Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

New England’S Underutilized Seafood Species: Defining And Exploring Marketplace Potential In A Changing Climate, Amanda Davis

Masters Theses

New England’s seafood industry has been searching for opportunities to diversify their landings and build resilience as it faces socio-economic challenges from a changing climate. Developing markets for underutilized species is one way the New England community could help their seafood industry build resilience. This thesis identified New England’s underutilized fish species and explored their marketplace potential by examining their availability in a changing climate, current availability to consumers, and consumers’ responses. In Chapter I, I account how New England’s seafood preferences have changed over time. In Chapter II, I identify New England’s seven underutilized seafood species: 1) Acadian redfish …

Integrative Experience: Soil Microbes And The Sustainability Of Organic Agriculture, Kristen Deangelis, Luiz Domeignoz Horta

Microbiology Educational Materials

This curriculum describes a one-unit course designed to fulfill the University of Massachusetts requirement for Integrative Experience as part of the Gen Ed curriculum for undergraduates.

Supporting Proactive Management In The Context Of Climate Change: Prioritizaing Range-Shifting Invasive Plants Based On Impact, Mei Rockwell-Postel, Brittany B. Laginhas, Bethany A. Bradley

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Non-native, invasive plants are projected to shift their ranges with climate change, creating hotspots of risk where a multitude of novel species may soon establish and spread. The Northeast U.S. is one such hotspot. However, because monitoring for novel species is costly, these range-shifting invasive plants need to be prioritized. Preventing negative impacts is a key goal of management, thus, comparing the potential impacts of range-shifting invasive species could inform this prioritization. Here, we adapted the Environmental Impacts Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) protocol to evaluate potential impacts of 100 invasive plants that could establish either currently or by 2050 …

Examining The Complex Relationship Between Innovation And Regulation Through A Survey Of Wastewater Utility Managers, Luke Sherman, Alida Cantor, Anita Milman, Michael Kiparsky

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Despite pressures to increase performance and decrease costs, innovation has been slow to emerge in the municipal wastewater sector. The relationship between regulation and innovation in this sector is a particularly interesting aspect of this conundrum, given the degree to which public utility decision-making is influenced by regulation. Using a national survey, this paper examines US wastewater utility managers’ perceptions of how regulation influences the adoption of new technologies. Recognizing that the relationship between innovation and regulation is complex, we develop the concept of regulation as multifaceted and examine three interrelated aspects of regulation: (1) regulatory requirements, (2) regulators and …

Shifts In Timing And Duration Of Breeding For 73 Boreal Bird Species Over Four Decades, Maria H. Hällfors, Laura H. Antão, Malcolm Itter, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Tanja Lindholm, Tomas Roslin, Marjo Saastamoinen

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Breeding timed to match optimal resource abundance is vital for the successful reproduction of species, and breeding is therefore sensitive to environmental cues. As the timing of breeding shifts with a changing climate, this may not only affect the onset of breeding but also its termination, and thus the length of the breeding period. We use an extensive dataset of over 820K nesting records of 73 bird species across the boreal region in Finland to probe for changes in the beginning, end, and duration of the breeding period over four decades (1975 to 2017). We uncover a general advance of …

Plant Invasion Impacts On Fungal Community Structure And Function Depends On Soil Warming And Nitrogen Enrichment, M. A. Anthony, K. A. Stinson, J. A. M. Moore, S. D. Frey

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

The impacts of invasive species on biodiversity may be mitigated or exacerbated by abiotic environmental changes. Invasive plants can restructure soil fungal communities with important implications for native biodiversity and nutrient cycling, yet fungal responses to invasion may depend on numerous anthropogenic stressors. In this study, we experimentally invaded a long-term soil warming and simulated nitrogen deposition experiment with the widespread invasive plant Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) and tested the responses of soil fungal communities to invasion, abiotic factors, and their interaction. We focused on the phytotoxic garlic mustard because it suppresses native mycorrhizae across forests of North America. We …

Wildlife Diversity And Relative Abundance Among A Variety Of Adjacent Protected Areas In The Northern Talamanca Mountains Of Costa Rica, Carolina Sáenz-Bolaños, Todd K. Fuller, Eduardo Carillo J.

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Protected areas are intended to achieve the long-term conservation of nature, but not all such areas are equal in their effectiveness because of their varying regulation of human activities. In Costa Rica, we assessed mammal and bird species presence and relative abundance in three protected areas in the northern Talamanca Mountains. In this humid tropical forest area, we placed camera traps in an adjacent national park, forest reserve, and indigenous territories, each with a different mix of human activities. In 10,120 trap nights, we obtained 6181 independent photos of mostly mammals (34 species other than humans) and birds (34 species). …

Geographic Life History Differences Predict Genomic Divergence Better Than Mitochondrial Barcodes Or Phenotype, Daniel P. Duran, Robert A. Laroche, Harlan M. Gough, Rodger A. Gwiazdowski, Charles B. Knisley, David P. Herrmann, Stephen J. Roman, Scott P. Egan

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Species diversity can be inferred using multiple data types, however, results based on genetic data can be at odds with patterns of phenotypic variation. Tiger beetles of the Cicindelidia politula (LeConte, 1875) species complex have been taxonomically problematic due to extreme phenotypic variation within and between populations. To better understand the biology and taxonomy of this group, we used mtDNA genealogies and multilocus nuclear analyses of 34,921 SNPs to elucidate its evolutionary history and evaluate the validity of phenotypically circumscribed species and subspecies. Genetic analyses recovered two divergent species that are also ecologically distinct, based on adult life history. These …

