Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

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 …

Global Fossil Energy Markets And Climate Change Mitigation: An Analysis With Remind, Nico Bauer, Ioanna Mouratiadou, Gunnar Luderer, Lavinia Baumstark, Robert J. Brecha, Ottmar Edenhofer, Elmar Kriegler

Physics Faculty Publications

We analyze the dynamics of global fossil resource markets under different assumptions for the supply of fossil fuel resources, development pathways for energy demand, and climate policy settings. Resource markets, in particular the oil market, are characterized by a large discrepancy between costs of resource extraction and commodity prices on international markets. We explain this observation in terms of (a) the intertemporal scarcity rent, (b) regional price differentials arising from trade and transport costs, (c) heterogeneity and inertia in the extraction sector. These effects are captured by the REMIND model. We use the model to explore economic effects of changes …

Droughtscape, Fall 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report

Kansas community drought planning workshop November 5

Drought impacts webinars

Drought outlook and summary

Late summer drought brings more agricultural impacts

Plans help ranchers weather drought

NDMC contributions to U2U project

Drought Management Database archives strategies

QuickDRI will help spot flash droughts

NDMC Co-Hosts NASA workshop

Wilhite leads Integrated Drought Management Program work

Speaking of drought

Managing #Drought tweet chat transcript

Updated USDM website

Elucidating The Population Dynamics Of Japanese Knotweed Using Integral Projection Models, Joseph T. Dauer, Eelke Jongejans

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Plant demographic studies coupled with population modeling are crucial components of invasive plant management because they inform managers when in a plant’s life cycle it is most susceptible to control efforts. Providing land managers with appropriate data can be especially challenging when there is limited data on potentially important transitions that occur belowground. For 2 years, we monitored 4 clonal Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) infestations for emergence, survival, shoot height until leaf senescence, dry shoot biomass after senescence, and rhizome connections for 424 shoots. We developed an integral projection model using both final autumn shoot height and shoot …

Behavioral Niche Partitioning In A Sympatric Tiger Beetle Assemblage And Implications For The Endangered Salt Creek Tiger Beetle, Tierney R. Brosius, Leon G. Higley

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

How behavioral patterns are related to niche partitioning is an important question in understanding how closely related species within ecological communities function. Behavioral niche partitioning associated with thermoregulation is well documented in tiger beetles as a group. Co-occurring species of salt flat tiger beetles have adapted many thermoregulatory behaviors to cope with this harsh ecosystem. On first examination these beetles appear to occur in overlapping microhabitats and therefore compete for resources. To determine if behavioral niche partitioning is allowing multiple species to occur within the same harsh salt flat ecosystem we observed Cicindela nevadica lincolniana, Cicindela circumpicta, Cicindela fulgida, and …

The Carbon Rent Economics Of Climate Policy, Matthias Kalkuhl, Robert J. Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

By reducing the demand for fossil fuels, climate policy can reduce scarcity rents for fossil resource owners. As mitigation policies ultimately aim to limit emissions, a new scarcity for “space” in the atmosphere to deposit emissions is created. The associated scarcity rent, or climate rent (that is, for example, directly visible in permit prices under an emission trading scheme) can be higher or lower than the original fossil resource rent. In this paper, we analyze analytically and numerically the impact of mitigation targets, resource availability, backstop costs, discount rates and demand parameters on fossil resource rents and the climate rent. …

Individual And Population Level Resource Selection Patterns Of Mountain Lions Preying On Mule Deer Along An Urban-Wildland Gradient, John F. Benson, Jeff A. Sikich, Seth P. D. Riley

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Understanding population and individual-level behavioral responses of large carnivores to human disturbance is important for conserving top predators in fragmented landscapes. However, previous research has not investigated resource selection at predation sites of mountain lions in highly urbanized areas. We quantified selection of natural and anthropogenic landscape features by mountain lions at sites where they consumed their primary prey, mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), in and adjacent to urban, suburban, and rural areas in greater Los Angeles. We documented intersexual and individual-level variation in the environmental conditions present at mule deer feeding sites relative to their availability across home …

A Protected Area Influences Genotype-Specific Survival And The Structure Of A Canis Hybrid Zone, John F. Benson, Brent R. Patterson, Peter J. Mahoney

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

It is widely recognized that protected areas can strongly influence ecological systems and that hybridization is an important conservation issue. However, previous studies have not explicitly considered the influence of protected areas on hybridization dynamics. Eastern wolves are a species of special concern and their distribution is largely restricted to a protected population in Algonquin Provincial Park (APP), Ontario, Canada, where they are the numerically dominant canid. We studied intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing survival and cause-specific mortality of hybrid and parental canids in the three-species hybrid zone between eastern wolves, eastern coyotes, and gray wolves in and adjacent to …

