Life Sciences Commons^™

A. F. J. K. Mayer: Anatomy Of The Eye Of The Cetaceans. An Annotated Translation., Heiko L. Shoenfuss

Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University

No abstract provided.

Stomach Content Analysis Of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, In Virginia, 1987-1996, John Mcgurk

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

I examined the stomach contents from 94 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, that were stranded along the Virginia coastline from 1987 through 1996. Samples from 1987 through 1991 were obtained from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and samples from 1992 through 1996 were collected by the Virginia Marine Science Museum (VMSM) Stranding Team. Prey species were identified using fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks.

The dolphins examined fed on 23 species of fish and one genus of cephalopods. The primary prey species was Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus); secondary species were weakfish (Cynoscion regalia), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), …

Ecological Relationships Between The Marsh Rice Rat (Oryzomys Palustris) And The Meadow Vole (Microtus Pennsylvanicus) In Two Virginia Tidal Marshes, Christopher P. Bloch

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Small mammals were trapped for 23 months on two live trap grids in tidal marshes in Northampton County, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, to examine ecological relationships between the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) and the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Population density, survival rates, capture probability, recruitment, residence time, and home range size were calculated for each species. Patterns of reproductive activity and fluctuations in mean weight were also observed.

There were considerable differences in population dynamics between the two sites. At Grid 2, where vegetative cover was more abundant, population densities of rice rats and meadow voles …

The Annual Reproductive Cycle Of Oryzomys Palustris In A Virginia Tidal Marsh, Erin A. Dreelin

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The objectives of my study were to determine when the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) begins and ends reproduction during the year, if there are seasonal changes in litter size, and the weight at which sexual maturity is reached. Monthly samples of rice rats were trapped from May 1995 to May 1996 in Northampton County, Virginia. Rice rats were trapped with Fitch live traps, euthanized in the field, and brought to the lab for necropsy. Data from two other studies of rice rats in Northampton County were also examined. Potential breeders did not reproduce with equal intensity throughout the …

Applications Of Geographic Information Systems, Remote-Sensing, And A Landscape Ecology Approach To Biodiversity Conservation In The Western Ghats, Shaily Menon, Kamaljit S. Bawa

Shaily Menon

The mountains along the west coast of peninsular India, the Western Ghats, constitute one of the unique biological regions of the world. Rapidly occurring land-cover and land-use change in the Western Ghats has serious implications for the biodiversity of the region. Both landscape changes as well as the distribution of biodiversity are phenomena with strong spatial correlates. Recent developments in remote-sensing technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow the use of a landscape ecology and spatial analysis approach to the problem of deforestation and biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats. Applications of this approach include analyses of land-cover and land-use …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 29, No.2. June 1997

The Prairie Naturalist

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS FOR NORTH DAKOTA - 1996 ▪ . R. N. Randall

BREEDING BIRD RICHNESS IN THE PRAIRIE POTHOLE REGION OF MINNESOTA ▪ . S. L. Niesar and D. E. Hubbard

UNUSUAL MIGRATION BY A WHITE-TAILED DEER FAWN IN SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ C. S. DePerno, S. L. Griffin, J. A. Jenks, and L. A. Rice

COYOTE FOOD HABITS AT DESOTO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEBRASKA ▪ J. J. Huebschman, S. E. Hygnstrom, and J. A. Gubanyi

WHITE BASS GROWTH IN SOUTH DAKOTA WATERS ▪ D. W. Willis, H. D. Beck, C. A. Soupir, B. A. Johnson, G. D. Simpson, and …

The Aquaculture Of Non-Endemic Species In Western Australia, Tina Thorne

Fisheries management papers

This Management Paper has been drafted in liaison with the Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with the principles of risk assessment and taking into account translocation issues of non-endemic species such as redclaw (Cheras quadricarninatus). It is considered that the implementation of this policy will protect the natural environment and native crayfish species. It will also allow for the development of a redclaw industry, and provide the first step towards self regulation of that industry.

