Drought And Coyotes Mediate The Relationship Between Mesopredators And Human Disturbance In California,
2019
Cal Poly Humboldt
Drought And Coyotes Mediate The Relationship Between Mesopredators And Human Disturbance In California, Molly K. Parren
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Mesopredators in California are facing two major changes to their ecosystem: drought and the expansion of human disturbance. As a result, mesopredators are likely shifting their habitat use as well as their interspecies interactions to balance resource needs and risk-taking on the landscape. In response to severe drought, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife deployed 585 camera traps throughout the Mojave Desert and Central Valley documenting mammalian mesopredator presence in a drought year (2016) and a post-drought year (2017). The objectives of this study were to examine spatial patterns of mesopredator occurrence and co-occurrence with a dominant predator, the …
Engineering Eden: The World's Attempt To Outsmart Water Scarcity,
2018
Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism
Engineering Eden: The World's Attempt To Outsmart Water Scarcity, Kaitlin A. Sullivan
Capstones
Countries around the world are running out of fresh water, 43 already live with water scarcity, requiring more water than they have. In 2015 the global water crisis took first place in The World Economic Forum’s assessment of the risks that will have the most significant impact on economies, environments and people. Water beat out 27 other long-term risks including infectious diseases and weapons of mass destruction. What happened to Crowley County on the plains of Southeastern Colorado is a cautionary tale of borrowed water. It's been called the Detroit of Colorado, decimated by the reliance of a single industry. …
Rainfall Changes Alter Plant Communities In Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands,
2018
University of New Mexico
Rainfall Changes Alter Plant Communities In Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands, Timothy Ohlert
Shared Knowledge Conference
Variations in New Mexico’s climate have been detected over the past century and are expected to continue into the future. Some of these climatic changes result in more frequent instances of extreme drought events and alterations of monsoon seasonality, with monsoons being pushed later into the fall. Such changes could make our Chihuahuan Desert plant communities less productive, shift the abundance of the plant species, or have other destabilizing impacts. Our experiment manipulated precipitation in two desert grassland communities at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, NM. Some plots were subjected to an extreme drought event, receiving only 33% …
The Future Of Biodiversity Assessment: Using Environmental Dna And Next-Generation Sequencing To Characterize Biological Communities In The Central Highlands Of Arizona,
2018
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
The Future Of Biodiversity Assessment: Using Environmental Dna And Next-Generation Sequencing To Characterize Biological Communities In The Central Highlands Of Arizona, Courtney Turner-Rathbone
Undergraduate Research Symposium - Prescott
Historically ecological surveys require significant man hours in the field, utilizing methods which can stress species being observed. In using environmental DNA (eDNA) gathered from air, soil, and water, traditional methods may be supplemented or reduced in order to more efficiently utilize funding and reduce or eliminate stress on surveyed species. Water was collected in replicates using aseptic technique from two different sites, 60 miles apart, along the Verde River. Samples were vacuum filtered within 24 hours through 0.45 μm cellulose nitrate (CN) filters to collect eDNA. DNA extraction from the filters was performed. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was …
The Ecology Of A Tallgrass Treasure: Audubon’S Spring Creek Prairie,
2018
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Ecology Of A Tallgrass Treasure: Audubon’S Spring Creek Prairie, Paul A. Johnsgard
Zea E-Books Collection
This book describes the major plant and animal components of Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, an 850-acre National Audubon Society tallgrass prairie in Lancaster County, southeastern Nebraska. In addition to providing a species list of the area’s plants (368 species), there are comprehensive annotated lists of its birds (240), mammals (43), reptiles (23), and amphibians (10). There are also variably complete annotated lists of the area’s butterflies (76), sphinx moths (30), silk moths (7), dragonflies (24), damselflies (11), grasshoppers (9), katydids (11), mantids (2), and walkingsticks (2). Brief profiles of life histories and ecologies of 55 animal and 7 plant …
Cougar Dispersal And Natal Homing In A Desert Environment,
2018
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Cougar Dispersal And Natal Homing In A Desert Environment, David M. Choate, Kathleen M. Longshore, Daniel B. Thompson
Life Sciences Faculty Research
We present a review of cougar dispersal literature and the first evidence of natural (i.e., unmanipulated) homing behavior by a dispersing male cougar (Puma concolor) that sustained severe injuries crossing the northern Mojave Desert. Based on Global Positioning System and ground tracking data, the male traveled a total distance of 981.1 km at 5.03 km/d, including 170.31 km from the Desert National Wildlife Refuge to the northwestern Grand Canyon, where he sustained severe injuries. The interkill interval increased from 7.1 ± 2.7 d while he was in his natal range to 17.5 ± 4.9 d during dispersal. While homing, the …
Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos,
2018
Fordham University
Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender
Student Theses 2015-Present
This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …
From Outside To Online: Unanticipated Directions For Utah Master Naturalist,
2018
Utah State University
From Outside To Online: Unanticipated Directions For Utah Master Naturalist, Mark Larese-Casanova, Jennifer Perkins
Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence
Utah Master Naturalist is an award-winning Utah State University Extension program that promotes stewardship of Utah’s natural world through place-based, experiential field courses across the state. Although successful in eliciting positive short- and long-term impacts, Utah Master Naturalist’s traditional five-day field courses were unavailable to many students and instructors due to constraints of time and location. This case study examines Utah Master Naturalist’s first hybrid course, Desert Explorations, and describes the positive results from our pilot study, how a hybrid course solves availability issues, and how field-based learning theories can be adapted to online education through careful design.
