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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Activity Patterns Of Whiptail Lizards (Aspidoscelis) Found In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Guillermo Alvarez
Activity Patterns Of Whiptail Lizards (Aspidoscelis) Found In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Guillermo Alvarez
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Traditional lizard pitfall traps were modified to allow organisms to escape, while collecting valuable ecological data. Modified camera traps were capable of detecting the same species as traditional traps in a semi-arid environment, without posing the associated mortality risks. Pitfall-camera traps were used to sample the activity of the Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana) and the Southwestern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus cowlesi) in an urban wetland during four continuous years. Evaluations on activity pattern and the activity overlap between the two species revealed extensive overlap, with minor but significant seasonal shifts mediating coexistence. Traps were also effective at detecting other reptiles, invertebrates, …
Population Genetics Of Two Sympatric Species, The Round-Tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma Modestum) And The Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus Texanus), In The Indio Mountains Of West Texas, Logan Miles Horne
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Population genetics of two sympatric species, the round-tailed horned lizard (phrynosoma modestum) and the greater earless lizard (cophosaurus texanus), in the Indio mountains of West Texas.
Pacific Black Duck Ecology And Habitat Assessment In Aunu'u, American Samoa, And Their Relationship To Other Mallard-Like Ducks Of Oceania, Greater Indonesia, And The Philippines, Marissa Kaminski
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Determining a species’ ecological needs, assessing the quality of their habitat, and determining genetic differentiation and connectivity among populations is essential to their conservation. My dissertation focuses on obtaining such a holistic view for a population of Pacific Black Ducks recently established on the Island of Aunu’u, American Samoa. Specifically, I present the first evaluation of the ecology and habitat of a recently established population of Pacific Black Ducks on the Island of Aunu’u, American Samoa, in Chapter 1, while I assess the genetic connectivity and relationship of this population to other Mallard-like ducks found in Greater Indonesia, Oceania, and …
Fishers' Ecological Knowledge And Stable Isotope Analysis: A Social-Ecological Systems Approach To Endangered Species Conservation, Kathryn Rose Wedemeyer-Strombel
Fishers' Ecological Knowledge And Stable Isotope Analysis: A Social-Ecological Systems Approach To Endangered Species Conservation, Kathryn Rose Wedemeyer-Strombel
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Identifying developmental habitat is essential for understanding population structure and species resiliency, especially for critically endangered species. In long-lived, oceanic, migratory animals such as sea turtles, elucidating developmental grounds is particularly difficult. When data are deficient or challenging to acquire, scientists often lean towards traditional quantitative methods when a social-ecological systems approach could better provide crucial baseline data and guiding information. Fishers ecological knowledge (FEK), the combination of experiential and culturally transmitted knowledge, is expert knowledge and should be treated as such. In 2008, FEK led to the rediscovery of the critically endangered eastern Pacific (EP) population of hawksbill sea …
An Assessment Of The Role Of Roads In Population Demography And Genetic Structuring In Two Species Of Lizards In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Kevin Floyd
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Roads can fragment habitat and increase mortality rates of wildlife, potentially reducing population sizes and gene flow, which in turn can reduce genetic diversity through genetic drift. Although negative road impacts have been found in a variety of taxa, not all species are impacted. For instance, species that move less and rarely encounter roads and those that avoid the roads are predicted to not be negatively affected. Yet tests of these predictions are uncommon, especially for reptiles and particularly lizards. Side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) are small sit-and-wait predators, while the larger marbled whiptails (Aspidoscelis marmorata) are active foragers. Their responses …