Digital Commons Network^™

Xyloryctes Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Oryctini) In The United States. Qui Es Et Ubi Fuisti Et Quo Vadis?, Brett C. Ratcliffe

Insecta Mundi

Two species of Xyloryctes occur in the United States: X. jamaicensis (Drury) and X. thestalus Bates. Identification and distribution of these species has long been confused but is reviewed and clarified here. Xyloryctes jamaicensis occurs only in the eastern half of the U.S. and not in the southwestern U.S. as previously thought, while X. thestalus occurs in Guatemala and southern Mexico northwards to the southwestern United States. This hypothesis is corroborated by biogeographical and host plant data. Three new synonyms are listed for X. thestalus: X. faunus Casey 1915, X. hebes Casey 1915, and X. thestalus borealis Endrödi. The …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 2, Fall 2009, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - POLITICS AND RELIGION: STILL ON A COLLISION COURSE? An interview with Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset. Plus excerpts from talks by E.J. Dionne Jr., Lisa Sowle Cahill '70, and Michael Eric Dyson.

20 - THE GULF OF WONDER By Emily Elrod '05. With a movie, Patrick McVeigh '78 offers investors a unique opportunity: Wake up the citizens of America and help them save one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Plus, a 30 percent return.

24 - SEASON PREMIERE: "RESURRECTION" By Karen Crocker Snell. Forensic investigator Horatio Caine lies facedown in a pool …

Birds Of The Great Plains: Breeding Species And Their Distribution: New Expanded Edition (2009), Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

This book is the first to describe systematically all of the species of birds known to have bred or to breed at present in the Great Plains, a major ecological unit that encompasses all or part of part of eleven states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Although the original Great Plains ecosystem—the grassland biome—has been greatly altered by modem agriculture, remnants still exist in national and state parks, grasslands, and refuges, as well as in rural cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, and small nature reserves. These areas support populations of nearly all …

It's Not Too Late For The Harpy Eagle (Harpia Harpyja): High Levels Of Genetic Diversity And Differentiation Can Fuel Conservation Programs, Heather R. Lerner, Jeff A. Johnson, Alec R. Lindsay Ph. D., Lloyd F. Kiff, David P. Mindell

Faculty Works

Background: The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is the largest Neotropical bird of prey and is threatened by human persecution and habitat loss and fragmentation. Current conservation strategies include local education, captive rearing and reintroduction, and protection or creation of trans-national habitat blocks and corridors. Baseline genetic data prior to reintroduction of captive-bred stock is essential for guiding such efforts but has not been gathered previously.

Methodology/Findings: We assessed levels of genetic diversity, population structure and demographic history for harpy eagles using samples collected throughout a large portion of their geographic distribution in Central America (n = 32) and South America …

Seven New Species Of Cephennium Muller & Kunze (Coleptera, Staphylinidae, Scymaeninae, Cephenniini) From California With A Key To Native North American Species, Michael S. Caterino, Katie J. Hopp

Publications

Seven new species of Cephennium from California are described and illustrated - C. celsifrons, sp. n., C. mariposae, sp. n., C. grandarboreum, sp. n., C. canestroi, sp. n., C. gilberti, sp. n., C. urbanum, sp. n. and C. aridum, sp. n. Th e single known native Nearctic species, C. anophthalmicum Brendel, was known only from moist coastal forests around the San Francisco Bay area. Th e new species greatly expand the distribution of the genus, through central and southern California, occurring in the central Sierra Nevada, south through the coast ranges and Sierra Nevada to the Santa Monica Mountains and …

Differences In Leaf Traits, Leaf Internal Structure, And Spectral Reflectance Between Two Communities Of Lianas And Trees: Implications For Remote Sensing In Tropical Environments, G. Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa, Karen Castro, S. Joseph Wright, John Gamon, Margaret Kalacska, Benoit Rivard, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Ji Lu Feng

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Increasing dominance of lianas in many tropical forests is considered a fingerprint of global environmental change. Despite the key role they play in ecosystem functioning, lianas remain one of the least studied life forms in tropical environments. This paper contrasts leaf traits and spectral properties (400–1100 nm) of liana and tree communities from a tropical dry forest and a tropical rainforest in Panama, Central America. Differences between lianas and tree leaf traits were analyzed using spectroscopy, leaf histology and pigment extractions. Results from this study indicate that many of the biochemical, structural, and optical properties of lianas …

Taxonomic Overview Of The Greater Fritillary Genus Speyeria Scudder And The Atlantis - Hesperis Species Complexes, With Species Accounts, Type Images, And Relevant Literature (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), James C. Dunford

