Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Effects Of Land Use On Greenhouse Gas Flux In Playa Wetlands And Associated Watersheds In The High Plains, Usa, Dale W. Daniel, Loren M. Smith, Scott T. Mcmurry, Brian A. Tangen, Charles F. Dahl, Ned H. Euliss Jr., Ted Lagrange

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

In the High Plains, U.S., native prairie conversion to cropland agriculture has resulted in a loss of service delivery capabilities from most depressional wet-lands as a result of sedimentation. Restoring historic hydrological conditions to affected wetlands may rejuvenate some services, however, there may be tradeoffs due to emissions of CH4 and N2O. We evaluated the influence of two predominant conservation programs (Wetlands Reserve Program, WRP and Conservation Reserve Program, CRP) on gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) from 42 playas and uplands in the High Plains of Nebraska. Because playa restoration through the WRP is most prevalent in the Rainwater Basin …

A New Genus And Seven New Species Of Onciderini Thomson, 1860 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) From Central And South America, Eugenio H. Nearns, Francisco E. De L. Nascimento

Insecta Mundi

Thomsonista Nearns and Nascimento, a new genus of Onciderini Thomson, 1860 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae), is described and illustrated. Seven new species of Onciderini are described and illustrated: Hesychotypa antonkozlovi from Ecuador; Hesychotypa danilevskyi from Panama; Lingafelteria pandolfii from Brazil; Oncideres antonkozlovi and Oncideres erwini from Peru; Oncideres johnmarvini from Costa Rica and Panama; and Thomsonista antonkozlovi from Colombia.

Thomsonista Nearns y Nascimento, un nuevo género de Onciderini Thomson, 1860 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae), es descrito e ilustrado. Siete nuevas especies de Onciderini son descritas e ilustradas: Hesychotypa antonkozlovi de Ecuador; Hesychotypa danilevskyi de Panamá; Lingafelteria pandolfii de Brasil; Oncideres antonkozlovi y …

New Species And Taxonomical Notes In Gorybia Pascoe, 1866 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae), James E. Wappes, Juan Pablo Botero, Antonio Santos-Silva

Insecta Mundi

Three new Gorybia Pascoe, 1866 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Piezocerini), species from Bolivia are described: G. martinsi Wappes, Botero and Santos-Silva new species; G. galileoae Wappes, Botero and Santos-Silva, new species; and G. clarkeorum Wappes, Botero and Santos-Silva, new species. In addition, G. bispinosa Martins, Galileo and Limeira-de-Oliveira, 2009 is proposed as a synonym of G. castanea (Gounelle, 1909) and G. maculosa Martins, 1976 as a synonym of G. apatheia Martins, 1976.

Notes On Some Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) Associated With Acanthococcus Lagerstroemiae (Kuwana) (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae) In The Republic Of Korea, Soo-Jung Suh

Insecta Mundi

A survey of the parasitoids associated with Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae (Kuwana) (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae) in the Republic of Korea in 2014 resulted in the documentation of one species of Aphelinidae, Marietta picta (Andre), and two species of Encyrtidae, Metaphycus eriococci (Timberlake) and Zaomma eriococci (Ferrière). Of these, M. eriococci and Z. eriococci are newly recorded from Korea. In addition, one species of encyrtid is newly recognized as a parasitoid associated with A. lagerstroemiae from Korea. In this paper, the list of parasitoid species of A. lagerstroemiae that occur in Korea is updated and a brief diagnosis and photographs of these species are …

A Revision Of The Aphodiini Genus Cnemargulus Semenov, 1903 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae), Stefano Ziani

Insecta Mundi

The aphodiine genus Cnemargulus Semenov (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae) is revised. Two species are recognized as belonging to the genus. A new synonymy (C. krulikovskyi Semenov vs C. pusio Semenov) is proposed. A new country record for Iran is given. Lastly, a key to species is provided.

A Review Of Orthochirus From Turkey, Iraq, And Iran (Khoozestan, Ilam, And Lorestan Provinces), With Descriptions Of Three New Species (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Ersen Aydın Yağmur, Victor Fet, Fenik S. Hussen

Euscorpius

Three new species, Orthochirus fomichevi sp. n. from Turkey and Iraq, O. gantenbeini sp. n. from Iran (Khoozestan Province), and O. navidpouri sp. n. from Iran (Khoozestan and Lorestan Provinces) are described, compared with other Orthochirus species from the region, and fully illustrated with color photos. Lectotype of O. mesopotamicus Birula, 1918 stat. n. from Iran (Khoozestan Province) is designated. Emended diagnoses are given for O. iranus Kovařík, 2004, O. iraqus Kovařík, 2004, O. mesopotamicus Birula, 1918 stat. n., and O. zagrosensis Kovařík, 2004. A key and a distribution map are included.

