Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Chemical And Physical Characteristics Of Rivers Above And Below Four Hydroelectric Power Facilities In The Chiriquí Viejo And Chico Watersheds Of Chiriquí, Panama, Tricia Light

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The advance of anthropogenic climate change and human energy use has sparked unprecedented international interest and investment in fossil fuel free energy sources such as hydroelectric power. Extensive construction of hydroelectric power facilities has occurred in Panama in recent years, particularly in the westernmost Chiriquí province. Hydroelectric power, especially that generated by relatively small facilities, is generally thought to be a “clean” alternative energy source with few negative environmental consequences. Some evidence suggests, however, that even small facilities can have significant ecological impacts on rivers. This study investigated river properties above and below four small hydroelectric facilities on the Chiriquí …

Acoustic Detection Reveals Fine-Scale Distributions Of Myotis Lucifugus, Myotis Septentrionalis, And Perimyotis Subflavus In Eastern Nebraska, Jeremy A. White, Cliff Lemen, Patricia Freeman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

ABSTRACT.—Before white-nose syndrome arrives in Nebraska, it is important to document the preexposure distributions of cave bats in the state. We examined the distributions of Myotis lucifugus (little brown myotis), Myotis septentrionalis (northern long-eared myotis), and Perimyotis subflavus (tri-colored bat) in eastern Nebraska by setting acoustic detectors for a single night at 105 sites in wooded habitats during summers of 2012 and 2014. We compared 2 methods of determining presence at each site. Results of our analyses are fine-scale distributional maps for these bats and some range extensions from published records. Results for M. septentrionalis and P. subflavus are largely …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- April 2016, Natalie A. Umphlett, Bill Sorensen, Jamie Lahowetz, Crystal J. Stiles

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the interim director........................................1

Staff spotlight...........................1

Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador Program............2

Tribal work highlight..............2

Product highlight....................3

Partnership spotlight.............3

AWDN information.................4

Update on regional climate conditions..................................4

Outreach/engagement.........5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2011-2015 Summary Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Christopher J. Davis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Program and Fire Effects Program have been monitoring vegetation in Agate Fossil Beds National Monument for over 18 years. While methods have changed slightly, this report summarizes data from over 80 locations from 1998-2015. We use these data to explore status and trends in upland and riparian plant communities, the occurrence of rare plants, and the effects of the Fossil Hills trail installation on the surrounding vegetation. A summary of the current condition (2011-2015) and trends (based on 1998-2015) in plant communities at Agate Fossil Beds NM (AGFO) is found in …

Pastoralists' Perception On The Trend Of Various Climatic, Social And Environmental Variables In Baringo County, Kenya, Geoffrey L. Lelenguyah, Samuel K. Kabochi, John C. Biwot

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

As global temperatures increase, more intense rainfall and more frequent droughts will have devastating effects on pastoral livelihoods. The aim of this study was to investigate pastoralists' perceptions on the impacts of climate variability on their livelihoods from 1971 to 2010. This study utilized household structured questionnaires. Statistical tests included t-test and Chi-square test (χ²). Statistically significant differences between the responses in strata 1 and 2 on the perceived trend of rainfall and floods towards the future were noted. This study recommends the strengthening of local institutions to be able to deal with impacts of climate variability and …

Droughtscape, Spring 2016, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report

First quarter drought summary

First quarter drought impacts

Drought Risk Management Research Center

Kenyan official visits

DrIVER eyes forecasting

Drought scenario exercise

Student projects

Drought tournament

Response and recovery guide

Drought Portal

Network of drought observers

Caribbean “writeshops”

Communications staff grows

Social Media & Political Engagement: Environmental Organizations, Social Media And Political Engagement, Tyler Cate

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Social media is becoming more important in today’s digital society, but how effective is the use of social media when it comes to political engagement? How do environmental organizations use social media and is it effective in encouraging their “followers” to engage in online and/or offline political activity? I collected Facebook and Twitter data from ten environmental organizations to assess the effectiveness of each posting. I hypothesize that the groups making direct calls for action via social media receive a greater response – beyond “clicktivism” or “slacktivism” – than the groups that do not. The data includes the number of …

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 29, 2016, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for March 29, 2016 (3/29/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Environmental Variables Affecting The Performance Of Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plants, Parikhit Sinha

Climate Sustainability Lecture Series

The environmental sciences have been critical to identifying global environmental challenges such as climate change, but they have been less extensively utilized in deploying solutions to those challenges, such as solar energy. Environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, aerosols, clouds, soiling, and snowfall have important effects on solar PV performance, and these effects can vary regionally. The current status of large-scale solar PV deployment will be discussed along with the role of environmental variables on PV performance.

