EFFECTS OF IMPERVIOUSNESS ON FAMILY BIOTIC INDEX VALUES IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HEADWATERS AND RESULTING EXTENSION EDUCATION

Clear, cool headwater streams in the mountains of North Carolina are inextricably linked to the surrounding landscape. Trickling perennial streams drain precipitation from their catchment and are capable of sustaining excellent water quality to support rich aquatic biodiversity that feeds and beneficially contributes to the stream network below. However, headwater ecosystems can be easily compromised by even seemingly insignificant anthropogenic impacts. Small headwater streams were not mapped until recently, and are now known to be ubiquitous. Although the NC Mountains contain some of the highest headwater streams densities in the nation, they remain very susceptible to changes in the catchments that sustain them. Understanding effects from changes in the catchment can ameliorate future impacts, prioritize preservation efforts and inform restoration trajectories. Although a variety of stakeholders have preserved and passively managed unimpaired stream systems, others have attempted to enhance or restore streams with limited success. Without consideration to the surrounding landscape, these efforts may not be successful. This dissertation offers a starting point for determining thresholds of anthropogenic impacts to sustain biological integrity in headwater streams and offers examples of successful Extension education outreach efforts

Public Perceptions of Water Availability and Receptivity to Water Conservation in Georgia

Proceedings of the 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 10-11, 2013, Athens, Georgia.This study investigated public perceptions of water availability in Georgia to identify factors that influence receptivity to water conservation technologies and practices. A receptivity model comprising four components – Awareness, Association, Acquisition and Application – was used to compare and contrast data collected through two different studies conducted in 2002 and 2010. The results suggest that public concern for water availability in Georgia did not change markedly over the eight years separating the two studies, with approximately half of Georgia residents expressing concern for water quantity. Factors found to influence citizen perceptions of water quantity issues and receptivity to calls for water conservation include: the difficulty in ‘seeing’ water availability challenges under normal water conditions, drought, confidence in water authorities (institutional trust), and a perception that other consumers are also conserving water (inter-personal trust). These findings have important implications for the design and implementation of water conservation programs.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute; The University of Georgia, Water Resources Faculty.This book was published by Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2152. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views

La Montología Global 4D: Hacia las Ciencias Convergentes y Transdisciplinarias de Montaña a través del Tiempo y el Espacio

With mountain studies we use integrative approaches for geoliteracy about productive socioecological landscapes, and motivate further transdisciplinary research in montology. We conceived this white paper as a confluence of individual expertise and collective reasoning towards forming synergistic research clusters dealing with convergent mountain science, to advance montology to a new level, whereby innovative thinking about sustainability science and regenerative development incorporates alternative propositions for maintenance, improvement, or regeneration of living conditions of mountainscapes. We seek to use this contemporary framing of sustainability and ecological restoration as the impetus to better understand nature-culture relations, framed on lived-in mountains that operate in four dimensions (length, width, depth, and time) oriented at maximizing the cross-cutting of themes around mountains as productive socioecological systems, in a new academic institutionalized convergent unit. We conclude with a call for consilient, sustainable, regenerative development in the world’s mountains.La utilización de los estudios de montaña requiere de narrativas integradoras para la geoalfabetización sobre paisajes socioecológicos productivos y motiva más investigaciones transdisciplinares en el campo de la montología. Concebimos este artículo como la confluencia de la experiencia individual y el razonamiento colectivo hacia la formación de grupos de investigación sinérgicos que se ocupan de la ciencia de montaña convergente, para hacer avanzar la montología a un nuevo nivel, mediante el cual el pensamiento innovador sobre la ciencia de la sustentabilidad y el desarrollo regenerativo incorpora propuestas alternativas para el mantenimiento, la mejora, o regeneración de las condiciones de vida de los paisajes de montaña. Buscamos utilizar este marco contemporáneo de sustentabilidad y restauración ecológica como el ímpetu para comprender mejor las relaciones de la naturaleza y la cultura, desde una perspectiva transdisciplinar, en montañas habitadas que operan en cuatro dimensiones (largo, ancho, alto y tiempo). El artículo está orientado a potenciar la transversalidad de temáticas en torno a las montañas como sistemas socioecológicos productivos, en una nueva disciplina académica institucionalizada y convergente. Concluimos con un llamado a un desarrollo regenerativo, sustentable y consiliente en las montañas del mundo

