Biodiversity Commons^™

Ethnoecological Studies Of Herbs And Shrubs Of Miani Sahib Graveyard, Lahore City, Punjab, Pakistan, Anis Ali Shah, Zaheer -Ud-Din Khan, Musarrat Ramzan, Rabia Saba

Journal of Bioresource Management

This survey was carried out to prepare a plant inventory for the exploration of the ethnobotanical importance of the plants in the Miani Sahib Graveyard and to understand the effectiveness of graveyards in conserving plant diversity. Plants were collected in different seasons of the year and were dried, pressed, mounted and identified with the help of Flora of Pakistan. Our ethnobotanical study was carried out by interviewing the herbal drug dealers, timber dealers, fuel wood sellers, and the local elderly people residing in the adjacent areas of Miani Sahib and hakims through a questionnaire. Cyperaceae was noticed as the dominant …

Effect Of Different Plant Extracts On Termite Species (Heterotermis Indicola), Nazeer Ahmed, Zelle Huma, Misbah Ul Haq, Saif -Ur- Rehman, Misbah Ullah, Saeed Ahmed

Journal of Bioresource Management

This study was carried out to find the effect of some commonly present plant products on termite species (Heterotermis indicola) which are a major threat worldwide. Three different concentrations (20%, 10%, 5%) of various solutions consisting of garlic, Neem and tobacco was used in hot and cold water. Hot and cold water results showed that a high concentration treatment of the garlic (20%) solution caused 100% mortality after 48 hours, but in the case of the tobacco concentration (20%) of the solution in only cold water resulted in 100% mortality. As the concentration become lower, the efficiency becomes …

Effect Of Canopy Cover Of Capparis Decidua Forsk. On Soil Conditions In Thal Desert, Ghulam Yasin, Muhammad Farrakh Nawaz, Faiz Rasool, Muhammad Talha Bin Yousuf, Muhammad Qaisar Nazir, Atif Javed

Journal of Bioresource Management

Desert shrubs have a deep root system which allows them to explore the soil minerals and moisture from deeper horizons of soil and strongly support the local dwellers’ livelihoods. Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew, generally known as karir, a xerophytic, densely branched shrub, is widely found in arid and semi-arid areas of Pakistan. The present study was conducted at four different sites in the Thal desert to determine the canopy effect of C. decidua on soil nutrients. Soil nutrients under the plant canopy (UC), at a distance of 150 cm away from the canopy (D150) and 300 cm away from the …

Evaluation Of Diver® Concentration Against Cotton Mealybug, Phenacoccus Solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) And Its Parasitoid, Aenasius Bambawalei (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) In Laboratory, Muhammad Arfat Ashraf, Saif -Ur- Rehman, Nazeer Ahmed, Muhammad Salman Hameed, Saeed Ahmed, Zelle Huma

Journal of Bioresource Management

Bio-assay of Diver® for mealy-bug and its parasitoid, A. bambawalei, was carried out during 2010-2011 in the IPM Laboratory, Department of Agri. Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. All the concentrations of Diver®, which were applied in laboratory conditions, were effective against mealy-bug. Diver® is the best mineral oil to control mealy-bug when compared to other synthetic pesticides. On the numerical basis of data, which were recorded on mortality basis, the highest concentration of Diver® was most effective against mealy-bug, followed by the other concentrations. All the concentrations of Diver® on the parasitoid of mealy-bug swerve less and their effects …

Impact Of Pre-Emergence Herbicides For The Control Of Weeds In Chick Pea (Cicer Arietinum L.) Under Hot Arid Climate, Ghulam Abbas, Aziz Ahmed, Marghub Amer, Zafar Abbas, Mudassir -Ur- Rehman, Aamir Hussain, Ghulam Abbas Khan

Journal of Bioresource Management

The experiments were conducted at Adaptive Research Farm Karor Lal Eason and farmers’ field, i.e. Mouza Nawan Kot, Tehsil Choubara during Rabi 2014-15. The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of different herbicides for the control of weeds on chick pea.Two pre-emergence herbicides with two different doses, viz. Pendimethalin330 EC @ 2500 ml ha-1 before sowing, Pendimethalin330 EC @ 3750 ml ha-1before sowing, Top Max 90% EC. (Metachlor 83% + Pendimethalin13%) @ 2250 ml ha-1 before sowing and TopMax 96% (Metachlor83% + 13%)@ 3350 ml ha-1, were tested. An untreated plot was also included in the experiment. …

