Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Linking Husbandry And Behavior To Enhance Amphibian Reintroduction Success, Luke Jack Linhoff

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wildlife in captivity has a long history of benefiting global conservation goals. Captive animals can raise awareness and appreciation for the conservation of endangered species. Additionally, captive animals can be used as source populations to reintroduce animals back to the wild or to supplement existing wild populations. The rapid increase in amphibian species threatened with imminent extinction has necessitated the creation of dozens of captive-breeding programs. The focus of this dissertation has integrated topics across the spectrum of animals in captivity and the wild, and the results provide useful recommendations for conservation action. First, I describe how market pressures over …

Using Introduced Species Of Anolis Lizards To Test Adaptive Radiation Theory, James T. Stroud

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive radiation – the proliferation of species from a single ancestor and diversification into many ecologically different forms – has long been heralded as an important process in the generation of phenotypic diversity. However, the early stages of adaptive radiation are notoriously elusive to observe and study. In this dissertation, I capitalize on communities of introduced non-native Anolis lizards as analogues of early stage adaptive radiations. In Chapter II, I begin by reviewing the concept of “ecological opportunity” – a classic hypothesis put forward as a potential key to understanding when and how adaptive radiation occurs. In Chapter III, I …

Examining Movement And Habitat Selection Of Everglades Fishes In Response To Seasonal Water Levels, Gregory J. Hill

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fish distribution patterns and seasonal habitat use play a key role in the food web dynamics of aquatic ecosystems, including the Florida Everglades. In this study I examined the fine scale habitat shifts and movements of spotted sunfish, Lepomis punctatus across varying seasons and hydrologic conditions using in-situ field enclosures and Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) systems. Data on fish use of three dominant Everglades marsh habitats and activity level were recorded continuously from January to August, 2015. Fish were more active and had the highest use of higher elevation habitats when water levels rose during an experimental reversal in mid-April. …

Effects Of Catastrophic Seagrass Loss And Predation Risk On The Ecological Structure And Resilience Of A Model Seagrass Ecosystem, Robert J. Nowicki

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As climate change continues, climactic extremes are predicted to become more frequent and intense, in some cases resulting in dramatic changes to ecosystems. The effects of climate change on ecosystems will be mediated, in part, by biotic interactions in those ecosystems. However, there is still considerable uncertainty about where and how such biotic interactions will be important in the context of ecosystem disturbance and climactic extremes.

Here, I review the role of consumers in seagrass ecosystems and investigate the ecological impacts of an extreme climactic event (marine heat wave) and subsequent widespread seagrass die-off in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Specifically, …

Non-Consumptive Effects Of Predators In Coral Reef Communities And The Indirect Consequences Of Marine Protected Areas, Laura Catano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Predators exert strong direct and indirect effects on ecological communities by intimidating their prey. Non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators are important features of many ecosystems and have changed the way we understand predator-prey interactions, but are not well understood in some systems. For my dissertation research I combined a variety of approaches to examine the effect of predation risk on herbivore foraging and reproductive behaviors in a coral reef ecosystem. In the first part of my dissertation, I investigated how diet and territoriality of herbivorous fish varied across multiple reefs with different levels of predator biomass in the Florida Keys …