Digital Commons Network^™

Vegetation Dieback In The Mississippi River Delta Triggered By Acute Drought And Chronic Relative Sea-Level Rise, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, Austin Lynn, Michael Derek Jacobs, Rodrigo Diaz, James T Cronin, Lixia Wang, Haosheng Huang, Dubravko Justic

Journal Articles

Vegetation dieback and recovery may be dependent on the interplay between infrequent acute disturbances and underlying chronic stresses. Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to the chronic stress of sea-level rise, which may affect their susceptibility to acute disturbance events. Here, we show that a large-scale vegetation dieback in the Mississippi River Delta was precipitated by salt-water incursion during an extreme drought in the summer of 2012 and was most severe in areas exposed to greater flooding. Using 16 years of data (2007-2022) from a coastwide network of monitoring stations, we show that the impacts of the dieback lasted five years and …

Species Delimitation, Discovery And Conservation In A Tiger Beetle Species Complex Despite Discordant Genetic Data., Daniel P. Duran, Robert A Laroche, Stephen J Roman, William Godwin, David P Herrmann, Ethan Bull, Scott P Egan

School of Earth & Environment Faculty Scholarship

In an age of species declines, delineating and discovering biodiversity is critical for both taxonomic accuracy and conservation. In recent years, there has been a movement away from using exclusively morphological characters to delineate and describe taxa and an increase in the use of molecular markers to describe diversity or through integrative taxonomy, which employs traditional morphological characters, as well as genetic or other data. Tiger beetles are charismatic, of conservation concern, and much work has been done on the morphological delineation of species and subspecies, but few of these taxa have been tested with genetic analyses. In this study, …

Taxonomic Advances Driven By The Genomic Analysis Of Butterflies, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

This study presents new findings based on a large-scale analysis of butterfly genomic sequences. Focusing on species identification through comparative genomics, we define subspecies as populations differentiated to a lesser extent than distinct species ("species in the making"). Additionally, we propose further adjustments to the current butterfly classification. As a result, 3 subgenera, 12 species, and 4 subspecies are described as new. New subgenera are (type species in parenthesis): Hyalaus Grishin, subgen. n. (Papilio epidaus E. Doubleday, 1846) of Eurytides Hübner, [1821] (Papilionidae Latreille, [1802]) and Astria Grishin, subgen. n. (Lycaena astraea Freyer, 1851) of Glaucopsyche Scudder, 1872 …

Assessing Changing Carbon Pool Dynamics And Species Composition In A Pennsylvania Broadleaf Forest Fragment, Kyleigh Levinsky, Jessica L. Schedlbauer

Sustainability Research & Creative Activities Grants Reports

Temperate broadleaf forests are pivotal to the global carbon cycle, Representing 37% of the global forest carbon pool (Pan et al 2011). • Maintaining compositional diversity in temperate broadleaf forests, such as the Gordon Natural Area (GNA) is critical to maintaining ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration. • Pressures from native and non-native herbivores threaten the biodiversity of temperate broadleaf forests in the United States (Ghandi et al. 2010). The introduction of non-native insects such as the emerald ash borer (Argrilus planipennis), as well as the overpopulation of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has led to declines in some tree species. …

Biol 375-002: Conservation Biology, Xiaonan Tai

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Checklist And Key To The Millipede Species Of Georgia, United States, With Notes On Distribution, Lance Andrew, Bruce Snyder

Graduate Research Showcase

Millipedes are an exceptionally diverse class of animals that have an impact on soil structure and nutrient cycling. Despite their abundance, importance, and wide distribution, they are understudied compared to other animal taxa, and biogeographical information is scant. Georgia, though the largest state by land area east of the Mississippi River, has largely been overlooked by regional millipede checklists. Without baseline species distributions and abundances to inform wildlife management decisions, sufficient measures cannot be taken to preserve millipede biodiversity, especially in light of recent changes in climate and land use. Taxonomic resources for millipede identification in North America are also …

