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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Variation In Genetic Structure And Dispersal Of Juvenile Green Turtles, Gustavo Stahelin
Variation In Genetic Structure And Dispersal Of Juvenile Green Turtles, Gustavo Stahelin
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Sea turtles are long-lived, globally distributed animals with a complex life-history. Individuals from different populations often share the same foraging areas (mixed stock aggregations). Understanding patterns of dispersal and connectivity between reproductive populations and mixed stock aggregations is fundamental for the development of effective conservation plans. Recently, green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations in several reproductive areas have increased, providing an opportunity to evaluate how demographic changes in reproductive areas impact dispersal to, and the composition of, mixed stock aggregations. In this dissertation, I evaluated how dispersal from reproductive populations in the Greater Caribbean to mixed stock aggregations may have …
Evolutionary History And Adaptation To Salinity In American Alligators, John Konvalina
Evolutionary History And Adaptation To Salinity In American Alligators, John Konvalina
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Stressful environments can commonly be found at the edge of a species range and may be a driver for adaption in suboptimal environments. Furthermore, the edge of a species' range can expand and contract over time, resulting in multiple independent invasions of the same stressful habitat. Elucidating population genetic structure and demographic history can aid in determining the which geologic factors impact range distributions and when climatic changes occurred driving genetic patterns observed in contemporary populations. Moreover, populations at the edge of the species range may adapt to the stressful environments that occur at the range edge and exhibit genetic …
Responses Of A Pine Flatwoods Specialist Treefrog To Prescribed Fire, Ian Biazzo
Responses Of A Pine Flatwoods Specialist Treefrog To Prescribed Fire, Ian Biazzo
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Coarse outcomes of prescribed fires are well-understood, but fine scale impacts on many assemblages are still unknown. When fire approaches, animals escape to unburned areas, hide in place, or are killed by fire. Treefrogs are unique in their use of trees for most of their adult nonbreeding activities. This reliance on uplands and three-dimensional landscape composition makes them a great model to study prescribed fire impacts. We focused analyses on an upland flatwoods specialist comprising 99% of our captures, the pinewoods treefrog Dryophytes femoralis. We assessed this species' responses to prescribed fire using two separate before-after-control-impact replicated field experiments in …
The Y-Chromosome's Role In Sexually Dimorphic Evolution And Mother's Curse Compensation, Tobias Nielsen
The Y-Chromosome's Role In Sexually Dimorphic Evolution And Mother's Curse Compensation, Tobias Nielsen
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The Y-chromosome and mitochondria (containing mtDNA) appear entirely dissimilar, the former being a sex chromosome found in the nucleus and the latter an organelle with thousands of copies in the cytoplasm. However, both experience uniparental inheritance, with Y-chromosomes being patrilineal and mitochondria matrilineal. This leads to various other similarities including haploidy, high mutation rates, and limited or lack of genetic recombination. Moreover, the low number of protein-coding genes contained on both led to the belief that neither contributes significantly to the adaptive evolution of complex traits. However, recent studies show the Y-chromosome and mitochondria both influence roughly 10% of male …
Juvenile Dispersal And Genetic Connectivity In The Sea Turtle 'Lost Years', Katrina Phillips
Juvenile Dispersal And Genetic Connectivity In The Sea Turtle 'Lost Years', Katrina Phillips
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Juvenile dispersal is a life history strategy found across taxa and habitat types. In this dissertation, I examine juvenile dispersal in an evolutionary context and explore the conditions that support high dispersal, which necessitates subsequent ontogenetic habitat shifts. I use a sea turtle study system to evaluate the genetic and behavioral patterns associated with juvenile dispersal and ontogenetic shifts in marine environments. Specifically, I focus on four sea turtle species found in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico in the early life stage known as the 'lost years': green turtles (Chelonia mydas), Kemp's ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii), loggerheads (Caretta caretta), and hawksbills …
Multiomic Hypotheses Underlying Behavioral Manipulation Of Camponotus Floridanus Ants By Ophiocordyceps Camponoti-Floridani Fungi, Ian Will
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Parasitic manipulation of host behavior lies at the intersection of disease, animal behavior, and coevolutionary processes. In many of these interactions, the underpinning biology is brought into sharp focus as they are obligate relationships, under strong selection to bring about specific changes in host behavior that determine if the parasite will transmit or die. However, experimental and molecular techniques to understand these interactions are still developing and identification of the mechanisms of manipulation is a primary goal in the field. As such, we investigated host-parasite interactions between Camponotus floridanus (Florida carpenter ant) and Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani (Florida zombie ant fungus) from …
Role Of Biological Clocks In Ant Behavioral Plasticity And Parasitic Manipulation Of Ant Behavior, Biplabendu Das
Role Of Biological Clocks In Ant Behavioral Plasticity And Parasitic Manipulation Of Ant Behavior, Biplabendu Das
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Living organisms exhibit daily rhythms as a way to anticipate predictable fluctuations in their environment. Such daily rhythmicity is the phenotypic outcome of oscillating genes and proteins, driven by an endogenous biological clock. Clock-controlled behavioral rhythms are inherently "flexible" since their phase, amplitude, and period can change throughout an animal's life hallmarked by changes in so-called chronotype. How this inherent plasticity of clock-controlled rhythms is linked to plasticity of behavior is still an open question in biology. Characterizing the various mechanistic links between plasticity of the animal clock and behavioral state will not only shed light on the molecular underpinnings …
Long-Term Changes In Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance And Foraging Ecology In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Christopher Long
Long-Term Changes In Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance And Foraging Ecology In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Christopher Long
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Marine turtles are distributed in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical waters and beaches worldwide, often in areas heavily impacted by humans. Although there are many threats to marine turtle populations, the growing threats of nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms are relatively understudied despite their widespread impacts on coastal marine ecosystems that marine turtles depend on. By studying juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, where nutrient pollution and HABs are a widespread and longstanding issue, I aimed to conduct a case study of how these threats may affect this federally Threatened species. In Chapter 2, I …