Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

Anoxia Tolerance Of Forensically Important Calliphorids, Melissa M. Lein

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Forensically important blow flies, Diptera: Calliphoridae, are among the first organisms to colonize carrion. After eggs hatch, the larvae of most blow fly species feed in an aggregation or “mass.” While in this mass larvae may experience periods of no oxygen (anoxia), little oxygen (hypoxia), or normal oxygen (normoxia), but the tolerance of blow fly larvae to severe hypoxic conditions is not known. I tested the anoxia tolerance of four species of calliphorids (Calliphora vicina, Cochliomyia macellaria, Lucilia sericata, and Phormia regina), using third stage larvae across five temperatures. Experiments were conducted by exposing larvae to pure nitrogen …

Development And Application Of A Gis-Based Long Island Sound Eelgrass Habitat Suitability Index Model, Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Justin Eddings, Christopher Pickerell, Lorne Brousseau, Charles Yarish

Department of Marine Sciences

The primary objectives of the Eelgrass Habitat Suitability Index Model (EHSI Model) are to assist in the evaluation of sites being considered for eelgrass restoration efforts in the Long Island Sound (LIS) area and to identify areas where water quality issues reduce or eliminate the potential for natural eelgrass colonization. To achieve this goal, geospatial processing of data available from the Long Island Sound area was conducted using ArcGIS v10.0 including the 3D Analyst and Spatial Analyst extensions. The result is a series of maps presented in this report and a GIS-based model available for users to interact with the …

A Northward Range Extension Of The Hispid Cotton Rat (Sigmodon Hispidus) In Missouri, Cody W. Thompson, Elmer J. Finck

The Prairie Naturalist

The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a widely distributed rodent with a geographic range extending from north-central Mexico to southern Nebraska and central Virginia and from southeastern Arizona east to Florida (Carleton et al. 1999, Peppers and Bradley 2000, Wilson and Reeder 2005) with isolated populations in Arizona (Bradley et al. 2012) and California (Clark 1972). Range expansions for the species have been well documented (Clark 1972, Farney 1975, Benedict et al. 2000, Wright et al. 2010, Wills et al. 2011). The majority of these range expansions have occurred across the Central Plains during the 20th century …

Interference In White Bass Reproduction By Two Introduced Predators In Barren River Lake, Kentucky, Jacob Franklin Fose

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

White bass Morone chrysops are native to the Mississippi River and its tributaries. This range includes the Barren River in south central Kentucky. Over the last thirty years, the population of white bass in Barren River Lake, a reservoir of the Barren River, has been in decline. During that same time, two congeners of white bass have been introduced to the lake. Hybrid striped bass Morone chrysops × Morone saxatilis were introduced in 1979 and yellow bass Morone mississippiensis were first discovered in 2000. Due to the similar life histories and spawning strategies of all three Morone species, I hypothesized …

Western Burrowing Owl (Athene Cunicularia Hypugaea): Species Conservation Assessment, Melissa J. Panella

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The primary goal in the development of at-risk species conservation assessments is to compile biological and ecological information that may assist conservation practitioners in making decisions regarding the conservation of species of interest. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project recognizes the western subspecies of Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) as a Tier I at-risk species. Provided are some general management recommendations regarding Western Burrowing Owls (hereafter Burrowing Owls). Conservation practitioners will need to use professional judgment for specific management decisions based on objectives, location, and site-specific conditions. Based on a considerable body of literature, this particular species conservation assessment provides an …

Walleye And White Bass Recruitment In Southwest Nebraska Irrigation Reservoirs, Jason Andrew Deboer

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Walleye Sander vitreus and white bass Morone chrysops are among the most popular sportfish in the reservoirs of the Great Plains. Despite considerable effort by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission stocking walleye and managing reservoirs for walleye and white bass, populations of walleye and white bass in southwest Nebraska reservoirs are dynamic, as erratic recruitment has led to “boom and bust” fisheries for these two species. We investigated 1) factors regulating walleye and white bass recruitment during an 18-year period at five reservoirs, and 2) walleye spawning ecology at two reservoirs that differ in their degree of environmental variability. …

