26th Annual

Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

March 17-19, 2006

St. Louis, Missouri

Session I

Saturday, 9:30-10:30am

Ecosystem and Community Ecology I

9:30     Microbial biomass and N¹⁵ signatures along an N deposition gradient in Canadian boreal peatlands

Bin Xu, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

9:45     Altering plant community structure and ecosystem properties: nutrient loading and plant litter effects in an old-field grassland

L. Brian Patrick, Lauchlan H. Fraser, and Mark W. Kershner, Kent State University and Thompson Rivers University

10:00   Light, nutrient, and planktivorous fish effects on phytoplankton stoichiometry and trophic efficiency

Beth Dickman, Miami University (of Ohio)

Behavioral Ecology I

9:30     Sexual dimorphism in adult American Robins (Turdus migratorius)

Lina Rifai, University of Louisville

9:45     Can I eat that? Foraging in juvenile American robins (Turdus migratorius)

E. Natasha Vanderhoff, University of Louisville

10:00   Should I stay or should I go?  Nest desertion by Bell’s vireo in response to cowbird parasitism

Karl L. Kosciuch, Timothy H. Parker, and Brett K. Sandercock, Kansas State University

10:15   Olfaction and decision making in ovipositing Papilio spp.

Rodrigo J. Mercader and L. L. Stelinski, Michigan State University

Phylogenetics and Evolution I

9:30     Female post-reproductive lifespan: a general mammalian trait

Alan Cohen, University of Missouri – St. Louis

9:45     Predators drive adaptive divergence in a Bahamian livebearing fish

R. Brian Langerhans and Craig A. Layman, Washington University

10:00   Effects of polymorphism on sexual dimorphism in the mole salamander, Ambystoma talpoideum

Julia E. Earl and Howard H. Whiteman, Murray State University

10:15   Partner variability and fitness in a mutualism: Medicago truncatula and Sinorhizobium meliloti

Katy Heath, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

Environmental Change and Conservation

9:30     Genetic consequences of climate change on expanding populations of Peromyscus leucopus in the Great Lakes: patterns in the mitochondrial DNA

Rosa A. Moscarella, Barbara L Lundrigan, Philip Myers, Susan Hoffman, Allison Poor, Molly Steinwald, and Chris Yahnke, Michigan State University

9:45     Elevated CO₂ and N: the future of plant-pollinator interactions

Nicole E. Miller and Tiffany M. Knight, Washington University

10:00   Measuring the success of a prairie restoration project in northern Illinois, USA

Michael Hansen, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

10:15   Human induced dwarfing of Himalayan snow lotus (Saussurea laniceps (Asteraceae))

Wayne Law and Jan Salick, Washington University and Missouri Botanical Garden

Session II

Saturday, 11:00am – 12:00pm

Ecosystem and Community Ecology II

11:00   Temporal coherence of aboveground net primary productivity in a mesic grassland ecosystem

Jana Heisler, Colorado State University

11:15   A model of post-fire ground layer recovery in boreal bogs

Brian W. Benscoter, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

11:30   Allometric metabolic response of consumers to imbalanced diet

Puni Jayasingh and Larry Weider, University of Oklahoma

11:45   A spring prairie burn induces edge effects in Rhopalomyia solidaginis  (Diptera: Tephritidae) galling rates

Andrew McCall, A.Forde, S.Langton-Yanowitz, and N. Chappelle, Carleton College

Behavioral Ecology II

11:00   P-limitation and the expression of a sexually selected trait in a freshwater amphipod species (Amphipoda: Hyalellidae)

Rickey Cothran and Punidan Jeyasingh, University of Oklahoma

11:15   The effects of Acanthocephalus dirus on anti-predator behavior in the intermediate host Caecidotea intermedius

Jennifer A. Talkington, D. J. Tobiansky, and T. C. Sparkes, DePaul University

11:30   Parasite-mediated sexual selection in an intermediate host, Caecidotea intermedius (Isopoda): effects of male-male competition and sperm production

