Water quality continues to be threatened by human development activities such as stormwater runoff from urbanization. This study addresses the question of how stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) system design choices affect pollutant removal efficiency, through the examination of 12 case study sites (across five states) that use three common BMP system design types (detention, retention, and wetland channel). Water quality information was obtained from the International Stormwater Database and site composite grab samples. Development conditions were inventoried by orthophotos and assessed using Geographic Information System (GIS) and AutoCAD data. This study relates Total Suspended Solid (TSS) load removal efficiency with a series of form-based design variables, which landscape architects can control through their scope of services. System design characteristics of age, size, form, and material selection, along with site-specific precipitation regimens and extent-of-development, were compared with use of TSS removal efficiency in order to determine possible design relationships. Primary removal efficiency methods of individual design types were then evaluated to prioritize conclusions for practical applications. Mixed findings from this study report that one material-based and two form-based design variables hold significant correlation with the TSS removal efficiency. However, site-contextual variables, especially the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) hydrologic weighted curve value, play an important role in BMP performance and may supersede possible design impacts. The study also reveals that for some BMP sites, a deviation from original design intent may jeopardize system removal efficiency.

Rangelands within the Great Basin are responsible for the provision of multiple resources that humans depend on for a variety of reasons. Ranchers in this region are dependent on public lands to remain economically viable in their cattle operations. As a majority of land in this region is publically owned, there are varying interests at play in what should and could be the focus of management. Ranchers are charged with implementing strategies aimed at conserving these landscapes and their motivations for what to manage may significantly influence resource provision from Intermountain West ecosystem. In this study, I sought to understand what resources ranchers manage and why ranchers manage for certain resources. I also sought to understand operational characteristics which allow or inhibit them from managing for a suite of resources. My study population was ranchers throughout the Intermountain West who depend on public lands to graze their cattle. I utilized interviews as well as mail-in surveys to broadly understand what ranchers value about rangelands. From both qualitative and quantitative data, I found that ranchers make management decisions to encourage productivity, maintain a ranching legacy and remain autonomous in their operation. Managing to encourage these three ideals could ensure that their operations remain viable for their family in the future. I also found that based on size of operation, how active ranchers are on their operation, and how income dependent they are on their operation contribute to managing for more and a certain type of resource. Overall, this research was designed to encourage management for a suite of resources on rangeland landscapes. Ranchers seem to manage most highly for resources directly beneficial to their operation. By educating and incentivizing ranchers to manage more broadly for resources that benefit a broader public on public lands which we all hold claim to, resilience of both human communities as well as the ecosystem itself will be enhanced.

Water shortages are a recurring problem in the western US. As much as 70% of yearly municipal water consumption may be used to irrigate urban landscapes. Significant water savings can be realized by installing low water landscapes, where turfgrass is replaced by low water trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials. Intermountain West (IMW) native trees and shrubs are excellent candidates for low water landscaping. However, due to their slow initial growth, many native trees and shrubs are simply unavailable to consumers, as they are not cost effective for nursery growers to produce. In an effort to accelerate the yearly growth rates of two IMW native species, Pinus monophylla and Mahonia fremontii, the potential of two growing methods was evaluated. A 30% reduction in radiation by shading and stabilizing root-zone temperatures with potin- pot were employed in an effort to decrease the extreme environmental impacts of temperature and intense sunlight. Shading caused a significant increase in the growth of M. fremontii when grown aboveground. P. monophylla growth was not affected by the use of shade. Neither species showed improved growth when grown pot-in-pot. The use of shade is effective in accelerating some native plants and not others. However, for plants such as M. fremontii, shading is beneficial and can be used to significantly accelerate nursery production.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) strives to use science-based research to both protect and enhance the management of natural resources. From this overarching goal, the USDA has a specific objective to protect the health and sustainability of forest and rangeland ecosystems. Based on this specific objective, an Advisory Board of natural resource scientists within the Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR) was awarded a National Institute of Food and Agricultural (NIFA) grant to train two PhD and two MS students. Their research would focus on managing for resilient forest ecosystem in the Intermountain West. With input from the advisory board and my PhD committee, my research focused on how to increase forest resilience at multiple scales. Locally, on the T.W. Daniel (TWD) Experimental Forest on the Logan Ranger District, three silvicultural trials were evaluated for resistance and resilience to the spruce beetle (partially funded by the TWD Forestry Fellowship). At the regional scale, a conceptual model was developed to classify forest communities based on structural features. The model was tested with data collected from 15 mountain ranges across the Intermountain West. Additionally, basic forest dynamics of limber pine (Pinus flexilis James.) were summarized across the Intermountain West. All three of these studies will aid in developing and implementing sound forest management practices to increase forest resilience.

