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The 100th Meridian Initiative At The Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nv, Usa: Differences Between Boater Behaviors Before And After A Quagga Mussel, Driessena Rostiformis Bugensis, Invasion, Sara Ann Mueting, Shawn Gerstenberger

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

The 100th Meridian Initiative was developed to help prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) through boater education and research on boater movement patterns and behaviors. Surveys employing these elements were conducted at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA) in 2002-2003 before the discovery of the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostiformis bugensis Andrusov 1897) and in 2007-2008 after an established population of quagga mussels was found in the Lake. Boaters were asked questions in a personal interview or a mail-in survey regarding what body of water they had previously launched their watercraft in, where they were planning to launch next, …

Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-Map) For Quagga Mussels In Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, Usa, Kent Turner, Wai Hing Wong, Shawn Gerstenberger, Jennell M. Miller

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Following the discovery of quagga mussels in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, USA, a variety of federal, state and regional agencies set up monitoring programs to evaluate and gain information to help minimize the impacts, or potential impacts, of quagga mussels to their facilities and lake ecology. While the agencies have worked closely and shared monitoring data and findings from the beginning of the infestation, there has been no documented comprehensive monitoring program to describe and record the various quagga mussel-related monitoring needs. Ad hoc interagency quagga mussel meeting representatives established an Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-MAP), which outlines agency objectives related …

Abundance And Size Of Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Bugensis) Veligers In Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, Shawn Gerstenberger, Sara Ann Mueting, Wai Hing Wong

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

The planktonic veligers of the invasive quagga mussel were present year-round from April 2008 to March 2009 in Lake Mead, with high abundance from September to October (>20 veligers/L), whereas the percentage of competent veligers, in terms of the ability to settle, peaked from November 2008 to January 2009 (>60%). The results from this experiment are useful in understanding the life history and population dynamics of quagga mussels in the lower Colorado River Basin.

A Standardized Design For Quagga Mussel Monitoring In Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, Wai Hing Wong, Shawn Gerstenberger, Jennell M. Miller, Craig Palmer, Bryan Moore

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

The discovery of quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, on January 6, 2007 is the first known occurrence of dreissenid species in the western United States. This study developed elements of a cost-effective and standardized quagga mussel-monitoring program for Lake Mead using preliminary data to arrive at statistically based numbers of sampling sites. To represent the abundance of adult/juvenile quagga mussels in Lake Mead’s heterogeneous floor with 95% confidence, a stratified simple random sampling design revealed a requirement of 41 samples from hard substrates (i.e., rocky areas) and 97 samples from soft substrates (i.e., sandy and muddy …

Factors That Contribute To Turbidity On The West Fork Of The White River In Arkansas, Chris Cotton, Brian Haggard

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The West Fork of the White River (WFWR) exceeds the water quality standard for turbidity (10 NTU) set by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and, since 1998, the river has been on Arkansas’s 303 (d) list of impaired water bodies unsuitable for aquatic life because of turbidity exceedances. To understand the factors that could be related to turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), total inorganic suspended solids (TISS), total volatile suspended solids (TVSS), sestonic chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations, and turbidity were measured on three sample dates from nine sites on the WFWR. As the site location changed in the downstream direction, …

Interpopulation Variation In Kairomone Use By Cyrba Algerina, An Araneophagic Jumping Spider From Portugal, Ana M. Cerveira, Robert R. Jackson

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Geographic variation in a predator's reliance on kairomones from prey was investigated. The predator studied, Cyrbaalgerina, is an araneophagic (spider-eating) jumping spider (Salticidae) and the prey were oecobiid spiders (Oecobiidae). There were two study sites (Sintra and Tavira), both in Portugal. Oecobiusmachadoi was a common oecobiid in Sintra, but no oecobiids were found in Tavira. Staged encounters showed that oecobiid-specific prey-capture behaviour was adopted by the C. algerina in Sintra but not in Tavira. In experiments using a Y-shaped olfactometer, significantly more Sintra C. algerina individuals chose the side with oecobiid odour instead of the blank side when the odour …

Abundance And Stomach Content Analysis Of Threadfin Shad In Lake Mead, Nevada: Do Invasive Quagga Mussels Affect This Prey Species?, Eric Michael Loomis, Jon C. Sjoberg, Wai Hing Wong, Shawn Gerstenberger

