Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Efficacy Of A Sensory Deterrent And Pipe Modifications In Decreasing Entrainment Of Juvenile Green Sturgeon (Acipenser Medirostris) At Unscreened Water Diversions, Jamilynn B. Poletto, Dennis E. Cocherell, Timothy D. Mussen, Ali Ercan, Hossein Bandeh, M. Levent Kavvas, Joseph J. Cech Jr., Nann A. Fangue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Water projects designed to extract fresh water for local urban, industrial and agricultural use throughout rivers and estuaries worldwide have contributed to the fragmentation and degradation of suitable habitat for native fishes. The number of water diversions located throughout the Sacramento–San Joaquin watershed in California’s Central Valley exceeds 3300, and the majority of these are unscreened. Many anadromous fish species are susceptible to entrainment into these diversions, potentially impacting population numbers. In the laboratory, juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) have been shown to have high entrainment rates into unscreened diversions compared with those of other native California fish …

Parameterization Of The Satellite-Based Model (Metric) For The Estimation Of Instantaneous Surface Energy Balance Components Over A Drip-Irrigated Vineyard, Marcos Carrasco-Benavides, Samuel Ortega-Farias, Luis Octavio Lagos, Jan Kleissl, Luis Morales-Salinas, Ayse Kilic

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A study was carried out to parameterize the METRIC (Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration) model for estimating instantaneous values of albedo (shortwave albedo) (αi), net radiation (Rni) and soil heat flux (Gi), sensible (Hi) and latent heat (LEi) over a drip-irrigated Merlot vineyard (location: 35°25′ LS; 71°32′ LW; 125 m.a.s. (l). The experiment was carried out in a plot of 4.25 ha, processing 15 Landsat images, which were acquired from 2006 to 2009. An automatic weather station was placed inside the experimental plot to measure αi, …

Biofrag – A New Database For Analyzing Biodiversity Responses To Forest Fragmentation, Marion Pfeifer, Andrew Tyre

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Habitat fragmentation studies have produced complex results that are challenging to synthesize. Inconsistencies among studies may result from variation in the choice of landscape metrics and response variables, which is often compounded by a lack of key statistical or methodological information. Collating primary datasets on biodiversity responses to fragmentation in a consistent and flexible database permits simple data retrieval for subsequent analyses. We present a relational database that links such field data to taxonomic nomenclature, spatial and temporal plot attributes, and environmental characteristics. Field assessments include measurements of the response(s) (e.g., presence, abundance, ground cover) of one or more species …

Spectroscopic Analysis Of Seasonal Changes In Live Fuel Moisture Content And Leaf Dry Mass, Yi Qi, Philip E. Dennison, W. Matt Jolly, Rachael C. Kropp, Simon C. Brewer

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Transdisciplinary Research On Environmental Governance: A View From The Inside, Katherine Mattor, Michele Betsill, Ch'aska Huayhuaca, Heidi Huber-Stearns, Theresa Jedd, Faith Sternlieb, Patrick Bixler, Matthew Luizza, Antony S. Cheng

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Carbon–Temperature–Water Change Analysis For Peanut Production Under Climate Change: A Prototype For The Agmip Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3mp), Alex Ruane, Sonali Mcdermid, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Guillermo Baigorria, James W. Jones, Consuelo Romero, L. Dewayne Cecil

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Climate change is projected to push the limits of cropping systems and has the potential to disrupt the agricultural sector from local to global scales. This article introduces the Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP), an initiative of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) to engage a global network of crop modelers to explore the impacts of climate change via an investigation of crop responses to changes in carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]), temperature, and water. As a demonstration of the C3MP protocols and enabled analyses, we apply the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) CROPGRO-Peanut crop model for …

Assessing Risk Of Disease Transmission: Direct Implications For An Indirect Science, Michael Lavelle, Justin Fischer, Gregory Phillips, Tyler Campbell, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Aaron Hildreth, David Hewiltt, Scott Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

By definition, contact denotes the ;unction of at least two objects. In the context of disease transmission, contact implies interaction with potential to spread disease. Mischaracterization of contacts may res"lt in inaccurate estimates of transmission rates. To collect more-accurate contact data among white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), "'e built a deer-borne contact detection system (DCDS) consisting of a camera and a proximity logger installed on a GPS (Global Positioning System) collar. We outfitted 26 adult male deer with DCDSs to record GPS locations, proximity of equipped deer to other equipped deer, and video of deer interactions in southern Texas during arltUmn …

A Tallgrass Prairie Forb In A Landscape Shaped By Patch Burn Grazing, Stephen L. Winter

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Our research indicated that Indian plantain is a tallgrass prairie forb that experiences a temporary period of competitive release as a result of the fire‐grazing interaction found in patch burn grazing systems. Additional research is needed to determine what other species of perennial forbs exhibit this phenomena and in what other locations. Conservationists are especially interested in whether this is the case for what are termed “conservative” species of forbs, species that aren’t typically found in locations that have a long history of heavy grazing or other type of land use that produces vegetation characterized by only the hardiest species. …

You Are Not Always What We Think You Eat: Selective Assimilation Across Multiple Whole-Stream Isotopic Tracer Studies, W. K. Dodds, S. M. Collins, S. K. Hamilton, J. L. Tank, S. Johnson, J. R. Webster, K. S. Simon, M. R. Whiles, H. M. Rantala, W. H. Mcdowell, S. D. Peterson, T. Riis, C. L. Crenshaw, S. A. Thomas, P. B. Kristensen, B. M. Cheever, A. S. Flecker, N. A. Griffiths, T. Crowl, E. J. Rosi-Marshall, R. El-Sabaawi, E. Marti

