Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

The Effect Of Changing Substrate On Arctic Aquatic Invertebrates Abundance, Tom Dolman

Michael D. Wilson Symposium

Climate change is directly affecting tundra ecosystems in northern regions, and warming temperatures have caused discontinuous permafrost and thawing sediments across the region. This project investigates how increasing erosion and the foraging patterns of migratory snow geese may degrade habitat for aquatic invertebrates in the upper Mast River, located in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada. In the past two decades, many of the important species of aquatic invertebrates have shown declines. Declining invertebrate populations are predicted to affect aquatic ecosystems and decrease the resources available to shorebirds and waterfowl, which breed and migrate through this area.

Environmental Health - The Impact Of Oil Sands Mining On Peatland Ecosystems In Alberta, Canada, Melanie A. Vile

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

Artisanal And Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling In Saint Vincent And The Grenadines (Eastern Caribbean): History, Catch Characteristics, And Needs For Research And Management, Russell Fielding, Jeremy J. Kiszka

Honors College Faculty Publications

Whaling has been a contentious international environmental issue for decades and carries complex ecological and socioeconomic implications. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), a small archipelagic nation located in the Eastern Caribbean, present-day whaling traces its origin to local interaction with American-based whalers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. When American whaling in the region ceased, local shore-based whaling arose to fill the niche and to exploit the remaining, though diminished, stocks of large whales, as well as stocks of small cetaceans that the American whalers had not targeted as heavily. After a period of expansion throughout the …

Microplastics: Nacogdoches County’S Hidden Threat, Jordan Stanford, Sydney Matlock, Courtney Sims, Samantha Montes

Undergraduate Research Conference

Microplastics and their threat to marine environments are well known, but studies in freshwater environments are few and far between. Microplastics can be created by the breaking down of plastics or in the process of making plastics. They affect biological lifeforms in a multitude of ways, water temperature, permeability of the sediment. Pollution in Texas waterways have motivated groups like the Environmental Protection Agency, Trash Free Texas, and Environment Texas to get involved. The objectives of this study are two analyze Bonita and La Nana Bayou for microplastic presence and to educate and create awareness for Nacogdoches County on microplastics. …

Using Enclosed Y-Mazes To Assess Chemosensory Behavior In Reptiles, M. Rockwell Parker, Andrea F. Currylow, Eric A. Tillman, Charlotte J. Robinson, Jilian M. Josimovich, Isabella M.G. Bukovich, Lauren A. Nazarian, Melia G. Nafus, Bryan M. Kluever, Amy A. Yackel Adams

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Reptiles utilize a variety of environmental cues to inform and drive animal behavior such as chemical scent trails produced by food or conspecifics. Decrypting the scent-trailing behavior of vertebrates, particularly invasive species, enables the discovery of cues that induce exploratory behavior and can aid in the development of valuable basic and applied biological tools. However, pinpointing behaviors dominantly driven by chemical cues versus other competing environmental cues can be challenging. Y-mazes are common tools used in animal behavior research that allow quantification of vertebrate chemosensory behavior across a range of taxa. By reducing external stimuli, Y-mazes remove confounding factors and …

Adaptive Plasticity Of Coloration In Response To Environmental Change, Karissa Coffield

Scholars Week

When rapid environmental changes occur, different selective forces can create phenotypic trade-offs in which a trait can provide fitness benefits or costs under different environmental conditions. Amphibians are particularly vulnerable to environmental change, and previous research has revealed that some species will plastically respond to variation in temperature and ultra-violet radiation (UVR) by altering their coloration. Divergent selection on coloration may change with elevation and climate induced shifts in temperature because high temperatures are likely to result in lighter color morphs but as elevation increases, UVR exposure increases leading to the prediction that darker color morphs will be more common. …

Using Modeling To Investigate Factors Driving Avian Diversity In Urban Ecosystems, Clay Bliznick

Scholars Week

Anthropogenic influences have altered global landscapes considerably throughout the past two centuries, resulting in the decline of natural land cover types. Conversely, land cover types such as cropland and urban areas that are derived from human activities have experienced vast expansion. This landscape transition has serious implications for ecosystem services. To mitigate the loss of these services, it is necessary to maintain ecological integrity within these anthropogenically-influenced systems. Being able to support high biodiversity is an indicator of well-functioning ecosystems, thus quantifying biodiversity and assessing its contributing factors can be useful for developing management strategies in artificial environments. Our objective …

S Is For Sandhill: A Crane Alphabet, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This is a book of cranes, from A to Z, written and illustrated by the world’s foremost authority on the 15 species of these wonderful and ancient birds. It is a book for all ages, and for all who love and marvel at the beauty, order, and variety of the natural world.

