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Roles And Interaction Of Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) And Introduced Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Solenopsis Invicta And S. Invicta X Richteri) In Carrion Decomposition In The Southeastern United States, Grant De Jong

Theses and Dissertations

Invasive fire ants (Solenopsis invicta and its hybrid with S. richteri) have been reported from carrion in the southeastern United States and are considered a part of the succession community. Alteration of ecological processes by fire ants could affect forensic interpretation of entomological data; therefore, I conducted studies to investigate the relative roles and interactions of fire ants and blow flies in carrion decomposition. The blow fly species composition in Mississippi has not been studied since 16 species were reported in 1983. Specimens from the Mississippi Entomological Museum were used to update the checklist of the blow flies of Mississippi …

Bioinformatic Analysis Of Venom Proteins From Dasymutilla Occidentalis, Eva Gunawan

Theses and Dissertations

Venom proteins have been found in a wide range of species in the animal kingdom. These venoms serve various functions such as defense against predators, hunting for food, and parasitism for reproduction. Because of their diverse functions, venom proteins are utilized in agrochemical treatments for protection from pests as well as treatments to control human diseases. Venoms, including those coming from a range of insect species, have been manipulated for these purposes, but many remain uncharacterized. Currently, one of the orders that venom-based research is focusing on are parasitoids from the order Hymenoptera. The purpose of some venom proteins in …

The Impact Of Brown Stink Bug (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae) Natural And Simulated Damage On Field Corn Growth And Yield, William Christopher Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

Field corn, Zea mays L., is a commonly grown crop in Mississippi. Brown stink bug, Euschistus servus Say, is an insect that can infest field corn. Growers and consultants have expressed concerns of the difficulty in detecting infestations and estimating yield loss potential once damage is found in a field. The results of these experiments showed a relationship between damage severity, plant height, and yield loss. As damage severity increased, plant height and yield were significantly reduced. On a per area basis, yields were reduced when ≥ 10% plants were damaged. Mean plant heights were reduced when ≥ 20% plants …

Dyslexia Beyond The Word: An Ecological Study Of Specific Reading Disorder, Benjamin T. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation discusses the effects of dyslexia on reading behavior and cognition. It does so by first outlining the overall incidence of dyslexia, providing current definitions, giving a history of scientific inquiry and discussing relevant contemporary research. Thirteen different analyses are then discussed (ten a priori and three post-hoc). Individuals with dyslexia were found to have increased fixation duration, first run dwell time, total dwell time, and refixation probability. The dyslexia group was also highly sensitive to lexical predictability. Within the reading network, the BOLD response was depressed in dyslexia during reading in the following regions: the left medial and …

Characteristics And Spatial Heterogeneity Of Prescribed Fire Behavior In North Dakota Grasslands, Megan Elizabeth Zopfi

Theses and Dissertations

Fire is a critical physical and chemical process required to sustain many grassland ecosystems. In North America, observations of grassland fire behavior in warm-season, southern grasslands are commonly used in fire behavior modeling efforts across the Great Plains. However, grasslands of the northern Great Plains contain a greater component of cool-season vegetation that may generate different fire behavior. To further our understanding of prescribed fire behavior in North Dakota grasslands, we quantified fuel, weather, and fire behavior characteristics associated with 27 prescribed fires conducted across three sites in North Dakota. We sampled 27 points on each fire arranged into a …

Analysis Of Fatty Acids In Chukchi Sea Sediments, Damilola Ajadi

Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas are key areas for understanding the global climate system. Climate change causes increased terrigenous materials to be carried into the ocean as well as higher production of marine organic matter in the ocean. This study determined the concentrations, distribution, and sources of fatty acids in core sediments from four locations: Stations H32, H30, BarC5 and H24 in the Chukchi Sea, which are in the Arctic Ocean. Fatty acids are valuable tracers of marine or terrigenous inputs and may give evidence to the extent of climate change. Fatty acids were analyzed, characterized using GC-MS …