Green Roofs And Urban Biodiversity: Their Role As Invertebrate Habitat And The Effect Of Design On Beetle Community, Sydney Marie Gonsalves

Dissertations and Theses

With over half the world's population now living in cities, urban areas represent one of earth's few ecosystems that are increasing in extent, and are sites of altered biogeochemical cycles, habitat fragmentation, and changes in biodiversity. However, urban green spaces, including green roofs, can also provide important pools of biodiversity and contribute to regional gamma diversity, while novel species assemblages can enhance some ecosystem services. Green roofs may also mitigate species loss in urban areas and have been shown to support a surprising diversity of invertebrates, including rare and endangered species. In the first part of this study I reviewed …

Neotype Designation For Scorpiops Pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), With Redescription And Notes On The Species, Zeeshan A. Mirza, Gaurang Gowande

Euscorpius

Scorpiops pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992 was described based on specimens collected from Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. An expedition to the type locality led to discovery of a population at the type locality which permit us to designate a neotype for the species as types of the species are presently not traceable.

Characterization Of The Marine Sponge Amphimedon Compressa Microbiome Across A Spatial Gradient, Renee Michelle Potens

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Diverse and ecologically important microbial communities (microbiomes) are symbiotic within marine sponges. In this study, the microbiome of Amphimedon compressa from three sample locations (Broward and Dade Counties, Southeast Florida, USA and the Southern Caribbean, Bocas del Toro, Panama) is characterized using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing. The predominant taxa are Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, as expected for Low Microbial Abundance sponges, accounting for over 53% of the total microbiome community. The numbers of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) decrease from Broward County (2,900) to Dade County (2,300) and then Bocas del Toro (1,200). The correlates to a decreasing north-south gradient of …

Preserving Biodiversity For A Climate Change Future: A Resilience Assessment Of Three Bay Area Species--Adenostoma Fasciculatum (Chamise), Arctostaphylos Canescens (Hoary Manzanita), And Arctostaphylos Virgata (Marin Manzanita), Alison S. Pollack

Master's Projects and Capstones

Anthropogenic climate change is an undeniable threat to the future of the natural world and human civilization. These shifts will have profound impacts on vegetation, especially for species endemic to isolated regions or sensitive to climate change factors. However, species resilience can predict success into the next century. Resilience is defined as the ability to withstand climate change factors, whereas vulnerability is defined as susceptibility to climate induced stress or damage.

Chaparral and coastal scrub ecosystems within the Bay Area of California provide a unique context for examining resilience, as many species are adapted to high temperatures, drought, and wildfire—all …

The Mexican Water Forest: Benefits Of Using Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess Changes In Land Use And Land Cover, Maria F. Lopez Ornelas

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the past 30 years, anthropogenic activities like urbanization, agriculture, road fragmentation and deforestation have resulted in changes in the land use and land cover (LULC) in the Mexican Water Forest. Due to the important ecosystem services, and the natural resources this forest provides, in Mexico, it has become increasingly necessary to use new technologies and tools to support the planning, implementation and integration of forest management and conservation plans, as well as ecological and socioeconomic analysis of this ecosystem. Remote Sensing techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been a true technological and methodological revolution in the acquisition, management …

Rescuing Perishable Neuroanatomical Information From A Threatened Biodiversity Hotspot: Remote Field Methods For Brain Tissue Preservation Validated By Cytoarchitectonic Analysis, Immunohistochemistry, And X-Ray Microcomputed Tomography, Daniel F. Hughes, Ellen M. Walker, Paul M. Gignac, Anais Martinez, Kenichiro Negishi, Carl S. Lieb, Eli Greenbaum, Arshad M. Khan

Arshad M. Khan, Ph.D.

Bone-Associated Gene Evolution And The Origin Of Flight In Birds, Joao P. Machado, Warren E. Johnson, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Guojie Zhang, Erich D. Jarvis, Stephen J. O'Brien, Agostinho Antunes

Biology Faculty Articles

Background

Bones have been subjected to considerable selective pressure throughout vertebrate evolution, such as occurred during the adaptations associated with the development of powered flight. Powered flight evolved independently in two extant clades of vertebrates, birds and bats. While this trait provided advantages such as in aerial foraging habits, escape from predators or long-distance travels, it also imposed great challenges, namely in the bone structure.

