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Environmental Attributes Correlating With Density Of Blackbrush (Coleogyne Ramosissima) Shrubs In The Spring Mountains Of Southern Nevada, Simon A. Lei

Western North American Naturalist

Discovery of distinct mid-elevational bands of blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.) shrublands on desert mountain slopes in the Mojave Desert caused an investigation of the relationships between environmental factors and Coleogyne distribution. Environmental factors were quantitatively examined to determine which were significant predictors of Coleogyne density at upper-elevational limits (ecotones) in the Spring Mountains of southern Nevada. Path analysis revealed significant, direct causal effects of air temperature, soil moisture, soil depth, and percent litter cover on the distribution of Coleogyne. Specifically, air temperature was a significant positive predictor, while soil moisture, soil depth, and percent litter cover were significant …

Plant Community Patterns In Unburned And Burned Blackbrush (Coleogne Ramosissima Torr.) Shrublands In The Mojave Desert, Matthew L. Brooks, John R. Matchett

Western North American Naturalist

The blackbrush vegetation type is dominated by Coleogyne ramossisima, which is thought to preclude the coexistence of many other plant species. Fire can remove blackbrush cover and possibly increase plant species richness and evenness. Fire also may increase the frequency and cover of alien annual grasses, thereby intensifying landscape flammability. We tested these predictions in unburned and burned (6–14 years postfire) blackbrush at 3 sites spanning the range of this vegetation type in the Mojave Desert.

Species richness in unburned blackbrush was similar to published values for vegetation types in western North America, bur richness varied significantly among the …

Aquatic Oligochaeta (Annelida: Lumbriculidae, Haplotaxidae, Naididae, Tubificidae) Of Utah, Douglas R. Spencer, Richard L. Denton

Western North American Naturalist

Thirty-six species of aquatic Oligochaeta (Lumbriculidae, Haplotaxidae, Naididae, Tubificidae) are now known from Utah. Aquatic habitats in 27 counties were sampled, with 32 oligochaete species identified. An additional 4 species were added from other published investigations. The majority of species are cosmopolitan and occur in other areas of North America. Nais barbata, N. alpina, and N. pardalis are reported from the western United States for the first time. Ilyodrilus frantzi was found to be a major component of the oliogochaete fauna in the Great Basin lentic environment. The North American distribution of Telmatodrilus vejdovskyi is extended significantly eastward. Tow undetermined …

Full Issue, Vol. 63 No. 3

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Genetic Analysis Of The Rare Species Salix Arizonica (Salicaceae) And Associated Willows In Arizona And Utah, Julie T. Thompson, Renée Van Buren, Kimball T. Harper

Western North American Naturalist

Management decisions affecting the rare plant Arizona willow (Salix arizonica) will be aided by understanding genetic similarities among populations of this species. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was conducted on 20 populations of S. arizonica, 12 populations of 5 congeners, and 2 samples of outgroup, Populus tremuloides. A phenogram based on DNA markers shows clear separation of populations of S. arizonica from those of co-occurring willow species, but similarity is low (~37%) between Utah and Arizona populations of S. arizonica. Evaluation of the relationship of habitat characteristics and geographic distance to genetic similarity reveals …

Distributional Information On Birds From Egg Sets Collected By Henry Rogers Durkee In 1870 In Southwestern Wyoming, Douglas B. Mcnair, James P. Dean

Western North American Naturalist

Henry Rogers Durkee collected 74 egg sets of 27 avian species in 1870 at Gilmer, Uinta County, in southwestern Wyoming. Despite the paucity of documented breeding evidence from this region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his material at the Smithsonian Institution was generally overlooked and has never been critically examined. Durkee's egg sets included 5 species (Sandhill Crane, Grus candensis; Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Stelgidoteryx serripennis; Grasshopper Sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum; Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca; Cassin's Finch, Carpodacus cassinii) whose breeding distribution was then poorly known, 25 to more than 70 years before nests …

Breeding Populations Of Swainson's Hawks, Red-Tailed Hawks, And Golden Eagles In North Central Oregon: 1975–1982 And 1999, Stewart W. Janes

Western North American Naturalist

Populations of breeding Swainson's Hawks (Buteo swainsoni), Red-tailed Hawks (B. jamaicensis), and Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) present in 1999 were compared with populations present between 1975 and 1982 at a 129-km² site in north central Oregon. Populations of Red-tailed Hawks and Golden Eagles remained unchanged, but the number of Swainson's Hawks pairs increased from 15 to 17. In 1999 Golden Eagles used nests occupied between 1975 and 1982, and 7 of 31 pairs of Red-tailed Hawks used nests occupied in earlier years. No Swainson's Hawks nested in trees occupied earlier. Few changes in …

Families, Physicians & Illness, Jacob Christenson, D. Russell Crane

Marriage and Families

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Religious Beliefs In Marriage And Family, Loren Marks

Marriage and Families

No abstract provided.

