47 research outputs found
Incorporating microclimate into habitat suitability analysis for plethodonitd salamanders
No full textClimate has substantial influence on the distribution of species, and climate change puts many species at risk of extirpation or extinction due to diminishing range sizes. Understanding how organisms may respond to climate change is important for spatially predicting suitable habitat for conservation planning. However, current approaches to modeling suitable habitat typically rely on climate data that do not account for important buffering effects of vegetation on near-surface microclimates and are produced at spatiotemporal scales irrelevant to a variety of organisms that thrive in microenvironments. Furthermore, commonly used species distribution models may not account for mechanistic aspects, like physiology, that are relevant to the biology and performance of a species. This dissertation integrates aspects from three main components of a species’ niche (the habitat, trait, and performance components) into robust correlative and mechanistic models for habitat suitability analysis at the microscale. This involved the development and evaluation of an approach that incorporates vegetation structure across the entire vertical profile of forests into predictions of microclimatic temperature at a highly spatially resolved scale. The resulting maps of microclimatic temperature (habitat component) were incorporated into a physiological model (trait component) that included a novel method that accounts for body-mass elevation effects for predicting the metabolic rate of three plethodontid salamander species of varying sizes, sexes, and stage classes. Predictions of suitable climatic habitat, vapor pressure deficit, and salamander physiology were combined (performance component) at varying spatial scales and temporal periods to assess spatiotemporal agreement between model approaches and to target suitable habitat at relevant biological scales to plethodontid salamanders in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Understory vegetation structure was found to be an important addition to canopy cover in buffering near-surface temperatures and improved accuracy of microclimatic temperature estimates. The combined effects of microclimatic temperature variation with increasing plethodontid body mass along elevational gradients resulted in spatiotemporal differences in salamander energetics across species, sexes, and stage classes. Integrating physiological models with predicted suitable habitat demonstrated important spatiotemporal mismatches between model approaches, highlighting a problem with relying on static species distribution models, which neglect important temporal changes in energetic demand of plethodontid salamanders. Furthermore, this dissertation validates the importance of incorporating microclimate into species distribution models and demonstrates approaches to integrating multiple model types for spatiotemporal targeting of suitable habitat that account for temporal variations in energetic demand as well as variations among species and across stage classes. The results from this dissertation reveal the importance of predicting microclimate more accurately by accounting for the proper vegetation and biophysical buffers to near-surface temperature, and highlight the use of multiple model approaches, correlative and mechanistic, developed at proper spatial and temporal scales for spatially analyzing and targeting suitable habitat, especially for species vulnerable to climate change.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2023-08-01The student, Samuel Stickley, accepted the attached license on 2021-07-06 at 16:12.The student, Samuel Stickley, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2021-07-06 at 16:40.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2021-07-08 at 09:33.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #16770 on 2022-01-12 at 12:53:23Made available in DSpace on 2022-01-12T22:35:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4
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Previous issue date: 2021-07-08Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 121071
Lift date: 2024-01-12T22:35:30Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemAuthor requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemU of I Onl
Using environmental DNA to inform biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes
No full textSubmission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01The student, Olivia Reves, accepted the attached license on 2025-07-09 at 21:35.The student, Olivia Reves, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-07-09 at 22:21.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-07-14 at 11:54.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22477 on 2025-10-21 at 10:05:45The conversion of natural ecosystems to agriculture is a leading cause of habitat loss and threatens global biodiversity. For the past two centuries, the Midwestern United States (U.S.) has experienced agricultural intensification and expansion, resulting in losses of native tallgrass prairies, wetlands, and forests. To mitigate agricultural pressures, conservation practices have been widely implemented across the Midwest. As a result, forest cover in Midwestern states like Illinois has increased over the last several decades partially due to agricultural conservation practices like riparian buffers, which can improve water quality, alleviate nutrient transfer and reduce soil loss. While the benefits of riparian buffers to aquatic taxa are well-documented, benefits to terrestrial biodiversity are less understood. To monitor wildlife across taxa, a combination of conventional methods can be costly, time-consuming and invasive. Environmental DNA (eDNA), DNA collected and isolated from environmental samples, can provide a solution to this challenge. Further, rivers have proven to be conveyor belts of not only aquatic DNA but also terrestrial eDNA as well from upstream or adjacent riparian areas. Among many factors that can influence eDNA dynamics in a river, precipitation can either dilute eDNA due to increasing discharge or mobilize eDNA into rivers from adjacent riparian terrestrial ecosystems. For my first study, I sampled three rivers before and after precipitation events in the Vermilion River watershed of east-central Illinois to evaluate if terrestrial DNA exhibits a mobilization effect and if aquatic eDNA exhibits a dilution effect in response to rainfall. I found that rainfall had a positive, significant effect on terrestrial taxa richness and a negative, non-significant effect on aquatic taxa richness. This