Digital Commons Network^™

Revisión Bibliográfica De Algunos Términos Ecológicos Usados En Parasitología, Y Su Aplicación En Estudios De Caso, Christian Elizbeth Bautista-Hernández, Scott Monks, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Amado Erick Rodríguez-Ibarra

Estudios en Biodiversidad

Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de los términos ecológicos usados en parasitología, de acuerdo con Margolis et al. (1982), Esch et al. (1990), Bush et al. (1997), Bush et al. (2001) y Zander, (2001), que hasta 1982 era un conflicto en parasitología, ya que a que no existían conceptos establecidos para esta área del conocimiento, debido a que esta disciplina se enfocaba principalmente en investigaciones médicas. Aunado a esto, se incurría en conflictos con los conceptos ecológicos como hábitat, sitio, localidad entre otros de igual valor. Con base en lo anterior Margolis et al. (1982) propusieron el desarrollo de nuevos …

Parasitofauna De Peces De Lagunas Costeras Del Estado De Guerrero, México, Juan Violante-González, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Scott Monks, Agustín A. Rojas-Herrera, Jaime Salvador Gil-Guerrero, Sergio García-Ibáñez, Jonatan Carbajal-Violante

Estudios en Biodiversidad

No obstante que los parásitos representan un porcentaje muy importante de la biodiversidad global a nivel mundial, en muchas ocasiones son excluidos de estudios con este enfoque, debido principalmente a que han sido considerados durante muchos años, como simples agentes causantes de enfermedad. A partir de los datos obtenidos de varios estudios parasitológicos de peces y aves, efectuados en algunas lagunas costeras del estado de Guerrero a lo largo de varios años, se presenta un análisis global de la riqueza de la parasitofauna de peces, en estos altamente productivos y complejos sistemas acuáticos. La parasitofauna total estuvo constituida por 66 …

Trophic Interactions In A Semiaquatic Snake Community: Insights Into The Structure Of A Floodplain Food Web, Cynthia M. Carter

Masters Theses

Food webs provide a useful conceptual framework for evaluating the relationships that exist within ecological systems. Characterizing the interactions within these webs can improve our understanding of how communities are structured and what mechanisms stabilize them. Untangling these interactions can be an intractable problem in complex systems and insights gained from conventional methods are often accompanied by inherent sources of bias. This study used stable isotope analysis, an alternative to traditional methods, to investigate the roles and relative contributions of consumers at the top of a food web to community structure and stability. I compared the niche parameters of five …

A Socio-Economic Assessment Of Marine Turtle Eco-Tourism, Kendra Cope

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Marine turtles have historically contributed to economic activity through consumptive harvest for food, tools, and decorative objects. Only recently have they begun to benefit humans economically through non-consumptive roles, primarily as a focal point of educational eco-tourism. In recent years, the annual number of turtle walks conducted around the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR) has risen. This expansion contributed to a statistically significant increase in attendance from 2,162 in 2001 to 3,047 participants in 2014. I examined the regional economic impacts of marine turtle eco-tourism around the ACNWR using social surveys and an economic impact analysis tool. IMPLAN, an …

The Influence Of Diet Composition, Plant Defensive Chemicals, And Winter Severity On The Nutritional Condition Of A Freeranging, Generalist Herbivore, Grace L. Parikh

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

Herbivory requires animals to manage intake of toxic phytochemicals. Detoxification and excretion of these chemicals prevents toxicity, but is energetically expensive. I investigated the relationship between investment in detoxification and nutritional condition for moose on Isle Royale National Park (Alces alces) during winter, using urinary indices from urine samples collected in snow. The ratio of urinary urea nitrogen:creatinine is an indicator of nutritional condition, and the ratio of glucuronic acid:creatinine is an indicator of investment in detoxification. Nutritional condition declined with greater investment in detoxification. An alternative means of managing defensive chemical intake is to diversify the diet. Microhistological …

Impact Of Development On Freshwater Turtle Populations Of Coastal South Carolina: An Examination Of Land Use And Road Density, Andre Dominguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies (Haxon 2000; Steen and Gibbs 2004; Marchand and Litvaitis 2004; Aresco 2005) have demonstrated that urbanization and development have disproportionally adverse affects on female turtles. In order to test this paradigm I caught 301 turtles (primarily Trachemys scripta scripta) in ten ponds (5 impacted and 5 unimpacted) across coastal South Carolina. Not only do coastal South Carolina turtles not follow the same male biased pattern of many other studies, there was an overall female bias (154:95). Turtle metrics were between the types of sites existed as well, indicating larger/older population of turtles in unimpacted sites. Water quality parameters …

