Biology Commons^™

Examining The Presence Of A Possible Species Complex Of Octopus Joubini (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) In The Eastern Gulf Of Mexico, Haley Holloway

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Pygmy Octopus Octopus joubini (Robson, 1929) is a small, shallow water species found throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), western Atlantic Ocean and the northeastern Caribbean Sea (Mather, 1982; Jereb & Roper, 2014; Judkins, 2009). This species is believed to belong to a complex based upon morphological features including arm length, web depth, sucker size, egg size, hatchling ecology, and chromatophore coloration. It has been proposed that Octopus mercatoris, another pygmy species found in the GoM, may belong in this complex; however, no analyses have been performed to verify this claim. The present study incorporated morphological comparisons with …

Phenotypic Diversity And Costs Of Early Hatching In Lizards, Zachary Winstead

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early hatching is a form of environmentally cued hatching in which embryos can emerge early to improve chances of survival and is considered a means of antipredator defense. Early hatching as a response to predation has been well documented in amphibians, but its prevalence among other animal groups is unknown. Moreover, any trade-offs between early hatching and other traits, and thus survival, are not well understood. There is anecdotal evidence that lizards exhibit early hatching behavior, but quantitative evidence is limited to one study. In the present study, I tested for the presence of early hatching in six species of …

A Review Of Marine Turtle Orientation And Artificial Lighting Impacts With Novel Results From Florida’S Gulf Coast, Andrea M. Fisher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artificial light (i.e. unnatural light emitting from a human-made source) is one of the most extensively distributed, and least managed, type of anthropogenic pollution. Due to the disproportionally high rates of urbanization in critical coastal ecosystems, species, like marine turtles that use beach habitat for nesting activities, are especially vulnerable. Marine turtles employ the use of multiple visual cues (e.g. wavelength, intensity, background illumination, and dark silhouettes) to conduct sea-finding behavior and different variations in cue usage exist across species and geographic location. During nesting and emergence activities, orientation can be interrupted and manipulated by artificial lighting resulting in lower …

Cetacean Maternal Investment: Importance In Conservation Across Species And Drivers For Interspecific Altruism, Christopher Klein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cetacean maternal investments can be useful for conservation management as well as examining behaviors such as interspecific altruism in the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae. Cetaceans are among the most threatened group of marine mammals. In the second chapter, maternal investments across ~90 species/subspecies of Cetacea were analyzed to aid in the understanding of recovery/replacement for conservation and management. Using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), a relative maternal-investment index for 41 cetacean species was built. The maternal-investment index was a composite of four maternal-investment variables, the duration of gestation, lactation, calving intervals, and the number of reproduction years per female per species. …

Home Range Area, Overlap, Homing Behavior And Movement Patterns In Plestiodon Reynoldisi, Paul Wieczorek Ii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Home range and home range overlap information are crucial to create management plans for species of conservation concern. It provides information as to how much land a viable population needs to survive. The South Florida Multi-Species Recovery Plan highlights the need for home range and movement information for Plestiodon reynoldsi (Florida Sand Skink), a threatened lizard species precinctive to Florida Scrub habitat. We investigated home range sizes, their relationship with SVL and mass, home range overlap, homing behavior, and movement patterns of the Florida Sand Skink (FSS) and over a three-year period in the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge. …

Fire Severity Effects On Herpetofaunal Diversity In Florida Scrub Communities Of The Lake Wales Ridge, Michelle Lindsay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fires, either natural or prescribed, are essential for conserving pyrogenic ecosystems; however, climate change is predicted to increase fire severity that could negatively impact species diversity. Reptile and amphibian species may be particularly at risk given they are ectothermic species. The objective of this study was to better understand the impacts of fire severity on the herpetofaunal communities of the Florida scrub habitats, which is an imperiled ecosystem that sustains over two-thirds of listed reptiles and amphibians in Florida. We conducted a field-based study to test taxonomic and functional herpetofaunal diversity differences across four varying fire severities: unburned, low, medium …

