Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

A Method For Estimating Marine Habitat Values Based On Fish Guilds, With Comparisons Between Sites In The Southern California Bight, Alan Bond, John Stephens, Daniel Pondella, James Allen, Mark Helvey

Alan B. Bond

Habitat valuation is an essential tool for tracking changes in habitat quality and in adjudicating environmental mitigation. All current methods for estimating habitat values of coastal marine sites rely heavily on the opinion of experts or on data variables that can readily be manipulated to influence the outcome. As a result, unbiased, quantitative comparisons between the values of different marine habitats are generally unavailable. We report here on a robust, objective technique for the valuation of marine habitats that makes use of data that are commonly gathered in surveys of marine fish populations: density, fidelity, and mean size. To insure …

Three New Hesperioidae (Hesperiinae) From South Carolina: New Subspecies Of Euphyes Bimacula, Poanes Aaroni, And Hesperia Attalus, Ronald R. Gatrelle

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Euphyes bimacula arbogasti is described as a new subspecies from Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. It is known from only a few widely scattered colonies in the coastal swamp forests of the southeastern United States from Georgia to southeastern North Carolina. It is darker then E. b. bimacula and E. b. illinois. Poanes aaroni minimus is described as a new subspecies from Bull Swamp, Orangeburg County, South Carolina. This unique inland subspecies is presently known only from the type locality. It is darker then P. a. aaroni and P. a. …

Tb175: A Numerical Method And Supporting Database For Evaluation Of Maine Peatlands As Candidtate Natural Areas, Ronald B. Davis, Dennis S. Anderson

Technical Bulletins

In Maine, non-tidal peatlands comprise the last major terrestrial ecosystem group remaining largely undisturbed by humans, and for which there still exists a full range of options for protection in near-pristine condition. To make the best choices of areas to protect, ecologically based prioritization of candidate natural areas is needed. This technical bulletin presents a quantitative method of evaluation of the natural features of peatlands—providing the fundamental tool for establishing peatland protection priorities. We apply the method to the evaluation of 76 Maine peatlands representing all the morphologic/hydrologic peatland types in the biophysical regions of the state.

Abalone Aquaculture In Western Australia : Policy Guideline., Fisheries Western Australia.

Fisheries management papers

Experimental or commercial abalone aquaculture is being pursued in many countries with major investments in The United States, Taiwan, China and Korea as well as in Australia. The combined total abalone aquaculture production from China and Taiwan was reported to be in the order of 2,000 tonnes and continues to rise. As cultured ‘cocktail’ abalone are below the legal harvest size of wild abalone, there will be limited competition between aquaculture and the wild fisheries.

Social Mechanisms Enhance Escape Responses In Shoals Of Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia Duboulayi, Culum Brown, Kevin Warburton

Aquaculture Collection

Shoaling behaviour has been shown to provide many benefits to group members. In this study we examined the ability of fish shoals to escape from a novel trawl apparatus. Fish in shoals of 5 found, and escaped through, a hole in the oncoming trawl more quickly than fish in pairs. Fish in the larger shoals displayed a significant decrease in escape latencies over a series of five trawls, providing clear evidence of net avoidance learning, whereas fish in pairs showed no evidence of learning over successive runs. Observations suggested that more information on the location of the escape route was …

Access To Another Mind: Naturalistic Theories Require Naturalistic Data, Mark A. Krause, Gordon Burghardt

Gordon Burghardt

If there is to be a natural theory of consciousness that would satisfy both philosophers and scientists, it must be based on naturalistic data and minimal clutter accumulated from semantic arguments. Carruthers offers a 'natural' theory of consciousness that is rather myopic. To explore the evolutionary basis of consciousness, a natural theory should include comparative psychological and neurological data that encompass nonlinguistic measures. Such an approach could provide a clearer picture of the adaptive function, mechanisms, and origins of consciousness.

