Environmental Studies Commons^™

Development And Field Validation Of An Environmental Dna (Edna) Assay For Invasive Clams Of The Genus Corbicula, Dominique A. Cowart, Mark A. Renshaw, Crysta Gantz, John Umek, Sudeep Chandra, Scott P. Egan, David M. Lodge, Eric R. Larson

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Early detection is imperative for successful control or eradication of invasive species, but many organisms are difficult to detect at the low abundances characteristic of recently introduced populations. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a promising invasive species surveillance tool for freshwaters, owing to its high sensitivity to detect aquatic species even when scarce. We report here a new eDNA assay for the globally invasive Asian clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774), with field validation in large lakes of western North America. We identified a candidate primer pair for the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene for C. fluminea. We …

Defining Extreme Events: A Cross-Disciplinary Review, Lauren E. Mcphillips, Heejun Chang, Mikhail Chester, Yaella Dipletri, Erin Friedman, Nancy B. Grimm, John S. Kominoski, Timon Mcphearson, Pablo Méndez-Lázaro, Emma J. Rosi, Javad Shafiei Shiva

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Extreme events are of interest worldwide given their potential for substantial impacts on social, ecological, and technical systems. Many climate-related extreme events are increasing in frequency and/or magnitude due to anthropogenic climate change, and there is increased potential for impacts due to the location of urbanization and the expansion of urban centers and infrastructures. Many disciplines are engaged in research and management of these events. However, a lack of coherence exists in what constitutes and defines an extreme event across these fields, which impedes our ability to holistically understand and manage these events. Here, we review 10 years of academic …

Personal History Ethnography In Environmental Anthropology: A Methodological Case Study, Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

The study of the relationship between humans and the environment and the ways in which humans use, abuse, or protect the environment is in part a study of motivation. Understanding the basis for motivation requires not just understanding individual or community sentiment towards the environment but researching the cultural norms, values and beliefs that underlie and foster cultural perspectives in the first place. But how do we begin to determine where, when and how those cultural norms, values, beliefs get developed, taught and inculcated?

The following paper presents the collection of life hisories as one methodological approach to accessing the …

Athabasca River Glacial Melt Global Warming Blues, Gene Hyde

The Goose

“Athabasca River Glacial Melt Global Warming Blues” is a poem and photograph by Gene Hyde, a writer, photographer, and archivist living in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. This is part of his PhotoEpigraphic51 series that combines a photograph, an epigraph, and a 51 syllable, three haiku verse structure. The photograph was taken in September 2017 along the Athabasca River in Jasper National Park.

Locating Provisioning Ecosystem Services In Urban Forests: Forageable Woody Species In New York City, Usa, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Scholarship on the ecosystem services provided by urban forests has focused on regulating and supporting services, with a growing body of research examining provisioning and cultural ecosystem services from farms and gardens in metropolitan areas. Using the case of New York, New York, USA, we propose a method to assess the supply of potential provisioning ecosystem services from species and spaces other than those explicitly designated for food production. We analyze the abundance and spatial distribution of trees and shrubs with known uses for food, medicine, craft, and other purposes across urban greenspace types. To do so, we created a …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2017 Data Report, Ryan Manuel

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2017 at Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire).

During the seventh full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited eight long-term monitoring plots on May 22-25, 2017 to collect data on the plant communities at SCBL. This is part of a long-term monitoring effort to better understand the condition of the vegetation at SCBL. NGPN staff captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, abundance of individual native and non-native …

Benefit Relevant Indicators: Ecosystem Services Measures That Link Ecological And Social Outcomes, Lydia Olander, Robert J. Johnston, Heather Tallis, James S. Kagan, Lynn A. Maguire, Stephen Polasky, Dean Urban, James Boyd, Lisa Wainger, Margaret A. Palmer

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

There is a growing movement in government, environmental non-governmental organizations and the private sector to include ecosystem services in decision making. Adding ecosystem services into assessments implies measuring how much a change in ecological conditions affects people, social benefit, or value to society. Despite consensus around the general merit of accounting for ecosystem services, systematic guidance on what to measure and how is lacking. Current ecosystem services assessments often resort to biophysical proxies (e.g., area of wetland in a floodplain) or even disregard services that seem difficult to measure. Valuation, an important tool for assessing trade-offs and comparing outcomes, is …

