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From Flight To Hatching: Adult Sexual Dimorphism, Life History, And Egg-Stage Ecology Of Pseudocotalpa Giulianii, Mandylene Mountain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Nevada endemic dune beetle Pseudocotalpa giulianii is currently known only from two dune systems in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, yet much of its life cycle occurs below the sand surface and remains poorly documented. This thesis addresses key gaps in adult-stage biology and egg-stage development that are relevant to understanding reproduction, vulnerability, and habitat requirements in this dunerestricted species.

To characterize adult sexual dimorphism and life history, I quantified morphological differences between males and females and measured sex-specific adult survival under laboratory conditions relative to the aboveground flight season. Males and females overlapped broadly in external body size, but tarsal …

Thermal Physiological Ecology Of The Relict Leopard Frog At Hot And Cold Springs, Robert P. Pelletier Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The relict leopard frog (Rana onca) once ranged across drainages in southern Nevada, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Utah. Following a decline, the species only persisted in a few geothermally influenced hot springs, which led to the perspective that hot springs were high-quality habitat. Rana onca has been under intensive, multiagency management and the species has been translocated to establish additional populations, including at cold-water sites. Three research studies are presented into the thermal physiological ecology of R. onca with the aim of informing conservation strategy. The research was focused at a thermally influenced hot spring and a cold-water spring to …

Phase-Preserving Machine Learning Forecasting Of Nonlinear Predator–Prey Dynamics, Saira Batool, Muhammad Imran, Brett Mckinney

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

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

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

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

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

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

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

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, Habitat, And Fish Assemblages Associated With The Rocky Shriner 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

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.

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 …

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 …

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

Euscorpius

No abstract provided.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 …

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 …

Polydactyl Precursors: Insights Into Early Tetrapod Locomotion From Polydactyl American Alligators, Trevor P. Brewington

All Theses

Several of the earliest tetrapod lineages exhibited polydactyl limbs, with seven or eight digits per limb rather than the typical five or fewer seen in extant lineages. How these digit configurations might have been used during terrestrial locomotion is unclear, given the lack of living models in which their performance can be studied and limited evidence from fossil trackways. However, polydactyly occasionally appears in natural populations of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), animals with body plans that broadly resemble those of early tetrapods. To test how polydactyl limbs similar to those of early tetrapods might have functioned on land, …

A Series Of Investigations On The L. Cornutus Host System And Bivesiculid Sp. Cercariae, Briana K. Zaffiro

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Rising global temperatures are likely modulating parasite-host interactions, yet the direction and magnitude of these changes remain uncertain. Rarely are these interactions viewed from both a host and parasite perspective. Using both CT_max, or Critical Thermal Maximum, and Clark-type polarographic oxygen microelectrodes, the physiological metabolic effects are investigated. CT_max is examined in Common Shiners, Luxilis cornutus, and is shown to be modulated by parasitism: uninfected fish had the highest CT_max average of 37.0°C, whereas heavily infected fish had decreased CT_max averaging 35°C. Prior to the parasite metabolic investigation, a suitable medium was determined, as …

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 …

Shape Variation In The Mandible Of The Borophagine Canids And Implications For Predatory Behavior, Benjamin Neavear

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The borophagines are an extinct lineage of canids that inhabited North America for more than 20 million years. This group included genera such as Aelurodon, Borophagus, and Epicyon. Borophagines are commonly referred to as “bone-crushing dogs” because their skull morphology converged with that of extant hyenas, predators capable of consuming bone. The purpose of this study was to determine whether convergence was present in the mandible, an anatomical structure strongly correlated with feeding behavior, particularly in the genera Aelurodon and Borophagus. It was hypothesized that most borophagine taxa possessed mandibular shapes similar to those of hyenas. Numerous mandibular characters were …

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

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 …