Life Sciences Commons^™

Heat Dissipation During Hovering And Forward Flight In Hummingbirds, Don Powers, Bret W. Tobalske, J. Keaton Wilson, Keeley R. Corder

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Flying animals generate large amounts of heat, which must be dissipated to avoid overheating. In birds, heat dissipation is complicated by feathers, which cover most body surfaces and retard heat loss. To understand how birds manage heat budgets during flight, it is critical to know how heat moves from the skin to the external environment. Hummingbirds are instructive because they fly at speeds from 0 to more than 12ms−1, during which they transit from radiative to convective heat loss. We used infrared thermography and particle image velocimetry to test the effects of flight speed on heat loss from specific body …

Thermal Transgenerational Plasticity And Its Effect On Competitive Ability And Consumer-Resource Dynamics In A Population Of Daphnia Ambigua, Holmes Julian

Biology Theses - Archive

Global temperature increases are predicted to quicken in pace this century, and with them so will the likely impact on natural populations. The extent to which organisms will be able to keep pace with and adapt to these environmental changes is an unanswered question. It has been demonstrated that changing environments can induce changes in phenotypes that persist across generations. TGP may be an important means for populations to cope with climate change stress, but our understanding of these interactions is incomplete. Prior work showed that Daphnia program their offspring for faster development when reared under cooler temperatures. Here I …

Non-Suitable Habitat A Cause For Declining Bobolink Populations In Northern Utah, Bethany Q. Unger

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryxivories, populations are declining in Utah. I characterized the habitat conditions of known bobolink nesting sites in Utah and compared these conditions to those for nest sites in Wisconsin where bobolinks are abundant. My habitat assessment included identifying vegetation species, vegetation cover, pH, temperature, and precipitation at each site location. Vegetation cover different between Utah and Wisconsin nest sites. Precipitation varied for both locations with no correlation between water availability and bobolink presence. One possible driver for the reduction in bobolinks throughout Utah is the drastic increase in temperature. Other possible external factors include livestock grazing, edge distance, …

Cardiovascular Regulation And Effects Of Respiratory Motor Training In Patients With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury., Bonnie Legg Ditterline

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation attempts to discover the mechanisms between cardiovascular and respiratory motor control post spinal cord injury (SCI): in normal, non-injured (NI) persons, cardiovascular regulation is dependent upon respiration, but there is nothing that suggests the mechanism for this relationship post-SCI. Thus we hoped to evaluate various aspects of cardiovascular regulation to further illustrate how this relationship is changed or unchanged by SCI. Chapter I describes the anatomy and physiology of the spine, respiratory system, and cardiovascular system in a NI person, and then describes how the function of these systems is changed by SCI. In addition, we describe therapies …

Misrepresentation Of Carbohydrate For Exercise: ‘It Is Time To Bust The Myth Of Physical Inactivity And Obesity: You Cannot Outrun A Bad Diet’, Patrick B. Wilson

Athletic Performance Research

The contention from Malhotra et al1 regarding the unimportance of carbohydrate for exercise is misguided. First, the reference they provide is an editorial2 that should not be viewed as high-quality evidence. Several oft-cited exercise studies showing benefits with high-fat diets simultaneously utilized carbohydrate restoration strategies,3 which involves “carbohydrate loading” after a high-fat diet. Thus, the evidence provided does not contradict the established belief that carbohydrate is an important fuel for endurance exercise. Second, the authors’ use of the term “carbohydrate loading” is misleading in this context. No public health organizations advocate a diet containing carbohydrate in amounts used in “carbohydrate …

Efficiency Of Energy Utilization And Fecal Mineral Excretion In Holstein And Jersey Dairy Cows, Gabriel Garcia Gomez

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Eight multiparous Holstein and 8 Jersey dairy cows were used to complete energy balance trials designed to determine the effect of breed on the production and energy efficiency of milk, and energy partitioning. A repeated switchback design was used to compare the effect of cow breed. Diets consisted of 24.5% corn silage, 18.4% alfalfa hay, 6.9% grass hay, with either 22.9% rolled corn and 14.8% soybean meal (CON) or 8.95% rolled corn and 28.8% reduced fat distillers grains (RFDDGS) DM-basis. Diets were offered ad libitum for a 28 d adaptation period and 95% ad libitum for a 4 d collection …

