Life Sciences Commons^™

Climate Warming’S Alteration Of Host-Parasite Dynamics, Ting-Hsuan Wu

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Parasites and pathogens have significant roles in host population control, and thus host-parasite interactions affect biodiversity. The important question reviewed in this paper is how changes in temperature due to climate change affect host-parasite interactions. There is mounting evidence that elevated temperatures have both beneficial and detrimental effects on parasites and independently on hosts. These independent changes result in altered host-parasite dynamics through various mechanisms. If elevated temperatures enhance parasite survival, risk of disease transmission among hosts is enhanced as well. This enhancement is dependent on temperature-induced shifts in the host lifecycle, as asynchrony in host and parasite development can …

Effects Of Long-Term Variation In Temperature On Reproductive Phenology In A Population Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Paul Pleiman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between multiple temperature variables, to include annual and pre-lay date temperatures with first-egg and mean first-egg lay dates of the eastern bluebird at the Warner Parks in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Data is collected by citizen scientists for the Eastern Bluebird Nesting Box Project while visiting artificial nest boxes throughout the park and recording observations made during the breeding season. Temperature data is retrieved from the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering’s Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) Climate Group, based at Oregon State University. The analyses showed no correlation between annual or pre-lay …

Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold, But Moderately Variable: The Influence Of Environmental Variability On Coral Thermal Tolerance, Courtney Nicole Klepac

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Anthropogenic climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and severity of marine heat waves, resulting in declining health of coral reef ecosystems worldwide. Coral bleaching events – the breakdown in symbiosis between the coral host and their intracellular photosynthetic algae – are increasingly common in recent years and contribute to widespread losses in coral cover. However, bleaching and heat stress responses vary across spatial scales both within and among coral species. Coral populations native to highly variable environments can have greater bleaching resistance than corals from more stable habitats and corals transplanted into these variable reef sites can …

Inoculum Potential Of Pinus Edulis-Associated Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Across A Forest Extirpation Chronosequence, Annie M. Montes

Biology ETDs

Few studies have examined inoculum potential of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) in the absence of plant hosts, yet persistence of these fungi may be paramount to resilience of Pinus edulis and other mycorrhizal plant species. We conducted a study in which seven sites were selected in northwestern New Mexico with known dates of P. edulis extirpation and a lack of regeneration. Age classes included: two sites extirpated 10-20 years ago, two extirpated 55-65 years ago, two extirpated 500+ years ago, and one extirpated 11,000+ years ago. At each site, two plots were paired: an extirpated plot and the nearest live adult …

Environmental Variability Supports Chimpanzee Behavioural Diversity, Ammie K. Kalan, Lars Kulik, Mimi Arandjelovic, Christophe Boesch, Fabian Haas, Paula Dieguez, Christopher D. Barratt, Ekwoge E. Abwe, Anthony Agbor, Samuel Angedakin, Floris Aubert, Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin, Emma Bailey, Mattia Bessone, Gregory Brazzola, Valentine Ebua Buh, Rebecca Chancellor, Heather Cohen, Charlotte Coupland, Bryan Curran, Emmanuel Danquah, Tobias Deschner, Dervla Dowd, Manasseh Eno-Nku, J. Michael Fay, Annemarie Goedmakers, Anne-Celine Granjon, Josephine Head, Daniela Hedwig, Veerle Hermans, Kathryn J. Jeffery, Sorrel Jones, Jessica Junker, Parag Kadam, Mohamed Kambi, Ivonne Kienast, Deo Kujirakwinja, Kevin E. Langergraber, Juan Lapuente, Bradley Larson, Kevin C. Lee, Vera Leinert, Manuel Llana, Sergio Marrocoli, Amelia C. Meier, Bethan Morgan, David Morgan, Emily Neil, Sonia Nicholl, Emmanuelle Normand, Lucy Jayne Ormsby, Liliana Pacheco, Alex Piel, Jodie Preece, Martha M. Robbins, Aaron S. Rundus, Crickette Sanz, Volker Sommer, Fiona Stewart, Nikki Tagg, Claudio Tennie, Virginie Vergnes, Adam Welsh, Erin G. Wessling, Jacob Willie, Roman M. Wittig, Yisa Ginath Yuh, Klaus Zuberbuhler, Hjalmar S. Kuehl

