Life Sciences Commons^™

Under The Surface: Human Disturbance Reduces Species Richness In Glade Microhabitats, Maddie Smith, Becky Hansis-O'Neill, Aimee Dunlap Phd

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Human disturbance can alter microhabitats in ways that affect biodiversity, especially in sensitive ecosystems like glades where many animals rely on rocks for thermoregulation and refuge. This study examined how rock displacement by human activity influences species richness and community composition in glade habitats at Shaw Nature Reserve and Victoria Glades Conservation Area. We hypothesized that disturbed rocks would be less suitable for wildlife and would support fewer species. From September to November 2025, about 30 rocks per site were pseudo-randomly selected and monitored. Each rock was classified as displaced or nondisplaced, and all organisms found beneath them were recorded. …

The Application Of The Group Investigation (Gi) Model Of Cooperative Learning To Improve Students’ Understanding Of Biodiversity In Year 10 At Sman 2 Mori Atas, Nadia Rosmita Lumako, Mohammad Jamhari, Yulia Windarsih, Lilies Lilies, Rafiqa Rafiqa, Amalia Buntu

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

Biology instruction at SMAN 2 Mori Atas was predominantly conducted through conventional teaching practices. Preliminary observations revealed that students had difficulty understanding biodiversity concepts, and several students did not meet the minimum passing criterion of 70. These conditions highlighted the need for learning activities that promote active investigation, discussion, and conceptual connections. This classroom action research examined the use of the Group Investigation (GI) cooperative learning model to improve Grade 10 students’ classroom engagement and conceptual understanding of biodiversity, as assessed through Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions based on the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The study involved …

Genomic Analysis Reveals New Subspecies Of Cercyonis Scudder, 1875 (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini), Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Todd L. Stout, Michael S. Fisher, Robb Hannawacker, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Genomic analysis of Cercyonis (Cercyonis) Scudder, 1875 (Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815) partitions the subgenus into three species groups and reveals five new subspecies from the USA (type localities in parentheses): Cercyonis (Cercyonis) pegala koosharem Stout and Grishin, ssp. n. (Utah, Sevier Co.), Cercyonis (Cercyonis) pegala lasala Grishin, M. Fisher, and Hannawacker ssp. n. (Utah, Grand Co.), Cercyonis (Cercyonis) pegala hortoni Grishin, ssp. n. (Arizona, Gila Co.), Cercyonis (Cercyonis) meadii maculana Grishin, ssp. n. (Colorado, Montezuma Co.), and Cercyonis (Cercyonis) meadii rimana Grishin, ssp. n. (Arizona, Yavapai Co.). A neotype is designated for Satyrus boopis Behr, 1864 (USA, California, Contra Costa Co.). …

Spider Biodiversity And Insecticide Sensitivity Across Active And Restored Cranberry Bogs On Nantucket, Tyler J. Kulak

Graduate Masters Theses

Spiders are one of the most diverse groups of organisms on the planet with over 53,000 species described as of 2026. They provide a suite of ecosystem services including their regulation of problematic pests in agricultural systems, appearing in high biomasses across a breadth of ecological niches. While beneficial as pest regulators, they are also susceptible to the same management techniques as pest organisms and are especially vulnerable to chemical control. Cranberry production in Massachusetts likely benefits from spider ecosystem services, but diversity research on spiders in these systems is limited. This study compares the diversity of spider populations from …

Reconstructing Stand-Age Structure In A Wet Miombo Woodland Using Dendrochronology, Zambia, Clara Tiyembekeze Zulu

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dendrochronological research in tropical Africa has remained limited, leaving critical gaps in stand-age structure and climate-growth relationships in seasonally dry tropical woodlands. This study reconstructed stand-age structure and assessed climate sensitivity in the wet Miombo woodland of African Explosives Limited (AEL) forest, Copperbelt Province, Zambia. Field sampling was conducted during four African Dendrochronology Fieldschools (2021-2024) using a Modified Variable Area Transect (MVAT) design across nine plots. The series intercorrelation was 0.351; the average mean sensitivity was 0.423. The oldest tree was 170 years old, and more than 70% of the sampled species showed potential for dendrochronology. Markhamia obtusifolia was the …

