Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 2, 2012, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 2, 2012 (10/2/2012) 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: Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Chemical Properties Of Forest Soils In The Catskills Region, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Drinking Water Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This document is intended to help local and regional planning agencies, and their constituent water utilities, integrate drinking water infrastructure planning and investments into plans for sustainable development. Resources listed here provide guidance on making land use decisions that protect water resources, setting adequate and sustainable drinking water rates, controlling water loss, funding water infrastructure projects, and managing water utilities.

The directory was developed by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. Through this program, EFCN is providing capacity …

Droughtscape, Fall 2012, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Updated resources

Drought outlook and review

2012 and past droughters

Summer impacts summary

Urban planners and drought

USDM wins CLEAN seal

Meixiu Yu's Chinese SPEI

Ethiopian project

Mexican VegDRI

Drought monitor sculpture

Connecting Habitat Across Roads: Field Testing Mitigation Strategies For Reducing Road Mortality Of An Imperiled Butterfly, Rebecca Jalene Littlejohn

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Roads impact wildlife in a variety of ways including fragmentation of populations, reduced access to habitat, and direct mortality from vehicle strikes. Such road effects likely impact the Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta) at one of its few remaining sites. The Rock Creek-Big Creek population of this threatened fritillary butterfly species is bisected by highway 101 on the central Oregon coast. Habitat resources for S. z. hippolyta are found on both the east and west sides of the highway at this site, and vehicle-strikes have been found to cause mortality of some individuals crossing the highway. The …

Economics Of Nuclear Power And Climate Change Mitigation Policies, Nico Bauer, Robert J. Brecha, Gunnar Luderer

Physics Faculty Publications

The events of March 2011 at the nuclear power complex in Fukushima, Japan, raised questions about the safe operation of nuclear power plants, with early retirement of existing nuclear power plants being debated in the policy arena and considered by regulators. Also, the future of building new nuclear power plants is highly uncertain. Should nuclear power policies become more restrictive, one potential option for climate change mitigation will be less available. However, a systematic analysis of nuclear power policies, including early retirement, has been missing in the climate change mitigation literature. We apply an energy economy model framework to derive …

Planning For Sea Level Rise In Portland, Maine Using Robust Decision Making As A Guide, Sadie Lloyd

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This paper evaluates the potential for Robust Decision Making (RDM) to guide communities preparing for the impacts of climate change, using sea level rise planning in Portland, Maine as a case study. RDM is a problem solving process that considers multiple outcomes and an uncertain future, and focuses on decisions that provide benefits regardless of which future scenarios develop, allowing for the adjustment of decisions over time to accommodate changes in the future. The flexibility of RDM makes it an appropriate model for decision makers and stakeholders unsure how to address impacts of climate change, an issue complicated by numerous …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2011, Daniel M. Dauer, Harold G. Marshall, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

A Comparison Of Qualitative And Quantitative Ecological Assessment Methods Of Mangroves In Southwestern Madagascar, Sondra Winders

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mangroves are unique, tropical, intertidal forests that, among many other important functions, serve as large carbon sinks for the sequestration of atmospheric CO2. This project qualitatively assessed the mangrove forest of Honko Mangrove Conservation and Education (Tulear, Madagascar) in conjunction with Blue Ventures for a proposed Plan Vivo carbon stock project. The qualitative results were then compared with quantitative measurements in order to determine the most effective method of ecological assessment. Sixty-three stands of mangrove forest covering 9.72km2 were identified and mapped. Level of harvest, species composition, density, canopy cover, dominant height, dominant DBH, forest condition and composition were compared …

A Comparison Study Of A Bird Population In Lake Alaotra: The Effects Of A Protected Area, Sonya R. Kaufman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Lake Alaotra, the largest lake in Madagascar, is well known for its diverse plant and animal communities. It is home to three critically endangered endemic species, the Alaotran gentle lemur (Hapelemur griseus alaotrensis), Alaotra Little Grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus), and Madagascar pochard (Aythya innotata). Widespread habitat destruction by fire and clear-cutting is destroying the marshland vegetation of the lake, and siltation from erosion runoff and rice field creation is resulting in the ever-decreasing size of the lake. This study looked at the effectiveness of the protected area, Park Bandro, in preserving species diversity, relative abundances, …

Fecal Indicator Bacteria In Knitting Mill Creek With A Comparison Of Methods Used To Enumerate E. Coli, Manju Nagarajan

