Effects Of Catch-And-Release Angling On Egg Densities In Largemouth Bass Nests,
2017
Bemidji State University
Effects Of Catch-And-Release Angling On Egg Densities In Largemouth Bass Nests, Tyler Robinson
Journal of Earth and Life Science
Predation during early life stages of Centrarchidae offspring are a major cause of decreased reproductive success. For five-weeks Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides defend their broods from invaders such as Yellow Perch Perca flavescens and Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus. The focus of this study was to determine if predation upon Largemouth Bass broods increased as removal time from the nest via catch-and-release angling increased. Sampling was conducted on the Whitefish Chain, MN from 7 May - 7 June 2016, where a total of 29 nests were located and sampled. Three treatment groups were used; immediate catch-and-release, three-minute, and a seven- minute …
Effect Of Abiotic Factors On Bluegill Size Structure In Nine Central Minnesota Lakes,
2017
Bemidji State University
Effect Of Abiotic Factors On Bluegill Size Structure In Nine Central Minnesota Lakes, Ryan Henry
Journal of Earth and Life Science
Bluegill are the most targeted species of fish in Minnesota. In recent years, the abundance of slow growing, small Bluegill has increased within the state. Angler harvest of Bluegill can reduce the average length of Bluegill up to four times the original length. Abiotic factors such as maximum depth, average water clarity, littoral area, and percent littoral area can influence the dynamics of a lake system. There has been limited research on whether these abiotic factors can influence the size structure of a Bluegill population. The objective of this study is to determine if there is a direct relationship between …
A Comparison Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Between Perennial And Intermittent Headwater Streams Of The Mattole River In Northern California, Usa,
2017
Humboldt State University
A Comparison Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Between Perennial And Intermittent Headwater Streams Of The Mattole River In Northern California, Usa, Mason S. London
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Intermittent streams are common throughout the world and comprise 60% or more of total river lengths in the conterminous United States. Despite their prevalence, intermittent streams are understudied, particularly first-order headwater streams, which are vital for maintaining the function, health and biotic diversity of river networks. In June 2016, I sampled five intermittent and five perennial headwater streams in the Mattole River watershed in northwestern coastal California, USA, to compare benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) assemblages between intermittent and perennial streams. BMI samples were collected using a 500µm mesh D-net at eight randomly located riffles along a 150-m reach, and then composited, …
The Effects Of Thermal Stress On Fluorescent Protein Expression In An Indo-Pacific Scleractinian Coral Species, Acropora Tenuis,
2017
SIT Study Abroad
The Effects Of Thermal Stress On Fluorescent Protein Expression In An Indo-Pacific Scleractinian Coral Species, Acropora Tenuis, Anna Knochel
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
The scleractinian coral species that so heavily define tropical coral reefs are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic global warming. Rising sea surface temperatures in combination with light stress causes the photosynthetic breakdown of the coral’s algal symbiont, Symbiodinium. Corals have developed a number of physiological responses to handle acute stressors, such as the production of ultraviolet-protecting amino acids, heat shock proteins, the ability to shift symbionts, and the production of fluorescent proteins. The latter has been thought to play a photoprotective role in the coral holobiont, and studies have shown evidence that corals orient these pigments to divert harmful light away …
Are Mussel Shells Environmental Dna Time Capsules? A Comparison Of Extraction Methods For Obtaining Dna From Shell Material.,
2017
Eastern Kentucky University
Are Mussel Shells Environmental Dna Time Capsules? A Comparison Of Extraction Methods For Obtaining Dna From Shell Material., Kelsey Elizabeth Rogers
Online Theses and Dissertations
Freshwater mussels have become some of the most imperiled species in North America and widespread populations have succumbed to pollution and many other anthropogenic-related factors. With molecular techniques evolving, a recent interest in ancient DNA and museum specimens has emerged and prompted a study to test the ability of several extraction methods to isolate DNA from museum mussel specimens. The purpose of this study was to determine if four DNA extraction methods had influence on total DNA yield (ng/mg) from mussel tissue. The hinge ligaments of freshwater mussels ranging in collection date (1984-2015) were used as the source of genetic …
Natural Environmental Gradients Predict The Microhabitat Use, Fine-Scale Distribution, And Abundance Of Three Woodland Salamanders In An Old-Growth Forest,
2017
Eastern Kentucky University