Butterfly Taxa Discovery Via Genomic Analysis, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Expanding a genomics-guided assessment of butterfly taxonomy, we integrate phylogenetic evidence from all protein-coding genes with morphological considerations to refine our understanding of butterfly systematics and discover new taxa. As a result, 2 subgenera, 39 species, and 5 subspecies are proposed as new (type species in original combinations or type localities are listed in parentheses): Erebia (Magda) magdalena uintana Grishin, ssp. n. (USA: Utah, Uintah Co.) in Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815; Myselasia rondea Grishin, sp. n. (Brazil: Rondônia), Myselasia pseudocrinon Grishin, sp. n. (Ecuador: Pastaza), Myselasia paramatuta Grishin, sp. n. (Ecuador: Morona-Santiago), Euselasia anapellos Grishin, sp. n. (Peru: Loreto), …

Scientific Note: Here The Whole Time: A Revised Understanding Of White Alumroot (Heuchera Alba, Saxifragaceae) In The Susquehanna River Valley., Anais Barnes, Madeline Wickers, Scott Schuette, Tanisha M. Williams, Ryan Folk, Christopher T. Martine

Faculty Journal Articles

Heuchera alba and H. pubescens (Saxifragaceae) are closely related species of alumroot endemic to the Appalachian region of eastern North America that can be difficult to distinguish morphologically. Heuchera pubescens has been understood to occupy a range from Kentucky to Pennsylvania, with the distribution of H. alba restricted to Virginia and West Virginia—plus a recently-recorded extension into Pennsylvania discovered with the help of social media. The uncovering of H. alba in Pennsylvania has challenged historical perceptions of Heuchera distributions in the state, particularly as this relates to the current concept of H. pubescens which may be in need of revision. …

Soil Health Analysis (Lesson 2), Mara Johnson, Madhav P. Nepal, Jiyul Chang

iLEARN Teaching Resources

In this lesson, students will build on the previous lesson (reading and analyzing the Three Sisters chapter from Braiding Sweetgrass) by experimenting on soil in their schoolyard. Students will collect soil samples from multiple locations around their school grounds and evaluate soil texture, structure, infiltration, color, organic matter, and pH. Students Through field observations and laboratory analysis, students examine how soil characteristics influence plant growth and ecosystem health. Students connect modern soil science with Indigenous agricultural knowledge, particularly the Three Sisters planting system described in Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. By exploring how healthy soil supports sustainable agriculture, …

Satellite-Based Forest Structure Metrics As A Predictive Tool For Biodiversity In Hyperdiverse Tropical Forests: A Test Of The Habitat Heterogeneity Hypothesis In The Tropics, David Luther, Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, Aline Medeiros, Aidan Mccarthy, Emilia Roberts, Xiaoxuan Li, Paulo Bobrowiec, Jared Wolfe, Gabriel Augusto Leite, Tomaz Nascimento De Melo, José W. Ribeiro, Thiago Bicudo, Konrad Wessels

Michigan Tech Publications

Tropical forests hold the most species yet face the greatest threats and knowledge gaps. To improve tropical biodiversity knowledge we combined satellite-based LiDAR with in situ bird, mammal, and acoustic soundscape data, via camera and audio recorders, at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project in the Amazon rainforest and tested the habitat heterogeneity-diversity hypothesis as a predictor of alpha diversity in tropical forests. GEDI spaceborne LiDAR was used to assess the predictive power of vertical forest structure on acoustic diversity and species diversity in lowland tropical forests. In 4 months, we detected 201 bird and 35 mammal species representing …

Adapting Population Genetics, Practice, And Policy For Plant Conservation In A Changing World, Cooper M. Kimball-Rhines

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Biodiversity conservation is an inherently interdisciplinary goal that requires effective collaboration among academics, ecosystem managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Codesigning research with these groups ensures experiments are useful and improves adoption of policy and practice recommendations while advancing our understanding of basic science. This dissertation explores the power of codesigned research in shaping plant conservation strategies using stakeholder engagement, causal inference, demographic modeling, and multi-omic sequencing techniques. In chapter 1 I discuss the history of New England ecosystems and the need for research-driven changes to plant conservation policy and practice in the face of global change. In chapter 2, I …

Watershed Amendments: Assembling New Pervious Ground From Landscape Waste, Sophie Kaplan-Bucciarelli

Masters Theses

In Providence, Rhode Island, much of the downtown area is built over a vast historic tidal estuary. Though we no longer see the salt marshes, wooded bluffs, or meadows that once characterized this landscape, we recognize their absence in contemporary crises of urban heat, flooding, polluted soils and stormwater runoff, and habitat loss. These conditions are particularly acute along the city’s industrialized river corridors, where vacant lots and parking areas sit idle, their history paved over and potential constrained by limited imagination and resources.

