Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

High Peaks Back - Country Trails Plan, Benjamin Godsoe

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The High Peaks Trails Plan is a regional vision for back-country trails in Maine's High Peaks region. The plan identifies challenges and opportunities which face the trails community, and outlines several strategies for trails groups to move forward together to overcome mutual challenges.

Determining Scaphirhynchus Sturgeon Population Demographics And Dynamics: Implications For Range-Wide Management, Recovery, And Conservation, Martin J. Hamel

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sturgeons (Acipenseridae) have experienced world-wide declines as a result of anthropogenic effects such as over-harvest, habitat degradation, altered flow regimes, and pollution. Nearly all European and Asian sturgeon species have experienced population declines and have subsequently been classified as either threatened or endangered. North American sturgeons have experienced a similar plight in that all eight native sturgeon species are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Direct linkages between North American sturgeon declines and anthropogenic effects are difficult to assess due to scale considerations, fluctuating environmental conditions, difficulty in capture, and the interaction of all these effects. To recover, …

Spatial And Temporal Participation In Recreational Fishing, Dustin R. Martin

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Buffering inland fisheries against large-scale changes in ecosystem function, climate regimes, and societal valuations of natural resources requires progressive management approaches that incorporate fish and angler dynamics at large spatial and temporal scales. Current paradigms of inland fishery management generally utilize waterbody-specific, fish-centric frameworks designed to regulate fish populations directly, and anglers indirectly, through fish stock enhancement and harvest regulation. In reality, anglers are the most manageable component of a fishery but management of anglers requires explicit consideration of their behavior (e.g., spatial and temporal patterns of participant use), which, unlike fish populations, operates at a scale larger than a …

Evaluation Of Three Nest Searching Methods For Ring-Necked Pheasant, Jeffery W. Stackhouse, Kevin K. Sedivec, Benjamin A. Geaumont

The Prairie Naturalist

Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) are a highly sought after game bird and as such, much research has been conducted regarding their ecology (Warner 1981, Trautman 1982, Johnson and Knue 1989). Perhaps the most investigated aspect of pheasant ecology is the species’ reproductive season (e.g. Linder et al. 1960, Dumke and Pils 1979, Leif 1994) with many studies focusing on nesting habitat (Baskett 1947, Clark et al. 1999). Results from previous research have acknowledged the difficulty associated with locating pheasant nests in their preferred cover types (Hanson 1970, Evrard 2000). Studies of pheasant nesting ecology have been based on …

Dual Capture Of A Piñon Deer Mouse And A Silky Pocket Mouse Resulting In Consumption Of The Smaller Animal, Jon C. Pigage, Roger D. Peyton

The Prairie Naturalist

Intraspecific dual captures of rodents are uncommon, but not rare. There are several reports of brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), white-footed deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus), North American deer mice (P. maniculatus), western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis) and meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) caught simultaneously in the same trap (i.e. a door-closing live-trap; Davis 1955, Getz 1961, Blaustein and Rothstein 1978, Jenkins and Llewellyn 1981, Novak 1983). Some reports are incidental whereas others are interpreted as social associations or bonding between conspecifics. Interspecific dual captures are rarely reported in the literature. The earliest report of …

Red-Tailed Hawk Nesting In Kansas: Influence Of Landscape Characteristics, William Langley

The Prairie Naturalist

Factors that affect nest site selection in red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) include the physical features surrounding the nest and landscape characteristics. Features surrounding nests include: tree height, tree diameter (dbh), percent canopy cover, slope, nest openness, and density of woody plants or shrubs (Titus and Mosher 1981, Bechard et al. 1990, Tietje et al. 1997, Actkinson et al. 2007). Landscape characteristics that influence nest-site selection by red-tailed hawks vary across regions. In Georgia, red-tailed hawks selected nest site in areas with greater area of agriculture and open pasture (Moorman and Chapman 1996), whereas in Oklahoma prairies, the hawks …

Associations Between Iron Concentration And Productivity In Montane Streams Of The Black Hills, South Dakota, Cari-Ann Hayer, Benjamin M. Holocmb, Steven R. Chipps

