Thesis (M.S.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2004. / Title from title page screen (viewed Sept. 27, 2004). Thesis advisor: R.B. Richards. Document formatted into pages (xi, 83 p. : ill. (some col.)). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-65).

Submitted by Natalia de Souza Gonçalves (natalia.goncalves@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-19T12:54:56Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO DE WELLINGTON ALMEIDA 2016.pdf: 1101288 bytes, checksum: 07cca2fd811e664315f232195abc4703 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-19T12:54:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO DE WELLINGTON ALMEIDA 2016.pdf: 1101288 bytes, checksum: 07cca2fd811e664315f232195abc4703 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-25 / O carcará (Caracara plancus) e o gavião-carijó (Rupornis magnirostris) são aves de rapina, predadores de topo, que habitam o território brasileiro. Possuem alimentação variada, desde animais vivos até àqueles em estado de decomposição. Diante disto, objetivou-se identificar possíveis endoparasitos do gavião-carijó e do carcará mantidos em cativeiro, além de descrever e comparar histomorfometricamente o intestino delgado de ambas as espécies. Foram utilizados seis espécimes de cada espécie. Para análise parasitológica as fezes foram coletadas e processadas pelo método de Hoffman simples. Para a histomorfometria amostras do duodeno, jejuno, íleo foram fixadas e submetidas ao processamento histológico de rotina. Finalmente, as lâminas foram fotografadas e cinco variáveis foram medidas: Tamanho da Vilosidade (TV), Largura da Vilosidade (LV), Profundidade da Glândula Intestinal (PGI), Espessura do estrato Muscular Interno (EMI) e Espessura do estrato Muscular Externo (EME). Obteve-se os seguintes resultados: na análise das fezes de Rupornis magnirostris foram encontrados ovos de Capillaria sp. Na histomorfometria, os intestinos delgados de ambas as aves, apresentaram padrão heterogêneo, com diferenças significativas (p<0,001) entre o duodeno e o íleo. A comparação das medidas nas duas aves demonstrou diferenças significativas na PGI e LV do duodeno, em todas variáveis do jejuno e no TV, EMI e EME do íleo. Este estudo fornece parâmetros histomorfométricos do intestino delgado do Rupornis magnirostris e Caracara plancus, que contribuirá para melhor entendimento da biologia e consequente auxílio em programas de preservação das espécies. / The Southern Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) and the Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) are raptors, top predators that inhabit the Brazilian territory. They have varied diet, from live animals to those in a state of decomposition. Given this, it aimed to identify possible endoparasites of Roadside Hawk and Southern Crested Caracara kept in captivity, besides describe and compare histomorphometric the small intestine of both species. six specimens of each species were used. For parasitological analysis feces were collected and processed by simple Hoffman method. For histomorphometry, samples of the duodenum, jejunum, ileum were fixed and submitted to routine histological processing. Finally, the slides were photographed and five variables were measured: villus size (TV), width villus (LV) Depth gland Intestinal (PGI), Internal muscle layer thickness (EMI) and Outer muscle layer thickness (EME). This yields the following results: In analysis of feces from Rupornis magnirostris eggs of Capillaria sp. were found. In histomorphometry, small intestines of both birds showed a heterogeneous standard, with significant differences (p <0.001) between the duodenum and the ileum. The comparison of measurements in both birds showed significant differences in PGI and LV of duodenum, all variables of jejunum and in TV, EMI and EME of ileum. This study provides morphometric parameters of the small intestine of Rupornis magnirostris and Caracara plancus, which will contribute to better understanding of the biology and consequently aid in conservation programs of species.

Gray hawks became established in the San Pedro River (SPR) valley in the mid-1900s following landscape changes that created habitat for them. The population of gray hawks along the SPR is at the northern edge of the species’ range, and its growth has been documented periodically since the 1970s. A study in the 1990s quantified gray hawk diet and habitat use in this area, and found that gray hawks hunt primarily in mesquite, eat mostly lizards, and that their productivity is positively correlated with the percentage of mesquite in their territories. The gray hawk population along the SPR has nearly doubled since the initial study was conducted, and pairs now nest in areas that contain little or no mesquite. Our main objectives were to determine whether: a) diet and habitat requirements have changed for gray hawks along the SPR since the population has as expanded, and b) productivity has declined as the population has expanded into habitats of potentially lower quality. We used nest cameras to document prey deliveries, and ESRI ArcGIS to quantify vegetation types within estimated home ranges of gray hawks. We compared productivity of gray hawk pairs in the 1990s and the 2010s, as well as the current productivity of pairs in territories that had been occupied by gray hawks in the 1990s (original territories) and those that only became occupied after the original study was completed (new territories). We found that that gray hawks used a wider variety of vegetation types, such as nest trees surrounded by grasslands, and consumed a wider variety of prey than they did in the 1990s, and that productivity remained constant over time. Like many populations at the edge of their range, the gray hawks that initially settled in the San Pedro River valley likely had access to only a portion of the resources that are common at the center of the species’ range, and therefore appeared to have a narrower set of diet and habitat requirements than the species as a whole. Areas that are currently being used by gray hawks for nesting (e.g., nest trees surrounded by grasslands) were likely unsuitable in the 1990’s because they were being used for agriculture and grazing. The two chapters of this thesis will be submitted to journals for publication and therefore contain overlapping information.

