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Articles 151 - 180 of 19756

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Remote Sensing To Detect Crop Damage By An Invasive Species, Cole Butler May 2026

Remote Sensing To Detect Crop Damage By An Invasive Species, Cole Butler

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


A Reassessment Of “Tityus” Tenuimanus Banks, 1910, As A Misidentified Leiurus Sp. (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Mohamed Mousaid, Ersen A. Yağmur, Zoe Flores, Alana Rivera, Aziza Lansari, Abdellah Bouazza May 2026

A Reassessment Of “Tityus” Tenuimanus Banks, 1910, As A Misidentified Leiurus Sp. (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Mohamed Mousaid, Ersen A. Yağmur, Zoe Flores, Alana Rivera, Aziza Lansari, Abdellah Bouazza

Euscorpius

This study re-examines the holotype of “Tityus” tenuimanus Banks, 1910, previously synonymized with Buthus atlantis Pocock, 1889 by Lourenço & Francke (1984). Our results indicate that the specimen is a misidentified representative of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828, as it exhibits the diagnostic characters of this genus: the central lateral and posterior median carinae of the carapace fused into a lyre-shaped configuration, and tergites I–II bearing five granular carinae (a character absent in the genus Buthus Leach, 1815). Moreover, the holotype lacks one of the most distinctive characters of the genus Tityus Koch, 1836, namely the presence of a subaculear tubercle. The …


Incorporating Thermal Performance Curves Into Population Dynamic Models For The West Nile Vector, Culex Pipiens, Benjamin Bruncati, Helle Aronson, Chloé Lahondère, Michael A. Robert May 2026

Incorporating Thermal Performance Curves Into Population Dynamic Models For The West Nile Vector, Culex Pipiens, Benjamin Bruncati, Helle Aronson, Chloé Lahondère, Michael A. Robert

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


Assessing Vegetation Health Following The 2014 Carlton Complex Fire Using Remote Sensing, Rachael Sv Pentico May 2026

Assessing Vegetation Health Following The 2014 Carlton Complex Fire Using Remote Sensing, Rachael Sv Pentico

2026 Symposium

Climate change, combined with decades of altered fire regimes and fire suppression, has increased fuel accumulation across western U.S. forests, contributing to more frequent, larger, and more intense wildfires. Remote sensing offers an effective approach for analyzing these large-scale fire events and their ecological impacts, as satellite imagery enables affordable, accessible, and reproducible monitoring of vegetation change across broad spatial and temporal scales. This study examined the 2014 Carlton Complex Fire in the Methow Valley, Washington. Burning 265,108 acres, it was the largest wildfire in Washington State history at the time and caused extensive agricultural and forest damage. Post-fire vegetation …


Influence Of Pollinator Island Patch Size On Forb Establishment And Pollinator Networks In Palouse Prairie Restoration, Yaelle Esther Reeve May 2026

Influence Of Pollinator Island Patch Size On Forb Establishment And Pollinator Networks In Palouse Prairie Restoration, Yaelle Esther Reeve

2026 Symposium

The Palouse Prairie Ecoregion is one of North America’s most endangered grassland ecosystems, with less than 1% retaining native vegetation. Restoration efforts have struggled to re-establish ecologically important native forbs and the plant–pollinator interactions necessary for long-term community stability. Spatial configuration of floral resources is known to influence pollinator foraging behavior and interaction network structure, yet few studies have evaluated how planting scale affects both plant establishment and pollinator community assembly in early-stage prairie restoration. My research aims to evaluate how variations in the size (0.1, 1, and 10 m²) of grouped wildflower plantings (pollinator islands) affect native forb establishment, …


Recognition Of The Spring Flight Of Celastrina (Tutt) (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae) In Southern New England As An Introgressed Hybrid Species, Harry Pavulaan May 2026

