Life Sciences Commons^™

Oystershell Scale (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) Population Growth, Spread, And Phenology On Aspen In Arizona, Usa, Connor D. Crouch, Richard W. Hofstetter, Amanda M. Grady, Nylah N.S. Edwards, Kristen M. Waring

Aspen Bibliography

Oystershell scale (OSS; Lepidosaphes ulmi L.) is an invasive insect that threatens sustainability of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) in the southwestern United States. OSS invasions have created challenges for land managers tasked with maintaining healthy aspen ecosystems for the ecological, economic, and aesthetic benefits they provide. Active management is required to suppress OSS populations and mitigate damage to aspen ecosystems, but before management strategies can be implemented, critical knowledge gaps about OSS biology and ecology must be filled. This study sought to fill these gaps by addressing 3 questions: (i) What is the short-term rate of aspen mortality in …

Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modeling For The Spring Ephemeral Herb Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) In Eastern North America, Velan Manivannan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The spring ephemeral plant Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) has a widespread native range in North America, spanning much of the eastern United States and Canada. While its current NatureServe conservation status is designated as ‘secure’ (NatureServe, 2023), its status as a spring ephemeral places it at a heightened risk for climate change-induced phenological mismatch with advancing forest canopy closure. Additionally, under continued anthropogenic climate change, Bloodroot may also experience range shifts or contractions as the edges of its present range warm past physiological thresholds. To determine the potential for range shifts and contractions under future warming, I generated a …

Developing Empirical Predictive Models To Support Conservation Planning For Threatened Frogs, Toads, And Turtles In South-Coastal California, Umarfarooq Adavudi Abdulwahab

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Amphibians and reptiles (i.e., herptiles) are among the most threatened groups of species on Earth. The major threats to these species include the direct, indirect, and synergistic effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, disease, overexploitation, and pollution. To protect and restore species, natural resource managers need effective, data-driven conservation plans that are grounded in sound knowledge of species distributions and habitat requirements. Species distribution models (SDMs) are popular tools used to assess species-habitat relationships. However, SDMs are sensitive to the choice and quality of input data, both of which can affect model accuracy and precision and lead to …

The Influence Of Climate And Landscape On Allocapnia Mohri Distribution In Arkansas, Brianna Leigh Annaratone

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stoneflies are a globally threatened aquatic insect order. In Arkansas, a diverse group of winter stonefly (Capniidae: Allocapnia) have not been surveyed since the 1980s, likely because species-level identification requires the rarely-collected adult form. Allocapnia mohri, a regional endemic, was previously commonly found in mountainous, intermittent streams from the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion north to the Ozark Highlands, but no species distributional models including land use or climate variables exist to our knowledge. We collected adults from 70 stream reaches from the historic Arkansas range from November to April 2020 and 2021. We modeled distributions using random forest (RF) models populated …

Climate Change, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

This lesson plan teaches students about climate change and its effect on animals and insects. Students can then participate in a climate change fact or myth game and a climate change Pictionary game.

Assessment Of Carbon Productivity Dynamics In Aspen Stands Under Climate Change Based On Forest Inventories In Central Siberia, Andrey Andreevich Vais, Valentina Valerievna Popova, Alina Andreevna Andronova, Viktor Nikolaevich Nemich, Artem Gennadievich Nepovinnykh, Pavel Vladimirovich Mikhaylov

Aspen Bibliography

The aim of the present research was to study the dynamics of growth and conditions of aspen stands under climate change, according to different periods of forest inventory. The study was conducted in modal aspen forests growing in the subtaiga/forest steppe region of Central Siberia. Aspen forests grow intensively at young age, which allows them to realize maximum carbon sequestration potential. The research was based on forest inventory data from 1972, 1982, 2002, and 2021 (the study was conducted on a limited territory). There was a steady increase in temperatures in the growing season from 1982 to 2002. The amount …

Will Climate Warming Amplify The Competitive And Predatory Effects Of A Range-Expanding Marine Gastropod (Acanthinucella Spirata)?, Bailey N. Mccann

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The effects of climate warming on the distribution of range-expanding species are well documented, but the interactive effects of climate warming and range-expanding species on recipient communities remain understudied. For example, with climate warming, range-expanding species may become a threat to local biodiversity due to their relatively stronger competitive or predatory effects on potentially weakened, or less well-adapted recipient communities. Acanthinucella spirata is a predatory marine gastropod that has expanded its distribution north along the California coast since the Pleistocene via a poleward geographical range shift, tracking climatic warming. To assess whether A. spirata has stronger predatory effects on the …

