Population Biology Commons^™

Demography Of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys Temminckii) Along A Fishing Pressure Gradient, Luke T. Micek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Passive fishing gear is a threat to the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). The spatio-temporal persistence of this threat and its impacts on M. temminckii populations has not been quantified. I quantified the density of passive fishing gear and the demographic parameters of M. temminckii along a fishing pressure gradient in East Texas streams. Most gear was abandoned and illegally deployed, with densities varying seasonally. Detectability of passive fishing gear declined with increasing gear age, water depth, and volume, but increased with increasing precipitation. Macrochelys temminckii catch per unit effort, abundance, and survival was lower at sites with …

New Mexico Cooper's Hawk Demographic Study: 2024 Annual Report, Brian A. Millsap Dr.

New Mexico Cooper’s Hawk: Publications

The 2024 Annual Report for a long-term (2011 -  present) demographic study of Cooper's hawks (Astur cooperii) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A Genetic And Spatial Analysis Of The Last Megafaunal Species (Tapirus Terrestris) In The Paraguayan Dry Chaco Forest, Emily Bowers

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Determining The Influence Of A Low-Head Dam On Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Bouie River, Natalie Santiago

Honors Theses

The Bouie River is a tributary of the Leaf River and belongs to the Pascagoula River watershed, the latter of which has no flow impediments in the form of sills or dams. The Bouie River has been heavily altered in the lower 10 river kilometers (rkm) from aggregate mining (creating a series of deep gravel pits) and the presence of an earthen and concrete low-head dam (sill) located 6 rkm from the mouth of the river. However, despite these alterations, the immediate stretch of river below the low-head dam is a known spawning habitat for diadromous fish species, including the …

Sibship Analysis Of Fall And Spring Spawn Gulf Sturgeon Eggs In The Choctawhatchee River, Florida, Lyric Mccullouch

Honors Theses

The Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) is an anadromous species that inhabits rivers along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Facing challenges from overfishing and habitat alteration, the Gulf sturgeon is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This study investigated the genetic distinctiveness of fall and spring spawning groups of Gulf sturgeon in the Choctawhatchee River, a critical habitat for the species. In this study, I used microsatellite loci to analyze Gulf sturgeon eggs previously collected in the fall and spring of 2019 and 2020. The goals of this study were to verify the genetic identity of …

Quantifying The Decline In Avian Biodiversity: A Global Crisis And Its Implications For Environmental Education, Canaline Osaka

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

People care about what they love—and it’s easy to love--and fall in love, with birds. The

opportunities to promote bird diversity are legion, and applicable throughout K-12 education. For example, the Eastern Bluebird needs to nest in the cavities of dead trees, a habitat drastically denuded by large scale farming—or in specialized nesting boxes. A nationwide effort to build and install these boxes has brought the population back to healthy numbers since its 1970 low point. (Once one knows what they look like, one cannot miss these roadside homes—Western Bluebirds also benefit.) Students can also engineer bird houses and deters, …

A Population Study Of The Freshwater Turtles Of The Recently Expanded Lake Hydaway In Campbell County, Virginia, Joshua Sorenson

Senior Honors Theses

Freshwater turtles are an important part of the ecological systems in central Virginia. At the recently expanded Lake Hydaway, there are several turtle species for which their population characteristics were unknown, especially the prolific Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) and Red-bellied Cooter (Pseudemys rubriventris). For five weeks, the lake was surveyed for turtles using hoop nets, and the turtles were marked and measured. Population characteristics such as carapace length and sex ratio for the Eastern Painted Turtle and Red-bellied Cooter were calculated, as well as population estimates for those two species. The Red-eared Slider ( …

Passive Integrated Transponders: An Effective Marking Technique For Individual Identification Of Anaxyrus Fowleri?, Emily Leprell

Honors College Theses

With the rise of fungal disease such as Chytridiomycosis, known as chytrid, causing massive population declines for many species of frogs and toads (order Anura), specific conservation strategies are needed now more than ever. In many cases, being able to mark and identify individuals is a necessary step in developing an effective conservation plan. Individual identification allows researchers to obtain accurate population estimates, which are needed to test the progress and validity of conservation management decisions. However, due to their unique life history, including cutaneous respiration and a dichotomous lifestyle, anurans are among the most difficult wildlife species to …

Avian Detection Data And Environmental Covariates For Utah, Usa Over The Years 2017-2021, Amanda L. Hayes-Puttfarcken

Browse all Datasets

Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) detection data for the state of Utah, USA, and LANDFIRE uncharacteristic exotic Departure Score data over Utah during our study period, as well as additional environmental covariates used to make the model more ecologically accurate. Environmental covariates include average May precipitation, average June temperature, distance to the nearest road, percent canopy cover, and the percent of three habitat types as defined by LANDFIRE; open tree canopy, herbaceous, and shrubland.

