Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

Effects Of Wind Turbine Noise On Male Greater Prairie-Chicken Vocalizations And Chorus, Cara E. Whalen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wind energy facilities are constructed without full knowledge of their effects on birds, and the noise generated by wind turbines is a particular concern. I investigated the effects of wind turbine noise on male Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) vocalizations and chorus near Ainsworth, NE, USA in 2013 and 2014. I studied 14 leks located in the area surrounding a 36-turbine wind energy facility. I used two main approaches in this study. First, I recorded Greater Prairie-Chicken boom, cackle, whine, and whoop vocalizations at each of the study leks and measured the duration, sound pressure level, peak frequency, …

Occupancy Analysis And Density Estimation Of Kori Bustards (Ardeotis Kori) And Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida Meleagris) For Use In Landscape Conservation Planning In The Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana, Kathryn R. Mccollum

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

For understudied species, more informed conservation planning and decision-making on both the local and landscape levels may be attained through the use of occupancy and abundance estimations. Here, we focus on two iconic bird species in eastern Botswana, kori bustards (Ardeotis kori) and helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris). The overall goal of this project was to better understand the hierarchy of factors that influence occupancy (ψ) and density of kori bustard and helmeted guineafowl populations within the Northern Tuli Game Reserve and how these factors may interact to affect landscape conservation and usage. We performed distance sampling …

Macrobenthic Communities In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Hypoxic Zone: Testing The Pearson-Rosenberg Model, Shivakumar Shivarudrappa

Dissertations

The Pearson and Rosenberg (P-R) conceptual model of macrobenthic succession was used to assess the impact of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen [DO] ≤ 2 mg/L) on the macrobenthic community on the continental shelf of northern Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The model uses a stress-response relationship between environmental parameters and the macrobenthic community to determine the ecological condition of the benthic habitat. The ecological significance of dissolved oxygen in a benthic habitat is well understood. In addition, the annual recurrence of bottom-water hypoxia on the Louisiana/Texas shelf during summer months is well documented.

The P-R model illustrates the decreasing …

Impacts Of River Influence And Wave Exposure On The Epipsammic Diatoms Of The Lake Superior Wave Zone, Leon R. Katona

All NMU Master's Theses

Although little is known about primary productivity in wave zone habitats of very large lakes, it is presumably dominated by microalgae that attach to mineral substrates. Watershed energetics are linked with these wave zones through river mouth habitats, which provide nutrient and organismal input to lake systems. In this study, I assessed the abundance, productivity, and community composition of epipsammic diatoms in river mouth and beach habitats along the south-central coast of Lake Superior. Chlorophyll a concentrations were more than three-fold greater in river mouths (mean ± 1SE = 1.17 ± 0.45 mg/m²), than in wave zone (0.36 …

Environmental Impacts And Carry-Over Effects In Complex Life Cycles: The Role Of Different Life History Stages, Nnaemeka F. Ezeakacha

Dissertations

A challenge faced by organisms with complex life cycles is how environmental factors experienced at an earlier life stage affect the fitness at that stage or are carried over to subsequent life stages. I used container-inhabiting mosquitoes: Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, Aedes triseriatus and Culex quinquefasciatus to study the interactions and performance of life history stages under specific environmental factors. I investigated the effects of egg-desiccation tolerance on egg viability and larval performance in the Aedes mosquitoes. I found increase in egg hatch rate with relative humidity and interaction between relative humidity and egg storage period. Larval performance …

Eel River Estuary And Centerville Slough Enhancement Project Historic Resources Addendum, Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

A collaborative project-Eel River Estuary and Centerville Slough Enhancement Project-involves governmental agencies, non-profits, and landowners with the goal of restoring and improving habitats and agricultural opportunities on lower Eel River and in the area of Centerville in Humboldt County. Multiple project objectives include restoration of ecosystem functions on a landscape, although altered by diking and ditching, still retains a unique complex of wetlands, sloughs, a major river system, and the Pacific Ocean. Modification of artificial controls such as culverts and tide gates, reconnection of watercourses, sediment reduction, and better management of flooding potential are ongoing projects with more proposed, all …

Assessing The Importance Of Nurse Plant Associations To The Growth Of Pre-~Reproductive Yucca Brevifolia, Eric James Chameroy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Facilitation and competition among plant species, in addition to abiotic factors, play an important role in determining plant community structure in arid and semi-arid environments. I conducted a study in Dry Lake Valley, Lincoln County, Nevada, USA to investigate the importance of nurse plant associations to pre-reproductive Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree). Dry Lake Valley lies within a transition desert between the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts with ecotonal plant communities consisting of species representative of both deserts. A vegetation survey described the communities in which this study was conducted as a Y. brevifolia woodland dominated by an understory of Ephedra …

