Climate Commons^™

The Effects Of Late Spring Frost On Forest And Landscape Health And Recovery Of The Black Rock Forest, New York, Caroline Eco, Oliver Imhans, Aaron Davitt, Andrew B. Reinmann

Publications and Research

Projected changes in climate are expected to increase the frequency of late spring frost events in the Northeast US. Such events can be harmful to trees because freezing temperatures that occur after leaf-out can damage or kill young leaves. The resultant defoliation typically forces a second flush of leaves, but delays canopy development, which in turn delays the onset of canopy carbon uptake and alters canopy thermal properties. In this study, we analyzed a recent freeze event that occurred on 8-9 May 2020 (DOY 129-130) at Black Rock Forest (BRF), which is in the Hudson Highlands of southeastern New York …

Evaluation Of Carbon Accounting Tools Available To Mixed Farming Enterprises In Western Australia, Richard Brake

Climate Science Published Reports

In recent years consumers and the general public have become increasingly more cognisant of the environmental impact, through the emitting of greenhouse gases measured as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), that the production of goods and services they consume have on the world. Global corporate businesses either through desire or market driven necessity are at the forefront of measuring and reducing their carbon footprint and in doing so placing pressure on suppliers to reduce theirs.

The impact of carbon emissions from agricultural enterprises and the role that the agricultural industry plays in the level of carbon emitted or sequestered continues to …

Anatomy Of A Conspiracy Theory: Law, Politics, And Science Denialism In The Era Of Covid-19, Brie Sherwin

Texas A&M Law Review

With COVID-19, we are facing the most serious public health threat of our lifetime. Now, more than ever, we need experts and sound scientific advice to guide critical decision-making during the pandemic. With conspiracy theories and other similar rhetorical weapons being used to discredit our scientific experts, we face a myriad of misinformation, mistruths, and all-out attacks on our experts, breeding distrust between the public and the policymakers leading the fight against the pandemic. As President Trump took office, scientists were routinely denigrated and isolated. Furthermore, science denialism has permeated its way up to the highest levels of government, resulting …

Dynamic Microclimate Boundaries Across A Sharp Tropical Rainforest–Clearing Edge, Eric A. Graham, Mark Hansen, William J. Kaiser, Yeung Lam, Eric Yuen, Philip W. Rundel

Biology Faculty Scholarship

As landscapes become increasingly fragmented, research into impacts from disturbance and how edges affect vegetation and community structure has become more important. Descriptive studies on how microclimate changes across sharp transition zones have long existed in the literature and recently more attention has been focused on understanding the dynamic patterns of microclimate associated with forest edges. Increasing concern about forest fragmentation has led to new technologies for modeling forest microclimates. However, forest boundaries pose important challenges to not only microclimate modeling but also sampling regimes in order to capture the diurnal and seasonal dynamic aspects of microclimate along forest edges. …

In Silico Screeing Of Natural Compounds As Novel Drug Targets For Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma, Rousselene Larson

Student Research Symposium

In Silico Screening of Natural Compounds as Novel Drug Targets for The Treatment of Multiple MyelomaRousselene Larson1 2, Naveen Duhan1, and Rakesh Kaundal1 2 *1Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate, College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences; 2Bioinformatics Facility, Center for Integrated BioSystems; Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 USA* corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected])Telephone: +1 (435) 797-4117Fax: +1 (435) 797-2766Abstract: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematological malignancy cancer characterized by excessive clonal plasma cell proliferation in the bone marrow. In the United States, MM is the second most prevalent type of cancer that affects about 4 in 100,000 Americans. Toxicity …

Day Versus Night Irrigation Loss From Sprinkler Irrigation Of Urban Crops, Samikshya Pyakurel

Student Research Symposium

Nighttime irrigation is a widespread strategy to conserve water, as it reduces wind drift and evaporation loss (WDEL). However, daytime sprinkler irrigation may also conserve water by lowering the temperature and increasing the humidity of crop microclimates, thereby reducing evapotranspiration (ET). Therefore, the objectives of this study include: 1) quantify whether a water savings exists between day and night irrigation with a water balance approach, 2) analyze the microclimate effects by irrigation timing to determine any changes to WDEL and evaporative demand, and 3) assess the quality and yield response of two urban crops. In 2019-21, we established 12 field …

Genomic Prediction Of Salinity Stress Tolerance In Maize (Zea Mays L.), Vishal Singh

