Biodiversity Commons^™

Diversity And Biocide Susceptibility Of Fungal Assemblages Dwelling In The Art Gallery Of Magura Cave, Bulgaria, Milena M. Mitova, Mihail Iliev, Alena Nováková, Anna A. Gorbushina, Veneta I. Groudeva, Pedro M. Martin-Sanchez

International Journal of Speleology

Magura Cave, north-western Bulgaria, possesses valuable rock-art paintings made with bat guano and dated from the period between the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages. Since 2008, the Art Gallery is closed to the general public in order to protect the paintings from vandalism, microclimatic changes caused by visitors and artificial illumination, and the consequent growth of fungi and phototrophs. Nevertheless, some tourist visits are allowed under the supervision of cave managers. This study provides the first scientific report on cultivable fungal assemblages dwelling different substrata in the Art Gallery. A total of 78 strains, belonging to 37 OTUs (Ascomycota 81%, Zygomycota …

Centruroides Thorellii (Scorpiones: Buthidae): Traveling From Guatemala To England Without A Passport, Rony E. Trujillo, Luis F. De Armas, Darren Mansfield

Euscorpius

We recorded a pregnant female of the Central American bark stripped scorpion Centruroides thorellii (Kraepelin, 1891), which arrived to England as a stowaway in the bag of a woman that previously visited the Departments of Sacatepéquez, Sololá and San Marcos, Guatemala. On January 2, this C. thorellii female had a litter of three off-spring and three infertile eggs, but she has eaten them, probably as consequence of the stress caused by the hard travel and the environmental changes. We provide a map with the geographical distribution of this species and photos of the female detected in a British train.

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part X. Pandiborellius Stat. N. And Pandinurus (Scorpionidae) With Description Of Four New Species From Eritrea And Ethiopia, And Review Of Pandinus Sensu Lato Taxonomy, František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, Michael E. Soleglad, Jana Plíškova

Euscorpius

We introduce a new system of classification for the subfamily Scorpioninae Latreille, 1802 which includes genera Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828, Opistophthalmus C. L. Koch, 1837, Pandiborellius Rossi, 2015 stat. n., Pandinoides Fet, 1997, Pandinops Birula, 1913, Pandinurus Fet, 1997, Pandinus (Pandinus) Thorell, 1876, Pandinus (Pandinopsis) Vachon, 1974 stat. n., Pandinus (Pandipalpus) Rossi, 2015 stat. n., and Scorpio Linné, 1758. We provide a checklist of 41 valid species and their synonyms of Pandinus sensu lato. We revise Horn of Africa genera Pandiborellius stat. n. and Pandinurus; all …

A New Species Of The “Apacheanus” Group Of Genus Pseudouroctonus From Western Texas (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae), Richard F. Ayrey, Michael E. Soleglad

Euscorpius

A new species of the “apacheanus” group of genus Pseudouroctonus is described from western Texas, USA, Pseudouroctonus brysoni, sp. nov. This new species is closely related to P. apacheanus (Gertsch et Soleglad, 1972) and two other species recently described from southern Arizona. A combination of morphological differences in the hemispermatophore, the mating plug, and several morphometric-based characters are identified as diagnostic.

Evaluating Trophic Rewilding As A Conservation Technique, Aaron Sieve

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The focus for this paper is to define specifically trophic rewilding, determine its efficacy as a conservation technique, and explore ways to lessen one of its key limitations. Trophic rewilding is the conservation technique whereby an extirpated keystone species or ecosystem engineer is reintroduced into a degraded habitat to restore ecological function by triggering trophic cascades. The technique is evaluated through analysis of the concepts of trophic cascades and ecosystem engineers. Key limitations of trophic rewilding are that a lack of population control in reintroduced may cause issues, that many times not enough is known about trophic cascades to be …

Application Of A Coupled Human Natural System Framework To Organize And Frame Challenges And Opportunities For Biodiversity Conservation On Private Lands, John E. Quinn, Jesse Wood