The Science Of Guessing: Critiquing Ancestral Estimation Through Computer Generated Statistical Analysis Within Forensic Anthropology In A Real-World Setting, Christopher J. Turner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on current methods of ancestral estimation must reflect on biological heritage to aid in human identification. Using modern craniometrics methods, how do individuals with a varied biological history affect ancestral estimation? Today, the most used and reliable methods for craniometrics analysis for ancestral estimation in forensic anthropology are computer programs. Two programs are analyzed in this study, Fordisc 3.0 and 3D-ID. The analysis of these computer programs goes beyond the controlled environment provided by an osteological collection. These remains of individuals were unidentified, only to be identified later, through academic research, police work, and public outreach. The selection of …

Ecophysiological Responses Of Two Closely Related Epigean And Hypogean Niphargus Species To Hypoxia And Increased Temperature: Do They Differ?, Tatjana Simčič, Boris Sket

International Journal of Speleology

Ecological performance of animals depends on physiological and biochemical processes that are adjusted to the environment. The responses to hypoxia or anoxia have been frequently studied in subterranean aquatic organisms in order to find potential adaptations to restrict oxygen conditions occurring in the underground habitats. However, some previous studies have compared phylogenetic distant epigean and hypogean species or the epigean and hypogean populations of the same species due to little chance to compare closely related epigean and hypogean species. Therefore, in this study, we compared the effects of exposure to hypoxia, followed by reoxygenation, and increased temperature on oxygen consumption, …

Epigenetic Potential In An Introduced Passerine, Haley E. Hanson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Epigenetic modifications play a critical role in numerous processes throughout the lifetime of an organism by influencing gene regulation. Responsive to both endogenous cues and external stimuli, epigenetic modifications are key mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. Epigenetic potential, or the capacity for phenotypic plasticity mediated by epigenetic modifications, can be encoded within the genome via genetic variation underlying aspects of epigenetic modifications. For example, one type of epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, predominately occurs at CpG motifs in vertebrates. The number of CpG sites within the genome then represents the capacity for DNA methylation to occur and is one form of epigenetic …

Nest Site Choice As A Potential Climate Response In The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus), A Threatened Species, Meghan Craft

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate warming is expected to continue in coming decades, posing a threat to species worldwide. While some species may be able to shift their ranges in the pursuit of cooler temperatures, a large portion of species may have to find ways to adapt to warmer conditions in situ. Oviparous reptiles may be able to buffer against rising temperatures by altering nest site choice. In this study, I quantified nest site choice and its thermal consequences in a population of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) in southwestern Florida. I found marked variation in the openness of selected nest sites, …

Quantifying The Gametogenic Cycle And Reproductive Efforts In The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) In Florida Estuaries, Nicole Patrice Maloney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oyster populations from six estuaries in Florida were sampled monthly from January to December of 2018 for reproduction and health analysis. Sites were located in Apalachicola Bay, Caloosahatchee River estuary, Lake Worth lagoon, Loxahatchee River estuary, St. Lucie estuary, and Tampa Bay. Oysters monitored for analysis in South Florida (Loxahatchee River estuary, St. Lucie estuary, and Caloosahatchee River estuary) were chosen as they are a part of a monitoring component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. These estuaries are highly influenced by freshwater input from Lake Okeechobee and other river basins. Like the South Florida sites Apalachicola Bay is also …

The Distribution In Native Populations From Mexico And Central America Of The C677t Variant In The Mthfr Gene, Lucio A. Reyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To explore evolutionary hypotheses for the high frequencies of a substitution in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, in Mexican and Central American Indigenous populations.

Materials and methods: We obtained allele frequencies for the C677T variant in the MTHFR gene and ecological information for 37 indigenous samples from Mexico and Central America. We calculated Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and computed Fst statistics. We computed correlations between the samples' allele frequencies and ecological and geochemical variables.

