Biodiversity Commons^™

Understanding Community Assembly Processes Of Foundation Species Within Hyper-Diverse Ecosystems, Carrie Barker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Foundation species provide the structure for other species and can significantly affect the composition and overall diversity within a community. Multiple foundation species can coexist within a community, and each can have differential impacts. My dissertation aims to understand the effects different foundation species have on diversity and the community assembly processes responsible for structuring diversity within their respective communities.

First, I quantified the diversity of groundcover plants within the prominent foundation species, bunchgrasses, (dominated by Shizachyrium scoparium) compared to groundcover plant diversity within patches of the alternative foundation species bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) and gallberry ( …

Assessing Changes In Freshwater And Marine Food Web Connections Following Restoration On The Penobscot River, Maine, Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Matthew Brewer Ms

Student Scholarship

Oiadromous fish provide ecological subsidies to freshwater and marine food

webs, connecting both ecosystems. A main goal of the Penobscot River Restoration

Project was to increase connectivity between food webs by removing two mainstem

dams, improving fish passage, and reintroducing river herring through stocking.

Oiadromous fish now reach historic spawning habitat that was not accessible for

centuries. As a result, river herring runs in the Penobscot River increased from

2,336 fish in 2009 to over 3 million fish by 2018. To assess food web connectivity in

the Penobscot watershed, I analyzed stable isotopes from samples collected before

(2009-2010) and after …

Microbial Dimension Of Symbiosis And Dysbiosis In Fungus–Gardening Ants, Blake S. Bringhurst

Biology Theses

With symbiotic partners, the means by which a host obtain a symbiont influence the specificity between the host and the symbiont. One such system where symbiont specificity is seen to varying degrees is with higher attine ants. Higher attine ants have symbiotic relationships with the fungal cultivar they grow and the bacterial symbionts in their microbiomes. Among the higher attines, there are two broad groups of fungi. Most ants in the genus Trachymyrmex tend to grow Clade–B fungi, which are a group of undescribed Leucocoprinus species, while leaf–cutting ants in the genera Acromyrmex and Atta tend to grow Clade–A fungi …

The Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Ant-Mediated Seed Dispersal In Missouri, Eva M. Colberg

Dissertations

Many aspects of animal-mediated seed dispersal are vulnerable to disturbance, including partner identity and dispersal quantity and quality. This dissertation explores ant-mediated seed dispersal of the herb Sanguinaria canadensis in Missouri Ozark oak forests, where prescribed fire is a common land management tool. In Chapter 1, I test the definition of a keystone seed disperser using absolute and relative contributions of different ant species to the quantity and distance of seed dispersal, based on field observations of S. canadensis seed dispersal. I demonstrate that the ant Aphaenogaster rudis is better described as a numerically dominant rather than keystone seed disperser, …

Manual Of Sustainable Urban Practices Towards Long-Term Conservation, Haley Kilmer

Capstone Collection

This paper analyzes how urban living and design can be detrimental to the surrounding ecosystems and how it is directly affecting the biodiversity loss of an area. To answer this question, I first did extensive background research on urbanization, climate change, and biodiversity loss as it relates to urban ecosystems. Then, the public’s perceptions were collected through surveys and interviews in order to make meaningful suggestions in the construction of an interactive, biological corridor map. The results showed that increasing the biodiversity of an urban area can help to mitigate many of the common environmental challenges associated with living in …

Taxonomic Resolution Assessment And Biodiversity Evaluations For Deep-Sea Fish Assemblages In A Pelagic Ecosystem Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Krista N. Scheuerman

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Knowledge of community assemblages and biodiversity is important for monitoring health and resilience in an ecosystem. Taxonomic and functional biodiversity of mesopelagic (200- 1000 m) fishes is extremely rich in the Gulf of Mexico. The aim of this study was to compare calculations of biodiversity and community structures at varying taxonomic resolutions for deep pelagic fishes to inform future decisions about deep-sea ecosystem monitoring. This study analyzed biodiversity and assemblage structure patterns from a biological inventory of deep-sea fishes collected with a large mesh, commercial-sized, high-speed rope trawl in the Gulf of Mexico between June 21^st and July 14 …

The First Record Of Scorpiops Bhutanensis Tikader & Bastawade, 1983 From China, With The First Report Of Its Female (Scorpiones: Scorpiopidae), He-Yu Lv, Zhi-Yong Di

Euscorpius

The first record of Scorpiops bhutanensis Tikader & Bastawade, 1983 from China (Xizang). An emended diagnosis, detailed redescription, and illustrations of the species are provided. Its female is reported here for the first time.

