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Breakdown And Invertebrate Colonization Of Dead Wood In Wetland, Upland, And River Habitats, Amy Braccia, Darold P. Batzer

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Breakdown of woody debris in river and upland habitats as well as the interactions between wood and invertebrates have been well described. Studies of wood in wetlands are rare, and far less is known about breakdown and invertebrate use of wood in these transitional habitats. This study experimentally assessed breakdown and invertebrate colonization of wood in a floodplain wetland and directly related patterns in the wetland to adjacent river and upland habitats. Over a 2.7 year period, we monitored breakdown and invertebrate presence in 10 cm diameter × 150 cm long sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) logs in a floodplain wetland …

Hydrologic-Carbon Cycle Linkages In A Subalpine Catchment, Diego Andrés Riveros-Iregui

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The feedbacks between the water and the carbon cycles are of critical importance to global carbon balances. Forests and forest soils in northern latitudes are important carbon pools because of their potential as sinks for atmospheric carbon. However there are significant unknowns related to the effects of hydrologic variability, mountainous terrain, and landscape heterogeneity in controlling soil carbon dioxide (CO₂) efflux. Mountainous terrain imposes large spatial heterogeneity in the biophysical controls of soil CO₂ production and efflux, including soil temperature, soil water content, vegetation, substrate, and soil physical properties. Strong spatial and temporal variability in biophysical controls …

Evst 495.01: Special Topics - Applied Ecology Field Study, Vicki J. Watson, Nathaniel Robinson

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

For 271.01: Wilderness Ecology, Paul Alaback

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Anth 400.01: History Of Anthropological Thought, Richard A. Sattler

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Non-Blackbird Avian Occurrence And Abundance In North Dakota Sunflower Fields, Dionn A. Schaaf, George M. Linz, Curt Doetkott, Mark W. Lutman, William J. Bleier

The Prairie Naturalist

Sunflower fields are well-documented as foraging habitat for fallmigrating blackbirds (Family Icteridae). There is, however, a paucity of information on the use of sunflower fields by non-blackbirds. We assessed non-blackbird use of 12 ripening sunflower fields in the Prairie Pothole Region of central North Dakota. From mid-August to mid-October 2000, we counted 4,129 individual birds, consisting of 22 families and 61 species, in the sample fields and within 5 m of the field edges. We saw the largest number of birds from 18 September to 27 September. The Family Emberizidae (sparrows) accounted for 26% of the species and 20% of …

The Prairie Naturalist. Volume 40, No. 3/4 September/December 2008, The Great Plains Natural Science Society

The Prairie Naturalist

WINTERKILL AND BIOMASS OF THE PAINTED TURTLE IN A SOUTH DAKOTA WETLAND. S. G. Platt, Z. Fast Horse, W. Cross, S. Mannel, and T. R. Rainwater

NON-BLACKBIRD AVIAN OCCURRENCE AND ABUNDANCE IN NORTH DAKOTA SUNFLOWER FIELDS. O. A. Schaaf, G. M. Linz, C. Ooetkott, M. W. Lutman, and W. J. Bleier

USING LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND REMOTE SENSING TO MAP KNOWN AND POTENTIAL PRAIRIE-CHICKEN DISTRIBUTION IN KANSAS. M. E. Houts, R. O. Rodgers, R. D. Applegate, and W. H. Busby

A CASE STUDY OF A SUCCESSFUL LAKE REHABILITATION PROJECT IN SOUTH-CENTRAL NEBRASKA. P. J. Spirk, B. A. Newcomb, and K. O. …

Winterkill And Biomass Of The Painted Turtle In A South Dakota Wetland, Steven G. Platt, Zannita Fast Horse, Warren Cross, Sylvio Mannel, Thomas R. Rainwater

The Prairie Naturalist

Winterkill occurs when drought conditions expose hibernating turtles to desiccation and lethaly cold temperatures. Winterkill is thought to represent a major source of mortality in northern populations of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), but few field observations are available. We herein reported on catastrophic winterkill among western painted turtle (C. pieta bellii) at Limestone Butte Lake (LBL) in western South Dakota during the winter of 2003-2004. Additionally, we used the carcasses of winterkilled turtles (n = 86) to estimate the standing crop biomass of the painted turtle at LBL (0.6 kg/ha). This was the only estimate …

Observation Of Hailstorm-Caused Mortality Of Least Terns And Piping Plovers On The Niobrara River, Nebraska, Mark M. Czaplewski, Mark Peyton, Jim Jenniges

