Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effects Of Street Tree Site Planting Width On Canopy Width And Ability To Provide Ecosystem Services, Ryan Kendall

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In a time where pests such as emerald ash borer are reducing urban forests, it is important to gain a return on investment for new trees planted. Since trees cost money, the value of the ecosystem services that they provide over the course of their lives should outweigh their costs. Due to the need for a return on investment, it is important to know whether newly planted street trees are being planted in a space that does not inhibit their growth or ability to provide benefits. This study, in Lincoln, NE looks to determine the relationship between a street tree’s …

The Introduction Of A Carbon Market: A Regression Analysis Of The Impacts On Participating Firms, Zachery Sehnert

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In this study, we strive to analyze the economic impacts on the firms participating in an emission trading system. Many studies have analyzed the impact on emission control and whether or not it is an effective tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This was achieved by running a log regression of sales against emissions from before and after the introduction of the carbon market. The statistical technique of Difference in Differences (DID) was used to observe the outcome against a control group, or those that had not participated in said market. The Korea Emission Trading Scheme (KETS) was the focus …

What Are The Impacts Of Plastic Pollution On Sea Turtles And How Can We Prevent Them?, Stacey Safarik

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper will address the impacts of plastic pollution on sea turtles and how humans can combat the issue. Sea turtles are often harmed due to human activities because the ocean is used as a dumping ground for trash, and humans need to take it upon themselves to change this. The purpose of this project was to learn how plastic can impact the lives of sea turtles, and to find out if there are prevention efforts in place. A thematic literature review was conducted in order to find all of the data. Once all of the data was compiled, it …

The Effects Of Phosphate On The Metamorphosis Of Larval Western Barred Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma Mavortium), Alexis Jean Polivanov

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This investigation will collect data to assist in determining if elevated aquatic phosphate levels affects the metamorphosis rate of larval western barred tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium). Monoammonium phosphate fertilizers are being used on crops in Nebraska (NDA, 2017). This area lines up with the area the western barred tiger salamanders are disappearing from (Damme, 2018). Monoammonium phosphate is made up of nitrogen and phosphate. There have been several studies showing how nitrogen is harmful to amphibians such as this salamander (Griffis-Kyle, 2007) (Griffis-Kyle & Richtie, 2007), but there have not been many showing how phosphate affects amphibian’s metamorphosis …

Effect Of Urban Green Space On Urban Populations., Jack Mensinger

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

As the world's population continues to urbanize, population density increases and people endure the ever-increasing speed of the urban environment. The need to focus on mental and physical health becomes ever more critical as daily routines may not fulfill urban residents' basic needs. The bulk of work studying the relationship between green space, mental, and physical wellness, have had a narrow scope in their assessment of the benefits of green space. Previous studies focused either on the human interaction or the spaces utilities as a corridor and a habitat for flora and fauna. We utilized a systematic literature review to …

A Study Of The Relationships Between Environments And Human Death Practices, Carly Elizabeth Thody

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper analyzes connections between environmental factors and human death practices from several locations throughout the world. Using a thorough literature review, a thematic analysis is applied to combine a variety of sources to draw conclusions regarding how death practices are influenced and evolve over time. Environments, broken down into physical geography, religious, social, and political influences, are examined for the United States, Mexico, Japan, The Torajans of Sulawesi, Indonesia, and Tibet. Factors such as religion and culture have been an important component in the development of many societies’ practices revolving around death. The interconnectedness of cultures makes it difficult …

The Effect Of Pictorial Signs On Recycling Rates, Christopher A. Sukstorf

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Recycling is a core way that college students can act altruistically. Many studies have been conducted to study how to increase the participation of recycling on college campuses, office buildings, and the like. This study focuses on the University Lutheran Chapel, a Christian church adjacent to the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. While the University of Nebraska – Lincoln has drastically improved recycling participation in recent years, the University Lutheran Chapel lags behind. Pictorial signs were used in an experiment to determine whether they improved recycling rates at The Chapel. Recycling rates at the University Lutheran Chapel were measured by …

A Study Of Environmental Attitudes Between Rural And Urban Students, Sabrina Severin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

With growing environmental concern and climate change rapidly occurring, it is important to understand how these issues will impact different areas of the world. Both urban and rural areas will be impacted in different ways. In order to tackle these climate issues and create environmental policies, it is important to understand environmental attitudes of residents in all areas. Understanding environmental attitude may help understand environmental behavior. An environmental attitude is a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating the natural environment with some degree of favor or disfavor (Milfont and Duckitt, 2010). A literary analysis was conducted to determine if there is …

Future Implications Of Extreme Heat On Public Health For Those Living In Lincoln, Nebraska, Mandy Koehler

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Increasing temperatures are expected as the climate crisis progresses. This crisis is fueled by the increasing amount of greenhouse gas emissions being released into the atmosphere, which trap heat in the environment. With rising temperatures, more extreme heat events threaten multiple sectors of society including public health. To gain insight into future climate issues related to warming temperatures and public health for people living in Lincoln, Nebraska, this research will evaluate the predicted extent of extreme heat for this area and consider what other relevant regions do to deal with these problems. This study identifies the scope of future extreme …

Lincoln, Ne Composting In Restaurants, Brodie Baum

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This study aimed to investigate restaurants across the city of Lincoln, Nebraska that compost as a way to reduce food waste. Food waste is a growing environmental concern because it leads to climate change, eutrophication and acidification of bodies of water, pollutes the air and more. This study utilized a software program to distribute a survey that restaurants owners/personnel would take. The survey asked a variety of questions that provided information about the restaurants and who runs it. This information allowed us to draw important conclusions. Based on the results of the survey we can begin to speculate about possible …

To What Extent Has The Relationship Between Humans And Red Foxes (Vulpes Vulpes) Evolved Throughout History?, Abigail Misfeldt

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Red foxes are one of the few creatures able to adapt to living alongside humans as we have evolved. All humans and wildlife have some id of relationship, be it a friendly one or one of mutual hatred, or simply a neutral one. Through a systematic research review of legends, books, and journal articles, I mapped how humans and foxes have evolved together. First, the relationship between humans and foxes in a geographical manner by starting in Asia, moving to Australia and Tasmania, then Europe, Africa, finishing with North and South America. I will be analyzing all the information through …

Human-Associated Species Dominate Passerine Communities Across The United States, Helen R. Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis, Liba Pejchar

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Aim: Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species abundance. However, how human land use patterns and species invasions intersect to shape patterns of abundance and dominance within ecological communities is poorly understood even in well-known taxa.

Location: Conterminous United States.

Time period: 2010–2012.

Major taxa studied: Passeriformes.

Methods: We analyse continental-scale monitoring data to study the proportional …

Ecosystem Processes, Land Cover, Climate, And Human Settlement Shape Dynamic Distributions For Golden Eagle Across The Western Us, J.D. Tack, Barry R. Noon, Zachary Bowen, Brad C. Fedy

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Species–environment relationships for highly mobile species outside of the breeding season are often highly dynamic in response to the collective effects of everchanging climatic conditions, food resources, and anthropogenic disturbance. Capturing dynamic space-use patterns in a model-based framework is critical as model inference often drives place-based conservation planning. We applied dynamic occupancy models to broad-scale golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos survey data collected annually from 2006 to 2012 during the late summer post-fledging period in the western US. We defined survey sites as 10 km transect segments with a 1 km buffer on either transect side (n = 3540). Derived estimates …

Human-Associated Species Dominate Passerine Communities Across The United States, Helen R. Sofaer, Curtis H. Flather, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Kristin P. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Aim: Human development and agriculture can have transformative and homogenizing effects on natural systems, shifting the composition of ecological communities towards non-native and native species that tolerate or thrive under human-dominated conditions. These impacts cannot be fully captured by summarizing species presence, as they include dramatic changes to patterns of species abundance. However, how human land use patterns and species invasions intersect to shape patterns of abundance and dominance within ecological communities is poorly understood even in well-known taxa.

Location: Conterminous United States.

Time period: 2010–2012.

Major taxa studied: Passeriformes.

