Life Sciences Commons^™

The Naked Truth: A Comprehensive Clarification And Classification Of Current ‘Myths’ In Naked Mole‐Rat Biology, Rochelle Buffenstein, Vincent Amoroso, Blazej Andziak, Stanislav Avdieiev, Jorge Azpurua, Alison J. Barker, Nigel C. Bennett, Miguel A. Brieño‐Enríquez, Gary N. Bronner, Clive Coen, Martha A. Delaney, Christine M. Dengler‐Crish, Yael H. Edrey, Chris G. Faulkes, Daniel Frankel, Gerard Friedlander, Patrick A. Gibney, Vera Gorbunova, Christopher Hine, Melissa M. Holmes, Jennifer U. M. Jarvis, Yoshimi Kawamura, Nobuyuki Kutsukake, Cynthia Kenyon, Walid T. Khaled, Takefumi Kikusui, Joseph Kissil, Samantha Lagestee, John Larson, Amanda Lauer, Leonid A. Lavrenchenko, Angela Lee, Jonathan B. Levitt, Gary R. Lewin, Kaitlyn N. Lewis Hardell, Tzuhua D. Lin, Matthew J. Mason, Dan Mccloskey, Mary Mcmahon, Kyoko Miura, Kazutaka Mogi, Vikram Narayan, Timothy P. O'Connor, Kazuo Okanoya, M. Justin O'Riain, Thomas J. Park, Ned J. Place, Katie Podshivalova, Matthew E. Pamenter, Sonja J. Pyott, Jane Reznick, J. Graham Ruby, Adam B. Salmon, Joseph Santos‐Sacchi, Diana K. Sarko, Andrei Seluanov, Alyssa Shepard, Megan Smith, Kenneth B. Storey, Xiao Tian, Emily N. Vice, Mélanie Viltard, Akiyuki Watarai, Ewa Wywial, Masanori Yamakawa, Elena D. Zemlemerova, Michael Zions, Ewan St. John Smith

Publications and Research

The naked mole‐rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has fascinated zoologists for at least half a century. It has also generated considerable biomedical interest not only because of its extraordinary longevity, but also because of unusual protective features (e.g. its tolerance of variable oxygen availability), which may be pertinent to several human disease states, including ischemia/reperfusion injury and neurodegeneration. A recent article entitled ‘Surprisingly long survival of premature conclusions about naked mole‐rat biology’ described 28 ‘myths’ which, those authors claimed, are a ‘perpetuation of beautiful, but falsified, hypotheses’ and impede our understanding of this enigmatic mammal. Here, we re‐examine each of …

Observations Of Post-Wildfire Landcover Trends In Boreal Alaska Using A Suite Of Remote Sensing Approaches, Eric John Deutsch

Theses - ALL

Wildfires are a common occurrence in the boreal ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. Studies suggest that anthropogenic climate change has fostered more frequent and higher severity fires in recent decades in these forests, which may result in substantial changes in vegetation structure and ecosystem functioning. However, large-scale studies examining the linkages between changing boreal wildfire regimes and vegetation structure have historically been limited in spatial scope due to the broad area and inaccessibility of many boreal regions, including the Alaskan interior. The development and advancement of satellite remote sensing instruments and geospatial analysis techniques provide researchers with unmatched abilities to …

Landscape Population And Evolutionary Genomics Of Several Closely Related Species Of Mallard-Like Ducks, Joshua Brown

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Divergence and speciation proceed through three major evolutionary forces (i.e., selection, genetic drift, and gene flow) that are often spatially and temporally heterogeneous across the landscape. Moreover, these forces can have differing but subtle effects within the genomes of diverging taxa, and therefore, disentangling the effects of these evolutionary mechanisms throughout the speciation process can be challenging. Here, I use a recent species radiation, the mallard complex, to investigate how strong, yet varied, evolutionary pressures influence the speciation process. The mallard complex consists of 14 mallard-like waterfowl species around the world that have some of the highest rates of hybridization …

