Biology Commons^™

Impacts Of Invasive Rats And Tourism On A Threatened Island Bird: The Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl, Paul M. Radley, Robert A. Davis, Tim S. Doherty

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Invasive predators have decimated island biodiversity worldwide. Rats (Rattus spp.) are perhaps the greatest conservation threat to island fauna. The ground nesting Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl Megapodius laperouse senex (Megapodiidae) inhabits many of the islands of Palau's Rock Island Southern Lagoon Conservation Area (RISL) in the western Pacific. These islands are also heavily visited by tourists and support populations of introduced rats, both of which may act as added stressors for the scrubfowl. Using passive chew-tag and call playback surveys on five tourist-visited and five tourist-free islands, we investigated if rats and tourists negatively affect scrubfowl, and if higher rat activity …

A Basic Ddradseq Two‐Enzyme Protocol Performs Well With Herbarium And Silica‐Dried Tissues Across Four Genera, Ingrid E. Jordon-Thaden, James B. Beck, Catherine A. Rushworth, Michael D. Windham, Nicolas Diaz, Jason T. Cantley, Christopher T. Martine, Carl J. Rothfels

Faculty Journal Articles

Premise

The ability to sequence genome‐scale data from herbarium specimens would allow for the economical development of data sets with broad taxonomic and geographic sampling that would otherwise not be possible. Here, we evaluate the utility of a basic double‐digest restriction site–associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq) protocol using DNAs from four genera extracted from both silica‐dried and herbarium tissue.

Methods

DNAs from Draba, Boechera, Solidago, and Ilex were processed with a ddRADseq protocol. The effects of DNA degradation, taxon, and specimen age were assessed.

Results

Although taxon, preservation method, and specimen age affected data recovery, large phylogenetically informative …

Analyzing The Flight Patterns And Behavior Of Dragonflies Engaged In Aerial Territory Battles, Brandon Hastings, Brandon Jackson

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

It has previously been determined that male dragonflies occupying the most suitable territory within a habitat have a higher flight-muscle ratio (FMR) than those occupying poor territories, but it is unknown how this increased FMR relates to their flight patterns. This study examined the flight patterns of dragonflies engaged in aerial territory battles to investigate differences in maneuverability between winners and losers. 3D video data of dragonflies interacting in a natural habitat was analyzed for territorial flights. Winners showed a lower maximum angular velocity compared to losers.

333— Effectiveness Of Batesian Mimicry In The Ant Mimicking Spider Myrmarachne Formicaria, Alanna Richman, Bea Dipzinski

GREAT Day Posters

Myrmarachne formicaria is a non-native ant-mimicking spider that was first recorded in New York in 2006. Little is known about its natural history in its native range in Europe and Asia or in its newly colonized range in North America. Some spider species are Batesian mimics that resemble ants in order to avoid being eaten, since many potential predators will not prey on ants. To assess the effectiveness of Batesian mimicry in this species, we staged encounters with a larger salticid spider species that could be a potential predator of M. formicaria. In total, 12 predator spiders were observed …

298— Rural Economic Growth And Disease Intervention In Ghana; The Edward Pettinella '73 Endowed Ambassadorship In Business, Lucas Sutton

GREAT Day Posters

Schistosomiasis is a leading parasitic infection that debilitates many individuals in sub Saharan Africa. Because this parasitic infection involves a snail as an intermediate host, we use a native prawn species as a natural predator to decrease the population of this snail community. This study focuses on Tomefa, a primarily fishing peri-urban community located oi the outskirts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. A survey was also given to the local community measuring economic characteristics. In the laboratory, Macrobrachium spp prawn exhibit preference of Bulinus snails over Biomphalaria snails while non-parasitic snails were consumed in higher proportion to parasitized …

135— Coral-Sponge Interactions On Rocky Point Reef, San Salvador, Bahamas, Michael Harvey, Anna Meichenbaum, Brooke Stickles

GREAT Day Posters

We surveyed the intensity of competition for reef space between sponges and corals at the Rocky Point patch reef adjacent to San Salvador Island, The Bahamas. Our working hypothesis was that, because of a dearth of predators, fast growing, chemically unprotected sponges more likely to be involved in competitive interactions. Results indicate that competition for reef space was widespread, but contrary to our hypothesis no sponge or coral species was disproportionately more involved in these interactions. These results contradict previous studies on Rocky Point reef and in our discussion we propose an explanation for this discrepancy.

