Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Development Without Energy? Assessing Future Scenarios Of Energy Consumption In Developing Countries, Jan Christof Steckel, Robert J. Brecha, Michael Jakob, Jessica Strefler, Gunnar Luderer

Physics Faculty Publications

We analyze the relationship between economic development and energy consumption in the context of greenhouse gas mitigation. The main contribution of this work is to compare estimates of energy thresholds in the form of minimum energy requirements to reach high levels of development with output projections of per capita final energy supply from a group of integrated assessment models (IAMs). Scenarios project that reductions of carbon emissions in developing countries will be achieved not only by means of decreasing the carbon intensity, but also by making a significant break with the historically observed relationship between energy use and economic growth. …

Gouldian Finch Breeding Surveys 2013: Ord-East Kimberley Expansion Project - Weaber Plain Development Area, Sarah R. Pryke, Nina Svedin

Irrigated Agricultural Development in the North

As part of the requirement for State approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and the Gouldian Finch Management Plan (GFMP), a baseline assessment and on-going monitoring of the endangered Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) is required during the construction and operation of the Ord River Irrigation Area Weaber Plain Development Project in the eastern Kimberley, Western Australia. This report details the findings from surveys of Gouldian finches during their annual breeding season (Feb-May 2013).

Report To The Commissioner Of Soil And Land Conservation On The Condition Of The Western Australian Pastoral Resource Base 2013, Paul Novelly, Philip Thomas

Natural resources published reports

This report updates changes in the Western Australian pastoral rangelands at the Land Conservation District (LCD) scale, providing information on seasonal quality, stock numbers and changes in the density/frequency of perennial shrubs and grasses. It is based on data from the Bureau of Meteorology, the Annual return of livestock and improvements (submitted annually by pastoral lessees) and the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS). The sixth assessment of the Kimberley grassland sites (Epoch 6) was completed in 2011. The second full cycle (i.e. 3 assessments) was completed for shrubland sites in 2010. This report includes the most recently collected data …

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 28, 2013, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 28, 2013 (5/28/13) 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, May 21, 2013, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 21, 2013 (5/21/13) 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.

The Role Of The Ocean Industry In The Chinese National Economy: An Input-Output Analysis, Rui Zhao

Working Papers

The OEAS (Ocean Economy Accounting System) has been established in China for 6 years. However, the economic impact of the ocean economy in China’s national economy has not yet been understood clearly at the national or regional levels. The direct impact of ocean industries in China at national and regional levels has been compiled for the period of 2001-2011, but it is still unclear what the overall economic impacts of ocean industries are in the national economy, and how the ocean industries interact with other industries in the national economy. China is similar to other ocean countries in that, - …

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 14, 2013, Rich Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 14, 2013 (5/14/13) 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.

Quantifying The Effects Of Pesticide Exposure On Annual Reproductive Success Of Birds, Matthew A. Etterson, Richard S. Bennett

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

The Markov chain nest productivity model (MCnest) was developed for quantifying the effects of specific pesticide‐use scenarios on the annual reproductive success of simulated populations of birds. Each nesting attempt is divided into a series of discrete phases (e.g., egg laying, incubation, nestling rearing), and results from avian toxicity tests are used to represent the types of effects possible in the field during each breeding phase. The expected exposure dose each day throughout the breeding season can be compared to the toxicity thresholds assigned to each breeding phase to determine whether the nest attempt is at risk. The primary output …

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 7, 2013, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 7, 2013 (5/7/13) 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.

Portland-Vancouver Ultra-Ex: Evaluating Relationships Between Governance And Environmental Quality In Urban Ecosystems, J. Alan Yeakley, Sally Duncan, Steve Bollens, Connie P. Ozawa, Vivek Shandas, Heejun Chang, Marion Dresner, Sean N. Gordon, John A. Harrison, Jeffrey D. Kline, Anita T. Morzillo, Noelwah R. Netusil, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Mark Stephan, Paul R. Thiers

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Portland-Vancouver Urban Long Term Research Area (ULTRA-Ex) is a multidisciplinary project aimed at understanding the feedbacks between human and natural systems in urban settings. The ULTRA-Ex project is seeking to answer the overarching question: How do human governance and biophysical systems respond interactively to both press and pulse disturbances in urban socio-ecological systems?

This presentation provides early observations and findings from the PV ULTRA-Ex project.

Network Technologies Used To Aggregate Environmental Data, Paul Stasiuk, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The goal of the Loyola Weather Service (lws) project is to design and build a system of functioning environmental monitoring widgets that can intelligently and autonomously control the environment around them based on set thresholds and triggers. The widgets will also have the ability to aggregate their data and easily display this data in various ways: through a user interface in the room that the widget is placed, via a web application, and programmatically via a RESTful web service.

