Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

The Long-Term Effects Of Wildfire Severity On Oak-Pine Communities And Their Microclimates, Scott Glenn Culbert

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

In the eastern U.S., fire-dependent tree species have historically dominated upland forest communities, but are now experiencing widespread regeneration challenges as a result of 20^th century fire suppression policies, and are being replaced by mesophytic species. Wildfires that contain areas of high burn severity may provide an important means of mitigating these challenges and facilitating fire-dependent species regeneration and recruitment into larger size classes. One mechanism by which high-severity fire can accomplish this is by modifying understory microclimate characteristics to be more conducive to these species’ growth. A wildfire within the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, USA, provided the …

Pond-Breeding Amphibian Responses To Wetland Creation And Reforestation On A Legacy Surface Mine In The Monongahela National Forest, Lauren Breanna Sherman

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Surface mine reclamation has been an evolving practice since the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed in 1977, holding mining companies accountable for returning ecological function to areas directly impacted by mining activities. One recent method of reclamation, the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), aims to enhance reforestation and ecosystem function through the creation of wetlands, as opposed to traditional methods that often revert land to grasslands. However, wildlife response to FRA has rarely been investigated. The goal of this project was to analyze the effects of the four treatment types, FRA in two chronosequences, natural regeneration, and unmined …

Chemical Immobilization Of Helicopter-Captured Elk (Cervus Canadensis) And Survival Of Elk Calves In Southeastern Kentucky, Kathleen E. Williams

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Safe and effective chemical immobilization is critical to minimize stress and risk of injury when capturing free-ranging, wild ungulates. Many traditionally favored high potency opioids have been phased out or become unavailable because of increased regulations, leading to the development of two pre-mixed combination drugs, butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (BAM) and nalbuphine-medetomidine-azaperone (NalMed-A). Both drugs have been used to chemically immobilize ungulates, but their efficacy has not been documented in elk captured and transported via helicopter. During 2020 – 2022, we chemically immobilized helicopter-captured female elk (Cervus canadensis) with a single IM-injection of BAM (n = 41) or NalMed-A (n = …

Determining The Effects Of Water Quality On Stream Metabolic Function Of Urban Stream Corridors In Columbus, Georgia, Md Abu Raihan

Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization alters streams, disrupting their natural habitat and inducing changes in nutrient dynamics and primary productivity. These human-induced interventions diminish ecological structure, homogenizing once-diverse ecosystems and posing a risk of impairment or destruction. Continuous monitoring of stream ecosystem metabolism emerges as an essential tool for a comprehensive understanding and effective intervention in response to these challenges. This study delves into the intricate dynamics of nutrient levels and productivity within the urbanized context of the Weracoba Creek watershed located in Columbus, Georgia, USA. Through a cross-sectional study, we explore spatial and temporal variations in nutrient concentrations (NH4, NO3, PO4, TP, TN) …

The Links To Cancer: How Golf Became Dangerous And What We Can Do To Save The Game, Meredith Boos

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This study is a comprehensive meta-analysis on health claims linked to exposure to golf courses, more specifically the chemicals used to maintain their appearance. It provides a brief history of the golf industry and how its growth exacerbated the environmental impact as well as an explanation of the legal landscape that will affect golf course management. Golf courses can disrupt local ecologies, contaminate ground water, rivers, lakes and streams with run-off, and be responsible for the bioaccumulation of chemicals which remain dangerous for decades. Despite the adverse effects of golf courses on the environment, there remains an opportunity to transform …

The Anatomy And Phylogeny Of A New Large Plioplatecarpine Mosasaur From The Campanian Bearpaw Shale Of Montana (Usa), Richard A. Carr

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

In 2018, a large and associated plioplatecarpine mosasaur skull, pectoral girdle, and rib cage, whose total body length may have exceeded five meters, was uncovered in the Late Campanian Bearpaw Shale of Northeast Montana (USA). Phylogenetic analysis of this specimen, MOR 10855, recovers this individual as a basal member of the genus Plioplatecarpus. This specimen, is unique in that it is estimated to be nearly twice the size of any of the other species of Plioplatecarpus found in the Western Interior Seaway during this part of the Cretaceous. While the included phylogenetic study suggests MOR 10855 represents a new …

