Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Climate Related Changes In Chemical Characteristics Of Arctic Tundra Ponds Over The Past 40 Years., David A. Hernandez^, Francisco R. Reyes, Christian G. Andresen, Vanessa L. Lougheed*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

The Arctic tundra ponds at the International Biological Program (IBP) site in Barrow, AK were first studied in the 1970s and were re-visited in 2010. Recognizing modifications in the ponds’ structure and activity is critical to distinguishing possible climate-related impacts on Arctic freshwater ecosystems.  The main objective of this project was to re-sample historical pond research sites in order to establish how the physical and chemical characteristics of the ponds have been altered over the past 40 years.  Preliminary data from the same IBP ponds sampled in 2009-10 and the 1970’s demonstrate an increase of phosphorus and a decrease in …

Leaf Number Indicates Salt Tolerance Of Young Seedling Families Of European Aspen (Populus Tremula L.) Growing In Different Soils, Lu-Min Vaario, Kim Yrjälä, Matti Rousi, Timo Sipila, Pertti Pulkkinen

Aspen Bibliography

Soil salinity limits plant productivity and quality. We evaluated the response of 12 aspen (Populus tremula) families to salt stress in two different soils irrigated for 4-weeks with 0, 80 or 160 mM saline solution. Easily measurable characteristics such as shoot height, leaf number, dry mass as well as the distribution of sodium (Na+) ions were measured in 5-month-old aspen seedlings raised in controlled greenhouse conditions on two different soils. Growth among families varied significantly, and the interaction between family and soil type was significant. From 2–5 months, leaf number correlated with that of the first month and salin-ity tolerance. …

Changes In Dissolved Organic Carbon (Doc) In Arctic Tundra Ponds Over The Past 40 Years, Gabriela Contreras^, Vanessa L. Lougheed*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

With a warming Arctic, degradation of permafrost is expected to release organic and inorganic materials into aquatic ecosystems; however, there are few long-term datasets with which to test this prediction. The Arctic tundra ponds at the International Biological Program (IBP) site in Barrow, Alaska, studied for the first time in the 1970s, represent one of the very few locations in the Arctic where long-term data are available on freshwater ecosystem structure and function.

Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) is used to describe the thousands of dissolved compounds found in water that derive from organic materials. The objective of this study was …

Phylogenetic Evaluation Of Series Delimitations In Section Palmata (Acer, Aceroideae, Sapindaceae) Based On Sequences Of Nuclear And Chloroplast Genes, Jianhua Li

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Acer section Palmata (Japanese maples) is the largest section within the genus; however, series delimitations within section Palmata have not been evaluated in a phylogenetic context. Both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of DNA sequence data of nuclear rDNA ITS and chloroplast genes (ndhF, trnL-trnF, and psbA-trnH) from 23 species of Acer section Palmata show that traditional series do not form individual clades. Results from this study support the most recent taxonomic treatment of Acer that does not recognize any series in section Palmata. Nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies are significantly …

Wood Anatomy Of Family Salvadoraceae From The Indian Subcontinent With Special Reference To The Ultrastructure Of The Vessel Wall, Vishakha Saxena, Sangeeta Gupta

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The present study describes the wood microstructure of Azima tetracantha, Salvadora oleoides, and S. persica, the members of family Salvadoraceae represented in the Indian Subcontinent. An identification key based on wood anatomical features has been developed for the separation of the species. SEM studies revealed the presence of vesturing in intervessel pits of Salvadora.

Cover Page

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

No abstract provided.

Sinker Structure Of Phoradendron Californicum (Viscaceae) Confounds Its Presumed Close Relationship To Other Acataphyllous Species, Rudolf Schmid, Clyde L. Calvin, Carol A. Wilson

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Phoradendron is the largest genus of New World mistletoes, with about 250 species in two subgenera, Boreales and Aequatoriales, corresponding, respectively, to northern acataphyllous and southern cataphyllous groups. The typically acataphyllous P. californicum of western North America is controversial because recent phylogenetic work has nested it in the southern cataphyllous clade. Seedling establishment, stem anatomy, and endophytic system structure of this species were studied. Seedling haustorial holdfasts have gland cavities, structures considered absent in the Viscaceae clade of Santalales. The stem epidermis has a thick cuticle, deeply sunken stomata, and branched multicellular trichomes. The stem has an outer cortex …

