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Contents, Studies In Avian Biology

Studies in Avian Biology

No abstract provided.

How Do Aesthetics Affect Our Ecology?, Zsuzsi I. Kovacs, Carri J. Leroy, Dylan G. Fischer, Sandra Lubarsky, William Burke

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Beauty is a powerful force that affects both our emotions and our ecological practices, yet aesthetic values remain understated and under-discussed in ecology. Here we invite discussion about the influence of beauty on ecological research by outlining: 1) how aesthetics affect the practice of ecology, and 2) how aesthetics affect the implementation of ecological research on the landscape. The aesthetic sensibilities of ecologists develop through personal experiences and are enriched by professional training, including ecological coursework, fieldwork, research and discussion. Many ecologists choose an ecological career because it offers an opportunity to work in beautiful, natural places. However, these values …

Estimating Spatial Curve Number For Hydrologic Response Analysis Of A Small Watershed

Journal of Spatial Hydrology

An approach to estimate the curve number (CN) at each pixel unit of a satellite imagery, which is a key parameter in the widely used Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS- CN) hydrologic model, is proposed. Instead of mapping land use and its temporal dynamics from satellite imageries, this approach linearly unmixes the multi-spectral radiances into three fractional layers which primarily control the degree of saturation within a watershed occurring due to a 25 cm-depth storm event, i.e., physically interpreted as the CN. The fraction layers used are water, sand and pure vegetation. In order to obtain a relationship between …

Biodiversity Loss And The Taxonomic Bottleneck: Emerging Biodiversity Science, Ke Chung Kim, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Human domination of the Earth has resulted in dramatic changes to global and local patterns of biodiversity. Biodiversity is critical to human sustainability because it drives the ecosystem services that provide the core of our life-support system. As we, the human species, are the primary factor leading to the decline in biodiversity, we need detailed information about the biodiversity and species composition of specific locations in order to understand how different species contribute to ecosystem services and how humans can sustainably conserve and manage biodiversity. Taxonomy and ecology, two fundamental sciences that generate the knowledge about biodiversity, are associated with …

Comparative Susceptibility Of Sweetpotato Weevil (Coleoptera: Brentidae) To Selected Insecticides, Tara P. Smith, Abner M. Hammond

Faculty Publications

The response of sweetpotato weevil, Cylas formicarius (F.) (Coleoptera: Brentidae), to insecticides used for its control was tested in laboratory bioassays. A glass vial bioassay technique was used to determine the susceptibility of two cohorts of sweetpotato weevil to selected insecticides. Vials were treated with methyl parathion, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, carbaryl, and phosmet. Sweetpotato weevils demonstrated a mortality response to increasing concentrations of all insecticides tested, and our results indicated decreases in susceptibility of the Louisiana cohort of sweetpotato weevil compared with the Texas cohort for all insecticides tested. Methyl parathion was the most toxic chemical tested for both cohorts, followed …

Editorial 1: Unpacking The Complexity Of The Homonym Site/Sight/Cite, Jan Jagodzinski

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

We invite essays that explore visual regimes that have become established in our public schools or art departments. "Out of sight" might interrogate current ideals, territories, and debates concerning visual cultural education, since this was a distant horizon first discussed in JSTAE in 1980 and is now looming closer in mainstream art education. "Out of sight" might provide us with concerns over our televised, cinematic images that come at us through popular culture. For Lacan, sight was always a form of misrecognition, a form of "ignorance" as brilliantly explored by Magritte. We are all framed by images. So, we invite …

An Analysis Of Trap And Translocation Of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoleus Virginianus) Within The Enclosed Park Area Of Duke Farms, Hillsborough, New Jersey, December 2000 To March 2003, Christopher D. Aquila

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Translocation to manage overabundant wildlife populations, (in particularly Odocoileus spp.), is generally viewed as an acceptable method of wildlife removal where more aggressive methods (i.e. hunting, sharp shooting) are not considered viable options, in heavily developed urban areas and residential subdivisions.

From December 2000 to March 2003,1 conducted a large scale White-tailed Deer 0Odocoileus virginianus) translocation study on a 259 ha (640 acres) site at Duke Farms m Hillsborough, New Jersey, a location with high public visitation, over 100 employees, and a significant building infrastructure. Subsequently at the time of the study, the site was not conducive to any of …

Allometry And Sexual Dimorphism In The Snail-Eating Turtle Malayemys Macrocephala From The Chao Phraya River Basin Of Central Thailand, Timothy R. Brophy

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Allometric growth and sexual dimorphism of the shell is evident in Malayemys macrocephala from the Chao Phraya River Basin of central Thailand. Differences in allometric growth between males and females produce sexually dimorphic adults. Adult females exhibit larger sizes and have relatively wider and higher shells and longer plastra than males.

