Over 100 monthly bacterioplankton DNA samples, from each of the surface and 200 m depths at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site, were analyzed for community assembly processes. Correlation networks, filtered for potential autocorrelation artifacts, were constructed for each depth. Network characteristics for the two depths were remarkably similar...
Primula sect. Parryi comprises five species endemic to western North America: P. parryi, P. angustifolia, P. rusbyi, P. capillaris, and P. cusickiana with four varieties. This section, derived from a clade with representatives in Asia and Europe, exemplifies a phytogeographic pattern in which a widespread species is accompanied by multiple...
The concept of the fundamental niche is frequently used in ecology to define the set of environmental conditions needed by a species to survive and reproduce (Hutchinson 1957). In contrast, the realized niche constitutes the locations where a species actually occurred, which is a function of both the environmental (abiotic)...
Ecological niche theory holds that species distributions are shaped by a large and complex suite of interacting factors. Species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly used to describe species’ niches and predict the effects of future environmental change, including climate change. Currently, SDMs often fail to capture the complexity of species’...
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DepartmenFt of Wildlife, 60 Youth Center Road,
Elko, NV 89801, USA
Abstract
Ecological niche theory holds
Quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides Michx.) are found in diverse habitats throughout North America. While the biogeography of aspens' distribution has been documented, the drivers of the phenotypic diversity of aspen are still being explored. In our study, we examined differences in climate between northern and southwestern populations of aspen, finding...
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Environmental niche equivalency versus conservatism:
quantitative approaches to niche evolution. Evolution
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Accumulating human impacts on freshwater ecosystems have created a biodiversity crisis for freshwater fishes while conservation efficacy remains hampered by the Linnaean shortfall, the ignorance of many species that have yet to be discovered and described. The past discovery of most freshwater fish species was simply a matter of collecting...
The size, shape, and stability of a species’ dietary niche can both influence and reflect a variety of biological patterns, including species interactions, extinction risk, and ecosystem function. This is particularly apparent when dietary changes manifest at ecosystem and clade scales to profoundly affect macroecological and macroevolutionary trajectories. However, many...
Mechanisms promoting coexistence between closely related species are fundamental for maintaining species diversity. Mechanisms of niche differentiation include allochrony which offsets the peak timing of resource utilisation between species. Many studies focus on spatial and temporal niche partitioning during the breeding season, few have investigated the role allochrony plays in...
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) is a species with high phenotypic plasticity and a broad distribution that, in the last decade, has experienced climate stress-induced mortality called Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD). In order to help mitigate the effects of SAD in the future, we need a better understanding of aspen’s...
Species' distributions across the landscape are perhaps the least understood yet most conspicuous features of life on earth. Ecologists have long studied species' distributions; yet, many questions remain about why species occur where they do. Such questions persist largely because species' distributions are complex systems with challenging properties like non-linearity,...
Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) has been instrumental in reconstructing dietary ecology of extinct and extant carnivorans. Current sampling methods for canids focus on lower second molars (m2), where the grinding of flesh and bone captures dental microwear indicative of diet. However, dental microwear on other biomechanically analogous grinding facets...
Although climate acts as a fundamental constraint on the distribution of
organisms, understanding how this relationship between climate and distribution varies over a
species’ range is critical for addressing the potential impacts of accelerated climate change on
biodiversity. Bioclimatic niche models provide compelling evidence that many species will
experience range...
This study evaluates the functional organization of stream fish assemblages in response to streamflow factors and biotic interactions across a range of spatial scale. The study area for this project includes 109 stream reaches located on tributaries to the upper Missouri River in the northern Great Plains. Fish distribution data...
Vibrio bacteria are commonly found in freshwater, marine, and estuarine environments. Members of this genus can exist in commensal relationships with marine animals or as planktonic bacteria, however, they are well known for their roles as pathogens towards humans and animals. In this dissertation, I investigated aspects of host-bacteria relationships...
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MLPs with Variable Conservation Appear to Have Niche-specific Roles ... 104
Considerations and
The combined activities of diverse heterotrophic marine microorganisms significantly shape global biogeochemical cycles, but models of these activities are currently limited to aggregate microbial community processes, and it remains unclear how community structure and the functional roles of specific microbial taxa should be integrated into these models. Therefore, understanding the...
In the face of environmental stressors, change is imperative for species to remain in place. The nature and degree of this change is of great interest, as it sheds light into the ways in which species respond to ecological and habitat change and may continue to respond during periods of...
