Life Sciences Commons^™

Evolution, Ethics, And The Complexity Revolution, David Depew, Bruce Weber

David J Depew

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting The Abundance Of Juvenile Fish Species On A Temperate Artificial Reef, Daniel Pondella, John Stephens

Daniel Pondella

In contrast to most artificial reefs which are placed at relatively deep depths so as not to interfere with shipping, rocky breakwaters provide important habitat in the intertidal-shallow subtidal zone. This zone is especially preferred for recruitment by many rocky shore fishes. The breakwaters of King Harbor, Redondo Beach, California enhance this zone. Further, the lee of the outer breakwater provides a stable, quiet water area for numerous Young-of-Year (YOY) fishes. By means of SCUBA we monitored YOY abundance from 1986-1990. During these five years there were dramatic natural and anthropogenic disturbances of the habitat. With little inter-annual variation of …

Avian Hatching Asynchrony: Brood Classification Based On Discriminant Function Analysis Of Nestling Masses, Given Harper, Steven A. Juliano, Charles F. Thompson

Given Harper

Effects Of Predator Size And Female Receptivity On Courtship Behavior Of Captive-Bred Male Guppies, Given Harper, Kristin Braun

Given Harper

The effects of predator size and female receptivity on the courtship behavior of captivebred male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were investigated. Male guppies exhibited riskreckless courtship behavior in that they did not decrease the amount of time spent performing visually conspicuous sigmoid displays and increase the frequency of attempted forced copulations when large predatory fish were present. Female receptivity (i.e., virgin or non-virgin females) also had no effect on male courtship behavior.

Charles Birch: Synthesis And Hope, Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

Die Konsequenzen Eines Lebens Im Druckbehälter. Biotheoretische Implikationen Der Organisation Pflanzlicher Organismen [The Consequences Of Living In A Pressure Pot. Biotheoretical Implications Of The Organismic Architecture Of Plants], Winfried Peters, Hubert Felle

Winfried S. Peters

Effects Of The Argentine Ant On Arthropod Fauna Of Hawaiian High-Elevation Shrubland, F Cole, Arthur Madeiros, Lloyd Loope, William Zuehlke

F. Russell Cole

Human-caused biological invasions by an alien species are a worldwide phenomenon. They are particularly significant on isolated oceanic islands and represent a serious threat to endemic biota. The Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis) has become established in portions of the high-elevation shrubland of Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii, over the past 25 yr. This ecosystem lacks native ants but possesses many locally endemic and rare anthropod species. Pitfall trapping and under-rock surveys were conducted to determine the effects of I. humilis on the local arthropod fauna. More than 180 taxa were sampled, mostly Arthropoda. Presence of the Argentine ant is associated …

A Model For Understanding The Evolution Of Mammalian Behavior, Raymond P. Coppinger, Charles Kay Smith

Charles Kay Smith

Unlike reptiles, who are born with species-specific morphology and behavior that hardly changes as they grow into adults, mammals are born with a class-specific neonatal phase that renders the morphology and behavior of each species different from the physiology and behavior of their species-specific adulthood. Mammals must undergo a transformation phase, called youth, between the neonate and the adult. This youthful metamorphic and meta-behavioral phase is necessary while the mammal is remodeling from sucking milk to munching grass or hunting meat. During its youthful phase a mammal is not simply growing linearly into its adult form and behavior but is …

Genetics Of Interspecific Hybridization In The Triseriatus And Zoosophus Groups Of The Aedes (Protomacleaya) (Diptera: Culicidae)., David B. Taylor

David B Taylor

Interspecific hybridization was used to examine the genetics of species divergence and phylogeny of mosquitoes in the Triseriatus and Zoosophus groups of Aedes (Protomacleaya). Aedes zoosophus Dyar & Knab exhibited a relatively high degree of reproductive compatibility with Triseriatus group species. Crosses between A. zoosophus and A. triseriatus (Say) produced fertile female and sterile, intersex, male progeny. Crosses between A. zoosophus females and A. brelandi Zavortink males were sterile with no egg embryonation observed. Crosses between A. zoosophus males and A. brelandi females and reciprocal crosses between A. zoosophus and A. hendersoni (Cockerell) produced sterile, intersex female and male progeny. …

Texture, Climate And Cultivation Effects On Soil Organic Matter Content In U.S. Grassland Soils, Ingrid C. Burke

Ingrid Burke

Soil organic C content, a major source of system stability in agroecosystems, is controlled by many factors that have complex interactions.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the major controls over soil organic carbon content, and to predict regional patterns of carbon in range and cultivated soils. We obtained pedon and climate data for 500 rangeland and 300 cultivated soils in the U.S. Central Plains Grasslands, and statistically analyzed relationships between C and soil texture and climate. Regression models of the regional soils database indicated that organic C increased with precipitation and clay content, and decreased with temperature. Analysis …

Nonfish Prey Of Wintering Bald Eagles In Lilinois, Given Harper, D. Scott Hopkins, Thomas C. Dunston

Given Harper

Entropy, Information, And Evolution: New Perspectives On Physical And Biological Evolution, David Depew, Bruce Weber