Seasonal Shifts In C3 And C4 Resource Use By A Small Mammal Community Under Changing Precipitation Regimes,
2018
University of New Mexico
Seasonal Shifts In C3 And C4 Resource Use By A Small Mammal Community Under Changing Precipitation Regimes, Alaina Dianne Pershall
Biology ETDs
In light of climate change and projections of increasing temperatures and aridity in the North American southwest, it is essential to understand how consumer populations will respond to changes in the resource landscape. Rainfall varies in timing and intensity and therefore the timing, proportion, phenology, and abundance of C3 and C4 plant resources vary seasonally and annually. Here we examine rodent resource use in the Chihuahuan desert and focus on two distinct precipitation pulses in this system, where spring C3 plants increase production in response to winter rains and C4 plants respond to summer monsoons. We …
Can Omnivores Mediate The Effects Of Degradation?,
2018
Murray State University
Can Omnivores Mediate The Effects Of Degradation?, Hannah Moore
Scholars Week
Omnivores feed at multiple trophic levels and have large effects on community structuring and stability. The magnitude and direction of such effects, whether omnivores stabilize or destabilize communities, remains unresolved. Shifts in omnivore diet and trophic position may be of particular importance to community stability in degraded habitats, where resources are sparse. For example, omnivores may reduce the severity and duration of community responses to degradationby dampening the effects of any disturbance-mediated trophic cascade. The relatively simple food webs of freshwater systems are ideal for studying trophic ecology, and in the western U.S., streams are heavily degraded by overgrazing, beaver …
Examining The Relationship Between Climate And Seasonal Stream Thermal Regimes In A High Desert Ecosystem,
2018
Murray State University
Examining The Relationship Between Climate And Seasonal Stream Thermal Regimes In A High Desert Ecosystem, Hannah Moore, Melody Feden
Scholars Week
Climate change is negatively affecting ecosystems around the world, and in the coming years, scientists predict that these changes will only intensify and accelerate. In the western mountains of North America, climate change projections predict elevated temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier snowmelt. Elevated air temperatures have the propensity to affect water temperatures in sensitive freshwater ecosystems. Temperature increases may cause streams to reach the upper thermal limit for many aquatic organisms, such as aquatic invertebrates and fish, and result in death or dispersal for these organisms. This makes the availability of cold-water refugia in streams that much more important for …
Can Omnivores Mediate The Effects Of Degradation?,
2018
Murray State University
Can Omnivores Mediate The Effects Of Degradation?, Hannah Moore
Scholars Week
Omnivores feed at multiple trophic levels and have large effects on community structuring and stability. The magnitude and direction of such effects, whether omnivores stabilize or destabilize communities, remains unresolved. Shifts in omnivore diet and trophic position may be of particular importance to community stability in degraded habitats, where resources are sparse. For example, omnivores may reduce the severity and duration of community responses to degradationby dampening the effects of any disturbance-mediated trophic cascade. The relatively simple food webs of freshwater systems are ideal for studying trophic ecology, and in the western U.S., streams are heavily degraded by overgrazing, beaver …
Environmental Effects On Drosophila Brain Development And Learning,
2018
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Environmental Effects On Drosophila Brain Development And Learning, Xia Wang, Amei Amei, J. Steven De Belle, Stephen P. Roberts
Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works
Brain development and behavior are sensitive to a variety of environmental influences including social interactions and physicochemical stressors. Sensory input in situ is a mosaic of both enrichment and stress, yet little is known about how multiple environmental factors interact to affect brain anatomical structures, circuits and cognitive function. In this study, we addressed these issues by testing the individual and combined effects of sub-adult thermal stress, larval density and early-adult living spatial enrichment on brain anatomy and olfactory associative learning in adult Drosophila melanogaster. In response to heat stress, the mushroom bodies (MBs) were the most volumetrically impaired among …
Evaluating Current And Future Range Limits Of An Endangered, Keystone Rodent (Dipodomys Ingens),
2018
Humboldt State University
Evaluating Current And Future Range Limits Of An Endangered, Keystone Rodent (Dipodomys Ingens), Ivy V. Widick
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Climate is often considered the single most important factor limiting species’ ranges. Other factors, such as biotic interactions, are often assumed to be included via abiotic proxies. However, differential responses to climate change may decouple these relationships or lead to adaptation to novel environments. Accounting for competition and local adaptation should more accurately describe environmental factors influencing current distributions and increase the predictive accuracy of future distributions. Modeling the endangered giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens) is an excellent application of these model improvements, as the species range consists of geographically and genetically isolated populations experiencing disparate climatic change. …
