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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Configuration And Location Of Small Urban Gardens Affect Colonization By Monarch Butterflies, Adam M. Baker, Daniel A. Potter Dec 2019

Configuration And Location Of Small Urban Gardens Affect Colonization By Monarch Butterflies, Adam M. Baker, Daniel A. Potter

Entomology Faculty Publications

Ecological theory predicts that specialist insect herbivores are more likely to locate and colonize host plants growing in relatively sparse or pure stands compared to host plants growing amongst diverse non-host vegetation. We tested the hypothesis that increasing the apparency and accessibility of milkweed (Asclepias spp.) host plants in small polyculture gardens would boost their colonization by the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), an iconic native species of conservation concern. We established replicated gardens containing the identical mix of milkweeds, flowering nectar sources, and non-host ornamental grasses but arranged in three different spatial configurations that were monitored for …


Potential Restoration Methods Of Native Fish In The Clinch And Powell Rivers, Hartley Thacker Oct 2019

Potential Restoration Methods Of Native Fish In The Clinch And Powell Rivers, Hartley Thacker

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

This proposal uses citizen science to attempt to restore native fish populations in southwestern Virginia and the Tennessee River Valley.


Expanding Aquatic Observations Through Recreation, Robert J. W. Brewin, Kieran Hyder, Andreas J. Andersson, Oliver Billson, Philip J. Bresnahan, Thomas G. Brewin, Tyler Cyronak, Giorgio Dall'olmo, Lee De Mora, George Graham, Thomas Jackson, Dionysios E. Raitsos Sep 2019

Expanding Aquatic Observations Through Recreation, Robert J. W. Brewin, Kieran Hyder, Andreas J. Andersson, Oliver Billson, Philip J. Bresnahan, Thomas G. Brewin, Tyler Cyronak, Giorgio Dall'olmo, Lee De Mora, George Graham, Thomas Jackson, Dionysios E. Raitsos

Tyler Cyronak

Accurate observations of the Earth system are required to understand how our planet is changing and to help manage its resources. The aquatic environment—including lakes, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, coastal and open oceans—is a fundamental component of the Earth system controlling key physical, biological, and chemical processes that allow life to flourish. Yet, this environment is critically undersampled in both time and space. New and cost-effective sampling solutions are urgently needed. Here, we highlight the potential to improve aquatic sampling by tapping into recreation. We draw attention to the vast number of participants that engage in aquatic recreational activities and argue, …


Differential Vulnerability To Window Collision Mortality Among Migratory Songbird Species, Olivia M. Colling Aug 2019

Differential Vulnerability To Window Collision Mortality Among Migratory Songbird Species, Olivia M. Colling

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Millions of birds die annually in North America by colliding with windows. I investigated differential vulnerability to window collision among migratory songbird species using long-term citizen science datasets from two bird banding stations and the fatal light awareness program. I used negative binomial regressions to model species-specific catch ratios, a mixed-effects negative binomial regression to model trophic guild-specific catch ratios and mixed-effects logistic regressions to model the odds of catching different age classes. Species-specific vulnerability varied significantly. Blue-headed Vireos, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were least vulnerable, while Ovenbirds, Common Yellowthroats, Fox Sparrows and Bay-breasted Warblers were most vulnerable. Foraging …


Multiple Drivers Of Interannual Oyster Settlement And Recruitment In The Lower Chesapeake Bay, Brendan Turley, Kimberly S. Reece, Jian Shen, Jeong-Ho Lee, Ximing Guo, Jan Mcdowell May 2019

Multiple Drivers Of Interannual Oyster Settlement And Recruitment In The Lower Chesapeake Bay, Brendan Turley, Kimberly S. Reece, Jian Shen, Jeong-Ho Lee, Ximing Guo, Jan Mcdowell

