Digital Commons Network^™

Feeding Niches Of Forest Salamanders: Indirect Effects Of Gypsy Moth Pesticides On Prey Selection And Potential Overlap Between Adults Of Six Species, Sandra Raimondo

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Amphibian declines and deformities are indictors of pollution and other environmental impacts. Pesticides, such as Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Bt), may produce non-target effects on salamanders by impacting their food supply, ultimately resulting in population declines. Salamanders were used as an assessment tool of pesticide impacts before populations decline. Diet analysis determined if Bt affected food consumption of two salamander species (Desmognathus ochrophaeus and P. cinereus). Nine plots in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia were used in this study. Three plots were sprayed with Bt in 1997 and 1998, three were sprayed with a gypsy moth …

Distribution Of The Sucker Family (Pisces: Catostomidae) In The Ohio River, Tara L. Rose

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The family Catostomidae represents a major component of the fish fauna in the Ohio River. Because of their abundance, large biomass, and susceptibility to environmentally-induced anomalies, suckers are expected to significantly influence the Ohio River Fish Index (ORFIn), a biological index being developed by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) for large river systems. To correctly interpret information obtained from ORFIn, the impact of suckers upon the index must be thoroughly understood, including relative importance and uneven spatial distribution of Ohio River suckers. In this study, suckers represented 7.1 percent of the total fish captured and 36.6 percent …

Ecology And Natural History Of Rana Clamitans Melanota In West Virginia, Alison M. Rogers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Fourteen study sites were sampled with aquatic funnel traps and D-frame net sweeps in the plateau and mountain region of West Virginia to determine differences in larval period. Larval stage class abundance and larval total length and mass measurements were recorded from February to December 1997. Larval stage classes 25 and 26, the first free living stages, were absent from the plateau region from February to April, but were present in the mountain region. Pre-transformation larval stages, 40 through 44, were found from May through October, and peaked in July. Significant relationships were found with simple linear regression analysis between …

Natural History Of The Northern Spring Salamander Gyrinophilus Porphyriticus Porphyriticus At The Westvaco Wildlife And Ecosystem Research Forest In Randolph County, West Virginia, Brian A. Lindley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis research was to study the natural history of the northern spring salamander Gyrinophilus p. porphyriticus in West Virginia. The objectives of this study were to determine the environmental characteristics of the habitat of Gyrinophilus p. porphyriticus, to determine its reproductive biology, and then examine non-reproductive aspects of the natural history of the species. Study sites were located at the Westvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest (WWERF) in Randolph County, West Virginia. Four sites on three streams were divided into two 25m transects. All sites were examined once each month from August 1997 through November 1998 …

Avian Prey-Dropping Behavior. I. The Effects Of Prey Characteristics And Prey Loss, Paul V. Switzer, Daniel A. Cristol

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Avian Prey-Dropping Behavior. I. The Effects Of Prey Characteristics And Prey Loss, Paul Switzer, Daniel Cristol

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Occurrence And Reproduction Of The Alabama Shad, Alosa Alabamae Jordan And Evermann, In The Ouachita River System Of Arkansas, Thomas M. Buchanan, Josh Nichols, Don Turman, Colton Dennis, Stuart Woolridge, Brett Hobbs

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The anadromous Alabama shad, Alosa alabamae, has drastically declined in abundance in recent decades throughout its historic range and has previously been reported in Arkansas from only five localities. Three of those locality records are pre- 1900. Sampling by seine in the Ouachita River drainage system of southern Arkansas in July and August of 1997 and 1998 produced more than 300 juvenile A. alabamae from two localities on the Little Missouri River and four localities on the Ouachita River. One record of an adult Alabama shad, taken on 4 April1997 by an angler below Remmel Dam on the Ouachita River, …

Green Canyon Recreation Management Plant, Jesse Evans, Erin Haddock, Todd Tibbetts, Lindsey Topham

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

The purpose of this plan is to look at the way Green Canyon is currently being managed and make recommendations for management based on our findings. Prior to this document, a Landscape Assessment was conducted on Green Canyon. This plan incorporates that assessment but focuses on the recreation management of the canyon. We will discuss history, current management, social conditions, purpose and need, as well as methods we used to go about gathering information. The focus is to identify key issues and concerns within the canyon. Management recommendations will be made based on the issues and concerns identified.

