Life Sciences Commons^™

Analyses Of Prairie Restorations At Rock Springs Environmental Center, Decatur, Illinois, Jennifer A. Ward

Masters Theses

Rock Springs Environmental Center was acquired in 1969 by the Macon County Conservation District. Several tracts totaling 1.6 hectares were developed as prairie restorations of varying ages on former farmland starting in 1977. During the summers of 1999 to 2001, 123 species were collected at Rock Springs. Of these, 56 species were collected within the sampling transects. The largest number of species (36 out of 56) was collected in the 1983 tract. The highest importance value of all tracts for any species was 42.6 for Andropogon gerardii. Sorensen's Index of Similarity between tracts ranged from 53.97- 72.97. The coefficient …

Phylogenetics Of Lymnaeidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) With Emphasis On The Evolution Of Susceptibility To Fascioloides Magna Infection, Sarah Renee Joyce

Masters Theses

Snails in Lymnaeidae serve as intermediate hosts in the transmission of many trematode species, including Fascioloides magna that is responsible for disease and death in domestic livestock in North America. Previous classifications of lymnaeid snails have relied primarily on morphological characters that exhibit high levels of homoplasy; thereby, impeding a sound assessment of relationships in this group. The present study provides a phylogenetic hypothesis for lymnaeid snails employing sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nrDNA, and addresses the evolution of susceptibility to Fascioloides infection in lymnaeid snails. The final data set, comprising ten species of lymnaeid snails …

Cyclomorphosis Of Daphnia Lumholtzi In Response To Spatial Heterogeneity In Lake Taylorville, Karen K. Schnake

Masters Theses

Reservoir zonation occurs longitudinally as water enters from a stream into an impoundment. Inflow areas (or riverine zones) are typified by high flow rate and shallow depth whereas areas near the dam (lacustrine zones) characteristically have decreased flow and greater depth. In a typical reservoir, abiotic and biotic variables change somewhat predictably along a continuum from the riverine, through a transitional and into a lacustrine zone which can have a significant affect on the biota. Daphnia lumholtzi, a cladoceran which exhibits extreme cyclomorphosis, is an exotic species introduced to North America within the past twenty-five years. I examined the morphology …

Colony Composition And Demographics Of Beavers In Illinois, Stanley T. Mctaggart

Masters Theses

Beavers (Castor canadensis) have been extensively studied throughout North America, but little research has been conducted on this species in Illinois and the Midwest. Beavers exhibit wide variations in colony composition and demographics over their broad geographic range, so regional research is important for sound management. The objectives of this study were to investigate the: (1) typical composition of beaver colonies in Illinois; (2) reproductive potential of female beavers in Illinois; (3) sex-age composition of beaver populations in Illinois; and (4) efficacy of night-vision surveys versus removal trapping for estimating colony size. This study was conducted during the 1999-00 and …

Phylogeography And Genetic Diversity Of The Seal Salamander (Desmognathus Monticola), Erin D. Casey

Masters Theses

Phylogeography is defined as the spatial distribution of taxa with respect to geologic and geographic events. It is well documented that the distributions of many taxa have been affected by glacial events during the Pleistocene Era. The patterns generated can be very complex and result from shifts in climate and/or vegetation.

The Seal salamander, (Desmognathus monticola), is one species that still has questions pertaining to its phylogeography. The range of this species extends from southwestern Pennsylvania to northern Alabama and Georgia, with a highly disjunct, state-endangered population in the Red Hills of Alabama. The main goal of this study …

The Effects Of Habitat Fragmentation On Fish Developmental Stability, Matthew W. Gosses

Masters Theses

In nature, organisms exist in less than ideal conditions making stress a constant factor throughout their life. These stressful environments may disturb developmental processes, causing long-term, detrimental changes to an organism expressed as bilateral variation in morphology or fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Fluctuating asymmetry has been shown to be associated with accidents during morphogenesis due to environmental factors and hence is considered a measure of developmental instability.

One environmental stressor that may affect aquatic organisms is stream habitat fragmentation. Stream habitat fragmentation is the lack of connectivity between upstream and downstream populations or sites. Stream fragmentation can create distinct patches of …