Results

We performed comparative genomic analyses of 89 bone-associated genes from 47 avian genomes (including 45 new), 39 mammalian, and 20 reptilian genomes, and demonstrate that birds, after correcting for multiple testing, have an almost …

Resilient Rivers Hpr 132g, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Tropical Trees As Islands: Diversity Accumulation Of Armored Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) On Trees As A Function Of Forest Age, Hannah Shapiro

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) are some of the most invasive insects in the world. These cryptic plant parasites are most often encountered in managed agricultural ecosystems, but very little is known about their distribution, abundance, and diversity in tropical rainforest canopies, where they are likely to have their highest diversity. Because these ubiquitous insects are extreme generalists with undirected dispersal, their diversity (alpha and beta) accumulation can conceivably be modeled according to tenets derived from island biogeography theory. For example, one expectation is that older established trees should boast a higher species diversity and abundance than younger ones. Other …

Review: Living In Obscurity: Danté Fenolio – Life In The Dark., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The reduction and/or disappearance of phenotypic features is a biological phenomenon that has intrigued humans ever since prehistoric times. The earliest known anthropological representation of a creature showing the loss of phenotypic features dates back to ca. 22,000 YBP (Upper Paleolithic). It is a carved drawing of a wingless cave cricket, Troglophilus sp., on a bison (Bison bonasus) bone found in the Grotte des Trois Frères (Three Brothers Cave) in the central Pyrénées, France. Since then, we have witnessed how the study of organisms living in lightless environments went through a number of scientific historical periods. First was the age …

Revelation Of Yin-Yang Balance In Microbial Cell Factories By Data Mining, Flux Modeling, And Metabolic Engineering, Gang Wu

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The long-held assumption of never-ending rapid growth in biotechnology and especially in synthetic biology has been recently questioned, due to lack of substantial return of investment. One of the main reasons for failures in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering is the metabolic burdens that result in resource losses. Metabolic burden is defined as the portion of a host cells resources either energy molecules (e.g., NADH, NADPH and ATP) or carbon building blocks (e.g., amino acids) that is used to maintain the engineered components (e.g., pathways). As a result, the effectiveness of synthetic biology tools heavily dependents on cell capability to …

The Origin And Expansion Of The Eastern Red Fox, Adrienne Egge Kasprowicz

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

When new populations are first identified in a region there are multiple potential sources: introduction of a non-native species, extra-range expansion of a nearby population, or demographic growth of a previously unnoticed species. Red foxes were absent or rare in the mid-eastern portion United States until the late 1800s. Their origins potentially include natural population increase/expansion, translocations from Europe, and, eventually, 20th century fur farming. In this study I attempt to identify the relative impact of native expansion versus human mediated introductions of both colonial era European foxes and early 20^th century fur-farm foxes on the establishment of red …

Sensory Modalities Underlying The Escape Response Of The Cricket, Acheta Domesticus, To Looming Stimuli, Ariel M. Childs

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In order to prevent injury or capture by a predator, animals have evolved escape behavior. Despite offering a more realistic, multimodal, approximation of an approaching predator, looming stimuli have rarely been used to evoke escape behavior in crickets. Wind stimuli, however, have been used on a variety of insects, including crickets where it has been found that direction of escape is directly correlated to the angle of incoming wind stimuli. Wind stimuli are detected by sensilla trichodea, small filiform hairs covering the cerci of crickets, locusts and cockroaches. Despite having other complex sensory systems, such as antennae and vision, …

Plastic Pollution And The Global Throwaway Culture: Environmental Injustices Of Single-Use Plastic, Kristin L. Mcdermott

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

The global throwaway culture has created a cross-ecosystem plastic pollution injustice. The first to suffer this injustice will be the most vulnerable. Our oceans have become our dumpsters. The throwaway culture has created a disrespect of material goods that has turned the earth’s resources into rubbish after a single use. Eighty percent of the yearly 8 million tons of plastic that enter the ocean is single use plastic, such as plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, or cigarette lighters.[1] Plastic has destroyed ecosystems, robbing impoverished communities of natural resources and of a healthy and safe living environment. First to suffer …

Hydroelectric Dams: The Lao Government's Luxury Trap, M.K. Laurel

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

The research of the Lao government, its hydroelectric dams, and its responses to its project was done through an environmental justice lens. It is an interdisciplinary research that explores the political corruption, the role of media, and the environment in order to frame the Lao government and the reasoning behind their unjust activities.