Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

The North American Grouse: Their Biology And Behavior, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

The ten currently recognized species of grouse in North America have played an important role in America’s history, from the famous but ill-fated heath hen, a primary source of meat for the earliest New England immigrants, to the ruffed grouse, currently one of the most abundant and soughtafter upland game birds in more than 40 states and provinces. This book summarizes the ecology, reproductive biology, and social behavior of all ten of the extant North American grouse species. It also describes the current status of grouse populations, some of which are perilously close to extinction. The social behavior of grouse …

Evaluating The Myth Of Allelopathy In California Blue Gum Plantations, Kristen Marie Nelson

Master's Theses

It is widely accepted that allelopathy is not only significant, but more or less singular, in the inhibition of understory vegetation in California Eucalyptus globulus (blue gum) plantations. However, there is no published documentation of allelopathy by blue gums against California native species. Here, we present evidence that germination and early seedling growth of five California native species are not inhibited by chemical extracts of blue gum foliage, either at naturally-occurring or artificially concentrated levels. In the greenhouse, seeds were germinated in field-collected soil from mature blue gum plantations and the adjacent native, coastal scrub communities. In petri plates, seeds …

Bathymetric Survey For Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo, Hispaniola, Michael Piasecki, Mahrokh Moknatian, Fred Moshary, Joseph Cleto, Yolanda Leon, Jorge Gonzalez, Daniel Comarazamy

Publications and Research

The two largest lakes on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, Lake Azuei in Haiti and Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, have experienced dramatic growth and surface area expansion over the past few years leading to severe flooding and loss of arable land around the lake perimeters. In order to better understand the reasons for this unprecedented rate of expansion and the resulting consequences a multi-disciplinary team comprised of researchers from Haiti, the DR, and the US have embarked on an extensive data collecting and hydrologic and climatological modeling campaign. While the sensor deployment entails stations that measure climatological data …

The Effects Of Urbanization On Leaf Breakdown Rates In A Rock Island Watershed, Jillian M. Jespersen, Laura Becker, Kortney Hix, C. Kevin Geedey

Celebration of Learning

The ability of streams to break down leaves is widely used as an indicator of stream health. In this study, a series of six streams within the Rock Island, Ill., watershed, which were similar in discharge, order, temperature and pH, were categorized as healthy or unhealthy based on chloride levels. This study was part of a broader study of the Rock Island watershed by Augustana. Maple leaves were collected shortly after abscission, weighed, packaged in mesh bags (approximately 5g per bag) and deployed in the streams for two- and four-week periods. After each time period, the leaves were removed, dried …

Impacts To Anadromous Fish Through Groundwater Extraction, Aaron Hebert

Master's Projects and Capstones

California uses more groundwater than any other state in the United States in order to meet agricultural demand during the growing season when water is naturally least available due to the state’s Mediterranean climate. The state also hosts populations of anadromous fish that are otherwise found exclusively in the wetter Pacific northwest. Groundwater has historically helped maintain baseflow in the summer and fall low-flow periods and acted as a natural buffer against the regular droughts that occur in California. Today, groundwater provides 30-40% of the state’s water supply, but the pumping in many cases has reduced groundwater discharge and baseflow, …

The Mexican Water Forest: Benefits Of Using Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess Changes In Land Use And Land Cover, Maria F. Lopez Ornelas

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the past 30 years, anthropogenic activities like urbanization, agriculture, road fragmentation and deforestation have resulted in changes in the land use and land cover (LULC) in the Mexican Water Forest. Due to the important ecosystem services, and the natural resources this forest provides, in Mexico, it has become increasingly necessary to use new technologies and tools to support the planning, implementation and integration of forest management and conservation plans, as well as ecological and socioeconomic analysis of this ecosystem. Remote Sensing techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been a true technological and methodological revolution in the acquisition, management …

Resilient Rivers Hpr 132g, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Nitrogen, Phosphorus, And Suspended Solids Concentrations In Tributaries To The Great Bay Estuary Watershed In 2015, Matthew A. Wood

