Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Sociology

The Western United States contains not just one of the most arid regions in North America, but also the most urban region of the country. How to supply water to urban areas is one of the great questions of any society, and in the Southwest this was answered through a massive infrastructure centered around the Colorado River. It is my contention that the cities that received this water – such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego – have been artificially subsidized in their population and land area growth, and have had to develop specialized economic functions in order to justify further subsidies of water from the river and, by extension, the rest of the country - that they are, in plain terms, hothouse flowers transplanted into an environment that they could never live in without massive inputs. Multiple strands of urban and environmental theory are then presented and examined to gauge their ability to explain, let alone predict, the existence and development of such cities; while human ecology and urban political ecology have the tools and theoretical power to do so, I contend that the presence of technology and money – whether private or from government – is so new and combines so effectively in the form of these hyperspecialized cities that previous theories must be updated. After establishing that there is a sufficient distinction between metropolitan areas in the Colorado River System (MSAs that receive water via the Bureau of Reclamation's massive infrastructure) and those in the Rest of the Arid West, in addition to the rest of the United States, I then conduct time-series regressions with panel-corrected standard errors and conclude the following. Metro areas in the Colorado River System are larger and grew faster than their Arid counterparts in population and land area. The availability of Colorado River water induced land area growth in metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas. Metropolitan economies in the Colorado River System are s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Edward Crenshaw (Committee Chair); Hollie Nyseth-Brehm (Committee Member); Christopher Otter (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Studies; Sociology

Bachelor of Sciences, Ohio University, 2014, Biological Sciences

Over 50% of the world’s human population lives in cities and the number is steadily rising. Urbanization involves a unique set of environmental characteristics including greater imperviousness of surfaces, higher temperatures, and higher noise and light levels than natural systems. Urban development favors resident species of birds, granivores and omnivores, and rock and cavity nesters over migrants, insectivores, and ground nesters. This leads to differences in colonization success among species. In this study I assessed species richness, diversity, abundance, and guild composition of passerine and near passerine birds in an urban area situated in a rural landscape. I hypothesized that diversity should be lowest in the most urbanized areas and highest in the rural areas, abundances of species should differ among habitats on the rural to urban gradient, and avian communities of urban and rural areas should be unique. The most rural site had the highest species richness and the urban area had the lowest. Species diversity was greater in more rural areas. The abundance of invasive species increased and migrant species richness decreased towards the urban core, and feeding and nesting guild structures differed. These results have wildlife management, biodiversity, and social implications at the local as well as global level.

Committee: Donald Miles (Advisor); Kelly Williams-Sieg (Other); Janet Duerr (Other) Subjects: Biology; Wildlife Conservation

MS, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences

Wetlands are complex ecosystems with unique biogeochemical and hydrological characteristics. These aspects can be traced to the following biogeochemically distinct domains: sediments, porewater, and surface water. Sulfur can play a critical role in aquatic ecosystems, with potential to influence the biogeochemical cycles of freshwater nutrients and metals. Inorganic sulfur can occur in the natural environment in multiple oxidation states. In the presence of oxygen, reduced sulfur readily oxidizes to form sulfate. Wetland hydrology controls the redox states of sulfur, as well as governing the fates trace metals, major cations, and anions in the wetland ecosystem. By examining wetland hydrology and characterizing the biogeochemistry of different wetland domains (sediment, porewater, and surface water), the export and forms of inorganic sulfur in the wetland can be characterized. The study site for this project was a constructed wetland at the Cleveland Metroparks' Watershed Stewardship Center in Parma, Ohio. The study site had interior zones of differing depths and a dynamic hydrologic regime, which could cause a variation in nutrient residence times and transformations within the wetland. To understand the wetland's hydrology and its relationship to sulfate biogeochemistry, interior water levels, outflow discharge, precipitation, water chemistry, sediment chemistry, and porewater chemistry were monitored from June 2015 to October 2016. High concentrations of sulfate were found in the interior zones (arithmetic mean: 185.7 mg/L) and outflow (arithmetic mean: 228.4 mg/L), while inflow concentrations were variable (ranges across inflows: 9.417-902.2 mg/L). Sulfate concentrations in surface water were found to be the highest in the interior and outflow following an extensive drydown period in Summer 2016. High concentrations of sulfate could also signal that sulfide was present in the wetland, but sulfide was below detection in porewater. However, wetland sediments c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Jefferson (Advisor); Lauren Kinsman-Costello (Advisor); Elizabeth Herndon (Committee Member) Subjects: Biogeochemistry; Environmental Geology; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Freshwater Ecology; Geology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology; Natural Resource Management; Water Resource Management

