Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Nine-Mile Prairie Environs: Master Plan, April 2020, Center For Grassland Studies

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

A red and white checkered water tower stands atop the hills on Lincoln’s northwest fringe. The tower sustains water pressure and is a waypoint finder for air traffic approaching the Lincoln airfield. In addition to these services, the tower’s checker pattern can symbolize the surrounding patchwork of native unplowed tallgrass prairie that comprises the Nine-Mile Prairie (NMP) Environs. At the core is NMP, a 230-acre public property full of tallgrass prairie biodiversity and Nebraska history. An area surrounding NMP, referred to as the “Environs” in the context of this strategic planning document, is almost entirely grassland or agricultural cropland. The …

Artificial Perches As A Technique For Enhancing Tropical Forest Restoration: A Case Study From The Dominican Republic, Spencer Schubert, Ally S. Lahey, Ashley R. Weisman, Eric L. Walters

College of Sciences Posters

Recovering secondary forests on degraded agricultural lands represents a promising opportunity to offset global carbon emissions as well as increasing local biodiversity and ecosystem services. In the insular tropical forests of the Caribbean, frugivorous birds are the primary seed dispersers for most native woody plants and have a large influence on regeneration dynamics during forest succession. In 2017, we initiated an experimental forest restoration program incorporating artificial perches on private farms within the Rio Yaque del Norte watershed in La Vega province, Dominican Republic. Five restoration plots (0.15–0.25 ha) were constructed in pastures near deforested streams. In each plot, 6-12 …

Effects Of Stream Permanence On The Stoneflies (Plecoptera) Of The Mammoth Cave Region, Taylor Mcroberts

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Stoneflies (Plecoptera) are often associated with cold perennial streams, but many species also inhabit intermittent streams that experience reduced or lack of flow during summer and autumn. In this study the influence of stream permanence on stonefly assemblage composition and spatial distribution in the Mammoth Cave region, Kentucky, USA, was addressed based on a 14 month sampling regime from the fullest range of stream sizes and habitable flow regions available. Adult stoneflies were collected monthly at Mammoth Cave National Park and the Western Kentucky University Green River Preserve. Collections were done from December 2018–October 2019 using a standard timed protocol …

Nutrient Removal Potential Of Constructed Wetlands In Grand Lake St. Marys Watershed, Stephen J. Jacquemin, Jocelyn Birt, Benjamin Strang, Conner Ewing, Bradley Axe, T. Dirksen

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Constructed wetlands are becoming an increasingly important management tool to reduce nutrient rich agricultural runoff in the Great Lakes region. The objective of this study was to assess the removal efficiency of two constructed wetlands operating on tributaries of Grand Lake St. Marys (Prairie Creek and Coldwater Creek) located in northwest Ohio. Water samples were collected weekly during 2019 year from inflow and outflow points where they were analyzed for nutrient (nitrate-N, total phosphorus, dissolved reactive phosphorus) concentrations following standard EPA colorimetric methods. Overall, while both wetlands experienced high mean nutrient inputs (concentrations in mg/L) across both fall and summer …

Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Platform For Grand Lake St Marys, Aaron Neikamp, Alex Lehman, Brandon Siefring, Jason Evers, Ryan M. Spicer, Shayna R. Petitjean

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

For the past decade, Grand Lake St. Marys (GLSM) has struggled to provide a stable and clean water source for the community affecting people and businesses alike. A safe level of microcystin –a toxin in the harmful algal blooms–is 20 ppb in recreational water, and GLSM has seen an excess of 82 ppb. As of now, there is no solution to continuously monitor the water quality; therefore, corrective actions are only based off intermittent samples taken by hand. A solution to this issue would be a water quality platform (WQP) that monitors parameters such as water and air temperature, conductivity, …

Substrate-Borne Vibrational Communication In Veiled Chameleons (Chamaeleo Calyptratus) During Courtship, Breeding, And Territoriality, Lauren Kappel