Notable Hesperiidae Collected By Kilian Roever In Arizona, Usa, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Genomic analysis of Hesperiidae specimens collected by Kilian Roever in Arizona, USA, and deposited in the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity (Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida, USA) confirms several published state species records, reveals that Cecropterus (Murgaria) markwalkeri Grishin, 2023, Telegonus (Telegonus) misitra (Plötz, 1881), and Epargyreus cruza Evans, 1952 have been found in Arizona with sequenced specimens representing first confirmed USA records of these three species, and allows us to discover new taxa Cecropterus (Murgaria) roeveri Grishin, sp. n. and Lerema (Lerema) ochrius occidus Grishin, ssp. n. This …

Fisheries Management Paper No.286: Western Australian Octopus Resource Harvest Strategy, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

Harvest strategies for Western Australia’s (WA) aquatic resources are formal documents developed to support decision-making processes that ensure the outcomes are consistent with the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD; Fletcher 2002a) and Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM; Fletcher et al. 2012). Harvest strategies are a key component of all contemporary fishery management systems and a requirement for certification under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The objectives of ESD are reflected in the objectives of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (FRMA).

This Octopus Resource Harvest Strategy (Harvest Strategy) has been developed and revised in line with the Harvest Strategy …

Basking In Abundance: Distribution And Abundance Of Alabama Map Turtles (Graptemys Pulchra) In The Upper Coosa River, Abigail Wilkins

Theses

The Alabama Map Turtle (Graptemys pulchra) is one of the least studied species of turtle in the United States. Little is known about the species distribution and abundance within the northeastern portion of its range. The aim of this study is to determine the distribution of G. pulchra in the Upper Coosa River drainage as well as estimate population sizes for G. pulchra at 6 sites accessible in the Upper Coosa River Drainage. I used a variety of methods (e.g., rapid assessment surveys, trapping, mark-resight population estimates) to determine the presence and abundance of the species in the Upper …

Lawn Nutrient Availability And Run-Off During Establishment Under Enhanced Biodiversity, Masami S. Kanyuk

Environmental Studies Honors Theses

Biodiversity has consistently been found to have positive ecosystem effects, including erosion mitigation and stability of nutrient cycling. For lawns, this can translate to reducing the need for fertilizer application, and reducing soil loss and leaching that can impact water quality. This paper investigates the effects of biodiversity and plant community establishment in a lawn ecosystem on soil erosion, nitrate leaching via porewater sampling, and plant available nitrogen.

In the first growing season of PLEDGE (the Pastures and Lawns Enhanced Drought and Global-Change Experiment), we hypothesized that three-species lawns (tall fescue, dwarf white clover, and creeping thyme) would experience higher …

The Nebraska Bird Review (March 2025) 93(1), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Winter Field Report, December 2024–February 2025, by W. Ross Silcock
2024–2025 Christmas Bird Counts, by Don Paseka
Annual Color Photo Section
Annual Treasurer’s Report for 2024, by Jan Johnson
Subscription and Organization Information

Annual Color Photo Section

Nebraska Bird Review

The following seven pages show examples of this year’s theme: birds feeding or carrying food.

Osprey with striped bass
Spotted Sandpiper with beetle
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher with insect
Male Pine Grosbeak with green ash seeds
Merlin eating sparrow
Whooping Crane carrying ear of corn
Yellow-billed Cuckoo with harvestman spider
Black-billed Magpie eating grain
Red-tailed Hawk with plains garter snake
Summer Tanager with hackberry emperor butterfly
Cattle Egret with bullfrog
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk eating garter snake
Red-breasted Merganser eating fish
Juvenile White Ibis eating unidentified item
Bohemian Waxwing eating crab apples
Rose-breasted Grosbeak eating sunflower seeds
Loggerhead Shrike eating dragonfly
Yellow-crowned Night …

2024–2025 Christmas Bird Counts, Don Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

For the second year in a row, all twenty CBCs [Christmas Bird Counts] were run during the 2024–2025 season. The weather was generally cooperative, although five circles reported fog and two others had rain. Branched Oak-Seward was postponed a week due to icy conditions on the originally scheduled day. The average high temperature for all circles on count day was 41 and the average low temperature was 22. Because December had remained relatively mild, there was a good deal of open water, which encouraged many species of water birds to remain. Consequently, most of the circles reported species totals higher …

Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Treasurer’S Report, December 31, 2024, Jan Johnson

Nebraska Bird Review

No abstract provided.

