Animal Sciences Commons^™

Reassignment Of Some Caryospora Species (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) To Eumonospora (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) And A Summary, Donald W. Duszynski

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

This review was crafted to clear up some of the current confusion regarding the correct taxonomic placement of those apicomplexan coccidians that produce unique monosporocystic octosporozoic (1 sporocyst with 8 sporozoites) oocysts during the sexual phase of their life history in vertebrate hosts. Currently, such oocysts have been placed in 1 of 4 genera, Avispora, Caryospora, Karyospora, or Eumonospora, 2 of which are no longer accepted or useful (Avispora and Karyospora). My review suggests that to present (2023) there are 62 valid Caryospora and 26 valid Eumonospora species. Caryospora species are recorded from a bird …

Mammalian & Avian Community Response To African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) Habitat Modification In Southeastern Kenya, Dakota Vaccaro

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) play a significant role in the modification of their habitat, foremost by decreasing woody vegetation cover and density and in some parts of Africa high elephant densities damage small sanctuaries and preserves. For wildlife that depend on forested patches, this increased modification could lead to displacement and/or decreases in abundance. If suitable habitat is not available elsewhere, elephants and other wildlife may move closer to humans in search of resources, which can result in increased human-wildlife conflict. Evaluating this impact was one of the goals of the Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya (ESAK) …

A Multi-Isotope Approach Reveals Seasonal Variation In The Reliance On Marine Resources, Production Of Metabolic Water, And Ingestion Of Seawater By Two Species Of Coastal Passerine To Maintain Water Balance, Lucas Navarrete, Nico Lübcker, Felipe Alvarez, Roberto Nespolo, Juan Carlos Sanchez-Hernandez, Karin Maldonado, Zachary D. Sharp, John P. Whiteman, Seth D. Newsome, Pablo Sabat

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Tracing how free-ranging organisms interact with their environment to maintain water balance is a difficult topic to study for logistical and methodological reasons. We use a novel combination of triple-oxygen stable isotope analyses of water extracted from plasma (δ¹⁶O, δ¹⁷O, δ¹⁸O) and bulk tissue carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes of feathers and blood to estimate the proportional contribution of marine resources, seawater, and metabolic water used by two species of unique songbirds (genus Cinclodes) to maintain their water balance in a seasonal coastal environment. We …

Lifetime Inclusive Fitness Effects Of Cooperative Polygamy In The Acorn Woodpecker, Walter D. Koenig, Sahas Barve, Joseph Haydock, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Although over 50 y have passed since W. D. Hamilton articulated kin selection and inclusive fitness as evolutionary explanations for altruistic behavior, quantifying inclusive fitness continues to be challenging. Here, using 30 y of data and two alternative methods, we outline an approach to measure lifetime inclusive fitness effects of cooperative polygamy (mate-sharing or cobreeding) in the cooperatively breeding acorn woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus. For both sexes, the number of offspring (observed direct fitness) declined while the number of young parented by related cobreeders (observed indirect fitness effect) increased with cobreeding coalition size. Combining these two factors, the observed inclusive …

H7n9 Influenza A Virus Transmission In A Multispecies Barnyard Model, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Anna Rodriguez, Rachel M. Maison, Stephanie M. Porter, J. Jeffrey Root

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Influenza A viruses are a diverse group of pathogens that have been responsible for millions of human and avian deaths throughout history. Here, we illustrate the transmission potential of H7N9 influenza A virus between Coturnix quail (Coturnix sp.), domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) co-housed in an artificial barnyard setting. In each of four replicates, individuals from a single species were infected with the virus. Quail shed virus orally and were a source of infection for both chickens and ducks. Infected chickens transmitted the virus to quail but not to ducks or …

Biodiversity Scale-Dependence And Opposing Multi-Level Correlations Underlie Differences Among Taxonomic, Phylogenetic And Functional Diversity, Nadejda A. Mirochnitchenko, Erica F. Stuber, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aim: Biodiversity is a multidimensional property of biological communities that represents different information depending on how it is measured, but how dimensions relate to one another and under what conditions is not well understood. We explore how taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity can differ in scale-of-effect dependence and habitat-biodiversity relationships, and subsequently how spatial differences among biodiversity dimensions may arise. Location: Nebraska, United States. Taxon: Birds. Methods: Across 2016 and 2017, we conducted 2,641 point counts at 781 sites. We modeled the occupancy of 141 species using Bayesian Bernoulli-Bernoulli hierarchical logistic regressions. We calculated species richness (SR), phylogenetic diversity (PD), …

