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Abstracts Of Papers, 81st Annual Meeting Of The Virginia Academy Of Science, May 27-30, 2003, University Of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of papers that were presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 27-30, 2003.

The Effect Of Fire Season And Frequency On The Plant Community Of A Restored Tallgrass Prairie., Nathaniel David Birks

Student Work

The effect fire season and frequency was evaluated in 2001 at a 65 ha restored tallgrass prairie in eastern Nebraska using permanent plots established in 1978 and first evaluated in 1979. Treatments included annual and quadrennial burning in spring, summer, and fall as well as unburned plots. Overall, the number of species increased from 28 in 1979 to 30 in 2001, with a shift from ruderal to native species. Shannon diversity (H’) increased significantly across all treatments during this time. Canopy cover of grasses (+19%) and forbs (+18%) increased significantly. However, only forbs showed a significant difference among treatments in …

Vernal Pools: Nature's Laboratory, Gaytha A. Langlois

Science and Technology Department Faculty Journal Articles

Vernal pools are described and discussed. The importance to wildlife and ecology is explained.

Usm Biology Trail Guide, Biological Sciences Learning Center

Teacher Resource Documents

No abstract provided.

A Watershed Analysis Of Threemile Pond: Implications For Water Quality And Land Use Management, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Threemile Pond (2003)

The 2003 Colby Environmental Assessment Team chose to study the Threemile Pond watershed. The Threemile Pond watershed is located in Vassalboro, China., Windsor, and Augusta, Maine. Threemile Pond is a popular site for recreation and is home to a wide range of flora and fauna. Like all other lakes in Maine, it is a young lake. However, intensive human activity in the watershed contributes a substantial amount of nutrients and the lake has algal blooms annually in the summer months. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of land use and development on the water quality of …

Genes, Parents And Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Mistakes, Race, Sex, And Law, Leslie Bender

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

In December 1998 a woman gave birth to twins, one of whom was European-American and one of whom was African-American, as a result of an embryo mix-up that occurred at an infertility clinic where she was receiving treatments. The genetic progenitors of the mistakenly implanted embryo challenged the birth mother's rights to one of the twins. They won their New York state court lawsuit, ultimately preventing the birth mother from even having visitation with her son. This essay examines the impact of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) mistakes on the legal analysis of parenthood (in particular maternity), offers a systematic critique …

Annual Report (January 1 - December 31, 2002): City Of Austin’S Captive Breeding Program For The Barton Springs And Austin Blind Salamanders, Dee Ann Chamberlain, Lisa O'Donnell

KIP Data Sets and Technical Reports

Submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in compliance with Permit #PRT-839031, this report summarizes the activities of the City of Austin, Texas captive breeding program for the Barton Springs (Eurycea sosorum) and Austin Blind (Eurycea waterlooensis) salamanders. Open Access See Extended description for more information.

A Comparison Of Floristic Diversity In Old-Growth Versus Mid-Successional Secondary-Growth Hardwood Forests Of The White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, United States, Leslie Marie Teeling-Adams

Doctoral Dissertations

There is currently debate over whether managed forests will ever regain the species diversity of old-growth stands. While succession and response to disturbance of tree species has been extensively researched, little similar effort has focused on understory herbaceous communities. This study conducted large-scale, comprehensive botanical inventories of three old-growth and three mid-successional (80--100 year old) secondary forest stands in New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). Cluster analysis and TWINSPAN grouped the secondary sites within two steps. Old-growth floras were significantly richer in total, total herbaceous, woodland herbaceous, and unique herbaceous species. Abundance distributions of the two treatment groups were …

Evaluation Of Bacteriophage And Viral Persistence During Alkaline Stabilization In Sludge And Biosolids Intended For Land Application, Jacqueline Joy Brabants

Doctoral Dissertations

The use of lime to reduce or eliminate pathogen content is a cost-effective treatment method currently being employed in many Class B biosolids production plants in the United States. A bench scale model of lime stabilization was designed to evaluate pathogen persistence. The survivability of poliovirus type 1, fecal coliforms, Salmonella, adenovirus type 5, rotavirus Wa, and the male-specific bacteriophage MS-2 was evaluated under lime stabilization conditions in various matrices. Salmonella and fecal coliforms were evaluated at 28°C and poliovirus and MS-2 were evaluated at both 28°C and 4°C for survivability under lime stabilization conditions in a sludge matrix. All …

