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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Prescribed Fire Effects On Microbial Communities And Functions In Managed Ecosystems, Viet Dao
Prescribed Fire Effects On Microbial Communities And Functions In Managed Ecosystems, Viet Dao
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Microbes (both fungi and bacteria) serve important ecosystem functional roles in nutrient cycling and decomposition, which affect ecosystem response following disturbances such as prescribed fire. A multitude of abiotic and biotic factors influence microbial community compositions, which then drive microbial ecosystem functions. The factors driving microbial communities further change due to fire disturbances and progression with time. Although prescribed fire is commonly used as a technique for ecosystem management, the effects of fire on microbial communities or their functions are simply understudied. Ecosystem management decisions tend to focus on plant and ecosystem post-fire responses. Thus, incorporation of fire effects on …
Effects Of A Major Hurricane On Dynamics, Structure, And Composition Of Mississippi River Delta Forests, Lance C. Umlang
Effects Of A Major Hurricane On Dynamics, Structure, And Composition Of Mississippi River Delta Forests, Lance C. Umlang
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Tropical cyclones recurrently influence coastal forests worldwide. Tree survival (resistance) and post-cyclone recruitment (resilience) can vary with cyclone intensity, producing differences in composition, arboreal structure, and dynamics among affected forests. Studies of tropical cyclone wind effects on coastal forests typically emphasize damage more than post-cyclone responses. We hypothesized that intense cyclones might produce large, stratum-dependent effects that prevent affected forests from returning to pre-storm conditions. We explored direct effects of major Hurricane Katrina and post-hurricane changes in oak-dominated bottomland and cypress/tupelo-dominated swamp forests within the inactive portion of the Mississippi River deltaic plain. Overall mortality was high (14-25%) but concentrated …
Evaluation Of Reproductive Phenology, Space Use, And Ecology Of The Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) In West-Central Louisiana, Chad Argabright
Evaluation Of Reproductive Phenology, Space Use, And Ecology Of The Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) In West-Central Louisiana, Chad Argabright
LSU Master's Theses
Nest site selection is a driving demographic force behind eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) populations. However, previous research was likely not focused on the actual time of nest site selection, considering that nest site selection is likely only able to occur on the day of the first egg being laid. My objective was to determine if selection for any vegetation characteristics was occurring on the first day of laying. I estimated the path taken from the roost to the nest on the first day of egg laying (i.e., laying path) using GPS data collected from 164 unique …
Brood Abundance And Invertebrate Availability In Crop-Dominated Landscapes In The Prairie Pothole Region, Catrina V. Terry
Brood Abundance And Invertebrate Availability In Crop-Dominated Landscapes In The Prairie Pothole Region, Catrina V. Terry
LSU Master's Theses
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is the most important region for ducks in North America, producing over half the ducks on the continent, and it is a priority landscape for wetland and grassland conservation. Agricultural expansion has changed the PPR, and the majority of grasslands and potholes have been converted into row-crops. The loss of nesting habitat has directly caused nest success to decline. Most of the remaining wetlands are surrounded by row-crops, and are considered lower quality because they receive runoff of sediment and chemicals, which may decrease primary forage for young ducklings as well as inhibit wetland vegetation. …
Investigating Local Adaptation To Hypoxia Stress In The Eastern Oyster Through Comparative Transcriptomics, Heather Nichole Smith
Investigating Local Adaptation To Hypoxia Stress In The Eastern Oyster Through Comparative Transcriptomics, Heather Nichole Smith
LSU Master's Theses
Climate change represents one of the most important challenges to biodiversity, therefore it is important to understand the mechanisms that allow species to respond to rapid environmental change. Here, we compared two populations of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, from the Gulf of Mexico to study the mechanisms underlying hypoxia tolerance. Using a common garden experiment and comparative transcriptomics, we identified sets of genes involved in the hypoxia response and found differences in both the timing and baseline expression of hypoxia-responsive genes between tolerant and sensitive populations, consistent with a scenario of local adaptation. These genes include the signaling transcription factor …
Effects Of Wetland Management And Associated Abiotic Factors On Rare Plant Communities Of Spring-Fed Arid Wetlands, Antonio Cantu De Leija
Effects Of Wetland Management And Associated Abiotic Factors On Rare Plant Communities Of Spring-Fed Arid Wetlands, Antonio Cantu De Leija
LSU Master's Theses
Spring-fed arid wetlands support high biological productivity and are hotspots for endemism and distribution of rare plants, making them areas of high conservation value. These systems are driven by complex interactions among groundwater discharge and the geomorphic and climatic features of the setting, which provide gradients of edaphic conditions, particularly soil moisture and salinity that influence the presence and abundance of rare plant communities. However, spring-fed arid wetlands are at particular risk of increases in salinity and drier hydrological regimes due to anthropogenic activities. Such alterations to abiotic conditions may jeopardize the distribution and abundance of rare plants by exceeding …
Seasonal Variation In The Feeding Ecology Of Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus Albacares) From The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Mitchell Shay Lovell
Seasonal Variation In The Feeding Ecology Of Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus Albacares) From The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Mitchell Shay Lovell
LSU Master's Theses
