Biodiversity Commons^™

Using Bioenergetics To Model The Effects Of Climate Change On Bluntnose Minnows Pimephales Notatus In A Western Kentucky Stream, Christian Slone, Christian Slone

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Bioenergetics considers a variety of factors like consumption, excretion, and metabolism to quantify the energy use of an organism. A common use of bioenergetics modeling is to help solve fish stock problems. This project looks to develop a bioenergetics model for Bluntnose Minnows Pimephales notatus to help predict effects of climate change on the biodiversity of western Kentucky streams. We used R and NetLogo to create an agent-based bioenergetics model to simulate the size distribution of Bluntnose Minnows under various temperature regimes. Bluntnose Minnow metabolism increases, and consumption decreases with an increase in water temperature. Fish growth seems to be …

Impact Analysis On The Invasive Oriental Weather Loach (Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus) In The Grant Creek And Prairie Creek Watersheds At Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Adam Vanhaitsma

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Presentation Location: Weber Center, Room 101

Abstract

In 2014, the invasive Oriental weather loach was found in the Prairie Creek wetland at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. While little is known about the Oriental weather loach and its impact on freshwater ecosystems it has become a widespread invasive species. Being the first to investigate the impact of the Oriental weather loach on the Grant Creek and Prairie Creek watersheds at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, we set traps for specimens from early June till late July in both watersheds. Each loach that was caught was euthanized and dissected in order to understand …

Identification Of Microbiota Associated With The Ectosymbiotic Community Structure Of The Appalachian Brook Crayfish (Cambarus Bartonii), Matthew M. Cooke 6268927, Luke T. Fischer, Taylor Griffin, Sherrie Jeffers

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Microbes play a significant role in ecosystems, effecting the vital functions of other organisms, interspecies relationships, and population sizes. Based upon previous research (Skelton et al., 2016), it has been hypothesized that crayfish symbionts (branchiobdellidans) play a significant role in regulating the amount of microbiota associated with the host. A growing body of knowledge is known regarding both the condition of gill fouling and the annelid worm’s symbiotic relationship with the crayfish (Skelton et al., 2016; Skelton et al., 2016). However, there is little to no evidence available concerning the bacteria’s role in the process (Skelton et al., 2016). Microbial …

Automated Detection Of Deep-Sea Animals, Dallas J. Hollis, Duane Edgington, Danelle Cline

STAR Program Research Presentations

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute routinely deploys remotely operated underwater vehicles equipped with high definition cameras for use in scientific studies. Utilizing a video collection of over 22,000 hours and the Video Annotation and Reference System, we have set out to automate the detection and classification of deep-sea animals. This paper serves to explore the pitfalls of automation and suggest possible solutions to automated detection in diverse ecosystems with varying field conditions. Detection was tested using a saliency-based neuromorphic selective attention algorithm. The animals that were not detected were then used to tune saliency parameters. Once objects are detected, …

Moss Composition Affects Seedling Density Of Western Hemlock And Sitka Spruce, Katy E. Maleta Ms.

Summer Research

Nurse logs at the Hoh National Forest represent a clear understanding of how important habitat heterogeneity is in old growth forests. Looking down a nurse log, you will find various moss species and debris along with seedlings being assisted in germination. By observation, there is an effect of moss composition on seedling density. We found that when moss depth increase, seedling density decreases. We also found that where the moss was the most thick, the moss species that was present was Hylocomium Splendens (Step Moss). We also found that when moss depth decreased, seedling density increased and the moss species …