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Articles 1 - 21 of 21
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Refining The Use Of Stable Isotope Analysis In Detecting Wildlife Laundering, Kevin Guilfoyle
Refining The Use Of Stable Isotope Analysis In Detecting Wildlife Laundering, Kevin Guilfoyle
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The international wildlife trade has caused significant declines in wild populations. Captive breeding can reduce the pressure on wild populations caused by overcollection, but if not properly monitored, wildlife laundering can lead to further population declines. Improving the forensic ability to detect wildlife laundering will assist in monitoring the wildlife trade and enforcing regulations, thereby aiding recovery of wild populations. Stable isotope analysis has grown in importance as a forensic tool, but improvements are needed. Here, stable isotope analysis (δ13C) on eggshells of captive bred and wild sourced island apple snails (Pomacea maculata) distinguished between the two; eggshells of captive …
Dormant Propagules In Demographic Studies: A Recurrent Bias And Potential Solutions, Federico Borghesi
Dormant Propagules In Demographic Studies: A Recurrent Bias And Potential Solutions, Federico Borghesi
Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024
In the face of unprecedented anthropogenic change, we increasingly turn to emergent technologies and extensive data sets for solutions that complement much needed systemic changes in our societies. These technological solutions, however, must be approached with care. We must recognize and address biases in the way data has been accumulated. In demographic studies, dormant life stages, such as seed banks, and other cryptic factors have often been neglected. The potential consequences of these omissions have been extensively described in the literature. In the first chapter, I analyze patterns of seed bank omissions in demographic models, finding unjustified omissions are widespread …
Evolutionary History And Adaptation To Salinity In American Alligators, John Konvalina
Evolutionary History And Adaptation To Salinity In American Alligators, John Konvalina
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Stressful environments can commonly be found at the edge of a species range and may be a driver for adaption in suboptimal environments. Furthermore, the edge of a species' range can expand and contract over time, resulting in multiple independent invasions of the same stressful habitat. Elucidating population genetic structure and demographic history can aid in determining the which geologic factors impact range distributions and when climatic changes occurred driving genetic patterns observed in contemporary populations. Moreover, populations at the edge of the species range may adapt to the stressful environments that occur at the range edge and exhibit genetic …
Synergistic Impacts Of Climate Change And Human Induced Stressors On The Apalachicola Bay Food Web, Kira Allen
Synergistic Impacts Of Climate Change And Human Induced Stressors On The Apalachicola Bay Food Web, Kira Allen
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Apalachicola Bay, an estuary located in northwest Florida, is likely to experience an increase in climate change and human-induced stressors, such as sea level rise and changes in freshwater inflow, in the future. A coupled hydrodynamic and food web modeling approach was used to simulate future scenarios of low and high river flow and sea level rise in Apalachicola Bay from 2020 to 2049 and demonstrate the range of temporal and spatial changes in water temperature, salinity, fisheries species populations and the broader food web. Concurrent with model development, a survey of Apalachicola Bay stakeholders was conducted to assess stakeholder …
The Global Impact Of Covid-19 And Tourism On Conservation Rangers' Guardianship Capabilities, Zachary Bockler
The Global Impact Of Covid-19 And Tourism On Conservation Rangers' Guardianship Capabilities, Zachary Bockler
Honors Undergraduate Theses
This thesis explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted wildlife rangers with an emphasis on the influences of tourism rates. Two sets of data are used: one is a survey of rangers around the world and the other looks at global governmental tourism data. While coming from a routine activities perspective, the problem of decreased capable guardianship becomes apparent in the form of massively decreased tourism arrivals and troubling ranger perceptions. This data allows for the establishment of tourism trends and changes during COVID. The findings of this thesis link the downturn in tourism with impacts on formal and informal …
"Reeling In" Juvenile Sportfish Through Coastal Habitat Restoration: Population, Community, And Trophic Responses In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Jennifer Loch
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Coastal habitats provide crucial nursery habitat for predatory fishes, but they are in decline worldwide, impacting economically important fisheries. Habitat restoration can simultaneously mitigate the effects of habitat loss and benefit predators (e.g., sportfish), although this relationship is understudied. Here, the response of juvenile sportfish to oyster reef and living shoreline restoration is compared to controls in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida prior to and following restoration for up to three years through examination of community (diversity, assemblage), population (abundance), biometric (size, body condition), ontogenetic, and trophic (gut contents, stable isotopes) dynamics. Stable isotopes were used to quantify dietary history, …
