Population Biology Commons^™

Breeding Stage And Parentage Affect Tameness In Common Loons, Mina Ibrahim

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Tameness is a measure of tolerance towards human disturbance. As human disturbance and recreational activity are increasing, it is becoming more and more important to understand responses of species to this disturbance. Tameness has been shown to be influenced by an individuals characteristics and life history. Two possible determinants of tameness are breeding stage and parentage. We studied tameness in common loons (Gavia immer) specifically looking at the effects of breeding stage and parentage. Tameness was measured by flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which a loon dove from an approaching human observer in a canoe. Loons …

Assessing The Effects Of Chemical Mixtures Using A Bayesian Network-Relative Risk Model (Bn-Rrm) Integrating Adverse Outcome Pathways (Aops), Valerie Chu, Meagan J. Harris, Scarlett Graham, Lindsay K. Wallis, Chelsea Mitchell, John D. Stark, Katherine Von Stackelberg

Graduate Student Symposium

There are long-standing uncertainties about toxicity of chemical mixtures to populations. Laboratory toxicity tests have confirmed synergistic and antagonistic effects to individuals, but not to populations.We will conduct a regional scale ecological risk assessment by evaluating the effects chemical mixtures to populations with a new Bayesian Network- Relative Risk Model (BN-RRM) incorporating an Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP). We started applying this new BN-RRM framework in a case study with organophosphate pesticide mixtures (diazinon, chlorpyrifos, and malathion). Acetylcholinesterase inhibition (AChE) was chosen the molecular initiating event and the Puget Sound Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch …

Spring Field Report, March-May 2017, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

In general, this was a routine spring, except for remarkable numbers reported of several species, and a notable paucity of most species of wood-warblers. A huge Snow Goose flock in the east was estimated to contain 500,000- 1,000,000 birds; other notable numbers were 2000 Tree Swallows and 5000 Cliff Swallows, both record counts, 44 Black-capped Chickadees, 300 House Wrens, 62 Fox and 76 Song Sparrows on the same day at a single location, 168 Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Juncos, and 10,000 Common Grackles. Perhaps the most notable phenomenon this spring was the dearth of migrant wood-warblers. Joel Jorgensen constructed graphics based on …

The Behavior And Ecology Of Cursorial Predators And Dangerous Prey: Integrating Behavioral Mechanisms With Population-Level Patterns In Large Mammal Systems, Aimee Tallian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Driving into Yellowstone National Park for the first time is a moving experience. Gazing over the sweeping landscapes, seeing a geyser erupt 80 feet into the air, and having your first ‘wildlife encounter’, whether that be a 2 ton bull bison aggressively wallowing on his dirt mound, snorting and kicking up dust, or watching a pack of 6 wolves move through a valley off in the distance, pausing to howl in search of their companions. Yellowstone staff wishes to manage our park in a way that preserves these remarkable experiences. In order to effectively manage this dynamic ecosystem, it is …

Ecological Importance Of Invader Source Population And Disturbance In Aquatic Invasions, Nicole Elizabeth Graham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species are a global problem and their effects on recipient ecosystems may be mediated by disturbance and intraspecific variation. Crayfish can substantially influence stream structure and function, and invasive crayfish often have differential impacts than native crayfish in aquatic ecosystems. Since species traits often vary across a distribution, it is possible that invasive crayfish from different source populations may have distinct impacts on recipient ecosystem structure and function. In the Ozark Highlands of Arkansas and Missouri, USA, invasive O. neglectus (the Ringed Crayfish) may be leading to the displacement of native O. eupunctus (the Coldwater Crayfish). The objective of …

Spatially Explicit Population Estimates Of The Florida Black Bear, Jacob Michael Humm

Masters Theses

The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) is currently comprised of 7 isolated subpopulations: Apalachicola, Eglin, Osceola, Ocala/St. Johns, Chassahowitzka, Highlands/Glades, and Big Cypress. The last statewide assessment of Florida black bear population dynamics was conducted by Simek et al. (2005) using traditional capture-markrecapture methods. The subspecies was removed from Florida’s List of State Threatened Species in 2012 contingent upon the formulation of a management plan that would maintain viable subpopulations of black bears in suitable habitat. Accurate population estimates for each of the remaining black bear subpopulations in Florida were needed to achieve the management goals of …

