Digital Commons Network^™

The Future Of Stock Enhancements: Lessons For Hatchery Practice From Conservation Biology, Culum Brown, Rachel L. Day

Aquaculture Collection

The world’s fish species are under threat from habitat degradation and over-exploitation. In many instances, attempts to bolster stocks have been made by rearing fish in hatcheries and releasing them into the wild. Fisheries restocking programmes have primarily headed these attempts. However, a substantial number of endangered species recovery programmes also rely on the release of hatchery-reared individuals to ensure long-term population viability. Fisheries scientists have known about the behavioural deficits displayed by hatchery-reared fish and the resultant poor survival rates in the wild for over a century. Whilst there remain considerable gaps in our knowledge about the exact causes …

The Deadly Trypanosome: Understanding The Parasite That Causes Sleeping Sickness, Patricia E. Mancini

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Potential Habitat Corridors And Landscape Ecology For Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca Fascicularis) On Bali, Indonesia, Mark Warren Southern

All Master's Theses

The relationship between Balinese long-tailed macaques, Bali's cultural settings, and Bali's physical settings was studied. A Geographical Information System (GIS) database was developed and analyzed to determine if forest corridors exist on Bali that may provide habitat connectivity between 42 Balinese long-tailed macaque troops. The GIS database was also analyzed to determine if the landscape type that has the highest percentage of overlap with the 42 Balinese long-tailed macaque home range sites is forest. The results indicate that connectivity between troops located within Bali's western region is significantly higher than that for troops located in Bali's eastern region. The results …

Bolbophorus Damnificus N. Sp. (Digenea: Bolbophoridae) From The Channel Catfish Ictalurus Punctatus And American White Pelican Pelecanus Erythrorhynchos In The Usa Based On Life-Cycle And Molecular Data, Robin M. Overstreet, Stephen S. Curran, Linda M. Pote, D. Tommy King, Charles K. Blend, Walter D. Grater

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The common pathogenic prodiplostomulum metacercaria in the flesh, mostly near the skin, of pond-produced channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus has been demonstrated to be Bolbophorus damnificus Overstreet & Curran n. sp. The catfish acquires the infection from the snail Planorbella trivolvis, the only known first intermediate host, and the species is perpetuated through the American white pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, as confirmed by experimental infections with nestling and dewormed adult pelican specimens in conjunction with molecular data. It differs from the cryptic species Bolbophorus sp., also found concurrently in the American white pelican, by having eggs 123–129 μm rather …

Compositional Trends And Spatial Patterns Over A Quarter Century: Forest Dynamics Of Dobbs Park, Indiana, Nancy Hoalst Pullen

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thirty-five permanent plots were reexamined to identify and describe the spatial and temporal characteristics of Dobbs Park, an isolated old-growth forest stand in westcentral Indiana. The 3.6 ha stand was resurveyed in summer 2000, with all stems greater than 10 cm dbh measured, and accessions and deaths recorded. The results are compared to original data collected in summer 1974, with compositional and spatial patterns identified via GIS and spatial analysis. The stand has declined slightly in density from 342 stems/ha to 333.15 stems/hectare (-2.6%) while basal area (dominance) for the stand has increased from 23.6 m2/ha to 25.8 m2/ha (+8.8%) …

Patterns And Processes Of Population Differentiation In The Chuckwalla (Sauromalus Obesus) In Southern Nevada, Paul C. Ustach

Biology

I examined both present-day and historical patterns in the herbivorous desert lizard, Sauromalus obesus (chuckwalla), within the Mojave Desert ecoregion in Nevada. My goal was to determine the process or processes that led to their present-day distribution. I expected to recover distinct haplotypes unique to each mountain range. These unique haplotypes were expected to reveal a pattern of geographic partitioning with sequence divergence among populations increasing as a function of distance. I characterized the distribution of chuckwallas in Nevada by means of a simple model using a geographic information system (GIS). This simple model was used to enhance sampling efficiency …

Ecogeographic Surveys As Tools For Analyzing Potential Reproductive Isolating Mechanisms: An Example Using Solanum Juglandifolium Dunal, S. Ochranthum Dunal, S. Lycopersicoides Dunal, And S. Sitiens I. M. Johnston, Stacey Dewitt Smith, Iris Edith Peralta

