Interior least tern (Sternula antillarum athalassos) populations and productivity have been declining in Indiana for the past ten years, which is thought to be the result of predation. Methods for protecting nesting Interior least terns include fence exclosures and artificial shelters for chicks, but their effectiveness is unknown. Each Indiana...
Managing invasive species is vital to preserving native species and maintaining the integrity of environments and ecological roles. Rats are one of the most prolific and intrusive invasive species that have successfully cohabitated with humans over centuries as we have expanded and advanced our societies. Thus, rats have historically been...
Plants often encase seeds in a nutritional reward to incentivize seed dispersal by birds and mammals, but these seeds may also be removed and destroyed by seed predators. Although birds are typically thought to be the primary seed dispersers of berries in temperate systems, in southeast Alaska and other salmon-bearing...
Hostile sexism (HS) is an antagonistic attitude towards women; benevolent sexism (BS) is a positive attitude towards women that is sexist in terms of viewing women in restricted roles. HS and BS held simultaneously is defined as ambivalent sexism (AS). Despite negative outcomes associated with AS, BS, and HS, women...
With the emergence of big data and the Open Data Movement, and the wide availability to the public of large databases, Data Literacy is a necessary learning goal for students. Understanding the data process in its entirety is now a vital skillset required across industry, government, and scientific disciplines. The...
Animal pollination is critical to plant reproduction in agricultural and wildland ecosystems. Much of the production of seeds and fruits in natural areas, which underlie many food webs, depends on pollination services by insects. The taxon responsible for delivering the bulk of these services in most temperate systems is bees....
Resilience-based management in rangelands implies maintaining desirable ecological states and avoiding thresholds to less desirable ones; however, the efficacy of resilience-based management depends upon several driving forces. These forces include management by those who depend upon rangelands for their livelihoods, the current state of ecological health of rangelands, and changing...
Science is one of the fundamental building blocks of modern societies, and though some science topics are easily accepted by public audiences, others generate intense social controversy by challenging beliefs that are fundamental to a person’s, or group’s, identity. The Theory of Evolution is one of these “hot-button” issues, as...
In contrast with other Odocoileus species, Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) population dynamics are not well understood throughout the species’ range. Concerns over apparent long-term population declines have prompted efforts to fill basic knowledge gaps including estimates of vital rates (fecundity, recruitment and survival) and cause-specific mortality. The Oregon...
A seasonal hair-loss syndrome of native deer began to occur in the Pacific Northwest United States in the mid-1990s. Clinical manifestations of the disease typically include large numbers of chewing lice on Columbia Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and Columbia White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus). Expenditure of energy responding to...