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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Sphenoidal Sinuses And Spherical Harmonics: Variation And Covariation Of The Most Morphologically Diverse And Least Understood Paranasal Sinus, Katharine Grace Josephine Ryan
Sphenoidal Sinuses And Spherical Harmonics: Variation And Covariation Of The Most Morphologically Diverse And Least Understood Paranasal Sinus, Katharine Grace Josephine Ryan
Doctoral Dissertations
Understanding the shape variation of the human sphenoidal sinus is important to several areas of research. This includes clinical investigation (sinus pathology and safe endoscopic endonasal surgical practice) and paranasal sinus evolution (for which there is still no consensus). Yet, the sphenoidal sinus has high morphological variation, prohibiting its quantification through traditional geometric morphometric landmarking methods. The sphenoid body, and thus also the sinus contained within, is located directly at the developmental center of the basicranium in humans, where the three cranial fossae meet at the midline, and adjacent to the three synchondroses which are the sites of cranial base …
Water Availability As A Cross-Scale Driver Of Microbial Functions And Free Viral Abundance In Soil, Aubrey K. Fine
Water Availability As A Cross-Scale Driver Of Microbial Functions And Free Viral Abundance In Soil, Aubrey K. Fine
Doctoral Dissertations
Viral infection is widespread in natural microbial communities, with extensive study in aquatic ecosystems demonstrating direct influence on host physiology, functional activity, and mortality. While similar dynamics are assumed to occur across ecosystems, soils are distinct microbial habitats where soil physiochemical structure and water availability constrain resource availability. These unique environmental conditions have been widely demonstrated to affect microbial distribution, diversity, and functional activity in bulk soil, while their influence on virus-microbe interactions and free viral abundance remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, this research had three broad aims: i) to investigate variability in microbial responses to drying-rewetting cycles …
The Influence Of Traits On Species Responses To Climate Change: Does Warming Negatively Impact Native Species More Than Invasive Species?, Margaret Anne Mamantov
The Influence Of Traits On Species Responses To Climate Change: Does Warming Negatively Impact Native Species More Than Invasive Species?, Margaret Anne Mamantov
Doctoral Dissertations
Current climate change is increasing global temperatures so that many organisms are now experiencing temperatures outside of their thermal tolerance, which threatens their survival. Organisms respond to physiologically stressful temperatures to reduce this threat. Organisms respond to warming through three main mechanisms: range shifts, adjustments via phenotypic plasticity, and evolutionary adaptation. Organisms vary in their ability to utilize these three mechanisms, leading to differences in the magnitude and success of their adjustments to temperature change. Here, I examine how organismal traits influence variation in species response to climate change. Chapter one addresses how physiological tolerance may influence the rate of …
Evaluating Current And Future Potential Distribution Of Epiphytic Orchids In The Congo Basin With Ecological Niche Models, Michael L. Ngoh
Evaluating Current And Future Potential Distribution Of Epiphytic Orchids In The Congo Basin With Ecological Niche Models, Michael L. Ngoh
Masters Theses
The Congo Basin Forest harbors a rich diversity of epiphytic communities, with the Orchidaceae alone making up more than 50% of all epiphytes in the region. Despite the huge diversity of epiphytes, many species, including epiphytic orchids, are at risk to a diverse array of threats. Climate change for instance poses severe threats to epiphytic orchids due to elevated temperatures, prolonged periods of droughts, as well as reduced rainfall across the Congo Basin Forest. In this study, we used ecological niche modeling and GIS techniques to identify spatial patterns of species richness, potential future climate refugia, and novel climatic suitability …
Broadscale Outcome And Monitoring Assessment To Evaluate Protected Area Effectiveness In Northern Patagonia, Maria Daniela Rivarola
Broadscale Outcome And Monitoring Assessment To Evaluate Protected Area Effectiveness In Northern Patagonia, Maria Daniela Rivarola
Doctoral Dissertations
