Biodiversity Commons^™

To Harmonize Relationship Between Human And Nature And Achieve Sustainable Development: Unesco’S Man And The Biosphere Programme In China, Ding Wang, Ning Liu, Xiangjun Chen, Yijie Xian

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

It has been 50 years since UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme was launched in 1971. China joined this global inter-governmental scientific program in 1973, and the Chinese National Committee for the UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB China) was founded in 1978, with the support of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in collaboration with other ministries engaged in the administration of environmental conservation, forestry, agriculture, education, ocean and atmosphere, and so on. Since then, MAB China has carried out diverse explorations combining the value of UNESCO-MAB and the needs of the natural reserves in China. MAB has …

Progress And Prospect Of Wild Germplasm Conservation, Dezhu Li, Jie Cai, Wei He, Xiangyun Yang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Genetic resources are important strategic resources for the national interest, security, and sustainable economic and social development of a country. Wild germplasm with their great potential in bio-industry applications, received wide attention globally, specifically in wild plant preservation. China has achieved great progress in the infrastructure building and preservation of wild germplasm. This study suggests that it is crucial to develop China's national strategy of wild germplasm preservation by improving the top-down design and overall planning, other suggestions include enhancing the survey and collection projects of wild species and the evaluation of germplasm traits; enforcing and implementing laws and regulations …

Understanding Effects Of Large-Scale Development On Bird Migration And Habitats Through Cutting Edge Avian Monitoring Techniques, Lei Cao, Fanjuan Meng, Qingshan Zhao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The linkage created by migratory birds in time and space and between different global ecosystems, local biodiversity and diverse human culture epitomises the concept of “All Life on Earth”. The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, referred to as the Ramsar Convention below, uses bird abundance as a means to identify the relative significance of Wetlands of International Importance, tightly linking the most threatened wetlands on our planet with waterbird conservation. Wetland loss and degradation in Asia has caused a dramatic decrease in waterbird abundance and diversity, underlining the critical need for monitoring and conserving those …

Data Information: Overview Of Global Biodiversity Research

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

B10: Controlling Saltwater Intrusion: Aiding The Recovery Of Freshwater Ecosystems, Willem Maniago, Stefanie Whitmire, Dan Hitchcock

Annual Research Symposium

As sea levels rise, it is imperative to understand the effects of saltwater intrusion on freshwater ecosystems. This is especially true in the coastal wetlands of the SE US, where freshwater forests are dying from exposure to salinity. One management strategy that could prevent salinity intrusion in surface waters are water control structures (WCS). The Great Reserve, located outside of Georgetown, SC, represents a biodiverse freshwater forested wetland affected by saltwater intrusion from the adjacent tidal Black River. Several years ago, scientists and landowners observed the degradation of the ecosystem. The owners of the property installed a WCS at the …

Impact Of Whitetail Deer Overpopulation With Hunting On The Decline, Matthew J. Lamprinos

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The whitetail deer is a key species for Pennsylvania’s forests, but their ecological balance has been disturbed by unregulated growth and urban sprawl. The deer population in Pennsylvania has exploded since the 1880’s causing a wide range of damage on the ecosystem, and humans. To reduce deer populations to sustainable levels, the Pennsylvania Game Commission relies heavily on hunters to dedicate time in the fall to go out and fill the tags the they issue. Hunter participation all around the world is decreasing for a variety of reasons. Fewer hunters out in the field causes revenue losses for the Game …

Using Modeling To Investigate Factors Driving Avian Diversity In Urban Ecosystems, Clay Bliznick

Scholars Week

Anthropogenic influences have altered global landscapes considerably throughout the past two centuries, resulting in the decline of natural land cover types. Conversely, land cover types such as cropland and urban areas that are derived from human activities have experienced vast expansion. This landscape transition has serious implications for ecosystem services. To mitigate the loss of these services, it is necessary to maintain ecological integrity within these anthropogenically-influenced systems. Being able to support high biodiversity is an indicator of well-functioning ecosystems, thus quantifying biodiversity and assessing its contributing factors can be useful for developing management strategies in artificial environments. Our objective …

The Insular Herpetofauna Of Mexico: Composition, Conservation, And Biogeographic Patterns, Juan Valentín Pliego‐Sánchez, Christopher Blair, Aníbal H. Díaz De La Vega‐Pérez, Víctor H. Jiménez‐Arcos

