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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences
Seasonal Habitat Preference And Foraging Behaviour Of Post-Moult Weddell Seals In The Western Ross Sea, Kimberly T. Goetz, Michael S. Dinniman, Luis A. Hückstädt, Patrick W. Robinson, Michelle R. Shero, Jennifer M. Burns, Eileen E. Hofmann, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Elliott L. Hazen, David G. Ainley, Daniel P. Costa
Seasonal Habitat Preference And Foraging Behaviour Of Post-Moult Weddell Seals In The Western Ross Sea, Kimberly T. Goetz, Michael S. Dinniman, Luis A. Hückstädt, Patrick W. Robinson, Michelle R. Shero, Jennifer M. Burns, Eileen E. Hofmann, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Elliott L. Hazen, David G. Ainley, Daniel P. Costa
CCPO Publications
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound and vicinity between 2010 and 2012. Generalized additive mixed models were used to (i) explain and predict the probability of seal presence and foraging behaviour from eight environmental variables, and (ii) examine foraging behaviour in relation to dive metrics. Foraging probability was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and foraging occurred mostly in …
Occupancy Rates And Detection Probabilities Of Red-Backed Salamanders On The Virginia Fall Line, Jay D. Mcghee
Occupancy Rates And Detection Probabilities Of Red-Backed Salamanders On The Virginia Fall Line, Jay D. Mcghee
Virginia Journal of Science
To meet the conservation needs of declining amphibian populations, there is a need to assess monitoring techniques in various habitat types and seasons. I assessed detection rates and proportion of area occupied via transect monitoring for red-backed salamanders at a site along the Virginia Fall Line in Doswell, Virginia. I established 24 transects in a 3.2-ha area in both riparian and upland habitats. Objects providing natural cover along these transects were sampled 3 times a week in fall and spring over a two-year period. Models of occupancy and detection were developed and compared using Akaike’s Information Criterion. Based on 113 …
The Population Dynamics Of Two Rodents In Two Coastal Marshes In Virginia, Robert K. Rose, John A. March
The Population Dynamics Of Two Rodents In Two Coastal Marshes In Virginia, Robert K. Rose, John A. March
Virginia Journal of Science
The communities of small mammals were evaluated for 13 months with capture-mark-recapture methods in two Spartina-Juncus marshes of the Atlantic coast in Northampton County, Virginia. Small mammals were trapped for three days each month using live traps placed on floats on two study grids. Two rodents were numerically dominant (~90% of small mammals) there: marsh rice rat, Oryzomys palustris, and meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Monthly estimates of population density were greater for rice rats (peak: 45/ha) than for those of meadow voles (peak: 30/ha). Survival rates were generally low, especially for rice rats, indicating highly vagile populations. Both …
First Record Of Pond Sliders (Trachemys Scripta Scripta And T. S. Elegans) At Fredericksburg, Virginia With Observations On Population Size, Age And Growth, Werner Wieland, Yoshinori Takeda
First Record Of Pond Sliders (Trachemys Scripta Scripta And T. S. Elegans) At Fredericksburg, Virginia With Observations On Population Size, Age And Growth, Werner Wieland, Yoshinori Takeda
Virginia Journal of Science
We conducted a turtle mark-recapture program within a 160 m stretch of the Fredericksburg Canal with standard, baited hoop nets from May to July 2012 to determine if a population of the introduced Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) and Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys s. scripta) are established in this area. We captured and marked nine Red-eared Sliders (1 male, 8 females) and estimated a population size of 23 individuals. Most were reproductively mature. The established population in the canal may be a source of introduction into the Rappahannock River.
