Life Sciences Commons^™

Using Culturally Significant Birds To Guide The Timing Of Prescribed Fires In The Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion, Linda L. Long, Frank L. Lake, Jaime L. Stephens, John D. Alexander, C. John Ralph, Jared D. Wolfe

Michigan Tech Publications

Historically, wildfire and tribal burning practices played important roles in shaping ecosystems throughout the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion of northern California and southern Oregon. Over the past several decades, there has been increased interest in the application of fire for forest management through the implementation of prescribed fires within habitats that are used by a diversity of migrant and resident land birds. While many bird species may benefit from habitat enhancements associated with wildfires, cultural burning, and prescribed fire, individuals may face direct or indirect harm. In this study, we analyzed the timing of breeding and molting in 11 species of …

Agroforestry Buffers On Nitrogen Reduction In Groundwater On A Grazed Hillslope, Miguel Salceda, Ranjith P. Udawatta, Stephen H. Anderson, Sidath S. Mendis, Fengjing Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

Agricultural practices often contribute to the transport of solutes into groundwater; thus, low-cost strategies that extract nutrients from groundwater are essential to address water pollution. This study evaluated the effects of agroforestry (tree + grass; AB [cottonwood {Populus deltoides Bortr. ex Marsh.}]) and grass buffers (GB; [tall fescue Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub, Red clover {Trifolium pretense L.}, and Lespedeza {Lespedeza Michx}]) on groundwater nitrogen (N) concentrations. The experiment consisted of two grazing watersheds, one with an AB and another with a GB treatment. Buffers were not grazed since 2001. Three wells representing summit, backslope, and foot-slope positions were installed at …

A Review Of Propagation And Restoration Techniques For American Beech And Their Current And Future Application In Mitigation Of Beech Bark Disease, Andrea L. Myers, Andrew J. Storer, Yvette L. Dickinson, Tara Bal

Michigan Tech Publications

The American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) has been impacted by the beech bark disease (BBD) complex throughout the northeastern United States for over 100 years, but the disease has been present in the Great Lakes region only for around 20 years, requiring acknowledgement of the evolving context surrounding F. grandifolia. This disease threatens to remove a foundational tree species which is especially important ecologically for wildlife habitat and mast, and as a climax successional species. We review advances in propagation techniques of F. grandifolia with the goal of addressing their use in the rehabilitative restoration of forests affected by BBD. …

Mountain Wetland Soil Carbon Stocks Of Huascarán National Park, Peru, Rodney Chimner, Sigrid Resh, John A. Hribljan, Michael Battaglia, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Gillian Bowser, Erik A. Lilleskov

Michigan Tech Publications

Although wetlands contain a disproportionately high amount of earth’s total soil carbon, many regions are still poorly mapped and with unquantified carbon stocks. The tropical Andes contain a high concentration of wetlands consisting mostly of wet meadows and peatlands, yet their total organic carbon stocks are poorly quantified, as well as the carbon fraction that wet meadows store compared to peatlands. Therefore, our goal was to quantify how soil carbon stocks vary between wet meadows and peatlands for a previously mapped Andean region, Huascarán National Park, Peru. Our secondary goal was to test a rapid peat sampling protocol to facilitate …

The Methylation Landscape Of Giga-Genome And The Epigenetic Timer Of Age In Chinese Pine, Jiang Li, Fangxu Han, Tongqi Yuan, Wei Li, Yue Li, Harry X. Wu, Hairong Wei, Shihui Niu

Michigan Tech Publications

Epigenetics has been revealed to play a crucial role in the long-term memory in plants. However, little is known about whether the epigenetic modifications occur with age progressively in conifers. Here, we present the single-base resolution DNA methylation landscapes of the 25-gigabase Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) genome at different ages. The result shows that DNA methylation is closely coupled with the regulation of gene transcription. The age-dependent methylation profile with a linearly increasing trend is the most significant pattern of DMRs between ages. Two segments at the five-prime end of the first ultra-long intron in DAL1, a conservative age biomarker …