An Integrative Salt Marsh Conceptual Framework For Global Comparisons, Erik S. Yando, Scott F. Jones, W. Ryan James, Denise D. Colombano, Diana I. Montemayor, Stefanie Nolte, Jacqueline L. Raw, Shelby L. Ziegler, Luzhen Chen, Daniele Daffonchio, Marco Fusi, Kerrylee Rogers, Liudmila Sergienko

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Salt marshes occur globally across climatic and coastal settings, providing key linkages between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, salt marsh science lacks a unifying conceptual framework; consequently, historically well-studied locations have been used as normative benchmarks. To allow for more effective comparisons across the diversity of salt marshes, we developed an integrative salt marsh conceptual framework. We review ecosystem-relevant drivers from global to local spatial scales, integrate these multi-scale settings into a framework, and provide guidance on applying the framework using specific variables on 11 global examples. Overall, this framework allows for appropriate comparison of study sites by accounting for …

Tapping Into Natural History Collections To Assess Latitudinal Gradients Of Parasite Diversity, Sebastian Botero-Cañola, Scott Lyell Gardner

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Parasites are key components of the biosphere not only due to their huge diversity, but also because they exert important influences on ecological processes. Nevertheless, we lack an understanding of the biogeographical patterns of parasite diversity. Here, we tap into the potential of biodiversity collections for understanding parasite biogeography. We assess species richness of supracommunities of helminth parasites infecting mammal assemblages in the Nearctic, and describe its relation to latitude, climate, host diversity, and land area. We compiled data from parasitology collections and assessed parasite diversity in Nearctic ecoregions for the entire parasite supracommunity of mammals in each ecoregion, as …

Forest Cover And Geographic Distance Influence Fine-Scale Genetic Structure Of Leaf-Toed Geckos In The Tropical Dry Forests Of Western Mexico, Connor M. French, Casey-Tyler Berezin, Isaac Overcast, Fausto R. Méndez De La Cruz, Saptarsi Basu, Roberto Lhemish Martínez Bernal, Robert W. Murphy, Michael J. Hickerson, Christopher Blair

Publications and Research

The biodiversity within tropical dry forests (TDFs) is astounding and yet poorly catalogued due to inadequate sampling and the presence of cryptic species. In the Mexican TDF, endemic species are common, and the landscape has been continually altered by geological and anthropogenic changes. To understand how landscape and environmental variables have shaped the population structure of endemic species, we studied the recently described species of leaf-toed gecko, Phyllodactylus benedettii, in coastal western Mexico. Using double-digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing data, we first explore population structure and estimate the number of ancestral populations. The results indicate a high degree of …

Climate Impacts On North American Quail, Shelby M. Perry, Erin Moser, Jeffrey G. Whitt, Kelly S. Reyna

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

North America’s quail population trends are often linked to regional climate. Extreme climate events such as severe drought, hard freezes, or excessive winter precipitation can reduce quail populations by as much as 84%. Above-average spring and summer temperatures coincident with drought can reduce the laying season for quail by ≤60 days. Exposure of quail eggs to high temperatures during preincubation can initiate and alter embryonic development. Here, we review the impacts of extreme climate events and a changing climate on the survival, reproduction, and population trends of 6 North American quail species: California quail (Callipepla californica), Gambel’s quail …

Impacts And Dispersal Of Invasive Bivalves, Dreissena And Corbicula Spp., On Stream Benthic Communities, Darrin Scott Hunt

Wayne State University Dissertations

Asian clams (Corbicula spp.), zebra and quagga mussels (Dreisenna spp.) have invaded and spread throughout North American surface waters. Corbicula and Dreisenna species bio foul aquatic systems, occupy benthic substrates and degrade environments through shell deposition. I explored how Dreissena and Corbicula invasions affect benthic fish and macroinvertebrate communities, and examine how their impacts differ between urban and rural systems, and temperate and tropical climates. Macroinvertebrate and fish communities were evaluated at sites with increasing shell densities in the Rouge, and Huron rivers (MI, USA) using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Rapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBP). Urban and rural macroinvertebrate …

Understanding Caribou Population Cycles, Jack R. St. John

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The complex population dynamics of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) were studied to determine the patterns of their population cycles and the processes driving them. It is well established, via previous archaeological research and Indigenous knowledge, that large migrating caribou herds found in and around the tundra at northern latitudes experience population boom and busts roughly every several decades. However, the processes driving the dynamics of these cycles are relatively unknown, which makes managing caribou herds for recreational and subsistence harvests difficult. It has been hypothesized that a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors shape these cycles, with density-dependence, predation, …