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

An ecogeographic survey was completed for two pairs of South American Solanum species: (1) S. juglandifolium and S. ochranthum, and (2) S. lycopersicoides and S. sitiens. The purpose of this survey was to characterize the distribution, ecology, and phenology of these species and to screen for factors that might constitute premating reproductive isolating mechanisms between each pair. Passport data from 276 herbarium specimens were entered into a database, which was subsequently analyzed to determine the ecogeographic distribution and phenology of the surveyed species. The differences between species uncovered by the survey were then considered in the context of …

Taking Evoultionary Transitions Seriously, Daniel R. Brooks

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The distinction between reversible and irreversible phenomena in biological information systems provides a basis for distinguishing microevolution from macroevolution. Biological transitions encompass the entire class of irreversible changes in biological systems, including physiological and developmental phenomena. Evolutionary transitions are the subset of biological transitions that have an impact on the quality and quantity of biological information transmitted to future generations. Evolutionary transitions are manifested empirically as macroevolutionary changes, i.e. evolutionary changes that can be detected only through phylogenetic analysis among groups of species sharing a unique common ancestry.

Application Of Biophysical Data To An Unsupervised Classification To Map Ecoregional Boundaries In The Desert Southwest, Paxton R. Mcclurg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An unsupervised classification was applied to continuous biophysical variables in an attempt to delineate ecoregional boundaries in the desert southwest. Output was then compared with ecoregions delineated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Forest Service at the national level. An attempt was made to use the same biophysical variables for input into the unsupervised classification as was emphasized by the various agencies with their ecoregional classifications at the desert level. Major constraints included data availability at such a large study area, data resolution, and data that were continuous. This eliminated categorical data …

Statmod: A Tool For Interfacing Arcview® Gis With Statistical Software To Facilitate Predictive Ecological Modeling, Christine M. Garrard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As geographical information systems and spatial data become more accessible, predictive spatial modeling in ecology is becoming more common. Unfortunately, not all ecologists possess the necessary skills to successfully combine statistical models and geographical information systems. In response to this problem, I wrote an extension for ArcView^® GIS called StatMod. This extension interfaces ArcView GIS with SAS^® and S-PLUS^® statistical software and walks the user through creating and mapping logistic regression and classification and regression tree models.

StatMod was then used to run a series of analyses that would have been difficult without such a tool. A …

Patterns And Processes Of Population Differentiation In The Chuckwalla (Sauromalus Obesus) In Southern Nevada, Paul C. Ustach

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I examined both present-day and historical patterns in the herbivorous desert lizard, Sauromalus obesus (chuckwalla), within the Mojave Desert ecoregion in Nevada. My goal was to determine the process or processes that led to their present-day distribution. I expected to recover distinct haplotypes unique to each mountain range. These unique haplotypes were expected to reveal a pattern of geographic partitioning with sequence divergence among populations increasing as a function of distance. I characterized the distribution of chuckwallas in Nevada by means of a simple model using a geographic information system (GIS). This simple model was used to enhance sampling efficiency …

The Wetland Wonders Education Program: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Kristen Gilbert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Wetland Wonders Field Experience Program (WWFEP) at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge connects U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conservation and education goals with an educational need (understanding wetlands) in the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem by using innovative education and volunteer initiatives. The WWFEP has two principal components, the Education Program Module (EPM) and the Volunteer Instructor Module (VIM).

The EPM provides a well rounded environmental educational experience to third, fourth and fifth grade students based on constructivism, inquiry-based learning, subject integration and theoretical model of environmental education. Third graders study Wetland Creatures (adaptations and habitats), fourth graders study the …

Forest Landscape Change Detection In The Meseta PuréPecha, MichoacáN, MéXico, John Malcolm Chase

Dissertations and Theses

Social, political, economic, and environmental factors converge in developing countries to stimulate high rates of deforestation. Forest conversion reduces biodiversity, contributes to carbon loading of the atmosphere, alters the global water balance, and degrades the quality of life for rural people. Mexico is the fifth most biologically diverse country in the world and temperate and tropical forests in Mexico are rapidly disappearing with environmental and cultural repercussions for people and ecosystems.

