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Habitat Utilization Of Marsh And Adjacent Submerged Landscape By Fish And Macroinvertebrates In A Gulf Of Mexico Tidal Oligohaline Environment, Tia Offner
Theses and Dissertations
Estuarine habitats are considered nursery habitats for fishes and invertebrates, but oligohaline environments are critically understudied. Using a seine net and fyke nets, we sampled Back Bay, Mississippi (USA), a low salinity estuary, once a month for a year to explore the temporal use of the marsh and adjacent submerged landscape by nekton species. We also looked at whether there is evidence of habitat preference in the most numerous nekton species. We used a novel habitat usage index (HUI) to compare seine and fyke net catches of our top 10 species, and evaluated catch size in relation to maturation size. …
A Camera Trap Study Of Scavenger Species On The University Of Mississippi Campus, Lise Larsen
A Camera Trap Study Of Scavenger Species On The University Of Mississippi Campus, Lise Larsen
Honors Theses
This is a camera trap study to understand what kind of mammalian scavenger community we have on the University of Mississippi campus and where they are most prominent. Three motion-triggered cameras were used to survey ten buildings on campus over ten weeks. A low number of individuals were caught on camera during this study. There were limitations on this study such as a low number of cameras and a short span of time. More research needs to be done to understand the scavenger community on this campus.
Determining The Impact Of Post-Harvest Water Management On Chironomid Abundance, Agrochemical Biomass And Potential Trophic Biomagnification, Mason Thomas
Theses and Dissertations
Agriculture has diminished shorebirds’ natural habitat in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Remaining natural stopover sites are supplemented with agricultural fields during the fall and winter. This study evaluates the impact of 4 different post-harvest water management strategies on shorebird food abundance and potential agrochemical biomagnification. Chironomid samples estimated abundance, biomass, and chironomid agrochemical concentration in each field. A risk assessment of agrochemical biomagnification to shorebirds was made across all treatments. Of treatments represented on all study sites, winter treatment had greatest chironomid abundance and biomass. Models indicated that days since flood initiation, start date, and temperature are significant predictors of …
Distribution, Abundance, And Population Genetics Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Mississippi, Luke Pearson
Distribution, Abundance, And Population Genetics Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Mississippi, Luke Pearson
Dissertations
The southeastern United States is a freshwater turtle biodiversity hotspot, second only to southeastern Asia, and this region is inhabited by one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world: the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). This species was heavily harvested from the 1960’s to the 1980’s for the turtle soup industry, apparently contributing to substantial, range-wide population declines. These declines, coupled with anthropogenic impacts on riverine and floodplain habitats, have led to M. temminckii being petitioned for federal listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act; it is currently under review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service …
A Baseline Documentation Report For The Delta Wind Birds Sky Lake Nature Reserve, James Dubberly
A Baseline Documentation Report For The Delta Wind Birds Sky Lake Nature Reserve, James Dubberly
Honors Theses
The purpose of this baseline documentation is to conduct a report on our subject property and discuss the findings. A conservation easement is established by upholding a certain standard of a property’s current condition which makes a baseline documentation necessary for an easement to be enacted. Baseline documentation reports are used as a resource to monitor and enforce the legal agreements of the conservation easement. The subject property is currently owned by the Delta Wind Birds organization. In our scenario, this documentation report will serve to aid in the conversion of our subject property into a conservation easement in which …
Habitat Selection Of Gulf-Strain Striped Bass, Morone Saxatilis: Relationships To Dynamic Abiotic Environmental Characteristics Within The Biloxi River, Mississippi, Jennifer Lynne Green
Habitat Selection Of Gulf-Strain Striped Bass, Morone Saxatilis: Relationships To Dynamic Abiotic Environmental Characteristics Within The Biloxi River, Mississippi, Jennifer Lynne Green
Master's Theses
The purpose of this project was to provide insights about the short- and long-term patterns of habitat selection of Gulf-strain Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis, based on spatially and seasonally variable abiotic environmental characteristics (water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, specific conductivity, and pH) in the Biloxi River, MS system. Juvenile hatchery-reared and feral adult Gulf-strain Striped Bass were acoustically-tagged and continuously monitored via active and passive telemetry from November 2012 – June 2014. Each month the available abiotic environmental characteristics of 40 random locations within the Biloxi River, along with sub-habitat conditions occupied by acoustically-tagged Gulf-strain Striped Bass, were …
