Life Sciences Commons^™

Size And Age Structure Of Introduced Populations Of Blue Catfish (Ictalurus Furcatus) In Two Kansas Reservoirs And Implications For Management, Ernesto Flores

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

The introduction of a new fish species into an aquatic ecosystem can bring about many challenges for fisheries managers. Questions might arise for the manager regarding the initial sportfish survival rate, grow rate, reproduction and recruitment, and what kind of impact will the introduction have on the already established populations found in the water body. A new population of fish is often protected using length limit regulations, allowing biologists to gain insight on whether the population will be self-sustaining or in need of periodic stockings. Age and growth information is used to understand population dynamics, estimate annual mortality and …

Effects Of Fragmentation On Species Retention In National Parks, Liz Tanner

Master's Theses

The North American landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented, resulting in habitat patches with decreased area and increased isolation. Often, these patches exist as protected areas, such as national parks. The Theory of Island Biogeography is frequently used as a model for these patches, where each park serves as an ‘island’ surrounded by a ‘sea’ of human-altered habitats. As such, species richness and extinctions in a park might be explained by its area. For this study, I used regression models to examine the relationship between richness and area, as well as extinctions and area, for mammals and birds in national parks. …

The Effect Of Vegetative Structure On Nest-Burrow Selection By The Western Burrowing Owl: Comparing Traditional Methods To Photogrammetry With An Unmanned Aerial System, Dylan J. Steffen

Master's Theses

The shortgrass prairie ecoregion in the United States has been reduced to 52% of its historical extent, contributing to reduced habitat for native species. One such species is the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia). The Western Burrowing Owl subspecies (A. c. hypugaea) is listed as a Species of Special Concern in nearly every western and midwestern state, including Kansas where it is designated as a Tier II Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Habitat destruction due to conversion to cropland, increasing use of pesticides, and reduction in burrowing mammal abundance are the primary threats that have led to …

Rna Interference Of Three Genes Of The Unfolded Protein Response: Activating Factor Of Transcription 4, Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 2-Alpha Kinase, And Inositol-Requiring Enzyme 1 In Acyrthosiphon Pisum, Jared Ridder

Master's Theses

Activating Transcription Factor 4 (ATF4) is a transcription factor that can act as both an activator or repressor and is a critical component of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) and Amino Acid Response (AAR) pathways. Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) is an Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) membrane-bound kinase/endoribonuclease that functions as a sensor of unfolded protein and is the most conserved component of the UPR in eukaryotes. Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2-alpha Kinase (PERK) is an ER membrane bound kinase that phosphorylates eukaryotic initiation factor upon activation of the UPR causing downregulation of protein synthesis. It was hypothesized that introduction of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) …

Influence Of Shaded Conditions On Development Of Asteraceae Species Native To Kansas, Aline Rodrigues De Queiroz

Master's Theses

to the heterogeneity of habitats, all plants are exposed to at least some degree of shade during their lifetime. Reduced light intensity, drops in R:FR ratio, and limited blue light are cues for plants to perceive competition; the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) is common for grassland species while shade tolerance (ST) is common for forest species when competition is perceived. SAS is characterized by elongation of stems and petioles, reduced branches, decreased leaf area, decreased shoot biomass, and increased number of ramets. ST is characterized by little elongation of stems and petioles, high chlorophyll content and high chlorophyll a/b ratio …

Prion Protein Gene Polymorphisms In The Alpha-Helical Region In Feral Pigs From Texas, Maram Alsmady

Master's Theses

Prion diseases are a group of infectious, incurable, fatal neurodegenerative disorders, including scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. A key event in prion disease is the conformational transition of the cellular prion protein (PrP^C) into the pathogenic isoform (PrP^SC). Prion disease occurrence depends mainly on the interaction between the host prion protein (PrP^C) and the prion strain (PrP^SC). It was hypothesized that prion gene polymorphisms correlate with an organism’s susceptibility to prion disease, which may be related to the overall stability of the α-helical …

The Influence Of Pre- And Post Meal Exercise In Relation To Postprandial Blood Glucose Levels In Type Ii Diabetics, Jessica Johnson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of pre and post evening meal exercise in relation to postprandial blood glucose levels in type II diabetics. Fifteen participants diagnosed with type II diabetes volunteered to participate in this 21 day study. During the first seven days, participants were told to change nothing about their daily routine. Throughout the study they were asked to track all food consumption in the MyFitnessPal application and to record their blood glucose levels fasting, before their evening meal, and 120 minutes after their evening meal. At the end of day seven, each participant’s …

Greening Rates And Photosynthetic Development Of Leaves In C3 And C4 Plants, Tayler J. Kriss

Master's Theses

To study chlorophyll development time and overall photosynthetic development in C3 and C4 leaves, seeds were germinated in complete darkness and achlorophyllous leaves were then allowed to develop in lighted conditions. Corn (Zea mays, C4), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, C4), green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, C3), broad bean (Vicia faba, C3), and wheat (Triticum aestivum, C3) were investigated for the first ten days of sunlight exposure. Chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll fluorescence, and CO2 gas exchange measurements were conducted daily on the first leaf that emerged after the embryonic leaves of each plant. The first five days of the experiment, days zero to four …

Ectoparasite Presence In Select Northcentral Kansas Bat Species, Elizabeth Schumann

Master's Theses

Working with other graduate students on a grant given to Fort Hays State University, from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, I looked at presence and species of ectoparasites on bat species. The main goal of our grant was to quantify and qualify the status of the northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) in the state of Kansas, and to record data on any bycatch. I worked on our grant in the summer field seasons of 2016 and 2017, May to October, as described by the Indiana bat protocol.

Bats were captured by using mist nets set over …

The Purple Plague: Effect Of High Intensity Grazing Post Fire On Purple Threeawn Cover And Reproductive Effort And Prairie Dog Responses, Justin Roemer

Master's Theses

Purple threeawn (Aristida purpurea Nutt.) is a native warm-season bunchgrass found in western Kansas on The Nature Conservancy’s Smoky Valley Ranch and across rangelands of western North America. Upon reaching maturity, grazing/clipping pressure decreases for this bunchgrass due to poor forage quality and extreme unpalatability for cattle (Bos taurus) and Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). This decrease in grazing/clipping has led to development of near monocultures which cause negative impacts to the prairie ecosystem including decreases in rangeland quality and suitable habitat for prairie dogs, a keystone species. This decrease in prairie dog habitat …