Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Taxonomic studies on West Indian Staphylinidae(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2024) Rainey, Jordan James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael A. Ivie; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Aleomallus yaque Rainey and Ivie, new genus and species is described from high- elevation areas in the Dominican Republic and placed in the Aleocharinae tribe Diestotini. This placement is discussed with a review of the history of the tribe and related groups. A description with figures of diagnostic characters is provided. This discovery highlights the extent of undescribed Aleocharinae biodiversity in the mountains of the West Indies. The West Indian species of Belonuchus Nordmann, 1837 are revised to address a knowledge gap in our understanding of the genus. The genus now contains 17 species found in the West Indian biogeographical area, seven of which are described as new species: Belonuchus blackwelderi, new species (Hispaniola), Belonuchus crypticus, new species (Hispaniola), Belonuchus draco, new species (Hispaniola), Belonuchus franki, new species (Jamaica), Belonuchus sanchezi, new species (Hispaniola), Belonuchus dominici, new species (Hispaniola), and Belonuchus tenebros, new species (Hispaniola). The following new synonymies are proposed: Belonuchus hispaniolus Blackwelder, 1943 = Belonuchus gagates Erichson, 1840, new synonymy, Belonuchus oakleyi Blackwelder, 1943 = Belonuchus gagates Erichson, 1840, new synonymy. A lectotype and paralectotypes are designated for Belonuchus coeruleus Cameron, 1922, and Belonuchus cognatus Sharp, 1885. A lectotype is designated for Belonuchus eximius Bernhauer, 1917. Redescriptions and rediagnoses are provided for previously described species. All species are included in a taxonomic identification key, diagnostic characters are illustrated, distribution maps are presented for each species, and updates on the nomenclature of the group are provided.Item Applications and diagnostics for dimension reduction of multivariate data(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Harmon, Paul Gary; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mark Greenwood; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Working with high-dimensional data involves various statistical challenges. This dissertation overviews a suite of tools and methods for dimension reduction, using latent- variable models, techniques for mapping high-dimensional data, clustering, and working with multivariate responses across a variety of use cases. First, we propose and develop a method for classifying institutions of higher education is and compare with the current standard for university classification: the Carnegie Classification. We present a classification tool based on Structural Equation Models that better allows for modeling of correlated indices than the PCA-based methodology that underlies the Carnegie Classification. Additionally, we create a Shiny-based web application that allows for assessment of sensitivity to changes in the underlying characteristics of each institution. Second, we develop a novel methodology that extends the Cook's Distance diagnostic for identifying influential points in regression to a new application on high-dimensional mapping tools. We highlight a PERMANOVA-based method for calculating the difference in the shape of resulting ordinations based on inclusion/exclusion of points, similar in style to the influence diagnostic Cook's Distance for regression. We present a set simulation studies with several mapping techniques and highlight where the method works well (Classical Multidimensional Scaling) and where the methods appear to work less effectively (t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding). Additionally, we examine several real data sets and assess the efficacy of the diagnostic on thsoe data sets. Finally, we introduce a new method for feature selection in a specific type of divisive clustering, called monothetic clustering. Utilizing a penalized matrix decomposition to re- weight the input data to the monothetic clustering algorithm allows for reduction in noise features allows this clustering method to better make splits based on single features at a time, leading to better cluster results. We present a method for tuning both the number of clusters, K, and the degree of sparsity, s, as well as simulation studies that highlight the efficacy of noise reduction in monothetic clustering solutions.Item Investigations into the West Indian Chelonarium (Coleoptera: Chelonariidae) and the Antherophagus (Coleoptera: Cyptophagidae) of Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2022) Kole, John Paul; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael A. Ivie; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.The discovery of a new species of Chelonarium in southern Florida, combined with the expected publication of the next edition of American Beetles requires has made it necessary to revise the West Indian Chelonariidae. Material from the West Indies was examined, names were associated with species, and species level groups were determined. Sixteen species are recognized with species definitions, descriptions, distributions, and illustrations provided. A key to the species is included. Seven species are redescribed: Chelonarium beauvoisi Latreille, 1807, Chelonarium convexum Mequignon, Chelonarium problematicum Mequignon, Chelonarium cupreum Mequignon, Chelonarium lecontei Thomson, Chelonarium maculatum Mequignon, and Chelonarium pilosellum Chevrolat. A neotype is designated for Chelonarium convexum Mequignon. Chelonarium costattipenne Mequignon, new synonymy, and Chelonarium sublavae Mequignon, new synonymy, are placed as junior synonyms of Chelonarium problematicum Mequignon. Eight species are described as new: Chelonarium auricomus Kole and Ivie, new species, Chelonarium calcarium Kole and Ivie, new species, Chelonarium floccum Kole and Ivie, new species, Chelonarium grenadensis Kole and Ivie, new species, Chelonarium latosetum Kole and Ivie, new species, Chelonarium lucidum Kole and Ivie, new species, Chelonarium nitidellum Kole and Ivie, new species, and Chelonarium sabensis Kole and Ivie, new species. Chelonarium auricomus is the second US mainland species and is apparently introduced from the Martinique and/or St. Lucia. Chelonarium punctatum Fabricius, 1801 and Chelonarium atrum Fabricius, 1801 are removed from the West Indian Fauna because of newly clarified type localities, corrected to Essequibo, British Guyana. A discussion of biogeography is provided. The Chelonariidae of the West Indies are far more diverse than was previously known, however more data is required to better determine the diversity of this group in the West Indies. Little is known of the beetles which live in the nests of wild bees. One