Search Results

Ozone Pollution Monitoring and Population Vulnerability in Dallas-Ft. Worth: A Decision Support Approach

Description: In urban environments, ozone air pollution, poses significant risks to respiratory health. Fixed site monitoring is the primary method of measuring ozone concentrations for health advisories and pollutant reduction, but the spatial scale may not reflect the current population distribution or its future growth. Moreover, formal methods for the placement of ozone monitoring sites within populations potentially omit important spatial criteria, producing monitoring locations that could unintention… more
Date: August 2021
Creator: Northeim, Kari M.
open access

A paleozoological perspective on predator extermination and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Boddaert) overabundance in central Texas.

Description: Archaeological and paleontological datasets are used in conservation to add time-depth to ecology. In central Texas several top carnivores including prehistoric Native American hunters have been extirpated or have had their historic ranges restricted, which has resulted in pest-level white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texana) populations in some areas. Predator extermination has dramatically reduced the average body size of members of the extant predator guild, and large carnivores most … more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Wolverton, Steven J.
open access

Photo-induced Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil to Four Native Gulf of Mexico Species

Description: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in the accidental release of millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Photo-induced toxicity following co-exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one mechanism by which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from oil spills may exert toxicity. Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) are an important commercial and ecological resource in the Gulf of Mexico and their largely transparent larvae may make them sensitive to PAH photo-ind… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Alloy, Matthew Michael
open access

Photoinduced Toxicity in Early Lifestage Fiddler Crab (Uca longisignalis) Following Exposure to Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil

Description: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill resulted in a large release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) into the Gulf of Mexico. PAH can interact with ultraviolet radiation (UV) resulting in increased toxicity, particularly to early lifestage organisms. The goal of this research was to determine the sensitivity of fiddler crab larvae (Uca longisignalis) to photo-induced toxicity following exposure to Deepwater Horizon spill oil in support of the DWH Natural Resource Damage Assessment. … more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Taylor, Leigh M.
open access

Plankton Community Response to Dechorination of a Municipal Effluent Discharged into the Trinity River

Description: Chorine is used by the Village Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant to kill pathogenic microorganisms prior to discharge of the effluent into the Trinity River. The residual chlorine in the river impacted aquatic life prompting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December 1990 to require dechlorination using sulfur dioxide. One pre-dechlorination and four post-dechlorination assessments of phytoplankton, periphyton, and zooplankton communities were conducted by the Institute of Applied Sci… more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Bryan, Brynne L. (Brynne Lee)
open access

Population Dynamics of Zebra Mussels (Dreissena Polymorpha) in a North Texas Reservoir: Implications for Invasions in the Southern United States

Description: This dissertation has two main objectives: first, quantify the effects of environmental conditions on spatio-temporal spawning and larval dynamics of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha [Pallas 1771]) in Lake Texoma, and second, quantify the effects of environmental conditions on survival, growth, and reproduction of young of the year (YOY) juvenile zebra mussels. These biological responses directly influence population establishment success and invasive spread dynamics. Reproductive output of … more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Churchill, Christopher J.
open access

Portrait of Your Stream: Development and Assessment of a Stream Ecology Program for Middle-School Student

Description: Portrait of Your Stream (POYS) is a stream ecology and student action program designed for use with middle-school students. The program is correlated with learning cycle pedagogical methods emphasizing student-centered lessons and activities in both classroom and outdoor settings. Implementation of a pilot program in the Fall semester of 1999 was used to collect formal and informal responses and data from students and teachers. Data included changes in student knowledge, skills and attitudes an… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Swirczynski, Brenda J.
open access

Pretreatment Optimization of Fiberglass Manufacturing Industrial Wastewater

Description: Wastewater effluent produced in the fiberglass manufacturing industry contains a significant amount of total suspended solids. Environmental regulations require pretreatment of effluent before it is discharged to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. Chemical precipitation by coagulation and flocculation is the method of pretreatment used at the Vetrotex CertainTeed Corporation (VCT). A treatability study was conducted to determine conditions at which the VCT Wastewater Pretreatment Plant c… more
Date: December 1998
Creator: Dragoo, Ron
open access

