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2020

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Articles 31 - 60 of 425

Full-Text Articles in Natural Resources and Conservation

The Waterfall Crisis, Guiliana G. Grisaffi Nov 2020

The Waterfall Crisis, Guiliana G. Grisaffi

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

While the Earth’s surface is 71% covered in water, that does not mean that one day all our water could be gone. The current global water crisis is not just a water crisis-it is a waterfall crisis. One wicked, terrible problem that leads to many other wicked problems, a waterfall crisis. Millions of women and young girls are taken out of work and school and instead forced to collect and gather fresh water for their families. Children are suffering from irreversible health consequences from toxic, contaminated water, an example of a health consequence is a lower IQ from lead poisoning. …

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The Role Of Eolian-Fluvial Interactions And Dune Dams In Landscape Change, Late Pleistocene-Holocene, Mojave Desert, Usa, Mark R. Sweeney, Eric V. Mcdonald, Lucas P. Chabela, Paul R. Hanson Nov 2020

The Role Of Eolian-Fluvial Interactions And Dune Dams In Landscape Change, Late Pleistocene-Holocene, Mojave Desert, Usa, Mark R. Sweeney, Eric V. Mcdonald, Lucas P. Chabela, Paul R. Hanson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The formation of the Kelso Dunes in the eastern Mojave Desert, California, was a landscape-changing event triggered by an increase in sediment supply that followed the incision of Afton Canyon by the Mojave River ca. 25 ka. Eastward migration of sand dunes occurred along a well-defined eolian trans­port corridor. Dunes temporarily blocked washes resulting in substantial aggradation of eolian and fluvial sediments. Stratigraphic exposures reveal numerous fining-up sequences with interbedded eolian sands that provide evidence of dune dams and subsequent aggradation. Luminescence ages reveal that dune blocking and aggradation correspond to a regional pulse of alluvial fan sedimentation that occurred …

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Toward The Standardization Of Mesoscale Meteorological Networks, Christopher Fiebrich, Kevin Brinson, Rezaul Mahmood, Stuart Foster, Megan Schargorodski, Nathan L. Edwards, Christopher A. Redmond, Jennie R. Atkins, Jeffrey Andresen, Xiaomao Lin Nov 2020

Toward The Standardization Of Mesoscale Meteorological Networks, Christopher Fiebrich, Kevin Brinson, Rezaul Mahmood, Stuart Foster, Megan Schargorodski, Nathan L. Edwards, Christopher A. Redmond, Jennie R. Atkins, Jeffrey Andresen, Xiaomao Lin

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Although they share many common qualities in design and operation, mesonetworks across the United States were established independently and organically over the last several decades. In numerous instances, the unique ways each network matured and developed new protocols has led to important lessons learned. These experiences have been shared in informal ways among various network operators over the years to promote reliable operation. As existing networks begin to introduce new sensors and technologies, and as new networks come online, there is a common need for guidance on best practices. This paper aims to formally provide recommendations to improve and harmonize …

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Significance Statements Communicate Our Science More Widely, Rezaul Mahmood Nov 2020

Significance Statements Communicate Our Science More Widely, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) mission statement specifically calls for advancing ‘‘the atmospheric and related sciences . . . for the benefit of society.’’ To further the goal of communicating the importance of the science in our journals more widely, AMS is encouraging the inclusion in submitted papers of a ‘‘significance statement,’’ written in plain language and aimed at an educated layperson without formal training or education in the atmospheric and related sciences. As of 6 November 2020, Earth Interactions authors now have the option to include a significance statement with their submitted papers. A significance statement is an explanation …

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Data Availability Principles And Practice, Rezaul Mahmood, Joseph A. Santanello, Xiaoyang Zhang Nov 2020

