Life Sciences Commons^™

Daily Growth Increments In The Otoliths Of Young-Of-The-Year Largemouth Bass, Micropterus Salmoides, Steven J. Miller

Masters Theses

Daily rings were found to occur in the otoliths of laboratory-reared, young-of-the-year largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, for at least 151 days after swimup. Ring formation began at hatching but the total complement of prolarval rings was visible for only 10-15 days after swimup. Subdaily rings were visible in the posterior field but were easily distinguished from daily rings. Both high and low contrast tissue was present in otoliths from fish over 45 days old. Sagittal sections were superior to frontal sections for aging bass. The accuracy of the two-sections was similiar but sagittal sections were much easier and faster …

Three-Dimensional Home Range Of The Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus Niger, Joi L. Augustin

Masters Theses

Standard procedures for presenting home range data for species such as the fox squirrel on a single plane do not adequately represent the space they occupy. Comparisons of techniques for presenting the home range of this species on a three-dimensional basis were made using data obtained by direct observations of color marked squirrels. Three-dimensional ellipsoid models of their range varied from 9,154 m³ to 63,811 m³ and were assumed to be more accurate when observation points approached 50 in number. Rectangular parallelepipeds for the same data ranged from 9,784 m³ to 56,836 m³ and resulted in …

April Foods And Parasites Of Wild Turkeys In Northcentral Illinois, Kathleen M. Andrews

Masters Theses

Attempts prior to the late 1950's to reintroduce the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) to much of its original range were through releases of game-farm reared, hybrid turkeys. While most releases throughout the eastern United States were complete failures, a remnant population of hybrid turkeys has survived in Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois. In 1981, the Illinois Department of Conservation opened a spring, gobbler-only hunting season in these counties. The purpose of this study was to compare April foods and parasites of the hybrid turkeys with results from studies on truly wild turkeys in southern Illinois. Crops, …

Moss Sensitivity To Sulfur Dioxide, John W. Wilcut

Masters Theses

Extensive research regarding the effects of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) on vascular and nonvascular plants has been reported. Sulfur dioxide has been shown to interrupt normal metabolism, to interrupt normal reproduction, and to alter the plant's morphology.

One hypothesis regarding the lack of bryophytes in urban areas is that the life cycle is being interrupted. It has been shown that moss protonemata are sensitive to SO₂ concentrations in urban areas. Several authors noted that sexual reproduction is blocked among many species which do occur in urban environments. Observations on protonemal sensitivity are probably more important than the observations …

A Factor Analysis Of Physical Fitness Components For Seventh Grade Chinese Students, Chen-Hsing Huang

Masters Theses

The main purpose of this study is to explore the basic elements of physical fitness, which can serve as a source for the construction of a physical fitness test for Chinese students. The subjects of this study are 100 male seventh grade students of junior high school in Kaohsiung City, Republic of China.

A physical fitness test consisting of 29 subtests was devised and used as the basis for the investigation. Data collected from tests were analyzed by means of factor analysis and resulting in the following:

I. Seven basic elements that account for physical fitness were found. They were …

Bryophytes Of Rocky Branch Nature Preserve, Clark County, Illinois, David C. Burnette

Masters Theses

An extensive field survey of the Rocky Branch Nature Preserve in Clark County, Illinois, revealed a total of 52 bryophyte species. Of these, 38 were mosses and 14 were liverworts. Descriptions, habitats and distribution comments, plus a map showing the county distributions for each species in Illinois are included.

As a result of this survey, the liverwort Nardia lescurii (Aust.) Underw. is a new addition to the bryoflora of Illinois. There were also several other bryophytes found that were previously unreported for Clark County or the Rocky Branch Nature Preserve. These include Rhynchostegium pulchellum (Hedw.) Robins var. pulchellum, Isopterygium …

A Survey Of Selected Economic Plants, Virgil S. Priebe

Masters Theses

A library research project was done to gain information on the ethnic uses of plants cited in C. B. Arzeni and B. N. McKnight's "Ethnobotany", a workbook used in conjunction with Botany classes 2320 and 5452 offered at Eastern Illinois University at Charleston. The workbook represents a series of exercises on plants and their impact and importance to man. At present, there is no single book that offers explanations and comments on the diversity of plants that appear in this workbook. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to bring together such information in one work, with the hope that …

A Redescription Of Spironoura Duyagi From The Stomach Of Malayan Box Turtles (Cuora Amboinensis), Rex A. Kuye

Masters Theses

Two hundred and twenty-six worms taken from the stomachs of three Malayan box turtles (Cuora amboinensis) were studied. The worms were identified as Spironoura spp., and their numerical measurements and morphological details compared to other described species in the genus. The nematodes, generally, conformed to published descriptions of Spironoura duyagi, but varied so widely with regards to presence or absence of key diagnostic features that a complete taxonomic analysis was undertaken.

Annual Marks In The Sagittae Otoliths Of The Bluegill And Their Use In Age Determination In A Thermally Perturbed Environment, William D. Kraus

Masters Theses

This investigation was undertaken to determine if annual marks were present in the otoliths of the Bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, and to explore their possible use as ageing structures in a thermally perturbed environment.