Social, political, economic, and environmental factors converge in developing countries to stimulate high rates of deforestation. Forest conversion reduces biodiversity, contributes to carbon loading of the atmosphere, alters the …

Ua66/1/1 Student Awards Ceremony, Wku Ogden College Of Science & Engineering

WKU Administration Documents

Program for Ogden College of Science & Engineering Student Awards ceremony.

2002 - The Seventh Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Seventh Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 5, 2002. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Practical Considerations In Nucleation Studies, Silvana Martini, M. L. Herrera

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Interspecific- And Acclimation-Induced Variation In Levels Of Heat-Shock Proteins 70 (Hsp70) And 90 (Hsp90) And Heat-Shock Transcription Factor-1 (Hsf1) In Congeneric Marine Snails (Genus Tegula): Implications For Regulation Of Hsp Gene Expression, Lars Tomanek, George N. Somero

Biological Sciences

In our previous studies of heat-shock protein (hsp) expression in congeneric marine gastropods of the genus Tegula, we observed interspecific and acclimation-induced variation in the temperatures at which heat-shock gene expression is induced (T_on). To investigate the factors responsible for these inter- and intraspecific differences in T_on, we tested the predictions of the ‘cellular thermometer’ model for the transcriptional regulation of hsp expression. According to this model, hsps not active in chaperoning unfolded proteins bind to a transcription factor, heat-shock factor-1 (HSF1), thereby reducing the levels of free HSF1 that are available to bind …

An Annotated Checklist Of Wisconsin Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera), Nadine A. Kriska, Daniel K. Young

Insecta Mundi

A survey of Wisconsin Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) conducted from literature searches, collection inventories, and three years of field work (1997-1999), yielded 177 species representing nine families, two of which, Ochodaeidae and Ceratocanthidae, represent new state family records. Fifty-six species (32% of the Wisconsin fauna) represent new state species records, having not previously been recorded from the state. Literature and collection distributional records suggest the potential for at least 33 additional species to occur in Wisconsin.

Migrations Of The Imagination: Photographs By Michael Forsberg, Drawings, Sculptures And Quotations By Paul A. Johnsgard, And Additional Works Of Art, Paul A. Johnsgard, Michael Forsberg

Papers in Ornithology

Migrations of the imagination are those images, sounds, smells, and tastes that transport one to another time and place, possibly as close as Nine- Mile Prairie near Lincoln, or perhaps as far away as the Canadian high arctic, and to times that may be decades or centuries removed from one's personal life and experiences. They hold us in their thrall, expanding our vision, and touching our lives in special ways. They help retrieve our own memories or perhaps stir us to make new ones that will live with us for a lifetime.

The migratory images here are those of nature, …

X-Ray Diffraction And Crystal Size, Silvana Martini, M. L. Herrera

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

X-ray diffraction technique is one of the best methods to study polymorphism of fats systems. The only information authors usually report is the interplanar distances calculated from the angles at which diffraction lines appear; these clearly determine the polymorphic form. However, in many other fields using crystallography, X-ray patterns are also used to determine crystal size from the broadening of the diffraction line at half the line of maximum intensity. To investigate the meaning of the diffraction line width in fat systems and the relationship with other techniques widely used to determine crystal size, we crystallized a blend of 30–70% …

Leaf Size, Specific Leaf Area And Microhabitat Distribution Of Chaparral Woody Plants: Contrasting Patterns In Species Level And Community Level Analyses, D. D. Ackerly, Charles A. Knight, S. B. Weiss, K. Barton, K. P. Starmer

Biological Sciences

We examined variation in leaf size and specific leaf area (SLA) in relation to the distribution of 22 chaparral shrub species on small-scale gradients of aspect and elevation. Potential incident solar radiation (insolation) was estimated from a geographic information system to quantify microclimate affinities of these species across north- and south-facing slopes. At the community level, leaf size and SLA both declined with increasing insolation, based on average trait values for the species found in plots along the gradient. However, leaf size and SLA were not significantly correlated across species, suggesting that these two traits are decoupled and associated with …

Visual Predators Select For Crypticity And Polymorphism In Virtual Prey, Alan B. Bond, Alan Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Cryptically colored animals commonly occur in several distinct pattern variants. Such phenotypic diversity may be promoted by frequency-dependent predation, in which more abundant variants are attacked disproportionately often, but the hypothesis has never been explicitly tested. Here we report the first controlled experiment on the effects of visual predators on prey crypticity and phenotypic variance, in which blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) searched for digital moths on computer monitors. Moth phenotypes evolved via a genetic algorithm in which individuals detected by the jays were much less likely to reproduce. Jays often failed to detect atypical cryptic moths, confirming frequency- …

