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Articles 1 - 16 of 16
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Phylogenetics, Biogeography, And Climate Niche Variation Of South Pacific And Hawaiian Psychotria, Elaine Zhang
Phylogenetics, Biogeography, And Climate Niche Variation Of South Pacific And Hawaiian Psychotria, Elaine Zhang
Master's Theses
Why do some species have broad geographic distributions, while other species are confined to a narrow distribution? Species age, ecological niche, or dispersal traits may help explain why some insular species are abundant and found on many islands, while others are rare and restricted to one island. In this study, I inferred a robust, time-calibrated phylogeny of the Hawaiian Psychotria, using two nuclear and eight chloroplast loci, sampling 67 individuals. I coupled my phylogenetic hypothesis with climatic data, ecological niche modeling, and morphological dispersal characteristics to explain the variation in number of islands occupied by each species. My inferred phylogeny …
Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi) Pre-Restoration Occupancy Patterns On Ship Island, Mississippi Sound With An Evaluation Of Designated Critical Habitat Use By Eastern And Western Population Segments, Page Elizabeth Vick
Master's Theses
Critical spawning and feeding habitat was designated for federally threatened, anadromous Gulf Sturgeon (GS) to aid in population recovery. This study examined GS occupancy, habitat use, and movement through critical habitat monitored by the Ship Island (SI) acoustic array during overwintering periods from 2011 to 2015 prior to MsCIP SI restoration. An occupancy index analyzed patterns of spatial and temporal habitat use of both western and eastern population segments (WPS and EPS, respectively) of GS on the SI array. The ends of SI along with the passes and cuts of the island, especially Dog Keys Pass (DKP), were occupied by …
Modern Fair-Weather And Storm Sediment Transport Around Ship Island, Mississippi: Implications For Coastal Habitats And Restoration Efforts, Eve Rettew Eisemann
Modern Fair-Weather And Storm Sediment Transport Around Ship Island, Mississippi: Implications For Coastal Habitats And Restoration Efforts, Eve Rettew Eisemann
Master's Theses
The Mississippi – Alabama barrier island chain is experiencing accelerated sea level rise, decreased sediment supply, and frequent hurricane impacts. These three factors drive unprecedented rates of morphology change and ecosystem reduction. All islands in the chain have experienced land loss on the order of hectares per year since records began in the 1840s. In 1969, Hurricane Camille impacted as a Category 5, breaching Ship Island, and significantly reduced viable seagrass habitat. Hurricane Katrina impacted as a Category 3 in 2005, further widening Camille Cut. To better understand the sustainability of these important islands and the ecosystems they support, sediment …
Bloom Or Bust: Retrospective Analysis Of The Giant Jellyfish, Nemopilema Nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae), Ecology In The East Asian Marginal Seas, Naomi Yoder
Master's Theses
The Giant Jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai, is a large-bodied bloom-forming jellyfish that occurs in the semi-enclosed basins of the East Asian Marginal Seas. N. nomurai has bloomed more frequently in the past 20 years than in any period previously recorded. In Japan, recent N. nomurai blooms were responsible for millions of dollars in lost revenue and equipment damage to commercial fisheries alone. This study statistically analyzed 21 environmental factors in connection with N. nomurai occurrence (using occurrence as a proxy for blooms). Eight factors resulted in a statistically significant or marginally significant (p ≤ 0.10), linear or non-linear relationship with …
Effect Of Oxygen-Limiting Tidal Conditions On Muscle Metabolism And Structure In The Giant Acorn Barnacle, Balanus Nubilus, Katie O. Grady
Effect Of Oxygen-Limiting Tidal Conditions On Muscle Metabolism And Structure In The Giant Acorn Barnacle, Balanus Nubilus, Katie O. Grady
Master's Theses
Crustacean muscle fibers are some of the largest cells in the animal kingdom, with fiber diameters in the giant acorn barnacle (Balanus nubilus) exceeding 3 mm. Sessile animals with extreme muscle sizes and that live in the hypoxia-inducing intertidal zone – like B. nubilus – represent ideal models for probing the effects of oxygen limitation on muscle cells. We investigated changes in metabolism and structure of B. nubilus muscle in response to: normoxic immersion, anoxic immersion, or air emersion, for acute (6h) or chronic (6h exposures twice daily for 2wks) time periods. Following exposure, we immediately measured hemolymph …
Decolonizing The Ya North: Environmental Injustice In Sherri L. Smith’S Orleans, Micah-Jade M. Coleman
Decolonizing The Ya North: Environmental Injustice In Sherri L. Smith’S Orleans, Micah-Jade M. Coleman
Master's Theses
