Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons^™

Invasive-Plant-Removal Frequency—Its Impact On Species Spread And Implications For Further Integration Of Forest-Management Practices, Bernabas Wolde, Pankaj Lal

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

For a given invasive plant species and control method, effective invasive plant eradication requires regular monitoring and management. While most previous studies characterize invasive plant species, develop appropriate control methods, or prioritize species for management using aggressiveness and other considerations, few study why some forestland owners are less likely than others to regularly remove invasive plant species. Such information is useful in prioritizing and targeting forestland owners who are at greater risk for invasion, with the stands threatening adjacent forestlands. Towards this end, we surveyed 1800 forestland owners in Virginia and Texas. We use data on forestland owners’ socioeconomics and …

Increasing Health Threat To Greater Parts Of India Due To Crop Residue Burning, Sudipta Sarkar, Ramesh Singh, Akshansa Chauhan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

"Rice crop residue burning during mid-October to November every year is becoming a serious health threat because of increased burning by farmers in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Crop residue burning started in the late 1980s with the start of mechanised harvesting in Punjab. Farmers found burning to be an economical way of cleaning crop stalk residues that are left over by mechanised harvesters. In doing so, farmers ignore the impact of this practice on health and air quality in the cities located in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. In the winter season, the severity …

Crop Pests And Predators Exhibit Inconsistent Responses To Surrounding Landscape Composition, Daniel S. Karp, Julie A. Peterson, 155 Other Co-Authors

Faculty Publications: Department of Entomology

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop …

Estimating Watershed Residence Times In Artificially-Drained Landscapes And Relation To Nutrient Concentrations, Emma Beck, Lisa Welp, Alexandra L. Meyer

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Nutrient runoff from agricultural lands feeds harmful algae blooms that create a variety of problems in freshwater ecosystems. In order to reduce the effects of this nutrient runoff, Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being put in place in agricultural lands. Most of these BMPs focus on slowing down the flow of water through the watershed to give nutrient concentrations time to deplete before the water flows to the stream or river. However, the effectiveness of these BMPs are highly unknown and the process of monitoring nutrient runoff is often complex and costly. The data in this study consists of 7 …

Psu University Services Building Leed Eb Materials Audit Report, Christa Mcdermott, Emily Murkland, Bryan Nguyen, Tay Stone, Rushada Wimer

Campus Sustainability Office Publications, Reports and Presentations

This report provides Portland State University’s (PSU) Campus Sustainability Office (CSO), with an objective third party LEED O+M Materials Assessment of PSU’s University Services Building (USB). The data collected for this audit provides CSO with insight into the building’s current waste composition and diversion rate. Additionally, it identifies opportunities to reduce the amount of recoverable materials ending up in the landfill stream. Community Environmental Services (CES) conducted material audits for 100% of USB’s landfill-bound, commingled recycling, and compost streams during a 24-hour period. While, audited construction and demolition (C&D) materials were generated over the course of a week.

Microplastic Ingestion By Daphnia Magna And Its Enhancement On Algal Growth, Patrick M. Canniff, Tham C. Hoang

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The rapid increase in plastic use over the last few decades has resulted in plastic pollution in freshwater and marine ecosystems. However, more attention has been paid to plastic pollution in marine ecosystems than to freshwater ecosystems. This research determined microplastic ingestion by Daphnia magna and the potential effect of microplastics on the organism's survival and reproduction. The study also examined the potential of microplastics to enhance algal growth in support of understanding effects of microplastic ingestion on the organism. When exposed to 25, 50, and 100 mg/L fluorescent green polyethylene microbeads at size of 63–75 μm, D. …

Quantifying The Environmental Performance Of A Stream Habitat Improvement Project, Cody Morse

