Digital Commons Network^™

Co-Variation In Soil Biodiversity And Biogeochemistry In Northern And Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, Byron J. Adams, J. E. Barrett, Ross A. Virginia, Diana H. Wall, S. C. Cary, A. L. Hacker, J. M. Aislabie

Faculty Publications

Data from six sites in Victoria Land (72-77degrees S) investigating co-variation in soil communities (microbial and invertebrate) with biogeochemical properties show the influence of soil properties on habitat suitability varied among local landscapes as well as across climate gradients. Species richness of metazoan invertebrates (Nematoda, Tardigrada and Rotifera) was similar to previous descriptions in this region, though identification of three cryptic nematode species of Eudorylaimus through DNA analysis contributed to the understanding of controls over habitat preferences for individual species. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis profiles revealed unexpectedly high diversity of bacteria. Distribution of distinct bacterial communities was associated with specific …

Research On Synthetic Rope And Its Future In Timber Harvesting, Joel N. Hartter, Jared Leonard, John Garland, Steve Pilkerton

Geography

Steel wire rope is used for many logging applications. It has served the industry well in terms of strength, durability, and longevity. However, steel wire rope is difficult to use because it is stiff, heavy, and unyielding. These characteristics can lead to fatigue and exhaustion, and may contribute to worker injuries. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene synthetic rope has the potential to replace steel wire rope for selected logging applications. Research shows ergonomic gains and other operational effectiveness with its use. This paper presents research results, potentials, and issues in improving economic and ergonomic performance of ground-based and cable logging. Potential …

Population Divergence In Plasticity Of The Avt System And Its Association With Aggressive Behaviors In A Death Valley Pupfish, Sean C. Lema

Biological Sciences

Behavioral differences can evolve rapidly in allopatry, but little is known about the neural bases of such changes. Allopatric populations of Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis) vary in aggression and courtship behaviors in the wild. Two of these wild populations were recently found to differ in brain expression of arginine vasotocin (AVT)—a peptide hormone shown previously to modulate aggression in pupfish. These populations have been isolated for less than 4000 years, so it remained unclear whether the differences in behavior and neural AVT phenotype were evolved changes or plastic responses to ecologically dissimilar habitats. Here, I tested whether these …

Strategies For Reducing Mosquito-Borne Disease Vulnerability In Equine Populations: A Kentucky Case Study, Sara Dalton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research examined equine management practices that limit or contribute to the spread of West Nile virus and other mosquito-bome disease. I hypothesize that there is a relationship between equine management practices and outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease in horse populations. Improved and appropriate mosquito habitat management may limit the risk of mosquito-borne disease in humans and horses by helping to lower the mosquito populations. The study goals were to recognize equine management practices and mosquito prevention practices that foster outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease. This study used a questionnaire for county level analysis of equine management practices and the relationship to …

The Impact Of Acid Mine Drainage On West Little Sugar Creek, Vigo Co., In, Jodie L. Gibson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluates the degree and extent of contamination in West Little Sugar Creek by analyzing water chemistry in the stream during low and moderate flow conditions. West Little Sugar Creek is located in Vigo County, Indiana and has been severely impacted by AMD discharging from the abandoned Green Valley Mine site. Stream water is commonly acidic (as low as pH 2.4) with elevated concentrations of Fe and Al and elevated trace elements including Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, Co, and others, many of which exceed local and/or national surface water quality standards. Amorphous Fe and Al precipitates also form …

Nebline, August 2006

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Kids Ag Discovery Zone at County Fair is Interactive Experience
Fun Facts About Farm Animals
Predicting the Last Irrigation for Corn, Milo and Soybeans
Effect of Increasing Energy Prices on Irrigation Costs
Fall is the Best Time to Stop Henbit
Pesticide Container Recycling Program
Add Mulches to Landscapes to Protect Plants from Temperature Changes
Water Trees During Drought
Woody Plants Under Stress
Penstemon, a Great Acreage Flower
Don’t Use Black Walnut Shavings for Animal Bedding
Are You Winning the “Fruit & Vegetable Bowl Game?”
Summertime Steak Salad Recipe
Top Ten Reasons to Eat At Home
President’s Notes — Alice’s Analysis …

