Department of Biology Graduate Theses
Recent Submissions
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Growth variation and life history trade-offs of the invasive plant Lythrum salicaria
Trade-offs are useful for understanding patterns of variation among life history traits because they can explain why fitness cannot be maximized for all traits. Among these traits is flowering phenology, which is of ... -
Male advertisement calling tactics in northern and southern populations of spring peepers (pseudacris crucifer)
The evolution of reproductive isolation is the foundation of species formation but identifying the factors that underlie this process can be challenging. Reproductive isolation can arise because of ecological divergence ... -
Individual Heterogeneity in Ecology and Evolution
Among-individual variation in vital rates, such as mortality rates and birth rates, can generate substantial diversity across individual life histories that scales up to influence population-level processes. The effects ... -
Have watershed disturbances over the past ~200 years affected diatom composition in Algonquin Provincial Park lakes? A paleolimnological assessment
Algonquin Provincial Park (APP), located in south-central Ontario, spans an area of 7,635 km2 and is a destination for over 800,000 visitors a year. These visitors include cottage owners, as cottages have been leased ... -
Nest emergence phenology of the Northern Map turtle (Graptemys geographica) near its northern range limit
Turtles are arguably the most threatened order of vertebrates, yet we still know surprising little about the ecology and annual cycle of most species across their respective ranges. This is also true of the eight freshwater ... -
Improvement of a high throughput method for identification of T-DNA insertion events in an activation-tagged population of Populus tremula x Populus alba.
Mutant populations are a cornerstone of modern studies in genetics; their usefulness in gene discovery, and in understanding the various forms of gene regulation, can not be overstated. Since the introduction of mutation ... -
EXPLORING THE ROLE OF THE DUAL-TARGETED 'MAMMALIAN TYPE' PURPLE ACID PHOSPHATASE ATPAP17 IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA PHOSPHATE AND ROS METABOLISM
Secreted and intracellular purple acid phosphatases (APases) play a central role in the recycling and acquisition of inorganic phosphate (Pi), a limiting macronutrient that is vital for plant growth. In mammals, a single ... -
Efficacy of recreational watercraft decontamination practices to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.
The spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) is a threat to the biodiversity and ecosystem services of invaded environments, and human activities largely facilitate their dissemination. Recreational boating activities ... -
Assessing the biotic and abiotic factors influencing the distribution and intensity of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms in Dog Lake, South Frontenac using UAV imaging and eDNA
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) deteriorate water quality and cause widespread economic and ecological damage to aquatic ecosystems. Efforts in mitigating and monitoring CHABs face challenges from their complex ... -
Thermal Ecology and Plasticity in the Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis: An Observational Field Study
Environmental temperatures are among the most significant factors affecting the ecology, behaviour, and evolution of organisms across all levels of biological organization. As such, understanding the impacts that natural ... -
The role of interference versus exploitative competition in shaping life histories of the smaller tea tortrix
Intraspecific competition is ubiquitous in nature and can fundamentally shape the individual life history. Competition occurs, and consequently influences life-history traits, through the direct effects of interference and ... -
The response of Cladocera assemblages and size structure to multiple stressors in three Kawartha lakes (Ontario) over the last 200 years)
The Kawartha lakes region has experienced many impacts from human activities since the European settlement in early 1800s including damming, logging, agricultural activities, fisheries, urbanization, and the introduction ... -
A BROAD SCALE INVESTIGATION OF DISPERSAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE NORTHERN RANGE LIMIT OF A PACIFIC COASTAL DUNE PLANT
Species are expected to occur and persist where environments allow for population self-replacement, and be limited where biotic and abiotic conditions shift outside their recognized niche. However, many species lack the ... -
EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT AND GENE EXPRESSION IN DROSOPHILA
Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) is the study of trait evolution through variation in development. As early as the modern synthesis, it was recognized that to an understanding of the function of genes during ... -
Response of cladocerans to native and invasive invertebrate predators in Lake Simcoe, Canada
How populations respond to changing environmental conditions is critical to their survival. Organisms can respond adaptively to new environmental conditions, for example an invasive predator, by the expression of phenotypic ... -
Investigating Long-term Environmental Trends in Central Ontario Lakes Impacted by Cyanobacterial Blooms
Cyanobacterial blooms degrade water quality by increasing turbidity, causing taste and odour problems, depleting deep-water oxygen concentrations, and producing toxins – all of which can alter aquatic food webs, and ... -
Population genetic differentiation and hybridization in the Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)
Climate change poses a significant threat to the future of Arctic ecosystems. To effectively conserve Arctic species, genetically differentiated populations must be defined for adaptive and neutral genetic variation to be ... -
Investigating ubiquitin-mediated turnover of the key immune signaling protein kinase BOTRYTIS INDUCED KINASE1
Plants are susceptible to infection from bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases; although sessile, they are far from defenseless. Plants have evolved complex immune systems for the detection of pathogens and initiation of ... -
ECOLOGICAL INSIGHTS FROM δ18O AND δ13C OF AMERICAN EEL ANGUILLA ROSTRATA OTOLITHS — A COMBINATION OF LABORATORY AND FIELD APPROACHES
Fish species with complex life cycles, extensive migrations, or broad distributional ranges, such as the American eel, Anguilla rostrata, commonly have poorly understood ecologies because of a lack of information about ... -
PLASTICITY AND EVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL OF ALLIARIA PETIOLATA LIFE HISTORY AND LEAF CHEMISTRY TRAITS IN DIFFERENT COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Alliaria petiolata is an invasive biennial herb in North America where it has detrimental impacts on flora and fauna. Allelopathy, the chemical inhibition of plant competitors, is one explanation for why A. petiolata is ...
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