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Life After Death – Does Carcass Biodiversity Scale With Carcass Body Size?, Troy Warfield

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mammals play a large role in the ecosystems where some, especially large-bodied mammals, act as ecosystem engineers. Mammal carcasses, particularly those of large body mass act as a temporary island of dense nutrients that support other organisms, including other mammal species, for an extended period. Research in this field currently focuses on the link between mammal carcass size and nutrient availably or on non-mammalian size and biodiversity, but little is available on the correlation between mammal carcass size and its influence on ecosystem biodiversity. Here we ask, does the available biomass (i.e., body size) of the carcass affect its role …

Seasonality Of Orthohantavirus Seroprevalence In Northwest Arkansas Rodents, Amy Schexnayder

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Zoonotic viruses are viruses that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Rodent species are likely to be reservoirs for zoonotic viruses, and particular rodent-borne viruses, such as orthohantaviruses, may greatly threaten human health. Orthohantaviruses are a group of rodent-borne viruses that are at risk for spillover to human populations. Many aspects of orthohantaviruses have been well-researched, yet the seasonality of orthohantaviruses has not yet been thoroughly examined, especially in the southern United States. In this study, we captured 616 rodents trapped over 5953 trap nights across 13 grassland sites in Northwest Arkansas. Rodents were trapped for two consecutive nights …

Incorporating Human Effects In Quantifying Mechanisms Of Stream Fish Community Structure Using Metacommunity Theory, Lauren E. Stoczynski

All Dissertations

Metacommunity theory incorporates local and regional factors to understand how biotic communities are structured across the landscape. Despite established knowledge of how humans impact aquatic systems, inclusion of anthropogenic factors in metacommunity studies have been largely ignored. Additionally, alpha, beta, and gamma diversity can all be explored at the metacommunity level to investigate mechanistic drivers of community structure. Beta diversity can be further partitioned into turnover and richness difference components, each with different mechanistic drivers. Streams provide an excellent study system for metacommunity research because of the dendritic structure of watersheds and the natural delineation that watershed boundaries provide. Large-extent …

The Impacts Of Holocene Climate And Pre-Columbian Humans On Neotropical Andean Forests, Rachel Kathleen Sales

Theses and Dissertations

Humid montane forests in the tropical Andes form hotspots for biodiversity, endemism, and conservation. Threats to the forests from deforestation are amplified by ongoing climate change, which could further reduce available habitat area by about 57 – 80%. These forests are known to have withstood considerable climate change in the past, and an emerging view suggests that they have also been shaped by a long interaction with people. Although climate-driven species range shifts are broadly known, questions remain about how past climate change has affected the species composition of these forests. The interaction of people with forests on the eastern …

Study Of Adaptive Radiation Effects On Sprint Performance In Anolis Ecomorphs, Alexander J. Bergeson

Honors Thesis

Anolis lizards have become model organisms for the study of adaptive radiation and convergent evolution due to repeated patterns of specialization that allow them to live in different environmental niches within the habitats they occur. As part of a suite of adaptations for living in specific habitats, many species have repeatedly evolved specific changes in anatomy and physiology that make them better able to perform and survive in their surroundings. These specialized forms are referred to as “ecomorphs” based on their preferred habitats and have been well documented among Caribbean anoles. Mainland species, on the other hand, are less studied. …

Detecting Ecosystem Response To Restoration Efforts With Implications For Recovery Of The Threatened June Sucker (Chasmistes Liorus) In A Shallow, Eutrophic, Utah Lake, Ryan D. Dillingham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Environmental damage associated with a growing human population will increase globally without active management. Restoration can promote ecosystem recovery, yet often fails to produce desired results and may require decades to achieve noticeable benefits. Detecting small, incremental change sis imperative in these difficult situations. Here, I demonstrate that restoration focused on fish removal triggers incremental responses in aquatic plants and animals. Removing common carp is expected to encourage recovery of aquatic plants, increasing animal habitat, resulting in more macroinvertebrates (e.g., aquatic insects, snails). Carp removal should also increase water clarity, improving visibility for fishes, thus increasing their ability to find …

Individual Trophic Niche Specialization In American Beaver (Castor Canadensis), Jimmy Taylor, Robert Francis, Scott Rush, Bronson Strickland, Guiming Wang

