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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
An Integrative Approach To Managing A Species Of Conservation Concern: Resource Selection, Spatial Ecology, And Population Genetics Of The Green Salamander (Aneides Aeneus), Megan Novak
All Dissertations
The relationship between wildlife and the environment they inhabit is dependent on both spatial and temporal scales. It is therefore crucial that biological investigations account for ecological scale when analyzing patterns and processes established, particularly when such investigations inform conservation management plans. This dissertation provides extensive insight into the conservation biology of the green salamander (Aneides aeneus), a critically imperiled species in South Carolina. The green salamander is a species that exists in a patchy network of rock outcrops within mountainous forest landscapes, and most studies on habitat suitability for green salamanders have been conducted on the macrohabitat, …
Phenological Activities Of Desert Bees Track Rainfall More Than Temperature And Predict Temporal Abundance Trends Over 16 Years, Jade Elijah Mclaughlin, Jade Mclaughlin
Phenological Activities Of Desert Bees Track Rainfall More Than Temperature And Predict Temporal Abundance Trends Over 16 Years, Jade Elijah Mclaughlin, Jade Mclaughlin
Biology ETDs
Phenology, the timing of recurrent biological events, is a key mechanism by which species adapt or acclimatize to variable environmental conditions, including those influenced by climate change. Measurable traits, including the onset and end of activity, peak activity, and duration, characterize the phenology of life events, and could be significant predictors of trends in population abundance or stability in a changing climate. Bees provide critical pollination services, and understanding the covariates of bee phenological traits can refine predictions on the vulnerabilities of bees and their services to climate change. We paired 16 years of monthly bee survey data (2002-2019) with …
Smile For The Camera: Patterns Of Mammal Abundance In Great Hill Forest Through Four Years Of Camera Trapping, Alexander Gonatas
Smile For The Camera: Patterns Of Mammal Abundance In Great Hill Forest Through Four Years Of Camera Trapping, Alexander Gonatas
Honors Program Theses and Projects
Snapshot USA is a nationwide camera trapping project aiming to determine biodiversity and abundance of animal populations across all 50 states. Since 2019, participants have used camera traps to document wildlife every September and October, coinciding with animal activity patterns and North American academic year starts. Understanding biodiversity through long-term monitoring is an important topic to study, because the knowledge obtained can help track populations and better understand wildlife responses to disturbances. Since Snapshot USA participants use the same methods and trapping season, the information we collect can be directly compared to other Snapshot USA locations. At Great Hill Forest …
An Ecological Assessment Of The Deep-Pelagic Fish Genus Cyclothone (Gonostomatidae; Stomiiformes), Possibly The World’S Most Abundant Fishes, In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia C. North-Menthonnex
An Ecological Assessment Of The Deep-Pelagic Fish Genus Cyclothone (Gonostomatidae; Stomiiformes), Possibly The World’S Most Abundant Fishes, In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia C. North-Menthonnex
All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations
The fish genus Cyclothone is considered the most abundant vertebrate taxon on Earth. Despite this assertion, very few detailed ecological studies of this genus exist for any site in the World Ocean, largely due to the lack of expertise (and willingness) to identify specimens from existing sample sets. This study will provide a species-level description of the abundance, vertical distribution, and size structuring of the genus Cyclothone in the Gulf of Mexico, a hyper-diverse, deep-pelagic ecosystem that is increasingly impacted by anthropogenic disturbances. As the putative most-abundant fishes in the ecosystem, this characterization is critically needed for a holistic understanding …
Drones For Large-Scale Wildlife Surveys: Raw Data To Support Manuscript - Hodgson Et Al, Amanda Hodgson
Drones For Large-Scale Wildlife Surveys: Raw Data To Support Manuscript - Hodgson Et Al, Amanda Hodgson
Research Datasets
We conducted trial ScanEagle drone surveys of dugongs in Shark Bay, Western Australia, covering the full extent of the drone’s range (~ 100 km), concurrently with observer surveys, with drone flying above or just behind the piloted aircraft. We aimed to test the assumption that drone imagery could provide comparable detection rates of dugongs to human observers when influenced by same environmental conditions. Data in "All data for analysis - Shark Bay Hodgson et al" include a summary of the sightings from both platforms per transect segment, including associated environmental covariates. Also included are details of each dugong group sighted …
Pond-Breeding Amphibian Responses To Wetland Creation And Reforestation On A Legacy Surface Mine In The Monongahela National Forest, Lauren Breanna Sherman
Pond-Breeding Amphibian Responses To Wetland Creation And Reforestation On A Legacy Surface Mine In The Monongahela National Forest, Lauren Breanna Sherman
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
Surface mine reclamation has been an evolving practice since the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed in 1977, holding mining companies accountable for returning ecological function to areas directly impacted by mining activities. One recent method of reclamation, the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), aims to enhance reforestation and ecosystem function through the creation of wetlands, as opposed to traditional methods that often revert land to grasslands. However, wildlife response to FRA has rarely been investigated. The goal of this project was to analyze the effects of the four treatment types, FRA in two chronosequences, natural regeneration, and unmined …
Rapidly Changing Range Limits In A Warming World: Critical Data Limitations And Knowledge Gaps For Advancing Understanding Of Mangrove Range Dynamics In The Southeastern Usa, Rémi Bardou, Michael J. Osland, Steven Scyphers, Christine Shepard, Karen E. Aerni, Jahson B. Alemu I, Robert Crimian, Richard H. Day, Nicholas M. Enwright, Laura C. Feher, Sarah L. Gibbs, Kiera O'Donnell, Savannah H. Swinea, Kalaina Thorne, Sarit Truskey, Anna R. Armitage, Ronald Baker, Josh L. Breithaupt, Kyle C. Cavanaugh, Erik S. Yando, A. Randall Hughes, Et Al.