Biology Publications

Conservation science addresses the complementary goals of preventing future biodiversity loss while sustaining critical human foundations. In this paper we use two case studies focused on land management to discuss how private lands conservation can be more effective by considering how planning and decision making reflects a coupled human and natural system (CHANS). The first case study focuses on conservation easements in the temperate forests of eastern United States; the second focuses on conservation opportunities in Midwestern agroecosystems, in particular the value of agroforestry. For each case study we discuss the natural and human subsystems, how elements and interactions within …

Where Can Wolves Live And How Can We Live With Them?, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

In the contiguous 48 United States, southern Canada, and in Europe, wolves (Canis lupus) have greatly increased and expanded their range during the past few decades.They are prolific, disperse long distances, readily recolonize new areas where humans allow them, and are difficult to control when populations become established.Because wolves originally lived nearly everywhere throughout North America and Eurasia, and food in the form of wild and domestic prey is abundant there, many conservation-minded people favor wolves inhabiting even more areas.On the other hand, wolves conflict in several ways with rural residents who prefer fewer wolves. This article discusses …

Public Perception Of Environmental Programs In The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Landa De Matamoros, Queretaro, Mexico, Danielle Marie Salisbury

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Biological or ecological corridors have recently been sought out as a solution to biodiversity loss due to habitat fragmentation. In eastern Mexico, the Mexican and German governments are collaborating to connect fragmented landscapes and Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) over five states across a Madrean Pine-Oak biodiversity hotspot through the implementation of the Ecological Corridor of the Sierra Madre Oriental (CESMO). One of the ways the CESMO is accomplishing its conservation goals is by extending environmental programs that are currently in place within NPAs to other areas within the corridor, but outside of NPA borders. However, the success of the corridor …

Carbon Stocks In Shade Coffee: Strategies For Enhancing Carbon Storage In Smallholder Systems In Jinotega, Nicaragua, Vanessa Katheryn Kichline

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Climate change has recently shifted focus to adaptation and mitigation strategies in coffee production. Shade coffee systems, already widely recognized for their contribution to biodiversity and soil conservation, are now drawing attention for their role in carbon storage. Researchers have generally assumed that high carbon storage must come at the expense of reduced crop yields, implying that farmers must choose between sustainability and profit. This study uses field inventories of 70 farms in Jinotega, Nicaragua to estimate this tradeoff in smallholder shade coffee systems. Field inventories were used to develop three typologies representing different shade management strategies in use in …

What Should Go In A Wildlife Professional’S Geospatial Toolbox? (Response Data), William Bean, Ryan C. Baumbusch, Brooke Berger, Matthew Delheimer, Lee J. Hecker, Matthew Lau, Megan C. Milligan

Research Data Sets

Geospatial tools have become a critical component to most wildlife studies and management questions. With a diversity of approaches available, current and future wildlife professionals deserve guidance on the most important tools to answer these questions. Younger professionals may be expected to know a separate set of skills from those required further on in their career. We conducted an online survey and a year-long search of job advertisements to identify the most important geospatial approaches, techniques, programs, and ancillary skills for wildlife professionals. We provide the results of these 2 efforts so that wildlife professionals interested in geospatial tools can …

Pseudoalteromonas Piratica Sp. Nov., A Budding, Prosthecate Bacterium From Diseased Montipora Capitata, And Emended Description Of The Genus Pseudoalteromonas, Silvia Beurmann, Blake Ushijima, Christina M. Svoboda, Patrick Videau, Ashley M. Smith, Stuart P. Donachie, Greta S. Aeby, Sean M. Callahan

Research & Publications

A Gram-stain-negative, motile, rod-shaped bacterium designated OCN003T was cultivated from mucus taken from a diseased colony of the coral Montipora capitata in Kāne‘ohe Bay, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Colonies of OCN003T were pale yellow, 1–3 mm in diameter, convex, smooth and entire. The strain was heterotrophic, strictly aerobic and strictly halophilic. Cells of OCN003T produced buds on peritrichous prosthecae. Growth occurred within the pH range of 5.5 to 10, and the temperature range of 14 to 39 °C. Major fatty acids were 16 : 1!7c, 16 : 0, 18 : 1!7c, 17 : 1!8c, 12 : 0 3-OH and 17 : 0. …