Sonya M. Bierbower and T. C. Sparks, DePaul University

11:45   Male sexual inhibition in the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius

C. Robyn Fischer and Bethia H. King, Northern Illinois University

Phylogenetics and Evolution II

11:00   Entering the maze: phylogenetic exploration of the mushroom genus Psathyrella

Mahajabeen Padamsee and David J. McLaughlin, University of Minnesota

11:15   Systematics, biogeography, and speciation of Porcini mushrooms

Bryn Dentinger, University of Minnesota

11:30   Phylogeny of Castilleae (Moraceae): investigating the evolutionary history of the figs’ closest relatives

Wendy Clement, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

11:45   Phylogenetic position of the New World Quail: eight nuclear loci and three mitochondrial regions contradict the currently accepted Sibley-Ahlquist topology

Andrew Cox, University of Missouri – Columbia

Environmental Change and Conservation II

11:00   Land use patterns in the BOSAWAS Bioreserve, Nicaragua

Aurora Lugo and Gerardo R. Camilo, Saint Louis University

11:15   Assessing vegetation change in coastal landscapes of the northern Gulf of Mexico using National Wetlands Inventory Data

Laura Shirley and Loretta Battaglia, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

11:30   Using conservation GIS to detect oak savannas and oak barrens in northwest Ohio

Marcus Ricci, Helen J. Michaels, and Karen V. Root, Bowling Green State University

11:45   Geographic expansion and increased prevalence of common species in avian assemblages: implications for large-scale patterns of species richness

Frank A. La Sorte, University of Missouri – Columbia

Session III

Saturday, 3:30 – 4:30pm

Ecosystem and Community Ecology III

3:30     Pollination biology of Gossypium tomentosum by the nitidulid beetle, Aethina concolor

Kyra Neipp Burraston, Washington University

3:45     Do ant exclusion treatments differ in plant fitness impacts and efficacy?

John Flunker and Robert J. Marquis, University of Missouri – St. Louis

4:00     Impacts of the Emerald Ash Borer Eradication Protocol: biological consequences for the native plant community

Constance E. Hausman, Kent State University

4:15     The effects of management and vegetation structure on the host-plant quality for the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis

Bradley Pickens and Karen V. Root, Bowling Green State University

Behavioral Ecology III

3:30     Beaver home ranges in east central Illinois: methods and metrics

Randall P. Havens and Thomas A. Nelson, Eastern Illinois University

3:45     Territorial strategies in lizards shaped by microhabitat structure

Michele A. Johnson, Washington University

4:00    Habitat preference of Kirtland’s Snake (Clonophis kirtlandii), an Indiana state-listed reptile

Joshua Mott, Indiana University

4:15     Mating decisions of female redback spiders are shaped by juvenile experience with males

Maria D. Biaggio and Maydianne C. B. Andrade, University of Toronto

Phylogenetics and Evolution III

3:30     Phylogeography of an intertidal barnacle and its gastropod predator in the Gulf of California

 Qiming Deng, C. Fornari, P. Evans, and W. Hazel, DePauw University  

3:45     Judging an oyster by its cover: differentiating extremely similar allopatric Isognomon species (Bivalvia: Isognomonidae) using geometric morphometric  analysis of conchological features

John Wilk, University of Illinois – Chicago

4:00     Cascading sympatric speciation in a braconid wasp

Andrew Forbes, University of Notre Dame

4:15     Rapid evolution of host specificity in Trichinella spiralis

Shay G. Bradbury, Western Illinois University

Session IV

Sunday, 9:30 – 10:30am

Ecosystem and Community Ecology IV

9:30     Increasing isolation from a source pond simplifies the structure of aquatic food web

Rachel S. Shulman and Jonathan M. Chase, Washington University

9:45     Impacts of flood pulsing on invertebrate and macrophtye communities in headwater riparian wetlands

Maureen K. Drinkard and Ferenc A. de Szalay, Kent State University

10:00   Oviposition site selection in response to aquatic predation and insecticides: implications for amphibian conservation

