Natural Resource Economics Commons^™

Soil Moisture Probes

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Administrative Materials

Just like fuel gauges monitor fuel levels in a gas tank, soil moisture sensors monitor moisture levels in the soil. Irrigating without using soil moisture sensors is similar to driving without a fuel gauge: you’re likely to be overcautious to ensure you get to where you’re going! Soil moisture probes are designed to estimate soil volumetric water content based on the dielectric constant of the soil. The dielectric constant can be thought of as the soil’s ability to transmit electricity. The dielectric constant of soil increases as the water content of the soil increases, since the dielectric constant of water …

Impacts: Annual Report Fy2018 (July 1, 2017 To June 30, 2018), Robert B. Daugherty Water For Food Global Institute

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Administrative Materials

One in nine people goes to bed hungry each night, according to the U.N. World Food Program. That’s 795 million people on the planet who do not have access to enough nutritious food. The challenge is growing. Global drivers like climate change, urbanization and increasing demand for water-intensive agricultural products are altering landscapes, increasing soil erosion, and degrading water resources and soils in important food producing regions around the world. We must figure out how to feed a global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, with the same amount of water and arable land – and quickly. This …

An Overview Of Salient Factors, Relationships And Values To Support Integrated Energy-Economic System Dynamics Modelling, Martin De Wit, Matthew K. Heun, Douglas Crookes

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Integrated energy-economic modelling is needed to support the development of energy and climate policies. This study asserts that it is important to consider a system dynamics modelling approach that includes dynamics, endogenous treatment of uncertainty and risks, and both aggregate economic and disaggregate technical or engineering levels of analysis. The study examined the economic growth and the factors of production, elasticities, macroand technical substitutability; energy cost shares, heat engine efficiencies and energy services efficiencies. Emphasis was laid on the support of the future development of integrated energy-economic models covering (a) the key factors or components; (b) the relationships among these …

Sustainability At Sit: A Look At The Past, A Plan For The Future, Taliesin Haugh

Capstone Collection

Climate change threatens our world and way of life. Intelligent development and investment could mitigate the worst threats of climate change, while simultaneously providing continuous growth for the global economy. The New Climate Economy proposes efforts to combat this ecological collapse that would result in $30 trillion in new annual economic growth by 2030. Stockholm Resilience Center agrees, giving a framework based on global ecological systems that calls for five critical tasks that can bring growth and stability: Renewable energy

Sustainable local food production

New development models, based on what has worked globally

Reduction of wealth inequity

Education, health, and …

Sales And Marketing, Nancye Gannaway

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Plan, prepare, Prosper - workshop

This document is part of the Plan, Prepare, Prosper program that was developed under the Pilot of Drought Reform Measures ('the pilot'), a joint initiative between the Australian Government and the Western Australian Government. The program aims to support businesses to prepare for drought, climate variability, financial and other challenges.

Today we will be working through your marketing program, and possible strategies for increasing its effectiveness and impact.

We will explore the advantages of target marketing - of focusing your marketing on those customers which best suit your business, and have the greatest potential for …

Gateways-Nd: Advancing Learner-Focused Instruction To Catalyze Stem Student Success, J.M.D. Motschenbacher, R. Reichenbach, M. Hanson, E. A. Berg, J. Ladbury, P. Kelter, L. Montplaisir, J. Nachwaya

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Long-Term Trends In Vegetation And Management Intensity, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 1995–2014, Sherry A. Leis, Lloyd W. Morrison

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

Inventory and Monitoring Networks of the National Park Service are charged with collecting and reporting data related to the status and trends of key natural resources. We have analyzed a suite of grazing data from 1995- 2016, fire history data from 1998-2015, and vegetation community data from 2002-2014 to better understand trends as they relate to management strategies at the preserve over time. We found that cattle stocking rates declined and fires became less frequent over the latter half of the record. Similarly, bare ground declined, woody species increased slightly, and the floristic quality index was relatively stable with …

Opportunities And Challenges For Big Data Ornithology, Frank A. La Sorte, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Jessica L. Burnett, Allen H. Hurlbert, Morgan W. Tingley, Benjamin Zuckerberg

