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2000

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Influence Of Habitat Use-Patterns On Cooperative Breeding In The Brown-Headed Nuthatch., Brent Burt, Albert Herb Dec 2000

Influence Of Habitat Use-Patterns On Cooperative Breeding In The Brown-Headed Nuthatch., Brent Burt, Albert Herb

Faculty Publications

Documenting the habitat use patterns of the Brown-headed Nuthatch, we describe how its habitat use patterns contribute to ecological constraints that may maintain cooperative breeding in this species.


Sequence Analysis Of The Rhop-3 Gene Of Plasmodium Berghei And P. Chabaudi, Reactivity Of Rhop-3 Protein Within Isolated Rhoptries And Binding Of Rhop-3 To Mouse Erythrocytes, Tobiliy Sam-Yellowe, Tongmin Wang, Hisashi Fujioka, Judith A. Drazba, Masamichi Aikawa, William E. Brochak Dec 2000

Sequence Analysis Of The Rhop-3 Gene Of Plasmodium Berghei And P. Chabaudi, Reactivity Of Rhop-3 Protein Within Isolated Rhoptries And Binding Of Rhop-3 To Mouse Erythrocytes, Tobiliy Sam-Yellowe, Tongmin Wang, Hisashi Fujioka, Judith A. Drazba, Masamichi Aikawa, William E. Brochak

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

The 110 kDa Rhop-3 rhoptry protein of Plasmadium falciparum is secreted into the erythrocyte membrane during invasion. It is an erythrocyte binding protein that is non-covalently associated with two other proteins, the 140 kDa Rhop-1 and the 130 kDa Rhop-2. We identified the Rhop-3 gene homologue in P. yoelii and demonstrated that the C-terminus is highly conserved. In order to identify the Rhop-3 gene homologue in P. berghei and P. chabaudi, a set of primers were designed based on the cDNA sequence of clone Y1412 of P. yoelii and used to amplify genomic DNA from P. berghei and P. chabaudi …


Long-Toed Salamanders In Harvested And Intact Douglas-Fir Forests Of Western Montana, George P. Naughton, Colin B. Henderson, Kerry R. Foresman, Rex L. Mcgraw Ii Dec 2000

Long-Toed Salamanders In Harvested And Intact Douglas-Fir Forests Of Western Montana, George P. Naughton, Colin B. Henderson, Kerry R. Foresman, Rex L. Mcgraw Ii

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

There is little known about how timber harvest practices have affected terrestrial amphibians in the northern Rocky Mountains. Especially lacking is information on the effects of revised harvest methods that fall within the framework of environmental or New Forestry. We estimated the relative abundance of a common forest amphibian, the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) captured in pitfall arrays on intact, environmentally harvested, and overstory-removal harvested sites in mixed-conifer forests of western Montana. Pitfall data from 1994 through 1996 showed that previously logged sites contained significantly fewer long-toed salamanders regardless of harvest method used. The number of salamanders captured …


Descriptions Of The First Chlamydopsinae (Coleoptera: Histeridae) From Wallacea, Michael S. Caterino Dec 2000

Descriptions Of The First Chlamydopsinae (Coleoptera: Histeridae) From Wallacea, Michael S. Caterino

Publications

Collecting in Dumoga-Bone National Park in northeastern Sulawesi during The Royal Geographical Society’s 1985 ‘Project Wallace’ expedition resulted in the discovery of the first known Indonesian Chlamydopsinae. Ten new species are described in the genus Orectoscelis Lewis, previously known only from the Australian continent. The new taxa are O. demotus Caterino sp. n., O. punctatus Caterino sp. n., O. aurolepidus Caterino sp. n., O. circularis Caterino sp. n., O. dumogae Caterino sp. n., O. obliquus Caterino sp. n., O. elongatus Caterino
sp. n., O. hammondi Caterino sp. n., O. carinatus Caterino sp. n., and O. brendelli Caterino sp. n. The …


