Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Ambrosia Trifida (Giant Ragweed) On Native Prairie Species In An Early Prairie Restoration Project, Krisztian Megyeri

Senior Honors Theses

As the ecological importance of prairies is becoming more recognized, the number of prairie restoration projects is increasing worldwide. One of the major challenges in restoring any disturbed ecosystem is the successful establishment of native species at the expensive of invasive species. While some weedy species are gradually replaced as other, more desired, species become established, there are invasive species that, due to their level of dominance, may out-compete native species indefinitely. The objectives of this study were 1) to quantify the impact of Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed) on the plant community of a newsly established prairie, 2) to assess …

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods For Prediction Of Brook Trout Salvelinus Fontinalis Percent Dry Weight, Andrew William Hafs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Reliable fish condition estimates are valued by fisheries ecologists and managers. Fish condition is used as an indicator of ecosystem health or to assess the population status for a species of interest. In aquaculture, proximate composition estimates are often wanted because of their relationship to fillet quality. Past researchers have used bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to provide nonlethal mass based estimates of proximate composition for fish. Percent dry weight (PDW) of a fish is highly correlated to proximate composition values and energy density, therefore reliable predictions of PDW would eliminate the need for costly and laboratory analyses lethal to the …

A Survey Of The Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Of Arkansas And The Ozark Mountains, Joseph O'Neill

Horticulture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ants are among the most abundant animals in most terrestrial ecosystems, yet local fauna are often poorly understood due to a lack of surveys. This study separated and identified ant species from arthropod samples obtained during ongoing projects by the lab of Dr. A.P.G. Dowling, Professor of Entomology at the University of Arkansas. More than 600 ants were prepared, 284 of which were identified to genus and 263 to species. From this collection, 33 species and one morphospecies were identified, comprising 18 genera in total. Additionally, 28 new distributional records were recorded for Benton, Madison, Newton, and Washington Counties in …

Restoration Of Forested Ecosystems On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The focus of resource management on National Forests is slowly changing to restoration of ecosystems and habitats. In West Virginia, the revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) guides resource management on the MNF. The MNF revised Forest Plan restructured management areas and goals toward restoration of red spruce dominated forests and oak and oak-pine forests in two separate management prescriptions that cover approximately 48% of the MNF. Incorporating ecosystem restoration in forest management may be guided by goals and objectives based on known previous conditions and the range of natural variability of those conditions. …

Plant Genotype, Not Nutrients, Shape Aphid Population Dynamics, Heather E. Tran, Lara Souza, Nathan J. Sanders, Aimee T. Classen

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Nesting Biology Of Osmia Cornifrons: Implications For Population Management, Matthew Mckinney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Japanese hornfaced bee, Osmia cornifrons (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) is a palearctic mason bee managed for the pollination of early season fruit crops such as apple and blueberry. Since its adoption as a managed pollinator in Japan during the 1940s, a large body of literature has amassed with the goal of enhancing O. cornifrons management practices. This research makes important contributions to that literature in two ways. First, the research describes the in-nest relationship of O. cornifrons and the cleptoparasitic mite pest Chaetodactylus krombeini. Distribution of male and female O. cornifrons and of C. krombeini was determined using linear and non-linear …

Avian Assemblages And Red-Eyed Vireo Nest Survival Within Mineland Forest, Jeremy Mizel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) in 1977, mined lands have generally been reclaimed to an environment characterized by severely compacted minesoils, a growth medium comprised largely of unweathered materials, and a predominance of aggressive groundcovers that inhibit native species colonization. Under these conditions, succession is arrested. Within landscapes that are fragmented by traditionally reclaimed surface mines, forest patches are smaller and forest cover on the landscape scale is reduced. As a result, forest songbirds that require large, continuous blocks of forest are negatively affected.;Some pre-SMCRA abandoned minelands contain areas of uncompacted minesoils on …

Edaphic And Land Use Influences On Central Appalachian Fens, Sarah Deacon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Local and landscape-scale factors influence peatland floristic assemblages. Our goal in this paper was to assess the interactions between wetland vegetation communities, edaphic factors, and surrounding land cover in central Appalachian peatlands. Specifically we quantified plant community dynamics in relation to edaphic factors and land cover and identified species level responses to human altered landscapes. Cluster analysis on vegetation data identified 3 vegetation groups; an emergent floristic assemblage, a shrub dominated group, and a group with mixed shrub and emergent vegetation. We found that wetlands with emergent vegetation cover were more often associated with natural land cover, higher pH and …

Zoos As Experiment Environments: Biology Of Larval And Adult Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), Holly Tuten