Urban Nature Indexes Tool Offers Comprehensive And Flexible Approach To Monitoring Urban Ecological Performance, Jennifer Rae Pierce, Laura Costadone, Lelani Mannetti, Joeri Morpurgo, Charlyn Elaine Green, Michael D. Halder, Pablo Arturo Lopez Guijosa, Abner L. Bogan, Russell Galt, Jonathan Hughes

ODU Articles

We present the Urban Nature Indexes (UNI), a comprehensive tool that measures urban ecological performance under one standard framework linked to global commitments. The UNI was developed by interdisciplinary experts and evaluated by practitioners from diverse cities to capture each city’s ecological footprint from local to global scale. The UNI comprises six themes (consumption drivers, human pressures, habitat status, species status, nature’s contributions to people, and governance responses) that encompass measurable impacts on climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem services, pollution, consumption, water management, and equity within one comprehensive system. Cities then adapt the UNI to their context and capacity by …

When John Locke Meets Lao Tzu: The Relationship Between Intellectual Property, Biodiversity And Indigenous Knowledge And The Implications For Food Security, Paolo Davide Farah, Marek Prityi

Articles

This article aims to examine the relationship between the concepts of intellectual property, biodiversity, and indigenous knowledge from the perspective of food security and farmers’ rights. Even though these concepts are interdependent and interrelated, they are in a state of conflict due to their inherently enshrined differences. Intellectual property is based on the need of protecting individual property rights in the context of creations of their minds. On the other hand, the concepts of biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and farmers’ rights accentuate the aspects of equity and community. This article aims to analyse and critically assess the respective legal framework and …

Genomic Analysis Reveals New Species And Subspecies Of Butterflies, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Large-scale genomic sequencing of butterfly taxa reveals new findings that are presented here. While we focus on detecting species by comparative genomics and define subspecies as groups of populations genetically differentiated from each other but not as strongly as species (that is, subspecies as species in the making), we report other adjustments to butterfly classification. As a result, 4 subgenera, 11 species, and 6 subspecies are proposed as new. New subgenera are: Rapis Grishin, subgen. n. (type species Papilio rapae Linnaeus, 1758, genus Pieris Schrank, 1801) in Pieridae Swainson, 1820 and Callitera Grishin, subgen. n. (type species Eurygona? pulcherrima …

Reassessment Of Amblyscirtes Hegon (Hesperiidae) As A Complex Of Four Distinct Species Revealed By Genomic Analysis, Harry Pavulaan, Ricky Patterson, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

After the discovery of a unique phenotype in the southern United States with a different ventral ground color than nominotypical Amblyscirtes hegon (Scudder, 1863), which occurs in the northeastern United States, genomic analysis revealed that A. hegon is a species complex. Phenotypic, genitalic, and genomic differences of the complex are presented here. Four species are identified: A. hegon; A. nemoris (W. H. Edwards, 1864), stat. rest.; A. matheri Patterson, Pavulaan & Grishin, sp. n. (TL: USA, Mississippi, Warren County); and A. gelidus Grishin, Patterson & Pavulaan, sp. n. (TL: USA, Michigan, Van Buren County).

Descriptions Of One Hundred New Species Of Hesperiidae, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Nick V. Grishin

Insecta Mundi

A century and a half since the time of Hewitson, we are experiencing a renaissance in species discovery fueled by whole genome sequencing. A large-scale genomic analysis of Hesperiidae Latreille, 1809 (Lepidoptera), including primary type specimens, reveals a deluge of species new to science. One hundred of them (one in a new genus) are described here from the New World (type localities are given in parenthesis): Drephalys (Drephalys) diovalis Grishin, new species (Ecuador: Napo), Euriphellus panador Grishin, new species (Ecuador: Esmeraldas), Euriphellus panamicus Grishin, new species (Panama: Panama), Cecropterus (Thorybes) viridissimus Grishin, new species (Ecuador: Zamora-Chinchipe), …

The Role Of Governance In Rewilding The United States To Stem The Biodiversity Crisis, Shelby C. Carlson, John A. Vucetich, L Mark Elbroch, Shelby Perry, Lydia A. Roe, Tom Butler, Jeremy T. Bruskotter

