Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Bearpaw Reserve Wildlife Monitoring And Mapping With The Wildlands Conservancy, Hope Hansen

Scripps Senior Theses

For my Environmental Analysis Capstone, I worked in a small group to monitor and map the wildlife at Bearpaw Reserve. Bearpaw Reserve, located in Forest Falls, California, is a 600 acre tract of wilderness that is owned by The Wildlands Conservancy. Bearpaw is located about an hour from Claremont, in the San Bernardino Mountains. The Wildlands Conservancy makes management decisions about its reserves while applying conservation research to the real world.

My group’s task was to use trail cameras to gather data on the wildlife at Bearpaw, then visualize this information into a GIS map. We used a combination of …

Effects Of Varying Biochar Concentrations On The Growth Of Lactuca Sativa (Newham Bibb Lettuce), Lauren Holler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this research experiment was to investigate the effectiveness of using biochar in potting soil in terms of plant growth and soil quality. This experiment was carried out using varying amounts (0%, 5%, 10%, and 20%) of biochar in the soil to see its effect on seed germination, plant growth, and soil quality such as pH, water retention, and soil temperature. The aim of the experiment was to identify whether biochar can be used in soil to promote healthier and stronger plants. There were four treatments which included 0% (Control), 5% (Treatment 1), 10% (Treatment 2), and 20% …

Sexual Di(Et)Morphism: Using Experimental Evolution To Test Whether Resource Partitioning Promotes Divergence Of The Sexes In Drosophila Melanogaster, Owen A. Jamieson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Sexual dimorphism has been a long-studied phenomenon in the field of evolutionary biology. Usually, these differences in morphology, physiology and/or behaviour between the sexes are studied through the parsimonious lens of sexual selection. However, there are natural history cases where this lens does not seem applicable. Some species show sex specific morphological traits whose presence may not be due to a direct benefit to reproduction, but a difference in how each sex interacts with the environment and differing selective pressures from the environment on either sex. Darwin even brought up examples of this kind of dimorphism and pondered their existence, …

Sediment Redox-Driven Iron Flux And Phytoplankton Community Responses: Implications For Cyanobacterial Suppression And Functional Stability Across Boreal Lakes, Julia K. Kozak

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Freshwater eutrophication contributes towards the development of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs), but nutrient availability alone does not fully explain variation in phytoplankton community composition or physiological performance. While phosphorus (P) availability has been known to regulate phytoplanktonic biomass, iron (Fe) is an important micronutrient supporting Fe-heavy processes within cyanobacteria (i.e., nitrogen fixation and photosynthetic electron transport). Sediment Fe availability in freshwater ecosystems is regulated by reduction oxidation (redox) conditions at the sediment-water interface (SWI), where nitrate (NO₃^-) has been found to maintain oxidizing conditions and prevent the reduction of Fe(III) to more readily bioavailable soluble Fe(II), …

Moose On The Move: Seasonal Movement Ecology And Hunter Accessibility Of Male Moose In Interior Alaska, Forrest Rosenbower

Biological Sciences

Moose (Alces alces) are an important subsistence and sport harvested species in Alaska, yet seasonal patterns of male moose movement and habitat selection remain poorly understood. This knowledge gap limits our ability to anticipate hunter accessibility and effectively manage populations. In this thesis, I evaluated seasonal space use, movement behavior, and habitat selection of 78 GPS-collared adult males across three study areas in Interior Alaska during 2023 and 2024. In Chapter 1, I quantified seasonal overlap in space use and assessed hunter accessibility. We compared space use between the winter survey season 2023 and fall hunting season 2024. Population level …

Leveraging Mammal Mycophagy To Determine Environmental Drivers Of Truffle Diversity, Brittany Hartsock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many mycorrhizal fungi are hypogeous (truffle-forming), producing underground fruiting bodies. Studying truffles is inherently challenging due to their hidden nature. However, mycophagous mammals provide a unique opportunity to study hypogeous fungi because they rely on truffles as a food source. Although several truffle species have recently been described in the southern Appalachian region, their fruiting patterns remain poorly understood. To address this, we quantified truffle richness and spore loads from 670 Peromyscus scat samples collected across 42 sites spanning an environmental gradient during 2024 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of East Tennessee. We found that truffle richness and spore abundance …

