Biodiversity Commons^™

Reassignment Of Some Caryospora Species (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) To Eumonospora (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) And A Summary, Donald W. Duszynski

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

This review was crafted to clear up some of the current confusion regarding the correct taxonomic placement of those apicomplexan coccidians that produce unique monosporocystic octosporozoic (1 sporocyst with 8 sporozoites) oocysts during the sexual phase of their life history in vertebrate hosts. Currently, such oocysts have been placed in 1 of 4 genera, Avispora, Caryospora, Karyospora, or Eumonospora, 2 of which are no longer accepted or useful (Avispora and Karyospora). My review suggests that to present (2023) there are 62 valid Caryospora and 26 valid Eumonospora species. Caryospora species are recorded from a bird …

Tree Canopy Cover Influences Habitat Use Of Breeding Birds At Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Kaleigh Thomas

Honors Theses

Across the United States, bird populations have declined due to habitat loss. To better understand habitat use by birds, researchers observed populations at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area in southwest Arkansas. Students at Ouachita Baptist University surveyed 94 point count locations to estimate species diversity (total number of species observed) and species abundance (total number of individuals observed). At each point, students recorded the percentage of tree canopy cover, ground cover, midstory cover, and shrub cover. These variables were used as explanatory variables in multiple regression analyses to determine which variables were influential in explaining variation in species diversity and …

Bird And Small Mammal Preference For Water Developments, Lizzie Wilson, Randy Larsen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

 Different types of water developments nicknamed “guzzlers” have been installed in many different arid and semi-arid environments to provide water resources to game species in the state of Utah.

 Upland game guzzlers are usually covered by a sheet of metal and are used to target species like chukar partridge and quail (Figure 1).

 Big game guzzlers are open pools of water that are used to target species like mule deer and desert big horn sheep (Figure 2).  Most visitations to guzzlers are by native species not targeted by the guzzlers or wildlife management efforts (3).

Mammalian & Avian Community Response To African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) Habitat Modification In Southeastern Kenya, Dakota Vaccaro

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) play a significant role in the modification of their habitat, foremost by decreasing woody vegetation cover and density and in some parts of Africa high elephant densities damage small sanctuaries and preserves. For wildlife that depend on forested patches, this increased modification could lead to displacement and/or decreases in abundance. If suitable habitat is not available elsewhere, elephants and other wildlife may move closer to humans in search of resources, which can result in increased human-wildlife conflict. Evaluating this impact was one of the goals of the Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya (ESAK) …

The Response Of An Avian Community To Intercropping And Forest Management Practices In A Private Working Pine Forest, Rebecca Doyne Bracken

Theses and Dissertations

Within managed pine forest systems, a plethora of bird species exist throughout the lifecycle of a stand akin to what may be experienced through post-disturbance regeneration in a natural forest system. I sought to address how breeding avian communities shift across time in response to stand aging and forest management, evaluate species-specific responses to stand conditions, investigate the responses of at-risk avian species to forest management, and determine avian non-breeding, over-wintering presence in a managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) forest. I conducted breeding bird point count and vegetation surveys within five stands of privately owned and managed pine forest in …

Effects Of Climate Change And Landscape-Scale Forest Management On Avian Communities, Abundance, And Nest Success In The Appalachian Mountains, Hannah L. Clipp

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Birds are integral components of ecosystems and account for billions of dollars in tangible benefits to humans. As such, recent continental declines of bird species have ecological and economic consequences, providing the impetus for my dissertation research. I identified knowledge gaps and proposed novel questions about how birds in the Appalachian Mountains are influenced by changing environmental conditions due to climate change and forest management. The Appalachian Mountains encompass an important biogeographical region with high conservation value due to its myriad habitats and corresponding bird species diversity. Thus, there is a critical need to evaluate the effects of shifting climate …

Investigating The Impact Of Land Use On Avian Diversity And Abundance In Areas Surrounding Mabamba Swamp, Uganda, Sydney Marie Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wetland-adjacent land use on avian species richness and abundance areas surrounding Mabamba Swamp, Uganda. Four types of land use were investigated: Eucalyptus plantations, wetland-edge agricultural fields, residential areas, and mature secondary forests. A total of 40-morning point counts were conducted for ten days in late November and late December of 2021. One-way ANOVA tests and Tukey’s HSD tests revealed significant differences in mean avian richness and abundance between all sites except residential areas and Nkima Forest. Additionally, Nkima Forest was found to contain the most number of specialist …

Birds And Bioenergy: A Modeling Framework For Managed Landscapes At Multiple Spatial Scales, Jasmine Asha Kreig

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the design and management of bioenergy landscapes at multiple spatial scales given numerous objectives. Objectives include biodiversity outcomes, biomass feedstock yields, and economic value.