Prevalence Of Hesperevax Sparsiflora Var. Brevifolia (Short-Leaved Evax) At Ocean Ranch, Humboldt County, California: Exploring The Effects Of Disturbance, Shelby Diquirco, Matthew Estrada, Alana T. Fraley, Alexander D. Smith

Environmental Science & Management Senior Capstones

The prevalence of special-status plants within a landscape can be an indicator of the ecological health of that site, and therefore inform restoration efforts and post-restoration monitoring. Hesperevax sparsiflora var. brevifolia (short-leaved evax) is a special status species found within the Ocean Ranch unit of Humboldt, California. A primary threat to native plant communities are invasive plant species. Coastal dune ecosystems are largely dominated by invasive species, including Ammophila arenaria (European beachgrass). To work towards the eradication of A. arenaria, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife utilized treatment combinations of herbicide and prescribed fire at Ocean Ranch in …

Tropical Plant Physiological Responses To Experimental Warming And Hurricane Disturbance, Robert Tunison

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Tropical forests exchange more carbon with the atmosphere than any other biome, but their responses to climate change are largely understudied. The work presented in this dissertation uses a tropical understory warming experiment that was hit by a hurricane disturbance to investigate how plant physiology responds to multiple types of climate change pressures. We measured the potential for root respiration, leaf photosynthesis & respiration, and leaf thermotolerance acclimation to experimental warming while recovering from hurricane disturbance. We found there was thermal acclimation via decreased ecosystem root respiration, increased photosynthetic thermal niche breadth, and decreased quantum efficiency for some species at …

Characterization Of Vernal Pools Across National Parks In The Great Lakes Region, Samantha R. Kurkowski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Vernal pools are small, ephemeral wetlands that become inundated each spring and provide many ecosystem services to the surrounding upland forests. They also provide critical habitat for amphibians and invertebrates, as their temporary nature keeps them free of fish and reduces predator populations. As part of a mapping project, we collected baseline field data on vernal pool characteristics throughout five Great Lakes National Parks: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park, and Voyagers National Parks. Our goals were to characterize and assess how vernal pools vary within and across the …

Eutrophication On Twin Lakes: Applying A Phosphorus Budget And Shoreline Surveys To Assess Current & Historical Lake Health, Tyler K. Lemahieu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Twin Lakes system, a series of lakes including Lake Gerald and Lake Roland, was historically categorized as oligotrophic but is now mesotrophic having experienced cultural eutrophication. A mass balance phosphorus budget model was constructed for the Twin Lakes system in Houghton, Co. Michigan for the 2022 stratified season. Additional spatial insights were gleaned through a survey of shoreline water quality, which corroborated the model results. The lakes currently experience substantial depletion of hypolimnetic dissolved oxygen during late summer stratification. A budget reveals approximately 22% (6.6 kg) of the current 29.5 kg total phosphorus inputs to Twin Lakes (during the …

Csi Botany: Dna Barcode “Fingerprints” Identify Cryptic Urban Flora, Luis R. Vega

Theses and Dissertations

As short genomic markers, DNA barcodes can play a role in conservation by identifying cryptic species and hybrids when morphological approaches fall short. Here we present our application of barcodes to the identities of two wetland taxa as part of an ongoing floristic inventory of Van Cortlandt Park (VCP), Bronx, NY. Previous barcode data by Marriott et al. (2018) identified the VCP lake water lily as the exotic Nymphaea alba, rather than the native N. odorata as historically described. In addition, cattails in the park were historically identified as the native Typha latifolia and the exotic T. angustifolia …

Effects Of Duckweed On Mosquito Oviposition And Larval Survivorship, Alyssa Gushka