Miami-Dade Task Force: A Content Analysis Of How Coastal Communities View Sea Level Rise As A Threat, Francisco Alvaro
Miami-Dade Task Force: A Content Analysis Of How Coastal Communities View Sea Level Rise As A Threat, Francisco Alvaro
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Sea level rise (SLR) has become a serious threat for coastal communities in recent years. Many communities, including South Florida, are already having the security of their daily lives impacted as climate change causes SLR and other environmental impacts to worsen. This study reviews the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force Report to determine how this coastal county government views SLR as a threat. Using mixed content analysis to analyze the report qualitatively and quantitatively, the Task Force's recommendations are categorized based on their focus on security, infrastructure, economics, and the environment. One finds the concerns of the people to …
Biogeochemical Effects Of Sea Level Rise-Induced Transitions Within Coastal Wetlands, Havalend Steinmuller
Biogeochemical Effects Of Sea Level Rise-Induced Transitions Within Coastal Wetlands, Havalend Steinmuller
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
As sea level rise (SLR) affects coastal wetlands, ecosystem responses can include vertical accretion, landward transgression, or submergence. Sea level rise-induced transitions can alter key biogeochemical transformations within wetland soils, impacting the ability of these systems to provide ecosystem services, specifically carbon (C) storage and water quality regulation. Through a series of complementary laboratory and field-based studies, biogeochemical responses to salinity, vegetation shifts, and submergence were investigated. Changes in nutrient dynamics associated with saltwater intrusion were evaluated by artificially adding saline water to different freshwater wetland soil types, indicating that potential exports of critical nutrients (forms of nitrogen, phosphorus, and …
Seascape Genetics And Rehabilitation Efficiency In The Florida Manatee, Madison Hall
Seascape Genetics And Rehabilitation Efficiency In The Florida Manatee, Madison Hall
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) was recently downlisted federally from "endangered" to "threatened" despite acknowledgments of remaining threats to long term population persistence. Challenges to future manatee conservation include, but are not limited to, increases in frequency of harmful algal blooms, intensifying anthropogenic disturbance, and loss of warm-water habitat. The goals of this dissertation were 1) to assess threats to the manatee via a comprehensive, long-term (1973-2016), retrospective analysis of the manatee rescue and rehabilitation partnership (MRRP) and 2) to use seascape genetics analysis to examine whether abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic seascape variables could significantly describe genetic distance patterns …
Community-Based Coastal Restoration: Long Term Impacts On Habitats And People In Volusia County, Rachel Wimmer
Community-Based Coastal Restoration: Long Term Impacts On Habitats And People In Volusia County, Rachel Wimmer
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Coastal habitats provide invaluable economic and ecosystem services. However, coastlines are eroding at increasing rates due to anthropogenic and climate driven changes. Grey and green infrastructure solutions have been proposed to retard the decay of coastlines, with oysters serving as a popular living shoreline. Three community-based stabilizations that implemented living shorelines and engaged local communities in restoration efforts over the past decade in Volusia County were revisited to determine if they were successful and if they produced positive public perceptions of success. Chicken Island, which was restored after waves, boat wakes, tides, and adverse weather altered the natural shoreline, had …
An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder
An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Biodiversity is what conservation biology was developed to conserve. It is the physical manifestation of life as a concept and, be it for practical or idealistic reasons, all conservationists seek to protect or, in some cases, enhance it. Because of its monolithic importance to the field, much effort has been expended trying to better measure and understand it. Recently, greater attention has been paid to the partition of diversity; the observation that the total diversity of a system (γ) can be broken down into within-site diversity (α) and between-site diversity (β). In particular, it has been noticed that the β …
A Case-Study Of The African Leopard (Panthera Pardus Pardus) Population On The Nambiti Private Game Reserve, Erica Castaneda
A Case-Study Of The African Leopard (Panthera Pardus Pardus) Population On The Nambiti Private Game Reserve, Erica Castaneda
Honors Undergraduate Theses
