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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Systematics And Diversification Patterns Of Morphologically And Ecologically Diverse Lineages Of Agaricomycetes: Clavariaceae And Cantharellales, Joshua Mark Birkebak Dec 2015

Systematics And Diversification Patterns Of Morphologically And Ecologically Diverse Lineages Of Agaricomycetes: Clavariaceae And Cantharellales, Joshua Mark Birkebak

Doctoral Dissertations

The recent advent of molecular tools and methods to understand the diversity of living organisms allows for exploration of former untestable theories concerning the diversity of fungi. Here we assess the morphologically based classification of the family Clavariaceae in light of molecular phylogenetic reconstruction and propose a revised classification base on natural assemblages. We used stable isotope ratios to uncover a biotrophic nutritional mode for much of the family, which had not been well understood historically. We also investigate several enigmatic lineages of agaricoid or cantharelloid fruiting body producing fungi within a clade of otherwise clavarioid fruiting bodies. We provide …


Efficacy Of Visual Surveys For White-Nose Syndrome At Bat Hibernacula, Amanda Frances Janicki Dec 2015

Efficacy Of Visual Surveys For White-Nose Syndrome At Bat Hibernacula, Amanda Frances Janicki

Masters Theses

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) is an epizootic disease in hibernating bats caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Surveillance for P. destructans at bat hibernacula consists primarily of visual surveys of bats, collection of potentially infected bats, and submission of these bats for laboratory testing. Cryptic infections (bats that are infected but display no visual signs of fungus) could lead to the mischaracterization of the infection status of a site and the inadvertent spread of P. destructans. We determined the efficacy of visual detection of P. destructans by examining visual signs and molecular detection of P. …


Bats And Disease: Behavioral And Community Responses Of Southern Bat Populations During The White-Nose Syndrome Epizootic, Riley Fehr Bernard May 2015

Bats And Disease: Behavioral And Community Responses Of Southern Bat Populations During The White-Nose Syndrome Epizootic, Riley Fehr Bernard

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates regional differences in the behavior and activity of bats in eastern North America during the white-nose syndrome epizootic, specifically in the understudied region of the Southeastern United States. An introductory section provides a brief review of the history of white-nose syndrome, an emerging infectious disease in bats, and its introduction into North America. Chapter one provides the first documented evidence of bat activity outside of hibernacula throughout winter. The research presented in chapter two attempts to explain the variation in load and prevalence of P. destructans among species, sites and between years. Finally, chapter three examines the …