Digital Commons Network^™

Oliver Ranch Science School Complex & Wild Horse And Burro Facility: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2004, Margaret N. Rees

Oliver Ranch Project

Assist in project coordination between numerous stakeholders such as the Clark County School System, Desert Research Institute, Community College of Southern Nevada, UNR Cooperative Extension, Nevada State College, local museums, state parks, non-profit organizations, federal agencies, and the public to ensure appropriate educational curricular activities and venues are provided for in the conceptual design of the School and the Wild Horse and Burro facility where appropriate as well as assist in the NEPA process as needed. The activities will be conducted at least in part by university faculty, staff and students as part of the university’s research, teaching, and service …

Dietary Patterns And Prostate Cancer Risk In The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiological Follow-Up Study Cohort, Marilyn Tseng, Rosalind A. Breslow, Robert F. Devillis, Regina G. Ziegler

Kinesiology and Public Health

Ecological studies implicate a “Western” diet in prostate cancer development, but whether dietary patterns measured in individuals are associated with risk has not been studied previously. We examined this issue using prospective data from the nationally representative United States Health Examination Epidemiological Follow-up Study. Among 3,779 men followed from 1982– 84 to 1992, 136 incident cases were identified. Using principal component analysis on responses to a 105-item dietary questionnaire, the following three distinct patterns were identified: a vegetable-fruit pattern; a red meat-starch pattern characterized by red meats, potatoes, cheese, salty snacks, and desserts; and a Southern pattern characterized by such …

Morphological, Anatomical And Ecological Studies On Tulipa Armena Boiss. Var. Lycica (Baker) Marais (Liliaceae), Ati̇la Ocak, Sevi̇m Alan, Ebru Ataşlar

Turkish Journal of Botany

This study presents investigations into the morphological, anatomical and ecological features of Tulipa armena Boiss. var. lycica (Baker) Marais. T. armena var. lycica, an endemic species which was collected from the Eskişehir, Alpu-Bozan plantation area and from Kunduzlar Dam and its environs. The species is a new record for Eskişehir. For morphological studies a description and illustrations of T. armena var. lycica are given. The morphological differences were compared with the Flora of Turkey. For anatomical studies, cross-sections of the root, stem and leaves and surface sections of the leaves of T. armena var. lycica are investigated for the first …

The Effects Of Habitat Resolution On Models Of Avian Diversity And Distributions: A Comparison Of Two Land-Cover Classifications, Joshua Lawler, Raymond O'Connor, Carolyn Hunsaker, K. Bruce Jones, Thomas Loveland, Denis White

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Quantifying patterns is a key element of landscape analysis. One aspect of this quantification of particular importance to landscape ecologists is the classification of continuous variables to produce categorical variables such as land-cover type or elevation stratum. Although landscape ecologists are fully aware of the importance of spatial resolution in ecological investigations, the potential importance of the resolution of classifications has received little attention. Here we demonstrate the effects of using two different land-cover classifications to predict avian species richness and the occurrences of six individual species across the conterminous United States. We compared models built with a data set …

Comparison Of Harvested And Nonharvested Painted Turtle Populations, Tony Gamble, Andrew M. Simons

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) are commercially harvested in large numbers in Minnesota for sale to biological supply companies and the pet trade. We investigated the possible effects of this harvest by comparing size, demography, and catch rates of painted turtles in 12 harvested and 10 nonharvested painted turtle populations in 2001 and 2002. We correlated turtle catch rates to harvest status, and harvested lakes had a lower catch-per-unit-effort than nonharvested lakes. Harvest had minimal effect on the size of turtles captured, and we found no significant differences in the count of male:female:juvenile turtles among lakes of different harvest …

Oliver Ranch Science School Complex & Wild Horse And Burro Facility: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2004, Margaret N. Rees

