Life Sciences Commons^™

Global Patterns And Predictions Of Seafloor Biomass Using Random Forests, Chih-Lin Wei, Gilbert T. Rowe, Elva Escobar-Briones, Antje Boetius, Thomas Soltwedel, M. Julian Caley, Yousria Soliman, Falk Huettmann, Fangyuan Qu, Zishan Yu, C. Roland Pitcher, Richard L. Haedrich, Mary K. Wicksten, Michael A. Rex, Jeffrey G. Baguley, Jyotsna Sharma, Roberto Danovaro, Ian R. Macdonald, Clifton C. Nunnally, Jody W. Deming, Paul Montagna, Mélanie Lévesque, Jan Marcin Weslawski, Maria Wlodarska-Kowalczuk, Baban S. Ingole, Brian J. Bett, David S. M. Billett, Andrew Yool, Bodil A. Bluhm, Katrin Iken, Bhavani E. Narayanaswamy

Biology Faculty Publication Series

A comprehensive seafloor biomass and abundance database has been constructed from 24 oceanographic institutions worldwide within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) field projects. The machine-learning algorithm, Random Forests, was employed to model and predict seafloor standing stocks from surface primary production, water-column integrated and export particulate organic matter (POM), seafloor relief, and bottom water properties. The predictive models explain 63% to 88% of stock variance among the major size groups. Individual and composite maps of predicted global seafloor biomass and abundance are generated for bacteria, meiofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (invertebrates and fishes). Patterns of benthic standing stocks were positive …

Foundational Checklist Of The Amphibians Of Wise County, Virginia, Sarah R.A. Davidson, David L. Chambers

Virginia Journal of Science

The Appalachian Mountains are arguably home to the highest degree of amphibian diversity in the world, particularly caudate (salamander) biodiversity. Despite the high degree of amphibian endemism in the Appalachians, several regions remain unsurveyed for amphibian species. In addition to this knowledge gap, we are in the midst of alarming amphibian biodiversity loss. Thus, it is of the utmost importance to bridge this knowledge gap by conducting surveys before some of these amphibian species are lost. We surveyed Wise County (previously unsurveyed county in the Appalachian Mountains with no records existing in the primary literature) over two years to assess …

The Biogeochemistry Of Submerged Coastal Karst Features In West Central Florida, Keith Michael Garman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

West Central Florida is a complex karst environment with numerous sinkholes, springs, and submerged cave systems. Many of these karst features are anchialine, located within the subterranean estuary where freshwater and saltwater mix. Water quality data and/or fauna data were obtained from twenty-one karst features and their associated cave systems. The anchialine karst environment of the study area has a wide range of habitats with measured salinities ranging from freshwater at <0.2 ppt to sulfidic, hypersaline water at 38.5 ppt and measured pH readings ranging from 6.39 in water impacted by sulfur oxidizing bacteria to 10.3 in an isolated room of a cave. Stygobitic crustaceans were identified in conduits extending beneath the Gulf of Mexico supporting the hypotheses that freshwater crustaceans could survive higher sea levels in freshwater conduits beneath saltwater. The fauna associated with the anchialine cave systems included Sabellidae and Polychaeta worms, hydroids, cnidarians and hydrobiid snails. Jewfish Sink, like other anaerobic marine basins that were submarine springs, has four zones: oxic zone, transition zone, upper anoxic zone and anoxic bottom water. The upper zones have seasonal water quality variations from winter cooling and sinking of surface water and changes in the microbial communities. Activity of sulfate reducing bacteria is carbon limited in the anoxic zones, where sulfate reduction is the major metabolic process, and primary production is phosphate limited in the oxic zones. Organic input from the Gulf of Mexico drives the bacterial anaerobic ecosystem, resulting in a “sulfide pump”, in which sulfide percolates upward removing oxygen from the overlying sediment.

Bats Of The Grenadine Islands, West Indies, And Placement Of Koopman's Line, Hugh H. Genoways, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Peter A. Larsen, Scott C. Pedersen, Roxanne J. Larsen, Justin D. Hoffman, Mark De Silva, Carleton J. Phillips, Robert J. Baker

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Almost nothing is known concerning the chiropteran fauna on the Grenadine Islands, a chain of islands between St. Vincent and Grenada located near the southern end of the Lesser Antilles. Previously, only a single species—Glossophaga longirostris—had been reported from the Grenadines. Our research, conducted on 4 occasions over the period of 1980 to 2006, provided museum vouchers and genetic specimens for the addition of 4 other species to the known fauna of these islands—Noctilio leporinus, Artibeus lituratus, Artibeus schwartzi, and Molossus molossus. The Grenadines, being situated between St. Vincent and Grenada, occupy an important zoogeographic position. …