Tide-Dependent Predation Patterns Of Piscivorous Fishes In Shallow Estuarine Creeks, Matthew Ross Helms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The distribution and foraging behavior of predatory salt marsh fishes is shaped by the movements of prey, many of whom seek shelter in shallow and tributary creeks. I hypothesized that the distribution of piscivorous fishes in marsh creek channels would differ with proximity to the mouths of intertidal creeks and with tidal stage. Custom-built trotlines baited with live minnows were deployed during four discrete tidal stages at two microhabitats in main creek channels: (1) adjacent to intertidal creek mouths, and (2) along straight banks in North Inlet estuary, South Carolina. Catch-per-unit-effort of predatory fishes was significantly higher (Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, …

Cows And Plows: Science-Based Conservation For Grassland Songbirds In Agricultural Landscapes, Marisa K. Lipsey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Temperate grasslands are among earth’s most imperiled ecosystems. In North America, steep declines of endemic songbird populations indicate that grassland loss and degradation may be approaching critical levels. Grasslands are agricultural landscapes largely (~85%) under private ownership with little formal protection status. Remaining bird populations depend on grazing lands that have not been converted to cropland. We combine regional data from a hotspot for grassland bird diversity (northeast Montana, USA; 26,500-km2) with continental data spanning the northern Great Plains (1,000,000-km2) to evaluate how land use and management influence bird distribution and abundance. Regionally, habitat used by seven grassland specialists spanned …

Sun-Compass Orientation During Natal Dispersal In Hatchling Blanding's Turtles (Emydoidea Blandingii), Meredith Anne Schlenner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Blanding's turtle hatchlings emerge from their natal nests naïve to environmental stimuli and primarily sense visual cues on the horizon as a dispersal target. During a period of hours or days, hatchlings develop a compass mechanism that allows them to maintain a direction of travel, even when the target is not visible. We examined the dispersal directions of Blanding's turtle hatchlings captured during dispersal by translocating them into a circular arena in a field of corn in order to measure their dispersal direction guided by a compass mechanism. To test for use of a sun compass, a magnetic compass, or …

An Assessment Of The Role Of Roads In Population Demography And Genetic Structuring In Two Species Of Lizards In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Kevin Floyd

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Roads can fragment habitat and increase mortality rates of wildlife, potentially reducing population sizes and gene flow, which in turn can reduce genetic diversity through genetic drift. Although negative road impacts have been found in a variety of taxa, not all species are impacted. For instance, species that move less and rarely encounter roads and those that avoid the roads are predicted to not be negatively affected. Yet tests of these predictions are uncommon, especially for reptiles and particularly lizards. Side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) are small sit-and-wait predators, while the larger marbled whiptails (Aspidoscelis marmorata) are active foragers. Their responses …

Ecological Features Of The Greater Earless Lizard, Cophosaurus Texanus, (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) On Indio Mountains Research Station, Hudspeth County, Texas, Gabriela Franco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

626 Cophosaurus texanus were captured on regular trips to Indio Mountains Research Station in Hudspeth County, Texas from August 2010 to November 2014. Mark-recapture methods using 81 pitfall traps and toe-clips for identification allowed for analyses of long-term trends. 291 adult females, 315 males, and 20 unsexed juveniles were recorded. A total of 180 independent recapture events were documented over the study period (44% females; 55% males). The greatest numbers of C. texanus were collected in 2011 (234), which was also the driest year of the four (6.77 cm), whereas 2014 was the wettest (34.95 cm), but had the second-most …

Systematics Of The African River Frog Genus Amietia (Anura: Pyxicephalidae) From Eastern Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Thornton Robert Larson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The African river frog genus Amietia is found near rivers and other lentic water sources throughout central, eastern and southern Africa. Because the genus includes multiple morphologically conservative species, taxonomic studies of river frogs have been limited. We sampled 49 individuals of Amietia from multiple localities in and near the Albertine Rift (AR) of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. We utilized single-gene (16S) and concatenated (12S, 16S, cytochrome b and RAG1) gene-tree analyses and coalescent species-tree analyses to construct phylogenetic trees. Two divergence dating approaches were used in BEAST, including secondary calibration points with 12S, 16S and …

