Digital Commons Network^™

Winter Movements And Habitat Use Of Northern Saw-Whet Owls At Assateague Island, Maryland, John Beaudry Churchill

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ten Northern Saw-whet Owls were radio-tracked over two winters (1996 and 1997) at Assateague Island, Maryland. I used the fixed kernel method to calculate home range estimates for seven owls. Ninety-five percent home range sizes averaged 122.9 ha (range from 39.7--261.9 ha) but varied in size and shape. I also calculated adaptive kernel, harmonic mean, and minimum convex polygon home ranges for comparison of these methods. Habitat composition in 30% home ranges was compared with 95% home ranges and 30% and 95% home ranges were each compared with composition of the entire study area using compositional analysis.;Roost site characteristics were …

Characterization Of Diversity Of Fungi Forming Arbuscular Endomycorrhizae In Selected Plant Communities, Sidney Luiz Sturmer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Knowledge of taxonomic and functional diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomales, Zygomycetes) is important in understanding the biology and ecology of such a widespread mycorrhizal symbiosis. More definitive criteria for grouping and ranking taxa were established by reinterpreting morphological characters in selected species of Glomus (Glomaceae) and Acaulospora and Entrophospora (Acaulosporaceae) based on spore ontogenesis. Members of both families shared some patterns, such as discrete stages of spore growth and differentiation in three phases, resulting in the formation of three possible character complexes: a spore wall, flexible inner walls, and a pregermination structure. Families differed in presence or absence of …

An Interdisciplinary Research Project For The Middle School Study Skills Curriculum, Colleen M. Kinney

All Graduate Projects

An integrated curriculum correlating endangered species with the disciplines of life science, math, language arts, geography, and study skills, for seventh grade students at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Yakima, Washington, was developed. A literature review supports the premise that integrated units enable students to make connections between the concepts taught in school and the real world. The literature review also indicated the need for schools to teach study skills to better prepare students for the future.

The Tiger And The Pangolin: Cultural Ecology, Landscape Ecology, And Nature Conservation In China's Southeast Uplands., Christopher Reed Coggins

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The Wuyi-Daiyun Mountains, which form the core of China's Southeast Uplands Region, support a mosaic of subtropical forest, grassland, and cropland habitats, with some 1,620 species of plants and 326 species of terrestrial vertebrates. Forty-two animal species are officially protected, including the highly endangered South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis). This study, based on one year of field research, examines relationships between village land use, landscape change, and wildlife management in the Meihuashan Nature Reserve of Southwest Fujian. It includes comparative studies of reserves in Longxishan and Wuyishan, further north, and Daiyunshan, to the east. Over 500 local gazetteer records …

The Nature And Extent Of Species Interactions With The United States Gulf Menhaden Fishery., Janaka Anthony De Silva

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

I employed categorical techniques to explain patchy data on the releasable bycatch in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico menhaden fishery looking for species and areas of potential concern and potential solutions. For fishing grounds east of the Mississippi River, the odds of observing sets with high bycatch in spring and summer were greater than in the fall. Furthermore, spring bycatch rates were higher east of 89°W than in areas west of 93°W. Correspondence analysis indicated that the fate of the releasable bycatch could be classified into three major species-fate groupings. Two distinct bycatch species assemblages from April through August that …

Reproductive Ecology Of Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum Canadense Desf), Michael Todd Ganger

Doctoral Dissertations

Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense var. canadense Desf.), a rhizomatous perennial herb, was the subject of field experiments investigating the role of several factors on the sexual reproduction of ramets. Mayflower ramets may be either flowering (with 2-3 leaves and a terminal inflorescence consisting of 4-35 perfect flowers) or vegetative (1 leaf).

Pollen addition increased the number of seeds matured by ramets in three out of four years in which pollen level was experimentally manipulated. The lack of compatible pollen is thought to be a major factor limiting seed maturation by ramets.

The act of severing the rhizomes, such that ramets …

Measuring And Modeling Northeastern Forest Ecosystem Response To Environmental Stresses, Jennifer Caroline Jenkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Because forest responses to CO$\sb2$ fertilization and associated climate change are likely to be extremely complex, numerical models representing forest response to an integrated set of future conditions can be useful predictive tools. I compared predictions of forest net primary productivity (NPP) made by two ecosystem process models (PnET-II and TEM 4.0) using different climate scenarios, spatial resolutions, and methods of representing land cover and soils. Decreasing spatial resolution did not appreciably change NPP estimates. Input datasets, particularly climate, land cover, and soil water holding capacity, were important sources of variability in NPP estimates. These datasets interacted with model structures …

Dynamics Of Dissolved Organic Carbon During Weathering And Soil Formation, Kimberly Linnea Mccracken

Doctoral Dissertations

Interactions between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and mineral soils were examined in field and laboratory experiments. Specific emphasis was given to factors influencing DOC mobility and element release during mineral weathering and soil formation. Soil chemical and physical properties controlling equilibrium concentrations of DOC (DOC$\rm\sb{np})$ in coarse-textured forest soils were investigated using laboratory batch reactors and the initial mass isotherm approach. The influence of DOC concentration on release of metals and silica was investigated in four soil parent materials. One of four acid treatments (0.001 N HNO$\sb3$ and three concentrations of forest floor leachate) or distilled water were added to …

Controls On Ch(4) Emissions From Boreal And Arctic Wetlands, Sadredin Cyrus Moosavi

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis examines the environmental controls on the biogeochemical cycling of the radiatively active trace gas CH$\sb4$ within boreal and arctic wetlands. Net CH$\sb4$ flux along peatland hydrologic gradients were examined to determine the effects of temperature and water table on CH$\sb4$ emissions. The level of the water table acts as a switch between CH$\sb4$ production and oxidation with small water level changes producing large changes in flux balance. Soil temperature determined whether CH$\sb4$ production potential was realized within sufficiently moist environments. A selective inhibitor technique was developed for directly measuring CH$\sb4$ oxidation in wetland soils. CH$\sb4$ oxidation was found …

Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L) As A Sentinel Accumulator Of Lead In Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire - Maine, Heidi Morrill Hoven

Doctoral Dissertations

The potential of eelgrass, Zostera marina L., as a sentinel indicator of lead (Pb) pollution in the water column was investigated. Eelgrass was grown in mesocosms that contained ambient sediment collected from sites near the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Jamaica Island Landfill (JIL) of Kittery, Maine, to test viability of eelgrass in the Shipyard's marine sediment. Eelgrass was also grown in mesocosms at three shoot densities in marine sediment of three Pb concentrations to determine to what extent Pb affects eelgrass growth and whether Pb uptake by eelgrass is affected by plant density. Additionally, eelgrass was used to detect water-borne sources …

Airbirds: Adaptative Strategies To The Aerial Lifestyle From A Life History Perspective., Manuel Marin-Aspillaga

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

"Airbirds" are defined as those birds that are adapted to almost constant life on the wing and do not perch, except for breeding and roosting. They use the air as the only medium in which to find and gather food. One taxon meets that definition: the swifts (Apodidae). Foraging zones of airbirds can be segregated in terms of clutch size, commuting foraging distance, nestling period, and nestling feeding rate. This study looked at foraging behavior and nestling diet, incubation patterns and mode of development in cypseloidine swifts, that as a group has extreme life history patterns. In a temperate one-egg …