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Giant Cane (Arundinaria Gigantea) And The Swainson’S Warbler (Limnothlypis Swainsonii): Implementing Innovative Monitoring Techniques For Species Of Conservation Concern, Gabriela Carroll

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In the U.S., following colonization and agricultural expansion, giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea) has been reduced to approximately 2% of its original extent, potentially causing shifts in the abundance and distribution of over 70 associated animal species. Among those species is the Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii), which has been known to occupy canebrakes during the breeding season. Though there is little known about the historical range of the Swainson’s Warbler and its current population status, some have hypothesized that its population may have declined due to the reduction of its suitable breeding habitat. As this species is …

Tailwater Trout Population Dynamics, Connor Dylan Cunningham

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Dams have been constructed throughout the world and provide several resources for humans (e.g., flood control, hydropower). These structures heavily alter the upstream and downstream environment. One consequence of these alterations is the creation of “tailwaters”, which can create cold-water habitat via hypolimnetic releases. In the southeast United States these tailwater environments are often managed for the recreational use of nonnative salmonids. The unnatural flow regimes of tailwaters affect the biotic and abiotic conditions and ultimately the dynamic rate functions (i.e., recruitment, growth, mortality) of the fish inhabiting them. As such, the goal of this research is to provide fisheries …

Activity, Movement, And Reproductive Patterns Of The Northern Giant Musk Turtle (Staurotypus Triporcatus) In Belize, Larissa Sage Saarel

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Northern Giant Musk Turtle (Staurotypus triporcatus), a near-threatened species native to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras, faces multiple environmental challenges, yet its activity patterns, movement patterns, and reproductive biology remain poorly understood. This thesis investigates both seasonal activity and reproductive cycles of female S. triporcatus in Belize. To assess diel and seasonal activity, I tracked 12 female turtles and collected data using activity loggers. I also collected movement data through radio-telemetry and acoustic tracking methods. Results indicated that the species is primarily nocturnal, with increased activity during the wet season, particularly during flooding events. Turtles …

Responses Of Native And Invasive Aquatic Vegetation To Changes In Water Depth In An Ozark Spring-Fed Pond, Daphne Miles

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Spring-fed aquatic ecosystems in the Ozark Highlands are characterized by stable water depths, clear water, and diverse aquatic vegetation (filamentous algae, submerged, floating, and emergent plants). Sudden changes in water depth can impact aquatic vegetation dynamics but the impacts of prolonged changes are poorly understood. I investigated seasonal and annual changes to aquatic vegetation abundance in a spring impoundment during and after a two-year period of low water depth that was caused by a broken outlet below an artificial dam. Water depth was significantly lower in 2020 and 2021 (low water years), compared to 2022 and 2023 (high water years). …

The Effects Of Salinity On The Cutaneous Microbiome And Pathogen Infection On The Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris Regilla) In Monterey Bay, California, Usa, Hannah Eunhae Kim

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Global climate change and infectious diseases are considered a leading cause of amphibian population declines worldwide. Changes in precipitation and salinity have altered watershed systems and microbial communities, reducing habitat availability and physiological performances for amphibian survival. The salt refuge hypothesis, however, is a proposed explanation that higher saline environments may reduce susceptibility to pathogens such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). The Moro Cojo Slough State Marine Reserve (MCSSMR) (California, USA) is known as an abundant breeding ground for endangered/threatened amphibian species. To test and expand the salt refuge hypothesis, I evaluated Bd prevalence and intensity and the cutaneous microbiome of …

Parallel Inquiries: Investigation Of Social Resource Use In Early Career Stem Teachers And Impacts Of Metal Pollution On Fingernail Clam Microbiome, Emily Hamada

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Assessing Ecological And Food Web Responses To Small-Scale Stream Restorations In Urban And Agricultural Streams, Sydney Mcandrews