Life In The Dirt: Factors Influencing The Behavior And Distribution Of Spea Intermontana In Eastern Washington State,
2018
Central Washington University
Life In The Dirt: Factors Influencing The Behavior And Distribution Of Spea Intermontana In Eastern Washington State, Corey Brumbaugh
All Master's Theses
I divided my thesis into two major studies focusing on the Great Basin Spadefoot Toad, Spea intermontana, at the Beverley Dunes (Beverley, WA). The first study explored the effects of temperature and water level on the rate of metamorphosis. We gathered data on rates of development, survival, body mass, snout-vent length, and hind leg length of metamorphs under 4 treatments: 20C x High Water, 30C x High Water, 20C x Water Loss, and 30C x Water Loss. These data show that temperature has a stronger effect on the overall rate of metamorphosis of Great Basin Spadefoot Toads. The second …
The North American Quails, Partridges, And Pheasants,
2017
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The North American Quails, Partridges, And Pheasants, Paul A. Johnsgard
Zea E-Books Collection
This book documents the biology of six species of New World quails that are native to North America north of Mexico (mountain, scaled, Gambel’s, California, and Montezuma quails, and the northern bobwhite), three introduced Old World partridges (chukar, Himalayan snowcock, and gray partridge), and the introduced common (ring-necked) pheasant. Collectively, quails, partridges, and pheasants range throughout all of the continental United States and the Canadian provinces. Two of the species, the northern bobwhite and ring-necked pheasant, are the most economically important of all North American upland game birds. All of the species are hunted extensively for sport and are highly …
Desert Pool {If Every Desert Was Once A Sea},
2017
York University
Desert Pool {If Every Desert Was Once A Sea}, Karen Miranda Abel
The Goose
Desert Pool {If every desert was once a sea} is a site-specific art project by Canadian artist Karen Miranda Abel completed in 2016 while artist-in-residence at Joya: arte + ecología, an arts-led research centre situated in an alpine desert within a national park in southern Spain. The elemental installation represents an envisioning of the ancient sea that occupied the Sierra de María-Los Vélez Natural Park millions of years before the current desert ecology, a time when its highest mountain peaks may have been islands.
Long-Term Changes In A Spatially Subsidized Insular Ecosystem In The Archipelago Of Bahía De Los Ángeles, Baja California, Mexico,
2017
University of San Diego
Long-Term Changes In A Spatially Subsidized Insular Ecosystem In The Archipelago Of Bahía De Los Ángeles, Baja California, Mexico, Thais Fournier
Theses
Interactions between climate change and the processes that structure coastal communities are poorly understood.Long – term weather patterns that include extreme events (e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation, or “ENSO”) allow us to test hypotheses of how changes in weather (e.g., precipitation) will influence communities over long time frames. One system that is particularly vulnerable to climate changes is the coastal ecotone, which occupies 8% of the earth’s surface. A large exchange of resources (spatial subsidies) link habitats across this ocean – land interface, often with dramatic consequences for the recipient systems. Spatial subsidies such as marine input influence …
The Impact Of Climate And Elevation On The Growth And Mortality Of Piñon Pine,
2017
University of New Mexico
The Impact Of Climate And Elevation On The Growth And Mortality Of Piñon Pine, Alice M. Fretz
Biology ETDs
The Southwestern United States is currently experiencing severe drought, resulting in the mortality of many tree species. Piñon-juniper woodlands are an extensive biome in the Southwest, and are highly vulnerable to extended periods of drought that lead to tree mortality. Specifically, Pinus edulis populations are decreasing due to increasingly arid conditions. I used dendrochronology to investigate how tree growth rings of Pinus edulis reflect severe drought in living and dead trees. I also investigated how severe drought affects Pinus edulis along an altitudinal gradient. Tree core samples were taken from currently living and dead trees, as well as from trees …
Divergence In Life History Traits Between Two Populations Of A Seed-Dimorphic Halophyte In Response To Soil Salinity,
2017
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Divergence In Life History Traits Between Two Populations Of A Seed-Dimorphic Halophyte In Response To Soil Salinity, Fan Yang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Xuejun Yang, Dechang Cao, Zhenying Huang
Biology Faculty Publications
Production of heteromorphic seeds is common in halophytes growing in arid environments with strong spatial and temporal heterogeneity. However, evidence for geographic variation (reflecting local adaptation) is almost nonexistent. Our primary aims were to compare the life history traits of two desert populations of this halophytic summer annual Suaeda corniculata subsp. mongolica and to investigate the phenotypic response of its plant and heteromorphic seeds to different levels of salt stress. Dimorphic seeds (F1) of the halophyte S. corniculata collected from two distant populations (F0) that differ in soil salinity were grown in a common environment under …