Reciprocal Transplantation Of The Desert Soil Crust: Can It Be Done?, Christina D. Cole

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A 100 meter X 100 meter study site was chosen at White Rock Springs in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada. To examine Syntrichia caninervis, a desert crustal moss, reciprocal transplantations (20 mm and 40 mm diameter cores) were performed between shaded to shaded, exposed to exposed, and shaded to exposed microsites to determine if it was possible to transplant the study organism with reasonable survivorship. Transplants were inspected following rain events for percent hydration, number of dead stems, and change in percent cover. Data indicated that there was a low mortality rate of S. caninervis stems, and few …

Survey Of Amphibians And Reptiles In Powhatan County, Virginia With Selected Natural History Notes, Jason Daniel Gibson

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis establishes baseline data on the herpetofauna that exist in Powhatan county. No systematic study of the amphibians and reptiles in Powhatan county has ever been conducted. The methods used in this survey include hand capture, egg mass observations, road kill collections, and frog call surveys. Documentation of each species collected included measurements, photographs, range maps, and tape recordings.

This survey produced 8 species of salamanders, 11 anurans, 6 turtles, 4 lizards, and 14 snakes. Based on records in the Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Virginia (Mitchell & Reay, 1999), 11 new county records were discovered. This brings …

Differences In Bird Communities On The Forest Edge And In The Forest Interior: Are There Forest-Interior Specialists In Japan?, Reiko Kurosawa, Robert A. Askins

Biology Faculty Publications

Most North American bird species that are less successful in small forests than in large forests, are forest-interior specialists that winter in the tropics. These species have declined in small forests because of high rates of nest predation and brood parasitism near the forest edge. To determine whether migratory forest-interior specialists are also important components of bird communities in Japan, we surveyed bird populations on plots at the edge and in the interior of deciduous forests in Hokkaido and Kyoto. Surveys were conducted during the breeding season in forest fragments using the point count method. We calculated edge indices for …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 31 No.4 December 1999

The Prairie Naturalist

THE FISHES OF THE UPPER MOREAU RIVER ▪ T. M. Loomis, C. R. Berry, Jr., and J. Erickson

DO INTERNAL FIRE LANES AFFECT NEST DEPREDATION RATES IN PRAIRIES? ▪ K. A. Warren and M. R. Ryan

SPECIES COMPOSITION AND TROPHIC STRUCTURE OF INSECT COMMUNITIES IN TEXAS PRAIRIES. ▪ G. N. Cameron and E. H. Bryant

FIDELITY OF MALLARDS TO ARTIFICIAL NESTING STRl!CTURES ▪ T. Yerkes

OBSERVATIONS ON REPRODUCTION IN THREE SPECIES OF BATS ▪ D. W. Sparks, J. R. Choate, and R. J. Winn

EARLIEST SEASONAL RECORD OF REPRODUCTION IN THE HOARY BAT ON THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS ▪ T. …

Mp745: A Long-Term Study Of An Oak Pine Forest Ecosystem: A Brief Overview Of The Holt Research Forest, Jack W. Witham, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr., Hollis C. Tedford Iii, Alan J. Kimball, Alan S. White, Susan Elias Gerken

Miscellaneous Publications

This publication provides an overview of the long-term forest ecosystem project at the Holt Research Forest in Arrowsic, Maine. It is based on nearly 16 years of work by an interdisciplinary team from the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, including faculty, professional staff, visiting scientists, University of Maine graduate students, and undergraduate field assistants. We hope this publication will be useful to other researchers, to our workshop participants, and to others interested in forest ecosystem science.

Review Of The Western Australian Pilchard Fishery 12 -16 April 1999, K. L. Cochane

Fisheries management papers

A workshop was held on Monday 12 April 1999 at which presentations were made by representatives of Fisheries WA, speakers from other state fisheries agencies and the Western Australian (WA) pilchard industry. This workshop identified some of the key concerns in the assessment and management of the fishery. This report presents the conclusions reached by the reviewer at the end of the process, which were also presented to members of the WA pilchard fishing industry in Albany on Friday 16 April.

