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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Genetic Structure Of Urban White-Tailed Deer In West Michigan, Jacob David Brand
Genetic Structure Of Urban White-Tailed Deer In West Michigan, Jacob David Brand
Masters Theses
In urban areas, green spaces are used by humans and wildlife. The proximity between them can lead to both positive and negative interactions, which can make managing urban wildlife difficult. Managers are challenged due to conflicts between wildlife population sizes that can be naturally supported versus those that are socially tolerable. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) thrive in urban environments because their habitat requirements are met within green spaces and backyard vegetation. Matrilineal groups of urban white-tailed deer live within the same areas, at times forming high densities that can lead to the spread of diseases or environmental pests, including hemlock …
Using Gis To Analyze Graminoid And Shrub Composition Change From 1997 To 2017 At Atqasuk, Alaska, Rebecca Daigle
Using Gis To Analyze Graminoid And Shrub Composition Change From 1997 To 2017 At Atqasuk, Alaska, Rebecca Daigle
Student Scholars Day Posters
Shrubs are expanding across the Arctic due to longer growing seasons and rapidly increasing air temperatures. Likewise, graminoid height is increasing. Changes in community composition may impact critical feedback loops and result in trophic cascades. Here, we analyzed vegetation cover change at a long-term research site in Atqasuk, Alaska. We compared cover across forty-eight, one-square-meter plots between 1997 and 2017. Shrubs and graminoids increased significantly over time, while bryophytes decreased over time. Other functional groups were inconsistent or showed no trend. We mapped the shrub and graminoid vegetation change in order to examine cover trends within the context of the …
Senior Project: An Investigative Study Into The Bacterial Contamination Of Little Black Creek, Margaret I. Brenneman
Senior Project: An Investigative Study Into The Bacterial Contamination Of Little Black Creek, Margaret I. Brenneman
Honors Projects
An investigation of Escherichia coli concentrations in a west Michigan stream was conducted to determine sources of fecal contamination that impact water quality. Little Black Creek (LBC) is located in Muskegon County and discharges into Lake Michigan at the P.J. Hoffmaster Campground Beach. Often referred to as an “indicator bacteria,” water contaminated with E. coli has a high probability to contain other enteric pathogens as well. Beach water testing in 2020 using Colilert-18 methods revealed E. coli levels of 579 cfu/100mL in the creek discharge area that exceeded total body contact criteria of 300 cfu/100mL. A follow-up study of the …
Measuring Streambank Erosion: A Comparison Of Erosion Pins, Total Station, And Terrestrial Laser Scanner, Daniel T. L. Myers, Richard R. Rediske, James N. Mcnair
Measuring Streambank Erosion: A Comparison Of Erosion Pins, Total Station, And Terrestrial Laser Scanner, Daniel T. L. Myers, Richard R. Rediske, James N. Mcnair
Funded Articles
Streambank erosion is diffcult to quantify; models and field methods are needed to assess this important sediment source to streams. Our objectives were to (1) evaluate and compare three techniques for quantifying streambank erosion: erosion pins, total station, and laser scanning, (2) spatially assess streambank erosion rates in the Indian Mill Creek watershed of Michigan, USA, and (3) relate results with modeling of nonpoint source pollution. We found large absolute and relative errors between the different measurement techniques. However, we were unable to determine any statistically significant differences between techniques and only observed a correlation between total station and laser …
Evaluating Reproducibility In Computational Biology Research, Morgan Oneka
Evaluating Reproducibility In Computational Biology Research, Morgan Oneka
Honors Projects
For my Honors Senior Project, I read five research papers in the field of computational biology and attempted to reproduce the results. However, for the most part, this proved a challenge, as many details vital to utilizing relevant software and data had been excluded. Using Geir Kjetil Sandve's paper "Ten Simple Rules for Reproducible Computational Research" as a guide, I discuss how authors of these five papers did and did not obey these rules of reproducibility and how this affected my ability to reproduce their results.