Vertebrate Natural History Notes From Arkansas, 2017, R. Tumlison, C. T. Mcallister, H. W. Robison, M. B. Connior, D. B. Sasse, D. G. Cloutman, L. A. Durden, C. R. Bursey, T. J. Fayton, S. Schratz, M. Buckley

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Because meaningful observations of natural history are not always part of larger studies, important pieces of information often are unreported. Small details, however, can fills gaps in understanding and also lead to interesting questions about ecological relationships or environmental change. We have compiled recent observations of foods, reproduction, record size, parasites, and distribution of 30 species of fishes, new records of distribution and parasites of 2 species of amphibians, and new records of distribution, parasites, reproduction and anomalies of 11 species of mammals.

Distribution, Diversity, And Den Locations Of Canidae And Hyaenidae Species Across Habitat Type At Enashiva Nature Refuge, Grace Bullington

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Due to the importance of top-trophic level predators have on their environment including regulating prey species and influencing ecosystem biodiversity, it is important to monitor top-trophic level predators to understand how they shape their ecosystem. While top-trophic level predators can benefit the ecosystem, they can also cause problems for surrounding human settlements like predation on livestock. Species in the Canidae and Hyaenidae families occupy the top-trophic level and can influence their ecosystem and cause human-wildlife conflict.

This study looked at the distribution, diversity, and den locations of Canidae and Hyaenidae species at Enashiva Nature Refuge over the course of 21 …

Pteropus Voeltzkowi And The Understory: A Study Of The Behavioral Impacts Of The Pemba Flying Fox On The Vegetation And Soil Quality Of Pemba Island, Lea Davidson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the impact of Pteropus voeltzkowi , colloquially known as the Pemba Flying Fox, on biodiversity and health of the forest ground layer. Known to serve as reforesters, high concentrations of both fruit seeds and nutrient dense guano are introduced into specific environmental locations due to the bat's behavioral patterns. Working around two roost locations, one in Ngezi Forest and the other at the Kidike conservation site near Mjini Ole, diversity of juvenile vegetation was measured and quantified. In a laboratory setting, soil samples from both sites were analyzed for impacts of guano concentration on soil chemical properties. …

Time Of Plant Establishment Affects Prairie Composition, Aleisa Labelle

Sustainable RIVER

No abstract provided.

Mapping The Missouri, Becca Krasky

Sustainable RIVER

No abstract provided.

Searching For The False Map Turtle, Shay Austin

Sustainable RIVER

No abstract provided.

Bioassessment Of Four Karst Springs At Hobbs State Park – Conservation Area With A Focus On Diving Beetle (Dytiscidae: Hydroporinae) Species Of Concern, Scott Longing, L. A. Mack, Brian E. Haggard

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Four springs were surveyed at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area to provide an initial bioassessment and to determine occurrences of two endemic predaceous diving beetles of concern, Heterosternuta sulphuria and Sanfilippodytes sp. Habitat in the four spring runs were dominated by bedrock and gravel substrate with heavy accumulations of leaf litter. Thirty-three taxa representing 11 orders were collected from the four springs. Non-insect taxa included Oligochaeta, Physidae, and Isopoda, and predominant insect orders included Ephemeroptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Trichoptera. The total number of taxa across springs ranged from seven to 19, with total abundances ranging from 39 to 86 individuals. No …

Managing For Wildlife Habitat On Rangelands In The Great Plains, Maggi Sliwinski, Mark E. Burbach, Larkin Powell, Walter H. Schacht

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Small Landholders Battle The Leaf Folder: Improving Livelihoods In The Solomon Islands, Dalia Tayseer Najjar

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Sweet Potato is an important staple food crop grown by subsistence farmers in the Solomon Islands. It plays an important food security role and a major source of nutrition and livelihood in the rural areas as well as urban areas in the country. However, the spread of agricultural pests, in particular, the green leaf folder pest (Psara hipponalis), has significantly increased in recent years leaving many smallholder farmers with reduced yields and food insecurity. In this thesis, I reviewed the literature on the common mechanisms used to evaluate the drivers of pest presence and identified the major factors …