Digital Commons Network^™

Spectator 2003-12-05, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

Connecticut River Watershed Initiative, Stephen Rideout, Craig Nicolson

Water Resources Research Center Conferences

The Connecticut River Watershed (CRW) is a significant regional eco-zone within New England, spanning four states and covering a wide range of economic activities, land-use practices and ecological habitat. From its headwaters near the Canadian border down its length to the Long Island Sound, the watershed encompasses areas of high population density, suburban sprawl, farmland, and forest, and supplies water not only to the metro areas of Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Hartford, but also to numerous small towns and, through groundwater, to hundreds of thousands of rural residents. These water supplies are critical to the long-term economic and ecological health …

Habitat Features And Predictive Habitat Modeling For The Colorado Chipmunk In Southern New Mexico, Marina Rivieccio, Bruce C. Thompson, William R. Gould, Kenneth G. Boykin

Western North American Naturalist

Two subspecies of Colorado chipmunk (state threatened and federal species of concern) occur in southern New MeXico: Tamias quadrivittatus australis in the Organ Mountains and T. q. oscuraensis in the Oscura Mountains. We developed a GIS model of potentially suitable habitat based on vegetation and elevation features, evaluated site classifications of the GIS model, and determined vegetation and terrain features associated with chipmunk occurrence. We compared GIS model classifications with actual vegetation and elevation features measured at 37 sites. At 60 sites we measured 18 habitat variables regarding slope, aspect, tree species, shrub species, and ground cover. We used logistic …

Population Structure And Paternity In An American Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) Population Using Microsatellite Dna, Elizabeth A. Sinclair, Hal L. Black, Keith A. Crandall

Western North American Naturalist

We report genetic microsatellite data from analysis of 71 American black bears (Ursus americanus) from the East Tavaputs Plateau in eastern Utah. Heterozygosity was 52.9%, which is lower than other mainland North American populations and possibly reflects low recruitment into the study area. We used a combination of known pedigrees (mother/cubs), relatedness estimates, and paternity estimation using CERVUS to infer single and possible multiple paternity within litters, breeding by pairs over consecutive years, and the possibility of a single male successfully breeding with multiple females in a single year. Estimates of inbreeding effective population size indicate the East …

Molecular And Culture-Based Analyses Of Aerobic Carbon Monoxide Oxidizer Diversity, Gary M. King

Faculty Publications

Isolates belonging to six genera not previously known to oxidize CO were obtained from enrichments with aquatic and terrestrial plants. DNA from these and other isolates was used in PCR assays of the gene for the large subunit of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (coxL). CoxL and putative coxL fragments were amplified from known CO oxidizers (e.g., Oligotropha carboxidovorans and Bradyrhizobium japonicum), from novel CO-oxidizing isolates (e.g., Aminobacter sp. strain COX, Burkholderia sp. strain LUP, Mesorhizobium sp. strain NMB1, Stappia strains M4 and M8, Stenotrophomonas sp. strain LUP, and Xanthobacter sp. strain COX), and from several well-known isolates for which the capacity …

Effects Of Tree Buttresses On Nutrient Availability And Macroinvertebrate Species Richness, December 2003, Alyson P. Mack

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

This study tested the hypothesis that buttress microhabitats collect more leaf litter and have greater macroinvertebrate species richness, thereby increasing the leaf decomposition rate and providing more nutrient rich soil for the tree. Leaf litter deposition and decomposition rates, soil fertility (pH, [N], [P], |K]), and macroinvertebrate species richness (S, Smarg) were compared between microhabitats in buttressed and nonbuttressed trees and open areas in the lower montane cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Results showed no significant difference between microhabitat types for soil pH levels (Kruskall-Wallis test, H= 3.188), soil [N] (Kruskall-Wallis test, H= 3.388), soil [P] (Kruskall-Wallis test, H= …

Spatial Distribution Patterns Of Mistletoe (Antidaphne Viscoidea: Eremolepidaceae, And Phoradendron Undulatum: Viscaceae) On Psidium Guajava (Mrytaceae) In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2003, Matthew Greenfield

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Spatial distributions of mistletoe are noticeably clustered but unexamined in Monteverde, Costa Rica. To better understand their spatial structure, I examined the dispersion of two species of epiphytic mistletoe (Antidaphne viscoidea: Eremolepidaceae and Phoradendron undulatum: Viscaceae) within and between host trees. Six sites on one hill in Cañitas, Costa Rica were surveyed for data relating to dispersion structure (nearest neighbor distance and frequency within host trees). Additional study was done on the spatial dispersion on the host tree Psidium guajava, and it was found to have clustered dispersions. Indices of dispersion and tests comparing observed results to Poisson distributions showed …

Is Exposure To Income Inequality A Public Health Concern? Lagged Effects Of Income Inequality On Individual And Population Health, Jennifer M. Mellor, Jeffrey Milyo

Arts & Sciences Articles

Objective. To examine the health consequences of exposure to income inequality.

