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Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part Xiv. Hottentotta Somalicus Sp. N. (Buthidae) From Somalia, František Kovařík

Euscorpius

Hottentotta somalicus sp. n. from Somalia is described and fully complemented with color photos. Morphologically it is similar to H. polystictus (Pocock, 1896). These two species have very narrow metasomal segments (1.63–1.73 in both sexes versus 1.31–1.61 in both sexes of other Hottentotta species from the Horn of Africa). H. polystictus and H. somalicus sp. n. occur in separate areas (Somaliland versus Somalia) and can be differentiated by color.

Advancing Behavioural Genomics By Considering Timescale, Clare C. Rittschof, Kimberly A. Hughes

Entomology Faculty Publications

Animal behavioural traits often covary with gene expression, pointing towards a genomic constraint on organismal responses to environmental cues. This pattern highlights a gap in our understanding of the time course of environmentally responsive gene expression, and moreover, how these dynamics are regulated. Advances in behavioural genomics explore how gene expression dynamics are correlated with behavioural traits that range from stable to highly labile. We consider the idea that certain genomic regulatory mechanisms may predict the timescale of an environmental effect on behaviour. This temporally minded approach could inform both organismal and evolutionary questions ranging from the remediation of early …

Authors And Editors Assort On Gender And Geography In High-Rank Ecological Publications, Kezia R. Manlove, Rebecca M. Belou

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Peer-reviewed publication volume and caliber are widely-recognized proxies for academic merit, and a strong publication record is essential for academic success and advancement. However, recent work suggests that publication productivity for particular author groups may also be determined in part by implicit biases lurking in the publication pipeline. Here, we explore patterns of gender, geography, and institutional rank among authors, editorial board members, and handling editors in high-impact ecological publications during 2015 and 2016. A higher proportion of lead authors had female first names (33.9%) than editorial board members (28.9%), and the proportion of female first names among handling editors …

Revision Of The Mesobuthus Caucasicus Complex From Central Asia, With Descriptions Of Six New Species (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Victor Fet, František Kovařík, Benjamin Gantenbein, Ronald C. Kaiser, Alexander K. Stewart, Matthew R. Graham

Euscorpius

A widespread Mesobuthus caucasicus complex, which includes some of the most common scorpions found from the Caucasus to China, is revised for the first time based on new extensive collections from Central Asia, using both morphological and DNA marker data. Mesobuthus caucasicus (Nordmann, 1840), s.str. is restricted to the Caucasus Mts. Four taxa are elevated to species rank: M. fuscus (Birula, 1897) (Tajikistan), M. intermedius (Birula, 1897) (Tajikistan), M. kaznakovi (Birula, 1904) (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), and M. parthorum (Pocock, 1889) (Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan). Six new species are described: M. brutus sp. n. (Iran), M. elenae sp. n. (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), M. gorelovi …

Biology Of Bees And Pollination Ecology Ent 388, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Stabilization Of Lead (Pb) And Zinc (Zn) In Contaminated Rice Paddy Soil Using Starfish: A Preliminary Study, Deok Hyun Moon, Inseong Hwang, Agamemnon Koutsospyros, Kyung Hoon Cheong, Yong Sik Ok, Won Hyun Ji, Jeong Hun Park

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) contaminated rice paddy soil was stabilized using natural (NSF) and calcined starfish (CSF). Contaminated soil was treated with NSF in the range of 0-10 wt.% and CSF in the range of 0-5 wt.% and cured for 28 days. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test was used to evaluate effectiveness of starfish treatment. Scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analyses were conducted to investigate the mechanism responsible for effective immobilization of Pb and Zn. Experimental results suggest that NSF and CSF treatments effectively immobilize Pb and Zn in treated rice paddy soil. TCLP levels for …

The Wolf Is Back By Robert Priest, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Review of Robert Priest's The Wolf is Back.

