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Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Biology
Dolphin Behavioral Responses To Uncrewed Aerial Systems As A Function Of Exposure, Height, And Type, Savannah Damiano
Dolphin Behavioral Responses To Uncrewed Aerial Systems As A Function Of Exposure, Height, And Type, Savannah Damiano
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) are becoming a standard tool in the study of cetaceans, however, a comparative assessment of animal responses to UAS has not been established to gauge the most effective systems for cetacean study. We utilized Dolphin Quest Bermuda’s eleven bottlenose dolphins as subjects for such an investigation taking place over five weeks in 2022 and five weeks in 2023. The dolphins were evaluated for investigative behavioral responses to six off-the-shelf UAS types and a custom fixed wing system. Each UAS was flown in decreasing height vertically above the main dolphin lagoon to evaluate dolphin behavioral responses in …
Importance Of The Microhabitat And Microclimate Conditions In The Northern Gray-Cheeked Salamander (Plethodon Montanus) Across An Elevation Gradient, Trevor Chapman
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The southern Appalachian Mountains have among the highest salamander diversity in the world, largely due to local speciation in the family Plethodontidae. Plethodontid salamanders (i.e., lungless salamanders) are particularly sensitive to habitat climate conditions due to their reliance on cutaneous respiration, and their immediate environmental conditions (microhabitat) likely influence their dispersion and activity more than the large-scale atmospheric conditions. The Northern Gray-cheeked salamander (Plethodon montanus) is restricted to high elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between P. montanus and its microhabitat by examining behavioral preference for climatic conditions, characterizing the microclimate with …
Stop, Then Go! Rapid Acceleration Offsets The Costs Of Intermittent Locomotion When Turning In Florida Scrub Lizards, Cheyenne Walker
Stop, Then Go! Rapid Acceleration Offsets The Costs Of Intermittent Locomotion When Turning In Florida Scrub Lizards, Cheyenne Walker
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Intermittent locomotion is a commonly used escape strategy with a wide array of potential benefits. Pausing may aid in locating a predator, crypsis, lowering energy costs, and avoiding obstacles. Turning may also benefit from intermittent locomotion by allowing an animal time to assess its surroundings; therefore, decreasing the chances of making a mistake and/or stumbling. Florida scrub lizards live in environments with a variety of obstacles such as turns. The goal of this study is to quantify the locomotor behavior and performance by lizards while navigating a 45° or 90° turn. Lizards were run along both a 45° and 90° …
Effects Of Anthropogenic Light And Noise On Anuran Breeding Behavior, Ashley Kobisk
Effects Of Anthropogenic Light And Noise On Anuran Breeding Behavior, Ashley Kobisk
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The natural environment can be negatively impacted by a variety of human activities, including the production of artificial light at night and anthropogenic noise. Recent studies suggest that pollution from anthropogenic light and noise alters animal behavior. Despite being highly nocturnal and vocal animals, little attention has been given to anurans and the effects artificial light at night and anthropogenic noise have on their behavior. This study investigated the effects of artificial light at night and anthropogenic noise on anuran breeding systems in eastern Texas. Specifically, this study investigated whether (1) artificial light and anthropogenic noise altered calling behavior in …
Glare Reduction By Dark Facial Markings And Bills In Birds, Clara Lebow
Glare Reduction By Dark Facial Markings And Bills In Birds, Clara Lebow
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Avian facial plumage, bill coloration, and feather microstructure may serve one or more adaptive functions. Several researchers have proposed that dark eyestripes, bills, and facial masks aid in reducing glare, however, there have been relatively few tests of this hypothesis. Dark facial markings have been shown to have an adaptive glare-reduction function in recent field studies of a few species, but this hypothesis has never been tested in a broad multispecies analysis. It is likely that feather microstructure influences feather brightness and has an effect on the efficacy of glare reduction properties of feathers. I examined the link between dark …
The Potential For Dickeya Dianthicola To Be Vectored By Two Common Insect Pests Of Potatoes, Jonas K. Insinga
The Potential For Dickeya Dianthicola To Be Vectored By Two Common Insect Pests Of Potatoes, Jonas K. Insinga
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Dickeya dianthicola (Samson) causing blackleg and soft rot was first detected in potatoes grown in Maine in 2014. Previous work has suggested that insects, particularly aphids, may be able to vector bacteria in this genus between plants, but no conclusive work has been done to confirm this theory. In order to determine whether insect-mediated transmission is likely to occur in potato fields, two model potato pests common in Maine were used: the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decimlineata Say) and the green peach aphids (Myzus persicae Sulzer). Olfactometry and recruitment experiments evaluated if either insect discriminates between infected and …
Enemy Exacerbation: Effects Of Predator Stress On Sulfate Lethality In Freshwater Amphipods (Gammarus Minus), Trevor Chapman
Enemy Exacerbation: Effects Of Predator Stress On Sulfate Lethality In Freshwater Amphipods (Gammarus Minus), Trevor Chapman