Behavioral Interactions And Conflict Among Domestic Dogs, Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, And People In Boulder, Colorado, Marc Bekoff, Robert W. Ickes

Ethology Collection

Interactions among domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), and people were studied at Dry Creek, Boulder, Colorado. Our objective was to develop a basic understanding of the nature of dog–prairie dog interactions in this recreational area, because this is an issue that has high visibility and over which there is conflict in Boulder: There are those who want dogs to run free regardless of their impact on the behavior and lives of prairie dogs and those who want to protect prairie dogs and have dogs restrained or go elsewhere. We found that dogs clearly influenced the behavior …

Benthic Biodiversity And Physico-Chemical Parameters Of Acid Mine Drainage, Acid Impacted And Nonimpacted Streams, Stephen D. Greene

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

South Fork of Sand Lick Creek, Logan County, West Virginia, drains an abandoned coal strip mine which had exploited Pottsville series coalbeds (Pennsylvania strata). These strata outcrop throughout southwestern West Virginia. North Fork watershed is relatively unchanged, save a small roadcut throughout. South Fork benthic community had not recovered although mining activity had ceased about 20 years earlier. Benthic communities were analyzed with detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). Family Chironomidae predominated South Fork benthic community throughout the study. North Fork’s benthic community had as major contributors acid resistant caddisfly family Hydropsychidae, mayfly family Baetidae, and stonefly families Perlodidae and Nemouridae. Family …

Characterization And Improvement Of Eos Land Products Using Measurements At Ameriflux Grassland And Wheat Sites In The Arm/Cart Region: Research Annual Performance Report For Period March 1, 1999- February 29, 2000., E. A. Walter-Shea, S. B. Verma

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Alpha Status, Dominance, And Division Of Labor In Wolf Packs, L. David Mech

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

The prevailing view of a wolf (Canis lupus) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance but held in check by the “alpha” pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs, however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social order as it occurs in nature, discuss the alpha concept and social dominance and submission, and present data on the precise relationships among members in free-living packs, based on a literature review and 13 summers of observations of wolves …

Plant And Breeding Bird Communities Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies And Non-Colonized Areas In Southwest Kansas And Southeast Colorado, Stephen L. Winter

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research was initiated to determine if plant and bird communities on black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus Ord) colonies in southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado differed from those found on associated non-colonized areas. Vegetation height and density, and the cover and frequency of numerous plant species differed between prairie dog colonies and non-colonized areas that were co-dominated by mid-height grasses and shortgrasses. A comparison of prairie dog colonies with non-colonized areas that were dominated solely by shortgrasses did not reveal a difference in vegetation height and density. The number of species that differed in cover or frequency between prairie dog …

Flea News 57 (January 1999), Robert E. Lewis

Flea News

Mailing list changes

Miscellanea: The following article concerning plague in prairie dogs in Texas is taken from the July-August issue of the Technical Information Bulletin of the Armed Forces Pest Management Board.

Siphonaptera literature

Winter 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Results In The Development Of A Macroinvertebrate Index For The Ohio River, Matthew S. Wooten

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are utilized widely as indicators of water quality. Many indices are in use today that provide a means of applying a numeric value to the water quality of a particular stream. However, these indices have been designed for use on small streams and creeks. The primary objective of this study was to lay a foundation for the development of a marcroinvertebrate index to be used on the Ohio River. Secondarily, this study examined for longitudinal trends, trends in correlation with effluent location and the determination of least impacted or reference conditions on the Ohio River. Regression correlation analysis …

A Comment On Friedlander’S Asterocampa (Nymphalidae, Apaturinae): Designation Of Neotypes For A. Celtis And A. Clyton, Ronald R. Gatrelle

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Friedlander’s 1986 [1987] treatment of the southeastern United States. taxa of Asterocampa is examined. Neotypes of A. celtis and A. clyton are designated from Burke County, Georgia to help stabilize the status of these taxa and aid in any future research. Asterocampa celtis is currently known to exist within at least 40 km of A. c. reinthali in Georgia. Their proximity, without integration, suggests evolutionary distance, perhaps even speciation. It is proposed that A. celtis is descended from A. c. alicia, and alicia from a Mexican refugium. Asterocampa clyton and A. …

Subspecific Status Of Southeastern U.S. Megathymus Cofaqui And M. Yuccae: Renaming Of The Florida Subspecies Of M. Cofaqui, Ronald R. Gatrele