Characterization Of Borrelia Burgdorferi Blya And Blyb Proteins: A Prophage-Encoded Holin-Like System, Christopher J. Damman, Christian H. Eggers, D. Scott Samuels Dec 2000

Characterization Of Borrelia Burgdorferi Blya And Blyb Proteins: A Prophage-Encoded Holin-Like System, Christopher J. Damman, Christian H. Eggers, D. Scott Samuels

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The conserved cp32 plasmid family of Borrelia burgdorferi was recently shown to be packaged into a bacteriophage particle (C. H. Eggers and D. S. Samuels, J. Bacteriol. 181:7308-7313, 1999), This plasmid encodes BlyA, a 7.4-kDa membrane-interactive protein, and BlyB, an accessory protein, which were previously proposed to comprise a hemolysis system. Our genetic and biochemical evidence suggests that this hypothesis is incorrect and that BlyA and BlyB function instead as a prophage-encoded holin or holin-like system for this newly described bacteriophage, An Escherichia coli mutant containing the blyAB locus that was defective for the normally cryptic host hemolysin SheA was …


Sensitivity Of Species Habitat-Relationship Model Performance To Factors Of Scale, J. W. Karl, P. J. Heglund, E. O. Garton, J. M. Scott, N. M. Wright, Richard L. Hutto Dec 2000

Sensitivity Of Species Habitat-Relationship Model Performance To Factors Of Scale, J. W. Karl, P. J. Heglund, E. O. Garton, J. M. Scott, N. M. Wright, Richard L. Hutto

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Researchers have come to different conclusions about the usefulness of habitat-relationship models for predicting species presence or absence. This difference frequently stems from a failure to recognize the effects of spatial scales at which the models are applied. We examined the effects of model complexity, spatial data resolution, and scale of application on the performance of bird habitat relationship (BHR) models on the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area and on the Idaho portion of the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Region. We constructed and tested BHR models for 60 bird species detected on the study areas. The models varied by three …


Hemin-Binding Surface Protein From Bartonella Quintana, James A. Carroll, Sherry A. Coleman, Laura S. Smitherman, Michael F. Minnick Dec 2000

Hemin-Binding Surface Protein From Bartonella Quintana, James A. Carroll, Sherry A. Coleman, Laura S. Smitherman, Michael F. Minnick

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Bartonella quintana, the agent of trench fever and a cause of endocarditis and bacillary angiomatosis in humans, has the highest reported in vitro hemin requirement for any bacterium. We determined that eight membrane-associated proteins from B. quintana bind hemin and that a similar to 25-kDa protein (HbpA) was the dominant hemin binding protein. Like many outer membrane proteins, HbpA partitions to the detergent phase of a Triton X-114 extract of the cell and is heat modifiable, displaying an apparent molecular mass shift from approximately 25 to 30 kDa when solubilized at 100 degreesC. Immunoblots of purified outer and inner membranes …


Causality And Subjectivity In The Religious Quest, Ursula Goodenough Dec 2000

Causality And Subjectivity In The Religious Quest, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

The dynamics of seeking causation and the dynamics of subjectivity are presented and then brought together in a consideration of the three core components of the religious quest: the search for and experience of ultimate explanations, the interiority of religious experience (“spirituality”), and the empathic experience of religious fellowship.


Do Timing And Pattern Of Myogenesis Correlate With Life History Mode In Anurans?, Matthew T. Smetanick, Rafael O. De Sá, Gary P. Radice Dec 2000

Do Timing And Pattern Of Myogenesis Correlate With Life History Mode In Anurans?, Matthew T. Smetanick, Rafael O. De Sá, Gary P. Radice

Biology Faculty Publications

The timing and pattern of myogenesis varies among anurans that have been studied and the different pat- terns may provide useful phylogenetic information. Specific myogenic markers have been described (Muntz, 1975; Kielbowna, 1981; Boudjelida & Muntz, 1987; Radice et al., 1989) and they can provide infor- mation on evolutionary changes for closely related lineages within a clade. For example, we previously com- pared first appearance of a muscle-specific protein, first twitch of axial muscle, onset of multinucleation within axial myotome, and first heartbeat in two pipid genera (Smetanick et al., 1999). We found that although the timing of myogenesis differed, …


