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Burbot Activity In Relation To Light Penetration On Lake Bemidji, Mn, Hunter Weidenborner, Josh Janecek Jan 2018

Burbot Activity In Relation To Light Penetration On Lake Bemidji, Mn, Hunter Weidenborner, Josh Janecek

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Burbot Lota lota is the only freshwater member of the family Gadidae and has a circumpolar distribution in cold-water regions. Information related to Burbot biology is limited in comparison to most fishes. Snow pack depth and ice conditions influence light penetration and therefore primary production levels. Primary production can have cascading effects on higher trophic levels. Therefore, the objective of this study was to observe if light levels penetrating through cleared and covered ice has an effect on Burbot activity in Lake Bemidji, MN. Angling for Burbot occurred for a minimum of 30 four hour sample periods at both cleared …

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Rumen Bacterial Community Structure Impacts Feed Efficiency In Beef Cattle, Henry A. Paz, Kristin E. Hales, James E. Wells, Larry A. Kuehn, Harvey C. Freetly, Elaine D. Berry, Michael D. Flythe, Matthew L. Spangler, Samodha C. Fernando Jan 2018

Rumen Bacterial Community Structure Impacts Feed Efficiency In Beef Cattle, Henry A. Paz, Kristin E. Hales, James E. Wells, Larry A. Kuehn, Harvey C. Freetly, Elaine D. Berry, Michael D. Flythe, Matthew L. Spangler, Samodha C. Fernando

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The importance of the rumen microbiota on nutrient cycling to the animal is well recognized; however, our understanding of the influence of the rumen microbiome composition on feed efficiency is limited. The rumen microbiomes of two large animal cohorts (125 heifers and 122 steers) were characterized to identify specific bacterial members (operational taxonomic units [OTUs]) associated with feed efficiency traits (ADFI, ADG, and G:F) in beef cattle. The heifer and steer cohorts were fed a forage-based diet and a concentrate-based diet, respectively. A rumen sample was obtained from each animal via esophageal tubing and bacterial community composition was …

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Using Single Molecule Mrna Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (Rna-Fish) To Quantify Mrnas In Individual Murine Oocytes And Embryos, Fang Xie, Kelsey A. Timme, Jennifer R. Wood Jan 2018

Using Single Molecule Mrna Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (Rna-Fish) To Quantify Mrnas In Individual Murine Oocytes And Embryos, Fang Xie, Kelsey A. Timme, Jennifer R. Wood

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Changes in abundance of mRNAs during oocyte growth and maturation and during pre-implantation embryo development have been documented using quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR), microarray analyses, and whole genome sequencing. However, these techniques require amplification of mRNAs, normalization using housekeeping genes, can be biased for abundant transcripts, and/or require large numbers of oocytes and embryos which can be difficult to acquire from mammalian species. We optimized a single molecule RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (RNA-FISH) protocol, which amplifies fluorescence signal to detect candidate transcripts, for use with individual oocytes and embryos. Quantification using the software Localize showed patterns of Gdf9 and …

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Improved Reference Genome For The Domestic Horse Increases Assembly Contiguity And Composition, Theodore S. Kalbfleisch, Edward S. Rice, Michael S. Depriest Jr., Brian P. Walenz, Matthew S. Hestand, Joris R. Vermeesch, Brendan L. O'Connell, Ian T. Fiddes, Alisa O. Vershinina, Nedda F. Saremi, Jessica L. Petersen, Carrie J. Finno, Rebecca R. Bellone, Molly E. Mccue, Samantha A. Brooks, Ernest Bailey, Ludovic Orlando, Richard E. Green, Donald C. Miller, Douglas F. Antczak, James N. Macleod Jan 2018