study not only advances eDNA applications for vertebrate community analysis but also informs future eDNA sampling efforts for detecting terrestrial and aquatic taxa from lotic environments. For my second study, I collected eDNA samples from streams across a forest cover gradient in central Illinois to quantify the terrestrial biodiversity co-benefit of riparian buffers, a proposed agricultural conservation practice for the Midwest, to terrestrial wildlife. I demonstrated that sites with complete (100%) riparian buffers can support three times the terrestrial vertebrate taxa richness compared to sites lacking buffers entirely, with highly forested sites harboring unique forest-associated communities. This study demonstrates the benefit of riparian buffers to terrestrial wildlife and validates eDNA as a rapid biomonitoring tool to assess biodiversity responses to agricultural conservation practices. Collectively, my thesis research seeks to support biodiversity conservation across agricultural landscapes
Long-Term Effects of Land Cover Change on Fish Assemblage Structure in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain Regions of Virginia
No full textChanges in land cover and fish assemblage structure were assessed across two spatial and temporal scales in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Virginia. A long-term, local study (1953 to 2014) on the Tuckahoe Creek watershed used digitized aerial photography and satellite images (Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS) to quantify land cover change for five nested catchments in 1953, 1990, and 2014. Instream fish collections from 1958, 1990, and 2014 were utilized to assess a variety of fish assemblage metrics for each of the five catchments, and analyses were performed to assess associations between changes in land cover and changes in fish assemblage structure across all three time periods. A short-term, regional study assessed 21 catchments in the region using 1997 Landsat 5 TM satellite images and 2014 Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite images to quantify land cover change. Fish collections from 1995-1999 and 2014 were utilized to assess a variety of fish assemblage metrics from samples taken at instream sites for each of the 21 catchments. Analyses were performed to discover any associations between changes in land cover and changes in fish assemblage structure from a regional perspective. This study found that there were significant changes in land cover over all study periods in the Tuckahoe Creek watershed and that land cover changes were correlated to changes in fish assemblage structure over the long-term study. Regionally, there were significant changes in land cover, with no correlation to changes in fish assemblage structure found. The data suggests that anthropogenic alterations to the landscape have had long-term effects on fish assemblage structure in Tuckahoe Creek, but the results from the short-term assessments did not detect a relationship between land cover changes and changes in fish assemblage structure. It is possible that the fish communities were already established in moderately degraded catchments by the 1990s due to previous anthropogenic stressors
Bats and trees in a managed forest
No full textMany North American bat species rely heavily on forests for roosting and foraging habitat. Especially in the face of drastic population declines, understanding how forests can be managed to support local bat assemblages is crucial for bat conservation. We worked in two managed hardwood state forests in southern Indiana to investigate how forest management, employed to meet a variety of social and environmental objectives, impacts bats. In Chapter One, I introduce the focal species and information relevant to their roosting and foraging ecology. In Chapter Two, I present the results of a study in which my field assistants and I revisited historical roost trees used by Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) and northern long-eared bats (M. septentrionalis) discovered over 11 years to characterize the drivers of roost tree detection and longevity. I used a multistate mark-recapture analysis to evaluate how characteristics of the tree, stand, and landscape impacted our ability to locate historical roost trees and the probability of a snag roost falling. I found we were more likely to detect larger trees with taller surrounding vegetation and that tree species resistant to decay were more likely to remain standing, providing potentially usable habitat for bats. My results demonstrate the need to account for imperfect detection in analyses of snag dynamics and confirm that snag roosts are an ephemeral resource with species-specific longevities. In Chapter Three, I explore the roosting and foraging ecology of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). We captured and tagged male and female big brown bats and used radio telemetry to identify their roosts and track their foraging movements. I used logistic regression to compare the characteristics of roost trees and random trees and evaluate their use of habitat for foraging. Maternity-roosting big brown bats were more likely to roost in trees with plots dominated by American beech trees, and solitary roosting big brown bats used trees closer to linear features. Further, the foraging behavior of maternity and solitary roosting bats differed. Though both primarily foraged in the forest, maternity roosting big brown bats foraged away from their roosts and used thinned forest more than expected; solitary roosting bats foraged around their roosts and used all habitat categories approximately according to their availability. These results expand our understanding of how a common species uses managed forests and indicate that forest management may create preferred foraging habitat. Especially because big brown bats are often characterized as an urban species, their use of trees for roosting in the Midwest demonstrates their flexible habitat use and expands current perceptions of this species. In Chapter Four, I summarize the two studies and conclude that forest management is a useful tool that can be employed to provide roosting and foraging habitat for bats.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01The student, Josie Hoppenworth, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-08 at 22:04.The student, Josie Hoppenworth, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-12-10 at 14:33.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-12-11 at 14:25.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23108 on 2026-02-19 at 18:46:5
Melville's Confidence man: did he have a dialectical plan?