Forming Regional Soil Carbon Networks To Support Effective Climate Change Solutions, Gregory Lawrence, Ivan Fernandez, Scott Bailey, Colin Beier, Alexandra Contosta, Erin Lane, Peter Murdoch, Lucas E. Nave, Angelica Quintana, Donald Ross, Alissa White

Michigan Tech Publications

Sequestration and storage of organic carbon (C) in soil is an essential component of climate change mitigation and fundamental in promoting the health and climate resilience of soils. Sources of available soil C data are increasing, which complicates efforts to consolidate the data in forms that can be readily used by stakeholders. Spatial and temporal gaps in data availability also limit the quantification of changes in soil C through space and time. Improved coordination among producers and users of soil C data would provide data compatibility at the spatial and temporal resolution required for C monitoring, accounting, and verification of …

Canopy-Top Measurements Do Not Accurately Quantify Canopy-Scale Leaf Thermoregulation, Josef C. Garen, Luiza Maria T. Aparecido, Benjamin W. Blonder, Molly A. Cavaleri, Martijn Slot, Sean T. Michaletz

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Coarse Woody Debris And Carbon Stocks In Pine Forests After 50 Years Of Recovery From Harvesting In Northeastern California, Jianwei Zhang, Deborah S. Page-Dumroese, Martin Jurgensen, Matt Busse, Kim G. Mattson

Michigan Tech Publications

The long-term effects of harvesting on stand carbon (C) pools were assessed in a dry, interior pine-dominated forest at the Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest in northeastern California. Six 8-hectacre plots, established in 1938–1943, were treated as either an uncut control or a heavy-cut harvest (three-quarters of the stand volume removed). Response variables included C pools in overstory tree and shrub, coarse woody debris (CWD), forest floor, mineral soil (to 30 cm depth), cubicle brown root fragments of wood, fine roots, and ectomycorrhizal root tips. CWD was further classified as intact wood or more highly decayed brown rot or white rot …

Autotetraploidization Alters Morphology, Photosynthesis, Cytological Characteristics And Fruit Quality In Sour Jujube (Ziziphus Acidojujuba Cheng Et Liu), Lihu Wang, Lixin Wang, Tingting Ye, Jin Zhao, Lili Wang, Hairong Wei, Ping Liu, Mengjun Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

Artificially induced polyploidization is one of the most effective techniques for improving the biological properties and creating new cultivars of fruit trees. Up to now, systematic research on the autotetraploid of sour jujube (Ziziphus acidojujuba Cheng et Liu) has not been reported. ‘Zhuguang’ is the first released autotetraploid sour jujube induced with colchicine. The objective of this study was to compare the differences in the morphological, cytological characteristics, and fruit quality between diploid and autotetraploid. Compared with the original diploid, ‘Zhuguang’ showed dwarf phenotypes and decreased tree vigor. The sizes of the flowers, pollen, stomata, and leaves of ‘Zhuguang’ were …

Correction To: Determining Puma Habitat Suitability In The Eastern Usa (Biodiversity And Conservation, (2023), 10.1007/S10531-022-02529-Z), Veronica Yovovich, Nathaniel Robinson, Hugh Robinson, Michael J. Manfredo, Shelby Perry, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, John A. Vucetich, Luis Aníbal Solórzano, Lydia A. Roe, Alison Lesure, Jamie Robertson, Tom Butler, L. Mark Elbroch

Michigan Tech Publications

In the original article, One of the author names was incorrectly misspelled as Tom Bulter. It must be published as “Tom Butler”. The original article has been corrected.

