Life Sciences Commons^™

First Report Of Invasive Crane Fly, Tipula Oleracea, In Utah, A Van Dyke, Ricardo A. Ramirez, B A. Mcgraw

Biology Faculty Publications

The known range of the common crane fly (Tipula oleracea L.) is expanding in the western US, as adults were captured (by me) in Utah while emerging and flying over golf course rough. Adults were collected at The Ridge Golf Course in West Valley City on 15 September, 2014, and identified by Dr. Benjamin McGraw at the Pennsylvania State University Turfgrass Entomology Lab in University Park, PA. Crane fly larvae (known as leather jackets for their tough skin) were previously found (again, by me) with the help of golf course superintendent Brian Roth on 4 August, 2012 damaging putting greens …

Filtering With A Drill Pump: An Efficient And Cost Effective Method To Collect Suspended Sediment And Filtrate, Julia E. Kelso, Michelle A. Baker

Biology Faculty Publications

Water quality monitoring programs across multiple disciplines use total suspended solids (TSS), and volatile suspended solids (VSS), to assess potential impairments of surface water and groundwater. While previous methods for instream filtering have been developed, the need for rapid, cost-effective, high volume sampling has increased with the need to verify and supplement data produced by sondes and instantaneous data loggers. We present an efficient method to filter water instream with a portable drill pump that results in reduced sample processing time, and potentially reduced error associated with sample transportation, preservation, contamination, and homogenization. This technical note outlines the advantages of …

Riparian Plant Isotopes Reflect Anthropogenic Nitrogen Perturbations: Robust Patterns Across Land Use Gradients, Steven J. Hall, Rebecca L. Hale, Michelle A. Baker, David R. Bowling, James R. Ehleringer

Biology Faculty Publications

Riparian plants incorporate nitrogen (N) from aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric sources, and their stable isotope compositions (δ¹⁵ N) may reflect land use impacts on N sources and transformations over scales of sites to watersheds. We surveyed leaf δ¹⁵ N values of 11 common riparian tree, shrub, and herbaceous species from 20 streams and rivers spanning three fifth-order watersheds in northern Utah, USA (n - 255 sites and 819 leaf samples). Streams spanned undeveloped montane forests to suburban, urban, and agricultural lands. Mean species-specific differences in leaf δ¹⁵N values were relatively small within sites (1.2 ± 2.2‰), …

Molecular Phylogeny And Systematics Of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): Redefining Subfamily Boundaries And The Origin Of The Family, Caleb T. Walker, J. Rodriguez, M. S. Wasbauer, Carol D. Von Dohlen, James P. Pitts

Biology Faculty Publications

Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) constitute a monophyletic family supported by numerous morphological and behavioural traits. The subfamilial and tribal classifications, however, have a history of conflicting and confusing designations and nomenclature. Here, we reconstruct a molecular phylogeny of Pompilidae from Bayesian and maximum-likelihood analyses of four nuclear molecular markers (elongation factor-1 ë± F2 copy, long-wavelength rhodopsin, RNA polymerase II, and 28S ribosomal RNA). A Bayesian divergence-time estimation analysis was performed using four calibration points and an ancestral-area reconstruction was performed with a Bayesian binary Markov chain Monte Carlo method. New relationships are recovered, and new subfamilial delimitations are proposed and …

Metabolism, Gas Exchange, And Carbon Spiraling In Rivers, Robert O. Hall Jr, Jennifer L. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Erin R. Hotchkiss

Biology Faculty Publications

Ecosystem metabolism, that is, gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), controls organic carbon (OC) cycling in stream and river networks and is expected to vary predictably with network position. However, estimates of metabolism in small streams outnumber those from rivers such that there are limited empirical data comparing metabolism across a range of stream and river sizes. We measured metabolism in 14 rivers (discharge range 14–84 m3 s−1) in the Western and Midwestern United States (US). We estimated GPP, ER, and gas exchange rates using a Lagrangian, 2-station oxygen model solved in a Bayesian framework. GPP ranged from …

Translational Training For Tomorrow’S Environmental Scientists, Mark W. Brunson, Michelle A. Baker

