Biology Commons^™

A Dietary Variety: Analyzing The Impacts Of Diverse Vs Worm-Exclusive Diets On The Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii), Caitlin F. Copenhaver

Honors Theses

The endangered Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is a species with a generally diverse diet in their freshwater wetland habitats; they consume prey such as crayfish and snails. In captivity, these options often become more limited due to logistical reasons. As ex situ conservation efforts such as captive rearing and head-starting are becoming more popular for this species, it will be important to gain more insight on how these more limited diets might affect these turtles. This study describes a comparison between diets in six captive Blanding’s turtles from September to November of 2023, with three turtles receiving only …

Trophic Dynamics Of The Lake Superior Fish Community, Ariel Edwards

All NMU Master's Theses

The Lake Superior food web has undergone many changes in recent decades, including the rehabilitation of the native apex predator lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) and the introduction of several nonnative species. The trophic linkages and ecological requirements of the entire fish community, including predators and prey fishes, has not been assessed on a whole-lake scale in over a decade. Here, I investigated the trophic dynamics across multiple regions of the lake, and estimated the consumptive effect of lean lake charr in one region of Lake Superior. From April to October of 2021, a total of five predator, four …

Intraguild Predation Is Increased In Areas Of Low Prey Diversity In A Generalist Predator Community, Stella F. Uiterwaal, Amber J. Squires, Bennett A. Grappone, Brian Dillard, Ariadne Castaneda, Sora L. Kim, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

1. Niche differentiation and intraguild predation (IGP) can allow ecologically similar species to coexist, although it is unclear which coexistence mechanism predominates in consumer communities. Until now, a limited ability to quantify diets from metabarcoding data has precluded the use of sequencing data to determine the relative importance of these mechanisms.

2. Here, we pair a recent metabarcoding quantification approach with stable isotope analysis to examine diet composition in a wolf spider community.

3. We compare the prevalence of resource partitioning and IGP in these spiders and test whether factors that influence foraging performance, including individual identity, morphology, prey community and environmental conditions, …

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Climate Refugia For Neotropical Snakes: Implications Of Microhabitat Use And Diet Specialization, Consuelo Alarcon

Masters Theses

Aim: The aims of this study were to compare the locations of climate refugia and diversity patterns of the Neotropical tribe Pseudoboini and to provide critical analysis of the potential role of climatic stability and ecological specialization in the contemporary and historical distribution of this group of snakes. We expected species with narrow ecological requirements to occupy climatically stable areas, whereas generalists and arboreal species would occupy areas with more variable climate.

Location: South America

Methods: We compiled observations from the scientific literature and herpetological notes (1844-2019) with additional data from museum collections throughout South America to …

An Analysis On How Housing Status Influences The Gut-Brain-Axis For Populations In And Around The Skid Row Area Of Los Angeles, California, Mauricio Guzman

Pitzer Senior Theses

Over recent years, the “microbiota-gut-brain axis” (MGBA) has garnered significant attention in the scientific community. Specifically, perturbations of the MGBA via stress and dietary intake have been linked to a wide-range of diseases including gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic diseases, mood disorders, and cognitive diseases. However, most studies have been solely conducted on mice models and have yet to consider the more complex, intricate systems that impact the human body. In addition, researchers have yet to consider the populations who may be most susceptible to chronic stress and negative dietary outcomes. Drawing from the fields of medical sociology, non-invasive human biology, and …

Intraguild Predation Is Increased In Areas Of Low Prey Diversity In A Generalist Predator Community, Stella F Uiterwaal, Amber Squires, Bennett Grappone, Brian Dillard, Ariadne Castaneda, Sora L. Kim, John Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

1. Niche differentiation and intraguild predation (IGP) can allow ecologically similar species to coexist, although it is unclear which coexistence mechanism predominates in consumer communities. Until now, a limited ability to quantify diets from metabarcoding data has precluded the use of sequencing data to determine the relative importance of these mechanisms.

2. Here, we pair a recent metabarcoding quantification approach with stable isotope analysis to examine diet composition in a wolf spider community.

