Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Nutrient Cycling In The Amazon: A Comparison Of Soil Characteristics, Insects, Root Types And Decomposition Rates Between Varzea And Terra Firme Habitats In The Ecuadorian Amazon, Mira Ensley-Field

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Decomposition and nutrient cycling form the basis of every ecosystem. Nutrient availability in the soil affects plant species composition, richness, and productivity. The Amazon rainforest is known for its unusually fast nutrient cycle, but many aspects lack detailed study and analysis. This comparative study carried out in the Ecuadorian Amazon had four primary objectives related to understanding the nutrient cycle in the Amazon; 1.) analyze soil characteristics, 2.) assess insect diversity in the leaf litter layer, 3.) examine root characteristics, and 4.) measure the decomposition rate between Varzea and Terra Firme habitats alongside the Rio Napo. Forty 0.25 x 0.25m …

Effect Of Varied Disturbance Types On Dorylus (Anomma) Molestus Defensive Behavior In The West Usumbara Mountains, Tanzania., Ryan Mahar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to observe novel nest characteristics of Dorylus molestus (Siafu), as well as their defensive behavior in response to varied disturbance methods. The number of defensive soldiers at a specific section of a column was counted before and after each agitation. Varied agitation methods were used on columns without larvae presence to test how soldiers responded to different disturbance types. Disturbances on columns with larvae presence were compared to those on columns without larvae. Nest distribution, behavior, composition, and size were observed objectively. Mechanical disturbance was found to incite the greatest increase in defensive soldier …

Seagrass Community Change At Three High Risk Ports In The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area From 2005 To 2014, Celeste Venolia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Seagrass meadows are extremely valuable and dynamic ecosystems currently facing pressure from anthropogenic disturbances. Seagrass ecosystems are declining globally because of direct and indirect threats that shift environmental conditions controlling seagrass distribution. Seagrass species responses to disturbances vary based on a number of factors including life history strategy. The goal of this study was to map and analyze patterns of dominant seagrass species change at Cairns and Gladstone from 2005-2014 and Townsville from 2007-2014. This compilation data set was symbolized according to the life history strategy of the species. The major disturbances during this time period were physical damage from …

The Use Versus Availability Of Wood Extraction At The Baga Ii Forest Reserve Border Adjacent To Kizanda Village In The West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, Rebecca Halter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tropical forests, especially in developing countries, continue to face serious threats of deforestation due to human pressures and poor management. These forests are at risk of disappearing and taking their water catchment and ecosystem services with them. Kizanda Villagers’ illegal woodfuel and polewood extraction poses a threat to the future health and existence of the Baga II Forest. This study, conducted from April 5th to April 19th, 2016, aimed to examine the use versus availability of tree species along the forest border. Twenty disturbance transects, each 4 meters wide, were conducted perpendicular to the Baga II forest border. The transects …

Wildlife Underpasses: Frequency Of Use By Neotropic Mammals In Parque Natural Metropolitano, Panamá City, Panamá, Kelly Russo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a world of ever increasing globalization and urbanization, roads present wildlife with a number of challenges. They fragment habitats, disrupt animal movements, impact reproductive success and the fitness of individuals and populations, alter population dynamics, and cause unnatural levels of mortality. Fortunately, the numerous detrimental effects of roads can be alleviated by the proper implementation of mitigation structures, such as underpasses, sky bridges and vegetated overpasses. These mitigation structures are an important source of genetic connectivity, especially in a peri-urban reserve setting. This study seeks to understand what species of mammal utilize the wildlife underpasses below Via La Amistad, …

Effects Of Environmental Factors On The Abundance Of Blacklegged Ticks, Jasmine L. Miller, Roger A. Lebrun, Howard S. Ginsberg

Senior Honors Projects

The nymphal stage of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the major vector of Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in North America. Tick abundance has generally been estimated using either flag/drag samples or samples from hosts. However, the biases of these sampling methods have not been adequately studied. We compared samples using both methods from sites in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. Tick abundance was compared with variables related to weather (temperature, relative humidity, and tick adverse moisture events), vegetation (canopy cover, tree density, shrub density, ground vegetation, and leaf litter cover), and host abundance (mice, small mammals, medium …