Temperature Stress And Disease Drives The Extirpation Of The Threatened Pillar Coral, Dendrogyra Cylindrus, In Southeast Florida, Nicholas P. Jones, Lystina Kabay, Kathleen Semon Lunz, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Rare species population dynamics can elucidate the resilience of an ecosystem. On coral reefs, climate change and local anthropogenic stressors are threatening stony coral persistence, increasing the need to assess vulnerable species locally. Here, we monitored the threatened pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, population in southeast Florida, USA, in relation to consecutive heat stress events in 2014 and 2015. In the fall of each year, D. cylindrus colonies bleached following intense thermal stress and by June 2020 all monitored colonies died from a white-syndrome type disease. This resulted in the ecological extinction of D. cylindrus in the Southeast Florida Coral …

Fisheries Food Webs: Quantifying Habitat-Use, Trophic Structure, And Energetic Pathways In Coastal Tanzania, Mario Fernando Hernandez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Commercial and recreational fisheries are a valuable resource to millions of people around the world. Developing countries are particularly dependent on the revenue provided by locally harvested fish with total exports from these nations valued at $80 billion USD. For Tanzania, fisheries provide not only a source of revenue but an important source of protein with an estimated 25 to 30kg of fish consumed per person every year. There is no doubt that high fisheries production is critical to the well-being of millions of livelihoods along the Tanzanian coast. An important but poorly understood driver of fisheries production is the …

Himalayan Rangelands Ecology And Animal Production Influenced By Changing Social And Economic Culture In Northern Areas Of Pakistan, Syed Hassan Raza

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Characterizing The Temporal And Spatial Distribution Of The Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus Meleagris) In The South Atlantic Bight, Lauren G. Faulk

Theses and Dissertations

The cannonball jellyfish, Stomolophus meleagris, is commercially harvested throughout its range in the tropical and sub-tropical Americas, including in the South Atlantic Bight, where an estimated 4,000 tons (less than 2.4% of the estimated stock in South Carolina during the spring) are harvested annually. Like many Scyphozoan jellyfish, cannonball jellies have high interannual variability and little is known about the environmental drivers of their distribution and phenology. To better understand the ecology of this targeted species, we used fisheries-independent abundance data of cannonball jellyfish from 2001 to 2019 collected by the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) throughout the …

Spiders You May Encounter While Social Distancing: A Field Guide To Oregon, Daniel K. Hufnagel

Anthós

This document is simply a short field guide on the many endearing spiders you have encountered or will potentially encounter while social distancing in Oregon. Included are journal entries for six different species of spider, with each log containing an illustration and a description of the physical appearance, behavior, and habitat of the arachnid listed. Also included is a basic diagram depicting the anatomy of the common spider.

Agricultural Conservation Practices And Aquatic Ecological Responses, Richard E. Lizotte, Peter C. Smiley, Robert B. Gillespie, Scott S. Knight

Faculty and Student Publications

Conservation agriculture practices (CAs) have been internationally promoted and used for decades to enhance soil health and mitigate soil loss. An additional benefit of CAs has been mitigation of agricultural runoff impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Countries across the globe have agricultural agencies that provide programs for farmers to implement a variety of CAs. Increasingly there is a need to demonstrate that CAs can provide ecological improvements in aquatic ecosystems. Growing global concerns of lost habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, increased eutrophication and associated harmful algal blooms are expected to intensify with increasing global populations and changing climate. We conducted a …

Phytoplankton Community Response To Changing Environmental Conditions Across Two Central California Sites, Nicholas Soares

Biological Sciences

Understanding the role that changing environmental conditions play in altering phytoplankton abundance and community composition, and in turn ecosystem structure and function, will be increasingly important for the sustainable use and management of ocean resources in a changing climate. Characterizing change in nearshore ecosystems requires long-term studies with a broad spatial extent, with most studies sacrificing spatial extent for temporal duration. However, phytoplankton and ecosystem response can vary substantially over small spatial scales due to local oceanographic forcing and anthropogenic influence, making the application of long-term data from one site to another in the same geographic vicinity potentially challenging. In …

A Year In Syntropy: Exploring Syntropic Agriculture, Ajah Eills

College Honors Program

Syntropic agriculture is a form of sustainable agriculture that originated in Brazil around 25 years ago. Although it has since spread throughout Brazil and Australia, there has yet to be a comprehensive study of the driving scientific principles behind syntropy. For my thesis, I conducted literature research and interviews with farmers, with the goal of describing the ecological principles on which syntropy is based, including its primary goal to improve soil health. Much of my thesis contrasted syntropic agriculture with conventional agriculture as practiced in the United States today, but I also explored the differences between syntropic agriculture and other …

