Drafts

While the closure of a Mimosa pudica plant serves as a defense mechanism against predators, it also comes at a drawback. In this state, the leaves of the plant cannot collect as much sunlight, therefore limiting its ability to photosynthesize. There has been research done to test the effects of light availability in relation to the closure time of Mimosa pudica, and it is likely the plant adjusts its closure time to depending on light availability. There is also evidence supporting that the health and state of a plant, and not the individual leaves on the plant vary the closure time in response to touch. Thus, the conditions a Mimosa pudica is grown under may affect its response rate and overall closure time.

Overall objective: to observe the phototactic behavior of the common cellar spider through the effects of LED light on web formation

Specific Aim 1. Observe how LED lights hanging at three different distances from the top of three separate Ziploc container effect cellar spider web formation. The first container’s LED will be touching the top of the container, the second container’s LED in the middle of the container, the third located one inch from the bottom of the container.

Phototaxis is the directional movement of an organism towards or away from a light source. This behaviour has been observed in a wide range of organisms, from unicellular bacteria to complex multicellular organisms. Phototaxis can be positive or negative. Positively phototaxic organisms move towards the light source, while negatively phototaxic organisms move away from the light source. Each organism has its own specific biological cause for a phototactic response. The phototactic response of the common cellar spider in response to artificial light is a mechanism that is poorly understood. In this proposal, we aim to observe the phototactic behaviour of the common cellar spider using light emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged in six different controlled environments, and determine if the artificial light source has any effect on the spider's web building behaviours. To do this, medium, square, Ziploc Tupperware containers will be modified with LED lights and house one cellar spider for seven days. We propose six modifications of the containers to test the spiders phototactic behaviour in various environments:(1)Different lengths of LED light insertion in the container (2)Different colors of LED light displayed (3)Different spider species used (4)Different brightness of light displayed (5)Different time exposures of light and (6)No light present in the chamber. Phototactic behavior will be quantified by measuring the distance between the LED light and the spider web (if present) and its diameter. The data from all six environments will be compiled and analyzed using an Excel spreadsheet. Understanding the effects LED light has on phototactic responses of spiders, specifically web formation, will have profound implications on our understanding of animal behavior and pave the way for future research projects.

Gray and white are made up of the same colors. They both use red, green, and blue. The difference between the two is the intensity that each color is added. For example, white is all three colors at their highest intensity (225), while gray is all 3 colors but only at an intensity of 128 each. This aim is designed to see if the spider will pick the color that is made up of the highest intensity colors, or pick the background that uses less of the colors.

The RGB color model uses the colors red, green and blue to create virtually any color. To make white using the RGB color model, all of the three colors are put to their highest intensities. To make yellow both red and green are put to their highest intensities and no blue is added. This aim will allow us to see if the spider prefers white- which is the color of the spider, or yellow which is the color the spider is able to turn to.

Due to using intermediate flight speeds for calibration purposes, pectoralis power data for cockatiels and doves are overestimated at slow speeds and underestimated at fast speeds. Apart from the pectoralis muscles, data from other relevant wing muscles was not recorded in this study, and the role of the tail in reducing power requirements at slow speeds was unaddressed. Finally, the model struggled to accurately measure drag at faster speeds due to a gap in the knowledge of the components of total drag.

Magpies, cockatiels, and doves have different morphologies and flight styles, which affect their respective power curves. Magpies have a relatively small aspect ratio (5) and long tails, while the aspect ratio of cockatiels and doves is higher (7.0 and 5.7), and they have shorter tails. The morphology of a magpie restricts their maximum flight speed, because they have more profile drag and a smaller thrust/drag ratio. Meanwhile, cockatiels and doves have more optimal thrust/drag ratios and their maximum flight speed is limited by the power output of their pectoralis muscles. Regarding the effect of flight style on power curves, magpies follow an intermittent pattern, while cockatiels and doves are capable of constant flight for hours.

The amount of power produced by the pectoralis muscles varied depending on flight speed. In the case of the cockatiels, the minimum output was 1.3 W at 5 m s^-1, while at maximum output it was 3.7 W at 14 m s^-1. Meanwhile, doves had a minimum output of 4.3 W at 7 m s -1, and a maximum output of 7.5 W at 17 m s^-1. Regarding wing-beat frequency data, cockatiels reached their minimum at 9 m s^-1, while doves had a wider minimum range from 7 to 13 m s^-1. The power curve for the magpies remained relatively flat between 4 and 12 m s^-1, while cockatiels produced acutely concave curves, and doves produced an intermediate shape.

The family of Gadidae contains fish such as the cod and haddock. There are 24 species of fish in this family, all of which are marine with the exception of one, the Lota lota.Gadidae are united by several characteristics. These fish have a single chin barble, three dorsal fins, two anal fins, and a diphycercal tail. Their pelvic fin is anterior to their pectoral fin, located along the same axis and close to their rostral end. The Atlantic cod specifically is very R-Selected and females of about 5kg will lay 9 million eggs. As a fish gets larger, they produce more eggs of course. Cod are relatively long lived and live to be about 25 years of age. They are predators and will eat both other fish and invertebrates. Due to their low red muscle and high white muscle conent, Cod are the perfect food fish. Their high presence in the north eastern united states have made them an economic staple. Unfortunately commercial fishing has dimminished their populations.

The goal of this study was to determine how cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) and ringed turtle-doves (Streptopelia risoria) perform during flight in regard to their mechanical power curves. According to aerodynamic theory such curve should be U-shaped, but the only test up to date was performed with black-billed magpies (Pica pica) and produced a relatively flat power curve.