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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
A New Vine Snake (Reptilia, Colubridae, Oxybelis) From Peru And Redescription Of O. Acuminatus, Robert C. Jadin, Michael J. Jowers, Sarah A. Orlofske, William E. Duellman, Christopher Blair, John C. Murphy
A New Vine Snake (Reptilia, Colubridae, Oxybelis) From Peru And Redescription Of O. Acuminatus, Robert C. Jadin, Michael J. Jowers, Sarah A. Orlofske, William E. Duellman, Christopher Blair, John C. Murphy
Publications and Research
The Brown Vine Snake, Oxybelis aeneus, was until recently considered a single species, distributed from southern Arizona through the Neotropics into southeastern Brazil. However, newly conducted research restructured the species with a substantial taxonomic revision, recognizing five additional taxa (i.e. O. koehleri, O. microphthalmus, O. potosiensis, O. rutherfordi, O. vittatus) in this species complex. This revision focused on populations in North America, Central America, and northern South America while neglecting the southern portion of its distribution. Here, we examine the taxonomic history of the complex and use it along with specimen data to resurrect O. acuminatus from southeastern Brazil. Finally, …
Potential Solar Replacement Of Hydroelectricity To Reopen Rivers: Maine As A Case Example, Shailesh Sharma, John Waldman
Potential Solar Replacement Of Hydroelectricity To Reopen Rivers: Maine As A Case Example, Shailesh Sharma, John Waldman
Publications and Research
Hydroelectricity provides 6% of U.S. electrical power needs, but hydro-dams also cause environmental harm, including the retardation or complete blockage of spawning runs of anadromous fishes. To facilitate fish movements, engineered-fishways have long been used but many have performed poorly. Dam-removal is the most effective way of restoring dwindling migratory fish populations by allowing unrestricted pathways to their spawning areas and for the downstream migrations of post-spawning adults and juveniles. However, removals of hydro-dams result in a loss of electricity production. For the replacement of energy foregone from hydro-dam removals, various alternative energy installations are now feasible. We present one-to-one …
Ecology And Evolution, David J. Lohman
Ecology And Evolution, David J. Lohman
Open Educational Resources
Introduction to the basic principles of ecology and evolutionary biology emphasizing quantitative approaches and hypothesis testing. Scientific reasoning, computer literacy, and writing skills are developed in the laboratory.
Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Env 3009/Bio 4009 (Conservation Biology And Sustainable Development), Natalia Borrego
Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Env 3009/Bio 4009 (Conservation Biology And Sustainable Development), Natalia Borrego
Open Educational Resources
Conservation biology is an interdisciplinary topic that explores how we can protect and maintain natural areas. Due to the resources we take and impacts we have on natural environments, this field is directly related to restoration ecology (restoring natural areas) and sustainable development/natural resource management. We will explore the basis for these related fields from an ecological, social, legal, and cultural perspective, as all conservation and management projects take place in the larger human landscape. We will consider how we measure biodiversity, why it matters, why is it is threatened, and how we can manage (protect, restore, maintain, use) it …
Positive Interactions Among Foraging Seabirds, Marine Mammals And Fishes And Implications For Their Conservation, Richard R. Veit, Nancy M. Harrison
Positive Interactions Among Foraging Seabirds, Marine Mammals And Fishes And Implications For Their Conservation, Richard R. Veit, Nancy M. Harrison
Publications and Research
There is increasing recognition of the importance of “positive interactions” among species in structuring communities. For seabirds, an important kind of positive interaction is the use of birds of the same species, birds of other species, and other marine predators such as cetaceans, seals and fishes as cues to the presence of prey. The process by which a single bird uses, say, a feeding flock of birds as a cue to the presence of prey is called “local enhancement” or “facilitation.” There are subtly different uses of each of these terms, but the issue we address here is the ubiquity …
Lemurfaceid: A Face Recognition System To Facilitate Individual Identification Of Lemurs, David Crouse, Rachel L. Jacobs, Zach Richardson, Scott Klum, Anil Jain, Andrea L. Baden, Stacey R. Tecot
Lemurfaceid: A Face Recognition System To Facilitate Individual Identification Of Lemurs, David Crouse, Rachel L. Jacobs, Zach Richardson, Scott Klum, Anil Jain, Andrea L. Baden, Stacey R. Tecot
Publications and Research
Background: Long-term research of known individuals is critical for understanding the demographic and evolutionary processes that influence natural populations. Current methods for individual identification of many animals include capture and tagging techniques and/or researcher knowledge of natural variation in individual phenotypes. These methods can be costly, time-consuming, and may be impractical for larger-scale, populationlevel studies. Accordingly, for many animal lineages, long-term research projects are often limited to only a few taxa. Lemurs, a mammalian lineage endemic to Madagascar, are no exception. Long-term data needed to address evolutionary questions are lacking for many species. This is, at least in part, due …