Soil moisture, forest productivity and ecological land classification in central Massachusetts

Leighton, Adrian D University of Massachusetts Amherst 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Throughout much of the United States, systems of ecological land classification are used to divide the forested landscape into units that are biologically and operationally meaningful. No such system currently exists in central Massachusetts, however, due to the extensive and prolonged effects of human land use. Initial research on a series of State Forests in central Massachusetts indicate that physical site characteristics such as the presence of a hardpan, soil texture and type of glacial deposition can be correlated with patterns in vegetation distribution. These factors are similar to those used by W. B. Leak in creating an ecological land type (ELT) classification for the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. A system was created to adapt and transfer the White Mountain ELTs to central Massachusetts. The system was then applied to a variety of sites in central Massachusetts at two different scales. The habitat classification system reflected general trends of vegetation composition and productivity, particularly at a local landscape level, but further work is needed to better account for the effect of land use history and local ecological variation. An underlying assumption of ecological land classification is that vegetation is most strongly influenced by site factors that are related to soil moisture availability. Direct soil moisture measurements were made on a variety of sites throughout a season at Cadwell Memorial Forest in Pelham, Massachusetts. Analysis showed a relatively poor correlation between soil moisture measured that year and long-term site productivity. However, the pattern of short term (weekly) variation in soil moisture was related to general trends in productivity. The hydrologic model, TOPMODEL, was used to create a relative wetness potential index within a GIS framework to predict site productivity based on potential soil moisture availability. While this model showed some potential in predicting general soil moisture status, it was not well correlated with the direct soil moisture measurements.

Roosting, site fidelity, and food sources of urban gulls in massachusetts: Implications for protecting public water supplies

Clark, Daniel E University of Massachusetts Amherst 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

Anyone who has spent time in coastal New England has seen gulls flying overhead and heard their familiar sound; gulls may be one of the most recognizable birds in the world. There are over 50 species of gulls worldwide, and many of them are closely associated with human development or activities. In Massachusetts, there are several common gull species including herring (Larus argentatus), great black-back (Larus marinus), laughing (Leucophaeus atricilla), and ring-billed (Larus delawarensis). While coastal encounters with gulls are ubiquitous, gulls can also be found inland, and ring-billed and herring gulls are now a common sight at lakes, parks, and commercial parking lots dozens or hundreds of kilometers from the ocean. This inland population of gulls presents unique challenges and exciting research opportunities. Because they are often closely associated with human activity, concentrations of inland gulls can lead to potential water quality concerns (when large roosts form on public water supply reservoirs), airplane hazards (when groups of gulls concentrate near airports or flight paths), or disease transmission (when gulls forage at landfills or waste water treatment plants then visit areas with people). In the following chapters I explore various aspects of inland gull ecology during the non-breeding season. In chapter 1, I review the concept of philopatry in birds and discuss ways to assess site faithful behavior. In Chapters 2 and 3, I explore some of the ecological aspects of inland gulls. Chapter 2 examines the site fidelity of gulls to their wintering areas and my results suggest that gulls exhibit high winter-site fidelity but variable site persistence during the winter season. Chapter 3 explores roost site selection throughout the year and models roost selection in Massachusetts. My results indicate that ring-billed gulls prefer freshwater roosts, while herring gulls use saltwater roosts more often. In Massachusetts, both herring and ring-billed gulls select inland freshwater roosts based on the size of the water body and proximity to their last daytime location. In Chapter 4, I detail the results of an experimental study trying to reduce the amount of anthropogenic food available to gulls at inland parking lots. Ring-billed gulls were the most common gull found in parking lots, and my educational approach to reduce feedings had mixed results; education seemed to reduce the number of feedings in some cases, but the number of gulls in each parking lot was not affected. In Chapters 5 and 6, I detail some applied management techniques. Chapter 5 discusses efforts to exclude gulls from a waste water treatment plant in central Massachusetts. Overhead stainless-steel wires were completely effective at preventing gulls from using structures at the treatment plant. Chapter 6 describes an innovative technique that was used to efficiently and effectively catch gulls during winter in highly urbanized environments. I captured over 1000 gulls using a net launcher in various parking lots and other urban areas.