VIMS Articles

Despite global investment in shellfish restoration activities, relatively little attention has been given to predicting optimal restoration sites and testing these expectations. We used a coupled biological-physical connectivity model as a guide to plant two distinct hatchery-spawned strains of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, in the Lafayette River, Virginia during the summer of 2013 at two locations corresponding to virtual spawning locations within the connectivity model. We utilized single nucleotide polymorphism markers to test the model predictions by genotyping oysters recruited after planting two hatchery-spawned strains and examining interannual recruitment variability for two successive years. Two spat were identified …


Improving Conservation Of Declining Young Forest Birds Through Adaptive Management, Anna Buckardt Thomas Apr 2019

Improving Conservation Of Declining Young Forest Birds Through Adaptive Management, Anna Buckardt Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early successional forest and shrubland habitats are collectively called young forest. Changes in disturbance regimes and land use conversion resulted in declines of young forest and associated wildlife across eastern North America. Conservation of declining young forest birds relies on the maintenance and creation of young forest habitats used for breeding. American Woodcock (AMWO; Scolopax minor) and Golden-winged Warbler (GWWA; Vermivora chrysoptera) are two declining young forest species. Conservation plans for both species use an adaptive management framework, which is an iterative process of planning, management actions, and monitoring and evaluation, in the context of species conservation goals. Adaptive management …


Creative Citizen Science Illuminates Complex Ecological Responses To Climate Change, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Amanda S. Gallinat, Richard B. Primack Jan 2019

Creative Citizen Science Illuminates Complex Ecological Responses To Climate Change, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Amanda S. Gallinat, Richard B. Primack

Biology Faculty Publications

Climate change is causing the timing of key behaviors (i.e., phenology) to shift differently across trophic levels and among some interacting organisms (e.g., plants and pollinators, predators and prey), suggesting that interactions among species are being disrupted (1, 2). Studying the phenology of interactions, however, is difficult, which has limited researchers’ ability to zero in on changes in specific interactions or on the consequences of mismatches. In PNAS, Hassall et al. (3) use a combination of citizen science techniques to investigate the effects of climate change on dozens of specific interactions. They focus on a Batesian mimicry complex involving stinging …


Monarch Butterfly Conservation Through The Social Lens: Eliciting Public Preferences For Management Strategies Across Transboundary Nations, Rodrigo Solis-Sosa, Christina A.D. Semeniuk, Sergio Fernandez-Lozada, Kornelia Dabrowska, Sean Cox, Wolfgang Haider Jan 2019

Monarch Butterfly Conservation Through The Social Lens: Eliciting Public Preferences For Management Strategies Across Transboundary Nations, Rodrigo Solis-Sosa, Christina A.D. Semeniuk, Sergio Fernandez-Lozada, Kornelia Dabrowska, Sean Cox, Wolfgang Haider

Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), an iconic species that migrates annually across North America, has steeply declined in numbers over the past decade. Across the species’ range, public, private, and non-profit organizations aim to reverse the monarch decline by engaging in conservation activities such as habitat restoration, larvae monitoring, and butterfly tagging. Urban residents can actively participate in these activities, yet their contribution can also be realized as an electorate body able to influence the design of conservation programs according to their interests. Little is known, however about their preferences toward the objectives and design of international monarch conservation policies. …


Drivers And Impacts Of The Invasive Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus) In Michigan Tributaries To The Great Lakes, Corey Krabbenhoft Jan 2019

Drivers And Impacts Of The Invasive Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus) In Michigan Tributaries To The Great Lakes, Corey Krabbenhoft

Wayne State University Dissertations

The abundance and persistence of the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) has often resulted in antagonistic interactions between the invasive and its native competitors. In this study, I sought to quantify the consequences and environmental context of these interactions in Great Lakes tributaries. Specifically, I aimed to identify changes in feeding and reproductive behavior in a native competitor in response to round goby invasion, identify potential solutions to increase regular stream monitoring by tapping into citizen science programs, and quantify the environmental context associated with successful goby invasion. Surveys of fish communities were conducted over three years in seven Michigan …