The 1987 Nonpoint Source Pollution Amendments and State Progress Under the New Program

143 pages. Contains 4 pages of references

Protecting the Still Functioning Ecosystem: The Case of the Prairie Pothole Wetlands

This Essay discusses the challenges presented by attempts to ensure consistency between agricultural production and ecosystem/biodiversity protection. Additionally, this Essay examines mechanisms for achieving ecosystem protection. Although the notion of a sustainable agriculture provides a backdrop for analysis, this phrase seems far too general to support a meaningful discussion of how we manage real-world agriculture “on the ground.” Therefore, this Essay emphasizes one geographic region and one major natural resource within that region: the “Prairie Pothole” systems of streams, headwaters, wetlands, glacial aquifers, and rivers of the north central United States. This Essay addresses the practical and basic issue of whether twenty-first century agriculture can be organized and managed so that it exists in harmony with surrounding ecosystems

The 1987 Nonpoint Source Pollution Amendments and State Progress Under the New Program

143 pages. Contains 4 pages of references

Gene Expression Divergence Between Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia Guttata) Subspecies And Gene Regulation In Hybrids

Since the publication of Mayr's Systematics and the Origin of Species, birds have been important model organisms for studies regarding evolutionary processes such as sexual selection and speciation. In this study, I will examine patterns of expression divergence in two subspecies of the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. These two zebra finch populations have been allopatrically isolated for about one million years, thus allowing for divergence in aspects of morphology, genetics and behavior. Based on previous research, we have a detailed portrait of the timing and demographic components of divergence in these birds. However, little is known about how gene expression may contribute to genomic divergence. Among sexually reproducing organisms, the conclusion of the speciation process is thought to be evidenced by the buildup of genomic incompatibilities. The two zebra finch subspecies can mate and generate viable hybrids, allowing the use of expression data from hybrids to test for such genomic incompatibilities. Here, I will use RNA sequencing technology to quantify genome-scale patterns of expression divergence, highlighting patterns of functional divergence in the zebra finch genome.M.S