The Texas Journal of Science最新文献

{"title":"MOVEMENT PATTERNS, HOME RANGE, AND MICROHABITAT USE OF ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLES (MACROCHELYS TEMMINCKII) IN A SMALL EAST TEXAS STREAM SYSTEM","authors":"C. Adams, Sophia Gartenstein, Josh B. Pierce, J. Glasscock, Christopher M. Schalk","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_76_1_article1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_76_1_article1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), the largest freshwater turtle in North America, faces numerous threats, with population declines and range contractions suspected to have occurred across its historic range. Previous research studying movement patterns and microhabitat use of M. temminckii has mostly been conducted in large, open, lentic environments and few studies have been conducted in small, lotic habitats. We investigated the movement and microhabitat use of adult female and juvenile M. temminckii within Bonaldo Creek, a small tributary of the Angelina River in eastern Texas. Six M. temminckii were monitored (two or three relocations per week) via radiotelemetry from July 2008 to September 2009. We found that the linear home range for adult females (405.1–1395.5 m) was longer than that of the unsexed juveniles (439.7–996.9 m), although movement frequency was similar between groups. Juveniles utilized a smaller subset of microhabitats compared to adult females. Adult females utilized microhabitats with abundant submerged structure, while overhanging vegetation was an important microhabitat feature for juveniles. The broader microhabitat use we observed in adult females may have been influenced by seasonal factors, highlighting the need for more long-term, seasonal assessments of M. temminckii movement and microhabitat. Such investigations will bolster our understanding of the spatial and temporal factors that influence M. temminckii populations in different systems.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":"27 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141279552","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":"PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS SUGGESTS FRESHWATER INVERTEBRATE ENVIRONMENTAL DNA IS MORE CONCENTRATED IN SURFACE WATER THAN IN BENTHIC SEDIMENTS","authors":"Paton Willbanks, Hayden Hays, Kristen L. Kabat, Matthew A. Barnes","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The collection, identification, and census of freshwater invertebrates helps to increase understanding of the ecological function of lakes and streams. However, this work can be time-consuming and laborious because invertebrate identification often requires considerable taxonomic training and expertise. The collection and analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA), the genetic material that organisms shed into their surrounding environment, represents a potentially revolutionary approach for rapid and accurate invertebrate surveillance in freshwater environments. Previous studies have demonstrated that fish eDNA tends to be more abundant in freshwater lake sediments than the water column above, so we conducted an experiment to examine whether this pattern holds true for freshwater invertebrates. We collected paired samples from benthic sediments and the water column at ten sites around an urban playa lake in Lubbock, Texas. Based on cycle threshold values from quantitative PCR (qPCR) amplification with universal invertebrate primers targeting the COI gene, a paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Spearman rank-order correlation suggested that invertebrate eDNA quantities were correlated between the sediment and water column but consistently more concentrated in the water compared to the sediment below, directly contrasting with previous studies of fish eDNA. Future work combining eDNA detection and high-throughput sequencing (i.e., metabarcoding) will increase understanding of how eDNA signals relate to local invertebrate pools and increase the utility of eDNA sampling for freshwater invertebrates.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":"2 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135162009","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":"PEREGRINATIONS ON THE STUDY OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF NONSPHERICAL PARTICLES","authors":"Ping Yang, G. Kattawar","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_75_1_tds","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_75_1_tds","url":null,"abstract":"Dr. Ping Yang is University Distinguished Professor and holds the David Bullock Harris Chair in geosciences at Texas A&M University (TAMU), where he currently serves as the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. He previously served as Department Head of Atmospheric Sciences (2012-2018) and Associate Dean for Research (2019-2022) in the College of Geosciences at TAMU. Dr. Yang has supervised/co-supervised 30 doctoral dissertations and 20 master’s degree theses. He has published 366 peer-reviewed journal papers, thirteen invited book chapters, and four books. His publications have been cited 24,144 times (Google Scholar)/15,974 times (Web of Science) with an H-index of 79 (Google Scholar)/62 (Web of Science), as of 26 Sept 2023. His research focuses on light scattering, radiative transfer, and remote sensing. Since joining TAMU, Yang has been extramurally funded for 83 research projects. Yang is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), OPTICA (formerly the Optical Society of America), The Electromagnetics Academy, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Yang received a number of awards/honors, including the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (2017), the Ascent Award by the AGU Atmospheric Science Section (2013), the David and Lucille Atlas Remote Sensing Prize by AMS (2020), and the van de Hulst Light-Scattering Award by Elsevier (2022), and a university-level faculty research award (2017) bestowed by The TAMU Association of Former Students (AFS). Dr. Yang