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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Leopards Are Good To Think With: Spotting The Zanzibar Leopard In Jozani Forest, Andrew Weier
Leopards Are Good To Think With: Spotting The Zanzibar Leopard In Jozani Forest, Andrew Weier
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
In this project, the modern narrative of the Zanzibar leopard was studied in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park. Game cameras were installed and various locations around the national park to try and gather primary evidence that supported the existence of a leopard population in the forest. In addition, local community members were interviewed about recent leopard related activities. No biological evidence was gathered that supported the existence of the Zanzibar leopard and information collected from interviews indicated a potential shift in which other organisms are considered leopards. Recommendations were made for future research to be able to better understand the complex …
Herpetofauna Of Sumak Allpa: A Baseline Assessment Of An Unstudied Island Herpetofaunal Community, Sara Freimuth
Herpetofauna Of Sumak Allpa: A Baseline Assessment Of An Unstudied Island Herpetofaunal Community, Sara Freimuth
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Sumak Allpa is an island dedicated to the provision and protection of habitat for the conservation and rehabilitation of primates. As such, the island - a varzea ecosystem located in the Western Amazon of Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse and also most threatened regions in the world – consists of protected primary forest that is home not only to a variety of primates, but also to an even wider variety of other taxa, nearly all of which have gone unstudied on the island. The present investigation assessed two of those taxa, amphibians and reptiles, in order to establish a …
Blooming Mountains Of Biodiversity: An Investigation Of Angiosperms On Cerro Mayordomo, Tungurahua, Ecuador, Ella Matsuda
Blooming Mountains Of Biodiversity: An Investigation Of Angiosperms On Cerro Mayordomo, Tungurahua, Ecuador, Ella Matsuda
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, and many of the species in the region are found nowhere else in the world. The cloud forest is particularly diverse because the mountainous terrain isolates populations and changes in elevation create a wide variety of habitats. Cerro Mayordomo is a relatively unexplored mountain in the cloud forest of Tungurahua, Ecuador. It is known to have very high levels of endemism and several new species have been discovered there, but the biodiversity of angiosperms on the mountain has never been quantified. In this study, 5x5 m quadrants were established …
Prevalence Of Moniliophthora Roreri In Theobroma Cacao In Relation To Clone Variety, Community Composition, Environmental Factors In An Organic Cacao Farm In Charagre, Bocas Del Toro, Panamá: A Case Study, Kara Eckberg
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Moniliophthora roreri, or Frosty Pod Rot (FPR) is a widespread pathogen that affects the fruit of Theobroma cacao, a tree commonly known as the cacao tree. Often, cultivators seek to control spread of M. roreri through fungicidal compounds. However, these fungicides place selective pressure for resistance on M. roreri. Additionally, they can have adverse environmental and human health effects and are difficult to integrate into practice for smallholders. Therefore organic farms in Bocas del Toro in western Panama, have turned to biocontrol agents to reduce the spread of M. roreri. These strategies include increasing hybrid variety, modifying community composition, altering …
Carbon Sequestration In The Cloud Forest: A Comparative Evaluation Of Aboveground Biomass Carbon Stock Potential In The Río Guajalito Reserve, Elli Mapstone
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
As carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise at a rapid rate, it is necessary to understand how forests can both contribute to CO2 levels but also stop them from rising. Carbon sequestration levels in tropical montane cloud forests are a relatively understudied topic. Gathering carbon stock levels is the first step necessary to start a REDD+ project. Carbon stock levels can be studied on a global, regional or local level. This study used the University of Oxford/ Global Ecosystems Monitoring Network (GEM) methodology to examine carbon sequestration levels of aboveground biomass, specifically ground litter, large branches …
Hummingbird Foraging Preference: The Hierarchical Impacts Of Color, Position, And Concentration On Visitation Frequency, Erin O'Connor
Hummingbird Foraging Preference: The Hierarchical Impacts Of Color, Position, And Concentration On Visitation Frequency, Erin O'Connor
