Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Assessment Of Thermal Preferences And Critical Temperature Tolerance Polygons On Mangrove Fish And Invertebrates From South Florida, Jailynn Konkler

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Mangroves serve as important nursery habitats for several species of subtropical fishes and invertebrates. Southeastern Florida mangrove environments have experienced an increasing frequency of strong hot and cold weather front systems, but little information is known about the temperature thresholds for mangrove-associated prey species that lethally disrupts homeostasis. To assess the vulnerability of mangrove-associated prey species to these short-duration temperature fluctuations, critical thermal methodology (CTM) was used to determine thermal tolerances for two fishes and two invertebrates, using loss of equilibrium (LOE) as the endpoint to determine CTmax and CTmin values as a survivable proxy for death. Physiological tolerances were …

Changes In Animal Vocalizations In Response To A Total Solar Eclipse, Colton W. Morris

ATU Scholars Symposium

My proposed research project will study the changes in animal vocalizations in response to the total solar eclipse that will take place in Russellville, Arkansas, on April 8, 2024. I will use audio recordings before, during, and after the eclipse to quantify changes in animal vocalizations. Most recordings will be in the range of normal hearing, and will primarily detect birds, frogs, and insects. Additionally, I will deploy one ultrasonic recorder capable of detecting bats. From these recordings I will be able to quantify overall and species-specific call rates. Audio recordings will be paired with continuous measurements of light intensity …

Genomic Population Structure Of Great Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna Mokarran) Across The Indo-Pacific, Naomi L. Brunjes, Samuel M. Williams, Alexis L. Levengood, Matt K. Broadhurst, Vincent Raoult, Alastair V. Harry, Matias Braccini, Madeline E. Green, Julia L. Y. Spaet, Michael J. Travers, Bonnie J. Holmes

Fisheries Research Articles

Context

Currently, little information exists describing the population structure of great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran) in Australian waters. Aims

This study used single nucleotide polymorphisms to investigate fine-scale population structure in S. mokarran across the Indo-Pacific. Methods

DNA was extracted from 235 individuals across six Australian locations and a Red Sea outgroup. Population parameters were calculated and visualised to test structuring across locations. Key results

No fine-scale population structuring was observed for S. mokarran across the Indo-Pacific. However, population structuring occurred for all Australian locations when compared to the Red Sea outgroup. Conclusions

Findings suggest a single stock …

Settling Preference Of Nipponaclerda Biwakoensis (Hemiptera: Aclerdidae) On Phragmites Australis Stems, Alexia Catherine Desoto

LSU Master's Theses

Phragmites australis, a wetland grass that stabilizes the Louisiana coastline, has been undergoing a major die-off near the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) since the autumn of 2016. One suspected cause for this plant decline is the attack of an invasive scale insect, Nipponaclerda biwakoensis. We lack information on the host preference of the crawlers, the life stage that decides where to settle and when to start feeding on the plant. The objectives of this study were to identify what positions along the vertical stem N. biwakoensis prefers to settle and what host-plant traits may be influencing this choice. We recorded …

Influences Of Sex, Morph, And Weather On Roosting Distributions In Overwintering White-Throated Sparrows (_Zonotrichia Albicollis_), Rebecca Stephens

Honors Theses

Habitat choice influences survival by affecting access to resources, shelter from predators, mating opportunities, and numerous other costs and benefits. As such, habitat conservation is crucial, especially for migratory songbirds which are declining primarily due to habitat destruction. White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) are a well-studied migratory songbird, but little is known about their roosting behaviors or how those behaviors are affected by sex, color morph, or weather. To determine this, we tracked White-throated Sparrows to their roosts, determined core home ranges, and analyzed the average distances of roost sites to the home range centroids according to these factors. …

Vigilance And Foraging Behaviors Of Two Sciurid Species Between College Campuses And Urban Environments, Patrick Geyer, Zoe Buffington, Lorelei E. Patrick

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

A comparison between the extent that sciurid specimens display vigilance and foraging behaviors on college campuses against specimens within urban environments. Observations of fox squirrels and western gray squirrels were taken from the Squirrel-Net behavioral database used for this project. We found there was a significant difference between the percent vigilance behaviors and foraging behaviors on college campuses compared to urban environments. This suggests that squirrels residing on college campuses are more desensitized to pedestrian activity and foot traffic compared to squirrels that inhabit urban areas.

