Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Human-Bat Interactions In A Disease Emergence Hotspot: Implications For Human Health And Bat Conservation, Reilly Tempest Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bats are an ecologically important taxon that can host zoonotic pathogens. Globally, many bat species are synanthropic and live closely with humans, often roosting in man-made structures. The spatial overlap between humans and bats creates opportunities for human-bat contact, which can lead to human exposure to bat-borne pathogens and conflicts that cause bat mortality. Despite this risk, little is known about the drivers and characteristics of these human-bat interactions in buildings and work is needed to understand this aspect of the wildlife-urban interface. In Chapter I, I present a literature review that identifies the geographic and taxonomic trends in reported …

The Influence Of Climate And Landscape On Allocapnia Mohri Distribution In Arkansas, Brianna Leigh Annaratone

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stoneflies are a globally threatened aquatic insect order. In Arkansas, a diverse group of winter stonefly (Capniidae: Allocapnia) have not been surveyed since the 1980s, likely because species-level identification requires the rarely-collected adult form. Allocapnia mohri, a regional endemic, was previously commonly found in mountainous, intermittent streams from the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion north to the Ozark Highlands, but no species distributional models including land use or climate variables exist to our knowledge. We collected adults from 70 stream reaches from the historic Arkansas range from November to April 2020 and 2021. We modeled distributions using random forest (RF) models populated …

Shedding In The Timber Rattlesnake: Natural Patterns, Endocrinological Underpinnings, Temporal And Energetic Effort, And Integration As A Reptilian Life History Trait, Maxwell D. Carnes-Mason

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The semi-frequent replacement of the epidermis (ecdysis) is a characteristic trait of reptiles. Whereas all reptiles regularly engage in some degree of skin shedding, skin morphology in snakes necessitates the synchronous replacement of the entire epidermis and facilitates the subsequent removal of the old layer as a single sheet. To date, the ubiquitous process has garnered little attention from researchers because snakes shed with unpredictable timing and frequency and are exceedingly cryptic during ecdytic cycles; previously impeding detailed physiological or ecological investigations of the process in the clade. Because of the lack of study, ecdysis is often viewed as a …

Effects Of Maternal Disease History On Provisioning, Brooding, And Offspring Outcomes, Sakura Roberts

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Disease within a population has the ability to shape the development, evolution, and general performance of a species. Pathogen exposure to hosts can influence their physiology and behavioral patterns to further shape offspring immunity. Parental conditions experienced by offspring during early development can benefit survival and fitness (e.g. increasing provisioning rates), as well as help deter against similar diseases experienced by parents. By testing if parental behavior changes can better prepare offspring outcomes for disease exposure, such as disease severity or duration of infection, we can see the beneficial impacts it has on disease dynamics and host-pathogen processes. Incubation temperature, …

Patterns Of Evolutionary Conservation And Divergence In The Short-Term Hyposalinity Stress Response Of A Euryhaline Diatom, Skeletonema Marinoi, Kathryn Judy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Survival under fluctuating environmental conditions, such as those increasing in frequency and magnitude under environmental change, requires a successful response to stress. Interspecific differences in stress responses may result in differential survival of species, even within a lineage. Diatoms may constitute one such lineage, as salinity tolerance among extant species is diverse, and the observation of frequent historic habitat transitions between marine and freshwater environments indicates that diatoms successfully mitigated (low) salinity stress in the past, followed by adaptation and diversification over evolutionary time scales. To understand to what extent the diatom hypoosmotic stress response consists of conserved and variable …

Seasonality Of Orthohantavirus Seroprevalence In Northwest Arkansas Rodents, Amy Schexnayder

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Zoonotic viruses are viruses that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Rodent species are likely to be reservoirs for zoonotic viruses, and particular rodent-borne viruses, such as orthohantaviruses, may greatly threaten human health. Orthohantaviruses are a group of rodent-borne viruses that are at risk for spillover to human populations. Many aspects of orthohantaviruses have been well-researched, yet the seasonality of orthohantaviruses has not yet been thoroughly examined, especially in the southern United States. In this study, we captured 616 rodents trapped over 5953 trap nights across 13 grassland sites in Northwest Arkansas. Rodents were trapped for two consecutive nights …

Impact Of Genetic Variation And Timescale On Diatom Salinity Stress Response, Kala M. Downey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural environments are dynamic, and organisms must sense and respond to changing conditions. One common way organisms deal with stressful environments is through gene expression changes, allowing for stress acclimation and resistance which occurs over varying time spans in different species. The recent evolutionary history of populations could greatly influence their ability to respond successfully. An evolutionary history in disturbed or fluctuating conditions could promote increased resistance or a more rapid response to these environmental stressors. To understand the impact of genotypic variation and timescales on response and acclimation to salinity changes, we have been exploiting the abilities of euryhaline …

