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2005

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Articles 181 - 210 of 505

Full-Text Articles in Biology

Evaluations Of Livestock Protection Dogs For Deterring Deer And Cattle Interactions, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Gregory E. Phillips, Robert L. Pooler, Michael J. Lavelle May 2005

Evaluations Of Livestock Protection Dogs For Deterring Deer And Cattle Interactions, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Gregory E. Phillips, Robert L. Pooler, Michael J. Lavelle

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Bovine Tuberculosis (bovine TB) in northern Michigan has proven a dilemma necessitating aggressive measures including depopulation of livestock operations, culling of wildlife, banning the feeding of wildlife, and fencing livestock feed with high fences. Bovine TB is believed to be transmitted from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to domestic cattle through feces, urine, saliva, and nasal secretions on contaminated feed (indirect transmission) and from animal to animal (direct transmission). Effective methods for excluding deer from cattle enclosures would minimize the potential for indirect and direct transmission of bovine TB between infected deer and cattle. We combined an idea used …

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Modifying Fences To Prevent Ungulate Use Of Cropland And High-Value Pastures, James E. Knight, Roy Fenster, Carolyn Nistler May 2005

Modifying Fences To Prevent Ungulate Use Of Cropland And High-Value Pastures, James E. Knight, Roy Fenster, Carolyn Nistler

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Big game can damage crops and compete with livestock for valuable forage. Ranchers have reported their tolerance for big game would increase if the animals could be prevented from using key areas critical for spring livestock use. Likewise, some farmers have high value areas that must be protected. Fences provide the most consistent long term control compared to other deterrent methods, but are costly to erect. Many designs of woven wire and electric fences are currently used. Costs of erecting deer proof fencing could be greatly reduced if an existing fence could be modified instead of being replaced entirely. This …

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Effectiveness Of Milorganite® As A Repellent To Protect Ornamental And Agronomic Plants From Deer Over-Browsing, Odin L. Stephens, Michael T. Mengak, George R. Gallagher, David A. Osborn, Karl V. Miller May 2005

Effectiveness Of Milorganite® As A Repellent To Protect Ornamental And Agronomic Plants From Deer Over-Browsing, Odin L. Stephens, Michael T. Mengak, George R. Gallagher, David A. Osborn, Karl V. Miller

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

When deer populations become locally overabundant, browsing of ornamental and agronomic plants negatively affects plant establishment, survival, and productivity. Milorganite® is a slow-release, organic fertilizer produced from human sewage. We tested Milorganite® as a deer repellent on chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemums morifolium) in an urban/suburban environment, and soybeans (Gycine max) in a rural agriculture environment. Six beds of chrysanthemums at two sites were monitored for 28 to 35 days. Treatment plants received a top dressing of 104 grams of Milorganite® (1120.9 kg/ha). Milorganite® treated plants had more (P < 0.001) terminal buds and achieved greater height (P < 0.002) compared to controls at one site, however damage observed was similar at the second site. In a second experiment, 0.2-ha plots of soybeans (Glycine max) were planted on five rural properties in …

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Fence-Line Interactions Among Farmed And Free-Ranging Cervids: Preliminary Results, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Justin W. Fischer, Robert Pooler, Michael J. Lavelle, Greg Phillips May 2005

Fence-Line Interactions Among Farmed And Free-Ranging Cervids: Preliminary Results, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Justin W. Fischer, Robert Pooler, Michael J. Lavelle, Greg Phillips

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Occurrences of disease outbreaks within and near captive cervid (mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni)) farms have recently drawn attention to these facilities. Some state wildlife and agricultural agencies have pondered making double fencing mandatory or otherwise increasing regulation of captive operations. Diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and Bovine Tuberculosis (bovine TB) are a threat to captive and free-ranging cervid populations. Concerns over these and other diseases being transmitted from captive to wild cervids, and vice versa, have increased. In most cases, captive …

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Use Of Natural Vegetative Barriers To Limit Expansion Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Towns., David F. Terrall, Jonathan A. Jenks, Arthur E. Smith May 2005

Use Of Natural Vegetative Barriers To Limit Expansion Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Towns., David F. Terrall, Jonathan A. Jenks, Arthur E. Smith