Expansion Of The Chlorovirus Genus By Studies On Virus Natural History And Chlorella Host Metabolism, Cristian F. Quispe

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Inland waters cover about 2.5 percent of our planet and harbor huge numbers of known and unknown microorganisms including viruses. Viruses likely play dynamic, albeit largely undocumented roles in regulating microbial communities and in recycling nutrients in the ecosystem. Phycodnaviruses are a genetically diverse, yet morphologically similar, group of large dsDNA-containing viruses (160- to 560-kb) that inhabit aquatic environments. Members of the genus Chlorovirus are common in freshwater. They replicate in eukaryotic, single-celled, chlorella-like green algae that normally exist as endosymbionts of protists in nature. Very little is known about the natural history of the chloroviruses and how they achieve …

Spring Migration Ecology Of American Woodcock (Scolopax Minor) In The Central Management Region Of The United States, Cari Elizabeth Sebright

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

American woodcock (Scolopax minor) is a migratory game bird in population decline since the start of monitoring in 1968. Researchers are interested in gaining knowledge of spring migration ecology to improve migration habitat and mitigate population decline. I captured six woodcock with mist and hand nets on nocturnal habitat and marked them with VHF (very high frequency) transmitters in northern Arkansas. I documented the distance they traveled between nocturnal and diurnal habitats (n=27), and documented diurnal vegetation characteristics at sites used (n=25). I found that woodcock moved an average of 370 m (SE 25.31 m) with the longest movement being …

An Inventory Of Endemic Leaf Litter Arthropods Of Arkansas With Emphasis On Certain Insect Groups And Diplopoda, Derek Alan Hennen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Endemic arthropods of Arkansas were sampled and their nomenclature and distributions were updated. The Arkansas endemic species list is updated to 121 species, including 16 species of millipedes. A study of the millipedes of Arkansas was undertaken, and resulted in the first checklist and key to all millipede species in the state. 68 species are known from Arkansas, including the genera Cylindroiulus and Polydesmus. The first state records for Ophyiulus pilosus, Cylindroiulus sp., and Ptyoiulus coveanus are reported, and new county records are reported for 16 species. This represents the first key to a state's species since 1980, and the …

Hydrology-Biology Response Relationships In The Ozark Highlands, Dustin Thomas Lynch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined flow-ecology relationships among stream communities in the Ozark Highlands, USA. I sampled fish, crayfish, and benthic macroinvertebrates during two consecutive summers, including a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). Biological response variables related to community structure were assessed via two different statistical methods: an Information Theoretic approach relating response variables to a priori selected predictor variables incorporating hydrology, habitat, geomorphology, and water quality, and canonical ordination using forward selection to relate these same response variables to a large assortment of hydrologic metrics. In addition to assessing metrics related to predicted natural flow, flow alteration at gaged …

Estudios En Biodiversidad, Volumen I, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Scott Monks, Maritza López-Herrera

Zea E-Books Collection

Este libro es el producto del trabajo colegiado que han desarrollado los profesores, investigadores, y estudiantes que conforman la Red Temática de Calidad Ambiental y Desarrollo Sustentable, a través del macroproyecto “Evaluación del impacto ambiental por actividades antropogénicas: Alternativas de mitigación”. El cual fue apoyado con recursos financieros por parte del Programa para el Desarrollo Profesional Docente (PRODEP), de la Secretaria de Educación Pública (SEP) en México. Las instituciones de educación superior y cuerpos participantes en la red temática son la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (Uso, Manejo y Conservación de la Biodiversidad UAEHCA- 10; Ciencias Ambientales UAEH-CA-59); Universidad …

Climate. A Period Of Consequence: Environmental Literature Of 2006 (2006), Shaun O’Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

The author talks about the consequences of not respecting the climate and understanding global warming will cause ecocide and our own extinction.

Reprinted from New England Journal of Public Policy 21, no. 2 (2007), article 5.