3. We compare the prevalence of resource partitioning and IGP in these spiders and test whether factors that influence foraging performance, including individual identity, morphology, prey community …

Survey For Usage Of And Interest In Personalized Nutrition As A Possible Health Approach, Kimberly Garrett

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Dietary factors can lead to chronic diseases and impact certain health factors such as sleep and mood. Personalized nutrition is based on an individual’s phenotype and genotype to meet specific dietary needs. This approach could be an intervention to benefit an individual’s health. This study surveyed a population to analyze the population’s view on and usage of personalized nutrition. The use of personalized nutrition was minimal, but there was interest within the population. In addition, a relationship between health and mood was found. However, the sample size was a limiting factor for this study. Future directions could include studying why …

Methyltransferase Mystery: Epigenetic Mechanisms Induced By Food Limitation In Daphnia Pule, Trenton C. Agrelius

Theses and Dissertations

Daphnia are ecologically important organisms that have been well studied in the context of evolution, ecology, ecotoxicity, and genomics. Daphnia have strong maternal effects in which the environment experienced by the mother can alter offspring disease resistance, life history traits, and morphology, as well as gene expression and methylation for multiple generations. Coupled with their ability to reduce genetic differences via parthenogenesis, Daphnia are an ideal system for epigenetic studies involving the transmission of maternal effects. Using two clones of Daphnia pulex, we investigated the plasticity of life history and DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt) gene expression with respect to food …

Parasitism Of Corn Earworm, Helicoverpa Zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), By Tachinid Flies In Cultivated Hemp, Armando Falcon-Brindis, John O. Stireman Iii, Zenaida J. Viloria, Raul T. Villanueva

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In a survey on hemp grown in western Kentucky we found an average of 27.8 CEW larvae per plant. We recorded 45% parasitism of CEW in these fields by two species of tachinid flies, Winthemia rufopicta and Lespesia aletiae. Most parasitized larvae were third to sixth instars at the time of collection. We found up to 22 tachinid eggs per host larva, 89% of which typically bore between 1 and 5 eggs on the thorax. 45.9% of CEW bearing eggs died. The number of tachinid eggs per host was unrelated to host body mass, but both the number of tachinid …

A Review Of Current Methods In Avian Dietary Analysis And Their Integrated Application To Characterize The Trophic Niche Of Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia Motacilla)., Brandon Hoenig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Characterizing a species’ dietary composition presents an avenue to understand many facets of its ecological niche and can provide essential information for the species’ long-term conservation. To date, the vast majority of diet studies have relied on direct identification of prey during foraging observations or from diet samples to characterize the dietary habits of birds. However, advancements in laboratory-based approaches have revolutionized the field of trophic ecology by allowing researchers to indirectly infer dietary habits with higher resolution across greater time scales. Here, I apply two of these laboratory-based techniques, namely DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis, to characterize the …

Morphological Changes Of The Asian Shore Crab Across Latitudes, Ainslee Mcmullin, Blaine D. Griffen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

The Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus , is an invasive species that has rapidly spread across the Eastern United States coastline. First observed in North America in 1988, its range currently extends from Maine to North Carolina. H. sanguineus has adapted very well to this region and has displaced several native species as the dominant crab in rocky intertidal habitats. Although the Asian shore crab’s biology and interactions with native species has been well studied, larger scale impacts (economic, potential further spread, community ecology, etc.) are under researched. We collected specimen samples of H. sanguineus throughout its entire East coast …

Dietary And Energetic Trends Of The Invasive Asian Shore Crab, Tanner Reese, Blaine D. Griffen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

The Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus , is an invasive crab species that lives on the East Coast of the United States. It has become an important part of its invaded ecosystems and their energetic interactions. We studied this species’ energetics to better understand how they vary across season and latitude.

