Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Life Cycle Analysis Of Land Use In Us Pork Production, Greg Thoma, Marty Matlock, Ben Putman, Jasmina Burek

Food Systems

The goal of this study was to analyze land use in the production of US pork using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a comprehensive methodology for quantitatively analyzing potential environmental impacts associated with complex systems. Identification of processes contributing to high environmental impacts often highlights opportunities for gains in efficiency, which can increase the profitability and sustainability of US pork. The environmental impact category analyzed in this assessment was land use. After reviewing existing information regarding land use in agriculture and livestock production, analysis for US pork production was performed at two scales: cradle-to-grave and cradle-to-farm gate. The cradle-to-grave …

Quantifying The Adaptive Cycle, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, Olle Hjerne, Monika Winder

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The adaptive cycle was proposed as a conceptual model to portray patterns of change in complex systems. Despite the model having potential for elucidating change across systems, it has been used mainly as a metaphor, describing system dynamics qualitatively. We use a quantitative approach for testing premises (reorganisation, conservatism, adaptation) in the adaptive cycle, using Baltic Sea phytoplankton communities as an example of such complex system dynamics. Phytoplankton organizes in recurring spring and summer blooms, a well-established paradigm in planktology and succession theory, with characteristic temporal trajectories during blooms that may be consistent with adaptive cycle phases. We used long-term …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 22, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 22, 2015 (12/22/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 15, 2015, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 15, 2015 (12/15/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Wetland Inundation Mapping And Wetland Restoration Planning: A Case Study Of Playa Wetlands, Nebraska, Yue Gu

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

There has been a variety of wetland monitoring projects implemented in playa wetlands in Nebraska over the last decades. But there is still a lack of continuous wetland monitoring on long-term and large-area dimension. Because inundation condition is one of the critical parameters to describe wetland hydrologic performance, this study aims to assess the inundation alteration in playa wetlands in Nebraska and evaluate the performance of wetland conservation and restoration practices. This study uses the Landsat data to create playa wetland inundation condition maps and analyze the variation trend of inundated playa wetlands over the past 30 years. The results …

Umphlett Qci 2015, Natalie A. Umphlett

HPRCC Personnel Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Late Hard Freeze

Late Freezes Extended Growing Season

Warm Fall Delays Bird Migrations

Monitoring Water Resources Across the Basin

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Stressors And Strategies For Managing Urban Water Scarcity: Perspectives From The Field, Vivek Shandas, Rosa Lehman, Kelli L. Larson, Jeremy Bunn, Heejun Chang

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Largely because water resource planning in the U.S. has been separated from land-use planning, opportunities for explicitly linking planning policies to water availability remain unexamined. The pressing need for better coordination between land-use planning and water management is amplified by changes in the global climate, which will place even greater importance on managing water supplies and demands than in the past. By surveying land and water managers in two urbanizing regions of the western United States—Portland, Oregon and Phoenix Arizona—we assessed the extent to which their perspectives regarding municipal water resource management align or differ. We specifically focus on characterizing …

Lancaster County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, David Stanhope, Christine Tombleson, Karen Duhring, Alexander D. Renaud, Robert Isdell, Pamela Braff, Benjamin P. Weissman, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

• the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use

• the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection

• the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for Lancaster County was generated using on-screen, digitizing …

City Of Portsmouth, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, Karen Duhring, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

1) the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use; 2) the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection; and 3) the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for the City of …

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 24, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 24, 2015 (11/24/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 17, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 17, 2015 (11/17/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Gaseous Carbon Emissions (Methane And Carbon Dioxide) From Wetland Soils In A Re-Created Everglades Landscape, Bradley R. Schonhoff

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reducing the rates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is critical in combatting global climate change. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are the two most important carbon-based GHGs, for their atmospheric warming potential. Wetlands such as the Florida Everglades play major roles in the global carbon cycle, as varying hydrologic conditions lead to differential production rates of these two GHGs. This study measured CO₂ and CH₄ emissions in a re-created Everglades ridge-and-slough wetland, where water levels were controlled to reflect natural flood patterns. As expected, lower elevations were flooded longer and produced more CH …

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 10, 2015, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 10, 2015 (11/10/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 3, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 3, 2015 (11/3/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

The Founding Of The Robert B. Daugherty Water For Food Institute At The University Of Nebraska

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Literature

University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken drove to Omaha in to meet Robert Daugherty at his home. In the living room, the elder Daugherty was surrounded by Mogens Bay, his three sons and a covey of lawyers. Now 88 years old, the businessman had a reputation for being tough-minded and smart, a man who could intimidate, but also surprise with his ready sense of humor. In his long career, Daugherty had transformed agriculture and the rural landscape into the now familiar polka dot pattern, the signature of the center pivot irrigators Daugherty had popularized in the 1970s. He had started …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 27, 2015, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 27, 2015 (10/27/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Characteristics Of Sediment Transport At Selected Sites Along The Missouri River, 2011–12, David L. Rus, Joel M. Galloway, Jason S. Alexander

