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Bio 340 Final Project: Rural Population Structure And Food Production Interact To Shape Global Undernourishment, Ava Ripanti

Biology Student Scholarship

Ava Ripanti - Environmental Biology '27

Undernourishment remains a major global public health challenge, reflecting the proportion of a population lacking sufficient dietary energy intake. While food availability is central to food security, undernourishment is also shaped by structural and socioeconomic factors such as population distribution and access to resources. Although rural populations are closely tied to agriculture, they often experience higher food insecurity due to limited infrastructure, market access, and healthcare. Prior research emphasizes that broader determinants, particularly inequality and development, are stronger predictors of undernourishment than agricultural output alone, that food insecurity exists in both rural and urban …

Extranodal Tumors And Chromosomal Abnormalities Associated With Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma In T(14;18)-Positive Patients, Alexis Finch

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Nebraska is mostly an agricultural state with a non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) incidence rate of 20.1 per 100,000 individuals, which is greater than the US incidence rate of 19 per 100,000 individuals. It is possible that the higher incidence rate in Nebraska is due to an increase in pesticide usage. Pesticide exposure is linked to t(14;18), a genetic translocation involving the BCL2 gene that regulates apoptosis. The dysregulation of apoptosis could contribute to the proliferation of NHL. This exploratory study utilized the Nebraska Lymphoma Study Group, which consists of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin disease, or some other neoplastic hematologic disorder …

Patterns Of Natural Variation In Drought Escape And Drought Avoidance In The Common Monkeyflower, Joshua Fitzpatrick

Honors Baccalaureate Theses

Climate change has caused increasing temperatures and drier climates over the past decade. This has especially affected the western coast of North America, bringing even drier and hotter climates. This makes it difficult for plant life to prosper in these areas. One way that plants fight these drought conditions is through drought resistance traits. These drought resistance traits include flowering early and reproducing early before drought conditions onset or increasing the efficiency of water use by tissues and the stomata of the plant. While these traits are both beneficial in fighting drought conditions, they often negatively impact each other. This …

A Morphological And Molecular Analysis Of A Bloom Of The Filamentous Green Alga Pithophora, Blia Lor, Merry Zohn, Marcus J. Meade, A. Bruce Cahoon, Kalina M. Manoylov

Faculty and Staff Works

Filamentous representatives of Cladophorales (Chlorophyta) are major contributors to algal biomass of littoral communities. In the present study, community analysis of a reported bloom in the Ogeechee River in Georgia provided an opportunity to combine morphological and genetic analyses with ecological information related to an understudied nuisance alga. A polyphasic approach of incorporating genotypic and phenotypic methods led to the identification of the algal community as Pithophora roettleri (Roth) Wittrock. Morphological analysis showed a monospecific community based on the average length and diameter of the heterosporous intercalary and terminal akinetes, along with the diameter of the principal filaments. Single-gene and …

Composition Of Dung Beetle Communities In A Tropical Montane Forest Alters The Rate Of Dung Removal More Than Species Diversity Alone, Elizabeth A. Engle

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Dung beetles provide key ecological functions by degrading and recycling dung. I used experimentally-assembled communities to examine the role of species richness, community biomass, species diversity, species identity, and community composition in dung removal, using Ateuchus chrysopyge, Copris nubilosis, Onothophagus cyanellus, and Dichotomius satanas. I hypothesized: (1) that as species richness, biomass, and diversity increases within a community, dung removal increases; and (2) species are not functionally equivalent, so community composition should influence dung removal rates. As species richness, biomass, and diversity of experimentally-assembled communities increased, the proportion of dung removed also increased. Also, the four species in this study …

Mammal Species Inventory Using Various Trapping Methods In Zone 4 Of Billy Barquedier National Park, Belize During Rainy Season, Mersady Redding

