Life Sciences Commons^™

Volume 2, Chapter 11-9: Aquatic Insects: Holometabola - Coleoptera, Suborder Adephaga, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 11-13a: Aquatic Insects: Holometabola - Diptera, Suborder Nematocera, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 11-14: Aquatic Insects: Holometabola - Diptera, Suborder Brachycera, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 11-13b: Aquatic Insects: Holometabola - Diptera, Suborder Nematocera, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 11-12: Aquatic Insects: Holometabola - Trichoptera, Suborders Integripalpia And Spicipalpia, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 11-11: Aquatic Insects: Holometabola - Trichoptera, Suborder Annulipalpia, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 14-5: Anurans: Central And South American Mossy Habitats, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 14-4: Anurans: Waterfalls, Treefrogs, And Mossy Habitats, Janice M. Glime, William J. Boelema

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Investigating Within-Canopy Variation Of Functional Traits And Cellular Structure Of Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum) Leaves, Adam P. Coble

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Patterns of increasing leaf mass per area (LMA), area-based leaf nitrogen (N_area), and carbon isotope composition (δ13C) with increasing height in the canopy have been attributed to light gradients or hydraulic limitation in tall trees. Theoretical optimal distributions of LMA and N_area that scale with light maximize canopy photosynthesis; however, sub-optimal distributions are often observed due to hydraulic constraints on leaf development. Using observational, experimental, and modeling approaches, we investigated the response of leaf functional traits (LMA, density, thickness, and leaf nitrogen), leaf carbon isotope composition (δ13C), and cellular structure to light availability, height, and leaf water …

The Influence Of Diet Composition, Plant Defensive Chemicals, And Winter Severity On The Nutritional Condition Of A Freeranging, Generalist Herbivore, Grace L. Parikh

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Herbivory requires animals to manage intake of toxic phytochemicals. Detoxification and excretion of these chemicals prevents toxicity, but is energetically expensive. I investigated the relationship between investment in detoxification and nutritional condition for moose on Isle Royale National Park (Alces alces) during winter, using urinary indices from urine samples collected in snow. The ratio of urinary urea nitrogen:creatinine is an indicator of nutritional condition, and the ratio of glucuronic acid:creatinine is an indicator of investment in detoxification. Nutritional condition declined with greater investment in detoxification. An alternative means of managing defensive chemical intake is to diversify the diet. Microhistological …

Sorghum Yield And Zai Holes In Goundi, Burkina Faso, Justin Gelb

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in sorghum yield between the Mossi zai hole and the Gourounsi zai hole, specifically examining the effects of manure and soil water conservation. A study field was created with six different treatments: (1) control with traditional management (no zai holes), (2) traditional management with manure, (3) Mossi zai holes with no manure, (4) Mossi zai holes with manure, (5) Gourounsi zai holes with no manure, and (6) Gourounsi zai holes with manure. Soil moisture readings were taken after each rainstorm (about weekly), soil properties were analyzed before …

Interactive Effects Of Climate Change And Fungal Communities On The Decomposition Of Wood-Derived Carbon In Forest Soils, Samantha L. Mosier

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Soils are the largest sinks of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. Soil organic carbon is important for ecosystem balance as it supplies plants with nutrients, maintains soil structure, and helps control the exchange of CO₂ with the atmosphere. The processes in which wood carbon is stabilized and destabilized in forest soils is still not understood completely. This study attempts to measure early wood decomposition by different fungal communities (inoculation with pure colonies of brown or white rot, or the original microbial community) under various interacting treatments: wood quality (wood from +CO₂, +CO₂+O₃, or ambient …

Instantaneous Photosynthetic Response To Temperature Of Mature Forest Canopies And Experimentally Warmed Seedlings, Alida C. Mau

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Tropical trees have been shown to be more susceptible to warming compared to temperate species, and have shown growth and photosynthetic declines at elevated temperatures as little as 3oC above ambient. However, regional and global vegetation models lack the data needed to accurately represent physiological response to increased temperatures in tropical forests. We compared the instantaneous photosynthetic responses to elevated temperatures of four mature tropical rainforest tree species in Puerto Rico and the temperate broadleaf species sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in Michigan. Contrary to expectations, leaves in the upper canopy of both temperate and tropical forests had temperature …

