Environmental Studies Commons^™

Road Construction And Amur Tigers (Panthera Tigris Altaica) In The Russian Far East, Elizabeth Cohan

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

The Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Siberian tiger, is an endangered species in the Russian Far East that has experienced a sharp population decline during the past century (Tian et al. 2011, 3166). Roads may be one of the primary factors for the dramatic decline of tiger population because the species most sensitive to roads tend to be large carnivores that rely on large movement ranges and have low reproductive rates (Fahrig and Rytwinski 2009, 1 and Tian et al. 2011, 3166). Tigers (Panthera tigris) are an example of such fragile large …

Portrayal Of The Proposed Pucallpa-Cruzeiro Do Sol Interconnection In The Media, Christine Cassaro

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

Takahashi (2010) argues the evolution of the media environment, the rise of huge media conglomerates and the nature of media outlets to seek profit maximization have come to dominate, limiting the ability of mass media to truly fulfill its role in democratic societies. Whether we recognize it or not, the media plays a crucial role in our knowledge of what is going on in our local and global communities. In the case of environmental issues and concerns such as climate change, the media is crucial in building public perception. Public support is often necessary for the implementation of important policies, …

Road Construction As A Facilitator For Dengue Fever Transmission, Kate Billups

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Although I plan to focus on the impact of road construction in tropical and subtropical regions on the spread and contraction of dengue fever, I hope to use this focus as a model that could help to create policies that would mitigate other diseases spread through insect contact. In places that road and railway construction have already become a part of the permanent foundation, medical infrastructure should be put into place to ensure that populations at increased risk to contract dengue fever have access to medical care to diminish rates of dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies …

Unveiling Assigned Amount Unit (Aau) Trades: Current Market Impacts And Prospects For The Future, Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich, Cassandra L. Koerner

CAES Energy Policy Institute Faculty Publications and Presentations

The sale of assigned amount units (AAUs) from countries whose emissions have declined since their baseline year under the Kyoto Protocol has led critics to be skeptical of carbon markets due to the lack of actual emission reductions that occur as a result of these trades. This policy review describes the historical context of AAU trading, current market price and volumes, and environmental and economic impacts of the current AAU trading rules. Options for how to handle current, and prevent the creation of future, surplus AAUs are discussed.

West Of Eden: Resource Wars And Nature-Cultures In The American West, Scout Calvert

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The richness and variety of the western landscape is what is at stake in hot political contests for the resources of the West: much of this public land is available to economic activity, including for mining, grazing, logging, and recreation. These uses threaten to outpace the land’s ability to renew these resources along with others, like air and water. Now in the first decade of the millennium with a new environmental awareness emerging partly from media coverage of global warming and peak oil, The American West at Risk offers a wide-ranging look at the degradation of the environment in the …

The Cenozoic Climatic And Topographic Evolution Of The Western North American Cordillera, C. Page Chamberlain, Hari T. Mix, Andreas Mulch, Michael T. Hren, Malinda L. Kent-Corson, Steven J. Davis, Travis Horton, Stephan A. Graham

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Herein we present oxygen isotope records from Cretaceous to Recent terrestrial sediments in the western North American Cordillera. The purpose of this analysis is to use oxygen isotope records to understand the coupled surface elevation and climate histories of this region through the Cenozoic. To do this we constructed δ¹⁸(O) maps of surface waters for time intervals that trace the development of topography of western North America. These maps are based on 4861 oxygen isotope analyses from both published (4478) and new (383) data. We determined the δ¹⁸(O) values of surface waters using paleotemperatures derived previously from floral assemblages and …

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Plant Community Resource Brief, Isabel Ashton, Mike Prowatzke

United States National Park Service: Publications

2011 Monitoring Status

Overview

In 2011, the first year of vegetation monitoring by the Northern Great Plains Network Inventory and Monitoring staff at Scotts Bluff National Monument, efforts resulted in the documentation of 79 plant species. This was the lowest number of species among parks sampled in 2011. Graminoid (grass and grass-like plant) species accounted for only 21 (27%) of the total species, but graminoid cover was much higher than that of any other plant type. Forbs were much more diverse, but did not provide as much foliar cover.

