Life Sciences Commons^™

A New Model Species For Cultured Teleost Retinal Cell Studies: Light And Scanning Electron Microscopy, Lori Ann Steinfeldt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Purpose: To examine retinal horizontal and bipolar cells cultured from goldfish (Carassius auratus), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) on the light and electron microscope levels; and to compare them with cells from a more established model, the wild white bass (Roccus chrysops). Methods: Retinas from all species were dissociated by methods developed with wild white bass (Dowling et al., 1985). Cell type was identified within the first 3 hr and cells were cultured for up to 2 wk in L-15 medium. At various intervals, cells were fixed in glutaraldehyde, …

Discussion And Measurement Of Soil Erosion In Iceland, Kimberly Jane Richardson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Soil erosion has occurred since the beginning of time. It is a natural process, but one that has been increasing at an alarming rate. Once soil is eroded--whether it is blown out to sea or washed down a river to sedimentize a lake--it is lost. It is almost impossible to reestablish similar soil components and characteristics in a given system. Since soil and vegetation reestablishment is expensive, the prevention of soil erosion by controlling its causes has become the most cost-effective reclamation effort.

After spending six months in Iceland, I wrote this paper on the unique erosion problems facing that …

Does Competition Drive Community Structure? An Analysis Of Grasshopper Competition, H. Joseph Lachowski

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

lnterspecific competition has been broadly defined as a negative-negative relationship between species that share a limiting resource. The impact of competition on ecological communities is a widely debated topic (Schoener 1982). Thus community structure is very complex and, in addition to competition, can be influenced by many factors, including climate, disease, parasites, and predation (Hairston et al. 1960; Stower & Greathead 1969; Wiens 1977). The importance of competition depends upon the importance of other processes (Welden & Slauson 1986).

Good To The Last Drop And Crumb: Better Living Through Yeast Byproducts, Brad Willis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A crisp pilsner beer, still dripping from its icy spot in the cooler, complements any sunny summer barbecue, while in the winter a rich burgundy warms the throat and soul, a perfect fireside companion. The mothers who frequent the Wonder bread discount outlet demonstrate to what extent our hectic society takes the staff of life for granted. It is difficult to imagine them actually baking every loaf, roll, bun, and donut that they toss into their carts while herding rambunctious broods down the narrow aisles. Rarely does anyone give a second thought to these ancient components of civilized life beyond …

Augmentation Of Natural Populations Of Entomophagous Insects Through The Use Of Secondary Food Sources, John Swallow

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Local densities of predators, including ladybeetles, parasitoids, big-eyed bugs, and minute pirate bugs, increased with the application of artificial honeydew, consisted of sugar and wheast dissolved in water. Sugar, rather than wheast, was the active ingredient causing predators to aggregate, although wheast prolonged the effect of the sugar treatment for the ladybeetles. Furthermore, the artificial honeydew treatments had a marked effect for a period of one week. These results suggest a potentially important role of the use of synthetic honeydew as a means of pest control in an Integrated Pest Management system.

A Comparison Of The Energy Metabolism And Cooling Rate Methods Of Determining Thermal Conductance In Mongolian Pheasants (Phasianus Colchicus Mongolicus), Robert Pendleton

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Thermal conductance is defined as the net rate of heat transfer from an organism to its environment. Previous studies have employed two methods of measuring thermal conductance: the oxygen consumption method and the cooling rate method. This study was designed to determine if the two methods give similar conductance values for the same animal. Mongolian Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus mongolicus) were used. The results from this study suggest that the two methods don't give similar conductance values. I found that conductance values measured by the oxygen consumption method on a live animal were lower than those conductance values measured by the …

The Use Of Animal Behavior As A Tool For Biological Control, Melissa Biscornet

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Animal behavior, the way that an animal acts, is a combination of instinctive traits and learned responses to particular situations (Robinson and Bolen 1984). Behavior in young animals involves several different learning mechanisms, including the following: generalization, social facilitation, neophobia, cue-consequence specificity, and harvesting skills. Preferences instilled in young animals through learning can influence diet selection, grazing patterns, and habitat selection later in life (Squibb et al. 1990)

