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Ornithological Monographs No. 67, John Faaborg

Ornithological Monographs

No abstract provided.

Pathogenic And Opportunistic Microorganisms In Caves, Valme Jurado, Leonila Laiz, Veronica Rodriguez-Nava, Patrick Boiron, Bernardo Hermosin, Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez

International Journal of Speleology

With today’s leisure tourism, the frequency of visits to many caves makes it necessary to know about possible potentially pathogenic microorganisms in caves, determine their reservoirs, and inform the public about the consequences of such visits. Our data reveal that caves could be a potential danger to visitors because of the presence of opportunistic microorganisms, whose existence and possible development in humans is currently unknown.

Non-Calanoid Copepods At The Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (Bats) Station: Community Structure And Ecology, 1995-1999, Hussain Ali Al-Mutairi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Zooplankton were sampled on a monthly basis at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site from January 1995 to December 1999. Samples were collected using a 1-m², 200 µm mesh net. The net sampled the water column in an oblique manner from the surface to a mean depth of 200 m. One day and one night tow from each cruise was examined microscopically to determine the community structure of the non-calanoid copepods. In addition, a three year set of nighttime samples were examined taken by 0.5-m², 20 and 35 µm mesh nets (1995-1996 and 1997, respectively) towed obliquely to 150 …

Size-Related Niche-Partitioning Of Epiphytic Orchids In Cloud Forest Canopies, November 2009, Blaine Marchant

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Ten recently fallen trees in the Lower Montane Wet Forest (1550-1650 m) and Lower Montane Rain Forest (1650 m to 1800 m) of Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica were each divided into four zones based on tree architecture. Each zone theoretically represents differences in substrate and abiotic conditions: Zone 1 was the main trunk, Zone 2 the inner third of the canopy, Zone 3 the second third of the canopy, and Zone 4 the outer-most third of the canopy. The epiphytic orchids of each tree were surveyed to determine the role of weight in epiphytic orchid distribution among the different zones …

Homegardens Of Monteverde: Exploring Changes In Home Crop Cultivation, November 2009, Abigail Smith

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Homegardens are model forms of sustainable land use in tropical agroforestry systems. Known as an assembly of varied crops and animals, these small homestead farms provide a cheap, nutritional source of food to the family while maintaining the biodiversity and productivity of the surrounding ecosystem. With the introduction of ecotourism into the Monteverde area, an economy traditionally based on agriculture shifted towards tourism services, thus changing the underlying dynamics of the community. Thirty families of the Monteverde area were interviewed and provided information relating to homegarden contents, family history, and lifestyle choices. This study shows that homegardens have declined significantly …

Population Genetics Of Antarctic Seals, Caitlin Curtis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I developed and tested a protocol for determining the sex of individual pinnipeds using the sex-chromosome specific genes ZFX and ZFY. I screened a total of 368 seals (168 crabeater, Lobodon carcinophagus; 159 Weddell, Leptonychotes weddellii; and 41 Ross, Ommatophoca rossii) of known or unknown sex and compared the molecular sex to the sex assigned at the time of collection in the Ross and Amundsen seas, Antarctica. Discrepancies ranged from 0.0% - 6.7% among species. It is unclear, however, if mis-assignment of sex occurred in situ or in the laboratory. It also is possible, however, that …

Evaluating Dissolved Oxygen Regimes Along A Gradient Of Human Disturbance For Lotic Systems In West-Central Florida, Daniel G. Hammond

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land uses dominated by human activity can have a significant effect on ecological processes. In Florida, oxygen depletion is the most common impairment in lake, stream, and coastal water bodies. The continual growth and development in Florida, along with a conversion to more human intense land uses warrants study and discussion on impacts to dissolved oxygen regimes along a gradient of human disturbance. This research study is designed to identify observable trends in dissolved oxygen regimes along a gradient of increasing human intensity.

