Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Trail Degradation In Parque Internacional La Amistad: An Intersection Of Design, Management And Use, Jordan Stark

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

National parks are created and used for a variety of purposes but are primarily important for the conservation of natural resources and use by visitors. While park use is meant to be non-destructive, human interaction causes changes in ecosystems, leading to conflicts between these goals. Here, I examine the causes of trail degradation and impacts on surrounding forests in Parque Internacional la Amistad (PILA), Panama. This park is a world heritage site with the primary goal of preserving some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems including rare and endangered species. However, the park entrance in Las Nubes, Cerro Punta receives …

New Statistical Methods For Analysis Of Historical Data From Wildlife Populations, Trevor Hefley

Department of Statistics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wildlife biologists, many times with the help of ordinary citizens, have developed and maintained long-term datasets for monitoring the status of wildlife populations. These datasets can range from a collection of citizen-reported sightings of a rare species, to datasets collected by biologists using standardized methods. The commonality is that these datasets span a temporal and spatial scale that is beyond the scope of most scientific studies. Ensuring the continued persistence of wildlife populations requires predictions of the impact of human actions. Regardless if the predictions are quantitative or qualitative, the best we can do is use the past data to …

Coastal And Ocean Economic Summaries Of The Coastal States 2014, Pat Johnston

Publications

The following summaries of the ocean and coastal economies were prepared by the National Ocean Economics Program as a companion the State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2014. The U.S. report, its appendices, and these state summary reports are available on the NOEP website at www.OceanEconomics.org/download.

Productivity And Carbon Dioxide Exchange Of Leguminous Crops: Estimates From Flux Tower Measurements, Tagir Gilmanov, John M. Baker, Carl J. Bernacchi, David P. Billesbach, George G. Burba, Saulo Castro, Jiquan Chen, Werner Eugster, Marc L. Fischer, John A. Gamon, Maheteme T. Gebremedhin, Aaron J. Glenn, Timothy J. Griffis, Jerry L. Hatfield, Mark W. Heuer, Daniel M. Howard, Monique Y. Leclerc, Henry W. Loescher, Oliver Marloie, Tilden P. Meyers, Albert Olioso, Rebecca L. Phillips, John H. Prueger, R. Howard Skinner, Andrew E. Suyker, Mario Tenuta, Bruce K. Wylie

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Net CO₂ exchange data of legume crops at 17 flux tower sites in North America and three sites in Europe representing 29 site-years of measurements were partitioned into gross photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration by using the nonrectangular hyperbolic lightresponse function method. The analyses produced net CO₂ exchange data and new ecosystem-scale ecophysiological parameter estimates for legume crops determined at diurnal and weekly time steps. Dynamics and annual totals of gross photosynthesis, ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem production were calculated by gap filling with multivariate nonlinear regression. Comparison with the data from grain crops obtained with the same method …

Quantifying And Modeling Stream–Aquifer Interactions In The Elkhorn River Basin, Nebraska, Can Liu

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

This study combined statistical analyses, field investigations and numerical groundwater flow modeling to quantify the connectivity between the Elkhorn River and its adjacent aquifers in Nebraska. The Mann-Kendall trend tests were conducted to detect increasing or decreasing tendencies on the time series data of streamflow, which were collected from eighteen gauging stations in the Elkhorn River and its tributaries. Decreasing trends were not found in the annual streamflow data.

Field investigation of streambed hydraulic properties was performed in the Elkhorn River near Winslow and Norfolk. Vertical hydraulic conductivities (K_v) of the shallow streambed sediments were obtained by …

Slides: Thoughts On Regulatory Mechanisms For Natural Resource Development: Alternatives To Command And Control, Including A Look At Open Source Approaches, Stanley Dempsey

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Stanley Dempsey, Chairman, Royal Gold

17 slides

Agenda: Natural Resource Industries And The Sustainability Challenge, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

"An International Conference hosted by The Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment and The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative."

