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Understanding Of Wetlands As Expressed By Selected Community Leaders, Donald Nathan Bardole

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study focuses on ascertaining the understanding of wetlands by selected community and state leaders and determining the source of that knowledge. Because of the subjects' positions of influence, this information may become an important element in understanding the decisions made by those community and state leaders. An interview survey was designed and piloted for this study. Community and state leadership positions were first delineated and then individuals selected from each category. The subjects varied considerably in their knowledge of wetlands, showed the presence of professional expediency, and agreed that regulation in some form is necessary. The wetlands knowledge held …

Effects Of Reproductive Mode On Demography And Life History In Arabis Fecunda (Brassicaceae), Peter Lesica, J. Stephen Shelly

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Life history theory predicts that trade-offs between growth and reproduction should be dictated by a population's mortality schedule. We tested this prediction with Arabis fecunda, a short-lived perennial that occurs in many different habitats in southwest Montana. Individuals produce either or both axillary or terminal inflorescences. Axillary-flowering plants are usually iteroparous and have smaller reproductive bouts, while terminal-flowering plants have larger reproductive bouts, and tend to be semelparous. We recorded size and fecundity of A. fecunda individuals from 1989 to 1993 in three different habitats. There was great variation in demographic and life history traits among the populations. A …

Importance Of Mild Hyperoxaluria In The Pathogenesis Of Urolithiasis - New Evidence From Studies In The Arabian Peninsula, W. G. Robertson, H. Hughes

Scanning Microscopy

The hypothesis that mild hyperoxaluria is more important than hypercalciuria in the pathogenesis of urolithiasis is re-examined in the light of new evidence. Small increments in urinary oxalate in the normal to high-normal range are much more critical than similar rises in urinary calcium for increasing the relative supersaturation of urine with respect to calcium oxalate, the oxalate/calcium ratio in urine, the total volume of calcium oxalate crystals excreted, the proportion of abnormally large crystals and aggregates of calcium oxalate and the severity of the disorder as defined by the recurrence rate of stone-formation. Data from the Arabian Peninsula, where …

Population Ecology Of Polydora Ligni (Polychaeta: Spionidae). Ii. Seasonal Demographic Variation And Its Potential Impact On Life History Evolution, Roman Zajac

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Seasonal demographic variation was studied in an estuarine population of the opportunistic polychaete Polydora ligni between May 1982 and November 1983 in Alewife Cove, Connecticut, USA. The demography of 15 cohorts settling during this period was analyzed using life cycle graph models. Cohorts settling in spring and early summer had the shortest life spans (≈ 10 wk); highest survivorship over all life cycle stages and adult females produced an estimated maximum of 6 larval broods. Early adult stages contributed most to population growth during this period, and the potential for population growth, λ, was the highest during the study. Late …

Survivorship And Recruitment In A Long-Lived Prairie Perennial, Ipomoea Leptophylla (Convolvulaceae), Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Little is known of the lifespans of herbaceous plants, especially in grasslands, although this information is basic to understanding the dynamics of species and ecosystems. Permanently marked plants of the bush morning glory, Ipomoea leptophylla (Convolvulaceae), in Nebraska sandhills prairie were censused annually from 1979-1989. While the average annual death rate was 2.6 per 100, virtually all the mortality was among smaller and probably younger plants. Recruitment varied greatly among years. Of plants of known age, the median age at first flowering was 6 yr. After 9 yr 30% had never flowered. Larger size classes flowered more frequently than smaller …

Dna Fingerprinting Analysis Of Captive Asian Elephants, Elephas Maximas, Laura Louise Bischof

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examined the effectiveness of DNA fingerprinting analysis for paternity ascertainment and the establishment of relatedness of captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximas). Eighteen Asian elephants from three North American zoos were examined. Thirteen of these elephants were wild caught. Relationships between these elephants and the remaining elephants born in captivity were known.

A Demographic Study Of An Isolated Population Of The Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus Polyphemus; And An Assessment Of A Relocation Procedure For Tortoises, Terry J. Doonan

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

It is acknowledged that the gopher tortoise is declining in numbers throughout its geographic range primarily from degradation and loss of suitable habitat. This research project is part of a pilot program to study the effectiveness of relocation as a mitigation method for the conservation of gopher tortoises. There was an opportunity to gather information about the tortoise population prior to its relocation, and for that reason this thesis is presented in two sections.

The first section of this work involved the analysis of the tortoise population prior to its removal from the development site. Results of two methods for …

Live Trap Preference Among Grassland Mammals, Robert K. Rose, Norman A. Slade, James H. Honacki

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In two independent studies, small mammals of grassland communities in eastern Kansas, when given a choice, preferred Fitch to Sherman live traps. Except for the harvest mice in the demographic study, the type of preferred trap and magnitude of selection was remarkably comparable, with microtines showing slight, and cricetines strong, preferences overall. The merits of each type of trap are compared, and related to season, weather, prior experience, and trap-associated mortality.