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Biology

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Theses and Dissertations

2016

Invasive species

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Calculating Evapotranspiration Of Arundo Donax Along The Rio Grande, Jose R. Escamilla Jr. Dec 2016

Calculating Evapotranspiration Of Arundo Donax Along The Rio Grande, Jose R. Escamilla Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species have been recorded to cause large economic and ecological impacts on various ecosystems and their services. Locally, giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a woody grass native to the Mediterranean, adversely impacts riparian ecosystems in southwestern United States by aggressively displacing their native flora and fauna. Giant reed also has become a cause of concern for national water security, especially in water-limited areas of the arid southwestern United States. The main objective of this study is to provide the first, landscape-level estimates of water use by giant reed in the United States. Evapotranspiration was monitored using the eddy …


Relationships Between Texas Tortoise Carapace Length, Home Range Size, And Habitat Selection At Sites With Invasive Grass, Kiley V. Briggs May 2016

Relationships Between Texas Tortoise Carapace Length, Home Range Size, And Habitat Selection At Sites With Invasive Grass, Kiley V. Briggs

Theses and Dissertations

Invasive grasses in south Texas have the potential to negatively impact the threatened Texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) by reducing the availability of preferred foods (forbs) and may cause tortoises to travel farther, lead to reduced carapace length, and reduce the availability of refugia from heat stress. I used compositional analysis, regression, and ANOVA to explore relationships between invasive grasses and habitat use, home range size, and carapace length, as well as compared daily maximum temperatures between tussocks of an invasive and native grass. Forbs were ranked higher in use over invasive grasses in compositional analysis, but not strongly so (p …