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Entomology

Bumble bees (Bombus) are essential pollinators for wildflowers and crops worldwide, but many species are currently in decline. Habitat loss and fragmentation are leading factors in these declines. Urbanization is a source of habitat loss and fragmentation; however, robust and abundant bumble bee populations are often found in metropolitan areas. Though prior research has broadly examined bumble bee abundance and diversity in urban areas, little work has focused on individual abundances of different species, which may differ in their relationships with urban land. Furthermore, the potential impacts of urban land on gene flow and other genetic health factors in bumble bees remain largely unknown. The first goal of this research was to evaluate and compare the abundances of three target species—Bombus impatiens Cresson, 1863, B. griseocollis De Geer, 1773, and B. bimaculatus Cresson, 1863—along an agricultural-to-urban gradient in Madison, WI, USA. Bumble bees were collected from 16 sites during the summer of 2019 and 19 sites during the summer of 2020. The second goal was to evaluate genetic differentiation, heterozygosity, allelic richness and colony numbers among populations of these species along the same gradient. Percentage of impervious surface cover was used as a metric for urbanization, and this percentage was measured within both 500 m and 1500 m buffers around each study site to account for both local-scale and landscape-scale effects. Impervious surface cover showed no relationship with abundances of B. impatiens or B. griseocollis, but showed a positive relationship with abundance of B. bimaculatus. Impervious surface cover also showed no relationship with genetic differentiation, allelic richness or colony number for all three species in both years, and no relationship with heterozygosity for any species in 2019. In 2020, heterozygosity was negatively correlated with impervious surface cover for B. impatiens at the 500 m buffer but not the 1500 m buffer. (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jamie Strange (Advisor); Andy Michel (Committee Member); Mary Gardiner (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2023, Biology

The urban forest is a patchwork of trees growing in natural forests and parks, private yards, street plantings and vacant lots. Urban trees provide numerous societal environmental, and health benefits, vastly improving the lives of people who reside in urban areas. Urban trees are subject to a unique set of pressures, however, which differ from those of nearby rural areas. These include human preferences and particularly abiotic factors such as elevated CO2 and higher temperatures. Because the urban forest is a heterogeneous conglomeration of trees across various types of land-use, it has been difficult to describe, quantify, and predict the ecological and functional patterns of the urban forest. In my dissertation, we explore urban trees by investigating if the coordination between physiological and morphological characteristics of urban trees differs compared to trees in other environmental contexts; exploring whether the patterns of diversity and community structure differ between urban and rural locations, and examining if drought response differs between saplings sourced from urban and rural locations. In chapter 2, we measured leaf level water relations including the leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) and turgor loss point (πTLP). We found coordination between the change in Kleaf (ΔKleaf) and turgor loss point depression (ΔπTLP) across seasons, but this relationship was not the same between locations with different environmental conditions. Under cool, wet conditions we did not find this relationship; however, this relationship was significant under warmer, drier conditions suggesting that a lowered turgor loss point (i.e. more drought tolerant) buffered the potential negative effects of a decline in hydraulic capacity. We did not find expected relationships between leaf morphology and water relations, suggesting that further work is needed to assess the suitability of morphological traits to determine the services of urban trees. In chapter 3, we describe t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Juliana Medeiros (Advisor); Jean Burns (Committee Member); Ryan Martin (Committee Member); Kevin Mueller (Committee Member); Katharine Stuble (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Physiology; Plant Biology; Plant Sciences; Urban Forestry