Methods: We analyse continental-scale monitoring data to study the proportional …

Acoustic Space Occupancy: Combining Ecoacoustics And Lidar To Model Biodiversity Variation And Detection Bias Across Heterogeneous Landscapes, Danielle I. Rappaport, J. Andrew Royle, Douglas C. Morton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

There is global interest in quantifying changing biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Ecoacoustics may offer a promising pathway for supporting multi-taxa monitoring, but its scalability has been hampered by the sonic complexity of biodiverse ecosystems and the imperfect detectability of animal-generated sounds. The acoustic signature of a habitat, or soundscape, contains information about multiple taxa and may circumvent species identification, but robust statistical technology for characterizing community-level attributes is lacking. Here, we present the Acoustic Space Occupancy Model, a flexible hierarchical framework designed to account for detection artifacts from acoustic surveys in order to model biologically relevant variation in acoustic space …

Adjusting The Lens Of Invasion Biology To Focus On The Impacts Of Climate-Driven Range Shifts, Piper D. Wallingford, Toni Lyn Morelli, Jenica M. Allen, Evelyn M. Beaury, Dana M. Blumenthal, Bethany A. Bradley, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Regan Early, Emily J. Fusco, Deborah E. Goldberg, Inés Ibáñez, Brittany B. Laginhas, Montserrat Vilà, Cascade J.B. Sorte

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

As Earth’s climate rapidly changes, species range shifts are considered key to species persistence. However, some range-shifting species will alter community structure and ecosystem processes. By adapting existing invasion risk assessment frameworks, we can identify characteristics shared with high-impact introductions and thus predict potential impacts. There are fundamen- tal differences between introduced and range-shifting species, primarily shared evolutionary histories between range shifters and their new community. Nevertheless, impacts can occur via analogous mechanisms, such as wide dispersal, community disturbance and low biotic resistance. As ranges shift in response to climate change, we have an opportunity to develop plans to facilitate …

David Quentin Bowen: A Memorial, John T. Andrews, David R. Bridgland, Peter U. Clark, Thomas M. Cronin, Claude Hillaire-Marcel, Darrel Maddy, Gifford H. Miller, Daniel R. Muhs, Colin V. Murray-Wallace

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Quaternary community lost a giant and a leader on October 5, 2020, when David Quentin Bowen, known to many as “DQ” and founding editor of Quaternary Science Reviews, passed away in Cardiff. Born on February 14, 1938 in Llanelli, SouthWales, he received his PhD at University College London. David’s 50 years of contributions to our science cannot be adequately summarized in a brief memorial but past, present, and future generations of Quaternary scientists will long remember his landmark achievements in publishing, his scientific contributions, and his personal and professional class in all his endeavors.

Late Quaternary Sea-Level History Of Saipan, Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Usa: A Test Of Tectonic Uplift And Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Models, Daniel R. Muhs, Eugene S. Schweig, Kathleen R. Simmons

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In 1979, S. Uyeda and H. Kanamori proposed a tectonic model with two end members of a subduction-boundary continuum: the “Chilean” type (shallow dip of the subducting plate, great thrust events, compression, and uplift of the overriding plate) and a “Mariana” type (steep dip of the subducting plate, no great thrust events, tension, and no uplift). This concept has been used to explain variable rates of Quaternary uplift around the Pacific Rim, yet no uplift rates have been determined for the Mariana Islands themselves, one of the end members in this model. We studied the late Quaternary Tanapag Limestone, which …

2020 Sponsorship Opportunities. Lincoln, Neb., Usa, Oct. 7-9, 2020

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Literature

The Water for Food Global Conference convenes leading international experts and organizations to focus on achieving global water and food security. “Cultivating Innovation: The Next Decade,” will include keynote speakers, sessions, interactive learning and networking opportunities. The conference also celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, headlining a week of water and food security-related activities.