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Extreme flooding in the Missouri River in 2011, followed by a year of more typical streamflows in 2012, allowed the sediment-transport regime to be compared between the unprecedented conditions of 2011 and the year immediately following the flooding. As part of a cooperative effort between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, this report follows up USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5006 by comparing sediment transport between years and among sampling sites spanning the Garrison Segment in North Dakota, the Gavins Point Segment downstream from Lewis and Clark Lake, and a part of the …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 20, 2015, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 20, 2015 (10/20/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 13, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 13, 2015 (10/13/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Mitigating The Risk Of Extreme Water Scarcity And Dependency: The Case Of Jordan, Joep F. Schyns, Arwa Hamaideh, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Mesfin Mekonnen, Marlou Schyns

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Jordan faces great internal water scarcity and pollution, conflict over trans-boundary waters, and strong dependency on external water resources through trade. This paper analyzes these issues and subsequently reviews options to reduce the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency. Based on estimates of water footprint, water availability, and virtual water trade, we find that groundwater consumption is nearly double the groundwater availability, water pollution aggravates blue water scarcity, and Jordan’s external virtual water import dependency is 86%. The review of response options yields 10 ingredients for a strategy for Jordan to mitigate the risks of extreme water scarcity and …

Linking Seasonal Predictions To Decision-Making And Disaster Management In The Greater Horn Of Africa, Tsegaye Tadesse, Tonya Haigh, Nicole Wall, Andualem Shiferaw, Ben Zaitchik, Shimelis Beyene, Getachew Berhan, Jacob Petr

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Seventy-six participants, including experts from seven countries from the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) and project coinvestigators from the United States, met to discuss experimental seasonal prediction models and products for the GHA, to engage decision-makers and users in the assessment of hydroclimatic information requirements, and to use feedback to build a framework to support decision-making and disaster management. In pre- and postworkshop surveys, workshop participants were asked how the utility of forecasts to decision-makers might be improved. Their recommendations are presented

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 6, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 6, 2015 (10/6/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Water Current, Volume 47, No. 4, Fall 2015

Water Current Newsletter

Study: Two Major U.S. Aquifers Have High Levels of Natural Uranium

Water Advanced Research and Innovation Fellowship Program (WARI)

Simulated Use Of 'First-Order' Ponds To Reduce Peakflow In An Eroding River System, J. Thad Scott, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Getches-Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Fall 2015, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Droughtscape- Fall 2015, Kelly Smith

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

CONTENTS

Director’s column.........................1

NDMC 20th anniversary .............. 2

Employment opportunity..............3

Third quarter 2015 climate summary ...................................... 4

Third quarter 2015 impacts summary ...................................... 6

Workshop in Ethiopia...................8

San Antonio multi-hazard tournament .................................. 9

Healthy soil is drought buffer ............. 10

U2U Award ................................ 11

Cost-benefit analysis for utilities managing drought......................12

NDMC helps with rural poll questions on climate..................13

Introducing our post-docs..........14

South Korean visitors ................ 14

Multi-Scale Environmental Filters And Niche Partitioning Govern The Distributions Of Riparian Vegetation Guilds, Nate Hough-Snee, Brian G. Laub, David M. Merritt, Arin Lexine Long, Lloyd L. Nackley, Brett B. Roper, Joseph Michael Wheaton

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Across landscapes, riparian plant communities assemble under varying levels of disturbance, environmental stress, and resource availability, leading to the development of distinct riparian life-history guilds over evolutionary timescales. Identifying the environmental filters that exert selective pressures on specific riparian vegetation guilds is a critical step in setting baseline expectations for how riparian vegetation may respond to environmental conditions anticipated under future global change scenarios. In this study, we ask: (1) What riparian plant guilds exist across the interior Columbia and upper Missouri River basins? (2) What environmental filters shape riparian guild distributions? (3) How does resource partitioning among guilds influence …

James City County Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon A. Killeen

Reports

Actions taken by waterfront property owners to stabilize the shoreline can affect the health of the Bay as well as adjacent properties for decades. With these long-term implications, managers at the local level should have a more proactive role in how shorelines are managed. James City County recognizes that its natural environment is one of its most valuable assets as well as its most vulnerable (James City County, 2015). The shores of James City range from exposed open river to very sheltered creeks, and the nature of shoreline change varies accordingly (Figure 1-1). This shoreline management plan is useful for …

Water Quality In The Río Pastaza Watershed A Comparative Study Of Ríos Topo, Zuñag, And Pastaza And The Impact Of The Topo Hydroelectric Project Using Macroinvertebrates As Bioindicators, Jesse Vega-Perkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ríos Zuñag, Pastaza, and Topo flow through one of the rainiest and water-rich places in Ecuador. Río Zuñag is a relatively small, pristine montane river and Río Pastaza is a relatively large, contaminated river that receives the untreated wastewater of many communities. Río Topo’s unique watershed and gradient allow it to be home to many plants that have adapted to its unique environment, including the hyperendemic liverwort Myriocolea irrorata. However, in recent years, all of the water of Río Topo has been sold by the state of Ecuador to be developed for hydroelectric projects (HEP). The first of these …

Patagonia Con Poder: El Éxito De La Oposición Frente El Proyecto Hidroaysén, Nathaniel Korn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation analyzes the movement in opposition to the HidroAysén project in Southern Chile that is often referred to as and uses the slogan “Patagonia Sin Represas” (Patagonia Without Dams). The investigation is framed through collective action theory, the study of what incentives and other factors create the conditions for mobilization and group action. In the context of social movements it is usually argued that there needs to be a better cost-benefit scenario for each actor to be involved than there is to not be involved in the movement. Immediately following return of democracy to Chile in the 1990’s social …