Mink Research: Wet Vs. Wet/Pellet Feeding Programs, Troy W. Hobbs

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Hobbs Fur Farm, of Franklin, Idaho, has been feeding the Fur-Pro pellet (made by Fur Breeders CO-OP, Midvale, Utah) for the past 8 years. Tim Hobbs, the owner, questioned the efficacy of the pellet feed. His concern was the quality of pelt being produced by mink on the wet/pellet feed program. A comparison of mink raised on the wet/pellet feed program vs. mink raised solely on a wet feed program was performed to determine if any significant differences could be noted.

Immunological Characterization Of An Sds/Kcl Isolated Total Protein Antigen Of Bluetongue Virus Serotype 13, Vicki L. Shore

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Because of the damaging effects of bluetongue disease on the livestock industry, interest exists in developing a means of inducing passive immunity in infected animals. Antibodies against VP2, the polypeptide responsible for immunoantigenicity in bluetongue virus (BTV), have been found to elicit neutralizing antibodies; however, production of this purified antigen is very costly and thus impractical for commercial purposes. Total viral protein, prepared by a simple, rapid, highly reproducible SDS/KCl method, was injected into rabbits and found to produce antibodies which are useful in immunoblots. However, plaque neutralization assays failed to detect any neutralization activity by these antibodies. Denaturation of …

Seed Rain Patterns During Early Recovery On A Strip-Mined Site In Southwestern Wyoming, Hal W. Gordon

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Revegetating surface-mined soils of the western United States is a major problem facing natural resource managers today. The Surface Mine Reclamation and Conservation Act (SMRCA, Public Law 95-87) requires that the opera tor: "… establish on the regraded areas, and all other lands affected, a diverse, effective and permanent vegetative cover of the same seasonal variety native to the area of land to be affected and capable of self-regeneration and plant succession at least equal in extent of cover to the natural vegetation of the area ... "

Historically, most of the coal produced in the U.S. came from the …

Forage Utilization Estimated By Height-Weight And Grazed-Plant Methods, Joann Clark

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Determining utilization has been one of the most difficult tasks required of range scientists down through the years (Pieper 1973). Utilization is defined as the portion of the current year's growth of the plant that the animal consumes or destroys. For this reason it is difficult to measure utilization because you are trying to measure something that no longer exists.

Numerous methods have been developed for determining utilization. Some methods are rapid while others are more detailed and time consuming, but may give greater accuracy.

This study was done to see how well utilization estimates made by the grazed-plant method …

The Role Of Plant Hormones In Grass Tiller Development, Marit Snow

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Two bunchgrass species commonly found in the Intermountain West, Agropyron spicatum and A. desertorum, are morphologically similar but respond to defoliation very differently. A. desertorum produces more daughter tillers and is more hardy than A. spicatum. Hormones were applied to experimental plants to observe changes in tillering rates, growth rates, and response of plants to the stress of exogenous hormone application. Gibberellic acid treatments were related to increased tiller height in both species, but also a decrease in daughter tiller production in A. desertorum and an increase in senescence in A. spicatum. Kinetin increased senescence in A. desertorum. Auxin showed …

A Report On A Pilot Study On Cattle Grazed Patches In Herbaceous Vegetation, Victor Povilaitis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Since the late 1960's, the term station (Goddard 1968), feeding station (Novellie 1978, Underwood 1982), and feeding site (Underwood 1983) have been used to describe the area in front of a foraging animal in which it can access forage without moving its front legs. The area is a hypothecial semicircle in front of the grazing animal, but the vegetation actually impacted by defoliation may be considered a "grazed patch," which may be the sum of several feeding stations. As animals graze the vegetation in an area, grazed patches are created. Presently, it is undocumented if such patches influence the behavior …

Effects Of Self-Pollination In The Genus Pinus, Liz Cole

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The problems of self-pollination among trees are a major concern to foresters. Silvicultural practices have an effect on the frequency of self-pollination.For example, a cut, such as a shelterwood or seed tree, reduces the number of individuals in the breeding population and increases the distance between individual trees. This tends to increase the frequency of self-pollination. These effects can either be helpful or harmful depending on the goals of the forester. Therefore, a basic understanding as to the effects of self-pollination on trees is necessary. The point of focus in this paper is the genus, Pinus.

