Geography Commons^™

The Role Of Landscape Connectivity In Planning And Implementing Conservation And Restoration Priorities. Issues In Ecology, Doborah Rudnick, Sadie J. Ryan, Paul Beier, Samual A. Cushman, Fred Dieffenbach, Clinton Epps, Leah R. Gerber, Joel N. Hartter, Jeff S. Jenness, Julia Kintsch, Adina M. Merenlender, Ryan M. Perkl, Damian V. Perziosi, Stephen C. Trombulack

Geography

Landscape connectivity, the extent to which a landscape facilitates the movements of organisms and their genes, faces critical threats from both fragmentation and habitat loss. Many conservation efforts focus on protecting and enhancing connectivity to offset the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity conservation, and to increase the resilience of reserve networks to potential threats associated with climate change. Loss of connectivity can reduce the size and quality of available habitat, impede and disrupt movement (including dispersal) to new habitats, and affect seasonal migration patterns. These changes can lead, in turn, to detrimental effects for populations and species, …

La Vista Desde Arriba: El Uso De Cartografía Participativa Para Empoderar A Las Comunidades Y Promover La Conservación Del Medio Ambiente Los Mapas Como Herramienta En El Proyecto De Cacao Silvestre En Baures, Beni, Lily Alexander

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El tema de este proyecto es la aplicación de la cartografía participativa con cinco diferentes comunidades de recolectores del cacao en la región de Baures, Bolivia. La investigación explora los elementos de esta metodología, cómo se implementa este proceso y el papel que los mapas pueden tener en el empoderamiento de la gente local de gestionar sus propios recursos naturales en una manera más sostenible. A través de mapas parlantes dibujados por las comunidades, reuniones con la gente local, coordenadas de GPS y digitalizaciones de la geografía de la región, he producido una variedad de mapas que representan el conocimiento …

Documenting Change At Upper Hamburg Bend: Nebraska's First Side-Channel Restoration, Brandon L. Eder, Gerald Mestl

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In 1996 a side channel was excavated on 629 hectares of former agricultural land at Upper Hamburg Bend on the Missouri River in Otoe County, NE. This was the first side channel constructed on the Missouri River in an attempt to restore lost aquatic habitat. The initial design was for an approximately 4,200 m long side channel to be constructed with a 3 m bottom width. Development ofthe site was to be dependent on flows diverted from the main channel of the river with a final projected top width of 61 m. The side channel was completed in the spring, …

Reconsidering National Park Interpretation Of The Great Plains And Trans-Mississippi West, Robert Pahre

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The National Park Service has generally interpreted its sites in the Great Plains in terms of a Eurocentric narrative of westward expansion. Though some sites are changing (e.g., Little Bighorn), others are not (e.g., Scotts Bluff). Even those sites that have changed still retain important elements of traditional narratives, which often date to the 1930s or to the Mission 66 period (1956-66). The newest sites, such as Washita Battlefield, tell newer stories that resonate well with today's visitors. These provide a model for revising older sites. Giving greater attention to causes and consequences, aiming for a richer mix of disciplinary …

Review Of Conspecific Attraction And Area Sensitivity Of Grassland Birds, David R.W. Bruinsma, Nicola Koper

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Many species of grassland birds are area sensitive, which may exacerbate the ecological effects of the extensive loss and fragmentation of grasslands that has taken place across the northern Great Plains. However, the reasons for this area sensitivity are unclear, as vegetation structure, matrix composition, and restriction of movements among patches do not seem to provide viable explanations for species native to grasslands. Con specific attraction, whereby species are behaviorally stimulated to select habitat or establish territories near individuals of the same species, may help explain this area sensitivity. We review and discuss theoretical and empirical research on avian conspecific …

Hydrologic Modeling To Examine Land Use Change Impacts (1970’S And 2005) On The Sediment Yield And Flow Regime In Cayuga Creek, Niagara County, New York, Kimly Reth

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

This research aims to assess the water quality and the land use change impacts on sediment concentration and flow regime in Cayuga Creek, Niagara County, NY for two land use periods, 1970’s and 2005. The 1970’s land use, classified by the USGS, had a significant error. Therefore, the scenario of sediment yield and discharge level to land use change is more of a “what if” since the 1970’s land use was classified incorrectly. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)was used to simulate flows and sediment concentrations for the two land use scenarios using the same rainfall data at the …

Near-Real-Time Global Biomass Burning Emissions Product From Geostationary Satellite Constellation, Xiaoyang Zhang, Shobha Kondragunta, Jessica Ram, Christopher Schmidt, Ho-Chung Huang

