Digital Commons Network^™

Baseline Survey For Street Dogs In Haryana State, India, Amit Chaudhari

Stray and Feral Animal Populations Collection

This report describes a systematic dog survey program that was performed by Humane Society International (HSI) in Haryana state, India, in June and October 2014. This survey was conducted in support of the National Rabies Control (NRC) program, with its primary goals being to:

(1) Collect baseline data prior to initiation of a program of humane dog population management (DPM) and rabies control,

(2) Establish a standardized survey framework for future monitoring of DPM program impact, and

(3) Generate a population size estimate for street dogs to assist in strategic and logistic planning for the DPM and NRC programs in …

Defining And Assessing Animal Pain, Lynne U. Sneddon, Robert W. Elwood, Shelley A. Adamo, Matthew C. Leach

Experimentation Collection

The detection and assessment of pain in animals is crucial to improving their welfare in a variety of contexts in which humans are ethically or legally bound to do so. Thus clear standards to judge whether pain is likely to occur in any animal species is vital to inform whether to alleviate pain or to drive the refinement of procedures to reduce invasiveness, thereby minimizing pain. We define two key concepts that can be used to evaluate the potential for pain in both invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. First, responses to noxious, potentially painful events should affect neurobiology, physiology and behaviour …

Fisheries Management Paper No.266 - Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery Bycatch Action Plan 2014-2019. Version 1.0, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

Bycatch is described as the part of the catch which is returned to the sea (usually referred to as non-retained or discarded) either because it has no commercial value or because legislative requirements preclude it being retained. Thus, this Bycatch Action Plan (BAP) includes unmarketable finfish and invertebrate species, along with endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species, such as marine mammals, reptiles and some elasmobranchs.

It is Government policy to minimise bycatch in all commercial fisheries. This BAP details a program of actions to address bycatch issues in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery (EGPMF), in accordance with the EGPMF …

Fisheries Management Paper No.265 - Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery Harvest Strategy 2014 - 2019 Version 1.0, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

This fishery-specific harvest strategy has been developed in line with the Department of Fisheries' (Department) over-arching Harvest Strategy Policy for Aquatic Resources (Department of Fisheries in prep.) and in consultation with licensees. The broad scope of the Harvest Strategy Policy for Aquatic Resources is consistent with the National Harvest Strategy Guidelines but as well as considering all retained target species, it also incorporates retained non-target species, bycatch' and other ecological components to ensure the risks to these elements are managed effectively.

The Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery (EGPMF) harvest strategy outlines the longand short-term fishery-specific management objectives; a description of …

The Phenology Of Ticks And The Effects Of Long-Term Prescribed Burning On Tick Population Dynamics In Southwestern Georgia And Northwestern Florida, Elizabeth R. Gleim, L. Mike Conner, Roy D. Berghaus, Michael L. Levin, Galina E. Zemtsova, Michael J. Yabsley

Environmental Studies / Environmental Science Faculty Scholarship

Some tick populations have increased dramatically in the past several decades leading to an increase in the incidence and emergence of tick-borne diseases. Management strategies that can effectively reduce tick populations while better understanding regional tick phenology is needed. One promising management strategy is prescribed burning. However, the efficacy of prescribed burning as a mechanism for tick control is unclear because past studies have provided conflicting data, likely due to a failure of some studies to simulate operational management scenarios and/or account for other predictors of tick abundance. Therefore, our study was conducted to increase knowledge of tick population dynamics …

Spatiotemporal Variation In Flow-Dependent Recruitment Of Long-Lived Riverine Fish: Model Development And Evaluation, Daisuke Goto, Martin J. Hamel, Jeremy J. Hammen, Mathew L. Rugg, Mark A. Pegg, Valery E. Forbes

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Abstract Natural flow regimes can play a major role as an overarching ecosystem driver in reproduction and recruitment of riverine fishes. Human needs for freshwater however have altered hydrology of many riverine systems worldwide, threatening fish population sustainability. To understand and predict how spatiotemporal dynamics of flow regimes influence reproductive and recruitment variability, and ultimately population sustainability of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus), we develop a spatially explicit (1D) individual-based population model that mechanistically (via energetics-based processes) simulates daily activities (dispersal, spawning, foraging, growth, and survival). With field observations of sturgeon and habitat conditions in a major tributary of …