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

A critical but underattended feature of the biodiversity crisis is the contraction of geographic range experienced by most studied terrestrial vertebrates. In the United States, the primary policy tool for mitigating the biodiversity crisis is a federal law, the Endangered Species Act (ESA). For the past two decades, the federal agencies that administer the ESA have interpreted the act in a manner that precludes treating this geographic element of the crisis. Therefore, the burden of mitigating the biodiversity crisis largely falls on wildlife agencies within state government, which are obligated to operate on behalf of the interests of their constituents. …

Species Richness Of Moths In Parks Surrounded By Varying Levels Of ​Urbanization Around Nashville, Tennessee, Maxwell Stone, Allie Bennett

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Moths can act as indicators of environmental wellness due to their pollution sensitivity and the complexity of biodiversity required to support their life cycles. Urbanization can impact the occurrence of moths in protected green spaces. Higher moth species richness was hypothesized to occur in parks surrounded by more rural areas. Three metropolitan parks were chosen in the Nashville area: downtown, within a suburban neighborhood, and in a rural area. Tree canopy cover and degree of impervious surfaces were assessed for each park and surrounding area using iTreeCanopy. Moths were attracted to a white sheet using a mercury vapor bulb, UV …

Butterfly Classification And Species Discovery Using Genomics, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Genomic sequencing of worldwide butterfly fauna followed by phylogenetic analysis of protein-coding genes informs butterfly classification throughout the taxonomic hierarchy, from families to species. As a rule, we attribute the same taxonomic rank to more prominent clades of comparable divergence (that is, at the same level in the tree). For species delimitation, we use criteria based on relative genetic differentiation and the extent of gene exchange between populations. We analyze the current taxonomic classification of butterflies in the light of genomic phylogenies and encounter clades that correspond to yet unnamed taxa. As a result, 11 tribes, 33 subtribes, 2 genera, …

Flujos De Servicios Ecosistémicos En Un Área Marina Protegida Del Atlántico Sur: Perspectivas Desde El Análisis De La Teoría De Redes, Mitch Porter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En cuestiones de gestión de áreas protegidas, los servicios ecosistémicos se tienen cada vez más en cuenta junto con la conservación de la biodiversidad. Sin embargo, las decisiones que se toman sobre la conservación de los servicios ecosistémicos no suelen incluir los posibles efectos en cascada de la pérdida de biodiversidad sobre la provisión de servicios. Los conocimientos de la teoría de redes y los estudios de robustez pueden proporcionar una metodología para evaluar la vulnerabilidad de estos servicios frente la estructura trófica de los ecosistemas que los proveen. A través de una serie de simulaciones de extinción para la …

Biol 621-001: Ecology, Phillip Barden

Biology Syllabi

No abstract provided.

A Systematic Review On The Ecosystem Services Provided By Green Infrastructure, Daniel Jato-Espino, Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, Vanessa Moscardó, Leticia Bartolome Del Pino, Fernando Mayor-Vitoria, Laura Gallardo, Patricia Carracedo, Kristin Dietrich

Faculty Publications

Urbanization and climate change are endangering the sustainability of public spaces through increased land artificialization, ecological fragmentation, reduced resource availability, and limited accessibility to natural and seminatural areas. Properly managing Green Infrastructure (GI) can contribute to mitigating these challenges by delivering multiple provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural Ecosystem Services (ES). This would facilitate the implementation of strategically planned GI networks in cities for urban regeneration purposes. In this context, this study developed a systematic review on the ES provided by GI using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The analysis of 199 eligible articles indicated …

Description Of Three New Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) Species From Ecuador, Josef Vlasak, Antonio Santos-Silva

Insecta Mundi

Three new species of Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) are described from Napo province, Ecuador: Anisopodus micromaculatus new species; Parabaryssinus katerinae new species; and Paracleodoxus minutus new species. A key to species of Paracleodoxus Monné and Monné (2010) is provided.

