Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Microhabitats In Structuring Cave Invertebrate Communities In Guatemala, Gabrielle S.M. Pacheco, Marconi Souza Silva, Enio Cano, Rodrigo L. Ferreira

International Journal of Speleology

Several studies have tried to elucidate the main environmental features driving invertebrate community structure in cave environments. They found that many factors influence the community structure, but rarely focused on how substrate types and heterogeneity might shape these communities. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess which substrate features and whether or not substrate heterogeneity determines the invertebrate community structure (species richness and composition) in a set of limestone caves in Guatemala. We hypothesized that the troglobitic fauna responds differently to habitat structure regarding species richness and composition than non-troglobitic fauna because they are more specialized to live …

The Effects Of Air Pollution On Covid-19 Related Mortality In Northern Italy, Eric Coker, Laura Cavalli, Enrico Fabrizi, Gianni Guastella, Enrico Lippo, Maria Laura Parisi, Nicola Pontarollo, Massimiliano Rizzati, Alessandro Varacca, Sergio Vergalli

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Working Papers

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollutant concentrations is known to cause chronic lung inflammation, a condition that may promote increased severity of COVID-19 syndrome caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). In this paper, we empirically investigate the ecologic association between long-term concentrations of area-level fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and excess deaths in the first quarter of 2020 in municipalities of Northern Italy. The study accounts for potentially spatial confounding factors related to urbanization that may have influenced the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 and related COVID-19 mortality. Our epidemiological analysis uses geographical information (e.g., municipalities) and negative binomial regression to assess whether …

Alternative To Round Robin Reading, Jillian Grifhorst, Jennifer Lessway, Melanie Zamborowski

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

Family Literacy: Building Meaningful Relationships With Parents, Evie Burk, Vanesse Titus

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

Homicide And Drug Trafficking In Impoverished Communities In Brazil, Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Braulio Figueiredo Alves Da Silva, Flavio Luiz Sapori, Gabriela Gomes Cardoso

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Many studies demonstrate that homicides are heavily concentrated in impoverished neighborhoods, but not all socially disadvantaged neighborhoods are hotbeds of violence. Conducted in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, this study hypothesizes that the association between high rates of homicide and impoverished areas is influenced by the emergence of a specific type of street drug-dealing common to favelas (slums). The study applies econometric techniques to police data on homicides and drug arrests from 2008 to 2011, as well as 2010 Census data, to test its hypothesis. The findings provide insight into the development of crime prevention policies in areas of high social vulnerability.

Applying The Robson Classification To Routine Facility Data To Understand The Caesarean Section Practice In Conflict Settings Of South Kivu, Eastern Dr Congo, Guy Mulinganya, Espoir Bwenge Malembaka, Melissa Lukula Akonkwa, Dieudonne´ Mpunga Mukendi, Etienne Kajibwami Birindwa, Ghislain Maheshe Balemba, Marleen Temmerman, Albert Mwembo Tambwe, Bart Criel, Ghislain Bisimwa Balaluka

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Introduction: Sub-Saharan Africa has low Caesarean (CS) levels, despite a global increase in CS use. In conflict settings, the pattern of CS use is unclear because of scanty data. We aimed to examine the opportunity of using routine facility data to describe the CS use in conflict settings.

Methods: We conducted a facility-based cross-sectional study in 8 health zones (HZ) of South Kivu province in eastern DR Congo. We reviewed patient hospital records, maternity registers and operative protocol books, from January to December 2018. Data on direct conflict fatalities were obtained from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. Based on conflict …

Ensc 594.01: Graduate Seminar - Applied Ecology, Leonard Broberg

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Fire As A Fundamental Ecological Process: Research Advances And Frontiers, Megan Cattau

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Fire is a powerful ecological and evolutionary force that regulates organismal traits, population sizes, species interactions, community composition, carbon and nutrient cycling and ecosystem function. It also presents a rapidly growing societal challenge, due to both increasingly destructive wildfires and fire exclusion in fire‐dependent ecosystems. As an ecological process, fire integrates complex feedbacks among biological, social and geophysical processes, requiring coordination across several fields and scales of study.
2. Here, we describe the diversity of ways in which fire operates as a fundamental ecological and evolutionary process on Earth. We explore research priorities in six categories of fire ecology: (a) characteristics …

Racial Disparities In Air Pollution Burden And Covid-19 Deaths In Louisiana, Usa, In The Context Of Long-Term Changes In Fine Particulate Pollution, Kimberly A. Terrell, Wesley James

Faculty Publications

Black Americans in Louisiana are disproportionately dying from COVID-19, and environmental disparities may be contributing to this injustice. While Black communities in Louisiana's industrialized regions (e.g., Cancer Alley, Calcasieu Parish) have been overburdened with pollution for decades, this disparity has not been evaluated by using recent data. Here, we explore statewide relationships among air pollution burden, race, COVID-19 death rates, and other health/socioeconomic factors. Measures of pollution burden included satellite-derived particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and health risks from toxic air pollution (i.e., respiratory hazard [RH] and immunological hazard [IH], estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency). In addition, we evaluate changes …

Fire As A Fundamental Ecological Process: Research Advances And Frontiers, Kendra K. Mclauchlan, Philip E. Higuera, Jessica Miesel, Brendan M. Rogers, Jennifer Schweitzer, Jacquelyn K. Shuman, Alan J. Tepley, J. Morgan Varner, Thomas T. Veblen, Solny A. Adalsteinsson, Jennifer K. Balch, Patrick Baker, Enric Batllori, Erica Bigio, Paulo Brando, Megan Cattau, Melissa L. Chipman, Janice Coen, Raelene Crandall, Lori Daniels, Neal Enright, Wendy S. Gross, Brian J. Harvey, Jeff A. Hatten, Sharon Hermann, Rebecca E. Hewitt, Leda N. Kobziar, Jennifer B. Landesmann, Michael M. Loranty, S. Yoshi Maezumi, Linda Mearns, Max Moritz, Jonathan A. Myers

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society Fire is a powerful ecological and evolutionary force that regulates organismal traits, population sizes, species interactions, community composition, carbon and nutrient cycling and ecosystem function. It also presents a rapidly growing societal challenge, due to both increasingly destructive wildfires and fire exclusion in fire-dependent ecosystems. As an ecological process, fire integrates complex feedbacks among biological, social and geophysical processes, requiring coordination across several fields and scales of study. Here, we describe the diversity of ways in which fire operates as …

Reframing Native Knowledge, Co-Managing Native Landscapes: Ethnographic Data And Tribal Engagement At Yosemite National Park, Rochelle Bloom, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Several Native American communities assert traditional ties to Yosemite Valley, and special connections to the exceptional landmarks and natural resources of Yosemite National Park. However, tribal claims relating to this highly visible park with its many competing constituencies—such as tribal assertions of traditional ties to particular landscapes or requests for access to certain plant gathering areas—often require supporting documentation from the written record. Addressing this need, academic researchers, the National Park Service and park-associated tribes collaborated in a multi-year effort to assemble a comprehensive ethnographic database containing most available written accounts of Native American land and resource use in Yosemite …

Phyr: Anrpackage For Phylogenetic Species-Distribution Modelling In Ecological Communities, Daijiang Li, Russell Dinnage, Lucas A. Nell, Matthew R. Helmus, Anthony Ives

Faculty Publications

Model-based approaches are increasingly popular in ecological studies. A good example of this trend is the use of joint species distribution models to ask questions about ecological communities. However, most current applications of model-based methods do not include phylogenies despite the well-known importance of phylogenetic relationships in shaping species distributions and community composition. In part, this is due to a lack of accessible tools allowing ecologists to fit phylogenetic species distribution models easily. To fill this gap, therpackagephyr(pronounced fire) implements a suite of metrics, comparative methods and mixed models that use phylogenies to understand and predict community composition and other …

Population Genetics Of The Wyoming Endemic Phlox Pungens Dorn (Polemoniaceae), Katherine Waselkov, Mercedes Santiago, Bonnie Heidel, Mark H. Mayfield, Carolyn J. Ferguson