The 5 most abundant native non-graminoids were winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring Protocol For The Northern Great Plains I&M Network - Standard Operating Procedures, Version 1.01, Amy J. Symstad, Robert A. Gitzen, Cody L. Wienk, Michael R. Bynum, Daniel J. Swanson, Andy D. Thorstenson, Kara J. Paintner-Green

United States National Park Service: Publications

Introduction

The Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) includes thirteen park units located in five northern Great Plains states across six ecoregions. Plant community composition and structure monitoring comprises the core of the vegetation monitoring effort for the NGPN, covering the “Riparian Lowland Plant Communities” and “Upland Plant Communities” vital signs (Gitzen et al. 2010). The narrative portion of the plant community protocol can be found in Symstad et al. 2012. The narrative includes the rationale for vegetation monitoring, an overview of sample design, field methods, data management, and program requirements. This document contains the standard operating procedures …

Un Análisis Multi-Escalar Del Sistema Forestal Peruano, J. Boettner, G. Sager-Gellerman, E. Strickler, C. Courtenay, R. Gilb, W. Gordon, G. Leonard, J. Marconi, M. Mcgovern, M. Nagle, C. Paiz Tejada, Andrew Pericak, M. Price, D. Vassallo, R. Yowell, David S. Salisbury

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

Perú tiene 67 millones de hectáreas de bosque, que viene a ser más del 53% de la superficie total del país (OIMT, 2010). La extracción maderera es la propulsora principal de la economía dentro de la Amazonía Peruana, generando empleos para comunidades rurales y urbanas (Sears y Pinedo-Vásquez, 2011). Sin embargo, a menudo los empresarios madereros explotan a sus trabajadores a través de un sistema de préstamos (De la Rosa Tincopa, 2009). Alrededor de 1354 comunidades indígenas poseen títulos de propiedad en la región (OIMT, 2010), pero muchas comunidades no tienen los títulos para su territorio que muchas veces se …

Process Vs. Performance Standards For Sustainable Meeting And Event Management, Andrew Stephen Walker

Transnational Business Governance Interactions Working Papers

This paper examines two emerging voluntary industry standards — the process-based ISO 20121 Event sustainability management systems and the performance-based APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Event Standard — and examines whether they can complement, rather than compete with, each other to provide a comprehensive approach to the complex task of managing and measuring sustainability within meetings and events. A framework for analysis was developed through examining the academic literature on competition between process and performance-based sustainability standards within the forestry sector where several internationally-recognized standards have interacted in the marketplace for over a decade. Three criteria — legitimacy, accountability and effectiveness — …

Archeological Survey Of The Proposed Mary Rhodes Water Pipeline (Phase Ii) From The Colorado River To The Navidad-Lavaca River Authority's West Water Delivery System, Jackson And Matagorda Counties Texas, Timothy B. Griffith, John E. Dockall, Amy E. Dase

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In August 2010 and February–April 2012, personnel with Prewitt and Associates, Inc., performed an archeological survey for the proposed Mary Rhodes water pipeline (Phase II) in Jackson and Matagorda Counties, Texas. The work was done for Freese and Nichols, Inc., and the City of Corpus Christi under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 5688. Field survey targeted the most likely locations for Native American sites, consisting of the 24-acre pump station tract on the Colorado River and 5.35 km of pipeline route at 11 stream crossings, as well as several potential historic localities identified through analysis of historic maps and aerial photographs. …

National Register Testing At 41tt896 And 41tt906 And Archeological Survey Of Three Parcels, Fm 1000 Realignment Project (Csj No. 1226-04-001), Titus County, Texas, Damon A. Burden, Stephanie L. Katauskas, Ross C. Fields

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Prewitt and Associates, Inc., was contracted by PTP Transportation, LLC, to perform archeological investigations for Titus County in the proposed final alignment of FM 1000. The work, performed under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 5998, consisted of archeological test excavations at sites 41TT896 and 41TT906 to assess their eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as State Archeological Landmarks and archeological survey of three parcels. Fieldwork was done in July–August 2011, January–February 2012, and July 2012 and required about 99 person-days of effort.

