Life Sciences Commons^™

An Analysis Of Arthropod Interceptions By Aphis-Ppq And Customs And Border Protection In Puerto Rico, David A. Jenkins, Russell F. Mizell, Skip Van Bloem, Stefanie Whitmire, Leyinska Wiscovitch, Crystal Zaleski, Ricardo Goenaga

Skip Van Bloem

USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine (APHIS-PPQ) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspect traffic entering the United States for arthropods posing a threat to national agriculture or ecosystems. We analyzed interceptions made by these agencies in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands between October 2006 and December 2009 for patterns with regard to the frequency of interceptions, origins of interceptions, and the taxa intercepted. 6,952 arthropods were intercepted in freight or luggage entering Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from foreign countries and 9,840 arthropods were intercepted from freight or luggage leaving Puerto …

Rapid Range Expansion Of The Brazilian Free-Tailed Bat In The Southeastern United States, 2008-2016, Gary F. Mccracken, Riley F. Bernard, Melquisidec Gamba-Rios, Randy Wolfe, Jennifer J. Krauel, Devin N. Jones, Amy L. Russell, Veronica A. Brown

Amy L. Russell

Competition And Propagule Density Affect Sexual And Clonal Propagation Of A Weed, Daniel Z. Atwater, Wonjae Kim, Daniel R. Tekiela, Jacob N. Barney

Wonjae Kim

Comparative Phylogeography Of Pteropus Samoensis And P. Tonganus (Pteropodidae: Chiroptera) In The South Pacific, Amy L. Russell, Veronica A. Brown, Ruth C. B. Utzurrum, Anne P. Brooke, Lisa A. Wolf, Gary F. Mccracken

Amy L. Russell

Slow Spread Of The Aggressive Invader, Microstegium Vimineum (Japanese Stiltgrass), Emily S.J. Rauschert, David A. Mortensen, Ottar N. Bjørnstad, Andrea N. Nord, Nora Peskin

Emily Rauschert

Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass) is a non-native weed whose rapid invasion threatens native diversity and regeneration in forests. Using data from a 4 year experiment tracking new invasions in different habitats, we developed a spatial model of patch growth, using maximum likelihood techniques to estimate dispersal and population growth parameters. The patches expanded surprisingly slowly: in the final year, the majority of new seedlings were still within 1 m of the original patch. The influence of habitat was not as strong as anticipated, although patches created in roadside and wet meadow habitats tended to expand more rapidly and had greater …

Spatial Capture–Recapture Models Allowing Markovian Transience Or Dispersal, J. Royle, Angela Fuller, Chris Sutherland

Chris Sutherland

Dispersal In A Monogamous Rodent, Peromyscus Californicus, David Ribble

David O Ribble

In view of theoretical interest in the relationships between mating systems and dispersal patterns and the paucity of empirical data on dispersal in monogamous mammals, I studied natal dispersal in the monogamous rodent Peromyscus californicus. Genealogical relationships were determined using fluorescent pigment transfer and DNA fingerprinting, and dispersal distances were determined using dispersal fences and intensive trapping. Minimum dispersal distances were greater for females than for males. Philopatric males (those settling within one home-range diameter of their birth site) tended to be from smaller litters than non-philopatric males. Minimum dispersal distances of males were positively associated with natal litter size …

Genetic Structure Of Little Brown Bats (Myotis Lucifugus) Corresponds With Spread Of White-Nose Syndrome Among Hibernacula, Cassandra M. Miller-Butterworth, Maarten J. Vonhof, Joel Rosenstern, Greg G. Turner, Amy L. Russell

Amy L. Russell

The Cumulative Effects Of Management On The Population Dynamics Of The Double-Crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax Auritus In The Great Lakes, Alban Guillaumet, Brian S. Dorr, Guiming Wang, Terry J. Doyle

Brian S Dorr

Wildlife species have been subject to control efforts throughout human history due to real or alleged human–wildlife conflicts. The Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus in the interior of North America is no exception, with recent population growth leading to increased conflicts and consequently the development of many control programmes. These control programmes are usually conducted at local scales, often with little or no effort to assess their cumulative effects at the population level. We attempted the first comprehensive assessment of the cumulative effects of control at various spatio-temporal scales, focusing on 199 colonies of Double-crested Cormorant monitored during a 29-year period. …

Hominin Dispersal Into The Nefud Desert And Middle Palaeolithic Settlement Along The Jubbah Palaeolake, Northern Arabia, M Petraglia, Abdullah M. Alsharekh, P Breeze, Christopher Clarkson, Remy Crassard, Nick A. Drake, Huw Groucutt, R Jennings, Adrian Parker, A Parton, Richard Roberts, C Shipton, Carney Matheson, A Al-Omari, M Veall

Richard G Roberts

The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding hominin dispersals and the effect of climate change on prehistoric demography, although little information on these topics is presently available owing to the poor preservation of archaeological sites in this desert environment. Here, we describe the discovery of three stratified and buried archaeological sites in the Nefud Desert, which includes the oldest dated occupation for the region. The stone tool assemblages are identified as a Middle Palaeolithic industry that includes Levallois manufacturing methods and the production of tools on flakes. Hominin occupations correspond with humid periods, particularly Marine Isotope Stages 7 …

Vertical Distribution Of Aedes Mosquitoes In Multiple Storey Buildings In Selangor And Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chen Chee Dhang

Chen Chee Dhang

No abstract provided.