Ponderosa Pine Revisited, J. Robert Haller, Nancy J. Vivrette

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

We here recognize a new variety, Pinus ponderosa var. pacifica, in the Pacific portion of the species' distribution and present a new combination for Washoe pine as a variety, Pinus ponderosa var. washoensis. In this treatment, we reject the neotype of Pinus ponderosa selected by Lauria and designate instead the branch collected by David Douglas with mistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum) as lectotype for Pinus ponderosa. Table 1 compares the distinguishing characters of the North Plateau (typical) variety, the Pacific variety, and the Washoe variety of Pinus ponderosa with a closely related species, Pinus jeffreyi. Figure …

Nomenclatural Changes For Some Grasses In California. Ii., James P. Smith Jr., J. Travis Columbus

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Two additional nomenclatural changes are required for Poaceae treatments that will appear in the second edition of The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. They are Elymus x gouldii and Festuca temulenta. The former corrects a violation of the rule in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature involving the naming of hybrids, and the latter involves a widely occurring non-native grass in California traditionally assigned to Lolium.

Plants Of The Colonet Region, Baja California, Mexico, And A Vegetation Map Of Colonet Mesa, Alan B. Harper, Sula Vanderplank, Mark Dodero, Sergio Mata, Jorge Ochoa

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The Colonet region is located at the southern end of the California Floristic Province, in an area known to have the highest plant diversity in Baja California. A preliminary list of vouchered specimens is developed for the area, and a vegetation map for Colonet Mesa is presented. The Colonet region has at least 435 vascular plant taxa, of which 383 are native to Baja California, and 52 are endemic or nearly endemic. This list includes five local endemic taxa known only from the Colonet region, 18 taxa on the California Native Plant Society List 1B of taxa that are "rare, …

Distribution And Regional Ecology Of Californian Palm Oases Interpreted From Google Earth Images, Richard A. Minnich, Ernesto Franco-Vizcaíno, Mario Salazar-Ceseña

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The native fan palms of the Baja California peninsula (Mexico) and neighboring southern California (USA) comprise two species each in Washingtonia and Brahea. While these are among the most familiar ornamental palms in the world, many features of their taxonomy, distribution, and environmental relationships remain unresolved. We utilized Google Earth Digital Globe imagery (and limited surveys by air and land) to develop the first map detailing the geographic distribution of palm populations in the Peninsular Range Province (PRP) and used these data to formulate new hypotheses on their biotic and abiotic relationships. We inventoried 15,216 populations covering an area …

Integrating Values And Ethics Into Wildlife Policy And Management—Lessons From North America, Camilla H. Fox, Marc Bekoff

Conservation Collection

Few animals provoke as wide a range of emotions as wolves. Some see wolves as icons of a lost wilderness; others see them as intruders. As the battle continues between wolf proponents and opponents, finding solutions that resolve conflicts while supporting the integrity of nature is challenging. In this essay we argue that we need to make room for wolves and other native carnivores who are re-colonizing areas from which they were extirpated. Strategies that foster coexistence are necessary and wildlife agencies must consider all stakeholders and invest adequate resources to inform the public about how to mitigate conflicts between …

Changes In Relative Abundance Of Adult Walleye And Egg Density Following The Addition Of Walleye Spawning Habitat In A Midwest Irrigation Reservoir, Jordan D. Katt, Brian C. Peterson, Keith D. Koupal, Casey W. Schoenebeck, W. Wyatt Hoback

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Staff Research Publications

Cobble substrate for walleye (Sander vitreus) spawning was added at Sherman Reservoir, Nebraska, in January 2008. We evaluated changes in relative adult walleye abundance and egg density in response to the cobble substrate and estimated site fidelity of adult walleye during the spawning seasons of 2007, 2008, and 2009. A 15% increase in electrofishing catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of adult walleye was observed on the cobble substrate the first season it was available (2008), but a 5% decrease in electrofishing CPUE was observed the second season (2009) compared to the 2007 season. While gill nets were not run during the …

The Relationship Between 11-Ketotestosterone, Cortisol, And Testosterone And Condition Index For Poecilia Reticulata, Shelly Gupta, Brandy G. Kalbach

