Virginia journal of science最新文献

{"title":"The Diversity and Distribution of Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) Along an Outdoor – Indoor Habitat Gradient: Preliminary Findings from Piedmont Virginia","authors":"William S. Kish, Sujan M. Henkanaththegedara","doi":"10.25778/ej65-br87","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/ej65-br87","url":null,"abstract":"Although the United States supports a considerable diversity of spiders, some aspects of spider habitat use and niche specialization are poorly documented. Specifically, little attention has been given to explore how urban development affects the diversity and abundance of arthropods. We sampled spiders along an outdoor – indoor habitat gradient at Longwood University to understand the impact of urbanization on species diversity and abundance. We found 50 taxa of spiders belonging to 43 genera and 16 families. Overall, the most abundant spider family across three sampling sites was Araneidae (orb-weavers; 18.2%) followed by Lycosidae (wolf spiders; 14.8%), Salticidae (jumping spiders; 13.6%) and Linyphiidae (sheetweb spiders; 12.5%). We found the highest species richness, spider abundance, and Shannon-Wiener diversity from Lancer Park (i.e. outdoors habitat), followed by the habitats associated with outside of the science center building (i.e. marginal habitat) and the lowest spider diversity inside the science building (i.e. indoors habitat). We also found a strong positive correlation between overall spider diversity and air temperature for outdoors and marginal habitats, but no correlation with relative humidity. Our study adds original knowledge about habitat use of spiders along an outdoor indoor habitat gradient and arthropod use of indoor biome. More importantly, our study stresses the need for more extensive systematic studies to fully understand how spatial and temporal variation of arthropod diversity and abundance may be influenced by alterations of habitats by humans through urbanization. INTRODUCTION Spiders are one of a few cosmopolitan groups of organisms utilizing a range of habitats from hot deserts to the cold Arctic (Foelix 2011) to urban habitats with man-made structures. Worldwide, there are about 48,000+ (World Spider Catalog 2019) formally described species of spiders including at least 3,800 species in North America (Bradley 2013). Although spiders are ubiquitous, little attention is typically given by the ecology research community, to study their diversity, biology, and ecology, possibly due to their small size, seemingly secretive behavior, lack of information on true diversity and 1 henkanaththegedarasm@longwood.edu Virginia Journal of Science Volume 70, Issue 3 Fall 2019 doi: 10.25778/ej65-br87 Note: This manuscript has been accepted for publication and is online ahead of print. It will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 70, No. 3, 2019 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol70/iss3 Diversity and Distribution of Spiders 2 subjective fear of spiders in general. With that being said, the true diversity of spiders in the eastern United States may be poorly documented (Howell and Jenkins 2004). Spiders play important ecological roles in their habitats, mainly as predators and prey. They are important predators in th","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"38 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91033100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microhabitat Comparison of Percina roanoka (Roanoke Darter) and Percina nevisense (Chainback Darter) in the Roanoke River","authors":"Dakota R Spruill, Steven L. Powers","doi":"10.25778/RVVV-J156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/RVVV-J156","url":null,"abstract":"Snorkel observations of Percina roanoka and P. nevisense in the Roanoke River during summer months were followed by measuring current velocity, water depth, and substrate diameter at points of occupation. A total of 89 observations of P. roanoka and 81 observations of P. nevisense were compared using two-sample T-tests. Percina roanoka inhabited faster, shallower water than P. nevisense with the former found in a mean flow of 0.318 m/s and depth of 31.53 cm and the latter in a mean flow of 0.17 m/s and depth of 55.6 cm. Mean diameter of substrate at points of occupation did not differ significantly between the two species with P. roanoka over substrate 10.14 cm diameter, and P. nevisense over substrate of 9.7 cm diameter. Differences in habitat among age classes were not detected for either species. These findings suggest habitat partitioning along current velocity and depth help maintain the diverse darter assemblage in the Roanoke River. INTRODUCTION Resource partitioning appears to be a key component of maintaining diverse fish assemblages, with habitat and food partitioning cited as especially important in communities containing members of the same family (Ross 1986). Six species of Percidae are native to the Roanoke River upstream of the Blue Ridge (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994). Comparisons of habitat parameters have long suggested habitat partitioning among these species is likely key to their survival in the Roanoke River (Matthews et al. 1982; Matthews 1985; Matthews 1990). However, these early studies were based either on captive observation or collections using seines followed by measuring stream width, gradient, and maximum current velocity within the sampled area. As habitat parameters are rarely uniform