Checking For Ticks: Analyzing The Efficiency Of Different Tick Collection Methods, Peter Briggs, Lawson Trimmell, Javier Monzón

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Ticks are the most important arthropod disease vectors in both North America and Europe. Field collection of wild ticks is vital for research on the ecology of vector-borne diseases. Dragging and trapping are the two most common methods for collecting wild ticks. Dragging involves a researcher pulling a canvas through a field to collect ticks searching for a host, while trapping exploits ticks’ natural attraction to carbon dioxide to lure them onto a canvas where they get caught on tape. Our study aimed to evaluate which of these two methods is more effective. We chose six sites across three states, …

Materials And Methods Developed For The Recording And Analysis Of Behavior In The Common Marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus)., Christian Wintle

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Materials and methods developed for the recording and analysis of behavior in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus).

Christian J. Wintle^a, Jordan B. Hernandez^a,b,c, Dobromir Dotov^d, and Jonathan B. Clayton^a,b,e,f,g

^aDepartment of Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA

^bNebraska Food for Health Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

^cDepartment of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE, USA

^dDepartment of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA

^eDepartment of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, …

Effects Of Anthropogenic Noise On The Provisioning Behavior Of Western Bluebirds And Artificial Light At Night On Nestling Development, Kerstin H. Ozkan

Master's Theses

Sensory environments are rapidly changing due to increased human activity in urban and non-urban areas alike. For instance, background sounds can interfere with parent-offspring communication and mask cues reflective of predation risk, resulting in elevated vigilance at the cost of provisioning. In chapter 1, we studied nestling provisioning behavior among Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) in response to short-term (1 hr) and long-term (continuous exposure throughout nesting period) noise exposure. Provisioning rates were lower at nests exposed to short-term experimental traffic noise compared to exposure to ambient background sounds. Trial order strongly influenced provisioning behavior, with the decline in …

Comparing Sucrose Preference Between Colonies Of Bombus Impatiens, Kevin R. Corrigan, Becky Hansis-O'Niell, Aimee Sue Dunlap

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Current studies in nectar concentration preference generally take the form of a static laboratory experiment in which a multitude of feeders provide a constant source of nectar in differing concentrations and data is collected on which one is preferred most by bees. Studies like these are important because they seek to gain an understanding of bee foraging patterns. Having a strong biological understanding of these organisms better prepares us to combat issues regarding conservation should they occur. Here, we conduct an analysis on the foraging patterns of two colonies of Bombus impatiens (B. Impatiens) with data gathered from fixed ratio …

The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea Of Unknowns, Jason N. Bruck

Faculty Publications

Housing cetaceans in netted sea pens is not new and is common for many accredited managed- care facilities. Hence, the distinction between sanctuary and sea pen is more about the philosophies of those who run these sanctuary facilities, the effects of these philosophies on the animals’ welfare, and how proponents of these sanctuaries fund the care of these animals. Here, I consider what plans exist for cetacean sanctuaries and discuss the caveats and challenges associated with this form of activist-managed captivity. One goal for stakeholders should be to disregard the emotional connotations of the word “sanctuary” …

Eristalis Tenax Movement Behavior In Response To Light, Temperature, And Food, Jeffery J. Zheng, Zdena M. Janderova, Jason D. Lang

Georgia Journal of Science

Drone flies, Eristalis tenax (Diptera: Syrphidae), are important generalist pollinators and visit flowers globally that range widely in color. The flies’ photoreceptors allow them to sense light wavelengths between 300-600 nm and E. tenax exhibit a positive phototactic response. To understand the effects of light on E. tenax movement, we conducted two-choice behavioral tests to determine their phototactic response to different wavelengths of light across the spectrum (ultraviolet to red light, plus full spectrum white light). The drone flies moved most and quickest toward sunlight, with almost twice the percentage of flies moving toward sunlight than toward black and …

Factors Associated With Acoustic Bat Presence During Spring Emergence In The Appalachian Mountains Of Western Virginia, Emily Kirk Pody

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Studies of threats that bats face during hibernation have increased in response to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has ravaged North American bat populations. However, impacts of WNS on bat ecology during spring emergence, when bats are potentially recovering from infection and allocating resources for reproduction, is relatively understudied. As more bat species become listed at the federal and state level, the need to understand the factors associated with spring emergence is critical for improving conservation guidelines and habitat management practices. Acoustic monitoring is an efficient method for monitoring bat presence for prolonged periods of time, giving biologists …

