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Articles 41221 - 41250 of 256031
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Does Stress Physiology Mediate Disease Resistance In The Arizona Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma Mavortium Nebulosum)?, Megan Zerger
Does Stress Physiology Mediate Disease Resistance In The Arizona Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma Mavortium Nebulosum)?, Megan Zerger
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Amphibian biodiversity has greatly diminished in recent years due to disease. Panzootic pathogenic fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) causes the deadly disease chytridiomycosis (chytrid), a primary driver of catastrophic global amphibian declines and extinctions. The pathogenesis of chytrid is still unclear, as certain species and individuals within a species are differentially affected. Susceptibility and mortality of Bd are influenced by prolonged chronic stress. Prolonged glucocorticoid activity deleteriously affects many of the same physiological processes as Bd infections, and corticosterone is the primary glucocorticoid released by amphibians in response to stress. Thus, the objective of our study is to assess …
Changes In Aboveground Biomass Of Ammophila Breviligulata Are Influenced By Disturbance Along A Climatic Gradient., Vincent Cafazo
Changes In Aboveground Biomass Of Ammophila Breviligulata Are Influenced By Disturbance Along A Climatic Gradient., Vincent Cafazo
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Coastal dunes are important geographic features that protect shorelines from erosion while supporting unique plant and animal biodiversity. The ecosystem engineering plant Ammophila breviligulata is particularly important for coastal dune development because of its ability to trap sediment and build up dunes. Understanding how environment conditions affect functional traits of this plant is an important first step towards protecting coastal dunes and improving their conservation. Our hypothesis in this study was that we would see a decrease in aboveground functional traits of A. breviligulata with increasing climatic and nutrient stress. In July 2022, we identified four different sites along the …
Adaptive Plasticity Of Coloration In Response To Environmental Change, Karissa Coffield
Adaptive Plasticity Of Coloration In Response To Environmental Change, Karissa Coffield
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
When rapid environmental changes occur, different selective forces can create phenotypic trade-offs in which a trait can provide fitness benefits or costs under different environmental conditions. Amphibians are particularly vulnerable to environmental change, and previous research has revealed that some species will plastically respond to variation in temperature and ultra-violet radiation (UVR) by altering their coloration. Divergent selection on coloration may change with elevation and climate induced shifts in temperature because high temperatures are likely to result in lighter color morphs but as elevation increases, UVR exposure increases leading to the prediction that darker color morphs will be more common. …
Trait Variation In Bryophytes At Karst Cave Entrances, Chenoa Briggs
Trait Variation In Bryophytes At Karst Cave Entrances, Chenoa Briggs
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Cave entrances are critical ecosystems in their role as ecotones between the interior cave environment and the surrounding external environment. Bryophytes are highly sensitive to environmental changes and many species found at caves are specialists to those habitats. This study aims to identify how functional traits of bryophytes are affected by the cave environment. Bryophytes and environmental variables were sampled from six cave entrances. Functional trait data was collected from literature. The data from this study supplies information on the functional traits of bryophytes and can provide insight into the effects of environmental pressures on community assembly.