Has The Seal Of Mulek Been Found?, Jeffrey R. Chadwick

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

A small stamp seal bearing the inscription belonging to Malkiyahu, son of the king, arguably belonged to Mulek, son of Zedekiah, who accompanied one of the Israelite groups that settled in the New World. Jeremiah 38:6 mentions Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which could also be a reference to this same Mulek. Discussion centers on similar seals, the meaning of Ben Hamelek, the possible age of Malkiyahu, and Book of Mormon claims about Mulek. This seal could conceivably have been left behind in Jerusalem and found centuries later, thus representing an archaeological artifact of a Book of Mormon personality.

The Color Of Love, Mari E. Jorgensen

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Religiousness And Depression: Evidence For A Main Effect And The Moderating Influence Of Stressful Life Events, Timothy B. Smith, Michael E. Mccullough, Justin Poll

Faculty Publications

The association between religiousness and depressive symptoms was examined with meta-analytic methods across 147 independent investigations (N = 98,975). Across all studies, the correlation between religiousness and depressive symptoms was –.096, indicating that greater religiousness is mildly associated with fewer symptoms. The results were not moderated by gender, age, or ethnicity, but the religiousness–depression association was stronger in studies involving people who were undergoing stress due to recent life events. The results were also moderated by the type of measure of religiousness used in the study, with extrinsic religious orientation and negative religious coping (e.g., avoiding difficulties through religious activities, …

Detecting Lehi’S Genetic Signature: Possible, Probable, Or Not?, David A. Mcclellan

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction: Of “Galileo Events,” Hype, And Suppression: Or, Abusing Science And Its History, Daniel C. Peterson

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Nephi’S Neighbors: Book Of Mormon Peoples And Pre-Columbian Populations, Matthew Roper

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Swimming In The Gene Pool: Israelite Kinship Relations, Genes, And Genealogy, Matthew Roper

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Elusive Israel And The Numerical Dynamics Of Population Mixing, Brian D. Stubbs

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

About The Reviewers, Farms Review

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Vol. 15 Num. 2 The Farms Review, Farms Review

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Prolegomena To The Dna Articles, Daniel C. Peterson

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

The Sophie Digital Library Of Early Women's Research: A Blueprint For Mentored Undergraduate Online Research, Blaine Hill Evanson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The ongoing problem of providing undergraduate students the real experience of research to prepare them for graduate school and careers has found a possible solution in mentored research. Additionally, online dissemination of research provides opportunities for mentored research to reach a wide audience without the barriers of traditional publishing. Important in this process is assuring the relevance of student research which requires a topic the student both enjoys and excels at. Students benefit from this research with a customized curriculum, where they are able to contribute to academia and strengthen their resume. Through my work on the Sophie project, I …

Polar Sea Ice Mapping For Seawinds, Hyrum Spencer Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the scientific community has expressed interest in the ability to observe global climate indicators such as polar sea ice. Advances in microwave remote sensing technology have allowed a large-scale and detailed study of sea ice characteristics. This thesis provides the analysis and development of sea ice mapping algorithms for the SeaWinds scatterometer. First, an in-depth analysis of the Remund Long (RL) algorithm for SeaWinds is performed. From this study, several improvements are made to the RL algorithm which enhance its performance. In addition, a new method for automated polar sea ice mapping is developed for the SeaWinds …

A Noise Filtering Method Using Neural Networks, Tony R. Martinez, Xinchuan Zeng

Faculty Publications

During the data collecting and labeling process it is possible for noise to be introduced into a data set. As a result, the quality of the data set degrades and experiments and inferences derived from the data set become less reliable. In this paper we present an algorithm, called ANR (automatic noise reduction), as a filtering mechanism to identify and remove noisy data items whose classes have been mislabeled. The underlying mechanism behind ANR is based on a framework of multi-layer artificial neural networks. ANR assigns each data item a soft class label in the form of a class probability …

Enabling Remote Access To Personal Electronic Medical Records, James K. Archibald, Eric S. Hall, Charles D. Knutson, David K. Vawdrey

