Life Sciences Commons^™

Biodiversity In Grassland: Bangladesh Perspective, B. Hossain

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The rapidly increasing human population in Bangladesh has caused widespread damage to and disturbance of natural habitats and a loss of indigenous wildlife. There are now very few, if any, extensive patches of grassland in Bangladesh and any that might remain are inundated for two-thirds of the year with no alternative refugia available. Most remaining grassland areas are fragmented, heavily used and harvested up to three times a year. Furthermore, the reed lands of northeast Bangladesh were leased out for paper production and are reported to have been entirely destroyed and settled by encroachers. Tall grasslands around rivers and lakes …

The Global Environment Programme (Gef) And United Nations Development Programme (Undp) Supporting The Conservation Of Grassland Systems In Africa, W. A. Rodgers, M. Niamir-Fuller

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was created after the World's Environmental Summit in Rio in 1992. The GEF provides funding for developing countries to meet their responsibilities and commitments under global conventions. The GEF is the financing mechanism for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention for Combating Desertification (CCD). The conservation and wise use of grasslands can be supported through a variety of funding opportunities. The GEF channels support through Implementing Agencies, of which UNDP specialises in technical assistance and capacity building. The HQ of UNDP is in New York. There are Regional Offices …

Undp-Gef Grasslands Project: Conserving Mountain Biodiversity In Southern Lesotho, W. A. Rodgers

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Kingdom of Lesotho contains some 70% of the Drakensberg-Maloti Mountains, recognised as the Eastern Mountains "Centre of Biodiversity and Endemism" of southern Africa. The Mountains have globally significant plant diversity, with unique habitats and high endemism. These resources have been increasingly degraded by a grazing regime based on communal access, with reduced regulatory capability. Lack of ownership has restricted investment in conservation. Lesotho has the lowest Protected Area coverage of any nation in Africa (<0.4%). Biodiversity is thus at risk.

Undp-Gef Grasslands Project: The Southern Africa Botanical Network "Sabonet", Y. Steenkamp, W. A. Rodgers

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This six-year biodiversity capacity building project closes at the end of June 2005. The principal outcomes have been greatly strengthened capacities within, and interaction between, the national herbaria of southern Africa, in order to improve plant taxonomic outputs to better serve the needs of conservation end-users. Grassland plants have in many ways been the main regional focus. The project was based in the National Botanical Institute (NBI) of Southern Africa (now the South Africa Biodiversity Institute - SANBI) and had components in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The NBI provide regional coordination and technical support.

Undp-Gef Grasslands Project: Mainstreaming Biodiversity Into Productive Landscapes: The Southern African Grasslands Programme, C. Maze, W. A. Rodgers

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This is an exciting new initiative under the second strategic priority for the Global Environment Programme (GEF)'s Biodiversity Focal Area: Mainstreaming biodiversity into productive landscapes and sector. The rationale is that whilst grassland biomes cover some 30% of South Africa, (within montane, coastal and high-veld systems) less than 3% is formally protected at national, provincial or private land-owner levels. Over 40% of the grasslands have been totally converted to other land usages and 30% is degraded. Forces of degradation and conversion (cultivation, forests, urban spread) continue. The issues of conservation are of land use and putting in place incentives to …

Undp-Gef Grasslands Project: The Tanzania Montane Grasslands Project, T. Davenport, W. A. Rodgers

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Tanzania Southern Highlands and adjacent Nyika montane grasslands in Malawi form a distinct centre of plant diversity and endemism. The area is characterised by complex geology with old basement mountains and much more recent volcanoes (Mount Rungwe) adjacent to the rift valet faulting with Lakes Malawi (Nyasa) and Rukwa. Lake proximity generates rainfall up to 3,000 mm per annum. The maximum altitude is 3,000 m asl.

Soil Microbial Diversity Of An Artificial Caragana Korshinskii Plantation On The Loess Plateau Of China, W. Zhang, H. L. Wei, H. W. Gao, Y. G. Hu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Peashrub (Caragana korshinskii) is an important dune-fixation plant on the loess plateau of China and is valuable in ecological environment construction of North-western China. For determining relationships between peashrub and soil microbes, three clone libraries of 16S rDNA from rhizoplane, rhizosphere and bulk soil communities of peashrub were constructed with a culture-independent approach. The data obtained from three clone libraries were used to investigate the magnitude of vegetative changes in the microbial community, and to search for general ecological relationships.

