Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Seed Ecology And Regeneration Processes To Inform Seed-Based Wetland Restoration, Emily E. Tarsa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wetlands provide immense value to wildlife and humans but have been degrading rapidly around the world. One major challenge is the loss of native plant species in wetlands, which limits the ability of wetlands to function as they should. Restoring wetlands requires a combination of removing the cause of degradation (such as invasive plant species) and, in many cases, actively returning native plants to the site especially via seeding. Further, early plant life stages are the most vulnerable for plants and is often the time in which sown species die and fail to establish. Thus, understanding how and why seeds …

Nest‐Site Selection, Success, And Response To Predators By Cinnamon Teal And Other Ground‐Nesting Ducks In The Wetlands Of Great Salt Lake, Utah, Mark E. Bell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The wetlands of Great Salt Lake once supported hundreds of thousands of nesting ducks each year. In recent years, the number of nesting ducks in the same area was a fraction of those historic numbers. While many species of ducks do not rely on these wetlands for primary nesting habitat, cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera) do. Great Salt Lake and its associated wetlands are in the heart of the cinnamon teal breeding range, and once supported half of the continental population.

These wetlands are unique from other wetlands where waterfowl nest because they are artificially created using dams to hold …

Atlantic Surfclam (Spisula Solidissima) Population Demographics And Distribution Along The Middle Atlantic Bight, Mauricio González Díaz

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) is a long-lived benthic biomass dominant organism that occurs on the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) continental shelf between 10 m and 50 m. Trends in Atlantic surfclam population specific growth and mortality rates were analyzed using four decades of age and length observations obtained from NOAA stock surveys from the 1980s to 2010s in six regions distributed along the MAB. Atlantic surfclam specific growth rates and asymptotic lengths were estimated from the age and length observations using the von Bertalanffy growth model. The analysis showed that the Atlantic surfclam median asymptotic length in …

Quantifying The Effect Of Disturbance On Native Mojave Desert Shrubs, Tamara J. Wynne

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Disturbance can come in many different forms. In our studies, we looked at the impact of a solar photovoltaic facility on native plants growing inside and outside of the facility, alteration in precipitation (simulated) on four native shrubs and the impact of applying supplemental water as a function of volume and frequency to establish native shrubs such as might occur at restoration sites. Disturbance is becoming a more common phenomenon in many ecosystems throughout the world, increasing the need for studies that quantify the impact at the plant and ecosystem level. Each research project revealed different plant responses, such as …

Venomic Characterization Of A Medically Relevant Rear-Fanged Snake, Conophis Lineatus (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae), From Middle America, Tristan Schramer

All Theses

Most traditional research on snake venoms has focused on front-fanged snake families (Viperidae, Elapidae, and Atractaspididae). However, venom is now generally accepted as being a much more broadly possessed trait within snakes, including species traditionally considered harmless. Unfortunately, due to historical inertia and methodological challenges, the toxin repertoires of non-front-fanged snake families (e.g., Colubridae, Dipsadidae, and Natricidae) have been heavily neglected despite the knowledge of numerous species capable of inflicting medically relevant envenomations. Integrating proteomic data for validation, we perform a de novo assembly and analysis of the Duvernoy’s venom gland transcriptome of the Central American Road Guarder (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae: …

Patterns Of Occurrence Of The Black Basses In The Upper Savannah River Tributaries Of Georgia And South Carolina With Emphasis On Bartram’S Bass Micropterus Sp. Cf. Coosae, Caroline Cox

All Theses

Aquatic ecosystems are among the most threatened in the world due to anthropogenic alterations to the natural landscape and native biotas. Identifying the local and landscape-level environmental factors that influence the occurrence of endemic species can help protect aquatic ecosystems by facilitating predictions of where hybridization or replacement with generalist species may occur across the landscape. The need for such predictions is pronounced for black bass species in the southeastern United States. Bartram’s Bass (Micropterus sp. cf. coosae) is a provisional species of conservation concern. Allelic frequencies of Bartram’s Bass in Savannah River reservoirs and tributaries have been …