Producing a Film on Oil Spill Research for the Public

Description: The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Following the spill, British Petroleum, leaser of the rig, set up a funding institution known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) to support research and understanding of the spill on the environments and peoples of the gulf. This outreach project was created alongside research of the RECOVER consortium, funded by GoMRI, to communicate what is happening within resea… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Barnes, Emma Katherine
open access

Quantifying Forest Vertical Structure to Determine Bird Habitat Quality in the Greenbelt Corridor, Denton, Tx

Description: This study presents the integration of light detection and range (LiDAR) and hyperspectral remote sensing to create a three-dimensional bird habitat map in the Greenbelt Corridor of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. This map permits to examine the relationship between forest stand structure, landscape heterogeneity, and bird community composition. A biannual bird census was conducted at this site during the breeding seasons of 2009 and 2010. Census data combined with the three-dimensional map … more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Matsubayashi, Shiho
open access

Rainfall-runoff changes due to urbanization: a comparison of different spatial resolutions for lumped surface water hydrology models using HEC-HMS.

Description: Hydrologic models were used to examine the effects of land cover change on the flow regime of a watershed located in North-Central Texas. Additionally, the effect of spatial resolution was examined by conducting the simulations using sub-watersheds of different sizes to account for the watershed. Using the Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS), two different modeling methods were evaluated at the different sub-watershed resolutions for four … more
Date: December 2005
Creator: Redfearn, Howard Daniel
open access

Recovery of the Fish Population of a Municipal Wastewater Dominated, North Texas Creek After a Major Chlorine Disturbance

Description: This study evaluated the effects of a major chlorine disturbance on fish communities in Pecan creek by the City of Denton's Pecan Creek Water Reclamation Plant. Fish communities in Pecan Creek were sampled using a depletion methodology during February, April, July, and November, 1999. February and April sampling events showed that the fish communities were severely impacted by the chlorine. Sampling during July and November showed fish communities recovered in Pecan Creek. The first-twenty minu… more
Date: August 2002
Creator: Maschmann, Gerald F.
open access

Reproductive and Growth Responses of the Fathead Minnow (Pimephales Promelas) and Japanese Medaka (Oryzias Latipes) to the Synthetic Progestin, Norethindrone

Description: A commonly prescribed contraceptive, the synthetic progestin norethindrone (NET) inhibits ovulation in humans. However, ecotoxicological data are lacking. Preliminary tests produced an LC50 for NET of > 1.0 mg/L (96-hour, fathead minnow (FHM) and medaka) and a NOEC of 242.0 µg/L, a LOEC of 485.0 µg/L (7-day, growth for FHM and medaka). Reproductive testing revealed a LOEC for fecundity of 24.1 ng/L (21 days, medaka). Further testing confirmed the LOEC of 24.1 ng/L while defining a NOEC of 4.7 n… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Paulos, Peter M.
open access

Residential Grid-Connected Photovoltaics Adoption in North Central Texas: Lessons from the Solarize Plano Project

Description: Residential Grid-Connected Photovoltaics (GPV) systems hold remarkable promise in their potential to reduce energy use, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy costs to consumers, while also providing grid efficiency and demand-side management benefits to utilities. Broader adoption of customer-sited GPV also has the potential to transform the traditional model of electricity generation and delivery. Interest and activity has grown in recent years to promote GPV in north central Tex… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Jack, Katherine G.
open access

Revisiting Aldo Leopold's "Perfect" Land Health: Conservation and Development in Mexico's Rio Gavilan

Description: The Rio Gavilan watershed, located in Mexico 's northern Sierra Madre Occidental , has significance in conservation history. Upon visiting the remote, largely un­developed watershed during two hunting trips in the 1930s, renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold thought it was the best picture of land health he had seen. His main indicators of healthy land were slow water runoff rates regulating erosion and historical predator-prey relationships. The visits confirmed Leopold's concept of land h… more
Date: December 2004
Creator: Forbes, William
open access

Role of N-Acylethanolamines in Plant Defense Responses: Modulation by Pathogens and Commercial Antimicrobial Stressors

Description: N-acyl ethanolamines (NAEs) are a class of lipids recently recognized as signaling molecules which are controlled, in part, by their degradation by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). On the basis of previous studies indicating increased NAE levels in a tobacco cell suspension-xylanase elicitor exposure system and the availability of FAAH mutants, overexpressor and knockout (OE and KO) genotypes in Arabidopsis thaliana, further roles of NAEs in A. thaliana plant defense was investigated. The com… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Vadapalli, Vatsala
open access