Test excavations at 41TT896 consisted of 23 backhoe trenches, eight 1x1-m test units, …

Archeological And Geoarcheological Investigations For The New Baylor University Football Stadium In Waco, Mclennan County, Texas, Virgina Hatfield, Charles D. Frederick, Brittney Gregory, Karl W. Kibler

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Between May 21 and 31, 2012, Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted archeological and geoarcheological investigations over a 93-acre area proposed for construction of the new Baylor University football stadium in Waco, Texas. The work included visual assessment of the project area, excavation of 63 trenches, and collection of 4 Geoprobe sediment core samples. Deep trench excavations were hampered by an elevated water table. As a result, most observations were limited to deposits at depths of 3 m or less, though the sediment cores did provide information to depths of 5.5–11.0 m. The investigations determined that all but the northern edge …

Archeological Site Assessments And Survey At Aquilla Lake, Hill County, Texas, Aaron R. Norment, Amy E. Dase, Karl W. Kibler

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Personnel from Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted archeological site assessments and survey at Aquilla Lake from November to December 2010 in preparation for a pool raise planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. The proposed pool raise could potentially raise the conservation pool level of the lake by 6.5 ft. Field investigations revisited and reevaluated 41 previously recorded sites and surveyed 10 previously unsurveyed areas (180 total acres) within the confines of the proposed 6.5-ft conservation pool raise. The investigations consolidated 8 of the 41 previously recorded sites into 3, therefore reassessments are given for 36 …

An Intensive Archaeological Survey For A Proposed Small Craft Boat Launch In Port Mansfield, Willacy County, Texas, Steven Swanson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Project Title: Willacy County Navigation District Small Craft Boat Launch

Report Title: An Intensive Archaeological Survey for a Proposed Small Craft Boat Launch in Port Mansfield, Willacy County, Texas

Report Date: August 2012

Agencies: Willacy County Navigation District Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Texas Historic Commission

Permit Number: Texas Antiquities Permit No. 6309

Project Number: WCND 0001

Project Description: The Willacy County Navigation District (WCND) proposes to use funds from a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant to construct a small craft boat launch and ancillary facilities south of Port Mansfield. The proposed project was reviewed by the Texas Historic …

Archeological Data Recovery On Three Sites Along The San Antonio River Bexar County, Texas- Volume Ii: Further Excavations At 41bx256, Antonio E. Padilla, W Nicholas Trierweiler

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This report documents the archaeological excavation of a prehistoric, burned wattle and daub domestic structure dating between 4830–5060 BP at site 41BX256, located along the San Antonio River in Bexar County, Texas. The feature is described as a large, U-shaped mass of fired clay measuring about 2 meters (m) in diameter at a depth of 70 centimeters below the modern ground surface (cmbs). It was discovered through remote sensing and was archaeologically tested in 2006 and it was later fully excavated in 2008. Following both of these investigations, the feature was provisionally interpreted as a baked clay cooking feature. Later …

Archeological Testing And Data Recovery At The Flatrock Road Site, 41km69, Kimble County, Texas, Jennifer L. Thompson, Raymond P. Mauldin, Steve A. Tomka, Eric Oksanen

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted archeological significance testing and data recovery excavations at 41KM69, the Flatrock Road Site, at the request of the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT-ENV). The significance testing was begun in 2004 under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3350 to determine National Register of Historic Places eligibility status of the site and continued to the data recovery phase in 2005 under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3584 with Raymond Mauldin serving as Principal Investigator on both permits. Work was begun in anticipation of alterations to …

