Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Landscape Ecological Analysis Of Patterns Influencing Bat Activity In Southeast Glacial Plains Of Wisconsin, Angela Leckie Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Nearly half of the world's bat species are threatened by anthropogenic land use. To contribute to the conservation of these cryptic mammals, it is imperative to understand bat habitat selection in human-dominated landscapes. Bat activity was calculated using active acoustic surveys conducted June and July for three years along river and lake transects in an agricultural matrix. Using multiple logistic regression and ANOVA regression tree analyses, I examined the relationship between bat activity of four species and habitat structure at multiple scales.

Aquatic features were determined to be the greatest predictor of bat activity with rivers supporting greater amount of …

Tb182: Agricultural Land Changes In Maine: A Compilation And Brief Analysis Of Census Of Agriculture Data, 1850-1997, Soeun Ahn, William B. Krohn, Andrew J. Plantinga, Timothy J. Dalton

William B. Krohn

The purpose of this study is to compile the best available long-term historical information on agricultural land use in Maine and to briefly analyze these data to develop a statewide description of Maine's land use history from the mid-1800s to present. Our emphasis is on compiling statistically based information and, in particular, land use data reported in the Census of Agriculture. Objectives were (1) to compile available statewide data on agricultural land and land cover (LULC) in Maine, 1850-1997; (2) to examine temporal and spatial patterns in the LULC of Maine; and (3) to discuss the implications of the major …

Enhancing Remote Sensing For Agriculture Using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems: San Diego, Ca, As A Test Case, Colin Kubera

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The development of small Global Positioning System (GPS) antennas and microprocessors has propelled the advancement of affordable Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUASs), which will dramatically expand the remote sensing field, making timely, high-resolution imagery readily available. The low cost and simple operation of SUASs makes them an attractive option for agriculture. Flying a SUAS 400 ft above ground level (AGL) in a flight path that allows for significant image overlap can yield sub- 5cm resolution imagery, which in turn can be mosaicked and used for multispectral imagery analysis. With results rivaling the most advanced commercial imaging sensors, SUASs can be …

Science, Sentience, And Animal Welfare, Robert C. Jones

Ethics and Animal Welfare Collection

I sketch briefly some of the more influential theories concerned with the moral status of nonhuman animals, highlighting their biological/physiological aspects. I then survey the most prominent empirical research on the physiological and cognitive capacities of nonhuman animals, focusing primarily on sentience, but looking also at a few other morally relevant capacities such as self-awareness, memory, and mindreading. Lastly, I discuss two examples of current animal welfare policy, namely, animals used in industrialized food production and in scientific research. I argue that even the most progressive current welfare policies lag behind, are ignorant of, or arbitrarily disregard the science on …

Energy In The Corn Belt: Is Maize Production Sustainable?, Matthew Bernau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technological and scientific innovation has transformed agricultural production. Corn production methods changed from a sustainable, nutrient recycling production system to one reliant on imported fossil energy inputs. Located in the Western Corn Belt, Union County, South Dakota was chosen as the study area. Changes in production methods are represented by four technological epochs: 1) The Draft Horse Epoch, 1890-1920; 2) The Tractor Epoch, 1920-1950; 3) The Fertilizer Epoch, 1950-1980; and 4) The Biotechnology and Precision Agriculture Epoch, 1980-2010. The energy budget method was used to measure the energy sustainability of corn production. The findings show that the volume of corn …

The Politics Of Transgenic Food: An Ethnographically Informed Analysis Of The Ban On Genetically Modified Crops In Bolivia, Kristin Gjelsteen

Summer Research

This research investigates a country that has recently committed itself to replacing all genetically modified crops with non-altered crops. Limitations and benefits associated with allowing or banning transgenic technology are examined through interviews with farmers, agricultural researchers, agronomists, biologists and environmental advocates in three diverse communities in Bolivia. This research explores how these stakeholders experience and understand the recent national rejection of this agricultural technology. Controversy surrounding development and use of transgenic technology illustrates moral, political, social and economic conflicts, presents risks and creates complex societal decisions with the potential to impact ecological systems, diversity of life, health (both natural …

An Assessment Of Technology Adoptability In Sugarcane Burning Smoke Plume Mitigation, Sara Flecher

Theses and Dissertations

The adverse health effects of sugarcane burning emissions on surrounding communities are well documented. Sugarcane farmers in Louisiana, a major sugarcane producing state with 385,000 acres dedicated to sugarcane farming throughout, attempt to mitigate the effects of burn emissions by estimating the characteristics of the resultant smoke plume using meteorological variables as parameters. The current mitigation method designed by the LSU AgCenter, the American Sugar Cane League, and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry is a manual process requiring the tedious look-up of atmospheric variables from multiple sources and physically drawing a predicted smoke plume on a paper map, …