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Ecology Of The Late Neogene Extinctions: Perspectives From The Plio-Pleistocene Of Florida, Shubhabrata Paul

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ecological impact of past extinction events is one of the central issues in paleobiology. In face of present environmental changes, a better understanding of past extinctions will enable us to identify the magnitude of biodiversity crises and their underlying processes. The Late Neogene was a time of extraordinary climatic reorganization, including Northern Hemisphere glaciation, the rise of the Central American Isthmus, and associated changes in environmental conditions. Therefore, the Late Neogene extinctions of marine molluscs of South Florida present an ideal platform to examine the interaction between environmental changes and biotic response. In the present study, three different aspects …

Using Marine Snails To Teach Biogeography And Macroevolution: The Role Of Larvae And Dispersal Ability In The Evolution And Persistence Of Species, Jonathan R. Hendricks

Faculty Publications

While some marine animals are capable of traveling great distances, many have limited mobility as adults and spend the majority of their lifetimes in a small geographical area or may even be cemented to a single place. While it might be expected that species with limited mobility would have small geographic distributions, some nevertheless occur over very large areas. This is the case for some marine snails (gastropods). A key factor that impacts the geographic distribution of marine snails is the type of larvae they have during the phase of their life history that follows hatching from an egg. Because …

Faunal Distribution And Relative Abundance In A Silurian (Wenlock) Pinnacle Reef Complex - Ray Reef, Macomb County, Michigan, Jennifer L. Trout

Masters Theses

Niagaran (Silurian) reefs are important sources of hydrocarbons in the Michigan Basin. In addition, some of these reservoirs have been used for gas storage and may be potential CO2 sequestration sites.

Despite extensive research on Niagaran reefs, most studies concerning faunal abundance and distribution have been qualitative studies conducted by paleontologists with an emphasis on taxonomy, paleoecology, and evolution.

This study is the first quantitative study of relative abundance and general distribution of fauna throughout a single Wenlock reef located in the southern trend of the Michigan Basin. This study will build on previous work done by WMU students and …

Soil Geomorphology Of The Eastern Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Site, Debra Bryan-Ricketts

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Soils in the arid to semi-arid piedmont landscapes of central New Mexico were examined in order to evaluate surficial processes and landscape evolution in the central Rio Grande Rift. These soils were found to contain key information regarding pedologic and geomorphic responses to climate change, rifting and base level drop. A rare association of sepiolite and palygorskite occurs in old soils formed in eolian fines. Pedologic and mineralogical data indicate that palygorskite formed by transformation of dust-borne, aluminum-rich minerals, and that sepiolite subsequently formed by transformation of palygorskite. The association of these two minerals, and geomorphic observations, confirm the existence …

The Relation Among Essential Habitat, Ocean Acidification, And Calcification On The Nantucket Bay Scallop (Argopecten Irradians), Bryanna Joy Broadaway

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The relation among essential habitat, ocean acidification, and calcification in Argopecten irradians (Lamarck 1819) was examined through field and laboratory research. Three major questions were addressed: 1) What habitat conditions are associated with abundant populations of bay scallops in Nantucket Harbor? 2) How might future predictions of ocean pH decline affect the biomineralization of shell by bay scallop across juvenile and adult life stages? 3) Are there biochemical indicators that can inform our understanding on how the bay scallop may cope with ocean acidifying events? Elemental fingerprinting of adult and juvenile Nantucket bay scallop shells, A. irradians, revealed distinct element/Ca …

Heterogeneous Detection Probabilities For Imperiled Missouri River Fishes: Implications For Large-River Monitoring Programs, Joshua T. Schloesser, Craig P. Paukert, Wyatt J. Doyle, Tracy D. Hill, Kirk D. Steffensen, Vince H. Travnichek

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Occupancy modeling was used to determine (1) if detection probabilities (p) for 7 regionally imperiled Missouri River fishes (Scaphirhynchus albus, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, Cycleptus elongatus, Sander canadensis, Macrhybopsis aestivalis, Macrhybopsis gelida, and Macrhybopsis meeki) differed among gear types (i.e. stationary gill nets, drifted trammel nets, and otter trawls), and (2) how detection probabilities were affected by habitat (i.e. pool, bar, and open water), longitudinal position (five 189 to 367 rkm long segments), sampling year (2003 to 2006), and season (July 1 to October 30 and October 31 to June 30). Adult, large-bodied fishes were …