Highly migratory fishes (e.g., tunas, billfishes, and sharks) play a significant role in the structure and function of open-ocean ecosystems and a better understanding of the food web dynamics that support their populations is essential to improve management and conservation. Here, I use complementary approaches (stomach contents, DNA barcoding, & stable isotopes) to examine seasonal variability in the feeding ecology of sub-adult (70 – 100 cm; n = 371) and adult (100 – 160 cm; n = 206) yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from the northern Gulf of Mexico over a one-year period (April 2019 – March 2020). Stomach …
Examining The Sustainability Of Restored Sub-Tidal Oyster Reefs In Coastal Louisiana, Sarah C. Leblanc
Examining The Sustainability Of Restored Sub-Tidal Oyster Reefs In Coastal Louisiana, Sarah C. Leblanc
LSU Master's Theses
Climate related alterations and anthropogenic disturbance threaten the ecological integrity and sustainability of coastal estuaries. Many activities seek to restore and sustain these at-risk areas with the goal of restoring systems to historic patterns of succession and community development; however long-term monitoring of restoration projects remains limited. Additionally, restoration efforts aim to achieve certain success thresholds, however, these thresholds are often vague, absent, or inconsistent, and receive little long-term analyses following restoration. A key coastal engineer, the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), provides multiple ecosystem services, but recent population decline has prompted investment in restoration. Restoration activities include cultch …
Reproductive Effort Of Montastraea Cavernosa Across Depth In The Context Of Both Climate Change Refugia And Emergent Disease, Jeanne Bloomberg
Reproductive Effort Of Montastraea Cavernosa Across Depth In The Context Of Both Climate Change Refugia And Emergent Disease, Jeanne Bloomberg
LSU Master's Theses
As coral populations on shallow reefs decline globally, mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCE) have been suggested as potential coral refugia in the face of climate changes, leading to the development of a comprehensive deep reef refugia hypothesis. The current study assesses the climate and disease refuge potential of MCEs in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) for the gonochoric, broadcast-spawning species Montastraea cavernosa. Polyp, population, and total habitat fecundities were estimated across the species’ depth range, and changes to population oocyte production over time due to recent ecosystem disturbances were considered. The number of gonads producing oocytes in each polyp and oocyte …
Reconsidering The Obstetrical Dilemma: Correlations Between Head And Pelvic Size, Kelsey Catrice Fox
Reconsidering The Obstetrical Dilemma: Correlations Between Head And Pelvic Size, Kelsey Catrice Fox
LSU Master's Theses
The Obstetrical Dilemma (OD) theory has become canon in biological anthropology. The OD posits that i] dystocia results from bipedal mothers and encephalized infants, ii] contrasting selection for bipedality and obstetrics hinders locomotive efficiency, and iii] the contradicting requirement of the fetus being small enough to pass through the birth canal yet being cognitively advanced enough to cling to its mother after birth. Females, theoretically, exhibit deficient gait efficiency for the sake of successful childbirth. An obstetric advantage theory has been posited where taller individuals with a larger head size have larger pelves. If the distance between the acetabulae increases …
Intraguild Predation: Interactions Between Predators, Pathogens, And Their Shared Resources In Crop Pest Communities, Andrew Jason Flick
Intraguild Predation: Interactions Between Predators, Pathogens, And Their Shared Resources In Crop Pest Communities, Andrew Jason Flick
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Crop pest management requires an understanding of the complex interactions among pest species that potentially damage crop yield and species that may be crucial for controlling pest species outbreaks. For example, predators, parasitoids, and pathogens are constantly interacting via their shared prey or hosts. Predators may prefer infected prey, which can be easier to catch; however, infected prey may be less nutritious or even lethal for predators. These interactions then dictate the short-term dynamics of host and pathogen as well as between prey and predator. "How these dynamics change as the species in the system change either empirically or theoretically?" …
The Tensile Root Strength Of Emergent Coastal Macrophytes, Lauris Olivia Hollis
The Tensile Root Strength Of Emergent Coastal Macrophytes, Lauris Olivia Hollis
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Spartina patens is a dominant emergent macrophyte in fresh, intermediate, and brackish marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of United States where its biomechanical properties are a key component of wetland health and resilience. Its root biomass and tensile root strength are essential for anchorage, erosion protection, and are important determinants of soil strength. Nutrients and the herbicide atrazine are suspected of negatively impacting this wetland plant and others. The objectives of this study were to: 1) ascertain the tensile root strength of five emergent coastal macrophytes in coastal estuaries, and 2) test the effects of nutrient addition, atrazine …
The Effects Of Tree Plantations And Land Use On Natural Regeneration Of Woody Plants In The Tropics: Diversity, Species Composition, Successional Dynamics, And Functional Traits, John Benjamin Longworth
The Effects Of Tree Plantations And Land Use On Natural Regeneration Of Woody Plants In The Tropics: Diversity, Species Composition, Successional Dynamics, And Functional Traits, John Benjamin Longworth
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
As anthropogenic forests become more common in the tropics, there is a greater need to understand the factors that impact forest succession. I used censuses of woody plants in successional forests to study the effects of prior land use and tree plantations on species composition and richness. First, I tested the hypothesis that communities originating from different land uses were converging in species composition over time. I compared species composition using the Chao-Jaccard similarity index. I observed shifts in the dominant species during the first 30 years of succession, but not convergence of species composition in sites with different land-use …
On The Origin Of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, And Fiction, Hope Hollocher, Agustín Fuentes, Charles H. Pence, Grant Ramsey, Daniel John Sportiello, Michelle M. Wirth
On The Origin Of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, And Fiction, Hope Hollocher, Agustín Fuentes, Charles H. Pence, Grant Ramsey, Daniel John Sportiello, Michelle M. Wirth
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.