Digital Commons Network^™

Linking Life History And Population Dynamics Of An Ice-Associated Seabird, The Kittlitz’S Murrelet (Brachyramphus Brevirostris), Michelle Lynn Kissling

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mechanistic understanding of population dynamics requires linking population change and demographic processes. However, for some species, accurate estimation of population parameters can be difficult owing to their life histories, resulting in reduced or biased inference. Mobile species that are not territorial or use dynamic habitats are susceptible to estimation problems arising from variable exposure to sampling, or temporary emigration, and common approaches to account for it like robust design are not feasible. The outcome is a population mismatch whereby the statistical population, or what was sampled, is not aligned with the biological population, which is what we want to know …

Activity Pattern Analysis From A Commingled And Fragmentary Necropolis: Entheseal Changes At Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery (Kagc), Hannah Burgess Carson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Entheseal changes (EC) have been used to reconstruct past human activity patterns, but little research has been done in Cyprus or outside of complete, well-preserved remains. The Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery (KAGC) is a necropolis located on the southern coast of Cyprus. The Late-Roman (1-7 c. CE) cist graves contained commingled and fragmentary remains. Due to the commingled and fragmentary nature of KAGC, the primary purpose of this study was to see if EC analyses could be conducted on this population. Following that, this study sought to observe possible patterns of preservation as well as trends in EC data between …

An Interdisciplinary Approach To Understanding Ecosystem Processes And Human Perceptions Of Montana’S Mountain Lakes, Carly Innis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mountain lake ecosystems are critical in their roles in global biogeochemical cycling and providing vital ecosystem services, including freshwater resources, ecological habitats, and recreational opportunities. Ecological processes in mountain lakes, especially those occurring in the littoral, or near-shore zones, are linked to society and can be negatively influenced by human behavior, consequently threatening ecosystem services a lake provides. To investigate this problem, this study interrogates two inter-related issues. First, I assessed ecosystem metabolic services of biological activity that demonstrate a lake’s role in carbon cycling through sampling and monitoring a series of mountain lakes. During the summer of 2022, we …

Impacts Of Conifer Removal On Songbird Density, Reproductive Output, And Habitat Selection, Elise Catherine Zarri

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Restoration of anthropogenically altered habitats is vital to protect biodiversity and prevent species extinction as landscapes are increasingly altered, degraded, and lost. However, restoration is often done without a full understanding of its impact on biological communities. Lack of knowledge can lead to unintended negative consequences for some species restoration was intended to benefit. Woody plant encroachment is a form of habitat alteration occurring in grasslands and shrublands around the globe, driven by anthropogenic shifts in disturbance regimes. One example is conifer expansion into historically widespread sagebrush communities. Sagebrush restoration through conifer removal has become a common strategy to aid …

Sagebrush Steppe Songbird Conservation: Inferences Using Remote Sensing Data And A Novel Reproduction Model, Kaitlyn Marie Reintsma

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Anthropogenic land cover change continues to degrade and fragment wildlife habitats, threatening biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales. Songbird populations are sensitive to broad habitat changes and therefore can be used to assess and prioritize habitat for biodiversity. For example, biodiversity losses in the arid grass and sagebrush of western North America (Artemisia spp.; hereafter “sagebrush steppe”) are reflected in the rapid decline of songbird populations. However, the influence of the principal land use, livestock grazing, on songbird populations, and by inference biodiversity, is unclear. In this dissertation, I investigated sagebrush steppe songbird conservation in a grazed landscape by …

The Birds And The Trees: Quantifying The Drivers Of Whitebark Pine Decline And Clark's Nutcracker Habitat Use In Glacier National Park, Vladimir Kovalenko

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), recently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, is in steep decline in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA due to the non-native pathogen Cronartium ribicola, causal agent of the fatal disease white pine blister rust. A sample of the park’s population suggests that approximately 70 percent of whitebark pines have died, while 65 percent of the remaining trees are infected. Using landscape and climate variables, we show how geographic location, elevation, aspect, solar radiation, relative humidity, and snowpack interact with tree diameter to affect mortality, disease incidence, cone production, and regeneration. We also examine how …

The Impact Of Cognitive Function On Patient Language And Quality Of Life Outcomes For Stroke Survivors With Aphasia Who Participate In An Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program (Icap), Kortney M. Krieger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that impairs communication, across all modalities of language (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension). Aphasia most commonly results from damage to the left hemisphere of the brain (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury). Cognitive function including attention, memory, and executive functioning may negatively impact patient outcomes during post-acute rehabilitation of aphasia. Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs (ICAPs) provide intensive, evidence-based and holistic treatment for a cohort of stroke survivors. The impact of these cognitive functions on language outcomes following participation in an ICAP has not been explored.

Aims: To investigate the impact of extralinguistic cognition …

Generation, Characterization And Reactivity Of Cobalt Diamond Core And Cobalt Peroxo Complexes, Yan Li

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The development of efficient and low-cost technologies that convert hydrocarbons, including methane, to liquid fuels through controlled functionalization of its inert C–H bond is a fundamental challenge. Also, the activation of carbon−hydrogen (C−H) bonds is the first step of functionalizing inert hydrocarbons. This transformation is a key step in many biological and synthetic processes. One representative example inspired by nature is the metalloenzyme called soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO), a nonheme dinuclear iron-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the hydroxylation of the strong C–H bond of methane (bond dissociation energy BDE = 105 kcal/mol) using O2 as the oxidant. The catalytic cycle of …

Making Mochi!, Shannon 'Owo' Crystal Webb

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Making mochi (rice cakes) is a metaphor for making a way of life for myself through spiritual and cultural practice. I navigate the complexities of cultural mixing and identity as someone who is half Korean and half white. Rather than one or the other, I have always felt mixed, so my path to understanding my place in the world is also mixed. On one level, I am honoring my heritage by referencing Korean customs, folktales, and mythology. On another, I address how my needs are based on my current state, which includes my location, pop culture, and society at large. …

Ancient Migrations In West Mexico: Mtdna Analyses, Patricio Gutiérrez Ruano

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite the mounting evidence that suggests The Aztatlán tradition in West Mexico was a major cosmopolitan region during the Postclassic period (AD 900-1521) with connections to the rest of what is now Mexico, archaeologists have characterized items in West Mexico as culturally distinct from the rest of Mesoamerica. Recently, endogenous, and exogenous material culture has been interpreted as movement and exchange of goods and ideas between subregions and surrounding areas, all of which mention physical contact and trade were involved between Aztatlán and elsewhere. This has included interacting with areas as far as the U.S. Southwest, as well as in …

From The Green Room: Notes On A Saltwater Girlhood In The Borderlands, Izabela Garcia-Arce

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this debut book, Bela García-Arce explores what it means to reconnect with saltwater roots in tiny coastal towns across Baja California through a collection of personal essays. She starts by telling the story of her foundation—about growing up in San Diego and falling in love with the ocean, about what it was like to be a young Mexican girl with a family with no interest in the water. She leans heavily on humor to deliver playful jabs at the toxic masculine beach culture while also revealing how she played a role in combatting it. Between exploration of toxic sludge …

Irrigation In The Western United States: Occurrence, Impacts, And Sustainability, David Granger Ketchum

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Irrigation represents our greatest intervention in the hydrological cycle, accounting for over 80% of extracted freshwater in the Western U.S. Despite its economic and ecological importance, irrigation’s spatial and temporal occurrence, magnitude, impacts on streamflow, and response during water shortages has not been characterized in our region. The major objective of this dissertation was to systematically assess irrigation over the Western US to answer the following questions: 1) Where and when does irrigation occur within the study region? 2) How has the intensity, area, and distribution of irrigation changed over the course of the past 35 years? 3) What impact …

Umfc 140 A Comprehensive Case Report, Daniel D. Warila

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

UMFC 140 Is a teaching specimen from purchased from China assigned To Daniel Warila B.A. for the purpose of a Forensic case study. This case study covers a wide variety of forensic procedures that can be applied to these remains. The forensic procedures used consist of past as well as current procedures were applied to the remains with the resulting findings discussed and analyzed. This case study was focused on finding as many forensic answers as possible on the remains in their current condition.

The Reproductive Consequences Of Low Energy Availability In Females, Courtney Couture

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Responses Of Elk To Mangement Actions And Hunter Access In The Northern Sapphire Mountains, Montana, Usa, Peter O. Mumford

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chapter 1

Regulation of rifle hunting of adult female elk is the main tool wildlife managers use to manage the abundance of elk (Cervus canadensis) in the western United States. However, elk are increasingly located in areas where hunting access is restricted during rifle-hunting season, decreasing the ability of managers to reduce elk abundance through hunter harvest. Management actions that restricted hunter access in a 26 km2 area and closed 62 kms of predominantly 2-wheel motorized routes occurred in the northern Sapphire Mountains, Montana, USA. We collected data on elk locations before and two years after the management actions and …

"Our Loons": Participant Attachments And Motivations Within A Community-Based Monitoring Program, Taylor Tewksbury

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Organizations can benefit from understanding person-place relationships and volunteer motivations as they recruit and sustain involvement in their community-based monitoring (CBM) programs. Place attachment, or the bond between people and their meaningful environments, is one lens through which to explore these relationships. Past studies have associated place attachment with environmentally responsible behaviors (ERB), such as CBM involvement. However, few studies have explored the relationship between place attachment and CBM in the context of volunteers’ attachment to the species of study.