GSCE Faculty Publications

Near-real-time estimates of biomass burning emissions are crucial for air quality monitoring and forecasting. We present here the first near-real-time global biomass burning emission product from geostationary satellites (GBBEP-Geo) produced from satellite-derived fire radiative power (FRP) for individual fire pixels. Specifically, the FRP is retrieved using WF_ABBA V65 (wildfire automated biomass burning algorithm) from a network of multiple geostationary satellites. The network consists of two Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) which are operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Meteosat second-generation satellites (Meteosat-09) operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and the Multifunctional Transport …

Prototype For Monitoring And Forecasting Fall Foliage Coloration In Real Time From Satellite Data, Xiaoyang Zhang, Mitchell D. Goldberg, Yunyue Yu

GSCE Faculty Publications

While determining vegetation phenology from the time series of historical satellite data has been widely investigated throughout the last decade, little effort has been devoted to real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting. The latter is more important for numerical weather modeling, ecosystem forecasting, forest and crop management, and health risk warning. In this study we developed a prototype approach for the real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting of fall foliage status (including low coloration, moderate coloration, near-peak coloration, peak coloration, and post-peak coloration) using temporal satellite observations. The algorithm combined the climatology of vegetation phenology and temporally available satellite observations to establish …

Reducing The Enviromental Impact Of Horse Keeping, Amanda R. Shere

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Citizen Action, Power Relations And Wetland Management In The Tampa Bay Urban Socio-Ecosystem, Cornelius Owusu Adjei

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands are vital ecosystems that provide ecological, economic and social benefits to societies. In the Tampa Bay region in West Central Florida, a growing population has put immense pressure on wetlands. The situation has not gone unnoticed in the public domain with concerns raised about the need to formulate policies that would protect them. However, it has been difficult to ascertain the level of citizen involvement in the decision making process.

This study aimed at investigating whether the perceptions and concerns of citizens drove them to influence local water policy. Questionnaires were used to collect data from residents living in …

Regimes And Resilience In The Modern Global Food System, Sara W. Tower

Student Publications

Much public discourse surrounding the modern global food system operates on the assumption of the primary agency of individual consumers in ensuring an equitable and sustainable food supply. However, this approach fails to account for the larger structural forces of the system which frame the limits of how we interact with and are affected by our food system. Taking a closer look at the global economic, political, cultural, and environmental forces that have collectively shaped historical food regimes reveals the deeper structural patterns that currently determine how we produce, distribute, and consume food around the world. Due to the underlying …

Role Of Vegetation And Environmental Characteristics On Slope Stability In Northwest Arkansas, Michael Maguigan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Slope failure continues to pose risks to society because knowledge of environmental factors and their interactions are unclear and possibly misunderstood. This misunderstanding leads to generalizations about slope failure susceptibility mapping, despite knowing that slope failures are likely the result of an extensively complex set of interactions among a number of environmental, edaphic, and geomorphic characteristics. Therefore a series of experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of slope, soil texture, vegetation cover, bedrock permeability, and compaction,. A wooden flume with a slope face 1 m wide by 1.5 m long with a 10 cm toe was constructed to contain …

Arsenic Contamination In Groundwater In Vietnam: An Overview And Analysis Of The Historical, Cultural, Economic, And Political Parameters In The Success Of Various Mitigation Options, Thuy M. Ly

Pomona Senior Theses

Although arsenic is naturally present in the environment, 99% of human exposure to arsenic is through ingestion. Throughout history, arsenic is known as “the king of poisons”; it is mutagenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic. Even in smaller concentrations, it accumulates in the body and takes decades before any physical symptoms of arsenic poisoning shows. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the safe concentration of arsenic in drinking water is 10 µg/L. However, this limit is often times ignored until it is decades too late and people begin showing symptoms of having been poisoned.

This is the current situation for Vietnam, …

Identifying Optimal Cellulosic Biomass Feedstock Supply Areas For Potential Biorefineries In Arkansas, Mark Cooper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In February 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the revised Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), mandating at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be produced annually in America, and blended into all on/off road, locomotive, and marine gasoline and diesel by the year 2022. America's existing biorefineries fall significantly short of being able to meet this mandate, resulting in the need for rapid expansion in the near future if this goal is to be met. The state of Arkansas has abundant resources to offer the renewable energy industry, if properly utilized. The goal of this thesis is to …

Reproduction And Population Characteristics Of White-Tailed Jackrabbits In South Dakota, Charles Dieter, Dustin Schaible