Biology Faculty Publications

Environmental science exists to seek solutions to problems related to human-nature interactions. Unfortunately, in many cases, environmental research findings are not effectively used because scientists are not able to convey their knowledge effectively to policy makers and the public, and/or because the questions they address are not directly linked to the answers stakeholders need. To address this issue, Schlesinger (2010) called for development of a “translational ecology” that would be understandable and usable by decision-makers, interest groups, and citizens. A barrier to usable science is that researchers are not usually trained to be translational. We convened a multi-disciplinary group of …

Burrowing Owls, Pulex Irritans And Plague, James R. Belthoff, Scott A. Bernhardt, Christopher Ball, Michael Gregg, David H. Johnson, Rachel Ketterling, Emily Price, Juliette K. Tinker

Biology Faculty Publications

Western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are small, ground-dwelling owls ofwestern North America that frequent prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) towns and other grasslands.As they rely on rodent prey and occupy burrows once or concurrently inhabited by fossorialmammals, the owls often harbor fleas. We examined the potential role of fleas found onburrowing owls in plague dynamics by evaluating prevalence of Yersinia pestis in fleas and inowl blood. During 2012-2013 fleas and blood were collected from burrowing owls in portionsof five states with endemic plague: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and South Dakota.Fleas were enumerated, taxonomically identified, pooled by nest and assayed for …

An Exploration Into Fern Genome Space, Paul G. Wolf, Emily B. Sessa, D. Blaine Marchant, Fay-Wei Li, Carl J. Rothfels, Erin M. Sigel, Mathew A. Gitzendanner, Clayton J. Visger, Jo Ann Banks, Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, Kathleen M. Pryer, Joshua P. Der

Biology Faculty Publications

Ferns are one of the few remaining major clades of land plants for which a complete genome sequence is lacking. Knowledge of genome space in ferns will enable broad-­‐scale comparative analyses of land plant genes and genomes, provide insights into genome evolution across green plants, and shed light on genetic and genomic features that characterize ferns, such as their high chromosome numbers and large genome sizes. As part of an initial exploration into fern genome space, we used a whole genome shotgun sequencing approach to obtain low-­‐density coverage (~0.4X to 2X) for six fern species from the Polypodiales (Ceratopteris, Pteridium, …

Riparian Vegetation, Colorado River, And Climate: Five Decades Of Spatiotemporal Dynamics In The Grand Canyon With River Regulation, Joel B. Sankey, Barbara Ralston, Paul E. Grams, John C. Schmidt, Laura E. Cagney

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Documentation of the interacting effects of river regulation and climate on riparian vegetation has typically been limited to small segments of rivers or focused on individual plant species. We examine spatiotemporal variability in riparian vegetation for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon relative to river regulation and climate, over the five decades since completion of the upstream Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. Long-term changes along this highly modified, large segment of the river provide insights for management of similar riparian ecosystems around the world. We analyze vegetation extent based on maps and imagery from eight dates between 1965 and 2009, …

Participant Perceptions Of Range Rider Programs Used To Mitigate Wolf-Livestock Conflicts In The Western United States, Molly Parks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Range Rider Programs (RRPs) are one example of a proactive non-lethal tool that has been implemented in western United States to mitigate gray wolf (Canis lupus) and livestock conflicts. Because RRPs are an emerging non-lethal tool that little is known about, I selected a qualitative research approach to examine participant perceptions to further contemporary understanding of how these efforts are implemented and potential benefits. I surveyed 51 participants from 17 Range Rider Programs (RRPs) in Montana, Washington, and Oregon to determine participant perceptions regarding effectiveness of RRPs as a non-lethal approach to mitigate wolf-conflicts.

I developed a RRPs typology based …

Virulence Evolution Of Fungal Pathogens In Social And Solitary Bees With An Emphasis On Multiple Infections, Ellen G. Klinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The health of pollinators, especially bees, is of the utmost importance to success of many agricultural ecosystems. Microorganisms can cause diseases in bees; such microbes are pathogenic. The ability of a pathogen to cause harm to its host (such as a bee) is termed its virulence. Studying the evolution of different levels of virulence can lead researchers to a better understanding of pathogens, and potentially predict how much harm a pathogen can cause in the future. We studied the evolution of virulence levels for a fungal disease of bees. This group of fungi is composed of 28 species, and some …

Nutrient Addition Effects On Tropical Dry Forests: A Mini-Review From Microbial To Ecosystem Scales., J S. Powers, K K. Becklund, M G. Gei, S B. Iyengar, R Meyer, C S. O'Connell, E M. Schilling, C M. Smith, Bonnie G. Waring, L K. Werden

