Digital Commons Network^™

Biolability Of Fresh And Photodegraded Pyrogenic Dissolved Organic Matter From Laboratory-Prepared Chars, K. W. Bostick, A. R. Zimmerman, A. I. Goranov, S. Mitra, P. G. Hatcher, A. S. Wozniak

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Pyrogenic dissolved organic matter (pyDOM) is known to be an important biogeochemical constituent of aquatic ecosystems and the carbon cycle. While recent studies have examined how pyDOM production, composition, and photolability varies with parent pyrogenic solid material type, we lack an understanding of potential microbial mineralization and transformation of pyDOM in the biogeosphere. Thus, leachates of oak, charred at 400 °C and 650 °C, as well as their photodegraded counterparts were incubated with a soil‐extracted microbial consortium over 96 days. During the incubation, significantly more carbon was biomineralized from the lower versus higher temperature char leachate (45% vs. 37% lost, …

Large-Scale Variation In Wave Attenuation Of Oyster Reef Living Shorelines And The Influence Of Inundation Duration, Rebecca L. Morris, Megan K. La Peyre, Bret M. Webb, Danielle A. Marshall, Donna M. Bilkovic, Just Cebrian, Giovanna Mcclenachan, Kelly M. Kibler, Linda J. Walters, David Bushek, Eric L. Sparks, Nigel A. Temple, Joshua Moody, Kory Angstadt, Joshua Goff, Maura Boswell, Paul Sacks, Stephen E. Swearer

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

One of the paramount goals of oyster reef living shorelines is to achieve sustained and adaptive coastal protection, which requires meeting ecological (i.e., develop a self-sustaining oyster population) and engineering (i.e., provide coastal defense) targets. In a large-scale comparison along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, the efficacy of various designs of oyster reef living shorelines at providing wave attenuation was evaluated accounting for the ecological limitations of oysters with regards to inundation duration. A critical threshold for intertidal oyster reef establishment is 50% inundation duration. Living shorelines that spent less than half of the time ( …

African Environmental Ethics: Keys To Sustainable Development Through Agroecological Villages, Charles Verharen, Flordeliz Bugarin, John Tharakan, Enrico Wensing, Bekele Gutema, Joseph Fortunak, George Middendorf

Center for Global Health Publications

This essay proposes African-based ethical solutions to profound human problems and a working African model to address those problems. The model promotes sustainability through advanced agroecological and information communication technologies. The essay's first section reviews the ethical ground of that model in the work of the Senegalese scholar, Cheikh Anta Diop. The essay's second section examines an applied African model for translating African ethical speculation into practice. Deeply immersed in European and African ethics, Godfrey Nzamujo developed the Songhaï Centers to solve the problem of rural poverty in seventeen African countries. Harnessing advanced technologies within a holistic agroecological ecosystem, Nzamujo's …

Lepidopteran Granivory Reduces Seed Counts In A Rare Species Of Riparian Scour Prairies, Cheyenne Moore, Angela J. Mcdonnell, Scott Schuette, Christopher T. Martine

Faculty Journal Articles

In Pennsylvania Baptisia australis var. australis is found along only four waterways: the Allegheny River, Youghiogheny River, Clarion River, and Red Bank Creek. Because of its limited distribution and small number of extant populations, the species is considered state-threatened in Pennsylvania. In addition, the riparian prairie habitat that Pennsylvania Baptisia australis var. australis is restricted to is also in decline and considered vulnerable. Because of these conservation concerns, insights into the natural history of the taxon in the state is valuable and will inform conservation efforts. Field surveys and fruit collections along the Allegheny River and herbarium collections were used …

Lessons From Four Decades Of Monitoring Vegetation And Fire: Maintaining Diversity And Resilience In Florida’S Uplands, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii, Christy R. Abrahamson, Matthew A. Keller

Faculty Journal Articles

Worldwide, humans are altering the fire regimes (fire-return intervals, severity, seasonality) of fire-prone ecosystems, fragmenting natural landscapes, and altering climates. Efforts to restore fire regimes in natural areas are usually guided by fire management plans (FMP) that rely on prescribed burning. Despite the common use of FMPs, limited efforts have gone to assessing vegetative and faunal responses. While some insights into responses to fire from short-term studies are available, there is less knowledge about FMP outcomes applied over multiple decades. Peninsular Florida hosts many fire-prone communities including globally threatened Florida scrub. We repeatedly sampled species composition and abundance during a …

