Jan
10
2013
cdc25
Program or topic
Microbiology of mobile desert sand dunes
Department(s) or unit(s)
Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Contact Information
Michel Louge
Sibley School of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cornell University
192 Rhodes Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
ph: (607) 255 4193
Program goals
Our objective is to devise a microbiological technique to stabilize mobile sand dunes in a hyper-arid desert and protect civil infrastructure against desertification.
Brief description
In collaboration with Cornell’s department of Microbiology and the Weill-Cornell Medical College in Doha (Qatar), we use ultra-sensitive instruments to determine whether humidity and temperature conditions below the surface of mobile desert sand dunes are conducive to the growth of indigenous microbes. We establish their presence on sand grains using microscopic observations, fluorescence counts, metagenomic sequencing, and C12/C13 isotope analysis of carbon dioxide sampled below the surface.
For more information
This work is carried out in collaboration with Anthony Hay (Microbiology) and Renee Richer (Weill-Cornell Medical College in Doha).
Websites:
http://grainflowresearch.mae.cornell.edu/geophysics/dunes/dunes.html
Aug
07
2012
Steven Rife
Program or topic
Land use and land sovereignty for conservation/eco-agriculture: global analysis
Local food systems (USDA/AFRI grant: ‘Food Dignity’)
Department(s) or unit(s)
Dept. of Development Sociology
Contact Information
Philip McMichael
Professor, Development Sociology
(607)-255-5495
pdm1@cornell.edu
Program goals
- Examining the climate and food security implications of recent global land deals
- Building an undergraduate minor at Cornell focused on local food system sustainability
Brief description
The land use/sovereignty project investigates whether and to what extent land acquisitions/grabs
for food and energy security represent a transition in the global ‘food regime’ — whereby land
becomes increasingly a speculative asset, with its use driven by market prices for food or biofuels.
Under these circumstances the question of global agriculture’s trajectory (industrial agriculture for
global markets vs small- and medium-scale diverse farming for local markets and climate security)
has significant policy implications regarding biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
Curriculum project concerns establishing a set of core and elective courses across the campus for an
undergraduate minor in food system sustainability studies, including engagement with local community
organizers and activities.
For more information
Web Link:
Philip McMichael’s web page
Key Publications:
- McMichael, P. (2012). The land grab and corporate food regime restructuring. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 39(3-4):681-701.
- McMichael, P. (2011). Food system sustainability: questions of environmental governance in the new world (dis)order. Global Environmental Change, 21:804-812.
- McMichael, P. (2011) “Effects of industrial agriculture on climate change and the mitigation potential of small-scale agro-ecological farms,” 14 co-authors, CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 6, No. 020: 1-18.
- McMichael, P. (2009). Contradictions in the global development project: geo-politics, global ecology and the ‘development climate,’ Third World Quarterly, 30:251-266.
Oct
21
2009
cdc25
Program or topic
Modeling impacts of projected climate change on northeastern forests
Department(s) or unit(s)
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Contact information
Christine L. Goodale, Assistant Professor
clg33@cornell.edu
Program goals
My lab group examines multiple factors that affect forest carbon balance, as an important sink for atmospheric CO2. These factors include land-use change, atmospheric N deposition, and climate change itself.
Brief Description
We are developing new routines for decomposition and carbon allocation for the PnET-CN forest ecosystem model to quantify changes in forest C, N, and water balance across the Northeast U.S. in responses to changes in climate and atmospheric chemistry for 1900 to 2000 and projected to 2100 (NICCR, NSRC). Simulations of forest growth over the past 50-80 years will be compared with observed forest growth trends to test model hypotheses on the effects of CO2, N deposition, and climate over the last 50-100 years (NSF).
For more information
Websites:
Publications:
- Ollinger, SV, CL Goodale, K Hayhoe, JP Jenkins. 2008. Potential effects of climate change and rising CO2 on ecosystem processes in Northeastern U.S. forests. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 13:467-485.
