Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Youth Initiative Hector’S Helpers: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering April 16, 2011 – August 5, 2011, Hector's Helpers

Anti-littering Programs

The Hector’s Helpers program was in full action this quarter. Students at Roy Martin Middle School completed their environmental stewardship project. Our team produced and distributed promotional flyers in order to increase Clark County School participation in Hector’s Helpers. In addition this quarter, the Hector’s Helpers team was showcased in a news segment aired by Las Vegas City Scene.

The John Muir Newsletter, Fall/Winter 2011/2012, The John Muir Center

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

Fall/Winter 2011/2012 ; LA--/*. ; oJW J\\AAAA, uLwtiAjU)OlGA, THE JOHN MUIR CENTER SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: The present is the key to the past. Muir would apply geological formation and specifically the action of glacial ice to the handiwork of God. Muir chose to live "to entice people to look at Nature's loveliness." In the beginning and to the end botany was the foundation upon which Muir's work as a preservationist grew and glacial studies were seamlessly connected to his study of plants. An Essay P h e n o m on John E N A L S C I …

Breeding Fidelity And Landscape Effects On Distribution Of Mallards And Duck Broods In The Nebraska Sandhills, Zachary J. Cunningham

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

I investigated aspects of mallard (Anas platyrhnchos) breeding ecology in the Nebraska Sandhills during 2007-2008. Previous work in this region suggests that nest success is low for a large area of intact grassland such as the Sandhills. My goal was to conduct a local-scale examination of age distribution and return rates of mallards, and a large-scale examination of brood distribution in the Sandhills region as a whole. This information will help explain factors contributing to the low nest success previously observed, determine relationships between landscape composition and spatial distribution of waterfowl in the Sandhills, and predict productivity and …

Avian Influenza In Migratory Birds In The United States, 2007–2009, And Effects Of September Hunting Seasons On Survival, Harvest, And Recovery Rates Of Canada Geese Banded In Southeast Nebraska, Scott R. Groepper

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

Highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV H5N1) poses risks to wild birds, poultry, and humans. Personnel with the United States Department of Agriculture-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service-Wildlife Services, state, and tribal wildlife agencies collected 168,940 samples from migratory birds from 2007 to 2009 to test for presence of HPAIV H5N1. No HPAIV was found, but other subtypes were discovered, including H5 and H7. I estimated prevalence of avian influenza virus by flyway and found prevalence was lowest each year in the Atlantic Flyway (6.7%–8.3%), highest in the Pacific Flyway in 2007 (13.3%) and 2008 (13.4%), and highest in the Mississippi Flyway …

Using Slow-Release Permanganate To Remove Tce From A Low Permeable Aquifer At A Former Landfill, Mark D. Christenson

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

Past disposal of industrial solvents into unregulated landfills is a significant source of groundwater contamination. In 2009, we began investigating a former unregulated landfill with known trichloroethene (TCE) contamination. Our objective was to pinpoint the location of the plume and treat the TCE using in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO). We accomplished this by using electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to survey the landfill and map the subsurface lithology. We then used the ERI maps to guide direct push groundwater sampling. A TCE plume (100-600 µg L^-1) was identified in a low permeable silty-clay aquifer (K_h = 0.5 m …

Impact Of Alternative Range Management Systems On Grasslands In The Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska, Luis E. Ramirez

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

Land management strategies can directly and indirectly affect plant assemblages and their behavior. Little research has been performed in south central Nebraska to quantify the effect of fire and grazing interactions on species composition, vegetation structure, forage quality, and potential cost associated with land management.

I evaluate the effect of season-long continuous, patch-burning, and rotational grazing approaches on vegetation and ranching costs to determine their value as conservation tools. This study includes data collected between 2007 and 2009 from grasslands in south central Nebraska. I found that land management influence plant assemblages by shifting communities when grazing and/or fire are …

Discontinuities: Predicting Invasions And Extinctions, Aaron Lotz

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

In this dissertation, I explore multiple tenets of the textural discontinuity hypothesis, which states that hierarchical landscape structures with scale-specific pattern entrain attributes of animals inhabiting the landscape. Landscapes form hierarchies that are structured by vegetative, geomorphological and contagious disturbance processes. The spatial and temporal patterns inherent in landscapes reflect numerous processes, interacting on distinct scales, which shape the assembly of animal communities. Analysis of body mass patterns and functional group distributions has been suggested as methods to provide insight about these underlying hierarchical processes. Scientists have posited that species at the edges of body mass aggregations may be exposed …

Child Care Center Garden, Patricia Sowell, Linda Jenkins

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

No abstract provided.

2011 Schedule Of Events, Education For Sustainability Summer Institute

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

The WKU College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability hosted the first Education for Sustainability Summer Institute (EFSSI 2011) for Kentucky and the region on July 21-22, 2011. Participants learned about model programs, practical strategies, and resources for integrating sustainability into classes, schools, and districts. This event is the first of its kind in Kentucky and the region. It is being hosted by the WKU College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and WKU Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability.

Click on Download button for full Schedule of Events.

