Digital Commons Network^™

The Eradication Of Bovine Tuberculosis From Infected Wildlife Populations: A New Zealand Scenario, Garry J.E. Knowles, Mark Hunter, Amy Rush

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The Animal Health Board (AHB) is the agency responsible for controlling bovine tuberculosis (Tb) in New Zealand. In 2000, the AHB embarked on a strategy designed to reduce the annual period prevalence of Tb infected cattle and farmed deer herds from 1.67% to 0.2% by 2012/13. Under current rules of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) this would allow New Zealand to claim freedom from Tb. The epidemiology of Tb in New Zealand is largely influenced by wildlife reservoirs of infection and control of Tb vector populations is central to the elimination of Tb from New Zealand's cattle and deer …

Preliminary Serologic Survey Of Selected Diseases And Movements Of Feral Swine In Texas, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt Vercauteren

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) populations occur throughout eastern, central, and southern Texas, and their populations appear to be increasing. Despite their abundance and wide distribution, little is known about their range and interaction with domestic animals. In the last decade the national pork production industry has enforced an eradication program for economically detrimental swine diseases such as pseudorabies and brucellosis. It is hypothesized that feral hogs can be reservoirs that could reintroduce diseases to disease-free domestic swine herds. The objectives of this on-going project are to determine the prevalence of selected swine diseases that exist within feral hog …

Use Of Deer Repellents To Preserve Wildlife Food Plots For Game Birds, Wendy M. Arjo, Kimberly K. Wagner, Chad D. Richardson, Dale L. Nolte

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Food plots are a vital element for the survival of game bird species such as bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) on Fort Riley Military Installation in Kansas. However, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) tend to eat the sorghum when it starts to ripen in September and continue feeding on it through November and December, often leaving no food for the quail during the winter. We conducted pen and field trails to determine if repellents were an effective and feasible method to protect grain sorghum food plots from deer damage. Two-choice pen trials with both deer and game bird …

Badger Movement Ecology In Colorado Agricultural Areas After A Fire, Craig A. Ramey, Jean B. Bourassa

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

While investigating the American badger (Taxidea taxus) in eastern Colorado' s wheatlands, we studied 3 badgers which were affected by a 2.1 km² man-made fire and compared them to 2 adjacent badgers unaffected by the fire. All badgers were equipped with radio-telemetry collars and generally located day and night for approximately 1 month pre-fire and 3 weeks post-fire. Three point triangulation locations were converted into a global information system database. Adaptive kernel analyses compared pre- and post-fire horizontal: home ranges (i.e. 95% utilization areas, UAs), core activity areas (50% UAs), movements, den and habitat use patterns. Mean …

Development Of Diazacon™ As An Avian Contraceptive, Christi A. Yoder, Kimberly S. Bynum, Lowell A. Miller

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Due to increasing human-wildlife conflicts with birds and growing opposition to lethal techniques, nonlethal methods need to be developed to help manage bird populations. DiazaCon™ is a promising oral contraceptive that acts by directly inhibiting the conversion of desmosterol to cholesterol. Because cholesterol is essential for the production of the steroid reproductive hormones testosterone, progesterone, and estradiol, DiazaCon™ also indirectly inhibits the formation of these hormones. These hormones are essential for sperm and egg production, and the production of egg yolk precursors in the liver. Because DiazaCon™ is cleared slowly from the liver, its contraceptive effects are long-lasting. Initial research …

The Role Of Puf3 Protein Interactions In The Regulation Of Mrna Decay In Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Shervin Sean Houshmandi

Dissertations

The regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) metabolism is an important step in proper gene expression. In many eukaryotic organisms this regulation can be mediated by a group of highly conserved RNA-binding proteins known as the Puf family of proteins. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has several proteins that belong to this family. One of the yeast Puf proteins, Puf3p, binds and regulates the COX17 mRNA, which codes for a protein involved in mitochondrial copper transport. Specifically, Puf3p stimulates the decay of COX17 mRNA. However, the precise mechanism of Puf3p binding and decay regulation is yet unknown. The goal of this research …

Relative Influence Of Landscape Indicators On Macroinvertebrate Communities In A Predominately Forested Watershed: Effects Of Spacial Scale, Robert Johnson

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Robert Johnson on May 9, 2005.