Unusually wet spring seasons in the Intermountain West (IW) have been linked to a wind fluctuation in higher levels of the atmosphere near the equator. Strong westerly winds during October-January often result in unusually wet conditions in the following spring. Average winds near the equator at 75,000 feet above the earth’s surface can be split into different categories according to wind direction: westerly (positive), easterly (negative), and transitional. Composites of winter and spring precipitation anomalies based on these different categories show that strong westerly winds occur in October-January prior to most extreme spring precipitation events. Drier springs tend to occur after easterly winds the preceding fall. Analysis of the atmospheric processes causing this wind pattern suggests that the intensity of spring precipitation in the IW may be forecast, based on winds in the upper atmosphere months in advance. These findings are useful for the IW because extreme wet springs could lead to floods, such as those in spring 1983 and 2011, and affect the amount of water available from spring runoff.

The purpose of this research is to provide quantitative and limited qualitative analysis for the United States Intermountain West on the economic effectiveness of risk management alternatives in an agricultural operation. This research is not meant to be an exhaustive comparison of every potential combination of alternatives and risk scenarios. Instead, specific parameters such as farm size, crops grown, risk attitudes and risk management strategies are set to guide the research and offer a basis of comparison. This research evaluates several levels of coverage using Multiple Peril Crop Insurance, Crop Revenue Coverage Insurance, Adjusted Gross Revenue - Lite Insurance and a limited interaction of the futures market. Microsoft Excel and the add-in Simetar was used to perform the quantitative analysis. A set of spreadsheets were created to allow a variety of data to be easily input and manipulated. The values used in this research were based on the 2002 Census of Agriculture to create a "typical" farm considered in Box Elder County, Utah. The results generated were sorted and ranked according to four decision criteria in relation to the net income observed in each simulated scenario. These include: the probability that net income will exceed $0; a maxi-min; a maxi-max; and the maximum positive net income at a probability of occurrence of 0.5, resembling a Safety-First criterion. The later three decision criterion used correspond to risk attitudes that may be possessed by a producer: risk adverse, risk preferring or seeking, and risk neutral respectively. The quantitatively "best" observed results were then qualitatively compared to the next "best" result. In general the conclusion is made that some strategy is better than no strategy and the "best" risk management strategy is one compatible with the risk attitude of the producer and the parameters of the farm in consideration. There is no single strategy for all decision criterions that consistently outperforms all other strategies considered in this research.

Until the last half century, land development patterns in the Intermountain West were designed after the Mormon settlement pattern. With its gridiron streets and in-town farmsteads, this pattern gave families the opportunity to grow crops and raise a few animals on their one acre or less in town with the added advantage of having a social life. Over the last century, small farms have dwindled and large farms have increased in size. However, in the Intermountain West the farmstead tradition continues with families who grow gardens and raise animals on their large city lots, who value self-sufficiency, and who thrive in wide open spaces. To better understand the land uses and preferences of this population, a research survey was mailed to a sample pool of residents of Cache Valley, Utah who live on large lots with animal rights. They contributed an array of data about their backgrounds and how they are specifically using their land. Their responses validated the existence of a continued agrarian culture and gave insight on how they felt about trends in conservation subdivisions and common open space. A range of opinions about ideal lot size supported rural planners' suggestions to develop lots of varying sizes to meet the needs of a diverse population. Small farms on large lots can be a valuable part of a sustainable urban and rural environment. Local vegetables and agricultural products bring nature and natural processes back to an urban setting and reduce the environmental footprint imposed by extensive shipping. Culturally, small farmers provide a connection to the past and fulfill a lifestyle choice for a rural-minded population. Particularly in the Intermountain West, planners need to integrate these small farms into their developments to preserve the rural character of towns and cities of the region.

