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The Foraging Ecology Of The Juvenile Gopher Tortoise, Gopheruspol Yphemus, Terri Anne Stilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food plant preferences of juvenile gopher tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus, were investigated in a west central Florida population. The juvenile gopher tortoises were free-ranging and were located in a sandhill habitat subject to yearly prescribed burns. Diet was determined by foraging observations, in which the number of bites taken per taxon, the number of plants sampled per taxon, and the amount of each taxon available along the foraging path were recorded. Preference was determined with Manly's alpha index of preference and Jacob's D electivity index. Selected plants in the habitat were analyzed for relative nitrogen content to investigate whether preferred …

Creating Healing Spaces, The Process Of Designing Holistically A Battered Women Shelter, Lilian Menéndez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My interest in the environment has led me to study the effects of space on people, both natural and man-made. This project explores how architects and designers can design spaces conducive to the healing process. The emphasis of this thesis is on my design methodology, with the hope that this project will help other designers in their struggle to create spaces that heal the body, soul and spirit.

To develop this project, I chose a shelter for battered women as the building type. This shelter is theoretically located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Its main goal is to create an environment …

A Tutorial: Use Of The Who Icidh-2 For Determining Aural Rehabilitation Goals, Nancy Muscato Patterson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to implement the newly revised International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICIDH-2) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), to establish specific aural rehabilitation goals. Five graduate clinicians in speech language pathology and audiology interviewed ten participants with adult onset hearing loss. A modified version of the General Questions for Participation and Activities (i.e., a structured interview technique) from the ICIDH-2 Checklist, was developed. Prior to completing this checklist, the students attended a brief training session to become familiar with the major components of the ICIDH-2, specifically the ICIDH-2 Checklist. Completion of the …

Response Of The Threatened Sand Skink (Neoseps Reynolds!) And Other Herpetofaunal Species To Burning And Clearcutting In The Florida Sand Pine Scrub Habitat, Kristie D. Gianopulos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida scrub habitat is a naturally fire maintained habitat that is highly endangered because of great demand for land for agriculture and real estate. Maintenance of remaining patches ofFlorida scrub habitat requires active management. We experimentally investigated the effects of clearcutting and burning on sand skink populations in three patches of sand pine scrub. Each patch included a clearcut plot, a burned plot, and an undisturbed plot. Treatment plot boundaries were drawn in 1995 such that each plot was no different from any other plot in sand skink densities. The responses of sand skink and other herpetofauna populations were monitored …

A Prototypical Computer Museum, Eric Otto Ryder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Civilization seems barely able to keep up with the new information technology. Therefore, I propose a place where the technologies of the future may be interacted with like the comfortable knowledge of the past. I propose a place where technology may be interacted on as in the realm of the past with the doors of the future ahead. The Museum of Science and Industry, where the grasp of our technological history is displayed, would be an ideal site for the creation of a Prototypical Computer Museum. With its close proximity to the University of South Florida, resources and participants would …

Evaluation And Treatment Of Tinnitus, Renee Lokenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tinnitus is defined as an auditory stimulus that is unrelated to external stimulation. There are many theories as to what causes tinnitus, therefore, there are many treatment options for tinnitus. This paper attempts to increase the audiologist's knowledge of the etiology, as well as, the most appropriate treatment for tinnitus.

There are two types of tinnitus, objective and subjective. Subjective tinnitus is more common, although it is more difficult to treat than objective tinnitus. There are many theories as to what causes tinnitus. Several disorders that have tinnitus as a symptom, such as, Meniere's disease, acoustic neuroma, and dysfunction of …

Women, Environment And Development: Sub-Saharan Africa And Latin America, Evaline Tiondi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Issues related to women, environment and development constitute a major global concern today. Women's roles as agents of change in the environment has increasingly become the focus of both research and policy concerns. Environmental resource management is directly linked to development, and this makes it crucial to examine the activities of women more closely. Women's role in the management of natural resources assumes a multidimensional nature. Unfortunately, the central and crucial role that women play is often both overlooked and unappreciated, rendering them invisible and greatly diminishing their contribution as both producers and active agents in sustainable development. One of …

The Effects Of Silviculture And Prescribed Burning On Herpetofauna In Florida Sand-Pine Scrub, Stig Ravdal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida sand pine scrub is among the most endangered habitats in the United States and much of the remaining scrub is heavily influenced by management for timber production. In this study the effects of timber management practices on herpetofaunal community diversity and composition were investigated on experimentally manipulated plots near Orlando, Florida. Plots at three sites were either harvested, burned, or treated as a control (unmanipulated). Herpetofauna were trapped using pit-fall drift-fence trapping arrays. Animals were counted, measured, marked and released from March 1996 to June 1998. During this time period 1489 reptiles and amphibians were caught from 31 different …

Thermodynamic Model And The Controlling Variables Of Phosphate Lattice Loss, Mohammad Abutayeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A thermodynamic model was developed based upon five equilibrium reactions to predict the limits of distribution of phosphates between the liquid and the solid phases in a reactor used to extract phosphoric acid from phosphate rock. A computer code was generated to carry out different simulations of the model using several inputs of temperatures and liquid phase sulfuric acid contents. Ideal Solution, Debye-Hückel, and Robinson-Guggenheim-Bates electrolyte activity coefficient models were employed alternately in each simulation to complete the thermodynamic model and the outputs were compared to one another.

Experimental data of equilibrium constants were regressed to adjust the values of …

Literacy, Technology, And Change: The Gates Of Hell, Janice R. Walker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I first briefly examine the history of technology as it impacts on literacy practices, and especially the history of resistance to technological developments in the humanities. In so doing, I also briefly examine some of the possible ideological underpinnings of this resistance, including looking at some of the arguments proposed to counter it. More specifically, I consider how literacy practices, pedagogical practices, and assessment and gatekeeping practices in the field of composition studies impact on and are impacted by the intersection of computer technologies and our field. Finally, I offer some suggestions for ways in which our …

Genetic Variation In Chrysopsis Floridana Small, The Endangered Florida Golden Aster, As Revealed By Random Amplification For Polymorphism Detection (Rapd), Laurie Lysle Walker Markham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chrysopsis fioridana Small (Asteraceae) is a federally endangered plant endemic to the Tampa Bay area of west central Florida. It is confined to the sand pine scrub community, growing in open, sunny, and sandy areas or in disturbed areas at the edges of scrub. As a means ofassessing the genetic variability ofthis species, eight populations in Hillsborough County were compared with a seed stock collection housed at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales using random amplification for polymorphism detection (RAPD). The objectives of this study were to (I) describe the overall genetic variation among and within populations and subpopulations of …

Habitat Disturbance Within An Urban Forest Fragment, Tampa, Florida, John Forest Turbiville Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of forest fragmentation on a forest fragment in south Tampa, Florida. To determine these effects, several research objectives are defined, which include: (1) an historical analysis of the development and fragmentation of the study area; (2) documentation of the effects of fragmentation on the site; and (3) development of a management policy relating to site-specific fragmentation effects.

Forest fragmentation and its attendant human impacts have altered many of the natural physical and biological processes associated with the three ecosystem types present within this forest fragment. These ecosystems include pine flatwoods, …

Homing Behavior And Orientation In The Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus Polyphemus, Kevin Michael Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gopher tortoises are found in xeric habitats in the southeastern United States. In these xeric habitats, gopher tortoises excavate and reside in burrows which provide shelter and protection. Gopher tortoises are active throughout the year, often making several journeys a day away from their burrows. Although they may move substantial distances, they return to their burrows, suggesting that they posses a well-developed orientation and homing ability. This study investigated the ability of gopher tortoises to home from short distance (40 meters, just outside of or on the perimeter of their home ranges) and intermediate distances (200 meters, approximately 2 home …

Analysis Of Lead In Soils Adjacent To Interstate 275 In Tampa, Florida, Mark R. Hafen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Analysis of two hundred and twenty-four soil samples collected at logarithmic intervals on perpendicular transects adjacent to Interstate Highway 275 in Tampa, Florida revealed that thirty-five percent of the samples contained health-threatening levels of lead (greater than 500 ppm), although the pattern of contamination was not predictable. Twenty-two of the thirty-two transect locations extended toward residential areas and, of these, twenty contained soil lead values dangerous to humans. This analysis also revealed that soil lead does not decrease logarithmically with distance from the highway, as shown in other studies. Soil lead at 3, 9, 27, 81, 243, 729, and 2187 …

The Diet Of The Gopher Tortoise, Gopherus Polyphemus, In A Sandhill Habitat In Central Florida, Laurie Ann Macdonald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scat analysis and foraging observations were used to determine the diet of a gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, population in a sandhill community in west central Florida. Live vegetation was assessed to determine plant availability. The bulk of the gopher tortoise diet was composed of the dominant plant species in the habitat while the tortoises were selective with respect to most plant genera. Tortoises ingested many plant taxa with Poaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Pinaceae and Fagaceae being the most frequent components of the diet. Sixty-eight genera from 26 families were identified in the tortoise diet. In the scat the most common …

Demography, Movements, Activity, Habitat Utilization And Marking Behavior Of A Bobcat (Lynx Rufus) Population In South-Central Florida, Douglas A. Wassmer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eighteen (6 male and 7 female adults, 5 juveniles) radio-collared bobcats (Lynx rufus) were monitored on the Archbold Biofogical Station and vicinity during 1979-1982. Mean density was 0.06 males, 0.11 females, and 0.19 juveniles per 100 ha. Mean sex and age ratios were 0.6 adult males per adult female and 1.22 juveniles per adult. Breeding occurred from September to March. Mean size of 13 mobile litters was 2.5 (range 1-4). Nine (50%) of 18 collared cats died. Nine additional individuals were found dead or reported killed. Known causes of 16 deaths were: road-killed 8, feline panleukopenia or notoedric …

Reproductive Variability In Lytechinus Variegatus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) From Different Habitats In A Florida West Coast Estuary, Robert G. Ernest

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lytechinus variegatus (Lamarck, 1916) is a sea urchin inhabiting shallow sub-littoral environments from Beaufort, North Carolina to southern Brazil. Although it has been collected extensively for embryological material in the southeastern United States (Harvey, 1956; Brookbank, 1968). there have been relatively few studies of its reproduction. Gonad indices were used to follow its annual reproductive cycle at Bermuda and Miami (Moore et al., 1963; Moore and Lopez, 1972), while elsewhere, only observations of spawn- ing have been reported (Boolootian, 1966).

In the Anclote estuary near Tarpon Springs, Florida, Lytechinus is the most conspicuous of the macroepibenthic invertebrates, and where requisite …

A Population Study Of The Burrowing Owl Near Tampa, Florida, William D. Courser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Growth And Toxicity Of The Florida Red Tide Organism, Gymnodinium Breve, Marion Tilton Doig Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mass mortalities of marine organisms in the Gulf of Mexico have been associated with blooms of the unarmored dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium breve. This investigation concerns the factors affecting the growth of G. breve and the properties of a toxin produced by the organism.

A modification of the Flask Test of the Provisional Algal Assay Procedure of the Joint Industry/Government Task Force on Eutrophication was used to determine the response of G. breve to various natural waters and enrichments. The growth-promoting potential of natural waters obtained from areas where outbreaks of G. breve frequently occur was greater than that of waters …