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Recent advancements in information technology and data acquisition have created both new research opportunities and new challenges for using big data in ornithology. We provide an overview of the past, present, and future of big data in ornithology, and explore the rewards and risks associated with their application. Structured data resources (e.g., North American Breeding Bird Survey) continue to play an important role in advancing our understanding of bird population ecology, and the recent advent of semistructured (e.g., eBird) and unstructured (e.g., weather surveillance radar) big data resources has promoted the development of new empirical perspectives that are generating novel …

A Framework For Tracing Social–Ecological Trajectories And Traps In Intensive Agricultural Landscapes, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, Francisco Munoz-Arriola, Gengxin Ou, Nancy Shank

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Charting trajectories toward sustainable agricultural development is an important goal at the food–energy–water–ecosystem services (FEWES) nexus of agricultural landscapes. Social–ecological adaptation and transformation are two broad strategies for adjusting and resetting the trajectories of productive FEWES nexuses toward sustainable futures. In some cases, financial incentives, technological innovations, and/or subsidies associated with the short-term optimization of a small number of resources create and strengthen unsustainable feedbacks between social and ecological entities at the FEWES nexus. These feedbacks form the basis of rigidity traps, which impede adaptation and transformation by locking FEWES nexuses into unsustainable trajectories characterized by control, stability, and efficiency, …

Quantifying Uncertainty And Trade-Offs In Resilience Assessments, Craig R. Allen, Hannah E. Birgé, David G. Angeler, Craig A. Arnold, Brian C. Chaffin, Daniel A. Decaro, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance Gunderson

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Several frameworks have been developed to assess the resilience of social-ecological systems, but most require substantial data inputs, time, and technical expertise. Stakeholders and practitioners often lack the resources for such intensive efforts. Furthermore, most end with problem framing and fail to explicitly address trade-offs and uncertainty. To remedy this gap, we developed a rapid survey assessment that compares the relative resilience of social-ecological systems with respect to a number of resilience properties. This approach generates large amounts of information relative to stakeholder inputs. We targeted four stakeholder categories: government (policy, regulation, management), end users (farmers, ranchers, landowners, industry), agency/public …

A Method To Detect Discontinuities In Census Data, Chris Barichievy, David G. Angeler, Tarsha Eason, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Kirsty L. Nash, Craig A. Stow, Shana Sundstrom, Craig R. Allen

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The distribution of pattern across scales has predictive power in the analysis of complex systems. Discontinuity approaches remain a fruitful avenue of research in the quest for quantitative measures of resilience because discontinuity analysis provides an objective means of identifying scales in complex systems and facilitates delineation of hierarchical patterns in processes, structure, and resources. However, current discontinuity methods have been considered too subjective, too complicated and opaque, or have become computationally obsolete; given the ubiquity of discontinuities in ecological and other complex systems, a simple and transparent method for detection is needed. In this study, we present a method …

Effects Of Large-Scale Wetland Loss On Network Connectivity Of The Rainwater Basin, Nebraska, Bram H. F. Verheijen, Dana M. Varner, David A. Haukos

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Context The Rainwater Basin region in south-central Nebraska supports a complex network of spatiallyisolated wetlands that harbor diverse floral and faunal communities. Since European settlement, many wetlands have been lost from the network, which has increased distances among remaining wetlands. As a result, populations of wildlife species with limited dispersal capabilities may have become isolated and face greater local extinction risks.

Objectives We compared the pre-European settlement and current extent of the Rainwater Basin network to assess the effects of wetland losses on network connectivity for a range of maximum dispersal distances.

