Population Biology Commons^™

Effects Of Olfactory And Visual Predators On Nest Success And Nest-Site Selection Of Waterfowl In North Dakota, Jennifer Borgo

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

No abstract provided.

Unintended Facilitation Between Marine Consumers Generates Enhanced Mortality For Their Shared Prey, F. Joel Fodrie, Matthew D. Kenworthy, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

We manipulated predator densities and prey vulnerability to explore how interactions between two predators affect overall mortality of their shared prey. Our threemember study system included eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and two of its major consumers: southern oyster drills (Stramonita haemastoma) and stone crabs (Menippe adina). Field experiments demonstrated that drills and crabs foraging together generated higher than expected oyster mortality based on each species operating independently, even though crabs also killed some drills. In subsequent laboratory trials, we experimentally mimicked the handling of oysters by foraging crabs and confirmed that crabs facilitated drills by breeching oyster valves, thereby granting …

Remarks On The Stability Of Some Size-Structured Population Models Iii: The Case Of Constant Inflow Of Newborns, Mohammed El-Doma

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The stability of some size-structured population dynamics models are investigated. We determine the steady states and study their stability. We also give examples that illustrate the stability results. The results in this paper generalize previous results, for example, see Calsina, et al. (2003), El- Doma (2006) and El-Doma (2008).

Geographic Variation In Malarial Parasite Lineages In The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis Trichas), K. M. Pagenkopp, John Klicka, K. L. Durrant, J. C. Garvin, R. C. Fleischer

Ornithology Program (HRC)

Our current understanding of migration routes of many birds is limited and researchers have employed various methods to determine migratory patterns. Recently, parasites have been used to track migratory birds. The objective of this study was to determine whether haemosporidian parasite lineages detect significant geographic structure in common yellowthroats (Geothlypis trichas). We examined liver tissue or blood from 552 birds sampled from multiple locations throughout the continental United States, southern Canada, and the Bahamas. We found a 52.7% overall prevalence of haematozoan infection. We identified 86.1% of these infections to genus: 81% were Plasmodium; 5% were Haemoproteus …

Lifestyle Of Shellmound Builders In Brazil (Galley Proofs), Sabine Eggers, C. C. Petronilho, K. Brandt, J. Filippini, Karl J. Reinhard

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The contact of inland and coastal prehistoric groups in Brazil is believed to have been restricted to regions with no geographical barrier, as is the case in the Ribeira de Iguape valley. The inland osteological collection from the riverine shellmound Moraes (5800–4500 BP) represents a unique opportunity to test this assumption for this region. Despite cultural similarities between riverine and coastal shellmounds, important ecological and site distribution differences are expected to impact on lifestyle. The purpose of this study is thus to document and interpret health and lifestyle indicators in Moraes in comparison to coastal shellmound groups. Specifically we test …

Spots Of Adult Male Red-Spotted Newts Are Redder And Brighter Than In Females: Evidence For A Role In Mate Selection?, Andrew K. Davis, Kristine L. Grayson

Biology Faculty Publications

As aquatic adults, eastern red-spotted newts (Notophthalmus v. viridescens) are generally green with two rows of dorsal spots, which vary in number between individuals and range in colour from orange to red. The function of these spots is unknown, but it is possible that they serve as sexual ornamentations and we examined this hypothesis by testing for sexual dimorphism in spot characteristics. We used an image analysis approach that has been used previously with this and other amphibian species to compare the number, size and colour – redness (hue score) and brightness – of spots in 100 male …

Familiarity With Breeding Habitat Improves Daily Survival In Colonial Cliff Swallows, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Kathleen R. Brazeal

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

One probable cost of dispersing to a new breeding habitat is unfamiliarity with local conditions such as the whereabouts of food or the habits of local predators, and consequently immigrants may have lower probabilities of survival than more experienced residents. Within a breeding season, estimated daily survival probabilities of cliff swallows, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, at colonies in southwestern Nebraska, USA, were highest for birds that had always nested at the same site, followed by those for birds that had nested there in some (but not all) past years. Daily survival probabilities were lowest for birds that were naive immigrants to …

Dinoflagellate Cysts Within Sediment Collections From The Southern Chesapeake Bay, And Tidal Regions Of The James, York, And Rappahannock Rivers, Virginia, David W. Seaborn, Harold G. Marshall