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Belize is a small country, but it is extremely ecologically diverse. Based on the few studies conducted in Belize, the abundance of mammals is low but diversity is high. Particular findings note the number and identity of species differed between four sites in the Maya Mountains of Belize, indicating that a data set from a single site is not representative of the Neotropical region. Insufficient data is available to estimate current species richness of many areas in Belize, including Billy Barquedier National Park (BBNP). The objective of this study was to explore trapping and documentation methods of terrestrial mammals in …

Traffic Noise And Sexual Selection: Studies Of Anthropogenic Impact On Bird Songs And Undergraduate Student Reasoning Of Evolutionary Mechanisms, Sarah Spier

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Humans have transformed much of the natural landscape and are continuing to do so at an accelerated rate, compromising natural areas that serve as important habitat for many species. Roads impact much of the environment as they fragment habitat and introduce traffic noise into the acoustic environment, deferentially affecting wildlife in roadside habitat. I explored how traffic noise affects the detection of birds based on whether their vocalizations were masked by traffic noise. Masked species detection was not affected by an increase in traffic noise amplitude, while there was a negative effect of traffic noise amplitude on unmasked species detection, …

Traffic Noise And Sexual Selection: Studies Of Anthropogenic Impact On Bird Songs And Undergraduate Student Reasoning Of Evolutionary Mechanisms, Sarah Spier

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Humans have transformed much of the natural landscape and are continuing to do so at an accelerated rate, compromising natural areas that serve as important habitat for many species. Roads impact much of the environment as they fragment habitat and introduce traffic noise into the acoustic environment, deferentially affecting wildlife in roadside habitat. I explored how traffic noise affects the detection of birds based on whether their vocalizations were masked by traffic noise. Masked species detection was not affected by an increase in traffic noise amplitude, while there was a negative effect of traffic noise amplitude on unmasked species detection, …

Using Clay Models To Measure Seasonal Predation On Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders, Emma Perry

Honors Program Theses and Projects

One of the many gaps we have in our knowledge of salamanders is that of predation. Most studies suggest that salamanders are eaten mainly by birds and snakes, but there are still several unanswered questions: What other types of animals tend to prey on salamanders? Is there any difference in predator type during different times of the year? In order to answer these questions, I studied predation on one particular species of salamander, Plethodon cinereus (eastern red-backed salamander). Models of the two primary color morphs of P. cinereus (striped and unstriped) were created using impressionable clay to determine types and …

Exploratory Study Of Graph Drawing On A Continuum Of Expertise, Emily Macleish

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Graphs are used in our lives daily to communicate information such as political ads or car sales. In the sciences, understanding graphs is essential to effective communication as graphs are often used to report experimental results or observed trends. However, research suggests that college students are not fluent in this form of scientific communication. Additionally, research has also found that standardized assessments of quantitative literacy fail to be clearly defined at the curricular or institutional levels. This research looks at the differences between the cognitive and metacognitive strategies of how individuals along a continuum of biological expertise visually represent data. …

Channeled Whelk (Busycotypus Canaliculatus) Ecology In Relation To The Fishery In Vineyard And Nantucket Sounds, Massachusetts, Shelley Ann Edmundson

Doctoral Dissertations

Channeled whelks (Busycotypus canaliculatus) are predatory marine gastropods that support lucrative commercial fisheries along the east coast of the United States, with areas around Massachusetts supplying the largest landings. In the absence of a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of channeled whelk biology, it is unclear how to sustainably manage their fisheries. Within this dissertation, various aspects of whelk ecology were investigated to determine how to protect this species, while effectively managing the local fishery.

Early life history experiments revealed channeled whelk egg strings may incubate for 8 to 9 months in MA water temperatures. Incubation period decreased with increasing …

A Comparison Of Macrofaunal And Algal Communities In Oyster Aquaculture Gear, An Eelgrass Bed, Oyster Reef, And A Mudflat In Great Bay, New Hampshire, Megan Elizabeth Glenn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) are important ecosystem engineers in Great Bay, NH, however despite restoration efforts they have been in decline. In addition to loss of the resource, this degradation results in loss of associated ecosystem services such as habitat provision. It is possible that the recent increase in oyster farming in Great Bay could help mitigate habitat loss. My research objective was to quantify the biotic communities present in three natural habitats (eelgrass beds, oyster reefs and mudflats) in Great Bay NH and compare those to communities living on the type of gear (“racks and bags”) …

