Drivers Of Post-Fire Vascular Plant Regeneration In The Conifer-Dominated Boreal Forest Of Southern Northwest Territories,
2018
Wilfrid Laurier University
Drivers Of Post-Fire Vascular Plant Regeneration In The Conifer-Dominated Boreal Forest Of Southern Northwest Territories, Alison White
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
In recent years, climate warming has led to an increase in the severity and frequency of naturally occurring fires in boreal ecosystems globally. In 2014, an unprecedented 3.4 million hectares of boreal forest burned in the Northwest Territories (NWT). While much research has focused on post-fire succession of serotinous tree species such as Picea mariana (black spruce) and Pinus banksiana (jack pine), the understory community of vascular plants play an important role in ecosystem functioning but less is known about the response of this component of the system to changing fire regimes. Regeneration strategies such as the ability to resprout …
Forest Structural Complexity And Net Primary Production Resilience Across A Gradient Of Disturbance In A Great Lakes Ecosystem,
2018
Virginia Commonwealth University
Forest Structural Complexity And Net Primary Production Resilience Across A Gradient Of Disturbance In A Great Lakes Ecosystem, Lisa T. Haber
Theses and Dissertations
Forests are an important component of the global carbon (C) cycle and contribute to climate change mitigation through atmospheric C uptake and storage in biomass and soils. However, the forest C sink is susceptible to disturbance, which modifies physical and biological structure and limits spatial extent of forests. Unlike severe, stand-replacing disturbances that reset forest successional trajectories and may simplify ecosystem structure, moderate severity disturbances may instead introduce complexity in ways that sustain net primary production (NPP), leading to the phenomenon of “NPP resilience.” In this study, we examined the linkage between disturbance severity and ecosystem biological and physical structural …
Climate Change And Mountaintop Removal Mining: A Maxent Assessment Of The Potential Dual Threat To West Virginia Fishes,
2018
Virginia Commonwealth
Climate Change And Mountaintop Removal Mining: A Maxent Assessment Of The Potential Dual Threat To West Virginia Fishes, Lindsey R F Hendrick
Theses and Dissertations
Accounts of species’ range shifts in response to climate change, most often as latitudinal shifts towards the poles or upslope shifts to higher elevations, are rapidly accumulating. These range shifts are often attributed to species ‘tracking’ their thermal niches as temperatures in their native ranges increase. Our objective was to estimate the degree to which climate change-driven shifts in water temperature may increase the exposure of West Virginia’s native freshwater fishes to mountaintop removal surface coal mining. Mid-century shifts in habitat suitability for nine non-game West Virginia fishes were projected via Maximum Entropy species distribution modeling, using a combination of …
Sentient Plants? Nervous Minds?,
2018
University of British Columbia
Sentient Plants? Nervous Minds?, Arthur S. Reber
Animal Sentience
The commentaries by Calvo (2018) and Mallatt & Feinberg (2017) on my 2016 target branch out from a common conceptual node like forks in a road. Calvo criticizes me for not acknowledging that plants too are likely to be sentient and claims I have fallen into the kind of category error of which I accuse others ─ a zoocentric bias that fails to grant consciousness to flora. Mallatt & Feinberg maintain that I've gone too far in granting sentience to any species that lacks a nervous system. Calvo makes some good points but there are other issues concerning plant sentience …
Identification Of Taxonomic And Functional Ichthyofaunal Zones Within The James River Basin, Virginia,
2018
Virginia Commonwealth University
Identification Of Taxonomic And Functional Ichthyofaunal Zones Within The James River Basin, Virginia, Joseph L. Noel
Theses and Dissertations
Environmental gradients structure ichthyofaunal communities longitudinally along river networks via the selective filtering of species’ traits. In many instances, these environmental influences have created distinct zones of co-occurring fish species. Zonation studies have most often been conducted with taxonomic data (species x site matrices), but the increasing availability of functional trait data creates an opportunity to build more rigorous understanding of species’ co-occurrence patterns. Notably, zonation studies that use taxonomic data may not reveal the same patterns as studies based on trait data. In this study, we tested for distinct ichthyofaunal zonation in James River Basin, VA using a combination …
Anthropocentrism As Cognitive Dissonance In Animal Research?,
2018
Illinois Wesleyan University
Anthropocentrism As Cognitive Dissonance In Animal Research?, Ellen Furlong, Zachary Silver, Jack Furlong
Animal Sentience
