Understanding the mechanisms that regulate local species diversity and community structure is a perennial goal of ecology. Local community structure can be viewed as the result of numerous local and regional processes; these processes act as filters that reduce the regional species pool down to the observed local community. In...
Many hope that ocean waves will be a source for clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy, yet wave energy conversion facilities may affect marine ecosystems through a variety of mechanisms, including competition with other human uses. We developed a decision-support tool to assist siting wave energy facilities, which allows the...
Two of the most powerful ways in which humans have altered ecosystems are by increasing productivity and changing the densities of important consumers. The bottom-up effects of productivity and the top-down effects of consumers have been identified as primary determinants of biological diversity, though the links between them remain unclear....
While community ecologists have traditionally focused on local-scale processes, it has become apparent that a broader perspective, which explores the community-level ramifications of material fluxes within and between ecosystems, is necessary to effectively evaluate bottom-up influences on community structure and dynamics. In this dissertation, I employed ecosystem principles to understand...
The respiratory and metabolic biology of dinosaurs is poorly, if at all, reflected in the fossil record. By comparing anatomical features of modern taxa that are functionally linked to specific biology with the remains of theropod dinosaurs (Archosauria: Theropoda) and early birds, we may reasonably infer the physiology of long...
Inferences regarding the biology of extinct taxa are often founded primarily
on cladistically-based phylogenetic hypotheses. However, these inferences are
frequently inconsistent with the morphology and physiology of modern animals. I
suggest that reference to the biology of modern animals might be a more
appropriate tool to aid in the reconstruction...
There is little, if any, direct fossil evidence of the cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive or digestive biology of dinosaurs. However, a variety of data can be used to draw reasonable inferences about the physiology of the carnivorous theropod dinosaurs (Archosauria: Theropoda). Extant archosaurs, birds and crocodilians, possess regionally differentiated, vascularized and...
This dissertation focuses on science relevant to the design and implementation of marine reserves. The chapters explore a range of topics related to among-site variation in population, community, and ecosystem dynamics. My results demonstrate the value and feasibility of integrating this knowledge into more comprehensive conservation and management approaches. While...
Several taxonomic issues in the moth families Erebidae and Noctuidae are addressed for Northwestern North America. Drasteria parallela Crabo & Mustelin and Cycnia oregonensis tristis Crabo in the Erebidae and Eudryas brevipennis bonneville Shepard & Crabo, Resapamea diluvius Crabo, Resapamea angelika Crabo, Resapamea mammuthus Crabo, Fishia nigrescens Hammond & Crabo,...
A new species of Bembidion (Trichoplataphus Netolitzky) from the Ozark Plateau of Missouri and Arkansas is described (Bembidion ozarkense Maddison and Hildebrandt). It is distinguishable from the closely related species, Bembidion rolandi Fall, by characteristics of the male genitalia, and sequences of the genes cytochrome oxidase I and 28S ribosomal...