Data Availability Principles And Practice, Rezaul Mahmood, Joseph A. Santanello, Xiaoyang Zhang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Science requires evidence. Making data available lets other scientists confirm results, uncover errors, or find new insights. Moreover, gathering data can be expensive and time consuming. Since the same data can be used for a range of purposes, making data available can be an efficient use of limited research resources. Doing so can also improve traceability and, thus, accountability, when it comes to research findings. These reasons and more lie behind recent efforts to promote data availability. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) recently updated its data policy guidelines (https://www.ametsoc.org/ index.cfm/ams/publications/ethical-guidelines-and-ams-policies/data-policy-and-guidelines/) to require, among other things, that papers in its journals …

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Spotted Owls And Forest Fire: Comment, Gavin M. Jones, R. J. Gutiérrez, William M. Block, Peter C. Carlson, Emily J. Comfort, Samuel A. Cushman, Raymond J. Davis, Stephanie A. Eyes, Alan B. Franklin, Joseph L. Ganey, Shaula Hedwall, John J. Keane, Rodd Kelsey, Damon B, Lesmeister, Malcolm P. North, Susan L. Roberts, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Sarah C. Sawyer, Ben Solvesky, Douglas J. Tempel, Ho Yi Wan, A. Leroy Westerling, Gary C. White, M. Zachariah Peery Nov 2020

Spotted Owls And Forest Fire: Comment, Gavin M. Jones, R. J. Gutiérrez, William M. Block, Peter C. Carlson, Emily J. Comfort, Samuel A. Cushman, Raymond J. Davis, Stephanie A. Eyes, Alan B. Franklin, Joseph L. Ganey, Shaula Hedwall, John J. Keane, Rodd Kelsey, Damon B, Lesmeister, Malcolm P. North, Susan L. Roberts, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Sarah C. Sawyer, Ben Solvesky, Douglas J. Tempel, Ho Yi Wan, A. Leroy Westerling, Gary C. White, M. Zachariah Peery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Western North American forest ecosystems are experiencing rapid changes in disturbance regimes because of climate change and land use legacies (Littell et al. 2018). In many of these forests, the accumulation of surface and ladder fuels from a century of fire suppression, coupled with a warming and drying climate, has led to increases in the number of large fires (Westerling 2016) and the proportion of areas burning at higher severity (Safford and Stevens 2017, Singleton et al. 2018). While the annual area burned by fire is still below historical levels (Taylor et al. 2016), some forest types in the west …

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Loci Associated With Antibody Response In Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) Infected With Brucella Suis, Courtney F. Pierce, Vienna R. Brown, Steven C. Olsen, Paola Boggiatto, Kerri Pedersen, Ryan S. Miller, Scott E. Speidel, Timothy J. Smyser Oct 2020

Loci Associated With Antibody Response In Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) Infected With Brucella Suis, Courtney F. Pierce, Vienna R. Brown, Steven C. Olsen, Paola Boggiatto, Kerri Pedersen, Ryan S. Miller, Scott E. Speidel, Timothy J. Smyser

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are a destructive invasive species widespread throughout the United States that disrupt ecosystems, damage crops, and carry pathogens of concern for the health of domestic stock and humans including Brucella suis—the causative organism for swine brucellosis. In domestic swine, brucellosis results in reproductive failure due to abortions and infertility. Contact with infected feral swine poses spillover risks to domestic pigs as well as humans, companion animals, wildlife, and other livestock. Genetic factors influence the outcome of infectious diseases; therefore, genome wide association studies (GWAS) of differential immune responses among feral swine can provide …

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A Review Of Avian Influenza A Virus Associations In Synanthropic Birds, Susan A. Shriner, J. Jeffrey Root Oct 2020

A Review Of Avian Influenza A Virus Associations In Synanthropic Birds, Susan A. Shriner, J. Jeffrey Root

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Avian influenza A viruses (IAV) have received significant attention due to the threat they pose to human, livestock, and wildlife health. In this review, we focus on what is known about IAV dynamics in less common avian species that may play a role in trafficking IAVs to poultry operations. Specifically, we focus on synanthropic bird species. Synanthropic species, otherwise known as peridomestic, are species that are ecologically associated with humans and anthropogenically modified landscapes, such as agricultural and urban areas. Aquatic birds such as waterfowl and shorebirds are the species most commonly associated with avian IAVs, and are generally considered …

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Satellite-Based Monitoring Of Irrigation Water Use: Assessing Measurement Errors And Their Implications For Agricultural Water Management Policy, T. Foster, Taro Mieno, Nicholas Brozovic Oct 2020

Satellite-Based Monitoring Of Irrigation Water Use: Assessing Measurement Errors And Their Implications For Agricultural Water Management Policy, T. Foster, Taro Mieno, Nicholas Brozovic

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Reliable accounting of agricultural water use is critical for sustainable water management. However, the majority of agricultural water use is not monitored, with limited metering of irrigation despite increasing pressure on both groundwater and surface water resources in many agricultural regions worldwide. Satellite remote sensing has been proposed as a low-cost and scalable solution to fill widespread gaps in monitoring of irrigation water use in both developed and developing countries, bypassing the technical, socioeconomic, and political challenges that to date have constrained in situ metering. In this paper, we show through a systematic meta-analysis that the relative accuracy of different …

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Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem, Joseph M. Mukeka, Joseph O. Ogutu, Erustus Kanga, Eivin Røskaft Oct 2020

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem, Joseph M. Mukeka, Joseph O. Ogutu, Erustus Kanga, Eivin Røskaft

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Biodiversity conservation in developing countries is faced with many and mounting challenges, including increasing human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs). In Africa and other developing countries, increasing HWCs, particularly those adjacent to protected areas, can adversely affect local stakeholder perceptions and support for conservation. We analyzed HWC reports for multiple wildlife species compiled >23 years (1995–2017) from the Greater Tsavo Ecosystem (GTE) in Kenya to determine HWC trends. The GTE is the largest protected area in Kenya, covering 22,681 km2. Overall, 39,022 HWC incidents were reported in 6 GTE regions (i.e., Taveta, Mutomo, Kibwezi, Rombo, Galana, Bachuma). The 5 wildlife species …

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Indigenous Guardianship And Moose Monitoring: Weaving Indigenous And Western Ways Of Knowing, Jesse N. Popp, Pauline Priadka, Megan Young, Kevin Koch, James Morgan Oct 2020

Indigenous Guardianship And Moose Monitoring: Weaving Indigenous And Western Ways Of Knowing, Jesse N. Popp, Pauline Priadka, Megan Young, Kevin Koch, James Morgan

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Increasing global rates of wildlife species extinctions, extirpations, and declines warrant improvements to population monitoring and management approaches. To address regional environmental and wildlife issues, Indigenous communities globally are re-establishing traditional roles as stewards of the land through emerging Indigenous Guardianship Programs (IGPs). By providing the opportunity for community-level participation in monitoring and management, IGPs help foster cohesive solutions for long-term conservation of species while promoting environmental stewardship at the community level. Addressing challenges in monitoring and management of wildlife is especially critical for species that are of cultural and ecological importance at both community and distribution-wide scales. Herein, we …

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Resource Selection At Homesites By Wolves And Eastern Coyotes In A Canis Hybrid Zone, Teresa Oliveira, John F. Benson, Connor Thompson, Brent R. Patterson Oct 2020

Resource Selection At Homesites By Wolves And Eastern Coyotes In A Canis Hybrid Zone, Teresa Oliveira, John F. Benson, Connor Thompson, Brent R. Patterson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We modeled resource selection by wolves (Canis spp.), eastern coyotes (C. latrans), and admixed canids during the pup-rearing season at den and rendezvous sites (collectively, homesites) within a largely unprotected landscape proposed as the recovery zone for federally and provincially threatened eastern wolves (C. lycaon) in Ontario, Canada. Overall, canids selected wetlands, while avoiding secondary roads and open-structure rock-grass habitat patches. Packs with greater wolf ancestry selected wetlands and tertiary roads more strongly, while avoiding mixed conifer-hardwood forests. Contrary to our prediction, canids with greater coyote ancestry did not establish homesites closer to roads, which likely mitigated their risk of …

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Developing A Model Of Graduate Teaching Assistant Teacher Efficacy: How Do High And Low Teacher Efficacy Teaching Assistants Compare?, Cody R. Smith, Cesar Delgado Oct 2020

Developing A Model Of Graduate Teaching Assistant Teacher Efficacy: How Do High And Low Teacher Efficacy Teaching Assistants Compare?, Cody R. Smith, Cesar Delgado

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for teaching introductory courses to undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students. The TAs are usually novices at teaching, and an important factor in their resilience and persistence in the face of inevitable challenges is self-efficacy. Little is known about what affects TA teacher efficacy or whether and how high- and low-efficacy TAs differ in their development as teachers. Bridging these gaps in the literature will inform best practices in developing and implementing professional development (PD) for TAs. Using a mixed-methods sequential exploratory research design, this study found differences in high- and low-efficacy …

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A Profile Shape Correction To Reduce The Vertical Sensitivity Of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing Of Soil Moisture, Lena M. Scheiffele, Gabriele Baroni, Trenton E. Franz, Jannis Jakobi, Sascha E. Oswald Oct 2020

A Profile Shape Correction To Reduce The Vertical Sensitivity Of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing Of Soil Moisture, Lena M. Scheiffele, Gabriele Baroni, Trenton E. Franz, Jannis Jakobi, Sascha E. Oswald

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

n recent years, cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has shown a large potential among proximal sensing techniques to monitor soil moisture noninvasively, with high frequency and a large support volume (radius up to 240 m and sensing depth up to 80 cm). This signal is, however, more sensitive to closer distances and shallower depths. Inherently, CRNS-derived soil moisture is a spatially weighted value, different from an average soil moisture as retrieved by a sensor network. In this study, we systematically test a new profile shape correction on CRNS-derived soil moisture, based on additional soil moisture profile measurements and vertical unweighting, which …

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Tools, Techniques And Teamwork: Transferring New Technologies For Wildlife Management, Conservation And Economic Development, John Eisemann, Gail Keirn Oct 2020

Tools, Techniques And Teamwork: Transferring New Technologies For Wildlife Management, Conservation And Economic Development, John Eisemann, Gail Keirn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Did you ever wonder who invented radio telemetry? Or breakaway snares? What about the bird repellent methyl anthranilate or the livestock protection collar? These and many other tools used in wildlife damage management resulted from creative thinking by biologists, technicians, researchers and managers working to solve complex wildlife issues. Over the past 90 years, these “aha moments” within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program have ranged from developing novel scare devices, traps and vaccines to exploiting an animal’s visual capabilities to stop unwanted behaviors. Once discovered, these unique ideas may lead to practical, feasible and cost-effective wildlife damage …

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An Open-Sourced, Web-Based Application To Improve Our Ability To Understand Hunter And Angler Purchasing Behavior From License Data, Nathaniel B. Price, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine, Kevin L. Pope, Micaela Rahe, Jeff Rawlinson Oct 2020

An Open-Sourced, Web-Based Application To Improve Our Ability To Understand Hunter And Angler Purchasing Behavior From License Data, Nathaniel B. Price, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine, Kevin L. Pope, Micaela Rahe, Jeff Rawlinson

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

State fish and wildlife agencies rely on hunters and anglers (i.e., sportspersons) to fund management actions through revenue generated from license sales and excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment. There is a need to develop new techniques that bridge the information gap on participation and provide agencies with an understanding of sportspersons at a resolution that can more directly inform efforts to engage sportspersons. Monitoring sportsperson participation using information about their license-purchasing behavior has the potential to reveal important patterns in recruitment (first-time purchase of a hunting or fishing license), retention (continued purchase of licenses across multiple years), and …

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Droughtscape, Fall 2020, National Drought Mitigation Center Oct 2020

Droughtscape, Fall 2020, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

DroughtScape, Fall 2020

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Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French Oct 2020

Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Studying physiologic stress responses can assist in understanding the welfare of animals. One method of measuring the physiologic stress response is evaluating concentrations of glucocorticoid metabolites in feces. Previously, using an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, we found fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were a reliable indicator of physiologic stress response in coyotes (Canis latrans). We determine whether glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations remain stable when collecting feces over a 2-week period, a timeframe commonly used in scat surveys for wild canids. We collected feces from 6 captive coyotes maintained at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Predator …

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Interests And Priorities In Sockeye Salmon Management: How Are Policies Enacted And Interpreted On Three Alaskan Rivers?, Jake P. Palazzi Oct 2020

Interests And Priorities In Sockeye Salmon Management: How Are Policies Enacted And Interpreted On Three Alaskan Rivers?, Jake P. Palazzi

University Honors Theses

The large export abundance of Alaskan salmon is well documented, and many studies have been performed to assess the economic and environmental viability of the industry and its management. Less research has been done to characterize how state intentions regarding fisheries allocation are conceived of by management or perceived by vulnerable groups in the user pool. This study seeks to qualitatively characterize the disconnect between state and Native Alaskan perceptions of management effectiveness, public interest, and Native Alaskan involvement using interviews. Results showed that Native Alaskan and state manager respondents had very different perceptions of management effectiveness and equity. When …

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Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French Sep 2020

Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Studying physiologic stress responses can assist in understanding the welfare of animals. One method of measuring the physiologic stress response is evaluating concentrations of glucocorticoid metabolites in feces. Previously, using an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, we found fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were a reliable indicator of physiologic stress response in coyotes (Canis latrans). We determine whether glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations remain stable when collecting feces over a 2-week period, a timeframe commonly used in scat surveys for wild canids. We collected feces from 6 captive coyotes maintained at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Predator …

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Operationalising Digital Soil Mapping – Lessons From Australia, Darren Kidd, Ross Searle, Mike Grundy, Alex Mcbratney, Nathan Robinson, Lauren O'Brien, Peter Zund, Dominique Arrouays, Mark Thomas, José Padarian, Edward Jones, John Mclean Bennett, Budiman Minasny, Karen Holmes, Brendan P. Malone, Craig Liddicoat, Elizabeth A. Meier, Uta Stockmann, Peter Wilson, John Wilford, Jim Payne, Anthony Ringrose-Voase, Brian Slater, Nathan Odgers, Jonathon Gray, Dennis Van Gool, Kaitlyn Andrews, Ben Harms, Liz Stower, John Triantafilis Sep 2020

Operationalising Digital Soil Mapping – Lessons From Australia, Darren Kidd, Ross Searle, Mike Grundy, Alex Mcbratney, Nathan Robinson, Lauren O'Brien, Peter Zund, Dominique Arrouays, Mark Thomas, José Padarian, Edward Jones, John Mclean Bennett, Budiman Minasny, Karen Holmes, Brendan P. Malone, Craig Liddicoat, Elizabeth A. Meier, Uta Stockmann, Peter Wilson, John Wilford, Jim Payne, Anthony Ringrose-Voase, Brian Slater, Nathan Odgers, Jonathon Gray, Dennis Van Gool, Kaitlyn Andrews, Ben Harms, Liz Stower, John Triantafilis

Natural Resources Research Articles

Australia has advanced the science and application of Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). Over the past decade, DSM in Australia has evolved from being purely research focused to become ‘operational’, where it is embedded into many soil-agency land resource assessment programs around the country. This has resulted from a series of ‘drivers’, such as an increased need for better quality and more complete soil information, and ‘enablers’, such as existing soil information systems, covariate development, serendipitous project funding, collaborations, and Australian DSM ‘champions’. However, these accomplishments were not met without some barriers along the way, such as a need to demonstrate …

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Effects Of Riparian Deforestation On Benthic Invertebrate Community And Leaf Processing In Atlantic Forest Streams, Monalisa Silva-Araujo, Eduardo F. Silva-Junior, Vinicius Neres-Lima, Rafael Feijo-Lima, Flavia Tromboni, Christine Lourenco-Amorim, Steven A. Thomas, Timothy P. Moulton Sep 2020