Anthropology & Sociology Faculty Publications

Large brains and behavioural innovation are positively correlated, species-specific traits, associated with the behavioural flexibility animals need for adapting to seasonal and unpredictable habitats. Similar ecological challenges would have been important drivers throughout human evolution. However, studies examining the influence of environmental variability on within-species behavioural diversity are lacking despite the critical assumption that population diversification precedes genetic divergence and speciation. Here, using a dataset of 144 wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) communities, we show that chimpanzees exhibit greater behavioural diversity in environments with more variability - in both recent and historical timescales. Notably, distance from Pleistocene forest refugia is associated …

Patterns For Populus Spp. Stand Biomass In Gradients Of Winter Temperature And Precipitation Of Eurasia, Vladimir Andreevich Usoltev, Baozhang Chen, Seyed Omid Reza Shobairi, Ivan Stepanovich Tsepordey, Viktor Petrovich Chasovskikh, Shoaib Ahmad Anees

Aspen Bibliography

Based on a generated database of 413 sample plots, with definitions of stand biomass of the genus Populus spp. in Eurasia, from France to Japan and southern China, statistically significant changes in the structure of forest stand biomass were found, with shifts in winter temperatures and average annual precipitation. When analyzing the reaction of the structure of the biomass of the genus Populus to temperature and precipitation in their transcontinental gradients, a clearly expressed positive relationship of all components of the biomass with the temperature in January is visible. Their relationship with precipitation is less clear; in warm climate zones, …

Harmful Algal Blooms: Dominance In Lakes And Risk For Cyanotoxin Exposure In Food Crops, Austin D. Bartos

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Climate change and human activities are promoting the dominance of a photosynthetic family of aquatic bacteria, cyanobacteria. Blooms of cyanobacteria are not only a visual nuisance but can produce a variety of cyanotoxins than can harm the liver, skin, and nervous system of animals and humans. We analyzed lakes in the contiguous United States and found that between 2007 and 2012, the number of lakes that produced measurable quantities of cyanotoxins increased from 33% to 45%. Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution were the main drivers of cyanobacteria blooms and toxin production between these years. Many of these lakes and reservoirs are …

Interacting Effects Of Climate And Biotic Factors On Mesocarnivore Distribution And Snowshoe Hare Demography Along The Boreal-Temperate Ecotone, Alexej P. Siren

Doctoral Dissertations

The motivation of my dissertation research was to understand the influence of climate and biotic factors on range limits with a focus on winter-adapted species, including the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), American marten (Martes americana), and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). I investigated range dynamics along the boreal-temperate ecotone of the northeastern US. Through an integrative literature review, I developed a theoretical framework building from existing thinking on range limits and ecological theory. I used this theory for my second chapter to evaluate direct and indirect causes of carnivore range limits in the northeastern US, …

Habitat Fragmentation And Range Margin Effects On Dispersal And Interactions Between Competitors, Rachel Roxann Harman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dispersal is a fundamental process that affects local and regional dynamics, including population persistence, range expansion, and interspecific interactions, particularly as disturbance through habitat fragmentation and climate change. Here, my main objective was to ascertain how fragmentation affects dispersal and the interactions of competitors within the local patch and regional landscape. In my second chapter, I assessed dispersal through a literature review and population persistence model to examine the breadth and frequency of different density-emigration forms that occur in nature, including forms that are not prevalent in the literature. I conclude that these rare forms have important population dynamic consequences …

Steady Heartbeat: Field And Laboratory Studies Indicate Unexpected Resilience To High Temperatures For The Ribbed Mussel Geukensia Demissa, Ashlyn N. Smith Ms.