within the seined area, a reality discussed in these papers, the data collected are not precise measurements of occupied habitat. Recent studies have described and compared habitat of some darter species based on specimens captured using seines and/or a backpack electrofisher. Following capture, habitat parameters from multiple points within a sampled area were measured within that area and averaged making less precise descriptions of occupied habitat (Vadas and Orth Virginia Journal of Science Volume 70, Issue 1 & 2 Spring & Summer 2019 doi: 10.25778/rvvv-j156 Note: This manuscript has been accepted for publication, and is online ahead of print. It will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 70, No. 1, 2019 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol70/iss1 2 2000; Roberts and Angermeier 2007). Rosenberger and Angermeier (2003) used snorkel transects to identify microhabitat among age classes of Percina rex (Roanoke Logperch) but did not compare these data to other darter microhabitat data. Another recent snorkeling study measured microhabitat of Percina nevisense (Chainback Darter) and found they only occupy a portion of available habit","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"85 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78151059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Study of Existing Cross-Site Scripting Detection and Prevention Techniques Using XAMPP and VirtualBox","authors":"Jalen Mack, Y. Hu, M. Hoppa","doi":"10.25778/bx6k-2285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/bx6k-2285","url":null,"abstract":"Most operating websites experience a cyber-attack at some point. Cross-site Scripting (XSS) attacks are cited as the top website risk. More than 60 percent of web applications are vulnerable to them, and they ultimately are responsible for over 30 percent of all web application attacks. XSS attacks are complicated, and they often are used in conjunction with social engineering techniques to cause even more damage. Although prevention techniques exist, hackers still find points of vulnerability to launch their attacks. This project explored what XSS attacks are, examples of popular attacks, and ways to detect and prevent them. Using knowledge gained and lessons-learned from analyzing prior XSS incidents, a simulation environment was built using XAMPP and VirtualBox. Four typical XSS attacks were launched in this virtual environment, and their potential to cause significant damage was measured and compared using the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Calculator. Recommendations are offered for approaches to impeding XSS attacks including solutions involving sanitizing data, whitelisting data, implementing a content security policy and statistical analysis tools.","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"10 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88561359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Precipitation Trends across the Commonwealth of Virginia (1947 – 2016)","authors":"M. Allen, T. Allen","doi":"10.25778/3CAY-Z849","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/3CAY-Z849","url":null,"abstract":"Water is an important resource for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Too much water increases runoff, disrupt transportation networks, and contributes to school closures. Too little water may adversely impact agricultural operations. To improve climate-related information to Virginia citizens, this study assesses means and changes in precipitation across the Commonwealth of Virginia (1947 – 2016). Using daily stationlevel precipitation data from the Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN), descriptive statistics were calculated for 43 locations in terms of total precipitation (inches decade-1), precipitation days (x>0”), and heavy precipitation days (x>1.0”). On average, locations showed an overall increase in total precipitation across the time period. The frequency of heavy rainfall events has also increased across many of the analyzed locations. Precipitation has important ramifications for agriculture, storm water management, and hazard response, and improved coordination of atmospheric-related information may be beneficial to various stakeholders across the Commonwealth. INTRODUCTION Heavy rainfall can lead to numerous hazards including flooding, landslides, and loss of life. From 1980 – 2013, 19 flood-related, billion-dollar disasters occurred in the United States (Smith and Matthews 2015). Combined, these events averaged a price tag of $4.5 billion. Hurricane Agnes, Fran, and Irene coupled with non-tropical events such as rapid snowmelt and ravine flooding highlight the concern in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Of the 64 federal disaster declarations issued by FEMA for the Commonwealth, 27 highlighted flooding. Others explicitly reference tropical systems or hurricanes (FEMA 2018). While tropical systems often impact the coastal plain, precipitation associated with hurricanes often leads to inland flooding (Rappaport 2000). Mesoscale features recently flooded parts of Cape Charles, and heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Virginia Journal of Science Volume 70, Issue 1 & 2 Spring & Summer 2019 doi: 10.25778/3cay-z849 Note: This manuscript has been accepted for publication and is online ahead of print. It will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 70, No. 1, 2019 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol70/iss1 