An Exploratory Study On The Possible Effect Of Hydraulic Fracturing Activities On Air Quality In The Eagle Ford Shale Region Of Texas., Laura B. Fimibama

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eagle Ford Shale (EFS) play is one out of five major oil and gas formations in Texas, found in the South-Eastern region with approximately 30 counties. In addition to natural gas, it produces crude oil and petroleum liquids which in recent times has resulted in a surge in drilling due to a new drilling technology – hydraulic fracturing that injects massive quantities of water along with sand and chemical additives into a well to create tiny hairline cracks in rock formations. The success of this technology has made gas extraction more economically feasible. However, this technique has generated an array …

An Analysis Of Gulf Of Maine Cod Metapopulation Structure And Localized Stability, With Application To Area-Based Fisheries Management, Derek Olson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complex metapopulation structure of groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine, particularly Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), is largely ignored under the current system of broad-scale stock assessment and management. This mismatch of biological and administrative scales has contributed to severe overall stock decline and localized serial depletion of Gulf of Maine cod. Such chronic management failure has led to growing calls for a more area-based, finer-scale approach to managing groundfish in the Gulf of Maine. A primary difficulty hindering the development of finer-scale groundfish management has been the challenge of estimating fishing mortality upon local stock components. …

Characterization And Delineation Of Karst Geohazards Along Rm652 Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography, Culberson County, Texas, Adam F. Majzoub

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Delaware Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico is the major western subdivision of the Permian Basin and a northern extension of the Chihuahuan Desert. The major evaporite unit within the Delaware Basin is the Castile Formation, which consists of gypsum/anhydrite and is highly susceptible to dissolution and karsting. Manifestations of karst within the Castile outcrop are abundant and include sinkholes, subsidence features and caves, both epigene and hypogene in origin.

Land reconnaissance surveys conducted during the summer of 2015 documented abundant karst landforms in close proximity to a major thoroughfare, RM 652, in Culberson County, Texas. 2D …

Social Ecological Food Systems: Sustainability Lessons From Maine Dairy Networks, Julia B. Mcguire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Milk production has played an integral role in the culture, landscape, and economy of Maine’s agriculture. Maine dairy farmers have faced numerous sustainability challenges to economic, environmental, and social aspects of their industry. Like many other complex social ecological systems, the Maine dairy industry faces a gap between scientific knowledge and actionable management or policy. A cultural dichotomy exists between conventional and organic farming. Shifting the focus from this binary, metrics such as social capital may play a key role in solving sustainability issues. Difficulties arise in the governance of complex social ecological systems when the scales of assessment, management, …

Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser Brevirostrum) Spawning Potential In The Penobscot River, Maine: Considering Dam Removals And Emerging Threats, Catherine Johnston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dam removals from the Penobscot River in Maine restored access to freshwater habitat critical for the life cycle of endangered shortnose sturgeon. Prior to the dam removals, shortnose sturgeon spawning activity had not been documented. Instead, evidence suggested that individuals emigrated from the Penobscot River to spawn in the Kennebec complex, 140 km away. A central question of this thesis was whether spawning activity would commence in the first two years following dam removal. Consistent with pre-dam removal movement patterns determined using acoustic telemetry, the majority (78%) of tagged individuals emigrated from the Penobscot River at some point over the …

Exploring The Threats Of Dams And Ocean Conditions: In-River Movements And Ocean Growth Of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) From Maine's Rivers, Lisa K. Izzo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Substantial declines of anadromous Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar have occurred throughout the range of the species, with many populations at the southern extent of the distribution being extirpated or endangered. While Maine is the last state in the country where adult Atlantic Salmon return to rivers each year to spawn, numbers have decreased dramatically in recent decades, with typically less than 2,000 spawners returning to all Maine's rivers combined. The complex life history of this species, which involves a juvenile freshwater phase followed by a marine phase that can last one to five years before returning to freshwater to spawn …

