Estimating Hg Risk to the Common Loon (Gavia immer) in the Rangeley Lakes Region of Western Maine: A Regression Based GIS Model

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dc.contributor.authorKramar, David E.en
dc.contributor.committeechairCarstensen, Laurence W.en
dc.contributor.committeememberKaur, Taranjiten
dc.contributor.committeememberKennedy, Lisa M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberCampbell, James B. Jr.en
dc.contributor.departmentGeographyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:38:53Zen
dc.date.adate2004-08-12en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:38:53Zen
dc.date.issued2004-04-21en
dc.date.rdate2004-08-12en
dc.date.sdate2004-06-21en
dc.description.abstractThis research relates Hg levels in the Common Loon (Gavia immer) to a variety of physical factors. Constructed within the framework of a GIS system, this model analyzes the spatial relationships and the influence of physical land cover factors as a function of distance from the individual loon territories. Thiessan polygons were used to generate the territory for each loon. Buffering of the thiessan polygons was done to establish the boundaries of the individual distance classes and to gather information on the percentage of individual land cover classes within each distance class. Information on precipitation was also gathered. Results from the regression analysis (R2 = 57.3% at the 150m distance class) performed on the variables suggest that the proximity of certain land use types such as cropland, shrub land, and wetlands influence the rates at which Hg is available within an individual territory. Within the 150m and 300m buffers, crop land, shrub land, and wetland exhibited the strongest relationship with the Hg levels in the common loon, with cropland exhibiting a negative relationship suggesting that the proximity of cultivated lands plays a role in decreasing the amount of available Hg in a territory.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-06212004-105546en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-06212004-105546/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/43371en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartFront_Matter.pdfen
dc.relation.haspartChpts_combined_version2_2.pdfen
dc.relation.haspartVita.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectGeospatial Modelingen
dc.subjectRegressionen
dc.subjectGISen
dc.subjectSpatial Relationshipsen
dc.subjectCommon Loonen
dc.subjectMercury (Hg)en
dc.titleEstimating Hg Risk to the Common Loon (Gavia immer) in the Rangeley Lakes Region of Western Maine: A Regression Based GIS Modelen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineGeographyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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