No full textThesis (M.A., Liberal Arts) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2009.In Herman Melville's last and arguably most misunderstood novel, The Confidence Man:\ud
His Masquerade, the author leaves his readers with a grim and hopeless outlook\ud
regarding the future prosperity of America. The once religiously assured Melville\ud
critiques the fallen state of American society using religion as a moral barometer. The\ud
study that follows will explore how Melville's denigration of American capitalism and\ud
entrepreneurism has in some ways reached similar conclusions to those offered by Max\ud
Weber in his seminal essay: "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism."\ud
Moreover, Melville's criticism of industrialization is rooted in Christian values-not\ud
secular culture such as the Marxist ideas that were becoming popular in Europe. While\ud
Melville's transcendentalist contemporaries such as Thoreau and Emerson built their\ud
philosophies around human intuition and "innate knowledge," Melville-perhaps\ud
unintentionally-argues in favor of personal accountability and moral responsibility from\ud
an ideologically liberal approach. Interestingly, Melville's argument takes a very\ud
Christian approach to this American dilemma which is in itself a uniquely American trait.Liberal Art
MELVILLE'S CONFIDENCE MAN: DID HE HAVE A DIALECTICAL PLAN?
No full textIn Herman Melville's last and arguably most misunderstood novel, The Confidence Man: His Masquerade, the author leaves his readers with a grim and hopeless outlook regarding the future prosperity of America. The once religiously assured Melville critiques the fallen state of American society using religion as a moral barometer. The study that follows will explore how Melville's denigration of American capitalism and entrepreneurism has in some ways reached similar conclusions to those offered by Max Weber in his seminal essay: "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." Moreover, Melville's criticism of industrialization is rooted in Christian values-not secular culture such as the Marxist ideas that were becoming popular in Europe. While Melville's transcendentalist contemporaries such as Thoreau and Emerson built their philosophies around human intuition and "innate knowledge," Melville-perhaps unintentionally-argues in favor of personal accountability and moral responsibility from an ideologically liberal approach. Interestingly, Melville's argument takes a very Christian approach to this American dilemma which is in itself a uniquely American trait
Melville's Confidence man: did he have a dialectical plan?
No full textIn Herman Melville's last and arguably most misunderstood novel, The Confidence Man: His Masquerade, the author leaves his readers with a grim and hopeless outlook regarding the future prosperity of America. The once religiously assured Melville critiques the fallen state of American society using religion as a moral barometer. The study that follows will explore how Melville's denigration of American capitalism and entrepreneurism has in some ways reached similar conclusions to those offered by Max Weber in his seminal essay: "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." Moreover, Melville's criticism of industrialization is rooted in Christian values-not secular culture such as the Marxist ideas that were becoming popular in Europe. While Melville's transcendentalist contemporaries such as Thoreau and Emerson built their philosophies around human intuition and "innate knowledge," Melville-perhaps unintentionally-argues in favor of personal accountability and moral responsibility from an ideologically liberal approach. Interestingly, Melville's argument takes a very Christian approach to this American dilemma which is in itself a uniquely American trait
Palaeoclimatology of the late Palaeocene to middle Eocene: geochemical records of stable and transient climate states
No full textThe late Palaeocene to late Eocene period of Earth's history is characterised by remarkable change. Temperate ice free poles at the beginning of this period gradually cooled until permanent ice formed on Antarctica around 33.5 million years before present (Ma) and sea ice formed in the Arctic. The intervening time was not stable and data, despite relatively low resolution, appear to show that the Eocene climate was dynamic. This period was the most recent time when atmospheric pCO2 concentrations were as high as predicted by models simulating the effects of anthropogenic fossil fuel burning on Earths' climate. The ability to understand the mechanisms of climate change in the Eocene will help to understand potential climate impacts in the future. This thesis examines 3 contrasting periods of climate change. Geochemical data indicate that a 3.5 million year period of high biogenic silica deposition during the Eocene was climatically relatively stable in the Arctic basin with only infrequent communication to the world's oceans outside. This period is correlated with high organic burial in the basin and global siliceous rich deposits which acted to gradually draw down pCO2. This period of `quiet' climate compares to two periods of warming where significant carbon isotope perturbations may indicate the forcing of the Earth's