Digital Commons Network^™

Bats And Coronaviruses, Arinjay Banerjee, Kirsten Kulcsar, Vikram Misra, Matthew Frieman, Karen Mossman

KIP Articles

Bats are speculated to be reservoirs of several emerging viruses including coronaviruses (CoVs) that cause serious disease in humans and agricultural animals. These include CoVs that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) and severe acute diarrhea syndrome (SADS). Bats that are naturally infected or experimentally infected do not demonstrate clinical signs of disease. These observations have allowed researchers to speculate that bats are the likely reservoirs or ancestral hosts for several CoVs. In this review, we follow the CoV outbreaks that are speculated to have originated in bats. We review studies …

Fifty Years Of Cave Arthropod Sampling: Techniques And Best Practices, J. Judson Wynne, Francis G. Howarth, Stefan Sommer

KIP Articles

Ever-increasing human pressures on cave biodiversity have amplified the need for systematic, repeatable, and intensive surveys of cave-dwelling arthropods to formulate evidence-based management decisions. We examined 110 papers (from 1967 to 2018) to: (i) understand how cave-dwelling invertebrates have been sampled; (ii) provide a summary of techniques most commonly applied and appropriateness of these techniques, and; (iii) make recommendations for sampling design improvement. Of the studies reviewed, over half (56) were biological inventories, 43 ecologically focused, seven were techniques papers, and four were conservation studies. Nearly one-half (48) of the papers applied systematic techniques. Few papers (24) provided enough information …

Comparing The Fertility Of Florida’S Eastern Mosquitofish, Gambusia Holbrooki, Based On Differences In Female Traits, Water Quality, And Habitat Type, Jordan David Miller

USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

The eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki, is a surface-dwelling guppy native to the southeastern United States. While resilient to poor water quality, the fish is a voracious predator of the epilimnion, with established populations in most subtropical/tropical regions with surficial freshwater. Eastern mosquitofish are farmed and collected for use as biocontrol agents against the spread of many infectious, often life-threatening, mosquito-borne illnesses. I compared the reproductive success (fertility) of 370 gravid mosquitofish among 32 sites across central Florida to test the hypothesis that fertility is influenced by maternal, ecological, and environmental factors. I found that fish fertility (clutch size) differed significantly …

A Survey And Comparison Of Plant Communities In Crescent Lake Park, An Urban Lake In St. Petersburg, Florida, Hunter Hajaistron

USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

In Florida, urban lakes are challenged. Pollution from surrounding urban ecosystems is detrimental to the ecological health of these lakes. Planting and restoring native wetlands along the littoral zone of these lakes will reduce the effects of pollution. Crescent Lake is an urban lake in Pinellas County, Florida, USA, that has recently begun to restore its wetlands system. This study surveys and evaluates the plant species in the wetland, shoreline, and parkland habitats of Crescent Lake to determine the effectiveness of management. Transects and quadrats were used to determine the diversity and structure of native and non-native plant species. 58 …

Winter Habitats Of Bats In Texas, Melissa B. Meierhofer, Joseph S. Johnson, Samantha J. Leivers

KIP Articles

Few studies have described winter microclimate selection by bats in the southern United States. This is of particular importance as the cold-adapted fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which causes the fatal bat disease white-nose syndrome (WNS), continues to spread into southern United States. To better understand the suitability of winter bat habitats for the growth of P. destructans in this region, we collected roost temperature and vapor pressure deficit from 97 hibernacula in six ecoregions in Texas during winter 2016–17 and 2017–18. We also measured skin temperature of Rafinesque’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii), Townsend’s big-eared bats (C. townsendii), big-brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), …

Are Microclimate Conditions In El Malpais National Monument Caves In New Mexico, Usa Suitable For Pseudogymnoascus Growth?, Terry J. Torres-Cruz, Porras-Alfaro, Nicole A. Caimi

KIP Articles

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a bat disease caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which thrives in cold and very humid environments where bats frequently hibernate. Conidia of Pseudogymnoascus species are often documented on bats prior to the onset of WNS, but characterization of high-risk areas defined by microclimate cave conditions have been lacking. Investigating the occurrence of this fungal genus and appropriate environmental conditions to support P. destructans in southwestern U.S. caves is key to understanding the sites most likely to be impacted by WNS. Microclimate conditions in ten caves at El Malpais (ELMA) National Monument in New Mexico, …

Zika And Flavivirus Shell Disorder: Virulence And Fetal Morbidity, Gerard Kian-Meng Goh, A. Keith Dunker, James A. Foster, Vladimir N. Uversky