Reply To: “Global Conservation Of Phylogenetic Diversity Captures More Than Just Functional Diversity”, Florent Mazel, Matthew W. Pennell, Marc W. Cadotte, Sandra Diaz, Giulio Valentino Dalla Riva, Richard Grenyer, Fabien Leprieur, Arne O. Mooers, David Mouillot, Caroline M. Tucker, William D. Pearse

Ecology Center Publications

Academic biologists have long advocated for conserving phylogenetic diversity (PD), often (but not exclusively) on the basis that PD is a useful proxy for “feature diversity”, defined as the variety of forms and functions represented in set of organisms (see below for an extended discussion of this definition). In a recent paper, we assess the extent to which this proxy (which we coined the “phylogenetic gambit”) holds in three empirical datasets (terrestrial mammals, birds, and tropical marine fishes) when using functional traits and functional diversity (FD) to operationalize feature diversity. Owen et al. offer a criticism of our methods for …

Trypanothacus Gen. N., A New Genus Of Burrowing Scorpion From The Arabian Peninsula (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Graeme Lowe, František Kovařík, Mark Stockmann, František Šťáhlavský

Euscorpius

We define a new fossorial buthid genus Trypanothacus gen. n., similar to Buthacus Birula, 1908, differing primarily in telson shape, with a bulbous vesicle and aculeus shorter than the vesicle, and in heavier dentition on metasomal segments II–III and IV. The new genus includes two species: T. barnesi sp. n. from Oman and T. buettikeri (Hendrixson, 2006) comb. n. from Saudi Arabia, the latter transferred from Buthacus. We provide detailed illustrations of both species from preserved materials, and in vivo habitus and natural habitat are shown for T. barnesi sp. n.. Information is also provided on ecology and captive rearing …

Scorpions Of Iran (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part X. Alborz, Markazi And Tehran Provinces With A Description Of Orthochirus Carinatus Sp. N. (Buthidae), Shahrokh Navidpour, František Kovařík, Michael Soleglad, Victor Fet

Euscorpius

Nine species of scorpions belonging to two families are reported from the Alborz, Markazi and Tehran Provinces of Iran. Of these, Compsobuthus kaftani Kovařík, 2003 is recorded from Tehran Province for the first time; Compsobuthus matthiesseni (Birula, 1905) is recorded from Alborz Province for the first time; Hottentotta saulcyi (Simon, 1880) is recorded for Alborz and Markazi Provinces for the first time; Iranobuthus krali Kovařík, 1997 is recorded for Tehran Province for the first time; Mesobuthus eupeus eupeus (C. L. Koch, 1839) is recorded from Alborz, Markazi and Tehran Provinces for the first time; Odontobuthus doriae (Thorell, 1876) is recorded …

Examining Interactions Between And Among Predictors Of Net Ecosystem Exchange: A Machine Learning Approach In A Semi-Arid Landscape, Qingtao Zhou, Aaron Fellows, Gerald N. Flerchinger, Alejandro N. Flores

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) is an essential climate indicator of the direction and magnitude of carbon dioxide (CO₂) transfer between land surfaces and the atmosphere. Improved estimates of NEE can serve to better constrain spatiotemporal characteristics of terrestrial carbon fluxes, improve verification of land models, and advance monitoring of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems. Spatiotemporal NEE information developed by combining ground-based flux tower observations and spatiotemporal remote sensing datasets are of potential value in benchmarking land models. We apply a machine learning approach (Random Forest (RF)) to develop spatiotemporally varying NEE estimates using observations from a flux tower and several …

Hawaiian Picture‐Winged Drosophila Exhibit Adaptive Population Divergence Along A Narrow Climatic Gradient On Hawaii Island, Jon Eldon, M. Renee Bellinger, Donald K. Price