Recognition Of The Spring Flight Of Celastrina (Tutt) (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae) In Southern New England As An Introgressed Hybrid Species, Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Populations of Celastrina (“Azure”) butterflies in southern New England have historically been referred to as either C. ladon (Cramer) or C. lucia (W. Kirby) by various authors. Following the discovery of elongated dorsal wing scales in males of C. ladon (D. Wright & Pavulaan, 1999; Ômura et al., 2015)—structures that replace the androconia that are typically present in most Celastrina species—it was believed that this trait was restricted to C. ladon, C. nigra (W. Forbes), and, more recently, C. iryna (Pavulaan, 2025). Microscopic examination of male “Spring Azure” specimens from across southern New …


Impact Of Land-Use Disturbances On The Composition Of Wetland Plant Communities Across The Conterminous United States, Maya Merchant May 2026

Impact Of Land-Use Disturbances On The Composition Of Wetland Plant Communities Across The Conterminous United States, Maya Merchant

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Due to the threat of invasive species on wetland biodiversity, it is critical to assess factors driving their proliferation in wetlands. To address this growing need, this project analyzes relationships between non-native species and known anthropogenic disturbance types associated with increased biological invasions. Using the U.S. EPA’s 2021 National Wetland Condition Assessment, the relationship between non-native species (diversity, richness, and coverage) and surrounding land-use within 500, 1,000, and 3,000-meter buffers was evaluated. To explore patterns across larger spatial scales, mean non-native species diversity, richness, and coverage was calculated at the watershed level and compared to associated percentages of agricultural land …


Distribution Of Mussels In Tributary Systems Of The Lower Ouachita River Watershed, Zach R. Crain May 2026

Distribution Of Mussels In Tributary Systems Of The Lower Ouachita River Watershed, Zach R. Crain

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Freshwater mussel communities in small tributary streams are poorly documented in Arkansas, limiting the understanding of how diversity is structured across river networks. To address this data gap, we surveyed 147 sites across five previously unsurveyed watersheds in the South-Central Plains Ecoregion (SCPE). We sampled 5,473 individuals representing 17 species, including four Arkansas Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). We evaluated patterns in community variation utilizing β-diversity based on both presence-absence and abundance data. Overall turnover (βsor and Bray) was partitioned into replacement (βsim and BrayBal) and nestedness (βsne and BrayGra) components. Replacement and nestedness each drove turnover in two …


Distribution, Habitat, And Fish Assemblages Associated With The Rocky Shiner In Arkansas, Savannah L. Wise May 2026

Distribution, Habitat, And Fish Assemblages Associated With The Rocky Shiner In Arkansas, Savannah L. Wise

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The Rocky Shiner (Notropis suttkusi) is a minnow species endemic to the Red River and its tributaries in southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. This species is petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act and is a species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) in Arkansas. However, there is little information for the species’ distribution, habitat use, and ecological niche, especially within the Arkansas portion of its range. Because of this data gap, my study provides an updated description of its distribution and habitat associations using conditional occupancy modeling and explores patterns of species co-occurrence within the community. I sampled …


Scorpions In Brazilian Caves And Other Subterranean Habitats, Jonas E. Gallão, Bruno D, Lenhare, Misael Oliveira-Neto, Maria E. Bichuette May 2026

Scorpions In Brazilian Caves And Other Subterranean Habitats, Jonas E. Gallão, Bruno D, Lenhare, Misael Oliveira-Neto, Maria E. Bichuette

Euscorpius

Arachnids have successfully colonized subterranean environments. Compared to spiders, harvestmen, and pseudoscorpions, scorpions have a moderate number of subterranean species, including troglophiles and troglobites. Among the four families and 184 species and three subspecies of scorpions found in Brazil, three families and at least 33 species and one subspecies have been documented in subterranean habitats. This study presents a faunistic list of scorpion occurrences in caves and other types of subterranean habitats in Brazil, along with distribution maps and an attempt to classify species based on their use of and dependence on subterranean environments.


Effects Of Increased Salinity On Mississippi Coast Bacterial Community Composition And Diversity, Clifton C. Wade May 2026

Effects Of Increased Salinity On Mississippi Coast Bacterial Community Composition And Diversity, Clifton C. Wade

Honors Theses

Bacterial communities are important to ecosystem function in coastal environments, but the response of these communities to short term increased salinity conditions is understudied. This study utilized a microcosm setup to investigate the response of coastal seawater bacterial communities to three treatments: an unamended seawater control, a reference treatment that received reverse osmosis (RO) water, and an elevated salinity treatment that received artificial seawater dissolved in RO water. Microcosms were sampled four times over a five-day period to analyze the effects of time under different salinity conditions on the seawater bacterial community. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyze …


Evolution Of Nematode Prey Chemotaxis Behavior Across Different Environments, Hailey R. Smith May 2026

Evolution Of Nematode Prey Chemotaxis Behavior Across Different Environments, Hailey R. Smith

Honors Theses

Climatic conditions in the near future are projected to be warmer, with more frequent and intense weather events. This will substantially alter the environments in which organisms must integrate specific information to find essential resources. Many organisms rely upon chemical signals to orient towards attractive resources through a mechanism called chemotaxis. How different environmental conditions, like temperature, impact this process will be important to understand as environments change. I conducted a laboratory evolution experiment with the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to see how success in chemotaxis assays changes over time when selected under different temperature regimes (normal laboratory temperature, increased …


The Genus Nebo Simon, 1878 (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae) In Oman, Graeme Lowe May 2026

The Genus Nebo Simon, 1878 (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae) In Oman, Graeme Lowe

Euscorpius

No abstract provided.


In The Garden's Grasp, Lacey Anderson May 2026

In The Garden's Grasp, Lacey Anderson

The Cicadian

This piece pairs a close-up photograph with reflective creative writing to explore a fleeting moment in a backyard garden ecosystem. Among vivid dahlias and winding vines, a grasshopper emerges, captured both in image and in story. Together, the photograph and prose invite readers to witness how tending, noticing, and lingering can transform an ordinary patio into a world alive with quiet, electric life.


Clethra Alnifolia: A Fact Sheet For Seed Transfer Considerations, Taylor Houggy May 2026

Clethra Alnifolia: A Fact Sheet For Seed Transfer Considerations, Taylor Houggy

Plant Science Articles

Clethra alnifolia is a highly prized fragrant deciduous shrub, often found in many home gardens across Eastern North America. Despite its popularity in the landscape industry, there is little research comparing C. alnifolia's natural habits in the wild to its habits as a landscaped cultivar. Information such as flowering phenology, genetic diversity, and growth habits have the potential to change considerably depending on C. alnifolia's location. Because of this, it is important that landscape growers as well as forest conservationists have access to ecological fact sheets in order to make informed decisions when transferring seed to different areas. In this …


Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Identity Strongly Influences Soil Properties Relative To Pine Presence And Soil History In A Pine–Eucalyptus System, Braedan Watters May 2026

Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Identity Strongly Influences Soil Properties Relative To Pine Presence And Soil History In A Pine–Eucalyptus System, Braedan Watters

Honors Theses

Invasive Pinus radiata has increasingly spread into native ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere, including Eucalyptus forests in Australia, where it forms novel hybrid forest systems in which invasive and native tree species coexist. The success of these invasions is closely tied to ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) such as Rhizopogon spp., yet the relative roles of pines versus their fungal symbionts in altering soil properties remain poorly understood. This study investigated the independent and interactive effects of soil history (Pinus or Eucalyptus), EMF identity, and pine presence on soil properties using a controlled factorial experiment. Soil from beneath either Pinus …


Life History, Stock Status, And Movement Ecology Of Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel, Scomberomorus Commerson (Lacépède, 1800) In The Southern Arabian Gulf, Mohamed Abdulla Almusallami May 2026

Life History, Stock Status, And Movement Ecology Of Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel, Scomberomorus Commerson (Lacépède, 1800) In The Southern Arabian Gulf, Mohamed Abdulla Almusallami

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus commerson, is the most commercially valuable pelagic fish species in the Arabian Gulf. This thesis integrated three studies to comprehensively assess the life history, stock status, and movement ecology of this species in Abu Dhabi waters. Life history traits were characterized from data collected during a 15-month monitoring program (January 2019–May 2020). Fork length ranged from 30.5 to 132 cm. Growth parameters were k = 0.14–0.15 year⁻¹ and L∞ = 128.9–135.4 cm for males and females, respectively. Size-at-maturity (Lm₅₀) was 78.7 cm FL for females and 69.7 cm FL for males. The spawning season occurred …


Quantifying Genetic Diversity In Nematode Feeding Rate, Jacob King May 2026

Quantifying Genetic Diversity In Nematode Feeding Rate, Jacob King

Honors Theses

Understanding how populations persist under changing environmental conditions is a central question in ecology and evolutionary biology. Variation in traits related to resource acquisition may play a key role in determining population survival when resources are limited or fluctuate over time. In this study, I investigated how variation in feeding-related traits influences population persistence using a combination of computational modeling and laboratory experiments. I developed a stochastic, individual-based consumer–resource model to simulate population dynamics across varying levels of trait variance and resource regimes. Across 60,000 simulated populations, increased trait variation consistently reduced extinction risk and extended persistence time, although the …


Bats In A Modified Suburban Landscape, Brittany Morgera May 2026

Bats In A Modified Suburban Landscape, Brittany Morgera

Biology Honors Papers

This research assesses bat species richness and activity across a gradient of suburban habitat modification surrounding Ursinus College and Green Lane Park in Montgomery County, located in southeastern Pennsylvania. Habitat modification was quantified using GIS-based land-cover metrics (e.g. impervious surfaces and canopy cover), and bat activity and species richness were measured though acoustic surveys conducted at 15 sites during the summers of 2024 and 2025. The project tests the hypothesis that increasing habitat modification has a negative correlation with bat species richness and activity.


I Lost My Number, Can I Have Yours? Body Image Satisfaction With Sexually Dimorphic Traits Is Associated With Men's Dating Anxiety And Confidence, David A. Frederick, Tania A. Reynolds, Nikoline L. Smart, Justin R. Garcia, David A. Puts May 2026

I Lost My Number, Can I Have Yours? Body Image Satisfaction With Sexually Dimorphic Traits Is Associated With Men's Dating Anxiety And Confidence, David A. Frederick, Tania A. Reynolds, Nikoline L. Smart, Justin R. Garcia, David A. Puts

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Evolutionary scientists posit that sexual selection processes caused males to develop sexually dimorphic traits to aid them during intrasexual competition and increase their likelihood of being chosen as mates. Evolutionary social sciences have extensively examined women's preferences for traits such as muscle mass and voice pitch, reasoning that these traits serve as cues of men's ability to provide direct benefits (e.g., resources) and indirect (genetic) benefits passed on to offspring. At the same time, body image researchers have extensively focused on the social causes and consequences of men's dissatisfaction with their muscularity and body fat. We connected these two research …


A New Subspecies Of Papilio Indra (Papilionidae) From The West Desert Of Utah, Usa, Wayne H. Whaley, Alexander A. Jason, Todd L. Stout May 2026

A New Subspecies Of Papilio Indra (Papilionidae) From The West Desert Of Utah, Usa, Wayne H. Whaley, Alexander A. Jason, Todd L. Stout

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Papilio indra bonnevillensis is a new described subspecies partly based on taxonomic rearrangement of its larval host plant reproductive phenology relative to Wasatch Range nominate P. indra. It is geographically isolated in Utah’s West Desert from populations of ssp. nevadensis to the west and ssp. calcicola to the south. In addition to phenological differences compared to these two subspecies, it merits description based on host Lomatium depauperatum which recently speciated from L. grayi, neither of which is used as host by other subspecies of P. indra. The evolution of new host L. depauperatum is …


Comparing Awssi And Traditional Winter Metrics For Predicting Overwinter Survival Of Juvenile Walleye (Sander Vitreus), Camille N. Shifrin May 2026

Comparing Awssi And Traditional Winter Metrics For Predicting Overwinter Survival Of Juvenile Walleye (Sander Vitreus), Camille N. Shifrin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Winter conditions are an important driver of recruitment variability in freshwater fishes, yet winter severity is often characterized using single climate metrics. These simplified approaches may not capture the cumulative stress experienced by fishes during winter. The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI) integrates multiple components of winter climate and may therefore provide a more biologically relevant indicator of overwinter survival. In this study, we compared AWSSI with traditional winter severity metrics to explain interannual variation in overwinter survival of juvenile Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Harlan County Reservoir, Nebraska. Model comparisons using Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) indicated that …


Efficacy Of Tick Sampling Methods In Urban Parks., Emma Staples May 2026

Efficacy Of Tick Sampling Methods In Urban Parks., Emma Staples

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Amblyomma americanum (Lone star ticks) are parasites and vectors of diseases, including Ehrlichiosis. Questions remain about how an urban environment affects the host-seeking behavior of A. americanum across different life stages and thus the efficacy of different sampling methods. We sought to compare the efficacy of different sampling methods on A. americanum ticks in urban parks during the fall season and explore how the urban heat island (UHI) effect may impact each method’s efficacy. We hypothesized that, where the UHI effect is weaker near the city’s periphery, the CO2 trapping method would collect more A. americanum adults and nymphs …


Awe As Signpost: An Argument For The Consistency Of Lewis’S “Joy” And Psychological Awe, Audrey Hendricks May 2026

Awe As Signpost: An Argument For The Consistency Of Lewis’S “Joy” And Psychological Awe, Audrey Hendricks

Senior Honors Theses

C.S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy details Lewis’s autobiographical apologetic for the existence of God through his experiences of “Joy,” a technical term invented by Lewis. Upon close study, his experiences of Joy contain many similarities to psychological awe. This investigation compares Lewis’s Joy with psychological awe using the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S) to determine consistency. Lewis’s Joy was found to be consistent with all six criteria of the AWE-S in addition to other recognized psychological characteristics of awe. In addition to qualitative consistency, this review also argues for the teleological consistency of the two concepts, contending for a Christian teleological …


Transcriptomic Responses Of Teleost Fishes To Thermal And Environmental Stress: A Synthesis Of Rna-Seq Studies, Aleen Ammar May 2026

Transcriptomic Responses Of Teleost Fishes To Thermal And Environmental Stress: A Synthesis Of Rna-Seq Studies, Aleen Ammar

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Climate change is driving rapid shifts in aquatic ecosystems, increasing the frequency and intensity of environmental stressors that affect survival, species distributions, and productivity. Alongside increases in temperature, stressors, such as hypoxia and acidification, are also intensifying with climate change. Teleost fishes exhibit substantial variation in tolerance to such environmental stressors. These range from specialists with narrow limits to generalists capable of persisting across fluctuating conditions, complicating predictions of vulnerability under ongoing environmental change. Transcriptomic approaches, particularly RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), provide a powerful approach for linking environmental stressors to physiological responses by quantifying genome-wide changes in gene expression. To assess …


Beat Behind The Bark: Investigating The Effects Of Music Tempo On Canine Physiological And Psychological States, Marley Lanier May 2026

Beat Behind The Bark: Investigating The Effects Of Music Tempo On Canine Physiological And Psychological States, Marley Lanier

Honors Theses

This study explores how the tempo of music, measured in beats per minute (BPM), affects dogs' heart rate and oxytocin levels, adding to past research that shows that music affects physiological and behavioral states in dogs. Being able to understand these effects holds practical implications for improving overall well-being in canines in environments such as homes, shelters, and clinical environments. Using a within-subjects design, the dogs were exposed to slow and fast versions of one instrumental track, along with a white noise baseline condition before each randomized condition. Heart rate was recorded continuously throughout the session, and oxytocin saliva samples …


Bottles, Butterflies, And Biomass: Recycled Glass Sand, Microbial Additions, And Herbivory Effects On Milkweed Growth, Kealey Skinner May 2026

Bottles, Butterflies, And Biomass: Recycled Glass Sand, Microbial Additions, And Herbivory Effects On Milkweed Growth, Kealey Skinner

Honors Theses

Plant-soil-microbe interactions are integral components of ecological networks and drive ecosystem function from the bottom-up. Whereas herbivores regulate ecosystem function from the top-down, having opposing and potentially complementary effects on ecosystem function. My thesis sought to understand how below-ground microbial communities contribute to herbivore preference and plant biomass across varied soil substrates. My thesis asked: how do substrate and soil microbial communities influence herbivore preference and plant biomass accumulation on swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)? To address this question, seedlings of A. incarnata were sown in 2.5 cm wide × 10 cm deep pots filled with either natural beach sand or …


Ontogeny And The Effects Of Perinatal Stress In The First Immature Skeleton Of Teleoceras Aepysoma (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae), Joe Gajewski May 2026

Ontogeny And The Effects Of Perinatal Stress In The First Immature Skeleton Of Teleoceras Aepysoma (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae), Joe Gajewski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recovery of an immature fossil rhinoceros (Teleoceras aepysoma) skeleton (ETMNH 32999) from the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee offers the first insights into the ontogeny of the species. ETMNH 32999 is interpreted to be a subadult male in an age class equivalent to ~17-20% of potential lifespan. Comparative analyses support the hypothesis that subadults of related taxa are typically ~91% of average adult size in most dimensions. However, certain cranial dimensions are substantially lower than expected in ETMNH 32999, averaging only ~74% of the average conspecific adult. Such departure from typical growth rates is suggested to be attributable …


Herbivory Of Phragmites Australis Along A Salinity Gradient In Connecticut Wetlands, Sydney H. Kolz May 2026

Herbivory Of Phragmites Australis Along A Salinity Gradient In Connecticut Wetlands, Sydney H. Kolz

Honors Scholar Theses

Invasive Phragmites australis (common reed) is widely distributed in New England wetlands, where it often outcompetes native plants and decreases biodiversity throughout the food web. Controlling its invasion is a priority, especially in salt marsh habitat, but current management techniques are inefficient. Leveraging natural processes may improve control strategies, but in order to do so, we must first better understand how abiotic and biotic stressors interact and affect Phragmites. This study focuses on herbivory and salinity, two factors limiting Phragmites’ fitness. I measured soil salinity and quantified the damage of three herbivore guilds (i.e. gall-formers and stem-borers, leaf-chewers, and …


2026 Workshop On Bridging The Gaps: Tackling Microplastics And Nanoplastics Challenges In Coastal Ecosystems, Shenghua Wu, Kaushik Venkiteshwaran, Melike Dizbay-Onat, Alexandra Stenson, Jinhui Wang, Tina Miller-Way, Ebenezer Nyadjro, Bhuvnesh Bharti, John Weinstein, Yi Bao, Shihui Shen, Valerie Longa, Shenghua Zha, John Cleary, Marty Lind May 2026

2026 Workshop On Bridging The Gaps: Tackling Microplastics And Nanoplastics Challenges In Coastal Ecosystems, Shenghua Wu, Kaushik Venkiteshwaran, Melike Dizbay-Onat, Alexandra Stenson, Jinhui Wang, Tina Miller-Way, Ebenezer Nyadjro, Bhuvnesh Bharti, John Weinstein, Yi Bao, Shihui Shen, Valerie Longa, Shenghua Zha, John Cleary, Marty Lind

Workshops

This report presents the findings from the 2026 Workshop on Tackling Microplastics and Nanoplastics (MNPs) in Coastal Ecosystems, which took place in Mobile, Alabama. More than 140 experts from universities, government, industry, and community organizations gathered to address the increasing issue of MNPs in coastal regions.