Scoping Review Of Distribution Models For Selected Amblyomma Ticks And Rickettsial Group Pathogens, Catherine A. Lippi, Holly D. Gaff, Alexis L. White, Sadie J. Ryan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The rising prevalence of tick-borne diseases in humans in recent decades has called attention to the need for more information on geographic risk for public health planning. Species distribution models (SDMs) are an increasingly utilized method of constructing potential geographic ranges. There are many knowledge gaps in our understanding of risk of exposure to tick-borne pathogens, particularly for those in the rickettsial group. Here, we conducted a systematic scoping review of the SDM literature for rickettsial pathogens and tick vectors in the genus Amblyomma. Of the 174 reviewed articles, only 24 studies used SDMs to estimate the potential extent …

Triple Oxygen Isotope Measurements (Δ'17O) Of Body Water Reflect Water Intake, Metabolism, And Δ18O Of Ingested Water In Passerines, Pablo Sabat, Seth D. Newsome, Stephanie Pinochet, Roberto Nespolo, Juan Carlos Sanchez-Hernandez, Karen Maldonado, Alexander R. Gerson, Zachary D. Sharp, John P. Whiteman

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding physiological traits and ecological conditions that influence a species reliance on metabolic water is critical to creating accurate physiological models that can assess their ability to adapt to environmental perturbations (e.g., drought) that impact water availability. However, relatively few studies have examined variation in the sources of water animals use to maintain water balance, and even fewer have focused on the role of metabolic water. A key reason is methodological limitations. Here, we applied a new method that measures the triple oxygen isotopic composition of a single blood sample to estimate the contribution of metabolic water to the body …

Spatiotemporal Interactions Between Deer And Cattle, Sydney Brewer

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Mule deer, white-tailed deer, and cattle are sympatric on the landscape throughout many portions of Nebraska and encounter each other in time and space. By considering variation in daily activity patterns and non-random patterns in the timing of passage through specific locations, we can better understand whether animals may be avoiding each other temporally when sharing space. I investigated temporal activity patterns and avoidance/attraction ratios to investigate if deer altered their activity patterns in the presence of cattle and if they exhibited avoidance at a study site near McCook, Nebraska, USA. We collected data from 19 game cameras that were …

Southeast Michigan Wastewater Treatment Plants As Potential Sources Of Microplastic Pollution In The Rouge River And Huron River, Jennifer Troost

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Plastic pollution is a global issue affecting the health and stability of freshwater and marine environments. Microplastics can be introduced into waterways from a variety of sources, such as agricultural runoff, anthropogenic litter, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). To determine whether WWTPs are a source of microplastics to the Lower Rouge and Huron Rivers, we measured microplastic load upstream and downstream of two Southeast Michigan wastewater treatment plants: the Ann Arbor Wastewater Treatment Plant and Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA). Results from this study indicated that YCUA, which discharges into a small stream with limited watershed inputs, is a significant …

Defining Plant Ecological Specialists And Generalists: Building A Framework For Identification And Classification, Alex N. Kirsch

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis is submitted in two chapters. The first chapter contains background research, literature review, relevant information, and justification for the primary study. The second chapter is written as a standalone paper for submission to Ecology and Evolution, that can be read and interpreted independently of the first chapter. Specialization is a widespread but highly ambiguous and context dependent ecological concept. Here, we construct a framework to assess specialization using an objective, metric-based approach, utilizing study system Quercus. To create Metric-Based Specialization rankings, metrics related to specialization were gathered for 141 Quercus species (Number of distinct inhabited ecoregions, extent of …

Vole Population Dynamics In Cover Crops Transitioning To Soybeans With Integrated Pest Management By Habitat Modification, Jena L. Nierman

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

The use of cover crops has been a wildly used method in rotational row crop production. Cover crops have minimized soil runoff and aided in maintaining nutrients in agricultural fields. Increased use of cover crops has seen a corresponding increase in the amount of damage done to soybeans by voles. Currently, there are no mitigation methods that successfully decrease vole populations in agricultural fields. The use of habitat manipulation as an integrated pest management solution has not been studied as a practical solution for vole population management. During 2019 and 2020, I tested the impacts of various cover crop termination …

