Digital Commons Network^™

Identification Of Old-Growth Forest Reference Ecosystems Using Historic Land Surveys, Redwood National Park, California, Joy Fritschle

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Spatial Patterns Of Road Mortality: Assessing Turtle Barrier Conservation Strategies, Dorothy Ives-Dewey, James P. Lewandowski

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Relating Ancient Maya Land Use Legacies To The Contemporary Forest Of Caracol, Belize, Jessica N. Hightower

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human land use legacies have significant and long lasting impacts across landscapes. However, investigating the impacts of ancient land use legacies ( > 400 years) remains problematic due to the difficulty in detecting ancient land uses, especially those beneath dense canopies. The city of Caracol, one of the most important Maya archaeological sites in Belize, was abandoned after the collapse of the Maya civilization (ca. A.D. 900), leaving behind numerous structures, causeways, and agricultural terraces that persist beneath the dense tropical forest of western Belize. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology enables detection of below canopy Maya archaeological features, providing an …

Lesson Plans, Activities, And Further Reading, Allison Marsh

Handouts

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of The Role Of Sensory Drive In The Evolution Of Lake Malawi Cichlid Fishes, Adam R. Smith, Moira J. Van Staaden, Karen L. Carleton

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Although the cichlids of Lake Malawi are an important model system for the study of sensory evolution and sexual selection, the evolutionary processes linking these two phenomena remain unclear. Prior works have proposed that evolutionary divergence is driven by sensory drive, particularly as it applies to the visual system.While evidence suggests that sensory drive has played a role in the speciation of Lake Victoria cichlids, the findings fromseveral lines of research on cichlids of LakeMalawi are not consistent with the primary tenets of this hypothesis. More specifically, three observations make the sensory drive model implausible in Malawi: (i) a lack …

The Update, January/February 2012, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- CHAS to Send Three Students to the NCUR
-- Department News
-- Student Teaching Overseas: Science Education Students Complete Student Teaching in Brazil and China
-- Culture and History in Berlin
-- Student Spotlight: Department of Philosophy and World Religions: John Anderson
-- Mathematics Alum Receives Achievement Award
-- School of Music Events
-- Alumni Spotlight: Earth Science: Brian Hynek
-- National Communication Association (NCA) Meeting
-- Student Spotlight: Department of Theatre:Jenna Graupmann
-- Bridging the Humanities and Sciences
-- UNI Forensics
-- Dean's Triangle Gallery

Detection Of Mycobacterium Ulcerans In The Environment Predicts Prevalence Of Buruli Ulcer In Benin, Heather R. Williamson, Mark Eric Benbow, Lindsay P. Cambell, Christian R. Johnson, Ghislain Sopoh, Yves Barogui, Richard W. Merritt, Pamela L. C. Small

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer (BU), a destructive skin disease found predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and south-eastern Australia. The precise mode(s) of transmission and environmental reservoir(s) remain unknown, but several studies have explored the role of aquatic invertebrate species. The purpose of this study was to investigate the environmental distribution of M. ulcerans in south-eastern Australia.

Variation In Flight Morphology In A Damselfly With Female-Limited Polymorphism, Emily Jane Mctavish, Genevieve K. Smith, Rafael F. Guerrero, Eben Gering

Biology Faculty Articles

Background: Female-limited colour polymorphisms occur in many species of dragonflies and damselflies. Often one female morph appears male-like in coloration (androchromes) whereas one or more others are distinct from males (gynochromes). These androchromes are hypothesized to be male-mimics, thereby avoiding the harassment of excessive male mating attempts.

Organism: The damselfly Ischnura ramburii, Rambur’s forktail, is a widespread New World species with androchrome and gynochrome females. It was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the mid-1970s and females were thought to be exclusively gynochromatic there.

