Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

The Ecological Succession Of Mosquitoes Inhabiting Waste Tires In A Subtropical Swamp And Upland Forest In Central West Florida, Emily Thuong Nguyen Dinh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature has not yet seen a contribution involving the description of successional patterns of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) inhabiting discarded automobile tires in sylvan areas nor an investigation into the macro- and micro-environmental factors that may influence the seasonal shifts in species composition and abundance in that respective habitat. Waste tires in undeveloped forests are a hazard to human and animal health because they can support a population of vector mosquitoes. Locating productive waste tire mosquito habitats is problematic in wooded areas but is crucial for diminishing pathogen transfer in areas where humans have regular access to forests because of possible …

A Multi-Scale Approach To Study Predator-Prey Interactions And Habitat Use Of Pinfish, Lagodon Rhomboids, Dinorah Helena Chacin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biological processes like species interactions and patterns such as abundance and distribution observed in nature can vary depending on the scale at which the subject of interest is evaluated. Knowing that there is no single natural scale at which systems should be studied, in this thesis, I conducted a series of basic and applied ecological approaches in order to examine the phenomena that can occur at different scales of space, time, and ecological organization.

Species abundances can vary over large spatial and temporal scales. By studying the habitat use of an abundant species, which uses a wide range of habitats, …

Dolphin Sound Production And Distribution On The West Florida Shelf, Peter Simard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigation of dolphin sound production and distribution off west central Florida. Although a wealth of information exists on the production of common sounds (whistles, echolocation) made by captive, trained dolphins, far less is known about free-ranging dolphin sound production and of unusual sounds. In addition, while inshore dolphin populations or communities are the subjects of research projects in many locations, dolphins in offshore waters are less commonly studied. The objectives of this dissertation were to contribute information on free-ranging dolphin sounds and continental shelf dolphin distribution.

While echolocation has been rigorously studied in captive, trained dolphins, …