The Impacts Of A Quagga And Zebra Mussel Infestation, Casey Silva

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Invasive species issues have been on the rise in the United States for decades. These organisms can disrupt the natural flow of an ecosystem and overtake native species, altering an environment as a whole. The introduction of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in 1988, followed by the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis) in 1989 is arguably the most prolific aquatic infestation the nation is currently up against (Hoddle, 2022). Beginning in the Great Lakes, both quagga and zebra mussels quickly spread their infestations through the Midwest and the East coast. The potential invasion of these species across …

Divergent Serpentoviruses In Free-Ranging Invasive Pythons And Native Colubrids In Southern Florida, United States, Steven B. Tillis, Jillian M. Josimovich, Melissa A. Miller, Laura L. Hoon-Hanks, Arik M. Hartmann, Natalie M. Claunch, Marley E. Iredale, Tracey D. Logan, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Ian A. Bartoszek, John S. Humphrey, Bryan M. Kluever, Mark D. Stenglein, Robert N. Reed, Christina M. Romagosa, James F.X. Wellehan, Robert J. Ossiboff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is an invasive snake that has significantly affected ecosystems in southern Florida, United States. Aside from direct predation and competition, invasive species can also introduce nonnative pathogens that can adversely affect native species. The subfamily Serpentovirinae (order Nidovirales) is composed of positive-sense RNA viruses primarily found in reptiles. Some serpentoviruses, such as shingleback nidovirus, are associated with mortalities in wild populations, while others, including ball python nidovirus and green tree python nidovirus can be a major cause of disease and mortality in captive animals. To determine if serpentoviruses were present in invasive Burmese …

Remembering Clem Klaphake, Don Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

Clement (Clem) Klaphake passed away on December 30, 2022, from complications of Parkinson’s disease, which he struggled with for several years. He was born in Melrose, Minnesota, in 1943 and grew up working on his parents’ dairy farm, which included the usual menagerie of other farm animals typical of that time. Perhaps it was the routine of milking twice a day, seven days a week, or the impressive scar on his leg from a boar tusk, but Clem was destined to leave the farm and become a life-long educator. ... After getting his degree in 1971, Clem was hired to …

Distribution And Export Of Particulate Organic Carbon In East Antarctic Coastal Polynyas, Lavenia Ratnarajah, Viena Puigcorbé, Sébastien Moreau, Montserrat Roca-Martí, Julie Janssens, Matthew Corkill, Luis Duprat, Cristina Genovese, Jan Lieser, Pere Masqué, Delphine Lannuzel

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Polynyas represent regions of enhanced primary production because of the low, or absent, sea-ice cover coupled with the proximity of nutrient sources. However, studies throughout the Southern Ocean suggest elevated primary production does not necessarily result in increased carbon export. Three coastal polynyas in East Antarctica and an off-shelf region were visited during the austral summer from December 2016 to January 2017 to examine the vertical distribution and concentration of particulate organic carbon (POC). Carbon export was also examined using thorium-234 (²³⁴Th) as a proxy at two of the polynyas. Our results show that concentrations and integrated POC …

Seasonal Patterns In Activity And Occupancy Dynamics Of The Imperiled Spotted Turtle (Clemmys Guttata), Ellery Vaughn Lassiter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wetland ecosystems are often spatially patchy across a landscape and exhibit seasonal patterns in water levels, resulting in the need for aquatic wildlife to use several different wetland patches across a season. The ecology of semi-aquatic freshwater turtles is especially complex because individuals often move among a variety of habitats to meet life history needs and these habitat requirements often differ across a season. Understanding the temporal and spatial scale in which turtles move and distribute across the landscape is vital for effective management, especially in the face of continued habitat fragmentation and climate change. Thus, we sought to understand …

Light And Temperature Entrainment Of Two Circadian-Driven Behaviors In The Flesh Fly Sarcophaga Crassipalpis, Raven Ragsdale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Circadian rhythms dictate the timing of both once-in-a-lifetime adult emergence (eclosion) and daily locomotor activity rhythms in the flesh fly S. crassipalpis. Light cycles are considered the primary environmental time cue (zeitgeber), but the life history of S. crassipalpis suggests that temperature cycles (thermocycles) may also play a key role. This work evaluates the efficacy of thermocycling as a zeitgeber in S. crassipalpis. We found that shifting both light and temperature cycles of sufficient amplitude affect the phasing of eclosion and locomotor activity, but result in different patterns. Additional experiments suggest greater thermocycle sensitivity during the late metamorphic …