An Investigation Of Hydrogeologic, Stratigraphic, And Structural Controls On Acer Grandidentatum Communities In A Karst Landscape, Owl Mountain Province, Fort Hood Military Installation, Texas, Melinda S. Faulkner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Owl Mountain Province is located within the Fort Hood Military Installation, an approximately 880 km2 installation established in the 1940s in Bell and Coryell counties, Texas, which has undergone extensive land use changes associated with military training, maintaining much of the vegetation in early succession. This study investigates thelithologic, stratigraphic, and structural controls on the hydrologic, hydrogeologic, and geomorphologic evolution of the Owl Mountain Province as expressed by mesic vegetation communities, including Pleistocene relicts Acer grandidentatum, within karst terrains. These systems exhibit complexly overprinted speleogenetic evolutions within a dynamic groundwater regime resulting from regional climate shifts throughout the …

Assessment Of A Hatchery Based Rainbow Smelt Supplementation Effort, Andrew O'Malley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) are an important fish distributed throughout northeastern North America with both anadromous and landlocked populations. Abundance, size at age, and maximum size vary widely among populations and life histories. In order to compare anadromous and landlocked populations, we collected spawning adults in 2014 from four anadromous and three landlocked populations. Scales and otoliths from the anadromous fish were examined and compared for estimates of bias and precision in ageing. Analysis of both scales and otoliths provided age estimates that were acceptable, but estimates from scales were more precise and had less bias. Otoliths were …

Speleogenesis Of Critchfield Bat Caves And Associated Hydrogeology Of The Northern Edwards Aquifer, Williamson County, Texas, Ashley N. Landers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Karst development in the Edwards Aquifer has been significantly studied in the San Antonio and Barton Spring Segments; however, karst development remains poorly studied in the Northern Segment. Detailed characterization of the Northern Segment is vital for future water conservation because of increasing urban sprawl along the Interstate 35 corridor. The Northern Segment of the Edwards Aquifer consists of Lower Cretaceous strata of the Comanche Peak, Edwards, and Georgetown formations. The stratigraphy is dominated by Edwards Limestone as it is the only formation that crops out in the study area.

Karst, stratigraphic, GIS, and geochemical studies were conducted to evaluate …

Analyzing The Phenologic Dynamics Of Kudzu (Pueraria Montana) Infestations Using Remote Sensing And The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index., Faye Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Non-native invasive species are one of the major threats to worldwide ecosystems. Kudzu (Pueraria montana) is a fast-growing vine native to Asia that has invaded regions in the United States making management of this species an important issue. Estimated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values for the years 2000 to 2015 were calculated using data collected by Landsat and MODIS platforms for three infestation sites in Kentucky. The STARFM image-fusing algorithm was used to combine Landsat- and MODIS-derived NDVI into time series with a 30 m spatial resolution and 16 day temporal resolution. The fused time series was …

Initial Wetland Hydrology And Vegetation Composition In Predicted Wetlands Adjacent To Lake Naconiche, Nacogdoches County, Texas, Amy L. Urbanovsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plans for the construction of Lake Naconiche, located in northern Nacogdoches County, included a monitoring project to demonstrate at least 176 acres of land adjacent to the lake would be converted into wetlands. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the creation of wetlands around the lake and establish a benchmark of vegetation composition and condition for future comparison. Eight locations, placed where the majority of wetlands were expected to form, were chosen for monitoring from the shoreline at 348 feet above mean sea level (ft MSL) to the county fee take line at 357 ft MSL.

Shallow groundwater …

Urban Flooding And Sewer Inundation On The University Of Louisville Belknap Campus., Justin T. Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past few decades on the University of Louisville Belknap campus urban flooding has become more frequent as a result of surface water runoff and sewer inundation. This urban flooding is a result of ongoing watershed urbanization and rapid expansion of the local sewer system to accommodate the expanding city of Louisville. However little research has been conducted on this issue, despite continued flooding on and adjacent to campus. Using the EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) we applied a dual drainage modeling approach that combines both surface and subsurface drainage data to produce a flood hydrograph at the …

Effects Of Watershed Characteristics On Stream Vulnerability To Urbanization: Implications Of Future Land Use On Streams In Maine, Usa, Kristen Weil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catchment urbanization has deleterious effects on freshwater resources and aquatic communities in small stream ecosystems. In the State of Maine, many streams have been negatively affected by urbanization and are in need of management and restoration. Impervious cover (IC), i.e., any surface that impedes water infiltration into the ground, can serve as a measure of watershed urbanization. Recent studies conducted in Maine have indicated that stream biotic community structure and function begin to decline at impervious cover levels of approximately 1 to 15%. This wide range presents a challenge to regulatory agencies and watershed managers charged with protecting stream quality …

