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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Influence Of Hiking Trails On Salamanders, Emily M. Macdonald Sep 2023

The Influence Of Hiking Trails On Salamanders, Emily M. Macdonald

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Over half of the World’s salamanders are facing extinction. It is important to understand the impact Humans have on them in all parts of their ranges so we can better understand what they need and how we can prevent further extinctions. I conducted this study to try to determine if the human activity on the official hiking trails in the Arcata Community Forest in Arcata California; as designated by the official map of the Forest; is negatively impacting the salamanders that live in the Forest. I thought there would be an increase in the number of species and the overall …


List Of Fish Species Present In Galápagos, Ecuador, And California, U.S.A., With Notes On Their Commercial Importance And Conservation Status, Erin J. Hanson, Jose R. Marin Jarrin Oct 2022

List Of Fish Species Present In Galápagos, Ecuador, And California, U.S.A., With Notes On Their Commercial Importance And Conservation Status, Erin J. Hanson, Jose R. Marin Jarrin

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.


Data Repository For "North American Porcupine Distribution In The Pacific Northwest And Evaluation Of A Non-Invasive Monitoring Technique", Cara L. Appel, Katie M. Moriarty, Sean M. Matthews, David S. Green, Stacy Anderson, Evan King, J Scott Yaeger, Jeremy Brown, Claire Bortot, Tim Bean Jan 2021

Data Repository For "North American Porcupine Distribution In The Pacific Northwest And Evaluation Of A Non-Invasive Monitoring Technique", Cara L. Appel, Katie M. Moriarty, Sean M. Matthews, David S. Green, Stacy Anderson, Evan King, J Scott Yaeger, Jeremy Brown, Claire Bortot, Tim Bean

Research Data Sets

North American Porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) have a broad geographic distribution across much of the continent, but recent evidence suggests that their populations may be declining in some areas, including the Pacific Northwest. Estimating baseline historical and contemporary distributions of Porcupines is necessary for initiating monitoring efforts and, if necessary, informing strategic conservation actions. We compiled 1905 occurrence records of Porcupines in Washington, Oregon, and northern California from 1908 to 2018. Using maximum entropy modeling (Maxent), we created historical and contemporary distribution models based on Porcupine records from 1981–2010 and 2012–2018, respectively, to match the temporal scale of available …


Use Of Redwood Basal Hollows By Bats: A Focus On The Townsend's Big-Eared Bat On The North Coast Of California, Amon Jotesh Armstrong Jan 2021

Use Of Redwood Basal Hollows By Bats: A Focus On The Townsend's Big-Eared Bat On The North Coast Of California, Amon Jotesh Armstrong

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Loss of roosting resources, either through disturbance or removal, negatively affects bats. For sensitive species, such as the Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), determining roost requirements is a critical component in conserving their habitat. Such cavity roosting bats on the North Coast of California may use hollows in large redwood trees. In this study, I examined the factors determining the use of basal tree hollows by different bat species at eight redwood forest sites in Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino Counties, California. Bat guano was collected from 179 basal hollow roosts from 2017 to 2018, and guano mass …


Overwinter Survival And Movement Of Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch) In Relation To Large Woody Debris And Low-Velocity Habitat In Northern California Streams, John D. Deibner-Hanson Jan 2019

Overwinter Survival And Movement Of Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch) In Relation To Large Woody Debris And Low-Velocity Habitat In Northern California Streams, John D. Deibner-Hanson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Some studies suggest that Coho Salmon populations are limited by overwinter survival as a result of insufficient winter habitat. While many small-scale projects aim to define reach and basin-level habitat requirements for Coho Salmon, large-scale studies that assess multiple independent populations remain few. For my research, I quantified large woody debris (LWD) by volume and low-velocity rearing habitat (LVH) as percent area in three coastal watersheds of similar size in northern California to untangle the relationships between Coho Salmon overwinter survival, emigration timing and specific winter habitats. I used mark-recapture techniques with PIT tags to formulate Cormack-Jolly-Seber models for each …


