Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Multi-Year Lags Between Forest Browning And Soil Respiration At High Northern Latitudes, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Andrew Godard Bunn, Allison M. Thomson

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

High-latitude northern ecosystems are experiencing rapid climate changes, and represent a large potential climate feedback because of their high soil carbon densities and shifting disturbance regimes. A significant carbon flow from these ecosystems is soil respiration (RS, the flow of carbon dioxide, generated by plant roots and soil fauna, from the soil surface to atmosphere), and any change in the high-latitude carbon cycle might thus be reflected in RSobserved in the field. This study used two variants of a machine-learning algorithm and least squares regression to examine how remotely-sensed canopy greenness (NDVI), climate, and other variables are …

Judy Reservoir Monitoring Project 2012 Final Report, Robin A. Matthews, Joan Vandersypen

Judy Reservoir

The purpose of this study was to identify and count the phytoplankton and measure chlorophyll, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus levels in water samples collected from Judy Reservoir. Water quality and algal data have been collected on a weekly basis since October 2006; annual reports have been sent to the Skagit Public Utility District No. 1 in 2007, 2008, 2010 (January and December), and 2011.

The Planet, 2012, Fall, James Rogers, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Cascadia Fore Arc Seismic Survey: Open-Access Data Available, W. Steven Holbrook, Graham Kent, Katie Keranan, H. Paul Johnson, Anne Trehu, Harold Tobin, Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach, Jeff Beeson

Geology Faculty Publications

The Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ), where the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates subduct obliquely beneath North America at a rate of about 35 millimeters per year, poses major geological hazards to population centers of the northwestern United States. Despite the importance of the subducting slab in these hazards, the plate boundary is poorly mapped and understood, especially offshore.

Thicker Host Tissues Moderate Light Stress In A Cnidarian Endosymbiont, James L. Dimond, Benjamin J. Holzman, Brian L. Bingham

Brian L. Bingham

The susceptibility of algal-cnidarian holobionts to environmental stress is dependent on attributes of both host and symbiont, but the role of the host is often unclear. We examined the influence of the host on symbiont light stress, comparing the photophysiology of the chlorophyte symbiont Elliptochloris marina in two species of sea anemones in the genus Anthopleura. After 3 months of acclimation in outdoor tanks, polyp photoprotective contraction behavior was similar between the two host species, but photochemical efficiency was 1.5 times higher in A. xanthogrammica than in A. elegantissima. Maximum relative electron transport rates, derived from rapid light curves, were …

Birch Bay Village Lakes 2012 Final Report, Robin A. Matthews, Joan Vandersypen

Birch Bay/Village Lakes

The Institute for Watershed Studies was contracted by the Birch Bay Village Lakes Committee to continue water testing at two sites in Kwann Lake and two sites in Thunderbird Lake (Figure 1, page 4). The sampling effort began in August 2007, and samples have been collected approximately 3–4 times each year through spring 2012. This report provides an update to earlier data reports submitted to the Birch Bay Village Lakes Committee.

Maximum Likelihood Estimation Of Individual Inbreeding Coefficients And Null Allele Frequencies, Nathan Hall, Laina Mercer, Daisy Phillips, Jonathan Shaw, Amy D. Anderson

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In this paper, we developed and compared several expectation-maximization (EM) algorithms to find maximum likelihood estimates of individual inbreeding coefficients using molecular marker information. The first method estimates the inbreeding coefficient for a single individual and assumes that allele frequencies are known without error. The second method jointly estimates inbreeding coefficients and allele frequencies for a set of individuals that have been genotyped at several loci. The third method generalizes the second method to include the case in which null alleles may be present. In particular, it is able to jointly estimate individual inbreeding coefficients and allele frequencies, including the …

Map Of The Late Quaternary Active Kern Canyon And Breckenridge Faults, Southern Sierra Nevada, California, C. C. Brossy, K. I. Kelson, Colin B. Amos, J. N. Baldwin, B. Kozlowicz, D. Simpson, M. G. Ticci, A. T. Lutz, O. Kozaci, A. Streig, R. Turner, R. Rose

Geology Faculty Publications

Surface traces of the Quaternary active Kern Canyon and Breckenridge faults were mapped via aerial reconnaissance, analysis of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) elevation data, review and interpretation of aerial photography, field reconnaissance, and detailed field mapping. This effort specifically targeted evidence of late Quaternary surface deformation and, combined with separate paleoseismic investigations, identified and characterized the North Kern Canyon, South Kern Canyon, and Lake Isabella sections of the Kern Canyon fault and the Breckenridge fault. The mapping presented here provides definitive evidence for previously unrecognized Holocene and late Pleistocene east-down displacement along the Kern Canyon and Breckenridge faults. Our …