Seroton-Ing Down The Stress: Serotonergic Activity In Response To Predators In Threespined Stickleback (Gasterosteus Aculeatus), Michaela M. Rogers
Seroton-Ing Down The Stress: Serotonergic Activity In Response To Predators In Threespined Stickleback (Gasterosteus Aculeatus), Michaela M. Rogers
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Animals constantly face stress in the environment due to rapid human-induced changes. A strong interest lies in the evolution of coping mechanisms that can help organisms deal with and respond to these stressors. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is highly conserved across taxonomic groups and is upregulated in response to a broad range of stressors, including predator exposure. Serotonin upregulation can help organisms cope with the threat of a predator by decreasing fear and anxiety. Previous studies have shown an increase in serotonergic activity following acute predator exposures in mice, rats, and fish after only one exposure, but less is …
Assessing The Health And Behavioral Effects Of Turtle Racing On Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene Carolina), Michelle K. Weaver
Assessing The Health And Behavioral Effects Of Turtle Racing On Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene Carolina), Michelle K. Weaver
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Turtle racing involves the public capturing largely wild-caught box turtles (Terrapene spp.) and racing them at standalone events or at races incorporated into larger family events (e.g., festivals). These turtle races are legal in most states because of a lack of regulations and/or funding to enforce regulations that may exist. Moreover, we lack information on the potential effects (e.g., disease transmission, survival, movements, and general health) of races on the turtles that could help support the implementation of regulations. Our objective was to understand the short-term and long-term health and behavioral effects of turtle races on eastern box turtles (Terrapene …
Anti-Predator Behavior In Response To Conspecific Visual, Olfactory, And Damage Cues In The Three-Spined Stickleback, Claire E. Vanmeter
Anti-Predator Behavior In Response To Conspecific Visual, Olfactory, And Damage Cues In The Three-Spined Stickleback, Claire E. Vanmeter
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Predation is a major source of mortality for prey, which creates selective pressures for avoiding predators whenever possible. As a result, many prey species have evolved different methods of communication to alert conspecifics of potential threats. However, it is unknown if conspecifics are able to distinguish between these cues and, as a result, interpret different levels of predation threat. I studied the ability of the three-spined stickleback to distinguish between environmental cues by exposing conspecifics to four different types of conspecific alarm cues, cues of predator-naïve conspecifics, visual cues of predator-exposed conspecifics, visual and olfactory predator-exposed conspecific cues, and visual, …
Microbial Community Interactions Between Honey Bee Symbionts, Jillian P. Lewis
Microbial Community Interactions Between Honey Bee Symbionts, Jillian P. Lewis
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Bombella apis is a bacterial honey bee symbiont that benefits larvae by supplementing their nutrition and protecting them from pathogenic fungi. B. apis co-occurs with another bee-associated bacterium, Apilactobacillus kunkeei, in certain hive niches: nectar, larvae, honey stomachs of nurse bees, the queen gut, and royal jelly. Because bacterial species existing in the same ecological niche are apt to form microbial communities that interact, these interactions may modulate B. apis’ positive impact on the honey bee larvae. We hypothesize that due to its faster growth, A. kunkeei outcompetes B. apis for shared resources in nutrient rich conditions such …
Host Selection And Behavioral Competition In The Parasitic Vine, Dodder (Cuscuta Gronovii), April Wolfe
Host Selection And Behavioral Competition In The Parasitic Vine, Dodder (Cuscuta Gronovii), April Wolfe
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
The parasitic weed, Dodder (Cuscuta gronovii.), is a holo-parasitic vine that does not perform photosynthesis, yet it invades a number of potential host species. The mechanisms responsible for ensuring tight adhesion to the wide variety of host surfaces have yet to be identified. It is understood that Cuscuta gronovii must attach to a host within 10-15 days of sprouting to survive. This research study aims to investigate host selection preferences of Cuscuta gronovii seedlings when presented with plants, both preferred hosts and non-hosts, that have been subjected to prior Cuscuta parasitism and plants that have not. The goals from …
Endophytic Fungi And Their Competitive Hierarchy And Effects Of Changing Environmental Nitrogen., Haley G. Bryant, Kylea R. Garces
