Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Open Access Articles

Growing Quelites In The City: Exploration On Memory And Food Sovereignty In Mexico City, Paola Valeria Ramirez Ensastiga

Masters Theses

In Mexico, as in the world, the number of people living in urban areas is increasing. In addition, urbanization directly generates a fragmentation of the natural habitat and causes the loss of biodiversity. Native edible crops are also being threatened by a constant decline in biodiversity, causing negative ecological, economic and even cultural impact. Until now, the main guardians of the edible biodiversity have been indigenous peoples. Several authors agree that the way in which indigeous people relate to nature may shed some light on how to face the ecological and climate crisis that we are experiencing today. I argue …

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Conservation Of Terrestrial Salamanders Through Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Management In Eastern Hemlock Forests Within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Jonathan Lawrence Cox

Masters Theses

Hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae; HWA), an invasive aphid-like arthropod, was first documented on the east coast of the United States in the 1950s. HWA is an herbivore which primarily feeds at the needle base of hemlock tree species (Pinaceae: Tsuga). With no evolutionary defenses and few biotic controls, the eastern and Carolina hemlock (Tsuga canadensis and Tsuga carolinensis) serve as the primary diet of HWA in eastern North America. The invasive pest began to spread rapidly throughout the hemlock’s range causing defoliation and death of the trees within 4 – 10 years. With the …

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Hunting Contests In New York State, Tyler Caffrey

Honors College Theses

The world is currently in a biodiversity crisis and hunting contests cannot continue. Hunting contests are not legitimate wildlife management tools, but exist for entertainment and killing for a prize. Many of the species targeted can be killed without bag limits. Additionally, many wildlife management practices are retroactive, meaning they are in response to an issue. Within New York State, these contests are not regulated by the NYSDEC beyond adhering to hunting regulations. With these factors together, animals targeted by these contests can be hunted to a detrimental point, and then management agencies would step in. These contests face significant …

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Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem, Joseph M. Mukeka, Joseph O. Ogutu, Erustus Kanga, Eivin Røskaft

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Biodiversity conservation in developing countries is faced with many and mounting challenges, including increasing human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs). In Africa and other developing countries, increasing HWCs, particularly those adjacent to protected areas, can adversely affect local stakeholder perceptions and support for conservation. We analyzed HWC reports for multiple wildlife species compiled >23 years (1995–2017) from the Greater Tsavo Ecosystem (GTE) in Kenya to determine HWC trends. The GTE is the largest protected area in Kenya, covering 22,681 km². Overall, 39,022 HWC incidents were reported in 6 GTE regions (i.e., Taveta, Mutomo, Kibwezi, Rombo, Galana, Bachuma). The 5 wildlife species …

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Imagining Transformative Biodiversity Futures, Carina Wyborn, Federico Davila, Laura Pereira, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Et Al.

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Biodiversity research is replete with scientific studies depicting future trajectories of decline that have failed to mobilize transformative change. Imagination and creativity can foster new ways to address longstanding problems to create better futures for people and the planet.

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Impact Of Disturbance Regimes On Community And Landscape Biodiversity In Atlantic Coastal Pine Barren Ecoregion Streams, Sean T. Mccanty

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Streams are dynamic systems shaped by geographic location, hydrology, riparian vegetation, and in-stream habitat. Furthermore, ecosystem disturbance plays a major role in structuring stream communities and ecosystem processes. Disturbances include natural occurrences, such as flooding, drought, and fire events and anthropogenic disturbances such as land use changes, damming, and pollution. Agricultural use acts as a press disturbance regime, homogenizing the surrounding landscape and simplifying in-stream habitat, leaving legacy effects after farming ceases. Active restoration is intended to ameliorate these effects by reintroducing variation, with the goal of shifting the ecosystem into a more diverse and natural state. The act of …

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Habitat Modification On An Urban High School Campus, Nickolas John Davros Ii

Graduate Theses

Biodiversity is in a crisis worldwide, driven by the negative effects from urbanization. Ecosystems are being destroyed in favor of urban areas and natural resources are diminishing. Stormwater management has gained an elevated importance and its associated infrastructure could help counter the loss of biodiversity. Freshwater within urban areas is critical for organisms. Anthropogenic ponds can act as refuge habitats within a blue network and have become a hotspot for ecological research. Using principles of reconciliation ecology, the effects on biodiversity were assessed following the conversion of a stormwater basin on an urban high school in Charlotte, NC. A before-and-after …

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Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas Have Higher Biodiversity Via Increased Evenness, Not Abundance, Shane A. Blowes, Jonathan M. Chase, Antonio Di Franco, Ori Frid, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Paolo Guidetti, Tiffany M. Knight, Felix May, Daniel J. Mcglinn, Fiorenza Micheli, Enric Sala, Jonathan Belmaker

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. Protected areas are central to biodiversity conservation. For marine fish, marine protected areas (MPAs) often harbour more individuals, especially of species targeted by fisheries. But precise pathways of biodiversity change remain unclear. For example, how local-scale responses combine to affect regional biodiversity, important for managing spatial networks of MPAs, is not well known. Protection potentially influences three components of fish assemblages that determine how species accumulate with sampling effort and spatial scale: the total number of individuals, the relative abundance of species and …