Harmon-Jones et al. (2017) make a thought-provoking suggestion in their commentary on Zentall (2016): Overlooked biases among researchers on animal cognition might lead them to discount the traces of higher-order cognition in animals they study. We find the suggestion both philosophically important and worth further reflection for animal scientists. Harmon-Jones et al. point to two “cognitive dissonance” biases involving the clash between the common human resistance to viewing ourselves as animals/meat-eaters and how these biases might lead to discounting possible advanced cognitive performances in the animals studied. We show how these biases might appear in cognitive research generally and argue …
Diversity Of Water Bugs In Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan,
2018
Women University Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Bagh (AJK)
Diversity Of Water Bugs In Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan, Muhammad Shahbaz Chattha, Abu Ul Hassan Faiz, Arshad Javid, Irfan Baboo, Inayat Ullah Malik
Journal of Bioresource Management
Water bugs fall under the order Hemiptera, suborder Heteroptera, which is further divided into two types, i.e., semi-aquatic (Gerromorpha) and true water bugs (Nepomorpha). They play a vital role as biological control agents and also a source of food for fishes, birds and other aquatic organisms. The present work was carried out to ascertain aquatic Hemiptera in different lentic and lotic water bodies of various sizes in Gujranwala district, Pakistan. A total of 10 species belonging to five families were identified. Species include Nepa ruber Linnaeus, Laccotrephes elongatus Montandon, Ranatra filiformis Fabricius (Nepidae), Corixa substriata Uhler, Micronecta proba …
Can They Suffer?,
2018
Oakland University
Can They Suffer?, Todd K. Shackelford
Animal Sentience
We should treat sentient nonhuman animals as worthy of moral consideration, not because we share an evolutionary history with them, but because they can suffer. As Chapman & Huffman (2018) argue, humans are not uniquely disconnected from other species. We should minimize the suffering we inflict on sentient beings — whether human or nonhuman — not because they, too, are tool-makers or have sophisticated communication systems, but because they, too, can suffer, and suffering is bad.
Predictors Of Fish Assemblage Structure And Dynamics In Atlantic Coastal Plain Streams,
2018
Georgia Southern University
Predictors Of Fish Assemblage Structure And Dynamics In Atlantic Coastal Plain Streams, Rebecca Scott
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Effective management of freshwater fishes requires a mechanistic understanding of the drivers of assemblage composition; in other words, what determines who is where and when. Stream fish assemblages are potentially influenced by environmental factors that act on multiple spatiotemporal scales, but the relative influence of these drivers may vary between geophysically distinct regions. This study sought to determine the patterns and drivers of fish taxonomic and functional assemblage composition in the coastal plain, a region possessing unique hydrologies, faunas, and physiochemical conditions. I addressed this goal using two complementary chapters, both of which utilized environmental and biotic data collected from …
Comparison Of Three Benthic Macroinvertebrate Passive Sampling Devices For Non-Wadeable Streams,
2018
Georgia Southern University
Comparison Of Three Benthic Macroinvertebrate Passive Sampling Devices For Non-Wadeable Streams, Kelsey A. Laymon
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Rivers and streams provide essential ecosystem services to the degree that the monitoring and maintenance of these systems becomes imperative. Biomonitoring provides managers and policymakers with the tools to make informed decisions, and macroinvertebrates are often the object of biomonitoring because they are ubiquitous in most systems and are known to be good indicators of water quality. However, methods for sampling macroinvertebrates in non-wadeable streams (i.e., large rivers) have not been standardized across states and regions and an established method for macroinvertebrate biomonitoring in large rivers of Georgia is not currently available. My study compared macroinvertebrates collected with three types …
Ecological Uncertainty Influences Vigilance As A Marker Of Fear,
2018
Concordia University
Ecological Uncertainty Influences Vigilance As A Marker Of Fear, Laurence E. A. Feyten, Grant E. Brown
Animal Sentience
We expand on the factors that may shape the predictability of risk and the potential impacts on the links between vigilance and fear, primarily in aquatic prey communities. Uncertainty in predation risks has been shown to induce increased levels of neophobia among prey. As a result of this phenotypically plastic response, prey are faced with risk assessment cues that may vary widely in their reliability. We argue that decomposing predictability may provide useful insights into the relationship between vigilance and fear.
