Browsing Biological Sciences Masters Theses by Issue Date
Now showing items 21-40 of 48
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Suites of Behavioral and Physiological Characteristics of Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica)
(North Dakota State University, 2015)The concept of personalities is used as a way to understand suites of behaviors associated with how animals cope with change. Animal personalities can be described along a continuum from bold to shy and describe suites of ... -
From Alcelaphus to Zapus: Conservation of Modern Mammalian Populations
(North Dakota State University, 2015)Conservation priorities are increasingly important in the face of modern human activities. Anthropogenic activities such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change have negative impacts on all vertebrates. In chapter ... -
Characterizing the Immune Response of the Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee throughout Pupal Development
(North Dakota State University, 2015)Megachile rotundata is a solitary cavity nesting bee that is the primary commercial pollinator of alfalfa in North America. During prepupal to adult development, they may be exposed to fungal, parasitic, and bacterial ... -
Expression of HIF-1 Alpha and HIF-1 Beta in Insects Throughout Juvenile Development
(North Dakota State University, 2016)Insects grow exponentially from hatching to adult. This growth is punctuated by periodic molts during which the exoskeleton, including the large airways of the respiratory system, is enlarged and replaced. Major tracheae ... -
Surfing the Semester: A Study of the Flow of Active Learning Implementation
(North Dakota State University, 2017)Instructional reforms have been called for on a national level. Little data exists as to how changes take place. This study explored the implementation of active learning practices by non-tenure and tenure track faculty ... -
Eat to Reproduce: The Role of Diet Quantity on Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Caste Determination
(North Dakota State University, 2017)The received wisdom is that diet quality drives this queen-worker dichotomy, even though diet quantity differs significantly between queen and worker diet. Diet quantity likely determines honey bee caste; yet it has never ... -
Environmental Components of Phenotypic Variation Dietary and Trans-Generational Effects on Behavior
(North Dakota State University, 2017)Phenotypic variation, or the total variation in a trait, and its components are of great importance in the fields of evolutionary and behavioral ecology. Phenotypic variation can be broken down into both environmental and ... -
The Prairie Science Classroom: Original Outcome Durability and Impact on the Connection to Nature
(North Dakota State University, 2017)Environmental Education (EE) seeks to create an informed citizenry capable of taking action on environmental issues. Recent calls for more consistent evaluation of EE point to a need for more long-term evaluations as well ... -
Telomere Correlations during Early Life in a Long Lived Seabird
(North Dakota State University, 2018)Telomere dynamics in blood cells have been linked to aging in a variety of organisms. However, whether blood telomeres correlated with telomeres in other parts of the body is not well known, especially during early life ... -
Personality and Behavioral Syndromes of the Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus
(North Dakota State University, 2018)As the study of animal personality has significant expanded in the last decade, a growing amount of research has focused on the impacts of sociality and group dynamics on behavioral repeatability. The research presented ... -
Testosterone (T) and Triiodothyronine (T3) in Franklin’s Gull (Leucophaeus Pipixcan) Eggs
(North Dakota State University, 2018)Maternally-derived hormones are known to influence the growth and development of offspring. The differential deposition of these maternally-derived hormones into egg yolk is one way by which females can alter and impact ... -
Nesting Cavity Temperature Impacts Nesting Choice and Development of the Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee (Megachile rotundata)
(North Dakota State University, 2019)Megachile rotundata is an agriculturally important pollinator of alfalfa and is not doing well in the U.S due to a 50% return rate (Pitts-Singer and Bosch, 2011). Nesting boxes can reach temperatures between 35˚C-48˚C (see ... -
Environmental Impacts on Behavior and Personality in the Caviomorph Rodent, Octodon degus
(North Dakota State University, 2019)Environmental factors can have large impacts in shaping the way that animals behave. Biotic elements, such as predators and conspecifics that individuals interact with, are two environmental factors that animals may encounter ... -
Telomere Length and Senescence in a Long-lived Fish (Ictiobus cyprinellus)
(North Dakota State University, 2019)The pattern of shorter telomere lengths in older individuals has been observed across many vertebrates, but has not been well-documented in bony fishes. Bony fish (i.e., Class Osteichthyes) represent the most speciose and ... -
Aging and Early Life Stress: Telomerase Dynamics and The Consequences for Telomeres in a Wild Bird
(North Dakota State University, 2020)Aging is an underlying risk factor for many major diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration. Yet we still do not know the full extent of how our bodies age and what determines our lifespan. ... -
The Conservation of Variation in Gryllodes sigillatus and Closely Related Cricket Species
(North Dakota State University, 2020)The ability to adjust behaviors to a particular environment has been well documented across taxa. Our understanding of behavioral plasticity is largely based on experiments in which individuals have a single exposure to ... -
Evolution of Intraspecific Genetic Differences Across Heterogeneous Environments and the Potential Impacts on Environmental Restoration
(North Dakota State University, 2020)Genetic differences evolve between seed sources of widely distributed species that can impact restoration success. Using the herbaceous perennial Geum triflorum (Pursh) as a model species, we examine genetic differences ... -
Red-Winged Blackbird Migration Distance and Its Relationship with Reproduction
(North Dakota State University, 2020)Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are one of the most commonly researched birds in North America. My study aims to build upon what is known about migration patterns and reproduction in this species. My first ... -
Faculty Intention and Faculty Implementation - Do They Align?
(North Dakota State University, 2021)There have been a multitude of calls to reform teaching in undergraduate education. The implementation of active learning in the classroom increases student learning, relative to traditional lecturing. I worked with ... -
Foraging Strategies and Morphometric Characteristics of Bats in North and South Dakota
(North Dakota State University, 2021)Insectivorous bats are an important group for studying links between dietary flexibility and associated impacts on foraging and morphology of individuals from different populations. Since different habitats generally have ...