Animal Sciences Commons^™

Design Standards Within Constructed Wetlands For The Reduction Of Mosquito Populations In Clark County, Nevada, Phillip C. Bondurant

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Wetlands are considered one of the most productive ecosystems in the world and provide many benefits to the environment. However, the slow moving and sometimes stagnant water created by the vegetation in the wetland creates an ideal environment for the proliferation of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are the most important insect disease vector worldwide. The presence of mosquitoes within wetlands increases the risk of disease transmission among workers and visitors creating a public health concern. Effective design standards aimed at reducing mosquito breeding habitat should be implemented during the construction and planning phase of wetland development to effectively reduce the mosquito populations. …

Reconstructing Species Responses To Past Climatic Changes Using Niche Modeling And Genetic Data, Tereza Jezkova

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Glacial – interglacial cycles have a pronounced impact on species distributions and genetic structure. Many species shift their distributions to lower latitudes and altitudes during the colder glacial periods and expand northwards and up the elevation during warmer interglacial periods. Some species however are capable of adapting to changing environment which allows them to persist in place despite climatic changes. I explored how climatic changes after the last glacial maximum (LGM) effected two species inhabiting the deserts of western North America: one mammal (Chisel-toothed Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys microps) and one reptile (Desert Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma platyrhinos). I used …

Physiological Implications Of Natural Versus Induced Arousal From Torpor, Jenifer C. Utz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the hibernation season, animals oscillate between periods of torpor and periods of interbout arousal (IBA). During torpor, body temperature is often near 0° C and metabolism is severely depressed. Oxygen consumption, a proxy for aerobic metabolism, may fall to 1% of active values. Many physiological processes including cardiovascular, respiratory, and cellular functions nearly cease. During the IBA, euthermic body temperature is restored and most systemic and cellular processes function at fully active levels. The transition period between these two physiologically dissimilar states is called arousal.

The rate of rewarming (RRW) during arousal was previously expected to progressively increase until …

Space Use And Mating Activities In The Speckled Rattlesnake, Xavier Glaudas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Our understanding of space use variation in response to the temporally varying importance of specific resources is poorly understood in reptiles, because spatial studies are rarely placed into an explicit ecological and behavioral context. I examined how space use differed between the mating and post-mating seasons, and how this variation related to three important resources, mating partners, food, and refuge, in an adult population of the speckled rattlesnake Crotalus mitchellii in the Mojave Desert of southwestern North America. During the mating season (late April to early June), Crotalus mitchellii increased distance traveled per unit time, because wide-ranging behavior likely enhances …

From The Valleys To The Mountains: The Biographic History Of Antelope Squirrels, Bats, And Chipmunks In Western North America, Stacy James Mantooth

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Genetic differentiation within and between species often coincides with significant geological or climatic changes that have shaped the sizes and locations of their geographic ranges and altered the connectivity between populations over time. Across western North America, many endemic taxa experienced high levels of initial divergence associated with geological transformations of the Neogene, with subsequent diversification and geographic structuring of populations associated with climatic changes during the Quaternary. As such, we can use a combination of molecular markers and genetic analyses to effectively examine the evolutionary and biogeographic histories of populations, species, and regional biotas whose signatures of differentiation are …

Phylogeography And Landscape Genetics Of The Flammulated Owl: Evolutionary History Reconstruction And Metapopulation Dynamics, Markus Mika

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Taxa occur across ever changing landscapes on different spatial and temporal scales. Choosing the appropriate scale for collecting data and drawing inferences is critical for understanding the history of a species and its populations. Here, I describe research in which I investigated phylogenetic patterns and population genetics for Flammulated Owls (Otus flammeolus) representing 14 localities from throughout the species' distribution, and compared regional landscape features with the distribution of genetic diversity. This small, insectivorous owl migratory (Family Strigidae) breeds in western conifer and deciduous dry forests of the mountains from southern Mexico to British Columbia. Sedentary populations are found in …