Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Book Review: Habitantes De La Obscuridad (Fauna Ibero-Balear De Las Cuevas) – Inhabitants Of The Darkness (Ibero-Baleric Fauna Of Caves), Oana Teodora Moldovan

International Journal of Speleology

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Red Mangrove (Rhizophora Mangle) Recruitment And Retention Dynamics On Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Reefs In A Subtropical Estuary, Noreen Selma Mathews

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mangroves are invading oyster reefs in areas no longer impacted by winter freezes and completely transforming them into mangrove islands. The mechanisms influencing the transition between these two habitat states remain unclear. Here, I test experimentally whether oyster reef (Crassostrea virginica) structure directly facilitates red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) propagule capture via differences in propagule retention and successful mangrove establishment. In addition to oyster reef structure, I compared physical reef features of size, elevation, and wind-wave exposure to uncover whether these traits influenced mangrove retention. Recently- abscised red mangrove propagules were inserted onto 21 oyster reefs across 5 sites in Tampa …

Why The Delay In Recognizing Terrestrial Obligate Cave Species In The Tropics?, Francis G. Howarth

International Journal of Speleology

“Nothing could possibly live there!” They believed. Indeed, until recently, few specialized cave- adapted animals were known from volcanic, tropical, or oceanic island caves, and plausible theories had been put forward to explain their absence. But assume nothing in science! One must illuminate, explore, and survey habitats before declaring them barren. Our understanding of cave biology changed dramatically about 50 years ago following the serendipitous discovery of cave-adapted terrestrial arthropods in Brazil and on the young oceanic islands of the Galápagos and Hawai‘i. These discoveries and subsequent studies on the evolutionary ecology of cave animals have revealed a remarkable hidden …

Worldwide Distribution Of Cave-Dwelling Chelodesmidae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida), Rodrigo Salvador Bouzan, Jackson C. Means, Kaloyan Ivanov, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Antonio Domingos Brescovit, Luiz Felipe Moretti Iniesta

International Journal of Speleology

Chelodesmidae is one of the most species rich families within the Myriapoda. However, little is known regarding their association with caves. We provide a list of all Chelodesmidae taxa reported from caves, map their worldwide distribution, and discuss the troglomorphic features of the group. A total of 25 species and subspecies from 20 genera and 2 subfamilies have been recorded from 59 caves and cave systems in 11 countries. These numbers represent a surprisingly modest proportion (~3%) of the approximately 800 described species in the family. Records of cave-dwelling chelodesmids appear to be geographically biased with most taxa reported from …

Quantifying Environmental Sensitivity Of Marine Resources To Oil Well Blowouts In The Gulf Of Mexico, Emily Chancellor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on oil spill risk assessment techniques historically utilized for coastal resources (e.g., environmental sensitivity indices (ESIs), vulnerability assessments, species-specific vulnerability frameworks) and their application and expansion to offshore resources found in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Additional included techniques (e.g., multi-sector trade-off analysis, marine spatial planning (MSP) software) provide support in decision making processes regarding the potential siting of oil production sites and/or the withdrawal of areas from oil and natural gas production. Chapter 1 included an overview and justification for this study. Chapter 2 demonstrated an initial methodology for the creation of offshore ESIs and how …

The Nitrogen Dynamics Of Deer Cave, Sarawak, And The Role Of Bat Caves As Biogeochemical Sinks In Tropical Moist Forests., Joyce Lundberg, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Guy Van Rentergem

International Journal of Speleology

A better understanding of the role of bat caves as nitrogen sinks in tropical moist forest ecosystems can be expected to shed light on regional and spatial variability in nutrient recycling studies. We measured the nitrogen flux (in air and water) associated with a very large Chaerephon plicata bat colony in Deer Cave, Borneo, in the process generating a new, quantitative, estimate of the total bat population (774,828 ±48,320), and the first detailed modelling of an ammonia plume in a cave. Long-term storage of N does not occur in this wet cave. Our final budget numbers indicate that, of the …