Questions: How do males and females differ in their flight apparatus? Do females with different …

Tissue Sampling Methods And Standards For Vertebrate Genomics, Pamela B. Y. Wong, Edward O. Wiley, Warren E. Johnson, Oliver A. Ryder, Stephen J. O'Brien, David Haussler, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Marlys L. Houck, Polina L. Perelman, Gabriela Mastromonaco, Andrew C. Bentley, Byrappa Venkatesh, Ya-Ping Zhang, Robert W. Murphy, Genome 10k Project Community Of Scientists

Biology Faculty Articles

The recent rise in speed and efficiency of new sequencing technologies have facilitated high-throughput sequencing, assembly and analyses of genomes, advancing ongoing efforts to analyze genetic sequences across major vertebrate groups. Standardized procedures in acquiring high quality DNA and RNA and establishing cell lines from target species will facilitate these initiatives. We provide a legal and methodological guide according to four standards of acquiring and storing tissue for the Genome 10K Project and similar initiatives as follows: four-star (banked tissue/cell cultures, RNA from multiple types of tissue for transcriptomes, and sufficient flash-frozen tissue for 1 mg of DNA, all from …

References

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Use Of Adventitious Roots For The Determination Of Hydroperiod In Isolated Wetlands, Michael Joseph Reyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Accurate measurement of the hydroperiod in isolated wetlands currently relies upon the installation and frequent monitoring of devices such as piezometers and staff gauges. Observations of biological indicators of the hydroperiod may be able to supplement data collected from these devices and could potentially replace them as a means of accurately determining this hydrologic interval. The study objective was to determine whether adventitious root formation and maturation on buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) could be used as a viable indicator of the hydroperiod in isolated wetlands. Buttonbush seedlings were flooded in a controlled environment over a three month period in the …

Habitat Associations Of The Golden-Winged Warbler In Honduras, Ruth E. Bennett

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The global population of the Neotropical migrant Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) has declined steadily over the past fifty years. While factors influencing this decline have been well researched on the breeding grounds, little is known about the distribution and habitat requirements of this warbler on its stationary non-breeding range. Recent efforts to quantify the non-breeding habitat requirements of this warbler have focused on Colombia and Costa Rica, though the species ranges as far north as the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. To address the gap in knowledge from the northern portion of the non-breeding range, I conducted 80 serial point-count …

Animal Foraging As A Mechanism For Sediment Movement And Soil Nutrient Development: Evidence From The Semi-Arid Australian Woodlands And The Chihuahuan Desert, David J. Eldridge, Terry B. Koen, Aaron Killgore, Niki Huang, Walter G. Whitford

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

An emerging area of interest in geomorphology over the past two decades has been the effects of biota on ecosystemprocesses.We examinedthe roles of a rangeof vertebrates onsoildisturbance in twomarkedlydifferent environments, the semi-arid woodland of eastern Australia and a Chihuahuan Desert grassland–shrubland in the south-westernUnited States. Foraging pits of soil-disturbingvertebrates variedmarkedly fromsmall scratchings of heteromyid (mainly Dipodomys spp.) rodents (1.8×10⁻⁴m³) to deep (1.0×10⁻² m³) excavations of the burrowing bettong (Bettongia leuseur) and greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis). Vertebratesmoved substantial volumes of soil in both environments, and activity was highly temporally and …

Co-Occurrence Patterns Of Common And Rare Leaf-Litter Frogs, Epiphytic Ferns And Dung Beetles Across A Gradient Of Human Disturbance, Johan A. Oldekop, Anthony J. Bebbington, Nathan K. Truelove, Niklas Tysklind, Santiago Villamarín, Richard F. Preziosi

Geography

Indicator taxa are commonly used to identify priority areas for conservation or to measure biological responses to environmental change. Despite their widespread use, there is no general consensus about the ability of indicator taxa to predict wider trends in biodiversity. Many studies have focused on large-scale patterns of species co-occurrence to identify areas of high biodiversity, threat or endemism, but there is much less information about patterns of species co-occurrence at local scales. In this study, we assess fine-scale co-occurrence patterns of three indicator taxa (epiphytic ferns, leaf litter frogs and dung beetles) across a remotely sensed gradient of human …

What Is Urban Environmental Stewardship? Constructing A Practitioner-Derived Framework, Michele Romolini, W. Brinkley, K. L. Wolf

