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Full-Text Articles in Biodiversity

An Ecological Survey Of East Texas Salamanders Across The Camp Tyler Outdoor Field School In Smith County, Texas, Justin C. Hunt Jul 2023

An Ecological Survey Of East Texas Salamanders Across The Camp Tyler Outdoor Field School In Smith County, Texas, Justin C. Hunt

Biology Theses

Amphibians are a unique class of organisms with a very long and storied evolutionary history of survival. Many modern amphibian clades occupy several vital ecological roles within their native freshwater environments. One of these roles, typically includes functioning as an ecological indicator species, whereby the presence of stable and diverse populations of many amphibian species, including salamanders, within a freshwater ecosystem have long been considered ecological indicators of good habitat quality and stable ecosystem health. Similarly, salamanders also function as important members of their local food webs and act as valuable mediators of complex trophic hierarchies to facilitate nutrient cycling …


Monitoring The Effects Of Poultry Waste On Fishes And Macroinvertebrates In The Sabine River, Karley R. Parker Jul 2023

Monitoring The Effects Of Poultry Waste On Fishes And Macroinvertebrates In The Sabine River, Karley R. Parker

Biology Theses

Freshwater is a vital resource that provides life and sustainability for almost all organisms on Earth. It is important to maintain its health and protect it from emerging pollutants that pose a threat to the organisms that use it. Pollution continues to threaten the well-being of the environment’s freshwater sources all around the world that could lead to damaging effects in the future. The Sabine River is a major freshwater resource in the east Texas and western Louisiana areas that provides a habitat for thousands of organisms as well as other domestic uses for humans. In 2019, a waste discharge …


Comparative Microbiome Analysis Of The Funfus Gardening Ant Species Trachymyrmex Arizonensis, Chase D. Rowan Aug 2021

Comparative Microbiome Analysis Of The Funfus Gardening Ant Species Trachymyrmex Arizonensis, Chase D. Rowan

Biology Theses

Fungus-growing ants (Attini: Formicidae) and their fungal cultivars participate in ant-fungus mutualism that share a 50-million-year-old coevolutionary history. Fungal cultures are grown in gardens alongside ants and a diverse collection of microbes that interact with both species in mutualistic, commensal, and antagonistic relationships. These microbes aid in digestion and detoxification of food, provide essential nutrients, help in nest hygiene, and play a dominant role in defense against pathogens and disease. Microbial communities of many model species have been shown to change in a laboratory setting as compared to their natural environment. High-throughput 16s sequencing of the V4 variable region was …


Terrestrial Soldier Crab (Coenobita Clypeatus, Fabricius 1787) And Cerion Spp. (Röding 1798) Shell Relationship On San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Harley Hunt May 2021

Terrestrial Soldier Crab (Coenobita Clypeatus, Fabricius 1787) And Cerion Spp. (Röding 1798) Shell Relationship On San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Harley Hunt

Biology Theses

The Caribbean terrestrial soldier crab, Coenobita clypeatus(Fabricius 1787), coexist and utilize the shells of numerous species of land and marine gastropods. Soldier crabs rely on gastropod shells for protection as the crabs have a soft abdomen, leaving them vulnerable for predation and desiccation, threatening their survival. This creates a strong pressure to obtain well-fitting shells that provide adequate protection against water loss. Cerion of Röding (1798) shells are one of the most commonly used shells among living colonies of C. clypeatuson San Salvador Island. This study is interested in the frequency of shell use by C. clypeatus crabs …


Late Pleistocene Rodents From Clark Quarry, A Vertebrate Fossil Locality In Southeastern Georgia, Parker Rhinehart May 2021

Late Pleistocene Rodents From Clark Quarry, A Vertebrate Fossil Locality In Southeastern Georgia, Parker Rhinehart

