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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Short-Term Versus Long-Term Effects Of Nitrogen Addition And Warming On Ecosystem N Dynamics In A Grass-Dominated Temperate Old Field, Benjamin F. A. Souriol Oct 2023

Short-Term Versus Long-Term Effects Of Nitrogen Addition And Warming On Ecosystem N Dynamics In A Grass-Dominated Temperate Old Field, Benjamin F. A. Souriol

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition and climate warming are both anticipated to influence the ecosystem N dynamics of northern temperate ecosystems substantially over the next century. Nevertheless, in field experiments with N addition and warming treatments, temporal scale can play an important role in determining the extent of treatment effects on N dynamics, and it is unclear to what extent the results of short-term studies can be extrapolated to responses over longer time scales. I compared the short-term versus long-term effects of N addition and warming on net N mineralization, N leaching, and N retention in a grass-dominated old field. …


Linking Decomposition Reactions In Arctic Soils To Microbial Enzyme Production, Jane Karen Martinez May 2023

Linking Decomposition Reactions In Arctic Soils To Microbial Enzyme Production, Jane Karen Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Microbial processes such as soil enzyme production are a major driver of decomposition and a current topic of interest in arctic soils due to the effects of climate warming. Despite the advances in understanding soil enzymes, there are still knowledge gaps regarding the role of enzymes in decomposition. In this dissertation, I addressed three of those gaps in the following chapters: (Ch.2) to explore the location of enzymes within the soil matrix, (Ch.3) to identify peptides matched to soil enzymes produced by microorganisms for organic matter decomposition, and (Ch.4) understand the longevity of enzymes in the soil after microbial production. …


Investigation Of The Vira Linker Domain To Characterize Its Phenol Interactions, Jessica Garofalo May 2023

Investigation Of The Vira Linker Domain To Characterize Its Phenol Interactions, Jessica Garofalo

Honors Theses

The soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes tumors in plants through interkingdom gene transfer. This transfer is initiated upon a wounding event that results in the release of plant signaling factors such as phenols and sugars that are recognized by protein machinery in the periplasm and inner membrane of A. tumefaciens. The histidine kinase protein VirA, in combination with the periplasmic protein ChvE, recognizes these signals and initiates induction of virulence genes via a signaling pathway, culminating with the insertion of tumor-inducing T-DNA into the wounded plant cells. While the interaction between the Periplasmic domain of VirA and sugar-bound ChvE …


Determination Of Taxonomic Placement Of Falsely-Branched Taxa In Soils Of San Nicolas Island And Reassessment Of The Tolypothrichaceae, Natalie Soliman Jan 2023

Determination Of Taxonomic Placement Of Falsely-Branched Taxa In Soils Of San Nicolas Island And Reassessment Of The Tolypothrichaceae, Natalie Soliman

Celebration of Scholarship 2023

No abstract provided.


Determination Of Taxonomic Placement Of Falsely-Branched Taxa In Soils Of San Nicolas Island And Reassessment Of The Tolypothrichaceae., Natalie Soliman Jan 2023

Determination Of Taxonomic Placement Of Falsely-Branched Taxa In Soils Of San Nicolas Island And Reassessment Of The Tolypothrichaceae., Natalie Soliman

Senior Honors Projects

This study was conducted to determine the taxonomic placement of falsely-branched taxa in the soil crusts of San Nicolas Island, which is the largest of the Channel Islands lying off the coast of California. After microscopic analysis of the strains collected from the island, a phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes, and an analysis of the 16S-23S ITS region, we have identified that these strains belong to the soil genus Spirirestis, which is in the Tolypothrichaceae family. The Tolypothrichaceae is a wellcharacterized monophyletic lineage of non-attenuated, false-branching heteropolar types containing the genera Spirirestis, Hassallia, Tolypothrix, Coleodesmium, and Rexia. The strains …


Extracellular Dnases Facilitate Antagonism And Coexistence In Bacterial Competitor-Sensing Interference Competition, Aoi Ogawa, Christophe Golé, Maria Bermudez, Odrine Habarugira, Gabrielle Joslin, Taylor Mccain, Autumn Mineo, Jennifer Wise, Julie Xiong, Katherine Yan, Jan A.C. Vriezen Nov 2022

