Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-03-10T18:30:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 anaameliadesouzapereira.pdf: 7981340 bytes, checksum: 0446c7b651ada497c790051f8b213d35 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-03-13T19:24:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 anaameliadesouzapereira.pdf: 7981340 bytes, checksum: 0446c7b651ada497c790051f8b213d35 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-13T19:24:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 anaameliadesouzapereira.pdf: 7981340 bytes, checksum: 0446c7b651ada497c790051f8b213d35 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-26 / O sequenciamento da produção é um processo importante de tomada de decisão usado nas indústrias a fim de alocar tarefas aos recursos. Dada a relevância desse tipo de problema, a pesquisa em programação da produção faz-se necessária. Este trabalho envolve o processo de otimização nos seguintes problemas: máquina única, máquinas paralelas idênticas, máquinas paralelas idênticas com release time, máquinas paralelas não relacionadas com setup time dependente da sequência e das máquinas, e flow shop flexível com setup time dependente da sequência e dos estágios. Além disso, múltiplos e conflitantes objetivos devem ser otimizados ao mesmo tempo na programação de produção, e a literatura vem mostrando avanço nesse sentido. O presente trabalho analisa os objetivos comumente adotados e propõe um conjunto de pares de objetivos. Análise de correlação e árvore de agregação são utilizadas aqui para indicar as possibilidades de agregação entre os objetivos conflitantes. Meta-heurísticas são comumente adotadas para resolver os problemas de escalonamento abordados neste trabalho e duas delas, o Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) e a Presa Predador (PP), são aplicados aos problemas multiobjetivo propostos a fim de estudar suas adequações aos novos casos. O NSGA-II é um dos Algoritmos Genéticos mais utilizados em problemas de escalonamento. A PP é uma abordagem evolutiva recente para problemas de programação da produção, cada predador é responsável por tratar um único objetivo. Uma generalização para a técnica PP em que os predadores consideram de forma ponderada ambos os objetivos é também proposta. Adicionalmente, a influência da adoção de busca local sobre essas técnicas é analisada. Experimentos computacionais adotando hipervolume como métrica de desempenho foram conduzidos visando avaliar as técnicas computacionais consideradas neste trabalho e suas variantes. / The sequencing of the production is an important process in decision-making and it is used in industries in order to allocate tasks to resources. Given the relevance of this kind of problem, the research in production scheduling is necessary. This study involves the process of optimization in the following problems: single machines, parallel identical machines, parallel identical machines with release time, unrelated parallel machines with setup time dependent on the sequence and on the machines, and flow shop which is flexible with setup time dependent on the sequence and stages. Moreover, multiple and conflicting objectives must be optimized at the same time in production scheduling and the literature has been showing progress in this sense. The present study analyses the commonly adopted objectives and suggests a set of objective pairs. Correlation analysis and aggregation trees are used here to indicate possibilities of aggregation among the conflicting objectives. Metaheuristics are commonly used to solve the sequencing problems addressed in this study and two of them, the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and Predator-Prey(PP), are applied to the proposed multiobjective problems in order to study their adjustments to the new cases. The NSGA-II is one of the most used genetic algorithms in sequencing problems. The PP is a recent evolutionary approach to scheduling problems, where each Predator is responsible for dealing with just one objective. A generalization of the PP technique, in which Predators considered both objectives using weights, is also proposed. In addition, the influence of the adoption of local search on these techniques is analyzed. Computational experiments adopting the hypervolume as a performance measure were conducted aiming at evaluating the computational techniques considered in this study and their variants.

Both the upper and lower temperature tolerances of red fluorescent protein transgenic zebra danios and wildtype zebra danios, Danio rerio, were significantly different via two different methods; however, all differences are small (< 1°C) and probably not ecologically important. The U.S. geographic distributions of both transgenic and wildtype zebra danios will not be restricted by their upper thermal tolerances, but will be limited to the southern and western portions of the U.S. by their lower thermal tolerances. Largemouth bass did not preferentially prey upon transgenic zebra danios compared to wildtype danios or wildtypes relative to a native fish. If transgenic or wildtype zebra danios are released into southern or western U.S. waters, it is possible they could be eliminated by predation.