Twenty-six stations in the Tampa Bay area were selected to represent lotic systems in west-central Florida. Data …

A Rational Choice Approach To Professional Crime Using A Meta-Synthesis Of The Qualitative Literature, Douglas J. Wholl

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 18th century, rational choice models have been applied extensively to criminological research, theory, and policy in an effort to understand crime and criminality. Over the past few decades, the rational choice perspective has attempted to integrate theoretical concepts, operational measures, and research findings from contemporary studies within the psychology, sociology and criminology disciplines, which have attempted to re-operationalize what was already conceptualized in the expected utility model (i.e., individuals choose to engage in criminal activity if the expected utility of crime exceeds that of all other behavioral options) by incorporating additional factors (e.g., a broader range of …

Ecological Dynamics Of Livebottom Ledges And Artificial Reefs On The Inner Central West Florida Shelf, Jennifer Maria Dupont

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The West Florida Shelf (WFS) is one of the largest and most diversely-used continental shelf/slope systems in the world. The presence of paleoshorelines and scarped hardbottom outcrops (up to 4 m in relief) along the inner shelf (10-30 m depth) provide important habitat for a variety of infaunal, epifaunal, and fish assemblages that contribute to the productivity of the region. This dissertation will present a comprehensive overview of the geological, physical, and chemical settings of the inner West Florida Shelf, with particular focus on biological and ecological community dynamics of epibenthic macroinvertebrates, algae, and fish assemblages. Baseline and comparative data …

Microbial Communities And Associated Mineral Fabrics In Altamira Cave, Spain, Soledad Cuezva, Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez, Juan Carlos Cañaveras

International Journal of Speleology

Evidences of microbial colonizations were observed in Altamira Cave, Spain. These consisted of distinct small coloured colonies, both on walls and ceiling, mainly located in the area near the cave entrance, which progressed until reaching the Polychromes Hall. The colonizations were characterized by a high morphological and microstructural variability and related to biomineralization processes. Two main types of CaCO₃ deposits were related to the colonies: rosette- or nest-like aggregates of rhombohedral calcite crystals, and spheroid to hemispheroid CaCO₃ elements. Colonies distribution seems to be controlled by microenvironmental conditions inside the cavity. The areas of the cave showing higher …

Epiphyllic Shading On Host Plant Leaves: Photo-Acclimation To Liverwort And Lichen Cover, November 2008, Claire Addis

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Epiphylls are ubiquitous throughout the Tropics and may significantly shade their host leaves. Anthony et al. (2002) document increased levels of chlorophylls a and b in leaves with significant lichen coverage on two tropical understory plants in Australia, suggesting host leaves may respond to epiphyll shading by increasing photosynthetic pigments. Reaction of plants to the second major group of tropical epiphylls, liverworts, has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to see if a neotropical palm, Calyptrogyne gneisbregntiana, compensates for epiphyll cover by both lichens and liverworts. In addition to chlorophylls a and b, I investigate whether carotenoid …

A Comparison Of Hemoparasite Loads Between Bats (F: Phyllostomidae) Of Different Feeding Guilds In San Luis, Costa Rica, November 2008, Rachael Zacks

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Bat hemoparasite studies have focused on bats as vectors for viruses that cause human diseases such as rabies, Ebola, and Henipavirus, while ectoparastite studies have looked at a broad range of ecological and abiotic factors that influence ectoparasite prevalence including age, sex, roosting ecology, and habitat. Yet diet had been largely ignored in both hemoparasite and ectoparasite studies. In this study, I looked at diet as a possible factor in hemoparasite load and also looked at the relationships between hemoparasites, health (with weight as a proxy), and ectoparasites. Four guilds were compared, sanguinivores, omnivores, frugivores, and nectarivores, with an overall …

Changes In Wormlion (Vermilionidae) Pit Construction In Response To Energy Inputs And Disturbances, August 2008, Luke Hillman

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Wormlions are insects that, like antlions, are sit and wait predators in their larval stages, for whom optimizing energy expenditures is crucial because of potentially long periods of starvation. Initial pit depth and pit growth rates of antlions have been shown to decrease in response to limited food resources. Due to the similar foraging technique of worm and antlions, wormlions were hypothesized to show similar responses. Thirty-two wormlions were randomly divided into four treatments: fed-disturbed (FD), fed-undisturbed (FU), unfed-disturbed (UD) or unfed-undisturbed (UU). An aphid was dropped into wormlion pits of the FU and FD treatments, and pits in “disturbed” …

Downscaling Thermal Infrared Radiance For Subpixel Land Surface Temperature Retrieval, Desheng Liu, Ruiliang Pu