Hydrologic And Microclimate Characterizations Of Thornton’S Cave, West-Central Florida (Usa), Dorien K. Mcgee

Studia UBB Geologia

A cave’s environment is controlled by a suite of factors unique to the environments in which they formed, including, but not limited to, regional geologic and climate settings. These factors collectively owe to wide variations in cave biology, geomorphology and overall speleogenesis. This report combines local climate, hydrologic, and CO₂ data collected over the course of a two-year study at Thornton’s Cave, a partially-flooded cave in the West-Central Florida karst belt, to characterize its current environment and yield insight regarding how changes in regional climate and hydrology impact its past and future speleogenesis. Data loggers continuously monitoring cave and …

Sorta Situ: The New Reality Of Management Conditions For Wildlife Populations In The Absence Of "Wild" Spaces, Barbara A. Wolfe, Roberto F. Aguilar, A. Alonso Aguirre, Glenn H. Olsen, Evan S. Blumer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The rate of species loss today is approaching catastrophic levels. Scientists project that over the next two decades, more than 1 million species of plants and animals will become extinct. E.O. Wilson has estimated that "the rate ofloss may exceed 50,000 a year, 137 a day ... this rate, while horrendous, is actually the minimal estimate, based on the species/area relationship alone" (Kellert and Wilson 1993, p. 16; Aguirre 2009). Ever-expanding communities, strained natural resources, changes in land use, and other anthropogenic drivers are compromising ecosystems and rapidly changing the landscape and the availability of "wild" spaces.

Gene Transcription In Sea Otters (Enhydra Lutris); Development Of A Diagnostic Tool For Sea Otter And Ecosystem Health, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Michael Murray, Martin Haulena, Judy Tuttle, William Van Bonn, Lance Adams, James L. Bodkin, Brenda Ballachey, James A. Estes, M. Tim Tinker, Robin Keister, Jeffrey L. Stott

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Gene transcription analysis for diagnosing or monitoring wildlife health requires the ability to distinguish pathophysiological change from natural variation. Herein, we describe methodology for the development of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays to measure differential transcript levels of multiple immune function genes in the sea otter (Enhydra lutris); sea otter-specific qPCR primer sequences for the genes of interest are defined. We establish a ‘reference’ range of transcripts for each gene in a group of clinically healthy captive and free-ranging sea otters. The 10 genes of interest represent multiple physiological systems that play a role in immuno-modulation, …

The Impact Of Decadal Land Cover Change On The Global Warming Potential Of Beringian Arctic Tundra, David Hwei-Len Lin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon cycle. If arctic warming continues to rise as projected, large amounts of soil carbon stored in these ecosystems could be released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide or methane and positively enhance greenhouse warming. Thus, improving understanding of the likely future state and fate of arctic soil carbon, and the carbon uptake potential of arctic terrestrial ecosystems are well recognized research priorities.

At the pan-arctic scale, decadal increases in NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), an index of vegetation productivity, have been observed from satellite imagery, indicating a general greening …

Management In A Neotropical Show Cave: Planning For Invertebrates Conservation, Thais Giovannini Pellegrini, Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira

International Journal of Speleology

Lapa Nova is a dolomitic cave about 4.5 km long located in northwestern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The cave experiences intense tourism, concentrated over a single period of the year, during the Feast of Our Lady of Lapa. In order to evaluate the impacts felt by the invertebrate community from this tourism, a new methodology was proposed. Four types of areas (intense visitation area, outlying visitation areas, moderate visitation areas and no-visitation areas) were sampled for invertebrates. There was one sampling prior and another on the last day of the 128^th feast, to evaluate the effects of visitation on …

The Distribution And Diversity Of Functional Gene Pathways Controlling Sulfur Speciation In Lower Kane Cave, Wyoming, Audrey Tarlton Paterson

