Life Sciences Commons^™

Assessing Methods For Enhancing Monarch Habitat In Re-Enrolling Crp Sites, Eva Van De Mortel, Tristan Murphy, Laura L. Jackson Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Over the last 30 years, monarch butterflies and their habitats have been in dramatic decline. Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is one of the greatest resources available to increase monarch population as it has the largest amount of space available for monarch habitat. However, some fields have lost the nectar plants and milkweeds necessary for monarch habitat. This study, asked how to best suppress vegetation in re-enrolling CRP land so that overseeded forbs have a better chance of survival? Vegetation surveys from 6 different sites in northeastern Iowa and results from 2021 to 2022 were compared. We …

Using Environmental Dna (Edna) To Assess Pollinator Communities In Cedar Valley, Mila Haynes, Brody Jack, Ai Wen Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Tracking biological activity in Iowa prairies can prove difficult with such high levels of biodiversity. However, using environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from prairie flowers can provide integral information about the insects that pollinate various plants.

When bees land on flowers, they shed cells and leave trace amounts of their DNA behind. After extracting the DNA from these flowers using the Qiagen DNeasy Extraction method, the samples are then mixed with B10 primer. This primer allows only the bee DNA to be targeted once the samples are put through a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

The purpose of this study is to …

Evaluation Of Methods To Extract Genetic Material From Wild Bees, Brody Jack, Mila Haynes, Ai Wen Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Genetic studies on bees are essential to the understanding of the genetic and species diversity of bees, as well as general prairie health. Diversification of species and genetics are in decline, this means a decline in overall prairie health is inevitable. The University of Northern Iowa has ongoing studies looking into the health of prairies as well as the bee population, with a need for an understanding of how to properly store and extract genetic material from wild bees. We examined the concentration of DNA and fragment size shown in a gel from the bees that were killed using two …

Comparison Of Expiring Cp-25 And 3-Year Old Cp-42 Plantings For Monarch Habitat Quality, Schuyler Hop, Laura L. Jackson Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Monarch butterflies have experienced a population decline of more than 80% in the past two decades, driven by the emergence of Roundup Ready beans and corn varieties. This development resulted in landowners spraying herbicides and killing all other plants in their field, including milkweeds, which is the genus of plants (Asclepias) that monarch caterpillars can only feed upon. Along with this development, an initiative to reintroduce native prairie ecosystems as part of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). In Iowa, over 80% of the land once was home to this prairie, now less than 0.1% of this rare ecosystem …

Sown And Unsown Floral Resources Both Support Bee Abundance, Pryce Johnson, Kenneth Elgersma, Ai Wen

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

The recent decline in native bee populations across the Midwest has been linked to the drastic decrease of prairie habitats and pollinator floral resources. Since the agricultural revolution, grassland areas have been removed and replaced with row crops to meet the needs of expanding markets, including the production of ethanol. In response to the loss of these (and other) essential pollinators, the Conservation Reserve Program administered by the USDA initiated a pollinator habitat initiative called CP-42. Despite efforts to assess the program's success, there is still much that needs to be learned about restoring prairie habitats for bees. With CP-42, …

Assessing Cp - 42 Habitat Value For Bees Using The Floral Resource Index, Allison Eagan, Gabrielle Brown, Ai Wen

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Prairies once dominated 85% of Iowa. Sadly, that large portion of native prairie has been drastically reduced to 0.01% because of agricultural expansion. Habitat loss is one of the main contributors to the massive decline in the native bee population and its biodiversity. Native pollinators are essential to the ecosystem and play a large role in the pollination of row crops. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), administered by the US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, launched the CP-42 program specifically as a Pollinator Habitat Initiative for forbs and grasses to be planted to increase pollinator habitat. However, no methods …

Local And Landscape Effects On Butterfly Abundance In Cp-42 Plantings, Emma Simpson, Kate Sinnott, Mark Myers

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

The conversion of grassland habitats and intensification of row crop agriculture over the last several decades have driven declines in native pollinator populations throughout the Midwestern USA. These declines in native bee and butterfly abundance have negative ecosystem consequences due to these insects’ important ecological roles as pollinators of vegetable crops and other plant life. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program Pollinator Habitat Initiative (CP-42) aims to conserve native pollinators by increasing pollinator habitat throughout the United States. However, since the program’s inception in 2011, there has been little monitoring of its effectiveness and no documentation of …