Factors Contributing To The Conservation Of Phacelia Submutica (Boraginaceae), A Threatened Species In Western Colorado: Reproductive Biology And Seed Ecology, Alicia M. Langton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Conservation and recovery plans for rare species require biological and ecological information to discern how they may be susceptible to human disturbances. Phacelia submutica is a threatened annual species in western Colorado. Human activities including energy development, recreation, and livestock grazing are occurring within the species’ range. To provide conservation practitioners with a scientific basis for management, this research aimed to elucidate elements of the species’ ecology. Chapter 2 describes the reproductive biology of P. submutica. Potential insect pollinators were not observed during two years of observations. Floral traits and development ensure self-pollination and reduce the likelihood that insects …

Spatial Analysis Of Nest Productivity And Predation In Prothonotary Warblers, Miranda Foster, Lesley P. Bulluck

UROP Posters

Generally, statistics are based off the assumption that observations are independent from each other in space. In larger ecological systems however, there can be spatial autocorrelation whereby data collected in nearby areas are not independent of one another which violates the assumption of most statistical tests. It is therefore becoming commonplace for ecological studies to study spatial autocorrelation to both eliminate error (accounting for a nuisance variable that could give false positives) and to better understand the spatial structure of their system of interest. Indeed, the mechanisms that lead to spatial autocorrelation are often associated with behaviors and/or intrinsic characteristics …

Acute Effects Of Tio2 Nanomaterials On The Viability And Taxonomic Composition Of Aquatic Bacterial Communities Assessed Via High-Throughput Screening And Next Generation Sequencing, Binh Chu, Tiezheng Tong, Jean-François Gaillard, Kimberley A. Gray, John J. Kelly

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The nanotechnology industry is growing rapidly, leading to concerns about the potential ecological consequences of the release of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) to the environment. One challenge of assessing the ecological risks of ENMs is the incredible diversity of ENMs currently available and the rapid pace at which new ENMs are being developed. High-throughput screening (HTS) is a popular approach to assessing ENM cytotoxicity that offers the opportunity to rapidly test in parallel a wide range of ENMs at multiple concentrations. However, current HTS approaches generally test one cell type at a time, which limits their ability to predict responses of …

The Individual Tree And Forest Stand Level Impacts Of Winter Moth Defoliation In Eastern Massachusetts, Usa, Michael J. Simmons

Master's Theses and Capstones

Winter moth is a non-native invasive defoliator in New England. This thesis related host tree radial growth of individual trees in eastern Massachusetts to winter moth defoliation intensity using tree core analysis. Further, tree core analysis was used to identify winter moth defoliation events in several forest stands in eastern Massachusetts and these events were used to relate winter moth to stand level tree mortality and understory woody plant density. Quercus radial growth from 2005-2010 was negatively related to winter moth defoliation. In addition, Quercus mortality in mixed -- Quercus and Quercus - P. strobus forests in eastern Massachusetts was …

Predation As A Vehicle To Aid Tunicate Invasion In The Biofouling Community, Helen Day

Master's Theses and Capstones

Competition for space can influence community dynamics in the sessile biofouling community. Within recent decades, community dynamics have shifted towards a community dominated by tunicates. This research proposed predation as a mechanism driving this shift.

