Biology Commons^™

Spatial Variation In The Littoral Vertebrate Community Of A Reservoir Relative To Physical And Biological Gradients, Nathan Ruhl, Jessica J. Soski, Willem M. Roosenburg

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Reservoirs possess gradients in conditions and resources along their long (deep-shallow) axis, but the response of littoral vertebrates (fish and turtles) to these gradients is poorly understood. We have quantified the littoral vertebrate communities throughout a small reservoir in Southeastern Ohio during July and August using traps, and related community composition to environmental variables using NMDS ordination. Ordination revealed that fish and turtles were broadly separated in ordination space, and three distinctly different environmental gradients were significantly associated with the underlying observed species abundances. Observed turtle abundance was explained by measurements of bathymetry, turbidity, and benthic resources, but none of …

Urban Garden Survival, Phoebe Ferguson, Rachel Martin

Biology Presentations

Urban gardens are community led plots designated for agricultural purposes in residential and urban areas. Greenville County has seen a recent growth in urban gardens with the assistance of non-profit groups like Gardening for Good. The current total in Greenville County stands at 79 with new gardens added every year. While the growth is encouraging, some gardens have failed. This study uses GIS to explore the social and ecological factors that correlate with urban garden survival in an effort to provide garden managers with information that will help them develop gardens that thrive and persist.

Ecosystem Regime Change Inferred From The Distribution Of Trace Metals In Lake Erie Sediments, Fasong Yuan, Richard Depew, Cheryl Soltis-Muth

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Many freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems across the world may have undergone an ecosystem regime change due to a combination of rising anthropogenic disturbances and regional climate change. Such a change in aquatic ecosystems is commonly seen as shifts in algal species. But considerably less detail is known about the eutrophication history in terms of changes in algal productivity, particularly for a large lake with a great deal of spatial variability. Here we present an analysis of trace metals (Cu, Ni, Cd, and Pb) on a sediment core recovered from Lake Erie, off the Vermilion coast of northern Ohio, USA, …

Long Wavelength Analysis Of A Model For The Geographic Spread Of A Disease, Layachi Hadji

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

We investigate the temporal and spatial evolution of the spread of an infectious disease by performing a long-wavelength analysis of a classical model for the geographic spread of a rabies epidemic in a population of foxes subject to idealized boundary conditions. We consider twodimensional and three-dimensional landscapes consisting of an infinite horizontal strip bounded by two walls a finite distance apart and a horizontal region bounded above and below by horizontal walls, respectively. A nonlinear partial differential evolution Equation for the leading order of infectives is derived. The Equation captures the space and time variations of the spread of the …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Trophic Dynamic Interactions In A Temperate Karst River, Elizabeth Malloy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Surface streams in karst landscapes are often characterized by high nutrient levels due to incomplete filtration through series of innumerable, below-ground conduits. Seasonal growth of the filamentous alga, Cladophora, is typically associated with nutrient-rich waters. This research compared macroinvertebrate food web structure between riverine reaches with contrasting underlying karst topography, nutrient levels, and Cladophora cover during summer 2012 and autumn 2013. Recent work in these reaches found a high correlation between Cladophora cover and nutrient content, particularly nitrate. Four questions were addressed during this study: 1. Do longitudinal trends in algal and consumer δ13C values relate to decreased DIC availability …

Citizen Science Reveals Widespread Negative Effects Of Roads On Amphibian Distributions, Bradley J. Cosentino, David M. Marsh, Kara S. Jones, Joseph J. Apodaca, Christopher Bates, Jessica Beach, Karen H. Beard, Kelsie Becklin, Jane Margaret Bell, Christopher Crockett, George Fawson, Jennifer Fjelsted, Elizabeth A. Forys, Kristen S. Genet, Melanie Grover, Jaimie Holmes, Katherine Indeck, Nancy E. Karraker, Eran S. Kilpatrick, Tom A. Langen, Stephen G. Mugel, Alessandro Molina, James R. Vonesh, Ryan J. Weaver, Anisha Willey

