Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Piping Plovers Charadrius Melodus And Dogs: Compliance With And Attitudes Toward A Leash Law On Public Beaches At Lake Mcconaughy, Nebraska, Usa, Joel G. Jorgensen, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Humans often recreate with their dogs Canis familiaris on public beaches; beaches that may also be used as breeding habitat by imperiled shorebirds. The Piping Plover Charadrius melodus is one such shorebird and is protected by the Endangered Species Act 1973 (ESA) in the United States. Dogs, especially dogs that are not restrained and allowed access to breeding areas because their owners choose not abide by “leash laws,” will sometimes negatively impact Piping Plovers. We evaluated leash-law compliance and recreationists’ awareness of and attitudes toward leash laws at Lake McConaughy, Nebraska, USA, during 2013–2014. Leash-law compliance was chronically low (< 25% of all dogs observed) during all days and time periods we evaluated, even though 78.1% of recreationists with dogs were aware of the leash-law requirements. All 487 individuals surveyed possessed favorable attitudes towards Piping Plovers and continued dog access to the beach, while having generally unfavorable attitudes toward unleashed dogs. It appears the potential exists at Lake McConaughy to improve leash-law compliance through a comprehensive program that uses education, enforcement and reinforcement of social norms.

Conservation Of Energy: An Analytical Tool For Student Accounts Of Carbon-Transforming Processes, J. Dauer, H. Miller, C. W. Anderson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Measured And Modeled Soil Moisture Compared With Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probe Estimates In A Mixed Forest, L. Ling, T. Franz, D. Robinson, S. Jones

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

National Drought Management Policy Guidelines: A Template For Action, Donald A. Wilhite, World Meteorological Organization, Global Water Partnership, National Drought Mitigation Center

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The implementation of a drought policy based on the philosophy of risk reduction can alter a nation’s approach to drought management by reducing the associated impacts (risk). This was the idea that motivated the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with a number of UN agencies, international and regional organizations, and key national agencies, to organize the Highlevel Meeting on National Drought Policy (HMNDP), which was held in Geneva from 11 to 15 March 2013. The theme of …

Eastern Wild Turkey Reproductive Ecology In Longleaf Pine Forests, Andrew R. Little, Mary M. Streich, Michael J. Chamberlain, L. Mike Conner, Robert J. Warren, Joseph W. Jones

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Identifying Priority Conservation Areas For The American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus Americanus (Coleoptera: Silphidae), A Habitat Generalist, Jessica D. Jurzenski, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Andy Bishop, Roger Grosse, John Riens, W. Wyatt Hoback

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Conservation efforts leading to the recovery of the federally endangered American burying beetle (ABB), Nicrophorus americanus Olivier, have been challenging because of the unknown causes of its decline, difficulty in establishing habitat requirements, and unclear population distribution across the species’ range. Extant populations of this widespread generalist species occur in broadly separated regions of North America with varying habitat characteristics. A habitat suitability model for ABB in the Nebraska Sandhills was developed over the course of 3 years resulting in a final cross-validated spatial model. The succession of models from 2009 to 2011 indicated that most of the predictive variables …

Development And Evaluation Of High Resolution Simulation Tools To Improve Fire Weather Forecasts, Brian K. Lamb, Jason M. Forthofer, Peter R. Robichaud

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Fire weather forecasts rely on numerical weather simulations where the grid size is 4 km x 4 km or larger. In areas of complex terrain, this model resolution will not capture the details of wind flows associated with complicated topography. Wind channeling in valleys, wind speed-up over mountains and ridges, and enhanced turbulence associated with rough terrain and tall forest canopies are poorly represented in current weather model applications. A number of numerical wind flow models have been developed for simulating winds at high resolution; however, there are limited observational data available at the spatial scales appropriate for evaluating these …

Exploring How Deliberation On Scientific Information Shapes Stakeholder Perceptions Of Forest Management And Climate Change, Troy E. Hall, Jarod J. Blades