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The American beaver (Castor canadensis) has been described as a choosy generalist at the species/population scale, yet observational studies have shown little variation in diet among individuals. We compared isotopic values of δ¹³C or δ¹⁵N taken from hair of 32 beaver, representing seven colonies in northern Alabama, USA to determine 1) if colonies of beaver show overlap in isotopic niche width as a result of the similar use of food resources and 2) if individual trophic niche specialization occurs within colonies. Total Trophic Niche Width varied across the wetland with the widest being twice …

Spatial Scenery Of Congenital Syphilis In Brazil Between 2007 And 2018: An Ecological Study, Iaron Seabra, Glenda Roberta Oliveira Naiff Ferreira, William Sorensen, Carmem Oliveira, Andressa Tavares Parente, Elucir Gir, Renata Karina Reis, Rosangela Aparecida Pimenta Ferrari, Elia Botelho

Health & Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To analysis the epidemiological scenery of the congenital syphilis (CS) in Brazil employing spatial analysis techniques. Design: Ecological study. Settings: This study was conducted in Brazil Sample: A total of 151 601 CS cases notified to the Diseases and Notification Information System from 2007 to 2018 from children aged 0–23 months and born from mothers living in Brazil were included in this study. Primary outcome measures: The CS incidence rates were calculated by triad (2007–2010, 2011–2014 and 2015–2018) for all Brazilian municipalities following the Boxcox transformation to remove the discrepant values. The transformed rates were analysed through the spatial …

Families In The Sky: Investigating The Population Structure Of Pinus Longaeva, Samuel Arnold Decker

Theses and Dissertations

In the Western United States, the Great Basin is a geographic feature that is home to a variety of unique species, including Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva, PILO). P. longaeva is well known for the age of some of the trees, some of which are over 4000 years old. In this study 17 microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeat, SSR) are identified and used to genotype a selection of 480 individuals spread across 24 PILO populations and 60 individuals divided equally between 2 outgroup species, Pinus aristata and Pinus flexilis. One population of PILO, HMW, shows more genetic similarity with …

A Meta-Analysis Of Quantitative Collecting Techniques For Spiders, Eliana Eldridge, Joshua Hicks, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Quantitative sampling of organisms is often used to provide information in ecological studies, monitor populations, and aid in biodiversity projects. Many studies involve the quantitative sampling of spiders. In this meta-analysis study, 207 peer-reviewed journal articles formed the basis of an initial data set for a quantitative analysis of spider collection techniques. Data collected included country of study, mode of study, trapping techniques used, spider diversity, and number of specimens collected. Our meta-analysis gathered research articles that included 33 different countries of study. Trapping techniques greatly vary depending on the habitat in which spiders dwell. These were divided into aerial, …

The Microbial Nitrogen Cycling, Bacterial Community Composition, And Functional Potential In A Natural Grassland Are Stable From Breaking Dormancy To Being Dormant Again, Bikram Kumar Das, Satoshi Ishii, Linto Antony, Alexander Smart, Joy Scaria, Volker Brozel

Native Plant Focused Publications

The quantity of grass-root exudates varies by season, suggesting temporal shifts in soil microbial community composition and activity across a growing season. We hypothesized that bacterial community and nitrogen cycle-associated prokaryotic gene expressions shift across three phases of the growing season. To test this hypothesis, we quantified gene and transcript copy number of nitrogen fixation (nifH), ammonia oxidation (amoA, hao, nxrB), denitrification (narG, napA, nirK, nirS, norB, nosZ), dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (nrfA), and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (hzs, hdh) using the pre-optimized Nitrogen Cycle Evaluation (NiCE) chip. Bacterial community composition was characterized using V₃-V₄ of the …

The North ‘Helicoptering’ Into The South: A Meta-Analysis Of Parachute Science In Ecological Field Studies, Alexandros Economou-Garcia

Student Publications

Science is increasingly collaborative, but scientists from the Global North (GN) often fail to collaborate with local scientists or to build local scientific capacity when conducting research in the Global South (GS). This practice is known as “parachute science” or “helicopter science”. In addition to ethical concerns, this practice is problematic in the field of ecology because it may reduce the likelihood that the research will inform local resource management and science policy. I hypothesized that, because research has become increasingly collaborative, there would be a decline in parachute science over time. In addition, I hypothesized that papers that included …

