Physical and Environmental Geography Commons^™

Interpretive Programs For Natural Resource Interpretation At Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California, Shannon Brianne Glendenning

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This guide to Natural Resource Interpretation in the Glacier Point Region of Yosemite National Park, California was developed over three summers of research and implementation. The range of programs developed to inform the public about the regional and local natural resources are: formal, semi-formal, ranger led hikes and walks, activity based programs, and informal visitor contacts. The programs were designed to inform park visitors about the natural, social, and historical resources in the region. The overall objective is to connect the visitors with the marvels and wonders of the natural resources at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, California. This …

On The Physical Geography Of The Malay Archipelago (1863), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

Northern Great Plains Network Vital Signs Monitoring Plan, Robert A. Gitzen, Marcia Wilson, United States National Park Service, Northern Great Plains Inventory And Monitoring Network, Mike Bynum, John Wrede, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Kara J. Paintner

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The condition of natural resources in parks and other units of the National Park Service (NPS) is fundamental to this agency’s mission to manage park resources “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Park managers are increasingly confronted with complex and challenging resource management issues and need a broad-based understanding of the status and trends of park resources for the long-term protection of park ecosystems. The National Park Service has initiated a long-term ecological “Vital Signs” monitoring program to provide the minimum infrastructure needed to track the overall condition of natural resources in parks and to provide early …

Climate Change And Human Health Consequences, Jennifer Alford

Social Sciences

The intent of this project is to highlight the human health ramifications of climate change and the strategies for coping with this challenge. Possible effects may include reduction in agricultural outputs, dwindling freshwater aquifers, intensification of tropospheric ozone, and expanding areas of disease-carrying vectors. Because humans are closely connected with their environment, we are directly affected by any environmental disturbance. Consequently, human health is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The questions are: what are those consequences, how will we adapt, and what does the future hold?

Learning Sustainable Development: Chimeneas De La Esperanza, Miriam V. Mollan Gundersen

Social Sciences

Social inequality and environmental degradation are motivating informed young people into action and connecting impoverished regions of the world with students in more developed nations. This Social Sciences senior project is to analyze an alternative development model designed by a group of Californian university students. The project, named Chimeneas de la Esperanza, is designed to help impoverished Nicaraguan women start a ceramics business. The major hurdle of this mission is to establish a market for the ceramics product. Energy efficient ceramic stoves and smoke ventilating chimneys would benefit the community and avoid an impacted crafts market. The project encompasses ideas …

Revised Relative Abundance Estimates And Temporal Activity Of Bats At Three Great Lakes National Parks Based On Acoustic Data, Bruce W. Miller

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

In this study, Miller re-analyzed acoustic bat data collected from June-August 2003 that was part of a baseline inventory of bat species in three national parks in the Lake Superior region. While the original study presented base-line data on the presence/absence of bat species in these parks, this reanalysis provides estimates of relative abundance and temporal activity of the identified species. Using a suite of recently developed acoustic analysis tools, Miller created species specific filters. This allowed parsing of calls from non-fragmented sequences and differentiate between two species, Myotis septentrionalis and Myotis lucifugus, that were combined into a …

The Changing Contexts And Transboundary Dynamics Of Reconciling Conservation And Development In The Amazon Borderlands, David S. Salisbury, Jorge Vela Alvarado, Cloe R. Franko

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

The 12,000 kilometers of international boundaries within the Amazon’s lowland rainforest biome form the axis of a borderland region shared by the nine states of Amazonia (Figure 1). These Amazon borderlands contain high concentrations of conservation units and indigenous territories to preserve the transboundary region’s rich ecological and cultural diversity (Figures 2 & 3). However, this biocultural diversity is increasingly threatened by advancing development frontiers and a growing global demand for Amazonian resources.

The Importance Of Dust: A Source Of Beauty And Essential To Life (1898), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

Emergent Geographies In Green Energy, Sean Tierney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A consensus on climate change is spurring an energy transition, but the geography of this transition is uneven and this paper evaluates the energy landscape globally, in the United States and in Colorado. Developed countries have taken the lead in installations and of next generation energy technology ownership. Green electricity has still not achieved parity with fossil fuels, which puts their adoption in the hands of policy makers who are trying to spur innovation with minimal financial disruption. Yet the future of green electricity is in question due to weak and fragmented policy regimes, but also because of inadequate R&D …

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Western Australian Part Of The Nullarbor Region, Peter-Jon A. Waddell, A K. Gardner, P Hennig

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the Western Australian part of the Nullarbor region, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) between 2005 and 2007, describes and maps the natural resources of the region. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the area's natural resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The Nullarbor region has …

Niobrara National Scenic River Condition Assessment, Sunil Narumalani, Gary D. Willson, Christine K. Lockert, Paul B. T. Merani

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Niobrara National Scenic River spans a 122-km (76-mile) long reach of the Niobrara River in rural, north-central Nebraska. The scenic river encompasses 9,338 ha (23,074 acres) of land and water, all of which is in private ownership, except for about 320 ha (790 acres). Because the scenic river does not own land, it achieves management goals by coordinating and collaborating with federal, state, and local jurisdictions and private landowners.

