Bioassessment is the concept of evaluating the ecological condition of habitats by surveying the resident assemblages of living organisms. Conducting bioassessment with benthic macroinvertebrates is still evolving and continues to be refined. There are strongly divided opinions about study design, sampling methods, laboratory analyses, and data analysis. Two issues that are currently being debated about study design for bioassessment in streams were examined here: 1) what habitats within streams should be sampled; 2) and is it necessary to identify organisms to the species level? The influence of habitat sampling design and level of taxonomic identification on the interpretation of ecological conditions of ten small streams in western Virginia was examined. Cattle watering and grazing heavily affected five of these streams (impaired sites). The other five streams, with no recent cattle activity or other impact by man, were considered to be reference sites because they were minimally impaired and represented best attainable conditions. Inferential and non-inferential statistical analyses concluded that multiple habitat sampling design was more effective than a single habitat design (riffle only) at distinguishing impaired conditions, regardless of taxonomic level. It appeared that sampling design (riffle habitat versus multiple habitats) is more important than taxonomic identification level for distinguishing reference and impaired ecological conditions in this bioassessment study. All levels of taxonomic resolution, which were studied, showed that the macroinvertebrate assemblages at the reference and impaired sites were very different and the assemblages at the impaired sites were adversely affected by perturbation. This study supported the sampling of multiple habitats and identification to the family level as a design for best determining the ecological condition of streams in bioassessment. / Master of Science

Enquanto muitas espécies de mosquitos são conhecidas por sua importância epidemiológica, a capacidade vetorial de algumas ainda não é clara. A identificação taxonômica, bem como a sexagem dos espécimes de Culicidae são essenciais para qualquer estudo ou ação, entretanto muitas vezes caracteres-chave estão danificados ou são restritos a uma fase de vida do animal. Em espécies crípticas, a identificação dos espécimes também pode ser prejudicada, o que dificulta, sobretudo, a compreensão da atividade vetorial em mosquitos. A morfometria geométrica alar, uma técnica barata e precisa para identificação de sutis dissimilaridades morfológicas, pode contribuir para a resolução destes tipos de problemas. O grupo de pesquisa MosquitoLab aplica esta técnica há mais de 10 anos e acumulou milhares imagens de asas com seus respectivos metadados. Estas informações, se organizadas como banco de dados relacional, podem permitir a sistematização do uso, consulta e armazenamento dos dados, além de viabilizar novos estudos e servir também como base para aplicações de identificação automática de mosquitos. Portanto, os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar a utilidade da morfometria geométrica alar para a resolução de dois problemas biológicos: dimorfismo sexual e espécies crípticas, e desenvolver um protótipo de plataforma para armazenamento de dados biológicos relacionados à morfometria de asa, por meio de um banco de dados relacional e um sistema web nomeado WingBank. Com base na técnica de morfometria geométrica alar, dois estudos de caso foram realizados: a) avaliação do dimorfismo sexual de 10 espécies de mosquitos de interesse médico e, b) diferenciação morfológica alar de Anopheles strodei s.s. e Anopheles arthuri s.l. com base em dois diferentes conjuntos de pontos anatômicos. Para construção do protótipo do WingBank uma equipe multidisciplinar realizou levantamento de requisitos, modelagem e criação do banco de dados relacional, e implementação de uma plataforma web. Os resultados referentes ao dimorfismo sexual alar apresentaram significativa diferenciação entre os sexos e padrões específicos de forma alar em todas as espécies estudadas. Os pontos anatômicos alares mais variáveis foram os das regiões proximal e distal das veias mediana e radial. Fêmeas apresentaram asas significativamente mais largas e curtas do que os machos. Diferenciação morfológica alar entre as espécies crípticas avaliadas foi observada em ambos os conjuntos de dados (18 e 22 pontos), sendo que no conjunto de 22 pontos com alometria, foi mais evidente. Os pontos anatômicos mais variáveis nas análises com os conjuntos de 18 e 22 pontos foram 1, 2 e 17, e 1, 2, 19, respectivamente. Finalmente, o protótipo WingBank foi implementado com dados referentes a 77 espécies pertencentes a 15 gêneros de Culicidae. Ao todo foram catalogados 13.287 registros de asas, dos quais 2.138 já estão disponibilizados a partir do presente trabalho, para uso de terceiros. Globalmente, este é o maior banco de dados de asas de Culicidae de que temos conhecimento. / While many species of mosquitoes are known for their epidemiological importance, the vector capacity of some is still unclear. Taxonomic identification and sexing of Culicidae specimens are essential for any study or action; however, often key characters are damaged or restricted to a stage of life of the animal. In cryptic species, the identification of specimens can also be damaged, which makes it difficult to understand the vector activity in mosquitoes. Geometric morphometry, an cheap and precise technique for identifying subtle morphological dissimilarities, may contribute to the resolution of these types of problems. The MosquitoLab research group has applied this technique for more than 10 years and has accumulated thousands of wing images with their metadata. This information, if organized as a relational database, may allow the systematization of the use, consultation and storage of the data, besides making possible new studies and lso serve as a basis for applications of automatic identification of mosquitoes. Therefore, the aims of this work were to evaluate the usefulness of the geometric morphometry to solve two biological problems: sexual dimorphism and cryptic species, and to develop a prototype of plataform for the storage of biological data related to wing morphometry, by means of a relational database and a web system named \"WingBank\". Based on the technique of wing geometric morphometry, two case studies were carried out: a) evaluation of the sexual dimorphism of 10 species of mosquitoes of medical importance and b) wing morphological differentiation of Anopheles strodei s.s. and Anopheles arthuri s.l. based on two different sets of landmarks. In order to build the WingBank prototype a multidisciplinary team performed requirements survey, modeling and creation of the relational database, and implemented a web platform. The results regarding wing sexual dimorphism showed significant differentiation between the sexes and specific patterns of wing shape in all species studied. The most variable landmarks were those of the proximal and distal regions of the medial and radial veins. Females showed slightly and significantly wider and shorter wings than males. Wing morphological differentiation between An. strodei s.s. and An. arthuri s.l. was observed in both sets of data (18 and 22 landmarks), but in the set of 22 with allometry, it was more evident. The most variable landmarks in the analyzes with the sets of 18 and 22 landmarks were 1, 2 and 17, and 1, 2, 19, respectively. Finally, the WingBank prototype was implemented with data referring to 77 species belonging to 15 genera of Culicidae. In all, 13,287 wing records were cataloged, of which 2,138 are from the present work, already available for use by third parties. Globally, as far as we know, this is the largest database of Culicidae wings.

