Digital Commons Network^™

Bat Species Diversity In Old-Growth Vs. Second Growth Forests In Lilley Cornett Woods, Letcher County, Kentucky, Lindsay R. Conley

Online Theses and Dissertations

Bat activity in old-growth forests (+150 years) is a subject that is poorly understood. The majority of old-growth forests are located in the northwestern portion of the United States, and with current silviculture practices, many forests are being cut. There have been no published studies that specifically examine bat use of old-growth forests in Kentucky. The objective of this study was to determine the diversity of bat species associated with old-growth and second growth forests within the Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station, Letcher County, Kentucky. This study was conducted over 2 field seasons; 2009 and 2010. Mist netting …

Characteristics Of Rest Sites Used By Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) In Richmond, Kentucky, Jonathan Ridenour

Online Theses and Dissertations

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is one of many species that have adapted to living in urban/suburban environments. In this study, radio-tagged raccoons within the city limits of Richmond, KY, were monitored to locate rest sites. A rest site is defined as any site occupied by a raccoon during the non-motile periods of its daily activity cycle. Thirty-three different rest sites were located throughout the spring and summer seasons of 2009-10. With some rest sites being used multiple times for a total of 50.

Of the individual rest sites located, 9, 16, and 8 were located in trees, in …

Assessment Of Heavy Metal Concentrations In Water, Plankton, And Fish Of Lake Manzala, Egypt, Mohamed Bahnasawy, Abdel Aziz Khidr, Nadia Dheina

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The levels of some heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) were determined in water, plankton, and fish (Liza aurata) collected from 5 sites in Lake Manzala. Metals in the water and fish exhibited a significant seasonal and regional variation, in which all metals attained their maximum value during summer, while the lowest levels were found during winter. The concentration of different metals in water, plankton, and fish tissues followed the same order: Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. The mean concentrations of metals in the water were as follow: Cu, 0.055; Zn, 0.311; Cd, 0.020; and Pb, 0.022 mg/L. The Cd …

Helminth Parasites Of The Balkan Green Lizard, Lacerta Trilineata Bedriaga 1886, From Bursa, Turkey, Hi̇kmet Sami̇ Yildirimhan, Charles Robert Bursey, Fayik Naci̇ Altunel

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Thirty-eight Balkan green lizards, Lacerta trilineata, from Turkey were examined for helminths. Three species of Digenea, Plagiorchis elegans, Pleurogenoides medians, Brachylaemus sp. (metacercaria); 2 species of Cestoda, Oochoristica tuberculata and Mesocestoides sp. (tetrathyridium); and 6 species of Nematoda, Abbreviata abbreviata, Ascarops strongylina (larva in cysts), Falcaustra armenica, Oswaldocruzia filiformis, Skrjabinelazia hoffmanni, Skrjabinodon medinae, were found. Lacerta trilineata represents a new host record for each of the parasite species; Plagiorchis elegans, Brachylaemus sp., Oochoristica tuberculata, Mesocestoides sp., Abbreviata abbreviata, Ascarops strongylina (larva), Falcaustra armenica Skrjabinelazia hoffmanni, and Skrjabinodon medinae are reported from Turkey for the first time.

My Life In Biology: Paul A. Johnsgard, Paul A. Johnsgard

Nebraska Bird Review

An autobiographical article by ornithologist Paul A. Johnsgard that spans his early years in North Dakota, undergraduate and graduate studies, his arrival and professional years at the University of Nebraska, his writings and writing influences, artwork, teaching and Cedar Point Biological Station, hunting and photography, conservation, religious beliefs, and numerous writing projects underway.

The Identity Of Zachaenus Roseus Cope, 1890 (Anura: Species Inquirenda), Esteban O. Lavilla, J. J. Nuñez, F. E. Rabanal, José A. Langone, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Zachaenus roseus Cope, 1890, has puzzled systematists working in southern South America. A single individual, the holotype, has ever been collected and this specimen is in extremely poor preservation condition. Herein, the precise location of the type locality of Z. roseus is determined based on a historical review of the literature. Furthermore, following a careful comparison with all species that inhabit the southern austral forest, and that could potentially correspond to Zachaenus roseus, we conclude that this taxon is placed in the synonymy of Eupsophus calcaratus (Günther, 1881)

Interspecific Variation In Palatability Suggests Cospecialization Of Antipredator Defenses In Sea Hares, Kimberly K. Takagi, Nadia N. Ono, William G. Wright

