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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Ecology Of The Elusive: Genome-Informed Investigation Of Soil Microbial Diversity, Lauren Alteio
Ecology Of The Elusive: Genome-Informed Investigation Of Soil Microbial Diversity, Lauren Alteio
Doctoral Dissertations
Soil is considered one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, harboring diversity of organisms across the three domains of life. It is spatially and chemically heterogeneous: properties that intertwine in a complex matrix to support organismal diversity and function across different scales. Soil microorganisms both respond to and drive changes in ecosystems through metabolic activities. A single gram of soil is teeming with millions of cells comprised of thousands of species. Much of this diversity remains uncharacterized due to technical and methodological challenges faced by soil ecologists. Due to the complex physicochemical properties of soil and cross-feeding interactions between …
The Effectiveness And Applicability Of Amphibians As Indicator Species For Long-Term Monitoring Of Ecological Changes In New England Forests, Ahmed Siddig
Doctoral Dissertations
The objective of this study is to assess the potential of two amphibians species, Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus (Green)) and Eastern Red-spotted Newt (Notopthalmus viridescens viridescens Rafinesque), as indicator species of forest disturbances at Harvard Forest, located in Petersham, Massachusetts, United States. Specifically, I 1) assess the impacts of these focal species to decline of hemlock forests in Harvard Forest; 2) calibrate abundance indices of P. cinereus based on artificial and natural objects surveys with a population size estimator based on depletion sampling; and 3) assess the potential of these salamanders as indicator species by developing an …