Oct
19
2009
cdc25
Program or topic
Predicting the effects of climate change on swallows and their insect prey.
Department(s) or unit(s)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Contact information
David W. Winkler
Professor, Curator of Birds
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
dww4@cornell.edu
Brief Description
This project extends for five years a long-term study of the ecology and reproductive biology of Tree Swallows nesting near Ithaca, New York. Building on a previous LTREB project on the biological basis of individual quality, the current project is exploring, through a series of long-term correlative and experimental studies, how predicted climate changes will affect swallows directly and through indirect effects on their insect prey.
The Ithaca swallow study relies on 600 nest boxes to provide researchers with reproductive data on over 300 nesting attempts every year, and intensive study at the 260 boxes at Cornell Experimental Ponds Unit 1 add archival blood sampling and standardized flight testing to the suite of long-term information available.
The proposed research will extend this tradition of detailed biological investigations at Unit 1 by outfitting 25 active nests with boxes equipped with sensor nodes containing temperature sensors, motion-detecting web cameras and Radio Frequency Identification readers. These sensor-node-boxes will be an integral part of experiments using artificial elevation of nest-box temperatures to decouple ambient and nest temperatures and begin to disentangle the varied environmental effects of global warming on avian reproductive behavior and success.
Swallows are obligate aerial insectivores, and they are thus unusually sensitive to short-term changes in weather, as cool temperatures can ground the flying insects on which they depend. Previous research has developed the methods for sampling and analyzing insect availability on a daily basis, and the proposed research investigates the effects of different thermal environments, not only on the birds directly, but indirectly through observations on the effects of water and air temperatures on aquatic insect emergence and through experiments on the effects of air temperatures on insect flight.
All this research will be integrated in an attempt to understand how environmental changes associated with global change will affect the reproduction and populations of these birds. Collaborative work will be encouraged to engage entomologists in investigating the ecology and life histories of the insects in response to global change. This five-year research program is a focused approach to the most pervasive and important environmental concern of our time: global warming and the mechanisms of how Earth’s biota will respond to it.
For more information
David Winkler’s website.
Apr
10
2009
cdc25
Program or topic
Biophysical modeling of plant-environment interaction (Riha Research Group)
Department(s) or unit(s)
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Contact information
Susan Riha
Director, NYS Water Resources Institute
Charles L. Pack Research Professor of Forest Soils
Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
(607)255-1729
sjr4@cornell.edu
Program goals
To better understand the dynamic interactions of plants with their physical environment. This broad subject includes such topics as the effects of deforestation on the Amazon hydrological cycle, climate change and water competition in competitive zones of agriculture, the effects of climate change on agricultural practices such as herbicide use, and carbon dioxide out gassing in the Amazon.
Brief description
With current climate predictions calling for an increased frequency of drought and flooding events due to changes in the annual distribution of rainfall, water resource managers and researchers are faced with an ever increasing array of challenges. Dr. Riha and her research group are addressing these issues of change in New York State and throughout the world with cutting-edge research that uses biophysical models to analyze experimental data and address applied ecological problems. This research has greatly contributed to our understanding of the effect of flooding on plant-water relations, the impact of soil drying on plant growth and water use, and the importance of different surfaces to vapor transport under various crop, forestry, and agroforestry systems.
For more information
Websites:
Key Publications:
- Johnson, M.S., M. Weiler, E.G. Couto, S. Riha and J. Lehmann. 2007. Storm pulses of dissolved CO2 in a forested headwater Amazonian stream explored using hydrograph separation. Water Resources Research. (In press).
- Feldpausch, T.R., C. Prates-Clark, E.C.M. Fernandes and S.J. Riha. 2007. Secondary forest growth deviation from chronosequence predictions in central Amazonia. Global Change Biology. 13, 967-979.
Apr
09
2009
cdc25
Program or topic
Project Bud Break
Department(s) or unit(s)
Department of Natural Resources
Contact information
David Weinstein
Senior Research Associate, Department of Natural Resources
Assistant Director of Sustainable Initiatives, Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station.