These lots - already experiments in fill and land building after centuries of disturbance - can …

Invasive Macrofungi In The United States: A Mushrooming Crisis, Emily Torres

Student Theses 2015-Present

Globalization has accelerated the spread of invasive species, making them one of the largest contributors to biodiversity loss worldwide. While invasive macrofungi remain largely absent from scientific discourse on invasive species, they represent a growing ecological concern throughout the United States. Invasive macrofungi disrupt forest ecosystems, alter soil communities, and displace native fungi. Beyond these ecological impacts, their presence and establishment profoundly affect human-nature relationships, most notably mushroom foraging and cultivation practices. This paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to examine the ecological, economic, and anthropogenic impacts of invasive macrofungi in the United States. Chapter 1 provides a quantitative overview of …

Monitoring Biodiversity Growth In An Oyster Reef Restoration: Understanding How Oyster Reef Life Cycle May Impact Biodiversity., Gabriel A. Roses

Theses and Dissertations

Oyster reefs are vital to marine ecosystem health, improving water quality and providing food and habitat for diverse species. We assessed biodiversity changes for a proposed oyster reef restoration site to help guide management, future assessment, and deepen understanding of how oyster reefs function and their ecosystems dynamics.

Mammalian Biodiversity Of The Easley Conservation Stewardship Area, Grayson C. Belt

Honors College Theses

Monitoring wildlife is an important part of conservation and is particularly vital for newly acquired conservation areas to provide a baseline of what is present. In 2025, the 22 ha Murray State University Easley Conservation Stewardship Area (MSU ECSA) was established following a donation to the university by Melissa Easley. I conducted a survey using trail cameras at the ECSA in fall 2025 and winter 2025/26 to record mammalian diversity. The survey consisted of two subprojects: a mesomammal subproject of 18 knee height trail cams and a small mammal subproject using 15 custom small mammal bucket cameras. I uploaded all …

Evaluating The Impact Of Intercropping Vegetables And Cut Flowers On Yield And Conservation Biological Control, Alliance Igiraneza

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Specialty crops such as vegetables are some of the most susceptible to yield losses and increased management difficulty over time due to pests. One of the potential solutions to this problem, which aims at ensuring the sustainability of the sector, is using conservation biological control practices such as intercropping to increase diversity, while maintaining the economic feasibility and profitability of the system. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of this management practice using Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. King Arthur) as the main crop, intercropped with flowers including zinnia (Zinnia elegans var. Benary’s Giant), sunflower ( …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Gardening With Native Plants, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Lawrence Krissek

All Current Publications

Native plants form the foundation for healthy local and regional ecosystems. By adding native plants to your gardening and landscape plans, you will contribute to nature’s best hope for the soil health, habitat resilience, and biodiversity we need for a brighter, more sustainable future.

Where The Ice Plant Reaches: Mapping Biodiversity Shifts Along Distance Gradients From Carpobrotus Edulis, Leon Hong, Patrick Thomas, Steven Kim, Florybeth La Valle

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This study examined the influence of the invasive ice plant Carpobrotus edulis on species richness and biodiversity in Bluffs Park. Because previous research suggests that C. edulis suppresses nearby native flora, our team used quadrat and transect sampling to measure plant diversity at seven distances from the invasion edge (1 m, 3m, 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m, 30 m). Flora were identified using iNaturalist and recorded. Shannon diversity showed no significant change with distance (ANOVA: F₆,₄₂ = 1.34, p = 0.18), and assumptions of normality and equal variance were met. Tukey’s post-hoc tests found no significant pairwise differences. Community composition based …

Hidden Diversity In A Clonal Endemic: Insights Into Clematis Socialis From A Population Genetics Perspective, Joanna M. Lapoint

Theses

Clematis socialis (Kral) is a rare, federally endangered perennial species restricted to a small number of fragmented populations in Alabama and Georgia. The species exhibits extensive clonality and limited sexual recruitment, characteristics that complicate expectations regarding genetic diversity and population connectivity. Despite its conservation significance, genome-wide assessments of population structure have been lacking. We used genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) to generate a genome-wide SNP dataset for 170 individuals sampled from six natural populations. Population structure and genetic differentiation were evaluated using Bayesian clustering, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), pairwise FST estimates, and network-based visualization. Analyses revealed strong genetic structuring among populations and …

