A Standardized List Of Scorpion Names In Chinese, With An Etymological Approach,
2022
Marshall University
A Standardized List Of Scorpion Names In Chinese, With An Etymological Approach, Victoria Tang
Euscorpius
The scientific (Latin) names of scorpion species are widely used across the world by both experts and amateurs. However, in China, there is a great need for designating standardized Chinese names for various scorpions since it is difficult for those not familiar with Latin alphabet to memorize the scientific names. Currently used Chinese names often cause confusion and misunderstanding due to a lack of standardized, unified naming. The present work critically revises the existing formal Chinese scorpion names, vernacular names (used by local population and amateurs), and the names used in Chinese scientific publications, along with the confusion they have …
Impacts Of Nitrogen Enrichment On Corals – A Remote Sensing Approach,
2022
The University of San Francisco
Impacts Of Nitrogen Enrichment On Corals – A Remote Sensing Approach, David E. Carrasco
Master's Projects and Capstones
Anthropogenic activities have resulted in ever-increasing threats to coral reefs globally, wherein the rate of environmental changes have exceeded the historical capacity of corals to adapt. This has threatened the persistence of coral ecosystems and their associated ecosystem services, which billions of people rely on for their livelihoods. The most prevalent stressor is nitrogen enrichment, which while present naturally, is exacerbated by the anthropogenic input of nutrients via the discharge of agricultural and urban waste waters. The focus is to answer the central research question of how nitrogen enrichment impacts corals, and how it interacts with other stressors with particular …
Review Of Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 With Description Of A New Species (Scorpiones: Buthidae),
2022
Marshall University
Review Of Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 With Description Of A New Species (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe
Euscorpius
The genus Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 is reanalyzed. Revised diagnoses and new illustrations for the genus and all four of its species are presented. A new species, O. somalilandus sp. n. from Somaliland is described and illustrated. Phylogenetic relationships of the genus with several other similar genera of small buthids are inferred from a parsimony analysis of 43 discrete morphological characters. The recent synonymy of Orthochiroides with Orthochirus is refuted and the genus is revalidated.
Diversity-Productivity Relationships In Forests Of The Southeastern United States: Leveraging National Inventory Data And Tree Functional Traits,
2022
Mississippi State University
Diversity-Productivity Relationships In Forests Of The Southeastern United States: Leveraging National Inventory Data And Tree Functional Traits, Elizabeth Baach
Theses and Dissertations
Numerous studies have evaluated the relationship between biodiversity and productivity, with general trends suggesting a positive relationship. While most studies only use species richness, this study also analyzed how productivity changes with functional diversity and Shannon’s diversity index. Functional diversity gives important context to the examination of biodiversity-productivity relationships due to the direct link between organisms’ functional traits and their role in a given ecosystem. This study used data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database collected in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to estimate plot-level productivity and diversity. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the …
Evaluating Soil Health Changes Following Cover Crop And No-Till Integration Into A Soybean (Glycine Max) Cropping System In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley,
2022
Mississippi State University
Evaluating Soil Health Changes Following Cover Crop And No-Till Integration Into A Soybean (Glycine Max) Cropping System In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Alexandra Gwin Firth
Theses and Dissertations
The transition of natural landscapes to intensive agricultural uses has resulted in severe loss of soil organic carbon (SOC), increased CO₂ emissions, river depletion, and groundwater overdraft. Despite negative documented effects of agricultural land use (i.e., soil erosion, nutrient runoff) on critical natural resources (i.e., water, soil), food production must increase to meet the demands of a rising human population. Given the environmental and agricultural productivity concerns of intensely managed soils, it is critical to implement conservation practices that mitigate the negative effects of crop production and enhance environmental integrity. In the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) region of Mississippi, USA, …
Ontogenetic Niche Shift As A Driver Of Community Structure And Diversity In Non-Avian Dinosaurs,
2022
University of New Mexico
Ontogenetic Niche Shift As A Driver Of Community Structure And Diversity In Non-Avian Dinosaurs, Katlin Schroeder
Biology ETDs