The Prairie Naturalist

Iron is an important micronutrient found in aquatic systems that can influence nutrient availability (e.g. phosphorus) and primary productivity. In streams, high iron concentrations often are associated with low pH as a result of acid mine drainage, which is known to affect fish and invertebrate communities. Streams in the Black Hills of South Dakota are generally circumneutral in pH, yet select streams exhibit high iron concentrations associated with natural iron deposits. In this study, we examined relationships among iron concentration, periphyton biomass, macroinvertebrate abundance, and fish assemblages in four Black Hills streams. The stream with the highest iron concentration (~5 …

Use Of Seeded Exotic Grasslands By Wintering Birds, Andrew D. George, Timothy J. O'Connell, Karen R. Hickman, David M. Lesliee Jr.

The Prairie Naturalist

Despite widespread population declines of North American grassland birds, effects of anthropogenic disturbance on wintering habitat of this guild remain poorly understood. We compared avian abundance and habitat structure in fields planted to the exotic grass Old World bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum; OWB) to that in native mixed-grass prairie. During winters of 2007–2008 and 2008–2009, we conducted bird and vegetation surveys in six native grass and six OWB fields in Garfield, Grant, and Alfalfa counties, Oklahoma. We recorded 24 species of wintering birds in native fields and 14 species in OWB monocultures. While vegetation structure was similar between field …

How Important Is A Quality Manuscript Review?, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Temperatures are finally starting to cool a bit (for those of us in the northern Great Plains region) and Thanksgiving break is just around the corner.

I offer my reflections in the spirit of encouraging each of you to take a break from your professional obligations and spend time with friends and family enjoying nature and everything it has to offer this fall.

Salamander Colonization Of Chase Lake, Stutsman County, North Dakota, David M. Mushet, Kyle I. Mclean, Craig A. Stockwell

The Prairie Naturalist

Salt concentrations in lakes are dynamic. In the western United States, water diversions have caused significant declines in lake levels resulting in increased salinity, placing many aquatic species at risk (Galat and Robinson 1983, Beutel et al. 2001). Severe droughts can have similar effects on salt concentrations and aquatic communities (Swanson et al. 2003). Conversely, large inputs of water can dilute salt concentrations and contribute to community shifts (Euliss et al. 2004).

Chase Lake is a large, shallow, alkaline lake in east-central North Dakota most famously known for supporting one of the largest breeding colonies of the American white pelican …

A Simple Device For Measuring The Minimum Current Velocity To Maintain Semi-Buoyant Fish Eggs In Suspension, Julias S. Mueller, Brandon D. Cheek, Qingman Chen, Jillian Groeschel, Shannok K. Brewer, Timothy B. Grabowski

The Prairie Naturalist

Pelagic broadcast spawning cyprinids are common to Great Plains rivers and streams. This reproductive guild produces non-adhesive semi-buoyant eggs that require sufficient current velocity to remain in suspension during development. Although studies have shown that there may be a minimum velocity needed to keep the eggs in suspension, this velocity has not been estimated directly nor has the influence of physicochemical factors on egg buoyancy been determined. We developed a simple, inexpensive flow chamber that allowed for evaluation of minimum current velocity needed to keep semi-buoyant eggs in suspension at any time frame during egg development. The device described here …

Common Core 4th Grade Environmental Science Lesson Plans For California Teachers, Gillian Schoenfeld

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This project and its analyses were conducted to assist California fourth grade elementary school teachers in adjusting to teaching Common Core standards and science curriculum in their classrooms. The project included the creation of lesson plans, which could be utilized throughout the state of California.

