Digital Commons Network^™

Sampling Locality Is More Detectable Than Taxonomy Or Ecology In The Gut Microbiota Of The Brood-Parasitic Brown-Headed Cowbird (Molothrus Ater), Sarah M. Hird, Bryan C. Carstens, Steven W. Cardiff, Donna L. Dittmann, Robb T. Brumfield

Faculty Publications

Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) are the most widespread avian brood parasite in North America, laying their eggs in the nests of approximately 250 host species that raise the cowbird nestlings as their own. It is currently unknown how these heterospecific hosts influence the cowbird gut microbiota relative to other factors, such as the local environment and genetics. We test a Nature Hypothesis (positing the importance of cowbird genetics) and a Nurture Hypothesis (where the host parents are most influential to cowbird gut microbiota) using the V6 region of 16S rRNA as a microbial fingerprint of the gut from 32 cowbird …

Research Matters Spring 2014, Louisiana State University And Agricultural & Mechanical College

Research Matters & RNR Newsletters

Research Matters is a publication which highlights ongoing research, international travel experiences, classroom happenings and degree program developments of and for the School of Renewable Natural Resources' students and faculty.

Confederate Slave Impressment In The Upper South, Aaron Astor

Civil War Book Review

Interactions Between Slavery and the State

Central to the Confederate military effort was the mobilization of its entire population – men and women, free and enslaved, white and black – in behalf of the new nation. How exactly a Southern Confederacy founded upon the ideological cornerston....

The "New" Nature In The Language Of Travel Domingo Navarrete's And John Locke's Natural Law Rhetoric, Matthew Binney

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Religious Exchanges Solomon's Temple, Holy Land Travel, And A Georgics Of Sacred Space In Seventeenth- And Eighteenth-Century English Writing, Michael Rotenberg-Schwartz

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Weather, Climate, And The Economy: Explaining Risk Perceptions Of Global Warming, 2001-10, Wanyun Shao, Barry D. Keim, James C. Garand, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

Two series of national survey datasets (2001-10), supplemented with monthly temperature and precipitation data and unemployment data, are used to examine how weather and climate, economic performance, and individuals' sociodemographic backgrounds and political orientations affect public perceptions of global warming. Consistent with previous studies, political orientations play a key rolein determining public perceptions of global warming. Democrats and liberals are more likely than Republicans and conservatives to see global warming as an immediate and serious problem. Sociodemographic characteristics are also shown to be significant factors, with young people, women, and racial minorities likely to show higher concern about global warming …

Latitudinal Variation In Clutch Size-Lay Date Regressions In Tachycineta Swallows: Effects Of Food Supply Or Demography?, David W. Winkler, Kevin M. Ringelman, Peter O. Dunn, Linda Whittingham, David J.T. Hussell, Robert G. Clark, Russell D. Dawson, L. Scott Johnson, Alexandra Rose, Suzanne H. Austin, W. Douglas Robinson, Michael P. Lombardo, Patrick A. Thorpe, Dave Shutler, Raleigh J. Robertson, Maria Stager, Marty Leonard, Andrew G. Horn, Janis Dickinson, Valentina Ferretti, Viviana Massoni, Florencia Bulit, Juan C. Reboreda, Marcela Liljesthröm, Martín Quiroga, Eldar Rakhimberdiev, Daniel R. Ardia

Faculty Publications

In a study of almost 16 000 nest records from seven swallow species across the entire Western Hemisphere, clutch sizes decline with relative laying date in each population, but the slope of this decline grows steeper with increasing distance from the equator. Late-laying birds at all latitudes lay clutches of similar sizes, suggesting that latitudinal differences may be driven primarily by earlier-laying birds. Focused comparisons of site-years in North America with qualitatively different food availability indicate that food supply significantly affects mean clutch size but not the clutch size-lay date regression. Other studies on the seasonality of swallow food also …

Separating The Impacts Of Climate Variation And Human Activities On Runoff In The Songhua River Basin, Northeast China, Fengping Li, Guangxin Zhang, Yi Jun Xu

