Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Diversity – Independent Factors Predict Elevated Extinction Rates, Dustin Perriguey

Earth and Planetary Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationships between diversity-independent factors (i.e., abiotic, climatic) 2, 5, and 10 Myrs-prior to the most elevated Phanerozoic extinctions. We constructed five abiotic variables from Phanerozoic proxy records1–5 to compare to extinction rates: mean temperature, temperature instability, carbon cycle instability, continental weathering rates, and habitat instability. All three models were statistically significant (P < 0.05) and explained > 70% of the variation in Alroy’s6 three-timer generic extinction rates. However, the 2 Myr-prior model explained the most variance in extinction rates and had the most predictive power, based on adjusted and predictive R2 (~ 72% and 41%, respectively). Carbon …

Answers In The East: An Examination Of China's Renewable Energy And Its Application To Central Appalachia, Lillian Hamm

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

While much of China’s electrification has depended on coal, recent decades illustrate the country is heavily investing in and implementing renewable energy as a power source. Even China’s coal-rich provinces, like the northeastern province of Shanxi, have been making the transition to renewable energy. The central Appalachian states comprised of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, western Virginia, and northeastern Tennessee share many characteristics with China’s Shanxi province including economic resources, climate, and geography. Yet, central Appalachia has not been able to easily transition to renewable energy. However, there are various cultural, political, and technological differences between the two regions to explain …

Impacts Of Environmental Conditions On Fleas In Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Burrows, Julia E. Poje, Tonie Rocke, Michael D. Samuel

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Sylvatic plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and transmitted by fleas, occurs in prairie dogs of the western United States. Outbreaks can devastate prairie dog communities, often causing nearly 100% mortality. Three competent flea vectors, prairie dog specialists Oropsylla hirsuta and O. tuberculata, and generalist Pulex simulans, are found on prairie dogs and in their burrows. Fleas are affected by climate, which varies across the range of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), but these effects may be ameliorated somewhat due to the burrowing habits of prairie dogs. Our goal was to assess how temperature and precipitation …

The Future Environmental And Health Impacts Of Coal, Robert B. Finkelman, Amy L. Wolfe, Michael S. Hendryx

Faculty, Staff, and Affiliated Publications--KGS

In the United States, coal consumption in the last 12 years has declined from 1,045,140 million short tons in 2007 to 539,420 million short tons in 2019, a decrease of almost 50%. During that period the number of electric power coal generators has declined from 1,470 to 738 accounting for 21% of capacity. An even more dramatic decrease in coal use has occurred in Western Europe. This significant reduction in coal use and the concomitant closure of coal mines and coal-burning power plants will result in substantially cleaner air, reductions in respiratory problems such as asthma, less heart disease, fewer …

Lead In The Environment, Msn Module, Dawn Blue

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

Module for MSN program in toxicology on lead in the environment.

Middle Miocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Of The Central Great Plains From Stable Carbon Isotopes In Large Mammals, Willow H. Nguy

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Middle Miocene (18-12 Mya) mammalian faunas of the North American Great Plains contained a much higher diversity of apparent browsers than any modern biome. This has been attributed to greater primary productivity, which may have supported greater browser diversity that commonly corresponds with densely vegetated habitats. However, several lines of proxy evidence suggest that open woodlands or savannas dominated middle Miocene biomes; neither of which support many browsers today. Stable carbon isotopes in mammalian herbivore tooth enamel were used to reconstruct vegetation structure of middle Miocene biomes.

Stable carbon isotopes in C₃ dominated environments reflect vegetation density and herbivores …

Environmental Change And The Central Great Plains, Carbon Sequestration, Mark A. Mesarch

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Environmental Change And The Central Great Plains, David Gosselin

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Environmental Change And The Central Great Plain, Water Resources, David Gosselin

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Water Quality In The Kentucky River Basin, Daniel I. Carey

Information Circular--KGS

Data gathered up to 1990 suggest that water pollution problems existed throughout the Kentucky River Basin. Fecal coliform bacteria in streams was a widespread problem because of the inadequate treatment of municipal wastes, failing septic systems, and agricultural runoff. Iron, lead, manganese, mercury, and silver exceeded State standards and Federal guidelines for drinking water and aquatic life at most of the sample sites for a majority of samples. Aquatic life in many smaller streams in the Knobs region was reduced by chloride discharges from oil and gas operations, according to the Kentucky Division of Water. Organic enrichment and high nutrient …

The Environment Of The Prairie, J. E. Weaver, W. J. Himmel

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.