Life After Death – Does Carcass Biodiversity Scale With Carcass Body Size?, Troy Warfield

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mammals play a large role in the ecosystems where some, especially large-bodied mammals, act as ecosystem engineers. Mammal carcasses, particularly those of large body mass act as a temporary island of dense nutrients that support other organisms, including other mammal species, for an extended period. Research in this field currently focuses on the link between mammal carcass size and nutrient availably or on non-mammalian size and biodiversity, but little is available on the correlation between mammal carcass size and its influence on ecosystem biodiversity. Here we ask, does the available biomass (i.e., body size) of the carcass affect its role …

Using Community Science To Assess The Effect Of Wing Pattern And Weather On Butterfly Behavior, Abbigail Merrill

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Signaling in insects is used as communication and for attraction of mates. The physical appearance of the insect as well as conditions such as weather can play a role in visual signaling, by influencing the wavelengths of light available, and subsequent signal detection. We do not know, however, whether signals butterflies present broadly correlate with how they behave. In this study, we looked at the wing patterns and behavior of butterflies in Northwest Arkansas over a 3.5-year period to assess the relationship between wing pattern, weather, and behavior. We used observational data collected by hundreds of University of Arkansas students …

Examining The Invasion Of Bush Honeysuckle Through A Phylogenetic Analysis, Phoebe Bruffett

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The mechanisms underlying the continual spread of invasive plants within their respective non-native ranges is a major focal point to invasion research. Many theories have been proposed to understand these invasions, each with different implications for the predicted range for invasive plants. Lonicera maackii provides an exceptional opportunity to examine the effectiveness of these theories to explain the trends of invasive plants. Lonicera maackii is native to eastern Asia, but has invaded much of the eastern United States, presenting a severe threat to the health of forest and other natural areas. Recent analysis of the climatic envelopes uncovered a significant …

Investigating The Potential Role For The Nervous System In Controlling Regeneration In Nematostella Vectensis, Kristen Malir

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nematostella vectensis is a marine sea animal that has become a model for developmental and evolutionary research. Included in the phylum Cnidaria, N. vectensis’ was chosen as the model for this research. Not only can this animal go through asexual and sexual reproduction, but it also has the ability to regenerate. Although much research has been put forth in an effort to understand regeneration better, much is still unknown. The underlying mechanisms of regeneration in Cnidaria are illusive; however, studies within vertebrates have shown the substantial role of the nervous system. The objective of this experiment is to test if …

Climate-Driven Impacts On Himalayan Aquatic Biodiversity: A Case Study Involving Snowtrout (Cyprinidae: Schizothorax), Riri Wiyanti Retnaningtyas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring biodiversity, to include its relative dispersal and contraction, has become a conservation task of great importance, particularly given the catastrophic and ongoing loss of habitat due to climate change. However, the timing, direction, and magnitude of these rates vary across taxa and ecosystems. Predicting specific impacts of climate change can thus be difficult and this, in turn, hampers management action. Metrics are needed to not only quantify contemporary requirements of species, but also predict potential distributions that fluctuate in lockstep with climate.

Montane ecosystems in the Himalayas are highly impacted by climate change, yet remain largely understudied due to …

Of Biodiversity, Boundaries, And Distribution: The Myxomycetes Of The Philippines And Beyond, Sittie Aisha Bustamante Macabago

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains a compilation of independently performed studies primarily focusing on the myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds) from the Philippines and integrating local and worldwide data to demonstrate regional and global trends. The major themes include the following: (I) a review of the diverse group of spore-producing amoeboid protists, including the myxomycetes; (II-IV) diversity assessments in three different groups of islands in the Philippine archipelago; (V) mapping the myxomycetes found in the Philippines for databasing and analyzing the geocoded data; (VI) a study on regional boundaries, including the Philippines, using myxomycete species composition; and, (VII) creating a global species distribution …

The Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Stream Communities: The Convergence Of Drought, Nutrient Pollution, And Invasive Species, Robert Joseph Fournier Iii

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Freshwater systems experience multi-faceted degradation from a variety of ecological and environmental stressors. Three common stressors in these systems, drought, nutrient pollution, and invasive species, have wide-ranging effects on stream population- community- and ecosystem dynamics. We have a broad understanding of how each of these stressors works to influence stream systems independently. However, we still know relatively little about if, and how, these stressors might interact when they co-occur. Though drought is a natural part of many stream systems, all three of these stressors can be exacerbated or facilitated by anthropogenic actions. Accordingly, as human population and resource use continue …

Neogene And Quaternary Events Shaped Diversification And Speciation In Bhutanese Rheophilic Fishes Of The Family Nemacheilidae (Cypriniformes) And Sisoridae (Siluriformes), Karma Wangchuk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biogeography of the Himalayan region [to include the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP)] evolved over a ~30M year span, catalyzed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The resulting uplift produced major ecological and climatic effects, that in turn drove the diversification of biodiversity. As a result, the QTP is designated as a global biodiversity hotspot particularly vulnerable to cumulative climatic effects, including shrinking distributions, declining numbers, and local extinctions. Understanding how the biodiversity within the Himalaya/ QTP was established and maintained is a necessary first step in prioritizing conservation efforts.

