Biology, Department of
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Arboreal Calling Behaviour Across the Range of the Spring Peeper: Potential Consequences and Benefits
Understanding the trade-offs that affect potentially adaptive traits is fundamental to our understanding of evolutionary diversification and speciation. Heterogeneous landscapes may lead to spatial variation in such traits ... -
Crosstalk between the Thyroid Hormone and Androgen Axes Throughout the Lifecycle of Silurana Tropicalis
It is widely accepted that thyroid hormones (THs) influence gonadal development and functioning; however, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying TH-induced effects with regard to reproduction is limited. ... -
Genetic Structure and Connectivity of the Endangered Butler's Gartersnake (Thamnophis butleri) Across the Fragmented Landscape of Southwestern Ontario
Genetic patterns in many species are affected by environmental features that may enable or obstruct gene flow. Geographical isolation of conspecific individuals by uninhabitable expanses can lead to genetic separation. For ... -
Characterization of Rockmass Properties and Excavation Damage Zone (EDZ) Using A Synthetic Rock Mass (SRM) Approach
A detailed understanding of strength and fracturing behaviour of the rockmass is essential for coherent design of underground structures such as deep geological repositories (DGRs) for long-term nuclear waste storage. The ... -
The Arabidopsis Calmodulin-Like Protein, CML39, Regulates Early Seedling Development and Fruit Formation
Calcium (Ca2+) is one of the most ubiquitous and versatile second messengers in eukaryotes. In the Ca2+ signaling paradigm, cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations, evoked by environmental stimuli, are detected by Ca2+-binding proteins, ... -
Behavioural Correlates of Social Dominance in Male Zebra Finches
Illuminating the adaptive nature of animal behaviours is a major goal of evolutionary biology, and the fitness consequences for many behaviours have been well-documented. Animal personality research seeks to achieve this ... -
Characterization of Signal Transduction Pathways Required for Starvation Longevity in the Model Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans
Growth and development is controlled by specific sets of gene products (proteins and RNAs), forming metabolic and developmental pathways. Mutations in these genes can result in abnormal growth of cells, leading to diseases ... -
Intra-Specific Variation in Sensitivity to Low Calcium in Daphnia Pulex
Freshwater systems experience many stressors that can affect aquatic communities; one such stressor is calcium decline. Cation depletion of surrounding soils and watersheds of many North American and Scandinavian lakes is ... -
Relationships Between Winter Energetic Condition and Reproductive Investment in a Wild Bird
Reproduction is an energetically demanding life history stage that comprises costly physiological and behavioural changes. Despite these costs, some individuals invest more in reproduction, and breed more successfully than ... -
The Genetic Structure of Species' Geographic Ranges: An Evaluation Using the Coastal Dune Endemic Camissoniopsis Cheiranthifolia (Onagraceae)
The development of molecular techniques has spurred thousands of population genetic studies on a wide variety of plant and animal species. Particularly important, but still relatively rare, are studies that properly test ... -
Characterization and Knockdown of a Family of Ice-Binding Proteins from Freeze-Tolerant Grasses
Exposure to sub-zero temperatures puts plants at risk of freeze-induced damage associated with ice crystal formation causing cellular dehydration, plasma membrane rupture and cell death. Some freeze-tolerant plants induce ... -
The Feeding Mechanism of the Freshwater Gastropod (Bellamya Aeruginosa) – Realizing its Potential in Controlling Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) caused by eutrophication seriously impact aquatic ecosystems and human health. Biomanipulation using foraging organisms to regulate and eradicate harmful algal growth has been ... -
Spawning Black Bass and the Invasive Round Goby in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River
This thesis examined the relationships between the invasive Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and the economically important recreational fish species, Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and Largemouth Bass (Micropterus ... -
Functional Genomics Indicates a Minor Role for the Purple Acid Phosphatase Isozyme AtPAP17 in Arabidopsis Thaliana Phosphorus Metabolism
Phosphorus (P) is a crucial plant macronutrient, as it is a constituent of essential biomolecules involved in nearly all major metabolic processes. However, soluble orthophosphate (Pi), the only form of P that roots directly ... -
Fish Distributions in Lake Ontario's Eastern Basin and the Upper St. Lawrence River: An Analysis Using GIS and Occupancy Modelling Techniques
Predictive models of species distributions are important tools for fisheries management. Unfortunately, these predictive models can be difficult to perform on large waterbodies where fish are difficult to detect and ... -
From Genes to Genomes: Local Adaptation and Adaptive Potential in Two Arctic Seabirds
By investigating the mechanisms underlying the evolution and the maintenance of local adaptations we can help predict how species will adapt to future environmental change. In this thesis I investigate local adaptation and ... -
Cold Acclimation of Chill Coma Mechanisms in the Locust CNS
Temperature has profound effects on the neural function and behaviour of insects. When exposed to low temperature, migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria) enter chill coma (neuromuscular paralysis) and can resume normal ... -
Genetic architecture and sexual conflict in the life history of Drosophila
Because males and females of a species express many homologous traits, sex-specific selection on these traits can shift the opposite sex away from its phenotypic optimum. This mode of sexually antagonistic selection, known ... -
Lolium perenne antifreeze protein, part of a freeze-tolerance strategy
(2016-11-02)Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a novel class of ice-binding stress response proteins produced by organisms which experience freezing at some point within their respective life histories. These proteins are structurally and ... -
The Effects of the Non-Native Invertebrate Predator Bythotrephes Longimanus and Declining Aqueous Calcium on Crustacean Zooplankton Communities in Canadian Shield lakes
(2016-10-14)Over the last several decades, human activities have resulted in environmental changes that have increased the number of stressors that can act on a single environment. In Canadian Shield lakes, two recent stressors, the ...
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