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Megathymus cofaqui and M. yuccae are both represented in the southeastern United States by two subspecies. The type locality of both M. y. yuccae and M. c. cofaqui is the area of Burke/Screven counties Georgia. Each of their subspecies are primarily Floridian, with M. y. buchholzi extending along the immediate coast of Georgia into southern South Carolina. Topotypes of M. cofaqui from Burke County, Georgia, and Aiken County, South Carolina are phenotypically indistinguishable from both the holotype of M. cofaqui and topotypes of M. c. harrisi. Thus, M …

Status Of Three Plethodontid Salamanders (Genus Plethodon) From The Ouachita National Forest Of Southwest Arkansas, Stanley E. Trauth, J. D. Wilhide

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A three-year field investigation was initiated in 1996 to update previous information on the local abundance and distribution of three salamanders of the genus Plethodon (P. caddoensis, P.fourchensis, and P. ouachitae); these salamanders are found within a five-county area of the Ouachita National Forest in southwestern Arkansas. Plethodon fourchensis was most numerous at three sites in Polk County; a total of 18 specimens was found. Searching for Plethodon fourchensis was successful following moderate-to-heavy precipitation but only in selected habitats on Fourche and Irons Forks mountains. The preferred habitats of P. caddoensis were talus-covered slopes and wet ravines consisting of mostly …

Influences Of Relative Humidity, Soil And Air Temperatures, And Lunar Phase On Occurrence Of Terrestrial Plethodontid Salamanders At High Elevation Sites, Jo Santiago

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Microhabitat environments and occurrences of terrestrial plethodontid salamanders including Plethodon nettingi Green, Plethodon cinereus (Green), Plethodon wehrlei Fowler and Dunn, Plethodon glutinosus (Green), and Desmognathus ochrophaeus Cope were monitored over a 15 month period at high elevation sites in the Stuart Knob area of the Monongahela National Forest in eastern West Virginia. Environmental data collected for eight equal-sized study plots (8m² ) included relative humidity, air and soil temperatures, and lunar phase. Five hundred and twenty-five salamanders were captured in diurnal and nocturnal searches, and an additional 52 individuals were observed. It was found that the most common occurring …

Regurgitative Food Transfer Among Wild Wolves, L. David Mech, Paul C. Wolf, Jane M. Packard

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

Few studies of monogamous canids have addressed regurgitation in the context of extended parental care and alloparental care within family groups. We studied food transfer by regurgitation in a pack of wolves on Ellesmere Island, North West Territories, Canada, during 6 summers from 1988 through 1996. All adult wolves, including yearlings and a post-reproductive female, regurgitated food. Although individuals regurgitated up to five times per bout, the overall ratio of regurgitations per bout was 1.5. Pups were more likely to receive regurgitations (81%) than the breeding female (14%) or auxiliaries (6%). The breeding male regurgitated mostly to the breeding female …

Influence Of Prairie Dogs On Vegetation In Kansas Shortgrass Prairie, Stephen L. Winter, Jack F. Cully Jr., Jeffrey S. Pontius

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

We quantified plant species richness, frequency, percent cover and percent bare ground on black-tailed prairie dog colonies and non-colonized areas in southwest Kansas in 1996 and 1997. In 1996 field sampling occurred after 12 months of below-average precipitation, while field sampling in 1997 occurred after 10 months of above-average precipitation. In 1996 prairie dog colonies were characterized by lower percentages of grass cover and higher percentages of forb cover than non-colonized sites, but there was no difference in percent bare ground. In 1997 percent grass cover, forb cover and bare ground was similar for prairie dog colonies and non-colonized areas. …

Reproductive Biology, Food Habits, And Forage Ratios Of The Candy Darter, Etheostoma Osburni, In The Cherry River, West Virginia, With An Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna, Ann Elizabeth Schoolcraft

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Etheostoma osburni, the candy darter, is endemic to the lower New River drainage of West Virginia and Virginia and Gauley River drainage of West Virginia. As a result of its endemism and evidence of declining population numbers, the species has been given the status of Special Concern in both states. Candy darters occur in the Appalachian Plateau and Ridge and Valley provinces, and are influenced by different environmental selective pressures. In this study, candy darters were collected in the summer and fall of 1998 and spring of 1999 by backpack electroshocking for determination of their seasonal reproductive biology, food …

