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...

determining microhabitat use. Further, I have demonstrated the effects of matrix composition on the frequency of inter-pond movements and elucidated historical patterns of gene flow across central Missouri. My data indicate that migration through terrestrial...

and offspring quality, I measured maternal condition and reproductive output of Indigo Buntings breeding in a fragmented and a contiguously forested landscape in Missouri. Renesting females had lower body condition than those that nested once successfully...

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 ...

of the many amphibian species for which stage-specific data are lacking. Next, I reared larvae of five species (A. annulatum, A. maculatum, A. opacum, A. talpoideum, and A. texanum) from populations along an ~200 km latitudinal gradient in Missouri, USA...

, while molt peaked in February. The timing of elevational migration varied. Using multiple field methods and analyses, I classified 55 species as elevational migrants and 169 as residents. Insectivores were more likely to be resident, while other foraging...

-structured demographic models for two pond-breeding amphibian species and used these models to determine the potential effects of a range of core terrestrial habitat areas on population size and persistence. I next carried out field experiments designed to improve model...

surveys for three years and used a statistical modeling approach that accounted for the tendency of terrestrial salamanders to be belowground and unavailable for surveys. I found that terrestrial salamander density at our Missouri Ozark study site ranged...

genetic basis. However, some differences in trait means and genotype by environment interactions were detected between the novel environment in which the experiment was conducted (Missouri), and the ancestral habitat of this species (Brazil). Therefore...

, Missouri, and South Carolina are determining the effects of timber harvest on the persistence of amphibian populations. The purpose of my dissertation research was to define adult wood frog nonbreeding habitat in continuous oak-hickory forest...

degradation and amphibian declines. Manipulative experiments were conducted to investigate the performance (i.e., growth, survival) of amphibians that metamorphose from chemically-contaminated aquatic breeding sites. The heavy metal cadmium (Cd) was selected...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Invasive rat species have negatively affected island ecosystems contributing to the decline and extinction of many endemic species. The eradication of rodents on islands can...

Carbohydrate partitioning, the process of transporting carbohydrates from sites of synthesis in hotosynthetic tissue to developing sink tissues, is crucial for the growth, development, and yield in plants and crops. ...