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Land surface temperature (LST) retrieved from satellite thermal sensors often consists of mixed temperature components. Retrieving subpixel LST is therefore needed in various environmental and ecological studies. In this paper, we developed two methods for downscaling coarse resolution thermal infrared (TIR) radiance for the purpose of subpixel temperature retrieval. The first method was developed on the basis of a scale-invariant physical model on TIR radiance. The second method was based on a statistical relationship between TIR radiance and land cover fraction at high spatial resolution. The two methods were applied to downscale simulated 990-m ASTER TIR data to 90-m resolution. …

Impact Of West Nile Virus On The Natural History Of St. Louis Encephalitis Virus In Florida, Christy L. Ottendorfer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) has raised important questions about the capacity of the public health infrastructure to implement surveillance and control programs for WNV and other emerging or re-emerging arboviruses in the United States. Florida's mild climate supports year round enzootic transmission of WNV, St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), and Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV). It is unknown what effect the establishment of WNV (in 2001) will have on SLEV transmission in Florida, where these closely related flaviviruses share amplifying hosts, habitats, and vectors.

An Arbovirus Isolation Network was formed to obtain and characterize arbovirus strains collected …

Conversation Goals And The Surveys, Monitoring, Research, And Management Needed To Support Them, Lawrence J. Niles, Humphrey P. Sitters, Amanda D. Dey, Philip W. Atkinson, Allan J. Baker, Karen A. Bennett, Roberto Carmona, Kathleen E. Clark, Nigel A. Clark, Carmen Espoz, Patricia M. González, Brian A. Harrington, Daniel E. Hernández, Kevin S. Kalasz, Richard G. Lathrop, Ricardo N. Matus, Clive D. T. Minton, R. I. Morrison, Mark K. Peck, William Pitts, Robert A. Robinson, Inês L. Serrano

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Literature Cited, Lawrence J. Niles, Humphrey P. Sitters, Amanda D. Dey, Philip W. Atkinson, Allan J. Baker, Karen A. Bennett, Roberto Carmona, Kathleen E. Clark, Nigel A. Clark, Carmen Espoz, Patricia M. González, Brian A. Harrington, Daniel E. Hernández, Kevin S. Kalasz, Richard G. Lathrop, Ricardo N. Matus, Clive D. T. Minton, R. I. Morrison, Mark K. Peck, William Pitts, Robert A. Robinson, Inês L. Serrano

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Bird Numbers Decline In An Old Growth Forest: Long-Term Trends In Fernbank Forest, Christopher R. Showalter

Oriole

No abstract provided.

Trace Metals And Stable Isotopes As Tracers Of Life History And Trophic Connections In Estuarine-Dependent Fish From Tampa Bay, Florida, Linae Marie Boehme-Terrana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida's estuaries support a wide range of species yet little is known about tracemetal cycling among members of this important ecosystem. To examine the flow of trace metals through the Tampa Bay estuary, four fish species representing different trophic levels were analyzed for copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and stable isotopes of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Species selected were the striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), tidewater mojarra (Eucinostomus harengulus), bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), and sand seatrout (Cynoscion arenarius). Juvenile fish were collected from the Alafia, Hillsborough, Palm, and Little Manatee Rivers. Adults were …

Effects Of Nutrients From The Water Column On The Growth Of Benthic Microalgae In Permeable Sediments, Brian P. Darrow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In some continental shelf sediments integrated benthic microalgal biomass is greater than the integrated phytoplankton biomass in the overlying water column. In addition, benthic microalgae may account for up to 10% of the primary production responsible for the coastal fishery yield of the eastern United States.

A three-dimensional model of the eastern Gulf of Mexico examines the effects of water-column nutrient sources on the growth of benthic microalgae. To parameterize the exchange of nutrients across the sediment/water interface in these permeable sediments, a non-local exchange submodel was constructed and tested within the framework of the model's grid.

Based on the …

The Use Of Microarrays In The Detection Of The Gene Expression Of Ribulose- 1,5- Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (Rubisco) In The Marine Environment, Kathryn Lafaye Bailey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) pathway is the primary pathway for the entry of inorganic carbon in the biosphere. Autotrophic organisms use this cycle to ultimately convert CO₂ into carbohydrates using a key enzyme known as ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO). The gene that encodes for the large subunit of RubisCO is rbcL and detection of its expression can be used to determine the autotrophic organisms present in the environment. Recently, microarrays have been used to study functional gene expression from environmental samples such as those obtained from sediments and soil. The purpose of this thesis is to combine microarray technology and rbcL …

The Impact Of Host Rock Geochemistry On Bacterial Community Structure In Oligotrophic Cave Environments, Hazel A. Barton, Nicholas M. Taylor, Michael P. Kreate

KIP Articles

Despite extremely starved conditions, caves contain surprisingly diverse microbial communities. Our research is geared toward understanding what ecosystems drivers are responsible for this high diversity. To asses the effect of rock fabric and mineralogy, we carried out a comparative geomicrobiology study within Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico, USA. Samples were collected from two different geologic locations within the cave: WF1 in the Massive Member of the Capitan Formation and sF88 in the calcareous siltstones of the Yates Formation. We examined the organic content at each location using liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy and analyzed microbial community structure using molecular phylogenetic analyses. In …

Central America, H. Lee Jones, Oliver Komar

North American Birds

No abstract provided.

Hemoparasite Load In Bats With Varying Roost Size In San Luis, Costa Rica, May 2007, Robin Miller

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Bats, as well as most other mammals, are host to many endoparasites that can damage or even cause death in their host (Baron 1996). I surveyed blood parasites from 28 bats in San Luis, Costa Rica. This study focused on six different species of bats with varying roosting behaviors to determine the amount and type of blood parasites differs between bat species. I identified four different types of blood parasites as well as a gram-negative bacterium. Using a proportion between the total number of parasites and the number of individuals caught per species, I found Myotis keaysi, which roosts in …

Socio-Natural Landscapes In The Palmarejo Valley, Honduras, James R. Hawken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities have traditionally been viewed as spatially bounded social units composed of multiple households whose inhabitants are integrated by shared resources and a common sense of identity. While investigating resources and identity is useful for archaeological study because of their material correlates, such views of community ultimately fail to acknowledge the dynamic interaction between cultural and environmental forces in shaping and shifting those arrangements over time. This study examines settlement, excavation, and geoarchaeological data from the Palmarejo Valley in northwestern Honduras with the aim of modeling the process of community formation at the intersection of social and natural landscapes in …

The Dimensions Of Sustainability And The Neo-Entrepreneurial Adaptation Strategies In Reindeer Herding In Finland, Hannu Ilmari Heikkinen, Sami Lakomäki, John Baldridge

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Current public discourse in Finland concerning reindeer herding has focused on the overgrazing problem and conflicts between herding and competitive forms of land use. Both herders and government administrators agree on the problems of herding, but conceptualize their causes differently. Administrators insist that sustainability in herding is reachable through bioeconomic management that unites biological metrics of sustainable systems with an economic efficiency calculus. However, we found that such policy erodes socio-cultural sustainability at the community level. It also encourages economic rationalization that leads to increased revenues but slower income growth, because it coexists with rising investment costs and decreasing producer …

Literature Cited, John W. Mason, Gerard J. Mcchesney, William R. Mciver, Harry R. Carter, John Y. Takekawa, Richard T. Golightly, Joshua T. Ackerman, Dennis L. Orthmeyer, William M. Perry, Julie L. Yee, Mark O. Pierson, Michael D. Mccrary

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Literature Cited, Studies In Avian Biology

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

The Muduga And Kurumba Of Kerala, South India And The Social Organization Of Hunting And Gathering, George Tharakan C.

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

This article examines the subsistence practices among the Muduga and Kurumba of Attappady in Kerala paying close attention to the socio-ecological basis of their economic activities. This facilitates an understanding of the close relationship between the distribution of natural and cultural communities, and the way in which the society is organized to reach a successful accommodation of a specific set of environmental needs. The data presented relate to wild and domesticated food products and the kin and social systems employed for obtaining them. I conclude that, although hunting and gathering alone could provide a subsistence, in a modern situation, dependence …

A Comparative Ecological Study Between Coyotes (Canis Latrans) In A Protected And Urban Habitat: A Closer Look At Enteric Parasites And Diet Between Florida Coyotes, Denara Lynn Manning

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coyotes (Canis latrans) have inhabited Florida (USA) since the 1960s and are currently found throughout the state. The purpose of the present study was to obtain information on enteric parasites and diet of Florida coyotes from two different habitat types. Seasonal variation in diet was also examined. Fresh coyote fecal samples were collected from protected and urban habitats in Pinellas County, Florida (USA; 27°54' n, 82°41'w) from may 2005 to march 2007. A standard fecal flotation examination and formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation were utilized on fecal samples collected from the protected (n=40) and urban (n=50) habitats. Five novel (newly documented) parasites …