Participatory Science Newsletter 2025_05_20,
2025
University of New Hampshire, Durham
Participatory Science Newsletter 2025_05_20, Mairi Poisson, Malin Clyde, Alyson L. Eberhardt
Participatory Science News
In this edition of the UNH Participatory Sciences Newsletter, we offer news and resources on The Power of Participatory Sciences. These include a story about UNH graduate student Lauren White's work using participatory science data about horseshoe crab spawning in the Great Bay. Another story highlights UNH's Coastal Research Volunteers Beach Profiling Project and another outlines how many UNH researchers at UNH are working with local communities to find solutions to environmental problems. A final article shares information about the 2025 conference for the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences and the poster presented by scholars and students from UNH.
Pollinator Plant Communities Within Restored Montane Longleaf Pine Ecosystems,
2025
Kennesaw State University
Pollinator Plant Communities Within Restored Montane Longleaf Pine Ecosystems, Hanen Van Rossem
Master's Theses
Historically the fire-dependent and biodiverse longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem was the dominant ecosystem of the Southeastern US. This ecosystem’s range was massively reduced due to land conversion and fire exclusion, causing the decline of many native species. Efforts to restore and protect longleaf pine stands are now ongoing with the goal of expanding habitat and refuge for threatened species. Differences in restoration practices and prior land use may influence the extent to which restored habitat patches can support pollinators and their plants. This study compared pollinator plant biodiversity between restored neighboring montane longleaf pine stands that differed in …
Balancing Burrowing Owl (Athene Cunicularia Hypugaea) Protections While Maintaining Renewable Energy Development Within The San Joaquin Valley,
2025
University of San Francisco
Balancing Burrowing Owl (Athene Cunicularia Hypugaea) Protections While Maintaining Renewable Energy Development Within The San Joaquin Valley, Madison Lenzi Mcginn
Master's Projects and Capstones
Balancing the needs of wildlife and people has long been a complex challenge. The San Joaquin Valley exemplifies this tension, as space for agriculture and urbanization compete for land use of native grasslands– often resulting in the conversion of grasslands for agriculture fields, commercialized areas, or energy development. With an increasing number of agricultural landscapes going fallow and the passing of SB-100 in 2018, solar farm development has emerged as an attractive option to offset financial losses from unproductive farmland. However, the same landscapes favored for solar development also provide suitable habitat for sensitive species such the western burrowing owl …
Plastic In The Pack: Assessing Microplastic Risk To Urban Coyotes (Canis Latrans) In The San Francisco Bay Area,
2025
University of San Francisco
Plastic In The Pack: Assessing Microplastic Risk To Urban Coyotes (Canis Latrans) In The San Francisco Bay Area, Elaina E. Herrmann
Master's Projects and Capstones
Microplastics are an emerging concern worldwide. However, their impact on terrestrial mammals, such as Canis latrans (coyotes), has yet to be extensively studied. Coyotes are unique in their ability to adapt to urban environments and have recently begun bridging the gap between marine and terrestrial food webs. This research examines the potential sources and impact of microplastic exposure in urban coyotes in the San Francisco Bay Area and possible food web impacts through literature synthesis and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping. This research examined potential mechanisms for direct and trophic microplastic uptake by coyotes resulting from the anthropogenic, terrestrial, and …
Experimentally Testing A Mechanism Of Urban Adaptation: Are Wild Catbirds Able To Immediately Adjust Their Song In Response To Urban Noise?,
2025
James Madison University
Experimentally Testing A Mechanism Of Urban Adaptation: Are Wild Catbirds Able To Immediately Adjust Their Song In Response To Urban Noise?, Eriberto Osorio
Masters Theses, 2020-current
Anthropogenic noise is loud and low-frequency (low-pitch) sound with frequencies spanning from 1-2.5 kHz in frequency. In noisy urban areas, many birds sing songs with higher minimum frequencies, which can avoid the masking effects of anthropogenic noise. However, the mechanism for an individual to alter spectral aspects of bird song in real time to avoid the masking effect of urban noise is unknown. Immediate flexibility is the ability a bird may use to shifts their song frequency or amplitude in response to noise fluctuations in the environment. Some species that sing higher frequency songs in noisy habitats are not able …