Data Sources. Secondary analysis employing data from several publicly available sources. Measures of individual health status and other individual characteristics are obtained from the March Current Population Survey (CPS). State-level income inequality is measured by the Gini coefficient based on family income, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau and Al-Samarrie and Miller (1967). State-level mortality rates are from the Vital Statistics of the United States; other state-level characteristics are from U.S. census data as reported in the Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Study Design. We …

On The Importance Of Age-Adjustment Methods In Ecological Studies Of Social Determinants Of Mortality, Jeffrey Milyo, Jennifer M. Mellor

Arts & Sciences Articles

Objective. To illustrate the potential sensitivity of ecological associations between mortality and certain socioeconomic factors to different methods of age-adjustment.

Data Sources. Secondary analysis employing state-level data from several publicly available sources. Crude and age-adjusted mortality rates for 1990 are obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The Gini coefficient for family income and percent of persons below the federal poverty line are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Putnam's (2000) Social Capital Index was downloaded from http://www.bowlingalone.com; the Social Mistrust Index was calculated from responses to the General Social Survey, following the method described in Kawachi et …

Ecology And Management Of Raccoons Within An Intensively Managed Forest In The Central Appalachians, Sheldon F. Owen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The raccoon (Procyon lotor), a generalist meso-predator, is commonly found throughout the eastern United States. Many researchers have examined the ecology and spatial requirements of raccoons in agricultural and wetland areas of the mid-western and southeastern United States. However, no studies have quantitatively examined raccoon habits in the forested central Appalachians and their response to forest management. During the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2003, I monitored the spatial movements and den site selection of raccoons within an intensively managed forest.;I investigated the occurrence of raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) in raccoons (Procyon lotor) within my study area. I …

Censusing And Modeling The Dynamics Of A Population Of Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis L.) Using Remote Sensing, W. Robert Lamar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

A population of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis L.) was censused from the ground using traditional field methods and from the air using large scale, high-resolution, aerial imagery in the early spring of 1997, 1998 and 1999. A manual crown survey map of the population, prepared from aerial imagery, was compared to a traditional field census. Over 60% of the individuals measured on the ground were not detected in the aerial census. Tree size, crown density and crown position all played roles in determining a crown's visibility from the air. Nearly all large, upper canopy hemlocks were visible in the aerial …

Frequency Distributions Of Escherichia Coli Subtypes In Various Fecal Sources Over Time And Geographical Space: Application To Bacterial Source Tracking Methods, Matthew A. Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial source tracking (BST) methods often involve the use of phenotypic or genotypic fingerprinting techniques to compare indicator bacteria such as Escherichia coli isolated from unknown sources against a library of fingerprints from indicator bacteria found in the feces of various known source animals. The predictive capability of a library is based in part on how well the library isolates reflect the true population diversity of indicator bacteria that can potentially impact a water body. The purpose of this study was to compare the behavior of E. coli population structures in the feces of humans, beef cattle and horses across …

Ecological Genetics Of Melaleuca Quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) : Population Variation In Florida And Its Influence On Performance Of The Biological Control Agent Oxyops Vitiosa (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), F. Allen Dray Jr.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) Blake (Myrtaceae) was imported into Florida from Australia over a century ago as a landscape plant. A favorable climate and periodic wildfires helped M. quinquenervia thrive; it now occupies about 200,000 hectares in southern Florida. A biological control (i.e., biocontrol) program against M. quinquenervia has been initiated, but not all biocontrol releases are successful. Some scientists have argued that poor biocontrol agent success may relate to genetic differences among populations of invasive weeds. I tested this premise by determining (1) the number and origins of M. quinquenervia introductions into Florida, (2) whether multiple introduction events resulted in …

Vegetation Dynamics In Enp Marshes, With Emphasis On Taylor Slough (Iop Congressional Report), Michael S. Ross, Jay P. Sah, Thomas V. Armentano, David T. Jones, Hillary C. Cooley, Craig S. Smith

SERC Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Predicting Fish Species Diversity In Lotic Freshwaters Of Greece, Eugene G. Maurakis, David V. Grimes