Natural Environmental Gradients Predict The Microhabitat Use, Fine-Scale Distribution, And Abundance Of Three Woodland Salamanders In An Old-Growth Forest, Joseph Alex Baecher
Online Theses and Dissertations
Woodland salamanders (Plethodonidae: Plethodon)－a group of sensitive, direct developing, lungless amphibians－are particularly responsive to gradients in environmental conditions. Because of their functional dominance in terrestrial ecosystems, woodland salamanders are responsible for the transformation of nutrients and translocation of energy between highly desperate levels of trophic organization (detrital food webs and high‐order predators). However, the spatial extent of woodland salamanders' role in the ecosystem is likely contingent upon the distribution of their biomass throughout the forest. Therefore, a better understanding of woodland salamander spatial population dynamics is needed to further understand their role in terrestrial ecosystems. The objectives of this study …
Comparison Of Cytochrome B Variation And Morphological Features Of Isolated Banded Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma Zonatum) Populations In The Lower Green River And Coastal Plain Systems In Western Kentucky,
2017
Eastern Kentucky University
Comparison Of Cytochrome B Variation And Morphological Features Of Isolated Banded Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma Zonatum) Populations In The Lower Green River And Coastal Plain Systems In Western Kentucky, David Cravens
Online Theses and Dissertations
The banded pygmy sunfish Elassoma zonatum is a wide-ranging species found throughout the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North America. In Kentucky, the populations are found above and below the inner boundary of the Coastal Plain. Due to their geographical separation comparisons in body size and morphological features along with genetic comparisons using mitochondrial cytochrome-b (Cyt-b) were conducted to test relationships between populations. Two sites, Cypress Creek in the Lower Green River system and Rose Creek in the Tradewater River drainage, were sampled from above the inner boundary and two additional sites, Bayou de Chien and Running Slough in the Mississippi …
Sample Collection And Dna Extraction Methods For Environmental Dna Metabarcoding In Headwater Streams,
2017
Eastern Kentucky University
Sample Collection And Dna Extraction Methods For Environmental Dna Metabarcoding In Headwater Streams, Michael Triston Mullins
Online Theses and Dissertations
DNA is found to be free and ubiquitous in the environment where it is no longer associated with the source organism, and is also known as environmental-DNA (eDNA). Methods optimized for specific environments may be able supplement insight to local taxa richness. With the advent of high throughput sequencing and the proliferation of sequence data in public repositories, insights to the biodiversity of communities at the molecular level have been possible. Thus, this study compared commonly used DNA capture (water precipitation and filtration) and extraction (MoBio's PowerWater, Qiagen's DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit, and a CTAB protocol) methods in their …
Assessment Of The Macroinvertebrate Assemblages From The Mesohabitats Of A Headwater Stream-Wetland Hydrologic Restoration In Eastern Kentucky,
2017
Eastern Kentucky University
Assessment Of The Macroinvertebrate Assemblages From The Mesohabitats Of A Headwater Stream-Wetland Hydrologic Restoration In Eastern Kentucky, Rebecca Jo Roberts
Online Theses and Dissertations
The bulk of streams in the U.S. have been negatively impacted by anthropogenic disturbances and the streams of Kentucky are no exception. In recent decades stream restoration has become a common practice in order to improve habitat degradation resulting from land use practices such as channelization. Despite the large amount of effort and funding stream restoration projects represent, only a small portion have undergone post-restoration assessments of the ecological response in the restored streams. Slabcamp Creek, a headwater stream located in the Licking River basin in eastern Kentucky, underwent a stream-wetland hydrologic restoration in 2010 in order to improve hydrologic …
Distribution Changes, Genetic Population Structure, And A Novel Environmental Dna (Edna) Detection Method For Darters (Subgenus Nothonotus) In The Upper Ohio River Watershed,
2017
Duquesne University
Distribution Changes, Genetic Population Structure, And A Novel Environmental Dna (Edna) Detection Method For Darters (Subgenus Nothonotus) In The Upper Ohio River Watershed, Anthony S. Honick
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
In the upper Ohio River watershed three species of small-bodied benthic fish the Bluebreast Darter, Etheostoma (Nothonotus) camurum (Cope), the Tippecanoe Darter, Etheostoma (Nothonotus) tippecanoe Jordan and Evermann, and the Spotted Darter, Etheostoma (Nothonotus) maculatum Kirtland previously existed in disjunct distributions due to poor water quality and habitat degradation. Signs of recovery indicated that these species were moving from areas of refugia into the deeper mainstem waters of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers and expanding their distributions. To provide information for the proper conservation management of these species this dissertation was divided into three stages: 1) distribution records were updated …