All Dissertations

Zoos are a unique environment where humans and animals are in close daily contact, potential mosquito habitats exist, exotic plants and animals are introduced regularly, and wild animals roam. Studies of mosquito behaviors in zoos will lead to a better understanding, both within and outside zoos, of disease transmission routes and mosquito biology. To investigate whether the unique assemblage of habitats in zoos affects mosquito behavior, I sampled larvae and adults in the Greenville Zoo and the Riverbanks Zoo, South Carolina, USA, from March 2008 to January 2011. The objectives of my study were to investigate mosquito oviposition behavior, blood-host …

Climate And Vegetation Change In The Newberry Mountains, Southern Clark County, Nevada, Ross Joseph Guida

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ecological studies have shown worldwide that vegetation is being affected by climate change. Species are shifting to new elevations and physiographic positions to adapt to changes in their environment. More specifically, paleoecology studies in the Mojave Desert have shown shifting vegetation patterns in response to past warming and precipitation changes. Recent studies have shown mortality among desert plants related to extended drought and warming. However, few studies have shown how the geographic distribution of Mojave Desert species has changed during this most recent period of warming. This study addresses this gap in the literature by focusing on several plant species …

Fish And Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Cacapon River, West Virginia, Stephen Selego

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Stream restoration, involving both in-stream and riparian techniques, was conducted on an impaired stretch of the Cacapon River, West Virginia. Fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities were sampled before, during, and after restoration at the restoration site and four other sites (two impaired, two natural) to determine the success of the restoration project. Overall, bluntnose minnows (Pimephales notatus) were the most abundant fish, and riffle beetles (Stenelmis sp.) were the most abundant macroinvertebrates collected. Both communities were negatively impacted by the restoration efforts in the short-term, but recovered quickly. Fish communities returned roughly to the state observed pre-restoration. Macroinvertebrate communities increased …

Relationships Among Fish Assemblages, Hydroperiods, Drought, And American Alligators Within Palustrine Wetlands Of The Blackjack Peninsula, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Darrin M. Welchert

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The following thesis contains two chapters. In Chapter 1, I have reviewed and summarized literature pertaining to fishes and habitats of palustrine wetlands, the influence of hydroperiods on wetland fishes, the impacts of drought on wetland fishes, the importance of American alligators as ecological engineers of fish habitats within wetlands, and fish sampling within wetland habitats. Chapter 2 is a manuscript representing my thesis research. In this study, primary focus is placed on how fish diversity and how fish abundances of palustrine wetlands are influenced by drought conditions within the Blackjack Peninsula of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern …

Evaluating The Effects Of Morrow's Honeysuckle Control On Vertebrate And Vegetation Assemblages, And Small Mammal Foraging Ecology At Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Charnee Lee Rose

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Exotic, Japanese bush honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.; Caprifoliaceae) are tied to a variety of impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. Morrow's honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) has become a persistent invader in eastern North America. We organized a restoration initiative at Fort Necessity National Battlefield (FONE), Pennsylvania, USA from 2004--2010. Concurrently, we studied the consumption of Morrow's honeysuckle fruits by small mammals from October--November 2009 and July--August 2010, and determined habitat variables that affected visitation rate to foraging stations. Areas of FONE were invaded by Morrow's honeysuckle after the land had been cleared for agriculture, and routine mowing ceased in the mid-1980s. Our restoration …

The Spatial Ecology Of Black Groupers (Mycteroperca Bonaci) In The Upper Florida Keys, Veronique Koch

Open Access Theses

Black groupers (Mycteroperca bonaci) are a critical component of coral reef ecosystems as well as South Florida fisheries. It is therefore of great concern that their essential fish habitat has not yet been fully defined. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the ecology of black groupers was characterized in the Upper Florida Keys. The first part of this study utilized acoustic telemetry. Self-contained acoustic receivers were placed in an array around Conch Reef and tracked 16 tagged black groupers for 483 days. Patterns of movement behavior and habitat usage were modeled using presence-absence data. The capture-recapture program MARK was used to estimate …

'Mai Pen Rai': A Cultural Ecology Of Thailand, Darcie Plocher

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Old Father Hudson: The Three Stages Of Environmental Activism In The Hudson River Valley, Gregory P. Cannillo

Honors Theses

Consequences of development have threatened the health of the Hudson River for decades. These have included the prospect of destroying scenic value of the Hudson River Valley with the a hydroelectric power plant on Storm King Mountain, as well as the pollution of the river itself by a variety of industrial sources. Since the 1960s, a long lineage of environmental activism in the Hudson River Valley has emerged to address those issues. The example of the Hudson River supplies an excellent case study of how environmental issues began to be addressed in the later half of the 20th century. I …