Introduction Effort, Climate Matching And Species Traits As Predictors Of Global Establishment Success In Non-Native Reptiles, Peter J. Mahoney, Karen H. Beard, Andrew M. Durso, Aimee G. Tallian, Arin Lexine Long, Ryan J. Kindermann, Nicole E. Nolan, Daniel Kinka, Harrison E. Mohn

Biology Faculty Publications

Non-native reptiles are often detrimental to native communities and ecosystems and can be extremely difficult to manage once established. Thus, there is considerable interest in predicting the likelihood of establishment of nonnative reptiles. We assessed three hypotheses describing possible factors contributing to the successful establishment of introduced reptiles in an effort to better identify potential invaders.

Stable Isotope Values Delineate The Non-Breeding Distributions Of Sooty Shearwaters Puffinus Griseus In The North Pacific Ocean, David Thompson, Leigh Torres, Graeme Taylor, Matt Rayner, Paul Sagar, Scott A. Shaffer, Richard Phillips, Sarah Bury

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Following breeding, sooty shearwaters Puffinus griseus leave New Zealand waters and migrate to 1 of 3 distinct areas in the North Pacific Ocean, effectively exploiting environmental resources across a large proportion of this northern ocean basin. In this study, we combined electronic tracking technology with stable isotope analyses (δ15N and δ13C) of feathers grown during the non-breeding period in order to evaluate whether isotope signatures can be used to identify specific non-breeding areas used by sooty shearwaters. A region to the east of Japan was utilised by the majority of tracked birds, whereas others used areas off the west coast …

Anthropogenic Litter And Microplastic In Urban Streams: Abundance, Source, And Fate, Amanda Rae Mccormick

Master's Theses

The accumulation and ecological effects of anthropogenic litter (AL) and microplastic are well-documented in marine ecosystems, but these materials’ abundances in rivers is unknown. AL enters rivers from recreation, runoff, and illegal dumping. Microplastic fibers and pellets are abundant in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent which enters rivers. Our objectives were to: (1) quantify AL abundance and composition in urban streams, (2) measure AL flux, accumulation, and export, and (3) measure riverine microplastic concentration and analyze its bacterial communities. We collected AL from 5 urban streams and observed greater AL density in riparian habitats and greater mass in benthic habitats. …

Emergent Non-Consumptive Predator Effects Alter Habitat Colonization By Dipteran Prey, Ethan G. Staats

Theses and Dissertations

When ovipositing, prey organisms avoid habitat patches containing predator cues because predators consume, and negatively affect the fitness of their prey. Richness of predator species often enhances the strength of consumptive predator effects, but little is known about how multiple predators combined affect prey non-consumptively. We quantified dipteran colonization in aquatic mesocosms in response to varied predator richness. Multiple predator species combined reduced oviposition by Culex mosquitoes, chironomid midges, and the general colonizing dipteran community more than predicted by the effects of the independent predator species. Previous research which quantifies effects of multiple predators on prey as prey abundance, but …

Consequences Of Vine Infestation: Linking Abiotic Influences And Biotic Interactions To Successional And Structural Changes In Coastal Communities, Spencer N. Bissett

Theses and Dissertations

Located at the interfaces of terrestrial and marine environments, coastal habitats are inherently vulnerable to the effects of global change. Barrier island systems in particular serve not only as protective buffers against storm events, but also as sentinel ecosystems for observation of the impacts of sea level rise, and of increasing storm frequency and intensity. In the mid-Atlantic region, shrub thickets of Morella species compose the dominant forest community. The often monospecific nature of these plant community assemblages is advantageous to ecological studies and cross-scale applications; the relatively low diversity facilitates transitions between scales. My objective was to investigate the …

Effects Of Constant Vs. Fluctuating Temperatures On Performance And Life History Of The Herbivorous Pest Lymantria Dispar (Lepidoptera: Eribidae), Brendan E. Sostak

Theses and Dissertations

The role of temperature variation in organismal performance is understudied, but is critically important for understanding the response of biodiversity to climate change. To address this issue in herbivorous insects, I studied the direct and interactive effects of thermal regime (constant vs. fluctuating temperatures) and nutrition (dietary nitrogen) on gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) performance under laboratory conditions. Predictions for differences between constant and fluctuating thermal conditions were derived from Jensen’s inequality, and artificial diets of differing nutritional quality were made by modifying nitrogen (casein) content. Larvae were reared in the laboratory under four temperature regimes (22°C constant, 22°C …

Expanding Eco-Visualization: Sculpting Corn Production, Jennifer E. Figg

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation expands upon the definition of eco-visualization artwork. EV was originally defined in 2006 by Tiffany Holmes as a way to display the real time consumption statistics of key environmental resources for the goal of promoting ecological literacy. I assert that the final forms of EV artworks are not necessarily dependent on technology, and can differ in terms of media used, in that they can be sculptural, video-based, or static two-dimensional forms that communicate interpreted environmental information. There are two main categories of EV: one that is predominantly screen-based and another that employs a variety of modes of representation …

Responses Of The Catalpa Sphinx, Ceratomia Catalpae, And Its Primary Parasitoid, Cotesia Congregata, To Varying Levels Of Iridoid Glycosides In Catalpa, Jessica L. Bray

Theses and Dissertations

The catalpa sphinx, Ceratomia catalpae, is a specialist on Catalpa trees, which produce iridoid glycosides (IGs). Whereas some trees are defoliated every year, others escape herbivory. Caterpillar populations are either heavily parasitized by the braconid wasp, Cotesia congregata, or remain unparasitized. We hypothesized that these patterns could be explained by variable IG concentrations among trees and insect responses to these chemicals. IG concentrations varied among trees. Percent defoliation was positively related to IG concentration. In comparisons of insect responses to relatively high or low IG concentrations, moths preferred to oviposit on trees with high IG concentrations. Caterpillars did …

Carnivore Diet Identification Through Scat And Genetic Analysis In Namibia, Africa, Alicia J. Walsh

Honors Theses and Capstones

Worldwide the cheetah population is declining making them Africa’s most endangered large cat. Namibia, Africa currently has the largest population of cheetahs in the world. During the summer of 2014, I did scat analysis of carnivores on the property of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia in order to better understand the predators that compete with the cheetah and how the ecosystem works as a whole. I worked at CCF for nine weeks to analyze the diets of carnivores in the area through genetic and scat analysis. Analyzing carnivore feces would ultimately identify the diet of various carnivores in …

Scales Of Resilience: Community Stability, Population Dynamics, And Molecular Ecology Of Brook Trout In A Riverscape After A Large Flood, Erin V. Rodgers

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Climate change in the northeastern United States currently and in future decadal predictions is characterized by warmer average temperatures and more frequent and intense storm events. Many aquatic organisms that thrive below a certain temperature threshold, such as brook trout, are being pushed towards their upper thermal limits, ultimately lowering their probability of survival and resilience to disturbance. In late-August and early-September 2011, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee created an extended flood in the Delaware Water Gap region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as much of the northeast. This dissertation examines the effects of this flood on …

Ramapough/Ford The Impact And Survival Of An Indigenous Community In The Shadow Of Ford Motor Company’S Toxic Legacy, Chuck Stead

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the history of the Ford Motor Company’s impact upon the Ramapo Watershed of New York and New Jersey, as well as upon the Ramapough Munsi Nation, an indigenous population living there. In a 25 year span the automaker produced a record number of vehicles and dumped a massive amount of lead paint, leaving behind a toxic legacy that continues to plaque the area and its residents. The Ramapough people are not unlike many native nations living in the United States who have experienced industrial excess. This study examines the mindset that allows …

Matrix And Edge Effects On The Maintenance Of Ecological Function In An Afromontane Protected Area, Robin M. Martino

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Land use type in the human dominated matrix surrounding tropical forest can influence edge effects at the forest-matrix interface. Edge effects can alter ecological processes and impact the function of forest edge ecosystems. A key ecological process that helps maintain tropical forest and is affected by forest disturbance is seed dispersal by large, fruit eating vertebrates (frugivores). This dissertation examines how the type of vegetation in the matrix, the `soft’ edge contrast of pine plantations and the `hard’ edge contrast of tea plantations, affect seed dispersal behavior of large frugivores, and the structure and composition of tree species, in forest …

Helping To Resolve Taxonomic Conflicts Within The Genus Amblyomma (Acari:Ixodidae) From A Molecular Perspective, Paula Lado

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This work sought to reassess the taxonomic status of Amblyomma parvum Aragao, 1908 and of the A. maculatum group of ticks Camicas, 1998. By using different molecular markers, 12SrDNA, 16SrDNA, DL, COI, COII (mitochondrial) and ITS2 (nuclear), I analyzed the systematic relationships between these taxa and their closest relatives. Phylogenetic analyses by maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analysis were performed in order to determine relationships among species and populations, and to determine the evolutionary history of these ixodids. The data obtained supported the hypothesis of cryptic speciation occurring within A. parvum, with the northern populations of Central America being …

The Problem Of Low Agreement Among Automated Identification Programs For Acoustical Surveys Of Bats, Cliff Lemen, Patricia W. Freeman, Jeremy A. White, Brett R. Andersen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We compared four programs designed to identify species of bats from their echolocation calls (Bat Call ID, EchoClass, Kaleidoscope Pro, and SonoBat) using field data collected in Nebraska, USA (29,782 files). Although we did not know the true identity of these bats, we could still compare the pairwise agreement between software packages when identifying the same call sequences. If accuracy is high in these software packages, there should be high agreement in identification. Agreement in identification by species averaged approximately 40% and varied by software package, species, and data set. Our results are not consistent with the high accuracy often …

Behavioral Responses Of Male Parasitic Wasps To Plant Cues: A Comparison Of Two Host-Plant Complex Sources Of Cotesia Congregata (Say), Megan Ayers

Theses and Dissertations

Prior exposure to plants cues can enhance assortative mating in insects. We hypothesized that, as previously reported for females, males of Cotesia congregata would display inherent responses to plant cues that could be modified by postemergence experience and further, that males originating from two different host-plant complexes (HPCs) would display different behavioral responses to these HPCs. In no-choice contact assays with a non-host plant, searching responses of males and females increased sharply at Day 2 and remained stable through Day 4. In no-choice assays with potential host plants, males searched longer on catalpa than tobacco; responses were not modified by …

The Role Of Citizens In Detecting And Responding To A Rapid Marine Invasion, Steven B. Scyphers, Sean P. Powers, J. Lad Akins, J. Marcus Drymon, Charles W. Martin, Zeb H. Schobernd, Pamela J. Schofield, Robert L. Shipp, Theodore S. Switzer

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Documenting and responding to species invasions requires innovative strategies that account for ecological and societal complexities. We used the recent expansion of Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) throughout northern Gulf of Mexico coastal waters to evaluate the role of stakeholders in documenting and responding to a rapid marine invasion. We coupled an online survey of spearfishers and citizen science monitoring programs with traditional fishery-independent data sources and found that citizen observations documented lionfish 1–2 years earlier and more frequently than traditional reef fish monitoring programs. Citizen observations first documented lionfish in 2010 followed by rapid expansion and proliferation in …

Do Water Buffalo Facilitate Dispersal Of Invasive Alien Tree Species Acacia Nilotica In Bekol Savanna Baluran National Park?, Sutomo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Invasion of Acacia nilotica in Baluran National Park, East Java Province, Indonesia, has caused significant loss to savanna cover which is the main natural feature of the park. This study aimed to describe whether water buffalo may play a role in the dispersal of Acacia nilotica seed in Bekol Savanna usinganalysis of buffalo stools/scats, observations and seed experiments. In total there were 30 plots set up around the Bekol Savanna to collect buffalo stools. In addition,A. nilotica pods matured from its trees were collected, as controls. Germination tests were conducted on seeds that were extracted from the collected stools …

Dynamics Of Baseline Stable Isotopes Within A Temperate Coastal Ecosystem: Relationships And Projections Using Physical And Biogeochemical Factors, Andrew Mackey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Measurements of carbon (13C/12C; δ13C) and nitrogen (15N/14N; δ15N) stable isotope ratios have become important tools for: estimating energy flow and trophic positions in aquatic foodwebs; comparing food webs; and aiding in the tracking of wide-ranging consumers. However, each of these applications requires accurate measurements of isotopic signatures in organisms at or near the base of the food web (e.g. autotrophs and their consumers), which act as basal reference points from which to calibrate inferences. Therefore, understanding variations in isotopic baselines, and the mechanisms leading to their variability, is crucial for food web ecology.

Using the shallow temperate reefs along …