Seed dispersal and reproduction patterns among Everglades plants

In this study three aspects of sexual reproduction in Everglades plants were examined to more clearly understand seed dispersal and the allocation of resources to sexual reproduction—spatial dispersal process, temporal dispersal of seeds (seedbank), and germination patterns in the dominant species, sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense). Community assembly rules for fruit dispersal were deduced by analysis of functional traits associated with this process. Seedbank ecology was investigated by monitoring emergence of germinants from sawgrass soil samples held under varying water depths to determine the fate of dispersed seeds. Fine-scale study of sawgrass fruits yielded information on contributions to variation in sexually produced propagules in this species, which primarily reproduces vegetatively. It was hypothesized that Everglades plants possess a set of functional traits that enhance diaspore dispersal. To test this, 14 traits were evaluated among 51 species by factor analysis. The factorial plot of this analysis generated groups of related traits, with four suites of traits forming dispersal syndromes. Hydrochory traits were categorized by buoyancy and appendages enhancing buoyancy. Anemochory traits were categorized by diaspore size and appendages enhancing air movement. Epizoochory traits were categorized by diaspore size, buoyancy, and appendages allowing for attachment. Endozoochory traits were categorized by diaspore size, buoyancy, and appendages aiding diaspore presentation. These patterns/trends of functional trait organization also represent dispersal community assembly rules. Seeds dispersed by hydrochory were hypothesized to be caught most often in the edge of the north side of sawgrass patches. Patterns of germination and dispersal mode of all hydrochorous macrophytes with propagules in the seedbank were elucidated by germination analysis from 90 soil samples collected from 10 sawgrass patches. Mean site seed density was 486 seeds/m2 from 13 species. Most seeds collected at the north side of patches and significantly in the outer one meter of the patch edge (p = 0.013). Sawgrass seed germination was hypothesized to vary by site, among individual plants, and within different locations of a plant’s infructescence. An analysis of sawgrass fruits with nested ANOVAs found that collection site and interaction of site x individual plant significantly affect germination ability, seed viability, and fruit size (p ≤ 0.050). Fruit location within a plant’s infructescence did not significantly affect germination. As for allocation of resources to sexual reproduction, only 17.9% of sawgrass seeds germinated and only 4.8% of ungerminated seeds with fleshy endosperm were presumed viable, but dormant. Collectively, only 22% of all sawgrass seeds produced were viable.

Seed Dispersal and Reproduction Patterns Among Everglades Plants

In this study three aspects of sexual reproduction in Everglades plants were examined to more clearly understand seed dispersal and the allocation of resources to sexual reproduction— spatial dispersal process, temporal dispersal of seeds (seedbank), and germination patterns in the dominant species, sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense). Community assembly rules for fruit dispersal were deduced by analysis of functional traits associated with this process. Seedbank ecology was investigated by monitoring emergence of germinants from sawgrass soil samples held under varying water depths to determine the fate of dispersed seeds. Fine-scale study of sawgrass fruits yielded information on contributions to variation in sexually produced propagules in this species, which primarily reproduces vegetatively. It was hypothesized that Everglades plants possess a set of functional traits that enhance diaspore dispersal. To test this, 14 traits were evaluated among 51 species by factor analysis. The factorial plot of this analysis generated groups of related traits, with four suites of traits forming dispersal syndromes. Hydrochory traits were categorized by buoyancy and appendages enhancing buoyancy. Anemochory traits were categorized by diaspore size and appendages enhancing air movement. Epizoochory traits were categorized by diaspore size, buoyancy, and appendages allowing for attachment. Endozoochory traits were categorized by diaspore size, buoyancy, and appendages aiding diaspore presentation. These patterns/trends of functional trait organization also represent dispersal community assembly rules. Seeds dispersed by hydrochory were hypothesized to be caught most often in the edge of the north side of sawgrass patches. Patterns of germination and dispersal mode of all hydrochorous macrophytes with propagules in the seedbank were elucidated by germination analysis from 90 soil samples collected from 10 sawgrass patches. Mean site seed density was 486 seeds/m2 from 13 species. Most seeds collected at the north side of patches and significantly in the outer one meter of the patch edge (p = 0.013). Sawgrass seed germination was hypothesized to vary by site, among individual plants, and within different locations of a plant’s infructescence. An analysis of sawgrass fruits with nested ANOVAs found that collection site and interaction of site x individual plant significantly affect germination ability, seed viability, and fruit size (p < 0.050). Fruit location within a plant’s infructescence did not significantly affect germination. As for allocation of resources to sexual reproduction, only 17.9% of sawgrass seeds germinated and only 4.8% of ungerminated seeds with fleshy endosperm were presumed viable, but dormant. Collectively, only 22% of all sawgrass seeds produced were viable.

