No description available.

A terrain analysis of the Shiloh Battlefield is presented in conjunction with a meteorological assessment of the conditions prevalent during the battle. The intent of the analysis was to ascertain the effect that conditions might have played upon the strategic and tactical actions prior to, and during the Battle of Shiloh, 1862. The significance of this study was to determine the influence of meteorological and geographical factors upon the two armies. Values for temperature and precipitation were estimated using the PDSI and data from NOAA. According to the model it was a very wet year. Weather and geography clearly played a role in how and when the Battle of Shiloh was fought. Due to the high number of casualties, however, the Battle of Shiloh would change how warfare would be conducted in the United States.

No description available.

During 2008 – 2009, we quantified foraging behavior of adult Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica) by deploying time-depth recorders (TDRs) on 18 adults and collected morphological measurements from 40 adults nesting on Petit Manan Island, Maine. Dive data were successfully retrieved from 5 birds foraging for 14 days in 2008, and 8 birds foraging for 18 days in 2009. Pooling across all birds, a total of 8,097 dives were recorded, with peaks in activity during 0400-0800 and 1600-2000, and no diving between 2100 and 0400. Mean (± SD) dives/bird/day was 276.4 (± 84.7), with dives grouped into bouts lasting 17.8 (± 31.5) minutes, consisting of 8.9 (± 3.4) dives. Dive depth was less than 15 m for 86% of the dives. Mean maximum dive depth across birds was 9.7 (± 1.7) m, with the deepest dive being 40.7 m. Females made fewer deep dives (27-41 m), had more midday dives (1000 - 1559), and their dives were spread across a greater number of bouts per day than males. Given a mean foraging trip length of 60.1 (± 38.3) minutes for 26 birds observed in 2009, we estimate that adult puffins foraged, on average, within 31 km of the colony. Morphological measures were recorded by a single observer and included body mass, wing chord, bill depth, bill length, culmen, and head-bill length, and represented 19 males and 21 females, based on blood sample analysis. Data were analyzed using classification trees, and our final tree used culmen length and bill depth to correctly classify 34 of 40 (85%) birds (kappa = 0.695, P < 0.01). Use of our model can greatly improve the ability of biologists to identify sex of puffins in the field at this colony site, but variability in morphological data we collected at addition colonies indicates that future work is needed to determine its applicability throughout the Gulf of Maine. During 2009, we measured burrow characteristics of alcids and empty burrows. Breeding success and burrow characteristics were measured for nests of 104 puffins, 58 guillemots and 4 razorbills, with burrow characteristics measured for an additional 12 guillemot and 56 empty burrows. Mean diameter of burrow openings of puffins, guillemots, razorbills and empty burrows were significantly different, and artificial puffin burrows had significantly smaller openings than natural while artificial and natural guillemot burrows had similar opening diameters. Hatch, chick, and nest success of puffins was similar among burrow types, but guillemots had higher hatch and nest success in artificial burrows. The variables we used to create models for predicting hatch and nest success for puffins and guillemots had inadequate discriminatory power to predict success.

Man-made nest boxes are surrogate nest sites widely used by waterfowl managers in North America to propagate free-ranging Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) and other cavity-nesting waterfowl. I monitored 129 and 174 nest boxes in 2020 and 2021, respectively, at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge and York Woods, Mississippi. I evaluated site-specific biotic and abiotic factors that were potentially influential on nest survival of Wood Ducks and general nesting ecology and apparent nest success of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) and Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus). Daily survival rate of Wood Ducks was negatively influenced by increasing encroaching vegetation at Noxubee NWR and varied by year at York Woods. Across both sites and years, Black-bellied Whistling Duck and Hooded Merganser nest success averaged 59% and 77%, respectively. I also evaluated eggshell breaking strength (EBS) between all three species, where EBS was highest in Hooded Mergansers, followed by Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Wood Ducks.

Artificial beach nourishment, the most common method to mitigate coastal erosion in the United States, is also considered the most ecologically friendly alternative for shoreline stabilization. However, this habitat alteration has the potential to impact nesting marine turtles and developing hatchlings. The first objective of this study was to determine how nourishing beaches with two different design templates affects loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting success, the ratio of nests to the total number of nests and non-nesting emergences, and reproductive success, the ratio of hatched and emerged hatchlings to the total number of eggs deposited. Two types of restoration designs exist along the southern Brevard County, FL coastline, which supports some of the highest density loggerhead and green turtle nesting worldwide. Since 2005, approximately 35 kilometers of beach have undergone 1) fullscale restoration (typically called nourishment), where sand was added above and below the mean high tide line (2005, 2010) or 2) dune restoration, where sand was placed on the dune (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009). To quantify the effects of these restoration types, we used a Before-After-ControlImpact-Paired Series (BACIPS) model, which tests for significance between the difference in nesting success rates at the impact (engineered) and control sites (natural beach) before and after restoration ( ). For loggerheads, there was a significant difference in after dune restoration during the years of construction (2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009; p