Biology Faculty Publications

Humans have more than doubled inputs of reactive nitrogen globally and greatly accelerated the biogeochemical cycles of phosphorus and metals. However, the impacts of increased element mobility on tropical ecosystems remain poorly quantified, particularly for the vast tropical dry forest biome. Tropical dry forests are characterized by marked seasonality, relatively little precipitation, and high heterogeneity in plant functional diversity and soil chemistry. For these reasons, increased nutrient deposition may affect tropical dry forests differently than wet tropical or temperate forests. Here, we review studies that investigated how nutrient availability affects ecosystem and community processes from the microsite to ecosystem scales …

The Myb36 Transcription Factor Orchestrates Casparian Strip Formation, Takehiro Kamiya, Monica Borghi, Peng Wang, John M. C. Danku, Lothar Kalmbach, Prashant S. Hosmani, Sadaf Naseer, Toru Fujiwara, Niko Geldner, David E. Salt

Biology Faculty Publications

The endodermis in roots acts as a selectivity filter for nutrient and water transport essential for growth and development. This selectivity is enabled by the formation of lignin-based Casparian strips. Casparian strip formation is initiated by the localization of the Casparian strip domain proteins (CASPs) in the plasma membrane, at the site where the Casparian strip will form. Localized CASPs recruit Peroxidase 64 (PER64), a Respiratory Burst Oxidase Homolog F, and Enhanced Suberin 1 (ESB1), a dirigent-like protein, to assemble the lignin polymerization machinery. However, the factors that control both expression of the genes encoding this biosynthetic machinery and its …

The Varying Role Of Water Column Nutrient Removal Along River Continua In Contrasting Landscapes, Alexander J. Reisinger, Jennifer L. Tank, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Robert O. Hall Jr, Michelle A. Baker

Biology Faculty Publications

Nutrient transformation processes such as assimilation, dissimilatory transformation, and sorption to sediments are prevalent in benthic zones of headwater streams, but may also occur in the water column. The river continuum concept (RCC) predicts that water column processes become increasingly important with increasing stream size. We predicted that water column nutrient uptake increases with stream size, mirroring carbon/energy dynamics predicted by the RCC. We measured water column uptake of ammonium ( NH+4NH4+ ), nitrate ( NO−3NO3− ), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in 1st through 5th order stream and river reaches (discharge: 50–68,000 L s−1) in three watersheds ranging from …

Aqueous Solvation Method For Recombinant Spider Silk Proteins, Justin A. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spider silk is a remarkable material that has recently garnered significant international interest due to its broad applicability and natural composition. Spider silk fibers demonstrate unparalleled mechanical properties and their biocompatability will allow them to replace products currently on the market such as fibers, threads and sutures that are made from traditional polymers. As spiders cannot be farmed, an emphasis in the Lewis lab is being placed on producing recombinant spider silk proteins (rSSP) in a variety of hosts, including alfalfa, goats, silkworms and Escherichia. coli. To this end, alfalfa, goats and silkworms are being generated with unique rSSP's …

Relationships Between Water Developments And Select Mammals On The U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, Bryan M. Kluever

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water is essential to life. Three general forms of water exist: pre-formed water that is available in food, metabolic water that is created as a byproduct of life processes (e.g., metabolism of fat or breakdown of carbohydrates), and free water (i.e., water available for drinking). As humans settle arid environments, the addition of man-made free water sources (e.g., sewage ponds, catchment ponds) often occurs. In addition, a tool commonly used to increase the abundance or distribution of wildlife species in desert environments is the addition of water sources, usually specifically designed to benefit game species like bighorn sheep (Ovis …

Salt And The Rough-Skinned Newt (Taricha Granulosa): Evolutionary Investigations Of Local Adaptation To An Anthropogenic And Natural Stressor, Gareth Rowland Hopkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Amphibians are osmotically-challenged due to their highly permeable skin and egg membranes. As such, biologists have mostly ignored their occurrence in saline habitats. The goal of this dissertation was to investigate the ability of amphibians to adapt to inhabit these osmotically-stressful environments. As freshwater resources are increasingly salinized due to a combination of anthropogenic and natural stressors, including road-deicing salt application, coastal storm events, and sea-level rise, it is important to understand the abilities and constraints of sensitive organisms, like amphibians, to persist in these environments. I began by exploring what is known about amphibians inhabiting saline habitats around the …