Negative Plant–Soil Feedback Predicts Tree-Species Relative Abundance In A Tropical Forest, Scott A. Mangan, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Edward A. Herre, Keenan M.L. Mack, Mariana C. Valencia, Evelyn I. Sanchez, James D. Bever

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The accumulation of species-specific enemies around adults is hypothesized to maintain plant diversity by limiting the recruitment of conspecific seedlings relative to heterospecific seedlings^1,2,3,4,5,6. Although previous studies in forested ecosystems have documented patterns consistent with the process of negative feedback^{7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16}, these studies are unable to address which classes of enemies (for example, pathogens, invertebrates, mammals) exhibit species-specific effects strong enough to generate negative feedback¹⁷, and whether …

Slides: Grazing On The Public Lands, William G. Myers Iii

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: William G. Myers III, Partner, Holland & Hart; former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior (Boise, ID)

8 slides

The Loss Of Species: Mangrove Extinction Risk And Geographic Areas Of Global Concern, Beth A. Polidoro, Kent E. Carpenter, Lorna Collins, Norman C. Duke, Aaron M. Ellison, Joanna C. Ellison, Elizabeth J. Farnsworth, Edwino S. Fernando, Kandasamy Kathiresan, Nico E. Koedam, Suzanne R. Livingstone, Toyohiko Miyagi, Gregg E. Moore, Vien Ngoc Nam, Jin Eong Ong, Jurgenne H. Primavera, Serverino G. Salmo, Jonnell C. Sanciango, Sukristijono Sukardjo, Yamin Wang, Jean Wan Hong Yong

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mangrove species are uniquely adapted to tropical and subtropical coasts, and although relatively low in number of species, mangrove forests provide at least US $1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services and support coastal livelihoods worldwide. Globally, mangrove areas are declining rapidly as they are cleared for coastal development and aquaculture and logged for timber and fuel production. Little is known about the effects of mangrove area loss on individual mangrove species and local or regional populations. To address this gap, species-specific information on global distribution, population status, life history traits, and major threats were compiled for each of the …

Diversity Of Bacteria And Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 48 Genes In Cellulolytic Consortia Enriched From Thermophilic Biocompost, Javier A. Izquierdo, Maria V. Sizova, Lee R. Lynd

Dartmouth Scholarship

The enrichment from nature of novel microbial communities with high cellulolytic activity is useful in the identification of novel organisms and novel functions that enhance the fundamental understanding of microbial cellulose degradation. In this work we identify predominant organisms in three cellulolytic enrichment cultures with thermophilic compost as an inoculum. Community structure based on 16S rRNA gene clone libraries featured extensive representation of clostridia from cluster III, with one cluster sharing as little as 73% sequence similarity with the closest known relative. In all, 14 new GHF48 gene sequences were added to the known diversity of 35 genes from cultured …

On The Physical Geography Of The Malay Archipelago (1863), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

Diversity And Distribution Of The Scarab Beetle Tribe Phanaeini In The Northern States Of The Brazilian Northeast (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), Conrad P. D. T. Gillett, Michael P. T. Gillett, James E. D. T. Gillett, Fernando Z. Vaz-De-Mello

Insecta Mundi

The fauna of Phanaeini of the northeast of Brazil was investigated through fieldwork in the States of Ceará, Maranhão and Piauí, and through study of preserved material from other states. Seven species of Phanaeini are newly recorded from these three states. Of these, two species are also new records for the northeast region: Phanaeus melibaeus Blanchard and an unidentified Dendropaemon Perty species. A total of 13 new state records are given for eight of the 15 species of Phanaeini recorded from the northeast to date, including three new state genus records. A key is provided for identification of all species. …

Preliminary Global Assessment Of Terrestrial Biodiversity Consequences Of Sea-Level Rise Mediated By Climate Change, Shaily Menon, Jorge Soberon, Xingong Li, A. Townsend Peterson

Shaily Menon

Considerable attention has focused on the climatic effects of global climate change on biodiversity, but few analyses and no broad assessments have evaluated effects of sea-level rise on biodiversity. Taking advantage of new maps of marine intrusion under scenarios of 1 and 6 m sea-level rise, we calculated areal losses for all terrestrial ecoregions globally, with areal losses for particular ecoregions ranging from nil to complete. Marine intrusion is a global phenomenon, but its effects are most prominent in Southeast Asia and nearby islands, eastern North America, northeastern South America, and western Alaska. Making assumptions regarding faunal responses to reduced …

