Digital Commons Network^™

Winter Use Of Winyah Bay, Sc By The Spiny Dogfish (Squalus Acanthias), And Their Movements South Of Cape Hatteras, Nc, Meredith L. Langford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

South of Cape Hatteras, NC, little is known about the coastal distribution and movement of the Spiny Dogfish, Squalus acanthias. Between January 2018 and March 2020 this study conducted winter demersal longline sampling in Winyah Bay, SC to investigate habitat use by Spiny Dogfish. In addition to monitoring Winyah Bay use through catch-and-release, 13 individuals were outfitted with implanted Vemco™ acoustic transmitters to monitor large scale movements along the U.S. East Coast. Across three sampling seasons 84 female Spiny Dogfish were captured within lower Winyah Bay. No males were observed over the course of the study. The mean fork length …

Evaluating Threats To The Water Quality Of Little Buffalo Creek And Sarver Run Through Water Quality Analysis And Backpack Electrofishing Surveys, Riley Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently, 64.8% and 52.2% of Little Buffalo Creek and Sarver Run stream kilometers are impaired, respectively. Impairment sources to Little Buffalo Creek include agriculture, riparian deforestation, on-site wastewater, and urban runoff. Impairment sources to Sarver Run are unknown. Our goal was to understand sources of impairment through water quality analysis and fish surveys. Water samples were collected monthly and analyzed for cation and anion concentrations. Mass ratio analysis comparing Br/SO₄ and Mg/Li, Ca/Mg and Ca/Sr, Mg/Na and SO₄/Cl, and SO_4/Cl and Mg/Li suggests that mine drainage and conventional oil and gas may be impacting water …

A Review Of Current Methods In Avian Dietary Analysis And Their Integrated Application To Characterize The Trophic Niche Of Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia Motacilla)., Brandon Hoenig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Characterizing a species’ dietary composition presents an avenue to understand many facets of its ecological niche and can provide essential information for the species’ long-term conservation. To date, the vast majority of diet studies have relied on direct identification of prey during foraging observations or from diet samples to characterize the dietary habits of birds. However, advancements in laboratory-based approaches have revolutionized the field of trophic ecology by allowing researchers to indirectly infer dietary habits with higher resolution across greater time scales. Here, I apply two of these laboratory-based techniques, namely DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis, to characterize the …

Review Of Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 With Description Of A New Species (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe

Euscorpius

The genus Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 is reanalyzed. Revised diagnoses and new illustrations for the genus and all four of its species are presented. A new species, O. somalilandus sp. n. from Somaliland is described and illustrated. Phylogenetic relationships of the genus with several other similar genera of small buthids are inferred from a parsimony analysis of 43 discrete morphological characters. The recent synonymy of Orthochiroides with Orthochirus is refuted and the genus is revalidated.

Assessing Priority Bird Response To Open Pine Management In Eastern Mississippi, Holly Marie Todaro

Theses and Dissertations

Fire suppression, combined with lack of forest thinning and short-rotation, monodominant management, has drastically altered the landscape in the southeastern U.S., leading to the loss of open pine ecosystems and associated avian species. Management of open pine ecosystems is a common practice; yet, there remains uncertainty regarding how vegetation structure impacts priority species. Using empirical data, I assessed changes in species abundance and associated vegetation characteristics before and after management. I also sought to identify vegetation characteristics that influence home range establishment and microhabitat selection of Bachman’s Sparrows. Priority species were negatively associated with hardwood midstory and abundance per site …

Nesting Ecology Of Wood Ducks And Other Cavity-Nesting Ducks In Mississippi, Justin Taylor Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

Man-made nest boxes are surrogate nest sites widely used by waterfowl managers in North America to propagate free-ranging Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) and other cavity-nesting waterfowl. I monitored 129 and 174 nest boxes in 2020 and 2021, respectively, at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge and York Woods, Mississippi. I evaluated site-specific biotic and abiotic factors that were potentially influential on nest survival of Wood Ducks and general nesting ecology and apparent nest success of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) and Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus). Daily survival rate of Wood Ducks was negatively influenced by increasing encroaching vegetation at Noxubee NWR and …