Survey Of Medium And Large Mammals In An Urban Park (Murray Park), Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, Josie H. Dickins, David W. Clark, Steffany C. White, Gary A. Heidt

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Because of increased environmental awareness by city planning commissions, there are more urban parks and greenbelt areas. These areas often result in increased human and wildlife contacts, thus resulting in the need for management plans regarding urban wildlife. From September 1998 to March 1999, we conducted mammal surveys of the urban greenspace Murray Park, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. Surveys were conducted using five methods: direct observations; spot lighting; live trapping; animal sign; and scent posts. Species recorded included, opossum (Didelphis virginiana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), beaver (Castor canadensis), woodchuck (Marmota monax), …

Effects Of Predation On Two Species Of Stream-Dwelling Crayfish (Orconectes Marchandi And Cambarus Hubbsi) In Pool And Riffle Microhabitats, Heidi Dukat, Daniel D. Magoulick

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Community structure may be governed by many abiotic and biotic factors. Of the biotic factors, predation is often considered to be critical in structuring freshwater stream communities. In the Warm Fork of the Spring River, the crayfish Cambarus hubbsi is found mainly in riffles, whereas the crayfish Orconectes marchandi is found in high numbers in pools. We hypothesized that predation, mainly by fish, is a factor causing this segregation. Higher predation rates for C. hubbsi than 0. marchandi in the pools and higher predation rates for 0. marchandi than C. hubbsi in the riffles were expected. A transplant tethering experiment …

Post-Metomorphic Growth And Reproduction In The Eastern Narrowmouth Toad (Gastrophryne Carolinensis) From Northeastern Arkansas, Stanley E. Trauth, Walter E. Meshaka Jr., Robert L. Cox Jr.

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Post-metamorphic growth and the reproductive cycle of the eastern narrowmouth toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis) were studied from 204 individuals collected during the April August 1989 activity season in a two-county area of northeastern Arkansas near the northwestern edge of the species' geographic range. Late summer metamorphs require a full growing season before they can reproduce as they approach their second year of life. The oldest individuals may be at least five years old. By late April, gonadal cycles of adults had commenced; the males were producing sperm, and some of the females were gravid. Fertility of both sexes increased during the …

First Report Of Lamptera Appendix (Dekay) From The Black River Drainage Of Arkansas, Daniel D. Ward, Denver Dunn, Hilary J. Worley, Martin Ruane, Vernon E. Hoffman, Grace Troutman, Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Monitoring Results For Pfiesteria Piscidida And Pfiesteria-Like Organisms From Virginia Waters In 1998, Harold G. Marshall, David W. Seaborn, Jennifer Wolny

Virginia Journal of Science

Results of an extensive 1998 monitoring program for the presence of Pfiesteria-like organisms (PLO) in Virginia estuaries indicate these dinoflagellates are widely distributed in both the water column, and as cysts in the sediment, however Pfiesteria piscicida was not detected at this time. The highest concentrations of PLO were in estuaries along the Virginia shore line of the Potomac River, and in western Chesapeake Bay estuaries from the Little Wicomico River to the Rappahannock River. The most common PLO included Cryptoperidiniopsis sp. and Gymnodinium galatheanum. The lowest PLO concentrations were at ocean side locations. PLO were also …

Monitoring Results For Pfiesteria Piscidida And Pfiesteria-Like Organisms From Virginia Waters In 1998, Harold G. Marshall, David W. Seaborn, Jennifer Wolny

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Results of an extensive 1998 monitoring program for the presence of Pfiesteria-like organisms (PLO) in Virginia estuaries indicate these dinoflagellates are widely distributed in both the water column, and as cysts in the sediment, however Pfiesteria piscicida was not detected at this time. The highest concentrations of PLO were in estuaries along the Virginia shore line of the Potomac River, and in western Chesapeake Bay estuaries from the Little Wicomico River to the Rappahannock River. The most common PLO included Cryptoperidiniopsis sp. and Gymnodinium galatheanum. The lowest PLO concentrations were at ocean side locations. PLO were also …

Alpha Status, Dominance, And Division Of Labor In Wolf Packs, L. David Mech

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

The prevailing view of a wolf (Canis lupus) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance but held in check by the “alpha” pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs, however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social order as it occurs in nature, discuss the alpha concept and social dominance and submission, and present data on the precise relationships among members in free-living packs, based on a literature review and 13 summers of observations of wolves …