Masters Theses

Urban and agricultural streams across the Midwestern United States are vulnerable to elevated pollution, eutrophication, habitat simplification, and losses of sensitive species. Instream habitat restoration is increasingly used to mitigate the impacts of rapid land-use change. This study synthesizes habitat and biological responses from a 2020 urban stream restoration in the Saline Branch (Urbana, Illinois) and evaluates food web responses from both the Saline Branch and a 2010 restoration in Kickapoo Creek (Charleston, Illinois), an agricultural stream. In the Saline Branch, four years of fish and three years of habitat and macroinvertebrate pre-restoration surveys were compared to three years of …

Climate Change-Induced Shifts In Mediterranean Fungal Fruiting Phenology And Productivity, Rachel Demay

Theses and Dissertations

We used a 29-year dataset of mushroom fruiting from the Pinar Grande forest in northern Spain to investigate the effects of climate change on the phenology, productivity, and diversity of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic mushrooms. We investigated the long-term trends in fruiting season length, yield (by count, total weight, and average weight), and genus richness. Additionally, we identified associations between monthly temperature and monthly precipitation with these fungal responses across functional groups: mycorrhizal, saprotrophic, litter-decaying saprotrophic, and wood-decaying saprotrophic mushrooms, and the economically-important edible genera Boletus and Lactarius. We found that autumnal season length in the Pinar Grande has shortened over …

Bugs In The Flux: Links Between Arthropod Diversity And Spatial Variation Of Soil Respiration In A Temperate Forest, Erin-Darby H. Mcclain

Theses and Dissertations

Soil respiration (Rs) is the largest terrestrial flux of carbon (C) to the atmosphere, with heterotrophic contributions to Rs varying spatially and temporally. While microbes are the primary and most thoroughly studied source of soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh), contributions from higher trophic organisms, including arthropods, are rarely quantified and poorly understood. Arthropod abundance and diversity correspond with variation in soil microclimate, which is influenced by site factors including canopy structure, site productivity, and disturbance. However, the extent to which these site factors influence arthropod abundance and diversity, and consequently, spatial variation in Rs is not known. The objective of our …

Linking Disturbance & Macrophyte Colonization–Extinction Dynamics To Invasion Success & Community Assembly: Integrating Population, Community, & Landscape Perspectives, Joshua T. Armstrong

Theses and Dissertations

Aquatic plants, macrophytes, are foundational components of freshwater ecosystems, influencing abiotic conditions, providing habitat structure, and shaping biodiversity and community assembly processes. Their role is particularly critical in dynamic systems where disturbance regimes and colonization processes interact to shape community patterns and species distributions. Despite their ecological importance, macrophytes remain underrepresented in theoretical and applied studies of metacommunity dynamics and invasion ecology, especially in natural systems experiencing frequent environmental fluctuations. Here we aim to elucidate how macrophytes influence and respond to spatial and temporal variation in aquatic ecosystems, with a particular focus on colonization-extinction dynamics, invasion success, and community assembly. …

Functional And Structural Impacts Of Bison Grazing Intensity On Plant Communities, Samantha Lynn Berk

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The reintroduction of grazing disturbance has become an increasingly popular tool in grassland restoration to build and maintain diverse and functioning ecosystems, but our understanding of how grazers like bison (Bison bison) shape plant communities is limited by binary grazing treatments and unanswered calls for in-depth and mechanistic examinations of community function and structure. Little research has focused on how natural variations in bison grazing intensity impact the function and structure of restored tallgrass prairie; whereby functional diversity is purely defined by changes in trait expression according to plant responses to grazing, and examining both vegetation structure and ecosystem function …

Molecular Characterization Of Fungus-Arthropod Associations, Angie M. Martin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Arthropods, or phylum Arthropoda, are the largest group of animals, accounting for over three quarters of all animal records on NCBI Taxonomy. And yet, only 40% of all deposited sequences on NCBI Nucleotide come from arthropods. Clearly, arthropods are an understudied group of animals: they are small, often drab, and lead lives very alien to our own. Arthropods have chitinous exoskeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed appendages, and include crabs, barnacles, insects, spiders, and millipedes. Since the era of DNA based studies took off in the 1980s, DNA and other small molecules have been integral to our understanding of the Earth …