In Axelrod's tournaments of the Prisoner's Dilemma, carried out in the 1980s, a strategy called Tit for Tat was declared the winner, and it has since then been thought of as the strategy to use to do as well as possible in different situations. In this thesis, we investigate whether Tit for Tat will still do as well if we change the game to the Hawk-Dove Game. This is done by comparing Tit for Tat to other strategies -- All C, All D, Joss and Random -- one at a time. First we analyse under which conditions each strategy will be an Evolutionary Stable Strategy, then if it is possible for a population of these two strategies to end up in a stable polymorphism, and finally, if we have a finite population instead of an infinite one, under which conditions selection will favour the fixation of each of the strategies. This leads to the conclusion that how well Tit for Tat will do depends a lot on the different conditions on the game, but in general, the more times that a pair of individuals will meet, and the higher the value of the resource is compared to the cost of fighting, the better Tit for Tat will do.

Development and climate change in the sagebrush habitats are causing population declines of North American hawks and eagles. For these species, understanding the landscape features that are preferred for nesting and the prey they consume in sagebrush habitats are important in developing conservation plans. Specifically, we know little of the preferred nest-sites and diet of Ferruginous Hawks (Buteo regalis) and Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) many locales. In our study, we determined the landscape characteristics associated with nest sites for these two raptor species in the Uintah Basin, UT to predict where nests may occur in our study area. We found that slope, elevation, distance to nearest oil and gas wells, geology, and facing south were the most important variables in characterizing Golden Eagle nest-sites. Elevation, slope, vegetation type, and distance to nearest oil and gas wells were the most important variables in characterizing Ferruginous Hawk nest-sites. In addition, we looked at the diets of Golden Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks, and Northern Goshawks in the Uinta Basin, UT using a genetic analysis method novel to raptors. We found species consistent with previous diet studies and detected prey items not previously reported, including the Western Whiptail (Aspidocelis tigris), Domestic Cow (Bos Taurus), Domestic Pig (Sus scrofa), and Rock Bass (Amboplites rupestris) within Ferruginous Hawk samples. Results from our study can provide managers with tools to better survey for nest-sites and to provide an alternative method of diet analysis to provide insight into prey species important to these raptors.

No description available.

Considering the high reproductive investment of the social male and the cost to the female of losing this benefit by soliciting copulations outside the social pair bond, it is expected that most raptor populations would exhibit low to no occurrence of extra-pair paternity (EPP). This holds true for the majority of raptor species studied to date with only one exception of an urban Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) study which reported an unexpectedly high extra-pair young frequency of 19.29%. In our study we examined the frequency of EPP within a red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) population residing in the suburban/urban matrix of southwest Ohio. During the breeding seasons of 2018 and 2019, 181 breeding age and nestling individuals were color-banded and sampled for genetic analysis using nine microsatellite loci. After genotyping a total of 40 broods (with at least two nestlings per brood) and both presumptive parents of each brood, no clear evidence of EPP was detected. However, at one nest site, the entire brood of four chicks was not sired by the adult male observed during the courtship period, nor another adult male observed tending the chicks later in the season. We suspect that this particular nest represented two instances of rapid mate replacement rather than extra-pair fertilization by a third unsampled male, because none of the chicks were sired by either of the two adult males observed at the nest. We also reviewed potential factors contributing to our finding of overall genetic monogamy in our study population in comparison to other raptor taxa EPP studies. Our results suggested that factors other than habitat composition alone play an important role in determining the type of breeding strategy exhibited by different raptor populations.

Plastic pollution is unavoidable in the natural environment. Consequences of plastic ingestion include exposure to environmental pollutants and toxin accumulation, causing endocrine disruption, inflammatory and physiological stress in organisms. Microplastics have been shown to transfer across food webs, however, limited studies have examined microplastic accumulation across terrestrial food webs. Furthermore, few studies have examined plastic pollution in apex predatory animals. A study was conducted to quantify the abundance of plastic pollution in the gastrointestinal tract in birds of prey. Two species were investigated, one which forages in terrestrial habitats and one which forages in aquatic environments including Buteo lineatus (red-shouldered hawk) and Pandion haliaetus (osprey), respectively. The gastrointestinal tract was necropsied, chemically digested, and examined for microplastic prevalence. Overall, microplastics are significantly more abundant per gram of gastrointestinal (GI) tract tissue in species that forage on small rodents and terrestrial reptiles (B. lineatus) as compared to species that forage on fish and aquatic invertebrates (P. haliaetus). Buteo lineatus averaged 0.81 (±0.15) fibers and 0.14 (±0.04) fragments per gram of GI tract tissue while P. halieatus averaged 0.31 (±0.09) fibers and 0.04 (±0.02) fragments per gram of GI tract tissue. There was a significant interaction between type and color in both B. lineatus and P. haliaetus GI tract tissues. Micro-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR) was run on haphazardly selected samples and found that rayon was the most common polymer identified in both species. The significant difference found between species could be indicative that terrestrial raptors may experience greater bioaccumulation than aquatic species foraging at comparable trophic levels. However, the significant interaction between type and color in both species indicates a potential common source of pollution that affects both environments. Further investigation on the source of polymers is necessary in order to develop conservation and management strategies aimed at decreasing the output of synthetic fibers into the environment. Due to the abundance of polymers found in these species, understanding the potential biological and physiological effects of plastics is essential to informing superior management strategies that can better protect and preserve wildlife from increasing anthropogenic pressures.

In designing an Audubon Society Building, I sought to explore procession and its properties in relation to architecture. A structure of hint, pause, and reveal is set up as a shared condition to control movement. This anticipation, movement through, and discovery of space contributes spatial drama to the procession. In addition to the drama created, a continuous dialogue with man is opened up by giving meaning and depth to each space. Their focus on the context of the natural surroundings, as a critical element in the procession, reinforces the educational purpose of the building by bringing man closer to nature. Together, the establishment of these complex moments and the architectural choreography comprise the dual components of architectural procession. / Master of Architecture