The Aquaculture Of Non-Endemic Species In Western Australia Silver Perch (Bidyanus Bidyanus), Tina Thorne, H. G. Brayford

Fisheries management papers

For a number of years silver perch, a species native to the Murray-Darling river system of eastern Australia, has been allowed into Western Australia for the purpose of stocking rural, inland farm dams. Improts have only been allowed under licence, subject to disease-free certification and on the basis of fish being placed into impounded waters. The development of commercial aquaculture of a non-endemic species such as silver perch raises a number of important issues relating to tanslocation. These include potential of the introduced species to: Impact on genetic diversity, Introduce disease, Impact on the natural environment and the biodiversity of …

Management Arrangements For The Western Rock Lobster Fishery For The 1997/98 Season, F. B. Prokop

Fisheries management papers

This paper deals with the proposed management strategies for the 1997/98 seasons. The purpose of this paper is to present the views of RLIAC on management arrangements for the 1997/98 rock lobster season and to indicate the strategic directions that long term management of this important fishery might take so as to ensure both its biological sustainability and the optimisation of product value for both the State and the participants in the fishery.

The Effects Of Temperature Regime And Food Availability On Growth Rates Of Young-Of-The-Year Colorado Squawfish (Ptychocheilus Lucius) In The Green River, Utah, Craig J. Schaugaard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of different daily temperature regimes and food availability on growth rates of Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius) were determined using field and laboratory experiments. Daily temperature and food gradients were observed in river backwaters (important nursery habitat for juvenile Colorado squawfish). High fluctuating temperatures (± 5-8° C) were observed daily in the shallow, terminal ends of backwaters. Where backwaters were in contact with the river (mouth), daily temperature fluctuations decreased (± 2° C). Food availability also varied spatially between the mouth and end of each backwater. To test whether Colorado squawfish growth rates varied in different areas …

Habitat Use And Activities Of The Piping Plover, Charadrius Melodus, Wintering On South Padre Island, Texas, Humberto Garza Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Piping Plover, Charadrius melodus, is endangered in its breeding sites and threatened in its wintering sites. This migratory shorebird spends 3 to 4 months on northern U.S. and southern Canadian breeding sites and the remainder of the year in Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and southern U.S. wintering sites. Up to 2.4% of the estimated Piping Plover population remains for the 9 to 10 month non-breeding season on South Padre Island (S.P.I.). During the non-breeding season, I conducted censuses at 15 sites in the southern portion of South Padre Island to determine Piping Plover habitat preferences. Piping Plovers prefer bay …

Habitat Selection, Population Density, And Home Range Of The Elf Owl, Micrathene Whitneyl, At Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Christopher Michael Gamel

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Elf Owl, Micrathene whitneyi, is a regular summer resident of the southwestern United States. My objectives were to collect information concerning habitat selection, home range size, and population density of M. w. idonea, the subspecies occurring in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Nocturnal surveys indicated greater use of chaparral habitat (92%) compared to riparian woodlands (8%). Utilized habitat was characterized by highest foliage density at 2.5-3.0 m, with a partial canopy at 3.8 $\pm$ 0.36 m and a semi-open understory. Home range size ranged from 0.24 to 2.6 ha, with a mean of 1.05 $\pm$ 0.33 ha. …

Evaluation Of Physical And Behavioral Traits Of Llamas (Lama Glama) Associated With Aggressiveness Toward Sheep-Threatening Canids, Sandra M. C. Cavalcanti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Canid predation poses a serious threat to the sheep industry in the United States. Llamas are becoming popular among livestock producers as part of their predation management programs but there is little information on the factors associated with llama guarding behavior. This study examined several physical and behavioral attributes of individual llamas to assess whether they might predict the aggressiveness llamas display coward canids. The study was conducted in three phases. The first involved determining some physical and behavioral traits of individual llamas. Twenty individuals were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n = 5/group) and frequencies with which …

Merits Of Using Tranquilizer Trap Devices On Leg-Hold Traps Used To Capture Gray Wolves (Canis Lupus), Duane P. Sahr

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) are frequently captured with leg-hold traps for reintroduction, relocation to reduce depredations on livestock, or as subjects for research projects. Wolves captured with leg-hold traps often sustain injuries to their feet, legs, and teeth during struggles to escape. Other studies have shown that the use of tranquilizer devices on leg-hold traps reduces such injuries to coyotes. This study (1) assessed whether use of tranquilizer trap devices (TTDs) on leg-hold traps reduced the severity of injuries sustained by captured wolves, and (2) examined the effects TTDs have on nontarget species caught during wolf capture operations. Data were …

Wetland Delineation Of Camp Ripley In Minnesota, Richard A. Spencer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Department of Defense (DoD) maintains approximately 25 million acres of land that is used for military training in the continental United States. Currently, federal and state laws and regulations require that the DoD land be managed so that any activity, including training, will have a minimal effect on the natural environment.