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Landscape structure is important for shaping the abundance and distribution of amphibians, but prior studies of landscape effects have been species or ecosystem-specific. Using a large-scale, citizen science-generated database, we examined the effects of habitat composition, road disturbance, and habitat split (i.e. the isolation of wetland from forest by intervening land use) on the distribution and richness of frogs and toads in the eastern and central United States. Undergraduates from nine biology and environmental science courses collated occupancy data and characterized landscape structure at 1617 sampling locations from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program. Our analysis revealed that anuran species …

An Optimal Harvesting Strategy Of A Three Species Syn-Ecosystem With Commensalism And Stochasticity, M. N. Srinivas, A. Sabarmathi, K. S. Reddy, M. A. S. Srinivas

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper we have studied the stability of three typical species syn-ecosystem. The system comprises of one commensal S₁ and two hosts S₂ and S₃ . Both S₂ and S₂ benefit S₁ without getting themselves affected either positively or adversely. Further S₂ is a commensal of S₃ and S₃ is a host of both S₁ and S₂. Limited resources have been considered for all the three species in this case. The model equations of the system constitute a set of three first order non-linear ordinary differential equations. …

Empirical Demonstration Of Environmental Sensing In Catalytic Rna: Evolution Of Interpretive Behavior At The Origins Of Life, Niles Lehman, Tess Bernhard, Brian C. Larson, Andrew J.N. Robinson, Christopher C.B. Southgate

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The origins of life on the Earth required chemical entities to interact with their environments in ways that could respond to natural selection. The concept of interpretation, where biotic entities use signs in their environment as proxy for the existence of other items of selective value in their environment, has been proposed on theoretical grounds to be relevant to the origins and early evolution of life. However this concept has not been demonstrated empirically.

Results: Here, we present data that certain catalytic RNA sequences have properties that would enable interpretation of divalent cation levels in their environment. …

Decontamination Protocols For Watercraft And Wildland Firefighting Equipment In Preventing The Spread Of Invasive Quagga (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis) And Zebra (Dreissena Polymorpha) Mussels, Ashlie Watters

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Quagga and zebra mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis and Dreissena polymorpha) are two invasive species introduced via ballast water discharged by large oceanic cargo ships to the North American Great Lakes in the late 1980s. Once established, the mussels spread quickly. In January 2007, D. rostriformis bugensis was discovered in Lake Mead, NV-AZ, and in that same year, mussels were confirmed further south on the Colorado River in Lakes Mojave and Havasu. Dreissenids clog water intake pipes, water filtration systems, and electric generating plants. The mussels also ruin boat motors, damage recreational equipment, and once established in the reservoir, routine maintenance …

Spatial Patterns Of Zooplankton Distribution And Abundance In Relation To Phytoplankton, Fish Catch And Some Water Quality Parameters At Shirati Bay, Lake Victoria-Tanzania, Revania K. Waya, Samwel M. Limbu, Godfrey W. Ngupula, Chacha J. Mwita, Yunus D. Mgaya

Tanzania Journal of Science

Spatial patterns and abundance of zooplankton in aquatic habitats are important determinants for production of fish species, invertebrates and availability of phytoplankton. Weekly monitoring for zooplankton abundance was conducted in Shirati Bay, Lake Victoria, to explore their spatial patterns in relation to phytoplankton, fish catch and some water quality parameters. The vertical distribution of zooplankton was generally higher close to the bottom as compared to surface waters of the lake. Zooplankton vertical distribution positively correlated with water transparency (r = 0.680, p = 0.011). The horizontal abundance of zooplankton was not significantly different amongst the three stations (p = 0.5143). …

Analysis Of Body Shapes Among Barbus Trimaculatus, Barbus Paludinosus And Barbus Jacksonii (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae) From Malagarasi And Pangani River Basins Based On Geometric Morphometric Method, Chacha J. Mwita, B.G. Kamugisha