Biogeography Of Buarremon Brush-Finches (Aves, Emberizinae): Integrating Ecology, Evolution, And Systematics, Carlos Daniel Cadena

Dissertations

Ecological and historical approaches to studying species¿ geographic ranges have yet to be unified. Ideal scenarios for integrating ecology with evolutionary biology in biogeography are those where contemporary ecological interactions may have influenced species¿ distributions historically, driving the evolution of ecological niches. I focused on understanding the origin of elevational distributions of species, and specifically on the role of interspecific competition in the origin of complementary elevational ranges. To test hypotheses about the origin of elevational distributions, I followed a combined approach involving molecular phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, and ecological niche modeling. I focused on Buarremon torquatus and B. brunneinucha …

Factors Contributing To Dust Emissions In Clark County, Nevada Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 15, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Dust Emissions from Public Lands

• Hiring of post-doctoral scholar is currently being finalized.

• Modification to task agreement has been processed.

Phylogeographic Analyses Of Obligate And Facultative Cave Crayfish Species On The Cumberland Plateau Of The Southern Appalachians, Jennifer Elizabeth Buhay

Theses and Dissertations

Cave systems and their unique biota are widely viewed as highly endangered, yet very little is known about basic life history, ecology, distributions, habitat requirements, and evolutionary relationships of subterranean species. The crux of the problem in cave studies is the assumption that traditionally defined morpho-species represent distinct evolutionary lineages. Convergence is exhibited in the morphologies of many animal groups, vertebrate and invertebrate, which leads to confusion in diagnosing species' boundaries, geographic distributions, gene flow routes, and imperilment. This dissertation research includes phylogeographic analyses of freshwater cave-dwelling crayfishes in the Southern Appalachians, a global hotspot of subterranean biodiversity. By examining …

Geospatial Ontology Development And Semantic Analytics, I. Budak Arpinar, Cartic Ramakrishnan, Molly Azami, Amit P. Sheth, E. Lynn Usery, Mei-Po Kwan

Kno.e.sis Publications

Geospatial ontology development and semantic knowledge discovery addresses the need for modeling, analyzing and visualizing multimodal information, and is unique in offering integrated analytics that encompasses spatial, temporal and thematic dimensions of information and knowledge. The comprehensive ability to provide integrated analysis from multiple forms of information and use of explicit knowledge make this approach unique. This also involves specification of spatiotemporal thematic ontologies and populating such ontologies with high quality knowledge. Such ontologies form the basis for defining the meaning of important relations terms, such as near or surrounded by, and enable computation of spatiotemporal thematic proximity measures we …

Ecological Fitting As A Determinant Of The Community Structure Of Platyhelminth Parasites Of Anurans, Daniel R. Brooks, Virginia León-Règagnon, Deborah A. Mclennan, Derek Zelmer

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Host-parasite associations are assumed to be ecologically specialized, tightly coevolved systems driven by mutual modification in which host switching is a rare phenomenon. Ecological fitting, however, increases the probability of host switching, creating incongruences between host and parasite phylogenies, when (1) specialization on a particular host resource is a shared characteristic of distantly related parasites, and (2) the resource being tracked by the parasite is widespread among many host species. We investigated the effect of ecological fitting on structuring the platyhelminth communities of anurans from a temperate forest and grassland in the United States and tropical dry and wet forests …

Wright State University College Of Education And Human Services Annual Report, July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006, College Of Education And Human Services, Wright State University

College of Education and Human Services Annual Reports

This Wright State University College of Education and Human Services annual report is from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006.

Agenda: Climate Change And The Future Of The American West: Exploring The Legal And Policy Dimensions, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Sponsors: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; BP America; Holland & Hart; Patrick, Miller & Krope, P.C.; The Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Rocky Mountain Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation, Western Water Assessment.

Exploring the legal and political dimensions that climate change will bring to the American West will be the focus of the CU-Boulder Natural Resources Law Center's 27th Annual Summer Conference.