Publications and Research

We compile a Mexican insular herpetofaunal checklist to estimate endemism, conservation status, island threats, net taxonomic turnover among six biogeographic provinces belonging to the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, and the relationships between island area and mainland distance versus species richness. We compile a checklist of insular herpetofaunal through performing a literature and collection review. We define the conservation status according to conservation Mexican law, the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Environmental Vulnerability Scores. We determine threat percentages on islands according to the 11 major classes of threats to biodiversity. We estimate the net taxonomic turnover …

Wpa News 114 (2021), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Spring 2021), number 114

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Mining 30 Years Of Conifer Records At The Baker Arboretum, Monika Decker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Only limited data had been published on the survivability of specimens within public gardens. This may be due to not enough data collected or how vast the plant selections are in the gardens. The Baker Arboretum has collected data by accessioning plant collections over a period of 30 years. The Baker Arboretum has its specimens GIS mapped on the 115-acre property for easy location and detection of the the woody ornamental plants. However, little research is available to understand which coniferous specimens have the best success in the garden. In this study, six separate binomial logistic regressions were run to …

2021 Spring Newsletter, Plaster Creek Stewards

Newsletters

Highlights:

Heron Rookery

Spring Event 2021

Education on Cedar

Spring Interns

Watershed Support Grant Awarded

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 17: More On The South Asian Connection, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

During his school years the arts and cultural historian and metaphysician Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) was clearly influenced by Alfred Russel Wallace, and is known later to have corresponded with, and supplied information to, him. Up to now the connections involved had been obscure, but a new investigation suggests that Wallace had previously interacted with Ananda’s mother and/or father.

Assessing And Mapping The Spatial-Temporal Change In Forest Phenology Of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Using Moderate Resolution Satellite, Bailey Ytterdahl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study focuses on coastal forests in Kenya that have some of the highest variety of flora and fauna, specifically Arabuko Sokoke Forest. Arabuko Sokoke Forest is located 110 miles north of Mombasa and 18 kilometers south of Malindi. This forest is known to be a worldwide biodiversity hotspot that is home to endemic and rare plants and animals. Within the Arabuko Sokoke Forest ecosystem, there are two main issues that challenge the conservation of the area. First, there has been more competition for land, primarily for agriculture and development. Second, there is an increase demand for forest resources due …

Taxonomic Annotation Of Near-Coral Seawater Microbiota In Kilifi, Kenya, Megan Ruoff

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The general objective of this study was to analyze the microbiome of seawater above a coral reef in Kilifi, Kenya. Specific objectives included establishing a baseline microbiota profile, classifying the identified organisms at various taxonomic levels, and conjecturing about reef health from the presence or absence of bioindicator species including Vibrio bacteria. Sequenced 16S rRNA gene sequences from seawater samples at Kuruwitu Conservancy in Kilifi, Kenya were taxonomically classified by exact matching employing the Dada2 software package and the naïve Bayesian classifier method with 97% similarity cut off. The seawater microbiota contained mostly Proteobacteria (73.28%), followed by Bacteroidetes (14.08%) and …

Ecological Impacts Of Apiaries, Lewis University

Sustainability

The Come Clean, Go Green competition is a program dedicated to making Lewis a more sustainable campus with ideas from Lewis Students across all disciplines. The program is sponsored by the Lewis University Sustainability Council and supported by, the sustainability fee, which was approved last year. The fee will fund the implementation of sustainability projects on campus that are chosen by students.

Implementation Of A Small-Scale Wind Turbine, Lewis University

Sustainability

No abstract provided.

Implications Of Increased Sst On Sula Dactylatra In Rapa Nui Marine Park, Flavia Soctto D'Antuono, Hayden E. Dubniczki

Student Publications

Marine protected areas are a relatively new conservation tool intended to remove harmful anthropogenic practices and influences to enable ecological processes to occur normally, but they cannot protect ecosystems from global impacts like climate change. One such MPA, Rapa Nui Marine Park in Chile, is home to the Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra. Though not currently endangered, their population numbers decrease annually, and seabirds are among the most threatened species in the face of climate change. This study seeks to examine the spatial ecology of the Sula dactylatra against the context of the MPA and examines whether increasing sea surface temperatures …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 16: The Flexible Wallace, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823−1913), though a naturalist of considerable renown, has sometimes been accused of inflexibility and inconsistency in his thinking. Many of his critics, however, ignore his basic approach to knowledge accumulation, which was explicitly incremental, based on a perceived need for constant reconsideration. Here, I: (1) identify five groups of Wallace critics who seem to be operating with prior agendas, and (2) provide lists of subjects on which he either changed his mind, or remained constant, according to individual situation.