Extracellular Dnases Facilitate Antagonism And Coexistence In Bacterial Competitor-Sensing Interference Competition, Aoi Ogawa, Christophe Golé, Maria Bermudez, Odrine Habarugira, Gabrielle Joslin, Taylor Mccain, Autumn Mineo, Jennifer Wise, Julie Xiong, Katherine Yan, Jan A.C. Vriezen

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Over the last 4 decades, the rate of discovery of novel antibiotics has decreased drastically, ending the era of fortuitous antibiotic discovery. A better understanding of the biology of bacteriogenic toxins potentially helps to prospect for new antibiotics. To initiate this line of research, we quantified antagonists from two different sites at two different depths of soil and found the relative number of antagonists to correlate with the bacterial load and carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio of the soil. Consecutive studies show the importance of antagonist interactions between soil isolates and the lack of a predicted role for nutrient availability and, therefore, …


Effects Of Mass Death On Community Structure And Ecosystem Function, Abby Kimpton Jones Aug 2022

Effects Of Mass Death On Community Structure And Ecosystem Function, Abby Kimpton Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Death and decomposition are natural processes that are generally well-understood. However, large events of death, such as mass mortality events (MMEs) are increasing in frequency and their impacts on the ecosystem are largely unknown. These events may have both bottom-up effects from increased nutrient input as well as top-down effects from loss of an ecological functional group by the affected population. Different functional MMEs may result in different top-down effects, creating cascading effects. In Chapter 1, I test the hypothesis that scavenger and herbivore simulated MMEs generate novel bottom-up and top-down effects. Results indicate that MMEs have a significant effect …


Ecological Stressors Impact Soil Biodiversity, Kaleb Frierson, John Carlile Apr 2022

Ecological Stressors Impact Soil Biodiversity, Kaleb Frierson, John Carlile

Transformations: Presentation Slides

Soil biodiversity serves ecologically important roles like nutrient cycling and is used as an indicator of community disturbance. North American forests host a multitude of ecological stressors, including invasive plants, earth worms, and deer abundance. While relationships between deer and invasive species, as well as relationships between macroinvertebrates and worms have been heavily investigated, the effects of invasive plant species like Pale Swallowwort on soil biodiversity are unknown. To test our hypothesis that Pale Swallowwort affects soil biodiversity, we collected leaf litter from three state parks throughout Central New York at sites with and without the invasive plant. Samples were …


Microbial Community And Soil Responses To Land Management Practices In Remnant And Restored Tallgrass Prairies, Desirae Marie Klimek Jan 2022

Microbial Community And Soil Responses To Land Management Practices In Remnant And Restored Tallgrass Prairies, Desirae Marie Klimek

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Critical ecosystem functions, such as decomposition and nutrient cycling, are driven by microbial communities within soil. As such, it is important to examine the effect of restoration practices, such as the presence of native grazers and prescribed burning, on these microbes and the soil they inhabit. The Nachusa Grasslands provides a chronosequence of restored tallgrass prairies ranging in restoration age from 5 to 33 years, as well as remnant prairies, and agricultural fields. These sites were sampled seasonally from 2013-2020 and microbial ribosomal RNA genes were surveyed to characterize soil microbial communities and assess how common restoration practices affect these …


Optimization Of Dna Extraction From Difficult Sandy-Loam Soils, Anka Colo Aug 2021

Optimization Of Dna Extraction From Difficult Sandy-Loam Soils, Anka Colo

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Ginseng is a high value perennial crop grown for its roots. A four-year cultivation cycle is required to obtain marketable ginseng roots, during which a condition called ginseng replant disease (GRD) develops. GRD is characterized by a severe root rot disease, and prevents the growth of newly planted ginseng in a former ginseng garden1. Microbiome analysis of ginseng garden soil will help our understanding of the formation of GRD and its severity. However, extracting DNA from the sandy-loam soils required for ginseng cultivation is difficult. Commercial kits are either too expensive or not applicable to the large volumes of soil …


The Analysis Of Ginsenosides In Ginseng Garden Soil, Karina Marie Kaberi Jul 2021

The Analysis Of Ginsenosides In Ginseng Garden Soil, Karina Marie Kaberi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) produces natural products called ginsenosides. The biggest challenge Ontario commercial ginseng farmers face is ginseng replant disease. To understand the function of ginseng root exudates, ginsenoside accumulation and persistence over time were investigated. Currently, no reliable ginsenoside specific extraction method, characterizing the changes in soil chemistry exists. Ginsenoside extraction protocol optimization was required to determine how ginsenoside composition changed over time. Overall, protocol optimization resulted in a 30% increase in yield of ginsenosides compared to previous extraction protocols. In the ginseng gardens, ginsenoside accumulation occurs slowly and did not reach significantly measurable amounts until the …


