Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Ghosts In Glass: Ghost Crabs (Ocypode Quadrata) As Judges Of Glass Sand For Coastal Restoration, Emily Parrish

Poster Presentations

Coastal erosion is heavily impacting coastal ecosystems across the Gulf. For instance, the state of Louisiana loses a football field worth of land every 100 minutes (Couvillion, 2017). The drastic loss of coastline highlights the dire need for restoration in the Northern Gulf Coast. An unexpected solution to this sediment loss may solve two major environmental issues at once by diverting millions of tons of glass waste from entering America’s landfills each year. By crushing glass to create sand and gravel for coastal restoration, we may generate a consistent and sustainable source of substrate. Our goal is to determine the …

Spatial Ecology And Predator–Prey Interactions Of Mountain Lions In California's San Francisco North Bay, Jacob A. Harvey

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Understanding spatial ecology and predator-prey interactions are central to wildlife ecology and conservation. We tracked mountain lions with GPS telemetry to evaluate space use, predator-prey interactions, and resource selection in California’s San Francisco North Bay, USA. In Chapter 1, we evaluated the influence of human disturbance on home range size, prey composition, and kill rates on black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) across an urban-rural gradient. Both males and females increased home range size with increasing development at low to moderate levels of development, but female home range size stabilized across greater proportions of development while male home range …

Assessment Of Sampling Gears For Bigheaded Carp In Mid-Order Prairie Rivers In Nebraska, Brett M. Anderson

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Bighead Carp H. nobilis (collectively bigheaded carp) have invaded tributaries to the Missouri River and Platte River in Nebraska, USA. Information pertaining to efficient sampling protocols for assessing bigheaded carp populations as well as benefiting removal efforts is needed. Herding is a method used to increase the capture efficiency and detection probability of adult bigheaded carp by simultaneously using active and passive sampling gears. During June-July 2023, four herding techniques were assessed regarding their ability to elicit directional movement past an enclosure gate. The combination of sound and electrofishing resulted in the highest mean …

The Impact Of Irrigation On Agricultural Land Values In The United States Southeast And An Analysis Of Farmland Prices In South Carolina, Christopher L. Thomas

All Theses

Land is a key component of the agriculture industry in the United States. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, farm real estate (land and buildings) accounted for 82.8% of total US farm sector assets in 2022, consequently making land the largest source of wealth in a farmer’s investment portfolio and the primary source of collateral used for farm operating loans. The Southeastern region of the United States has seen rapid farmland appreciation and intense population growth in recent years. This research investigates the rising farmland prices across the Southeast from both a regional and state-level perspective. Chapter Two …

Evaluating Climate Benefits In The Conservation Reserve Program: Methane Emissions And Carbon Storage In Restored Wetlands, Annika Kuleba

All Theses

As climate change progresses, Nature-based Climate Solutions (NbCS) have emerged as a key strategy for mitigation. Historically, wetlands were drained to increase arable land area, resulting in habitat degradation and soil erosion. To address these issues, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) incentivizes wetland restoration under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), in which landowners retire agricultural land to reestablish native habitat. Although wetlands can act as carbon sinks, they are also sources of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Therefore, the effectiveness of wetlands as a NbCS remains under debate due to assumed high methane emissions. Wetland functions …

Ghosts In Glass: Ghost Crabs As Judges Of Glass Sand For Coastal Restoration, Emily Parrish

Honors Theses

Over 60% of the Gulf of Mexico coastline is actively eroding, which has resulted in thousands of miles of lost coastline over the last 100 years. This drastic loss of coastal land highlights the dire need for coastal restoration across the entirety of the Gulf Coast. A vital aspect of restoring these eroded areas is replenishing eroded substrate, traditionally conducted through offshore dredging of substrates which comes with high economic and ecological costs. Recycled glass sand may be able to fill this role and reduce our reliance on dredging while lowering the amount of glass waste entering landfills each year. …