Endophytic Fungi And Their Competitive Hierarchy And Effects Of Changing Environmental Nitrogen., Haley G. Bryant, Kylea R. Garces
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Endophytes are fungi that live symbiotically within the roots of plants. These fungi can serve different functions within the roots, and are thought to form a competitive hierarchy that allows them to coexist. It is not well established how specific species act within this endophytic dynamic, especially with each other. This experiment looked to better understand these relationships through Grime’s C-S-R model; growing the extracted fungal species in different treatments: control, stress, low nitrogen, high nitrogen, and comparing each growth rate and biomass over a two-week period. The species looked at in this study were extracted from dominant dune-building grass …
A Novel Approach To Scoring Rhythmic Variation In Evolving White-Throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia Albicolis) Songs, Taylor Hiers
A Novel Approach To Scoring Rhythmic Variation In Evolving White-Throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia Albicolis) Songs, Taylor Hiers
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Studies show that the White-throated Sparrow's (Zonotrichia albicolis) song is evolving across North America. Previously, most songs ended in a series of "triplets" consisting of three notes. Sometime after the 1960s, a new variant arose in western Canada that ended in a series of "doublets" consisting of two notes. A recent study found that the doublet variant has since spread rapidly eastward across the continent, replacing the triplet variant. We set out to document this shift in southwest Missouri, which is part of the sparrow's wintering range. We found that triplets were significantly more common than doublets, indicating …
Late Cretaceous Marine Vertebrates From The Tarrant Formation, Tarrant County, Texas U.S.A, Aaron Johnson, Kenshu Shimada
Late Cretaceous Marine Vertebrates From The Tarrant Formation, Tarrant County, Texas U.S.A, Aaron Johnson, Kenshu Shimada
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
The Tarrant Formation (middle Cenomanian: ca. 96 million years ago) is a stratigraphic member of the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group in Texas, U.S.A., and consists of calcareous sandstone formed near the East Texas Embayment of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, an epicontinental seaway in North America. We examined vertebrate fossils from the Tarrant Formation based on specimens collected through surface collecting and bulk sampling from three localities in Tarrant County, Texas, including the type locality of a pachyrhizodontid fish, Polcynichthys lloydhilli. Our preliminary examination shows that the fossil fauna includes shark species such as Ptychodus anonymous, Archaeolamna sp., …
Rehabilitating An Aging Ichthyology Collection And Turning Into An Effective Teaching Tool For Organismal Biology, Emmy Delekta
Rehabilitating An Aging Ichthyology Collection And Turning Into An Effective Teaching Tool For Organismal Biology, Emmy Delekta
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Natural history collections are crucial for understanding the world’s biodiversity. These collections also hold important value in educating students about biodiversity, particularly phenotypic diversity. The University of Louisville (UofL) Department of Biology holds a natural history collection, a wet collection of preserved fishes, that appears to have been maintained up through the 1990s. However, due to shifts in funding priorities and faculty interests, much of the collection was relocated and what remains has been neglected for many years. Here, we describe our efforts to rehabilitate, revitalize, and digitize what is left of UofL’s ichthyology collection - transforming it into a …
Divergent Patterns Of Belowground Allocation In Response To Stress In A Key Coastal Grass, Shannon Walker
Divergent Patterns Of Belowground Allocation In Response To Stress In A Key Coastal Grass, Shannon Walker
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Environmental stressors shape life history strategies and biodiversity across the globe. Stress is particularly important in coastal sand dune habitats where nutrients and water are extremely limiting. However human-driven nutrient enrichment and climate change may alter these factors in sand dune habitats, with cascading effects on plant communities and ecosystem functioning. In 2022, we established monitoring plots in four sand dune sites along the western Michigan coast to examine the impacts of climatic and nutrient stress on vegetation. These sites spanned an increasing gradient of climatic and nutrient stress from south to north. We hypothesized that increasing climatic and nutrient …
Habitiat Structure And Ecomorphology Of Fishes In Neotropical Blackwater Creeks., Devya Hemraj-Naraine
Habitiat Structure And Ecomorphology Of Fishes In Neotropical Blackwater Creeks., Devya Hemraj-Naraine