Invasive Bullfrogs Maintain High Levels Of Immune Gene Diversity Despite Elevated Bd Infection Relative To Native Populations, Jacob Lafond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Maintenance of genetic diversity at ecologically-relevant loci may be important for allowing invasive populations to become established despite decreases in genomic diversity due to founder effects. To evaluate this prediction, we compared genetic diversity at an expressed MHC class IIß gene fragment to a 909 bp region of the neutral cytochrome b (cytb) locus from 20 populations of the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) across its North American invasive and native ranges and quantified the presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a pathogen, for which R. catesbeiana is a vector species. We recovered 28 unique MHC alleles and found that invasive populations …

Aquatic Macrophyte Communities In Five Sibley County (Minnesota) Lakes And The Factors That Affect Their Distribution, Samuel A. Schmid

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purposes of this study are to 1) quantify the shifts in the macrophyte community structure of five lakes in Sibley County, and 2) to assess the relationships between the macrophyte communities and abiotic factors in these five lakes. In both the early and late growing season of 2019, point-intercept surveys were conducted on High Island Lake, Titlow Lake, Schilling Lake, Silver Lake, and Clear Lake. At each point, water depth was recorded, and all macrophytes sampled were identified and recorded as “present.” There was not a late season survey conducted for High Island Lake in 2019 due to a …

How Bavinck Responds To The Challenges Of The Theory Of Evolution: The Primacy Of Biblical Revelation, Isaias D'Oleo Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

In his discussion of evolution, Bavinck offers a modified theory of development, rooted not under a mechanistic and naturalistic worldview, as Darwin does, but under a “theistic-friendly” framework. This article argues that Bavinck’s discussion of evolution as a whole endorses a modified Aristotelian/ Thomistic framework in order to understand the theory of development, and thus overcomes the challenges raised by Darwin’s naturalistic worldview to biblical revelation.

Evaluation Of Methods For The Restoration Of Native Grasslands On Abandoned Center Pivots In The Sandsage Prairies Of Southwestern Kansas, Alonso Barragan-Martinez

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Throughout southwestern Kansas thousands of acres of native grassland have been converted to cropland for agricultural use, reducing native prairie by over 60% in the sandsage prairie. Due to low precipitation and arid conditions, much of these croplands are irrigated by center pivot irrigation systems fed by the Ogallala Aquifer. These fields are abandoned when the aquifers dry up, resulting in erosion of the unused farmland. Conservation programs such as the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) were established to address this problem but have been unsuccessful in restoring native grasslands in abandoned croplands in southwestern Kansas. We hypothesized that insect …

Climate Niche Evolution In C4+Cam Portulaca And Closely Related C3+Cam Lineages, Nora M. Heaphy

Library Map Prize

With at least a hundred independent origins among land plants, the CAM and C4 photosynthetic pathways represent one of the most notable examples of global convergent evolution of a complex trait. While biochemically similar, CAM and C4 are generally understood to be two distinct ecological adaptations evolving along separate trajectories. However, the purslanes (Portulaca), a globally widespread clade of around 100 species of annual and perennial succulents, are able to operate both CAM and C4 cycles in the same leaf. Portulaca likely originated from a facultative CAM ancestor and then evolved a C4 system at least three times …

Dataset For Response Of The Invasive Alliaria Petiolata To Extreme Temperatures And Drought, Roger C. Anderson, Rebecca Anderson, Jonathan T. Bauer, Christopher Loebach, Alicia Mullarkey, Megan Engelhardt

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Alliaria petiolata, a strict biennial in North America, can have annual alternating high abundance of rosettes and flowering plants. We monitored changes in abundance of rosettes and flowering plants in permanent plots (2004 to 2014). Three times during our study the alternating yearly cycle was not observed (2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2013-2014). We concluded stochastic Extreme Climate Events (ECEs), deviating from long-term climatic data norms (10^th or 90^th. percentile), likely caused negative organism responses. Long-term data from a local NOAA station located 25 km from our study site included monthly data (1) total precipitation, (2) number of days …

Religious Naturalisms, Carol W. White

Other Faculty Research and Publications

This article focuses on recent developments in religious naturalism in the twenty-first century, building on Jerome Stone’s 2008 study of its resurgence in the mid-twentieth century. I introduce religious naturalism as a synthesis of naturalistic ideas that often depart from traditional forms of religious thinking, defining it as a capacious, ecological religious worldview grounded in the observational conviction that nature is ultimate. I also describe different models of religious naturalism, focusing on the key ideas found in the influential publications of contemporary religious naturalists (e.g., Ursula Goodenough, Donald Crosby, Loyal Rue, among others). While acknowledging specific points of emphasis, I …