The Nambiti Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa is a nature reserve that aids in the conservation of some of the world’s most renown species. This includes members of the "Big Five," which is comprised of the African lion (Panthera leo), the African elephant (Loxidonta africana), the Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), the black & white rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis and Ceratotherium simum, respectively), and the African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus). These animals represent the top five African animals desired by trophy hunters and by tourists hoping to view wildlife (Caro …
Evolution And Distribution Of Phenotypic Diversity In The Venom Of Mojave Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Scutulatus), Jason Strickland
Evolution And Distribution Of Phenotypic Diversity In The Venom Of Mojave Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Scutulatus), Jason Strickland
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Intraspecific phenotype diversity allows for local adaption and the ability for species to respond to changing environmental conditions, enhancing survivability. Phenotypic variation could be stochastic, genetically based, and/or the result of different environmental conditions. Mojave Rattlesnakes, Crotalus scutulatus, are known to have high intraspecific venom variation, but the geographic extent of the variation and factors influencing venom evolution are poorly understood. Three primary venom types have been described in this species based on the presence (Type A) or absence (Type B) of a neurotoxic phospholipase A2 called Mojave toxin and an inverse relationship with the presence of snake venom metalloproteinases …
Reproductive Life History And Signal Evolution In A Multi-Species Assemblage Of Electric Fish, Joseph Waddell
Reproductive Life History And Signal Evolution In A Multi-Species Assemblage Of Electric Fish, Joseph Waddell
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Animals that co-occur in sympatry with multiple closely-related species use reproductive mate attraction signals not only to assess the quality of a potential conspecific mate (sexual selection), but also to discriminate conspecifics from heterospecifics (species recognition). However, the extent to which sexual selection and species recognition may interact, or even conflict, is poorly known. Neotropical electric fish offer unrivaled opportunities for understanding this problem. They generate simple, stereotyped mate attraction signals that are easy to record and quantify, and that are well-understood from the neurobiological perspective. Additionally, they live in electrically-crowded environments, where multiple congeners live and reproduce in close …
The Role Of The Y-Chromosome In The Evolution Of Autosomally Coded Traits, Ian Kutch
The Role Of The Y-Chromosome In The Evolution Of Autosomally Coded Traits, Ian Kutch
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Recent work indicates that the Y-chromosome of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster can influence gene regulation on the autosomes and X chromosome. This newly discovered function of the Y has the potential to dramatically shape the regulatory evolution of numerous genes that reside throughout the genome; even for genes that code for both male and female traits. Given that the mechanism underlying the Y-linked influence on gene expression in D. melanogaster appears to exist in other independently evolved heterogametic sex chromosomes, the evolutionary implications of Y-linked regulatory variation (YRV) deserves to be explored. These implications include the potential for Y-chromosomes …
Habitat Selection In Transformed Landscapes And The Role Of Novel Ecosystems For Native Species Persistence, Lina Maria Sanchez Clavijo
Habitat Selection In Transformed Landscapes And The Role Of Novel Ecosystems For Native Species Persistence, Lina Maria Sanchez Clavijo
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
To understand native species persistence in transformed landscapes we must evaluate how individual behaviors interact with landscape structure through ecological processes such as habitat selection. Rapid, widespread landscape transformation may lead to a mismatch between habitat preference and quality, a phenomenon known as ecological traps that can have negative outcomes for populations. I applied this framework to the study of birds inhabiting landscapes dominated by forest remnants and shade coffee plantations, a tropical agroforestry system that retains important portions of native biodiversity. I used two different approaches to answer the question: What is the role of habitat selection in the …
Turtle Cam: Live Multimedia Interaction For Engaging Potential Visitor Population To Canaveral National Seashore, Brian Alfred Tortorelli
Turtle Cam: Live Multimedia Interaction For Engaging Potential Visitor Population To Canaveral National Seashore, Brian Alfred Tortorelli
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This project expands the outreach of the Canaveral National Seashore to its visitors, potential visitors, and virtual visitors through its goals in conservancy and preservation of its natural resources. This paper is involved with the current iteration of a series of digital media projects, the Sea Turtle Nest Camera, also known as, Turtle Cam. It details how and why this project was designed to be an ongoing initiative to assist in those goals.