A Starling In A Pear Tree: Assessing The Influence Of Bird Dispersal On Callery Pear (Pyrus Calleryana), Olivia Clark

Honors Theses

Invasive species can disrupt ecosystems and negatively affect other species. Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is an invasive ornamental tree that is spreading quickly throughout the United States. It is possible that birds are responsible for spreading Callery pear by eating the fruit and depositing seeds in new areas. European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and American robins (Turdus migratorius) are mentioned in most studies as responsible for the dispersal of Callery pear. However, there is also evidence that Cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) also feed on the tree. Invasive plants can impact avian health, reproduction, and migration. Additionally, there are many aspects of …

Ecological Studies Of Wolves On Isle Royale Annual Report 2021-2022, Sarah R. Hoy, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich

Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale

Annual Report 2021-2022

Sacred Scavengers: Vulture Conservation In Nepal, Hans Nedde

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the 1990s, a veterinary drug used to treat pain and disease in cattle nearly brought the nine vulture species of Nepal to extinction. In a span of 15 years, over 97% of vultures in Nepal perished. For the past 20 years, governments, organizations, and communities have been working together to save these vital scavengers from vanishing. From the lowlands to the Himalayas, vultures have been interacting with the environment and humans for millennia. This study explores the role that vultures play both ecologically and culturally in Nepal. It investigates vultures as a crucial ecological influence and how human action …

Effects Of Temperature And Plant And Animal Diets On Metabolic Rate In The Juvenile Red Eared Slider (Trachemys Scripta Elegans), Taylor Macdonald, Sarah Bouchard

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Specific dynamic action (SDA) is the energy expended during ingestion, digestion, absorption, and assimilation of a meal, and is influenced by meal (type, size, composition, and temperature) and environmental temperature. Understanding the effect of meal type and environmental temperature on SDA in turtles is important in describing how T. s. elegans may acclimate with changing environmental temperatures. In this study, we conducted feeding trials in which we fed juvenile T. s. elegans duckweed and mealworm diets at 25°C and 30°C. We measured the rate of oxygen consumption as a proxy for metabolic rate after feeding for four 30 minute consecutive …

Isolation And Identification Of Bacillus Spp. From Syrian Soils And Testing Their Antifungal Activity Against Botrytis Cinerea In Vitro (In Vitro) في ظروف المخبر (Botrytis Cinerea)من ترب سورية واختبار فعاليتها التضادية تجاه الفطر (Bacillus) عزل وتعريف أنواع من الجنس, Naffaa Walid

Arab Journal of Arid Environments المجلة العربية للبيئات الجافة

Three hundred seventy eight isolates of Bacillus spp. from Syrian soils were screened in vitro for their ability to inhibit the growth of Botrytis cinerea, agent of gray mold disease. The B307 isolate showed the highest antagonism activity with growth inhibition of 68%. In addition, B307 had chitinolytic activity, and the fraction from the isolate with more than 50KDa of its cell free crude extract showed the highest chitinolytic and antagonism activity against B. cinerea. This isolate was identified as Bacillus licheniformis according to the 16S DNA gene sequencing data with homology of 99%. The results of this …

Ecological Study Of Iris Unguicularis Cretensis In The Coastal Region Of Syria في المنطقة الساحلية من سورية (Iris Unguicularis Cretensis) دراسة بيئية لنبات سوسن كريت, Zuheir Shater, Tharwat Ibrahim, Mohammad Korbaissa

Arab Journal of Arid Environments المجلة العربية للبيئات الجافة

This search was conducted during 2014 - 2017 in order to determine the distribution area of Iris unguicularis cretensis in the coastal region of Syria, to evaluate the current situation of its habitats, and to determine the best method to reproduce this plant and evaluate its nutritive value as forage. The distribution area was identified through 12 field trips at various types of parent rocks, expositions, and altitudes along the western versant of the coastal mountains in Syria. The properties of natural habitat was examined in 37 samples distributed along a gradient extending from 300 to 1000 m above sea …

Volume 2, Chapter 19-3: Bryophyte Defenses Against Bacteria, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Relationships Between Biodiversity And Production In Grasslands At Local And Regional Scales, A. Hector, M. Loreau

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Experimental manipulations of plant species diversity in unfertilised prairies and meadows has revealed that increasing diversity often leads to increased productivity (range of observed relationships varies from flat to log-linearly positive); driven by a combination of facilitation, niche-partitioning and sampling/selection effects.