Forage News [2015-12], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• New Seed Coating for Alfalfa
• Forage News Quote of the Month
• *New for Forage News* - Featured Publication: Managing Diseases of Alfalfa
• Successful International Grassland Congress
• Tall Fescue in the 21st Century is the Focus for the 2016 Virginia Winter Forage Conferences
• Heart of America Registration Open
• UK Ag Equine Programs to Host Equine Showcase, Breeder's Short Course
• Heart of America Grazing Conference Registration Form

Effect Of Raised Body Fat On Vitamin D, Leptin And Bone Mass, Syeda Sadia Fatima, Saad Farooq, Maaida Asif Tauni, Omar Irfan, Faiza Alam

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Objective: To estimate leptin, vitamin D and bone mineral density levels in individuals with high fat mass, and to assess any correlation.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Basic Medical Sciences Institute, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, and Aga Khan University, Karachi, from August 2012 to July 2014, and comprised healthy male volunteers between the ages of 18-60 years. Body fat percentage was determined using bioelectrical impedance analysis and the participants were classified as: Group A (15-21.9); Group B (22-27.9); and Group C ( > 28). Bone mineral density was calculated by ultrasound bone densitometer (T-score between +1 and …

Fsh/Lh Ratio In Females And Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, Rehana Rehman, Hareem Syed, Najeeha Talat Iqbal, Sara Arif, Saeeda Sheharyar

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Objective: To observe the effect of follicle stimulating hormone-luteinizing hormone ratio on oocyte parameters, quality of embryo, implantation and clinical pregnancy rate after intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Methods: The retrospective study was conducted at a fertility clinic in Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised data of primary infertile females who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection from June 2011 to March 2013. All subjects had duration of infertility more than two years, and age range was 20-40 years. Follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on day 3 of the cycle and the ratio was calculated. Groups were stratified on …

A Shell By Any Other Name Would Be Mislabeled — Adventures In Nomenclature, David Campbell

Department of Natural Sciences Faculty Publications

Finding the right name for a specimen involves two major issues. First, there is the question of nomenclature-what names are appropriate designations for species? Is the name legally proposed or not? Is it spelled correctly? Secondly, there is the question of systematics - are these two forms different enough to deserve recognition as separate species, genera, etc.?

Biotic Potential And Reproductive Parameters Of Spodoptera Dolichos (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) In The Laboratory, Débora Goulart Montezano, Daniel R. Sosa-Gómez, Silvana L. Vieira De Paula Moraes, Vânia F. Roque-Specht, Edegar Fronza, Neiva M. Barros, Alexandre Specht

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The biotic potential and reproductive parameters of Spodoptera dolichos (Fabricius, 1794) were evaluated under controlled conditions (25 ± 1°C, 70 ± 10% RH and 14 hour photophase). The longevity, pre-, post- and oviposition periods, fecundity, and fertility of 25 couples were evaluated. The longevity of females (12.9 days) was not significantly different than that of males (12.4 days). The mean durations of the pre-, post- and oviposition periods were 3.0, 0.4 and 10.4 days, respectively. The mean fecundity was 4,086.0 eggs per female and mean fertility was 3,557.8 larvae per female. On average, a female copulated 1.4 times. The biotic …

2015 Fall Migration Bird Banding At Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area, Holly Garrod

Nebraska Bird Review

It was a different season of bird banding this year at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska. Due to construction at the nature center, the banding station was moved farther down the road to one of the picnic shelters. The habitat remained mostly the same, with Ponderosa Pine and multispecies-shrub understory dominating the unique ridge landscape characteristic of Wildcat Hills. The new site provided more shrub understory but lacked the running water of Turkey Creek and the bird feeders at the nature center. Bird Conservatory of the Rockies (formerly Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory) has been banding …

Nebraska Bird Review (December 2015) 83(4), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Fall Field Report, August–November 2015 ... 154

2015 Fall Migration Bird Banding at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area … 183

South Sioux City Fall Field Days ... 186

Index to Volume 83 … 192

Subscription and Organization Information ... 207

Index To Volume 83

Nebraska Bird Review

Aird, Bruce 156
Akers, Danny 135
Allen, Edward 5, 49, 56, 144, 157
Anderbery, DeAnna 49
Anderson: Branden 50; Kapri 50
Armknecht, Henry 5
Arp, Dennis 56
Arthur, Noah 5, 49, 57, 135, 158
Arterburn, S. W. 148
Aubushon: Cathy 49; Dorothy 49
Avocet, American 65, 88, 112, 164
Azar, Adrian 104

. . .