Avifaunal Community Composition In A Tropical Forest Corridor: A Case Study From The Atherton Tableland, North Queensland, Don Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Bird communities in tropical forest ecosystems are highly threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Replanted corridors connecting isolated forest remnants are a popular method of ameliorating certain negative impacts of habitat fragmentation. Such linkages can theoretically facilitate greater dispersal, increase gene flow, and reduce the risk of local extinctions in forest birds. However, relatively few studies have examined the utilization of reforested corridors by birds, and little hard data exists to support claims that this type of resource and time intensive project is the best use of often scarce funding for conservation. This study examined the avifaunal community present in …

Nesting Trends Of The Green (Chelonia Mydas) And Hawksbill (Eretmochelys Imbricata) Turtles On Misali Island, Pemba, Thaowan Giorno, Megan Herrmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Misali Island, one of the first conservation areas in Zanzibar, is considered an important nesting ground for the Green and Hawksbill turtles. This study was conducted to present results on the nesting and hatching trends on Misali Island by using data collected since 2002. Thorough statistical analyses were used on these data in order to find patterns in the nesting trends of these two species, and identify any significant differences that have occurred over the years. Overall, there has been a steady decline in the number of nesting and hatching events, but no statistically significant trends were found in terms …

L’Insecte Sage In The Age Of Global Climate Crisis: A Biocultural And Ontological Study Of Vulnerability And Resilience In The Manakara Beekeeping Network, Tamar Law

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The effects of climate change are felt unevenly throughout the globe. Impoverished populations with high levels of subsistence agriculture are particularly vulnerable due to their direct dependence on the land. However, these populations are also the possible agents of change and solutions, as their traditional ecological knowledge has evolved in relation to their context. The honeybee is directly implicated in climate change vulnerability due to its role in pollination services, by ensuring food security. In the past decade, honeybees have risen to international fame and scrutiny due to a global vanishing of bees, attributed in part to climate change and …

Acoustic Detection Reveals Fine-Scale Distributions Of Myotis Lucifugus, Myotis Septentrionalis, And Perimyotis Subflavus In Eastern Nebraska, Jeremy A. White, Cliff Lemen, Patricia Freeman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

ABSTRACT.—Before white-nose syndrome arrives in Nebraska, it is important to document the preexposure distributions of cave bats in the state. We examined the distributions of Myotis lucifugus (little brown myotis), Myotis septentrionalis (northern long-eared myotis), and Perimyotis subflavus (tri-colored bat) in eastern Nebraska by setting acoustic detectors for a single night at 105 sites in wooded habitats during summers of 2012 and 2014. We compared 2 methods of determining presence at each site. Results of our analyses are fine-scale distributional maps for these bats and some range extensions from published records. Results for M. septentrionalis and P. subflavus are largely …

Review Paper: The Shape Of Phylogenetic Treespace, Katherine St. John

Publications and Research

Trees are a canonical structure for representing evolutionary histories. Many popular criteria used to infer optimal trees are computationally hard, and the number of possible tree shapes grows super-exponentially in the number of taxa. The underlying structure of the spaces of trees yields rich insights that can improve the search for optimal trees, both in accuracy and in running time, and the analysis and visualization of results. We review the past work on analyzing and comparing trees by their shape as well as recent work that incorporates trees with weighted branch lengths.

Marine Disease Impacts, Diagnosis, Forecasting, Management And Policy, Kevin D. Lafferty, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

(First paragraph) As Australians were spending millions of dollars in 2014 to remove the coraleating crown of thorns sea star from the Great Barrier Reef, sea stars started washing up dead for free along North America’s Pacific Coast. Because North American sea stars are important and iconic predators in marine communities, locals and marine scientists alike were alarmed by what proved to be the world’s most widespread marine mass mortality in geographical extent and species affected, especially given its mysterious cause. Investigative research using modern diagnostic techniques implicated a never-before-seen virus [1]. The virus inspired international attention to marine diseases, …

Ecosystem Services In Managing Residential Landscapes: Priorities, Value Dimensions, And Cross-Regional Patterns, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Tara Trammell

