Scholarship & Research
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Item Water quality and physical parameters of Barnegat Bay after Hurricane Sandy(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2019) Rodenberg, Taylor; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William KleindlBarnegat Bay is a coastal water body located off of the east coast of New Jersey. The bay is bordered by an estuary system to the west and barrier island and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The bay is an important ecosystem for dozens of species of invertebrates, fish, mammals, birds, and amphibians, and provides millions of dollars in revenue for surrounding towns in tourism and recreation. However, coastal water bodies such as Barnegat Bay are subject to impacts from coastal storm systems such as hurricanes and tropical storms. My assessment determined how physical water properties and chemistry including water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, turbidity, specific conductance, and chlorophyll A were affected during landfall of Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. Data on these properties was collected from available sources and were analyzed for significance in year-long data before and after hurricane landfall as well as one week before and after landfall in 2012 as compared with 2013. Results suggest that significant changes in water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity and chlorophyll a were observed in the week before compared with after the hurricane, while only significant changes in pH, turbidity and chlorophyll a could be observed in the year-long analysis. These data could be used to encourage further research in impacts to bay systems from coastal storms and to help create restoration plans following a storm system or preventive measures to ensure the health of the bay after major storms.Item Effects of road construction on water quality parameters and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) populations in three Montana water bodies(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2019) Thatcher, Hannah Alicen; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Scott PowellRoad construction adjacent to rivers and ensuing clearing of timber and shrubs can lead to alterations in the dynamics and morphology of channel features and water chemistry that provide habitats for aquatic biota. We examined associations between bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) populations and water quality parameters related to road construction in three western Montana rivers over a 15-year study period. Bull trout have specific habitat requirements that can influence their overall abundance and distribution within a watershed, making them an important indicator species of general ecosystem health. We used average annual bull trout population data from Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and daily water quality observations from the United States Geological Survey between 2000 and 2014 to analyze the correlation between the data sets. We used a nonparametric statistical test to determine whether any significant change was observed between the medians of pre- and post-construction water quality parameters and bull trout population numbers. The association between the water quality parameters and bull trout numbers was visually examined with scatter plots created in R where the Y-axis was population numbers and the X was the water quality parameter. The plots were then fit with a linear regression line and from this a visual interpretation of the association and strength of said associated was determined. The analysis yielded unexpected results with only some of the water quality parameters exhibiting a negative relationship with road construction disturbance. Two water bodies (Flathead River and Warm Springs Creek) showed no significant changes in bull trout population numbers, and the control water body with no road construction (the Blackfoot River) displayed significant differences between the pre- and post-construction water quality parameter medians. The parameters that did display expected outcomes (cadmium concentration in the Flathead River; water temperature, pH, and instantaneous discharge in Warm Springs Creek; and instantaneous discharge, pH, and cadmium concentration in the Blackfoot River) were not all strongly correlated with decreased bull trout population numbers. The water quality parameters common to all the study rivers that presented a negative association with bull trout numbers was pH. High levels of recreation and management activities on the Blackfoot River (the control) could explain these unexpected findings. The results do, however, partially corroborate previous studies on the negative association between bull trout population numbers and road construction-related disturbance. A longer study period combined with finer-grained data would be beneficial for future studies.Item Spectral processing for algae monitoring and mapping (SPAMM): remote sensing methodologies for river ecology(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2024) Logan, Riley Donovan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Joseph A. Shaw; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Inland water quality is a growing concern to public health, riparian ecosystems, and recreational uses of our waterways. Many modern water quality programs include measures of the presence and abundance of harmful and nuisance algae. In southwestern Montana, large blooms of the nuisance algae, Cladophora glomerata, have become common in the Upper Clark Fork River due to a