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Prey species often deploy different kinds of antipredator defenses, which can interact with each other in ways that are not yet completely understood. Much research into these interactions has utilized gastropod mollusks, usually focusing (in part) on the protective utility of the gastropod shell. This makes the evolutionary reduction of the shell in the opisthobranch gastropods (marine slugs) particularly interesting. This loss of protective function of the shell is associated with the evolution of alternative defenses. Particularly well studied are chemical defenses, especially those using secondary metabolites derived from food resources. As a first step toward understanding interspecific variation in …

Comparative Morphology Of Two Sympatric Species Of Hedgehog In Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia, Richard P. Reading, David Kenny, Sodnomphil Batdorj, James Murdoch

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Daurian hedgehog (Mesechinus dauuricus) and long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) inhabit Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia and both species appear to occupy similar niches. We gathered morphological measurements to test for differences between species and sexes. We hoped to gain insight into the mechanisms that allow the species to coexist. We collected morphometric data from 10 long-eared hedgehogs (6 male, 4 female) and 18 Daurian hedgehogs (10 male, 7 female, and 1 unknown sex). Only total body length in Daurian hedgehogs differed significantly between males and females. Otherwise, we found no significant differences between morphometric measures of …

Morphological Analyses Of Some Palaearctic Stenopogon Loew, 1847 (Diptera: Asilidae: Stenopogoninae) Based On The Spermatheca Structure, Abdullah Hasbenli̇, Fatma Bayrakdar, Selami̇ Candan, Üzeyi̇r Çağlar

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Females of some Stenopogon species were compared both systematically and phylogenetically utilizing spermatheca morphology. The spermathecae of 8 species and 2 subspecies of Stenopogon (S. coracinus, S. elongatus S. flavibarbis, S. junceus, S. laevigatus, S. nigriventris, S. schisticolor, S. strateagus, S. sabaudus harpax, and S. xanthotrichus xanthomelas) were examined using a scanning electron microscope and subsequently analyzed with cluster analysis. Taxa of evaluated Stenopogon were found to be separated into 2 primary groups, A and B, based on the number of spirals and the diameter of the reservoir. Group A further separated into the sub-groups A1, A2, and A3, while …

Male Remating Success And The Frequency Of Copulatory Plugs In The Green Lynx Spider Peucetia Viridans (Araneae, Oxyopidae), Martina G. Ramirez, Angelik C. Achekian, Catherine R. Coverley, Rachel M. Pierce, Sarah S. Eiman, Melissa M. Wetkowski

Biology Faculty Works

Peucetia viridans males were allowed to mate with three virgin females and most matings resulted in live spiderlings, even when males lacked palpal paracymbial processes. Among females, the presence of copulatory plugs was inconsistent, and when present, their condition was not uniform; broken-off male paracymbia were often found in epigynal orifices. There was no size effect in a male’s ability to completely plug a female’s genital orifices, as well as no significant change in the pattern of plug production over consecutive mating trials. Among mated, field-collected females, the presence of plugs and paracymbia was variable, with females from some sites …

The Importance Of Fallback Foods In Primate Ecology And Evolution, Paul J. Constantino, Barth W. Wright

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The role of fallback foods in shaping primate ranging, socioecology, and morphology has recently become a topic of particular interest to biological anthropologists. Although the use of fallback resources has been noted in the ecological and primatological literature for a number of decades, few attempts have been made to define fallback foods or to explore the utility of this concept for primate evolutionary biologists and ecologists. As a preface to this special issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology devoted to the topic of fallback foods in primate ecology and evolution, we discuss the development and use of the …

Encomium: Rolliin Harold Baker: 1916-2007, Carleton J. Phillips, Robert J. Baker, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Rollin H. Baker passed away on November 12, 2007, one day after reaching his 91st birthday. Rollin was a living legend, famous for his pioneering research on biogeography and natural history of Mexican mammals, especially rodents, for his contributions to the understanding of Michigan mammals, and for being a mentor and friend to all young, aspiring mammalogists. Rollin Baker’s career lasted way beyond his traditional retirement, and in his final months he was still active in the Texas Society of Mammalogists and in conservation issues in Texas. Indeed, when he was 89 years old he presented a guest lecture in …

