Life Sciences Commons^™

Bats Increased Foraging Activity At Experimental Prey Patches Near Hibernacula, Winifred F. Frick, Yvonne A. Dzal, Kristin A. Jonasson, Michael D. Whitby, Amanda M. Adams, Christen Long, John E. Depue, Christian M. Newman, Craig K. R. Willis, Tina L. Cheng

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. Emerging infectious diseases in wildlife can threaten vulnerable host populations. Actions targeting habitat improvements to aid population resilience and recovery may be beneficial long-term strategies, yet testing the efficacy of such strategies before major conservation investments are made can be challenging.

2. The disease white-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused severe declines in several species of North American hibernating bats. We tested a novel conservation approach targeted at improving foraging conditions near bat hibernacula by experimentally manipulating insect density in the pre-hibernation fattening period and spring emergence recovery period. We measured foraging (feeding buzzes) and echolocation activity of little brown bats Myotis …

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Extreme, Positive Geomorphic Change In A Historically Degraded Desert River: Implications For Imperiled Fishes, Tansy T. Remiszewski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rivers comprise some of the most unique and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet with their waters supporting both human societies as well as the organisms that make these rivers their home. Large rivers like the Colorado are often highly regulated and diverted in order to support human residence in arid regions like the desert Southwest, and these water diversions often have dramatic, negative impacts on the natural flow regime of the river. These impacts leave large reaches of the river dry, reduce the river’s capacity to transport sediment, cause channel and habitat homogenization, and significantly reduce the amount of suitable …

Masked Bobwhite Recovery: The Need For A Multifaceted Approach, Lacrecia A. Johnson, Matthew J. Butler, Rebecca Chester, John G. Goodwin Jr., Grant M. Harris, Steven E. Sesnie, Donald H. Wolfe

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Masked bobwhite (Colinus virginianus ridgwayi) is a critically endangered quail historically found in the Sonoran grasslands of southern Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico. Native populations of masked bobwhite may already be extinct in the wild, but captive populations exist in the United States at G. M. Sutton Avian Research Center (Oklahoma, USA), Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (Arizona, USA), and various zoos. The 47,000-hectare Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, located in south-central Arizona, was established primarily for reintroduction of this bird. Recovery efforts within the refuge boundary in the 1980s and 1990s were initially successful but suffered debilitating …

Plant-Pollinator Communities Responsive To Local And Landscape Level Factors In Grassland Restorations., Aaron Sexton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As humans continue to degrade natural ecosystems via greenhouse gas emissions and habitat destruction, many species are being pushed to the brink of extinction. In hopes to offset this degradation, habitat restoration attempts to restore ecosystem function to an improved state resembling intact, remnant values. This is a difficult, but important, undertaking with factors to consider at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The restoration and conservation of pollinator communities has garnered heightened attention because of the valuable ecosystem services they provide. This dissertation investigates the local and landscape level factors of grassland restorations that influence plant-pollinator communities. I used a …

Habitat Restoration Restores Underwater Soundscapes And Larval Recruitment, Jack Butler, Emily R. Anderson, Mark J. Butler

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Habitat degradation alters many ecosystem processes, and the potential for the reestablishment of ecosystem function through restoration is an area of active research. Among marine systems, coastal habitats are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic degradation and, in response, are the focus of marine ecological restoration. One of the crucial functions of structurally complex coastal habitats (e.g., saltmarshes, seagrass meadows, kelp forests, coral reefs) are as nurseries to coastal and offshore species, many of whose larvae utilize sound to locate suitable nursery habitat. However, the effect of habitat degradation and subsequent restoration on underwater soundscapes and their function as navigational cues for …

Investing In Monarch Conservation: Understanding Private Funding Dynamics, Rodrigo Solis-Sosa, Christina A.D. Semeniuk, Maxim Larrivée, Sean Cox

Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications

Non-profit environmental organizations (NGOs) rely heavily on external donors to fulfill their mandates. However, forecasting donations for long-term planning is an elusive task at best. The non-compulsory nature of donation requires NGOs to understand how donors’ attention and funding allocations change over time as conservation scenarios change and incorporate these insights into their budgeting plans. We hypothesize that an NGO can hinder its capacity to reach its conservation goals by neglecting its donor-NGO-natural system (DNNS), which is reactive to the socio-ecological context. To test our hypothesis, we compared the ecological outcomes derived from a budgeting strategy assuming donors have a …

Fish And Invertebrate Use Of Restored Vs. Natural Oyster Reefs In A Shallow Temperate Latitude Estuary, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Christopher J. Baillie, Adam Baukus, Rachael Carlyle, F. Joel Fodrie, Rachel K. Gittman, A. Randall Hughes, David L. Kimbro, Juhyung Lee, Hunter S. Lenihan, Sean P. Powers, Kevin Sullivan

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Coastal marine habitats continue to be degraded, thereby compelling largescale restoration in many parts of the world. Whether restored habitats function similarly to natural habitats and fully recover lost ecosystem services is unclear. In estuaries, oyster reefs have been degraded by multiple anthropogenic activities including destructive fishing practices and reduced water quality, motivating restoration to maintain oyster fisheries and other ecosystem services, often at relatively high cost. We compared fish and invertebrate communities on recently restored (0–1 year post-restoration), older restored (3–4 years post-restoration), and natural oyster reefs to determine if and when restored reefs support functionally similar faunal communities. …

Pre-Sowing Treatments Improve Germinability Of South Texas Native Plant Seeds, Kaitlynn Lavallee, Pushpa Soti, Hansapani Rodrigo, Rupesh R. Kariyat, Alexis Racelis

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The incorporation of native plant species is central to restoration efforts, but this is often limited by both the availability of seeds and the relatively low viability and germination rates of commercially available seeds. Although pre-sowing treatments are commonly used to improve germination rates of seeds, the efficacy of these treatments is found to vary across species. In this study, we tested how four pre-sow treatments (physical scarification, acid scarification, cold stratification, and aerated hydropriming) affected the viability and seed germination rates of 12 commercially available plant species native to south Texas and commonly used in restoration efforts. Our results …

A Landscape-Level Assessment Of Restoration Resource Allocation For The Eastern Monarch Butterfly, Rodrigo Solis-Sosa, Arne Mooers, Maxim Larrivée, Sean Cox, Christina A.D. Semeniuk

Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications

The Monarch butterfly eastern population (Danaus plexippus) is in decline primarily due to habitat loss. Current habitat restoration programs focus on re-establishing milkweed, the primary food resource for Monarch caterpillars, in the central United States of America. However, individual components of the Monarch life cycle function as part of an integrated whole. Here we develop the MOBU-SDyM, a migration-wide systems dynamics model of the Monarch butterfly migratory cycle to explore alternative management strategies’ impacts. Our model offers several advances over previous efforts, considering complex variables such as dynamic temperature-dependent developmental times, dynamic habitat availability, and weather-related mortality across the entire …

Influence Of Microbial Priming And Seeding Depth On Germination And Growth Of Native Wildflowers, Daniela Barrera, Juan Luera, Kaitlynn Lavallee, Pushpa Soti

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Using native wildflowers for restoring marginal lands has gained considerable popularity. Establishment of wildflowers can be challenging due to several environmental factors. Restoring the microbial community in degraded habitats can potentially result in the native plant performance and habitat restoration. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of native soil microbes and seeding depth on germination of south Texas native wildflowers. Two wildflower species, Ratibida columnifera (Nutt.) (Mexican Hat) and Verbesina encelioides (Cav.) (cowpen daisy), were treated with microbial wash extracted from native soils, and germination rate was recorded for 14-day period. We further analyzed the growth, biomass …

Best Management Practices For The Conservation Of Western Pond Turtle Populations In California, Cristina Yarnal

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project provides insight into western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) population health at sites in three states on the western part of the United States. Washington, Oregon and California have identified the western pond turtle as endangered, a critical and a species of special concern in that respective order. Washington has implemented a recovery plan for western pond turtles and Oregon has established best management practices for the conservation of native turtles. California has yet to establish any guidelines for the conservation of western pond turtles. This species is endemic to the western United States and has been …