Biology Theses

Clark Quarry is a Late Pleistocene fossil locality near Brunswick, GA, United States with a diverse vertebrate fauna. Morphological descriptions of Mammuthus columbi (Columbian Mammoth), snakes, amphibians, and birds from Clark Quarry have previously been completed along with a stable isotope analysis of M. columbi and Bison latifrons (Long-horned Bison) enamel. Herein, the rodent fauna is described using primarily teeth recovered by screen-washing quarry sediment. Nine rodent taxa have been identified, two of which are the extinct species Synaptomys australis (Florida Bog Lemming) and Neochoerus aesopi (Late Pleistocene Capybara). Of the remaining seven taxa, Erethizon dorsatum (North American Porcupine) and …


Diatom Voucher Flora And Comparison Of Collection Methods For Biodiversity Hotspot Upper Three Runs Creek, Katie M. Johnson Mar 2020

Diatom Voucher Flora And Comparison Of Collection Methods For Biodiversity Hotspot Upper Three Runs Creek, Katie M. Johnson

Biology Theses

Surface freshwater is a scarce resource. Due to the scarcity and necessity of this resource, it is imperative that its quality is routinely monitored. One way of monitoring water quality is through biological assessments, which include examining algal assemblages. Regionally, little remains known of algal taxa in the southeastern United States. In the past, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP) conducted biological assessments along the Savannah River finding Gomphonema parvulum (Kützing) Kützing 1849 to be a dominant taxon rendering assessments inconclusive. Recent studies have provided evidence that species complexes and semi-cryptic taxa have been identified within the Gomphonema …


Reproductive Effort And Lipid Dynamics Of The Emerald Shiner (Notropis Atherinoides) In The Upper Niagara River, New York, Christopher A. Osborne May 2018

Reproductive Effort And Lipid Dynamics Of The Emerald Shiner (Notropis Atherinoides) In The Upper Niagara River, New York, Christopher A. Osborne

Biology Theses

Life history theory predicts that reproductive characteristics of organisms will be shaped by biotic and abiotic factors to maximize their overall fitness. In this study, I investigated how growth, reproductive effort, and lipid dynamics vary ontogenetically and seasonally for emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides) in the upper Niagara River. Growth rates were highest in age 2 shiners and lower in age 1 and age 3 individuals. Evidence of reproduction was found beginning at age 1, and reproductive investment as measured by ovarian lipid content was lowest in age 1 and age 2 individuals and greatest in age 3 fish. …


Do Novel Weapons That Degrade Mycorrhizal Mutualisms Explain Invasive Species Success?, Philip L. Pinzone Mr. Aug 2016

Do Novel Weapons That Degrade Mycorrhizal Mutualisms Explain Invasive Species Success?, Philip L. Pinzone Mr.

Biology Theses

Invasive plants often dominate novel habitats where they did not co-evolve with local species. Several hypotheses suggest mechanisms that explain increased exotic plant success, including 'novel weapons' and 'degraded mutualisms'. Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) and European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) are widespread plant invaders in North America that can dominate ecosystems. The goal of this study is to test whether these impacts are more consistent with novel weapons or degraded mutualism hypotheses. I examine tree seedling recruitment, (germination and initial survival) growth, (biomass) and mycorrhizal invasion (AMF content) as a function of F. japonica and R. cathartica …


The Snakes Of The Taunton Local Fauna (Pliocene: Mid-Blancan) Of Adams County, Washington, Donald Edward Walker Ii May 1996

The Snakes Of The Taunton Local Fauna (Pliocene: Mid-Blancan) Of Adams County, Washington, Donald Edward Walker Ii

Biology Theses

The Taunton local fauna is located in Adams county Washington and is Blancan in age (2.85-2.95 ma). This site yielded three hundred sixty-five fossil snake vertebrae. Of these, one hundred ninety-nine were identifiable to genus and twenty-one were identifiable to species. Analysis of the Taunton's ophidian faunal composition provides two notable accounts in attempting to reconstruct Blancan snake faunas. First, is the occurrence of the fox snake, Elaphe vulpina. This is the only account of this species in the Pacific Northwest. This is important since the fox snake's present range is restricted to the upper Midwest United States. Second, …