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An Assessment Of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Dynamics, Management, And Impacts In Highly Fragmented Landscapes, Bambi Shafer

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Habitat and forage selection by deer can cause local extinction of plant species. In my research, I asked: 1) How do deer population growth rates in urban parks change through time? 2) Are culling rates and deer densities correlated? 3) Are browse rates on Trillium spp. and deer densities correlated? I used FLIR deer census data from Davis Aviation and culling data from Five Rivers MetroParks (Montgomery County, Ohio). I found that deer population growth rates generally declined from 2003 to 2008. The number of deer culled was positively correlated to the deer densities. The browse rates of Trillium spp. …

Impacts Of A Herbivorous Fish, Campostoma Anomalum (Central Stoneroller), On Nitrogen Fixation By Benthic Algae, Chad Robert Schwinnen

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Herbivorous fish negatively impact algal biomass and promote the growth of cyanobacteria. In nutrient poor conditions that sustain high levels of productivity nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria can supply up to 28% of the available nitrogen (Higgins et al. 2001) We investigated the role of grazing fish in sustaining high levels of productivity in nutrient poor conditions. We used the grazing minnow, Campostoma anomalum, and the acetylene reduction technique in a controlled environment to analyze rates of nitrogen fixation and primary production by the periphyton. Fish grazing reduced algal biomass and promoted the growth of cyanobacteria but had no impact on overall …

Ecological Speciation In A Multi-Trophic Complex: Gall Midges, Goldenrods, And Parasitoids, Brenda L. Wells

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The importance of ecological interactions in the origin and maintenance of species diversity remains unclear. The current study assesses how ecological interactions shape the process of evolutionary diversification using a gall midge-host plant system in Ohio involving the gall midge, Asteromyia carbonifera (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), and its goldenrod (Solidago) host-plants. A. carbonifera form four morphologically distinctive gall morphs and differ genetically. I studied phenology, host-plant specialization, and parasitism at three field sites in Southwestern Ohio. Phenology was assessed for twelve weeks while host-plant distribution and pressure from parasitoids were measured by monthly plot and rearing gall collections. Relative gall frequencies and …

The Polypeptide Syn67 Interacts Physically With Human Holocarboxylase Synthetase, But Is Not A Target For Biotinylation, Yousef I. Hassan, Hideaki Moriyama, Janos Zempleni

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Holocarboxylase synthetase (HCS) catalyzes the binding of biotin to lysines in carboxylases and histones in two steps. First, HCS catalyzes the synthesis of biotinyl-5′-AMP; second, the biotinyl moiety is ligated to lysine residues. It has been proposed that step two is fairly promiscuous, and that protein biotinylation may occur in the absence of HCS as long as sufficient exogenous biotinyl-5′- AMP is provided. Here, we identified a novel polypeptide (Syn67) with a basic patch of lysines and arginines. Yeast-two-hybrid assays and limited proteolysis assays revealed that both N- and C-termini of HCS interact with Syn67. A potential target lysine in …

Role Of Drosophila Rap/Fzr (Cdh1) In Retinal Axon Targeting And Its Interactions With Loco, Liprin-A And Ras, Marta Gronska

Dissertations and Theses

The development of the wild type Drosophila compound eye involves stereotypical targeting of photoreceptor axons to the specific layers of the optic ganglion, medulla and lamina, in the third instar larvae. To test the hypothesis that ubiquitin ligases play an important role during retinal axon targeting we have examined the patterns of axon targeting in the developing eye of the retina aberrant in pattern (rap/fzr) mutants. Rap/Fzr is a homolog of mammalian Cdh1, an activator of anaphase promoting complex (APC), an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Previous work has shown that Rap/Fzr is required in cell cycle regulation, glia differentiation and pattern …

Does Evolutionary Exposure Mediate Allelopathic Effects?, Nikki Leigh Pisula

Masters Theses

Allelopathy most commonly refers to chemically mediated plant interference, though the effects may range from beneficial to inhibitory. Allelopathy has been suggested as a potential mechanism for invasion success because invasive species may produce allelochemicals that are evolutionarily novel to recipient communities. To test for evolutionary mediation of allelopathy, six target species were grown in a factorial experiment with and without activated carbon or a native allelopathic species, Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod). I used activated carbon to remove allelochemicals to separate allelopathic effects from resource competition. The species represented pairs of evolutionary experienced (native - N) and evolutionarily na'ive (non-native …

