Scientists have long recognized that bees and other insects respond to floral color, including ultraviolet (UV) floral patterns that are invisible to the human eye. While previous research has focused on isolating and capturing these UV markings in laboratory settings, methods that could be used in natural settings needed to...
This thesis includes a satirical novel and a short analytical reflection on the writing process and the general themes and takeaways from the novel itself. While the analytical reflection appears before the novel in the paper, they can be read in either order. The novel satirizes how people respond to...
The diverse community of bacteria living within and on host organisms, known as the microbiome, has an important role in maintaining host health. Dysbiosis, known as a change in the healthy community of the microbiome, has been associated with a number of diseases across host organisms and body sites including...
Reflection on a stage management experience for a musical produced at Oregon State University. Comparison from previous high school experiences in stage managing to the university level of stage management. Reference to the texts and resources examined for the growth of knowledge in stage management. Analysis of each stage of...
Bee populations are declining around the globe, while the need for their pollination services is increasing with growing food demands by an expanding population. There is a need for innovative practices to increase pollination in agricultural environments without harming wild bee populations. However, the use of artificial visual attractants has...
From British Columbia to northern California, coastal giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) are a dominant vertebrate predator in headwater streams. Though widespread, salamander health and abundance levels differ greatly between locations, provoking the question as to what factors may influence this variation and whether habitat features or biotic variables play a...
Genetic sampling is used in many wildlife fields to gather data on populations or individuals. In noninvasive genetic sampling, animals do not need to be captured. DNA can be gathered from hair, scat, or other residue shed into the environment. However, this can result in degraded DNA, so it is...
According to a 2017 Pew Research Study, 44% of adults in America say that they do not feel informed enough about science to understand news and new discoveries discussed on the media (Funk et al. 2019). This is concerning, because adults are not just passive consumers of media; among other...
Domestic cats have been shown to form secure attachment bonds with humans, allowing them to use their owners as a secure base and giving them comfort and confidence when exploring an unfamiliar environment. Many cat owners believe that cohabitation with other cats is beneficial for their pets, and that cohabitant...
Sociality relies upon mechanisms that permit group living through a balance of costs and benefits. However, it is not fully known how specific social contexts influence behavioral and physiological outcomes, and more broadly, how responses to social situations contribute to social organization. A recent experiment investigating the relationship between social...
Across the globe, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been established to protect biodiversity, sustain fisheries, and preserve cultural resources. However, there exist broad differences among MPAs with respect to their establishment stage and protective regulations, making it difficult to quantify how much ocean protection is actually occurring. This thesis utilizes...
Competitive exclusion is a key concept in ecology describing the exclusion of one species by another from access to a limited resource. Competitive interactions between chipmunk species in the Great Basin, documented by James Brown in 1970, are often used as a textbook example of competitive exclusion. Whether competitive interactions...
The current generation of scientists will be asked to mitigate climate change, stall biodiversity loss, and protect ecological communities. These are tasks that require a knowledge of both ecological and social systems to be undertaken successfully. Therefore, my dissertation spans the fields of community ecology and social sciences in an...
Coral reefs have become vulnerable to climate change, with mass bleaching events, the loss of symbiotic algae (Symbiodiniaceae), increasing in both frequency and severity. As climate change continues to threaten the persistence and existence of coral reefs around the world, the biggest question posed for coral reefs is “can they...
A central challenge for ecology is to understand the dynamic nature of species interactions. A classic approach to community ecology assumes that individuals within a species are functionally identical and that consumer-resource dynamics can be predicted solely by using species abundances. However, one species can consist of multiple functional groups,...
Experimental evolution is a tool that allows us to measure changes in populations over time in controlled, novel environments. Microbial evolution experiments use cryopreservation – storage at -80°C in glycerol media – to archive experimental populations. Research with Escherichia coli suggests that cryopreservation conditions can affect cell viability and that...
Primate populations are declining in number, with an estimated “60% of primate species threatened with extinction from hunting and trapping” (Estrada et al., 2017). The largest threat to mammals in West and Central Africa is commercial hunting (Jost Robinson, Daspit, & Remis, 2011). Hunting these large mammals was once practiced...
In the midst of the sixth mass extinction, understanding wildlife disease spillover is critical to maintaining protected wildlife areas. Studying ecoimmunology and wildlife disease ecology helps to understand immune and disease traits in an ecological context, which is invaluable in preventing pathogen spillover between livestock and wildlife. To investigate this...