Small Mammals Killed In Discarded Bottles Along Roadsides In Central Nebraska, Owen J. Johnson, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Littered debris along roadways traps and kills small vertebrates. In Nebraska, at least 20 species of small mammals are small enough to enter openings of discarded bottles and cans. We surveyed roadsides for littered bottles and cans containing vertebrate remains in central parts of the state. We observed 459 bottles and 278 aluminum cans along 17.6 km of roadsides in Nebraska. Littered bottles contained 41 vertebrate remains representing nine taxa of small mammals. Glass bottles contained the majority of individuals, plastic bottles had a few individuals, and no vertebrate remains were detected in aluminum cans. Harvest mice (Reithrodontomys spp.) …

A Comparison Of Intertidal Metazoan Biodiversity Between Previously Oiled Sheared And Intact Marsh Margins And Between Multiple Salinity Zones In The Coastal Marshes Of Louisiana, Patrick M. Rayle

LSU Master's Theses

Marshes in Louisiana are under threat from numerous natural and anthropogenic sources. A consequence of these threats are sheared marsh margins, which result from the impact of storm surge on previously oiled, weakened marsh. These conditions occurred in Louisiana marshes after Hurricane Isaac in 2012 followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, particularly in the shorelines surrounding Bay Jimmy. The second and third chapters of this thesis focus on the differences in biodiversity between the sheared and intact marsh margins in impacted sites in Bay Jimmy. Metabarcoding methods were used to determine community composition of the sediment within marsh …

Vertebrate Impact On A Newly Deployed Shoreline Stabilization Project By Wildlife Camera Analysis, Julia Rifenberg, Jason Litwak, Rebecca Fillyaw

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Living shoreline stabilization is a technique that utilizes plants and other natural elements to protect estuarine coasts. Research has provided minimal information about which vertebrate species utilize living shorelines post-deployment. For this project, ten wildlife cameras were placed along a living shoreline site in Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) to document which vertebrate species utilize the living shoreline and surrounding vegetation. This shoreline was stabilized with red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) and eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) shell bags in June 2019. The cameras, activated by motion sensors, remained at the site for five days a month for seven …

Checklist Of The Inland Fishes Of Louisiana, Michael H. Doosey, Henry L. Bart Jr., Kyle R. Piller

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

Since the publication of Freshwater Fishes of Louisiana (Douglas, 1974) and a revised checklist (Douglas and Jordan, 2002), much has changed regarding knowledge of inland fishes in the state. An updated reference on Louisiana’s inland and coastal fishes is long overdue. Inland waters of Louisiana are home to at least 224 species (165 primarily freshwater, 28 primarily marine, and 31 euryhaline or diadromous) in 45 families. This checklist is based on a compilation of fish collections records in Louisiana from 19 data providers in the Fishnet2 network (www.fishnet2.net). The checklist has grown because of descriptions of three new species, new …

Micro- And Macroevolution Of Drab Plumage Color In Birds, Rafael Marcondes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

I address the evolution of drab bird colors at micro- and macroevolutionary scales. I use as a study system the Furnariida, a clade of >600 Neotropical passerine species that, despite tremendous ecological and morphological diversity, are colored almost exclusively in shades of brown and grey produced by melanin pigments.

In chapters two and three, I took a macroevolutionary approach and showed that (1) plumage colors in the Furnariida evolve at similar rates in a monochromatic clade, males of a dichromatic clade, and females of a dichromatic clade; (2) ventral plumage color evolves faster than dorsal; (3) bird species that occupy …

The Effects Of Urbanization On Plant Biodiversity In Southeastern Virginia, Tess Hardesty

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This research project investigated the impacts of urbanization on plant species biodiversity within Southeastern Virginia. The hypothesized results of this research were if there was an increase in urbanization, then plant diversity would decrease. Plant biodiversity can increase the decomposition rates, pollination success, and biomass production of the area. Decreasing in plant biodiversity can increase the spread of pathogens through plant populations and increase herbivore damage. There was data compiled from SERNEC herbarium records of four counties, Accomack, Northampton, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach had the largest population increase, which was considered the measurement for urbanization in this study. …