such genus, Antherophagus, which lives in the nests of Bombus, was almost entirely unknown from Montana. Material from the MTEC was examined and species were identified using preexisting keys. A key is provided for all five North American Antherophagus, new county and state records are reported, and biology is discussed. The Antherophagus are likely more widely distributed than is currently reported.Item Using genetic and genomic techniques to uncover cryptic diversity for improving aquatic invasive plant management(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2021) Chorak, Gregory Michael Thomas; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ryan Thum; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Genetic diversity can be important at many levels of invasive species management. And, for different questions, it matters at which level we measure diversity to understand its relevance. Some invaders may look similar to other species, so identifying the species to be managed may be difficult without genetic tools. Once the species has been identified, understanding the diversity in that species may be important to identify management units, invasive traits, and the possibility of spread. Finally, understanding how the alleles an individual possesses determine the traits expressed can give managers the tools to control for unwanted traits of an invasive species. In this body of work, I uncover diversity at the species/taxon level, the genotype/clone level, and finally at the gene level in invasive aquatic weed species. At the taxon level, I found that one invasion of aquatic weeds in the northeastern US was actually two or more separate invasions and taxa. At the genotype level, I found that the same genotype responds the same to a common herbicide management regardless of where it is found, and that different genotypes have varying responses to a common herbicide treatment. And, at the gene level, I found that different genotypes with different growth rates have different gene expression in the control and transcriptional response to a common herbicide treatment. At each of these levels, managers have questions and concerns about management decisions. Understanding that there were two unique taxa in what was considered one invasion informed managers that there may be variance in management relevant traits between the two. In the genotype level study, we learned that determining which clones are present in a lake slated for herbicide management may inform which herbicides to use. And, at the gene level, we are starting to understand the molecular process of management relevant phenotypes so that one day managers can screen for molecular markers that will reveal herbicide response of individuals slated for management.Item Bullion Creek and Sentinel Butte formations: a study of relative dating and specimen descriptions from near Cartwright, North Dakota(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Graham, Veronica Noel; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: C. John GravesMakenzie County in North Dakota, especially near Cartwright has not been explored by paleontologists for some time and never in great detail, yet the area is full evidence of the past. This paper focuses on the period of time between 50 and 65 million years ago when the area was believed to be a swampy sub-tropical forest skirting an inner continental seaway. It is the purpose of this paper to determine, through rock description and fossil leaf identification, the formation or formations present in this area of focus. These formations will in-turn pinpoint the time period in which the exposures were deposited. Identification of leaf impressions and molds are based on 9 key identifiers; lamina width and length, type of margin, lobation, apex and base type, apex and base angle, and vein pattern. Fossil leaf specimens can be identified to the class Magnoliopsida and other family levels, such as Taxodiaceae, Ulmaceae, Alismaceae, Betulaceae, and Sabiaceae. Additionally, some leaf specimens can be identified to the genus and species levels, including Metasequoia occidentalis, Ulmites microphylla, Alismaphyllites grandifolius, Meliosma vandaelium, and Corylus insignis. Fossils were collected on private land just outside Cartwright North Dakota where they were prepped for transport. In the lab setting they were cleaned, cataloged, and identified for the purpose of relative dating. These results demonstrate that both Sentinel Butte and Bullion Creek formations are present in the study area.Item Using sparse coding as a preprocessing technique for insect detection in pulsed LIDAR data(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2022) Zsidisin, Connor Reece; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Brad WhitakerThis research proposes using sparse coding as a preprocessing technique on insect lidar based data. This preprocessing technique will be used in conjunction with the Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Random UnderSampling Boosting (RUSBoost), and neural network algorithms to automatically detect insects. The project aims to increase the effectiveness of these algorithms by using new images created by sparse coding. The K-Singular Value Decomposition (KSVD) algorithm will be used to train a dictionary on images that contain the majority class (non-insects). This trained dictionary will be used along with Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) to reconstruct all lidar images. The difference between the original image and the reconstructed image will be taken and processed by the feature extraction function and then used to train and test the models. Using a complete and an overcomplete dictionary our results show that the algorithms are able to detect insects at a higher rate. Using an overcomplete dictionary we are able to classify 93.18% of insect containing images in the testing dataset. Using the complete dictionary we were able to maintain 99.70% of non-insect images while increasing the percentage of insects classified to 84.09%.Item Identification of cellulolytic hot spring organisms through bioorthogonal labeling(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2021) Reichart, Nicholas John; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Roland Hatzenpichler; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Microbial physiology is the study of the metabolism and function of microorganisms. The recent expansion of genomic diversity has outpaced the description of physiology. To better understand microbial metabolisms and environmental processes, more detailed research is needed for both novel and undescribed microbes. While many new methods are being developed to describe in situ microbial activity, this dissertation implements bioorthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging as a proxy to track metabolic