Yellowlegs: Greater 11, 65, 88, 112, 165, 186, 188; Lesser 11, 24, 66, 88, 112, 165, 186, 188
Yellowthroat, Common 79, 91, 121, 177, 190

Zambon, Teri 6
Zonotrichia/eucophrys: gambelii 180; leucophrys 82, 180; oriantha 82: leucophrys × oriantha 82
Zwartjes, William 106

Book Reviews: Bumble Bees Of North America. Paul H. Williams, Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson, And Sheila R. Colla., Samuel O’Dell

The Prairie Naturalist

Bumblebee identification is generally considered straight- forward, yet mistakes often are made due to the degree of similarity between the color patterns of different species. Bumble Bees of North America aims to improve the accuracy of identifications by both casual observers and professionals through the use of intuitive diagrams, descriptions, and the more technical dichotomous keys. In addition to providing the first complete field guide to North American bumblebees, the authors make efficient use of the reader’s attention by summarizing taxonomic history, favored food plants, and environmental issues concerning bumblebees.

Bumble Bees of North America is organized into three distinct …

Effects Of Short-Term Soil Conditioning By Cheatgrass And Western Wheatgrass, James J. O'Connor, Janet S. Prevey

The Prairie Naturalist

The exotic grass Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) is a ubiquitous invader in the western USA. Cheatgrass is a proficient competitor, frequently displacing native plants, forming monotypic stands and reducing biodiversity in ecosystems it invades. Our experiment tested whether short-term soil modification by cheatgrass and a predominant native grass, Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass), affected subsequent growth of both species. We compared productivity of cheatgrass and western wheatgrass by harvesting aboveground biomass of plants grown in either cheatgrass- or western wheatgrass-conditioned soils over two simulated growing seasons. Results indicated that cheatgrass soils do not inhibit the productivity of the native grass, but do …

North Shore: A Natural History Of Minnesota’S Superior Coast, Janet R. Koeugh

The Prairie Naturalist

Many readers of The Prairie Naturalist have lived along or visited Lake Superior’s coast. Like me, you have probably wondered about the geology and history of this beautiful and dramatic feature of northeastern Minnesota. Chel Anderson and Adelheid Fischer have written an accessible book that comprehensively describes the history and geology of the coast, surrounding highlands, and Lake Superior itself. In addition, the authors have provided fascinating subchapters on some of the most interesting species that are key elements of the region.

This rather large but beautiful book is arranged in five major chapters that cover the dominant geological units …

Remembering Paul B. Kannowski, Robert Seabloom

The Prairie Naturalist

I am saddened to report that Dr. Paul Kannowski passed away 3 September 2015, succumbing to cancer. He was 88. A native of Grand Forks, Paul attended the University of North Dakota for his B.S. and M.S. degrees, and the University of Michigan for his Ph.D. He joined the University of North Dakota Biology Department in 1957, retiring in 1990 after 33 years of service

Paul chaired UND’s Biology Department twice, totaling 13 years, considered to be a remarkable achievement by many of us who have been exposed to that task! His leadership was instrumental in the nearly exponential growth …

Variability In The Selection Patterns Of Pronghorn: Are They Really Native Prairie Obligates?, Paul F. Jones, Mike Grue, Mike Suitor, Darren J. Bender, Cormack Gates, Dale Eslinger, Julie Landry-Deboer

The Prairie Naturalist

In Canada, pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) are primarily considered a native prairie obligate because of their reliance on open grassland vegetation communities, although an assessment of local ecological knowledge suggests that pronghorn in Alberta select a variety of habitat from native prairie to cultivated lands. The primary objective of our study was to assess whether pronghorn in Alberta and Saskatchewan are native prairie obligates. Specifically, we addressed the following questions: 1) do individual pronghorn show similar selection patterns for native prairie and, therefore, support the notion that they are prairie obligates; 2) do pronghorn show consistent resource selection patterns …

Remembering The Days Of Old: Data Exploration And Simple Statistics, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! By the time you read this editorial, most of you will probably be enjoying spectacular seasonal changes in the outdoors this autumn and a hint of winter in the air (for those of us in the northern Great Plains region). I write this editorial during my favorite time of year, deer hunting in the Midwest. Temperatures are finally start- ing to resemble the fall and the Christmas Holiday season is just around the corner. Much like my children have images of Santa dancing in their heads on Christmas Eve, each fall I replay images of a trophy …

Notes: Woodpecker Forage Availability In Habi- Tat Disturbances Of The Black Hills, Brian E. Dickerson, Angie K. Ambourn, Mark A. Rumble, Kurt K. Allen, Chad P. Lehman