Topics include: • Research and Technology Innovation • Policy/Management Tools and Best Practices • Capacity Development/Youth and Students • Water Quality and Public Health • Climate Change and Ecosystems • Women for Water and Food • Nutrition and Health …

Patterns And Potential Causes Of Changing Winter Bird Distributions In South Dakota, David L. Swanson, Reza Goljani Amirkhiz, Mark D. Dixon

The Prairie Naturalist

Average winter temperatures in the north-central United States have been increasing since the 1970s, and this warming might influence winter distributions of birds in the region. Species potentially influenced by such winter warming include short-distance migrants for which the northern boundary of the winter range is influenced by temperature, such as hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus), yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata), and fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca). We examined winter records during 1974–2017 from a citizen-science bird observation database for South Dakota to determine recent trends in winter records for these three species. We compared their occurrence patterns with those for three benchmark …

Factors Associated With Larval Freshwater Drum Annual Peak Density In A Nebraska Irrigation Reservoir, Brett T. Miller, Brian C. Peterson, Keith D. Koupal, Casey W. Schoenebeck

The Prairie Naturalist

Freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) represent one of the most widely distributed fish species in North America. Identifying biotic and abiotic factors that influence larval freshwater drum densities can improve understanding of early life history. Our objective was to investigate correlations between annual peak density of larval freshwater drum and combinations of five variables (chlorophyll a, growing degree days [GDD], reservoir discharge, turbidity, and cladoceran density) from a longterm (2003–2017) monitoring program in a Nebraska irrigation reservoir. Twenty-eight a priori candidate models were assessed to determine the relative support of explanatory variables associated with annual peak density of larval freshwater drum …

Evaluation Of Four Larval Fish Sampling Methods In A Large Midwestern River, Nathan J. Lederman, Anthony R. Sindt, Douglas J. Dieterman, John D. Krenz, Shannon J. Fisher

The Prairie Naturalist

Understanding limitations of larval fish capture gears is critical for developing appropriate sampling protocols and interpreting catch data. We evaluated genera richness, genera diversity, assemblage similarities, abundance indices (i.e., density or catch per unit effort [CPUE]), and sample size requirements between a surface slednet and glow-stick light traps used in 2014 and 2015 and a benthic slednet and light-emitting diode light (LED) traps used in 2015 in the Minnesota River. The surface slednet captured the greatest number of larval fish genera (15) while the LED light trap captured the fewest (1). Similarities of assemblages sampled was highest between surface and …

Comparing Native Bee Communities On Reconstructed And Remnant Prairie In Missouri, Joseph Larose, Elisabeth B. Webb, Deborah Finke

The Prairie Naturalist

The tallgrass prairie of North America is an imperiled ecosystem that has been the subject of considerable restoration effort and research in the past two decades. While native prairie plant species are purposely introduced during restoration, prairie invertebrates, including native bees (Anthophila), are not and must colonize from surrounding remnants. Prairie restorations may not support the same bee communities as remnant prairies because of habitat differences and dispersal limitations. We sampled native bees on reconstructed and remnant prairies in Missouri in the summers of 2016 and 2017 and compared the communities by evaluating species richness, diversity, and community composition. We …

Wood Frogs (Rana Sylvatica) In Southwestern Roberts County And Western Grant County, South Dakota, Dennis R. Skadsen, Drew R. Davis

The Prairie Naturalist

Historically, only six records of Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) existed from South Dakota, all represented by museum specimens. A single specimen was collected from Hartford Beach on Big Stone Lake, Roberts County in 1922 (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution [USNM] 65452) and five Wood Frogs were collected near the outlet of Blue Dog Lake, Day County in 1929 (USNM 312618– 312622; Fig. 1). After the 1920s, no other Wood Frogs were reported in South Dakota for the next six decades, and the species was presumed extirpated. Over (1923, 1943) reported the species was common in the wooded coulees …

Development Of An On-Line Immunoextraction/Entrapment System For Protein Capture And Use In Drug Binding Studies By High-Performance Affinity Chromatography, Elliott L. Rodriguez, Saumen Poddar, Meera Choksi, David S. Hage

David Hage Publications

An on-line purification and entrapment system was developed that could extract a protein from a sample such as serum and entrap this protein within a small column for use in high-performance affinity chromatography. Human serum albumin (HSA) was employed as a model protein for this work. Immunoextraction columns containing polyclonal anti-HSA antibodies were developed to capture and isolate HSA from applied samples. This was followed by the use of a strong cation-exchange column to recapture and focus HSA as it eluted from the immunoextraction columns. The recaptured HSA was entrapped within 1.0 cm × 2.1 mm I.D. columns containing hydrazide-activated …