Tanzania Journal of Science

This study analyzed variability in body shapes among the small Barbus species of the family Cyprinidae currently occurring in the Malagarasi and Pangani River basins years after uplift of the east African topology. Fish specimens were collected from Songati, Muumbara and Nyamagoma within the Malagarasi River basin; Hale and Pangani fall located on Pangani River. It was found that although the landmarks were placed at the same anatomical regions, significant body shapes variations existed. The relative warps analysis for Barbus trimaculatus and Barbus jacksonii populations from Malagarasi and Pangani wetlands revealed intra-locality variations as for populations from other African countries. …

An Efficient Algorithm To Explore Liquid Association On A Genome-Wide Scale, Tina Gunderson, Yen Yi Ho

Faculty Publications

Background: The growing wealth of public available gene expression data has made the systemic studies of how genes interact in a cell become more feasible. Liquid association (LA) describes the extent to which coexpression of two genes may vary based on the expression level of a third gene (the controller gene). However, genome-wide application has been difficult and resource-intensive. We propose a new screening algorithm for more efficient processing of LA estimation on a genome-wide scale and apply its use to a data set. Results: On a test subset of the data, the fast screening algorithm achieved >99.8 agreement with …

Fisheries Management Paper No.266 - Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery Bycatch Action Plan 2014-2019. Version 1.0, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

Bycatch is described as the part of the catch which is returned to the sea (usually referred to as non-retained or discarded) either because it has no commercial value or because legislative requirements preclude it being retained. Thus, this Bycatch Action Plan (BAP) includes unmarketable finfish and invertebrate species, along with endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species, such as marine mammals, reptiles and some elasmobranchs.

It is Government policy to minimise bycatch in all commercial fisheries. This BAP details a program of actions to address bycatch issues in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery (EGPMF), in accordance with the EGPMF …

Cross-Disciplinary Sciences At Gettysburg College: Second Annual Poster Presentation, X-Sig

Student Publications

This booklet includes Biology student presentations by: Taylor Bury, Abigail Dworkin-Brodsky, Mary Pearce, Jasper Leavitt, Morgan Panzer, Ellen Petley, Kalli Qutub, Taylor Randell, Samantha Eck, Lana McDowell, Jenn Soroka, Celina Harris, Natalie Tanke, Alexandra Turano, and Caroline Garliss.

This booklet includes Biochemistry & Molecular Biology student presentations by: Matthew Dunworth, Andrew Sydenstricker, Brianne Tomko, Albert Vill, Warren Campbell, David Van Doren, Kevin Mrugalski, Stacey Heaver, Alecia Achimovich, and Katherine Boas.

This booklet includes Chemistry student presentations by: Kristen Baker, Laura Lee, Kathryn Fodale, Daniel Ruff, Michael Counihan, Ida DiMucci, Joshua Sgroi, Celina Harris, and Natalie Tanke.

This booklet include Health …

Effects Of Extreme Climate Events On Tea (Camellia Sinensis) Functional Quality Validate Indigenous Farmer Knowledge And Sensory Preferences In Tropical China, Selena Ahmed, John Richard Stepp, Colin M. Orians, Timothy S. Griffin, Corene Matyas, Albert Robbat, Sean Cash, Dayuan Xue, Chunlin Long, Uchenna Unachukwu, Sarabeth Buckley, Edward J. Kennelly

Publications and Research

Climate change is impacting agro-ecosystems, crops, and farmer livelihoods in communities worldwide. While it is well understood that more frequent and intense climate events in many areas are resulting in a decline in crop yields, the impact on crop quality is less acknowledged, yet it is critical for food systems that benefit both farmers and consumers through high-quality products. This study examines tea (Camellia sinensis; Theaceae), the world’s most widely consumed beverage after water, as a study system to measure effects of seasonal precipitation variability on crop functional quality and associated farmer knowledge, preferences, and livelihoods. Sampling was conducted in …

