Digital Commons Network^™

Conservation Taxonomy Of The Cuban Parrot: Morphological, Plumage And Flight Call Variation, M. Bryant J. Reynolds

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Conservation taxonomy, the study of organismal classification to clarify conservation priorities, seeks to define species and subspecies limits. Allopatric populations, such as those present on islands, pose special challenges to identifying taxonomic boundaries that can be be addressed using diagnostic criteria. Because some of the island populations of Cuban Parrot (Amazona leucocephala) are highly endangered, the five recognized subspecies need careful reevaluation. I measured 18 morphological and plumage characters from 188 museum specimens representing the six extant and one extirpated island populations. I also examined 11 spectrographic characters from the flight calls of 23 parrots representing all six …

Responses To Salinity Of Color Polymorphs In Two Populations Of The Sea Star, Pisaster Achraceus, Viren Johann Perumal

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Pisaster ochraceus was analyzed to determine if varying salinities, animal color, or location affect the physiology of these sea stars. The three responses analyzed were aerobic respiration, ammonia excretion, and self-righting. The tested variables included two different color morphs (orange and purple) of P. ochraceus, two different locations (open coast and inland straits) in Washington State, and three salinities (22, 30, and 40 psu).

Wet mass-specific oxygen consumption rates were not significantly affected by color, location, or salinity, and Dry mass-specific oxygen consumption rates showed no significant differences for main effects, but a three-way interaction was identified. Similarly, ammonia …

The Environmental Impact Of Dietary Choice And Agriculture In California, Harold J. Marlow Jr.

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Food demand influences agricultural production. Modern agricultural practices have resulted in polluted soil, air and water, eroded soil, dependence on imported oil, and loss of biodiversity. The goal of this research is to investigate the environmental impact of pesticide and fertilizer application, water consumption, and energy used to produce commodities for a vegetarian and non vegetarian diet in California. The working assumption is that greater number and amount of inputs are associated with greater environmental impact. The literature supports this notion. To accomplish this goal, dietary preferences were quantified using the Adventist Health Study and state agricultural data were collected …

Systematics Of The Endangered Mauremys Mutica And Mauremys Annamensis, Jonathan Julio Fong

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Almost all turtle species in Asia are going extinct due to the demand for turtle products as food and medicine. A difficulty in creating effective conservation measures is that very little is known about the evolutionary relationships between populations and species. It is believed that several lineages we are currently calling species could in actuality be a complex of several species. One of these supposed species is the Yellow Pond Turtle, Mauremys mutica. Previous research has shown this group to have a tremendous amount of morphological and molecular diversity. In this study, I have used a combination of known-locality, farm, …

Comparison Of The Barnacle, Balanus Amphitrite, In Different Environments, Katsura Mastuda

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The Salton Sea is a saline lake located centrally in the Colorado Desert, California. Salinity as well as nutrients of the Sea have been increasing since 1907, thus it is currently facing ecological collapse. The barnacle, Balanus amphitrite saltonensis at the Salton Sea was once thought to be a subspecies of B. amphitrite due to distinctive morphological differences between populations at the Sea and San Diego Bay. However, only one subspecies, Balanus amphitrite amphitrite, currently exists based on genetic studies. My study investigates physiological, survival, and morphological differences of B. amphitrite populations from the Salton Sea and San Diego …