Understanding Farmers’ Perceptions And The Effects Of Shea Tree Vitellaria Paradoxa Distribution In Agroforestry Parklands Of The Upper West Region, Ghana, Fahimeh Baziari

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Agroforestry parklands represent a vast majority of the agricultural landscape under subsistent-oriented farming in semi-arid West Africa. Parklands are characterized by the growth of well- maintained trees (e.g., shea) on cultivated fields as a result of both environmental and human influences. Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) provides a cultural and economic benefit to the local people of Ghana, especially women. Periods between traditional fallow rotation systems have reduced recently due to agricultural development and a demand for higher production. As a result, shea trees, which regenerate during fallow periods, has decreased over the landscape. The aim of this study was …

Translocation And Telemetry Tracking Of Lake Sturgeon In The Menominee River, Mi / Wi, Jeremy G. Olach

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The Menominee River is a Michigan-Wisconsin boundary water historically traversed by lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), but now contains fragmented populations between hydroelectric dams. Though fish passage is currently being implemented on the lower dams, it is unclear whether sturgeon given access to historic spawning grounds would use them. In 2012 and 2013, a total of 15 pre-spawning sturgeon were captured, implanted with sonic transmitters and translocated upstream over two hydroelectric dams to the stretch below the historic spawning site of Sturgeon Falls. Sturgeon were then tracked via five stationary receivers from April 2012 until August 2013, and with …

Biogeochemical Cycling In Lake Superior Tributaries: Seasonality, Quantity And Quality Of Export, Ashley Anne Coble

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Seasonal and spatial variability in environmental factors may affect dissolved organic matter composition and nutrient transformation and retention in streams. The objective of this research was to quantify and describe seasonality, quantity, and quality of nutrient processing and export of ammonium (NH₄), soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into Lake Superior through intensive study in a small 1st order watershed coupled with snapshot measurements across 12 tributaries that varied in size, location, and wetland coverage. Our results suggest biodegradable C is exported from a small headwater stream year-round and that DOC mineralization rates can be …

Household Biosand Water Filters: Materials, Capacity, And Temperature Effects On Performance, Nathan B. Arnold

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The household biosand filter (BSF) is one of the world’s most utilized point-of-use (POU) water treatment tools where drinking water is not reliably potable. The feasibility of using ferrocement for construction, the filter volume, and the effect of temperature on removal are unclear, however. The following field and laboratory research was carried out in Panama and at Michigan Technological University. Field testing of ferrocement biosand filters (FBSFs) in rural Panama yielded average coliform and E.coli removals that compared favorably to plastic and cement BSFs. Parallel testing of a larger-bodied FBSF and a conventionally-sized BSF revealed that the former is necessary …

On The Protective Properties Of Glycine Based Osmolytes In A Thiol Reducing Environment, John Michael Hausman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The protective properties of osmolytes have been studied intently for decades. Originally used to aid in the crystallization of proteins in x-ray diffraction studies, these cosolvents have been shown to reverse protein denaturation and aggregation. Osmolytes aid extremophiles in surviving harsh environments by preferentially excluding themselves from the surface of the protein, thus directing water molecules to the protein’s surface. These osmolytes are naturally found in many health foods and also in many daily use products such as shampoo. Due to their osmoprotective effect their use in everyday consumer product is increasing. Consumers also supplement their diets with thiol-based antioxidants …

Restoration Of Headwater And Coastal Fens In The Lake Superior Basin Of Upper Michigan, James A. Bess

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In 2009, research projects were initiated at Michigan Technological University to develop restoration techniques for headwater fens and coastal wetlands in the southern Lake Superior Basin in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The primary focus of these was to quantify the efficacy of using locally collected seeds as a technique for wetland restoration. Two primary sites were selected, the Sleeper Lake Fen complex in Luce County and the Portage Waterway-Keweenaw Bay region of Lake Superior in Baraga and Houghton Counties. At the Sleeper Lake site, a combination of heavy machinery, seeding and mulch application was used to restore a 1.6 km ditch …

