Digital Commons Network^™

Survival Of Northern Bobwhite On Hunted And Nonhunted Study Areas In The North Carolina Sandhills, Charles F. Robinette, Phillip D. Doerr

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Radio-tagged northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) were monitored in the Sandhills region of North Carolina to investigate the influences of hunting on seasonal survival. We used the Kaplan-Meier product limit method with staggered entry design to calculate survival estimates and distributions for 79 radio-tagged bobwhite representing 33 coveys during November-February 1987-89. Estimated winter survival rates for year 1 (59%) and for pooled years (67%) in the nonhunted study areas were greater than in the hunted areas (31 and 45%, respectively; P < 0.05). Survival trends for the second winter were again greater in the nonhunted study areas (7 4%) but not different than hunted study areas (63%; P > 0.05). Avian predation was the major proximate cause of mortality, accounting for 66% of the known losses. Summer whistle count …

Potential Polygamous Breeding Behavior In Northern Bobwhite, Paul D. Curtis, Brad S. Mueller, Phillip D. Doerr, Charles F. Robinette, Theodore Devos

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Breeding behavior ofradio-tagged northern bobwhite (Colinus uirginianus) was observed at Fort Bragg Military Reservation (n = 19), North Carolina, in 1985-88, and Tall Timbers Research Station (n = 27), Florida, during 1984-86. We observed apparent polygamous breeding behavior in 95% (18 of 19) of the radio-tagged northern bobwhite at Fort Bragg, and 93% (25 of 27) of the birds at Tall Timbers. We documented 5 cases of double-clutching by radio-tagged females. Twenty-seven percent of Fort Bragg clutches (n = 30), and 20% of Tall Timbers clutches (n = 56) were incubated by radio-tagged males. Northern bobwhite exhibited characteristics of both …

The Interspersian Index As A Technique For Evaluation Of Bobwhite Quail Habitat, William L. Baxter, Carl W. Wolfe

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

An index based on the interspersion of vegetative types proved useful in evaluating quail habitat. Application of the technique for related studies indicated that interspersion indices may find wider application for assessing habitat deficiencies, for evaluating land areas for production of a diversity of wildlife species, and for planning.

Socioeconomic Status, Air Quality And Geographic Variation In Emergency Room Visits For Acute Bronchitis On The California Central Coast, Sean Lang-Brown, Heather W. Starnes, Gary B. Hughes

Symposium

IMPORTANCE: Analysis of geospatial variation in acute bronchitis due to socioeconomic and environmental factors can allow the efficient delivery of resources to populations most at risk.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine if small scale variation in socioeconomic factors and emergency room (ER) visits for acute bronchitis are associated in small cities or rural communities. We also modeled the effects of air quality on daily rates of ER visits for acute bronchitis in the context of socioeconomic factors to investigate modifying relationships.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We examined ER visits for acute bronchitis in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties …

Symposium Volume 4, Issue 1, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Symposium

Collection of research projects conducted by students of the College of Science and Mathematics at California Polytechnic State University

The Evolution Of Fear Ecology: A Fruit Fly (Drosophila Melanogaster) Perspective, Itachi Mills

Theses

Several mechanisms underlie how evolutionary lineages respond to predation pressures or predation risk. Further mechanisms link evolutionary predation responses to how animals forage, or find mates. However, gaps remain in our understanding about how predation and foraging interact in an evolutionary context.

In my first chapter, I elaborate on how predation and foraging relate in to one another in ecological, evolutionary and behavioral contexts. I start out with an overview of fear ecology. Then, I outline how trade-offs influence the evolution of morphological, chemical and behavioral responses to predation. I further elaborate on how these trade-offs influence reproduction. Finally, I …

Multistage Sampling Strategies And Inference In Health Studies Under Appropriate Linex Loss Functions, Sudeep R. Bapat

Doctoral Dissertations

A sequential sampling methodology provides concrete results and proves to be benefecial in many scenarios, where a fixed sampling technique fails to deliver. This dissertation introduces several multistage sampling methodologies to estimate the unknown parameters depending on the model in hand. We construct both two-stage and purely sequential sampling rules under different situations. The estimation is carried under a loss function which in our case is either a usual squared error loss or a Linex loss. We adopt a technique known as bounded risk estimation strategy, where we bound the appropriate risk function from above by a fixed and known …

Drying, Freezing, And Ethanol Preservation Lower Shell Strength Of Two Freshwater Pulmonate Gastropods, Christopher G. Brown, Riccardo Fiorillo, Richard Yi, Sairam Tangirala, Joseph Ametepe

Georgia Journal of Science

Many studies have measured gastropod shell strength to investigate abiotic interactions and responses to predation. Shells are often preserved before strength is measured, but preservation may affect shell biomechanics, potentially influencing the outcome of these studies. We hypothesized that commonly used preservation methods (ethanol, freezing, and drying) lower shell strength of two pulmonate snails, Physella sp. and Pseudosuccinea columella. Compared to controls, all preservation methods significantly lowered strength for both species, except freezing in Ps. columella. To date, no studies have addressed the effects of preservation on shell strength in freshwater pulmonates. These results suggest that preservation methods …

The Malaise Trap: Its Utility And Potential For Sampling Insect Populations, Robert W. Matthews, Janice R. Matthews

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Slightly over three decades have elapsed since Malaise (1937) first published plans for the insect trap now bearing his name a stationary mesh tent with open sides, a central baffle, and a top-mounted collecting apparatus (Fig. 1). A non-attractant device, the Malaise trap is based upon the observation that most flying insects hitting an obstacle respond by flying (or crawling) upward (and thus into captivity).

In recent years, the Malaise trap has become increasingly popular among insect taxonomists and collectors as a means of augmenting catch and collecting rare or ephemeral representatives. Many variations have been developed (e.g., Townes, 1962; …

Obamacare And The Fight Against Income Inequality, Perry T. Mindo Jr

Undergraduate Economic Review

In this paper, we analyze the Affordable Care Act to determine the magnitude and significance of its effects on income inequality in America. Specifically, we find that the ACA decreased the Gini coefficient by 0.67% and reduced the share of income held by the top 20 percent of income earners by 0.67% over the time period of our study. Furthermore, we estimate that the ACA accounts for a redistribution of approximately $13 billion from the top 20 percent of income earners to the bottom 80 percent of income earners.

Effects On Campostoma Oligolepis Digestive Morphology And Gut Microbiota Composition Across A Gradient Of Urbanization, Hannah Grice

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Campostoma oligolepis, the Largescale Stoneroller, is a species of minnow native to northwest Georgia. This study investigated the impacts of urbanization on gut length and gut microbiota community composition in C. oligolepis from four small watersheds within the Etowah River drainage basin with different levels of impervious surface coverage (ISC). Individuals were collected from each sample site in the summer of 2016 between late July and early September. A second round of sampling was conducted in the fall between mid-October and mid-November. The gut length to total length ratio was calculated for each individual to allow for an unbiased …

Pre-Dispersal Seed Predators And Fungi Differ In Their Effect On Luehea Seemannii Capsule Development, Seed Germination, And Dormancy Across Two Panamanian Forests, Pimonrat Tiansawat, Noelle G. Beckman, James W. Dalling

Biology Faculty Publications

Pre-dispersal seed predation can greatly reduce crop size affecting recruitment success. In addition, non-fatal damage by seed predators may allow infection by fungi responsible for post-dispersal seed losses. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify pre-dispersal seed predation and fungal infection in a Neotropical tree species, Luehea seemannii, that produces dehiscent fruits and wind-dispersed seeds, and (2) to link pre-dispersal effects on seed quality to seed survival in the soil. To examine how seed predators and fungi influence seed losses, mesh exclosures, fungicide, and the combination of both treatments were applied to separate branches in the canopy …

Center For Grassland Studies, Volume 23, Issue 2, Summer 2017

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

2017 Nebraska Grazing Conference

Grazing Livestock Systems Internship

2017 Fall Seminar Series & Leu Lecture

PGA Golf Management Club Officers Selected for 2017-2018

Workshop … The Changing Face of Engagement: Reaching the 21st Century Forest and Rangeland Client

Congratulations, Graduates!