A Gene Expression Screen Identifies Earli1 As A Novel Vernalization-Responsive Gene In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Richard K. Wilkosz, Michael Schläppi Dec 2000

A Gene Expression Screen Identifies Earli1 As A Novel Vernalization-Responsive Gene In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Richard K. Wilkosz, Michael Schläppi

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Vernalization promotes early flowering in late ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana. The mechanisms of vernalization are poorly understood. A subtractive hybridization approach was used to isolate vernalization-responsive genes from a late-flowering ecotype of Arabidopsis thaliana based on the premise that transcript levels of such genes would increase with cold treatment and remain high even after removal of the vernalization stimulus. EARLI1 is the first Arabidopsis gene shown to be stably activated by vernalization. The abundance of its RNA is progressively elevated by vernalization and remains high for at least 20 days at room temperature. The basal level of EARLI1 RNA …


Somite Development In Zebrafish, Heather L. Stickney, Michael J.F. Barresi, Stephen H. Devoto Nov 2000

Somite Development In Zebrafish, Heather L. Stickney, Michael J.F. Barresi, Stephen H. Devoto

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

A full understanding of somite development requires knowledge of the molecular genetic pathways for cell determination as well as the cellular behaviors that underlie segmentation, somite epithelialization, and somite patterning. The zebrafish has long been recognized as an ideal organism for cellular and histological studies of somite patterning. In recent years, genetics has proven to be a very powerful complementary approach to these embryological studies, as genetic screens for zebrafish mutants defective in somitogenesis have identified over 50 genes that are necessary for normal somite development. Zebrafish is thus an ideal system in which to analyze the role of specific …


The Effects Of Phosphorus And Carbon Additions On Anaerobic Microbial Activity In Peat Soils Of The Florida Everglades, Gisele Louise Colbert Nov 2000

The Effects Of Phosphorus And Carbon Additions On Anaerobic Microbial Activity In Peat Soils Of The Florida Everglades, Gisele Louise Colbert

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human activities have altered the natural biogeochemical cycles of many elements to the extent that they are now treated as pollutants in many ecosystems. The Everglades of South Florida have been negatively impacted by two such elements, phosphorus and mercury. This study tested the hypothesis that increased phosphorus concentration contributes to conditions that lead to increased anaerobic microbial activity and microbial populations that might be linked to mercury methylation in Everglades peat soils. Soil was collected from a pristine Eleocharis marsh in the Shark River Slough area of Everglades National Park. Changes in microbial communities from aerobically-dominated to anaerobically-dominated processes …


H-Ns Controls Pap And Daa Fimbrial Transcription In Escherichia Coli In Response To Multiple Environmental Cues, C. A. White-Ziegler, A. Villapakkam, K. Ronaszeki, S. Young Nov 2000

H-Ns Controls Pap And Daa Fimbrial Transcription In Escherichia Coli In Response To Multiple Environmental Cues, C. A. White-Ziegler, A. Villapakkam, K. Ronaszeki, S. Young

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

A comparative study was completed to determine the influence of various environmental stimuli on the transcription of three different fimbrial operons in Escherichia coli and to determine the role of the histone-like protein H-NS in this environmental regulation. The fimbrial operons studied included the pap operon, which encodes pyelonephritis-associated pili (P pili), the daa operon, which encodes F1845 fimbriae, and the fan operon, which encodes K99 fimbriae. Using lacZYA transcriptional fusions within each of the fimbrial operons, we tested temperature, osmolarity, carbon source, rich medium, oxygen levels, pH, amino acids, solid medium, and iron concentration for their effects on fimbrial …


Fast Transport Of Neurofilament Protein Along Microtubules In Squid Axoplasm, Veena Prahlad, Brian T. Helfand, George M. Langford, Ron D. Vale, Robert D. Goldman Nov 2000