As shrubland bird populations decline, there is a critical need to understand the effects of habitat management. I studied a population of color-banded prairie warblers (Setophaga discolor) between 2008-2011 in a shifting mosaic landscape within a Massachusetts inland, pitch pine-scrub oak barren consisting of persistent, newly created, succeeding, and disturbed habitats. I present data showing that the abundance and population structure at this site appears to be a function of colonization of newly created habitat by second-year birds, which are likely excluded from mature early-successional habitat by site-faithful older birds. Breeding season fecundity did not differ significantly between newly-created and mature habitats. Birds displaced by mowing or fire dispersed to nearby suitable habitat the following year, had relatively similar reproductive success, and did not negatively affect pairing or reproductive success in adjacent areas. My findings are novel and show that the effects of shrubland management on shrubland birds are beneficial in the short- and long-term. I also examined prairie warbler nest-site selection and nest survival in relation to plant leafing phenology and other factors. Prairie warblers selected distinct nest sites and certain attributes of these selected sites increased nest survival; thus I conclude that nest-site selection is adaptive. Plant leafing phenology influenced nest-site selection and nest survival in this system; its effects on birds should be considered as a potential mechanism by which bird communities can be affected by global climate change.

Identifying the resources that limit bee populations is essential both for bee conservation and pollination management in agroecosystems. Land-use change typically leads to decreased habitat availability for wild pollinators including loss of nesting habitat, which is an essential but often-overlooked resource for wild bees. Cavity-nesting bees, such as many Osmia spp. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), occupy holes in wood or reeds to build their nests; due to their nesting habits, they are frequently scarce in agricultural settings, although, under the right circumstances, these bees can be ideal pollinators of apple and other orchard crops. Artificial nesting structures (“bee hotels”, “trap nests”, or “nest boxes”) are used to study cavity-nesting bees and have been posited as solutions for promoting bee conservation. To evaluate the effects of additional nesting habitat on the local abundance of Osmia spp., and on bees more generally, artificial nesting structures for cavity-nesting bees were installed at 24 sites in apple orchards around Ottawa in 2021 and 2022. Each site had two treatments: one with nest boxes, and one without (control). Transect walks were conducted to measure overall bee contact (including contact by Osmia spp.) with apple blossoms and, after the end of apple bloom, with flowers in the undergrowth and/or in shrubs. Numbers of apple buds and developing fruit were also recorded. Osmia spp. and overall bee numbers were both significantly higher in the treatment with nest boxes (44% and 15% higher, respectively, in 2021, and 113% and 47% higher, respectively, in 2022); however, there was no difference in fruit set (apple count/bud count) between the two treatments. Thus, nest boxes seem to locally increase Osmia spp. numbers as well as total bee numbers, but they have no apparent effect on apple yield, likely because apple production was not pollinator limited in the years of this study. These findings suggest that bee populations in apple orchards are limited by nesting resources, which has important implications for orchard management practices and bee conservation policy.

