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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Understanding Patterns And Functional Impacts Of An Invasive Tree And Its Biological Control In A Riparian System, Annie L. Henry
Understanding Patterns And Functional Impacts Of An Invasive Tree And Its Biological Control In A Riparian System, Annie L. Henry
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Invasive species have become an inextricable part of the landscape, particularly in riparian plant communities, and removal is often a key component of restoration programs. Biological control (biocontrol) is a method of removal that is often both efficient and effective. However, the impact of biocontrol on target species and indirect effects from invasive species removal can be hard to predict. While monitoring the impact of invasive species removal usually involves some species-based assessment such as changes in diversity, historically dominant species or native species, these strategies do not typically provide insight into the mechanisms underlying plant community response to removal. …
The Ecological Resilience Of A Tropical Montane Pine Forest To Droughts, Fire, And Hurricane Disturbance, Daniel Erland Brugger Swann
The Ecological Resilience Of A Tropical Montane Pine Forest To Droughts, Fire, And Hurricane Disturbance, Daniel Erland Brugger Swann
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Owing to the geographic isolation and unique climatic conditions which occur in tropical montane forests (TMFs), these systems are highly sensitive to changes in both climate and disturbance. Therefore, as ongoing climate change alters disturbance regimes – potentially facilitating multiple disturbance interactions much greater than that of isolated disturbances – TMFs may be shifted to alternate stable states. However, study of TMF resilience is essentially unknown given the lack of long-term studies in these systems. We address the resiliency of the tropical montane pine forests of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic using long-term climate records, remeasured vegetation data, and reconstructed …
The Ecology Of Land Managers In Riparian Restoration, Lisa Buie Clark
The Ecology Of Land Managers In Riparian Restoration, Lisa Buie Clark
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
While previous studies in restoration ecology have focused on the efficacy of direct management actions, the driving forces on management decisions (e.g., managers' characteristics or attitudes, environmental conditions) and the indirect impacts on restoration outcomes from management decisions (such as whether to collaborate) are quantified here for the first time. As a case study, I used data from 244 sites across the riparian Southwest US where the invasive shrubby tree Tamarix sp. was removed using various different methods. I surveyed and interviewed the 45 land managers who were responsible for the removal projects to determine their characteristics, attitudes, and …
Migration Ecology Of American Woodcock (Scolopax Minor), Joseph Daniel Moore
Migration Ecology Of American Woodcock (Scolopax Minor), Joseph Daniel Moore
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Improving the understanding of American woodcock (Scolopax minor) migration ecology has been identified as a priority information need for woodcock management. Developments in remote tracking technology and analytical techniques present an opportunity to gain insight into woodcock migratory connectivity and migration phenology and to evaluate the degree in which the current two-region (Eastern and Central) basis for woodcock management represents migratory movements. To analyze woodcock migration using band return records, I excluded observations that took place during the migratory period. Using this dataset, 17.9% of records showed crossover between management regions, higher than the < 5% crossover found in studies including non-migratory band returns. During autumn migration, woodcock from the Central Region largely migrated to destinations within the Central Region, whereas woodcock from the Eastern Region migrated to destinations across their wintering range, mixing with individuals from the Central Region. Between 2013 and 2016, I deployed 75 satellite transmitters on woodcock. I tracked the migration paths of 61 woodcock and documented 88 woodcock migrations. Average migration duration was longer during spring migration (53 days) than during autumn migration (31 days) because woodcock made a higher number of close-together migratory stopovers, not because woodcock stayed at individual stopovers longer during spring migration. Woodcock captured in the Central Management Region used 2 primary migrations routes: a Western Route and a Central Route. The Western Route ran north-south, connecting the breeding and wintering grounds of the Central Management Region. The hourglass-shaped Central Route connected an area on the wintering grounds reaching from Texas to Florida, to sites throughout northeastern North America. Woodcock following the Central Route funneled between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi Alluvial Valley in western Tennessee during both autumn and spring migration. A higher than anticipated percentage (36%, n = 12) of marked woodcock captured in Texas and Louisiana and monitored during spring migration migrated to breeding-period sites in the Eastern Management Region, raising questions about the biological basis of managing woodcock as separate populations. The supplementary material includes woodcock capture information (Appendix I), information on individual stopovers (Appendix II), and migration maps for individual woodcock (Appendix III).
Representing Taxonomic, Phylogenetic And Functional Diversity: New Challenges For Mediterranean Marine-Protected Areas, Francois Guilhaumon, Camille Albouy, Et Al, Christine N. Meynard
Representing Taxonomic, Phylogenetic And Functional Diversity: New Challenges For Mediterranean Marine-Protected Areas, Francois Guilhaumon, Camille Albouy, Et Al, Christine N. Meynard
VIMS Articles
To assess gaps in the representation of taxonomic, phylogenetic and func- tional diversity among coastal fishes in Mediterranean marine-protected areas (MPAs).
Phytoremediation Of Metal Contamination Using Salix (Willows), Gordon J. Kersten
Phytoremediation Of Metal Contamination Using Salix (Willows), Gordon J. Kersten
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Abandoned hardrock mines and the resulting Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) are a source of vast, environmental degradation that are toxic threats to plants, animals, and humans. Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are metal contaminants often found in AMD. In my mine outwash water samples, cadmium and lead concentrations were 19 and 160 times greater than concentrations in control waterways, and 300 and 40 times greater than EPA Aquatic Life Use water quality standards, respectively. I tested the phytoremediation characteristics of three montane willows native to the Rocky Mountains: Salix drummondiana, S. monticola, and S. planifolia. I tested …