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Climate change has resulted in rapid biophysical changes in forests of the western U.S. and has prompted the need for an increased understanding of potential impacts and adaption measures. Land managers, policy makers, and community officials lack locally relevant climate change science and are urgently calling for research to inform management decisions. Nevertheless, a substantial disconnect remains between emerging scientific information and its application in management decisions. Effective action depends on understanding regional and local implications of climate change and open, reasoned discussions about current research and potential mitigation actions among researchers, land managers, and other stakeholders. Boundary objects have …

Fire Effects On Seedling Establishment Success Across Treeline: Implications For Future Tree Migration And Flammability In A Changing Climate, F. S. Chapin Iii, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, Rebecca E. Hewitt

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Understanding the complex mechanisms controlling treeline advance or retreat in the arctic and subarctic has important implications for projecting ecosystem response to changes in climate. Changes in landcover due to a treeline biome shift would alter climate feedbacks (carbon storage and energy exchange), ecosystem services such as wildlife and berry habitat, and landscape flammability. Wildfire frequency and extent has increased in the last half-century in the boreal forest and tundra in response to warmer weather and lower precipitation. Invasion of tundra by trees may be facilitated by wildfire disturbance, which exposes new seedbeds, increases nutrient availability immediately post-fire, and creates …

Annual Patterns And Budget Of Co2 Flux In An Arctic Tussock Tundra Ecosystem, Walter C. Oechel, Cheryl A. Laskowski, George Burba, Beniamino Gioli, Aram A. M. Kalhori

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The functioning of Arctic ecosystems is not only critically affected by climate change, but it also has the potential for major positive feedback on climate. There is, however, relatively little information on the role, patterns, and vulnerabilities of CO₂ fluxes during the nonsummer seasons in Arctic ecosystems. Presented here is a year-round study of CO₂ fluxes in an Alaskan Arctic tussock tundra ecosystem, and key environmental controls on these fluxes. Important controls on fluxes vary by season. This paper also presents a new empirical quantification of seasons in the Arctic based on net radiation. The fluxes were computed …

On Target For People And Planet: Setting And Achieving Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals, Julie Van Der Bliek, Peter G. Mccornick, James Clarke

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Our specific focus in this book is on securing water for sustainable food production. This links to sustainable water resources management, delivering on the water supply and sanitation requirements and provisioning water for energy and the urban sector. A specific intent is to ensure that the realities in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia are recognized and to provide practical pathways to change that fit these realities and the aspirations of those countries. This will help to prepare for the next step in the SDG [sustainable development goals] process: devolving the SDGs to the national level. It will …

The Belizean Environment, Lauren Marie Bach

Service-Learning

Lauren Bach's 2014 service-learning presentation on the environment in Belize.

Droughtscape, Winter 2014, Kelly Smith

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

Contents

Director’s report

Outlook & quarterly review . 2

Drought in 2013 review.

Quarterly impacts review . 5

Impacts in 2013 review.

Belmont Forum research0

USDM change maps 11

Central Asia drought planning

Kansas RC&D planning

Publication compares plans

Drought for planners webinar

Soil moisture networks

Kansas farm and ranch planning

$500 to develop leadership

Kids seek solutions

Plains symposium April 1-4

2014 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

2014 Nebraska Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The 2001 Nebraska Legislature passed LB329 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §46-1304) which, in part, directed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to report on groundwater quality monitoring in Nebraska. Reports have been issued annually since December 2001. The text of the statute applicable to this report follows: “The Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare a report outlining the extent of ground water quality monitoring conducted by natural resources districts during the preceding calendar year. The department shall analyze the data collected for the purpose of determining whether or not ground water quality is degrading or improving and shall present the …

Changing The Climate Narrative: How A Long-Term Climate Change Might Save Our Lives, Natalie P. Harreld

CMC Senior Theses

The goal of this paper is to offer new insights into the climate change debate by shifting away from the heated anthropologic arguments that dominate politics, media, and popular science. Instead, I choose to rely on the long-term impacts of a changing climate on our planet. The paper begins with a break down of key processes involved in short-term and long-term climate change, using the latest research. After a foundational understanding of climate sciences is established, we will discuss the failure of the climate change debate in educating the general public about the facts of a changing climate. Finally, the …