David J Depew

Can recent developments in thermodynamics and information theory offer a way out of the current crisis in evolutionary theory? One of the most exciting and controversial areas of scientific research in recent years has been the application of the principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to the problems of the physical evolution of the universe, the origins of life, the structure and succession of ecological systems, and biological evolution. These sixteen original essays by evolutionists, ecologists, molecular biologists, physical chemists, physicists, and philosophers of science provide the best current summary of this developing research program.Chapters in the book's first part - by …

Reproductive Success And Inflorescence Size Of Calopogon Tuberosus (Orchidaceae), David Firmage, F Cole

F. Russell Cole

Reproductive success of Calopogon tuberosus, which produces no nectar, was investigated in relation to inflorescence size and dispersion pattern. Mean inflorescence size was 2.56 (range 1-10). A bagging experiment showed that insects are required for pollen transfer and that fruits are produced from self-, geitonogamous, and cross-pollinations; fruit set was not 100%. Fruit set of nonmanipulated plants was limited by the number of pollinator visits. Reproductive success increased with increasing inflorescence size, although not above theoretical predictions. However, the probability of producing no fruit or contributing no pollinia decreased with increasing inflorescence size since sequential flowering increased the probability of …

Degree Of Behavioral Neoteny Differentiates Canid Polymorphs, R Coppinger, J. Glendinning, E. Torop, C. Matthay, M. Sutherland, C. Smith

Charles Kay Smith

As with juvenile wolves or coyotes, adult livestock conducting dogs displayed the first-half segment of a functional predatory system of motor patterns and did not express play or social bonding toward sheep; whereas, like wolf or coyote pups, adult livestock protecting dogs displayed sequences of mixed social, submissive, play and investigatory motor patterns and rarely expressed during ontogeny (even when fully adult) predatory behaviors. The most parsimonious explanation of our findings is that behavioral differences in the two types of livestock dogs are a case of selected differential retardation (neoteny) of ancestral motor pattern development.

Observations On Why Mongrels May Make Effective Livestock Protecting Dogs, R. P. Coppinger, C. K. Smith, L. Miller

Charles Kay Smith

In Canid ontogeny from puppies to adults there is a very young phase before any species-specific predatory behavior has been expressed. This phase has been ontogenetically selected as a breed of neotenic adults which are ideal for protecting sheep. At a more advanced phase of canid ontogeny older puppies have begun to express separate pieces of species-specific predatory behavior, such as eye, stalk and chase but not the complete adult sequence so that crush bite kill and consume is as yet unexpressed. This intermediate phase was also ontogenetically selected as a breed such as border collies used in Britain to …

Evolution At A Crossroads: The New Biology And The New Philosophy Of Science, David Depew, Bruce Weber

David J Depew

No abstract provided.

The Domestication Of Evolution, Raymond P. Coppinger, Charles Kay Smith

Charles Kay Smith

A coming ‘Age of Interdependent Forms’ seems destined to mark the success of what could be called ‘despecialized/interspecific fitness’ among neotenic strains (perpetuating juvenile traits) of species such as humans and domestic animals. Humans as well as the first domesticants underwent a neotenic evolution in the wild during the repeated interglacial periods which, acting on a number of mammalian forms, selected against adult species-specific ancestral adaptations to a stable environment. Neotenic species continue to look and behave more like ancestral youths than adults—even after sexual maturity and throughout their life-history. As they retain lifelong youthful dependency motivations, they can easily, …

Nutritional Ecology Of Microtine Rodents: Digestibility Of Forage, George Batzli, F Cole

F. Russell Cole

No abstract provided.

A Movement Barrier Useful In Population Studies Of Small Mammals, F Cole

F. Russell Cole

No abstract provided.

Removal Of Phosphorus From Static Sewage Effluent By Waterhyacinth, W Harold Ornes

W. Harold Ornes

Waterhyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] was grown in static sewage effluent during May to July 1974 in outdoor concrete containers with a capacity of 760 liters and a surface area of 1.66 m². The plants were removed weekly from one-half of the surface area of the containers during 5-wk growth periods. Tissue phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), plant productivity, and some parameters of water quality were measured. A maximum uptake of 5,500 µg of P/g dry weight of plant material occurred when the level of orthophosphate phosphorus (available P) in the effluent was 1.1 µg/ml. Phosphorus in the effluent was …

Logical And Persuasive Structures In Charles Darwin's Prose Style, Charles Kay Smith

Charles Kay Smith

This paper analyzes Charles Darwin's characteristic writing behavior. Darwin was a more interesting and dedicated writer than he is commonly credited for being. This essay will reassess the importance of his writing. The surface characteristics of Darwin's prose (conventionally referred to as his "style") seem at first glance so plain and ordinary that Darwin's writing rarely interests students of style. Exceptions such as Theodore Baird in an essay entitled "Darwin and the Tangled Bank"1 and Stanley Edgar Hyman in a longer study of Darwin's writing, The Tangled Bank,2 both make a point of the current general disregard of Darwin as …