Population Biology Commons^™

Body Size Variation In Two Adjacent Populations Of Black Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis Nigra) In East Tennessee, Jesse Weber, Joshua Ennen

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Diet And Prey Availability Of Sturgeons In The Penobscot River, Maine, Matthew Dzaugis

Honors College

Although vital to the protection and conservation of species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, critical habitat of shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon in the Penobscot River, Maine have not yet been described. Critical habitat includes food availability as well as the physical characteristics of foraging habitat. To characterize seasonal availability of benthic prey, a ponar grab was used to collect over 125 benthic samples between 21 May and 8 October 2012. Samples were stratified throughout the river and broadly categorized by sediment type. All organisms within samples were identified to the family level. To characterize diet, stomach ...

Recent Mass Mortality Of Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) At Malibu And A Review Of Purple Sea Urchin Kills Elsewhere In California, Gordon Hendler

Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences

Mass mortalities of intertidal purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus occurred at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, California, in 2010 and 2011. Both events followed the first heavy rain of the season, and coincided with an illegal breaching of the lagoon. Osmotic shock from low-salinity lagoon water, the likely cause of death, may have acted jointly with stress from exposure during especially low tides. Comparable die-offs of purple sea urchins have occurred at other localities after exposure to brackish water or thermal shock. Annually recurring lagoon ruptures at Malibu, combined with predation by western gulls, can have a profound impact on the ...

Fishery-Dependent Estimates Of Growth, Development, And Reproduction In Gulf Corvina (Cynoscion Othonopterus), Katie E. Gherard, Brad E. Erisman, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Kirsten Rowell, Larry G. Allen

Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences

Gulf corvina, Cynoscion othonopterus, is a vital component of commercial fisheries in the northern Gulf of California, but a lack of information on life history parameters have thus far prevented a comprehensive stock assessment. In this project, 530 specimens of Gulf corvina were collected from commercial gill net fisheries in the Colorado River Delta region in Sonora, Mexico, to characterize population structure, age and growth patterns, age and size at sexual maturity and batch fecundity of Gulf corvina. Fish ranged from 145 mm to 1013 mm in total length and from 1 to 8 years of age. Von Bertalanffy growth ...

False Spike, Quadrula Mitchelli (Bivalvia: Unionidae), Is Not Extinct: First Account Of A Live Population In Over 30 Years, Charles R. Randklev, Matthew S. Johnson, Eric T. Tsakiris, Susan Rogers-Oetker, Kevin J. Roe, John L. Harris, Stephen E. Mcmurray, Clint Robertson, Julie Groce, Neal Wilkins

Natural Resource Ecology and Management Publications and Papers

During a recent survey a small population of Quadrula mitchelli (Simpson, 1895), a species thought to have been extinct, was discovered in Texas. In total, 7 live individuals were collected from the Guadalupe River near Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas. Our finding represents the only known population for this species in Texas and the first record of live specimens in over 30 y, which is significant because this species is currently under review for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Interactions Between Pieris Oleracea And Pieris Rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Butterflies, And The Biological Control Agents Cotesia Glomerata And Cotesia Rubecula (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)., Megan V. Herlihy

Megan V Herlihy

Pieris oleracea, formerly Pieris napi, was once a widespread pierid butterfly in New England until the introduction of a biological control agent, Cotesia glomerata. It has been suggested that C. glomerata is responsible for the range reduction of P. oleracea. There are been several introductions of a second more specialized biological control agent, Cotesia rubecula, to the United States since the 1960’s. My first goal was to determine the current distribution and status of P. rapae parasitoids and the effectiveness of C. rubecula as a biological control agent since its release. The findings of a survey I conducted of ...

The Spatial Signature Of Biotic Interactions Of A Clonal And A Non-Clonal Palmetto In A Subtropical Plant Community, Mizuki Takahashi, Toshiro Kubota, Liana M. Horner, Nathan A. Keller, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii

Faculty Journal Articles

Spatial analyses of plant-distribution patterns can provide inferences about intra- and interspecific biotic interactions. Yet, such analyses are rare for clonal plants because effective tools (i.e., molecular markers) needed to map naturally occurring clonal individuals have only become available recently. Clonal plants are unique in that a single genotype has a potential to spatially place new individuals (i.e., ramets) in response to intra- and interspecific biotic interactions. Laboratory and greenhouse studies suggest that some clonal plants can avoid intra-genet, inter-genet, and inter-specific competition via rootplacement patterns. An intriguing and yet to be explored question is whether a spatial ...