Life Sciences Faculty Research

1. Anthropogenic influences on global processes and climatic conditions are increasingly affecting ecosystems throughout the world. 2. Hawaii Island’s native ecosystems are well studied and local long‐term climatic trends well documented, making these ecosystems ideal for evaluating how native taxa may respond to a warming environment. 3.This study documents adaptive divergence of populations of a Hawaiian picture‐winged Drosophila, D. sproati, that are separated by only 7 km and 365 m in elevation. 4.Representative laboratory populations show divergent behavioral and physiological responses to an experimental low‐intensity increase in ambient temperature during maturation. The significant interaction of source population by temperature treatment …

A Long-Term (2002 To 2017) Record Of Closed-Path And Open-Path Eddy Covariance Co2 Net Ecosystem Exchange Fluxes From The Siberian Arctic, David Holl, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Peter Schreiber, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Lutz Beckebanze, Moritz Langer, Julia Boike, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Irina Fedorova, Dimitry Y. Bolshianov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Lars Kutzbach

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ground-based observations of land–atmosphere fluxes are necessary to progressively improve global climate models. Observed data can be used for model evaluation and to develop or tune process models. In arctic permafrost regions, climate–carbon feedbacks are amplified. Therefore, increased efforts to better represent these regions in global climate models have been made in recent years. We present a multi-annual time series of land–atmosphere carbon dioxide fluxes measured in situ with the eddy covariance technique in the Siberian Arctic (72◦220 N, 126◦300 E). The site is part of the international network of eddy covariance flux observation stations (FLUXNET; site ID: Ru-Sam). The …

The Intrepid Urban Coyote: A Comparison Of Bold And Exploratory Behavior In Coyotes From Urban And Rural Environments, Stewart W. Breck, Sharon A. Poessel, Peter J. Mahoney, Julie K. Young

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are highly adaptable, medium-sized carnivores that now inhabit nearly every large city in the United States and Canada. To help understand how coyotes have adapted to living in urban environments, we compared two ecologically and evolutionarily important behavioral traits (i.e., bold-shy and exploration-avoidance behavior) in two contrasting environments (i.e., rural and urban). Boldness is an individual’s reaction to a risky situation and exploration is an individual’s willingness to explore novel situations. Our results from both tests indicate that urban coyotes are bolder and more exploratory than rural coyotes and that within both populations there are …

Wyoming’S Ucross Ranch: Its Birds, History, And Natural Environment, Jacqueline Lee Canterbury, Paul Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book profiles 60 of the most abundant, characteristic, and interesting birds that have been regularly reported from the Ucross Ranch and the adjacent Powder River Basin. The 20,000-acre Ucross Ranch lies on the western edge of the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming. Ucross is a textbook example of the prairie grassland/ shrubland habitat type referred to as the sagebrush steppe, a landscape that is an icon of Wyoming’s vast open spaces. We focus especially on those species that occur year-round or are present as breeders during the summer months, and we place emphasis on a unique group of …

The Legacy Of Natural Species And Substantial Form For Thomistic Evolution, James R. Hofmann

Forum Lectures

Exploration of theistic evolution within a Thomistic framework has taken on the label of Thomistic evolution. Although the conceptual boundaries of this approach are not precise, a historical trajectory of its scholastic methodology can be traced back to the views of Aquinas himself. An enduring central concept in this tradition has been the idea of substantial form. For Aquinas, distinct substantial forms were associated with the kinds of animals and plants that have no prior ancestry and are ascribed to God's production during the Genesis days of adornment. Later in the tradition, the early twentieth century Jesuit Erich Wasmann referred …

Coral Reef Ecology Bio 465x, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part Xix. Pandiborellius Meidensis (Karsch, 1879) And Pandinurus Fulvipes Sp. N. (Scorpionidae) From Somaliland., František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, Tomáš Mazuch

Euscorpius

The male of Pandiborellius meidensis (Karsch, 1879) is introduced for the first time and illustrated in detail with color photos, and sexual dimorphism and occurrence of the species are discussed. Pandinurus fulvipes sp. n. from Somaliland is described and fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as of its habitat.

Chaerilus Alberti Sp. N. From Malaysia (Scorpiones: Chaerilidae), František Kovařík

Euscorpius

Chaerilus alberti sp. n. from Malaysia (Cameron Highlands) is described and fully illustrated with color photographs of preserved specimens, as well as of their habitat. Males of C. alberti sp. n. have a unique shape of chela which is stout with the manus swollen anteriorly. They are compared to other species from Southeast Asia, from all of which C. alberti sp. n. differs by the shape of pedipalp chela parallel or swollen posteriorly or medially. Pedipalp chela is illustrated with color photographs of 21 of these species.

