Life Sciences Commons^™

Body Size Variation In Two Adjacent Populations Of Black Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis Nigra) In East Tennessee, Jesse Weber, Joshua Ennen

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Pelagic Larval Duration Links Life History Traits And Species Persistence In Darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae), Morgan Jessica Douglas

Masters Theses

Pelagic larval duration (PLD) likely influences evolutionary processes including dispersal, genetic connectivity, and extinction in aquatic organisms. PLD has been well studied in marine systems, but very few freshwater species have been studied. Darters are a diverse group of freshwater North American fish with available information on the length of this stage from propagation efforts. There is surprising variation in the length of this stage ranging from 0 to 60 days. By compiling information from Conservations Fisheries, Inc. (Knoxville, TN) and the literature, we were able to make comparisons between the PLD of 23 species and other life history characteristics. …

Ant Community Dynamics And The Effects Of Global Warming, Katharine Lisa Stuble

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to provide an understanding of how species coexist and, further, how climate change may alter communities by acting on the mechanisms that promote coexistence. Specifically, I examined coexistence among ant species in eastern deciduous forests and the effects that warming may have on foraging activity. Through a series of field observations, I sought evidence for the importance of four of the most commonly cited mechanisms for coexistence among ant species: the dominance – discovery tradeoff, the dominance – thermal tolerance tradeoff, spatial segregation, and niche partitioning. In this system, I did not find evidence for any of …

Genetic Variation And Dispersal In Penstemon Hirsutus And P. Tenuiflorus, Anna Katherine Becker

Masters Theses

Studying plant-pollinator relationships essential for understanding angiosperm evolution. In the large endemic genus Penstemon (Plantaginaceae), shifts in pollination syndrome are proposed to be important for explaining taxonomic and morphological diversity (Wilson et al., 2004; Wolfe et al., 2006). However, little work has been done to determine the relationship between morphological and genetic divergence within pollination syndromes. This study utilized genetic data to explore whether divergence in corolla morphology among nine closely related, bee pollinated Penstemon species was consistent with pollinator-driven selection.

Bee pollinated species in Penstemon subsection Penstemon are often divided into two morphological groups based on inflation of the …

Federal Conservation Spending Allocated By Agency, Emily Clare Manneschmidt

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.