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

We evaluated the reproductive biology of314 white-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus townsendii) in 44 counties throughout South Dakota from June 2004 to September 2005. We classified jackrabbits as juveniles or adults based on the closure of the proximal epiphysis of the humerus using X-ray analysis. We determined annual reproductive activity through fluctuations in measured weights of reproductive organs for both sexes. The 2005 breeding season started in late February and proceeded until mid-July, approximately 142 days, allowing for females to potentially produce 3.3 litters. We found four distinct breeding periods by the overlap of estimated conception and parturition dates. Mean …

A Conceptual Model To Facilitate Amphibian Conservation In The Northern Great Plains, David M. Mushet, Ned H. Euliss Jr., Craig A. Stockwell

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

As pressures on agricultural landscapes to meet worldwide resource needs increase, amphibian populations face numerous threats including habitat destruction, chemical contaminants, disease outbreaks, wetland sedimentation, and synergistic effects of these perturbations. To facilitate conservation planning, we developed a conceptual model depicting elements critical for amphibian conservation in the northern Great Plains. First, we linked upland, wetland, and landscape features to specific ecological attributes. Ecological attributes included adult survival; reproduction and survival to metamorphosis; and successful dispersal and recolonization. Second, we linked ecosystem drivers, ecosystem stressors, and ecological effects of the region to each ecological attribute. Lastly, we summarized information on …

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 …

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 …

Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists And Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches, Charles H. Smith, Joshua Woleben, Carubie Rodgers

DLPS Faculty Publications

Each name in the following list of naturalists is linked to a corresponding capsule "chrono-biographical" sketch of that individual prepared by the authors. Coverage extends from approximately 1950 backward in time as far as the eighteenth century; figures from all over the world are included (though there is admittedly a decided Anglo-American bias). The target subject here is biogeography, but this being a broad field there are many persons on the list who are better known as climatologists, zoologists, botanists, ecologists, oceanographers, paleontologists, etc.--in other words, who made their main reputations in cognate disciplines.

This service has been set up …

Identifying Well Pads In The Haynesville Shale Region, Louisiana And Texas, With Digital Imagery, Darinda Dans, Daniel Unger, Kenneth W. Farrish, I-Kuai Hung

Faculty Publications

The Haynesville Shale is an underlying rock formation in northwest Louisiana and northeast Texas that contains vast quantities of natural gas. With new technology has come the ability to extract more natural gas from one of the largest gas deposits in the United States. With increased production, increased change in the local ecosystem will occur. It is necessary to examine oil and gas exploration effects on the local ecosystem due to changes in land cover, such as habitat loss and increased soil erosion. Remotely sensed imagery were utilized to ascertain the use of various digital image processing techniques to determine …

Producing Edible Landscapes In Seattle's Urban Forest, Rebecca J. Mclain, Melissa R. Poe, Patrick T. Hurley, Joyce Lecompte, Marla R. Emery

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Over the next decades, green infrastructure initiatives such as tree planting campaigns, and ecological restoration will dramatically change the species composition, species distribution and structure of urban forests across the United States. These impending changes are accompanied by a demand for urban public spaces where people can engage in practices such as gleaning, gardening, and livestock production. This article analyzes the institutional framework that undergirds efforts in Seattle, Washington to normalize the production and use of edible landscapes. We focus attention on the role of grassroots fruit gleaning groups and highlight their bridging function between Seattle's agriculture and forestry policy …

Magnitude And Structure Of Lymantria Dispar Asiatica Infestations Of Common Forest Steppe Tree Species In Northern Mongolia, Nina Tiralla, Kai Füldner, Stefan Schütz

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Lymantria dispar L. is one of the most serious forest pests worldwide by infesting large forest areas involving massive tree dieback. Unlike outbreaks of Lymantria dispar L. in Germany that cause massive defoliation, observations of outbreaks of Lymantria dispar asiatica made in the research area Khonin Nuga, West Khentii, Mongolia during the past six years showed only punctual defoliation, and dieback was extremely scarce. However, information on the performance of Lymantria dispar asiatica and the corresponding reaction of host tree species in Khonin Nuga is rare. Therefore, this study concentrates on the examination of primarily affected tree species and the …

Bird Red List And Its Future Development In Mongolia, Sundev Gombobaatar, D. Samiya, Jonathan M. Baillie

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

With the involvement of the World Bank, Zoological Society of London, Dutch Government and National University of Mongolia, the volumes of Mongolian Red Lists of Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles, Birds and Mammals were completed, and Mongolia is now among the few nations that have up-to-date conservation assessments for all vertebrates. Of the 476 assessed native bird species of Mongolia, 10% were categorized as regionally threatened including Near Threatened. A further 0.6% were categorized as Critically Endangered (CR), 1.7% as Endangered (EN), 3.3% as Vulnerable (VU), and 4.4% as Near Threatened (NT). Almost 90% of Mongolian birds are categorized as Least …