Checklist Of The Freshwater Sponges (Porifera: Spongillida) Of Tennessee, John E. Copeland

Cumberland Mountain Naturalist

Of the ~8,500 sponge species that are known to exist, approximately 3% inhabit freshwater. Taxonomically, freshwater sponges are divided into 6 families with less than 250 identified species. Of these, 33 species of freshwater sponge can be found in the Nearctic Biogeographical realm with 13 species documented in Tennessee waters. Species of three families, Metanidae, Potamolepidae, and Spongillidae, are known to occur in the United States but only members of Potamolepidae and Spongillidae have been collected from Tennessee waters. This article presents a species checklist with currently known distribution information.

Do Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus Carolinensis) Use Human-Provided Cues To Increase Foraging Success In Urban Landscapes?, Aditya A. Mehta, Jeeva H. Rathnaweera

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

The coexistence of humans with other animals in urban and suburban areas has given rise to a spectrum of agonistic and beneficial interactions. Animals thriving in urban settings are known to exhibit superior foraging and food extraction abilities compared to their wild conspecifics. This has raised the question regarding if non-human animals can form and maintain a similar “theory of mind” to humans based on the actions they observe in their environments (Schloegl et al., 2007). For this experiment, human-made click and gaze cues were used while placing food for eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) located on the …

Unexpected Predicted Length Variation For The Coding Sequence Of The Sleep Related Gene, Bhlhe41 In Gorilla Amidst Strong Purifying Selection Across Mammals, Krishna Unadkat, Justen B. Whittall

Biology

There is a molecular basis for many sleep patterns and disorders involving circadian clock genes. In humans, “short-sleeper” behavior has been linked to specific amino acid substitutions in BHLHE41 (DEC2), yet little is known about variation at these sites and across this gene in mammals. We compare BHLHE41 coding sequences for 27 mammals. Approximately half of the coding sequence was invariable at the nucleotide level and close to three-quarters of the amino acid alignment was identical. No other mammals had the same “short-sleeper” amino acid substitutions previously described from humans. Phylogenetic analyses based on the nucleotides of the coding sequence …

Evolutionary Ecology Of Host-Parasite Relationships: Role Of Host Ecology, Phylogeny, And Demographics In Shaping Parasite Evolution, Erika Taylor Gendron

Biology ETDs

Host-parasite systems exist across complex and ecologically heterogeneous landscapes, and may occur across taxonomically and ecologically disparate host species. Under these conditions, mechanisms underlying microevolutionary processes (i.e. gene flow, genetic drift) are not always clear, and may be mediated by numerous co-occurring factors specific to individual hosts. Host traits such as host immunology, demographics, phylogeny and ecology may act in concert to shape host-parasite relationships, and ultimately evolutionary processes. The research described herein used phylogeographic, phylogenomic, and population genetic methods to further understanding of how host traits impact the evolutionary ecology of trematode systems, using avian schistosomes (Digenea: Schistosomatidae) as …

Genome-Wide Changes In Genetic Diversity In A Population Of Myotis Lucifugus Affected By White-Nose Syndrome, Thomas M. Lilley, Ian W. Wilson, Kenneth A. Field, Deeann Reeder, Megan E. Vodzak, Gregory G. Turner, Allen Kurta, Anna S. Blomberg, Samantha Hoff, Carl J. Herzog, Brent J. Sewall, Steve Paterson

Faculty Journal Articles

Novel pathogens can cause massive declines in populations, and even extirpation of hosts. But disease can also act as a selective pressure on survivors, driving the evolution of resistance or tolerance. Bat white-nose syndrome (WNS) is a rapidly spreading wildlife disease in North America. The fungus causing the disease invades skin tissues of hibernating bats, resulting in disruption of hibernation behavior, premature energy depletion, and subsequent death. We used whole-genome sequencing to investigate changes in allele frequencies within a population of Myotis lucifugus in eastern North America to search for genetic resistance to WNS. Our results show low FST values …

Driver Of Avian Haemosporidian Diversity And Host Specificity In The Solomon Islands, Xena Marie Mapel