Identification Of Belowground Woody Structures Using Molecular Biomarkers, Benny R. Bobowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Within the last two decades substantial progress has been made in understanding seed bank dynamics and the contribution of the soil seed bank to a post-disturbance plant community. There has been relatively little progress, however, in understanding perennial bud bank dynamics and the contribution of the soil bud bank to secondary succession. This lack of information is due primarily to the inability to reliably identify roots, rhizomes, and lignotubers that lie dormant beneath the soil surface. This scientific investigation, therefore, addressed the issue of identification of belowground woody structures.

The first objective was to develop a methodology that utilizes molecular …

Grazing Systems As Management Tools To Meet Multiple Objectives, Lacy Nicole Hadley

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Grazing systems have in the past been developed to increase or maintain livestock production without degrading the land (Archer and Smeins, 1991). A grazing system is a "specialization of grazing management which defines the periods of grazing and non-grazing" (Jacoby, 1989). However, these systems can be developed for other uses besides just livestock. Grazing systems can be used as management tools by manipulating vegetation in specific directions to meet desired objectives. This is done by the livestock themselves because they act as "ecosystem regulators" by having a direct impact on the vegetation (Holechek et al., 1995). Livestock can alter the …

Southern Appalachian Fir And Fir-Spruce Forest Community Changes Following Balsam Woolly Adelgid Infestation, George Francis Smith

Masters Theses

The southern Appalachian fir and fir-spruce forests are unique glacial relict communities that occupy 26,600 ha at the highest elevations of only seven mountain areas. Over the last three and a half decades an exotic insect, the balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz.), has caused catastrophic mortality to populations of the endemic Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) throughout its entire native range. In 1990 and 1991, a set of temporary and permanent plots were established at the summits of five mountains in the Great Smoky Mountains to study processes of community change in overstory and understory composition …

The Scientific Validity Of Subjective Concepts In Models Of Animal Welfare, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Animal Welfare Collection

This paper takes a closer look at the subjectivity/objectivity relationship, as it plays a role in the science of animal welfare. It argues that subjective, experiential states in animals such as well-being and suffering are, contrary to what is often assumed, open to empirical observation and scientific assessment. The presumably purely private, inaccessible nature of such states is not an inherent property of these states, but derives from their misguided conception as ‘causal objects’ in mechanistic models of behaviour. This inevitably endows subjective experience with a ‘hidden’ status. However, subjective experience should be approached on its own conceptual grounds, i.e. …

Las Vegas Wash Water Quality Monitoring Program: 1996 Report Of Findings, Richard A. Roline, James J. Sartoris, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey

Publications (WR)

Las Vegas Wash, a natural wash east of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, carries stormwater, groundwater drainage, and sewage effluent from three sewage treatment plants to Lake Mead. The Wash provides nearly the only surface water outlet for the entire 2,193 mi² of Las Vegas Valley. A drainage area of 1,586 mi² contributes directly to the Wash through surface flow which is channeled to Las Vegas Bay of Lake Mead, while drainage of the remaining 607 mi² is presumably subsurface and may drain toward Las Vegas Wash.

In the 1930's and 1940's, sewage treatment plants were …

Percina Suttkusi, A New Species Of Logperch (Subgenus Percina) From Louisiana, Mississippi, And Alabama (Perciformes, Percidae, Etheostomatini), Bruce A. Thompson

Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University

No abstract provided.

The Asian Elephant: Ecology And Management, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Book review for the following title:

The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management. By Raman Sukumar, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 282 pages. $34.95 hardcover

Nest-Site Selection By Belted Kingfishers (Ceryle Alcyon) In Colorado, Sara Shields, Jeffrey F. Kelly

Habitat Assessment and Management Collection

Along the Cache la Poudre River in northern Colorado, belted kingfishers nested in relatively tall banks that lacked a toe. Kingfishers constructed burrows in soils that contained significantly less sand than was present at systematically sampled points. This finding conflicts with earlier findings that indicate kingfishers select sandy soils for burrow construction. Otherwise, the physical characteristics of banks used by belted kingfishers in Colorado were similar to those found elsewhere.