Depuis leur domestication, les équidés sont étroitement associés aux activités humaines et ont, au fil des siècles, été façonnés au gré d’exigences morphologiques, esthétiques, d’allure ou de performance. Cette sélection artificielle a fortement impacté leurs traits phénotypiques et fonctionnels, produisant le large panel des races actuelles. Les sources historiques ont abondamment décrit l’importance des équidés et la diversité de leurs usages dans les sociétés passées. Ceci interroge donc sur la potentielle existence de types morphologiques spécialisés à des périodes antérieures à l’émergence des races. Dans ce contexte, les os présentent un intérêt particulier en tant que reflet des caractéristiques morphologiques et fonctionnelles des animaux du passé. En outre, les équidés étant fréquemment retrouvés sous la forme de squelettes complets en contexte archéologique,leurs restes offrent la possibilité d’étudier l’intégralité de la morphologie squelettique et notamment les interactions entre les os. Pourtant, les restes osseux d’équidés restent relativement peu exploités, probablement en raison des limites inhérentes aux méthodes d’étude actuelles. L’objectif de ce travail est de mieux comprendre la diversité phénotypique et fonctionnelle des équidés domestiques par des approches en morphométriegéométrique. La question de leur identification spécifique est tout d’abord abordée via la recherche de critères discriminants, qualitatifs et quantitatifs, applicables à du matériel archéologique. Les patterns de covariation entre les os sont ensuite explorés afin d’aborder des questions fonctionnelles. Les résultats révèlent une forte intégration morphologique entre les os des membres chez les équidés domestiques et mettent en évidence des différences entre les races selon un axe de covariation principalement porté par des interactions fonctionnelles. Ceci tend à montrer que la sélection artificielle, considérée comme le principal acteur de la diversification morphologique chez le cheval domestique, n’influence pas seulement le phénotype mais aussi les facteurs biologiques qui le sous-tendent. Enfin, une première application à des spécimens archéologiques permet dediscuter l’impact de potentielles formes de sélection artificielle et de standardisation morphologique sur des chevaux anciens. Les résultats démontrent l’intérêt d’étudier non seulement les variations de forme des os, mais aussi leurs covariations, afin d’enrichir nos connaissances concernant les traits morphologiques et fonctionnels des animaux passés, ainsi que les pratiques d’élevage qui y sont associées. L’étude des covariations contribueégalement à accroitre notre compréhension des processus micro-évolutifs, tels que la sélection artificielle, et à travers cela, permet de mieux documenter la manière dont la diversité phénotypique est produite. / Equids and humans share a long history of interaction from the first domestication to the standardization of modern breeds. In order to suit human activities, they have been molded through selection for conformation, harmony, gaits, or performance. This artificial selection is known to have largely impacted morphological and functional traits, producing the large range of current breeds. Historical sources extensively described the widepanel of equid usage in different human civilizations, raising the issue of the potential existence of specialized morphological types in the past, prior to the emergence of modern breeds. In this respect, bones prove to be of particular interest, as an image of the phenotypic and functional characteristics of past animals. Moreover, horses being often found as complete skeletons in archaeological contexts, their remains allow for the study of the complete skeletal morphology, especially concerning the interactions between bones. However, equid bone remains are largely under-explored, probably due to the recurrent limitations inherent to existing study methods. The objective of this work is to describe and understand the phenotypic and functional diversity of domestic equids, using geometric morphometrics approaches. Identification issues are firstly addressed through the research of qualitative and quantitative discrimination criteria, applicable to archaeological samples. Next, morphological and functional questions are addressed, especially investigating bone shape covariation. The obtained results reveal strong morphological integration within equid limb bones and evidenced breed specific differences along a covariation axis largely produced by functional interactions between bones. They show thatartificial selection, regarded as responsible of most of the modern diversification of horse breeds, not only targets the phenotype but also impacts the biological factors which underlie it. Finally, a first application to archaeological skeletons allows to question the influence of potential artificial selection and morphological standardization on past horses. The results demonstrate the interest of not only exploring bone shape variation,but also covariation, to increase our knowledge about the morphological and functional traits of past equids and about the related breeding practices. The study of morphological integration may also contribute to enhance our understanding of micro-evolutionary processes, such as artificial selection on domestic taxa, and through that, gain insights into how phenotypic diversity is produced.