Self-pollination occurs naturally in …

The Effect Of Urea On The Sedimentation Coefficient Of The Curly Top Virus Dimer, Allen H. Smith

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect of increasing concentrations of urea on the sedimentation rate of the curly top virus dimer as measured by ultracentrifugation techniques. In general, urea causes the breaking of hydrogen bonds in macromolecules--in the case of the virus, increased concentrations of urea should cause changes in the configuration of the virus and may possibly cause a separation of the dimer into monomers. From previous centrifugation studies, we know that the dimer has a characteristic sedimentation coefficient(S) of about 80 Svedbergs; the monomer has an S value of about 55 Svedberg units. Increased …

Effect Of Salinity On Glycogen Content In The Brine Shrimp, Artemia Salinas, Of Great Salt Lake, Christon H. Merkley

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The brine shrimp, Artemia salinas, is one of the few organisms to be found in the hostile environment of the Great Salt Lake. Salt concentrations in the lake are found to exceed those in the oceans. In such an environment, the utilization of energy, even after it has been procured, presents a problem. The life inhabiting the lake has developed extraordinary adaptations to this and similar problems.

Electron micrographs produced by Dr. Nabil Youssef of Utah State University have revealed that unusual quantities of glycogen can be found in the muscle of brine shrimp taken from the Great Salt Lake. …

Measurement Of Soil Water Potential By Adsorption Conductivity, V. Philip Rasmussen Jr.

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Current methods of measuring soil water potential are reviewed, and the limitations of each are noted. The need for a transducer that will measure soil water potential over a wide moisture range for long periods of time is delineated. The concept of utilizing an adsorptive surface that resembles the soil in its water holding capacity as a transducer is discussed. Various designs and materials are tested for such a transducer.

All designs tested did not fulfill the requirements needed for a truly useful transducer. However, experimental results show that modification of the adsorptive surface should allow construction of a unit …

The Effect Of The Herbicide Glyphosate On The Growth Of Selenastrum Capricornutum, Judith Susan Eisen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The herbicide glyphosate (MON-0139), an isopropylamine salt of N- (phosphonemethyl)glycine, was tested to determine its effects on the growth of the fresh water green alga Selenastrum capricornutum. Experiments were carried out to determine algicidal, algistatic, and inhibitory concentrations of the compound.

Concentrations from 5 ppm to 1000 ppm were inhibitory to the growth of the alga, but the effects were algistatic, rather than algicidal. At concentrations from 0.1 ppm to 1.0 ppm the growth of the alga was stimulated by the presence of the herbicide, while at concentrations from 0.001 ppm to 0.05 ppm the effects of the herbicide were …

Aldo Leopold's "Land Ethic": An Ecological Extension Of Albert Schweitzer's "Reverence For Life", John Lee Weaver

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

As a member of the world community, and in the process of becoming a professional ecologist, I have begun a search for a personal ecological ethic to guide my actions. Two of the paths I have taken in my search are Albert Schweitzer's Reverence for Life ethic and Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic. They are relevant because each has extended the scope of ethics beyond Homo Sapiens. Their thoughts, with similarities and dissimilarities, form herein my travels.

Transfer Of Fr Response Rate Bias To Fi Trained Guinea Pigs By Injection Of Brain Homogenate, Lief Carlsen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

In an attempt to delineate the physiological and/or chemical nature of the memory process, some researchers have reported that by introducing all or part of the brain of a trained animal into the bloodstream of another animal, the recipient thereby "acquires a tendency" to respond as the donor was trained. However, almost as many researchers have failed to obtain significant results.

Because many of the early experiments had less than optimum designs, their results were often equivocal. Critics frequently pointed out that perhaps increased learning efficiency was due merely to a sensitizing or stimulating effect of the injection and not …