Activity Patterns Of The Del Norte Salamander (Plethodon Elongatus): Monitoring Plethodontid Behavior Using Pit Tag Surveys, Sabrina Horrack

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Semi-fossorial plethodontid salamanders exhibit behavioral plasticity to avoid desiccation, retreating underground to shelter from adverse conditions such as low precipitation and high temperatures. In this study, I used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag surveys to monitor this behavior in the Del Norte salamander (Plethodon elongatus), a small plethodontid native to northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. Within its range, a climatic gradient exists in which coastal areas experience milder temperatures and high precipitation, while inland areas tend to have colder winters, hotter summers, and lower precipitation. By monitoring the activity patterns of this species in inland and coastal areas, …

Reconstructing Cyclical Browning In A Subtropical Lake From Diatoms, Meredith Emery

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lakes are browning globally from increased inputs of colored dissolved organic carbon (cDOC) driven by climate and land-use change. Browning changes lake ecosystems, especially through reductions in water transparency. I used long-term limnological and plankton records and upper surface sediment diatom assemblages to infer a ~1600-year history of browning from diatom assemblages in a 166 cm core from a subtropical, oligotrophic lake known to experience cyclical browning related to climate oscillations. Diatom assemblages were strongly regulated by cDOC-driven transparency fluctuations in a 14-year plankton dataset (modern model, R² = 0.62) and in the upper 35 cm of sediments corresponding …

Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Epigaeic Beetle Assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Staphylinidae) In Aspen-Dominated Mixedwood Forests Across North-Central Alberta, H. E. James Hammond, Sergio García-Tejero, Greg R. Pohl, David W. Langor, John R. Spence

Aspen Bibliography

Epigaeic beetle assemblages were surveyed using continuous pitfall trapping during the summers of 1992 and 1993 in six widely geographically distributed locations in Alberta’s aspen-mixedwood forests prior to initial forest harvest. Species composition and turnover (β-diversity) were evaluated on several spatial scales ranging from Natural Regions (distance between samples 120–420 km) to pitfall traps (40–60 m). A total of 19,885 ground beetles (Carabidae) representing 40 species and 12,669 rove beetles (non-Aleocharinae Staphylinidae) representing 78 species was collected. Beetle catch, species richness, and diversity differed significantly among the six locations, as did the identity of dominant species. Beetle species composition differed …

Climate And Soil Moisture Dynamics Inform Potential Climate Change Impacts On Available Moisture And Juvenile Tree Survival In Semiarid Forests, Carolyn R. Koehn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Trees in semiarid forests and woodlands of the western United States need soil moisture to transpire and function. Juvenile trees are especially vulnerable during periods of low soil moisture as their rooting zones are smaller and shallower than those of adult trees. This thesis focuses on two soil moisture-driven aspects of semiarid forests that may be modified by climate change: seasonal soil moisture patterns and juvenile tree survival.

In chapter 1, I investigated the influence of precipitation on soil moisture across seasons, elevations, soil layers, and periods of low and high precipitation. I developed time-varying definitions of winter (snow accumulation), …

Comparison Of Modern And Mid-Holocene Benthic Foraminifera To Assess Recent Environmental Change In Almirante Bay, Caribbean Panama, Maria N. Gudnitz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study used the diversity and distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages of Almirante Bay, Caribbean Panama, as environmental proxies to compare modern coral, seagrass and mangrove habitats to mid-Holocene coral reef facies on the island of Isla Colón, to investigate both natural and human-influenced changes.

The modern study associated species and assemblage characteristics with environmental conditions related to degraded water quality. Assemblages were fairly similar among neighboring habitats but differed in species proportions, while several stress-tolerant taxa might indicate eutrophic conditions. Diversity appeared to be regionally controlled by freshwater input irrespective of habitat type, was generally lower near the mainland …

Anthropogenic Change On The Distribution Of Marine Megafauna And Their Prey, Baylie Fadool

Honors Theses

Anthropogenic change is impacting the distribution and survival of marine megafauna and their prey. Humans are changing every aspect of the marine environment, with effects reaching as large as changing the composition of marine environments to directly overexploiting species through the fishing industry. The role that marine megafauna play in balancing ecosystems, including as top apex predators, leads to detrimental results in the absences and population declines of these species. Migrations and declines due to threats on marine apex predator species will alter their environments by causing mesopredator release and changes in community structure, which is often associated with reduced …