Changes In Leaf Morphology, Photosynthesis And Nitrogen Content In Two Coastal Shrubs, Elizabeth Kost

Theses and Dissertations

It is important to understand mechanisms that facilitate expansion of two common shrubs, Morella cerifera and Baccharis halimifolia in coastal environments. The purpose of my study was to investigate the physiological and structural changes that occur as leaves age. Photosynthesis, incident light, chlorophyll, and leaf C:N ratios were quantified for young, intermediate, and old leaves (distal, central and proximal leaves, respectively). Leaf structural differences were also compared. Leaves did not change morphologically with age. Light decreased with leaf age and during winter months. Photosynthesis showed no seasonal or age related patterns. Chlorophyll increased initially and then declined with age due …

Sponges Of The Caribbean: Linking Sponge Morphology And Associated Bacterial Communities, Ericka Ann Poppell

Master's Theses

The ecological and evolutionary relationship between sponges and their symbiotic microflora remains poorly understood, which limits our ability to understand broad scale patterns in benthic-pelagic coupling on coral reefs. Previous research classified sponges into two different categories of sponge microbial associations: High Microbial Abundance (HMA) and Low Microbial Abundance (LMA) sponges. Choanocyte chamber morphology and density was characterized in representatives of HMA and LMA sponges using scanning electron microscopy from freeze-fractured tissue. Denaturing Gradient Gel Elextrophoresis was used to examine taxonomic differences among the bacterial communities present in a variety of tropical sponges. The results supported the hypothesis that choanocyte …

Home/Land: Kiowa, New Mexico- A Grassland's Story, Heather R. Yaryan

Architecture and Planning ETDs

The purpose of this thesis was to illustrate how cultural and natural histories inform place-based community planning. Utilizing both cultural and natural histories, the planner may begin to see patterns of habitancy as they correlate to ecological fluctuations. I focused my research on Kiowa, New Mexico the community my family homesteaded in the grasslands of Northeastern New Mexico and took an auto-ethnographic approach to conducting my research. The story of Kiowa is both unique and universal. The intricacies of the land and people are, indeed, woven into a specific place and times. It is the intersection of Place and of …

Epigeic Spider (Araneae) Diversity And Habitat Distributions In Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina, Sarah Stellwagen

All Theses

This study examined the epigeic spider fauna in Kings Mountain National Military Park. The aim of this study is to make this information available to park management for use in the preservation of natural resources. Pitfall trapping was conducted monthly for one year in three distinct habitats: riparian, forest, and ridge-top. The study was conducted from August 2009 to July 2010. One hundred twenty samples were collected in each site. Overall, 289 adult spiders comprising 66 species were collected in the riparian habitat, 345 adult comprising 57 species were found in the forest habitat, and 240 adults comprising 47 species …

Erin Payne Mfa Thesis Statement, Erin B. Payne

CGU MFA Theses

Please see Download button in top right corner for the full statement.

Unraveling The Mystery Of Leaf Reddening In Seagrasses, Alyssa B. Novak

Doctoral Dissertations

Seagrass meadows around the world are declining due to natural and anthropogenic stressors, including global climate change. Recently, more attention has been given to identifying responses that offer resistance to stressors so that researchers can better manage seagrasses for resilience to environmental change. Leaf reddening, the expression of red coloration in leaves, is a well-documented response in terrestrial plants that has been shown to increase resilience to stress, but has been poorly understood in seagrasses. To increase our understanding of the prevalence, causes, and function of leaf in seagrasses, surveys were conducted in the world's six seagrass bioregions and a …

Assessing Social-Ecological Resilience And Adaptive Capacity In The Face Of Climate Change: An Examination Of Three Communities In The Crown Of The Continent Ecosystem, Bradley B. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines the social-ecological resilience and adaptive capacity of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem through a suite of three case study communities and the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem's hydrologic regime. The Crown of the Continent Ecosystem spans the U.S.-Canadian border; case study communities composed of Kalispell and Choteau, Montana and Fernie, British Columbia fall on both sides of the border.