2 Michael flooded parts of southwest Virginia. Flooding and heavy precipitation events (HPE) are recognized as a major hazard across the Commonwealth. While state legislature refers to some events as so-called nuisance or sunny day flooding, flooding disrupts transportation networks, leads to cancellation of school, and plays a role in more prolonged impacts such as mold and mildew (Wong et al. 2014; Chew et al. 2006). HPE intertwine land use policy, hazard mitigation awareness, and future climate change. Recent studies have indicated shifts in the frequency and intensity of precipitation events (Lewis et al. 2018; Kunkel 2003; Wueb","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"56 1","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75423911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mercury Concentrations in Bat Guano From Caves and Bat Houses in Florida and Georgia","authors":"Amy E Edwards, Jenise L. Swall, C. Jagoe","doi":"10.25778/EDS6-6M78","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/EDS6-6M78","url":null,"abstract":"Previous studies have indicated that several pollutants are bioaccumulating in insectivorous bats, including the heavy metal mercury. This has resulted in an increased presence of mercury in bat waste (guano). In this study, we collected bat guano from ten caves in Florida and Georgia and two bat houses in Florida and analyzed the samples for mercury concentrations (ppm). Since the predominant bat species using caves (Myotis austroriparius) versus bat houses (Tadarida braziliensis) were different, the objective of this study was to make statistical comparisons of the mercury concentrations among caves, between caves and bat houses, and between bat houses. We found no significant differences between caves and bat houses. The mean concentrations among caves were significantly different, as well as the concentrations between the two bat houses. These results show similar levels of mercury concentrations in bat guano in both predominant bat species that use these caves and bat houses in Florida and Georgia. But variability exists between all locations, which indicate that other variables (e.g., geographic hot spots for mercury exposure) also affect mercury concentrations in guano. This study provides baseline data for bat guano mercury levels, which is a barometer of bat health and potential bioaccumulation of mercury in guanitic food webs, such as those in cave ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"38 1","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86002406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Compositional Changes in Two Small Mammal Communities During Succession in Southeastern Virginia","authors":"R. K. Rose, Robyn M. Nadolny, Jay P. Kiser, Stephen E. Rice, Heather Green Salamone, Jana Eggleston, H. Gaff","doi":"10.25778/DB6R-4R32","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/DB6R-4R32","url":null,"abstract":"Changes in the composition of two small mammal communities were studied during 8 and 9 years of ecological succession in southern Chesapeake. Virginia. Using monthly live-trapping on grids of similar size and history since their abandonment as agricultural fields, we learned that house mice were early colonists on one grid but not the other. Two species of herbivorous rodent and the granivorous eastern harvest mouse were numerically dominant on both grids across the study. Some species disappeared early on one grid but persisted to the end at the other. The two arboreal small mammals, golden and white-footed mice, were most predictable between sites, showing up at year 8, after significant woody elements were present on the grids. The greatest abundances of small mammals (and probably greatest total biomass too) were seen between years 4 and 6 of ecological succession.","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"44 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73793042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reproductive Correlates of a Perineal Gland in the Hispid Cotton Rat","authors":"R. K. Rose, Julie A. Winchell","doi":"10.25778/2DS9-MP13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/2DS9-MP13","url":null,"abstract":"During studies of the annual cycle of reproduction in the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) in southeastern Virginia, we discovered an anal (more specifically, perineal) gland that is present only in males during the breeding season. The perineal gland encircles the lower end of the rectum and has ductal connections to the urethra, through which its secretions probably are delivered. This fatty gland is highly developed in breeding males but, like the testes and seminal vesicles, regresses during the winter non-breeding season. The prominence and cyclicity of the perineal gland suggests that it somehow facilitates normal reproduction. The combined mass of testes, seminal vesicles, and perineal gland constitutes only about 0.01 percent of the body mass of large males during the non-breeding season, but as much as 4.8 percent of body mass during the breeding season. Thus, males devote a large amount of energy to growing and maintaining these glands in anticipation of and during the breeding season. Despite two field trials, the function of the perineal gland and the nature of its secretion are unknown.","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"40 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81914149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Habitat