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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Seasonal Variation In Diet Of The Cotton Rat (Sigmodon Hispidus) Based On Fecal Analysis, Lynn A. Walker
Seasonal Variation In Diet Of The Cotton Rat (Sigmodon Hispidus) Based On Fecal Analysis, Lynn A. Walker
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus, live in oldfields, habitats with a variety of mostly herbaceous plants. Based on other studies, the hispid cotton rat eats predominantly grasses, but grasses rarely are the only food. Fecal samples were collected each month during an ongoing capture-mark-release demographic study of the rodent community at a location in southern Chesapeake, Virginia. In the lab, five fecal pellets per animal were stained, placed on a microscope slide, and covered with starch-gel medium and coverslip. Then a clear nail polish was applied to produce a semi-permanent slide. Using a microscope and a set of reference slides, plant …
Behavioral Enhancement Of Onshore Transport By Postlarval Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus), Jason Seth Goldstein
Behavioral Enhancement Of Onshore Transport By Postlarval Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus), Jason Seth Goldstein
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
The onshore transport of meroplanktonic marine larvae or postlarvae is often complex, involving both active (i.e., behavior, swimming) and passive (i.e., oceanographic elements) transport mechanisms. Behaviors that modify passive transport have presumably evolved to situate larvae in settlement habitats where survival is enhanced. Active transport mechanisms have not been described for the puerulus postlarvae of any species of spiny lobster, despite their extraordinary mobility and known preference for specific settlement habitats. In the Florida Keys, for example, Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) pueruli travel from oceanic waters into coastal areas where they settle within bushy, red macroalgae. I …