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Patterns, Mechanisms, And Characterization Of Carbon Cycling Stability Following Partial Forest Disturbance, Kayla C. Mathes
Patterns, Mechanisms, And Characterization Of Carbon Cycling Stability Following Partial Forest Disturbance, Kayla C. Mathes
Theses and Dissertations
Among the most essential questions in the era of climate change is how the forest carbon (C) cycle will respond to an increase in the extent of biotic disturbances from insects and pathogens. While research has focused on stand-replacing disturbance regimes, less is known about C cycling stability following partial disturbances that produce gradients of disturbance severity. Belowground C cycling responses to disturbance are especially poorly understood, even though temperate forest soils contain up to 50% of total ecosystem C and soil respiration (Rs) accounts for more than half of temperate forest C loss. Interpreting trends and mechanisms …
Combining Isotopic And Genetic Analyses To Quantify Microbial Facilitation Of Recalcitrant Resource Use By Terrestrial And Aquatic Consumers, Alexi Christina Besser
Combining Isotopic And Genetic Analyses To Quantify Microbial Facilitation Of Recalcitrant Resource Use By Terrestrial And Aquatic Consumers, Alexi Christina Besser
Biology ETDs
Quantifying the flow of energy and nutrients through food webs is foundational to understanding the structure and function of ecosystems. Here, I utilize the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids to trace the movement of essential amino acids through terrestrial and freshwater food webs in New Mexico, USA. I first explore isotopic patterns among co-occurring terrestrial plants and aquatic algae. I then combine this molecular isotopic approach with 16S and 18S rRNA sequencing to demonstrate the importance of gut microbiota as sources of essential amino acids to wild mammalian hosts. Next, I explore the roles of …
Carbon Dynamics In A Phragmites Australis Invaded Riparian Wetland, Steven Walters
Carbon Dynamics In A Phragmites Australis Invaded Riparian Wetland, Steven Walters
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Invasive plant species are widely recognized as a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Wetland ecosystems tend to be much more susceptible to invasions because of their location on the landscape where water, nutrients, and the impacts of disturbances accumulate. Invasive plants have the ability to alter ecosystem processes and community/population dynamics. The ability of invasive plants to alter these processes can have profound economic consequences. In the United States, control of invasive wetland species alone costs approximately 155 million dollars annually. The state of Nebraska spends 2 million dollars annually controlling invasive plant species in the Platte River …
Pathways Of Anaerobic Carbon Cycling Across An Ombrotrophic–Minerotrophic Peatland Gradient, Jason K. Keller, Scott D. Bridgham
Pathways Of Anaerobic Carbon Cycling Across An Ombrotrophic–Minerotrophic Peatland Gradient, Jason K. Keller, Scott D. Bridgham
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
Peatland soils represent globally significant stores of carbon, and understanding carbon cycling pathways in these ecosystems has important implications for global climate change. We measured aceticlastic and autotrophic methanogenesis, sulfate reduction, denitrification, and iron reduction in a bog, an intermediate fen, and a rich fen in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for one growing season. In 3-d anaerobic incubations of slurried peat, denitrification and iron reduction were minor components of anaerobic carbon mineralization. Experiments using 14C-labeled methanogenic substrates showed that methanogenesis in these peatlands was primarily through the aceticlastic pathway, except early in the growing season in more ombrotrophic peatlands, …