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 22, 2016, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for March 22, 2016 (3/22/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 15, 2016, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for March 15, 2016 (3/15/16) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), the approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 8, 2016, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for March 8, 2016 (3/8/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 1, 2016, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for March 1, 2016 (3/1/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2011-2015 Summary Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Christopher J. Davis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Program and Fire Effects Program have been monitoring vegetation in Scotts Bluff National Monument for over 18 years. While methods have changed slightly, this report summarizes data from over 80 locations from 1998-2015. Below, we list the questions we asked using these data and provide a summarized answer. For more details see the full report. A summary of the current condition (2011-2015) and trends (based on 1988-2015) in plant communities at Scotts Bluff is found in Table ES-1.

1. What is the current status of plant community composition and structure of …

Air Quality Related Values (Aqrvs) For Northern Great Plains Network (Ngpn) Parks, Effects From Ozone; Visibility Reducing Particles; And Atmospheric Deposition Of Acids, Nutrients And Toxics, Timothy J. Sullivan

United States National Park Service: Publications

Summary

This report describes the Air Quality Related Values (AQRVs) of the Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN). AQRVs are those resources sensitive to air quality and include streams, lakes, soils, vegetation, fish and wildlife, and visibility. This report also describes air pollutant emissions and air quality in NGPN, and their effects on AQRVs. The primary pollutants likely to affect AQRVs include nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) compounds (nitrate [NO₃^-], ammonium [NH₄⁺], and sulfate [SO₄^2-]); ground-level ozone (O₃); haze-causing particles; and airborne toxics.

The 13 parks that are included in …

A Model Of The Effects Of Deforestation On Local Climate In The North Cascades, Monica R. H. Jasper

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Changes in areal extent of land cover types may lead to alterations in the surface energy budget that contribute to anthropogenic climate forcing. This study examines the effects of deforestation in the Cascade Range on local temperature. Temperature sensors were installed in 14 forest stands, taking measurements for one year. Estimated tree age, circumference, and species were recorded to calculate stand density index. Satellite imagery was used to calculate shade fraction from spectral mixture analysis, which is a proxy for canopy structure and density. These data were used to construct seasonal cycles of temperature to model variation with stand density …

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 23, 2016, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 23, 2016 (2/23/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 16, 2016, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 16, 2016 (2/16/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 9, 2016, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 9, 2016 (2/9/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Using Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probes To Monitor Landscape Scale Soil Water Content In Mixed Land Use Agricultural Systems, Trenton E. Franz, Ammar Wahbi, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Georg Weltin, Lee Hang, Markus Oismueller, Peter Strauss, Gerd Dercon, Darin Desilets

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

With an ever-increasing demand for natural resources and the societal need to understand and predict natural disasters, soil water content (SWC) observations remain a critical variable to monitor in order to optimally allocate resources, establish early warning systems, and improve weather forecasts.However, routine agricultural production practices of soil cultivation, planting, and harvest make the operation andmaintenance of direct contact point sensors for long-termmonitoring challenging. In this work, we explore the use of the newly established Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probe (CRNP) and method to monitor landscape average SWC in a mixed agricultural land use systemin northeastAustria.Thecalibrated CRNP landscape SWC values compare well …