Habitat Selection In Transformed Landscapes And The Role Of Novel Ecosystems For Native Species Persistence, Lina Maria Sanchez Clavijo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To understand native species persistence in transformed landscapes we must evaluate how individual behaviors interact with landscape structure through ecological processes such as habitat selection. Rapid, widespread landscape transformation may lead to a mismatch between habitat preference and quality, a phenomenon known as ecological traps that can have negative outcomes for populations. I applied this framework to the study of birds inhabiting landscapes dominated by forest remnants and shade coffee plantations, a tropical agroforestry system that retains important portions of native biodiversity. I used two different approaches to answer the question: What is the role of habitat selection in the …

A Physiological Assessment Of Wetland Habitats For Spring-Migrating Ducks In The Agricultural Landscapes Of The Southern Prairie Pothole Region, Adam K. Janke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The conversion of grassland and wetland ecosystems in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) has been a pervasive challenge for conservationists dating back to the early 1900s. The legacy of ever-increasing agricultural intensity in the southern portions of the PPR, including eastern South Dakota, has left many wetland ecosystems in a matrix of intensive agricultural production. With little surrounding nesting cover, these wetlands are thought to have limited potential for waterfowl reproduction but may still play an important role facilitating migration of waterfowl en route to northern breeding areas during spring. My research sought to understand the contributions of wetlands in …

Land Cover Land Use Change And Soil Organic Carbon Under Climate Variability In The Semi-Arid West African Sahel (1960-2050), Amadou M. Dieye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Land Cover Land Use (LCLU) change affects land surface processes recognized to influence climate change at local, national and global levels. Soil organic carbon is a key component for the functioning of agro-ecosystems and has a direct effect on the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the soil. The capacity to model and project LCLU change is of considerable interest for mitigation and adaptation measures in response to climate change. A combination of remote sensing analyses, qualitative social survey techniques, and biogeochemical modeling was used to study the relationships between climate change, LCLU change and soil organic carbon in the …

Simulating The Impacts Of Land-Use Land-Cover Changes On Cropland Carbon Fluxes In The Midwest Of The United States, Zhengpeng Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the major drivers of the cropland carbon fluxes is important for carbon management and greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Past studies found that agricultural land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes, such as changes in cropland production technologies, tillage practices, and planted crop species, could have large impacts on carbon fluxes. However, the impacts remain highly uncertain at regional to global scales. Satellite remote sensing is commonly used to create products with geospatial information on LULC changes. This geospatial information can be integrated into biogeochemical models to simulate the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon fluxes. We used the General Ensemble …

Changes In Wetland Conditions And Wetland Plant Communities In The Prairie Pothole Region After 50 Years, Ryann Cressey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands in Stutsman County, North Dakota were revisited after 50 years to assess changes in wetland conditions and plant communities within wetland zones in the Prairie Pothole Region. In 1961-1966, Robert E. Stewart and Harold A. Kantrud conducted a study to investigate the relationship of wetland plant communities to variations of water permanence and chemistry on three study areas: Crystal Springs, Cottonwood, and Mt. Moriah. Within in this region, a severe drought occurred in 1988- 1992 followed by the longest deluge starting in 1993 with wetlands still impacted today. In 2013 and 2014, I revisited 80 of the original wetlands …

Effect Of Oil And Natural Gas Development On Survival And Health Of White-Tailed Deer In The Western Dakotas, Katherine L. Moratz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oil and gas development in North Dakota has resulted in the need for information regarding how increased activity has affected white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations. We evaluated white-tailed deer ecology in response to energy development and hypothesized that oil and gas development would negatively affect adult and neonate white-tailed deer due to increased vehicle traffic and human-related effects. We captured and radio-collared adult female and neonate white-tailed deer across three study areas: Dunn County, North Dakota, an area influenced by energy development, and Grant County, North Dakota, and Perkins County, South Dakota, areas not impacted by energy development at this …

