Digital Commons Network^™

Morphology And Phylogeny Of A New Woodruffiid Ciliate, Etoschophrya Inornata Sp. N. (Ciliophora, Colpodea, Platyophryida), With An Account On Evolution Of Platyophryids, William A. Bourland, Greg Hampikian, Peter Vďačný

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We studied the morphology, morphometry, resting cysts and molecular phylogeny of a new woodruffiid ciliate, Etoschophrya inornata, from ephemeral puddles and two lacustrine habitats in Idaho, North-west USA. Up to now, the genus Etoschophrya has included a single species, Etoschophrya oscillatoriophaga, from which our new form is distinguished by (i) the absence of interkinetal cortical granules and, consequently, the absence of extrusible red material in methyl green-pyronin stains, (ii) usually ≥5 adoral membranelles vs. usually four, (iii) greater length and length/width ratio, (iv) prominent cortical furrows vs. inconspicuous and (v) adaptation to non-saline semi-terrestrial and lacustrine habitats in …

An Agent-Based Model For Assessing Effects Of A Chinese Pes Programme On Land-Use Change Along With Livelihood Dynamics, And Land Degradation And Restoration, Takafumi Miyasaka, Quang Bao Le, Toshiya Okuro, Xueyong Zhao, Roland W. Scholz, Kazuhiko Takeuchi

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Some Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes are designed to restore ecosystem services degraded by desertification, but evaluation of their effects are not straightforward because of complex human-environment systems (HES) in drylands. A PES system is used across China (the Sloping Land Conversion Programme, SLCP), including desertified regions. Previous research on SLCP indicated the lack of HES approaches to enable the integrated assessment of socio-ecological long-term effects of the programme. In particular, assessment was needed of: (1) multiple benefits, which cannot be positively correlated, including their cost-effectiveness, and (2) the effect of shifts in economic structure, particularly from agriculture to …

Spatial Modelling Of Potential Soil Water Retention Under Floodplain Inundation Using Remote Sensing And Gis, Yun Chen, Bing Wang, C. A. Pollino, Linda Merrin

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Flood inundation and retention are key hydrological characteristics of floodplain wetlands. They are critical to the management of environmental flows in terms of sustaining ecosystem function, biodiversity and habitat suitability. This study developed a methodology for the estimate of potential floodwater retention under floodplain inundation from ecologically significant flood return periods by coupling remote sensing and GIS technologies with spatial hydrological modelling. The Macquarie Mashes located in the central west of New South Wales of Australia were selected as the case study area. The 1-in-10 years annual recurrence interval (ARI) was identified as one of the most important return periods …

Linking Environment To Ecology In Arid Land Consumers: Two Case Studies, Ian White Murray

Biology ETDs

The physical environment has a profound influence over many aspects of animal ecology, such as governing the pace and timing of phenology and the patterns of activity across space and time. In extreme habitats such as deserts, the most important components of the physical environment are precipitation and temperature. Not only do these vary temporally and spatially, but this variation may influence the life history and ecology of species. My research examines how variance in temperature and precipitation influences the ecology of two species of desert dwelling consumers (desert woodrats and desert tortoises) over differing temporal scales. In Chapter 1, …

Nuclear Waste Policy Act: Where We've Been And Where We're Headed, Kevin Flournoy

Physics

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act is analysed in its practical and political impact. A policy recommendation is made of greater state and regional autonomy of on-site waste storage.

Bayesian Analysis Of Hypothesis Testing Problems For General Population: A Kullback–Leibler Alternative, Naveen K. Bansal, Gholamhossein Hamedani, Ru Sheng

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

We consider a hypothesis problem with directional alternatives. We approach the problem from a Bayesian decision theoretic point of view and consider a situation when one side of the alternatives is more important or more probable than the other. We develop a general Bayesian framework by specifying a mixture prior structure and a loss function related to the Kullback–Leibler divergence. This Bayesian decision method is applied to Normal and Poisson populations. Simulations are performed to compare the performance of the proposed method with that of a method based on a classical z-test and a Bayesian method based on the …