Genetic Perspectives On Biodiversity In Rocky Mountain Alpine Streams,
2017
University of Kentucky
Genetic Perspectives On Biodiversity In Rocky Mountain Alpine Streams, Scott Hotaling
Theses and Dissertations--Biology
In alpine regions worldwide, climate change is dramatically altering ecosystems, affecting biodiversity across habitats and taxonomic scales. For streams, the associated recession of mountain glaciers and snowfields, paired with altered precipitation regimes, are driving shifts in hydrology, species distributions, and basal resources – often threatening the very existence of some habitats and biota. Globally, alpine streams harbor particularly substantial species and genetic diversity due to significant habitat insularity and environmental heterogeneity: however, anthropogenic warming threatens to homogenize habitats through the reduction of the cryosphere, thereby reducing biodiversity from micro- to macroscopic organisms and genes to communities. Still, alpine stream biodiversity, …
Short-Term Effects Of Nutrients On A Barrier Island Grassland Community,
2017
Virginia Commonwealth University
Short-Term Effects Of Nutrients On A Barrier Island Grassland Community, Ashley Moulton
Theses and Dissertations
Increased nutrient availability globally has the potential to affect community functional composition of plants in nutrient limited environments, such as coastal grassland systems. Stability of these systems are threatened worldwide by urbanization, as well as effects of sea level rise and increased frequency and intensity of storms, and atmospheric N deposition, associated with climate change. Annual net primary productivity (ANPP), species composition, and functional traits (community weighted specific leaf area (CWSLA), leaf area index (LAI), growth form and photosynthetic pathway) were measured across four treatments to assess multiple resource limitation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and functional community response …
Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Cope’S Gray Treefrog (Hyla Chrysoscelis) Across Habitat Scales And Life Stages,
2017
Virginia Commonwealth University
Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Cope’S Gray Treefrog (Hyla Chrysoscelis) Across Habitat Scales And Life Stages, Logan Mcdonald
Theses and Dissertations
Fire may alter both aquatic and terrestrial habitat used by all amphibian life stages, yet, our knowledge of its effects on amphibians is primarily limited to adult responses. I present an integrated approach to test the response of Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) to fire by examining responses in tadpole performance and survivorship, adult abundance, and oviposition. Tadpoles raised with burned leaf litter had similar survival, but total mass and total length were 440% and 170% greater, respectively, for tadpoles raised in unburned litter. I assessed terrestrial and aquatic oviposition cues by embedding burned and unburned litter treatments within burned …
The Status Of Snapping Turtles (Chelydra Serpentina) In Virginia: Population Viability, Demography, Regulatory Analysis, And Conservation,
2017
Virginia Commonwealth University
The Status Of Snapping Turtles (Chelydra Serpentina) In Virginia: Population Viability, Demography, Regulatory Analysis, And Conservation, Benjamin C. Colteaux
Theses and Dissertations
Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are being harvested in unprecedented numbers in the United States (US) to meet the needs of international markets. Over three million live snapping turtles from farm and wild caught stock were exported from the US to Asia in 2012-14 alone. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, records indicate that 29,860 snapping turtles were commercially harvested between 2000 and 2015. Size limits are often used to regulate harvest pressure in snapping turtles and other game species. I analyzed the historic harvest of eleven US states to test the efficacy of minimum-size limit regulations at reducing commercial …
Silver Nanoparticle Fate And Accumulation In The Aquatic Food Web Of Stream Microcosms,
2017
Georgia Southern University
Silver Nanoparticle Fate And Accumulation In The Aquatic Food Web Of Stream Microcosms, Stefan J. Petersen
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used in 25% of all nano-enabled products and applied for anti-microbial properties. Silver nanoparticles are discharged into aquatic environments through wastewater discharge, runoff, and chemical spills. Once in aquatic environments silver nanoparticles have the potential to harm aquatic organisms. While the fate of silver nanoparticles in lentic systems has been investigated, limited information is available for the fate of silver nanoparticles in flowing environments. The purpose of this study was to compare the fate of AgNPs following a one-time pulsed application simulating a chemical spill, or small repetitive applications simulating effluent discharge, in artificial stream communities …
Quantification And Characterization Of Net Precipitation Bacterial Flux From A Subtropical Epiphyte-Laden Oak Forest,
2017
Georgia Southern University