CGS Alumni Updates

2017 Nike Golf Camp

Kudos to PGAM Faculty and Staff

Frank L. and Mary Bruning Honored with First Annual Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award

Roadside Vegetation in Nebraska

Katie Cumming—Grazing Livestock Systems Graduate Research Assistant

An Update on Prairies in the Sky: Green Roofs

Spring Creek Prairie’s Outdoor Dinner Fundraiser

UNL Alum Qualifies for 99th …

The Interacting Roles Of Climate, Soils, And Plant Production On Soil Microbial Communities At A Continental Scale, M. P. Waldrop, J. M. Holloway, D. B. Smith, M. B. Goldhaber, Rebecca E. Drenovsky, K. M. Scow, R. Dick, D. Howard, B. Wylie, J. B. Grace

2017 Faculty Bibliography

Soil microbial communities control critical ecosystem processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil organic matter formation. Continental scale patterns in the composition and functioning of microbial communities are related to climatic, biotic, and edaphic factors such as temperature and precipitation, plant community composition, and soil carbon, nitrogen, and pH. Although these relationships have been well explored individually, the examination of the factors that may act directly on microbial communities vs. those that may act indirectly through other ecosystem properties has not been well developed. To further such understanding, we utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate a set of …

Response To Drought Of A Stream Fish Assemblage In A High Elevation Stream In The Intermountain West, Richard M. Simkins

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most influential disturbances for stream fish assemblages is large-scale declines in flow caused by periods of drought. Although stream characteristics are known to influence the response of stream fishes to drought, we asked if ecological traits of stream fishes determine, in part, their population level response to drought. To test for ecological trait-based responses to drought in a stream fish assemblage, we quantified species abundances over a period of 5 years that represented a wet to dry period. We sampled stream fishes in Yellow Creek, Wyoming, USA, a high elevation stream dependent on snow-storage for most of …

The Ecology Of Acequias In The Mora Valley: Patterns, Processes And Place-Based Knowledge, Shannon Marie Rupert

Biology ETDs

In northern New Mexico, early settlements were clustered for protection of the people and access to water for domestic and agricultural uses was critical to their success. Irrigation ditches, known as acequias, brought water to the people, and were central to community life. These earthen ditches of varying lengths were built between one hundred and several hundred years ago, and most are still operational today. They divert water away from natural streams and across the landscape, through a system of man-made channels, until the unused water is diverted back into natural watercourses. These lateral channels appear to function as extensions …

Incidence Of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma And Residential Proximity To Superfund Sites In Kentucky, W. Brent Webber, Ramona Stone

Public Health Sciences Faculty Publications

The rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in Kentucky and the U.S. began to rise in the mid-20th century. Plausible mechanistic explanations exist for linkages between the development of NHL and exposures to specific chemicals. Several of these chemicals are present in sites within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program. This study investigated a possible association between residential proximity to Superfund sites in Kentucky and incidence of NHL over a period of 18 years. Cumulative incidence rates per 100,000 persons were calculated at the census tract level, within 5 km–10 km and <5 km from Superfund sites. Geographically weighted regression was necessary to create best-fitting models due to spatial autocorrelation and nonstationarity. Residential proximity to Superfund sites in Kentucky was associated with higher incidence of NHL; the average cumulative incidence of NHL per 100,000 decreased as the distance to the hazardous sites increased. This study confirmed previous research findings of an association between residential proximity to environmentally hazardous sites and the cumulative incidence rates of NHL. Future research should take into account the chemical profile of each site, to identify the most hazardous sites. Potential intervention strategies are presented based on the results of this study.

Mechanisms In Ecology, Viorel Pâslaru

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

New mechanistic philosophy has not examined explanations in ecology although they are based extensively on describing mechanisms responsible for phenomena under scrutiny. This chapter uses the example of research on the shrub Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle) to scrutinize individual-level mechanisms that are generally accepted and used in ecology and confronts them with the minimal account of mechanisms. Individual-level mechanisms are for a phenomenon, are hierarchical, and absent entities play a role in their functioning. They are distinguished by the role played by properties in determining activities and organization. The chapter also considers the experimental methods for discovery of individual-level mechanisms, …

An Outdoor Curriculum Based In Phenology And Ecology Promoting The Environmental Stewardship Of Middle School Students, Alyssa R. Polovitz

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Many students are not spending enough time in nature, and therefore may lack a passion and understanding of the environment. The literature defines this problem as the nature-deficit disorder, and it explains a need for outdoor and place-based education. This capstone developed a curriculum to help answer the research question, How can an outdoor curriculum based in phenology and ecology that promotes environmental stewardship in middle school students be developed? This emerged from the educator’s passion for the outdoors and nature and helping students develop a similar love and appreciation for the environment. Results provide a weeklong outdoor study that …

The Diet Of The Cumberland Plateau Salamander (Plethodon Kentucki) In An Old Growth Forest Of Southeastern Kentucky, Jacob M. Hutton, Steven J. Price, Stephen C. Richter

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Examining the diet of salamanders is important for understanding their effects on invertebrate communities and the interactions among sympatric salamander species. We

examined the diet of the Cumberland Plateau Salamander, Plethodon kentucki (Mittleman), in an old growth forest in southeastern Kentucky. A total of 763 prey items were recovered from 73 salamanders with an average of 10.75 prey items per stomach. The four most important prey groups were Formicidae (ants), Araneae (spiders), Coleoptera (beetles), and Collembola (springtails). Overall, we found a total of 58 different prey types in the stomach contents from 20 invertebrate orders. This study represents one of …

Can Big Whales Inspire Big Behaviors? A Study Of Environmental Communication, And Nature Immersion, Theresa Soley

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Direct contact with wild nature is becoming harder for people to access in present times, yet research suggests that experiencing nature is important to the formation of environmental values, which may lead to conservation behaviors. My thesis experiment theorizes that direct contact with nature has the ability to impact people's behavioral beliefs and intentions toward the environment, applying Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the New Ecological Paradigm Scale as measures. A questionnaire was administered post-whale watching trips in Juneau, Alaska to determine whether whales, direct experience with charismatic megafauna, could stimulate positive attitudes and behaviors toward recycling. …

Implementing Multilevel Food And Nutrition Security Frameworks In Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges And Opportunities For Scaling Up Pulses In Ethiopia (A Research Note), Lisa F. Clark

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Increasingly, there is global consensus that pulse crops can help address ongoing nutrition and food security challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. Evidence shows that scaling-up production and consumption of pulses grown in sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to make positive contributions to socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. By taking a systems approach to analyze policy documents and stakeholder reports on food and nutrition security, this article argues that policy asymmetries within multilevel governance frameworks challenge efforts to scale-up existing pulse value chains in this region, specifically Ethiopia. It demonstrates that policy sectoralization and siloing between the nutrition and agriculture agendas contribute to …

Does One Size Fit All? The Importance Of State Natural Resource Damage Assessment Laws, Elizabeth Conti

Catholic University Law Review

Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs) are necessary for the purpose of ensuring restoration and revitalization to natural resources harmed or destroyed by environmental contaminations, whether natural or manmade. Many federal laws such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (CWA) are available to assess damages to natural resources. However, their effectiveness is limited due to factors such as lack of resources and funding, political intervention, and a multitude of damages to assess spread throughout the country. Many states have taken the lead in enacting NRDA …

Profiling Bat Activity And Species Presence In Managed Longleaf Pine Landscapes, Margaret Hunt

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

Restoration of native flora or reintroduction of at-risk fauna includes management practices that while encouraging presence and proliferation of target species, may adversely affect non-focal species. An endemic ecosystem undergoing restoration within the southeastern U.S. is that of the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). Bats inhabit key ecological niches in forest ecosystems, including the longleaf pine ecosystem, and can be indicators of ecosystem condition. This study investigated the effects of current forest management practices and landscape management history on bat species presence and activity levels within habitat undergoing longleaf pine restoration. We deployed bat detectors in two wildlife management …

Capacity Of Blood Plasma Is Higher In Birds Breeding In Radioactively Contaminated Areas, Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez, Anders P. Møller, Timothy Mousseau, Juan J. Soler

Faculty Publications

Background Environmental pollution in general, and radioactive contamination in particular, may deeply affect host-parasite relationships and their consequences for the evolution of organisms. The nuclear accident that occurred more than 30 years ago in Chernobyl resulted in significant changes in diversity and richness of microbial communities that could influence characteristics of animal-bacteria interactions, including host immune responses and competitive interference by bacteria. Given the high mortality rate of birds breeding in radioactively contaminated zones, those with stronger defences against infections should experience significant fitness advantages.

Methodology/Principal Findings Here we characterized antimicrobial capacity of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) from different Ukrainian …

Bacterial Community Profiles And Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Abundance In Individual Oysters And Their Association With Estuarine Ecology, Ashley L. Marcinkiewicz, Brian M. Schuster, Stephen H. Jones, Vaughn S. Cooper, Cheryl A. Whistler

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

Oysters naturally harbor the human gastric pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus, but the nature of this association is unknown. Because microbial interactions could influence the accumulation of V. parahaemolyticus in oysters, we investigated the composition of the microbiome in water and oysters at two ecologically unique sites in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire using 16s rRNA profiling. We then evaluated correlations between bacteria inhabiting the oyster with V. parahaemolyticus abundance quantified using a most probable number (MPN) analysis. Even though oysters filter-feed, their microbiomes were not a direct snapshot of the bacterial community in overlaying water, suggesting they selectively accumulate some …

Pathologists' Diagnosis Of Invasive Melanoma And Melanocytic Proliferations: Observer Accuracy And Reproducibility Study., Joann G Elmore, Raymond L Barnhill, David E Elder, Gary M Longton, Margaret S Pepe, Lisa M Reisch, Patricia A Carney, Linda J Titus, Heidi D Nelson, Tracy Onega, Anna N A Tosteson, Martin A Weinstock, Stevan R Knezevich, Michael W Piepkorn

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

No abstract provided.

Golden Mouse (Ochrotomys Nuttalli) And White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus Leucopus) Dietary Resource Partitioning Under Experimental Field Conditions, Alexander D. Wright, Gary W. Barrett

Georgia Journal of Science

Ochrotomys nuttalli and Peromyscus leucopus are two small-mammal species that have similar life histories. This results in a relationship with a high degree of sociality between the two species, including extreme niche overlap. We investigated differences in diet preference and daily caloric intake under experimental field conditions in order to clarify this close relationship. Diets were based on reported food preferences in their natural environment. Five food resources were provided to 20 adult individuals (10 male, 10 female) of each species for three consecutive days. Individuals were contained in separate covered mesocosm tanks located in a riparian forest ecosystem. White-footed …

Effects Of An Early Life Immune Challenge On Body Growth, Personality, Mating Behaviors, And Brain Development Of Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Guttata), Ahmet Kerim Uysal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The developmental stress hypothesis predicts that an aversive condition, such as decreased food intake, predation, and social isolation, in the early developmental stage could have long term effects on behaviors and brain development of an animal. In nature, bird nestlings are susceptible to various factors, such as malnutrition, infections, and parasites. Effects of early life stress on adulthood have been extensively studied with some stressors including malnutrition. However, immune challenges as an early life stressor and their long-term programming effects on adult behaviors are yet to be studied in detail. The goal of the current study was to investigate changes …

Divergence In Life History Traits Between Two Populations Of A Seed-Dimorphic Halophyte In Response To Soil Salinity, Fan Yang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Xuejun Yang, Dechang Cao, Zhenying Huang

Biology Faculty Publications

Production of heteromorphic seeds is common in halophytes growing in arid environments with strong spatial and temporal heterogeneity. However, evidence for geographic variation (reflecting local adaptation) is almost nonexistent. Our primary aims were to compare the life history traits of two desert populations of this halophytic summer annual Suaeda corniculata subsp. mongolica and to investigate the phenotypic response of its plant and heteromorphic seeds to different levels of salt stress. Dimorphic seeds (F₁) of the halophyte S. corniculata collected from two distant populations (F₀) that differ in soil salinity were grown in a common environment under …