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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Biodiversity
Evaluating Soil Health Changes Following Cover Crop And No-Till Integration Into A Soybean (Glycine Max) Cropping System In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Alexandra Gwin Firth
Evaluating Soil Health Changes Following Cover Crop And No-Till Integration Into A Soybean (Glycine Max) Cropping System In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Alexandra Gwin Firth
Theses and Dissertations
The transition of natural landscapes to intensive agricultural uses has resulted in severe loss of soil organic carbon (SOC), increased CO₂ emissions, river depletion, and groundwater overdraft. Despite negative documented effects of agricultural land use (i.e., soil erosion, nutrient runoff) on critical natural resources (i.e., water, soil), food production must increase to meet the demands of a rising human population. Given the environmental and agricultural productivity concerns of intensely managed soils, it is critical to implement conservation practices that mitigate the negative effects of crop production and enhance environmental integrity. In the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) region of Mississippi, USA, …
Constructing A Data-Based Mortality Profile For Avian Tower Kills At Telecommunication Towers In Illinois, Rachel Dipietro
Constructing A Data-Based Mortality Profile For Avian Tower Kills At Telecommunication Towers In Illinois, Rachel Dipietro
Theses and Dissertations
During spring and fall seasons, Neotropical migratory passerines travel nocturnally across the Western Hemisphere between their wintering and breeding grounds, often encountering man-made threats. One hazard that has gained considerable publicity in recent decades is the communication tower. While there have been many tower kill studies recorded, there has been no attempt at predicting the risk of towers based on their different attributes (e.g., height, type of light, landscape placement) spatially on a regional scale. The objective of this study was to create seasonal mortality profile maps in GIS for Illinois, based on tower attributes combined with key factors such …
Takeover On The Tallgrass Prairie: How Lespedeza Cuneata Establishes Dominance, Morgan Rae Walder
Takeover On The Tallgrass Prairie: How Lespedeza Cuneata Establishes Dominance, Morgan Rae Walder
Theses and Dissertations
Invasion ecology aims to study mechanisms by which invasive species are able to enter, establish, and spread within an ecosystem. This study analyzed Darwin’s naturalization and the biotic resistance hypotheses as the most likely explanations for invasion by an exotic legume, Lespedeza cuneata, into a tallgrass prairie. Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis posits that exotic species are less able to establish in communities that have related species, because similarity in morphology and function promotes intense competition for resources. The biotic resistance hypothesis states that competitors, herbivores, and pathogens already present in the community limit the colonization, naturalization, and persistence of invaders, therefore …
Investigating Seed Dispersal Distances And Long Distance Dispersal Mechanisms Of The Invasive Plant, Alliaria Petiolata, Christopher Loebach
Investigating Seed Dispersal Distances And Long Distance Dispersal Mechanisms Of The Invasive Plant, Alliaria Petiolata, Christopher Loebach
Theses and Dissertations
Alliaria petiolata, an herbaceous plant, has aggressively invaded North American woodlands. It has been extensively studied to understand why it is a successful invader, but certain aspects of its biology have been understudied such as seed dispersal distances and long distance dispersal mechanisms (LDDM). My thesis experimentally measured A. petiolata seed dispersal distances and determined if epizoochory (external animal transport) is a LDDM. To measure dispersal distances, seed traps were placed around three A. petiolata seed point sources to capture dispersed seeds at increasing distances away from the point sources. Eight mathematical functions that describe dispersal distances were fitted to …
Using Deuterium And Garp To Estimate Geographic Extents Of Source Populations Of Hoary ( Lasiurus Cinereus ) And Eastern Red ( Lasiurus Borealis ) Bats Killed At A Central Illinois Wind Facility, Rachael Anne Van Essen
Using Deuterium And Garp To Estimate Geographic Extents Of Source Populations Of Hoary ( Lasiurus Cinereus ) And Eastern Red ( Lasiurus Borealis ) Bats Killed At A Central Illinois Wind Facility, Rachael Anne Van Essen
Theses and Dissertations
High bat mortality at wind energy facilities is a widely cited conservation issue, but the population-level impacts are not understood. In Illinois, the main species affected are migratory tree bats like the Hoary (Lasiurus cinereus) and Eastern Red (Lasiurus borealis).This research used deuterium isotope analysis of hair combined with ecological niche modeling (GARP: Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction) in a novel way to map the geographic extents of Hoary and Eastern Red bat specimens salvaged at a single central Illinois wind facility from 2008-2010. Hair was chosen after determining that the claw is currently a problematic tissue due to a …