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Articles 1 - 19 of 19
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Relationship Between Changing Land Cover And Benthic Macroinvertebrate Diversity In Choccolocco Creek, Northeast Alabama, Kindall Brown
The Relationship Between Changing Land Cover And Benthic Macroinvertebrate Diversity In Choccolocco Creek, Northeast Alabama, Kindall Brown
Theses
Land cover changes, driven by urbanization, agriculture, and deforestation, significantly affect the physical and chemical characteristics of water bodies at both the watershed and riparian levels. At the larger spatial scale, a stream’s surrounding watershed facilitates lateral inputs into the stream that are essential for biodiversity support, hydrological stability, and water quality. When a stream becomes disconnected from the lateral inputs due to urban or agricultural development, the morphology of the stream is significantly altered. On a smaller spatial scale, the riparian zone can act as a buffer to pollutants. The vegetation surrounding the stream bank promotes stability to the …
Patterns In Winter Stonefly Distribution Along A River Continuum And Land-Use Gradient In Northwest Arkansas Streams, Zachary Tipton
Patterns In Winter Stonefly Distribution Along A River Continuum And Land-Use Gradient In Northwest Arkansas Streams, Zachary Tipton
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Freshwater ecosystems are facing a crisis with extinction rates of aquatic species exceeding those of their terrestrial counterparts by up to fivefold. This decline is predominantly attributed to evolving land use patterns within watersheds, leading to chemical and physical transformations in freshwater habitats. Northwest Arkansas (NWA) represents one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States, undergoing substantial shifts in land use. Consequently, the status of aquatic life in this region remains uncertain. Addressing this concern, the latest Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan emphasizes the necessity of distribution and population data to guide conservation efforts for Species of Greatest Conservation Need …
Ecological Impacts Of Invasive Crayfish In A Naïve Riparian System, Gregor L. Hamilton
Ecological Impacts Of Invasive Crayfish In A Naïve Riparian System, Gregor L. Hamilton
Biology ETDs
Aquatic and riparian food webs are inextricably linked. In deserts, they provide critical energy subsidies to surrounding terrestrial food webs, but these vital subsidies are not guaranteed; streams in arid lands are especially sensitive to perturbations. In this dissertation, I investigated the role of an oft-cited threat to stream communities in the lower Colorado River basin: non-native crayfish. I contributed to methodologies in passive integrated transponder use and length-weight relationships in crayfish to aid future research. I leveraged stable isotope analysis of δ15N, δ13C, and δ2H to understand crayfish role in the food webs. …
Spatial Drivers Of Freshwater Fish Biodiversity, Community Structure, And Diet Composition Across Georgia, Usa, Patrick Lewis
Spatial Drivers Of Freshwater Fish Biodiversity, Community Structure, And Diet Composition Across Georgia, Usa, Patrick Lewis
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The geographic complexity of the Southeastern United States, in particular Georgia, is evident in the diversity of stream habitats present throughout that host unique stream fish communities but is threatened by anthropogenic activity. This spatial complexity can be captured through the ecoregion framework, which delineates areas of distinct habitat. However, this differing habitat character between ecoregions leads to different environmental pressures that may promote species heterogeneity between communities, may create intraspecific niche diversity in widely distributed species, and may complicate the transferability of widely accepted theoretical models of fish ecology between them. I analyzed a long-term fish community dataset, examining …
Importance Of Instream Habitat To Recruitment And Community Structure Of Aquatic Invertebrates, Catherine R. Billé
Importance Of Instream Habitat To Recruitment And Community Structure Of Aquatic Invertebrates, Catherine R. Billé
Master’s Theses
This thesis investigates how mechanisms of colonization by aquatic insects, both by ovipositing adults and or larval drift, operate at either micro-, meso-, or macro-scales to influence larval community assemblage in streams. Our study took place in a forested floodplain stream characterized by uniform soft clay and loose detritus substrate. Within this study reach we built three sets of riffles, with each set comprised of three identical riffles built either 15, 10, or 5 m apart. We examined microscale influences on community assemblage by studying recruitment of egg masses to our constructed riffles. We found that riffle habitat additions were …
The Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Stream Communities: The Convergence Of Drought, Nutrient Pollution, And Invasive Species, Robert Joseph Fournier Iii
The Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Stream Communities: The Convergence Of Drought, Nutrient Pollution, And Invasive Species, Robert Joseph Fournier Iii
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Freshwater systems experience multi-faceted degradation from a variety of ecological and environmental stressors. Three common stressors in these systems, drought, nutrient pollution, and invasive species, have wide-ranging effects on stream population- community- and ecosystem dynamics. We have a broad understanding of how each of these stressors works to influence stream systems independently. However, we still know relatively little about if, and how, these stressors might interact when they co-occur. Though drought is a natural part of many stream systems, all three of these stressors can be exacerbated or facilitated by anthropogenic actions. Accordingly, as human population and resource use continue …
Early Life History And Stock Discrimination Of Kokanee Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) In An Alpine Lake Environment, Alexandra Mccarrel
Early Life History And Stock Discrimination Of Kokanee Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) In An Alpine Lake Environment, Alexandra Mccarrel
All Master's Theses
This study examines an ecologically and recreationally important population of kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) residing in Keechelus Lake and its tributary Gold Creek in the central Cascades of Washington State. This population of kokanee salmon is a vital food base for a population of ESA-listed resident bull trout. However, little is known about the early life history of this population and how it interacts with unique features in its rearing environment. With my research I described the early life history of kokanee salmon that spawn in the lake’s main tributary, Gold Creek, and proposed a framework to determine …