Species-Rich Grassland As An Ecological Good In An Outcome-Based Payment Scheme, E. Bertke, R. Marggraf, Johannes Isselstein

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Agriculture plays an important role in protecting the biodiversity of the rural environment. Since the reform of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) in 1992, agri-environment schemes have been supported by the EU within the framework of the second pillar of CAP. In these programmes, farmers were rewarded for environmental services. The predominantly action-oriented programmes imply particular disadvantages; they tend to lack economic efficiency and to fail with regard to the conservation and improvement of biodiversity (Kleijn & Sutherland, 2003; Wilhelm, 1999). This situation was the starting point for the development of an outcome-based payment scheme. We focus on the …

Sustainable Grazing On Saline Land In Western Australia - Multidisciplinary Research Linking Producers And Scientists, Hayley C. Norman, D. G. Masters, M. G. Wilmot, A. J. Rintoul, R. Silberstein, E. Lefroy, T. York

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dryland salinity is one of the most critical environmental issues challenging Western Australian farmers. Currently 10% of the cropping zone (1.8 million ha) is salt-affected and this is predicted to increase dramatically in the next 50 years (NLWRA, 2001). Animals grazing saline pasture systems represent the most likely large-scale opportunity for economic return from saline land in the short to medium term. To date, few farmers have invested in large-scale revegetation of saline land as the economic return from grazing has not been perceived to cover costs. Furthermore other benefits of saltland pasture systems, such as biodiversity, water use and …

The Community Ecology Of Ants On The Cumberland Plateau And A Taxonomic Redescription Of The Genus Stenamma Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) In A Southeastern Treatment, Zachary Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Grassland communities represent major biodiversity hotspots across the United States. Among these grassland types is the short-leaf pine savanna, a major historical habitat along the Cumberland Plateau. The Cumberland Plateau’s grasslands are under threat due to land use changes such as urbanization and land conversion to pasture and hardwood forests. This study seeks to better understand the community ecology of ants on the Cumberland Plateau using powerlines as a comparison to degraded and historic habitats. Ants have a preference between open sites and forested sites, a separation of 44.5% on a DCA. The Simpson diversity places the short-leaf pine savanna …

Diversity And Lifestyle In The Rotifera, Patrick D. Brown

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Broad questions regarding community assembly and lifestyle evolution remain unanswered. To answer these questions I used rotifers, common primary consumers present in inland waters. Rotiferan presence in nearly all freshwaters makes them an ideal study system to address questions of metacommunity ecology. Additionally, rotifers possess diverse lifestyles, including sessile, swimming, colonial and solitary forms, allowing them to be used as models of lifestyle evolution. In Chapter 1, I address metacommunity ecology by focusing on inland waters of the Chihuahuan Desert as a study system and investigated rotifer community assembly therein through two published works, Brown et al., 2020 and 2021. …

Monitoring The Effects Of Poultry Waste On Fishes And Macroinvertebrates In The Sabine River, Karley R. Parker

Biology Theses

Freshwater is a vital resource that provides life and sustainability for almost all organisms on Earth. It is important to maintain its health and protect it from emerging pollutants that pose a threat to the organisms that use it. Pollution continues to threaten the well-being of the environment’s freshwater sources all around the world that could lead to damaging effects in the future. The Sabine River is a major freshwater resource in the east Texas and western Louisiana areas that provides a habitat for thousands of organisms as well as other domestic uses for humans. In 2019, a waste discharge …

Do Species Matter? Examining The Niche Of White Ash (Fraxinus Americana L.) And Estimating Potential Subcanopy Effects Of Its Loss In North-Temperate Forests, Elizabeth Anne Studer