Algae And Cyanobacteria In The Aphotic Habitats Of Veternica Cave (Medvednica Mt., Croatia) And Selected Caves Of The Dinaric Karst (South-Eastern Europe), Najla Baković, Tanja Pipan, Robert Baković, Roman Ozimec, Josip Rubinić, Renata Matoničkin Kepčija

International Journal of Speleology

Microphototrophs (algae and cyanobacteria) in karst environments have been intensively studied in aquatic epigean habitats. In recent decades knowledge about the communities inhabiting cave entrances and lampenflora has grown substantially, but the data about the communities in aphotic cave zone are scarce. This study aimed to investigate spatio-temporal presence of microphototrophs in the aphotic zone of Veternica Cave (Mt. Medvednica karst) and to present additional preliminary data from 22 caves of the Dinaric karst. The data were collected over ten years, in parallel with research on cave phagotrophic protists. In addition to the remains of microphototrophs, living algae and cyanobacteria …

Investigating Students' Interpretations Of Ecological Food Webs, Christopher Neil Grissett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To better prepare undergraduate students for current and future biological challenges, scientists, educators and researchers in the Vision and Change report recommended five core conceptual areas essential for the improvement of biological literacy, one of which is biological systems. Systems are an identified core concept that may help promote biological literacy. One example of a system that students have difficulty understanding is an ecological food web, which consists of parts or components interacting with one another to perform a given phenomenon. The intricacies of this system tend to confuse students and can produce naïve conceptions that could hinder future learning …

Recreational Caving Impacts Of Visitors In A High-Altitude Cave In Bolivian Andes: Main Effects On Microhabitat Structure And Faunal Distribution, Lais Furtado Oliveira, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Jaime Iván Rodríguez Fernández, Marconi Souza Silva

International Journal of Speleology

The cave’s physical environment can be affected by tourism activities but only a few studies evaluated how recreational use may affect the cave fauna, mainly in caves with a low number of visitors per year. To test the hypothesis that recreational use led to changes in habitat structure and invertebrate diversity, distinct scales along a cave were analyzed. Distinct areas with and without human visitation were analyzed and transects (10 x 3 m) and quadrats (1 x 1 m) were used to access the invertebrate communities and environmental traits. Thirty-two invertebrate species were recorded, among which six are troglobitic. The …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Parent And Family Engagement In Higher Education Measure, Michelle R. Mcnulty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the history of higher education in the United States, parents and family members of college students have often found themselves as obsolete to the postsecondary experience. Minimal research has been dedicated to understanding the experience of parents and family members of college students until the millennial generation began their collegiate years (Harper et al., 2012; Wartman & Savage, 2008). In consideration of a new generation of college students (i.e., Gen Z) and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is crucial to illuminate the complexities of parent and family engagement in higher education and the needs of …

Using Fine-Scale Aquatic Habitat Data To Construct Dreissenid Sdms In The Laurentian Great Lakes, Grace C. Henderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The invasion of the Laurentian Great Lakes by aquatic invasive species (AIS) has been the subject of investigation for decades, due to their dramatic alterations to the ecosystem and high economic costs. Two AIS with the largest impacts are dreissenid zebra and quagga mussels, and though these species have been studied extensively, questions remain about what factors control their distributions, and whether lake warming will alter these distributions. Species distribution models (SDMs) offer a powerful tool to examine the relationship between species presences and environmental variables, which are typically bioclimactic data. The creation of the Aquatic Habitat (AqHab) dataset containing …

Quantitative Assessment Of The Trophic Ecology Of The Oceanic Ctenophore, Bolinopsis Infundibulum, In Monterey Bay, California, Victoria C. Scriven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bolinopsis infundibulum is a wide-ranging, ubiquitous ctenophore whose fragile nature makes the collection of specimens and quantification of key predator-prey activities in controlled laboratory experiments, challenging. Thus, in situ methods often represent the best means for data collection. However, while present in surface waters, these animals can also be abundant at depths well beyond those attainable by divers. As a result, very little empirical data exist over the depth range of their natural habitats which limits our ability to assess key predator-prey interactions needed to assess their ecological role in midwater food webs. Working in Monterey Bay, California, remotely operated …