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Lake Mead, Nevada is the largest reservoir by volume in the United States, as well as a popular sport fishing destination. In January 2007, the invasive quagga mussel Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (Andrusov, 1897) was discovered in the reservoir and concerns began to arise about potential alterations to the aquatic environment. The Lake Mead sport fishery is reliant on the sustainability of prey species like the threadfin shad [Dorosoma petenense (Günther, 1867)]. This study examined 20-year trends in historic abundance of the threadfin shad, before, and shortly after, the discovery of quagga mussels in the system. Larval shad trawl data collected …

The Dream Of Seaweed Farming Becomes Reality In Long Island Sound, Margaret (Peg) A. Van_Patten Ms.

Wrack Lines

Charles Yarish and collaborators have established a seaweed farm in Western Long Island Sound, off Bridgeport Connecticut via a research grant from Connecticut Sea Grant. Two species, Gracilaria tikvahiae and the kelp Saccharina latissima, are being grown as crops.

A Biological Inventory Of Meacham Cave (Independence County, Arkansas), D. J. Thomas, M. Boyd, K. M. Crowell, A. E. Curtwright, M. N. Foll, M. M. Kuehl, V. M. Mcqueen, C. R. Middaugh, V. M. Moore, M. Moreno, C. Morgan, M. Powers, G. Robinson, M. D. Schram, K. Ward, H. C. Ong

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

During September 2008 through June 2011, we compiled a biological inventory of Meacham Cave in Independence County, AR. Compared to other caves in the region, Meacham Cave houses few vertebrates, but non-aquatic invertebrates were relatively common. A transiently-increased bacterial load in the cave’s only pool of water indicated recent fecal contamination. The combination of vandalism, low vertebrate populations, and high coliform bacterial load reveals that human abuse of the cave has significantly disrupted its ecosystem. Gating the cave in such a way as to allow the movement of bats, salamanders and other animals, while excluding humans, may allow the cave …

Variation, Systematics, And Relationships Of The Leptodactylus Bolivianus Complex (Amphibia: Anura: Leptodactylidae), W. Ronald Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Heyer, W. Ronald, and Rafael O. de Sá. Variation, Systematics, and Relationships of the Leptodactylus bolivianus Complex (Amphibia: Anura: Leptodactylidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 635, viii + 58 pages, 21 figures, 20 tables, 2011.—The Leptodactylus bolivianuscomplex has been considered to consist of one or two species, L. bolivianus alone or L. bolivianus and L. insularum. Detailed morphological analyses were undertaken to evaluate variation in the complex, which ranges from Costa Rica through Panama, across northern South America in the river valleys draining to the Caribbean, and throughout much of the Amazon basin with southern limits in Bolivia. Members of …

Range Extension For The Dismal Swamp Southern Bog Lemming, Synaptomys Cooperi Helaletes, In Eastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The distribution of the Dismal Swamp Southern Bog Lemming is extended to include three counties west of the Dismal Swamp in southeastern Virginia, long considered its only location in the state. Evidence of lemmings was detected at 10 of 27 survey sites, and confirmed by trapping at three of five sites, all dominated by herbaceous vegetation.

Comparative Phylogeography Of The Coral Triangle And Implications For Marine Management, Kent E. Carpenter, Paul H. Barber, Eric D. Crandall, Maria Carmen A. Ablan-Lagman, Ambariyanto Ambariyanto, Gusti Ngurah Mahardika, B. Mabel Manjaji-Matsumoto, Marie Antonette Junio-Menez, Mudjekeewis D. Santos, Craig J. Starger, Abdul Hamid A. Toha

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Extreme concentration of marine biodiversity and exploitation of marine resources in the Coral Triangle pose challenges to biogeographers and resource managers. Comparative phylogeography provides a powerful tool to test biogeographic hypotheses evoked to explain species richness in the Coral Triangle. It can also be used to delineate management units for marine resources. After about a decade of phylogeographical studies, patterns for theCoral Triangle are emerging. Broad connectivity in some species support the notion that larvae have maintained gene flow among distant populations for long periods. Other phylogeographic patterns suggest vicariant events resulting from Pleistocene sea level fluctuations, which have, at …

