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2023

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Articles 871 - 885 of 885

Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Fairy Shrimp (Anostraca) In The Vernal Pools Of Eastern Washington, Megan Garvey Jan 2023

Fairy Shrimp (Anostraca) In The Vernal Pools Of Eastern Washington, Megan Garvey

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Vernal pools are ephemeral wetlands that retain water annually from winter and spring precipitation and snowmelt but are dry the rest of the year. Though important habitats and sources of freshwater biodiversity, they are little accounted for in wetland conservation and restoration practices. Like much of the world’s wetlands, they have seen a significant decline from anthropogenic impacts and conversion for alternative land use. Pools are also at significant risk due to the impacts of climate change and invasive species. These small temporary water bodies perform vital ecosystem services and are host to rare and endemic species. Anostraca, or fairy …

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Host And Symbiont-Specific Patterns Of Gene Expression In Response To Cold Stress In The Temperate Coral Astrangia Poculata, Kellie Navarro Jan 2023

Host And Symbiont-Specific Patterns Of Gene Expression In Response To Cold Stress In The Temperate Coral Astrangia Poculata, Kellie Navarro

Honors Projects

The coral Astrangia poculata inhabits hard-bottom environments from the Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts and withstands large seasonal variation in temperature (–2 to 26 °C). This thermal range and its ability to live in a facultative symbiosis makes this species an ideal model system for investigating stress responses to ocean temperature variation. Although it has been shown that aposymbiotic A. poculata upregulates more genes in response to cold stress than heat stress, the transcriptomic response of the holobiont (coral host and symbiotic algae) to stress is unknown. In this study, we characterize changes in gene expression in both the host …

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Impact Of Substrate Type On Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Recruitment And Benthic Community Structure And Productivity In The York River, Jainita Patel Jan 2023

Impact Of Substrate Type On Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Recruitment And Benthic Community Structure And Productivity In The York River, Jainita Patel

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Restoration of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries is important, as oyster reefs provide habitat for temperate estuarine communities and shoreline protection. Oysters that settle in crevices, such as those found on natural shell substrates, suffer low mortality, but natural shell is becoming a limited resource in the Chesapeake Bay. Finding an alternative settlement substrate that is complex like natural shell and mimics the benefits of shell substrates with less expense could be the best way to encourage oyster recruitment and survival. The two main goals of this experiment were to (1) understand which …

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Predictors Of Summer Chloride Concentrations In Urban Aquatic Ecosystems, Georgianna S. Fischer Jan 2023

Predictors Of Summer Chloride Concentrations In Urban Aquatic Ecosystems, Georgianna S. Fischer

Honors Theses and Capstones

Urban aquatic ecosystems are highly threatened by excess concentrations of chloride (Cl-), which can negatively impact the biodiversity and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. High Cl- concentrations in most northern cities come primarily from road salt use for de-icing, in the form of NaCl. Specific pathways of runoff and hydrology of waterbodies will regulate Cl-concentrations in the months after the snowmelt season. This study attempted to understand the hydrologic controls on Cl- concentrations and identify how the hydrology of urban ecosystems may impact exposure to chloride in streams. To accomplish this, stream sites around the …

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Differences In Drifting Invertebrate Communities Across Arctic Ecozones And The Influence On Potential Growth Of Grayling (Thymallus Arcticus), Charles Chanyi Jan 2023

Differences In Drifting Invertebrate Communities Across Arctic Ecozones And The Influence On Potential Growth Of Grayling (Thymallus Arcticus), Charles Chanyi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Invertebrate drift is a key process that potentially affects multiple levels of food web organization within stream environments. However, our understanding of the mechanistic drivers of drift in high latitude streams and subsequent bottom-up control that drift may have on fish predators in these environments remains understudied. This project aimed to gain the baseline knowledge of how drift functions across two major high latitude ecozones, the boreal forest and tundra, and how those possible differences in drifting community characteristics may impact drift-feeding Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus). These objectives were accomplished by characterizing stream environments across both ecozones, sampling …