Fast Transport Of Neurofilament Protein Along Microtubules In Squid Axoplasm, Veena Prahlad, Brian T. Helfand, George M. Langford, Ron D. Vale, Robert D. Goldman

Biology - All Scholarship

Using squid axoplasm as a model system, we have visualized the fast transport of non-filamentous neurofilament protein particles along axonal microtubules. This transport occurs at speeds of 0.5-1.0 microm/second and the majority of neurofilament particles stain with kinesin antibody. These observations demonstrate, for the first time, that fast (0.5-1.0 microm/second) transport of neurofilament proteins occurs along microtubules. In addition, our studies suggest that neurofilament protein can be transported as non-membrane bound, nonfilamentous subunits along axons, and that the transport is kinesin-dependent. Microtubule-based fast transport might therefore provide a mechanism for the distribution and turnover of neurofilament, and perhaps other cytoskeletal …


From Hopeful Monsters To Homeotic Effects: Richard Goldschmidt's Integration Of Development, Evolution, And Genetics, Michael Dietrich Nov 2000

From Hopeful Monsters To Homeotic Effects: Richard Goldschmidt's Integration Of Development, Evolution, And Genetics, Michael Dietrich

Dartmouth Scholarship

Richard Goldschmidts research on homeotic mutants from 1940 until his death in 1958 represents one of the first serious efforts to integrate genetics, development, and evolution. Using two different models, Goldschmidt tried to show how different views of genetic structure and gene action could provide a mechanism for rapid speciation. Developmental systems were emphasized in one model and a hierarchy of genetic structures in the other. While Goldschmidt tried to find a balance between development and genetics, critics, such as Sewall Wright, urged him and eventually helped him incorporate population dynamics into his models as well. As such, the history …


Monitoring Bacterial Transport By Stable Isotope Enrichment Of Cells, William Holben, Peggy H. Ostrom Nov 2000

Monitoring Bacterial Transport By Stable Isotope Enrichment Of Cells, William Holben, Peggy H. Ostrom

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding the transport and behavior of bacteria in the environment has broad implications in diverse areas, ranging from agriculture to groundwater quality, risk assessment, and bioremediation. The ability to reliably track and enumerate specific bacterial populations in the context of native communities and environments is key to developing this understanding. We report a novel bacterial tracking approach, based on altering the stable carbon isotope value (delta C-13) Of bacterial cells, which provides specific and sensitive detection and quantification of those cells in environmental samples. This approach was applied to the study of bacterial transport in saturated porous media. The transport …


Biomechanics And Energetics In Aquatic And Semiaquatic Mammals: Platypus To Whale, Frank E. Fish Nov 2000

Biomechanics And Energetics In Aquatic And Semiaquatic Mammals: Platypus To Whale, Frank E. Fish

Biology Faculty Publications

A variety of mammalian lineages have secondarily invaded the water. To locomote and thermoregulate in the aqueous medium, mammals developed a range of morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations. A distinct difference in the suite of adaptations, which affects energetics, is apparent between semiaquatic and fully aquatic mammals. Semiaquatic mammals swim by paddling, which is inefficient compared to the use of oscillating hydrofoils of aquatic mammals. Semiaquatic mammals swim at the water surface and experience a greater resistive force augmented by wave drag than submerged aquatic mammals. A dense, nonwettable fur insulates semiaquatic mammals, whereas aquatic mammals use a layer of …


Effects Of Habitat Type And Drying On Ascogregarina Barretti (Eugregarinida : Lecudinidae) Infection In Aedes Triseritatus (Diptera : Culicidae), Stephen L. Van Rhein, Barry E. Flanary, Steven A. Juliano Nov 2000

Effects Of Habitat Type And Drying On Ascogregarina Barretti (Eugregarinida : Lecudinidae) Infection In Aedes Triseritatus (Diptera : Culicidae), Stephen L. Van Rhein, Barry E. Flanary, Steven A. Juliano