Remotely Sensed High-Resolution Soil Moisture And Evapotranspiration: Bridging The Gap Between Science And Society,
2025
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Remotely Sensed High-Resolution Soil Moisture And Evapotranspiration: Bridging The Gap Between Science And Society, Jingyi Huang, Vinit Sehgal, Laura V. Alvarez, Luca Brocca, Shuohao Cai, Rui Cheng, Xinghua Cheng, Jinyang Du, Bassil El Masri, K. Arthur Endsley, Yilin Fang, Jie Hu, Mahesh Jampani, Md Golam Kibria, Gerbrand Koren, Lingcheng Li, Laibao Liu, Jiafu Mao, Hernan A. Moreno, Angela Rigden, Mingjie Shi, Xiaoying Shi, Yaoping Wang, Xi Zhang, Joshua B. Fisher
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
This paper reviews the current state of high-resolution remotely sensed soil moisture (SM) and evapotranspiration (ET) products and modeling, and the coupling relationship between SM and ET. SM downscaling approaches for satellite passive microwave products leverage advances in artificial intelligence and high-resolution remote sensing using visible, near-infrared, thermal-infrared, and synthetic aperture radar sensors. Remotely sensed ET continues to advance in spatiotemporal resolutions from MODIS to ECOSTRESS to Hydrosat and beyond. These advances enable a new understanding of bio-geo-physical controls and coupled feedback mechanisms between SM and ET reflecting the land cover and land use at field scale (3–30 m, daily). …
New Mexico Cooper's Hawk Demographic Study: 2024 Annual Report,
2025
NMSU
New Mexico Cooper's Hawk Demographic Study: 2024 Annual Report, Brian A. Millsap Dr.
New Mexico Cooper’s Hawk: Publications
The 2024 Annual Report for a long-term (2011 - present) demographic study of Cooper's hawks (Astur cooperii) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Understanding Factors That Drive Wildlife Mortality During Prescribed Fire Management Of Prairie Restorations,
2025
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Understanding Factors That Drive Wildlife Mortality During Prescribed Fire Management Of Prairie Restorations, Hunter M. Griffey
Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses
Fire is a key ecological disturbance, which plays a vital role in maintaining biodiversity and early successional species. For today’s land managers, prescribed fire is key in the restoration and maintenance of prairie ecosystems, halting woody encroachment and creating habitat desperately needed by many species. However, fire may have unintended effects on wildlife populations through direct mortality. Among taxa living in fire-dependent ecosystems, reptiles are predisposed to direct mortality, and several studies have recorded significant mortality during prescribed burns. However, the few studies investigating reptile mortality in prescribed fire are limited by small sample sizes and generally have limited analysis …
Assessment Of Lake Salvador Shoreline Dynamics To Support Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Jean Lafitte National Historical Park And Preserve, Louisiana,
2025
University of New Orleans
Assessment Of Lake Salvador Shoreline Dynamics To Support Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Jean Lafitte National Historical Park And Preserve, Louisiana, Lydia V. Dipaola
LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
High wave energy degrades shoreline habitat between Lake Salvador and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA), Louisiana. JELA constructed a northern breakwater in 2004, and a southern breakwater in 2024 to protect the shoreline and promote restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). This study analyzes Sentinel-2 imagery to quantify coastal loss along the JELA-Lake Salvador using the Change Polygon Approach, assessing annual, cumulative and major storm event-associated shoreline changes for January 2017-2025. SAV cover, nekton diversity, wave energy, and turbidity were measured before-and-after southern breakwater construction to monitor ecological and environmental outcomes. The JELA-Lake Salvador shoreline has lost …
A Genetic And Spatial Analysis Of The Last Megafaunal Species (Tapirus Terrestris) In The Paraguayan Dry Chaco Forest,
2025
University of New Orleans, New Orleans
A Genetic And Spatial Analysis Of The Last Megafaunal Species (Tapirus Terrestris) In The Paraguayan Dry Chaco Forest, Emily Bowers
LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
No abstract provided.