Student Research Symposium

Maize is the largest crop in the world in terms of production. Utah, maize is a potential fodder crop. With increasing climate change, soil salinity is also increasing worldwide. Soil salinity is very detrimental to plants' growth and development and crop production. For a fodder crop, plant biomass is an important trait, and maize biomass is adversely affected by salinity stress, especially at the seedling stage. A Selection of salt-tolerant breeding material is a time-consuming process and its complexity is further increased by significant heterogeneity in soil salinity under field based evaluation. Genomic prediction is an emerging tool that can …

Transgenic Expression Of Prunus Persica Salt Overly Sensitive 2 (Ppsos2) In Atsos2 Mutant Imparts Salt Tolerance In Arabidopsis, Vishal Singh

Student Research Symposium

Salinity is one of the major environmental stresses that affect crop growth and productivity. Almond crop has a great potential for Utah as a cash crop and salinity is one of the stresses affecting its growth and yield. Although almond trees are sensitive to salt stress, salinity-tolerant rootstocks can play a significant role in sustaining crop production in semiarid areas. Salinity tolerance has a complex mechanism with many genes acting in different pathways. Understanding the role of potential candidate genes is an important aspect of genomics assisted improvement of stress tolerance. In this study, functional complementation of the Prunus persica …

Comparative Study Of The Microbiome Of The Native Plant Ceanothus Velutinus (Snowbrush) From Different Locations And Greenhouse Studies, Jyothsna Ganesh

Student Research Symposium

Climatic change is one of the biggest threats to the ecosystem and biodiversity by enhancing environmental stresses. Environmental stresses such as biotic and abiotic stresses affect plant health and reduce crop production. The rhizosphere microbiome of a plant plays a significant role in a plant's defense against various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we are investigating the microbiome diversity of bulk soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere of Ceanothus velutinus, snowbrush. Ceanothus is an evergreen native plant that is usually found in dry areas and thrives well in harsh conditions. The snowbrush samples were collected from different locations 1920m, 1950m, …

Microbial Community Of The Rhizosphere Of Ceanothus Velutinus Improves The Plant's Growth And Development Under Greenhouse Conditions, Jyothsna Ganesh

Student Research Symposium

Climatic change-induced environmental stresses affect crop production. Drought is such a stress which affect crop production and landscaping adversely. Native plants are great for low water use landscaping and can adapt to the natural environment. USU Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping has released a list of native plants that can be used for this purpose. This study focuses on a native plant Ceanothus velutinus (snowbrush) which is an evergreen plant native to western North America. It thrives well in harsh conditions and can act as ornamental plant in low water use landscaping but is difficult to propagate under landscape conditions. Here, …

Pyseqrna: An Automated Python Package For Advanced Rna Sequencing Data Analysis And Annotation, Naveen Duhan

Student Research Symposium

Abstract: With the advent of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, numerous data is being generated every day, however, streamlined analysis remains a big hurdle to efficiently use the technology. A large number of algorithms, statistical methods, and software tools have been developed in recent years to perform the individual analysis steps of various NGS applications. Some NGS applications data analysis procedures are therefore very complex, requiring several program tools to be downloaded for their various processing steps. There is a significant room for the development of scalable computing environments that link the individual software components to automated workflows to efficiently and …

Deepnec: A Novel Alignment-Free Tool For The Characterization Of Nitrification-Related Enzymes Using Deep Learning, A Step Towards Comprehensive Understanding Of The Nitrogen Cycle, Naveen Duhan

Student Research Symposium

Abstract: Nitrification is an important microbial two-step transformation in the global nitrogen cycle, as it is the only natural process that produces nitrate within a system. The functional annotation of nitrification-related enzymes has a broad range of applications in metagenomics, agriculture, industrial biotechnology, etc. The time and resources needed for determining the function of enzymes experimentally are restrictively costly. Therefore, an accurate genome-scale computational prediction of the nitrification-related enzymes has become much more important.In this study, we developed an alignment-free computational approach to determine the nitrification-related enzymes from the sequence itself. We propose deepNEC, a novel end-to-end feature selection and …

Nitrogen Use Efficiency And Soil Bioavailable Nitrogen In Corn Silage Production In A Semi-Arid Environment, Phearen Miller

Student Research Symposium

As agriculture intensifies, the world faces a dual challenge of increasing food production while reducing impacts of excess reactive nitrogen (N) in the environment. A field study examining different N sources in corn silage under semi-arid conditions was conducted at the Greenville farm in northern Utah (41°45’ N, 1111°48’52 W) since 2012. The experimental design is a randomized complete block design with four blocks and four treatments: control (no nitrogen), low ammonium sulfate (AS 112 kg N/ha), high ammonium sulfate (AS 224 kg N/ha), and steer manure compost (224 kg total N/ha). We examined yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and …

Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: April 2021 Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report provides a summary of the weather and climate forecast for April 2021. It includes forecast information specific to the Pacific Northwest and the western United States, as well as forecast information for other portions of the United States and abroad.

