Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Diversity And Dispersal Among Eastern Continental Divide Headwater Stream Fishes In Gwinnett County, Georgia., James E. Russell, Molly M. Botting, Ryan M. Davenport, Emilee J. Story, Mark Patterson Jun 2023

Diversity And Dispersal Among Eastern Continental Divide Headwater Stream Fishes In Gwinnett County, Georgia., James E. Russell, Molly M. Botting, Ryan M. Davenport, Emilee J. Story, Mark Patterson

Georgia Journal of Science

The eastern continental divide that bisects Georgia runs through Gwinnett County, separating headwater streams of the western Chattahoochee River watershed from headwater streams of the eastern Ocmulgee and Oconee River watersheds. This landscape feature was used to test hypotheses regarding headwater habitat, fish diversity and gene flow. Headwater habitats are dominant components of river network ecosystems delivering vital ecosystem services and biodiversity. Three headwater streams, one in the Chattahoochee watershed and two in the Oconee watershed, on Gwinnett County Park property, were sampled for differences in physical and chemical properties and fish inter- and intraspecific diversity. Our results suggest the …


Addition Of Inexpensive Lights To Aquatic Turtle Traps Improves Trapping Efficiency In Early Spring, Jenna B. Myers, Michael J. Bender, Maggie M. Woodall*, Jennifer L. Mook Feb 2022

Addition Of Inexpensive Lights To Aquatic Turtle Traps Improves Trapping Efficiency In Early Spring, Jenna B. Myers, Michael J. Bender, Maggie M. Woodall*, Jennifer L. Mook

Georgia Journal of Science

Aquatic turtles are essential contributors to many freshwater ecosystems, but they face a myriad of threats, necessitating periodic monitoring of population status. Increasing turtle trapping efficiency has the potential to improve conservation efforts, particularly when population sizes are low or sampling conditions are suboptimal. In an effort to improve trapping efficiency, we added LED lights to turtle traps in an attempt to attract kinosternid turtles. Our investigation into the effectiveness of LED lights as an attractant was based on evidence suggesting that these turtles may forage using both visual and olfactory cues. Lights significantly increased captures of kinosternid turtles during …


Size Estimates Of The Extinct Marine Snake Pterosphenus Schucherti From Eocene-Aged Sediments Of Central Georgia, Colin J. Calvert, Alfred J. Mead, Dennis Parmley Feb 2022

Size Estimates Of The Extinct Marine Snake Pterosphenus Schucherti From Eocene-Aged Sediments Of Central Georgia, Colin J. Calvert, Alfred J. Mead, Dennis Parmley

Georgia Journal of Science

Fossil snakes are most often identified from isolated vertebrae, complicating estimations of total body lengths of extinct taxa. Here we estimate the range of total body length of the late Eocene North American palaeophiid marine snake Pterosphenus schucherti based on 29 recently collected fossil vertebrae from Wilkinson County, Georgia, USA. Previous research suggests that the palaeophiids are most closely related to modern boids. Total body length estimates here are based on family-specific regressions of centrum length versus known total body length in extant members of Boidae, Pythonidae, and Colubridae. The high correlation coefficients for the family specific regressions supports previous …


Macroinvertebrates, Watershed Imperviousness, And A Water Quality Index: A Confluence Of Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’S Volunteer Data, Christopher H. Kodani Jul 2021

Macroinvertebrates, Watershed Imperviousness, And A Water Quality Index: A Confluence Of Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’S Volunteer Data, Christopher H. Kodani

Georgia Journal of Science

The relationship between a stream’s macroinvertebrate community as quantified by Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’s Water Quality Index and the impervious surface of an adopted stream’s watershed was weak. Although the average WQI decreased with increasing watershed imperviousness, the R2 was only 8.3%--an admittedly poor fit. To further investigate, a more comprehensive analysis was performed using forward stepwise regression. This model, which included both imperviousness and the abundance of just 15 out of the 20 kinds of macroinvertebrates, achieved an R2 of 59.4%. Imperviousness alone may not be a good predictor of WQI, but a combination of selected macroinvertebrate data and …


What Roadkills Did We Miss In A Driving Survey? A Comparison Of Driving And Walking Surveys In Baldwin County, Georgia, Kori A. Ogletree, Alfred J. Mead Apr 2020

What Roadkills Did We Miss In A Driving Survey? A Comparison Of Driving And Walking Surveys In Baldwin County, Georgia, Kori A. Ogletree, Alfred J. Mead

Georgia Journal of Science

Accurate estimates of vertebrate road mortalities are necessary prior to the consideration of mitigation measures by resource managers. Due to ease of implementation, driving surveys are more common than walking surveys. From February 2018 to February 2019, two survey methods, driving and walking, were used to monitor a 1.16 km section of Highway 212 in Baldwin County, Georgia. Roadkills were identified and monitored for persistence from sunrise to noon two days a week. Twenty-nine roadkills were recorded over the survey period: 48.3% mammals (14/29), 27.6% herpetofauna (8/29), and 24.1% birds (7/29). Forty-eight percent (14/29) of roadkills were missed by the …


Dental And Mandibular Anomalies In White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) From Central Georgia, Patrick M. Powers, Alfred J. Mead Oct 2019