Morphological Disparity Among Rock Voles Of The Genus Alticola From Mongolia, Kazakhstan And Russia (Rodentia, Cricetidae), V. N. Bolshakov, I. A. Vasilyeva, A. G. Vasilyev

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The Central Asian high-mountain or rock voles of the genus Alticola Blanford, 1881 are one of the least studied groups of rodents. Taxonomic status of various geographic forms is not yet established until our days. This genus is not enough examined by biochemical and molecular genetic methods. We analyzed morphological disparity among rock voles of the genus Alticola from 8 localities. The samples studied represent 7 nominal species: A. semicanus Allen, 1924 (East Mongolia), Alticola argentatus Severtzov, 1879 (East Kazakhstan), A. tuvinicus Ognev, 1950 (Russia: Tuva), A. olchonensis Litvinov, 1960 (Russia: Olchon Island), A. macrotis Radde, 1861 (Russia: Khamar-Daban ridge), …

Long-Term Research On Biodiversity In West Khentey, Northern Mongolia, Michael Mühlenberg

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Biodiversity is studied at ecosystem, community, and species level around Khonin Nuga, where the University Goettingen supports a research station since 15 years (established 1997 in cooperation with the National University of Mongolia). In that period 39 scientists have been involved and 67 students graduated with theses (7 PhD) about field work at that station. Inventories started at 1998 for several taxa and are now compiled in a book, which will be printed 2012 in Ulaanbaatar. It covers fungi, lichens, plants, several insect groups, spiders, crustaceans, and all vertebrate classes. For all taxa adequate experts proved the species lists. Because …

Nestling Food In The Desert Wheatear Oenanthe Deserti In The Dzungarian Gobi, Mongolia, Ueli Rehsteiner

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The quality and size of nestling food of the Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti ssp. atrogularis were investigated in the spring of 2001 in the Dzungarian Gobi in Mongolia. Data are based on observations of nine pairs. Nestling food consisted of several taxa caught on the ground and in the air. Diptera, Coleoptera larvae, and Hymenoptera were the most frequent prey, that is, they contributed 17 to 30% of all food items each. The food composition changed with nestling age and season.

Food item size decreased with date. A higher proportion of multiple prey loadings were brought to nestlings in the …

Protection Of The Natural And Cultural Heritage Of The Mongolian Altai, Ulikpan Beket, Hans D. Knapp

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The Altai-Sayan Ecoregion is known as a hotspot of biodiversity with large wilderness landscapes and a high rate of endemism in Central Asia and Siberia. There are many large and important protected areas of different categories. Parts of the Russian Altai, the “Golden Mountains of Altai”, are inscribed as World Natural Heritage. Also the neighbouring countries contain pristine landscapes, which could be a potential for an extension to a transnational serial World Heritage Site.

The Mongolian part of the ecoregion is characterized by very diverse landscapes and vegetation complexes: Deserts, semi-deserts and desert steppes in arid basins, river floodplains, salt …

On The Importance Of Pollen Morphology In Classification Of Chenopodiaceae In Mongolia, Gaadan Punsalpaamuu, Frank Schluetz, Tserendorj Gegeensuvd, Davaadorj Saindovdon

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The pollen morphology of 18 species from 12 genera of Chenopodiaceae native to Mongolia was studied. Plants were collected during field courses and research projects on useful plants and are deposited in the Herbarium of the Mongolian State University of Education. Chemical preparation was carried out in the Palynological Laboratories at the School of Natural Sciences of the Mongolian State University of Education and the Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics of the University of Göttingen in Germany. The results show, that all investigated species are distinguishable in terms of pollen morphology bases on their pollen grain sizes, exine thickness …

Home Range Characteristics Of Corsac And Red Foxes In Mongolia, Tserendorjiin Munkhzul, J. D. Murdoch, R. P. Reading

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Red (Vulpes vulpes) and corsac foxes (V. corsac) live sympatrically throughout most of Mongolia, but few details of their home range characteristics exist. We captured and radio-tagged 13 red fox (♂ = 5, ♀ = 8) and 15 corsac foxes (♂ = 8, ♀ = 7) between 2004 and 2008. We tracked their movements to estimate home range sizes and examined the effects of four factors on home range size, including sex, age, season, and year. We determined mean home range size for 12 red and 10 corsac foxes that had sufficient data using fixed kernel …