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Characterization Of Vernal Pools Across National Parks In The Great Lakes Region, Samantha R. Kurkowski Jan 2023

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 …

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White-Tailed Deer In A Winter-Wonderland: Long-Term Deer Yard Use And Methodological Considerations For Ungulate Fecal Dna Metabarcoding, Melanie A. Ottino Jan 2023

White-Tailed Deer In A Winter-Wonderland: Long-Term Deer Yard Use And Methodological Considerations For Ungulate Fecal Dna Metabarcoding, Melanie A. Ottino

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Northern white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) mitigate the increased energetic costs of severe winter conditions through obligate migration to densely congregated areas with abundant conifer cover, a behavior referred to as yarding. “Deer yards” in the Western Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan are principally located within the reduced snowpack and increased ambient temperature microclimates of densely canopied eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) stands, but specific drivers of long-term site fidelity and utilization are largely uncharacterized. As an important game species of high economic and cultural value and a keystone herbivore with critical impact of plant community composition and structure, identifying winter yarding …

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The Birds And The Bees And The Willows: Understanding The Reproductive Biology Of Salix Nigra Marsh., Julianne Gmys Grady Jan 2023

The Birds And The Bees And The Willows: Understanding The Reproductive Biology Of Salix Nigra Marsh., Julianne Gmys Grady

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Salix nigra is a common tree-form willow found throughout the eastern United States and Canada in riparian and wetland habitats. Like other members of the Salicaceae, it is dioecious with separate male and female individuals. While Salix has been thought to be strictly insect pollinated and Populus wind pollinated, several species of Salix have had wind pollination present in varying amounts by species. S. nigra’s pollination syndrome has not been studied extensively, though it is assumed to be insect pollinated. Unlike other willows with wind pollination, S. nigra is basal on the Salix phylogenetic tree. This study was conducted …

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Genetic And Environmental Contributions To Wolbachia-Induced Cytoplasmic Incompatibility, Kelley Van Vaerenberghe Jan 2023

Genetic And Environmental Contributions To Wolbachia-Induced Cytoplasmic Incompatibility, Kelley Van Vaerenberghe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Maternally-transmitted Wolbachia infect the cells of most insect species, but their frequencies in host populations vary. While much of their success can be attributed to their ability to manipulate host reproduction, these manipulations are context-dependent, varying due to several biotic and abiotic factors. Wolbachia’s most common manipulation, cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), is a conditional sterility phenotype where male-female host compatibility depends on their infection status. Specifically, CI occurs when infected males produce modified sperm that cause increased embryonic lethality unless the female carries a similar infection. Rescuing their eggs from CI increases the relative fitness of infected females, promoting Wolbachia spread …

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How Aquatic Insects Mitigate Temperature-Oxygen Challenges Via Behavioral, Morphological, And Physiological Plasticity, Jackson H. Birrell Jan 2023

How Aquatic Insects Mitigate Temperature-Oxygen Challenges Via Behavioral, Morphological, And Physiological Plasticity, Jackson H. Birrell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

How do organisms respond to environmental challenges and to environmental change? These questions occupy a central place in ecology and answering them will help us to understand why species live where they do, how organisms are affected by human activities, and, ultimately, how to choose among alternative conservation strategies. These questions are difficult, however, for two reasons. First, environmental challenges often involve multiple, interacting stressors. Second, individual responses can be modified by behavioral, morphological, and physiological plasticity. My dissertation investigates how interactions between temperature and oxygen influence the performance and survival of aquatic insects and how plasticity allows individuals to …

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Assessing Forest Features And Nocturnal Flying Insect Diversity As Predictors Of Eastern Whip-Poor-Will Occupancy In Foraging Habitat, Clark D. Alexander Jan 2023

Assessing Forest Features And Nocturnal Flying Insect Diversity As Predictors Of Eastern Whip-Poor-Will Occupancy In Foraging Habitat, Clark D. Alexander