Quantitative Modeling Of Spatiotemporal Systems: Simulation Of Biological Systems And Analysis Of Error Metric Effects On Model Fitting, James Hengenius

Open Access Dissertations

Understanding the biophysical processes underlying biological and biotechnological processes is a prerequisite for therapeutic treatments and technological innovation. With the exponential growth of computational processing speed, experimental findings in these fields have been complemented by dynamic simulations of developmental signaling and genetic interactions. Models provide means to evaluate "emergent" properties of systems sometimes inaccessible by reductionist approaches, making them test beds for biological inference and technological refinement.^ The complexity and interconnectedness of biological processes pose special challenges to modelers; biological models typically possess a large number of unknown parameters relative to their counterparts in other physical sciences. Estimating these parameter …

Towards A Paradigm Shift In The Modeling Of Soil Organic Carbon Decomposition For Earth System Models, Yujie He

Open Access Dissertations

Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pools and contain approximately 2200 Pg of carbon. Thus, the dynamics of soil carbon plays an important role in the global carbon cycle and climate system. Earth System Models are used to project future interactions between terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics and climate. However, these models often predict a wide range of soil carbon responses and their formulations have lagged behind recent soil science advances, omitting key biogeochemical mechanisms. In contrast, recent mechanistically-based biogeochemical models that explicitly account for microbial biomass pools and enzyme kinetics that catalyze soil carbon decomposition produce notably different results and …

Migratory Ecology Of Sea Turtles, Nathan Jack Robinson

Open Access Dissertations

Establishing the movement patterns of free-ranging animals is imperative to understanding their behavior and ecology, and is often necessary for designing effective conservation-strategies. This is especially true for migratory species, such as sea turtles, whose long-distance movements form a major component of their life history. In this thesis, I investigated which factors are driving the migratory behavior of the leatherback turtleDermochelys coriacea. Firstly, I examined whether the timing of the nesting season (nesting phenology) is influenced by oceanographic conditions along the pre-nesting migratory route or by variation in population structure. The discovery that nesting phenology appears more influenced by …

Learning From Conservation Planning For The U.S. National Wildlife Refuges, Robert L. Fischman, Vicky J. Meretsky

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System has nearly completed its first round of unit-level, comprehensive conservation plans (CCPs) and will soon begin required revisions. Laws and policies governing refuge planning emphasize ecological integrity, landscape-scale conservation, and adaptive management. We evaluated 185 CCPs completed during 2005–2011, which cover 324 of 555 national wildlife refuges. We reviewed CCP prescriptions addressing 5 common conservation issues (habitat and game, nongame, imperiled, and invasive species) and 3 specialized topics (landscape-scale conservation, climate change, and environmental quality). Common conservation issues received prescriptions in >90% of CCPs. Specialized topics received more variable treatment. Prescriptions for aquatic connectivity, …

Component Trees For The Exploration Of Macromolecular Structures In Biology, Lucas Oliveira

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Understanding the three-dimensional structure of a macromolecular complex is essential for understanding its function. A component tree is a topological and geometric image descriptor that captures information regarding the structure of an image based on the connected components determined by different grayness thresholds. This dissertation presents a novel interactive framework for visual exploration of component trees of the density maps of macromolecular complexes, with the purpose of improved understanding of their structure. The interactive exploration of component trees together with a robust simplification methodology provide new insights in the study of macromolecular structures. An underlying mathematical theory is introduced and …

Warming, Competition, And Bromus Tectorum Population Growth Across An Elevation Gradient, Aldo Compagnoni, Peter B. Adler

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is one of the most problematic invasive plant species in North America and climate change threatens to exacerbate its impacts. We conducted a two‐year field experiment to test the effect of warming, competition, and seed source on cheatgrass performance across an elevation gradient in northern Utah. We hypothesized that warming would increase cheatgrass performance, but that warming effects would be limited by competing vegetation and by local adaptation of cheatgrass seed sources. The warming treatment relied on open top chambers, we removed vegetation to assess the effect of competition from neighboring vegetation, and we reciprocally …