Titled "Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions," the conference will be held June 7-9 at the Fleming Law Building on the University of Colorado at …

Flowering Plants: Flowering Rush To Rushes, Robert H. Mohlenbrock

Illustrated Flora of Illinois

The second edition of Flowering Plants: Flowering Rush to Rushes offers new material, including a preface, seventeen new illustrations of the additional species now known from Illinois, a revised list of illustrations, and an appendix of the additions and changes since 1970 in the identification, classification, and location of the plants included in the first edition. This new edition of the first volume in the multi-volume series of The Illustrated Flora of Illinois—which provides a working reference for the identification and classification of these plant forms in the state—includes flowering rushes, arrowheads, pondweeds, naiads, duckweeds, cattails, bur reeds, spiderworts, and …

Polymorphism And Growth Behavior Of Low-Trans Fatty Acids Blends Formulated With And Without Emulsifiers, Marina Cerdeira, Silvana Martini, Roberto J. Candal, Maria L. Herrera

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Polymorphism and growth behavior of blends of a high-melting fraction of milk fat (HMF) and sunflower oil (SFO) formulated with and without the addition of sucrose esters (SE) P-170, P-1670, and S-170 were studied by pulsed 1H NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and polarized light microscopy. The effect of SE on the solid content maximum (S max) or crystallization rate was observed only at low supercooling (values of ΔT below 15°C). The Avrami k n decreased as n values increased, indicating that SE inhibited growth and impeded nucleation. Addition of SFO modified the polymorphic behavior of milk fat, most likely owing …

Book Reviews: Raptors In Your Pocket: A Guide To Great Plains Birds Of Prey; Dakota Flora: A Seasonal Sampler; The National Grasslands, Paul M. Konrad, Bonnie Heidel, F. L. Knopf

The Prairie Naturalist

Reviews of:

Raptors in Your Pocket: A Guide to Great Plains Birds of Prey, Dana Gardner, 2006, University of Iowa Press, 16 pages (laminated).

Dakota Flora: A Seasonal Sampler, David J. Ode, 2006, South Dakota State Historical Society Press, Pierre, South Dakota, 260 pages.

The National Grasslands, Francis Moul, 2006, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, 153 pages.

Contribution Of Natural Food Sources To Reproductive Behaviour, Fecundity And Longevity Of Ceratitis Cosyra, C. Fasciventris And C. Capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae), A. Manrakhan, S. A. Lux

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The influence of food sources comprising the natural diet on the reproductive behaviour, fecundity and longevity of three African fruit flies Ceratitis cosyra (Walker), C. fasciventris (Bezzi) and C. capitata (Wiedemann) was investigated. Three natural food sources, varying in protein and sugar content, were evaluated. These included bird droppings (farm chicken), aphid honeydew and guava (Psidium guajava L.) juice. For C. fasciventris and C. capitata, flies fed on a protein-rich diet displayed higher frequency of calling, mating and oviposition than flies fed on a protein-poor diet, whilst for C. cosyra, quality of diet significantly influenced the mating behaviour of the …

The Effect Of Temperature And Humidity On The Bionomics Of Six African Egg Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), A. Kalyebi, W. A. Overholt, F. Schulthess, J. M. Mueke, S. Sithanantham

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The life table statistics of six native Kenyan species/strains of Trichogramma and Trichogrammatoidea were established using a factitious host Corcyra cephalonica, Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), at eight different temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 28, 30, 32 and 35°C) and two humidity levels (40-50 and 70-80%). The objective was to select insects with superior attributes for augmentative release against lepidopteran pests in horticultural crops. Both temperature and humidity affected developmental time and life table parameters of the parasitoids but temperature played a more critical role. Developmental time was inversely related to temperature. The intrinsic and finite rates of increase increased with temperature …

Performance Evaluation Of The Self-Organizing Map For Feature Extraction, Yonggang Liu, Robert H. Weisberg, Christopher N. K. Mooers

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Despite its wide applications as a tool for feature extraction, the Self‐Organizing Map (SOM) remains a black box to most meteorologists and oceanographers. This paper evaluates the feature extraction performance of the SOM by using artificial data representative of known patterns. The SOM is shown to extract the patterns of a linear progressive sine wave. Sensitivity studies are performed to ascertain the effects of the SOM tunable parameters. By adding random noise to the linear progressive wave data, it is demonstrated that the SOM extracts essential patterns from noisy data. Moreover, the SOM technique successfully chooses among multiple sets of …