LSU Master's Theses

Defining the linkages between microbial metabolic activity and environmental geochemistry can be used to understand how carbonate dissolution in sulfidic karst systems proceeds. In Lower Kane Cave, Wyoming, sulfidic springs support taxonomically distinct microbial communities that are also associated with putative sulfur metabolisms (e.g., oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds, sulfate reduction, and sulfur disproportionation) that influence carbonate dissolution. The distribution of diverse microbial groups in other terrestrial subsurface environments is not well understood, making Lower Kane Cave ideal for study. Molecular genetics techniques were used to uncover diversity of 16S rRNA genes and bacterial soxB and aprA functional genes. Aqueous …

Magnetic Susceptibility As A Proxy For Investigating Microbially Mediated Iron Reduction, Farag M. Mewafy, Estella A. Atekwana, D. Dale Werkema, Lee D. Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Andre Revil, Magnus E. Skold, Geoffrey N. Delin

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We investigated magnetic susceptibility (MS) variations in hydrocarbon contaminated sediments. Our objective was to determine if MS can be used as an intrinsic bioremediation indicator due to the activity of iron-reducing bacteria. A contaminated and an uncontaminated core were retrieved from a site contaminated with crude oil near Bemidji, Minnesota and subsampled for MS measurements. The contaminated core revealed enriched MS zones within the hydrocarbon smear zone, which is related to iron-reduction coupled to oxidation of hydrocarbon compounds and the vadose zone, which is coincident with a zone of methane depletion suggesting aerobic or anaerobic oxidation of methane is coupled …

Agglutinated Foraminifera From The Northern Tarcău Nappe (Eastern Carpathians, Romania), Raluca Bindiu, Sorin Filipescu

Studia UBB Geologia

The Tarcău Nappe is the most important unit of the Carpathian flysch due to its size, stratigraphic, and tectonic complexity. Our purpose was to identify the major types of foraminifera assemblages in relation to the paleoenvironmental settings and their biostratigraphic potential. The identified assemblages are characteristic to the Cretaceous and Paleogene, consisting mostly of benthic agglutinated and, in lower proportions, benthic calcareous and planktonic species. Local abundances of Glomospira specimens allowed the correlation of the examined strata to the early Eocene “Glomospira event” described from the Carpathians in Poland, Morocco, and Labrador. Rzehakina fissistomata (Grzybowski) identified at Palma makes …

Extreme Variation In The Sagittal Crest Of Tapirus Polkensis (Mammalia Perissodactyla) At The Gray Fossil Site Northeastern Tn., Aaron Randall Abernethy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The preservation and quantity of fossil tapirs (Tapirus polkensis) from the Gray Fossil Site in northeastern Tennessee provides a unique opportunity for comparison and analysis of skeletal characters. Intraspecifically, modern tapirs show little to no variation in the morphology of the sagittal crest. However, several different morphologies exist within the sample at Gray. No osteological evidence of sexual dimorphism exists for tapirs, and no correlation between crest shape and sex was observed. Several juveniles display well defined crests, while some adults have only minor thickening of the temporal ridges; therefore, no distinct correlation between age and crest state …

Co-Development Of Biological Soil Crusts, Soil-Geomorphology, And Landscape Biogeochemistry In The Mojave Desert, Nevada, U.S.A. – Implications For Ecological Management, Amanda Jean Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are complex matrices of soil particles, mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria that prevent erosion and influence water and energy balances, soil fertility, and vascular plant germination. The processes that form BSCs, the factors that control their distribution, and the ecosystem feedbacks that they sustain are poorly understood. This dissertation employed a novel interdisciplinary approach to address those research unknowns through investigations of the micromorphological structure, soil-geomorphic relationships, and biogeochemical feedbacks of BSCs in the Mojave Desert.

A micromorphological study of BSCs resulted in a succession model that illustrates how crust formative processes and structures change through time. …

Population Structure Based On Age-Class Distribution Of Tapirus Polkensis From The Gray Fossil Site Tennessee., Matthew L. Gibson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals of Tapirus polkensis from the Gray Fossil Site exhibit an excellent level of preservation. Intact skulls collected from the site were arranged in a rough age class system separated into 7 categories based on the teeth present and amount of dental wear. Such an eruption series is useful for general comparisons amongst the individual tapirs; however, the classes do not represent an age in years due to a lack of data on living tapirs. Consequently, it is possible that some age classes may contain several years of a tapirs life, or comparatively only a few months. In this study …

Profiles In Science For Science Librarians: "What Lives Where, And Why": Alfred Russel Wallace, And The Field Of Biogeography, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

Biogeography, the study of animal and plant distribution, has a history extending back to at least the eighteenth century. But it was not until the work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the mid-nineteenth century that it really came into its own as a science. Darwin’s importance notwithstanding, it was really Wallace who put the field on the map, and many of today’s research threads can be traced back to his influence. This article provides a summary review of Wallace’s life and work and biogeography as a field of study, including Wallace’s role in its development.