Preliminary Investigation Of Instructor Effects On Gender Gap In Introductory Physics, Andrew Boudreaux, Kimberley Kreutzer

Physics & Astronomy

Gender differences in student learning in the introductory, calculus-based electricity and magnetism course were assessed by administering the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism pre- and postcourse. As expected, male students outgained females in traditionally taught sections as well as sections that incorporated interactive engagement (IE) techniques. In two of the IE course sections, however, the gains of female students were comparable to those of male students. Classroom observations of the course sections involved were made over an extended period. In this paper, we characterize the observed instructor-student interactions using a framework from educational psychology referred to as wise schooling. …

Multi Scale Habitat Relationships Of Martes Americana In Northern Idaho, U.S.A, Tzeidle N. (Tzeidle Nicole) Wasserman, Samuel A. Cushman, David O. Wallin, Jim Hayden

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

We used bivariate scaling and logistic regression to investigate multiple-scale habitat selection by American marten (Martes americana). Bivariate scaling reveals dramatic differences in the apparent nature and strength of relationships between marten occupancy and a number of habitat variables across a range of spatial scales. These differences include reversals in the direction of an observed association from positive to negative and frequent dramatic changes in the apparent importance of a habitat variable as a predictor of marten occurrence. Logistic regression on the optimally scaled input variables suggests that at the scale of home ranges, marten select landscapes with …

The Planet, 2012, Spring, Becky Tachihara, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Late Holocene Rupture History Of The Alpine Fault In South Westland, New Zealand, Kelvin Berryman, Alan Cooper, Richard Norris, Pilar Villamor, Rupert Sutherland, Trevor Wright, Elizabeth R. Schermer, Robert Langridge, Glenn Biasi

Geology Faculty Publications

Abstract Strata and fault relationships revealed in five trenches excavated across the recent trace of the Alpine fault at the Haast, Okuru, and Turnbull Rivers, South Westland, New Zealand, record the three most recent surface-faulting events. Using back-stripping techniques to remove the three faulting events and the sedimentary units associated with the faulting restores the cross-sections to gravel-bed floodplains at the Haast and Okuru Rivers, at about A.D. 750. Horizontal and vertical offsets of stream channels and terrace risers reveal characteristic displacements of about 8–9 m dextral and up to 1 m vertical per event. Cumulative dextral displacement is 25 …

The Four Color Theorem, Patrick Turner

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The history of mathematics is pervaded by problems which can be stated simply, but are difficult and in some cases impossible to prove. The pursuit of solutions to these problems has been an important catalyst in mathematics, aiding the development of many disparate fields. While Fermat’s Last theorem, which states xⁿ + yⁿ = zⁿ has no integer solutions for n > 2 and x, y, z ≠ 0^[12] is perhaps the most famous of these problems, the Four Color Theorem proved a challenge to some of the greatest mathematical minds from its conception 1852 until its …

Organic-Vapor-Liquid-Solid Deposition With An Impinging Gas Jet, Daniel W. (Daniel Wainwright) Shaw, Kevin A. (Kevin Anthony) Bufkin, Alexandr A. Baronov, Brad L. Johnson, David L. Patrick

Chemistry Faculty and Staff Publications

A method for rapid, mass-efficient deposition of highly crystalline organic films under near ambient conditions of pressure and temperature is reported based on delivery of an organic precursor via an impinging gas jet to a substrate coated by a thin liquid solvent layer. Films of the organic semiconductor tetracene were deposited by sublimation into a flow of argon carrier gas directed at an indium-tin-oxide/glass substrate coated by a thin layer of bis(2-ethylhexyl)sebecate, and growth was followed in situ with optical microscopy. A fluid dynamics model is applied to account for the gas phase transport and aggregation, and the results compared …

Multi-Wavelength Characterization Of Stellar Flares On Low-Mass Stars Using Sdss And 2mass Time Domain Surveys, James R. A. Davenport, Andrew C. Becker, Adam F. Kowalski, Suzanne L. Hawley, Sarah J. Schmidt, Eric J. Hilton, Branimir Sesar, Roc Cutri

