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Behavior, Habitat Use, Food, And Foraging Efficiency Of Three Species Of Sympatric Merons (Egretta), Donald M. Kent

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The foraging ecology and behavior of Little Bule Herons (Egretta caerulea), Snowy Egrets (E. thula), and Tricolored Herons (E. tricolor) was studied from October 1981 to August 1982 in Old Tampa Bay and Safety Harbor, Hills borough and Pinellas Counties, Florida. Little Blue Herons foraged exclusively by walk-slow and employed head sways or tilted during 75% of the observations. Snowy Egrets used stand, walk-slow, disturb-and-chase, and foot-stirring. Tricolored Herons used stand, walk-slow, disturb-and-chase, ana stand-and-chase. Tricolored Herons using stand-and-chase stood near shore facing open water and when prey was spotted they ran or hopped in the direction of the prey …

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 …