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Freshwater ecosystems provide habitat for a diversity of aquatic flora and fauna. However, anthropogenic activities like mining and pollution alters aquatic habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. In South America, which hosts one quarter of all freshwater fish species, aquatic habitats are under considerable encroachment from human development. We surveyed nine blackwater creeks tributary to the Demarara River along a major Highway in Guyana to determine whether fish morphology and community structure correlate with habitat characteristics among sites with different degrees of human impact. Twenty-three morphological traits were measured on 3-5 adult specimens of each species. The most abundant …
Pollinators And Flowering Resources In Louisville Urban Green Spaces, Sarah Hobbs
Pollinators And Flowering Resources In Louisville Urban Green Spaces, Sarah Hobbs
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Urban Greenspaces can appear in many different forms such as parks, urban orchards, and community gardens. These spaces provide important ecosystem services such as enhanced biodiversity, improved soil health, and increased carbon sequestration. Greenspaces such as parks and community gardens have been relatively well studied in the last few decades compared to urban orchards, despite the multitude of ecosystem services that can be provided or enhanced by these orchards. We hypothesize that urban orchards will provide the optimal conditions for pollinator communities because urban orchards normally have the greatest variety of vegetation and flowering resources, which is positively correlated with …
Herbarium Records Reveal Sex-Specific Effects Of Climate Warming On Phenology Of Fragaria Virginiana, Ethan R. Richardson
Herbarium Records Reveal Sex-Specific Effects Of Climate Warming On Phenology Of Fragaria Virginiana, Ethan R. Richardson
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Plant populations tend to be hermaphroditic, but in some cases can diverge into a dioecious sexual system, or one that possesses both male and female members. Prior studies show a correlation between sex systems evolution such as these and ecological variables. These variables impose challenges on plants' ability to propagate and in a dioecious population, males and females have been seen to respond differently to different environmental contexts. What is still being studied is the degree to which biogeography contributes to the sexual differentiation of dioecious species. While evidence supports the idea of a latitudinal gradient contributing to sexual differentiation, …
How Accurately Structure Can Identify Hybrids When Comparing Different Numbers Of Species And Marker Types And Numbers, Chloe Hendrikse
How Accurately Structure Can Identify Hybrids When Comparing Different Numbers Of Species And Marker Types And Numbers, Chloe Hendrikse
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Hybridization is a common problem in conservation. It can be difficult to identify hybrid individuals but doing so is often necessary in order to make conservation recommendations. For example, botanical gardens and seed banks want to identify if individuals are hybrids of two or more species to determine if offspring could be used for conservation or restoration, and to analyze the risk of possible extinction via introgression. Our project looks at how well the program STRUCTURE can detect and cluster hybrids, their parent species, and other pure species, which we created using simulations. We build on past studies, which typically …
Functional Implications Reflected In Neurocranial Morphology Of Lamniform Sharks (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes), Jake J. Wood
Functional Implications Reflected In Neurocranial Morphology Of Lamniform Sharks (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes), Jake J. Wood
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Lamniform sharks (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes) display diverse habitat preferences and lifestyles. Based on museum specimens and published illustrations, we examined the proportion of the anteroposterior length of the rostral, olfactory, optic, and otic regions with respect to the neurocranial length in each lamniform species as a proxy of relative importance of each sensory region (electroreception, olfaction, vision, and ‘coordination’) to its lifestyle. We show that: 1) Carcharias and Megachasma (ragged-tooth and megamouth) have short rostral and large otic regions indicative of slower-swimming pelagic lifestyles with elevated coordination for balancing in the water column; 2) Alopias pelagicus, A. vulpinus, …
Leaf Litter Arthropod Communities Not Responsive To Nutrient Pulse Subsidies, Andrew R. Seiler, Stephen P. Yanoviak
Leaf Litter Arthropod Communities Not Responsive To Nutrient Pulse Subsidies, Andrew R. Seiler, Stephen P. Yanoviak