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

The intensity and prevalence of parasitism by Ascogregarina barretti (Vavra) in aedes triseriatus (Say) did not differ between tires and tree holes in field samples taken in September 1996. There was significant variation in the intensity of parasitism among containers that was not significantly cor-related with the pH, conductivity, or temperature of the container water. In an experiment manipulating habitat drying, treatments had a significant effect on A. barretti infection of Ae. triseriatus, only during midsummer in one of two years. Containers maintained at maximal volume had the lowest prevalence of parasitism, and containers that dried out had the greatest …


Effect Of Harvest And Effective Population Size On Genetic Diversity In A Striped Bass Population, Marilyn Diaz, David S. Wethey, James Bulak, Bert Ely Nov 2000

Effect Of Harvest And Effective Population Size On Genetic Diversity In A Striped Bass Population, Marilyn Diaz, David S. Wethey, James Bulak, Bert Ely

Faculty Publications

A major factor that contributes to loss of genetic variation in natural populations is a small effective population size. In species with a complex life history that involves overlapping generations and delayed maturity, the impact of infrequent annual reproductive bottlenecks is likely to be small because effective population size is defined by the number of individuals contributing to a generation and not to a single year-class. The striped bass Morone saxatilis is a longlived species with overlapping generations and age structure, whose recreational and commercial importance has made it a target of intense harvest.We analyzed allele frequency fluctuation among juvenile …


Dna Binding Properties Of The Arabidopsis Floral Development Protein Aintegumenta, Staci Nole-Wilson, Beth A. Krizek Nov 2000

Dna Binding Properties Of The Arabidopsis Floral Development Protein Aintegumenta, Staci Nole-Wilson, Beth A. Krizek

Faculty Publications

The Arabidopsis protein AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) is a member of a plant-specific family of transcription factors (AP2/EREBP) that share either one or two copies of an approximately 70 amino acid region called the AP2 repeat. DNA binding activity has been demonstrated previously for members of this family containing a single AP2 repeat. Using an in vitro selection procedure, the DNA binding specificity of the two AP2 repeat containing protein ANT was found to be 5'-gCAC(A/G)N(A/T)TcCC(a/g)ANG(c/t)-3'. This consensus site is much longer than sites recognized by proteins containing a single AP2 repeat and neither AP2 repeat of ANT was alone capable of …


A Family Of Developmentally Excised Dna Elements In Tetrahymena Is Under Selective Pressure To Maintain An Open Reading Frame Encoding An Integrase-Like Protein, Jill A. Gershan, Kathleen M. Karrer Nov 2000

A Family Of Developmentally Excised Dna Elements In Tetrahymena Is Under Selective Pressure To Maintain An Open Reading Frame Encoding An Integrase-Like Protein, Jill A. Gershan, Kathleen M. Karrer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Tlr1 is a member of a family of ~20-30 DNA elements that undergo developmentally regulated excision during formation of the macronucleus in the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena. Analysis of sequence internal to the right boundary of Tlr1 revealed the presence of a 2 kb open reading frame (ORF) encoding a deduced protein with similarity to retrotransposon integrases. The ORFs of five unique clones were sequenced. The ORFs have 98% sequence conservation and align without frameshifts, although one has an additional trinucleotide at codon 561. Nucleotide changes among the five clones are highly non-random with respect to the position in the …


Selection Of Alternative 5′ Splice Sites: Role Of U1 Snrnp And Models For The Antagonistic Effects Of Sf2/Asf And Hnrnp A1, Ian C. Eperon, Olga V. Makarova, Akila Mayeda, Stephen Munroe, Javier F. Cáceres, Daniel G. Hayward, Adrian R. Krainer Nov 2000

