Biology Commons^™

Waterfowl Production On A Spring-Fed Salt Marsh In Utah, Donald E. Mcknight

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Results of past studies on the spring-fed salt marshes of Utah indicated that waterfowl production on these areas was much lower than on Utah's river-fed marshes. Waterfowl production on the newly-established Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, a spring-fed marsh, increased considerably, however, after its waters were impounded. It was believed that by determining what caused this increased production at Fish Springs it would be possible to obtain greater waterfowl production at other spring-fed marshes. Consequently waterfowl populations and factors affecting waterfowl production on this marsh were studied during the summers of 1966, 1967, and 1968.

Populations of breeding ducks averaged …

The Social Organization Of Wild Turkeys On The Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Charles Robert Watts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study is of the social organization of the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia Sennett) on the Welder Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas.

The earliest turkey nests hatched in April, with the peak of hatching a month or more later. These poults may remain with their mother until winter. This brood flock, however, often combined with other brood flocks to form composite brood flocks when the poults were a few weeks old. Hens not successful in rearing young combined into broodless flocks.

The juvenile males left the brood flocks in late fall or winter. They remained a distinct unit, …

Systemic Studies Of The Genus Gila (Cyprinidae) Of The Colorado River Basin, Paul Bernard Holden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three Hundred and nine specimens of Gila from the Colorado River basin were studied. A form of numerical taxonomy, taximetrics, was used to help classify the specimens. The data from these fish indicate that many of the present hypotheses concerning their taxonomy are not valid. The concept of ecosubspecies or ecological subspecies does not fit the Colorado basin Gila. The roundtail and bonytail chubs, G. robusta Baird and Girard and G. elegans Baird and Girard respectively, currently treated as subspecies, are well separated morphologically, ecologically and reproductively and therefore are better considered two valid species. The relationship between G. …

The Ecology Of The Black-Bellied Tree Duck In Southern Texas, Eric George Bolen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The black-bellied tree duck (Dendracygna autumnalis) is one of eight tree ducks (whistling ducks) in the genus Dendracygna. This group shares enough characteristics--reticulated tarsus and symmetrical syrinx structure, among others--with the swans and geese to warrant a common subfamily, Anserinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. DeIacour and Mayr (1945) make a tribal distinction, however, between the tree ducks (Dendracygnini) and the swans and geese (Anserini) based, in part, an differences in size, vertebrae number, and downy plumage. These same authors remark that the tree ducks are the least known of the waterfowl largely because there are no …

An Examination Of A Putative System For The In Vitro Synthesis Of Drosophila Tryptophan Pyrrolase, John P. Phillips

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A system, reported by Morrison (1964), for the in vitro synthesis of Drosophila tryptophan pyrrolase has been critically studied. This putative system is based on the addition of a Drosophila "RNA" extract to a Drosophila cell-free protein synthesizing system; the synthesized enzyme is then allowed to catalyze a specific reaction, the product of which is measured by direct adsorption.

The results of this study present a three-fold argument against the interpretation of synthesis of tryptophan pyrrolase in the Morrison in vitro system: (1) RNA from a null-allele, v^36f, stimulated the same tryptophan pyrrolase "activity" in the in vitro …

Factors Influencing Population Growth Of Tribolium Brevicornis In The Laboratory, Amin Gulla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To determine the effect of the factors of the environment (temperature, relative humidity, and food) on the population growth of Tribolium brevicornis, different levels of temperatures from 17.5°C - 37.5°C were used. Effect of these IeveIs of temperatures was tested upon both pre-embryonic and post-embryonic development. No hatching occurred at 17.5°C, but the threshold temperature (the minimum temperature for the development) was just before 17.5°C. The optimum temperature for the embryonic development was found to be between 32.5°C - 35°C.

With the use of the saturated salt solution according to Buxton (1931) and Buxton and Melanby (1934), certain humidity …

The Initiation Of Infection By Dna From Bacteriophage Lambda, Gerald D. Elseth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Deoxyribonucleic acid isolated from bacteriophage λ can infect Escherichia coli K12 in the presence of adsorbed helper phage (Kaiser and Hogness, 1960; Kaiser, 1962). The manner in which λ DNA enters the cell and the possible role of helper phage in the penetration process is still not clear. Kinetic studies conducted in this laboratory during the initial stages of infection by λ DNA demonstrate a requirement for helper function during the penetration of an infectious molecule. Further investigation into this problem is needed and was the major objective of this study.

Some Movements Of Black-Tailed Jackrabbits In Northern Utah, Donald H. Rusch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This work describes the extent and pattern of some black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) movements and areas of activity in northern Utah and their relationship to sex and age, and season of the year.

Black-tailed jackrabbits are the most common lagomorphs in much of the western United States, particularly in that vegetational association described by McDougal (1908) as the sagebrush desert. Furthermore, Adams and Adams (1959) have suggested a correlation between sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) incidence and jackrabbit density.

Farmers often regard this species as a liability because of its depredations on alfalfa (Medicago sativa), crested …

Production And Waterfowl Utilization Of Sago Pondweed (Potamogeton Pectinatus) On The Marshes Of The Bear River In Northern Utah, Robert Leon Craner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

According to MCAtee (1918), Mabbott (1920), Martin and Uhler (1939) and other leading waterfowl food habit authorities, sago pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus) is one of the most important waterfowl food plants in the United States. The seeds, vegetative leaves and stems, and the tubers of this plant are apparently sought by waterfowl.

Canada Goose Production And Population Stability, Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, Norman H. Dey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the development of Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in 1937, the Canada goose (Branta canadesis moffitti) population increased to a peak in 1949 and then declined slightly. Nelson (1954) noted that the decrease in population was probably due to either a change in habitat or increased hunting pressure. In recent years, direct band returns have indicated a high mortality rate in the population. This project was initiated to determine the relative stability of the Canada goose population and to measure, as closely as possible, the effect of a high mortality rate upon the nesting population.

On The Behavioral Responses Of Free Uinta Ground Squirrels To Trapping, David F. Balph

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Biologists often trap animals to obtain information on them. If trapping is selective toward some animals, the information may be inaccurate. Most mammalogists know or suspect that their trapping techniques (reviewed by Hayne, 1949; and Stickel, 1954) contain sources of bias. Since trapping remains the only feasible way to obtain information on many animals, researchers have tried to discover sources of sampling error and refine their techniques. They have found that one major source of difficulty may lie in the behavior of animals. Individual animals seem to respond differently to trapping, both initially and through learning (Geis, 1955; Crowcroft and …

Some Effects Of Accumulated Radium On The Productivity Of Algae, Joseph W. Angelovic

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ionizing radiation from natural occurring radionuclides and cosmic rays has always been a part of man's environment, but at such low levels as to have had virtually no effect. However, with the advent of the atomic age and the advancement of nuclear technology, background activity has measurably increased all over the world. Fallout from nuclear weapons testing, wastes from nuclear reactors, and wastes from the milling of radioactive ores have all contributed to this increase. Due to this increase, many ecosystems and their individual components are now subjected to radiation levels as high as a million times natural background. What …

Canada Goose Production And Population Stability, Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, Norman H. Dey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the development of Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in 1937, the Canada goose (Branta canadesis moffitti) population increased to a peak in 1949 and then declined slightly. Nelson (1954) noted that the decrease in population was probably due to either a change in habitat or increased hunting pressure. In recent years, direct band returns have indicated a high mortality rate in the population. This project was initiated to determine the relative stability of the Canada goose population and to measure, as closely as possible, the effect of a high mortality rate upon the nesting population.

To estimate …

Factors Influencing Elk Distribution On Willow Creek Summer Range, Utah, Duane Eldro Jeffery

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the factors responsible for the distribution of elk on summer range, and an analysis of characteristics of preferred habitat. Such knowledge should prove of value in elk management, both in better managing elk herds themselves, and in coordinating their needs with those of other land uses.

Food Availability And Selective Utilization By Juvenile Mallards (Anas Platyrhynchos Platyrhynchos L.) On The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah, Nicholas J. Chura

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This investigation was devoted to a study of food availability and the selective utilization by juvenile mallards (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos L.) from hatching through the flight stage. Such information furnishes basic knowledge which may be used for determining the effects of chemical poisons on these organisms, how breeding ground habitats could be manipulated for their most efficient use by duckling species, what nutrients occur in natural duckling foods, and the digestibility of these items. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah, was used as the study area during the waterfowl breeding seasons of 1959, 1960, and 1961. Mallard ducklings …

A Comparison Of Cock Pheasant Harvests Among Areas Having Different Hunting Pressures, Cache County, Utah, James C. Bartonek

