Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons^™

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 12, 2016, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 12, 2016 (1/12/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Propagation Of Drought: From Meteorological Drought To Agricultural And Hydrological Drought, Wen Wang, Maurits W. Ertsen, Mark D. Svoboda, Mohsin Hafeez

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought is a hazard that occurs everywhere in the world (both in dry and in wet areas). Despite the controversy regarding drought changes in the last decades [1–3], increases in drought intensity are clearly identified in some areas [4] and it is believed that although increased heating from global warming may not directly cause droughts, it is expected that when droughts occur, they are likely to set in quicker and be more intense [5].

Throughout its history, China has frequently suffered from drought disasters due to its monsoon climate and was regularly hit hard by droughts over the last decades. …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 5, 2016, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for January 5, 2016 (1/5/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Timing Movement Of Water Through The Biosphere 2 Rainforest Using Deuterium As An Isotopic Tracer, Katie Almeda, Joost Van Haren, Till Volkmann

STAR Program Research Presentations

Rain forest ecosystems play an important role in global functions such as being home to half of the species of plants and animals on the planet, acting as a carbon sink, and moving water from the ground back into the atmosphere. In the Amazon, approximately 50 to 80% of moisture produced remains in the ecosystem’s water cycle. As a result of deforestation and rising global temperatures, less moisture can be moved back into the atmosphere. The objective of this study was to trace how water moves through a rain forest system in order to gain insight on how different species …

Detection, Occurrence And Fate Of Emerging Contaminants In Agricultural Environments, Daniel D. Snow, David A. Cassada, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Xu Li, Matteo D'Alessio, Yun Zhang, Yuping Zhang, J. Brett Sallach

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

A total of 59 papers published in 2015 were reviewed ranging from detailed descriptions of analytical methods, to fate and occurrence studies, to ecological effects and sampling techniques for a wide variety of emerging contaminants likely to occur in agricultural environments. New methods and studies on veterinary pharmaceuticals, steroids, antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural environments continue to expand our knowledge base on the occurrence and potential impacts of these compounds. This review is divided into the following sections: Introduction, Analytical Methods, Steroid Hormones, Pharmaceutical Contaminants, Transformation Products, and “Antibiotic Resistance, Drugs, Bugs and Genes”.

Methane Emissions As Energy Reservoir: Context, Scope, Causes And Mitigation Strategies, Xiaoli Chai, David J. Tonjes, Devinder Mahajan

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Methane (CH4) is now considered a bridge fuel between present fossil (carbon) economy and desired renewables and this energy molecule is projected to play an important role in the global energy mix well beyond 2035. The atmospheric warming potential of CH4 is 28-36 times, when averaged over a 100-year period, that of carbon dioxide (CO2) and this necessitates a close scrutiny of global CH4 emissions inventory. As the second most abundant greenhouse gas (GHG), the annual global CH4 emissions were 645 million metric tons (MMT), accounting for 14.3% of the global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Of this, five key anthropogenic sources: …

Contributions Of Organic And Inorganic Matter To Sediment Volume And Accretion In Tidal Wetlands At Steady State, J T. Morris, D C. Barber, John Callaway, R Chambers, S C. Hagen, C S. Hopkinson, B J. Johnson, P Megonigal, S C. Neubauer, T Troxler, C Wigand

Environmental Science

A mixing model derived from first principles describes the bulk density (BD) of intertidal wetland sediments as a function of loss on ignition (LOI). The model assumes that the bulk volume of sediment equates to the sum of self-packing volumes of organic and mineral components or BD = 1/[LOI/k₁ + (1-LOI)/k₂], where k₁ and k₂ are the self-packing densities of the pure organic and inorganic components, respectively. The model explained 78% of the variability in total BD when fitted to 5075 measurements drawn from 33 wetlands distributed around the conterminous United States. The …

Ex-Situ Conservation Programs: Worthwhile?, Nicolette Sliwa, Aaron Sieve

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The effectiveness of conservation programs was researched, specifically within zoos, and their attempts to repopulate areas with captive-born individuals of endangered species. There are major biological and economic concerns with these programs focused on, including potential genetic adaptation to captivity, effects of inbreeding, and if this is a truly worthwhile use of funds to restore a species. Looking at the black-footed ferret, the whooping crane, and other supposed successful captive-breeding programs, it is explored whether reintroduced individuals thrive in their new habitats sufficiently enough to contribute to the restoration of the species, and more broadly, their ecosystems.