Biogeography, Population Genetics, And Community Structure Of North American Bumble Bees, Jonathan Berenguer Koch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 2011, several wild North American bumble bee pollinator species were reported to have declined by up to 96% in relative abundance in comparison to historic estimates, and one species was speculated to be extinct. None of these species have yet been documented to have recovered from these declines and additional species are now suggested to be at risk. Imperiled species in particular show increased specificity to narrow climatic envelopes, as opposed to putatively stable species. My dissertation describes patterns of population genetic diversity, structure, and gene flow pathways associated with climate variation and historical biogeography of bumble bees distributed …

Scalable Bio-Production Of High Value Products In Bacteria, Yukie Kawasaki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Natural products are structurally and chemically diverse bioactive compounds produced by living organisms. The complex structures of natural products are often difficult to duplicate synthetically and thus industrial production of natural products most often depends on use of the host organisms. In this dissertation research, scalable production of natural products was pursued in bacterial platforms.

Biliverdin IXα is a natural anti-inflammatory compound which is emerging as a potent cytoprotectant in the medical field. Syringomycin E is a natural fungicide expected to be an effective agrofungicide in organic farming. Both biliverdin IXα and syringomycin E have limited supplies in the market. …

Developing A Portable System For Measuring Human Motor Learning, Karen Elizabeth Tew

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Point-to-point reaching is a commonly used paradigm in the field of human motor control. By studying how people move their arms from one location in space to another, researchers have gained insight into how the central nervous system controls and learns skilled movement. Many experimental methods that are designed to study reaching are not portable. This makes it difficult for researchers to access certain clinical populations with limited mobility or motor dysfunction. We have addressed this issue by developing a point-to-point reaching system that can capture key movement variables (e.g. speed and accuracy) yet is portable and inexpensive. We have …

Group Housing And Social Stress In Side-Blotched Lizards (Uta Stansburiana), Marilize Van Der Walt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Stress in regards to an animal's social housing environment is well studied in mammals; however there are few studies examining this in reptiles and the results are thus far unclear. For example, behavioral evidence shows adverse effects from individual housing in juvenile chameleons, however physiological measures in whiptail lizards show adverse effects from group housing. Because some reptiles appear to be affected negatively by their social housing environment while others are impacted positively, if we can discover the reason for these differences, we will be able to implement the most effective housing regimes for reptiles. In this study, we tested …

Sources Of Uncertainty In Stream Nutrient Sampling Below A Point Source, Alexandria Hayden Campbell

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The goal of this study was to determine what aspects of sampling and sample storage could lead to uncertainty when taking samples in a stream below a point source. Sources of uncertainty studied were the locations where the samples were taken to assess if nutrients were adequately mixed within a cross-section, different filtration techniques, dilution errors, analytical uncertainty, and freezing time. Bootstrapping analyses were used to determine whether mixing and dilution errors led to uncertainty, while one-way ANOVAs were used to evaluate filtration techniques and storage time. Sample spikes to determine percent recovery of nutrients and repeat sample analyses are …

The Effects Of Zno Nanoparticles On Egg, Larva, And Adult Rough-Skinned Newts (Taricha Granulosa), Austin Reid Spence

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles on egg, larva, and adult rough-skinned newts, Taricha granulosa. To date, little research has been done to investigate the potentially detrimental effects of nanoparticles on amphibians, especially salamanders and newts (caudates). Chronic toxicity was tested on eggs and larvae, and acute toxicity was tested on eggs, larvae, and adults. For eggs, chronic exposure to ZnO nanoparticles caused higher mortality at 10.0 and 100.0 mg/L compared to 0.0, 0.1, and 1.0 mg/L. When given an acute exposure (24h) to nanoparticles at a late incubation stage, …

Investigating The Pathogenecity Of Chl1 Leu17phe Polymorphism In Schizophrenia, Brooke Nichole Hansen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Schizophrenia is a devastating brain disorder that affects a surprising 1% of the world's population. Despite this prevalence, little is known about the molecular aspects of this disorder making it both difficult to diagnose and treat. Several studies have identified the CHL1 gene (Close Homolog of L1), sometimes referred to as CALL, as a risk gene for schizophrenia. CHL1, a neural cell adhesion molecule, has major roles in cell migration, and the development of dendritic and axonal projections. Therefore any deficiency in CHL1 may result in brain defects similar to those identified in schizophrenic populations. Moreover, in genetically engineered mice, …