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parsons (1953) found Utah's posted hunting unit system regulated hunting pressures over much of the state's pheasant range. He found inequalities of hunting pressure among the posted hunting units because of their individualistic methods used to determine the number of hunting permits to be sold. Utah State Department of Fish and Game personnel recommend the number of permits to be sold by the hunting unit; but often, the hunting unit officers use the desired level of hunting pressure, size of cock harvest, and revenue from permit sales as decisive factors. By regulating hunting pressure on their own lands the posted …

The Effects Of Radium On Certain Goldfish Blood Constituents And Organs, D. Wayne Linn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Background radioactivity from radium has long existed in ground and surface waters of the United States, but in the last 15 years radium has become a consequential unnatural contaminant of waters (Coulomb, 1955; Rone, 1952; Schlundt, 1910; Scott and Barker, 1956; Scott, 1961; and Tsivoglou et al., 1958). The onset of the atomic age initiated the increased processing of uranium ore for its uranium content. Radium is a daughter product and a by-product of uranium ore and its purification (Glasstone, 1958; and Tsivoglou et al., 1958). The uranium refinery wastes are released into streams in which all forms of aquatic …

Factors Affecting The Waterfowl Hunter Utilization And The Waterfowl Kill At The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, 1960-61, Stephen V. Goddard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 1960 there were 1,955, 000 waterfowl hunters in the United States. These hunters spent $89,431, 000 (an average of $45.74 per individual) and 15,158, 000 hunter days in the field. The hunting population will increase 35 percent by 1975 (Anonymous, 1960).

The large increase in hunters will bring a proportional increase in the demand for places to hunt. Many states face the problem of providing enough public hunting for such an army of sportsmen. Studies by Kozlik (1958) in California, Gordinier (1957) and Friley (1959) in Michigan, and Bednarik (1957, 1961) in Ohio point out some of the problems …

Studies On The Relationship Of The Redside Shiner (Richardsonius Balteatus) And The Longnose Sucker (Catostomus Catostomus) To The Cutthroat Trout (Salmo Clarki) Popluation In Yellowstone Lake, Kenneth E. Biesinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Biologists have been concerned about the presence of longnose suckers (Catostomus catostomus) and redside shiners (Richarsonius balteatus)and their effect on the cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake. This investigation was made to determine the distribution and certain interactions of these species with cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake. The effects of the presence of lake chub (Hybopsis plumbea) and longnose dace (Rhinichtys cataractae) are considered to a lesser extent.

The Effects Of Certain Environmental And Biological Factors On Rally Calling In The Chukar Partridge, H. Warrington Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Naturalists for many years have known that birds sing most at dawn and at dusk, but to which of many physical variables they are responding has not been completely determined. This problem has taken on importance in the field of wildlife management because calling rate has been used as an index of abundance for numerous game birds, namely the Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus (Kimball, 1949); the Mourning Dove, Zenaidura macroura (McClure, 1939); the Bobwhite Quail, Colinus virginianus (Bennitt, 1951; Rosene, 1957): and the Woodcock, Philohela minor (Pitelka, 1943).

Distribution And Movements Of Some Fishes In Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho, 1958-59, Stanley K.Y. Loo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During the summer of 1958, a study of the "Population Dynamics of the Small Benthic Fishes of Bear Lake, Idaho and Utah," was sponsored in part by a National Science Foundation grant to the Wildlife Management Department of Utah State University. The study was designed to extend over a period of three years.

Relationship Of Certain Environmental Factors To Benthic Fish Densities In Bear Lake, Idaho-Utah, Thomas J. Hassler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The project was initiated in June of 1958 and financed by the National Science Foundation and the Wildlife Management Department of Utah State University.

The broad aspects of the study were to determine if a relationship exists between certain physical and biological factors and benthic fish densities. The project vas divided into two parts: (l) to determine the time and extent of thermal stratification, zooplankton densities, conductivity changes within the lake and conductivity differences between the lake and its tributaries; (2) to determine it a relationship exist between benthic fish densities, temperatures, depths, conductivities and benthic zooplankton densities. The data …

Lethal Concentrations And Detoxification Time Of Toxaphene For Goldfish, Gambusia And Rainbow Trout, Gar W. Workman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the past few years the Utah Fish and Game Department, as well as the fish and game departments of other states, has been spending fisheries money for fish eradication on both lakes and streams. The Utah Fish and Game Department recently suggested to the University that research be initiated on the subject of toxaphene as a fish poison. Consequently, a better insight into conditions that exist for a given water type could be developed.

