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Pages News, Volume 14, No. 3, December 2006, Irka Hajdas, Christoph Kull, Thorsten Kiefer

PAGES

Contents: Editorial: 14C-Chronology -- PAGES calendar -- Inside PAGES -- New on the PAGES bookshelf -- Program News -- The Millennium project: European climate of the last millennium -- Paleoenvironments in south India: Monsoon records from rainfed reservoirs -- Science Highlights: 14C - Chronology -- Cosmogenic isotope 14C: Production and carbon cycle -- Assuring measurement quality: The international 14C laboratory inter-comparison -- IntCal and the future of radiocarbon calibration --- The potential for extending Intcal04 using OIS-3 New Zealand sub-fossil Kauri -- Marine reservoir corrections and the calibration curve -- New approaches to constructing age models:OxCal4 -- 21st century suck-in …

Blood Parasite Infection In Mice From Cloud Forest And Nearby Disturbed Habitats, December 2006, Jesse A. Blumenstock

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Conversion of habitat by humans is pervasive, increasing, and the root of serious environmental problems. This study was performed to find differences in blood parasite infections of host mice in neotropical cloud forest versus nearby disturbed habitat. In Monteverde, Costa Rica, mice were trapped and examined for blood parasite species richness and abundance in primary forest and disturbed areas near houses. Twenty-eight mice were captured: 15 from the forest and 13 from the disturbed habitats. Eighty-six percent of these mice were of the species Peromyscus nudipes. There was no significant difference of parasite species richness between mice from the forest …

Cold Event In The South Atlantic Bight During Summer Of 2003: Anomalous Hydrographic And Atmospheric Conditions, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, James R. Nelson, Jack O. Blanton, Harvey E. Seim, Francisco E. Werner, John M. Bane, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Unusually cold seawater temperatures were observed along much of the U.S. eastern seaboard during the summer of 2003. In this study, hydrographic and atmospheric observations from spring through summer were analyzed to track the evolution of the cold water event in the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) and investigate links to various forcing mechanisms. The hydrographic observations included 13 cross‐shelf transects over the central region of the SAB, surface temperature time series from several NDBC stations, and bottom temperatures from a mid shelf mooring. Atmospheric data were obtained from NDBC stations. Additional data included water level from NOS stations and river …

Nesting Behavior In The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus Mocinno: Trogonidae), June 2006, Amber Carr

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The Resplendent Quetzal (Trogonidae) lives in the cloud forests of Central America. In Costa Rica, nest boxes have been placed in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve to increase the population sizes of these birds, which are listed as near threatened by C.I.T.E.S. Cameras placed inside the boxes from 2000 to 2003 as web cams and captured stills inside the nests. I used these four years of captured images and made external observations of two nests to study if there were differences in parental investment for incubation and rearing. I found evidence that 1. During incubation the female spent more total …

Wbwg News, Volume 2, No. 1, April 2006, Cori Lausen, Kristi Dubois

WBWG News

Contents: President's Corner -- Headliners -- About This Newsletter -- State/Provincial Updates -- Other WBWG News -- Bulletin Board -- Upcoming Events -- WBWG Organization

Cave Research Foundation Newsletter, Volume 34, No. 1, February 2006, William Payne

Cave Research Foundation Newsletter

Contents: 2005 CRF Annual Report -- Tom Brucker Receives 2005 NSS Lew Bicking Award -- CRF Work in Carlsbad Caverns: Longfellow's Bathtub -- CRF Lava Beds Overview 2005 -- Book Review -- Report of the October 14-16 CRF Lilburn Expedition and Pack Mule Extravaganza -- Regional Expedition Reports -- 2006 Expedition Calendar -- Cave Books

Fastgroupii: A Web-Based Bioinformatics Platform For Analyses Of Large 16s Rdna Libraries, Yanan Yu, Mya Breitbart, Pat Mcnairnie, Forest Rohwer

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Background: High-throughput sequencing makes it possible to rapidly obtain thousands of 16S rDNA sequences from environmental samples. Bioinformatic tools for the analyses of large 16S rDNA sequence databases are needed to comprehensively describe and compare these datasets.

Results: FastGroupII is a web-based bioinformatics platform to dereplicate large 16S rDNA libraries. FastGroupII provides users with the option of four different dereplication methods, performs rarefaction analysis, and automatically calculates the Shannon-Wiener Index and Chao1. FastGroupII was tested on a set of 16S rDNA sequences from coral-associated Bacteria. The different grouping algorithms produced similar, but not identical, results. This suggests that 16S …

Literature Cited, Studies In Avian Biology

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Evolution And Conservation Of Tidal-Marsh Vertebrates - Molecular Approaches, Yvonne L. Chan, Christopher E. Hill, Jesús E. Maldonado, Robert C. Fleischer

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Apple Snail Densities In Habitats Used By Foraging Snail Kites, Philip C. Darby, Robert E. Bennetts, Laksiri B. Karunaratne