Faculty Publications

Climate variation and human activities are commonly recognized as two major factors affecting basin hydrology. However, quantifying their individual effect on runoff is challenging. In this study, long-term (1960-2009) river discharge and weather data in the Songhua River Basin (SRB, 556,800 km2), Northeast China, were gathered to separate the impacts of climate variation and human activities on runoff in five sub basins of the SRB. Mann-Kendall test, moving t-test and precipitation-runoff double cumulative curve were utilized to identify trends and change points of the hydrometeorlogical variables. Based on the change point, the 50-year study period was divided into two time …

Towards An Operational Sar-Based Rice Monitoring System In Asia: Examples From 13 Demonstration Sites Across Asia In The Riice Project, Andrew Nelson, Tri Setiyono, Arnel B. Rala, Emma D. Quicho, Jeny V. Raviz, Prosperidad J. Abonete, Aileen A. Maunahan, Cornelia A. Garcia, Hannah Zarah M. Bhatti, Lorena S. Villano, Pongmanee Thongbai, Francesco Holecz, Massimo Barbieri, Francesco Collivignarelli, Luca Gatti, Eduardo Jimmy P. Quilang, Mary Rose O. Mabalay, Pristine E. Mabalot, Mabel I. Barroga, Alfie P. Bacong, Norlyn T. Detoito, Glorie Belle Berja, Frenciso Varquez, Wahyunto, Dwi Kuntjoro, Sri Retno Murdiyati, Sellaperumal Pazhanivelan, Pandian Kannan, Petchimuthu Christy Nirmala Mary, Elangovan Subramanian, Preesan Rakwatin, Amornrat Intrman, Thana Setapayak

Faculty Publications

Rice is the most important food security crop in Asia. Information on its seasonal extent forms part of the national accounting of many Asian countries. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is highly suitable for detecting lowland rice, especially in tropical and subtropical regions, where pervasive cloud cover in the rainy seasons precludes the use of optical imagery. Here, we present a simple, robust, rule-based classification for mapping rice area with regularly acquired, multi-temporal, X-band, HH-polarized SAR imagery and site-specific parameters for classification. The rules for rice detection are based on the well-studied temporal signature of rice from SAR backscatter and …

Primitive Layered Gabbros From Fast-Spreading Lower Oceanic Crust, Kathryn M. Gillis, Jonathan E. Snow, Adam Klaus, Natsue Abe, Álden B. Adrião, Norikatsu Akizawa, Georges Ceuleneer, Michael J. Cheadle, Kathrin Faak, Trevor J. Falloon, Sarah A. Friedman, Marguerite Godard, Gilles Guerin, Yumiko Harigane, Andrew J. Horst, Takashi Hoshide, Benoit Ildefonse, Marlon M. Jean, Barbara E. John, Juergen Koepke, Sumiaki Machi, Jinichiro Maeda, Naomi E. Marks, Andrew M. Mccaig, Romain Meyer, Antony Morris, Toshio Nozaka, Marie Python, Abhishek Saha, Robert P. Wintsch

Faculty Publications

Three-quarters of the oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges is composed of plutonic rocks whose mineral assemblages, textures and compositions record the history of melt transport and crystallization between the mantle and the sea floor. Despite the importance of these rocks, sampling them in situ is extremely challenging owing to the overlying dykes and lavas. This means that models for understanding the formation of the lower crust are based largely on geophysical studies and ancient analogues (ophiolites) that did not form at typical mid-ocean ridges. Here we describe cored intervals of primitive, modally layered gabbroic rocks from the lower plutonic …

Preliminary Multifactorial Analysis Of Parkinson's Disease, Max James Miller

LSU Master's Theses

Neurodegenerative disorders affect millions of Americans every year. Incidence increases as the human population ages. Parkinson’s Disease, a neurodegenerative disorder in the dopaminergic system of the basal ganglia, causes deterioration of movement as the disease progresses. Researchers have attempted to figure out what causes PD and are currently examining it as an environmental disease. This study examined PD as an environmental disease using a multifactorial approach. Methods included 1) utilization of hospital and mortality records in order to investigate a relationship between occupation and PD 2) using ArcGIS 10.2 technology to examine the spatial components of PD 3) conducting Chi-Square …