Estimating Diet And Food Selectivity Of The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Matthew James Gordon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the effect of food abundance on feeding behavior can benefit conservation efforts in many ways, such as to determine whether impacted environments need food supplementation, whether different locations of threatened species contain different food abundances, or whether reintroduction sites are missing key components of a species’ diet. I studied the relationship between feeding behavior and food abundance in the Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri), an endangered subspecies endemic to the lower Florida Keys. Specifically, my study set out to measure the relative abundance of the primary plants within the natural habitat of the Lower Keys marsh rabbit …

"First Report Of Developmental Changes Inside The Eggs Of The Chinese Freshwater Crab, Sinopotamon Yangtsekiense Bott, 1967, With Comments On Its Evolutionary Significance" , J Xue, Y Liu, Neil Cumberlidge, H X. Wu

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Unfurling Fern Biology In The Genomics Age, M. S. Barker, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications

Twenty-first century technology is addressing many of the questions posed by 20th-century biology. Although the new approaches, especially those involving genomic data and bioinformatic tools, were first applied to model organisms, they are now stretching across the tree of life. Here, we review some recent revelations in the ferns. We first examine how DNA sequence data have contributed to our understanding of fern phylogeny. We then address evolution of the fern plastid genome, including reports of high levels of RNA editing. Recent studies are also shedding light on the evolution of fern nuclear genomes. Initial analyses of genomic data suggest …

Stream Invertebrate Responses To A Catastrophic Decline In Consumer Diversity, Jose Checo Colón-Gaud, Matt R. Whiles, Karen R. Lips, Catherine M. Pringle, Susan Kilham, Roberto Brenes, Scot D. Peterson

Biology: Faculty Publications

Tadpoles are often abundant and diverse consumers in headwater streams in the Neotropics. However, their populations are declining catastrophically in many regions, in part because of a chytrid fungal pathogen. These declines are occurring along a moving disease front in Central America and offer the rare opportunity to quantify the consequences of a sudden, dramatic decline in consumer diversity in a natural system. As part of the Tropical Amphibian Declines in Streams (TADS) project, we examined stream macroinvertebrate assemblage structure and production for 2 y in 4 stream reaches at 2 sites in Panama. One site initially had healthy amphibians …

Zooplankton Abundance, Community Composition And Grazing In The James River Estuary (Virginia, Usa), Laura E. Barry

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the extent to which zooplankton in the James River Estuary (Virginia, USA) exploit the available algal-food resources. Zooplankton abundance, community composition and grazing rates were assessed at three locations which included a site with high algal production (near the VCU Rice Center) and two sites where algal production was lower. Grazing rates were measured by determining the rate of phytoplankton decline (as chlorophyll a) during 48-hour incubation experiments in the presence and absence of zooplankton. Significant differences in zooplankton abundance were observed among the three sites, with the greatest average zooplankton density (434 ± 69 ind/L) occurring …

Dissolved Organic Matter Influences The Timing Of Embryonic Development Of The Purple Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus., Corbin J. Hodges

Master's Theses

Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises one of the largest carbon reservoirs on earth and has long been considered a potential energy source for marine invertebrates. The importance of DOM transport has been adequately demonstrated for unicellular organisms, where DOM can meet 100% of an organisms energy needs, but the effects of DOM uptake for marine metazoans are less well understood. In this study, three general areas involving the influence of DOM transport to marine invertebrates were explored. First, we assessed the effects of using seawater exposed to high intensity ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the study organism; embryos of the …

Gold Nanoparticle Interactions And Impact Upon A Common Biofilm Source: Legionella Pneumophila , Amber Stojak

All Theses

There exists widespread concern of pathogenic bacteria colonizing and establishing biofilms in water systems providing a direct exposure route to the public. Legionella are widely distributed in human-made and natural environments, and colonization lends the potential to infect human hosts that may lead to the development of Legionnaire's Disease. Silver has been used in cooling towers and water filtration systems for removal of planktonic bacteria and biofilms; however permanent removal of L. pneumophila biofilms with metal ions is impossible when established biofilms are in hard to access places such as dead end piping or inside a protozoan host. Bulk metals …

Isoform- And Cell-Specific Function Of Tyrosine Decarboxylase In The Drosophila Malpighian Tubule, Edward M. Blumenthal

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The biogenic amine tyramine (TA) is a potent diuretic factor when applied to the Malpighian tubule (MT) of Drosophila melanogaster, stimulating both urine production and transepithelial chloride conductance. Isolated MTs can respond not only to TA but also to its precursor, tyrosine; this observation led to the proposal that MTs are able to synthesize TA from applied tyrosine through the action of the enzyme tyrosine decarboxylase (TDC). In the current study it is shown that the non-neuronal isoform of TDC, Tdc1, is expressed in the principal cells of the MT. A mutant allele of Tdc1, Tdc1^{f03311 …}

Susceptibility Of Caenorhabditis Elegans To Burkholderia Infection Depends On Prior Diet And Secreted Bacterial Attractants, Vaughn S. Cooper, Wendy A. Carlson, John J. Lipuma

Molecular, Cellular & Biomedical Sciences

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans may be killed by certain pathogenic bacteria and thus is a model organism for studying interactions between bacteria and animal hosts. However, growing nematodes on prey bacteria may influence their susceptibility to potential pathogens. A method of axenic nematode culture was developed to isolate and quantify interactions between C. elegans and potentially pathogenic strains of the Burkholderia cepacia complex. Studying these dynamics in liquid solution rather than on agar surfaces minimized nematode avoidance behavior and resolved more differences among isolates. Most isolates of B. cenocepacia, B. ambifaria and B. cepacia caused 60-80% mortality of nematodes after …

The Importance Of Fallback Foods In Primate Ecology And Evolution, Paul J. Constantino, Barth W. Wright

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The role of fallback foods in shaping primate ranging, socioecology, and morphology has recently become a topic of particular interest to biological anthropologists. Although the use of fallback resources has been noted in the ecological and primatological literature for a number of decades, few attempts have been made to define fallback foods or to explore the utility of this concept for primate evolutionary biologists and ecologists. As a preface to this special issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology devoted to the topic of fallback foods in primate ecology and evolution, we discuss the development and use of the …

Endogenous N-3 Fatty Acids Protect Ovariectomy Induced Bone Loss By Attenuating Osteoclastogenesis, Md Mizanur Rahman, Arunabh Bhattacharya, Jameela Banu, Jing X. Kang, Gabriel Fernandes

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Beneficial effects of n-3 fatty acids (FA) on bone mineral density (BMD) have been reported in mice, rats and human beings, but the precise mechanisms involved have not been described. This study used the Fat-1 mouse, a transgenic model that synthesizes n-3 FA from n-6 FA to directly determine if outcome of bone health were correlated with n-3 FA. Ovariectomized (Ovx) and sham operated wild-type (WT) and Fat-1 mice were fed an AIN-93M diet containing 10% corn oil for 24 weeks. BMD was analysed by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Fat-1 Ovx mice exhibited significantly lower level of osteotropic factors like …

Ornithocoprophilous Plants Of Mount Desert Rock, A Remote Bird-Nesting Island In The Gulf Of Maine, U.S.A, Nishanta Rajakaruna, Nathaniel S. Pope, Jose Perez-Orozco, Tanner B. Harris

Biological Sciences

Plants growing on seabird-nesting islands are uniquely adapted to deal with guano-derived soils high in N and P. Such ornithocoprophilous plants found in isolated, oceanic settings provide useful models for ecological and evolutionary investigations. The current study explored the plants found on Mount Desert Rock (MDR), a small seabird-nesting, oceanic island 44 km south of Mount Desert Island (MDI), Hancock County, Maine, U.S.A. Twenty-seven species of vascular plants from ten families were recorded. Analyses of guano-derived soils from the rhizosphere of the three most abundant species from bird-nesting sites of MDR showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) NO₃⁻, available …

Spatial Dynamics Of Nesting Behavior: Lizards Shift Microhabitats To Construct Nests With Beneficial Thermal Properties, Michael W. Sears, Michael J. Angilletta, Robert M. Pringle