Biological Sciences

The guppy, Poecilia reticulata, is a common study organism for behavioral and other ecological experiments (Houde, 1997).  As far as we know, no previous data have been compiled regarding hormones and condition index of guppies.  In this experiment we examined the relationship between circulating levels of three hormones (testosterone, 11-ketotestosterone and cortisol) and condition index in males and also made comparisons among the hormone levels, for three guppy sites from the northern range of Trinidad – Aripo River, Marianne River and Small Crayfish River.  Hormone samples were obtained using non-invasive water borne techniques and quantified by our collaborator.  The condition …

Trap Shyness And Avoidance Affects On Capture Proportions Of Dipodomys Heermanni Arenae, Natalie E. Folsom, Andrew R. Ruddock

Biological Sciences

This is a study on trap shyness and trap avoidance in the kangaroo rat species Dipodomys heermanni arenae. This species is being studied as a surrogate for the critically endangered Dipodomys heermanni morroensis. This is an ongoing study that has been continuing for the past three years, with four three-day sessions per year. The study is a specific look at the effects of the use of Sherman traps on kangaroo rat behavior between individual session days. Capture proportions for each of the three days of each session were calculated and compared through a t-test. The current results of …

Factors Affecting Space Use Overlap By White-Tailed Deer In An Urban Landscape, W. David Walter, Jeff Beringer, Lonnie P. Hansen, Justin W. Fischer, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Variation in the size and overlap of space use by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has broad implications for managing deer–human conflicts and disease spread and transmission in urban landscapes. Understanding which factors affect overlap of home range by various segments (i.e., age, sex) of an urban deer population has implications to direct contact between deer on disease epidemiology. We assessed size of home range and overlap of space use using the volume of intersection index (VI) for deer in an urban landscape by sex, age, season, and time of day. We found mean space use was larger for …

Performance And Reproduction Of An Exotic Invader Across Temperate Forest Gradients, Robert J. Warren Ii, Volker Bahn, Timothy D. Kramer, Yaya Tang, Mark A. Bradford

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Widespread colonization by invasive species often obscures their underlying niche requirements. A robust inference into habitat requirements demands direct measures of invasive species performance linked with associated environmental conditions. In the context of general ecological theory, we investigated the niche requirements of Microstegium vimineum, an invasive grass in the U.S. that overruns native vegetation in forest understories. We examined M. vimineum’s performance and reproduction as a function of environmental drivers across forested and unforested habitats along a 100-km regional and climatic gradient in the southeastern U.S. from the southern Appalachian Mountains to the Georgia piedmont. We then measured M. vimineum …

Contributions To Scorpion Systematics. Iv. Observations On The Hadrurus “Spadix” Subgroup With A Description Of A New Species (Scorpiones: Caraboctonidae), Michael E. Soleglad, Victor Fet, Graeme Lowe

Euscorpius

In this study new data are presented on the “spadix” subgroup of genus Hadrurus, including the description of a new species, H. anzaborrego, sp. nov., found primarily in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP) in southern California, USA. This species is distinguished by its internal trichobothrial pattern of the chela and its unique carapace pattern. The status of Hadrurus obscurus Williams, 1970 is discussed and new locality data for this species are provided. A phylogenetic key to the genera, species, and subspecies of subfamily Hadrurinae is provided.

More Ornamented Males Exhibit Increased Predation Risk And Antipredatory Escapes, But Not Greater Mortality, Kasey D. Fowler-Finn, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Secondary sexual traits not only confer benefits to their bearer through increased mate acquisition, but may also have inherent costs, including the attraction of predators. Here, we examined the relationship between conspicuous secondary sexual traits and predation costs using two male morphs of Schizocosa wolf spiders: brushlegged and non-ornamented. In the field, we ran two predation experiments using artificial enclosures to directly test mortality costs of predation on the two male morphs. Using a natural predator, a larger wolf spider in the genus Hogna, we found no difference in predation on brush-legged vs. non-ornamented males. However, predation was depends …

Origins And Consequences Of Serpentine Endemism In The California Flora, Brian L. Anacker, Justen B. Whittall, Emma E. Goldberg, Susan P. Harrison

Biology

Habitat specialization plays an important role in the creation and loss of biodiversity over ecological and evolutionary time scales. In California, serpentine soils have a distinctive flora, with 246 serpentine habitat specialists (i.e., endemics). Using molecular phylogenies for 23 genera containing 784 taxa and 51 endemics, we infer few transitions out of the endemic state, which is shown by an analysis of transition rates to simply reflect the low frequency of endemics (i.e., reversal rates were high). The finding of high reversal rates, but a low number of reversals, is consistent with the widely hypothesized trade-off between serpentine tolerance and …

Serradigitus Miscionei (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae), A New Species From Southern Arizona, Richard F. Ayrey

Euscorpius

A new scorpion species, Serradigitus miscionei, is described, placed in the genus Serradigitus Stahnke, 1974. These are small reddish-brown scorpions found on vertical surfaces, in the San Pedro River system and other river systems in southern, Arizona.