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems—namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively value various ecosystem services, 2) explore distinctive dimensions of those values, and 3) test the urban homogenization hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that urbanization leads to similarities in the social-ecological dynamics across cities in diverse biomes. By extension, the thesis suggests that residents’ ecosystem service priorities for residential …

A Systems Approach To Animal Communication, Eileen A. Hebets, Andrew B. Barron, Christopher N. Balakrishnan, Mark E. Hauber, Paul H. Mason, Kim L. Hoke

Eileen Hebets Publications

Why animal communication displays are so complex and how they have evolved are active foci of research with a long and rich history. Progress towards an evolutionary analysis of signal complexity, however, has been constrained by a lack of hypotheses to explain similarities and/or differences in signalling systems across taxa. To address this, we advocate incorporating a systems approach into studies of animal communication—an approach that includes comprehensive experimental designs and data collection in combination with the implementation of systems concepts and tools. A systems approach evaluates overall display architecture, including how components interact to alter function, and how function …

A Sonic Net Excludes Birds From An Airfield: Implications For Reducing Bird Strike And Crop Losses, John P. Swaddle, Dana L. Moseley, Mark H. Hinders, Elizabeth P. Smith

Arts & Sciences Articles

Collisions between birds and aircraft cause billions of dollars of damages annually to civil, commercial, and military aviation. Yet technology to reduce bird strike is not generally effective, especially over longer time periods. Previous information from our lab indicated that filling an area with acoustic noise, which masks important communication channels for birds, can displace European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) from food sources. Here we deployed a spatially controlled noise (termed a “sonic net”), designed to overlap with the frequency range of bird vocalizations, at an airfield. By conducting point counts, we monitored the presence of birds for four …

Effects Of Short-Term Cattle Exclusion On Plant Community Composition: Prairie Dog And Ecological Site Influences, Aaron Field, Kevin Sedivec, John Hendrickson, Patricia Johnson, Benjamin Geaumont, Lan Xu, Roger N. Gates, Ryan Limb

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

On the Ground

• Maintaining cattle and prairie dogs on rangelands is important ecologically, economically, and culturally. However, competition between these species, both actual and perceived, has led to conflict.
• We explored the effects of short-term (2-year) cattle exclusion on plant communities both on and off prairie dog towns and among three common ecological sites.
• Plant communities were different between on-town and off-town plots and among ecological sites but were similar between cattle-excluded and nonexcluded plots.
• Plant community composition did not differ between rangeland targeted for moderate forage utilization and that in which cattle had been excluded for 2 years.

Effect Of Grazing Prairie Dog—Colonized Rangeland On Cattle Nutrition And Performance: A Progress Report, Kenneth C. Olson, Christopher Schauer, Chanda Engel, Janna J. Kincheloe, Jameson R. Brennan, Ben L. Hauptman

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

On the Ground

• One objective of the ongoing Renewal on Standing Rock Reservation project is to evaluate the response of grazing steers to the level of prairie dog colonization on Northern Mixed Grass Prairie.
• We fenced four pastures to create an increasing gradient of a proportion of the pasture area colonized by prairie dogs. Pastures are stocked with yearling steers during each growing season.
• Comparing steer performance, Global Positioning System (GPS) locations of grazing, diet samples, and ingestive behavior at each proportion of the prairie dog colony per pasture allows prediction of the optimal proportion of colonization, which enables selection …

Questioning Ecosystem Assessment And Restoration Practices In A Major Urban Estuary: Perpetuating Myths Of Degradation In Spite Of Facts, John T. Tanacredi Ph.D., Martin P. Schreibman, Kevin Mcdonnell

Faculty Works: CERCOM

The Jamaica Bay ecosystem is a dichotomy. It encompasses more than 12,000 acres of coastal estuarine marshes and an ecological diversity rivaling any coastal environment in the world. It is considerably altered, and is affected by a variety of ecological insults directly related to the fact that more than 14 million people live in its vicinity. Environmental protection institutions responded to the challenge of protecting the bay, surrounding wetlands and recreational benefits by addressing the increasing load of contaminants into the ecosystem. Billions of dollars have been spent during the past five decades on restoration attempts, including upgrading wastewater treatment …

Supporting New England Communities To Become River-Smart: Policies And Programs That Can Help New England Towns Thrive Despite River Floods, Eve Vogel, Et. Al.