Results: Many of the samples have extremely high frequencies of the T allele (q̄ = 0.62, median = 0.66). In this region, the frequency of the T …

Effect Of Temperature On Growth And Gene Expression In The Marine Diatom, Thalassiosira Pseudonana, John M. Foster

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diatoms are unicellular, eukaryotic, photosynthetic algae responsible for the production of 20% of our atmospheric oxygen. Diatoms contribute to several important biogeochemical functions. Diatoms contribute to the carbon cycle, sequestering carbon and forming oxygen as a product of photosynthesis. Moreover, by converting abiotic forms of energy such as sunlight into organic compounds (i.e., sugars, starches and lipids), primary producers including diatoms, plants, and phytoplankton feed organisms at higher trophic levels. Consequently, changes in temperature, light intensity, nutrients, salinity and other stress factors that affect primary producers can generate a potentially catastrophic ripple effect at higher trophic levels In this study …

Shorebird Response To Human-Induced Changes At Three Pinellas County Beaches, Rebecca J. Ruthberg-Campagna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Worldwide, shorebird habitat is being destroyed and degraded by development and sea level rise. Shorebirds depend on availability of pristine, undisturbed coastal habitats for resting and feeding during migration as well as for reproduction. Migratory shorebirds using the East Atlantic Flyway visit the Gulf of Mexico Beaches of Pinellas County, Florida as a stopover site during Fall and Spring migration. In addition to hosting migratory species, Pinellas County beaches are home to several year-round resident species that breed during Summer. Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida, and its Gulf Coast is heavily developed with commercial and …

The Genomic Processes Of Biological Invasions: From Invasive Species To Cancer Metastases And Back Again, Fargam Neinavaie, Arig Ibrahim-Hashim, Andrew M. Kramer, Joel S. Brown, Christina L. Richards

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

The concept of invasion is useful across a broad range of contexts, spanning from the fine scale landscape of cancer tumors up to the broader landscape of ecosystems. Invasion biology provides extraordinary opportunities for studying the mechanistic basis of contemporary evolution at the molecular level. Although the field of invasion genetics was established in ecology and evolution more than 50 years ago, there is still a limited understanding of how genomic level processes translate into invasive phenotypes across different taxa in response to complex environmental conditions. This is largely because the study of most invasive species is limited by information …

Deep Learning For Supervised Classification Of Temporal Data In Ecology, César Capinha, Ana Ceia-Hasse, Andrew M. Kramer, Christiaan Meijer

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Temporal data is ubiquitous in ecology and ecologists often face the challenge of accurately differentiating these data into predefined classes, such as biological entities or ecological states. The usual approach consists of transforming the time series into user-defined features and then using these features as predictors in conventional statistical or machine learning models. Here we suggest the use of deep learning models as an alternative to this approach. Recent deep learning techniques can perform the classification directly from the time series, eliminating subjective and resource-consuming data transformation steps, and potentially improving classification results. We describe some of the deep learning …

Global Economic Costs Of Aquatic Invasive Alien Species, Ross N. Cuthbert, Zarah Pattison, Nigel G. Taylor, Laura Verbrugge, Christophe Diagne, Danish A. Ahmed, Boris Leroy, Elena Angulo, Elizabeta Briski, César Capinha, Jane A. Catford, Tatenda Dalu, Franz Essl, Rodolphe E. Gozlan, Phillip J. Haubrock, Melina Kourantidou, Andrew M. Kramer, David Renault, Ryan J. Wasserman, Franck Courchamp

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Much research effort has been invested in understanding ecological impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) across ecosystems and taxonomic groups, but empirical studies about economic effects lack synthesis. Using a comprehensive global database, we determine patterns and trends in economic costs of aquatic IAS by examining: (i) the distribution of these costs across taxa, geographic regions and cost types; (ii) the temporal dynamics of global costs; and (iii) knowledge gaps, especially compared to terrestrial IAS. Based on the costs recorded from the existing literature, the global cost of aquatic IAS conservatively summed to US$345 …

Deep Learning For Supervised Classification Of Temporal Data In Ecology, César Capinha, Ana Ceia-Hasse, Andrew M. Kramer, Christiaan Meijer

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Temporal data is ubiquitous in ecology and ecologists often face the challenge of accurately differentiating these data into predefined classes, such as biological entities or ecological states. The usual approach consists of transforming the time series into user-defined features and then using these features as predictors in conventional statistical or machine learning models. Here we suggest the use of deep learning models as an alternative to this approach. Recent deep learning techniques can perform the classification directly from the time series, eliminating subjective and resource-consuming data transformation steps, and potentially improving classification results. We describe some of the deep learning …