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Spatial subsidies are the asymmetric movement of resources from a donor habitat to a distinct recipient habitat. Arthropod rain, i.e., the fall of arthropods from tree crowns to the forest understory, is a potentially important subsidy link between canopy food webs and detritus-based litter food webs. We added homogenized fragments of Blaptica dubia cockroaches in high (12g m-2) and low (2g m-2) concentrations to replicated quadrats of leaf litter as a pulse subsidy in a temperate forest. Controls were: 1) zero subsidy and 2) addition of foam pellets in place of cockroach fragments. Litter in each quadrat was subsampled 2, …
Sexual Selection, Female Body Size, And Fecundity In Drosophila Melanogaster, Calvin Herrick
Sexual Selection, Female Body Size, And Fecundity In Drosophila Melanogaster, Calvin Herrick
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
In Drosophila melanogaster it is well established that male sexual preference emphasizes high fecundity in females and females with larger body sizes. It is hypothesized that male preference for large females is due to a positive correlation between body size and fecundity. Here, we take advantage of a long-running experiment, where lineages of flies were made significantly larger (L-lineages) and smaller (S-lineages) during 400+ generations of artificial selection. In the first part of this study, we measured female Drosophila fecundity, based only on differences in evolved size and found substantial differences in fecundity. In the second part of this study, …
Habitat Characteristics And Winter Use Of Woodpecker-Excavated Tree Cavities, Adrianna Yoder
Habitat Characteristics And Winter Use Of Woodpecker-Excavated Tree Cavities, Adrianna Yoder
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Avifauna are in decline in North America, including red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). Red-headed woodpeckers are negatively impacted by urbanization, which has decreased their ideal habitats of oak-savannas and through the management of urban trees there has been a reduction in the amount of tree decay, a necessary feature of suitable trees that woodpeckers can make cavities in. Cavities are created and used as nests in the breeding season (spring/summer) and as roost-sites in the non-breeding season (fall/winter). In the Chicagoland region, during the fall some red-headed woodpeckers migrate while others do not and remain overwinter, making them facultative …
Air Pollution Is Associated With Increased Stress In Urban Songbirds, Reagan Earlywine
Air Pollution Is Associated With Increased Stress In Urban Songbirds, Reagan Earlywine
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Air pollution has been suggested to be a major driver of decline in native bird populations. Understanding how air pollution affects avian physiology and how air pollution exposure may be reduced may help develop effective conservation solutions. Here we tested whether elevated air pollution exposure was associated with increased physiological stress response in free-living urban American robins, and whether urban vegetation mitigated this effect. Specifically, we asked whether the concentration of the stress-related glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone was predicted by exposure to two metrics of air pollution: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ultrafine particulates (UFPs); and two metrics of green …
Recognition Of Conspecifics Under Elevated Turbidity, Ryan L. Gaynor
Recognition Of Conspecifics Under Elevated Turbidity, Ryan L. Gaynor
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
A key component of sociality is the ability of individuals to collect relevant social information about groupmates. Human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) can interfere with the collection of accurate social information by altering organisms’ sensory environment. In aquatic ecosystems anthropogenic disturbances can often cause an increase in water turbidity, thereby altering the visual environment of a body of water. This change to the sensory environment can degrade or obscure visual information used by individuals to mediate social behavior and recognize conspecifics. Neolamprologus pulcher is a cooperatively breeding cichlid that lives in small groups and utilize a variety of visual cues …
Spider Web Morphology Is Associated With Damage By Falling Woody Debris, Abigail Nienaber
Spider Web Morphology Is Associated With Damage By Falling Woody Debris, Abigail Nienaber
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Web-building spiders are important predators in most terrestrial habitats. Web damage is common and presents potential fitness consequences for the spider. Falling woody debris is likely a major source of web damage for forest-dwelling spiders, especially Leucauge venusta, a widespread species that builds horizontal webs. We quantified damage area, general dimensions, and spatial orientation of L. venusta webs in two Kentucky forests. We also measured woody debris fall from the canopy. We experimentally damaged webs with falling debris in the lab to test the hypothesis that L. venusta change their web orientation following disturbance. The relative area of webs …