Range-Wide Prevalence And Impacts Of Pseudocercosporella Inconspicua On Lilium Grayi And An Assessment Of L. Superbum And L. Michauxii As Reservoirs, Cindy L. Barrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lilium grayi (Gray’s Lily), a southern Appalachian endemic species, is threatened by a Lilium-specific fungal pathogen, Pseudocercosporella inconspicua. The disease is characterized by tan lesions that can cause early senescence, while also lowering seed production and viability. This project tested for P. inconspicua conidia and accessed health at nine locations. The disease was present and ubiquitous across the range of L. grayi. Through identification of P. inconspicua conidia in the field, L. superbum (Turk’s Cap Lily) was identified as an additional host, while L. michauxii (Michaux’s Lily) was disease-free. However, infection was inducible in both species. With …

Population Structure, Connectivity, And Phylogeography Of Two Balistidae With High Potential For Larval Dispersal: Balistes Capriscus And Balistes Vetula, Luca Antoni

Dissertations

The gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) and the queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula) are two exploited reef fish distributed in tropical and temperate shelf waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Both species are highly sedentary as adults but disperse pelagic larvae for extended periods of time potentially allowing connectivity across long distances under the action of oceanic currents. In this work population structure, phylogeography, and migration patterns were examined in the two species and contrasted with predictions of larval transport based on surface circulation data. A total of 1,017 gray triggerfish from twelve sampling localities …

Demography Of A Collapsing Aerial Insectivore Population, Liam Taylor

Honors Projects

Aerial insectivores have been declining across northeastern North America since the end of the 20th century. The mechanisms and demographic patterns of this decline are unclear. On Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada, an isolated population of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) collapsed between 1987 and 2010. To explore how demographic rates (i.e., survival, reproduction, and immigration) drove the population dynamics of these northeastern aerial insectivores, we combined productivity, population survey, and capture-recapture data in an integrated population model analysis. Neither consistently low juvenile survival rates, adult survival rates, nor clutch size were correlated with population growth rate across years. …

Plant-Microbial Interactions Are Strong Determinants Of Plant Population And Community Dynamics, Y. Anny Chung 9485698

Biology ETDs

Plant-microbial interactions are ubiquitous and yet the consequences of these interactions on plant population and community dynamics are relatively unknown. Here, we used two different classes of plant-microbial interactions to examine their effects on key plant population and community characteristics such as commonness and rarity, competition and coexistence, as well as community stability.

Vertically-transmitted endophytes had stage-dependent effects on the population growth of two grass species Poa sylvestris and Poa alsodes, and generally increased host population growth rates. However, it was the intrinsic demographic advantage of P. sylvestris that allowed its population to grow at a much faster rate …

Assessment Of The Calling Detection Probability Throughout The Day Of Two Invasive Populations Of Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus) In Uruguay, Gabriel Laufer, Noelia Gobel, Alvaro Soutullo, Claudio Martinez-Debat, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Bullfrog invasion is a major conservation concern in South America, so there is an urgent need to detect and monitor its many invasion foci. Amphibian sampling methods commonly use calling display, specifically the nuptial calls of males. With the aim of obtaining the better day period to sample and monitor Lithobates catesbeianus presence, we recorded its calls at three ponds in two invaded localities in Uruguay (Aceguá, Cerro Largo, and San Carlos, Maldonado) during the reproductive season. Then, we studied the records, obtaining a subsample of calling intensity at the first 5 minutes for each hour. We detected that vocalization …

Gregariousness Does Not Vary With Geography, Developmental Stage, Or Group Relatedness In Feeding Redheaded Pine Sawfly Larvae, John W. Terbot Ii, Ryan L. Gaynor, Catherine R. Linnen

Biology Faculty Publications

Aggregations are widespread across the animal kingdom, yet the underlying proximate and ultimate causes are still largely unknown. An ideal system to investigate this simple, social behavior is the pine sawfly genus Neodiprion, which is experimentally tractable and exhibits interspecific variation in larval gregariousness. To assess intraspecific variation in this trait, we characterized aggregative tendency within a single widespread species, the redheaded pine sawfly (N. lecontei). To do so, we developed a quantitative assay in which we measured interindividual distances over a 90-min video. This assay revealed minimal behavioral differences: (1) between early-feeding and late-feeding larval instars, …

Monitoring The Abundance Of American Shad And River Herring In Virginia's Rivers - 2016 Annual Report, Eric J. Hilton, Robert Latour, Patrick E. Mcgrath, Brian Watkins, Ashleigh Magee