Evaluating Non-Invasive Environmental Methods For Detecting Tropical African Pangolin Species To Inform Conservation Actions, Ichu Godwill Ichu

Theses and Dissertations

Tropical African pangolin species are threatened throughout their range due to habitat loss and illegal take. Limited knowledge on distribution has rendered conservation efforts challenging. Methods commonly used for other wildlife species need to be tested for each pangolin species as each has variable ecologies requiring specific detection and monitoring techniques. This thesis evaluates the efficacy of two non-invasive environmental methods for detecting tropical African pangolin species, and consists of two complementary studies; a proof of concept study using soil sourced eDNA from a white-bellied pangolin enclosure in the Columbus Zoo, Ohio, to detect the species, and a field study …

Effect Of Cover Crops, Grazing And Tillage Practices On Soil Microbial Community Composition, Function, And Soil Health In East Central Mississippi Soybean Production System., Namita Sinha

Theses and Dissertations

Integrating crop and livestock is being considered to improve soil health by carbon sequestration. A two-year study (2019-2021) at CPBES in Newton, MS was aimed to evaluate soil microbial diversity in the warm, humid regions, specifically southeastern USA. Amplicons targeting bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fungal ITS2 regions were sequenced. Taxonomic assignment and microbial diversity characterization were performed using QIIME2^®. Soil fungal diversity showed significant differences (alpha diversity, p = 0.031 in yr. 2020 and beta diversity, p = 0.037 in yr. 2021). Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and Mantel test showed significant influence on fungal diversity due to …

A Checklist Of Parasites Of Peromyscus Maniculatus In North America, John Ubelaker, Gábor R. Rácz

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

This document represents a summary of parasites, in the broadest sense of the term, reported from Peromyscus maniculatus from throughout its range in North America. The document provides data from work ranging from paleontological findings to relatively current reports of parasites and parasitism from P. maniculatus and covers viruses, bacteria sensu lato, protists, helminths, and ectoparasites.

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part Xxviii. Scorpions Of Djibouti, František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe

Euscorpius

All scorpion species known from Djibouti are listed, with color photographs and maps of their distribution. Buthus awashensis Kovařík, 2011 known from Ethiopia and Somaliland is reported for the first time from Djibouti. The diagnosis of Orthochirus afar Kovařík & Lowe, 2016 is revised; O. borrii Rossi, 2017 is determined to be a junior synonym of O. afar Kovařík & Lowe, 2016 syn. n.; O. aristidis (Simon, 1882) syn. res. is returned to synonymy with O. olivaceus Karsch, 1881; and O. arenicola Lourenço & Ythier, 2021, is relegated to the status of nomen dubium. Hemiscorpius lipsae sp. n. …

Description, Diversity, And Phylogeography Of The North American Spider Beetle (Coleoptera: Ptinidae) Genus Coleotestudo, Robert Chambliss

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A new genus, Coleotestudo, is proposed for the American species currently placed in the genus Niptus LeConte and are transferred herein. Two new species from Mexico are also described as C. potosi n. sp. and C. nahua n. sp. Distinguishing morphological characteristics for the North American Coleotestudo species are given. The combined set of morphological evidence, DNA sequence data, and a Western New World distribution strongly support the hypothesis that Coleotestudo does not share a recent common ancestor with N. hololeucus and both represent unrelated clades of spider beetles.

During the summer of 2021, Coleotestudo was collected mainly from …

Population Genetics Of Two Sympatric Species, The Round-Tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma Modestum) And The Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus Texanus), In The Indio Mountains Of West Texas, Logan Miles Horne

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Population genetics of two sympatric species, the round-tailed horned lizard (phrynosoma modestum) and the greater earless lizard (cophosaurus texanus), in the Indio mountains of West Texas.