Relationships Between Herbaceous Diversity And Biomass In Two Habitats In Arid Mediterranean Rangeland, Mohammad N. Alhamad, Brian P. Oswald, Mohammad M. Bataineh, Mohammad A. Alrababah, Mohammad M. Gharaibeh

Faculty Publications

Plant diversity patterns vary across the landscape. This study was conducted to answer the question: What is the pattern of species diversity (α and β) along an abstract productivity/cover gradient at two topographical positions (Wadi (a depression with overland flow) and hilltop) of a Mediterranean herbaceous plant community in Jordan? Results indicated that the less productive hilltop localities exhibited higher species richness than the more productive Wadi localities. Species richness exhibited a unimodal relationship with aboveground biomass within Wadis whereas a positive linear relationship was revealed for hilltops. Within Wadis, abundant species did not show a significant relationship with productivity …

Projected Loss Of A Salamander Diversity Hotspot As A Consequence Of Projected Global Climate Change, Joseph Milanovich, William E. Peterman, Nathan P. Nibbelink, John C. Maerz

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Significant shifts in climate are considered a threat to plants and animals with significant physiological limitations and limited dispersal abilities. The southern Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot for plethodontid salamander diversity. Plethodontids are lungless ectotherms, so their ecology is strongly governed by temperature and precipitation. Many plethodontid species in southern Appalachia exist in high elevation habitats that may be at or near their thermal maxima, and may also have limited dispersal abilities across warmer valley bottoms.

Importance Of Myxomycetes In Biological Research And Teaching, Harold W. Keller, Sydney E. Everhart

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Myxomycetes, the true slime molds, are highlighted in research and teaching that emphasizes various stages of the life cycle as experimental models. Past and current phylogenetic classifications of Myxomycetes on the tree of life are presented. Life cycle stages are illustrated, described, and discussed. Simple laboratory demonstrations and experiments are described that include spore germination, spore release, and moist chamber cultures utilizing organic matter from various microhabitats. Novel compounds isolated from fruiting bodies and plasmodia of 22 myxomycete species are tabulated, some of which exhibit biological activity that function as antibiotics, antimicrobials, and are cytotoxic to cancer cells. Aeroallergens include …

How Our Health Depends On Biodiversity, Eric Chivian M.D., Aaron Bernstein M.D., M.P.H.

Ecosystem Disruption & Climate Change

The eminent Harvard biology Professor Edward O.Wilson once said about ants, “We need them to survive, but they don’t need us at all.” The same, in fact, could be said about countless other insects, bacteria, fungi, plankton, plants, and other organisms. This fundamental truth, however, is largely lost to many of us. Rather, we humans often act as if we are totally independent of Nature, as if our driving thousands of other species to extinction and disrupting the life-giving services they provide will have no effect on us whatsoever.

This summary, using concrete examples from our award-winning Oxford University Press …

Where The Tiger Survives, Biodiversity Thrives, Philip J. Nyhus, Ronald Tilson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Records Of Bats From The British Virgin Islands, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Jean-Pierre Bacle, Kevel C. Lindsay, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

As currently understood the bat fauna of the British Virgin Islands consists of five species – Noctilio leporinus, Brachyphylla cavernarum, Artibeus jamaicensis, Tadarida brasiliensis , and Molossus molossus. Our knowledge of distribution of bats in the British Virgin Islands is far more limited than that in the United States Virgin Islands. As part of ongoing research on the bats of the Virgin Islands, recent brief surveying periods in the British Virgin Islands have produced new records for some islands. Also, our researching of existing museum collections has discovered unreported new records. Our new data adds information for five species …

Increased Weed Diversity, Density And Above-Ground Biomass In Long-Term Organic Crop Rotations, Samuel E. Wortman, John L. Lindquist, Milton J. Haar, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

While weed management is consistently a top priority among farmers, there is also growing concern for the conservation of biodiversity. Maintaining diverse weed communities below bioeconomic thresholds may provide ecosystem services for the crop and the surrounding ecosystem. This study was conducted to determine if weed diversity, density and biomass differ within and among organic and conventional crop rotations. In 2007 and 2008, we sampled weed communities in four long-term crop rotations near Mead, Nebraska, United States using seedbank analyses (elutriation and greenhouse emergence) and above-ground biomass sampling. Two conventional crop rotations consisted of a corn (Zea mays) …