• The ratio of gut width to carapace width (“standardized gut size”) is indicative of long term diet quality in crabs (a larger gut corresponds to a lower average diet quality) (Griffen & Mosblack 2011)
• We measured standardized gut size and gut energy content to examine how this species’ diet …

The Nutritional Condition Of Moose Co-Varies With Climate, But Not With Density, Predation Risk, Or Diet Composition, Jennifer S. Forbey, Daniel P. Melody

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A fundamental question about the ecology of herbivore populations pertains to the relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on nutritional condition. Nutritional condition is influenced in important, yet poorly understood, ways by plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) which can adversely affect a herbivore’s physiology and energetics. Here we assess the relative influence of various abiotic (weather) and biotic (intraspecific competition, predation risk and diet composition) factors on indicators of nutritional condition and the energetic costs of detoxifying PSMs for the moose population in Isle Royale National Park (U.S.A.). Specifically, we observed interannual variation in the ratio of urea nitrogen to …

The Ecological Role Of Cassiopea In Shallow Mangrove Habitats, David Marcel Durieux

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea sp., can be locally abundant in shallow mangrove habitats throughout the tropics and subtropics. Unlike other jellyfish, Cassiopea sp. are epibenthic. Due to this unique lifestyle and their ability to achieve high population densities, an understanding is needed of their ecological impacts both individually and in aggregations, particularly given that Cassiopea sp. ranges are expanding poleward due to global climate change. We quantified the fluid flow produced by Cassiopea sp. feeding currents and found that an average-sized Cassiopea sp. can transport over 200 l/h of water in the vertical excurrent jet of their feeding current. Populations of …

Otoliths Of South-Western Australian Fish: A Photographic Catalogue, Chris Dowling, Kim Smith, Elain Lek, Joshua Brown

Fisheries research reports

Due to the species-specific nature of otoliths and given they are often the only part of the fish preserved when fish die, otolith catalogues can be used in numerous applications, such as diet studies in fish eating animals, including pinnipeds, fish and sea birds; archaeological purposes such as reconstructing indigenous people’s diets from otoliths found in middens or evolutionary history of fish species by comparing fossilized otoliths. Given the unique mixture of subtropical and temperate fish, including many endemic species that occur off the southwest corner of WA having a catalogue for this area is extremely important for people working …

Otoliths Of South-Western Australian Fish: A Photographic Catalogue, Chris Dowling, Kim Smith, Elaine Lek, Joshua Brown

Fisheries research reports

Due to the species-specific nature of otoliths and given they are often the only part of the fish preserved when fish die, otolith catalogues can be used in numerous applications, such as diet studies in fish eating animals, including pinnipeds, fish and sea birds; archaeological purposes such as reconstructing indigenous people’s diets from otoliths found in middens or evolutionary history of fish species by comparing fossilized otoliths. Given the unique mixture of subtropical and temperate fish, including many endemic species that occur off the southwest corner of WA having a catalogue for this area is extremely important for people working …

Perivascular Adipose Tissue In Relation To Diet, Thermogenesis And Cardiovascular Health, Ginger Paquette, Caitlin Stieber, Ashely Soucy, Benjamin Tero, Lucy Liaw

Thinking Matters Symposium

Adipose tissue is a diverse and crucial component to vascular health due to its role in energy storage and heat production. The primary function of white adipose tissue (WAT) is energy storage while the function of mitochondria-rich brown adipose tissue (BAT) is heat production. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), which surrounds blood vessels, contains both WAT and BAT adipocytes. Dietary calorie restriction is associated with increased lifespan with decreased adiposity. Increased prevalence of WAT-like PVAT, due to high-fat diets and obesity, leads to increased metabolic disfunction and cardiovascular-disease. We used a calorie-restriction model in C57BL6/J mice to test the hypothesis that …

Fecal Findings: Investigating Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake Diet Using Dna Metabarcoding, Alyssa Swinehart

Masters Theses

Characterizing the diet of imperiled species using minimally invasive methods is crucial to understanding their conservation requirements. DNA metabarcoding methods have been used to characterize the diet primarily in mammalian systems, while reptiles are heavily underrepresented in this literature. Here, we apply a DNA metabarcoding approach to study the diet of the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus); a Federally Threatened snake found throughout the Great Lakes Region. Eighty-three fecal samples collected across 10 different massasauga populations located in Michigan were sequenced. We use universal metazoan primers and develop a host-specific oligonucleotide blocker to uncover the full potential diet …

Analyses Of Coyote (Canis Latrans) Consumption Of Anthropogenic Material And Dietary Composition In Urban And Non-Urban Habitats, Audrey A. Hayes