Bird-Long Island Management Study Phase 2A: Enhancement and Restoration Interventions for Bird-Long Island Shoreline Alternatives: Design and Modeling for Stewardship

PI#0016864This study evaluated a variety of design interventions using nature-based solutions to preserve a culture resource on Bird-Long Island and promote indigenous vegetative communities by maintaining or increasing vegetative biodiversity. Several alternatives were proposed that utilized a combination of green and gray infrastructure, such as living shorelines, thin layer placement, and beneficial dredge. Strengths and weaknesses accompany each design alternative with relative construction costs. Environmental site data was collected during study and demonstrated that naturally occurring, reef forming organisms were naturally present and could likely populate proposed nature-based solutions

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Linking Onsite and Distance Education Efforts to Improve Regional Watershed Education Efforts

Proceedings of the 2011 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 11, 12, and 13, 2011, Athens, Georgia.The Southern Regional Water Program’s Watershed Education and Restoration Team, which is composed of Extension faculty from Land Grant Universities in the southeast partnered to offer multiple regional workshops focused on practices that improve ecological function in developing watersheds. Partners included USDA NIFA Southern Regional Water Program, University of Georgia, NC State University, Auburn University, University of Kentucky, Texas A&M, Clemson University, and University of Florida. Soil Scientists, engineers, hydrologists, horticulturalists, and landscape architects combined their skills to develop a series of webinars and workshops that were designed to improve water quality and ecological function of streams by advancing education on stormwater management and stream restoration. One focus of this effort was advancing stormwater management. In 2009, a web-based train-thetrainer effort that featured regional stormwater experts was initiated to introduce innovations in wetland, stormpond, rain garden, and rainwater harvesting techniques. Archives of the training, presentations, activities, relevant publications and evaluation resources were compiled into an online learning center to support county-based training efforts. http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/water/lc/rwh.html Over 200 people were trained, survey respondents indicated that rainwater harvesting knowledge increased by 25.2%, rain garden knowledge increased by 32.4%, 94.7% of participants found the learning center useful, and 86.5% of attendees reported that they either already conducted a training, or plan to conduct a training in the future. A second focus of this regional effort was stream restoration. In 2010, a webinar workshop was broadcast from Al, NC and GA, combined regional expertise in order to train Extension Agents and Watershed Coordinators. Over 150 participants from 17 states were trained were trained on vegetative stream restoration techniques. A web-based learning center was developed to enhance the success of this training effort: http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/water/lc/StreamVeg.ht ml This training resulted in a 16.8% increase in knowledge on vegetation for ecosystem restoration, knowledge of soil considerations for restoration increased by 15.2%, and 91.2% of respondents indicated that they plan to use information from either the workshop or learning center in future training events. Keys to success in this education effort included: cooperative partners, good communication, and dedication to developing practical workshops that are fun for trainers and participants. Webinar training and online Learning centers were developed by the Southern Regional Water Program's Watershed Education and Restoration Team successfully increased knowledge on water resource management and ecosystem restoration.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute The University of Georgia, Water Resources FacultyThis book was published by Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2152. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-307) or the other conference sponsors

Current and Future Water Availability: Public Opinion in the Southern United States

We examine public opinions about future water availability using results of a survey conducted in 2008 – 2010 in nine southern states. Because a large percentage of respondents in Florida, Georgia, and Texas were concerned with water availability, and many in Tennessee believed a prolonged drought was likely, residents of these states may be more responsive to water conservation educational programs. To increase public awareness about water issues, Extension should tailor educational programs to new state residents and those with lower educational levels. Extension programs focusing on global warming impacts on water resources can have high effects in Arkansas and Oklahoma