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2017

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The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 28, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al Dec 2017

The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 28, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Newspaper collection

No abstract provided.


The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 21, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al Dec 2017

The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 21, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Newspaper collection

No abstract provided.


Postcard, 10th Annual Holizaar, 2017, Studio At 620, St. Pete Craft Heroes, Coralette Damme Dec 2017

Postcard, 10th Annual Holizaar, 2017, Studio At 620, St. Pete Craft Heroes, Coralette Damme

Postcard Collection

It's the big 10th annual holiday celebration of all things creative! Join us for the best local shopping event of the season, the Holizaar on December 16th from 11 AM-5 PM. Nearly 30 vendors will have amazing art, gorgeous jewelry, funky shirts and succulents, organic bath and body supplies...something for everyone on your gift list, you may even find something for yourself!


Species Specificity Between Ectoparasites And Rats In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 15, 2017, Kathy Dao Dec 2017

Species Specificity Between Ectoparasites And Rats In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 15, 2017, Kathy Dao

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

To determine if there is species specificity between ectoparasites and their host rats, I set up Sherman traps in various locations in Monteverde to capture rats. Once I obtained the rats I removed any ectoparasites present and observed them under a dissecting microscope for morphological characteristics. Species specificity is defined for this study as the prevalence of a certain type of ectoparasite to a specific species of rat. From my results, I determined that there is species specificity between ectoparasites and their host rats. Lice were species specific to the Cloud-dwelling Spiny Pocket Mouse, fleas to the Mexican Deer Mouse, …


The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 14, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al Dec 2017

The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 14, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Newspaper collection

No abstract provided.


Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Graduate, December 9, 2017, University Of South Florida Dec 2017

Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Graduate, December 9, 2017, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Honorary Doctor of Engineering and Nursing - Patricia Flatley-Brennan


Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Baccalaureates, December 8, 2017, University Of South Florida Dec 2017

Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Baccalaureates, December 8, 2017, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Outstnding Graduate - Alexis Drees; Honorary Doctor of Science - Andrew Hamilton; King O'Neal Scholars - Aneesa Ali, Andrew Apugliese, David Blanchard, Janet Diaz Montes, Mary Edwards, Shayna Gurvitz, Bonnie Hogan Lowlery, Ryan Kurtz, Robert Lockridge, Natalie Meyer, Rachel Moore, Ashley Nandrasy, Carlos Pena Duran, Brittany Raymond, Paul Rogers, Nicholas Romano, Khadijah Tiamiyu, Xamil Vega, Amy Whitehurst, George Wolf, and Alexander Zhideev


The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 07, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al Dec 2017

The Weekly Challenger : 2017 : 12 : 07, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Newspaper collection

No abstract provided.


Postcard, Through Our Eyes: Midtown And Beyond, 2017, Studio At 620, Duke Energy, Melrose Elementary School, John Hopkins Middle School, Lakewood High School, Pinellas County Schools Dec 2017

Postcard, Through Our Eyes: Midtown And Beyond, 2017, Studio At 620, Duke Energy, Melrose Elementary School, John Hopkins Middle School, Lakewood High School, Pinellas County Schools

Postcard Collection

Come experience Midtown and Beyond as shown through the eyes of Journey in Journalism participants. The program immerses students K-12 in multimedia journalism training, which serves them well no matter what their future paths. In addition to 100 photographic images and multimedia displays, there will be an opportunity to get an actual Tast of Midtown highlighting area restaurants in the Midtown community.