Exploring The Effects Of Dam Removals On Zooplankton In Penobscot Estuary, Erin Bucci, Karen Wilson

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Estuaries provide many ecosystem services such as buffering the negative impacts of storms, offering recreation and commercial fishing opportunities, and they serve as a critical habitat corridor for migratory fish. In New England, estuarine habitats have been dramatically altered over the last 200 years due to dam construction; migratory fish such as Atlantic salmon and alewives have suffered. Recently, there have been several dam removal projects in Maine aimed to restore these populations – the largest of these efforts being the Penobscot River Restoration Project. In 2013, two dams were removed from the Penobscot River Estuary, opening more than 2,000 …

Provo River Restoration: Success Or Failure?, Jared Meek, C Riley Nelson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Provo River in central Utah flows from its headwaters in the Uinta Mountains, down the heavily agricultural Heber Valley, through the urban center of Provo and Orem, and out into Utah Lake. Beginning in the 1950s, the Provo River underwent significant alterations as part of a large-scale water reclamation project throughout central Utah1, including the channelization and straightening of its middle section. In addition to these alterations, the river had two dams constructed along its course: the Deer Creek Dam (1941) and the Jordanelle Dam (1993). To remedy the ecological impairment that these manipulations caused, the Utah Reclamation Mitigation …

Seahurst Park Beach Restoration: Phase Ii, Beth Mccasland

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the City of Burien completed construction and restoration of Seahurst Beach Park in 2014 with the objective to restore shoreline habitat and function. The project involved removal of approximately 1,200 linear feet of bulkhead, lawn terraces, and restoring a more natural pebbly beach habitat, reconnecting Puget Sound to the adjacent feeder bluffs. The project also restored mature riparian and wetland vegetation through plantings along the marine shoreline above mean higher high water. The $7.3 M construction project started in September 2013 and was completed in September 2014. The shoreline restoration project was …

Integrated Agricultural Riparian Stewardship In The Stillaguamish And Snohomish Watersheds, Kristin Marshall, Cindy Dittbrenner, Carrie Byron, Colin Hume

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Stillaguamish and Snohomish River watersheds are regionally important to the health of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea and in particular for the recovery of salmon. The habitat gains needed to achieve salmon recovery in these watersheds include much of the agricultural landscape in Snohomish County, a situation that often results in conflicts between salmon recovery and agricultural communities. The Snohomish Conservation District’s National Estuary Program-funded Integrated Riparian Stewardship project is one of several efforts aimed at simultaneously achieving agricultural land preservation and salmon habitat protection and restoration in one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, …

Western Snowy Plover Nest Survival In Humboldt County, California, Katelyn M. Raby

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Productivity measures, such as nest survival, are often used to indirectly assess habitat quality and guide targeted management practices for the conservation of threatened and endangered species. The coastal population of the Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) is listed as threatened due to three limiting factors: human disturbance, loss and degradation of habitat as a result of invasive plants, and increasing predator populations. I examined the relative influence of these three limiting factors on nest survival, using data from 2004 to 2017 at eight sites in Humboldt County, California. I assigned nests (n = 610) to three …

Connecting Rivers In The Penobscot Watershed, Catherine Schmitt

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Across Maine, communities and land owners are reconnecting rivers and streams by improving road crossings, fixing broken culverts, and removing dams and other barriers. There are many reasons for doing this work, including preventing costly repairs associated with flooding and washouts, enhancing water quality, increasing wildlife habitat, and restoring fish populations. Connecting Rivers explores some of the ways that streams connect inland lakes and forests and the sea. This second fact sheet in the series provides an overview of the motivations for and benefits of restoring fish passage, and includes a map of dam removals and other restoration actions in …

Penobscot River Habitat Focus Area 2016 Annual Report, Matthew Bernier

Maine Sea Grant Publications

1 Penobscot River Habitat Focus Area 2016 Annual Report The Penobscot River is New England’s second largest river, draining nearly one-third of the state of Maine with a watershed area of 8,570 square miles not including tributaries to Penobscot Bay. The watershed is home to 11 migratory fish species, including three listed under the Endangered Species Act, and represents the largest run of Atlantic salmon in the United States. It has a rich cultural history of commercial, recreational, and sustenance fishing. It is also home to the Penobscot Indian Nation and includes the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The …

