Environmental Studies – Page 2 – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Environmental Studies

The role of sex and stress response on exploratory behavior of Wood Thrush living in fragmented landscapes

As climate change worsens and humans continue to modify habitats, it will be increasingly important to understand how organisms respond to these changes both through behavioral and physiological adaptations. Both exploratory behavior and corticosterone (CORT) levels in birds are impacted by habitat fragmentation (Cornelius et. al, 2017, Kluen et. al, 2014); however, there are mixed results on how these effects vary based on sex (Schuett and Dall, 2009, Atwell et. al, 2012). We captured Wood Thrush living in highly and minimally fragmented habitats in Southern Indiana to investigate the relationship between sex, exploratory behavior, and corticosterone. We recorded Wood Thrush for twenty minutes while they explored a portable enclosure with five perches. We then quantified exploration behavior according to the methods in Huang et al (2016).

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Activity of squirrels and rabbits to domestic cats in Detroit, MI

Domestic cats are known invasive predators on small mammals and birds in urban areas. Due to domestic cats’ presence, concerns have raisen given the detrimental impact these pets can have on the local wildlife of metropolitan cities. In this study, we analyzed the temporal avoidance of squirrels (Sciurus niger, Sciurus carolinensis) and cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) to the presence of domestic cats (Felis catus) in Detroit Michigan.

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The Resilience Project: Measuring, Modeling, and Resilience to Hurricanes along the Eastern Seaboard

Hurricanes are massive storm systems that have major impacts on the human environment, especially infrastructure and the economy. It is imperative that we assess and measure recent patterns toward greater resilience to these powerful events, by minimizing the destructive potential that hurricanes will continue to bring in the near future. This undergraduate research study analyzes historic hurricane data, including their recurrence and magnitudes, as well as resilience measurement models that assess levels of impact to occurrences. Special focus is on southeast Florida which will continue to experience major impacts of storm patterns, especially coastal flooding from winds and storm surge. Five main results are found. First, Florida has the highest yearly frequency of hurricane strikes of any state on the U.S. Mainland. Second, the average frequency of mainland US hurricanes strikes since 1850 is 2 per year, and has not increased; however, the frequency of Atlantic hurricanes from 1985-2020 has nearly doubled. Next, the storm intensity of these strikes has slightly increased since 1850 (category 4 and 5 storms). Lastly, hurricane damage cost has increased by 100-1000 times; these rapidly growing costs reflect damage-prone societal infrastructure. It is also found that hurricane damage costs make up the significant majority of all weather event damage costs. The study offers strategies on a community level and on a regional level for increasing resilience, based on recent patterns of activity and the potential of enhanced storm activity in the near future.

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The Seasonality of Infectious Diseases Across the Globe

Dysentery is an infection causing inflammation of the intestines and bloody diarrhea. It is often spread via contaminated food and water and was a prevalent public health concern throughout the twentieth century and still today to an extent. Data provided by the World Health Organization from 1944-1977 categorizes dysentery as either amoebic or bacillary. Amoebic dysentery is caused by the parasite, amoeba Entamoeba histolytica, and bacillary dysentery is caused by the Shigella bacteria. Dysentery cases were examined in a variety of countries around the world from 1944-1977. This data was first scanned from World Health Organization record books, and PDFs were converted into Excel files using optical character recognition (OCR) software. The cumulative data over the entire timespan was then graphed and visualized using the R programming language using time series to determine if any trends in seasonality existed for either or both forms of dysentery. These visualizations will help doctors and public health professionals better understand the seasonality of dysentery as well as where and when it is most prevalent. This will provide vital information that can improve timing and delivery of treatment in parts of the world with high incidences of dysentery.

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The Resilience Project: Earthquake threats to Mid-west and Northeastern regions of U.S.

Whereas the number of earthquakes per year remain steady, modern society faces increasing threats to life, infrastructure and economic activity. In order for communities to improve their resilience against inevitable earthquakes, information is needed on how they will affect their regions and how they can build resilience against a largely unstoppable natural disaster. Using public data, this undergraduate research study investigates the earthquake patterns and threats to both Midwest and the broader northeastern regions of the U.S, with a focus on the societal impacts of earthquakes in these regions. Earthquake data over a 45 year period establish that the number as well as magnitude of earthquakes in this region is quite small, compared to regions of the western US. The data reveals that the average annual injury and the earthquake damage costs for this region are relatively low. It is expected that, with this information, people can reliably predict earth occurrences and decide whether their regions need to build a costly earthquake resilient infrastructure, which may exceed the regional damage of natural events.

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Progress Towards Developing a Quantitative Definition for Atmospheric Rivers

Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) are channels of water vapor in the atmosphere that result in a large amount of precipitation. They cause over 1.1 billion dollars of damage annually in the United States. As a result, accurately interpreting the presence of an AR has become crucial to ensuring the safety of citizens, especially those who live in regions frequently impacted by ARs. Progress is difficult, however, because the accepted AR definition is largely qualitative, and researchers who have tracked ARs use different identification methods. Therefore, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of various detection algorithms is of great interest. The Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP) is a multicentered, collaborative effort to quantify the differences among AR detection techniques. This study focuses on eight AR detection algorithms run on ECMWF’s ERA5 reanalysis product. The time intervals among the ERA5 datasets range in hours and the time frame generally covers the years 1980-2019. To facilitate comparison among detection approaches, we compared transects of AR landfall from East Asian countries using the Python Programming language. Assuming that each algorithm identifies the presence of an AR perfectly, the transect plots should be identical among the eight datasets. However, some plots differed significantly from the others. For future studies, one should develop a standardized approach to detecting and interpreting ARs. An accurate interpretation of these weather systems will not only save lives but help countries economically.

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Investigation of South America Atmospheric Rivers

Previous studies have identified that atmospheric features with low-level moisture transport, known as atmospheric rivers (ARs), are connected to extreme precipitation events around the globe. While these ARs provide vital water resources to communities, they are also known to cause fatalities resulting from flooding and landslides. The severity of their impacts is expected to increase with climate change due to increased atmospheric moisture. Our understanding of what drives changes in AR behavior is still incomplete. While there has been a wide breadth of research conducted on ARs in the North Pacific region, much work has yet to be done in order to fill gaps in knowledge about ARs across the globe. The investigation of South America ARs aims to quantify how our understanding of ARs depends on algorithm choice. This specific study focuses on detection algorithms run on JRA-55 reanalysis (55 km resolution). The dataset consists of six different algorithms, namely the ARConnect, GuanWaliser, IDL, Mundhenk, Payne and Reid algorithms. Python is used for intercomparison and visual representation of the differences and strength of various detection algorithms, focusing on the understudied region of southern South America (15°N-60°S, 110°W-16°W). This project aims to identify algorithms that perform poorly and common AR characteristics where there is agreement. In doing so, it is the hope that affected communities across this region will better be able to respond to incoming extreme weather associated with AR events.

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Reporting the Lakes

Great Lakes Now is a news source and division of Detroit Public Television. It covers issues that affect the Great Lakes and the 40 million people that live within the watershed. GLN produces a monthly show in addition to articles covering topics like water quality, public policy, environmental justice, economic development, and resource conservation. We focused specifically on drinking water quality and infrastructure in the Great Lakes region, tracking water advisories in Indigenous communities and water infrastructure projects in cities from Detroit to Cleveland. Stories like these support GLN aims by increasing public knowledge of the lakes and furthering interest in protecting them.

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Computed tomography reconstruction of fossil vertebrates

In our research project we are studying CT examination of ancient vertebrates. Understanding morphology can illuminate the possible relationships between ancient fish vertebrates and the niches they inhabited. The fish species that will be examined for this are lungfishes, which are often described as “living fossils.” A “living fossil” is a broadly applied term but can be generally understood as an organism exhibiting a close resemblance to its older relatives found in the fossil record. This project utilizes 3D reconstructions of fossil sarcopterygian fishes to enhance our understanding of their place in the phylogenetic tree. We acquired fossils from various universities and museums across the country, and segmented out their lower jaws using the program Materialize by Mimics. By doing this our work will be turned into 3D models in the program Blender. These 3D models will then be used to “landmark” or flag important differences between the jaw structure in both the same and different species. Based on Landmark data we can better understand their place in the phylogenetic tree and the relationship between morphology, diversity, and the environmental niches of these fishes.

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Computed tomography reconstruction of fossil vertebrates

In our research project we are studying CT examination of ancient vertebrates. Understanding morphology can illuminate the possible relationships between ancient fish vertebrates and the niches they inhabited. The fish species that will be examined for this are lungfishes, which are often described as “living fossils.” A “living fossil” is a broadly applied term but can be generally understood as an organism exhibiting a close resemblance to its older relatives found in the fossil record. This project utilizes 3D reconstructions of fossil sarcopterygian fishes to enhance our understanding of their place in the phylogenetic tree. We acquired fossils from various universities and museums across the country, and segmented out their lower jaws using the program Materialize by Mimics. By doing this our work will be turned into 3D models in the program Blender. These 3D models will then be used to “landmark” or flag important differences between the jaw structure in both the same and different species. Based on Landmark data we can better understand their place in the phylogenetic tree and the relationship between morphology, diversity, and the environmental niches of these fishes.

Computed tomography reconstruction of fossil vertebrates Read More »

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