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) control has historically consisted of lethal methods to maintain, reduce, or eliminate populations in South Dakota and throughout the species range. Non-lethal methods of control are desired to meet changing management objectives for the black-tailed prairie dog. The use of naturally occurring buffer strips as vegetative barriers may be effective in limiting prairie dog town expansion. The objectives of this study were: 1) to evaluate effective width of vegetative barriers in limiting prairie dog towns expansion in western South Dakota; and 2) to document effect native vegetation height on expansion of prairie dog towns …

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Assessment Of Texas Medical Providers Concerning Rabies Vaccines, Denise M. Ruffino, Scott E. Henke May 2005

Assessment Of Texas Medical Providers Concerning Rabies Vaccines, Denise M. Ruffino, Scott E. Henke

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Rabies is an important zoonotic disease in Texas and thousands of people each year either request or require rabies prophylaxis because they have 'high risk ' jobs or are exposed to the disease. After experiencing difficulty in receiving rabies prophylaxis from physicians, we conducted a survey of Texas medical providers to assess their knowledge of rabies vaccine procedures and their experience with rabies vaccines. Most providers in Texas (>95% of 297) rarely saw patients for rabies prophylaxis; therefore, providers have minimal, if any, experience with the procedures of acquiring and administering the vaccine. Providers varied greatly in their responses …

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Monitoring Racoon Rabies In Alabama: The Potential Effects Of Habitat And Demographics, Wendy M. Arjo, Christine E. Fisher, James Armstrong, Dana Johnson, Frank Boyd May 2005

Monitoring Racoon Rabies In Alabama: The Potential Effects Of Habitat And Demographics, Wendy M. Arjo, Christine E. Fisher, James Armstrong, Dana Johnson, Frank Boyd

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Density, morphometrics, and disease prevalence of raccoon populations were determined in 4 habitats (agriculture, riverine, managed, and forested) in central Alabama. In addition we monitored 71 collared raccoons to determine survival. Density estimates were similar in the agriculture (ag) and riverine habitats in central Alabama with 8 raccoons/km2, and lower in the forested habitat at 5 raccoons/ km2. Retention of juveniles did not appear to contribute to observed higher populations in the riverine and ag habitat. Although the riverine and ag, possibly due to supplemental resources, likely provide better habitat for raccoons, we found only body …

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Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colony Dynamics In South Dakota Over A 10-Year Period, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Howard P. Tietjen, James F. Glahn, Greg L. Schenbeck, Jean Bourassa May 2005

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colony Dynamics In South Dakota Over A 10-Year Period, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Howard P. Tietjen, James F. Glahn, Greg L. Schenbeck, Jean Bourassa

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Between 1968 and 1978, aerial photography was used to monitor distribution of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies on a 400-square mile area in South Dakota, including parts of Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and Badlands National Monument (now Badlands National Park). Aerial photographs were taken of the study area in 1968 and annually from 1974 through 1978 at a scale of 1:20,000 (1968) and 1:15,840 (1974-1978). Prairie dog colonies were identified on the photographs, outlined, and the outline transferred to USGS topographic maps for colony size measurements. This technique reliably detected changes in prairie …

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The Role Of Raccoons In The Ecology Of Bovine Tuberculosis, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Holy J. Smith, Justin S. Stevenson May 2005

The Role Of Raccoons In The Ecology Of Bovine Tuberculosis, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Holy J. Smith, Justin S. Stevenson

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Bovine tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial disease that has had significant socioeconomic impacts on the region of northern lower Michigan. The role raccoons may play in the ecology and maintenance of the disease on farms in the core disease is unknown. Preliminary results of 61 radio collared raccoons have yielded a better understanding of raccoon movement and habitat use within an agricultural complex. Preliminary analysis of raccoons suggests annual home range sizes of .824km2 and .608km2 for males and females, respectively. Additionally raccoons and cattle have been documented at resource interfaces, further illustrating the potential for indirect disease …

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Evaluation Of A New Strategy For Control Of Bovine Tuberculosis In Michigan White-Tailed Deer: Year 1 Progress Report, Stephen Schmitt, Daniel O'Brien, Elaine Carlson, David Smith, Zachary Cooley, Brent Rudolph, Graham Hickling, Graham Nugent, Peter Butchko May 2005