In the Gulf of Maine, the non-native species Botrylloides violaceous became abundant when predators (i.e. the benthic fish Tautogolabrus adspersus and the sea star Asterias rubens) removed the cryptogenic (i.e. native) tunicate Molgula citrina. Moreover, B. violaceus was present in higher amounts in habitats with low abundances of M. citrina than it was in areas in which the two tunicate species were both abundant. Furthermore, …

Association Of Adherence Support And Outreach Services With Total Attrition, Loss To Follow-Up, And Death Among Art Patients In Sub-Saharan Africa, Matthew R. Lamb, Wafaa M. El-Sadr, Elvin Geng, Denis Nash

Publications and Research

Background Loss to follow-up (LTF) after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is common in HIV clinics. We examined the effect of availability of adherence support and active patient outreach services on patient attrition following ART initiation. Methods and Findings This ecologic study examined clinic attrition rates (total attrition, LTF, and death) among 232,389 patients initiating ART at 349 clinics during 2004–2008 in 10 sub-Saharan African countries, and cohort attrition (proportion retained at 6 and 12 months after ART initiation) among a subset of patients with follow-up information (n = 83,389). Log-linear regression compared mean rates of attrition, LTF, and death between …

Tracking Environmental Trends In The Great Bay Estuarine System: An Examination Of Water Quality And Nuisance Macroalgal Blooms, Jeremy C. Nettleton

Doctoral Dissertations

Monitoring macroalgae populations is an effective means of detecting long term water quality changes in estuarine systems. To investigate the environmental status of New Hampshire's Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, this study assessed the abundance/distribution of macrophytes, particularly Gracilaria and Ulva species, relative to eutrophication patterns; compared historical (1970s-1990s) and current algal biomass/cover at several sites; and compared Ulva and Gracilaria tissue N/P content to ambient and historical levels. Nitrogen and phosphorus testing revealed that the estuarine system has become eutrophic, and Ulva and Gracilaria biomass/cover have increased significantly. The percent cover of Ulva species, at seasonal maxima, was …

Ecosystem Structure And Function In An Urban, Piped Stream, Amanda Hope

Master's Theses and Capstones

Piped streams, or streams that run underground, are common features in urban areas. However, there is little empirical evidence regarding their ecological structure and function. This study measured ecosystem metabolism, nutrient uptake, and related characteristics of Pettee Brook -- an urban stream that flows through several pipes under impervious surfaces near the UNH (Durham) campus.

Piped and open reaches of Pettee Brook had similar water quality, nutrient uptake, and ER. However, the absence of light in piped reaches led to their complete loss of GPP. Benthic AFDM and chlorophyll a biomass were also significantly reduced in piped reaches. For both …

The Fate Of Alpine Species In The Face Of Climate Change: A Biogeographic Perspective, Madaline Cochrane

Macalester Reviews in Biogeography

Will global climate change affect the spatial distribution and abundance of biodiversity along mountains equally? The elevational gradients inherent as one moves up a mountain slope help define the many biological patterns that emerge as key indicators for species richness in an era of rising global temperatures. When global temperatures arise, the microclimates found along different elevational ranges on mountains also fluctuate. As abiotic characteristics such as daily air temperature, daily precipitation, and annual snowmelt change overtime, so will the biotic communities on a mountain. Some species may be able to adapt to their new environments, while other may have …

The Evolution And Reproductive Ecology Of Oenothera (Onagraceae), Kyra Krakos

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation describes the role of pollination in the floral diversification of Oenothera with an integration of both ecological and phylogenetic approaches. Oenothera: Onagraceae) is a model system for studying plant reproductive biology. It provides excellent examples of shifts in reproductive traits such as pollination and breeding system, features that have been important in angiosperm diversification. These systems are evolutionarily labile; they easily shift between different states. These different reproductive traits may shift in a concerted fashion; therefore, a more comprehensive approach to understanding the evolution of these plant systems simultaneously addresses shifts in pollination and breeding system. Using 54 …

Organismal Climatology: Analyzing Environmental Variability At Scales Relevant To Physiological Stress, Brian Helmuth, Bernardo R. Broitman, Lauren Yamane, Sarah E. Gilman, Katharine Mach, K. A.S. Mislan, Mark W. Denny

Faculty Publications

Predicting when, where and with what magnitude climate change is likely to affect the fitness, abundance and distribution of organisms and the functioning of ecosystems has emerged as a high priority for scientists and resource managers. However, even in cases where we have detailed knowledge of current species’ range boundaries, we often do not understand what, if any, aspects of weather and climate act to set these limits. This shortcoming significantly curtails our capacity to predict potential future range shifts in response to climate change, especially since the factors that set range boundaries under those novel conditions may be different …

