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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Evaluation Of Reproductive Phenology, Space Use, And Ecology Of The Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) In West-Central Louisiana, Chad Argabright Apr 2023

Evaluation Of Reproductive Phenology, Space Use, And Ecology Of The Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) In West-Central Louisiana, Chad Argabright

LSU Master's Theses

Nest site selection is a driving demographic force behind eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) populations. However, previous research was likely not focused on the actual time of nest site selection, considering that nest site selection is likely only able to occur on the day of the first egg being laid. My objective was to determine if selection for any vegetation characteristics was occurring on the first day of laying. I estimated the path taken from the roost to the nest on the first day of egg laying (i.e., laying path) using GPS data collected from 164 unique …


Characterizing Habitat Suitability For Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi) In Southern Louisiana, Jenna N. Brogdon Aug 2022

Characterizing Habitat Suitability For Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi) In Southern Louisiana, Jenna N. Brogdon

LSU Master's Theses

A generalized additive modeling (GAM) framework was used to characterize fish-habitat relationships and develop habitat suitability maps to predict spatiotemporal and ontogenetic shifts in Gulf sturgeon distribution within an impacted estuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Lake Pontchartrain. Gulf sturgeon (n = 103) were fitted with acoustic transmitters in the Pearl River during the early summer and fall from 2013 to 2018, and an array of acoustic receivers (n = 81) was used to monitor Gulf sturgeon habitat use and movement in the estuary from 2016 to 2019. Daily presence data from the telemetry array were paired with environmental …


Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel Jul 2020

Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Floodplain forest species diversity is driven, in part, by variation in disturbance regime. Flood patterns create heterogeneity in microsite quality from small differences in elevation across a floodplain which, in turn, influence flood timing and duration. Differences in species’ regeneration niches in relation to hydrologic patterns can account for long-term coexistence of various species. In the past century floodplain forests have exhibited a wide range of changes in stand development and species composition as a result of altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains. I evaluated the role of regeneration in floodplain forest systems of the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley …


Feeding Ecology Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) And Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites Aurorubens) Coexisting At The Louisiana Shelf-Edge Banks, Katherine M. Ellis Apr 2020

Feeding Ecology Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) And Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites Aurorubens) Coexisting At The Louisiana Shelf-Edge Banks, Katherine M. Ellis

LSU Master's Theses

Niche partitioning, the process by which competing species use different subsets of the available resources, is commonly used to explain the coexistence of closely related species. In the northwest Gulf of Mexico on the shelf-edge banks, red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens) are two coexisting closely related species. Yet, little is known about how these species partition resources. In this study, niche partitioning of red snapper and vermilion snapper was investigated using gut contents and stable isotopes. While dietary niche partitioning was apparent, the species relied upon similar prey and displayed isotopic niche overlap, …


Ornithological Expeditions To Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, 2007-2017, Frederick H. Sheldon, Haw Chuan Lim, Phred M. Benham, Matthew L. Brady, Clare E. Brown, Ryan C. Burner, Vivien L. Chua, John C. Mittermeier, Subir B. Shakya, Paul Van Els, Mustafa Abdul Rahman, Dency F. Gawin, Zahirunisa Abdul Rahim, Luisa Duya Setia, Robert Moyle Oct 2019

Ornithological Expeditions To Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, 2007-2017, Frederick H. Sheldon, Haw Chuan Lim, Phred M. Benham, Matthew L. Brady, Clare E. Brown, Ryan C. Burner, Vivien L. Chua, John C. Mittermeier, Subir B. Shakya, Paul Van Els, Mustafa Abdul Rahman, Dency F. Gawin, Zahirunisa Abdul Rahim, Luisa Duya Setia, Robert Moyle

Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University, the University of Kansas, and the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak undertook collaborative research on the evolution and ecology of Bornean birds starting in 2005. This collaboration included a series of expeditions from 2007–2017 to collect and study birds at >30 sites in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Here we provide information on the study-sites and summarize the main discoveries resulting from the collaboration.


Patterns In Abundance Of Louisiana’S Avifauna Revealed By The Louisiana Bird Atlas Project, Matthew L. Brady Nov 2017

Patterns In Abundance Of Louisiana’S Avifauna Revealed By The Louisiana Bird Atlas Project, Matthew L. Brady

LSU Master's Theses

The Louisiana Bird Atlas Project is a multi-year citizen science effort designed to quantify bird distribution and abundance for all species regularly occurring in the state of Louisiana during two time periods: summer and winter. Data were collected by volunteers in a citizen science framework across eight years, from 2007 to 2014. A total of 351 species was recorded (254 during the Summer Bird Atlas and 315 during the Winter Bird Atlas). Maps showing distribution and relative abundance for each species were generated within a Geographical Information System, and were accompanied by short descriptions of status, distribution, abundance, and other …


Dynamics Of Resprouting And Forest Regeneration Following Anthropogenic Land Use In The Central Amazon Basin, Scott Lawrence Kosiba Jun 2016

Dynamics Of Resprouting And Forest Regeneration Following Anthropogenic Land Use In The Central Amazon Basin, Scott Lawrence Kosiba

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tree mortality is increasing with the effects of climate change and drought across the Amazon Basin while intense fires are becoming more prevalent. Tropical moist forest trees generally lack adaptations that protect against mortality during an intense fire, so anthropogenic burning typically kills high percentages of trees. Following disturbances where prescribed burning is used to limit woody encroachment and to fertilize the soil, abandoned land in central Amazonia becomes dominated by the pioneer tree genus, Vismia. Although the mechanisms by which Vismia comes to dominate previously-burned areas are not known, previous studies on anthropogenic land use and forest succession …


A Comparison Of Soil And Corn Kernel Aspergillus Flavus Populations: Evidence For Niche Specialization, Rebecca Ruth Sweany Jan 2010

A Comparison Of Soil And Corn Kernel Aspergillus Flavus Populations: Evidence For Niche Specialization, Rebecca Ruth Sweany

LSU Master's Theses

Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that infects peanuts, cotton, corn and tree nuts. Aspergillus flavus is a major problem globally due to the production of acutely toxic and carcinogenic aflatoxins. Louisiana climatic conditions lead to annual threats of corn aflatoxin contamination. The purpose of this study was to determine the specific ability of different strains of A. flavus to infect corn. Five soil samples and 10 corn ears were collected from each of seven corn fields throughout Louisiana. In addition, Francis Deville of Monsanto Company collected 7, 6, 2, and 4 soil samples and corn ears from four …


Chemical Ecology, Fungal Interactions And Forest Stand Correlations Of The Exotic Asian Ambrosia Beetle, Xylosandrus Crassiusculus (Motschulsky) (Curculionidae), Eric Paul Ott Jan 2007

Chemical Ecology, Fungal Interactions And Forest Stand Correlations Of The Exotic Asian Ambrosia Beetle, Xylosandrus Crassiusculus (Motschulsky) (Curculionidae), Eric Paul Ott

LSU Master's Theses

Increasing evidence of non-indigenous ambrosia beetles aggressively attacking hosts in their new environment in the United States has led to concern over the potential for damage to urban trees, nurseries, orchards, and forests. A novel technique of flooding host trees was devised to stimulate ambrosia beetle attacks, with ambrosia beetle attraction peaking four days following flooding. In-situ sampling identified significant differences in the composition, quantity and point of release (leaf or bole) of volatiles emitted by the flooded and non-flooded trees. Coupled gas chromatography electroantennographic detection revealed olfactory sensitivity by the ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) to 29 of these …