Body size is a fundamental structural characteristic of organisms, determining critical life history and physiological traits, and influencing population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem function. For my dissertation, I focused on effects of body size on habitat use and diet of important coastal fish predators, as well as their influence on faunal communities in Bahamian wetlands. First, using acoustic telemetry and stable isotope analysis, I identified high variability in movement patterns and habitat use among individuals within a gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) and schoolmaster snapper (L. apodus) population. This intrapopulation variation was not explained by body size, but by individual behavior in habitat use. Isotope values differed between individuals that moved further distances and individuals that stayed close to their home sites, suggesting movement differences were related to specific patterns of foraging behavior. Subsequently, while investigating diet of schoolmaster snapper over a two-year period using stomach content and stable isotope analyses, I also found intrapopulation diet variation, mostly explained by differences in size class, individual behavior and temporal variability. I then developed a hypothesis-testing framework examining intrapopulation niche variation between size classes using stable isotopes. This framework can serve as baseline to categorize taxonomic or functional groupings into specific niche shift scenarios, as well as to help elucidate underlying mechanisms causing niche shifts in certain size classes. Finally, I examined the effect of different-sized fish predators on epifaunal community structure in shallow seagrass beds using exclusion experiments at two spatial scales. Overall, I found that predator effects were rather weak, with predator size and spatial scale having no impact on the community. Yet, I also found some evidence of strong interactions on particular common snapper prey. As Bahamian wetlands are increasingly threatened by human activities (e.g., overexploitation, habitat degradation), an enhanced knowledge of the ecology of organisms inhabiting these systems is crucial for developing appropriate conservation and management strategies. My dissertation research contributed to this effort by providing critical information about the resource use of important Bahamian fish predators, as well as their effect on faunal seagrass communities.

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Many biological populations reside in increasingly fragmented landscapes, which arise from human activities and natural causes. Landscape characteristics may change abruptly in space and create sharp transitions (interfaces) in landscape quality. How patchy landscape affects ecosystem diversity and stability depends, among other things, on how individuals move through the landscape. Individuals adjust their movement behaviour to local habitat quality and show preferences for some habitat types over others. In this dissertation, we focus on how landscape composition and the movement behaviour at an interface between habitat patches of different quality affects the steady states of a single species and a predator-prey system. First, we consider a model for population dynamics in a habitat consisting of two homogeneous one-dimensional patches in a coupled ecological reaction-diffusion equation. Several recent publications by other authors explored how individual movement behaviour affects population-level dynamics in a framework of reaction-diffusion systems that are coupled through discontinuous boundary conditions. The movement between patches is incorporated into the interface conditions. While most of those works are based on linear analysis, we study positive steady states of the nonlinear equations. We establish the existence, uniqueness and global asymptotic stability of the steady state, and we classify their qualitative shape depending on movement behaviour. We clarify the role of nonrandom movement in this context, and we apply our analysis to a previous result where it was shown that a randomly diffusing population in a continuously varying habitat can exceed the carrying capacity at steady state. In particular, we apply our results to study the question of why and under which conditions the total population abundance at steady state may exceed the total carrying capacity of the landscape. Secondly, we model population dynamics with a predator-prey system in a coupled ecological reaction-diffusion equation in a heterogeneous landscape to study Turing patterns that emerge from diffusion-driven instability (DDI). We derive the DDI conditions, which consist of necessary and sufficient conditions for initiation of spatial patterns in a one-dimensional homogeneous landscape. We use a finite difference scheme method to numerically explore the general conditions using the May model, and we present numerical simulations to illustrate our results. Then we extend our studies on Turing-pattern formation by considering a predator-prey system on an infinite patchy periodic landscape. The movement between patches is incorporated into the interface conditions that link the reaction-diffusion equations between patches. We use a homogenization technique to obtain an analytically tractable approximate model and determine Turing-pattern formation conditions. We use numerical simulations to present our results from this approximation method for this model. With this tool, we then explore how differential movement and habitat preference of both species in this model (prey and predator) affect DDI.