The Tadpole Of Leptodactylus Caatingae Heyer & Juncá, 2003 (Anura: Leptodactylidae): External Morphology, Internal Anatomy, And Natural History, Felipe De Madeiros Magalhães, Adrian Antonio Garda, Ralita Ferreira Amado, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

We describe and illustrate the external morphology, oral disc, chondrocranium, and internal oral anatomy of Leptodactylus caatingae larvae. We analyze the internal oral anatomy using scanning electron microscopy of a larva in Gosner, stage 38 and chondrocranial anatomy is reported for Gosner stage 34. The tadpole at Gosner stage 38 has a globular body shape with low tail fins and a ventral oral disc bordered by two rows of marginal papillae on most of the disc, except for the anterior labium and a medial portion of the posterior labium where papillae are simple; a wide rostral gap is present, labial …

Influence Of Soil Biogeochemical Properties On The Invasiveness Of Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium Microphyllum), Pushpa Gautam Soti

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The state of Florida has one of the most severe exotic species invasion problems in the United States, but little is known about their influence on soil biogeochemistry. My dissertation research includes a cross-continental field study in Australia, Florida, and greenhouse and growth chamber experiments, focused on the soil-plant interactions of one of the most problematic weeds introduced in south Florida, Lygodium microphyllum (Old World climbing fern). Analysis of field samples from the ferns introduced and their native range indicate that L microphyllum is highly dependent on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for phosphorus uptake and biomass accumulation. Relationship with AMF …

The Effect Of Contemporary Hydrologic Modification On Vegetation Community Composition Distinctness In The Florida Everglades, Ewan Isherwood

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The historic Everglades Ridge and Slough landscape maintained regularly spaced and elevated sawgrass ridges interspersed among exposed deeper-water sloughs; however, widespread but irregular hydrologic modification has degraded much of this landscape patterning. My study assessed the effects of hydrologic modification on vegetation community distinctness within the Ridge and Slough landscape through sampling species composition at fine-scales along a hydrologic gradient to measure the magnitude of segregation of species among patch types. The results show that vegetation community and topographic variation degradation is widespread, with distinctness differences proceeding and possibly being driven by topographic variation loss. Vegetation responses to past hydrologic …

Breeding Bird Communities Associated With Tallgrass Prairies In Southeast Nebraska, Stephen L. Winter, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Britt L. Smith

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

We collected data on bird communities associated with tallgrass prairies in two areas of southeast Nebraska that have been identified for focused conservation action: the Sandstone Prairies Biologically Unique Landscape (BUL) and the Southeast Prairies BUL. Our research was conducted in June and July of 2010 and 2011 at 14 privately–owned and state–owned properties located in Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, and Pawnee Counties (Nebraska). We detected a total of 1,108 individuals representing 41 species during 10–minute point counts with 400–m radii. The most commonly encountered species, in descending order of relative abundance (individuals detected per point count) were brown–headed cowbird, dickcissel, …

Pritchardia Boliviensis N. Gen., N. Sp. (Anoplocephalidae: Linstowinae), A Tapeworm From Opossums (Didelphidae) In The Yungas And Lowlands Of Bolivia And Atlantic Forest Of Paraguay, Scott Lyell Gardner, F. Agustín Jiménez Ruiz, Mariel L. Campbell

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Pritchardia boliviensis n. gen. n. sp. (Anoplocephalidae: Linstowiinae) is described from marsupials (Marmosops noctivagus, Metachirus nudicaudatus, Gracilinanus sp.) collected in Bolivia and Paraguay. These cestodes have a very small strobila with only three segments, regularly alternating genital pores, genital ducts crossing excretory canals ventrally, ovoid to pyriform cirrus sac, three to five testes, external seminal vesicle present and separated from cirrus sac by long seminal duct surrounded by glandular material, uterus ephemeral, eggs forming rapidly in gravid segments, and seminal receptacle present. Pritchardia boliviensis n. sp. includes a single species that occurs in small marsupials in the family …

