Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2019, Biological Sciences

The coral reefs within Indonesia's Wakatobi Marine National Park support a high diversity of reef-building hard corals and associated marine fish. Climate change threatens to dramatically affect coral reef ecosystems by altering the interactions between reef fish and the specific microhabitats they depend on for survival. To examine the spatially varied effects of habitat complexity on the community composition and trophic structure of marine fish assemblages, I analyzed fish community and habitat complexity data across reef zones. Habitat complexity metrics were: structural complexity, the percentage of hard coral (HC) cover, HC genera richness, HC genera diversity (Shannon index), and HC growth form diversity (Shannon index). The community composition of fish assemblages was significantly positively related to habitat complexity, reef zones, and reef systems. This study found that the overall direction and strength of relationships between the fish community and coral reef habitat complexity data varies spatially between reef zones. Marine conservation and restoration efforts need to include specific management plans that vary among reef zones based on how varied habitat complexity and fish communities are at local scales.

Committee: Volker Bahn Ph.D. (Advisor); Thomas Rooney Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Kenyon Ph.D. (Committee Member); Leonard Kenyon M.S. (Other) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Natural Resource Management; Oceanography

Doctor of Philosophy in Regulatory Biology, Cleveland State University, 2010, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Urbanization has resulted in massive transformation of natural habitats with profound effects on biodiversity. Addressing the problems associated with anthropogenic deterioration of the environment requires solid understanding of the factors driving these changes. Habitat patch size, edge effects, and the presence of invasive species are among the key features of the urban landscape affecting local communities. My study focused on the effects of habitat edges, the exotic ant Nylanderia flavipes, and the invasive herb garlic mustard on local ant diversity in deciduous forest fragments of northeastern Ohio. In addition, I explored the value of common ant collecting techniques for estimating ant diversity. When compared to pitfall trapping, Winkler litter extraction showed greater species richness and higher abundance of ants and exhibited the advantage of a more complete inventory. Winkler extraction may completely replace pitfall trapping in temperate forests with well-developed litter layer, and inventorying programs may benefit from the inclusion of this technique as a rapid and effective ant-collecting tool. Our study documents predictable edge-associated changes in species richness, community composition and functional groups, occurring in local forest ant assemblages. Edge effects are most pronounced within the first 25m, which may have implications for the conservation of forest-dwelling fauna. At the sites where Nylanderia flavipes occurred, we found a 6-fold increase in ant abundance, with 87% of the ants being N. flavipes. The numerical dominance of this species did not lead to detectable changes in the species richness and abundance of the native ant community, but was responsible for decreased community evenness. This is likely indicative of a recent introduction with populations still being in their latency period. The high local abundance of N. flavipes may give it a competitive advantage and affect native ants through exploitative competition. Plots inv (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joe Keiper PhD (Advisor); Michael Walton PhD (Committee Member); Robert Krebs PhD (Committee Member); Jaharul Haque PhD (Committee Member); Daniel Petit PhD (Committee Member); Paul Doerder PhD (Other); Carl Anthony PhD (Other) Subjects: Ecology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Biological Sciences

Oak savannas of the Midwestern U.S. are among the most imperiled North American plant communities. The 478-km2 Oak Openings region of Northwestern Ohio is one of the few landscape-scale savanna systems remaining in the Midwest. Despite conversion of large portions of the Oak Openings for human land uses, the region still supports high levels of floristic diversity. However, regional patterns of Oak Openings plant diversity within the modern landscape are not well understood. My research objectives were 1) to determine the current extent and distribution of Oak Openings plant communities, 2) to quantify multiscale patterns of plant species richness within the context of the surrounding landscape, and 3) to build predictive species distribution models of rare plants to evaluate regional patterns in habitat suitability. First, using multi-seasonal Landsat images, I determined that <3% of the Oak Openings remains covered by native savannas, prairies, and barrens, while three-fourths of the region has been converted for urban, residential, and agricultural uses. Second, using measures of spatial heterogeneity derived from field data and remote sensing, I developed models of native and exotic plant species richness at two spatial extents and at four ecological levels for the Oak Openings. These models consistently explained more variation in exotic richness (better explained at the larger spatial extent) than in native richness (better explained at the smaller spatial extent). At all ecological levels, percentage of human-modified land cover in the surrounding landscape (negatively correlated with native richness, positively correlated with exotic richness) was a strong predictor of species richness. Finally, I developed species distribution models for nine rare plant species within the Oak Openings region using the Maxent modeling algorithm. Proportional land cover surrounding species occurrences accounted for a large proportion of the predictive power of all models. As (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karen V. Root PhD (Advisor); Enrique Gomezdelcampo PhD (Committee Member); Helen J. Michaels PhD (Committee Member); Jeffery G. Miner PhD (Committee Member); Robert K. Vincent PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Natural Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2015, Environmental Sciences PhD

