Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating Taxon-Specific Population Dynamics In Diverse Microbial Communities, Benjamin J. Koch, Theresa A. Mchugh, Michaela Hayer, Egbert Schwartz, Steven J. Blazewicz, Paul Dijkstra, Natasja Van Gestel, Jane C. Marks, Rebecca L. Mau, Ember M. Morrissey, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Bruce A. Hungate

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Understanding how population-level dynamics contribute to ecosystem-level processes is a primary focus of ecological research and has led to important breakthroughs in the ecology of macroscopic organisms. However, the inability to measure population-specific rates, such as growth, for microbial taxa within natural assemblages has limited ecologists’ understanding of how microbial populations interact to regulate ecosystem processes. Here, we use isotope incorporation within DNA molecules to model taxon- specific population growth in the presence of 18O-labeled water. By applying this model to phylogenetic marker sequencing data collected from stable-isotope probing studies, we estimate rates of growth, mortal- ity, and turnover for …

Quantitative Acoustic Differentiation Of Cryptic Species Illustrated With King And Clapper Rails, Lydia L. Stiffler, Katie M. Schroeder, James T. Anderson, Susan B. Mcrae, Todd E. Katzner

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Reliable species identification is vital for survey and monitoring programs. Recently, the development of digital technology for recording and analyzing vocalizations has assisted in acoustic surveying for cryptic, rare, or elusive species. However, the quan- titative tools that exist for species differentiation are still being refined. Using vocali- zations recorded in the course of ecological studies of a King Rail (Rallus elegans) and a Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans) population, we assessed the accuracy and effective- ness of three parametric (logistic regression, discriminant function analysis, quadratic discriminant function analysis) and six nonparametric (support vector machine, CART, Random Forest, k-nearest neighbor, weighted …

Explanatory And Causality Analysis In Software Engineering, Yasser Ali Alshehri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Software fault proneness and software development efforts are two key areas of software engineering. Improving them will significantly reduce the cost and promote good planning and practice in developing and managing software projects. Traditionally, studies of software fault proneness and software development efforts were focused on analysis and prediction, which can help to answer questions like `when’ and `where’. The focus of this dissertation is on explanatory and causality studies that address questions like `why’ and `how’.

First, we applied a case-control study to explain software fault proneness. We found that Bugfixes (Prerelease bugs), Developers, Code Churn, and Age of …

Differentiating Human Populations Based On K-Mer Classification Of Hand Bacteria, Thrisha Doppala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Bacterial communities found in and on the human body are not only used in studying human health conditions but are also effective in differentiating individuals due to their distinct profiles. Human palm regions harbor relatively more diverse bacterial communities and are indicative of population groups, life styles, geographic locations, age groups and health conditions. Sequences extracted from hypervariable region V3 of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene of hand bacterial samples from 9 different population groups were classified into Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) with GreenGenes reference taxonomy using RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) classifier. Frequencies of identified OTUs were used to study …

Towards A Better Understanding Of Paleoindian Native American Settlement In Southern Ohio: A Multi-Scalar Approach, Matthew P Purtill

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

No abstract provided.

Behavior Of Stiff-Tailed Diving Ducks And West Indian Whistling Ducks In Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico, Nick S. Goodman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Masked ducks (Nomonyx dominicus), migratory northern ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis jamaicensis), non-migratory West Indian ruddy ducks (Oxyura j. jamaicensis Gmelin), and West Indian whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna arborea) are all duck taxa that have declining populations in Puerto Rico. Masked ducks are listed as endangered in Puerto Rico and are a species of concern in the Caribbean while West Indian whistling ducks are considered an "at-risk" species listed as vulnerable. All 4 taxa of duck have areas of their life history where information is lacking including behavioral information. I studied the 4 taxa of duck at Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge from …

Examination And Characterization Of Brook Trout Ecology Before And After A Broad Scale Disturbance Event In Headwater Streams Of West Virginia, Usa, Ross Gilbert Andrew

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

No abstract provided.