Understanding Effects Of Changes In Land Use, Environmental Parameters, Habitat Characteristics On The Great Basin Aquatic Invertebrates Using Ecological Stoichiometric Theory, Knut Mehler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many freshwater ecosystems in the Great Basin have undergone dramatic alteration over the past decades due to groundwater withdrawal, water diversion and changes in land use. These changes have affected benthic food web dynamics by altering the availability of chemical key elements for primary and secondary producers, by loss of biodiversity and extinction of endemic species. However, only few studies are available that addresses the link between changes in land use, habitat characteristics and its effects on benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) communities comprehensively and little attention has been given to integrating physiochemical aspects to link ecosystem functions.

This dissertation analyzes the …

Student Motivation For Pursuing A Minor In Environmental Sustainability, Luanne Woods Lewis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental sustainability dominates the global conversation seeking to increase awareness and change the culture of thinking concerning the relationship between humans and the Earth. Because many universities offer programs relative to environmental sustainability, a need exists to understand why students pursue these programs. This study examined student motivation for pursuing an environmental sustainability minor in one institution of higher education. Career, learning, monetary, and Social responsibility were the motivational factors considered in this study. The results of this study indicated significant differences among the motivational factors for pursuing a minor in sustainability among those students surveyed. Significant differences existed for …

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 30, 2013, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for April 30, 2013 (4/30/13) 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.

Enhancing Coastal Resilience: Perspectives On Valuing Ri Coastal Lands, Kyle Nyskohus

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

This paper discusses coastal resilience as an organizing framework for future policymaking, coastal planning, and insurance decisions, and explores the different perspectives of the value of ecosystems held by various stakeholders in Rhode Island’s coastal communities. A grounded theory approach was used in an effort to abstract general insights from the substantive but isolated areas of coastal management and economics. Special attention is given to the perspectives of municipal decision makers, the National Flood Insurance Program, natural economists, and real estate developers. We have (1) conducted a statistical analysis of environmental spending of RI towns, (2) identified key models for …

The 16th Annual Wal Project – Spring Seminar 2013, Kim Mccoy

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Brief overview of the RiverNet Watershed Access program - its history and the achievements of the many participating teachers and students from throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.

Burr’S Pond And The Runnins River Annual Watershed Survey

Watershed Access Lab Projects

For the past twelve years, AP Biology students at Seekonk High School have been required to complete an independent research project to fulfill the Ecology unit of the course during the summer prior to the course. Students must apply what they learned in their readings to a local ecosystem, Burr’s Pond, which is attached to the Runnins River in Seekonk. Students spend time at the pond area during the summer documenting organisms, evidence of population dynamics, animal behavior, trophic levels, nutrient cycling, etc. Students put together a Burr’s Pond Summer Field Research Project Portfolio to be submitted on the first …

The Runnins River Biosurvey Year 5 (2012-2013)

Watershed Access Lab Projects

On October 3rd & 4th Mr. Bonneau and Mr. Wills from Seekonk High School took their Biology II classes out to the Runnins River in Seekonk, MA for the 5th Annual Runnins River Biosurvey.

The Runnins River is approximately ten miles long and over 70% of the length of the river meanders through the town of Seekonk, making Seekonk the town with the greatest impact on the river. What we wanted to see is if the commercial and residential properties in the town had any impact on the river between two given points.

The classes went to both an upstream …

Agawam River Project - 10 Years Later

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Agawam River Project is a river study project for 8th grade students at St. Margaret Regional School which is located in Buzzards Bay, in Southeastern Massachusetts. The mouth of the Agawam River where the river converges with the Wankinco River and the Wareham River in Wareham, is located approximately 5 km from the school. The headwaters of the river where the water overflows from Halfway Pond in Plymouth, is approximately 15 to 20 km away from the school. The river, ultimately as an estuary system, flows into the Buzzards Bay Watershed. Here, the fresh water of the three converging …

Exstream Ecology: A Survey Of The Rumford River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The students of Mansfield High School performed a water quality study on the Rumford River on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The study location consisted of one site on the Town of Mansfield Conservation Commission property on Fischer Lane.

The purpose of this study was to introduce benthic macroinvertebrates and their role as indicators for evaluating stream water quality. Students utilized state of the art methods and techniques during all aspects of this study.

The Rumford River is listed on the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) National Priority List (NPL). The river was polluted with dioxins, furans and phenols …