Introduction To “Environmental Contaminants In Biota, 2nd Edition”, W. Nelson Beyer, James P. Meador

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Ecotoxicology is the study of the movement of environmental contaminants through ecosystems and their effects on plants and animals. Examining tissue residues of these contaminants in biota is basic to ecotoxicology, both for understanding the movement of contaminants within organisms and through food chains, and for understanding and quantifying injuries to organisms and their communities. This book provides guidance on interpreting tissue concentrations of environmental contaminants.

Tissue concentrations have long been used both to identify the cause of toxicity in animals and as a measure of the severity of toxicity. More recently, they have been incorporated into environmental models, tying …

Nummulites Biofabrics As Tool For Quality Evaluation Of The Eocene Jdeir Formation Reservoirs Nw Offshore, Libya, Abdusalam Ali Agail

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The southern Tethys margin constitutes an important hydrocarbon reservoir. It is formed mainly of Nummulite rich facies of the Jdeir Formation deposited during the Eocene epoch (Late Ypresian age) in the giant El-Bouri oil field-Sabratah Basin-NW Libya. Deposits of the Jdeir Formation directly overlay the Jirani dolomite and Bilal Formation, and unconformably underlay the Tellil Group and Ghallil Formation.

Nummulite accumulations are good indicators for hydrocarbon studies and they have been targets for numerous studies around the world. Nummulite "Large foraminifera" tests are usually identified by two forms: A-form and B-form. Previous studies have highlighted many different aspects of foraminifers …

Spatio-Temporal Variations In Soil Moisture And Physicochemical Properties Of A Typical Semiarid Sand-Meadow-Desert Landscape As Influenced By Land Use, L. Duan, T. Liu, X. Wang, G. Wang, L. Ma, Y. Luo

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A good understanding of the interrelations between land cover alteration and changes in hydrologic conditions (e.g., soil moisture) as well as soil physicochemical properties (e.g., fine soil particles and nutrients) is crucial for maintaining the fragile hydrologic and environmental conditions of semiarid land, such as the Horqin Sandy Land in China, but is lacking in existing literature. The objectives of this study were to examine: (1) spatio-temporal variations of soil moisture and physicochemical properties in semiarid land; and (2) how those variations are influenced by land cover alteration. Using the data collected in a 9.71 km2 well-instrumented area of the …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 39, 2010-2011, Department Of Geography-Geology

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography-Geology

Temporal And Spatial Assessment Of Evaporation, Transpiration, And Soil Moisture Redistribution, Brian M. Bird

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

At a native stand of creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) in North Las Vegas, a rainfall simulation study was conducted over a 12 month period from October 2005 to October 2006. Simulated rainfall occurred during the winter, spring, summer, and fall periods. Rainfall simulation systems were positioned on each of 12 plots, each containing a single creosote bush. Simulated rainfall events occurred at night with multiple short pulses designed to maximize infiltration while minimizing ponding. Yearly simulated rainfall amounts were set at 0, 15, 30 and 60 cm (replicated three times) and were approximately 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 times the …

Mississippi Canyon 252 Incident Nrda Tier 1 For Deepwater Communities, Gregory Boland, Gary Brewer, Erik Cordes, Amanda Demopoulos, Chuek Fisher, Chris German, Ken Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is geologically diverse basin, described as the most complex continental slope region in the world. Regional topography of the slope consists of basins, knolls, ridges, and mounds derived from the dynamic adjustments of salt and the introduction of large volumes of sediment over long time scales. More than 99% of the sea floor in the GOM consists of soft sediment made up of various mixtures of primarily silt and clay. These wide-spread soft bottom communities are described in reports from major MMS studies by Gallaway et al. (1998) and Rowe and Kennicutt (2009). Relative …