climate into an alternative quasi-stable state. The Palaeocene { Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) represents a significant input of exogenic carbon into the atmosphere over the course of several thousand years and significant warming of the Earth. Records of bulk carbonate isotopes from a section in NE Italy show several other Delta13C perturbations both before and after the PETM event, albeit a quarter to a half of the magnitude of the PETM, and having durations of only 40 { 60 thousand years (kyr). These events are thought to be the result of a re-arrangement of the internal carbon cycle of the Earth - atmosphere and may represent orbitally forced changes in deep water ocean ventilation similar to controls seen on modern day glacial { interglacial cycles. These rapid changes in the carbon cycle are shown to be inverse at the middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO), where gradual warming over 400 kyr is ended abruptly by significant cooling. From the first marginal marine section of this event rapid organic carbon burial occurs over 50 { 100 kyr and is associated with previously unrecorded low oxygen bottom water conditions and high organic burial. We hypothesize that if this burial was extended over significant shelf areas then this could rapidly have returned the middle Eocene to the general cooling trend of the Eocene
Correction: Differential expression of MicroRNAs in Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Molecular Psychiatry, (2022), 10.1038/s41380-022-01476-z)
No full textIn this article the affiliation details for Author JAE IL SHIN were incorrectly given as ‘Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Republic of Korea’ but should have been ‘Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea’. The original article has been corrected
From organic architecture to environmental architecture, itinerary in the other building tradition of the twentieth century
No full textEt si l’architecture pouvait être vécue comme élément d’intercession orienté entre l’homme et son environnement ? Cette idée a été soutenue par un mouvement architectural cohérent, l’architecture organique, formant une tradition constructive alternative traversant tout le XXe siècle et repérable dans le monde entier. En considérant qu’une pratique architecturale adaptée favorise une relation apaisée entre l’homme et son environnement bâti ainsi qu’une reconnexion entre l’homme et son environnement naturel, l’organicisme peut véritablement être considéré comme une architecture environnementale. Cependant, en dépit de ce que nous pensions à l’origine, cette tradition architecturale ne se définit que difficilement par sa forme. Il faut plutôt en passer par la théorie architecturale pour voir émerger une vision commune à un ensemble de théoriciens ou d’architectes. Cette manière de pratiquer ou d’envisager l’architecture est lisible dans les idées de Kenneth Frampton ou de Christian Norberg-Schulz, dans les positionnements sur la question centrale de la fonction en architecture ou à travers la théorie de la pure visibilité et son corolaire, la connaissance corporelle. Bruno Zevi, entre autres, apporte également sa pierre à l’édifice théorique mais c’est Frank L. Wright qui est le grand bâtisseur de l’architecture organique au sens propre comme au figuré. Il n’en est cependant pas le seul pratiquant et les carrières d’autres architectes majeurs comme Eladio Dieste, Hassan Fathy, Gaudí, les époux Griffin, Hundertwasser, Alistair Samuel Knox, Rudolf Steiner ou Gustav Stickley notamment, peuvent être examinés avec intérêt sous l’angle de l’architecture environnementale.What if architecture could be lived as an oriented element of intercession between human and his environment ? This idea was supported by a coherent architectural movement, organic architecture, forming an alternative building tradition through the entire 20th century and noticeable throughout the world. Considering that an appropriate architectural practice promote a peaceful relationship between man and his built environment and a reconnection between man and his natural environment, organicism can truly be considered as an environmental architecture. However, in spite of what we thought originally, this architectural tradition is not easy to define by its formal aspect. Rather, it is necessary to go through architectural theory to see the emergence of a common vision to a group of theorists and architects. This way of practising or considering architecture can appears in the ideas of Kenneth Frampton or Christian Norberg-Schulz, in the opinion on the key question of function in architecture, or through the theory of pure visibility and its corollary, physical knowledge. Bruno Zevi, among others, also contributes to the theoretical edifice but it is Frank L. Wright who is the great builder of organic architecture both literally and figuratively. However, he is not the only proponent of this type of architecture and the careers of other major architects such as Eladio Dieste, Hassan Fathy, Antoni Gaudí, the Griffin’s, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Alistair Samuel Knox, Rudolf Steiner or Gustav Stickley, especially, can be analyzed with interest from the perspective of environmental architecture