Soils From Different Solidago Altissima Clones Mediate Intraspecific Interactions In Schizachyrium Scoparium, Sarah Alharbi

Masters Theses

While previous studies have examined plant intraspecific competition and soil microbial effects separately, fewer studies have investigated how these factors interact, particularly in the context of genotype-specific soil conditioning effects. Plant-soil feedbacks can significantly alter interspecific competitive outcomes, yet few studies have examined how local variation in soil conditioning influences plant responses to density-dependent competition. I investigated how soil inocula derived from four Solidago altissima clones that were previously shown to differ in their soil conditioning effects (Foster et al., 2022) affected the growth and root traits of Schizachyrium scoparium across a gradient of intraspecific competition (1, 2, or 4 …

Insect Foraging Behaviors Across Habitat Types In Weddell’S Saddle-Back Tamarins, (Leontocebus Weddelli Weddelli) In Pando, Bolivia, Brianna Nicole Abba

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Researchers assume that small-bodied primates like the callitrichines are highly adaptable to environmental change and can increase their consumption of insects in disturbed habitats, however, these assumptions have rarely been tested. To better understand how habitat and other factors may influence the frequency of insect foraging, the type of prey capture techniques used, and prey capture success, I collected detailed observational data on one group of Weddell’s saddle-back tamarins (Leontocebus weddelli weddelli) in northwestern Bolivia in July and August 2022. I found that tamarins spent 62% of their total foraging and feeding time on insects. They spent 89% of their …

Demographic Response Of Breeding Grassland Birds To Keystone Effects Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, Richard Andrew Dreelin

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Grassland birds are the most rapidly declining group of birds in North America due to a host of historical and recent changes to the Great Plains (Rosenberg et al., 2019; Bernath-Plaisted et al., 2023). Grassland birds evolved in a mosaic of heterogeneous habitats created by disturbance from keystone species and Indigenous peoples, and the suppression of disturbance by European settlement has resulted in more homogenous habitat and population declines in grassland birds (Knopf, 1994; Samson & Knopf, 1996; Vickery, Peter D. et al., 1998). Restoring the historical disturbance patterns and habitat heterogeneity forms the basis of management activities for grassland …

Temporal And Spatial Changes In Phytoplankton Communities In A Shallow Coastal Estuary, Justin Osborne, Jeneil Patel, Jennifer L. Debose

Gulf and Caribbean Research

No abstract provided.

Better Together: Leveraging Existing Research To Evaluate Population Trends, Habitat Selection, And Species Interactions Of Mesocarnivores, Jordan Lee Heiman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whether from human impacts, climate change, or extreme fires, landscapes around the world are rapidly changing (Foley et al. 2005, Grimm et al. 2008, Bowman et al. 2020). As these landscapes change, it is clear that many ecosystems and species are being negatively affected (Laliberte and Ripple 2004, Butchart et al. 2010, Freeman et al. 2018, Li et al. 2022). With an expanding number of species facing extinction risks, it is critical for agencies to know when and where to focus their limited resources and conservation efforts (Martin et al. 2012, Auerbach et al. 2014, Bal et al. 2018). To …

Prospective Use Of Detection Dogs As A Screening Tool For Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae In Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis), Michele C. Lovara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is a bacterium that can spill over from domestic sheep (Ovis aries) to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), with effects in bighorn sheep ranging from low to no lamb recruitment to whole-herd all-age die-offs from resulting pneumonia. Fast and reliable pathogen or disease detection is essential for managing outbreaks in bighorn sheep and emergences in affected populations. Detection dogs are increasingly being enlisted to close gaps and further complement various disease, pathogen and virus research and response efforts. This thesis explores the use of conservation detection dogs as a potential tool for M. ovipneumoniae surveillance in bighorn sheep through …