Virginia Journal of Science

Objectives were to test the hypothesis that stream order and stream width alone account for species diversity in drainages of Greece, and to create a mathematical model that predicts fish diversity in small and medium sized freshwater streams in the southern Balkan Peninsula in accord with the stream classification system proposed by the European Environmental Agency (EEA). Thirty-seven species of fishes in 12 families (Petromyzontidae, Anguillidae, Cyprinidae, Moronidae, Centrarchidae, and Blenniidae) were collected in five stream orders (1-5) from 19 river drainages in Greece in 1993 and from 2000-2002. Numbers of species were significantly correlated with stream order (+), width …

Identification Key To Fishes In Fresh Waters Of Greece, Eugene G. Maurakis, Panos S. Economidis

Virginia Journal of Science

The European Environmental Agency formulated a biodiversity initiative in 1996 specifying a freshwater stream-monitoring program to inventory, identify and describe aquatic and terrestrial species in European Union countries. With one of the richest freshwater ichthyofaunas in Europe (126 fish taxa: 97 species and 29 subspecies of primary or secondary freshwater fishes), Greece has two extinct fish species, five listed as critically endangered, and 29 considered endangered and/or vulnerable. There are, however, no published identification guides that are available for identifying fish specimens from fresh waters in Greece. We present an English translation of the only available identification key (in Greek) …

Waddington’S Widget: Hsp90 And The Inheritance Of Acquired Characters, Douglas M. Ruden, Mark D. Garfinkel, Vincent E. Sollars, Xiangyi Lu

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Conrad Waddington published an influential model for evolution in his 1942 paper, Canalization of Development and Inheritance of Acquired Characters. In this classic, albeit controversial, paper, he proposed that an unknown mechanism exists that conceals phenotypic variation until the organism is stressed. Recent studies have proposed that the highly conserved chaperone Hsp90 could function as a “capacitor,” or an “adaptively inducible canalizer,” that masks silent phenotypic variation of either genetic or epigenetic origin. This review will discuss evidence for, and arguments against, the role of Hsp90 as a capacitor for morphological evolution, and as a key component of what …

Novel Object Test: Examining Nociception And Fear In The Rainbow Trout, Lynne U. Sneddon, Victoria A. Braithwaite, Michael J. Gentle

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

This study aimed to assess fear responses to a novel object while experiencing a noxious event to determine whether nociception or fear will dominate attention in a fish in novel object testing paradigm. This experimentally tractable animal model was used to investigate (1) the degree of neophobia to a novel object while experiencing noxious stimulation, (2) the response of the fish after removing the fear-causing event by using a familiar object, and (3) the effects of removing the nociceptive response by morphine administration and examining the response to a novel object. Control animals displayed a classic fear response to the …

Habitat Use And Migration Patterns Of Sandhill Cranes Along The Platte River, 1998 – 2001, Craig Davis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

During spring migration, sandhill cranes (Crus Canadensis) rely on the central Platte River valley in Nebraska as a staging area to replenish depleted energy and nutrient reserves. From mid-February to mid-April 1998-2001, we conducted ground and aerial surveys of sandhill cranes in the central Platte River valley. Peak numbers of sandhill cranes (121,000-285,000 cranes) detected during ground surveys occurred in mid-March (1998, 2001) or early March (1999, 2000). From 42% to 55% of the cranes occurred in cornfields, 26%-38% in lowland grassland, 7%-13% in alfalfa, and 2%-12% in other habitats (soybean, winter wheat, shrub-grassland, upland grassland). In general, …

Social Disorganization Theory: Examining The Mediating Effects Of Social Ties And Disorder On Crime, Matasha L. Harris

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Using study data collected for a larger research project entitled Project on Policing Neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Indiana, 1996, the relationship between social ties and disorder on neighborhood structural characteristics and crime rates was tested. Using two Structural Equation Models the mediating effects of social ties and disorder on neighborhood structural characteristics and crime received partial support from the analysis of Indianapolis data.

The results revealed that poverty and family disruption exerts a positive impact on crime rates. The results also revealed that neighborhoods with high levels of racial heterogeneity have a negative effect on social ties. As well, the study …

Tcwp Newsletter No. 252, Tennessee Citizens For Wilderness Planning

Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Geobotany Of The Niobrara Chalk Barrens In Colorado: A Study Of Edaphic Endemism, Sylvia Kelso, Nathan W. Bower, Kirsten E. Heckmann, Paul M. Beardsley, Darren G. Greve

Western North American Naturalist

The chalk barrens of the Niobrara Formation in the Arkansas River valley of Colorado exhibit a high degree of plant endemism and rarity. We examined their geochemistry and structure as well as the reproductive ecology of their signature species Mirabilis rotundifolius to assess factors influencing endemism. While no single component consistently identified the barren soils, the natural locations that support Mirablilis can be identified using elemental profiles from a cluster analysis of soil extracts. Because seeds germinate and plants proliferate in transplant gardens with non-calcic soils, bedrock and soil chemistry do not appear to be determinant components of endemism. Mirabilis …

