Biology Commons^™

Sample Diameter And Date Of Establishment, Peter G. Butterfield, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: White Oaks in Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest

Data in this collection regards white oak trees (Quercus alba) in Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest, Vinton County, Ohio. Affiliated images are available at http://ecommons.udayton.edu/mcewanlab_6_images.

File type: .csv

About the data:

• Column A: Year
• Column B and onward: Measurements of tree rings in millimeters; sample title appears in row 1
• Measurements taken using a Velmex Unislide and the Tellervo software application.

Temperature Affects Nest Box Occupancy, Nest Success, And Nestling Size In A Southeastern Population Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Christopher G. Horacek

Biology Theses

Given the critical role that temperature plays in avian reproductive biology, rising temperatures as a result of global climate change will likely impact reproductive success of many bird populations. Secondary cavity nesting birds, many of which rely on artificial nest boxes to maintain population levels, may be particularly at risk because increased temperatures inside nest boxes can determine whether nest boxes are selected, reduce nest success, and/or negatively affect the growth and survival of offspring. We examined the effect of nest box color on nest box temperature and the influence of nest box temperature, nest box color, entrance orientation, and …

Population Demography, Spatial Ecology, And Habitat Use Of The Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene Bauri) On A Barrier Island, Michael D. Mills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Turtles are one the most threatened vertebrate groups in the world due to anthropogenic threats such as habitat loss and overexploitation. In addition to occupying a range that has been vulnerable to major habitat loss, the Florida box turtle (Terrapene bauri) is particularly at risk of overexploitation due to its popularity in the pet trade. Sanibel Island is a barrier island in southwest Florida that has experienced major habitat loss and is the site of a recent poaching event. In response to these threats, studies of both the population demography and spatial ecology were conducted on Sanibel’s Florida box turtle …

Oxidative Stress Strongly Restricts The Effect Of Codon Choice On The Efficiency Of Protein Synthesis In Escherichia Coli, Lorenzo Eugenio Leiva, Sara Elgamal, Sebastian A. Leidel, Omar Orellana, Michael Ibba, Assaf Katz

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction

The response of enterobacteria to oxidative stress is usually considered to be regulated by transcription factors such as OxyR and SoxR. Nevertheless, several reports have shown that under oxidative stress the levels, modification and aminoacylation of tRNAs may be altered suggesting a role of codon bias in regulation of gene expression under this condition.

Methods

In order to characterize the effects of oxidative stress on translation elongation we constructed a library of 61 plasmids, each coding for the green fluorescent protein (GFP) translationally fused to a different set of four identical codons.

Results

Using these reporters, we observed that …

[Black Margate (Anisotremus Surinamensis)] Neurocranium, Maeve Hunt, Jenna Hill, Breanna Calle, David William Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium from 9.5 cm total length (TL) [Black Margate (Anisotremus surinamensis)]

Tripletail Lobotes Surinamensis Neurocranium, Briana K. Zaffiro, Anna Johnson, David Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium from Lobotes surinamensis

Spirochete, Felicia Bedford

D.U.Quark

No abstract provided.

An Updated Nomenclature For Plant Ribosomal Protein Genes, M Regina Scarpin, Michael Busche, Ryan E. Martinez, Lisa C. Harper, Leonore Reiser, Dóra Szakonyi, Catharina Merchante, Ting Lan, Wei Xiong, Beixin Mo, Guiliang Tang, Xuemei Chen, Julia Bailey-Serres, Karen S. Browning, Jacob O. Brunkard

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Future Tidal Marsh Resilience In The San Francisco Estuary Through Modeling And Quantifiable Metrics Of Sustainability, James T. Morris, Judith Z. Drexler, Lydia J.S. Vaughn, April H. Robinson

Faculty Publications

Quantitative, broadly applicable metrics of resilience are needed to effectively manage tidal marshes into the future. Here we quantified three metrics of temporal marsh resilience: time to marsh drowning, time to marsh tipping point, and the probability of a regime shift, defined as the conditional probability of a transition to an alternative super-optimal, suboptimal, or drowned state. We used organic matter content (loss on ignition, LOI) and peat age combined with the Coastal Wetland Equilibrium Model (CWEM) to track wetland development and resilience under different sea-level rise scenarios in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) of California. A 100-year hindcast of …

Habitat Decline Of The Largest Known Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (Sousa Chinensis) Population In Poorly Protected Areas Associated With The Hypoxic Zone, Lang Guo, Dingyu Luo, Riqing Yu, Chen Zeng, Nuoyan Huang, Hongri Wang, Yuping Wu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reserve planning based on the investigation of the core habitat distribution of wild cetaceans is a powerful conservation strategy for protecting target species. However, studies on core habitats and their variations at the large-scale distribution of cetaceans are limited. In this study, we conducted a seven years (2015-2021) boat-based field observation surveys with highly applicable and generalized methods to analyze the habitat changes and how these changes influenced the largest known Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) population in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), China. Our findings revealed that there is 3204 km2 of dolphin habitat in the PRE, and dolphin …

The Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis Needs Action Now, Nonia Pariente

Research on Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem of increasing proportions that we cannot afford to look away from. This World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, we shine a light on the crisis and ways we can all help to address it.