The Paradox Of The Tight Spiral Pass In American Football: A Simple Resolution, Richard H. Price, William C. Moss, Timothy J. Gay

Timothy J. Gay Publications

An American football is a rotationally symmetric object, which, when well-thrown, spins rapidly around its symmetry axis. In the absence of aerodynamic effects, the football would be a torque-free gyroscope and the symmetry/spin axis would remain pointing in a fixed direction in space as the football moved on its parabolic path. When a pass is well-thrown through the atmosphere, however, the symmetry axis remains—at least approximately—tangent to the path of motion. The rotation of the symmetry axis must be due to aerodynamic torque; yet, that torque, at first glance, would seem to have precisely the opposite effect. Here, we explain …

Transformative Education In Agroecology: Student, Teacher, And Client Involvement In Co-Learning, Charles A. Francis, Anna Marie Nicolaysen, Geir Lieblein, Tor Arvid Breland

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Educational methods have evolved rapidly in agroecology, which is a complex and holistic field without a long history or the formal tradition of any single academic discipline. Definitions of agroecology have evolved from its initial conception as a marriage of agriculture with ecology, to an aggregation of different paths including science, practices, and movements, and recently as a broad appreciation of the ecology of food systems. In contrast with traditional courses that begin with a history of the discipline and review the contributions of early leaders, we have embraced phenomenology to firmly establish roots in students’ learning through their experiences …

Constructing Stable And Potentially High-Performance Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Perovskites With “Unstable” Cations, Qing Yang, Menghao Wu, Xiao Cheng Zeng

Chemistry Department: Faculty Publications

A new family of functional hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) is theoretically designed based on the following chemical+ insights: when a proton is adhered to molecules like water or ethanol, the newly formed larger-sized cations (e.g., H5O2 ,++ C2H5OH2 , and CH3SH ) entail low electron affinities mimicking superalkalis; they are conjugated acids of weak bases that cannot survive in solution, while their chemistry behavior in the HOIP frameworks, however, may be markedly different due to greatly enhanced cohesive energies of the proton, which facilitate the formation of new HOIPs. First-principles computations show that the putative formation reactions for these newly …

Domain Wall Conduction In Calcium-Modified Lead Titanate For Polarization Tunable Photovoltaic Devices, Chong-Xin Qian, Hong-Jian Hong-Jian, Qiang Zhang, Jiawei He, Zi-Xuan Chen, Ming-Zi Wang, Xiao Cheng Zeng

Chemistry Department: Faculty Publications

Ferroelectric domain wall (DW) conduction, confirmed in recent experiments, has attracted intense attention due to its promising applications in optoelec- tronic devices. Herein, we provide theoretical evidence of electric conduction in Pb0.8Ca0.2TiO3 (PCT) DWs. The separation of charge accumulation in DWs, corresponding to the electronic conduction-band minimum (CBM) and valence-band maximum (VBM), weakens the tendency for the electron-hole recombination, thereby providing more efficient channels for charge transfer. We fabricate PCT-based functional photovoltaic devices with polarization tunable charge transfer to exploit the combined conduction and ferroelectric properties of the DW. The photovoltaic performance of the devices can be regu- lated by …

Comparison Of Object Detection And Patch-Based Classification Deep Learning Models On Mid- To Late-Season Weed Detection In Uav Imagery, Arun Narenthiran Veeranampalayam Sivakumar, Jiating Li, Stephen Scott, Eric T. Psota, Amit J. Jhala, Joe D. Luck, Yeyin Shi

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Mid- to late-season weeds that escape from the routine early-season weed management threaten agricultural production by creating a large number of seeds for several future growing seasons. Rapid and accurate detection of weed patches in field is the first step of site-specific weed management. In this study, object detection-based convolutional neural network models were trained and evaluated over low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for mid- to late-season weed detection in soybean fields. The performance of two object detection models, Faster RCNN and the Single Shot Detector (SSD), were evaluated and compared in terms of weed detection performance using mean …