Life Sciences Commons^™

The Missing Link: The Ecology Of The Serpentine And The Implications For East And North Ponds [Presentation], Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: East and North Ponds (2011, 1999, 1996, 1991)

No abstract provided.

The Missing Link: The Ecology Of The Serpentine And The Implications For East And North Ponds, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: East and North Ponds (2011, 1999, 1996, 1991)

During the fall of 2011, the Colby Environmental Assessment Team (CEAT) studied the Serpentine connecting East Pond and North Pond. East and North Ponds are members of the larger seven-lake system known as the Belgrade Lakes, located in central Maine. There are over 5,500 lakes in Maine that contribute $6.7 billion to the economy annually through activities including boating, fishing, swimming etc. Additionally, Maine’s lakes are sources of municipal and agricultural water, act as flood buffers, and host a wide range of plant, animal, and fish life. Lakes in Maine are a crucial part society and should be studied and …

Do Male Physiological Condition And Territory Quality Affect Female Choice In The Brown Anole, Anolis Sagrei?, Sarah P. Flanagan

Honors Theses

Female mate choice is an important component of sexual selection because traits that influence male mate preference, such as physiology, and proficiency in acquiring resources, are favored. In lizards, the importance of mate choice remains unclear as reported results from experiments are contradictory. In this study, I investigated whether male physiology and territory quality are important to female mate choice for male Brown Anoles, Anolis sagrei. I tested the hypotheses that female A. sagrei prefer males with greater physiological capacities, and prefer higher quality territories, regardless of male phenotype. To test these, male A. sagrei were first rated for …

The Impact Of Tricaine Methanesulfonate, 2-Phenoxyethanol, And Carvone-Methyl Salicylate On The Innate Immune Response Of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Charles R. Wulff

Honors Theses

Anesthesia plays a vital role in the maintenance of aquaculture species, where it is used to minimize stress during complex handling tasks such as transport, assessment, and harvesting. However, anesthetics have been shown to suppress the innate immune response, which could impact immunity and increase risk of infection. Tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) and 2-Phenoxyethanol (2-PE) represent two of the most commonly used anesthetics in aquaculture, with R-(+)-carvone, in the form of carvone-methyl salicylate (CMS) has recently been proposed as an alternative anesthetic for food fish. These three anesthetics were used to assess the influence of anesthetics on the immune system of …

Biomass Energy At Colby College, Rachel E. Baron

Honors Theses

In light of growing concern regarding the effects of global climate change, Colby College signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in 2008. Through this pledge, Colby has committed to reducing carbon emissions in its Climate Action Plan (IPCC 2007; CCAP 2010). The College seeks to be carbon neutral by 2015 (CCAP 2010). This will be accomplished through a variety of mechanisms, one of which includes the construction of a biomass facility to replace most of the oil currently used for heating (CCAP 2010).

Anthropogenic global climate change has been documented by many scientists, but was widely …

Buffernomics: Assessing Willingness To Pay For Lake Conservation On North Pond And East Pond, Sophie D. Sarkar

Honors Theses

Hedonic property valuations in Maine have estimated that a one-meter decrease in water clarity can reduce shoreline property values by 4 to 16%. To avoid a loss on their lakefront investment, shoreline property owners have a particularly large incentive to conserve lake water quality. Nevertheless, while some shoreline residents voluntarily install vegetated buffers and actively participate in lake stewardship, others continue to ignore shoreline zoning laws at the expense of lake health. In this thesis, I examine the dichotomy of active and indifferent shoreline residents by analyzing the motivations that distinguish residents who are willing to pay (WTP) for and …

Zooplankton Of The Belgrade Lakes: The Influence Of Top-Down And Bottom-Up Forces In Family Abundance, Kimberly M. Bittler

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the abundance and family diversity of zooplankton communities in the Belgrade Lakes, and to identify the broad scale and local variables that structure zooplankton communities in this region. The local effects of shoreline development and the presence of macrophyte patches were compared to larger scale variables, such as watershed wide residential development. Zooplankton are an intermediate link in the freshwater food web, and communities respond both to predation pressures as well as nutrient inputs. Shoreline development was expected to influence zooplankton densities by the increased nutrient inputs via erosion off developed sites …

The One That Carries You Away: Essays, Blair S. Braverman

Honors Theses

What is environmental writing? Phil Condon, author and professor at the University of Montana's Environmental Writing Institute, defines it as any piece of writing in which an important factor is nonhuman—be it animal, place, weather, et cetera. At the same time, he acknowledges that the primary limitation of this definition is its lack of limitations; because humans are constantly interacting with—and affected by—the nonhuman, virtually any piece of writing could be considered environmental. The Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE), the nation's predominant organization for the academic study of environmental writing, defines itself through its focus …