Spatial Modeling And Visualization Of Habitat Response To Hydrologic Restoration In New England Salt Marshes, Raymond Anthony Konisky

Doctoral Dissertations

Anthropogenic alterations that restrict tidal flows negatively impact 20% of New England salt marshes, but management attempts to restore tides to these sites can be met with unexpected or less than optimal results. Restoration planners may be hindered by a lack of synthesized information regarding important biotic and abiotic factors that determine the distribution of dominant salt marsh plants and invasive species. An ecosystem model was developed to better predict salt marsh habitat response to hydrologic modification as a synthesis of existing models for biomass production, marsh elevation, tidal hydrology, and plant succession. A field experiment was conducted to provide …

Age, Growth, And Reproductive Biology, Of The Winter Skate, Leucoraja Ocellata, In The Western Gulf Of Maine, James Antoni Sulikowski

Doctoral Dissertations

This study describes the age, growth and reproductive biology of the winter skate, Leucoraja ocellata, in the Western Gulf of Maine. Age was estimated by enumerating annular bands within the vertebral centra. Precision of the age estimates was evaluated using the Index of Average Percent Error and the annual nature of growth band formation was documented using marginal increment analyses. Growth was assessed with the use of the von Bertalanffy growth equation. Age and size at maturity was estimated by measuring morphological and histological changes in the reproductive tract and circulating steroid hormone concentrations. Maturity ogives for males predict that …

Investigations Into The Digestive System Proteases Of Argiope Aurantia (Araneae: Araneidae), Hemolytic Agents Of Spider Venoms, And The Role Of Both In Necrotic Arachnidism, Matthew Joseph Foradori

Doctoral Dissertations

Necrotic arachnidism, or tissue necrosis following spider bites is a widespread problem. Knowledge of the exact mechanism that produces such lesions is still incomplete. Here I have examined spider digestive fluid proteases and spider venom enzymes (e.g., sphingomyelinase D and phospholipase A2) for their potential to cause necrotic lesions, as both are thought to be primary agents.

The digestive fluid of Argiope aurantia was examined for its ability to cleave a variety of extra-cellular matrix proteins, including collagen, elastin, and fibronectin. Having confirmed that the fluid has collagenases, the digestive fluid was injected into the skin of rabbits to observe …

Calcium -Dependent Protein Kinases Are Myristoylated And Associated With Different Membranes In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Sheen Xun Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

In plants, calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are the predominant calcium-stimulated kinases and are known to be involved in many cellular processes. CDPK enzymatic activity previously has been detected in many locations in plant cells, including the membrane fraction. However, little is known about the subcellular locations of individual CDPKs or the mechanisms involved in targeting them to those locations. Arabidopsis contains 34 genes that are predicted to encode CDPKs and 28 of the predicted CDPK proteins have potential myristoylation motifs at their amino termini. Myristate is a 14-carbon saturated fatty acid that is attached co-translationally to the amino-terminal glycine of …

Assessment Of The Fate Of Cryptosporidium Parvum, Giardia Lamblia And Ascaris Lumbricoides In Class A Composting And Class B Lime Stabilization Biosolids Treatment Processes, Christine L. Bean

Doctoral Dissertations

The management of biosolids in the United States has become an issue of public health concern in regard to disposal. Congress created the Clean Water Act in 1972 to protect waters in the United States and as a result, no longer can human waste be dumped into oceans or rivers. Means of disposal of biosolids are focused on land application today. The practice of land application takes into consideration the classification of the biosolids material and management practices to control access to and growth of crops on the land. Biosolids are classified as either Class A or Class B depending …

Factors Affecting Plant Community Composition And Dynamics In The Ossipee Pine Barrens, New Hampshire, Lauren Fredrick Howard

Doctoral Dissertations

Forty-one 0.25 ha sites were sampled in the Ossipee Pine Barrens to identify and describe tree community types and investigate factors controlling forest composition and dynamics. Every site had three site-time assemblages (STA's) representing past, present, and future trees. Past (1952) vegetation was calculated based on reverse growth estimates of current stems and stumps. Future (2052) vegetation was predicted by current sapling (<10 cm dbh and ≥1 m tall) relative densities.

Cluster analysis produced three community types from 121 STA's: pitch pine, mixed pine-hardwoods, and red maple. Pitch pine communities comprised 63% of sites in 1952, but declined since. Mixed pine-hardwoods peaked at 58% in 2002, but were …

Ec03-177 Noxious Weeds Of Nebraska: Purple Loosestrife, Stevan Z. Knezevic

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Purple loosestrife is an introduced invasive weed that is overrunning thousands of acres of wetlands and waterways in the Midwest. Once purple loosestrife invades a wetland, natural habitat is lost and the productivity of native plant and animal communities is severely reduced. This Extension Circular discusses the biology, identification, distribution and control of purple loosestrife.

Nowranie Caves And The Camooweal Karst Area, Queensland Nowranie Caves And The Camooweal Karst Area, Queensland: Hydrology, Geomorphology And Speleogenesis, With Notes On Aquatic Biota, Stefan Eberhard

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

John Russell Bozeman Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of research materials belonging to Georgia Southern College instructor, John Russell Bozeman. Materials span 1948-1994 and include research files on beach erosion, the ecology of the Georgia barrier islands, and general information on Southeastern ecology and topography.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

Biology, Culture, And Environment: The Struggle For Hegemony In Arizona, Sondra Kae Cosgrove

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This is an examination of the various cultural groups who have attempted to extend hegemony control over what is now the state of Arizona. Each chapter focuses on the ways different societies adapted to the region's challenging environment; paying particular attention to those that sought to integrate their neighbors into their own socioeconomic systems, whether by force or through negotiation. The rise and fall of the indigenous Hohokam civilization marks the first phase in this struggle for hegemony, while conflicts between Spaniards and Indians characterize the second. The third, and so far, final cycle concludes with Euro-Americans seizing the region …

Abstracts Of Papers, 80th Annual Meeting Of The Virginia Academy Of Science, May 22-24, 2002, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of papers that were presented at the 80th annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science.

Mutagenesis Induced By The Tumor Microenvironment: Implications Of Increased Dna Damage And Diminished Dna Repair, Jianling Yuan

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Tumors are characterized by microenvironmental heterogeneity, with regions of hypoxia, low pH, and nutrient deprivation. It has been proposed that such conditions may be an important factor contributing to cancer genetic instability. Using a chromosomally based lambda phage shuttle vector as a mutation reporter, we show that growth of cells in hypoxia and/or at low pH results in elevated mutation frequencies in two different reporter genes. To elucidate the mechanism of the tumor microenvironment-induced genetic instability, we first measured the production of DNA damage upon hypoxia and re-oxygenation in culture. We found that under such conditions, the intracellular level of …

Ec02-177 Purple Loosestrife, Stevan Z. Knezevic

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is an introduced invasive weed that isover running thousands of acres of wetlands and waterways in the Midwest. Once purple loosestrife invades a wetland, natural habitat is lost and the productivity of native plant and animal communities is severely reduced. These losses in turn interfere with various levels of the ecosystem and area recreational activities such as fishing, boating and hunting, diminishing revenue from tourism and impairing the social and economic well being of local communities. A single control measure cannot provide long-term, sustainable control of this weed. An integrated approach, using a variety …

Ec02-173 Spotted And Diffuse Knapweed, Neil L. Heckman, Ryan M. Goss, Roch E. Gaussoin, Stevan Z. Knezevic, John L. Lindquist

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Spotted knapweed (Centaure amaculosa Lam. = C. biebersteinii DC.) and diffuse knapweed (C.diffusa Lam.) are two of Nebraska’s seven noxious weeds. They are also noxious in at least 17 other states. These are closely related species that are well adapted to a variety of habitats including open forests, rangelands and pastures, Conservation Reserve Program lands, roadsides, and ditch banks. Centaurea is a large genus of over 400 species, 32 of which are common weeds of the United States and several of which [e.g., yellowstar thistle, C. solstitalis L, and Russian knapweed, C. repens L. =Acroptilon repens (L.) …

Ompd But Not Ompc Is Involved In Adherence Of Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium To Human Cells, Bochiwe Hlezipi Hara-Kaonga

Doctoral Dissertations

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium expresses three major outer membrane proteins: OmpC, OmpF, and OmpD. Conflicting reports exist regarding the role of OmpC and OmpD in the pathogenesis of this organism. This study investigated the role of OmpC and OmpD in adherence to human U937 macrophages and T84 intestinal epithelial cells. OmpC and ompD mutant strains were created by transposon mutagenesis utilizing P22-mediated transduction of Tn10 and Tn 5 insertions into wild-type strain 14028. Fluorescein-labeled wild-type and mutant bacteria were incubated with PKH26-labeled T84 cells at various bacteria-to-cell ratios for 1 h at 37 C. Single and dual fluorescence of samples …

