Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

An Assessment Of Burbot Life History In Minnesota With A Focus On Movement Dynamics And Spawning Vulnerability, Tyler Robinson

Biology Graduate Theses

Burbot have a circumpolar range spanning from rivers of Alaska to lentic systems in Minnesota. Although Burbot population dynamics have been studied, their movement dynamics have been rarely investigated. Our objectives were to assess seasonal home range changes of Burbot in a closed-lentic system and quantify the scale of spawning aggregations. Sixty-six Burbot were implanted with acoustic transmitters in Bad Medicine Lake, Minnesota, with 32 surviving the length of the study period between 10 April 2019 to 11 June 2020. The peak spawning date for Burbot in Bad Medicine Lake was estimated to be mid-March, when home range estimates were …

Summer Food Habits Of Myotis Leibii In The Central Appalachians Ecoregion And Comparison To Similar Studies, John O. Whitaker Jr., Virgil Brack Jr., James D. Kiser Jr.

Virginia Journal of Science

Food habits of Myotis leibii, Eastern Small-footed Myotis, were studied during summer in the Central Appalachians Ecoregion. Moths were 70.0% of the diet by volume and were in 97.7% of samples (percent frequency). Beetles, flies, and spiders comprised much of the remaining diet. Percent volume and percent frequency metrics produce similar results. These data and past studies indicate this bat eats a relatively low-diversity diet centered on terrestrial-based arthropod prey across a broad geographical area, irrespective of season, sex, or age. The presence of spiders in the diet may indicate gleaning.

3d Library From Body Size From Unconventional Specimens: A 3d Geometric Morphometrics Approach To Fishes From Ancestral Pueblo Contexts, Jonathan Dombrosky, Thomas F. Turner, Alexandra Harris, Emily Lena Jones

Anthropology Faculty & Staff Publications

Animal body size estimation from zooarchaeological specimens often relies on specific, one-dimensional (i.e., conventional) measures from skeletal elements. Here, we introduce an animal body size estimation technique for archaeological fishes that relies on 3D reference scans and the calculation of centroid size, a standard 3D geometric morphometric proxy measure for organism size. Centroid size-based estimations on whole caudal vertebrae are strongly correlated with a widely accepted measure (i.e., centrum width), but the scalability and flexibility of the centroid size-based approach allows for use on a wide variety of fragmented remains. We use zooarchaeological fish remains (subfamily Ictiobinae) from late pre-Hispanic …

Larval Fish Abundance In The Benthic And Surface Drift Of The Missouri River, Ryan L. Ruskamp

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Knowledge of the larval fish community of the Missouri River is one of the biggest gaps in fisheries research. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has sampled the drift of the Missouri River for many years (1983-2015), but these data have not been compiled into a unified assessment. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: 1) quantify temporal and spatial aspects of larval fish community composition (richness) and structure (abundance) of the surface drift, 2) quantify associations of larval fish communities of the drift to different discharges of the Missouri River, 3) quantify the larval benthic drift community, and …

Soybean Gall Midge (Resseliella Maxima Gagné): Insecticide Efficacy And Seasonal Larval Abundance, Vilma Maria Montenegro Castro

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soybean gall midge, Resseliella maxima Gagné was recently identified as a new species injuring soybean in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Missouri. Resseliella maxima injury is caused by its three instars that feed on tissues within the soybean stem. Infested plants exhibit a darkening of the stem, disrupting nutrient flow within the plant and can lead to wilting or death of plants. Total yield losses can occur in the first 30 m of the field in heavily infested sites. The biology and behavior of this newly described insects is not well understood and management strategies for the management of …

Can Plant Or Lichen Natural Abundance N-15 Ratios Indicate The Influence Of Oil Sands N Emissions On Bogs?, R. Kelman Wieder, Melanie A. Vile, Dale H. Vitt, Kimberli D. Scott, Bin Xu, James C. Quinn, Cara M. Albright

Public Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Study region: The 140,329 km(2 )Athabasca Oil Sands Administrative Area (OSAA), which contains 8982 km(2) of bogs. Since the late 1970s, N emissions from oil sands development in the OSAA have steadily increased, reaching over 80,000 metric tonnes yr(-1) in 2017.& nbsp;Study focus: If oil sands N emissions have distinct stable isotopic signatures, it may be possible to quantify the extent to which these emissions have affected N cycling in surrounding aquatic, wetland, and terrestrial ecosystems. To assess the potential for 15N as a tracer of oil sands N emissions, we measured natural abundance 15N ratios and tissue N concentrations …

Resolving The Drivers Of Algal Nutrient Limitation From Boreal To Arctic Lakes And Streams, Maria Myrstener, Megan Fork, Ann-Kristin Bergstrom, Isolde Callisto Puts, Demian Hauptmann, Peter D. F. Isles, Ryan M. Burrows, Ryan A. Sponseller

Biology Faculty Publications

Nutrient inputs to northern freshwaters are changing, potentially altering aquatic ecosystem functioning through effects on primary producers. Yet, while primary producer growth is sensitive to nutrient supply, it is also constrained by a suite of other factors, including light and temperature, which may play varying roles across stream and lake habitats. Here, we use bioassay results from 89 lakes and streams spanning northern boreal to Arctic Sweden to test for differences in nutrient limitation status of algal biomass along gradients in colored dissolved organic carbon (DOC), water temperature, and nutrient concentrations, and to ask whether there are distinct patterns and …

Economic Consequences Of The Wolf Comeback In The Western United States, Dana Hoag, Stewart W. Breck, Kevin Crooks, Becky Niemiec

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Gray wolves were eradicated from most of the United States in the 1940’s but have made a comeback in parts of their historic range over the last two decades. First reintroduced into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and central Idaho in the mid-1990’s, wolves have subsequently dispersed into at least 7 western states. Coloradoans became the latest state to take interest in bolstering wolf populations, as residents passed a ballot initiative in November 2020 to reintroduce a self-sustaining population of gray wolves by the end of 2023. Conflicts between people in rural areas that might incur costs (such as livestock loss) …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Parent And Family Engagement In Higher Education Measure, Michelle R. Mcnulty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the history of higher education in the United States, parents and family members of college students have often found themselves as obsolete to the postsecondary experience. Minimal research has been dedicated to understanding the experience of parents and family members of college students until the millennial generation began their collegiate years (Harper et al., 2012; Wartman & Savage, 2008). In consideration of a new generation of college students (i.e., Gen Z) and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is crucial to illuminate the complexities of parent and family engagement in higher education and the needs of …

Group And Individual Social Network Metrics Are Robust To Changes In Resource Distribution In Experimental Populations Of Forked Fungus Beetles, R. A. Costello, P. A. Cook, Vincent A. Formica, E. D. Brodie Iii

Biology Faculty Works

1. Social interactions drive many important ecological and evolutionary processes. It is therefore essential to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that underlie social patterns. A central tenet of the field of behavioural ecology is the expectation that the distribution of resources shapes patterns of social interactions. 2. We combined experimental manipulations with social network analyses to ask how patterns of resource distribution influence complex social interactions. 3. We experimentally manipulated the distribution of an essential food and reproductive resource in semi-natural populations of forked fungus beetles Bolitotherus cornutus. We aggregated resources into discrete clumps in half of the populations …

Ecological Studies Of Wolves On Isle Royale Annual Report 2021-2022, Sarah R. Hoy, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich

Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale

Annual Report 2021-2022

Estimating Fish Diet In Lake Turkana, Kenya, Julia G. Sharapi

Student Publications

Lake Turkana, located in northern Kenya on the Ethiopian border, is the world’s largest permanent desert lake. Over 90% of its flow originates from the Omo River in Ethiopia, which causes the lake to have seasonal rises and falls in water level. The Omo River has been subject to the construction of five dams (the Gilgel Gibe dams) and several irrigation projects. These developments will impact the amount of water entering the lake, with implications for lake chemistry and productivity, littoral habitat availability, and the breeding biology of the lake’s fishes. Though ongoing upstream changes are likely to have serious …

The North ‘Helicoptering’ Into The South: A Meta-Analysis Of Parachute Science In Ecological Field Studies, Alexandros Economou-Garcia

Student Publications

Science is increasingly collaborative, but scientists from the Global North (GN) often fail to collaborate with local scientists or to build local scientific capacity when conducting research in the Global South (GS). This practice is known as “parachute science” or “helicopter science”. In addition to ethical concerns, this practice is problematic in the field of ecology because it may reduce the likelihood that the research will inform local resource management and science policy. I hypothesized that, because research has become increasingly collaborative, there would be a decline in parachute science over time. In addition, I hypothesized that papers that included …