Swimming Against The Flow: Environmental Dna Can Detect Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus Leucas) Across A Dynamic Deltaic Interface, James Marcus Drymon, Katherine E. Schweiss, Emily A. Seubert, Ryan N. Lehman, Toby S. Daly-Engel, Mariah Pfleger, Nicole M. Phillips

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Human activities in coastal areas are accelerating ecosystem changes at an unprecedented pace, resulting in habitat loss, hydrological modifications, and predatory species declines. Understanding how these changes potentially cascade across marine and freshwater ecosystems requires knowing how mobile euryhaline species link these seemingly disparate systems. As upper trophic level predators, bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) play a crucial role in marine and freshwater ecosystem health. Telemetry studies in Mobile Bay, Alabama, suggest that bull sharks extensively use the northern portions of the bay, an estuarine–freshwater interface known …

Review Of The Analysis Of 234th In Small Volume (2–4 L) Seawater Samples: Improvements And Recommendations, Samantha J. Clevenger, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Jessica Drysdale, Steven Pike, Viena Puigcorbé, Ken O. Buesseler

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The short-lived radionuclide 234Th is widely used to study particle scavenging and transport from the upper ocean to deeper waters. This manuscript optimizes, reviews and validates the collection, processing and analyses of total 234Th in seawater and suggests areas of further improvements. The standard 234Th protocol method consists of scavenging 234Th from seawater via a MnO2 precipitate, beta counting, and using chemical recoveries determined by adding 230Th. The revised protocol decreases sample volumes to 2 L, shortens wait times between steps, and simplifies the chemical recovery process, expanding the ability to more rapidly and safely apply the 234Th method.

Functional Genetic Approaches To Provide Evidence For The Role Of Toolkit Genes In The Evolution Of Complex Color Patterns In Drosophila Guttifera, Mujeeb Olushola Shittu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Toolkit genes are set of genes that orchestrate the development of basic body plan of animals, and they are highly conserved in all animals. The co-option of the toolkit genes into the pigmentation pathway has led to the evolution of novel species. This study focuses on understanding how the complex color patterns in animals develop by using the Drosophila species in the quinaria group as models. We developed an mRNA in situ hybridization (ISH) protocol, which allowed us to study gene expression patterns in the abdomen of developing pupae of non-model Drosophila species (Chapter 2). Through ISH, we found that …

Applications Of Machine Learning In Microbial Forensics, Ryan B. Ghannam

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microbial ecosystems are complex, with hundreds of members interacting with each other and the environment. The intricate and hidden behaviors underlying these interactions make research questions challenging – but can be better understood through machine learning. However, most machine learning that is used in microbiome work is a black box form of investigation, where accurate predictions can be made, but the inner logic behind what is driving prediction is hidden behind nontransparent layers of complexity.

Accordingly, the goal of this dissertation is to provide an interpretable and in-depth machine learning approach to investigate microbial biogeography and to use micro-organisms as …

Controls On Autotrophic Respiration, Heterotrophic Respiration, And Decomposition In Northern Forested Rivers, Renn Schipper

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Autotrophic respiration (AR), heterotrophic respiration (HR), and decomposition are important contributors to the carbon cycle in streams. It is important to understand how different environmental factors, such as canopy cover and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), influence these processes. DOC concentrations in northern forested streams are increasing, which may affect light and carbon availability. To examine the effects of DOC and canopy cover on these processes we measured gross primary production, ecosystem respiration and decomposition at 8 sites in 4 streams in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and used quantile regression to estimate AR and HR. Among sites, AR and decomposition …

Metagenomic Identification And Classification Of The Mercury-Methylating Gene Hgca In Response To Water Table And Plant Functional Group Manipulations In Peat Soil, Madeline Peterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Methyl-mercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxin that threatens the health of humans and wildlife alike. Climate warming threatens to shift regional precipitation and climate regimes in peatland environments, which could destabilize northern peatlands and accelerate both Hg release from soil and MeHg production. Peatlands are among the leading hotspots for MeHg, yet little is known about the community composition or functional relationship of mercury-methylating microbes in response to varying environmental conditions. The recognized mercury-methylating genes responsible for this activity are the obligatory gene pair hgcA and hgcB. Metagenomic data from the full-factorial peatland mesocosm experiment PEATcosm was obtained to …

