conservation and ecology. Currently, the most widely used methods for obtaining such estimates involve either sighting
animals from transect lines or some form of capture-recapture on marked or uniquely identifiable individuals. However,
many species are difficult to sight, and cannot be easily marked or recaptured. Some of these species produce...
Disease dilution (reduced disease prevalence with increasing biodiversity) has been described for
many different pathogens. Although the mechanisms causing this phenomenon remain unclear,
the disassembly of communities to predictable subsets of species, which can be caused by
changing climate, land use, or invasive species, underlie one important hypothesis. In this...
Sexual conflict over mating can result in sex specific morphologies and behaviors that
allow each sex to exert control over the outcome of reproduction. Genital traits, in
particular, are often directly involved in conflict interactions. Via genital manipulation,
we experimentally investigated whether genital traits in red-sided garter snakes influence
copulation...
This dissertation explores the structural dynamics of human understanding and particularly the concept of meaning and its connections to concepts of ultimate ground, necessity and contingency, language, and perception. It focuses on the history of the concept of meaning in early twentieth-century European physics and philosophy, through an analysis of...
Sensor networks are revolutionizing environmental monitoring by producing massive quantities of data that are being made publically available in near real time. These data streams pose a challenge for ecologists because traditional approaches to quality assurance and quality control are no longer practical when confronted with the size of these...
Analyses of long-term records at 35 headwater basins in the United States and Canada indicate that climate change effects on streamflow are not as clear as might be expected, perhaps because of ecosystem processes and human influences. Evapotranspiration was higher than was predicted by temperature in water-surplus ecosystems and lower...
Global environmental change is causing local extinctions of species. When species depend on one another, as in the mutualistic relationship between plants and pollinators, loss of one interaction partner may cause cascading effects within the community – such as additional extinctions and reduced pollination services. Network theory provides a way...
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...