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Exploring Student Motivation In Quantitative Biology, Alexander Richard Kulacki

Master's Theses and Capstones

The field of biology is becoming increasingly reliant on quantitative tools, methods, and techniques, driving a need for incoming biologists to have robust quantitative skills. However, efforts to incorporate more quantitative skills at the undergraduate level are hampered by low student engagement with math in biology. Students’ motivation towards quantitative biology can provide insight into how best to increase their engagement and thus performance with these topics. This thesis examines students’ motivation towards math in biology through two key constructs: 1) students’ self-efficacy, through the theoretical lens of Social Cognitive Theory; and 2) students’ task-values, through the theoretical lens of …

Wild Bee Declines And Changes In Plant-Pollinator Networks Over 125 Years Revealed Through Museum Collections, Minna Mathiasson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Though recent literature highlights widespread bee declines, detailed information on local communities, plant-pollinator network interactions and individual species remains distressingly scarce. In order to accurately direct conservation initiatives and to evaluate the status of wild bees and their host plants, long-term data on these populations is critical. Examining pollinator communities across regional scales highlights small-scale changes that go undetected in larger investigations. In light of unknown effects of introduced species and cumulative range expansions of exotic taxa, monitoring wild communities closely and extensively over time is becoming increasingly important. The focus of this thesis is to investigate a regional wild …

Factors Influencing The Distibution Of Egg-Bearing American Lobsters (Homarus Americanus), Joshua Carloni

Master's Theses and Capstones

The overall goal of this research was to explore the factors that influence the distribution of egg-bearing (berried, ovigerous, eggers) lobsters along the coast of New Hampshire (NH), specifically near the Isles of Shoals (IOS). Initially, I determined the distribution of egg-bearing lobsters based on catch rates (#/trap haul) from New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s (NHF&G) Lobster Sea Sampling Program. Based on these data there appeared to be a higher abundance of these lobsters on the eastern side of the IOS, which is closer to areas that are deeper and characterized by higher current flow. To confirm this finding …

Effects Of The Biomedical Bleeding Process On The Behavior And Physiology Of The American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus Polyphemus, Meghan Owings

Master's Theses and Capstones

Horseshoe crabs are harvested by the biomedical industry in order to create Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) to test medical devices, vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs for pathogenic gram-negative bacteria. Previous studies of the impacts of the biomedical bleeding process on horseshoe crabs have primarily focused on mortality rates and sublethal impacts, using animals held in the laboratory. Therefore, the first goal of this project was to determine the effects of the bleeding process on horseshoe crab behavior once they are released back into their natural environment. In addition, previous studies have typically only investigated the impacts of the full bleeding procedure, …

Effects Of Salinity On Juvenile Cyclopterus Lumpus (Lumpfish) And Their Temproal And Spatial Distribution In The Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire, Jenna Leigh Rackovan

Master's Theses and Capstones

Lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) is a semi-pelagic species that is broadly distributed in the temperate portions of the North Atlantic. The lumpfish is also a commercially important species in Iceland and the Netherlands, where it is fished for roe that is used for caviar. Moreover, several recent studies have shown that lumpfish juveniles are useful ‘cleaner fish’ in the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry. Despite the importance of the species, little is known about its physiology and ecology. The overall goal of this research was to investigate if, and how, salinity affects the physiology and ecology of juvenile lumpfish.

To determine the …

Dominance And Experience: Aggression And The Evolutionary Origins Of Social Behavior, Jacob Withee

Master's Theses and Capstones

Sociality as a life history strategy has many overt benefits, but its origin from solitary living is not fully understood. The cooperation necessary for formation of even basic social groups can present natural selection paradoxes that many models are unable to reconcile. Conversely, aggression is a key component to the formation of dominance hierarchies, a very basic form of social group. These hierarchies can give way to reproductive hierarchies, which are in turn the basis for some of the most complex forms of social organization. The focus of this thesis is to use aggression in an incipiently social bee species …