Publications

Because temperature affects the growth, development, and survival of embryos,
oviparous mothers should discriminate carefully among available nesting sites. We combined a radiotelemetric study of animal movements with a spatial mapping of environmental temperatures to test predictions about the nesting behavior of the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). Females made large excursions from their typical home ranges to construct nests in exposed substrates. These excursions appeared to be related solely to nesting because all females returned to forested habitat immediately afterward. On average, 1% (range ¼ 0–8%, n ¼ 19) of the area used by a female during nesting was …

Scared Sick? Predator-Pathogen Facilitation Enhances The Exploitation Of A Shared Resource, Ricardo A. Ramirez, W E. Snyder

Biology Faculty Publications

Resource use generally increases with greater consumer diversity, an effect often attributed to resource partitioning. Pathogens and predators are two classes of consumer that exhibit differences in ecologically important traits (e.g., size, resource acquisition strategy, foraging location) that could lead to complementary effects on shared prey/hosts. To examine this possibility, we manipulated diversity among a community of predators and pathogens that together attack an herbivorous beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, and measured resulting effects on herbivore suppression and resulting plant damage. We found that herbivore mortality increased, and plant damage decreased, when more natural enemy species were present. However, closer examination revealed …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No 75 - Research And Development Plan 2009-10, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

The Department of Fisheries R&D plan for 2009/10 outlines the research, monitoring and assessment activities that are specifically directed towards supporting the collection of information that will assist in achieving the objectives of the Fish Resources Management Act (1994) for the coming five year period. This series is updated on an annual basis and should be read in conjunction with the most recent State of Fisheries report where comprehensive analyses of the current status of each of the fisheries and fish habitat resources are described.

The plan specifically focuses on those activities that are currently planned or identified which directly …

Mangroves And Crabs As Ecosystem Engineers In Zanzibar, Charlie Nicholson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Primary productivity within mangroves results from detrital and coprophagous interactions on the forest floor. The feeding behaviors of Sesarmid crabs (Decapoda:Brachyura) alter the structural and chemical composition of benthic sediment through the consumption and incorporation of mangrove leaf-litter. In doing so they create habitats for organisms that in turn provide an additional food source for herbivorous crabs. Species specific herbivory was observed in order to understand the implications of Sesarmid activity on sediment composition. The study was conducted at two contrasting mangrove forest sites, one in a protected area at Jozani and the other in a disturbed area at Pete …

Selective Filtration In The Tropical Marine Sponge Rhopaloeides Odorabile: Impacts Of Elevated Seawater Temperature On Feeding Behavior, Andrew Massaro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change currently represents the most significant and increasing threat to coral reef ecosystems worldwide as sea surface temperatures are predicted to increase by up to 4oC by the year 2099. Sponges that rely on strong microbial symbioses are particularly sensitive to elevations in seawater temperature. In this study, the impacts of elevated seawater temperature on feeding behavior in the tropical marine sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile were assessed. Sponges were exposed to temperatures ranging between 27 and 32oC. At four time points, filtration rate and volume flow rate of each sponge were measured, and feeding efficiencies on both heterotrophic and phototrophic …

Maternally Derived Antibodies In Avian Eggs And Offspring: Ecology, Life History, And Development, Brianne Ashley Addison

Dissertations

Mothers can alter offspring phenotypes through a variety of indirect effects, including the deposition of nutrients, hormones, and defense proteins in to the egg. Defense proteins, and antibodies in particular, may be tremendously important for neonatal defense against pathogens and the direction of resources into growth rather than immune responsiveness. Moreover, maternally derived immunoglobulins have been proposed to have an imprinting effect on the development of humoral immunity. In my dissertation, I explored a variety of ecological, life history, and developmental factors that could contribute to the evolution of yolk antibody allocation in a variety of avian species. In the …

Spatial And Seasonal Variations In Mercury Methylation And Microbial Community Structure In A Historic Mercury Mining Area, Yolo County, California, J. M. Holloway, M. B. Goldhaber, K. M. Scow, Rebecca E. Drenovsky