The Efficacy Of Whole Human Genome Capture On Ancient Dental Calculus And Dentin, Kirsten A. Ziesemer, Jazmin Ramos-Madrigal, Allison E. Mann, Bernd W. Brandt, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Andrew T. Ozga, Menno Hoogland, Courtney A. Hofman, Domingo C. Salazar-Garcia, Bruno Frohlich, George R. Miller, Anne C. Stone, Mark Aldenderfer, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Corinne L. Hofman, Christina Warinner, Hannes Schroeder

Biology Faculty Articles

Objectives

Dental calculus is among the richest known sources of ancient DNA in the archaeological record. Although most DNA within calculus is microbial, it has been shown to contain sufficient human DNA for the targeted retrieval of whole mitochondrial genomes. Here, we explore whether calculus is also a viable substrate for whole human genome recovery using targeted enrichment techniques.

Materials and methods

Total DNA extracted from 24 paired archaeological human dentin and calculus samples was subjected to whole human genome enrichment using in‐solution hybridization capture and high‐throughput sequencing.

Results

Total DNA from calculus exceeded that of dentin in all cases, …

Spatial And Temporal Variability In Post-Larval Yellow Perch Density, Steve Hauschildt

Biology Graduate Theses

Yellow Perch Perca flavescens are important as forage for other species and for sport fishing in many northern lakes. However, estimating post-larval Yellow Perch populations can be difficult because of many environmental factors that cause unexplained variation. The objective of this study was to help reduce unexplained variation by determining a post-larval Yellow Perch population density estimate on Blackduck Lake, MN, provide guidance to help determine the number of trawls required for trawling-based recruitment indices to achieve varying levels of precision, and test for the effects of wind speed and direction on post-larval Yellow Perch spatial variability. This study estimated …

Species Diversity Associated With Foundation Species In Temperate And Tropical Forests, Aaron M. Ellison, Hannah L. Buckley, Bradley S. Case, Dairon Cardenas, Álvaro J. Duque, James A. Lutz, Jonathan A. Myers, David A. Orwig, Jess K. Zimmerman

Ecology Center Publications

Foundation species define and structure ecological communities but are difficult to identify before they are declining. Yet, their defining role in ecosystems suggests they should be a high priority for protection and management while they are still common and abundant. We used comparative analyses of six large forest dynamics plots spanning a temperate-to-tropical gradient in the Western Hemisphere to identify statistical “fingerprints” of potential foundation species based on their size-frequency and abundance-diameter distributions, and their spatial association with five measures of diversity of associated woody plant species. Potential foundation species are outliers from the common “reverse-J” size-frequency distribution, and have …

Climate Change, Woodpeckers, And Forests: Current Trends And Future Modeling Needs, Eric S. Walsh, Kerri T. Vierling, Eva Strand, Kristina Bartowitz, Tara W. Hudiburg

Aspen Bibliography

The structure and composition of forest ecosystems are expected to shift with climate‐induced changes in precipitation, temperature, fire, carbon mitigation strategies, and biological disturbance. These factors are likely to have biodiversity implications. However, climate‐driven forest ecosystem models used to predict changes to forest structure and composition are not coupled to models used to predict changes to biodiversity. We proposed integrating woodpecker response (biodiversity indicator) with forest ecosystem models. Woodpeckers are a good indicator species of forest ecosystem dynamics, because they are ecologically constrained by landscape‐scale forest components, such as composition, structure, disturbance regimes, and management activities. In addition, they are …

Nutrient Acquisition Strategies Augment Growth In Tropical N2‐Fixing Trees In Nutrient‐Poor Soil And Under Elevated Co2, Megan K. Nasto, Klaus Winter, Benjamin L. Turner, Cory C. Cleveland

Ecology Center Publications

Tropical forests play a dominant role in the global carbon (C) cycle, and models predict increases in tropical net primary productivity (NPP) and C storage in response to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations. The extent to which increasing CO₂ will enhance NPP depends in part on the availability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to support growth. Some tropical trees can potentially overcome nutrient limitation by acquiring N via symbiotic dinitrogen (N₂) fixation, which may provide a benefit in acquiring P via investment in N‐rich phosphatase enzymes or arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. We conducted …