The Highs And Lows Of Life In A Valley: Topographic Controls On Tundra Vegetation In A Warming Arctic, Ruth S. Dunlap

Biology Honors Projects

Topographic heterogeneity structures Arctic plant communities, impacting broader ecosystem responses to climate change. The role of topography in shaping leaf physiological, nutritional, and structural traits in the Arctic is important, yet not well characterized across diverse tundra landscapes. To address these controls, we examined plant community composition and measured leaf traits in a few representative species along a heath-slope-valley gradient in Varanger, Norway. Our results indicated that valleys are more biodiverse, driven by forb and graminoid dominance, whereas slopes and heaths had less diversity with high shrub abundance. Leaf physiology and structural traits did not vary across topographic positions, though …

Testing The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis On Anthropogenic Pressure In Central Alabama, Gavin Terrell

Theses

Biodiversity is fundamental to maintaining ecosystem structure and function globally. Prior to the late 20th century, ecological theory generally predicted that biodiversity would be highest in systems experiencing minimal disturbance. However, Joseph H. Connell challenged this view with the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis (IDH), which posits that species diversity peaks at intermediate levels of disturbance and declines under conditions of both low and high disturbance. Although widely cited, the applicability of the IDH to natural systems remains debated, particularly in the context of anthropogenic disturbances and when diversity is measured beyond species richness alone.

This study evaluated the predictions of the …

Snapshot Usa 2024: Year 6 Of The Coordinated National Camera Trap Survey Of The United States, Brigit Rooney, Roland Kays, Michael V. Cove, Alex Jensen, Daniel J. Herrera, Camilla Price, Phuong-Thao Nguyen-Nu, Katrina Adamczyk, Peter D. Alexander, Drew R. Davis

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

Motivation: SNAPSHOT USA is an annual, multi-contributor camera trap survey of mammals across the United States. The growing SNAPSHOT USA dataset is intended for tracking the spatial and temporal responses of mammal populations to changes in land use, land cover and climate. These data will be useful for exploring the drivers of spatial and temporal changes in relative abundance and distribution, as well as the impacts of species interactions on daily activity patterns.

Main Types of Variables Contained: SNAPSHOT USA 2024 contains 377,427 records of camera trap image sequence data and 3127 records of camera trap deployment metadata.

Spatial Location …

Meta Analysis Of The Riverine Barrier Hypothesis In Mainland Southeast Asia, Gavin Kohl, Christian Furness, Eleanor Savage, Perry Van Wagoner, Randy Klabacka

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2026

Understanding the drivers of biodiversification is an important objective in evolutionary biology

Yet much is still unknown regarding the mechanisms that drive biodiversity in species

Identifying barriers between lineages is a viable approach to discovering potential drivers

Seeds Of Change - Building Community And Resilience With Plant Guilds, Roslynn Mccann, Liliane Dionne, Kevin White

All Current Publications

The goals of this Grade 6 living systems/biodiversity curriculum are to highlight Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) contributions to science, technology, and sustainable agriculture, with a focus on relational worldviews, permaculture practices, and respect for Mother Earth. Students will conduct plant experiments, learn Indigenous stories, make corn husk dolls, create a recipe, and enjoy eating their soup creation.

Three Butterfly Genera Across The Central Texas Suture Zone, Qian Cong, Jing Zhang, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Genome-scale analyses of butterfly specimens across the Central Texas Suture Zone revealed that several taxa currently treated as subspecies exhibit genomic differentiation similar to that observed between species. Further investigation and genomic sequencing of additional specimens from across the ranges of these taxa support this conclusion and result in the following changes to nomenclature and taxonomy. Two new subspecies of Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815 are described: Asterocampa louisa monterra Grishin, ssp. n. (type locality in Mexico: Nuevo León) and Asterocampa clyton plana Grishin, ssp. n. (type locality in USA: Texas, Denton Co.). The following taxa are recognized as species, not subspecies: …

Initial Changes In Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Species Assemblages Near Seasonal Ponds Surrounded By Forests Under Different Harvesting Practices, Robert A. Haack, Toby Petrice, Robert E. Acciavatti, Robert L. Davidson, Brian J. Palik

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Seasonal ponds often form after spring snowmelt in forests of the Great Lakes region. Although such seasonal ponds are common, few US states set buffer-width guidelines to protect them when harvesting the adjacent upland forest. The objectives of this study were to determine if the carabid beetle assemblages near seasonal ponds differed from those in the adjacent upland forests prior to any logging, and then if these assemblages changed in response to various levels of tree harvesting within and adjacent to the 15-m-wide buffers that surrounded the seasonal ponds. The traps were placed within the buffers at about 7.6 m …