Planarian Fragments Behave As Whole Animals, D. Le, Ziad Sabry , '21, A. Chandra, W. B. Kristan Iii, Eva-Maria S. Collins, W. B. Kristan Jr.

Biology Faculty Works

Behavioral responses of freshwater planarians have been studied for over a century. In recent decades, behavior has been used as a readout to study planarian development and regeneration, wound healing, molecular evolution, neurotoxicology, and learning and memory. The planarian nervous system is among the simplest of the bilaterally symmetric animals, with an anterior brain attached to two ventral nerve cords interconnected by multiple commissures. We found that, in response to mechanical and near-UV stimulation, head stimulation produces turning, tail stimulation produces contraction, and trunk stimulation produces midbody elongation in the planarian Dugesia japonica. When cut into two or three pieces, …

Lionfish (Pterois Volitans) Neurocranium, Vincenzo Ledonne, David William Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium from 7.3025 cm total length (TL) [Lionfish (Pterois volitans)]

Pollution And Littering: Land And Water Pollution Control In The Wright State Woods, Alyssa Vanwinkle, Heidi Orloff, Madelynn Mitchell, Samuel Jackson, Josh Hivner

Runkle Woods Symposia

Students present proposals and options to combat the effect of sodium chloride pollution in ground water and waterways.

Stormwater Bioretention Through The Establishment Of Native Wetland Flora, Spencer Thomas, Davis Taylor, Elise Berry

Runkle Woods Symposia

Students Elise Berry and Spencer Thomas presents a proposed conservation plan through the establishment of wetlands.

The Ecosystem Value Of The Dominant Native And Invasive Shrubs In The Wsu Woods, Jaedynn Duell, John O. Stireman Iii

Runkle Woods Symposia

Jaedynn Duell presents her research in how invasive honeysuckle impacts the ecology of the Wright State University Woods, focusing on spicebush, a comparative counterpart to honeysuckle, and native a local caterpillar species.

The Parasitic Relationship Between The Woods And Wright State, Aubrey Garman

Runkle Woods Symposia

English Literature student Aubrey Garman discusses the recent history and relationship between Wright State University and the Woods the institution stewards.

The Threat Of Plant Invaders And The Plan To Reduce Their Impact In The Wright State Woods, Brandon Thompson, Elizabeth Dunn, Tomee Norris

Runkle Woods Symposia

A presentation by students from the Conservation Biology class presenting on their proposals for reducing the impact of invasive plants species in the Wright state University Woods.

Bat Conservation In The Wright State Woods, Heather Wilson, Morgan Hill, Riley Patrick, Rebecca Sanders

Runkle Woods Symposia

A presentation by students from the Conservation Biology class presenting on their variety of proposals for the conservation of bat species int the Wright State University Woods.

Biodiversity Done The Right Way, Brad Kerry

Runkle Woods Symposia

Economics graduate student Brad Kerry discusses biodiversity through the lens of resource allocation.

Venerable Trees Of The Wright State Woods, Don Cipollini

Runkle Woods Symposia

Dr. Don Cipollini highlights and discusses major tree species in the Wright State University Woods.

Assessing The Risk Of Road Salt To Trees In The Wsu Woods, Shamal Chetty, Mark Crockett, Courtney Crone, Adebayo Djanman, Christopher Griesmeyer, Benjamin Kressbach, Brandon Noel, Israel Odoh, Jennifer Sally, Audrey E. Mcgowin

Runkle Woods Symposia

Students discuss the risk of high amounts of road salt in the ground water in and around the Wright State Woods. Using chlorides as a target anolyte, the students discuss findings, how the abnormally high chloride content in the ground water is effecting the trees in the Wright State Woods, and what they propose for further investigation and action.

Discussion About Conserving The Woods, Volker Bahn

Runkle Woods Symposia

Dr. Volker Bahn discusses the work being done at Wright State to help conserve the Wright State Woods. His discussion introduces subjects later student presentations will cover including Bat Conservation in the Wright State Woods, The Threat of Plant Invaders and the Plan to Reduce Their Impact in the Wright State Woods, Stormwater Bioretention through the Establishment of Native Wetland Flora, and Pollution and Littering: Land and Water Pollution Control in the Wright State Woods.