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Reilly Miller

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Habitat loss due to deforestation is a primary threat to global biodiversity. Clearing tropical rainforests for agriculture leads to forest fragmentation. Forest fragments contain fewer large trees and provide lower food availability for primates compared to continuous forests. Mantled howler monkeys inhabit the increasingly fragmented rainforests of Central and South America and may need to alter their activity and spatial cohesion to mitigate competition and preserve energy in fragments where there is lower quality food. We compared howler monkey activity and spatial cohesion across a small forest fragment (La Suerte Biological Research Station, LSBRS) and a large, continuous forest (La …

Exploring Ecological Drivers Of Evolution Of The Brain, Cognition, And Behavior, Meghan Korte

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Evolutionary theory proposes that increases in brain size confer cognitive and behavioral benefits that offset the expensive investment in brain tissue. However, few studies have examined the relationship between brain size, cognition, and behavior within species. The majority of research has focused on cross-species comparisons, thus there is a need for empirical research within species examining how contrasting ecological pressures select for cognitive and behavioral benefits and how these may evolve in tandem with changes in brain size. My dissertation addresses this gap by examining: 1) Whether selection on brain size is linked to improvements in cognitive ability; 2) How …

Data For Context-Dependence Of An Antipredator Response In Neotropical Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones), Austin Calhoun, Rachel Bowden, Ben Sadd

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Inducible defence strategies evolve in response to temporally and spatially variable predation risk. Selection should favour the expression of these strategies when risk crosses a threshold, but expression may also depend on how effective a given strategy is across different contexts (e.g., social environment). For neotropical harvestmen, aggregation behaviour has been shown to be a group-level defence strategy but can be supplemented by additional behaviour to enhance antipredator defence. A secondary behavioural strategy termed “bobbing” has been documented as being associated with gregarious behaviour, in which individuals rapidly move their bodies up and down. This strategy has been proposed to …

Estimation Of Probability Of Habitat Use Of Roosevelt Elk On The Olympic Peninsula, Vincent Michael Gugliotti

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Estimating the probability of habitat use for a particular species is crucial to the direct management and conservation of that species. Without knowledge of habitat preferences, managers cannot effectively focus efforts on vital resources or landscape types. However, modelling probability of habitat use can be done in several ways which leaves room for variation and uncertainty in the estimates produced by each method. This study is an examination of the variation between two estimates of probability of habitat use while focusing on a particular subspecies of elk that inhabits a unique ecosystem relative to other elk subspecies. I modeled elk …

Using Community Science To Monitor Eastern Box Turtles And Engage Public In Conservation, Sarah Zoppa

Masters Theses

The eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina; EBT) is a charismatic species with populations in decline due to habitat loss, disease, and other anthropogenic factors. However, due to their cryptic nature, studying an EBT population can be a difficult and intensive process. To investigate EBT populations in Coles County, Illinois, we used a combination of community science and computer-based pattern analysis to develop an approach to tracking individual turtles. Citizen volunteers submitted photos of encountered eastern box turtle carapaces for shell pattern analysis along with GPS coordinates of the encounter. We have received 220 submissions from 47 community volunteers. …

An Aggregation Of The Pandalid Shrimp, Heterocarpus Ensifer, On Deep Reef Habitats Of The West Florida Slope, Eastern Gulf Of Mexico, Steve W. Ross

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Heterocarpus ensifer A. Milne—Edwards (1881) (Crustacea: Pandalidae), armed nylon shrimp, is widely distributed in the western and eastern North Atlantic Ocean. In the western Atlantic this shrimp occurs from off North Carolina to Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), western Bahamas, and Caribbean Sea at depths of 170—885 m. Despite its widespread occurrence, ecology or biology information for this species are sparse, and in situ observations of abundance, behavior and habitat preferences are particularly lacking. During extensive submersible and ROV observations on and near deep—reefs in the north—central and eastern GOM, a remarkably large aggregation of H. ensifer …

Better Understanding The Barred Owl, Adam Lee Potts

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis research presents an analysis of barred owl nest site selection in an understudied region of their expanded range. The barred owl has dramatically expanded its range westwards over the last 150 years, prompting multiple conflicting reinterpretations of their species account. Hypotheses of range expansion are reviewed to provide context for this study’s research. This study gathers empirical data on nest site selection in the mixed conifer forests of Montana’s Seeley-Swan and Mission Valleys. Eight barred owl nests were located following extensive territory surveys. Field measurements of tree height and diameter using USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plot …