Evaluation Of A New Strategy For Control Of Bovine Tuberculosis In Michigan White-Tailed Deer: Year 1 Progress Report, Stephen Schmitt, Daniel O'Brien, Elaine Carlson, David Smith, Zachary Cooley, Brent Rudolph, Graham Hickling, Graham Nugent, Peter Butchko

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The State of Michigan is striving to eliminate bovine tuberculosis (Tb) infection among free-ranging white-tailed deer in the northeastern Lower Peninsula of the state. Aggressive reduction in the overall deer population abundance may help to further reduce TB prevalence, but this course of action is unacceptable to many hunters and landowners. Targeted culling of sick deer would likely be far more acceptable to these stakeholders, so in the winter of 2003 the Michigan Department of Natural Resources pilot-trialed a new strategy based on live-trapping and Tb-testing of wild deer. The field study was conducted in a township with relatively high …

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Conditioning Beaver To Avoid Desirable Plants, Julie L. Harper, Dale L. Nolte, Thomas J. Deliberto, David L. Bergman May 2005

Conditioning Beaver To Avoid Desirable Plants, Julie L. Harper, Dale L. Nolte, Thomas J. Deliberto, David L. Bergman

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Conditioned food aversion can be used to train animals to avoid select foods. Generally, aversive conditioning is best applied when animals first encounter a food item. However, almost by definition damage is inflicted to desirable plants very familiar to the culprit. We assessed the potential for training beaver to avoid a known preferred food. During a 5 day day treatment period beavers were offered only corn at 1600 hours. Six hours later, animals that had ingested corn were injected with 150 mg/kg lithium chloride (LiCl), with a control group receiving sodium chloride (NaCl). Alternate foods were then offered with corn …

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The Eradication Of Bovine Tuberculosis From Infected Wildlife Populations: A New Zealand Scenario, Garry J.E. Knowles, Mark Hunter, Amy Rush May 2005

The Eradication Of Bovine Tuberculosis From Infected Wildlife Populations: A New Zealand Scenario, Garry J.E. Knowles, Mark Hunter, Amy Rush

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The Animal Health Board (AHB) is the agency responsible for controlling bovine tuberculosis (Tb) in New Zealand. In 2000, the AHB embarked on a strategy designed to reduce the annual period prevalence of Tb infected cattle and farmed deer herds from 1.67% to 0.2% by 2012/13. Under current rules of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) this would allow New Zealand to claim freedom from Tb. The epidemiology of Tb in New Zealand is largely influenced by wildlife reservoirs of infection and control of Tb vector populations is central to the elimination of Tb from New Zealand's cattle and deer …

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Preliminary Serologic Survey Of Selected Diseases And Movements Of Feral Swine In Texas, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt Vercauteren May 2005

Preliminary Serologic Survey Of Selected Diseases And Movements Of Feral Swine In Texas, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt Vercauteren

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) populations occur throughout eastern, central, and southern Texas, and their populations appear to be increasing. Despite their abundance and wide distribution, little is known about their range and interaction with domestic animals. In the last decade the national pork production industry has enforced an eradication program for economically detrimental swine diseases such as pseudorabies and brucellosis. It is hypothesized that feral hogs can be reservoirs that could reintroduce diseases to disease-free domestic swine herds. The objectives of this on-going project are to determine the prevalence of selected swine diseases that exist within feral hog …

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Use Of Deer Repellents To Preserve Wildlife Food Plots For Game Birds, Wendy M. Arjo, Kimberly K. Wagner, Chad D. Richardson, Dale L. Nolte May 2005

Use Of Deer Repellents To Preserve Wildlife Food Plots For Game Birds, Wendy M. Arjo, Kimberly K. Wagner, Chad D. Richardson, Dale L. Nolte

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Food plots are a vital element for the survival of game bird species such as bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) on Fort Riley Military Installation in Kansas. However, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) tend to eat the sorghum when it starts to ripen in September and continue feeding on it through November and December, often leaving no food for the quail during the winter. We conducted pen and field trails to determine if repellents were an effective and feasible method to protect grain sorghum food plots from deer damage. Two-choice pen trials with both deer and game bird …

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Badger Movement Ecology In Colorado Agricultural Areas After A Fire, Craig A. Ramey, Jean B. Bourassa May 2005