PREP Reports & Publications

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads to the Great Bay Estuary are a constant concern. The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) calculates the nitrogen load from tributaries to the Great Bay Estuary for its State of Our Estuaries reports. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to collect representative data on nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment concentrations in tributaries to the Great Bay Estuary in 2015. The study design followed the tributary sampling design which was implemented by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services between 2001 and 2007 and sustained by the University of New Hampshire from 2008 to the …

Plastic Pollution And The Global Throwaway Culture: Environmental Injustices Of Single-Use Plastic, Kristin L. Mcdermott

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

The global throwaway culture has created a cross-ecosystem plastic pollution injustice. The first to suffer this injustice will be the most vulnerable. Our oceans have become our dumpsters. The throwaway culture has created a disrespect of material goods that has turned the earth’s resources into rubbish after a single use. Eighty percent of the yearly 8 million tons of plastic that enter the ocean is single use plastic, such as plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, or cigarette lighters.[1] Plastic has destroyed ecosystems, robbing impoverished communities of natural resources and of a healthy and safe living environment. First to suffer …

An Industrial Chemical Used In Coal-Washing Influences Plankton Communities In Freshwater Microcosms, Danielle Turner

Honors College Theses

In 2014, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM), an industrial chemical used to wash coal, contaminated drinking water in 300,000 homes in West Virginia, USA and raised concerns about toxicity to humans and freshwater ecosystems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that a concentration of 1 ppm was safe for human exposure. Despite the concern for human consumption, it is important to determine if MCHM has negative effects on aquatic organisms in contaminated water, particularly plankton communities that comprise the base of freshwater food webs. I exposed freshwater plankton communities in microcosms to 0, 0.5, 1 or 3 ppm MCHM under …

Brain Morphology Of Madtom Catfishes (Noturus) Reflects Their Ecology, Autumn Goble, David J. Eisenhour

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

Changes In Floristic Composition In The State Forests In Worcester County (Massachusetts) Over 34 Years, Flor A. Monroe

Sustainability and Social Justice

ABSTRACT

CHANGES IN FOREST DIVERSITY OF STATE FOREST IN WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, OVER 34 YEARS PERIOD

The forest in Massachusetts has changed since the earliest colonial settlement and today the floristic composition is more homogeneous. This study investigates the potential change in the floristic composition over thirty years in Worcester County State Forests. Shannon, richness and evenness indices for two periods were compared, and Jaccard index was used to analyze similarity in composition between the periods. The possible influence of severe weather events was also analyzed.

It was found Changes in the floristic composition, but the magnitude of the changes …

Evaluation Of Alternative Strategies To Prevent Leopard Predation On Livestock Around Yala National Park, Sri Lanka, Sanjiv Fernando

Sustainability and Social Justice

In recent years, many livestock herders living near Yala National Park, Sri Lanka have reported livestock losses due to predation by leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya). Despite herders’ attempts to safeguard their cattle, livestock depredation remains an issue, sometimes causing herders to kill leopards in retaliation. In an effort to mitigate the human-leopard conflict, protective cattle enclosures made from steel pipes and mesh wire were introduced to prevent leopard attacks on cattle. This study aims to assess the severity of leopard predation on livestock, understand the methods used in retaliatory killings, examine the effectiveness of existing livestock protection methods, …

Genetic Variation In Long-Term And Short-Term Physiological Changes In Daphnia Magna During Acclimation To High Temperature, Bret L. Coggins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aquatic zooplankton crustacean Daphnia magna must be able to tolerate thermal stress in order to survive their native shallow ponds that are susceptible to drastic seasonal and diurnal temperature fluctuations as well as to globally increasing temperatures. Survival in such variable environments requires plastic responses that must include fundamental aspects of Daphnia biochemistry and physiology. Adaptive response to selection favoring such plastic phenotypes requires the presence of genetic variation for plastic response in natural populations. Adverse effects of elevated temperature on aquatic organisms are diverse and so are their plastic responses; among the most severe challenges aquatic organisms face …

Relationships Between Nutrients, Periphyton Abundance, And Benthic Macroinvertebrate Scrapers In Ozark Highland Streams, Harrison Smith

