1990-1999 Theses (MU)
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Item Understory vegetation patterns in oak savannas of the Missouri Ozarks(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1998) Dietrich, Chris; Rebertus, Alan J.Indigenous oak savannas are among the most endangered natural communities in Missouri. Understanding the floristic patterns which characterize savannas is important for the management and restoration of these rare communities. The purposes of this investigation were to describe the plant communities and identify characteristic species for savannas on different geologic substrates, examine species diversity within and among sites and examine floristic composition with respect to environmental variables, scale, and site history. Understory vegetation was sampled in 200 plots on 13 oak savanna sites in the Ozarks. Ordination by detrended correspondence analysis showed sites grouping by rhyolite, cherty dolomite, and limestone/dolomite substrate types. DCA axes correlated with landscape variables and fire frequency, but correlations were generally weak, suggesting that differences in site history may be important in governing species composition. There was no significant difference between flora lists on cherty-deep to dolomite and cherty-shallow to dolomite substrates in sign test. Species associations were identified for savannas on each DCA substrate type.Item Hou-Jin : a case study of external assistance in community action(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1991) Chao-Hsing, Huang; Timmons, Jack D.The protest of the Hou-jin community in Kaohsiung Taiwan against Chinese Petroleum Corporation's erection of the fifth naphtha cracker (FNC) plant lasted for more than three years, from July 1987 to September 1990, when construction for the new plant began. As a community of seventeen thousand people, Hou-jin had fought with the giant corporation that was supported by the policy of Ministry of Economic Affairs. Although construction of the fifth naphtha cracker plant finally started, the efforts of Hou-jin residents had born fruit. Because of the importance of the anti-FNC movement process, the Hou-jin community has become an object of study for sociologists and humanists. Although some among them have noticed the roles of external groups in the movement process (Wang 1989; Chou 1990), they focused mainly on the community itself. Interactions between the community and external groups were neglected. In the process of Hou-jin's anti-FNC movement, the community had had help from several different external groups. These external groups did not claim themselves as community development practitioners, nor did the community claim their movement as a community development process.Nonetheless, the movement involved almost the whole community and aimed to change living conditions of the community. It therefore fits certain characteristics of a community development process. As erection of the fifth naphtha cracker plant was finally started on September 21, 1990, the main goal of the community action literally failed. But the movement made a lot of differences too. Since the anti-FNC action has been called one of the most predominant community movements in Taiwan, it is worthwhile to look into the details of the whole process, so that community development practitioners might be able to learn some valuable experiences from the process. In this research, the researcher starts by reviewing the literature concerning definition of community development, environmental disputes and research done on Houjin community. The second chapter illustrated the purposes and method of the research. A short history of the anti-FNC movement is given in Chapter 3 describing the ups and downs of the community action. Chapter 4, the analysis of the process, is a comparison of the anti-FNC movement and the characteristics of an ideal community development process. Chapter 5 wraps up the research by proposing conclusions, some recommendations for community development worker, and suggestions for further studies in the future.Item Potential agricultural insecticide exposure of Indiana bats (Myotis Sodalis) in Missouri(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1998) McFarland, Craig A.; Drobney, Craig A.The type and distribution of agrochemical insecticides routinely applied to the major field crops in northern Missouri were described and shown to be coincident with the summer/maternity range of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis soda/is). The use of insecticides was found to be greatest in the production of corn. In addition, agriculturally significant insect pests causing field crop damage along with those that provide a resource base for the Indiana bat were identified. Two congeneric surrogate bat species (M. lucifugus, the little brown bat, and M. septentrionalis keenii, the northern long-eared bat) were collected from northern Missouri agricultural sites and from winter hibernacula in non-agricultural southern parts of the state to assess the potential impact insecticides have on the Indiana bat. Residues of 8 historically applied organochlorine insecticides were identified in all surrogate specimens , with pp-DOE found in greatest amounts. Two synthetic pyrethroids, permethrin and esfenvalerate , were recovered from 16 individuals and both surrogates. Two biomarker indices suggestive of organophosphate and/or carbamate insecticide exposure, brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and muscarinic receptor number (B[subscript max]), were depressed in 10 little brown and 4 northern long-eared bats ([alpha] = 0.05) collected from 6 northern Missouri agricultural sites. The current findings suggest that some individual bats of both surrogate species living in northern Missouri during the summer months are being exposed to sublethal levels of organophosphate and/or carbamate insecticides. The sensitivity, as measured by 24h oral LD[subscript 50] tests in the little brown bat, was determined to an agricultural field grade and an analytical reference grade of the insecticide permethrin. The field grade product had an LD[subscript 50] of 38 mg/kg, while the analytical grade had an LD[subscript 50] of 514 mg/kg. Bats surviving analytical grade LD[subscript 50] tests were examined for their flight ability at 24 hours. An effective dose (ED[subscript 50]) of 79 mg/kg impaired flight in 50% of tested bats, a dose approximately 15% of that found to produce lethality. Flight performance of little brown bats was evaluated in obstacle avoidance tests after exposure to analytical grade permethrin. No relationship was found between performance as measured by the total number of obstacle avoidance passes or the percentage of hits and oral permethrin dosage or brain tissue permethrin concentrations . A brain tissue permethrin concentration of 1-3 ppm appears to be a toxic threshold, below which high performance variability is noted . Above a brain concentration of 1-3 ppm, death prior to completion of the experiment at 96h was common.Item The role of variable cracking on agrichemical transport at the Missouri MSEA site using the root zone water quality model(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1995) Hua, Youxiu; Peyton, R. Lee, Dr.The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of variable cracking on the transportation of agricultural chemicals at the Missouri MSEA site using the Root Zone Water Quality Model (The version of the RZWQM used in this thesis is version 3.0). To reach this goal, the following tasks have to be conducted: (1) revising the RZWQM to accommodate variable cracks; (2) calibrating the RZWQM to the Missouri MSEA site' , (3) quantifying cracking at the Missouri MSEA site; (4) using the cracking data in the RZWQM; (5) predicting the effects of cracking on water content, nitrate-nitrogen, atrazine and alachlor transport by using the revised RZWQM; and, (6) analyzing the simulation results.