OES Theses and Dissertations

This research seeks to evaluate the impact of an urban, multi-use neighborhood on the bacteriological quality of water in Knitting Mill Creek, a blind arm of the Lafayette River, a sub-estuary of the lower Chesapeake Bay. A principal objective was to determine the effects of rainfall, a surrogate for run-off, on water-column concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria (FIB). I collected water samples weekly (September 2009-December 2010) and biweekly (January 2010-December 2011) at a storm-sewer outfall and a nearby marina and quantified their E. coli and enterococci concentrations using Colilert-18 and Enterolert, most-probable-number assays. In addition, I took monthly samples for these …

Thresholds Of Change In Decomposition Rate Along A Dune/Swale Transect On A Virginia Barrier Island, Dominic J. Graziani

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Aboveground and belowground decomposition rates were determined along a barrier island dune/swale transect located on the Virginia Coast Reserve-Long Term Ecological Research Site using litterbags and wooden dowels. The objective was to determine the influence of fine scale changes in the environment on decomposition to identify any potential thresholds affecting decomposition rate. Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera L. Small) leaves and dowels of southern yellow pine wood were used as standard substrates to evaluate environmental influences on decay. Aboveground (F=6.494, p < 0.0001) and belowground (F=5.705, p < 0.0001) decay rates (yr^-1) showed significant variation among litterbag/dowel locations. Aboveground decay rates (yr^-1) ranged from 0.339 (Upper Dune station) …

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands - Phase Ii: Quaterly Progress Report, Period Covering July 1, 2012 To September 30, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• The number of records in the volunteer database is 8,511, an increase from 8,308 in July.
• Results show an average of 1,094 visits per month, and an average of 2,729 pages viewed per month.
• Get Outdoors Nevada supp01ied 6 volunteer events in a variety of ways. These events utilized 214 volunteers whom contributed approximately 856 hours of service.
• The team continues planning an alternative bus tour.
• The team rolled out their media plan .
• The IVP team has continued planning for the annual volunteer recognition banquet.
• No volunteer trainings were conducted this quarter, but two are planned for next quarter.

Limnological Assistance For Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Quarterly Report, Period Ending September 30, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Continuation of Project 1

• The research effort titled Growth of adult quagga mussels within Las Vegas Wash/Las Vegas Bay is ongoing.

Continuation of Project 2

• Additional content was contributed to the future NPS-funded U.S. Geological Survey Circular ‘state-of-the-science’ report for Lakes Mead and Mohave. UNLV performed a new co-editing and coordinating task related to this product as the major focus of this quarter’s effort; the master version of this report is on schedule for delivery to the editorial team during the first week of October 2012.

Modification Activities:

Extended Short-term Continued Limnological Assistance

Quagga Mussel Objectives:

• Most juvenile/adult quagga mussel …

U.S. Drought Monitor, September 25, 2012, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for September 25, 2012 (9/25/12) 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, September 18, 2012, David Simeral

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for September 18, 2012 (9/18/12) 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, September 11, 2012, David Simeral

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for September 11, 2012 (9/11/12) 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, September 4, 2012, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for September 4, 2012 (9/4/12) 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.

Biodegradation Of Textile Dye Anthraquinone Vat Blue 4 By Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Rajee Olaganathan, Jamila Patterson

Publications

Uncontaminated and Vat blue 4 contaminated soil were screened for heterotrophic bacterial population and the bacterial density were found to be 19.3 X 104 and 5.5 X 104 CFU/gm respectively. The bacterial genera of dye contaminated soil was dominated by Pseudomonas sp. (32.5 %) followed by Bacillus sp. (27.5 %), Aeromonas sp. (15.0 %), Micrococcus sp. (12.5 %) and Achromobacter sp. (12.5 %). The optimum inoculums load, pH and temperature were found to be 5%, 7 and 35oC respectively. The initial pH of the effluent prepared using Vat Blue 4 was 8.5. The free cells of P. aeruginosa reduced the …

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 28, 2012, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 28, 2012 (8/28/12) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 21, 2012, Michael J. Brewer, Liz Love-Brotak

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 21, 2012 (8/21/12) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 14, 2012, Michael J. Brewer, Liz Love-Brotak

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 14, 2012 (8/14/12) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 7, 2012, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 7, 2012 (8/7/2012) 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.