Fall Diet Of Chukars (Alectoris Chukar) In Eastern Oregon And Discovery Of Ingested Lead Pellets, Hanspeter Walter, Kerry P. Reese

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Draft Plan Of Management For The Proposed Point Quobba Fish Habitat Protection Area., Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries management papers

Point Quobba is a popular site for locals and tourists for beach activities, fishing and snorkelling, and as a place for children to learn to swim and gain an awareness of the marine environment. The marine life and habitats of the area are of considerable scientific and recreational interest and are highly valued in the local community. However, they are at risk from their high level of use and from conflict between users due to their proximity to popular tourism, boat ramp, camping and settlement areas on-shore.

Fidelity Of Select Restriction Endonucleases In Determining Microbial Diversity By Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, Craig L. Moyer, Jeff J. Engebretson

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

An evaluation of 18 DNA restriction endonucleases for use in terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis was performed by using richness and density indices in conjunction with computer simulations for 4,603 bacterial small-subunit rRNA gene sequences. T-RFLP analysis has become a commonly used method for screening environmental samples for precursory identification and community comparison studies due to its precision and high-throughput capability. The accuracy of T-RFLP analysis for describing a community has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. In this study, we attempted to classify restriction endonucleases based upon the ability to resolve unique terminal-restriction fragments (T-RFs) or operational taxonomic units …

Crane Flies (Tipulomorpha; Diptera) Collected During The All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory Of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee And North Carolina : An Ecological Study, Matthew J. Petersen

Masters Theses

Collections were made in association with the All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) occurring in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) was conducted between October 2000 and October 2002 in an attempt to define the crane fly (Tipulomorpha, Diptera) assemblages found there. The objectives of this research were: 1) to define the crane fly assemblages of GRSM, 2) estimate the numbers of species likely to be found in GRSM, and 3) determine spatial and temporal distributions for species encountered. Over 9,000 specimens were collected from 22 Malaise trap located at 11 ATBI plot locations, representing 177 species from 57 genera and 5 …

Phylogeography And Population Structure Of The Prairie Skink (Eumeces Septentrionalis), Gregory S. Fuerst

Theses and Dissertations

The geographical and geneological limits of species are firmly rooted in historical and current processes. Phylogenetic studies focus on the historical aspect and examine character states to estimate ancestor-descendent relationships. The number of described species in the world has been estimated at 1.4 to 1.8 million and other estimates suggest that as many as 30 million species may exist (May, 1990; Wilson, 1992). Phylogenetic studies provide the information needed to delimit and classify these species based on their historical relationships. Studies on species population structure focus on the current and historical processes acting on a species. These studies use a …

Plan Of Management For The Miaboolya Beach Fish Habitat Protection Area, Shane Alymore, Sarah Anderson

Fisheries management papers

The aim of this management plan is to protect and rehabilitate the aquatic habitat of Miaboolya Beach, the associated mangrove ecosystem, and involve the community in their management. By setting the area aside as a FHPA, the Department of Fisheries has established a framework to promote and actively conserve all the habitats within the Miaboolya system, as described in Section 3 of this document.

Study Of The Distribution And Variation Of The Herbicide Atrazine In Finished Drinking Water At A Small Community Water System In Kentucky, Vijay Golla

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the variation in the distribution of the concentration of atrazine, a triazine herbicide used in Kentucky to control weeds primarily in corn fields. Atrazine is known to have carcinogenic properties and is an endocrine disruptor in aquatic species even at low concentrations. Atrazine has the ability to be transported through the environment into water bodies due to its physical and chemical properties favoring its occurrence and distribution. Raw and Finished drinking water samples were collected from the Lewisburg water treatment plant which derives its drinking water supplies from a source water intake namely Spa Lake, which has …

Predicting Severe Wildfire Years In The Florida Everglades, Brian Beckage, William J. Platt

Faculty Publications

© 2003 The Ecological Society of America. Wildfires result in important ecological benefits to many ecosystems, but have costs associated with fire fighting and property loss. Accurate, timely forecasts of the severity of upcoming wildfire seasons could facilitate wildfire management, limiting the most destructive aspects of fires, while preserving their ecological benefits. We demonstrate an approach where time series models are used to predict the severity of the wildfire season in Everglades National Park in southern Florida 3 months and 1 year beforehand. Model predictions contained all obserations within a 90% credible interval and also anticipated severe wildfire seasons. These …