Spatial Spread Of White-Nose Syndrome In North America, 2006-2018, Andrew M. Kramer, Alex Mercier, Sean Maher, Yaw Kumi-Ansu, Sarah Bowden

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

White-nose syndrome has caused massive mortality in multiple bat species and spread across much of North America, making it one of the most destructive wildlife diseases on record. This has also resulted in it being one of the most well-documented wildlife disease outbreaks, making it possible to look for changes in the pattern of spatial spread over time. We fit a series of spatial interaction models to the United States county-level observations of the pathogenic fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, that causes white-nose syndrome. Models included the distance between caves, cave abundance, measures of winter length and winter onset, and species …

Deep Learning For Supervised Classification Of Temporal Data In Ecology, César Capinha, Ana Ceia-Hasse, Andrew M. Kramer, Christiaan Meijer

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Temporal data is ubiquitous in ecology and ecologists often face the challenge of accurately differentiating these data into predefined classes, such as biological entities or ecological states. The usual approach consists of transforming the time series into user-defined features and then using these features as predictors in conventional statistical or machine learning models. Here we suggest the use of deep learning models as an alternative to this approach. Recent deep learning techniques can perform the classification directly from the time series, eliminating subjective and resource-consuming data transformation steps, and potentially improving classification results. We describe some of the deep learning …

Stygobitic Crustaceans In An Anchialine Cave With An Archeological Heritage At Vodeni Rat (Island Of Sveti Klement, Hvar, Croatia), Alessandro Montanari, Nicolas Cerveau, Barbara Fiasca, Jean-François Flot, Diana Galassi, Maurizio Mainiero, David Mcgee, Tadeusz Namiotko, Stefano Recanatini, Fabio Stoch

International Journal of Speleology

A group of four amphoras found in the anchialine cave of Vodeni Rat in the Croatian island of Sveti Klement, on a rocky ledge at 24 m water depth, indicates that a freshwater source was exploited at the bottom of this karstic pit by islanders and/or passing-by sailors from the late Roman Republican Period to the Early Medieval Period. In other words, prior to the 4^th–7^th century CE, Vodeni Rat was not an anchialine cave but a Pleistocene karstic pit with a freshwater pool at the bottom. Seawater started to infiltrate this cavity via newly opened fissures …

Cross-Host Correlations And Multivariate Effects Of Herbivore Specialization, Daniel J. Zydek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The distribution of insect herbivores among plant hosts is largely nonrandom: most herbivores have limited sets of hosts within one or a few plant families. This host use specialization is reinforced by traits that confer differential fitness across host plant species. Classic explanations for herbivore specialization predict that evolutionary trade-offs reinforce these relationships by imposing costs in the form of reduced potential fitness on alternative hosts, due to negative genetic correlations in fitness across hosts. This prediction that trade-offs constrain host use in herbivores can be tested with experimental evolution, by showing the direct evolutionary effects of host manipulation on …

Posttranslational Modification And Protein Disorder Regulate Protein-Protein Interactions And Dna Binding Specificity Of P53, Robin Levy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

p53 is an intrinsically disordered transcription factor that suppresses tumor development by arresting the cell cycle and promoting DNA repair. p53 deletions or mutations can lead to cancer due to the inability of cells to respond to stress. The protein levels and post-translational modification state of p53 changes in response to cellular stress like DNA damage. Previous studies have shown that p53 can undergo coupled folding and binding with the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Mdm2, and the histone deacetylase, p300. In normal cells, p53 is kept at a low level by Mdm2, which marks it with ubiquitin, targeting p53 for proteasome …

The Use Of Spanish Moss As A Biological Indicator To Examine Relationships Between Metal Air Pollution, Vegetation Cover, And Environmental Equity In Tampa, Florida, Yousif Abdullah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies of inequality in exposure to less common air pollutants, like metals, are often limited by the costs of high spatial resolution measurements. Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a promising bioindicator for measuring air pollution due to its lower cost, enabling capture of time-average environmental concentrations at high spatial resolution. This study had three major aims. First, I aimed to use Spanish moss as a bioindicator to characterize ambient concentrations of selected metals (Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cd, Hg, Pb, As, and Sb) in Tampa, Florida. My second goal was to determine the impact of vegetation cover on metals …