The study of specimens collected by the first author during his stay in Ecuador in 2022 allows us to describe three new species of Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The biodiversity of this relatively small country has been surprising due to the large number of species that were still unknown. Napo province, where the specimens of the new species were …

Arthropod Diversity In Phytotelmata Of Calathea Capitata (Zingiberales; Marantaceae) Host Plants From Peru, Divya Dendi, Timo Förster, Caroline S. Chaboo

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Cryptic habitats are often overlooked in biodiversity surveys. Phytotelmata, or plant pools, are one type of cryptic habitat that supports diverse fauna in a miniature ecosystem. This study surveys the arthropod community of two types of phytotelmata, bracts and leaf rolls, on a single species, Calathea capitata (Ruiz and Pav.) Lindl. (Zingiberales: Marantaceae), from one Amazon site in Peru. Specimens were collected from eight bracts and eight leaf rolls. A total of 55 arthropods (36 adults, 19 juveniles) were found in both phytotelmata types. In the bract samples were found: spiders (Araneae: Corinnidae), beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Erotylidae, Staphylindae), flies (Diptera: …

Behavioral Assays Reveal Mechanisms Of Supercolony Formation In Odorous House Ants, Grzegorz Buczkowski, Sihui Wang, Bruce A. Craig

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

The formation of expansive multi-nest and multi-queen supercolonies is perhaps the most important factor responsible for the ecological success of invasive ants. The odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile, is a widespread ant native to North America. T. sessile is a challenging urban pest, but also serves as an interesting system to study ant social organization and invasion biology. This is due to its remarkable dichotomy in colony social and spatial structure between natural and urban environments. Natural colonies typically consist of a small number of workers, inhabit a single nest, and are monogyne whereas urban colonies show extreme polygyny …

A New Genus And Sixteen New Species Of False Click Beetles (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae) Described From The Heredia Province Of Costa Rica With Several Additional Records From The Osa Peninsula And Panama, Robert L. Otto, Jyrki Muona, Jim Córdoba-Alfaro

Insecta Mundi

More than 1300 specimens of Eucnemidae collected from Heredia Province in Costa Rica during the 1990s Arthropods of La Selva (ALAS) survey were studied from 2018 through 2022. One new genus of false click beetle, Absensiugum Otto, Muona and Córdoba-Alfaro, is described. Nematodes teres Horn, from the Ne­arctic and Caribbean regions, is transferred to this new genus to form Absensiugum teres, new combination. Sixteen new species of false click beetle (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae) are described from Costa Rica. These new species are: Adelothyreus brevis, Adelothyreus costaricensis, Adelothyreus totus, Quirsfeldia stethonoides, Lacus pectinatus, Maelodrus costaricensis, …

A Taxonomic List Of The Old World Genera In The Subfamily Hesperiinae (Hesperiidae) Arranged Into Tribes, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

A taxonomic list of valid genera in the subfamily Hesperiinae from the Old World assigned to tribes is provided. This list is based on phylogenetic analysis of genomic sequence data complemented by morphological considerations. As a result, there are no incertae sedis non-fossil genera in the family Hesperiidae.

Temporal Changes In Biological Community Structure In Response To Wetland Restoration: A Study Based On Amphibians And Reptiles, Kayla Keith

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Wetland degradation is a serious environmental concern worldwide. In the United States, over half of the wetland ecosystems have degraded since 1780, which can have numerous, lasting consequences with negative outcomes on ecosystems and human society alike. Ecological restoration can regain both the lost wetland acreage and functions. Both global and national scale interests in ecological restoration have trickled down, which has kindled the local and regional natural resource managers and conservation authorities to invest in restoration. Consequently, large-scale wetland restoration projects are now underway in southeastern Massachusetts, which has coincided with a decline in commercial cranberry farming in the …

A New State Record Of Eucera (Xenoglossa) Kansensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) In South Dakota, Usa, Louis S. Hesler, Eric A. Beckendorf, Abigail P. Martens, Paul J. Johnson

Insecta Mundi

Eucera (Xenoglossa) kansensis (Cockerell, 1905) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is newly recorded for the state of South Dakota, USA. The bees were sampled predominantly with blue vane traps, and E. kansensis was associated with a wide range of habitats that did not include its primary floral resources of Cucurbita L. and Ipomoea L. Further study is warranted to determine the basis for the association of E. kansensis within the wide range of habitats in this study.