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Substrate-borne vibrations, or biotremors, are utilized by vertebrates found in unique environments because biotremors are an effective way to transmit signals through dense media. Previous studies have shown that veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus) are able to produce biotremors via specialized neck muscles. I hypothesized that during courtship and/or breeding, the veiled chameleon, a tree-dwelling species, would communicate with biotremors through branches. Additionally, I hypothesized that female call characteristics would differ between reproductive condition (i.e., receptive and non-receptive), while male call characteristics would differ between behavioral contexts (i.e., territorial vs. courtship). Chameleons were paired (one male, one female) and placed on …

Potential Of Pasture Grasses To Reduce Soil Runoff In Simulated Spring Seeding Applications, Aubrey Jaqueth, Stephen J. Jacquemin

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Declines in surface water quality has emerged as one of the foremost environmental, social, and political issues in the Midwestern United States over the past several decades. One of the leading causes of water quality issues in this region has been linked to non-point source surface runoff of soil, nutrients, and chemicals from primarily agricultural landscapes. Surface runoff negatively affects water by facilitating eutrophic conditions and additionally, negatively impacts landscapes by reducing the organic and top soil layers leading to production declines. Thus, best management practices that focus on reducing runoff rates in agricultural acreage are a high priority. The …

Delineation Of Undescribed, Morphologically Cryptic Cave Beetles Of The Pseudanophthalmus Pubescens Species-Group (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae), Jedidiah John Nixon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The genus Pseudanophthalmus Jeannel is a widespread and extremely diverse taxon of troglobiont beetle endemic to the karst of eastern North America, with its distribution centered in Tennessee and Kentucky. Despite lying near the heart of this region, the pubescens species-group was thought to contain many undescribed species. In this study, the validities of several of the late Dr. Thomas Barr’s unpublished putative new species in the pubescens-group were tested both morphologically and molecularly. Body measurements (length and width for head, thorax, and abdomen), as well as male genital morphology were compared to see if they reflected theorized species limits.. …

An Intergrative Ecological And Taxonomic Assessment Of The Stoneflies (Insecta, Plecoptera) Of The Black Mountains, North Carolina, Usa, Madeline Lake Metzger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Black Mountains are a part of the Blue Ridge region of the Appalachian Mountains and include Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River at 2,037 m (= 6,684 ft). A comprehensive inventory of the stonefly fauna was conducted between 2014-2019 within Mt. Mitchell State Park and adjacent Pisgah National Forest. Collections occurred seasonally from 44 unique locations, covering a broad range of stream sizes and elevations in the region. Sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) gene was completed to assist with making positive determinations to species for females of taxonomically challenging genera …

Can Protozoa Prove The Beginning Of The World?, Karina L. Burton

Classical Conversations

Protozoa are magnificent creatures. They exhibit all of the functions intrinsic to living organisms: irritability, metabolism, growth and reproduction. Within these functions, there are numerous examples of mutations that occur in order for organisms to adapt to their given environments. Irritability is demonstrated in protozoa by their use of pseudopodia, flagella, or cilia for motility; it has been shown that such locomotors exhibit diversity while maintaining similar protein and chemical structures that appear to be a result of evolutionary processes. Metabolism in protozoa is similar to that of larger animals, but their diet is unique. They primarily feast upon bacteria, …

Lightning Damage Stimulates Beetle Activity In A Tropical Forest, Samantha C. Vaughn, Kane A. Lawhorn, Evan M. Gora, Steve P. Yanoviak

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Disturbance alters the structure of ecological communities. Localized disturbances in tropical rainforests often create canopy gaps - patches of forest where large trees have fallen or are defoliated. Lightning is a major cause of large-tree mortality, and consequently gaps, in tropical forests. Lightning-caused gaps consist of abundant dead standing wood which likely is a predictable resource for saproxylic arthropods, specifically wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera). The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of the beetles that are attracted to lightning-damaged trees in a tropical forest. We placed flight intercept traps in the subcanopy of 8 trees (4 struck …

Distortion Of The Local Magnetic Field Appears To Neither Disrupt Nocturnal Navigation Nor Cue Shelter Recognition In The Amblypygid Paraphrynus Laevifrons, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Patrick Casto, Eileen Hebets, Verner P. Bingman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Many arthropods are known to be sensitive to the geomagnetic field and exploit the field to solve spatial problems. The polarity of the geomagnetic field is used, for instance, as an orientation cue by leafcutter ants as they travel on engineered trails in a rainforest and by Drosophila larvae as they move short distances in search of food. A ubiquitous orientation cue like the geomagnetic field may be especially useful in complex, cluttered environments like rainforests, where the reliability of celestial cues used to navigate in more open environments may be poor. The neotropical amblypygid Paraphrynus laevifrons is a nocturnal …