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

To understand the downstream consequences of the extinction of a species, we must understand its role in an ecosystem. With the impending extirpation of ash (Fraxinus spp.) due to the invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), understanding the role of ash trees is critical to predicting whether its loss will precipitate further species declines and/or ecosystem functions. We evaluated whether subcanopy microbial, invertebrate, and floral communities under four tree species (white ash, American beech, yellow birch, sugar maple) and on two soil hydropedological types (Bh podzol and Typical podzol) varied in species richness, composition, and functional traits in a factorial …

Description Of Three New Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) Species From Ecuador, Josef Vlasak, Antonio Santos-Silva

Insecta Mundi

Three new species of Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) are described from Napo province, Ecuador: Anisopodus micromaculatus new species; Parabaryssinus katerinae new species; and Paracleodoxus minutus new species. A key to species of Paracleodoxus Monné and Monné (2010) is provided.

The study of specimens collected by the first author during his stay in Ecuador in 2022 allows us to describe three new species of Acanthocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The biodiversity of this relatively small country has been surprising due to the large number of species that were still unknown. Napo province, where the specimens of the new species were …

A Sward Based Method To Estimate Herbage Selection Of Grazing Dairy Cows, F. Taube, M. Wachendorf, J. Baade

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Diet selection of grazing animals is influenced by sward composition and vertical sward structure. Grazing studies were established in northern Germany (Kiel, Schleswig - Holstein state) to determine if selective grazing behaviour in a mixed sward can be measured by a sward based method. The hypothesis that active selection of different functional groups of forages can be documented by using the selection index (Figure 1, Hodgson, 1990) and regressive approaches vs time was tested.

Arthropod Diversity In Phytotelmata Of Calathea Capitata (Zingiberales; Marantaceae) Host Plants From Peru, Divya Dendi, Timo Förster, Caroline S. Chaboo

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Cryptic habitats are often overlooked in biodiversity surveys. Phytotelmata, or plant pools, are one type of cryptic habitat that supports diverse fauna in a miniature ecosystem. This study surveys the arthropod community of two types of phytotelmata, bracts and leaf rolls, on a single species, Calathea capitata (Ruiz and Pav.) Lindl. (Zingiberales: Marantaceae), from one Amazon site in Peru. Specimens were collected from eight bracts and eight leaf rolls. A total of 55 arthropods (36 adults, 19 juveniles) were found in both phytotelmata types. In the bract samples were found: spiders (Araneae: Corinnidae), beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Erotylidae, Staphylindae), flies (Diptera: …

Improving The Land Trust Model’S Impact On Environmental Conservation In Northern California, Peter Talbot

Master's Projects and Capstones

For years, the land trust sector of California and much of the United States has operated with a dollars and acres mentality that has prioritized fundraising as a result of acreage protected. Within California, nearly 5.8 million acres of land have been protected by 132 land trusts throughout the state. To accommodate for the diverse cross-section of land and the many needs of the population, land trusts take on numerous shapes and sizes. A unique aspect of this diversity is the rich agricultural and natural spaces found throughout the state. This mix of land and variety of land uses has …

Riparian Management In Intensive Grazing Systems For Improved Biodiversity And Environmental Quality: Productive Grazing, Healthy Rivers, S. R. Aarons, M. Jones-Lennon, P. Papas, N. Ainsworth, F. Ede, J. Davies

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Within high rainfall intensive grazing systems of southern Victoria, riparian zones are often degraded due to vegetation clearing, stock access and inappropriate farm management. Streams in these landscapes often have poor water quality and reduced biodiversity due to degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Improved management of riparian zones depends on developing tools and practices for integration into productive grazing systems. This paper describes the approaches used and the tools developed in the 'Productive Grazing, Healthy Rivers: Improving riparian and in-stream biodiversity' project

Why Agriculture Productivity Falls: The Political Economy Of Agrarian Transition In Developing Countries, Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir

Purdue University Press Books

Why Agriculture Productivity Falls: The Political Economy of Agrarian Transition in Developing Countries offers a new explanation for the decline in agricultural productivity in developing countries. Transcending the conventional approaches to understanding productivity using agricultural inputs and factors of production, this work brings in the role of formal and informal institutions that govern transactions, property rights, and accumulation. This more robust methodology leads to a comprehensive, well-balanced lens to perceive agrarian transition in developing countries. It argues that the existing process of accumulation has resulted in nonsustainable agriculture because of market failures—the result of asymmetries of power, diseconomies of scale, …

