Introduction to Environmental Science: 2nd Edition

2nd Edition: Revised by Kalina Manoylov, Allison Rick VandeVoort, Christine Mutiti, Samuel Mutiti and Donna Bennett in 2017. Authors\u27 Description: This course uses the basic principles of biology and earth science as a context for understanding environmental policies and resource management practices. Our planet is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, from oil spills to global climate change. In ENSC 1000, you will learn about the science behind these problems; preparing you to make an informed, invaluable contribution to Earth’s future. I hope that each of you is engaged by the material presented and participates fully in the search for, acquisition of, and sharing of information within our class. Environmental Science Laboratory (ENSC 1000L) is a separate class and you will receive a separate grade for that course. Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, you will be able to: Evaluate the diverse responses of peoples, groups, and cultures to environmental issues, themes and topics. Use critical observation and analysis to predict outcomes associated with environmental modifications. Demonstrate knowledge of the causes & consequences of climate change. Apply quantitative skills to solve environmental science problems. Demonstrate knowledge of environmental law and policy. Design and critically evaluate experiments. Interpret data in figures and graphs. This open textbook for Introduction to Environmental Science was created under a Round Two ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation.https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-textbooks/1003/thumbnail.jp

Introduction to Environmental Science

This Grants Collection uses the grant-supported open textbook Introduction to Environmental Science from Georgia College and State University: http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-textbooks/4/ This Grants Collection for Introduction to Environmental Science was created under a Round Two ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-collections/1001/thumbnail.jp

Georgia Academy of Science 2023 Annual Meeting Program

This is the program of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Academy of Science

Assessing the Influence of Physical Factors and Human-Related Disturbances on Forested Wetland Communities in Georgia

Forested wetlands act as buffers between human civilization and aquatic ecosystems, providing numerous services. Due to widespread human influence, most existing forested wetlands are secondary forests. This study investigated 3 forested wetlands in the Oconee basin in middle Georgia to assess the influence of physical factors and anthropogenic disturbances on the tree composition. Our analyses revealed that the northernmost wetland had experienced the most recent major anthropogenic disturbance based on the dominance of an early successional species. The southernmost site, a floodplain forest, was the most diverse due to the short flooding durations that support a larger suite of species. The middle site was the least diverse but had the largest trees and total basal area

Using GIS and remote sensing to explore the influence of physical environmental factors and historical land use on bushland structure

Bushland is a vegetation type with a dense cover of woody plants of low stature and a grass understory. We explored the influence of environmental factors (precipitation, topography, geology, hydrology and waterhole density) and historical land use in the Tsavo ecosystem bushland. We mapped vegetation patterns in the region using remote sensing, GIS and field data and tested relationships with physical factors. We used regression analysis to explore the interaction of physical factors and human influence by including a protected and a nonprotected area, representing contrasting historical land use policies, as factors in the regression model. Bushland vegetation had the largest proportion in the region as a whole, but its proportion was notably greater in the nonprotected area. Precipitation, elevation, geology and historical land use were significant predictors of vegetation patterns in the regression models. Higher precipitation and elevation make woody plants superior competitors over grasses, resulting in predominance of bushland in such areas. Geologically, marine deposits result in shallow calcareous soils that favour grasses over trees, hence, absence of bushland. Wildlife management policies such as providing water for wildlife, protective boundaries and controlling wildfires influence distribution of wildlife and result in conditions that prevent regeneration and recruitment of trees

Proposal and Report for Grant 109: Introduction to Environmental Science

This proposal and final report are from the first ALG grants finishing between Spring 2015 and Spring 2016. They have been republished in the repository in order to move our first reports over from being hosted on the ALG website

Isolating, Identifying and Characterizing Bacteriophages: New Course Designs that Target K-12 and Undergraduate Students

We designed two courses around the isolation, identification and characterization of phages that are present in dirt and water-dwelling bacteria. Phages, also known as bacteriophages, are viruses that infect bacteria. The two courses target undergraduate biological and environmental science students who are chosen to become K-12 educators. In addition, a modified research protocol was designed for implementation in K-12 classrooms

THE DISTRIBUTION OF MACROINVERTEBRATES ON SAPELO ISLAND, GA

Sapelo Island is one of Georgia’s barrier islands that is almost completely owned and managed by the state. The island has vast amounts of salt marshes and tidal drainages that are inhabited by aquatic organisms. Salt marshes support large macroinvertebrate biodiversity, with the southeastern coast having the highest number of known crayfish species in the United States. The goal of this research was to study the distribution, presence and diversity of macroinvertebrates on Sapelo Island, Georgia, and correlate this distribution to the salinity (conductivity) and nitrate distribution and concentrations. Macroinvertebrates were collected using D-framed nets following the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’s sampling protocols. A YSI multi-parameter instrument and a LabQuest Pro were used in the field to measure physical and chemical water parameters (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, total dissolved solids). Nitrate concentrations were measured using an ISE nitrate-specific probe from Vernier LLC. Water and soil samples were collected and transported to the lab where salinity and nitrate concentrations were re-measured. Specific conductance values in surface waters ranged from 0.2 to 44 mS/cm while nitrate ranged from 1 to 60 ppm. The surface water bodies generally have very low macroinvertebrate diversity. These preliminary results showed strong negative correlations between salinity and the presence of crayfish and oval water beetles. Crayfish and oval water beetles on Sapelo Island appear to prefer low salinity waters (fresh and brackish water), which also coincided with low nitrate concentrations. Further spatial and temporal distributions and correlations are being carried out. These preliminary results imply that as global temperatures rise and seawater floods barrier islands, there will be a loss of habitats for some of the species of macroinvertebrates

DEVELOPING METHODS FOR QUANTIFYING IRIS TUBE DATA

The demand for wetland delineation is growing with more stringent guidelines and protection being placed on wetlands and their surrounding areas. A major component to wetland delineation is assessing soil properties, particularly whether they are hydric or not. While there are currently methods in place to determine and classify hydric soils, these can be time consuming and complicated. The goal of this project was to devise a relatively faster and easier method of quantifying the rate of iron reduction in a more standardized and less subjective means. With the use IRIS tubes, a quicker and relatively easier method can be devised. IRIS were constructed from PVC pipes coated with a ferrihydrite/goethite paint. The tubes were placed directly in the wetland soils for four, and then retrieved and analyzed. Both qualitative and quantitative measurements of iron reduction were performed. Qualitative assessment relied on visual interpretation of color while quantitative evaluation of Fe-reduction utilized X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). Previously, the only means of analyzing the IRIS tubes has been simply comparing different tubes visually, and using a rough scale to determine how much reduction had taken place. While these qualitative data are useful, they can be very subjective. In this study, we were able to quantify the change in iron concentration on the pipes in a non-subjective manner. It was determined that combining XRF data and visual interpretation could yield excellent, objective quantification of the total iron removal in the wetlands and, therefore, a good technique for identifying hydric conditions in soils