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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Evaluating The Ecological Relationships Among Beauveria Bassiana, Kudzu Bug And Kudzu, Kassie L. Hollabaugh
Evaluating The Ecological Relationships Among Beauveria Bassiana, Kudzu Bug And Kudzu, Kassie L. Hollabaugh
Masters Theses
When kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria, was identified in the United States in 2009 as an invasive species, populations began to establish, increase, and spread throughout the southeastern region at intense rates. Kudzu bug invades urban structures, causing unpleasant scenes for homeowners, and reduces crop yield, such as soybean. Kudzu bug caused about $2.8 million in soybean yield loss and treatment in Tennessee in 2020. Although initial spread was rapid throughout the southeastern U.S., spatial modeling has shown populations of kudzu bug are declining and reducing risk of crop damage to growers. These local and regional declines in populations appear …
Geographic Range Size As A Predictor Of Dispersal-Dependent Behavioral Traits In Two Clades Of A Terrestrial Salamander, Teah Evers
Masters Theses
Animal movement has the potential to affect diverse processes within ecology and evolution including range expansion, gene flow, adaptation, and speciation. Two aspects of animal personality that are germane to dispersal are exploratory and aggressive behavior. These behavioral categories may represent a trade-off such that energy invested in territorial defense leaves little energy for movement and dispersal. The Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a wide ranging, dispersal limited, terrestrial salamander with well documented phylogeographic divisions. I examined dispersal-relevant behavioral traits within two clades of P. cinereus with disparate geographic ranges. The Northern Clade (NC) has a range extending from …