Investigating The Impact Of Land Use On Avian Diversity And Abundance In Areas Surrounding Mabamba Swamp, Uganda, Sydney Marie Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wetland-adjacent land use on avian species richness and abundance areas surrounding Mabamba Swamp, Uganda. Four types of land use were investigated: Eucalyptus plantations, wetland-edge agricultural fields, residential areas, and mature secondary forests. A total of 40-morning point counts were conducted for ten days in late November and late December of 2021. One-way ANOVA tests and Tukey’s HSD tests revealed significant differences in mean avian richness and abundance between all sites except residential areas and Nkima Forest. Additionally, Nkima Forest was found to contain the most number of specialist …

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 …

Blue Jay Call Profile In Disparate Environments, Daniel A. Gesualdi

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Many species of birds have been observed to develop higher-pitched calls in urban environments; however local Blue Jays are unstudied (Mockford and Marshall, 2009). The urban environment's high noise pollution imposes a significant fitness challenge; then, the urban Jay calls will be different (higher) than rural Jay(Parris and Schneider, 2009). A series of recordings were taken in rural and urban environments; it was clear that there is a significant increase in maximum and minimum kHz in urban jays than rural jays. These results suggest that blue jays alter their calls to accommodate the environmental factors in urban settings similar to …

Paul Johnsgard: Comprehensive Vita And Bibliography, Paul A. Johnsgard

Papers in Ornithology

A current curriculum vitae and comprehensive bibliography for Paul A. Johnsgard, Foundation Regents Professor Emeritus at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Johnsgard has been the author of (at least) 91 books, 140 journal articles or chapters, 100 reviews or popular articles; the subject of 7 profile articles; and the director for 12 Ph.D. dissertations and 12 M.S. theses—all listed here. Dates covered are 1953 through 2020. Dr. Johnsgard is also an illustrator and photographer.

Updated January 2021.

Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 94, No. 4), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Stable Isotopes Reveal Opportunistic Foraging In A Spatiotemporally Heterogeneous Environment: Bird Assemblages In Mangrove Forests, Christina Buelow, April Reside, Ronald Baker, Marcus Sheaves

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Environmental heterogeneity can foster opportunistic foraging by mobile species, resulting in generalized resource and habitat use. Determining species’ food web roles is important to fully understand how ecosystems function, and stable isotopes can provide insight into the foraging ecology of bird assemblages. We investigated flexibility of food choice in mangrove bird assemblages of northeast Australia by determining whether species’ carbon and nitrogen isotopic values corresponded to foraging group classification described in the literature, such as groups of species that are omnivorous or insectivorous. Subsequently, we evaluated foraging group isotopic niche size, overlap, degree of individual specialization, and the probable proportions …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 94, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 94, No. 2), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Bird Population Changes Following The Establishment Of A Diverse Stand Of Woody Plants In A Former Crop Field In North Dakota, 1975– 2015, Lawrence D. Igl, Harold A. Kantrud, Wesley Newton

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Changes in the coverage of trees and shrubs on the North Dakota landscape since Euro- American settlement have likely had a pronounced impact on bird species that favor woody vegetation. Long- term data sets on breeding bird populations in wooded habitats in North Dakota or in the Great Plains are scarce. In 1975 a wildlife habitat plot was established in a 10.5 ha cropland field with a long history of small- grain production. Th e objective of this article is to evaluate the successional changes in bird populations as the habitat at this site became more biologically and structurally complex …

Bulletin No. 43: Birds Of The Connecticut College Arboretum: Eighty Years Of Change, Robert Askins

Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 94, No. 1), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

0841: Mary Lois Garrett Collection, 1941-1954, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection spans the years 1941-1954, with the bulk of the research covering the years 1950-1954. File contents were maintained in the way in which they were originally received, but folders have been arranged in a more chronological order. Some notes are entirely handwritten, while logs and records consist of typed templates which have been filled-in by hand. Notes contain illustrations of birds and nests, graphs of bird activity during observance, and descriptions of bird behavior. Nesting logs have mostly been filled out by Mary Lois Garrett, but other authors contributed, including Twila Hessin, Ruth Geib, and an unspecified ornithology …