Vertical Stratification Of Web-Building Spiders In Strangler Fig Trees?, December 2017, Justin N. Daniel Dec 2017

Vertical Stratification Of Web-Building Spiders In Strangler Fig Trees?, December 2017, Justin N. Daniel

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Web building spiders rely on their silk structures to capture prey. The morphologies of the webs produced by spiders vary greatly and they provide insight into spiders’ behavior and ecology. Strangler fig trees, due to a life history that results in trunks with complicated structures, host a great diversity of web-building spiders. I studied the vertical distribution of the web-building spiders that inhabit strangler figs. I used a Single Rope method of canopy access to climb five strangler fig trees to record webs and web-building spiders. Whether a vertical stratification of these spiders exists remains unclear. Apparent patterns, which were …


Differential Maternal Defense Behavior In Three Species Of Treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae), December 2017, Mackenzie Kui Dec 2017

Differential Maternal Defense Behavior In Three Species Of Treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae), December 2017, Mackenzie Kui

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Maternal care in the animal kingdom can vary immensely from species to species, but the reason for its ubiquity underlies an evolutionary impulse to pass on favorable genes to the next generation. In treehoppers, maternal care increases the rate of offspring survival through species-specific levels of protection from both predation and parasitism. To investigate the factors that influence maternal care, I introduced a variety of animate and inanimate stimuli to both brooding and non-brooding treehoppers in three species: Antianthe expansa, Alchisme grossa, and Umbonia crassicornis. By quantifying their responses as proxies for energy output, I concluded that maternal defense is …


Diet Of Frugivorous Birds And Bats In Monteverde: Potential Seed Dispersal In Naturally Disrupted Areas, December 2017, Yibing Yu Dec 2017

Diet Of Frugivorous Birds And Bats In Monteverde: Potential Seed Dispersal In Naturally Disrupted Areas, December 2017, Yibing Yu

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

After a natural disruption clears away the previous plant community, plants from the new vegetation succession will exploit the newly opened up spaces and start growing in this area. Seed dispersal by aerial animals is important in the new vegetation succession because it allows seeds from places relatively far away to access the area. In early October the storm Nate caused flash floods and landslildes, which disturbed many natural habitats in Monteverde. In this study I investigated plant species that naturally grow in disrupted areas by looking at what kind of seeds are dispersed by the frugivorous birds and bats …


Medicinal Herbs And Mosquitoes: A Study Of Plant-Based Insect Repellents, December 2017, Miguel Alejandro Ochoa Dec 2017

Medicinal Herbs And Mosquitoes: A Study Of Plant-Based Insect Repellents, December 2017, Miguel Alejandro Ochoa

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Mosquito-borne illnesses present a great threat to human health, and result in millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of extracted essential oils from three neotropical plants traditionally used in Costa Rican folk medicine as mosquito repellents. I extracted the essential oils of Siparuna decipiens (Monimiaceae), Gliricidia sepium (Fabaceae), and Neuroloena lobata (Asteraceae) via simple steam distillation. The extracted oils were then examined and compared to a negative control in the field on live volunteers, focusing on the mosquitoes in the Monteverde Zone, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica. After a total …


Vocalizations And Associated Behaviors Of The White-Nosed Coati, Nasua Narica, December 2017, Jeremy Giampaoli Dec 2017

Vocalizations And Associated Behaviors Of The White-Nosed Coati, Nasua Narica, December 2017, Jeremy Giampaoli

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Vocalizations emitted by mammals in a social context can be linked to behavioral states. These different states may exhibit specific acoustic characteristics, such as long call duration, harmonics, and wide frequency range. My objective in this study was to describe the different vocalizations of White-Nosed Coatis (Nasua narica) according to their behavioral context. I recorded vocalizations of ten individual males and a social group of coatis in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Based on the associated behaviors, I grouped the calls into three behavioral states: aggressive, relaxed, and alarmed. After analyzing the acoustic characteristics of the vocalizations using spectrograms, I further discriminated …


Evidence For Aposematic Coloration Of The Sea Urchin Astropyga Pulvinata, December 2017, Nathan Howell Dec 2017

Evidence For Aposematic Coloration Of The Sea Urchin Astropyga Pulvinata, December 2017, Nathan Howell

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Astropyga pulvinata is a brightly colored urchin found in some tropical pacific waters including the coast of Costa Rica. The aim of this study was to test a possible explanation for the coloration of A. pulvinata. I tested the hypothesis that the coloration of A. pulvinata is aposematic. I tested this by poking A. pulvinata and another species of urchin, the uniformly black Diadema mexicanum, then comparing their reactions. The results indicated that A. pulvinata were more likely to move as a response to the poking stimulus than D. mexicanum, which was contrary to the predicted hypothesis. 100% of A. …


