Life Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Providing Novel Feedstuffs To Livestock On Production And Skeletal Muscle Growth, Laura A. Motsinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As the population increases and available land for food production decreases, it is necessary for livestock producers to continually work towards increasing livestock production efficiency. In livestock operations, feed accounts for the majority of input costs associated with raising livestock. As such, it is necessary to improve growth and production of livestock animals, while also optimizing feed utilization. Different feedstuffs can be included in the diet of livestock animals to maximize growth and production. However, the effects of some of these novel feedstuffs on growth and production of livestock animals has not been elucidated. As such, we investigated the effects …

Fermentation Of Prebiotics In Whole Food Powders By Probiotic Bacteria Strains, Michaela Brubaker, Sumira Phatak

Research on Capitol Hill

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Modification of the gut microbiome offers potential for CRC prevention.

A Pilot Study Of The Effects Of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae Exposure On Domestic Lamb Growth And Performance, Thomas E. Besser, Jessica Levy, Melissa Ackerman, Danielle Nelson, Kezia R. Manlove, Kathleen A. Potter, Jan Busboom, Margaret Benson

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is a globally distributed pathogen that has been associated with pneumonia in both domestic and wild Caprinae. It is closely related to M. hyopneumoniae, a respiratory pathogen of swine that is associated with decreased growth rates of pigs as well as clinical respiratory disease. In order to assess the effects of M. ovipneumoniae on lamb performance, we generated a cohort of lambs free of M. ovipneumoniae by segregation of test negative ewes after lambing, then compared the growth and carcass quality traits of M. ovipneumoniae-free and -colonized lambs from weaning to harvest. Some signs of respiratory disease …

Characterizing Growth And Condition Of Endangered Humpback Chub In The Lower Colorado River, William E. Pine Iii, Brandon S. Gerig, Colton Finch

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper is a preface to the two papers that follow in this issue. The two papers (by Pine et al. and Hayes et al.) use long-term fish sampling data from ongoing Humpback Chub monitoring efforts and archival otolith samples (from museums) collected in the lower Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers during periods of both cold- and warm-water conditions to assess whether Humpback Chub growth characteristics may have responded to changes in water temperature. Growth patterns are often of interest to resource managers because growth integrates a large range of environmental and ecological factors, including habitat conditions. Together, these papers …

Comparative Ecology Of Narrowly Sympatric Horned Lizards Under Variable Climatic Conditions, Kevin V. Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We studied the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma mcallii, and the Sonoran Horned Lizard, P. goodei, in an area of narrow sympatry near Yuma, Arizona, and found they overlapped broadly in use of available food resources, body size, and growth rates. We compared diet (Chapter 2), growth and reproduction (Chapter 3), and survivorship (Chapter 4) of P. mcallii and P. goodei during two years of drought followed by a year of higher-than-average rainfall. We predicted that P. mcallii would be more tolerant of drought conditions than its congener, since P. mcalliiis found only in an extremely arid region while …

Physiological Importance Of 1,25(Oh)2D3 Membrane-Initiated And Nuclear Actions In Chickens As A Function Of Growth, And Maturation In Male And Female Chickens, Birgitta Larsson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is well established that l,25(OH)₂D₃ is a major regulator of calcium homeostasis. The steroid exerts its effects on its target organs by two mechanisms, a slow mechanism mediated by nuclear vitamin D receptors (nVDR), and a rapid mechanism mediated by the l,25(OH)₂D₃ membrane-associated rapid response steroid binding protein (l,25D₃-MARRS bp). In this dissertation, the physiological relevance of membrane initiated steroid signaling was investigated by studying the correlation of age in male and female chickens with the magnitude of responses to l,25(OH)₂D₃ in duodena from 7-, 14-, 28-, and …

Adding Nutrients To Enhance The Growth Of Endangered Sockeye Salmon: Trophic Transfer In An Oligotrophic Lake, Phaedra E. Budy, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, listed under U.S. law as endangered in 1991 in response to a decline in anadromous adult numbers, spend their first 1–2 years in Redfish Lake, Idaho, before migrating to the sea. To determine how nutrient enhancement might influence phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish production, we performed fertilization experiments in large enclosures in this oligotrophic lake using juvenile kokanee (lacustrine O. nerka) as analogues for endangered sockeye salmon. Fertilization of the metalimnion substantially increased chlorophyll a (150%), phytoplankton biovolume (75%), primary productivity (250%), and zooplankton biomass (200%), and moderately increased fish growth (12%) over our control …

Growth And Survival Of Colorado Squawfish In The Upper Colorado River, D. B. Osmundson, Ronald J. Ryel, T. E. Mourning

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Growth and adult survival rates were estimated for the endangered Colorado squawfish Ptychocheilus lucius inhabiting the upper Colorado River by using data from fish captured during 1990–1995. Mean annual growth rates of fish aged 3–6 years ranged from 32.2 (age 6) to 82.0 (age 3) mm/year. Growth rates for older fish were highest for fish 400–449 mm total length, TL, (42.7 mm/year) and declined to 19.8 mm/year for fish 500–549 mm TL. Fish 550 mm and longer grew an average 9.5 mm/year. Survival rates for fish 550 mm and longer were estimated by comparing measured size distributions with simulated stable …