High Connectivity And Minimal Genetic Structure Among North American Boreal Owl (Aegolius Funereus) Populations, Regardless Of Habitat Matrix, M. E. Koopman, G. D. Hayward, David Mcdonald

David McDonald

Habitat connectivity and corridors are often assumed to be critical for the persistence of patchily distributed populations, but empirical evidence for this assumption is scarce. We assessed the importance of connectivity among habitat patches for dispersal by a mature-forest obligate, the Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus). Boreal Owls demonstrated a lack of genetic structure (theta = 0.004 +/- 0.002 [SE]) among subpopulations, regardless of matrix type and extent, which indicates that unforested matrix does not act as a barrier to dispersal for this vagile species. We found only slightly higher genetic distances (Cavalli-Sforza chord distances ranged from 0.015 to 0.025) among …

Dispersal Of Stable Flies (Diptera: Muscidae) From Larval Developmental Sites., David B. Taylor, Roger D. Moon, Jack B. Campbell, Dennis R. Berkebile, Philip J. Scholl, Alberto B. Broce, Jerome A. Hogsette

David B Taylor

Seven mark-recapture studies were conducted over 3 yr to assess dispersal of newly emerging adult stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans L., from larval development sites in a mixed agricultural environment in northeastern Nebraska. Infested hay debris piles were marked by dusting their surfaces with fluorescent pigments, adults were captured with surrounding grids of Alsynite sticky traps, and specimens were dissected to determine feeding histories and reproductive age. Distances and directions of 3,889 marked specimens indicated males and females dispersed equally and in all directions. Midguts of males and females were equally likely to contain blood-meal remnants. Percentage with blood remnants and …

Dispersal Of Stable Flies (Diptera: Muscidae) From Larval Developmental Sites., David B. Taylor, Roger D. Moon, John B. Campbell, Dennis R. Berkebile, Philip J. Scholl, Alberto B. Broce, Jerome A. Hogsette

David B. Taylor

Seven mark-recapture studies were conducted over 3 yr to assess dispersal of newly emerging adult stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans L., from larval development sites in a mixed agricultural environment in northeastern Nebraska. Infested hay debris piles were marked by dusting their surfaces with fluorescent pigments, adults were captured with surrounding grids of Alsynite sticky traps, and specimens were dissected to determine feeding histories and reproductive age. Distances and directions of 3,889 marked specimens indicated males and females dispersed equally and in all directions. Midguts of males and females were equally likely to contain blood-meal remnants. Percentage with blood remnants and …

Genetic Structure Of East Antarctic Populations Of The Moss Ceratodon Purpureus, L. J. Clarke, D. J. Ayre, Sharon A. Robinson

Sharon Robinson

The capacity of the polar flora to adapt is of increasing concern given current and predicted environmental change in these regions. Previous genetic studies of Antarctic mosses have been of limited value due to a lack of variation in the markers or non-specificity of the methods used. We examined the power of five microsatellite loci developed for the cosmopolitan moss Ceratodon purpureus to detect genetically distinct clones and infer the distribution of clones within and among populations from the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. Our microsatellite data suggest extraordinarily high levels of variation reported in RAPD studies were artificially elevated by …

Barriers And Flow As Limiting Factors In The Spread Of An Invasive Crayfish (Procambarus Clarkii) In Southern California Streams, Jacob Kerby, Seth Riley, Lee Kats, Paul Wilson

Lee Kats

Invasive crayfish are a major threat to stream ecosystems, yet research has seldom identified successful ways of preventing their spread. Thirty-two stream sections were surveyed during 2000 and 2001 in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California to determine the distribution of the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Streams with large barriers (waterfalls, culverts) often did not have crayfish present upstream of barriers. A mark-recapture study indicated that P. clarkii moved both up and downstream between pools, but that barriers significantly reduced movement between pools. Seasonal high flow velocities likely increase passive movement downstream and reduce movement upstream. Results indicate that …

Does Landscape Diversity Slow The Spread Of Rotation-Resistant Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)?, D. W. Onstad, D. W. Crwoder, S. A. Isard, E. Levine, J. L. Spencer, Matthew E. O'Neal, S. T. Ratcliffe, M. E. Gray, L. W. Bledsoe, C. D. Di Fonzo, J. B. Eisley, C. R. Edwards

Matthew E. O'Neal

A behavioral change in some western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) populations is threatening the effectiveness of crop rotation, a successful management strategy for controlling this pest. We created a set of simple meteorologic and behavioral models that can be used to predict the spread of the beetle infesting soybean (Glycine max (L.)) throughout the midwestern United States. We used data collected in Illinois, IN, MI, and Ohio to create maps of observations to evaluate the model. We displayed data on the maps using detection thresholds for western corn rootworm in soybean fields of 10 or 20 beetles per …

Evolution Of Mammalian Social Structure, Ronald K. Chesser, Derrick W. Sugg, O. Eugene Rhodes Jr., James M. Novak, Michael H. Smith

James M. Novak

Social groups may be viewed as collections of individuals exhibiting nonindependent behavior and organized in a cooperative manner. The evolutionary advantage of social behavior to individuals must be measured in its relativity to other potential behaviors, the scale of competitive interactions, and under a variety of environmental and genetic constraints. A primary tenet of social evolution is that coancestry will promote the genes of related individuals. High values of coancestry, however, do not necessarily translate into evolutionary advantage unless the primary competitive interactions occur among the groups. Coancestry is affected by the breeding tactics within and rates of genetic exchange …