Dental And Mandibular Anomalies In White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) From Central Georgia, Patrick M. Powers, Alfred J. Mead

Georgia Journal of Science

The frequency of dental and mandibular anomalies in free-ranging white-tailed deer in the southeastern United States is not well documented. Characteristic irregularities include supernumerary and missing teeth, malocclusion, root abscesses due to bacterial infections, and tooth or bone damage due to trauma. In the present study, we examined 778 white-tailed deer dentaries collected from the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in central Georgia. All dentaries were inspected for lesions, tooth irregularities, developmental anomalies, and other pathologies. Thirty-two dentaries (4.1%) displayed signs of dental or bone abnormalities. More abnormalities were associated with infection or injury (22/778, 2.8%) compared to unusual tooth development …


Short Term Effects Of Hurricane Irma On The Phytoplankton Of Lake Louise, Georgia, Usa, Marque'l K. Gould, Adam J. Nienow, Anastasia V. F. Nienow, James A. Nienow Sep 2019

Short Term Effects Of Hurricane Irma On The Phytoplankton Of Lake Louise, Georgia, Usa, Marque'l K. Gould, Adam J. Nienow, Anastasia V. F. Nienow, James A. Nienow

Georgia Journal of Science

Natural disturbances such as fires and severe storms can have profound impacts on the hydrology and ecology of inland waters, potentially altering the structure and function of the ecosystem for extended periods of time. Studies of the initial impacts are, however, uncommon. Here we report on the short-term impacts of Hurricane Irma in the structure of the phytoplankton association in Lake Louise, a small blackwater lake in southern Georgia. Irma hit the region on September 11, 2017, with tropical storm force winds. The event corresponded to a period during which we were conducting routine weekly monitoring of environmental conditions in …


A Tentative List Of The Land Snails Of Georgia, U.S.A., Zachary I. Felix, Michael A. Dubuc, Hassan A. Rana Jul 2019

A Tentative List Of The Land Snails Of Georgia, U.S.A., Zachary I. Felix, Michael A. Dubuc, Hassan A. Rana

Georgia Journal of Science

Because of their high ecological and conservation value, and because we know so little about the group, we compiled a systematic if tentative list of land snails from the state of Georgia. After gleaning a list of species from a monograph on the land snails of eastern United States, written by Leslie Hubricht in 1985, we realized that many species whose ecological requirements are found in Georgia had not been documented there. Therefore, we developed a qualitative model to predict the likelihood that these candidate species occur in Georgia and would eventually be documented. We tested the model with collections …


Identification And Characterization Of Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria Associated With Kudzu Root Nodules, Chasity Lawless, Michelle Zedonek, Debbie Curtis, Jonda Scharringhausen, Jared Bryant, Wendy A. Dustman, Alexandra M. Kurtz, Bekah Ward Dr. Sep 2018

Identification And Characterization Of Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria Associated With Kudzu Root Nodules, Chasity Lawless, Michelle Zedonek, Debbie Curtis, Jonda Scharringhausen, Jared Bryant, Wendy A. Dustman, Alexandra M. Kurtz, Bekah Ward Dr.

Georgia Journal of Science

Pueraria montana, better known as kudzu, is an invasive species rapidly spreading throughout the southeastern United States. This plant can form root nodules which house nitrogen-fixing bacteria, allowing atmospheric nitrogen to be converted into biologically available forms of nitrogen for use by the plant host. Given the centrality of these bacteria to the spread of kudzu, isolates from nodules were characterized after collection from seven different locations across the metropolitan Atlanta area. Twenty-five isolates were grown on two different variants of nitrogen free media. Four different carbon sources were evaluated as well. Finally, growth under both aerobic and anaerobic …


Impervious Surface And Macroinvertebrates In The South Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Christopher H. Kodani May 2018

Impervious Surface And Macroinvertebrates In The South Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Christopher H. Kodani

Georgia Journal of Science

Studies utilizing volunteer stream monitoring data are rare, particularly in in the Atlanta metropolitan area. This study investigated how the macroinvertebrate communities of 20 different stream sites in the south metropolitan Atlanta area were affected by the imperviousness of their surrounding watersheds. These sites were in a diverse landscape which included forests, wetlands, suburban day-use parks, and parking lots. Percentage impervious surface area was measured using Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis. Macroinvertebrates were collected using Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’s volunteer monitoring protocols, and a water quality index (WQI) was calculated from these data. The relationship between WQI and imperviousness was curvilinear and …


Declining Frequency Of Road-Killed Rabbits In Central Georgia, Anna M. Bosch, Katelyn J. Benson, Alfred J. Mead Mar 2016

Declining Frequency Of Road-Killed Rabbits In Central Georgia, Anna M. Bosch, Katelyn J. Benson, Alfred J. Mead

Georgia Journal of Science

Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus, Sylvilagus aquaticus, Sylvilagus palustris) are a common component of the mammal fauna of the southeastern United States, yet their numbers have been in decline for at least the past 40 years. Urban sprawl, land use changes, forest maturation, and increased predation have contributed to the decline in Georgia. In the current study we explore the proposition that long-term changes in roadkill frequency track changes in wildlife populations as a whole. Using comparisons of historical data collected by Georgia Department of Natural Resources personnel and recent roadkill census data from Baldwin County, it appears that the overall …