Life Sciences Commons^™

Changes In Plant Species Composition And Structure In Two Peri-Urban Nature Preserves Over 10 Years, Rebecca W. Dolan, Jessica D. Stepens, Marcia E. Moore

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Peri-urban natural areas, at the boundaries of cities and adjacent agricultural/rural land, are subject to ecological threats endemic to both land use types. We used permanent plots to document changes in habitat quality by monitoring herbaceous-layer plant species presence and cover over a decade (1996/97 and 2007) in two peri-urban nature preserves in central Indiana, U.S.A. The preserves are comprised of different forest community types: wet-mesic depressional forest and mesic upland forest. Habitat characteristics, based on Floristic Quality Assessment parameters, showed only a single change for either preserve between survey years: wetness values were lower in the wet-mesic depressional site …

Comparative Evolutionary Diversity And Phylogenetic Structure Across Multiple Forest Dynamics Plots: A Mega-Phylogeny Approach, D. L. Erickson, F. A. Jones, N. G. Swenson, N. Pei, N. Bourg, W. Chen, S. J. Davies, X. Ge, Z. Hao, R. W. Howe, C. L. Huang, A. Larson, S. Lum, James A. Lutz, K. Ma, M. Meegaskumbura, X. Mi, J. D. Parker

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Forest dynamics plots, which now span longitudes, latitudes, and habitat types across the globe, offer unparalleled insights into the ecological and evolutionary processes that determine how species are assembled into communities. Understanding phylogenetic relationships among species in a community has become an important component of assessing assembly processes. However, the application of evolutionary information to questions in community ecology has been limited in large part by the lack of accurate estimates of phylogenetic relationships among individual species found within communities, and is particularly limiting in comparisons between communities. Therefore, streamlining and maximizing the information content of these community phylogenies is …

Cue Choice And Spatial Learning Ability Are Affected By Habitat Complexity In Intertidal Gobies, Gemma E. White, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Variation in the structural complexity of a habitat is known to have significant affects on the evolution of different populations and can shape behavior, morphology, and life-history traits. Here, we investigated whether habitat complexity influences a species’ capacity for spatial learning and cue choice by comparing the performance of 4 goby species from 2 contrasting habitats in a spatial task. Gobies were collected from dynamic, homogenous sandy shores and stable, spatially complex rock pool habitats. We trained fish to use a T-maze to find a hidden reward and asked whether they used local visual landmarks or body-centered methods for orientation …

European Frogbit (Hydrocharis Morsus-Ranae) In The Champlain/Adirondack Region: Recent Inferences, Chris Martine, Stephen Langdon, Timothy Shearman, Casey Binggeli, Timothy B. Mihuc

Faculty Journal Articles

As part of its north-south movement following introduction to Canada, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L. (Hydrocharitaceae) has recently become established in slow-moving waters of the Champlain/Adirondack region of the northeastern US. The species is present on both the New York and Vermont shores of Lake Champlain and, so far, at a single location in the interior of the Adirondack Park. The southernmost Champlain/Adirondack occurrence is in the Champlain Canal south of Whitehall, NY (L. Eichler, Darrin Freshwater Institute, pers. comm.), within 25 miles of the Hudson River watershed—a population first recorded around 2006. Entry into the Hudson watershed, whether from the canal …

Tanacetum Erzincanense (Asteraceae), A New Species From Erzincan, Turkey, Mustafa Korkmaz, Ali̇ Kandemi̇r, Veli̇ İlhan, Nalan Yildirim Doğan

Turkish Journal of Botany

In this study, Tanacetum erzincanense Korkmaz, Kandemir & İlhan is described as a new species for science from Erzincan Province. It was compared with close species by using morphological and random amplified polymorphic DNA data. It resembles T. germanicopolitanum (Bornm. & Heimerl) Grierson and T. pinnatum Boiss. It is closer to T. germanicopolitanum in terms of genetic and morphological aspects. Morphologically, it differs from T. germanicopolitanum by having oblong-oblanceolate basal leaves in outline with flabelliform and fewer leaf segments, less dense indumentum, smaller and globose capitula, and shorter apical appendage in inner phyllaries. T. pinnatum shows difference from T. erzincanense …

