closely related species with abutting range margins can increase standing genetic diversity and generate novel allelic combinations thereby alleviating limits to adaptive evolution in range margin populations. Hybridization driven interspecific gene flow has played a key role in the demographic history of several conifer due to their life history characteristics such as weak crossability barriers and long generation times. Nevertheless, demonstrating whether introgression is adaptive …

Severe Thunderstorms Create Windfall Of Opportunity For Ecosystem-Based Management Of Mixed Northern Hardwoods, Elizabeth Montgomery Barnes

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The regeneration and reorganization of organisms and their habitat post-disturbance is a primary mechanism by which ecosystems maintain functionality in a changing environment. This adaptation to disturbance lends dynamism and resiliency to landscapes. Yet, the 20^th century was marked by an alarming loss of global biodiversity, pointing to the likelihood that the rate of ecological disturbance generated by human systems today is either too frequent or too intense to be beneficial to ecosystems, and rather poses a risk to ecosystem functionality and the carrying capacity of Earth systems. Compounding these risks is high uncertainty regarding the potential for stronger, …

Resource Selection And Calving Success Of Moose In Colorado, Forest P. Hayes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Across much of North America, moose populations (Alces alces) are declining due to disease, predation, climate, and anthropogenic pressures. Despite this, populations of moose in Colorado have continued to grow. Studying successful (i.e., persistent or growing) populations of moose can facilitate the continued conservation of the species by identifying habitat features critical for moose persistence.

First, I evaluated calving success of moose in Colorado and the impact of willow habitat quality and nutrition. I then estimated the probability of female moose having a calf using repeated observations in a Bayesian occupancy model. I assigned values for dry matter …

Tribal Consultation Policy And Practice:A Case Study Of The Confederated Salish And Kootenai Tribes And Nmisuletkʷ (The Middle Fork Of The Clark Fork River) As A Tribal Trust Resource, Jennifer J. Harrington

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Formal, government-to-government Consultation between sovereign nations is a process of continuous relationship-building, a partnership and an agreement made with all points-of-view included in the process, with results that have the fingerprint of all nations involved evident. The Federal Government is obligated to work with Federally-recognized Tribes as sovereign nations in matters that have or will impact each Nation’s people and places (reservations, treaty-protected areas)—a process legally known as Consultation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as a federal agency, must uphold the Federal Trust responsibility which includes the act of Consulting with Federally-recognized Tribes on matters involving human health and the …

Aspen Growth Response In The Presence Of Inter-Annual Climate Fluctuation And Disturbance In The Lake Tahoe Basin, Keath K. Sakihara

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In the western US, aspen forests tend to be small and rare, but have great ecological importance. There is much interest and concern over how aspen in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western USA will respond to a changing climate and future disturbances. Impacts from climate change create stress on aspen trees that further compound threats to aspen communities. This analysis assessed the radial growth response of aspen under previously recorded climate conditions to better understand how measurable climate variables affect aspen growth. Along with aspen’s growth response to climate, this analysis also assessed the growth response of aspen …

Long-Term Study Of Prescribed Fire Effects On Stand Dynamics And Oak Regeneration Potentials In Degraded Upland Oak-Hickory Stands In Northwestern Arkansas, Mason C. Danheim, Kathryn R. Kidd Dr, Hal O. Liechty Dr, Brian P. Oswald Dr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Upland oak-hickory forests in the Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas and south central Missouri were impacted by oak decline during the early 2000s. This decline event was caused by predisposing (e.g., mature, dense stand conditions), inciting (i.e., drought), and contributing (e.g., red oak borer, E. rufulus H., outbreak) factors. Immediately following onset of the decline, substantial crown dieback and tree mortality, particularly for two red oak species (northern red oak, Quercus rubra Michx. and black oak, Q. velutina Lam.), were observed. In addition, densities of advanced oak regeneration were inadequate at this time, resulting in poor regeneration potentials for …

Forests And Mental Health In South Africa: Panel Data Evidence, Dambala Gelo

Forest Collaborative Research

Slides from a presentation that examines the linkages between the green environment (urban forests, green open urban space) and mental health in South Africa. The author used representative panel data from the National Income Dynamics Survey, including the Center for Epidemiological Studies Short Depression Scale, to uncover these links.