Using Landscape Genetics To Assess Population Connectivity In A Habitat Generalist, Tyler Duncan Hether
Using Landscape Genetics To Assess Population Connectivity In A Habitat Generalist, Tyler Duncan Hether
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Understanding the nature of genetic variation in natural populations is an underlying theme of population genetics. In recent years population genetics has benefited from the incorporation of landscape and environmental data into pre-existing models of isolation by distance (IBD) to elucidate features influencing spatial genetic variation. Many of these landscape genetics studies have focused on populations separated by discrete barriers (e.g., mountain ridges) or species with specific habitat requirements (i.e., habitat specialists). One difficulty in using a landscape genetics approach for taxa with less stringent habitat requirements (i.e., generalists) is the lack of obvious barriers to gene flow and preference …
The Influence Of Sexual Selection On Behavioral And Physiological Mechanisms Underlying Reproductive Success In Male Cape Ground Squirrels (Xerus Inauris), Mary Beth Manjerovic
The Influence Of Sexual Selection On Behavioral And Physiological Mechanisms Underlying Reproductive Success In Male Cape Ground Squirrels (Xerus Inauris), Mary Beth Manjerovic
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Sexual selection is considered a powerful evolutionary force responsible for the enormous diversity found in reproductive morphology, physiology, and behavior. I addressed questions related to selection in the Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris), a species characterized as highly social and promiscuous. These attributes often are responsible for variance in male reproductive success and as such, sexual selection theory predicts increased opportunity for sexual selection. I confirm that the predominant mechanism underlying genital evolution and competition for paternity in X. inauris is sperm competition. I find evidence that investment in sperm competition is costly and may reflect immunocompetence. I quantify reproductive …
An Assessment Of Sea Turtle Nesting Behavior In Relation To Hurricane- And Restoration-Induced Beach Morphodynamics, Tonya Michele Long
An Assessment Of Sea Turtle Nesting Behavior In Relation To Hurricane- And Restoration-Induced Beach Morphodynamics, Tonya Michele Long
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Coastal habitats are highly dynamic and vulnerable to landscape-level disturbances such as storms and restoration projects. Along the east coast of Florida these areas are particularly valuable as they provide significant nesting habitat for two sea turtle species, the threatened loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and the endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas). This coast was heavily impacted by three major hurricanes in 2004 and in some areas by large restoration projects in 2005. Recent remote sensing methods allow for broad evaluation of the shoreline and thus the ability to assess sea turtle nesting habitat at a landscape scale. I collected nesting data …
Species Composition And Spatiotemporal Pattern Of The Seed Bank And Vegetation In Native And Degraded Florida Rosemary Scrub, Jennifer J. Navarra
Species Composition And Spatiotemporal Pattern Of The Seed Bank And Vegetation In Native And Degraded Florida Rosemary Scrub, Jennifer J. Navarra
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The soil seed bank plays a dynamic role in the regeneration of plant communities after natural and anthropogenic disturbance. In this thesis, I addressed how disturbances influence the vegetation and seed bank of Florida rosemary scrub. In Chapter One I evaluated changes in species composition and spatiotemporal pattern of the vegetation and seed bank along a gradient of disturbance. During the summers and winters of 2007-2009 percent ground cover and seed bank species composition were assessed among replicates of three vegetation types subjected to minimal, moderate, and extreme anthropogenic disturbance (native rosemary scrub, degraded scrub, and agriculturally improved pasture, respectively). …