Provisioning And Its Effects On The Social Interactions Of Tibetan Macaques (Macaca Thibetana) At Mt. Huangshan, China, Brianna I. Schnepel

All Master's Theses

The dispersal patterns of food resources has a significant effect on the composition of primate groups and social interactions within those groups. Humans often alter the dispersal of food. Non-humans often use affiliative behaviors to elicit tolerance or support from other group members. I investigated whether provisioned food resources alter the social interactions and group dynamics of Macaca thibetana. All-occurrence sampling and scan sampling were used for data recorded by camera traps. Trail-cameras were placed at six locations that contain natural and human food resources and recorded 60-second videos. Social behavior and proximity of the monkeys were recorded. I …

A Basic Guide For Empirical Environmental Social Science, Michael Cox

Dartmouth Scholarship

In this paper, I address a gap in the literature on environmental social science by providing a basic rubric for the conduct of empirical research in this interdisciplinary field. Current literature displays a healthy diversity of methods and techniques, but this has also been accompanied by a lack of consistency in the way in which research in this area is done. In part this can be seen as resulting from a lack in supporting texts that would provide a basis for this consistency. Although relevant methods texts do exist, these are not written with this type of research explicitly in …

The Life Aquatic: Liquid Poetics And The Discourse Of Friendship In The Faerie Queene, Steven Swarbrick

Publications and Research

From Michel de Montainge’s essay “Of Friendship” to Jacques Derrida’s rearticulation of the former in The Politics of Friendship, scholars both early modern and modern have sought ways to address the fluid co-mixture of bodies from which the discourse of friendship can and does emerge. More recently still, new materialist thinkers of ontology have begun to shift our attention to the ways both human and nonhuman bodies inter-animate in the making of political, interpersonal, and artistic life worlds. Together with these investigations, I argue that an aquacentric account of relation is necessary to think the subject of friendship …

Ecology/ Graduate Students/ Westra & Walton/ University Of Oregon/ 2012, Brian Westra, Dean Walton

Data Information Literacy Case Study Directory

The case study covers a one-shot seminar style Data Information Literacy program offered to graduate students associated with an NSF funded Ecology project. Topics covered included file formats, publishing data, metadata, preservation and data citation. Materials include a book chapter describing the case study, the lesson plan for the session and the evaluation form used to gather feedback.

The Status Of The Genus Taxus In Kentucky, Robert Reed Pace

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study involved a detailed study of the genus Taxus in Kentucky. A thorough examination was conducted, including a review of the literature, examination of field and herbarium specimens from both native and non-native species, microscopic analysis of leaf ultrastructure, chemical analysis of taxane content, and the construction of GIS models to predict the occurrence of the native species. In the review and examination of morphological features, it was found that the best features for separation of the taxa were plant height, the number of the rows of stomata per abaxial leaf band, and the location of papillose cells on …

Freshwater Algal Diversity Of The South-Tajik Depression In A High-Mountainous Extreme Environment, Tajikistan, Sophia Barinova, Maryio Boboev, Hikmat Hisoriev

Turkish Journal of Botany

The research on algal communities' response to altitude and altitude-related climatic conditions is sparse. So far, a full, accessible list of algae from the water bodies of the South-Tajik Depression has not been available. We compiled an algal species list of 1190 taxa that were revealed by us or listed in references in the South-Tajik Depression high-mountain rivers Kafirnigan, Vakhsh, Kyzylsu, Yakhsu, and Tairsu and in the lakes of its basin. The altitude gradient of the studied area is about 2500 m above sea level. An altitude-related algal diversity analysis was done with help of statistics and bioindication. The Willis …

