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The influence of small mammals on succession and restoration of post-agricultural wetlands
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
The influence of small mammals on succession and restoration of post-agricultural wetlands
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Shenko
NamePart
(type = given)
Alicia Nicole
NamePart
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1983-
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Alicia Shenko
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(authority = RULIB)
author
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(type = personal)
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(type = family)
Jordan
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(type = given)
Rebecca C
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Rebecca C Jordan
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Morin
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Peter J
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Peter J Morin
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Advisory Committee
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
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(type = personal)
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(type = family)
Kjer
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(type = given)
Karl M
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Karl M Kjer
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Advisory Committee
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
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(type = family)
Ostfeld
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(type = given)
Richard S
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Richard S Ostfeld
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Advisory Committee
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
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(type = family)
Bien
NamePart
(type = given)
Walter F
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Walter F Bien
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Advisory Committee
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(authority = RULIB)
outside member
Name
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NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name
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NamePart
Graduate School - New Brunswick
Role
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school
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Text
Genre
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theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated
(qualifier = exact)
2014
DateOther
(qualifier = exact);
(type = degree)
2014-01
Place
PlaceTerm
(type = code)
xx
Language
LanguageTerm
(authority = ISO639-2b);
(type = code)
eng
Abstract
(type = abstract)
Advancements in modern industry and technology are creating an abundance of post-agricultural lands that are in need of skilled restoration efforts to manage the confluence of factors involved with whole-ecosystem functioning. The influence of small mammals in succession and restoration has been undervalued in traditional restoration studies. This study uses post-agricultural cranberry farms to help answer questions surrounding the role of small mammals in their succession and restoration. The first chapter investigates those species inhabiting post-agricultural wetlands and how they compare to more natural species assemblages in reference locations. Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) were the most abundant species present and had a strong correlation to post-agricultural sites with wet habitat characteristics; the second-most abundant species present, white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), had a strong correlation to sites with dry characteristics. Post-agricultural wetlands were more similar to each other than to any more natural reference locations. The second chapter investigates the diet of the meadow vole through microhistological fecal analysis and discusses the impact diet has on vegetative characteristics of post-agricultural wetlands. Meadow voles were found to ingest significant amounts of vegetation (grasses, sedges, rushes, leaves of shrubs, mosses), as well as minimal quantities tree leaves, shrub stems, flowers, fungus, seeds, and insects. Meadow vole herbivory on specific vegetation is evidence that high numbers of this species can alter characteristics of post-agricultural wetlands. The third chapter investigates the potential for small mammals to influence post-agricultural wetlands by dispersing seeds through defecation. Greenhouse trials had low rates of seedling establishment from meadow voles, but evidence suggests that this species has the ability to participate in endozoochory. The fourth chapter additionally investigates small mammal diet by proposing genetic methodology for exploring insectivory using unique regions of 18S rRNA and gel electrophoresis to distinguish insect orders by size. The ability to process this level of diet composition data without more expensive techniques such as sequencing would allow for expanded investigations at multiple levels. Overall, this research highlights the significant difference in small mammal species assembly within post-agricultural wetlands and the impact that these species can have when they occur in abundance within post-agricultural wetlands.
Subject
(authority = RUETD)
Topic
Ecology and Evolution
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Wetland ecology
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Wetland animals
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Wetland biodiversity conservation
RelatedItem
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TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
(type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_5289
PhysicalDescription
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(authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
viii, 104 p. : ill.
Note
(type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note
(type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note
(type = statement of responsibility)
by Alicia Nicole Shenko
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Wetland restoration
RelatedItem
(type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
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rucore19991600001
Location
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(displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
NjNbRU
Identifier
(type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T34F1NV8
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
RightsDeclaration
(ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
(type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Shenko
GivenName
Alicia
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime
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(qualifier = exact);
(point = start)
2014-01-05 11:40:48
AssociatedEntity
Name
Alicia Shenko
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Technical
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ETD
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windows xp
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