A Herpetofaunal Inventory Study Of Two National Wildlife Refuges In The Mississippi Delta And Associated Evaluation Of Trapping Efficacy, Andrew Holzinger

Master's Theses

The objectives of this project were to record the diversity and distribution of amphibian and reptile species present at Panther Swamp and Hillside National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) and to quantify trapping efficacy as a result of various methodologies under different habitat variables. The primary methods employed were two varieties of drift fence trap arrays consisting of 100-foot sections of silt fencing with buried 2.5-gallon buckets as pitfall traps and box traps placed at the end of each fence to capture larger organisms. When conditions permitted, aquatic trapping was also employed across the Refuges. A total of 55 species were documented, …

Assessment Of Lake Salvador Shoreline Dynamics To Support Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Jean Lafitte National Historical Park And Preserve, Louisiana, Lydia V. Dipaola

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

High wave energy degrades shoreline habitat between Lake Salvador and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA), Louisiana. JELA constructed a northern breakwater in 2004, and a southern breakwater in 2024 to protect the shoreline and promote restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). This study analyzes Sentinel-2 imagery to quantify coastal loss along the JELA-Lake Salvador using the Change Polygon Approach, assessing annual, cumulative and major storm event-associated shoreline changes for January 2017-2025. SAV cover, nekton diversity, wave energy, and turbidity were measured before-and-after southern breakwater construction to monitor ecological and environmental outcomes. The JELA-Lake Salvador shoreline has lost …

Training Sensor-Agnostic Deep Learning Models For Remote Sensing: Achieving State-Of-The-Art Cloud And Cloud Shadow Identification With Omnicloudmask, Nicholas J. Wright, John M A Duncan, Nik Callow, Sally E. Thompson, Richard J. George

Natural Resources Research Articles

Deep learning models are widely used to extract features and insights from remotely sensed imagery. However, these models typically perform optimally when applied to the same sensor, resolution and imagery processing level as used during their training, and are rarely used or evaluated on out-of-domain data. This limitation results in duplication of efforts in collecting similar training datasets from different satellites to train sensor-specific models. Here, we introduce a range of techniques to train deep learning models that generalise across various sensors, resolutions, and processing levels. We applied this approach to train OmniCloudMask (OCM), a sensor-agnostic deep learning model that …

Novel Methods For Assessing And Prioritizing Road-Stream Crossings For Aquatic Organism Passage, Lesley E. Twiner

All Theses

Anthropogenic barriers such as dams and culverts have led to riverine habitat fragmentation and decreased fish diversity worldwide. Low-head structures such as culverts are far more abundant than large dams and may have a larger cumulative impact on river connectivity. Many efforts to inventory road crossing barriers and prioritize removal and restoration efforts do not consider temporal variation in flow. We used cameras to gain continuous water level monitoring data to quantify the relationship between precipitation events and outlet drop height. In the spring of 2024, we selected 25 culvert sites in upstate South Carolina and set up cameras to …

Promoting Sustainable Drinking Water Consumption At Bryant University, Matthew Gerdenich

Honors Projects in Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Many higher education institutions have either banned or restricted the sale of disposable plastic water bottles to address environmental pollution and climate change. This project seeks to gather knowledge and data related to disposable water bottle consumption at Bryant University that can be used to provide recommendations for promoting reusable water bottle use on campus. Additionally, the project seeks to find out why community members choose single-use water bottles over reusables ones and how to make reusable water bottle use more attractive and accessible. Primary research included a survey distributed to undergraduate students on campus as well as water samples …

Mine Closure Planning Must Face The Challenge Of Delivering Nature Positive Outcomes, Luis E. Sanchez, Angus Morrison-Saunders

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The need to address and reverse global biodiversity decline is imperative across all of society including the practices of mine closure planning. Nature Positive is the latest global biodiversity-focused initiative which calls for at least 30% of biodiversity to be enhanced through effective restoration relative to the 2020 baseline. This paper conceptualizes and explains what is necessary in mine closure planning and implementation to meaningfully contribute to this and other nature-positive goals, with some illustrative examples. Issues considered include application of the mitigation hierarchy, rehabilitation in mining and the time lag challenge for restoring biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, conserving nature while …