As some of the most charismatic megafauna to ever walk the earth, the physiology, morphology, growth and evolution of non-avian theropods has been studied exhaustively, yet little is understood about their roles in ecosystems as juveniles. For carnivorous megatheropods, which exceed 1,000kg in mass yet hatched from eggs of limited size, the likelihood of utilizing different prey through ontogeny was high, simply by proxy of the immense difference in size between adults and juveniles. We found these ontogenetic niche shifts, evidenced by significantly different dental microwear in Tyrannosaurids, to have excluded dinosaurian mesocarnivores from Mesozoic communities. The few dinosaurian mesocarnivores …
Trophish: Building A Global Database Of Freshwater Trophic Interactions,
2022
University of South Dakota
Trophish: Building A Global Database Of Freshwater Trophic Interactions, Jacob M. Ridgway
Honors Thesis
Freshwater management and research frequently use the trophic data of freshwater fishes. Despite this fact, it is difficult to perform a simple search of dietary information for any one fish species. FishBase represents, to our knowledge, the largest compilation of freshwater dietary information to date. However, it excludes a large portion of the ecological literature due to its development taking place prior to the creation of most modern scientific search engines. Our project (TroPhish) is building upon FishBase by digitizing approximately 130 years of data from the fish predation literature. Data from the primary and grey (e.g. theses, dissertations, reports) …
Using Color To Identify Neotropical Parrots In Early Modern European Art: Recognizing Limitations And Avoiding Pitfalls Through Integration Of Scientific And Artistic Knowledge,
2022
Lindenwood University
Using Color To Identify Neotropical Parrots In Early Modern European Art: Recognizing Limitations And Avoiding Pitfalls Through Integration Of Scientific And Artistic Knowledge, Deniz Martinez
The Confluence
Colorful Neotropical parrots were amongst the first and most frequent exotic animals to be imported by Europeans from the “New World” of the Americas, becoming key figures in what would become known as the Columbian exchange. There has been an ongoing effort to locate and identify images of Neotropical parrots in the visual record of early modern Europe, with the classification of many remaining unsettled in the scholarship. Proper identification of these images can be valuable data for reconstructing historical biogeography and transatlantic trade; especially compelling is the potential of certain “mystery parrots” in the visual record to support the …
Natural Resource Decisions: Discount Rates, Time Horizons, And Evaluations,
2022
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Natural Resource Decisions: Discount Rates, Time Horizons, And Evaluations, Amanda Hyman
Doctoral Dissertations
As effects from climate change accelerate, there is a pressing need for research that can improve people’s lives and safeguard the environment. Billions of dollars are invested annually in such projects. To invest that money wisely, we need to understand the effects of assumptions that underpin decisions but often go unstated, such as assumptions about discount rates and time horizons. We also need to understand how project design choices affect the management of natural resources, prioritization of conservation actions, and success of climate adaptation projects. My dissertation explores these topics. I ask if and how local natural resource users and …
Building Global Leaders Through Field Research And Extension Experiences In Belize,
2022
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Building Global Leaders Through Field Research And Extension Experiences In Belize, Tom Gill, Adam S. Willcox
Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
One of the most complex agricultural and natural resources challenges of our time is reconciling sustainable global food security and biodiversity conservation. Providing undergraduate students effective, learning experiences to develop technical and cultural competency prepares them to address this challenge and become global leaders in their disciplines. A three-year experiential research and extension project brought together 14 students and 10 faculty mentors to investigate smallholder farmers practicing conservation-compatible adjacent to the Vaca Forest Reserve in Belize. We used an agroecological approach to foster systems-level thinking and develop transdisciplinary skills of undergraduate students. Students completed applied individual research projects that explored …
Microplastics Exposure In At-Risk Myotis Lucifugus Bats Of The Northeastern United States,
2022
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Microplastics Exposure In At-Risk Myotis Lucifugus Bats Of The Northeastern United States, Leah Crowley
Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects
No abstract provided.
Plant Neighbor Interactions Of A Native Goldenrod Impact Abundance And Composition Of Pollinator Communities,
2022
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Plant Neighbor Interactions Of A Native Goldenrod Impact Abundance And Composition Of Pollinator Communities, Emma P. Kruse
Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects
No abstract provided.