The central Niobrara River Valley is often referred to as a “biological crossroads” with plant and animal species representative of northern boreal forest, eastern deciduous forest, rocky mountain coniferous …

Tracking Bare Sand Mobilization Arising From Landscape Manipulations In The Grasslands Destabilization Experiment (Gdex) In The Nebraska Sandhills Using Imaging Spectroscopy, Benjamin Helder

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Grassland Destabilization Experiment (GDEX) is a landscape scale manipulative experiment initiated in 2004 in the Nebraska Sandhills to evaluate changes in surface properties following the abrupt loss of stabilizing vegetation. The GDEX features five treatments allocated among ten plots of 120 m in diameter (1.13 ha). The Aggressive Bare Sand protocol included chemical defoliation and subsequent shallow disking and raking in 2004 to devegetate the plot with periodic physical disturbance to maintain bare sand. The Long Term Disturbance (Press) protocol includes an initial chemical defoliation in May 2005 and seasonal spring reapplications, but no physical disturbance. Short Term Disturbance …

United States Land Cover Land Use Change, Albedo And Radiative Forcing: Past And Potential Climate Implications, Christopher A. Barnes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Land Cover Land Use (LCLU) change affects Earth surface properties including albedo that impose a radiative forcing on the climate. Recent spatially explicit satellite derived contemporary LCLU, albedo, and projected LCLU data are used to study the impact of LCLU change from 1973 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2050, on albedo and surface radiative forcing for the conterminous United States. Four research hypotheses concerned with past and potential future climate implications of LCLU change are addressed. The research described in this dissertation makes an important contribution to advancing understanding of the role of LCLU change on the climate system, …

Combining A Dispersal Model With Network Theory To Assess Habitat Connectivity, Todd R. Lookingbill, Robert H. Gardner, Joseph R. Ferrari, Cherry E. Keller

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Assessing the potential for threatened species to persist and spread within fragmented landscapes requires the identification of core areas that can sustain resident populations and dispersal corridors that can link these core areas with isolated patches of remnant habitat. We developed a set of GIS tools, simulation methods, and network analysis procedures to assess potential landscape connectivity for the Delmarva fox squirrel (DFS; Sciurus niger cinereus), an endangered species inhabiting forested areas on the Delmarva Peninsula, USA. Information on the DFS’s life history and dispersal characteristics, together with data on the composition and configuration of land cover on the peninsula, …

Extractive Reserves, David S. Salisbury

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Extractive reserves are territories dedicated to environmental protection and the sustainable use of nature resources by traditional populations. Reserves follow a traditional land tenure model based on individual family and communal property rights to common areas, such as forest trails used to extract or harvest nontimber forest products. Although the extractive reserve concept originates in the tropical forests of the Brazilian Amazon, reserves have also been created in aquatic, floodplain, and savanna landscapes throughout Brazil. There are now 50 extractive reserves covering more than 10 million hectares, an area larger than Portugal, and more continue to be created. Despite their …

Influence Of Wetland Landscape Structure On Duck Nest Success At Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, Daniel Robert Craver

Geography Masters Research Papers

The decline of waterfowl populations and their requisite wetland habitats remains a concern. Because migratory bird refuges are often artificial landscapes of actively managed wetlands, and wildlife populations experience their greatest change during the breeding season, refuges should be designed to maximize breeding habitat. While past nest success studies have focused on at-nest variables, new approaches are needed to evaluate the effect of composition and configuration of plant communities at the landscape scale. This study aims to quantify landscape patterns within individual refuge management units to determine influence upon historical nesting success averages of ducks at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge …

Identifying Potential Carbon Flux Responses To Shifting Hydroecological And Climactic Regimes In The Peace-Athabasca Delta, Caleb W. Light

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The CO2 flux response of organic carbon stored in lake sediments and littoral peat contained in sensitive, northern wetlands may contribute to accelerating atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Temperature and moisture conditions are important variables that affect the rate and quantity of CO2 released to the atmosphere from organic matter stored in lake sediments and peat. Antecedent hydroecological conditions also influence the direction and magnitude of CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere in a changing environment. To better understand and characterize the role of antecedent conditions on CO2 fluxes, this study combines paleolimnological reconstructions with laboratory incubations of littoral peat and lake sediment …

Controls On Terrestrial Evapotranspiration From A Forest-Wetland Complex In The Western Boreal Plain, Alberta, Canada, Scott M. Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Western Boreal Plain (WBP) of North Central Alberta consists of a mosaic wetlands and aspen (Populus tremuloides) dominated uplands. This region operates within a moisture deficit regime where precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (ET) are the dominant hydrologic fluxes. As such these systems are extremely susceptible to the slightest to the slightest climatic variability that may upset the balance between P and ET. Vegetation composition is the dominant control on wetland ET, and itself is extremely dynamic within these wetland environments, which can be attributed to varying moisture regimes along with micrometeorological variations. To address this variability in …

Spatial And Spatial-Temporal Analysis Of Grizzly Bear Movement Patterns As Related To Underlying Landscapes Across Multiple Scales, Barbara Lynn Carra

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Studying the movements of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in Alberta is imperative for scientifically informed management practices. To properly balance industry requirements with conservation imperatives, it is necessary to understand the spatial and spatial-temporal movement patterns of grizzly bears as they relate to underlying landscape properties. As part of the Foothills Research Institute Grizzly Bear Research Program, this dissertation explored both fine and largescale movement patterns generated from global positioning system (GPS) radiotelemetry data.

Between 1999 and 2005, grizzly bears were captured and radio-collared across western Alberta. The temporal resolution of GPS data collection had a large impact …

A Late-Quaternary Record Of Environmental Variability From Lake Sediment Cores, Wind River Range, Wyoming, Tyler Johnson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sediment cores from two alpine lakes in Wyoming's Wind River Range were collected and analyzed to establish a record of depositional and mineralogical variability. Due to the hydrologic setting and isolation of Fiddlers and Louis lakes, these cores yielded the longest continuous limnological record in the region that extends back nearly 20,000 years to full-glacial conditions, a rarity for alpine lakes in the western United States.

To develop a paleolimnological record for Fiddlers and Louis lakes, the sediment cores were analyzed using four laboratory techniques. These techniques included particle size analysis, x-ray diffraction, heavy mineral analysis, and loss-on-ignition. Radiocarbon ages …