A Phenotypic Comparison Of Regional Populations Of Hemileuca Maia (Drury, 1773) With Designations Of New Subspecies (Bombycoidea, Saturniidae, Hemileucinae), Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Following refinement of the type locality of Hemileuca maia to the Long Island Pine Barrens of New York State by the author (Pavulaan, 2020), an evaluation of phenotypic characters of regional populations of H. maia is presented. The Long Island population is the nominotypical subspecies. Populations in southeastern coastal New England and offshore islands are presently considered nominotypical maia. However, several continental inland populations show evidence of subspecific variation. Four new subspecies are designated. Detailed phenotypic information of other interior regions is lacking.

Diversity Of The Major Histocompatibility Complex In African Penguins (Spheniscus Demersus) In Situ, Athena Schalk

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is responsible for the immune response in all jawed vertebrates and protects individuals against a variety of pathogens and diseases. Maintaining genetic diversity within the MHC exons is critical to protecting endangered species. African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) are in danger of losing their MHC diversity in isolated populations due to reductions in population size associated with environmental changes and human activity. This study analyzes the diversity within the exons in the DNA encoding the MHC by amplifying the exons through polymerase chain reaction and identifying alleles through denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Wild populations of …

Assessing Microplastic Pollution In Four Mile Run, An Urban Stream In Northern Virginia, Kurt Moser, Tessa Naughton-Rockwell, Louisa Wang, Ethan Litmans, Amanda Manoogian

Virginia Journal of Science

Microplastics are pollutants of concern in waterways and oceans for their persistence and impact on aquatic life and food webs. This study demonstrates a low-cost land-based sampling method to assess the extent of microplastic pollution found in Four Mile Run, an urban stream in Northern Virginia. Microplastic particle counts in environmental and treated wastewater ranged from 0.01-0.24 particles L^-1 (mean 0.08 particles L^-1) and from 2 to 446 µg L^-1 (mean 70 µg L^-1), with fibers found to be the most common microplastic category. Treated wastewater effluent was found to be a significant source …

Physiological And Behavioral Effects Of Climate Change On Wildlife: An Introduction And Overview, Andy Clarke

Senior Honors Theses

Planetary environmental system changes have been recorded and documented for several decades. Fluctuations that were first noticed in atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels have now extended into global pattern changes. Climatic variations that were initially non-threatening variabilities have since been observed creating significant biological influences. The results and evidence of the effects of worldwide environmental climate change on wildlife and biotic environments are worth examining because of the impacts it has on the planet. These climatic effects extend from changes in distribution and diversity patterns of terrestrial mammals to sea-life impacts and recovery trends. Possible wildlife benefits may include increased humidity and …

West Coast Rock Lobster Whale Entanglement Mitigation Workshop, Jason How, L Orme, Graeme Baudains, Pia Dobson, M Taylor, Simon De Lestang

Fisheries Occasional Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Nicotine Accumulation Exposure On Lithobates Catebeianus Larvae Mortality, Luke Micek

UCARE: Research Products

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world and contain over 4,000 chemicals, including the organic compound nicotine (Slaughter et al. 2011). Billions of cigarette butts are littered each year which may wash into bodies of water, impacting the local wildlife. To determine how introduced chemicals impact the environment, it is important to study its effects on indicator species. Amphibians, such as Lithobates catebeianus, act as indicator species due to their extreme sensitivity to chemical changes in its environment. The purpose of this research project was to obtain data to help determine the impact nicotine accumulation has …

Spider Prey Of Mud-Dauber Wasps In Southeastern Nebraska, Earl Agpawa, Tyler Corey, Eileen Hebets