Oliver Ranch Project

Assist in project coordination between numerous stakeholders such as the Clark County School System, Desert Research Institute, Community College of Southern Nevada, UNR Cooperative Extension, Nevada State College, local museums, state parks, non-profit organizations, federal agencies, and the public to ensure appropriate educational curricular activities and venues are provided for in the conceptual design of the School and the Wild Horse and Burro facility where appropriate as well as assist in the NEPA process as needed. The activities will be conducted at least in part by university faculty, staff and students as part of the university’s research, teaching, and service …

Genetic Diversity And Structure Of The Fisher (Martes Pennanti) In A Peninsular And Peripheral Metapopulation, Samantha M. Wisely, Steven W. Buskirk, Gregory A. Russell, Keith B. Aubry, William J. Zielinsky

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Evolutionary processes can be strongly affected by landscape features. In vagile carnivores that disperse widely, however, genetic structure has been found to be minimal. Using microsatellite DNA primers developed for other mustelids, we found that populations of a vagile forest carnivore, the fisher (Martes pennanti), exhibit high genetic structure (F_ST = 0.45, SE = 0.07) and limited gene flow (Nm < 1) within a .1,600-km narrow strip of forested habitat; that genetic diversity decreases from core to periphery; and that populations do not show an equilibrium pattern of isolation-by-distance. Genetic structure was greater at the periphery than at the core of the distribution and our data fit a 1-dimensional model of stepping-stone range expansion. Multiple lines of paleontological and genetic evidence suggest that the fisher recently (<5,000 years ago) expanded into the mountain forests of the Pacific coast. The reduced dimensionality of the distribution of the fisher in western coastal forests appears to have contributed to the high levels of structure and decreasing diversity from north to south. These effects were likely exacerbated by human-caused changes to the environment. The low genetic diversity and high genetic structure of populations in the southern Sierra Nevada suggest that populations in this part of the geographic range are vulnerable to extinction.

Predicting Predation Efficiency Of Biocontrol Agents: Linking Behavior Of Individuals And Population Dynamics, Brigitte Tenhumberg

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Behavioral ecology and population ecology are two separate branches of ecology; studies linking the effect of individual behavior and population dynamics are rare. This paper connects a stochastic optimal foraging model of insect predators with an age structured population model of its prey. I modeled syrphid larvae feeding on cereal aphids, an interaction critical to cereal crops in Germany. The key stochastic element in this model is the foraging success of predators, which influences survival and developmental time of predators and mortality of the prey population. The model predicts that the level of control incurred by predators is highest if …

The Double-Edged Sword Of Biological Control In Conservation And Restoration, Svata M. Louda, Peter Stiling

Svata M. Louda Publications

The most fundamental question in considering deliberate introductions of exotic species against invasive species is whether the outcomes can be predicted precisely enough a priori to know with some certainty that the benefits will outweigh the environmental costs. This issue is obscured by reiteration of an overly simplistic description of the ecology underlying biological control. Classical biological control is not a simple exercise in “community re-assemblage” (Hoddle 2004); it involves the introduction of alien organisms into new species assemblages, in new physical environments, and without the rest of their foodweb. Predicting the outcome of such introductions is infinitely more complex …

Mark–Recapture And Behavioral Ecology: A Case Study Of Cliff Swallows, C. R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Mark–recapture and behavioral ecology: a case study of Cliff Swallows.— Mark–recapture and the statistical analysis methods associated with it offer great potential for investigating fitness components associated with particular behavioral traits. However, few behavioral ecologists have used these techniques. We illustrate the insights that have come from a long–term mark–recapture study of social behavior in Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). The number of transient swallows passing through a colony per hour increased with colony size and was responsible in part for increased rates of ectoparasite introduction from outside the group into the larger colonies. Annual survival probabilities of …

Great Bay Coast Watch: A Citizen Water Monitoring Program Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Manual, 2004, B Sharon Meeker, Ann S. Reid, Jeff Schloss, Anita Hayden, Amber Perkins, Steve Cooper

PREP Reports & Publications

The Great Bay Coast Watch is citizen volunteers, working within the UNH Cooperative Extension/NH Sea Grant Program, protecting the long-term health and natural resources of New Hampshire’s coastal waters and estuarine systems through monitoring and education projects.