Monitoring Photosynthetic Activity Using In Vivo Chlorophyll A Fluorescence In Microalgae And Cyanobacteria Biofilms In The Nerja Cave (Malaga, Spain), Yolanda Del Rosal, Juan Muñoz-Fernández, Paula S.M. Celis-Plá, Mariona Hernández-Mariné, Félix Álvarez-Gómez, Salvador Merino, Félix L. Figueroa

International Journal of Speleology

The characterization of the most common photosynthetic biofilms in the Nerja Cave by the continuous monitoring of the in vivo chlorophyll a (Chl a) fluorescence and the incorporation of the irradiance as a new environmental variable related to previous studies in the cave, have allowed us to improve our knowledge about the photosynthetic pattern of the biofilms of the cave. Effective quantum yield (ΔF/F_m′) and relative electron transport rate (rETR) were determined during periods of the light, whereas the maximal quantum yield (F_v /F_m) was determined during dark periods. Increases in …

The Ecological Role Of Cassiopea In Shallow Mangrove Habitats, David Marcel Durieux

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea sp., can be locally abundant in shallow mangrove habitats throughout the tropics and subtropics. Unlike other jellyfish, Cassiopea sp. are epibenthic. Due to this unique lifestyle and their ability to achieve high population densities, an understanding is needed of their ecological impacts both individually and in aggregations, particularly given that Cassiopea sp. ranges are expanding poleward due to global climate change. We quantified the fluid flow produced by Cassiopea sp. feeding currents and found that an average-sized Cassiopea sp. can transport over 200 l/h of water in the vertical excurrent jet of their feeding current. Populations of …

Ubiquitous Yet Inconspicuous: Quantifying Trophic Impact Of A Widespread Oceanic Comb Jelly (Ctenophore), Elizabeth Potter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The oceanic lobate ctenophore Ocyropsis spp. has a widespread distribution throughout the world’s tropical and sub-tropical oceans. While patchy, Ocyropsis spp. population densities are known to exceed one individual per m3. Studies of coastal ctenophores have shown that some species are capable of exerting strong predatory impacts on their ecosystems, but little is known about the potential trophic impacts of their oceanic relatives. Many oceanic genera such as Ocyropsis, Bolinopsis, and Eurhamphaea exhibit morphologies and prey capture mechanisms that are different from the more well-studied coastal species. Thus, existing data on coastal taxa may not apply to oceanic species due …

Ecological Genomics Of Two Coastal Foundation Plant Species, Jeannie Mounger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I was born and raised in rural Florida on a tributary of the Withlacoochee River. “Withlacoochee” comes from a series of Muscogee Creek words that together mean “big little water,” possibly owing to the seasonal fluctuations in the breadth and flow of the river or to the chain of lakes that in part form it. The name contains within it an understanding of the capacity of land and water to undergo great shifts. It conjures images of mutable boundaries, of water covering and receding across the landscape over and over again. Many of my clearest memories from childhood are related …

Machine Learning For Species Habitat Analysis, Abigail Lavallin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Management and conservation initiatives will always be controlled by finite resources, whether financialor temporal. Understanding a species’ spatial ecology, and how its requirements vary across habitats and locations is key to a successful species management plan. During recent decades, it has been noted how many species populations have declined, despite conservation practices working to increase their numbers. The most prevalent impacts affecting fauna populations have come from anthropogenic change in the form of habitat loss and destruction, along with fragmentation, and global climate change. There is a clear need for management practices to now operate on an entire landscape instead …

Evolutionary Mechanisms For Host Resistance To Tumor Growth And Subsequent Cancer Cell Counter-Adaptations, Arig Ibrahim Hashim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is well-recognized as an evolutionary system, as first proposed by Cairns and Nowell more than 60 years ago. In an evolutionary context, cancers growing in vivo typically consist of heterogeneous subpopulations of cells that interact with each other and with host cells through selection forces operating at many temporal and spatial scales. Moreover, the tumor environment comprises more than just cancer cells; it includes a rich cancer stroma and cancer-driving molecules such as cytokines and metabolites. The tumor’s environment comprises intratumoral heterogeneity that often leads to therapy resistance attributed to the essential roles of many genetic and nongenetic mechanisms. …