The Small Mammals Of Two Dune Communities In Southeastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose, Justin L. Sweitzer
The Small Mammals Of Two Dune Communities In Southeastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose, Justin L. Sweitzer
Virginia Journal of Science
Small mammals were surveyed using live and pitfall traps between the primary and secondary dunes at two locations on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay near the Atlantic Ocean: Little Creek Amphibious Base in Norfolk and Joint Expeditionary Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Captures were dominated by house mice (Mus musculus) in interdunal habitats with sparse grass, whereas white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) were found primarily in shrubby live-oak thickets on the tops of dunes. Hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) were present only at Fort Story, and then only in patches of dense …
Does Pitcher Plant Morphology Affect Spider Residency?, Marc A. Milne, Deborah A. Waller
Does Pitcher Plant Morphology Affect Spider Residency?, Marc A. Milne, Deborah A. Waller
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Spiders are often found as residents in association with Sarracenia purpurea ( Purple Pitcher Plant). Many spiders choose web locations based on environmental cues such as vegetation structure and composition, prey density, temperature, and humidity. To determine if spiders use cues from the Purple Pitcher Plant to build their webs, we conducted a field study using variants of the plant that separated various morphological features: nectar, pigment, and the presence of prey. There was no difference in spider residency across all treatments and no difference in male/female or mature/immature residency. Linyphiids were the most common residents, possibly due to pitcher …
The Adaptive Value Of Aggregation Among Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster: An Evaluation Using Individual-Based Modeling, Thomas W. Dolan Iii, Mark J. Butler Iv
The Adaptive Value Of Aggregation Among Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster: An Evaluation Using Individual-Based Modeling, Thomas W. Dolan Iii, Mark J. Butler Iv
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Ontogenetic changes in gregariousness by pre-reproductive animals, like that observed in juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus), may be adaptive and reflect size-specific changes in the effectiveness of aggregation in promoting survival. Alternatively, aggregation may simply result from changes in the distribution or availability of suitable habitat structure, or from other behaviors that enhance survival. There are currently two hypotheses explaining the potential benefits of gregarious behavior in juvenile spiny lobsters, both of which focus on increasing survivorship by reducing predation pressure: the group benefit hypothesis and the guide hypothesis. The group benefit hypothesis argues that aggregations of …
Response Of Small Mammal Populations To Fescue Hayfield Conversion To Native Warm Season Grasses In Bath County, Virginia, Michael T. Mengak
Response Of Small Mammal Populations To Fescue Hayfield Conversion To Native Warm Season Grasses In Bath County, Virginia, Michael T. Mengak
Virginia Journal of Science
I investigated the effect on small mammal populations of converting an existing fescue (Festuca arundinacea) hayfield to switchgrass (Panicium virgatum) on the George Washington National Forest at Hidden Valley in Bath County, Virginia. Native warm season grasses are thought to provide better habitat than fescue pastures for Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and several species of grassland birds as well as herbivorous small mammals. I established one live-trapping grid and conducted trapping (pre-treatment) in both the switchgrass (treatment) and the fescue (control) field in March and May 1997. The treatment field was sprayed with glyphosate …
Evaluation Of Fish Scale Chemistry For Determining Habitat Associations, Brian Kenneth Wells
Evaluation Of Fish Scale Chemistry For Determining Habitat Associations, Brian Kenneth Wells
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
This is the first work examining the utility of scale chemistry for determining natal origins and habitat associations. I quantified a relationship of scale chemistry to water chemistry, quantified geographic variation in scale chemistry, and evaluated stability of scale chemistry through maturation. Scale chemistry accurately reflected trace element composition of the water in which fish had lived. Juvenile spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) were held in four concentrations of Sr, Cd, and Ba maintained at either 20°C or 25°C, for 42 days. Strontium:Ca, Cd:Ca, and Ba:Ca levels in scales were linearly related to environmental concentrations while temperature had no effect. …
Ecology Of The Early Life History Of The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Argus: Recruitment, Predation, And Habitat Requirements, Charles A. Acosta
Ecology Of The Early Life History Of The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Argus: Recruitment, Predation, And Habitat Requirements, Charles A. Acosta
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Recruitment variability of the early life history stages of marine benthic organisms can have profound consequences on population dynamics. I studied factors affecting recruitment success of postlarvae and early juveniles of the Caribbean spiny lobster. I examined patterns in postlarval supply, investigated wind forcing as a potential transport mechanism for recruiting postlarvae, and quantified predation on postlarvae in south Florida, USA. In an eight-year time series, spiny lobster postlarval supply occurred year-round between the new and first quarter lunar phases. The major annual peak occurred around March corresponding to spawning activity ten months earlier, and a smaller non-seasonal peak occurred …
Small Mammals In The Great Dismal Swamp Of Virginia And North Carolina, Robert K. Rose, Roger K. Everton, Jean F. Stankavich
Small Mammals In The Great Dismal Swamp Of Virginia And North Carolina, Robert K. Rose, Roger K. Everton, Jean F. Stankavich
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Small" mammals were surveyed in a range of habitats in the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina. The survey is based on three chronologically overlapping studies, each lasting 15-18 months and for which the results have been reported separately. A different trapping method was used in each of the three studies: nest boxes, Fitch live traps, or pitfall traps. Only two species of mammals, both arboreal, were taken in nest boxes, compared with 10 and 9 species in Fitch live traps and pitfall traps, respectively. The Fitch live traps had a much higher catch rate per 1,000 trap-nights …