Plant Community Response To The Combined Effects Of Elevation, And Simulated Nutrient And Sediment Loading In Sagittaria Lancifolia-Dominated Wetlands, Donnie Day

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal wetlands are experiencing threats to their long-term sustainability brought about by the combined effects of relative sea-level rise and human modifications to hydrology, sediment delivery and nutrient loading. Restoration and management strategies can include adding sediment to the surface of deteriorating marshes to facilitate positive feedbacks among elevation, plant productivity, sediment trapping, and accretion; however, if delivered using nitrate-enriched river waters, belowground biomass and soil organic matter pools may be negatively affected, resulting in the acceleration of wetland loss. Overall, there is limited information on the combined effects of nutrient loading, sedimentation, and flooding dynamics in regulating feedbacks among …

Protura (Arthropoda: Hexapoda) In Slovenian Caves, Loris Galli, Franc Janžekovič, Peter Kozel, Tone Novak

International Journal of Speleology

Protura is a small class of Hexapoda, generally poorly known, and rather scarce data on its occurrence in caves are scattered throughout literature on fauna in caves and in some papers on Protura. Although the cave-dwelling fauna is relatively well studied in Slovenia, published records on Protura are rare. In this paper, data on the occurrence and abundance of Protura in Slovenian caves are considered. Various statistical analyses were performed to compare caves with Protura to those without in 60 intensively monitored cavities to detect any differences in the selected environmental conditions. No significant difference was obtained. Samples collected from …

Distribution Pattern And Phytosociological Study Of Trees Associated With Agroforestry In Poonch District Of Jammu And Kashmir, India, Javed Manzoor, Mohd Junaid Jazib

Journal of Bioresource Management

The focus of present study was to find the phytosociology, distribution pattern, and diversity of different species of trees associated with traditional agroforestry in the district of Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Data was collected through quadrat survey method. A total of fifty quadrats of the size (10x10m) each were thrown randomly in agriculture fields. Total 26 tree species belonging to 16 families and 21 genera were encountered in the agricultural fields with Grewia optiva, Pyrus persica and Celtis australis being the tree species in dominance. The most dense species of tree recorded was Grewia optiva with a density value …

Microhabitat Selection Of A Sicilian Subterranean Woodlouse And Its Implications For Cave Management, Giuseppe Nicolosi, Stefano Mammola, Salvatore Costanzo, Giorgio Sabella, Rosolino Cirrincione, Giovanni Signorello, Marco Isaia

International Journal of Speleology

Human activities in subterranean environments can affect different ecosystem components, including the resident fauna. Subterranean terrestrial invertebrates are particularly sensitive to environmental change, especially microclimatic variations. For instance, microclimate modifications caused by the visitors may directly affect local fauna in caves opened to the public. However, since numerous factors act synergistically in modulating the distribution and abundance of subterranean species, it remains challenging to differentiate the impact of human intervention from that of other factors. Therefore, evidence of the impact of tourism on cave invertebrate fauna remains scarce. Over a year and with approximately two visits a month, we investigated …

Evaluating The Multi-Level Community Effects Of Root Hemiparasites In Northern Illinois, Anna Marie Scheidel

Theses and Dissertations

Root hemiparasites are green plants that tap into a neighboring plant’s water-filled xylem to acquire inorganic nutrients, which can lead to an accumulation of nutrients in hemiparasite biomass. I performed an observational field study at Nachusa Grasslands and Franklin Creek State Natural Area (Lee County, IL) in 2019 to investigate how the presence of five root hemiparasites (Aureolaria grandiflora (Benth.) Pennell, Agalinis tenuifolia (Vahl) Raf., Castilleja sessiliflora (Pursh), Dasistoma macrophylla (Nutt.) Raf., Pedicularis canadensis L.) affects their communities through the (a)keystone species hypothesis, that hemiparasites will increase measures of diversity by altering competition among surrounding plant species, (b) ecological engineer …

Ecological Studies Of Wolves On Isle Royale Annual Report 2020-2021, John A. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson, Sarah R. Hoy

Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale

Annual Report 2020-2021