Estimation Of Vertical Groundwater Fluxes Into A Streambed Through Continuous Temperature Profile Monitoring And The Relationship Of Groundwater Fluxes To Coaster Brook Trout Spawning Habitat , Matthew Van Grinsven

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

We hypothesized that the spatial distribution of groundwater inflows through river bottom sediments is a critical factor associated with the selection of coaster brook trout (a life history variant of Salvelinus fontinalis,) spawning sites. An 80-m reach of the Salmon Trout River, in the Huron Mountains of the upper peninsula of Michigan, was selected to test the hypothesis based on long-term documentation of coaster brook trout spawning at this site. Throughout this site, the river is relatively similar along its length with regard to stream channel and substrate features. A monitoring well system consisting of an array of 27 …

Pathogenic And Opportunistic Microorganisms In Caves, Valme Jurado, Leonila Laiz, Veronica Rodriguez-Nava, Patrick Boiron, Bernardo Hermosin, Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez

International Journal of Speleology

With today’s leisure tourism, the frequency of visits to many caves makes it necessary to know about possible potentially pathogenic microorganisms in caves, determine their reservoirs, and inform the public about the consequences of such visits. Our data reveal that caves could be a potential danger to visitors because of the presence of opportunistic microorganisms, whose existence and possible development in humans is currently unknown.

Similarity Of Nutrient Uptake And Root Dimensions Of Engelmann Spruce And Subalpine Fir At Two Contrasting Sites In Colorado, Melissa S. Lucash, Ruth D. Yanai, Karis J. Mcfarlane, Sarah E. Kulpa, Dustin M. Wood

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nutrient uptake capacity is an important parameter in modeling nutrient uptake by plants. Researchers commonly assume that uptake capacity measured for a species can be used across sites. We tested this assumption by measuring the nutrient uptake capacity of intact roots of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni Parry) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) at Loch Vale Watershed and Fraser Experimental Forest in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. Roots still attached to the tree were exposed to one of three concentrations of nutrient solutions for time periods ranging from 1 to 96h, and solutions were analyzed for ammonium, …

Multiproxy Lake Sediment Records At The Northern And Southern Boundaries Of The Aspen Parkland Region Of Manitoba, Canada, Rebecca Teed, Charles Umbanhower, Philip Camill

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Aspen parkland in central Canada may change substantially with increased warming and aridity as prairies replace forests, fire return intervals decrease and lake levels decline. We examined the relationships among vegetation, climate, fire and lake-ecosystem properties using lake sediment cores from the current northern and southern boundaries of the aspen parkland in southwestern Manitoba. We analyzed pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetics, biogenic silica, phosphorus, grain size and LOI, and dated the cores using ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C (AMS, calibrated). The Jones Lake record, from the southern edge of the parkland, began considerably earlier (~11 000 cal. BP) than the Mallard …

Modeled Red Spruce Distribution Response To Climatic Change In Monongahela National Forest, James Michael Stanton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia, red spruce grows in high-elevation island ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to changes in climatic conditions. The ecological niche modeling application Maxent was used to project the distribution response of red spruce to climatic change for the purposes of conservation planning. Red spruce distribution data was acquired from the United States Forest Service. Three sets of nineteen bioclimatic variables, corresponding to present, 2050, and 2080 conditions, were derived from 1961-1990 monthly temperature and precipitation means and the IPCC A2 emissions scenario of HadCM3. The modeling revealed rapidly diminishing red spruce habitat suitability from …

Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Accumulation In A Forested Debris Flow Chronosequence, California, Judith K. Turk, Robert C. Graham

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The role of forest soils in the biogeochemical cycling of C and N is most dynamic during the early stages of soil development. To define C and N trends that occur with soil development in a mixed coniferous forest, a chronosequence formed by debris flows was studied. The accumulation rates of total organic C (TOC) and total N (TN) were evaluated in soils on 10 debris flow deposits, ranging from depth, since this was the depth of the shallowest debris flows. Carbon was found to accumulate in the organic horizons at a rate of 26.5 g m⁻² yr^{−1 …}