Visitor Characteristics, Attitudes, And Management Preferences Of The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Samuel J. Rhodes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (BMWC) encompasses 3 federal wilderness areas and spans over 1.5 million acres of iconic mountains and valleys in northwestern Montana. Here visitors can find a plethora of recreation opportunity that give access to some of the most rugged country that can be found in the lower 48 states. However, managing wilderness areas comes with the challenge of both preserving the natural resources found within their borders and enabling opportunities for recreational experiences. Wilderness social scientists always have striven to determine the type of visitors coming to wilderness, and see what sorts of experiences they pursue. …

Comparison Of The Survival And Growth Of West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine In East Texas, Jamie Hooker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

West Gulf Coastal Plain provenance loblolly (Pinus taeda L.), longleaf (Pinus palustris Mill.), shortleaf (Pinus echinata Mill.), and slash pines (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) were planted in East Texas to compare initial growth and survival. Containerized seedlings were planted in December 2015 on three study sites in Shelby, Houston, and Cherokee counties using a randomized complete block design. Seedlings were measured in January-February 2016 and again January-February 2017, January 2018, and January 2019. Three years after planting, survival was best (76.4%) in Houston County and was lowest in Cherokee County (26.4). Damage by Texas leafcutter ants (Atta …

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations And Barriers: What Have We Learned From Qualitative Studies Of Farmers’ Behaviors In The United States?, Pranay Ranjan, Sarah P. Church, Kristin Floress, Linda S. Prokopy

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of all U.S.-based qualitative investigations into CPP adoption since 1996. We found three themes are discussed primarily as motivating adoption: farmer characteristics, environmental awareness, and trust in information sources. Four themes are discussed primarily as barriers to adoption: farm management, negative perceptions of a conservation practice, perceptions that adoption is a risk, and land tenure. Four themes were discussed as both motivations and barriers: economic factors, social norms, perceptions of government programs, and farm characteristics. Overall, we found farmers’ economic …

Cogongrass (Imperata Cylindrica (L.) Beauv.) In Louisiana: Cause And Consequence, Lorissa A. Radunzel-Davis

LSU Master's Theses

Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.), an invasive species from East Asia, is found worldwide and is problematic in several countries. In the United States, it grows primarily in the Southeast, reducing biodiversity by growing in dense patches and potentially causing mortality and reducing value of native and planted pinelands due to a high burning temperature. Using Lee Memorial Forest, a Louisiana State University AgCenter property in Washington Parish as a study site, this thesis explores cogongrass in Louisiana with emphasis on soil microbes and soil legacy effects on native plant species. Cogongrass populations at Lee Memorial Forest were more …

Matrix Recharge In A Shrink-Swell Floodplain Forest Soil, Savannah R. Morales

LSU Master's Theses

Despite the global distribution of fine-grained Vertisols, the hydrology of these floodplain soils is still not well understood. Vertisols shrink and swell depending on soil moisture leading to a range of soil pore sizes, from large macropore cracks to smaller micropores, and consequently a range of hydraulic conductivities. Despite the plethora of research indicating the importance of both flooding and soil moisture in floodplain ecosystems, the specific role that flooding plays in soil moisture recharge has been less widely studied and remains of interest. Blue food dye and deuterated water were used as tracers to determine the role of the …

Integration Of Random Forest Classifiers And Deep Convolutional Neural Networks For Classification And Biomolecular Modeling Of Cancer Driver Mutations, Steve Agajanian, Odeyemi Oluyemi, Gennady M. Verkhivker

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Development of machine learning solutions for prediction of functional and clinical significance of cancer driver genes and mutations are paramount in modern biomedical research and have gained a significant momentum in a recent decade. In this work, we integrate different machine learning approaches, including tree based methods, random forest and gradient boosted tree (GBT) classifiers along with deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) for prediction of cancer driver mutations in the genomic datasets. The feasibility of CNN in using raw nucleotide sequences for classification of cancer driver mutations was initially explored by employing label encoding, one hot encoding, and embedding to …

Enhancing Rural Economies Through Agroforestry, Gary Bentrup, Dean Current, Christopher Hartley, Marlen Eve, Tricia Kovacs, Kate Mcfarland, Eric Norland, David Smith, Susan Stein, Richard Straight

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Executive Summary

Accelerating the adoption of agroforestry will require a better understanding of the economic opportunities and financial benefits to society, says a recent assessment of United States agroforestry.1 Providing this understanding is critical for agroforestry to reach its full potential, whereby it enhances rural economies and provides ecological services that people need, such as clean drinking water. To assess emerging opportunities, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) convened more than 60 people in March 2018 to learn, network, and, above all, generate ideas for raising the economic profile and viability of agroforestry in the United States.

The effort …

Forest Feedstock Supply Chains And Market Potential For Wood Pellet Facilities In The Ozark And Appalachia Regions, James Robert Criger

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The pellet wood industry in the United States has grown exponentially in recent years, due mostly to the expanding export market to Europe. At this time, the European market for pellet wood is highly subsidized as part of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) in an effort to mitigate fossil fuel consumption for power production. Although there are other popular renewable resources such as wind, water, and solar, the burning of biomass is among the most utilized sources of renewable energy today. This study examines the existing pellet wood industry in the United States, particularly within the Ozarks and Appalachia Regions, …