Manuscript Preparation Rules And Guidelines, February 2018

Insecta Mundi

Insecta Mundi is an ongoing experiment in publishing. Our goal is to produce taxonomic publications that are free for authors (no page charges) and openly accessible for users (see Skelley and Thomas 2007). To accomplish this, we require the participation of authors in the publication process. Authors are required to make their manuscripts publishable by our standards prior to submission. Authors unwilling or unable to follow the guidelines should ask friends for help or consider paying to have their article published in journals which charge for the services.

The purposes for these rules and guidelines are to ensure consistency in …

The Groundwater Crisis, Austin Shwatal '20, Ethan Tse '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

What is Groundwater? Groundwater is simply any water that is found in underground permeable rock layers known as aquifers

Industrial Impact, Sravani Ponnaluri '20, Emily Gonda '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

Industries burn fossil fuels to create goods which releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. CO2 contributes to 20% of the world's greenhouse effect, and the level of it in the atmosphere has increased to over 400 ppm when before the French Revolution it fluctuated between 180-280 ppm (NASA, 2016). The coal industry is a big contributor as it contributes to 35% of the total U.S. energy related CO2 emissions (EIA, 2017). This all leads to global warming, which causes rising sea levels, longer plant growing seasons, and an increase in forest fires (NASA).

Threats To Ocean Biodiversity, Allia Lin '20, Grace Wulffraat '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

Overfishing

Taking fish out of the ocean faster than their populations can be naturally replenished

Coastal Waters, Alison Deng '20, Winny Liu '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

Coastal water, specifically coastal erosion, has been a growing problem due to human impact.

Influence Of Damming On Anuran Species Richness In Riparian Areas: A Test Of The Serial Discontinuity Concept, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Evan A. Eskew, Brian J. Halstead, Steve J. Price

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Almost all large rivers worldwide are fragmented by dams, and their impacts have been modeled using the serial discontinuity concept (SDC), a series of predictions regarding responses of key biotic and abiotic variables. We evaluated the effects of damming on anuran communities along a 245‐km river corridor by conducting repeated, time‐constrained anuran calling surveys at 42 locations along the Broad and Pacolet Rivers in South Carolina, USA. Using a hierarchical Bayesian analysis, we test the biodiversity prediction of the SDC (modified for floodplain rivers) by evaluating anuran occupancy and species diversity relative to dams and degree of urbanized land use. …

Global Climate Change: Changing Weather Patterns, Janna Jann '20, Sabrina Meng '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

You can take action to combat global climate change! Here are some starting points:

• Use heating only when necessary
• Reduce energy consumption
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
• Use resources wisely!

Agricultural Practices Destroying The Environment, Ayan Mallik '20, Ethan Talreja '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

• 50% of the world's habitable land has been converted for farming (Farming: Habitat Conversion, 2017)
• Indonesia rain forests have been cleared for the construction of palm oil plantations
• This threatens the habitats of endangered species such as the Asian elephant

Effects Of Agriculture, Riley Brutto '20, Maddy Chow '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

Due to a lack of education among their population, many Brazilians turn to agriculture as a way to provide for themselves and their families. Additionally, low labor costs draw in large commercial companies that establish business in these developing worlds. However, to obtain farmland in the first place, deforestation has become a common practice, where thousands of miles of lush jungles are cleared away for agricultural practices. According to NASA imaging, 224,000 square miles of rainforest have been cleared in the Amazon. If left unchecked, the drastic consequences could harm not only the countries practicing deforestation, but the entire earth.

Coastal Erosion And Flooding, Arohi Singh '20, Neha Maddali '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

The effects of human activities on our coasts.

Waste Management, Rachel Moreno '20, Alana Depaz '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

"Human society sustains itself by transforming nature into garbage."

~Mason Cooley

Solution & Effects Of Agricultural Practices, Ryan Talusan '20, Caitlyn Castillo '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

A potential solution of vertical farming

• PROFITABLE
• SCALABLE
• YEAR-ROUND

Urbanization In India: An Obituary, Meghana Karan '20, Shruti Shakthivel '20

UN Sustainable Development Goals Infographics

India is urbanizing very rapidly due to the movement of people from rural areas to urban cities for better opportunities. India does not have the resources or money to back this rapid urbanization of the population in general. This urbanization has created many environmental problems with air and water pollution.