combination of warming water temperatures, naturally high phosphorus levels, and an influx of contaminants through wastewater and anthropogenic activity along its banks. To improve understanding of bloom dynamics, such as algal biomass and percent algae cover, and their effects on water quality, a UAV-based hyperspectral imaging system was used to monitor several locations along the Upper Clark Fork River. Image data were collected across the spectral range of 400 - 1000 nm with 2.1 nm spectral resolution during field sampling campaigns across the entirety of the project, beginning in 2019 and ending in 2023. In this dissertation, methodologies for monitoring water quality were developed. These methods include estimating benthic algal pigment abundance using spectral band ratios achieving R 2 values of up to 0.62 for chlorophyll alpha and 0.96 for phycocyanin; creating spatial algae distribution maps and estimating percent algae cover using machine learning classification algorithms with accuracies greater than 99%; combining spatial algae distribution maps and improved pigment estimation using machine learning regression algorithms for creating chlorophyll alpha abundance maps, achieving an R 2 of 0.873, while also comparing abundance values to Montana water quality thresholds; and identifying salient wavelengths for monitoring and mapping algae to inform the design of a low-cost and compact multispectral imager. Throughout all field campaigns, significant spatial variations in algal growth within each river reach and frequent violations of current water quality standards were observed, demonstrating the need for high-spatial resolution monitoring techniques to be incorporated in current water quality monitoring programs.Item The water quality impacts of critical habitat designation for endangered species(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2023) Carr, Taurey Rosenhahn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Melissa C. LoPaloThe Endangered Species Act of 1973 [ESA] is well-known by environmental economists for its extensive provisions that create a variety of impacts on housing, land development, timber harvesting, etc. However, the ESA's impact on water quality has not been formally studied despite being discussed extensively by federal agencies that administer the Act. I estimate the causal effect of critical habitat designation, an ESA provision that regulates land use, on a range of water quality outcomes. Using administrative data on water quality from 1970-2018, I employ event study and difference-in-differences [DiD] empirical models to evaluate temporal and spatial changes in water quality resulting from plausibly exogenous variation in critical habitat designations. I find null results for most water quality outcomes and mixed evidence of a decrease in pH after designations occur. However, pooled DiD results find no evidence of average declines in pH in the years following designation. Slight declines in pH from the event-study results are concentrated partially in urban areas and primarily around critical habitat designations involving fish species. Results provide some evidence that fish designations may result in more significant water quality impacts after designation across pH and additional outcomes than all designations on average. These results add to a body of research that questions if other species conservation provisions may lead to more efficient outcomes than critical habitat designation.Item Power and perils of partnership: a lifecycles approach to understanding barriers to data use in Montana volunteer water monitoring programs(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Bean, Liam Francis; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sarah P. ChurchAs socionatural systems become more unpredictable due to increased anthropogenic interference, the need for responsive data-driven governance is apparent. However, there is a repeated assertion that public trust in science and the scientific process is eroding. Public participation in scientific research, or citizen science, is often seen as a pathway to rebuilding public trust in data collection and analysis while also being an effective cost-cutting measure as research funding becomes more and more difficult to secure. I developed case studies of five different volunteer water monitoring programs from across the state of Montana. Each case was primarily constructed from semi-structured interviews with various volunteers, program managers, and decision-makers. These cases explore how trust in volunteer water quality data was generated across stakeholder groups and if, and how, volunteer collected data are used in local governance processes. To explore the relationship between different volunteers, program managers, tributaries, monitoring equipment, and decision-makers, an approach inspired by actor network theory was adopted during the analysis. The five cases all had key parallels in their histories and while each case was distinct, all five seemed to pass through similar phases I describe as a generalized lifecycle. The four key phases of this lifecycle were: 1) an inciting incident, 2) enrollment of allies, 3) re-enrollment of allies, and 4) program evaluation. The second and third phases were key to understanding how data produced by volunteers would eventually be used. When programs enrolled alongside state actors like the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, volunteers and local community members saw decision-making processes as more legitimate, and volunteer water monitoring programs had a direct route to having their data used. However, the process