Active And Passive Settling By Marine Benthic Nematodes, Rodney Duane Bertelsen

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates whether active processes participate in the settlement of marine benthic nematodes. The settling rates of three estuarine benthic nematode taxa were examined in a linear flume using two treatments defined by the type of sediment bed placed in the flume. One treatment bed contained sediments rendered "unattractive" by boiling. The other treatment bed contained unaltered "attractive" sediment. Preliminary still water choice experiments confirmed the attractive and unattractive properties of these sediment treatments with each taxon. Recolonization trays placed in the field confirmed that each taxon did disperse in the water column. One taxon (Theristus sp?) exhibited significantly …

Ecology Of The Early Life History Of The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Argus: Recruitment, Predation, And Habitat Requirements, Charles A. Acosta

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Recruitment variability of the early life history stages of marine benthic organisms can have profound consequences on population dynamics. I studied factors affecting recruitment success of postlarvae and early juveniles of the Caribbean spiny lobster. I examined patterns in postlarval supply, investigated wind forcing as a potential transport mechanism for recruiting postlarvae, and quantified predation on postlarvae in south Florida, USA. In an eight-year time series, spiny lobster postlarval supply occurred year-round between the new and first quarter lunar phases. The major annual peak occurred around March corresponding to spawning activity ten months earlier, and a smaller non-seasonal peak occurred …

Microzooplankton Dynamics In Lower Chesapeake Bay And Its Major Tributaries, Gyung Soo Park

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

This study identified the temporal and spatial variability of microzooplankton density and biomass at 14 stations located within Chesapeake Bay and four rivers. Microzooplankton are defined as those heterotrophic organisms which range from 20 to 200 $\mu$m in size, and in this study were mainly composed of copepod nauplii, rotifers, and ciliates. Ciliates were the most abundant microzooplankton, comprising more than 90% of the total density, with copepod nauplii representing approximately 50% of the total microzooplankton biomass (carbon content). Rotifers contributed less than 5% for both density and biomass of the total microzooplankton.

Maximum ciliate abundance occurred from spring to …

Influence Of Physics On The Distribution Of Ichthyoplankton Across The Chesapeake Bay Plume, Christian S. Reiss

OES Theses and Dissertations

Most marine fish have retained pelagic larval stages that are spawned away from juvenile habitats. Physical and biological processes on a number of scales may affect larval survival. Mesoscale features like estuarine or riverine plumes and fronts are thought to affect larval survival by transporting larvae to juvenile habitats or by retaining larvae in favorable developmental habitats. It is likely that these features are major contributors in the regulation of shelf-spawned estuarine-dependent taxa.

This study examined how physical oceanographic features affected the spatial distribution of ichthyoplankton across the Chesapeake Bay Plume. Larval surveys were conducted across the shelf and within …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 29, No.1. March 1997

The Prairie Naturalist

UPDATED DISTRIBUTION OF THE LEAST WEASEL ON THE CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS ▪ S. R. Hoofer and J. R. Choate

ESTIMATING SURVIVAL OF SONG BIRD CARCASSES IN CROPS AND WOODLOTS ▪ G. M. Linz, D. L. Bergman, and W. J. Bleier

SEXUAL ALLOCATION IN Carex stricta, A MONOECIOUS, TUSSOCK-FORMING SEDGE ▪ D. M. Estrella and C. E. Umbanhowar, Jr.

ABUNDANCE OF THIRTEEN-LINED GROUND SQUIRRELS IN SHORTGRASS PRAIRIE ▪ L. C. Higgins and P. Stapp

BATS OF JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT, SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ J. R. Choate and J. M. Anderson

NOTES

Northern Harrier Builds Nest On Top Of Depredated Mallard …

A Pricing Policy For Fisheries Agencies, Management Committee Of Scfa, Standing Committee Of Fisheries And Aquaculture (Sfca), Department Of Primary Industries And Energy

Fisheries management papers

The intent of this paper is to inform members of Standing Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture (SCFA) and the members of the Ministerial Council for Fisheries, Forestry and Aquaculture of the methods of fee setting that are currently applied by fisheries agencies in Australia, and alternative pricing policies for fisheries agencies.

Management Of The South Coast Purse Seine Fishery, J Fowler, K Donohue, R.C. J. Lenanton, M. Moran, D Gaughan

Fisheries management papers

This paper has presented a strategy for moving the management of the small pelagics fishery off the south coast to management of the whole fishery, which facilitates a more biologically sound and economically stable fishery.