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Sampling Terrestrial Arthropod Biodiversity: A Case Study In Arkansas, Michael Joseph Skvarla

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Interior Highlands is a biodiversity hotspot, with at least 200 known endemic species, but is understudied compared to hotspots, such as the Southern Appalachians. In order to begin to rectify this issue, a nine month study was conducted from mid-March through early December at a 4 ha site at Steel Creek, Buffalo National River, in Newton County, Arkansas. Thirteen collecting methods were employed, including three colors of Lindgren funnel trap, five colors of pan trap, Malaise traps, canopy traps with upper and lower collectors, pitfall traps, and Berlese-Tullgren extraction of leaf litter, which resulted in the collection of 1311 …

Geographic Assessment Of The Perception Of Nature Reserves And National Parks In Kuwait, Meshari S. Alenezi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arabian Gulf countries have passed strict laws to preserve their environment. Kuwait has a strong history with preserving natural areas. The ecological value and richness of Kuwait's ecosystems have increased since the nature reserves were built. This research has evaluated the perceptions that Kuwaitis have of the design, creation, and development of nature reserves in Kuwait. It involved the use of survey instruments (questionnaires) and interviews with respondents of both urban and rural communities. Data from these surveys and interviews analyzed regarding perceptions of nature reserves' needs, sizes, functions, and future plans.

The results of examinations (surveys) demonstrate that …

Small Mammal Community Associations And Habitat Use At Pea Ridge National Military Park, Benton County, Arkansas, Christopher Reddin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Juniperus virginiana L. (Eastern Red Cedar) is a fire-intolerant tree species that has been invading and altering grassland ecosystems throughout the American Great Plains and Midwest. To see how Eastern Red Cedar encroachment affects small mammal communities, we surveyed small mammals using mark-recapture methods in Eastern Red Cedar forest and 5 other habitats common to the Ozark region. Additionally, we compared the microhabitat use of presumed juniper obligate Peromyscus attwateri J.A. Allen (Texas Mouse) and its conspecific P. leucopus Rafinesque (White-Footed Mouse). We ran over 7000 trap-nights and found that the small mammal species composition in Eastern Red Cedar was …

Effects Of Instrumentation On Dental Microwear Textures: Reanalysis And Augmentation Of An Early Hominin Sample, Anna Jacquelyn Ragni

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dental microwear texture analysis has been refined to a methodology relying upon scanning confocal microscopy for its advantages of repeatability and standardized quantification. A new instrument, the Plu Neox (Sensofar Corp.) confocal profiler recently entered the market, sparking questions among dental anthropologists related to the advantages and efficacy of this new technology, which has better resolution and lighting properties than previously available white-lighted based confocal profilers. This thesis reports on three complementary studies that set out to evaluate the comparability of the Plu Neox to the Plu Standard system and assess its ability to distinguish primates on the basis of …

Spatial Distributions Of Rhizoctonia Species In Soybean Fields Undergoing Annual Rotations With Rice, Terry Neil Spurlock

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aerial blight is caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA. This pathogen also causes sheath blight of rice. In Arkansas, many soybean and rice fields undergo an annual rotation of these two crops which facilitates a continuous source of inoculum from one year to the next. Aerial blight is a two stage disease in that R. solani AG1-IA colonizes the plant during the early vegetative growth stages and then aerial blight develops after the soybean canopy closes in the later reproductive stages of development. As a result of the upper portion of the canopy often being asymptomatic, significant yield loss can occur …

Ecology And Structure Of Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) Populations In The Interior Highlands Of Arkansas, Thea Vandervelde Kristensen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the Interior Highlands of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, over-harvest, extensive logging, and reductions of habitat availability by other means contributed to the decline of black bears (Ursus americanus). Bears were extirpated from the majority of the region by the 1940's Oklahoma by 1915 and from Missouri by 1931. From 1958-1968, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission undertook a reintroduction to the Ouachita and the Ozark National Forests in Arkansas. The successful growth and expansion of the released population caused these efforts to be considered one of the most successful reintroductions of carnivores. In this dissertation, I sought to examine …

The Impact Of State Characteristics On College Graduation Rates At Land-Grant Institutions, Melissa Bridges

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As our nation's economy has become increasingly knowledge-based, an educated citizenry is paramount to maintaining a competitive edge in a global marketplace. Thus, college participation and completion have emerged as the gateway to survival and growth for individuals, states, and the nation, making college completion rates a top priority. Stakeholders have begun to equate graduation rates with institutional quality and performance and often use such data to make judgments, create policies, and allocate funding. However, graduation rates are not fully understood and numerous scholars urge caution when interpreting and utilizing single outcome measures. The purpose of this cross-sectional ecological study …

Phenotypic Plasticity Of Rattlesnake Trophic Morphology, Matthew Thomas Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The trophic morphology of gape-limited predators constrains the shape and size of prey items they can ingest. Trophic morphology consists of any morphological feature that is involved in the handling and ingestion of food. Diet has a profound effect on the morphology of many gape-limited predators. Identifying how prey type and resource level affect the morphology of different populations is an essential step in understanding the mechanisms contributing to patterns of morphological diversity. Species interactions (Chapter 1) induce plasticity in morphology that can lead to increased fitness, morphological divergence, and eventually speciation.

In Chapter 2, a laboratory study tested the …

Habitat Modeling Of Three Endemic Crayfish Species In The Black River Drainage Of Missouri And Arkansas: Factors Affecting Distribution And Abundance, Matthew Stephen Nolen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Ozark faunal region of Missouri and Arkansas harbors a high level of aquatic biological diversity, especially in regards to endemic crayfish. Orconectes eupunctus, Orconectes marchandi, and Cambarus hubbsi are three such endemics that are threatened by a limited natural distribution and the invasions of Orconectes neglectus. I sought to determine how natural and anthropogenic factors influence these three species across multiple spatial scales. Local and landscape data were used in decision tree analyses (CART) to determine their influence effect on presence/absence and density of the three species. Predictive models were validated using k-fold cross validation. O. eupunctus presence was …

Life History Variation Of Common Terns In The Gulf Of Maine, Jeffery Bryant Kimmons

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Life history is the inheritable rules that determine energy and time allocation towards different competing functions in the energy budget of an organism. Reproductive effort varies as organisms make reproductive decisions based on available energy. Factors influencing life histories are those that change energy and time budgets such as diet, competition, and environmental conditions.

Common tern (Sterna hirundo) life history phenotypes vary between islands in the Gulf of Maine. Common terns on offshore islands (>10km from mainland) and nearshore islands (5 to 10km from mainland) lay smaller clutches, hatching chicks with slower growth rates than common terns …

Community Structure And Ecological Specialization In Plant-Ant Interactions, Paola Barriga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Positive associations among species have contributed to the maintenance of biodiversity. These interactions are typically studied in pairwise fashion where two interacting organisms are the focus. This dissertation uses network theory to analyze positive plant-ant associations in three Neotropical forests. Obligate plant-ant mutualisms were used, where plants host the ants in domatia and provide food bodies while the ants protect the plants and can feed them. A network approach was used to depict all obligate plant-ant interactions within a community. The main questions asked at the community level were: 1) Do network structure and levels of specialization change geographically and, …

Genetic Diversity, Pathogenicity/Virulence Variation And Population Structure Of Rhizoctonia Spp. Associated With Rice Sheath Blight In Arkansas And Qtl Mapping For Disease Resistance, Vanina Lilian Castroagudin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice sheath blight (ShB) is one of the most prevalent diseases in rice. The significance of this disease is increasing due to more intensive production practices globally. Rhizoctonia solani Kühn AG 1 - IA [teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris (A.B. Frank) Donk] is considered the primary ShB pathogen of rice. However, Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae, Rhizoctonia oryzae, and R. solani AG 2 and AG 11, have also been isolated from sheath blight-like lesions on rice.Up to now, there is little information on genetic diversity and patterns of molecular evolution of the fungus, and there is no study on the structure of the R. solani …