Insecta Mundi

A taxonomic overview for the fritillary genus Speyeria Scudder (= Argynnis Fabricius) and its placement within the Heliconiinae (Nymphalidae) is presented. Taxonomic accounts, type images, and relevant literature for the 25 subspecies within the Speyeria atlantis (Edwards) and Speyeria hesperis (Edwards) complexes and the 16 nominate Speyeria species are included. Errors in nomenclature are identified, taxonomic, life history, and distributional information are updated, and type locality information is discussed. Images of primary type specimens for all 16 Speyeria species and the 25 subspecies in the atlantis - hesperis complexes appear together in color here for the first time. One new …

Genetic Population Structure Analysis In New Hampshire Reveals Eastern European Ancestry, Chantel D. Sloan, Angeline D. Andrew, Eric J. Duell, Scott M. Williams, Margaret R. Karagas, Jason H. Moore

Dartmouth Scholarship

Genetic structure due to ancestry has been well documented among many divergent human populations. However, the ability to associate ancestry with genetic substructure without using supervised clustering has not been explored in more presumably homogeneous and admixed US populations. The goal of this study was to determine if genetic structure could be detected in a United States population from a single state where the individuals have mixed European ancestry. Using Bayesian clustering with a set of 960 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) we found evidence of population stratification in 864 individuals from New Hampshire that can be used to differentiate the …

Making Biomass Pay: Obstacles And Opportunities, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Removing hazardous fuels to reduce the risk of wildfire has become a priority for land managers across the United States. Utilizing biomass taken from forests to cover the cost of fuel reduction is an attractive ideal. Effective utilization could also address important national challenges such as improving forest health, increasing domestic energy supplies, reducing carbon emissions, and revitalizing rural economies. However, getting woody biomass from the forest to the consumer is economically and logistically difficult, and efforts to make biomass utilization profitable have been disappointing so far. JFSP-funded researchers have found that, while there is no recipe for building a …

School Of Natural Resources Comprehensive Five-Year Review

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Remote Sensing And Mapping Of Tamarisk Along The Colorado River, Usa: A Comparative Use Of Summer-Acquired Hyperion, Thematic Mapper And Quickbird Data, Gregory A. Carter, Kelly L. Lucas, Gabriel A. Blossom, Cheryl L. Lassitter, Dan M. Holiday, David S. Mooneyhan, Danielle R. Fastring, Tracy R. Holcombe, Jerry A. Griffith

Faculty Publications

Tamarisk (Tamarix spp., saltcedar) is a well-known invasive phreatophyte introduced from Asia to North America in the 1800s. This report compares the efficacy of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM5), QuickBird (QB) and EO-1 Hyperion data in discriminating tamarisk populations near De Beque, Colorado, USA. As a result of highly correlated reflectance among the spectral bands provided by each sensor, relatively standard image analysis methods were employed. Multispectral data at high spatial resolution (QB, 2.5 m Ground Spatial Distance or GSD) proved more effective in tamarisk delineation than either multispectral (TM5) or hyperspectral (Hyperion) data at moderate spatial resolution (30 m …

Impact Of Ambient Air Pollution On Survival Of Renal Transplant Recipients, Rhonda Kristine Hwang

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

There is increasing evidence that ambient air pollution is associated with coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality. This research has focused on the general public and less so on possible sensitive subgroups even though these may have even greater susceptibility to adverse effects of ambient air pollution. With highly prevalent traditional as well as nontraditional risk factors, renal transplant recipients may potentially be a sensitive subgroup. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible effect of between long-term exposure to air pollution on the risk of CHD mortality among renal transplant recipients. This cohort study includes 32,239 adult, …

Ion Channel Modulation By Photocaged Dioctanoyl Pip2, Junghoon Ha

Theses and Dissertations

Phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2) directly regulates electrophysiological activity in a diverse family of ion channels whether the effect is stimulatory or inhibitory. Much has been unveiled about the apparent affinity and modulatory function of PIP2 using a chemically modified dioctanoyl PIP2 (diC8), a membrane delimited cytosolic co-factor in inside-out macropatch experiments. Yet, the scarcity of molecular tools that permit fine external control in whole-cell systems has precluded future studies from probing the physiological role of PIP2 in cells in the presence of a fully intact cytoplasm. Here we introduce light as an external control for PIP2 through photocaging of diC8, and …

Integration Of Irradiation With Cytoplasmic Incompatibility To Facilitate A Lymphatic Filariasis Vector Elimination Approach, Corey L. Brelsfoard, William St. Clair, Stephen L. Dobson