Cranes exhibit complex behavior, pair-bonding, and fascinating social interactions. They migrate huge distances, crossing continents, oceans, and mountains between their nesting and wintering areas. Seven of the world’s 15 crane species are listed as “vulnerable,” three as “endangered,” one as “critically endangered,” and only three as of “least …

Habitat Partitioning And Associated Morphological Differences Among Three Species Of Catostomidae (Teleostei: Actinopterygii) In The South Fork Roanoke River, Virginia, Steven L. Powers, Dakota R. Spruill

Virginia Journal of Science

The upper Roanoke River has 11 species of Catostomidae including Thoburnia rhothoeca, Torrent Sucker; Moxostoma cervinum, Blacktip Jumprock; and Moxostoma ariommum, Bigeye Jumprock. Resource partitioning appears to be a key component of maintaining diverse fish assemblages with habitat and food partitioning cited as especially important in communities containing members of the same family. The diets of these species have been documented in previous work revealing only modest differences among them. Snorkeling observations and subsequent quantification of microhabitat were conducted to illuminate habitat partitioning among these morphologically and ecologically similar species. Thoburnia rhothoeca inhabited the shallowest, fastest water, over the …

Assessing And Mapping The Spatial-Temporal Change In Forest Phenology Of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Using Moderate Resolution Satellite, Bailey Ytterdahl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study focuses on coastal forests in Kenya that have some of the highest variety of flora and fauna, specifically Arabuko Sokoke Forest. Arabuko Sokoke Forest is located 110 miles north of Mombasa and 18 kilometers south of Malindi. This forest is known to be a worldwide biodiversity hotspot that is home to endemic and rare plants and animals. Within the Arabuko Sokoke Forest ecosystem, there are two main issues that challenge the conservation of the area. First, there has been more competition for land, primarily for agriculture and development. Second, there is an increase demand for forest resources due …

An Assessment Of Terrestrial Decapoda Diversity Across Three Ecological Zones In Mida Creek, Kenya, Reese Yount

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mangroves make up one of the most effective natural remedies at combating climate change today. They represent great commercial interest worldwide and yet, are being degraded at an unsustainable rate. If successful mangrove conservation plans are to be implemented for our posterity, mangrove ecosystems need to be better understood at the community level. Mangrove crabs make up the most diverse and populace mangrove inhabitants. They are classified as ecosystem engineers and their potential for being used as bioindicators makes them integral to assessing mangrove health. Yet, their diversity and distribution patterns are not well understood. The aim of this study …

The Effect Of Storm Events On Diet Of Adult Mummichogs (Fundulus Heteroclitus), Jessica S. Thompson, Cade P. Cobbs, Emma S. Dryden, Heather D. Harwell

Virginia Journal of Science

More frequent storms due to climate change may impact estuarine species such as the mummichog (Fundulus hetereoclitus), an ecologically important salt marsh fish. This study investigated the effect of storm events and month on consumption of terrestrial insects by mummichogs in Hoffler Creek, Portsmouth, VA, as well as the effect of storms on consumption of major categories of benthic prey. Samples were taken monthly in the summers of 2017 and 2019. Additional paired samples were taken in June and July 2019, with the first collection during dry weather and the second during a subsequent storm. Month had a …

Seed Rain–Successional Feedbacks In Wet Tropical Forests, Nohemi Huanca Nuñez, Robin L. Chazdon, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Abstract

Tropical forest regeneration after abandonment of former agricultural land depends critically on the input of tree seeds, yet seed dispersal is increasingly disrupted in contemporary human-modified landscapes. Here, we introduce the concept of seed rain–successional feedbacks as a deterministic process in which seed rain is shaped by successional dynamics internal to a forest site and that acts to reinforce priority effects. We used a combination of time series and chronosequence approaches to investigate how the quantity and taxonomic and functional composition of seed rain change during succession and to evaluate the strength of seed rain–successional feedbacks, relative to other …

Unprecedented Migratory Bird Die-Off: A Citizen-Based Analysis On The Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Mass Mortality Events In The Western United States, Di Yang, Anni Yang, Jue Yang, Rongting Xu, Han Qiu