Trenching And Compost Sustain Grain Yield Increases Over Nine Years On Deep Sands But At A Cost, David J.M. Hall, Tom J. Edwards

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Context. Crops grown on deep sands on the south coast of WA are limited by soil physical and chemical properties including compaction and poor nutrition. Aims. Crops grown on deep sands on the south coast of Western Australia are limited by soil physical and chemical properties including compaction and poor nutrition. Our aim was to determine what effects deep-placed organic amendments have on soil properties and crop production in a deep sand and whether such amendments are profitable. Methods. A long-term field trial was conducted over nine years (2015–2023) to investigate soil amendments including lime (0 and …

Advancing Aerial Survey Techniques For Non-Breeding Waterfowl Populations: A Comprehensive Review And Application In Northeastern Louisiana, Victoria L. Drake

LSU Master's Theses

Aerial surveys play a crucial role in monitoring North America's waterfowl populations and habitat conditions, and consistency across geographies and years allows biologists to track trends through time. The goal of this project was to redesign the northeastern portion of the Louisiana wintering waterfowl survey to align with statistically robust transect surveys conducted in neighboring states within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. To identify the optimal sampling method, we evaluated three transect weighting schemes: stratified random (unweighted), stratified by watershed, and stratified by expert opinion. Approximately 10% of the total sampling area was randomly selected for each survey period, adhering to …

Discovery Of Suitable Habitat For Freshwater Mussel Species In The Appomattox River Through The Use Of Environmental Dna., Nicholas Duellman

Longwood Senior Thesis Proposal

Freshwater mussels are a keystone species providing crucial ecosystem services and river composition resiliency. Anecdotal evidence suggests the presence of freshwater mussels within the Appomattox river, the specifics of population sizes and suitable habitat remains an open question. Environmental DNA (eDNA) usage in conservation ecology has exploded in use within the past two decades, being far less invasive and cost-demanding than traditional methods. An eDNA metabarcoding pipeline of the 16s mitochondrial ribosomal subunit was built in R v. 4.4.2, using dada2 v. 3.2.1 package to trim MinION single read ASV outputs for freshwater mussel species identification in the interest of …

Summer Air Temperature Comparisons Between The Field And Woods In An Angus Beef Cattle Silvopasture In The Virginia Coastal Plain, Amy E. Edwards

Virginia Journal of Science

The objective of this study was to compare corresponding temperature readings from loggers in the field and woods in a silvopasture for Angus beef cattle. Results show that temperatures during the hottest part of the day are greater in the field than in the woods. Summary statistics show higher maximum, upper quartile, and median temperatures at the field logger with all data analyzed, indicating the temperatures in the field are overall higher than the woods, except during temperature inversions at nighttime. This highlights the importance of providing cattle with shade to prevent heat exhaustion and thermal stress, especially when the …

The Living Campus: Landscaping With Purpose At St. Mary's, Karelen Bastida, Alyana Estes, Erick Jarquin, Elijah Perez

Presentations - 2025

This project focuses on evaluating and improving current landscaping and waste management practices at the Casa Maria community to create a sustainable model that can be scaled across the broader campus.

Sheep Production, Profitability And Greenhouse Gas Emission Of Mixed Farming Systems In Western Australia's Wheatbelt, Tafesse Estifanos, Amir Abadi Abadi Ghadim, Kate Pritchett, Christophe D'Abbadie, Johnny Machon, Paul Mattingley, Bradley Plunkett, Gus Manatsa, Kerrine Blenkinsop, Ross Kingwell, Clinton K. Revell Dr

Animal production and livestock research reports

The south-western agricultural area of Western Australia is a vital contributor to Australia's agricultural output. It generates over $10 billion annually in agricultural production from 2017–18 to 2021–22 and more than $8 billion in export value over the same period. Mixed farming systems characterise the region, producing broadacre crops (primarily wheat, barley, and canola) and livestock. The region's livestock industry is dominated by sheep production for meat and wool, and the state’s share of the national sheep flock in 2020–21 was at 18%.

