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Rainfall during the snow season plays an increasingly important role in flood risk as climate warms and extreme events become more frequent. However, a given sized rain-on-snow (ROS) event can yield outcomes ranging from flooding to no runoff, depending partly on the snowpack's antecedent cold content and capillary retention forces. Here, we analyze the seasonal evolution of the snowpack's physical state over a 72-year period to assess long-term changes in its capacity to buffer runoff from liquid water input. We use ERA-5 Land data to force Alpine3D, a distributed snowpack model that tracks the layer-by-layer development of heat, mass, and structural framework of the snowpack throughout the snow season. We test our approach in a large Columbia River headwaters basin in NW Montana, USA. We evaluate cold content and total capillary retention of the snowpack to determine long term trends in Liquid Water Buffering Capacity (LWbc) as it evolves throughout the snow season. The LWbc of the snowpack exhibited robust long-term declines across all elevation bands, that is driven by reduced SWE along with reduced cold content in late November through late January across all elevation bands, despite high intra- and interannual variability. The largest declines occurred during the Spring period, trending downward across the historical period by 43 % to 80 % depending on the elevation band. The core five weeks of mid-winter showed no trending change of LWbc, and in fact demonstrated an increase in cold content over the 72 years. Our findings demonstrate that changes in the snowpack's ability to buffer runoff, including dependencies on local basin factors related to snowpack seasonality and elevation, are a key component of evolving ROS risk.
Empirical research about therapy dogs on campus tends to focus on the impact of the therapy dogs on students. This novel study explored the impact of two therapy dogs, each handled by Police Officers of a mid-western campus in the United States. The explicit intention of the therapy dog program is to bridge relationships between students and the officers. The program had not yet been evaluated, which is the aim of this study. The aim of this paper was to explore why students enjoy engaging with the therapy dogs, where they prefer to visit them, and what they perceive as their benefit. Based on their responses, the final research question sought to identify if the handler being a police officer have an impact on student and campus community engagement with therapy dogs. After completing a scoping literature review, a ten-question Qualtrics survey was administered to students, staff and faculty via campus e-news and flyers with a QR code distributed on campus. The survey was accessed 1391 times, and completed 1035 times; 796 students, 79 faculty, and 160 staff. Analysis included descriptive frequencies, thematic analysis, followed by a sentiment analysis using RoBERTa, and polarity of distribution. The survey questions are included for potential study replication. A case study is included in the discussion to highlight best practices for a Police Officer facilitated therapy dog campus program. The findings are consistent with other studies which show a largely positive impact on stress reduction and mental health for those who interact with therapy dogs. There was a strong positive association with the campus therapy dogs. Respondents revealed that most of the time they visited the therapy dogs in common areas and in outside green spaces. Perceived benefits included relaxation in times of stress and a comforting reminder of home, which provided a sense of belonging on campus; the dogs strongly promoted a unified sense of joy across campus. Finally, the handlers were mentioned by respondents noting that they are aware and considering the role of the handler. This study adds to the existing literature about positive impact of therapy dogs on campus, while filling gaps about who interacts with the dogs beyond students, where therapy dogs are effective on campus, and considerations for the role of the handler. Officers were an important factor in the respondents engagement with the therapy dogs, validating that there is importance to considering the role of who handles the dogs, and an opportunity for explicit engagement. By connecting with the police officers, as opposed to volunteer handlers, the program is intentionally building bridges between the officers and the campus community.
Journal Article 2023 AOS Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Awards to Lisa Sorenson and Stanley Senner Get access Peter P Marra, Peter P Marra Department of Biology and McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University,Washington, DC, USA Corresponding authors: peter.marra@georgetown.edu; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0508-7577 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Anna D Chalfoun, Anna D Chalfoun U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Wyoming University, Laramie, Wyoming, USA achalfou@uwyo.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0219-6006 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Patricia A McGill, Patricia A McGill National Aviary, Sisters, Oregon, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Kenneth V Rosenberg, Kenneth V Rosenberg Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Jeffrey R Walters, Jeffrey R Walters Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Cara Joos, Cara Joos Cara Joos, Columbia, Missouri, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Nicole L Michel, Nicole L Michel National Audubon Society, New York, New York, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7817-2687 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Scott R Loss, Scott R Loss Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Christopher A Lepczyk, Christopher A Lepczyk College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5316-3159 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Arvind O Panjabi, Arvind O Panjabi Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2862-2675 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar ... Show more Stanley E Senner, Stanley E Senner Missoula, Montana, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Kristen C Ruegg, Kristen C Ruegg Biology Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5579-941X Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Jeffrey D Brawn, Jeffrey D Brawn University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, University of Illinois, Urbana Illinois, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5158-0055 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar William Cox, William Cox Gainesville, Florida, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Sarah W Kendrick, Sarah W Kendrick Migratory Birds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbia, Missouri, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Camila Gomez, Camila Gomez SELVA: Research for Conservation in the Neotropics, Bogota, Colombia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Alejandra Martínez-Salinas, Alejandra Martínez-Salinas CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Angelina Ruiz Angelina Ruiz Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Ornithology, Volume 140, Issue 4, 5 October 2023, ukad041, https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad041 Published: 07 September 2023
This book analyzes the North American Wildlife Conservation Model's insufficiencies in order to expedite a move from lethal to compassionate conservation.
