Other Education Commons^™

Comparing Mortality In Response To Simulated Climate Change In The Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex Badius, And The Fire Ant, Solenopsis Invicta, Haley Depner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid transport of plants, produce, and goods out of its South American home, the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has invaded continents on a global scale. In the United States alone, S. invicta is responsible for an estimated $1 billion in damages annually. In contrast to the invasive fire ant, Florida’s native harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, is a keystone seed disperser, providing seed relocation benefits to Florida’s sandhill wildfire-adapted habitats. Seed relocation reduces seedling competition for nutrients with the parent plant, reduces predation of seeds by rodents, increases nutrient loads associated with ant mound soils, and protects seeds from …

Behavioral Thermoregulation And Thermal Mismatches Influence Disease Dynamics In Amphibians, Erin Louise Sauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amphibians are currently the most threatened vertebra taxa on the planet. Hundreds of species are thought to have gone extinct while thousands more have been listed as threatened or endangered over the past few decades. Habitat loss, invasive species, climate change, and disease are all thought to have partially contributed to these declines. Two pathogens in particular, infectious viruses in the genus Ranavirus (simply referred to as ranavirus) and the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), have been associated with global mass mortality events of amphibians. Virulent pathogens such as these tend to impose strong selective pressures on their hosts driving the …

Taxonomy, Ecology, And Behavior Of The Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia Papillosa, William Alan Gowacki

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sacoglossan sea slugs are one of the best known examples of specialist herbivores in the marine environment and can be found strongly associated with their algal hosts and food sources. Perhaps the most intriguing characteristic of many sacoglossans is their ability to sequester functional chloroplasts from their algal food sources in a process called kleptoplasty. Despite this, there continues to be issues regarding taxonomic identification of species. In turn, the ecological characteristics of many of these slugs, such as algal host and food source preference, as well as their behavioral aspects, have received little attention. A prime example of these …

An Investigation Into The Habitat, Behavior And Opportunistic Feeding Strategies Of The Protected Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus Itajara), Angela Collins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Groupers (Epinephelidae: Epinephelinae) are apex predators within many reef communities worldwide. Grouper landings contribute significantly to global fisheries, and many populations are suffering from unsustainable levels of exploitation. The large size, site specificity and catchability of most groupers increase susceptibility to fishing pressure, and a large number of grouper species throughout the world are currently overfished. Multiple species are listed as endangered or threatened, and many have suffered local extirpations across their range. Removal of these upper level predators can significantly alter community structure and result in second order effects that may have critical ecological implications. The economic and ecological …

Net Effects Of Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis (Bd) And Fungicides On Anurans Across Life Stages, Jenise Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amphibians are declining at alarming rates globally. Multiple factors contribute to these declines, including chemical contaminants and emergent diseases. In recent years, agrochemical use, especially fungicide applications, has increased considerably. Previous studies have demonstrated that these agrochemicals leave application sites and enter wetlands via runoff and have detrimental effects on non-target organisms. For example, exposure to contaminants can have multifarious effects on amphibians, such as reducing their ability to deal with a secondary stressor, such as disease.

A pathogen that is found concomitant with chemical contaminants in aquatic systems is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd has decimated amphibian populations worldwide. Susceptibility …

Use Of Stable Isotope And Trace Metal Signatures To Track The Emigration Of Female Blue Crabs, Callinectes Sapidus, From Tampa Bay, Sky Barrington Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, supports a successful fishery in the Atlantic Ocean and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, with a total landing of 8,158,788 lb. and a total value of $10,562,128 for the state of Florida during 2012 (FWC 2012 Annual Landings Summary). An accurate and comprehensive understanding of the blue crab's life history and seasonal migration behavior is essential in defining effective management strategies for the fishery. Tag recapture studies and ultrasonic tracking methods for studying blue crab migrations are costly in terms of time and resources. In this study an alternative approach, microchemical natural tagging, was …