Life Sciences Commons^™

Historical And Future Role Of Wilmar Palm Oil In Deforestation Of Indonesian Borneo, Sam Coroniti Iii

Senior Theses

Borneo is one of the most biologically diverse locations on Earth, with thousands of endemic and rare species forming unique and intricate relationships throughout the ecosystems. Orangutans, elephants, leopards, tigers, rhinos, and many more species call this island their home, although population levels for all of the mentioned species have been in seriously decline over recent decades. The loss of primary rainforest that provides the most critical habitat for these species has occurred at the highest rate that has ever been seen on Earth, leading to extreme land conversion and greenhouse gas producing operations. The primary driver of these actions …

Conservation And Variation In Agricultural Landscapes: A Survey Of Insect Populations Across Naranjilla Cultivation Methods In The Eastern Andean Cloud Forest, Ian Zakelj

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study compared insect biodiversity among five sites in agricultural landscapes and natural forest in the El Placer community in the valley of the Rio Pastaza in the eastern Andean cloud forest. The area is of vital importance to conservation, as it falls in the ecological corridor between the Sangay and Llanganates national parks. The primary crop produced by the residents of El Placer is naranjilla, and it is cultivated in a variety of manners, mostly with intensive chemical use. The goal of the study was to find out which types of practices were the least harmful to the insect …

Ruminant Livestock Production Systems And Imperatives For Sustainable Development, J. W. Smith

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Biodiversity Conservation And Sustainable Livelihoods In Rangelands: Trends, Challenges And Opportunities, J. Waithaka

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Rangelands cover about 54% of the earth’s surface and are essential for agricultural and livestock production, environmental protection and the in-situ conservation of genetic resources. Despite providing services that support life on earth, rangelands have been neglected to a large extent when compared to other types of ecosystems. This paper provides an overview of the importance of rangelands in conserving biodiversity and supporting the livelihoods of millions of people globally. Rangelands have lost ecological integrity due to unsustainable anthropogenic land-use changes and impacts. It is estimated that over 80% of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are either not adequately protected or …

Uses Of Native Plant Species Of A Communal Rangeland Within ‘Sierra De Huautla’ Protected Area, México, E. Cortés-Díaz, T. González-Bonilla, L. López-Aguilar, Pedro A. Martínez-Hernández, A. Hernández-Tapia

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Sustainability of communal rangelands has become a major concern at national and international levels because land use conflicts and associated social conflicts allows for over-utilization of selected species making a high pressure on them and given away their places to species with no use at all becoming lands degraded and unproductive. The objective of the study was to determine floristic composition and native plant uses by local peasants. The range surface is of 4262 ha, belongs to the communal land ‘El Limon’, in Tepalcingo, Morelos, Mexico, and it is within the Natural Reserve Area “Sierra de Huautla”. Native vegetation is …

Grasslands For Production And The Environment, David R. Kemp, David L. Michalk

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Key points

1. To manage grasslands for production and enhanced environmental values requires a redefinition of the frameworks within which management decisions are made, and a tailoring of practices to suit the ways that farmers operate.

2. Improving the perenniality and permanence of grasslands usually leads to better environmental and production outcomes.

3. There is a case for a more conservative approach to utilising grasslands in order to sustain the functioning of local ecosystems and to improve water quality, nutrient and energy cycling and biodiversity.

4. A landscape rather than paddock focus is more appropriate for meeting current grassland management …

Grassland In Ireland And The Uk, Myles Rath, S. Peel

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Key points

1. Grassland is the dominant land use option in Ireland and the UK, and is characterised by a long growing season.

2. Dynamic, interactive systems of grassland management have been developed which combine high grass dry matter intakes with good sward quality. In the better grassland areas milk yields in excess of 7000 kg/cow are attainable with low levels of concentrate supplementation.

3. In the times to come, measures to protect the environment will constrain stocking rates, and fertiliser and manure use on intensive grassland enterprises.