Assessing The Microbiological Profile Of Raw Goat Milk And Understanding Producer Practices And Perceptions, Jacinda Skye Leopard

Theses and Dissertations

Raw milk sales are legal in 30 states, including Mississippi, where regulations are largely management-based and not food-safety related. The research objectives were to analyze the microbial profile of raw goat milk from Mississippi farms and assess food safety practices and perceptions of dairy goat farmers. Deficiencies and opportunities for improvement in raw goat milk safety were identified. Staphylococcus spp. was present in most (70%) milk samples but aligned with drying-off. E. coli, Enterobacteriaceae, and coliforms were observed in 4, 10, and 12 samples, respectively; no Salmonella spp. or Listeria monocytogenes were detected. The survey highlighted farmers' need for …

The Effect Of Sprinkler Cooling On Water Conservation, House Environment, And Broiler Performance, Jonathan W. Moon

Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining performance and mitigating heat stress of the modern broiler is a challenging task during hot weather conditions. Increased demand of high quality reasonably priced animal protein and predictions of future limited water availability make sustainability and water conservation a worthwhile goal for the poultry industry. The most used form for cooling broilers after wind speed is evaporative cool cell (CC) systems. Though highly effective at cooling the incoming air, they substantially increase the relative humidity inside the house, which hinders the bird’s ability to cool itself through evaporative respiration. Cool cells also utilize mass amounts of water. The objective …

Economic Aspects Of U.S. Catfish Farming: Technological Progress, Cost Of Regulations, And Economic Contribution, Shraddha Gurupad Hegde

Theses and Dissertations

This research provides a comprehensive picture of the economic status of the U.S. catfish industry through investigating several critical economic aspects such as technological progress, functional production relationships in intensive systems, regulatory costs, and economic contribution of the industry. The use of primary data is a unique aspect of this work reflecting the economic realities of catfish farms. Primary data collected through extensive in-person farm surveys covered over two-thirds of the catfish production areas in the U.S. The results of the study provided evidence of intensification in the U.S. catfish industry through increased adoption of two relatively new alternative production …

Investigation Of Dna Variability And Phylogenetic Relationships Of Perlesta (Plecoptera: Perlidae) In Mississippi, James C. Valentine, Mac H. Alford

Master's Theses

The genus Perlesta Banks, 1906 (Plecoptera: Perlidae) consists of 35 species, 33 native to the United States and Canada and two native to China. For over a century these small, brown stonefly adults and freckled yellow nymphs have gone by the name of the type species of the genus, Perlesta placida, but taxonomic work in the genus since 1989 has resulted in the recognition of additional species. These species were mostly recognized and described using morphological characteristics, but two areas that are lacking include (1) linking nymphs to adults and (2) phylogenetic analysis of all species occurring in Mississippi …

Development And Validation Of High-Resolution Melting Assays For The Detection Of Potentially Virulent Strains Of Escherichia Coli O103 And O121, Frank J. Velez, Joseph M. Bosilevac, Sabine Delannoy, Patrick Fach, Ravinder Nagpal, Prashant Singh

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Virulent strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups O103 and O121 are considered adulterants in beef. Two high-resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR assays were standardized for the specific detection and discrimination of potentially virulent and avirulent strains of E. coli O103 and O121. The O103 HRM assay offered the possibility to distinguish clearly STEC O103:H2 from STEC O103:H25. The two standardized assays were extensively validated using 215 pure culture strains, laboratory inoculated food samples, and naturally contaminated beef (n = 84) and pork (n = 84) enrichments collected from the red meat surveillance program. Both HRM assays showed 100% …

Maximization Of Fitness By Phenological And Phenotypic Plasticity In Range Expanding Rabbitfishes (Siganidae), Salvador Zarco-Perello, David Fairclough, Chris Dowling, Joey Dibattista, Rachel Austin, Thomas Wernberg, Brett Taylor