Badger Movement Ecology In Colorado Agricultural Areas After A Fire, Craig A. Ramey, Jean B. Bourassa

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

While investigating the American badger (Taxidea taxus) in eastern Colorado' s wheatlands, we studied 3 badgers which were affected by a 2.1 km2 man-made fire and compared them to 2 adjacent badgers unaffected by the fire. All badgers were equipped with radio-telemetry collars and generally located day and night for approximately 1 month pre-fire and 3 weeks post-fire. Three point triangulation locations were converted into a global information system database. Adaptive kernel analyses compared pre- and post-fire horizontal: home ranges (i.e. 95% utilization areas, UAs), core activity areas (50% UAs), movements, den and habitat use patterns. Mean …

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Development Of Diazacon™ As An Avian Contraceptive, Christi A. Yoder, Kimberly S. Bynum, Lowell A. Miller May 2005

Development Of Diazacon™ As An Avian Contraceptive, Christi A. Yoder, Kimberly S. Bynum, Lowell A. Miller

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Due to increasing human-wildlife conflicts with birds and growing opposition to lethal techniques, nonlethal methods need to be developed to help manage bird populations. DiazaCon™ is a promising oral contraceptive that acts by directly inhibiting the conversion of desmosterol to cholesterol. Because cholesterol is essential for the production of the steroid reproductive hormones testosterone, progesterone, and estradiol, DiazaCon™ also indirectly inhibits the formation of these hormones. These hormones are essential for sperm and egg production, and the production of egg yolk precursors in the liver. Because DiazaCon™ is cleared slowly from the liver, its contraceptive effects are long-lasting. Initial research …

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The Role Of Puf3 Protein Interactions In The Regulation Of Mrna Decay In Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Shervin Sean Houshmandi May 2005

The Role Of Puf3 Protein Interactions In The Regulation Of Mrna Decay In Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Shervin Sean Houshmandi

Dissertations

The regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) metabolism is an important step in proper gene expression. In many eukaryotic organisms this regulation can be mediated by a group of highly conserved RNA-binding proteins known as the Puf family of proteins. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has several proteins that belong to this family. One of the yeast Puf proteins, Puf3p, binds and regulates the COX17 mRNA, which codes for a protein involved in mitochondrial copper transport. Specifically, Puf3p stimulates the decay of COX17 mRNA. However, the precise mechanism of Puf3p binding and decay regulation is yet unknown. The goal of this research …

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Relative Influence Of Landscape Indicators On Macroinvertebrate Communities In A Predominately Forested Watershed: Effects Of Spacial Scale, Robert Johnson May 2005

Relative Influence Of Landscape Indicators On Macroinvertebrate Communities In A Predominately Forested Watershed: Effects Of Spacial Scale, Robert Johnson

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Robert Johnson on May 9, 2005.

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Alternative Assay Techniques For Protein Kinase A, Justin Brink May 2005

Alternative Assay Techniques For Protein Kinase A, Justin Brink

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

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A Genetic Analysis Of Variation For The Ability To Fly After Exposure Tothermal Stress In Drosophila Mojavensis, Robert A. Krebs, Kimberly A. Thompson May 2005

A Genetic Analysis Of Variation For The Ability To Fly After Exposure Tothermal Stress In Drosophila Mojavensis, Robert A. Krebs, Kimberly A. Thompson

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

To help us understand how adaptive tolerance to heat stress has evolved, we made F1 hybrid crosses and backcrosses amongst populations of Drosophila mojavensis, and tested their ability to fly after exposure to a debilitating, but non-lethal, heat stress. Previous work identified that these populations vary in thermotolerance as measured for a variety of traits. Hybrid superiority was observed when crossing all four pairs of strains. Patterns of inheritance in flight ability after stress varied depending on which strains were used to set up complete reciprocal backcrosses, and, for both population pairs, results supported a multigenic model. This …

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The Epigenomic Viewpoint On Cellular Differentiation Of Myeloid Progenitor Cells As It Pertains To Leukemogenesis, Vincent E. Sollars May 2005

The Epigenomic Viewpoint On Cellular Differentiation Of Myeloid Progenitor Cells As It Pertains To Leukemogenesis, Vincent E. Sollars

