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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Investigating The Population Dynamics Of An Avian Apex Predator Across An Urban Gradient, Donna Marain
Investigating The Population Dynamics Of An Avian Apex Predator Across An Urban Gradient, Donna Marain
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Predators are often the focus of conservation efforts. They can be useful sentinel species, umbrella species, and flagship species. Predators can also be the first guild lost when ecosystems are under stress, especially from anthropogenic land-use change. Avian predators (raptors) can be an exception to this trend, filling the role of apex predators across the urban gradient. South Florida contains the Everglades ecosystem and one of the fastest growing human populations in the country. In the current study, I investigated the population dynamics of South Florida’s most abundant hawk: the Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus, RSHA) across the urban …
Beyond Predation: How Do Consumers Mediate Bottom-Up Processes In Ecosystems?, Bradley Austin Strickland
Beyond Predation: How Do Consumers Mediate Bottom-Up Processes In Ecosystems?, Bradley Austin Strickland
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
By eating and scaring prey, predators can exert strong effects on communities and ecosystems. In addition, some animals may physically alter habitats and may recycle nutrients through digestion, both of which affect resources available to producers. Bottom-up effects initiated by large predators have not been well-studied and could prove to be important for understanding food webs and how ecosystems function. American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are abundant mobile predators that are capable of engineering aquatic habitats by moving organic material across ecosystem boundaries and creating and maintaining alligator ponds. In this dissertation, I documented the scale of ecological impacts …
Understanding, Quantifying, And Reducing Bias In Fisheries-Independent Visual Surveys, James Kilfoil
Understanding, Quantifying, And Reducing Bias In Fisheries-Independent Visual Surveys, James Kilfoil
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Understanding spatiotemporal changes in populations is vital for conservation managers to assess current recovery efforts, determine future conservation priorities, and forms the basis to explore complex ecological questions. In fisheries, these data have traditionally been collected using fisheries-independent surveys that rely on extractive sampling practices (e.g., longlines, gillnets, trawls). However, with the growing availability of low-cost, high-definition cameras, researchers are increasingly using visual surveys as a non-invasive alternative. Camera surveys have a number of advantages including their archivable data, and offer insights into species habitat use and behavior. However, the use of cameras has a number of inherent biases. Understanding, …