A Comparison Of Macrofaunal And Algal Communities In Oyster Aquaculture Gear, An Eelgrass Bed, Oyster Reef, And A Mudflat In Great Bay, New Hampshire, Megan Elizabeth Glenn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) are important ecosystem engineers in Great Bay, NH, however despite restoration efforts they have been in decline. In addition to loss of the resource, this degradation results in loss of associated ecosystem services such as habitat provision. It is possible that the recent increase in oyster farming in Great Bay could help mitigate habitat loss. My research objective was to quantify the biotic communities present in three natural habitats (eelgrass beds, oyster reefs and mudflats) in Great Bay NH and compare those to communities living on the type of gear (“racks and bags”) …

Reproduction And Recruitment Of American Lobster (Homarus Americanus) In The Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire, Elizabeth M. Morrissey

Master's Theses and Capstones

The overall goal of this research project was to determine if lobsters reproduce and settle in the Great Bay estuary (GBE), NH. First, I mapped the distribution and abundance of ovigerous lobsters carrying late-stage eggs in the estuary, during May and June of 2015. Ovigerous lobsters were concentrated in Little Bay and adjacent sections of the Piscataqua River, with CPUE in these areas of 0.12 ± 0.02 lobsters/trap haul. Very few were found in the regions furthest from the coast. Next, egg samples were collected from these lobsters, as well as from ovigerous lobsters captured along the NH coast and …

An Automated Image Processing And Classification Scheme For Identifying Cancerous Soft-Shell Clam Hemocytes In Unstained Bright-Field Photomicrographs, William Duane Nitsch

Master's Theses and Capstones

Disseminated neoplasia is a type of cancer that is prevalent in marine bivalves. A group of biologists at the University of New Hampshire are frequently tasked with estimating the proliferation of this cancer in soft-shell clam hemocytes using unstained samples and a bright-field microscope without the use of any real means of quantization. Instead, their measurement is a purely visual analysis of confluency where varying individual experience amongst researchers, no usage of stains, cell clustering and the general nature of the microscopy environment make it exceedingly difficult to perform this task with consistent accuracy. This thesis details the application of …

The Effects Of Temperature On Cyp19a1a, Foxl2, Dmrt1 And Amh Expression During Sex Differentiation In Summer Flounder (Paralichthys Dentatus), Catherine Curro Caruso

Master's Theses and Capstones

Female summer flounder grow considerably faster and larger than males, and a tremendous increase in performance can therefore be realized through production of monosex female populations. Rearing temperature has been shown to affect sex differentiation in other teleost species by influencing expression of genes encoding transcription factors, hormones or enzymes involved in endocrine function such as cyp19a1a, foxl2, dmrt1 and amh. These genes have been linked to female (cyp19a1a, foxl2) or male (dmrt1, amh) development, and exhibit sexually dimorphic expression in some species. In the present study, summer flounder (37 days post hatch; DPH) were raised at 13°C, 16°C or …

Mechanisms Of Satiation In The Nudibranch Melibe Leonina, Colin Lee

Master's Theses and Capstones

In recent years, scientists have begun to study satiation as a means of understanding changes in motivational state. Satiated animals not only show a reduction in feeding behaviors, but also in locomotion, and even show changes in their responses to various stimuli. Therefore, satiation is a qualitative change in the behavioral state of an animal. Although the behavioral characteristics of satiation are well understood, as are the changes in hormone release following a meal, the neural correlates of satiation are less understood. In particular, few studies have attempted to determine how satiating signals reconfigure feeding neural networks. To begin to …

Effects Of Substrate Material On Marine Fouling Community Composition And Ascidian Larval Settlement, Anna Lindsey Chase

Master's Theses and Capstones

Driven by the rising global population and shoreline development, man-made marine structures are becoming ubiquitous in coastal areas. These alterations may have enormous ecological consequences, as anthropogenic structures provide novel habitat for marine organisms and often host communities that differ from those on natural substrates. These community differences are frequently driven by non-native species, which can be more prevalent on man-made marine structures than on adjacent natural surfaces. Although multiple factors, including light intensity, surface orientation, predation exposure, and habitat type, are known to contribute to these patterns, relatively few studies have directly examined the influence of substrate material on …

Measurments Of Haptoglobin, Serum Amyloid A, Fibrinogen, And Leukocytes To Evaluate Stress In Organically Managed, Pasture-Fed And Conventional Managed, Totally Mixed Ration-Fed Jersey Cattle., Dorothy Ann Perkins