Social Influences On Songbird Behavior: From Song Learning To Motion Coordination, Iva Ljubičić

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social animals learn during development how to integrate successfully into their group. How do social interactions combine to maintain group cohesion? We first review how social environments can influence the development of vocal learners, such as songbirds and humans (Chapter 1). To bypass the complexity of natural social interactions and gain experimental control, we developed Virtual Social Environments, surrounding the bird with videos of manipulated playbacks. This way we were able to design sensory and social scenarios and test how social zebra finches adjust their behavior (Chapters 2 & 3). A serious challenge is that the color output of a …

Mute Swans, David R. Marks

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

Mute swans (Cygnus olor) are an invasive species originally brought to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for ornamental ponds and lakes, zoos and aviculture collections. Original populations were located in northeastern states along the Hudson Valley but have since expanded to several Midwestern states and portions of the western U.S. and Canada. Mute swan damage includes competing with native waterfowl, destroying native plants, spreading disease, and colliding with aircraft. They are also considered a nuisance in some areas due to their abundant fecal droppings and aggressiveness towards people.

Mute swans can impact …

Convergent Evolution Of Biochemical Innovations In Polychaetes: Characterizing The Molecular Basis Of Bioluminescence And Venom Production, Aida E. Verdes Gorín

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The convergent evolution of phenotypic traits is a widespread phenomenon across the tree of life and is explained as the outcome of different taxa facing similar selective forces or environmental conditions. A longstanding question in evolutionary biology is whether the evolution of convergent phenotypes in unrelated lineages is driven by similar or different molecular processes. The research presented here investigates this question by characterizing the molecular basis of two biochemical innovations, bioluminescence and venom production, that have evolved independently in different lineages of polychaetes worms (Annelida). We use an integrative approach, combining next-generation sequencing, phylogenetics and computational tools to evaluate …

Eight-Legged Encounters—Arachnids, Volunteers, And Art Help To Bridge The Gap Between Informal And Formal Science Learning, Eileen Hebets, Melissa Welch-Lazoritz, Pawl Tisdale, Patricia Wonch Hill

Eileen Hebets Publications

Increased integration and synergy between formal and informal learning environments is proposed to provide multiple benefits to science learners. In an effort to better bridge these two learning contexts, we developed an educational model that employs the charismatic nature of arachnids to engage the public of all ages in science learning; learning that aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas associated with Biodiversity and Evolution). We created, implemented, and evaluated a family-focused, interactive science event—Eight-Legged Encounters (ELE)—which encompasses more than twenty modular activities. Volunteers facilitated participant involvement at each activity station and original …

New Classification Of The Dictyostelids, Sanea Sheikh, Mats Thulin, James C. Cavender, Ricardo Escalante, Shin-Ichi Kawakami, Carlos Lado, John C. Landolt, Vidyanand Nanjundiah, David C. Queller, Joan E. Strassmann, Frederick W. Spiegel, Steven L. Stephenson, Eduardo M. Vadell, Sandra L. Baldauf

Biology Faculty Research

Traditional morphology-based taxonomy of dictyostelids is rejected by molecular phylogeny. A new classification is presented based on monophyletic entities with consistent and strong molecular phylogenetic support and that are, as far as possible, morphologically recognizable. All newly named clades are diagnosed with small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) sequence signatures plus morphological synapomorphies where possible. The two major molecular clades are given the rank of order, as Acytosteliales ord. nov. and Dictyosteliales. The two major clades within each of these orders are recognized and given the rank of family as, respectively, Acytosteliaceae and Cavenderiaceae fam. nov. in Acytosteliales, and Dictyosteliaceae …

Chronicles Of Hypoxia: Time-Series Buoy Observations Reveal Annually Recurring Seasonal Basin-Wide Hypoxia In Muskegon Lake – A Great Lakes Estuary, Bopaiah Biddanda, Anthony D. Weinke, Scott T. Kendall, Leon C. Gereaux, Thomas M. Holcomb, Michael J. Snider, Deborah K. Dila, Stephen A. Long, Chris Vandenberg, Katie Knapp, Dirk J. Koopmans, Kurt Thompson, Janet H. Vail, Mary E. Ogdahl, Qianqian Liu, Thomas H. Johengen, Eric J. Anderson, Steven A. Ruberg

