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A multi-scale investigation of ecologically relevant effects of agricultural runoff on amphibians
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
Modification of landscapes for agricultural production can introduce agrochemicals into surface waters and degrade aquatic habitats used by many amphibians for breeding and larval development. Although many ecotoxicological studies have shown...
Conservation and ecology of breeding landbirds in a riparian restoration context
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2006)
of floodplain forest restoration on a large, regulated river in an agricultural valley. I used infrared, time-lapse video to identify agriculture-associated nest predators as a primary source of nest mortality in the Sacramento River Valley, California. Then...
Genome evolution in monocots
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2011)
Monocotyledonous plants are a well-circumscribed lineage comprising 25% of all angiosperm species, including many agriculturally and ecologically important species (e.g., grasses, palms, orchids, lilies, yams, pondweeds, seagrasses, aroids...
Restoration at the roots : mycorrhizal interactions and habitat restoration in glades and prairies
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)
predictor of AMF community composition. AMF communities of remnant unplowed prairies differed from those of disturbed prairies regardless of soil substrate. Within disturbed prairies, sites that experienced industrial agriculture contained AMF communities...
Aquatic and terrestrial exposure of amphibians to estrogenic endocrine disrupting contaminants
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
, surface water runoff, and even rainfall. Further, as they metamorphose into terrestrial juveniles, they are subject to exposure on land, especially in agricultural landscapes. The main objective of my research was to investigate how low, ecologically...
Beyond the edge : riparian habitat use and forest management effects on stream salamanders in the southern Appalachian mountains
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
While there are many types of habitat loss and degradation (e.g., agriculture, land development), many studies have focused on the impacts of logging on wildlife populations and on ecosystem processes. Little information, however, exists...
C4 photosynthetic evolution : sub-types, diversity, and function within the grass tribe Paniceae
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)
Most plants convert sunlight into chemical energy using a process known as C[subscript 3] photosynthesis. However, some of the world's most successful plants instead use the C[subscript 4] photosynthetic pathway which ...
Effects of forest fragmentation on reproductive effort and productivity of Indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea)
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005)
Forest fragmentation creates edge habitat that attracts nest predators that lower reproductive success and force birds to renest. To determine if predation-induced renesting causes a decline in condition of females and ...
Amphibian metamorphosis and juvenile terrestrial performance following chronic cadmium exposure in the aquatic environment
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005)
Effective amphibian conservation requires an understanding of how populations respond to specific natural and anthropogenic factors. Chemical contaminants are among the known sources of acute and chronic stress and have ...
The role of terrrestrial habitat in the population dynamics and conservation of pond-breeding amphibians
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
I used both demographic modeling and experimental field research to evaluate the role of terrestrial habitat in the population dynamics and conservation of pond-breeding amphibians. I began by using literature data to ...
The impacts of partner abundance on benefits from facultative pollination mutualism
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)
Partner abundance affects costs and benefits in obligate mutualisms, but its role in facultative partnerships is less clear. I investigated this topic in a small alpine pollination web in the Colorado Rocky Mountains ...
The interploidy hybridization barrier in Zea Mays L.
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2006)
The failure of endosperm development due to interploidy crosses could be due to two reasons, neither of which has been studied on its own. 1) There is an imbalance of inherited imprinted loci in the endosperm (HAIG and ...
Effects of riparian buffer width on stream salamander populations in the southern Appalachian Mountains
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
Salamanders in the Appalachian region have been extensively studied, but the majority of research assessing the impacts of logging has focused on terrestrial species that are not dependent on stream habitats for egg ...
Multi-scale investigations of gray treefrong movements: patterns of migration, dispersal, and gene flow
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005)
The movement of individuals within and among populations has been recognized as an important determinant of the persistence of species. Fragmentation of terrestrial landscapes has exacerbated the need to understand the ...
Seasonality and elevational migration in an Andean bird community
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)
Life history strategies of many birds in the Neotropics remain poorly known. In particular, details on the seasonal movements of individuals and populations within the Neotropics remain largely unknown, including short-distance ...
Gray treefrog breeding site selection and offspring performance in response to forest management
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
Amphibian diversity and abundance are generally reduced following clearcut logging. These impacts often last for decades, but little is known about why diversity and abundance are depressed. I examined gray treefrog breeding ...
Effects of prescribed fire and timber harvest on terrestrial salamander abundance, behavior, and microhabitat use
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014)
The goal of my dissertation was to assess how terrestrial salamanders respond to two common forest management practices -- prescribed fire and timber harvest. Previous studies have reported that timber harvest adversely ...
Quantitative biological studies at cellular and sub-cellular level
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
We developed a translational magnetic tweezers for quantitative measurements at cellular and sub-cellular level. In the cellular studies, multiple membrane tethers were extracted simultaneously under constant force transduced ...
Nectar in nicotiana : pollinator associations, sources of variation, and evolutionary consequences
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
Nectar is the primary floral reward offered by plants to attract pollinators. Pollinators often exhibit a preference for certain types of nectars over others. If pollinator preferences for certain nectar traits are strong ...
Behavioral choice and demographic consequences of wood frog habitat selection in response to land use
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
Land use is a pervasive form of disturbance affecting natural systems on Earth. My dissertation research is set within the context of a large scale project referred to as Land-use Effects on Amphibian Populations (LEAP), ...