This report provides a comprehensive review and industry analysis of sheep production in WA, its economic significance, …

Biophysical Response Of A Coastal Woodland To Extreme Water Deficit During A Year Of Record-Breaking Heat, Caitlin E. Moore, Sally E. Thompson, Jason Beringer, Wesley Cooper, Simone Gelsinari, Hoang Long Nguyen, Huanhuan Wang, Qiaoyun Xie, Richard P. Silberstein

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Global terrestrial and ocean surface temperatures continue to reach record levels, resulting in heat waves, drought, and prolonged heat stress experienced by vegetation in many regions. In 2023-2024, coastal terrestrial ecosystems in Western Australia were particularly affected, experiencing their driest and hottest summer since observations began in the early 1900s. Banksia woodlands are a threatened ecological community in this region that are endangered by the cumulative impacts of climate change, clearing and changing groundwater regimes, the last of which is strongly influenced by the dual use of groundwater resources by the ecosystem and by the ∼2 million people in the …

Interactive Mapping Of Allergenic Urban Street Trees In Australia, Diman Krwanji, Anna J. Hopkins, Kristina Lemson, M. Hanson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Tree pollen can be a persistent allergen for sensitised individuals, causing allergic rhinitis and asthmatic symptoms. Increased urbanisation results in larger populations living in cities and relying on urban greenspaces for recreation and associated ecosystem services, where the street landscapes are determined by urban planners. Urban forest strategies broadly divide planting choices based on biological functionality, climate resilience and environmental benefits but increasingly the associated physical and mental health impacts of urban vegetation are being considered. Here, we studied pollen allergenicity in four Australian cities by incorporating measures of allergenicity in existing street tree asset databases and visualising these using …

Бадхызские Архивы. Том 2, Р. И. Горелова, В. Я. Фет

Books Published by MU Libraries in MDS

Gorelova, RI, Fet V, editors. The Badkhyz Archives, Vol. 2. Huntington, WV: Marshall University Libraries; 2025. 387 p.

This book represents the second volume of the series started in 2021. It compiles memoirs and research information about the unique Badkhyz Natural Reserve, now in Turkmenistan, formerly at the southernmost point of the USSR. Established in 1941, the Reserve—nicknamed a Serengeti of Central Asia— housed many unique and endangered species, with an iconic wild ass, or kulan, preserved only there. The second volume includes unique and otherwise unavailable information about the workers of the Reserve in 1940s-1980s. We continuento publish …

Environmental Monitoring Report: For Work To Be Performed: July 1, 2023 Through June 30, 2024, Tennessee. Department Of Environment And Conservation

Environmental Monitoring Reports

This FY2024 EMR presents results for independent projects, originally defined in TDEC’s FY2024 Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP) and subsequently completed over the course of FY2024 period of performance.

3bb: Loss And Remembrance In The Anthropocene, Amanda J. Woolsey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Undisputedly, we are living in a time of tremendous and unprecedented ecological loss. Various forms of life on earth are disappearing at a rate unheard of in human history, with a growing amount of evidence suggesting that we are in a period of mass biodiversity loss and extinction. This extinction event is marked by a series of environmental catastrophes that vary in acceleration, intensity, and impact, such as climate-change driven weather events wiping out an endemic island species, to habitat loss and fragmentation leading to the slow death of a once-common species. One such piece of supporting evidence is Rosenberg …

A Holistic Marine Biosecurity Risk Framework That Is Inclusive Of Social, Cultural, Economic And Ecological Values, Marnie L. Campbell, Chad L. Hewitt