2. The longer-term effects of diversity on ecosystem stability are not as clear and in need of further work.

3. Recent applied work, and a new review of the grassland literature, both show the potential for biodiversity to increase productivity under realistic field conditions.

4. The longer-term feedback of grazers on biodiversity gradients is unknown, and …

Global Atmospheric Change And Its Effect On Managed Grassland Systems, Andreas Lüscher, J. Fuhrer, P. C. D. Newton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and a trend to warmer mean temperatures are the most reliable aspects of global atmospheric change. Projections of the extent of climate change and the frequency of extreme weather conditions remain uncertain.

2. Research has considerably reduced the uncertainty about effects of global atmospheric change on physiology of plants, productivity and species composition of plant communities.

3. Other factors (e.g. nutrient availability, soil type) and long-term adaptation of the ecosystem (e.g. nutrient cycling and sequestration) influence the response of plant communities to global atmospheric change. Generalisation is not possible with respect to the …

Potential Of C4 Tropical Grasses To Contribute In Carbon Sequestration, Environmental Security And Livelihood Opportunities Through Increased Fodder Availability, D. R. Malaviya, A. K. Roy, P. Kaushal

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The world grasslands/rangeland ecosystems comprise 26% of earth’s surface and have immense ecological and economic significance. Diversity of grasslands had been a key element for their sustainability. Grasslands in India have existed as natural ecosystems for millions of years. It is a major source of income, employment and livelihood to the rural families. Owing to heavy grazing pressure, coupled with other social/anthropogenic factors, the grazing resources have fast deteriorated. The country has many old and natural grasslands with ethnic and economic value. Comprehensive ecological studies including floristic compositions, dominant species, grazing pressure and the climax/sub-climax stages of ecological succession will …

Optimizing Management Of Invasions In An Uncertain World Using Dynamic Spatial Models, Kim M. Pepin, Amy J. Davis, Rebecca S. Epanchin-Niell, Andrew M. Gormley, Joslin L. Moore, Timothy J. Smyser, H. Bradley Shaffer, William L. Kendall, Katriona Shea, Michael C. Runge, Sophie Mckee

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Dispersal drives invasion dynamics of nonnative species and pathogens. Applying knowledge of dispersal to optimize the management of invasions can mean the difference between a failed and a successful control program and dramatically improve the return on investment of control efforts. A common approach to identifying optimal management solutions for invasions is to optimize dynamic spatial models that incorporate dispersal. Optimizing these spatial models can be very challenging because the interaction of time, space, and uncertainty rapidly amplifies the number of dimensions being considered. Addressing such problems requires advances in and the integration of techniques from multiple fields, including ecology, …

Ranking The Biases: The Choice Of Otus Vs. Asvs In 16s Rrna Amplicon Data Analysis Has Stronger Effects On Diversity Measures Than Rarefaction And Otu Identity Threshold, Marlène Chiarello, Mark Mccauley, Sébastien Villéger, Colin R. Jackson

Faculty and Student Publications

Advances in the analysis of amplicon sequence datasets have introduced a methodological shift in how research teams investigate microbial biodiversity, away from sequence identity-based clustering (producing Operational Taxonomic Units, OTUs) to denoising methods (producing amplicon sequence variants, ASVs). While denoising methods have several inherent properties that make them desirable compared to clustering-based methods, questions remain as to the influence that these pipelines have on the ecological patterns being assessed, especially when compared to other methodological choices made when processing data (e.g. rarefaction) and computing diversity indices. We compared the respective influences of two widely used methods, namely DADA2 (a denoising …

Spatiotemporal Patterns In The Biomass Of Drift Macroalgae In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, United States, Lauren M. Hall, Lori J. Morris, Robert H. Chamberlain, M. Dennis Hanisak, Robert W. Virnstein, Richard Paperno, Bernhard Riegl, L. Rex Ellis, Ali Simpson, Charles A. Jacoby

