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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Using Fine-Scale Aquatic Habitat Data To Construct Dreissenid Sdms In The Laurentian Great Lakes, Grace C. Henderson
Using Fine-Scale Aquatic Habitat Data To Construct Dreissenid Sdms In The Laurentian Great Lakes, Grace C. Henderson
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The invasion of the Laurentian Great Lakes by aquatic invasive species (AIS) has been the subject of investigation for decades, due to their dramatic alterations to the ecosystem and high economic costs. Two AIS with the largest impacts are dreissenid zebra and quagga mussels, and though these species have been studied extensively, questions remain about what factors control their distributions, and whether lake warming will alter these distributions. Species distribution models (SDMs) offer a powerful tool to examine the relationship between species presences and environmental variables, which are typically bioclimactic data. The creation of the Aquatic Habitat (AqHab) dataset containing …
Epigenetic Potential In An Introduced Passerine, Haley E. Hanson
Epigenetic Potential In An Introduced Passerine, Haley E. Hanson
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Epigenetic modifications play a critical role in numerous processes throughout the lifetime of an organism by influencing gene regulation. Responsive to both endogenous cues and external stimuli, epigenetic modifications are key mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. Epigenetic potential, or the capacity for phenotypic plasticity mediated by epigenetic modifications, can be encoded within the genome via genetic variation underlying aspects of epigenetic modifications. For example, one type of epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, predominately occurs at CpG motifs in vertebrates. The number of CpG sites within the genome then represents the capacity for DNA methylation to occur and is one form of epigenetic …
Physiological And Behavioral Mechanisms Of Range Expansion In The House Sparrow (Passer Domesticus), Andrea Lyn Liebl
Physiological And Behavioral Mechanisms Of Range Expansion In The House Sparrow (Passer Domesticus), Andrea Lyn Liebl
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Introduced species cause both considerable ecological and economic damage every year. However, not much is known about how certain species are able to establish and spread beyond the site of initial introduction, whereas others do not. Species undergoing range expansion following an introduction may prove to be a valuable resource to invasion biology, but may also be informative in light of species' responses to changing environments (i.e. global climate change). Here, I took advantage of an ongoing range expansion of an introduced vertebrate species. House sparrows (Passer domesticus) were introduced to Mombasa, Kenya in the 1950s and have subsequently expanded …