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 …

A Comparative Spatial And Climate Analysis Of Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis And Human Babesiosis In New York State (2013-2018), Collin J. O'Connor

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) and human babesiosis are tick-borne diseases spread by Ixodes scapularis (the blacklegged or deer tick) and are the result of infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti, respectively. In New York State (NYS), incidence rates of these diseases increased concordantly until around 2013, when rates of HGA began to increase more rapidly than human babesiosis, and the spatial extent of the diseases diverged. Surveillance data of tick-borne pathogens (2007 to 2018) and reported human cases of HGA (n=4,297) and human babesiosis (n=2,986) (2013 to 2018) from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) showed a …

Top 30 Cm Soil C Org Stocks, Isotopic C Org Signature (13dc) And Fine Sediment Content (Silt And Clay %) Estimated In Soil Cores Sampled In Seagrass Meadows Around Australia [Dataset], Ines Mazarrasa, Paul Lavery, Carlos M. Duarte, Anna Lafratta, Catherine E. Lovelock, Peter I. Macreadie, Jimena Samper-Villarreal, Cristian Salinas, Christian Sanders, Stacey Trevathan-Tackett, Mary Young, Andy Steven, Oscar Serrano

Research Datasets

This database contains data on top 30 cm soil biogeochemical properties from soil cores (minimum length of 30 cm) sampled in seagrass (n=201 cores) and adjacent unvegetated patches (n=39) around Australia.

Average biogeochemical properties per core along with information about type of environment, biotic characteristics and environmental conditions.

In particular, the variables included in sheet 1 are:

- Core ID (column A): core code

- Location (column B): name of the region of the sampling site.

- Latitude / Longitude (columns C, D): latitude and longitude

- Bioregion (column E): classified the sampling sites according to …

Temporal Changes In Unisexual And Sexual Ambystoma Salamander Populations In Southeast Michigan, Kelsey B. Mitchell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change drives changes in organisms’ geographic ranges that can lead to shifts in population structure. Unisexual (all female) Ambystoma salamanders reproduce via kleptogenesis, resulting in ploidy-variable offspring. I analyzed genetic data of historic and modern-day unisexual and A. laterale samples from the University of Michigan’s E. S. George Reserve using epidermal cell nuclei measurements and microsatellite loci. I found that population composition has shifted away from the more northern-distributed A. laterale and toward populations dominated by unisexuals in five out of six ponds. There was a significant relationship between the proportion of A. laterale to unisexuals and pond size …

Predictors Of Bat Species Richness Within The Islands Of The Caribbean Basin, Justin D. Hoffman, Gabrielle Kadlubar, Scott C. Pedersen, Roxanne J. Larsen, Peter A. Larsen, Carleton J. Phillips, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Several mechanisms have been shown to influence species richness among island ecosystems, yet most studies limit their focus to a few predictor variables. The objective of this study is to investigate variation in Chiropteran richness across islands in the Caribbean Basin with an extensive set of predictor variables. Using recent faunal surveys, the most contemporary list of bat species per island was complied. Data were collected on 17 predictor variables, which summarized five general island characteristics including island area, isolation, habitat diversity, human impact, and climate. An information-theoretic approach was used by fitting alternative candidate models to determine which variable(s) …

Impacts Of Climate And Insect Herbivory On Productivity And Physiology Of Trembling Aspen (Populus Tremuloides) In Alaskan Boreal Forests, Melissa A. Boyd, Logan T. Berner, Patricia Doak, Scott J. Goetz, Brendan M. Rogers, Diane Wagner, Xanthe J. Walker, Michelle C. Mack

Aspen Bibliography

Climate change is impacting forested ecosystems worldwide, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere where warming has increased at a faster rate than the rest of the globe. As climate warms, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is expected to become more successful in northern boreal forests because of its current presence in drier areas of North America. However, large-scale productivity decline of aspen has recently been documented throughout the United States and Canada as a result of drought and insect outbreaks. We used tree ring measurements (basal area increment (BAI) and stable carbon isotopes (δ 13C)) and remote sensing indices …