(607)351-4214
daw5@cornell.edu
Program goals
- Monitoring native plants to identify effects of global change
- Identifying carbon sequestration solutions to reduce atmospheric carbon
- Identifying solutions to improve sustainability of local resource management
- Analyzing ecosystem response to atmospheric pollution, including climate change
Brief Description
Under the leadership of David Weinstein, Project Bud Break is creating a citizen science network of plant phenology observers to monitor effects of global climate change on native plants in central New York. Observations made by network members will help us better understand how global warming affects plant flowering and growth.
Weinstein has also evaluated the carbon sequestration potential of Cornell-owned forests and farms and is developing and implementing a culture of sustainability for the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. This involves the development of a computerized decision matrix that will help prioritize where investments in sustainability projects can most effectively be made. With the President’s Climate Change Implementation Committee, he is helping Cornell University design a plan to achieve climate neutrality (zero net greenhouse gas emissions) on the Cornell campus, In addition, his research involves analyzing and modeling the systems controlling plant response to environment, including construction of computer simulation models of the ecosystem dynamics in many different types of forests and landscapes.
For more information
Websites:
Key publications:
- Weinstein, D.A. 2007. Project Budbreak: Monitoring how climate change affects native plants. Cornell Plantations Magazine. 62(2): 12-19.
- Hong, B., D. A. Weinstein and D. P. Swaney. 2006. Assessment of ozone effects on nitrate export from Hubbard Brook Watershed 6. Environmental Pollution. 141: 8-21.
Apr
08
2009
cdc25
Program or topic
Climate change impacts on agricultural and natural ecosystems
Department(s) or unit(s)
- Department of Horticulture
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Contact information
David Wolfe
Professor, Horticulture
(607)255-7888
dww5@cornell.edu
Program goals
To examine plant responses to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate change, and the impact this may have on natural and managed ecosystems, and regional and global food supplies.
Brief description
For the last 20 years, David Wolfe and other Cornell researchers have been gathering evidence of climate change, its impact on plants and ecosystems, and developing adaptation strategies. The Cornell group has been directly involved in both regional and national assessment efforts, and Wolfe’s research documenting earlier spring flowering in the northeast was cited in the most recent (2007) United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report. Other aspects of Wolfe’s research include: the effects of reduced snow cover in the northeast on winter soil temperatures affecting nitrogen cycling and retention; effects of rising carbon dioxide and heat stress on growth of weeds and crops; projected shifts in insect pest ranges in response to climate change; and soil management to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Collectively, this interdisciplinary work provides information for land managers and policy-makers on how climate change affects agricultural and natural ecosystems, and identifies management practices to adapt to a changing climate and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information
Websites:
Key publications:
- Creating a Role for Agriculture and Forestry in Emerging Carbon Markets, white paper (PDF)
- The Role of Agriculture and Forestry in Emerging Carbon Markets, presentation (PDF)
- Wolfe, DW, L Ziska, C Petzoldt, A Seaman, L Chase, K Hayhoe. 2008. Projected change in climate thresholds in the Northeastern U.S.: Implications for crops, pests, livestock, and farmers. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. 13: 555-575.
- Hayhoe, K, C Wake, T Huntington, L Luo, M Schwartz, J Sheffield, E Wood, B Anderson, J Bradbury, A Degaetano, T Troy, D Wolfe. 2007. Past and future changes in climate and hydrological indicators in the U.S. Northeast. Climate Dynamics 28(4): 381-407.
- Hatfield, JL, KJ Boote, BA Kimball, DW Wolfe, DR Ort, RC Izaurralde, AM Thomson, JA Morgan, HW Polley, PA Fay, TL Mader, GL Hahn. 2008. Agriculture. IN: The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity. A Report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Washington D.C. Chapter 2.
- Bento A., D Wolfe. 2009. Creating a role for agriculture and forestry in emerging carbon markets. Cornell Policy Brief (presented to House and Senate in November, 2009). 6. pp..