Physics & Astronomy

We present the first rates of flares from M dwarf stars in both red optical and near-infrared (NIR) filters. We have studied ~50,000 M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 area and 1321 M dwarfs from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Calibration Scan Point Source Working Database that overlap SDSS imaging fields. We assign photometric spectral types from M0 to M6 using (r – i) and (i – z) colors for every star in our sample. Stripe 82 stars each have 50-100 epochs of data, while 2MASS Calibration stars have …

Intersections Of Dilatates Of Convex Bodies, Stefano Campi, Richard J. Gardner, Paolo Gronchi

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We initiate a systematic investigation into the nature of the function ∝_K(L,ρ) that gives the volume of the intersection of one convex body K in Rⁿ and a dilatate ρL of another convex body L in Rⁿ, as well as the function η_K(L, ρ) that gives the (n - 1)-dimensional Hausdorff measure of the intersection of K and the boundary ∂(ρ L) of ρL. The focus is on the concavity properties of α_K (L, ρ). Of particular interest is the …

On The Reproducing Kernel Of A Pontryagin Space Of Vector Valued Polynomials, Branko Ćurgus, Aad Dijksma

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We give necessary and sufficient conditions under which the reproducing kernel of a Pontryagin space of d×1 vector polynomials is determined by a generalized Nevanlinna pair of d×d matrix polynomials.

Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project 2010/2011 Report, Robin A. Matthews, Michael Hilles, Joan Vandersypen, Robert J. Mitchell, Geoffrey B. Matthews

Lake Whatcom Annual Reports

This report is part of an on-going series of annual reports and special project reports that document the Lake Whatcom monitoring program. This work is conducted by the Institute for Watershed Studies and other departments at Western Washington University.

The major objective of this program is to provide long-term baseline water quality monitoring in Lake Whatcom and selected tributaries. Each section contains brief explanations about the water quality data, along with discussions of patterns observed in Lake Whatcom.

Lake Padden Monitoring Project June -- December 2011 Final Rep, Andrew Majeske, Robin A. Matthews, Betsy Gross

Lake Padden

The Lake Padden monitoring project was initiated in 2011 by the citizens group, People for Lake Padden (P4LP), to provide an intensive water quality study of Lake Padden. Water samples were collected between June and December 2011 by Andrew Majeske, a student intern working with the Institute for Watershed Studies (IWS) and the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA).

The goals of our study are to identify any apparent problems with the current conditions of Lake Padden, compare our results with historical information, begin to establish baseline data, determine to what degree stratification occurs, and education and involve volunteers and policymakers …

Numerical Models Of Salt Marsh Evolution: Ecological, Geomorphic, And Climatic Factors, Sergio Fagherazzi, Matthew Lynn Kirwan, Simon Marius Mudd, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Stijn Temmerman, Andrea D'Alpaos, Johan Van De Koppel, John M. Rybczyk, Enrique Reyes, Christopher B. Craft, Jonathan Clough

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Salt marshes are delicate landforms at the boundary between the sea and land. These ecosystems support a diverse biota that modifies the erosive characteristics of the substrate and mediates sediment transport processes. Here we present a broad overview of recent numerical models that quantify the formation and evolution of salt marshes under different physical and ecological drivers. In particular, we focus on the coupling between geomorphological and ecological processes and on how these feedbacks are included in predictive models of landform evolution. We describe in detail models that simulate fluxes of water, organic matter, and sediments in salt marshes. The …

Macaw Cam: Exploratory Camera Trap Techniques For Monitoring And Conservation Of Scarlet Macaw (Ara Macao) Nests, Derek Schruhl, Tana Beus, Troy D. Abel, Michael J. Medler, Adrian Arce, Kathryn Mork

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

In this study, we explored new, low-cost camera trap techniques to monitor Scarlet Macaws in one of their last two self-sustaining habitats in Costa Rica. Camera trap monitors have begun to produce new insights in avian research and we use them not only because Macaws are threatened, but their imagery can be used to enhance the public’s understanding of the connections between science and conservation efforts. We mounted camera units on two trees with nesting Macaws in Costa Rica’s Carara National Park and monitored one nest remotely for seven consecutive months.