Scavenging In The Anthropocene: Human Impact Drives Vertebrate Scavenger Species Richness At A Global Scale, Esther Sebastián‐González, Jomar Magalhães Barbosa, Juan M. Pérez‐García, Zebensui Morales‐Reyes, Francisco Botella, Pedro P. Olea, Patricia Mateo‐Tomás, Marcos Moleón, Fernando Hiraldo, Eneko Arrondo, José A. Donázar, Ainara Cortés‐Avizanda, Nuria Selva, Sergio A. Lambertucci, Aishwarya Bhattacharjee, Alexis Brewer, Erin Abernethy, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Kelsey Turner, James C. Beasley, Travis L. Devault, Andrés Ordiz, Camilla Wikenros, Barbara Zimmermann, Petter Wabakken, Christopher C. Wilmers, Justine A. Smith, Corinne J. Kendall, Darcy Ogada, Evan R. Buechley, Ethan Frehner, Maximilian L. Allen, Heiko U. Wittmer, James R.A. Butler, Johan T. Du Toit, John Read, David Wilson, Klemen Jerina, Miha Krofel, Rich Kostecke, Richard Inger, Arockianathan Samson, Lara Naves‐Alegre, José A. Sánchez‐Zapata

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding the distribution of biodiversity across the Earth is one of the most challenging questions in biology. Much research has been directed at explaining the species latitudinal pattern showing that communities are richer in tropical areas; however, despite decades of research, a general consensus has not yet emerged. In addition, global biodiversity patterns are being rapidly altered by human activities. Here, we aim to describe large‐scale patterns of species richness and diversity in terrestrial vertebrate scavenger (carrion‐consuming) assemblages, which provide key ecosystem functions and services. We used a worldwide dataset comprising 43 sites, where vertebrate scavenger assemblages were identified using …

Sociodemographic And Climatic Factors Shaping The Development Of Drought Policies In Major U.S. Cities, Riana S. Gayle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In most parts of the world, drought is an inevitable and natural occurrence. However, as the climate continues to warm, and populations grow and expand, the negative impacts of this extreme weather event are predicted to become more pronounced. This leads many communities and stakeholders to question what is being done to prepare society for widespread drought? The following research determines different social and atmospheric characteristics that affect a city’s likelihood of having a drought policy in place.To do this, a thorough search was conducted at the city level to determine where drought policies are currently located in theU.S. The …

Quantifying Climate Sensitivity And Climate-Driven Change In North American Amphibian Communities, David A. W. Miller, Evan H Campbell Grant, Erin Muths, Staci M. Amburgey, Michael J. Adams, Maxwell B. Joseph, J. Hardin Waddle, Pieter T. J. Johnson, Maureen E. Ryan, Benedikt R. Schmidt, Daniel L. Calhoun, Courtney L. Davis, Robert N. Fisher, David M. Green, Blake R. Hossack, Tracy A. G. Rittenhouse, Susan C. Walls, Larissa L. Bailey, Sam S. Cruickshank, Gary M. Fellers, Thomas A. Gorman, Carola A. Haas, Ward Hughson, David S. Pilliod, Steve J. Price, Andrew M. Ray, Walt Sadinski, Daniel Saenz, William J. Barichivich, Adrianne Brand

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Changing climate will impact species’ ranges only when environmental variability directly impacts the demography of local populations. However, measurement of demographic responses to climate change has largely been limited to single species and locations. Here we show that amphibian communities are responsive to climatic variability, using > 500,000 time-series observations for 81 species across 86 North American study areas. The effect of climate on local colonization and persistence probabilities varies among eco-regions and depends on local climate, species life-histories, and taxonomic classification. We found that local species richness is most sensitive to changes in water availability during breeding and changes in …

Age And Growth Of Cottonwood Trees Along The Missouri River, North Dakota, Jonathan M. Friedman, Fisher R. Ankney, J. Marshall Wolf

The Prairie Naturalist

The relict plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides subsp. monilifera) forest along the Missouri River between Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe includes trees as large as two meters in diameter. We cored 24 of these trees to determine their age and suitability for flow reconstruction. Because most of the trees were rotten in the center, we developed a method to estimate the date of the center ring that accounts for the increase in ring width toward the center. Estimated center ring dates were as early as 1806. Cottonwood growth at a dry site was correlated with April–August flow prior to construction of Lake …

Using A Design Charrette And State Of The Art Coastal Modeling To Support Local Government Adaptation To Sea Level Rise, Carol Macilroy, John Doyle, Eric Grossman, Guillaume Mauger

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The majority of the Town of La Conner sits at an elevation (MLLW) of 8-13 feet where over the last number of years Town staff have gone from seeing the baseboards of their overwater business district being reached once or twice every four to five years to being reached four to five times a year. These high water events come at great expense to the Town and leave the Town regularly just shy of a major disaster. The Town of La Conner partnered with the Skagit Climate Science Consortium (including USGS, UW Climate Impacts Group and Western Washington University) and …