Capstone Showcase

Invasive species are those non-natives to habitat and that negatively impact the environment or human health problems. Invasive mosquitoes threaten the environment and humans, as they transmit 17% of infectious diseases including malaria, West Nile virus and yellow fever. Aedes japonicas and Aedes albopictus are invasive mosquitoes that often deposit eggs in artificial containers. Chemical pesticides, such as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI), utilizes endospores to release toxins into the larvae. However, BTI creates negative consequences for the environment and other species. Many plants are being examined to see if they can act as natural pesticides. Duckweeds are native to North …

Effects Of Social Context On Salivary Cortisol And Attention In Tufted Capuchins (Cebus [Sapajus] Apella), Andrew Desana

Master’s Theses

Social context alters cognitive performance, but the mechanisms for this remain unclear. One possibility is that stressors associated with social contexts mediate changes in cognitive performance by influencing attention. We conducted two experiments to investigate how social context affects performance on an attention task in capuchin monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] apella). We additionally validated and measured physiological stress through salivary cortisol. In experiment one, capuchins were exposed to three conditions where they were either isolated or paired with an affiliative or agonistic social partner separated by a barrier. In experiment two, subjects received affiliative and agonistic conditions without barriers to allow …

Relationships Between Behavior, Energy Metabolites, And Corticosterone In Black-Legged Kittiwake (Rissa Tridactyla) Nestlings, Sierra Pete

Master’s Theses

Birds can cope with energy-shifting challenges by redirecting energy and behavior to maintain energetic homeostasis. Nestlings allocate energy to support their rapid growth and developmental period; thus, their challenges and the subsequent energetic demands can be much different than an adult. At a baseline level, energy is constantly shifting in response to regularly occurring challenges; however, more substantial challenges can initiate the production of glucocorticoid hormones. In birds, the main glucocorticoid is corticosterone. Corticosterone is believed to aid in energy homeostasis by redirecting energy metabolite mobilization. Energy metabolites are intermediaries or end products of cellular metabolism, thus, metabolites like glucose …

How Akron Affects The Water Quality Of The Cuyahoga River, Allyson Darst

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the city of Akron had negative effects on the Cuyahoga river, and determine if the Cuyahoga River was naturally able to remediate these effects downstream. The pollutants measured in this study include hardness, bromine, residual chlorine, iron, copper, lead, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium chloride, total chlorine, fluoride, carbonate, pH, total alkalinity and cyanuric acid. This study was done using water testing strips (JNW Direct) to test the water at four different locations along the Cuyahoga River downstream (North) of Akron. This study found that the city of Akron does have a negative …

Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Damp granular media is a difficult environment to study because it is both practically complex and it lacks equations which fully describe its behavior. In this study, an oscillatory lateral head movement and its effects while penetrating damp granular media were tested using a robophysical model. This experimental research was inspired by the burrowing behavior of the clade Amphisbaenia, a group of usually limbless squamates that employ a variety of different burrowing behaviors, but it can apply to a wide range of burrowers. This research could help with both human burrowing technologies and the further investigation of animal behaviors.

Buoyancy And Emergence In Elymus Species, Sandor Jakab

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important that native plants are able to successfully emerge in wetlands because they play an important role in maintaining diversity. The relationship between seed buoyancy and seedling emergence was analyzed for three wetland species of the same genus: Elymus canadensis (FACU), Elymus macgregorii (FACW), and Elymus virginicus (FACW). E. macgregorii seemed to be the most buoyant, and E. virginicus and E. canadensis demonstrated very similar, less buoyant levels. Based on the idea that more buoyant seeds will be deposited at a shallow depth, and less buoyant seeds will be deposited at a deeper soil level, a relationship between …

Finding An Accurate Method To Measure Pollinator Visitation Rates, Claire Struhsaker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Pollinator visitation rates are a helpful way to monitor the health of ecosystems; however, there lacks a standardized method for obtaining these rates. The pollinator visitation rates for five plant species were collected and the relationship between the standard error of these rates and the time interval was determined. Monarda, Echinacea purpurea, Pycnanthemum muticum, and Baptisia alba all exhibit more accurate pollinator visitation rates as the time interval increased. Trifolium repens exhibited less accurate pollinator visitation rates as the time interval increased.