Marine Ecoregion And Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Affect Recruitment And Population Structure Of A Salt Marsh Snail, Steven C. Pennings, Scott Zengel, Jacob Oehrig, Merryl Alber, T. Dale Bishop, Donald R. Deis, Donna Devlin, A. Randall Hughes, John J. Hutchens, Jr., Whitney M. Kiehn, Caroline R. Mcfarlin, Clay L. Montague, Sean P. Powers, C. Edward Proffitt, Nicholle Rutherford, Camille L. Stagg, Keith Walters

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Marine species with planktonic larvae often have high spatial and temporal variation in recruitment that leads to subsequent variation in the ecology of benthic adults. Using a combination of published and unpublished data, we compared the population structure of the salt marsh snail, Littoraria irrorata, between the South Atlantic Bight and the Gulf Coast of the United States to infer geographic differences in recruitment and to test the hypothesis that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to widespread recruitment failure of L. irrorata in Louisiana in 2010. Size-frequency distributions in both ecoregions were bimodal, with troughs in the distributions consistent …

The Spatial Sensitivity Analysis Of Evapotranspiration Using Penman-Monteith Method At Grid Scale, Sivarajah Mylevaganam, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The need to allocate the existing water in a sustainable manner, even with the projected population growth, has made to assess the consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ET), which determines the irrigation demand. As underscored in the literature, Penman-Monteith method which is a combination of aerodynamic and energy balance method is widely used and accepted as the method of estimation of ET. However, the application of Penman-Monteith relies on many climate parameters such as relative humidity, solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed. Therefore, there exists a need to determine the parameters that are most sensitive and correlated with dependent variable ( …

A Spatial Evapotranspiration Tool At Grid Scale, Sivarajah Mylevaganam, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The drastic decline in groundwater table and many other detrimental effects in meeting irrigation demand, and the projected population growth have force to evaluate consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ET), the rate of liquid water transformation to vapor from open water, bare soil, and vegetation, which determines the irrigation demand. As underscored in the literature, Penman- Monteith method which is based on aerodynamic and energy balance method is widely used and accepted as the method of estimation of ET. However, the estimation of ET is oftentimes carried out using meteorological data from climate stations. Therefore, such estimation of ET may vary …

2016 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

Drivers Of Food Wastage And Their Implications For Sustainable Policy Development, Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

There has been growing interest in establishing food waste prevention and recovery programs throughout the world. The drive to target food waste stems from increasing concerns about resource conservation, food security, food waste’s environmental and economic costs, and a general trend in the waste management industry to transition to more sustainable practices. Here the drivers of residential, institutional, and commercial food waste generation in developed countries, particularly in the U.S., are explored. The impacts of food system modernization on food waste generation are examined, particularly impacts related to food system industrialization, urbanization, globalization, and economic growth. Socio-demographic, cultural, political, and …

Impacts Of Man-Made Structures On Avian Community Metrics In 4 State Parks In Northwestern Arkansas, R. D. Keith, B. Grooms, R. E. Urbanek

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Avian community metrics often differ between areas with no human disturbance and areas with high levels of human disturbance. However, the relationships between avian community metrics and smaller-scale disturbances are not as clear. Our goal was to investigate if avian abundance, richness, evenness, and diversity differed in areas with and without small-scale human developments. We used fixed-radius 50-m avian point counts to compare points which contained a man-made structure (n = 47), such as a picnic area, road, or campsite to those that did not contain a man-made structure (n = 181) at 4 state parks in Arkansas during 18 …