Faculty Publications

Millions of people suffer from medical conditions that should be made known to healthcare practitioners prior to treatment. Paramedics and emergency room doctors cannot provide optimal care without sufficient knowledge of a patient’s medical history. Lacking patient information such as allergies, current prescriptions, and preexisting conditions, medical professionals are often forced to either delay treatment or rely on instincts. Medical mistakes in situations like these kill thousands of people and cost an estimated US$37 billion each year in the United States [1]. With the advent of electronic medical records (EMRs), patient information can be stored in computer databases at hospitals …

Full Issue, Vol. 63 No. 2

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Grass Bug Feeding And Drought Stress On Selected Lines Of Crested Wheatgrass, Robert S. Nowak, James D. Hansen, Cheryl L. Nowak

Western North American Naturalist

The sequential effects of feeding by grass bugs (Irbisia pacifica [Hemiptera: Miridae]) and of drought stress on the growth of 2 crested wheatgrasses (the hybrid Agropyron cristatum × desertorum and A. cristatum cv. 'Fairway') were investigated in a controlled greenhouse experiment. Growth rates of genotypes that were previously selected for resistance to grass bug feeding were not consistently greater than those of unselected genotypes when plants were exposed to bug feeding. Thus, the mechanism of resistance to bug feeding for the selected genotypes does not appear to be "tolerance," i.e., rapid growth rates that allow the resistant genotypes to …

Environmental Characteristics And Benthic Invertebrate Assemblages In Colorado Mountain Lakes, Brenda Moraska Lafrancois, Daren M. Carlisle, Koren R. Nydick, Brett M. Johnson, Jill S. Baron

Western North American Naturalist

Twenty-two high-elevation lakes (>3000 m) in Rocky Mountain National Park and Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, Colorado, were surveyed during summer 1998 to explore relationships among benthic invertebrates, water chemistry (particularly nitrate concentrations), and other environmental variables. Water samples were collected from the deepest portion of each lake and analyzed for ions and other water chemistry parameters. Benthic invertebrates were collected from the littoral zone using both a sweep net and Hess sampler. Physical and geographical measurements were derived from maps. Relationships among benthic invertebrate assemblages and environmental variables were examined using canonical correspondence analysis, and the importance of sampling …

Different Life Histories Of Brook Trout Populations Invading Mid-Elevation And High-Elevation Cutthroat Trout Streams In Colorado, Benjamen M. Kennedy, Douglas P. Peterson, Kurt D. Fausch

Western North American Naturalist

Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), native to eastern North America, have invaded many montane cold-water systems of western North America, and these invasions are implicated in the decline of native cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki). If fisheries biologists are to be effective in managing brook trout invasions, demographic models that predict invasion success will need to incorporate life history variation in different environments. We tested whether brook trout populations invading streams at 2 different elevations varied in life history characteristics that influence population dynamics and potential invasion success. In the high-elevation stream (3195 m), water temperatures were colder …

Demographic And Environmental Relations Of Two Rare Astragalus Species Endemic To Washington County, Utah: Astragalus Holmgreniorum And A. Ampullarioides, Renée Van Buren, K. T. Harper

Western North American Naturalist

Two endemic locoweeds of Washington County, Utah, Astragalus holmgreniorum and A. ampullarioides, were recently listed as federally endangered plant species (Federal Register 2001). They both occur in few, small populations surrounded by increasing human activity in the St. George, Utah, area. Demographic and habitat studies have been ongoing since 1992 and results of those studies are presented here. Astragalus holmgreniorum (Holmgren locoweed) is presently limited to 1 larger population and 2 smaller, isolated populations on the eastern and western edges of its range. It is a short-lived perennial that grows primarily on the Virgin limestone member of the Moenkopi …

Macroinvertebrate Community Structure And Related Environmental Variables In Two Forks Of The Virgin River, Utah, Terence P. Boyle, Matthew J. Strand

Western North American Naturalist

Using multivariate analysis techniques, we analyzed variation in the structure of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in the North Fork and East Fork of the Virgin River in and above Zion National Park in concert with a number of naturally occurring and anthropogenic environmental variables. Correspondence analysis revealed that the community structure in the 2 streams was markedly different despite occurring in areas similar in topography, elevation, and terrestrial vegetation cover. Subsequent analyses of the 2 streams separately using canonical correspondence analysis to test for strength of association of environmental variables with variations in benthic macroinvertebrate community structure revealed that communities …