The Role Of Song In Reproductive Isolation In A New Secondary Contact Zone Of White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia Leucophrys), William Brooks

Summer Research

Within the past thirty years, two formerly isolated subspecies of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) have formed an overlap in geographic range. This creates a natural experiment in speciation and reproductive isolation. Understanding how song acts as a reproductive barrier in this overlap can contribute to our understanding of behavioral isolation. We preformed playback experiments on territorial males to measure subspecific vocal discrimination. Additionally, we looked to see if hybridization was occurring. In the playback experiments we found that Z. l. pugetensis discriminates more strongly between songs, while Z. l. gambelii demonstrates little to no difference in response. We …

To Live And Fly In La: Using Bird Strike And Management Program Information To Improve Safety At Airports In The Los Angeles Basin, Todd J. Pitlik, Elizabeth Hermann, Eric Peralta, Brian E. Washburn

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife-aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose a serious safety risk to aircraft. Wildlife strikes can be evaluated at different levels, include efforts to examine these problems at the national, regional, or state level, or for an individual airport. Similarly, wildlife strikes involving individual wildlife species or guilds can be examined at varying scales. Although wildlife strike analyses at the national, regional, or species/guild level are valuable, airport-specific analyses are essential for the effective implementation and evaluation of integrated wildlife damage management programs as these actions are conducted at the airport level. The species that present hazards to safe aircraft operations varies …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 93, No. 4), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 93, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 93, No. 2), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Ash Decline: An Opportunity For Young Forest Wildlife, Bianca Beland

Honors College

The overall decline of ash tree health presents an opportunity for landowners to salvage dying trees, thus contributing to state and federal efforts to create young forest habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species, in addition to benefitting from the financial and recreational opportunities that come following salvage operations. This case study examines the results of a decision made by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC, Hartford, CT) to conduct a timber salvage operation on its public water supply watershed land to remove dying white ash (Fraxinus americana) trees and at the same time meet the goals of the …

Examining Movement And Habitat Selection Of Everglades Fishes In Response To Seasonal Water Levels, Gregory J. Hill

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fish distribution patterns and seasonal habitat use play a key role in the food web dynamics of aquatic ecosystems, including the Florida Everglades. In this study I examined the fine scale habitat shifts and movements of spotted sunfish, Lepomis punctatus across varying seasons and hydrologic conditions using in-situ field enclosures and Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) systems. Data on fish use of three dominant Everglades marsh habitats and activity level were recorded continuously from January to August, 2015. Fish were more active and had the highest use of higher elevation habitats when water levels rose during an experimental reversal in mid-April. …

The Long Shadow Of Senescence: Age Impacts Survival And Territory Defense In Loons, Walter H. Piper, Kristin M. Brunk, Joel A. Flory, Michael W. Meyer

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Senescence, increased mortality that occurs among animals of advanced age, impacts behavior and ecology in many avian species. We investigated actuarial, reproductive, and behavioral senescence using capture, marking, and resighting data from a 26-year study of common loons (Gavia immer). Territorial residents of both sexes exhibited high annual survival (0.94) until their mid 20s, at which point survival fell to 0.76 and 0.77 in males and females, respectively. Sexual symmetry in actuarial senescence is somewhat surprising in this species, because males make a substantially greater investment in territory defense and chick-rearing and because males engage in lethal contests for territory …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 93, No. 1), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Sandhill And Whooping Cranes, Jeb Barzen, Ken Ballinger

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

As sandhill crane populations continue to grow in the United States, so too does crop damage, property damage to homeowners, and the risk of crane collisions with aircraft. Whooping crane populations also continue to grow, but with a global population of about 500 individuals (as of 2017), damage is rare and problems often require different solutions due to the species’ endangered status. The behavioral characteristics and habitat needs of sandhill and whooping cranes set the stage for conflict between these birds and people. Recognizing behavioral differences between territorial and non-territorial cranes greatly improves the effectiveness of any management effort.

Human-Wildlife …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 92, No. 4), Kentucky Library Research Collections

Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.