Use by Bats on the Upper Coastal Plain of Virginia","authors":"A. Bellows, J. Mitchell","doi":"10.25778/ZYS5-H398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/ZYS5-H398","url":null,"abstract":"We monitored bat activity on the upper Coastal Plain of Virginia using mist nets and acoustic detection (ANABAT) during April-October 2000 and April-August 2001. We classified forty sites into three forest-cover classes (pine forest, mixed pine, and hardwood forest) and three landscape-feature classes (permanent water, riparian corridor, and upland). We captured 406 bats (8 species) in mist nets; red bats (Lasiurus borealis; n = 281), big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus; n = 47), and eastern pipistrelles (Pipistrellus subflavus; n = 36) were the most commonly captured species. We captured fewer than 30 individuals of five other species. There were no significant differences in captures per 100 net nights for overall captures or for individual species among forest-cover classes. Overall captures per 100 net nights differed significantly among landscape-feature classes; however, post-hoc analyses could not tease out significantly different pairs. Captures of L. borealis were higher over permanent waters than along riparian corridors or in uplands. Bray-Curtis polar ordination suggested that landscape features such as beaver ponds and impoundments influenced habitat use by bats more than forest-cover type. Discriminant function analysis identified 713 bat calls (≥ 95% confidence) using ANABAT II detectors. Lasiurus borealis and P. subflavus were more frequently recorded by ANABAT II than northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) among the three forestcover classes and among the three landscape-feature classes. Planned, a priori, contrast indicated that for 25 nights when mists nets and acoustic detectors were used simultaneously, mean number of bat species detected for the pooled results of both techniques was higher than the average number of species detected by the mean of each of the two techniques separately. Mean number of bat species detected by the ANABAT II system was higher than mean number detected by mist netting.","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"11 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82386144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Comparative Study on Machine Learning Algorithms for Network Defense","authors":"Abdinur Ali, Y. Hu, C. Hsieh, Mushtaq Khan","doi":"10.25778/PEXS-2309","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/PEXS-2309","url":null,"abstract":"Network security specialists use machine learning algorithms to detect computer network attacks and prevent unauthorized access to their networks. Traditionally, signature and anomaly detection techniques have been used for network defense. However, detection techniques must adapt to keep pace with continuously changing security attacks. Therefore, machine learning algorithms always learn from experience and are appropriate tools for this adaptation. In this paper, ten machine learning algorithms were trained with the KDD99 dataset with labels, then they were tested with different dataset without labels. The researchers investigate the speed and the efficiency of these machine learning algorithms in terms of several selected benchmarks such as time to build models, kappa statistic, root mean squared error, accuracy by attack class, and percentage of correctly classified instances of the classifier algorithms.","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"91 4","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91424208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population Dynamics of the Cotton Rat in Southeastern Virginia","authors":"R. K. Rose, Heather Green Salamone","doi":"10.25778/KBFS-QP29","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25778/KBFS-QP29","url":null,"abstract":"Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529-0266 (HGS: 15 Fillmore Avenue, Danbury, CT 06811) *Corresponding author: brose@odu.edu ABSTRACT We used monthly live trapping for 2.5 years to evaluate the life-history features of the most common small mammal, Sigmodon hispidus (hispid cotton rat), in an old field at its northern limit of distribution on the Atlantic Coast. Peak densities, achieved in late autumn or early winter, were among the highest recorded for the species and were more typical of geographically marginal populations rather than of central ones. Unlike some other marginal populations, hispid cotton rats in southeastern Virginia did not lose significant body mass over the winter (when few juveniles were present) and survival in winter was not significantly different from that of other seasons, perhaps due to the moderating effects on winter temperatures of the nearby Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. Our study provides support for the presence of spring and autumn cohorts, with long-lived animals being drawn almost entirely from the latter. INTRODUCTION Sigmodon hispidus Say and Ord (hispid cotton rat), a 100-g herbivorous rodent, is the sole member of a tropical genus broadly distributed across the southern US, for which the northward expansion of its distributional range into the central states and along the","PeriodicalId":23516,"journal":{"name":"Virginia journal of science","volume":"55 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75692595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}