Julia Buck, Washington University

10:15   Testing the waters: feasibility of spotted salamander translocation in a restored flatwoods wetland

Allison Sacerdote, Northern Illinois University

Population Genetics I

9:30     The role of genetic variance in the analytical modeling of conditional strategies

Benjamin Steffen and Ryan Smith, DePauw University

9:45     Comparative phylogeography of Caribbean reef fishes

Michael S. Taylor, University of Notre Dame

10:00   Testing recent and historical bottlenecks in a population of the banner-tailed kangaroo rat

Joseph D. Busch, Cory R. McCormick, Peter M. Waser, and J. Andrew DeWoody, Purdue University

10:15   Population dynamics of coyotes (Canis latrans) in the Cleveland area

Rebecca Rashleigh, Harry van Keulen, and Robert Krebs, Cleveland State University

Population Ecology I

9:30     Culex preferences for gravid trap infusions

Abigail Michels, Western Illinois University

9:45     Environmental co-factors of a viral disease in an endangered marine turtle

Joshua Reece, John F. Fauth, Craig Downs, L.M. Ehrhart, Washington University

10:00   Effects of forest harvesting on juvenile amphibian dispersal

David A. Patrick, Malcolm L. Hunter, Jr., and Aram J. K. Calhoun, University of Maine – Orono

10:15   Density dependence in the terrestrial life history stage of the wood frog Rana sylvatica

Elizabeth Harper, University of Missouri – Columbia

Session V

Sunday, 11:00am – 12:00pm

Ecosystem and Community Ecology V – Bats, Birds, and Bugs

11:00   Bat community diversity between tornado-disturbed and undisturbed sites at Mermet Lake State Forest and Wildlife Area

Jennifer M. Wolff, George A. Feldhamer, Timothy C Carter, Bradley J. Steffen and Leslie R. Rodman, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

11:15   Look what we’ve been missing: estimating avian community dynamics using mark-recapture models

Tracey N. Johnson and Brett K. Sandercock, Kansas State University

11:30   The effects of forestry practices on human risk of tick-borne diseases in the Missouri Ozarks

Brian F. Allan, Richard S. Ostfeld, and Jonathan M. Chase, Washington University and Institute of Ecosystem Studies

11:45   Habitat area affects arthropod communities directly and indirectly through top predators

Nicholas W. Griffin, O. Ostman,, J. L. Strasburg, J. A. Brisson, A. R. Templeton,  T. M. Knight,  and J. M. Chase, Washington University

Population Genetics II

11:00   Modularity of pleiotropic effects on skeletal morphology

Jane Kenney-Hunt, Washington University

11:15   Reproductive success based on flowering phenology in the narrow-leaved purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), a common self-incompatible prairie perennial

Jennifer L. Ison, University of Illinois – Chicago

11:30   Bacterial infection and host genotype in Midwestern Arabidopsis populations

Megan T. A. Dunning and Joy Bergelson, University of Chicago

11:45 Patterns of polymorphism in male and female homologs of sex-linked delta-6     fatty acid desaturase locus in the haploid dioecious moss Ceratodon purpureus

Stuart F. McDaniel, Ralph S. Quatrano, and A. Jonathan Shaw, Duke University and Washington University

Population Ecology II

11:00   An evaluation of beaver habitat models for Illinois rivers

Daniel Cox and Thomas A. Nelson, University of Kentucky and Eastern Illinois University

11:15   Effects of a high discharge flood event on crayfish (Orconectes obscurus) distribution and movement in a forested stream

Jennifer M. Clark and M.W. Kershner, Kent State University

11:30   Top-down/bottom-up population regulation between avian and insect herbivore communities

John Landosky, Robert J. Marquis, Rick Clawson, Wendy Gram, John Faaborg, Rebecca Forkner, John Lill, Paul Porneluzi, and Josiane Le Corff, University of Missouri – St. Louis

11:45   Roost selection by silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) in autumn at Bernheim Research Forest and Arboretum, Clermont, Kentucky

Piper Thomas, University of Louisville