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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
A Review And Comparison Of U.S. State Wildlife Action Plans For Stonefly (Insecta, Plecoptera) Species Of Greatest Conservation Need, Kathryn Greene
A Review And Comparison Of U.S. State Wildlife Action Plans For Stonefly (Insecta, Plecoptera) Species Of Greatest Conservation Need, Kathryn Greene
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) were created in order to identify Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and develop plans to prevent their populations from further decline and the possibility of being listed as threatened or endangered. Which SGCNs are included are decided based on characteristics that determine their vulnerability. As of early 2021, approximately 720stoneflies (Insecta, Plecoptera) species are found in the U.S., but only 143 are listed as SGCN. Only 29 states have stoneflies included on their SGCN lists, but 37 states use EPT (Ephemeroptera + Plecoptera + Trichoptera) metrics when assessing water quality issues in running water …
Dung Beetle (Scarabaeinae) Diversity Of The Highest Elevation In West Africa: The Nimba Mountain Range, Jacob Bowen
Dung Beetle (Scarabaeinae) Diversity Of The Highest Elevation In West Africa: The Nimba Mountain Range, Jacob Bowen
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
The Nimba Mountain Range in Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Liberia is within the Upper Guinean Forests, a critical biodiversity hotspot highly threatened by various human activities. The region is home to many endemic species including the viviparous Nimba toad, Nimba otter-shrew, and the discrete Bossou chimpanzee population. Dung beetles can act as a focal taxon from which extrapolation to the diversity of other taxa and ecosystem health can be made. Elevational trends in dung beetle diversity were investigated on the Nimba Mountain Range and in the nearby Bossou Chimpanzee reserve in Guinea. Dung beetle species diversity surveys aimed to document …
Analysis Of Population Structure In A California Newt (Taricha Torosa) Metapopulation, Jessica Vincent
Analysis Of Population Structure In A California Newt (Taricha Torosa) Metapopulation, Jessica Vincent
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
As anthropogenic influences take an ever-increasing toll on the environment, understanding how environmental change affects species is paramount. Concern regarding decline in amphibian populations has spurred research examining the effects of habitat change on the dynamics of populations at landscape levels. One important goal is to understand how gene flow among populations is affected by changes in habitat. Biologists need to consider the relationship between gene flow and habitat alterations so that movements among individual breeding ponds can be maintained over time, reducing risk of local extinction events. This study focuses on patterns of gene flow among thirteen populations of …
Analysis Of Seed Preference Trials Of Red Veld Rats And Smith's Bush Squirrels And Trap Effectiveness In The Lowveld Of South Africa, Brooke A. Barber
Analysis Of Seed Preference Trials Of Red Veld Rats And Smith's Bush Squirrels And Trap Effectiveness In The Lowveld Of South Africa, Brooke A. Barber
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
Large tree species in South Africa face reproductive decline, especially older trees that provide ecosystem connectivity. Management of Balule Nature Reserve, an extensive private nature reserve in South Africa, wanted to investigate the roles rodents play in the recruitment and survival of select tree species. Two large tree species of concern, marula (Sclerocarya birrea) and knobthorn acacia (Acacia nigrescens) are dominant, habitat providers and red bushwillow (Combretum apiculatum) is a smaller and more common, prolific seed producer. I investigated whether rodents, specifically red veld rats and Smith’s bush squirrels, may play a detrimental role …
Landscape Genetics Of The Endangered California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma Californiense) In The Los Vaqueros Watershed, Ryan Neal Vincent
Landscape Genetics Of The Endangered California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma Californiense) In The Los Vaqueros Watershed, Ryan Neal Vincent
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
Genetic diversity is essential for maintaining healthy biological systems, and dispersal-mediated gene flow increases genetic diversity by introducing new alleles to a gene pool. Populations that frequently experience gene flow will show characteristic similarities in allele frequencies. Measuring genetic diversity among many populations across a landscape has proven to be a powerful approach for assessing the ways that habitat discontinuities may affect patterns of gene flow, and in turn, influence allele frequencies and population dynamics. This study examines the landscape-level population genetic structure of the California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense, within the Los Vaqueros Watershed of Contra Costa County, …
Avian Abundance And Diversity In Crep And Fescue Fields In The Summer And Winter Related To Vegetation Structure In The Upper Green River Watershed, Ky, Thomas A. Hulsey
Avian Abundance And Diversity In Crep And Fescue Fields In The Summer And Winter Related To Vegetation Structure In The Upper Green River Watershed, Ky, Thomas A. Hulsey
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
Grassland bird populations have been undergoing dramatic declines in the last fifty years due to loss and degradation of habitat. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) was initiated in the upper Green River Watershed of south-central Kentucky to improve water quality and provide wildlife habitat. Many studies have previously examined how similar programs in other states have contributed to grassland bird populations; in this study we are examining how the Kentucky CREP program is influencing bird populations, particularly grassland birds, and contributing to the conservation of these species. Bird and vegetation surveys were conducted during the summer of 2008 and …
Human-Wildlife Conflict On Small, Subsistence Farms In Kenya, Christopher B. Colonna
Human-Wildlife Conflict On Small, Subsistence Farms In Kenya, Christopher B. Colonna
Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects
As human populations expand, wildlife suddenly competes with humans for resources and confrontation arises as a result. Rural Africa is typical of this problem. We surveyed local owners of small farms within the five villages surrounding Mount Kasigau in Southeast Kenya to quantify losses due to wildlife depredation on both subsistence and cash crops as well as to discover the patterns and variables influencing farmer-wildlife confrontations in the region. We found no statistically significant correlations among the value of damage per acre, the distance from the bush, or the distance to the nearest water source. We did find statistical significance …