Biogeography Of Special Metabolites Produced By Ant-Associated Bacteria, Katherine Hansen

Scripps Senior Theses

There is an urgent and growing need for novel antibiotics with the growing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Ecologically-guided discovery is a strategy that focuses on how and where specially evolved metabolites such as antibiotics are used in nature. This strategy reveals unique active molecules with potential for human use. An unexplored niche with great potential for antibiotic discovery exists with Southwestern fungus-farming Trachymyrmex ants and their Actinobacteria symbionts. In exchange for nutrients from the ant, the ants’ bacterial symbiont produces antifungal molecules that protect the ants’ fungal cultivar from invasion by pathogenic microorganisms. They also produce antibacterial molecules to protect …

Developmental Consequences Of Hatching Asynchrony In Boat-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus Major), Emily Radner

Scripps Senior Theses

Boat-tailed grackles (Quiscalus major) typically lay clutches of three eggs and begin incubation before the clutch is complete, resulting in hatching asynchrony. To study the developmental consequences of hatching asynchrony on boat-tailed grackles, data loggers measured nest temperatures and were compared to ambient temperatures to see when incubation began, and it appeared to begin after the second egg is laid. The third laid egg had a significantly shorter lay to pip time and lay to hatch time than the first laid egg, highlighting the need to investigate the consequences of a shortened incubation time on development. To do …

Integrating Human Dimensions In Decadal-Scale Prediction For Marine Social Ecological Systems: Lighting The Grey Zone, Jess Melbourne-Thomas, Desiree Tommasi, Marion Gehlen, Eugene J. Murphy, Jennifer Beckensteiner, Francisco Bravo, Tyler D. Eddy, Mibu Fischer, Elizabeth Fulton, Mayya Gogina, Eileen Hofmann, Maya Ito, Sara Mynott, Kelly Ortega-Cisneros, Anna N. Osiecka, Mark R. Payne, Romeo Saldívar-Lucio, Kim J.N. Scherrer

CCPO Publications

The dynamics of marine systems at decadal scales are notoriously hard to predict-hence references to this timescale as the "grey zone" for ocean prediction. Nevertheless, decadal-scale prediction is a rapidly developing field with an increasing number of applications to help guide ocean stewardship and sustainable use of marine environments. Such predictions can provide industry and managers with information more suited to support planning and management over strategic timeframes, as compared to seasonal forecasts or long-term (century-scale) predictions. The most significant advances in capability for decadal-scale prediction over recent years have been for ocean physics and biogeochemistry, with some notable advances …

Seasonal Habitat Preference And Foraging Behaviour Of Post-Moult Weddell Seals In The Western Ross Sea, Kimberly T. Goetz, Michael S. Dinniman, Luis A. Hückstädt, Patrick W. Robinson, Michelle R. Shero, Jennifer M. Burns, Eileen E. Hofmann, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Elliott L. Hazen, David G. Ainley, Daniel P. Costa

CCPO Publications

Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound and vicinity between 2010 and 2012. Generalized additive mixed models were used to (i) explain and predict the probability of seal presence and foraging behaviour from eight environmental variables, and (ii) examine foraging behaviour in relation to dive metrics. Foraging probability was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and foraging occurred mostly in …

Soil And Compost Tea: A New Restoration Technique?, Carol E. Day

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, prairie restorations have lacked the plant diversity seen in remnant prairies. Most restoration practices focus on reestablishing the plant community but overlook the soil microbial community even though microbes are critical to habitat functioning. Developing techniques that increase soil microbes in prairie restorations is critical to ensuring diverse restored habitats. We compared how microbial communities differed between remnant and restored prairie sites. We also investigated if soil and compost teas could be used to reintroduce microbes to restored prairie soil and if the teas affected native plant establishment. We found significant differences in the levels of bacterial taxa between …

Using Micro Satellites To Assess The Impact Of Algae Growth On Global Warming, Hursh, Vanessa

Student Works

Data gathered from microsatellites can inform policymakers and environmental agencies about the impact of algae on global warming. It can guide the development of strategies to mitigate or harness the potential benefits of algae growth.