Survival Of Off-Host Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) Annulatus (Acari: Ixodidae) Larvae In Study Arenas In Relation To Climatic Factors And Habitats In South Texas, Usa, Emily Jesselle Zamora

Theses and Dissertations

The cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (Say), is an economically destructive arthropod because of its ability to vector bovine babesiosis. Cattle fever ticks can spend more than 90% of their life cycle as questing larvae, but the effect of climatic factors on their off-host behavior and survival is unclear. The goal of this study was to measure the effects of specific ecological factors on off-host larvae in nature. The study was conducted in a south Texas pasture over a 20-mo period, during which time larval populations were surveyed and ambient weather variables - relative humidity and temperatures – were …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Ecological Climate Warming Experiments, Cori Johanna Speights

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting the net effect of climate change on communities requires understanding how increasing temperatures alter interactions between predators, herbivores, and plants. Over the last several decades, warming experiments have provided important information about how species and their interactions will respond to increasing temperatures. These studies typically examine climate warming by experimentally increasing temperature at a constant level (24 hours) or asynchronously during the daytime, relative to unwarmed control treatments. However, advances in climate models now project that increases in mean global temperatures have been disproportionately driven by increasing nighttime (minimum) temperatures rather than daytime (maximum) temperatures. The timing of warming …

Fine-Scale Movements And Habitat Selection Of Eastern Wild Turkeys In Mississippi, John Almond

Theses and Dissertations

An important theme of wildlife ecology is understanding how animals move through their landscapes and inferring the strategies of resource acquisition. Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallapavo silvestris) are a model species for evaluating the responses of movements and habitat selection to spatiotemporal variability of resources. I hypothesized that scales of area-restricted search (ARS) would change with variation in the landscape. I identified the ARS locations of high first passage time values using segmentation algorithms and hidden Markov models, and evaluated spatial variations in habitat selection for foraging-like activities of wild turkeys using Dirichlet multinomial models. The ARS scale for daily …

"It Does N'T Seem Like A Big Deal": A Media Ecology Analysis Of Digital Teen Sexuality And Sexting Education, Allison Marie Metz

Theses and Dissertations

In the state of Illinois, any person in possession of sexually explicit photos of a minor, even if the subject is oneself, can be prosecuted as a felon for possession of child pornography and be required to registered as a sex-offender (705 ILCS § 405). Concurrently, the recent trend of ‘send nudes’ depicts humorous ways to request the transmission of sexually explicit photos, increasing this act as a normative practice for young people (Bradford, 2018; Thomas, 2017). This trend is incongruent with Illinois statue (705 ILCS § 405) and school administrative policy about transmitting sexually explicit photos of a minor. …

Mountain Lions In North Dakota: A Public Opinion Survey, Theodore A. Darnell

Theses and Dissertations

Breeding mountain lion (Puma concolor) populations currently inhabit the western portion of North Dakota. In recent years, apparent increases in human-lion interactions across North Dakota, and other Midwest states, have challenged wildlife managers who strive to balance biological and social carrying capacities of these animals. In 2019, we surveyed 2,000 residents of North Dakota, USA, using a self-administered mail survey to discern knowledge of and attitudes towards mountain lions, and to explore whether the presence of these animals would influence decisions to recreate in western North Dakota. Our questionnaire included 12 questions designed to ascertain respondent attitudes towards mountain lions. …

The Influence Of Breeding Density On Female Aggression, Parental Care, And Ornamentation In A Secondary-Cavity Nesting Warbler, Elsa B. Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Tradeoffs between individual survival and reproductive success associated with aggressive behaviors are a driving force of evolution, but these tradeoffs are often overlooked for aggressive conspecific interactions between females. For avian males, it is well documented that more aggressive individuals tend to provide less parental care. In the few studies that address this in females, the tradeoffs seem to be more context-dependent, varying due to factors such as predation pressure and habitat quality. The relationship between female ornamentation and aggression is similarly understudied, but evidence suggests that both aggression and ornamentation are important traits involved in social selection – the …

Reading Fluency And Gonoodle© Brain Breaks Among Elementary-Aged Children, Hannah Jeanne Wold

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the immediate and chronic effects of physical activity (PA) breaks on reading fluency. While many teachers recognize the value of PA for increasing engagement and focus (getting the wiggles out) in academic endeavors, these results reveal increases in academic achievement in reading fluency are also possible.This study examines 384 second and third grade students with low income backgrounds from the Rocky Mountain region. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the effects of chronic and acute brain breaks via GoNoodle© (McQuigg, 2013) on reading fluency and physical activity (steps). Between group differences were further …

Enabling High Quality Oxygen Measurements During Robotic Based Studies Of Ocean Ecological And Biogeochemical Processes, Brianna A. Alanis

Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved oxygen is an essential parameter necessary for understanding marine ecological and biogeochemical processes. New robotic vehicles and autonomous platforms are being applied to an even wider range of ecological and biogeochemical studies. Thus, arises the opportunity for matching the best possible oxygen sensing techniques and methods to these new platforms. In so doing, we can enable both more targeted and higher resolution oxygen measurements than previously possible and potentially use oxygen measurements for a wider range of applications, including in situ incubation experiments and primary productivity measurements. This thesis tested three different oxygen sensors in a trade study for …

Effects Of Radioactive Contamination And Human Disturbance On The Mammals Of Fukushima, Japan, Melissa Frances Groleau

Theses and Dissertations

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident is one of two disasters ranked as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the highest possible rank. The Fukushima Prefecture and surrounding region, including the people and wildlife, were contaminated with large amounts of radioactive material. It is well known that ionizing radiation causes many negative effects on the health of animals. This study used motion activated cameras throughout the Fukushima Daiichi Exclusion Zone and surrounding area to investigate the effect of chronic exposure to low-dose radiation on medium- to large-sized mammal abundance and distribution. Only mild effects of ambient …

From Weak Form Towards Sustainability, Arxhenda Lipovica

Theses and Dissertations

When talking about new architectural preferences, there is one key term to take into consideration: sustainable building. Understanding the dire conditions, the earth is facing, architects worldwide are focusing on applying new technologies to reach sustainability. Considering that Kosovo is taking the steps to international recognition, contemporary architecture will be an integral part of it. Even though, in Kosovo, countless buildings continue to appear without worrying about consequences. It is the place where everyone is an "Architect" as they continue to overbuild day by day stereotypes of buildings without a standard of living, by measuring the value of the architecture …

Optimal Portfolio Design To Manage Oyster Resources, Frederick Nyanzu

Theses and Dissertations

The State of Mississippi wants to manage its oyster resource to increase production, quality, ecological, and economic benefits. In this study, we employ modern portfolio theory (MPT) to test if there are potential gains to hold multiple oyster resources for multiple benefits to aid the state's effort in achieving its goal. Using a Delphi approach, we elicit complete sets of data on ecosystem services (on oxygen, nutrients, sedimentation, and salinity) across multiple oyster resources (traditional plantings, off-bottom farms, and restored reefs). A benefit transfer method is used later to assigned money-metric value to each service estimate. The multiple service values …

Comparison Of Eight Remnant Tamaulipan Biotic Province Plant Communities In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Using Multivariate Analyses [Comparación De Ocho Comunidades Vegetales Remanentes De La Provincia Biótica Tamaulipeca El Valle Del Río Grande Usando Análisis Multivariada], Raziel I. Flores

Theses and Dissertations

The Tamaulipan Biotic Province falls within a biogeographic ecotone between temperate North America, the neotropics and the Chihuahuan Desert, and has consequently been defined as “Tamaulipan brushlands.” No quantitative, comparative study has ever been undertaken on the many and varied plant communities that occur in the region. This study compares eight remnant, primary plant communities to test the null hypothesis that the province comprises a single definable vegetation type. Four 50 x 10 m belt-transects were established at each site and woody plants taller than 1 m were recorded to determine species frequency, density, stratification and dominance. Community diversity was …

So . . . We're Going For A Walk: A Placed-Based Outdoor Art Experiential Learning Experience, Priscilla Anne Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Schools in the United States often emphasize making children competitive in a global economy while neglecting the importance of developing citizens who are ecologically responsible. Problems of climate change, loss of biodiversity, mass extinctions and degradation of the natural environment, are often ignored. Some researchers have suggested that children lack unstructured play time in nature, have an increased amount of screen time, lack mindfulness, and are insulated from the natural world. Many children rarely have significant experience with nature's wildness. It is common for people to experience a sense of placelessness in the hyper-mobility of present times where "globalizing" agendas …

Probing The Relationship Of Cyanobacterial Toxins And Reactive Oxygen Species Within The Natural World, Meagan Lachelle Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their impacts on human health and the economy are only expected to worsen in the coming years, mainly due to climate change related factors. In Lake Wateree, SC, a HAB of the species Lyngbya wollei, has been persistent for more than 10 years and is estimated to occupy 60 - 90 km of shoreline. This natural laboratory provided and continues to provide a unique window into the chemistry and microbial ecology of HABs. Work in this dissertation was directed at answering a critical question: are biomass-to-toxin ratios constant in HABs? Initial …

Behavioral Ecology And Conservation Genetics Of The Sister Islands Rock Iguana, Jeanette Blair Moss

Theses and Dissertations

Insular fauna face disproportionate risks of extinction owing to direct human perturbation and intrinsic factors that are enhanced at small population sizes. Currently, our understanding of the processes that promote long-term persistence of naturally small populations and the cryptic processes that may contribute to accelerating their decline is limited by lack of empirical investigations across the range of natural conditions. Implementing effective protections for rare and understudied taxa requires the identification and examination of factors that limit recruitment at critical life stages. Predicting population health outcomes of future perturbations further necessitates an understanding a taxon’s behavioral ecology. Finally, cryptic threats …

An Unsupervised Machine-Learning Framework For Behavioral Classification From Animal-Borne Accelerometers, Jane Elizabeth Dentinger

Theses and Dissertations

Studies of animal spatial distributions typically use prior knowledge of animal habitat requirements and behavioral ecology to deduce the most likely explanations of observed habitat use. Animal-borne accelerometers can be used to distinguish behaviors which allows us to incorporate in situ behavior into our understanding of spatial distributions. Past research has focused on using supervised machine-learning, which requires a priori specification of behavior to identify signals whereas unsupervised approaches allow the model to identify as many signal types as permitted by the data. The following framework couples direct observation to behavioral clusters identified from unsupervised machine learning on a large …

“Don’T Buy Where You Can’T Work:” Protest And Riot In Harlem, 1932 -1935, Christie Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In the 1930’s, Harlem joined together to participate in a “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaign, to gain agency in their community. Store owners and legal decisions would block these efforts. This work explores the failure of this movement’s impact on the Riot of 1935.

Examining The Relationships Between Stress, Depressive Symptoms, And The Neighborhood Food Environment On Diet Quality Among Racially-Diverse Pregnant Women In South Carolina, Alycia K. Boutté

Theses and Dissertations

Background

Women’s diet quality during pregnancy often falls short of U.S. Dietary Guidelines and poor mental health and poor access to healthy food may be important barriers to improving diet quality during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to 1) synthesize existing literature on the relationship between mental health and diet quality during pregnancy, 2) examine the relationship between mental health and diet quality in pregnancy, and 3) examine the relationship between healthy food density and diet quality in pregnancy.

