Plant Community Responses To Invasive Shrub And Vine Removal In An Urban Park Woodland.,
2015
University of Louisville
Plant Community Responses To Invasive Shrub And Vine Removal In An Urban Park Woodland., Eric Richard Moore
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Counter to what some people think, urban areas can be biodiversity hotspots. Maintaining this biodiversity can be challenging, since exotic shrubs and vines block sunlight and threaten native plant regeneration. Since 2007, the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy (LOPC) has spent $2 million on invasive plant management in Cherokee Park. Before the project began, long-term transects were established by the LOPC to collect baseline presence/absence data on 11 invasive plant species. In 2014, I revisited these transects and documented presence/absence data on the entire plant community. I found that four species (garlic mustard, winter creeper, Japanese honeysuckle, and English ivy) have …
Plant Toxins Influence Diet Selection And Intestinal Parasites In A Specialist Herbivore,
2015
Boise State University
Plant Toxins Influence Diet Selection And Intestinal Parasites In A Specialist Herbivore, Marcella Rene Fremgen
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Herbivores select plants and patches that generally maximize nutrient intake and minimize intake of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). Protein is important for growth, reproduction and maintenance, but maximizing intake of protein is often limited by concentrations of PSMs that are potentially toxic to herbivores and energetically expensive to process. However, the consequences of ingesting PSM are often dose-dependent. At high doses, PSMs generally have negative physiological effects and are avoided, but some PSMs can be therapeutic against parasites at low doses and could therefore be selected. We used Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter, sage-grouse) to test how PSMs influence …
Roe Deer Summer Habitat Selection At Multiple Spatio-Temporal Scales In An Alpine Environment,
2015
University of Rome "La Sapienza"
Roe Deer Summer Habitat Selection At Multiple Spatio-Temporal Scales In An Alpine Environment, Sara Mancinelli, Wibke Peters, Luigi Boitani, Mark Hebblewhite, Francesca Cagnacci
Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications
Habitat selection is a hierarchical process that may involve different patterns depending on the spatial and temporal scales of investigation. We studied habitat selection by European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a very diverse environment in the Italian eastern Alps, during summer. We sampled both coarse-grained habitat variables (topographic variables, habitat types and cover) and fine-grained habitat variables (forage components of habitat) in used and available locations along the movement trajectories of 14 adult roe deer equipped with GPS telemetry collars. We used conventional logistic regression to assess roe deer habitat selection at the seasonal home range scale, …
A Bat-Guano-Derived Δ15N And Δ13C Record Of Paleoenvironmental Change: Zidită Cave, Romania,
2015
University of South Florida
A Bat-Guano-Derived Δ15N And Δ13C Record Of Paleoenvironmental Change: Zidită Cave, Romania, Daniel Martin Cleary
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Because nitrogen isotopes are fractionated along the soil-plant-insect-bat-guano pathway, it may be possible to reconstruct environmental and climatic changes reflected in the nitrogen isotopic composition of guano. A 1.5-m core of bat guano from Zidită Cave (western Romania) provides a record of climatic and anthropogenic influence on the regional nitrogen cycle and paleoenvironmental controls on nitrogen transforming processes. Increasing and decreasing trends of nitrogen isotopic composition (δ15N values) correspond well with changes in the influence of farming practices, deforestation, and forest expansion. These influences likely had a significant effect on the openness of the nitrogen cycle, resulting in …
Métodos Cuantitativos Para La Conservación De Los Vertebrados,
2015
University of Georgia
Métodos Cuantitativos Para La Conservación De Los Vertebrados, Michael J. Conroy, John P. Carroll, Juan Carlos Senar, Jeffrey J. Thompson
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Este libro es destinado para el uso por biólogos del campo y otras personas, incluso biólogos de campo en el futuro que podrían estar en un curso de la universidad y trabajando en estudios y conservación de animales. Nuestro objetivo es que los biólogos usen este libro como (haciendo apología a nuestro colega Evan Cooch) una “introducción suave” al campo de la ecología cuantitativa. Esperamos convencer a los lectores que los métodos y aproximaciones del libro no son solo para los matemáticos, estadísticos y programadores de computadoras, sino que de hecho son herramientas esenciales para practicar la conservación en el …
An Invasive Grass And A Desert Adapted Rodent: Is There An Effect On Locomotory Performance And Is It Modified By Prior Experience Or Familiarization?,
