Louisiana Department of Natural Resources

Perceived biodiversity matters: Linking biodiversity and education to mental well-being

The loss of biodiversity, or species richness, is a growing global environmental concern. At the same time, biodiversity forms the foundation for critical ecosystem services and overall ecosystem health. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates the benefits of spending time in...

Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition restructures decomposing microbial communities, altering SOM molecular composition, but not molecular complexity or diversity

Soil organic matter (SOM) consists of diverse biochemical constituents, spanning a spectrum of chemical complexity, and the relative abundance of these substrates influences microbial metabolism and soil carbon persistence. However, mechanistic controls governing these processes...

Monte Carlo simulation of testing requirements for chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance via hunter-harvest in Illinois, USA

Managing chronic wasting disease (CWD) – a fatal, transmissible prion disease of cervids – has many challenges, such as determining the number of cervids to test to accurately estimate true prevalence with apparent prevalence. Options range from basic equations to complex techniq...

Groundwater hysteresis increasingly decouples flowing network length from streamflow as snow shifts to rain

Abstract. Flowing stream networks expand and contract in response to dynamic groundwater levels. Field studies generally associate greater flowing network length (L) with higher streamflow (Q), but this neglects potential hysteresis caused by nonequilibrium groundwater flow after...

Numerical-Based Feasibility Study of Road Culvert Deicing Using Geothermal Energy in Montana

Abstract This study presents a numerical evaluation of a geothermal culvert deicing system to mitigate ice buildup and thermal degradation of frost-susceptible soils in cold regions such as Montana. A three-dimensional numerical model was developed in COMSOL Multiphysics (version...