Microplastics In Western Ny River Ecosystems, Eliana Deglopper, Jonathan O'Brien
Microplastics In Western Ny River Ecosystems, Eliana Deglopper, Jonathan O'Brien
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
The occurrence of microplastics in marine and freshwater systems has been an area of increasing concern due to its potential negative impact on aquatic organisms and human health. With continuously growing patches of plastics in oceans and the Great Lakes, we must understand the mechanisms that move these materials from the urban landscape into aquatic ecosystems. We investigated the transport and storage of microplastics in 5 streams draining into Lake Erie from Buffalo, NY. The streams were sampled from 2020-2023 to determine the amount of plastic being transported. Samples underwent chemical digestion, filtration, and staining with Nile Red, and were …
Qtl Analysis Of Body Size And Development Time In Dendroctonus Ponderosae, Camille M. Pushman
Qtl Analysis Of Body Size And Development Time In Dendroctonus Ponderosae, Camille M. Pushman
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
The mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a pest species found in western Norh America that attacks and kills Pinus host trees. Previous studies have identified genetic divergence between populations and variation in life-history traits (body size and development time) that are likely important in local adaptation. To understand the underlying genetic architecture of MPB adaptation and divergence, we performed an F1 intercross between two distinct populations (Utah & Arizona) and performed a QTL analysis. We analyzed double digest RAD sequencing data from 181 F2 individuals. Our final dataset consists of 986 SNPs and we were able to …
Amphipod Cage Match: Competition Between Hyalella Azteca And Gammarus Spp. Is Mediated By Resource Availability, Dominic Degeorge, Jonathan O'Brien
Amphipod Cage Match: Competition Between Hyalella Azteca And Gammarus Spp. Is Mediated By Resource Availability, Dominic Degeorge, Jonathan O'Brien
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
Ecological competition is seen throughout the environment, but effects of competition may be complex for generalist consumers with broader niche requirements. We observed Hyalella azteca and Gammarus spp. in the same and separate mesocosms to determine their levels of coexistence and resource use. Starting populations of ten Hyalella and Gammarus were added to ten mesocosms with a single species present as well as both species to an additional ten mesocosms. For each of these ten mesocosms in the three treatments, five were supplied one gram of leaf matter and five were supplied with five grams of leaf matter. After six …
Rubbish Habit Or Novel Habitat? Colonization Of Anthropogenic Litter By Stream Invertebrates, Lanie Masset, Jonathan O'Brien
Rubbish Habit Or Novel Habitat? Colonization Of Anthropogenic Litter By Stream Invertebrates, Lanie Masset, Jonathan O'Brien
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
We conducted a field experiment to examine the colonization and use of human derived materials by aquatic invertebrates in three western New York streams. The study streams included two soft-bottomed urban streams, Ransom Creek and California Creek, and a hard-bottomed forested stream, Hayes Hollow Creek. In each stream, four different substrate types of similar surface areas: rocks, glass bottles, plastic bottles, and bricks were placed and left in the streams for 6 weeks to promote invertebrate colonization. Baskets filled with both rock and leaf substrates were also placed in the streams for 6 weeks to measure background community composition. The …
Repeatability And Distribution Of Behavior Types Over Time And Across Populations In Free-Ranging Adult And Juvenile Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene Ornata), Abigail Trautman
Repeatability And Distribution Of Behavior Types Over Time And Across Populations In Free-Ranging Adult And Juvenile Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene Ornata), Abigail Trautman
2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference
As studies continue to investigate inter-individual variation, it is becoming increasingly evident that individual animals have their own unique behavior type (personality; repeatable behaviors over time and context) that persists throughout their life. Behavior is simply different forms of motion, and a behavior type influences which motions (behaviors) are most likely to be on display. Behavioral types can influence resource acquisition, predation risk, and mating opportunities and thus can directly influence the fitness of any given individual. In this study, we examine the behavior types of free-ranging adult ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata), including their repeatability and variation …