Master's Theses

River restoration projects are being installed worldwide to rehabilitate degraded river habitat. Many of these projects focus on stream habitat improvement (SHI), and an estimated 60%of the 37,000 projects listed in the National River Restoration Science Synthesis Program focus on SHI for salmon and trout species. These projects frequently lack a sufficient monitoring program or account for the environmental costs associated with SHI. The present study used life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques and topographic effectiveness monitoring to quantify environmental costs on the basis of geomorphic change. This methodology was a novel approach to assessing the cost-benefit relationship of SHI. To …

Assessment Of Indoor & Outdoor Black Carbon Emissions Rural Areas Of Indo-Gangetic Plain: Seasonal Characteristics, Source Apportionment And Radiative Forcing, Mohammad Arif, Rajesh Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, Eric Zusman, Ramesh Singh, Akhilesh Gupta

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Black Carbon (BC) has been widely recognized as the second largest source of territorial and global climate change as well as a threat to human health. There has been serious concern of BC emission and its impact in Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) due to the use of biomass and fossil fuels for cooking, transportation and industrial activities. An attempt has been made to study indoor (Liquefied Petroleum Gas- LPG & Traditional cookstoves users households) and outdoor concentrations; seasonal characteristics; radiative forcing and source of apportionment of BC in three districts (Sitapur, Patna and Murshidabad) of IGP during January to December 2016. …

Iceland: The Heat Of Change Empirical Study On Icelanders Perceptions And Observations Of Global Warming, Katalina Montalvo

Student Works

Iceland as a northern country glazed with snow and ice, beholding a diverse ecosystem. Temperature has a large impact and climate change has made its presence immediately felt. The increase in water temperature has brought new species to the land and seas of Iceland causing others to reduce in populations or having to move away to find more food or both. The research project reviews the effects of climate in Iceland, the damage the increase in temperature is causing to its fragile ecosystem, and Icelanders account of this change. Data was collected through interviews of native Icelanders, field observations, and …

Future Melting Away: Water Stress As A Threat To Human Security In Bangladesh And The Role Of International Community, Farzana Afroz Chowdhury

Theses and Dissertations

Bangladesh is considered as one of the frontline states in the global climate change; its policy agendas attempt to respond to the perceived security threats emanating from such changes. Water stress is one of the key problems the country is facing. Yet, links between glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Bangladesh’s climate, growing water stress, and its implications for human security have seldom been studied. Drawing on the concepts of climate change, human security and water stress, the thesis examines the causes of Bangladesh’s freshwater crisis and its contribution to the human insecurity. Here in this study, the influence of …

Review Of Curbing Catastrophe: Natural Hazards And Risk Reduction In The Modern World, Kira H. Hamman

Numeracy

Timothy H. Dixon. 2017. Curbing Catastrophe: Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction in the Modern World. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press) 300 pp. ISBN 978-1108113663.

In Curbing Catastrophe, Timothy H. Dixon explores commonalities among natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the meltdown at Fukushima. He identifies communication failure between scientists and policy makers as a major culprit in the devastation that results from such events and offers strategies for improving that communication. He includes optional in-depth scientific and quantitative examinations of the events and the resulting devastation, making the book appropriate for use …

What Can I Do As A Student To Make A Positive Impact On The Environment?, Tammy Guthrie, Greg Herzig, Kathy Prophet, Cassie Kautzer

Middle School Lesson Plans

Students discover ways they can make a positive impact on the environment.

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- July 2018, Natalie Umphlett, Emily Brown, Crystal J. Stiles

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the interim director........................................1

Staff spotlight...........................1

GRAINEX project......................2

Product highlights..................3

Update on regional climate conditions..................................4

GIS Portal....................................4

Regional news..........................5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

Droughtscape, Summer 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

From the director

Drought expands and intensifies

Dry down fuels fires

Tweeting #drought18

MOISST and NSMN

Caribbean planning progress

Drought observer network study

MENA teams report progress

NDMC global outreach

Climate hub workshop

On the horizon

Ord River Irrigation Area Stage 2: M2 Supply Channel - Compliance Assessment Report 2017 - Statement 938, Kimberley Boab Consulting

Reports

This Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) for the Ord River Irrigation Area Stage 2 (M2 Supply Channel) addresses compliance with Ministerial Statement 938 (MS938) and the associated Environmental Management Program (EMP) for the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017. The Project approval was granted under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act).