Little Cypress Creek Basin Archaeology: Six Late Caddo Period Cemeteries In Upshur County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Our concern in this report is to present the archaeological findings from six Late Caddo (ca. A.D. 1450-1680) cemetery sites in the Little Cypress Creek basin in Upshur County, in East Texas. These are the Enis Smith (41 UR317), Henry Williams (41UR318), I. P. Starr (41 UR319), Herbert Taft (41 UR320), Frank Smith (41 UR326), and Frank Smith Refinery (41 UR327) sites. There are two other large Late Caddo cemeteries in this same area that will also be discussed herein: Henry Spencer (41 UR315, Perttula et al. 2012) and the Sword site (41 UR8/208).

These sites represent a group of …

The Marcus Kolb Site (41ce438), Cherokee County, Texas, Part 2, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Marcus Kolb site is an early to mid-19th century occupation on an upland ridge adjacent to an intemiittent tributary of Gum Creek in the upper Neches River basin in East Texas. The recovered artifacts from the site, especially black transfer-printed pearl ware sherds, a worked stoneware sherd, and possibly a cut and crimped copper-based artifact, suggested that the site could have been occupied as early as the 1820s-early 1830s, during the time when this part of East Texas was occupied by the Cherokee. The tantalizing possibility of a Cherokee Indian occupation is negated to some extent by the chronological …

Three Mounds Creek Site, Gregg County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

One of the prehistoric Caddo sites represented in the Buddy Calvin Jones Collections at the Gregg County Historical Museum (GCHM) is the Three Mounds Creek site in Gregg County, in East Texas. The site is GC-68 in the Jones site numbering system (68th site he discovered in Gregg County).

The available information about the site in the GCHM records is sketchy at best. The site had three mounds along Spring Creek, near its confluence with the Sabine River, in the Longview area. A search of Gregg County 7.5' USGS topographic quadrangles failed to disclose a Spring Creek in the Sabine …

Caddo Sites In The Saline Creek Basin In Northern Smith County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This article concerns the documentation of the artifacts from four prehistoric Caddo sites in the Saline Creek drainage basin in the Post Oak Savannah in northern Smith County, Texas. Saline Creek is a northward-flowing tributary to the Sabine River. The Caddo sites are ca. 10 km south of the confluence of Saline Creek with the Sabine River. Saline Creek enters into the Sabine River about 6 km east (downstream) of the confluence of a major tributary, Lake Fork Creek, with the river.

Documentation Of A Collection From The Poole Site (41tt47) In The Big Cypress Creek Basin In East Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Poole site (41TT47) is about 2.5 miles south of Mt. Pleasant, and is now situated within the Mount Pleasant Wastewater Treatment Plant. The site was originally recorded by Milton Bell and Ken Brown in 1971 , who described it as "a thin scatter of artifacts, bone fragments, and charcoal necks brought to surface on gopher hills." The site was estimated at ca. 50 x 50 m in size; the artifacts "occurred mostly at the south side of the site. A metate was found in the center of the darker area. Wood charcoal flecks may be from more recent clearing." …

Early 1960s Excavations At The Sam Kaufman Site (41rr16), Red River County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Sam Kaufman site (41RR6, also known as the Arnold Roitsch site for a time) is a well-known Caddo Indian village along Mound Prairie and the Red River in Red River County, Texas. There have been a number of reported archaeological investigations, as well as bioarchaeological studies, at the site, and at other nearby sites since the 1930s.

