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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Bottom-Up Effects Of Degradation Outweighs Stabilizing Potential Of Omnivores, Hannah Marie Moore
Bottom-Up Effects Of Degradation Outweighs Stabilizing Potential Of Omnivores, Hannah Marie Moore
Murray State Theses and Dissertations
Anthropogenic activities have led to degradation in streams throughout much of Western North America. In particular, cattle grazing has led to a loss of riparian vegetation resulting in higher water temperatures and an increase in nutrient runoff. The effects of degradation on food quality and quantity for aquatic consumers could have large implications for stream communities. Since omnivores feed at multiple trophic levels, they may be resilient to altered food webs, which may allow them to stabilize communities in degraded environments where resources have been reduced. To test the hypothesis that omnivores positively impact community stability in degraded conditions, I …
Monitoring Relationships Between Corticosterone And Snake Fungal Disease In Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus) In Western Kentucky, John Bromley Hewlett
Monitoring Relationships Between Corticosterone And Snake Fungal Disease In Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus) In Western Kentucky, John Bromley Hewlett
Murray State Theses and Dissertations
Over the past four decades, emergent fungal diseases have been the most devastating relative to species declines and extinctions. While most research has focused on fungal diseases affecting amphibians and bats, less has focused on diseases like snake fungal disease (SFD), caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola (Oo). SFD was first described in 2006 in North America within a Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) population in New Hampshire. Since then SFD has been documented in 19 US states, one US territory (Puerto Rico), and Europe. SFD causes high mortality in some species, including the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus …