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Anting Behavior In Birds: Ant Selection And Effect Of Ant Chemistry On Feather Ectoparasites, Hannah Carrington Revis

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Active anting behavior occurs when songbirds apply ants to their feathers. During anting displays, a bird draws its wings forward in front of the head and swings its tail around to the far right or left. Both wing and tail feathers are then rubbed with ants held in the bird's beak. The potential associations among ants, feather ectoparasites and birds make anting behavior an important community-level interaction. Although this behavior is cosmopolitan in distribution and occurs in a wide variety of passerine birds, it remains poorly understood. This dissertation tested hypotheses about anting behavior through controlled experiments with captive songbirds …

Summer Vertical Phytoplankton Distribution In The Lower Chesapeake Bay, Mollie Jill Weinstein

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Autotrophic picoplankton and phytoplankton composite samples were collected from the surface, pycnocline, and bottom water layers at three stations in the lower Chesapeake Bay between June and September 1993. Using light microscopy a total of 170 phytoplankton taxa were identified. Utilizing epifluorescent microscopy, the picoplankton taxa were distinguished by size, representing species with cells less than 2 microns. Diatoms were the dominant taxa during this period, with lesser representation by the other phytoplankton components. Within the picoplankton category, cyanobacteria were dominant. Statistical analyses of the data indicated the vertical composition and abundance of the phytoplankton was not significantly different over …

The Importance Of Ethics In Conservation Biology: Let's Be Ethicists Not Ostriches, Marc Bekoff

Ecology Collection

No abstract provided.

Draft Plan Of Management For The Proposed Miaboolya Beach Fish Habitat Protection Area., Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

The aims of the proposal outlined in this draft management plan is to protect and rehabilitate the aquatic habitat of Miaboolya Beach, the associated mangrove ecosystem, and involve the community in their management.

By setting the area aside as a FHPA, the Department of Fisheries will establish a framework to promote and actively conserve all the habitats within the Miaboolya system, as described in Section 3 of this document.

Policy For The Implementation Of Ecologically Sustainable Development Fisheries And Aquaculture Within Western Australia, W. J. Fletcher

Fisheries Management Papers

The purpose of this ESD policy is to outline a way forward by showing in a practical manner: • how the ESD principles will be interpreted and applied within the fisheries context generally and within the Department of Fisheries specifically, • the conceptual framework that will be used to assess performance against ESD principles, • the methods for reporting on and auditing this performance, and • how these principles and the framework relate to other relevant state, national and international treaties and instruments.

Intertidal Benthic Resources Of The Copper River Delta, Alaska, Usa, Sean Powers, Mary Anne Bishop, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Charles H. Peterson

University Faculty and Staff Publications

The Copper River Delta, Alaska is the largest contiguous coastal wetland system along the West Coast of North America. Vast expanses of tidal mud flats formed by sediments carried by the suspended load of the Copper River serve as a connection between the Gulf of Alaska and the extensive network of wetlands, rivers and sloughs of the delta system. In addition to providing habitat for resident fish, shrimp and crabs, these tidal flats serve as critical feeding grounds for up to 5 million migratory shorebirds as well as an entry and exit corridor for three species of commercially fished salmonids. …

Visual Predators Select For Crypticity And Polymorphism In Virtual Prey, Alan B. Bond, Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Cryptically colored animals commonly occur in several distinct pattern variants. Such phenotypic diversity may be promoted by frequency-dependent predation, in which more abundant variants are attacked disproportionately often, but the hypothesis has never been explicitly tested. Here we report the first controlled experiment on the effects of visual predators on prey crypticity and phenotypic variance, in which blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) searched for digital moths on computer monitors. Moth phenotypes evolved via a genetic algorithm in which individuals detected by the jays were much less likely to reproduce. Jays often failed to detect atypical cryptic moths, confirming frequency- …

Planetary Bioresources And Astroecology 1. Planetary Microcosm Bioassays Of Martian And Carbonaceous Chondrite Materials: Nutrients, Electrolyte Solutions, And Algal And Plant Responses, Michael Noah Mautner

Chemistry Publications

The biological fertilities of planetary materials can be assessed using microcosms based on materials in martian and carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Their biological fertilities are rated based on soluble electrolyte nutrients, on the growth of mesophile and cold-tolerant algae, and of plant tissue cultures. The Murchison CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorite and DaG 476 martian shergottite contain high levels of water-extractable Ca, Mg, and SO4–S. The martian meteorites DaG 476 and EETA 79001 also contain high levels of extractable nutrients NO3–N (0.013–0.017 g kg⁻¹) and PO4–P (0.019–0.046 g kg⁻¹). The yields of most of the water-extractable …

Helping Shrubland Birds, Robert A. Askins

Biology Faculty Publications

Dr. Askins argues that shrublands were part of the pre-Colonial landscape in Connecticut, so it's logical to create forest openings to help shrubland birds.

A Role For Natural Resource Social Science In Biodiversity Risk Assessment, Philip J. Nyhus, Frances R. Westley, Robert C. Lacey, Philip S. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

Biologists have made considerable progress in developing realistic simulation models to predict extinction risks for threatened species. Social scientists have to date had a more limited role in these efforts. This limited involvement comes despite the growing acknowledgment by population biologists and simulation modelers that this additional input is necessary for these models to accurately reflect the impact of humans and human-dominated landscapes on wildlife populations. We argue that collaborations among social and biological scientists can provide unparalleled opportunities to develop new conceptual and simulation tools for biodiversity risk assessment. One challenge is that while the value of interdisciplinary research …

Distribution And Prevalence Of Echinococcus Multilocularis In Wild Predators In Nebraska, Kansas, And Wyoming, S. T. Stroandt, D. R. Virchow, M. W. Dryden, Scott E. Hygnstrom, K. R. Kazacos

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

To further determine the distribution and prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in the central United States, 245 wild canids (125 red foxes, 120 coyotes) and 33 bobcats were collected from Nebraska, Kansas, and Wyoming and examined for this parasite. Animals examined included 11 red foxes from the western panhandle of Nebraska; 5 red foxes and 30 coyotes from southern Nebraska; 56 red foxes and 1 coyote from northeastern Nebraska; 20 red foxes, 63 coyotes, and 13 bobcats from northern Kansas; 2 red foxes, 26 coyotes, and 20 bobcats from southern Kansas; and 31 red foxes from eastcentral Wyoming. Of these, 27 …

Diel And Seasonal Habitat Use By Red Shiner (Cyprinella Lutrensis), Shyi-Liang Yu, Edward J. Peters

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Fish distribution and microhabitat use were quantified over a 24-h period 15 times from July 1988 to October 1990 at a site in the lower Platte River, Nebraska. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of availability on habitat use by the red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) and to describe variations in red shiner use of depth, velocity, cover, and substrate by seasonal and diel periods. Day-night collections showed a difference in selection or avoidance of depths and substrates in summer. Red shiners selected depths of less than 30 cm during the night and fine substrate during the …

Comparisons In Morphology, Reproductive Status, And Feeding Ecology Of Plethodon Cinereus At High And Low Elevations In West Virginia, Mizuki Takahashi

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

To develop effects of elevation on morphological features, reproductive status, and feeding ecology of Plethodon cinereus in West Virginia, overall comparisons between high (>4000 ft) and low (<1260 ft) elevation populations were made. Adult P. cinereus from high elevations were smaller in SVL (female: p=0.003, male: p<0.001), but stored larger amounts of fat (female: p=0.041, male: p=0.006) in their tails than fromlow elevations. Larger amounts of tail fat could be an adaptation to harsh environments at high elevations. It was determined that in West Virginia, where as females at low elevations oviposit annually, females at high elevations oviposit biennially. Stomach content analysis revealed that salamanders at high elevations were confronted by food shortage. Because of less prey availability and longer winters at high elevations, salamanders at high elevations attained the smaller body size than at low elevations and could not obtain sufficient energy in 1 year to yolk a clutch.

Molecular Systematics Of Rhinichthys Bowersi And Its Taxonomic Status, Gilbert Wesley Gladwell Ii

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Rhinichthys bowersi is a cyprinid fish that is found mostly in tributaries of the Monongahela River. Several investigators have examined the morphology, protein polymorphism, and parasite/host relationships of R. bowersi and concluded that it is a valid species of introgressive hybrid origin while others have examined the same data and concluded that it is an F1 hybrid of R. cataractae and Nocomis micropogon. In this study, mitochondrial DNA was amplified from the 12s gene of R. bowersi and compared to that of R. cataracta, N. micropogon, and R. atratulus, an outgroup. Mitochondrial DNA differences were analyzed by Neighbor Joining (NJ), …

Effects Of Developmental Activities On Streamside Salamander Communities In Boone County, West Virginia, Mindy S. Hamilton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A study was conducted from May 1998 through June 1999 in three streams associated with mountaintop mining and valley fills in Boone County, West Virginia. Streamside salamander communities were monitored in these streams, as well as in two relatively undisturbed reference streams in the region, using refugia bags, rock-on-rock methodology, and day surveys. The relative abundance of salamanders was compared between the streams in order to detect effects of the associated valley fills to downstream biota. Relative abundance was lower in two of three streams associated with valley fills as compared to the reference streams. However, there was no significant …

Determining The Genetic Distances Between Sub-Populations Of Aneides Aeneus In The Westvāco Wildlife And Ecological Research Forest, Andrew Nicholas Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Aneides aeneus, the Green Salamander, is a plethodontid species ranging from southern Pennsylvania to central Alabama and from eastern Mississippi to Maryland. Populations of Green Salamanders most often inhabit cliffs and rocky outcrops which are moist but not wet and shaded. The animal is listed as a species of special concern by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Diversity Program. Genetic and reproductive isolation due to strict habitat preferences of the Green Salamander could be a factor in the decline of the species. Seventeen tissue samples were retrieved from five sites within the Westvāco Wildlife and Ecosystem …

Individual Variation In The Duration Of Territory Occupation By Males Of The Dragonfly Perithemis Tenera (Odonata: Libellulidae), Paul V. Switzer

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In the dragonfly Perithemis tenera Say, males defend territories around oviposition sites and defense of a site is critical for reproductive success. This study first demonstrated that individual males varied consistently in how long they defended a particular territory within a day (their “tenure”) and in the quality of the sites they defended. I then investigated a number of factors that may have affected territory tenure and may have led to the observed variation among males. Territory occupations that ended “voluntarily” were significantly longer than those that ended because the male was evicted from his territory. For voluntary desertions, tenure …

Individual Variation In The Duration Of Territory Occupation By Males Of The Dragonfly Perithemis Tenera (Odonata: Libellulidae), Paul Switzer

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In the dragonfly Perithemis tenera Say, males defend territories around oviposition sites and defense of a site is critical for reproductive success. This study first demonstrated that individual males varied consistently in how long they defended a particular territory within a day (their “tenure”) and in the quality of the sites they defended. I then investigated a number of factors that may have affected territory tenure and may have led to the observed variation among males. Territory occupations that ended “voluntarily” were significantly longer than those that ended because the male was evicted from his territory. For voluntary desertions, tenure …

Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Of Mojave Desert Plants, J. H. Titus, P. J. Titus, R. S. Nowak, S. D. Smith

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Roots of 15 Mojave Desert plant species were assessed for arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization in spring and autumn 1999. Another 19 species were assessed in autumn only. Perennial species were AM colonized, whereas annual species contained very low levels of AM hyphae or were nonmycorrhizal. The nonnative tree Tamarix ramosissima was also nonmycorrhizal. Levels of hyphae changed over the season in 2 species, arbuscle levels increased in 1 species, and vesicles decreased in 7 species. Mycorrhizal inoculum potential (MIP) was assessed in the soils associated with spring-collected plants. All soils were found to contain MIP. MIP values were not correlated …

Canis Lupus Cosmopolis: Wolves In A Cosmopolitan Worldview, William S. Lynn

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

The subject of wolf recovery in North America sparks heated controversy, both for and against. This paper explores how this subject is informed by cosmopolitan worldviews. These worldviews pull nature and culture into a common orbit of ethical meaning, with implications for the normative relationships that ought to pertain in landscapes shared by people and wolves. This theoretical outlook is illustrated using the controversy over wolves in the northeastern region of the United States. I conclude with a set of reflections on theorizing the cosmopolis, the interpretation of cosmopolitan landscapes, and living with cosmopolitan wolves.

Resolving Conflicts Between People And Canada Geese: The Need For Comprehensive Management Approaches, John Hadidian

Wildlife Population Management Collection

Canada geese have become established and are now numerous enough in many urban and suburban areas that conflicts with humans have become frequent. Although potential threats to human health are often cited as a justification to manage goose populations, currently available science suggests that this is not a serious issue. This leaves the primary concern as one of aesthetics– people do not like having to deal with what can sometimes be copious amounts of goose droppings. Animal welfare interests have questioned the humaneness of different roundup and killing programs, and advocated non-lethal approaches and egg addling. Both approaches currently are …

The “Nuisance” Wildlife Control Industry: Animal Welfare Concerns, John Hadidian, Laura J. Simon, Michele R. Childs