Cultural Botany: Toward A Model Of Transdisciplinary, Embodied, And Poetic Research Into Plants, John C. Ryan

Research outputs 2011

Since the eighteenth century, the study of plants has reflected an increasingly mechanized and technological view of the natural world that divides the humanities and the natual sciences. In broad terms, this article proposes a context for research into flora through an interrogation of existing literature addressing a rapprochement between ways to knowledge. The natureculture dichotomy, and more specifically the plant-to-human sensory disjunction, follows a parallel course of resolution to the schism between objective (technical, scientific, reductionistic, visual) and subjective (emotive, artistic, relational, multi-sensory) forms of knowledge. The foundations of taxonomic botany, as well as the allied fields of environmental …

The Need To Quantify Ecosystem Services Provided By Birds, Daniel G. Wenny, Travis L. Devault, Matthew D. Johnson, Dave Kelly, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Diana F. Tomback, Christopher J. Whelan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

What are the birds worth--what is their actual dollar value to human society? To most of us in the ornithological community, birds are invaluable. But in these times we need more specific rationales to convince policy makers and business leaders to include bird conservation in land-use and development decisions. Over the past two decades, awareness of our dependence on a variety of ecosystem services (natural ecological processes that benefit human society) and of their importance and prevalence has progressed toward the goal of making conservation a mainstream value. Building strategies for the protection of ecosystem services into conservation and land-use …

Can Resource-Use Traits Predict Native Vs. Exotic Plant Success In Carbon Amended Soils?, Robert J. Steers, Jennifer L. Funk, Edith B. Allen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Productivity in desert ecosystems is primarily limited by water followed by nitrogen availability. In the deserts of southern California, nitrogen additions have increased invasive annual plant abundance. Similar findings from other ecosystems have led to a general acceptance that invasive plants, especially annual grasses, are nitrophilous. Consequently, reductions of soil nitrogen via carbon amendments have been conducted by many researchers in a variety of ecosystems in order to disproportionately lower invasive species abundance, but with mixed success. Recent studies suggest that resource-use traits may predict the efficacy of such resource manipulations; however, this theory remains largely untested. We report findings …

Rodents And Other Vertebrate Invaders In The United States, Michael W. Fall, Michael L. Avery, Tyler A. Campbell, Peter J. Egan, Richard M. Engeman, David Pimentel, William C. Pitt, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Gary W. Witmer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contents

Introduction

Assessing impacts of rodents and other vertebrate invaders

Accounts of some important vertebrate invaders
Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Roof rat (Rattus rattus)
Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans)
House mouse (Mus Musculus)
Nutria (Myocastor coypus)
Gambian giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus)
Feral swine (Sus scofa)
Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus)
Rock pigeon (Columba livia)
House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)
Brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis)
Burmese python (Python …

A Post-Restoration Assessment Of The Fishes And Macroinvertebrates Of Mill Branch, Knox County, Kentucky, With Emphasis On The Blackside Dace (Chrosomus Cumberlandensis), Dwayne Kevin Merrill

Online Theses and Dissertations

The first stream habitat restoration project for the federally threatened blackside dace, Chrosomus cumberlandensis (Starnes and Starnes), was initiated in fall 2005 on Mill Branch, a small headwater stream located in the Upper Cumberland River basin, Knox County, Kentucky. The lower 700 meters of Mill Branch were restored through construction of a new, stable channel with specially designed habitat features for blackside dace. In August 2009, the newly restored channel was connected to the mainstem and the old channel was eliminated. A post-restoration survey was conducted on the fishes (with emphasis on the blackside dace) and benthic macroinvertebrate communities, between …

Population And Conservation Genetics Of Crawfish Frogs, Lithobates Areolatus, At Their Northeastern Range Limits, Schyler O. Nunziata

Online Theses and Dissertations

Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus) are state endangered in Indiana and Iowa, with populations in decline throughout their range. I studied populations of Crawfish Frogs on local and statewide scales at their northeastern range limits to (1) assess the level of genetic diversity within populations (2) estimate fine-scale genetic structure, and (3) estimate genetic differentiation between populations at the state level. Crawfish Frogs breed in temporary pools and wetlands, and have high breeding-pond fidelity; therefore I predicted to find genetic differences between ponds at small geographic scales. I used 10 microsatellite loci to genotype frogs collected from three primary populations in …