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Contents, Studies In Avian Biology

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

How Do Aesthetics Affect Our Ecology?, Zsuzsi I. Kovacs, Carri J. Leroy, Dylan G. Fischer, Sandra Lubarsky, William Burke

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Beauty is a powerful force that affects both our emotions and our ecological practices, yet aesthetic values remain understated and under-discussed in ecology. Here we invite discussion about the influence of beauty on ecological research by outlining: 1) how aesthetics affect the practice of ecology, and 2) how aesthetics affect the implementation of ecological research on the landscape. The aesthetic sensibilities of ecologists develop through personal experiences and are enriched by professional training, including ecological coursework, fieldwork, research and discussion. Many ecologists choose an ecological career because it offers an opportunity to work in beautiful, natural places. However, these values …

The Role Of Social Structural And Social Contextual Factors In Shaping Chronic Disease And Chronic Disease Risk Behavior: A Multilevel Study Of Hypertension, General Health Status, And Mental Distress, Caroline Mae Mckay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At present there is a reliance on behavioral interventions that have been limited in their effectiveness to reduce the public health burden of chronic disease, partly because the effects of social context on the initiation and maintenance of health behaviors is not incorporated into public health policy and practice. Yet current research indicates that there are macro-level structural and contextual influences on population health that cannot be reduced to individual or compositional effects. This study investigated the associations between social structural factors, community social context, individual characteristics, and self-reported correlates of disease. Distal influences included social structural inequalities such as …

Analysis Of The Role Of Residential Segregation On Perinatal Outcomes In Florida, Georgia And Louisiana, Tabia Henry Akintobi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between residential segregation (the physical separation of Blacks and Whites in residential contexts) and adverse perinatal outcomes (low birth weight, preterm delivery and small for gestational age births) in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. The study determined the independent effect of the level of residential segregation on the likelihood of adverse perinatal outcomes after controlling for contextual and individual factors. The study also assessed whether the relationship between residential segregation and adverse perinatal outcomes were moderated by ethnicity and median income.The studied employed an observational, cross-sectional study design that utilized secondary …

Salt Ingestion Caves, Charles A. Lundquist, William W. Varnedoe Jr.

International Journal of Speleology

Large vertebrate herbivores, when they find a salt-bearing layer of rock, say in a cliff face, can produce sizable voids where, over generations, they have removed and consumed salty rock. The cavities formed by this natural animal process constitute a unique class of caves that can be called salt ingestion caves. Several examples of such caves are described in various publications. An example in Mississippi U.S.A., Rock House Cave, was visited by the authors in 2000. It seems to have been formed by deer or bison. Perhaps the most spectacular example is Kitum Cave in Kenya. This cave has been …

Environmental Variability In The Florida Keys: Impacts On Coral Reef Health, Inia M. Soto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined the hypothesis that high variability in Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and ocean color are associated with higher coral cover and slower rates of decline of coral cover within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). Synoptic SST time series maps, covering the period 1994-2005, were constructed for the FKNMS with data collected using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite sensors. The SST data were compared with coral cover time series assessments at 36 sites conducted by the Coral Reef and Evaluation Monitoring Program (CREMP; 1996-2005), sponsored by the Environmental Protection …

Front Matter, Ohio Cardinal

Ohio Cardinal

No abstract provided.

Terrestrial Macroinvertebrate Fauna Under Logs In Primary And Secondary Forest, November 2005, Erica Hoaglund

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Terrestrial macroinvertebrates are an important yet understudied group. They are present in all types of tropical forests and, due to their services as decomposers, are essential for the maintenance of a productive system. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were significant differences in diversity and community composition between macroinvertebrate communities in the primary versus secondary lower montane wet forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Macroinvertebrates were collected from under 20 logs in primary and 20 logs in secondary forest. Primary forest had a higher diversity of macroinvertebrates (H’ = 2.5) than secondary forest (H’ = 2.05). Primary …

Tardigrade Evolution And Ecology, Phillip Brent Nichols

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A character data set suitable for cladistic analysis of tardigrades at the family level was developed. The data matrix consisted of 50 morphological characters from 15 families of tardigrades and was analyzed by maximum parsimony. Kinorhynchs, loriciferans and gastrotrichs were used as outgroups. The results agree with the currently accepted hypothesis that Eutardigrada and Heterotardigrada are distinct monophyletic groups. Among the eutardigrades, Eoyhypsibiidae was found to be a sister group to Macrobiotidae + Hypsibiidae, while Milnesiidae was the basal eutardigrade family. The basal heterotardigrade family was found to be Oreellidae. Echiniscoideans grouped with some traditional Arthrotardigrada (Renaudarctidae, Coronarctidae + Batillipedidae) …