Master of Science in Environmental Science, Cleveland State University, 2020, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Compared to their natural counterparts, trees in urban ecosystems experience distinctive environmental conditions which can be both beneficial and harmful to tree functions and fitness. Thus, the morphological, phenological, and physiological functions of trees in urban ecosystems can be unique and might not be predictable from patterns identified in natural forests where most research on tree ecology has occurred. To better understand how different tree species contribute to ecosystem services in urban environments, we estimated a number of key performance metrics and functional traits for species commonly planted in urban areas. Between April of 2017 and December of 2019, we monitored 42 species of trees across two sites growing in open, urban settings. Radial growth of each individual was measured weekly from April to December using dendrometer bands. Leaf phenology was assessed weekly during leaf development and senescence. Wood phenology was estimated using the RDendrom package in R. Annual C sequestration was estimated using radial growth data, allometric equations (Urban Tree Database), and species-specific wood density and stem C% estimates (TRY database). We also measured several important anatomical, morphological, physiological, and phenological traits. In 2019, we measured a number of canopy characteristics on a smaller subset of individuals (n=137) across 38 species. Lastly, we measured a number of potentially important abiotic covariates, including soil texture, soil pH, canopy light availability, and various topographic variables. We found evidence that performance metrics (basal area growth), canopy characteristics, and functional traits varied significantly among the species in our study. Moreover, the performance metrics and traits which are directly linked to specific ecosystem services, such as aboveground carbon sequestration and drip line leaf area index, also varied significantly among the species in our study. This suggests that particular (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kevin Mueller (Advisor); Emily Rauschert (Committee Member); Thomas Hilde (Committee Member) Subjects: Botany; Ecology; Environmental Science; Statistics; Urban Forestry

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Entomology

Forests are a ubiquitous component of the green infrastructure found in urban settings ranging from shrinking inner-city neighborhoods to affluent outlying suburbs. Previous research has identified and often quantified many of the regulating ecosystem services provided by urban forests, including mitigation of the heat island effect, removal of atmospheric pollutants, and reduction of stormwater runoff. Because of these benefits, this greenspace is widely regarded as an environmental amenity for urban residents. However, understanding the urban forest's role in providing ecosystem services such as pest regulation or functions such as resource transfer to higher trophic levels, both of which could be heavily influenced by the plant species composition of this greenspace, has received comparatively less attention. Exotic tree species are commonplace in urban sites ranging from minimally to extensively managed and their ecology as it relates to these ecosystem services and functions remains less understood. Previous research has also demonstrated that urban forests and the benefits they confer are often inequitably distributed across socioeconomic groups, which could have important implications for natural resource management and environmental justice initiatives. Therefore, the overarching goals of this dissertation research were to further investigate the ecosystem services and functions provided by urban forests, and in particular the role of exotic species, and to examine the distributional equity of the habitat in diverse urban settings. Focusing first on shrinking cities as unique socio-ecological systems, the first objectives of this research were to: review the literature on the ecological and sociological tradeoffs of urban spontaneous vegetation occurring on vacant land (Chapter 1); survey the forest community occurring on vacant land and quantify the ecosystem services provided by the native and exotic tree species (Chapter 2); and examine and compare the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Gardiner (Advisor); Matthew Davies (Committee Member); Daniel Herms (Committee Member); Stephen Matthews (Committee Member); Andrew Michel (Committee Member); Michael Raupp (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Entomology; Forestry