Sylvatic Species Of Echinococcus From Rodent Intermediate Hosts In Asia And South America, Scott Lyell Gardner, Altangerel T. Dursahinhan, Gábor R. Rácz, Nyamsuren Batsaikhan, Sumiya Ganzorig, David S. Tinnin, Darmaa Damdinbazar, Charles Wood, A. Townsend Peterson, Erika Alandia, José Luís Mollericona, Jorge Salazar-Bravo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications

During a global survey of the diversity of vertebrates and their parasites including the Gobi and desert/steppe biomes ranging from south central to western Mongolia, we found metacestodes (larvae) of Echinococcus multilocularis (Leuckart 1863) in the liver of an individual vole (Microtus limnophilus Büchner 1889) collected in grassland habitat at Har Us Lake, southeast of Hovd, Mongolia. Positive identification of E. multilocularis from near Hovd was made via comparative cyst morphology, study of hooks from the rostellum derived from protoscolexes, and DNA sequencing of the COX1 mitochondrial gene extracted from tissue of the cysts frozen in the field. This …

Inferring The Relative Resilience Of Alternative States, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Carmen Rojo, Miguel Alvarez-Cobelas, Salvador Sánchez-Carrillo

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Ecological systems may occur in alternative states that differ in ecological structures, functions and processes. Resilience is the measure of disturbance an ecological system can absorb before changing states. However, how the intrinsic structures and processes of systems that characterize their states affects their resilience remains unclear. We analyzed time series of phytoplankton communities at three sites in a floodplain in central Spain to assess the dominant frequencies or “temporal scales” in community dynamics and compared the patterns between a wet and a dry alternative state. The identified frequencies and cross-scale structures are expected to arise from positive feedbacks that …

The Lobster Bulletin, Fall 2013, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Fall 2013 issue include:

• Marine Lobster Panel Releases Report
• Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Mandated Fall Closure in Long Island Sound
• Research Report: Lobster Research Fleet Pilot Project
• Research Report: Fractions, Models and Resource Regulations Prospects for Lowering the Maine Lobster Trap Limit
• Seabourn Cruis Lines Hosts Lobster College

Fringed Myotis (Myotis Thysanodes Pahasapensis): Species Conservation Assessment, Melissa J. Panella

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The primary goal in development of at-risk species conservation assessments is to compile biological and ecological information that may assist conservation practitioners in making decisions regarding the conservation of species of interest. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project recognizes the fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes pahasapensis) as a Tier I at-risk species. Provided are some general management recommendations regarding the fringed myotis. Conservation practitioners will need to use professional judgment to make specific management decisions based on objectives, location, and a multitude of variables. This resource was designed to share available knowledge of the fringed myotis that will aid in the decision-making …

Use Of Guidance To Preserve And Protect Wetlands, Center For Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Rivers & Coast is a periodic publication of the Center for Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The goal of Rivers & Coast is to keep readers well informed of current scientific understanding behind key environmental issues related to watershed rivers and coastal ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay.

Wildlands Conservancy/Connick Ranch Research, Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

Susie Van Kirks research notes on the Wildlands Conservancy and Connick Ranch. Includes newspaper references, interviews, as well as deed, survey and patent information.

The General Qapp For Long Island Sound Volunteer Coastal Monitoring (With Adoption Form), Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Kimberly Gallagher

Department of Marine Sciences

The General QAPP for Long Island Sound Volunteer Coastal Monitoring is designed to streamline the process of writing a QAPP for Monitoring Programs in the Long Island Sound area. This document does not replace guidance on developing a program and is not sufficient as a stand-alone document to guide the initial development and sample design process for a monitoring program.