Ghosts In Glass: Ghost Crabs As Judges Of Glass Sand For Coastal Restoration,
2025
University of South Alabama
Ghosts In Glass: Ghost Crabs As Judges Of Glass Sand For Coastal Restoration, Emily Parrish
Honors Theses
Over 60% of the Gulf of Mexico coastline is actively eroding, which has resulted in thousands of miles of lost coastline over the last 100 years. This drastic loss of coastal land highlights the dire need for coastal restoration across the entirety of the Gulf Coast. A vital aspect of restoring these eroded areas is replenishing eroded substrate, traditionally conducted through offshore dredging of substrates which comes with high economic and ecological costs. Recycled glass sand may be able to fill this role and reduce our reliance on dredging while lowering the amount of glass waste entering landfills each year. …
Chromosome Evolution Model Reveals Hidden Variation In Karyotype-Driven Speciation In Ferns,
2025
Clemson University
Chromosome Evolution Model Reveals Hidden Variation In Karyotype-Driven Speciation In Ferns, Thomas Buchloh
All Theses
Because karyotype change commonly generates reproductive isolation between diverging species, rapid karyotype evolution, like that seen in plants, may increase the total rate of diversification. However, few studies have investigated this predicted relationship. Tests of this prediction have identified a positive correlation between the rate of karyotype change (specifically whole genome duplications) and diversification, but tests have been restricted to relatively small and young clades. Fortunately, novel macroevolutionary models have recently become available to investigate patterns of karyotype evolution in large phylogenies, providing new opportunity to investigate variation in karyotype driven diversification. Ferns are one of the most karyotype rich …
Impacts Of Climate Change On Cannibalism And Disease Transmission In The Fall Armyworm,
2025
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Impacts Of Climate Change On Cannibalism And Disease Transmission In The Fall Armyworm, Kale Rougeau
LSU Master's Theses
Climate change may alter host-pathogen dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems due to rising global temperatures and carbon dioxide levels. Here, we examined cannibalism and disease transmission using the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), an invasive agricultural pest, and its species-specific lethal baculovirus, Spodoptera frugiperda multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV), under various potential challenges of climate change. We used three temperature treatments (cooler, optimal, warmer) based on the fall armyworm’s thermal performance curve to simulate a changing climate and four artificial diets with various protein-to-carbohydrate ratios (low, equal, high, standard) to manipulate resource quality from altered carbon dioxide levels. We found that higher …
Restoring Exotic Cool-Season Grass Dominated Landscapes With Clethodim And Glyphosate,
2025
Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust (Crane Trust)
Restoring Exotic Cool-Season Grass Dominated Landscapes With Clethodim And Glyphosate, Eleanor J. Muzzy, Joshua D. Wiese, Abraham J. Kanz
Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies
A major threat to grasslands around the world is the spread of exotic cool-season grasses (ECSG). ECSG dominate vegetative communities and degrade critical habitats. One of the most common methods to treat ECSG is herbicide. To compare how the widely-used, non-specific herbicide glyphosate compared to the grass-specific herbicide clethodim, we conducted a fall spray in November 2023 at two different sites located in the Central Platte River Valley of Nebraska. The following June, we used a modified Daubenmire frame sampling method to gather data on relative cover, species richness, and community composition. After analysis, glyphosate appeared to be more effective …
Robust Sex Determination In The Caenorhabditis Nigoni Germ Line,
2025
Rowan University
Robust Sex Determination In The Caenorhabditis Nigoni Germ Line, Jonathan P Harbin, Yongquan Shen, Shin-Yi Lin, Kevin Kemper, Eric S Haag, Erich M Schwarz, Ronald E Ellis
Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research
Sexual characteristics and reproductive systems are dynamic traits in many taxa, but the developmental modifications that allow change and innovation are largely unknown. A leading model for this process is the evolution of self-fertile hermaphrodites from male/female ancestors. However, these studies require direct analysis of sex-determination in male/female species, as well as in the hermaphroditic species that are related to them. In Caenorhabditis nematodes this has only become possible recently, with the discovery of new species. Here, we use gene editing to characterize major sex-determination genes in C. nigoni, a sister to the widely studied hermaphroditic species C. briggsae. These …