For more than two decades, sustainability has gained currency as a broad organizing principle for efforts to develop and use energy, natural resources, and the environment in ways that allow society to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. More recently, sustainability has been embraced by businesses across multiple sectors as part of a broader movement of corporate social responsibility. Hardly a day goes by without news of another corporate initiative …

Slides: Comments Of Jeff Bingaman, Jeff Bingaman

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Jeff Bingaman, former Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and U.S. Senator from New Mexico

6 slides

Study Of Dockage In Gloucester’S Designated Port Area: Summary, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

The Urban Harbors Institute (UHI), University of Massachusetts Boston assisted the Gloucester Fisheries Commission to conduct a study of commercial dockage in Gloucester Inner Harbor. The study presents a review of existing conditions and expected needs to serve as the basis for the Fisheries Commission to formulate recommendations for ensuring sufficient commercial dockage to support the future fishery. Strategies for the future Gloucester fisheries include measures to increase landings of groundfish, landings of alternative species, and value-added processing.

The Dockage Subcommittee of the Fisheries Commission was instrumental to the study, meeting periodically to guide the process, reviewing progress, and providing …

Stochastic Models To Generate Geospatial-, Temporal-, And Cross-Correlated Daily Maximum And Minimum Temperatures, Guillermo A. Baigorria

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Weather generators are tools used to downscale monthly to seasonal climate forecasts, from numerical climate models to daily values for use as inputs for crop and other environmental models. One main limitation of most of weather generators is that they do not incorporate neither the spatial/temporal correlations between/within sites nor the cross-correlations between variables, characteristics specially important when aggregating, for example, simulated crop yields, freeze events, or heat waves in a watershed or region.Three models were developed to generate realization of daily maximum and minimum temperatures for multiple sites. The first model incorporates only spatial correlation, whereas temporal correlation using …

The Value Of Conservation Easements: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Conservation Easements On Property Values In Central Vermont., Jonathan Decker

Capstone Collection

This capstone research aims to explore the possibilities of an association between changes in the fair market value of landed properties and their proximity to land parcels containing conservation easements. The study attempts to provide a greater understanding of how conservation easements provide benefits to Vermont municipalities. These benefits are described as ecosystem services, and their value was proxied by increases in the fair market value of transferred real-estate located within two distinct radiuses of the conserved land.

The study focuses on two specific properties located in the towns of Marshfield and East Montpelier. For each town, four separate datasets …

Phylogeny And Population Genetics Of The Endangered Dwarf Bear-Poppy, Arctomecon Humilis Coville (Papaveraceae) Using Microsatellite Markers, Joshua Simpson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The genus Arctomecon (Papaveraceae) is comprised of three narrowly endemic rare species that are largely restricted to gypsum soils of the eastern Mojave Desert. The small, remaining populations of these species have become increasingly isolated by urban development and habitat fragmentation. Arctomecon humilis is federally listed as endangered due to its limited distribution within a ~15 km radius of an actively expanding city. Organizations involved with land management and conservation have called for greater insight into the genetic variation and population structure of the remaining subpopulations as they make important decisions regarding where to focus their efforts and resources.

The …

Magnitude Of The Freshwater Turtle Exports From The Us: Long Term Trends And Early Effects Of Newly Implemented Harvest Management Regimes., Ivana Mali, Michael W. Vandewege, Scott K. Davis, Michael R.J. Forstner

CALS Publications

Unregulated commercial harvest remains a major threat for turtles across the globe. Due to continuing demand from Asian markets, a significant number of turtles are exported from the United States of America (US). Beginning in 2007, several southeastern states in the US implemented restrictions on the commercial harvest of turtles, in order to address the unsustainable take. We have summarized freshwater turtle exports from the US between 2002 and 2012 and demonstrated that the magnitude of turtle exports from the US remained high although the exports decreased throughout the decade. Louisiana and California were the major exporters. The majority of …

Estimating Temperature Fields From Modis Land Surface Temperature And Air Temperature Observations In A Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment, Scott N. Williamson, David S. Hik, John A. Gamon, Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh, Gwenn E. Flowers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Spatially continuous satellite infrared temperature measurements are essential for understanding the consequences and drivers of change, at local and regional scales, especially in northern and alpine environments dominated by a complex cryosphere where in situ observations are scarce. We describe two methods for producing daily temperature fields using MODIS ―clear-sky‖ day-time Land Surface Temperatures (LST). The Interpolated Curve Mean Daily Surface Temperature (ICM) method, interpolates single daytime Terra LST values to daily means using the coincident diurnal air temperature curves. The second method calculates daily mean LST from daily maximum and minimum LST (MMM) values from MODIS Aqua and Terra. …

Economic Impact Of The Commercial Fisheries On Local County Economies From Catch In All California National Marine Sanctuaries 2010, 2011 And 2012, Vernon R. Leeworthy, Desiree Jerome, Kelsey Schueler

Working Papers

This report estimates the economic impact of commercial fishing within all California National Marine Sanctuaries (CA NMS) according to the California Ocean Fish Harvester Economic Model (COFHE). The methodology applies county multipliers to estimates of harvest revenue from CA NMS in order to calculate output, income, value added and employment. This report also describes a profile of the commercial fish industry in the CA NMS. CA NMS includes all existing National Marine Sanctuary sites in California: Channel Islands (CINMS), Monterey Bay (MBNMS), Cordell Bank (CBNMS) and Gulf of the Farallones (GFNMS).