Master of Science, University of Akron, 2019, Biology

Pollinators provide the essential ecosystem service of animal-facilitated pollination. Recent studies have presented a novel and surprising avenue for future pollinator conservation, urban pollinator habitat. One group of pollinators, bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus), might be especially well suited to utilize the heterogeneous landscape of urban environments. A defining feature of urban environments is their large amounts of impervious surface. In this study we investigated the influence of urbanization on bumble bee communities by surveying bee and flower abundance and diversity in weedy margins nestled within impervious surfaces along an urban gradient. We first quantified and defined an urban gradient by creating an “intensely developed” land cover category with > 50% impervious surface using the USGS NLCD. To choose our survey sites we analyzed the land use information above to identify likely sites distributed across the urban gradient. We conducted surveys from mid – June – early – August 2018 between the hours of 10:00 and 17:00, when bees are most active. To quantify the bee abundance and diversity, on each site visit we conducted timed surveys in which a single observer (the same observer at all sites) walked freely throughout the site and identified all bees for a total of 15 minutes. Following the bee survey, we then surveyed the floral community. During the summer of 2018 we observed 2776 total bees. Bumble bee abundance was not significantly affected by the proportion of intensely developed land in the local landscape or floral richness. There was a difference in relative abundance of the three bee groups, with bumble bees significantly more abundant than both honeybees and “other” bees. During our floral surveys we documented 66 different floral taxa across all 33 sites; natives made up less than 10% of the total floral abundance. Our findings affirmed both of our predictions: (1) that bumble bees would be unaffected by the degree of intens (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Randy Mitchell Dr (Advisor); Jessie Lanterman Dr (Committee Member); Todd Blackledge Dr (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2016, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

The specific questions addressed in this research are: Will the loss of trees in residential neighborhoods result in a change to the local soundscape? The investigation of this question leads to a related inquiry: Do the sounds of the environment in which a person is present affect their directed attention? An invasive insect pest, the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis), is killing millions of ash trees (genus Fraxinus) throughout North America. As the loss of tree canopy occurs, urban ecosystems change (including higher summer temperatures, more stormwater runoff, and poorer air quality) causing associated changes to human physical and mental health. Previous studies suggest that conditions in urban environments can result in chronic stress in humans and fatigue to directed attention, which is the ability to focus on tasks and to pay attention. Access to nature in cities can help refresh directed attention. The sights and sounds associated with parks, open spaces, and trees can serve as beneficial counterbalances to the irritating conditions associated with cities. This research examines changes to the quantity and quality of sounds in Arlington Heights, Illinois. A series of before-and-after sound recordings were gathered as trees died and were removed between 2013 and 2015. Comparison of recordings using the Raven sound analysis program revealed significant differences in some, but not all measures of sound attributes as tree canopy decreased. In general, more human-produced mechanical sounds (anthrophony) and fewer sounds associated with weather (geophony) were detected. Changes in sounds associated with animals (biophony) varied seasonally. Monitoring changes in the proportions of anthrophony, biophony and geophony can provide insight into changes in biodiversity, environmental health, and quality of life for humans. Before-tree-removal and after-tree-removal sound recordings served as the independent variable for randomly-assign (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Wendy Kellogg Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Sanda Kaufman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Helen Liggett Ph.D. (Committee Member); William Sullivan Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nicholas Zingale Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Acoustics; Behavioral Psychology; Ecology; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Forestry; Natural Resource Management; Psychology; Urban Forestry; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Natural Resources

Effective conservation of biodiversity in urban areas ultimately requires that ecologists understand both the patterns and mechanisms of urban-associated influences on native plant and animal communities. A neglected consequence of urbanization is the seasonal timing of life cycle events, particularly the tendency of many urban birds to breed earlier in the spring than their rural-breeding counterparts. The overall objectives of this dissertation were to (1) describe phenological and biological differences in avian reproduction in urban and rural forests, (2) identify underlying ecological mechanisms responsible for observed patterns, and (3) identify demographic consequences of phenological shifts in reproduction. First I evaluated vegetation phenology and temperature patterns, two potentially important variables influencing bird breeding phenology. There was an overall pattern of advanced phenology (e.g., bud break, leaf elongation) within species in more urban landscapes which might be associated with elevated temperatures in more urban areas. Results suggest that shifts in plant communities along the urbanization gradient, especially the increased dominance of the invasive and exotic Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) in urban forests, drove the earlier green-up of urban areas. Avian breeding phenology was also influenced by urbanization, although patterns, causes, and consequences differed between my two focal species. The non-migratory Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) nested earlier in urban versus rural sites, a pattern that was best explained by early spring temperatures. Contrary to findings from other studies, early-breeding cardinals apparently received no benefit in terms of survival or reproduction compared to later-breeding pairs. In contrast, the Neotropical migratory, Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) arrived and initiated breeding later in the more urban landscapes – a phenological shift that ultimately reduced reproductive produ (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Amanda Rodewald (Advisor); Tomas Koontz (Committee Member); Thomas C. Grubb, Jr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2005, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