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

We chronicled the seasonally recurring hypolimnetic hypoxia in Muskegon Lake – a Great Lakes estuary over 3 years, and examined its causes and consequences. Muskegon Lake is a mesotrophic drowned river mouth that drains Michigan's 2nd largest watershed into Lake Michigan. A buoy observatory tracked ecosystem changes in the Muskegon Lake Area of Concern (AOC), gathering vital time-series data on the lake's water quality from early summer through late fall from 2011 to 2013 (www.gvsu.edu/buoy). Observatory-based measurements of dissolved oxygen (DO) tracked the gradual development, intensification and breakdown of hypoxia (mild hypoxia b4 mg DO/L, and severe hypoxia b2 mg …

A Model Species For Agricultural Pest Genomics: The Genome Of The Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa Decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Sean D. Schoville, Yolanda H. Chen, Martin N. Andersson, Joshua B. Benoit, Anita Bhandari, Julia H. Bowsher, Kristian Brevik, Kaat Cappelle, Mei-Ju M. Chen, Anna K. Childers, Christopher Childers, Olivier Christiaens, Justin Clements, Elise M. Didion, Elena N. Elpidina, Patamarerk Engsontia, Markus Friedrich, Inmaculada García-Robles, Richard A. Gibbs, Chandan Goswami, Alessandro Grapputo, Kristina Gruden, Marcin Grynberg, Bernard Henrissat, Emily C. Jennings, Jeffery W. Jones, Megha Kalsi, Sher A. Khan, Abhishek Kumar, Fei Li, Vincent Lombard, Subba Reddy Palli, June-Sun Yoon

Entomology Faculty Publications

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome and …

Preventing Introductions To Sustain Healthy Ecosystems: Establish Eradication Protocols For A Popular Aquarium Seaweed, Julie Deslauriers

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Aquarium release, a vector that introduces non-native species, recently caused the costly invasion of the green macroalga (seaweed) Caulerpa taxifolia along the Californian, Mediterranean, and Australian coasts. C. taxifolia was classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as one of the world's 100 worst invasive species and cost California over $7 million to control with black tarps and chlorine bleach. Since the incident, educational efforts at conferences and conventions have influenced more than 50% of surveyed hobbyists to switch to another green macroalga, Chaetomorpha, as their primary alga in their saltwater tanks. C. taxifolia and Chaetomorpha …

The Impact Of Crown Conch On Intertidal Oyster Populations In Mosquito Lagoon, Casey Craig, Courtney Buck, Chelsea Landau, Jordan Filipponi

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Commercial oyster harvesters in Florida have long complained that the Florida crown conch Melongena coronais in competition with them for harvestable-sized eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Harvesters also suggest that crown conch, rather than overharvesting, has led to a large decline in oyster populations. To determine the role of M. corona on oysters in Mosquito Lagoon, we must first better understand the biology and ecology of M. corona., and to comprehend crown conch biology in Mosquito Lagoon along the east coast of central Florida, we conducted a three-part experiment in Canaveral National Seashore (northern Mosquito Lagoon). Specifically, …

Determining Tidal Elevations In Dry Elements Within A Coastal Salt Marsh Model, Martin Coleman

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

An integrated hydrodynamic/marsh biomass model is a useful tool for analyzing multiple hydrologic activities on a shoreline. A key component of this type of model is the location of local tidal elevations. During astronomic tide simulations, nodes in the finite element mesh are either wet or dry. At nodes that are continuously wet during the simulation, tidal elevations are computed from ADCIRC-2DDI (ADvanced CIRCulation) output. In areas that are intermittently wetted, tidal constituents cannot be determined using ADCIRC because the drying of nodes leaves a gap in the water-level time series. The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation method can be …