Body size is important in determining the outcome of competition and predator-prey interactions. Size structure of a population (i.e. relative proportion of large and small conspecifics) may be particularly important in organisms with prolonged breeding periods and rapid growth where populations may have multiple cohorts at different stages of development competing for one resource. Both the consumptive and nonconsumptive effects of predators can also be size-dependent and can alter competitive interactions. Here we study the importance of size structure in the Neotropical leaf-breeding tree frog, Agalychnis callidryas. This species is a prolonged breeder such that multiple overlapping cohorts of differing sizes are common. Specifically, we examine size-specific intraspecific competition between A. callidryas tadpoles and then explore how predation affects these interactions. To determine the strength of inter-cohort competition, we manipulated the density and relative proportion of large and hatchling tadpoles in a response surface design and quantified growth. We then observed the effect of a dragonfly larvae predator (Anax amazili) on tadpole growth and survival at different size-structured treatments. Large tadpoles were greater per individual competitors while hatchlings were greater per gram competitors. When predators were added, dragonflies reduced survival and growth of hatchlings substantially, but had no effect on large tadpoles. Further, dragonflies reduced hatchling growth more when other hatchlings were present. The predator effect on hatchling growth was 23% larger than the effect of competition with large tadpoles, such that the importance of size structure for A. callidryas may be mediated more through predation than intercohort competition.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze if, and if so, how, Smithsonian art museum administrators perceive their current Public Affairs strategies to create relationships that attract, educate, and retain Young Cosmopolitans (YoCos). Using a qualitative approach, this study reported the findings from interviews with Public Affairs practitioners, museum educators, and museum webmasters at five Smithsonian art museums, galleries and affiliates. YoCos were defined as well-educated young adults who are pan-cultural. The study found six cross-case themes. Participants in the study generally agreed about defining YoCo characteristics and reported varying degrees of interest in attracting YoCos. Some of the museums in the study used a variety of social and educational activities to convey their interest in YoCos, including late evening events and programming. While most of these organizations expressed the belief that today's YoCo was a potential donor of tomorrow, museums will also have to adapt their Social Networking/Web 2.0 tools in order to attract more YoCos to the museum setting. Currently, museums have made little effort to adapt their publicity or educational activities to the preferences of YoCos. Using frameworks from The Model of Contextual Learning (Falk and Dierking) and Relational Dialectics (Baxter and Montgomery), the study found that even when museums place a high priority on establishing relationships with YoCos, those relationships will not be static. Museums will need to continually re-define Public Affairs strategies including buzz and viral marketing, Social Networking/Web 2.0 tools, Bluetooth text messaging and more traditional forms of advertising for YoCos, to retain this demographic long enough to share educative experiences. The study concludes with recommendations for museums to build stronger and more communicative relationships with YoCos.

This project argues that by examining how non-indigenous individuals such as American scientists and Euro-American explorers thought and formulated ideas about indigenous mounds proves that their construction of racial identities is inextricable from their understanding of the landscape. The mounds proved to be “mysterious” man-made features to non-indigenous people who interacted with these places in the decades and centuries after they were constructed. The mystery behind the mounds stemmed from a general lack of written record about the mounds, giving non-indigenous individuals a “free hand” to offer theories about their original purpose. Each chapter of this project examines a window in time, beginning with early European exploration and continuing through the twentyirst century, which reveals the changing role the mounds played in understanding North America’s indigenous past. This project builds upon theories of landscape history and intellectual environmental history, demonstrating that the mounds challenge preconceived notions about regional definitions and the Euro-centric divide between what is labeled North American “pre-history” and “history.” For example, mounds exist in the American South, but they also exist in places such as Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Additionally, the presence of large American Indian urban centers built around mound structures that rivaled European cities at the time, challenging Euro-centric definitions about North American “pre-history.” Although this project is not an indigenous history, it is important to recognize the significance of mound structures for American Indian people overtime. By unpacking some of the history of important sites such as the Nanih Waiya mound near Philadelphia, Mississippi, and the Kituwah mound near Bryson City, North Carolina, this project acknowledges a long cultural connection to specific mound sites for some modern American Indian people. The fact that in 1996 the Eastern Band of Cherokee purchased the Kituwah mound, and in 2008 the state of Mississippi gave Nanih Waiya to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, dramatically alters the end of this story. Thus by tracing this story through the twentyirst century, this demonstrates the complexity of repatriation and contemporary issues of “who speaks for the tribe” remains, offering a different direction in which the story of American Indians is told.

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No description available.