Winter Field Report, December 2024–February 2025, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Since I started a few years ago to compare each season’s reports with the status of each species as presented in BONO (Species Accounts – Birds of Nebraska – Online), I had expected that “Routine reports” would apply to an increasing number of species as the BONO database firmed up, but this hasn’t happened. My comments from last winter continue to be valid this winter, now for the third winter in a row: As was the case for winter 2022–2023, the big general story was the large number of reports of tardy fall migrants and unexpectedly northerly occurrences in mid-winter… …

Occurrence Of Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila Suzukii) In Wild Berries In Forested Areas Of Marquette And Keweenaw Counties, Upper Peninsula Of Michigan, Alexis M. Shatrau, Erika I. Hersch-Green

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Spotted-wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, Diptera: Drosophilidae) is an invasive fly that targets unripe soft-fruits causing premature ripening, dehiscence, and rotting. While the presence of SWD in agricultural systems is well-documented, much less is known about the host range of SWD in wild areas, especially in more northern latitudes where colder temperatures and short summers are thought to restrict their life-cycles and limit population growth. In 2019 and 2020, we collected wild berries from two counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with long, cold winters, to determine the prevalence, host range, and seasonal/temporal variation of SWD. We found …

Бадхызские Архивы. Том 2, Р. И. Горелова, В. Я. Фет

Books Published by MU Libraries in MDS

Gorelova, RI, Fet V, editors. The Badkhyz Archives, Vol. 2. Huntington, WV: Marshall University Libraries; 2025. 387 p.

This book represents the second volume of the series started in 2021. It compiles memoirs and research information about the unique Badkhyz Natural Reserve, now in Turkmenistan, formerly at the southernmost point of the USSR. Established in 1941, the Reserve—nicknamed a Serengeti of Central Asia— housed many unique and endangered species, with an iconic wild ass, or kulan, preserved only there. The second volume includes unique and otherwise unavailable information about the workers of the Reserve in 1940s-1980s. We continuento publish …

Offal Wildlife Watching: Connecting Hunters, Wildlife Researchers, And The Public Through Participatory Science, Ellen M. Candler, Grace Milanowski, Amy Rager, Joseph K. Bump

Journal of Extension

Offal Wildlife Watching is a participatory science project that engages deer hunters in wildlife research. The goal of the project is to better understand the ecology of scavenger species that visit deer gut piles across Minnesota. We asked hunters to deploy remote cameras at white-tailed deer gut piles that resulted from their freshly killed deer. Thus far 117 hunters have contributed images and recorded at least 49 different scavenger species. This project is a natural fit in Extension programs and can easily be adapted to other hunted species, biomes, and locations.

Marine Protected Species Identification Guide 2025, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

The Western Australian aquatic environment is home to a number of species that are protected under international agreements and national or state legislation. Many of these species occur in areas where fishing takes place, sometimes resulting in interactions between fishers and protected species. An interaction is considered to be any physical contact between a person, fishing vessel or fishing gear and a protected species, including captures, entanglements and collisions.

This guide has been developed to help you identify some common marine protected species in Western Australia that you may encounter while fishing.

It has been divided into 5 sections:

• …

Fta™ Card Use For Detection Of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum In Wild Birds, Linda Purvis, Dawn E.W. Drumtra

Georgia Journal of Science

Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) cards are increasingly accepted as an accurate method for nucleic acid detection, including testing for the presence of various avian diseases. However, the accuracy of FTA cards for detection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) in wild birds has not been published. Traditional techniques for testing MG in birds include serum plate agglutanation (SPA), hemagglutination inhibition (HI), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) all of which are time consuming and require significant financial investment into specialized equipment. We tested the efficacy of using FTA cards to detect MG in wild bird carcasses collected in …

A Metadata Analysis Of Unionid Mussels Of The Greenup Pool Of The Ohio River Using Occupancy Modeling And Species Area Curves, Tyler Mitchell Annarino