Spotted-wing drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii) is an invasive fruit fly species native of Southeast Asia. In vineyards, SWD lays eggs in damaged and intact fruit of the most soft-skinned varieties, and feeds on damaged fruits during the harvest period. Feeding and oviposition activities increase the likelihood of vectoring spoilage bacteria,...
Human actions are pushing natural systems into states that have no historical precedent. In response, empirical and theoretical researchers are increasingly focused on developing ways to predict the responses of ecological systems to change. However, significant knowledge gaps remain, often leading to “ecological surprises” where observed impacts of global change...
Invasive species are a growing global economic and ecological problem. Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois spp.) are known to have extreme negative effects on coral-reef communities in the Bahamas, so understating their distribution within and among reefs, what limits their local movements, and the effects they have on native prey species...
Diet variation among individuals within populations is widespread. Often diet differences among individuals are attributable to obvious differences among individuals such as age, sex, or morphology. However, growing evidence suggests that individual diet variation is also common among seemingly identical individuals within populations. This phenomenon has been termed individual diet...
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) are commonly used as indicators of an animal’s stress response in behavioral and eco-physiological studies. Stress in wild animals represents an immediate measure of the physiological response to changes in the environment, and, potentially, a prospective assessment of the animal’s health and well-being. In wild mammals,...
The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of acupuncture in dairy cows on caruncular matrix metalloproteinase type-2 (MMP2) tissue concentration and enzyme activity at 0, 2, and 4 hours after calving. Immediately after natural calving, a caruncle was obtained from the body of the uterus and flash...
Biological invasions and climate change represent two preeminent threats to ecological communities and biodiversity, altering the distribution and abundance of species, disrupting existing species interactions and forming unprecedented ones, and creating novel ecological communities. Many of the most successful invasive species are also ecosystem engineers, species that physically modify the...
Aquatic animals possess surprising similarities to humans in reproductive signaling that are simplified or elaborated for life underwater, making them useful for studying reproductive control. In this thesis, killifish and sea anemones are used as models for reproductive function and aging. The aging model Nothobranchius (killifish) was used to investigate...
Parasites are increasingly recognized for their significant roles in shaping community structure and ecosystem dynamics. Due to their cryptic nature, however, they are often neglected in measurements of energy flow and biomass in ecosystems. Past studies have demonstrated that parasites directly contribute to the flow of energy through marine estuaries...
Oceanic uptake of rising anthropogenic CO₂ emissions has caused the emergence of ocean acidification as a major threat to marine ecosystems worldwide. Along eastern boundary current systems, seawater is naturally acidified due to coastal upwelling of low pH seawater from depth. Compounded by ocean acidification, upwelling regions are expected to...
Most benthic marine organisms have a bipartite life with an early pelagic stage that enables dispersal of offspring, connecting spatially separated populations, and a late stage where individuals reside in a benthic habitat. Settlement of pelagic offspring to bottom associated substrates is the process that connects the two life history...
When people think of fossils, they generally imagine the bones of large, charismatic animals. However, small mammals are an ecologically important group of organisms that show up frequently in the fossil record, and can frequently function as indicators for local environmental and ecological conditions (Terry, 2007, 2010). Rodent and rabbit...
The multifaceted role of the environment in regulating the structure and dynamics of biological communities has long fascinated ecologists and motivated much debate and research. Now, in a time of accelerated global changes due to human impacts, the need to understand how the environment shapes communities has gained new urgency....
With continual and worldwide human population growth, our impact on the natural environment expands and intensifies every day. We consume natural resources, burn fossil fuels, and release toxic compounds into the air, water, and earth. We build roads that fragment the landscape, construct new settlements, and develop agricultural lands in...
Haemonchus sp. is known to be present in geographical regions of Oregon that are more arid and warm, which has been the preferred climate of this parasite. However, it was not detected in Western Oregon bovine until recently. Haemonchus sp. was first detected in Western Oregon bovine from a fecal...
There is increasing awareness that human activities are altering the ways that natural systems operate and that local shifts in species composition and abundance can lead to abrupt and irreversible global change. Therefore, understanding the processes that buffer biological communities from critical shifts and how our actions affect natural stabilizing...