Temporal Shifts In Demography And Life History Of An Anadromous Alewife Population In Connecticut, Justin P. Davis, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Populations of anadromous alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) are declining throughout much of their range, particularly in southern New England where fishery moratoriums have recently been instituted in three states. The alewife run at Bride Brook, a coastal stream in East Lyme, Connecticut, was studied from 2003-06 to assess shifts in demography and life history. Annual censuses of abundance, along with sampling for size, age, and spawning history structure were conducted. These data were compared to similar data in 1966-67 at this site. Recent alewife runs at Bride Brook featured lower abundance and younger, smaller fish that were less likely to be …

Estimating Predation On Declining River Herring: Tag-Recapture Study Of Striped Bass In The Connecticut River, Eric T. Schultz, Justin P. Davis, Jason Vokoun

EEB Articles

Populations of anadromous alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring Alosa aestivalis, collectively referred to as river herring, have declined in the Connecticut River. A hypothesis for why river herring have declined is that predation pressures have increased associated with recent increases in abundance of striped bass Morone saxatilis. Information on striped bass abundance, size structure, and consumption rates are required to test this hypothesis. This study was designed to provide estimates of striped bass population size in the Connecticut River during the spring migration season, via an intensive mark-recapture exercise and either an open or robust mark-recapture model. …

The Gastropod Fauna And Their Abundance, And Some Physicochemical Parameters Of Lake Gölbaşı (Hatay, Turkey), Hülya Şerefli̇şan, M. Zeki̇ Yildirim, Menderes Şerefli̇şan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

An investigation was carried out on the native gastropod species in Lake Gölbaşı, Hatay. During the research 3 species belonging to the subclass Pulmonata (Gyraulus piscinarum, Radix labiata, Anisus leucostoma) were detected along with 9 species of the subclass Orthogastropoda (=Prosobranchia) including Theodoxus jordani, Semisalsa contempta, Semisalsa longiscata, Bithynia phialensis, Valvata saulcyi, Valvata piscinalis, Melanoides tuberculatus, Melanopsis praemorsa ferussaci, Melanopsis costata costata. These gastropod species were collected from 4 stations chosen in the lake. Furthermore, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature were measured at the sampling sites.

Morphology And Infraciliature Of Some Haptorid Ciliates (Protista, Ciliophora, Haptoria) In Alkaline Soil Samples Of Van (Turkey), With Notes On The Ontogenesis Of Enchelyodon Nodosus Berger, Foissner & Adam, 1984, Naci̇ye Gülkiz Şenler, İsmai̇l Yildiz

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The morphology and infraciliature of 4 haptorid ciliates obtained from alkaline soil habitats in Van, Turkey, were investigated: Pseudoholophrya terricola Berger, Foissner & Adam, 1984, Paraenchelys wenzeli Foissner, 1984, Armatoenchelys geleii (Foissner, 1981), and Enchelyodon nodosus Berger, Foissner & Adam, 1984. The descriptions were based on live observations and silver impregnated specimens and morphometry. The main morphological characteristics of these species are similar to those described in the literature. However, the dorsal brush row 3 is longer than dorsal brush rows 1 and 2 in A. geleii, and E. nodosus has a long monokinetidal tail not reported previously. This is …

A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Effects Of Wildlife Water Developments In The Western United States, Randy T. Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Free water can be a limiting factor to wildlife in arid regions of the world. In the western United States, management agencies have installed numerous, expensive wildlife water developments (e.g. catchments, guzzlers, wells) to: 1) increase the distribution or density of target species, 2) influence animal movements, and 3) mitigate for the loss of available free water. Despite over 50 years as an active management practice, water developments have become controversial for several species. We lack an integrated understanding of the ways free water influences animal populations. In particular, we have not meshed understanding of evolutionary adaptations that reduce the …

Garter Snake (Thamnophis) Natural History: Food Habits And Interspecific Aggression, Michael J. Edgehouse

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Communication and recognition are closely intertwined and have been well documented in closely related species over the past several decades. These two types of behaviors often will aid in fostering or disrupting coexistence of similar species. Frequently, it is through different diet patterns that similar species will be able to coexist. This study uses data from 1972 through 2006 to demonstrate the diet of Thamnophis sirtalis, T. atratus, T. elegans, and T. couchii throughout their California range of sympatry with Taricha torosa. Additionally, an in depth examination of the diet of T. sirtalis, T. elegans, …

