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Project Green Reach At Brooklyn Botanic Garden: A Case Study Of The Summer Program, Susan Conlon

Masters Theses

This study examined Project Green Reach (PGR), one program of the Children’s Education Program at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG). Located in Brooklyn, NY, BBG is a public garden that has served as a model program for garden-based youth education since 1914. PGR utilizes both the indoor classroom and outdoor laboratory to engage K-8 students and teachers at Brooklyn’s Title I schools in informal learning about science. Every year, PGR instructors select a small group of students into the summer program where they work in teams on garden and science projects at BBG. A case study was conducted to document PGR’s …

Validation Of Quantitative Trait Loci Conditioning Seed Phytate And Protein Concentration In Soybean [Glycine Max (L.) Merrill], Andrew M. Scaboo

Masters Theses

The concentration of phytate, a mixed cation salt of phytic acid (myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate), is an important consideration when analyzing grain for livestock feed rations. A discovery that SSR marker Satt237 and Satt561 are associated with quantitative trait loci (QTL) for phytate content in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr] has been made recently. The objectives of this study were to 1) confirm those QTL in independent segregating soybean populations, 2) compare the effectiveness of marker assisted selection (MAS) or dual MAS and phenotypic selection for seed phytate and protein concentration in soybean, and 3) assess the agronomic …

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’S Children’S Gardening Program: A Survey Of Alumni, Emily Kathleen Smith

Masters Theses

Among public gardens, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) hosts the oldest children’s gardening program in the United States. Founded in 1914, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Children’s Gardening Program (BBG CGP) has succeeded in involving a steady flow of children year after year, creating an environment where children have the opportunity to interact with nature. Approximately 35,000 children have participated in the BBG CGP since its inception in 1914. A mail survey was conducted of alumni of the BBG CGP in the spring of 2005 to identify how the program has affected their adult lives. A random sample of 700 participants was …

The Subcellular Targeting And In Vivo Metal Binding Characteristics Of Agnt84 Using Transgenic Tobacco And By-2 Suspension Cell Cultures, Brook Kay Nelson

Masters Theses

AgNt84 is a nodulin protein expressed in Alnus glutinosa, an actinorhizal tree that participates with the actinomycete Frankia in symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Expression of AgNt84 mRNA is exclusively found within Zone 2 of the nodules, which is the zone that contains cells in the process of being infected by Frankia. A truncated form of the protein was found to bind Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Hg²⁺ in vitro. AgNt84 was predicted to be targeted extracellularly based on the presence of an N-terminal signal sequence. The purpose …

Potential Of Beauveria Bassiana 11-98 As A Biological Control Agent Against Tomato Pests; And Detection Of The Mycotoxic Metabolite Beauvericin In Tomato Plants Using Hplc, Wesley Aaron Powell

Masters Theses

Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin is an entomopathogenic fungus with an extensive insect host range. The isolate Beauveria bassiana 11-98 also endophytically colonizes tomato and cotton plants. In our research, B. bassiana 11-98 was evaluated for its potential to control insect pests of tomato in laboratory assays. Potato aphids, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) exposed to different formulations of B. bassiana 11-98 coniidia in direct contact and contact-while-feeding assays using target concentrations of 1 x 10⁴, 10⁵, 10⁶ and 10⁷ conidia/ml. After exposure for 10 days, aphid mortality did not exceed 40% and rate of reproduction was …

Natural And Synthetic Viniferins Associated With The Grapevine Disease Young Vine Decline, David Michael Mcginnis

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Grapevine disease has been thc subject of intense research amongst viticulturists over the last few decades, especially during the 1990's. There has been discoveries that suggest grapevine disease is commonly caused by fungal pathogens. One of the most common fungi that the vine may become infected by is known as Botrytis cinerea. B. cinerea is capable of attacking the grapevine which in turn will lead to bunch rot in the grape clusters. This disease has been researched in great detail during the past several years and is one of only few microorganisms that have actually been identified. Phaeoacremrmium chnlmydospnrum …

Re-Integrating Crops And Livestock In Maine: An Economic Analysis Of The Potential For And Profitability Of Integrated Agricultural Production, Aaron K. Hoshide