Soil Macroinvertebrates Responses To Wildfires In The Blue Ridge Mountains, Usa, Madeline Olliff May 2021

Soil Macroinvertebrates Responses To Wildfires In The Blue Ridge Mountains, Usa, Madeline Olliff

Biology Theses

Fire has been a prevalent disturbance on Earth for millions of years. Around the globe there are several regions that have become fire adapted, including the Southeastern United States. There have been few studies examining the effects of wildland fires on soil macroinvertebrates in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in spite of the importance of these animals to soil processes and their contributions to the biodiversity of these ecosystems. During the fall of 2016, the Southeastern USA experienced numerous, large wildfires. These fires offered an opportunity to study the effects of wildland fire on soil macroinvertebrates. We sampled sites from three …


Effects Of Am Fungi From Conventional And No-Till Michigan Crop Fields On Plant And Soil Health, Derek Bennett May 2021

Effects Of Am Fungi From Conventional And No-Till Michigan Crop Fields On Plant And Soil Health, Derek Bennett

Masters Theses

Centuries of conventional till (CT) management in agriculture has depleted soil organic matter (SOM) by over 50%. While only comprising 5% in most soils, SOM provides soil with fertility and productivity. To compensate for SOM depletion, producers have been forced to increase their reliance on fertilizer and irrigation to maintain yields. In the coming decades, climate change is expected to challenge food production and threaten an already fragile system. With no remaining land left to cultivate, conservation management strategies such as no-till (NT) look to restore SOM and increase the resilience of food production for an ever growing, increasingly food …


Distribution, Diversity, And Biogeography Of Anaerobic Carbon Monoxide Uptake By Microbial Communities In Soils And Sediments, Amber N. Depoy Mar 2021

Distribution, Diversity, And Biogeography Of Anaerobic Carbon Monoxide Uptake By Microbial Communities In Soils And Sediments, Amber N. Depoy

LSU Master's Theses

Carbon monoxide (CO) is primarily known for being a toxic gas. However, CO is used by microorganisms as an electron or carbon source in a variety of respiratory processes. Different kinds of microorganisms utilize CO aerobically and anaerobically, using two distinct CO dehydrogenases (CODHs). Aerobes oxidize CO using a molybdenum-dependent dehydrogenase (Mo-CODH), while anaerobes utilize a nickel-dependent CO dehydrogenase (Ni-CODH). Studies of the biochemistry and microbiology of aerobic and anaerobic CO oxidation are extensive, but relatively little is known about the ecology of anaerobic CO oxidation. In an effort to test new hypotheses about the ecology of anaerobic CO oxidation, …


Soil Chemistry And Enzyme Data Examining Impacts Of Callery Pear Stem Cutting, Michaela J. Woods, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan Oct 2020

Soil Chemistry And Enzyme Data Examining Impacts Of Callery Pear Stem Cutting, Michaela J. Woods, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

This dataset encompasses information following the collection of soil from underneath cut and treated Callery pear stems and untreated Callery pear trees. Soil was assessed for moisture, pH, and enzyme activities.


The Impact Of Fire On Soil Characteristics In The Maritime Forests On Sapelo Island, Ga, Courtney Nicole Scott Jun 2020

The Impact Of Fire On Soil Characteristics In The Maritime Forests On Sapelo Island, Ga, Courtney Nicole Scott

Biology Theses

Human activities have drastically altered natural fire regimes in countless ecosystems by suppressing and/or effectuating fires. In the past, management strategies were formulated to eliminate the occurrence of fire altogether but as we have become more aware of the benefits of fires such as reducing the amount of fuel build-up, recycling of nutrients for healthier plant communities and the promotion of biodiversity, prescribed burns are now considered an integral part of forest management. While many studies have explored the benefits of fires on plant communities, very few studies look at the impacts of fire on soil characteristics. Sapelo Island, which …


A Review Of Plant-Soil Feedbacks And Their Importance For Palouse Prairie Restoration And Management, Rachael Sv Pentico May 2020

A Review Of Plant-Soil Feedbacks And Their Importance For Palouse Prairie Restoration And Management, Rachael Sv Pentico

