Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Investigating The Ecology And Behavior Of The Indiana Bat And Tri-Colored Bat During Fall Swarming And Spring Staging, Mallory E. Tate

Masters Theses

White-nose syndrome has devastated bat populations across North America since 2005. Due to declines in Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) populations across the eastern United States, management prescriptions need to consider all seasons of these species annual cycles. However, data is severely lacking on the two seasons surrounding winter hibernation. These include fall swarming, a time period when bats are mating and preparing for hibernation, and spring staging, when bats are emerging from hibernation and preparing for spring migration. Both periods are critical for successful reproduction and survival following white-nose syndrome infection. …

Impact Of Disturbance Regimes On Community And Landscape Biodiversity In Atlantic Coastal Pine Barren Ecoregion Streams, Sean T. Mccanty

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Streams are dynamic systems shaped by geographic location, hydrology, riparian vegetation, and in-stream habitat. Furthermore, ecosystem disturbance plays a major role in structuring stream communities and ecosystem processes. Disturbances include natural occurrences, such as flooding, drought, and fire events and anthropogenic disturbances such as land use changes, damming, and pollution. Agricultural use acts as a press disturbance regime, homogenizing the surrounding landscape and simplifying in-stream habitat, leaving legacy effects after farming ceases. Active restoration is intended to ameliorate these effects by reintroducing variation, with the goal of shifting the ecosystem into a more diverse and natural state. The act of …

Effects Of Land Use On Riparian Corridors In Sonoma County, Marina Davies

Master's Projects and Capstones

Riparian corridor protection through zoning ordinances is a common best management practice to protect riparian ecosystems and function. These zoning ordinances protect riparian ecosystems by establishing setback distances where land use activities are prohibited. While management of protected riparian corridors are widely studied, recommendations for riparian corridor width vary and are often site specific. The variability of corridor widths presents a challenge to riparian corridor implementation, in addition to balancing economic needs with natural resource protection. This study evaluates the effects of land use on riparian corridors and compares the Riparian Corridor Combining Zone ordinance in Sonoma County to other …

Year Long Water Quality Analysis Of White Horn Brook, Kevin Dyer

Senior Honors Projects

KEVIN DYER (Marine Biology)

Year-long Analysis of the Water Quality of White Horn Brook

Sponsor: Thomas Boving (Geological Sciences)

Water is the foundation for all life on earth and is the most vital resource on this planet. Despite this, oceans and waterways all over the world are being polluted and exploited in ways detrimental to their fundamental hydrologic functions. For instance, excess nitrate levels can lead to eutrophication which gives rise to harmful algae blooms. Low pH can cause the breakdown of CaCO3 exoskeletons of organisms, such mollusks. High temperature variations are major stressors to living things and can cause …

On Land And Kinship, Emma Mathews-Lingen

Antonian Scholars Honors Program

In Western culture, human beings have long sought to separate themselves from “nature,” but that attitude is not sustainable. We are part of the ecosystems around us; we rely on the earth to meet all of our vital needs. Social and ecological justice issues often overlap. As we face the climate crisis, these systemic concerns, such as food-access, clean water, and climate-changing pollution, begin to feel more and more personal for those previously unaffected, such as myself. Farming stands at the crux of many of these issues. This project explores human relation to the land through the lens of my …

Call Of The Chorus Frog: An Undergraduate Experience In Field Research In The Elwha River Basin, Nicole Vandeputte

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In scientific disciplines, students are not often taught to write in a way that is easily understood by people outside of their field. It is my goal to learn to communicate scientific research to a broad audience in a way that is both understandable and interesting. In spring of 2019, I participated in Huxley’s environmental science field camp. We traveled to the Elwha River basin in Olympic National Park and conducted wildlife research projects of our own design. My group’s research assessed amphibian habitat in two areas of the park, one of which was recently exposed after the removal of …

White Sharks As A Novel Threat To Sea Otter Populations In California, Kimberly S. Schmutz

Scientific Communication News

No abstract provided.