Songbird Diversity In Oak Woodland And Riparian Habitats In The Los Padres National Forest, San Luis Obispo County, California, Trevor Pell

Biological Sciences

Diversity in songbirds (Passeriformes) between riparian and oak woodland habitats has not been studied before in the Los Padres National Forest around the Hi Mountain Lookout in San Luis Obispo County. Surveys of avian populations were conducted by point counts on fifty variable circular plots; surveys were performed between July and August of 2010. Diversity was calculated using the Shannon-Weiner method, and then squared for normality. No significant results were found when comparing the diversity values between riparian and oak woodland habitat (F = 0.52, p = 0.472). Although the results showed no significance, the data are still important, as …

Limnological Assistance For Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Quarterly Report, Period Ending January 31, 2011, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Project 1

• Technical assistance with the implementation of the Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-MAP) for Quagga Mussels is ongoing. During this quarter, analysis was completed for 21 adult/juvenile samples and analyses of the remaining samples are underway. A manuscript describing the I-MAP and its history, current recommended monitoring, and recommended future monitoring and a separate manuscript describing the I-MAP’s monitoring protocol were accepted for publication in the journal Aquatic Invasions. Two other manuscripts describing other aspects of the I-MAP program were published in Lake and Reservoir Management.

Project 2

• Annual summary sheets are under development for the topics listed within …

The Genus Chaerilus Simon, 1877 (Scorpiones, Chaerilidae) In The Indian Ocean Islands And Description Of A New Species, Wilson R. Lourenço, Bernard Duhem, Elise-Anne Leguin

Euscorpius

A new species is described belonging to the genus Chaerilus Simon, 1877. Chaerilus andamanensis sp. n. was discovered in the Island of Little Andaman in the Indian Ocean. The new species shows affinities with Chaerilus variegatus Simon, 1877 and Chaerilus borneensis Simon, 1880, respectively described from Java and Borneo. This s the first record of the genus Chaerilus in the Andaman Islands.

On Two Subspecies Of Mesobuthus Eupeus (C. L. Koch, 1839) In Turkey (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Ersen Aydın Yağmur, Victor Fet, Shahrokh Navidpour

Euscorpius

Examination of 268 specimens of Mesobuthus eupeus eupeus (C. L. Koch, 1839) and 1765 specimens of M. eupeus phillipsii (Pocock, 1889) from 163 localities, 92 of them in Turkey, has enabled us to establish distribution of the two subspecies and limits of their ranges in southeastern Turkey. A map of distribution of these subspecies in Turkey and a key to Turkish Mesobuthus species and subspecies are provided. Buthus eupeus philippovitschi Birula, 1905 is synonymized with Mesobuthus eupeus eupeus, and Buthus eupaeus mesopotamicus Penther, 1912 is synonymized with Mesobuthus eupeus phillipsii.

Rising Seas, Stormy Skies, Margaret (Peg) A. Van_Patten Ms.

Wrack Lines

Rising seas and more intense storms will affect Connecticut and Long Island Sound if climate change continues at present rates.

Long Island Sound And Climate Change: What Is Going To Happen?, Juliana Barrett

Wrack Lines

Certain plants and animals can be used as "sentinels", to help us monitor the impacts of a changing climate and warming planet on the ecology and biodiversity of Long Island Sound.

The Heat Is On: A Look Into New England's Future Climate, David Nicosia

Wrack Lines

What will New England's climate be like over the next century, given global warming and climate change? Could New England lose its colorful fall foliage?

An Interview With Andrew Revkin, Bob Wyss

Wrack Lines

Bob Wyss interviews journalist and activist Andy Revkin on climate change

A New Species Of Orthochirus Karsch, 1892 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Maharashtra, India, Amod M. Zambre, Zeeshan A. Mirza, Rajesh V. Sanap, Raman Upadhye, S. M. Maqsood Javed

Euscorpius

A new species of scorpions of the genus Orthochirus (Buthidae) is described from Jalna, Maharashtra, India. A key to Indian scorpion of the genus Orthochirus is provided.