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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Wetland And Nest Scale Habitat Use By The Four-Toed Salamander (Hemidactylium Scutatum) In Maine, And A Comparison Of Survey Methods, Rebecca J. Chalmers
Wetland And Nest Scale Habitat Use By The Four-Toed Salamander (Hemidactylium Scutatum) In Maine, And A Comparison Of Survey Methods, Rebecca J. Chalmers
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Conserving amphibian populations requires knowledge of a species and its habitat relationships. The four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) is listed as Special Concern in Maine and 11 additional states and provinces, Threatened in Illinois, and Endangered in Indiana (Appendix A). Little is known of H. scutatum ecology despite the species' extensive range. Infrequent sightings of H. scutatum throughout its range may indicate either low numbers or that the species' behavior make detection difficult. Records for H. scutatum in Maine existed from only 32 sites before my study, and the total number of occurrences of this species in Maine is …
Nest Success And Chick Survival Of Black Terns In Maine: Effects Of Predation On Breeding Productivity, Shane R. Heath
Nest Success And Chick Survival Of Black Terns In Maine: Effects Of Predation On Breeding Productivity, Shane R. Heath
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Nest predation is a prominent cause of reproductive failure in wetland-nesting birds, including black terns. As a result, predator avoidance should play an important role in nest site selection. I examined intraspecific variation in nest success to identify factors affecting nest predation of black tern colonies in central Maine. I measured variables related to proximity of wetland features and nest aggregation for 231 successful and 124 depredated black tern nests during the period 1998-2002. I defined candidate models based on logistic regression and selected models with Akaike's Information Criterion adjusted for small sample sizes (AICc) to determine the …
Biology And Ecology Of Larval Lobsters (Homarus Americanus): Implications For Population Connectivity And Larval Transport, Eric R. Annis
Biology And Ecology Of Larval Lobsters (Homarus Americanus): Implications For Population Connectivity And Larval Transport, Eric R. Annis
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The connectivity of marine populations and the degree to which they are considered open or closed has important implications for the ecology, management, and resilience of commercially harvested species. Larval exchange is a primary determinant of the level of connectivity between populations, and this thesis examines the intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing larval transport and the distribution of larvae of the American lobster (Homarus americanus). The potential for larval transport is directly proportional to the planktonic larval duration. Our field data suggest development times in situ were up to three times faster than previous laboratory development times, indicating that potential …
Influence Of Diets Formulated To Increase The Supply Of Ketones Or Ketone Precursors On The Carbohydrate Status And Performance Of Transition Dairy Cows, Jeffrey Michael Defrain
Influence Of Diets Formulated To Increase The Supply Of Ketones Or Ketone Precursors On The Carbohydrate Status And Performance Of Transition Dairy Cows, Jeffrey Michael Defrain
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Research to date has focused on increasing the supply of glucose precursors in transition dairy cows to reduce ketosis. Ketones and ketone bodies represent energy sources for body tissues; therefore, conserving blood glucose for lactose synthesis in the mammary gland. This led to the hypothesis that transition cows might benefit from diets formulated to stimulate rumen epithelial ketogenesis or dietary ingredients supplying ketone precursors. A series of experiments were conducted to study the impact of diets formulated to increase the supply of ketones (via feeding lactose, glycerol, or an alphaamylase enzyme preparation) or ketone precursors (feeding Ca soaps of longchain …
The Prevalence Of The Q-Fever Agent Coxiella Burnetii In Ticks Collected From An Animal Shelter In Southeast Georgia, John H. Smoyer Iii
The Prevalence Of The Q-Fever Agent Coxiella Burnetii In Ticks Collected From An Animal Shelter In Southeast Georgia, John H. Smoyer Iii
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Author's abstract: Q-fever is a zoonosis caused by a worldwide-distributed bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Ticks are vectors of the Q-fever agent but play a secondary role in transmission because the agent is also transmitted via aerosols. Most Q-fever studies have focused on farm animals but not ticks collected from dogs in animal shelters. In order to detect the Q-fever agent in these ticks, a nested PCR technique targeting the 16S rDNA of Coxiella burnetii was used. A collection of 450 ticks from the animal shelter were screened via nested PCR and 144 (32%) were positives. The positive PCR products were also …