Anthropogenic activities have posed many threats to the oceans and marine life. Understanding how individuals are affected and physiologically respond to these threats is crucial and allows for management and conservation applications. I evaluated the overall health condition of a subpopulation of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) along the Oregon coast,...
In grasslands, grazing by large ungulates can influence vegetation structure, composition, primary productivity, and ultimately, ecosystem functioning. While grazing represents a complex disturbance, grazing intensity largely determines the effects of
grazing on vegetation. Structural and compositional changes in the plant community caused by grazing could have bottom-up effects on species...
The distribution of mobile marine predators often reflects underlying dynamic ecological processes. The geographical focus of this PhD is the South Taranaki Bight (STB) of New Zealand, where wind-driven coastal upwelling generates productivity and prey to support a blue whale foraging ground. The STB is also New Zealand’s most industrial...
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) experience a variety of stressors in their natural environment as well as in aquaculture that can have negative effects on their physiology. The effects of physiological stress and endocrine disruption have been well described in fish. However, there is a scarcity of information on the effects...
I examined the avian biogeography of the islands of Lago Gatun, Panama, in an effort to better understand the effects of forest fragmentation in this biodiverse region, and specifically to understand the importance of fragment isolation and the mechanism behind its effects on tropical bird distribution. I combined exhaustive surveys...
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William D. Robinson
I examined the avian biogeography of the islands of Lago Gatun
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...
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W. Douglas Robinson
Human alteration of natural landscapes leads to biodiversity loss
My thesis explores the later work of author J.D. Salinger, including two narratives featured in Nine Stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," and "Teddy," and Franny and Zooey, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters," and "Seymour: an Introduction." Through my analysis I argue that the religious nature of Salinger's fiction...
Curricular models and teaching techniques that support college students as the primary authors of their writing-across-the-curriculum experiences remain largely unexplored. This thesis addresses that research gap by investigating the use of a start-of-term writing self-assessment and goal-setting questionnaire (STQ) for upper-division undergraduates taking writing-intensive (WI) college courses in their majors....