Winter Field Report, December 2018 To February 2019, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

As has been the trend in recent winters, and despite the relative coolness of this winter, there were numerous examples of species north of expected midwinter ranges or present in higher numbers than usual in winter. The long list includes unexpected midwinter records of Tundra Swan, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, White-winged Dove, Sandhill Crane, Clark’s Grebe, Doublecrested Cormorant, Red-shouldered Hawk, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Startling was the state’s first winter record of Sedge Wren, perhaps the biggest rarity of the season. And Eastern Meadowlark was documented in midwinter for the first time, although its presence in the southeast has …

Activation Of The Bile Acid Pathway And No Observed Antimicrobial Peptide Sequences In The Skin Of A Poison Frog, Megan L. Civitello, Robert Denton, Michael A. Zasloff, John H. Malone

Biology Publications

The skin secretions of many frogs have genetically-encoded, endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Other species, especially aposematic poison frogs, secrete exogenously derived alkaloids that serve as potent defense molecules. The origins of these defense systems are not clear, but a novel bileacid derived metabolite, tauromantellic acid, was recently discovered and shown to be endogenous in poison frogs (Mantella, Dendrobates, and Epipedobates). These observations raise questions about the evolutionary history of AMP genetic elements, the mechanism and function of tauromatellic acid production, and links between these systems. To understand the diversity and expression of AMPs among frogs, we assembled skin transcriptomes of …

Seed Germination Responses To Seasonal Temperature And Drought Stress Are Species‐Specific But Not Related To Seed Size In A Desert Steppe: Implications For Effect Of Climate Change On Community Structure, Fengyan Yi, Zhaoren Wang, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin, Ruhan Ye, Hailian Sun, Yuanyuan Zhang, Xuehua Ye, Guofang Liu, Xuejun Yang, Zhenying Huang

Biology Faculty Publications

Investigating how seed germination of multiple species in an ecosystem responds to environmental conditions is crucial for understanding the mechanisms for community structure and biodiversity maintenance. However, knowledge of seed germination response of species to environmental conditions is still scarce at the community level. We hypothesized that responses of seed germination to environmental conditions differ among species at the community level, and that germination response is not correlated with seed size. To test this hypothesis, we determined the response of seed germination of 20 common species in the Siziwang Desert Steppe, China, to seasonal temperature regimes (representing April, May, June, …

Phylogenetic History Of The Amy Gene Cluster In Catarrhines, Christian M. Gagnon

Theses and Dissertations

This study phylogenetically analyzed 30 AMY-related genes from 11 primates. The results show the gradual expansion of the AMY gene family which could have allowed primates to adapt to various ecological landscapes and maximize energy intake from starch-rich foods in periods of food scarcity.

Climatic Variables Are Strong Predictors Of Allonursing And Communal Nesting In Primates, Alexandra Louppova

Theses and Dissertations

Allomaternal care (AMC) is widespread throughout the primate order, previous studies have focused on benefits and costs to individuals. However, our understanding of environmental impacts on AMC behaviors in primates is still limited. Our study examines how ecology and environmental factors can predict certain AMC behaviors more than others.

Dolphins In Space: Quantifying The Relative Positions Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Megan S. Mcgrath

Theses and Dissertations

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are socially sophisticated mammals with high fission-fusion dynamics and complex communication. The relative positioning of individual dolphins as they swim within their social group may aid in the expression of social roles. This study sought to quantify relative positioning in a small social group of female bottlenose dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore that included two mother-daughter pairs, maternal and paternal half-sisters, a half-aunt and niece, and one unrelated female. We devised a method for scoring relative positioning in three dimensions. We found that the two mothers and their juvenile and adult daughters …

Integrating The Effects Of Biotic Interactions Into Models Of Species Distributions, Jamie M. Kass

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study of species geographic distributions and their environmental drivers has developed at a fast pace in recent years, owing to improvements in technology and data availability, and is increasingly relevant in this era of advancing global change. Currently, the field focuses heavily on a variety of techniques to statistically estimate species’ ranges I refer to collectively as species distribution models (SDMs). These models are now used across a wide range of disciplines, but inadequacies remain in implementation, methodology, and theory that are in need of new insight. In this thesis I will address two key shortcomings that require improvement …