This dissertation research examined the causes and consequences of Neotropical migrant songbird distribution during the stationary portion of the non-breeding period. American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) are one of several species that exhibit...
Rufous-crowned sparrow -- Effect of habitat modification on. ; Rufous-crowned sparrow -- California Southern. ; Fragmented landscapes -- California.
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps ; RCSP) is a non-migratory, ground-nesting songbird that resides in southern California coastal sage scrub, which has been highly fragmented by urban development. RCSP's spatial pattern of abundance...
Within a species, the abundance of individuals varies in time and space. This dissertation research examines processes giving rise to patterns of spatial and temporal variation in the abundance of multiple species of forest-breeding migratory...
Though researchers have advocated a more direct link between individual, population, and community processes, translating the behavior of individuals to the dynamics of natural populations and communities has remained a major challenge in ecology....
Black-throated blue warbler -- Habitat. Black-throated blue warbler -- Behavior. Black-throated blue warbler -- Food. Black-throated blue warbler -- Nests.
Red milkweed beetle. Insects -- Flight. Insects -- Dispersal.
Most detailed studies of insect flight and dispersal have used long flying species as subjects. Little is known of the flight ecology of comparatively short flying species. This thesis reports the findings of a 4 year study of the flight behavior...
Regulatory linkage between epibiotic organisms and their host zooplankton populations is one of the least understood topics in zooplankton biology, despite the likely importance of epibionts to pelagic communities. These laboratory studies with...
Many environmental toxicants found in pesticides, herbicides, and industrial solvents are believed to have deleterious effects on development by disrupting hormone-sensitive processes. Xenopus embryos were exposed to commonly encountered endocrine...
Ciliata -- Effect of sediments on. ; Ciliata -- Effect of habitat modification on. ; Plankton -- Effect of sediments on. ; Plankton -- Effect of habitat modification on.
In this study, I examined the interactive effects of prey and physical habitat on foraging, habitat selection, growth, and survival of age-0 Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. I combined field observations of salmon behavior, surveys of habitat and prey...
Though the science of invasion biology has over a 50-year history it still struggles with clearly documenting the mechanisms and impacts of plant invasions. Numerous observational studies find associations between plant invasions and largescale...
This thesis considers the two special sensor networks for future sensor network design: mobile sensor networks and hybrid network of sensors and robots. To investigate two types of networks, we abstract two most important aspects that are ingrained...
Urban and suburban development is a dominant factor driving ecological processes at local and regional scales and its impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services are alarming. Pollinators, especially bees, and the ecosystem services they...
MicroRNA-10b (miR-10b) is considered a marker of disease aggressiveness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), in view of the fact that lower levels of miR-10b are associated with better response to neoadjuvant therapy, likelihood of surgical...
Many organisms recognize and respond to categories: predator, prey, rival, or juvenile. Organisms recognize these ecologically-important categories by assessing diverse sensory stimuli. A primary focus of my research has been understanding how...
Recent years have witnessed a new class of monitoring applications that need to continuously collect information from remote data sources. Those data sources, such as web click-streams, stock quotes, and sensor data, are often characterized as...
Floral nectar of many plant species is prone to colonization by microorganisms. Their presence and metabolism have the potential to modify a suite of traits important for pollinator attraction, including nectar quality and scent. However, studies...
Temperature has powerful effects on all scales of biological organization from biochemical reactions to ecosystem processes. Despite the well-appreciated influence and thorough understanding of the physiological and population consequences of...
Sexual selection is a driver of biodiversity and creates spectacular forms of variation. However, only recently have we begun to understand how this variation operates on the postcopulatory level and how cryptic mechanisms affect male-male...
Fir waves are spatially and temporally repeating patterns of stand development and destruction in subalpine, balsam fir-dominated forests of the northeastern United States, perpetuated by downwind migration of strips of dying trees, "dieback...
Nutrients play fundamental roles in biological systems, affecting plant growth and quality, community structure, and species interactions. Although the effects of nutrients on primary and secondary production have been well documented, their...
Vibrio cholerae is the etiologic agent of cholera in humans. Intestinal colonization occurs via ingestion of contaminated food and water and results in symptoms that include the production of the characteristic rice water stool, vomiting, and...
Stigma (Social psychology). Aging -- Psychological aspects. Cognition -- Age factors. Older people -- Attitudes.
Extensive research on aging has demonstrated that normal aging debilitates executive function, a system that is critical for regulating stereotypes. However, there is a paucity of research on whether age-related declines to executive function...
In this dissertation, I present an examination of the role of two biotic interactions in the population dynamics of Vibrio cholerae. Traits with a genetic basis such as size, physiological processes, stress tolerance, and even behavior, are key...
A nocturnal activity pattern is central to almost all hypotheses on the adaptive origins of primates but this view has been challenged recently on the basis of variation in the cone opsin genes of nocturnal primates. The diversity among primates in...
I investigated the effects of two contemporary disturbances to soil systems: forest clearing in the northeastern U.S. and climate-driven plant succession in the Arctic. To test the effects of clear-cutting forests on mineral soil carbon (C)...
Sponges are a historically ambiguous taxon, often considered primitively simple representatives of early Metazoa, living fossils from the era before the complex morphological features of the bilaterian phyla appeared in the Cambrian. Yet recent...
Mutualisms may facilitate coupled population expansion or decline if changes in either partner species lead to similar changes in the other species. However, few studies have measured how both species in a mutualism respond to changes in each...
The image of a child standing at the side of a creek and skipping stones across it exemplifies how we tend to mentally separate aquatic habitats from dry land. But there is a constant exchange of materials from land to streams, and vice-versa....
Arctic soils in the permafrost region store substantially more carbon than is contained in the atmosphere, and are undergoing rapid change associated with anthropogenic climate change. Soil decomposition is an important component of ecosystem...