Observation Of Hailstorm-Caused Mortality Of Least Terns And Piping Plovers On The Niobrara River, Nebraska, Mark M. Czaplewski, Mark Peyton, Jim Jenniges

Nebraska Bird Review

Hail has been documented to be a cause of mortality to adult Least Terns and Piping Plovers as well as to eggs and young (Boyd 1992, Lingle 1993, Schweitzer and Davis 2000, SD Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks 2005). While on an airboat survey to document Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) and Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) use of a portion of the Niobrara River (from Highway 137 to the Spencer Dam, approximately 40 river miles), the authors observed the remnants of a Least Tern and Piping Plover colony that had been hit by an overnight rainstorm …

Influential Parasites: Importance Of Haemosporidian Parasite Infection In The White-Throated Sparrow, Amanda P. Jamison

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of parasite-mediated selection, as originally postulated by Hamilton and Zuk ( 1982) in birds is an area of intense study as it allows us to test the significance of the relationship between host and parasite. Recent developments of resistance to treatments in humans for parasite induced disease, creates a place for this important research and emphasizes the need to find the connections and interactions in this relationship between ecology and infectious disease. The development of new molecular techniques has made the study of parasitism in birds and mammals easier and provides an efficient sensitive . methodology to detect …

Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, 1819-1820: America's First Biodiversity Ineventory, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

It is our thesis that members of the Stephen Long Expedition of 1819-20 completed the first biodiversity inventory undertaken in the United States at their winter quarters, Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, in the modern state of Nebraska. This accomplishment has been overlooked both by biologists and historians, but it should rank among the most significant accomplishments of the expedition. The results of this inventory allow us to evaluate the environmental, faunal, and floral changes along the Missouri River in the intervening nearly 190 years. The historical records form a visual image of a dynamic riverine system in which a highly …

Population Ecology Of The Golden Mouse, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

An understanding of the population dynamics of a species requires knowledge of the major life-history parameters of a population, including age at maturity, distribution of age classes, and lifetime reproductive contribution of the sexes, sex ratio, length of the breeding season, mean litter size, rates of growth and survival, and life span. Because few long-term studies have been conducted with Ochrotomys nuttalli as the focal species of investigation, only fragmentary information is available for many population parameters. As importantly, densities of golden mice often are low, making them difficult to evaluate statistically. Little has been published on age at maturity …

Earthworm Abundances In Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Pastures In Northwest Arkansas, Ashley Rashe, Mary C. Savin

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The ecology of organisms that co-evolve within an ecosystem is likely to be distinct from that involving organisms recently introduced into an area. To better understand the relationship of earthworms with endophyte-infected tall fescue, earthworms in novel and toxic endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures were enumerated and identified as adults or juveniles. We hypothesized that differences in endophyte infection of the fescue would influence earthworm abundances. Earthworms in two toxic and two novel endophyte-infected tall fescue fields in Fayetteville, Ark., were sampled weekly from January through July 2007. Each type of endophyte-infected pasture was established in 1997 and 2003. Sampling was …

Low-Density Rodent Communities In Eastern Virginia, Robert K. Rose, Jean F. Stankavich

Virginia Journal of Science

Two communities of small mammals were live trapped every other week for 15 months in linear oilfield habitat bordered by forested swampland in eastern Virginia. All nine species of the rodent community were present, mostly in low numbers and often intermittently. All species were characterized by high transiency, with a minority of marked animals becoming resident. Despite high trappability, all but two species in these communities had extremely low densities, suggesting that most species could not sustain populations via in situ reproduction.

Bats Of Barbuda, Northern Lesser Antilles, Scott C. Pedersen, Peter A. Larsen, Hugh H. Genoways, Matthew Morton, Kevel C. Lindsay, Jerry Cindric

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Five species of bats are known to occur on the Lesser Antillean island of Barbuda—Noctilio leporinus, Monophyllus plethodon, Brachyphylla cavernarum, Tadarida brasiliensis, and Molossus molossus. During the present study, two additional species of bats—Artibeus jamaicensis and Natalus stramineus—were added to the chiropteran fauna of the island. Although the ecological diversity of Barbuda is limited, this bat fauna matches those of islands in the region such as Antigua, Nevis, and St. Kitts. It is proposed that this biodiversity of bats is maintained because of the geology of Barbuda provides ample roosting sites and access to freshwater …