Land Snail Species Diversity And Composition Between Different Forest Disturbance Regimes In Central And Eastern Kentucky Forests, Daniel Douglas

Online Theses and Dissertations

Land snails are cornerstone organisms that contribute to properly functioning ecosystems. However, habitat loss and destruction have led to these organisms being one of the most imperiled groups on the planet. Due to their relatively sedentary nature, land snails can be susceptible to anthropogenic disturbance and habitat fragmentation. Because of this, old-growth forests have the potential for being premiere habitat for these organisms, and snails have the potential to be good indicators of old-growth habitats. This study compared land snail species diversity and community composition in old-growth and second-growth forests in the Inner Bluegrass, Cumberland Plateau, and Pine Mountain ecoregions …

Amphibian Community Similarity Between Natural Ponds And Constructed Ponds Of Multiple Types In Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, Robert Daniel Denton

Online Theses and Dissertations

Amphibians are in a worldwide decline. Among the many causes for amphibian declines, habitat loss and alteration remains one of the most significant. A lack of federal protection for isolated wetlands that provide habitat for unique species has resulted in the loss of breeding habitat and unregulated mitigation practices. Ponds built for mitigation purposes often do not replicate the lost ponds in structure or ecological processes. A lack of general monitoring has produced a void in knowledge of what long-term role constructed ponds play in shaping amphibian communities. My objective was to compare amphibian communities of natural ponds and multiple …

Age, Forest Structure, And Disturbance History Of Five Potential Old-Growth Forests In Eastern Kentucky's Cumberland Plateau, Adrienne Michelle Cooper

Online Theses and Dissertations

The Cumberland Plateau (CP) is an ecoregion of global importance, yet its extent of old- growth forest (OG) is not well known. Due to its rarity and importance, understanding what OG remains is needed to deduce the region's health. This study described five potential OG forests in eastern Kentucky. Sites possessing >5 trees/ha established prior to 1780, and being similar in disturbance history and forest structure to other regional OG were to be considered OG. Shillalah Creek (SC) and Hensley-Pine Mountain (HP) possess no in plot trees established prior to 1780, show evidence of stand-wide disturbance during the 1930's, are …

Characteristics Of Rest Sites Used By Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) In Richmond, Kentucky, Jonathan Ridenour

Online Theses and Dissertations

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is one of many species that have adapted to living in urban/suburban environments. In this study, radio-tagged raccoons within the city limits of Richmond, KY, were monitored to locate rest sites. A rest site is defined as any site occupied by a raccoon during the non-motile periods of its daily activity cycle. Thirty-three different rest sites were located throughout the spring and summer seasons of 2009-10. With some rest sites being used multiple times for a total of 50.

Of the individual rest sites located, 9, 16, and 8 were located in trees, in …

Climate Influences The Demography Of Three Dominant Sagebrush Steppe Plants, Harmony Dalgleish, David N. Koons, Melvin Hooten, Corey Moffet, Peter B. Adler

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Climate change could alter the population growth of dominant species, leading to profound effects on community structure and ecosystem dynamics. Understanding the links between historical variation in climate and population vital rates (survival, growth, recruitment) is one way to predict the impact of future climate change. Using a unique, long-term dataset from eastern Idaho, we parameterized Integral Projection Models for Pseudoroegneria spicata, Hesperostipa comata, and Artemisia tripartita to identify the demographic rates and climate variables most important for population growth. We described survival, growth and recruitment as a function of genet size using mixed effect regression models that …

The Scientific Classification Of Wolves: Canis Lupus Soupus, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Gray wolf, timber wolf, red wolf, eastern wolf, brush wolf, arctic wolf, Mexican wolf, maned wolf, Ethiopian wolf, etc., etc. How many kinds of wolves are there? And what are the differences? This is a really good question, and the answer is getting more complicated all the time. Let us start by going back a few years to the way science looked at wolves more traditionally— before the days of the new field of molecular genetics. Molecular genetics examines the actual DNA of animals and tries to classify them according to genetic similarities. ...