The Likelihood Of Extinction Of Iconic And Dominant Herbivores And Detritivores Of Coral Reefs: The Parrotfishes And Surgeonfishes, Mia T. Comeros-Raynal, John H. Choat, Beth A. Polidoro, Kendall D. Clements, Rene Abesamis, Matthew T. Craig, Muhammad E. Lazuardi, Jennifer Mcilwain, Andreas Muljadi, Robert F. Myers, Cleto L. Nanola Jr., Shinta Pardede, Luiz A. Rocha, Barry Russell, Jonnell C. Sanciangco, Brian Stockwell, Heather Harwell, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Parrotfishes and surgeonfishes perform important functional roles in the dynamics of coral reef systems. This is a consequence of their varied feeding behaviors ranging from targeted consumption of living plant material (primarily surgeonfishes) to feeding on detrital aggregates that are either scraped from the reef surface or excavated from the deeper reef substratum (primarily parrotfishes). Increased fishing pressure and widespread habitat destruction have led to population declines for several species of these two groups. Species-specific data on global distribution, population status, life history characteristics, and major threats were compiled for each of the 179 known species of parrotfishes and surgeonfishes …

Hidden Earthworks In The Forests Of The Bolivian Amazon, John H. Walker

ProSIGAB Documents

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of A Sexually Dimorphic Trait In A Broadly Distributed Topminnow (Fundulus Olivaceus), Jacob F. Schaefer, David D. Duvernell, Brian R. Kreiser, Charles Champagne, Scott R. Clark, Melissa Gutierrez, Laura K. Stewart, Chazz Coleman

Faculty Publications

Understanding the interaction between sexual and natural selection within variable environments is crucial to our understanding of evolutionary processes. The handicap principle predicts females will prefer males with exaggerated traits provided those traits are indicators of male quality to ensure direct or indirect female benefits. Spatial variability in ecological factors is expected to alter the balance between sexual and natural selection that defines the evolution of such traits. Male and female blackspotted topminnows (Fundulidae: Fundulus olivaceus) display prominent black dorsolateral spots that are variable in number across its broad range. We investigated variability in spot phenotypes at 117 sites …

New Paleoclimate Reconstruction Techniques In Archaeology: Applications In Greece, New Mexico, And Portugal, Brandon Lee Drake

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation develops new techniques of analysis that make existing archaeological data more useful for understanding past climate change. These techniques are introduced through three key case studies in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, the Lower Alentejo of Portugal, and the Eastern Mediterranean. A 12,000 year record of pollen collected from packrat middens across Chaco Canyon were analyzed using a new normalization procedure to produce a Holocene record of piñon and ponderosa pine abundance. The normalization procedure, species occurrence, enabled statistical analysis of the data. Simple linear models indicated that piñon and ponderosa pollen were strongly correlated with …

Epiphytes: A Study Of The History Of Forest Canopy Research, Sven Batke

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The development of new and more versatile access techniques is a major contributor to the continuously growing field of canopy research. Methods such as cranes, canopy walkways, hot-air balloons, ladders and rope access techniques enabled scientist for the first time to conduct proximate studies of canopy organisms. One of the most studied groups of canopy dwellers are epiphytes. With their versatile adaptations to a life above ground level and their vast abundance, epiphytes contribute profoundly to the forest diversity and ecosystem processes. Most epiphytes have species-specific habitat preference within individual phorophytes. However these preferences are limited by biotic and abiotic …

Informal Caregiving Patterns In Korea And European Countries : A Cross-National Comparison, Soong Nang Jang, Mauricio Avendano, Ichiro Kawachi

APIAS-TSAO-ILC Symposium for Junior Researchers on Active Ageing 2012

Purpose: This ecological study examined demographic and institutional differences in informal caregiving. We conducted a cross-national study about the characteristics of informal caregivers in 12 European countries and Korea.

Methods: Data were collected from individuals aged 50 years and older participating in the 2004/2005 Survey of Health, Ageing and Re­tirement in Europe (SHARE) and the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA). We examined the associations between informal caregiving and macro-level characteristics (GDP, total fertility rates, labour force participation rates, level of women’s empowerment, long-term care resources).

Results: Korea and some southern European countries (notably Spain and Italy) had high …

Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Ozark Ant Ecology, Robin Michelle Verble

Theses and Dissertations

Fires are among the most conspicuous disturbances affecting leaf litter communities, and are sources of both direct and indirect insect mortality. Fires historically occurred on the Ozark landscape at high frequencies, and modern forest managers utilize prescribed fire to restore and maintain those ecosystems. I examined fire effects at multiple scales, ranging from post-fire patterns in leaf litter arthropod community structure to responses of individual organisms to heat stress. This dissertation summarizes the history of fire occurrences in Ozark forests of Arkansas. It then unifies the results of four observational and experimental studies designed to assess how Ozark forest ant …

Two Boundaries Separate Borrelia Burgdorferi Populations In North America, Gabriele Margos, Jean I. Tsao, Santiago Castillo-Ramirez, Yvette A. Girard, Anne G. Hoen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the spread of infectious diseases is crucial for implementing effective control measures. For this, it is important to obtain information on the contemporary population structure of a disease agent and to infer the evolutionary processes that may have shaped it. Here, we investigate on a continental scale the population structure of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB), a tick-borne disease, in North America. We test the hypothesis that the observed d population structure is congruent with recent population expansions and that these were preceded by bottlenecks mostly likely caused by the near extirpation in the 1900s …

June 16, 2012: Cfp: O-Zone: A Journal Of Object-Oriented Studies, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Cumulative Risk And A Call For Action In Environmental Justice Communities, H. P. Hynes, Russ Lopez

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Health disparities, social inequalities, and environmental injustice cumulatively affect individual and community vulnerability and overall health; yet health researchers, social scientists and environmental scientists generally study them separately. Cumulative risk assessment in poor, racially segregated, economically isolated and medically underserved communities needs to account for their multiple layers of vulnerability, including greater susceptibility, greater exposure, less preparedness to cope, and less ability to recover in the face of exposure. Recommendations for evidence-based action in environmental justice communities include: reducing pollution in communities of highest burden; building on community resources; redressing inequality when doing community-based research; and creating a screening framework …

Genetic Comparison Of Water Molds From Embryos Of Amphibians Rana Cascadae, Bufo Boreas And Pseudacris Regilla, Kori K. Ault, James E. Johnson, Holly C. Pinkart, R. Steven Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Water molds that cause the disease saprolegniasis have been implicated in widespread mortality of amphibian embryos. However, because of the limitations of traditional identification methods, water mold species involved in die-offs or utilized in ecological studies often remain unidentified or identified only as Saprolegnia ferax. Furthermore, water mold taxonomy requires revision, so very distinct organisms may all be called S. ferax. Recent DNA-based studies indicate that the diversity of water molds infecting amphibian embryos is significantly higher than what was previously known, but these studies rely on culture methods, which may be biased towards taxa that grow best …

Geospatial Examination Of Lithium In Drinking Water And Suicide Mortality, Marco Helbich, Michael Leitner, Nestor D. Kapusta

Faculty Publications

Background: Lithium as a substance occurring naturally in food and drinking water may exert positive effects on mental health. In therapeutic doses, which are more than 100 times higher than natural daily intakes, lithium has been proven to be a mood-stabilizer and suicide preventive. This study examined whether natural lithium content in drinking water is regionally associated with lower suicide rates.Methods: Previous statistical approaches were challenged by global and local spatial regression models taking spatial autocorrelation as well as non-stationarity into account. A Geographically Weighted Regression model was applied with significant independent variables as indicated by a spatial autoregressive model.Results: …

Association Of Adherence Support And Outreach Services With Total Attrition, Loss To Follow-Up, And Death Among Art Patients In Sub-Saharan Africa, Matthew R. Lamb, Wafaa M. El-Sadr, Elvin Geng, Denis Nash

Publications and Research

Background Loss to follow-up (LTF) after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is common in HIV clinics. We examined the effect of availability of adherence support and active patient outreach services on patient attrition following ART initiation. Methods and Findings This ecologic study examined clinic attrition rates (total attrition, LTF, and death) among 232,389 patients initiating ART at 349 clinics during 2004–2008 in 10 sub-Saharan African countries, and cohort attrition (proportion retained at 6 and 12 months after ART initiation) among a subset of patients with follow-up information (n = 83,389). Log-linear regression compared mean rates of attrition, LTF, and death between …

Human Impact On Atolls Leads To Coral Loss And Community Homogenisation: A Modeling Study, Bernhard Riegl, Charles R. C. Sheppard, Samuel J. Purkis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

We explore impacts on pristine atolls subjected to anthropogenic near-field (human habitation) and far-field (climate and environmental change) pressure. Using literature data of human impacts on reefs, we parameterize forecast models to evaluate trajectories in coral cover under impact scenarios that primarily act via recruitment and increased mortality of larger corals. From surveys across the Chagos, we investigate the regeneration dynamics of coral populations distant from human habitation after natural disturbances. Using a size-based mathematical model based on a time-series of coral community and population data from 1999–2006, we provide hind- and forecast data for coral population dynamics within lagoons …

Semester Courses And Course Equivalents: Graduate Courses Summary

Undergraduate Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee Wright State University Quarter to Semester Transition

A list comprised of summaries of all graduate courses and course equivalents at Wright State University.

Evolution Of A Sexually Dimorphic Trait In A Broadly Distributed Topminnow (Fundulus Olivaceus), Jacob F. Schaefer, David D. Duvernell, Brian R. Kreiser, Charles Champagne, Scott R. Clark, Melissa Gutierrez, Laura K. Stewart, Chazz Coleman

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Understanding the interaction between sexual and natural selection within variable environments is crucial to our understanding of evolutionary processes. The handicap principle predicts females will prefer males with exaggerated traits provided those traits are indicators of male quality to ensure direct or indirect female benefits. Spatial variability in ecological factors is expected to alter the balance between sexual and natural selection that defines the evolution of such traits. Male and female blackspotted topminnows (Fundulidae: Fundulus olivaceus) display prominent black dorsolateral spots that are variable in number across its broad range. We investigated variability in spot phenotypes at 117 sites …

Using High Throughput Sequencing To Explore The Biodiversity In Oral Bacterial Communities, Patricia I. Diaz, A. K. Dupuy, L. Abusleme, B. Reese, C. Obergfell, Linda E. Choquette, Anna Dongari-Bagtzoglou, Douglas E. Peterson, Linda D. Strausbaugh

UCHC Articles - Research

High throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons is a cost-effective method for characterization of oral bacterial communities. However, before undertaking large-scale studies, it is necessary to understand the technique-associated limitations and intrinsic variability of the oral ecosystem. In this work we evaluated bias in species representation using an in vitro-assembled mock community of oral bacteria. We then characterized the bacterial communities in saliva and buccal mucosa of five healthy subjects to investigate the power of high throughput sequencing in revealing their diversity and biogeography patterns. Mock community analysis showed primer and DNA isolation biases and an overestimation …

Five New Records Of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) For Nebraska, Kristine T. Nemec, James C. Trager, Elizabeth Manley, Craig R. Allen

The Prairie Naturalist

Ants are ubiquitous and influential organisms in terrestrial ecosystems. About 1,000 ant species occur in North America, where they are found in nearly every habitat (Fisher and Cover 2007). Ants are critical to ecological processes and structure. Ants affect soils via tunneling activity (Baxter and Hole 1967), disperse plant seeds (Lengyel et al. 2009), prey upon a variety of insects and other invertebrates (Way and Khoo 1992, Folgarait 1998), are often effective primary consumers through their prodigious consumption of floral and especially extrafloral nectar, and honeydew (Tobin 1994), and serve as prey for invertebrates (Gotelli 1996, Gastreich 1999) and vertebrates …

The Relation Among Essential Habitat, Ocean Acidification, And Calcification On The Nantucket Bay Scallop (Argopecten Irradians), Bryanna Joy Broadaway