Selection Of Alternative 5′ Splice Sites: Role Of U1 Snrnp And Models For The Antagonistic Effects Of Sf2/Asf And Hnrnp A1, Ian C. Eperon, Olga V. Makarova, Akila Mayeda, Stephen Munroe, Javier F. Cáceres, Daniel G. Hayward, Adrian R. Krainer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The first component known to recognize and discriminate among potential 5′ splice sites (5′SSs) in pre-mRNA is the U1 snRNP. However, the relative levels of U1 snRNP binding to alternative 5′SSs do not necessarily determine the splicing outcome. Strikingly, SF2/ASF, one of the essential SR protein-splicing factors, causes a dose-dependent shift in splicing to a downstream (intron-proximal) site, and yet it increases U1 snRNP binding at upstream and downstream sites simultaneously. We show here that hnRNP A1, which shifts splicing towards an upstream 5′SS, causes reduced U1 snRNP binding at both sites. Nonetheless, the importance of U1 snRNP binding is …


Fast Transport Of Neurofilament Protein Along Microtubules In Squid Axoplasm, Veena Prahlad, Brian T. Helfand, George M. Langford, Ron D. Vale, Robert D. Goldman Oct 2000

Fast Transport Of Neurofilament Protein Along Microtubules In Squid Axoplasm, Veena Prahlad, Brian T. Helfand, George M. Langford, Ron D. Vale, Robert D. Goldman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Using squid axoplasm as a model system, we have visualized the fast transport of non-filamentous neurofilament protein particles along axonal microtubules. This transport occurs at speeds of 0.5-1.0 microm/second and the majority of neurofilament particles stain with kinesin antibody. These observations demonstrate, for the first time, that fast (0.5-1.0 microm/second) transport of neurofilament proteins occurs along microtubules. In addition, our studies suggest that neurofilament protein can be transported as non-membrane bound, nonfilamentous subunits along axons, and that the transport is kinesin-dependent. Microtubule-based fast transport might therefore provide a mechanism for the distribution and turnover of neurofilament, and perhaps other cytoskeletal …


Does A Rigid Body Limit Maneuverability?, Jeffrey A. Walker Phd Oct 2000

Does A Rigid Body Limit Maneuverability?, Jeffrey A. Walker Phd

Faculty Publications

Whether a rigid body limits maneuverability depends on how maneuverability is defined. By the current definition, the minimum radius of the turn, a rigid-bodied, spotted boxfish Ostracion meleagris approaches maximum maneuverability, i.e. it can spin around with minimum turning radii near zero. The radius of the minimum space required to turn is an alternative measure of maneuverability. By this definition, O. meleagris is not very maneuverable. The observed space required by O. meleagris to turn is slightly greater than its theoretical minimum but much greater than that of highly flexible fish. Agility, the rate of turning, is related to maneuverability. …


Linear And Nonlinear Measures Predict Swimming In The Leech, C. J. Cellucci, Peter Brodfuehrer, H. Acera-Pozzi, E. Dobrovolny, J. Engler, R. Los, R. Thompson, Alfonso M. Albano Oct 2000

Linear And Nonlinear Measures Predict Swimming In The Leech, C. J. Cellucci, Peter Brodfuehrer, H. Acera-Pozzi, E. Dobrovolny, J. Engler, R. Los, R. Thompson, Alfonso M. Albano

Biology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Stimulation of a trigger interneuron of an isolated nerve cord preparation of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, sometimes leads to swimming; sometimes it does not. We investigate signals transmitted in the ventral cord of the leech after stimulation and seek quantitative measures that would make it possible to distinguish signals that predict swimming from those that do not. We find that a number of linear as well as nonlinear measures provide statistically significant distinctions between the two kinds of signals. The linear measures are the time dependence of (i) the standard deviation and (ii) the autocorrelation function at a small …


The Aquaculture Of Non-Endemic Species In Western Australia Silver Perch (Bidyanus Bidyanus), Tina Thorne, H. G. Brayford Oct 2000

The Aquaculture Of Non-Endemic Species In Western Australia Silver Perch (Bidyanus Bidyanus), Tina Thorne, H. G. Brayford