Fishes in global montane regions, such as the Himalaya, …

Effects Of Long-Term Variation In Temperature On Reproductive Phenology In A Population Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Paul Pleiman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between multiple temperature variables, to include annual and pre-lay date temperatures with first-egg and mean first-egg lay dates of the eastern bluebird at the Warner Parks in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Data is collected by citizen scientists for the Eastern Bluebird Nesting Box Project while visiting artificial nest boxes throughout the park and recording observations made during the breeding season. Temperature data is retrieved from the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering’s Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) Climate Group, based at Oregon State University. The analyses showed no correlation between annual or pre-lay …

Genetic Relationships Using Mitochondrial Versus Nuclear Markers: Is The Catfish Rag1 Gene Suitable For Species Differentiation In The Family Pangasiidae?, Huong Thanh Hoang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Mekong River located in Southeast Asia is a global “hotspot” for aquatic biodiversity. It includes an extensive variety of fish species second only to the Amazon River in South America. Recent studies have revealed the impacts of anthropogenic and climate factors on this river system. Such impacts can result in the formation of barriers, which divide a species population and impede gene flow between separated sub-populations. Barriers influence evolutionary trajectories resulting in the generation of geographic variants or subspecies from an ancestral population. Catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) are a key species of the Mekong River ecosystem and are an essential …

Mammal Species Inventory Using Various Trapping Methods In Zone 4 Of Billy Barquedier National Park, Belize During Rainy Season, Mersady Redding

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Belize is a small country, but it is extremely ecologically diverse. Based on the few studies conducted in Belize, the abundance of mammals is low but diversity is high. Particular findings note the number and identity of species differed between four sites in the Maya Mountains of Belize, indicating that a data set from a single site is not representative of the Neotropical region. Insufficient data is available to estimate current species richness of many areas in Belize, including Billy Barquedier National Park (BBNP). The objective of this study was to explore trapping and documentation methods of terrestrial mammals in …

Observations And Applications Of Husbandry Methodologies On A Backyard Poultry Farm In Dangriga, Belize, Bailey Carpenter

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study explores the husbandry methodologies on a backyard poultry farm in Dangriga, Belize, with the purpose of producing a set of guidelines for backyard poultry growers that have limited resources in similar regions. The majority of data collection occurred through survey questions approved by the IRB, necropsies approved by IACUC, and general observations. There has been a steady increase in poultry production in developing regions due to its positive effects on income and relative nutrition. However, due to a lack of accessible communication and education regarding effective and safe poultry production, these operators typically see poor productivity and/or profitability …

The Diversity Of Terrestrial Mammals Surrounding Waterfall At Billy Barquedier National Park, Kelsey Johnson

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Billy Barquedier is a National Park located in the Stann Creek district of Belize that contains Neotropical vegetation and wildlife. This study was performed in order to provide a baseline inventory and appearance frequency patterns of the terrestrial mammals located within Zone 1 of the park near a waterfall. The goal of the data and information collected during this study is to gain a greater understanding of the biodiversity and activity patterns of terrestrial mammals within the park and across Belize as a whole. The use of camera traps, small Sherman live traps, large live traps, and tracking methods were …

Phylogeny Of The Orangethroat Darter (Etheostoma Spectabile) Species Complex In The Ozark Highlands Of Arkansas, Mckenna George

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Darters are small, benthic fishes that live in freshwater rivers and streams and belong to the family Percidae. Pleistocene glaciations fragmented many darter species, resulting in speciation, but new species are often hard to detect if they are morphologically identical to pre-existing species. Intraspecific hybridization and resulting introgression, which occur frequently in glaciated areas, further complicate identification by introducing heterospecific genomes into mitochondrial DNA, making it difficult to accurately resolve phylogenetic relationships. The results of Bossu and Near’s 2009 study highlight this issue, showing a large degree of incongruence between mitochondrial and nuclear gene trees.