A Taxonomic Overview Of The Apodemia Mormo Complex From A Genomic Perspective, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Genomic analysis of the Apodemia mormo group (Riodinidae Grote, 1895 (1827)) specimens across the range from southwestern Canada through much of the western USA and northwestern Mexico, complemented by phenotypic examination and photographs of live individuals to inspect eye color, partitions the complex into eight species, one of which is proposed as new: Apodemia (Apodemia) apache Grishin, sp. n. (type locality in USA: Arizona, Apache Co.), and three elevated from subspecies of A. mejicanus: Apodemia (Apodemia) maxima (Weeks, 1891), stat. rest., Apodemia (Apodemia) deserti W. Barnes & McDunnough, 1918, stat. nov., and Apodemia ( …

Dna Metabarcoding Approach To The Determination Of The Diet Spectrum Of The Common  Sunbleak Leucaspius Delineatus (Heckel, 1843), Elena V. Dzyuba, Yurij S. Bukin, Bakhtiar E. Bogdanov, Yulia P. Sapozhnikova, Natalia N. Denikina

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The common sunbleak (Leucaspius delineatus) is an invasive fish found in Siberian  water bodies, the trophic interactions and impact on local ecosystems of which  remain poorly understood. Traditional diet analyses are limited by the mechanical  damage to the prey. For the present study, therefore, we employed DNA  metabarcoding of the cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1) gene to analyze the digestive  tract contents of the common sunbleak obtained from Irkutsk Reservoir. Our analysis  revealed 53 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), with sequences of amphibiotic  insects (58.66%) and fish (34.10%) being the most prevalent. A significant proportion  of the fish DNA, including sequences …

Avian Use Of Early Successional Riparian Forest Along The Missouri River: What Do We Lose By Managing For Plovers And Terns?, Stephanie Nefas

Dissertations and Theses

Riparian ecosystems provide habitat for birds throughout their annual cycle, yet flow regulation along major rivers like the Missouri River has reduced early successional riparian forests. Following historic flooding in 2011, set-aside areas within the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) were established to allow natural riparian vegetation succession on newly created sandbars. I evaluated the value of these early successional forests for birds over three breeding seasons (2018–2020) and four migration periods (2020–2021). During migration, standardized point counts documented 7,462 individual birds representing 114 species across 828 surveys. Avian diversity was positively correlated with vertical habitat complexity, with the canopy …

Impacts Of Native And Nonnative Plant Species On Avian Community Diversity, Matty John Mackay, Steven Van Dang, Brandon Lee Corn

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Avian communities play an essential role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem dynamic by regulating insect populations, assisting in plant pollination, and seed dispersal. These contribute to the overall health of natural ecosystems and mitigate ecological disruptions that would arise in their absence. However, the introduction of non-native invasive plant species can interrupt the balance avian communities bring to ecosystems by reducing availability of food sources, altering habitat structures, increasing competition among individuals, and disrupting ecological relationships through rapid invasion of ecological spaces. Point count observations of birds at Shelby Bottoms Park, Nashville, Tennessee in areas dominated by non-native privet and …

Three Decades Of Classifying Threatened Species: Lessons Learned From And About The Iucn Red List Criteria For Quantifying Extinction Risk, H. Resit Akçakaya, E. J. Milner-Gulland, Mike Hoffmann, Helen M. Regan, Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis, Andre E. Punt, Kevin J. Gaston, David A. Keith, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Simon N. Stuart, Nigel J. Collar, Moreno Di Marco, Monika Bohm, Alex J. Berryman, David P. Mallon, Axel Hochkirch, Nicholas K. Dulvy, Malin Rivers, Thomas M. Brooks, James R. S. Westrip, Jonathan Paul Rodriguez, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Janet Scott, Simon Tarr, Sophie H. Ledger, Christi Linardich

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the most widely used global system for assessing species' extinction risk, has become a foundational source of information for conservation management, policy and research. Since the adoption of quantitative extinction risk criteria more than three decades ago, the Red List has expanded substantially in scope and influence, informing decisions ranging from species conservation and protected area designation to international agreements, corporate risk assessments and global biodiversity indicators. Given its central role, maintaining scientific rigour, transparency and trust in the Red List system is essential. Feedback from users, emerging from evolving applications and scientific …