Alternative Assay Techniques For Protein Kinase A, Justin Brink

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

A Genetic Analysis Of Variation For The Ability To Fly After Exposure Tothermal Stress In Drosophila Mojavensis, Robert A. Krebs, Kimberly A. Thompson

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

To help us understand how adaptive tolerance to heat stress has evolved, we made F₁ hybrid crosses and backcrosses amongst populations of Drosophila mojavensis, and tested their ability to fly after exposure to a debilitating, but non-lethal, heat stress. Previous work identified that these populations vary in thermotolerance as measured for a variety of traits. Hybrid superiority was observed when crossing all four pairs of strains. Patterns of inheritance in flight ability after stress varied depending on which strains were used to set up complete reciprocal backcrosses, and, for both population pairs, results supported a multigenic model. This …

The Epigenomic Viewpoint On Cellular Differentiation Of Myeloid Progenitor Cells As It Pertains To Leukemogenesis, Vincent E. Sollars

Biochemistry and Microbiology

The new millennium has brought with it a surge of research in the field of epigenetics. This has included advances in our understanding of stem cell characteristics and mechanisms of commitment to cell lineages prior to differentiation. The nature of stem cells is similar to that of malignant cells in that they have unlimited self-renewal and protection from apoptosis, leading researchers to suspect that stem cells are the target of oncogenesis. This review will explore the idea of how epigenetic control of gene expression may contribute to mechanisms controlling differentiation of myeloid progenitor cells and its importance to our understanding …

A Multi-Platform Bathyphotometer For Fine-Scale, Coastal Bioluminescence Research, Christen M. Herren, Steven H.D. Haddock, Cyril Johnson, Cristina M. Orrico, Mark A. Moline, James F. Case

Biological Sciences

Although bioluminescence (BL) in the open ocean has been extensively studied, coastal BL remains poorly understood due, in large degree, to a lack of BL instrumentation appropriate to measure the fine-scale biological and physical complexity of the coastal regime. As a contribution toward understanding coastal BL, we developed the Multipurpose Bioluminescence Bathyphotometer (MBBP). This compact, self-contained bathyphotometer (BP) was designed to function in a variety of deployment modes, including conventional shipboard profilers, towed platforms, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and profiling moorings. In all configurations, the instrument preserves signal structure at centimeter to meter scale resolution, the scale at which higher-flow …

Making Babies By The Flip Of A Coin?, Matthew A. Carlton, William D. Stansfield

Biological Sciences

Many probability and genetics textbooks pose standard questions about eye color, birth defects, sexes of children, and so on. Solutions to these questions, specifically about sexes, generally make two assumptions: first, that a randomly selected embryo is equally likely to be male or female; second, that the sexes of successive children from the same parents are independent. In other words, probabilists (and some geneticists) treat sexes of children like flips of a fair coin: two possible outcomes, each equally likely, with outcomes independent from trial to trial. But are these assumptions realistic? Demographic data suggest that neither a balance of …

The Effect Of Wildfire On Populations Of The Jemez Mountains Salamander (Plethodon Neomexicanus) With Consideration To Arthropod Prey Availability Following The Cerro Grande Fire Of Northern New Mexico, Michelle R. Cummer

Biology

Fire regimes in North America, including the American Southwest, have undergone relatively dramatic shifts in the last century, resulting in novel stand-replacing fires that are changing landscapes in unprecedented ways. Some possible effects of these novel landscape changes on a terrestrial plethodontid salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus) were investigated. Microhabitat temperatures in four burn-severity types following recent fires were measured. Temperatures were significantly greater in high-severity and moderate-severity burn areas than in low-severity and unburned areas. Salamander presence/absence data from four burn-severity types that were documented as having salamanders prior to wildfire are considered. The proportions of presence and absence …

Physiological And Molecular Genetic Mechanisms Of Tetrodotoxin Resistance In The Garter Snake, Thamnophis Sirtalis, Shana L. Geffeney

Biology

The focus of this project was the identification of physiological and molecular genetic mechanisms of tetrodotoxin resistance in the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. Tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin, specifically blocks the activity of voltage-gated sodium channels. Some populations of garter snake have evolved geographically variable resistance to tetrodotoxin in a coevolutionary arms race with their tetrodotoxic prey, newts of the genus Taricha. Variation in tetrodotoxin resistance among snake populations is extreme and spans three orders of magnitude. Here I describe a physiological mechanism of whole-animal tetrodotoxin resistance in four populations of snake that represent two independent evolutionary origins of …

Ecology And Physiology Of Tetrodotoxin Toxicity In The Newt Genus Taricha: Ramifications For A Coevolutionary Predator-Prey Interaction, Charles T. Hanifin

Biology

I examined the ecology and physiology of tetrodotoxin (TTX) toxicity in the newt genus Taricha (family Salamandridae) to understand the forces that have shaped the adaptive evolution of TTX toxicity in this group. In particular, this work sought to explore how coevolution with a TTX-resistant predator (the garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis) has shaped patterns of phenotypic diversity in TTX toxicity among populations of Taricha. I developed a set of techniques to directly measure levels of TTX in the skin of newts, and used those measurements to estimate the amount of TTX a snake predator would be exposed to …

A Qualitative And Quantitative Characterization Of Emergent, Distributed Computation As A Possible Mechanism For Biological Information Processing In Stomatal Networks, Susanna M. Messinger

Biology

This research presents an exploration of the qualitative and quantitative properties of emergent, distributed computation in artificial cellular networks with the goal of better understanding the same computational mechanism as it might occur in biological systems, particularly plants. Stomata are tiny pores on the surface of a plant. As the sole pathway for the exchange of gasses between a plant and the atmosphere, stomata are responsible for both CO₂ assimilation and water loss. By adjusting their pore size in response to environmental conditions, stomata appear to maximize carbon assimilation while minimizing water loss—a constrained optimization problem. Stomata interact with …

Responses Of Stream-Breeding Amphibians To Riparian Buffers In Headwater Streams: Ameliorating The Effects Of Regeneration Harvest, Kathleen Louise Pollett

Biology

This study focused on steep (>10 °) headwater streams in a volcanic geologic region in southwestern Washington. The presence and abundance of Rhyacotriton cascadae, Ascaphus truei, and Dicamptodon spp. (D. copei and D. tenebrosus) were assessed in four treatment types (unbuffered (clearcuts), buffered (12 to 23 m wide), second-growth (35 to 50 years old stands), and unmanaged (not previously logged)). No difference among treatments for R. cascadae or Dicamptodon spp. presence was found. R. cascadae abundance did not differ statistically between buffered and second-growth streams or between buffered and unbuffered streams. R. cascadae densities did …

Functional Diversity In Autotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria From Agricultural Soils, Teresa E. Koper

Biology

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria carry out the first step of nitrification, producing nitrite that is subsequently converted to nitrate, which may contribute to environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to gain insight into the functional diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in agricultural soils. We investigated the urease encoding gene sequences of several nitrifying bacteria and the kinetics of nitrification of soils treated with different nitrogen sources. Many, but not all, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria produce urease and are capable of hydrolyzing urea for their source of ammonium. The urease operons were sequenced from the betaproteobacterial Nitrosospira sp. NpAV and the gammaproteobacterial Nitrosococcus oceani. …

Biotic And Abiotic Determinants Of Species Distribution: Desert Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma Platyrhinos) And Ants In A Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem, T. A. Scott Newbold

Biology

The primary objective of this study was to attempt to disentangle the relative importance of biotic vs. abiotic factors on the distribution and abundance of desert horned lizards (Phrynosoma platyrhinos). Research was conducted along a Great Basin shrub-steppe bajada that examined interactions among P. platyrhinos, ants, plants, and soil characteristics. Studies focused on: (1) pattern description and habitat associations of P. platyrhinos, and (2) evaluating specific biotic and abiotic pathways underlying observed patterns of lizard abundance and distribution. Examination of lizard habitat associations along the elevational gradient revealed that unvegetated spaces and cryptobiotic crust cover were …

Evolutionary History Of The Clitellariinae And Stratiomyidae (Insecta: Diptera) Using Molecular, Morphological, And Total Evidence Approaches, Colin A. Brammer

Biology

Stratiomyidae is a diverse, cosmopolitan family of Diptera (true flies). One of its twelve subfamilies, Clitellariinae, is distributed in all major biogeographic regions except Antarctica. Understanding the evolutionary history of Clitellariinae is key to reconstructing the phylogeny of Stratiomyidae as a whole because Clitellariinae is united only by shared ancestral characters, and, thus, may not be a natural group. This research investigates the relationships between the genera currently placed within Clitellariinae and the subfamilial relationships of Stratiomyidae using morphology, molecules, and combined data. Morphology was analyzed with the method of parsimony using 97 adult characters. Molecular analyses were performed with …

An East-West Comparison Of Migration In North American Wood Warblers, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Richard L. Hutto

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

That western and eastern songbird migration routes are distinct ecological systems has been proposed for over 100 years. Nonetheless, this distinction has not been widely recognized nor have there been any comparative studies that quantitatively evaluate the differences and similarities between western and eastern songbird migration systems. We drew from previously published research on wood warblers to highlight patterns in stopover ecology that suggest fundamental differences between western and eastern migrants. In particular, we compared biogeography, evolutionary relationships, and stopover ecology of wood warblers from western and eastern North America and found: (1) multiple lines of evidence that indicate western …

Geography Of Spring Landbird Migration Through Riparian Habitats In Southwestern North America, Susan K. Skagen, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Charles Van Riper Iii, Richard L. Hutto, Deborah M. Finch, David J. Krueper, Cynthia P. Melcher

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Migration stopover resources, particularly riparian habitats, are critically important to landbirds migrating across the arid southwestern region of North America. To explore the effects of species biogeography and habitat affinity on spring migration patterns, we synthesized existing bird abundance and capture data collected in riparian habitats of the borderlands region of the U.S. and Mexico. We determined the importance of geographic factors (longitude and latitude) in explaining variation in abundances and capture rates of 32 long-distance and three short-distance migrant species. Abundances and capture rates of 13 and 11 species, respectively, increased with increasing longitude, and four species' abundance and …

Validating Surface Energy Balance Fluxes Derived From Airborne Remote Sensing, José Luis Chávez Egüez

Biological Engineering

Remote sensing-derived energy balance components were compared against measured eddy covariance energy balance terms using heat flux source area models to validate the airborne multispectral remote sensing procedure in the estimation of instantaneous and daily evapotranspiration rates.