Woods Symposium 2022 Program, Wright State University

Runkle Woods Symposia

The program for the 5th annual Wright State University Runkle Woods Symposium that took place on November 18, 2022

The Effects Of Floral And Social Information On Bumblebee Forager Learning And Memory, Avery Hume Baker

Theses

Bumblebees rely on information gathered from their environment to make the best choices they can when foraging for pollen and nectar. The type of information gathered should influence how a bee learns and remembers it, but other factors such as the size of the bee’s brain may also play a role in the learning and remembering process. While social information learned from other organisms and information gathered directly from flowers can each be used alone to improve both the efficiency with which a bee learns to forage from a flower and how accurately and how long the bee remembers these …

Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Fishes have repeatedly evolved characteristic body shapes depending on how close they live to the substrate. Pelagic fishes live in open water and typically have narrow, streamlined body shapes; benthic and demersal fishes live close to the substrate; and demersal fishes often have deeper bodies. These shape differences are often associated with behavioral differences: pelagic fishes swim nearly constantly, demersal fishes tend to maneuver near the substrate, and benthic fishes often lie in wait on the substrate. We hypothesized that these morphological and behavioral differences would be reflected in the mechanical properties of the body, and specifically in vertebral column …

In Silico Analysis Of Tetrodotoxin Binding In Voltage-Gated Sodium Ion Channels From Toxin-Resistant Animal Lineages, Shana L. Geffeney, Jennie Ann Cordingley, Kenyon Mitchell, Charles T. Hanifin

Biology Faculty Publications

Multiple animal species have evolved resistance to the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) through changes in voltage-gated sodium ion channels (VGSCs). Amino acid substitutions in TTX-resistant lineages appear to be positionally convergent with changes in homologous residues associated with reductions in TTX block. We used homology modeling coupled with docking simulations to test whether positionally convergent substitutions generate functional convergence at the level of TTX–channel interactions. We found little evidence that amino acids at convergent positions generated similar patterns among TTX-resistant animal lineages across several metrics, including number of polar contacts, polar contact position, and estimates of binding energy. Though binding energy …

Variation In Symbiont Density Is Linked To Changes In Constitutive Immunity In The Facultatively Symbiotic Coral, Astrangia Poculata, Isabella Changsut, Haley R. Womack, Alicia Shickle, Koty H. Sharp, Lauren E. Fuess

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Scleractinian corals are essential ecosystem engineers, forming the basis of coral reef ecosystems. However, these organisms are in decline globally, in part due to rising disease prevalence. Most corals are dependent on symbiotic interactions with single-celled algae from the family Symbiodiniaceae to meet their nutritional needs, however, suppression of host immunity may be essential to this relationship. To explore immunological consequences of algal symbioses in scleractinian corals, we investigated constitutive immune activity in the facultatively symbiotic coral, Astrangia poculata. We compared immune metrics (melanin synthesis, antioxidant production and antibacterial activity) between coral colonies of varying symbiont density. Symbiont density was …

Fire History And Long-Term Carbon Accumulation In Hemi-Boreal Peatlands Companion Dataset, Dominic Uhelski, Evan Kane, Katherine Heckman, Rodney Chimner

Michigan Tech Research Data

This dataset contains peat property data including location, depth, bulk density, organic matter content, and carbon content, infrared spectra, and radiocarbon dates. Peat cores were collected between 2011 and 2019. Analyses were performed between 2018 and 2021. Samples were collected from peatlands in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota for the purposes of reconstruction of fire history. The data is associated with a yet-to-be-published manuscript to be submitted to Ecosystems.

A README file is included describing the contents of the dataset and all major spreadsheet files contain a Meta worksheet which describes each column of
data.

Combining Isotopic And Genetic Analyses To Quantify Microbial Facilitation Of Recalcitrant Resource Use By Terrestrial And Aquatic Consumers, Alexi Christina Besser

Biology ETDs

Quantifying the flow of energy and nutrients through food webs is foundational to understanding the structure and function of ecosystems. Here, I utilize the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids to trace the movement of essential amino acids through terrestrial and freshwater food webs in New Mexico, USA. I first explore isotopic patterns among co-occurring terrestrial plants and aquatic algae. I then combine this molecular isotopic approach with 16S and 18S rRNA sequencing to demonstrate the importance of gut microbiota as sources of essential amino acids to wild mammalian hosts. Next, I explore the roles of …