Effects Of Riparian Deforestation On Benthic Invertebrate Community And Leaf Processing In Atlantic Forest Streams, Monalisa Silva-Araujo, Eduardo F. Silva-Junior, Vinicius Neres-Lima, Rafael Feijo-Lima, Flavia Tromboni, Christine Lourenco-Amorim, Steven A. Thomas, Timothy P. Moulton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Riparian deforestation may strongly affect stream functioning, with consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services. These effects can be assessed using bioindicators relating to biotic community structure and ecosystem functioning. We evaluated the effects of riparian deforestation on 1. measures of community structure using aquatic benthic invertebrates, and 2. an aspect of ecosystem functioning, aquatic leaf processing. We selected sites along gradients of riparian land use in four Atlantic rainforest streams and measured physical and chemical properties for their association with riparian deforestation. We sampled benthic invertebrates and calculated metrics of community structure at each site. We measured rates of leaf …

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Dynamic Scaling Of The Generalized Complementary Relationship (Gcr) Improves Long-Term Tendency Estimates In Land Evaporation, Jozsef Szilagyi, Richard Crago, Ning Ma Sep 2020

Dynamic Scaling Of The Generalized Complementary Relationship (Gcr) Improves Long-Term Tendency Estimates In Land Evaporation, Jozsef Szilagyi, Richard Crago, Ning Ma

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Most large-scale evapotranspiration (ET) estimation methods require detailed information of land use, land cover, and/or soil type on top of various atmospheric measurements. The complementary relationship of evaporation (CR) takes advantage of the inherent dynamic feedback mechanisms found in the soil−vegetation−atmosphere interface for its estimation of ET rates without the need of such biogeophysical data. ET estimates over the conterminous United States by a new, globally calibrated, static scaling (GCR-stat) of the generalized complementary relationship (GCR) of evaporation were compared to similar estimates of an existing, calibration-free version (GCR-dyn) of the GCR that employs a temporally varying dynamic scaling. Simplified …

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Geochemical Characterization Of Base Metals In Stream Water And Sediments In The Caddo Lake Watershed, Cass, Harrison, And Marion Counties, Texas, Melinda S. Faulkner, Melanie L. Ertons, Joseph D. Watkins Sep 2020

Geochemical Characterization Of Base Metals In Stream Water And Sediments In The Caddo Lake Watershed, Cass, Harrison, And Marion Counties, Texas, Melinda S. Faulkner, Melanie L. Ertons, Joseph D. Watkins

Faculty Publications

The Caddo Lake watershed is located in northeastern Texas and encompasses much of Cass, Harrison, and Marion counties. The watershed is drained by major streams and tributaries flowing in an easterly direction over Eocene-aged rocks and sediments of the Wilcox and Claiborne groups, and empty into the western arm of Caddo Lake. Since 1995, Caddo Lake and some of its tributaries have been included on the State of Texas Clean Water Act 303(d) list by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for impairment due to mercury content in edible tissue, depressed dissolved oxygen, base metal concentrations, and low pH …

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Occupancy And Abundance Of Stream Salamanders Along A Specific Conductance Gradient, Jacob M. Hutton, Steven J. Price, Simon J. Bonner, Stephen C. Richter, Christopher D. Barton Sep 2020

Occupancy And Abundance Of Stream Salamanders Along A Specific Conductance Gradient, Jacob M. Hutton, Steven J. Price, Simon J. Bonner, Stephen C. Richter, Christopher D. Barton

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

In the Central Appalachians (USA), mountaintop-removal mining accompanied by valley fills often leads to streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Thus, the ionic composition of freshwaters in this region is hypothesized to be a driver of the distribution and abundance of freshwater taxa, including stream salamanders. We examined the association between SC and stream salamander populations by conducting salamander counts in 30 southeastern Kentucky streams across a continuous gradient of SC that ranged from 30 to 1966 μS/cm. We counted 2319 salamanders across 5 species and, using a hierarchical Bayesian version of the N-mixture model, found a negative association between …

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Assessment Of Switchgrass-Based Bioenergy Supply Using Gis-Based Fuzzy Logic And Network Optimization In Missouri (U.S.A.), Gia Nguyen, Erik Lyttek, Pankaj Lal, Taylor Wieczerak, Pralhad Burli Sep 2020