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the profitability of and sustainability indicators for potato and dairy farms in Maine integrating crops and livestock in two different ways. The first is inter-farm coupling, where two or more specialized producers are close enough to exchange manure applications for crops used as livestock feed. Land base is shared between farmers. The second is where farms are on-farm integrated. Here crops and livestock are raised on the same farm and manure is applied to cash crops and livestock feed crops. Face-to-face interviews with Maine producers were used to construct integrated and non-integrated representative budgets. Assuming …

Dynamics Of Bee And Wasp Populations In Maine Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium Angustifolium), Joseph E. Karem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation of natural enemies can be an effective form of pest management. If beneficial Hymenoptera, native to the area, can be protected and encouraged to multiply, the benefits of natural insect pest control might be realized. Hymenoptera as "natural enemies" as well as "pollinators" have been studied intensively in many agroecosystems worldwide. However, lowbush blueberry is not an ecosystem where ecology of Hymenoptera has been well studied. This thesis discusses two studies conducted in lowbush blueberry fields in Washington County, Maine in 1997 and 1998. In the first study, I investigated "towers" as a method for deploying insect traps along …

Effects Of Surrounding Land Use On Plant Species Composition In Urban Forest Fragments, Bruce Michael Barbarasch

Dissertations and Theses

As human development occurs in forested areas, forests become fragmented into small islands in a matrix of urban land uses. This study examined the effect of surrounding urban land uses on the native and exotic plant species found on the edges of forest fragments in the Portland, OR metropolitan region.

Systematics Of The North American Plums (Prunus Subgenus Prunus Section Prunocerasus; Rosaceae), Joey Thomas Shaw

Doctoral Dissertations

The North American plums (Prunus subgenus Prunus section Prunocerasus; Rosaceae) are a closely related group with approximately 17 commonly recognized species and lesser taxa. They are infamous for their very poor development of reproductively isolating barriers and most are interfertile in many combinations. This interfertility blurs nearly all morphologically-based taxonomic boundaries. Even still, geographically related morphological variation exists and when intermediates are ignored several taxa may be seen as being reasonably different from one another with respect to both morphology and ecology. Additionally, the ranges of most of the North American plum taxa overlap with the ranges of …

Identification Of Key Genes Required For Abiotic Stress Response In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Saori Endo

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

To identify key genes that are required for stress response, a reverse genetics approach was taken to manipulate expression of candidate genes in plants. In this project, two potential regulatory genes which were originally identified as stress-responsive genes from a microarray experiment in Arabidopsis were examined for their roles in stress tolerance. Over-expression of gene A, which was up-regulated under stress conditions based on the array data, caused earlier flowering and improved plant growth under salinity and dehydration stress conditions at the seedling stage. Over-expression of gene B, which was down-regulated under stress conditions based on the array data, resulted …

Survey Of Mosquitoes In High And Low Incidence Areas For West Nile Virus In Shelby County, Tennessee With Assessment Of Parity Rates, Host Selection, And Seasonal Abundance, David M. Sanders

Masters Theses

West Nile Virus (WNV) was reported as present in ShelbyCountyin 2001 with 44 blue jays testing positive for WNV. The first reported human WNV case had an onset date of 27 July 2002. There were 40 human cases in 2002, six of which were fatal. The 2002 human cases were clustered within the I-240 beltway, the older residential area of greater ShelbyCounty. Adult mosquito collections were made from the first week in June through the first week in November for 2003 and 2004. A representative site was selected from both the high and low human WNV incidence area of ShelbyCounty, …

An Evaluation Of Clearwing Borer Activity In East Tennessee In Relation To Color, Growing Degree-Days And Pheromone Lure Brands, Christopher Dean Vaughn

Masters Theses

Different species of clearwing moths are known to prefer slightly different pheromone chemical ratios in their long-range mating attraction. Attraction to pheromones is primarily an olfactory response. Olfactory cues are utilized for long-range attraction, but short-range visual cues may also contribute to orientation and mating success of the male clearing males. To investigate the hypothesis that color and olfactory cues influence male clearing attraction, a study was initiated in 2002.