Contaminated Mycoscapes: Designing With Living Organisms, Maria Gutierrez, Elise Zilius

Architecture Senior Theses

The Anthropocene has stripped the planet of its resources, leaving behind an abundance of contamination. The built environment no longer meets the standards set by our turbulent planet. Humankind has lost the privilege of agency in design and construction. Construction methods have failed to evolve concurrently to the intense accumulation of waste; remaining firmly rooted in the materiality of the past, they have upheld architectural notions of stagnancy, cleanliness, and hygiene and ignore the rapidly changing conditions of the environment. This investigation uses contamination to fuel mycelial growth and construct emergent forms whilst executing remediation strategies for polluted sites of …

Incorporating Demographic Structure And Variable Interaction Types Into Community Assembly Models, Akhil Reddy Alasandagutti, Nayan Chawla

Honors Theses

Theoretical studies of ecological food webs have allowed ecologists to remove the constraints of specific location and timescales from their study of ecological communities; food webs are generally complex and thus empirical study is difficult. Further, this theoretical approach allows ecologists to compare ecological processes and outcomes across any possible food web structures. However, these simulated communities are only as useful as the model from which they were constructed. Modifying existing considerations in these models, and generating new ones, are the jobs of theoretical ecologists that seek to achieve the shared goal of a majority of simulations: representation of real …

Role Of Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor In Urinary Tract Infection, Anne Rosen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect 150 million people per year worldwide and can be difficult to diagnose and treat leaving room for other biomarkers to be used to define an infection. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), an antimicrobial protein also with antiprotease and anti-inflammatory properties, may be involved in host response to UTI. Here we use an established UPEC-UTI model to infect female Slpi knockout and wild type mice to show SLPI plays a role in microbial ecology of the bladder. Bacterial abundance is altered in urinary tracts and is positively correlated with SLPI in urine of wild type mice. …

Distributions And Habitat Associations Of Blue Point Pyrgulopsis And Blue Point Tryonia, Chenoa Janine Wilcox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Springsnails and other crenophilic species are often of conservation concern due to endemism, narrow habitat requirements, and susceptibility to habitat degradation. Because there is a distinct lack of natural history information for many of these organisms, management of species that are of concern is often based on data from non-target species related to the species of interest. In this thesis, I provide background information regarding springsnails in western North America (Chapter 1), describe a study investigating the distribution and habitat associations of two springsnails endemic to a single spring (Chapter 2), and provide supplemental information on habitat characteristics associated with …

Subterranean Movement Inferred By Temporary Emigration In Barton Springs Salamanders (Eurycea Sosorum), Nathan F. Bendik​, Dee Ann Chamberlain, Thomas J. Devitt, Sarah E. Donelson, Bradley Nissen, Jacob D. Owen, Donelle Robinson, Blake N. Sissel, Kenneth Sparks

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Student Research

Movement behavior is an important aspect of animal ecology but is challenging to study in species that are unobservable for some portion of their lives, such as those inhabiting subterranean environments. Using four years of robust-design capture-recapture data, we examined the probability of movement into subterranean habitat by a population of endangered Barton Springs salamanders (Eurycea sosorum), a species that inhabits both surface and subterranean groundwater habitats. We tested the effects of environmental variables and body size on survival and temporary emigration, using the latter as a measure of subterranean habitat use. Based on 2,046 observations of 1,578 individuals, we …

Seasonal Plumage Condition Variation And The Thermal Value Of The Feather Coats Of House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus), Jordana Mf Graveley, Margaret Rubega, Kevin R. Burgio

Honors Scholar Theses

Feathers are critical to how birds thermoregulate, and thus their total energy balance. The feather coat insulates birds by trapping air next to the skin and acting as a physical barrier to heat loss. Despite previous work studying thermal balance in birds, relatively few studies have focused on the thermal contribution of the feather coat alone; most studies have focused on physiological and behavioral responses. Moreover, to our knowledge, no studies have directly measured the effect of feather wear through the annual cycle on the thermal performance of the feather coat. To address this, we used a thermal camera to …

Correlational Study Of Frog Toe-Tip Morphology And Microhabitats, Taylor Mendenhall

