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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Biology

Preliminary Analysis Of The Ecology And Geography Of The Asian Nuthatches (Aves: Sittidae), Shaily Menon, Zafar-Ul Islam, Jorge Soberon, A. Townsend Peterson Dec 2008

Preliminary Analysis Of The Ecology And Geography Of The Asian Nuthatches (Aves: Sittidae), Shaily Menon, Zafar-Ul Islam, Jorge Soberon, A. Townsend Peterson

Peer Reviewed Publications

We explored distributions of Asian nuthatch species in ecological and geographic space using ecological niche modeling based on occurrence data associated with specimens and observations. Nuthatches represent a well-defined clade occurring throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but are most diverse in southern Asia where 15 of the 24 species occur and where the lineage is believed to have evolved. Species richness was focused in a narrow east-west band corresponding to the forested parts of the Himalayas with a maximum number of nine species predicted present in these foci. The distributional predictions have a mid-elevation focus with highest species diversity between 1,000 …


Disturbance As Restoration In The Intermountain Sagebrush Steppe: Effects On Non Target Bird Species, Russell Edward Norvell Dec 2008

Disturbance As Restoration In The Intermountain Sagebrush Steppe: Effects On Non Target Bird Species, Russell Edward Norvell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Changes in shrubsteppe passerine bird habitat associations in response to disturbance were investigated at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Spatial measures incorporated the effects of area at different ecological scales (nest site, territory, and landscape) to include ecologically meaningful extents. Temporal measures included seasonal and annual effects, and were designed to detect lagged responses should they occur. Local-to-landscape scale effects of mechanical restoration treatments on local extirpation and abundances of nine species indicated most were insensitive to changes in habitat quality, while abundance models showed only broad declines. Changing the availability of nesting habitat on both the attractiveness and quality …


A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Effects Of Wildlife Water Developments In The Western United States, Randy T. Larsen Dec 2008

A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Effects Of Wildlife Water Developments In The Western United States, Randy T. Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Free water can be a limiting factor to wildlife in arid regions of the world. In the western United States, management agencies have installed numerous, expensive wildlife water developments (e.g. catchments, guzzlers, wells) to: 1) increase the distribution or density of target species, 2) influence animal movements, and 3) mitigate for the loss of available free water. Despite over 50 years as an active management practice, water developments have become controversial for several species. We lack an integrated understanding of the ways free water influences animal populations. In particular, we have not meshed understanding of evolutionary adaptations that reduce the …


Garter Snake (Thamnophis) Natural History: Food Habits And Interspecific Aggression, Michael J. Edgehouse Dec 2008

Garter Snake (Thamnophis) Natural History: Food Habits And Interspecific Aggression, Michael J. Edgehouse

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Communication and recognition are closely intertwined and have been well documented in closely related species over the past several decades. These two types of behaviors often will aid in fostering or disrupting coexistence of similar species. Frequently, it is through different diet patterns that similar species will be able to coexist. This study uses data from 1972 through 2006 to demonstrate the diet of Thamnophis sirtalis, T. atratus, T. elegans, and T. couchii throughout their California range of sympatry with Taricha torosa. Additionally, an in depth examination of the diet of T. sirtalis, T. elegans, …


Review Of The "Online Dictionary Of Invertebrate Zoology" From Parasites And Vectors, Les Chappell Oct 2008

Review Of The "Online Dictionary Of Invertebrate Zoology" From Parasites And Vectors, Les Chappell

Armand R. Maggenti Online Dictionary of Invertebrate Zoology

This is a very useful dictionary, one which I wish I had had access to when, as an undergraduate student of zoology, I was required to consult Hyman’s intensely erudite prose and needed serious assistance in the explication of countless seemingly obscure terms. ... I therefore recommend that all invertebrate zoologists, old or young, mark the URL for this dictionary in their favourites section and use it whenever an unfamiliar (or even supposedly familiar) term is encountered or used.


The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant Apr 2008

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.