Nebraska Bird Review

Hail has been documented to be a cause of mortality to adult Least Terns and Piping Plovers as well as to eggs and young (Boyd 1992, Lingle 1993, Schweitzer and Davis 2000, SD Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks 2005). While on an airboat survey to document Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) and Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) use of a portion of the Niobrara River (from Highway 137 to the Spencer Dam, approximately 40 river miles), the authors observed the remnants of a Least Tern and Piping Plover colony that had been hit by an overnight rainstorm …

Fce Ii Year Two Annual Report For Nsf Award Dbi-0620409 (2008), Evelyn E. Gaiser, Michael R. Heithaus, Rudolf Jaffe´, Laura Ogden, René M. Price

FCE - LTER Annual Reports and Proposals

No abstract provided.

New And Interesting Laboulbeniales From Brazil, Walter Rossi, Ernesto Bergonzo

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Two new species of Laboulbeniales are described: Laboulbenia parasyphraeae, parasitic on Parasyphraea sp. (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Alticinae), and L. skelleyi, parasitic on Pselaphacus rubricatus and P. signatus (Coleoptera, Erotylidae). Other recorded species are Chaetomyces pinophili, Chitonomyces aurantiacus, Corethromyces ophitis, Dimorphomyces platensis, Dioicomyces anthici, D. cf. notoxi, Hesperomyces coccinelloides, Hydrophilomyces rhynchophorus, Laboulbenia arnaudii, L. funeralis, L. pachystoma, and L. systenae. Six ‘‘morphospecies’’ of Chitonomyces (C. appendiculatus, C. hyalinus, C. prolongatus, C. simplex, C. uncinatus, and C. cf. zonatus) parasitic on …

The Bees Of Greater Puerto Rico (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Julio A. Genaro, Nico M. Franz

Insecta Mundi

The bee fauna of the Greater Puerto Rico area was studied. A review of the previous relevant studies is presented. An annotated catalog and information about the origin and distributional patterns are also provided. Thirty-nine species of bees occur in Puerto Rico and adjacent islands. This fauna is composed of four elements: exclusive Puerto Rican endemics (26.5%); Antillean endemics occurring on multiple islands (76.5%); continental species that have also colonized the Antilles (23.5%); and species introduced through human activity (12.8%). The bee fauna was both low in its diversity and showed the highest level of disharmony in relation to other …

Alcoholic Beverage Sales To Underage Buyers In The Commonwealth Of Virginia: Deterrence And Equality, William L. Goodman

Theses & Honors Papers

The Commonwealth of Virginia relies on the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to enforce laws designed to deter alcohol and cigarette sales to underage persons. ABC employs underage buyers (UAB) who attempt to make controlled purchases of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

The primary purpose of this research project is to determine if compliance checks deter alcohol sales to underage persons. Second, this study attempts to find if underage buyer demographics align with state demographics. Finally, this research attempts to determine if businesses are more likely to sell alcohol to underage buyers based on their race, ethnicity, and gender. This …

Limited Native Plant Regeneration In Novel, Exotic-Dominated Forests On Hawai’I, Joseph Mascaro, Kristen K. Becklund, R. Flint Hughes, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Ecological invasions are a major driver of global environmental change. When invasions are frequent and prolonged, exotic species can become dominant and ultimately create novel ecosystem types. These ecosystems are now widespread globally. Recent evidence from Puerto Rico suggests that exotic-dominated forests can provide suitable regeneration sites for native species and promote native species abundance, but this pattern has been little explored elsewhere. We surveyed 46 sites in Hawai’i to determine whether native species occurred in the understories of exotic-dominated forests. Native trees smaller than 10 cm in diameter were absent in 28 of the 46 sites and rare in …

Patterns Of Fish Communities And Limnological Conditions Relative To Floodplain Landscapes, Seiji Miyazono

Theses and Dissertations

The Yazoo River Basin of Mississippi includes several rivers and hundreds of floodplain lakes within an area greatly impacted by agriculture. I studied 17 of these lakes distributed over the lower half of the Yazoo River Basin to document fish assemblages and limnological patterns and to identify environmental variables that might influence these assemblages. Potential connectivity of the lake to parent river and wetland-lake area ratio in the watershed were related to the limnological conditions and fish communities. Lakes with greater potential connectivity tended to be deeper and had greater specific conductance and greater fish species richness including more riverine …