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

We collected samples from seven Arkansas streams during the months of August 2014 and February 2015 with the objective of determining possible relationships between nutrients, periphyton abundance and benthic macroinvertebrates. We hypothesized that periphyton would be positively associated with nutrients, and that increases in periphyton biomass would increase the abundance and diversity of benthic scraper families. Samples were collected from three transects at each site. The periphyton was analyzed for carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and ash free dry mass and Chl-a content. Macroinvertebrates families belonging to the feeding group of grazers/scrapers were compared with water column and periphyton nutrient concentrations, as …

Stream Benthic Algal Relationships With Multi-Metric Indices Of Sensitivity, Exposure, And Vulnerability To Watershed Land Use Change, With An Emphasis On Unconventional Natural Gas Development, Hannah J. Verkamp

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Unconventional natural gas (UNG) is harvested using a unique fossil fuel extraction method that uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques. The combined methods have expanded the industry both nationally and globally, and development has the ability to transform landscapes and impact freshwater resources. Natural gas wells are often near streams, yet substantial knowledge gaps remain as to how and the extent to which development affects surface waters. Stream algal biomass can respond positively to anthropogenic stressors associated with different types of land use, including agriculture. Benthic algal biomass can also positively correlate with UNG well density and proximity to …

Emergence Phenology And Nematode Associates Of The Woodwasp, Sirex Nigricornis F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), In Arkansas And Mississippi Forests, Jessica Ann Hartshorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sirex nigricornis F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) is a native woodwasp in eastern North America that inhabits dead and dying pine trees during its univoltine development. Sirex noctilio is native to Eurasia and North Africa and was discovered in the northeastern United States in 2004 after a century of accidental introductions across the Southern Hemisphere. Since then, it has spread to seven states and southern Ontario. There is concern about its potential to negatively affect the multi-billion dollar pine timber industry of the southeastern United States. Effective monitoring tools are necessary to track the spread and establishment of S. noctilio. Deladenus siricidicola …

Responses Of Semi-Aquatic Snakes To Drought, Philip Nicholas Vogrinc

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aquatic ecosystems and their associated wildlife are threatened by alteration in the frequency and intensity of precipitation events predicted to affect many regions as a consequence of global climate change. Semi-aquatic snakes serve important roles as predators and prey within aquatic ecosystems, yet little is known about the effects of drought on these species due to their secretive behavior. Long-term studies at an isolated wetland in South Carolina found that drought caused populations of banded watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata) and Florida green watersnakes (Nerodia floridana) to crash. Alternatively, black swamp snakes (Seminatrix pygaea) fared well, exhibiting a resistance strategy by aestivating …

Dietary Effects On The Stoichiometry Of Growth, Regulation, And Wastes Of Ozark Stream Insect Detritivores, Halvor Matthew Halvorson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A widespread stressor, anthropogenic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution can increase resource nutrient content and alter animal community composition in freshwater ecosystems. In this dissertation, I used ecological stoichiometry theory to examine effects of diet nutrient content and leaf litter type on growth, regulation, and wastes of aquatic invertebrate detritivores. I tested effects of leaf litter diet carbon:phosphorus (C:P) on growth and stoichiometric regulation of the detritivorous caddisfly Pycnopsyche lepida and used results to determine a threshold elemental ratio of oak litter C:P=1620 that confers peak growth of this species. This empirical, growth-based approach provided a more accurate estimate …

Depression In Thermal Performance Of Age-Structured Spirodela Polyrhiza Due To The Presence Of Rhopalosiphum Nymphaeae, Mitchell Matis, Chad Brassil, Colby J. Tanner

UCARE: Research Products

Thermal performance curves are keys components of population ecology. We performed this study to determine the effects of aphids on duckweed age-structured models across temperature. Results show a depression in birth rates and maturation of rates of duckweed in the presence of aphids. Regression analysis shows that this depression in maturation and birth is directly proportional to aphid growth rates across temperatures. This hints of the idea of modeling duckweed and aphid growth via nested thermal performance curves.