Life After Death: Investigating The Resistance And Recovery Of Fungal Communities To Foundation Tree Mortality,
2025
University of New Mexico
Life After Death: Investigating The Resistance And Recovery Of Fungal Communities To Foundation Tree Mortality, Jessie F. Marlenee
Biology ETDs
Tree mortality can have cascading effects on the composition and resilience of interacting fungal communities. Yet, little is known about the impact tree mortality, distinct from abiotic drivers (i.e., drought), has on these communities. This dissertation focuses on the resilience of fungal communities to experimental tree mortality in a piñon-juniper woodland. In chapter one, I found that piñon mortality reduced piñon fine root biomass and piñon mycorrhizal fungal diversity, whereas juniper mycorrhizal fungi were unaffected by juniper mortality. In chapter two, I revealed that piñon mortality altered the composition and spatial structure of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi in the soil, …
How Bats View Their Flowers: Exploring The Use Of Visual Floral Cues By Nectarivorous Neotropical Bats,
2025
University of Missouri-St. Louis
How Bats View Their Flowers: Exploring The Use Of Visual Floral Cues By Nectarivorous Neotropical Bats, Lindsey R. Dennison
Theses
Neotropical nectar bats in cloud forest ecosystems must navigate and forage in dark, complex landscapes containing an incredible diversity of flowering plants. Despite these challenges, nectar bats are extremely successful at exploiting nectar resources from plants. Much of the sensory ecology behind these bat-plant interactions has been investigated and we know from previous studies that echolocation and olfaction are critical sensory modalities to nectar bats. Echo-acoustically conspicuous floral and vegetative structures as well as sulfur-containing volatile compounds function as signals, allowing bats to sense plants. However, not all plants exhibit conspicuous echo-acoustic and/or olfactory characteristics. Furthermore, many neotropical bat-pollinated plants …
05 - Freeze Severity And Black Mangrove Growth: Influence Of Plant Origin On Side Shoot Development,
2025
Old Dominion University
05 - Freeze Severity And Black Mangrove Growth: Influence Of Plant Origin On Side Shoot Development, Kathryn Bourlier, Katelyn Overstreet, Erik Yando
Undergraduate Research Symposium
Despite a reduction in freeze events and subsequent expansion in the southeastern US, freeze impacts still play a critical role in mangrove morphology and local range limits. Freeze events can impair growth, limit survival, and commonly prompts side shoot development. This study examines the relationship between plant origin, freeze severity, and side shoot development in black mangroves. Our findings show that plants from each location exhibited distinct morphological responses, with similarities more closely linked to environmental conditions rather than geographic proximity. Our work offers insights into thermal tolerance thresholds and implications for mangrove stature in coastal wetlands.
Primates From Senèze,
2025
CUNY Lehman College
Primates From Senèze, Eric Delson
Publications and Research
Senèze has yielded two primate fossils, neither from the recent field work. A partial ulna can be identified as cf. Macaca sylvanus. A nearly complete female skull is the holotype of Dolichopithecus arvernensis Depéret, 1928, now included in Paradolichopithecus. Emended and differential diagnoses are provided for this genus and species for the first time, and the Senèze skull is described and briefly compared to those of other species of the genus. Dental and cranial measurements are provided, along with comparative data. The macaque and Paradolichopithecus are moderately to highly terrestrial, respectively, and they suggest a woodland to more open …
The Impact Of Anthropogenic Infrastructure On Avian Reproductive Success: A Study Of House Wrens In Proximity To Highways,
2025
FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY
The Impact Of Anthropogenic Infrastructure On Avian Reproductive Success: A Study Of House Wrens In Proximity To Highways, Nana-Esi Irie Hanson, Medhavi Ambardar
SACAD: Scholarly Activities
Road infrastructure has multifaceted effects on bird populations, influencing various aspects of their ecology and behaviour. I investigated the impact of road infrastructure, particularly highways, on the reproductive success of House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) in a rural area. I compared the reproductive success of House Wrens in sites close to a major highway (Sternberg Museum Nature Trail) with sites located farther away (along Big Creek) in Hays, KS. I hypothesized that House Wrens near highways would exhibit lower reproductive success. I recorded metrics of reproductive success, traffic volumes, and noise levels. House wrens at the Big Creek site had higher …