Invasion Is Contingent On Species Assemblage And Invasive Species Identity Inexperimental Rehabilitation Plots, A. Joshua Leffler, Eamonn D. Leonard, Jeremy J. James, Thomas A. Monaco

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Ecological studies often suggest that diverse communities are most resistant to invasion by exotic plants, but relatively few local species may be available to a rehabilitation practitioner. We examine the ability of monocultures and diverse assemblages to resist invasion by an exotic annual grass (cheatgrass) and an exotic biennial forb (dyer’s woad) in experimental rehabilitation plots. We constructed seven assemblages that included three monocultures of grass, forb, or shrub; three four-species mixtures of grasses, forbs, or shrubs; and a three-species mixture of one species from each growth form in an experimental field setting to test resistance to invasion. Assemblages were …

Eight Legged Encounters, Eileen A. Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

This program was funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant (DRL–1241482 to EAH). Material was developed in collaboration with Marie- Claire Chelini, Jessie Rose Storz, Cody Storz, and Malcolm Rosenthal. Steven Schwartz, Jason Stafstrom, Kathy French, Priscilla Grew, and Judy Diamond were all extremely helpful in grant writing, facilitating the first live event, and/or discussions. Pawl Tisdale (artist) was phenomenal to work with on all aspects of the project!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CLASSIFICATION & TAXONOMY STATIONS
I. WHAT IS AN ARTHROPOD? page 4 a. The goal of this station is to introduce the audience to some basic information …

Characterization Of The Transcriptome, Nucleotide Sequence Polymorphism, And Natural Selection In The Desert Adapted Mouse Peromyscus Eremicus, Matthew D. Macmanes, Michael B. Eisen

Molecular, Cellular & Biomedical Sciences

As a direct result of intense heat and aridity, deserts are thought to be among the most harsh of environments, particularly for their mammalian inhabitants. Given that osmoregulation can be challenging for these animals, with failure resulting in death, strong selection should be observed on genes related to the maintenance of water and solute balance. One such animal, Peromyscus eremicus, is native to the desert regions of the southwest United States and may live its entire life without oral fluid intake. As a first step toward understanding the genetics that underlie this phenotype, we present a characterization of the …

Ontogenetic Trait Variation Influences Tree Community Assembly Across Environmental Gradients, Marko J. Spasojevic, Elizabeth A. Yablon, Brad Oberle, Jonathan A. Myers

Biology Faculty Research

Intraspecific trait variation is hypothesized to influence the relative importance of community assembly mechanisms. However, few studies have explicitly considered how intraspecific trait variation among ontogenetic stages influences community assembly across environmental gradients. Because the relative importance of abiotic and biotic assembly mechanisms can differ among ontogenetic stages within and across environments, ontogenetic trait variation may have an important influence on patterns of functional diversity and inferred assembly mechanisms. We tested the hypothesis that variation in functional diversity across a topo-edaphic gradient differs among ontogenetic stages and that these patterns reflect a shift in the relative importance of different assembly …

Documentation Of The Black-Footed Ferret, Mustela Nigripes On The Standing Rock Indian Reservation, Mobridge, South Dakota, Michael P. Gutzmer, Jeffrey C. Kelly

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Since 1991, 19 specific black-footed ferret reintroduction projects have been conducted across 8 States, Canada, and Mexico. All five of the first ferret reintroductions (from 1991 to 1996) continue to be occupied by ferrets. The photographs of October 31 and November 1 are the first unequivocal documentation of black-footed ferrets on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Ferrets observed on Standing Rock may be dispersals from the nearby Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation to the south. The nearest re-introduction site for ferrets is approximately 20 miles away, in Whitehorse, South Dakota, and the observation of ferrets on Standing Rock could document …

The Status Of Fishes In The Missouri River, Nebraska: Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens), Kirk D. Steffensen, Sam Stukel, Dane A. Shuman

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) occurrences in the Missouri River along Nebraska’s eastern border are historically sporadic and rare. Presently, the wild Lake Sturgeon population in this river reach may be extirpated. A Recovery Program initiated by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has stocked almost 150,000 hatchery-reared Lake Sturgeon into the lower Missouri River at several sites in Missouri. As a result, the number of Lake Sturgeon collected has increased. Since monitoring began in 2003, no Lake Sturgeon have been collected above Gavins Point Dam while 40 fish were collected downstream of Gavins Point Dam. The majority of …

Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) Ecological Knowledge Of Piñon-Juniper Woodlands: Implications For Conservation And Sustainable Resource Use In Two Southern Nevada Protected Areas, Brian John Lefler

Dissertations and Theses

Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) have inhabited the southern Great Basin for thousands of years, and consider Nuvagantu (where snow sits) in the Spring Mountains landscape to be the locus of their creation as a people. Their ancestral territory spans parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. My research identifies and describes the heterogeneous character of Nuwuvi ecological knowledge (NEK) of piñon-juniper woodland ecosystems within two federal protected areas (PAs) in southeastern Nevada, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA) and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR), as remembered and practiced to varying degrees by 22 select Nuwuvi knowledge holders. I focus …

Collapse Of An Ecological Network In Ancient Egypt, Justin Yeakel, Mathias Pires, Lars Rudolf, Nathaniel Dominy

Dartmouth Scholarship

The dynamics of ecosystem collapse are fundamental to determining how and why biological communities change through time, as well as the potential effects of extinctions on ecosystems. Here, we integrate depictions of mammals from Egyptian antiquity with direct lines of paleontological and archeological evidence to infer local extinctions and community dynamics over a 6,000-y span. The unprecedented temporal resolution of this dataset enables examination of how the tandem effects of human population growth and climate change can disrupt mammalian communities. We show that the extinctions of mammals in Egypt were nonrandom and that destabilizing changes in community composition coincided with …

Historical Vegetation Of Three Salmon-Bearing Watersheds In The Interior Columbia River Basin, Tyanna Smith

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Land use practices can be a contributing factor to environmental degradation and have been the focus of many ecological studies. One aspect that is less addressed is land use history and the effects that past practices, such as logging and grazing, can have on the current landscape. This paper describes research and the synthesis of material on the environmental history and watershed characteristics for three watersheds located within spawning and rearing areas for Chinook salmon in the Grande Ronde River Basin in Northeast Oregon: upper Grande Ronde River, Catherine Creek, and Minam River. The Grande Ronde Basin is critical spawning …

Breeding Time In A Migratory Songbird Is Predicted By Drought Severity And Group Size, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Global climate change is altering the breeding phenology of many organisms, and one reported consequence of warmer average temperatures is earlier breeding times in migratory songbirds of north temperate latitudes. Less studied are the potential interactions between earlier breeding and social behavior in colonial species. We investigated how breeding time, as measured by colony initiation dates across the entire summer, in Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) of southwestern Nebraska, USA, changed over a 30-year period and could be predicted by climatic variables, year, and colony size. Mean colony initiation date became earlier over the study, with variation best predicted …

Using Individual-Based Modeling To Explore How Environmental And Anthropogenic Factors Impact Piping Plover Breeding Success, Alexander J. Cohen

Open Access Theses

The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is an intensively managed shorebird species which breeds in part along the Atlantic Coast. Major threats to Piping Plovers include habitat loss and degradation, predation, human disturbance, and vulnerability to the elements. Common management techniques include predator exclosures and symbolic fencing around nests to deter humans from entering nesting areas. However, Piping Plover productivity is highly variable even with management. Many site- and season-specific factors affect plovers and their interactions with other inhabitants of the beach environment. Variability in magnitude and patterns of human disturbance, plover behavioral tolerance of disturbance, and a variety of beach …

The Decline Of Cisco Coregonus Artedi At Its Southern Range Extent: Stock Biology And Management Implications, Andrew E. Honsey

Open Access Theses

The cisco Coregonus artedi is distributed throughout northern North America and is relegated to coldwater, oligotrophic systems. Populations of cisco located at the species' southern range extent, including northern Indiana and southern Michigan, have drastically declined over the past century, seemingly due to a combination of climate warming and exacerbation of hypolimnetic hypoxic conditions via intensive land-use and resulting increases in nutrient loading. Apart from their decline, information on southern ciscoes is lacking, including basic stock demography and genetic variability. Such information may shed light on the likely sustainability (or lack thereof) of remaining populations. The first portion of this …

Multidimensional Approach To Comparative Avian Visual Systems, Bret Alan Moore

Open Access Dissertations

Since the birth of visual ecology, comparative studies on how birds see their world have been limited to a small number of species and tended to focus on a single visual trait. This approach has constrained our ability to understand the diversity and evolution of the avian visual system. The goal of this dissertation was to characterize multiple visual dimensions on bird groups that are highly speciouse (e.g., Passeriformes), and test some hypotheses and predictions, using modern comparative tools, on the relationship between different visual traits and their association with visual information sampling behaviors. First, I developed a novel method …

Migratory Ecology Of Sea Turtles, Nathan Jack Robinson

Open Access Dissertations

Establishing the movement patterns of free-ranging animals is imperative to understanding their behavior and ecology, and is often necessary for designing effective conservation-strategies. This is especially true for migratory species, such as sea turtles, whose long-distance movements form a major component of their life history. In this thesis, I investigated which factors are driving the migratory behavior of the leatherback turtleDermochelys coriacea. Firstly, I examined whether the timing of the nesting season (nesting phenology) is influenced by oceanographic conditions along the pre-nesting migratory route or by variation in population structure. The discovery that nesting phenology appears more influenced by …

Ad Hoc Smoothing Parameter Performance In Kernel Estimates Of Gps-Derived Home Ranges, Krysten L. Schuler, Greg M. Schroeder, Jonathan A. Jenks, John G. Kie

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Accuracy of home-range estimates in animals is influenced by a variety of factors, such as method of analysis and number of locations, but animal space use is less often considered and frequently over-generalized through simulations. Our objective was to assess effect of an ad hoc (h_ad hoc)smoothing parameter in kernel analysis from two species that were predicted to have different patterns of utilization distributions across a range of sample sizes. We evaluated variation in home-range estimates with location data collected from GPS collars on two species: mule deer Odocoileus hemionus and coyotes Canis latrans. We calculated home ranges using …

Dangerous Mating Systems: Signal Complexity, Signal Content And Neural Capacity In Spiders, Marie E. Herberstein, Anne E. Wignall, Eileen Hebets, Jutta M. Schneider

Eileen Hebets Publications

Spiders are highly efficient predators in possession of exquisite sensory capacities for ambushing prey, combined with machinery for launching rapid and determined attacks. As a consequence, any sexually motivated approach carries a risk of ending up as prey rather than as a mate. Sexual selection has shaped courtship to effectively communicate the presence, identity, motivation and/or quality of potential mates, which help ameliorate these risks. Spiders communicate this information via several sensory channels, including mechanical (e.g. vibrational), visual and/or chemical, with examples of multimodal signaling beginning to emerge in the literature. The diverse environments that spiders inhabit have further shaped …

Multimodal Sensory Reliance In The Nocturnal Homing Of The Amblypygid Phrynus Pseudoparvulus (Class Arachnida, Order Amblypygi)?, Eileen A. Hebets, Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, Samuel Aguilar-Argüello, Verner P. Bingman, Ignacio Escalante, Eben J. Gering, David R. Nelson, Jennifer Rivera, José Ángel Sánchez-Ruiz, Laura Segura-Hernández, Virginia Settepani, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Jay A. Stafstrom

Eileen Hebets Publications

Like many other nocturnal arthropods, the amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus is capable of homing. The environment through which these predators navigate is a dense and heterogeneous tropical forest understory and the mechanism(s) underlying their putatively complex navigational abilities are presently unknown. This study explores the sensory inputs that might facilitate nocturnal navigation in the amblypygid P. pseudoparvulus. Specifically, we use sensory system manipulations in conjunction with field displacements to examine the potential involvement of multimodal—olfactory and visual—stimuli in P. pseudoparvulus’ homing behavior. In a first experiment, we deprived individuals of their olfactory capacity and displaced them to the opposite side of …

The Role Of Chemical Attractants In The Use Of Tick Traps For Life Stages Of Tick Species Ixodes Scapularis, Dermacentor Variabilis And Amblyomma Maculatum, Pamela C. Kelman