The incorporation of trees in an urban environment has been recognized as an asset for hundreds of years. A rich database of research exists touting the environmental, economic, and social benefits provided by trees to humans and the surrounding environs. Many cities across the United States have embraced urban trees and have established forestry programs to nurture their existence. Baltimore, Maryland has been recognized for its system of urban forests and urban forest management; however, the city is experiencing a continuous decline in the percentage of tree canopy cover. One Baltimore neighborhood that is defying this trend is the eclectic community known as Bolton Hill. Through active community participation, regular tree maintenance, and a healthy relationship with the Forestry Department, Bolton Hill exhibits a healthy street tree population and can serve as an important model for communities in Baltimore, and across the nation, in pursuing a successful urban forest in a time of tight budgets and environmental uncertainty.

Committee: Geoffrey Buckley (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Sciences

Master of Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University, 2013, Architecture

Conventionally, weeds, or invasive species, are harmful because they often displace plants, which human beings hope to grow, or they invade places where people do not want them to grow. However, this paper challenges this common notion, and re-identifies these weeds as pioneer species. Scientifically, the article analyzes the biological features and ecological benefits of this group of species, illustrating their value in the urban landscape environment. Moreover, the paper draws comparisons between this native/invasive dialogue and queer theory, analyzing the position towards nature that should be held by landscape architects. The site of East Franklinton was selected as the study field, because of the current situation and the revitalization plan it is facing. In the site, the concept of queer space is developed with three practices, which emphasize the infinite diversity and possibilities, instability and changeability, non-hierarchy and inability to classify urban spaces. These practices consist of a utopian world, different from the traditional design philosophy, in which humans are no longer the dictator of the world who can dominate and control everything: they play only a part of the whole ecological system. The practice is aimed to explore what is the real nature, not man-made nature.

Committee: Katherine Bennett (Committee Chair); Curtis Roth (Committee Member); Amy Youngs (Committee Member) Subjects: Landscape Architecture

Master of Science in Environmental Science, Cleveland State University, 2013, College of Sciences and Health Professions

For the first time in human history, more than half of the human population lives in urban areas (Pickett et al 2011). It is essential that research occurs in urban ecosystems; understanding both the biological and social aspects of urban ecosystems is needed for the sustainable management of urban ecosystems (Angold et al. 2006, Fetridge et al. 2008, Loram et al. 2008, Matteson et al. 2008, McIntyre 2000, Picket et al 2011, Pickett et al 2001, Sumoski et al. 2009) This study examines the role of insects, specifically wasps, in urban gardens and vacant lots in Cleveland, Ohio. This study is intended to (1) provide a broader survey of Hymenoptera in an urban context; (2) provide new information on diversity and distribution of parasitoid Hymenoptera; (3) assess the potential for parasitoids as providers of bio-control services for urban agriculture in Cleveland, OH; (4) determine the extent to which lot or garden area affects the number of wasp species occurring in those habitats; and (5) provide useful information for the conservation and urban landscape management strategies that optimize the ecosystem services provided by urban Hymenoptera. I collected 13,339 insects and arachnids via beat net, belonging to 14 different arthropod orders. Nearly twice as many individuals were found at vacant lots versus gardens. The differences in insect community structure at vacant lots and gardens, based on the beat net collections, were highly significant. I collected a total of 5,165 wasps, distributed among 24 families and 369 morphospecies. I found higher wasp abundance at vacant lots (2,703 individuals) versus gardens (2,462 individuals), higher species richness at vacant lots (288 morphospecies) versus gardens (231 morphospecies), and more families at vacant lots (23) versus gardens (21). The average number of morphospecies was higher at lots (93.71) than gardens (63.44), with an overall average of 76.69. Although comparable data from other cities are few, my results i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: B. M. Walton PhD (Advisor); Julie Wolin PhD (Committee Member); Mary Gardiner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Biology; Ecology; Entomology; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Natural Resource Management; Urban Planning