Making Music Sustainable: The Case Of Marketing Summer Jamband Festivals In The U.S., 2010, Melissa A. Cary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Commercial music festivals in the United States have been growing in popularity since the 1960s. Today, many weekend-long music festivals are annual events spanning a variety of genres and often occur at the same locations each year. My research compares and contrasts how jamband music festivals are marketed as sustainable events and attempts to determine how the advertised sustainable practices are implemented and utilized at selected jamband music venues. The jamband genre of music emphasizes musical improvisation and borrows from other styles of music: rock, electronic, jazz, blues, folk, and bluegrass.

In addition, any impacts these festivals have upon the …

Pastoral Lease Assessment Using Geospatial Analysis, T P. Robinson, P E. Novelly, R Corner, Philip Thomas, A Russell-Browm

Resource management technical reports

Seven remote sensing based Vegetation Indices (NDSVI, STVI-3, NDVI, Green + Red, Red, Land Monitor and STVI-1) were tested for their potential to discriminate between “poor” and “good” range condition assessments in Western Australia’s pastoral rangelands. Indices were computed using the Australian Greenhouse Office National Carbon Accounting System (AGO NCAS) repository of calibrated Landsat TM/ETM+ mosaics. Discrimination potential was assessed at two levels of stratification – station level (identical to the stratification used to collect the traverse data), and functional group level (an aggregation of similar land systems);

Evaluation Of The Effects Of September Hunting Seasons On Canada Geese In Nebraska, Scott R. Groepper, Mark P. Vrtiska, Larkin A. Powell, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Populations of temperate-nesting Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have increased in Nebraska, USA, resulting in an increased number of nuisance and damage complaints. September hunting seasons were initiated in southeastern Nebraska in 2004 to reduce populations of Canada geese. We analyzed band recoveries from Canada geese banded in southeastern Nebraska during their hatch-year (HY) or after-hatch-year (AHY) to determine whether September hunting seasons affected survival, harvest, and recovery rates. Survival analyses revealed that HY geese had higher survival than AHY geese (SAHY = 0.696, 95% CI = 0.679–0.713; SHY = 0.896, 95% CI = 0.786–0.953) and September seasons did …

Bmp Efficiency In An Institutional Area: Minimizing The Impacts Of Water Pollution Using A Stormceptor For Water Quality Improvement, Jameieka Price

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

Urbanization can negatively impact water quality due to increasing impervious surfaces, which ultimately increases the hydrologic and contaminant load during rain events. Stormwater runoff contains high concentrations of contaminants that accumulate on the impervious surfaces and discharge into local water bodies, affecting aquatic life, recreational usages, aesthetic appearance, and possibly drinking water supply. Best Management Practices (BMPs) are important to minimizing and reducing the amount of water pollution that is found in stormwater runoff. Buffalo State Campus (BSC) is in an urbanized area and currently holds a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit to control stormwater runoff by implementing …

Report To The Pastoral Lands Board On The Condition Of The Western Australian Pastoral Resource Base 2012, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia, Commissioner Of Soil And Land Conservation

Natural resources published reports

This report documents changes in the Western Australian pastoral rangelands at Land Conservation District (LCD) scales, providing updated information on seasonal quality, stock numbers and changes in the density/frequency of perennial shrubs and grasses. It is based on data from the Bureau of Meteorology, the Annual Return of Livestock and Improvements (submitted annually by pastoral lessees) and the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS). The sixth assessment of the Kimberley (grassland) sites (Epoch 6) was completed in 2011 . The second full cycle (i.e. three assessments) was completed for shrubland sites in 2010. This report discusses changes recorded over 201 …

The Abundance And Distribution Of Gelatinous Zooplankton In The San Francisco Estuary, Amalia Borson, Lindsay Sullivan, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

Until recently, gelatinous zooplankton were not considered important components of the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) foodweb. However, anecdotal evidence, ongoing research, and a few published reports and papers suggest an increase in their abundance over the last 10 to 20 years. Of particular interests are three species of introduced hydromedusae (Blackfordia virginica, Maeotias marginata, and Moerisia lyonsi). All three inhabit the fresh to brackish regions of the estuary, including Suisun Bay, the channels of Suisun Marsh, and the western Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and are seasonally abundant throughout late summer and fall. As a result, they overlap …

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 31, 2012, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 31, 2012 (7/31/12) 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.