Master of Science in Environmental Science, Youngstown State University, 2021, Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geology and Environmental Sciences

Although frequently overlooked or omitted, ecosystem services provide an environment for the survival of life on earth, including humans. Soil is a critical compartment for ecosystem services composed of solids, gasses, water, and micro and macro flora and fauna. Soil functions include water holding capacity, nutrient holding and cycling, support for microbial life, carbon capture, and other many other unseen benefits. Within society a main use of soil is agriculture for growth of food, fiber, and other necessities for civilization. Agricultural practices can consist of different techniques, two common categories are conventional and conservation methods. Conventional tillage utilizes turning of the soil to prepare the seedbed and remove unwanted plants. In conservation methods the use of no tillage or reduce tillage is used, where the soil is minimally disturbed, and the seeds are inserted into small slits or openings. Aggressive tillage can affect soil ecosystem function and limit the quality of soil health by decreasing porosity, reducing microbial processes, and increasing erosion. Seven farm fields in Trumbull County, OH, were sampled to investigate the connection between agricultural method and soil quality characteristics that contribute to overall soil health and productivity. Composite soil samples consisting of 2.5 cm soil cores separated into top 15 cm layer and bottom layer were evaluated for organic matter, bulk density, soil texture, plant available phosphorus, pH, total nitrogen, salinity, and percent porosity using standard methods. The data composed of 32 samples, with 16 samples from the top layer and 16 from the bottom layer. The fields were ranked one to four, with a ranking of one indicating conventional methods to ranking of four with the highest amount of conservation practices applied. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, mean comparison, one-way ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis, and backwards linear regressions using S (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Felicia Armstrong PhD (Advisor); Colleen McLean PhD (Committee Member); Albert Sumell PhD (Committee Member); Lee Beers MS (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Economics; Agricultural Education; Agriculture; Agronomy; Earth; Economic Theory; Environmental Economics; Environmental Education; Environmental Health; Environmental Philosophy; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Soil Sciences; Sustainability

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2016, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

The poor internal drainage characteristics of the soils in Ohio pose a challenge to proper treatment of domestic wastewater in an On-Site Wastewater Treatment System, OSWTS. Seasonal high water tables in saturated soil cause only partial removal of pollutants from the wastewater, due to minimal time and space for proper natural processes. Most Ohio soils are not suitable for the safe operation of an OSWTS with a leach field system. To reduce the potential for OSWTS failure resulting from seasonal high water table conditions, Curtain drains are proposed to reduce or eliminate the potential for nitrogen leaching to surface waters from onsite wastewater treatment systems, OSWTS. The risk in the use of curtain drains is in their contribution to nonpoint source pollution by directly carrying pollutants into surrounding water bodies. Nutrients are not the only pollutants of concern from wastewater. Pathogenic parasites, bacteria, viruses, toxic organic compounds and metals impose high risks to public health. DRAINMOD is a tool specifically designed for use with poorly drainage soils to model shallow water tables and the hydrology in many of the Ohio soils classified as poorly drained and somewhat poorly drained. An improved version of the hydrologic model, DRAINMOD-N II has the capability to assess the nitrogen balance in agricultural subsurface drainage systems. The proposed study will model and analyze a designed matrix of drain depths, drain spacing, impeding depth and loading rate for the Blount Silt Loam soil at the Noland site to predict nitrogen drainage loss concentrations. The modeling study will be conducted for 31 years over the period 1982 to 2012. The model generates a daily output of drainage loss concentrations of NO3-N and NH4-N in kg/ha. These losses are predicted to be those of the curtain drains. Statistical analyses of the modeling results will be used to test the significance of nitrogen loss differences between the drain depths, drain spacings, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Larry C. Brown (Advisor); Andrew Ward (Committee Member); Norman Fausey (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Engineering

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Arts and Sciences: Classics

Relict agricultural terraces, although difficult to date, are features of the Greek landscape that reflect the expansion of cultivation at various times in the past and can, in some circumstances, suggest the nature of agricultural regimes at particular moments in the past. The data presented in this dissertation document agricultural terraces at and in the vicinity of the important Mycenaean settlement of Korphos-Kalamianos in the southeastern Corinthia. My data, together with that collected through an intensive archaeological surface survey conducted under the auspices of the Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project, suggest that the earliest phase of terracing in the area dates to the Late Bronze Age, when the Mycenaean palaces of the Argolid were at the height of their power. I suggest that the palace at Mycenae then controlled and exploited the agricultural resources of the region and that the palace contributed labor and technical skills for the construction of these terraces. By so doing, Mycenae played an active role in expanding the amount of land that could be cultivated and in determining the way in which the land could be farmed. I argue that the relationship between Mycenae and Korphos was closer than between Mycenae and other parts of its hinterland.

Committee: Jack Davis PhD (Committee Chair); Thomas Tartaron PhD (Committee Member); Eleni Hatzaki PhD (Committee Member); Gisela Walberg PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology