The purpose of this study is to provide a qualitative, detailed description of individual and social behavior in a free-living population of thirteen-lined ground squirrels. Behavioral differences in relation to various periods of the annual cycle are also evaluated.

The purposes of this thesis were (1) to provide some knowledge of the herptiles and mammals of this area, (2) to clarify the distribution of many of these animals in this section of Texas, and (3) to provide additional ecological information about the area.

Laboratory and field investigations during the past ten years have demonstrated that certain microorganisms can cause deleterious effects in jet fuel tank systems. These investigations have brought about new concepts concerning the mechanisms of utilization of certain constituents in jet fuel tanks by microorganisms. Since the presence of microorganisms is inevitable in fuel systems, research efforts have been directed towards identification and determination of the types of microorganisms which can utilize jet fuel hydrocarbons, fuel additives, polyurethane foam structural materials, and particular hydrocarbons present in the fuel.

In this study, branchiobdellids were collected from crayfish captured from two adjacent sites in Denton County, Texas. Identification of the branchiobdellid, Cambarincola vitrea Ellis, was first made and then work was extended to include several topics of ecological interest.

It was the purpose of this investigation to attempt to demonstrate if differences in eutrophic levels existed among selected areas of Garza-Little Elm, and to demonstrate the role that sediments play in affecting eutrophication.

This study was made to further define the trophic dynamics of Fundulus notatus by determining its ration composition under natural conditions, measuring feeding selectivity under various laboratory conditions of prey-species composition and availability, and determining the efficiencies with which F. notatus utilizes ingested chironomid larvae.

Accurate identification is fundamental in any study of grasses by farmers, ranchers, range specialists, ecologists, or students interested in the changes taking place in the grass habitat. Frequently it is convenient, and sometimes it is necessary, to identify the grasses by their vegetative characters. Some are readily recognized at a glance by their habitat and certain characters well known to the experienced observer. In other cases, identification is more difficult; and, perhaps with a few, it is impossible to be certain of the species from vegetative characters. However, this may also be true when the characters of the floral parts alone are considered. The inflorescence, used in most keys and descriptions, is often available only for a short period of time. Identification by the characters of the vegetation can be used throughout the growing season, even if grazing or mowing has removed or prevented the development of the floral parts. There have been other studies of grass identification related to vegetative characters, but they have been local and have not covered North Central Texas. This paper provides a means of identifying grasses by their vegetative characters. It can be used by the scientist, the technician, and the layman interested in …

The removal of phenols from the waste waters of wood preserving plants has always presented problems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of employing a biological system to reduce the phenol content of effluent from these plants.

This study dealt with the life history and population dynamics of the pine vole, Microtus pinetorum. In the past there has been a void of ecological material concerning this small mammal in the southwestern region of its range. From November, 1969, through February, 1970, a survey was conducted in Marion County and Harrison County, Texas, to determine the most suitable habitat for an ecological study of Microtus pinetorum. A study was then initiated in March, 1970, and continued through March, 1971, on an undisturbed marsh five miles south of Marshall, Harrison County, Texas.

In the southwestern United States there is a delicate balance between the existing grasslands and the rodent fauna. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of secondary succession of native grasslands upon the ecology and distribution of small rodents. Two methods of determining the rodent species were plot quadrates and trap lines using Sherman live traps.

The objective of this study was to determine the kinds and numbers of food organisms consumed by Corydalus cornutus, and to investigate its periodicity of feeding during the spring months in the Brazos River, Palo Pinto County, Texas. A total of 468 larvae were collected at two-week intervals from February 29 to May 14, 1971. Larvae were taken at opportunity during three periods of the day, 6am.-12pm., 12pm.-6pm., and 6pm.-12am. A total of 23 different food items was observed in the 121 stomachs containing food. An expedient method of dissection of the digestive tract is included.

This problem was concerned with determining the total lipid content and individual lipid composition of the larvae of a local chironomid, Glyptotendipes barbipes (Staeger).

The coexistence of Dipodomys ordii and Perognathus hispidus with Peromyscus maniculatus and Reithrodontomys montanus was studied in a grassland association of central Texas. The food habits of these species were compared with information from habitat vegetation analysis in an effort to determine food selectivity and the amount and importance of niche overlap and competition among these rodents.

Annual lipid cycles were determined for adult male and female Cnemidophorus tigris collected near El Paso, Texas during 1970-1971.

This study was initiated after finding two chromosomal types of Peromyscus maniculatus north and south of the Red River in Texas and Oklahoma. The problem was to explain the chromosomal variations and their implications to the systematics of the grassland subspecies of P. maniculatus in this region.

The objective of this investigation was to provide new and more detailed information on the life history and ecology of Neoperla clymene, through an intensive study of the species in the Brazos River, Texas.

Distributional data and taxonomic keys art presented for thirty-four species of Plecoptera known to occur in Oklahoma. Ten species are new records for the state. Descriptions are provided for two species new to science, Zealeuctra cherokee and Isoperla brevis, and for the previously unknown male of Strophopteryx cucullata Frison and female of Helopicus nalatus (Frison).

The effects of thermal discharges on the density, distribution, production, and drift of benthic organisms were studied at North Lake reservoir.

This study was undertaken in order to provide further insight into the effects of artificial heating on the fisheries of a small reservoir in the Southwest. The following specific objectives were established: (1) to map the reservoir for the distribution of heated water, (2) to determine the distribution of selected species of sports, rough, and forage fish in areas affected by the effluent and in areas not affected, (3) to compare size and condition of selected species of fish from areas affected by the effluent to size and condition of fish from areas not affected, and (4) to compare food habits of channel catfish in areas affected by the effluent to the food habits of channel catfish in areas not affected.

The central objective of the study was to fractionate sedimenting organic materials according to their source (allochthonous or autochthonous) and ultimately to determine the degree of biodegradability of contributions from either source with particular reference to activities at the mud-water interface.

A large, multi-basin, reservoir (Garza-Little Elm Reservoir) in north central Texas was studied to determine the relative effects of various parameters on primary productivity. The basins were impounded several years apart,thus allowing the influence of age on water chemistry and biota to be considered. Another principal influence on water quality was secondary sewage effluent that entered one basin from a nearby source.

Three north central Texas reservoirs (Grapevine Reservoir, Lake Ray Hubbard, Lewisville Reservoir) were investigated in order to characterize the nutritional ecology, phytoplankton community structure, and primary productivity within the trophogenic zones of each. Emphasis was placed on elucidating the relative influences of the major nutrients (C, N, P, Fe, Si) and various other physico-chemical parameters on phytoplankton community biomass, structure, and productivity. Extensive physical, chemical, and biological analyses consisting of approximately eighty parameter measurements were made on each of twenty-three integrated water samples (surface to three meters) taken from the three reservoirs during the period July, 1971 to June, 1972. New methods which were employed included a high-intensity ultraviolet photocombustion procedure for the determination of total nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron, and an in vitro oxygen method for estimating community metabolism. General chemical and physical regimes are described for the three reservoirs, and various interrelationships discussed. Phytoplankton communities are delineated on bases of species composition, volume, diversity, pigments, and metabolism data. The more salient biotic and physico-chemical interrelationships are examined within the context of the limiting nutrient controversy.

This investigation has determined the presence of biological nitrogen fixation in two reservoirs in the southwestern United States: Lake Arlington and Lake Ray Hubbard. Subsequent tests have gathered baseline data on the effects of various biological, chemical, and physical parameters on in situ nitrogen fixation in these reservoirs. Of specific importance is the relationship between nitrogen fixation arid occasional blooms of blue-green algae which produce such problems as testes and odors in these water-supply impoundments.

The purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of the ecological relationships of P. aeruginosa by investigating the differences or similarities between the strains of this organism found in sewage and those found as pathogens in human infections. This research was approached by comparing the serological types of P. aeruginosa isolated from sewage contaminated waters in Argentina (South America) to those isolated from sewage contaminated waters in Texas. They were typed with sera obtained using P. aeruginosa isolated from human infections. The data obtained revealed that bacteria isolated from sewage in Texas and from soil and water in Argentina are antigenically similar to those isolated from human infections.