Succession In Native Groundwater Microbial Communities In Response To Effluent Wastewater, Chelsea M. Dinon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aquifer storage and recovery techniques are used globally to mitigate increasing demands for groundwater. Microcosms were used to evaluate the effect of wastewater effluent that may be used for aquifer storage and recovery injection on native aquifer microbial communities. Sulfur Springs water was used as the source of aquifer water. The microcosms were 100% spring water, 100% unchlorinated filtered wastewater effluent, or one of three mixtures of unchlorinated filtered wastewater effluent and spring water. The mixture microcosms were 50%, 30%, and 10% unchlorinated filtered wastewater effluent with the balance as spring water. The effluent water was UV treated prior to …

Hepatobiliary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Pelagic Fishes Of The Gulf Of Mexico, Madison R. Schwaab

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fisheries populations and their ecosystems are negatively impacted by both chronic and acute inputs of pollutants, including oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon platform blowout in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). After Deepwater Horizon, toxicological studies of demersal fishes of the northern GoM were undertaken to characterize impacts and to establish baseline contaminant levels in the aftermath of the spill. In this study, I quantify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in eight pelagic fish species to demonstrate oil exposure differences between species, region and time. Analysis of biliary PAH metabolite equivalents using high performance liquid chromatography was …

Role Of Ceramide-1 Phosphate In Regulation Of Sphingolipid And Eicosanoid Metabolism In Lung Epithelial Cells, Brittany A. Dudley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ceramide 1-Phosphate (C1P) is a sphingolipid metabolite which plays a large role in inflammation, cell survival and proliferation¹. C1P is known to have both pro- and anti-apoptotic roles in lung cancer cells, governed by ceramide kinase (CERK), upstream of precursor ceramide (Cer)². Previous work reveals C1P serves as the liaison between sphingolipid and eicosanoid synthesis, by decreasing the dissociation rate of group IVA cytosolic PLA₂ (cPLA_2α) from the Golgi membrane, C1P directly activates this phospholipase for downstream eicosanoid synthesis and subsequent inflammatory response³. CERK has been discovered to modulate eicosanoid synthesis, …

Did You Wash Your Caving Suit? Cavers’ Role In The Potential Spread Of Pseudogymnoascus Destructans, The Causative Agent Of White-Nose Disease, Violeta Zhelyazkova, Antonia Hubancheva, Georgi Radoslavov, Nia Toshkova, Sebastien J. Puechmaille

International Journal of Speleology

White-Nose Disease (WND) has killed millions of hibernating bats in the US and Canada. Its causative agent, the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans was introduced to North America, but is native to Europe and Asia, where it is not associated with mass mortality. Although it is nearly impossible to eradicate an emerging wildlife disease, research on P. destructans spread mechanisms can aid in prevention of new introductions and development of better environmental management strategies. It is of particular importance to quantify the potential role of people visiting caves (cavers, tourists, bat researchers, etc.) whom inadvertently move P. destructans spores between sites, and …

A Health Evaluation Of Gulf Of Mexico Golden Tilefish (Lopholatilus Chamaeleonticeps) And Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Kristina Leigh Deak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A lack of baseline heath indices for offshore Gulf of Mexico (GoM) teleosts complicated impact assessments of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. While measurement of contaminant levels in fish after a pollution event can document exposure, such data fail to provide meaningful information about how this contact affects an animal's physiology. Controlled exposure studies have highlighted the utility of biomarkers that may indicate deleterious, long-lasting effects of pollutant exposure on various life stages of fish, however, their extrapolation to wild-caught, non-model species is challenging. In an increasingly chemically-saturated environment, it can also be difficult to separate the influence of …

Geographical Disparity Of Suicide, Masiel Perez-Balaguer

USF St. Petersburg campus Student Research Symposium

Suicide has been one of the leading causes of death in the United States for several years (Census, 2017). Multiple studies have looked at the disparity of suicide rates across geographical locations (Wilkinson, 1984; Saunderson,1998; Morrell, 1999). These studies have shown a correlation between rural areas and higher rates of suicide. For this study, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was taken and linked with population data acquired through the Census. This was done for the year 2017 to see any correlation between location and suicide rate could be observed. States were split into six categories …