Digital Commons Network^™

Abundance Drives Broad Patterns Of Generalisation In Plant–Hummingbird Pollination Networks, Bi Simmons, J Vizentin‐Bugoni, Pk Maruyama, Pa Cotton, Oh Marín‐Gómez, C Lara, L Rosero‐Lasprilla, Ma Maglianesi, R Ortiz‐Pulido, Ma Rocca, Lc Rodrigues, B Tinoco, Mf Vasconcelos, M Sazima, Amm González, J Sonne, C Rahbek, Lv Dicks, B Dalsgaard, Wj Sutherland

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Warhols Wake, Tiffany Gilliam

Communication Theses

The world of visual art has devolved into a commercial enterprise. Part of the decline in visual art arises from artist' surrender to media environment influence, as an exploration of the life and work of noteworthy artist Andy Warhol reveals. This study terms such artist surrender Warhols Wake and elucidates its features. However, by examining, through an interpretive biographic method, the life and work of 4 other artists who responded to media environment influence differently, we gain insight into how creative consciousness can gainfully resist Warhols Wake, in a move that Marshall McLuhan calls "anti-environmental."

Rediscovering The Axolotl As A Model For Thyroid Hormone Dependent Development, Anne Crowner, Shivam Khatri, Dana Blichmann, S. Randal Voss

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

The Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is an important model organism in biomedical research. Much current attention is focused on the axolotl's amazing ability to regenerate tissues and whole organs after injury. However, not forgotten is the axolotl's equally amazing ability to thwart aspects of tissue maturation and retain juvenile morphology into the adult phase of life. Unlike close tiger salamander relatives that undergo a thyroid hormone regulated metamorphosis, the axolotl does not typically undergo a metamorphosis. Instead, the axolotl exhibits a paedomorphic mode of development that enables a completely aquatic life cycle. The evolution of paedomorphosis allowed axolotls …

The Physico-Chemical Environment And Aquatic Biodiversity Of Head Marala Wetland During 2000-2001, Zahid Bhatti, Muhammad Asif Gondal, Andleeb Batool

Journal of Bioresource Management

An ecological study on Head Marala Wetland was undertaken. The study will help in providing sound basis for the future conservation activities and its management, on sounder footing. The Marala wetlands in Bajwat area included river Jammu Tawi, river Chanab and river Manawar Tawi were studied for a period of one year, i.e. from October, 2000 to September, 2001. In this study, 36 Phytoplanktons belonging to six families were observed. The other aquatic fauna observed included 14 species of fish, 2 turtles, one leech, one prawn, one shrimp and one bullfrog. The results showed that physico-chemical parameters had an impact …

The Impact Of Junk Food Marketing Regulations On Food Sales: An Ecological Study, Yumi Kovic

Master's Theses

Objectives. To evaluate the impact of junk food marketing policies implemented worldwide from 2003 through 2014 on nationwide junk food sales and to identify the most effective policy characteristics in reducing junk food sales.

Methods. Junk food marketing policy data were obtained and categorized through a thorough literature review. These data were analyzed using a repeated measures design against EuroMonitor junk food sales data from 2002 and 2016.

Results. Countries with junk food marketing policies saw a decrease in junk food sales after implementation, while those without said policies saw an increase in sales. Countries with statutory policies saw a …

Environmental Legacies Of Pre-Contact And Historic Land Use In Antigua, West Indies, Anthony Richard Tricarico

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hurricanes Irma and Maria have recently demonstrated once again the susceptibility of contemporary populations across the Caribbean to climate-driven events. For islands such as Antigua in the eastern Caribbean, this vulnerability is partly a legacy of prior land use. As such, the actions of pre-Contact and historic period inhabitants are intertwined with contemporary socio-ecological challenges faced by Antiguans today. This research sought to understand the relationship between land use and land degradation from ca. AD 100 to the present in eastern Antigua utilizing two markers of anthropic activity: soil stability and soil quality. Specifically, this research sought to examine how …

Acute Effects Of Elevated Pco 2 And Hypoxia On Blue Rockfish (Sebastes Mystinus) Gene Expression And Metabolic Enzyme Activity, Andrew Jacob Cline

SNS Master's Theses

In the Northeast Pacific, seasonal upwelling periodically exposes nearshore organisms to elevated levels of pCO 2 and hypoxia. Upwelling is projected to intensify under climate change as more frequent and intense alongshore wind events bring deeper, more acidic and hypoxic seawater to shallower depths and into nearshore ecosystems. Previous work demonstrated that blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) are relatively tolerant to high levels of pCO 2 at multiple biological scales compared with copper rockfish (S. caurinus) following chronic exposure for multiple months. To investigate the tolerance of juvenile blue rockfish over shorter, more ecologically relevant periods, I measured changes in muscle …

Intraspecific Variation In A Dominant Prey Species Can Bias Marine Predator Dietary Estimates Derived From Stable Isotope Analysis, Michael J. Polito, Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, Christian S. Reiss, Susan G. Trivelpiece, Jefferson T. Hinke, William P. Patterson, Steven D. Emslie

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Prickly Problem Of Pears Potential Effects Of Native Orthopteran Herbivory On An Invasive Woody Plant, Kaitlin Gawkins

Honors Theses

Across the United States, land managers are struggling to cope with a relatively new invasive species, Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana). Callery pear is currently one of the most important invasive species threatening prairies and early successional habitats in Ohio and the Midwest, and yet, no viable means of control exists for this species. This species is relatively resistant to herbicides and resilient against prescribed cutting and burning. One potential management of invasive species is biocontrol, or the intentional introduction of natural enemies to control the growth and propagation of a target organism. Previous experiments with Callery Pear have examined herbivory …

The Effects Of Deforestation On Carbon Storage In Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, Rowan E. Cole

Masters Theses

With over one-fifth of the planet’s forested area, Russia has become a major source of round wood and wood products. In 2003, the Russian government established an energy policy aimed at reducing the negative impacts of industry on the environment and improving the nation’s environments as a whole. This study analyzes deforestation and logging activities in the forests along the Amur River in Khabarovsk Krai in the Russian Far East to determine the effectiveness of Russian government policy in achieving the goals put forward in the 2003 energy policy. Changes in land-use and land-cover will be assessed using 500-meter resolution …

Evolution, Health, Medicine, And The Gap In Between, Mi Jedar 19

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

North America Floras, Manuals, & Checklist: A Bibliography, James P. Smith Jr

Botanical Studies

No abstract provided.

Examining The Relationships Between Stress, Depressive Symptoms, And The Neighborhood Food Environment On Diet Quality Among Racially-Diverse Pregnant Women In South Carolina, Alycia K. Boutté

Theses and Dissertations

Background

Women’s diet quality during pregnancy often falls short of U.S. Dietary Guidelines and poor mental health and poor access to healthy food may be important barriers to improving diet quality during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to 1) synthesize existing literature on the relationship between mental health and diet quality during pregnancy, 2) examine the relationship between mental health and diet quality in pregnancy, and 3) examine the relationship between healthy food density and diet quality in pregnancy.

Methods

For Aim 1 (systematic review), articles were obtained from five databases; study characteristics and findings were extracted and …

The Effects Of Socotra Cormorant Nesting Activities On Terrestrial Invertebrates Diversity And Abundance, Hiba Obaid Darwish Alshehhi

Biology Theses

Seabirds breed on off-shore islands or cliffs often in large aggregations during their 2- 6 month breeding seasons. During this period, seabirds perform an important role in the allochthonous transport of marine nutrients into these terrestrial environments. Depending on the size and density of these aggregations, the impact could be alteration of soil chemistry, vegetation or invertebrate diversity and distribution patterns, primarily through the deposition of large quantities of guano. We studied the impact of breeding aggregations of the Socotra Cormorants (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) on Siniya Island, Umm Al Quwain, United Arab Emirates, typically ranging between 26,000 to 41,000 breeding pairs. …

Controlled Ecological Evaluation Of An Implemented Exercise-Training Programme To Prevent Lower Limb Injuries In Sport: Population-Level Trends In Hospital-Treated Injuries, Caroline F. Finch, Shannon E. Gray, Muhammad Akram, Alex Donaldson, David G. Lloyd, Jill L. Cook

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

OBJECTIVE: Exercise-training programmes have reduced lower limb injuries in trials, but their population-level effectiveness has not been reported in implementation trials. This study aimed to demonstrate that routinely collected hospital data can be used to evaluate population-level programme effectiveness.

METHOD: A controlled ecological design was used to evaluate the effect of FootyFirst, an exercise-training programme, on the number of hospital-treated lower limb injuries sustained by males aged 16-50 years while participating in community-level Australian Football. FootyFirst was implemented with 'support' (FootyFirst+S) or 'without support' (FootyFirst+NS) in different geographic regions of Victoria, Australia: 22 clubs in region 1: FootyFirst+S in 2012/2013; …

The Achievement Gap: Predicting The Effects Of Protective/Risk Factors On Student Grades, Kathleen Pechtold

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The achievement gap has been extensively studied in urban and low-income schools. This study looked at the opposite end of the demographic spectrum to inform a wealthier, low-minority district of the predictive nature of risk and protective factors present in the lives of 10th-grade students as reported by the students. The purpose of this study was to see if student perceived effects of risk and protective factors in four environments have a predictive correlation to student grades. Using the socioecological framework the non-experimental, descriptive, correlational study used archival data to determine if risk and protective factors show a correlation for …

Ecological Studies Of Wolves On Isle Royale, 2018-2019, Sarah R. Hoy, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich

Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale

Annual Report 2018-2019

Plant Diet Selectivity And Some Environmental Parameters At Foraging Sites Of Wattled Crane (Bugeranuscarunculatus) In Malagarasi Wetlands, Tanzania, Jasson R.M. John

Tanzania Journal of Science

Wattled Crane Bugeranuscarunculatusis a threatened wetland-dependent bird species of sub-Saharan Africa with a declining population throughout its range due to habitat degradation. Ecological studies on this species have come from large populations in Botswana and Zambia. Little is known of the isolated small populations, especially those in Tanzania where about 200individuals survive. This study reports observations made on vegetation height, water depth and consumption of plant tubers at foraging locations of the Wattled Crane in Malagarasi-MuyovoziRamsar Site. Foraging birds preferred wet habitats with short vegetation. Birds fed mainly on Pycreusnitidus and Cyperusarticulatusplant tubersbut not those of Eleocharis, a chief food …

Effect Of Locality Recognition On Aggressive Behavior In The Red Swamp Crayfish, Procambarus Clarkii, Brett K. Muramoto, Tyler Farley

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Climate change affects habitat globally, facilitating the expansion and rapid proliferation of invasive species which damage the newly invaded ecosystem. Intraspecific aggression among an invasive species is an important focus in ecological studies because it can contribute to their overall success as invaders. The crayfish species, Procambarus clarkii, inhabits freshwater streams in the Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles, CA) as an aggressive invasive predator. These invasive crayfish are well known for their highly aggressive interactions with conspecifics. It has been shown that body size, temperature, sex, and level of hunger influence their levels of aggression. However, there is a …

Respiratory Infections And Risk For Development Of Narcolepsy: Analysis Of The Truven Health Marketscan Database (2008 To 2010) With Additional Assessment Of Incidence And Prevalence, Darren Scheer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background and Significance: Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder. These patients experience various psychiatric and physical comorbid diseases and mortality at an increased rate compared to the general population. Additionally, patients with narcolepsy experience approximately a doubling of various annual healthcare related facility visits, transactions, and costs comparatively. Narcolepsy with cataplexy is generally believed to be more prevalent than narcolepsy without cataplexy. However, incidence and prevalence estimates of narcolepsy (with or without cataplexy) vary widely with few large epidemiological studies conducted worldwide and none in the U.S evaluating these proportions in both children and adults utilizing a large health care …

Persistent Appalachian Health Disparities: An Integrative Literature Review, Richard R. Trosper

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Persistent Appalachian Health Disparities: An Integrative Literature Review

Richard Trosper

Research Sponsor: Elizabeth P Anderson RN, PhD

Background: The area surrounding the Appalachian Mountains is referred to as Appalachia. There are 420 counties in 13 states which are considered to be part of the Appalachian region (Shapiro, 2001). Despite the progress made by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, health in Appalachia still falls far behind that of other parts of America (Widner, 1990). This disparity has been termed and utilized in research in the realm of limited health care access, different diseases, and health related problems confused with the complexity …

Fish Communities On Natural And Artificial Reefs In The Eastern Gulf Of Mexico, Elizabeth C. Viau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout the world’s oceans to act as habitat and fishing enhancement tools. To expand current research on the role of artificial reefs in the marine community, ordination and multivariate regression methods were used here to analyze survey data of natural and artificial reefs. The reefs, located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) and on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), had been previously surveyed from 2004 to 2015 using remote operated vehicle and stationary video techniques. This study tested the hypothesis that similar functional roles are accounted for at both natural and artificial reef sites …

Is Grassfed Meat And Dairy Better For Human And Environmental Health?, Frederick D. Provenza, Scott L. Kronberg, Pablo Gregorini

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The health of livestock, humans, and environments is tied to plant diversity—and associated phytochemical richness—across landscapes. Health is enhanced when livestock forage on phytochemically rich landscapes, is reduced when livestock forage on simple mixture or monoculture pastures or consume high-grain rations in feedlots, and is greatly reduced for people who eat highly processed diets. Circumstantial evidence supports the hypothesis that phytochemical richness of herbivore diets enhances biochemical richness of meat and dairy, which is linked with human and environmental health. Among many roles they play in health, phytochemicals in herbivore diets protect meat and dairy from protein oxidation and lipid …

Toxic Effects Of Purified Microcystins From Soil Blue-Green Alga Oscillatoria Pseudogeminata On Tomato Plant Lycopersicon Esculentum, Emad Yousif Awad Al-Sultan, Mustafa Taher Hatem

Baghdad Science Journal

The current study included the isolation, purification and cultivation of blue-green alga Oscillatoria pseudogeminata G.Schmidle from soil using the BG-11liquid culture medium for 60 days of cultivation. The growth constant (k) and generation time (G) were measured which (K=0.144) and (G=2.09 days). Microcystins were purified and determined qualitatively and quantitatively from this alga by using the technique of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa Kits). The alga showed the ability to produce microcystins in concentration reached 1.47 µg/L for each 50 mg DW. Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) aged two months were irrigated with three concentrations of purified microcystins 0.5 , 3.0 …

Reading The Landscape In Antler, North Dakota: Repeat Photography In An Atrophying Northern Plains Town, William A. Wetherholt, Gregory S. Vandeberg

Geography & Geographic Information Science Faculty Publications

This study presents repeat photography as an effective method to construct a narrative of change for a cultural landscape. The technique of repeat photography is the process of revisiting the vantage point of a historic photograph and capturing a contemporary image. This chapter focuses on the town of Antler, North Dakota, which has lost more than 85% of its population in the last 50 years (the 2016 estimated population was 25). Repeat photography with eleven historic photographs in Antler began to uncover a story of abandonment and change over the last century. It is this telling of a story through …

Assessing The Potential Of Urban Ecology Research To Inform Municipal Sustainability Practices, Gaston Small, Michael Simeon, Paliza Shrestha, Maria Dahmus, Elise L. Amel

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Cities are increasingly making decisions related to sustainability, and information from the field of urban ecology may be useful in informing these decisions. However, the potential utility of this information may not translate into it actually being used. We surveyed municipal sustainability staff through the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program documenting their information needs and information sources, and used these results to identify the frequency with which urban ecologists are publishing studies of potential relevance to practitioners. We also quantified funded awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation in urban ecology that explicitly describe active partnerships with city policy makers. Our …

The Qualitative And Quantitative Composition Of Epiphytic Algae On Ceratophyllum Demersum L. In Tigris River Within Wassit Province, Iraq, Teba A. Abdalhameed, Jinan S. Al Hassany

Baghdad Science Journal

The present research was performed to study the qualitative and quantitative composition of epiphytic algae on the aquatic host plant Ceratophyllum demersum L. Four sites in Tigris River, at Wassit Governorate were covered, during the seasons of Autumn 2017, winter 2018, Spring 2018, and Summer 2018. The study also included measuring the physiochemical parameters (temperature of air and water, pH , water level, EC, salinity, TDS, TSS, dissolved oxygen, BOD5, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, total nitrogen, total phosphourus). The total number of species of epiphytic algae was145 species, 98 species belonging to Bacillariophyceae, followed by 27species of class Cyanophyceae, …

Transboundary Wildlife Laws And Trafficking: The Plight Of The African Elephant In Malawi And The Need For International Cooperation, Emily Schenning

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles To Survey Mesocarnivores, Jacob D. Bushaw, Kevin M. Ringelman, Frank C. Rohwer

Faculty Publications

With the widespread extirpation of top predators over the past two centuries, mesocarnivores play an increasingly important role in structuring terrestrial trophic webs. However, mesocarnivores are difficult to survey at a population level because their widely spaced territories and nocturnal behavior result in low detection probability. Existing field survey techniques such as track plates and motion-sensitive camera traps are time-consuming and expensive, and yet still yield data prone to systematic errors. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently emerged as a new tool for conducting population surveys on a wide variety of wildlife, eclipsing the efficiency and even accuracy of traditional …

Connectivity Explains Local Ant Community Structure In A Neotropical Forest Canopy: A Large‐Scale Experimental Approach, Benjamin J. Adams, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Stephen P. Yanoviak

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Understanding how habitat structure and resource availability affect local species distributions is a key goal of community ecology. Where habitats occur as a mosaic, variation in connectivity among patches influences both local species richness and composition, and connectivity is a key conservation concern in fragmented landscapes. Similarly, availability of limiting resources frequently determines species coexistence or exclusion. For primarily cursorial arthropods like ants, gaps between neighboring trees are a significant barrier to movement through the forest canopy. Competition for limited resources such as nest sites also promotes antagonistic interactions. Lianas (woody vines) connect normally isolated neighboring tree crowns and often …