Improved Reference Genome For The Domestic Horse Increases Assembly Contiguity And Composition, Theodore S. Kalbfleisch, Edward S. Rice, Michael S. Depriest Jr., Brian P. Walenz, Matthew S. Hestand, Joris R. Vermeesch, Brendan L. O'Connell, Ian T. Fiddes, Alisa O. Vershinina, Nedda F. Saremi, Jessica L. Petersen, Carrie J. Finno, Rebecca R. Bellone, Molly E. Mccue, Samantha A. Brooks, Ernest Bailey, Ludovic Orlando, Richard E. Green, Donald C. Miller, Douglas F. Antczak, James N. Macleod

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Recent advances in genomic sequencing technology and computational assembly methods have allowed scientists to improve reference genome assemblies in terms of contiguity and composition. EquCab2, a reference genome for the domestic horse, was released in 2007. Although of equal or better quality compared to other first-generation Sanger assemblies, it had many of the shortcomings common to them. In 2014, the equine genomics research community began a project to improve the reference sequence for the horse, building upon the solid foundation of EquCab2 and incorporating new short-read data, long-read data, and proximity ligation data. Here, we present EquCab3. The count of …

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Genome-Wide Association Study Of Stayability And Heifer Pregnancy In Red Angus Cattle, S. E. Speidel, B. A. Buckley, R. J. Boldt, R. M. Enns, J. Lee, Matthew L. Spangler, M. G. Thomas Jan 2018

Genome-Wide Association Study Of Stayability And Heifer Pregnancy In Red Angus Cattle, S. E. Speidel, B. A. Buckley, R. J. Boldt, R. M. Enns, J. Lee, Matthew L. Spangler, M. G. Thomas

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Reproductive performance is the most important component of cattle production from the standpoint of economic sustainability of commercial beef enterprises. Heifer Pregnancy (HPG) and Stayability (STAY) genetic predictions are 2 selection tools published by the Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) to assist with improvements in reproductive performance. Given the importance of HPG and STAY to the profitability of commercial beef enterprises, the objective of this study was to identify QTL associated with both HPG and STAY in Red Angus cattle. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed using deregressed HPG and …

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Genome-Wide Association Study For Feed Efficiency Traits Using Snp And Haplotype Models, Kashly Rene Schweer, Stephen D. Kachman, Larry A. Kuehn, Harvey Freetly, John E. Pollak, Matthew L. Spangler Jan 2018

Genome-Wide Association Study For Feed Efficiency Traits Using Snp And Haplotype Models, Kashly Rene Schweer, Stephen D. Kachman, Larry A. Kuehn, Harvey Freetly, John E. Pollak, Matthew L. Spangler

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Feed costs comprise the majority of variable expenses in beef cattle systems making feed efficiency an important economic consideration within the beef industry. Due to the expense of recording individual feed-intake phenotypes, a genomic-enabled approach could be advantageous toward improving this economically relevant trait complex. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed using 748 crossbred steers and heifers representing seven sire breeds with phenotypes for ADG and ADFI. Animals were genotyped with the BovineSNP50v2 BeadChip containing approximately 54,000 SNP. Both traits were analyzed using univariate SNPbased (BayesC) and haplotype-based (BayesIM) models and jointly using BayesIM to perform a bivariate GWAS. …

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Shinyaim: Shiny‐Based Application Of Interactive Manhattan Plots For Longitudinal Genome‐Wide Association Studies, Waseem Hussain, Malachy T. Campbell, Harkamal Walia, Gota Morota Jan 2018

Shinyaim: Shiny‐Based Application Of Interactive Manhattan Plots For Longitudinal Genome‐Wide Association Studies, Waseem Hussain, Malachy T. Campbell, Harkamal Walia, Gota Morota

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Owning to advancements in sensor‐based, non‐destructive phenotyping platforms, researchers are increasingly collecting data with higher temporal resolution. These phenotypes collected over several time points are cataloged as longitudinal traits and used for genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). Longitudinal GWAS typically yield a large number of output files, posing a significant challenge to data interpretation and visualization. Efficient, dynamic, and integrative data visualization tools are essential for the interpretation of longitudinal GWAS results for biologists; however, these tools are not widely available to the community. We have developed a flexible and user‐friendly Shiny‐based online application, ShinyAIM, to dynamically view and interpret temporal …

