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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Mitigating The Impacts Of Human Land-Use Change On Biodiversity: With A Focus On Large Migratory Herbivores, Kina Rebekah Murphy
Mitigating The Impacts Of Human Land-Use Change On Biodiversity: With A Focus On Large Migratory Herbivores, Kina Rebekah Murphy
Biology ETDs
Land-use change, commercial over-harvesting of species, and climate change are recognized as the main drivers of biodiversity loss. As a result, it is estimated that 30% of the planet’s biodiversity may go extinct by 2050. This dissertation focuses on how to mitigate the impacts of land-use change on biodiversity. I focus on large migratory herbivores because they are among the most heavily impacted by global change due to their large home range requirements. Habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting, and human-wildlife conflicts are among the biggest threats to large herbivores and result from land-use change. For this reason, my first chapter focuses …
Reintroducing Environmental Change Drivers In Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Research., Frederik De Laender, Jason R. Rohr, Roman Ashauer, Donald J Baird, Uta Berger, Nico Eisenhauer, Volker Grimm, Udo Hommen, Lorraine Maltby, Carlos J Meliàn
Reintroducing Environmental Change Drivers In Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Research., Frederik De Laender, Jason R. Rohr, Roman Ashauer, Donald J Baird, Uta Berger, Nico Eisenhauer, Volker Grimm, Udo Hommen, Lorraine Maltby, Carlos J Meliàn
Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications
For the past 20 years, research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (B-EF) has only implicitly considered the underlying role of environmental change. We illustrate that explicitly reintroducing environmental change drivers in B-EF research is needed to predict the functioning of ecosystems facing changes in biodiversity. Next we show how this reintroduction improves experimental control over community composition and structure, which helps to provide mechanistic insight on how multiple aspects of biodiversity relate to function and how biodiversity and function relate in food webs. We also highlight challenges for the proposed reintroduction and suggest analyses and experiments to better understand how …
The Biodiversity Of Gastrointestinal Nematodes In South African Wildlife, Chalis J. Bird
The Biodiversity Of Gastrointestinal Nematodes In South African Wildlife, Chalis J. Bird
Theses, Dissertations, and Projects
In this study, I investigated the diversity of parasites found in cheetah and wild ungulates in South Africa in collaboration with the Samara Private Game Reserve in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. Scat samples were collected over a period of two months, from September November, 2014, and DNA was extracted on the preserve for gastrointestinal nematode analysis. Wildlife was tracked using radio telemetry, tracks, and sign, while habitat and host distribution were documented. The aim was to determine the community composition of gastrointestinal nematodes in the wildlife hosts through molecular identification and to examine the role of host habitat preference, geographical …
Human Observers Differ In Ability To Perceive Insect Diversity, Joseph S. Wilson, Joshua P. Jahner, Matthew L. Forister
Human Observers Differ In Ability To Perceive Insect Diversity, Joseph S. Wilson, Joshua P. Jahner, Matthew L. Forister
Biology Faculty Publications
Human perception of biological variation is an important and understudied issue in the conservation and management of natural resources. Here, we took a novel approach by asking 1152 participants, primarily college biology students, to score examples of insect mimicry by the number of distinct kinds of animals they saw. Latent class analysis successfully separated participants based on their accuracy of perception as well as demographic information and opinions about biodiversity. Contrary to expectations, factors such as childhood experience (growing up in urban, suburban or rural areas) did not affect the ability to see biodiversity as much as political views (location …
A New Method For Ecoacoustics? Toward The Extraction And Evaluation Of Ecologically-Meaningful Soundscape Components Using Sparse Coding Methods, Alice Eldridge, Michael Casey, Paola Moscoso, Mika Peck
A New Method For Ecoacoustics? Toward The Extraction And Evaluation Of Ecologically-Meaningful Soundscape Components Using Sparse Coding Methods, Alice Eldridge, Michael Casey, Paola Moscoso, Mika Peck
Dartmouth Scholarship
Passive acoustic monitoring is emerging as a promising non-invasive proxy for ecological complexity with potential as a tool for remote assessment and monitoring (Sueur & Farina, 2015). Rather than attempting to recognise species-specific calls, either manually or automatically, there is a growing interest in evaluating the global acoustic environment. Positioned within the conceptual framework of ecoacoustics, a growing number of indices have been proposed which aim to capture community- level dynamics by (e.g., Pieretti, Farina & Morri, 2011; Farina, 2014; Sueur et al.,2008b) by providing statistical summaries of the frequency or time domain signal. Although promising, the ecological relevance and …
Estimated Losses Of Plant Biodiversity Across The U.S. From Historical N Deposition From 1985—2010., Christopher M. Clark, Philip E. Morefield, Frank S. Gilliam, Linda H. Pardo
Estimated Losses Of Plant Biodiversity Across The U.S. From Historical N Deposition From 1985—2010., Christopher M. Clark, Philip E. Morefield, Frank S. Gilliam, Linda H. Pardo
Frank S. Gilliam