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Large carnivores play many vital biological, economic, and conservation roles, however, their biological traits (low population densities, cryptic behavior) make them difficult to monitor. Pumas have been particularly difficult to study because the lack of distinctive markings on their coats prevents individual identification, precluding mark-recapture and other similar analyses. Further, compared to temperate areas, research on the interspecific interactions of Central American felids is particularly lacking. I used single- and multi-season, single-species occupancy models and two-species co-occurrence models to analyze camera trapping and habitat data collected at eight study sites across Belize. Puma occupancy was positively influenced by jaguar trap success, understory density, canopy cover, and human trap success, and negatively influenced by stream density. Jaguar trap success was the best predictor of where pumas occurred, while prey species were not found to influence puma occupancy. Mean occupancy was 0.740 (0.013) and ranged from 0.587 (0.042) to 0.924 (0.030). Over time, puma occupancy rates were generally high (> 0.90) and stable. Puma occupancy was higher in logged areas, suggesting that current levels of natural resource extraction at those sites were not detrimental to the species. Co-occurrence modeling showed little evidence for interactions between the carnivores, suggesting that jaguars may be acting as an umbrella species and that conservation efforts directed at jaguars are likely to benefit the other carnivores, including pumas. Overall, these findings are positive for puma conservation, but human-induced land use change is expanding and further monitoring will give us insight into how pumas respond to human encroachment. / Master of Science / Large carnivores play many vital biological, economic, and conservation roles, however, their biological traits (low population densities, cryptic behavior) make them difficult to monitor. Pumas have been particularly difficult to study because they lack distinctive markings on their coats, making it difficult to identify individuals. Further, compared to temperate areas, there is little research on how cat species in Central American interact. To learn more about the habitat that pumas prefer and how they interact with other carnivores, I used single- and multi-season, single-species occupancy models and two-species co-occurrence models to analyze camera trapping and habitat data collected at eight study sites over multiple years across Belize. Puma distribution across the landscape was positively influenced by jaguar activity levels, understory density, canopy cover, and human activity levels, and negatively influenced by how wet sites were. Jaguar activity level was the best predictor of where pumas occurred, while prey species did not influence puma occupancy. Over time, these puma occupancy rates were generally high and stable. Puma occurrence was higher in logged areas, suggesting that current levels of natural resource extraction at those sites were not detrimental to the species. There was little evidence of interactions between the carnivores, suggesting that jaguars could act as an umbrella species and that conservation efforts directed at jaguars are also likely to benefit pumas. Overall, these findings are good news for puma conservation, but human-induced land use change is expanding and further monitoring will give us insight into how pumas respond to human encroachment.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Biology / Kimberly A. With / The loss, fragmentation, and degradation of grasslands have resulted in widespread declines in grassland birds. Nest predation is the leading cause of avian reproductive failure; therefore minimizing nest predation can lessen the severity of bird declines. Snakes are important predators of bird nests, but little is known about how snakes may enhance predation risk. To address this issue, I studied the habitat use, movement behavior, population genetic structure, and connectivity of snakes in the grasslands of northeastern Kansas. I addressed the connectivity of eastern yellowbelly racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris) populations by using a landscape genetics approach at a broad scale (13,500 km2). I also radio-tracked the yellowbelly racer and Great Plains ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi) at Konza Prairie Biological Station to understand their spatial ecology while simultaneously evaluating nest survival in grassland birds. Individual racers had limited dispersal (<3 km), but substantial admixture occurred within 30 km and populations were in migration-drift equilibrium and had high allelic diversity; therefore, racers must be abundant and continuously distributed for gene flow to be fluid throughout the region. Racers may be more likely to encounter bird nests, as they had more frequent movements and traversed greater distances on average than ratsnakes, which exhibited long periods of inactivity between directed movements. As for grassland birds, nest survival rates decreased with increasing shrubs and decreasing vegetation height. Discriminant function analysis revealed that successful nests were likely to occur in tall vegetation but reduced shrub cover, whereas higher shrub cover characterized snake habitats. Because snakes often use shrubs, nests in areas of increased shrubs may be at higher risk of predation by snakes. Targeted removal of shrubs may increase nest success by minimizing the activity of predators attracted to shrubs. Although predator removal is often a strategy for protecting bird populations, it may not be feasible in this instance, especially since snakes are a native component of the grassland community. Efforts to reduce snake predation on grassland bird nests should therefore focus on managing habitat within grasslands (i.e., shrubs) that influence snake activity, as no natural or anthropogenic habitat barriers currently limit snake movement across the landscape.