Reports

This report describes the results of the nineteenth year of a continuing study to estimate the relative abundance and assess the status of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) stocks in Virginia by monitoring the spawning runs in the James, York and Rappahannock rivers in spring 2016, evaluating hatchery programs, and contributing to coast-wide assessments (ASMFC 2007). We also report on a new fishery-independent monitoring program using staked gillnets to determine relative abundance and stock structure for the adult spawning run of river herring (A. pseudoharengus, and A. aestivalis) in the Rappahannock River. Data are also reported from two separate fishery-independent monitoring …

Phylogenetic And Ecological Analysis Of Two Populations Of The Kitsatchie Painted Crayfish, Orconectes Maletae (Decapoda: Cambaridae), Larrimy Beth Brown

Biology Theses

The primary aim of this study was to assess the conservation status of the East Texas population of the Kistachie Painted Crayfish, Orconectes maletae. Orconectes maletae has been given a Global Heritage Ranking of G2, or imperiled, because of population declines in the Kisatchie Bayou drainage in Louisiana; however, similar data for Texas is lacking. For the current study, surveys of 25 historical sites in Texas were conducted in the Cypress Creek and Caddo Lake drainage from June to August 2014 and revealed that O. maletae was either absent or in low enough abundance to evade detection at close …

Trap-Neuter-Return Programs And The Importance Of Associated Public Awareness, Nicolette Sliwa

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The focus of this paper is to describe a typical Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program and highlight the major pros and cons surrounding this somewhat controversial method of managing the overwhelming free-roaming cat population. The effects of the species’ overabundance on the environment and human health are also discussed. Citing studies completed on TNR programs around the globe as well as mathematical models, the effectiveness of this method is compared to other, currently used alternatives. Finally, it has been suggested that the general awareness level a neighborhood possesses about the true goals of TNR programs has a potentially significant impact on the …

Development Of A Wild Infant Woolly Monkey Social Interactions, Time Allocation And Behavior Of A Wild Lagothrix Lagotricha Poeppigii Infant And Her Mother, Saba Zewdie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The lowland woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii), like all species of woolly monkey, is extremely threatened due to anthropologic activities such as deforestation, petroleum drilling and commercial hunting across their habitat. Due to their low reproductive rate and low reproductive success in captivity, the captive population is decreasing every year as habitat loss increases. In late February of 2017 an infant female was born on the island of Sumak Allpa, a monkey rehabilitation organization and reserve in the western Ecuadorian Amazon. The woolly monkeys are completely independent on the reserve; and as such her birth marks the first …

What, Where, Why: A Survey Of Felidae Populations At Enashiva Nature Refuge, Tanzania, Lucrecia Aguilar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As felid populations worldwide continue to deteriorate due to human activities, understanding how felid species utilize various landscapes, along with what factors affect such use or disuse, becomes essential to the preservation of these species. While previous research has examined felid populations around the world, many species and locations remain understudied. This study surveyed felid species at Enashiva Nature Refuge (ENR) in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem to determine (1) what felid species are present at ENR, (2) where these species generally occur, and (3) why felids reside at ENR in low or high numbers. Through the use of opportunistic camera trapping, …

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 Reexamination The Freshwater Mussels (Family Unionidae) In Lower Big Walnut Creek, Kierra M. Lathrop

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Freshwater mussels (family Unionidae) have become increasingly rare as the threats to water quality, habitat quality, and other aquatic animals, which the mussels depend on, have increased. The absence of mussels can provide evidence that one of these factors is insufficient. Lower Big Walnut Creek (BWC) is known to support a diverse community of mussels but they are unevenly distributed throughout the creek with abundance, density, and richness being high in the upper section, very low in the midsection, and intermediate in the lower section. It has been suggested water quality nor symbiotic fish host communities are responsible for this …

The North American Whistling-Ducks, Pochards, And Stifftails, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

Although the 12 species representing three waterfowl tribes described in this volume are not closely related, they fortuitously provide an instructive example of adaptive evolutionary radiation within the much larger waterfowl lineage (the family Anatidae), especially as to their divergent morphologies, life histories, and social behaviors.

The whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna), with three known North American species, are notable for their permanent pair-bonds, extended biparental family care, and strong social cohesion. In contrast, males of the five typical pochards of North American diving ducks (Aythya) establish monogamous pair-bonds that are maintained only long enough to assure that the female’s eggs are fertilized. …