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Primeness In Early Season Arkansas Raccoon Pelts, D. Blake Sasse Jan 2018

Primeness In Early Season Arkansas Raccoon Pelts, D. Blake Sasse

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Trapping seasons in the United States are generally set around the time of the year when pelts are in “prime” condition and are in their most valuable state. In order to assess whether the start of the Arkansas trapping season is at an appropriate date 122 raccoons were captured during the month of November in 2014 and 2015. Based on the evaluation of experienced fur dealers, the percentage of pelts in prime condition was then assessed on weekly and half-monthly basis. This study indicates that starting the trapping season in the last half of the month may maximize the percentage …

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Effects Of Large-Scale Density Reduction On Brown Trout Growth And Movement In Spearfish Creek, South Dakota, Travis Rehm Jan 2018

Effects Of Large-Scale Density Reduction On Brown Trout Growth And Movement In Spearfish Creek, South Dakota, Travis Rehm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Density-dependent growth is often observed in stream-dwelling Brown Trout Salmo trutta populations. In Spearfish Creek, South Dakota, biomass of adult Brown Trout (>200 mm) is about three times greater than that reported for similar Black Hills streams while mean length of adult fish is about 30% less. Here, we evaluate large-scale density reduction as a management tool for improving growth rate of stream-dwelling Brown Trout. We compared age-specific growth of wild Brown Trout in stream sections receiving 50% reductions in fish abundance. We also assessed the effect of fish density manipulation on Brown Trout movement patterns and home range …

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The Influence Of Spore-Forming Microorganisms On The Quality And Functionality Of Cultured Dairy Products, Dipakkumar Mehta Jan 2018

The Influence Of Spore-Forming Microorganisms On The Quality And Functionality Of Cultured Dairy Products, Dipakkumar Mehta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spore formers are observed as the common spoilage-causing microflora in milk and dairy products. Their spore-forming ability increases their survivability during heat treatment which leads to their presence in a final product. Spore-forming bacteria have ability to produce many types of spoilage-causing enzymes which are potential to influence quality and functionality of the final product. Many researchers have studied the ability of spore formers to induce a spoilage in various dairy products but as per our knowledge, their spoilage-causing activities are not described in a detail for cultured dairy products. In our first objective, we have studied the ability of …

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Comparison Of Retaining Replacement Heifers In A Straight-Bred Angus System Versus Purchasing Crossbred Replacement Heifers To Be Bred To A Terminal Sire, Grady D. Ruble Jan 2018

Comparison Of Retaining Replacement Heifers In A Straight-Bred Angus System Versus Purchasing Crossbred Replacement Heifers To Be Bred To A Terminal Sire, Grady D. Ruble

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two evaluations were conducted to evaluate the biological and economic production efficiency of retaining replacement females in a straight-bred Angus herd (HR) as opposed to purchasing crossbred replacements for a terminal sire production system (PR) where maximum maternal and individual heterosis is achieved. The first study was a comparison of the HR system versus PR system. It was modeled after a 100 hd, straightbred Angus cowherd that raises their own replacement females. The (NASEM, 2016) model was used to determine the required metabolizable energy (ME)/animal for each stage of production. Stages were broken into segments including weaning – d 28, …

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Can Solvent-Or Mechanically-Extracted Carinata Meal Be Used As An Effective Source Of Supplemental Protein To Cows Fed Poor Quality Forages?, Emily Jacklyn Rosenthal Jan 2018

Can Solvent-Or Mechanically-Extracted Carinata Meal Be Used As An Effective Source Of Supplemental Protein To Cows Fed Poor Quality Forages?, Emily Jacklyn Rosenthal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Brassica carinata is an oilseed crop that requires a relatively short growing season and produces high crop yields. It is a great source for aviation biofuel, however it produces a large amount of waste that may be used as a protein supplement for cattle. We tested the effects of solvent- or mechanically-extracted carinata meal as a protein supplement to ad libitum ground or long-stem corn residue (i.e., corn plant left over from grain harvest) had on cow performance and digestibility. Fifty-six non-pregnant cows in 8 pens had ad libitum access to either long-stem or ground corn residue in addition to …