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Zika virus (ZIKV) was first discovered in 1947 in Africa. Since then, sporadic ZIKV infections of humans have been reported in Africa and Asia. For a long time, this virus was mostly unnoticed due to its mild symptoms and low fatality rates. However, during the 2015–2016 epidemic in Central and South America, when millions of people were infected, it was discovered that ZIKV causes microcephaly in the babies of mothers infected during pregnancy. An examination of the M and C proteins of the ZIKV shell using the disorder predictor PONDR VLXT revealed that the M protein contains relatively high disorder …

Abstracts Of Student Presentations And Posters At The Fall 2018 Meeting Of The Florida Ornithological Society, Florida Field Naturalist

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Impacts Of Ghana’S Oil And Gas Industry On Ecosystem Services And Smallholder Livelihoods, Michael Acheampong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ghana discovered oil and gas within its shores in commercial quantities in the year, 2007. This discovery was hailed as a potential turn around for the country’s economic destiny. While this optimism may have been well-founded, there has been a relative lack of appreciation of the potential adverse implications of the industry on traditional smallholder livelihoods, and the critical ecosystems that form their basis. In many countries, discovery of natural resources results in negative environmental and social outcomes, due to the loss of local livelihoods and environmental degradation. Deterioration of local livelihoods occurs through several biophysical pathways, both simple and …

Remote Sensing And Spatial Metrics For Quantifying Seagrass Landscape Changes: A Study On The 2011 Indian River Lagoon Florida Seagrass Die-Off Event, René Dieter Baumstark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida’s seagrasses are ecologically important marine environments which have suffered major degradation caused by increasing anthropogenic pressures. A 2011 seagrass die-off event caused by an algal bloom in the Florida Indian River Lagoon (IRL) was particularly severe with a majority of seagrass lost in areas such as the Banana River. An understanding of how this coastal marine environment changed is an important step toward better managing resources for conservation. Modern tools and methods provide new opportunities to study these changes at the landscape scale, a scale that informs on the larger more comprehensive state of a system. Classified satellite imagery …

Role Of Nutritional Factors In Pathogenesis Of Cancer, Anita Patel, Yashwant Pathak, Jayvadan Patel, Vijaykumar B. Sutariya

Pharmacy Faculty Publications

Diet and nutrition are crucial factors throughout the complete life course in the promotion and upholding of good health. It has always been accepted that our defencelessness to infection and disease was influenced by diet and environmental as well as genetic factors. Nutrition is coming to the front position as a principle modifiable determinant of chronic disease, with scientific confirmation with time more supporting the view that alterations in diet have strong effects, equally positive as well as negative, on health throughout life. For the most part notably, nutritional adjustments may not only influence present health but also determine whether …

Producing Distribution Maps For A Spatially-Explicit Ecosystem Model Using Large Monitoring And Environmental Databases And A Combination Of Interpolation And Extrapolation, Arnaud Grüss, Michael D. Drexler, Cameron H. Ainsworth, Elizabeth A. Babcock, Joseph H. Tarnecki, Matthew S. Love

Marine Science Faculty Publications

To be able to simulate spatial patterns of predator-prey interactions, many spatially-explicit ecosystem modeling platforms, including Atlantis, need to be provided with distribution maps defining the annual or seasonal spatial distributions of functional groups and life stages. We developed a methodology combining extrapolation and interpolation of the predictions made by statistical habitat models to produce distribution maps for the fish and invertebrates represented in the Atlantis model of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) (“Atlantis-GOM”). This methodology consists of: (1) compiling a large monitoring database, gathering all the fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent data collected in the northern (U.S.) …

Remote Sensing As A Monitoring And Modeling Tool, Jennifer Cannizzaro, Inia Soto, Chuanmin Hu

Marine Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ecological And Indigenous Community Impacts Of Oil Spill Mortality In Alaskan Marine Ecosystems, Paul M. Suprenand, Carie Hoover, Cameron H. Ainsworth, L. Dornberger, C. J. Johnson

Marine Science Faculty Publications

While hydrocarbon exploration and extraction in the Arctic ebbs and flows, reduced sea ice has opened new travel routes across the Arctic. The opening of the Northwest Passage has allowed larger ships (including oil tankers) and higher traffic into remote regions. More ice loss is expected in the future. With this comes the potential for hydrocarbon spills. To quantify the ecosystem impacts of a spill in the Alaska North Slope region, an Ecospace model using the Ecopath with Ecosim software was developed. We highlight the impacts of four potential hydrocarbon contamination scenarios: a subsurface crude oil pipeline release, a surface …

Role Of Nutritional Factors In Pathogenesis Of Cancer, Anita Patel, Yashwant Pathak, Jayvadan Patel, Vijaykumar Sutariya

Pharmacy Faculty Publications

Diet and nutrition are crucial factors throughout the complete life course in the promotion and upholding of good health. It has always been accepted that our defencelessness to infection and disease was influenced by diet and environmental as well as genetic factors. Nutrition is coming to the front position as a principle modifiable determinant of chronic disease, with scientific confirmation with time more supporting the view that alterations in diet have strong effects, equally positive as well as negative, on health throughout life. For the most part notably, nutritional adjustments may not only influence present health but also determine whether …