The Role of Rainfed Farm Ponds in Sustaining Agriculture and Soil Conservation in the Dry High Valley Region of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Design Considerations and Post Impoundment Analysis

Description: Lack of sufficient water for irrigation is a major problem in and around the valleys surrounding the town of Aiquile, Cochabamba Bolivia. In addition, much of the region is undergoing desertification compounded by drought, deforestation, bad traditional agricultural practices, over grazing and a "torrential" rainfall pattern leading to severe soil erosion and low agricultural production. Between 1992 and 1994, the author constructed a network of 24 small, mostly rainfed farm ponds to increase a… more
Date: August 1999
Creator: Kuiper, John R.
open access

Selection and Use of Aquatic Vegetation by Migratory Waterfowl in North Central Texas

Description: Assessment of aquatic plant selection by waterfowl has been conducted during the winters of 1997-2000 on 49 0.2-0.79 ha research ponds in north central Texas. Ponds were categorized by dominant plant species into eight habitat types. Census with waterfowl species identification were performed to investigate impacts of aquatic vegetation and water depth on waterfowl. Eighteen waterfowl species were observed. Peak migration occurred in late December/early January. Mixed native ponds and mixed nat… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Smith, JoEtta Kaye
open access

Simulation of local watershed nutrient and sediment delivery to Lake Texoma.

Description: A hydrologic model and watershed export model was used to estimate the loading of nutrients and total suspended solids from un-gaged local watersheds associated with Lake Texoma. Discharge to the reservoir from local watersheds was predicted using a modification of the curve number method in HEC Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS). Event mean concentrations were applied to land use to estimate loadings of nutrients and TSS. Total discharge from the local watersheds was estimated to be 3.02 x 1… more
Date: May 2004
Creator: Upton, Alexandra C.
open access

Simulation of physical and chemical processes in reservoirs: Two case studies.

Description: Managing water quality aspects requires the use of integrative tools that allow a holistic approach to this problem. Water quality models coupled to hydrodynamic models are these tools. This study presents the application of the water quality model WASP coupled to the hydrodynamic model DYNHYD for two distinct reservoirs: Lake Texoma and Tocoma Reservoir. Modeling the former included simulations of water velocities, water level, and four chemical and physical compounds: chlorides, dissolved oxy… more
Date: December 2005
Creator: García Iturbe, Selma L.
open access

Soil and Forest Variation by Topography and Succession Stages in the Greenbelt Corridor, Floodplain of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, North Texas.

Description: The Greenbelt Corridor (GBC), located in a floodplain of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, contains patches of bottomland forest and serves as part of Lake Lewisville’s flood control backwaters. This study examines forest structure and composition in relation to topographic position and forest stage in the GBC. Thirty two plots were surveyed within various stage classes, topographic positions, and USDA soil types. Trees were identified and measured for height and DBH. Density, basal area, and … more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Rijal, Rajan
open access

Space Use, Microhabitat and Macrohabitat Use of the Three-Toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) in North Texas

Description: Box turtle (Terrapene carolina) populations are steadily declining due their unique natural history, effects of climate change, and anthropogenic land use change. There is a need for updated information on box turtle space and micro and macro-habitat use to inform conservation efforts. This study used VHF radiotelemetry and GPS data loggers to examine box turtle space and habitat use in North Texas. Box turtle home range sizes averaged 6.6ha (range = 0.79 - 18.08, n = 23), and males (n = 9) had… more
Date: December 2022
Creator: Joseph, Sara A.
open access

Spatial Analysis of Atrazine in the Elm Fork Watershed

Description: This study assessed the water quality of the Elm Fork Watershed with regards to the herbicide Atrazine. Atrazine is a potential environmental endocrine disruptor and carcinogen. Overall, concentrations were lower than the four-quarter drinking water average of 3 µg/Lthe Maximum Contaminant Level set by the USEPA. However, three creek stations had four-quarter average concentrations greater than 3 µg/L, and virtually all samples exceeded the 0.1 µg/L standard set in Europe [1,2]. Statistically s… more
Date: May 2000
Creator: Ochandio, Mario Roberto
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