The purpose of this document is to present step-by-step instructions for conducting water quality testing in support of the Great Bay Coast Watch (GBCW).

Third International Galliformes Symposium 2004 (April 5-10, 2004, Dehradun, India): Abstracts, World Pheasant Association, India Ministry Of Environment And Forests, British High Commission

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Conference Proceedings

Abstracts

Strategy for Conservation of Pheasants in Himachal Pradesh, India, A. K. Gulati

An overview of Galliformes Conservation in Sikkim, India, T. R. Sharma

Distribution, status and conservation Galliformes in north east India, Anwaruddin Choudhury

Status of Galliformes in Pakistan and prioritising conservation areas, Rab Nawaz

The status and conservation needs of Nepal 's Galliformes, HemSagar Baral

Status of Galliformes in Bhutan, Rebecca Pradhan

Status and conservation of the Galliformes of Bangladesh, M. Sohrab Uddin Sarker

Galliformes of Sri Lanka: Status and conservation needs, Charles Santiapillai and S. Wijeyamchan

A strategy for the conservation of Galliformes of South Asia, Rahul …

Trophic Comparison Of Two Species Of Needlefish (Belonidae) In The Alvarado Lagoonal System, Veracruz, Mexico, Daniel Arceo-Carranza, Jonathan Franco-Lopez, Gretchen L. Waggy, Rafael Chavez-Lopez

Gulf and Caribbean Research

We compared the diets of Atlantic needlefish, Strongylura marina, and redfin needlefish, Strongylura notata, in the Alvarado lagoonal system, Veracruz, Mexico, and analyzed diet breadth and trophic overlap between the species. All fishes were collected monthly from June 2000 to July 2001 at twelve sampling stations. A total of 74 intestinal tracts from S. marina were analyzed. The diet of S. marina consisted of 25 prey types with fish being the dominate prey. In eighty-nine digestive tracts examined from S. notata, the diet consisted of 29 prey types with the dominant prey including fishes, penaeid shrimp, polychaetes, …

Reproductive Structures And Early Life History Of The Gulf Toadfish, Opsanus Beta, In The Tecolutla Estuary, Veracruz, Mexico, Alfredo Gallardo-Torres, Jose Antonio Martinez-Perez, Brian J. Lezina

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Although the Gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta, is an abundant member of the nearshore Gulf of Mexico ichthyofaunal assemblage, little information exists regarding the ecology of the species, especially for southern Gulf of Mexico populations. We added to the existing knowledge of this species by describing the reproductive structures and examining the early life history of this species in the Tecolutla estuary, Mexico. Macro- and microscopic examination of 7 males showed spermatogenesis to be similar to other teleost species except for the occurrence of biflagellate spermatozoa. Histological examination of the male accessory gland showed 3 tissue layers, but their functions …

Summer Activity Of Small Snakes In Four Habitats In Northwestern Missouri, L. D. Johnson, Geoffrey R. Smith, Jessica E. Rettig

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Farm Dams As Refugia For Aquatic Invertebrates In A Salinised Landscape, South Western Australia, Jean-Michel Benier

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In a salinised landscape farm dams may represent the last truly freshwater surface resource, and therefore provide refuge habitats for the biota of wetlands affected by increasing salinity. One wetland threatened by increased salinity in south-west Western Australia is Lake Toolibin. It is listed as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in recognition of its high conservation value, and remediation actions to halt (and possibly reverse) further increases in salinity are being undertaken at this wetland. Farm dams act as aquatic refugia if they convey resistance and/or resilience to the biotic communities of a disturbed habitat. This …

Faunal Succession Of Necrophilous Insects Associated With High-Pofile Wildlife Carcasses In Louisiana, Erin Jean Grindley Watson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The same entomological criteria used in estimating time of death for humans are applicable for deceased wildlife. Necrophilous insects associated with animal carcasses can provide wildlife law enforcement with valuable information necessary for postmortem interval estimation, and ultimately, to incriminate poachers. The purpose of this research was twofold: to establish species composition, faunal succession patterns, and species and life stage interactions of necrophilous insects associated with three wildlife species; and to identify new methods of evaluating succession patterns using statistical measures. Twenty-one large vertebrate carcasses were monitored throughout decomposition in a mixed flatwood forest in East Baton Rouge Parish, LA …

