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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Genetic And Morphological Variation Of Butterflies In Relict Habitats, Lindsay A. Crawford
Genetic And Morphological Variation Of Butterflies In Relict Habitats, Lindsay A. Crawford
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Habitat fragmentation and loss are leading threats to global biodiversity and can alter patterns of dispersal, population dynamics, and genetics with implications for long-term species persistence. Most habitat fragmentation research has focused on recently fragmented species that historically occupied interconnected habitat patches. We know comparatively little about how naturally fragmented species may respond to habitat loss. For these species, local habitat patch quality may influence the dynamics and genetics of populations more than the structure of the surrounding landscape (e.g., degree of isolation of suitable habitat). I examined aspects of the ecology and evolution of populations inhabiting fragmented landscapes, using …
Local Adaptation To Climate Change In A Calcareous Grassland System, Catherine Ravenscroft
Local Adaptation To Climate Change In A Calcareous Grassland System, Catherine Ravenscroft
Biology - Dissertations
Annual manipulations of temperature and rainfall have been maintained in intact calcareous grassland since 1993 at the Buxton Climate Change Impacts Laboratory (BCCIL) in northern England (UK). Here I investigated the role of local adaptation as mechanism of the apparent resistance of species' to long-term climate manipulations at BCCIL using a common forb, Plantago lanceolata. Plantago lanceolata is a rosette-forming, perennial herb of wide-ranging distribution, and one of the more common forbs in calcareous grasslands, including BCCIL. In the first study I used a common garden approach to test for evidence of selection for different suites of functional traits in …
Population Demographics And Genetics Of Spix's Disk-Winged Bat: Insights Regarding Survival, Mate Choice, Gene Flow And Effective Population Size, Michael Buchalski
Population Demographics And Genetics Of Spix's Disk-Winged Bat: Insights Regarding Survival, Mate Choice, Gene Flow And Effective Population Size, Michael Buchalski
Dissertations
Simultaneous study of the demographics and genetics of populations are relatively rare within the literature, despite insights their combined use offers regarding the life history, ecology, and evolution of species. Here I take a comprehensive approach, using capture-recapture data, polymorphic microsatellite markers, and various modeling techniques to examine the demographics and genetics of multiple local populations of Spix’s disk-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) in southwestern Costa Rica. T. tricolor is a highly gregarious, neotropical bat species known to form kin-based social groups with high retention of offspring of both sexes. The implications of this highly unusual social structure for …
Genetic Structure Of The Florida Key Tree Cactus, Pilosocereus Robinii, Using Restriction Site Associated Dna (Rad) Markers, Tonya D. Fotinos
Genetic Structure Of The Florida Key Tree Cactus, Pilosocereus Robinii, Using Restriction Site Associated Dna (Rad) Markers, Tonya D. Fotinos
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Rare plant conservation efforts must utilize current genetic methods to ensure the evolutionary potential of populations is preserved. One such effort involves the Key Tree Cactus, Pilosocereus robinii, which is an endangered columnar cactus native to the Florida Keys. The populations have precipitously declined over the past decade because of habitat loss and increasing soil salinity from rising sea levels and storm surge. Next-generation DNA sequencing was used to assess the genetic structure of the populations. Twenty individuals representative of both wild and extirpated cacti were chosen for Restriction Site Associated DNA (RAD) analysis. Samples processed using the HindIII …
Parentage Analysis And Conservation Genetics Educational Material For The Eastern Hellbender Salamander, Cryptobranchus Alleganiensis Alleganiensis, Sarah A. Chudyk
Parentage Analysis And Conservation Genetics Educational Material For The Eastern Hellbender Salamander, Cryptobranchus Alleganiensis Alleganiensis, Sarah A. Chudyk
Master's Projects
Populations of the Eastern hellbender salamander, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis, are declining, making this a species of special concern in New York State and under consideration for Federal Endangered Species listing. As a result of this decline, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Buffalo Zoo initiated a headstarting program with an egg mass found in the Allegheny River drainage. The juveniles being raised by the Zoo will be released back into the watershed and so understanding the genetic diversity and parentage of these hellbenders will inform the reintroduction efforts. Furthermore, in order to determine how to …
Genetic Population Structure Of Us Atlantic Coastal Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis), David T. Gauthier, Corinne A. Audemard, Jeanette E. L. Carlsson, Tanya L. Darden, Michael R. Denson, Kimberly S. Reece, Jens Carlsson
Genetic Population Structure Of Us Atlantic Coastal Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis), David T. Gauthier, Corinne A. Audemard, Jeanette E. L. Carlsson, Tanya L. Darden, Michael R. Denson, Kimberly S. Reece, Jens Carlsson
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
Genetic population structure of anadromous striped bass along the US Atlantic coast was analyzed using 14 neutral nuclear DNA microsatellites. Young-of-the-year and adult striped bass (n = 1114) were sampled from Hudson River, Delaware River, Chesapeake Bay, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Analyses indicated clear population structure with significant genetic differentiation between all regions. Global multilocus F-ST was estimated at 0.028 (P < 0.001). Population structure followed an isolation-by-distance model and temporal sampling indicated a stable population structure more than 2 years at all locations. Significant structure was absent within Hudson River, whereas weak but significant genetic differences were observed between northern and southern samples in Chesapeake Bay. The largest and smallest effective striped bass population sizes were found in Chesapeake Bay and South Carolina, respectively. Coalescence analysis indicated that the highest historical gene flow has been between Chesapeake Bay and Hudson River populations, and that exchange has not been unidirectional. Bayesian analysis of contemporary migration indicated that Chesapeake Bay serves as a major source of migrants for Atlantic coastal regions from Albemarle Sound northward. In addition to examining population genetic structure, the data acquired during this project were capable of serving as a baseline for assigning fish with unknown origin to source region.