Spatially Biased Dispersal Of Acorns By A Scatter-Hoarding Corvid May Accelerate Passive Restoration Of Oak Habitat On California’S Largest Island, Mario B. Pesendorfer, T. Scott Sillett, Scott A. Morrison

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Scatter hoarding by corvids (crows, jays, magpies, and nutcrackers) provides seed dispersal for many large-seeded plants, including oaks and pines. When hoarding seeds, corvids often choose nonrandom locations throughout the landscape, resulting in differential survival of seeds. In the context of habitat restoration, such disproportional storing of seeds in areas suitable for germination and establishment can accelerate expansion and recovery of large-seeded tree populations and their associated ecosystems. Here, we investigate the spatial preferences of island scrub jays Aphelocoma insularis during scatter hoarding of acorns (Quercus spp.) on Santa Cruz Island. We use a large behavioral data set on …

Penobscot River Restoration, Catherine Schmitt

Maine Sea Grant Publications

BETWEEN THE HEAD of tide above Bangor to where it widens into the bay at Searsport, the Penobscot River shifts from a flowing freshwater waterway banked by cedar and pine to a brackish, wave-lapped marsh with a rocky shoreline. In this estuary, salt concentrations fluctuate as the winds and tides push sea water and sediments back and forth. The estuary and the river that feeds it have taken on a new character recently, and have become an international example of watershed restoration. Despite two centuries of intensive timber harvesting and pulp and paper manufacturing, and the construction of hundreds of …

Does Habitat Restoration Increase Coexistence Of Native Stream Fishes With Introduced Brown Trout: A Case Study On The Middle Provo River, Utah, Usa, Mark C. Belk, Eric J. Billman, Craig Ellsworth, Brock R. Mcmillan

Faculty Publications

Restoration of altered or degraded habitats is often a key component in the conservation plan of native aquatic species, but introduced species may influence the response of the native community to restoration. Recent habitat restoration of the middle section of the Provo River in central Utah, USA, provided an opportunity to evaluate the effect of habitat restoration on the native fish community in a system with an introduced, dominant predator—brown trout (Salmo trutta). To determine the change in distribution of fish species and community composition, we surveyed 200 m of each of the four study reaches both before …

Connecting Rivers For Healthy Ocean Fisheries, Catherine Schmitt

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Across Maine, communities and land owners are reconnecting rivers and streams by improving road crossings, fixing broken culverts, and removing dams and other barriers. There are many reasons for doing this work, including preventing costly repairs associated with flooding and washouts, enhancing water quality, increasing wildlife habitat, and restoring fish populations. Connecting Rivers explores some of the ways that streams connect inland lakes and forests and the sea. This first fact sheet in the series focuses on connections between populations of migratory river fish (alewives and blueback herring) and groundfish (e.g., cod).

07. The Effects Of Seed Mix Diversity On Soil Conditions And Nesting Of Bees In Prairie Restorations, Nicholas Anderson, Alexandrea Harmon-Threatt

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

With the goal of conserving native bees, current recommendations for improving habitats include increasing available floral resources by planting diverse seed mixes. However, these recommendations only account for the nutritional needs of bees while the availability of equally important nesting resources is often ignored. Here we used a novel system to investigate the effects of seed mix diversity on abiotic factors previously associated with nest sites of ground-nesting bees—available bare ground and soil temperature, moisture, and compaction—and on the occurrence of nests. We used standard bee-collecting techniques and a newer method using soil emergence tents (E-tents) to assess how seed …

Response Of Greater Sage-Grouse To Surface Coal Mining And Habitat Conservation In Association With The Mine, Steven L. Petersen, B. Kirk Nicholes, S. Nicole Frey, Kevin M. Heaton, Dennis L. Eggett