Estimating Live Fuel Moisture In Southern California Using Remote Sensing Vegetation Water Content Proxies, Shenyue Jia, Seung Hee Kim, Son V. Nghiem, Wonhee Cho, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Wildfires are a major ecological disturbance in Southern California and often lead to great destruction along the Wildland-Urban Interface. Live fuel moisture has been used as an important indicator of wildfire risk in measurements of vegetation water content. However, the limited field measurements of live fuel moisture in both time and space have affected the accuracy of wildfire risk estimations. Traditional estimation of live fuel moisture using remote sensing data was based on vegetation indices, indirect proxies of vegetation water content and subject to influence from weather conditions. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of estimating live fuel moisture …

Crop Residue Burning In Northern India: Increasing Threat To Greater India, S. Sarkar, Ramesh P. Singh, A. Chauhan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Crop residue burning (CRB) is a recurring problem, during October–November, in the northwestern regions (Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh) of India. The emissions from the CRB source regions spread in all directions through long-range transport mechanisms, depending upon the meteorological conditions. In recent years, numerous studies have been carried out dealing with the impact of CRB on the air quality of Delhi and surrounding areas, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Basin (also referred to as Indo-Gangetic Plain). In this paper, we present detailed analysis using both satellite- and ground-based sources, which show an increasing impact of CRB over the eastern …

Aerosol And Meteorological Parameters Associated With The Intense Dust Event Of 15 April 2015 Over Beijing, China, Sheng Zheng, Ramesh P. Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The northeastern parts of China, including Beijing city, the capital of China, were hit by an intense dust storm on 15 April 2015. The present paper discusses aerosol and meteorological parameters associated with this dust storm event. The back trajectory clearly shows that the dust originated from Inner Mongolia, the border of China, and Mongolia regions. Pronounced changes in aerosol and meteorological parameters along the dust track were observed. High aerosol optical depth (AOD) with low Ångström exponent (AE) are characteristics of coarse-mode dominated dust particles in the wavelength range 440–870 nm during the dusty day. During dust storm, dominance …

Tracking Drought Perspectives: A Rural Case Study Of Transformations Following An Invisible Hazard, Theresa Jedd, Deborah Bathke, Duane Gill, Bimal Paul, Nicole Wall, Tonya Bernadt, Jacob Peter, Anthony Mucia, Milan Wall

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Rural towns are especially susceptible to the effects of drought because their economies are dependent on natural resources. However, they are also resilient in many ways to natural hazards because they are rich in civic engagement and social capital. Because of the diverse nature of drought’s impacts, understanding its complex dynamics and its effects requires a multidisciplinary approach. To study these dynamics, this research combines appreciative inquiry, the Community Capitals Framework, and a range of climatological monitoring data to assess the 2012–14 Great Plains drought’s effect on McCook, Nebraska. Community coping measures, such as water-use reduction and public health programs, …

Protecting Energy Infrastructure Against The Uncertainty Of Future Climate Change: A Real Options Approach, Thomas Prime, Karyn Morrissey, Jennifer M. Brown, Andrew J. Plater

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The coastal impacts of climate change, including flooding and erosion due to storms and sea-level rise, and the possible adaptation responses have been studied using very different approaches; from very detailed site-specific, process-based investigations and interventions to global macroeconomic assessments of coastal zone vulnerability. This paper presents a flood defense real option analysis methodology that values potential investment decisions made in the building and maintaining of flood defenses around electricity infrastructure at local spatial scales for a large region. Real option analysis embraces uncertainty in future climate conditions and flexibility in the management of investment projects to produce a more …