Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evaluating The Interactive Roles Of Soil Nutrients And Polyploidy On Competitive Outcomes Of Chamerion Angustifolium, Angela Walczyk

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Newly formed polyploids face strong barriers preventing their establishment, but despite these barriers polyploidy is prevalent among angiosperms being a major mechanism of adaptation and speciation. Morphological and phenological differences between diploids and related polyploids often results in different ecological tolerances among cytotypes. Differences in competitive abilities brought on by genome duplication can vary with abiotic and biotic environmental conditions and influence polyploid establishment. In my theses, I test the overall hypothesis that soil nutrient availability and polyploidy interact to affect competition and performance of Fireweed plants (Chamerion angustifolium), which differ in ploidy levels. Additionally, I examined whether …

The Textural Discontinuity Hypothesis And Its Relation To Nomadism, Migration, Decline, And Competition, Aaron L. Alai

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The causes of nomadism, migration, and decline in vertebrates are debated issues in the ecological sciences. Literature suggests nomadism may arise in species that specialize in granivory, nectivory, or the utilization of rodent outbreaks. Migration is thought to arise as a result of the exploitation of certain scarce or variable food resources. Species decline is hypothesized to be the result of many different factors as well; large species, island species and specialists may be more prone to decline.

A fresh perspective regarding the causes for species nomadism, migration, and decline is being investigated utilizing the ideas within the Textural Discontinuity …