Development Of A Multi-Scale Management Perspective For Wadeable Stream Fisheries In Mississippi, John Brian Alford

Theses and Dissertations

I used multivariate, hierarchical analyses to examine the relative influence of watershed-, riparian- and channel-scale environmental characteristics on catch per unit effort (CPUE: fish/angler-hour) and species composition of sport fisheries in Mississippi wadeable streams. Partial canonical correspondence analyses indicated that riparian-scale variables (31.1%) explained more variation in sport fish relative abundances compared to watershed-scale (24.4%) and channel-scale variables (18.9%). Largemouth bass M. salmoides and longear sunfish Lepomis megalotis were more abundant in smaller-watershed streams with dense forest cover and greater woody debris, alkalinity and diverse substrates. Spotted bass M. punctulatus and bluegill L. macrochirus were more abundant in larger-watershed streams …

School Of Marine Science Graduate Catalog 2008-2009, College Of William And Mary, School Of Marine Science

Miscellaneous

Catalog for the Graduate program from the School of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary for the listed academic year.

Statewide Analysis Of Brook Trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis ) Population Status And Reach-Scale Conservation Priorities In West Virginia Watersheds, Jason W. Clingerman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) was formed to implement range-wide strategies that sustain healthy, fishable brook trout populations. Hudy et al. (2006) recently completed a comprehensive analysis of eastern brook trout distributions representing a critical first step towards fully integrating brook trout conservation efforts in this region. This study was designed to supplement and complement existing data on brook trout distributions and status within West Virginia. We examined recently obtained data for the entire state to update the EBTJV distributional map published in Hudy et al. (2006). We then used fish sample data along with GIS-acquired landscape data …

Fish Distributions And Nutrient Cycling In Streams: Can Fish Create Biogeochemical Hotspots, Peter B. Mcintyre, Alexander S. Flecker, Michael J. Vanni, James M. Hood, Brad W. Taylor, Steven A. Thomas

Dartmouth Scholarship

Rates of biogeochemical processes often vary widely in space and time, and characterizing this variation is critical for understanding ecosystem functioning. In streams, spatial hotspots of nutrient transformations are generally attributed to physical and microbial processes. Here we examine the potential for heterogeneous distributions of fish to generate hotspots of nutrient recycling. We measured nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) excretion rates of 47 species of fish in an N-limited Neotropical stream, and we combined these data with population densities in each of 49 stream channel units to estimate unit- and reach-scale nutrient recycling. Species varied widely in rates of N …

Infant Mortality In Delaware: The Need To Improve Maternal Health And Reduce Premature Births., David A. Paul. Md

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Delaware's high infant mortality rate continues to be driven by an increasing number of premature births. Premature birth is a complex problem with both social and medical roots. Based on the CDC road map, programs aimed at improving preconception health of women of childbearing age are blossoming in Delaware. In addition, Delaware's infant mortality rate can only be reduced if we are able to diminish disparities in health care delivery, and improve the social factors influencing infant mortality. These factors include diminishing family support, low high school graduation rate, poor housing, and a lack of health insurance.

Predictive Modeling Of Freshwater Mussels (Unionidae) In The Appalachians, Alison R. Mynsberge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Freshwater mussels are in decline, particularly in the Appalachian region of North America. This region contains the world's greatest diversity of freshwater mussels, but many species are now threatened or endangered. Little is known of the basic ecology and distributions of species of freshwater mussels relative to other freshwater organisms. The goal of this study was to use predictive modeling to predict distributions of freshwater mussels in the Appalachians and identify correlated factors using a watershed framework. Models were developed in the upper Mid-Atlantic and Ohio drainage regions using subwatersheds and separately in the Tennessee region using catchments. Models developed …

Changes In Wormlion (Vermilionidae) Pit Construction In Response To Energy Inputs And Disturbances, August 2008, Luke Hillman

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Wormlions are insects that, like antlions, are sit and wait predators in their larval stages, for whom optimizing energy expenditures is crucial because of potentially long periods of starvation. Initial pit depth and pit growth rates of antlions have been shown to decrease in response to limited food resources. Due to the similar foraging technique of worm and antlions, wormlions were hypothesized to show similar responses. Thirty-two wormlions were randomly divided into four treatments: fed-disturbed (FD), fed-undisturbed (FU), unfed-disturbed (UD) or unfed-undisturbed (UU). An aphid was dropped into wormlion pits of the FU and FD treatments, and pits in “disturbed” …

