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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Diet Composition Explains Reductions In Stream Salamander Occupancy And Abundance Along A Conductivity Gradient, Jacob Matthew Hutton
Diet Composition Explains Reductions In Stream Salamander Occupancy And Abundance Along A Conductivity Gradient, Jacob Matthew Hutton
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
Changes in land use such as mountaintop removal mining with valley fills (MTR/VF) affect chemical, physical, and hydrological properties of headwater streams. Although numerous stream taxa have experienced significant declines from MTR/VF, stream salamanders appear to be particularly sensitive. Yet, the specific mechanism(s) responsible for the population declines has eluded researchers. We sampled salamander assemblages across a continuous specific conductivity (SC) gradient in southeastern Kentucky and estimated occupancy rates and abundance estimates along this gradient. We also examined the diet of larval and adult salamanders to determine if autochthony (A/T prey), total prey volume, and body condition is influenced by …
Diet And Space Use Of The Martial Eagle (Polemaetus Bellicosus) In The Maasai Mara Region Of Kenya, Richard Stratton Hatfield
Diet And Space Use Of The Martial Eagle (Polemaetus Bellicosus) In The Maasai Mara Region Of Kenya, Richard Stratton Hatfield
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
The martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a vulnerable species that is declining throughout large portions of its range. There is an urgent need to improve understanding of this species’ ecology to inform its conservation. I equipped 20 adult martial eagles with global positioning system backpack transmitters to characterize diet and space use of the species in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya. The resulting high-resolution transmitter data sets allowed for the rapid location of kills and provided a means to estimate home range size. From November 2016 to April 2018, 191 kills were identified from 206 kill location …