A Role For Natural Resource Social Science In Biodiversity Risk Assessment, Philip J. Nyhus, Frances R. Westley, Robert C. Lacey, Philip S. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

Biologists have made considerable progress in developing realistic simulation models to predict extinction risks for threatened species. Social scientists have to date had a more limited role in these efforts. This limited involvement comes despite the growing acknowledgment by population biologists and simulation modelers that this additional input is necessary for these models to accurately reflect the impact of humans and human-dominated landscapes on wildlife populations. We argue that collaborations among social and biological scientists can provide unparalleled opportunities to develop new conceptual and simulation tools for biodiversity risk assessment. One challenge is that while the value of interdisciplinary research …

Developing Industrial Ecosystems: Approaches, Cases, And Tools, Marian Chertow, Michelle Portlock

Yale School of the Environment Bulletin Series

No abstract provided.

Phylogenetic Structure Of Two Central Mexican Centruroides Species Complexes, William Ian Towler

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Central Mexico is home to numerous species of highly toxic Centruroides scorpions. Two species complexes C. infamatus, (C.L. Koch, 1844), and C. limpidus (Karsch, 1879) typify the complex relationships that exist between and within the complexes. Their existing taxonomic status is based on morphological features such as coloration and morphosculpture. A complete and modern study of these scorpions does not exist, and is needed. In an attempt to clarify the status and relationship between these complexes we initiated a molecular based approach applying mitochondrial gene markers (16S and CO1). This study confirms two divergent clades within C. infamatus; divergence rate …

A New Megalonychid Sloth From The Late Wisconsinan Of The Dominican Republic, Elizabeth Rega, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg, Keith Christenson

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

An unusually well preserved skull, mandible, and indisputably associated post-cranial elements of new sloth, Acratocnus (Miocnus), were recovered from a cave in Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic. The animal died lying in a rimstone pool and was rapidly coated with a thin calcite patina. We have documented a late Wisconsinan age for this specimen by inorganic 14C radiometric dating of the patina, with supporting data on the carbon systematics of the speleothems in this cave. This sloth is described as a new species on the basis of the distinctive morphology and relative size of cranial and mandibular features. We consider …

A Middle Pleistocene Age And Biogeography For The Extinct Rodent Megalomys Curazensis From Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

The extinct oryzomyine rodent Megalomys curazensis has been known from abundant but fragmentary remains on the island of Curaçao since 1959. Here we demonstrate an age of 130 000 to 400 000 years before present based on geomorphological context, and propose a biogeographical model for the genus.

A Late Quaternary Paleoecological Record From Caves Of Southern Jamaica, West Indies, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg, A.G. Fincham

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Studies of an unusual and diverse system of caves in coastal southern Jamaica have yielded a paleoclimatic record associated with a fossil vertebrate record that provides useful insights into the poorly documented paleoecology of latest Wisconsinan and Holocene Jamaica. Episodes of significantly increased precipitation during the Holocene have left characteristic deposits of speleothems, and have supported both faunal and archaeological communities that were dependent on these mesic conditions. Deposits of fossil bat guano preserved in the caves provide a δ¹³C record of alternating mesic and xeric climatic episodes that supports the interpretation of the faunal and archaeological record.

Wildland Fire In Ecosystems Effects Of Fire On Air, David V. Sandberg, Roger D. Ottmar, Janice L. Peterson, John Core

Joint Fire Science Program Synthesis Reports

This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on air quality can assist land, fire, and air resource managers with fire and smoke planning, and their efforts to explain to others the science behind fire-related program policies and practices to improve air quality. Chapter topics include air quality regulations and fire; characterization of emissions from fire; the transport, dispersion, and modeling of fire emissions; atmospheric and plume chemistry; air quality impacts of fire; social consequences of air quality impacts; and recommendations for future research.

Selection And Culture Of Landscape Plants In Utah - A Guide For High Mountain Valleys, Larry A. Rupp, William A. Varga, Teresa A. Cerny, Chad R. Reid, Michael R. Kuhns

All Archived Publications

No abstract provided.