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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Effect Of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum Esculentum) On Soil Phosphorus Availability And Organic Acids, Angela R. Possinger, Loren B. Byrne, Nancy Breen E. Breen Jan 2013

Effect Of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum Esculentum) On Soil Phosphorus Availability And Organic Acids, Angela R. Possinger, Loren B. Byrne, Nancy Breen E. Breen

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

As a cover crop, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) may increase soil-P availability. Buckwheat was grown in low-P and P-fertilized field plots, and organic anions were measured in rhizosphere soil. Soil-P availability was not affected by buckwheat, but the concentration of rhizosphere tartrate2– was significantly higher (p < 0.005) in low-P vs. P-fertilized plots. This suggests that organic-anion root exudation may have a role in buckwheat-rhizosphere P dynamics.


An In-Class Role-Playing Activity To Foster Discussion And Deeper Understanding Of Biodiversity And Ecological Webs, Loren B. Byrne Jan 2013

An In-Class Role-Playing Activity To Foster Discussion And Deeper Understanding Of Biodiversity And Ecological Webs, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

In a general sense, biodiversity is an intuitively simple concept, referring to the variety of Earth’s organisms. Ecologists, however, conceptualize biodiversity in a more nuanced, multidimensional way to reflect the enormous diversity of species, niches, and interspecific interactions that generate spatiotemporal complexity in communities. Students may not fully comprehend or appreciate this deeper meaning if they fail to recognize the full range of species in a community (e.g., the often-ignored microbes and small invertebrates) and how their varied interactions (e.g., mutualism, parasitism) and activities (e.g., ecosystem engineering) affect an ecosystem’s emergent structure (e.g., food webs) and function (e.g., decomposition). To …