Seasonal Fires, Bison Grazing, And The Tallgrass Prairie Forb Arnoglossum Plantagineum Raf., Stephen L. Winter, Karen R. Hickman, Carla L. Goad, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Mark S. Gregory

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Fire and grazing can interact to affect the structure and composition of vegetation communities in a manner that may differ from the effects of fire or grazing that occurs in isolation of the other. In order to better understand the effects of a fire-grazing interaction at the level of an individual plant species, we studied the response of a perennial tallgrass prairie forb, Arnoglossum plantagineum Raf., to the interaction of spring and summer fires with grazing by bison (Bison bison L.). During one field season (2006), we collected data in areas that had been treated with summer fires while …

Droughtscape, Summer 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report

July 25 webinar: Drought management database, NIDIS update

Republican River Basin workshops July 31, August 1

Summer climate outlook, spring summary

Spring impacts: wildfire, water, agriculture and business

Data help managers assess Nebraska groundwater declines after drought of 2012

Tadesse helps Mexico with Veg-DRI concept

Visiting scholar explores remote sensing of drought in forests

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum photo recap, details online

Workshop helps New Mexico ranchers cope with drought

Alabama’s new drought plan

National Drought Forum report

Drought Impacts Community of Practice report

Patch Burning: Integrating Fire And Grazing To Promote Heterogeneity, John R. Weir, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, David M. Engle, Terrence G. Bidwell, D. Chad Cummings, R. Dwayne Elmore, Ryan F. Limb, Brady W. Allred, J. Derek Scasta, Stephen L. Winter

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Heterogeneity refers to the differences in habitats across the landscape, and it is required for diverse plant and wildlife communities. Some heterogeneity is inherent, caused by differences in soils, while most heterogeneity is disturbance driven. Climate, fire, and grazing are the main three disturbance factors that have historically shaped the landscape. All three are still very important to the continued diversity and health of the plants and animals associated with our prairies, shrublands, and forestlands across the Great Plains. While we cannot control the climate, we can manage grazing by stocking rate, season of use, and kind and type of …

Source And Magnitude Of Error In An Inexpensive Image-Based Water Level Measurement System, Troy E. Gilmore, François Birgand, Kenneth W. Chapman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Recent technological advances have opened the possibility to use webcams and images as part of the environmental monitoring arsenal. The potential sources and magnitude of uncertainties inherent to an image-based water level measurement system are evaluated in an experimental design in the laboratory. Sources of error investigated include image resolution, lighting effects, perspective, lens distortion and water meniscus. Image resolution and meniscus were found to weigh the most in the overall uncertainty of this system. Image distortion, although largely taken into account by the software developed, may also significantly add to uncertainty. Results suggest that ‘‘flat’’ images with little distortion …

Fluctuating Viability Selection On Morphology Of Cliff Swallows Is Driven By Climate, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Erin A. Roche

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The extent to which fluctuating selection can maintain evolutionary stasis in most populations remains an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Climate has been hypothesized to drive reversals in the direction of selection among different time periods and may also be responsible for intense episodic selection caused by rare weather events. We measured viability selection associated with morphological traits in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western Nebraska, USA, over a 14-year period following a rare climatic event. We used mark-recapture to estimate the annual apparent survival of over 26 000 individuals whose wing, tail, tarsus, and bill had been …

Phylogeography Of The California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila Californica) Using Multilocus Dna Sequences And Ecological Niche Modeling: Implications For Conservation, Robert M. Zink, Jeffrey G. Groth, Hernan Vázquez-Miranda

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

An important step in conservation is to identify whether threatened populations are evolutionarily discrete and significant to the species. A prior mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeographic study of the California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica) revealed no geographic structure and, thus, did not support the subspecies validity of the threatened coastal California Gnatcatcher (P. c. californica). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that mtDNA data alone were insufficient to test subspecies taxonomy. We sequenced eight nuclear loci to search for historically discrete groupings that might have been missed by the mtDNA study (which we confirmed with new ND2 …

Droughtscape, Spring 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report

First quarter climate summary and outlook

Impacts: Crop indemnities set records in 2012; water conflicts escalating

International meeting recommends countries have drought policies

NDMC plays key role in international drought policy meeting

EDEN and VOAD guide helps build community drought capacity

Svoboda, other experts and policymakers focus on food and water security

New Mexico ranching workshop set for May 29 in Socorro

Ranch planning updates: archived webinars, new publications

Tune in to the US Drought Monitor Forum, April 16-18

Archived webinar looks at using drought simulations in planning

CoCoRaHS WxTalk on drought

Implications For Soil Microbe Research: Investigations Into The Feasibility Of Dna Amplification From Stained Roots And Temporal Patterns In Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities., Catherine Ausland