Increasing Vaccine Accessibility Through Cost Alternative Manufacturing And Elimination Of The Cold Chain, Jorgen Madsen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Millions of people die each year from infectious diseases. This is partly due to the difficulty of transporting temperature dependent vaccines through what is called the cold chain in developing countries. I hypothesize that we can increase vaccine accessibility by finding cost effective alternatives to vaccine production and by eliminating the cold chain through vaccine stabilizers. The gold standard in purification of influenza virus is by means of ultracentrifugation. Although effective, this process is very expensive and thus impractical for developing countries. I hypothesize that column chromatography can be a cost efficient alternative that is as effective as ultracentrifugation. The …

Isaw: Integrating Structure, Actors, And Water To Study Socio-Hydro-Ecological Systems, Rebecca L. Hale, Andrea Armstrong, Michelle A. Baker, Sean Bedingfield, David Betts, Caleb Buahin, Martin Buchert, Todd Crowl, Ryan Dupont, James R. Ehleringer, Joanna Endter-Wada, Susannah S. French, Jacqualine Grant, Sarah Hinners, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Amber S. Jones, Erica S. Limb, Sarah E. Null, Augustina Odame, Diane E. Pataki, David Rosenberg, Madyln Runburg, Philip Stoker, Courtenay Strong

Biology Faculty Publications

Urbanization, climate, and ecosystem change represent major challenges for managing water resources. Although water systems are complex, a need exists for a generalized representation of these systems to identify important components and linkages to guide scientific inquiry and aid water management. We developed an integrated Structure-Actor-Water framework (iSAW) to facilitate the understanding of and transitions to sustainable water systems. Our goal was to produce an interdisciplinary framework for water resources research that could address management challenges across scales (e.g., plot to region) and domains (e.g., water supply and quality, transitioning, and urban landscapes). The framework was designed to be generalizable …

Further Examination Of The Geographic Range Of Eriogonum Corymbosum Var. Nilesii (Polygonaceae, Eriogoneae), Mark W. Ellis, Paul G. Wolf, Shannon Bardot, James A. Walton, Carol Rowe, Sarah Kulpa, Karen E. Mock

Biology Faculty Publications

The wild buckwheat Eriogonum corymbosum is widely distributed throughout the southwestern United States, forming a complex of eight varieties. E. corymbosum var. nilesii is a predominantly yellow-flowered variant reported primarily from Clark Co., Nevada. A previous genetic study by our research group found that var. nilesii is genetically distinct from other E. corymbosum varieties, based on a limited number of populations. Here, we assess genetic variation in 14 newly sampled yellow-flowered populations from southern Nevada, southern Utah, and northern Arizona, and compare them to genetic variation in six populations of previously determined E. corymbosum varieties. Of the new populations, we …

Predicting Invasion Rates For Phragmites Australis, Rachel Nydegger, Jacob Duncan, James A. Powell

Browse All Undergraduate research

In wetlands of Utah and southern Idaho as well as estuaries of the east coast, the ten-foot tall invasive grass Phragmites australis can be found near waterways, where it outcompetes native plants and degrades wildlife habitat. Phragmites australis is an obligate out-crossing plant that can spread sexually through seed disper- sal, or asexually via stolons and rhi- zomes (Kettenring and Mock 2012). Small patches are usually a single genetic individual, spreading vegetatively (and slowly) via runners; when patches become genetically diverse viable seeds are produced and invasion rates can be increase by an order of magnitude (Kettenring et al. 2011)

Machine Learning For Predicting Soil Classes In Three Semi-Arid Landscapes, Colby W. Brungard, Janis L. Boettinger, Michael C. Duniway, Skye A. Wills, Thomas C. Edwards Jr.

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Mapping the spatial distribution of soil taxonomic classes is important for informing soil use and management decisions. Digital soil mapping (DSM) can quantitatively predict the spatial distribution of soil taxonomic classes. Key components of DSM are the method and the set of environmental covariates used to predict soil classes. Machine learning is a general term for a broad set of statistical modeling techniques. Many different machine learning models have been applied in the literature and there are different approaches for selecting covariates for DSM. However, there is little guidance as to which, if any, machine learning model and covariate set …

Fox Enrichment At Willow Park Zoo, Madeleine Petersen

Biology Posters

No abstract provided.