Fisheries Research Articles

1. Global warming is modifying the phenology, life-history traits and biogeography of species around the world. Evidence of these effects have increased over recent decades; however, we still have a poor understanding of the possible outcomes of their interplay across global climatic gradients, hindering our ability to accurately predict the consequences of climate change in populations and ecosystems.
2. We examined the effect that changes in biogeography can have on the life-history traits of two of the most successful range-extending fish species in the world: the tropical rabbitfishes Siganus fuscescens and Siganus rivulatus. Both species have established abundant populations at higher …

Seasonal Variation And Tracking Of Climate Niche Of A Migratory Bird, Javier Gutiérrez Illán, Guiming Wang, D. Tommy King, Fred L. Cunningham

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Migratory birds inhabit different areas during breeding and non-breeding seasons. Depending on the time of the year, they may utilize different resources available in seasonal habitats, but also are subjected to changing climate regimes during their annual life cycle. Migratory birds may adopt ecological niche tracking to cope with different environmental conditions between breeding and non-breeding grounds. The American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, hereafter ‘AWPE’) is a short-distance migrant between the Gulf of Mexico coastal regions (nonbreeding grounds) and the Northern Great Plains (breeding grounds) of Canada and the US. The American White Pelican is a piscivore, feeding …

Oxen: Status, Uses And Practices In The U.S.A., Encouraging A Historic Tradition To Thrive, Andrew B. Conroy

Faculty Publications

Oxen in the United States of America have played an important role throughout its history. Unlike other countries,oxen were never completely given up for horses, mules, or tractors. Instead, the culture of keeping oxen has been maintained by a small group of teamsters in the North- eastern states collectively called New England. Their continued presence has been largely due to agricultural fairs and exhibitions where they have been used in competition for the last 200 years. Ox teamsters were sur- veyed in 2021via social media using Qualtrics. The 423 ox teamsters responding owned 1791 oxen in 39 states, with the …

Reconstructing The Ecological Relationships Of Late Cretaceous Antarctic Dinosaurs And How Functional Tooth Morphology Influenced These Relationships, Ian D. Broxson

2022 Symposium

The Sandwich Bluff Formation of the James Ross Basin of Antarctica has recently yielded a group of five late Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived contemporaneously with each other, a first for Antarctica. These five dinosaurs include fragmentary remains of two differently sized elasmarian ornithopods, a possible megaraptor, a hadrosaur, and a nodosaur. In this study we will construct a model of the ecological relationships of late Cretaceous Antarctica. Additionally, we will look at what specific factors allowed this group of four herbivores and a carnivore to coexist in a restricted locality and what niches were filled by each species. Methods to …

Cache Like A Squirrel: Effects Of Long Term Storage On Crude Fat Content Of Q. Palustris And Q. Alba Acorns, Cheyenne T. Villarosa, Sabrina Volponi, Timothy A. Kreps, Tamara L. Johnstone-Yellin

Honors Projects

Quercus palustris and Quercus alba acorns are a primary component in many wild animal diets, particularly during preparation for winter. As such, they provide a natural, easily gathered food staple for wildlife recovering in rehabilitation facilities. We examined whether collection and temperature-controlled storage methods differentially affect the nutritional deterioration of crude fat in acorns to assess both caching by wildlife and to provide recommendations to rehabilitators. We collected acorns from Q. palustris in 2020 (N=8) and Q. alba in 2017 (N=11) in Bridgewater, VA, USA. Acorns were dried for 7 days using a fan or for 30 minutes in an …

Trophish: Building A Global Database Of Freshwater Trophic Interactions, Jacob M. Ridgway

Honors Thesis

Freshwater management and research frequently use the trophic data of freshwater fishes. Despite this fact, it is difficult to perform a simple search of dietary information for any one fish species. FishBase represents, to our knowledge, the largest compilation of freshwater dietary information to date. However, it excludes a large portion of the ecological literature due to its development taking place prior to the creation of most modern scientific search engines. Our project (TroPhish) is building upon FishBase by digitizing approximately 130 years of data from the fish predation literature. Data from the primary and grey (e.g. theses, dissertations, reports) …