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Hummingbirds are well adapted to efficiently locate high quality nectar sources, but relatively few studies have examined the mechanisms of that process under natural conditions in the field. This study investigates the visual signals that allow hummingbirds to do just that, as well as the external factors that limit their choices in foraging. More specifically, feeder color and nectar concentration were manipulated to determine the effect of those independent variables on visitation frequency. An initial experiment was conducted in order to explore color preference among the visiting species. Red, orange, and blue feeders were filled with nectar of equal concentrations …
Monitoring Anuran Populations In Bosque Protector Candelaria: A Multi-Year Comparison Of Frog Populations In An Ecuadorian Cloud Forest, Mindee Goodrum
Monitoring Anuran Populations In Bosque Protector Candelaria: A Multi-Year Comparison Of Frog Populations In An Ecuadorian Cloud Forest, Mindee Goodrum
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
For many years, amphibian populations around the world have been declining due to climate change, habitat loss or change, and diseases such as Ranavirus or the Chytrid fungus. However, there is still a great lack of information regarding the diversity of frogs, especially in the cloud forests of Ecuador where this study was conducted. This study was conducted in April and May of 2017 in the Ecominga Reserve of Cerro Candelaria in El Placer, Ecuador. The objective was to conduct visual-encounter surveys of several sites in the reserve and compare the results to studies that have been conducted in the …
A Study Of Defensive Mechanisms Employed By Two Species Of Nudibranchs Using Toxicity And Unpalatability Analyses, Sean Youn
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Nudibranchs are marine invertebrates that have developed an intriguing defense mechanism, including warning coloration and the use of chemicals accumulated through their sponge diet. The goal of this study was to determine whether the strength of chemical defenses differs between dietary and accumulated secondary metabolites for two species: Glossodoris vespa and Ceratosoma brevicaudatum. First, NMR spectroscopy was used to not only identify specific compounds in the mantle (outer covering) and the viscera (gut) but also to analyze the possibility of nudibranch species transporting more toxic compounds for defensive purposes. Next, toxicity (brine shrimp) and palatability (Palaemon shrimp) assays were used …
Epigeal Fauna Of Bosque Protector Cerro Candelaria, Justine Albers
Epigeal Fauna Of Bosque Protector Cerro Candelaria, Justine Albers
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Pitfall traps are commonly used to sample epigeal fauna, and are especially utilized for the collection of ground-dwelling arthropods; however, this sampling method has yet to be employed in Cerro Candelaria, a protected cloud forest reserve in Tungurahua, Ecuador. Pitfall trap systems were established at two different sites in the reserve that differed in elevation and forest type. Although individuals from 4 different phlya, 11 classes and 17 orders were encountered over the duration of the study, pitfalls were most effective at sampling Coleoptera, which comprised 40% of the total catch across both sites. The two communities of beetle …
Human Impacts On Water Systems: Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In The Bosque Protector Río Guajalito (Bprg) Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates, Harrison Smith
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Benthic macroinvertebrates have been extensively used as bioindicators for water quality due to their varying sensitivity to a diverse range of impacts on hydrographic sources. In this study a sampling of macroinvertebrates was carried out in the Guajalito and Brincador rivers and a small creek that runs through the private reserve Bosque Protector Rio Guajalito in order to analyze if the health of the rivers has changed in relation to previous studies. The sampling stations were located upstream and downstream of potential sources of disturbance in each of the three streams sampled in order to determine what level of impact …
The Ecology Of Infancy And Early Childhood In Rural Senegal; A Five Year Old Can Boot But Not Foot, An Exploration Of Where Biology Meets Culture, Heather Mills
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
This research project explores the life stages of infancy and early childhood in the village of Ndiane in the Thies region of Senegal. I will discuss how biology meets culture to influence children, parenting styles, and expectations of the life stage. How does ecology, the interaction of physical, biological and cultural landscapes, characterize childhood and the intertwined belief systems that influence parenting? The information was gathered using a combination of participant observation and free list interviews.