Our study examined biodiversity metrics for 25 avian species in Iowa, including subsets of these species related to ecosystem services. We used our species distribution model (SDM) framework to determine the importance of predictors related to switchgrass production on species richness. We found that distance to water, mean diurnal temperature range, and herbicide application rate were the three most important predictors of biodiversity overall. We found that 76% of species responded positively to …

Vignette 03: Birds Of The Salish Sea, Rob Butler

Institute Publications

The significance of the Salish Sea comes into focus when we look at the diversity and abundance of its birds and mammals, some of which are globally, continentally, and nationally important. Of particular importance is the diversity and abundance of species on the Fraser River Delta. There are more species of birds on the delta than any comparable area in Canada, and nearly half of all 550 species of birds reported for British Columbia have been seen on the delta. Despite all that has been learned about marine birds and mammals, large areas of the Salish Sea in Canada have …

Seasonal Plumage Condition Variation And The Thermal Value Of The Feather Coats Of House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus), Jordana Mf Graveley, Margaret Rubega, Kevin R. Burgio

Honors Scholar Theses

Feathers are critical to how birds thermoregulate, and thus their total energy balance. The feather coat insulates birds by trapping air next to the skin and acting as a physical barrier to heat loss. Despite previous work studying thermal balance in birds, relatively few studies have focused on the thermal contribution of the feather coat alone; most studies have focused on physiological and behavioral responses. Moreover, to our knowledge, no studies have directly measured the effect of feather wear through the annual cycle on the thermal performance of the feather coat. To address this, we used a thermal camera to …

Occurrence Of Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) On Birds In Northwestern Lower Michigan, 2011-2019, William C. Scharf, Lisa Aukland, Gary W. Shugart, Sarah A. Hamer

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Abstract

Monitoring tick infestation of wildlife provides baseline tick

occurrence data that may have human or animal health implications. We collected 312 ticks of four species from 5,122 birds of 93 species while monitoring bird migration during 15 fall and spring seasons between 2011 and 2019 in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Twenty-seven of 93 bird species hosted ticks with an overall prevalence (=at least one tick) of 3.6% (185/5,122). Median burden was one tick/per infested bird with a range of 1-16 ticks per infested bird. Tick species collected were primarily Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard) and Ixodes scapularis Say, with …

Friendship At The Feeding Station, Anisha Pokharel

Zea E-Books Collection

A young steppe eagle and his mother fly to Nepal from Mongolia, where Griffy, a Himalayan griffon, chases the hungry Steppe from the feeding station, but Garuda, a white-rumped vulture, intervenes and becomes Steppe's friend. Steppe's mother is angered at first, but learns the lesson that each species has its role to play.

Designed by Breanna Epp with Maeve Lausch

Patterns And Potential Causes Of Changing Winter Bird Distributions In South Dakota, David L. Swanson, Reza Goljani Amirkhiz, Mark D. Dixon

The Prairie Naturalist

Average winter temperatures in the north-central United States have been increasing since the 1970s, and this warming might influence winter distributions of birds in the region. Species potentially influenced by such winter warming include short-distance migrants for which the northern boundary of the winter range is influenced by temperature, such as hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus), yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata), and fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca). We examined winter records during 1974–2017 from a citizen-science bird observation database for South Dakota to determine recent trends in winter records for these three species. We compared their occurrence patterns with those for three benchmark …

Conservation Education: Using Birds To Connect Communities To Their Natural Environment, Kathryn A. Olson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The theme of my portfolio is conservation education, using birds as an example of how to connect people of all ages to their natural environment. Birds were chosen as an example because of a personal curiosity for the animal, and because they are an accessible and tangible element of nature for all people, urban and rural. The first component is a Curriculum Development Guide created for the Wings Over Water program of the Montana Natural History Center. It synthesizes scientific research on Ospreys, relates central themes of the literature to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and provides inventive activity ideas …

Where Birds Chill: An Assessment Of The Habitat Preferences Of Birds Overwintering In Hudson Valley Forests, Elizabeth Claire Axley