The interactive effects of predators, resources, and disturbance on freshwater snail populations from the Everglades

The origins of population dynamics depend on interplay between abiotic and biotic factors; the relative importance of each changing across space and time. Predation is a central feature of ecological communities that removes individuals (consumption) and alters prey traits (non-consumptive). Resource quality mitigates non-consumptive predator effects by stimulating growth and reproduction. Disturbance resets predator-prey interactions by removing both. I integrate experiments, time-series analysis, and performance trials to examine the relative importance of these on the population dynamics of a snail species by studying a variety of their traits. A review of ninety-three published articles revealed that snail abundance was much less in the Everglades and similar ecosystems compared to all other freshwater ecosystems considered. Separating consumptive from non-consumptive (cues) predator effects at different phosphorous levels with an experiment determined that phosphorous stimulated, but predator cues inhibited snail growth (34% vs. 23%), activity (38% vs. 53%), and reproductive effort (99% vs. 90%) compared to controls. Cues induced taller shells and smaller openings and moved to refugia where they reduced periphyton by 8%. Consumptive predator effects were minor in comparison. In a reciprocal transplant cage experiment along a predator cue and phosphorous gradient created by a canal, snails grew 10% faster and produced 37% more eggs far from the canal (fewer cues) when fed phosphorous-enriched periphyton from near the canal. Time-series analysis at four sites and predator performance trials reveal that phosphorous-enriched regions support larger snail populations, seasonal drying removes snails at all sites, crayfish negatively affect populations in enriched regions, and molluscivorous fish consume snails in the wet season. Combining these studies reveals interplay between resources, predators, and seasonality that limit snail populations in the Everglades and lead to their low abundance compared to other freshwater ecosystems. Resource quality is emerging as the critical factor because improving resources profoundly improved growth and reproduction; seasonal drying and predation become important at times and places. This work contributes to the general understanding in ecology of the relative importance of different factors that structure populations and provides evidence that bolsters monitoring efforts to assess the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan that show phosphorous enrichment is a major driver of ecosystem change.

It's not queer to be gay: Miami and the emergence of the gay rights movement, 1945–1995

This work chronicles how queer individuals politicized their same-sex desires from the post-World War II era to the mid-1990s. Using Miami as a site of exploration, this work demonstrates the shift from understanding homosexuality as a same-sex "desire" to a distinct form of "civil rights." It argues that by no means was it inevitable that queer issues entered the American political mainstream. This project pays particular attention to Miami's Cuban exile community, as it managed to garner great socio-political power in the city. Like others in the city's power structure, Miami's Cuban exiles were also fundamentally traditionalists. Together, these phenomena crystallized into a matrix of obstacles that stunted the growth of the gay rights movement. This work demonstrates the historical dynamics of sexuality and politics by contextualizing immigration, ethnicity, race, consumerism, and Cold War domestic and foreign policy.

The (ab)use of politics and eroticism in the culture of the Spanish Transition to democracy (1975–1982)

This dissertation analyzes the (ab)use of politics and eroticism within the framework of the Transition to democracy in Spain, its social and cultural impact—on literature, film, music, and popular media—, and its consequences. After a period of nearly four decades, when the country was subjected to a totalitarian regime, Spanish society underwent a process of democratic restoration. As a result, the two topics considered taboo during almost forty years of repression—i.e., politics and sexuality/eroticism—, gushed out fiercely. Every aspect of culture was influenced by and intrinsically linked to them. However, while we have been offered a more or less global approach to the Transition—the Transition as a whole—, and some studies have focused on diverse areas, no research to date has covered in depth the significance of those issues during that historical moment. Considering the facts stated above, it was imperative to conduct a more detailed analysis of the influence of both eroticism and politics on the cultural production of the Transition from different perspectives. Although the academic intelligentsia has often rejected them as expressions of mass culture, we must consider Pierre Bourdieu’s theories—in line with the tradition of classical sociology, that includes science, law, and religion, together with artistic activities—, Michel Foucault’s ideas on sexuality, and New Historicism, examining texts and their contexts. This work concludes that the (ab)use of both subjects during the Spanish Transition was a reaction to a repressive condition. It led to extremes, to societal transgression and, in most cases, to the objectification of women because of the impositions of a patriarchal society. It was, however, part of a learning and, in a sense, cathartic process that led, eventually, to the reestablishment of the status quo, to a more equitable and multicultural society where men, women, and any political or sexual tendencies are respected—at least, in theory.

Un -equal opportunity: Sex and school among first and second generation Mexican immigrant adolescent girls

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the interactions of sexuality and education among low socioeconomic status first and second generation Mexican immigrant adolescent girls. Much of the existing research differentiates between immigrant generations with little examination of the differences within a particular immigrant generation. This study utilized qualitative methods to examine how various social institutions intersected to influence the young women's decisions about education and sexuality. The methodology included more than three years of participant observation in a South Florida high school and surrounding community; structured and unstructured interviews with twenty young women, their family members, school personnel, and community activists; and surveys conducted with the young women and their parent or guardian. ^ Moving beyond the limits of essentialist immigration theories, this project revealed within group (i.e. immigrant generation) complexities as well as between group similarities. The data included in this dissertation delineate how relationships of power and control permeated the lives of first and second generation Mexican immigrant adolescent girls. The lens of this dissertation is focused on the salient issues of sexuality and education: two dominant forces in many adolescent lives. ^ I found the young women represented a variety of positions on the academic orientation and sexuality continuums and engaged in activities that both reinforced and countered their stated positions on each of these issues. Specifically, first and second generation immigrants are often viewed as maintaining opposing viewpoints about both education and female sexuality however, for these young women the within group variation was larger than the between group variation. While all the young women in this study expressed a belief in the value of education, they engaged in activities that both fortified and contradicted that expressed position. Additionally, although acculturation can lead to increased sexual activity and decreased engagement with education, the first generation immigrant young women in this study became pregnant and/or withdrew from school in equal proportions to their second generation counterparts. In summary, structural forces combined, often inadvertently, and contributed to these young women's spiraling negative academic orientation and/or rational choice of motherhood. Finally, the findings are linked to policy implications. ^

On and Off the Stage at Atlanta Greek Picnic: Performances of Collective Black Middle-Class Identities and the Politics of Belonging

This dissertation presents a thick ethnography that engages in the micro-analysis of the situationality of black middle-class collective identification processes through an examination of performances by members of the nine historically black sororities and fraternities at Atlanta Greek Picnic, an annual festival that occurs at the beginning of June in Atlanta, Georgia. It mainly attracts undergraduate and graduate members of these university-based organizations, as they exist all over the United States. This exploration of black Greek-letter organization (BGLO) performances uncovers processes through which young black middle-class individuals attempt to combine two universes that are at first glance in complete opposition to each other: the domain of the traditional black middle-class values with representations and fashions stemming from black popular culture. These constructions also attempt to incorporate—in a contradiction of sorts— black popular cultural elements in the objective to deconstruct the social conservatism that characterizes middle-class values, particularly in relation to sexuality and its representation in social behaviors and performances. This negotiation between prescribed v middle-class values of respectability and black popular culture provides a space wherein black individuals challenge and/or perpetuate those dominant tropes through identity performances that feed into the formation of black sexual politics, which I examine through a variety of BGLO staged and non-staged performances.

The Prison System and the Media: How “Orange Is The New Black” Engages with the Prison as a Normalizing Agent

The purpose of this project is to ascertain the ways in which Orange is the New Black uses its platform to either complicate or reify narratives about the prison system, prisoners and their relationship to the state. This research uses the works of Giorgio Agamben, Colin Dayan, Michelle Alexander and Lisa Guenther to situate the ways the state uses the prison and social narratives about the prison to extend its control on certain populations beyond prison walls through police presence, parole, the war on drugs and prison fees. From that basis, this work argues that while Orange does challenge some narratives about race and sexuality, because of its reliance on “bad choices” as a humanizing trope and its reliance on certain racialized stereotypes for entertainment, the show ultimately does more to reify existing narratives that support state interests.

On and off the stage at Atlanta Greek Picnic: Performances of collective black middle-class identities and the politics of belonging

This dissertation presents a thick ethnography that engages in the micro-analysis of the situationality of black middle-class collective identification processes through an examination of performances by members of the nine historically black sororities and fraternities at Atlanta Greek Picnic, an annual festival that occurs at the beginning of June in Atlanta, Georgia. It mainly attracts undergraduate and graduate members of these university-based organizations, as they exist all over the United States. This exploration of black Greek-letter organization (BGLO) performances uncovers processes through which young black middle-class individuals attempt to combine two universes that are at first glance in complete opposition to each other: the domain of the traditional black middle-class values with representations and fashions stemming from black popular culture. These constructions also attempt to incorporate—in a contradiction of sorts— black popular cultural elements in the objective to deconstruct the social conservatism that characterizes middle-class values, particularly in relation to sexuality and its representation in social behaviors and performances. This negotiation between prescribed v middle-class values of respectability and black popular culture provides a space wherein black individuals challenge and/or perpetuate those dominant tropes through identity performances that feed into the formation of black sexual politics, which I examine through a variety of BGLO staged and non-staged performances. ^