Post-Miocene Expansion, Colonization, And Host Switching Drove Speciation Among Extant Nematodes Of The Archaic Genus Trichinella, D. S. Zarlenga, B. M. Rosenthal, G. Larosa, E. Pozio, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Parasitic nematodes of the genus Trichinella cause significant food-borne illness and occupy a unique evolutionary position at the base of the phylum Nematoda, unlike the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Although the forthcoming genome sequence of Trichinella spiralis can provide invaluable comparative information about nematode biology, a basic framework for understanding the history of the genus Trichinella is needed to maximize its utility. We therefore developed the first robust and comprehensive analysis of the phylogeny and biogeographic history of Trichinella using the variation in three genes (nuclear small-subunit rDNA, and second internal transcribed spacer, mitochondrial large-subunit rDNA, and cytochrome oxidase …

Delimitating Species Boundaries Within The Liomys Pictus- Spectabilis Complex (Rodentia: Heteromyidae), Victoria L. Vance

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies based on morphological, allozymic and mitochondrial sequence data have indicated that Liomys pictus is paraplyletic relative to L. spectabilis. The purpose of this study was to determine the species boundaries that exist within this complex. I estimated phylogenetic relationships within this complex using sequence data from 1,140 bp of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene and two nuclear introns from engrailed protein (190 bp) and myosin heavy chain (254 bp) genes for approximately 712 individuals representing 82 localities across the range of L. pictus and L. spectabilis. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses suggest that there are …

Evolutionary Epidemiology Of Endemic Gal¿Pagos Birds And Their Parasites, Noah Kerness Whiteman

Dissertations

In order to better understand parasite diversification, I went to the Gal¿pagos Islands to study the ecology and evolution of a model bird-parasite system, which included four phylogenetically independent ectoparasite lineages infecting the Gal¿pagos Hawk (Aves: Buteo galapagoensis). The parasites comprised two lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera), a lousefly (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) and an avian skin mite (Acari: Epidermoptidae). Ultimately, my goal was to examine ectoparasite evolutionary epidemiology and disease susceptibility in relation to the host¿s ecological and colonization history. At the outset, I hypothesized that parasite natural history was key in influencing the coalescent process. Accordingly, I found differences …

Geochemistry Of Benthic Foraminifera As An Environmental Indicator: A Study From Multiple Hydrographic Regimes, Chandranath Basak

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The geochemistry (stable isotopes and Lracc clements) or living (sLaincd) calcareous benthic foraminifera was compared with ambient botlom water stable isotope values to provide modern analog conditions and calibrations for environmental and paleoenvironmental assessments. Stable isotope values of live (stained) bcnthic foraminifera were investigated from push core and multicorer samples from the North Pacific (on the Aleutian margin, water depth 1988m) and the South Australian Bight (water depth 2476m and 1634m). Living benthic foraminifera specimens collected from contaminated sites in the Venice Lagoon were analyzed for trace elements. Both the isotopic and the trace element study involved interpretation of modern …

Historical Biogeography Of North American Nightsnakes And Their Relationships Among The Dipsadines: Evidence For Vicariance Associated With Miocene Formations Of Northwestern Mexico, Daniel G. Mulcahy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I used a hierarchical approach to study historical biogeography in a group of colubrid snakes found in western North America. I combined small regions of mtDNA sequence data from a large number of individuals, with complete mt-genomic data. First, I investigated the relationships among leptodeirines—a presumed subgroup of dipsadines, including nightsnakes (Pseudoleptodeira, Eridiphas, and Hypsiglena)—using ~1.5 kb of data (cob and nad4). The relationships differed among parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses. All analyses supported the monophyly of the nightsnakes; however, none supported the monophyly of the leptodeirines. Instead, these data supported a new hypothesis …