Stable Isotope Analysis (Delta Nitrogen-15 And Delta Carbon-13) And Bioenergetic Modeling Of Spatial-Temporal Foraging Patterns And Consumption Dynamics In Brown And Rainbow Trout Populations Within Catch-And-Release Areas Of Arkansas Tailwaters, Jon M. Flinders

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined spatial and temporal consumption dynamics using an energy intake model and a bioenergetics model of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and brown trout, Salmo trutta, within three catch-and-release (C-R) areas in Bull Shoals and Norfork tailwaters to determine whether trout populations were limited by food supply. I also examined the seasonal and ontogenetic shifts in the foraging patterns of brown and rainbow trout within these areas using gut content analysis (GCA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA) of C and N. I examined 605 brown trout and 768 rainbow trout for GCA and SIA at Bull Shoals, Norfork, …

An Alternate Approach To Ecosystem Mapping: Fusing Orthophotography With Landsat Etm+ Data For A Object-Based Classification, South Eastern Arkansas., David Mcfee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining representative sampling of biologically rich and rare ecosystems has become an important means to preventing biodiversity loss. A limitation in indentifying and quantifying ecosystems is the cost of obtaining high resolution imagery necessary for a high resolution land cover assessment. This research shows how free, different resolution imagery (orthoimages and LANDSAT ETM+) could be combined to produce a hybrid dataset with enhanced spectral, spectral and temporal properties, and processed to obtain a object-based classification of land cover of bottomland and pine hardwood forest in south eastern Arkansas. Three classification techniques were evaluated: 1) a human derived, rule based method, …

Earthworms Of Arkansas And Contributions Of Earthworm Evolutionary Origin And Ecological Group To Nitrogen Cycling In A Model Soil And Tall Fescue System, Peter John Tomlinson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Evolutionary origin and ecological niche may impact how earthworm species affect N cycling. Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb) S. J. Darbysh) infection with the toxic endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum Glenn, Bacon & Hanlin (E+) may influence earthworm communities in soil compared to non-toxic endophyte (NE+) infected tall fescue. Conversely, different earthworms may contribute different amounts of N to E+ vs. NE+ tall fescue. A field survey was conducted from January 2007 to January 2008 to determine the impact of E+ and NE+ tall fescue, planting date, and seasonal variables, e.g. soil temperature and moisture, on earthworm species, abundances, and population …

Soil Microbial Dynamics As A Functional Indicator Of Wetland Restoration Success, Julie V. Wolters

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Plant And Mycorrhizal Fungal Community Dynamics Of A Desertified Region Of Semiarid Northern Chile, Sarah Healy Vigderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Molecular Evolution Of The Dissimilatory Nitrate Reductase: A Survey To Assess Its Diversity, Brent Craig Christner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Bacterial Activity And Biomass In Alkaline Fen Sediments: Seasonal Field And Laboratory Studies, Timothy C. Gsell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Design And Development Of An Environmental Management Curriculum For Secondary School Students, Timothy C. Hale

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Handbook Of Environmental Science Activities For Pickaway County Secondary Science Teachers, Tammy L. Rosser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Computer Assisted Instruction In The Teaching Of Ecological Concepts In Biology, Karen Lynne Howanyk Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Development Of An Environmental Education Outdoor Land Laboratory And Curriculum For Trotwood Madison Junior High School, Cynthia E. Hanbuch-Pinkerton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Experimental Study Of Cooperative Learning Teams In A Language Arts Classroom, Sandra Sue Smith Weidner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Source Leaf Carbon Allocation And Plant Morphology In Beta Vulgaris L.: During Development Under Long And Short Daylengths, Leanne Mary Jablonski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Adsorption Of Introduced Heavy Metals By The Epilithic Fresh Water Stream Community, Carol Joy Tracht

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Peer Tutoring In The Supplemental Reading Program, Joyce Ann Griffin West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Isolation And Characterization Of Mutants Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Blocked In Denitrification And Assimilatory Nitrate Reduction, Eric Albert Beck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ethics, Ecology, And Economic Growth,, Patricia Marie Nesbitt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Comparative Water Relations Of Five Species Of Spiders From Different Habitats, Arthur Thomas Vollmer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.