Biochemistry and Microbiology

The new millennium has brought with it a surge of research in the field of epigenetics. This has included advances in our understanding of stem cell characteristics and mechanisms of commitment to cell lineages prior to differentiation. The nature of stem cells is similar to that of malignant cells in that they have unlimited self-renewal and protection from apoptosis, leading researchers to suspect that stem cells are the target of oncogenesis. This review will explore the idea of how epigenetic control of gene expression may contribute to mechanisms controlling differentiation of myeloid progenitor cells and its importance to our understanding …

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A Multi-Platform Bathyphotometer For Fine-Scale, Coastal Bioluminescence Research, Christen M. Herren, Steven H.D. Haddock, Cyril Johnson, Cristina M. Orrico, Mark A. Moline, James F. Case May 2005

A Multi-Platform Bathyphotometer For Fine-Scale, Coastal Bioluminescence Research, Christen M. Herren, Steven H.D. Haddock, Cyril Johnson, Cristina M. Orrico, Mark A. Moline, James F. Case

Biological Sciences

Although bioluminescence (BL) in the open ocean has been extensively studied, coastal BL remains poorly understood due, in large degree, to a lack of BL instrumentation appropriate to measure the fine-scale biological and physical complexity of the coastal regime. As a contribution toward understanding coastal BL, we developed the Multipurpose Bioluminescence Bathyphotometer (MBBP). This compact, self-contained bathyphotometer (BP) was designed to function in a variety of deployment modes, including conventional shipboard profilers, towed platforms, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and profiling moorings. In all configurations, the instrument preserves signal structure at centimeter to meter scale resolution, the scale at which higher-flow …

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Making Babies By The Flip Of A Coin?, Matthew A. Carlton, William D. Stansfield May 2005

Making Babies By The Flip Of A Coin?, Matthew A. Carlton, William D. Stansfield

Biological Sciences

Many probability and genetics textbooks pose standard questions about eye color, birth defects, sexes of children, and so on. Solutions to these questions, specifically about sexes, generally make two assumptions: first, that a randomly selected embryo is equally likely to be male or female; second, that the sexes of successive children from the same parents are independent. In other words, probabilists (and some geneticists) treat sexes of children like flips of a fair coin: two possible outcomes, each equally likely, with outcomes independent from trial to trial. But are these assumptions realistic? Demographic data suggest that neither a balance of …

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Physiological And Molecular Genetic Mechanisms Of Tetrodotoxin Resistance In The Garter Snake, Thamnophis Sirtalis, Shana L. Geffeney May 2005

Physiological And Molecular Genetic Mechanisms Of Tetrodotoxin Resistance In The Garter Snake, Thamnophis Sirtalis, Shana L. Geffeney

Biology

The focus of this project was the identification of physiological and molecular genetic mechanisms of tetrodotoxin resistance in the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. Tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin, specifically blocks the activity of voltage-gated sodium channels. Some populations of garter snake have evolved geographically variable resistance to tetrodotoxin in a coevolutionary arms race with their tetrodotoxic prey, newts of the genus Taricha. Variation in tetrodotoxin resistance among snake populations is extreme and spans three orders of magnitude. Here I describe a physiological mechanism of whole-animal tetrodotoxin resistance in four populations of snake that represent two independent evolutionary origins of …

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A Qualitative And Quantitative Characterization Of Emergent, Distributed Computation As A Possible Mechanism For Biological Information Processing In Stomatal Networks, Susanna M. Messinger May 2005

A Qualitative And Quantitative Characterization Of Emergent, Distributed Computation As A Possible Mechanism For Biological Information Processing In Stomatal Networks, Susanna M. Messinger

Biology

This research presents an exploration of the qualitative and quantitative properties of emergent, distributed computation in artificial cellular networks with the goal of better understanding the same computational mechanism as it might occur in biological systems, particularly plants. Stomata are tiny pores on the surface of a plant. As the sole pathway for the exchange of gasses between a plant and the atmosphere, stomata are responsible for both CO2 assimilation and water loss. By adjusting their pore size in response to environmental conditions, stomata appear to maximize carbon assimilation while minimizing water loss—a constrained optimization problem. Stomata interact with …

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Responses Of Stream-Breeding Amphibians To Riparian Buffers In Headwater Streams: Ameliorating The Effects Of Regeneration Harvest, Kathleen Louise Pollett May 2005