activity of microbes under close to environment conditions. Using differential analyses on hot spring microbial communities, we were able to show that certain microbial taxa had preferential activity towards specific incubation amendments. Previous activity-based studies had shown that hot springs were a unique environment for discovering cellulolytic microbes that could be used in industrial processing of plant biomass. Herein, we used computational analysis to screen publicly available metagenomic datasets to identify the enzymatic potential of hot springs worldwide. The wide diversity of taxa and biomass degrading enzymes were investigated and hot springs were further highlighted as a system that could be used to find improvement for the industry of plant biomass degradation and processing. To build upon the cellulolytic potential found in hot spring metagenomic datasets, bioorthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging coupled with fluorescence-activated cell sorting was applied to the biotechnological relevant field of plant biomass degradation to identify microbes involved in the cellulolytic process. Examination of the active microbes revealed difference in the community when supplemented with cellulose. Taken together, the work in this dissertation served to expand and apply the recent development of activity-based studies used to describe environmental microbial populations, with a focus on plant biomass degradation.Item Taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of West Indian lycidae (Insecta, Coleoptera, Elateroidea)(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2021) Ferreira, Vinicius de Souza; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael A. Ivie; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.The Thonalmini and Leptolycini are two tribes of Net-winged beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera, Lycidae) endemic to the West Indies. Both tribes are characterized by their confusing taxonomic history and poorly known biology and evolutionary patterns, and the study of both groups is the topic of this dissertation. One of the chapters of this dissertation provides a taxonomic revision of the genus Thonalmus Bourgeois, 1883, the sole member of the tribe Thonalmini. In this study, I provide an updated taxonomic revision of the group, illustration of diagnostic characters, an identification key, distribution maps, updates in the nomenclature of the group and description of seven new species. I also provide the first species level phylogenetic hypotheses for Thonalmus (morphology, molecular based and total evidence), biogeographical dispersal patterns hypotheses, a time-calibrated phylogeny and character state reconstruction for the species of the genus. The other chapter of this dissertation investigates the different life- stages of the Leptolycini of the Puerto Rican bank. The morphology of the Leptolycini males conforms with other groups suspected to be paedomorphic, whilst the females are unknown and suspected to be completely larviform. In this chapter, I provided for the first time DNA barcoding life stages associations based on partial sequences of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) of adult males and their immature forms from Puerto Rico, altogether with collections- based associations of adult males, immatures and one extreme paedomorphic female from the Virgin Islands. In order to carry out these life-stage associations, I prepared an in-depth review of the Leptolycini fauna of the Puerto Rican bank (Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands), which is also presented in this chapter. This study provided the morphological diagnoses of the semaphoronts that were found in the region and several taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are proposed, including the descriptions of one new genus and seven new species and an updated key for all species and genera of the region.Item The Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) of Montana and checklist of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from the southern Wolf Mountains, Montana and Wyoming(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2021) Pritchard, Zoe Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael A. IvieWild bees are a diverse group of important pollinators, yet several aspects of their biology remain understudied. In particular, baseline data on the diversity and geographic ranges of wild bees is not available for much of Montana. These baseline faunistic data are the first step to understanding the regional biodiversity of bees and to eventually assess their conservation status. We conducted faunal surveys of the genus Megachile in Montana and the bees of the southern Wolf Mountains. Specimens from collecting trips in 2019-2020, historic museum specimens, research collections, and published data records comprise the foundation for the inventory of Montana's Megachile species. We documented 35 species of Megachile in Montana based on 4,968 specimens and present an illustrated identification key and county distribution maps. In the Wolf Mountains, we documented 138 bee species from 4,996 specimens collected on trips in 2019-2020 in Montana and Wyoming. These two studies contribute eight new state records and add important data to the growing list of bee species in Montana.Item Impact of weight classifications on weight loss behavior: a regression discontinuity design(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2020) Worley, Ronald Wayne, III (Trey); Co-Chairs, Graduate Committee: Andrew Hill and Mariana CarreraAround 70% of US adults are overweight or obese, conditions strongly associated with medical issues and lower worker productivity. Efforts to address this issue have largely failed to instill long-term healthy living habits in individuals, and a better understanding of how individuals respond to these weight classifications may aid in creating effective interventions. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, I exploit the quasi-random assignment of weight classifications through the body mass index in a regression discontinuity design (RD) to analyze the impacts of overweight and obese assignments on weight change behavior and attempts to lose weight. My results suggest that individuals do not respond to these classifications by altering their weight change behavior or their efforts to lose weight. Limitations to my study make it uncertain whether this is the true relationship between weight classifications and weight-related behaviors. However, these findings align with previous research utilizing similar natural experiments. Future studies could exploit additional sources of variation in weight information, utilize different techniques, and explore alternative samples to contribute to the small, yet growing, literature on this topic.