Ecology & Management of Biological Diversity in Texas and the World
Vision
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences aspires to preeminence among academic programs dealing with ecology, management, and conservation biology. Our faculty is dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge in conservation of biodiversity, natural resource management, and the sustainable use of natural resources. An overarching goal of the department is to facilitate the sustainability of the earth’s biota and the ecosystems on which they depend while accommodating for human health and welfare.
Mission
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences discovers and communicates knowledge relevant to the conservation and management of wildlife and fishery resources and the ecosystems that sustain them through integrated academic instruction, research, and extension programs. We subscribe to a multidisciplinary approach that fosters interdepartmental collaboration and outreach to agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public and private interests over a wide range of natural resource topics, including environmental quality, sustainable management of natural resources, bioinformatics, biocomplexity and environmental quality. We intertwine innovative research and extension endeavors with high-level teaching of undergraduate and graduate students, who represent the next generation land stewards and conservation professionals. We also extend the university to the general public to relate research results in a meaningful way that can be understood and implemented to make positive impacts on natural systems.
Values
The faculty, staff, and students of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences value scholarship in all its forms – discovery, integration, application, and teaching. We value understanding for its own sake, for the betterment of people, and for the conservation of the natural world. The department encourages, appreciates and rewards various forms of scholarly activity in teaching, research, extension, and public service, including integration of these activities. Diverse viewpoints, ethical consideration, and approaches to pursuing and manifesting scholarship, including constructive criticism, are accepted and nurtured.
WFSC faculty, staff, and students all support and adhere to the Aggie Code of Conduct.
Recent Publications
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Merchant, Mark, Dusty Savage, Amos Cooper, Monique Slaughter, Joshuah S. Perkin and Christopher M. Murray. (2018) Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), Copeia 106:421-426.
Cagle, Sierra E., Daniel L. Roelke and Rika M. W. Muhl. (2018) Compounding effects of co-occurring disturbances on populations of a harmful bloom-forming mixotrophic protist, Hydrobiologia, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3732-7.
Shimkus, Kevin L., Yasaman Shirazi-Fard, Michael P. Wiggs, Shaik T. Ullah, Camilo Pohlenz, Delbert M. Gatlin III, Chad C. Carroll, Harry A. Hogan and James D. Fluckey. (2018) Responses of Skeletal Muscle Size and Anabolism are Reproducible with Multiple Periods of Unloading/Reloading, Journal of Applied Physiology, https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00736.2017.
Mattos, Gustavo, Paulo C. Paiva, Mariana Mateos, Pilar A. Haye and Luis A. Hurtado. (2018) The cost of ignoring cryptic diversity in macroecological studies: Comment on Martinez et al, Marine Ecology Press Series 601:269-271.
Takano, Oona M., Gary Voelker, Daniel R. Gustafsson and Jessica E. Light. (2018) Molecular phylogeny and novel host associations of avian chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from South Africa, Syst Entomol., https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12319.
Culpepper, Lela Z., Hsiao-Hsuan Wang, Tomasz E. Koralewski, William E. Grant and William E. Rogers. (2018) Understory upheaval: factors influencing Japanese stiltgrass invasion in forestlands of Tennessee, United States, Botanical Studies 59:20.
Nordhaus, Igna, Daniel L. Roelke, Raquel Vaquer-Sunyer and Christian Winter. (2018) Coastal Systems in Transition from a ‘natural’ to an ‘anthropogenically-modified’ state, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2018.08.001.
Kalinda, Chester, Moses J. Chimbari, William E. Grant, Hsiao-Hsuan Wang, Julius N. Odhiambo and Samson Mukaratirwa. (2018) Simulation of population dynamics of Bulinus globosus: Effects of environmental temperature on production of Schistosoma haematobium cercariae, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 8:6651.
Castillo, Sergio and Delbert M. Gatlin III. (2018) Imbalanced dietary levels of branched-chain amino acids affect growth performance and amino acid utilization of juvenile red drum Sciaenops ocellatus, Aquaculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2018.07.029.
Yorzinski, J. L., M. E. Tovar and R. G. Coss. (2018) Forward-facing predators attract attention in humans (homo sapiens), Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C.: 1983), http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/com0000126.
