Mary Liz Jameson

Permanent URI for this collection

Dr. Mary Liz Jameson is Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. She joined Wichita State in 2008.

Mary Liz Jameson is an evolutionary biologist. She is interested in patterns and processes of evolution, phylogenetic relationships, patterns of diversity, speciation, and sexual selection. Her area of specialization is the systematics, phylogeny, biodiversity, and biogeography of the Coleoptera, specifically the "megadiverse" superfamily Scarabaeoidea that includes over 35,000 described species. Her phylogenetics research integrates molecular methods, conservation, pollination ecology, and morphological methods. She also conducts faunistic research on scarab beetles (nationally and internationally), ecological research on dung beetles and carrion beetles, and conservation research on the endangered American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus).

See more information on Dr. Jameson research and teaching at her website at the WSU Department of Biological Sciences and at her webpage in the World Directory of SCARAB workers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln State Museum -- Division of Entomology.

In the picture :Mary Liz Jameson setting pitfall traps at Cabañas San Isidro, Ecuador, July 1998. Photo by Brett Ratcliffe.

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 46
  • Item
    New species and illustrated key of Macraspis (Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) from the Amazon biome of Brazil
    (Pensoft Publishers, 2022-10-17) Bento, Matheus; Jameson, Mary Liz; Seidel, Matthias
    The phytophagous scarab genus Macraspis MacLeay (Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) is reviewed from the Brazilian Amazon region. Three new species are described and illustrated from the states of Amazonas, Pará, and Rondônia: M. buehrnheimi sp. nov., M. opala sp. nov., and M. phallocardia sp. nov. Two species, Macraspis fernandezi Neita-Moreno and M. oblonga Burmeister, are recorded for the first time in Brazil (new country records). Macraspis maculata crosarai Soula is a new synonym of Macraspis maculata Burmeister; hence this species no longer includes subspecies. Furthermore, Macraspis cincta parensis Soula, 2005 is deemed unavailable under the provisions of ICZN Articles 16.4.1 and 16.4.2. An illustrated key to 15 species and subspecies of Macraspis from the Brazilian Amazon enables identification of this speciose leaf chafer genus.
  • Item
    Cattle grazing in CRP grasslands during the nesting season: effects on avian abundance and diversity
    (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2021-11-07) Jameson, Mary Liz; Wilson, Benjamin S.; Jensen, William E.; Houseman, Gregory R.; Reichenborn, Molly M.
    The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a primary tool for restoring grassland in the United States, in part as wildlife habitat, which has benefited declining grassland bird populations. Among potential mid‐contract management practices used to maintain early‐successional CRP grasslands, cattle grazing had been prohibited and is currently disincentivized during the primary nesting season for birds (much of the growing season), despite the important role that large herbivores historically played in structuring grassland ecosystems. Conservative grazing of CRP grasslands could increase spatial heterogeneity in vegetation structure and plant diversity, potentially supporting higher densities of some grassland bird species and higher bird diversity. Our objective was to determine the effect of experimental cattle grazing on speciesspecific relative abundance and occupancy, species diversity, and community dissimilarity of grassland birds on CRP grasslands across the longitudinal extent of Kansas, USA (a 63.5‐cm precipitation gradient) during the 2017–2019 avian breeding seasons. Fifty‐three of 108 fields were grazed by cattle during the growing seasons of 2017 and 2018 and all fields were rested from grazing in 2019. For all analyses, we examined separate model sets for semiarid western versus more mesic eastern Kansas. Using data from line transect surveys, we modeled relative abundances of 5 songbird species: grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), dickcissel (Spiza americana), eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna), western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), and brown‐headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). Grazing had delayed yet positive effects on abundances of grasshopper sparrow in western Kansas, and eastern meadowlark in eastern Kansas, but negative effects on dickcissel abundance in western Kansas and especially on burned fields in eastern Kansas. Somewhat counterintuitively, brown‐headed cowbirds in western Kansas were more abundant on ungrazed versus grazed fields in the years after grazing began. In addition, we modeled multi‐season occupancy of 3 gamebird species (ring‐necked pheasant [Phasianus colcicus], northern bobwhite [Colinus virginianus], mourning dove [Zenaida macroura]) and Henslow's sparrow (Centronyx henslowii); grazing did not affect occupancy of these species. In eastern Kansas, species diversity was highest in grazed, unburned fields. In western Kansas, bird communities in grazed and ungrazed fields were dissimilar, as determined from multivariate analysis. Though regionally variable, conservative stocking of cattle on CRP grasslands during the nesting season as a midcontract management tool might increase bird species diversity by restructuring habitat that accommodates a greater variety of species and decreasing abundances of species associated with taller, denser stands of vegetation.
  • Item
    Cattle grazing in CRP grasslands during the nesting season: Effects on avian reproduction
    (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2021-08-28) Jameson, Mary Liz; Kjaer, Esben; Reichenborn, Molly M.; Houseman, Gregory R.; Watson, D. Fraser; Kraus, Heather M.; Jensen, William E.
    Bird populations in grasslands have experienced declines coinciding with loss and fragmentation of prairies. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)‐administered Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the most extensive grass-land restoration program in North America and it has especially benefitted grassland birds. Grazing by domestic cattle has been restricted in CRP during avian nesting seasons despite the potential improvements in structuring habitat for a greater diversity of grassland bird species. Potential negative con-sequences of grazing in CRP grasslands include trampling of nests by cattle, reductions in nest concealment from predators, and attraction of brood‐parasitic brown‐headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). We designed an experiment to test for effects of cattle grazing in CRP fields during the nesting season on nest survival and brood parasitism of 5 bird species that commonly nest in CRP grasslands: mourning dove (Zenaidamacroura), grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum),dickcissel (Spiza americana), and eastern (Sturnella magna) and western (S. neglecta) meadowlarks. Grazing was implemented during summers 2017 and 2018 on 17 of 36 fields followed by a year of rest on all fields in 2019. Of the 879 nests on grazed fields, only 4 were likely trampled by cattle (vs. 54% of all nests estimated as failing because of depredation). Experimental grazing (grazed vs. ungrazed fields) had variable effects on nest survival and cowbird parasitism among the bird species analyzed. Negative effects of grazing on daily nest survival of dickcissel and meadowlarks were apparent, at least in some years. We found no direct effects of grazing on nest survival of mourning dove or grasshopper sparrow. Probability and intensity(cowbird offspring/nest) of cowbird parasitism in dickcissel nests was higher on grazed versus ungrazed sites but only in conservation practice (CP) CP2 (vs. CP25 fields). Parasitism probability of grasshopper sparrow nests by cowbirds was higher on grazed fields in the 2 years after introduction of cattle in 2017. Greater vegetative concealment around nest sites was associated with reduced cowbird parasitism of meadowlark and grasshopper sparrow nests and higher nest survival for grasshopper sparrows. Reductions in vegetative height caused by longer‐term or high‐intensity grazing might therefore have negative consequences for some grassland birds by increasing nest site visibility and exposure to cowbird parasitism. Our results indicate that cattle grazing in CRP fields during the nesting season might have some negative effects on reproductive success of some grassland bird species, at least in the short term; however, the potential improvements of structuring habitat to accommodate more grass-land bird species and increasing landowner participation in the CRP are considerable.
  • Item
    Heads or tails? Dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae) attraction to carrion
    (Entomological Society of America, 2021-03-05) Stone, Rachel L.; Engasser, Emmy L.; Jameson, Mary Liz
    Necrophilous insects occupy an ecologically interesting niche because carrion is a highly desirable but ephemeral food source. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae) within temperate regions are frequently found at carrion, but little is known about their attraction to this resource. Are dung beetles attracted to the carrion itself or are they indirectly attracted due to the exposed gastrointestinal contents? We investigated the association between dung beetles and carrion by examining the distribution of dung beetles on the cranial and caudal end of rat carcasses, delimiting a resource more attractive to necrophagous insects (cranial end) from a resource more attractive to coprophagous insects (caudal end). Dung beetle distribution on rat carcasses was compared with the distribution of carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae), which serve as a null model of distribution patterns for a taxon known to directly target carrion. Results demonstrated that dung beetles show higher attraction to the cranial end of rat carrion. A similar distribution pattern was found in carrion beetles, suggesting that similar resources were targeted. When dung beetles were grouped by behavioral guilds, rollers and tunnelers also shared this pattern of greater abundance at the cranial end, but dwellers showed no discernible difference.
  • Item
    Ganganomala Saltini Ratcliffe, Jameson, and Zorn, a new genus and species of Anomalini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) from Bangladesh and Nepal, with a revised circumscription of the tribe
    (Coleopterists Society, 2018-12-28) Ratcliffe, Brett C.; Jameson, Mary Liz; Zorn, Carsten
    Ganganomala saltini Ratcliffe, Jameson, and Zorn, a new genus and new species of Anomalini (subtribe Anomalina), is described fromBangladesh and Nepal. To place the new genus within the context of the tribe and subtribe, we provide a key to the four subtribes of world Anomalini, a list of comparative characters and character states for diagnosis and classification of Old World Anomalina, and comparative diagnostic characters for genera of Old World Anomalina. Circumscription, description, diagnosis, and illustrations for the new genus and species are provided. As a result of this research, the Anomalina includes 50 genera and subgenera, and advances our understanding of global anomaline biodiversity.