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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Assessing Threats To Plant Populations: Linking Pollinator Differences To Patterns Of Plant Fitness And Population Genetics, Rieka Yu
Dissertations
Land use change is a major driver of biodiversity loss and consequently has led to the loss of genetic diversity in many plant populations due to declines in population sizes and an increase in spatial isolation. However, not all plant populations respond similarly to land-use change, suggesting there are additional mechanisms mediating plant population genetic patterns. Here, I examine the role of pollinators as this mediating factor. In Chapter 1 I conducted a meta-analysis to investigate how different types of pollinators drive changes in gene flow for plant populations in disturbed habitats, finding that different types of pollinators mediate different …
A Genomic Investigation Of Divergence Between Tuna Species, Pavel V. Dimens
A Genomic Investigation Of Divergence Between Tuna Species, Pavel V. Dimens
Dissertations
Effective management and conservation of marine pelagic fishes is heavily dependent on a robust understanding of their population structure, their evolutionary history, and the delineation of appropriate management units. The Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and the Blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) are two exploited epipelagic marine species with overlapping ranges in the tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic Ocean. This work analyzed genome-wide genetic variation of both species in the Atlantic basin to investigate the occurrence of population subdivision and adaptive variation. A de novo assembly of the Blackfin tuna genome was generated using Illumina paired-end sequencing data and …
The Role Of Plasticity In Bumble Bee Responses To Environmental Variability, Matthew Austin
The Role Of Plasticity In Bumble Bee Responses To Environmental Variability, Matthew Austin
Dissertations
An aim of contemporary biology is elucidating the causes and consequences of phenotypic plasticity. Here, I approach this aim by exploring the eco-evolutionary dynamics of phenotypic plasticity and environmental variability in bumble bees (Apidae: Bombus), a congeneric clade of eusocial pollinating insects. Throughout their evolution, bumble bees have encountered spatiotemporal variability imposed by dynamic floral environments. Today, bumble bees additionally encounter spatiotemporal variability imposed by anthropogenic environmental change. In this dissertation, I explore how phenotypic plasticity affects how successfully bumble bees respond to environmental variability imposed by anthropogenic global change (Chapters 1 and 2) and their floral resources (Chapters …