Here I am now! Community service-learning with immigrant and refugee undergraduate students and youth: The use of critical pedagogy, situated-learning and funds of knowledge

Shadduck-Hernandez, Janna University of Massachusetts Amherst 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Here I am Now! was the title immigrant and refugee undergraduate students and local refugee community youth gave to their participatory photography installation displayed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This exhibit was the culmination of students' participation in a series of alternative community service-learning (CSL) courses offered through CIRCLE (Center for Immigrant and Refugee Community Leadership and Empowerment). Here first-generation undergraduate students mentored neighboring Vietnamese and Cambodian refugee youth using photography and art and applying community development education principles and techniques. While community service-learning pedagogy has become an established educational practice on most U.S. universities and colleges today, little research has been conducted viewing the educational impact of community service-learning pedagogy on diverse student populations. The majority of the scholarship in this field focuses on the experiences of white middle-class students engaged in service-learning relationships with communities from unfamiliar and different socio-cultural, racial, ethic and economic backgrounds (Dunlap, 1998). This dissertation presents a different perspective. Here I examine how immigrant and refugee undergraduate students understood and made meaning of their participation in a community service-learning experience with youth from familiar and similar ethnocultural contexts. This model valued participants' common cultural assets, highlighted the immigrant and refugee experience, and attended to specific local refugee community needs. To answer my research questions I applied critical ethnographic approaches and analyzed student narratives (interviews, journal entries, reflection papers, poetry and photography) to better understand participants' community-service learning experiences. Through the prisms of three educational learning theories I review the university context, highlight aspects of the situation under study and proceed to build an emerging framework for CSL pedagogy with diverse communities. These theories include; experiential and critical pedagogy, situated learning theory, and the anthropological concept, funds of knowledge, as guides toward developing culturally relevant CSL curriculum with immigrant and refugee learners. Through student narratives, I demonstrate that critical CSL curriculum and service that emphasize peer learning and strategic and cultural resources (funds of knowledge), provide diverse undergraduate students with alternative and creative spaces of critique and possibility in their higher education and community service-learning experiences.

Values and attitudes of the public toward beaver conservation in Massachusetts

Jonker, Sandra Andrea University of Massachusetts Amherst 2003 해외박사(DDOD)

In Massachusetts both human and beaver population levels are rising, beaver damage complaints are escalating, and beaver management options are restricted by the 1996 Wildlife Protection Act. Employing the Cognitive Value Hierarchy, this study enhances understanding of the public's value orientations, attitudes, and norms regarding human-beaver conflicts in Massachusetts. A mailback questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 5,563 residents in three geographic regions in Massachusetts and to residents who submitted a beaver complaint to MassWildlife in 1999/2000 (47.3% overall response rate). Results indicate that respondents believe beaver are an important part of the natural environment and they have a right to exist. Respondents also support some form of beaver management. Most respondents believe that beaver-related damage in Massachusetts has either increased or remained the same over the past five years, and indicated a preference for fewer beaver, regardless of experience with beaver damage. Respondents' attitudes are influenced by their experience with beaver damage, perceptions of extent of beaver damage, and tolerance of beaver. As severity of beaver damage was perceived to increase, respondents were more willing to accept lethal management/control of beaver. Respondents characterized by a “wildlife-use” orientation expressed a greater willingness to accept lethal action in response to beaver activity than respondents characterized by a “wildlife-protection” orientation. This relationship was partially mediated when respondents believed beaver damage had increased and/or they preferred to see fewer beaver in Massachusetts. Value orientations proved to be predictive of both attitudes and norms, thus validating the propositions of the Cognitive Value Hierarchy. Results confirm the importance of understanding and monitoring public attitudes, norms, perceptions, and tolerance in a longitudinal framework and coupling this information with biological data to determine trends in relation to increases in beaver populations and human-beaver conflicts. The concepts and causal relationships posed by the Cognitive Value Hierarchy can provide information to link attitudes, norms, and values of wildlife stakeholder groups with socially acceptable management strategies. Replicating, expanding, and applying this framework to other wildlife species, and in different socio-political environments, can enhance the effectiveness and applicability of this theoretical perspective in understanding and resolving complex human-wildlife conflicts.