Young Adult (YA) dystopias, in recent years, have imagined a future world fueled by the overuse and misuse of technology, the advancement of science for human gain, as well as societies ruled by governments that govern based on their own self-interests and economic gain. Such novels have opened the door for discussion about how the present-day actions of societies can impact the future of the environment; yet many only focus their attention on societies in the North— regions considered “developed” by the western world. In her YA novel, Orleans (2014), Sherri L. Smith focuses attention on the aftermath of Hurricane …
Development Of Genomic Resources For The Evaluation Of Red Snapper, An Emerging Species Candidate For Marine Aquaculture And Stock Enhancement, Adrienne Elise Norrell
Development Of Genomic Resources For The Evaluation Of Red Snapper, An Emerging Species Candidate For Marine Aquaculture And Stock Enhancement, Adrienne Elise Norrell
Master's Theses
The northern red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) is a highly targeted reef fish candidate for marine aquaculture and stock enhancement in the southern United States. This work aimed to develop genomic resources for the genetic management of aquaculture programs and to investigate population structure using high-throughput sequencing technologies. Eighty-four new microsatellite markers were developed through screening of Illumina paired-end sequencing reads. Microsatellite loci and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) generated through Restriction Site Associated DNA (RAD) sequencing were assayed in 5 outbred full-sib families to construct a high-density linkage map of the red snapper genome. The map consists of 7,964 …
Community Structure And Production Of The Macrobenthos On Four Artificial Reefs In The Mississippi Sound In Relation To Substrate And Profile Type, Patrick Daniel Gillam
Community Structure And Production Of The Macrobenthos On Four Artificial Reefs In The Mississippi Sound In Relation To Substrate And Profile Type, Patrick Daniel Gillam
Master's Theses
In recent years, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has made a concerted effort to enhance its coastal fishery resources by creating artificial reefs. Through this effort, 73 nearshore reefs have been created across the MS coast. Different substrate types used to construct MS artificial reefs include oyster shell and cement rubble. Two types of reef architecture used include high profile breakwater and low profile submerged structures. This study compared the benthic biota associated with oyster shell and cement rubble substrates among four artificial reefs representing high and low profile structures in summer 2011. Colonized benthic biota were quantified …
Effects Of Experimental Noise Exposure On Songbird Nesting Behaviors And Nest Success, Tracy I. Mulholland
Effects Of Experimental Noise Exposure On Songbird Nesting Behaviors And Nest Success, Tracy I. Mulholland
Master's Theses
Anthropogenic noise is an increasingly prevalent global disturbance. Animals that rely on the acoustical environment, such as songbirds, are especially vulnerable to these sounds. Traffic noise, in particular, overlaps with the frequency range of songbirds, creating masking effects. We investigated the effects of chronic traffic noise on provisioning behaviors and breeding success of nesting western bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) and ash-throated flycatchers (Myiarchus cinerascens). Because anthropogenic noise exposure has the potential to interrupt parent-offspring communication and alter vigilance behaviors, we predicted that traffic noise would lead to changes in provisioning behaviors, such as fewer visits to the …
The Effectiveness Of Periodically-Harvested Closures In Meeting Ecological And Socioeconomic Objectives, Paul G. Carvalho
The Effectiveness Of Periodically-Harvested Closures In Meeting Ecological And Socioeconomic Objectives, Paul G. Carvalho
Master's Theses
Periodically-harvested fisheries closures (PHCs) are a widespread form of community-based marine spatial management used throughout the Indo-Pacific that also is currently being intensively advocated by conservation organizations for supporting productive fisheries and healthy marine ecosystems. However, local implementation of PHCs has historically been designed to support occasional and efficient exploitation of fish stocks, and not necessarily sustainable fisheries yields and stock conservation. The efficacy of PHCs for achieving their historical cultural objectives of periodicity and efficiency of harvest, simultaneously with achieving contemporary fisheries objectives of fisheries productivity and conservation is undetermined. As a result, the utility of PHCs for supporting …
The Preservation And Protection Of Native Biodiversity In The Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes Complex, Lindsey M. Whitaker, Matthew Ritter, Scott J. Steinmaus, Jonathan Hall
The Preservation And Protection Of Native Biodiversity In The Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes Complex, Lindsey M. Whitaker, Matthew Ritter, Scott J. Steinmaus, Jonathan Hall
Master's Theses
The Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes Complex (GNDC) is located within the California Floristic Province, a biodiversity hotspot characterized by high rates of endemism and exceptional loss of habitat. In 1980, the US Fish and Wildlife Service described the GNDC as, “the most unique and fragile ecosystem in the State of California,” and ranked it first on a list of 49 habitat areas needing state protection. It is the largest coastal dune area in California and it is one of the last remaining, relatively intact ecosystems of its type and size in the western United States. The growing recognition of species decline …
Evaluating The Myth Of Allelopathy In California Blue Gum Plantations, Kristen Marie Nelson
Evaluating The Myth Of Allelopathy In California Blue Gum Plantations, Kristen Marie Nelson
Master's Theses
It is widely accepted that allelopathy is not only significant, but more or less singular, in the inhibition of understory vegetation in California Eucalyptus globulus (blue gum) plantations. However, there is no published documentation of allelopathy by blue gums against California native species. Here, we present evidence that germination and early seedling growth of five California native species are not inhibited by chemical extracts of blue gum foliage, either at naturally-occurring or artificially concentrated levels. In the greenhouse, seeds were germinated in field-collected soil from mature blue gum plantations and the adjacent native, coastal scrub communities. In petri plates, seeds …
Fishery And Population Dynamics Of Mississippi’S Spotted Seatrout, David Arthur Dippold
Fishery And Population Dynamics Of Mississippi’S Spotted Seatrout, David Arthur Dippold
Master's Theses
Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) is the most popular recreational inshore fishery in Mississippi coastal waters. Because of the popularity of Spotted Seatrout in Mississippi as a recreational target and the magnitude of harvest, quantitative approaches to describe the population and fishery dynamics of the Mississippi stock are needed to continue the sustainability of the stock. Quantitative approaches to describing stock dynamics are useful because they can help describe population characteristics, assess the current status of the stock, and be used to evaluate alternative management strategies. In this thesis, I use a suite of quantitative methods to describe, evaluate, …
Predicting Suitable Habitat Decline Of Midwestern United States Amphibians And Quantifying The Consequence Of Declines Using Pond-Breeding Salamanders, Brock Struecker
Predicting Suitable Habitat Decline Of Midwestern United States Amphibians And Quantifying The Consequence Of Declines Using Pond-Breeding Salamanders, Brock Struecker
Master's Theses
With current declines of vertebrate taxa meeting or exceeding those of historic mass extinction events, there is a growing need to investigate the main drivers of declines. Amphibians are perhaps at greatest risk of global climate change and land-use changes than most other vertebrate classes and also have significant roles in ecosystem processes – combined, this creates a cause for concern. I designed a study that would investigate the effects of current and predicted climate change and land-use changes on amphibians using species distribution models and a field study to identify the potential consequences of amphibian species declines by investigating …
Early Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus) Invasion Into Lake Michigan Tributaries And Competitive Interactions With Two Native Benthic Fishes., Margaret Ann Malone
Early Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus) Invasion Into Lake Michigan Tributaries And Competitive Interactions With Two Native Benthic Fishes., Margaret Ann Malone
Master's Theses
The round goby is a prolific invasive species and is currently spreading into Great Lake tributary streams. There is a high potential for negative impacts on native benthic fishes in these stream habitats and the aim of this study is to assess the impacts of the round goby on two native darter species in particular (johnny darter and blackside darter). I review the history of round goby invasion in the Great Lakes and summarize hypotheses of the invasive characters of the round goby. Using game theory, I provide a G-function approach to understanding the outcomes of the round goby invasion …
Aquatic Insect Community Structure And Secondary Production In Southcentral Alaska Streams With Contrasting Thermal And Hydrologic Regimes, Samantha D. Hertel
Aquatic Insect Community Structure And Secondary Production In Southcentral Alaska Streams With Contrasting Thermal And Hydrologic Regimes, Samantha D. Hertel
Master's Theses
Streams along the Copper River Delta, southcentral Alaska, exhibit contrasting thermal and hydrologic variability associated with being primarily groundwater-fed (GWF) or surface water-fed (SWF). Groundwater-fed streams are predictable both thermally and hydrologically year round, whereas SWF streams are unpredictable and exhibit more variable thermal and hydrologic regimes. These differences may strongly influence aquatic insect community structure and secondary production. Four streams, two GWF and two SWF, were sampled twice monthly from late April 2013 through August 2013 and once seasonally in fall (September) and early winter (November). Aquatic insect community structure differed markedly in both hydrologic types. Taxa richness was …