As the Common Core standards, California’s Next Generation Science Standards for K- 12, were just proposed in June of 2013, these lesson plans would help teachers update their lessons and provide them materials and concepts of how to do so. These lessons provide higher-order thinking for students, which is the whole concept of the new …

Development And Application Of A Gis-Based Long Island Sound Eelgrass Habitat Suitability Index Model, Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Justin Eddings, Christopher Pickerell, Lorne Brousseau, Charles Yarish

Department of Marine Sciences

The primary objectives of the Eelgrass Habitat Suitability Index Model (EHSI Model) are to assist in the evaluation of sites being considered for eelgrass restoration efforts in the Long Island Sound (LIS) area and to identify areas where water quality issues reduce or eliminate the potential for natural eelgrass colonization. To achieve this goal, geospatial processing of data available from the Long Island Sound area was conducted using ArcGIS v10.0 including the 3D Analyst and Spatial Analyst extensions. The result is a series of maps presented in this report and a GIS-based model available for users to interact with the …

A Northward Range Extension Of The Hispid Cotton Rat (Sigmodon Hispidus) In Missouri, Cody W. Thompson, Elmer J. Finck

The Prairie Naturalist

The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a widely distributed rodent with a geographic range extending from north-central Mexico to southern Nebraska and central Virginia and from southeastern Arizona east to Florida (Carleton et al. 1999, Peppers and Bradley 2000, Wilson and Reeder 2005) with isolated populations in Arizona (Bradley et al. 2012) and California (Clark 1972). Range expansions for the species have been well documented (Clark 1972, Farney 1975, Benedict et al. 2000, Wright et al. 2010, Wills et al. 2011). The majority of these range expansions have occurred across the Central Plains during the 20th century …

Whooping Cranes Consume Plains Leopard Frogs At Migratory Stopover Sites In Nebraska, Keith Geluso, Brad T. Krohn, Mary J. Harner, Michael J. Assenmacher

The Prairie Naturalist

Whooping cranes (Grus americana) currently consist of a single, wild population that migrates annually from breeding grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada, to wintering grounds on and around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge along the Texas coast, USA (NRC 2005). This population reached a low of less than 20 individuals in 1941 (Allen 1952) but has rebounded to over 250 individuals (Chavez-Ramirez and Wehtje 2012, Gil-Weir et al. 2012). Whooping cranes migrate approximately 4,000 km each spring and autumn, traversing much of the North American Great Plains (Lewis 1995) and periodically landing along rivers, wetlands, and other …

Relationships Among Walleye Mercury, Selenium, Stable Isotopes, Size And Age, Mark J. Fincel, Robert P. Hanten, Shannon Minerich

The Prairie Naturalist

Bioaccumulation of mercury is well-documented in aquatic ecosystems and occurs as mercury is accumulated and passed up food chains (Kidd et al. 1995, Atwell et al. 1998, Downs et al. 1998). Trophic level correlations have been widely reported for mercury (Snodgrass et al. 2000) and other metals (Barron 1995). Generally, within a system, carnivores have the highest mercury loadings, omnivores intermediate and herbivores the lowest (Phillips et al. 1980). However, little research has focused on the differences in mercury bioaccumulation for a single species that ranges across multiple trophic levels (Burger et al. 2001).

Stable isotope analysis has expanded the …

Assessment Of The Predictive Reliability Of A Swat Flow Model And The Evaluation Of Runoff Generation And Bmp Effectiveness In A Shale-Gas Impacted Watershed Using A Modeling Approach, Kwasi Asante

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to ensure a harmonious harness of shale-gas resources while ensuring minimal damage to the environment, it is imperative that studies to conduct to inform various aspects of managing the environment. This includes the development of reliable hydrologic models to inform in decisions concerning water and the environment.

The first objective of this study was to evaluate the predictive reliability of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model based on respective methods of LULC data classification and data type spatial resolution. Results showed that the high-resolution data classified with object-oriented image method does not provide any significant advantage …

Mass Bays Resource Inventory: Summary And Findings From The Review Of Plans And Assessments, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

The Massachusetts Bays Program (MBP) contracted with the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston to conduct a review of papers, presentations, reports, and other relevant material produced from 1996 (the last CCMP) to present, that might inform the MBP’s update of their Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The review focused on five topics identified as priority topics by the MBP: water quality, invasive species, climate change/vulnerability, continuity of estuarine habitat, and estuarine habitat protection in the geographic region of the Mass Bays Program, particularly the 47 nearshore estuaries and embayments identified in the 2012 MBP …

