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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Individual-Level Responses To Rapid Climate Change In Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo) And Arctic Terns (Sterna Paradisaea), Kaiulani A. Sund Apr 2023

Individual-Level Responses To Rapid Climate Change In Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo) And Arctic Terns (Sterna Paradisaea), Kaiulani A. Sund

Student Publications

This study examines fine-scale environmental changes and intraspecific variation in the diet and foraging behavior of two seabirds in the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest-warming regions of the ocean. This variation on the individual level, or behavioral plasticity, may help long-lived species to persist in rapidly changing environments. As the water warms, seabirds’ preferred prey (hake and herring) follow cooler waters deeper and farther offshore. It is unlikely that all individuals respond to changing food availability in the same way. For common terns (Sterna hirundo) and Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) breeding on Petit Manan …


Novel Bio-Logging Tool For Studying Fine-Scale Behaviors Of Marine Turtles In Response To Sound, Reny B. Tyson, Wendy Dow Piniak, Camila Domit, David Mann, Michael Hall, Douglas P. Nowacek, Mariana M. P. B. Fuentes Jul 2017

Novel Bio-Logging Tool For Studying Fine-Scale Behaviors Of Marine Turtles In Response To Sound, Reny B. Tyson, Wendy Dow Piniak, Camila Domit, David Mann, Michael Hall, Douglas P. Nowacek, Mariana M. P. B. Fuentes

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Increases in the spatial scale and intensity of activities that produce marine anthropogenic sound highlight the importance of understanding the impacts and effects of sound on threatened species such as marine turtles. Marine turtles detect and behaviorally respond to low-frequency sounds, however few studies have directly examined their behavioral responses to specific types or intensities of anthropogenic or natural sounds. Recent advances in the development of bio-logging tools, which combine acoustic and fine-scale movement measurements, have allowed for evaluations of animal responses to sound. Here, we describe these tools and present a case study demonstrating the potential application of a …


Time-Frequency Analysis Reveals Pairwise Interactions In Insect Swarms, James G. Puckett, Rui Ni, Nicholas T. Ouellette Jun 2015

Time-Frequency Analysis Reveals Pairwise Interactions In Insect Swarms, James G. Puckett, Rui Ni, Nicholas T. Ouellette

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The macroscopic emergent behavior of social animal groups is a classic example of dynamical self-organization, and is thought to arise from the local interactions between individuals. Determining these interactions from empirical data sets of real animal groups, however, is challenging. Using multicamera imaging and tracking, we studied the motion of individual flying midges in laboratory mating swarms. By performing a time-frequency analysis of the midge trajectories, we show that the midge behavior can be segmented into two distinct modes: one that is independent and composed of low-frequency maneuvers, and one that consists of higher-frequency nearly harmonic oscillations conducted in synchrony …


The State Of The Upper Bay Of Panama Wetlands: Ecological Significance, Environmental Policy, Urbanization, And Social Justice, Madeline A. Price May 2014

The State Of The Upper Bay Of Panama Wetlands: Ecological Significance, Environmental Policy, Urbanization, And Social Justice, Madeline A. Price

Celebration

I conducted this research while studying abroad with SIT Panama: Tropical Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation. This is a multidisciplinary investigation of the Upper Bay of Panama wetlands, a 49,000 hectare region east of Panama City that features mangrove, intertidal mudflat, and grassland habitat internationally recognized as a stopover site for two million shorebirds every migration season. However, with economic pressure to increase urban development in the area, this land’s protected status under the Ramsar convention was suspended for a year in April 2012. By compiling scientific studies, news articles, photographs, and interviews with local conservationists and community members, …


Imaginenative 2012: Ecocinema And The Indigenous Film Festival, Salma Monani, Miranda Brady Jan 2013

Imaginenative 2012: Ecocinema And The Indigenous Film Festival, Salma Monani, Miranda Brady

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Much scholarship points to how ecological concerns are never far from Indigenous struggles for political sovereignty and public participation. In this paper we turn to the Indigenous film festival as a relatively understudied yet rich site to explore such ecological concerns. Specifically, we highlight the ImagineNATIVE 2012 film festival based in Toronto, Canada.


Multiple Trophic Levels In Soft-Bottom Communities, John A. Commito, William G. Ambrose Jr. Oct 1985

Multiple Trophic Levels In Soft-Bottom Communities, John A. Commito, William G. Ambrose Jr.

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

In order to assess the general applicability of recent field experiments with predatory infauna, we searched the literature and found 48 well-documented cases of infaunal consumption by such predators. In 63 % of the cases detailed enough to make a determination, the predators ate other predators. Multiple trophic levels within the infauna are probably a common feature of many soft-bottom communities.