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Mass drug administration (MDA) is the emphasis of an ongoing global lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination program by the World Health Organization, in which the entire 'at risk' human population is treated annually with anti-filarial drugs. However, there is evidence that the MDA strategy may not be equally appropriate in all areas of LF transmission, leading to calls for the augmentation of MDA with anti-vector interventions. One potential augmentative intervention is the elimination of vectors via repeated inundative releases of male mosquitoes made cytoplasmically incompatible via an infection with Wolbachia bacteria. However, with a reduction in the vector population size, …

Stable Carbon Isotope Evidence Of Ancient Maya Agriculture At Tikal, Guatemala, Richard Lee Burnett

Theses and Dissertations

Stable carbon isotope analyses of the humin fraction of the soil organic matter were conducted on more than 160 soil profiles from Tikal, Guatemala. The profiles were collected from near areas associated with the earthworks of Tikal; an ancient ditch and parapet construction hypothesized to have formed ancient boundaries of the polity. In addition to the isotope analyses, the physical and chemical characteristics of the horizons were determined. Maize, a C4 plant, formed an integral part of the ancient Maya diet and is the only known C4 plant cultivated by the Maya. Prior to and subsequent to the ancient Maya …

Life-Course Socio-Economic Factors, Skin Colour And Abdominal Obesity In Adulthood In A Brazilian Birth Cohort, David A. Gonzalez, Aydin Nazmi, John S. Yudkin, Cesar G. Victora

Food Science and Nutrition

Objective:Obesity is an increasingly prevalent nutritional disorder throughout the world. In particular, abdominal obesity is associated with cardiovascular and metabolic risk. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of skin colour and life-course socio-economic indicators on waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and waist:hip ratio (WHR) in young adults.

Design:Population-based birth cohort study. Individuals born in 1982 in Pelotas (southern Brazil) were visited on a number of occasions from birth to age 23–24 years. A sample of the cohort was sought in 2006 and 972 individuals were located. The analysis was restricted to individuals with complete data …

Assessment Of The Endangered Species Podarcis Carbonelli On A Microgeographic Scale: A Molecular, Morphological And Physiological Approach, Maria Clara Figueirinhas Do Amaral

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The lizard Podarcis carbonelli is an endangered species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. One location where this species occurs is at the Berlengas Natural Preserve, an Atlantic archipelago off the coast of Portugal. These island populations are geographically separated from nearby mainland populations. The fundamental question is, are these insular individuals distinct from the mainland populations? Four localities were chose for comparison: two island populations and two nearby coastal populations. We assessed this question using three distinct approaches: molecular, morphological and physiological approach. We sequenced the 12S RNA, the mtDNA Control Region and the 7th intron of the !-fibrinogen gene …

10th International Mammalogical Congress Abstracts: Mendoza, Argentina, 9-14 August 2009, Eviatar Nevo, Michael Mares, Christopher Johnson, Gabriel Marroig, Pablo A. Marquet

International Theriological Congress Abstracts of Papers

Abstracts of the 10th International Mammalogical Congress held in Mendoza, Argentina, August 9-14, 2009.

Factors Influencing The Environmental Quality Of The Bay Of Saint Louis, Mississippi And Implications For Evolving Coastal Management Policies, Pradnya Ankush Sawant

Dissertations

The Bay of St. Louis, MS is a small northern Gulf of Mexico estuary that has been identified by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) as an impaired waterbody for its designated uses, mainly due to the presence of pollutant pathogens. A systematic study of this estuary was important to understand the behavior and responses of the bay to several natural and anthropogenic forcing factors. A 14- month long study (bimonthly sampling) to evaluate its environmental quality was undertaken from April 2003 to May 2004. Environmental quality was defined as "the health of an ecosystem characterized in terms of …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint (Slides With Audio) (Large File! To Speed Up Download, Right-Click On "Download" Link To Save To Own Pc.), Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This presentation sets out the very basics of ‘sustainability’, although a definition of sustainability is not attempted. Some of the very basics are the context in which the Earth and humankind exist in space and time, the Earth’s climate, the Earth’s population and humankind’s options and choices. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’. The author also argues that, in addressing the challenges that humankind faces, globally concerted effort …

Genetic Differentiation Of The Parasitoid, Cotesia Congregata (Say), Based On Host-Plant Complex, Georgia Karns

Theses and Dissertations

Endoparasitoids of herbivorous lepidopterans have intimate relationships with their host species as well as the plant on which their host develops. Characteristics of both hosts and plants can affect parasitoid success in tri-trophic systems and thus, drive diversification. Genetic differentiation was estimated for Cotesia congregata (Say) collected from two distinct host-plant complexes, Manduca sexta L. on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and Ceratomia catalpae, (Haworth) on catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides Walker), in the mid-Atlantic region of North America using seven microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial COI locus. Microsatellite allele frequencies were differentiated based on host-plant complex, and COI haplotypes from individuals on …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 1, Summer 2009, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - INAUGURATING PRESIDENT ENGH By Steven Boyd Saum. On the occasion, a ringing challenge from President Engh: Make SCU a champion for environmental justice. Read the speech and see the photos.