Dispersal: A Multidisciplinary Investigation Of Plant Life, Alexandra E. Arzt

Theses and Dissertations

Using plants as a basis for exploring the interstices between the human and nonhuman, this thesis investigates ideas of awareness, intelligence, deep time, animism, and the fluctuating human perception of the agency of Nature. It outlines environmental art practices since the 1950s involving vegetal life. In addition, the paper provides a critical analysis of plant perception of Jakob von Uexküll’s work and theories of vital materialism and “critical plant studies” while noting recent studies in plant neurobiology. In my work, plants become active participants via their movement, seeding, and smell. This study takes the form of imitation, purposeful symbiosis, anthropomorphism, …

The Tao Of Open Science For Ecology, S. E. Hampton, S. S. Anderson, S. C. Bagby, C. Gries, X. Han, E. M. Hart, M. B. Jones, W. C. Lenhardt, A. Macdonald, W. K. Michener, J. Mudge, A. Pourmokhtarian, M. P. Schildhauer, K. H. Woo, Naupaka B. Zimmerman

Biology Faculty Publications

The field of ecology is poised to take advantage of emerging technologies that facilitate the gathering, analyzing, and sharing of data, methods, and results. The concept of transparency at all stages of the research process, coupled with free and open access to data, code, and papers, constitutes “open science.” Despite the many benefits of an open approach to science, a number of barriers to entry exist that may prevent researchers from embracing openness in their own work. Here we describe several key shifts in mindset that underpin the transition to more open science. These shifts in mindset include thinking about …

Multidimensional Metrics For Estimating Phage Abundance, Distribution, Gene Density, And Sequence Coverage In Metagenomes, Ramy Aziz, Bhakti Dwivedi, Sajia Akhter, Mya Breitbart, Robert Edwards

Marine Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hitchhiking Bats On The Great Lakes Of North America, Saska E.H. Lohi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Bats can act as potential vectors for various zoonotic diseases and other pathogens. Therefore their interactions with people should be examined to mitigate potential risks. Bats are small flying mammals and hide in small crevices during daylight hours, making them difficult to observe. Consequently, they have a capacity to “hitchhike” on ships to be dispersed over large distances.

This study focused on anthropogenic unintentional bat translocations, i.e. hitchhiking bats. The study area is the Great Lakes region in North America. Using a web-based questionnaire survey, I asked the public about the frequency of bat-human encounters on ships, their nature, and …

Reconciliation Ecology: A New Paradigm For Advancing Creation Care, Dave P. Warners, Michael Ryskamp, Randall Van Dragt

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Current global environmental challenges—species loss, overconsumption, climate change, and others—have not been countered in the faith community with a response worthy of their signifi cance. While the prevailing faith-based creation-care paradigm, environmental stewardship, has been invaluable in moving us beyond the utilitarian notion of “dominion,” the stewardship concept does not suffi ciently emphasize our embedded, dependent relationship with the creation. To better represent our creationcare responsibilities, we propose a new paradigm based on a model of servanthood and informed by the concept of reconciliation ecology, which focuses on mending broken relationships between human beings and nonhuman creation. Drawing from the …

Ciliates Of Sagebrush-Steppe Soils Of Southwestern Idaho: Species Richness And Its Relationship To Changed Soil Variables After Wildfire Events, Laura G. Wendell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

I conducted a pilot study to examine species richness of terrestrial ciliates associated with big sagebrush habitat (Artemisia tridentata) in southwestern Idaho, USA. As wildland fires are a naturally occurring disturbance in this area, soil variables associated with these fires (% C, % N, pH, soil texture, and % clay) were measured at three sites, both in burned and unburned areas. These soil characteristics were compared to corresponding ciliate diversity and ratios of r-selected colpodeans to K-selected polyhymenophorans (C/P) in non-flooded Petri dish preparations. A total of 85 ciliate taxa were observed across the three sites, including …