Al-Badran, Ali Abdulameer, Masami Fujiwara, Delbert M. Gatlin III and Miguel A. Mora. (2018) Lethal and su-lethal effects of the insecticide fipronil on juvenile brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus, Scientific Reports 8, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29104-3.
Andrew P. Anderson, Jessica E. Light, Oona M. Takano and Michael L. Morrison. (2018) Population structure of the Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii townsendii) in California, Journal of Mammalogy, 99(3):646-658, DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy037.
Jerry Huntley, Johanna A. Harvey, Marco Pavia, Giovanni Boano and Gary Voelker. (2018) The systematics and biogeography of the Bearded Greenbuls (Aves: Criniger) reveals the impact of Plio-Pleistocene forest fragmentation in Afro-tropical avian diversity, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 183.
Roelke, D. L. 2018. Grazers, pathogens and shelf-shading enhance phytoplankton species richness more and reduce productivity less when environments are less dynamic: A theoretical study. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 211C: 14 pages. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771417304808.
Bhattacharyya, J., D. L. Roelke, R. M. W. Muhl, F. G. Withrow. 2018. Exploitative competition of invaders differentially influences the diversity of neutral, lumpy and intransitive phytoplankton assemblages in spatially heterogeneous environments. Ecological Modelling. 370:59-66.
Muhl, R. M. W., D. L. Roelke, T. Zohary, M. Moustaka-Gouni, U. Sommer, G. Borics, U. Gaedke, F. G. Withrow, J. Bhattacharyya. 2018. Resisting annihilation: Relationships between functional trait dissimilarity, assemblage competitive power and allelopathy. Ecology Letters. 11 pages. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13109.
Papanikolopoulou, L. A., E. Smeti, D. L. Roelke, P. G. Dimitrakopoulos, G. D. Kokkoris, D. Danielidis, S. Spatharis. 2018. Interplay between r- and K-strategists leads to phytoplankton underyielding under pulsed resource supply. Oecologia. 186: 755-764.
Sakavara, A., G. Tsirtsis, D. L. Roelke, R. Mancy, S. Spatharis. 2018. Lumpy species coexistence arises robustly in fluctuating resource environments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 115: 738-743.
Withrow, F. G., D. L. Roelke, R. M. W. Muhl, J. Bhattacharyya. 2018 Water column processes differentially influence richness and diversity of neutral, lumpy and intransitive phytoplankton assemblages. Ecological Modelling. 370: pp. 22-32.
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Mark A. Hays, Lee A. Fitzgerald, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Bryan G. Falk, Michelle A. M. Collier, Lea’ R. Bonewell, Page E. Klug, Sergio Naretto and Robert N. Reed. (2018) Modeling the distributions of tengu lizards in native and potential invasive ranges, Scientific Reports 8, Article number: 10193.
William J. Curtis, Amy E. Gebhard and Joshuah S. Perkin. (2018) The river continuum concept predicts prey assemblage structure for an insectivorous fish along a temperate riverscape, Freshwater Science, DOI: 10.1086/699013
Helen T. Davis, Ashley M. Long, Tyler A. Campbell and Michael L. Morrison. (2018) Nest defense behavior of Greater Roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus) in south Texas, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology In-Press, https://doi.org/10.1676/17-060.1.
Rachel R. Fern, Elliott A. Foxley, Andrea Bruno and Michael L. Morrison. (2018) Suitability of NDVI and OSAVI as estimators of green biomass and coverage in a semi-arid rangeland, Ecological Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.06.029.
Violet M. Ndeda, Mariana Mateos and Luis A. Hurtado. (2018) Evolution of African barbs from the Lake Victoria drainage system, Kenya, PeerJ Preprints, 10.7287/peerj.preprints.27008v1.
Pedro L.P.F. Carvalho, Fernando Y. Yamamoto, Margarida M. Barros and Delbert M. Gatlin III. (2018) L-glutamin in vitro supplementation enhances Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) leukocyte function, Fish & Shellfish Immunology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2018.06.043.
Jennifer P. Leo, Thomas J. Minello and William E. Grant. (2018) Assessing Variability in Juvenile Brown Shrimp Growth Rates in Small Marsh Ponds: An Exercise in Model Evaluation and Improvement, Marine and Coastal Fisheries, DOI: 10.1002/mcf2.10028.