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) is a sagebrushobligate species that has experienced species-wide declines in population density and distribution. Sage-grouse habitats support human-related needs including domestic livestock grazing, urban development, and energy extraction. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified energy extraction as a range-wide sage-grouse conservation threat. Mining has been of specific concern because of observed sage-grouse population declines and impaired habitat within close proximity to the activity. Mining may be particularly problematic for small, isolated sage-grouse populations. In southwestern Utah, proactive habitat improvements and predator management have been implemented to mitigate the potential effects of surface …

Slides: New Era Of Water Banking And Refined "Water Accounting", Bonnie Colby

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Professor Bonnie Colby, Departments of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona

23 slides

Is Shallow Water A Suitable Surrogate For Assessing Efforts To Address Pallid Sturgeon Population Declines?, T R. Gemeinhardt, N.J C. Gosch, D M. Morris, M L. Miller, T L. Welker, J L. Bonneau

US Army Corps of Engineers

It is hypothesized that slow, shallow water habitats benefit larval pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus; however, testing this hypothesis is difficult, given the low number of larval pallid sturgeon present in large rivers. In contrast, relatively large numbers of age-0 shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus have been sampled, providing a potentially useful baseline to assess the importance of slow, shallow water to age-0 sturgeon of both species (hereafter age-0 sturgeon) in the lower Missouri River. Thus, we investigated the potential relationships between the prevalence of shallow water <1.5m and the age-0 sturgeon catch rates at multiple scales. Age-0 sturgeon were usually sampled in water >1.5 m, and catch rates were usually highest in the upper half [i.e. river kilometer …

Diversity And Soil-Tissue Elemental Relations Of Vascular Plants Of Callahan Mine, Brooksville, Maine, U.S.A., Margaret R. Mansfield, Nathaniel S. Pope, Glen H. Mittelhauser, Nishanta Rajakaruna

Biological Sciences

Metal-contaminated soils provide numerous stressors to plant life, resulting in unique plant communities worldwide. The current study focuses on the vascular plants of Callahan Mine in Brooksville, ME, USA, a Superfund site contaminated with Cu, Zn, Pb, and other pollutants. One hundred and fifty-five taxa belonging to 50 families were identified, with the Asteraceae (21%), Poaceae (11%), and Rosaceae (9%) as the most species-rich families. Ninety-six species encountered at the Mine were native to North America (62%), including 11 taxa (7%) with rarity status in at least one New England state. Fifty-one species were non-native (33%), including nine taxa (6%) …

Diversity And Soil-Tissue Elemental Relations Of Vascular Plants Of Callahan Mine, Brooksville, Maine, U.S.A, Margaret Mansfield, Nathaniel Pope, Glen Mittlehauser, Nishanta Rajakaruna

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Metal-contaminated soils provide numerous stressors to plant life, resulting in unique plant communities worldwide. The current study focuses on the vascular plants of Callahan Mine in Brooksville, ME, USA, a Superfund site contaminated with Cu, Zn, Pb, and other pollutants. One hundred and fifty-five taxa belonging to 50 families were identified, with the Asteraceae (21%), Poaceae (11%), and Rosaceae (9%) as the most species-rich families. Ninety-six species encountered at the Mine were native to North America (62%), including 11 taxa (7%) with rarity status in at least one New England state. Fifty-one species were non-native (33%), including nine taxa (6%) …

Influence Of Soil Biogeochemical Properties On The Invasiveness Of Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium Microphyllum), Pushpa Gautam Soti

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The state of Florida has one of the most severe exotic species invasion problems in the United States, but little is known about their influence on soil biogeochemistry. My dissertation research includes a cross-continental field study in Australia, Florida, and greenhouse and growth chamber experiments, focused on the soil-plant interactions of one of the most problematic weeds introduced in south Florida, Lygodium microphyllum (Old World climbing fern). Analysis of field samples from the ferns introduced and their native range indicate that L microphyllum is highly dependent on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for phosphorus uptake and biomass accumulation. Relationship with AMF …

Slides: Celebrating Flpma: Land Use Planning At The Blm, Marcilynn Burke

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Marcilynn Burke, BLM Deputy Director - Programs and Policy, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, (Washington, D.C.)

30 slides