Primary data was gathered through a "bottom-up" qualitative approach utilizing an online survey followed by a semi-structured interview process with stakeholders in natural resource dependant industries and government at the local, state, and federal levels …

Detection Of Mortality In Tropical Forests Using Remote Sensing: From Treefall Gaps To Large Disturbances, Fernando Del Bon Espirito-Santo

Doctoral Dissertations

The frequency, severity, and intensity of natural disturbances in tropical forests continually re-shape forest structure. At small scale, branch or tree-falls gaps and subsequent recovery are important mechanisms for carbon cycling. At landscape scale, large disturbances (blow-downs) may also play a role on the structure and composition of tropical forests. Quantitative studies of natural disturbances across the occurrence spectrum (branch fall-gaps to blow-downs) are rare for the Amazon. Remote sensing coupled with intense field work data collection provides the means to analyze the dynamic of tropical forests at multiple scales. In this dissertation three aspects of natural disturbances were examined: …

Interactions Between Adaptive Mutations In The Environment And The Consequences For Adaptation In Escherichia Coli, Kenneth Mark Flynn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Phenotypic plasticity, epistasis or both are expected to influence the adaptive value of mutations and, by extension, how organisms adapt to new environments. We investigated interactions among five mutations that arose and fixed in a laboratory-evolved population of E. coli in a variety of different external environments. Overall, we found that positive pleiotropy tended to be positive rather than antagonistic and that epistatic interactions were common regardless of the external environment. The nature of the epistatic interactions depended strongly on the external environment and altered which adaptive paths were selectively accessible. Ultimately, achieving high fitness in a new environment was …

Seasonal, Biogeochemical, And Microbial Response Of Soils To Simultaneous Warming And Nitrogen Additions, Alexandra R. Contosta

Doctoral Dissertations

Climate warming and nitrogen deposition are global environmental threats that could alter soil microbial communities and the biogeochemical processes they perform. Few studies have examined interactive effects of elevated temperatures and nitrogen inputs. Many studies have also not considered the role that season plays in mediating the response of soils to warming and nitrogen. Finally, most research has not linked changes in the soil microbial community with ecosystem-scale dynamics. One objective of this dissertation was to examine season-specific microbial and biogeochemical responses to simultaneous warming and nitrogen additions. Another aim was to investigate whether warming and nitrogen can restructure microbial …

Theological And Ecological Foundations For Youth Ministry In Relation To The Archdiocese Of Mbarara, Uganda - East Africa, Leo Tinkatumire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is titled: Theological and Ecological Foundations for Youth Ministry in Relation to the Archdiocese of Mbarara, Uganda - East Africa. The Archdiocese of Mbarara, located in the traditional kingdom of Nkore in southwestern Uganda, is undergoing societal shift. Due to the pervading influences of Western civilization and technology, the conservative and often static culture of native tribal communities with their adherence to informal education, traditional customs and worship and a predominantly agrarian economy, is undergoing steady but dramatic transformation. Amidst this process of transition, the Church is struggling with the immediate need to adjust the message and methods …

Ecology Of The Rock Rattlesnake, Crotalus Lepidus, In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Vicente Mata Silva

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Rock Rattlesnake, Crotalus lepidus is a small species that is found from southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and southern Texas, in the U.S., into northern Mexico. To date, little is known about the ecology of this species. Ecological information is becoming desperately needed for supporting the conservation and protection of species living in fragile environments such as the Chihuahuan Desert amid current local and global threats (e.g., habitat destruction and modification, urban development, and climate change). Although rattlesnakes spend a significant amount of time underground while overwintering, little is known about the physiology and behavior of these organisms during …

The Spatial And Temporal Distribution, Population Growth Strategies And Options For The Removal Of The Invasive Shore Crab Carcinus Maenas In Two New Hampshire Estuaries, Beth Allison Fulton

Master's Theses and Capstones

The spatial and temporal distribution of the green crab, Carcinus maenas, along with various green crab population parameters, were studied in two New Hampshire estuaries over a one-year period from November 2009 to October 2010. Results show that foraging activity in Great Bay Estuary peaked in December and March, and in HSE, in April and November. Crabs in both estuaries experienced synchronous breeding periods. Males experienced two molts per year in April and November, while females molted synchronously in June. Embryogenesis was accomplished within the month of June. Minimum size at maturity for females in New Hampshire was larger than …

Development And Testing Of An Unmanned Aircraft System For Environmental Science, Jerald James Brady

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For some environmental science applications, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) are increasingly recognized for their capacity to collect remotely sensed data in a safer, more efficient and effective manner than is permitted with manned aircraft and satellite remote sensing platforms. To date, however, technological, human, and other challenges have constrained adoption of UASs in the environmental sciences. This study developed and tested a new UAS for an archetypical environmental science research group (stakeholder) composed of non-UAS experts. Specifically, this thesis: 1) Assessed the research and operational needs of the stakeholder to determine the optimum UAS platform; 2) Developed an Unmanned Aerial …