The current rate of global biodiversity loss and extinctions is unparalleled and a major concern. Freshwater organisms are facing particularly rapid rates of biodiversity loss. Amphibians, which require an aquatic environment for part of their life cycle, are one of the most vulnerable vertebrate groups. Amphibians are experiencing population declines,...
Biological invasions have been identified as one of the prominent drivers of global environmental change. In particular, invasive predators typically have substantial negative effects on populations of native prey, even driving species to extinction in extreme cases. However, beyond direct predatory effects, little is understood regarding the specific mechanisms by...
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic trematodes in the genus Schistosoma. 200 million people are infected with schistosomes. Schistosomiasis causes acute and chronic disease, and may lead to death in chronic infections. Schistosomes have a complex life cycle that requires passage through a snail intermediate host. Understanding...
Plethodontid salamanders have served as an informative vertebrate system for studying the role of chemical signals in facilitating social and reproductive behaviors. Individuals produce complex mixtures of chemicals from multiple glandular regions. In total, these secretions convey a wide variety of information, and are important for numerous inter- and intraspecific...
Ecologists must increasingly balance the need for accurate predictions about how ecosystems will be affected by climate change, against the fact that making such predictions at the ecosystem-level may be infeasible. Although information about responses of individual species to a changing environment is increasing, scaling such information to the community...
Understanding the impact of mitochondrial dysfunction on genome evolution has the potential not only to provide new insights on the basic evolutionary processes influencing mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, but may also reveal novel avenues for evolutionary adaptive recovery from harmful mutations. Aberrant mitochondrial activity is fundamental to the pathology of...
Although only a minority of introduced species become established and have noticeable consequences in their new communities, some can displace native species, alter food webs, and cause local extinctions. Studying these invasive species can provide new insights into basic ecological questions as well as inform management strategies. Pacific lionfish (Pterois...
Monitoring mercury (Hg) exposure in avian populations is critical to understanding the effects of this neurotoxin. Avian Hg exposure is commonly evaluated by measuring Hg concentrations in internal tissues, blood, and feathers. Feathers are a popular sampling matrix due to ease of sampling and limited stress to birds. However, it...
What makes invasive species successful, and how do they affect native populations and communities? I addressed these key questions in the context of the invasion of Atlantic coral reefs by Pacific red lionfish (Pterois volitans). To assess the role of parasites in contributing to the success of this invasion, I...
Rapid rates of biodiversity loss have supported the notion that Earth is experiencing a sixth major extinction event. The causes of worldwide biodiversity loss are multifaceted and context dependent. One of the most prominent groups experiencing population declines and extinctions are amphibians. Several pathogens and their associated diseases are especially...
Coral reproduction is vital to the persistence of coral reefs. Decades of ecological studies have correlated environmental variables, such as temperature and light, to the timing of reproduction in anthozoan cnidarians, including corals and sea anemones. However, elevated temperatures associated with climate change impair reproductive success and threaten the resilience...
The purpose of this thesis was to determine if an underlying biological cause exists for the exuberant reproductive success in free-roaming unowned (FRU) cats. The hypothesis for this thesis was that FRU tom and queen cats have reproductively adapted to man-made sterilization efforts by lowering the age at which they...
Large canine breeds are commonly diagnosed with a type of elbow disease called fragmented medial coronoid process (FMCP). FMCP occurs when the cartilage and bone of the coronoid process, located on the ulna, is fractured. Etiologies include mechanical overload of the ulna and incongruences of the radius and ulna with...
The symbiosis between cnidarians, such as corals and sea anemones, and photosynthetic dinoflagellates belonging to the genus Symbiodinium spp. is one of the most productive in the marine environment. This mutualistic endosymbiosis allow reef-building corals to lay down the foundation of coral reef ecosystems, which supports a highly biodiverse community...
Climate change is predicted to affect ecosystems, including systems already stressed by human impacts. One ecosystem that is already highly impacted by human land use is the cold headwater stream system of the Pacific Northwest. One method of assessing the function of an ecosystem is by using an indicator species....
This study investigated the effect of captivity on the chemical profiles of the female sexual attractiveness pheromone of the red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). Dorsal skin lipids were extracted from female garter snakes collected from the Interlake region of Manitoba, Canada. A comparison of captive and wild snakes was...