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Extensive, severe wildfires, and wildfire-induced smoke occurred across the western and central United States since August 2020. Wildfires resulting in the loss of habitats and emission of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds pose serious threatens to wildlife and human populations, especially for avian species, the respiratory system of which are sensitive to air pollutions. At the same time, the extreme weather (e.g., snowstorms) in late summer may also impact bird migration by cutting off their food supply and promoting their migration before they were physiologically ready. In this study, we investigated the environmental drivers of massive bird die-offs by …

Morph- And Sex-Specific Differences In Corticosterone Of The Arizona Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma Mavortium Nebulosum), Megan Zerger

Scholars Week

Life history morph, sex, and body condition are traits that may influence stress within salamander populations because of differences in physiology and environmental conditions. Given widespread declines and the effects chronic stress can have on amphibian health, it is important to understand within-population drivers of stress and how population level variation may influence population viability. Thus, the objective of our study was to assess how corticosterone varies within the Arizona tiger salamander (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum) population at the Mexican Cut Nature Preserve. We used a non-invasive skin swabbing method to collect baseline and elevated corticosterone from paedomorph (aquatic …

Vertebrate Impact On A Newly Deployed Shoreline Stabilization Project By Wildlife Camera Analysis, Julia Rifenberg, Jason Litwak, Rebecca Fillyaw

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Living shoreline stabilization is a technique that utilizes plants and other natural elements to protect estuarine coasts. Research has provided minimal information about which vertebrate species utilize living shorelines post-deployment. For this project, ten wildlife cameras were placed along a living shoreline site in Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) to document which vertebrate species utilize the living shoreline and surrounding vegetation. This shoreline was stabilized with red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) and eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) shell bags in June 2019. The cameras, activated by motion sensors, remained at the site for five days a month for seven …

Evaluation Of The Taxonomic Status Of Eurytides Marcellus Form “Floridensis” (W. Holland, 1898) (Papilionoidea, Papilioninae, Leptocircini), Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The purpose of this paper is to firmly identify subspecific authorship of the name floridensis for the Floridian population of Eurytides marcellus (Cramer, 1779), which I recognize as a distinct, though slightly differentiated, subspecies ranging north and west along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal regions. Though the name has been in historical use by multiple authors since description by William J. Holland (1898), it has not been readily evident which, if any, published work to date clearly and validly elevated the name to subspecific rank. The name “floridensis” is not preoccupied by any other members of …

Pupal Polymorphism Of The Bog Copper Butterfly Lycaena (Epidemia) Epixanthe (Bsd. & Le C. [1835]) (Lycaenidae: Lycaeninae) In New Jersey, David M. Wright

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The immature stages of the Bog Copper butterfly, Lycaena epixanthe, were described in detail by the author nearly forty years ago. Two different pupal colors were interpreted to represent distinct separate morphs with genetically-fixed incidences. Reassessment of the data discloses a pattern of progressive color change of each individual pupa throughout the pupal period. This transforming strategy is adaptive and may reduce predator recognition.

Plant Community Response To The Combined Effects Of Elevation, And Simulated Nutrient And Sediment Loading In Sagittaria Lancifolia-Dominated Wetlands, Donnie Day

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal wetlands are experiencing threats to their long-term sustainability brought about by the combined effects of relative sea-level rise and human modifications to hydrology, sediment delivery and nutrient loading. Restoration and management strategies can include adding sediment to the surface of deteriorating marshes to facilitate positive feedbacks among elevation, plant productivity, sediment trapping, and accretion; however, if delivered using nitrate-enriched river waters, belowground biomass and soil organic matter pools may be negatively affected, resulting in the acceleration of wetland loss. Overall, there is limited information on the combined effects of nutrient loading, sedimentation, and flooding dynamics in regulating feedbacks among …

Dietary Overlap Between Native And Exotic Fishes Revealed Through Gut Content Analysis At Head Baloki, Punjab, Pakistan, Muhammad Imran, Abdul Majid Khan, Muhammad Tahir Waseem

Journal of Bioresource Management

An imminent threat to indigenous freshwater ichthyofauna is the introduction of alien fishes that can alter the behavior, population dynamics and native community structure. Thus, it is necessary to understand their feeding behaviour to avoid any unwanted incalculable loss. At sampling site, Head Baloki feeding habits both of native (L. calbasu, C. catla, L. rohita and C. mrigala) and alien (H. nobilis, H. molitrix, C. carpio, C. idella, C. auratus, O. aureus, O. niloticus and O. mozambicus …