The Delivery, Speciation, And Fate Of Trace Elements In St. Louis Bay, Mississippi, Gopal Bera
The Delivery, Speciation, And Fate Of Trace Elements In St. Louis Bay, Mississippi, Gopal Bera
Dissertations
Estuaries are dynamic regions in which there can be significant modification of the riverine flux of trace elements to the open ocean due to various geochemical, physical, and biological processes. Additionally, estuaries are often subject to anthropogenic inputs of trace elements. The first portion of this study investigated the source, behavior, and sediment interaction of anthropogenic stable cesium (Cs) in St. Louis Bay (SLB), MS. A consistent increase in stable Cs concentration was noticed in sediment cores starting from a period when a titanium dioxide refinery on SLB started operations. Weak correlation between Cs and clay percentage and strong correlations …
Effects Of Hydrologic Connection On Physicochemical Conditions And Algal Properties In Backwaters Of The Lower Mississippi River, Orathai Pongruktham
Effects Of Hydrologic Connection On Physicochemical Conditions And Algal Properties In Backwaters Of The Lower Mississippi River, Orathai Pongruktham
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
In the last 50-100 years, the Mississippi River has been extensively engineered for flood control and navigation purposes. These modifications have substantially decreased the frequency of flooding and degree of contact of the river with its historical floodplain. However, in many areas within the current levee system there remain numerous secondary channels and other backwater sites with which the river is hydrologically connected on a seasonal basis. In this study, the relationships of surface hydrologic connection with the main channel of the Lower Mississippi River to limnological properties and development of phytoplankton biomass in three backwater sites having different patterns …
Conservation And Ecology Of The Yellow-Blotched Sawback (Graptemys Flavmaculata), William Winsyl Selman Ii
Conservation And Ecology Of The Yellow-Blotched Sawback (Graptemys Flavmaculata), William Winsyl Selman Ii
Dissertations
The role of species conservation is becoming increasingly important due to the mounting pressures from humans on habitats and populations of organisms. This is particularly evident in riverine ecosystems throughout the world where the human demand for freshwater resources is increasing, and consequently, the number of imperiled aquatic organisms is also growing. The seven chapters of this dissertation primarily focus on the Yellow-blotched Sawback, Graptemys flavimaculata, an endangered riverine turtle that is endemic to the Pascagoula River system of southeast Mississippi, USA. At the population level, we aimed to study the impacts of Hurricane Katrina on two study populations within …
Factors Influencing The Environmental Quality Of The Bay Of Saint Louis, Mississippi And Implications For Evolving Coastal Management Policies, Pradnya Ankush Sawant
Factors Influencing The Environmental Quality Of The Bay Of Saint Louis, Mississippi And Implications For Evolving Coastal Management Policies, Pradnya Ankush Sawant
Dissertations
The Bay of St. Louis, MS is a small northern Gulf of Mexico estuary that has been identified by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) as an impaired waterbody for its designated uses, mainly due to the presence of pollutant pathogens. A systematic study of this estuary was important to understand the behavior and responses of the bay to several natural and anthropogenic forcing factors. A 14- month long study (bimonthly sampling) to evaluate its environmental quality was undertaken from April 2003 to May 2004. Environmental quality was defined as "the health of an ecosystem characterized in terms of …
Roosting Ecology Of Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat, Corynorhinus Rafinesquii, In Southeastern Mississippi, Austin Webb Trousdale Iii
Roosting Ecology Of Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat, Corynorhinus Rafinesquii, In Southeastern Mississippi, Austin Webb Trousdale Iii
Dissertations
Rafinesque's big-eared bat, Corynorhinus rafinesquii, is considered rare and/or declining throughout its range. Concrete bridges are potentially important roosts for C. rafinesquii, especially in the Gulf Coastal Plain where the species' natural roosts (caves and large hollow trees) are inherently scarce. Successful efforts to monitor and conserve this species must account for its movements among multiple roosts and determine the duration of its roost use (including bridges) at different temporal scales. Therefore, I investigated roosting ecology of C. rafinesquii from 2000-2005 within a mixed hardwood-pine (Pinus spp.) system in southeastern Mississippi. I conducted surveys of concrete bridges to determine phenological …