Population Genetics, Distributions And Phenology Of Bombus Latreille, 1802 And Xylocopa Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Amber Dawn Tripodi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work addresses multiple knowledge gaps in bee ecology, population health and phylogeography in order to provide insights into the changing distributions of native bees. A comparison of Arkansas bumble bee records mirrors range-wide surveys, with records of stable species (Bombus bimaculatus Cresson, 1863 and B. impatiens Cresson, 1863) increasing three-fold, and records of the declining B. pensylvanicus (DeGeer, 1773) dropping to 60% of historical levels. However, nationally-recommended conservation-genetics tools did not mirror these results on a regional level. Stable and declining species had equivalent genetic diversity in samples from Arkansas and Tennessee (H_S range: 0.46-0.63). Diploid males, …

Influences Of Yard Management Intensity On Urban Soil Biogeochemistry, Viviana Penuela Useche

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soils are critical to ecosystem function as they provide essential nutrients for primary producers, habitat and organic energy for decomposers, and storage of organic matter. Irrigation with reclaimed water is an increasingly popular water conservation strategy; yet its high salinity and nutrient content potentially affect soil properties. In this study, set in a residential neighborhood of Tampa (U.S.). I tested whether there are distinct lawn system management strategies characterized by systematic differences in reclaimed water usage and irrigation and fertilization practices. I then investigated whether soil biogeochemistry responds to lawn system management strategy.

My results indicated that amendment strategy, which …

Jackson Lake Limnology, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The limnology of Jackson Lake has been studied very little, despite the fact that it is the uppermost large lake on the headwaters of the Snake River, one of the larger rivers in the country (Hayden 1969). It is also an important fishery, largely for introduced lake trout. In 2014 we took our incoming graduate students to the Jackson Hole and one part of this introductory course focused on the limnology of the lake. Prior to the arrival of the students, a nutrient addition bioassay was initiated to demonstrate an experimental approach to understanding what nutrients might control production processes …

Parental Care In The Cuatro Ciénegas Cichlid, Herichthys Minckleyi (Teleostei: Cichlidae), Ronald G. Oldfield, M. Xavier Nieves

Faculty Scholarship

Behavioral studies have often examined parental care by measuring phenotypic plasticity of behavior within a species. Phylogenetic studies have compared parental care among species, but only at broad categories (e.g., care vs. no care). Here we provide a detailed account that integrates phylogenetic analysis with quantitative behavioral data to better understand parental care behavior in the Cuatro Ciénegas cichlid, Herichthys minckleyi. We found that H. minckleyi occurs in a clade of sexually monochromatic or weakly dichromatic monogamous species, but that male and female H. minckleyi have dramatically different reproductive coloration patterns, likely as a result of sexual selection. Furthermore, we …

The Ecology Of Infancy And Early Childhood In Rural Senegal; A Five Year Old Can Boot But Not Foot, An Exploration Of Where Biology Meets Culture, Heather Mills

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project explores the life stages of infancy and early childhood in the village of Ndiane in the Thies region of Senegal. I will discuss how biology meets culture to influence children, parenting styles, and expectations of the life stage. How does ecology, the interaction of physical, biological and cultural landscapes, characterize childhood and the intertwined belief systems that influence parenting? The information was gathered using a combination of participant observation and free list interviews.

Review Of The Face Of The Earth, Ann E. Lundberg

Faculty Publications

Review of SueEllen Campbell, et al. The Face of the Earth: Natural Landscapes, Science, and Culture. Published review is at Western American Literature.