A New Reproductive Mode In The Genus Melanzophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) With Description Of A New Species From The State Of Paraná, Brazil, José A. Langone, Magno V. Segallo, Marcos Bornschein, Rafael O. De Sá Apr 2008

A New Reproductive Mode In The Genus Melanzophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) With Description Of A New Species From The State Of Paraná, Brazil, José A. Langone, Magno V. Segallo, Marcos Bornschein, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

A new species of bufonid toad of the genus Melanophryniscus is described from a mountaintop that is part of the Serra do Mar in the northeastern State of Paraná, Brazil. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. is distinguished from other known species by its uniformly dark brown dorsal color and a unique breeding site. The new species reproduces in bromeliads, a reproductive mode previously unknown for this genus. This species might be susceptible to current habitat lost.


Out Of South America: Multiple Origins Of Non-Native Apple Snails In Asia, Kenneth Hayes Jan 2008

Out Of South America: Multiple Origins Of Non-Native Apple Snails In Asia, Kenneth Hayes

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

Apple snails (Ampullariidae: Pomacea) native to the New World have become agricultural and environmental pests widely in southern and eastern Asia since their introduction in about 1980. Although their impacts have been extensively documented, considerable confusion persists regarding their identities and geographical origins. Efforts to resolve the confusion have suffered from inadequate taxonomic and geographical sampling from both native and introduced ranges. Using phylogenetic and genealogical methods, we analysed 610–655 bp of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I DNA sequences from 783 apple snails from 164 Asian locations and 57 native South American locations. In Asia, we found four species of …


Oviposition Behavior Partitions Aquatic Landscapes Along Predation And Nutrient Gradients, C. A. Binckley, W. J. Resetarits Jr. Jan 2008

Oviposition Behavior Partitions Aquatic Landscapes Along Predation And Nutrient Gradients, C. A. Binckley, W. J. Resetarits Jr.

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

That individuals attempt to minimize the ratio of mortality risk/growth rate (μ/g) when foraging within individual habitat patches is well established. Do species partition among spatially discrete communities embedded in complex landscapes in a similar manner? We investigated how 3 ovipositing species (2 Hyla treefrogs and a hydrophilid beetle, Tropisternus lateralis) responded to simultaneous gradients of nutrients and predation risk. Species partitioned our experimental metacommunity primarily by reducing oviposition with fish. Tropisternus positively responded to increased nutrients, but the effect decreased with increasing risk, as predicted by μ/g theory. Use of fish habitats by Tropisternus was unrelated to breeding …


Population Ecology Of The Golden Mouse, Robert K. Rose Jan 2008

Population Ecology Of The Golden Mouse, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

An understanding of the population dynamics of a species requires knowledge of the major life-history parameters of a population, including age at maturity, distribution of age classes, and lifetime reproductive contribution of the sexes, sex ratio, length of the breeding season, mean litter size, rates of growth and survival, and life span. Because few long-term studies have been conducted with Ochrotomys nuttalli as the focal species of investigation, only fragmentary information is available for many population parameters. As importantly, densities of golden mice often are low, making them difficult to evaluate statistically. Little has been published on age at maturity …


Swimming Dynamics And Propulsive Efficiency Of Squids Throughout Ontogeny, Ian K. Bartol, Paul S. Krueger, Joseph T. Thompson, William J. Stewart Jan 2008

Swimming Dynamics And Propulsive Efficiency Of Squids Throughout Ontogeny, Ian K. Bartol, Paul S. Krueger, Joseph T. Thompson, William J. Stewart

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Synopsis Squids encounter vastly different flow regimes throughout ontogeny as they undergo critical morphological changes to their two locomotive systems: the fins and jet. Squid hatchlings (paralarvae) operate at low and intermediate Reynolds numbers (Re) and typically have rounded bodies, small fins, and relatively large funnel apertures whereas juveniles and adults operate at higher Re and generally have more streamlined bodies, larger fins, and relatively small funnel apertures. These morphological changes and varying flow conditions affect swimming performance in squids. To determine how swimming dynamics and propulsive efficiency change throughout ontogeny, digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) and kinematic …