Life Sciences Commons^™

Survey Of Amphibians And Reptiles In Powhatan County, Virginia With Selected Natural History Notes, Jason Daniel Gibson

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis establishes baseline data on the herpetofauna that exist in Powhatan county. No systematic study of the amphibians and reptiles in Powhatan county has ever been conducted. The methods used in this survey include hand capture, egg mass observations, road kill collections, and frog call surveys. Documentation of each species collected included measurements, photographs, range maps, and tape recordings.

This survey produced 8 species of salamanders, 11 anurans, 6 turtles, 4 lizards, and 14 snakes. Based on records in the Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Virginia (Mitchell & Reay, 1999), 11 new county records were discovered. This brings …

The Impact Of Resident And Transient Predators On The Popultation Dynamics Of Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) In Florida Bay, Florida, Jason Edward Schratwieser

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

There has been a considerable amount of research devoted to exploring the relationship between predators and prey, but many of these studies fail to address how predation can vary over spatial and temporal scales. The tendency of ecologists to model predation as a static entity often masks its capacity for creating distinctive effects in prey populations and communities. Most predation studies also focus on the effect of a single species of predator on a prey population, an unrealistic situation in nature. In the Florida Keys, juvenile spiny lobsters are subjected to two general classes of predators: i) "resident" predators such …

A Study Of The Seasonal Composition And Abundance Of Phytoplankton And Autotrophic Picoplankton In A Brackish Water Lake In Portsmouth Virginia, Jennifer Leigh Wolny

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The phytoplankton and autotrophic picoplankton populations of Hoffler Lake, a brackish-water lake in Portsmouth, Virginia, were monitored from May 1997 through May 1998, Analyses of the phytoplankton community using the Utennohl method showed a dominance of Chlorophytes (61-88% of the total abundance) throughout the year, including a winter bloom of Chlamydomonas snowii (maximum concentration of 2.5 x 101 cells/L). Subdominants were Cyanobacteria (10-33% of the total abundance) whose composition included several species of Anabaena, Lyngbya, and a fall bloom of Microcoleus sp. Diatoms, dinoflagellates, and cryptophytes played a secondary role in the phytoplankton community of Hoffler Lake. …

Development Of A Novel Method For Phenol Detection Using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography, Danette Young Carlton

Theses & Honors Papers

The purpose of this study was to develop a more efficient method to test for phenol in both wastewater and non-wastewater. Phenol is a caustic and toxic contaminant that may be present in our water supplies. Phenol is used in various resins, pharmaceuticals, plastics and disinfectants. Environmental Protection Agency methods are available to test for phenol using gas chromatography along with mass spectrometry or flame ionization detection. Each of these methods can be a long, involved process consisting of extraction, many sample injections, and interference problems. This method developed an easier and less complicated approach of testing for phenol in …

Functional Success Of Six Constructed Bottomland Hardwood Forests In Central And Western Kentucky, Ryan W. Mccall

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Ryan W. McCall on January 25, 1999.

Benthic Biodiversity And Physico-Chemical Parameters Of Acid Mine Drainage, Acid Impacted And Nonimpacted Streams, Stephen D. Greene

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

South Fork of Sand Lick Creek, Logan County, West Virginia, drains an abandoned coal strip mine which had exploited Pottsville series coalbeds (Pennsylvania strata). These strata outcrop throughout southwestern West Virginia. North Fork watershed is relatively unchanged, save a small roadcut throughout. South Fork benthic community had not recovered although mining activity had ceased about 20 years earlier. Benthic communities were analyzed with detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). Family Chironomidae predominated South Fork benthic community throughout the study. North Fork’s benthic community had as major contributors acid resistant caddisfly family Hydropsychidae, mayfly family Baetidae, and stonefly families Perlodidae and Nemouridae. Family …

Distribution Of The Sucker Family (Pisces: Catostomidae) In The Ohio River, Tara L. Rose

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The family Catostomidae represents a major component of the fish fauna in the Ohio River. Because of their abundance, large biomass, and susceptibility to environmentally-induced anomalies, suckers are expected to significantly influence the Ohio River Fish Index (ORFIn), a biological index being developed by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) for large river systems. To correctly interpret information obtained from ORFIn, the impact of suckers upon the index must be thoroughly understood, including relative importance and uneven spatial distribution of Ohio River suckers. In this study, suckers represented 7.1 percent of the total fish captured and 36.6 percent …

Ecology And Natural History Of Rana Clamitans Melanota In West Virginia, Alison M. Rogers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Fourteen study sites were sampled with aquatic funnel traps and D-frame net sweeps in the plateau and mountain region of West Virginia to determine differences in larval period. Larval stage class abundance and larval total length and mass measurements were recorded from February to December 1997. Larval stage classes 25 and 26, the first free living stages, were absent from the plateau region from February to April, but were present in the mountain region. Pre-transformation larval stages, 40 through 44, were found from May through October, and peaked in July. Significant relationships were found with simple linear regression analysis between …