Virginia Journal of Science

The upper 2 cm of sediment core samples from 70 stations in the tidal waters of three Virginia rivers and at 23 stations in the lower Chesapeake Bay were sampled for dinoflagellate cysts. The river sediment cysts were dominated by three common bloom producing species (Heterocapsa triquetra, Scrippsiella trochoidea, and Cochlodinium polykrikoides), whereas these were in low concentration on the Chesapeake Bay sediments which contained mainly dinoflagellate cysts of neritic and oceanic taxa. The mean sediment concentrations from stations in the James, York, and Rappahannock rivers were respectively 1174.8, 536.2, and 323.6 cysts g^-1. The mean …

Induction Of Winter Breeding In Small Mammals By 6-Mboa, Robert K. Rose, Roger K. Everton, Gregory E. Glass

Virginia Journal of Science

A plant-derived cyclic carbamate, 6-methoxybenzoxazolinone (6-MBOA), is

known to initiate reproductive activity in Microtus montanus. We studied

overwintering populations of four other rodent species, and observed increased

reproduction in experimental populations of two herbivorous species, Microtus

pennsylvanicus and Sigmodon hispidus, but not in two omnivorous species,

Oryzomys palustris and Mus musculus. These results suggest that low

concentrations of 6-MBOA may trigger seasonal breeding primarily in

herbivorous small mammals.

Phylogeographical Structure And Evolutionary History Of Two Buggy Creek Virus Lineages In The Western Great Plains Of North America, Abinash Padhi, Amy T. Moore, Mary Bomberger Brown, Jerome E. Foster, Martin Pfeffer, Kathryn P. Gaines, Valerie A. O'Brien, Stephanie A. Strickler, Allison E. Johnson, Charles R. Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) is an unusual arbovirus within the western equine encephalitis complex of alphaviruses. Associated with cimicid swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius) as its vector and the cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrow (Passer domesticus) as its amplifying hosts, this virus is found primarily in the western Great Plains of North America at spatially discrete swallow nesting colonies. For 342 isolates collected in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, and North Dakota, from 1974 to 2007, we sequenced a 2076 bp region of the 26S subgenomic RNA structural glycoprotein coding region, and analyzed phylogenetic relationships, …

Habitat-Mediated Foraging Limitations Drive Survival Bottlenecks For Juvenile Salmon, Brian P. Kennedy, Keith H. Nislow, Carol L. Folt

Dartmouth Scholarship

Realistic population models and effective conservation strategies require a thorough understanding of mechanisms driving stage-specific mortality. Mortality bottlenecks for many species occur in the juvenile stage and are thought to result from limitation on food or foraging habitat during a "critical period" for growth and survival. Without a way to account for maternal effects or to measure integrated consumption rates in the field, it has been virtually impossible to test these relationships directly. Hence uncertainties about mechanisms underlying such bottlenecks remain. In this study we randomize maternal effects across sites and apply a new method for measuring consumption integrated over …

Drift By Drift: Effective Population Size Is Limited By Advection, John P. Wares, James M. Pringle

Earth Sciences

Background: Genetic estimates of effective population size often generate surprising results, including dramatically low ratios of effective population size to census size. This is particularly true for many marine species, and this effect has been associated with hypotheses of "sweepstakes" reproduction and selective hitchhiking. Results: Here we show that in advective environments such as oceans and rivers, the mean asymmetric transport of passively dispersed reproductive propagules will act to limit the effective population size in species with a drifting developmental stage. As advection increases, effective population size becomes decoupled from census size as the persistence of novel genetic lineages is …

Longevity-Fertility Trade-Offs In The Tephritid Fruit Fly, Anastrepha Ludens, Across Dietary-Restriction Gradients, James R. Carey, Lawrence G. Harshman, Pablo Liedo, Hans-Georg Müller, Jane-Ling Wang, Zhen Zhang

Lawrence G. Harshman Publications

Although it is widely known that dietary restriction (DR) not only extends the longevity of a wide range of species but also reduces their reproductive output, the interrelationship of DR, longevity-extension and reproduction is not well understood in any organism. Here we address the question: “Under what nutritional conditions do the longevity-enhancing effects resulting from food restriction either counteract, complement or reinforce the mortality costs of reproduction? To answer this question we designed a fine-grained DR study involving 4,800 individuals of the tephritid fruit fly Anastrepha ludens in which we measured sex-specific survival and daily reproduction in females in each …

Benthic Biological Monitoring Program Of The Elizabeth River Watershed (2007), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

Macrobenthic communities of the Elizabeth River watershed have been quantitatively sampled since summer 1999. This report presents the data from the ninth year of sampling in 2007. The three objectives of the Benthic Biological Monitoring Program of the Elizabeth River watershed are: (1) To characterize the health of the tidal waters of the Elizabeth River watershed as indicated by the structure of the benthic communities. (2) To conduct trend analyses on long-term data at 14 fixed-point stations to relate temporal trends in the benthic communities to changes in water and/or sediment quality. Trend analyses will be updated annually …

Remarks On The Stability Of Some Size-Structured Population Models Ii: Changes In Vital Rates Due To Size And Population Size, Mohammed El-Doma

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The stability of some size-structured population dynamics models are investigated. We determine the steady states and study their stability. We also give examples that illustrate the stability results. The results in this paper generalize previous results, for example, see Calsina, et al. (2003) and El-Doma (2006).