Responses Of Stream-Breeding Amphibians To Riparian Buffers In Headwater Streams: Ameliorating The Effects Of Regeneration Harvest, Kathleen Louise Pollett

Biology

This study focused on steep (>10 °) headwater streams in a volcanic geologic region in southwestern Washington. The presence and abundance of Rhyacotriton cascadae, Ascaphus truei, and Dicamptodon spp. (D. copei and D. tenebrosus) were assessed in four treatment types (unbuffered (clearcuts), buffered (12 to 23 m wide), second-growth (35 to 50 years old stands), and unmanaged (not previously logged)). No difference among treatments for R. cascadae or Dicamptodon spp. presence was found. R. cascadae abundance did not differ statistically between buffered and second-growth streams or between buffered and unbuffered streams. R. cascadae densities did …

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Functional Diversity In Autotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria From Agricultural Soils, Teresa E. Koper May 2005

Functional Diversity In Autotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria From Agricultural Soils, Teresa E. Koper

Biology

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria carry out the first step of nitrification, producing nitrite that is subsequently converted to nitrate, which may contribute to environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to gain insight into the functional diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in agricultural soils. We investigated the urease encoding gene sequences of several nitrifying bacteria and the kinetics of nitrification of soils treated with different nitrogen sources. Many, but not all, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria produce urease and are capable of hydrolyzing urea for their source of ammonium. The urease operons were sequenced from the betaproteobacterial Nitrosospira sp. NpAV and the gammaproteobacterial Nitrosococcus oceani. …

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Biotic And Abiotic Determinants Of Species Distribution: Desert Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma Platyrhinos) And Ants In A Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem, T. A. Scott Newbold May 2005

Biotic And Abiotic Determinants Of Species Distribution: Desert Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma Platyrhinos) And Ants In A Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem, T. A. Scott Newbold

Biology

The primary objective of this study was to attempt to disentangle the relative importance of biotic vs. abiotic factors on the distribution and abundance of desert horned lizards (Phrynosoma platyrhinos). Research was conducted along a Great Basin shrub-steppe bajada that examined interactions among P. platyrhinos, ants, plants, and soil characteristics. Studies focused on: (1) pattern description and habitat associations of P. platyrhinos, and (2) evaluating specific biotic and abiotic pathways underlying observed patterns of lizard abundance and distribution. Examination of lizard habitat associations along the elevational gradient revealed that unvegetated spaces and cryptobiotic crust cover were …

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Evolutionary History Of The Clitellariinae And Stratiomyidae (Insecta: Diptera) Using Molecular, Morphological, And Total Evidence Approaches, Colin A. Brammer May 2005

Evolutionary History Of The Clitellariinae And Stratiomyidae (Insecta: Diptera) Using Molecular, Morphological, And Total Evidence Approaches, Colin A. Brammer

Biology

Stratiomyidae is a diverse, cosmopolitan family of Diptera (true flies). One of its twelve subfamilies, Clitellariinae, is distributed in all major biogeographic regions except Antarctica. Understanding the evolutionary history of Clitellariinae is key to reconstructing the phylogeny of Stratiomyidae as a whole because Clitellariinae is united only by shared ancestral characters, and, thus, may not be a natural group. This research investigates the relationships between the genera currently placed within Clitellariinae and the subfamilial relationships of Stratiomyidae using morphology, molecules, and combined data. Morphology was analyzed with the method of parsimony using 97 adult characters. Molecular analyses were performed with …

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An East-West Comparison Of Migration In North American Wood Warblers, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Richard L. Hutto May 2005

An East-West Comparison Of Migration In North American Wood Warblers, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Richard L. Hutto

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

That western and eastern songbird migration routes are distinct ecological systems has been proposed for over 100 years. Nonetheless, this distinction has not been widely recognized nor have there been any comparative studies that quantitatively evaluate the differences and similarities between western and eastern songbird migration systems. We drew from previously published research on wood warblers to highlight patterns in stopover ecology that suggest fundamental differences between western and eastern migrants. In particular, we compared biogeography, evolutionary relationships, and stopover ecology of wood warblers from western and eastern North America and found: (1) multiple lines of evidence that indicate western …

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