was an elected member of the International Radiation Commission (IRC) under the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (2012-2020) and was appointed as one of the 16 members of the U.S. National Research Council-Space Studies Board's Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space (October 2018- June 2022). He has served as an editor of the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (2015-2020) and currently serves as an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer and an editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. Dr. George W. Kattawar is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Institute of Quantum Science & Engineering at Texas A&M University. He is an internationally renowned expert in radiative transfer and light scattering dealing with full Mueller matrix/Stokes vector processes. He has made significant contributions in using radiative transfer in such diverse areas as biomedical optics, planetary atmospheres, cloud and aerosol property studies related to climate studies, invisibility cloaking, ultrashort laser propagation in water, and anthrax detection. To list just a few among his seminal contributions, he was the first to show that the ","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139293167","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":"IMPACTS OF CHELIPED MORPHOLOGY ON MATE SELECTION OF AN INVASIVE CRAYFISH, THE RED SWAMP CRAYFISH (<i>PROCAMBARUS CLARKII</i>)","authors":"Hayden C. Hays, Diane L. Neudorf","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, is a large-bodied crayfish that is native to northeastern Mexico and the south-central United States. The extensive breeding season and the r-selected characteristics of this species allow it to produce a large number of offspring. Despite the extensive research on the invasive potential of this organism, some behavioral aspects of the mating system have not been well-studied. We investigated how cheliped morphology impacts female choice and copulation behavior by manipulating three male traits: chela presence, function, and chela-body size ratio. Females showed no preference for males based on any of the visual traits examined, and copulations were infrequent and not indicative of female preference for a male phenotype. Chela function and chela-body size ratio impacted male copulation attempts, suggesting male dominance and aggression as a potentially significant component in the mating system of P. clarkii. Finally, our we encourage further research to include other visual and chemical stimuli to truly understand the crayfish mating system and the role of female choice.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135389160","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":"GEOLOGY AND HXRF GEOCHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC XENOLITHS IN TOWN MOUNTAIN GRANITE AT “THE SLAB” SWIMMING HOLE, LLANO UPLIFT, KINGSLAND, TEXAS","authors":"Liane M. Stevens, Ethan Wagner, Tyler McLemore","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Metamorphic xenoliths in the Town Mountain Granite are exposed at “The Slab,” a low-water crossing in Kingsland, Texas, that is popular both for recreation and as a stop on regional geology field trips to the Llano uplift. Difficulty in sampling the pavement-style outcrops limits observation and analysis to that which can be completed at the outcrop. We use structural orientation measurements and a handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (hXRF) to study xenolith orientation in context of regional fabrics, assess evidence of xenolith assimilation into the Town Mountain Granite, and investigate the origin of the xenoliths based on bulk composition. A nearly 1:1 correlation between the orientations of the xenoliths’ long axes and their internal foliation suggests that granite intrusion along foliation strongly controlled the xenoliths’ shapes. The orientation of the xenoliths’ foliation is consistent with dominant regional foliations. The hXRF analyses are able to discriminate between the compositions of the granite and the xenoliths. Xenolith compositions are consistent with a mafic protolith and suggest they have the same or similar sources; different analytical techniques for previously published bulk compositional analyses prevent direct comparison with our data or confident identification of a source unit. Limited assimilation of the xenoliths into the granite is suggested by magma injections into xenoliths, mafic residue from partial melting, chemical gradations at contacts between the granite and xenoliths, and possible enrichment of xenoliths in FeO + MgO relative to bulk compositions of the metamorphic country rock. These results encourage future use of hXRF for outcrop-based geological studies.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135389161","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":"EMPTY CONTAINERS, OVERFLOWING RIVERS: STATE FUNDED FENCING AND IMPACTS IN EAGLE PASS, TEXAS","authors":"Adriana E. Martinez, Tayler Devine, Turner Reed","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_75_1_article2","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study uses hydraulic modeling to examine the impacts of two new fence sections at Eagle Pass, Texas: a container fence and a state-funded fence section south, and downstream, of the already modeled federal border fence. We used the model Nays2DFlood to compare fence and non-fence conditions at various recurrence intervals to determine how the fence is affecting flood extents, water depth, and water velocity. Water depth is deeper in the channel and the floodplain and shallower directly at the fence line when compared to non-fence conditions. Water velocity is faster within the channel and the floodplain and slower at the fence line during fence conditions. These impacts have the potential to adjust sediment regimes at this location and downstream of this area, altering water quality and channel morphology. Demographic analysis also show that particularly susceptible populations, including a majority Latino, low income individuals, those under 5, and those 65–74, are present in large numbers at these fence sections and are therefore vulnerable to flooding.