Water Reports

This report aims to help New England’s communities and their residents, as well as the governments thatserve them, to better deal with and adjust to riverfloods. It points to practical policy solutions at federal, state and regional levels that can support NewEngland communities to become what we call river-smart.

Marine Infectious Disease Dynamics And Outbreak Thresholds: Contact Transmission, Pandemic Infection, And The Potential Role Of Filter Feeders, Gorka Bidegain, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Tal Ben-Horin, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Disease-causing organisms can have significant impacts on marine species and communities. However, the dynamics that underlie the emergence of disease outbreaks in marine ecosystems still lack the equivalent level of description, conceptual understanding, and modeling context routinely present in the terrestrial systems. Here, we propose a theoretical basis for modeling the transmission of marine infectious diseases (MIDs) developed from simple models of the spread of infectious disease. The models represent the dynamics of a variety of host-pathogen systems including those unique to marine systems where transmission of disease is by contact with waterborne pathogens both directly and through filter-feeding processes. …

Understanding The Structure And Functioning Of Polar Pelagic Ecosystems To Predict The Impacts Of Change, E. E. Murphy, R. D. Cavanagh, K. F. Drinkwater, S. M. Grant, J. J. Heymans, E. E. Hofmann, G. L. Hunt Jr., N. M. Johnston

CCPO Publications

The determinants of the structure, functioning and resilience of pelagic ecosystems across most of the polar regions are not well known. Improved understanding is essential for assessing the value of biodiversity and predicting the effects of change (including in biodiversity) on these ecosystems and the services they maintain. Here we focus on the trophic interactions that underpin ecosystem structure, developing comparative analyses of how polar pelagic food webs vary in relation to the environment. We highlight that there is not a singular, generic Arctic or Antarctic pelagic food web, and, although there are characteristic pathways of energy flow dominated by …

First Record Of The Beetle Family Throscidae (Insecta: Coleoptera), A New Species Of I>Aulonothroscus Horn, And New Species Records To The Fauna Of Peru / Primer Registro De La Familia De Escarabajos Throscidae (Insecta: Coleoptera), Una Nueva Especie De Aulonothroscus Horn Y Tres Nuevos Registros De Especies Para La Fauna De Perú, Paul J. Johnson, Caroline S. Chaboo

Publications of UNSM Staff and Affiliates

The beetle family Throscidae is documented from Peru for the first time, based on specimens collected in the regions of Cajamarca, Junín, Loreto and Madre de Dios. Aulonothroscus tambopata new species is descri­bed from Madre de Dios. Also, three additional species of Aulonothroscus are reported from Peru for the first time – A. alvarengai Cobos new country record, A. freudi Cobos new country record, and A. oculatissimus Cobos new country record. A key separating these four species is given. This report is part of the “Beetles of Peru” project.

Se documenta por primera vez la familia de …

Status Of The U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research Network, Robert B. Wade, Long Term Ecological Research Network

Long Term Ecological Research Network

Contains a brief history and overview of the Long Term Ecological Research Network from 1983-2016.

Assortative Mating But No Evidence Of Genetic Divergence In A Species Characterized By A Trophic Polymorphism, Scott F. Coborne, S R. Garner, Fred Longstaffe, Bryan D. Neff

Earth Sciences Publications

Disruptive selection is a process that can result in multiple sub-groups within a population, referred to as diversification. Foraging related divergence has been described in many taxa, but many questions remain about the contribution of such divergence to reproductive isolation and potentially sympatric speciation. Here we use stable isotope analysis of diet and morphological analysis of body shape to examine phenotypic divergence between littoral and pelagic foraging ecomorphs in a population of pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus). We then examine reproductive isolation between ecomorphs by comparing the isotopic compositions of nesting males to eggs from their nests (a proxy for maternal …

An Update Of The Family-Level Taxonomy Of Vascular Plants In Mongolia, M. Urgamal, Ch. Sanchir

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

A new comprehensive checklist of Mongolian vascular plant families includes descriptions of all accepted plant families, each with a basionym, homonym, and full list of synonyms. The list is a completely revised update of GUBANOV’s conspectus (1996) of the Mongolian flora. The currently list covers a total of 3,113 species, subspecies and 683 genera, 112 families of vascular plants, belonging to 39 orders, 14 classes or clades and 5 divisions of the vascular plants in the flora of Mongolia.

Bibliographia Phytosociologica Et Floristica Mongolia: Pars Iv, Werner Hilbig

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In Ergänzung zu den bisherigen drei Teilen der Bibliographie vegetationskundlicher, vegetationsökologischer, floristischer und pflanzengeographischer Arbeiten über die Mongolei wird in dieser Arbeit Teil IV der Bibliographie vorgelegt. Er umfasst im Wesentlichen den Zeitraum 2007 bis 2014. Auch Publikationen zur Vegetationsgeschichte und zum botanischen Naturschutz werden berücksichtigt.

English summary:

In addition to the hitherto existing three parts of the bibliography of geobotanical, ecological, floristic and plant-geographical papers on Mongolia the part IV of the bibliography is given. It comprises in the main point the period from 2007 until 2014. In addition, publications on vegetation history and botanical nature protection are considered.

Plant Communities In Eastern Mongolia, Werner Hilbig, Naidan Narantuya

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In this contribution is presented a phytosociological description of plant communities, recorded in the phytogeographical district of Eastern Mongolia, including parts of the Dornod (Eastern) and the Choybalsan aymags. The whole district is characterized by steppe vegetation. Other vegetation types, like elm (Ulmus pumila) bush vegetation, shrubbery on sandy and rocky sites, Salix miyabeana bushes, meadow and reed vegetation in the river plains and lake basins, salt vegetation and ruderal plant communities were also recorded, documented by synoptic vegetation tables or single relevés and characterized by information on the ecological conditions of their habitats. Some of the observed …

Acclimatization Of Coregonus Autumnalis Migratorius (Georgi, 1775) In Some Water Bodies Of The Mongolian Gobi, Auyriin Dulmaa

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Introductions and subsequent acclimatization of the fish Baicalian omul (Coregonus autumnalis migratorius natio possolskii) was carried out in 1980, 1982, and 1986 in the previously fishless lakes of Ulaagchnii Khar, Baga, and Jaahan located in the territory of Gobi region of the Zavhan administrative aimag of Mongolia. Three million larvae of Coregonus autumnalis migratorius natio possolskii were received from the Bolshrechnsky fishery in Buryatya, Russia (DULMAA 1999). The density of distribution was 10-15 thousand units per hectare with an average larvae mass of 0.05 g. The relatively abundant fodder base has facilitated the high rate of growth and …

How Could Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uas) Be Used For Ecohydrological And Ecosystem Research? Experiences Of First Operations With Uas In River Flood Plains Of Northern Mongolia, Jürgen Hofmann, Martin Oczipka, Thomas Rutz, Hauke Dämpfling

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

This paper proposes the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as a method for monitoring biotic resources and ecohydrological systems in river floodplains.

Small scale mapping based on LANDSAT and SRTM or ASTER data is of limited applicability since a spatial resolution of 30 to 90 m is not sufficient to meet the demands of habitat mapping and large scale 3D -modelling. Newer satellites like WorldView2 and SENTINEL (space mission from European Space Agency within the Copernicus Programme) could be an option to gain a 0.5 m resolution, but the availability of image data is limited.

UAS allow the collection …

A Lobed Argiope Spider On Its Most Eastern Distribution – First Record Of Argiope Lobata (Pallas, 1772) For The Sub-Family Argiopinae (Arachnida: Araneidae) In Mongolia, Oliver Lindecke, Marcus Wall

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The subfamily Argiopinae SIMON, 1890 is reported for Mongolia the first time by Argiope lobata (PALLAS, 1772). Furthermore, we herein highlight the most eastern distribution of this species, which is widespread in the Mediterranean, African and in some Asian countries. The obtained specimen was found in the Eastern Gobi, a landscape of semi-desert character. Despite numerous studies with arachnological background in the past, even larger species new for Mongolia could be found. Findings like this show the on-going need for basic biodiversity research in the Gobi ecoregions. We further discuss previous, but doubtful reports of A. lobata in South-east Asia …