Department of Biology
This digital collection contains theses, dissertations, faculty publications, and datasets from the Department of Biology.
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Ecological effects of selenium hyperaccumulation on plant community structure and potential implications for selenium cycling
To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document. -
Characterization of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases in the transcriptome of the crustacean molting gland
Molting in crustaceans is a complex physiological process that has to occur in order for the animal to grow. The old exoskeleton must be discarded and a new one to be formed from the inside out. Molting is coordinated and ... -
Regulation of Halloween genes and ecdysteroid responsive genes in molting gland of Blackback land crab Gecarcinus lateralis by molt-inhibiting hormone, mTOR and TGFβ signaling pathways pathways
Molting is necessary for growth and development in all arthropods. Halloween genes are expressed in the Y-organs (YO) and encodes cytochrome P450 enzymes. These enzymes catalyze the synthesis of ecdysteroid hormones that ... -
Phytoremediation and biofortification potential of Cannabis sativa L.
Selenium (Se) is a micronutrient, but toxic at high levels. Both Se deficiency and toxicity are problems worldwide. I studied the potential of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) for Se environmental cleanup (phytoremediation) and ... -
Candidate reservoir underlying re-emergent plague outbreaks
To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document. -
Photoprotection and chloroplast regulation in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Absorbed light energy in excess of a cell's photosynthetic capacity can lead to production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing cell damage and death. Plants and algae have evolved conserved photoprotective responses ... -
Simulated cattle shipment networks from the U.S. Animal Movement Model
Networks are rarely completely observed and prediction of unobserved edges is an important problem, especially in disease spread modeling where networks are used to represent the pattern of contacts. We focus on a partially ... -
Parasites of two closely related Poeciliid species across a salinity gradient on the island of Trinidad : implications for geographic range limits
Parasite communities can vary greatly both within and amongst host populations. Many factors may be responsible for this variation in parasite diversity, and parasite-host relationships are of great ecological importance ... -
Floristic inventory of private and public lands in southwestern Gunnison County, Colorado; and a software tool to assist in the generation of herbarium specimen labels, A
I conducted an inventory of vascular flora on public and private property in southwestern Gunnison County, Colorado. The study area consisted of 3,004 acres of private land and 1,850 acres of adjacent public land managed ... -
Confounding factors in algal phosphorus limitation experiments
Assessing algal nutrient limitation is critical for understanding the interaction of primary production and nutrient cycling in streams, and nutrient diffusing substrate (NDS) experiments are often used to determine limiting ... -
Mating system transitions impact population structure and biodiversity in Solanum habrochaites
Although many plant species have evolved means of preventing self-fertilization, self-compatibility (SC), the ability to set self-seed using pollen and ovules of the same plant is exceedingly common. In the wild tomatoes ... -
What's the story? : the effects of narratives in science classrooms
While effective science communication is crucial, it also presents multiple obstacles for natural science researchers and specialized communicators. This includes a language divide between scientists and the general public, ... -
Evolutionary ecology of aquatic insect range limits : a mechanistic approach using thermal tolerance, The
Understanding the effect of climate variability on species physiology and distribution is a longstanding and largely unresolved challenged in evolutionary ecology with important implications for vulnerability to climate ... -
Diverse developmental trajectories of perineuronal nets during vertebrate nervous system construction
In the central nervous system, aggregated extracellular matrix compounds known as perineuronal nets (PNNs) shape patterns of neural connectivity over development. Removing PNNs restores juvenile-like states of neural circuit ... -
Evaluation of wastewater as a nutrient source for the cultivation of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803
The rising demand for more sustainable and renewable energy sources has led to the development of using photosynthetic microalgae and cyanobacteria for biofuel feedstocks. Microalgae and cyanobacteria offer an attractive ... -
Survey of foliar fungal endophyte communities of Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine populations in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, A
Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) is an exceptionally long-lived charismatic tree species found at high elevations in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona (Fryer, 2004). This ... -
Aquatic insect responses to predation and temperature : variation in context dependent trophic interactions
Trophic cascades, the indirect effects of carnivores on primary producers mediated by herbivores, remains a central theme of ecological theory. How climate change will alter the mechanisms controlling such interactions ... -
Photosynthesis in dynamic and rapidly changing light : the physiology of a cyanobacterium in a photobioreactor
Mass cultivation of aquatic phototrophs in photobioreactors (PBRs) has the potential to produce sustainable biofuels thus reducing net carbon emission and associated climate change. In order to make PBRs productive enough ... -
Studies on selenium hyperaccumulator Stanleya pinnata and nonaccumulator Stanleya elata (Brassicaceae) : functional characterization of selenate transporter SULTR1;2 in yeast and development of a micropropagation protocol
Stanleya pinnata is an herbaceous perennial species in the family Brassicaceae native to the western United States. This species is classified as a selenium (Se) hyperaccumulator, and can be found thriving on Se-rich soils. ... -
Interaction among societal and biological drivers of policy at the wildlife-agricultural interface
This dissertation research on wildlife policy and biology focuses on understanding the mechanisms that drive development of wildlife-agricultural policy and also on understanding the underlying ecological drivers of pathogen ...
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