Investigating The Effects Of Short- And Long-Term Climatic Variation On The Water Use Of Three Northern Hardwood Tree Species, Alex R. Collins

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Many tree species are expected to decline in the northern Midwestern United States due to climate change increasing annual temperature 3-5º C by 2100. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum), an economically important timber and syrup species, is not expected to be sustainable in its current range under projected future climate, while trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and red maple (Acer rubrum) are expected to react more favorably to climate change. The success of individual tree species is dependent on how climate change will alter a species environment in regards to water use. Climate change could …

Ecophysiological Responses Of Sugar Maple Roots To Climatic Conditions, Mickey Philip Jarvi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The severity of future climate change resulting from anthropogenic alteration of the global C cycle will depend in part on feedbacks between atmospheric greenhouse gases and forest ecosystem carbon balance, but how these two systems will interact is not entirely understood. Forests are both major sinks and sources for atmospheric CO₂ through the processes of photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration. The balance between these two processes could be altered if autotrophic respiration were to increase exponentially with temperature as climate warms. Root respiration, and especially fineroot respiration (<1 mm diameter), is a major contributor to total ecosystem C exchange. A study to assess long-term responses of root respiration to warmer soil conditions was conducted at the SMART (sugar maple altered rainfall and temperature) experiment located in Alberta, MI at the Michigan Technological University’s Ford Center and Forest. It was found that acclimation of fine-root respiration in this system was not due to an insufficient supply of carbohydrates from photosynthesis (substrate limitation), but was the result of adenylate control. As a result, fine root respiration was constrained to levels needed to perform work required of the fine roots (e.g. nutrient acquisition). Acclimation also occurred for roots 1-2 mm in diameter at the 0-10 cm soil depth, but not in any roots larger than 2 mm or in roots of any size at deeper soil depths. As a result, at the ecosystem level, total root system respiration was 60% greater in warmed soil than in unwarmed soil. The studies in experimentally warmed sugar maple forests were complemented by an examination of fine-root respiration and root biomass at sixteen sugar maple forests located across a latitudinal gradient across sugar maple’s native range, spanning approximately 10°C of mean annual temperature. Sugar maple in the southern, warmer sites had lower root N, lower specific fine-root respiration at a given temperature, and less fine-root biomass than that from the northern cooler regions. Fine root respiration at ambient soil temperature actually decreased from north to south, despite a nearly 10°C increase in soil temperature. However, within sites respiration measured across three sample dates did increase with temperature. The next big question is whether these adjustments that exist across sugar maple’s range are plastic responses to l local climate or result from genotypic differences among populations in different locations. If the former is true, all sugar maple would be capable of acclimation, reduction in root biomass, and/or reduction in root N as mechanisms for dealing with climatic warming, and sugar maple would have a large capacity to adjust to future climate change. The latter would suggest that predicted rates of climatic warming could have negative impacts on this important species across its entire current range. The lack of changes in fine root biomass and root N concentration at the SMART study location after four plus years of soil warming support the possibility that differences along the latitudinal transect are largely the result of inherent genetic differences among population.

Investigating The Role Of Polyploidy In The Response Of Chamerion Angustifolium To Increased Soil Nitrogen Availability And Insect Herbivory, Alex Bales

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Human activities have more than doubled the input rate of nitrogen to terrestrial ecosystems. Increased soil nitrogen availability is associated with increased plant productivity, changes in plant resource allocation strategies, and changes in interactions between plants and their associated insect herbivores. For example, nitrogen-rich conditions can alter the physiological and chemical properties of plants in ways that increase their ability to deter herbivore attack (resistance) and maintain fitness following herbivore attack (tolerance). The ecological tolerance of plants to such abiotic and biotic environments is thought to be influenced by autopolyploidy, a commonly occurring phenomenon in plants in which individuals have …

Climate Anomalies And Primary Production In Lake Superior, Marcel L. Dijkstra

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This dissertation supports the modeling of primary production in Lake Superior by offering site specific kinetics and algorithms developed from lab experiments performed on the natural phytoplankton assemblage of Lake Superior. Functions, developed for temperature, light and nutrient conditions and the maximum specific rate of primary production, were incorporated in a 1D specific primary production model and confirmed to published in-situ measured rates of primary production.

