Department of Biology Graduate Theses

Getting One's Ducks in a Row: Conservation Units of Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) Throughout North America

Turner, Russell

Anthropogenic climate change is resulting in a variety of consequences for ecosystems and biodiversity. Collectively these changes are negatively impacting species survival and are increasing rates of extinction. Species ...

Diversity and function of the soil microbiome in a North American forest in response to Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) invasion.

Duchesneau, Katherine

The disruption of soil microbial communities is thought to be a major contributor to the expansion of invasive plants. Previous research has focused on identifying how invasive plants change soil microbial diversity and ...

Evolutionary Constraints: Phenology and elevational range limits in an annual plant

Ensing, David

All species have limits to their geographic distributions and many range limits are stable over centuries, indicating a failure to adapt to conditions beyond the range edge. This simple observation contradicts copious ...

Daphnia vertical position and implications for the impact of the invasive zooplankton predator, Bythotrephes longimanus, on plankton communities in south-central Ontario

Hasnain, Sarah

Species diversity and identity play an important role in determining community structure and regulating ecosystem processes. However, species interactions are often characterized by the mean effect or response, often ...

Assessing long-term environmental trends in Ontario lakes that support Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

Nelligan, Clare

Oxygenated habitats for Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are projected to deteriorate with climate warming. However, a paucity of long-term limnological monitoring data impedes the ability to determine if concentrations ...

Screening Assessments for Aquatic Invasive Species Using Species Distribution Models

Yee, Caleb

Invasive species are a major cause of biodiversity loss in North American freshwaters. Once established, aquatic invasive species (AIS) can restructure food webs and change the abiotic or physical conditions of a water ...

Coping with Thermal Challenges: Reaction Norms of Life History Traits of a Burying Beetles with Biparental Care

Ong, Jie Yuen

To succeed and thrive in different environments, individuals can express plastic phenotypes, including life history traits, to ensure some level of fitness across conditions. As such, the plasticity of traits is central ...

Sedimentary Midges as Paleoindicators of Deep-water Oxygen Conditions Across a Broad Trophic Gradient in Boreal Lakes

Simmatis, Brigitte

Cultural eutrophication, the addition of excess nutrients to an aquatic system, is a significant water quality concern that often promotes excess algal growth and deep-water oxygen depletion. Deep-water oxygen also influences ...

The Roles of the Neuropeptide Receptor NPR-14 in the Regulation of Sleep Behaviours in Caenorhabditis elegans

Barnay, Rawah

Most animals with a nervous system exhibit sleep behaviour(s) during their life cycle, which appears as a decreased level of physical activity and changes in metabolism. Even animals with a simple nervous system like ...

Natural Movements of Smallmouth Bass and Their Response to Tournament Displacement Within the Eastern Basin of Lake Ontario

Rupnik, Adam

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are one of the most popular species targeted by angling tournaments in North America, particularly in the Great Lakes region. Tournament anglers target the largest fish in these ...

A glycoform of the purple acid phosphatase AtPAP26 interacts with a GNA-apple domain lectin (AtGAL1) in cell walls of phosphate-starved Arabidopsis thaliana

Ghahremani, Mina

Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) function in the acquisition and recycling of inorganic phosphate (Pi), a crucial but environmentally-limiting macronutrient for plant growth. Among 29 predicted PAPs of the model plant ...

Analysis of E3 ligases and identification of ubiquitination sites regulating turnover of the plant immune signaling kinase BIK1

Grubb, Lauren

Plants possess sophisticated mechanisms for responding to the threat of pathogens. Microbial patterns such as bacterial flagellin are perceived by receptor complexes located at the plant plasma membrane. This perception ...

Population decline in an avian aerial insectivore (Tachycineta bicolor) linked to climate change

Cox, Amelia

Avian aerial insectivores, a taxonomically diverse guild of birds, are facing dire population declines. The primary commonality among these birds is that they forage on flying insects, suggesting that diet has exposed these ...

Characterization of insulin signaling in a Caenorhabditis elegans Alzheimer’s disease model

Chiu, Hilton

Insulin is a key hormone in the regulation of blood glucose levels in many animals. Dysfunctional insulin signaling is one of the leading mechanisms of interest for the pathogenesis of diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). ...

Examining the natural and disturbed behaviours of Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) using hydroacoustic surveys in Lake Ontario

Elliott, Connor

In Lake Ontario, Alewife are the primary prey for salmonids, which provide a popular and socio-economically important recreational fishery. There is concern with regards to whether the Alewife population has the ability ...

Seasonal activity, depth distribution, and microhabitat associations of resident yellow-phase American eels (Anguilla rostrata) in the upper St. Lawrence River

Burliuk, Colleen

The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is an endangered species that inhabits fresh, brackish, and oceanic waters. Eels are elusive; little is known about their seasonal movements, depth distribution, and microhabitat ...