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Strategies To Improve Calf Performance: Improving Water Quality, Feeding Microbially-Enhanced Soy Protein, And Supplementing Condensed Whey Solubles, Nirosh Dias Senevirathne Jan 2018

Strategies To Improve Calf Performance: Improving Water Quality, Feeding Microbially-Enhanced Soy Protein, And Supplementing Condensed Whey Solubles, Nirosh Dias Senevirathne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Six experiments were conducted for this dissertation research to evaluate strategies to improve growth performance and health of calves. Growth performance, nutrient utilization, and health effects were evaluated when calves were offered water treated with reverse osmosis system (RW), fed starter pellets supplemented with microbially-enhanced soy protein (MSP) or supplemented condensed whey solubles (CWS). The first two experiments were conducted to determine drinking preference, growth performance, and health of dairy calves offered RW or by a municipal water treatment plant (MW), compared with local untreated well water (WW). First a sequential elimination study was conducted to observed drinking preference of …

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Gtpase-Activating Protein-Binding Protein 1 Plays An Antiviral Role In Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (Pedv) Replication, Kabita Pandey Jan 2018

Gtpase-Activating Protein-Binding Protein 1 Plays An Antiviral Role In Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (Pedv) Replication, Kabita Pandey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) is a non-segmented virus which uses one-stranded, positive-sense RNA as genetic material. PEDV falls under Coronaviridae family and extensive diarrhea and dehydration in nursing piglets are the major clinical signs. This emerging disease leads to huge economic loss in the pig farming. Very less studies are done towards the role of innate immunity in PEDV infection. The formation of Stress granules (SGs) are seen when cells are introduced to different stressful conditions, which also includes viral infections. SGs are formed when one of the four kinases: doublestranded RNA (dsRNA)-dependent protein kinase (PKR), PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum …

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Evaluation Of Dietary Phytochemicals As Rumen Modifiers In Lactating Dairy Cows, Sonia Rodriguez Jimenez Jan 2018

Evaluation Of Dietary Phytochemicals As Rumen Modifiers In Lactating Dairy Cows, Sonia Rodriguez Jimenez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phytochemicals such as tannins included in dairy cow nutritional programs, as a natural feed additive, promise to improve rumen bypass protein and consequently reduce the feeding cost by decreasing the amount of CP needed in the ration. Additionally, if tannins are fed along with high quality protein sources, this could improve the AA profile reaching the small intestine and potentially improving health and performance of dairy cows. The black pepper, specifically its alkaloid piperine, is a nontoxic, natural dietary compound with a broad range of physiological activity. Lactating dairy cows ingesting these phytochemicals (tannin extracts and black pepper) will potentially …

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Efficiency Of Utilizing Standardized Ileal Digestible Lys And Thr For Whole Body Protein Retention In Pregnant Gilts During Early, Mid And Late Gestation, Ron Aldwin Sapin Navales Jan 2018

Efficiency Of Utilizing Standardized Ileal Digestible Lys And Thr For Whole Body Protein Retention In Pregnant Gilts During Early, Mid And Late Gestation, Ron Aldwin Sapin Navales

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In pregnant pigs, amino acid (AA) requirements represent the sum of those required for maintenance functions, protein retention and efficiency of utilizing AA intake for the aforementioned body processes. The NRC (2012) model assumed AA efficiency is constant across period of gestation; however this is not reflective of the changes in metabolic demand during gestation. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of utilizing SID Lys and Thr for whole body protein retention (kSIDLys and kSIDThr) in pregnant gilts during early, mid and late gestation. Three 12 d N-balance studies were conducted to represent different periods of gestation. …