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus), an insectivorous caprimulgid, have seen an approximate 2.76% annual population decrease since the 1960s, with their breeding and foraging ecology largely unknown due to their nocturnal and cryptic behavior. I conducted research to assess abiotic and biotic variables correlated with detection, and occupancy probability, and prey species diversity on ~104,000 hectares of forest in West Virginia, owned by the private timber company Weyerhaeuser. Previous literature indicates that Eastern whip-poor-will, and their prey, require ephemeral habitat such as recently cleared and early successional forests, like those historically created by forest fires, wind shears, hurricanes, and …

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Fish Community Responses To Environmental And Anthropogenic Conditions In West Virginia, Katherine A. Adase Jan 2023

Fish Community Responses To Environmental And Anthropogenic Conditions In West Virginia, Katherine A. Adase

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

While Appalachia is among the oldest region in the world, Central West Virginia watersheds have been impacted by anthropogenic stressors, including extractive mining and timber harvest industries, as well as urban development and agriculture, damns, fracking, mining, and land cover use. This study aims to understand how natural environmental and human altered gradients impact affect diversity of fish communities in streams and rivers throughout Central Appalachia. The first chapter aims to provide insights into the impact of the 2016 low head dam removals on taxonomic and functional fish communities in the West Fork River, West Virginia and the potential benefits …

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Abundance-Habitat Relationships And Aquatic-Terrestrial Habitat Selection Patterns For Wood Turtles (Glyptemys Insculpta) In The Upper Midwest, Jena Marie Staggs Jan 2023

Abundance-Habitat Relationships And Aquatic-Terrestrial Habitat Selection Patterns For Wood Turtles (Glyptemys Insculpta) In The Upper Midwest, Jena Marie Staggs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Due to range-wide population declines, wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) are under review for federal listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Understanding how habitat associations and environmental conditions influence population dynamics and spatiotemporal activity patterns is fundamental for designing effective management strategies. Previous work on wood turtle abundance-habitat relationships focused on broad-scale habitat relationships in northeastern North America. However, regional differences in climate, habitat conditions, and land use patterns limit their applicability to much of the wood turtle’s Upper Midwest distribution. Much of our understanding of wood turtle activity patterns is based on radiotelemetry studies, which are biased towards …

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Discerning Friend From Foe: Systematic Revision Of Cuscuta L. Section Indecorae Using A Combined Ecological, Morphometric, And Phylogenetic Approach., Corey Burt Jan 2023

Discerning Friend From Foe: Systematic Revision Of Cuscuta L. Section Indecorae Using A Combined Ecological, Morphometric, And Phylogenetic Approach., Corey Burt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The genus Cuscuta (Dodder; Convolvulaceae) are obligate parasitic plants. In one clade known as section Indecorae, there are species which are considered pests that pose significant threats to agricultural crop production, while other species are rare or known only from historical records. Section Indecorae contains three species: C. coryli, C. warneri, and C. indecora (the latter with three infraspecific taxa: var. indecora, var. longisepala, and var. attenuata). The systematics of section Indecorae are not currently resolved. Cuscuta indecora has a long and complicated taxonomic history with many infraspecific varieties described, and …

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Big Meadows Mountain Meadow & Aspen Restoration Project 2017 – 2023 Summary Report, Scott River Watershed Council Jan 2023

Big Meadows Mountain Meadow & Aspen Restoration Project 2017 – 2023 Summary Report, Scott River Watershed Council

Aspen Bibliography

Big Meadows Mountain Meadow and Aspen Restoration Project is designed to enhance aspen and mountain meadow habitats at Big Meadows, a property that is privately owned by Ecotrust Forest Management (EFM). EFM owns approximately 40,000 acres in the Klamath Mountains of Siskiyou County, known as the Scott River Headwaters Property. The Scott River Headwaters Property Management Plan, developed by EFM, specifically identifies and prioritizes the restoration of aspen woodlands. As such, EFM and Scott River Watershed Council (SRWC) partnered with the goal of improving these critical habitats. The Big Meadows complex is one of the largest mountain meadow systems within …

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