Master's Theses and Capstones

In cattle sub-acute inflammatory disorders are difficult to assess because visual symptoms of diseases are not easily detectable with large numbers of dairy cattle in loose housing. In addition, inflammation is not always followed by leukocytosis in cattle, which makes the use of common blood tests like total white blood cell counts less reliable as a diagnostic tool. More sensitive and objective methods are needed to evaluate health status. Research has been focused on the use of acute phase proteins (APPs) to diagnose acute and chronic illness in cattle, because acute phase proteins respond very quickly when an inflammation event …

Ecology And Management Of Moose In Northern New England, Haley A. Andreozzi

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examined three facets of moose ecology in northern New England: impact of moose browsing on forest regeneration, physical characteristics of harvested bull moose, and winter habitat use. Forest regeneration was not considered a major problem in northern Vermont based on stocking levels of commercial tree species. Increasing dominance of softwood species coupled with suppressed growth of hardwoods suggests possible local shifts in composition. Bull moose in Maine had stable body weight and antler spread, and selective harvest of trophy bulls was not apparent over 30 years. Winter locations from aerial surveys indicated that moose preferentially used deciduous/mixed forest …

Development Of Alternative Host Models To Assess Virulence Potential Of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Jeffrey Sun

Master's Theses and Capstones

V. parahaemolyticus infection from ingesting shellfish is a global problem and incidence rates are on the rise in the U.S. Current detection methods are ineffective due to the lack of definite pathogenic marker thus studies to elucidate virulence mechanism are crucial and impeded by the lack of an efficient high-throughput model that emulate disease. Of multiple alternative models investigates, only C. elegans was able to discern different virulence potential among V. parahaemolyticus strains. In addition, the pandemic strain had greater colonization ability when in direct competition with the pre-pandemic strain in C.elegans intestine. A transposon insertion mutant library was generated …

Predation As A Vehicle To Aid Tunicate Invasion In The Biofouling Community, Helen Day

Master's Theses and Capstones

Competition for space can influence community dynamics in the sessile biofouling community. Within recent decades, community dynamics have shifted towards a community dominated by tunicates. This research proposed predation as a mechanism driving this shift.

In the Gulf of Maine, the non-native species Botrylloides violaceous became abundant when predators (i.e. the benthic fish Tautogolabrus adspersus and the sea star Asterias rubens) removed the cryptogenic (i.e. native) tunicate Molgula citrina. Moreover, B. violaceus was present in higher amounts in habitats with low abundances of M. citrina than it was in areas in which the two tunicate species were both abundant. Furthermore, …

Response Of Tree Growth And Water Use Efficiency To Climate And Nitrogen Deposition In A Temperate Deciduous Forest In The Northeastern Us, Katie Jennings

Master's Theses and Capstones

Nitrogen (N) deposition and climate change are altering tree growth and may have important consequences for water use in northeastern forests. Intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), the trade-off between water loss and carbon fixed during photosynthesis, directly links forest carbon and water cycles. Dendrochronology and stable isotopes (delta13C and delta18O) were used to assess Quercus velutina growth and iWUE within a chronic N deposition experiment (20+ years of fertilization at low- and high-N rates). Fertilized trees exhibited sustained growth enhancement, with the greatest response observed for high-N trees. All fertilized trees improved their iWUE through increased photosynthetic rates, but was …

The Individual Tree And Forest Stand Level Impacts Of Winter Moth Defoliation In Eastern Massachusetts, Usa, Michael J. Simmons

Master's Theses and Capstones

Winter moth is a non-native invasive defoliator in New England. This thesis related host tree radial growth of individual trees in eastern Massachusetts to winter moth defoliation intensity using tree core analysis. Further, tree core analysis was used to identify winter moth defoliation events in several forest stands in eastern Massachusetts and these events were used to relate winter moth to stand level tree mortality and understory woody plant density. Quercus radial growth from 2005-2010 was negatively related to winter moth defoliation. In addition, Quercus mortality in mixed -- Quercus and Quercus - P. strobus forests in eastern Massachusetts was …