Experimental treatments included trap orientation, color and pheromone blends in conjunction with Multipher-1 traps. Clearing moth traps catches in East Tennessee were pooled across species and analyzed by black, green …

Quantifying The Effects Of Sawdust Application On Soil Chemical And Physical Properties And Corn Yield, Huong Mai Tran

Masters Theses

Sawdust is a wood waste containing a very rich carbonaceous component that can be used as soil amendment. However, it is also important to understand the adverse impact that sawdust might have on soil and crops. In this study, sawdust application at varying rates of nitrogen fertilizer was investigated in soils planted with two years of no-till corn and in soils planted in one year tilled and no till corn. Sawdust may be beneficial due to its rich carbonaceous nature, but it may also affect nitrogen availability for the same reason. Data on crop yield, soil physical and chemical properties …

A Two-Year Seasonal Analysis Of Wetland Vegetation At The Mcclintic Wildlife Management Area In Mason County, West Virginia, Anne Carrington Blankenship

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Disturbances play a key role in the structure of ecosystems. Most ecosystems are subject to several different disturbance regimes that occur at different temporal and spatial scales. Studying the effects of disturbances can lead to a better understanding of a vegetative community’s future productivity. However, in order to understand the effects of disturbance, a vegetative community should first be studied before the disturbance occurs. This study analyzes the composition and seasonal variations of vegetative communities in and around four ponds at the McClintic Wildlife Management Area in Mason County, West Virginia during two growing seasons prior to remediation activities in …

The Vascular Flora Of Powhatan County, Virginia, Michael Austin Terry

Master's Theses

The project was undertaken with three main goals in mind: to provide as current and complete an account as possible of the flora of Powhatan County in the form of an annotated checklist; to integrate the information obtained from the inventory into phytogeographical and ecological generalizations currently being developed for the state of Virginia; and, to report any significant or anomalous discoveries. There is no previous county-wide inventory of plant diversity for Powhatan County. However, Corcoran (1981) published a list of plants from the Jones and Mill Creek watershed located in the Fine Creek Mills area of northeastern Powhatan.

Caracterización Bromatológica Y Evaluación De Diferentes Niveles De Inclusión De Morera (Morus Alba L.) Y Sauco (Sambucus Nigra L.), En La Alimentación De Conejos En Ceba, Maria Carolina Blanco Causil, Magda Lucia Sierra Moreno

Zootecnia

Actualmente las producciones animales tecnificadas dependen en gran mayoría de alimentos balanceados, estando sujetos a costos que imponga el comercio internacional, esta dependencia afecta las ganancias y se hace urgente buscar alternativas que provean soluciones. En esta investigación se seleccionaron 50 conejos Nueva Zelanda blanco de +/- 750 gr. De peso vivo, según diseño completamente al azar, con 10 unidades experimentales por tratamiento, para evaluar el efecto de la inclusión de los forrajes Morus alba L. y Sambucus nigra L. en sustitución del alimento balanceado comercial (ABC). Los tratamientos consistieron en 5 dietas experimentales, una control a base de ABC …

Analysis Of Molecular Variation In The Federally Endangered Astragalus Jaegerianus (Fabaceae, Papilionoideae): A Species With A Restricted Geographic Range, George Floyd Walker

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level and distribution of genetic variation in Astragalus jaegerianus by using molecular markers. The objectives of the study are: to estimate levels of genetic variation within and among populations of Astragalus jaegerianus; to test the hypothesis that levels and patterns of genetic variation in species of restricted ranges and few individuals is low and partitioned at the population level; and to discern whether, or how well, genetic partitioning of Lane Mountain milk vetch correlates with its geographic partitioning in the field.