Synthesis Of A Multimodal Ecological Model For Scalable, High-Resolution Arboviral Risk Prediction In Florida, Sean P. Beeman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) represent the two greatest endemic arboviral risks to the state of Florida. Currently, no approved human vaccine exists for the prevention of either virus. In the absence of a vaccine, effective disease surveillance is paramount for public health. In Florida, WNV and EEEV sentinel chicken surveillance is conducted by mosquito control programs operated at the county, municipality, or special taxing district level. This program was implemented in 1978 following human outbreaks of St. Louis Encephalitis virus (SLEV) that occurred between 1959 and 1977, with initial sentinel coops placed in proximity …

Do Different Relevance Attributes Indicate The Same Conservation Priorities? A Case Study In Caves Of Southeastern Brazil, Maysa F.V.R. Souza, Denizar A. Alvarenga, Marconi Souza-Silva, Rodrigo L. Ferreira

International Journal of Speleology

In the last decade, the scientific community brought to the debate gaps that slow down the advance of knowledge regarding global biodiversity. More recently, this discussion has reached subterranean environments, where these gaps are even more dramatic due to the relict and vulnerable nature of their species. In this context, we tested ecological metrics related to some of these gaps, checking if the biological relevance of the caves would change depending on ecological attributes related to each metric. The study was carried out in caves from southeastern Brazil, located in a region presenting a high richness of troglobitic species restricted …

Molecular Phylogeny Of Cave Dwelling Eremogryllodes Crickets (Orthoptera, Myrmecophilidae) Across Zagros Mountains And Southern Iran, Mohadeseh Sadat Tahami, Mina Hojat-Ansari, Anna Namyatova, Saber Sadeghi

International Journal of Speleology

Recently, several new species and subspecies from the genus Eremogryllodes Chopard, 1929 (Insecta: Orthoptera: Myrmecophilidae) inhabiting caves of Iran, have been described based on morphology. The high variation of genitalia structure along with high similarity of external morphology between populations hamper the precise species identification. Thus, molecular approaches are critical to determine the taxonomic positions of species/subspecies of this genus. Here we provide the molecular phylogeny, based on the 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene, of recently described species of Eremogryllodes along with some unidentified specimens from the same region. The results support the monophyly of the family Myrmecophilidae. The topology of …

The Effects Of Agrochemical Pesticide Applications On Target And Off-Target Species In Aquatic Ecosystems, Bryan K. Delius

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The increase in the global human population is driving agricultural expansion, which increases the likelihood and degree by which agrochemicals impact aquatic systems. It is projected that by 2100 the global human population will exceed 11 billion, and to feed the increased human population, the necessary increase in agricultural infrastructure is estimated to double irrigation, nearly triple fertilizer applications, and increase pesticide applications by tenfold. It stands to reason that wetlands impacts from agriculture are also likely to increase as the industry expands its operation to meet the globally growing demand for food.

Wetlands are highly productive habitats that not …

Cave-Dwelling Heleomyzid Flies (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) From The Polish Caves. Historical Overview And New Data, Joanna Kocot-Zalewska, Andrzej J. Woźnica

International Journal of Speleology

This article details the analysed results of the recent study on heleomyzid flies (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) that occurred in the caves of Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. Additionally, all accessible information about those flies from the Polish caves has been compiled. In effect, 23 species from seven genera were identified. Among these determined species, one was considered as troglobiont, eleven as eutroglophiles, nine as subtroglophiles, and two as trogloxenes. Dominant species were Scoliocentra brachypterna, Heleomyza captiosa and Eccoptomera pallescens. The highest number of species has currently been found in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

Architectural Complexity Of Oyster Reefs: Evaluating The Relationship Between Interstitial Spaces And Macroinvertebrates, Elizabeth A. Salewski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how organisms utilize and interact with habitat features may improve predictions of habitat preferences and species interactions, and may assist in the development of conservation and management strategies. The architecture of a habitat provides a complex array of structural features that influences interactions between the abiotic and biotic factors, and impact the biodiversity and species abundance through altering recruitment patterns and the survival of associated fauna. Characterizing potential refugia however has been challenging with minimal attempts to measure interstitial space size and abundance in reef systems. Here, I present novel methodology utilizing 3D technology to characterize interstitial spaces within …