Evaluation Of Differences In Testosterone Concentration Among Species, Sexes, And Reproductive Tactics In Two-Lined Salamanders, Zaynab Massenburg

Symposium of Student Scholars

Fall 2022 symposium abstract:

Evaluation of differences in testosterone concentration among species, sexes, and reproductive tactics in two-lined salamanders

Zaynab Massenburg(1), Michelle Ross(1)

[[email protected], [email protected]]

(1) Kennesaw State University

Inhabiting streams in the Appalachian Mountains in northern Georgia are two sympatric and closely related species of plethodontid salamanders—Brown-backed Salamanders (Eurycea aquatica) and Blue Ridge Two-lined Salamanders (Eurycea cf. wilderae). Male Eurycea cf. wilderae exhibit a morphological polymorphism corresponding to alternative reproductive tactics. “Searching” males display brighter coloration, the presence of cirri and a mental glad, and mate-searching behavior, while “guarding” males display hypertrophied jaw musculature, lack cirri and a mental …

Temperature Affects Nest Box Occupancy, Nest Success, And Nestling Size In A Southeastern Population Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Christopher G. Horacek

Biology Theses

Given the critical role that temperature plays in avian reproductive biology, rising temperatures as a result of global climate change will likely impact reproductive success of many bird populations. Secondary cavity nesting birds, many of which rely on artificial nest boxes to maintain population levels, may be particularly at risk because increased temperatures inside nest boxes can determine whether nest boxes are selected, reduce nest success, and/or negatively affect the growth and survival of offspring. We examined the effect of nest box color on nest box temperature and the influence of nest box temperature, nest box color, entrance orientation, and …

Changes In Obstacles To Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic For University Students And Recommended Solutions, Becky Williams, Sunshine L. Brosi

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions to student learning from K–12 to universities and continues to manifest negative effects on students. To better understand the challenges our students face and how those obstacles have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we surveyed our undergraduate ecology students who ranked obstacles to learning they experience in technology, learning environment, and economic security. The majority of respondents report conditions have worsened since the onset of the pandemic. Surveys identified the largest challenges on average were being unfamiliar with technology, using a smartphone or tablet for …

Genetic And Environmental Drivers Of Microbial Colonization In Wild Birds, Sage Rohrer

Dissertations

Wild birds are teeming with microorganisms, ranging from commensal bacteria to eukaryotic parasites. These microbes impact host health in diverse ways; some long-term residents may aid digestion or provide immune system training, while others at times may induce disease. However, the factors driving the varying colonization patterns seen across taxa are still not fully understood, and wild avian populations are particularly understudied when compared to mammalian or domesticated systems. This work examines the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors driving microbiome composition and function in wild birds. We collected fecal and blood samples from Galapagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus …

Non-Charismatic Waterbodies And Ecosystem Disservices: Mine Pit Lakes Are Underrepresented In The Literature, Rachele Bernasconi, Mark A. Lund, Melanie L. Blanchette

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Pit lakes are one of the greatest legacies of open-cut mining. Despite the potential hazards of these lakes, they represent newly formed ecosystems with great scientific and ecological potential. Although thousands of pit lakes occur on every inhabited continent, with more being created, the microbial ecology of pit lakes is relatively under-researched. We evaluated the current state of microbial research in pit lakes by performing a Web of Science search and creating a literature database. Study lakes were categorized according to location and water quality (pH and conductivity) which is a key community and environmental concern. Research technology employed in …

First Report Of Intraguild Predation In Scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Turkey, Şahin Toprak, Rıdvan Kurt, Ersen A. Yağmur

Euscorpius

Scorpions are predators of a wide range of invertebrates even including other scorpions. Larger species commonly prey on smaller species or juveniles. Here, we report three cases of intraguild predation of Mesobuthus mesopotamicus (Penther, 1912) and Compsobuthus matthiesseni (Birula, 1905) by Hottentotta saulcyi (Simon, 1880) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in Şırnak Province, Turkey. These are the first cases reporting antagonistic interactions among scorpions in Turkey.