Mutualism is an understudied phenomenon across taxa, but is important to the persistence and structure of communities. The role of positive interactions in supporting threatened species is critically important given that freshwater fish are extremely vulnerable due to the combined effects of climate change and habitat degradation. To disentangle complex positive multi-species interactions, I applied both Eltonian and Hutchinsonian niche approaches to the reproductive mutualism of leuciscids known as nest association, a form of alloparental care characterized by an adult of one species guarding the offspring of another. I conducted this study with the leuciscid community of Toms Creek in which Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus is the primary nest builder and nest associate species include Rosyside Dace Clinostomus funduloides, Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens, Mountain Redbelly Dace Chrosomus oreas, Crescent Shiner Luxilus cerasinus, White Shiner Luxilus albeolus, Central Stoneroller Campostoma anomalum, Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus, and Blacknose Dace Rhinycthys atratulus. I applied Hutchinsonian niche theory with respect to hydrology and water temperature to define the reproductive phenology of each species involved in the reproductive mutualism, then used Eltonian niche theory to define the role of each species in parental and alloparental care. My dual niche theory approach elucidates the reproductive requirements of each species and quantifies the contribution of nest associates to alloparental care, which historically have not been included in definitions of nest association. My results show that Blacknose Dace Rhinichthys atratulus and Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus are not true nest associates of Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus based on their reproductive phenology and observed nesting behaviors. In contrast to previous work on nest association, most associate species did contribute to parental care through nest defense and vigilance behaviors, and their specific behaviors were influenced by morphology. By clearly defining the reproductive niches of these species, this study lays the groundwork for future investigation of how various climate scenarios may impact multi-species reproductive mutualisms. / Master of Science / Positive interactions are understudied throughout ecology, but are important to the persistence and structure of communities. The role of positive interactions in supporting threatened species is critically important given that freshwater fish are at high risk of extinction due to the combined effects of climate change and habitat degradation. To understand the complex positive interactions in freshwater fish, I applied both niche theory approaches to a mutualistic reproductive interaction known as nest association, where an adult of one species builds a nest on which it guards the offspring of other species (formally: a type of alloparental care). I conducted this study with the leuciscid (commonly known as minnow) community of Toms Creek in which Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus is the primary nest builder and nest associate species include Rosyside Dace Clinostomus funduloides, Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens, Mountain Redbelly Dace Chrosomus oreas, Crescent Shiner Luxilus cerasinus, White Shiner Luxilus albeolus, Central Stoneroller Campostoma anomalum, Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus, and Blacknose Dace Rhinycthys atratulus. For each species involved in the reproductive mutualism, I defined the seasonal timing of reproduction with respect to hydrology and water temperature, then defined their role in parental and alloparental care. My approach clarifies the reproductive requirements of each species and establishes the contributions of associate species to alloparental care, which historically have not been included in definitions of nest association. My results show that Blacknose Dace Rhinichthys atratulus and Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus are not true nest associates of Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus based on their reproductive requirements and observed nesting behaviors. In contrast to historic descriptions of nest association, most associate species did contribute to parental care through nest defense and vigilance behaviors, and their specific behaviors were influenced by their size and physical adaptations. By clearly defining the reproductive needs and roles of these species, this study lays the groundwork for future investigation of how various climate scenarios may impact positive relationships among species.

In April of 1990 the Sebastian Inlet Tax District received a long-term (25 year) permit to conduct maintenance dredging of the navigation channel at Sebastian Inlet, Florida. Approximately 105,150 cubic meters of sediment will be removed every two years and pumped to a feeder beach immediately south of the inlet. The renourished beach, a high density nesting beach for loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles, is within the proposed Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and will play a critical role in the long-term maintenance of Sebastian Inlet as a navigable waterway. A turtle monitoring program was implemented by the District at the request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The monitoring program was designed to investigate nesting behavior, reproductive success and physical characteristics of the nesting habitat on the renourished beach at Sebastian Inlet and on a control beach (Wabasso Beach). Daily nesting surveys were conducted to record all sea turtle nests and non-nesting emergences in each study area. All nests were marked, monitored throughout incubation and inventoried to determine hatching and emergence success. Data on physical parameters were collected in monthly profiles of each beach. Compaction values were recorded with a cone penetrometer along transects from the dune to mean high water line. Temperature of the ambient beach was recorded at 30 and 60-cm depths along two transects from the dune to mean high water line. Moisture and sand grain analysis were conducted monthly in 1991. Sea turtle nesting and hatching success were similar on the renourished and control beaches in 1990 and 1991, suggesting that renourishment had no adverse effect on sea turtle reproductive success. Nesting success on the renourished and control beaches, respectively, was 42.0% (N = 104) and 45.0% (N = 65) in 1990, and 62.9% (N = 165) and 62.4% (N = 118) in 1991. Hatching success on the renourished and control beaches, respectively, was 80.7% (N = 85) and 79.3% (N = 59) in 1990, and 69.1% (N = 118) and 66.7% (N = 102) in 1991. Compaction values averaged 500 PSI on the renourished beach, while values on the control were approximately 250 PSI. The higher level of compaction on the renourished beach resulted in a lack of complete nest covering, and aberrant nest chamber configurations on the renourished beach. Grain size and moisture content were similar on the renourished and control beaches. Compaction levels were not related to incompatible fill, implying that the manner in which the material was deposited resulted in the increased compaction. Beach temperatures measured at 30-cm and 60-cm depths indicated that the renourished beach was consistently 0.5°C warmer than the control beach. If the physical parameters of a subsequent renourishment project are within the findings of 1990 and 1991, there should be no adverse effect on sea turtle nesting and hatching success. The results of this project cannot be applied to other beach renourishment projects however, but should be restricted to future dredging projects at Sebastian Inlet. Although the results are not applicable to other locations, the methodologies developed to study the effects of renourishment on sea turtles could be applied to other beach renourishment situations. Future research should focus on how the physical parameters of a renourished beach affect the micro-environment within the actual nest chamber and embryonic development. / Master of Science