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

MS, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences

Indices of stormwater management effectiveness focus on the cumulative effect actions have on the hydrologic regimes and levels of erosion mitigation in the watershed. To understand the broader implications of stormwater management can have on water quality and ecosystem health, hydrologic regimes of urban streams are linked to metrics of functional disturbance through long-term monitoring of water chemistry and environmental conditions. High-frequency data from sensors placed in-stream and remote satellite data of solar irradiance were collected over a two-year study period in three streams near Cleveland, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. Daily rates of gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), and of gas exchange velocity were estimated through inverse Bayesian modeling of dissolved oxygen dynamics. Estimates of GPP and ER provide point-comparisons of stream ecosystem function before and after storm events, quantifying the resistance of production and respiration to hydrologic pulses. Results show ecosystem respiration to be more less responsive, or more resistant, to high flow than gross primary production, resulting in well-lit streams rarely or never experiences days of net-autotrophic function. Recovery intervals of GPP were often interrupted by frequent high-intensity storms, indicating cumulative degradation of ecosystem function over time.

Committee: David Costello (Advisor); Christie Bahlai (Committee Member); Anne Jefferson (Committee Member) Subjects: Freshwater Ecology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences

In this dissertation, I focus on longitudinal connectivity in streams, i.e. the upstream/downstream connections within these ecosystems. Longitudinal connectivity is often a primary driver of stream habitat, water chemistry, and biota because of the inherent nature of water's tendency to flow from upstream to downstream within channel banks. This means that what happens in upstream reaches is likely to influence the downstream ecosystem. Within the framework of longitudinal connectivity, I have focused on how anthropogenic disturbance of stream burial (the containment of streams within culverts) and subsequent restoration influence stream habitat and biota (Ch. 2 and 3) and how signals within streams can be propagated downstream with a focus on anthropogenic influences (Ch. 2) and in-stream nutrient signals (Ch. 4). I have examined these topics in three different studies that include reach-scale studies and work completed at a watershed scale. I have evaluated anthropogenic influences on streams and signal propagation downstream by examining their effects on stream habitat, water chemistry, nutrient limitation, benthic algae, and macroinvertebrates. I have shown that urban stream burial alters stream habitat and biota within the culverts themselves and that urban culverts can represent fundamentally different habitat units than observed elsewhere in my study streams (Ch. 2). Stream burial caused habitat simplification within culverts (buried reaches), and I found no longitudinal variation in most parameters monitored within buried reaches. Specifically, I observed deeper water depths, smaller substrates, decreased amounts of basal resources, and decreased macroinvertebrate density and diversity. I have also shown that the impact of culverts is longitudinally constrained to the culverts themselves. I found that when a buried stream was restored, stream habitat can became more heterogenous (both regarding substrate size and water depth) and that benthic alga (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephen Matter Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael Booth Ph.D. (Committee Member); Tammy Newcomer Johnson Ph.D (Committee Member); Ken M. Fritz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ishi Buffam Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology

PHD, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences

Green roofs are vegetated roof structures built to provide services, such as stormwater management and habitat provisioning. As green roofs are relatively new, they can be considered a novel ecosystem with no native habitat analog. Due to their novelty, the ecological laws and ideas of ground-level ecosystems may not perfectly describe what is occurring on green roofs, and therefore green roof-specific research is needed. The goal of this dissertation was to understand the biological interactions in the green roof environment by examining the most important factors that structure plant and fungal communities, as well as how those plant and fungal communities can in turn impact ecosystem health and services. The first study was an assessment of the habitat analog approach and its ability to improve performance and ecosystem service yield of a range of different green roof systems, plant communities, and mycorrhizal inoculum treatments on an experimental test site in Cleveland, Ohio. We found that treatments following the habitat analog approach did not improve ecosystem service yield, with the blue-green roofs providing the most services with the lowest number of trade-offs. The next study compared the ability of green roof practitioners to predict patterns of plant diversity in comparison to ecological theory on a large range of green roof types, sizes, and ages in Chicago, Cleveland, and Minneapolis. Both green roof practitioner and ecological theory were equally accurate in their ability to predict patterns, with deep substrate (intensive) roofs being more amenable to generalizations than shallow substrate (extensive) roofs. Lastly, we examined the diversity and the relationships between green roof fungal communities and nearby ground-level green space in Chicago, Cleveland, and Minneapolis. On average, green roofs had higher fungal diversity when compared to ground-level green space in the urban landscape. Fungal community composition was also distinct across cit (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Blackwood (Advisor); Reid Coffman (Committee Member); David Kaplan (Committee Member); David Costello (Committee Member); Xiaozhen Mou (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Microbiology