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are obligate biotrophs that form symbiotic relationships with 80% of vascular plants around the world. Because of their beneficial relationship with plants in almost all terrestrial ecosystems, the implication of utilizing AM fungi in ecological restorations is immense. The following investigations seek to increase knowledge of the community ecology of AM fungi in order to enhance the potential for use of AM in ecological restoration. The first investigation replicated a novel method of AM visualization in plant roots, utilizing ink and vinegar as less destructive staining agents, to determine whether molecular studies could be feasibly performed …

Quantifying Free-Roaming Domestic Cat Predation Using Animal-Borne Video Cameras, Kerrie Anne T. Loyd, Sonia M. Hernandez, John Carroll, Kyler J. Abernathy, Greg J. Marshall

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Domestic cats (Felis catus) are efficient and abundant non-native predators. Predation by domestic cats remains a topic of considerable social and scientific debate and warrants attention using improved methods. Predation is likely a function of cat behavior, opportunity to hunt, and local habitat. Previous predation studies relied on homeowner reports of wildlife captures from prey returns to the household and other indirect means. We investigated hunting of wildlife by owned, free-roaming cats in a suburban area of the southeastern USA. Specific research goals included: (1) quantifying the frequency of cat interactions with native wildlife, (2) identifying common prey …

Recapture Heterogeneity In Cliff Swallows: Increased Exposure To Mist Nets Leads To Net Avoidance, Erin A. Roche, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Kristen M. Lear

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Ecologists often use mark-recapture to estimate demographic variables such as abundance, growth rate, or survival for samples of wild animal populations. A common assumption underlying mark-recapture is that all animals have an equal probability of detection, and failure to meet or correct for this assumption–as when certain members of the population are either easier or more difficult to capture than other animals–can lead to biased and inaccurate demographic estimates. We built within-year and among-years Cormack-Jolly-Seber recaptures-only models to identify causes of capture heterogeneity for a population of colonially nesting cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) caught using mist-netting as a …

Where Has All The Road Kill Gone?, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

An estimated 80 million birds are killed by colliding with vehicles on U.S. roads each year [1], and millions more die annually in Europe [2] and elsewhere. Losses to vehicles are a serious problem for which various changes in roadway design and maintenance have been proposed [3]. Yet, given the magnitude of the mortality reported for some species [4], we might expect natural selection to favor individuals that either learn to avoid cars or that have other traits making them less likely to collide with vehicles. If so, the frequency of road kill should decline over time. No information is …

Behavioural Salinity Preferences Of Juvenile Green Sturgeon Acipenser Medirostris Acclimated To Fresh Water And Full-Strength Salt Water, J. B. Poletto, D. E. Cocherell, A. P. Klimley, J. J. Cech Jr., N. A. Fangue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

To quantify the salinity preference of juvenile green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris, two groups of A. medirostris [140 days post hatch (dph); total length (L_T) 38.0–52.5 cm] were acclimated to either near fresh water (mean ± S.E. salinity = 3.2 ± 0.6) or full-strength salt water (34.1 ± 1.2) over 8 weeks. Following acclimation, the two groups were divided into experimental and control groups, where experimental A. medirostris from both freshwater and saltwater acclimations were individually introduced (200–220 dph) into a rectangular salinity-preference flume (maximum salinity gradient: 5–33). Control A. medirostris were presented with only their acclimation …

Ten Reasons To Take Peak Oil Seriously, Robert Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

Forty years ago, the results of modeling, as presented in The Limits to Growth, reinvigorated a discussion about exponentially growing consumption of natural resources, ranging from metals to fossil fuels to atmospheric capacity, and how such consumption could not continue far into the future. Fifteen years earlier, M. King Hubbert had made the projection that petroleum production in the continental United States would likely reach a maximum around 1970, followed by a world production maximum a few decades later. The debate about “peak oil," as it has come to be called, is accompanied by some of the same vociferous …

Long-Term Agro-Ecosystem Research (Ltar) Network To Establish The Platte River – High Plains Aquifer Ltar, Brian J. Wienhold, Tala Awada

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the USDA-ARS Agro-ecosystem Management Research Unit (AMRU) in Lincoln, and Environmental Management Research Unit (EMRU) in Clay Center propose to establish a Long-term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) Network site with a focus on the northern portion of the High Plains Aquifer. Over 95 percent of the water withdrawn from the aquifer is for agricultural use, and – unlike the portion of the aquifer underlying southern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas where significant drawdown has occurred – ground water levels have remained relatively stable since 1960. However, this stability might be in jeopardy with projected climate variability and …

The Importance Of Spring And Autumn Atmospheric Conditions For The Evaporation Regime Of Lake Superior, Christopher Spence, P.D. Blanken, John D. Lenters, N. Hedstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Feedbacks between ice extent and evaporation have long been suspected to be important for Lake Superior evaporation because it is during autumn and winter when latent heat fluxes are highest. Recent direct measurements of evaporation made at the Stannard Rock Lighthouse have provided new information on the physical controls on Lake Superior evaporation, in particular that evaporation can react within hours to days to a change in synoptic conditions. However, the large heat capacity of the lake creates a strong seasonal cycle of energy storage and release. There is a complex interaction among heat storage, evaporation, and ice cover that …

Aspects Of Northern Bobwhite Ecology On South Florida Rangeland., J. A. Martin, W. E. Palmer, Carroll J. P.

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Abstract During 2004 and 2005, we monitored breeding season survival, home range, habitat use, density, and reproduction of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) in the peninsular region of Florida, USA. We radio-tagged 81 birds across a 20-km2 cattle ranch consisting predominately of rotationally grazed pastureland. Birds were radio-tracked three to five times per week until mortality or the transition to nonbreeding season. We found no difference in home range size among the sexes, ages, or their interaction. Mean home range size pooled for years, sexes, and age class was 56.28 ha (±7.87 SE). Home ranges of bobwhites were not distributed among …

Overwinter Mortality Of Sympatric Juvenile Bluegill And Yellow Perch In Mid-Temperate Prairie Lakes, Jeffrey C. Jolley, Mark A. Kaemingk, David W. Willis, Richard S. Holland

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Substantial mortality can occur in age-0 fish populations during their first year of life, especially in winter; this can potentially influence overall recruitment into the adult population. As such, we compared relative abundances between fall and spring catches of sympatric juvenile bluegill Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque and yellow perch Perca flavescens (Mitchill) to evaluate the magnitude of overwinter mortality across locations (five lakes for two years) and through time (one lake for six years). In addition, we compared both quantile-quantile and increment plots, based on length-frequency histograms from fall- and spring-caught cohorts from 2004 to 2010, to determine if mortality was …

Pressures To Publish: Catalysts For The Loss Of Scientific Writing Integrity?, Cari-Ann Hayer, Mark A. Kaemingk, Jason J. Breeggemann, Daniel Dembkowski, David Deslauriers, Tobias Rapp

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Publishing research is the final step in the scientific process and is used as the primary means for disseminating research findings to the scientific community. Publishing can embody many personal motivations (e.g., gratification, seeing a finished product in print, desire to further science) for authors as well as professional benefits (e.g., promotion, tenure, future funding opportunities). As the scientific workforce and competition for jobs and funding increase, publishing productivity has become a driving factor for many authors, which may lead to writing practices that violate integrity. In this essay, we discuss writing actions that may be considered a violation of …

Field Guide For Nebraska Aquatic Invasive Species (Fg-26)

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fostering Student Sense Making In Elementary Science Learning Environments: Elementary Teachers’ Use Of Science Curriculum Materials To Promote Explanation Construction, Laura Zangori, Cory Forbes, Mandy Biggers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

While research has shown that elementary (K-5) students are capable of engaging in the scientific practice of explanation construction, commonly-used elementary science curriculum materials may not always afford them opportunities to do so. As a result, elementary teachers must often adapt their science curriculum materials to better support students’ explanation construction and foster student sense making. However, little research has been conducted to explore if and, if so, how and why, elementary teachers modify science curriculum materials to engage students in explanation construction. We use an embedded mixed methods research design to explore elementary teachers’ (n = 45) curricular adaptations …

The Under-Ice Microbiome Of Seasonally Frozen Lakes, Stefan Bertilsson, Amy Burgin, Cayelan C. Carey, Samuel B. Fey, Hans-Peter Grossart, Lorena M. Grubisic, Ian D. Jones, Georgiy Kirillin, Jay T. Lennon, Ashley Shade, Robyn L. Smyth

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Compared to the well-studied open water of the ‘‘growing’’ season, under-ice conditions in lakes are characterized by low and rather constant temperature, slow water movements, limited light availability, and reduced exchange with the surrounding landscape. These conditions interact with ice-cover duration to shape microbial processes in temperate lakes and ultimately influence the phenology of community and ecosystem processes. We review the current knowledge on microorganisms in seasonally frozen lakes. Specifically, we highlight how under-ice conditions alter lake physics and the ways that this can affect the distribution and metabolism of auto- and heterotrophic microorganisms. We identify functional traits that we …

Students Understanding Of Cells And Heredity: Patterns Of Understanding In The Context Of A Curriculum Implementation In Fifth And Seventh Grades, Dante Cisterna, Michelle Williams, Joi Merritt

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.