Post-­Fire Alterations In Mechanical Strength Of Leaves In Heteromeles Arbutifolia, Andrew Hair, Madeline Dilascia, Nick Novella, Taylor Wurdeman

Featured Research

Wildfires in the Santa Monica mountains in Southern California burn down a decent percentage of the local vegetation. However, some plants like Heteromeles Arbutifolia, are considered to be resprouters because they return a mere two years after being burnt down. It is hypothesized that the artificially browsed resprout leaves will have a lower tensile strength than both the young and adult leaves because they use a lower amount of carbohydrates per unit-leaf-area. Data showed that although there was a slight different between the young leaves and the adult leaves of the Heteromeles, there was no statistically significant difference between the …

The Effects Of Habitat Corridors And Edges On Sources Of Seed Mortality: Implications For Restoring A Threatened Legume, Melissa Simon

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Isotopic Analysis Of Arctic Ground Squirrel Tissues And Potential Food Sources, Julee Shamhart

Master's Theses and Capstones

Given limited knowledge of the food sources of Arctic ground squirrels, an important arctic prey species, it is difficult to predict the implications of changes in food source availability that could result from climate change. I hypothesized that Arctic ground squirrels at two colonies, Atigun and Toolik, would have similar feeding habits and mushrooms would contribute to their diet The Arctic ground squirrels at Toolik had significantly higher del15N (3.7 per mill difference) and del13C values (1.3 per mill difference) than those at Atigun. Mixing models indicated that the signatures observed in the Atigun hair could result from a combination …

Population Ecology And Reproductive Biology Of The Diamondback Watersnake, Nerodia Rhombifer (Serpentes: Colubridae), In Southernmost Texas, Ruben D. Zamora

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Nerodia rhombifer is a polytypic, semi-aquatic snake with a broad geographical distribution ranging from the American Midwest southward to Chiapas, Mexico. Although relatively abundant throughout much of its range, few ecological studies of the species have been conducted. This study provides basic population ecology information in a subtropical habitat. Population data were obtained in a mark-recapture study at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Hidalgo County, Texas, from August 1995 to December 1998. Specimens taken elsewhere in Hidalgo County provided information on the reproductive biology. This study provides the first absolute density estimates from anywhere within the species’ range. Quantitative information …

From Cells To Coastlines: How Can We Use Physiology To Forecast The Impacts Of Climate Change?, Brian Helmuth

Faculty Publications

The interdisciplinary fields of conservation physiology, macrophysiology, and mechanistic ecological forecasting have recently emerged as means of integrating detailed physiological responses to the broader questions of ecological and evolutionary responses to global climate change. Bridging the gap between large-scale records of weather and climate (as measured by remote sensing platforms, buoys and ground-based weather stations) and the physical world as experienced by organisms (niche-level measurements) requires a mechanistic understanding of how ‘environmental signals’ (parameters such as air, surface and water temperature, food availability, water flow) are translated into signals at the scale of the organism or cell (e.g. body temperature, …

Lifelines Winter 2009, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Winter 2009 issue of Lifelines features articles on RAM Clinics, Dr. Earl Aagaard's retirement, the addition of Richard Seidel to the faculty, and a pictorial directory of the 2009 biology and allied health graduates.

Tracking Diet And Movement Of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) Using Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotopes, John Logan

Doctoral Dissertations

Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT; Thunnus thynnus) are important top predators in pelagic ecosystems. Understanding their diet and movements is necessary for proper management, but existing methods are costly and logistically challenging. Naturally occurring stable isotopes have been used to study diet and movement in many aquatic ecosystems and offer a novel approach for studying these large pelagic fishes.

Lipids, which have lower carbon isotope values than protein, can affect isotope analyses of bulk tissue. Both chemical and mathematical corrections were used to address lipid effects on ABFT and the prey. All chemical extraction methods altered nitrogen isotope values. Mathematical corrections …