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Drift macroalgae plays key roles in the ecology of many coastal systems, including the Indian River Lagoon. In the lagoon, changes in the biomass of drift macroalgae may have interacted with an unprecedented bloom of phytoplankton in 2011. Patterns in the biomass of drift macroalgae were identified using new and original analyses of data from several sampling programs collected between 1997 and 2019. All available data show a relatively low biomass of drift macroalgae in 2010–2012, and surveys of fixed transects and seining as part of a fisheries independent monitoring program also recorded low biomass in 2016. Low light availability …

Lianas Significantly Reduce Aboveground And Belowground Carbon Storage: A Virtual Removal Experiment, Sergio Estrada-Villegas, Sara Sofia Pedraza Navaez, Adriana Sanchez, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Lianas are a quintessential tropical plant growth-form; they are speciose and abundant in tropical forests worldwide. Lianas compete intensely with trees, reducing nearly all aspects of tree performance. However, the negative effects of lianas on trees have never been combined and quantified for multiple tropical forests. Here, we present the first comprehensive standardized quantification of the effect of lianas on trees across tropical forests worldwide. We used data from 50 liana removal experiments and quantified the effect size of lianas on tree growth, biomass accretion, reproduction, mortality, leaf water potential, sap flow velocity, and leaf area index (LAI) across different …

The Emergence Of Covid-19 Associated Mucormycosis: A Review Of Cases From 18 Countries, Martin Hoenigl, Danila Seidel, Agostinho Carvalho, Shivaprakash M. Rudramurthy, Amir Arastehfar, Jean-Pierre Gangneux, Nosheen Nasir, Alexandro Bonifaz, Javier Araiza, Nikolai Klimko

Department of Medicine

Reports of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis have been increasing in frequency since early 2021, particularly among patients with uncontrolled diabetes. Patients with diabetes and hyperglycaemia often have an inflammatory state that could be potentiated by the activation of antiviral immunity to SARS-CoV2, which might favour secondary infections. In this Review, we analysed 80 published and unpublished cases of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis. Uncontrolled diabetes, as well as systemic corticosteroid treatment, were present in most patients with COVID-19-associated mucormycosis, and rhino-orbital cerebral mucormycosis was the most frequent disease. Mortality was high at 49%, which was particularly due to patients with pulmonary or disseminated mucormycosis or …

Spatial Personalities: A Meta-Analysis Of Consistent Individual Differences In Spatial Behavior, Erica F. Stuber, Ben S. Carlson, Brett R. Jesmer

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Individual variation in behavior, particularly consistent among-individual differences (i.e., personality), has important ecological and evolutionary implications for population and community dynamics, trait divergence, and patterns of speciation. Nevertheless, individual variation in spatial behaviors, such as home range behavior, movement characteristics, or habitat use has yet to be incorporated into the concepts or methodologies of ecology and evolutionary biology. To evaluate evidence for the existence of consistent among-individual differences in spatial behavior – which we refer to as “spatial personality” – we performed a meta-analysis of 200 repeatability estimates of home range size, movement metrics, and habitat use. We found that …

Forb Counts In Grassland Are Sensitive To Analytical Method, Gene A. Fults

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

An analysis of forbs from 9 years of Plant Census protocol (NRI 2019) is compared to data from the Line Point Intercept (LPI) protocol. Both protocols were conducted on the same geospatially separate macroplots (N=1230). The macroplots locations were stratified by NRI based on a land hierarchy which has had long-term use in the United States (Salley etal 2015). This ties vegetation and land together in the data. The analysis showed that the 15-minute plant census method increased forb species data by 29 percent over the LPI method which takes 40-60 minutes. Both methods captured similar total ratios and rank …

Characterizing Invasiveness Through A Descriptive Study Of Guinea Grass (Megathyrsus Maximus) Growing In Three Habitat Types And Differing Herbivore Assemblages In Both Kenya And Texas, A. C. Rhodes, R. M. Plowes, D. J. Martins, I. Ng'iru, L. E. Gilbert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus syn. Panicum maximum) is an important pasture grass that has been introduced pantropically, yet in many cases has escaped cultivation and is invading native rangelands – threatening biodiversity at multiple trophic levels. An increasing challenge of rangeland management is balancing the importance of pasture grasses with their negative impact on ecosystem processes. Given this challenge, it is critical to understand the mechanisms that underlie grass invasion. In this descriptive study, our objective was to assess the ecological stress release hypothesis by comparing the relative abundance and functional traits of Guinea grass in Kenya's home …