Life Sciences Commons^™

Dispersal And Survival Of Red-Shouldered Hawks Banded In Suburban Southern Ohio, 1996-2018, Cheryl R. Dykstra, Jeffrey L. Hays, Melinda M. Simon, Ann R. Wegman, Laura R. Dykstra

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

We used banding data to investigate dispersal and survival of Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) in two study areas in southern Ohio from 1996 to 2018. Of the 2448 nestlings we banded, 167 (6.8%) were encountered (dead or alive) some time after banding. Mean distance from the natal nest at the time of encounter was 31.6 ± 6.2 km (median = 10.0, range = 0.1-568.6 km, n = 163); natal dispersal distance averaged 16.0 ± 1.9 km (median = 9.0, range = 1.4-117.1 km, n = 110), and was significantly greater for females than for males. Most hawks dispersedkm, but 11 …

Demographic Assessment Of The Triploid Parthenogenetic Lizard Aspidoscelis Neotesselatus At The Northern Edge Of Its Range, Lise M. Aubry, Douglas Eifler, Kaera Utsumi, Susannah S. French

Biology Faculty Publications

Aspidoscelis neotesselatus (Colorado Checkered Whiptail) is a hybrid-derived triploid parthenogenetic lizard with a natural range overlapping with six counties in southeastern Colorado, USA. It has also become established by anthropogenic causation in Grant County, Washington State, approximately 1,600 km northwest of its range in Colorado. Large parts of its natural range are within military reservations. Reduced genetic variation in all-female species makes them especially susceptible to environmental disturbances, such as military activities. At Fort Carson (FC), we estimated an abundance index via a catch-per-unit estimator, weekly survival using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, and body condition and clutch size as indicators of population …

The Incorporation Of Lipids Into The Cellular Membrane Of Salmonella, Betsy H. Redfern

Honors Theses

Salmonella is a gram negative, facultative anaerobic food borne pathogen and is the leading cause of deaths related to food borne illnesses. In order to establish an infection successfully, Salmonella must be able to survive in the presence of various stressors that it encounters, namely changes in pH, oxygen availability, osmolarity and bile. Previous research has shown that exposure to bile causes a shift in fatty acid composition in the cell membrane of the enteric bacterium Enterococcus faecalis. Thus, this led to the hypothesis that Salmonella incorporates fatty acids into its cellular membrane following exposure to bile and thereby protects …

Life‐History Differences Across Latitude In Common Side‐Blotched Lizards (Uta Stansburiana), Geoffrey D. Smith, Peter A. Zani, Susannah S. French

Biology Faculty Publications

1. Life‐history strategies are known to shift with latitude in many species. While life‐history variation related to body size, reproductive investment, and behavior has been studied for years, another crucial life‐history component is the immune system, which can influence an animal's survival.
2. We measured selected life‐history traits in side‐blotched lizards in southern Utah and Oregon in the field for two consecutive years and conducted a common‐garden experiment in the laboratory to determine how organisms from different latitudes optimize either immunity or reproduction. We observed lizards from southern populations, which are known to be shorter‐lived, had lower immune function during reproduction when …

Population Dynamics And Demographics Of Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion Nebulosus, Through Spatial Analysis: Towards An Integrative Management Approach, Ashley Melancon Baer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) is one of the most highly prized sportfish along the Gulf of Mexico coast, particularly in Louisiana. Although spotted seatrout are considered to be well managed and sustainably fished according to the state’s most recent stock assessment, the spatial ecology of this species is largely understudied in Louisiana waters. Acoustic telemetry is an innovative technology that is commonly used to assess the movements and behavior of aquatic species, and can be used as a tool to address the paucity of information on the spatial dynamics of spotted seatrout. The focus of this study was …

Postfledging Habitat Selection And Survival Of Henslow’S Sparrow: Management Implications For A Critical Life Stage, Aaron C. Young, W. Andrew Cox, John P. Mccarty, L. Lareesa Wolfenbarger

Biology Faculty Publications

Conserving populations of species that rely on rare habitat requires that managers understand which habitat characteristics will best support population growth across multiple life stages. For songbirds, management is most often aimed at nesting adult habitat associations. However, habitat that meets adult requirements may not be similarly suited to requirements for other life stages. Henslow’s Sparrow (Centronyx henslowii) is a tallgrass prairie songbird listed as threatened or endangered in 13 states. We examined survival and habitat selection of Henslow’s Sparrow during the postfledging period. During the nesting seasons in 2015 and 2016, we attached radio transmitters to 46 nestlings in …

Canis Lupus (Gray Wolf) Pup Survival In Yellowstone National Park, Anne Marie Jehle

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The aim of this study was to describe gray wolf (Canis lupus) pup survival rates throughout the summer months in Yellowstone National Park. Understanding pup survival has implications for trends in pack and population age structure, cooperative breeding ecology and other breeding tendencies, social hierarchies, and population fitness, among other elements of species-specific population ecology. A general understanding of trends in pup survival is also relevant to state and federal land that allow gray wolf harvest. Understanding such trends and survival ecology gives managers and biologists the opportunity to evaluate gray wolf populations at a more comprehensive level and implement …