Microplastics In Terrestrial Environments: Consequences To Organic Carbon Sequestration?, Khyla Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and all plant life combined, so even small changes in how soils cycle carbon can affect the climate. A new pollutant is accumulating in soils around the world: microplastics, tiny fragments of plastic that arrive through farming practices, litter, wastewater, tire wear, and the air. Adding microplastics to soil often increases the carbon dioxide that soil microbes release, so plastic pollution could reduce the carbon that soils store. While this trend is concerning, its cause remains unclear. Microbes may be consuming the plastic itself, or the plastic may prompt them to break down …

Prioritizing Fuel Treatments To Reduce Post-Fire Debris Flow Risk In Utah, Kipling B. Klimas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildfire is a natural part of many forest ecosystems, but in the western United States, wildfires have become larger, more frequent, and more severe in recent decades. There are serious problems after severe wildfire, including erosion, flooding, and debris flows that threaten water quality, roads, and communities. Because of this, land managers need better ways to decide where fuel treatments, such as prescribed burning or thinning, can most effectively reduce wildfire damage and post-fire risks.

In this dissertation, I studied how fuel treatments might reduce wildfire severity and lower the risk of post-fire debris flows in Utah. First, I built …

Characterizing Fungal Diversity In The Cumberland River Across Four Urban Sites In Nashville, Tn Using Its Amplicon Sequencing, Leena M. Al-Bunni, Chris Barton, Matthew Heard

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Urban freshwater systems provide both recreational opportunities and drinking water resources, making water quality monitoring a critical public health concern. Since 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has relied on Escherichia coli (E. coli) as an indicator of fecal and pathogenic contamination. However, the use of E. coli as an indicator does not capture fungi, which also inhabit freshwater systems and can act as pathogens or ecological disruptors. Advances in environmental DNA sequencing, such as Oxford Nanopore’s MinION, now make it possible to characterize these often overlooked fungal communities directly. This study characterizes fungal diversity in the Cumberland River, …

It Takes A Village -- An Homage To Florida's Ecosystems And Biodiversity, Noah R. Bastien

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

It Takes a Village is a drawing highlighting the biodiversity of Florida's native wildlife. The included species encompass plants, animals and fungi found in Floridian ecosystems. The swamp panel is an homage to the Florida Highwaymen, and several of the chosen species hold personal symbolism to my upbringing in central Florida and time spent with my grandparents on the Indian River in Brevard County. The species depicted in the drawing are as follows (from left to right, top to bottom): the grey triggerfish (Balistes capriscus), Florida mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), tropical water-clover (Marsilea ancylopoda), Florida …

Intraspecific And Intersexual Variations In Morphometrics And Shell Utilization Of Hermit Crab, Areopaguristes Perspicax (Anomura: Diogenidae), Along Karachi Coast, Pakistan, Altaf Hussain Narejo, Noor Us Saher

Journal of Bioresource Management

The present research aimed to evaluate the distribution, sexual dimorphism, and relative growth of Areopaguristes perspicax (Nobili, 1906) along with host shell relationship and selection along the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. Data of hermit crab and gastropod shells were gathered from the four (Manora, Buleji, Sandspit, and Mubarak) coastal sites of two (rocky and sandy) habitats along the Pakistan coast (2017-2019). For morphometric studies, the crabs were sorted, weighed, and measured for the metric variables: cephalothoracic shield length (CSL), hermit crab total length (HCTL), chela length (CL), chela width (CW), and hermit crab weight (HCW), while for host shell relationship, …

Measuring And Comparing Soil Microbial Decomposition Of Oenothera Biennis Leaves Vs. Stems, Aaron Espinoza, Gabby Hays, Siver Mussa, Timothy Oluwole, Darlene Panvini

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Measuring and Comparing Soil Microbial Decomposition of Oenothera biennis Leaves vs. Stems

Authors: Aaron Espinoza, Gabby Hays, Siver Mussa, Timothy Oluwole, and Dr. Darlene Panvini

Our project focuses on the decomposition rates of Morning Primrose (Oenothera biennis) leaves vs. stems. Studying decomposition provides insight into the health of an ecosystem by considering how microbial interactions and nutrient cycling impact soil quality. Our main question was whether soil microbes preferred leaves of Oenothera biennis over stems due to leaves being easier for microbes to digest. To test this, we gathered Oenothera biennis and split the plants into groups of leaves …