Facing The Wreck: Death, Optimism, And The Fragmented Form, Rachael Marie Schaffner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Walter Benjamin described history as a winged angel who faces backwards, staring perpetually into the past as the violent winds of destiny carry him into the future (Illuminations). Despite a western, post-enlightenment myth of eternal progress, the wreckage of human contributions to history is clearly evident in our 21st-century understanding of anthropogenic impact on global ecology. In the context of these ecological crises (and the resulting political and economic questions), postmodern novels reveal a powerful ability to imagine different ways of living and interacting with the world. This thesis traces the relationship between fragmentation, death, and liminal experiences …

Comparing Population Density Estimation Techniques For Columbia Black-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus Columbianus): Fecal Standing Crop And Distance Sampling Methods, Jubilee D. Brenneman

Honors Projects

I estimated deer density and population size on Blakely Island, WA, using the fecal standing crop (FSC) method described by Martin et al. (2011). I compared the FSC method with a well established and broadly applicable estimation method, distance sampling. Additionally, architecture of a commonly browsed shrub, Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor), was measured as an indicator of browsing pressure. Fecal standing crop was estimated by counting pellet groups along 26, 100 x 2m line transects. Deer density was estimated using these data and the equation derived by Martin et al. (2011). Distance sampling consisted of recording perpendicular distance …

Body Shape Divergence In Invasive Round Goby, Cat Collins

DePaul Discoveries

The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus, originally native to the Black and Caspian seas, was introduced into the Great Lakes via ballast water in the 1990’s. Since then, the species has spread to all of the Great Lakes, thriving in the Lake Michigan region and spreading to surrounding bays and rivers. Invasive species are considered to have a high evolutionary potential. Differences in environmental conditions between native and introduced ranges stimulate adaptive evolution. Multiple introductions of an exotic species can result in separate instances of founder effects, further increasing the chance of evolutionary change. A total of 267 round goby specimens …

Turtle Town: Creating A Self-Sustainable Ecosystem Using An Ecological Approach To Turtle Aquarium Design, Sheena K. O'Donnell

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Typical pet turtle tank setups do not utilize the complete nutrient cycle seen in a functional natural ecosystem. This dysfunction results in waste and nutrient buildup, which is currently managed by water changes and regular tank cleaning. This type of maintenance can be costly and time-consuming -- not to mention unpleasant and hazardous to the aquarium owner's health. This study tested the effectiveness of using plants as part of a proposed ecological tank design to minimize waste buildup by utilizing nutrients. Wastewater from a dirty turtle tank was transferred to a tank setup containing three plants (Experimental Batch 1), while …

Synthesizing Research And Education: Ecology And Genetics Of Independent Fern Gametophytes And Teaching Science Inquiry And Content Through Simulations, Aaron M. Duffy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The mission statements of Utah State University and the Department of Biology, as well as the requirements of funding agencies like the National Science Foundation encourage an integration of teaching and research. I have attempted to achieve that in my dissertation work by using tools I originally created to support and inform my biological research projects to teach science content and inquiry to middle school and undergraduate students.

Chapter 2 of this dissertation reports the results of surveys for Hymenophyllum wrightii, a fern with independent gametophyte populations in the Pacific Northwest, which improved our understanding of the range, distribution, …

Foraging Ecology Of Cougars In The Pryor Mountains Of Wyoming And Montana, Linsey Blake

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We conducted this study to better understand the impact of cougar (Puma concolor) predation in the Pryor Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. Managers of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range were concerned that cougars were having a negative impact upon a small, isolated Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) population and were hoping predation might be limiting a feral horse population (Equus caballus) that was in excess of the Appropriate Management Level set by the Bureau of Land Management. Wildlife tourism brings revenue to the park …

Investigating The Impact Of Novel Iron Oxide Nanoparticles On Legionella Pneumophila Biofilms And Trophic Interactions, Brennen Jenkins

All Theses

Microbial biofilms serve as the base of food webs and are important for nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Nanoparticles (NPs) that enter into these aquatic systems have the potential to settle and become trapped within biofilms. As NPs become further integrated into consumer products, understanding their fate and effects on aquatic ecosystems is of paramount importance. Previous studies from our lab show that gold NPs induce dispersal of Legionella pneumophila biofilms. NPs with platinum and iron oxide core chemistries also lead to similar dispersal events, however, silver core NPs do not seem to induce these events due to NP aggregation. …