Genomic Underpinnings Of Population Persistence In Isle Royale Moose, Christopher C. Kyriazis, Annabel C. Beichman, Kristin Brzeski, Sarah Hoy, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich, Leah Vucetich, Kirk E. Lohmueller, Robert K. Wayne

Michigan Tech Publications

Island ecosystems provide natural laboratories to assess the impacts of isolation on population persistence. However, most studies of persistence have focused on a single species, without comparisons to other organisms they interact with in the ecosystem. The case study of moose and gray wolves on Isle Royale allows for a direct contrast of genetic variation in isolated populations that have experienced dramatically differing population trajectories over the past decade. Whereas the Isle Royale wolf population recently declined nearly to extinction due to severe inbreeding depression, the moose population has thrived and continues to persist, despite having low genetic diversity and …

Forest Ecosystem Properties Emerge From Interactions Of Structure And Disturbance, J. Christina Mitchell, Daniel M. Kashian, Xiongwen Chen, Stella Cousins, David J. Flaspohler, Daniel S. Gruner, Jeremy S. Johnson, Thilina D. Surasinghe, Jenny Zambrano, Brian Buma

Michigan Tech Publications

Forest structural diversity and its spatiotemporal variability are constrained by environmental and biological factors, including species pools, climate, land-use history, and legacies of disturbance regimes. These factors influence forest responses to disturbances and their interactions with structural diversity, potentially creating structurally mediated emergent properties at local to continental spatial scales and over evolutionary time. Here, we present a conceptual framework for exploring the emergent properties that arise from interactions between forest structural diversity and disturbances. We synthesize and present definitions for key terms, including emergent property, disturbance, and resilience, and highlight various types and examples of emergent properties, such as …

Properties And Emissions Of Three-Layer Particleboards Manufactured With Mixtures Of Wood Chips And Partially Liquefied Bark, Wen Jiang, Stergios Adamopoulos, Reza Hosseinpourpia, Thomas Walther, Sergej Medved

Michigan Tech Publications

Partial liquefaction of residual biomass shows good potential for developing new materials suitable for making bio-based composites. Three-layer particleboards were produced by replacing virgin wood particles with partially liquefied bark (PLB) in the core or surface layers. PLB was prepared by the acid-catalyzed liquefaction of industrial bark residues in polyhydric alcohol. The chemical and microscopic structure of bark and residues after liquefaction were evaluated by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), while the particleboards were tested for their mechanical and water-related properties, as well as their emission profiles. Through a partial liquefaction process, some …

Tree Stem Volume Estimation From Terrestrial Lidar Point Cloud By Unwrapping, Zhongming An, Robert E. Froese

Michigan Tech Publications

Estimating the volume of standing trees is a fundamental concern in forestry and is typically accomplished using one or more measurements of stem diameter along with formulae that assume geometric primitives. In contrast, technologies such as terrestrial Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) can record very detailed spatial information on the actual surface of an object, such as a tree bole.We present a method using LiDAR that provides accurate volume estimates of tree stems, as well as 2D rasters that display details of stem surfaces, which we call the “unwrapping method.” This method combines the concepts of cylinder fitting, voxelization, and …

Comparison Of High-Resolution Naip And Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Uav) Imagery For Natural Vegetation Communities Classification Using Machine Learning Approaches, Parth Bhatt, Ann Maclean

Michigan Tech Publications

To map and manage forest vegetation including wetland communities, remote sensing technology has been shown to be a valid and widely employed technology. In this paper, two ecologically different study areas were evaluated using free and widely available high-resolution multispectral National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and ultra-high-resolution multispectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery located in the Upper Great Lakes Laurentian Mixed Forest. Three different machine learning algorithms, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and averaged neural network (avNNet), were evaluated to classify complex natural habitat communities as defined by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. Accurate training sets were developed …

Structuring Life After Death: Plant Leachates Promote Co2 Uptake By Regulating Microbial Biofilm Interactions In A Northern Peatland Ecosystem, Allison R. Rober, Allyson J. Lankford, Evan Kane, Merritt R. Turetsky, Kevin H. Wyatt