The Association Between Attachment And Posttraumatic Growth In A Sample Of U.S. College Students, Keith Alan Morgan

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the association between attachment and posttraumatic growth. Previous literature has suggested that securely attached individuals show more positive methods of coping with stress by activating their attachment system and facing the distress of a traumatic event. On the other hand, insecurely attached individuals display more negative methods of dealing with stress. Those with insecure attachment may avoid the distress of a traumatic event or not successfully activate the attachment system. Thus, it is expected that securely attached individuals will demonstrate higher levels of posttraumatic growth, or positive reactions to the experience of …

Decomposition And Entomological Associations Of Swine In Louisiana Micro-Environments, Rachael Ann Farris

LSU Master's Theses

Flies are commonly used as forensic indicators of an approximate time of death. This measurement of postmortem interval is influenced by factors such as climate and the environment in which the remains are placed. Each environment has its own set of influences that can accelerate or hinder the rate of decomposition. Remains left on dry land will decompose at a faster rate than remains in water due to the accessibility of the remains to scavengers and necrophagus insects. This research serves to provide a start to research into decomposition in the swamp environment of southern Louisiana. Three fetal pigs were …

Assessment Of Age At Weaning For Post-Contact Maya Of Tipu, Belize, Using Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Ratios, Chaney Hiers

LSU Master's Theses

Age at weaning was assessed for a post-Spanish contact Maya population, the Tipu, by sampling 25 individuals (20 subadults less than seven years of age and five females from 18 to 45 years of age). Whole ribs, for younger subadults, and rib fragments, for older subadults and adults, were sampled for stable nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotope ratios. Five lines of evidence were used to assess age at weaning: stable carbon composition from collagen (δ13Ccol), stable nitrogen composition from collagen (δ15Ncol), stable carbon composition from apatite (δ13Cap), difference in collagen and apatite composition (Δ13Cap-col), and stable oxygen composition from apatite …

Quantifying The Impact Of Hurricanes, Mid-Latitude Cyclones And Other Weather And Climate Extreme Events On The Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands Using Remotely Sensed Data, Rebekah Danielle Jones

LSU Master's Theses

Recent high-profile hurricanes have demonstrated the destructiveness of extreme events on coastal landscapes to the world. Barrier islands across the planet are disappearing, exposing vulnerable coastal cities to the damage caused by extreme events. Growing resolve among scientists regarding climate change's connection to tropical cyclones heightens the concern around intensifying extremes and landscape dynamics. This study uses more than 600 Landsat images to examine the role of extreme events on barrier island morphology on four of the Mississippi-Alabama barrier islands from 1972-2014. Each island, West Ship Island (WSI), East Ship Island (WSI), Petit Bois Island (PBI), and Sand Island, was …

The Imagined After: Re-Positioning Social Memory Through Twentieth-Century Post-Apocalyptic Literature And Film, Amanda Ashleigh Wicks

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Maurice Halbwachs first proposed a collective approach to memory in the early twentieth century, but the vast majority of subsequent scholarship investigates memory’s social properties from a theoretical point of view. This project instead proposes that memory functions as a social phenomenon in significant and real ways, primarily understood through the social relations that arise within social frameworks, which provide a structure against which people’s memories come together to form important memory-narratives that configure individual and social consciousness. Once people transform memory from individual thought-image into socially structured language, memory takes on social properties. Memory relies upon social frameworks to …

A Comparative Study Of Human Decomposition Research Facilities In The United States: The Role Of "Body Farms" In Forensic Applications, Nicole Suzanne Klein

LSU Master's Theses

The first human decomposition facility, the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility, or the “Body Farm,” as it is more commonly known, was established in 1980. Not until the year 2006 did another of its kind open. In the past six years, the number of such facilities has tripled. Human decomposition facilities, and their amenities, are being used for research purposes more frequently each year, although there is little in the literature that describes the facilities themselves. Interviews with facility representatives were used to gather data in order to better understand how these facilities are initiated, the difficulties and successes …

Natural Isoscapes Of Louisiana: Stable Isotope Analysis Of Oxygen, Carbon, And Strontium, Miley Jackson