\u0000 Supplemental material is available for this article online.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43967100","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":"LOW INCIDENCE OF HELMINTH PARASITES IN BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS (MOLOTHRUS ATER) FROM EAST TEXAS","authors":"Maria P. Hendrickson, D. L. Neudorf, T. J. Cook","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_75_1_note1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_75_1_note1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43017380","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":"SURVIVING HURRICANE HARVEY: PRE AND POST FLOOD-EVENT SITE FIDELITY OF NORTHERN COTTONMOUTHS (AGKISTRODON PISCIVORUS) IN HARMON CREEK, WALKER COUNTY, TEXAS","authors":"W. I. Lutterschmidt, Eric D. Roth, Z. Perelman, J. Weidler","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_74_1_article4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_74_1_article4","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Due to the impact and effects of Hurricane Harvey on several aquatic systems in southeast Texas, we investigated the potential impact of flood waters displacing individual cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) from known site locations within Harmon Creek in Walker County, Texas. Using mark recapture data and GIS locations, we document that cottonmouths within our study area of Harmon Creek avoided potential displacement and mortality during unprecedented flooding. A comparison of distances between pre- (mean = 192.60 m, SE = 67.572, n = 7) and post- (mean = 97.91 m, SE = 24.953, n = 9) Hurricane Harvey snake locations did not differ and we recaptured 46 cottonmouths that were previously tagged in past sampling years prior to this unprecedented flood event. We finally discuss the importance of long-term monitoring programs that ultimately provide the data needed to evaluate the potential impacts of such disturbance events.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47503474","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":"POST-PLEISTOCENE HORSES (EQUUS) FROM MÉXICO","authors":"W. Miller, Gilberto Pérez-Roldán, J. Mead, Rosario Gómez-Núñez, Jorge Madrazo-Fanti, Isaí Ortiz-Pérez","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_74_1_article5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_74_1_article5","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 For more than a century many paleontologists, biologists, paleoecologists, and archaeologists have contended that Equus species (American horse) became extinct on the North American continent by about 13,000 calibrated years BP – all part of the Late Pleistocene (Ice Age) extinction event. The paleontological project presented here that focuses on Equus from Rancho Carabanchel, San Luis Potosí, México became chronologically intriguing to us in having the horse consistently radiometrically dating into the Holocene, well beyond the presumed extinction event. Our approach to this observation was to conduct successive radiocarbon dates (n=19) tied as closely as possible to fossil remains and to stratigraphic units. The remains of the extant horse, Equus caballus, were recovered only in the upper-most Unit I while the extinct Equus cf. mexicanus, E. cf. conversidens, and E. cf. tau were recovered from the underlying Units II – VI of the late Holocene to approximately 45,000 calibrated years ago. We discuss how our data adds to the growing information which implies that horses may have persisted in this region of México well after the classical Late Pleistocene extinction event. Our conclusions may well illustrate that the extinction episode was actually a process lasting well into the Holocene and was not the event that many paleoecologists and archaeologist envision.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43115617","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":"PLAYA DYNAMICS AND SALINITY: A STUDY OF YELLOW LAKE ON THE HIGH PLAINS OF TEXAS","authors":"J. Stout","doi":"10.32011/txjsci_74_1_article6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.32011/txjsci_74_1_article6","url":null,"abstract":"Saline playas on the Southern High Plains are almost always located on large cattle ranches but they are of limited value to the herds of cattle grazing around their outer margins. Saline playas are often without water for extended periods and, after inundation, they experience considerable evaporative loss leading to hypersaline conditions. The primary goal of this study was to develop a quantitative method that combines the transitory nature of playa lakes and the variability of salinity into a set of parameters that can be used to compare playas or other surface water sources. Regarding water quality, a variable was developed that describes the fraction of observations with salinity levels below the salt tolerance threshold for cattle. With regard to water availability, water depth measurements were used to compute the fraction of time that a playa contains water. These two variables are combined to form a new variable that represents the fraction of time that water is both available and of acceptable quality. To demonstrate the utility of this method, data was collected at Yellow Lake, a large saline playa located on the Yellow House Ranch northwest of Lubbock, Texas. Results suggest that the playa contained water 50.8% of the time over a five-year period but the fraction of water samples with acceptable salinity was only 6.5%. The resulting fraction of time that water was both available and of acceptable quality was only 3.3%. This technique could be used to compare other ephemeral surface water sources in the region.","PeriodicalId":54431,"journal":{"name":"The Texas Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44504140","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}