Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Quantifying The Adaptive Cycle, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, Olle Hjerne, Monika Winder

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The adaptive cycle was proposed as a conceptual model to portray patterns of change in complex systems. Despite the model having potential for elucidating change across systems, it has been used mainly as a metaphor, describing system dynamics qualitatively. We use a quantitative approach for testing premises (reorganisation, conservatism, adaptation) in the adaptive cycle, using Baltic Sea phytoplankton communities as an example of such complex system dynamics. Phytoplankton organizes in recurring spring and summer blooms, a well-established paradigm in planktology and succession theory, with characteristic temporal trajectories during blooms that may be consistent with adaptive cycle phases. We used long-term …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 22, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for December 22, 2015 (12/22/15) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Adapting To Rising Sea Levels In San Francisco Bay: The Potential For Thin Layer Sediment Application To Enhance Tidal Marsh Resiliency Through This Century, Scott K. Hine

Master's Projects and Capstones

The research here focuses on two projected century sea-level rise scenarios (100 and 180 cm/century) and the potential to offset elevation loss to sea-level rise by supplying deteriorating tidal marsh habitat with a thin layer of dredge sediment via high-pressure spray disposal within San Francisco Bay. This adaptation strategy is then analyzed for potential integration into the Bay’s long term management plan for dredge material disposal. The Marsh Equilibrium Model (Morris, 2012) is used to evaluate elevation deficits for existing tidal marsh habitat around San Pablo Bay against future century sea-level rise scenarios and model marsh resiliency following elevation enhancement. …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 15, 2015, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 15, 2015 (12/15/15) 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.

Three-Dimensional Wind Speed And Flux Measurements Over A Rain-Fed Soybean Field Using Orthogonal And Non-Orthogonal Sonic Anemometer Designs, Taylor Thomas

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

The eddy covariance method for estimating fluxes of trace gases, energy and momentum in the constant flux layer above a plant canopy fundamentally relies on accurate measurements of the vertical wind speed. This wind speed is typically measured using a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer. Previous studies comparing anemometers with orthogonal transducer sets to those with non-orthogonal transducer sets suggest differences in measured 3D wind speed components, particularly for a vertical component. These differences, attributed to additional flow distortion caused by the non-orthogonal transducer arrangement and support structure, directly affect fluxes of trace gases, energy and momentum. A field experiment was conducted …

The Effect Of Manure Application Method On Nutrient And Microbial Runoff Transport And Soil Biological Health Indicators, Nicole R. Schuster

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Two projects were completed to provide significant new information to the agricultural industry regarding the environmental implications and soil health impacts related to land application of swine manure. The first study reports on the runoff transport of nutrients and microbials as affected by manure application method and time following application. The second study provides information about the effect of application method and time following application on soil health indicators using arthropod abundance and diversity as a biological indicator. The information gained through these studies will provide beneficial information to the pork industry on the impact of manure application method and …

Umphlett Qci 2015, Natalie A. Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Late Hard Freeze

Late Freezes Extended Growing Season

Warm Fall Delays Bird Migrations

Monitoring Water Resources Across the Basin

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2014, Daniel M. Dauer, Todd A. Egerton, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson, Monika Arora

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concerted research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

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 …

Evaluation Of Large‑Scale Meteorological Patterns Associated With Temperature Extremes In The Narccap Regional Climate Model Simulations, Paul C. Loikith, Duane E. Waliser, Huikyo Lee, J. David Neelin, Benjamin Lintner, Seth Mcginnis, Linda Mears, Jinwon Kim

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) associated with temperature extremes are evaluated in a suite of regional climate model (RCM) simulations contributing to the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. LSMPs are characterized through composites of surface air temperature, sea level pressure, and 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies concurrent with extreme temperature days. Six of the seventeen RCM simulations are driven by boundary conditions from reanalysis while the other eleven are driven by one of four global climate models (GCMs). Four illustrative case studies are analyzed in detail. Model fidelity in LSMP spatial representation is high for cold winter extremes near …

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 …

Fecal Microbe Contamination In The Otter Creek Watershed, Madison County, Kentucky, Jacob L. Robin, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 24, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for November 24, 2015 (11/24/15) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

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.

Utilizing Humidity And Temperature Data To Advance Monitoring And Prediction Of Meteorological Drought, Ali Behrangi, Paul C. Loikith, Eric J. Fetzer, Hai M. Nguyen, Stephanie L. Granger

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The fraction of land area over the Continental United States experiencing extreme hot and dry conditions has been increasing over the past several decades, consistent with expectation from anthropogenic climate change. A clear concurrent change in precipitation, however, has not been confirmed. Vapor pressure deficit (VPD), combining temperature and humidity, is utilized here as an indicator of the background atmospheric conditions associated with meteorological drought. Furthermore, atmospheric conditions associated with warm season drought events are assessed by partitioning associated VPD anomalies into the temperature and humidity components. This approach suggests that the concurrence of anomalously high temperature and low humidity …

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 17, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for November 17, 2015 (11/17/15) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during thepast 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 10, 2015, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 10, 2015 (11/10/15) 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.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 3, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 3, 2015 (11/3/15) 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.