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Additions To Philippine Slender Skinks Of The Brachymeles Bonitae Complex (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) Iv: Resurrection And Redescription Of Brachymeles Burksi, Cameron D. Siler, Elyse S. Freitas, Jennifer A. Sheridan, Stephanie N. Maguire, Drew R. Davis, Jessa L. Watters, Kai Wang, Arvin C. Diesmos, Rafe M. Brown

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The diversity of Philippine amphibians and reptiles has increased over the last few decades, in part due to re-evaluation of species formerly believed to be widespread. Many of these investigations of widespread species have uncovered multiple closely related cryptic lineages comprising species complexes, each restricted to individual Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complexes (PAICs). One group in particular for which widespread cryptic diversity has been common is the clade of Philippine skinks of the genus Brachymeles. Recent phylogenetic studies of the formerly recognized widespread species Brachymeles bonitae have indicated that this species is actually a complex distributed across several major PAICs and …

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Invasive Rat Establishment And Changes In Small Mammal Populations On Caribbean Islands Following Two Hurricanes, Aaron B. Shiels, Claudia D. Lombard, Laura Shiels, Zandy Hillis-Starr

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive mammals, particularly black rats (Rattus rattus), house mice (Mus musculus), and mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) are established on many tropical islands and threaten natural resources such as native birds, sea turtles, lizards, invertebrates, and plants. St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean) has a diversity of natural resources being protected from invasive mammals by U.S. conservation agencies. Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge and Buck Island Reef National Monument receive among the highest density of nesting sea turtles in the region, including annual nesting populations of 50e250 leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea), 25e80 hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata), and 100e250 green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Buck Island …

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Wildlife Ecology And Conservation In A Suburban Preserve Matrix: Applications Of Long-Term Monitoring Data, John Peter Vanek

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Wildlife is important to humans, offering economic, nutritional, ecological, and socio-cultural value. However, vertebrate biodiversity is being lost at rates 100 times greater than the background extinction rate, threatening human livelihood via the loss of ecosystem services. These human-induced species losses are primarily due to habitat destruction, which is increasingly tied to urban development. Conservation of wildlife resources is therefore imperative in a world where more than 50% of the human population, and 80% of people living in the United States, now live in urban areas. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how monitoring data can be applied to answer questions …

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Climate Change & Grief: An Overview Of The Mental Health Effects Of Climate Change & How Biodiversity Loss In The Great Plains Affects Our Emotional Wellbeing, Luke Andersen

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

While it is known that our changing climate is predicted to have dire consequences, there is less discussion taking place about the potential mental health effects and outcomes of those consequences. Many articles outline the mental health consequences of climate change, but they all discuss similar ideas and theories that don't necessarily generate further topics to explore. A topic that remains unexplored is that of ecological grief, which is our emotional response to ecological loss. The hypothesis being tested in this research project is that people will feel relatively strong grief-related emotions (i.e. anger, sadness) when imagining the loss of …

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Examining Biodiversity Metrics And The Utility Of Dna Barcoding In The Northern Great Plains, Sarah Herzog

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to heavy threats to remaining global floral and faunal diversity, it is imperative we can identify species and quantify ecosystem health to find best practices for land management and conservation. The tallgrass prairies of the Northern Great Plains are one example of a heavily imperiled ecosystem. The tallgrass prairies have been reduced to less one percent of their historical extent and are facing continued loss. Genetic approaches and evolutionary theory offer insights for identifying species and assessing how biodiversity metrics may correlate with ecosystem processes. My two projects aim to address two facets imperative to conservation in the tallgrass …

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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Growing Quelites In The City: Exploration On Memory And Food Sovereignty In Mexico City, Paola Valeria Ramirez Ensastiga

Masters Theses

Conservation Of Terrestrial Salamanders Through Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Management In Eastern Hemlock Forests Within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Jonathan Lawrence Cox

Masters Theses

Hunting Contests In New York State, Tyler Caffrey

Honors College Theses

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem, Joseph M. Mukeka, Joseph O. Ogutu, Erustus Kanga, Eivin Røskaft

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Imagining Transformative Biodiversity Futures, Carina Wyborn, Federico Davila, Laura Pereira, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Et Al.

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Impact Of Disturbance Regimes On Community And Landscape Biodiversity In Atlantic Coastal Pine Barren Ecoregion Streams, Sean T. Mccanty

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Habitat Modification On An Urban High School Campus, Nickolas John Davros Ii

Graduate Theses

Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas Have Higher Biodiversity Via Increased Evenness, Not Abundance, Shane A. Blowes, Jonathan M. Chase, Antonio Di Franco, Ori Frid, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Paolo Guidetti, Tiffany M. Knight, Felix May, Daniel J. Mcglinn, Fiorenza Micheli, Enric Sala, Jonathan Belmaker

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Invasive Rat Establishment And Changes In Small Mammal Populations On Caribbean Islands Following Two Hurricanes, Aaron B. Shiels, Claudia D. Lombard, Laura Shiels, Zandy Hillis-Starr

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife Ecology And Conservation In A Suburban Preserve Matrix: Applications Of Long-Term Monitoring Data, John Peter Vanek

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Climate Change & Grief: An Overview Of The Mental Health Effects Of Climate Change & How Biodiversity Loss In The Great Plains Affects Our Emotional Wellbeing, Luke Andersen

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Examining Biodiversity Metrics And The Utility Of Dna Barcoding In The Northern Great Plains, Sarah Herzog

Electronic Theses and Dissertations