2014 Scas Annual Meeting Program

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Genotypic And Phenotypic Characterization Of Aerosolized Bacteria Collected From African Dust Events, Christina A. Wilson, Robin L. Brigmon, Chris Yeager, Garriet W. Smith, Shawn W. Polson

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Twenty-one bacteria were isolated and characterized from air samples collected in Africa and the Caribbean by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Isolates were selected based on preliminary characterization as possible pathogens. Identification of the bacterial isolates was achieved using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) profiling, the BIOLOG Microlog^® System (carbon substrate assay), and repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP)-PCR analysis. The majority of isolates (18/21) were identified as species of the genus Bacillus. Three isolates were classified within the Bacillus cereus senso lato group, which includes Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Bacillus …

Scas Officers And Council Members 2014-2015

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Applying A Reservoir Functional-Zone Paradigm To Littoral Bluegills: Differences In Length And Catch Frequency?, Nathan Ruhl, Holly Deangelis, Abigale M. Crosby, Willem M. Roosenburg

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Reservoirs exhibit gradients in conditions and resources along the transition from lotic to lentic habitat that may be important to bluegill ecology. The lotic–lentic gradient can be partitioned into three functional zones: the riverine, transitional, and lacustrine zones. We measured catch frequency and length of bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) captured along the periphery of these areas (i.e., in the littoral zone of each functional zone) for four small reservoirs in Southeastern Ohio during the summer months of three years. Catch frequency differed between zones for two reservoirs, but these differences were not observed in other years. There was no relationship between …

Salinity And Temperature Distribution Of Jellyfish In The San Francisco Estuary, Trisha Huynh, Brooke Bemowski, Lindsay Sullivan, Wim Kimmerer

STAR Program Research Presentations

Jellyfish are generally characterized by their jelly-like bodies and internal lining (two tissue layers). They found both in the phylum Ctenophora and the phylum Cnidaria. Ctenophores differ from cnidarians primarily due to the rows of “combs”, or cilia, which are used for transportation. Additionally, ctenophores possess sticky cells while cindarians possess stinging cells. Jellyfish depend on zooplankton (small floating aquatic animals) as a food source; as a result, they are potential competitors and predators to plankton-eating fish and may negatively impact fish populations.

As recently as 1950, jellyfish have entered the San Francisco Bay from the Mediterranean Sea (probably …

Growing Conditions For Algae, Angeles Mora, Tamar Melkonian, Alejandro Calderon-Urrea

STAR Program Research Presentations

With the growing demands of water in California and the increasing cost of fossil fuels to operate water-cleaning equipment, Algae was cultivated in different concentrations of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) during different trails to identify the best growing conditions for the removal water contaminates. Before testing algae in waste water, the Algae: Dunaliella Primolecta, Chlorella Vulgaris, and Scenedesmus Dimorphus were cultivated in four different media containing distilled water and plant vitamins. The different mediums used include: Orchid Grow More (20-20-20), Miracle Grow (30-10-10), Murashige & Skoog, and Orchid Bloom Boster (11-35-15). As a result of the investigation, the algae, …

Are Local Filters Blind To Provenance? Ant Seed Predation Suppresses Exotic Plants More Than Natives, Dean Pearson, Nadia S. Icasatti, Jose L. Hierro, Benjamin J. Bird

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The question of whether species’ origins influence invasion outcomes has been a point of substantial debate in invasion ecology. Theoretically, colonization outcomes can be predicted based on how species’ traits interact with community filters, a process presumably blind to species’ origins. Yet, exotic plant introductions commonly result in monospecific plant densities not commonly seen in native assemblages, suggesting that exotic species may respond to community filters differently than natives. Here, we tested whether exotic and native species differed in their responses to a local community filter by examining how ant seed predation affected recruitment of eighteen native and exotic plant …