The benefits of reproduction are clear, but there are also costs. Much is known about the costs of reproduction in females, but only recently have male costs been investigated in any depth. These costs of reproduction may be minimized by appropriately modifying behavior, but there has been little research on...
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Ryan P. O’Donnell, Author
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my advisor, Bob Mason
In animals, reproductive behaviors serve to attract individuals together during the
breeding season and to coordinate the behavioral and physiological states of individuals
so that mating can successfully occur. In snakes, the various reproductive behaviors
including courtship, mating, courtship inhibition, male combat and trailing are mediated
primarily by pheromones. Pheromones...
Lilacs are a group of ornamental trees and shrubs in the Oleaceae family consisting of 22 to 30 species. There are six series within genus Syringa: Pubescentes, Villosae, Ligustrae, Ligustrina, Pinnatifoliae, and Syringa. Fertility and cross-compatibility among cultivars, species, and series have yet to be formally investigated. Over three years,...
Following European-American colonization of North America and associated landscape changes, barred owls (Strix varia) underwent a dramatic expansion of their historical range. The barred owl expanded across the previously tree-less Great Plains that had limited their distribution, and into the forests along the west coast. In these western forests they...
Hibiscus and lilacs (Syringa spp.) are economically important nursery crops in the US that accounted for 4.5 million units ($30 million) and 2 million units ($20 million), respectively (USDA, 2016). To maintain and expand the market share of ornamental plants such as lilacs and Hibiscus, novel performance, floral ornamental value,...
Seagrasses and coral reefs play important roles in nutrient cycling, coastal protection, and maintaining marine biodiversity. However, these coastal marine organisms are declining globally due to anthropogenic stressors, such as rising ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, and eutrophication. These organisms live in close association with their microbiomes, which can be beneficial...
Biotic and abiotic processes at continent-ocean interfaces cycle a disproportionate mass of carbon and nutrients relative to their global surface area, and microbial activity is a principal determinant of organic and inorganic matter flux in these transition zones. Most studies using modern high-throughput ‘omics techniques to link microorganisms with costal...
The buildup of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species (RNS) is known as oxidative stress. Oxidative stress results in a wide variety of modification to biological macromolecules including nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins. For at least 30 years it has been known that high levels of...
In nature, animals survive threats by responding physiologically and behaviorally in ways that are appropriate to the situation. Which responses are appropriate depend on the animals' surroundings and current physiological and behavioral state. This dissertation investigated the neuroendocrine mechanisms that control context-dependent behavioral responses to stress by focusing on the...