Scalable Parallelization Of A Markov Coalescent Genealogy Sampler, Philip E. Davis
Scalable Parallelization Of A Markov Coalescent Genealogy Sampler, Philip E. Davis
Masters Theses
Coalescent genealogy samplers are effective tools for the study of population genetics. They are used to estimate the historical parameters of a population based upon the sampling of present-day genetic information. A popular approach employs Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. While effective, these methods are very computationally intensive, often taking weeks to run. Although attempts have been made to leverage parallelism in an effort to reduce runtimes, they have not resulted in scalable solutions. Due to the inherently sequential nature of MCMC methods, their performance has suffered diminishing returns when applied to large-scale computing clusters. In the interests of …
Recent Advances In The Climate Change Biology Literature: Describing The Whole Elephant, A. Townsend Peterson, Shaily Menon, Xingong Li
Recent Advances In The Climate Change Biology Literature: Describing The Whole Elephant, A. Townsend Peterson, Shaily Menon, Xingong Li
Peer Reviewed Publications
Climate change biology is seeing a wave of new contributions, which are reviewed herein. Contributions treat shifts in phenology and distribution, and both document past and forecast future effects. However, many of the current wave of contributions are observational and correlational, and few are experimental in nature, and too often a conceptual framework in which to contextualize the results is lacking. An additional gap is the lack of effective cross-linking among areas of research, for example, connection of sea-level rise and climate change implications for distributions of species, or evolutionary adaptation studies with distributional shift studies. Although numerous important contributions …
Fundamentals For Using Geographic Information Science To Measure The Effectiveness Of Land Conservation Projects, Robert G. Pontius Jr., Shaily Menon, Joseph Duncan, Shalini Gupta
Fundamentals For Using Geographic Information Science To Measure The Effectiveness Of Land Conservation Projects, Robert G. Pontius Jr., Shaily Menon, Joseph Duncan, Shalini Gupta
Other Scholarly Publications
Some humans spend a tremendous amount of effort to change landscapes from a “natural” state to a “developed” state for a variety of desirable economic uses, such as urban, agriculture, transportation, and mining. Others spend a tremendous amount of effort to prevent such development in order to conserve the landscapes for a variety of important environmental uses, such as biodiversity maintenance, carbon storage, water filtration, and landslide prevention. It would be efficient in theory if a society were to focus its development efforts at locations that give the largest economic utility per area developed, and to focus its conservation efforts …
Aquatic Ecosystem Response To Storm Water Abatement Measures In The Ravines Of The Gvsu Allendale Campus: Establishment Of Base-Line Biological Condition, Eric Snyder, Jason Nelson, Jason Drogowski, Michelle Harju
Aquatic Ecosystem Response To Storm Water Abatement Measures In The Ravines Of The Gvsu Allendale Campus: Establishment Of Base-Line Biological Condition, Eric Snyder, Jason Nelson, Jason Drogowski, Michelle Harju
Technical Reports
The ravine tributary streams surrounding Grand Valley State Universities Allendale campus represent unique and understudied ecosystems, worthy of significant restoration efforts and of long-lasting protection. They are variously affected by storm water runoff, representing a spectrum from severely impacted to relatively pristine. Quantitative macroinvertebrate samples taken from six streams in late June 2007, indicated that insect diversity was positively correlated to ammonium (p=0.057), while total abundance was negatively correlated to phosphate and chlorophyll-a concentration (n.s.). In addition, phosphate, nitrate, sulfate and iron concentrations were elevated in streams that experience significant storm-water runoff and these streams also tended to have …
Hydrologic Events And Water Quality In The Pigeon River, Ottawa County, Michigan, Neil W. Macdonald, Richard R. Rediske, Jonathan E. Van Denend
Hydrologic Events And Water Quality In The Pigeon River, Ottawa County, Michigan, Neil W. Macdonald, Richard R. Rediske, Jonathan E. Van Denend
Peer Reviewed Publications
The Pigeon River drains a 16,765-ha agricultural watershed in western Ottawa County, Michigan and discharges into south-central Lake Michigan. Extensive areas of wetlands in the upper watershed were drained in the 1920s, causing significantly altered hydrology characteristics by flashy discharges during storms and periods of snowmelt. We studied stream chemistry and hydrology for a four-year period between September, 1996, and October, 2000, to determine water quality status, to estimate annual nutrient exports, and to evaluate the effects of different seasonal flow types. Results of our study confirmed that the upper reaches of the Pigeon River experience chronically degraded water quality, …
Environmental Stress Effects On Vigor, Mortality, And Growth In Northern Hardwood Forests Along A Pollution-Climate Gradient, Neil W. Macdonald, John A. Witter, David R. Reed, Andrew J. Burton, Kurt S. Pregitzer, Hal O. Liechty
Environmental Stress Effects On Vigor, Mortality, And Growth In Northern Hardwood Forests Along A Pollution-Climate Gradient, Neil W. Macdonald, John A. Witter, David R. Reed, Andrew J. Burton, Kurt S. Pregitzer, Hal O. Liechty
Peer Reviewed Publications
Concern exists over the effects of interacting environmental stresses on the ecological integrity of temperate forests. Coincidence of sensitivity to drought, increasing occurrence of defoliation, and elevated pollutant deposition has produced speculation that northern hardwood forests may be susceptible to the increased climatic stresses projected for the Great Lakes region. The objective of our study was to examine relationships among environmental stress factors, vigor, mortality, and growth in northern hardwood forests located along a pollution-climate gradient in the Great Lakes region. Between 1987 and 1993, we quantified climatic variables, pollutant deposition, insect defoliation, and tree vigor and growth at five …
Land Use In The Amazon: Soil Erosion, Sedimentation, And The Samuel Dam, Doug H. Graham
Land Use In The Amazon: Soil Erosion, Sedimentation, And The Samuel Dam, Doug H. Graham
Peer Reviewed Articles
Doug Graham received a M.A. in Geography in December of 1986. This paper is a summary of his thesis entitled "The Samuel Dam: Land Use, Soil Erosion, and Sedimentation in Amazonia." Graham conducted field research in Brazil during the Summer of 1985, with funding from the Tinker Foundation and the Amazon Research and Training Program. His immediate plans are to continue his training in Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.