Michigan Tech Publications

Shifts in plant functional groups associated with climate change have the potential to influence peatland carbon storage by altering the amount and composition of organic matter available to aquatic microbial biofilms. The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential for plant subsidies to regulate ecosystem carbon flux (CO2) by governing the relative proportion of primary producers (microalgae) and heterotrophic decomposers (heterotrophic bacteria) during aquatic biofilm development in an Alaskan fen. We evaluated biofilm composition and CO2 flux inside mesocosms with and without nutrients (both nitrogen and phosphorus), organic carbon (glucose), and leachates from common peatland plants (moss, sedge, …

The World Of Underground Ecology In A Changing Environment, Elsa Abs, Moira Hough

Michigan Tech Publications

This special feature presents state-of-the-art soil ecological science and was sparked following the 2-day long online live event entitled “Ecology Underground” during the Ecological Society of America annual meeting of 2020. Here, we, the co-guest-editors of this special feature, present this body of research in context of the current state of the field. This issue highlights that we are currently in a hot time for microbial research in soil science. Specifically, we find that two themes emerge from this corpus as key next questions to answer to move the field forward. How do microbial processes scale up in space and …

Degradation Assessment Of Archaeological Oak (Quercus Spp.) Buried Under Oxygen-Limited Condition, Amir Ghavidel, Amin Jorbandian, Miklos Bak, Jana Gelbrich, Jeffrey J. Morrell, Ion Sandu, Reza Hosseinpourpia

Michigan Tech Publications

The biological deterioration of archaeological wood under oxygen-limited conditions varies due to the limited activities of microorganisms. It is essential to expand the knowledge of the degradation types and the status of archaeological monuments for selecting the proper consolidates. The physical, chemical, and anatomical properties of approximately 600-650 year old archaeological oak collected from an archaeological site in Iasi-Romania were analysed to assess the quality and to identify the degradation types. The results were compared with similar tests on recently-cut oak. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed the presence of more lignin-related peaks in the archaeological oak, which likely reflected the …

Determining Puma Habitat Suitability In The Eastern Usa, Veronica Yovovich, Nathaniel Robinson, Hugh Robinson, Michael J. Manfredo, Shelby Perry, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, John Vucetich, Luis Aníbal Solórzano, Lydia A. Roe, Alison Lesure, Jamie Robertson, Tom Bulter, L. Mark Elbroch

Michigan Tech Publications

Pumas (Puma concolor) were eliminated from most of the eastern USA a century ago. In the past couple of decades, their recovery in the West has increased puma dispersal into the Midwest, with some individuals even traveling to the East Coast. We combined published expert opinion data and a habitat suitability index in an analysis that identified 17 areas in the Upper Midwest, Ozarks, Appalachia, and New England that could potentially host puma populations in the future. Thirteen of these were larger than 10,000 km2 and so likely to ensure a puma population’s long-term genetic health. Further, we quantified patch …

Genome-Wide Identification And Characterization Of Auxin Response Factor (Arf) Gene Family Involved In Wood Formation And Response To Exogenous Hormone Treatment In Populus Trichocarpa, Yingying Liu, Ruiqi Wang, Jiajie Yu, Shan Huang, Yang Zhang, Hairong Wei, Zhigang Wei

Michigan Tech Publications

Auxin is a key regulator that virtually controls almost every aspect of plant growth and development throughout its life cycle. As the major components of auxin signaling, auxin response factors (ARFs) play crucial roles in various processes of plant growth and development. In this study, a total of 35 PtrARF genes were identified, and their phylogenetic relationships, chromosomal locations, synteny relationships, exon/intron structures, cis-elements, conserved motifs, and protein characteristics were systemically investigated. We also analyzed the expression patterns of these PtrARF genes and revealed that 16 of them, including PtrARF1, 3, 7, 11, 13–17, 21, 23, 26, 27, 29, 31, …