Western North American Naturalist

Phlox pungens is a rare taxon restricted to cold deserts in the Wyoming Basins Ecoregion of west-central Wyoming, with occurrences in both the Wind River Basin (from which it was originally described) and the Green River Basin (populations that have been characterized as a different “morph”). The population genetics of P. pungens was investigated using microsatellite markers developed for the genus. Four microsatellite loci were genotyped from a total of 200 individuals of P. pungens from 10 sites. Ploidy levels were also assessed using flow cytometry. Most sampled populations of P. pungens were tetraploid, but 2 populations in the Green …

Climate-Change Related "Non-Economic Loss And Damage" And The Limits Of Law, Anastasia Telesetsky

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This article examines the concept of “loss and damage” in a world where climate impacts are being experienced over multiple years increasingly at the community level and, as in the case of Mozambique’s lengthy recovery from Cyclone Idai, at a national level. As climate impacts increase in prevalence, policymakers are focusing greater attention on how to address the destruction and depletion from “natural” events, where the severity and frequency of these events have been exacerbated by human-fueled climate change. There is a growing recognition that these types of ongoing climate-related “problems of loss cannot be analytically or ethically assigned to …

The Roles Of Host Species, Geographic Scale And Environmental Stressors In Shaping The Composition Of Coral Microbiomes, Alicia Marie Riegel Parker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Reef-building corals are long-lived and may take many centuries to adapt, making them especially susceptible to climate change. However, corals host microbial symbionts that can change quickly, potentially speeding acclimation. My dissertation aimed to determine the degree of coevolution and flexibility between corals and their microbiomes among hosts, across space, and in response to stress.

Microbial communities are usually surveyed by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene, however the PCR primers used also amplify coral DNA, thereby limiting prokaryotic read coverage. To mitigate this contamination, I designed a peptide nucleic acid clamp that increased the recovery of bacterial reads by 2-11x …

A Study To Determine The Relationship Between Classroom Teacher Attendance And Student Success, Meagan Stanley

Dissertations

Students that consistently have access to high-quality teachers and teaching strategies experience higher degrees of success (Frieberg, 2013). In the absence of high-quality, professional classroom teacher, students may not succeed at the rate they would otherwise. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between classroom teacher attendance and student success. Student success factors (attendance, behavior, and achievement) were examined in connection with classroom teacher attendance. The study included students in grades Kindergarten through Fifth grade who attended Kindergarten through Fifth grade buildings in a Midwestern school district. The literature reviewed for this study reiterated the importance of …

Measurements Of Indoor Radon Concentrations In Selected Educational Institutions And Homes In Jericho City - Palestine, Khalil Thabayneh, Walid Khalilia, Anwar Jaradat

Hebron University Research Journal-A (Natural Sciences) - (مجلة جامعة الخليل للبحوث- أ (العلوم الطبيعيه

In this study, the indoor radon concentrations (CRn), and other radiological effects on some educational institutions and homes in Jericho city, Palestine were investigated. Nuclear track detector type CR-39 (SSNTD) was used to measure track density of alpha particles emitted from radon and its progeny. The radon concentrations in the corresponding buildings have been found to vary from 27.8 to 962, 20.5 to 391 and 43.8 to177 Bqm-3 ; with average values of 142.5, 97.6 and 110.0 Bqm-3 in Al-Istiqlal University, schools, and homes and kindergarten, respectively. The highest and lowest of radon concentrations were found in the first and …

Community Composition And Biogeography Of Beetles And Spiders Across An Elevational Gradient In Denali National Park, Alaska, Adam Haberski

Biological Sciences

Anthropogenic climate change is rapidly altering alpine ecosystems in Alaska. Trees and woody shrubs are expanding upslope and displacing alpine tundra. As alpine tundra habitats shrink and fragment, arthropods and other animals face an increased risk of extirpation due to smaller population sizes and reduced geneflow. Arthropods--insects, spiders, and their relatives--are the most speciose component of the alpine fauna and perform key ecosystem services, such as pollination and nutrient cycling, and are food for vertebrates. Many species have responded by shifting their distribution to higher elevations, but species respond to change idiosyncratically, which could alter species interactions and disrupt communities. …

Age, Growth, And Movement Dynamics Of Arctic Cod (Boreogadus Saida) In The Chukchi And Beaufort Seas, Alyssa Frothingham