Plant Sentience Revisited: Sifting Through The Thicket Of Perspectives, Paco Calvo, Miguel Segundo-Ortin

Animal Sentience

In our target article (Segundo-Ortin & Calvo 2023), we proposed the intriguing possibility of plant sentience, drawing parallels with non-human animal studies. This response aims to sift through the rich thicket of perspectives offered by our commentators. To do so, we assess the risks of employing double standards, as well as the tendencies of anthropomorphizing and zoomorphizing in plant studies. We also emphasize the need for clarity in linguistic and conceptual terms, examine the neurophysiological evidence for plant sentience, and discuss the ethical implications of such recognition.

Harnessing Citizen Science And Collections Data For Invasive Plant Surveillance, Adin L. Ring

Library Map Prize

Our main source of information about the distribution of invasive plants in the United States comes from occurrence records in three categories: biological collections (physical plant specimens in museums), citizen science (opportunistic observations by untrained civilians), and invasion monitoring (structured observation by government or non-profit agencies). This study compiles a set of 3.1 million occurrence records of 3,578 introduced plant species in the continental United States, and infers spatial, temporal, and taxonomic biases by comparing the three categories of data. We find that citizen science contributes the largest bulk of records, and does better capturing visually conspicuous plants and very …

Wetland Walk Vr: Field Ecology In Northeast Florida, Kailan Sindelar

UNF Faculty Research and Scholarship

Join Field Ecologists of the University of North Florida as they begin to monitor the water in swamps and marshes. In this virtual reality experience you will walk through places that are normally too dangerous or harmful to visit, learning about life in these places, how we study it, and how you may connect to it.

Unraveling A Paradox Of Habitat Relationships: Scale-Dependent Drivers Of Temporal Occupancy-Abundance Relationships In A Cooperatively Breeding Bird, Natasha D.G. Hagemeyer, Mario B. Pesendorfer, Walter D. Koenig, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Context Spatial occupancy and local abundance of species often positively covary, but the mechanisms driving this widespread relationship are poorly understood. Resource dynamics and habitat changes have been suggested as potential drivers, but long-term studies relating them to abundance and occupancy are rare. In this 34-year study of acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a cooperatively breeding species, we observed a paradoxical response to changes in habitat composition: despite a reduction in the availability of high-quality breeding habitat, the population increased considerably.

Objectives We investigated the role of annual variation in food availability and long-term changes in habitat composition as predictors …

Intestinal Parasite Infection In Tibetan Macaques (Macac Thebetana) In Eastern China, Miarisoa Ramilison

All Master's Theses

Grooming is one of the crucial social behaviors of primate species that functions to remove parasites and maintain social bonds. Although, much data exists to support the idea that grooming is essential in forming and sustaining social bonds among individuals, there is a lack of information about the extent to which it removes ectoparasites or contributes to the spread of internal parasites. To fill this gap in the literature, we investigated the relationship between social contact behavior including grooming and intestinal parasite infection in Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). This species lives at Mt. Huangshan in China. We used …

Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) Skin Temperature During Resting Behavior At Different Ambient Temperatures, Benjamin Lake

All Master's Theses

Thermal imaging, as a tool in psychological research, has been used to distinguish mental states evoked by different environmental and social cues, with prior research across several species. Ambient temperature can affect the precision of the measures of body temperature, however, so we investigated a methodology for recording thermal imaging data in sanctuary-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) while they engaged in resting behavior across different ambient temperatures. Data were collected on 30 adult chimpanzees (16 females and 14 males) ranging in age from 21 to 53 years (Mage = 33.4 years, SD = 8.0). The chimpanzees lived in nine social groups …