of being enrolled alongside a different monitoring program or state agency created a problem with the salience of volunteer collected data, often making it less reflexive to community needs and less used in local governance processes. In addition, regular re-enrollment with new agencies, partners, and monitoring efforts allowed many programs to secure funding and paths to data use but hampered their ability to produce datasets for long-term trend analysis.Item Water quality response to water and nitrogen movement through a semi-arid dryland agroecosystem in Montana, USA(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2020) Sigler, William Adam; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Stephanie A. Ewing; Stephanie A. Ewing, Clain A. Jones, Robert A. Payn, E.N. Jack Brookshire, Jane K. Klassen, Douglas Jackson-Smith and Gary S. Weissmann were co-authors of the article, 'Connections among soil, ground, and surface water chemistries characterize nitrogen loss from an agricultural landscape in the upper Missouri River Basin' in the journal 'Journal of hydrology' which is contained within this dissertation.; Stephanie A. Ewing, Clain A. Jones, Robert A. Payn, Perry Miller and Marco Maneta were co-authors of the article, 'Water and nitrate loss from dryland agricultural soils is controlled by management, soils, and weather' submitted to the journal 'Agricultural ecosystems & environment' which is contained within this dissertation.; Stephanie A. Ewing, Scott D. Wankel, Clain A. Jones, Sam Leuthold, E.N. Jack Brookshire and Robert A. Payn were co-authors of the article, 'Drivers of denitrification across a semiarid agroecosystem revealed by nitrate isotopic patterns' which is contained within this dissertation.Humans have increased reactive nitrogen (N) on the planet by an order of magnitude over the past 150 years. Most of this reactive N is used for fertilizer to feed a growing population, but loss of N from cultivated soils threatens agricultural and environmental sustainability. Nitrate accumulated in soil from fertilization or decomposition of soil organic N (SON) may be lost via leaching, which can reduce soil fertility and compromise water quality. Nitrate concentrations commonly exceed human drinking standards in groundwater resources around the globe. In the Judith River Watershed (JRW) in central Montana, nitrate has been detected above the standard since the 1960s. This dissertation contributes to a more holistic understanding of the fate and transport of N in the JRW. An interdisciplinary team engaged with farmers in a participatory research project, making observations in soils, groundwater, and streams to characterize water and N movement. At the landform scale, 5 to 9 cm yr -1 of the 38 cm yr -1 mean annual precipitation moves through soil to recharge groundwater and leaches 11 to 18 kg ha -1 yr -1 of nitrate-N from soil. These leaching rates are approximately 20-30% of fertilizer rates but likely reflect inmixing of nitrate from SON decomposition. Soil modeling analyses suggested that water and N losses were dominated by intense precipitation periods on wetter soils, such that more than half of simulated deep percolation and leaching occurred in two of 14 model years. Simulations further suggest that thinner soils (<25 cm fine-textured materials) experience water and nitrate loss rates five to 16 times higher than thicker soils (>100 cm). Soil sampling demonstrated that increased soil water during fallow periods facilitates conversion of SON to nitrate. Soils are then primed for water and N loss with subsequent precipitation, resulting in disproportionately high leaching rates during and following fallow periods. Isotopic evidence from fallow periods further suggests that nitrate is lost to the atmosphere via denitrification, a gas phase loss combining with leaching losses to compromise the goal of delivering N to crops. These findings suggest that reduction of fallow increases N use efficiency and reduces nitrate loss to groundwater.Item Fish assemblage response to habitat restoration in Elk Springs Creek, Montana: implications for arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) restoration(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2021) Marsh, Jason William; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Alexander V. ZaleThe abundance and distribution of Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus in Montana have declined substantially during the past century as a result of habitat degradation and loss. Biologists tasked with conserving Arctic Grayling populations in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana implemented two habitat restoration projects to reclaim historical Arctic Grayling migration corridors and spawning habitats in Elk Springs Creek. I used before-after and before-after control-impact (BACI) study designs to evaluate the effects of these habitat restoration projects on physical habitat, water quality, and Arctic Grayling in Elk Springs and Picnic creeks. Because Arctic Grayling were rare in Elk Springs and Picnic creeks, I also examined the effects of restoration on two additional species (Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis and White Suckers Catostomus commersonii) with habitat requirements and life history characteristics similar to those of Arctic Grayling. I used electrofishing to monitor the abundance, biomass, and size distribution of each species before the restoration in 2016, and after the restoration during 2017 and 2018. A PIT-tag detection network monitored the seasonal movements of Arctic Grayling, Brook Trout, and White Suckers from spring 2016 through autumn 