Education For Sustainability Summer Institute 2011 Conference Program

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

EFSSI 2011 is designed for pre-K-12 teachers, university faculty and staff, non-formal educators, and administrators. Come to learn about successful program models and practical strategies for integrating sustainability into classes, schools, and districts.

Click on the Download button for full Conference Program.

Preliminary Assessment Of Hybridization And Introgression Of Morone Species In The Toledo Bend Reservoir, Louisiana, Kelsey L. Daroca

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering April 5, 2011-July 4, 2011, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Plans were set for a meeting of government, business and nonprofit stakeholders to explore how to enhance statewide collaboration on litter and dumping issues.
• The Hector’s Helpers program with the Clark County School District continued in various schools.
• Planning for the integration of the information sharing portal, volunteer litter monitoring and the GIS database was conducted.
• A total of 12 clean-up events were conducted this quarter.

On The Spatial Heterogeneity Of Net Ecosystem Productivity In Complex Landscapes, Ryan E. Emanuel, Diego Andrés Riveros-Iregui, Brian L. Mcglynn, Howard E. Epstein

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Micrometeorological flux towers provide spatially integrated estimates of net ecosystem production (NEP) of carbon over areas ranging from several hectares to several square kilometers, but they do so at the expense of spatially explicit information within the footprint of the tower. This finer-scale information is crucial for understanding how physical and biological factors interact and give rise to towermeasured fluxes in complex landscapes. We present a simple approach for quantifying and evaluating the spatial heterogeneity of cumulative growing season NEP for complex landscapes. Our method is based on spatially distributed information about physical and biological landscape variables and knowledge of …

Long-Term Groundwater Monitoring Results At Large, Sudden Denatured Ethanol Releases, Roy F. Spalding, Mark A. Toso, Mary Exner Spalding, Gregory Hattan, Tom M. Higgins, Adam C. Sekely, Shane D. Jensen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Hundreds of groundwater samples were collected at E95 (95% ethanol, 5% gasoline) train derailment spills in Balaton and Cambria, Minnesota and South Hutchinson, Kansas. Most samples were analyzed for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), ethanol, methane, acetate, terminal electron acceptors, and field parameters. At each site, maximum groundwater ethanol concentrations at percent levels were restricted to the release area and downgradient ethanol transport was not detected. A shallow, anaerobic groundwater zone characterized by the absence of dissolved oxygen, low nitrate (less than 1 mg N/L), high Fe+2, and high dissolved methane (more than 10,000 μg/L) and BTEX formed and …

Turning Students Into Problem Solvers, Larkin A. Powell, Andrew J. Tyre, Michael J. Conroy, James T. Peterson, B. Ken Williams

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In the popular movie Apollo 13, based on the actual NASA mission, three astronauts are stranded in space, their craft’s electrical system broken, their oxygen quickly running out. To help them fix the problem and return home safely, mission controllers summon a group of engineers, dump a pile of equipment onto a desk—the tools available to the astronauts—and tell them to find a solution, or more specifically, “a way to put a square peg in a round hole. Rapidly.” Eventually, the engineers’ plan saves the day, and the astronauts make it home.

State and federal agency biologists generally do …

Baselines Newsletter, No. 8, Summer/Fall 2011, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

Cedar Infestation Impacts Avian Communities Along The Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska, January S. Frost, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Habitat modification has the potential to cause changes in structure and composition of bird communities. Our goal was to determine the response of Songbird community composition to eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) removal in The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska. We used point counts to survey birds in the riparian matrix of grassland and forest habitats. More than 60 species were recorded on surveys during 2004–2005. We also use the program PRESENCE to determine the response of five species to various habitat components, including cedar density: House Wren (Troglodytes aedon), Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculates …

Droughtscape, Summer 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

New NDMC Website

Drought May Improve in Southeast and Southwest

Impacts Summary: Fire, Crop Loss and More

International Activities

NDMC Launches Ranch Planning Tool

Serving Data to Order

Workshop Builds Drought Planning Community

The Distribution And Life Cycle Of Alliaria Petiolate In Lincoln, Nebraska, Caleb Pharris

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard) is a biennial alien invasive plant species of the Brassicacea family. It is responsible for displacing native plant species throughout North America and its management has proven to be extremely difficult. Recently several populations of Alliaria petiolata have been discovered in southwestern Lincoln, Nebraska. The spread of Alliaria petiolata is a concern for natural resource managers and the general public. Due to the difficulty of its control, Alliaria petiolata is capable of creating monocultures which diminish the aesthetic value of an ecosystem. While most commonly found in the understory of hardwood forests, it is capable of …

Variable Renewable Energy In Modeling Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios, Falko Ueckerdt, Robert J. Brecha, Gunnar Luderer, Patrick Sullivan, Eva Schmid, Nico Bauer, Diana Böttger

Physics Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the issue of how to account for short‐term temporal variability of renewable energy sources and power demand in long‐term climate change mitigation scenarios in energy‐economic models. An approach that captures in a stylized way the major challenges to the integration of variable renewable energy sources into power systems has been developed. As a first application this approach has been introduced to REMIND‐D, a hybrid energy‐economy model of Germany. An approximation of the residual load duration curve is implemented. The approximating function endogenously changes depending on the penetration and mix of variable renewable power. The approach can thus …