Biology ETDs

Avian haemosporidians are protist parasites that are distributed worldwide. We investigated these parasites in a tropical South Pacific archipelago to answer two questions: 1) Which community characteristics influence haemosporidian diversity; 2) Does host specificity vary across islands? To answer these questions we sequenced a mitochondrial gene and created linear models to establish relationships between select variables and diversity. In addition, we calculated host breadth of each lineage and constructed models to infer predictors of diversity. The percent of infected individuals on each island was correlated with island area. Haemosporidian phylogenetic diversity on a given island was associated with the proportion …

Combined Opportunistic And Equilibrium Life-History Traits Facilitate Successful Invasions Of The Shimofuri Goby (Tridentiger Bifasciatus), Jiao Qin, Miao Xiang, Meixiang Jia, Fei Cheng, Bjorn V. Schmidt, Jian Liu, Songguang Xie

Faculty Publications

The life-history traits of a non-native population of Shimofuri goby (Tridentiger bifasciatus) were investigated in Nansi Lake, which is a storage lake on the East Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, China. The results were analyzed in combination with data from other non-native populations of this species to reveal the life-history traits that caused its successful invasions. Mature gonads in April and May suggest that the species spawns in this period, and cohort tracking and age analysis revealed that individuals had a one-year lifespan. The relative fecundity was 2,825 ± 614 eggs/g. A short lifespan and high fecundity are …

Nutrient Removal Potential Of Constructed Wetlands In Grand Lake St. Marys Watershed, Stephen J. Jacquemin, Jocelyn Birt, Benjamin Strang, Conner Ewing, Bradley Axe, T. Dirksen

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Constructed wetlands are becoming an increasingly important management tool to reduce nutrient rich agricultural runoff in the Great Lakes region. The objective of this study was to assess the removal efficiency of two constructed wetlands operating on tributaries of Grand Lake St. Marys (Prairie Creek and Coldwater Creek) located in northwest Ohio. Water samples were collected weekly during 2019 year from inflow and outflow points where they were analyzed for nutrient (nitrate-N, total phosphorus, dissolved reactive phosphorus) concentrations following standard EPA colorimetric methods. Overall, while both wetlands experienced high mean nutrient inputs (concentrations in mg/L) across both fall and summer …

Substrate-Borne Vibrational Communication In Veiled Chameleons (Chamaeleo Calyptratus) During Courtship, Breeding, And Territoriality, Lauren Kappel

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Substrate-borne vibrations, or biotremors, are utilized by vertebrates found in unique environments because biotremors are an effective way to transmit signals through dense media. Previous studies have shown that veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) are able to produce biotremors via specialized neck muscles. I hypothesized that during courtship and/or breeding, the veiled chameleon, a tree-dwelling species, would communicate with biotremors through branches. Additionally, I hypothesized that female call characteristics would differ between reproductive condition (i.e., receptive and non-receptive), while male call characteristics would differ between behavioral contexts (i.e., territorial vs. courtship). Chameleons were paired (one male, one female) and placed on …

Potential Of Pasture Grasses To Reduce Soil Runoff In Simulated Spring Seeding Applications, Aubrey Jaqueth, Stephen J. Jacquemin

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Declines in surface water quality has emerged as one of the foremost environmental, social, and political issues in the Midwestern United States over the past several decades. One of the leading causes of water quality issues in this region has been linked to non-point source surface runoff of soil, nutrients, and chemicals from primarily agricultural landscapes. Surface runoff negatively affects water by facilitating eutrophic conditions and additionally, negatively impacts landscapes by reducing the organic and top soil layers leading to production declines. Thus, best management practices that focus on reducing runoff rates in agricultural acreage are a high priority. The …

Delineation Of Undescribed, Morphologically Cryptic Cave Beetles Of The Pseudanophthalmus Pubescens Species-Group (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae), Jedidiah John Nixon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The genus Pseudanophthalmus Jeannel is a widespread and extremely diverse taxon of troglobiont beetle endemic to the karst of eastern North America, with its distribution centered in Tennessee and Kentucky. Despite lying near the heart of this region, the pubescens species-group was thought to contain many undescribed species. In this study, the validities of several of the late Dr. Thomas Barr’s unpublished putative new species in the pubescens-group were tested both morphologically and molecularly. Body measurements (length and width for head, thorax, and abdomen), as well as male genital morphology were compared to see if they reflected theorized species limits.. …