Center for Urban Resilience Scholarship

Agencies and organizations deploy various strategies in response to environmental challenges, including the formulation of policy, programs, and regulations. Citizen-based environmental stewardship is increasingly seen as an innovative and important approach to improving and conserving landscape health. A new research focus on the stewardship of urban natural resources is being launched by the U.S. Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest region. Early scoping efforts are addressing various scales of human systems ranging from individuals to organizations to the entire positive “footprint” of stewardship on the land. This report addresses a fundamental need—to understand and describe civic environmental stewardship in urban …

Widespread Triploidy In Western North American Aspen (Populus Tremuloides), Karen E. Mock, Colin M. Callahan, M. Nurul Islam-Faridi, John D. Shaw, Hardeep S. Rai, Stewart C. Sanderson, Carol A. Rowe, Ronald J. Rye, Michael D. Madritch, Richard S. Gardner, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications

We document high rates of triploidy in aspen (Populus tremuloides) across the western USA (up to 69% of genets), and ask whether the incidence of triploidy across the species range corresponds with latitude, glacial history (as has been documented in other species), climate, or regional variance in clone size. Using a combination of microsatellite genotyping, flow cytometry, and cytology, we demonstrate that triploidy is highest in unglaciated, drought-prone regions of North America, where the largest clone sizes have been reported for this species. While we cannot completely rule out a low incidence of undetected aneuploidy, tetraploidy or duplicated loci, our …

Monitoring The Invasion Of An Exotic Tree (Ligustrum Lucidum) From 1983 To 2006 With Landsat Tm/Etm + Satellite Data And Support Vector Machines In Córdoba, Argentina, Gregorio I. Gavier-Pizarro, Tobias Kuemmerle, Laura E. Hoyos, Susan I. Stewart, Cynthia D. Huebner, Nicholas S. Keuler, Volker C. Radeloff

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

In central Argentina, the Chinese tree glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum) is an aggressive invasive species replacing native forests, forming dense stands, and is thus a major conservation concern. Mapping the spread of biological invasions is a necessary first step toward understanding the factors determining invasion patterns. Urban areas may function as propagule sources for glossy privet because it has been used as a landscaping tree for over a century. The objectives of this paperwere to 1)map the patterns of glossy privet expansion from1983 to 2006 using a time series of Landsat TM/ETM+images, and 2) analyze the spatial pattern …

New Species Of Arostrilepis (Eucestoda: Hymenolepididae) In Members Of Cricetidae And Geomyidae (Rodentia) From The Western Nearctic, Arseny A. Makarikov, Scott Lyell Gardner, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Specimens originally identified as Arostrilepis horrida from the Nearctic are revised, contributing to the recognition of a complex of cryptic species distributed across the Holarctic region. Previously unrecognized species are described based on specimens in cricetid (Neotominae) and geomyid rodents. Arostrilepis mariettavogeae n. sp. in Peromyscus californicus from Monterey County, California, and Arostrilepis schilleri n. sp. in Thomomys bulbivorus from Corvallis, Oregon, are characterized. Consistent with recent studies defining diversity in the genus, form, size, and spination (pattern, shape, and size) of the cirrus are diagnostic; species are further distinguished by the relative position and length of the cirrus sac …

Zoonotic And Human Parasites Of Inhabitants Of Cueva De Los Muertos Chiquitos, Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico, F. Agustín Jiménez-Ruiz, Scott Lyell Gardner, Adauto Araújo, Martín Horacio Fugassa, Richard H. Brooks, Elizabeth Racz, Karl J. Reinhard

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

We present the first reconstruction of the parasitoses among the people of the Loma San Gabriel culture, as represented by 36 coprolites excavated from the Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos in Durango, Mexico. The coprolites date to approximately 1,400-yr ago. Species identified based on eggs recovered include the trematode Echinostoma sp., the tapeworms Hymenolepis sp. and Dipylidium caninum, and the nematodes Ancylostoma duodenale, Enterobius vermicularis, and Trichuris trichiura. After rehydration and screening, 2 methods were used to recover eggs from these samples including spontaneous sedimentation and flotation. Samples were analyzed by 3 different laboratories for independent …