From Energy Gradient And Natural Selection To Biodiversity And Stability Of Ecosystems, Bo Deng

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to incorporate well-established ecological principles into a foodweb model consisting of four trophic levels --- abiotic resources, plants, herbivores, and carnivores. The underlining principles include Kimura's neutral theory of genetic evolution, Liebig's Law of the Minimum for plant growth, Holling's functionals for herbivore foraging and carnivore predation, the One-Life Rule for all organisms, and Lotka-Volterra's model for intraand interspecific competitions. Numerical simulations of the model led to the following statistical findings: (a) particular foodwebs can give contradicting observations on biodiversity and productivity, in particular, all known functional forms -- - positive, negative, sigmoidal, and …

The Market For Treaties, Natasha Affolder

All Faculty Publications

Corporations are consumers of treaty law. In this article, I empirically examine three biodiversity treaty regimes - the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar Convention, and World Heritage Convention - to demonstrate that corporations implement or internalize treaty norms in a variety of ways that are not captured by the dominant model of treaty implementation – national implementation. As an exegetical model, I explore how corporations use biodiversity treaties as a source of private environmental standards. I focus on the interactions between mining and oil and gas companies and biodiversity treaties, as revealed through transactional documents, corporate reports, security law filings, …

Saving Saba Bank: Policy Implications Of Biodiversity Studies, Paul C. Hoetjes, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Saba Bank has always been an area of special importance to the neighboring island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles. Sabans traditionally fished on the Bank as far back as 1907, but increasing foreign fishing pressures on the Bank in the 1970s and 1980s forced many Saban fishermen out. Concerns were compounded by the suspicion that shipping was also damaging the benthic habitat of the bank. Fishery legislation, enacted in 1996, brought an end to unlicensed fishing and established Coast Guard enforcement on the Bank, but also led to protests from neighboring countries that previously fished on the Bank.Research was …

Biodiversity Assessment Of The Fishes Of Saba Bank Atoll, Netherlands Antilles, Jeffrey T. Williams, Kent E. Carpenter, James L. Van Tassell, Paul Hoetjes, Wes Toller, Peter Etnoyer, Michael Smith

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Biodiversity surveys were conducted on Saba Bank, Netherlands Antilles, to assess ichthyofaunal richness and to compare with published surveys of other Caribbean localities. The primary objective was to estimate the total species richness of the Saba Bank ichthyofauna. A variety of sampling techniques was utilized to survey the fish species of both the visually accessible megafauna and the camouflaged and small-sized species comprising the cryptic ichthyofauna. Based on results presented herein, the number of species known on Saba Bank is increased from 42 previously known species to 270 species. Expected species-accumulation curves demonstrate that the current estimate of species richness …

New Additions To The Turkish Macromycota From Bingöl Province (Turkey), Yusuf Uzun, Abdullah Kaya, Mustafa Emre Akçay, Kenan Demi̇rel

Turkish Journal of Botany

Hymenoscyphus scutula (Pers.) W. Phillips, Crepidotus vulgaris Hesler & A.H. Sm., Psilocybe merdicola Huijsman, and Tricholoma inamoenum (Fr.) Gillet are recorded for the first time from Turkey. Short descriptions and photographs of the taxa are given.

Macrofungi Of Hatila Valley National Park (Artvin, Turkey), Kenan Demi̇rel, Ömer Erdem, Yusuf Uzun, Abdullah Kaya

Turkish Journal of Botany

The taxonomic study of 382 samples collected from Hatila Valley National Park (Artvin, Turkey) revealed 126 taxa of macromycetes, belonging to 34 families and 60 genera. Two of them, Arrhenia acerosa (Fr.) Kühn. (Tricholomataceae) and Entoloma politum (Pers.: Fr.) Donk. (Entolomataceae), are new records for Turkey.

Living Soil And Composting: Life’S Lessons In The Learning Gardens, Dilafruz R. Williams, Jonathan Brown

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

After we spread the chicken poop, we covered it with hay... the poop was the fertilizer and the hay was the stuff that kept the plants warm. After school l checked the garden. Empty. Nobody. I climbed the fence to check the radishes I had planted. I dug around the radishes. They seemed dead. I grabbed a magnifying glass and looked closely at the leaves. Aphids were chewing all the leaves, like ants or other bugs. I went home worried. Next day I went to check the garden. Something red flashed in my eye. I panicked. "Yhaaaa!" I screamed with …

Where The Tiger Survives, Biodiversity Thrives, Philip J. Nyhus, Ronald Tilson

Philip J. Nyhus

No abstract provided.