Lightning Damage Stimulates Beetle Activity In A Tropical Forest, Samantha C. Vaughn, Kane A. Lawhorn, Evan M. Gora, Steve P. Yanoviak

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Disturbance alters the structure of ecological communities. Localized disturbances in tropical rainforests often create canopy gaps - patches of forest where large trees have fallen or are defoliated. Lightning is a major cause of large-tree mortality, and consequently gaps, in tropical forests. Lightning-caused gaps consist of abundant dead standing wood which likely is a predictable resource for saproxylic arthropods, specifically wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera). The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of the beetles that are attracted to lightning-damaged trees in a tropical forest. We placed flight intercept traps in the subcanopy of 8 trees (4 struck …

Distortion Of The Local Magnetic Field Appears To Neither Disrupt Nocturnal Navigation Nor Cue Shelter Recognition In The Amblypygid Paraphrynus Laevifrons, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Patrick Casto, Eileen Hebets, Verner P. Bingman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Many arthropods are known to be sensitive to the geomagnetic field and exploit the field to solve spatial problems. The polarity of the geomagnetic field is used, for instance, as an orientation cue by leafcutter ants as they travel on engineered trails in a rainforest and by Drosophila larvae as they move short distances in search of food. A ubiquitous orientation cue like the geomagnetic field may be especially useful in complex, cluttered environments like rainforests, where the reliability of celestial cues used to navigate in more open environments may be poor. The neotropical amblypygid Paraphrynus laevifrons is a nocturnal …

West Coast Rock Lobster Whale Entanglement Mitigation Workshop, Jason How, L Orme, Graeme Baudains, Pia Dobson, M Taylor, Simon De Lestang

Fisheries Occasional Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Nicotine Accumulation Exposure On Lithobates Catebeianus Larvae Mortality, Luke Micek

UCARE: Research Products

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world and contain over 4,000 chemicals, including the organic compound nicotine (Slaughter et al. 2011). Billions of cigarette butts are littered each year which may wash into bodies of water, impacting the local wildlife. To determine how introduced chemicals impact the environment, it is important to study its effects on indicator species. Amphibians, such as Lithobates catebeianus, act as indicator species due to their extreme sensitivity to chemical changes in its environment. The purpose of this research project was to obtain data to help determine the impact nicotine accumulation has …

Using Δ18o To Track Po4 Entering The Western Basin Of Lake Erie, Melanie M. Marshall, Gabrielle K. Metzner, Kevin E. Mccluney

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Algal blooms in the Western Basin of Lake Erie are dependent upon nutrients provided by major rivers within Northwest Ohio. To develop more accurate methods of defining which of these waterways is the largest contributor, a proof of concept study is being conducted using δ18O of phosphate molecules. In the summer of 2016, under relatively low stream flow conditions, 10-20L samples of water were collected at the several major branches within the Portage River, at the mouths of the Portage, Maumee, and Sandusky Rivers, and at two locations within the Western Basin. In the spring of 2017, these collections were …

A New Genus And Two New Species Of Unarmed Hymenolepidid Cestodes (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) From Geomyid Rodents In Mexico And Costa Rica, Scott Lyell Gardner, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan, Mariel Campbell, S. Elizabeth Rácz

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Two new cestodes of the family Hymenolepididae are described from two species of rodents of the family Geomyidae collected in Mexico and Costa Rica. One new species of Hymenolepis is described from Cratogeomys planiceps Merriam 1895 from near Toluca, Mexico and another that we allocate to a new genus is described from Heterogeomys heterodus (Peters, 1865) from near Irazú Volcano, Costa Rica. Hymenolepis s. str. includes those Hymenolepididae with an apical organ, with no hooks on suckers or apical organ, and three testes. Hobergia irazuensis n. gen., n. sp. includes a hymenolepidid with an apical organ, unarmed scolex, small …

Prey Selection By Birds Of Prey, Anisha Pokharel

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Prey selection is key to determine predator prey interaction and understanding the complexity of food web structure. In this thesis, we used two different approaches to understanding prey selection by North American birds of prey. Using a conventional method, in Chapter 1 we compared pellet analysis and trapping data to assess patterns of prey selection of barn owls in western Nebraska. Microtus spp. comprised 55.8% of the prey items in the barn owl’s diet. The proportion of several prey types in the diet were significantly different from the expected proportion based on trapping. This pattern may indicate barn owls actively …