UCARE: Research Products

Predator-prey interactions between organisms provide a window into behaviors, adaptions, and evolutionary histories of both groups. One group of organisms of would be female spider-specialist mud-dauber wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) who seek out and sting spiders to bring back to their nests for their larvae to feed upon. This interaction provides a unique means of quantifying the diversity and abundance of the prey they capture. In this study, we inventoried spiders from within collected nests of mud-dauber wasps Sceliphron caementarium (Drury) and Chalybion californicum (Saussure) from agricultural land and in a forest corridor. It was found that nests collected in agricultural …

Using Δ18o To Track Po4 Entering The Western Basin Of Lake Erie, Melanie M. Marshall, Gabrielle K. Metzner, Kevin E. Mccluney

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Algal blooms in the Western Basin of Lake Erie are dependent upon nutrients provided by major rivers within Northwest Ohio. To develop more accurate methods of defining which of these waterways is the largest contributor, a proof of concept study is being conducted using δ18O of phosphate molecules. In the summer of 2016, under relatively low stream flow conditions, 10-20L samples of water were collected at the several major branches within the Portage River, at the mouths of the Portage, Maumee, and Sandusky Rivers, and at two locations within the Western Basin. In the spring of 2017, these collections were …

An Analysis Of Social Dominance In The Feeding Of Ex Situ Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus Humboldti), Robert Gabel

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In the field of ecology, complex social structures, including dominance hierarchies, have been demonstrated in a variety of fauna, including bird species. While wild Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) do not exhibit a feeding hierarchy, captive penguins are under very different conditions. Humboldt penguins feed on schooling fish in the wild, but in captivity are hand fed from a zookeeper. I investigated whether there is a nonrandom pattern of dominance in the feeding order of the penguins at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, in Lincoln, NE, USA. Using a camera and tripod, with assistance from four of the zookeepers, I …

Effects Of Leaf Litter On Organ Size Plasticity And Microbiome Composition In The Larval Gray Tree Frog, Hyla Versicolor, Delaney Lyons

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Abstract

Leaf litter can influence growth and development of amphibians by providing nutrients, structural support, and chemical leachates to the water. The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of Red Maple, Acer rubrum, and Pin Oak, Quercus palustris, leaf litter on organ size plasticity and microbiome composition in larval gray treefrogs, Hyla versicolor. Larvae were raised in outdoor mesocosms each containing 20 tadpoles. The treatments included: no leaf litter, maple litter, and oak litter. There were also treatments in which leaves were soaked in advance to remove leachates. This separated leaf structure from chemical make-up. Each treatment …

Grackles, Michael J. Bodenchuk, David L. Bergman

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

Numbering in the tens of millions of birds, grackle populations in North America can cause a variety of conflicts with people. Grackles eat agricultural crops and livestock feed, damage property, spread pathogens, and collide with aircraft. Their large roosts can be a nuisance in urban and suburban areas. A combination of dispersal techniques, exclusion, and lethal removal may help to reduce grackle damage.

Grackles adapt easily to human-dominated environments, and exploit human food and other features of human landscapes. Thus, an integrated damage management approach to grackle damage focuses on reducing and eliminating the damage, rather than simply controlling grackle …

A New Genus And Two New Species Of Unarmed Hymenolepidid Cestodes (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) From Geomyid Rodents In Mexico And Costa Rica, Scott Lyell Gardner, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan, Mariel Campbell, S. Elizabeth Rácz

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Two new cestodes of the family Hymenolepididae are described from two species of rodents of the family Geomyidae collected in Mexico and Costa Rica. One new species of Hymenolepis is described from Cratogeomys planiceps Merriam 1895 from near Toluca, Mexico and another that we allocate to a new genus is described from Heterogeomys heterodus (Peters, 1865) from near Irazú Volcano, Costa Rica. Hymenolepis s. str. includes those Hymenolepididae with an apical organ, with no hooks on suckers or apical organ, and three testes. Hobergia irazuensis n. gen., n. sp. includes a hymenolepidid with an apical organ, unarmed scolex, small …