What does all this mean in …

Kin Encounter Rate And Inbreeding Avoidance In Canids, Eli Geffen, Michael Kam, Reuven Hefner, Pall Hersteinsson, Anders Angerbjorn, Love Dalen, Eva Fuglei, Karin Noren, Jennifer R. Adams, John Vucetich, Thomas J. Meier, L. David Mech, Bridgett M. Vonholdt, Daniel R. Stahler, Robert K. Wayne

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Mating with close kin can lead to inbreeding depression through the expression of recessive deleterious alleles and loss of heterozygosity. Mate selection may be affected by kin encounter rate, and inbreeding avoidance may not be uniform but associated with age and social system. Specifically, selection for kin recognition and inbreeding avoidance may be more developed in species that live in family groups or breed cooperatively. To test this hypothesis, we compared kin encounter rate and the proportion of related breeding pairs in noninbred and highly inbred canid populations. The chance of randomly encountering a full sib ranged between 1–8% and …

Use Of Cranial Characters In Taxonomy Of The Minnesota Wolf (Canis Sp.), L. David Mech, Ronald M. Nowak, Sanford Weisberg

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Minnesota wolves (Canis sp.) sometimes are reported to have affinity to a small, narrow-skulled eastern form (Canis lupus lycaon Schreber, 1775) and sometimes to a larger, broader western form (Canis lupus nubilus Say, 1823). We found that pre-1950 Minnesota wolf skulls were similar in size to those of wolves from southeastern Ontario and smaller than those of western wolves. However, Minnesota wolf skulls during 1970–1976 showed a shift to the larger, western form. Although Minnesota skull measurements after 1976 were unavailable, rostral ratios from 1969 through 1999 were consistent with hybridization between the smaller eastern wolf and …

Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Movements And Behavior Around A Kill Site And Implications For Gps Collar Studies, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Global Positioning System (GPS) radio-collars are increasingly used to estimate Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) kill rates. In interpreting results from this technology, researchers make various assumptions about wolf behavior around kills, yet no detailed description of this behavior has been published. This article describes the behavior of six wolves in an area of constant daylight during 30 hours, from when the pack killed a Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) calf and yearling on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, to when they abandoned the kill remains. Although this is only a single incident, it demonstrates one possible scenario of pack …

Movements Of Wolves At The Northern Extreme Of The Species’ Range, Including During Four Months Of Darkness, L. David Mech, H. Dean Cluff

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Information about wolf (Canis lupus) movements anywhere near the northern extreme of the species’ range in the High Arctic (.75uN latitude) are lacking. There, wolves prey primarily on muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and must survive 4 months of 24 hr/day winter darkness and temperatures reaching 253 C. The extent to which wolves remain active and prey on muskoxen during the dark period are unknown, for the closest area where information is available about winter wolf movements is .2,250 km south. We studied a pack of $20 wolves on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada (80°N latitude) from July 2009 …

Parsing Demographic Effects Of Canine Parvovirus On A Minnesota Wolf Population, L. David Mech, Sagar M. Goyal

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We examined 35 years of relationships among wolf (Canis lupus) pup survival, population change and canine parvovirus (CPV) seroprevalence in northeastern Minnesota to determine when CPV exerted its strongest effects. Using correlation analysis of data from five periods of 7-years each from 1973 through 2007, we learned that the strongest effect of CPV on pup survival (r = -0.73) and on wolf population change (r = -0.92) was during 1987 to 1993. After that, little effect was documented despite a mean CPV seroprevalence from 1994 of 2007 of 70.8% compared with 52.6% during 1987 to 1993. We …

Problems With Studying Wolf Predation On Small Prey In Summer Via Global Positioning System Collars, Vicente Palacios, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

We attempted to study predation on various-sized prey by a male and female wolf (Canis lupus) with global positioning system (GPS) collars programmed to acquire locations every 10 min in the Superior National Forest of Minnesota. During May to August 2007, we investigated 147 clusters of locations (31% of the total) and found evidence of predation on a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn and yearling, a beaver (Castor canadensis), ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), and fisher (Martes pennanti) and scavenging on a road-killed deer and other carrion. However, we missed finding …