The longhorn bee tribe Eucerini (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a widespread and diverse group of solitary bees that includes important pollinators of both wild and …

Scale-Dependent Spatial Ecology Of Paleotropical Leaf Litter Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Lillian Germeroth, Theodore Sumnicht, Robin M. Verble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Grain for Which an Observer Conducts a Study is an Important Determinant of its Outcome. Studies of Ants Have Considered Spatial Grains Spanning from Single Meters to Entire Forest Ecosystems and Found Patterns Related to Nutrient Availability, Leaf Litter Depth, Disturbance, and Forest Composition. Here, We Examine a Bornean Leaf Litter Ant Community at Small (1–4 M) and Large (50–250 M) Spatial Scales and Consider the Differences in Community Structure using Structured 1 M2 Quadrats Sampled Via Leaf Litter Sifting and Berlese Extraction. We Found that Small-Scale Patterns in Ant Abundance and Richness Did Not Spatially Auto correlate within …

Hydropower To The People: Implications Of A Comparative Macroinvertebrate Study On Either Side Of The Central Hidroeléctrica Topo In Tungurahua, Ecuador, Grace Mazur

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study uses macroinvertebrates as bioindicators to assess the water quality upstream and downstream of a hydroelectric project in Ecuador’s eastern cloud forest. Ecuador has increasingly turned to hydropower to supply its energy needs as pressure mounts to turn away from fossil fuels. This transition has been realized on the Río Topo, located in the province of Tungurahua. This study aims to determine how the Central Hidroeléctrica Topo (CHT), a diversion hydroelectric project (HEP) constructed on the Río Topo in the 2010s, has affected the water quality of the river. Samples were taken of benthic (bottom-dwelling) macroinvertebrates in the Río …

Regeneration Strategies And Forest Resilience To Changing Fire Regimes: Insights From A Goldilocks Model, Tanjona Ramiadantsoa, Zak Ratajczak, Monica G. Turner

Aspen Bibliography

Disturbances are ubiquitous in ecological systems, and species have evolved a range of strategies to resist or rebound following disturbance. Understanding how the presence and complementarity of regeneration traits will affect community responses to disturbance is increasingly urgent as disturbance regimes shift beyond their historical ranges of variability. We define "disturbance niche" as a species' fitness across a range of disturbance sizes and frequencies that can reflect the fundamental or realized niche, that is, whether the species occurs alone or with other species. We developed a model of intermediate complexity (i.e., a Goldilocks model) to infer the disturbance niche. We …

Unveiling The Nexus: The Interdependence Of Animal Welfare, Environment & Sustainable Development, World Federation For Animals (Wfa)

Nexus – UNEP – Animal Welfare, Environment, Sustainable Development

On 2 March 2022, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted the Animal Welfare - Environment - Sustainable Development Nexus Resolution. In this resolution, UNEA acknowledged that "animal welfare can contribute to addressing environmental challenges". UNEA further acknowledged animal welfare's contribution to "promoting the One Health approach and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals." To understand these links, UNEA requested the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to analyse and produce a report for the next convening of UNEA on the nexus between animal welfare, the environment, and sustainable development. "Unveiling the Nexus: The interdependence of animal welfare, environment & sustainable development" illuminates the …

Law Library Blog (March 2023): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Additional Taxonomic Refinements Suggested By Genomic Analysis Of Butterflies, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Paul A. Opler, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Comparative analyses of genomic data reveal further insights into the phylogeny and taxonomic classification of butterflies presented here. As a result, 2 new subgenera and 2 new species of Hesperiidae are described: Borna Grishin, subgen. n. (type species Godmania borincona Watson, 1937) and Lilla Grishin, subgen. n. (type species Choranthus lilliae Bell, 1931) of Choranthus Scudder, 1872, Cecropterus (Murgaria) markwalkeri Grishin, sp. n. (type locality in Mexico: Sonora), and Hedone yunga Grishin, sp. n. (type locality in Bolivia: Yungas, La Paz). The lectotype is designated for Aethilla toxeus Plötz, 1882. The type locality of Dion uza (Hewitson, 1877) is likely …