Two populations were studied; one from a farm pond with marked seasonal changes and the other from Lake Sanchris which serves as a cooling reservoir in central Illinois. Age determinations were made on 53 and 45 fish from the farm pond and Lake Sanchris respectively.

Annual marks were found to occur in the sagittae otoliths of the bluegill. These marks showed bright amber in sectioned …

Gastrointestinal Cestodes And Nematodes Of Coyotes From Southeastern Illinois, Valerie Keener

Masters Theses

Gastrointestinal tracts of 45 coyotes, Canis latrans, from southeastern Illinois were examined for cestodes and nematodes. The following parasites and incidences (%) were observed: Taenia sp. (71.1); Physaloptera sp. (53.3); Ancylostoma sp. (20.0); Ascarididae (11.1); Thelazia sp. (2.2); Trichuris sp. (2.2); Uncinaria sp. (2.2). Ancylostoma sp. occurred significantly more often in juveniles than adults. Parasites averaged low numbers per coyote, and no ulceration or blood in the tracts was seen.

The Distribution And Relative Abundance Of Aquatic Oligochaeta In The Upper Cache River System, Southern Illinois, In Relation To Water Quality, Mark Julian Wetzel

Masters Theses

Species composition, distribution, abundance, and water quality relationships of aquatic oligochaetes occurring in the upper Cache River system, southern Illinois were investigated. Forty-two taxa of oligochaetes including 16 naidids, 22 tubificids and representatives of the families Aeolosomatidae, Branchiobdellidae, Enchytraeidae, and Lumbriculidae were collected. Four species of oligochaetes new to Illinois, Limnodrilus psammophilus Loden, L. rubripenis Loden, Psammoryctides (Spencerius) californianus Brinkhurst, and Haemonais waldvogeli Bretscher were collected during this study. Another species of Limnodrilus new to science is reported here, as yet undescribed. The thesis that aquatic oligochaetes can be used as true water quality indicator organisms is rejected. It is …

Description And Taxonomic Importance Of Penial Morphology In The Cryptodiran Turtles Of Malaysia, Lynn D. Wike

Masters Theses

This paper investigates the use of penial structure to study the relationships among the turtles of peninsular Malaysia. The penial morphology of Malaysian turtles, mainly batagurines, has not been previously described. Herein penes of 12 Malaysian species are described and compared to three Nearctic species. Each was coded for 22 penial characters which were used for numerical analysis by the NT-SYS numerical taxonomy system of multivariate statistical proceedures. The analysis failed to distinguish groups below the family level when the 15 species were tested. The test also failed to distinguish the complexes within the Batagurinae when they were analyzed separately. …

Correlation Of Hook-And-Line Vulnerability Of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides) With Selected Physicochemical Parameters At Ridge Lake, Dale P. Burkett

Masters Theses

Fluctuation in kilograms of largemouth bass caught per man-hour of fishing pressure (catch rate) in Ridge Lake (a 6.8ha impoundment located in Fox Ridge State Park, Coles County, Illinois) was positively correlated with dissolved oxygen concentration (r=0.7490), conductivity (r=0.7439), pH (r=0.5965), and alkalinity (r=0.7531). Negative correlations were found between largemouth bass catch rate and turbidity (r=-0.5145), as well as ammonia (r=-0.4694). No significant (p<0.05) correlations were found between catch rate and column water temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, water level, maximum water temperature, minimum water temperature, maximum air temperature, or minimum air temperature.

Models describing the relationships of the most significant physicochemical parameters to catch rate of largemouth bass were chosen to represent the effects of environment …

A Trophic Analysis Of Three Species Of Elmidae From Polecat And Riley Creeks, Coles County, Ill., Robert D. Davis Jr.

Masters Theses

The food habits of Stenelmis sexlineata, Stenelmis vittipennis, Stenelmis crenata, and larval Stenelmis were studied in Polecat and Riley Creeks, Coles County, Illinois. Rock Scrapings were taken and compared with the gut analyses of the larval and adult beetles. These beetles were found to be scraper/collectors and detritivore/herbivores, generally scraping surfaces of rocks. Detritus, green algae, and diatoms were found to be the major categories present in both the rock scrapings and the gut analyses. The cellular contents of diatoms (chloroplasts and other cytoplasmic inclusions) were digested by the beetles. No conclusions regarding feeding preferences are made, …

A Key To The Hepaticae Of Coles And Clark Counties, Illinois, Michael J. Klopmeyer

Masters Theses

This study represents a taxonomic survey of the hepaticae of east-central Illinois. The counties included in this study were Coles and Clark, located in the east-central portion of the state, near the Indiana stateline. Of the areas included in this study, two are in Clark county, Rocky Branch and Rocky Hollow, and one in Coles county, Rock's Park.

The influence of the Wisconsin glacier, and its terminal moraine located in southern Coles county, greatly influenced the topography and ultimately the specific habitats for the hepaticae. The majority of the liverworts encountered in these counties are found in the numerous sandstone …