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Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Theses/Dissertations

2014

Biology

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Trflp Analysis Of The Effect Of A Forest-To-Gap Ectone On Soil Microbial Diversity, Ronald Smith Nov 2014

Trflp Analysis Of The Effect Of A Forest-To-Gap Ectone On Soil Microbial Diversity, Ronald Smith

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

To investigate how soil microbial diversity is influenced by the formation of an experimental edge-creating gap within a southern New England oak-hickory forest, I used a molecular fingerprinting technique known as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP). Sequence variability in the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene in soil bacterial communities is detected by differences in the length and abundance of fragments produced by digesting PCR products amplified from rRNA genes. The different patterns observed are assumed to represent unique phylotypes.

How does the forest-gap ecotone influence soil bacterial diversity? Based on other studies, I hypothesized that the edge would contain …