4. A high proportion of beef and sheep farms participate in voluntary, …

Taxonomic Changes Suggested By The Genomic Analysis Of Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera), Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Nick V. Grishin

Insecta Mundi

Our expanded efforts in genomic sequencing to cover additional skipper butterfly (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) species and populations, including primary type specimens, call for taxonomic changes to re­store monophyly and correct misidentifications by moving taxa between genera and proposing new names. Reconciliation between phenotypic characters and genomic trees suggests three new tribes, two new sub­tribes, 23 new genera, 17 new subgenera and 10 new species that are proposed here: Psolosini Grishin, new tribe (type genus Psolos Staudinger, 1889), Ismini Grishin, new tribe (type genus Isma Distant, 1886), Eetio­nini Grishin, new tribe (type genus Eetion de Nicéville, 1895), Orphina Grishin, new subtribe (type …

A Second Species Of The Genus Erebaces Pascoe, 1871 (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Cryptorhynchini) From The Philippines, Robert S. Anderson

Insecta Mundi

Erebaces woodruffi Anderson, new species (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Cryptorhynchini), from Palawan (Philippines) is described and illustrated. This is the second species of the genus Erebaces Pascoe described from the Philippines. It can be separated from Erebaces kidapawanus Pancini by the pair of divergent dorsal pale-scaled lines on the pronotum extended onto the elytra and by the form of the elytral tubercles.

The genus Erebaces Pascoe, 1871 was recently recorded in the Philippines based on the presence of E. kidapawanus Pancini, 2021 from Mindanao. The genus is easily recognized by the eyes finely faceted, protruding (toothed) elytral humeri, the deep rostral canal …

A Third Species Of Haroldiellus Gordon And Skelley, 2007 From Mexico And Central America (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Aphodiini), Paul E. Skelley, Oliver Keller

Insecta Mundi

Haroldiellus woodruffi Skelley and Keller, new species, (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Aphodiini), from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Panama is described. An updated key for the genus, updated distributions, and diagnoses for the other two species are provided.

Se describe la nueva especie Haroldiellus woodruffi Skelley y Keller (Coleoptera: Sacarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Aphodiinae) de Costa Rica, Guatemala, México y Panamá. Se provee una clave, distribuciones y diagnosis actualizadas para las otras dos especies.

Worldwide, the scarabaeid subfamily Aphodiinae Leach, 1815 (when including Aegialiinae Laporte, 1840) con­sists of about 3200 species in 14 tribes and around 280 genera (Nikolajev 2008; Skelley 2008; …

Phylogenomic Discordance Suggests Polytomies Along The Backbone Of The Large Genus Solanum, Edeline Gagnon, Rebeccca Hilgenhof, Andrés Orejuela, Angela J. Mcdonnell, Gaurav Sablok, Xavier Aubriot, Leandro Giacomin, Yuri Gouvêa, Thamyris Bragionis, João Renato Stehmann, Lynn Bohs, Steven Dodsworth, Christopher T. Martine, Péter Poczai, Sandra Knapp, Tiina Särkinen

Faculty Journal Articles

Premise of the study

Evolutionary studies require solid phylogenetic frameworks, but increased volumes of phylogenomic data have revealed incongruent topologies among gene trees in many organisms both between and within genomes. Some of these incongruences indicate polytomies that may remain impossible to resolve. Here we investigate the degree of gene-tree discordance in Solanum, one of the largest flowering plant genera that includes the cultivated potato, tomato, and eggplant, as well as 24 minor crop plants.

Methods

A densely sampled species-level phylogeny of Solanum is built using unpublished and publicly available Sanger sequences comprising 60% of all accepted species (742 spp.) …

Fact Sheet - Human Settlements: Climate Change Impacts And Risks, Winston T. L. Chow, Richard Dawson, Bruce Glavovic, Marjolijn Haasnoot, Mark Pelling, William Solecki

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This regional factsheet on cities and human settlements gives a snapshot of the key findings of the Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2022 - Impacts. Adaptation and Vulnerability, distilled from the relevant Chapters and Cross-Chapter Papers, the Technical Summary and the Global to Regional Atlas.