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Coyotes are a generalist species that have adapted to nearly every terrestrial habitat in the United States. The species’ success is heavily attributed to their omnivorous diets and tolerance for environments that are regularly disturbed. Because the larger predator species that typically act as apex predators are sensitive to highly fragmented landscapes, the coyote is the functioning apex predator in many ecosystems where large predators, such as wolves, have been extirpated. The coyotes’ ecological role in urban ecosystems has received much attention in the last few decades as the species’ presence in cities and suburbs has increased, along with human-coyote …

The Relationship Between Population Dynamics And Dietary Preferences Within Two Snake Genera (Storeria And Thamnophis), Molly M. Dixon

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Amidst massive losses in biodiversity, it is vital to identify the factors driving species declines. The main objective of this research was to assess dietary differences between Storeria dekayi and Thamnophis sirtalis and their less abundant and more geographically restricted sister species, Storeria occipitomaculata and Thamnophis butleri, in Illinois and Michigan. I hypothesized that greater abundance and more cosmopolitan distribution are associated with consuming a wide variety of prey and more nonnative prey. To assess diets, I conducted field surveys of Storeria and Thamnophis and analyzed DNA metabarcoding data from fecal samples. I found no significant difference in the …

Holistic Approaches For Invasive Species Management: Exploring Biotic Resistance Of European Green Crab (Carcinus Maenas) Via River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Diet, Bobbie Buzzell

WWU Graduate School Collection

Establishment of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) on the west coast United States has led to concerns regarding loss of eelgrass beds and influence on marine communities. To begin examining whether predators can potentially buffer green crab expansion, I studied river otter (Lontra canadensis) diet from scat remains and estimated green crab abundance from removal trapping efforts. River otter scats on the Wa’atch and Tsoo-Yess rivers, Washington, USA, were collected during August-September 2018 and April-September 2019. Hard remains of prey were reported as percent frequency of occurrence, and green crab prey were compared to monthly …

Scale‐Dependent Effects Of Host Patch Traits On Species Composition In A Stickleback Parasite Metacommunity, Daniel I. Bolnick, Emlyn J. Resetarits, Kimberly Ballare, Yoel E. Stuart, William E. Stutz

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A core goal of ecology is to understand the abiotic and biotic variables that regulate species distributions and community composition. A major obstacle is that the rules governing species distributions can change with spatial scale. Here, we illustrate this point using data from a spatially nested metacommunity of parasites infecting a metapopulation of threespine stickleback fish from 34 lakes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Like most parasite metacommunities, the composition of stickleback parasites differs among host individuals within each host population, and differs between host populations. The distribution of each parasite taxon depends, to varying degrees, on individual host traits …

A Novel Bioaugmentation Technique Effectively Increases The Skin-Associated Microbial Diversity Of Captive Eastern Hellbenders, Erin K. Kenison, Obed Hernandez-Gomez, Rod N. Williams

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Scholarship

Captive environments are maintained in hygienic ways that lack free-flowing microbes found in animals’ natural environments. As a result, captive animals often have depauperate host-associated microbial communities compared to conspecifics in the wild and may have increased disease susceptibility and reduced immune function. Eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) have suffered precipitous population declines over the past few decades. To bolster populations, eastern hellbenders are reared in captivity before being translocated to the wild. However, the absence of natural microbial reservoirs within the captive environment diminishes the diversity of skin-associated bacteria on hellbender skin and may negatively influence their ability to …

Competitive Interactions: Spatial And Temporal Niche Partitioning Between Brook And Brown Trout In Southwest Michigan, Frederick J. Glassen

Masters Theses

Niche diet partitioning between Brook Trout and Brown Trout were studied in two southwestern Michigan, USA streams, one dominated by Brook Trout, the other with both Brook and Brown Trout. Brook Trout are endemic to eastern North America and have been introduced throughout the world for sport fishing. Brown Trout were first introduced to Michigan in 1883 using a genetic strain from Germany. Stomach contents were collected from a population of Brook Trout in the absence of Brown Trout in Frost Creek, while the other population was in potential competition with Brown Trout in Cedar Creek. Absent Brown Trout, Brook …