Quantifying Environmental Sensitivity Of Marine Resources To Oil Well Blowouts In The Gulf Of Mexico, Emily Chancellor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on oil spill risk assessment techniques historically utilized for coastal resources (e.g., environmental sensitivity indices (ESIs), vulnerability assessments, species-specific vulnerability frameworks) and their application and expansion to offshore resources found in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Additional included techniques (e.g., multi-sector trade-off analysis, marine spatial planning (MSP) software) provide support in decision making processes regarding the potential siting of oil production sites and/or the withdrawal of areas from oil and natural gas production. Chapter 1 included an overview and justification for this study. Chapter 2 demonstrated an initial methodology for the creation of offshore ESIs and how …

Orthochirus Katerinae Sp. N. (Scorpiones: Buthidae) From Saudi Arabia, František Kovařík, Pavel Just

Euscorpius

We describe a new species Orthochirus katerinae sp. n. from Saudi Arabia, previously cited as Orthochirus innesi Simon 1910, ssp. ?, the name many years used as an ‘umbrella’ for various Orthochirus from North Africa and Arabia. The new species is described based on males characterized mainly by: total length 26–30 mm; pectinal teeth number 16–20; movable finger of pedipalps with 7–8 rows of denticles, 8–9 ID and 7 OD; tarsomere I of legs I–III with 3–5 long setae; ratio length/width of metasoma V 1.13–1.16; pedipalp femur length/width ratio 3.30–3.32.

The Effects Of Floral And Social Information On Bumblebee Forager Learning And Memory, Avery Hume Baker

Theses

Bumblebees rely on information gathered from their environment to make the best choices they can when foraging for pollen and nectar. The type of information gathered should influence how a bee learns and remembers it, but other factors such as the size of the bee’s brain may also play a role in the learning and remembering process. While social information learned from other organisms and information gathered directly from flowers can each be used alone to improve both the efficiency with which a bee learns to forage from a flower and how accurately and how long the bee remembers these …

Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Fishes have repeatedly evolved characteristic body shapes depending on how close they live to the substrate. Pelagic fishes live in open water and typically have narrow, streamlined body shapes; benthic and demersal fishes live close to the substrate; and demersal fishes often have deeper bodies. These shape differences are often associated with behavioral differences: pelagic fishes swim nearly constantly, demersal fishes tend to maneuver near the substrate, and benthic fishes often lie in wait on the substrate. We hypothesized that these morphological and behavioral differences would be reflected in the mechanical properties of the body, and specifically in vertebral column …

Life History And Ecology Of The San Emigdio Blue Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), Gregory R. Ballmer

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The San Emigdio blue butterfly, Plebulina emigdionis (Grinnell, 1905), occurs in small, scattered colonies in and near the southwestern Mojave Desert of California. Colonies depend on a symbiotic relationship with the ant Formica francoueri (Bolton), and occur only where the ant’s range (primarily in more mesic cis-montane habitats) narrowly overlaps that of the butterfly’s more widely distributed Atriplex larval hosts in more xeric habitats. Colonies of P. emigdionis are often localized around a few host plants and, therefore, sensitive to habitat changes due to anthropocentric causes and environmental stochasticity. The biology, ecology, and status of known colonies of P emigdionis …

The First Complete Genome Of The Simian Malaria Parasite Plasmodium Brasilianum, Marko Bajic, Shashidhar Ravishankar, Mili Sheth, Lori A. Rowe, M. Andreina Pacheco, Dhruviben S. Patel, Dhwani Batra, Vladimir Loparev, Christian Olsen, Ananias A. Escalante, Fredrik Vannberg, Venkatachalam Udhayakumar, John W. Barnwell, Eldin Talundzic