Flora Of Doe Mountain Recreation Area, Johnson County, Tennessee, Benjamin Mccullough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A botanical inventory of Doe Mountain Recreation Area (DMRA) in northeastern Tennessee was conducted to help guide conservation-based management. A total of 484 species were found in DMRA, comprising 94 families, and 285 genera, 10 species listed in the state rare plant list, and 76 exotic species. Two species, Liatris virgata and Lycopodiella inundata, were new state records. Water in the Lycopodiella seep was an order of magnitude more acid than at other sites. An analysis of the wildland-urban interface showed that only 13% of the area was classified as uninhabited. The inventory-invasion index, introduced to quantify the relative …

Ecological And Phenotypic Diversification After A Continental Invasion In Neotropical Freshwater Stingrays, Matthew Kolmann, Fernando Pl Marques, James C. Weaver, Mason N. Dean, Joao Pedro Fontenelle, Nathan R. Lovejoy

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Habitat transitions are key potential explanations for why some lineages have diversified and others have not—from Anolis lizards to Darwin's finches. The ecological ramifications of marine-to-freshwater transitions for fishes suggest evolutionary contingency: some lineages maintain their ancestral niches in novel habitats (niche conservatism), whereas others alter their ecological role. However, few studies have considered phenotypic, ecological, and lineage diversification concurrently to explore this issue. Here, we investigated the macroevolutionary history of the taxonomically and ecologically diverse Neotropical freshwater river rays (subfamily Potamotrygoninae), which invaded and diversified in the Amazon and other South American rivers during the late Oligocene to early …

Riverscape Community Genomics Of Ozark Fishes: A Comparative Framework To Infer Ecological And Evolutionary Determinants Of Genetic Diversity, Zachery D. Zbinden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genetic variation is a crucial component of biodiversity and represents the variability and spatial structure of alleles within and among organisms. Evolution modulates this variability over time through mutation, selection, gene flow, and genetic drift. However, our capacity to test foundational theories of population genetics has always been at the mercy of molecular approaches available to quantify patterns of genetic diversity. Initially, techniques for empirical DNA studies were in their infancy and limited by technologies and the price per unit of genetic information. Because of these constraints, our pursuits have generally been limited to investigations of one or a few …

Evaluating The Functional Traits Of The Pioneering Species: Insights To Forest Restoration, Rovana Mansul Jawani, Nomar Ali Ramoncito, Gretchen Quimson

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

The influence of plant traits on interspecific demographic rates to growth and mortality has recently received an increasing attention because it allows understanding of the underlying determinants of species success especially in open degraded areas. This study examined the trait-based approach in selecting potential species for forest restoration. Five (5) native/indigenous pioneer species were evaluated for functional traits such as plant height, branching architecture, leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, stem density, and bark thickness. All samples were collected from healthy and well grown mature trees growing in secondary forest of Central Mindanao University. The range of values for …

Invasion Of Two Labidesthes Species Through The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway In Mississippi, Benjamin H. Chaffins, Calvin R. Rezac, Robert J. Ellwanger

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

We re-identified the collections of Labidesthes sicculus at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science after a 2015 publication by Werneke and Armbruster elevated Labidesthes vanhyningi to the full species level. Following re-examination of specimens, 64% were identified as L. vanhyningi and 36% were identified as L. sicculus. During our study, a chronological review of the distribution of both species suggested bi-directional invasion through the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Prior to the connection of the two drainages, the only Labidesthes located in the Tennessee drainage was L. sicculus, where as L. vanhyningi was allopatric within the Tombigbee drainage. However, following canal construction, we …

Reanalysis Of Teruelius And Grosphus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) With Descriptions Of Two New Species, Graeme Lowe, František Kovařík

Euscorpius

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Cloacininae Stossich (Nemata: Strongyloidea) From Australasian Marsupials (Marsupialia: Macropodoidea), Ian Beveridge, Lesley R. Smales

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

The nematode sub-family Cloacininae from Australasian macropodoid marsupials is reviewed. Keys are provided to all genera and species currently known. A revised definition of the sub-family and detailed generic diagnoses are provided. For each species, full synonymies and literature citations are included along with known hosts, geographical distributions and associated DNA sequence data. A brief morphological synopsis of each species is provided together with illustrations of the morphological features needed for identification using the keys. Due to uncertainties relating to the division of the sub-family into tribes, only the nominal allocation to tribe is provided. Two new genera are erected, …