2015
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
An Invasive Grass And A Desert Adapted Rodent: Is There An Effect On Locomotory Performance And Is It Modified By Prior Experience Or Familiarization?, Camille D. Boag
Master's Theses
Kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) are frequently characterized as keystone species for their role in altering soil characteristics, changing habitat structure through seed consumption and dispersal, and being important primary consumers in their ecosystem. They are arid adapted and known to forage in areas with sparse vegetation. Studies suggests densely vegetated habitat to be unsuitable for kangaroo rats because plants are an impediment to their locomotion and predator avoidance behaviors. This study focuses on an invasive grass, South African Veldt (Ehrharta calycina), that converts landscapes with sparse vegetation into dense grassland habitats, and the Lompoc kangaroo rat …
Community Involvement To Address A Long-Standing Invasive Species Problem: Aspects Of Civic Ecology In Practice,
2015
Butler University
Community Involvement To Address A Long-Standing Invasive Species Problem: Aspects Of Civic Ecology In Practice, Rebecca W. Dolan, Kelly Harris, Mark Adler
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
Invasive non-native species (INS) are found in every city around the globe, but their impacts in urban settings as biological agents of visual pollution that block views of natural landscapes and disconnect citizens from nature are not as often addressed as comprehensively as their impacts in natural areas or agricultural settings. The multiple impacts of INS in cities make them ideal candidates for aspects of Civic Ecology Practice, where local environmental stewardship action is taken to enhance green infrastructure and community well-being in urban and other human-dominated systems. We present details of a community driven program focused on removal of …
How Are Rare Species Maintained?: Reproductive Barriers Between Layia Jonesii, A Rare Serpentine Endemic, And L. Platyglossa,
2015
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
How Are Rare Species Maintained?: Reproductive Barriers Between Layia Jonesii, A Rare Serpentine Endemic, And L. Platyglossa, Natalie L. Rossington
Master's Theses
Reproductive barriers are vital to generating new species as well as maintaining distinct species. Investigating reproductive barriers between closely related plant taxa helps us to understand how these barriers are maintained, particularly between rare and widespread relatives. Layia jonesii, a rare San Luis Obispo County serpentine endemic, and L. platyglossa, a common coastal species, co-occur on serpentine derived hillsides and are interfertile. At these locations, L. jonesii is isolated to dry soils near serpentine rock outcrops and L. platyglossa is located on slightly deeper grassland soils surrounding the rock outcrops. On hillsides where they co-occur, I observe two morphologically …
Suitability Of Great South Bay, New York To Blooms Of Pfiesteria Piscicida And P. Shumwayae Prior To Superstorm Sandy, October 29, 2012,
2015
CUNY Hunter College
Suitability Of Great South Bay, New York To Blooms Of Pfiesteria Piscicida And P. Shumwayae Prior To Superstorm Sandy, October 29, 2012, Pawel Tomasz Zablocki
Theses and Dissertations
Pfiesteria piscicida and P. shumwayae are toxic dinoflagellates implicated in massive fish kills in North Carolina and Maryland during 1990s. A set of physical, chemica l, and biological factors influence population dynamics of these organisms. This study employs i nformation gathered from relevant literature on temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbulent mixing, and dissolved nutrients, bacteria, algae, microzooplankton, mesozooplankton, bivalve m ollusks, finfish, and other toxic dinoflagellates, which influence Pfiesteria population dynamics. The research focused on whether conditions in the Great South Bay, Long Island, New York were suitable to blooms of Pfiesteria species prior to the passage of superstorm …
Sediment Loss Of Santa Rosa Island Slopes: An Erosional Study,
2015
CSU Long Beach
Sediment Loss Of Santa Rosa Island Slopes: An Erosional Study, Michael Perez
STAR Program Research Presentations
Ranching began on Santa Rosa Island in the 1840’s, consequently introducing nonnative megafauna that put novel selective grazing pressures on endemic plant species. Their movement patterns also altered sediment integrity as the land was denuded of any stabilizing vegetation. Dense groves of island oak (Q. tomentella) are known to aid in sediment deposition and retention. The groves also function to collect water during periods of intense fog that are common to the island. This experiment sought to quantify the volume of sediment that has been lost on a south facing slope in the middle of the island that …
Radiocarbon Isotopic Classification Of Deep Tropical Forest Soils,
2015