Investigating The Role Of Long Distance Dispersal In The Response Of Stream Fishes To Urbanization, Andrea Davis
Investigating The Role Of Long Distance Dispersal In The Response Of Stream Fishes To Urbanization, Andrea Davis
Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses
I conducted a 7-month mark-recapture study in two watersheds differing in urban impact in order to assess the role that long distance dispersal plays in the response of tolerant stream fishes to urbanization. Our two stream sites included a heavily impacted urban stream (watershed impervious surface cover ~30%) and a mildly impacted rural stream (watershed impervious surface cover ~6%). Species of interest were marked with 12mm HPT PIT tags and included a specialist, Campostoma oligolepis (n=189 urban site, 200 rural site) and a generalist, Lepomis auritus (n=136 urban site, 182 rural site). Three resampling instances for each site were conducted …
The Mixed Source Chinook Salmon Fishery In Lake Huron: A Comparison Of Spawning And Foraging Habitat Use By Naturalized And Hatchery Fish, Stephen A.C. Marklevitz
The Mixed Source Chinook Salmon Fishery In Lake Huron: A Comparison Of Spawning And Foraging Habitat Use By Naturalized And Hatchery Fish, Stephen A.C. Marklevitz
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were introduced into the Great Lakes to restore top-down control of the food web and create new recreational fisheries. Soon after introduction, naturalized spawning populations became established, and with continued stocking of hatchery fish, created a mixed source fishery. My research provides new ecological information about the contributions of naturalized fish to the mixed source Chinook salmon fishery in Lake Huron. I examined spawning and foraging habitat use by naturalized and hatchery Chinook salmon using multiple methods to identify sources of individual fish (external tags, hatchery fin clips, and otolith microchemistry). In the Sydenham …
Assessment Of Arctic Grayling Re-Introduction Potential In The Big Manistee River, Michigan., Cameron Goble
Assessment Of Arctic Grayling Re-Introduction Potential In The Big Manistee River, Michigan., Cameron Goble
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports
Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus were once the dominant fluvial salmonid species in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. By the late 19th century most populations in the State had experienced drastic declines and by 1936 the species was declared extinct in Michigan. Beginning in 2011 the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Michigan Technological University partnered on research to determine the feasibility of re-establishing the species in the Big Manistee River watershed which was home to one of the last Arctic Grayling populations in the Lower Peninsula. The objectives of this research were to: A) assess abiotic habitat suitability for Arctic …
Plum Run And Its Watershed: A Short Course In Stream Ecology, Winfield Fairchild, Tim Lutz, Joan Welch, Danielle Difederico, Mike Mcgeehin, Katherine Broadbent, Danielle Varnes
Plum Run And Its Watershed: A Short Course In Stream Ecology, Winfield Fairchild, Tim Lutz, Joan Welch, Danielle Difederico, Mike Mcgeehin, Katherine Broadbent, Danielle Varnes
Joan Welch
No abstract provided.
Dietary Effects On The Stoichiometry Of Growth, Regulation, And Wastes Of Ozark Stream Insect Detritivores, Halvor Matthew Halvorson
Dietary Effects On The Stoichiometry Of Growth, Regulation, And Wastes Of Ozark Stream Insect Detritivores, Halvor Matthew Halvorson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
A widespread stressor, anthropogenic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution can increase resource nutrient content and alter animal community composition in freshwater ecosystems. In this dissertation, I used ecological stoichiometry theory to examine effects of diet nutrient content and leaf litter type on growth, regulation, and wastes of aquatic invertebrate detritivores. I tested effects of leaf litter diet carbon:phosphorus (C:P) on growth and stoichiometric regulation of the detritivorous caddisfly Pycnopsyche lepida and used results to determine a threshold elemental ratio of oak litter C:P=1620 that confers peak growth of this species. This empirical, growth-based approach provided a more accurate estimate …
Baseline Study Of Recovering Headwater Streams In The Sapphire Mountains, Western Montana, Morgan Vinyard
Baseline Study Of Recovering Headwater Streams In The Sapphire Mountains, Western Montana, Morgan Vinyard
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
Many riparian areas in the western United States have been degraded by grazing and logging. In the year 2000, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) re-initiated an effort to identify and characterize reference streams, or least impacted streams in each region of the state. In Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, most streams have been impacted by grazing, irrigation, and timber production. The Montana DEQ has not been able to identify reference streams in the Sapphire Mountains on the east side of this valley. MPG Ranch, located on the west-facing slopes of the Sapphire Mountains and purchased in 2009 by a conservation-minded …
Monitoring Fish Diversity In Massies Creek, Ohio, Connor J. Gilmour, Jenelle C. Krob, Angela Mccain, Mark A. Gathany
Monitoring Fish Diversity In Massies Creek, Ohio, Connor J. Gilmour, Jenelle C. Krob, Angela Mccain, Mark A. Gathany
The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)
Streams are susceptible to numerous threats to their water quality and biodiversity. In our region of southwest Ohio a major driver of these impacts is associated with current and past agricultural practices. These changes include straightening, embanking, dredging, and removal of large rocks and woody debris, increased erosion, and non-point source pollution. These structural and chemical impacts are known to significantly affect biodiversity in these streams. This means a greater understanding of stream ecology is of utter importance to places such as Greene County, Ohio due to the prevalence of agricultural practices in the landscape. In 2010 a 2.2 mile …
Plum Run And Its Watershed: A Short Course In Stream Ecology, Winfield Fairchild, Tim Lutz, Joan Welch, Danielle Difederico, Mike Mcgeehin, Katherine Broadbent, Danielle Varnes
Plum Run And Its Watershed: A Short Course In Stream Ecology, Winfield Fairchild, Tim Lutz, Joan Welch, Danielle Difederico, Mike Mcgeehin, Katherine Broadbent, Danielle Varnes
Plum Run Stream Organism Survey Documents
No abstract provided.
