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Life Sciences

Clemson University

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South Carolina

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Drivers Of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Behavior, Survival, And Population Growth In The Piedmont Of South Carolina, Michael Muthersbaugh May 2023

Drivers Of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Behavior, Survival, And Population Growth In The Piedmont Of South Carolina, Michael Muthersbaugh

All Dissertations

Prey species adjust behaviors in response to various stimuli, responding to both top-down and bottom-up pressures. Large herbivores must attempt to avoid predation either through adjusting behaviors or seeking spatial or temporal refugia, which can scale up to influence individual fitness and ultimately population dynamics. Specifically, predation risk has a great potential to influence ungulate populations by impacting behaviors and survival. Our objective was to quantify ungulate behavioral and population response to a regionally important predator through a case study – white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) responses to coyotes (Canis latrans) on private lands in the Piedmont …


If You Give A Beetle A Maple: Anoplophora Glabripennis Habitat Selection Patterns On An Island In South Carolina, Meredith Bean Dec 2022

If You Give A Beetle A Maple: Anoplophora Glabripennis Habitat Selection Patterns On An Island In South Carolina, Meredith Bean

All Theses

At the epicenter of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky) quarantine zone in South Carolina, a small island containing an actively growing subpopulation of A. glabripennis had not completely killed its 37 host trees in 2020. Before these trees were removed and destroyed according to the USDA Eradication Program protocols, I performed an observational study to examine the microhabitat selection tendencies of the invasive A. glabripennis within this satellite infestation. After cataloging >14,000 oviposition sites and >1,600 exit holes created by A. glabripennis, I found dispersal trends according to a host’s stem status (single or multi-stemmed), vertical …


Spring Gobbling Chronology And Turkey Habitat Use In Upstate South Carolina, Janelle Grehan Aug 2022

Spring Gobbling Chronology And Turkey Habitat Use In Upstate South Carolina, Janelle Grehan

All Theses

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a highly popular game species harvested primarily during the reproductive season, which has driven substantial efforts to understand patterns of springtime habitat use and gobbling activity. Autonomous recording units (ARUs) have enabled researchers to collect unprecedented amounts of gobbling data, yet post hoc processing of audio data has been time-intensive due to false detection rates. Gobbling activity has been studied in the South Carolina Coastal Plain, but data for the Upstate are lacking. My objectives were to assess seasonal and weekly gobbling activity and turkey habitat use in Upstate South Carolina relative to …


Antioxidant Effect Of Peach Skin Extracts From 13 Varieties Of South Carolina Grown Peaches, Yueyuan Zhang Aug 2014

Antioxidant Effect Of Peach Skin Extracts From 13 Varieties Of South Carolina Grown Peaches, Yueyuan Zhang

All Theses

South Carolina is the second largest peach producing state in the United States. Every year, large quantities of peaches do not meet the fresh peach standard and are discarded or used for further processing. The waste stream from discarded and processed peaches includes the skin and this could be recovered as a rich source of antioxidants. The objective of this research was to determine the antioxidant (phenolic) content and antioxidant capacity of peach skin from various peach varieties grown in South Carolina. Chapter 1 is a literature review which covers topics of oxidation in foods, mechanism of lipid oxidation, antioxidants …


The Ants Of South Carolina, Timothy Davis May 2009

The Ants Of South Carolina, Timothy Davis

All Dissertations

The ants of South Carolina were surveyed in the literature, museum, and field collections using pitfall traps. M. R. Smith was the last to survey ants in South Carolina on a statewide basis and published his list in 1934. VanPelt and Gentry conducted a survey of ants at the Savanna River Plant in the 1970's. This is the first update on the ants of South Carolina since that time.
A preliminary list of ants known to occur in South Carolina has been compiled. Ants were recently sampled on a statewide basis using pitfall traps. Two hundred and forty-three (243) transects …


Comparison Of Caddisfly Species (Insecta:Trichoptera) In The Northern Saluda Watershed Over A Thirty-Seven Year Period, In Correlation With Land Development And Use., Michael Biondi Dec 2008

Comparison Of Caddisfly Species (Insecta:Trichoptera) In The Northern Saluda Watershed Over A Thirty-Seven Year Period, In Correlation With Land Development And Use., Michael Biondi

All Theses

Land use and development in South Carolina has greatly increased in the last 50 years. This study focused on land cover change in Northern Pickens County and changes in caddisfly populations at three sites in three sub-watersheds in the South Saluda River watershed. I collected caddisflies from March 31 to October 20 in 2005 and 2006 and compared them to collections performed at the same sites in the same manner in 1969 by John C. Morse for his Master's thesis. I used a geographic information system to assess the land cover change over this thirty-seven year period and correlated the …


Effects Of Season Of Fire On Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides Borealis) Reproduction And The Breeding Bird Community Of A Longleaf Pine Ecosystem, Sarah Lauerman Dec 2007

Effects Of Season Of Fire On Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides Borealis) Reproduction And The Breeding Bird Community Of A Longleaf Pine Ecosystem, Sarah Lauerman

All Theses

Fire is the most important management tool in restoring and maintaining the longleaf pine ecosystem but the effects of season of burning on fauna are not fully understood. Of particular concern is the community of birds which breed in the longleaf pine forest, several of which are endangered, threatened or species of concern. This study examined the effects of season of fire on the breeding bird community and a population of red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCW) at Brosnan Forest in Dorchester, South Carolina. Fifty-eight RCW territories received dormant or growing season fire over a five-year period from 2001 to 2005. Prior to …


Landscape Scale Correlates Of Fox Squirrel (Sciurus Niger) Presence , Kristin Meehan May 2007

Landscape Scale Correlates Of Fox Squirrel (Sciurus Niger) Presence , Kristin Meehan

All Theses

Although declining throughout the southeast, fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) populations are found on some golf courses in rapidly developing coastal South Carolina. This study used 2001 National Landcover Database data to investigate the relationship between fox squirrel presence on golf courses and landscape-scale habitat features. Results indicated that the best predictor of fox squirrel presence on a course was the presence of a fox squirrel population on the nearest neighbor course, regardless of distance. Course age and the total area of undeveloped features on the course were the best predictors of fox squirrel presence on golf courses without …