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Many avian species overwinter in eastern North America; however, studies on bird populations are rarely undertaken during this critical survival time, and little is known as to their habitat preferences and foraging behavior. In this observational study, we performed a survey of birds overwintering in the Hudson Valley’s temperate, primarily-deciduous forests, assessing avian populations’ habitat preferences through the vegetative structural variables surrounding overwintering birds as they forage. Our results suggest that high canopy cover is critically important to predicting overwintering bird occupancy on a microhabitat scale. Moreover, overwintering birds preferentially occupy forest plots not dominated by sugar maples, in spite …

Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …

Bird Population Changes Following The Establishment Of A Diverse Stand Of Woody Plants In A Former Crop Field In North Dakota, 1975– 2015, Lawrence D. Igl, Harold A. Kantrud, Wesley Newton

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Changes in the coverage of trees and shrubs on the North Dakota landscape since Euro- American settlement have likely had a pronounced impact on bird species that favor woody vegetation. Long- term data sets on breeding bird populations in wooded habitats in North Dakota or in the Great Plains are scarce. In 1975 a wildlife habitat plot was established in a 10.5 ha cropland field with a long history of small- grain production. Th e objective of this article is to evaluate the successional changes in bird populations as the habitat at this site became more biologically and structurally complex …

The North American Quails, Partridges, And Pheasants, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book documents the biology of six species of New World quails that are native to North America north of Mexico (mountain, scaled, Gambel’s, California, and Montezuma quails, and the northern bobwhite), three introduced Old World partridges (chukar, Himalayan snowcock, and gray partridge), and the introduced common (ring-necked) pheasant. Collectively, quails, partridges, and pheasants range throughout all of the continental United States and the Canadian provinces. Two of the species, the northern bobwhite and ring-necked pheasant, are the most economically important of all North American upland game birds. All of the species are hunted extensively for sport and are highly …

Common Birds Of The Brinton Museum And Bighorn Mountains Foothills, Jackie Canterbury, Paul Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

Part I. The Brinton Museum and Its Birds

Part II. Profiles of 48 Common Local and Regional Birds: Ring-necked Pheasant, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Eastern Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Western Wood-Pewee, Say’s Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, House Wren, American Dipper, Mountain Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, …

Comparison Of Feather Pigments In Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoenicus) Between Historical And Modern Samples, Genevieve Nuttall

University Scholar Projects

Coloration is vital to birds; it is involved in mating, territorial display, communication, camouflage, and predation. Birds rely on their environment for the raw materials necessary to make most colors present in their feathers. As a result, habitat quality can have lifetime fitness consequences through the color pathway. Widescale habitat change has affected the quality of habitats accessible to birds worldwide. Consequently, the availability of pigment-containing resources within many altered habitats has shifted, leading to modification in the coloration of some birds’ feathers. I hypothesized that the red pigmentation in the feather shoulders, or epaulets, of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius …

Comparison Of Feather Pigments In Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoenicus) Between Historical And Modern Samples, Genevieve Nuttall

Honors Scholar Theses

Coloration is vital to birds; it is involved in mating, territorial display, communication, camouflage, and predation. Birds rely on their environment for the raw materials necessary to make most colors present in their feathers. As a result, habitat quality can have lifetime fitness consequences through the color pathway. Widescale habitat change has affected the quality of habitats accessible to birds worldwide. Consequently, the availability of pigment-containing resources within many altered habitats has shifted, leading to modification in the coloration of some birds’ feathers. I hypothesized that the red pigmentation in the feather shoulders, or epaulets, of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius …

Sandhill And Whooping Cranes, Jeb Barzen, Ken Ballinger

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

As sandhill crane populations continue to grow in the United States, so too does crop damage, property damage to homeowners, and the risk of crane collisions with aircraft. Whooping crane populations also continue to grow, but with a global population of about 500 individuals (as of 2017), damage is rare and problems often require different solutions due to the species’ endangered status. The behavioral characteristics and habitat needs of sandhill and whooping cranes set the stage for conflict between these birds and people. Recognizing behavioral differences between territorial and non-territorial cranes greatly improves the effectiveness of any management effort.