Methods We constructed network models for a range …

Synchrony - An Emergent Property Of Recreational Fisheries, Mark A. Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Keith L. Hurley, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Bipartite Networks Improve Understanding Of Effects Of Waterbody Size And Angling Method On Angler–Fish Interactions, Christopher J . Chizinski, Dustin R. Martin, Daizaburo Shizuka, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Networks used to study interactions could provide insights to fisheries. We compiled data from 27 297 interviews of anglers across waterbodies that ranged in size from 1 to 12 113 ha. Catch rates of fish species among anglers grouped by species targeted generally differed between angling methods (bank or boat). We constructed angler–catch bipartite networks (angling method specific) between anglers and fish and measured several network metrics. There was considerable variation in networks among waterbodies, with multiple metrics influenced by waterbody size. Number of species-targeting angler groups and number of fish species caught increased with increasing waterbody size. Mean number …

Variation In Angler Distribution And Catch Rates Of Stocked Rainbow Trout In A Small Reservoir, Brian S. Harmon, Dustin R. Martin, Christopher J . Chizinski, K. L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We investigated the spatial and temporal relationship of catch rates and angler party location for two days following a publicly announced put-and-take stocking of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Catch rates declined with time since stocking and distance from stocking. We hypothesized that opportunity for high catch rates would cause anglers to fish near the stocking location and disperse with time, however distance between angler parties and stocking was highly variable at any given time. Spatially explicit differences in catch rates can affect fishing quality. Further research could investigate the variation between angler distribution and fish distribution within a …

Population Characteristics Of Shovelnose Sturgeon During Low- And High-Water Conditions In The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Jeremy J. Hammen, Martin J. Hamel, Matthew L. Rugg, Edward J. Peters, Mark A. Pegg

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Cycles of low- and high-water periods (i.e., years) in river systems are natural occurrences, but understanding how cyclical climatological patterns affect fishes, especially long-lived species, is unclear. We assessed Shovelnose Sturgeon population dynamics between a period of low- (2001-2004) and high- (2009-2012) water years in the lower Platte River, Nebraska. Low-flow periods in the lower Platte River can cause disconnection(s) between upstream and downstream reaches resulting in isolated pools and elevated water temperatures leading to stressful situations for aquatic life and possible mortality. Our data show no measurable differences between key population indices between flow condition periods which is consistent …

Resilience Concepts In Psychiatry Demonstrated With Bipolar Disorder, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Maj-Liz Persson

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Background: The term resilience describes stress–response patterns of subjects across scientific disciplines. In ecology, advances have been made to clearly distinguish resilience definitions based on underlying mechanistic assumptions. Engineering resilience (rebound) is used for describing the ability of subjects to recover from adverse conditions (disturbances), and is the rate of recovery. In contrast, the ecological resilience definition considers a systemic change: when complex systems (including humans) respond to disturbances by reorganizing into a new regime (stable state) where structural and functional aspects have fundamentally changed relative to the prior regime. In this context, resilience is an emergent property of complex …

The Trade-Security Nexus And U.S. Policy Making In Critical Minerals, Yujia He

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

The United States increasingly relies on import to meet its demand for critical minerals. Using the case of rare earth elements (REEs), this paper analyzes the conditions and the strategies for the U.S. government to address import dependence. The paper finds that market factors, including the lack of comparable and sufficient substitutes and recycling, the high ratio of import relative to consumption, the high concentration of import supply by country, and regulations from the major supplier country, were insufficient to prompt intervention. Significant policy action only occurs when changing circumstances turn import dependence into perceived national security threats to the …

Alternative Energy: An Examination Of Costs, Safety, And Potential, Evan Searles

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Social Science Perspectives On Drivers Of And Responses To Global, Andrew K. Jorgenson, Shirley Fiske, Klaus Hubacek, Jia Li, Tom Mcgovern, Torben Rick, Juliet B. Schor, William Solecki, Richard York, Ariela Zycherman

Publications and Research

This article provides a review of recent anthropological, archeological, geographical, and sociological research on anthropogenic drivers of climate change, with a particular focus on drivers of carbon emissions, mitigation and adaptation. The four disciplines emphasize cultural, economic, geographic, historical, political, and social‐structural factors to be important drivers of and responses to climate change. Each of these disciplines has unique perspectives and makes noteworthy contributions to our shared understanding of anthropogenic drivers, but they also complement one another and contribute to integrated, multidisciplinary frameworks. The article begins with discussions of research on temporal dimensions of human drivers of carbon emissions, highlighting …