Can High Density, Short Duration Grazing Replace Fire In A South African Mesic Grassland?, N. M. Chonco, S. C. Nkuna

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

High density grazing (HDG), defined as the concentration of many livestock on a small area for a short period of time has become increasingly popular in the South African mesic grassland yet little is known about it impact. HDG is usually applied without fire, based on the assertion that it is a key contributor to desertification of grasslands. However, fire plays an important role in the development and growth of most South African mesic grassland plant species, as it stimulates resprouting and reduces competition for light. The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of high density grazing …

Manipulating Species Diversity: Environmental Impacts In Row Crop, Livestock, And Grassland Agroecosystems, Alayna A. Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The diversity of living species in an agroecosystem affects both natural resources and agricultural production efficiency. The rise of managed plant monocultures has allowed agricultural yields to increase over time. However, simplifying agroecosystems affects the capacity of the system to sustainably provide clean air, water, and productive soils essential for continued food and fiber production. This dissertation manipulates species diversity in row crop and forage agroecosystems prevalent in the Eastern United States and tracks the associated environmental and agricultural production consequences.

In row crop agroecosystems, increasing plant diversity with winter cover crops has been suggested as a strategy to increase …

Shape Variation In Head Scales Of Species Of The Genus Ophiomorus Duméril & Bibron, 1839 In Iran, A Geometric Morphometrics Approach, Hossein Nabizadeh, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani, Eskandar Rastegar Pouyani, Mehdi Rajabizadeh, Roman Nazarov, Omid Mozaffari

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Twelve species of the genus Ophiomorus DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1839 have been identified and introduced so far and seven species of this genus have been found in Iran which include four endemic species and three nonendemic species. Although geometric morphometry is a powerful tool to analyze morphological changes, the discovery and identification of these species have long relied on traditional morphometric analysis. In this study, geometric morphometric analyses were used to determine the geometric morphometrics of different species of the genus Ophiomorus in Iran. The Multi Focus technique was used to obtain the best image of the dorsal surface of …

People-Powered Research And Experiential Learning: Unravelling Hidden Biodiversity, Melanie Pivarski, Matt Von Konrat, Tom Campbell, Numerous Other Co-Authors

Biology Faculty Publications

Globally, thousands of institutions house nearly three billion scientific collections offering unparallelled resources that contribute to both science and society. For herbaria alone - facilities housing dried plant collections - there are over 3,000 herbaria worldwide with an estimated 350 million specimens that have been collected over the past four centuries. Digitisation has greatly enhanced the use of herbarium data in scientific research, impacting diverse research areas, including biodiversity informatics, global climate change, analyses using next-generation sequencing technologies and many others. Despite the entrance of herbaria into a new era with enhanced scientific, educational and societal relevance, museum specimens remain …

Towards Mapping Biodiversity From Above: Can Fusing Lidar And Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Predict Taxonomic, Functional, And Phylogenetic Tree Diversity In Temperate Forests?, Aaron G. Kamoske, Kyla M. Dahlin, Quentin D. Read, Sydne Record, Scott C. Stark, Shawn P. Serbin, Phoebe L. Zarnetske

Biology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Aim: Rapid global change is impacting the diversity of tree species and essential ecosystem functions and services of forests. It is therefore critical to understand and predict how the diversity of tree species is spatially distributed within and among forest biomes. Satellite remote sensing platforms have been used for decades to map forest structure and function but are limited in their capacity to monitor change by their relatively coarse spatial resolution and the complexity of scales at which different dimensions of biodiversity are observed in the field. Recently, airborne remote sensing platforms making use of passive high spectral resolution (i.e., …

Standardized Neon Organismal Data For Biodiversity Research, Daijiang Li, Sydne Record, Eric R. Sokol, Matthew E. Bitters, Melissa Y. Chen, Y. Anny Chung, Matthew R. Helmus, Ruvi Jaimes, Lara Jansen, Marta A. Jarzyna, Michael G. Just, Jalene M. Lamontagne, Brett A. Melbourne, Wynne Moss, Kari E. A. Norman, Stephanie M. Parker, Natalie Robinson, Bijan Seyednasrollah, Colin Smith, Sarah Spaulding, Thilina D. Surasinghe, Sarah K. Thomsen, Phoebe L. Zarnetske