How Does Climate Variability Influence Agroforestry Plant Selection?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

How does climate variability influence agroforestry plant selection?

Changing annual crops in response to climate change is relatively straightforward. However, because trees, shrubs, and other perennial crops can take years to become productive, the choice of perennial plant will impact the operation for many years. Plant selection involves deciding which crops to grow or manage, including variety, seed lot, or other plant genetic characteristics. As farmers and forest managers face extreme weather events and climate variability, they should consider plants that are likely to be resilient now and in the future. Land managers can also use agroforestry to adapt to …

Representing Methane Emissions From Wet Tropical Forest Soils Using Microbial Functional Groups Constrained By Soil Diffusivity, Debjani Sihi, Xiaofeng Xu, Mónica Salazar Ortiz, Christine S. O'Connell, Whendee L. Silver, Carla López-Lloreda, Julia M. Brenner, Ryan K. Quinn, Jana R. Phillips, Brent D. Newman, Melanie A. Mayes

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Tropical ecosystems contribute significantly to global emissions of methane (CH₄), and landscape topography influences the rate of CH₄ emissions from wet tropical forest soils. However, extreme events such as drought can alter normal topographic patterns of emissions. Here we explain the dynamics of CH₄ emissions during normal and drought conditions across a catena in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Valley soils served as the major source of CH₄ emissions in a normal precipitation year (2016), but drought recovery in 2015 resulted in dramatic pulses in CH₄ emissions from all topographic positions. Geochemical parameters …

Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: March 2021 Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report provides a summary of the weather and climate forecast for March 2021. It includes forecast information specific to the Pacific Northwest and the western United States, as well as forecast information for other portions of the United States and abroad.

The Biden Climate Plan, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

President Obama had an aggressive climate plan that included regulation of carbon emissions from power plants. Hillary Clinton would have continued with aggressive policies to slow and reverse global warming but was defeated by Donald Trump in 2016. President Trump sought to undo most of President Obama’s climate policies and pursued a fossil-fuel friendly energy and climate policy. The 2020 election of President Biden marks a resumption of ambitious policies to slow and ultimately reverse global warming. This newsletter identifies three major policies the Biden administration is expected to pursue and attempts to explain what policy implication might look like.

Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: February 2021 Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report provides a summary of the weather and climate forecast for February 2021. It includes forecast information specific to the Pacific Northwest and the western United States, as well as forecast information for other portions of the United States and abroad.

Implications Of Covid-19 On Progress In The Un Conventions On Biodiversity And Climate Change, Andrea Monica D. Ortiz, Alaya M. De Leon, Justine Nicole V. Torres, Cecilia Therese T. Guiao, Antonio Gabriel M. La Viña

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

2020 was to be a landmark year for setting targets to stop biodiversity loss and prevent dangerous climate change. However, COVID-19 has caused delays to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the 26th COP of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Negotiations on the Global Biodiversity Framework and the second submission of Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement were due to take place at these COPs. There is uncertainty as to how the COVID-19 disruption will affect the negotiations, whether parties will pursue more ambitious actions or take a …

Atlantic Sailfish (Istiophorus Albicans) Distribution Off The East Coast Of Florida From 2003 To 2018 In Response To Sea Surface Temperature, Meredith M. Pratt

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) ranges from 40°N to 40°S in the Western Atlantic Ocean and has great economic and recreational value for sport fishers. Off the east coast of Florida, recreational fishing boats often target this species due to its size, speed and strength. This project aimed to determine the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and the distribution of Atlantic sailfish caught and released over a fifteen-year period (2003 to 2018). Tagging information was collected from The Billfish Foundation and NOAA who have the most extensive programs for billfish. Using the time and location of each …

Weather And Climate Summary And Forecast: January 2021 Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report provides a summary of the weather and climate forecast for January 2021. It includes forecast information specific to the Pacific Northwest and the western United States, as well as forecast information for other portions of the United States and abroad.