2018. In situ data loggers measured summer stream temperatures and dissolved oxygen concentration in expected fish migration corridors both before and after restoration. The abundances and biomasses of Arctic Grayling and White Suckers were similar before and after restoration. However, Brook Trout abundance and biomass increased significantly in the restored (impacted) reaches relative to the unrestored (control) reaches two years after habitat restoration. The size-class distributions of Arctic Grayling and Brook Trout broadened after restoration. Movements of Arctic Grayling, Brook Trout, and White Suckers among unique habitat segments in Elk Springs and Picnic creeks increased after restoration, but pre-restoration movement data was sparse and limited inference. Following channel restoration, summer stream temperatures decreased, and dissolved oxygen concentration increased and equilibrated. Physical habitat improved (i.e., fine sediments decreased, and depth, percentage of pools, and gravels increased) in restored historical Arctic Grayling spawning areas. I thereby showed that channel reconnection and spawning habitat restoration can substantially improve water quality and physical habitat. However, the restoration measures implemented in Elk Springs Creek affected my target species disproportionately.Item Outdoor education and citizen science in a high school freshwater ecology science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Tierney, Sarah Martina; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisOutdoor education and citizen science practices were implemented into a high school freshwater ecology curriculum to assess student motivation, attitude, and in general their connection with the outside world. In this study students were exposed to various outdoor learning opportunities and citizen science activities. Pre and post treatment student surveys were conducted, student interviews, student journaling, and student engagement tally sheets were all recorded to assess student engagement. As a result of this study, a majority of students reported a benefit from lessons outside the classroom as well as indicating an increase of energy, pleasantness, and engagement.Item Spanish Creek water quality(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Nealen, Carolyn Ruth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisSpanish Creek's water quality was monitored over several months, through collection of data from nine parameters. Specific data from two sites were compared to determine the impact of recreational use upon overall stream health. Macroinvertebrates were also sampled. Data was graphed and analyzed for patterns. Results suggest that Spanish Creek's water quality is Good and that recreational use does not negatively impact stream health.Item Implementation of culturally sensitive and informed health education as a part of the 'wash approach' to controlling soil-transmitted helminth infections in the rural village of Bati Kelo, east Shewa Zone, Adama Wereda, Ethiopia(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2017) Dean, Courtney Elizabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Elizabeth KinionProblem Statement: A lack of population-specific approaches and interventions exist with regards to soil-transmitted helminth control measures, thus resulting in significantly reduced effectiveness and lasting impact. Purpose: The purpose of this clinical project was to develop and implement a culturally sensitive and informed health education program to address the health practices of a rural high risk population as a method for controlling soil-transmitted helminth infections. Methods: A culturally sensitive and informed health education program, utilizing the holistic method of the 'WASH Approach,' was implemented in the community of Bati Kelo, East Shewa Zone, Adama Wereda, Ethiopia. The project intervention consisted of three key components: 1) developing a culturally competent and population-specific KAP survey, 2) developing culturally competent health education material for the project population, and 3) conducting the KAP survey and health education sessions in a culturally competent manner. A convenience sample of 234 individuals was collected from the community. The project data were based on self-reported responses to the KAP survey. Ten key health behavior questions were utilized to evaluate the project: two on latrine usage, three on clean water usage, three on hand washing, and two on wearing shoes. Eighty-one surveys qualified for final inclusion. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 2.4. Descriptive statistics were utilized for the evaluation of the entire project. McNemar's test was used to analyze the differences between pre and post intervention (survey) results involving dichotomous variables. Wilcoxon's signed-rank test was used to analyze the differences between pre and post intervention (survey) results involving paired ordinal data. Findings: Positive health behavior/practice change was demonstrated post-intervention in the areas of 'latrine use,' 'clean water (treating water),' and 'handwashing;' however, it was not shown in the area of 'wearing shoes.' Conclusions: The overall findings of this clinical project were consistent with prior research studies, which found the WASH approach impactful on STH infection prevention measures (health behavior practices). A gap in the literature regarding 'cultural competence' in health education as a part of the WASH approach and STH control measures still exists. Much more inquiry and work still remains to be done.
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