Age-Related Trends In Red Spruce Needle Anatomy And Their Relationship To Declining Productivity, Margaret H. Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many species of trees undergo predictable age-related changes in foliar morphology and physiology. Age-related declines in photosynthetic rates, which may lead to decreases in productivity, have been described for numerous species. However, the physiological basis for these phenomena is unclear, as are linkages between agerelated trends in morphology/anatomy and physiology. Photosynthetic capacity in red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) may result from increased mesophyll resistance to CO2 uptake in older trees. Additional studies with other species imply that the foliage of older trees may have a lower ratio of photosynthetic to non-photosynthetic tissue and a larger proportion of xylem to leaf …

Revegetating Blackwoods Campground, Acadia National Park: Emphasis On Natural Regeneration Of Red Spruce And Balsam Fir, Cristin O'Brien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Blackwoods Campground in Acadia National Park has a declining vegetative understory, characterized by a lack of tree seedling recruitment and shrub populations. This project was embarked upon to identify limiting factors to tree seedling establishment and shrub survival. From these studies, management plans will be developed for revegetating the campground understory. To better understand the factors that inhibit successful seedling establishment, we investigated the effects of varying soil moisture levels on seed germination, seedling survival and seedling dry mass accumulation for red spruce and balsam fir. We also studied the effect of organic layer depth on seedling growth for both …

Agronomical Evaluation Of Six Species Of Forage Grass Tolerant To Salinity In The Tamborada Region, Bladimir Vargas Rojas

Theses and Dissertations

Six forage grass species from the United States were evaluated for salinity tolerance and growth performance. A randomized block design was used with six repetitions of five furrows each to maintain experimental consistency. The study was conducted in the Tamborada region of Cochabamba, Bolivia from December 2003 through June 2004. Results indicated that significant differences exist between species (Pr<0.01). The species Elymus cinereus and Agropyron elongatum demonstrated the best performance regarding plant height, achieving heights of 35.4 cm and 32.7 cm respectively. Festuca arundinacea and Agropyron elongatum obtained larger percent coverage than the other species with 79.59% and 76.53% respectively. These species also exceed the others in production of green forage (1500.00 kg/ha and 13985.80 kg/ha) as well as in production of dry matter (5000.70 kg/ha and 4862.85 kg/ha). They are recommended for production in the region of Tamborada, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Evaluation Of The Agronomic Performance Of Six Varieties Of Peanut (Arachis Hypogaea L.) In The St. Felix Community Of The Coroico Township (Nor Yungas-La Paz), Viviana Marleni Quisbert

Theses and Dissertations

The peanut is an important crop in most countries due to its industrial, nutritional, and pedological potential. It grows well in subtropical areas. This study was planned based on the weather characteristics of the Yungas and the St. Felix community. A completely randomized block design with 6 treatments and 3 repetitions was used. An analysis of variance and a Tukey test were used for statistical analysis of the variables. With respect to time required for maturation, the Coloradito Palmar variety was most premature with a time of 134 days while the Local variety took 177 days to mature, which is …

Development Of A Process Of Addition Of Tricalcium Phosphate From Burnt Phosphate Rock In Feed For Animal Nutrition, Luis Fernando Nogales Grágeda

Theses and Dissertations

This study took place in Bolivia with the purpose of using thermally treated Capinota phosphate rock as a phosphorous supplement in balanced feed diets. The objective was to produce a natural phosphate substance that would be more easily accessible to the local population than commercial feed supplements. An additional objective of this study was to increase the availability of the low-fluoride phosphorous. The biological assays indicated that the diet with the added burned phosphoric rock produced similar yields to those using a commercial feed supplement (dicalcium phosphate). This indicates that the locally manufactured product, by partial acidification, can compete with …

Agronomic Performance Of Two Baby Lettuce Varieties (Lactuca Sativa L.) At Three Planting Densities Using Panqar Huyus In The Ingavi Province, Francisco Javier Orruel Fusco

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted in the experimental unit of the Benson Agriculture and Food Institute, which is located in the Letanias community of the Ingavi province in the department of La Paz. Our objective was to compare the agronomic performance of two baby lettuce varieties (Lactuca sativa L.) at three planting densities in panqar huyus. In order to provide the rural farmer communities of Contorno Letanias and Contorno Medio a possible cost-effective alternative and to employ the use of moderate environments called panqar huyus, we introduced two varieties of baby lettuce: 1) Little Gem in seed form and 2) Tom …