Novel Method To Determine Paleodiet Of Extinct Equid Merychippus Sp. Using Dental Calculus, Ranjit Z. S. Virk

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Within the Miocene Epoch, the emergence of grasslands within North America coincided with the incidence of higher-crowned teeth (hypsodonty) within the proto-horse Merychippus that allowed for the inclusion of these expanding grasslands as a food source. As herbivorous paleofauna consume plant matter, microscopic remains become incorporated within dental calculus and, due to their diagnostic morphology, can be used to identify dietary components. In Merychippus, the recovery of plant microfossils holds the potential to provide greater clarity on the paleodiet of these equids. In the present study, the purpose was to quantify and compare Merychippus paleodiet constituents among sample groups. …

A Comparison Of Coyote Diets In Urban And Rural Habitats In The Piedmont Of South Carolina, Bethany Krug

Graduate Theses

With increasing rates of urban expansion, interactions between humans and wildlife become inevitable. These urban environments present novel situations to native species, frequently resulting in their displacement or extirpation. However, some species, often referred to as “urban adapters”, have thrived in these landscapes. Coyotes (Canis latrans) are a prime example of a species that has adapted to exploit urban habitats. Coyotes are omnivores with food choices ranging from small/medium mammals to invertebrates depending on habitat. With their recent range expansion into the Southeast, little is known of their behavioral ecology in the region, especially details relating to their diet. Macroscopic …

Host Patch Traits Have Scale‐Dependent Effects On Diversity In A Stickleback Parasite Metacommunity, Daniel I. Bolnick, Emlyn J. Resetarits, Kimberly Ballare, Yoel E. Stuart, William E. Stutz

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Many metacommunities are distributed across habitat patches that are themselves aggregated into groups. Perhaps the clearest example of this nested metacommunity structure comes from multi‐species parasite assemblages, which occupy individual hosts that are aggregated into host populations. At both spatial scales, we expect parasite community diversity in a given patch (either individual host or population) to depend on patch characteristics that affect colonization rates and species sorting. But, are these patch effects consistent across spatial scales? Or, do different processes govern the distribution of parasite community diversity among individual hosts, versus among host patches? To answer these questions, we document …

Diet Analysis Of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Virginia, Kristen Marie Volker

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

This study describes the diet of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in Virginia via stomach content analysis and considers factors such as proportion of numerical abundance and reconstructed mass, frequency of occurrence, average reconstructed prey size, prey diversity and quantity, and otolith degradation code. Fish size was estimated via regression equations established from local fish collected during the study that derive wet weight directly from otolith length or width. Squid size is estimated from previously published equations. Soniferous fishes dominated the diet, especially Atlantic croaker, spot, and seatrout spp., adding evidence to the theory that bottlenose dolphins passively …

Using Ecological Analyses To Characterize Socio-Economic Food Deserts, Annie Goyanes, J. Matthew Hoch

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Datasets

“Food desert” refers to an area where citizens lack access to fresh, affordable, nutritious food. Food deserts are generally in low-income urban neighborhoods or rural towns and can be considered environmental or economic injustice. South Florida and Broward County have been documented as having a high food insecurity rate, indicative of households having difficulty putting food on the table. Given the high rate of food insecurity, it was hypothesized that a lack of access to food and the presence of socio-economic food deserts was at least partially responsible. Data was collected by visiting three supermarkets in each of the 13 …

Dietary Fish Oil Supplement Induces Age-Specific Contractile And Proteomic Responses In Muscles Of Male Rats, David W. Russ, Kalina Dimova, Emily Morris, Marguerite Pacheco, Sean M. Garvey, Stylianos P. Scordilis

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Dietary fish oil (DFO) has been identified as a micronutrient supplement with the potential to improve musculoskeletal health in old age. Few data are available for effects of DFO on muscle contractility, despite the significant negative impact of muscle weakness on age-related health outcomes. Accordingly, the effects of a DFO intervention on the contractile function and proteomic profile of adult and aged in an animal model of aging were investigated.

Methods: This preliminary study evaluated 14 adult (8 months) and 12 aged (22 months) male, Sprague-Dawley rats consuming a DFO-supplemented diet or a control diet for 8 weeks (7 …