Evaluation Of Current Community-Based Monitoring Efforts And Recommendations For Developing A Cohesive Network Of Support For Monitoring Long Island Sound Embayments., Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Jamie Alonzo, Adrienne Esposito, Curt Johnson, Maureen Dolan Murphy, Charles Yarish

Department of Marine Sciences

This project focuses on Long Island Sound embayments and represents an exploration of the potential for coordination among community-based water quality monitoring groups, and coordination between community-based groups and data end users, including scientists and managers. Community-based monitoring groups represent a potential valuable source of water quality information. The development of standardized protocols, training methods and reporting procedures will serve to provide end users with the confidence necessary to utilize the data collected as part of community-based monitoring programs. Both groups of stakeholders stand to benefit from this type of coordination with the ultimate benefit being a healthier, better understood …

Evidence For 20th Century Climate Warming And Wetland Drying In The North American Prairie Pothole Region, Brett A. Werner, W. Carter Johnson, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is a globally important resource that provides abundant and valuable ecosystem goods and services in the form of biodiversity, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood attenuation, and water and forage for agriculture. Numerous studies have found these wetlands, which number in the millions, to be highly sensitive to climate variability. Here, we compare wetland conditions between two 30-year periods (1946–1975; 1976–2005) using a hindcast simulation approach to determine if recent climate warming in the region has already resulted in changes in wetland condition. Simulations using the WETLANDSCAPE model show that 20th century climate …

Integrated Carbon Budget Models For The Everglades Terrestrial-Coastal-Oceanic Gradient: Current Status And Needs For Inter-Site Comparisons, Tiffany G. Troxler, Evelyn Gaiser, Jordan Barr, Jose D. Fuentes, Rudolf Jaffe, Daniel L. Childers, Ligia Collado-Vides, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Edward Castaneda-Moya, William Anderson, Randy Chambers, Meilian Chen, Carlos Coronado-Molina, Stephen E. Davis, Victor Engel, Carl Fitz, James Fourqurean, Tom Frankovich, John Kominoski, Chris Madden, Sparkle L. Malone, Steve F. Oberbauer, Paulo Olivas, Jennifer Richards, Colin Saunders, Jessica L. Schedlbauer, Leonard J. Scinto, Fred Sklar, Tom Smith, Joseph M. Smoak, Gregory Starr, Robert R. Twilley, Kevin Whelan

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Genus Odontophrynus (Anura: Odontophrynidae): A Larval Perspective, Filipe Augusto C. Do Nascimento, Tamí Mott, José A. Langone, Christine A. Davis, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

The genus Odontophrynus consists of 11 species of medium-sized frogs distributed across south and east South America. This study examines and describes the chondrocrania and oral cavities of 0. americanus, 0. maisuma, 0. carvalhoi, and 0. cu/tripes, and reviews current knowledge about the larval external morphology of the genus. Twenty-one tadpoles were cleared and double-stained for chondrocranium description and five tadpoles were dissected for analysis in a scanning electron microscope. The presence of a tectum parientale may be considered here as a putative synapomorphy of the genus. The 0. americanus and 0. cu/tripes species groups were partially differentiated by the …

Zooplankton Trophic Ecology In The San Francisco Estuary During Summer As Determined By Stable Isotope Analysis, Kyla Bradylong, Steven Westbrook, Julien Moderan, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

Declines in the abundance of several pelagic fish species in the upper San Francisco Estuary have prompted investigation into food web interactions within the estuary and delta (the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers). This area is characterized by low primary production and pelagic food webs much longer and reticulated than previously thought, implying low efficiency in the energy transfers from primary producers to planktivorous fish. We determined the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope (SI) composition of zooplankton samples collected monthly between June 2012 and February 2013 at eight stations along the salinity gradient. As consumers SI composition reflects that …

Jellyfish Identification And Quantification In The San Francisco Estuary, Amalia Borson, Lindsay L. Sullivan, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

As potential predators and competitors of plankton-eating fish, jellyfish have the potential to negatively impact fish populations. Jellyfish were collected weekly with plankton tows from the RombergTiburonCenterpier in Tiburon, CA. Since some jellyfish were too small to identify, one tow was collected and preserved to record abundances, and a second tow was collected to rear jellyfish until distinguishing characteristics were visible enough for identification. Jellyfish in the preserved tows were then identified, measured, and counted, and their abundance (number m^-3) was calculated. Jellyfish from the second tows were reared in plastic buckets that were lightly bubbled using aquarium …

Oral Presentation Abstracts By Day And Symposium From The 11th International Mammalogical Congress (Belfast, Northern Ireland : August 11-16, 2013), International Mammalogical Congress

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

About IMC

IMC returns to Europe after 24 years at a time when IUCN has identified 25% mammal species as at risk. As a venue to share concerns, concepts and techniques among professional mammalogists, IMC has never been more relevant. IMC11 Organising Committee hopes to welcome colleagues with diverse interests in the biology, conservation and management of mammals from throughout the world. IMC11 will encourage active participation in the Congress program by maximising time for spoken papers and posters offered by delegates.