The Effects Of Mountaintop Removal Mining And Valley Fills On Stream Salamander Communities, Brenee' Lynn Muncy

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Mountaintop removal mining and valley filling (MTR/VF) is a common form of land conversion in Central Appalachia and threatens the integrity of stream ecosystems. We investigated the effects of MTR/VF on stream salamander occupancy probabilities and community structure by conducting area constrained active searches for stream salamanders within intermittent streams located in mature forest (i.e., control) and those impacted by MTR/VF. During March to June of 2013, we detected five stream salamander species (Desmognathus fuscus, D. monticol, Eurycea cirrigera, Pseudotriton ruber, and Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) and found that the probability of occupancy was greatly reduced in MTR/VF streams compared …

Comeback Of Community-Based Forest Management: The Need To Revamp Strategies To Promote Decentralized Environmental Governance In India And Brazil, Naysa Ahuja

Florida A & M University Law Review

The governance of forests and their resources has always been a contentious issue. It has created a divide between developing and developed countries, as well as within them. With the increasing recognition of forests as valuable commodities in the global market, the management of forests in developing countries is becoming a matter of constant concern for ecologists, economists, and politicians.

Part I of this article provides an overview of the Participatory Forest Management (PFM) approach in the international context. Part II and III examine environmental governance in the forest sector of two rapidly emerging economies of the world, India and …

An Analysis Of Swift Fox (Vulpes Velox) Occupancy On The Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Montana, Adriann Michelle Killsnight

All Master's Theses

The swift fox (Vulpes velox) is a small can.id native to the short-grass prairies of the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada. Swift foxes once occupied areas of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and the southern regions of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, including the Northern Cheyenne Reservation (NCR) in southeastern, Montana. Since the arrival of European settlers to the prairie region in the late 1800s through the early 1900s, swift fox distribution or been reduced and populations have substantially declined or completely eliminated in some areas due …

State Of The River Report For The Lower St. Johns River Basin, Florida: Water Quality, Fisheries, Aquatic Life, And Contaminants 2014, Environmental Protection Board, City Of Jacksonville, University Of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Lucy Sonnenberg, Gerry Pinto, Nisse Goldberg, Kimberly Mann, Radha Pyati, Gretchen Bielmyer-Fraser, Stuart Chalk, Peter Bacopoulos, Brian P. Zoellner

State of the River Report

No abstract provided.

Domestic Wells, Paul Bossert, Sarah Armstrong

Water Matters!

The domestic well statutes direct that the State Engineer “shall” issue a permit for certain types of temporary or low volume wells, including wells for household use. For the past fifty-five years, the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) has interpreted this to mean that such permits are granted with no evaluation, public notice, or hearing.

Taos Pueblo Water Rights Settlement, Paul Bossert, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

In November of 2010, the Congress passed the Claims Resolution Act and on December 8, President Obama signed it into law. Title V of the Claims Act, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, settles the Pueblo portion of the Abeyta case and approves an agreement signed in 2006 by officials from Taos Pueblo, the State of New Mexico, and other interested water rights owners in the Taos area. The settlement act also helps resolve the non-Indian portion of Abeyta. The measure quantifies Taos Pueblo’s water rights and protects the interests of local acequias, the Town of Taos, and …

Water Trust Board, Joanne Hilton, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

In 2001, the New Mexico legislature passed the Water Project Finance Act. The stated purpose of the Water Project Finance Act is to provide a financing mechanism to promote water use efficiency, water resource conservation and protection, and fair distribution and allocation of water to all users. The Water Trust Board was created in the Act. Its purpose is to: 1) oversee and administer the Water Trust Fund and Water Project Fund; 2) review and recommend funding for qualifying water projects to the legislature; and 3)pursue additional funding opportunities.