Epigenetic Potential In An Introduced Passerine, Haley E. Hanson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Epigenetic modifications play a critical role in numerous processes throughout the lifetime of an organism by influencing gene regulation. Responsive to both endogenous cues and external stimuli, epigenetic modifications are key mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. Epigenetic potential, or the capacity for phenotypic plasticity mediated by epigenetic modifications, can be encoded within the genome via genetic variation underlying aspects of epigenetic modifications. For example, one type of epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, predominately occurs at CpG motifs in vertebrates. The number of CpG sites within the genome then represents the capacity for DNA methylation to occur and is one form of epigenetic …

Mechanisms And Mitigation: Effects Of Light Pollution On West Nile Virus Dynamics, Meredith E. Kernbach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Light pollution, or the presence of unnatural light at night, is a pervasive and growing problem across the globe. While often pictured in urban centers, light pollution is far reaching and can affect seemingly safe and minimally developed environments. For example, agricultural communities with artificial lighting near facilities can generate such light pollution in rural areas. Further, streetlights and illuminated billboards along roads and highways can generate light pollution far from cities. Given how pervasive this anthropogenic stressor is, it is surprising that not much is known about how artificial light at night, or ALAN, affects humans or wildlife, especially …

The Distribution In Native Populations From Mexico And Central America Of The C677t Variant In The Mthfr Gene, Lucio A. Reyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To explore evolutionary hypotheses for the high frequencies of a substitution in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, in Mexican and Central American Indigenous populations.

Materials and methods: We obtained allele frequencies for the C677T variant in the MTHFR gene and ecological information for 37 indigenous samples from Mexico and Central America. We calculated Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and computed Fst statistics. We computed correlations between the samples' allele frequencies and ecological and geochemical variables.

Results: Many of the samples have extremely high frequencies of the T allele (q̄ = 0.62, median = 0.66). In this region, the frequency of the T …

Microhabitat Selection Of A Sicilian Subterranean Woodlouse And Its Implications For Cave Management, Giuseppe Nicolosi, Stefano Mammola, Salvatore Costanzo, Giorgio Sabella, Rosolino Cirrincione, Giovanni Signorello, Marco Isaia

International Journal of Speleology

Human activities in subterranean environments can affect different ecosystem components, including the resident fauna. Subterranean terrestrial invertebrates are particularly sensitive to environmental change, especially microclimatic variations. For instance, microclimate modifications caused by the visitors may directly affect local fauna in caves opened to the public. However, since numerous factors act synergistically in modulating the distribution and abundance of subterranean species, it remains challenging to differentiate the impact of human intervention from that of other factors. Therefore, evidence of the impact of tourism on cave invertebrate fauna remains scarce. Over a year and with approximately two visits a month, we investigated …

Shorebird Response To Human-Induced Changes At Three Pinellas County Beaches, Rebecca J. Ruthberg-Campagna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Worldwide, shorebird habitat is being destroyed and degraded by development and sea level rise. Shorebirds depend on availability of pristine, undisturbed coastal habitats for resting and feeding during migration as well as for reproduction. Migratory shorebirds using the East Atlantic Flyway visit the Gulf of Mexico Beaches of Pinellas County, Florida as a stopover site during Fall and Spring migration. In addition to hosting migratory species, Pinellas County beaches are home to several year-round resident species that breed during Summer. Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida, and its Gulf Coast is heavily developed with commercial and …

The Impact Of Bahiagrass (Paspalum Notatum) On Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon Reynoldsi) Movements, Chandler A. R. Eaglestone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi) is a federally threatened lizard precinctive to scrub habitat, a pyrogenic habitat that experiences fires infrequently. Plestiodon reynoldsi spends most of its time right under the sand surface, moving, or “sand swimming,” through the granular substrate found in Florida’s central ridges. While the distribution of this species has been greatly reduced, agricultural development of P. reynoldsi habitat has led to potentially suitable fragmented scrub occurring near bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) pastures. Bahiagrass is widely used as a pasture grass in sandy soils of the southeast United States, because of its deep …