LSU Master's Theses

Stable isotope analysis has been used by archaeologists and anthropologists to better understand time, provenience, and diet of past humans, but the utility of stable isotope analysis in modern humans has not been fully explored. Forensic anthropologists today primarily identify human skeletal remains, and stable isotope analysis of bone may narrow down the possible identities of an individual. Determining the natural variability within the state of Louisiana is the first step in determining whether individuals from different areas of the state are distinguishable from one another. This thesis investigated the natural isotopic variability in Louisiana with respect to oxygen (δ18O), …

Inferences Of Subsistence Activities Using Musculoskeletal Stress Markers Of Humerii From Two Louisiana Archaeological Populations, Brian M. Thibodeaux

LSU Master's Theses

Wolff’s Law states that bone is laid down where it is needed; therefore, mechanical factors, including subsistence-based activity patterns, play a role in bone biology. One of bone’s responses to strain is the development of musculoskeletal stress markers (MSMs) at entheses, or the sites in which soft tissues, including tendons and ligaments, attach to bone. MSMs have been used by bioarchaeologists to make inferences about past population’s activity patterns and subsistence behaviors. The following study scores eight MSMs of the proximal humerii from the Tchefuncte (16ST1) and Greenhouse (16AV2) sites in Louisiana. The MSMs were segregated into muscle groups and …

A Comparison Of Capacity For Resilience Among Coastal Communities In The Northeast U.S. And The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Region, Emily Gootee

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal communities face many threats from their surrounding environment, including floods and severe storms. These threats are exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise, which may cause increased frequency and severity of these events. Despite these hazards, population density along the coasts continues to rise. These areas of dense population and infrastructure are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Hurricane Sandy of 2012 was a powerful demonstration of the impact that severe storms can have on coastal populations. In the face of this reality, coastal communities must adapt and become more resilient to environmental changes. In order to assess …

Digital Image Analysis Of Selected Tchefuncte And Alexander Series Ceramics, Peter Albert Cropley

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, I used digital image analysis to quantitatively describe and detail the prehistoric pottery associated with the coastal Tchefuncte culture (ca. B.C. 800—100 A.D.). The first step was to select and procure samples of Tchefuncte Plain var . Tchefuncte, var. Mandeville, Baldwin Plain var. O’Neal, and two decorated Alexander series wares from the Tchefuncte site. Two samples of var. Tchefuncte from the Bayou Jasmine site (16SJB2) and two Alexander series samples from the Tennessee-Tombigbee area were included for comparison. The sites represented by the samples from the Tennessee-Tombigbee region are the Kellogg Village Site (22CL527) and the Sanders …

Assessment Of Habitat Quality For Red Snapper, Lutjanus Campechanus, In The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico: Natural Vs. Artificial Reefs, Brittany Dawn Schwartzkopf

LSU Master's Theses

Habitat quality of natural and artificial reefs for red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) is important as this area is home to the majority of the Gulf’s artificial reef system, in the form of oil and gas platforms, in addition to the largest extent of high vertical relief natural habitat. This study sought to assess habitat quality of natural reefs of varying habitat complexity and an artificial reef complex located on the LA continental shelf. Habitat quality was assessed by comparing red snapper diets and foraging patterns, and nutritional condition using the liver-somatic index (LSI) …

Decomposition At Three Aquatic And Terrestrial Sites In Southern Louisiana, Paul Max Bangs

LSU Master's Theses

To compare decomposition potential variability in geographically distinct sites, this project deposited six pigs of comparable size to adult humans in pairs at three sites within southern Louisiana. These sites were: the east bank of the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, “Red Pass” in the Bird Foot Delta near Venice, Louisiana, and the Grande Isle and Grand Terre Islands in the Gulf of Mexico. After partial decomposition of the three pairs of remains, one pig was placed onto land to simulate beaching by tidal action or recession of flood water. Each pig was allowed to continue decomposition. Despite geographic distance …