Human-Wildlife …

The North American Geese: Their Biology And Behavior, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

The eight currently recognized species of North American geese are part of a familiar group of birds collectively called waterfowl, all of which are smaller than swans and generally larger than ducks. They include the most popular of our aquatic gamebirds, with several million shot each year by sport hunters. Our two most abundant waterfowl, the Canada goose and snow goose, have populations collectively totaling about 15 million individuals. Like swans, the lifelong pairbonding of geese, their familial care, and prolonged social attachment to their offspring are legendary. Their seasonal migratory flights sometimes span thousands of miles, and the sight …

Regional Evolutionary Distinctiveness And Endangerment As A Means Of Prioritizing Protection Of Endangered Species, Emily K. Brantner

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation is costly, and choices must be made about where to best allocate limited resources. I propose a regional evolutionary diversity and endangerment (RED-E) approach to prioritization of endangered species. It builds off of the evolutionary diversity and global endangerment (EDGE) approach, but will allow conservation agencies to focus their efforts on species in specific regions. I used the RED-E approach to prioritize mammal and bird species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), as well as to make a ranking of species without ESA critical habitat (CH), as a practical application. Regional conservation approaches differ significantly from global …

Gene Loss, Adaptive Evolution And The Co-Evolution Of Plumage Coloration Genes With Opsins In Birds, Rui Borges, Imran Khan, Warren E. Johnson, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Guojie Zhang, Erich D. Jarvis, Stephen J. O'Brien, Agostinho Antunes

Biology Faculty Articles

Background: The wide range of complex photic systems observed in birds exemplifies one of their key evolutionary adaptions, a well-developed visual system. However, genomic approaches have yet to be used to disentangle the evolutionary mechanisms that govern evolution of avian visual systems.

Results: We performed comparative genomic analyses across 48 avian genomes that span extant bird phylogenetic diversity to assess evolutionary changes in the 17 representatives of the opsin gene family and five plumage coloration genes. Our analyses suggest modern birds have maintained a repertoire of up to 15 opsins. Synteny analyses indicate that PARA and PARIE pineal …

Breeding Birds Of Virginia, Bryan D. Watts

Virginia Journal of Science

Virginia supports a diverse community of breeding birds that has been the focus of investigation for more than 400 years. The avifauna reflects the latitudinal position of the state and the fact that the border extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains. A total of 224 species have been recorded breeding in Virginia, 214 of which are extant. Twenty species have colonized the state since 1900 including 14 since 1950. Of all extant species, 102 (48%) are considered common at least somewhere in the state and 64 (30%) are rare to very rare. Diversity varies by physiographic region …

At Home And At Large In The Great Plains: Essays And Memories, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This volume presents fourteen essays (some updated) that originally appeared in Prairie Fire, a monthly free newspaper that for seven years (as of 2015) has carried important messages of social, environmental, and economic issues in a mature and nonpartisan manner to tens of thousands of residents of Nebraska, western Iowa, eastern Colorado, and southern South Dakota, and by mail to subscribers in the rest of the world. These essays discuss the North American east-west ecological boundaries, spring migration events, birds at the bird feeder, feathered survivors of a glacial past, the threatened sharp-tailed grouse of Nebraska and South Dakota, and …

The Birds Of Nebraska, Revised Edition 2013, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This summary of the birds of Nebraska has been restricted to those species that have been convincingly reported at least once in Nebraska from historic time to the present. It has also been modified in its current revision to conform very closely in that regard to the most recent Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union’s “Official List of the Birds of Nebraska” (Brogie, 2010; NOU Records Committee, 2011 and annual updates). The N.O.U.’s official state list of birds (455 species as of 2013, including 329 “regular” species, 42 of “casual” occurrence, 68 accidentals, and six extinct or extirpated species) is based on actual …

Birds And Birding In Wyoming’S Bighorn Mountains Region, Jacqueline L. Canterbury, Paul A, Johnsgard, Helen F. Downing

Zea E-Books Collection

The Bighorn Mountains consist of a relatively well-isolated north-south mountain range in north-central Wyoming that had their origins during the early Cenozoic era, 50-65 million years ago. The present-day Bighorn range is more than 100 miles in length and has a maximum elevation of 13,167 feet (Cloud Peak), only slightly less than the highest peak in Wyoming (Gannett Peak, at 13,804 feet). The mountains are flanked to the west by the Bighorn River basin, and to the east by the Powder River basin, both of which support only semi-desert vegetation dominated by sagebrush. Elevations of the Powder River basin near …

For The Birds, Milan Bull

Wrack Lines

A new column about shore birds, starting with piping plovers.