The application of data envelopment analysis to publicly funded K--12 education in Massachusetts in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 in improving educational outcomes

Hall, Andrew D. J University of Massachusetts Amherst 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

The Charnes Cooper Rhodes ratio DEA model ("CCR") is used, with panel data from a large sample of Massachusetts' school districts, to test three propositions concerning the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 ("MERA"). First, did the degree of positive correlation between Socio-Economic Status ("SES") and educational outcomes decrease, secondly did educational opportunity become more equal among towns in Massachusetts, and finally were education standards raised overall?. The CCR model is a Linear Programming method that estimates a convex production function using Koopmans' (1951) definition of technical efficiency and the radial measurements of efficiency proposed by Farrell (1957). It has been widely used in Education Production Function research. The pursuit, through state and federal courts, of equitable funding, allied to the belief that smaller class sizes improve outcomes, has made K-12 education expensive. The belief that outcomes are in constant decline has led to calls for "Accountability" and to "Standards" reform. Standards reform was combined, in MERA, with reform of state aid formulas and additional state funding, to ensure a minimum basic level of education pursuant to the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court in McDuffy v. Robertson. The one certain relationship revealed by decades of research is a strong positive correlation between SES and outcomes. If MERA ensured a higher basic level of education, then the correlation between SES and outcomes should have weakened as the education of less well SES-endowed children improved. The CCR model was used first to measure "correlation" between multiple input and multiple output variables. Strong positive correlation was shown to exist and it appeared to strengthen rather than weaken. Next the CCR model was used to determine if there were changes in the distribution of per pupil expenditures and, lastly to determine whether outcomes improved between after MERA. The analysis suggested that the distribution of expenditures improved but that outcomes deteriorated. This deterioration seems to be closely related to the changes in the proportion of all students, in a grade, actually taking the tests. There is little evidence that MERA achieved anything and no basis upon which to argue that it achieved nothing.

Service-learning and social justice: Making connections, making commitments

Mitchell, Tania D University of Massachusetts Amherst 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Much of the service-learning literature in higher education assumes that community service linked to classroom learning is inherently connected to concerns of social justice. While some service-learning practice aims to alleviate oppressive or unfair circumstances and promote "more just relationships," there is little research that examines the effectiveness of service-learning in developing that commitment. The purpose of this qualitative research is to understand how students' experiences in service-learning contribute to their understanding of and commitment to social justice. The program investigated is a four semester critical service-learning experience, named the Citizen Scholars Program, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Written assignments and interview transcripts from 11 women who participated in the program comprise the data for this dissertation research. This secondary data set was analyzed using grounded theory methodology to explore connections between students' participation in service-learning and their understandings of and commitments to social justice. The findings from this research suggest that participants in this study did develop more complex conceptions of social justice. Through the critical service-learning experience provided by the Citizen Scholars Program, students report being able to: develop authentic relationships with community members, question the distribution of power in society, and deepen their commitments to social justice. The study identified six properties of social justice sensemaking that appear to influence students' understanding of and commitment to social justice. Reflection on the self and experience, introduction to new information, contradictory experiences, relationships with peers and community members, and the idea of plausibility were all shown to spur students' social justice meaning construction. The findings of this study were used to develop a conceptual framework that charts how the critical service-learning experience of the Citizen Scholars Program facilitates social justice sensemaking. This framework can guide the work of scholars and practitioners who aim or hope to encourage social justice commitments in students. Students left Citizen Scholars with confidence in their views of social justice and a willingness to take action in alignment with those views. This research demonstrates that critical service-learning can foster a greater sense of agency to act in support of social justice.