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Analyses of 21 ¹⁵N stable isotope tracer experiments, designed to examine food web dynamics in streams around the world, indicated that the isotopic composition of food resources assimilated by primary consumers (mostly invertebrates) poorly reflected the presumed food sources. Modeling indicated that consumers assimilated only 33–50% of the N available in sampled food sources such as decomposing leaves, epilithon, and fine particulate detritus over feeding periods of weeks or more. Thus, common methods of sampling food sources consumed by animals in streams do not sufficiently reflect the pool of N they assimilate. Isotope tracer studies, combined with modeling and …

Estimation Of Crop Gross Primary Production (Gpp): I. Impact Of Modisobservation Footprint And Impact Of Vegetation Brdf Characteristics, Qingyuan Zhang, Yen-Ben Cheng, Alexei I. Lyapustin, Yujie Wang, Xiangming Xiao, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi Verma, Bin Tan, Elizabeth M. Middleton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of gross primary production (GPP) is essential for carbon cycle and climate change studies. Three AmeriFlux crop sites of maize and soybean were selected for this study. Two of the sites were irrigated and the other one was rainfed. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), the green band chlorophyll index (CI_green), and the green band wide dynamic range vegetation index (WDRVI_green) were computed from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data. We examined the impacts of the MODIS observation footprint and the vegetation bidirectional reflectance distribution function …

2014 Interior Least Tern And Piping Plover Monitoring, Research, Management, And Outreach Report For The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Mary Bomberger Brown, Joel G. Jorgensen, Lauren R. Dinan

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This document reports on our monitoring, research, management, and outreach activities during the past 12 months (2013–2014). We prepared it to inform our partners, cooperating agencies, funding sources, and other interested parties of our activities and to provide a preliminary summary of our results.

The lower Platte River and its major tributaries provide important nesting and migratory stopover habitat for two bird species of special conservation concern: the state and federally endangered Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum athalassos) and threatened Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus). The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership (TPCP), based at the University of …

Spatial Accuracy Of Climate Networks: A Case Study In Nebraska, Andrea J. Coop, Kenneth Hubbard, Martha Shulski, Jinsheng You, David B. Marx

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Climate data are increasingly scrutinized for accuracy because of the need for reliable input for climaterelated decision making and assessments of climate change. Over the last 30 years, vast improvements to U.S. instrumentation, data collection, and station siting have created more accurate data. This study explores the spatial accuracy of daily maximum and minimum air temperature data in Nebraska networks, including the U.S. Historical Climatology Network (HCN), the Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN), and the more recent U.S. Climate Reference Network (CRN). The spatial structure of temperature variations at the earth’s surface is compared for timeframes 2005–09 for CRN and …

Iron Clad Wetlands: Soil Iron-Sulfur Buffering Determines Coastal Wetland Response To Salt Water Incursion, Valerie Anne Schoepfer, Emily S. Bernhardt, Amy J. Burgin

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Coastal freshwater wetland chemistry is rapidly changing due to increased frequency of salt water incursion, a consequence of global change. Seasonal salt water incursion introduces sulfate, which microbially reduces to sulfide. Sulfide binds with reduced iron, producing iron sulfide (FeS), recognizable in wetland soils by its characteristic black color. The objective of this study is to document iron and sulfate reduction rates, as well as product formation (acid volatile sulfide (AVS) and chromium reducible sulfide (CRS)) in a coastal freshwater wetland undergoing seasonal salt water incursion. Understanding iron and sulfur cycling, as well as their reduction products, allows us to …

Coupled Heat And Vapor Transport: The Thermostat Effect Of A Freely Evaporating Land Surface, Jozsef Szilagyi, Aaron Schepers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Analytical solutions of the 2-D heat and vapor transport equations for a surface moisture jump are often based on a constant streamwise temperature (T_ws) assumption over the wet vegetated surface. By analyzing 90 thermal infrared images taken over center-pivot irrigated areas in Nebraska, it has been demonstrated for the first time that such an assumption is realistic. Average temperature difference between the perimeter and core of the irrigated full or half circles stayed between -0.11 and 0.09°C (standard deviation of 0.25–0.41°C). It was further demonstrated that wet-bulb temperatures (a proxy of T_ws) remain near constant during …

Analysis And Mapping Of Climate Change Risk And Vulnerability In Central Rift Valley Of Ethiopia, L. Gizachew, A. Shiferaw

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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

Closing The Knowing-Doing Gap In Invasive Plant Management: Accessibility And Interdisciplinarity Of Scientific Research, Virginia Matzek, Justin Covino, Jennifer L. Funk, Martin Saunders

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Like many conservation disciplines, invasion biology may suffer from a knowing-doing gap, where scientific research fails to inform management actions. We surveyed California resource managers to evaluate engagement with scientific research and to identify research priorities. We examined managers' access to information, judgment of the usefulness of existing research, ability to generate scientific information, and priorities for future research. We found that practitioners rely on their own experience, and largely do not read the peer-reviewed literature, which they regard as only moderately useful. Less than half of managers who do research carry out experiments conforming to the norms of hypothesis …

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 …

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

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …