Digital Commons Network^™

Characteristics And Spatial Heterogeneity Of Prescribed Fire Behavior In North Dakota Grasslands, Megan Elizabeth Zopfi

Theses and Dissertations

Fire is a critical physical and chemical process required to sustain many grassland ecosystems. In North America, observations of grassland fire behavior in warm-season, southern grasslands are commonly used in fire behavior modeling efforts across the Great Plains. However, grasslands of the northern Great Plains contain a greater component of cool-season vegetation that may generate different fire behavior. To further our understanding of prescribed fire behavior in North Dakota grasslands, we quantified fuel, weather, and fire behavior characteristics associated with 27 prescribed fires conducted across three sites in North Dakota. We sampled 27 points on each fire arranged into a …

A Comparative Ecological Study Of Limestone And Dolomite Glades In The Ozark Mountains Of Northwest Arkansas, Brittney Booth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Glades are one of the many habitats that exist in the Arkansas Ozarks and contribute to the overall biodiversity of the state of Arkansas. For this study, five dolomite glades and five limestone glades in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas were studied from March to October in the years 2017 and 2018 to determine the similarities or differences that might be present. One hundred and fifteen vascular plant taxa were documented in the dolomite glades and one hundred and three vascular plant taxa were documented in the limestone glades. Forty-six vascular plant taxa were unique to the dolomite glades and …

Delivery Mode For Prolonged, Obstructed Labour Resulting In Obstetric Fistula: A Retrospective Review Of 4396 Women In East And Central Africa, C. J. Ngongo, T. J. Raassen, L. Lombard, J Van Roosmalen, S. Weyers, Marleen Temmerman

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Objective: To evaluate the mode of delivery and stillbirth rates over time among women with obstetric fistula.

Design: Retrospective record review.

Setting: Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Zambia and Ethiopia.

Population: A total of 4396 women presenting with obstetric fistulas for repair who delivered previously in facilities between 1990 and 2014.

Methods: Retrospective review of trends and associations between mode of delivery and stillbirth, focusing on caesarean section (CS), assisted vaginal deliveries and spontaneous vaginal deliveries.

Main outcome measures: Mode of delivery, stillbirth.

Results: Out of 4396 women with fistula, 3695 (84.1%) delivered a stillborn baby. Among …

Analysis Of Fatty Acids In Chukchi Sea Sediments, Damilola Ajadi

Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas are key areas for understanding the global climate system. Climate change causes increased terrigenous materials to be carried into the ocean as well as higher production of marine organic matter in the ocean. This study determined the concentrations, distribution, and sources of fatty acids in core sediments from four locations: Stations H32, H30, BarC5 and H24 in the Chukchi Sea, which are in the Arctic Ocean. Fatty acids are valuable tracers of marine or terrigenous inputs and may give evidence to the extent of climate change. Fatty acids were analyzed, characterized using GC-MS …

An Analysis Of The Evolution Of Life History Traits, Zachary Mccoy

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The evolution and relationship between life-history traits has been a popular research topic over the past several decades. Previous research has generally focused on a single or small number of species, or a single trait. I utilized multiple trait-based datasets to create a collection of 777 Mammalia species across five taxonomic orders (Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Chiroptera, Primates, Rodentia) to examine the relationships between size, longevity, maturity age, and number of offspring, both within the taxonomic orders and across the Mammalia clade. I found that although the general pattern followed classic “fast-slow continuum”, there were some exceptions to this pattern, specifically body …

Survival Of Off-Host Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) Annulatus (Acari: Ixodidae) Larvae In Study Arenas In Relation To Climatic Factors And Habitats In South Texas, Usa, Emily Jesselle Zamora

Theses and Dissertations

The cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (Say), is an economically destructive arthropod because of its ability to vector bovine babesiosis. Cattle fever ticks can spend more than 90% of their life cycle as questing larvae, but the effect of climatic factors on their off-host behavior and survival is unclear. The goal of this study was to measure the effects of specific ecological factors on off-host larvae in nature. The study was conducted in a south Texas pasture over a 20-mo period, during which time larval populations were surveyed and ambient weather variables - relative humidity and temperatures – were …

An Assessment Of Occupational Heat Stress In A Central Utility Plant, Abdoulaye Abdoulaziz

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Global climate change has been declared a threat to human health, which includes occupational safety issues. As temperatures continue to increase, heat stress and heat-related illness are occupational safety issues that need to be better understood. Assessments of workplace heat exposures are key to implement appropriate health and safety interventions. This study attempted to assess whether workers’ perception of work environment temperature in a Central Utility Plant was associated with heat-stress prevention behaviors. Therefore, we used a questionnaire to collect Central Utility Plant employees’ demographic characteristics, data regarding their perceived work environment temperatures, and their behaviors related to preventing heat-related …

Characterizing The Impacts Of The Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid On The Forest Structure Of New England, Peter Brehm Boucher

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change is raising winter temperatures in the Northeastern United States, both expanding the range of an invasive pest, the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae), and threatening the survival of its host species, eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). As a foundation species, hemlock trees underlie a distinct network of ecological, biogeochemical, and structural systems that will likely disappear as the HWA infestation spreads northward. Remote sensing can offer new perspectives on this regional transition, recording the progressive loss of an ecological foundation species and the transition of evergreen hemlock forest to mixed deciduous forest over the course of the infestation. …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Ecological Climate Warming Experiments, Cori Johanna Speights

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting the net effect of climate change on communities requires understanding how increasing temperatures alter interactions between predators, herbivores, and plants. Over the last several decades, warming experiments have provided important information about how species and their interactions will respond to increasing temperatures. These studies typically examine climate warming by experimentally increasing temperature at a constant level (24 hours) or asynchronously during the daytime, relative to unwarmed control treatments. However, advances in climate models now project that increases in mean global temperatures have been disproportionately driven by increasing nighttime (minimum) temperatures rather than daytime (maximum) temperatures. The timing of warming …

Fine-Scale Movements And Habitat Selection Of Eastern Wild Turkeys In Mississippi, John Almond

Theses and Dissertations

An important theme of wildlife ecology is understanding how animals move through their landscapes and inferring the strategies of resource acquisition. Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallapavo silvestris) are a model species for evaluating the responses of movements and habitat selection to spatiotemporal variability of resources. I hypothesized that scales of area-restricted search (ARS) would change with variation in the landscape. I identified the ARS locations of high first passage time values using segmentation algorithms and hidden Markov models, and evaluated spatial variations in habitat selection for foraging-like activities of wild turkeys using Dirichlet multinomial models. The ARS scale for daily …

Epidemiologic Survey Of Legionella Urine Antigen Testing Within A Large Wisconsin-Based Health Care System, Caroline P. Toberna, Hannah M. William, Jessica J. F. Kram, Kayla Heslin, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Legionella pneumophila pneumonia is a life-threatening, environmentally acquired infection identifiable via Legionella urine antigen tests (LUAT). We aimed to identify cumulative incidence, demographic distribution, and undetected disease outbreaks of Legionella pneumonia via positive LUAT in a single eastern Wisconsin health system, with a focus on urban Milwaukee County.

Methods: A multilevel descriptive ecologic study was conducted utilizing electronic medical record data from a large integrated health care system of patients who underwent LUAT from 2013 to 2017. A random sample inclusive of all positive tests was reviewed to investigate geodemographic differences among patients testing positive versus negative. Statistical comparisons …

The Urban/Rural Divide In Access To Medication-Assisted Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder In Utah, Debasree Dasgupta, Erin Fanning Madden, Sandra H. Sulzer, Timothy Light, Michelle Chapoose, Suzanne Prevedel

All Current Publications

Death by drug poisoning is the leading cause of death due to injury in the state of Utah (UDOH, 2014). From 2013-2015, Utah ranked seventh in the nation for drug overdose deaths, the majority of which were opioid-related (CDC, 2018a). In 2017, the age-adjusted mortality rate from drug overdose in Utah was 15.5 per 100,000, putting the state above the national average of 14.9 per 100,000 (CDC, 2018b). Opioid overdose death rates in most of rural Utah far exceeds rates across the urban counties of the state. The higher rates of deaths in rural Utah is indeed concerning. Evidence indicates …

Reducing Global Demand On Conflict Minerals In Consumer Electronics And Lithium-Ion Batteries, Mosunmola Odulate

Theses

Advances in technology have led to increasing demand for more sophisticated electronic products, which, in turn, induces demand for raw materials essential for product performance. A class of such materials is mined in places in the world that are politically unstable – they are called Conflict Minerals (CMs) because profits from their mining and trade support human rights violations in their places of origin. They include Tantalum, Tin, Tungsten, and Gold (3TG). To reduce global reliance on 3TG, government policies from local and international communities are the only works in place, but what is still unclear is their efficacy towards …

Road Development In Asia: Assessing The Range-Wide Risks To Tigers, Neil Carter, Alexander Killion, Tara Easter, Jodi Brandt, Adam Ford

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

Roads are proliferating worldwide at an unprecedented rate, with potentially severe impacts on wildlife. We calculated the extent and potential impacts of road networks across the 1,160,000-km², 13-country range of the globally endangered tiger (Panthera tigris)—a conservation umbrella species. We found that roads were pervasive, totaling 134,000 km across tiger conservation landscapes (TCLs), even in tiger priority sites and protected areas. Approximately 43% of the area where tiger breeding occurs and 57% of the area in TCLs fell within the road-effect zone. Consequently, current road networks may be decreasing tiger and prey abundances by more than …

A Deeper Meaning For Shallow-Level Phylogenomic Studies: Nested Anchored Hybrid Enrichment Offers Great Promise For Resolving The Tiger Moth Tree Of Life (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), Nicolas J. Dowdy, Shannon Keating, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily M. Lemmon, William E. Conner, Clare H. Scott Chialvo, Susan Weller, Rebecca B. Simmons, Melissa S. Sisson, Jennifer M. Zaspel

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) has emerged as a powerful tool for uncovering the evolutionary relationships within many taxonomic groups. AHE probe sets have been developed for a variety of insect groups, though none have yet been shown to be capable of simultaneously resolving deep and very shallow (e.g., intraspecific) divergences. In this study, we present NOC1, a new AHE probe set (730 loci) for Lepidoptera specialized for tiger moths and assess its ability to deliver phylogenetic utility at all taxonomic levels. We test the NOC1 probe set with 142 individuals from 116 species sampled from all the major lineages of …

Comparisons Of Maryland County Green Space To Responses About Depression And Physical Activity On The 2016 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Erin Kenny

Galileo-W Conference

Submit a Question to Erin

Spatial Management Units As An Ecosystem-Based Approach For Managing Bottom-Towed Fisheries In The Central Mediterranean Sea, Valentina Lauria, Michele Gristina, Fabio Fiorentino, Martin J. Attrill, Germana Garofalo

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of An Elevational Gradient Reveals Strong Differences Between Bacterial And Eukaryotic Communities Coinhabiting Nepenthes Phytotelmata, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Leonora S. Bittleston, Mark Arcebal K. Naive, Anthony E. Kiszewski, Perry Archival C. Buenavente, David J. Lohman, Naomi E. Pierce

Publications and Research

Elevation is an important determinant of ecological community composition. It integrates several abiotic features and leads to strong, repeatable patterns of community structure, including changes in the abundance and richness of numerous taxa. However, the influence of elevational gradients on microbes is understudied relative to plants and animals. To compare the influence of elevation on multiple taxa simultaneously, we sampled phytotelm communities within a tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes mindanaoensis) along a gradient from 400 to 1200 m a.s.l. We use a combination of metabarcoding and physical counts to assess diversity and richness of bacteria, micro-eukaryotes, and arthropods, and compare the …

What Smells? Developing In-Field Methods To Characterize The Chemical Composition Of Wild Mammalian Scent Cues, Cynthia Thompson, Kimberly N. Bottenberg, Andrew W. Lantz, Maria A B De Oliveira, Leonardo C O Melo, Christopher J. Vinyard

Peer Reviewed Articles

Olfactory cues play an important role in mammalian biology, but have been challenging to assess in the field. Current methods pose problematic issues with sample storage and transportation, limiting our ability to connect chemical variation in scents with relevant ecological and behavioral contexts. Real-time, in-field analysis via portable gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has the potential to overcome these issues, but with trade-offs of reduced sensitivity and compound mass range. We field-tested the ability of portable GC-MS to support two representative applications of chemical ecology research with a wild arboreal primate, common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus). We developed methods …

Changes In Reef Fish Community Structure Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Justin P. Lewis, Joseph H. Tarnecki, Steven B. Garner, David D. Chagaris, William F. Patterson Iii

C-IMAGE Publications

Large-scale anthropogenic disturbances can have direct and indirect effects on marine communities, with direct effects often taking the form of widespread injury or mortality and indirect effects manifesting as changes in food web structure. Here, we report a time series that captures both direct and indirect effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWH) on northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) reef fish communities. We observed significant changes in community structure immediately following the DWH, with a 38% decline in species richness and 26% decline in Shannon-Weiner diversity. Initial shifts were driven by widespread declines across a range of trophic guilds, …

Cancer Risk Perception Predictors For Total Body Skin Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Hints 2017 Data, Meghann Wheeler, Hanadi Hamadi Phd, Julie Williams Merten Phd

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Background: Despite the lack of national skin cancer screening recommendations, a total body skin examination by a healthcare provider may detect skin cancer earlier allowing for more effective treatment and better outcomes.

Objective: Examine prevalence, demographic, and cancer risk perceptions of adults who have had a skin examination performed by a healthcare provider.

Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults using the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Logistic regressions were performed to identify associations between having a skin examination, risk perceptions, and demographic variables.

Results: Approximately 46% of the sample reported having a skin …

Impacts Of Commercial Biopesticides On Crapemyrtle Bark Scale (Acanthococcus Lagerstroemiae) And Beneficial Insects, Giovana Matos Franco

LSU Master's Theses

The crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS), Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae (Kuwana) (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae), is an important pest of crapemyrtles, Lagerstromia spp. (Myrtales: Lythraceae) since its damage results in an unpleasant aesthetic. Current CMBS management methods depend heavily on pesticides which impact on beneficial insects. Biopesticides show potential for pest control, host specificity, and low impact towards non-target organisms. The objectives of my thesis were to determine (1) if biopesticides are effective against CMBS infestations when applied in different seasons, and (2) their effects towards coccinellids known to attack CMBS.

To test the efficacy of selected biopesticides, treatments were delivered to potted plants or …

Grassland Management In Wildlife Protected Areas (Pa's) In India, R. K. Pandey

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ecological status of Indian grasslands had been a subject of conflicting opinion in the past. Existing grasslands are anthropogenic in origin except, Himalayan meadows in high altitudes. Extensive clearing of the forests for human settlements, agricultural cultivation and domestication of animals in the past have been resulted into opening of pockets/grasslands amidst the forest areas. Such tame grasslands are categorized as succession or rotational grasslands. There are four categories of PAs viz., National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves and community reserves. Thus, 683 PAs (102 national parks, 551 wildlife sanctuaries, 47 conservation reserves and 04 community reserves) spread over …

Applications Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles For Conducting Mesocarnivore And Breeding Waterfowl Surveys In Southern Manitoba, Jacob Bushaw

LSU Master's Theses

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming an increasingly important tool for wildlife surveys and equipping UAVs with thermal imaging cameras could make these surveys even more effective. In my thesis I examined the feasibility of using a UAV equipped with a thermal imaging camera to conduct mesocarnivore surveys, search for duck nests built over water, and conduct duck brood surveys in southern Manitoba.