Place, Race, And The Politics Of Identity In The Geography Of Garinagu Baündada, Doris Garcia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Garinagu, who are commonly referred to by the name of their language, Garifuna, emerged out of the historical geographical processes of colonialism and capitalism on Saint Vincent Island in the Lesser Antilles. Exiled by the British to New Spain’s Captaincy General of Guatemala in 1797, the Garinagu formed communities and cultural bonds to the land, namely, but not exclusively, along the north coast of the territory that would become part of the Honduran nation-state in 1821. Today, the Garinagu are rapidly becoming a landless population. Since the mid-1970s, the Honduran government has pursued the expansion of tourism on the …

Adapting Resilience To A New Hazard: Oil And Oysters In Coastal Louisiana, Audrey Maass

LSU Master's Theses

Inherently resilient practices are one mechanism that communities engage in to cope with disruptive events. A community retains and passes down the practices associated with inherent resilience in their collective memory. The inherent resilience of a community is developed over time, yet the explanation provided by Colten et al. lacks a genesis of how this process developed particularly in relation to the oil industry’s entry into Louisiana. The foundations of these practices will be explored through historic court documents to find encounters between oystermen and oil spills. In addition to legal resources, I also investigate newspaper articles and other historic …

Production, Discard, And Urban Life At The Early Horizon Center Of Caylán, Coastal Peru, Jacob Pate Warner

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis I examine material production, discard, and trash flow at the Early Horizon urban center of Caylán (800 – 1 cal. BC) on the Peruvian North-Central coast. Trash (or garbage, refuse, litter, or waste) is a central source of information for archaeologists examining prehistoric lifeways in Peru. Despite frequent use of trash as a source for radiocarbon samples, cultural material, and dietary evidence, few studies utilize the transportation and concentration of trash to examine human behavioral patterns. The Early Horizon, as a transitional period in Peruvian prehistory, presents an opportunity to test the utility of trash deposits in …

Caves And Class: Excavations At The Lang-Jourdan House In Mandeville, Louisiana, Matthew James Chouest

LSU Master's Theses

Jean Baptiste Lang, a divorced tobacco merchant from Belgium, constructed a summer home in Mandeville, Louisiana, in the mid-1850s. The most noteworthy feature of this house (16ST248) is its cave, a semi-subterranean room which he likely used as a wine cellar. The house was continuously occupied for over a century and remained one of few examples on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain of an original Anglo-Creole cottage. There are very few extant examples of caves in Louisiana due to the difficulty in maintaining such structures. The principal research questions addressed were (1) Can the cave be identified in the …

Teaching Climate Literacy Using Geospatial Tools, Steven L. Babcock

LSU Master's Theses

Antarctica is the world’s coldest, driest and windiest continent. It is a harsh environment that few people will ever see but it is a very important part of our Earth system. Over the past 34 million years the climate in Antarctica has deteriorated from one that supported lush vegetation to the conditions observed today. By studying this trend and the associated changes to ice and vegetation we can gain critical insight into climate changes taking place today. This thesis presents three pieces of curricula that will help students and the general public understand some of the research currently underway in …

A Storied Surface, Courtney Wilburn Marse

LSU Master's Theses

A Storied Surface is an exploration of narrative based graphic design engineered for textile surfaces. Beginning with an experiment involving the characters of the novel Matilda, I developed a design system. My process involves creating narratives and illustrating the characters. Then the illustration is abstracted. The abstraction is used to create prints. Finally, all of the elements including the original illustration, abstraction, and print are used to create engineered designs for three-dimensional surfaces. Advances in digital textile printing and the increasing implementation of graphic textiles in the fashion industry led me to experiment with applying my own design to textiles …

Bone Modification In Male To Female Transgender Surgeries: Considerations For The Forensic Anthropologist, Shelby Buchanan

LSU Master's Theses

No forensic anthropological standards exist for the identification of transsexual individuals from skeletal material. In fact, current standards produce inaccurate biological profiles for transsexuals. The reason being that current standard for ascription of sex from skeletal remains relies on pelvic morphology. Positive identification of unidentified individuals relies on the accuracy of the biological profile, which includes sex, provided by the forensic anthropologist. In the case of male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals, ascription of sex based on pelvic morphology will result in an inaccurate assessment of sex. This study, therefore, attempts to determine whether or not there exists evidence in the skeleton of …