22 - SAVING BOUNTY By Elizabeth Svoboda. Our food-safety system is in shambles, but there are ways to make it work again. For one answer, look to your leafy greens.

28 - CAN WE SOLVE HUNGER IN OUR LIFETIME? BY Dashka Slater. Here are six ideas that, practiced together, will make a difference.

34 - ALTERNATIVE REALITY: "WORLD WITHOUT OIL" By Paul Totah '79. Alternate reality games can …

Community Wildfire Protection Plans: Reducing Wildfire Hazards In The Wildland Urban Interface, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act calls for local communities in the wildland-urban interface to collaborate on developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) to reduce their wildfire hazard. To craft a successful CWPP, a community must collaborate effectively. A Joint Fire Science Program-sponsored research team studied 15 communities as they developed CWPPs. They found that social networks, learning communities, and community capacity were key indicators of success, and that working together on a CWPP can enhance a community’s capacity to collaborate, helping it address future challenges more skillfully.

Section Abstracts: Botany

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Botany Section for the 87th Annual Virginia Academy of Science Meeting, May 27-29, 2009, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

Taxonomic Revision And Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Genus Elytroleptus (Dugés) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Trachyderini), Traci Lee Grzymala

Biology ETDs

The longhorned beetle genus Elytroleptus (Dugés) (Cerambycidae:Cerambycinae: Trachyderini) is revised to include fifteen species. One new species is described: E. quadricostatus sp.n. (Grzymala & Miller). Three new synonymies are proposed: E. dichromaticus (Linsley, 1961) = E. divisus (LeConte, 1884) syn. n.; E. luteicollis (Skiles & Chemsak, 1982) = E. ignitus (LeConte, 1884) syn. n.; E. peninsularis (Hovore, 1988) = E. immaculipennis (Knull, 1935) syn. n. The genus is generally distributed throughout the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) with one species extending the range to the north and southeastern United States. The genus is of …

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Slides: Agricultural Resilience And Urban Growth: A Closer Look, William R. Travis

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: William R. Travis, Department of Geography, Center for Science & Technology Policy Research, CIRES, University of Colorado at Boulder

30 slides

Failure To Replicate A Genetic Association May Provide Important Clues About Genetic Architecture, Casey S. Greene, Nadia M. Penrod, Scott M. Williams, Jason H. Moore

Dartmouth Scholarship

Replication has become the gold standard for assessing statistical results from genome-wide association studies. Unfortunately this replication requirement may cause real genetic effects to be missed. A real result can fail to replicate for numerous reasons including inadequate sample size or variability in phenotype definitions across independent samples. In genome-wide association studies the allele frequencies of polymorphisms may differ due to sampling error or population differences. We hypothesize that some statistically significant independent genetic effects may fail to replicate in an independent dataset when allele frequencies differ and the functional polymorphism interacts with one or more other functional polymorphisms. To …

Adiantum Viridimontanum, Aspidotis Densa, Minuartia Marcescens, And Symphyotrichum Rhiannon: Additional Serpentine Endemics From Eastern North America, Tanner Harris, Nishanta Rajakaruna

Biological Sciences

Serpentine outcrops around the world are known to harbor disproportionately high rates of plant endemism. Remarkable cases of serpentine endemism occur in New Caledonia and Cuba, with 3178 and 920 endemic taxa, respectively, found solely on serpentine. Despite the patchy occurrence of serpentine in eastern North America from Québec and Newfoundland south to Alabama, only one taxon, Cerastium velutinum var. villosissimum, has been broadly recognized as a serpentine endemic for the region. Based on reports in the literature, we suggest that Adiantum viridimontanum, Minuartia marcescens, and Symphyotrichum rhiannon be considered endemic to serpentine soils from the east coast …

Fish Assemblages In Manistee River Tributaries: Longitudinal Distribution Analysis, Seasonal Variation, And Riparian Improvement Evaluation, Nicholas J. Gressick

Masters Theses

Sedimentation affects both stream physical and biological integrity. Improperly designed stream passage accompanied with sedimentation and altered hydrology can impede fish passage and reduce fish assemblage integrity. The purpose of this study was to: 1) quantify impacts of poorly constructed road stream crossings and eroding banks on fish assemblages, and 2) assess these sites as sediment sources and connectivity breaks on entire fish assemblages and individual fish species. Electrofishing was conducted during spring and fall 2004 and 2005. A total of 29 electrofishing reaches were sampled which included 5 road-stream and streambank restoration sites. Sickle Creek (1st order) had reduced …