2020 Symposium Posters

A plant-soil feedback (PSF) is the process in which plants alter both the biotic and abiotic characteristics of the soil they grow in. These changes in the soil composition alter which plants can grow and survive there in the future. Negative PSFs occur when plants struggle to grow in soil that was previously inhabited, due to a buildup of soil pathogens. Positive PSFs, however, provide benefits to the plants due to an abundance of soil microbes, such as AMF. Understanding the effects that PSFs have on plant communities and dynamics could be vital for restoring damaged ecosystems, like the Palouse …


Escherichia Coli Antimicrobial Resistance Variability In Water Runoff And Soil From A Remnant Native Prairie, And Improved Pasture, And A Cultivated Agricultural Watershed, Maitreyee Mukherjee, Terry Gentry, Heidi Mjelde, John P. Brooks, Daren Harmel, Lucas Gregory, Kevin Wagner Apr 2020

Escherichia Coli Antimicrobial Resistance Variability In Water Runoff And Soil From A Remnant Native Prairie, And Improved Pasture, And A Cultivated Agricultural Watershed, Maitreyee Mukherjee, Terry Gentry, Heidi Mjelde, John P. Brooks, Daren Harmel, Lucas Gregory, Kevin Wagner

Faculty Publications

Although many previous studies have examined patterns of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR) from domestic animals and farm environments, comparatively little is known about the environmental sources and natural reservoirs of AMR and MDR. In this study, we collected stormwater runoff and soil samples from three watersheds in Texas. Escherichia coli (E. coli) were enumerated, isolated, and analyzed for resistance patterns. E. coli from all sites, irrespective of land use, displayed the presence of AMR/MDR. Higher levels of AMR/MDR were observed in water compared to soil. More isolates were resistant to cephalothin than other antibiotics. For …


An Evaluation Of Co-Culture Parameters Effecting Antibiotic Production In Soil Microbes, Rebecca Lindow Jan 2020

An Evaluation Of Co-Culture Parameters Effecting Antibiotic Production In Soil Microbes, Rebecca Lindow

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The rise of infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria, compounded by a reduction in antibiotic discovery and development, jeopardizes human health. Historically, antibiotics derive from secondary metabolites produced by soil microbes in pure culture, but recent genetic evidence suggests that microbes can produce more secondary metabolites than are currently observed. The modified crowded plate technique directly identifies antibiotic-producing soil microbes that were co-plated with a target pathogen. Here, this technique was refined by testing the effect of a D-alanine auxotrophic target pathogen rather than a prototrophic pathogen as well as investigating conditions most conducive to antibiotic production. Antibiotic producing conditions …


Green Club After School Program Curriculum, Megan Willburn Oct 2019

Green Club After School Program Curriculum, Megan Willburn

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

Green Club is an after school program which encourages students to develop environmental empathy, passions for environmental sustainability, and knowledge about the workings of environmental systems.


Comparative Analysis Of Phytoparositic Nematode Of Grain Crops And Wild-Growing Certains In The Conditions Of Uzbekistan, A.Sh. Xurramov Jun 2019

Comparative Analysis Of Phytoparositic Nematode Of Grain Crops And Wild-Growing Certains In The Conditions Of Uzbekistan, A.Sh. Xurramov

Bulletin of Gulistan State University

The article comparatively analyzes the complexes of phytoparasitic nematodes of wheat and wild-growing cereals. As a result of the study, 20 species were found on wheat agrocenoses, and 14 species of phytoparasitic nematodes were found on wild plants. Common to the studied cultures were 13 species of phytoparasitic nematodes.


Green Infrastructure Design Influences Communities Of Urban Soil Bacteria, Jessica Lee Joyner, Jordan Kerwin, Maha Deeb, George Lozefski, Bharath Prithiviraj, Anna Paitseva, John Mclaughin, Peter M. Groffman, Zhongqi Cheng, Theodore R. Muth May 2019

Green Infrastructure Design Influences Communities Of Urban Soil Bacteria, Jessica Lee Joyner, Jordan Kerwin, Maha Deeb, George Lozefski, Bharath Prithiviraj, Anna Paitseva, John Mclaughin, Peter M. Groffman, Zhongqi Cheng, Theodore R. Muth

Publications and Research

The importance of natural ecosystem processes is often overlooked in urban areas. Green Infrastructure (GI) features have been constructed in urban areas as elements to capture and treat excess urban runoff while providing a range of ancillary benefits, e.g., ecosystem processes mediated by microorganisms that improve air and water quality, in addition to the associations with plant and tree rhizospheres. The objective of this study was to characterize the bacterial community and diversity in engineered soils (Technosols) of five types of GI in New York City; vegetated swales, right of way bioswales (ROWB; including street-side infiltration systems and enhanced tree …