First Account Of Phylogeographic Variation, Larval Characters, And Laboratory Rearing Of The Endangered Cobblestone Tiger Beetle Cicindelidia Marginipennis, Dejean, 1831 With Observations Of Their Natural History, Rodger A. Gwiazdowski, Jeremy C. Andersen, C. Barry Knisley, Brian P. Griffin, Joseph S. Elkinton

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

The cobblestone tiger beetle, Cicindelidia marginipennis (Dejean, 1831) is a North American species specializing in riparian habitats from New Brunswick, Canada, to Alabama in the United States. In the United States, this species is state-listed as threatened or endangered range-wide and periodically receives consideration for federal listing, mostly due to habitat decline. Despite its conservation status, intraspecific genetic diversity for this species has not been explored and little is known about its natural history. To support further inquiry into the biology of C. marginipennis, this study provides the first look at range-wide genetic diversity using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), describes all …

Evaluating The Likelihood Of Tree Failure In Naples, Florida (United States) Following Hurricane Irma, Ryan W. Klein, Andrew K. Koeser, Brian Kane, Shawn M. Laundry, Heather Shields, Stephen Lloyd, Gail Hansen

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Trees in residential landscapes provide many benefits, but can injure persons and damage property when they fail. In hurricane-prone regions like Florida, USA, the regular occurrence of hurricanes has provided an opportunity to assess factors that influence the likelihood of wind-induced tree failure and develop species failure profiles. We assessed open-grown trees in Naples, Florida, following the passage of Hurricane Irma in September 2017 to determine the effect of relevant factors on the degree of damage sustained by individual trees. Of 4034 assessed individuals (n = 15 species), 74% sustained no damage, 4% sustained only minor damage (i.e., minimal corrective …

Validating Morphometrics With Dna Barcoding To Reliably Separate Three Cryptic Species Of Bombus Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Joan Milam, Dennis E. Johnston, Jeremy C. Anderson, Aliza B. Fassler, Desiree L. Narango, Joseph S. Elkinton

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Despite their large size and striking markings, the identification of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) is surprisingly difficult. This is particularly true for three North American sympatric species in the subgenus Pyrobombus that are often misidentified: B. sandersoni Franklin, B. vagans Smith B. perplexus Cresson. Traditionally, the identification of these cryptic species was based on observations of differences in hair coloration and pattern and qualitative comparisons of morphological characters including malar length. Unfortunately, these characteristics do not reliably separate these species. We present quantitative morphometric methods to separate these species based on the malar length to width ratio (MRL) and the …

Defoliation Severity Is Positively Related To Soil Solution Nitrogen Availability And Negatively Related To Soil Nitrogen Concentrations Following A Multi-Year Invasive Insect Irruption, Emma Conrad-Rooney, Audrey Barker Plotkin, Valerie J. Pasquarella, Joseph Elkinton, Jennifer L. Chandler, Jaclyn Hatala Matthes

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Understanding connections between ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling and invasive insect defoliation could facilitate the prediction of disturbance impacts across a range of spatial scales. In this study we investigated relationships between ecosystem N cycling and tree defoliation during a recent 2015–18 irruption of invasive gypsy moth caterpillars (Lymantria dispar), which can cause tree stress and sometimes mortality following multiple years of defoliation. Nitrogen is a critical nutrient that limits the growth of caterpillars and plants in temperate forests. In this study, we assessed the associations among N concentrations, soil solution N availability and defoliation intensity by L. dispar …

A Synthesis Of The Effects Of Cheatgrass Invasion On The Us Great Basin Carbon Storage, R. Chelsea Nagy, Emily J. Fusco, Jennifer K. Balch, John T. Finn, Adam Mahood, Jenica M. Allen, Bethany A. Bradley

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

1. Non‐native, invasive Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) is pervasive in sagebrush ecosystems in the Great Basin ecoregion of the western United States, competing with native plants and promoting more frequent fires. As a result, cheatgrass invasion likely alters carbon (C) storage in the region. Many studies have measured C pools in one or more common vegetation types: native sagebrush, invaded sagebrush and cheatgrass‐dominated (often burned) sites, but these results have yet to be synthesized.
2. We performed a literature review to identify studies assessing the consequences of invasion on C storage in above‐ground biomass (AGB), below‐ground biomass (BGB), litter, organic soil and total …

Validating Morphometrics With Dna Barcoding To Reliably Separate Three Cryptic Species Of Bombus Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Joan Milam, Dennis E. Johnson, Jeremy C. Andersen, Aliza B. Fassler, Desiree L. Narango, Joseph S. Elkinton

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Despite their large size and striking markings, the identification of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) is surprisingly difficult. This is particularly true for three North American sympatric species in the subgenus Pyrobombus that are often misidentified: B. sandersoni Franklin, B. vagans Smith B. perplexus Cresson. Traditionally, the identification of these cryptic species was based on observations of differences in hair coloration and pattern and qualitative comparisons of morphological characters including malar length. Unfortunately, these characteristics do not reliably separate these species. We present quantitative morphometric methods to separate these species based on the malar length to width ratio (MRL) and the …

Forecasting Seasonal Habitat Connectivity In A Developing Landscape, Katherine A. Zeller, Jacan M. Bauder, Javan M. Bauder, Stephen Destefano

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Connectivity and wildlife corridors are often key components to successful conservation and management plans. Connectivity for wildlife is typically modeled in a static environment that reflects a single snapshot in time. However, it has been shown that, when compared with dynamic connectivity models, static models can underestimate connectivity and mask important population processes. Therefore, including dynamism in connectivity models is important if the goal is to predict functional connectivity. We incorporated four levels of dynamism (individual, daily, seasonal, and interannual) into an individual-based movement model for black bears (Ursus americanus) in Massachusetts, USA. We used future development projections to model …