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Full-Text Articles in Biology

Integrating Habitat Suitability Modeling And Radio Telemetry To Describe Habitat Use Of The Western Massasaugas, Sistrurus T. Tergeminus, In Texas, Mitchell R. Barazowski Dec 2016

Integrating Habitat Suitability Modeling And Radio Telemetry To Describe Habitat Use Of The Western Massasaugas, Sistrurus T. Tergeminus, In Texas, Mitchell R. Barazowski

Biology Theses

Habitat suitability modeling using the software package MaxEnt (Phillips, Anderson, & Schapire, 2006) is a popular method for describing the habitat of rare species. MaxEnt uses “presence only” data to develop models; however presence data are highly skewed towards areas of high detection probability and these areas may not represent the full range of habitat use. Thusly, predictions from models developed using only data from areas with high detection probability may not represent all suitable habitat. This study tested the ability of MaxEnt models developed using three different data sets to accurately describe Western Massasauga (Sistrurus t. tergeminus) habitat at …


Assessment Of Behavior And Social Dynamics In A Newly-Forming Group Of Captive Western Lowland Gorillas, Sarah Murphey Huskisson May 2016

Assessment Of Behavior And Social Dynamics In A Newly-Forming Group Of Captive Western Lowland Gorillas, Sarah Murphey Huskisson

Graduate Theses

This study presents behavioral data of a recently-formed western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) group at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina, from the initial stages of group formation through the first several months after introduction. The group consists of a male (19 years), two half-sisters (both 10 years), and an unrelated female (20 years). I collected 15-minute focal animal samples for three hours twice a week in two observation blocks, the first lasting from 7/17/15 to 9/11/15, and the second lasting from 10/30/15 to 1/3/16. A total of 99.25 observation hours were collected. It was predicted that …


Sources Of Ecologically Important Trait Variation In Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis And Gambusia Holbrooki), Heather Ann Arnett Apr 2016

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 …


A Missing Link In The Ionoregulatory Strategy Of Larval Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus) And African Lungfish (Protopterus Annectens): A Closer Look Into The Role Of The Non-Gastric H+/K+-Atpase, Justine E. Doherty Jan 2016

A Missing Link In The Ionoregulatory Strategy Of Larval Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus) And African Lungfish (Protopterus Annectens): A Closer Look Into The Role Of The Non-Gastric H+/K+-Atpase, Justine E. Doherty

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Fishes living in freshwater need to actively compensate for the diffusive loss of ions and osmotic gain of water. The gill is the primary organ of ion regulation and contains an array of ion transport proteins to help maintain homeostasis. Two of the more well studied ion pumps are the Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) and vacuolar type proton ATPase (V-ATPase). This thesis focuses on another ion pump known as the non-gastric H+/K+-ATPase (ngHKA). The ngHKA (gene: atp12a) has not been found in any of the teleost fishes, indicating loss from that lineage. In …