Biogeochemical Recuperation Of Lowland Tropical Forest During Succession, Benjamin W. Sullivan, Rachel L. Nifong, Megan K. Nasto, Silvia Alvarez-Clare, Camie M. Dencker, Fiona M. Soper, Kevin T. Shoemaker, F. Yoko Ishida, Joana Zaragoza-Castells, Eric A. Davidson, Cory C. Cleveland Feb 2019

Biogeochemical Recuperation Of Lowland Tropical Forest During Succession, Benjamin W. Sullivan, Rachel L. Nifong, Megan K. Nasto, Silvia Alvarez-Clare, Camie M. Dencker, Fiona M. Soper, Kevin T. Shoemaker, F. Yoko Ishida, Joana Zaragoza-Castells, Eric A. Davidson, Cory C. Cleveland

Biology Faculty Publications

High rates of land conversion and land use change have vastly increased the proportion of secondary forest in the lowland tropics relative to mature forest. As secondary forests recover following abandonment, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) must be present in sufficient quantities to sustain high rates of net primary production and to replenish the nutrients lost during land use prior to secondary forest establishment. Biogeochemical theory and results from individual studies suggest that N can recuperate during secondary forest recovery, especially relative to P. Here, we synthesized 23 metrics of N and P in soil and plants from 45 secondary …


Antibiotic Resistance Of Bacteria Isolated From Soils, Jessica Vaughan May 2018

Antibiotic Resistance Of Bacteria Isolated From Soils, Jessica Vaughan

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

After the discovery of antibiotics, antibiotics have been increasingly implemented into human and veterinary medicine. In addition, antibiotics are inserted into animal feed for non-therapeutic purposes, which potentially leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. When the livestock excrete waste onto the soil, the antibiotic resistant bacteria are introduced to the environment. With soil collected from different farms throughout the Bowling Green area, the microbial communities were analyzed to determine its bacterial compositions and their resistances to common antibiotics through a modified agar dilution technique. Once resistant colonies were isolated, they underwent more testing to determine if the colonies could …


Does Soil Moisture Availability Explain Liana Seedling Distribution Across A Tropical Rainfall Gradient?, Eric Manzane-Pinzon, Guillermo Goldstein, Stefan A. Schnitzer Mar 2018

Does Soil Moisture Availability Explain Liana Seedling Distribution Across A Tropical Rainfall Gradient?, Eric Manzane-Pinzon, Guillermo Goldstein, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Liana density tends to increase with decreasing rainfall and increasing seasonality. However, the pattern of liana distribution may be due to differences in soil water retention capacity, not rainfall and seasonality per se. We tested the effect of rainfall and soil substrate with respect to the distribution of liana seedlings in six sites across a rainfall gradient from the wet Atlantic to the dry Pacific in central Panama. Soils were either limestone, with low water-holding capacity, or laterite, with higher water-holding capacity. We sampled liana seedlings at each site using three 1 × 100 m transect. We found that …


Biodiversity Of Terrestrial Cyanobacteria Of The South Ural Region, Lira A. Gaysina, Markéta Bohunicka, Václava Hazukova, Jeffrey R. Johansen Jan 2018

Biodiversity Of Terrestrial Cyanobacteria Of The South Ural Region, Lira A. Gaysina, Markéta Bohunicka, Václava Hazukova, Jeffrey R. Johansen

2018 Faculty Bibliography

South Ural is a territory with a unique geographical position and heterogeneous natural conditions. Unexplored biodiversity of the terrestrial cyanobacteria of this territory is very high. We undertook a floristic study covering all botanical-geographical zones of the Bashkiria and Bredinskiy district of the Chelyabinsk region. In a total of 85 soil samples collected, 56 species of cyanobacteria were identified. The number of cyanobacteria was highest in the boreal-forest zone (39 species) and notably lower in the other zones (18, 29, and 24 species for broad-leaved forest, forest steppe and steppe regions, respectively). Leptolyngbya voronichiniana, Leptolyngbya foveolarum, cf. Trichocoleus hospitus, Pseudophormidium …