Who Else Would Plant The Trees? A Status Update On The Pemba Flying Fox, Hannah “Hawa” Grose, Catherine Grace “Rahma” Clemmens

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study assesses the current population of Pemba Flying Fox, Pteropusvoeltzkowi, at four key locations on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania previously noted as highly populated roost sites: Ngezi National Forest, Wete, Kidike, and MsituwaMbiji. We evaluate local knowledge, perceptions, and practices of communities surrounding the Pemba Flying Fox. This study also documents roosting and migratory patterns of the bats. We hypothesize a growth in bat population, an overall positive community perception of the bats, and a greater amount of conflict between fruit farmers and Pteropusvoeltzkowi. Results showed a decrease in estimated population. Additionally, reverse correlation was found ...

Improving Specimen Identification: Informative Dna Using A Statistical Bayesian Method, Melanie Lou

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

This work investigates the assignment of unknown sequences to their species of origin. In particular, I examine four questions: Is existing (GenBank) data reliable for accurate species identification? Does a segregating sites algorithm make accurate species identifications and how does it compare to another Bayesian method? Does broad sampling of reference species improve the information content of reference data? And does an extended model (of the theory of segregating sites) describe the genetic variation in a set of sequences (of a species or population) better? Though we did not find unusually similar between-species sequences in GenBank, there was evidence of ...

Mating System Biology Of The Florida Native Plant: Illicium Parviflorum, Nicholas Earl Buckley

Masters Theses

Self-incompatibility is thought to have played a profound role in the evolution of the angiosperms. However, there is little evidence of self-incompatibility systems in early diverging lineages of flowering plants. Illicium parviflorum, one such early-divergent angiosperm, is an evergreen perennial species endemic to central Florida, particularly within the Ocala National Forest. Although locally abundant, I. parviflorum is currently listed as endangered at the state level due to being under constant threat of habitat disturbance and over-harvesting. Notably, this species had been described as self-incompatible due to its low seed-set. However, low seed set may also be a result of strong ...

Modeling Interventions In The Owned Cat Population In Knox County, Tn, Evan Pierce Lancaster

Masters Theses

The rapid growth of cat populations in many communities across the United States has resulted in overpopulation and an increase in euthanasia procedures. To combat these challenges, communities have instituted spay/neuter programs as a preventative strategy. In particular, Knox County, Tennessee, has developed and implemented a program, called the Spay Shuttle, which offers free spays and neuters for owned cats throughout the county.

We develop a discrete time, age-structured model of owned female cats in Knox County to investigate the effects of implementing extra spaying intervention strategies to the population over the course of 5 years. We determine that ...

Northern Bobwhite (Colinus Virginianus) Population Ecology On Reclaimed Mined Lands, Evan Philip Tanner

Masters Theses

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) has experienced range-wide population declines for the past half century. The primary cause has been large-scale habitat loss and fragmentation. Through auspices of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), large tracts of early successional vegetation have been created throughout much of the bobwhite’s range that may be managed to increase usable space. Peabody WMA is a reclaimed coal mine in Western Kentucky where bobwhite have been present in the past. To better understand the dynamics of this population and how habitat on Peabody WMA influences these dynamics, my two objectives ...

Interactions Between Pieris Oleracea And Pieris Rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Butterflies, And The Biological Control Agents Cotesia Glomerata And Cotesia Rubecula (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)., Megan V. Herlihy

Megan V Herlihy

Pieris oleracea, formerly Pieris napi, was once a widespread pierid butterfly in New England until the introduction of a biological control agent, Cotesia glomerata. It has been suggested that C. glomerata is responsible for the range reduction of P. oleracea. There are been several introductions of a second more specialized biological control agent, Cotesia rubecula, to the United States since the 1960’s. My first goal was to determine the current distribution and status of P. rapae parasitoids and the effectiveness of C. rubecula as a biological control agent since its release. The findings of a survey I conducted of ...

