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Determining Environmental Drivers Of Fish Community Structure Along The Coast Of Maine, Adrian Jordaan
Determining Environmental Drivers Of Fish Community Structure Along The Coast Of Maine, Adrian Jordaan
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The work presented here was conceived to determine whether structure in marine communities could be related to multiple scaled environmental parameters, as seen in lake and stream systems. Four datasets collected from 2001 to 2005 were used. The datasets ranged from local scale tidepool and estuarine surveys, to more regional intertidal/subtidal surveys and conclude using a coast-wide trawl survey. Initially, a bootstrap program for running principal component analysis (PCA) was developed and tested for utility with additional information from Pearson correlation coefficients. The bootstrap-PC A program was capable of determining confidence limits for correlations amongst species. The results from analysis …
Ecological Relationships Among Partial Harvesting, Vegetation, Snowshoe Hares, And Canada Lynx In Maine, Laura Robinson
Ecological Relationships Among Partial Harvesting, Vegetation, Snowshoe Hares, And Canada Lynx In Maine, Laura Robinson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Understanding the ecological factors affecting habitat use by the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and its primary prey, the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), could help formulate conservation strategies for this carnivore, which is federally listed as threatened and occurs in only four regions of the U.S.A. I measured vegetation characteristics and snowshoe hare densities in 15 regenerating conifer clearcuts and 21 partially harvested stands in northern Maine during the leaf-off seasons, 2005 and 2006; and the leaf-on season, 2005. Regenerating clearcut stands had been harvested between 1974 and 1985 and were subsequently treated with an aerial application …
Physical And Behavioral Development Of Nursing Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) Pups In Maine, John P. Skinner
Physical And Behavioral Development Of Nursing Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) Pups In Maine, John P. Skinner
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Compared to other phocids seals, the maternal investment strategy of the small bodied female harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) is complex. Females are unable to fast for the entire duration of pup rearing and are therefore reliant on resources in the vicinity of the pupping aggregation to continue provisioning their pup by mid-lactation. At the same time, harbor seal pups are highly active during lactation which increases energetic costs to the female but also offers an opportunity for females to influence the behavioral development of her pup. To understand how females maximize their pup's survival it is important to …
Vascular Morphometry Of The Retina In Antarctic Fishes Is Dependent Upon The Level Of Hemoglobin In Circulation, Jody M. Wujcik
Vascular Morphometry Of The Retina In Antarctic Fishes Is Dependent Upon The Level Of Hemoglobin In Circulation, Jody M. Wujcik
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Antarctic notothenioids express the circulating oxygen-binding protein hemoglobin (Hb) over a broad range of blood concentrations. White-blooded icefishes (Suborder: Notothenioidei, Family: Channichthyidae) are the only known adult vertebrates to lack Hb completely. In addition to its role in oxygen transport, Hb is the primary reactant in degradation of nitric oxide (NO). Thus, NO should be degraded at a slower rate in Hb-lacking icefishes than in Hb-expressing notothenioids, leading to higher steady-state levels of NO in the former group. Increased levels of NO should stimulate upregulation of angiogenesis, the growth and proliferation of new blood vessels from existing vasculature. Based upon …