Fisheries

Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida) dominates fish assemblages in the Arctic and provides a valuable food source to upper trophic level predators. Little is known about several important facets of its biology and ecology in the Pacific Arctic, including in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The physical connectivity of these two biologically and hydrologically unique seas provides an excellent opportunity to explore differences in Arctic Cod life history characteristics such as age, growth, and movement dynamics in these two adjacent areas. To establish a current benchmark of Arctic Cod life history and movement characteristics for the Pacific Arctic, Arctic Cod otoliths …

Long-Term Shifts In Community Structure, Growth, And Relative Abundance Of Nearshore Arctic Fishes: A Response To Changing Environmental Conditions, Justin T. Priest

Fisheries

Environmental conditions influence the presence, species composition, abundance, and growth of fish species in the nearshore Arctic ecosystem. With ongoing shifts in Arctic conditions due to climate change, how fish communities and individual species respond to such changes to environmental variability more broadly is unknown. This study analyzed catch and length data from a long-term fish monitoring project near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, 2001-2018, to quantify the effects of environmental variables on the overall fish community and on the juveniles of two important whitefishes, Arctic Cisco Coregonus autumnalis and Broad Whitefish Coregonus nasus. Abundance data (n = 1.78 million fish) from …

Effect Of Host-Plant Species On The Survival, Adult Longevity And Fertility Of Predatory Bug, Macrolophus Caliginosus Wagner [Hemiptera: Miridae, عبد الجليل حمدان

Hebron University Research Journal-A (Natural Sciences) - (مجلة جامعة الخليل للبحوث- أ (العلوم الطبيعيه

Two laboratory experiments were carried out under controlled conditions. First expperiment was to study the development and survival of nymphs of Macrolophus caliginnosus Wagner, when offered clean leaf-discs of tobacco, eggplant, tomato, pepper or Pelargonium peltatium only. The second experiment was to study the adult longevity and fertility of M. caliginosus offered greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (GHWF), on different host-plant. Although newly hatched M. caliginosus nymphs did not survive on plant sap alone, adults could live and even produce offspring. However, when M. caliginosus offered these plants as oviposition sites and fed on T. vaporariorum infestation, the intrinsic rate …

Effect Of Different Arthropod Prey Species On The Biology Of The Predatory Bug, Macrolophus Caliginosus Wagner [Hemiptera: Miridae], عبد الجليل حمدان

Hebron University Research Journal-A (Natural Sciences) - (مجلة جامعة الخليل للبحوث- أ (العلوم الطبيعيه

Laboratory experiment were done to examine the effect of different arthropod prey on the biology of predatory bug, Macrolophus caliginosus Wagner at 25 o C, 75% r.h. and 16:8 L:D photoperiod. The food eaten by M. caliginosus clearly had a major impact on most parameters of its life cycle. When either greenhouse whiteflies, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood); eggs of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, or potato peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer were offered as preys, during development M. caliginosus had high survival percentage (80%, 79% and 64% respectively) and developed more quickly with duration of development of (17.4, 15.6 and 15.7 days respectively) …

Examining The Intersection Of Environmental Justice, Chronic Disease, And Pandemics; How A Mobile Health App Could Improve Health Outcomes And Inform Policy, Jessica Snow

Master's Projects and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the intersection of environmental justice, chronic disease and illness, and pandemics. The inequitable distribution of polluting factories, landfills, and hazardous waste sites have been a long-standing concern in the field of environmental justice. Local zoning codes and land use policies have been tools for segregating people and concentrating pollution in low-income communities and communities of color. Many studies have found that pollution varies among racial and minority groups, and the burden of pollution is not one that is evenly shared. Communities of color and low income communities are disproportionately affected by air …

Emerging Infections: The World Is Not Safe Until Countries Invest In Public Health Infrastructure. A Closer Look At Sub Saharan Africa (Ssa) Public Health Infrastructure During Covid-19 Pandemic., Liziana Nyakubaya

Master's Projects and Capstones

COVID-19 pandemic threatens public health systems across the globe. The ravaging COVID-19 virus does not spare public health systems of large economies such as the US. There are global shortages of PPE, laboratory, and critical care capacity is overwhelmed by the pandemic. Well-resourced public health care infrastructure is essential in reducing mortality, and disease burden in an epidemic, promoting global health security and safeguarding the progress made in other health programs such as HIV/AIDS and TB.