The ecology and conservation of the eastern spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii) in the province lands of Cape Cod National Seashore, U.S.A

Timm, Brad C University of Massachusetts Amherst 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

The eastern spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii) is an ephemeral wetland breeding amphibian that ranges from southern Florida north and westward to southeastern Missouri and northward along the Atlantic coastal plain to Massachusetts. This species is listed as either "threatened" or "endangered" in the four states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island) in the northeastern United States where it is known to exist. Population declines and extirpations throughout the region over the past century have been documented and are largely believed to be the result of habitat loss and/or alteration. Very limited empirical results exist on many life history attributes of S. holbrookii anywhere in its range, including movement patterns, upland habitat selection, and breeding habitat preferences. These are critical information gaps that must be filled in order to effectively conserve and manage for this rare species in the northeastern U.S. While S. holbrookii is extremely rare throughout most of the Northeast, it is locally common in specific areas of Cape Cod National Seashore, most notably in an extensive sand-dune ecosystem known as the Province Lands located at the northern terminus of the Cape Cod peninsula. During 2005 and 2006, we conducted larval trapping surveys at 102 wetlands in the Province Lands primarily to: 1) identify breeding wetlands and 2) to assess breeding habitat use and preferences of S. holbrookii with respect to a suite of selected abiotic and biotic covariates. We captured S. holbrookii larvae at 140/652 (~21.5%) trap locations and 41/102 (~40.2%) wetlands sampled. Model results identified a number of additional habitat covariates that exhibited a statistically significant relationship with larval S. holbrookii abundance including: the percent cover of 1) cranberry (positive relationship), and 2) woody shrub (positive relationship) at a 4m radius from the trap location; 3) percent woody shrub cover at the wetland-scale (negative relationship); 4) percent canopy cover at the wetland-scale (positive relationship); 5) wetland pH (positive relationship); 6) distance to the closest paved road (positive relationship); and the kernel density cover of 7) deciduous shrubland edge (positive relationship), 8) deciduous shrubland (negative relationship), 9) pine (positive relationship), and 10) open dune (positive relationship) in the uplands surrounding the study wetlands. During 2006 and 2008 we radio-tracked adult S. holbrookii in the Province Lands using surgically implanted radio-transmitters to: 1) describe movement patterns and estimate home range sizes, and 2) assess upland habitat preferences of S. holbrookii. We tracked 19/20 individuals (11 males and 8 females) and 12/20 individuals (7 males and 5 females) for at least the first 30 and 100 days post-surgery, respectively, during 2006. During 2008 we successfully tracked 15/25 individuals (10 males and 5 females) and 5/25 individuals (3 males and 2 females) for at least the first 30 and 100 days post-surgery, respectively. In addition to results obtained on a suite of movement attributes we identified a number of upland habitat preferences for S. holbrookii. Use locations were: 1) closer to the nearest deciduous shrub edge, 2) had a greater percent cover of ground-running pitch pine branches at a 1 m scale, 3) had a greater percent cover of deciduous shrubs at a 1 m scale, and 4) had a greater percent cover of reindeer lichen at a 5 m scale. Results from this research provide much needed empirical results on these critical life history attributes related to the movement and breeding ecology of S. holbrookii. These results will aid biologists and Park management staff at Cape Cod National Seashore in more effectively employing conservation and management strategies aimed at enhancing the long-term persistence probability of this regionally rare species in the Province Lands.

Contributions of iron (III) and sulfate-reducing bacteria to attenuation of an Acid Mine Drainage site: Linking microcosm studies and geochemistry

Lopez-Luna, Erika L University of Massachusetts Amherst 2008 해외박사(DDOD)

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is a consequence of mining activity; it results from bacterial and chemical oxidation of pyrite and other sulfide minerals in waste rock and tailings. AMD is characterized by low pH, and elevated sulfate, iron and often heavy metal concentrations that cause severe damage to the environment. Microorganisms indigenous to highly acidic environments are very diverse and include microorganisms capable of generating alkalinity. The objective of this research was to investigate the biological attenuation of AMD in Davis Mine, an abandoned pyrite mine in Western Massachusetts. The main focus was to evaluate the effects of dissimilatory iron reducing bacteria (DIRB) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) on the geochemistry of Davis Mine using in situ (ISM) and laboratory (LBM) microcosms. Evidence of ongoing microbial activity was indicated by geochemical changes observed only in live LBMs: increase in concentration of ferrous iron over time, the development of reducing conditions, increase in pH and the development of black precipitates. Data showed that indigenous bacteria change the water chemistry and mineral composition favoring the natural attenuation of the site. However, the results from this study were not sufficient to confirm whether or not SRB or DIRB were metabolically active. The LBM experiments showed that in a closed system and under favorable environmental conditions (temperature, Eh, pH) biological reduction was one of the main mechanisms for the remediation of AMD. Indigenous bacteria were capable of remediating AMD without the addition of an external carbon source, and attenuation rates increased with the addition of glycerol, nitrogen and phosphorous. A program for aqueous geochemical calculations, PHREEQC, confirmed the precipitation of some minerals from the water geochemistry resulting from the microbial activity. Due to hydrological problems in the ISM, it was not possible to obtain in situ rates of degradation. The ISM was affected by the introduction of water with different chemical characteristics. The in situ experiments showed that groundwater transport and diffusion played an important role in the groundwater chemistry. Further in situ experiments are needed to account for environmental factors such as soil pore diameter, temperature, groundwater flow and geochemical processes, availability of electron donor and nutrients in order to determine the rate of microbial activities.

