Browsing Biology by Title
Now showing items 47-66 of 207
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Diversification of Galium within Tribe Rubieae (Rubiaceae): Evolution of Breeding Systems, Species Complexes, and Gene Duplication
(International Association for Plant Taxonomy; Botanical Society of America, 2010)Tribe Rubieae is unique within Rubiaceae with its herbaceous habit, temperate distribution, and whorls of leaf-like structures. This dissertation examines the evolution of the tribe, evolution a clade within the tribe ... -
Diversity and structure of subtidal rock walls in the Salish Sea: the roles of grazing, oceanography, and long-term change
(2013-04-17)The assembly and structure of communities is dictated by a number of ecological processes at a variety of spatial scales. Here I present an `ecology of places', to emphasize the need for both intensive, small-scale ... -
Diversity, distributions, and activity of bats in the San Juan Islands
The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats are some of the greatest threats to terrestrial biodiversity. Much of the practice of conservation science is rooted in Island Biogeography Theory (IBT). IBT postulates that ... -
Duplication and Functional Divergence in the Floral Organ Identity Genes
Among all extant land plant lineages, the flowering plants, or angiosperms, are by far the most abundant and diverse. A leading force in their speciation has been attributed to morphological changes in flowers, a key ... -
Ecological determinants of rockweed performance: interactions among herbivores, epiphytes and tides
(2014-04-30)Ecology seeks to understand how biotic and abiotic factors influence species distribution and abundance in order to make predictions about the outcome of interactions between species and their environment. The rocky ... -
Ecological factors affecting rates of spread in Cytisus scoparius, an invasive exotic shrub
(1996)Invasions of exotic species are among our most daunting conservation challenges, and range expansion models provide us with a framework for modelling them. I have focussed on ecological factors contributing to variation ... -
Ecological interaction among natural enemies and its consequences for biological control
(2000)One goal in pest control is to develop methods that suppress pests without harming other organisms. With this in mind, an ideal method would be to augment nontarget organisms to control a pest. This can be accomplished by ... -
Ecological Interactions in a Changing World
21st-century ecology is necessarily a science of change. Understanding how and why communities and interacting species respond to transformations in global climate and human land use can help improve our ability to forecast ... -
Ecological roles for corticosterone in birds: season, stages, habitat, and perturbations
(2006)Glucocorticoid hormones have multiple purposes. At low levels, they function to maintain basic energy and salt balance. At high levels, they are key hormones in the emergency response to noxious stimuli. In the short term, ... -
Ecology and Conservation of Magellanic and Galápagos Penguins in a Changing World
Climate change is rapidly altering the environment that wildlife experience, influencing their performance, ecological interactions, and population dynamics. Penguin species are threatened across the Southern Hemisphere ... -
Ecology and life history traits of Chondrichthyes: how cartilaginous fishes live and move through their environment.
Chondrichthyes (chimaeras, sharks, skates and rays) are a lineage of vertebrates with skeletons composed entirely of cartilage, that have existed for over 400 million years. This long evolutionary history has allowed them ... -
The ecology of invasions in a Minnesota grassland: characteristics of invasive species and invaded communities and the effects of global change
(2002)Biological invasions are causing dramatic changes in the distribution and abundance of species around the world. Invasions are one of the leading threats to conservation of native species, yet our ability to predict which ... -
Ecosystem and Large-Scale Climate Impacts of Plant Leaf Dynamics
Vegetation modifies Earth's climate by controlling the fluxes of energy, carbon, and water. Of critical importance is a better understanding of how vegetation responses to climate change will feedback on climate. Observations ... -
The effect of the introduction of cutthroat trout on the benthic community of Lake Lenore, Washington
(1986)In 1979, the Washington State Department of Game began stocking cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki henshawi) into Lake Lenore, a moderately alkaline lake that previously contained no resident populations of fish. In this ... -
Effects of conjugative plasmids on the ecology and evolution of microbial communities
CHAPTER 1. To increase our basic understanding of the ecology and evolution of conjugative plasmids, we need reliable estimates of their rate of transfer between bacterial cells. Current assays to measure transfer rate are ... -
Effects of fish predation on benthic communities in the San Juan Archipelago
Predation is a strong driver of community assembly, particularly in marine systems. Rockfish and other large fishes are the dominant predators in the rocky subtidal habitats of the San Juan Archipelago in NW Washington ... -
Effects of repetitiveness, pairing and linkage on position-effect variegation in Drosophila
(1996)Position-effect variegation (PEV) is a long distance silencing effect that results in variable inactivation of one or many genes. PEV is caused by the abnormal juxtaposition of heterochromatin and euchromatin following ... -
Effects of single mutations from experimental evolution of microbial proteins: Thermostability in phi-6 Cystovirus and toxin diversification in Escherichia coli
Experimental and directed evolution using microbes offer powerful methods for uncovering processes of evolution across the tree of life. The goal of such experiments is to generate mutational diversity, either through ... -
Effects of the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum on ecosystem structure and plant-animal interactions: a phytolith and stable isotope perspective
The mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO, 17–14.75 Ma) is one of Earth’s most recent, prolonged global warming events that is thought to have promoted ecological change across the globe. Although there is general agreement ... -
Elevated maternal corticosterone alters offspring development, physiology, and behavior in quail
(2004)Within the last decade, a large body of literature has accumulated documenting the deposition of maternal androgens into egg yolk and their consequences for offspring. However, little is known about the transfer of maternal ...