Preferential Production And Transport Of Grass-Derived Pyrogenic Carbon In Ne-Australian Savanna Ecosystems, Gustavo Saiz, Iain Goodrick, Christopher Wurster, Paul N. Nelson, Jonathan G. Wynn, Michael Bird

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Understanding the main factors driving fire regimes in grasslands and savannas is critical to better manage their biodiversity and functions. Moreover, improving our knowledge on pyrogenic carbon (PyC) dynamics, including formation, transport and deposition, is fundamental to better understand a significant slow-cycling component of the global carbon cycle, particularly as these ecosystems account for a substantial proportion of the area globally burnt. However, a thorough assessment of past fire regimes in grass-dominated ecosystems is problematic due to challenges in interpreting the charcoal record of sediments. It is therefore critical to adopt appropriate sampling and analytical methods to allow the acquisition …

Possible Effects Of Long-Term Weather Changes And Extreme Weather Events On Mice Population Abundances In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2017, Emily S. Parker

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Mice and rat abundance is determined by a multitude of factors, including, but not limited to: climate change, predation, and food availability. In this study, I analyzed the effects of daily and long-term weather on rodent populations to understand a possible decrease in abundance from 2016 to 2017 in Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. I took observations of individuals from four different sites: Santa Elena, Bajo del Tigre, Dwight and Rachel Crandell Memorial Reserve, and the Estación Biológica Monteverde. While a considerable number of specimens were captured in Bajo del Tigre, I observed the total abundance of rodents to be significantly …

Sleep And Alzheimer’S Disease: A Critical Examination Of The Risk That Sleep Problems Or Disorders Particularly Obstructive Sleep Apnea Pose Towards Developing Alzheimer’S Disease, Omonigho A. Michael Bubu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a critical examination of the relationship between sleep problems and/or disorders, particularly Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Alzheimer Disease (AD). First, I conducted an exhaustive systematic review of existing literature, and identified gaps in research that led to specific research aims. For the first aim, I conducted the first ever-published meta-analysis examining sleep, cognitive decline and AD, providing an aggregate effect of sleep on AD. Second, focusing on OSA, I conducted a study examining OSA’s effect on longitudinal changes on AD biomarkers in cognitive normal, MCI and AD subjects, using data from the Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative …

Stable Isotopes In The Eye Lenses Of Doryteuthis Plei: Exploring Natal Origins And Migratory Patterns In The Eastern Gulf Of Mexico, Brenna A. Meath

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stable isotope analysis is an emerging tool to examine trophic pathways and migratory patterns of marine organisms. Squid are widely distributed in coastal and deep water regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen found within cephalopod tissues can provide information on both trophic level and habitat of their food sources. More recently, ontogenetic changes in stable isotope ratios within squid eye lenses have been documented. Concentric layers of crystallin proteins are added to the lens as the squid ages; the center of the lens contains the oldest layer and the youngest layers are on …

Lung Ct Radiomics: An Overview Of Using Images As Data, Samuel Hunt Hawkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and worldwide. Early detection of lung cancer can help improve patient outcomes, and survival prediction can inform plans of treatment. By extracting quantitative features from computed tomography scans of lung cancer, predictive models can be built that can achieve both early detection and survival prediction. To build these predictive models, first a detected lung nodule is segmented, then image features are extracted, and finally a model can be built utilizing image features to make predictions. These predictions can help radiologists improve cancer care.

Building predictive models based …

Effects Of An Early Life Immune Challenge On Body Growth, Personality, Mating Behaviors, And Brain Development Of Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Guttata), Ahmet Kerim Uysal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The developmental stress hypothesis predicts that an aversive condition, such as decreased food intake, predation, and social isolation, in the early developmental stage could have long term effects on behaviors and brain development of an animal. In nature, bird nestlings are susceptible to various factors, such as malnutrition, infections, and parasites. Effects of early life stress on adulthood have been extensively studied with some stressors including malnutrition. However, immune challenges as an early life stressor and their long-term programming effects on adult behaviors are yet to be studied in detail. The goal of the current study was to investigate changes …

Mitigating The Conflict Between Pitfall-Trap Sampling And Conservation Of Terrestrial Subterranean Communities In Caves, Peter Kozel, Tanja Pipan, Nina Šajna, Slavko Polak, Tone Novak

International Journal of Speleology

Subterranean habitats are known for their rich endemic fauna and high vulnerability to disturbance. Many methods and techniques are used to sample the biodiversity of terrestrial invertebrate fauna in caves, among which pitfall trapping remains one of the most frequently used and effective ones. However, this method has turned out to be harmful to subterranean communities if applied inappropriately. Traditionally, pitfall traps have been placed in caves solely on the ground. Here we present an optimized technique of pitfall trapping to achieve a balance between sampling completeness and minimal disturbance of the fauna in the cave. Monthly we placed traps …