Vintage 2020: Rogue Valley Reference Vineyard Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report describes the impacts of climate and phenology on vintage for the Rogue Valley in Oregon in 2020. A mild and dry winter in 2019-20 was followed by a dry growing season continuing the ongoing drought concerns for Oregon and the majority of the western US. The spring was relatively cool with mild frosts into early May, then followed by wide swings between early season heat then cool, wet conditions leading up to and during flowering. The result was widespread issues with fruit set leading to generally high amounts of shatter, smaller berries and clusters for many in the …

Vintage Report 2020: North Willamette Valley, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report describes the impacts of climate and phenology on vintage for the North Willamette Valley in Oregon in 2020. A mild and dry winter in 2019-20 was followed by a dry growing season continuing the ongoing drought concerns for Oregon and the majority of the western US. The spring was relatively cool with mild frosts in early April, then followed by wide swings between early season heat then cool, wet conditions leading up to and during flowering. The result was widespread issues with fruit set leading to generally high amounts of shatter, smaller berries and clusters for many in …

Vintage 2020: Umpqua Valley Reference Vineyard Report, Gregory V. Jones

Linfield University Wine Studies Reports

This report describes the impacts of climate and phenology on vintage for the Umpqua Valley in Oregon in 2020. A mild and dry winter in 2019-20 was followed by a dry growing season continuing the ongoing drought concerns for Oregon and the majority of the western US. The spring was relatively cool in the Umpqua Valley with mild frosts into mid-April, then followed by wide swings between early season heat then cool, wet conditions leading up to and during flowering. The result was widespread issues with fruit set leading to generally high amounts of shatter, smaller berries and clusters for …

Drought In The Breadbasket Of America And The Influence Of Oceanic Teleconnections, Grace Campbell

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

From 1980 to 2020, drought events accounted for 11.4% of the billion-dollar disasters in the United States (U.S.) yet caused the second highest total amount in damages at $236.6 billion. With the average cost of a drought being upwards of $9.5 billion, these natural disasters can create serious problems in agriculture. Drought is defined as a period of below average precipitation that causes damage to agriculture and water supply. Previous research has linked drought events in the U.S. Great Plains to oceanic teleconnections in the Pacific and Atlantic basins, indicating the influence of the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO), …

A Kernel-Based Change Detection Method To Map Shifts In Phytoplankton Communities Measured By Flow Cytometry, Corinne Jones, Sophie Clayton, François Ribalet, E. Virginia Armbrust, Zaid Harchaoui

OES Faculty Publications

1. Automated, ship-board flow cytometers provide high-resolution maps of phytoplankton composition over large swaths of the world's oceans. They therefore pave the way for understanding how environmental conditions shape community structure. Identification of community changes along a cruise transect commonly segments the data into distinct regions. However, existing segmentation methods are generally not applicable to flow cytometry data, as these data are recorded as ‘point cloud’ data, with hundreds or thousands of particles measured during each time interval. Moreover, nonparametric segmentation methods that do not rely on prior knowledge of the number of species are desirable to map community shifts. …

Marine Phytoplankton Functional Types Exhibit Diverse Responses To Thermal Change, S. I. Anderson, A. D. Barton, Sophie Clayton, S. Dutkiewicz, T. A. Rynearson

OES Faculty Publications

Marine phytoplankton generate half of global primary production, making them essential to ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. Though phytoplankton are phylogenetically diverse, studies rarely designate unique thermal traits to different taxa, resulting in coarse representations of phytoplankton thermal responses. Here we assessed phytoplankton functional responses to temperature using empirically derived thermal growth rates from four principal contributors to marine productivity: diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria, and coccolithophores. Using modeled sea surface temperatures for 1950-1970 and 2080-2100, we explored potential alterations to each group's growth rates and geographical distribution under a future climate change scenario. Contrary to the commonly applied Eppley formulation, our …

Heat Stress During Larval Stages On Coral Survivorship For M. Capitata, Sarah Woo

Pitzer Senior Theses

Very little is known about how heat stress during larvae stages effect larvae survivorship, early coral recruit settlement, and later stage coral survivorship. We focused on determining how heat stress during larvae stages effected Montipora capitata survivorship over time. After thermally stressing larvae, we asked how many larvae survived the treatment, how the treatment affected settlement, how many larvae survived the heat treatment but did not settle, and later stage coral survivorship experienced residual effects from the heat stress treatment. We exposed coral larvae to ambient seawater temperatures at 30°C and heated seawater temperatures to 34°C for an hour and …

Scaling The Effects Of Ocean Acidification On Coral Growth And Coral-Coral Competition On Coral Community Recovery, Nicolas R. Evensen, Yves-Marie Bozec, Peter J. Edmunds, Peter J. Mumby

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification (OA) is negatively affecting calcification in a wide variety of marine organisms. These effects are acute for many tropical scleractinian corals under short-term experimental conditions, but it is unclear how these effects interact with ecological processes, such as competition for space, to impact coral communities over multiple years. This study sought to test the use of individual-based models (IBMs) as a tool to scale up the effects of OA recorded in short-term studies to community-scale impacts, combining data from field surveys and mesocosm experiments to parameterize an IBM of coral community recovery on the fore reef of Moorea, …