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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Avian Ecology During Oak Savanna And Woodland Restoration In The Mid-South, Christine Ann Henderson Dec 2017

Avian Ecology During Oak Savanna And Woodland Restoration In The Mid-South, Christine Ann Henderson

Masters Theses

Disturbance-dependent ecosystems in the eastern United States have been declining since European settlement, and, in recent years, early-successional species have followed. My objective for this research was to determine if oak savanna and woodland restoration (i.e., overstory thinning and prescribed fire) was a viable method of recovering declining earlysuccessional species to the landscape of the Mid-South. At 3 sites, Catoosa Wildlife Management Area (CWMA; Tennessee), Green River Game Lands (GRGL; North Carolina), and Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL; Tennessee), oak savanna and woodland restoration projects were established and maintained. Closed-canopy stands were thinned and a 2-year burn …


A Predictive Model For Brook Trout Restoration In The Cherokee National Forest, Caylor Garrett Romines Aug 2017

A Predictive Model For Brook Trout Restoration In The Cherokee National Forest, Caylor Garrett Romines

Masters Theses

Over the course of the last century, Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) have been reduced in abundance and extirpated from many high elevation streams throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains. These fish have been threatened by anthropogenic factors that restrict their distribution across the longitudinal gradient of the streams they occupy. A large portion of Tennessee's Brook Trout streams are located within the Cherokee National Forest (CNF). Many agencies in the southern Appalachian Mountains are working to restore Brook Trout populations throughout this species’ historic native range. The purpose of this research is to develop a model of important habitat …


Bats Roosting In Buildings In Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Ecology, Human Dimensions, And Management Implications, Kirstin Emily Fagan Aug 2017

Bats Roosting In Buildings In Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Ecology, Human Dimensions, And Management Implications, Kirstin Emily Fagan

Masters Theses

During summer, bats are regularly observed in buildings of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM or the Park), the most visited National Park in the USA. As a result, natural and cultural resources managers seek to ensure public safety and protect historic structures while minimizing impacts on bats, especially in light of declines in bat populations as a result of white-nose syndrome. To inform management decisions, I examined the ecological and human dimensions of bats roosting in buildings in GRSM.

To assess roost selection by building-roosting bats, I surveyed 140 buildings in the Park for bats during May to August, …


Cation Exchange Processes Involving The Agricultural Antibiotic Tylosin In Soil And Soil Minerals, Jaime Jacinda Call May 2017

Cation Exchange Processes Involving The Agricultural Antibiotic Tylosin In Soil And Soil Minerals, Jaime Jacinda Call

Masters Theses

Tylosin (TYL) is a veterinary antibiotic that is used as a feed additive in swine production. Concentrations as high as 4.0 mg L-1 have been found in swine manure leachates. Tylosin is predominately a cationic species, due to the protonation of a dimethylamine moiety in pH < 7.5 solutions. The soil adsorption of TYL is influenced by pH, background electrolyte, and ionic strength, suggesting that ion exchange is an important retention mechanism. The objective of this study was to examine the exchange selectivity of TYL in competition with sodium and calcium in montmorillonite and vermiculite reference clays and in the Bt2 horizons of a west Tennessee Loring soil. Binary exchange studies were performed and exchange isotherms were developed to establish preference, to determine the Vanselow selectivity coefficient (KV) as a function of exchange phase composition, and to determine the exchangeable and nonexchangeable forms of TYL. X-ray diffraction was used to evaluate TYL intercalation into reference and soil clay minerals. For TYLX-NaX exchange, the exchange isotherms indicated that TYL+ was preferred over Na+ by montmorillonite, but not by …


Spatially Explicit Population Estimates Of The Florida Black Bear, Jacob Michael Humm May 2017

Spatially Explicit Population Estimates Of The Florida Black Bear, Jacob Michael Humm

Masters Theses

The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) is currently comprised of 7 isolated subpopulations: Apalachicola, Eglin, Osceola, Ocala/St. Johns, Chassahowitzka, Highlands/Glades, and Big Cypress. The last statewide assessment of Florida black bear population dynamics was conducted by Simek et al. (2005) using traditional capture-markrecapture methods. The subspecies was removed from Florida’s List of State Threatened Species in 2012 contingent upon the formulation of a management plan that would maintain viable subpopulations of black bears in suitable habitat. Accurate population estimates for each of the remaining black bear subpopulations in Florida were needed to achieve the management goals of …