Queen's University Belfast is the venue and are pleased to host the 11th International Mammalogical Congress on behalf …

Inconsistent Outcomes Of Heterogeneity-Based Management Underscore Importance Of Matching Evaluation To Conservation Objectives, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Conservation policy often incentivizes managers of human-impacted areas to create landscape heterogeneity to maximize biodiversity. In rangeland, patchy disturbance regimes create landscape heterogeneity (patch contrast), but outcomes of heterogeneity-based management are rarely tested for a universal response. We analyzed four habitat variables—vegetation structure, plant functional group composition, litter cover, and bare ground—from five experimental rangelands in Oklahoma and Iowa, USA. We tested for response consistency to heterogeneity-based management across and within locations. We calculated effect sizes for each variable to compare patch contrast on pastures managed for heterogeneity (patch burn-grazing) and pastures managed for homogeneity (grazing with homogeneous fire regimes). …

Greater Prairie-Chicken Nest Success And Habitat Selection In Southeastern Nebraska, Ty W. Matthews, Andrew J. Tyre, J. Scott Taylor, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are reported to benefit from grasslands created through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Prairie-chicken population size increased noticeably in southeastern Nebraska after >15% of county-level landscapes were converted to CRP grasslands. But, the mechanisms behind the increase in population size are not well understood, and managers and policy makers could benefit from evidence of CRP’s relative contribution to populations of prairie-chickens. Therefore, our objectives were to characterize the relations of vegetation structure and composition with prairie-chicken nest-site selection and nest survival rates at both the macrohabitat (within landscape of study site) and microhabitat …

Feeding Ecology Of Delta Smelt During A Seasonal Pulse Of Turbidity, William A. Hilton, Aaron Johnson, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

The delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is a small, pelagic fish endemic to the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) and protected under federal and state endangered species acts. This study examines the diet of adult delta smelt during their spawning migration in the winters of 2010 and 2012. Delta smelt and their zooplankton prey were sampled concurrently during a seasonal pulse of turbidity at sites along their migratory route from the low salinity zone in Suisun Bay to the fresher waters of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. Gut contents were identified to the lowest possible taxon and counted, along with zooplankton …

Movement And Habitat Use Of The Snapping Turtle In An Urban Landscape, Travis J. Ryan, William A. Peterman, Jessica D. Stephens, Sean C. Sterrett

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

In order to effectively manage urban habitats, it is important to incorporate the spatial ecology and habitat use of the species utilizing them. Our previous studies have shown that the distribution of upland habitats surrounding a highly urbanized wetland habitat, the Central Canal (Indianapolis, IN, USA) influences the distribution of map turtles (Graptemys geographica) and red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta) during both the active season and hibernation. In this study we detail the movements and habitat use of another prominent member of the Central Canal turtle assemblage, the common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina. We find the same …

Examining Gradients In Novelty: Native And Non-Native Fish Assemblages In Everglades Canals, David A. Gandy

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Novel ecosystems emerge from alterations to historic abiotic regimes and contain new species combinations. Everglades canals offer an opportunity to understand the function of novel habitat for native and non-native fishes and how novel conditions in turn influence distribution, abundance and assembly patterns. I examined native and non-native fish assemblages collected across a gradient in novelty, defined by the loss of wetland connectivity and habitat complexity. As novelty increased, native species richness and abundance strongly declined, and the contribution of non-natives increased. Community structure vastly differed among canals and was strongly influenced by spatial factors and secondarily by hydrological factors. …