Habitat Use And Behaviours Of Introduced Muscovy Ducks (Cairina Moschata) In Urban And Suburban Environments, Joni Downs, Rebecca Loraamm, James Howard Anderson Jr., Jacqueline Perry, Jessica Bullock

Suburban Sustainability

Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata) are native to South America, Central America, and Mexico. The species is commonly domesticated and raised for meat across the globe. Escaped or intentionally introduced populations have become established in many suburban areas, although they are little studied. A total of 642 individual time-activity budgets were collected for invasive Muscovy ducks in Tampa, Florida, USA, in order to quantify habitat use and behavioural patterns. Muscovy ducks utilized a variety of cover types, including open water, shoreline, grass, tree, shrub, and urban habitats. Muscovy ducks foraged by dabbling, gleaning, grazing, and probing, while occasionally obtaining, …

Abundance And Habitat Preferences Of Introduced Muscovy Ducks (Cairina Moschata), Jacqueline Marie Perry Cahanin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Muscovy ducks are native only to Central and South America, Mexico, and parts of southern Texas and are considered invasive in some areas outside of their native range. Although they have been introduced worldwide, they remain largely unstudied. The primary focus of this study was to relate Muscovy duck abundance to habitat characteristics of wetlands in Tampa, Florida. Muscovy abundance was measured using point count methods at 21 wetland sites that occur within an eight km radius of the University of South Florida’s main campus. Habitat features at these sites were assessed using field methods and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) …

Zonation Pattern And Spatial Arrangement Of A Geukensia Granosissima Population In A Mixed Mangrove Forest Of Tampa Bay, Derrick Shane Hudson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Here I provide the first report on Geukensia granosissima patterns of abundance along a tidal gradient within a mixed mangrove stand located in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. Specifically, I examined 1) the relationship between G. granosissima size and density with mangrove root type (e.g. prop root, pneumatophore), and of density within the intertidal zones; and 2) the possible role of predation in shaping the lower zonation patterns displayed. Transect surveys located along the lower and upper population limit boundaries were conducted every two months over a ten-month period. Variables measured include size distribution, density of mussels, above ground mangrove prop …

Geographical Information Systems (Gis) Applied To Urban Nutrient Management: Data Scarce Case Studies From Belize And Florida, Charlotte Juliane Haberstroh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient inputs into the environment greatly impact urban ecosystems. Appropriate management strategies are needed to limit eutrophication of surface water bodies and contamination of groundwater. In many existing urban environments, retrofits or complete upgrades are needed for stormwater and/or wastewater infrastructure to manage nutrients. However, sustainable urban nutrient management requires comprehensive baseline data that is often not available. A Framework for Urban Nutrient (FUN) Management for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was developed to specifically address those areas with limited data access. Using spatial analysis in GIS, it links water quality, land use, and socio-demographics, thereby reducing data collection and field-based …

Full Issue 46(1)

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Diversity And Biocide Susceptibility Of Fungal Assemblages Dwelling In The Art Gallery Of Magura Cave, Bulgaria, Milena M. Mitova, Mihail Iliev, Alena Nováková, Anna A. Gorbushina, Veneta I. Groudeva, Pedro M. Martin-Sanchez

International Journal of Speleology

Magura Cave, north-western Bulgaria, possesses valuable rock-art paintings made with bat guano and dated from the period between the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages. Since 2008, the Art Gallery is closed to the general public in order to protect the paintings from vandalism, microclimatic changes caused by visitors and artificial illumination, and the consequent growth of fungi and phototrophs. Nevertheless, some tourist visits are allowed under the supervision of cave managers. This study provides the first scientific report on cultivable fungal assemblages dwelling different substrata in the Art Gallery. A total of 78 strains, belonging to 37 OTUs (Ascomycota 81%, Zygomycota …

Floating Algae Blooms In The East China Sea, Lin Qi, Chuanmin Hu, Mengqiu Wang, Shaoling Shang, Cara Wilson

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A floating algae bloom in the East China Sea was observed in Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery in May 2017. Using satellite imagery from MODIS, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, Geostationary Ocean Color Imager, and Ocean Land Imager, and combined with numerical particle tracing experiments and laboratory experiments, we examined the history of this bloom as well as similar blooms in previous years and attempted to trace the bloom source and identify the algae type. Results suggest that one bloom origin is offshore Zhejiang coast where algae slicks have appeared in satellite imagery almost every February–March since 2012. Following …

2004-2016, A Brief Summary Of Annual Avian Abundance And Avian Use Of Drain Habitat In The Corrales Bosque, Hawks Aloft, Inc.

Multi-Species Reports (Hawks Aloft)

No abstract provided.