When public health care systems in high-income countries are struggling to manage COVID-19, the situation is worse for under-funded public health systems in SSA. …

The Impact Of Brown Stink Bug (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae) Natural And Simulated Damage On Field Corn Growth And Yield, William Christopher Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

Field corn, Zea mays L., is a commonly grown crop in Mississippi. Brown stink bug, Euschistus servus Say, is an insect that can infest field corn. Growers and consultants have expressed concerns of the difficulty in detecting infestations and estimating yield loss potential once damage is found in a field. The results of these experiments showed a relationship between damage severity, plant height, and yield loss. As damage severity increased, plant height and yield were significantly reduced. On a per area basis, yields were reduced when ≥ 10% plants were damaged. Mean plant heights were reduced when ≥ 20% plants …

Characterization Of The Biogeography And Temporal Dynamics Of The Trachymyrmex Septentrionalis Fungus Garden Microbiome, Kevin Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

Like all fungus-growing ants, Trachymyrmex septentrionalis engages in an obligate mutualism with a Basidiomycete fungus that it raises as its primary nutrition source. Therefore, the success of the symbiosis is dependent upon the health of the fungus garden containing this fungus, which may be affected by the composition of its microbiome. Most of what is known about fungus garden microbiomes comes from studies of the Neotropical fungus growing ants, especially the most evolutionarily derived and economically impactful “leaf-cutting” species. Although fungus-farming ants inhabit a vast range, little is known about how dispersal of microbes from their biogeographically and temporally distinct …

Algal Coverage Detection And Classification Using Envi: Correlation With Dissolved Oxygen Levels In Elkhorn Slough, Ca, Jason Dawson

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Estuaries are exposed to varying stressors, whether they be physical, chemical, or environmental. The most notable of stressors is eutrophication of coastal and inland ecosystems. This is a result of increased supply of nutrients fueling production within the system. One outcome of this increased nutrient load to the system is that of algal blooms. These blooms can impact the aesthetic appearance and degrade the quality of health of the system. Many of these coastal zones and waterways are critical habitats for many biological (some endangered) species and serve as recreational areas for human populations. Elkhorn Slough, California is one of …

A Shark Conservationists Toolbox: Current Dna Methods And Techniques Aiding In The Conservation Of Sharks, Arianna N. Nixon

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Elasmobranchs are important members of their community. Many sharks are important apex predators that help maintain the health of their ecosystem. However, shark populations are globally declining. This is partially due to the fact that sharks are highly targeted for their fins, meat, liver oil, teeth, and skin. However, they are also killed from anthropogenic effects such as habitat destruction and pollution. Most shark species have life history characteristics that also make them more vulnerable to overfishing. Sharks are also difficult to study due to their elusive nature and identification issues. That is why molecular tools are increasingly becoming important …

Salt Marsh Dynamics In A Period Of Accelerated Sea Level Rise, Sergio Fagherazzi, Giulio Mariotti, Nicoletta Leonardi, Alberto Canestrelli, William Nardin, William S. Kearney

Faculty Publications

Salt marshes are dynamic systems able to laterally expand, contract, and vertically accrete in response to sea level rise. Here, we present the grand challenges that need to be addressed to fully characterize marsh morphodynamics. The review focuses on physical processes and quantitative models. Without predictive models, it is impossible to determine the future marsh evolution under accelerated sea level rise. In these models, one of the challenges is to resolve both horizontal and vertical dynamics within the same framework. Vertically, the marsh has to accumulate enough material to contrast rising water levels. Horizontally, marsh erosion at the ocean side …

Mathematical Modeling, Analysis, And Simulation Of Cholera Dynamics, Chayu Yang

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

We propose multiple models to investigate the transmission dynamics of cholera. At first, we consider the intrinsic growth of cholera bacteria in cholera transmission and find that the regular threshold dynamics take place if the intrinsic growth is logistic; there are multiple endemic equilibria if the growth exhibits Allee effects, which may lead to backward bifurcation and forward hysteresis. In addition, we introduce a multi-scale modeling framework. At the population level, a Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model for the between-host transmission of cholera is employed. At the individual host level, the evolution of the pathogen within the human body is incorporated. The …