Fisheries management papers

The development of commercial aquaculture of a non-endemic species such as silver perch raises a number of important issues relating to translocation. These include the potential of the introduced species to: impact on genetic diversity; introduce disease; and impact on - the natural environment; and - the biodiversity of native species. This Management Paper has been drafted in liaison with the Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with the principles of rish assessment, taking into account the above issues. It is considered that the implementation of this policy will protect the natural environment and native fish species. It will also …


Phytosociological Analysis Of Restored And Managed Grassland Habitat Within An Urban National Park, Andrew M. Greller, Celestine Durando, Leslie F. Marcus, D. Siril A. Wijesundara, Michael D. Byer, Robert Cook, John T. Tanacredi Ph.D. Oct 2000

Phytosociological Analysis Of Restored And Managed Grassland Habitat Within An Urban National Park, Andrew M. Greller, Celestine Durando, Leslie F. Marcus, D. Siril A. Wijesundara, Michael D. Byer, Robert Cook, John T. Tanacredi Ph.D.

Faculty Works: CERCOM

Floyd Bennett Field (FBF), 579 ha in extent, is a division of Gateway National Recreation Area. It is the site of a former airfield, constructed by filling salt marshes with dredged materials. Except for the portion known locally as the “North Forty,” all sections of FBF have been cut over to maintain low vegetation. A grassland management plan (GRAMP) for 165 ha was initiated in 1986, to maintain habitats for open-country birds. Over the next few years, encroaching woody vegetation was removed manually and mechanically from the management area. Since then, it has been maintained as a grassland and receives …


Facilitation May Buffer Competitive Effects: Indirect And Diffuse Interactions Among Salt Marsh Plants, Ragan M. Callaway, Steven C. Pennings Oct 2000

Facilitation May Buffer Competitive Effects: Indirect And Diffuse Interactions Among Salt Marsh Plants, Ragan M. Callaway, Steven C. Pennings

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Direct interactions among plant species may be highly modified by indirect or diffuse effects within a multispecies community. We investigated the direct and diffuse effects of two salt marsh perennials, Monanthechloe littoralis and Arthrocnemum subterminale, on winter annuals and the perennial herb Limonium californicum in a salt marsh in central California. In permanent plots, Monanthechloe had expanded substantially in the upper marsh over the past 13 yr, while Arthrocnemum and all annual species had decreased. These dynamics suggest that Monanthechloe may directly outcompete most other species in the upper marsh. In contrast, Arthrocnemum is known to facilitate some annual species. …


Is Reproduction By Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor) Cost-Free?, Michael T. Murphy Oct 2000

Is Reproduction By Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor) Cost-Free?, Michael T. Murphy

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We manipulated brood sizes of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in 1996 and 1997 to test for the existence of intra- and intergenerational costs of reproduction. Modal clutch size was six eggs, but experimental brood sizes ranged from two to nine young. Nestling starvation was higher in 1996 (and dependent on brood size) than in 1997, but in both years enlargement of brood size resulted in increased productivity. Nestling mass near fledging was negatively correlated with brood size, but tarsus length and wing chord were not. Food deliveries by parents increased steadily between broods of two to six young but then …


Burning Characteristics Of Big Leaf Maple, Red Alder, And Black Cottonwood Leaves, Elizabeth Ralston Oct 2000

Burning Characteristics Of Big Leaf Maple, Red Alder, And Black Cottonwood Leaves, Elizabeth Ralston

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The leaves from three Northwest deciduous trees were burned to compare flammability of nonwoody fuels. The following characteristics were measured in a completely randomized design ANOVA: maximum flame height, flame time, ember time, burn time, percent combusted, and mean rate of weight loss. The burning characteristics examined address important aspects of nonwoody fuel flammability in deciduous forests. My data indicated that alder, cottonwood, and maple leaves create a consumable fuel load that could support a moderate intensity, sustainable fire. The data were compared to a previous study of burning characteristics needles of Pacific Northwest conifers (Fonda et al. 1998). Deciduous …