significant heritable component was detected for nectar volume and energy, as well as corolla tube length, in an experimental population of Nicotiana alata. Although phenotypic correlations were significant for all measured traits, only two correlations had a...

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...

populations in Missouri.The results of my dissertation research indicate that the quantity and quality of terrestrial habitat available to pond-breeding amphibians can have substantial population level consequences including increased extinction probabilities...

[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...

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...

how metals affect larval sturgeon behavior and survival. Of particular concern are reported field observations of large numbers of sturgeon larvae with empty guts at a critical point in their life cycle. By putting all these pieces together, I found...

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is an endangered species whose distribution spans 13 countries in south, southeast, and insular Asia. The primary threats to the survival of this species include direct conflict, primarily ...

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...

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...

The Brassicales are an economically important order of flowering plants. Many crop species such as kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, canola oil, capers, and papaya, as well as the model plant organism, Arabidopsis ...

for unambiguous identification of cells based on anatomy or neuronal projections. We use this to evaluate the efficacy of cluster estimation procedures, clustering methods, and classification algorithms to determine the number of cell types present, group like...