Student Research Symposium

The purpose of our research is to examine whether there is a correlation between frog toe tip morphology and ecology (microhabitat). We hypothesized that if frog toe tip morphology is correlated with environmental factors, then aquatic and semi-aquatic species will have larger measured distances of toe tip widths. We predict that aquatic and semi-aquatic species will have larger measured toe tip widths across phylogeny to enhance swimming abilities. Anuran samples of 217 species were used in our correlational analysis. Using the package geomorph in R, we placed 3D landmarks on the toe tip of the second digit. We then performed …

Cyclic Fluctuations Of Zooplankton Dynamics In A Tidal Salt-Marsh Basin, Jamaal Jacobs

Senior Theses

Zooplankton are pelagic aquatic animals that are limited in their movements by the water currents around them and are major links in aquatic food webs between primary producers and higher trophic levels. Their populations are temporally and spatially variable, as they are sensitive to changes in salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. This is especially true in highly dynamic environments, like estuaries, where environmental conditions are highly variable across seasonal and daily cycles. In order to examine the variability in zooplankton populations across a tidal cycle, we collected zooplankton samples from North Inlet Estuary at 30-minute intervals over a half tidal …

Microhabitats In An Urban Greenspace: Function In The Beauty, Kalie Schultz

Honors Projects

This project combines science with art, with a focus on microhabitats in a unique natural space in an urban area. It is set in the Highlands Nature Preserve and the mediums used are photography and digital illustration. The goal of the project is to bring the viewer in from a wide, landscape perspective into a more close and detailed perspective of the multiple microhabitats that exist in the nature preserve. It shows how beauty can be hiding in plain sight for anyone to see if they look close enough. It also aims to show how the beauty is not just …

Synopsis Of The Tribe Platynini In New Zealand (Coleoptera: Carabidae), André Larochelle, Marie-Claude Larivière

Insecta Mundi

The tribe Platynini (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae) is revised for New Zealand. Eight genera and forty-three species are recognized.

Four genera and sixteen species are described as new: Ctenognathus davidsoni Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus earlyi Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus garnerae Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus hoarei Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus kaikoura Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus marieclaudiae Larochelle new species, Ctenog­nathus perumalae Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus takahe Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus tawanui Larochelle and Larivière new species, Ctenognathus tepaki Larochelle …

Non-Breeding Ecology Of Loggerhead Shrikes In An Intensive Agricultural Region, Emily Rose Donahue

Student Theses and Dissertations

As intensive agriculture has transformed much of the landscape across central North America, many grassland species have had to learn to adjust these new, highly homogeneous habitats while facing steep population declines. The Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus; hereinafter shrike) is one such declining species that persists in these agricultural landscapes. However, we lack information on the sustainability of these populations, and shrike non-breeding ecology, as for most passerines, remains understudied. Specifically, little is known about non-breeding behavior, diet, survival, site fidelity, and habitat selection. If survival, space use, and habitat selection metrics differ between demographic groups within non-breeding populations also …

Local Adaptation To Continuous Mowing Makes The Noxious Weed Solanum Elaeagnifolium A Superweed Candidate By Improving Fitness And Defense Traits, Jesus Chavana, Sukhman Singh, Alejandro Vazquez, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Alexis Racelis, Rupesh R. Kariyat

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

The role of disturbance in accelerating weed growth is well understood. While most studies have focused on soil mediated disturbance, mowing can also impact weed traits. Using silverleaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium), a noxious and invasive weed, through a series of field, laboratory, and greenhouse experiments, we asked whether continuous mowing influences growth and plant defense traits, expressed via different avenues, and whether they cascade into offspring. We found that mowed plants produced significantly less number of fruits, and less number of total seeds per plant, but had higher seed mass, and germinated more and faster. When three herbivores …

First Description Of Deep Benthic Habitats And Communities Of Oceanic Islands And Seamounts Of The Nazca Desventuradas Marine Park, Chile, Jan M. Tapia-Guerra, Ariadna Mecho, Erin E. Easton, María De Los Ángeles Gallardo, Matthias Gorny, Javier Sellanes

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Seamounts and oceanic islands of the Chilean Exclusive Economic Zone at the intersection of the Nazca and Salas y Gómez ridges lie within one of the least explored areas in the world. The sparse information available, mainly for seamounts outside Chilean jurisdiction and shallow-water fauna of the Desventuradas Islands, suggests that the area is a hotspot of endemism. This apparent uniqueness of the fauna motivated the creation of the large Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park (NDMP, ~ 300,000 km2) around the small islands San Felix and San Ambrosio in 2015. We report for the first time a detailed description of benthic microhabitats …