Detection, Occupancy, Abundance, And Mercury Accumulation Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Texas, David Rosenbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Land use practices and physical alterations of ecosystems result in habitat loss and fragmentation, while chemical alterations, such as pollutant input, reduce habitat quality and health of exposed organisms. Here, I investigated the effects of watershed- and local-scale environmental variables on the occupancy, abundance, and mercury accumulation of a threatened aquatic species (Macrochelys temminckii, i.e., alligator snapping turtle) within the southwestern periphery of its distribution. Hierarchical modeling suggested the distribution of the species is more affected by watershed-scale land-cover than local habitat, and provided a baseline estimate of average species abundance across its range in eastern Texas. Abundance …

Using Color To Identify Neotropical Parrots In Early Modern European Art: Recognizing Limitations And Avoiding Pitfalls Through Integration Of Scientific And Artistic Knowledge, Deniz Martinez

The Confluence

Colorful Neotropical parrots were amongst the first and most frequent exotic animals to be imported by Europeans from the “New World” of the Americas, becoming key figures in what would become known as the Columbian exchange. There has been an ongoing effort to locate and identify images of Neotropical parrots in the visual record of early modern Europe, with the classification of many remaining unsettled in the scholarship. Proper identification of these images can be valuable data for reconstructing historical biogeography and transatlantic trade; especially compelling is the potential of certain “mystery parrots” in the visual record to support the …

A Genetic Evaluation Of The Impacts Of Dams On Sauger Movement Patterns In The Arkansas River, Emily R. Jonagan

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Decreased habitat connectivity as a result of damming can lead to genetic isolation in fish communities, especially in highly migratory species. Sauger Sander canadensis is a migratory freshwater species native to the Arkansas River. Sauger are highly sought after by anglers during their annual spawning migration in late winter. In order to investigate the impacts Arkansas River dams on Sauger populations, fin clips were collected in the winters of 2019, 2020, and 2021 below eight dams in the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigational System (MKARNS). Fin clips were also collected from two reservoirs in Kansas to serve as distinct reference populations. …

Striped Blenny (Chasmodes Bosquianus) Behavior And Shelter Use In A Southeastern Salt Marsh Tidal Creek, Brooklyn Johnson, Juliana Harding

Honors Theses

Temperate estuaries are important habitats for resident species and maturing juvenile transient fishes. The North Inlet estuary, SC resident fish fauna includes the Striped Blenny (Chasmodes bosquianus) and Crested Blenny (Hypleurochilus geminatus). Individual blenny males occupy habitat shelters year-round. During breeding season, blenny males attract mates to nest and protect developing embryos within the nest. Salinity requirements establish blenny spatial distribution in the estuary. Seasonal spawning activity by these temperate blenny species is related to water temperature and seasonal productivity patterns. Blenny nest site occupancy patterns relative to the lunar cycle, water depth, and salinity were …

Individual Beef Cattle Identification Using Muzzle Images And Deep Learning Techniques, Guoming Li, Galen E. Erickson, Yijie Xiong

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The ability to identify individual animals has gained great interest in beef feedlots to allow for animal tracking and all applications for precision management of individuals. This study assessed the feasibility and performance of a total of 59 deep learning models in identifying individual cattle with muzzle images. The best identification accuracy was 98.7%, and the fastest processing speed was 28.3 ms/image. A dataset containing 268 US feedlot cattle and 4923 muzzle images was published along with this article. This study demonstrates the great potential of using deep learning techniques to identify individual cattle using muzzle images and to support …

A Multi-Species Study On Several Types Of Visitor Effects On The Behavior And Physiology Of Animals At The Oregon Zoo, Laurel Berylline Fink

Dissertations and Theses

The visitor effect on zoo animals is one of the expanding research topics in zoo animal research. As visitors are a mandatory feature of zoological institutions, understanding their effects on zoo animals is imperative for maximizing zoo animal welfare. Zoo animals are subject to many anthropogenic influences: visual, olfactory, and audible, for example. This dissertation investigates several of the effects of visitor presence and its relative influence on six mammalian species: cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), African painted dogs (Lycaon pictus), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus indicus & Elephas maximus borneensis), giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata & …

Impacts Of Added Roughage On Growth Performance, Digestibility, Ruminal Fermentation, And Ruminal Ph Of Feedlot Steers Fed Wheat-Based Feedlot Diets Containing 30% Modified Distillers Grains With Solubles, Wayde J. Pickinpaugh, Bryan W. Neville, Rebecca L. Moore, Joel S. Caton

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the inclusion rate roughage in wheat-based diets containing modified distillers grains with solubles (MDGS) on feedlot performance (Feedlot Experiment), as well as digestibility, ruminal pH, and ruminal fermentation characteristics (Digestibility Experiment). The feedlot experiment utilized 72 Angus steers (392 ± 46.3 kg initial body weight) which were randomly assigned to 1 of 12 pens, 3 pens per treatment, to evaluate feedlot performance and carcass characteristics. Dietary treatments were 1) control; 10% roughage, 2) 12% roughage, 3) 14% roughage, and 4) 16% roughage. The digestibility experiment used four ruminally and duodenally cannulated steers (393 ± …

A Comprehensive Bison Management And Research Plan For The Crane Trust, Joshua D. Wiese

Other Publications in Wildlife Management

The Great Plains were once a vast grassland ecosystem, but, due to agricultural and human development, are one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. What remains is generally fragmented, threatened by invasive species, and lacks the natural ecosystem processes that shaped these grasslands such as periodic wildfire and bison grazing. Since 1978, the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. (dba “Crane Trust”) has worked to maintain the function of grassland and riparian habitats to benefit endangered Whooping Cranes, Sandhill Cranes, and other migratory bird species. They protect ~8,100 acres, including the largest contiguous portion of lowland tallgrass …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 98, No. 2), Department Of Library Special Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Ecological Risk Assessment For The Marine Aquarium Fish Resource, Kimberley Smith, Amelia Bissell, Carly Bruce

Fisheries Research Reports

In November 2021, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development convened an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) of the Western Australian fisheries that access the Marine Aquarium Fish Resource. ERAs are conducted by the Department as part of its Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management framework. Outputs of this ERA will inform future versions of the Harvest Strategy for the Resource. Additionally, this ERA is a requirement of the Wildlife Trade Operation approval for the Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery (MAFMF).

Ecological impacts of the MAFMF, which is the only commercial fishery that targets the Resource, and other extractive sectors that access the …

Effects Of Sunrise/Sunset Lighting On Corticosterone Levels In Coturnix Quail (Coturnix Coturnix), Hannah Feuerborn

Poultry Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Both genetics and environment play an important role in the growth, performance and overall welfare of poultry species. Current commercial production practices typically do not mimic the natural environmental conditions of ancestral poultry species, specifically lighting requirements. In nature, poultry species are subjected to natural day length and the slow rising and setting of the sun. This is compared to commercial conditions in which lights are sudden on/off, not mimicking the natural trajectory of the sun in terms of light intensity and exposure. The current study aimed to evaluate the impact of genetics and the effect of sunrise/sunset lighting on …

The Relationship Between People And The Tegu: A Review Of The Literature, Jordan Haley

Honors College Theses

This thesis will explore the relationship humans have had with tegu lizards and how it has evolved over time, from their historical use as a source of leather and bushmeat in South America to their more recent rise in the pet trade and consequential establishment as an invasive species in the United States.

Impact Of A Cattle Crossing On Water Quality Along A Tributary Of The Muddy Fork Of The Illinois River, Northwest Arkansas, Nicholas Valentini

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cattle are known to have an effect on water quality in various bodies of water. Studying how cattle impact water quality along various streams and tributaries is important to understanding how certain water parameters may be affected at the individual farm level. It is known that unrestricted access to a cattle crossing has been shown to increase the occurrence of downstream pollutants such as E. coli, ammonium, total kjeldahl nitrogen, total suspended solids, total phosphorus, and turbidity. However, many studies focus on large-scale operations and neglect the individual farm level. In this study, samples were collected twice for each …