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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Ecology And Conservation Of Diamondback Terrapins In Virginia, Cypress Ambrose
Ecology And Conservation Of Diamondback Terrapins In Virginia, Cypress Ambrose
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only turtle species native to North America with specific morphological and physiological adaptations to estuarine environments. Along with many other pressures contributing to population declines, terrapins frequently become trapped and drown as bycatch in crab pots used in the commercial and recreational blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishery. A wealth of evidence supports the use of inexpensive bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) that can be attached to the entrances of these traps, which leads to a marked decrease in terrapin bycatch while not reducing crab catch dramatically. Virginia is the only …
Climate Change And Conservation Of Milkweed: Evidence Of Extensive Admixture Between Common Milkweed And Poke Milkweed, Elizabeth Davies
Climate Change And Conservation Of Milkweed: Evidence Of Extensive Admixture Between Common Milkweed And Poke Milkweed, Elizabeth Davies
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Global climate change can drive many changes in species interactions. One primary way it affects species is by changing climates, causing species to expand their ranges and allowing them to interact with species from whom they were previously isolated. In plants, new species interactions can result in hybridization – the creation of hybrid offspring between two separate species. This hybridization can increase gene flow between the species and lead to introgression, the transfer of genetic material from one species to another through hybrid backcrossing with the parent species. My thesis investigates hybridization in the model system Asclepias (milkweed) by analyzing …
Honey As A Biomonitor For Air Pollutant Deposition In The Eastern United States Using Ion Chromatography And Scanning Electron Microscopy, Cole Cochran
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Anthropogenic activities generate metal, acid, and particulate air pollutants which negatively impact human and ecological health. In the United States, power plant, industrial, and vehicle emissions are leading causes of air pollution, however, the measurement of air pollution at high-resolution spatial regimes remains a challenge. Honey has emerged as a powerful biomonitoring tool to effectively quantify contaminants without the need for a large array of monitoring instruments. I hypothesized that honey could be used to effectively measure and map modern air pollutant spatiotemporal relationships over the Eastern U.S. Using ion chromatography with sulfate as an indicator for air pollution and …
Three Centuries Of Vegetation Change In The William & Mary College Woods Reconstructed Using Phytoliths, Timothy Terlizzi
Three Centuries Of Vegetation Change In The William & Mary College Woods Reconstructed Using Phytoliths, Timothy Terlizzi
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The College Woods, west of William & Mary’s campus, consists of ~900 acres of protected southern mixed hardwood forest. The woods surround Lake Matoaka, a former millpond established in ~1700. Despite the rich history of the area, little is known about how the dominant vegetative landcover has shifted over the last 300 years. This study set out to quantify the modern vegetation within the College Woods via the phytolith assemblages within the soil and identify shifts in the assemblages since the creation of Lake Matoaka and whether these changes are distinct from the vegetation that existed in the area before …