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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Bryoecology In The American Southwest: Patterns Of Biodiversity And Responses To Global Change, John Carroll Brinda Dec 2011

Bryoecology In The American Southwest: Patterns Of Biodiversity And Responses To Global Change, John Carroll Brinda

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation combines investigation of the large-scale responses of bryophyte species diversity and distribution with small-scale physiological adaptations to global change. These two areas of inquiry are linked because one way to predict plant species responses to global change is to examine their distribution across current ecological gradients produced by factors such as latitude and elevation. By examining these biogeographic patterns one can identify those species that have a narrow tolerance and therefore are most sensitive to change. Selected bryophytes might then be used as indicator species in long-term monitoring programs. Where historical data exist, these can be used to …


Climate Change And Community Dynamics: A Hierarchical Bayesian Model Of Resource-Driven Changes In A Desert Rodent Community, Glenda M. Yenni May 2011

Climate Change And Community Dynamics: A Hierarchical Bayesian Model Of Resource-Driven Changes In A Desert Rodent Community, Glenda M. Yenni

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

Predicting effects of climate change on species persistence often assumes that those species are responding to abiotic effects alone. However, biotic interactions between community members may affect species’ ability to respond to abiotic changes. Latent Gaussian models of resource availability using precipitation and NDVI and accounting for spatial autocorrelation and rodent group-level uncertainty in the process are developed to detect differences in seasons, groups, and the experimental removal of one group. Precipitation and NDVI have overall positive effects on rodent energy use as expected, but meaningful differences were detected. Differences in the importance of seasonality when the dominant group was …