The unifying themes of my thesis are patterns in world-wide freshwater fish body sizes and their underlying mechanisms. First, I explored Bergmann's rule in unprecedented detail, which states that body size is negatively correlated to temperature. Categorizing species by body size into quantiles and by trophic levels, I regressed the classes against latitude, temperature, seasonality, minimum temperature and habitable space. I found that Bergmann's rule applies to freshwater fish in general but the strength varies by size class and trophic levels. I concluded that Bergmann's rule in fish is driven by the exclusion of small fish from cold climate due to limits in energy storage and behavioral thermoregulation. Second, I investigated the relationships between extreme body size and species richness. Stressful environments promote an ecological similarity among species, reducing body size ranges and species richness. Thus, there may be a strong relationship between extreme body size and species richness. However, I found that only the size of the smallest species were strongly related to species richness. The observed strong relationship may be due to physiological constraints on the smallest species in stressful environments. The lack of relationship between the size of the largest species and species richness may be due to the high dispersal ability of the largest species homogenizing body size across space and their relative insensitivity to harsh environments. Third, I examined body size and trophic level conservatism and similarity across species within a genus. Body size and trophic level are evolutionary conserved traits; thus I expected high body size conservatism, but due to constraints imposed on extreme body sizes and trophic levels, body size conservatism may vary for all body size classes and trophic levels. I found conservatism of these traits to be substantially lower in freshwater fish than mammals. Divergence in body size among closely related specie (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Volker Bahn Ph.D. (Advisor); Yvonne Vadeboncoeur Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Rooney Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thaddeus Tarpey Ph.D. (Committee Member); Steve Matthews Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences

Stormwater management in urban environments is a growing concern in the US where impervious surfaces are contributing to the increase of sewer overflow and strains on water treatment plants. These strains are caused by an excess influx of water and an influx of pollutants from fertilizing agents, roadways, and rooftops (Hilten et al. 2008). Green (vegetated) roofs are an example of green infrastructure designed, in part, to lessen the strain on these treatment plants because of their ability to retain water and nutrients (Bliss et al. 2009; Dietz 2007). An understanding of green roof dynamics, including both total runoff quantity and quality, is essential to overall urban stormwater management.

Committee: Ishi Buffam Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Theresa Culley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Stephen Matter Ph.D. (Committee Member); Virginia Russell M.L.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Arts and Sciences : Biological Sciences

The effect of four air pollutants (NOX, NH3, SO2, & O3 ) upon epiphytic macrolichens in the urban environment was explored. Lichens were examined at seven urban and four non-urban (rural or suburban) sites in the greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. A total of 31 species of lichens were found, including 19 new county records for four southwestern counties in Ohio, and four new county records for Boone County, Kentucky. The abundance of each lichen taxon, estimated as percent cover, was compared against air pollution data using multiple linear regression and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination. Both techniques revealed that O3, NOX and NH3 have a significant impact on lichens in the urban environment. Linear regression techniques did not reveal a significant impact from SO2 on urban lichens, however NMS ordination suggested that the effect of SO2 is simply overwhelmed by the effects of the other pollutants.

Committee: Dr. Theresa Culley (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2012, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

Urbanization involves the transformation of natural environments into those that support a higher human population density than the surrounding area. Avian responses to urbanization are mixed and contingent on a species' natural history attributes. Whereas some avian species are negatively affected by urban development due to the reduction of undisturbed habitat, other species are capable of adapting to and indeed thriving in urban settings. This study, conducted in Edinburgh, Scotland, demonstrated a decline in richness with increased urbanization. Data derived from point counts situated in small urban green spaces and in a larger protected park within the urban matrix were used to characterize the avian community responses to urbanization. The urban avifauna was characterized by high abundance of habitat generalist species, but a lower overall diversity. In order to recognize the impacts of urbanization and to further promote conservation of biodiversity, it is necessary to understand the patterns and processes that shape bird communities in urban green spaces.

Committee: Donald Miles PhD (Advisor); Stevens Nancy PhD (Committee Member); Geoff Buckley PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology

Master of Science, Miami University, 2007, Zoology

Insect movement across habitat edges between forest and agriculture has the potential to affect ecosystem processes. In this study, I quantified aerial beetle communities in Ohio along transect lines crossing forest edges and stretching into corn and forest habitats. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of forest patch size, distance to the forest edge and agricultural matrix effects on beetle community dynamics. Beetle abundance and species richness were significantly higher at the edge throughout season. Net difference in abundance showed that in large fragments, individuals moved toward forest interior whereas beetles in small fragments flux towards corn. This suggests that large forest fragment edge were “hard” compared to small forest fragments. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling showed log patch area and tree importance value were the two most importance variables in determining species composition. Spillover of insects across boundaries has various implications for biodiversity research in land management.

Committee: Thomas Crist (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2007, Environmental Sciences

The algal and seagrass abundance, dry weight and diversity were surveyed at a site along the coast of Grahams Harbor in San Salvador, Bahamas in the Caribbean during June 2004. One hundred randomly distributed plots were surveyed via SCUBA to determine the influence of a sewage effluent pipe on algae and seagrass assemblages. The objectives of the study were to determine if there was a distinction among regions of marine algae and seagrasses due to the effluent, and if distance from the effluent source influenced diversity (measured through Shannon's Diversity Index, H', Simpson's Diversity Index, D' and Evenness, E'), species richness, percent cover and dry weight. Results showed that the dry weight and percent cover decreased significantly with a decrease in distance from the pipe. Additionally, regions outside the flow of the effluent pipe showed significant increases in species number.

Committee: Hays Cummins (Advisor) Subjects: