Browsing by Subject "Environmental science"
Now showing items 1-20 of 91
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Alterations of Endophytic Microbial Community Function in Spartina alterniflora as a Result of Crude Oil Exposure
(2021)The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster remains one of the largest oil spills in history. This event caused significant damage to coastal ecosystems, the full extent of which has yet to be fully determined. Crude oil contains ... -
An Ecosystem Approach to Dead Plant Carbon over 50 years of Old-Field Forest Development
(2011)This study seeks to investigate the dynamics of dead plant carbon over fifty years of old-field forest development at the Calhoun Long Term Soil-Ecosystem Experiment (LTSE) in South Carolina, USA. Emphasis is on the transition ... -
Bayesian Statistical Analysis in Coastal Eutrophication Models: Challenges and Solutions
(2014)Estuaries interfacing with the land, atmosphere and open oceans can be influenced in a variety of ways by anthropogenic activities. Centuries of overexploitation, habitat transformation, and pollution have degraded estuarine ... -
Biogeochemical Transformations of Trace Element Pollutants During Coal Combustion Product Disposal
(2015)Coal fired power plants generate approximately 45% of the electricity produced in the United States every year, and each year, over 100 million tons of coal ash are produced as a by-product of electricity generation. Coal ... -
Biogeomorphodynamics of Coastal Ecosystems under Conditions of Climate Change and Nutrient Enrichment
(2013)At a given time, tidal landforms inhabit one of three alternate elevation-determined stable states: salt marsh, sub-tidal platform, or tidal flat. The balance between soil production and sea level rise controls transitions ... -
Bridging the Scale Gap from Leaf to Canopy in Biosphere-Atmosphere Gas and Particle Exchanges
(2016)Terrestrial ecosystems, occupying more than 25% of the Earth's surface, can serve as`biological valves' in regulating the anthropogenic emissions of atmospheric aerosolparticles and greenhouse gases (GHGs) as responses to ... -
Causes and consequences of microbial symbioses; insights from comparative genomics of plant associated bacterial-fungal interactions
(2017)Symbioses have shaped our modern world, providing for the air we breathe; for the plant and animal diversity we celebrate; and for the functioning of ecosystems from the tops of mountains to the ocean floor. Here I study ... -
Characterizing Environmental Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Exposure and Effects in North Carolina Communities
(2022)Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals used in a wide array of products and applications (e.g., nonstick cookware, waterproof and water-repellent textiles, firefighting foam). Following their ... -
Characterizing the Binding Potential, Activity, and Bioaccessibility of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Gamma (PPARγ) Ligands in Indoor Dust
(2015)Accumulating evidence is suggesting that exposure to some environmental contaminants may alter adipogenesis, resulting in accumulation of adipocytes, and often significant weight gain. Thus these types of contaminants are ... -
Chemical Exploration of Global Shipping: Characterization of Organic Pollutants and Disinfection Byproducts Associated with Ship Ballast Water
(2018)Commercial shipping activities place significant strain on one of our most important natural resources as demand for affordable global trade demands ever increasing marine traffic. It has long been recognized as one of the ... -
Climate Variability and Ecohydrology of Seasonally Dry Ecosystems
(2015)Seasonally dry ecosystems cover large areas over the world, have high potential for carbon sequestration, and harbor high levels of biodiversity. They are characterized by high rainfall variability at timescales ranging ... -
Coal Combustion Residuals in Receiving Lake Ecosystems: Trophic Transfer, Toxicity, and Tracers
(2018)Modern ecotoxicology draws considerable criticism for its lack of ecological relevance despite its history of interdisciplinary research overlap with the fields of conservation biology and ecology. The overarching aim of ... -
Comparisons of Carbon and Water Fluxes of Pine Forests in Boreal and Temperate Climatic Zones
(2015)Quantifying carbon fluxes and pools of forest ecosystems is an active research area in global climate study, particularly in the currently and projected increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration environment. Forest ... -
Contaminant Interactions and Biological Effects of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes in a Benthic Estuarine System
(2013)Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are highly ordered filamentous nanocarbon structures. As their commercial and industrial use becomes more widespread, it is anticipated that SWNT will enter the environment through waste ... -
Controls on Carbon Uptake and Storage in Southeastern Forests
(2012)Uptake and storage of carbon by forest ecosystems continues to be a major research topic needed for the quantification of global budgets in an increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide environment. However, there are considerable ... -
Convexity, Concavity, and Human Agency in Large-scale Coastline Evolution
(2014)Coherent, large-scale shapes and patterns are evident in many landscapes, and evolve according to climate and hydrological forces. For large-scale, sandy coastlines, these shapes depend on wave climate forcing. The wave ... -
Data to Decision in a Dynamic Ocean: Robust Species Distribution Models and Spatial Decision Frameworks
(2016)Human use of the oceans is increasingly in conflict with conservation of endangered species. Methods for managing the spatial and temporal placement of industries such as military, fishing, transportation and offshore energy, ... -
Detection and Quantification of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes in Environmental and Biological Samples for Evaluation of Fate, Transport and Bioaccumulation
(2017)Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are unique, anthropogenic allotropes of nanoparticulate black carbon. As numerous industrial and commercial uses of SWCNT result the heavy expansion of production of this material, ... -
Distribution, Transport, and Control of Mercury Released from Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) in Madre de Dios, Peru
(2016)Mercury (Hg) is a globally circulating heavy metal released through both natural and anthropogenic sources. The largest anthropogenic source of mercury to the global atmosphere is artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). ... -
Ecological Limitations and Potentials of Artificial Aquatic Systems
(2018)An abstract of a dissertation: As humans increasingly alter the surface geomorphology of the Earth, a multitude of artificial aquatic systems have appeared, both deliberately and accidentally. Human modifications to the ...