Biology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Understanding patterns and drivers of species distribution and abundance, and thus biodiversity, is a core goal of ecology. Despite advances in recent decades, research into these patterns and processes is currently limited by a lack of standardized, high-quality, empirical data that span large spatial scales and long time periods. The NEON fills this gap by providing freely available observational data that are generated during robust and consistent organismal sampling of several sentinel taxonomic groups within 81 sites distributed across the United States and will be collected for at least 30 years. The breadth and scope of these data provide a …

A Flora Of Coyote Ridge And Flat, Inyo County, California, Martin Purdy

CGU Theses & Dissertations

California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range contains a disproportionate share of the state’s plant diversity and is one of the most floristically diverse regions of its size in the United States. The high Sierra Nevada, in particular, has been identified as an important center of species richness and endemism within California. Anthropogenic climate warming is expected to disproportionately affect mountain ecosystems, and models have predicted serious habitat contraction and extirpation for many alpine plant taxa. A specimen-based inventory of the vascular and non-vascular plants of Coyote Ridge and Flat was conducted to establish baseline data for one such sensitive alpine and …

Conservation In Ecuador's Sangay-Podocarpus Connectivity Corridor: A Study Of Coproductive Capacities, Gabriel Isaac Oppler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Connectivity conservation, a growing topic across science, policy, and management, is considered an important supplement to protected areas. A diversity of ecological corridors is emerging to restore fragmented landscapes, preserve intact habitats, protect biodiversity, and improve resilience to climate change. Despite increasing expertise and resources for planning corridors, many initiatives face challenges mobilizing science and governance to implement corridors on the ground. In many cases, biophysical science is supplemented with social science to better understand the human elements of connectivity. Similarly, collaboration and partnership are heralded as essential for effective governance of corridors. However, less is known about how these …

Limacella Subtropicana (Amanitaceae, Agaricales), A New Species From Pakistan Based On Morphological And Molecular Phylogenetic Evidences, Aiman Izhar, Abdul Rehman Niazi, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Haq Nawaz, Hira Bashir, Abdul Nasir Khalid

Turkish Journal of Botany

Basidiomata of a hitherto undescribed Limacella species were collected from the grasslands of Punjab, Pakistan. We describe it as Limacella subtropicana, which is characterized by its viscid, white to creamy pileus, white to the creamy stipe, changing to brown when bruised, subglobose basidiospores measuring 4.0?6.3 × 3.7?5.5 ?m, an ixotrichodermal pileipellis with subcylindric to clavate terminal elements and the common presence of clamp connections in all tissues. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses of ITS sequences and LSU sequences of nrDNA confirmed its placement in the genus Limacella. A comprehensive description and a comparison of the new taxon with other …

Shackletonia Backorii - A New Species Of Lichenised Fungus From James Ross Island (Antarctic Peninsula), Mehmet Gökhan Halici, Mi̇that Güllü, Ekrem Bölükbaşi, Merve Kahraman Yi̇ği̇t

Turkish Journal of Botany

The new lichen species Shackletonia backorii Halıcı, Güllü & Kahraman is described from James Ross Island, which is located in the North-East Antarctic Peninsula region. The new species is morphologically most similar to S. insignis (Søchting & Øvstedal) Søchting, Frödén & Arup, which was described from Livingstone Island (North-West Antarctic Peninsula region). These two species have a similar bluish grey to blackish thallus with a microfruticose and coralloid structure and red brown or almost black zeorine apothecia, but S. backorii has rhomboid ascospores and grows on soil whereas S. insignis has ellipsoid ascospores and occurs in sheltered crevices of rocks. …