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Enhancing The Nutritive Value Of Corn Ddgs For Pigs, Casey Zangaro Jan 2018

Enhancing The Nutritive Value Of Corn Ddgs For Pigs, Casey Zangaro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Corn dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS) can be a good alternative feedstuff to the traditional corn soybean meal diets since it has high fat and protein content. However, it has a high fiber content, which is not well digested by pigs and can reduce nutrient utilization by encapsulation. The nutritive value of fibrous feedstuffs like DDGS can be improved by supplementation with fiber-degrading enzymes. However, fiber-degrading enzymes have not been effective in improving digestibility of DDGS. The overall goal of this thesis research to was to unravel why pigs poorly digest DDGS and to develop strategies that can increase …

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A Pcr/Sequencing Technique To Identify Species And Genotypes Of Haemonchus From Mixed Trichostrongyle Egg Dna Recovered From Livestock Fecal Samples, Pratiksha Khanal Jan 2018

A Pcr/Sequencing Technique To Identify Species And Genotypes Of Haemonchus From Mixed Trichostrongyle Egg Dna Recovered From Livestock Fecal Samples, Pratiksha Khanal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Six primer pairs, each with a pair of genus-specific and universal second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) primers were evaluated to amplify and sequence the ITS2 region of nuclear ribosomal DNA to identify the species and genotypes of Haemonchus from livestock fecal samples containing mixtures of trichostrongyle nematode eggs. Based upon the use of universal ITS2 primers on Haemonchus adults, the ITS2 region has been shown to contain three fixed single-nucleotide differences between H. placei and H. contortus. It is clinically useful to identify the species and genotypes of Haemonchus infecting livestock, but it has not been possible in fecal …

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Evaluation Of Carinata Meal In Dairy Heifer Feeding Programs, Karla Rodriguez-Hernandez Jan 2018

Evaluation Of Carinata Meal In Dairy Heifer Feeding Programs, Karla Rodriguez-Hernandez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this body of research was to evaluate carinata meal as a feedstuff for dairy heifers and lay the foundations for its future evaluation in lactating dairy cow diets. This research focused on evaluating the taste preference of carinata meal compared with other oilseeds meals and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Despite containing glucosinolates, carinata meal was preferred similarly to canola meal, had greater preference compared to camelina meal, and less preference compared to the other meals. Next, we used a limit-feeding strategy in two different feeding studies, to determine the effect of feeding carinata meal …

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Effects Of Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Yeast Supplementation And Supplementation Frequency On Immune Parameters, Performance, And Digestibility Among Periparturient Beef Cows And Calves, Janine Swartz Jan 2018

Effects Of Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Yeast Supplementation And Supplementation Frequency On Immune Parameters, Performance, And Digestibility Among Periparturient Beef Cows And Calves, Janine Swartz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effects of enzymatically hydrolyzed yeast (EHY) and supplementation frequency (FREQ) on immune parameters among beef cows and calves was evaluated. Eighty multiparous (parity = 4.2 ± 0.3) cows were fed a common brome hay-based diet (CP = 8.0 ± 0.17%). Cows were blocked by expected calving date and stratified by body condition score (BCS) before random assignment of treatment. Beginning 88 ± 5 d prior to parturition, cows were provided 1 kg daily or 3 kg every 3 d of a soybean hull-based supplement (CP = 34.0, % of DM) that contained 0 or 3 g/kg EHY. The daily supplement …

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Distribution, Ecology, Disease Risk, And Genetic Diversity Of Swift Fox (Vulpes Velox) In The Dakotas, Emily Louise Mitchell Jan 2018

Distribution, Ecology, Disease Risk, And Genetic Diversity Of Swift Fox (Vulpes Velox) In The Dakotas, Emily Louise Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The swift fox (Vulpes velox), a native species once abundant throughout the Northern Great Plains (NGP), has declined due to changes in land use, historic predator eradication programs, and predation by larger canid species. Currently, the species is estimated to occupy 44% of its historic range. In the NGP, the status of the swift fox varies by state, ranging from furbearer to endangered species. However, knowledge of the current status of swift foxes in the NGP is lacking due to an absence of systematic population monitoring. Improving the current state of knowledge concerning swift fox populations in the …