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The relation among essential habitat, ocean acidification, and calcification in Argopecten irradians (Lamarck 1819) was examined through field and laboratory research. Three major questions were addressed: 1) What habitat conditions are associated with abundant populations of bay scallops in Nantucket Harbor? 2) How might future predictions of ocean pH decline affect the biomineralization of shell by bay scallop across juvenile and adult life stages? 3) Are there biochemical indicators that can inform our understanding on how the bay scallop may cope with ocean acidifying events? Elemental fingerprinting of adult and juvenile Nantucket bay scallop shells, A. irradians, revealed distinct element/Ca …

Spatial Ecology Of Urban Raccoons In Northeastern Ohio: Implications For Oral Rabies Vaccination, Are R. Berentsen, Mike R. Dunbar, Chadd E. Fitzpatrick, W. David Walter

The Prairie Naturalist

In 1977, rabies was detected in a raccoon (Procyon lotor) in West Virginia, and since the mid-1980s raccoon variant rabies has spread throughout the eastern United States and moved west as far as the eastern edge of Cleveland, Ohio. The primary tool to combat this spread is the distribution of oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. A thorough knowledge of raccoon space use is critical in determining bait placement, particularly in urban areas. We monitored nine raccoons in urban areas of Cleveland, Ohio, calculated home range sizes, monitored raccoon movement with respect to potential movement barriers, and used resource selection functions …

Seasonal Food Habits Of Burrowing Owls (Athene Cunicularia) In Human-Altered Landscapes, Carie Marie Wingert

Master's Theses

In 2004, I initiated a year-long study to investigate the food habits of burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia). Burrowing owls have been found in a variety of human-altered landscapes; however, little is known about burrowing owl food habits in urban landscapes. Burrowing owl food habits during the non-breeding season are also largely undocumented, despite increasing concern over the survival of overwintering burrowing owls. Differences in prey consumption between reproductive and non-reproductive owls during the breeding season have not yet been examined. I collected pellets over a 12 month period at four study sites affected by different levels of human …

Macrophyte Communities Of Lake Winnebago: Baseline Study Of Species Composition With Abundances And Water Quality Conditions, Mackenzie Kessenich

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Historical records from Lake Winnebago show minimal macrophyte growth; however, reports from recent years claim that macrophyte growth in some areas of the lake has reached nuisance levels. This study aimed to investigate the species of macrophytes present and their abundances in four near-shore locations, as well as measurements of multiple water quality conditions. Rake sampling was used to identify species and quantify their abundances and distributions. In addition, data were collected on light penetration, Secchi depths, and suspended algae chlorophyll concentrations at each site. These data from shallow near-shore sites reveal trends in changing water clarity and light penetration …

Phylogeny And Evolution Of Phemeranthus (Montiaceae) In North American Xeric Habitats, Taina Price

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The genus Phemeranthus: Montiaceae; fameflowers, rockpinks, sunbrights) comprises ca. 25 species of succulent, terete-leaved herbaceous perennials, mostly found in xeric rock outcrops and sand barrens. Phemeranthus' center of diversity is in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, but several species occur in glade and flat-rock ecosystems in the midwestern and southeastern United States. DNA sequences of chloroplast and low-copy nuclear regions were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships of Phemeranthus species. Phemeranthus: excluding P. aurantiacus) is monophyletic and likely sister to the remainder of Montiaceae. The genus contains two geographically structured and morphologically distinguishable clades: a southern clade centered …

Insight Into The Diet History Of Ice Seals Using Isotopic Signatures Of Muscle Tissue And Claws, Sara Shanae Carroll

Marine Biology

Climate change and sea ice reduction in the Arctic may impact foraging of ice-associated predators. The goal of my thesis work was to examine interannual differences in the diet of ringed, bearded, spotted, and ribbon seals as described by stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios of muscle tissue and claws to assess foraging plasticity. Isotopic mixing models from muscle data were used to describe the proportional contribution of prey groups during 2003, 2008-2010. Results showed a higher proportional contribution of smelt (Osmeridae) and benthic prey to ringed and bearded seal diets in 2003 compared to 2008-2010. Seasonal keratin layers deposited …