Regional Impacts Of Invasive Species And Climate Change On Black Ash Wetlands, Joseph Shannon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For more than a decade intensive research on the ecohydrology of black ash wetland ecosystems has been performed to understand these systems before they are drastically altered by the invasive species, emerald ash borer (EAB). In that time there has been little research aimed at the scale and persistence of the alterations. Three distinct but related research articles will be presented to demonstrate a method for moderate resolution mapping of black ash across its entire range, understand the relative impacts of EAB and climate change on probable future wetland conditions, and develop an experimental and modeling approach to quantify and …

Denitrification And Nitrogen Fixation Commonly Co-Occur But Rates Vary Throughout The Year And In Different Environments, Kevin Nevorski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Denitrification and nitrogen fixation are nitrogen cycling processes that can occur simultaneously in streams but are rarely studied together. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to quantify temporal and spatial variation of these processes in streams across the USA, characterize the environmental drivers of that variation, and determine the role that denitrification plays in the carbon cycle. To characterize temporal variation in these processes, a 2-year study in the Pilgrim River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula found no difference in rates among seasons but high day-to-day variation in rates of both processes (maximum daily change 4,390 μg N/m²/hr …

An Evaluation Of Antiparasitics Used To Treat The Sea Louse, Caligus Rogercresseyi, In Chilean Salmonid Farming, Dayla Woller

Scripps Senior Theses

Sea lice pose a global threat to open-net salmonid farming. As Chile is the second largest Atlantic salmon producer, they have a vested interest in mitigating infestations and increasing production. However, this will not be possible without 1) increased research on the underlying mechanisms behind sea lice infestations that will inform 2) governmental regulation of salmon farming. This increase in research and governmental regulation will only be possible through transparency on pesticide practices and sea louse monitoring data from companies operating in Chile. Taking these steps would bring Chile closer to being the largest producer of Atlantic salmon and an …

Global Connectivity Of Southern Ocean Ecosystems, Eugene J. Murphy, Nadine M. Johnston, Eileen E. Hofmann, Richard A. Phillips, Jennifer A. Jackson, Andrew J. Constable, Sian F. Henley, Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, Rowan Trebilco, Rachel D. Cavanagh, Geraint A. Tarling, Ryan A. Saunders, David K.A. Barnes, Daniel P. Costa, Stuart P. Corney, Ceridwen I. Fraser, Juan Höfer, Kevin A. Hughes, Chester J. Sands, Sally E. Thorpe, Philip N. Trathan, José C. Xavier

CCPO Publications

Southern Ocean ecosystems are globally important. Processes in the Antarctic atmosphere, cryosphere, and the Southern Ocean directly influence global atmospheric and oceanic systems. Southern Ocean biogeochemistry has also been shown to have global importance. In contrast, ocean ecological processes are often seen as largely separate from the rest of the global system. In this paper, we consider the degree of ecological connectivity at different trophic levels, linking Southern Ocean ecosystems with the global ocean, and their importance not only for the regional ecosystem but also the wider Earth system. We also consider the human system connections, including the role of …

Crop Salinity Tolerance Induction Using Novel Biostimulants (Saltibio), Elomofe Ikuyinminu

Theses

Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Most of the vegetable crops are salt sensitive, growing inadequately in salinised soils due to the accumulation of toxic ions from prolonged, inadequate irrigation programs. A meaningful approach to counteract salinity stress and increase crop yield is the use of protein hydrolysate biostimulants (PHBs). The main objectives of this study were to generate legume-derived PHBs by enzymatic hydrolysis, evaluate their ability to induce salinity stress tolerance in plants, and understand their mode of action. A full compositional and structural analysis of the generated …

A Foray Into The Interval Timing Capabilities Of Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] Apella), Gryff Griffin

Honors Theses

Time is a critical part of life and timing on the range from milliseconds to minutes has proven to be critical for several behaviors such as foraging and movement. While the exact neurological structures of interval timing are currently undefined, several studies have been completed comparing the interval timing capabilities of humans and nonhuman primates. However, these studies have unanimously utilized members of Macaca, which limits the abilities for researchers to make apt comparisons between humans and all nonhuman primates. This study sought to investigate whether tufted capuchins (Cebus [Sapajus] apella) have the capability to measure time …