Novel Object Test: Examining Nociception And Fear In The Rainbow Trout, Lynne U. Sneddon, Victoria A. Braithwaite, Michael J. Gentle

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

This study aimed to assess fear responses to a novel object while experiencing a noxious event to determine whether nociception or fear will dominate attention in a fish in novel object testing paradigm. This experimentally tractable animal model was used to investigate (1) the degree of neophobia to a novel object while experiencing noxious stimulation, (2) the response of the fish after removing the fear-causing event by using a familiar object, and (3) the effects of removing the nociceptive response by morphine administration and examining the response to a novel object. Control animals displayed a classic fear response to the …

Predicting Fish Species Diversity In Lotic Freshwaters Of Greece, Eugene G. Maurakis, David V. Grimes

Virginia Journal of Science

Objectives were to test the hypothesis that stream order and stream width alone account for species diversity in drainages of Greece, and to create a mathematical model that predicts fish diversity in small and medium sized freshwater streams in the southern Balkan Peninsula in accord with the stream classification system proposed by the European Environmental Agency (EEA). Thirty-seven species of fishes in 12 families (Petromyzontidae, Anguillidae, Cyprinidae, Moronidae, Centrarchidae, and Blenniidae) were collected in five stream orders (1-5) from 19 river drainages in Greece in 1993 and from 2000-2002. Numbers of species were significantly correlated with stream order (+), width …

Identification Key To Fishes In Fresh Waters Of Greece, Eugene G. Maurakis, Panos S. Economidis

Virginia Journal of Science

The European Environmental Agency formulated a biodiversity initiative in 1996 specifying a freshwater stream-monitoring program to inventory, identify and describe aquatic and terrestrial species in European Union countries. With one of the richest freshwater ichthyofaunas in Europe (126 fish taxa: 97 species and 29 subspecies of primary or secondary freshwater fishes), Greece has two extinct fish species, five listed as critically endangered, and 29 considered endangered and/or vulnerable. There are, however, no published identification guides that are available for identifying fish specimens from fresh waters in Greece. We present an English translation of the only available identification key (in Greek) …

Draft Plan Of Management For The Proposed Point Quobba Fish Habitat Protection Area., Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

Point Quobba is a popular site for locals and tourists for beach activities, fishing and snorkelling, and as a place for children to learn to swim and gain an awareness of the marine environment. The marine life and habitats of the area are of considerable scientific and recreational interest and are highly valued in the local community. However, they are at risk from their high level of use and from conflict between users due to their proximity to popular tourism, boat ramp, camping and settlement areas on-shore.

Plan Of Management For The Miaboolya Beach Fish Habitat Protection Area, Shane Alymore, Sarah Anderson

Fisheries Management Papers

The aim of this 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 has established a framework to promote and actively conserve all the habitats within the Miaboolya system, as described in Section 3 of this document.

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 2 - Towards An Assessment Of Natural And Human Use Impacts On The Marine Environment Of The Abrolhos Islands (Phase 1 : Data Consolidation And Scoping - Final Report For Frdc Project 2000/1 66), C. F. Chubb, K. Nardi

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

This project has drawn together existing research data relating to natural and human impacts on the Abrolhos Islands marine habitats. It has surveyed current uses of these habitats and placed anthropogenic impacts within the context of natural perturbations. Through public forum presentation and debate, this work has allowed real issues, not perceptions, to surface and be addressed properly. This was achieved by defining a strategic programme of research through a scientific workshop process involving all community stakeholders. A two volume Fisheries Research Report (WA) summarizes current knowledge and details the workshop proceedings and strategic research plan.

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.

