Life Sciences Commons^™

The Big Picture: Consolidating National Government And Cites Records Of Animal Trade In The Philippines From 1975 To 2019, Ronald Allan L. Cruz, Catherine Genevieve B. Lagunzad

Biology Faculty Publications

The Philippines has exceptionally high biodiversity but is also a hotspot. It is a recognized source; destination; and transit point for the global wildlife trade; which drives biodiversity loss. There is an abundance of data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on the Philippines; but this data has not been assessed for historical trends. Confiscation data reflecting the illegal trade is scarcer; coming from recent (2008 onward) records of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ___ Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD). CITES data …

Rapid Survey Of Anuran Species In Baguio-Benguet Area And Isolation Of Their Fungal Symbionts, Arthien Lovell P. Pelingen, Camille Andrea Flores, Axel John Briz, Roland Hipol, Celia Austria

Biology Faculty Publications

Baguio City is one of the fastest-growing centers of urbanization in the Philippines. As part of the Cordillera Mountain Range, it is a biodiversity hotspot that is largely unexplored. This study is a preliminary investigation using visual encounter surveys of anuran species in various localities of the Baguio-Benguet area (BBA). These include Loakan Airport (LA), Camp John Hay (CJH), and Soroptimist Compound (SC) at the Military Cut Off, all in Baguio; Nangalisan, Tuba (NT), Benguet; and Master’s Garden (MG) at Puguis, La Trinidad, Benguet. We documented three Luzon-endemic species of frogs – namely, Kaloula rigida (Family Microhylidae), Sanguirana luzonensis (Family …

Demographic Assessment Of The Triploid Parthenogenetic Lizard Aspidoscelis Neotesselatus At The Northern Edge Of Its Range, Lise M. Aubry, Douglas Eifler, Kaera Utsumi, Susannah S. French

Biology Faculty Publications

Aspidoscelis neotesselatus (Colorado Checkered Whiptail) is a hybrid-derived triploid parthenogenetic lizard with a natural range overlapping with six counties in southeastern Colorado, USA. It has also become established by anthropogenic causation in Grant County, Washington State, approximately 1,600 km northwest of its range in Colorado. Large parts of its natural range are within military reservations. Reduced genetic variation in all-female species makes them especially susceptible to environmental disturbances, such as military activities. At Fort Carson (FC), we estimated an abundance index via a catch-per-unit estimator, weekly survival using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, and body condition and clutch size as indicators of population …

Recruitment, Survival, And Parasitism Of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus Plexippus) In Milkweed Gardens And Conservation Areas, Emily A. Geest, L. Lareesa Wolfenbarger, John P. Mccarty

Biology Faculty Publications

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are suffering from declining populations and conservationists have encouraged planting milkweed gardens in urban and suburban landscapes to help offset habitat loss across the breeding range. The effectiveness of gardens as a conservation strategy depends on their ability to attract ovipositing adults and the survival of monarch larvae in these gardens. Larvae are susceptible to a variety of predators as well as to parasitism by a tachinid fly (Lespesia archippivora) and a protozoan parasite (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha) which cause lethal or sublethal effects, yet the severity of these risks in gardens …

Black Cohosh Seed Germination And Conservation, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Like many plant enthusiasts, I have spent a considerable amount of time planting seeds. Every year I grow many vegetables—my garden always includes some annual bedding plants—and I sow seeds of cover crops (winter wheat, winter rye, and buckwheat) by the tens of thousands. While I have committed vast numbers of propagules to moist soil, I cannot say that I have watched every single one sprout. Nevertheless, I certainly have observed the germination process many, many times for lots of different seeds. For these seeds of garden plants, germination is quite rapid, just a few days to maybe as much …

Evolution Of Mammalian Migrations For Refuge, Breeding, And Food, Gitanjali E. Gnanadesikan, William D. Pearse, Allison K. Shaw

Biology Faculty Publications

Many organisms migrate between distinct habitats, exploiting variable resources while profoundly affecting ecosystem services, disease spread, and human welfare. However, the very characteristics that make migration captivating and significant also make it difficult to study, and we lack a comprehensive understanding of which species migrate and why. Here we show that, among mammals, migration is concentrated within Cetacea and Artiodactyla but also diffusely spread throughout the class (found in 12 of 27 orders). We synthesize the many ecological drivers of round-trip migration into three types of movement—between breeding and foraging sites, between breeding and refuge sites, and continuous tracking of …

Human Observers Differ In Ability To Perceive Insect Diversity, Joseph S. Wilson, Joshua P. Jahner, Matthew L. Forister

Biology Faculty Publications

Human perception of biological variation is an important and understudied issue in the conservation and management of natural resources. Here, we took a novel approach by asking 1152 participants, primarily college biology students, to score examples of insect mimicry by the number of distinct kinds of animals they saw. Latent class analysis successfully separated participants based on their accuracy of perception as well as demographic information and opinions about biodiversity. Contrary to expectations, factors such as childhood experience (growing up in urban, suburban or rural areas) did not affect the ability to see biodiversity as much as political views (location …

The Neotropical Genus Austrolebias: An Emerging Model Of Annual Killifishes, Nibia Berois, María J. Arezo, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Annual fishes are found in both Africa and South America occupying ephemeral ponds that dried seasonally. Neotropical annual fishes are members of the family Rivulidae that consist of both annual and non-annual fishes. Annual species are characterized by a prolonged embryonic development and a relatively short adult life.

