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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Assessment Of Factors Influencing Migratory Landbird Use Of Forested Stopover Sites Along The Delmarva Peninsula During Autumn Migration, J. Andrew Arnold
Assessment Of Factors Influencing Migratory Landbird Use Of Forested Stopover Sites Along The Delmarva Peninsula During Autumn Migration, J. Andrew Arnold
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Autumn migration is a time when billions of birds move from breeding grounds in North America to wintering grounds in Central and South America, with many individuals relying on stopover habitats en route for resting and refueling purposes. These stopover sites are critical to the survival of the hundreds of species of migratory landbirds that migrate annually, and thus identifying important stopover sites is a high priority for conserving such taxa. The Delmarva Peninsula; a coastal region of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia along the mid-Atlantic flyway; consists of forested habitats with ample food and shelter that likely serves as quality …
Drivers Of Rickettsial Pathogen Transmission And Spillover In Local Tick Populations In Southeastern Virginia, Alexandra Cumbie
Drivers Of Rickettsial Pathogen Transmission And Spillover In Local Tick Populations In Southeastern Virginia, Alexandra Cumbie
Biomedical Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Cases of spotted fever group rickettsiosis are becoming more prevalent in the United States. In Virginia, there are three human-biting ticks which are largely responsible for the spread of rickettsial pathogens and the increase in disease cases. These species include Dermacentor variabilis, Amblyomma americanum, and Amblyomma maculatum; all of which are vectors of rickettsial agents to vertebrate hosts. These species are sympatric as adults and have the potential to share large and small mammal hosts. Their interactions on and off host and their associated rickettsiae were the focus of this dissertation work. Amblyomma americanum is the vector …
Diet Analysis Of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Virginia, Kristen Marie Volker
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 …