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Biodiversity

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Entomology

Mississippi State University

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Community Ecology Of Ants On The Cumberland Plateau And A Taxonomic Redescription Of The Genus Stenamma Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) In A Southeastern Treatment, Zachary Brown Aug 2023

The Community Ecology Of Ants On The Cumberland Plateau And A Taxonomic Redescription Of The Genus Stenamma Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) In A Southeastern Treatment, Zachary Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Grassland communities represent major biodiversity hotspots across the United States. Among these grassland types is the short-leaf pine savanna, a major historical habitat along the Cumberland Plateau. The Cumberland Plateau’s grasslands are under threat due to land use changes such as urbanization and land conversion to pasture and hardwood forests. This study seeks to better understand the community ecology of ants on the Cumberland Plateau using powerlines as a comparison to degraded and historic habitats. Ants have a preference between open sites and forested sites, a separation of 44.5% on a DCA. The Simpson diversity places the short-leaf pine savanna …


Population And Demographic Structure Of Ixodes Scapularis Say In The Eastern United States., Joyce M. Sakamoto, Jerome Goddard, Jason L. Rasgon Jul 2014

Population And Demographic Structure Of Ixodes Scapularis Say In The Eastern United States., Joyce M. Sakamoto, Jerome Goddard, Jason L. Rasgon

College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Publications and Scholarship

INTRODUCTION: The most significant vector of tick-borne pathogens in the United States is Ixodes scapularis Say (the blacklegged tick). Previous studies have identified significant genetic, behavioral and morphological differences between northern vs. southern populations of this tick. Because tick-borne pathogens are dependent on their vectors for transmission, a baseline understanding of the vector population structure is crucial to determining the risks and epidemiology of pathogen transmission. METHODS: We investigated population genetic variation of I. scapularis populations in the eastern United States using a multilocus approach. We sequenced and analyzed the mitochondrial COI and 16S genes and three nuclear genes (serpin2, …