Quantification And Characterization Of Net Precipitation Bacterial Flux From A Subtropical Epiphyte-Laden Oak Forest, Preston Pound
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Transport pathways of microbes between ecosystem spheres (atmosphere, phyllosphere, and pedosphere) represent major fluxes in nutrient cycles and have the potential to significantly affect microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes. We quantified a previously unexamined microbial flux from the phyllosphere to the pedosphere during rainfall via throughfall (rainfall dripping from the canopy and through gaps) and stemflow (rainwater funneled down the stem). Bacterial concentrations were quantified using flow cytometry and validated with quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) assays for samples from a Quercus virginiana (oak)- forest with heavy epiphyte cover (Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish moss) in coastal Georgia (Southeastern USA). Bacteria concentrations …
Are Weevils Picky Eaters? Community Structure And Host Specificity Of Neotropical Saproxylic Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae),
2017
CUNY City College
Are Weevils Picky Eaters? Community Structure And Host Specificity Of Neotropical Saproxylic Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Jhunior A. Morillo
Dissertations and Theses
Abstract Primary saproxylic beetles play a major role in forest nutrient cycling and making deadwood accessible to other decomposers. Understanding beetle host preferences and patterns of community assembly is critical for their conservation, and for predicting which species might become invasive. This project aims to investigate the ecological and host specificity, as well as the community composition of curculionids in a mosaic of old-growth (OG) and secondary forest on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. The subfamily Scolytinae was expected to be the most species-rich and abundant. Ambrosia beetles were expected to have more generalist species than other curculionids. Old growth …
A Comparison Of Computational Methods For Estimating Estuarine Production And Respiration From Diel Open Water Dissolved Oxygen Measurements,
2017
Virginia Commonwealth University
A Comparison Of Computational Methods For Estimating Estuarine Production And Respiration From Diel Open Water Dissolved Oxygen Measurements, Spencer Tassone
Theses and Dissertations
Diel dissolved oxygen (DO) data were used to characterize seasonal, inter-annual, and longitudinal variation in production and respiration for the James River Estuary. Two computational methods (Bayesian and bookkeeping) were applied to these data to determine whether inferences regarding DO metabolism are sensitive to methodology. Net metabolism was sensitive to methodology as Bayesian results indicated net heterotrophy (production < respiration) while bookkeeping results indicated net autotrophy (production > respiration). Differences in net metabolism among the methods was due to low seasonal variation in respiration using the Bayesian method, whereas bookkeeping results showed a strong correlation between production and respiration. Bayesian results suggest a dependence on allochthonous organic matter (OM) whereas …
The North American River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) On The Department Of Energy's Savannah River Site,
2017
Eastern Illinois University
The North American River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) On The Department Of Energy's Savannah River Site, Emily B. Mccallen
Masters Theses
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) faces a legacy of radionuclide and metal contamination from industrial processes that occurred within the site. The risks posed to ecosystems on the site from contaminants are quantified using the ecological risk assessment process, which often uses the health of a particular species as an ecological endpoint. Northern river otters (Lontra canadensis) are appropriate receptors for studying the effects of long-term, low-level contamination because they are long-lived, higher trophic level organisms likely to accumulate high levels of pollutants. However, little information about river otters on the SRS is known; …
Population Genetics And Distribution Of The Oriental Weatherfish, Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus, In Chicago Area Waterways,
2017
Loyola University Chicago
Population Genetics And Distribution Of The Oriental Weatherfish, Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus, In Chicago Area Waterways, John Belcik
Master's Theses
Oriental Weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus), native to Southeast Asia, are freshwater fish belonging to the family Cobitidae (loaches). They are benthic fish with the ability to breathe atmospheric air, and exhibit an unusual behavior of swimming vertically in the water column in response to changes in barometric pressure. Oriental Weatherfish appear to be successful invaders to North American waterways. Within the last century they have been sighted in freshwater systems throughout the United States, yet the distribution and source of this invasion are largely unknown. This study investigates the distribution patterns, surveying methods, and population genetics of the Oriental Weatherfish within …
