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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
When An Invasive Plant Fails To Invade, Stephen L. Young
When An Invasive Plant Fails To Invade, Stephen L. Young
West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte
In 2012, much of the US Midwest was gripped in one of the most severe droughts on record. While conducting experimental fieldwork at a site in Nebraska during June of that year, I noticed a single musk thistle (Carduus nutans; Figure 1) that appeared to be in the bolt or early flowering stage, which is typical for the species at that time. Here, however, two things were unusual: this plant was less than 1 meter tall (with adequate moisture and light, musk thistle typically grows to heights of 1–2.5 meters before flowering), and was only 3 months old (the bolt …
Diel Vertical Migration Of An Invasive Calanoid Copepod, Eurytemora Affinis, In Little Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Alexandra N. Poli
Diel Vertical Migration Of An Invasive Calanoid Copepod, Eurytemora Affinis, In Little Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Alexandra N. Poli
Lawrence University Honors Projects
Eurytemora affinis, a calanoid copepod, is known to be a versatile, prolific invader of freshwater ecosystems across the globe. It has recently been documented in the Laurentian Great Lakes, including in Little Sturgeon Bay, an embayment of Lake Michigan. One survival mechanism that could make E. affinis a successful invader is diel vertical migration (DVM), a behavior in which animals move to different lakes depths at different times of day in order to avoid predation. Much is known about DVM of E. affinis, but primarily from studies in marine and brackish systems. Our goal was to investigate how …
The Ecology Of Phenotypic Plasticity In The Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae, Isabella Thompson Lambert
The Ecology Of Phenotypic Plasticity In The Cabbage White Butterfly, Pieris Rapae, Isabella Thompson Lambert
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to alter its expressed phenotype in response to the environment in which it develops. There are many different environmental factors that can influence the phenotype of organisms such as photoperiod, temperature, mechanical strain, as well as nutrient availability (Stoehr and Goux 2008; Schneider et al. 2014). Adaptive plasticity allows organisms to cope with varying and complex environments and changing conditions. Along with these factors, the effects of changing environments caused from habitat alterations or climate change need to be studied more in depth. Understanding the ecology of plastic organisms is important for …
Switching Tactics: Phenotypic Plasticity In The Alternative Mate-Finding Tactics Of Burying Beetles, Theresa Mulrey
Switching Tactics: Phenotypic Plasticity In The Alternative Mate-Finding Tactics Of Burying Beetles, Theresa Mulrey
Theses and Dissertations
Male Nicrophorus burying beetles utilize two alternative mate-finding tactics, representing an ideal model system to test the influence of environmental cues on the expression of alternative tactics. The "searching" tactic involves flying in search of a carcass on which to mate. This tactic can result in high levels of paternity, but is risky in that carcasses are rare and competition for carcasses is fierce. The "signaling" tactic, which involves emitting pheromone in the absence of a carcass to attract females, is energetically less costly, but a signalling male must mate with multiple females to achieve the same reproductive returns as …