The Role Of Olfactory Cues In The Sequential Radiation Of A Gall-Boring Beetle, Mordellistena Convicta, Bradley C. Rhodes, Catherine P. Blair, Mizuki K. Takahashi, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

1. Herbivorous insects often have close associations with specific host plants, and their preferences for mating and ovipositing on a specific host-plant species can reproductively isolate populations, facilitating ecological speciation. Volatile emissions from host plants can play a major role in assisting herbivores to locate their natal host plants and thus facilitate assortative mating and host-specific oviposition. 2. The present study investigated the role of host-plant volatiles in host fidelity and oviposition preference of the gall-boring, inquiline beetle, Mordellistena convicta, using Y-tube olfactometers. Previous studies suggest that the gall-boring beetle is undergoing sequential host-associated divergence by utilizing the resources that ...

Population Characteristics, Development Of A Predictive Population Viability Model, And Catch Dynamics For Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Missouri River, Kirk D. Steffensen

Dissertations & Theses in Natural Resources

Population characteristics and long-term population trends of pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus in the lower Missouri River are relatively unknown. As recovery efforts continue, understanding and quantifying these characteristics and trends are critical for species recovery and future management decisions. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the pallid sturgeon population characteristics, predict changes to the pallid sturgeon population based on different management and life history scenarios, and examine trot line catch dynamics in the lower Missouri River. Catch rates for pallid sturgeon collected with gill nets did not significantly change while catch rates using trot lines significantly declined ...

Reproduction In Cope’S Leopard Lizard, Gambelia Copeii (Squamata: Crotaphytidae), Stephen R. Goldberg, Clark R. Mahrdt, Kent R. Beaman

Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences

No abstract provided.

Morphological And Anatomical Characteristics Of Blackbrush (Coleogyne Ramosissima Torr.) Leaves: A Review Of Literature, Simon Lei

Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences

Leaves of blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.) shrubs share a number characteristics of leaves of both xerophytic and sclerophyllous shrubs. Despite some leaf surface (morphological) and anatomical similarities with typical xerophytic leaves, blackbrush leaves are more similar to typical semi-arid coastal chaparral plants in Mediterranean and southern California, or cool and high elevation inland desert perennial plants. Semi-deciduous, thick blades, well-cutinized epidermises, numerous small leaves, sclerophyllic leaves, hypostomatry, sunken stomata, thickened epidermal cell walls, and abundant abaxial and adaxial trichomes are characteristics of blackbrush plants, as well as typical woody xerophytic and sclerophyllous plants. Blackbrush also exhibit summer dormancy, with characteristics ...

Colonization And Persistence Of A Southern California Steelhead (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) Population, Ethan Bell, Rosi Dagit, Frank Ligon

Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences

The life history and habitat interactions of southern Oncorhynchus mykiss populations have received less attention than their Pacific Northwest counterparts. In this article we create a conceptual model describing the factors affecting O. mykiss population dynamics in Topanga Creek, Los Angeles County, California to understand the process that led to extirpation following floods in 1980 and 1983, re-colonization in the late 1990’s, and continued persistence. We conclude that key factors influencing population dynamics include life-history variability with both resident and anadromous individuals, population spatial structure connecting Topanga Creek with other watersheds within the metapopulation, exclusive distribution within the mainstem ...

Status Of The State-Endangered Mussel, Ligumia Nasuta, In The Upper Cuyahoga River, Rachel E. Andrikanich, Stephanie A. Sredniawa

Undergraduate Research Posters 2012

The primary objective of our research was to assess population size and range of Ligumia nasuta, the Eastern Pond mussel in the Cuyahoga River watershed. We conclude that the Eastern Pond mussel may be all but gone from the East Branch and West Branch Cuyahoga Rivers, but may persist in better numbers in Portage County. Further studies are required before the sustainability of this species can be fully assessed.

A Genetic Survey Of English Sole Populations In The Salish Sea, Elizabeth S. Gutierrez, Gary A. Winans, Jon Baker, Amanda Cope

STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program Posters

This summer I interned at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, WA and participated in NOAA’s Salish Sea Project. The Salish Sea Project’s goal is to identify genetically distinctive groups of species in the Salish Sea that may have unique evolutionary and/or adaptive backgrounds. These findings will allow NOAA to promote and monitor the natural production of species in the Salish Sea, to select representative populations for experimental work regarding pollution, ocean acidification and climate change, to contribute to managing the ecosystem for intra- and inter-species diversity, and to help make informed decisions about adaptive management ...