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Evaluating Bighorn Sheep Herd Response After Selective Removal Of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae Chronic Shedders, Tyler J. Garwood Jan 2018

Evaluating Bighorn Sheep Herd Response After Selective Removal Of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae Chronic Shedders, Tyler J. Garwood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Infected individuals vary in their contribution to disease persistence, and chronically infected individuals may sustain disease in a population. One disease that might persist in a population through chronically infected individuals is pneumonia in wild sheep. Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Mo), a pathogen of Caprinae commonly present in domestic sheep and goats, strongly correlates with pneumonia epizootics when it infects wild sheep populations. These epizootics can cause 40-100% herd mortality in an initial all-age dieoff, precipitate annual lamb mortality as high as 100% in following years, and sustain adult mortality long after initial all-age dieoffs. We conducted an experiment in the Black …

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Organochloride Pesticides Present In Animal Fur, Soil, And Streambed In An Agricultural Region Of Southeastern Arkansas, Matthew E. Grilliot, John L. Hunt, Christopher G. Sims Jan 2018

Organochloride Pesticides Present In Animal Fur, Soil, And Streambed In An Agricultural Region Of Southeastern Arkansas, Matthew E. Grilliot, John L. Hunt, Christopher G. Sims

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Animals in agricultural settings may be subject to bioaccumulation of toxins. For the last several years, we collected hair samples from bats and rodents in an agricultural area near Bayou Bartholomew in Drew County, Arkansas. Samples were submitted to the Center of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of Connecticut for wide-screen toxin analysis. Several of these samples contained measurable amounts of organochloride pesticides or their metabolites, including some that have been banned for decades, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and chlordane. In addition, we collected several samples of soil from within an agricultural field, from adjacent edge habitat, from …

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Apparent Survival Of Snowy Plovers Varies Seasonally, Nora C. Papian Jan 2018

Apparent Survival Of Snowy Plovers Varies Seasonally, Nora C. Papian

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Survival is an important vital rate that contributes to population viability, but is infrequently monitored and studied, especially compared to productivity. Furthermore, factors that limit survival and the relative effect on survival are often unknown. I used mark-resight observations of a small (~350) population of threatened Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) to quantify seasonal and annual variation in survival and movement between three coastal locations across ~70 km in Humboldt County, California. The return of individuals to non-breeding flocks at three locations was high between years (75-81%). Movement between three locations varied greatly, although most (n = 137) …

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Effects Of Main-Stem Impoundments On Hydrology And Larval Fish Communities In Major Tributaries Of Two Large Midwestern Rivers, Jordan Pesik Jan 2018

Effects Of Main-Stem Impoundments On Hydrology And Larval Fish Communities In Major Tributaries Of Two Large Midwestern Rivers, Jordan Pesik

Masters Theses

Anthropogenic modifications, like impoundments, have altered natural environmental conditions in most lotic systems and impacted fish ecology in many ways. We examined the effect of large river impoundments on fish reproductive behavior by studying the larval fish communities in tributaries of the impounded Illinois and unimpounded Wabash Rivers. We hypothesized that larval fish communities would be similar between the geographically proximal systems, but temporal structuring would depend largely on flow regimes. Biweekly larval densities were greatest among all taxa in the Wabash system, though overall communities were similar between systems. Of the six tributaries, the four smallest rivers were most …

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Reproductive Health And Morphometric Comparison Of Catostomid Species In Two Midwestern Rivers, Bethany Ellen Hoster Jan 2018

Reproductive Health And Morphometric Comparison Of Catostomid Species In Two Midwestern Rivers, Bethany Ellen Hoster