Evaluating Phenotypic Differences Between High Tunnel Tomato Cultivars And The Functional Role Of Diversity In A Broccoli - Living Mulch Agroecostytem, Nicholas Warren

Master's Theses and Capstones

Recently, there has been a growing effort to increase the availability of locally grown food in New England, and the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of these changes require careful consideration. This work consists of two experiments evaluating typical food production systems in New England. The high tunnel tomato cultivar trial evaluates indeterminate beefsteak tomatoes for important phenotypic differences. Understanding these differences will aid in the selection of different cultivars of tomatoes for local growers. Increasing the intraspecific diversity of high tunnel tomatoes may help balance the tradeoffs observed between cultivars. The broccoli-living mulch experiment is an evaluation of the competitive …

Investigation Of Sex Change, Sex Differentiation And Stress Responses In Black Seabass (Centropristis Striata), Danielle C. Duquette

Master's Theses and Capstones

Black sea bass (Centropristis striata) have been the focus of research as an aquaculture species for several years due to their high consumer demand and limited seasonable availability. As protogynous hermaphrodites, black sea bass initially develop as females in the wild, and undergo sex reversal between 2 and 6 years of age. Previous studies demonstrated that in captivity, however, a significant number of fish differentiate initially as males, and sex reversal is hastened in females. Full control of reproduction is required for successful commercial culture. Since captive environments pose several sources of stress upon the cultured species, this research investigates …

Population Structure Of Euonymus Alatus (Burning Bush) In Forests Of Southeastern New Hampshire And Potential For Further Spread, Rachel D M Johnson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Burning bush (Euonymus alatus) is an exotic ornamental shrub invasive in forests of the northeastern United States. I sampled burning bush populations in four mid-successional forests and related burning bush success or "status" (based on presence and height in 4m2 plots) to environmental factors, including photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), soil nutrients, and abundance of other plants. All populations were multi-aged, with a greater number of younger than older stems, and with taller, older plants producing fruit. Burning bush status was significantly and positively related to percent total transmitted PAR, negatively to the basal area of shade tolerant trees 4-10 em …

Small Scale Raft Aquaponics: Evaluation Of Hybrid Striped Bass Growth And Plant Uptake Potential, Calvin Grant Diessner

Master's Theses and Capstones

Hybrid striped bass ([male]Morone saxatilis [female] Morone chrysopos) were successfully cultivated in two separate 48 day trials (t1 and t2) with seedlings of lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv. Rex) and pac choi (Brassica rapa cv. Win-Win) within a shared recirculating aquaponic system. It was determined that fish stocking density had no significant effect on the mean yield of lettuce and pac choi biomass in t1. Stocking density did have a significant effect on the elemental nutrients generated within the aquaponic systems. A nutrient deficiency was exhibited by the leaf tissue of pac choi grown with fish stocked at low a density …

Characterizing Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes Americanus) Nursery Areas Using Otolith Microstructure And Microchemical Techniques, David Bailey

Master's Theses and Capstones

A preliminary study, using young-of-the-year winter flounder from 12 nursery areas from New Jersey to New Hampshire, evaluated indirect and direct measurements of nursery quality. Growth and condition indices (length d --1, weight d--1, Fulton's K and relative weight) were calculated from otolith microstructure to indirectly evaluate nursery quality. Boston Harbor, MA and Great Bay, NH were found to be the healthiest nurseries and the Niantic River, CT was found to be the least healthy nursery. In addition to these indirect indices, we conducted a study to determine the effectiveness of otolith microchemistry as a direct measurement of nursery habitat. …

The Failed Introduction Of The Sea Anemone Sagartia Elegans In Salem Harbor, Massachusetts, Christopher David Wells

Master's Theses and Capstones

Many studies have reported the arrival and subsequent range expansion of foreign species within the marine ecosystems, but few studies have documented species that arrive and fail to establish. In 2000, the sea anemone Sagartia elegans (Dalyell, 1848) was first found in Salem, MA and persisted seasonally until the winter of 2010-2011 after which it has not been found. In both laboratory and field based temperature growth studies, S. elegans began regressing in size at 11 °C, stopped asexually reproducing at 9 °C, and died by 4 °C; these temperatures are far above the average winter sea surface temperature in …