The Sensitivity Of Carbon Exchanges In Great Plains Grasslands To Precipitation Variability, M.D. Petrie, N. A. Brunsell, R. Vargas, Scott L. Collins, L.B. Flanagan, N.P. Hanan, M.E. Litvak, A. E. Suyker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In the Great Plains, grassland carbon dynamics differ across broad gradients of precipitation and temperature, yet finer-scale variation in these variables may also affect grassland processes. Despite the importance of grasslands, there is little information on how fine-scale relationships compare between them regionally. We compared grassland C exchanges, energy partitioning and precipitation variability in eight sites in the eastern and western Great Plains using eddy covariance and meteorological data. During our study, both eastern and western grasslands varied between an average net carbon sink and a net source. Eastern grasslands had a moderate vapor pressure deficit (VPD = 0.95 kPa) …

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 2, 2016, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 2, 2016 (2/2/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Cruising The Canal: A Methodological Approach To Assessing Trail Conditions Along The Hennepin Canal Parkway, Alyssa Clarida

Geography: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Trail conditions in the United States are degrading and trail systems do not receive enough funding to repair them in a timely manner. Park managers often conduct trail assessments to collect trail condition data. They use this data to make timely and judicious decisions regarding trail repairs. However, many trail assessments are time consuming, costly, and require high levels of expertise. This project creates a trail assessment methodology that can be applied to a trail with limited funds. The final methodology was efficient, succinct, accurate, and simple to conduct. It uses a problem based methodology where every instance of degradation …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 26, 2016, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 26, 2016 (1/26/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 19, 2016, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 19, 2016 (1/19/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Closing The Water Balance With Cosmic-Ray Soil Moisture Measurements And Assessing Their Relation To Evapotranspiration In Two Semiarid Watersheds, A. P. Schreiner-Mcgraw, E. R. Vivoni, G. Mascaro, Trenton E. Franz

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Soil moisture dynamics reflect the complex interactions of meteorological conditions with soil, vegetation and terrain properties. In this study, intermediate-scale soil moisture estimates from the cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) method are evaluated for two semiarid ecosystems in the southwestern United States: a mesquite savanna at the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) and a mixed shrubland at the Jornada Experimental Range (JER). Evaluations of the CRNS method are performed for small watersheds instrumented with a distributed sensor network consisting of soil moisture sensor profiles, an eddy covariance tower, and runoff flumes used to close the water balance. We found a very …

Spatial Analysis Of Forest Crimes In Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, Karun Pandit, Eddie Bevilacqua, Giorgos Mountrakis, Robert W. Malmsheimer

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Forest crime mitigation has been identified as a challenging issue in forest management in the United States. Knowledge of the spatial pattern of forest crimes would help in wisely allocating limited enforcement resources to curb forest crimes. This study explores the spatial pattern of three different types of forest crimes: fire crime, illegal timber logging crime, and occupancy use crime in the Salem-Patosi Ranger District of Mark Twain National Forest. Univariate and bivariate Ripley’s K-functions were applied to explore the spatial patterns in crime events, like clustering and attraction among forest crime types. Results reveal significant clustering for each forest …

Comparison Of Terrain Indices And Landform Classification Procedures In Low-Relief Agricultural Fields, Derek A. Evans, Karl W. J. Williard, Jon E. Schoonover

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Landforms control the spatial distribution of numerous factors associated with agronomy and water quality. Although curvature and slope are the fundamental surface derivatives used in landform classification procedures, methodologies for landform classifications have been performed with other terrain indices including the topographic position index (TPI) and the convergence index (CI). The objectives of this study are to compare plan curvature, the convergence index, profile curvature, and the topographic position index at various scales to determine which better identifies the spatial variability of soil phosphorus (P) within three low relief agricultural fields in central Illinois and to compare how two methods …

Discordant Data And Interpretation Of Results From Wildlife Habitat Models, Anita T. Morzillo, Michael G. Wing, Justin Long

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Wildlife habitat management is an important part of natural resource management. As a result, there are a large number of models and tools for wildlife habitat assessment. A consequence of the many assessment tools is inconsistency when comparing results between tools, which may lead to potential confusion management decisions. Our objective was to compare results from two wildlife habitat models – one being relatively coarse (HUC5) scale and not spatially dynamic and the other being finer scale spatial data based on a 30 m spatial resolution –for habitat assessment of three species across the West Cascades of Oregon: Northern spotted …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 12, 2016, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 12, 2016 (1/12/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.