Competing Activities As Measures Of Fear And Vigilance,
2018
University of Nyíregyháza
Competing Activities As Measures Of Fear And Vigilance, Ferenc Mónus
Animal Sentience
In animal behavioural research on vigilance, visual signs of alertness are usually used to estimate perceived risk (an internal “fear” state) of free-ranging animals. Different measures of vigilance and competing activities (e.g., predator vigilance, conspecific vigilance, feeding, food handling) provide clues for better understanding vigilance behaviour. How efficiently does an animal in a vigilant/non-vigilant posture devote attention to threats or invest in other activities, such as searching for or handling food? Several species regularly withdraw to a sheltered spot when feeding in an abundant food patch, spending short periods in complete safety. Frequencies of feeding interruptions or false-alarm flights provide …
Compression And Relaxation Of Fishing Effort In Response To Changes In Length Of Fishing Season For Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico,
2018
University of South Alabama
Compression And Relaxation Of Fishing Effort In Response To Changes In Length Of Fishing Season For Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Sean P. Powers, Kevin Anson
University Faculty and Staff Publications
A standard method used by fisheries managers to decrease catch and effort is to shorten the length of a fishery; however, data on recreational angler response to this simple approach are surprisingly lacking. We assessed the effect of variable season length on daily fishing effort, measured by using numbers of boat launches per day, anglers per boat, and anglers per day from video observations, in the recreational sector of the federal fishery for red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in coastal Alabama. From 2012 through 2017, season length fluctuated from 3 to 40 d. Daily effort, measured by using mean number of …
Distance Models As A Tool For Modelling Detection Probability
And Density Of Native Bumblebees,
2018
Cornell University
Distance Models As A Tool For Modelling Detection Probability And Density Of Native Bumblebees, Darin J. Mcneil, Clint R. V. Otto, Erin L. Moser, Katherine R. Urban‐Mead, David E. King, Amanda D. Rodewald, Jeffery L. Larkin
United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications
Effective monitoring of native bee populations requires accurate estimates of population size and relative abundance among habitats. Current bee survey methods, such as netting or pan trapping, may be adequate for a variety of study objectives but are limited by a failure to account for imperfect detection. Biases due to imperfect detection could result in inaccurate abundance estimates or erroneous insights about the response of bees to different environments. To gauge the potential biases of currently employed survey methods, we compared abundance estimates of bumblebees (Bombus spp.) derived from hierarchical distance sampling models (HDS) to bumblebee counts collected from fixed‐area …
An Historical Overview And Update Of Wolf-Moose Interactions In Northeastern Minnesota,
2018
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Centre
An Historical Overview And Update Of Wolf-Moose Interactions In Northeastern Minnesota, L. David Mech, John Fieberg, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer
United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications
Wolf (Canis lupus) and moose (Alces americanus) populations in northeastern Minnesota, USA, have fluctuated for decades and, based on helicopter counts, moose numbers declined to a new low from 2006 to about 2012. Other steep declines were found in 1991 and 1998 during periods when moose counts were done with fixed-wing aircraft; these declines also appeared to be real. Winter wolf numbers, monitored in part of the moose range, had been increasing since about 2002 to the highest population in decades in 2009. However, from 2009 to 2016, wolves decreased precipitously, and the moose- population decline leveled …
Resource Selection Of Free-Ranging Horses Influenced By Fire In Northern Canada,
2018
Oklahoma State University/Shifting Mosaics Consulting