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Naturally occurring human infections by zoonotic Plasmodium species have been documented for P. knowlesi, P. cynomolgi, P. simium, P. simiovale, P. inui, P. inui-like, P. coatneyi, and P. brasilianum. Accurate detection of each species is complicated by their morphological similarities with other Plasmodium species. PCR-based assays offer a solution but require prior knowledge of adequate genomic targets that can distinguish the species. While whole genomes have been published for P. knowlesi, P. cynomolgi, P. simium, and P. inui, no complete genome for P. brasilianum has …

Urban Nesting Biology, Population Viability And Ecology Of The Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax Traillii, Stephanie Alexandra Byrne Doorly

Dissertations and Theses

Reproductive success, in any species, relies both on the habitat utilized to reproduce and on the successful reproductive output of individual animals within a population. Populations in turn rely on the reproductive fitness of the individual. Whether populations remain stable, grow, or decline ultimately relies on the combined reproductive output of the individuals within that population.

We studied the Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii; henceforth WIFL), a well-studied Neartic-Neotropical migrant passerine whose breeding range extends from the east to west coast of North America. Across much of their range, and in particular in the western regions, breeding population are …

Fire History And Long-Term Carbon Accumulation In Hemi-Boreal Peatlands Companion Dataset, Dominic Uhelski, Evan Kane, Katherine Heckman, Rodney Chimner

Michigan Tech Research Data

This dataset contains peat property data including location, depth, bulk density, organic matter content, and carbon content, infrared spectra, and radiocarbon dates. Peat cores were collected between 2011 and 2019. Analyses were performed between 2018 and 2021. Samples were collected from peatlands in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota for the purposes of reconstruction of fire history. The data is associated with a yet-to-be-published manuscript to be submitted to Ecosystems.

A README file is included describing the contents of the dataset and all major spreadsheet files contain a Meta worksheet which describes each column of
data.

Taxonomic Revision And Morphometric Analysis Of Selected Anthurium (Araceae) Species From Bolivia And Peru, Daniel M. Tarazona Ocana

Theses

The genus Anthurium (Araceae) consists of around 1,200 species distributed in the Neotropics, particularly in Central and South America. The montane forests in the eastern flank of the Andes, ranging from northern Ecuador to central Bolivia; hereafter, the East Andes Gradient region, are particularly rich in terms of species diversity, and include an understudied group of Anthurium species endemic to the region. Within this group of species, some taxa are difficult to distinguish from each other mainly due to the lack of identification keys, incomplete species descriptions and unknown synonyms. In this study, a combination of traditional taxonomic techniques and …

Combining Isotopic And Genetic Analyses To Quantify Microbial Facilitation Of Recalcitrant Resource Use By Terrestrial And Aquatic Consumers, Alexi Christina Besser

Biology ETDs

Quantifying the flow of energy and nutrients through food webs is foundational to understanding the structure and function of ecosystems. Here, I utilize the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids to trace the movement of essential amino acids through terrestrial and freshwater food webs in New Mexico, USA. I first explore isotopic patterns among co-occurring terrestrial plants and aquatic algae. I then combine this molecular isotopic approach with 16S and 18S rRNA sequencing to demonstrate the importance of gut microbiota as sources of essential amino acids to wild mammalian hosts. Next, I explore the roles of …

The Nitrogen Dynamics Of Deer Cave, Sarawak, And The Role Of Bat Caves As Biogeochemical Sinks In Tropical Moist Forests., Joyce Lundberg, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Guy Van Rentergem

International Journal of Speleology

A better understanding of the role of bat caves as nitrogen sinks in tropical moist forest ecosystems can be expected to shed light on regional and spatial variability in nutrient recycling studies. We measured the nitrogen flux (in air and water) associated with a very large Chaerephon plicata bat colony in Deer Cave, Borneo, in the process generating a new, quantitative, estimate of the total bat population (774,828 ±48,320), and the first detailed modelling of an ammonia plume in a cave. Long-term storage of N does not occur in this wet cave. Our final budget numbers indicate that, of the …

An Integral Projection Modeling Approach To Understanding Demographic Effects Of Multispecies Mutualisms, Alexandra Campbell

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.