Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Riggins, John J.

Committee Member

Clay, Natalie A.

Committee Member

Siegert, Courtney M.

Committee Member

Tang, Juliet D.

Date of Degree

4-30-2021

Original embargo terms

Visible to MSU only for 6 months

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Agricultural Life Sciences

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology

Abstract

Biodiversity of arthropods living in dead wood is often understudied despite their potential effects on ecological processes such as wood decomposition and nutrient cycling. More time-efficient and less destructive methods are needed to study these saproxylic organisms to fully understand their global diversity. Because ecoacoustic methods have never been applied to saproxylic communities before, field and analytical methods such as waveguides, and soundproofing were developed, tested, and optimized. After developed methods were implemented in the field, Pearson's correlation tests were conducted to compare ecoacoustic index performance to traditional biodiversity indices. We found five significant correlations, all of which occurred at our Mississippi site, and all but one of which were negative correlations. Ecoacoustic indices performed best when correlated with order richness. Significance present in our study shows potential for ecoacoustics as a non-destructive method to study saproxylic arthropods, but methods still have room for improvement to optimize field application.

Sponsorship

Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station/College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Special Research Initiative, United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project #MIS-311330, National Science Foundation Award #1660346

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