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Behavior and Ethology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

The Effects Of Copper Exposure On Fish Locomotion And Predator-Prey Interactions, Tiffany N. Yanez Dec 2018

The Effects Of Copper Exposure On Fish Locomotion And Predator-Prey Interactions, Tiffany N. Yanez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study determined the effects of the copper water quality criterion (WQC) by the EPA on [1] swimming performance and [2] predator-prey interactions of the Sailfin Molly, across a salinity gradient. Fish acclimated to FW (0 ppt) and 8-ppt saltwater were exposed to 11.3 and 8.44 µg/L Cu for 96 h, respectively. At the end of the exposures, fish swimming performance was determined by using the critical swimming speed, Ucrit, the speed at which a fish cannot longer maintain position in the water column. Ucritwas then measured again after a 4-week depuration period to determine if …


Factors Affecting Green Turtle Foraging Ecology Across Multiple Spatial Scales, Elizabeth Rose Whitman Oct 2018

Factors Affecting Green Turtle Foraging Ecology Across Multiple Spatial Scales, Elizabeth Rose Whitman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The hierarchical levels at which resource selection occurs can have important consequences for individual and population energy budgets and structure the impacts of a forager on its ecosystem. Assessing factors affecting resource selection of large marine herbivores across scales is important because of their potentially large impacts on seagrass community dynamics and historical and current changes in their population sizes and those of their potential predators. I explored the factors (predation risk, resource abundance, quality and identity) affecting resource use of large marine herbivores (green turtles, Chelonia mydas) from the scale of habitat patches to forage species within patches. …


Linking Husbandry And Behavior To Enhance Amphibian Reintroduction Success, Luke Jack Linhoff Apr 2018

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 …


Impact Of Herbivory, Structural Complexity, And Sediment On Caribbean Coral Reefs, Alain Duran Mar 2018

Impact Of Herbivory, Structural Complexity, And Sediment On Caribbean Coral Reefs, Alain Duran

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The resilience of coral reefs depends, among others, upon local physical and biological characteristics. This dissertation focused on how herbivory, structural complexity, and sedimentation can impact the structure, function, and, ultimately, resilience of Caribbean coral reefs. We filled an important knowledge gap related to trophic niche and ecological roles of surgeonfishes (A. coeruleus and A. tractus), two of the most important herbivorous fishes in the Caribbean. We showed that both species feed primarily on turf algae preventing further progression of algal succession while A. tractus may also help reduce macroalgal abundance by targeting common macroalgal species such as …


A Confluence Of Invasion, Behavioral, And Theoretical Ecology: What Drives Ephemeral Metacommunity Re-Assembly?, Jesse Ryan Blanchard Mar 2018

A Confluence Of Invasion, Behavioral, And Theoretical Ecology: What Drives Ephemeral Metacommunity Re-Assembly?, Jesse Ryan Blanchard

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metacommunity theory has been particularly useful in understanding the way spatially structured communities assemble. Both niche and neutral processes are known to influence metacommunity assembly, and the relative influence of each depends on the level of dispersal-limitation. Contemporary trait-based analyses of metacommunity assembly have enhanced our understanding of these processes. Of the traits investigated, individual personalities have received the least attention, but have been suggested to be drivers of metacommunity assembly model parameters, such as dispersal tendencies and patch density. I address this topic from three angles, three chapters, in this dissertation. First, I used a three-year field survey of …


Using Introduced Species Of Anolis Lizards To Test Adaptive Radiation Theory, James T. Stroud Mar 2018

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 …