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Radiocarbon Isotopic Classification Of Deep Tropical Forest Soils, Brooke Butler, Karis J. Mcfarlane, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Katherine A. Heckman
STAR Program Research Presentations
Tropical forest soils have an important role in global carbon (C) stocks. Small changes in the cycling of C could drastically affect atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and active cycling of carbon in a forest community. Currently, little is understood of how tropical forest soils will respond to the increasing global temperatures. To examine the effects of warming/ drought on losses of older versus younger soil C pools, we implemented radiocarbon (14C) isotopic characterization of various soil plot samples and depths from the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. 14C was measured using Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from catalytically condensed carbon …
An Investigation Of The Effect Of Malathion On Adaptive Plasticity Of Pseudacris Sierra,
2015
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
An Investigation Of The Effect Of Malathion On Adaptive Plasticity Of Pseudacris Sierra, Michael Jonathan Maples
Master's Theses
This thesis is composed of two chapters. Chapter one reviews what is known about adaptive plasticity in response to predators, describes the physiological systems involved in such plasticity, and outlines the evolutionary consequences of adaptive plasticity. Chapter two describes a scientific experiment that investigates how malathion may impact adaptive plasticity in the Sierran Treefrog, Pseudacris sierra. Anuran tadpoles suffer high mortality rates due to predation. In response to strong selective forces relating to these high predation rates, tadpoles evolved the ability to adaptively respond to predators through morphological and behavioral plasticity. The morphological and behavioral responses are varied and depend …
Latitudinal Variation In Thermal Tolerance And Preference Of Fundulus Notatus And F. Olivaceus: Implications For Temperature Mediated Reproductive Isolation,
2015
University of Southern Mississippi
Latitudinal Variation In Thermal Tolerance And Preference Of Fundulus Notatus And F. Olivaceus: Implications For Temperature Mediated Reproductive Isolation, Laura Kristin Stewart
Master's Theses
Temperature is one of the most pervasive and influential abiotic factors affecting the life histories of fish, regulating a host of physiological processes and influencing behavioral thermoregulation. Fundulus notatus, the blackstripe topminnow, and F. olivaceus, the blackspotted topminnow, are widely distributed species located in drainages along the northern part of Gulf of Mexico (30°N latitude) and as far north as southern Illinois (39°N latitude). However, F. notatus has a much broader range reaching up into the Great Lakes (43°N latitude). Due to their broad geographical range, these populations inhabit a wide range of thermal regimes, thus …
Ecology And Morphology Of The Late Miocene Musk Deer, Longirostromeryx Wellsi (Artiodactyla: Moschidae: Blastomerycinae),
2015
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ecology And Morphology Of The Late Miocene Musk Deer, Longirostromeryx Wellsi (Artiodactyla: Moschidae: Blastomerycinae), Katheryn Y. C. Chen
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Longirostromeryx wellsi, one of the latest surviving members of the extinct clade Blastomerycinae (Artiodactyla: Moschidae), possesses highly derived craniodental morphology that deviates from typical musk deer form. Previous work suggests that the unique anatomy of L. wellsi represents adaptations for occupying open savannas. To test this hypothesis I conduct principal components analysis on five postcranial bones of L. wellsi, comparing them to that of several extant ruminant artiodactyls, which are divided among seven habitat categories. These elements are also compared with the postcrania of other blastomerycines. These analyses indicate that L. wellsi anatomy is most similar to that of other …
Resolving Relationships At The Animal-Fungal Divergence: A Molecular Phylogenetic Approach For Understanding The Ecology And Evolution Of The Protist Trichomycetes,
2015
Boise State University
Resolving Relationships At The Animal-Fungal Divergence: A Molecular Phylogenetic Approach For Understanding The Ecology And Evolution Of The Protist Trichomycetes, Nicole K. Reynolds
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
The Ichthyosporea (= Mesomycetozoea) is a relatively understudied class of unicellular symbionts that molecular phylogenies have placed at the divergence of animals and fungi. Subsumed in this class are the cosmopolitan families Eccrinidae and Amoebidiidae (referred to as “protist trichos” or “trichos” herein), which are considered obligate commensal endobionts of various arthropods, including marine, freshwater and terrestrial hosts. Once thought to be members of the fungal class Trichomycetes due to their hyphal-like growth form and ecological similarity, molecular evidence has necessitated reclassification. However, evolutionary relationships within and between them are still unclear as the number of taxa sampled and/or the …