Males and females show striking sexual dimorphisms, complex courtship, and mating behaviors. The prolonged embryonic stage has several traits including embryos that are resistant to desiccation and undergo up to three reversible developmental arrests until hatching. These unique developmental adaptations are closely related to the annual fish life cycle and are the …

High Prevalence Of The Amphibian Chytrid Fungus (Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis) Across Multiple Taxa And Localities In The Highlands Of Ethiopia, David J. Gower, Thomas M. Doherty-Bone, Roman K. Aberra, Abebe Mengistu, Silvia Schwaller, Michele Menegon, Rafael O. De Sá, Samy A. Saber, Andrew A. Cunningham, Simon P. Loader

Biology Faculty Publications

Surveys of the potentially lethal amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis - Bd) in Africa are patchy, especially in some regions of high species endemicity. We present results of the first Bd surveys of wild amphibians in Ethiopia, for two upland regions on either side of the Rift Valley: the Bale Mountains and the Kaffa region. Surveys were opportunistic so that robust interpretation of the data is limited. Utilizing diagnostic qPCR assays, 51 out of 120 frogs (14 species in 10 genera) tested positive for Bd at altitudes of 1,620–3,225 m, across all genera and species, and all but …

Conserving Our Cultural Heritage: The Role Of Fungi In Biodeterioration, Hanna Szczepanowska, A. R. Cavaliere

Biology Faculty Publications

The objects of cultural heritage are composed of varied materials which can be affected by diverse microbial communities. The study of these complex and heterogeneous assemblies of materials and microorganisms require an inter- and multi-disciplinary approach. Development of a strategy towards prevention, mitigation of biodeterioration and removal of microorganisms, especially fungi begins with the understanding of the materials' fabric, assessment of causes behind the biodeterioration, and the context in which it occurs.

Three aspects of biodeterioration of cultural heritage are discussed: 1) the multitude of bio-agents' on cultural heritage materials, 2) fungal interaction with substrates, and 3) prevention and conservation …

Cuscuta Jepsonii (Convolvulaceae): An Invasive Weed Or An Extinct Endemic?, Mihai Costea, Saša Stefanović

Biology Faculty Publications

Despite their ecological significance, parasitic plants face more conservation challenges than do autotrophic plants. This is especially true for the groups that include weedy or invasive species such as Cuscuta. While approximately half of the Cuscuta (dodders) species may require conservation measures, the genus as a whole is sometimes posted on governmental lists of noxious or quarantine weeds. Our study challenges this stereotype and uses the case of C. jepsonii (Jepson’s dodder) to illustrate the precarious biodiversity and conservation status faced by many dodder species. Until now, Jepson’s dodder has been known only from its type collection. Consequently, its …

The Horseshoe Crab Conundrum: Can We Harvest And Conserve?, Jennifer Mattei, Mark Beekey

Biology Faculty Publications

Horeshoe crabs "Limulus polyphemus" are remarkable ‘living fossils’ which have unique blood cells (amebocytes) that are used to test human vaccines for bacterial contamination. In the 1950’s, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, not only discovered amebocytes but also found that they had special properties. If the amebocytes came into contact with bacteria, they would instantly coagulate around the bacteria and attack it. The Woods Hole scientists took this unique property of horseshoe crabs and developed a test for bacterial contamination using a horseshoe crab blood derivative called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL).

This article describes discusses …

A Switch From Polyandry To Serial Monogamy: Results From A Three Year Tagging Study Of Horseshoe Crabs In Long Island Sound, Jennifer Mattei Ph.D., Paul Goodell, Christine Depierro, Meghann Burke

Biology Faculty Publications

Part of an ongoing population study of the North American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus, in Long Island Sound was completed during the 2003 – 2005 spawning seasons at Milford Point, in Milford, CT. Horseshoe crabs range more widely throughout Long Island Sound than expected and exhibit weak site fidelity. Animals originally tagged in Milford were found as far west as Stamford and as far east as Clinton, CT. during the 3 year study. Out of 522 female horseshoe crabs tagged in 2004 only 4 came back to spawn again at Milford Pt. in 2005. The sex ratios of tagged and …

The Challenge Of Environmental Protection, Jennifer Mattei

Biology Faculty Publications

Connecticut is in the midst of a demographic transition to a period of lower population growth. These demographic changes will help check the pressures exerted on the state's natural resources by population growth. Water, air, soil, energy sources, food, fisheries, forests, and biodiversity are common pool resources upon which we depend in ways that transcend political boundaries. Those governing Connecticut should help turn the state into a model of how to manage natural resources by halting forest fragmentation, reducing pollution, and promoting environmental science education.

Los Coquís De Puerto Rico: Su Historia Natural Y Conservación, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

As the title indicates, this well-illustrated (115 photographs and 76 illustrations) book summarizes the current knowledge about the natural history of the 16 species of Eleutherodactylus inhabiting Puerto Rico. The book consists of eight chapters (including the epilogue) and it is clearly stated that it was written to serve both the scientific community and the nonspecialist reader. The goal of bridging these two audiences is ambitious and usually difficult; however, the book has probably accomplished this goal. The technical reader, i.e., students and professional herpetologists, will find a good summary of data and enough information to continue reading with interest. …