Wildlife Population Management Collection

The recent and rapid growth of the private “nuisance” wildlife control industry follows the unparalleled current period of urban and suburban expansion. Nuisance wildlife control businesses range from simple home-based services to sophisticated franchised businesses. The nuisance wildlife control operator may hold an advanced degree in the wildlife sciences, or simply be an entrepreneur without formal education or even background experience in wildlife. State and federal agencies may participate directly or indirectly in nuisance wildlife control, in activities ranging from dissemination of advice or information to actual participation in programs that may lead to removal of animals. Naturally, all of …

Fisheries Research Report No. 137 - Annual Report On The Monitoring Of The Recreational Marron Fishery In 2000, With An Analysis Of Long-Term Data And Changes Within This Fishery, Brett Molony, Chris Bird

Fisheries Research Reports

This report presents the data from the 2000 season and compares the results with previous records. Although the 2000 marron season was relatively successful compared to the 1999 season it was still modest in terms of the historical records. Further, the recreational marron fishery continues to be declining in terms of catch rate, CPUE and other indicators derived from four data sources. The discussion highlights the variable nature of marron populations and the possible causes of the very different population structures of marron within the fishery. Further, possible reasons for the long-term decline of the marron fishery are discussed. It …

Status Of The Small-Mouthed Salamander, Ambystoma Texanum (Mathes) In West Virginia, Robert Fiorentino

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Over the past 60 years little natural history information on Ambystoma texanum (Small-mouthed Salamander) has been collected in West Virginia, the eastern most location for the species. Three historical breeding populations of A. texanum have been documented in the state, but salamanders from 2 of these locations have not been documented for the past 30 years. Searches of historical sites and favorable habitat in Mason, Jackson, and Wood counties yielded no evidence for the presence of A. texanum, except for the known breeding site in Wood County. Information on time of breeding and egg development was collected at the Wood …

The Postcranial Skeleton Of The Family Limnoscelidae And Its Taxonomic Implications For Understanding Basal Amniotes, Natalia Kazimiera Wideman

Theses Digitization Project

The Diadectomorpha is a central taxon in understanding the origin and early evolution of amniotes. It is considered a sister taxon to Amniota and is so similar to amniotes that some researchers have placed it within the Amniota itself. This group is composed of three families: the Limnoscelidae, the Tseajaiidae, and the Diadectidae. Being the most basal member of this group, the family Limnoscelidae is especially important in these studies.

Effects Of Management Practices On Grassland Birds: Horned Lark, Meghan F. Dinkins, Amy L. Zimmerman, Jill A. Dechant, Barry D. Parkin, Douglas H. Johnson, Lawrence D. Igl, Christopher M. Goldade, Betty R. Euliss

United States Geological Survey: Effects of Management Practices on Grassland Birds

Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on grassland birds were summarized from information in more than 4,000 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the relative densities of the species in North America, based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data. Although birds frequently are observed outside the breeding range indicated, the maps are intended to show areas where managers might concentrate their attention. It may be ineffectual to manage habitat at a site for a species that rarely occurs in an area. The species account begins with a brief capsule statement, which …

Specimen Catalog, Part 3, Brian D. Frank

Division of Mammals - Field Notes and Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Winter 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Cognitive Ethology And The Cost Of Anthropomorphiphobia, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Book review for the following titles:

Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness. By Donald R. Griffin, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001, 376 pages. $27.50 softcover

The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions. Edited by Marc Bekoff, New York: Discovery Books, 2000, 240 pages. $35.00 hardcover

Minds of Their Own: Thinking and Awareness in Animals. By Lesley J. Rogers, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998, 224 pages. $19.00 softcover

Stomatal Responses Of Douglas-Fir Seedlings To Elevated Carbon Dioxide And Temperature During The Third And Fourth Years Of Exposure, James D. Lewis, Melissa S. Lucash, David M. Olszyk, David T. Tingey

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two major components of climate change, increasing atmospheric [CO₂] and increasing temperature, may substantially alter the effects of water availability to plants through effects on the rate of water loss from leaves. We examined the interactive effects of elevated [CO₂] and temperature on seasonal patterns of stomatal conductance (g_s), transpiration (E) and instantaneous transpiration efficiency (ITE) in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seedlings. Seedlings were grown in sunlit chambers at either ambient CO₂ (AC) or ambient + 180 µmol mol^-1 CO₂ (EC), and at ambient temperature (AT) or ambient + 3.5° …