Phylogeographic Inference Of Insular Mule Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus) Divergence In North America's Desert Southwest, Ona Alminas

Theses and Dissertations

Though mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) persist in robust populations throughout most of their North American distribution, nearly 60% of their historic range in México has declined due to habitat loss and unregulated hunting. Two of the six subspecies inhabiting México's deserts and Baja California peninsula are of conservation concern, occurring on land bridge islands in the Pacific Ocean (O. h. cerrosensis on Cedros Island: threatened) and in the Sea of Cortés (O. h. sheldoni on Tiburón Island: endangered). Focusing on the desert southwest (n=449 deer), we obtained 1,611 bp of mtDNA sequence (control region: 583 bp; cytochrome b gene: 1,028 …

Landscape Ecological Analysis Of Patterns Influencing Bat Activity In Southeast Glacial Plains Of Wisconsin, Angela Leckie Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Nearly half of the world's bat species are threatened by anthropogenic land use. To contribute to the conservation of these cryptic mammals, it is imperative to understand bat habitat selection in human-dominated landscapes. Bat activity was calculated using active acoustic surveys conducted June and July for three years along river and lake transects in an agricultural matrix. Using multiple logistic regression and ANOVA regression tree analyses, I examined the relationship between bat activity of four species and habitat structure at multiple scales.

Aquatic features were determined to be the greatest predictor of bat activity with rivers supporting greater amount of …

Jefferson Currents: Autumn 2013

Jefferson Currents: The Energy Conservation Newsletter

Dr. Watts' Brilliant Savings: And now, for something completely different, ladies and gentlemen, with a roll of the drums and a blare of trumpets, please..

On the Home Front: Rudolph-approved!

Bright Ideas: A kilowatt saved is a penny earned

Jefferson Currents: Spring 2013

Jefferson Currents: The Energy Conservation Newsletter

Dr. Watts' Brilliant Savings: Here Comes the Bride

On the Home Front: Insulation or How I learned to stuff it

Bright Ideas: The heat's ON but no one's home!

Recreational Angler Perspectives Of Nonnative Fish Species And Mercury Advisories, Christopher J. Edwards

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The central Everglades serve as a Wildlife Management Area and as a Water Conservation Area for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. It is also home to over 22 nonnative freshwater fish species and carries restrictive fish consumption guidelines for Mercury. In my study, boat anglers and canal bank anglers were personally interviewed in the field, to research their awareness and perspectives of these potential environmental and health threats. The study found 78% of anglers were aware of the presence of nonnative fish species, but favored native fish species, and that 69% were aware of mercury advisories, but did not eat …

Photographic And Sediment Monitoring Procedures And Initial Results For A Brazilian Iron Ore Cave, Vitor Moura, Augusto Auler, Marina Leão, Luciana Alt

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

The definition, development and application of monitoring procedures for caves are currently in demand in Brazil. The need for environmental licensing processes and effective environmental control actions has been increasing since the beginning of this century due to the intensification of economic activities.

This work discusses the development of a method of photographic and sediment monitoring and the application of this method in an iron ore cave. This cave is located inside an industrial area currently under development by a mining company. This situation demands effective and specific environmental control measures.

The method’s simplicity, effectiveness and multidisciplinary approach indicate that …

Caver Quest 3d Virtual Cave Simulation Of Snowy River In Fort Stanton Cave, Ronald J. Lipinski, Pete Lindsley

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

Virtual worlds, or 3D simulations through which an avatar can travel, is becoming a common means to display products or provide training in new environments. This paper describes the steps in producing the 3D virtual simulation of Snowy River in Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico. A traditional cave survey and map with cross sections was used to produce a 3D meshed surface of the cave walls using the Blender software package. Photographs were taken of the walls, ceiling, and floor and merged together. The merged montage was applied to the 3D mesh walls as a “texture”. Unity3D was used to …

The Cost Of Green Infrastructure: Worth The Investment?, Martha Sheils

Green Infrastructure

Is GI worth the investment?