Beyond the accountability-improvement debate: A case study analysis of institutional response to assessment

Doherty, Kathryn P University of Massachusetts Amherst 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study is to identify institution-specific variables that impact assessment on campus and to determine the ways in which these variables influence campus approach to assessment. The importance of this study lies in its ability to inform assessment policy, to influence assessment practice, and to support assessment research. Results from this study provide broader parameters within which to discuss assessment beyond the traditional accountability or improvement model. Results also offer a systematic three-step process for campus self-analysis using institution-specific variables as a means of identifying campus response to assessment. This process facilitates focus on those campus variables that promote or prevent effective assessment, while informing potential changes in policy and practice tied to those variables, and providing an opportunity for an intentional review of assessment to optimize institutional effectiveness. Research for this study was conducted using case study analysis of three institutions to collect and classify data, to describe the data, and to make inferences about what the data reveal. From the results of this study it is fair to conclude that assessment on campus is shaped and influenced by an interplay of variables unique to each college or university. This research also suggests that a campus's response to assessment is directly impacted by the nature and focus of the interplay of these campus-specific variables. The findings from this study point to significant policy and practice implications wherein a campus may identify the forces that push the campus closer to accountability or closer to improvement and develop interventions to make assessment more effective vis a vis the institution-specific framework in which assessment evolves.

Terrestrial movement, dispersal and adult survival of marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum): Implications for metapopulation dynamics and conservation

Gamble, Lloyd R University of Massachusetts Amherst 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the most serious threats facing amphibian populations globally. Given the prevalence of these threats, it is essential that conservation planners understand the spatial scales at which amphibian populations operate and minimize local and regional extinction risks. We conducted a landscape-level investigation of population processes in marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) distributed among 14 seasonal ponds in western Massachusetts. Using capture-recapture methods, we monitored breeding populations from 1998 to 2005 to evaluate terrestrial movement distances (Chapter 1), develop methodology for identifying individuals (Chapter 2), quantify dispersal probabilities and distances (Chapter 3), and evaluate survival and breeding probabilities in adults and the degree to which they are correlated among breeding populations (Chapter 4). In six field seasons, we recorded over 6,000 captures of adult marbled salamanders and 8,000 captures of newly emerging juveniles. Six of the 14 ponds supported relatively persistent breeding populations. Nearly 100% of adults and over 70% of juveniles moved to terrestrial habitats farther than 30 m from breeding ponds, and some juveniles moved greater than 1,200 m in their year of emergence. Both first-time and experienced breeders showed high fidelity to natal ponds; however, 9% and 3.6% of these individuals, respectively, dispersed to non-natal breeding sites. Adult survival probabilities did not vary substantially between sexes or among most breeding populations. Simulations estimated that approximately 50% of individuals that survive to breed once do not live to breed again, but approximately 25% will survive to breed 3 or more times. Collectively, our results demonstrate that breeding populations of marbled salamanders are prone to significant variability over time, with much of this variability concentrated in the egg and larval life stages. Given relatively limited life spans and frequent reproductive failures, many breeding populations may be vulnerable to local extinctions over the course of several decades; however, occasional dispersal among populations may offset both genetic and demographic factors contributing to local extinction risks. Marbled salamanders in Massachusetts may be best described by a dynamic "source-sink" metapopulation model, suggesting that conservation strategies must extend beyond breeding wetlands to maintain adult survival and metapopulation processes.