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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Consistent Nest Site Selection By Turtles Across Habitats With Varying Levels Of Human Disturbance, Molly Folkerts Caldwell, Jorge E. López-Pérez, Daniel A. Warner, Matthew E. Wolak Feb 2023

Consistent Nest Site Selection By Turtles Across Habitats With Varying Levels Of Human Disturbance, Molly Folkerts Caldwell, Jorge E. López-Pérez, Daniel A. Warner, Matthew E. Wolak

Biology Student Research

Human disturbance impacts the breeding behavior of many species, and it is particularly important to understand how these human-caused changes affect vulnerable taxa, such as turtles. Habitat alteration can change the amount and quality of suitable nesting habitat, while human presence during nesting may influence nesting behavior. Consequently, both habitat alteration and human presence can influence the microhabitat that females choose for nesting. In the summer of 2019, we located emydid turtle nests in east-central Alabama, USA, in areas with varying levels of human disturbance (high, intermediate, low). We aimed to determine whether turtles selected nest sites based on a …


Anthropogenic Land Uses Influence Stream Dissolved Organic Matter Quality More Than Decomposition Rates And Macroinvertebrate Diversity, Shayenna Nolan, Alyssa Alves Frazao, J D. Hosen, Catherine Febria Jan 2023

Anthropogenic Land Uses Influence Stream Dissolved Organic Matter Quality More Than Decomposition Rates And Macroinvertebrate Diversity, Shayenna Nolan, Alyssa Alves Frazao, J D. Hosen, Catherine Febria

Integrative Biology Publications

In the era of the Anthropocene, streams and rivers are among the most heavily impacted ecosystems due to the influence of catchment land use on stream water quality and ecological condition. In practice, structural and functional indicators collected by biomonitoring programs are underused and thus limited in their ability to offer practical insight into functional-based restoration approaches. Here we applied a novel combination of indicators—cotton strip decomposition, benthic invertebrate sampling together with dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition — to determine if streams highly impacted by urbanized and agricultural land use across Windsor-Essex (southwestern Ontario, Canada) were consistent across season, anthropogenic …