Assessment Of Switchgrass-Based Bioenergy Supply Using Gis-Based Fuzzy Logic And Network Optimization In Missouri (U.S.A.), Gia Nguyen, Erik Lyttek, Pankaj Lal, Taylor Wieczerak, Pralhad Burli

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Bioenergy has been globally recognized as one of the sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. An assured supply of biomass feedstocks is a crucial bottleneck for the bioenergy industry emanating from uncertainties in land-use changes and future prices. Analytical approaches deriving from geographical information systems (GIS)-based analysis, mathematical modeling, optimization analyses, and empirical techniques have been widely used to evaluate the potential for bioenergy feedstock. In this study, we propose a three-phase methodology integrating fuzzy logic, network optimization, and ecosystem services assessment to estimate potential bioenergy supply. The fuzzy logic analysis uses multiple spatial criteria to identify suitable biomass cultivating regions. …

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Sensory Stressors Impact Species Responses Across Local And Continental Scales, Ashley A. Wilson Sep 2020

Sensory Stressors Impact Species Responses Across Local And Continental Scales, Ashley A. Wilson

Master's Theses

Pervasive growth in industrialization and advances in technology now exposes much of the world to anthropogenic night light and noise (ANLN), which pose a global environmental challenge in terrestrial environments. An estimated one-tenth of the planet’s land area experiences artificial light at night — and that rises to 23% if skyglow is included. Moreover, anthropogenic noise is associated with urban development and transportation networks, as the ecological impact of roads alone is estimated to affect one-fifth of the total land cover of the United States and is increasing in space and intensity. Existing research involving impacts of light or noise …

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Seasonal Infilling And Sedimentary Characteristics In Sandy Versus Muddy Coastal Borrow Areas On The Louisiana Continental Shelf, Usa, Matthew Barley Aug 2020

Seasonal Infilling And Sedimentary Characteristics In Sandy Versus Muddy Coastal Borrow Areas On The Louisiana Continental Shelf, Usa, Matthew Barley

LSU Master's Theses

Offshore sand deposits on the Louisiana Continental Shelf, such as inner shelf shoals and buried paleo-river channels, can be excavated to restore beaches and barrier islands that are rapidly deteriorating due to subsidence, sea-level rise and deficits in coastal sediment supply. Presented here is grain size, x-radiograph, and Beryllium-7 (7Be) derived sedimentation rates from multicores (~ 50 cm depth) retrieved from borrow areas (BAs) in contrasting depositional settings, all of which have implications for management of water quality, seafloor sedimentology, and biogeochemistry in proximal areas. Multicores were retrieved in fall 2018 at Caminada BA — a sandy energetic …

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Resilience Characteristics Of The Urban Agriculture System In Lansing, Michigan: Importance Of Support Actors In Local Food Systems, Caitlin K. Kirby, Lissy Goralnik, Jennifer Hodbod, Zach Piso, Julie C. Libarkin Aug 2020

Resilience Characteristics Of The Urban Agriculture System In Lansing, Michigan: Importance Of Support Actors In Local Food Systems, Caitlin K. Kirby, Lissy Goralnik, Jennifer Hodbod, Zach Piso, Julie C. Libarkin

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Urban agriculture is a growing movement in cities across the United States, including the post-industrial Midwest. Maintaining a resilient local food system is a challenge given the environmental, resource, and institutional barriers facing urban farmers. In this descriptive correlational study, we take an in-depth look at the demographics, farm characteristics, motivations, barriers, and resilience indicators of individuals in the urban agriculture system in Lansing, Michigan, a city of the US Midwest with a growing urban agriculture system. Survey responses (n = 92) revealed that support actors, community gardeners, and farmers have descriptive differences in their motivations, with support actors (e.g. …

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Using Cold War-Era Satellite Imagery To Inform Historic Land Cover Classification, Nicholas Hamp-Adams Aug 2020

Using Cold War-Era Satellite Imagery To Inform Historic Land Cover Classification, Nicholas Hamp-Adams

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

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