Browsing by Author "Snell-Rood, Emilie C"

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    Complete data and statistical code for: Diversity of bumble bees and butterflies in Minnesota roadsides depends on floral diversity and abundance but not floral native status
    (2024-01-25) Darst, Ashley L; Verhoeven, Michael R; Mitchell, Timothy S; Evans, Elaine; Tonsfeldt, Luke; Kjaer, Savannah; Snell-Rood, Emilie C; darstash000@gmail.com; Darst, Ashley L
    The goal of our study was understand how roadside pollinator communities respond to planting pollinator-friendly seed mixes in roadsides in Minnesota, USA. We used a field study of mixed-age roadside plantings to assess this response by comparing bumble bee and butterfly communities in roadsides planted with status quo non-native seed mixes to those planted with pollinator friendly, native seed mixes. We show that while pollinator diversity is positively related to floral diversity in roadside plantings, the pollinator diversity in roadsides planted with pollinator-friendly native seed mixes was not different from those planted with status quo non-native seed mixes. This repository contains the complete datasets as a comma-separated-value files and Program R code necessary to replicate the data prep, exploration, analysis, and visualizations presented in the manuscript.
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    Complete data and statistical code for: Seeding roadsides is necessary but not sufficient for restoring native floral communities
    (2024-06-13) Mitchell, Timothy S; Verhoeven, Michael R; Darst, Ashley L; Patterson, Cate; Snell-Rood, Emilie C; tsmitchell09@gmail.com; Mitchell, Timothy S
    These data were collected in support of a Minnesota Department of Transportation funded study evaluating roadside plantings. The goal of our study was understand how roadside pollinator forage is affected by planting pollinator-friendly seed mixes in roadsides in Minnesota, USA. We used a field study of mixed-age roadside plantings to assess this flower diversity in roadsides planted with status quo non-native seed mixes to those planted with pollinator friendly, native seed mixes. We found that while these native seed mixes did increase the abundance of native flowers, the roadsides' flower communities of native and non-native seedmixes converged through time to grass dominated and unplanted colonizing species. This repository contains the complete datasets as a comma-separated-value files and Program R code necessary to replicate the data prep, exploration, analysis, and visualizations presented in the manuscript.
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    From Soil to Squirrel: The Legacy of Lead Pollution & Its Effects on Urban Wildlife Behavior
    (2024-04-18) Schulz, Rachel K; Devitz, Amy-Charlotte; Snell-Rood, Emilie C
    Urbanization increasingly threatens wildlife through the introduction of novel threats and pollution. Animals can use behavior to adapt to urban environments and urban pollutants drive changes in behavior, leading to populations of urban wildlife with some behaviors that are distinct from rural populations. Lead (Pb) pollution is ubiquitous in urban areas, but there can be significant local variation in soil lead levels. In this study, I examined the relationship between soil lead, hair lead, docility, and aggressive and social behavior in eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Docility was measured through a struggle test and aggressive and social responses were measured in a mirror image stimulation trial. Soil lead and hair lead were significantly positively correlated in gray squirrels and chipmunks, and there was no difference in hair lead based on species or sex. Chipmunks had significantly longer struggle times than gray squirrels, but struggle time did not vary based on hair lead or sex. Only six of 235 animals displayed aggression in the mirror image stimulation trial, and frequency of contacting the mirror in a nonaggressive way was not correlated with hair lead, species, or sex. These results provide correlational evidence of lead transfer from soils to gray squirrels and chipmunks, though the magnitude of lead accumulation does not seem to depend on the distinct life histories of these two species. At the levels currently present in these urban environments, lead does not affect aggressive or social behavior in gray squirrels or chipmunks. Future studies should examine aggression through direct observation rather than a mirror image stimulation trial to better quantify aggression in these species that have low territorial aggression.