Biology

The relationships between soil parent lithology, nutrient concentrations, microbial biomass and community structure were evaluated in soils from a small watershed impacted by historic Hg mining. Upland and wetland soils, stream sediments and tailings were collected and analyzed for nutrients (DOC, SO4=, NO3−), Hg, MeHg, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA). Stream sediment was derived from serpentinite, siltstone, volcanic rocks and mineralized serpentine with cinnabar, metacinnabar and other Hg phases. Soils from different parent materials had distinct PLFA biomass and community structures that are related to nutrient concentrations and toxicity effects of trace metals including Hg. The formation of MeHg appears …

Sex And Microhabitat Influence The Allocation Of Mycosporine-Like Amino Acids To Tissues In The Purple Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus, Sarah A. Gravem

Master's Theses

Field surveys of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus demonstrated that concentrations of natural sunscreens, mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), were higher in females than males for both gonadal and epidermal tissues, increased in ovaries as spawning season approached, and were influenced by the sea urchins’ microhabitat. Sea urchins occupying burrows, or “pits”, had lower concentrations of MAAs than those outside pits, suggesting a trade-off between physical and UV protection. Overall, UV irradiance did not influence MAA accumulation in gonadal tissues. However, males increased their allocation of MAAs to epidermal tissues in the microhabitat with the highest irradiance. Relative concentrations of individual MAAs were similar …

Defective Gut Function In Drop-Dead Mutant Drosophila, Cassandra R. Peller, Elizabeth M. Bacon, Julie A. Bucheger, Edward M. Blumenthal

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Mutation of the gene drop-dead (drd ) causes adult Drosophila to die within 2 weeks of eclosion and is associated with reduced rates of defecation and increased volumes of crop contents. In the current study, we demonstrate that flies carrying the strong allele drd^lwf display a reduction in the transfer of ingested food from the crop to the midgut, as measured both as a change in the steady-state distribution of food within the gut and also in the rates of crop emptying and midgut filling following a single meal. Mutant flies have abnormal triglyceride (TG) and glycogen stores …

Adding Upstream Sequence And A Downstream Reporter To The Bile Acid Inducible Promoter Of Clostridium Scindens Vpi 12708, Bryan Patrick Mason

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Bile acids in the small intestines of animals serve to breakdown fats and fatsoluble vitamins. Most of the bile acids are reabsorbed into the enterohepatic circulation, but approximately five percent of these bile acids pass into the large intestine. These bile acids are swiftly deconjugated by the bacterial population, and then subjected to further intestinal bacterial chemical modifications. The most significant of these modifications are 7α-dehydroxylations which form secondary bile acids (deoxycholate and lithocholate). Much research has illuminated the 7α-dehydroxylation pathway: of particular interest is the bile acid inducible operon, for which Clostridium scindens VPI 12708 serves as the model …

Pestilence, Persistence And Pathogenicity: Infection Strategies Of Bartonella, Michael F. Minnick, James M. Battisti

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

It has been nearly two decades since the discovery of Bartonella as an agent of bacillary angiomatosis in AIDS patients and persistent bacteremia and 'nonculturable' endocarditis in homeless people. Since that time, the number of Bartonella species identified has increased from one to 24, and 10 of these bacteria are associated with human disease. Although Bartonella is the only genus that infects human erythrocytes and triggers pathological angiogenesis in the vascular bed, the group remains understudied compared with most other bacterial pathogens. Numerous questions regarding Bartonella's molecular pathogenesis and epidemiology remain unanswered. Virtually every mammal harbors one or more Bartonella …

Tri-Trophic Linkages In Disease: Pathogen Transmission To Rainbow Trout Through Stonefly Prey, Sandra M. Adams, Aaron S. Adams, William E. Holben

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

ABSTRACT Relationships between macroinvertebrates and microorganisms in aquatic environments are only poorly understood despite the fact that many aquatic macroinvertebrates feed on microbial biofilms during some life stage. Better understanding of trophic interactions between microbial biofims, macroinvertebrates, and fish may also help control fish diseases and loss of natural resources. It has also been suggested that pollution, habitat fragmentation, and poor water quality may contribute to increased pathogenesis and mortality in fish. Increased disease incidence is difficult to assess, however, in part because of the complexity of pathogen transmission dynamics. Several environmental pathogens exist whose reservoir(s) and means of transmission …