Assessment Of Disturbance Effects Of An Existing Wind Energy Facility On Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus) Breeding Season Ecology In The Sandhills Of Nebraska,
2015
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Assessment Of Disturbance Effects Of An Existing Wind Energy Facility On Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus) Breeding Season Ecology In The Sandhills Of Nebraska, Jocelyn O. Harrison
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Recent wind energy development in the Great Plains of North America has given rise to concerns of potential impacts on the greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus). Recent studies in fragmented landscapes have suggested greater prairie-chickens may avoid wind facilities, which may lead to habitat loss and negative impacts on reproduction and survival. But, it is unknown if there is a similar effect in contiguous grass landscapes. Thus, we investigated the effect of a pre-existing, 36-turbine wind energy facility on greater prairie-chicken nesting, brood-rearing, and spatial ecology in the Nebraska Sandhills. We captured and marked 78 female greater prairie-chickens …
Discovery And Delimitation: Criconematid Nematodes Of North American Grasslands,
2015
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Discovery And Delimitation: Criconematid Nematodes Of North American Grasslands, Magdalena Jean Olson
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Approximately 200 years ago, North American landscapes were dominated by vast expanses of grassland. The Great Plains, an ecologically complex and diverse ecoregion, extended from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Rocky Mountains to the border of the eastern hardwood forest in Indiana. Now the original tallgrass prairie exists in small widely dispersed remnant patches surrounded by agroecosystems. This study is an effort to characterize soil nematode diversity and population structure within those remnant patches. The plant parasitic nematode family Criconematidae serves as our indicator for nematode diversity, due to its global distribution, high abundance in natural …
Assessing Feeding Preferences And Spatial Patterns Of Lagodon Rhomboides Linnaeus,
2015
Kennesaw State University
Assessing Feeding Preferences And Spatial Patterns Of Lagodon Rhomboides Linnaeus, Alexandria V. Lamle
Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses
Mesograzers have the ability to greatly mitigate the effects of eutrophication in seagrass systems. In this study we look at pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides Linnaeus) as a potential epiphytic grazer and assess feeding preferences during a transitional stage in the ontogenetic diet shift exhibited by these fish. Since pinfish are abundant in seagrass meadows in the northern Gulf of Mexico, their dietary preferences have the potential to greatly impact seagrasses in this system. Twenty-four hour feeding trials were conducted to determine pinfish preference between seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) and algal epiphytes. St. Joseph Bay, FL was also surveyed to …
The Pioneer Of Santa Rosa Island,
2015
California State University - Channel Islands
The Pioneer Of Santa Rosa Island, Andrea Martinez, Michael Perez, Kathryn Mceachern, Sarah Chaney, Ken Niessen
STAR Program Research Presentations
Santa Rosa Island which is part of the Channel Islands in California has a ranching history that goes as far back as the year 1843. While rich in history, the island is no longer “rich” in native plant populations due to the sheep, cattle and other livestock that once occupied the island. As a result of these grazers that the ranchers livelihood depended on, a great disturbance in the native plant population took place. It is up to plants such as Baccharis pilularis, commonly known as Coyote brush, to assist these endangered and threatened plants to once again flourish …
Haverstraw Bay Benthic Habitat Characterization,
2015
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University
Haverstraw Bay Benthic Habitat Characterization, Robert M. Cerrato, Alison M. Flanagan, Roger D. Flood
School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications
High-resolution backscatter and bathymetric maps created by multibeam and sidescan sonar surveys were used to identify five different seafloor bottom types within Haverstraw Bay. Grab samples were collected within these areas to characterize sediment properties and macrofauna. Selected sampling locations were revisited and seafloor images were obtained with an HD underwater camera. Multivariate analysis was used to identify the most important factors explaining variations in community structure. Results indicated that categorical variables defining bottom types, grain size, and water depth can explain about 42% of community structure variation. In addition, shell length data collected for Rangia cuneata, an introduced …