Extent, Characteristics And Downstream Effects Of Stream Enclosure In Southwestern Ontario, Katie L. Stammler
Extent, Characteristics And Downstream Effects Of Stream Enclosure In Southwestern Ontario, Katie L. Stammler
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
In a 16000 km2 area of southwestern Ontario, almost 15% of all streams have been enclosed (buried) largely for agricultural purposes. ArcGIS was used to characterize the natural features of catchments and to calculate enclosedness (proportion of stream network enclosed; x̅ = 16.5%, n = 10106). Catchments with the highest enclosedness received >990 mm of precipitation annually and had high drainage density (>1.9 km/km2), while catchments with the lowest enclosedness receivedannually, were characterized by clay and undrumlinized till plains and had relatively shallow water tables (m). These natural features influence where enclosure is likely to occur, …
The River Discontinuum: Applying Beaver Modifications To Baseline Conditions For Restoration Of Forested Headwaters, Denise Burchsted, Melinda Daniels, Robert Thorson, Jason Vokoun
The River Discontinuum: Applying Beaver Modifications To Baseline Conditions For Restoration Of Forested Headwaters, Denise Burchsted, Melinda Daniels, Robert Thorson, Jason Vokoun
Center for Integrative Geosciences
Billions of dollars are being spent in the United States to restore rivers to a desired, yet often unknown, reference condition. In lieu of a known reference, practitioners typically assume the paradigm of a connected watercourse. Geological and ecological processes, however, create patchy and discontinuous fluvial systems. One of these processes, dam building by North American beavers (Castor canadensis), generated discontinuities throughout precolonial river systems of northern North America. Under modern conditions, beaver dams create dynamic sequences of ponds and wet meadows among free-flowing segments. One beaver impoundment alone can exceed 1000 meters along the river, flood the valley laterally, …
Nutrient Cycling In Impacted Stream Ecosystems: From Microbes To Watersheds, David Van Horn
Nutrient Cycling In Impacted Stream Ecosystems: From Microbes To Watersheds, David Van Horn
Biology ETDs
The conditions found in stream ecosystems are an integration of watershed characteristics and processes. Anthropogenic disturbances are part of this integration and include direct inputs to streams, alteration of riparian areas, and modification of catchment properties which affect material inputs. Impacts to discrete portions of terrestrial watersheds combine as water moves down gradient, transporting the byproducts of catchment disturbances to streams including, nutrients, organic materials, particulates, and toxins. This dissertation explores the effects of disturbance on nutrient cycling in stream ecosystems at three spatial scales: the patch scale includes localized processes and assemblages, the reach scale encompasses tens to hundreds …
The Response Of First And Second Order Streams To Urban Land-Use In Maine, U.S.A., Chandler Morse
The Response Of First And Second Order Streams To Urban Land-Use In Maine, U.S.A., Chandler Morse
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of streams draining 20 catchments in Maine, U.S.A were compared to determine the influence of increasing urban intensity on stream ecosystem structure. The catchments had varying levels of urban land-use (percentage of the total impervious area within the catchment) ranging from 1-31%. Stream habitat quality, stability, and water quality consistently decreased as the proportion of impervious surface area increased within the catchment. .Indices based on stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities showed even stronger declines as a function of increasing impervious area in the study catchments. Streams draining catchments with levels of impervious surfaces <6% had higher levels of both total and Ephemeroptera + Plecoptera + Trichoptera (EPT) taxonomic richness. With increased levels of urban intensity, benthic macroinvertebrate communities in streams were characterized by decreased numbers of sensitive taxa. Taxa considered to be moderately sensitive to anthropogenic stress (e.g. Acerpenna (Ephemeroptera), Paracapnia …