Phylogenetic analyses of assemblage membership provide insight into how
ecological communities are structured. However, despite the scale-dependency of many
ecological processes, little is known about how assemblage and source pool size definitions can
be altered, either alone or together, to provide insight into how ecological diversity is
maintained. Moreover, although...
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conservatism (reviewed in
Wiens et al. 2010), niche partitioning and habitat
filtering produce phylogenetic
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), a widespread and keystone tree species in North America, experienced heat and drought stress in the years 2002 and 2003 in the southwestern United States. This led to widespread aspen mortality that has altered the composition of forests, and is expected to occur again if...
This thesis explores some of the ethical issues pertaining to the use of so-called radical enhancement technology. Key concepts analyzed include “normal function”, “human being”, and “personhood.” I argue that the use of these key concepts in the debate thus far has lacked philosophical rigor, and that a reexamination of...
The distribution of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) has been markedly reduced due to loss and fragmentation of habitat. Portions of the historical range, however, have been recolonized and even expanded due to planting of conservation reserve program (CRP) fields that provide favorable vegetation structure for Lesser Prairie-Chickens. The source...
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Chickens
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nicheconservatism is important (Wiens and Graham
Climate change, wildfire, timber harvest, and land conversion alter the availability of downed wood in forests of the western United States. Numerous taxa rely on downed wood for temperature and humidity refugia, and downed wood may play a key role in enabling the persistence of climate-sensitive, low-vagility species like terrestrial...
Aim C-4 grasses are distinct from C-3 grasses, because C-4 grasses respond in a different manner to light, temperature, CO2 and nitrogen and often have higher resource-use efficiencies. C-3 and C-4 grasses are typically represented in earth system models (ESMs) by different plant functional types (PFTs). The ability of ESMs...
Neotropical characiform fishes form one of the most diverse freshwater ichthyofauna in the world. Knowledge of evolutionary processes that generated and maintain the immense characiform lineage and morphological diversity is still poorly understood. When did characiform lineages diversify? How have major geological and environmental changes affected diversification? Why are some...
Models of a species’ distribution and models of a species’ spatially explicit density are valuable tools for conservation. They allow researchers to estimate changes in distributions, densities, and populations, based on changing environmental conditions. To trust such estimates, however, the quality of models is exceedingly important. Model performance can be...
Post World War II victory culture and its fallout-the consensus ideology-led to the creation of a middle class willing to conform to a prescribed set of ideals, safely removed from all danger, and enjoying the material benefits of a growing middle-class income bracket. Walt Disney and Hugh Hefner, two seemingly...
The past decade of research has potentiated a revolution in our understanding of mammalian health and evolution by revealing that the gut microbiome plays a central role in mammalian physiology. Our ability to unlock this potential hinges upon the identification of specific groups of gut microbes that elicit effects on...
Increased globalization has greatly increased the ability for species to travel outside of their native range and reach all parts of the world. While most species do not have an impact in new habitats, a small percentage are able to establish a new population and spread, causing ecological damage and...
Human alteration of natural landscapes leads to biodiversity loss, often from a combination of area effects and fragmentation effects. Smaller habitat patches support fewer species than large ones and incur additional consequences from isolation. Efforts to preempt biodiversity loss from insular habitat fragments are complicated by individualistic species responses and...
With trust in the media reaching an all-time low among Americans, I wanted to explore what prompted this shift in attitude. This thesis analyzes how Americans’ perspectives on the credibility of modern-day media and the value they place on the freedom of the press are heavily influenced by their preferred...
Foliar fungi – pathogens, endophytes, epiphytes – form taxonomically diverse communities that affect plant health and productivity. The composition of foliar fungal communities is variable at spatial scales both small (e.g., individual plants) and large (e.g., continents). However, few studies have focused on how environmental factors and host plant traits...
Proteinaceous compounds are abundant forms of organic nitrogen in soil and aquatic ecosystems, and the rate of protein depolymerization, which is accomplished by a diverse range of microbial secreted peptidases, often limits nitrogen turnover in the environment. To determine if the distribution of secreted peptidases reflects the ecological and evolutionary...
It is good practice to fully understand components of an ecosystem if we hope to preserve its biodiversity. A problem is that we know very little about some organisms and nothing of others. Studies that investigate an organism’s basic biological, ecological and physiological life history variables advance our knowledge of...
In marine populations, spatial structure arises over a wide range of scales and forms
hierarchical aggregations. Changing spatial structure can alter the demographic and life history
trait variation within populations and subject individuals to both novel environmental conditions
and interspecific interactions. Thus, changes in the spatial structure of marine populations...
On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak entered into a partnership agreement to found Apple Computer. In the decade that followed, Apple experienced remarkable growth and success, as Jobs catapulted Apple to the Fortune 500 list of top‐flight companies faster than any other company in history. Under direction...
The vast majority of terrestrial plant species live in symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF and plants live in complex networks, with roots of individual plants hosting multiple AMF, and single AMF colonizing multiple plants concurrently. Through the exchange of resources, the two partners of this symbiosis can have...
Starting in 2001, just five years after its formation, Fox News had the largest nightly cable television news audience and has become an important participant in American news media. Despite outside claims of Fox’s conservative-leaning news coverage, Fox News claims status as an objective news source presenting “fair and balanced”...
In the last decade regulatory bodies have begun to implement standards to protect populations of non-human biota (NHB) from the consequences of radiation exposure. This is a departure from previous regulatory frameworks which were concerned only with protecting man. The implementation of these new standards has started an ongoing discussion...
Small-scale farmers are defined under United States Department
of Agriculture guidelines as those whose gross farm sales are less
than $40,000. They are typically contrasted with mid-scale farmers
whose gross sales are less than $100,000, and with large-scale
farmers whose sales are more than $100,000. Arguments from cultural
and historical...
On the surface, the written works of the Marquis de Sade appear to be nothing more than pornographic mania articulated, the narrative trajectory of which oscillates between illicit words and acts. Yet his life and works are important to historians, if not due to their inherent quality then because they...
Homosexual men in Nazi Germany experienced legal and social oppression that was rooted in both the cultural homophobia of Twentieth Century Germany and the existential homophobia of high-ranking Nazi officials. However, the Nazi Regime’s enforcement of homonegative policy was not unilateral, often ignoring the actions of members of Nazi-affiliated groups....
The Beat Generation was an American counter-culture movement in the 1950's. Comprised of nomadic writers, poets, actors, musicians, and artists, the Beat movement represented no systematic philosophy and its most distinguishing characteristic was its apolitical disengagement from society. The Beats offered no substantive alternatives to the existing social order, but...
As Turkey's cultural and economic climate has experienced dramatic shifts in accordance with its changing role in global society, a neo-Ottoman movement has taken root in recent years which can offer insight into the new Turkish identity. This sociopolitical movement captures a diverse set of cultural attributes through a contemporary...
Biological invasions pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity, but many naturalized invaders coexist with the native community. Community ecology theory provides a framework for understanding the mechanisms by which invaders might coexist with native species or exclude them from the community, thus informing management practices to maximize...
Soil nitrogen exists largely as organic matter, including plant liter, dead animal matter, and microbial necromass. About 90% of soil organic nitrogen is proteinaceous material that is too large for plants and microorganisms to assimilate directly. Protein depolymerization therefore plays a critical role in mobilizing this organic source of nitrogen,...
The liberal arts have always struggled to find their place in the technically oriented land-grant university. Land-grant universities were tasked by the 1862 Morrill Act with providing both a practical and liberal education for all students. The liberal arts, however, were quickly sidelined from this dual purpose with the increasing...
This study investigates the barriers faced by fats, oil, and grease (FOG) as an energy feedstock in the state of Oregon. FOG, which typically originates in food service establishments (FSEs), historically has been treated as waste, yet it also has the chemical make up to be an energy feedstock in...
John Brown Gordon was committed to the mission of national reconciliation.
He knew that the South would have to embrace the North to repair the devastation of
the Civil War. Driven by dedication to public service after the war, he worked
through his positions in governmental offices to help the...
Although much has been written describing the
various reactions to the origin of Species in America, the Mormon reaction to Darwinism has been largely ignored. This dissertation will recount the history of this reaction as exemplified by the life and works of B. H. Roberts. Roberts's intellectual pursuits early in...
This thesis outlines dominant ideologies and practices that affect women's authority in the urban social milieu of north India. Theories that consider the causes of social stratification by gender as well as social movement patterns are useful for understanding the durability of gender roles. The utility of these theories for...
Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is a serious pest in soft and stone fruit industries worldwide. The unique serrated ovipositor of female Drosophila suzukii allowed the species to reproduce in intact, ripening fruit before the harvest. Current control methods rely heavily on insecticide application, only becoming less profitable due to the...
Whether microevolutionary processes can explain macroevolutionary patterns has long been a matter of contentious debate. The debate has persisted largely because of the challenging task of connecting microevolutionary theory, which examines population-level phenomena on the generation scale, to data collected across larger spatial and temporal scales. My dissertation research broadly...