Essays On Environmental Conditions In Cuba, Gonzalo Cordova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cuban environmental conditions have not attracted the attention received by otherareas of Cuba's economic performance. Chapter 1 examines selected ambient air pollutants and the use of fossil fuels in Cuba, indicators for which there are relatively better available data, as of the “Special Period” extending into recent years. In contrast with prior anecdotally-driven approaches, the empirical examination aims to specifically identify Cuba's performance and international standing on these indicators through the use of a heterogeneous individual country adaptation of the income-pollution relationship known as the Environmental Kuznets Curve. In response to critiques in the literature, extensive testing of the panel …

Acoustic Surveys Of Bats At Northern Great Plains Parks And Preliminary Results From 2014-16, Daniel S. Licht

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

From 2014-16, the Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (Network)—in collaboration with the Midwest Regional Biologist—used acoustic methods to monitor bat populations at 12 Network parks. Six parks were monitored using the nascent North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) framework. Six other parks did not meet a priori criteria for inclusion in NABat so they were monitored using similar methods, but a non-systematic sampling frame.

Fifty-five NABat stations were established along with 62 non-NABat stations. Stations were typically monitored for 4-7 nights each year using equipment that records the echolocation calls of bats. Fourteen mobile survey routes …

Shifted Baselines Reduce Willingness To Pay For Conservation, Loren Mcclenachan, Ryunosuke Matsuura, Payal Shah, Sahan T.M. Dissanayake

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A loss of memory of past environmental degradation has resulted in shifted baselines, which may result in conservation and restoration goals that are less ambitious than if stakeholders had a full knowledge of ecosystem potential. However, the link between perception of baseline states and support for conservation planning has not been tested empirically. Here, we investigate how perceptions of change in coral reef ecosystems affect stakeholders' willingness to pay (WTP) for the establishment of protected areas. Coral reefs are experiencing rapid, global change that is observable by the public, and therefore provide an ideal ecosystem to test links between beliefs …

Pesticides And The Environment Ent 411, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Potential Of Ubiquitous Flexible Energy Loads To Provide Grid-Scale Balancing In Resource Constrained Environments: A Case Study In Nicaragua, Diego Ponce De Leon Barido

Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Reports

Future growth in urbanization will mainly occur in cities of the rising south. UN Habitat reports that in the past decade, the urban population in emerging economies grew on average 1.2 million people per week. By 2050, it is expected that seven out of ten people will be living in cities. An accompanying technology to urbanization, the use of cellphones and smartphones has seen unprecedented growth in recent decades. Currently there are more active mobile connections (7.8 billion SIM connections and 4.8 billion unique mobile subscribers) than people in the world (7.4 billion), with penetration rates being large even in …

Intensive Cultural Resources Survey For The Proposed Farm-To-Market 1625 Realignment Project, Travis County, Texas, Ashely Eyeington, Christopher Shelton

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

At the request of Brookfield Residential, SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey for the proposed realignment of Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 1625 in southeast Austin, Travis County, Texas. Portions of the project area are located within road right-of-way (ROW) owned by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), a political subdivision of the State of Texas. As such, the proposed undertaking is subject to review under the Antiquities Code of Texas. Archaeological field investigations required a Texas Antiquities Permit issued by the Texas Historical Commission. SWCA conducted investigations under Antiquities Permit No. 7975 issued to Principal Investigator Ken …

Intensive Archeological Survey Of The Willrae Tract City Of Florence, Williamson County, Texas, Caitlin Gulihur, Beth Valenzuela, Ann M. Scott

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Georgetown Independent School District (GISD) has proposed the Willrae Tract project where school facilities will be constructed south of Florence, Williamson County, Texas. GISD retained Terracon Consultants, Inc. to conduct a systematic, intensive pedestrian survey of the approximate 100-acre project area. Because GISD, a political subdivision of the State of Texas, sponsored the project, the proposed undertaking is subject to compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas and oversight from the Texas Historical Commission. In addition, the survey meets the standards for compliance under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, should a US Army …