The Prairie Naturalist

Habitat disturbance events are critical to ecological systems in which some bird species have become specialized. The vegetation community, reduced competition, ability to avoid predators, nest-site characteristics, and forage opportunities within a disturbed ecosystem are all aspects that make it desirable for selection by particular species (Svärdson 1949, Cody 1981, Martin 1998). Specifically, avian species rely on the forest conditions created by fire, insects, and disease (Brawn et al. 2001, Hunter et al. 2001, Devictor et al. 2008). In the Black Hills National Forest (BHNF) of South Dakota,two major types of natural disturbances include wildfires and mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus …

Estimating Herbaceous Biomass Of Grassland Vegetation Using The Reference Unit Method, Eric D. Boyda, Jack L. Bulter, Lan Xu

The Prairie Naturalist

Aboveground net primary production provides valuable information on wildlife habitat, fire fuel loads, and forage availability. Aboveground net primary production in herbaceous plant communities is typically measured by clipping aboveground biomass. However, the high costs associated with physically harvesting plant biomass may prevent collecting sufficient data to account for natural spatial and temporal variability of vegetation at a landscape scale. Various double-sampling techniques have been developed to increase sample size while reducing cost. We applied a biomass estimation technique previously developed for estimating shrub biomass using representative samples or “reference units” to estimate herbaceous grassland biomass. Our reference units consisted …

South Sioux City Fall Field Days, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2015 NOU Fall Field Days took place in South Sioux City at the Americas Best Value Inn on Sept. 25–27. There were about 50 in attendance at the meeting, which was organized by Dave Heidt, Robin Harding, Jan Johnson, and Betty Grenon.

On Friday evening Ponca State Park Superintendent Jeff Fields told the group about the changes that have happened in Ponca State Park since its beginning in 1934 as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. It is the third oldest state park in Nebraska and now encompasses 2,400 acres. It boasts one of the oldest bur oaks in the …

Specialized Replication Operons Control Rhizobial Plasmid Copy Number In Developing Symbiotic Cells, Clarice Lorraine Perry

Theses and Dissertations

The rhizobium – legume symbiosis is a complex process that involves genetic cooperation from both bacteria and plants. Previously, our lab described naturally occurring accessory plasmids in rhizobia that inhibit this cooperation. A transposon mutagenesis was performed on the plasmids to detect the genetic factor that blocked nitrogen fixation. Several of the plasmids were found to possess a replication operon that when disrupted by transposon insertion, restored symbiotic function. This study describes an in-depth investigation into one of those plasmids, pHRC377, and into its replication operon. The operon, which we have called repA2C2, comes from the repABC family of …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 27, No. 5, December 2015

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Congratulations - Student News - Faculty News - Grants - Publications

Review Of "Race Unmasked: Biology And Race In The Twentieth Century" By M. Yudell, John B. Jenkins

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Native Deer Mice (Peromyscus Maniculatus) Use Of Invasive Grass Seed (Ehrharta Calycina) In Coastal California, Megan Wong

Biological Sciences

No abstract provided.

Economic Impacts Of The Kentucky Green Industry [2015], Dewayne L. Ingram, Alan Hodges

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

The green industry, comprised of firms engaged in the production and use of landscape and floral crops and related supplies and equipment and the design, construction, and maintenance of landscapes, has a significant impact on Kentucky’s economy. Green-industry enterprise owners, managers, and employees should be aware of their economic impacts, and policy makers and other state leaders need to know the importance of this industry as potential laws, regulations and resource allocations are considered. This publication is intended to provide a brief summary of the 2013 economic impacts of the green industry in Kentucky.

Distinguishing Softwoods From Hardwoods, Terry Conners

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Softwood and hardwood trees are made up of different types of cells. With just a little magnification, it’s easy to see that softwood growth rings look different from hardwood growth rings. Additionally, growth rings don’t look the same for all of the trees, and the growth ring appearance is one of the things we will look at to identify wood.

Characteristics Of Kentucky’S Nursery And Greenhouse Industries [2015], Dewayne L. Ingram, Winston Dunwell, Alan Hodges

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

The nursery and greenhouse industry in Kentucky is diverse and contributes significantly to the local and state economy. This industry represents the largest segment of Kentucky’s sales of horticultural products and is comprised almost completely of farm families. Nursery and greenhouse operations have historically been characterized as separate production systems and crops. However, today primary nurseries may also have greenhouses and/or produce herbaceous perennials and annuals to satisfy their customer base. On the other hand, many primary greenhouse firms that once grew mostly annuals and potted flowering crops have expanded their product line to include herbaceous perennials, often finished in …