The television show South Park, created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is viewed by millions of people each week, regularly addresses a number of controversial issues and plays a major role in contemporary popular culture. Current academic research acknowledges Parker and Stone's willingness to attack the dominant views surrounding...
This thesis is a study of the changes in the cultural definition of the American Dream. I have chosen to use Superman comics, from 1938 to the present day, as litmus tests for how we have societally interpreted our ideas of “success” and the “American Way.” This work is primarily...
Modern Apostles actively attempts to blur the line between academic scholarship and narrative fiction for the purpose of satirizing the social and the political assumptions of its contemporary moment. By appropriating the loudest voices in dominant American culture, the inter-textual narratives (1) call attention to the voices that go unheard,...
Animal weapons are thought to have evolved to compete for reproductive opportunities within a species. Across the diverse weapon-bearing taxa, several evolutionary trends have emerged: (1) increasing complexity and relative size across ontogeny, (2) sexual dimorphism, and (3) higher levels of random deviations from symmetry (i.e., fluctuating asymmetry) than non-weaponized...
This comparison study involved the exploration of architecture and social life of the thirteenth century Medieval, sixteenth century Tudor and eighteenth century Georgian periods. Within the architectural and social categories, the specific objective was to examine the changes in the five hundred year period. Three specific houses were chosen as...
In this dissertation, I posited the need to understand how an invented community (the Society for Creative Anachronism) constructs symbolic meaning in material objects and value systems. Using ethnographic methods, I focused on the Knights and their regalia as this is the most widely accepted material symbolism. People go to...
Abraham Heschel wrote that a philosopher's primary task was not merely to describe and judge the modes and facts of actual human behavior, but also to examine and understand the meaninq of those descriptions and judgements of modes and facts (Bella, 1978). Our values are critically tied to our structures...
Sororities play an important role in the process by which sorority women become gendered by influencing members' ideas about what it means to be a woman. Women and men become gendered through regular social interaction with other women and men, and sororities have a particularly strong impact on their members...
Since at least the 1970s, rural areas in the western United States, as elsewhere across the country and world, have been subject to social, economic, and political forces that have resulted in novel demographic and land tenure trends when compared to previous decades. Collectively, these processes of restructuring have created...
Demands for increasingly more responsive education systems have
caused some higher education institutions to reconsider their original
missions and envision new futures. This is particularly true with land grant
institutions whose mandate it is to be the people's university. The purpose of
this study was to explore the first year...
In 1959 the British Ornithological journal, The Ibis, published a centenary commemorative volume on the history of ornithology in Britain. Over the previous few decades, the contributors to this volume had helped focus the attention of ornithologists on the methods, priorities, and problems of modem biology, specifically the theory ofevolution...
This research addressed the role of educational technology associations as change agents within education with particular emphasis on issues of advocacy and leadership. Using a poststructural feminist lens and the metaphor of interview and analysis as storytelling, it explored the perspectives of nineteen individuals belonging to a national level educational...
The dominant narrative of U.S. Muslims in higher education is associated with violent rhetoric, anti-American values, and terrorism. After terrorist attacks took place on September 11th, 2001, this narrative expanded to include a depiction of U.S. Muslims as being oppressed and submissive. Hate crimes, discrimination, and Islamophobic attacks towards Muslims...
The objectives of this study include an attempt to determine what broad fields of education are most essential to the welfare of Orissa in the light of her intense current problems. It must suggest definite goals and areas for study by the adults of the province. Some development of the...
A biographical study of Denison Olmsted, focusing upon his
own Christian world view and its connection with his various
activities in science, supports the view that religion served as a
significant factor in the promotion of science in America during this
time period. Olmsted taught physics, meteorology and astronomy
at...
Controversy regarding moral development research has given rise to a proliferation of theories competing for acceptance. For all these researchers, the work of Lawrence Kohlberg is the pivot point for comparisons, contrasts, and discussions. Still, no theories to date adequately describe and document a theoretically complete conception of moral judgment...
The essays in this collection do not cluster about a specific theme, nor do they present a single unified interpretative approach to issues in the history of American foreign policy. Above all, William Appleman Williams is a teacher. And good teachers are disappointed with conformity. No one would ever come...
The Second Pandemic had a profound impact on the people of Europe. In the few years between 1347 and 1350, a new epidemic disease spread across the entirety of Europe and killed between one third and two thirds of the population. While this initial wave was important, the real significance...
American meteorology was synonymous with subjective weather forecasting in the early twentieth century. Controlled by the Weather Bureau and with no academic programs of its own, the few hundred extant meteorologists had no standing in the scientific community. Until the American Meteorological Society was founded in 1919, meteorologists had no...