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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
More Than Movement – Ant Seed Dispersal Inhibits Phytopathogenic Fungi, Charlene H. Gray
More Than Movement – Ant Seed Dispersal Inhibits Phytopathogenic Fungi, Charlene H. Gray
Biology Theses
Seed dispersal by ants is a cosmopolitan mutualism involving thousands of plant species. Ants gain a food reward (elaiosomes) from the plant seed, and ant-mediated plants gain several presumed benefits, including dispersal away from parent plants and placement in 'safe site' microhabitat. Higher plant germination and survival in ant nest soils has been attributed to higher levels of nutrients, aeration, and soil moisture than surrounding soils, but evidence in support of these benefits is inconsistent. Ants secrete anti-microbial compounds that inhibit microbial pathogens. I explore the possibility that ants transfer anti-microbial properties to the soil they inhabit, and there is …
New Upstream Records For Fishes Following Dam Removal In The Cahaba River, Alabama, Micah G. Bennett, J. Heath Howell, Bernard R. Kuhajda, Paul L. Freeman
New Upstream Records For Fishes Following Dam Removal In The Cahaba River, Alabama, Micah G. Bennett, J. Heath Howell, Bernard R. Kuhajda, Paul L. Freeman
Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings
Population fragmentation by dams of all sizes is a major threat to biodiversity in running waters. Dam removal has become an increasingly popular tool among conservation practitioners because of its potential benefits to aquatic organisms and ecosystems. During fish monitoring following removal of a small run-of-river dam on the Cahaba River, we documented new upstream records between 8 months and 2 years post-removal for five species: Stargazer Shiner, Notropis uranoscopus; River Redhorse, Moxostoma carinatum; Southern Sand Darter, Ammocrypta meridiana; Freckled Darter, Percina lenticula; River Darter, P. shumardi. These new records suggest that the former dam may …
Natal Philopatry In Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) Predicts Female Cellular Versus Humoral Immune Function, But Does Not Consistently Predict Parasitism, Heather L. Macgillivray
Natal Philopatry In Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) Predicts Female Cellular Versus Humoral Immune Function, But Does Not Consistently Predict Parasitism, Heather L. Macgillivray
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Parasites vary geographically and dispersing host individuals may encounter different strains and wider varieties than their philopatric counterparts. Previously observed lower parasite counts in philopatric than dispersing birds have been suggested to be the result of local adaptation to parasites, but I suggest an alternative: these patterns may result from differing immune function. I used genetic assignment tests to infer natal philopatry of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), and tested whether this predicted parasitism and innate and adaptive immune function. I found no relationship between parasitism and philopatry, in contrast to previous findings. In females, philopatry was associated with …
Ecological And Evolutionary Interactions Between Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) And Their Bloodborne Parasites, Yanina Sarquis-Adamson
Ecological And Evolutionary Interactions Between Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) And Their Bloodborne Parasites, Yanina Sarquis-Adamson
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Local adaptation is the result of natural selection operating at a local scale, such that trade-offs in fitness across different environments result in individuals having higher fitness in their place of origin than when transported into a foreign environment. Populations may become locally adapted to features of their abiotic environment, or in the case of coevolutionary arms races between hosts and parasites, to other species comprising their biotic environment. If host populations are adapted to their local (sympatric) parasites, or conversely if parasites are adapted to their local hosts, then interactions with local parasite strains may influence the fitness consequences …
Nutritional Physiology Of Life-History Trade-Offs: How Food Protein–Carbohydrate Content Influences Life-History Traits In The Wing-Polymorphic Cricket Gryllus Firmus, Rebecca M. Clark, Anthony J. Zera, Spencer T. Behmer
Nutritional Physiology Of Life-History Trade-Offs: How Food Protein–Carbohydrate Content Influences Life-History Traits In The Wing-Polymorphic Cricket Gryllus Firmus, Rebecca M. Clark, Anthony J. Zera, Spencer T. Behmer
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
Although life-history trade-offs result from the differential acquisition and allocation of nutritional resources to competing physiological functions, many aspects of this topic remain poorly understood. Wing-polymorphic insects, which possess alternative morphs that trade off allocation to flight capability versus early reproduction, provide a good model system for exploring this topic. In this study, we used the wing-polymorphic cricket Gryllus firmus to test how expression of the flight capability versus reproduction trade-off was modified across a heterogeneous protein–carbohydrate nutritional landscape. Newly molted adult female long- and short-winged crickets were given one of 13 diets with different concentrations and ratios of protein …