Diversity And Variation In Nutritive Value Of Plants Growing On 2 Saline Sites In Southwestern Australia, Hayley C. Norman, R. A. Dynes, D. G. Masters

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In south-western Australia 10% or 1.8 million ha of the farmed area is affected by dryland salinity and a further 6 million ha are at risk of salinity (NLWRA, 2001). Animal production from saltbush (Atriplex spp.)-based pasture systems represents the most likely large-scale opportunity for productive use of saline land in the short to medium term. Feeding saltbush-based pastures as a maintenance feed during the prolonged autumn feed gap typical in Mediterranean-type climates maximises their economic value. The aim of this study was to explore the diversity and nutritive value of plants that typically persist in saltbush-based saltland pastures.

Broad Host Susceptibility Of North American Amphibian Species To Batrachochytrium Salamandrivorans Suggests High Invasion Potential And Biodiversity Risk, Matthew J. Gray, Edward Davis Carter, Jonah Piovia-Scott, J. Patrick W. Cusaac, Anna C. Peterson, Ross D. Whetstone, Andreas Hertz, Aura Y. Muniz-Torres, Molly C. Bletz, Douglas C. Woodhams, John M. Romansic, William B. Sutton, Wesley Sheley, Allan Pessier, Catherine D. Mccusker, Mark Q. Wilber, Debra L. Miller

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is a fungal pathogen of amphibians that is emerging in Europe and could be introduced to North America through international trade or other pathways. To evaluate the risk of Bsal invasion to amphibian biodiversity, we performed dose-response experiments on 35 North American species from 10 families, including larvae from five species. We discovered that Bsal caused infection in 74% and mortality in 35% of species tested. Both salamanders and frogs became infected and developed Bsal chytridiomycosis. Based on our host susceptibility results, environmental suitability conditions for Bsal, and geographic ranges of salamanders in the …

A New Genus And Sixteen New Species Of False Click Beetles (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae) Described From The Heredia Province Of Costa Rica With Several Additional Records From The Osa Peninsula And Panama, Robert L. Otto, Jyrki Muona, Jim Córdoba-Alfaro

Insecta Mundi

More than 1,300 specimens of Eucnemidae collected from Heredia Province in Costa Rica during the 1990s Arthropods of La Selva (ALAS) survey were studied from 2018 through 2022. One new genus of false click beetle, Absensiugum Otto, Muona and Córdoba-Alfaro, is described. Nematodes teres Horn, from the Ne­arctic and Caribbean regions, is transferred to this new genus to form Absensiugum teres, new combination. Sixteen new species of false click beetle (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae) are described from Costa Rica. These new species are: Adelothyreus brevis, Adelothyreus costaricensis, Adelothyreus totus, Quirsfeldia stethonoides, Lacus pectinatus, Maelodrus costaricensis, Onichodon …

A Taxonomic List Of The Old World Genera In The Subfamily Hesperiinae (Hesperiidae) Arranged Into Tribes, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

A taxonomic list of valid genera in the subfamily Hesperiinae from the Old World assigned to tribes is provided. This list is based on phylogenetic analysis of genomic sequence data complemented by morphological considerations. As a result, there are no incertae sedis non-fossil genera in the family Hesperiidae.

On The Resurrection Of Microbes: An Eco-Christological Approach To The Resurrection, Denys Janiga Osb

Obsculta

This article attempts to bring ecology and Christology into conversation through a transdisciplinary approach. It looks at the pastoral implications of eco-anxiety, resurrection ecology in the field of biotechnology, Church teaching on the Resurrection, and concludes by initiating an interpretation of the resurrection appearances in the Gospel of Luke through the lens of the microbiome.