Biomes worldwide have been affected by biodiversity loss and habitat degradation for more than a century. Protected Areas (PAs) have been established in almost every country, as they represent one of the most important tools in biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, the relentless biodiversity loss trend has not stopped. Concern about PA effectiveness has risen, and several methods to evaluate it have been implemented over the last few decades. Nahuel Huapi National Park (NHNP) is the first PA in Argentina and one of the largest. The area is considered a biodiversity hotspot, and its conservation is essential, as unique ecological and evolutionary …
Making Sense Of Soil Microbiome Complexity For Plant And Ecosystem Function In A Changing World, Kendall K. Beals
Making Sense Of Soil Microbiome Complexity For Plant And Ecosystem Function In A Changing World, Kendall K. Beals
Doctoral Dissertations
Soils contain the highest biodiversity on Earth. While the importance of the soil microbiome for larger-scale ecological phenomena such as nutrient and carbon cycling, plant growth and plant community dynamics is well-established, the fundamental question of the ecological and evolutionary function of this immense belowground microbial diversity for plant and ecosystem function still remains a great challenge in microbial ecology research. The objective of this dissertation is to understand how the importance of soil microbial community composition for plant and ecosystem function and how changes to soil microbial community composition from climate change-induced disturbance events, specifically fire, influence plant and …
Elk Abundance, Survival, And Health In The Cumberland Mountains Of Tennessee, Katherine Kurth
Elk Abundance, Survival, And Health In The Cumberland Mountains Of Tennessee, Katherine Kurth
Doctoral Dissertations
Managing sustainable wildlife populations requires insight into population abundance and health. Since reintroduction, elk (Cervus canadensis) at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area (NCWMA) in Tennessee have shown marginal population growth using low-precision abundance estimates. Limited research investigating possible population limiting factors has occurred since evaluations conducted directly after translocation. To provide information necessary for effective population management, we estimated abundance, identified survival rates, and conducted mortality and health surveillance. Precise abundance estimates of eastern elk populations are challenging to obtain using traditional capture-recapture due to invasive handling of individuals and low detection in forested landscapes. Therefore, we …
Plant Community Responses To Interactive Anthropogenic Disturbances Along A Natural-Wildland-Urban Gradient And Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Toward Disturbances, Mali M. Hubert
Doctoral Dissertations
Anthropogenic disturbances are defined as any change caused by human activity that alters biodiversity. Wildfire and urbanization disturbances are among the most influential on the landscape because of their individual and interactive properties. Areas deemed wildland-urban interfaces (WUI; area where environment intermingles with human-built structures) are increasing near protected lands because of human population growth and movement, which often facilitates fire ignitions by humans. Houses that are adjacent to or overlap with wildland vegetation can complicate protection of urban development and wildlands from fires. The expansion of the WUI due to population growth will exacerbate fire risk, which can ultimately …
Microplastics Exposure In At-Risk Myotis Lucifugus Bats Of The Northeastern United States, Leah Crowley
Microplastics Exposure In At-Risk Myotis Lucifugus Bats Of The Northeastern United States, Leah Crowley
Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects
No abstract provided.
Plant Neighbor Interactions Of A Native Goldenrod Impact Abundance And Composition Of Pollinator Communities, Emma P. Kruse
Plant Neighbor Interactions Of A Native Goldenrod Impact Abundance And Composition Of Pollinator Communities, Emma P. Kruse
Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects
No abstract provided.
Climate-Driven Selection Results In Powerful Geographic Framework For Predicting Phenotype, Alexandra Neild
Climate-Driven Selection Results In Powerful Geographic Framework For Predicting Phenotype, Alexandra Neild
Masters Theses
Our ability to prepare for and mitigate the likely ecological and evolutionary impacts of climate change largely depends upon our ability to predict the phenotypic responses of organisms that allow them to persist, adapt, and migrate along environmental stress gradients. Using fifteen populations of cottonwoods, a dominant riparian forest tree, that are distributed along elevation gradients and represent three genetic provenances, we hypothesized and show that: 1) populations within a provenance demonstrate parallel evolutionary responses to climatic gradients associated with elevation; and 2) the evolutionary effects of elevation on bud-break phenology varied by provenance. Across all populations, we find strong …