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Predator cues can influence how aquatic organisms respond to anthropogenic contaminants. This study examined the effects of predator cues on behavior, metabolic rate, and sulfate (as Na2SO4) toxicity in amphipods (Gammarus minus). Predator cues included alarm cue (macerated conspecifics) and kairomone from mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis). Amphipods decreased activity and increased time in refuge when exposed to alarm cue, and increased time in refuge when exposed to kairomone. While median lethal concentrations (96-h LC50) were not influenced by predator cues, analysis of dose response curves indicated that kairomone exposure increased amphipod …
Sources Of Ecologically Important Trait Variation In Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis And Gambusia Holbrooki), Heather Ann Arnett
Sources Of Ecologically Important Trait Variation In Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis And Gambusia Holbrooki), Heather Ann Arnett
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The study of contemporary evolution and eco-evolutionary dynamics is classically defined in terms of genetic evolution, but the actual suite of processes driving contemporary trait change is likely much more complex than often credited. This dissertation considers additional mechanisms of trait change that might be important to an emerging model system for study of contemporary evolution and eco-evolutionary dynamics. Specifically, the research focuses on phenotypically plastic and demographic trait variation in Eastern and Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis and G. holbrooki) facing the major ecological gradient of predation risk. Plasticity experiments employed a common-garden rearing design to manipulate fish …
The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns
The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Nest sanitation is an important aspect of parental investment in birds with altricial nestlings. Passerine nestlings produce fecal matter that is encased in a mucous membrane for easy disposal. These fecal sacs are either removed from the nest and transported a distance away or they are ingested by the adult. A decline in fecal sac ingestion rates as nestlings age has been observed in several species. The parental nutrition hypothesis posits that this pattern can be attributed to increasing digestive efficiency as nestlings age. The parental nutrition hypothesis makes three predictions: fecal sac consumption rates should decrease as nestlings age, …
Explaining Migratory Behaviors Using Optimal Migration Theory, Jennifer D. Mccabe
Explaining Migratory Behaviors Using Optimal Migration Theory, Jennifer D. Mccabe
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movements between breeding and nonbreeding grounds. In general, birds that breed in the Northern Hemisphere tend to migrate northward in the spring to take advantage of increasing insect populations and lower predation pressures and fly south when food availability and weather conditions decline. Embarking on a journey that can stretch a thousand miles round trip is a dangerous and arduous undertaking. While en route migrants must stop and feed to replenish their depleted energy reserves, often in unfamiliar locations with unknown predation pressures. They also must react to weather conditions during flight and while …
An Agent-Based Model Of Ant Colony Energy And Population Dynamics: Effects Of Temperature And Food Fluctuation, Guo Xiaohui
An Agent-Based Model Of Ant Colony Energy And Population Dynamics: Effects Of Temperature And Food Fluctuation, Guo Xiaohui
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The ant colony, known as a self-organized system, can adapt to the environment by a series of negative and positive feedbacks. There is still a lack of mechanistic understanding of how the factors, such as temperature and food, coordinate the labor of ants. According to the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE), the metabolic rate could control ecological process at all levels. To analyze self-organized process of ant colony, we constructed an agent-based model to simulate the energy and population dynamics of ant colony. After parameterizing the model, we ran 20 parallel simulations for each experiment and parameter sweeps to find …
Adaptive Strategies For Foraging And Their Implications For Flower Constancy, Or: Do Honey Bees Multitask?, Ashley E. Wagner
Adaptive Strategies For Foraging And Their Implications For Flower Constancy, Or: Do Honey Bees Multitask?, Ashley E. Wagner
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Classical experiments on honey bee time-memory showed that foragers trained to collect food at a fixed time of day return the following day with remarkable time-accuracy. Previous field experiments revealed that not all foragers return to a food source on unrewarded test days. Rather, there exist 2 subgroups: “persistent” foragers reconnoiter the source; “reticent” foragers wait in the hive for confirmation of source availability. To examine how these foragers contribute to a colony’s ability to reallocate foragers across sources with rapidly changing availabilities, foragers were trained to collect sucrose during a restricted window for several days and observed over 3 …
Tactical Escape Behavior And Performance Of A Small Sceloporine Lizard In Two High Risk Habitats, Seth Parker
Tactical Escape Behavior And Performance Of A Small Sceloporine Lizard In Two High Risk Habitats, Seth Parker
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The negotiation of uneven and complex terrain has implications for many small terrestrial vertebrates. Variation in the running surface due to obstacles like woody debris or vegetation can alter escape paths and running performance. Additionally, these microhabitat features can influence behavioral tactics in complex environments. The ability to negotiate physical barriers in dense environments likely influences survivorship through important ecological tasks, such as finding mates, foraging, and evading predators. The Florida scrub lizard (Sceloporus woodi) is a small, rare species endemic to two distinct and structurally complex environments in Florida, i.e. sand-pine scrub and longleaf pine-wiregrass sand-hills. The …