Methods

For Aim 1 (systematic review), articles were obtained from five databases; study characteristics and findings were extracted and …

Exploring Local Environmental Factors Influencing Geographic Distribution Of Black-Legged Tick Questing Activity, Chong Di

Theses and Dissertations

The deer tick (Ixodes scapularis or I. scapularis), also known as the black-legged tick, is the primary vector that transmits Lyme Disease (LD) in Northeastern United States. To contain the geographic expansion of Lyme disease ticks across the US in recent decades, ecological studies have been conducted to understand the biotic and abiotic environmental factors affecting tick activity. We observed in preliminary surveys that the tick host-seeking activity varies across small local areas. The primary objective of this project is to identify the environmental factors that impact deer tick questing activities at the micro-geographic scale. From 2017-2018, we …

(And I Can't Stress This Enough) In My Mouth: Extradiegetic Affect As Material, C. Klockner

Theses and Dissertations

(and i can’t stress this enough) in my mouth: Extradiegetic Affect as Material is a non-linear exploration into the structures of feeling that exist in relation to cinema in its role as a technology for generating subjectivity. In the development of this research, a proposal of cinema’s likeness to the ecological circulation of microplastics is drawn in order to illustrate cinema’s materiality and nearly invisible ubiquity. The notion of extradiegetic affect is outlined as a post-cinematic condition in which lived experience becomes secondary to cinematic representation and which, simultaneously, becomes directly shaped by engaging with these representations.

Eternal Enemies, Or Incidental Encounters? Structure And Patterns Of Interspecific Killing In Carnivora, Tor G. Bertin

Theses and Dissertations

Lethal interactions between carnivorans (interspecific killing) may influence their population dynamics, behavior, and other important aspects of their ecology. In this study, I expand upon previous research on the broad-scale patterns of interspecific killing in Carnivora (Palomares & Caro 1999, Donadio & Buskirk 2006) with a greatly expanded dataset (inclusion of scat and stomach data and more intensive sampling of the literature), and suggest avenues for future research. While like previous studies, I found a positive effect of relative body size between killer species and killed species on the likelihood of forming a killing interaction, I failed to find evidence …

Chloroplast Development And Cytokinin And Gibberellin Effects On Ivy Geranium Under Heat Stress, Callie J. Morris

Theses and Dissertations

Developing foliar growth of ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum) bleaches white after exposure to temperatures greater than 30°C. This study investigated chloroplast development in ivy geraniums under heat stress comparing a heat sensitive cultivar, Temprano™ Lavender, and a heat tolerant cultivar, Contessa™ Red. Using transmission electron microscopy and spectrophotometry, foliar bleaching under heat stress was found to be due to an absence of developed chloroplasts within the bleached new growth accompanied by lower chlorophyll content. To determine whether heat stress related foliar bleaching could be prevented, cytokinin and gibberellins were applied in combination, at different rates before, during or after a …

Beta Diversity Provides Evidence Of Niche Based Assembly In Temperate Forest Understory Assemblages Of Mississippi, David Steven Mason

Theses and Dissertations

Assembly is a process that shapes the abundance and identity of species in a community. Niche and neutral theory explain assembly processes with mechanisms driven by either species differences, or functional equivalence and stochastic dispersal. In 2017 I sampled vegetation and environmental variables at 59 sites in the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge and Tombigbee National Forest of Mississippi to explore forest understory community assembly. I developed and assessed a framework of predictions concerning general patterns and underlying mechanism. Evidence of dispersal limitation and functional equivalence were expected under neutral theory. Local environmental characteristics, surrounding landscape variables, and fire were significant …

Using Geospatial Techniques To Assess Responses Of Black Bear Populations To Anthropogenically Modified Landscapes: Conflict & Recolonization, Jamie Elizabeth Mcfadden

Theses and Dissertations

The convergence of three young scientific disciplines (ecology, geospatial sciences, and remote sensing) has generated unique advancements in wildlife research by connecting ecological data with remote sensing data through the application of geospatial techniques. Ecological datasets may contain spatial and sampling biases. By using geospatial techniques, datasets may be useful in revealing landscape scale (e.g., statewide) trends for wildlife populations, such as population recovery and human-wildlife interactions. Specifically, black bear populations across North America vary greatly in their degree of distribution stability. The black bear population in Michigan may be considered stable or secure, whereas the population in Missouri is …