The Planet, 2020, Winter, Alex Meacham, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Riverine Biota As Environmental Indicators Of Artisanal Small-Scale And Large-Scale Gold Mining Impacts On Riverine Ecosystems In Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana, K. F. Macdonald, M. Lund, E. Van Etten

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

A study on two adjacent small ephemeral river systems in the upper Tano River Basin in Brong Ahafo, Ghana; one impacted by ASGM and the other by a modern large gold mining (LSM), showed that impacts of mining on river sediment and water quality and quantity were reflected in the macroinvertebrate and microbial communities. This study investigated the impacts of ASGM on the ecology of the Surow River and that of a large-scale mining (LSM, the Ahafo mine) on the Subri River between February 2013 and April 2014 Macroinvertebrate communities responded to the shift in river water and sediment qualities, …

The Effects Of Low-Level Pharmaceuticals On Stream Biofilm Structure And Function Across A Land-Use Gradient In Streams Of The Huron River Watershed, Elizabeth Mae Stover

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a contaminant class of worldwide concern. Their environmental omnipresence indicates they may be a potential source of global change, and ecosystem-scale impacts at non-lethal levels have not been fully explored. We used stream biofilms to assess ecosystem responses to PPCPs. Biofilms were cultivated in streams draining areas of different land use and then exposed to triclosan, diphenhydramine, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim treatments. We found evidence that low levels of these PPCPs affected some, but not all, aspects of biofilm processes and bacterial community composition. Bacterial carbon uptake was reduced (p = 0.06) and we found …

Black Vulture Conflict And Management In The United States: Damage Trends, Management Overview, And Research Needs, Bryan M. Kluever, Morgan Pfeiffer, Scott C. Barras, Brett Dunlap, Lee A. Humberg

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contrary to rapid declines of many vulture (Accipitridae, Cathartidea) species worldwide, black vulture (Coragyps atratus) populations are increasing and expanding their range in North America. Vultures exhibit complex behaviors and can adapt to any human-dominated landscape or land use. These traits, combined with population growth and range expansion, have contributed to increased human–vulture conflicts. Our goal was to summarize the current status and trends in human–black vulture conflicts (hereafter human– vulture conflicts), review available management strategies, identify knowledge gaps, and provide recommendations to enhance management and understanding of this species and the associated conflicts. We found human–vulture conflicts …

Effects Of Integrated Application Of Plant-Based Compost And Urea On Soil Food Web, Soil Properties, And Yield And Quality Of A Processing Carrot Cultivar, A. Habteweld, D. Brainard, A. Kravchencko, Parwinder Grewal, H. Melakeberhan

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil nutrient management system characterized by reduced input of inorganic fertilizers integrated with organic amendments is one of the alternatives for reducing deleterious environmental impact of synthetic fertilizers, suppressing soil-borne pests and diseases, and improving soil health and crop yield. A hypothesis of the present study was that lower rates of urea mixed with higher rates of plant compost (PC) would improve nematode community structure, soil food web condition, soil biological, and physiochemical properties, and yield and quality of a processing carrot (Daucus carota) cultivar. Urea and PC were each applied at 135kg nitrogen (N)/ha alone or at 3:1, 1:1, …

Genetic Analysis Of Snow Leopard Population Employing Next Generation Sequencing For Its Improved Conservation And Management, Safia Janjua

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are an enigmatic, high-altitude species whose challenging habitat, low population densities and patchy distribution have presented challenges for scientists studying its biology, population structure, and genetics. To address these important ecological, conservation, and evolutionary questions, scientists are tailoring laboratory and computational methods to better extract the information from non-invasive samples, only available source of DNA for this species. These samples with very low quantity and quality of DNA, present unique methodological challenges. ddRAD-seq, one of next generation sequencing method is used here to develop reference sequence library for snow leopard using five blood samples from Mongolian …