Relationships Between Root Pathogen Resistance, Abundance And Expression Of Pseudomonas Antimicrobial Genes, And Soil Properties In Representative Swiss Agricultural Soils, Nicola Imperiali, Francesca Dennert, Jana Schneider, Titouan Laessle, Christelle Velatta, Marie Fesselet, Michele Wyler, Fabio Mascher, Olga Mavrodi, Dmitri Mavrodi, Monika Maurhofer, Christoph Keel Mar 2017

Relationships Between Root Pathogen Resistance, Abundance And Expression Of Pseudomonas Antimicrobial Genes, And Soil Properties In Representative Swiss Agricultural Soils, Nicola Imperiali, Francesca Dennert, Jana Schneider, Titouan Laessle, Christelle Velatta, Marie Fesselet, Michele Wyler, Fabio Mascher, Olga Mavrodi, Dmitri Mavrodi, Monika Maurhofer, Christoph Keel

Faculty Publications

Strains of Pseudomonas that produce antimicrobial metabolites and control soilborne plant diseases have often been isolated from soils defined as disease-suppressive, i.e., soils, in which specific plant pathogens are present, but plants show no or reduced disease symptoms. Moreover, it is assumed that pseudomonads producing antimicrobial compounds such as 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) or phenazines (PHZ) contribute to the specific disease resistance of suppressive soils. However, pseudomonads producing antimicrobial metabolites are also present in soils that are conducive to disease. Currently, it is still unknown whether and to which extent the abundance of antimicrobials-producing pseudomonads is related to the general disease resistance …


A Survey Of Weed Varieties In Samanabad, Lahore, Sadaf Nazir, Beenish Zia Butt, Anjum Navid Jul 2016

A Survey Of Weed Varieties In Samanabad, Lahore, Sadaf Nazir, Beenish Zia Butt, Anjum Navid

Journal of Bioresource Management

A weed is an herbaceous plant that grows as a wild plant, and is considered a hindrance in the growth of preferred vegetation or cumbering the ground, and has no value for beauty or use. However, some weeds have roles in medicine, ecology and many other fields. A survey was conducted in Lahore to observe the weed varieties present in the area of Samanabad. The present study was carried out in May and June 2014.The primary purpose of the study was to gain knowledge about the availability of the total number of species present in this area. We also assessed …


Bioturbation By The Fungus-Gardening Ant, Trachymyrmex Septentrionalis, Walter R. Tschinkel, Jon N. Seal Jul 2016

Bioturbation By The Fungus-Gardening Ant, Trachymyrmex Septentrionalis, Walter R. Tschinkel, Jon N. Seal

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil invertebrates such as ants are thought to be important manipulators of soils in temperate and tropical ecosystems. The fungus gardening ant, Trachymyrmex septentrionalis, is an important agent of biomantling, that is, of depositing soil excavated from below onto the surface, and has been suggested as an agent of bioturbation (moving soil below ground) as well. The amount of bioturbation by this ant was quantified by planting queenright colonies in sand columns consisting of 5 layers of different colored sand. The amount of each color of sand deposited on the surface was determined from April to November 2015. In November, …


Home-Field Advantage? Evidence Of Local Adaptation Among Plants, Soil, And Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Through Meta-Analysis, Megan A. Rúa, Anita Antoninka, Pedro M. Antunes, V Bala Chaudhary, Catherine Gehring, Louis J. Lamit, Bridget J. Piculell, James D. Bever, Cathy Zabinski, James F. Meadow, Marc J. Lajeunesse, Brook G. Milligan, Justine Karst, Jason D. Hoeksema Jun 2016

Home-Field Advantage? Evidence Of Local Adaptation Among Plants, Soil, And Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Through Meta-Analysis, Megan A. Rúa, Anita Antoninka, Pedro M. Antunes, V Bala Chaudhary, Catherine Gehring, Louis J. Lamit, Bridget J. Piculell, James D. Bever, Cathy Zabinski, James F. Meadow, Marc J. Lajeunesse, Brook G. Milligan, Justine Karst, Jason D. Hoeksema

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Local adaptation, the differential success of genotypes in their native versus foreign environment, arises from various evolutionary processes, but the importance of concurrent abiotic and biotic factors as drivers of local adaptation has only recently been investigated. Local adaptation to biotic interactions may be particularly important for plants, as they associate with microbial symbionts that can significantly affect their fitness and may enable rapid evolution. The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is ideal for investigations of local adaptation because it is globally widespread among most plant taxa and can significantly affect plant growth and fitness. Using meta-analysis on 1170 studies …