Masters Theses

Wastewater treatment effluent, agricultural runoff, and impoundments can alter the water quality and flow regime of rivers. Fishes around the world are increasingly exposed to estrogenic compounds due to the discharge of wastewater into rivers. Estrogenic compounds, such as those found in birth control pills and soybean byproducts, are endocrine disruptors in vertebrates. The Sanitary District of Decatur serves the municipal and industrial entities of Macon County, IL, and discharges its effluent into the Sangamon River, which includes byproducts of industrial soybean processing. I assessed impacts of treated wastewater on the health of fishes in the Sangamon River. Abnormal caudal …

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Using A Custom Landscape Classification To Understand The Factors Driving Site Occupancy By A Rapidly Declining Migratory Songbird, Elizabeth K. Schold Jan 2018

Using A Custom Landscape Classification To Understand The Factors Driving Site Occupancy By A Rapidly Declining Migratory Songbird, Elizabeth K. Schold

Theses and Dissertations

Land cover classifications are useful in a broad range of ecological applications, yet publicly available classifications are not always useful for the needs of specific projects. Custom classifications are always a possibility, however, they can be financially or computationally out of reach for many researchers. Here we present a custom 1m resolution land cover classification created using freely available imagery and a random forest classification approach. This classification detected shrub cover more accurately and at a finer resolution than previous classifications. With the creation of this map, we were then able to examine landscape factors influencing occupancy dynamics of the …

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Effect Of Exogenous Amylase And Protease On Ruminal Metabolism, Nutrient Digestibility, Rumen Microbiome, And Lactation Performance Of Dairy Cows Fed Freshly Ensiled Corn Silage Based Diets, Lauren Kaye Shearer Jan 2018

Effect Of Exogenous Amylase And Protease On Ruminal Metabolism, Nutrient Digestibility, Rumen Microbiome, And Lactation Performance Of Dairy Cows Fed Freshly Ensiled Corn Silage Based Diets, Lauren Kaye Shearer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of feeding exogenous amylolytic and proteolytic enzymes on lactation performance of dairy cows fed freshly ensiled corn silage-based diets. We hypothesized that the addition of these enzymes would improve nutrient utilization and consequently lactation performance. Thirty-six Holstein cows [15 multiparous and 15 primiparous; DIM = 132 ± 48 and 6 cannulated (3 multiparous and 3 primiparous; DIM = 164 ± 50] were blocked by milk yield, DIM, parity, and body weights and used in a 9 wk randomized complete block design study.. Treatments were a 40% (DM basis) corn silage …

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Walleye Fishery Ecology In Lake Oahe Of The Dakotas, Eli Felts Jan 2018

Walleye Fishery Ecology In Lake Oahe Of The Dakotas, Eli Felts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Walleye Sander vitreus is among the most popular sport fishes in North America and is the most sought-after fish in both South Dakota and North Dakota. Lake Oahe, a large main stem Missouri River reservoir, spans state boundaries and provides one of the most popular and productive Walleye fisheries in both Dakotas. The Walleye population of Lake Oahe has experienced wide fluctuations in abundance and size structure over the last 25 years which has caused high variability in angler use and satisfaction. Much of this variation is thought to be driven by Rainbow Smelt Osmserus mordax, which are the dominant …

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Evaluation Of Berberine As An Alternative To Antibiotics In Nursery Pig Diets, Emily Scholtz Jan 2018

Evaluation Of Berberine As An Alternative To Antibiotics In Nursery Pig Diets, Emily Scholtz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pig weaning process results in reduced growth performance and gut health of weaned pigs. Antibiotics can be added in diets for weaned pigs to improve growth performance and gut health, but their use is being discouraged because they can lead to development of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms. Thus, there is need for alternatives to antibiotics in diets for weaned pigs. The overall goal of this thesis research was to determine the effects of plant extracts (berberine, quercetin, and allyl isothiocyante [AITC]) as alternatives to antibiotics in weaned pig diets. The first objective of the research was to determine in vitro antimicrobial …

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