This article reports on previously unknown investigations conducted by Buddy Calvin Jones in December 1961 through January 1962 at the Sam Kaufman site. His notes on the work-which primarily consist of burial plan drawings and a map or two-have recently been provided …

Artifacts In The Raymond Powell Collection From East Texas, Jeffery S. Girard, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In March 2010, Raymond Powell of Mansfield, Louisiana, allowed the examination and photographic documentation of several artifacts in his possession. The specimens were given to him approximately 60 years ago by a friend who reportedly excavated them from a burial located in either Cass County or Titus County in East Texas. The collection consists of six ceramic vessels and three stone artifacts. The vessels appear to relate to both the Late Caddo Titus phase (ca. A.D. 1430-1680) as well as to contemporaneous sites in Bowie and Cass counties on the Red River near the Great Bend area, and the lower …

The Buckner Dam Site (41ce339) And Four Other Caddo Sites On Gum Creek In The Upper Neches River Basin, Cherokee County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Bo Nelson, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Due to recent droughty conditions in East Texas in 2010 and 2011, the water levels on the man-made lakes and reservoirs in the region have been steadily lowering. This decreasing water levels is exposing considerable areas along the lakes that not only have been underwater for considerable periods of time since the lakes were constructed, but this new land exposure is also exposing and eroding archaeological sites that are now along the new lake shore boundaries. Such is the case at Lake Jacksonville, a small lake on Gum Creek in Cherokee County, Texas, and newly recorded archaeological sites have been …

Analysis Of Ceramic Sherds From The Mid-18th Century Gilbert Site On Lake Fork Creek, Rains County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Gilbert site (41RA13) is an important mid-18th century American Indian site on an alluvial terrace along Lake Fork Creek, adjacent to the upper part of Lake Fork Reservoir in Rains County, Texas. The site was first investigated in 1962 by the Dallas Archeological Society, and based on the findings from that work, the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) had a field school at the site in June and July 1962.

There are several notable features of the Gilbert site. First, it contains 21 midden mounds about 6-9 m in diameter and ca. 1 m in height spread out over ca. …

Trends In Archaic And Woodland Period Use Of The Middle Sabine River Basin Based On Dart Point Proportions, Timothy K. Perttula, William L. Young

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In this article, we use the varying proportions of a large sample of Archaic and Woodland period dart points to explore trends in settlement and occupational intensity from ca. 10,000 to 1200 years B.P. in the Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah of East Texas. These darts were collected from sites in Gregg, Harrison, Rusk, and Smith counties, Texas, mainly on sites in the middle reaches of the Sabine River basin.

A Hematite Cone From Smith County, Texas, Mark Walters

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Hematite (Fe2O3) is a mineral, its most important usage being iron ore. In the United States, hematite occurs over a large region with a major concentration in the central part of the country. Hematite has varying degrees of hardness and colors. Hematite gives rocks their red color and characteristic “red-streak.” Soft, earthy (red ocher) forms were prized as paints. Hard, compact forms with considerable iron content were valued as tools, because of their strength as well as susceptibility to a high and beautiful polish. Certain forms of hematite are used in making jewelry. During prehistoric times, hematite was fashioned and …

Documentation Of Archaeological Materials From The Cherokee Lake Site (41rk132), Rusk County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Cherokee Lake site was discovered by Buddy Calvin Jones in 1956, after a terrace area along Tiawichi Creek, inundated by the construction of Lake Cherokee in 1947, had been graded for the constmction of fish hatcheries there. Jones identified a single burial and a large storage pit in Area A at the southern end of the terrace, where there was a shallow (0-30 em bs) midden deposit.

The burial in Area A is an Historic Nadaco Caddo grave that probably dates to the early 18th century based on the recovery of 15 blue glass beads. This strand of beads …

The Younger Site (41mr6), Marion County, Texas, Timothy K. Perttula, Mark Walters, Bo Nelson

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Younger site (41MR6) is located on a lower toe slope (250ft. amsl) and alluvial terrace in the Arms Creek or Patton Creek valley at Lake 0' the Pines. Arms Creek is an eastward-flowing tributary to Big Cypress Creek. At normal pool levels the Younger site is now under the waters of Lake 0' the Pines.

When the site was first recorded by E. 0. Miller of the National Park Service in 1951, it was named the D. M. Collom site. The site was estimated to cover 6-8 acres, and was marked by several areas of bare ground where Caddo …