Evaluating Floating Treatment Wetlands To Improve Nitrogen Removal In A Wet Detention Pond, Zachary Marimon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wet detention ponds are used for stormwater treatment across the United States and reduce most pollutants by at least 60%, but only remove 30% of total nitrogen. Floating Treatment Wetlands (FTWs) are an emerging technology that uses aquatic plants suspended in the pelagic zone to remove nitrogen through vegetative assimilation and microbial denitrification. A before-after field experiment evaluated nitrogen removal in a an existing pond in Orlando, FL, retrofitted with BioHaven® FTWs planted with the aquatic macrophytes Juncus effusus (Soft Rush) and Pontederia cordata (Pickerelweed). Surface water samples were used to compare the nitrogen removal performance of the pond under …

Current Status Of Falcon Populations In Saudi Arabia, Albara M. Binothman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Falcons (Falco spp.) are widely used for falconry in the countries of the Middle East. During the 2015 breeding season, we surveyed historic and active nest sites of Barbary (Falco pelegrinoides pelegrinoides) and Lanner (F. biarmicus) Falcons in Saudi Arabia. Field and questionnaire surveys were conducted and personal contact with falconers was made to document the current distribution and price changes for Lanner Falcons, Barbary Falcons, Saker Falcons (F. cherrug), Peregrine Falcons (F. peregrinus), Gyrfalcons (F. rusticolus), and Hybrid Falcons in Saudi Arabia. We categorized our survey into three geographic groups; southwest (A), northwest (B), and central (C) regions of …

Use Of Photo-Identification And Mark-Recapture Techniques To Identify Characteristics Of The Stock Structure Of Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Off Northern South Carolina, Daniela C. Silva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) stock assessment reports describe two coastal and two estuarine bottlenose dolphin stocks that utilize the waters of northern South Carolina (Waring et al. 2014), but coastal data from this area are lacking. Photo-ID mark-recapture surveys were conducted from 2013-2015 along two 50 km coastal transects centered on Murrells Inlet, SC; and from 2014-2015 along two 50 km transects covering both coastal and estuarine waters centered on Little River, SC. Capture histories of marked individuals were used to estimate abundance and, in conjunction with neighboring catalog comparisons, infer movements, residency patterns, and stock membership. Local abundance …

Ecology Of Largemouth Bass In An Aging Reservoir: Implications For Creating A Trophy Largemouth Bass Fishery, Jason Breeggemann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are an estimated 3-9 million small reservoirs and nearly 1,000 large reservoirs in the United States. Most of these reservoirs were built several decades ago and are experiencing symptoms of reservoir aging, including loss of habitat, sedimentation, and decreased fishery production. Furthermore, over the last several decades, there has been an increasing interest among anglers for high quality, trophy fisheries. However, little is known about exactly how the reservoir aging process affects the ecology and especially growth potential of Largemouth Bass, particularly under potential climate change scenarios. Grand Lake in TX is a 45ha ageing reservoir that was built …

Raptors In Temperate Grasslands: Ecology Of Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, And Northern Harrier In The Northern Great Plains, Shubham Datta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis) are a grassland and shrubland obligate nesting raptor and prefer lightly grazed pasture or idle areas for nesting. Their population reportedly declines in number if more than 30% of an area is cultivated and they rarely nest in areas dominated by croplands. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are long-lived raptors with high nest-site fidelity and relatively low reproductive success. Population trends of golden eagles in western United States are unclear although long-term monitoring of populations shows declines in occupancy and breeding performance. Northern harriers (Circus cyaneus) prefer relatively open grasslands and …

Financial Investment Management For Forest Sustainability, Zarina Ismailova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is paper is discussion about main problems of forest management, whether financial investment has a substantial impact on the long term perspective of forest landscape restoration and, more specifically, what strategy and what financial options are available to make the forest projects more sustainable. A few relevant questions to ask are: who are the main actors in the implementation of FLR projects; which steps have to be taken; and, which financial options would more suitable and would be feasible to implement. There are three main parts of this research to be investigated:

1. forest issues along with their respective solutions, …