Understanding Continent-Wide Variation In Vulture Ranging Behavior To Assess Feasibility Of Vulture Safe Zones In Africa: Challenges And Possibilities, Adam Kane, Ara Monadjem, H. K.Ortwin Aschenborn, Keith Bildstein, André Botha, Claire Bracebridge, Evan R. Buechley, Ralph Buij, John P. Davies, Maria Diekmann, Colleen T. Downs, Nina Farwig, Toby Galligan, Gregory Kaltenecker, Chris Kelly, Ryno Kemp, Holger Kolberg, Monique L. Mackenzie, John Mendelsohn, Msafiri Mgumba, Ran Nathan, Aaron Nicholas, Darcy Ogada, Morgan Pfeiffer, W. Louis Phipps, Matteuns D. Pretorius, Sascha Rösner, Dana G. Schabo, Gabriel Lita Shatumbu, Orr Spiegel, Lindy J. Thompson, Jan A. Venter, Munir Virani, Kerri Wolter, Corinne J. Kendall

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Protected areas are intended as tools in reducing threats to wildlife and preserving habitat for their long-term population persistence. Studies on ranging behavior provide insight into the utility of protected areas. Vultures are one of the fastest declining groups of birds globally and are popular subjects for telemetry studies, but continent-wide studies are lacking. To address how vultures use space and identify the areas and location of possible vulture safe zones, we assess home range size and their overlap with protected areas by species, age, breeding status, season, and region using a large continent-wide telemetry datasets that includes 163 individuals …

European Starling Use Of Nest Boxes Relative To Human Disturbance, Bradley Blackwell, Bruce N. Buckingham, Morgan B. Pfeiffer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

gars and to engine and flight surfaces of moored aircraft. We questioned whether consistent removal of nest material would negatively affect use of a nest site, measured by a reduction in material accumulation. We conducted our study on a 2,200-ha site in Erie County, Ohio, USA (41° 22’ N, 82° 41’ W), from April 15 through June 2, 2020. We used 120 wooden nest boxes on utility poles, protected by an aluminum predator guard below the box. Our treatments included (1) twice weekly, repeated nest material removal (RMR; n = 40 nest boxes); (2) complete nest removal, but only after …

Environment-Driven Shifts In Inter-Individual Variation And Phenotypic Integration Within Subnetworks Of The Mussel Transcriptome And Proteome, Richelle L. Tanner, Lani U. Gleason, W. Wesley Dowd

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The environment can alter the magnitude of phenotypic variation among individuals, potentially influencing evolutionary trajectories. However, environmental influences on variation are complex and remain understudied. Populations in heterogeneous environments might exhibit more variation, the amount of variation could differ between benign and stressful conditions, and/or variation might manifest in different ways among stages of the gene-to-protein expression cascade or among physiological functions. Here, we explore these three issues by quantifying patterns of inter-individual variation in both transcript and protein expression levels among California mussels, Mytilus californianus Conrad. Mussels were exposed to five ecologically relevant treatments that varied in the mean …

Impacts Of Land-Use Change And Urban Development On Carbon Sequestration In Tropical Seagrass Meadow Sediments, Martin Dahl, Rashid Ismail, Sara Braun, Pere Masqué, Paul S. Lavery, Martin Gullström, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Maria E. Asplund, Andrius Garbaras, Liberatus D. Lyimo, Matern S.P. Mtolera, Oscar Serrano, Chanelle Webster, Mats Björk

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Seagrass meadows store significant carbon stocks at a global scale, but land-use change and other anthropogenic activities can alter the natural process of organic carbon (Corg) accumulation. Here, we assessed the carbon accumulation history of two seagrass meadows in Zanzibar (Tanzania) that have experienced different degrees of disturbance. The meadow at Stone Town has been highly exposed to urban development during the 20th century, while the Mbweni meadow is located in an area with relatively low impacts but historical clearing of adjacent mangroves. The results showed that the two sites had similar sedimentary Corg accumulation rates (22–25 g m−2 yr−1) …

Bistability And Switching Behavior In Moving Animal Groups, Daniel Strömbom, Stephanie Nickerson, Catherine Futterman, Alyssa Difazio, Cameron Costello, Kolbjørn Tunstrøm

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Moving animal groups such as schools of fish and flocks of birds frequently switch between different group structures. Standard models of collective motion have been used successfully to explain how stable groups form via local interactions between individuals, but they are typically unable to produce groups that exhibit spontaneous switching. We are only aware of one model, constructed for barred flagtail fish that are known to rely on alignment and attraction to organize their collective motion, that has been shown to generate this type of behavior in 2D (or 3D). Interestingly, another species of fish, golden shiners, do exhibit switching …

Life Stage And Proximity To Roads Shape The Skin Microbiota Of Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus Viridescens), Vanessa P. Wuerthner, Jessica Hua, Obed Hernandez-Gomez