A procedure was developed to generate raster layers of the footprint weights for weighting/integrating the different components of the energy balance model and obtain meaningful comparisons to similar energy balance terms measured at eddy covariance and/or Bowen ratio stations.

Soil heat flux and surface aerodynamic temperature models were studied in an effort to improve the remote sensing estimation of distributed evapotranspiration rates. Aerial …

Yellow Starthistle In Utah: An Investigation Of Centaurea Solstitialis Invasion Patterns, Processes, And Population Dynamics, Julie Patrice Rieder

Biology

In a series of observational studies and experiments in the field, I investigated the general biology of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) within a landscape in Utah in light of three main phases of invasion: arrival and establishment, spread, and equilibrium. During the establishment phase, the effect of disturbance on yellow starthistle establishment and performance was context dependent; disturbance positively influenced establishment and fecundity on relatively large disturbed plots that were artificially seeded, but had no significant effect on YST performance on small disturbed plots receiving ambient seed rain. Importantly, disturbance was not essential for establishment of yellow starthistle. …

A Kinetic Analysis Of Bluetongue Virus Messenger Rna And Protein, Margaret K. Buccambuso

Biology

Bluetongue virus (BTV) of the family Reoviridae has a segmented double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genome with ten dsRNA segments which encode seven structural proteins and four nonstructural proteins. Previous studies have revealed that newly synthesized RNA transcripts during viral replication were found in equimolar ratios within BTV virions. However, synthesized mRNA transcripts intended for translation into viral proteins are not equimolar. The levels of expression of these BTV mRNAs are still unknown although the number of viral proteins present in each BTV virion had been defined. The purpose of this research was to establish a kinetic analysis of the ten BTV …

Testing Species Disputes And Population Genetics In The Genus Phragmatopoma Using Molecular Characters, Carrie A. Drake

Biology

Phragmatopoma californica (found in the Pacific Ocean) and P. caudata (found in the Atlantic Ocean) are intertidal, marine reef-building polychaete worms that have been found to produce viable larvae in a laboratory setting, but are otherwise geographically isolated. The first study was aimed at determining their specific status by analyzing the DNA sequences of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and the first internal transcribed spacer region (ITS-1). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that P. californica individuals shared no COI haplotypes or ITS-1 sequences with P. caudata individuals and formed well supported separate clades. The molecular data therefore supports the status of …

Characterization Of Monoclonal Antibodies That Recognize Myxobolus Cerebralis, The Causative Agent Of Whirling Disease, Carey A. Wicks

Biology

Twenty-five monoclonal antibodies produced against myxospores and triactinomyxon spores of M. cerebralis, the causative agent of whirling disease of salmonids, were selected in the initial screening for their reactivity to myxospores. Twelve were found to be effective and accordingly they were characterized fully for their potential as diagnostic reagents for isolated myxospores, pre-spore stages, and spores in frozen sections. Comparative detection assays using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescent assay (IFA), and immuno dot-blot were conducted. Six antibodies bound to developing stages and mature spores of the parasite. Localization of antibody binding in IFA was affirmed by electron microscopy. …

Hypoxia Signaling In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Julie C. Johnson

Biology

The oxygen level at or below which respiration is limited is termed hypoxia. Hypoxia can be induced by several different environmental factors, including flooding and microgravity. Plants have developed mechanisms to survive and acclimate to these conditions through changes in morphology, metabolic pathways, and protein synthesis. One mechanism used by plants to signal stress environments is a signal transduction pathway involving membrane phospholipids that can induce calcium mobilization, or the movement of calcium into the cytosol from extracellular or in-tracellular stores. However, the data from this study indicates that hypoxic stress did not result in phosphoinositide accumulation or calcium mobilization …

Characterization Of Microbial Communities In Karstic Sediments : A Study Of Cave Bacteria In Central Kentucky., Justine Kay Roback 1964-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Few previous studies have compared microbial communities in subterranean and surface environments. Chemical analyses used to characterize the surface and cave microbial environments indicated limited exchange between surface and subsurface waters. Here, bacterial communities from four distinct cave sediments collected in central Kentucky and adjacent surface streams were compared using a combination of culture and molecular methods. Predictions were that: 1) Cave communities will have unique community structures when compared to those of nearby surface sediments, and 2) Genetic diversity of bacterial communities in cave sediments will be higher than those in nearby surface sediments. Since diversity and community structure …

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.