Stakeholder Coinquiries On Drought Impacts, Monitoring And Early Warning Systems, Kevin Collins, Jamie Hannaford, Mark D. Svoboda, Cody L. Knutson, Nicole A. Wall, Tonya K. Bernadt, Neville Crossman, Ian Overton, Mike Acreman, Sophie Bachmair, Kerstin Stahl

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The goal of the DrIVER (Drought Impacts: Vulnerability thresholds in monitoring and Early-warning Research) research project is to understand the links between natural (hydro-meteorological) drought and ecological response and socio-economic impacts to aid in developing enhanced drought early warning systems (DEWS). Three stakeholder workshops were convened in the USA, UK and Australia. The USA water supply case study engaged 27 community water suppliers and state, federal and private advisors in the Neuse and Cape Fear River basins in North Carolina. The UK workshop involved 34 national and regional stakeholders across the water supply, environmental regulation, agriculture, energy and health sectors. …

Handbook Of Drought Indicators And Indices, Mark Svoboda, Brian Fuchs, Integrated Drought Management Programme (Idmp)

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this handbook is to cover some of the most commonly used drought indicators/indices that are being applied across drought-prone regions, with the goal of advancing monitoring, early warning and information delivery systems in support of risk-based drought management policies and preparedness plans. These concepts and indicators/indices are outlined below in what is considered to be a living document that will evolve and integrate new indicators and indices as they come to light and are applied in the future. The handbook is aimed at those who want to generate indicators and indices themselves, as well as for those …

From Grassroots To National Alliance: The Emerging Trajectory For Landowner Prescribed Burn Associations, John R. Weir, Dirac L. Twidwell, Carissa L. Wonkka

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

• Due to woody plant encroachment and seeing the need for fire on their lands, private landowners throughout the southern Great Plains have started forming prescribed burn associations (PBA) to assist each other with conducting prescribed fires. • Members of PBAs work together by pooling equipment and other resources, organizing training opportunities, and assisting with prescribed burns on each other’s properties, while teaching upcoming generations and inexperienced members the value of fire in grassland conservation and how to safely use it. • There are over 50 PBAs working in the southern Great Plains. As the number of PBAs has grown …

Rangeland Responses To Predicted Increases In Drought Extremity, David D. Breshears, Alan K. Knapp, Darin J. Law, Melinda D. Smith, Dirac L. Twidwell, Carissa L. Wonkka

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Rangeland managers actively focus on the potential to induce a shift in a site to an alternative state, but predicted changes in climate, particularly the likelihood of more extreme drought, necessitate reevaluating risks for alternative states. • Rangelands will differ in their susceptibility to undergo state changes due to climate change in general and for droughts of the future, in particular, which may be hotter. • Trees, shrubs, and grasses are expected to differ in their sensitivity to drought, with trees likely being most sensitive; this affects the likelihood for state changes in grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, and savannas. • Considering …

Climate-Relevant Land Use And Land Cover Change Policies, Rezaul Mahmood, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Clive Mcalpine

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Both observational and modeling studies clearly demonstrate that land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) play an important biogeophysical and biogeochemical role in the climate system from the landscape to regional and even continental scales. Without comprehensively considering these impacts, an adequate response to the threats posed by human intervention into the climate system will not be adequate. Public policy plays an important role in shaping local- to national-scale land-use practices. An array of national policies has been developed to influence the nature and spatial extent of LULCC. Observational evidence suggests that these policies, in addition to international trade treaties and protocols, …

Open Polar Server (Ops)—An Open Source Infrastructure For The Cryosphere Community, Weibo Liu, Kyle Purdon, Trey Stafford, John Paden, Xingong Li

Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies: Publications

The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) at the University of Kansas has collected approximately 1000 terabytes (TB) of radar depth sounding data over the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets since 1993 in an effort to map the thickness of the ice sheets and ultimately understand the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. In addition to data collection, the storage, management, and public distribution of the dataset are also primary roles of the CReSIS. The Open Polar Server (OPS) project developed a free and open source infrastructure to store, manage, analyze, and distribute the data collected …