Although nitrogen (N) deposition is a significant threat to herbaceous plant biodiversity worldwide, it is not a new stressor for many developed regions. Only recently has it become possible to estimate historical impacts nationally for the United States. We used 26 years (1985–2010) of deposition data, with ecosystem-specific functional responses from local field experiments and a national critical loads (CL) database, to generate scenario-based estimates of herbaceous species loss. Here we show that, in scenarios using the low end of the CL range, N deposition exceeded critical loads over 0.38, 6.5, 13.1, 88.6, and 222.1 million ha for the Mediterranean …
Transforming Ecosystems: When, Where, And How To Restore Contaminated Sites, Jason R. Rohr, Aïda M. Farag, Marc W. Cadotte, William H. Clements, James R. Smith, Cheryl P. Ulrich, Richard Woods
Transforming Ecosystems: When, Where, And How To Restore Contaminated Sites, Jason R. Rohr, Aïda M. Farag, Marc W. Cadotte, William H. Clements, James R. Smith, Cheryl P. Ulrich, Richard Woods
Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications
Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: "When …
Assessment Of Biodiversity On Mount Timpanogos With A Focus On Flies, Diptera: Agromyzidae, Samantha Smith, Dr. Riley Nelson
Assessment Of Biodiversity On Mount Timpanogos With A Focus On Flies, Diptera: Agromyzidae, Samantha Smith, Dr. Riley Nelson
Journal of Undergraduate Research
Mount Timpanogos, with an elevation of 3,582 meters, is home to an amazing array of insect species. Through much previous effort, many have studied the insects found in American Fork Canyon leading up to Mount Timpanogos. They have still barely scratched the surface of the abundant biodiversity on the mountain. Varied temperature regimes can cause changes in insects’ life cycle and the length of their feeding period, making the collections at different elevations of Mount Timpanogos during different years of particularly great value (Petitt et al 1991). Thus the value of collections along Mount Timpanogos is two-fold; both to study …
Zootaxa: Guide To The Parasites Of Fishes Of Canada Part V: Nematoda, Hisao P. Arai, John W. Smith
Zootaxa: Guide To The Parasites Of Fishes Of Canada Part V: Nematoda, Hisao P. Arai, John W. Smith
Biology Faculty Publications
Keys are provided for the identification of the nematode species known to be parasites of Canadian fishes. The nematodes are described and illustrated, with a note of the site(s) they occupy in named fish host(s) and their geographical distribution. Parasite records are given by author and date, full details of which can be found in a bibliography of over 800 references. Diagnoses and keys for 22 Families, 47 genera and 88 species of nematodes are also given, together with a glossary of terms, a host-parasite list, and indices to both nematode parasites and hosts
Phylogeography Of The Natal Puddle Frog Phrynobatrachus Natalensis (Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) In Sub-Saharan Africa, Joshua Adan Lara
Phylogeography Of The Natal Puddle Frog Phrynobatrachus Natalensis (Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) In Sub-Saharan Africa, Joshua Adan Lara
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
The Family Phrynobatrachidae (Laurent, 1941) has one genus (Phrynobatrachus, Günther, 1862) containing 89 species. Commonly known as puddle frogs, they comprise one of the most species rich sub-Saharan amphibian groups. The objective of this study was to investigate P. natalensis from the Albertine Rift (AR) with systematic and phylogeographic methods. One mitochondrial DNA gene (16S = 555 base pairs [bp]) and one nuclear gene (RAG1 = 774 bp) were analyzed for 61 representatives of P. natalensis. Nine cryptic lineages were identified from Angola, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda. Several …
Are We Missing Important Areas In Pelagic Marine Conservation? Redefining Conservation Hotspots In The Ocean, Dana K. Briscoe, Sara M. Maxwell, Raphael Kudela, Larry B. Crowder
Are We Missing Important Areas In Pelagic Marine Conservation? Redefining Conservation Hotspots In The Ocean, Dana K. Briscoe, Sara M. Maxwell, Raphael Kudela, Larry B. Crowder
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
The protection of biodiversity is one of the most important goals in terrestrial and marine conservation. Marine conservation approaches have traditionally followed the example of terrestrial initiatives. However, patterns, processes, habitats, and threats differ greatly between the 2 systems - and even within the marine environment. As a result, there is still a lack of congruence as to how to best identify and prioritize conservation approaches moving from the static terrestrial and nearshore realm into a more fluid, 3-dimensional pelagic realm. To address this problem, we investigate how the conservation science literature has been used to inform and guide management …
Parasitoid Communities Of Remnant And Constructed Prairie Fragments In Western Ohio, Michael Drew Sheaffer
Parasitoid Communities Of Remnant And Constructed Prairie Fragments In Western Ohio, Michael Drew Sheaffer
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
The ability of organisms to disperse to, utilize, and persist in novel habitats in a fragmented landscape is vital to the success of many ecosystem restoration and construction efforts. With less than four percent of original tallgrass prairie persisting across its range, conservationists have made efforts to both protect and restore remnant prairies as well as to plant new prairies. Previous studies suggest that restored ecosystems do not support the same levels of biodiversity and ecosystems services as their remnant counterparts. In this study I measured tachinid fly diversity and orthopteran parasitism rates in order to assess ecological similarity of …