This article asks whether increasing corn prices has a higher detrimental effect on the environment than steady prices, specifically if the increase in corn production harms the Gulf of Mexico. They compared the increase in prices with increases in production of corn in Kansas (using satellite images and GIS), and also with the changes of crop rotation from corn to soy to strictly growing corn. They found higher amounts of fertilizers are necessary when growing strictly corn, and this increase in nitrogen triggered an increase in the concentrations of nitrogen in runoff into the Mississippi. This increase in nitrogen subsequently caused an expansion of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico by an average of 30 square Miles. The data needed were acts and events, they needed to know the average increase in prices of corn, the average increases of corn production, the average increases in nitrogen runoff, and the average increase in the hypoxic area of the Gulf of Mexico. They gathered the data in literature reviews, and direct observations in collection of runoff, and analysis the spatial variation in satellite images from the Department of Agriculture. They used comparative analytics, T-Tests and ANOVA tests, to determine the correlation with the increases in prices and the in increase in the hypoxic zone using the data collected as variables. Overall I think it was interesting research, but even the authors stated there was considerable uncertainty in the estimates. They only looked at Kansas, while ignoring other states along the Mississippi. It was too simplified to contribute any real changes in price of corn to the changes in the Gulf. I did however find the use of Satellite Imagery effective, and if they were to include other crops further south of Kansas it may have been far more accurate in the study’s results.

Hendricks, Nathan P., et al. “The Environmental Effects of Crop Price Increases: Nitrogen Losses in the U.S. Corn Belt.” Journal of Environmental Economics & Management, vol. 68, no. 3, Nov. 2014, pp. 507-526. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2014.09.002.

This article focused on pesticide use in the Central Valley of California. The specific question examined how estrogenic compounds, from the degradation of pesticides over time, travel through groundwater or runoff into rivers and aquifers. Estrogenic compounds are known to cause cancer and mutations in organisms, from alligators to water fowl, and there presence in water is of major concern. This study collected samples from various areas of runoff and infiltration into groundwater, through satellite images and data from the California Integrated Pest Management Program. Once they had their samples they ran t-tests to see the correlation with distance from farm runoff and spray areas to see if there was a correlation, which there was. The data needed was action and events for both the amount of pesticides used and where as well as the collection of water samples both contaminated and uncontaminated. Their collection method was simple observation. The analysis was correlational and a simple T-test was used. Overall I think the research was a good examination into the effects of pesticide use, however by only sampling waters close to surface they may have underestimated the amounts of estrogenic compounds in the water. The most interesting piece of information from this article is the fact that the degradation of pesticides doesn’t remove its damaging effects to the environment, but almost makes it worse, as estrogenic compounds.

Johnson, M. L.; Salveson, A.; Holmes, L.; Denison, M. S.; Fry, D. M. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology. Apr98, Vol. 60 Issue 4, p609-614. 6p. Web. March 24 2017. <http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.books.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=14&sid=2a064c2e-00ca-438c-9218-25fda37290db%40sessionmgr4010&hid=4204 >

This article focuses on past Indigenous communities’ active management of their environments for millennia using a diversity of resource use and conservation strategies. The specific research question asks to what effect did ancient British Colombian indigenous peoples have on their clam gardens. They examined variables in clam gardens with and without past indigenous activity, including intertidal height and clam size. They found clam gardens with past human activity had a much higher density and number of clams than those without human activity. They required acts and events as data, and direct observation was the data collection method. There used ANOVA as their analysis with tidal height as independent variable and clam size as dependent. They examined three walled clam gardens and three non-walled gardens. Overall I think the research was awesome, and really proves how effective Native Americans were at conserving and even improving the natural resources of their land. What was interesting to me was the fact that at some gardens there was evidence of human activity from at least 1000 years ago.

Jackley, J., L. Gardner, A. F. Djunaedi, and A. K. Salomon. 2016. Ancient clam gardens, traditional management portfolios, and the resilience of coupled human-ocean systems. Ecology and Society 21(4): 20. <http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.books.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=24&sid=128a04c7-4e86-46a4-b654-32fd8a7b8113%40sessionmgr4008&hid=4214>

This research proposal’s topic is about the safe storage of Nuclear Waste. Specifically, the proposals topic is a literature review asking if Yucca Mountain, Nevada would be a suitable place for the storage of nuclear waste. The proposal has two goals, to “(1) explain the criteria for a suitable repository of high-level radioactive waste; and (2) determine whether Yucca Mountain meets these criteria” (Bloom, 1). This research will also take into account the economic impact of having a single site for nuclear waste disposal, and if the transportation costs and risks associated with travel will outweigh the harm. This proposal outlines a descriptive study, a quasi-experimental process putting together past studies to determine if Yucca Mountain is environmentally suitable and safe to house large amounts of nuclear waste. The various studies that will be used in the research will be reports of acts examining the rock structure storage safety, container corrosion, and evaluations of Yucca Mountain using the Environmental Protection Agency standards. The gathering method is simply research, going through databases and even websites, such as the EPA’s website. The author of the proposal may have already had some research done in a scientific journal as well. The proposals plan of action first outlines the criteria for a safe site for nuclear waste disposal, and secondly will evaluate Yucca Mountain based on these criteria. No analysis, or description of analysis is given in this proposal, thought I assume being a quasi-experimental study most analysis will be done in the previous studies. All this researcher must do is combine these studies and draw conclusions based on these studies. I think this is a worthwhile research proposal, though the only thing, at least I think, is missing is analysis.