Honors College Theses

Salt marshes are important ecosystems found along the coast of Georgia. Salt marshes are hosts to diverse organisms that interact with each other to promote many ecosystem services, such as storm buffering and flooding, and absorption of excess nutrients. Among these diverse organisms is the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa. Mussels are a foundation species in this intertidal landscape, and without them the whole salt marsh would be negatively affected. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the thermal stress response of G. demissa to rising temperatures. Mussels were collected from three locations that were landlocked, close to a …

Characterizing The Range Shifts Of Two Peromyscus Species In Maine, Molly Bennett

Honors College

In a changing climate, two species of mice in Maine (Peromyscus maniculatus and Peromyscus leucopus) are currently undergoing range shifts. The objective of my thesis is to determine the historical and current range of each species within the state of Maine. I used two approaches. I assembled ear biopsies collected this summer in Acadia National Park and throughout the state by the Gardner and Levesque labs to genotype the mice as either P. maniculatus or P. leucopus. Additionally, I summarized research that denotes where the two species were historically present around the state. These species are functionally impossible to tell …

Within-Reach Temperature Heterogeneity Is Limited In A Southern Appalachian Stream Network: Implications For Climate Change Refugia And Reach-Scale Temperature Mapping, Anna Kaz, Matthew Troia Dr., Xingli Giam Dr.

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Effects Of Sea-Level Rise And Increasing Salinity On Procambarus Lunzi Of Sapelo Island, Georgia, Samuel Long

Biology Theses

Barrier islands have great ecological and economical importance and face a threat from increasing sea-level due to climate change. Erosion of existing freshwater lens and ocean inundation could greatly change freshwater availability on the island. This could have significant impacts on freshwater crayfish like Procambarus lunzi, which are complexly intertwined into the trophic food web of the island. This study’s goal was to investigate the salinity tolerance of this crayfish on Sapelo Island, Georgia, in an attempt to predict the possible effects and response to sea-level rise by this crayfish. Crayfish were wild-caught from the island in March, June, and …

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Analysis Of Mangrove Ecosystems Using Gis, Kayla Caldwell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is accelerating beyond what is natural due to excessive emissions from human activities. The sea level has been rising for many years and is currently at a rate of 3.6 mm/yr. Mangroves are known to only keep pace with a sea level rate of less than 1.2 mm/yr. Mangroves are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels if they are not able to keep pace through vertical sediment accretion or inland migration. To test the vulnerability of the south Florida mangrove ecosystems to sea level rise, this study analyzed changes in the mangrove forest coverage of the Oleta River …

Variation In The Microbiota Associated With Daphnia Magna Across Genotypes, Populations, And Temperature, Jonas Frankel-Bricker, Michael J. Song, Maia J. Benner, Sarah Schaack

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2020

Studies of how the microbiome varies among individuals, populations, and abiotic conditions are critical for understanding this key component of an organism’s biology and ecology. In the case of Daphnia, aquatic microcrustaceans widely used in population/community ecology and environmental science studies, understanding factors that influence microbiome shifts among individuals is useful for both basic and applied research contexts. In this study, we assess differences in the microbiome among genotypes of D. magna collected from three regions along a large latitudinal gradient (Finland, Germany, and Israel). After being reared in the lab for many years, we sought to characterize any …

How Climate Impacts The Composition Of Wolf-Killed Elk In Northern Yellowstone National Park, Christopher C. Wilmers, Matthew C. Metz, Daniel R. Stahler, Michel T. Kohl, Chris Geremia, Douglas W. Smith

Ecology Center Publications

1. While the functional response of predators is commonly measured, recent work has revealed that the age and sex composition of prey killed is often a better predictor of prey population dynamics because the reproductive value of adult females is usually higher than that of males or juveniles.
2. Climate is often an important mediating factor in determining the composition of predator kills, but we currently lack a mechanistic understanding of how the multiple facets of climate interact with prey abundance and demography to influence the composition of predator kills.
3. Over 20 winters, we monitored 17 wolf packs in Yellowstone National Park …

Natural Variation And Evolutionary Responses To Climate Change Stressors In Marine Invertebrates, Joanna Sarah Griffiths

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Our rapidly changing climate is putting many species at risk of extinction and there is an urgent need to understand how species will respond to these changes. In this dissertation, I evaluate how three species of marine invertebrates (corals, oysters, and copepods) respond to stressful conditions in their current environments and how plasticity and evolutionary adaptation could alter their response to future climate change stressors. I first employed a space for time study to elucidate population differences in the response of cold-water corals, Balanophyllia elegans, to future ocean acidification. I found evidence that upwelling history (natural low pH exposure) influences …