Cosee Ocean Inquiry Group Report: Opportunities For Creating Lifelong Ocean Science Literacy, Paul Boyle, Vince Breslin, Lisa Craig Brisson, John Fraser, Alan J. Friedman, Katie Gardner, Sarah Schoedinger, Jerry Schubel, Steve Uzzo, Steven Yalowitz

School for the Environment General Publications

This Inquiry Group Report for the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Ocean Communities in Education And Social Networks (COSEE OCEAN) provides a fresh look at how broader ocean science literacy can be developed, especially through less-recognized channels such as opportunistic learning, the private and “third” sectors, and the enormously varied activities under the heading of informal science education. The 10 authors of this report (see Contributors section) have been working together for two years to find and review a range of issues and resources for current and potential ocean science literacy providers, both professional and volunteer.

Several chapters provide …

Land Cover Changes And Their Biogeophysical Effects On Climate, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Land Cover Changes And Their Biogeophysical Effects On Climate, Rezaul Mahmood, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Kenneth Hubbard, Dev Niyogi, Paul Dirmeyer, Clive Mcalpine, Andrew Carleton, Robert Hale, Samuel Gameda, Adriana Beltran-Przekurat, Bruce Baker, Richard Mcnider, David R. Legates, Marshall Shepherd, Jinyang Du, Peter D. Blanken, Oliver W. Frauenfeld, U. S. Nair, Souleymane Fall

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Land cover changes (LCCs) play an important role in the climate system. Research over recent decades highlights the impacts of these changes on atmospheric temperature, humidity, cloud cover, circulation, and precipitation. These impacts range from the local- and regional-scale to sub-continental and global-scale. It has been found that the impacts of regional-scale LCC in one area may also be manifested in other parts of the world as a climatic teleconnection. In light of these findings, this article provides an overview and synthesis of some of the most notable types of LCC and their impacts on climate. These LCC types include …

Integrating Societal Perspectives And Values For Improved Stewardship Of A Coastal Ecosystem Engineer, Steven B. Scyphers, J. Steven Picou, Robert D. Brumbaugh, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Oyster reefs provide coastal societies with a vast array of ecosystem services, but are also destructively harvested as an economically and culturally important fishery resource, exemplifying a complex social-ecological system (SES). Historically, societal demand for oysters has led to destructive and unsustainable levels of harvest, which coupled with multiple other stressors has placed oyster reefs among the most globally imperiled coastal habitats. However, more recent studies have demonstrated that large-scale restoration is possible and that healthy oyster populations can be sustained with effective governance and stewardship. However, both of these require significant societal support or financial investment. In our study, …

Taphonomic Considerations Of A Whipworm Infection In A Mummy From The Dominican Church Of The Holy Spirit, Vilnius, Lithuania, Johnica J. Morrow, Annie S. Larsen, Dario Piombino-Mascali, Rimantas Jankauskas, Justina Kozakaitė, Adauto Araújo, Karl J. Reinhard

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In the present study, the abdominal contents of 10 mummies from beneath the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, Lithuania, were examined for the presence of helminth parasites using standard archaeoparasitological techniques. Of the mummies examined, only one individual presented with evidence of parasitism. This individual was infected with both Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides (5,222 parasite eggs/gram). The conditions of many of the T. trichiura eggs suggest that a fortuitously embedded female whipworm decomposed within the individual’s gut to release the eggs, as opposed to the eggs actually being passed by the adult helminth. This study highlights …

Assessing Satellite-Based Start-Of-Season Trends In The U.S High Plains, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman

Honors Projects

Lake Erie has experienced harmful algal blooms with increased frequency since the mid-1990s due to excess nutrients from Rivers, such as the Maumee River, and largely agricultural watersheds. Nonpoint source pollution from agriculture contributes to eutrophication, algal blooms, and the degradation of water quality. This creates stress on aquatic fauna, reduced aesthetic quality, odor, and limits of the water for usage of drinking, recreation, and industry. This research paper asks what the contributions of having access to manure application records, soil records, and information about antibiotics have on what is known about manure management and antibiotic resistance, which has been …