Foraging Success of American Robins (Turdus migrators) in Pasture Conditions

Sara Dabovich, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

My research project investigated success American Robins (Turdus migratorius) as predators in livestock pastures. Using random focal sampling and critical behavior incidence recording I obtained percent of successful attempts in moderately and over grazed pastures made by male and female birds.

Forest Attributes of Reproductive Habitat for Harpy Eagles in Darien Province, Panama

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

A Harpy Eagle's, (Harpia harpyja), reproductive cycle is distinctive amongst all raptors. Therefore, obtaining detailed knowledge of their reproductive habitat would assist in creating new management policies and conservation guidelines. We measured variables describing forest characteristics within 0.5-ha plots around each of ten nesting and control trees in the Pacific region of Darien Province, Panama. Variables measured were: tree family richness; tree density, height and diameter; shrub density; and coverage of understory and canopy foliage. We then used Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) to compare a series of models specified a priori to assess the importance of forest attributes.

Forest Response to Severe Drought: Do restoration thinning treatments in coast redwood-Douglas fir forests increase resiliency to drought?

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Coast redwood-Douglas-fir forest hold important economic, ecological, and cultural values which will likely be threatened by changing climate and increased drought stress. Restoration thinning has been used by forest managers with the goals of decreasing stand competition and accelerating maturation to old-growth conditions. However, uncertainty still remains on whether restoration treatments provide forests with increased resiliency to disturbances such as severe drought. The aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of different restoration treatments in improving second-growth forest resiliency to drought stress in coast redwood-Douglas-fir forests of Redwood NP.

Frequency and Intensity of Exposure to Carbonate Corrosive Waters in a Near-shore Upwelling Environment

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

A primary consequence of increasing atmospheric CO2 is the lowering of ocean pH and associated stress on calcium carbonate bearing organisms. Coastal regions are vulnerable to low-pH due to seasonal upwelling which periodically introduces CO2–enriched deep water to the surface. Time-series of pH at Trinidad Head, California were analyzed to ascertain the frequency and intensity of exposure to carbonate corrosive waters from 2006-2011. Most years experienced 11-35 days of exposure to corrosive water, while enhanced upwelling in 2010 resulted in 61-84 days of exposure. Some instances show that corrosive conditions were ameliorated by enhanced photosynthesis in response to upwelled nutrients.

From the Post-Soviet to Eurasia: Regional Constructs a Quarter-Century after Independence

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This project, an overview of an in-progress edited book, interrogates Eurasia as a form of regional definition for the states that gained independence after the USSR’s breakup, arguing for the continued relevance “post-Soviet” as a regional construct. The idea of the post-Soviet is positioned as a heuristic device to evaluate existing prior attempts at regional definition. Path-dependency as a concept suggests that preexisting institutions condition the institutional form that follows political transition; the condition of path-dependency remains relevant across the post-Soviet successor states.

Functional impact of alternative splicing on the transcriptomic landscape and fate of multipotent skeletal stem cells and osteosarcoma

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Greater than 90% of all protein-coding genes in the human genome undergo post-translational alternative splicing (AS), giving rise to many unique isoforms from a single gene. Our work with human skeletal stem cell (hSSC) has demonstrated the need to examine AS as it relates to cancer, development, aging, skeletal regeneration and skewing of hSSCs towards non-skeletogenic lineage fates. Here we explored the relationship between AS and function of hSSCs. Using RNA microarray technology we discovered RNA-binding proteins involved in hSSC function; inhibition of these proteins prevents differentiation and formation of osteosarcoma. Our current work reveals other essential roles of AS in hSSCs.

Fungi Decomposition Rates in Relation to Growth Rate and Moisture Tolerance

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Researchers found that fungi that grow faster tend to be less resistant to changes in temperature and moisture. Exploring the relationship between a fungus’s growth rate and moisture tolerance, our team used a system of differential equations to model the decomposition rates of woody material by different fungi to understand how decomposition would be affected when the species are in competition.

Future Flights

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

In hopes of increasing STEM students in colleges this project is geared towards high schoolers with the idea that since they are quite adept to todays technology they may be interested in drone technology, either flying, programing, or learning how drones help in the scientific community.

Gender Equity in Wildlife Publishing: A Census of 22 Years of Authorship in the Journal of Wildlife Management

Rebeca Becdach, Wildlife Graduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Various studies have documented gender inequity in scientific fields, including medicine, computational biology, the physical sciences, and ecology. A clear indicator of this bias can be seen in the disparity between men and women authorship of scientific papers. This study describes gender diversity in wildlife publishing across institutions, countries, and study species taxa in recent decades. We reviewed all research articles published in the Journal of Wildlife Management from 1999 to 2020 and collected author names and affiliations. We classified the gender of each author using Genderize.io, and calculated the men:women ratio of first and co-authors over time.

Germination and Survival in Knobcone Pine Seedlings in a Common Garden Experiment at Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This study examines knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) germination success from stratification to transplanting into a common garden at the Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm. Seeds were sown in containers in the greenhouse after three week of cold stratification and transplanted to garden beds a month later. Of 840 seeds sown, 538 were germinated (64%). 256 seedlings were outplanted and 192 of these survived (75%±15). The seedlings grew to an average height of 7.5 cm ± 2 cm. Our findings are part of a larger study to understand the water requirements for the survival of tree germinants in a Mediterranean climate.