Influence Of Traditional Taboo Practices On Natural Resource Conservation In Uli, Ihiala Local Government Area Of Anambra State Nigeria; Sustainable Community Development., Geoffrey O. Anoliefo, Paul Anulika Nwokeji, Beckley Ikhajiagbe

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability is the conservation and maintenance of the ecological integrity of a given area. The present study investigated the effective use of traditional laws and taboo practices in the preservation of the natural resources of Uli, a town in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State Nigeria. The study examined strategies employed in environmental sustainability in this area at the period leading upto Nigeria’s independence in 1960, impact of the civil war (1967-1970) and its aftermath till date. The instruments used for the data collection included literature review, field survey using the questionnaire, one on one oral interviews and …

Understanding Acceptable Level Of Risk: Incorporating The Economic Cost Of Under-Managing Invasive Species, Alisha D. Davidson, Chad L. Hewitt, Donna R. Kashian

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Management of nonindigenous species includes prevention, early detection and rapid response and control. Early detection and rapid response depend on prioritizing and monitoring sites at risk for arrival or secondary spread of nonindigenous species. Such monitoring efforts require sufficient biosecurity budgets to be effective and meet management or policy directives for reduced risk of introduction. Such consideration of risk reduction is rarely considered, however. Here, we review the concepts of acceptable level of risk (ALOR) and associated costs with respect to nonindigenous species and present a framework for aligning risk reduction priorities with available biosecurity resources. We conclude that available …

Predicting Toucan Locations In Panama Using Arcgis, Daniel J. Herrera

Geography: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Toucans are omnivorous birds native to southern Latin America and South America. They are non-migratory, and their range is disputed among experts. In an attempt to develop a better understanding of the range and behavior of toucans, correlations between toucan presence and geographic features of the area were analyzed to create a location probability map.

Research, Monitoring, Assessment And Development Plan 2015 – 2020, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Occasional Publications

No abstract provided.

P-04 Cavan Burren 2015 Project, Rhonda Root, Robin Johnson, Ariel Solis, Abelardo Rivas

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

The Cavan Burren is a plantation forest within the Marble Arch Caves UNESCO Global Geopark overlay along the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland border. The exposure of Cavan Burren’s "relict landscape" resulted from a 2012 partial clear fell. Our multidisciplinary team of researchers in architecture, technology, ecology, fine arts, and archaeology investigated domestic architecture reflected in three stone configurations: circular/semicircular sites, rectangular sites, and tomb structures. We also investigated human action on pedestal boulders (PBs), which had been modified by sculpting, splitting, and cutting away. Our first goal was to show human action on structures by using three-dimensional (3D) …

Modeling Micro-Topographic Controls On Boreal Peatland Hydrology And Methane Fluxes, F. Cresto Aleina, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, T. Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, J. Schneider, V. Brovkin

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small-scale surface heterogeneities can influence land-atmosphere fluxes and therefore carbon, water and energy budgets on a larger scale. This effect is of particular relevance for high-latitude ecosystems, because of the great amount of carbon stored in their soils. We introduce a novel micro-topographic model, the Hummock-Hollow (HH) model, which explicitly represents small-scale surface elevation changes. By computing the water table at the small scale, and by coupling the model with a process-based model for soil methane processes, we are able to model the effects of micro-topography on hydrology and methane emissions in a typical boreal peatland. In order to assess …

Temporal Variation In Optical Properties Of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (Cdom) In Southern California Coastal Waters With Nearshore Kelp And Seagrass, Catherine D. Clark, Warren J. De Bruyn, Paige Aiona

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Optical properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) were measured in surf zone waters in diurnal field studies at a Southern California beach with nearshore kelp and seagrass beds and intertidal plant wrack. Absorption coefficients (aCDOM(300 nm)) ranged from 0.35 m21 to 3.7 m21 with short-term variability<1 h, increases at ebb and flood tides and higher values (6 m21) during an offshore storm event. Spectral slopes (S) ranged from 0.0028 nm21 to 0.017 nm21, with higher values after the storm; S was generally inversely correlated with aCDOM(300 nm). 3-D excitation–emission matrix spectra (EEMs) for samples with lower S values had humic-type peaks associated with terrestrial material (A, C), marine microbial material (M) and protein peaks, characteristic of freshly produced organic material. Samples with high S values had no or reduced protein peaks, consistent with aged material. Fluorescent indexes (f450/f500 >2.5, BIX>1.1) were consistent with microbial aquatic sources. Leachates of senescent kelp and seagrass had protein and humic-type EEM peaks. After solar simulator irradiation (4 h), protein peaks rapidly photochemically degraded, humic-type peak C increased in intensity and peak M disappeared. Optical characteristics of kelp leachates were most similar to field samples, …