Relating Wing Loading And Ear Size To Bat Diet Types, December 2017, Shilah Mcguinness Dec 2017

Relating Wing Loading And Ear Size To Bat Diet Types, December 2017, Shilah Mcguinness

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Bats have one of the widest diet varieties in the animal kingdom. With these varying diet niches, each bat species experiences a different set of evolutionary pressures from its ecological interactions. This study assessed the variation in wing and ear morphology in bats and how these values compare with their varying diet types, in order to assess the ecological specificity that these species have evolved. I set up mist nets over a series of two weeks and captured a total of 17 bats from 9 species, conducting a series of measurements to calculate the total wing area and ear/weight ratio …


Synchronized Male Cricket Calls In Choruses Of The Cricket Anaxipha Sp., December 2017, Michael Morales Dec 2017

Synchronized Male Cricket Calls In Choruses Of The Cricket Anaxipha Sp., December 2017, Michael Morales

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

In Monteverde, there is a species of cricket within the Genus Anaxipha where males sing in loud choruses at night. I wanted to explore the purpose of this behavior by looking at the call and response activity between individual males. In this experiment, I looked at male responses to manipulations of the species male song, which is composed of two elements. I conducted a series of playback experiments on captive crickets. Responses of test subjects were documented while presenting playbacks of manipulated songs. Each playback treatment had a unique response from the crickets being tested. However, overall, it appears that …


Color Change In Dolabrifera Dolabrifera (Sea Hare) In Response To Substrate Change, December 2017, Jennay Argiris Dec 2017

Color Change In Dolabrifera Dolabrifera (Sea Hare) In Response To Substrate Change, December 2017, Jennay Argiris

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Dolabrifera dolabrifera is an Opisthobranch (sea slug) known for its cryptic coloration. This coloration is an important defense mechanism, but D. dolabrifera have never been studied to see if they change colors to increase their cryptic nature. After photographing 12 D. dolabrifera on different substrates, the color of the slugs and their substrate were determined. These colors were then depicted as hue values. Each D. dolabrifera was photographed three times, in different tide pools and over time. Every D. dolabrifera was graphed with the hue value found for the slug, substrate and reference for the three photographs taken. After analyzing …


An Analysis Of Temporal And Frequency Niches During The Dawn Chorus Of Birds In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2017, Brianne Nguyen Dec 2017

An Analysis Of Temporal And Frequency Niches During The Dawn Chorus Of Birds In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2017, Brianne Nguyen

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Many animals communicate using acoustic signals, making frequency bands a limited resource. To deal with this, animals can partition themselves into acoustic frequency niches. Species of insects, anurans, and birds have been observed to call at discrete frequencies when sharing space with each other. In this study, I recorded and analyzed the temporal and frequency overlap in bird calls around dawn in Monteverde, Costa Rica over the course of ten days. I found very little temporal overlap in the sample I recorded. The calls that did overlap often also overlapped in frequency. My results suggest that frequency niches are not …


Activity Patterns Of Costa Rican Bat Species, December 2017, Nicole Orsi Dec 2017

Activity Patterns Of Costa Rican Bat Species, December 2017, Nicole Orsi

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

In Costa Rica, bats are important nocturnal pollinators and seed dispersers. In this study, I investigated how diet type, species, levels of moonlight and moon phases, and nightly weather influenced the activity of bats. To do this, I used mist nets and an ultrasound detector for 11 nights to capture bats and record their species, sex, diet, and forearm length. Each night two to four mist nets were open from 17:30 to 20:00 and checked at 20 minute intervals. Nets were placed in Bajo del Tigre, the Monteverde Institute, San Luis, the Crandell Memorial Reserve, and La Estación Biológica Monteverde. …