Archeological And Historical Investigations Of The Proposed 28.7-Acre Sweeny Hospital Tract, Sweeny, Brazoria County, Texas, Jeffrey D. Owens, Eugene Foster

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Horizon Environmental Services, Inc. (Horizon) was selected by Berg-Oliver Associates, Inc. (BOA), on behalf of the Sweeny Hospital District, to conduct a cultural resources inventory survey and assessment for the proposed development of an approximately 11.6-hectare (28.7- acre) tract in Sweeny, Brazoria County, Texas. The proposed tract consists of a largely undeveloped, lightly wooded parcel bounded on the north by County Road (CR) 524 (a.k.a. Main Street) and on the south by Stevenson Slough. The proposed project would involve the construction of a new hospital that represents a single-site replacement facility for an existing community hospital. The Area of Potential …

Cultural Resources Investigation Report Of The Proposed Longview Arboretum In Longview, Texas Gregg County, Texas, Michael Ryan, Victor Galan

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Sphere 3 Environmental, Inc. (Sphere 3) and Deep East Texas Archaeological Consultants (DETAC) conducted an intensive pedestrian cultural resources survey of an approximately 10.5- hectare (26-acre) tract of land on April 2, 2018 for MHS Planning & Design, LLC. Proposed development includes 1,255.8 meters (m) (4,120 feet (ft)) of trails 3.1 m (10.0 ft) wide with two bridges, three benches, and a boardwalk for the Longview Arboretum in Longview, Texas. The project area is located east of the Muade Cobb Convention Center, south of W. Cotton Street, west of The Green, and north of Highway 31. The land is owned …

Intensive Archaeological Survey Of The Proposed Saws Masterson Road Water Line Project, Bexar County, Texas, Virgina Moore

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

At the request of the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), an intensive archaeological survey was conducted by Pape-Dawson for the proposed Masterson Road water line project located southwest of the City of San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas. The project area’s southern terminus is 6,560 feet (ft) (2,000 meters [m]) south of U.S. Highway 90 (US 90), and the linear project area extends north along Masterson Road for about 2,904 ft (885 m) before turning east and northeast along a proposed new road (Copper Crossing Street), for a total length of 6,726 ft (2,050 m). The proposed water line will …

Sh 71 At Pope Bend Road Intersection, Bastrop County, Texas, Jon Dowling

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

PROJECT TITLE: Intensive Archeological Survey of SH 71 at Pope Bend Road Intersection, Bastrop County, Texas.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The proposed undertaking would consist of roadway improvements along SH 71 between Pope Bend Road and Still Forest Drive for a distance of approximately 1.75 miles. This area is comprised of properties owned by the State of Texas (existing right-of-way [ROW]), as well as properties that are privately owned (proposed new ROW). Blanton & Associates, Inc. conducted survey of portions of the project area of potential effects (APE) on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Austin District.

PROJECT LOCATION: Bastrop …

Intensive Archeological Survey For The Bridge Replacement On County Road 279 At Kings Creek, Kaufman County, Texas, Jay King, Benjamin Morton

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

On behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive archeological survey on June 6–7, 2018, of a potential bridge replacement consisting of approximately 2.0 acres of new and existing rightof-way (ROW) along County Road (CR) 279 in Kaufman County, Texas. Because the project will receive funding from the Federal Highways Administration, it qualifies as an undertaking as defined in Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 800.16(y) and, therefore, the work was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S. Code 306108). Furthermore, the project must …

Intensive Mechanical Scraping Near The Mitchell Cemetery, Tarrant County, Texas, Fort Worth District, Christopher Shelton, Steve Carpenter

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

On behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive archeological survey in April 2018 of 0.22 acres of existing TxDOT right of way (ROW) adjoining the western side of the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe railroad located within the City of Fort Worth in Tarrant County. This survey was conducted in support of the proposed State Highway (SH) 183 improvements. Investigations included pedestrian survey and intensive mechanical scraping to assess the presence of or potential for unmarked extramural graves associated with the historic Mitchell Cemetery. Because the project will receive funding from the Federal Highways …