For my first objective, I conducted nighttime mesocarnivore surveys with the UAV and thermal camera. I used a modified point-count survey from six waypoints and surveyed 29.5 ha in each replicate. I conducted a total of 200 …

Soil Sample Timing, Nitrogen Fertilization, And Incubation Length Influence Anaerobic Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen, Jason Clark, Kristen S. Veum, Fabian G. Fernandez, Newell R. Kitchen, James J. Camberato, Paul R. Carter, Richard B. Ferguson, David W. Franzen, Daniel E. Kaiser, Carrie A.M. Laboski, Emerson D. Nafziger, Carl J. Rosen, John E. Sawyer, John F. Shanahan

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Understanding the variables that affect the anaerobic potentially mineralizable N (PMNan) test should lead to a standard procedure of sample collection and incubation length, improving PMNan as a tool in corn (Zea mays L.) N management. We evaluated the effect of soil sample timing (preplant and V5 corn development stage [V5]), N fertilization (0 and 180 kg ha−1) and incubation length (7, 14, and 28 d) on PMNan (0–30 cm) across a range of soil properties and weather conditions. Soil sample timing, N fertilization, and incubation length affected PMNan differently based on soil and weather conditions. Preplant vs. V5 PMNan …

Preliminary Microbiome Analysis Of Freshwater Bivalves From Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Dechen Edwards

2020 Symposium Posters

Eukaryotic hosts and their associated microbes exhibit variable relationships. Some are driven by well-documented benefits including microbial contributions to host digestion; others are less understood. In this project, we seek to understand how a host’s microbiome is differentiated from the surrounding, free-living microbial community and whether this process is altered by the presence of pollution. Here we present a protocol developed for the extraction, isolation, and identification of the microbial population found in freshwater “fingernail” clams (Sphaeriidae) based on modified methods from the Earth Microbiome Project and studies of freshwater amphibian and marine bivalve microbiomes. We first developed …

Energy Stores, Oxidative Balance, And Sleep In Migratory Garden Warblers ( Sylvia Borin) And Whitethroats ( Sylvia Communis) At A Spring Stopover Site, Andrea Ferretti, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Niels C. Rattenborg, Ivan Maggini, Massimiliano Cardinale, Leonida Fusani

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Little is known about how songbirds modulate sleep during migratory periods. Due to the alternation of nocturnal endurance flights and diurnal refueling stopovers, sleep is likely to be a major constraint for many migratory passerine species. Sleep may help to increase the endogenous antioxidant capacity that counteracts free radicals produced during endurance flight and reduces energy expenditure. Here, we investigated the relationship between sleep behavior, food intake, and two markers of physiological condition—the amount of energy reserves and oxidative status—in two migratory songbird species, the garden warbler (Sylvia borin) and the whitethroat (Sylvia communis). In garden warblers, birds with high …

Wpa News 111 (2020), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Spring 2020), number 111

Published by the World Pheasant Association

An Apex Predator In Peril In The Western Lowlands Of Ecuador: Mapping The Population Distribution Of Harpy Eagles (Harpia Harpyja) In A Highly Deforested Region, Samuel Zhang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a highly threatened bird of prey in Ecuador. While they are already elusive in the Ecuadorian Amazon, they are even lesser known in the coastal lowlands, and their existence is threatened by rapid deforestation. This study mapped their potential distribution by examining satellite images to find intact humid forest, their ideal habitat. Habitat areas were quantified using ImageJ. The only sites found to be adequate for sustaining Harpy Eagle populations were the primary forests in the vicinities of Reserva Ecológica Mache Chindul and Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi Cayapas. The two reserves are expected to be …

Ecological And Economic Benefits And Risks Of Using Botanical Insecticides In Tanzanian Farms, Lilia Garcia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Insect damage is a major concern for smallholder farmers in developing countries like Tanzania. Synthetic insecticides can tame infestations, however they can be expensive, inaccessible, and their misuse can threaten farmer health and ecological conditions. Botanical insecticides are cheap alternatives to treat infestations while preserving beneficial insects such as pollinators, predators, and parasitoids. This study assesses how both synthetic and botanical insecticides affect beneficial insects, crop yield and profit/costs. This study finds botanical insecticides slightly less harmful towards non-target insects. Botanical insecticides seldomly improve crop yields but usually result in a higher profit/lower cost. Due to high variation in ecological …