Bloom, Roger. “A Proposal to Research the Storage Facility
for Spent Nuclear Fuel at Yucca Mountain.” Penn State Engineering. Undergraduate Engineering Review. Feb, 1999. Web. March, 2017. <http://writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/proposal.samples.html>

The article I chose examines the various foods and preparation of foods of Native American Populations in North America. It focuses on major types of produce (not including hundreds if not thousands of other minor more local varieties of foods) like corn, potatoes, new varieties of beans and squashes, peppers and tomatoes, and many other foods. Their topic is on ethnobotony of Native Americans, but the question focuses on diets and dietary culture of the indigenous North American inhabitants as well as discussing the nutritional quality of those diets and the contributions they make to the diets of all people. The data type necessary was reports of acts, looking at how Native Americans currently employ ethnobotany. There were also acts and events, such as the nutritional content of certain foods. Ethnographies and observation were used to collect the data for ethnobotany and nutrition. The method of analysis for nutrition was cross tabulations, checking how certain foods compared to each other. Overall the research was awesome, and gives lots of information on various aspects of the Native American diet that could be super useful in translating over to our current agricultural practices. I found it to be super awesome that they included recipes, although I am biased because I love cooking,

Park, Sunmin, et al. “Native American foods: History, culture, and influence on modern diets”. Journal of Ethnic Foods 3(3). (September 2016), 171–177. Science Direct. Web. 15 Feb. 2017. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618116300750>

The study I chose had a research topic of what species of plants can be used to clean the contaminated soils of mine tailings and smelter activities. The specific question was whether screw bean mesquite could be used as a hyper accumulator of copper in contaminated soils. The Mesquite was grown in contaminated soils and after a specified time were dried and chemically altered in ways which allowed for examination of the amount of copper within the roots and leaves. After examination it was seen that mesquite accumulated a significant amount of copper without inhibiting it’s growth. The data needed were acts, or if Mesquite was able to accumulate copper. The collection method was detached observation, recordings of the percentages of copper among the various mesquite plants. The method of analysis was researcher centered, used a Pearsons correlation comparing the difference in mesquite copper amounts with plants grown in soils of different amounts of contaminations. Overall I think the research was valuable in determining the effectiveness of mesquite as a copper hyper accumulator, and the most interesting thing I found was exactly how much copper could be cleaned up using mesquite. The researchers calculated that over 4.1 years, 4.5 tons of copper per acre contaminated could be cleaned.

Zappala, Marian, et al. “Prosopis Pubescens (Screw Bean Mesquite) Seedlings Are Hyperaccumulators Of Copper.” Archives Of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology 65.2 (2013): 212-223. GreenFILE. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. <http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.books.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=15&sid=1a26bcde-a165-4a93-add6-cf5f23b43cab%40sessionmgr4010&hid=4106>

Chickadees are selfish group members when it comes to food caching

The topic of the article I chose focused on the particular caching habits of Chickadees, and if cache pilferage occurred in these populations. Specifically, the question asked was, “How do the caching habits of Chickadees change when in the presence of a familiar observers of the same group and an unfamiliar conspecific observers?” 22 mountain chickadees were captured in September 2009 in Tahoe National Forest over 11km at feeders spaced widely enough to find specimens of different social groups. The experiment placed caching specimens with an observer of the same social group, one familiar and one unfamiliar observer, and with no observers. Results showed Chickadees try to minimize cache pilferage among all observers by going out of site of each observer when caching. The data required was information on how chickadees cache their food, which are acts or events. The method of gathering was direct observation, the researches observed how caching habits changed in each specific setting. This was simply comparing habits of chickadees, non-numerical data, and it was purely researcher-centered analysis, for the researchers compared how far and to what extent chickadees would cache their foods with intent of secrecy. Overall I think this research was successful, the methods seemed straightforward and uncomplicated which I believe to provide thorough research. I thought it was interesting the study noted there were no changes in rate of caching, indicating there was no perceived threat of aggression from the point of view of the caching chickadee.

Pravosudov, V. V., Roth, T.C., LaDage, L.D. (2010, July-September). Chickadees are selfish group members when it comes to food caching. Animal Behavior, 80, 175-180.

The research topic of the article I chose examined effectiveness of onsite sewage treatment systems. The question focused on what is the percentage of four types of onsite treatment systems (aerobic and septic systems both with and without filters) that allow effluent to surface rather than be treated. The study was done under the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency in 2009. A single certified soil scientist was used to ensure consistency and to verify results. The outcome was a 12.7 to 19.7 percent failure rate among the categories of systems, or about 1 in 8 systems failing overall; no significant distinction between types of systems and failure rates was seen. I suppose expert knowledge could be a data type, because they needed a specific expert in soil sciences to conduct the investigation. However, I am choosing public and private records because the scientist was reporting on the failure of the treatment systems. I believe public and private records was collection method because as the scientist collected data, a record was created. The results were listed as “yes and no” answers to whether the effluent surfaced or not, therefore it is non-numerical data. I am lead to believe it is researcher-centered analysis because the researcher compared whether or not which systems failed and if any failed more than the others. The research was effective in terms of the question, though with the few number of investigations of filtered systems and the small area surveyed I’m not sure we come to a general conclusion as to whether onsite systems are failing to this degree everywhere as opposed to only in Ohio. It was interesting to note that 75% of all onsite treatment systems installed were filter-less anaerobic systems, which also accounted for the highest percentage of failure among each type of system.

Tumeo, M. A., Newland, J. (2009, September). Survey of Home Sewage Disposal Systems in Northeast Ohio. Journal of Environmental Health, 72(2), 17-22.