A Time- And State-Based Approach To Estimate Winter Movement And Survival Of Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch) In Freshwater Creek, California, Nicholas Paul Van Vleet Jan 2019

A Time- And State-Based Approach To Estimate Winter Movement And Survival Of Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch) In Freshwater Creek, California, Nicholas Paul Van Vleet

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Accounting for life history diversity and overwinter survival of juvenile Coho Salmon is important to inform restoration and recovery efforts for this threatened species. Multiple seaward migration patterns of Coho Salmon have been identified, including spring fry migrants, fall and winter parr migrants, and spring smolt migrants. Previous studies have indicated that spring smolt migrants have low overwinter survival rates while they are rearing in upstream habitats, suggesting that freshwater overwinter survival may be one factor that limits smolt production. However, previous research did not account for the early emigration of fall and winter parr migrants from the study area, …


Rangewide Tidewater Goby Occupancy Survey Using Environmental Dna, Michael Sutter Jan 2018

Rangewide Tidewater Goby Occupancy Survey Using Environmental Dna, Michael Sutter

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Rangewide monitoring of fish species is critical for determining status and trends in abundance and distribution; however, implementations of large-scale distribution surveys have generally been constrained by time and cost. This study uses environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor the presence or absence of two endangered tidewater goby species, the northern tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi) and the southern tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius kristinae), across their combined geographic range that encompasses the entire California coast (1,350 km).A multi-scale occupancy model designed specifically for eDNA methods was used to account for imperfect detection and to estimate true site occupancy. A …


Hunting Habitat Use And Selection Patterns Of Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) In The Urban-Agricultural Setting Of A Prominent Wine Grape Growing Region Of California, Xeronimo A. Castaneda Jan 2018

Hunting Habitat Use And Selection Patterns Of Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) In The Urban-Agricultural Setting Of A Prominent Wine Grape Growing Region Of California, Xeronimo A. Castaneda

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Large scale conversion of uncultivated land to agriculture threatens wildlife and can diminish ecosystem services provided by nature. Understanding how wildlife provision ecosystem services may incentivize wildlife conservation in agricultural landscapes. Attracting barn owls (Tyto alba) to nest on farms for pest management has been documented worldwide, but has not been thoroughly evaluated in vineyard agroecosystems. Napa Valley, California is a renowned winegrape growing region, and viticulturists encourage barn owl occupancy to help minimize plant damage from pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae) and voles (Microtus spp.). This study aimed to establish a basis for revealing the …


The Bee Fauna Of The Horse Mountain And Grouse Mountain Region, Humboldt County, California, Carrie Lopez Jan 2017

The Bee Fauna Of The Horse Mountain And Grouse Mountain Region, Humboldt County, California, Carrie Lopez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Recent concerns about the ecological well-being of bee communities in California and elsewhere have increased the need for monitoring programs and studies that evaluate the impact of habitat loss and alteration on bee diversity and abundance. Such studies depend critically on the expertise of people trained in taxonomy, but their numbers have declined in recent years. My primary goal was to gain a comprehensive first-hand experience with bee identification by documenting the fauna of a previously unstudied area in the mountains of northwestern California and by writing an identification key, intended for dedicated non-specialists, to the area’s 35 species of …


Seasonal Habitat Selection Of The North American Porcupine (Erethizon Dorsatum) In A Coastal Dune Forest, Cara L. Appel Jan 2016

Seasonal Habitat Selection Of The North American Porcupine (Erethizon Dorsatum) In A Coastal Dune Forest, Cara L. Appel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Wildlife-habitat relationship studies are important for understanding the factors that determine where species occur in space and time. Habitat selection by generalist species should be studied on fine spatial and temporal scales to avoid masking important differences between seasons, localities, or orders of selection. I conducted the first study of habitat use and general ecology of North American porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) in a coastal dune environment. Specifically, I assessed changes in body mass, home range size, and habitat selection in relation to the potential for seasonal nutritional and survival bottlenecks as reported elsewhere. Although they are considered generalists, …