Cycad Health Assessment For Sustainable Collection Management, Lo'ren N. Kyles

Sustainability Conference

Aulacaspis yasumatsui , the Asian cycad scale, is a threat to cycads and causes the plants to decline. This study evaluated pest presence and ecological factors at Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens Florida. Surveys on 28–29 September and 23 October 2026 recorded 27 cycads: Zamia integrifolia (n = 11), Z. furfuracea (n = 11), Cycas revoluta (n = 2), C. rumphii (n = 2) and Encephalartos hildenbrandtii (n = 1). Attributes of the plants, the transparency of the canopy and the distance to paths were recorded. In the follow-up, one leaf was analyzed from each of five non-Zamia specimens. A 5 …

A New Species Of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Scorpiones: Hormuridae) From Similipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha, India, Saurabh Kininge, Tejas Thackeray, Prakash C. Gogineni, Akshay Khandekar

Euscorpius

A new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 is described based on male and female specimens collected from Similipal Tiger Reserve, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, India. The new species can be easily distinguished from all six known congeners by combination of non-overlapping morphological characters such as carinae and granulation morphology of pedipalp and metasomal segments, median eye ratios. The discovery of Liocheles similipalensis sp. n., elevate the total number of species of the genus to seven and represent the fourth species to be described from India. The current study also highlights the need of systematic surveys along with detailed morphological and molecular …

The Buck Effect In Goats: A Review Of Neuroendocrine Mechanisms, Modulating Factors, And Applications In Reproductive Management, Nitira Anakkul, Sopita Suttikrai, Ratree Jintana, Theerawat Swangchan-Uthai

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

The male effect (buck effect) is a sustainable, hormone-free biostimulation strategy in caprine reproduction, in which introducing sexually active bucks to seasonally anestrous does increases luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency, thereby stimulating folliculogenesis and ovulation. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the sensory, neuroendocrine, breed-related, and management factors governing male biostimulation in goats (Capra hircus). Olfactory signals, including the identified primer pheromone 4-ethyloctanal, are perceived through the main and accessory olfactory systems and act together with visual, auditory, and tactile cues. These sensory inputs activate the hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulse generator probably through the medial amygdala …

Native Versus Nonnative Species: Decomposition Rates In Blue False Indigo And Sulfur Cosmos Leaf Litter, Christine Pattillo, Shahtaj Chaudhry, Andrew Golden, Darlene Panvini

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Measuring leaf litter decomposition rates provides insight into nutrient cycling within ecosystems and the contribution of plant matter to soil composition. Different plant species show different decomposition rates depending on their chemical makeup and structural characteristics. Using litterbags, it is possible to track and measure the breakdown of plant material by comparing its initial and final mass over a designated period of time. Tennessee has a range of native and non-native plant species. This study focused on two plants; native Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) and non-native Sulfur Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus). It was hypothesized that native plants would decompose more …

: Examining The Fitness Costs Of Sex-Specific Song In An Understudied Caribbean Endemic (Icterus Portoricensis), Michelle J. Moyer

Academic Affairs

Our ability to develop effective conservation strategies for rare species is impeded by limited knowledge of their distributions, natural histories, and environmental threats. The Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) is an endemic species on the island of Puerto Rico and is currently considered to be data-deficient by the Puerto Rican government, indicating that not enough is known about this species to properly assess the level of conservation priority. Males and females sing different songs, and only males sing during the dawn chorus. This unusual sex-specific separation suggests that male and female Puerto Rican Orioles may be using their songs for …

A Previously Unrecognized Cryptic Taxon Within The Eastern United States Celastrina (Tutt) Species Complex, Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

A unique population of Celastrina is described from the highest elevations, 2784-6643’ (848-2027 m), of the southern Appalachian Mountains, centered on Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Life history aspects are still incomplete, calling for future field research.

A Previously Unrecognized Cryptic Taxon Within The Eastern United States Celastrina (Tutt) Species Complex, Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

A unique population of Celastrina is described from the highest elevations, 2784-6643’ (848-2027 m), of the southern Appalachian Mountains, centered on Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Life history aspects are still incomplete, calling for future field research.

Beyond The Neocortex: Pallial Routes To The Edge Of Sentience, Oryan Zacks

Animal Sentience

In The Edge of Sentience, the sentience candidacy of fishes and reptiles is strengthened if one accepts midbrain-centric theories of human consciousness. In this commentary I attempt to untether the two positions. I suggest that we need not look for a one-to-one match between the neocortex and a single pallial structure outside of mammals. Instead, a sufficient similarity might exist between the mammalian neocortex and the combination of pallium and midbrain in fishes and reptiles. Adopting an evolutionary perspective in the study of vertebrate brains could point to new investigation priorities in human and animal research.