Effects Of Daphnia Availability On Growth And Food Consumption Of Rainbow Trout In Two Utah Reservoirs, R. Tabor, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We monitored the diet and growth of stocked rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in two Utah reservoirs during 1986 and 1989–1990. For the first month after stocking, juvenile rainbow trout in both reservoirs fed extensively on large Daphnia spp. In East Canyon Reservoir where Daphnia were abundant, this pattern continued throughout the summer, fall, and winter. Growth of rainbow trout in East Canyon Reservoir was generally good throughout 1989–1990. In Causey Reservoir, where Daphnia were less abundant and smaller, rainbow trout fed progressively less on smaller Daphnia throughout the summer, fall, and winter, while other prey items (snails, aquatic insects, and …

Simulated Growth And Production Of Endangered Snake River Sockeye Salmon: Assessing Management Strategies For The Nursery Lakes, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Phaedra E. Budy, H. P. Gross

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We examined the potential of employing a series of lake management strategies to enhance production of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in its historical nursery lakes in central Idaho. We used a combination of limnological sampling, experimentation, and simulation modeling to assess effects of lake fertilization and kokanee reduction on growth and survival of juvenile sockeye salmon. Juvenile sockeye salmon from a broodstock of this endangered species are being introduced into the lakes from 1995 to 1998. Results of our analyses indicated that several lakes were suitable for receiving broodstock progeny. Field experimentation and simulation modeling indicated that …

Effect Of Spring Grazing By Cattle On Growth And Survival Of Shrub Seedlings Interplanted In Crested Wheatgrass, Lynn M. Mcconville

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A short duration-high intensity grazing trial was conducted in spring of 1985 to determine whether shrub establishment in crested wheatgrass pastures could be enhanced through spring grazing by cattle, or by fertilization of shrub seedlings. Data was collected on diet selection by cattle during spring grazing, and on subsequent shrub growth and survival. Shrubs studied were transplants of sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata, fourwing saltbush, Atriplex canescens, bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata, and one year old bitterbrush seedlings.

Cattle did not browse sagebrush or fourwing saltbush transplants, but utilization of bitterbrush transplants and seedlings averaged 15 and 42 percent, respectively. Shrub …

Growth Of Targhee And Targhee Crossbred Lambs On Utah Rangelands, Holly Ann George

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Growth data were collected on 1848 Targhee and Targhee crossbred lambs from the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station flock at Cedar City for 1981 and 1982. The study objectives were to establish growth curves for seven lamb genotypes and examine within genotype growth differences among four grazing treatments (sheep alone, sheep and cattle mixed, both continuous and rotation).

Body weights were measured at birth, and at mean ages of 56, 120, and 154 (weaning) days of age. Linear, quadratic, and cubic regressions of weight on age were used to establish growth curves. Among genotype comparisons of entire growth curves were impossible …

Growth And Activity Of Juvenile Mosquitofish: Temperature And Ration Effects, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, J. Cech

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The effects of constant temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 C) and ration size on the growth rates and activity of juvenile mosquitofish Gambusia affinis (mean wet weight, about 20 mg) were measured in laboratory experiments. On ad libitum rations of Tubifex spp. worms, food-consumption rates of mosquitofish were very high, ranging from 7% dry body weight/day at 10 C to 83%/day at 35 C. Growth increased from 0% dry body weight/day at 10 C to 21%/day at 30 C and declined slightly at 35 C. Gross efficiencies (100 growth/food consumption) increased from 0 at 10 C to …

Age And Growth Of The Utah Chub, Gila Atraria (Girard), In Panguitch Lake And Navajo Lake, Utah, From Scales And Opercular Bones, John M. Neuhold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous literature indicates the opercular bone as a useful tool for the determination of age and growth of fish. The reliability and validity of this method is tested for two populations of Utah chub. Age and growth are calculated for 222 Utah chub collected from Panguitch Lake and 212 Utah chub collected from Navajo Lake, southern Utah, in 1952-1953 from both scales and opercular bones. Scales are measured with the aid of a projector. Opercular bones are measured directly. The center of growth of the opercular bone is posterior to the posterior lip of the fulcrum. Correction for curvature is …

The Opercular Bone As An Indicator Of Age And Growth Of The Carp Cyprinus Carpio Linnaeus, William J. Mcconell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As part of an investigation of the non-game fish resources of Utah, a study of the age and growth rate of the carp was instituted. A preliminary investigation indicated that the opercular method was superior to several other methods of determining age and growth in the carp. Age and growth were calculated from the opercular bones of 330 carp collected at Ogden Bay Refuge in 1950-51. Distances to annuli were measured directly. The relationship between the posterior radius of the opercular bone and the standard length of the carp was curvilinear. Past growth was calculated with a logarithmic nomograph. Expected …