The Metabolic Ecology Of Tropical Amphibians Across An Elevational Gradient In The Andes Of Southeastern Peru, Michael R. Britton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metabolism is a fundamental biological process that determines the rate at which organisms process energy and materials, and determines the availability of resources for growth, maintenance and reproduction. Metabolic rates scale across levels of organization from cells to whole organisms and affect population, community, and ecosystem processes. Anthropogenic climate change and other environmental changes are predicted to have major impacts on the energetics of organisms that will be mediated through metabolic physiology. Tropical ectotherms, such as amphibians, may be among the most vulnerable to metabolic impacts of climate change as a result of being ectothermic, having high thermal sensitivity, and …

Local Adaptation Constrains Drought Tolerance In A Tropical Foundation Tree, Kasey E. Barton, Casey Jones, Kyle F. Edwards, Aaron B. Shiels, Tiffany Knight

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Plant species with broad climatic ranges might be more vulnerable to climate change than previously appreciated due to intraspecific variation in climatic stress tolerance. In tropical forests, drought is increasingly frequent and severe, causing widespread declines and altering community dynamics. Yet, little is known about whether foundation tropical trees vary in drought tolerance throughout their distributions, and how intraspecific variation in drought tolerance might contribute to their vulnerability to climate changE.
2. We tested for local adaptation in seedling emergence and establishment with a full-factorial reciprocal transplant experiment including 27 populations and 109,350 seeds along a 3,500 mm precipitation gradient for …

Sharp‐Tailed Grouse In The Nebraska Sandhills Select Residual Cover Patches For Nest Sites, William L. Vodehnal, Gregory L. Schenbeck, Daniel W, Uresk

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Staff Research Publications

We evaluated selection and availability of residual cover (dead standing herbage) by sharptailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) at time of nest‐site selection in an intact and annually grazed grassland. We used radiotelemetry in 1988–1990 to locate 147 nests in the sandhills of Nebraska, USA, and classified 121 as initial nests and 26 as renests. We used visual obstruction readings (VOR) to measure the height and density of residual cover at nests and 373 landscape‐scale transects around leks (trap sites). We excluded 77 nests from vegetation analysis because green herbage or early livestock grazing compromised residual cover measurements. Most females …

Assessing The Hierarchy Of Long-Term Environmental Controls On Diatom Communities Of Yellowstone National Park Using Lacustrine Sediment Records, Victoria Chraibi, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecosystem’s ability to maintain structure and function following disturbance, defined as resilience, is influenced by a hierarchy of environmental controls, including climate, surface cover, and ecological relationships that shape biological community composition and productivity. This study examined lacustrine sediment records of naturally fishless lakes in Yellowstone National Park to reconstruct the response of aquatic communities to climate and trophic cascades from fish stocking. Sediment records of diatom algae did not exhibit a distinct response to fish stocking in terms of assemblage or algal productivity. Instead, 3 of 4 lakes underwent a shift to dominance by benthic diatom species from …

A Troop, A Raft, A Bed, Hanna Jane Guendel

Senior Projects Spring 2020

A Troop, a Raft, a Bed tells the interwoven fictional stories of three major animals (the mountain gorilla, the Adélie penguin, and the American eel) and four transitional animals (the white stork, the humpback whale, the common octopus, and the great white shark). The stories are told from the animals' perspectives, and are written with language that considers each animal's unique intelligence, mind, and behavior. These stories seek to communicate how animals around the world may be experiencing the various effects of climate change and global warming.