Influences Of The Loggerhead Sponge (Spheciospongia Vesparium) And The Vase Sponge (Ircinia Campana) On Nearshore Hard-Bottom Community Development In The Florida Keys, Scott Donahue

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Sponges, octocorals, and stony corals are the dominant sessile fauna within shallow, hard-bottom communities in the Florida Keys, FL (USA). The sponge component of these communities is not well studied and has been cyclically decimated from as early as 1844, most recently in south-central Florida Bay in 1991 and 1992, in apparent association with phytoplankton blooms. The purpose of this research was to examine ways in which sponges may contribute to the maintenance of hard-bottom communities. Specifically, I investigated: 1) the effect of sponges and physical structures on local sea floor scouring and thus the potential for maintenance of hard-bottom; …

A New Reproductive Mode In The Genus Melanzophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) With Description Of A New Species From The State Of Paraná, Brazil, José A. Langone, Magno V. Segallo, Marcos Bornschein, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

A new species of bufonid toad of the genus Melanophryniscus is described from a mountaintop that is part of the Serra do Mar in the northeastern State of Paraná, Brazil. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. is distinguished from other known species by its uniformly dark brown dorsal color and a unique breeding site. The new species reproduces in bromeliads, a reproductive mode previously unknown for this genus. This species might be susceptible to current habitat lost.

The Horseshoe Crab Conundrum: Can We Harvest And Conserve?, Jennifer Mattei, Mark Beekey

Biology Faculty Publications

Horeshoe crabs "Limulus polyphemus" are remarkable ‘living fossils’ which have unique blood cells (amebocytes) that are used to test human vaccines for bacterial contamination. In the 1950’s, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, not only discovered amebocytes but also found that they had special properties. If the amebocytes came into contact with bacteria, they would instantly coagulate around the bacteria and attack it. The Woods Hole scientists took this unique property of horseshoe crabs and developed a test for bacterial contamination using a horseshoe crab blood derivative called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL).

This article describes discusses …

Ecology Of The Missouri River: Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue Bridge To Camp Creek, 31 March Through 12 October 2007. Supplement I, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 29 March through 10 October 2003. This is the fourth of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data.

Anglers spent over 30,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Camp Creek (rk 883.5) to the Kansas state line (rk 790.2) during the survey period. Effort peaked during the …

Historic Genetic Structuring And Paraphyly Within The Great-Tailed Grackle, Jeffrey M. Dacosta, Walter Wehtje, John Klicka

Ornithology Program (HRC)

The Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) and Boat-tailed Grackle (Q. major) are sister species that have expanded their ranges during historical times. This expansion has created an area of sympatry between these species in Texas and Louisiana, and between distinctive Great-tailed Grackle subspecies in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We investigated the evolutionary histories of both species using mitochondrial DNA sequence data and modern phylogenetic methods. Our results reveal genetic structure within Great-tailed, but not Boat-tailed Grackles. Great-tailed Grackles are separated into two clades, but range expansion in the north has led to secondary contact …

A Watershed Analysis Of Pattee Pond: Implications For Water Quality And Land Use Management, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Pattee Pond (2008, 1992)

The Colby Environmental Assessment Team (CEAT) investigated the impact of land use patterns on the water quality of Pattee Pond in Winslow, Maine, during the summer and fall of 2008. Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of water quality were analyzed to evaluate the current health of the lake. Data collected were compared with previous studies conducted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and CEAT to examine changes in water quality and land use over time. Trends in Pattee Pond water quality suggest an improvement since the 1970s. However, the lake is still experiencing algal blooms resulting from phosphorus …

Aerial Census Techniques For Whooping Cranes On The Texas Coast, Thomas V. Stehn, Thomas E. Taylor

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, using aerial surveys, regularly monitors the whooping crane (Grus americana) population wintering along the Texas coast. These regular census flights began in 1950 and have produced a long-term data set on the growth of a small population of endangered birds. This paper describes the specific methodology used by the authors during census flights.