The three-year average for 2010 to 2012 finds that …

Warming, Soil Moisture, And Loss Of Snow Increase Bromus Tectorum’S Population Growth Rate, Aldo Compagnoni, Peter B. Adler

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

Climate change threatens to exacerbate the impacts of invasive species. In temperate ecosystems, direct effects of warming may be compounded by dramatic reductions in winter snow cover. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is arguably the most destructive biological invader in basins of the North American Intermountain West, and warming could increase its performance through direct effects on demographic rates or through indirect effects mediated by loss of snow. We conducted a two-year experimental manipulation of temperature and snow pack to test whether 1) warming increases cheatgrass population growth rate and 2) reduced snow cover contributes to cheatgrass’ positive response to …

Summer Soil Moisture Spatiotemporal Variability In Southeastern Arizona, Susan Stillman, Jason Ninneman, Xubin Zeng, Trenton E. Franz, Russell L. Scott, William J. Shuttleworth, Ken Cummins

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Soil moisture is important for many applications, but its measurements are lacking globally and even regionally. The Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) in southeastern Arizona has measured near surface 5-cm soil moisture with 19 in situ probes since 2002 within its 150km2 area. Using various criteria to identify erroneous data, it is found that in any given period from 1 July to 30 September from 2002 to 2011, 13– 17 of these probes were producing reasonable data, and this is sufficient to estimate area-averaged seasonal soil moisture. A soil water balance model is then developed using rainfall as its only …

Local Awareness Of And Attitudes Toward Pygmy Hippopotamus Conservation In The Moa River Island Complex, Sierra Leone., April L. Conway, Sonia M. Hernandez, John P. Carroll, Gary T. Green, Lincoln Larson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Abstract The pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis is an Endangered species found only in the Upper Guinea rainforests of West Africa. Using a two-phase approach, with initial semi-structured interviews followed by more extensive questionnaires, we examined local residents’ awareness of and attitudes towards the pygmy hippopotamus along the Moa River near Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. The interviews and questionnaires addressed human–hippopotamus interactions, local knowledge and awareness of pygmy hippopotamus ecology and behaviour, and public attitudes towards hippopotamus conservation. Overall, 22% of questionnaire respondents acknowledged benefits related to hippopotamus conservation; factors affecting the perception of benefits included age, livestock …

Using Art To Assess Environmental Education Outcomes, Ami G. Flowers, John P. Carroll, Gary T. Green, Lincoln R. Larson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Construction of developmentally appropriate tools for assessing the environmental attitudes and awareness of young learners has proven to be challenging. Art-based assessments that encourage creativity and accommodate different modes of expression may be a particularly useful complement to conventional tools (e.g. surveys), but their efficacy and feasibility across diverse contexts has not been adequately explored. To examine the potential utility of integrating art into evaluations of environmental education outcomes, we adapted an existing drawing prompt and corresponding grading rubric to assess the environmental attitudes and awareness of children (ages 6–12) at summer camps in Athens, GA, USA (n = …

Evidence For Bluegill Spawning Plasticity Obtained By Disentangling Complex Factors Related To Recruitment, Mark A. Kaemingk, Kristopher J. Stahr, Jeffrey C. Jolley, Richard S. Holland, David W. Willis

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Fishes can exhibit many forms of plasticity to maximize fitness. However, limited information exists on the ability of freshwater fish to adjust spawning behavior and characteristics (e.g., timing, duration, magnitude of spawning events) to minimize mortality of recruits and ultimately maximize fitness.Wewanted to test the life history hypothesis for bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) (i.e., opportunistic strategy) utilizing existing literature and results from our study to further evaluate the potential for spawning plasticity in this species. Our objective was to identify bluegill recruitment bottlenecks (i.e., periods of high mortality) and factors associated with these events in a single lake during …