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Although North America contains the largest diversity of freshwater mussels in the world, only ~24% of species in the United States and Canada have stable populations. This group provides unique hurdles for surveying, and current unionid survey protocols include neither longitudinal studies nor randomization of sites. This project conducts a metadata analysis of freshwater mussels in the Greenup Pool of the Ohio River (GPOR) to answer three questions: 1. Does a combination of longitudinal scope, randomization of sites, and historic methodology of surveying result in useful occupancy/detection models (ODMs) of unionids in large streams at the family level? 2. Does …

Size Of Age-0 Sander Vitreus Pre And Post Dreissena Polymorpha Infestation On Brainerd And Bemidji Area Lakes, Quady Bernu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Walleye Sander vitreus is the Minnesota state fish and a vital predator fish in lake ecology. Zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha were first found in Minnesota inland lakes in the 1980’s. These mussels have had huge impacts on water clarity as well as phytoplankton and zooplankton population levels which affect how age-0 fish feed, especially a low light feeding predator fish like walleye. A study took place on age-0 walleye size and it supported the conclusion that age-0 walleye were negatively impacted by zebra mussels in Minnesota’s large lakes. The goals of this study were to determine how the size of …

Microsatellites Reveal The Population Genetic Structure Of Yellow Perch In Minnesota, Megan Boche

Journal of Earth and Life Science

When analyzing a population’s genetic makeup, looking at variation of individuals and populations is a crucial factor. The management of yellow perch will be aided by this information particularly in regard to stocking or relocation. Microsatellite loci were used to analyze the genetic population structure of yellow perch Perca flavescens within and among 29 sampling areas throughout Minnesota’s basins. Seven microsatellite DNA loci were evaluated, with heterozygosities ranging from 0.41 to 0.78. The Lower Mississippi basin samples showed higher numbers of alleles per locus and greater expected heterozygosities compared to other basins, with Lake Pepin (PEP) exhibiting the highest average …

Marine Heatwave Response Plan For Western Australia’S Wild Capture Fisheries And Aquaculture, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

The purpose of the Western Australian wild capture fisheries and aquaculture marine heatwave response plan (the Plan) is to document the Department’s approach for identifying and responding to the hazard of a marine heatwave on wild catch fisheries (commercial, recreational, charter and customary) and aquaculture resources within the geographic boundaries of WA. It provides risk reduction strategies and establishes best-practice processes for each stage of the hazard management and response continuum, ensuring that DPIRD is able to adequately prepare for, respond to, and recover from marine heatwave events. This Plan operates in conjunction with WA’s existing aquatic resource management framework, …

We Found Love In A Wetter Climate: The Impact Of Varying Climatic Conditions On The Prevalence Of A Fungal Endophyte In Elymus Virginicus Populations, Audrey Yung

Scripps Senior Theses

Epichloë is a genus of endophytes– symbiotic fungi residing within a plant’s tissue– that can provide mutualistic benefits to its host. The stress gradient hypothesis predicts that mutualism between species becomes stronger in conditions of high abiotic stress. We tested this idea by assessing how Epichloë prevalence in Elymus virginicus populations is affected by varying climatic conditions. We established plots of E. virginicus with known endophyte frequencies in the spring of 2023 at five sites across a precipitation gradient in Texas and Louisiana. We collected E. virginicus recruits in June and July 2024 at all field sites. To determine recruits’ …

Macroinvertebrate Community Dynamics In A Recovering, Hypersaline Estuary, Catherine M. Eckert, Claudia A. Tamez, Erin E. Easton, David W. Hicks

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The Bahia Grande is a 6,500—acre tidal basin located at the southernmost tip of Texas. Tidal flow into this coastal estuary was cut off in the 1930s, causing the basin to dry up for ~70 y. A pilot channel connecting the Bahia Grande to tidal waters was constructed in 2005, allowing flooding of the basin to occur. Throughout the period reported herein (2005–2019), the system remained characterized by persistent spatial and temporal episodes of extreme hypersalinity (>70)—a critical factor influencing estuarine community composition and driving key ecological processes. With additional rehabilitation actions forthcoming, characterization of the estuary is essential …

Exploring The Reproductive Phenology Of Feral Horses In North America, Mattie Budine

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) are a prolific species in western North America. Due to their life history traits and history of domestication, they have a longer foaling period compared to native ungulates, such as elk (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). I examined the observed foaling seasons of different regional herds throughout North America to identify if foaling seasons are uniform across latitudes or if they present a latitudinal shift similar to ungulates. My dataset (n=523 foals) consisted of various research studies and unpublished observations of different feral horse herds throughout North America. The results are graphs comparing …