Brown Treesnakes: A Potential Invasive Species For The United States, Samantha Sue Kahl, Scott E. Henke, Marc A. Hall, David K. Britton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Brown treesnakes (ˆ) are mildly venomous, exotic snakes that have the potential to become an invasive species in North America, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The snake is native to northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, and other islands of northern and western Melanesia. The snakes were first found outside their native range on Guam in 1953. The exact date they reached the island is uncertain, but they are believed to have arrived on military cargo transport vessels some time during or just after World War II. During the years that followed, the population of brown …

Pulling Together: Linking Unemployment Insurance And Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Administrative Data To Study Effects Of The Great Recession, Theresa Anderson, John A. Kirlin, Michael Wiseman

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The SNAP-UI Data Linkage Project is an effort coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture‘s Economic Research Service (ERS) to link state-level administrative data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI) program to examine the concurrent and sequential patterns in use of these program before and during the Great Recession. The project focuses on calendar years 2006 through 2009 and utilizes data from seven states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Texas. The project has illuminated various issues with administrative data linkage, which this paper characterizes as the ―”Three C’s" of administrative data: custody, …

Momentum 2012, Bryce Linden

Momentum

A journal of undergraduate research

Dispersal, Gene Flow, And Adaptive Evolution During Invasion: Testing Range-Limit Theory With The Asian Tiger Mosquito, Kimberly Medley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the factors that make non-native species successful invaders is an important step towards mitigating spread. At the same time, species invasions can serve as natural experiments to test range-limit theory. Range-limit theory postulates declines in local abundance (abundant center model) and genetic diversity (central-peripheral hypothesis) towards range edges because of underlying environmental gradients. Such declines constrain adaptation to marginal habitats via gene swamping. However, broader evolutionary theory predicts intermediate rates of immigration into range-edge populations can relieve genetic drift and improve adaptive potential. I tested hypotheses generated from theory while illuminating aspects affecting of the invasion of the Asian …

Assessing Success Of Forest Restoration Efforts In Degraded Montane Cloud Forests In Southern Mexico, Rocio Elizabeth Jimenez Vazquez

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Montane cloud forests are home to great biodiversity. However, non-sustainable anthropogenic activities have led to the loss of forest cover in southern Mexico. Increasing conservation, restoration and sustainable use of forest resources prevents the loss of cloud forests. In this study, success of forest restoration was evaluated in a degraded forest of Highlands Chiapas. The goal of this study was to assess the structure and composition of native tree species. We evaluated vegetation composition at three sites that had undergone enrichment plantings. Floristic composition and structure of the herbaceous, seedling, sapling, and overstory layers were measured. A total of sixty-six …

The Management Of Feral Pig Socio-Ecological Systems In Far North Queensland, Australia, Gabriela Shuster

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The development of management programs for socio-ecological systems that include multiple stakeholders is a complex process and requires careful evaluation and planning. This is particularly a challenge in the presence of intractable conflict. The feral pig (Sus scrofa) in Australia is part of one such socio-ecological system. There is a large and heterogeneous group of stakeholders interested in pig management. Pigs have diverse effects on wildlife and plant ecology, economic, health, and social sectors. This study used the feral pig management system as a vehicle to examine intractable conflict in socio-ecological systems. The purpose of the study was …

Do Species Distribution Models Predict Species Richness In Urban And Natural Green Space? A Case Study Using Amphibians, Joseph Milanovich, William E. Peterman, Kyle Barrett, Matthew Hopton

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Examining The Relationship Between The Exchange Rate, Foreign Direct Investment And Trade, Shanta Parajuli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive research has been carried out on the relationships among foreign direct investment (FDI), exports, the exchange rate, and economic growth. However, these research findings are mixed and inconclusive. Therefore, further research and discussion are needed on this topic. This study focused on Mexico, since it is one of the major FDI recipient countries in Latin America and much of its trade is a result of its free trade agreements. This study examines the relationship between FDI, exports, and economic growth in the context of FDI from developed to developing countries (Mexico). The second chapter analyzes the relationship of FDI …

Crossword Corner

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Differential Responses Of Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) To Conspecifics And Centipedes, A. A. Burgett, Geoffrey R. Smith

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Spatial Conversions And Alternative Futures: Sitla / Blm: A Preliminary Analysis, Richard E. Toth

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.