Biological Treatment Of Monteverde Gray Water Using Effective Microorganisms And Mountain Microorganisms, December 2017, Sierra Raby Dec 2017

Biological Treatment Of Monteverde Gray Water Using Effective Microorganisms And Mountain Microorganisms, December 2017, Sierra Raby

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

As in many rural or less structurally developed areas, homeowners and businesses in Monteverde, Costa Rica filter grey water through grease traps or biojardineras or release it directly into their yards. This study evaluates the efficacy of two concentrations of Effective Microorganisms (EM) and Mountain Microorganisms (MM) in improving local grey water. These solutions contain biologically beneficial bacteria, yeast, and fungi. I collected grey water from six residential and commercial sources, treated each source with EM and MM in different concentrations, and gathered water quality metrics from each group for seven days. The metrics included surface cover, sedimentation, layering, smell, …


Insect Communities Across Forest Fragments Of Different Sizes In Monteverde, December 2017, Jesse Laine Dec 2017

Insect Communities Across Forest Fragments Of Different Sizes In Monteverde, December 2017, Jesse Laine

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Forest fragmentation creates numerous boundaries and microclimates that affect organisms of all taxa. I studied the composition of insect communities across two forest fragments of different sizes, as well as continuous forest and pasture. Pitfall traps and sweep netting techniques were used to sample 888 insects overall. The fragments had similar numbers of insects and morphospecies, regardless of size. The pasture had the most morphospecies present. In addition, Forest edges consistently showed higher abundance and diversity than forest cores. This indicates that reduction of habitable land does not always reduce the numbers of individuals and species, and in some cases …


The Effects Of Reforestation On Mammal Diversity And Abundance In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2017, Noelle Pruett Dec 2017

The Effects Of Reforestation On Mammal Diversity And Abundance In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2017, Noelle Pruett

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Reforestation is an important mechanism in helping previously deforested landscapes recover. However, reforested areas tend to have less diversity in vegetation, due to the fact that humans are not able to replicate the same diversity or pattern of regeneration that would occur naturally. I investigated whether or not these changes in forest types and vegetation affect the diversity and abundance of mammals that inhabit these areas. I used both camera traps and Sherman traps to survey mammals from areas with reforestation and with natural regeneration. I observed a total of 72 mammals from five species in the camera traps. I …


Presence And Prevalence Of Microplastics In The Water And Marine Organisms Of The Gulf Of Santa Elena, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, December 2017, Eliot Headley Dec 2017

Presence And Prevalence Of Microplastics In The Water And Marine Organisms Of The Gulf Of Santa Elena, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, December 2017, Eliot Headley

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Marine environments are sinks for microplastic pollution. Microplastics are widely dispersed through the world’s Ocean and can be fibrous. Synthetic microfibers shed from clothing, wash into rivers, and eventually into the Ocean. These microplastic pieces can be deleterious to marine organisms and the humans that consume them. My aim was to investigate the presence and prevalence of microplastics in the Gulf of Santa Elena, Costa Rica. Microplastics were collected through a plankton net and through dissection of fish guts from local fishermens’ catch. Microplastics, most of which microfibers, were observed in every plankton net sample and in six of the …


Zooplankton Morphospecies And Abundance In Relation With Tide In Mangroves Of Cuajiniquil, Costa Rica, December 2017, Stephanie Li Dec 2017

Zooplankton Morphospecies And Abundance In Relation With Tide In Mangroves Of Cuajiniquil, Costa Rica, December 2017, Stephanie Li

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

In two decades, at least 35% of the world’s mangroves have been lost, which is more than both tropical rain forests and coral reefs (Valiela et al. 2001). Mangroves act as an important habitat and feeding grounds for fish (Sasekumar et al. 1992). Zooplankton are abundant in the mangroves and are important organisms to study to get an understanding of the foundation of ecosystem’s food chain. Zooplankton eat phytoplankton and get eaten by small fish and other sea animals, providing a food source and extending the food chain. I aimed to ask and answer the following question: is there a …