Temporal Changes In Biological Community Structure In Response To Wetland Restoration: A Study Based On Amphibians And Reptiles, Kayla Keith

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Wetland degradation is a serious environmental concern worldwide. In the United States, over half of the wetland ecosystems have degraded since 1780, which can have numerous, lasting consequences with negative outcomes on ecosystems and human society alike. Ecological restoration can regain both the lost wetland acreage and functions. Both global and national scale interests in ecological restoration have trickled down, which has kindled the local and regional natural resource managers and conservation authorities to invest in restoration. Consequently, large-scale wetland restoration projects are now underway in southeastern Massachusetts, which has coincided with a decline in commercial cranberry farming in the …

Exploring The Plausibility Of Human Ecosystem Disruption Being The Cause For Increased Viral Prevalence, Andrew Ventura

University Honors Theses

Viral diseases and their prevalence--including both the number of cases and the appearance of new viruses--has increased in the last century, and these diseases have become an increasing threat to human health and well-being. The influenza and COVID-19 pandemics served both as introductions and reminders respectively to the power these viruses have to destroy and disrupt human life. As such, it intimates a necessity to investigate possible causes for the increase in these deadly diseases. Among these plausible causes is the dilution effect hypothesis, which states that decreasing the biodiversity of an ecosystem increases a pathogen's ability to infect, both …

Bryophytes Of Goochland County, Virginia, Mikayla Quinn

Honors Theses

Bryophytes are non-vascular land plants that include mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. Although easier to overlook because of their smaller size, bryophytes are a fundamental part of the ecosystem. As such, maintaining record of their biodiversity is important. Yet, records of bryophyte species in Goochland County, VA were low compared to more thoroughly documented counties such as Prince Edward County. This study expands the documentation of bryophyte flora and presents a checklist of bryophyte species found Virginia’s Goochland County from 2020-2023. Fieldwork conducted at public and privately-owned properties throughout the county between January 2020 and March 2023 yielded 702 specimens that …

A New State Record Of Eucera (Xenoglossa) Kansensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) In South Dakota, Usa, Louis S. Hesler, Eric A. Beckendorf, Abigail P. Martens, Paul J. Johnson

Insecta Mundi

Eucera (Xenoglossa) kansensis (Cockerell, 1905) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is newly recorded for the state of South Dakota, USA. The bees were sampled predominantly with blue vane traps, and E. kansensis was associated with a wide range of habitats that did not include its primary floral resources of Cucurbita L. and Ipomoea L. Further study is warranted to determine the basis for the association of E. kansensis within the wide range of habitats in this study.

The longhorn bee tribe Eucerini (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a widespread and diverse group of solitary bees that includes important pollinators of both wild and …

Inner Mongolian Herders Move Toward Sustainability And Elevate Their Incomes From Cashmere Goat Production By Reducing Grazing Pressure On Fragile Grasslands, B. P. Fritz, M. Zhao

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Overgrazing, mainly caused by Cashmere goats, is contributing to the desertification of West Erdos fragile grasslands resulting in the threat of extinction of several endangered wild plant species. This transition area between desert and grassland includes some 400,000 ha and some 72 unique, relic and endangered plant species. The area is home to 5,000 inhabitants, mainly subsistent goat farming families and coal mining activity. Industrial land use in the reserve adds additional economic pressure to herders operating on a shrinking land base. This phenomenon has elicited the entrenched, traditional response of producing more livestock thus jeopardizing current levels of production …

Scale-Dependent Spatial Ecology Of Paleotropical Leaf Litter Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Lillian Germeroth, Theodore Sumnicht, Robin M. Verble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Grain for Which an Observer Conducts a Study is an Important Determinant of its Outcome. Studies of Ants Have Considered Spatial Grains Spanning from Single Meters to Entire Forest Ecosystems and Found Patterns Related to Nutrient Availability, Leaf Litter Depth, Disturbance, and Forest Composition. Here, We Examine a Bornean Leaf Litter Ant Community at Small (1–4 M) and Large (50–250 M) Spatial Scales and Consider the Differences in Community Structure using Structured 1 M2 Quadrats Sampled Via Leaf Litter Sifting and Berlese Extraction. We Found that Small-Scale Patterns in Ant Abundance and Richness Did Not Spatially Auto correlate within …