This study analyzed samples from …

Relationships Between Nutrients, Periphyton Abundance, And Benthic Macroinvertebrate Scrapers In Ozark Highland Streams, Harrison Smith

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

We collected samples from seven Arkansas streams during the months of August 2014 and February 2015 with the objective of determining possible relationships between nutrients, periphyton abundance and benthic macroinvertebrates. We hypothesized that periphyton would be positively associated with nutrients, and that increases in periphyton biomass would increase the abundance and diversity of benthic scraper families. Samples were collected from three transects at each site. The periphyton was analyzed for carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and ash free dry mass and Chl-a content. Macroinvertebrates families belonging to the feeding group of grazers/scrapers were compared with water column and periphyton nutrient concentrations, as …

Stream Benthic Algal Relationships With Multi-Metric Indices Of Sensitivity, Exposure, And Vulnerability To Watershed Land Use Change, With An Emphasis On Unconventional Natural Gas Development, Hannah J. Verkamp

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Unconventional natural gas (UNG) is harvested using a unique fossil fuel extraction method that uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques. The combined methods have expanded the industry both nationally and globally, and development has the ability to transform landscapes and impact freshwater resources. Natural gas wells are often near streams, yet substantial knowledge gaps remain as to how and the extent to which development affects surface waters. Stream algal biomass can respond positively to anthropogenic stressors associated with different types of land use, including agriculture. Benthic algal biomass can also positively correlate with UNG well density and proximity to …

Response Of Leukocyte Profiles To Corticosterone Manipulation In The Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus Viridus), Jill E. Guillette

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prior work has shown that when animals are stressed they have altered leukocyte profiles. The use of leukocyte profiles could provide an inexpensive and efficient method for determining stress. Here we present a validation of the use of leukocyte profiles for showing induced stress in Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridus). Snakes (N=19) with masses ranging from 682g to 137g were used in a repeated measures design to examine the effect of hormone manipulation on leukocyte profiles. During each trial snakes were dosed with either corticosterone and sesame oil (1.1µg/g) or only sesame oil. Prior to dosing, baseline blood samples …

An Inventory Of Endemic Leaf Litter Arthropods Of Arkansas With Emphasis On Certain Insect Groups And Diplopoda, Derek Alan Hennen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Endemic arthropods of Arkansas were sampled and their nomenclature and distributions were updated. The Arkansas endemic species list is updated to 121 species, including 16 species of millipedes. A study of the millipedes of Arkansas was undertaken, and resulted in the first checklist and key to all millipede species in the state. 68 species are known from Arkansas, including the genera Cylindroiulus and Polydesmus. The first state records for Ophyiulus pilosus, Cylindroiulus sp., and Ptyoiulus coveanus are reported, and new county records are reported for 16 species. This represents the first key to a state's species since 1980, and the …

The Reproductive Ecology Of The Timber Rattlesnake, Crotalus Horridus, In Northwestern Arkansas: Interactions Between Environment, Steroid Hormones, And Life History, Craig Michael Lind

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I examined the relationship between individual energetic status, hormone production, and life history trait expression in field-active Timber Rattlesnakes, Crotalus horridus. In chapter one I reviewed what is known regarding these relationships in snakes and defined major research goals. In chapter two I described the seasonal profile of testosterone (T) and corticosterone (CORT) in relation to the breeding season and to individual energetic status in males. Results showed that the seasonal pattern of T production in C. horridus was different than other pit viper species with similar mating patterns. Testosterone was elevated in the months leading up …

Management Of A Primordial Problem: Redox-Sensitive Transcriptional Regulation In Methanosarcina Acetivorans, Ryan Christopher Sheehan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primordial Earth which hosted the first forms of life was an environment free of oxygen. Early organisms utilized metabolisms dependent upon anaerobic conditions and incorporated systems to which oxygen is deleterious. As the content of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere increased, anaerobic organisms had to acquire methods to sense and combat oxygen and reactive oxygen species. Several mechanisms were advantageous to such anaerobic organisms which correlated transcriptional processes with the redox state of the cell so that energy may be conserved and oxygen stress recovery genes activated during periods of oxidative stress. Iron sulfur (Fe-S) cluster cofactors incorporated within RNA …

Survival, Abundance, And Geographic Distribution Of Temperate-Nesting Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis) In Arkansas, Margaret Eliese Ronke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Temperate-nesting Canada geese in Arkansas have grown in abundance and range since reintroduction in the 1980s. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission uses harvest and other methods to maintain the population at desired levels. However, continued management of temperate-nesting geese requires knowledge of the population's demographics and current range to help establish quantifiable management goals.

To assess the need and effect of changing hunting regulations, survival and recovery rates and abundance were estimated for this population. Annual survival rates of temperate-nesting Canada geese banded and recovered in Arkansas from 2005 to 2011 were estimated using the Burnham joint live-dead recovery …