Experimental Inoculation Of House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus) With Buggy Creek Virus, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Amy T. Moore, Nicholas A. Panella, Eric A. Edwards, Mary Bomberger Brown, Nicholas Komar, Charles R. Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We performed experimental inoculations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) with Buggy Creek virus (BCRV), a poorly known alphavirus (Togaviridae) vectored primarily by the swallow bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae: Oeciacus vicarius) that is an ectoparasite of the cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrow. Viremias were detected by plaque assay in two of six birds on days 1–3 postinoculation; viremia was highest on day 2. Viral RNA was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in blood of six of 12 birds ranging from day 1 to day 15 postinoculation. Infectious BCRV was detected in …

Extra-Pair Paternity In Sandhill Cranes, Matthew A. Hayes, Hugh B. Britten, Jeb A. Barzen

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Although cranes are known for “life-long” pair bonds, exceptions to this rule have been observed (i.e. divorcing pairs and individuals re-pairing following the death of a mate). With advancements in genetic techniques, another form of infidelity has been observed: extra-pair paternity (EPP; producing young with a bird while being socially paired to another mate) has been documented in many avian species. Is this true for cranes as well? Sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) from a dense breeding population in southcentral Wisconsin were tested for EPP using 6 microsatellite DNA markers. The frequency of EPP ranged between 4.4% (2 of 45 chicks) …

Mate Fidelity In A Dense Breeding Population Of Sandhill Cranes, Matthew A. Hayes, Jeb A. Barzen, Hugh B. Britten

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The objective of this study was to investigate mate switches observed in a dense breeding population of banded Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis). Over a 14-year period, 50 of 70 breeding pairs switched mates (71%), with 45 pairs switching permanently (64%). Mean mate retention between years was 83%, with an average pair bond lasting 5.7 years (range 1-13 years). Most permanent switches occurred following the death or disappearance of a mate, and overall permanent divorce (19%; 13 of 70 pairs) and annual divorce rates (6%) were low. Territory retention following mate switches was high. Males and females did not …

The Whooping Crane In Mexico: Past, Present, And Future?, Michael S. Putnam, Ruth Partida Lara, Suix Diaz Gomez, Anne E. Lacy

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We reviewed ornithological, historic, anthropological, and archaeological records for evidence of whooping cranes (Grus americana) in Mexico. Records of whooping cranes in Mexico span 88 years (1863-1951) and cluster in 3 areas. Wintering records come from the northern highlands (Durango, and possibly Chihuahua), the central highlands (Guanajuato, Jalisco), and northeastern Tamaulipas, where the bird was also found in summer and might have bred. Later records (1970’s and 1980’s) of whooping cranes in the northern highlands are from individual birds released into the experimental migratory population that formerly migrated from Idaho to New Mexico, USA. Many of the wetlands …

Microsatellite Analysis Of Mating And Kinship In Beavers (Castor Canadensis)., J C. Cawford, Zhiwei Liu, T A. Nelson, C K. Nielsen, C K. Bloomquist

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Microsatellite Analysis Of Mating And Kinship In Beavers (Castor Canadensis)., J Cawford, Zhiwei Liu, T Nelson, C Nielsen, C Bloomquist

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Behavioural Interactions Between The Introduced Plague Minnow Gambusia Holbrooki And The Vulnerable Native Australian Ornate Rainbowfish Rhadinocentrus Ornatus, Under Experimental Conditions, K. Keller, C. Brown

Sentience Collection

The impact of the plague minnow Gambusia holbrooki on the ornate rainbowfish Rhadinocentrus ornatus was investigated by comparing the behavioural response and microhabitat preferences of populations of R. ornatus collected from locations that are sympatric and allopatric with G. holbrooki. Rhadinocentrus ornatus populations from sympatric areas exhibited a significantly higher frequency of intraspecific chases, spent significantly more time at an intermediate depth and were nipped significantly less often by G. holbrooki compared to the allopatric R. ornatus populations. The frequency of intraspecific chases by all R. ornatus populations were greatest immediately following G. holbrooki exposure and increased further with repeated …

What Is A Humane Wildlife Control Service?, John Griffin, Lori Thiele, Pamela Lough, Janet Snyder, Maggie Brasted, John Hadidian

Wildlife Population Management Collection

In May 2007, The Humane Society of the United States launched a for-fee business called Humane Wildlife Servicessm to engage in wildlife control jobs in the Washington, D.C. metro area. We had several purposes in launching this service. First, we felt it necessary to offer a service to customers in our home base area that allowed them to choose a wildlife removal company that did not trap and relocate, or trap and kill, animals. Second, we wished to directly experience and test the operational and conceptual challenges associated with this sort of service. Third, we wished to develop a model …