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Scholarship

Host-associated microbiomes play an essential role in the health of organisms, including immune system activation, metabolism, and energy uptake. It is well established that microbial communities differ depending on the life stage and natural history of the organism. However, the effects of life stage and natural history on microbial communities may also be influenced by human activities. We investigated the effects of amphibian life stage (terrestrial eft vs. aquatic adult) and proximity to roadways on newt skin bacterial communities. We found that the eft and adult life stages differed in bacterial community composition; however, the effects of roads on community …

Mammals Adjust Diel Activity Across Gradients Of Urbanization, Travis Gallo, Mason Fidino, Brian Gerber, Adam A. Ahlers, Julia L. Angstmann, Max Amaya, Amy L. Concilio, David Drake, Danielle Gray, Elizabeth W. Lehrer, Maureen H. Murray, Travis J. Ryan, Colleen Cassady St. Clair, Carmen M. Salsbury, Heather A. Sanders, Theodore Stankowich, Jacque Williamson, J. Amy Belaire, Kelly Simon, Seth B. Mangle

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Time is a fundamental component of ecological processes. How animal behavior changes over time has been explored through well-known ecological theories like niche partitioning and predator–prey dynamics. Yet, changes in animal behavior within the shorter 24-hr light–dark cycle have largely gone unstudied. Understanding if an animal can adjust their temporal activity to mitigate or adapt to environmental change has become a recent topic of discussion and is important for effective wildlife management and conservation. While spatial habitat is a fundamental consideration in wildlife management and conservation, temporal habitat is often ignored. We formulated a temporal resource selection model to quantify …

A Segmented And Clawed Male Foreleg In A Newly Described Genus And Species Of Eumaeine Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), Robert K. Robbins, Christophe Faynel, Jason P.W. Hall, Robert C. Busby

Insecta Mundi

Grishinata Robbins and Busby, new genus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Eumaeini), possesses a five-segmented foretarsus with a clawed pretarsus, a trait that differentiates it from all eumaeine genera except Theclopsis Godman and Salvin. Grishinata penny Busby, Hall, and Robbins, new species, differs from all species of Theclopsis (and most Eumaeini) in lacking male secondary sexual organs on the wings or in the abdomen. It is recorded from the eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru. We cannot place Grishinata penny in an existing Eumaeini genus based upon its wing pattern, male foreleg structure, lack of male second­ary sexual organs, and …

Using Constructed Wetlands To Remove Pathogenic Parasites And Fecal Coliforms From Wastewater In Tanzania, Abdallah Zacharia, Wajihu Ahmada, Anne H. Outwater, Billy Ngasala, Rob Van Deun

Tanzania Journal of Science

Wastewater treatment is a widely used health protection measure that can be applied to control the transmission of wastewater-related infectious diseases to communities exposed to wastewater. This study determined the efficiency of three full-scale constructed wetlands (CWs) in removing pathogenic parasites and fecal coliforms (FC) bacteria from wastewater. Wastewater samples were collected from three CW systems located in the Dar es Salaam and Iringa regions of Tanzania. The modified Bailenger and modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain techniques were used to detect and quantity parasites. The membrane filtration method was used to detect and quantify FC. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version …

First Record Of Agrilus Cliftoni Knull And Anthaxia Viridifrons Gory (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) In Wisconsin, Lawrence Barringer

Insecta Mundi

Two species of Coleoptera: Buprestidae are reported from Wisconsin for the first time: Agrilus cliftoni Knull and Anthaxia viridifrons Gory. Trapping, distribution information, and additional records are also discussed.

Jewel beetles such as emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), continue to be of interest as estab­lished pests (USDA APHIS 2021). Survey programs allow for the detection of EAB as it continues to spread across North America while monitoring for other taxa not yet present in the eastern United States such as the goldspot­ted oak borer (Agrilus. auroguttatus Schaeffer) and oak splendor beetle Agrilus biguttatus Fabricius (CERIS …

Megalurothrips Usitatus Bagnall (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), First Record Of An Important New Pest In Honduras, Jesus Orozco

Insecta Mundi

Megalurothrips usitatus Bagnall (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), an invasive and highly destructive pest of beans, is recorded for the first time for Honduras. The species is illustrated to aid in its identification. Specimens were collected from Phaseolus vulgaris L. (common bean), Crotalaria juncea L. (sunn hemp), and Melampodium divaricatum (Rich.) DC (butter daisy).

Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L., (Fabaceae)), are a staple food source in Honduran cuisine, as they are eaten at least once daily by the majority of the population. This crop is a large part of the economy of the country and the only source of income for many …

Geographic Variation In Host Selection In The Spider Wasps Entypus Unifasciatus (Say) And Tachypompilus Ferrugineus (Say) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Ii, Frank E. Kurczewski, Joseph W. Stoll, Rick C. West, Kelly C. Kissane, Paige R. Chesshire, Neil S. Cobb

Insecta Mundi

This paper is the sequel to a 20 year-long (2002–2021) study of geographic variation in host selec­tion in the common American spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) Entypus unifasciatus (Say) (Pepsini) and Tachypompilus ferrugineus (Say) (Pompilini) (rusty spider wasp). Geography and host spider family are strongly linked in both species when 3387 host spider locality records from the years 1918–2021 are mapped. Entypus unifasciatus lycosid host records are plentiful from 43–44° N in the United States and southern Ontario to northern Mexico. Tachypompilus ferrugineus lycosid host records are abundant from southern Ontario and New England southward to Mexico east of the Rocky …

Influence Of Soil Of Grape Phylloxera (Phylloxera Vitifolia) In Some Vineyards In Two Regions Massad And Rhasas In Alsweda Governorate/ Syria, دراسة تأثير خصائص التربة في حشرة فيلوكسيرا العنب الجذرية Phylloxera Vitifolia Fitch في بعض بساتين العنب التجارية في منطقتي مصاد ورساس في محافظة السويداء / سورية, Abdulnabi Basheer, Wajih Al-Kessis, Basel Al-Shadidi

Arab Journal of Arid Environments المجلة العربية للبيئات الجافة

The study was carried out during 2015, in order to evaluate the effect of soil properties in Grape Roots Phylloxera Phylloxera vitifoliae in commercial Grape fields in Al-Suwieda Governorate / Syria (Massad and Rhasas) grafted on B41 and Ruggeri 140 rootstocks. The study showed that phylloxera vitifoliae caused significant damage to the grape vine planted in a soil with high content of clay, negative correlation between the percentage of organic matter and the average population density, and a positive correlation with the death rate for different stages of the insect in two study sites were found. A negative correlation between …

Socio-Economic Factors Of Environmental Problems, Manzura Kamalova, D. Shakenov

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

People consciously and intensively rebuild their nature according to their own needs, creating rural and urban areas in which they live. People care about the quality of life in the context of the unity of nature and culture. Social is a relatively new discipline that deals with urban space and environmental issues. One way to imagine what is beneficial to people is to find out what is economically best for the person. The article examines the economic factors that form the attitude towards social ecology in Kazakhstan. The article concludes that society should cooperate to achieve common things, both for …

Emulating Succession Of Boreal Mixedwood Forests In Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting, Ivan Bjelnanovic, Philip G. Comeau, Sharon Meredith, Brian Roth

Aspen Bibliography

Understory protection harvesting is a form of partial cutting that can be used in aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.)-dominated stands that have understories of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). This practice involves removing 75% to 85% of the merchantable aspen while minimizing damage to the advance spruce regeneration, in addition to leaving 15% to 25% of the aspen standing to reduce potential windthrow of the spruce understory. In this paper, we summarize results from 18 stands measured 10 to 12 years after understory protection harvest. Diameter growth of spruce increased during the first five years after harvest while …

Ocean Quahog (Arctica Islandica) Population Dynamics: Sex-Based Demographics And Regional Comparisons In The Northwest Atlantic, Kathleen M. Hemeon

Dissertations

Arctica islandica (ocean quahog) is the longest-lived bivalve on Earth. Individuals on the deep continental shelf of the Mid-Atlantic (US) can survive for centuries, and when found in the colder, boreal waters of Iceland, ages over 500 years can be reached. The ocean quahog is important in the US, yet very little is known about the resiliency of the ocean quahog stock to fishing activity, and ocean quahog recruitment patterns over time. To quantify and constrain age-reader error prior to age analysis, a triple-method error protocol was developed for A. islandica that included age-reader bias, precision, and error frequency. The …

Substrate Type Affects The Drying Speed And Desiccation Tolerance Of Fern Gametophytes, Jordyn D. Regier, Mayra J. Hernandez, Camille K. Sicangco, Stephen D. Davis, Helen I. Holmlund

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Although most ferns require abundant water to thrive, some ferns can survive in habitats with limited water. Previous studies have examined the adaptations that allow xeric ferns to thrive in mediterranean-type ecosystems such as southern California. However, the large fern sporophyte only represents one stage of the fern life cycle; the independent gametophyte phase must also survive water stress, including the six-month summer drought periods of the Santa Monica Mountains. Some fern gametophytes have been reported to be desiccation tolerant (capable of recovery from near-complete drying), and this trait is believed to be dependent on the plant’s drying speed. In …