Assessment Of Resource Selection Using Remote Sensing And Geographic Information Systems (Gis) For Two Vertebrates In Disparate Habitats: The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) And The North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena Glacialis), Cherie A. Keller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a treatise on spatially-explicit resource selection on two very different vertebrate species. The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is the most endangered large whales in the world. Ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement are impediments to recovery. The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is an imperiled species whose upland habitats are shrinking from urban and agricultural development. Determining spatial distribution of important resources is important for conservation strategies. Historical and modern thinking of habitat selection theory and analytical techniques are reviewed and applied to these species. Fine-scale resource selection of sea surface temperature …

Diets And Coexistence Of The Sea Urchins Lytechinus Variegatus And Arbacia Punctulata (Echinodermata) Along The Central Florida Gulf Coast, Janessa Cobb, John M. Lawrence

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

The basis for coexistence of similar species is fundamental in community ecology. One mechanism for coexistence is differentiation of diets. Lytechinus variegatus and Arbacia punctulata coexist in different microhabitats along the Florida gulf coast. Their great difference in morphology might affect their choice of microhabitats and diet. We analyzed diets of both species at 1 offshore and 1 nearshore site where both occurred in relatively equal numbers, an offshore site dominated by A. punctulata and an offshore site dominated by L. variegatus. Gut contents were analyzed to determine the diet. A. punctulata prim. consumed sessile invertebrates except on dates …

Native Texas Avifauna Altered By Suburban Entrapment And Method For Easily Assessing Natural Avifaunal Value, Frederick R. Gehlbach

Bulletin of the Texas Ornithological Society

Suburban sprawl in a central-Texas city gradually entrapped native nesting birds in a heavily wooded ravine. The birds were spot-mapped in 6-ha plots for 39 years, and the kinds and causes of avifaunal change were measured. Habitat area was reduced overall but not in study plots, which were partly modified by sewer-line construction, and temperatures became warmer. Permanent-resident populations were stable or grew with invasions by four species, while three species were lost. Summer-resident populations declined, and nine species were lost. At the end of study, survivors were largely permanent residents and arboreal and cavity nesters by contrast to lost …

Breeding Henslow's Sparrows In White County, Tennessee, Stephen J. Stedman, Edmund K. Legrand

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Fire Regimes And Avian Responses In The Central Tallgrass Prairie, Dan L. Reinking

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Literature Cited, Studies In Avian Biology

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

Recent Publications On Waders, Wader Study Group Bulletin

Wader Study Group Bulletin

No abstract provided.

A Multilevel Modeling Analysis Of The Geographic Variability Of Low Birth Weight Occurrence In Florida, Joseph William Green

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The associations of neighborhood level socioeconomic deprivation and low birth weight were investigated among 1,030,443 singleton live births in the State of Florida between the years 1992 and 1997. Census data for per capita income, unemployment, percent of individuals living below the poverty line, vehicle ownership and educational attainment were used as neighborhood level indicators of socioeconomic status. Additionally, these variables were combined into a deprivation index to measure relative deprivation of neighborhoods across Florida. Birth data were linked to census block groups and tracts, which were used as proxies for low birth weight. Multilevel models were used to model …

Tide, Buoyancy, And Wind-Driven Circulation Of The Charlotte Harbor Estuary: A Model Study, Lianyuan Zheng, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The circulation of the Charlotte Harbor (CH) estuary is explored with a primitive equation model that encompasses the estuary and the adjacent West Florida Shelf. Tidal forcing is from the shelf through the inlets. We use the M₂, S₂, K₁, and O₁ constituents that account for 95% of the shelf tidal variance. River inflows are by the Peace, Myakka, and Caloosahatchee Rivers at their spring 1998 mean values. Wind effects are considered for upwelling or downwelling favorable winds that are either held constant or allowed to oscillate with varying periodicities. These factors are …

Tide, Bouyancy, And Wind-Driven Circulation Of The Charlotte Harbor Estuary: A Model Study, Lianyuan Zheng, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The circulation of the Charlotte Harbor (CH) estuary is explored with a primitive equation model that encompasses the estuary and the adjacent West Florida Shelf. Tidal forcing is from the shelf through the inlets. We use the M2, S2, K1, and O1 constituents that account for 95% of the shelf tidal variance. River inflows are by the Peace, Myakka, and Caloosahatchee Rivers at their spring 1998 mean values. Wind effects are considered for upwelling or downwelling favorable winds that are either held constant or allowed to oscillate with varying periodicities. These factors are sequentially added to look at their individual …

A Stable Isotopic Examination Of Particulate Organic Matter During Karenia Brevis Blooms On The Central West Florida Shelf: Hints At Nitrogen Sources In Oligotrophic Waters, Julie Ann Havens

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Blooms of the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis occur annually on the west Florida shelf. In the late summer/early fall months, background concentrations increase from 10³ cells L^-1 to excesses of 10⁶ cells L^-1. Blooms are most common between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor, and may be maintained for months. The region’s hydrography may play a role in the initiation, maintenance and termination of blooms.

The west Florida shelf is depauperate in inorganic nutrients. Inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus rarely exceed the limits of detection, whereas dissolved organic nitrogen is often present at concentrations of 15 …