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Effectively managing non-indigenous marine species risks demands swift, transparent decisions amid limited data and in an environment where conflicting interest across environmental, economic, social, and cultural realms exists. Conventional risk assessment tools often fail to comprehensively evaluate these risks together, leading to stakeholder dissatisfaction, conflicts and poor biosecurity outcomes. To address this, we present a structured 7-step marine biosecurity risk framework. It systematically assesses incursion's ecological, economic, social and cultural impacts, encourages stakeholder engagement and promotes inclusive decision-making. Steps include defining contexts, setting objectives, estimating consequences, determining management options, evaluating trade-offs, implementing decisions, and communicating risks effectively. A simulation using …

Sustainability Transformation For Healthcare Facilities Following Net Zero Model, Esraa Elmitainy

Theses and Dissertations

The healthcare industry is a field undergoing huge development. Focused on SDG 3 “Good Health and Well-being”, the healthcare industry, as the main health service provider, was marked by experts as a sector that should lead sustainable development by example. The current work aims to formulate a sustainability rating system for new and existing healthcare facilities to encourage the Egyptian healthcare industry to move towards sustainability according to net zero concepts. Additionally, the transition to net zero waste is investigated though experimental work to test the possibility of utilizing sterilized medical waste in cement-based bricks.

The rating system starts with …

Oregon State Rank Assessment For Transparent Milk-Vetch (Astragalus Daphanus Var. Diaphanus), Nora Dunkirk, Gabriel Campbell

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Oregon state conservation status assessment for Transparent Milk-vetch (Astragalus daphanus var. diaphanus) using NatureServe methodology, 2025.

Climate Influence On Both Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Rocky Intertidal Community Structure In San Diego, California, Emily Jenkins

Theses

The rocky intertidal ecosystem, the coastal area between high and low tides, serves as a critical buffer between land and sea. This ecosystem supports a diverse array of species and provides rich opportunities for exploration and education. With the influence of climate change, this ecosystem faces significant shifts in species distribution, resilience and recovery from environmental disturbances, as well as habitat loss (Jackson & McIlvenny 2011; Jueterbock et al. 2013; Menge & Gravem 2022; Rilov et al. 2021; Sagarin & Barry 1999). Between 2014-2016, climate anomalies El Niño (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) combined to create a period …

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy As A Method For Identifying Variation In Puparial Morphology And Establishing Characters For Taxonomic Determination, Christian Elowsky, Leon G. Higley

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Calliphoridae, or blow flies, are of much ecological and practical importance given their roles in decompositional ecology, medical and veterinary myiasis, and forensic entomology. As ephemeral and rapidly developing species, adults are frequently not present for identification, but puparia (the remaining outer integument of the third instar larvae) are frequently found. These heavily sclerotized remains are stable in the environment but they are of a conservative character. Historically, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used for characterization, a technique which is not only time-consuming but also often expensive, effectively making large numbers of specimens impossible to quantify. As an alternative, …

Hydrogen Diffusion Into Water And Cushion Gases – Relevance For Hydrogen Geo-Storage, Quoc Truc Doan, Alireza Keshavarz, Peter Behrenbruch, Stefan Iglauer

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Hydrogen (H2) has been recognized as a promising solution to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. H2 is considered a green energy carrier for energy storage, transport, and usage, and it can be produced from renewable energy resources (such as solar, hydropower, and wind energy). However, H2 is a highly diffusive compound compared to other natural gases, raising concerns about the possibility of H2 loss in geo-storage (e.g. in underground geological formations such as depleted oil/gas reservoirs, aquifers or shale formations) or H2 leak via pipelines when blending H2 with natural gas in existing pipeline systems. Thus, understanding H2 diffusion in …

On Solving Differential Equations Describing The Ecology Of Shallow Lakes: A Comparison Of Classical And Modern Computational Methods Through Python, Vruddhi Kapre, Jeffrey R. Anderson, Alessandro Maria Selvitella

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

In this exposition paper, we describe some computational methodologies to solve numerically differential equations modeling the shallow lake ecosystem, with particular focus on the dynamics of the phosphorus. We describe in detail Python implementations of classical algorithms, like Runge-Kutta, and more modern approaches, including physics-informed neural networks.