Comparative Anatomy And Evolution Of The Gastrotrich Muscular System, Richard Hochberg

Doctoral Dissertations

Gastrotrichs figure prominently in metazoan phylogeny because they share a suite of complex morphological characteristics with several other members of the Bilateria. But their microscopic size, cryptic interstitial habitat, and lack of fossil record have exacerbated the usual barriers to phylogenetic analysis. To arrive at a better understanding of gastrotrich systematics and evolution, cladistic analyses and detailed studies of the muscular system were performed.

A fluorescent F-actin stain was applied to whole mounts of 26 species of Gastrotricha to characterize the musculature. Muscle patterns were mapped, their functions inferred, and the direction of evolution hypothesized for several families. The musculature …

Expression, Activation, And Regulation Of Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 (Mmp-2) In The Bovine Corpus Luteum, Bo Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been postulated to be important for angiogenesis and for tissue remodeling events associated with corpus luteum (CL) development. The MMPs are mainly regulated at three levels, transcription, activation, and inhibition by endogenous tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). Unlike most MMPs, pro-MMP-2 activation is accomplished on the cell surface rather than extracellularly. The objectives of the present study were to clone bovine cDNAs for MMP-2 and its activator, membrane type 1- (MT 1-)MMP, to investigate the expression and localization of MMP-2, MT1-MMP, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 in three ages of CL, and to explore the regulation of MMP-2 …

Birth, Death And Taxis: North Atlantic Right Whales In The Twenty-First Century, Scott Douglas Kraus

Doctoral Dissertations

Twenty two years of North Atlantic right whale data were analyzed. Several measures indicate reproduction in North Atlantic right whales is in a decline. Calving intervals have increased from about 3.3 years in the 1980's to over 5 years, and the age of first parturition is estimated to be 11 years. Females may lose calves before they are detected, artificially increasing the apparent age of first parturition and possibly affecting estimates of calving interval. Northern feeding habitat use patterns do not appear to affect reproduction.

Right whale mortality data was analyzed by age, sex, and habitat use patterns. A total …

Genetic Basis Of Adaptive Radiation In East African Cichlids, Richard Craig Albertson

Doctoral Dissertations

East African cichlids are a paramount example of adaptive morphological radiation. The most dramatic difference among species occurs in oral jaw design and correlates with ecological niche partitioning. Convergent evolution of trophic forms between lakes suggests a common mechanism. What combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors constitute this mechanism still remains to be seen. The goal of this dissertation was to examine the genetic basis of shape differences between two closely related cichlid species that employ alternate modes of feeding. This was achieved through a number of independent experiments. First, I used field data to characterize the way in which …

Influences Of Social And Habitat Features On Selection And Use Of Breeding Habitat And Pup Survival In South American Fur Seals, Monica Anne Stevens

Doctoral Dissertations

Quantitative information is lacking about how fur seals use habitat and how this use influences fitness. Such information is important for understanding the prospects for recovery of declining populations like those of South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) in Peru. In this study I examined the influences of habitat features and human disturbance on selection of breeding habitat by female fur seals in Peru; and I examined how mortality of pups was influenced by habitat features, female behavior, and the social environment on the beach.

Arctocephalus australis in Peru have declined gradually over the past decade, and declined dramatically (72%) …

The Effects Of Erythrocyte Alloantigen L On The Avian Immune Response, Zdravka Ognyanova Medarova

Doctoral Dissertations

Experiment 1 examined the alloantigen system L effects on Rous sarcomas in three B complex genotypes. The parental stock were 50% Modified Wisconsin Line 3 and 50% inbred Line 6.15- 5. B2B5 L1L2 x B2B5 L 1L2 matings produced experimental chicks. Chicks were inoculated with 20 pock-forming units (pfu) Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) at 6 weeks-of-age. Tumors were scored six times over 10 weeks postinoculation. Tumor scores were used to assign a tumor profile index (TPI) to each chicken. Results were evaluated by ANOVA. The B complex affected the responses. Separate analyses revealed L system effects ( P < 0.05) only in B5B 5 chickens.

Experiment 2 …