An extensive data set (supporting model calibration and confirmation), with a fine spatiotemporal resolution, was developed from field measurements taken bi-weekly during the sampling seasons of 2011, 2012 and 2014; considered to be meteorologically …

The Mechanisms Of Α-Amanitin Resistance In The Fruit Fly Drosophila Melanogaster, Chelsea L. Mitchell

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Insect pesticide resistance has become a costly problem in the US. To make things more problematic, resistance to one pesticide is often associated with cross-resistance to other toxins, including pesticides that have not yet even been developed. In this study, we investigated a possible type of cross-resistance in the model fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, some stocks of which are resistant to the very potent mushroom toxin α-amanitin. Because α-amanitin is solely produced by mushrooms, and because D. melanogaster does not feed on mushrooms in nature, the fruit flies should not be resistant to this toxin. In order to understand …

Observations Of Hippopotamus H. Amphibius In The Little Scarcies River Of Sierra Leone And Arguments For Their Conservation Based On Roles They Play In Riverine Grasslands And Nutrient Loading, Lindsey R. Perry

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A small population of Hippopotamus amphibius remains in Sierra Leone and conservation efforts may be needed to support the Hippos and their indirect benefits to fisheries and grassland production. The hippo is a known ecosystem engineer, and a potentially important contributor of nutrients to the river systems they inhabit supporting the food web and local fisheries. In this study I observed hippos in the Little Scarcies River and uplands of the Outamba-Kilimi National Park to estimate their numbers and ultimately their potential input of nutrients into the river. Hippos forage at night in grasslands neighboring rivers, removing up to 3.62 …

Volume 1, Chapter 7-4b: Water Relations: Leaf Strategies - Cuticles And Waxes, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Changes In Carbon Pools Influenced By Changes In Soil Texture, Slope, And Aspect A Decade Following Wildfire In Black Spruce Forests Of Interior Alaska, Gregory Houle

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Topography and parent material (PM) texture control site drainage owing to changes in water holding capacity, infiltration, and insolation. In turn, these factors also affect fire regime. However, the interactive effects of site physiography, edaphic controls, and wildfire severity on ecosystem carbon accrual after wildfire are poorly understood. Throughout the summer of 2004 an area the size of Massachusetts burned in interior Alaska, and several studies were initiated to investigate the controls on organic layer consumption. In this study we re-sampled organic layer depths, below ground carbon stocks, and site revegetation from 38 burned black spruce sites from the 2004 …

Systematic Study Of The Biological Effects Of Nitric Oxide (No) Using Innovative No Measurement And Delivery Systems, Weilue He

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Nitric oxide (NO) is recognized as the most important small signaling molecule in the human body. An imbalance of NO is closely associated with many serious diseases such as neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, chronic inflammations and cancers. Herein two chemiluminescence-based devices (a real-time NO measurement device and a controllable NO delivery device) were developed to facilitate the NO quantitative study and obtain information for NO related drug design.

The first device used for real-time measuring NO(g) flux from living cells was developed and validated. The principle was to use a two-chamber design, with a cell culture chamber and a gaseous …

Hitchhiking Bats On The Great Lakes Of North America, Saska E.H. Lohi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Bats can act as potential vectors for various zoonotic diseases and other pathogens. Therefore their interactions with people should be examined to mitigate potential risks. Bats are small flying mammals and hide in small crevices during daylight hours, making them difficult to observe. Consequently, they have a capacity to “hitchhike” on ships to be dispersed over large distances.

This study focused on anthropogenic unintentional bat translocations, i.e. hitchhiking bats. The study area is the Great Lakes region in North America. Using a web-based questionnaire survey, I asked the public about the frequency of bat-human encounters on ships, their nature, and …