Analysis Of Age And Growth In Two Eastern Pacific Groupers (Serranidae: Epinephelinae), Matthew Craig, Daniel Pondella, John Hafner

Daniel Pondella

In an attempt to characterize species specific-growth rates of two Eastern Pacific groupers, individuals from two sympatric species, Epinephelus labriformis (n = 173), and Cephalopholis panamensis (n = 127), were collected at various localities in Mexico and the Galápagos archipelago in 1997 and 1998. Sagittal otoliths were removed, and age of each individual was determined by direct visual inspection of annuli present following sectioning. Length/weight relationships were determined, and growth curves were generated using the von Bertalanffy growth model. The two species demonstrated similar growth rates, yet, as determined by the von Bertalanffy parameters, E. labriformis tended towards a larger …

Comparative Taphonomy And Paleoecology Of A Glaciomarine Fauna, Carboniferous (Westphalian- Namurian) La Capilla Fm., Argentina, Rex A. Hanger, Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe

Virginia Journal of Science

The Carboniferous La Capilla Fm. of the Calingasta-Uspallata basin of western Argentina contains a low diversity fauna inhabiting a continental shelf under glacial ice fronts advancing from the east. Distal glaciomarine sediments on these ice-influenced shelves of Gondwana are most commonly interpreted as being deposited under quiet, low-energy conditions. Ta­phonomic and paleoecologic analysis of a sample of the fauna reveals the following: low species richness, yet comparable equitability to coeval, tropi­cal faunas; low articulation ratios and high pedicle valve dominance for brachiopods; diverse corrasion modes, about half relatively high categories; one hundred percent fracturing of brachiopod shells, with carinate fracture …

Predicting Flock Vigilance From Simple Passerine Interactions: Modelling With Cellular Automata, David B. Bahr, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Vigilance in flocks can be described and modelled as a plausible set of local interactions between neighbouring birds. Each bird in the modelled flock chooses to feed or to scan based solely on whether or not its neighbours are feeding or scanning. This simple model has the ability both to reproduce observations that have not been previously explained and to predict flock behaviours that might be confirmed with future field studies. Examples include simulations showing decreased vigilance with increased flock size (as observed in the field), greater time spent scanning when obstacles such as trees are present (as observed) and …

Fall 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Review Of A Classification Of North American Biotic Communities By David E. Brown, Frank Reichenbacher, Susan E. Franson, Robert B. Kaul

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This is the latest of many efforts over the past century to classify North America's natural, undisturbed biological communities as they existed in pre-agrarian times and in many places continue to exist today. Its authors' stated objective is to integrate existing works into a hierarchical synthesis that can lead to a standardized system for researchers, land managers, conservation groups, and government agencies. To that end, the authors have modified and expanded David Brown's earlier classification for the Southwest to cover the continent, defined here as the area from the Panama Canal to the Arctic, including Greenland and some of the …

Evolutionary Patterns Of Morphometrics, Allozymes And Mitochondrial Dna In Thrashers (Genus Toxostoma), Robert M. Zink, Donna L. Dittmann, John Klicka, Rachelle C. Blackwell-Rago

Ornithology Program (HRC)

We examined patterns of variation in skeletal morphometrics (29 characters), allozymes (34 loci), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction sites (n = 74) and fragments (n = 395), and mtDNA sequences (1,739 bp from cytochrome b, ND2, ND6, and the control region) among all species of Toxostoma. The phenetic pattern of variation in skeletal morphometrics generally matched traditional taxonomic groupings (based on plumage patterns) with the exceptions of T. redivivum, which because of its large size clusters outside of its proper evolutionary group (lecontei), and T. occelatum, which did not cluster with T. curvirostre. Skull characters contributed highly to species discrimination, suggesting …

Three-Dimensional Reconstructions Of Tadpole Chondrocrania From Histological Sections, Gary P. Radice, Mary Kate Boggiano, Mark Desantis, Peter M. Larson, Joseph Oppong, Matthew T. Smetanick, Todd M. Stevens, James Tripp, Rebecca A. Weber, Michael Kerckhove, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Reconstructing three dimensional structures (3DR) from histological sections has always been difficult but is becoming more accessible with the assistance of digital imaging. We sought to assemble a low cost system using readily available hardware and software to generate 3DR for a study of tadpole chondrocrania. We found that a combination of RGB camera, stereomicroscope, and Apple Macintosh PowerPC computers running NIH Image, Object Image, Rotater. and SURFdriver software provided acceptable reconstructions. These are limited in quality primarily by the distortions arising from histological protocols rather than hardware or software.

Review Of Population Biology Of Grasses, Thomas B. Bragg

Biology Faculty Publications

Population Biology of Grasses provides a wealth of knowledge beyond population biology that ecologists and ecosystem biologists will find relevant to their concerns, particularly those with an interest in grasslands. Though not limited to the Great Plains region, the book would make an excellent addition to the reference shelf of anyone interested in grasses and grassland-related ecosystems, including readers with an interest in land management and preservation. While the papers are written for different levels of readers, all provide information accessible to non-specialists.

The Impact Of Resident And Transient Predators On The Popultation Dynamics Of Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) In Florida Bay, Florida, Jason Edward Schratwieser

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

There has been a considerable amount of research devoted to exploring the relationship between predators and prey, but many of these studies fail to address how predation can vary over spatial and temporal scales. The tendency of ecologists to model predation as a static entity often masks its capacity for creating distinctive effects in prey populations and communities. Most predation studies also focus on the effect of a single species of predator on a prey population, an unrealistic situation in nature. In the Florida Keys, juvenile spiny lobsters are subjected to two general classes of predators: i) "resident" predators such …

History Of Grassland Birds In Eastern North America, Robert A. Askins

Biology Faculty Publications

Until recently the severe decline in the populations of many species of grassland birds in eastern North America has aroused relatively little concern or conservation action. This response appears to be rooted in the perception that grassland birds invaded the East Coast from western grasslands after European settlers cleared the forest. Detailed historical accounts and analysis of pollen deposits, however, show that open grasslands existed on the East Coast of North America at the time of European settlement. Extensive grasslands resulted from burning and agricultural clearing by Native Americans. Natural disturbances, such as wildfire and beaver (Castor canadensis) activity, produced …

Comparing The Tadpoles Of Hyla Geographica And Hyla Semilineata, Anne D'Heursel, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

External morphology, internal oral anatomy, and chondrocranial anatomy were examined for tadpoles of Hyla geographica from the Amazon rainforest, Brazil, and Hyla semilineata from the Atlantic rainforest, Brazil. Here, we provide morphological larval data to help diagnose these closely related species. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of buccal morphology showed the most distinctive features between these species: the distance between the lingual papillae in the buccal floor of H. geographica is three times greater than that distance in H. semilineata, and the relative size of the lingual papillae in H. geographica is less than half their size in H. semilineata. Although …

Host-Driven Population Dynamics In An Herbivorous Insect, Tiina Ylioja, Heikki Roininen, Matthew P. Ayres, Matti Rousi, Peter W. Price

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the nature and relative importance of endogenous (density-dependent) and exogenous (density-independent) effects on population dynamics remains a central problem in ecology. Evaluation of these forces has been constrained by the lack of long time series of population densities and largely limited to populations chosen for their unique dynamics (e.g., outbreak insects). Especially in herbivore populations, the relative contributions of bottom-up and top-down effects (resources and natural enemies, respectively) have been difficult to compare because population data have rarely been combined with resource measurements. The feeding scars of a wood-mining herbivorous insect (Phytobia betulae Kangas; Diptera: Agromyzidae) of birch …

Celastrina Idella (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae): A New Butterfly Species From The Atlantic Coastal Plain, David M. Wright, Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

A new species of Polyommatinae, Celastrina idella, is described from the sandy Atlantic coastal plain of the eastern United States. It is presently known to occur from southern New Jersey through Georgia. Celastrina idella larvae have been recorded from four species of Ilex (holly). Celastrina idella is distinguished from sympatric C. ladon and C. neglecta by differences in larval host, flight period, pupal diapause, and adult size and wing characters. In the New Jersey pine barrens the butterfly is univoltine and flies in the spring between the flights of its sympatric congeners.

Development Of A Novel Method For Phenol Detection Using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography, Danette Young Carlton

Theses & Honors Papers

The purpose of this study was to develop a more efficient method to test for phenol in both wastewater and non-wastewater. Phenol is a caustic and toxic contaminant that may be present in our water supplies. Phenol is used in various resins, pharmaceuticals, plastics and disinfectants. Environmental Protection Agency methods are available to test for phenol using gas chromatography along with mass spectrometry or flame ionization detection. Each of these methods can be a long, involved process consisting of extraction, many sample injections, and interference problems. This method developed an easier and less complicated approach of testing for phenol in …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 31, No.3 September 1999

The Prairie Naturalist

HANTA VIRUS INFECTION IN NORTH DAKOTA SMALL MAMMALS: 1994,1995 ▪ R. W. Seabloom, J. J. Feist, and S L. McDonough

AMERICAN WOODCOCK IN COLORADO ▪ C. E. Braun

AVIFAUNA OF AN EARLY SUCCESSIONAL HABITAT ALONG THE MIDDLE MISSOURI RIVER ▪ D. L. Swanson

REPRODUCTIVE STATUS OF FLEA BEETLES IN NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ M. A. Brinkman and S. A. Clay

NUTRIENT AND ENERGY CHARACTERISTICS OF INVERTEBRATES FROM TWO LOCATIONS IN KANSAS ▪ S. G. Papon, R. J. Robel, and K. Kemp

BOOK REVIEWS

The Wood Warblers ▪ M. G. Knutson

A Fascination With Birds. ▪ J. A. Dechant …

Deliberate Introductions Of Species: Research Needs, John J. Ewel, Dennis J. O'Dowd, Joy Bergelson, Curtis C. Daehler, Carla M. D'Antonio, Luis Diego Gómez, Doria R. Gordon, Richard J. Hobbs, Alan Holt, Keith R. Hopper, Colin E. Hughes, Marcy Lahart, Roger R. B. Leakey, William G. Lee, Lloyd L. Loope, David H. Lorence, Svata M. Louda, Ariel E. Lugo, Peter B. Mcevoy, David M. Richardson, Peter M. Vitousek

Svata M. Louda Publications

Research questions about introductions

Several research questions need to be answered to help ensure that proposed introductions are done wisely and safely.

Guarding against risks without sacrificing benefits:
How can the potential benefits and costs of introductions best be evaluated in economic, environmental, and social terms?
Should all introductions be regulated?
How different must organisms or recipient ecosystems be from those assessed previously to warrant independent assessment?
When is it appropriate to assess and regulate taxa other than species?
What are appropriate ecological and political boundaries for regulation?

Alternatives to introductions:
How and when can indigenous organisms be domesticated so …

Summer 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Evidence Supporting The Recent Origin And Species Status Of The Timberline Sparrow, John Klicka, Robert M. Zink, Jon C. Barlow, W. Bruce Mcgillivray, Terry J. Doyle

Ornithology Program (HRC)

The Timberline Sparrow (Spizella taverneri), although originally described as a species, is currently classified as a subspecies of the more widespread Brewer's Sparrow (S. breweri). We investigated the taxonomic status and recent evolutionary history of these species by comparison of both morphological and molecular characters. Morphometric comparisons using 6 external and 18 skeletal measurements show that S. taverneri specimens from two widely separated populations (Yukon and southwestern Alberta, Canada) are indistinguishable with respect to size yet are significantly larger (by 3%) than representatives of several breweri populations. Analysis of 1,413 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for 10 breweri and …