Until the last half century, land development patterns in the Intermountain West were designed after the Mormon settlement pattern. With its gridiron streets and in-town farmsteads, this pattern gave families the opportunity to grow crops and raise a few animals on their one acre or less in town with the added advantage of having a social life. Over the last century, small farms have dwindled and large farms have increased in size. However, in the Intermountain West the farmstead tradition continues with families who grow gardens and raise animals on their large city lots, who value self-sufficiency, and who thrive in wide open spaces. To better understand the land uses and preferences of this population, a research survey was mailed to a sample pool of residents of Cache Valley, Utah who live on large lots with animal rights. They contributed an array of data about their backgrounds and how they are specifically using their land. Their responses validated the existence of a continued agrarian culture and gave insight on how they felt about trends in conservation subdivisions and common open space. A range of opinions about ideal lot size supported rural planners' suggestions to develop lots of varying sizes to meet the needs of a diverse population. Small farms on large lots can be a valuable part of a sustainable urban and rural environment. Local vegetables and agricultural products bring nature and natural processes back to an urban setting and reduce the environmental footprint imposed by extensive shipping. Culturally, small farmers provide a connection to the past and fulfill a lifestyle choice for a rural-minded population. Particularly in the Intermountain West, planners need to integrate these small farms into their developments to preserve the rural character of towns and cities of the region.

Following its introduction to North America in the late nineteenth century, Bromus tectorum L., an inbreeding invasive winter annual grass, has become dominant on millions of hectares of sagebrush steppe habitat throughout Intermountain Western North America. It appears that within the last 30-40 years, B. tectorum has expanded its range southward into the Mojave Desert and also into more climatically extreme salt desert environments. Previous research using microsatellite markers and experimental studies has suggested that lineages found in desert habitats are genetically distinct from those found in the sagebrush-steppe habitat and possess suites of traits that pre-adapt them to these environments. To provide additional support for our hypothesis that desert habitat-specific haplotypes dominate and are widely distributed across warm and salt desert habitats, we genotyped approximately 20 individuals from each of 39 B. tectorum populations from these habitats and adjacent sagebrush steppe habitats using 71 single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers. Our data clearly demonstrate that populations throughout the Mojave Desert region, as well as in salt desert habitats further north, are dominated by a small number of closely related SNP haplotypes that belong to the desert clade. In contrast, populations from adjacent environments are largely dominated by haplotypes of the common clade, which is widely distributed throughout the North American sagebrush steppe. Populations across all habitats were usually dominated by 1-2 SNP haplotypes. This suggests that inbreeding B. tectorum lineages can often maintain their genetic integrity. It also explains the strong association between marker fingerprints and suites of adaptive traits in this species.

Pseudoroegneria spicata and Elymus wawawaiensis are two native perennial bunchgrasses of North America's Intermountain West. Frequent drought, past overgrazing practices, subsequent weed invasions, and increased wildfire frequency have combined to severely degrade natural landscapes in the region, leading to a decline in the abundance of native vegetation. Being formerly widespread throughout the region, P. spicata is a favorite for restoration purposes in the Intermountain West. Elymus wawawaiensis, which occupies a more restricted distribution in the Intermountain West, is often used as a restoration surrogate for P. spicata. However, since most restoration sites are outside the native range of E. wawawaiensis and as the use of native plant material may be more desirable than a surrogate, the use of E. wawawaiensis as a restoration plant material has been somewhat controversial. The main goal of my research was to identify plant materials of these species with superior seedling growth, drought tolerance, and defoliation tolerance, traits that may contribute to enhanced ecological function in restored rangeland plant communities. I conducted a growth-chamber study to evaluate morphological and growth-related traits of germinating seedlings of these two species. My study suggested that, while the two bunchgrasses are similar in many ways, they display fundamentally different strategies at the very-young seedling stage. While P. spicata exhibited greater shoot and root biomass to enhance establishment, E. wawawaiensis displayed high specific leaf area (SLA) and specific root length (SRL), two traits commonly associated with faster growth. According to the eco-physiology literature, plants with greater stress tolerance display lesser growth potential. However, my greenhouse study showed that E. wawawaiensis was relatively more drought tolerant than P. spicata, despite higher expression of growth-related traits, e.g., SLA and SRL. While the two species displayed similar water use efficiency when water was abundant, E. wawawaiensis was also more efficient in its water use when drought stress was imposed. In a field study, I found E. wawawaiensis to be twice as defoliation tolerant as P. spicata. This study showed that P. spicata is typically more productive in the absence of defoliation, but E. wawawaiensis was more productive after defoliation due to its superior ability to recover and hence is a better candidate for rangelands that will be grazed. Hence, my study showed that E. wawawaiensis, despite being regarded as a surrogate for P. spicata, exhibits superior seedling establishment, drought tolerance, and defoliation tolerance. Therefore, E. wawawaiensis has advantages as a restoration species for the Intermountain West.