• LID techniques often lead to cost savings when we look at WHOLE PROJECT COSTS

• Natural Infrastructure investments for flood control, drinking water protection and wildlife habitat can yield SIGNIFICANT AVOIDED COSTS and additional co-benefits to communitites

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Land Snail Survey Techniques In Hawaii: Implications For Conservation Throughout The Pacific, Torsten Durkan, Norine Yeung, Wallace Meyer, Kenneth Hayes, Robert Cowie

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

Terrestrial micromolluscs (snails with an adult maximum shell dimension <5 mm) constitute a considerable proportion of the land snail fauna of the Pacific. However, micromolluscs are often underestimated in biological surveys because of size bias. It has been argued that visual searches are preferable on Pacific islands because: (1) size biases are limited based on the understanding that most native Pacific island land snails are very small, and (2) amount of labor is less than other methods such as soil surveys and adequate for inventory purposes (though not for abundance assessments). To test whether visual surveys and soil surveys were accurately recording all taxa, land snail inventories were completed in three forest reserves (5 sampling sites in each) on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Visual surveys involved 30-min visual search in a 10 m2 site; soil surveys involved sieving leaf litter and topsoil from four 0.3 m2 quadrats and extracting snails with the aid of a microscope. The data indicate a size and microhabitat bias associated with both techniques. Visual surveys consistently collected large arboreal and litter-dwelling species but missed a significant portion of micromolluscs, while soil surveys collected micromolluscs but missed larger snails. Because of such biases, employing both methods is critical for collecting all taxa at a survey location. As such, we recommend that future land snail surveys on Pacific Islands incorporate both survey techniques. Obtaining a complete inventory is critical if we are to understand species distributions and patterns of diversity and make well-informed conservation recommendations.

Global Fossil Energy Markets And Climate Change Mitigation: An Analysis With Remind, Nico Bauer, Ioanna Mouratiadou, Gunnar Luderer, Lavinia Baumstark, Robert J. Brecha, Ottmar Edenhofer, Elmar Kriegler

Physics Faculty Publications

We analyze the dynamics of global fossil resource markets under different assumptions for the supply of fossil fuel resources, development pathways for energy demand, and climate policy settings. Resource markets, in particular the oil market, are characterized by a large discrepancy between costs of resource extraction and commodity prices on international markets. We explain this observation in terms of (a) the intertemporal scarcity rent, (b) regional price differentials arising from trade and transport costs, (c) heterogeneity and inertia in the extraction sector. These effects are captured by the REMIND model. We use the model to explore economic effects of changes …

Animal Anti–Apoptotic Genes Enhance Recovery From Drought Stress In Tobacco, Tala Awada, David D. Dunigan, Martin B. Dickman

David D Dunigan Ph. D.

The anti–apoptotic nematode CED–9 gene and a 3’ non–coding mRNA region of the human Bcl–2 gene, referred to as 161–1, enhanced resistance to drought and recovery after re–watering in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum L. CV Glurk plants. The effect of drought on plant functions was investigated by withholding water from pots for 6, 8, 10 and 13 days. Results showed that controls and transgenic tobacco did not differ among each other under well–watered conditions. Differences appeared however, on day 3 of water deprivation, where controls exhibited a significantly steeper decline in photosynthesis (A) compared to the transgenic lines. On day 10 …

Evaluation Of Phase Change Materials For Cooling In A Super-Insulated Passive House, Jeffrey Stephen Lauck

Dissertations and Theses

Due to factors such as rising energy costs, diminishing resources, and climate change, the demand for high performance buildings is on the rise. As a result, several new building standards have emerged including the Passive House Standard, a rigorous energy-use standard based on a super-insulated and very tightly sealed building envelope. The standard requires that that air infiltration is less than or equal to 0.6 air changes per hour at a 50 Pascal pressure difference, annual heating energy is less than or equal to 15kWh/m2, and total annual source energy is less than or equal to 120 kWh/m2. A common …