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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Estatus Actual De Los Búhos Terrestres (Athene Cunicularia) En La Zona De Puerto López, Ecuador: Efectos De Las Creencias Y Sentimientos Hacía Los Animales Silvestres, Allison Qubain Oct 2008

Estatus Actual De Los Búhos Terrestres (Athene Cunicularia) En La Zona De Puerto López, Ecuador: Efectos De Las Creencias Y Sentimientos Hacía Los Animales Silvestres, Allison Qubain

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In response to negative attitudes towards the existing biodiversity in the region of Puerto Lopez, Ecuador and as a follow-up of a study conducted in 2006 on the status of Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) populations, through informal interviews and observation, this investigation focuses on how local sentiments towards nature have affected the current status of the Burrowing Owl populations and their habitat. The investigation revealed that in addition to the effects of legends and beliefs, there is an existing lack of knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for the extremely high biodiversity, which has created an evident fear instilled in the people. …


Corallivorous Reef Fishes As Potential Vectors Of Coral Disease Based On A Study Of Dietary Preferences, Tanya Rogers Oct 2008

Corallivorous Reef Fishes As Potential Vectors Of Coral Disease Based On A Study Of Dietary Preferences, Tanya Rogers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The prevalence of coral disease appears to be increasing worldwide, although little is known about how these diseases are transmitted between coral colonies. To examine whether corallivorous fishes could potentially act as disease vectors, this study examined whether and which fish species feed on diseased coral, and whether these fishes actively target diseased coral sections. Branches of Acropora muricata with brown band disease were filmed in the field, and bites taken by fishes on different sections of the coral (live tissue, tissue margin, disease band, dead skeleton, and algae) were recorded. For each fish species, electivity indices were calculated for …


The Stallion's Mane: The Next Generation Of Horses In Mongolia, Amanda Hund Oct 2008

The Stallion's Mane: The Next Generation Of Horses In Mongolia, Amanda Hund

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Horses play a central role in Mongolian history and culture, yet there has been little academic research on breeding methods, either traditional or modern in Mongolia. The goal of good horse breeding is to maintain and improve the quality of the breed. By looking at the traditional breeding, we gain a better understanding of what Mongolian culture values in their horses and what they are hoping to pass on to the next generation. We can also learn how this information is passed on in an oral tradition from generation to generation of horse trainers and herders. In traditional Mongolian horse …


Flowers And Feeders: A Comparison Of Hummingbird Feeding Activity, Caitlin A. Mchugh Oct 2008

Flowers And Feeders: A Comparison Of Hummingbird Feeding Activity, Caitlin A. Mchugh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hummingbird feeders are the best way to see high species abundance and diversity, but few studies examine the differences in species abundance, diversity, feeding patterns, and aggression between flowering plants and artificial feeder sites within the same habitat. Are there significant affects on local hummingbird ecology by the presence of feeders? This paper explores possible answers to this question by investigating discrepancies between the two types of site and the implications of said discrepancies. A high count method was used to estimate species abundance and diversity along with qualitative observation was used to analyze aggression. The study found that, in …


Glandular Secretions Of Male Pteropus (Flying Foxes): Preliminary Chemical Comparisons Among Species, Jamie Wagner Oct 2008

Glandular Secretions Of Male Pteropus (Flying Foxes): Preliminary Chemical Comparisons Among Species, Jamie Wagner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Chemosignaling – passing information by means of chemical compounds that can be detected by members of the same species – is a very important form of communication for most mammals. Flying fox males have odiferous marking secretions on their neck-ruffs that include a combination of secretion from the neck gland and from the urogenital tract; males use this substance to establish territory, especially during the mating season. The secretions of flying fox males from three Australian species – spectacled (Pteropus conspicillatus), grey-headed (P. poliocephalus), and black (P. alecto) – were compared using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC); two spectacled females …


Vertical Distribution Of Spiders (Araneae) On A Tropical Island, Eric Brown Oct 2008

Vertical Distribution Of Spiders (Araneae) On A Tropical Island, Eric Brown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The distribution of spiders into vertical layers was studied on Misali Island. In particular, differences in diversity, species richness, abundance, and body length were analyzed. A variety of collection methods were used in order to capture as many different species as possible from three levels of forest: leaf litter, groundcover (up to 1m), and understory (up to 3m). After being sorted to the morphospecies level, the spiders were cataloged and several statistical tests were run. These tests show that spiders do show species-level stratification between different levels of forest. They also pointed towards a particularly firm dividing line between species …


Improving Beekeeping On Unguja Island, Larken Root Oct 2008

Improving Beekeeping On Unguja Island, Larken Root

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current practices and methods for improvement of beekeeping on Unguja Island in Zanzibar. Beekeeping has been occurring for many years in Unguja but has retained traditional techniques with little improvement. Improvement can occur in the form of introduction of modern equipment, formation of beekeeping organizations, advancing and diversifying products, and gaining governmental support. Beekeeping is worthy of expansion because of its potential to increase rural income in a sustainable way as well as support conservation of forest areas. The study found that there has so far been little improvement of income …


Behavioral Disparities Between Two Troops Of Lemur Catta That Occupy Different Habitats, Laura Saucier Oct 2008

Behavioral Disparities Between Two Troops Of Lemur Catta That Occupy Different Habitats, Laura Saucier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The present study was conducted during the early wet season at Berenty Private Reserve. It investigates behavioral disparities between two troops of Lemur catta that occupy different habitats—gallery forest and scrub. Methods included density and phenology analysis to evaluate relative food availability in each territory. Behavioral observations were collected across eleven full-day troop follows. Results show extensive, statistically significant differences between behavior in the gallery and the scrub, many of which can be explained by relative food abundance within a troop’s home range. Some trends included greater intra-troop discord and fewer inter-troop conflicts in the scrub. In addition, the troops …


A Reassessment Of Avian Assemblages Along The Lakes Corridor In The Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland, Shaina N. Stewart Apr 2008

A Reassessment Of Avian Assemblages Along The Lakes Corridor In The Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland, Shaina N. Stewart

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Forest fragmentation is the process by which large areas of continuous forest are replaced by foreign ecosystems that restrict native growth to isolated patches. Biota remaining within these fragmented environments often suffer consequences that stem from reduced forest area. Wildlife corridors—linear patches of habitat that connect remnant fragments—have frequently been proposed to alleviate fragmentation effects by facilitating biotic movement between forest patches. Initiated in 1998, the Lakes Corridor on the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland, Australia, connects the two formerly isolated sections of Crater Lakes National Park with the goal of promoting wildlife dispersal between them. This study monitored avian …


Aquatic And Terrestrial Habitat Use Of The Australian Freshwater Turtle, Chelodina Expansa, Ellyn Ercolano Apr 2008

Aquatic And Terrestrial Habitat Use Of The Australian Freshwater Turtle, Chelodina Expansa, Ellyn Ercolano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Organisms select habitats that provide the best possible resources necessary to their survival. Organisms may occupy and utilize a home range which requires specific selection of components in their available habitat. Monitoring the threats to a species within their habitats is a crucial tool in conservation and management practices. The Murray-Darling Basin of south-eastern Australia has suffered alterations to its hydrology, flow regime, catchment size and usage, flooding cycles, as well as from vast removal of vegetation in the floodplains since European settlement in Australia in the mid-nineteenth century. Knowledge of the habitat use of a focal species can guide …


Prey Selectivity Of Planktivorous Fish: Analysis Of Stomach Contents In Four Pomacentrids At Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, James O'Hare Apr 2008

Prey Selectivity Of Planktivorous Fish: Analysis Of Stomach Contents In Four Pomacentrids At Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, James O'Hare

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coral reef planktivores are important to coral reefs by concentrating and delivering nutrients and allochthonous carbon from the plankton to reef building corals. In an otherwise very oligotrophic system this function may be of major importance. Planktivorous Damselfish (Pomicentridae) were analysed for prey selectivity through enumeration of stomach contents. Simultaneous plankton tows were conducted to establish the plankton community composition of the waters they were taken from. There was a statistically significant variation between the stomach composition and that of the water column. While there was not a significant difference among Simpson’s diversity indices of the stomach contents, there was …


Post-Fire Demography Of A Dry Eucalypt Forest In The Midlands, Tasmania: A Pilot Study, Christine Urbanowicz Apr 2008

Post-Fire Demography Of A Dry Eucalypt Forest In The Midlands, Tasmania: A Pilot Study, Christine Urbanowicz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

There have been many efforts to regenerate the threatened and declining dry eucalypt forests found within the Midlands of Tasmania. This pilot study was completed as part of a larger research project on eucalypt regeneration. Researchers need to know where recruits are most successful in order to appropriately place regeneration microsites. I have begun characterizing the baseline demography of a recently burnt remnant forest. I had two objectives: 1. to characterize the stand structure where recruits are successful, and 2. to describe where the recruits are within this structure. Data on location, size, and life history stage of trees were …


Heifer Tanzania’S Alternate Training Methods: A Study Comparing The Dairy Cow Husbandry Practices Of Farmers Trained In Their Villages By Project Supervisors To Those Of Farmers Trained By The Liti Tengeru Animal Husbandry Training Center, Ciara Lowery Apr 2008

Heifer Tanzania’S Alternate Training Methods: A Study Comparing The Dairy Cow Husbandry Practices Of Farmers Trained In Their Villages By Project Supervisors To Those Of Farmers Trained By The Liti Tengeru Animal Husbandry Training Center, Ciara Lowery

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study was conducted in nine villages near Mount Meru, Tanzania between 14 April 2008 and 1 May 2008. The study question and methods were developed in conjunction with Heifer Tanzania. Heifer is a non-profit organization that provides dairy-cattle and other livestock to farmers in need. Heifer’s agents also provide training in sustainable farming techniques, such as zero-grazing livestock husbandry, and building contours. Some farmers receive this training in their village from a project supervisor, and other farmers are sent to a government facility, Liti Tengeru Animal Husbandry Training Center. The aim of this study was to determine what differences …