One Rung At A Time: Climbing The Ladder Toward Aquatic Connectivity In Eastern South Dakota, Evan Spencer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Roads and streams are synonymous with their connection to movement, the acquisition of resources, and as pathways to new opportunities. However, the factors that define good roads and ecologically connected streams are rarely without conflict. Road infrastructure at stream-road crossings has the potential to fragment stream networks. Tube culverts, where streams pass under the road through metal pipes, are particularly concerning for stream connectivity. Undersized, aging, or inappropriately installed culverts can develop vertical drops at the outflow due to high velocities and stream bed scouring. The outlet drop can function as a barrier, preventing the upstream movement of fish. Due …

Quantifying Avian And Vegetation Communities On Agricultural Conservation Easement Wetlands In Eastern South Dakota, Katherine Millman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Prairie Pothole Region of eastern South Dakota contains numerous small depressional wetlands, colloquially known as potholes, that provide important ecosystem services, including water storage, water quality improvement, and wildlife habitat. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) was established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect and restore wetlands and grasslands on private land through easements such as Wetland Reserve Easements. Although ACEP requires management practices intended to maintain or improve habitat quality, few studies have evaluated their effectiveness at supporting wildlife communities and vegetation integrity. To address this gap, we evaluated wetlands at 30 ACEP sites and 20 …

Whole Genome Sequencing From Snowshoe Hare Fecal Samples, Jessica J. Powell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Genomic analyses can provide powerful insights into important issues in conservation biology, including rapid estimates of overall genetic diversity and related population genetic parameters. Noninvasive DNA sampling from fecal samples is an affordable, efficient, and broadly applicable sampling method that has been used in many targeted genetic analyses. However, the efficacy of whole genome sequencing from fecal samples remains relatively unexplored in most taxa. Here, we present results from two experiments designed to test the quantity and quality of whole genome resequencing data obtained from snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) fecal pellets. Extensive previous research has used genetic analyses …

Mountain Pine Beetle Host Tree Selection And Climate-Growth Dynamics In Whitebark Pine, Hannah Rose Alverson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recent climate-driven outbreaks of mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) have raised fears of increasing whitebark pine mortality with increased warming and drought due to climate change. However, little is known about how whitebark pine responds to climate, what characteristics may predict whitebark pine susceptibility to mountain pine beetle outbreaks, or how these may interact. This information is critical in understanding how whitebark pine might persist in a changing climate. My research investigated how whitebark pine growth responds to various climate variables and how these responses may be predictive of attack by …

Binoculars To Bytes: Development And Field Validation Of An Ai-Driven System For Avian Monitoring, Christian J. Dupree

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Autonomous camera-trap arrays coupled with artificial-intelligence (AI) vision can lift bird monitoring beyond the spatial, temporal, and labor limits of traditional field surveys. We present Binoculars to Bytes (B2B), an open-source pipeline that turns 180–360° time-lapse imagery into analysis-ready avian data. At Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area (Montana, USA) the system ran four-hour morning deployments during spring and fall migrations (2023–2024). A YOLO-NAS detector, incrementally refined with a “Specialized Localized Iterative Model” workflow, quadrupled local accuracy and, after confidence-based species-binning, cut false-positive rates in half. Daily AI species lists were benchmarked against contemporaneous eBird citizen-science checklists and recovered ≥ …

The Prize Biter Of Modernity? Investigating Killer Whale Bite Mechanics, Daniel Hong

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Although the killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a cosmopolitan apex predator, very little work has been done on its feeding biomechanics. Here I use finite element analysis to investigate the mandibular stiffness of a juvenile male Bigg’s killer whale, and compare it to that of the false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) and the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Full mandibles and left and right halves of mandibles are simulated under FEA. I also estimate the total jaw muscle force produced by the Bigg’s killer whale using the dry skull method. The killer whale lacks an …

Exploring Coastal Plain Fish Ecology Across A Range Of Early-Life-History Traits And River Types, Bridgette Nicolosi

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The ecological complexity of southeastern Coastal Plain rivers is reflected in the diversity of fish communities they support, yet the processes structuring early life dynamics remain poorly understood. This thesis explores the influence of environmental gradients on larval fish assemblage composition and American Shad (Alosa sapidissima) spawning phenology across two Georgia Coastal Plain river systems.