Species Pairwise Associations Over Nine Years Of Secondary Succession: Assessing Alternative Explanations And Successional Mechanisms, Lara R. Rozzell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The importance and mechanisms of species interactions are undetermined in most successional systems. I used correlations and null modeling to detect pairwise species associations between 33 plant species in the first nine years of secondary succession after logging and burning in a western Oregon Cascade forest. I tested for correlations between each species and soil nutrients, nonvegetative ground cover, and surrounding vegetation. More positive than negative associations were found at all sampling times. The proportion of positive associations decreased and negative associations increased through time. Up to 42% of associations at a sampling time were explicable by shared positive correlations …

Optimization Of Single-Base-Pair Mismatch Discrimination In Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Hidetoshi Urakawa, Said El Fantroussi, H Smidt, James C. Smoot, Erik H. Tribou, John J. Kelly, Peter A. Noble, David A. Stahl

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The discrimination between perfect-match and single-base-pair-mismatched nucleic acid duplexes was investigated by using oligonucleotide DNA microarrays and nonequilibrium dissociation rates (melting profiles). DNA and RNA versions of two synthetic targets corresponding to the 16S rRNA sequences of Staphylococcus epidermidis (38 nucleotides) and Nitrosomonas eutropha (39 nucleotides) were hybridized to perfect-match probes (18-mer and 19-mer) and to a set of probes having all possible single-base-pair mismatches. The melting profiles of all probe-target duplexes were determined in parallel by using an imposed temperature step gradient. We derived an optimum wash temperature for each probe and target by using a simple formula to …

The Ecology Of New World Rodent Borne Hemorrhagic Fevers, Darin S. Carroll, Emily Jentes, James N. Mills

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Few, if any, human settlements are free of peridomestic rodent populations. The threat of rodent borne zoonotic diseases has been widely recognized since the bubonic plague outbreaks of the Middle Ages. In the last decades, outbreaks of human disease caused by the rodent borne hemorrhagic fever viruses, the arenaviruses (family Arenaviridae), and the hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae, genus Hantavirus) have again generated interest in the general public and scientific community regarding the biology of these types of diseases. Recent studies have identified more than 30 new members of these two groups of viruses. Most are associated with rodents in the family …

The Bold And The Shy: Individual Differences In Rainbow Trout, L. U. Sneddon

Aquaculture Collection

Boldness and shyness were investigated as ‘personality’ traits in hatchery-reared rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Bold fish spent more time in an open area and were more active than shy fish and these behaviours could be used as indicators of boldness and shyness. These differences were related to learning ability in a simple conditioning task. Bold fish learned the task more quickly than shy fish.

Direct Profiling Of Environmental Microbial Populations By Thermal Dissociation Analysis Of Native Rrnas Hybridized To Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Said El Fantroussi, Hidetoshi Urakawa, Anne E. Bernhard, John J. Kelly, Peter A. Noble, H Smidt, G M. Yershov, David A. Stahl

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Oligonucleotide microarrays were used to profile directly extracted rRNA from environmental microbial populations without PCR amplification. In our initial inspection of two distinct estuarine study sites, the hybridization patterns were reproducible and varied between estuarine sediments of differing salinities. The determination of a thermal dissociation curve (i.e., melting profile) for each probe-target duplex provided information on hybridization specificity, which is essential for confirming adequate discrimination between target and nontarget sequences.

Biology And Ecologyof Epigean Crayfish That Inhabit Everglades Environments Procambarus Alleni (Faxon) And Procambarus Fallax (Hagen), Peggy G. Vanarman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Two species of epigean crayfish, Procambarus alleni (the Everglades crayfish) and Procambarus fallax (slough crayfish), may be keystone species that inhabit wetlands in south Florida and the Everglades. Recent field studies showed that although these two species occur in sympatric and syntopic distribution, Everglades crayfish prefer shallow water and short hydroperiod conditions, whereas slough crayfish prefer areas that are more permanently flooded (Hendrix 2000). Slough crayfish have invaded some areas within the range occupied by Everglades crayfish, and may be the more successful competitor. Because of their critical role throughout the trophic structure of Everglades wetlands, shifts in relative abundance …