Before The Pandemic Ends: Making Sure This Never Happens Again, Daniel R. Brooks, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Scott Lyell Gardner, Sabrina B. L. Araujo, Katalin Bajer, Sebastian Botero-Cañola, Brian Byrd, Gábor Földvári, Joseph A. Cook, Jonathan L. Dunnum, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan, László Zsolt Garamszegi, Dávid Herczeg, Ferenc Jakab, Alicia Juarrero, Gábor Kemenesi, Kornélia Kurucz, Virginia León-Règagnon, Hugo H. Mejía-Madrid, Orsolya Molnár, Richard A. Nisbett, Wolfgang Preiser, Michael Stuart, Eors Szathmary, Valeria Trivellone

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Introduction

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Global Health Emergency of international concern attendant to the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, nearly two months after the first reported emergence of human cases in Wuhan, China. In the subsequent two months, global, national and local health personnel and infrastructures have been overwhelmed, leading to suffering and death for infected people, and the threat of socio-economic instability and potential collapse for humanity as a whole. This shows that our current and traditional mode of coping, anchored in responses after the fact, is not capable of dealing with …

Diet Analysis Of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Virginia, Kristen Marie Volker

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

This study describes the diet of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in Virginia via stomach content analysis and considers factors such as proportion of numerical abundance and reconstructed mass, frequency of occurrence, average reconstructed prey size, prey diversity and quantity, and otolith degradation code. Fish size was estimated via regression equations established from local fish collected during the study that derive wet weight directly from otolith length or width. Squid size is estimated from previously published equations. Soniferous fishes dominated the diet, especially Atlantic croaker, spot, and seatrout spp., adding evidence to the theory that bottlenose dolphins passively …

Gaharitrema Droneni N. Gen., N. Sp. (Digenea: Zoogonidae: Lepidophyllinae) From The Pudgy Cuskeel, Spectrunculus Grandis (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae), From Deep Waters Off Oregon, With Updates Keys To Zoogonid Subfamilies And Genera, Charles K. Blend, Gábor R. Rácz, Scott Gardner

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Gaharitrema droneni n. gen., n. sp. (Digenea: Zoogonidae: Lepidophyllinae) is described from the intestine of the pudgy cuskeel, Spectrunculus grandis (Gu¨ nther, 1877) (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae), collected at 2,800 m depth from the northeastern Pacific Ocean off Oregon. The new genus is distinguished from Brachyenteron Manter, 1934 and Steganoderma Stafford, 1904, the 2 closest lepidophylline genera, and from 4 other zoogonid genera erected since 2007, the last major revision of the family, by a combination of diagnostic features including a pyriform or spindle-shaped body, smooth testes and ovary, narrow ceca that reach with the vitellarium into the hindbody, an unspecialized ventral …

Context-Dependent Dynamics Lead To The Assembly Of Functionally Distinct Microbial Communities, Leonora S. Bittleston, Matti Gralka, Gabriel E. Levanthal, Itzhak Mizrahi, Otto X. Cordero

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Niche construction through interspecific interactions can condition future community states on past ones. However, the extent to which such history dependency can steer communities towards functionally different states remains a subject of active debate. Using bacterial communities collected from wild pitchers of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, we test the effects of history on composition and function across communities assembled in synthetic pitcher plant microcosms. We find that the diversity of assembled communities is determined by the diversity of the system at early, pre-assembly stages. Species composition is also contingent on early community states, not only because of …

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 …

Tropical Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes) Act As Ecological Filters By Altering Properties Of Their Fluid Microenvironments, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Leonora S. Bittleston, Wenfei Tong, Naomi E. Pierce

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Characteristics of host species can alter how other, interacting species assemble into communities by acting as ecological filters. Pitchers of tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes) host diverse communities of aquatic arthropods and microbes in nature. This plant genus exhibits considerable interspecific diversity in morphology and physiology; for example, different species can actively control the pH of their pitcher fluids and some species produce viscoelastic fluids. Our study investigated the extent to which Nepenthes species differentially regulate pitcher fluid traits under common garden conditions, and the effects that these trait differences had on their associated communities. Sixteen species of Nepenthes …