Gulf Coast Marine Laboratories Past, Present And Future, Donald F. Boesch

Gulf and Caribbean Research

I spent my nearly 50—year career in marine science working at marine laboratories, most of that as a chief executive officer. So, it is appropriate that my reflections are about marine laboratories, rather than my own science. After relating my career course, I turn my attention to the history and development of marine laboratories along the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Surprisingly, the region’s first laboratory was actually constructed in 1903 at Cameron, LA, but operated less than a decade before closing. It was not until after World War II that the university—affiliated marine laboratories of today …

Trade-Offs Between Morphology And Thermal Niches Mediate Adaptation In Response To Competing Selective Pressures, Stella F. Uiterwaal, Ian T. Lagerstrom, Thomas M. Luhring, Miranda E. Salsbery, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Abstract

The effects of climate change—such as increased temperature variability and novel predators—rarely happen in isolation, but it is unclear how organisms cope with multiple stressors simultaneously. To explore this, we grew replicate Paramecium caudatum populations in either constant or variable temperatures and exposed half to predation. We then fit thermal performance curves (TPCs) of intrinsic growth rate (r_max) for each replicate population (N = 12) across seven temperatures (10°C–38°C). TPCs of P. caudatum exposed to both temperature variability and predation responded only to one or the other (but not both), resulting in unpredictable outcomes. These changes in …

Patterns And Potential Causes Of Changing Winter Bird Distributions In South Dakota, David L. Swanson, Reza Goljani Amirkhiz, Mark D. Dixon

The Prairie Naturalist

Average winter temperatures in the north-central United States have been increasing since the 1970s, and this warming might influence winter distributions of birds in the region. Species potentially influenced by such winter warming include short-distance migrants for which the northern boundary of the winter range is influenced by temperature, such as hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus), yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata), and fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca). We examined winter records during 1974–2017 from a citizen-science bird observation database for South Dakota to determine recent trends in winter records for these three species. We compared their occurrence patterns with those for three benchmark …

Effects Of Multiple Stressors: Hydroperiod, Introduced Bullfrogs, And Food Limitation On Northern Red-Legged Frogs (Rana Aurora), Lindsey L. Gordon

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

As human activities reach every corner of the globe, climate change, invasive species, habitat destruction, and other stressors causing species’ declines no longer act alone. Climate change has the potential to exacerbate (or mitigate) other stressors (e.g. invasive species or pathogens) affecting amphibian populations. I assessed the combined effects of increased pond drying rates (potential impact of climate change), invasive bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) presence, and food availability on northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora) survival and body size after metamorphosis by rearing tadpoles under incrementally shortened hydroperiods with and without the presence of invasive bullfrog tadpoles in …

Genetic Analysis Of The Endangered Gray Bat Species (Myotis Grisescens), Emma Fitzgerald

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

This study attempts to analyze the genetics using specific haplotype sequences of the endangered gray bat to determine genetic events that have happened in the past as well as determining how the species population has changed over time. We were able to conduct a Tajima’s D test to investigate whether a potential bottleneck has occurred. A linear regression of the genetic vs. geographical distance was produced to investigate the patterns of haplotype distribution. The species past distribution was compared to the current distribution using known collected specimens. A map of future predictions was constructed using present and future climate layers …

Higher Temperatures Have Contrasting Effects On Different Components Of Forage Quality For Caribou In Northern Alaska, Heidi Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rising temperatures in the Arctic may affect vegetation, which in turn can affect herbivores, such as caribou, that rely on these plants for forage. Several plant traits contribute to forage quality, including digestibility, nitrogen content, and antiherbivory secondary compounds, but the effect of temperature on these traits individually and combined is unclear. I conducted a three-component study on the effect of higher temperatures on the forage quality of graminoids, deciduous shrubs, and evergreen dwarf shrubs on the North Slope of Alaska. The components included: 1) short and long-term experimental warming, 2) natural temperature variation between south and north-facing slopes, and …

Heat For The Masses: Thermal Ecology Of The Western Tent Caterpillar, Victoria Dahlhoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A unique feature of some gregarious, colonial insects is their ability to create external structures that alter environmental conditions for the entire (often family) group. A combination of physical alteration of local microhabitats and behavioral thermoregulation allows many of these animals to actively control their body temperatures, which allows them to regulate energy use and metabolism in variable thermal environments. Here I describe mechanisms of microhabitat modification and thermal regulation in the western tent caterpillar, Malacosoma californicum pluviale. Tent caterpillars build communal silk tents, whose temperatures can rise substantially above ambient air temperature. I experimentally manipulated colony sizes and examined …