Performance Evaluation Of Cetacean Species Distribution Models Developed Using Generalized Additive Models And Boosted Regression Trees, Elizabeth A. Becker, James V. Carretta, Karin A. Forney, Jay Barlow, Stephanie Brodie, Ryan Hoopes, Michael G. Jacox, Sara M. Maxwell, Jessica V. Redfern, Nicholas B. Sisson, Heather Welch, Elliott L. Hazen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Species distribution models (SDMs) are important management tools for highly mobile marine species because they provide spatially and temporally explicit information on animal distribution. Two prevalent modeling frameworks used to develop SDMs for marine species are generalized additive models (GAMs) and boosted regression trees (BRTs), but comparative studies have rarely been conducted; most rely on presence-only data; and few have explored how features such as species distribution characteristics affect model performance. Since the majority of marine species BRTs have been used to predict habitat suitability, we first compared BRTs to GAMs that used presence/absence as the response variable. We then …

Prey Selection By Birds Of Prey, Anisha Pokharel

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Prey selection is key to determine predator prey interaction and understanding the complexity of food web structure. In this thesis, we used two different approaches to understanding prey selection by North American birds of prey. Using a conventional method, in Chapter 1 we compared pellet analysis and trapping data to assess patterns of prey selection of barn owls in western Nebraska. Microtus spp. comprised 55.8% of the prey items in the barn owl’s diet. The proportion of several prey types in the diet were significantly different from the expected proportion based on trapping. This pattern may indicate barn owls actively …

Personality In Stomatopod Crustaceans, Jillian Page Blenderman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stomatopods, or mantis shrimp, are small, predatory crustaceans of tropical and subtropical waters. Mantis shrimp research has focused largely on their agonistic interactions and complex visual systems. Despite their broad behavioral repertoire, stomatopods have not yet been investigated for consistent behavioral differences at the individual level, referred to as animal personality. Fifteen individual Neogonodactylus oerstedii were tested in three scenarios designed to measure potential differences in behaviors: 1) exploration of a novel environment, 2) response to and recovery from a startling event, and 3) response to a novel object. Each individual went through the series of tests twice, with a …

Diatom Community Composition Shifts Driven By Coherent Cyclonic Mesoscale Eddies In The California Current System, Zuzanna Maria Abdala

OES Theses and Dissertations

The California Current System (CCS) is characterized by an equatorward flowing eastern boundary current, as well as seasonal wind-driven coastal upwelling which supplies nutrient-rich waters to the surface and drives high coastal productivity. Cyclonic mesoscale eddies form off the coast in the CCS where they trap the highly productive upwelled coastal waters, along with their resident planktonic communities, and transport them offshore into the more oligotrophic California Current waters. The interaction between waters within and outside of the eddies is limited, and so the eddies act as natural mesocosms, where the resident phytoplankton population undergo ecological succession as the eddy …

Before The Pandemic Ends: Making Sure This Never Happens Again, Daniel R. Brooks, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Scott Lyell Gardner, Sabrina B. L. Araujo, Katalin Bajer, Sebastian Botero-Cañola, Brian Byrd, Gábor Földvári, Joseph A. Cook, Jonathan L. Dunnum, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan, László Zsolt Garamszegi, Dávid Herczeg, Ferenc Jakab, Alicia Juarrero, Gábor Kemenesi, Kornélia Kurucz, Virginia León-Règagnon, Hugo H. Mejía-Madrid, Orsolya Molnár, Richard A. Nisbett, Wolfgang Preiser, Michael Stuart, Eors Szathmary, Valeria Trivellone

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Introduction

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Global Health Emergency of international concern attendant to the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, nearly two months after the first reported emergence of human cases in Wuhan, China. In the subsequent two months, global, national and local health personnel and infrastructures have been overwhelmed, leading to suffering and death for infected people, and the threat of socio-economic instability and potential collapse for humanity as a whole. This shows that our current and traditional mode of coping, anchored in responses after the fact, is not capable of dealing with …

Functions Of Vocal Mimicry In The Complex Song Of The European Starling, Sturnus Vulgaris, Maria Goller

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vocal learning is an ability that has only evolved in a handful of taxa. Songbirds learn their songs, and some species have flexible learning in which they not only incorporate species-specific sounds, but heterospecific and/or environmental sounds as well. The functions of vocal mimicry are still unknown for many species and studying mimicry can teach us about the variation within the song learning process. In this thesis, I focused on five hypotheses on how mimicry could function in sexual selection. The repertoire size hypothesis suggests that selection for larger repertoire sizes allows mimicry to occur because imitation can increase repertoire …