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2021, Biological Sciences

Coyotes are a generalist species that have adapted to nearly every terrestrial habitat in the United States. The species' success is heavily attributed to their omnivorous diets and tolerance for environments that are regularly disturbed. Because the larger predator species that typically act as apex predators are sensitive to highly fragmented landscapes, the coyote is the functioning apex predator in many ecosystems where large predators, such as wolves, have been extirpated. The coyotes' ecological role in urban ecosystems has received much attention in the last few decades as the species' presence in cities and suburbs has increased, along with human-coyote conflicts. Anthropogenic supplementation, and reliance on anthropogenic food in particular, is regularly cited as the reason for coyotes being in urban areas. However, the inconsistencies reported in the literature indicate that the mechanisms driving coyotes into urban areas may be more complex than coyotes' potential attraction to human food. Coyotes are foragers and scavengers whose diets reflect the seasonal and local availability of food, where prey items that are more abundant are likely to be encountered and consumed more frequently than prey that are hard to find. This is also what makes coyotes so successful in colonizing most types of habitats. The purpose of this study was to investigate how coyotes' consumption of anthropogenic food varies between urban and non-urban habitats and if their consumption of anthropogenic food is selective or just a reflection of its increased availability in urban habitats. I conducted a meta-analysis on coyote dietary studies from 1975 to 2020 to identify trends in anthropogenic consumption and dietary composition in relation to habitat type, geographic region, season, and year of study. I also conducted a field study with scent-baited camera traps and scat analyses to test if coyotes in the Dayton area metroparks were attracted to anthropogenic food to the same degr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Volker Bahn Ph.D. (Advisor); Jeffrey Peters Ph.D. (Committee Member); Katie Hossler Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

There is an urgent need to increase the habitat value of cities, both for human health and for conservation. Constructed Green Infrastructure (GI), which uses vegetated areas to solve engineering problems such as stormwater mitigation, is an attractive option for habitat creation, and ecological engineers, with their stated goal to design for both human and natural benefit, should be key players in its design and implementation. However, ecological engineers are hampered by the lack of a suitable reference by which to evaluate the ecological goals of the GI which they design. They are further hampered by the lack of information about the ecology of many common GI practices. Bioretention cells (BRCs) are the most common form of green infrastructure used for stormwater management. Much work has been done to evaluate the hydrological and pollutant-removal capabilities of BRCs, but there has been comparatively little investigation of the ecological properties of these systems. This is a critical gap in knowledge, as ecological design of BRCs could not only increase their functioning as stormwater infrastructure but could also contribute ecological value to urban areas. Investigation of the habitat value of BRCs could lead to design techniques that subsidize and/or prioritize habitat creation in tandem with stormwater management, allowing ecological engineers to capitalize on the current popularity of this practice to improve urban habitat for both humans and non-humans. I address this gap in knowledge with a multi-taxon survey of biodiversity in BRCs installed as part of a large-scale retrofit of GI in Columbus, OH. I developed and validated a protocol to survey birds with automated acoustic monitoring – a first in an urban area – and determined that BRCs affected bird community composition during spring migration but not during the summer breeding period. BRCs did not generally harbor more species than lawns, but nearby remnant ravines appeared to increase species (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jay Martin PhD, PE (Advisor); Mary Gardiner PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Matthews PhD (Committee Member); Ryan Winston PhD, PE (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Environmental Engineering