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Amblyomma maculatum, Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor variabilis are three of the hard-bodied ticks found in the United States. This study explored three aspects of the appetence process of these tick species: attraction, desiccation survival, and locomotive activity. The first portion of this work was to improve one of the standard methods used for collecting ticks from the environment, the tick trap. To determine the attractants needed to capture all life stages of the three chosen species of ticks in the field using tick traps, a series of experiments were conducted using laboratory-reared larval, nymphal and adult A. maculatum, I. scapularis …

Predictors Patterns And Processes Of Extinction Risk In Porgies And Seabreams (Family: Sparidae), Mia Theresa B. Conteros

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A variety of human-induced changes are having profound impacts on the marine environment, and no area on the planet remains unaffected by the detrimental effects of our activities. These stressors can potentially lead to synergistic effects, causing accelerated biodiversity loss and diminished ecosystem functioning. Identification and understanding of the factors that drive species to heightened risk of extinction are important goals in conservation.

The Sparidae are commercially important and ecologically complex marine fishes; global extinction risk assessments using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species methodology show that 9% (13 species) have increased vulnerability to population declines from intense fishing …

Age-Related Aspects Of Mirror-Use By Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Rachel A. Morrison

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bottlenose dolphins are neuroanatomically different and evolutionarily divergent from primates yet they exhibit mirror self-recognition (MSR), a rare cognitive ability in non-human animals. This research investigated the developmental and age-related aspects of MSR in this species. During a longitudinal study, a social group of bottlenose dolphins at the National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD were exposed to a mirror and their behavioral responses were recorded to: 1) further confirm the presence of MSR in this species, 2) determine the age of emergence of MSR and 3) draw comparisons with data documenting the emergence of this ability in humans and great ape species. …

The Optimal Foraging Of Equus Burchelli At Enashiva Nature Refuge, Edward Haubenreiser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Within the country of Tanzania lies a vast ecosystem known as the Serengeti. This unique landscape, primarily of grasslands and woodlands, shapes the seasonal feeding habits of the abundant wildlife that call the area home. While these feeding habits on a large spatial scale are well understood, such behavior within a specie’s specific environment remains of interest. With the theory of optimal foraging in mind, which considers how animals should look for and select food (Green, 1990), I studied the foraging habits of resident Burchell’s zebra (Equus burchelli) by observing if they move and forage among distinct resource …

The Ecology Of Infancy And Early Childhood In Rural Senegal; A Five Year Old Can Boot But Not Foot, An Exploration Of Where Biology Meets Culture, Heather Mills

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project explores the life stages of infancy and early childhood in the village of Ndiane in the Thies region of Senegal. I will discuss how biology meets culture to influence children, parenting styles, and expectations of the life stage. How does ecology, the interaction of physical, biological and cultural landscapes, characterize childhood and the intertwined belief systems that influence parenting? The information was gathered using a combination of participant observation and free list interviews.

Warming, Competition, And Bromus Tectorum Population Growth Across An Elevation Gradient, Aldo Compagnoni, Peter B. Adler

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is one of the most problematic invasive plant species in North America and climate change threatens to exacerbate its impacts. We conducted a two‐year field experiment to test the effect of warming, competition, and seed source on cheatgrass performance across an elevation gradient in northern Utah. We hypothesized that warming would increase cheatgrass performance, but that warming effects would be limited by competing vegetation and by local adaptation of cheatgrass seed sources. The warming treatment relied on open top chambers, we removed vegetation to assess the effect of competition from neighboring vegetation, and we reciprocally …

Natural Selection On Thermal Performance In A Novel Thermal Environment, Michael L. Logan, Robert M. Cox, Ryan Calsbeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Tropical ectotherms are thought to be especially vulnerable to climate change because they are adapted to relatively stable temperature regimes, such that even small increases in environmental temperature may lead to large decreases in physiological performance. One way in which tropical organisms may mitigate the detrimental effects of warming is through evolutionary change in thermal physiology. The speed and magnitude of this response depend, in part, on the strength of climate-driven selection. However, many ectotherms use behavioral adjustments to maintain preferred body temperatures in the face of environmental variation. These behaviors may shelter individuals from natural selection, preventing evolutionary adaptation …