Population Fluctuation And Diurnal Time Budgeting Of White-Headed Duck (Oxyura Leucocephala) During Winter At Garaet Hadj Tahar (Skikda, North East Algerian), Merzoug Seyf Eddine, Abdi Soumia, Bara Mouslim, Houhamdi Moussa

Journal of Bioresource Management

This study was focused on the ecology and behavior of the White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) at Garaet Hadj Tahar (Guerbes-Sanhadja, North East of Algeria). Sampling was carried out during two wintering seasons (2017-2018 and 2018-2019). High number of this duck was recorded in 2018/19 (350 individuals). We observed two Oxyura population, the first sedentary, and the second, hosted the Garaet during the wintering season. Diurnal time budget was dominated by the comfort activities the sleeping with a rate of 39.13%. Following by swimming (37.76%), feeding (17.59%) grooming (4.58%), courtship ritual (0.56%) and flying (0.38%). The feeding of white-headed …

Evaluating The Multi-Level Community Effects Of Root Hemiparasites In Northern Illinois, Anna Marie Scheidel

Theses and Dissertations

Root hemiparasites are green plants that tap into a neighboring plant’s water-filled xylem to acquire inorganic nutrients, which can lead to an accumulation of nutrients in hemiparasite biomass. I performed an observational field study at Nachusa Grasslands and Franklin Creek State Natural Area (Lee County, IL) in 2019 to investigate how the presence of five root hemiparasites (Aureolaria grandiflora (Benth.) Pennell, Agalinis tenuifolia (Vahl) Raf., Castilleja sessiliflora (Pursh), Dasistoma macrophylla (Nutt.) Raf., Pedicularis canadensis L.) affects their communities through the (a)keystone species hypothesis, that hemiparasites will increase measures of diversity by altering competition among surrounding plant species, (b) ecological engineer …

Editorial: Deep Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics In A Highly Impacted Water Column: The Gulf Of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon, Tracey Sutton, Kevin M. Boswell, Heather Bracken-Grissom, Jose V. Lopez, Michael Vecchione, Marsh Youngbluth

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The intermediate-sized midwater fauna (fishes, shrimps, and cephalopods; “micronekton” collectively) are dominant components of the pelagic ocean, which is by far the largest ecosystem type on Earth by several metrics (volume, organismal numbers, biomass, and productivity). Deep-pelagic micronekton, those animals residing in the water column below 200 m depth during the day, are the direct link between plankton and oceanic top predators, and through the linked processes of feeding and daily vertical migration facilitate one of Earth's most important ecosystem services to humans, carbon sequestration. Despite increasing recognition of this importance, a disconnect exists between stewardship and human impact; only …

Effects Of Varying Heat Indexes On Habitat Utilization And Behavior On Captive Red-Ruffed Lemurs (Varecia Rubra), Jeffrey Gammon

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The two captive red-ruffed lemurs (Varecia rubra) at the Central Florida Zoo experienced a more temperate climate and utilized a differing habitat than they would in their native range, Madagascar. Proper management of the species in captivity is crucial for its long-term survival as they are critically endangered. Over a four month period, heat index temperature, lemur behavior, and habitat utilization data were collected via an instantaneous scan sample. Variables were analyzed to characterize how variations in heat index alter habitat utilization and behavior of the captive lemurs. As the heat index increased, habitat use became more restricted …

Microbiome Analyses Demonstrate Specific Communities Within Five Shark Species, Rachael Storo, Cole Easson, Mahmood S. Shivji, Jose V. Lopez

Biology Faculty Articles

Profiles of symbiotic microbial communities (“microbiomes”) can provide insight into the natural history and ecology of their hosts. Using high throughput DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region, microbiomes of five shark species in South Florida (nurse, lemon, sandbar, Caribbean reef, and tiger) have been characterized for the first time. The microbiomes show species specific microbiome composition, distinct from surrounding seawater. Shark anatomical location (gills, teeth, skin, cloaca) affected the diversity of microbiomes. An in-depth analysis of teeth communities revealed species specific microbial communities. For example, the genus Haemophilus, explained 7.0% of the differences of the teeth microbiomes …

Pinyon-Juniper Ecology And Management, Gabrielle Harden, Darren Mcavoy

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes pinyon-juniper ecology, expansion, and management.