The purpose of this research study was to explore the place-based relationships and motivations among volunteers of the Loon Preservation …

A Dual-Function Filamentous Pf Bacteriophage Protein Modulates Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Virulence Potential, Caleb Michael Schwartzkopf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that often plagues hospitals. More than half of P. aeruginosa isolates are infected by temperate Pf bacteriophage. Pf virions protect bacteria from antibiotics, promote biofilm formation, and modulate animal immune responses in ways that promote chronic infection. These virions can be produced without lysing P. aeruginosa, but lysis may occur during superinfection. Superinfection is the process whereby virions of the same or similar phage infect an already infected host. Temperate phages typically encode superinfection exclusion mechanisms. Here we elucidate one such mechanism in Pf phage. We observed that superinfection-surviving P. aeruginosa were transiently resistant …

How Aquatic Insects Mitigate Temperature-Oxygen Challenges Via Behavioral, Morphological, And Physiological Plasticity, Jackson H. Birrell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

How do organisms respond to environmental challenges and to environmental change? These questions occupy a central place in ecology and answering them will help us to understand why species live where they do, how organisms are affected by human activities, and, ultimately, how to choose among alternative conservation strategies. These questions are difficult, however, for two reasons. First, environmental challenges often involve multiple, interacting stressors. Second, individual responses can be modified by behavioral, morphological, and physiological plasticity. My dissertation investigates how interactions between temperature and oxygen influence the performance and survival of aquatic insects and how plasticity allows individuals to …

Municipal Musk Oxen, Gentry Hale

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

You’d be hard-pressed to find a town with more sled dogs and mushers per capita than Nome, the finish line of the 938-mile Iditarod sled dog race.

It is also home to a growing herd of musk oxen, massive ungulates that Congress reintroduced to the Seward Peninsula in 1970. These icons of the far north have changed little over their 1.8 million years of existence and more closely related to sheep and goats than actual oxen.

While musk oxen pose a risk to dogs and people, they are also a major tourist attraction that helps inject much needed outside cash …

Sharing The Medicine Of Resilience: Honoring The Work Of Dr. Gyda Swaney, Matthew Martin Croxton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

American Indians are a unique population that have been historically understudied in psychology. However, research in this field with this population has been growing and researchers are beginning to explore facets of American Indian mental health. There is a movement for American Indian psychologists themselves to conduct this research and to begin to develop culturally adapted and Indigenous research frameworks. There have been many Native psychologists who have helped push this work forward. One such Native psychologist was Dr. Gyda Swaney (Salish) who was a professor at the in the Psychology Department at the University of Montana and directed and …

Greater Sage-Grouse In A Grazed Landscape: Habitat Selection, Demographic Rates, And Population Trends In Central Montana, Jennifer Evans Helm

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) abundance has declined across the species’ range due to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. To address this decline, information is needed to guide habitat conservation priorities and population management efforts. This includes information about patterns of habitat selection at multiple spatial scales, habitat and land use variables that affect demographic rates, and population trend estimates. We collected ten years of data (2011-2020) on sage-grouse demographic rates and habitat selection, as well as on vegetation and livestock grazing patterns, to address these topics. We were specifically interested in the effects of a rotational grazing system implemented through …

Ecological Adaptation And Speciation In Chipmunks, Nathanael David Filer Herrera

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding how evolutionary and ecological mechanisms promote speciation and adaptation is one of the central challenges of evolutionary biology. Recent advancements in theoretical, methodological, and computational approaches now allow biologists to test long-standing questions regarding the evolutionary history of species. This includes the genomic underpinnings of reproductive barriers and adaptive phenotypes, and the contribution of ecology, geography, and demography in the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. While great strides have been made in understanding the genetic and ecological factors that underlie speciation and local adaptation, many open questions remain. My dissertation first seeks to address questions about how we define …

Evaluation Of Physiological Responses To Woodsmoke Inhalation During Exercise In Blood Pressure Sensitive/Chronotrope Stratified Individuals, Joseph Alan Sol

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The aim of this dissertation was to evaluate the acute physical reaction to WS exposure and identify potential fingerprints of physiological responses that may better illustrate the process leading to pathology from chronic exposure to particulate matter (PM). Study 1 developed a cost-effective, reproducible methodology for obtaining larger volume and pH-stable exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples. Notably, the novel EBC device, compared to a commercially-available device, collected a larger sample volume, permitting an expansion in the number of biomarkers that could be examined in future WS exposures. The EBC device was then incorporated in Study 2, along with measuring key …

Tlr4 Adjuvanted Vaccine Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Virulence Factor, Pf Bacteriophage, Induces Increased Immunoglobulin Response And Highly Mutated Antigen-Specific B-Cell Receptors, Valery Cristina Roman-Cruz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is listed as a priority 1 pathogen by the World Health Organization. Although this Gram-negative bacterium is ubiquitous and can naturally be found in the environment, it is opportunistic. P. aeruginosa has a wide range of host immune evasion strategies; one such strategy is the establishment of biofilms. Pf bacteriophage, a P. aeruginosa virulence factor, can strengthen the integrity of biofilms and can also misdirect the host immune response from an appropriate anti-bacterial response to an anti-viral response. Previous studies have established that antibodies against Pf bacteriophage can enhance clearance of P. aeruginosa infections. Next generation adjuvants such …

A Biophysical Approach To Modeling Elevational Range Shifts In Colorado Mammal Communities, Ryan T. Mahar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Species geographic ranges are shifting in the face of contemporary climate warming, and documenting range shifts is crucial to our understanding of the underlying drivers mediating movement in geographic range limits. Studies on elevational range shifts with climate change are beginning to accrue within the literature, though observed shifts are idiosyncratic and difficult to predict. Some species may respond to warming temperatures by shifting their range limits upslope, where temperatures are cooler owing to the adiabatic lapse rate. However, species may also respond to warming temperatures in an elevation-dependent manner: if changes in snow depth expose overwintering organisms to colder …

Characterization Of Protein Folding Pathways And Structural Stability, Michael Tyler Rothfuss

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Proteins are large, flexible molecules with an extremely large number of potential conformations. Proteins expressed in cells traverse available conformations to reach a consistent, thermodynamically stable, biologically active structure through a process known as protein folding. The atomic composition of the protein, defined by a sequence of amino acid residues encoded in DNA as a gene, determines the protein folding pathway and ultimate native structure of the protein molecule. Understanding the relationship between the sequence of amino acids and the resulting protein structure has been a central challenge in protein research for decades. To fill this knowledge gap, we test …

Quantifying The Effects Of Beaver Dams And Stream Restoration On Headwater Salmonid Populations, Andrew Biche Lahr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The importance of freshwater habitats in supporting ecological communities and human civilization is irrefutable, yet they remain amongst the most imperiled systems in the world due to factors like resource extraction, non-native species, and climate change. In the Western United States, efforts to combat stream degradation and drought have sought to increase water storage, aggrade eroded stream beds, and increase base flows by promoting dam building by beavers and through restoration projects using human-made beaver dam analogs (BDAs). Even though beaver-related restoration projects are becoming increasingly popular, documentation of the effects of beaver dams and beaver-related restoration on headwater stream …

Seasonality And Depth Variability In The Microbial Ecology Of A Large, Oligotrophic Lake, Kate A. Evans

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Planktonic microorganisms are the primary drivers of energy flow in aquatic ecosystems, and their ability to rapidly respond to changing environmental conditions makes them key sentinels of ecosystem variability. However, understanding how microorganisms respond to variations in their environment requires improved understanding of microbial physiology and metabolism. Microorganisms that live in fluid environments experience a dynamic world, where resources needed for growth can be scarce or plentiful. In some cases, such variation can be directly linked to the physical movement of water, for example, vertical mixing. Temperate lakes experience strong seasonality in stratification and mixing, so resolving the relationships between …

Life After Ice: Ecology Of Mountain Lakes Across Glacial And Elevation Gradients, Joseph William Vanderwall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Conceptual models of primary succession in lakes often do not match with empirical data. New lakes arising in mountain regions due to the loss of alpine glaciers offer an opportunity to study newly forming lakes. In addition to the loss of alpine glaciers, mountain lakes are currently experiencing rapid changes, including increased vegetation cover, variable snowpack, and increased nutrient deposition. In this dissertation, I used glacial and elevation gradients to investigate the ecology and biogeochemistry of early lakes and how they may change through time. The first chapter details the glacial gradient and shows that early lakes dominated by glacial …

Making “Habitat Quality” Meaningful: Quantifying Demographic Effects Of Habitat In Two Sympatric Species, Anna Katherine Moeller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Habitat quality may be an underlying factor driving or exacerbating mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) population declines across their range and concurrent white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population increases. A clearer understanding of how the two species respond to habitat variables is needed to disentangle the drivers of mule deer decline and identify opportunities to change population trajectories through habitat management. Capitalizing on extensive monitoring data for sympatric populations of mule deer and white-tailed deer, this dissertation improves understanding of habitat quality by exploring and developing modeling approaches that connect habitat and demographics in these two species.

Using a resource selection function …