Sustainable Landscapes: Evaluating Strategies For Controlling Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus Umbellata) On Reclaimed Surface Mineland At The Wilds Conservation Center In Southeastern Ohio, Shana M. Byrd, Nicole D. Cavender, Corine M. Peugh, Jenise Bauman

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) was planted during the reclamation process to reduce erosion and improve nitrogen content of the soil. However, since its establishment, E. umbellata has spread prolifically and control measures are difficult. The primary objective of this case study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various control methods on eradication of E. umbellata in varying degrees of infestation. A two-phase case study was conducted at The Wilds conservation center in Cumberland, OH. Phase 1 began in 2007-2008 to evaluate three treatments in areas with moderate cover (15-30%) of E. umbellata: mechanical removal, foliar herbicide, and dormant stem …

Fostering Ecological Citizenship: The Case Of Environmental Service-Learning In Costa Rica, Jennifer Rebecca Kelly, Troy D. Abel

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

The intent of this study was to explore how experiential education fosters ecological or environmental citizenship. In this context, we investigated the impact of international environmental service-learning in a college course. Specifically our research question was does environmental service-learning have an effect on ecological citizenship? Using a multimethod approach of both qualitative and quantitative instruments our study drew on 13 participant interviews, 19 student journals and 10 survey responses. Employing variables from the Value-Belief-Norm Theory our findings suggest that environmental service-learning experiences impact both awareness of environmental consequences and personal normative beliefs. We conclude that ecological citizenship was indirectly impacted …

Ecotopia's Prism, Troy D. Abel

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

Since 2003, I’ve taken more than 150 students of environmental studies to explore the landscapes, culture and economy of Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s tourism bureau proudly proclaims “no artificial ingredients” to draw visitors from around the world. Situated at the confluence of two oceans and bridging two continents in the tropical latitudes, this small nation hosts some of the greatest concentration of biodiversity anywhere. Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia, or 0.03% of the world’s surface, yet it holds an estimated 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Species from North and South America mixed on this continental …

Education: Participatory Ecological Monitoring And Environmental Education In 2011, Troy D. Abel

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

In the summer of 2011, faculty from Western Washington University’s (WWU) Huxley College of the Environment implemented a five week field course in Costa Rica exploring Participatory Ecological Monitoring and the pedagogies of Environmental Education. Faculty and students completed observational studies of tree diversity, soil composition, avian bioacoustics, collaborative conservation management, and environmental education. Comparative observations were conducted at biological stations in Carara and Corcovado National Park in collaboration with Park staff. We hypothesized that significant contrasts will occur between Carara’s secondary and Corcovado’s primary forests and their neighboring communities. Our results inform Costa Rican conservation and management strategies as …

Coming Clean And Green: A Geospatial Mapping Tool For Visualizing Industrial Environmental Performance, Jacob Lesser, Troy D. Abel, Mark Stephan

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

The mapping of environmental data is rapidly expanding as advocates and scholars offer various platforms to display and analyze geographic environmental information.This working paper describes an online web map that displays national data from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) ArcGIS Server platform, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI), and methodologies from Kraft, Stephan, and Abel (2011) to spatially display the environmental performance of more than 17,000 manufacturing facilities.

Large And Small: Conserving Single Large And Several Small, Troy D. Abel

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

Huxley College of the Environment’s field course on rainforest conservation traces some of its roots to a seminal 1967 publication. MacArthur and Wilson’s The Theory of Island Biogeography presented two fundamental principles. Larger islands support more species than smaller ones and remote islands support fewer species than less remote ones. Moreover, they also established how habitat can be insulated by not only distance between islands, but anything that divides a landscape such as mountains and climate. But the conservation implications of biogeography became dichotomized during the seventies and eighties into a debate between preserving a Single Large section of habitat, …

Using Tide To Clean, Doesn't Mean Its Green: An Argument Against Greenwashing, Casey Rogers

Occam's Razor

When you wash your clothes, you choose a detergent that touts itself as an eco-friendly detergent. After all, why not help the environment with your everyday activities? You've just seen an ad for a new Tide product called Free and Gentle, a Proctor and Gamble creation, telling you all about how great Tide is for the environment. So you go to the store and spend the average $12 on a bottle that gets you approximately 30 loads. When you look at the back of the bottle, you don't see a list of ingredients, but if the commercial says it's good …

Occam's Razor Vol. 2 - Full (2012)

Occam's Razor

No abstract provided.

Triangles And Groups Via Cevians, Árpád Bényi, Branko Ćurgus

Mathematics Faculty Publications

For a given triangle T and a real number ρ we define Ceva’s triangle Cρ(T) to be the triangle formed by three cevians each joining a vertex of T to the point which divides the opposite side in the ratioρ: (1 – ρ). We identify the smallest interval MT⊂R such that the family Cρ(T),ρ∈MT, contains all Ceva’s triangles up to similarity. We prove that the composition of operators Cρ,ρ∈R, acting on triangles is governed by a certain group structure on R. We use this structure to prove that two triangles have the same Brocard angle if and …