Regenerative Agriculture Effects On Invertebrate And Bird Communities And Insect-Provided Ecosystem Services, Alex Michels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conventional agricultural practices can have unintended consequences on the environment and wildlife. Insects and birds are declining at rapid rates around the world, and the current conventional agricultural paradigm is a major driver through habitat loss and the intensification of production. Invertebrates in agroecosystems provide services to both farmers and the rest of society. Regenerative systems may promote the functioning of an agroecosystem by influencing invertebrate abundance, diversity, and ecosystem services and mitigate bird and insect declines through conservation practices that increase soil health, reduce disturbances, and increase biological diversity. Here I address knowledge gaps of the effects of regenerative …

Environmental Effects On Constructed Wetland Microbial Diversity And Function In The Context Of Wastewater Management, Sandrine Grandmont-Lemire

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Microbial communities play a crucial role in ecosystems, yet we know little about how microbial diversity influences ecosystem functioning. An important gap in our understanding is how environmental change affects microbial Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function relationships (BEF). These complex interactions between microbial biodiversity and ecosystem function can influence major biogeochemical processes, such as the nitrogen cycle in wetland ecosystems, which play an important role in managing wastewater. To address the effect of biodiversity on function, my study investigates the BEF relationships between microbial diversity and the function in terms of ammonia removal from wastewater at the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility (AWTF) both …

Effects Of Dissimilar Silvicultural Techniques On Small Mammal Communities In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Breanna R. Gusick

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Small mammal populations, and predators reliant upon them as food resources, are often challenged by conflicting objectives of timber production and maintenance of quality habitat. With over 70% of the landscape forested, and nearly one-third of the land privately owned, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) is a matrix of independent management strategies. To assess the effects of various silvicultural regeneration methods on small mammal populations in the Upper Peninsula, we trapped small mammals in experimental silviculture plots, whereby treatments varied by regeneration method (amount of residual canopy cover) and site preparation (i.e., control, tip-up, and scarification), and deer exclosures. We used …

Final Report Floating Upwelling System Harvest Road Oceans, Robert Michael, Scott Bennett

Fisheries occasional publications

A Floating Upwelling System or FLUPSY is a mechanical system for the culture of seed stock during the nursery stage of commercial bivalve production.

Unified Methods In Collecting, Preserving, And Archiving Coral Bleaching And Restoration Specimens To Increase Sample Utility And Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Emily R. Schmeltzer, Andréa G. Grottoli, Robert Van Woesik, Robert J. Toonen, Mark Warner, Kerri L. Dobson, Rowan H. Mclachlan, Katie Barott, Daniel J. Barshis, Justin Baumann, Leila Chapron, David J. Combosch, Adrienne M.S. Correa, Thomas M. Decarlo, Mary Hagedorn, Laetitia Hédouin, Kenneth Hoadley, Thomas Felis, Christine Ferrier-Pagès, Carly Kenkel, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Jennifer Matthews, Mónica Medina, Christopher Meyer, Corinna Oster, James Price, Hollie M. Putnam, Yvonne Sawall

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral reefs are declining worldwide primarily because of bleaching and subsequent mortality resulting from thermal stress. Currently, extensive efforts to engage in more holistic research and restoration endeavors have considerably expanded the techniques applied to examine coral samples. Despite such advances, coral bleaching and restoration studies are often conducted within a specific disciplinary focus, where specimens are collected, preserved, and archived in ways that are not always conducive to further downstream analyses by specialists in other disciplines. This approach may prevent the full utilization of unexpended specimens, leading to siloed research, duplicative efforts, unnecessary loss of additional corals to research …

Editorial: Fire Regimes In Desert Ecosystems: Drivers, Impacts And Changes, Eddie J. B. Van Etten, Matthew L. Brooks, Aaron C. Greenville, Glenda M. Wardle

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Although not commonly associated with fire, many desert ecosystems across the globe do occasionally burn, and there is evidence that fire incidences are increasing, leading to altered fire regimes in this biome. The increased prevalence of megafires (wildfires > 10,000 ha in size and typically damaging) in most global biomes is linked to climate change, although those occurring in deserts have received far less attention, from both a research and policy perspective, than that of forested ecosystems (Linley et al., 2022). Understanding the drivers of desert fires, from climate to landscape patterns of hydrology and soil, and how these may be …