Species Abundance Of Fungi Is Greater In Landslide Areas Compared To Undisturbed Areas Of The Forest In Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, December 2017, Sunshine Lopez Dec 2017

Species Abundance Of Fungi Is Greater In Landslide Areas Compared To Undisturbed Areas Of The Forest In Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, December 2017, Sunshine Lopez

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Fungi plays an important role in the ecosystem by decomposing dead plants, and other organic matter. Without this process, there would be an accumulation of organic material in the forest which would go un-decomposed. Fungi which are saprotrophic macrofungi from the phyla Basidioycota and Ascomycota have the vital job of recycling nutrients from dead plant material in the forest back into the soil. The abundance of organic material created by the landslides on the reserve behind Estación Biológica in Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica may have given rise to nearly twice the amount of different species of fungi (n=31) compared to …


Adaptive Significance And Abundance Of Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates In The Cuajiniquil Bay, December 2017, Zac Durall Dec 2017

Adaptive Significance And Abundance Of Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates In The Cuajiniquil Bay, December 2017, Zac Durall

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Bioluminescence in nature is a phenomenon that is found in many different organisms, including fungi, fish and bacteria. Of bioluminescent organisms, dinoflagellates are some of the most common. Despite their abundance, the ecological function of the bioluminescence in dinoflagellates is not fully understood. In my study I attempted to explain the ecological function of this bioluminescence by observing dinoflagellate abundances at different times of day. I collected water samples in the Cuajiniquil Bay in Costa Rica, over the course of seven days, and counted the total number of organisms that I found. This was done to try to find a …


Differences In Heterospecific Pollen Deposition Across Pollination Syndromes In The Monteverde Area, December 2017, Kara Powell Dec 2017

Differences In Heterospecific Pollen Deposition Across Pollination Syndromes In The Monteverde Area, December 2017, Kara Powell

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Pollination is an important ecosystem service, increasing the ability of plants to adapt to changing environments through the process of sexual reproduction. The efficiency of pollination can be reduced due to the transfer of heterospecific pollen, which is pollen from another species. Flower characteristics vary in order to attract certain types of pollinators. This phenomenon is classified in groups of flower morphology characteristics known as pollination syndromes. Little research exists that summarizes heterospecific pollen transfer within these pollination syndromes. I investigated pollen deposition across pollination syndromes in Monteverde, Costa Rica in two different sites: San Gerardo and Curi Cancha. I …


The Effectiveness Of Cover Crops As A Control For Root Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne Spp.) In Coffee (Coffea Arabica), December 2017, Joyce Silva Dec 2017

The Effectiveness Of Cover Crops As A Control For Root Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne Spp.) In Coffee (Coffea Arabica), December 2017, Joyce Silva

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Root Knot Nematodes are members of the family Meloidognidae and can be detrimental to the overall health and productivity of infected crops. Evidence of the presence of these nematodes can be seen by the galls or “swollen nodules” that form where these worms have been feeding. In order to avoid the use of harmful nematicides some farms have chosen to use cover crops as a more sustainable approach to combating these pests. For my study I decided to test if the cover crops used at LIFE Monteverde were effective in reducing the prevalence of root knot nematodes in the roots …


Growing Trichoderma Asperellum, A Natural Fungicide, On Coffee Pulp And Husks, December 2017, Amber Devries, Georgia Van Tyne Dec 2017

Growing Trichoderma Asperellum, A Natural Fungicide, On Coffee Pulp And Husks, December 2017, Amber Devries, Georgia Van Tyne

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Coffee farms often rely on chemical fungicides to control fungal crop diseases such as ojo de gallo (Mycena citricolor) and red rust (Hemileia vastatrix). Trichoderma is a genus of fungus known to parasitize other fungi and it can be used to treat these crop diseases. Research has already proved that Trichoderma spp. can be cultivated on various organic substrates. Our goal was to help coffee farmers discover which coffee waste products could grow Trichoderma asperellum best. To do this, we collected three coffee by-products from Café de Monteverde: “young” coffee pulp, “old” coffee pulp, and coffee husks. We mixed these …