Resource Selection Of Free-Ranging Horses Influenced By Fire In Northern Canada, Sonja E. R. Leverkus, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Marten Geertsema, Brady W. Allred, Mark Gregory, Alexandre R. Bevington, David M. Engle, J. Derek Scasta
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Free-ranging or feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) were important to the livelihood of First Nations and indigenous communities in Canada. The early inhabitants of the boreal region of British Columbia (BC) capitalized on naturally occurring wildfires and anthropogenic burning to provide forage for free-ranging horses and manage habitat for wildlife. This form of pyric herbivory, or grazing driven by fi re via the attraction to the palatable vegetation in recently burned areas, is an evolutionary disturbance process that occurs globally. However, its application to manage forage availability for free-ranging horses has not been studied in northern Canada. Across Canada, there …
The Three Creeks Allotment Consolidation: Changing Western Federal Grazing Paradigms,
2018
Utah Department of Agriculture and Food
The Three Creeks Allotment Consolidation: Changing Western Federal Grazing Paradigms, Taylor Payne
Human–Wildlife Interactions
The federal government owns approximately 47% of all land in the western United States. In the state of Utah, about 64% of the land base is managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The government has historically issued permits to owners of private lands to allow the owners to graze their livestock on public lands. The permits (allotments) are generally of 10-year duration and allow for an annual season of use. In some cases, continued and repeated historical annual grazing practices may not be ideal for permit holders and their communities nor …
Vertical Distribution Of Meroplankton And Bivalve Competition In A Well-Mixed Estuary,
2018
University of North Florida
Vertical Distribution Of Meroplankton And Bivalve Competition In A Well-Mixed Estuary, Jennifer M. Raabe
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
If we want to understand how meroplankton utilize the water column and how their vertical distribution may influence horizontal advection, it is important to study their behavior in the various environments where they exist. In a well-mixed system with physical cues dampened, and no vertical layering, these organisms will have to depend on environmental cues such as light, tidal current, and tide cycle, as well as their own swimming ability to migrate vertically. Plankton and water samples were collected at three depths (near surface, midwater, near bottom) during the summers of 2013 and 2014 from sites within the main channel …
Jealousy In Dogs? Evidence From Brain Imaging,
2018
New College of Florida
Jealousy In Dogs? Evidence From Brain Imaging, Peter Cook, Ashley Prichard, Mark Spivak, Gregory S. Berns
Animal Sentience
Domestic dogs are highly social and have been shown to be sensitive not only to the actions of humans and other dogs but to the interactions between them. We used the C-BARQ scale to estimate dogs’ aggressiveness, and we used noninvasive brain imaging (fMRI) to measure activity in their amygdala (an area involved in aggression). More aggressive dogs had more amygdala activation data while watching their caregiver give food to a realistic fake dog than when they put the food in a bucket. This may have some similarity to human jealousy, adding to a growing body of evidence that differences …
Researchers, Not Dogs, Lack Control In An Experiment On Jealousy,
2018
Oakland University
Researchers, Not Dogs, Lack Control In An Experiment On Jealousy, Jennifer Vonk
Animal Sentience
Cook and colleagues (2018) have developed a clever method to measure fMRI in awake dogs in response to a number of interesting stimuli. As a result, they are able to determine neural correlates of observable behavior. They report that dogs may experience something akin to jealousy because they show greater amygdala activation in response to food being given to a fake dog versus food being placed in a bucket. However, several critical controls are missing which prevent the authors from being able to speak of jealousy.