Smoking, Anemia, And Risk Of Oral Clefts In Utah, Melinda Michelle Moss

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cigarette smoke contains sufficient carbon monoxide to induce maternal and fetal hypoxia. Hypoxia is a known teratogen, and consequently maternal smoking has been the focus of many studies on adverse birth outcomes, including cleft lip and palate. Current literature of epidemiological studies on smoking and clefts suggests a modest but statistically significant increase in risk of clefting associated with maternal smoking. A biological condition that may also contribute to hypoxia is anemia. Data from the Utah Child and Family Health Study was used to assess the effects of hypoxia-inducing conditions, maternal smoking, anemia, and their interaction, on the risk of …

Vascular Plant Species Richness And Distribution In A Heterogeneous Landscape, Kelly J. Mccloskey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The distribution of vascular plant species and species richness in a mid-elevation Rocky Mountain landscape can be attributed to a number of variables. The distribution of species with respect to physiognomic type, patch size, shape, and environmental heterogeneity was assessed for a mosaic landscape comprised of conifer forest, deciduous forest, and shrub-steppe physiognomic types in the southwest comer of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. This vegetation is representative of that found in other montane landscapes of the central Rocky Mountains. The vegetation was mapped to physiognomic type; distinct vegetation patches were sampled using one or more small (50 m^{2 …}

Impervious Surface Mapping In Coastal New Hampshire (2005), David G. Justice, Fay A. Rubin

PREP Reports & Publications

Estimates of impervious surface acreage in 2005 were generated and compared to prior estimates for 1990 and 2000 for a 48-town region in coastal New Hampshire, including the 42 towns within Zones A and B of the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) area. The estimates were based on applying both traditional and subpixel image classification techniques to 30-meter Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite data, acquired 3 October 2005. The classifications indicated that impervious surface acreage increased from 4.3% (31,233 acres) in 1990, to 6.3% (45,445 acres) in 2000, to 7.4% (53,408 acres) in 2005. At the subwatershed level, the …

Spatial Patterns And Response To Wave Exposure Of Shallow Water Algal Assemblages Across The Canarian Archipelago: A Multiscaled Approach, Fernando Tuya, Ricardo J. Haroun

School of Natural Sciences Publications

We conducted a mensurative survey to investigate spatial variability and the effect of wave exposure at a range of spatial scales including islands (100s of kilometres apart), locations within islands (10s of kilometres apart), and sites within locations (100s of meters apart), on the composition, abundance and distribution of shallow water algal assemblages across subtidal hard bottoms of the Canarian Archipelago (eastern Atlantic). A multi-scaled hierarchical sampling design provided the framework for quantifying the variation among samples due to each spatial scale and level of wave exposure. Haphazardly placed 50 x 50 cm quadrats were deployed in shallow rocky-reefs to …

The Importance Of Pulsed Physical Events For Sustainability Of Louisiana Coastal Forested Wetlands, William Conner, J W. Day Jr, G P. Shaffer

Publications

A number of freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River into Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are currently in operation or in the planning stage. These diversions have multiple objectives including maintaining a desirable salinity gradient, restoring deteriorating wetlands, and enhancing fisheries. The extensive freshwater forested wetlands surrounding the western end of Lake Pontchartrain receive little or no sediment input and are currently deteriorating due to continuous flooding. Diverting nutrient-rich water through wetlands can lead to substantial nutrient removal and to enhanced accretion. The objective of this paper is to compare the impacts on freshwater wetland ecology, accretion, and water quality of several …

Towards Sustainable Management Of Louisiana's Coastal Wetland Forests: Problems, Contraints, And A New Beginning, William Conner, J L. Chambers, R F. Keim, S P. Faulkner, J W. Day, E S. Gardiner, M S. Hughes, S L. King, K W. Mcleod, C A. Miller, J A. Nyman, G P. Shaffer

Publications

Over 345,000 ha of forested swamps occur throughout the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. Natural and anthropogenic changes in hydrology and geomorphology at local and landscape levels have reduced the productivity in many of these coastal wetland forests areas and have caused the complete loss of forest cover in some places. A summary and interpretation of the available
science, suggestions for policy change, and a multidisciplinary (multi-responsibility) approach were needed to address these issues [in the context of private land]. In response, the Louisiana Governor's office formed a Coastal Wetland Forest Conservation and Use Science Working Group (SWG) and an associated …