Balancing Ecological And Economic Values In Northern Hardwood Stands: What Are The Trade-Offs?, Daniel Woock Kilham

Master's Theses and Capstones

New England has 32 million acres of forested land, 27.5 million acres are private and 13.5 million of those private forests are family owned. Two of the main landowner objectives of privately owned forests in New England are generating income and promoting biodiversity and nature. Objectives were to develop a rapid ecological assessment method to aid management of private forests and to determine any trade-offs between economic and ecological values. We measured economic and ecological values in our study site in New Hampshire, and simulated four harvest treatments to determine the effects of different silvicultural approaches. Ecological values were measured …

Productivity And Physical Condition Of White-Tailed Deer In New Hampshire, Nicholas Lucian Fortin

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study assessed productivity and nutritional condition of deer in New Hampshire, and physical condition, productivity, and recruitment in northeastern North America. In New Hampshire, few fawns bred, but pregnancy rate and productivity of older deer were high and stable since the 1980s, despite substantially higher population density. Productivity increased due to a higher proportion of adults in 2011-2013; however, recruitment declined steadily suggesting that summer fawn mortality has increased. Nutritional condition declined throughout winter, and regardless of winter severity, most deer had depleted energy reserves and were in poor condition after April 1. These findings emphasize the need to …

Patterns Of Intron Loss And Gain In Caenorhabditis, Gabrielle Giese

Master's Theses and Capstones

Introns, segments of genes that get spliced from the transcript before translation, are prevalent parts of many genomes and yet remain largely mysterious. Although their presence in the genome has been known for over thirty years, we still cannot answer the most fundamental questions about introns, such as where did they originate and, how are they gained and lost? In our most stringent dataset, we compared 137,453 intron positions in 6,257 pan-orthologs among four species of Caenorhabditis using a bioinformatics approach. While 82% of intron positions were conserved, we found a remarkable amount of intron variation. We also found evidence …

Modeling Long-Term Carbon Accumulation Of Tropical Peat Swamp Forest Ecosystems, Sofyan Kurnianto

Master's Theses and Capstones

Peatlands play an important role in the global climate system and carbon cycle; their large carbon stocks could be released to the atmosphere due to climate change or disturbance, resulting in increased climate forcing. I modified the Holocene Peat Model (HPM), a process-based model coupling water and carbon balance for simulating carbon dynamic over millennia, to be applicable for tropical peatlands.

HPMTrop outputs are generally consistent with the field observations from Indonesia. The simulated long-term carbon accumulation rate for coastal and inland peatlands were 0.63 and 0.26 Mg C ha-1 y -1, and the resulting peat carbon stocks at the …

Viability Of Butternut (Juglans Cinerea L) In The Northeastern United States: An Assessment Of The Genetic Diversity, Health, And Hybridization And Recruitment Of Butternut In The Northeast, Andre A W Boraks

Master's Theses and Capstones

Butternut (Juglans cinerea) trees are being extirpated from their natural range by means of an epidemic caused by a fungal pathogen. Widespread mortality is reminiscent of past epidemics on American chestnut (Castanea dentata) and American elm (Ulmus americana ). Understanding the course of contemporary decline of this tree species will provide greater insight on processes of potential extinction and the results of management to prevent it.

This thesis applies an interdisciplinary approach to characterize butternut of the northeastern Unites States. While there is evidence of weak genetic structuring, butternut appears to have maintained sufficient dispersal to prevent isolation and inbreeding …

Population Ecology Of American Marten In New Hampshire: Impact Of Wind Farm Development In High Elevation Habitat, Alexej Peder Kelly Siren

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examined marten ecology relative to wind farm development using radio-marked marten, camera trapping, and snow track surveys to meet study objectives. The local population was mostly breeding adults and was considered near carrying capacity. Mortality (predation) was biased towards females and young. Seasonal home ranges were small overall, and largest during summer and when marten used more regenerating and softwood forest. Selection at the landscape scale was more pronounced than at the stand scale; regenerating forest was selected against year-round. Stand selection for mature mixed-wood and softwood occurred in winter. Disturbance from wind farm construction resulted in less …