Life After Death – Does Carcass Biodiversity Scale With Carcass Body Size?,
2022
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Life After Death – Does Carcass Biodiversity Scale With Carcass Body Size?, Troy Warfield
Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses
Mammals play a large role in the ecosystems where some, especially large-bodied mammals, act as ecosystem engineers. Mammal carcasses, particularly those of large body mass act as a temporary island of dense nutrients that support other organisms, including other mammal species, for an extended period. Research in this field currently focuses on the link between mammal carcass size and nutrient availably or on non-mammalian size and biodiversity, but little is available on the correlation between mammal carcass size and its influence on ecosystem biodiversity. Here we ask, does the available biomass (i.e., body size) of the carcass affect its role …
Fish Community Assembly At Multiple Spatial Scales In East Texas Streams,
2022
Stephen F Austin State University
Fish Community Assembly At Multiple Spatial Scales In East Texas Streams, Jake R. Swanson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Stream communities are structured by environmental processes that vary in strength across different spatiotemporal scales. Therefore, revealing how stream fish communities are influenced by environmental gradients may clarify how communities respond to disturbance associated with anthropogenic change. I investigated the relative role environmental variables play in the processes that structure the taxonomic and functional diversity of stream fish communities, as well as historical trends in occurrence and local habitat associated with a species of greatest conservation need within east Texas. The results of this study indicate that stream sites with more habitat complexity and stability support a more taxonomically and …
Assessing The Long-Term Effects Of Natural Disturbance-Based Silvicultural On The Avian Assemblage At The Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Program,
2022
University of Maine
Assessing The Long-Term Effects Of Natural Disturbance-Based Silvicultural On The Avian Assemblage At The Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Program, Carl Pohlman
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Active forest management alters the resources available to forest-obligate species. Large-scale intensive management practices where timber production is the primary objective can lead to notable ecological changes in forest ecosystems. A key concept of ecological forestry is to design forest management activities to emulate natural disturbance regimes as a way to maintain the ecological integrity of forests. The Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Program (AFERP) was undertaken as an experimental demonstration of management reflective of the region’s disturbance regime, which typically produces small canopy gaps. AFERP includes nine research areas assigned to three silvicultural treatments: unharvested control, small gap (expanding-group selection …
Nitrogen Availability In Dune Systems And Its Effect On Root Fungal Endophyte Communities.,
2022
University of Louisville
Nitrogen Availability In Dune Systems And Its Effect On Root Fungal Endophyte Communities., Haley E. Sage
College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses
As global change persists, changes in resource availability can influence plant-microbe interactions. To understand how resource availability can influence these interactions and species diversity, I focused this research on how varying nitrogen (N) levels affect root endophyte communities in the plant species Ammophila breviligulata, an ecosystem engineer in the dune system. I analyzed the relationship between nitrogen addition and microbial community composition across 60 plots treated with three nitrogen addition levels (control, low, and high) in a long-term experimental field site in the Lake Michigan dunes. I identified Ammophila breviligulata's root endophyte community after creating a culture collection and …
Describing The Effect Of Thin Layer Sediment Placement On Coastal Microbial Communities Using Foraminifera Diversity,
2022
University of Rhode Island
Describing The Effect Of Thin Layer Sediment Placement On Coastal Microbial Communities Using Foraminifera Diversity, Elizabeth B. Billings
Senior Honors Projects
Salt marshes are rich ecosystems that play an important role in aquatic food systems and prevent erosion while also providing essential habitats for wildlife. Climate change has resulted in rising sea levels and erosion of these coastal wetlands. Thin Layer Sediment Placement (TLP) is a restoration effort being implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems. The TLP process raises elevation of the marsh and provides substrates for vegetative growth by spraying dredged sediment over existing marsh. The impacts of TLP on microbial populations is not widely understood, therefore metrics are required to study the effects of …
Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes,
2022
East Tennessee State University
Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes, Andrew Demczuk
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes examines the ways we encounter environments as readers/viewers of operas, literature, film, and sound recordings, and how each medium requires different detail-gathering techniques. Respective to the previously mentioned mediums, Sun & Sea (2017), Mount Analogue (1952), El Mar La Mar (2017), and Energy Field (2010) are analyzed by engaging with environmental media studies and invention. Reflecting the nature of each landscape—summits of mountains, aporias of deserts, and mysteries of waterscapes—an elemental approach is taken in investigating how these spaces may be noticed, internalized, recorded, and traversed by both the artist and viewer. …
Diversity Of Bacteriophage In Burkholderia Species,
2022
Bowling Green State University
Diversity Of Bacteriophage In Burkholderia Species, Abigail Price
Honors Projects
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria and offer the potential of a therapeutic alternative to chronic infections that do not respond to antibiotic-based therapies. B. vietnamiensis is one of a number of Burkholderia species involved with chronic drug resistant infections in the lungs of individuals with compromised respiratory systems, as found in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and, most especially, are of particular significance in patients with cystic fibrosis. The diversity of the Burkholderia species is explored by using online databases and looking at bacteriophage or phage-encoding viruses found in B. vietnamiensis. The open reading frames …
Accumulation Of Persistent Organic Pollutants In Marine Mammals: A Case Study On Cetaceans, Pinnipeds, And Sirenians,
2022
Nova Southeastern University
Accumulation Of Persistent Organic Pollutants In Marine Mammals: A Case Study On Cetaceans, Pinnipeds, And Sirenians, Alydia Moorhead
All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are lipophilic semi-volatile organic chemicals that present a range of challenges to marine biota, specifically marine mammals that often occupy a high trophic position in the food web. POPs have become a global problem since they have been shown to cause immunologic, teratogenic, carcinogenic, neurological, and reproductive complications in living organisms due to their resistance to biodegradation and their lipophilic nature. Marine mammals can accumulate these toxic substances through direct ingestion, trophic transfer, adsorption, and maternal offloading. They are susceptible to both bioaccumulation and biomagnification of POPs. Accumulation of POPs is affected by many variables, including …