The Phytoplankton Of The Logan River, Utah, A Mountain Stream, William J. Clark

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The voluminous limnological literature contains few studies of mountain streams. Though there are a few papers on the benthic algae (see Budde 1928, Raabe 1951) only Pennak (1943) reports year-round quantitative data on the phytoplankton. Brinley (1950) gives some phytoplankton information in a summer study of streams in Rocky Mountain National Park.

An Ecological Study Of The Bottom Fauna Of Bear Lake Idaho And Utah, Earl W. Smart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In evaluating the potential ability of a lake to produce fish, probably no single standard is so important as an estimate of the amount of bottom fauna (Deevey and Bishop, 1942).

The study of the bottom fauna of Bear Lake was a part of the investigation of its limnology and fisheries, begun in 1952. This study was sponsored through federal monies made available through the Dingle-Johnson Act. The primary purpose of the study was to examine all the evidence in estimating the fish producing capacity of the lake. Bear Lake is the second largest fresh water lake in Utah but …

A Cytological Study Of The Induced Octoploid Of An Agropyron-Hordeum Hybrid, R. Bruce Ashman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The occurrence of hybrids, both interspecific and intergeneric, is frequent in the Gramineae generally (Stebbins, 1949), and is especially common in the tribe Hordeae of which both A. trachycaulum and H. jubatum are members. Intergeneric hybrids in this tribe have been studied by Stebbins et al. (1946a, and 1946b), Stebbins and Walters (1949), and Stebbins and Singh (1950) in an effort to determine true phylogenetic relationships on which to base a taxonomic classification, and results of these studies have indicated that the current taxonomic treatment of this tribe is highly artificial. Attempts to produce a perennial wheat and improve …

Actinomycetes Of Virgin Utah Soils With Special Reference To Antagonisms, Paul H. Krumperman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The importance of actinomycetes in the soils was generally overlooked until about 1913. The investigators Hiltner and Stormer and Beijerinck began systemtaic study of their occurrence and role in soil fertility. The work done by these men and others since 1913 has proved actinomycetes to occur abundantly in most soils of the world. This work done by these men and others since 1913 has proved actinomycetes to occur abundantly in most soils of the world. This work has also proved the function of these organisms to be that of decomposing highly resistant materials such as humus and complex polysaccharide compounds. …

Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae) Associated With The Stone Fruit Orchards Of Northern Utah, Mervin W. Nielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Virus diseases of stone fruit orchards have existed in Utah for more than a quarter of a century and are seriously diminishing the peach and cherry fruit production. Western X of peach, rusty mottle of cherry, wilt and decline of cherry, and little cherry constitute the most economically important stone fruit virus diseases in Utah. Many orchards, particularly in Davis County, have 50 to 83 percent of the trees infected with one or more of the yellow-red viroses. Surveys have shown that the diseases are spreading from 3 to 5 percent each year. It is believed that certain insects are …

Hive And Field Mortality Of Honey Bees In Northern Utah Due To Effects Of Certain Ecological And Chemical Factors, Shih Chun Ma

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The honey bee is the most important pollinating insect in Utah, because various important crops such as fruits, legumes, and vegetable seed crops depend chiefly on it for pollination. In the past, honey bees have suffered repeated severe death losses through contact with arsenic and other agricultural chemicals. Recently the newer insecticides, such as DDT, chlordane, parathion, benzene hexachloride, lindane, toxaphene, and several kinds of miticides have further complicated the problem of bee survival. In addition, natural enemies such as predators and parasites and some unfavorable environmental conditions, including unfavorable temperature and humidity, wind, storm, and other changeable weather conditions, …

Insect Pests And Predators In Relation To Alfalfa Seed Setting In Southern Alberta And The Effects On These Insects Of Three Chlorinated Hydrocarbons, Gordon A. Hobbs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Alfalfa-insect investigations, because of necessity, had been neglected in the province of Alberta during the war years. Work was resumed on this project in the spring of 1946 by the writer.

So much progress has been made in the field of insect pest control since the advent of war-born chlorinated hydrocarbons, that it was thought advisable to design an experiment which would test under Alberta conditions the results obtained in Utah where most of this type of research had been previously carried out, and would thus serve to bring investigations in this part of Canada up to date.

It is …