Effects Of Fish Introductions On The Geographic Distribution And Native Invertebrate Biodiversity Of Naturally Fishless Lakes In Maine, Emily Gaenzle Schilling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread fish stocking has led to a worldwide decline in naturally fishless lakes and their associated communities. Little is known about the historical distribution or native communities of these freshwater ecosystems. The objectives of this study were to: 1) develop a quantitative method to remotely detect naturally fishless lakes in Maine, 2) conduct a landscape-scale assessment of unique attributes of fishless lake macroinvertebrate communities, 3) identify macroinvertebrate bioindicators of fish absence, and 4) assess effects of introduced fish on native macroinvertebrates. I identified two physiographic types of naturally fishless lakes in Maine: kettle lakes in the eastern lowlands and foothills …

An All-Terrain Vehicle Safety Educational Program: Is It Effective In Improving Attitudes, Safety Knowledge, And Behaviors In Adolescents Ages 12 To 18?, Kim Elaine Young Vickous

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

All terrain vehicles (ATVs) are a popular source of recreation. For some rural adolescents, ATVs are frequently used for agricultural work. Whether for work or recreation, many adolescents operate ATVs improperly either from a lack of knowledge, poor judgment or they engage in risky behaviors resulting in injuries and fatalities.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) has devoted resources to provide ATV safety programs to educate adolescents statewide. However, there are no known studies evaluating the effectiveness of this KDA intervention. Therefore, a pilot study was proposed to determine the effectiveness of The KDA ATV safety program in improving ATV …

Community Ecology And Phylogeography Of Bird Assemblages In Arid Zones Of Northern Venezuela: Implications For The Conservation Of Restricted-Range Birds, Adriana Rodriguez-Ferraro

Dissertations

Aridlands of northern Venezuela are important from an ornithological perspective because of the occurrence of habitat specialist birds that depend exclusively on desert scrubs and are endemic to this region. Currently, long-term survival of habitat specialists is threatened by ongoing changes in vegetation but the effects of such changes on bird assemblages are unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize bird assemblages found in six arid zones in northern Venezuela at both ecological and genetic levels, and to generate information relevant for conservation planning. The study involved assessments of patterns of avian species richness, abundance, community composition and …

The Influence Of Habitat Quality On The Community Structure, Distribution Pattern, Condition, And Growth Of Coral Reef Fish: A Case Study Of Grunts (Haemulidae) From Antigua B.W.I, A Small Island System, Sherry Lynette Constantine

Open Access Dissertations

The goal of this research was to determine the relative quality of near shore marine areas by investigating their influence on Haemulidae community structure, distribution pattern, condition, and growth. Habitat was defined at the small spatial scale of individual habitat types such as seagrass beds, mangroves and coral reefs, and at the broader spatial scale of the interconnection of these individual habitat types within a mosaic (IHM). Ten spatial, biotic and abiotic parameters (percentage coverage of sand, mangroves, hard substrate, and seagrass, turbidity, pH, salinity, temperature, average depth, and predator density) were investigated. These environmental characteristics acted as proxies for …

Arthropod And Plant Communities As Indicators Of Land Rehabilitation Effectiveness In A Semi-Arid Shrub-Steppe, Eric T. Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

We describe a case study evaluating the ecological impact of Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass) invasion following fire disturbance and the effectiveness of revegetation in improving ecological integrity in a degraded semi-arid shrub steppe system. The effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts was assessed from measurements of arthropod richness, vegetation and arthropod community composition, and ground cover characteristics in three habitats: undisturbed, burned and weed-infested (B. tectorum), and burned and rehabilitated with native and non-native vegetation. Arthropods were collected in each habitat using pitfall traps. Differences in arthropod richness were compared using rarefaction curves. Non-metric multidimensional scaling, and non-parametric multivariate statistical procedures including …

Legislative Committee On Public Lands, Margaret N. Rees

Presentations (PLI)

The Public Lands Institute is dedicated to strengthening the national fabric that is essential for the protection, conservation, multiple use, and management of public lands.

Alien Invaders! Post-Visit Lesson (Grade 6), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

The following post-visit activity is designed to synthesize and expand the knowledge students have gained in their Forever Earth experience by creating a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about an invasive species. By completing this activity, students re-analyze the impact of such species on an ecosystem and consider the value in educating and motivating the public in regard to invasive species.

Open And Accessible: The Relationship Between Closures And Circulation In School Library Media Centers., Gail Dickinson, E Cogdell, Karen W. Gavigan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.