Rapidly Changing Range Limits In A Warming World: Critical Data Limitations And Knowledge Gaps For Advancing Understanding Of Mangrove Range Dynamics In The Southeastern Usa, Rémi Bardou, Michael J. Osland, Steven Scyphers, Christine Shepard, Karen E. Aerni, Jahson B. Alemu I, Robert Crimian, Richard H. Day, Nicholas M. Enwright, Laura C. Feher, Sarah L. Gibbs, Kiera O'Donnell, Savannah H. Swinea, Kalaina Thorne, Sarit Truskey, Anna R. Armitage, Ronald Baker, Josh L. Breithaupt, Kyle C. Cavanaugh, Erik S. Yando, A. Randall Hughes, Et Al.
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Climate change is altering species’ range limits and transforming ecosystems. For example, warming temperatures are leading to the range expansion of tropical, cold-sensitive species at the expense of their cold-tolerant counterparts. In some temperate and subtropical coastal wetlands, warming winters are enabling mangrove forest encroachment into salt marsh, which is a major regime shift that has significant ecological and societal ramifications. Here, we synthesized existing data and expert knowledge to assess the distribution of mangroves near rapidly changing range limits in the southeastern USA. We used expert elicitation to identify data limitations and highlight knowledge gaps for advancing understanding of …
Effects Of Forest Reclamation And Landscape Features On Avian Occupancy, Species Richness, And Abundance In Appalachia, Rebecca N. Davenport
Effects Of Forest Reclamation And Landscape Features On Avian Occupancy, Species Richness, And Abundance In Appalachia, Rebecca N. Davenport
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a recently developed coal mining reclamation method that emphasizes best management practices in forestry, such as the planting of native trees and shrubs. Although the FRA is expected to benefit wildlife, no studies have empirically examined the effects of the FRA on avian species. My study aimed to identify which reclamation approaches and/or landscape features promote breeding songbirds, particularly mature forest avian guilds and species of conservation need. I conducted point count surveys in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern West Virginia and assessed differences in avian occupancy, species richness, and species abundance between four …
Drone Images Afford More Detections Of Marine Wildlife Than Real-Time Observers During Simultaneous Large-Scale Surveys, Amanda J. Hodgson, Nat Kelly, David Peel
Drone Images Afford More Detections Of Marine Wildlife Than Real-Time Observers During Simultaneous Large-Scale Surveys, Amanda J. Hodgson, Nat Kelly, David Peel
Research outputs 2022 to 2026
There are many advantages to transitioning from conducting marine wildlife surveys via human observers onboard light-aircraft, to capturing aerial imagery using drones. However, it is important to maintain the validity of long-term data series whilst transitioning from observer to imagery surveys. We need to understand how the detection rates of target species in images compare to those collected from observers in piloted aircraft, and the factors influencing detection rates from each platform. We conducted trial ScanEagle drone surveys of dugongs in Shark Bay, Western Australia, covering the full extent of the drone’s range (∼100 km), concurrently with observer surveys, with …
Scat Dna As A Non-Invasive Method For Estimating The Abundance Of The Vulnerable Mala (Lagorchestes Hirsutus), Shannon Treloar, Cheryl Lohr, Anna J. Hopkins, Kym Ottewell, Shelley Mcarthur, Robert A. Davis
Scat Dna As A Non-Invasive Method For Estimating The Abundance Of The Vulnerable Mala (Lagorchestes Hirsutus), Shannon Treloar, Cheryl Lohr, Anna J. Hopkins, Kym Ottewell, Shelley Mcarthur, Robert A. Davis
Research outputs 2022 to 2026
Context: Population-monitoring programs often use direct (e.g. live capture or spotlighting) or indirect (e.g. scats sightings) observations to estimate population abundance. Such methods, however, are often inadequate for rare, elusive, or cryptic species due to the difficulty in achieving sufficient encounters or detection rates. The mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus), a small native Australian macropod, listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, is difficult to capture, susceptible to capture myopathy, and not easily sighted in their dense habitat; consequently, the population size cannot always be estimated. The use of molecular markers to identify individual genotypes from non-invasively collected samples is increasingly being used …
Population Abundance And Growth Parameters Of An Exotic Bivalve Species, Anadara Kagoshimensis, In The Southwestern Black Sea, Murat Dağteki̇n, Göktuğ Dalgiç, Murat Erbay, İlkay Özcan Akpinar, Mehmet Aydin, Süleyman Özdemi̇r, Ayşe Cebeci̇, Sedat Karayücel
Population Abundance And Growth Parameters Of An Exotic Bivalve Species, Anadara Kagoshimensis, In The Southwestern Black Sea, Murat Dağteki̇n, Göktuğ Dalgiç, Murat Erbay, İlkay Özcan Akpinar, Mehmet Aydin, Süleyman Özdemi̇r, Ayşe Cebeci̇, Sedat Karayücel
Turkish Journal of Zoology
Blood cockle (Anadara kagoshimensis) is an Indo-Pacific species that later entered the Black Sea. The abundance of A. kagoshimensis, which is not subjected to commercial fishing, is important in terms of food competition with other bivalvia species. Baby clam (Chamelea gallina) together with the A. kagoshimensis are dominant bivalve species found in the sandy and muddy areas off the coastal waters of the Black Sea. In this study, specimens of A. kagoshimensis have been recognized by morphological analysis and also confirmed by molecular characterization. Furthermore, the abundance and growth parameters of A. kagoshimensis were investigated in the …