In the unregulated Ogeechee River, I investigated spatial and temporal variation in larval fish communities by comparing mainstem and tributary habitats to understand the role of tributaries in watershed-wide larval production. Larvae were collected biweekly from May to September 2024 at eight paired mainstem-tributary sites …

Chironomids Shed Light On Organic Matter Dynamics In Macroinvertebrate Communities In Prairie Pothole Lakes In West-Central Minnesota, Usa, Tracey M. Anderson, Sarah G. Winikoff, Michael L. Sorensen, Melissa L. Rudeen

Biology Publications

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) in North America is characterized by a high density of wetlands that can range from temporary habitats to small lakes. Much of the PPR has been converted to agriculture resulting in outright habitat loss, eutrophication, sedimentation, introduction of agrochemicals, and the introduction of invasive plants and animals. We compared two prairie pothole lakes, Cottonwood Lake and Page Lake, to assess the functional roles and trophic structure of the macroinvertebrate communities in this highly altered landscape. We collected macroinvertebrate samples from littoral and profundal regions of each lake with an Ekman grab sampler in winters of …

Urban Heat Island Effects On Arthropod Populations And Communities In Jacksonville, Fl, Eleanor G. Cronin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The urban heat island (UHI) effect makes urban areas hotter than rural areas. Urban areas, and the extreme heat that comes with them, are becoming more common worldwide. If UHIs lead to changes in arthropod community diversity, then ecosystem structure and services could be disrupted. Previous UHI studies have investigated heat impacts on arthropod ecology, but many focus on one species while studies that consider thermal diversity within a single urban area have been limited. In Jacksonville, Florida, areas that are 12°C hotter than the coolest areas are considered local UHIs. The goal of this research is to investigate how …

Urban Coyotes As A Source Of Conflict With Humans: An Evaluation Of Common Management Practices, Paul D. Curtis, David L. Bergman, Angeline Barker, Daniel Bogan, Mary Ann Bonnell, Pierre Canac-Marquis, David Drake, Dave Kay, Brian F. Wakeling, H. Bryant White

Human–Wildlife Interactions Monographs

Wildlife often serves as a catalyst for conflict among stakeholders. Management actions that are intended to address sources of disagreement may initiate additional conflict. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Human–Wildlife Conflict Working Group initiated an effort to identify management actions commonly used to address unwanted coyote (Canis latrans) interactions within urban environments and identify the benefits and challenges associated with each action. Challenges with coyotes in urban environments include aggressive behavior toward humans and pets, attacks, disease exposure, and domestic livestock damage. Although elimination of all attractants would prove preventative in most instances, in practice this …

Précis Of The Edge Of Sentience: Risk And Precaution In Humans, Other Animals, And Ai, Jonathan Birch

Animal Sentience

We often face grave practical decisions that seem to hinge on whether a system is sentient. This family of cases includes invertebrate animals, people who are unresponsive after brain injury, fetuses, neural organoids, and now AI technologies. We must decide what to do despite ongoing disagreement about the nature of sentience. In our state of uncertainty, we should pragmatically transform the question from “Is it sentient?” to “Is it a sentience candidate, an investigation priority, or neither?”. When a system is a sentience candidate, it is negligent to fail to consider precautions. We should instead evaluate precautions for their proportionality …

Food Finding Ability Does Not Predict Annual Survival In Winter Resident Birds, Aidan Hand

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Small non-migratory birds in temperate locations face many challenges to survive the winter. They must be able to find enough food, which is in decreased supply, to fuel the energetic demands of staying warm. Prior work has demonstrated that birds show individual variation in their foraging behaviors that could contribute to the discovery of new foraging patches, such as novel environment exploration. A better ability to discover new food sources could increase a bird’s chance of surviving the winter by increasing its access to new food patches. To test this hypothesis, we used radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled bird feeders to …