Multiple Hypotheses Testing Of Fish Incidence Patterns In An Urbanized Ecosystem, Christopher J. Chizinski, C.L. Higgins, C.E. Shavlik, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Ecological and evolutionary theories have focused traditionally on natural processes with little attempt to incorporate anthropogenic influences despite the fact that humans are such an integral part of virtually all ecosystems. A series of alternate models that incorporated anthropogenic factors and traditional ecological mechanisms of invasion to account for fish incidence patterns in urban lakes was tested. The models were based on fish biology, human intervention, and habitat characteristics. However, the only models to account for empirical patterns were those that included fish invasiveness, which incorporated speciesspecific information about overall tolerance and fecundity. This suggests that species-specific characteristics are more …

Diet Composition And Terrestrial Prey Selection Of The Laysan Teal On Laysan Island, Michelle H. Reynolds, John W. Slotterback, Jeffrey R. Walters

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Laysan teal (Anas laysanensis) is an endangered dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago but currently restricted to a single breeding population on Laysan Island. We studied its diet using fecal analysis and behavioral observations. Laysan teal fecal samples (N=118) contained prey items in 15 primary prey categories with a mean of 2.9 (range 0-7) taxa per sample. Sixty-two of these fecal samples were quantified with 2,270 prey items identified (mean items per sample 37; range 0-205). Based on fecal analysis and behavioral observations, we learned that the Laysan teal is not strictly a macroinsectivore as previously …

Asymmetric Vegetation Responses To Mid-Holocene Aridity At The Prairie-Forest Ecotone In South-Central Minnesota, Charles Umbanhowar, Phil Camill, Christoph Geiss, Rebecca Teed

Biology Faculty Work

The mid-Holocene (ca. 8000–4000 cal yr BP) was a time of marked aridity throughout much of Minnesota, and the changes due to midHolocene aridity are seen as an analog for future responses to global warming. In this study, we compare the transition into (ca. 9000–7000 yr ago) and out of (ca. 5000–2500 yr ago) the mid-Holocene (MH) period at Kimble Pond and Sharkey Lake, located along the prairie forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota, using high resolution (∼5–36 yr) sampling of pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic and loss-on-ignition properties. Changes in vegetation were asymmetrical with increasing aridity being marked by a pronounced …

Eastern, Winter 2006, Eastern Washington University. Division Of University Relations.

Alumni Publications

This issue focuses on Eastern Washington University by telling stories from Eastern's Historic District. This issue also contains articles on photography by EWU alumni.

Finicky Fish Finish... Last! Pre-Visit Lessons -- Support Materials (Grade 5), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

In “Finicky Fish Finish…Last!” students explore what has happened to the Colorado River and the reasons why it is so difficult for the razorback sucker to thrive in a changed environment. Working as ichthyologists (fish biologists) at Lake Mead, students collect water quality data such as temperature, pH, and clarity -- to determine whether current habitat conditions are sufficient for survival of young razorback suckers. Students observe and identify non-native fish in Lake Mead as they learn how the razorback sucker interacts with these neighbors. Students assess whether Lake Mead is still a good habitat for razorback suckers. Using the …

A Practical Look At The Variable Area Transect, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Shannon K. Murphy

Forest Management Faculty Publications

The variable area transect (VAT) is a plotless density estimator that has received little attention in the ecological literature despite having potentially robust estimation properties. VAT allows for density estimations without the lengthy search times associated with other plotless density estimators. In spite of this, little has been written about the effect of varying transect widths on its density estimation properties or on the practical implementation of the VAT in field settings. An artificial population sampler was used to examine the effect of transect width on density estimates obtained using the VAT. Three transect widths were chosen corresponding to the …

Curricular Development For A Desert Learning Center, Angie Lara, Michael Reiland

Curriculum materials (RRLC)

The Red Rock Desert Learning Center, formerly known as Oliver Ranch, is a 300-acre parcel acquired by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1993 and incorporated into the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The Desert Learning Center is being designed to teach participants about the natural world through inquiry-based experiential and interdisciplinary methods in a residential outdoor setting in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, located outside metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada. The intent is for students, teachers, and researchers to gain an appreciation of desert ecosystems and to begin to apply and connect their knowledge to world ecological …

A Test Of The Nutrient-Productivity Model In The Gulf Of Maine Using The Intertidal Mussel Mytilus Edulis, Meredith A. Bailey

Master's Theses and Capstones

Historical concepts of top-down control (predator-prey interactions) on rocky intertidal community structure have transitioned to studies on bottom-up effects (nutrient supply and larval transport) as significant factors affecting rocky intertidal community structure. Studies performed on rocky intertidal locations along the Gulf of Maine (GOM) at multiple sites and seasons in 2004 and 2006 examined the ecology of Mytilus edulis populations by measuring size frequency distributions, diet quality (stable isotope composition) and physiological performance of individuals using condition indices and RNA/DNA ratios. Data were correlated to satellite imagery for sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a concentration and individuals were genetically tested …

Agroecology And The Struggle For Food Sovereignty In The Americas, Avery Cohn, Jonathan Cook, Margarita Fernández, Rebecca Reider, Corrina Steward

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

A collaborative project of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (Yale F&ES)

Quantifying Inhabitation, Feeding And Connectivity Between Adjacent Estuarine And Coastal Regions For Three Commercially Important Marine Fishes, Christopher Douglas Bazett Leakey

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

1. Estuaries are regarded as valuable nursery habitats for many commercially important marine fishes. Recruitment of fish from estuarine nursery habitats to adult marine populations is considered important for maintenance of fishable stocks, but most evidence for this is qualitative. Effective and timely implementation of estuarine conservation and fisheries management plans may be aided by quantitative assessment of this habitat connectivity. 2. This thesis reports upon the quantification of inhabitation, feeding and connectivity between adjacent estuarine and coastal regions for Common sole (Solea solea), European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Whiting (Merlangius merlangus). Sample collection was focused in the Thames …

Monitoring Survival Of Young In Ungulates: A Case Study With Rocky Mountain Elk, Nyeema Charmaine Harris

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Harris, Nyeema C., M.S., Spring 2007 Wildlife Biology MONITORING SURVIVAL OF YOUNG IN UNGULATES: A CASE STUDY WITH ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK Chairperson: Daniel H. Pletscher Survival of young is an important determinant of population growth and persistence in ungulate populations. Therefore, monitoring the survival of young is an essential component in many research and management programs. The primary techniques used to monitor survival of young in ungulate populations are age ratios, obtained from herd composition surveys, and telemetry studies of marked individuals. Concerns about survival of young and the impact of predators on recruitment have recently arisen because of reported …

A Spatial Analysis Of Obesity In West Virginia, Anura Amarasinghe, Gerard D'Souza, Cheryl Brown, Tatiana Borisova

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

A spatial panel data analysis at the county level examines how individual food consumption, recreational, and lifestyle choices ― against a backdrop of changing demographic, built environment, and policy factors ― leads to obesity. Results suggest that obesity tends to be spatially autocorrelated; in addition to hereditary factors and lifestyle choices, it is also caused by sprawl and lack of land use planning. Policy measures which stimulate educational attainment, poverty alleviation, and promotion of better land use planning and best consumption practices (BCPs) could both reduce obesity and result in sustainable development of regions where obesity is prevalent and the …

Phenolic Composition And Antioxidant Activity Of Sweetpotatoes [Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Lam], Malkeet Singh Padda

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The influence of numerous factors on sweetpotato phenolic content and antioxidant activity was determined. Simplified, robust, and rapid methodologies were developed to quantify total phenolics and individual phenolic acids in sweetpotatoes. Quantification of total phenolic content using Folin-Denis reagent provided more reliable results than Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Individual phenolic acids were quantified by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the best separation was achieved using a 5-µm, 4.6 × 250 mm column with a mobile phase of 1% (v/v) formic acid aqueous solution: acetonitrile: 2-propanol (70:22:8), pH 2.5. Methanol and ethanol provided higher phenolic extraction efficiency than acetone. In general, …

Art Informing Science Education: The Potential Contributions Of Ornithological Illustration To Ecology Education, Vanessa Hunt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Birds serve as an excellent group of organisms from which to introduce the study of ecology, being of inherent aesthetic interest to many otherwise uninterested in science, and are also ubiquitous in the immediate environment of many students. By extension, images of birds might serve as a valuable resource for the ecology educator, and bird artists – as a subset of ecologists - might provide useful models for expertise in ecology. This study examines the potential contributions of bird artists and bird art to education in ecology at the high school and college level. Eight contemporary bird artists were interviewed …

2006 Commencement Program, Seattle University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Forest Clear Cutting On Spotted Salamander ( Ambystoma Maculatum) Migration, Jessica Susannah Veysey

Master's Theses and Capstones

Upland buffer zones are a proposed management tool for vernal-pool-breeding amphibians. Substantial validation of buffers, via experimental upland habitat disturbance, is lacking. Specifically, no studies have examined immediate effects of clear cutting on spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum ) migration. I used clear cutting to experimentally manipulate upland buffer widths at 11 vernal pools. I then radiotracked 40 adult spotted salamanders at these pools, and modeled their migration with mixed-effects regression. Mean maximum distance from the pool was 106.0 +/- 15.4 m (range = 1.6 to 427.6 m). At clear cut-treatment pools, mean percent of time in the cut was 27.2 …

Rockfish Resources Of The South Central California Coast: Analysis Of The Resource From Partyboat Data, 1980-2005, John Stephens, Dean Wendt, Debra Wilson-Vandenberg, Jay Carroll, Royden Nakamura, Erin Nakada, Steven Reinecke, Jono Wilson

Biological Sciences

Rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) have historically comprised a large proportion of catches in the nearshore recreational fishery in California, but declining populations of some species have led to increasingly restrictive management of the resource. This report summarizes new and existing data on rockfishes of the south central coast of California. In 2003, the California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo placed observers on commercial passenger fishing vessels (partyboats) from the region. By the end of 2005, we had observed catches from 258 trips (8,839 fisher hours). We appended these data to partyboat catch statistics collected by the California Department of …

The Impact Of Habitat Fragmentation And The Surrounding Landscape On Insect Communities In Prairie Patches, Sarah K. Fischer

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Technical Fix Or The Systemic Solution For Urban Water Quality? A Case Study Of Grassroots Activism On Behalf Of New York City's Drinking Water, Mirele B. Goldsmith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This case study examines the activities of the Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition from 1996 until 2004. The Coalition opposed construction of a filtration plant for the Croton water supply. The study traces the Coalition’s campaign against filtration, which took place in the context of the widely heralded New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (1997). Although the Agreement permitted New York City to avoid filtration for its Catskill and Delaware water supplies, plans were laid for filtration of the Croton supply.

My study is informed by political ecology which provides a framework for understanding politics, practices and contradictions involved …

Automated Photo-Identification Of Cetaceans : An Integrated Software Solution, Daniel Griggs

Theses : Honours

This study investigates current techniques used for automated photo-identification of cetaceans (i.e. dolphins and whales). The primary focus constitutes various techniques that can be applied to identify and extract dorsal fins from digital photographs. A comprehensive analysis of these techniques demonstrates the most effective software solution. To further support this analysis, four prototypes are developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of each technique in a practical environment. The analysis bases its final conclusions on test results generated from these prototype software examples. Final conclusions provide recommendations for an effective, accurate, and practical software solution. This software solution allows dorsal fins to …

Effectiveness Of Stand-Scale Forest Restoration, Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon, Jay C. Lininger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lininger, Jay Charles, Fall 2006 Environmental Studies Chair: Dr. Len Broberg This case study documents the effectiveness of stand-scale forest restoration activities undertaken in the “Penny Stew” project on federal land in the central Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon. Its dual purpose is to 1) define reference conditions and build a site-specific case for restoration through multi-scale analysis of historical ecology (Chapter III), and 2) demonstrate streamlined monitoring protocols that practitioners can use to adapt restoration practices over time (Chapter IV). Discussion of methodological efficacy in Chapter IV offers implications for FEAT-FIREMON Integration (FFI), a fire effects monitoring and data …

Impact Of Trap Design, Windbreaks, And Weather On Captures Of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) In Pheromone-Baited Traps, Thomas W. Sappington, Brendon J. Reardon, Douglas V. Sumerford

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Pheromone-baited traps are often used in ecological studies of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). However, differences in trap captures may be confounded by trap design, trap location relative to a windbreak, and changes in local weather. The objectives of this experiment were, first, to examine differences in O. nubilalis adult (moth) captures among the Intercept wing trap, the Intercept bucket/funnel UNI trap, and the Hartstack wire-mesh, 75-cm-diameter cone trap (large metal cone trap) as well as among three cone trap designs. Second, we examined the influence of the location of the large metal cone trap relative …