Genetic Diversity And Family Groups Detected In A Coyote Population With Red Wolf Ancestry On Galveston Island, Texas, Tanner Barnes, Melissa Karlin, Bridgett M. Vonholdt, Jennifer R. Adams, Lisette P. Waits, Joseph W. Hinton, Josh Henderson, Kristin Brzeski

Michigan Tech Publications

Background: Hybridization can be a conservation concern if genomic introgression leads to the loss of an endangered species’ unique genome, or when hybrid offspring are sterile or less fit than their parental species. Yet hybridization can also be an adaptive management tool if rare populations are inbred and have reduced genetic variation, and there is the opportunity to enhance genetic variation through hybridization. The red wolf (Canis rufus) is a critically endangered wolf endemic to the eastern United States, where all extant red wolves are descended from 14 founders which has led to elevated levels of inbreeding over time. Red …

A Mini Review Of Citrus Rootstocks And Their Role In High-Density Orchards, Faisal Hayat, Juan Li, Shahid Iqbal, Yang Peng, Leming Hong, Rashad Mukhtar Balal, Muhammad Nawaz Khan, Muhammad Azher Nawaz, Ummara Khan, Muhammad Asad Farhan, Caiqing Li, Wenpei Song, Panfeng Tu, Jiezhong Chen

Michigan Tech Publications

Dwarfing is an important agricultural trait for intensive cultivation and effective orchard management in modern fruit orchards. Commercial citrus production relies on grafting with rootstocks that reduce tree vigor to control plant height. Citrus growers all over the world have been attracted to dwarfing trees because of their potential for higher planting density, increased productivity, easy harvest, pruning, and efficient spraying. Dwarfing rootstocks can be used to achieve high density. As a result, the use and development of dwarfing rootstocks are important. Breeding programs in several countries have led to the production of citrus dwarf rootstocks. For example, the dwarfing …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Diverse Auxin Responses During Plant Growth And Development, Yang Zhang, Jiajie Yu, Xiuyue Xu, Ruiqi Wang, Yingying Liu, Shan Huang, Hairong Wei, Zhigang Wei

Michigan Tech Publications

The plant hormone auxin acts as a signaling molecule to regulate numerous developmental processes throughout all stages of plant growth. Understanding how auxin regulates various physiological and developmental processes has been a hot topic and an intriguing field. Recent studies have unveiled more molecular details into how diverse auxin responses function in every aspect of plant growth and development. In this review, we systematically summarized and classified the molecular mechanisms of diverse auxin responses, and comprehensively elaborated the characteristics and multilevel regulation mechanisms of the canonical transcriptional auxin response. On this basis, we described the characteristics and differences between different …

Fresh Air For The Mire-Breathing Hypothesis: Sphagnum Moss And Peat Structure Regulate The Response Of Co2 Exchange To Altered Hydrology In A Northern Peatland Ecosystem, Ally O’Neill, Colin Tucker, Evan S. Kane

Michigan Tech Publications

Sphagnum-dominated peatlands store more carbon than all of Earth’s forests, playing a large role in the balance of carbon dioxide. However, these carbon sinks face an uncertain future as the changing climate is likely to cause water stress, potentially reducing Sphagnum productivity and transitioning peatlands to carbon sources. A mesocosm experiment was performed on thirty-two peat cores collected from two peatland landforms: elevated mounds (hummocks) and lower, flat areas of the peatland (hollows). Both rainfall treatments and water tables were manipulated, and CO2 fluxes were measured. Other studies have observed peat subsiding and tracking the water table downward when experiencing …

Sight Versus Sound: Do Visual Assessments Of Dead Standing Trees Reflect Acoustic Nondestructive Evaluations Of Wood Quality?, Tyler J. Hovde, John W. Forsman, Robert J. Ross, Mark Rudnicki, Xinfeng Xie, Xiping Wang, Yvette L. Dickson

Michigan Tech Publications

The forest industry typically uses visual appearance to evaluate the wood quality when salvaging dead standing trees. We investigated whether the visual appearance of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) defoliated by the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)) accurately reflects wood quality measured using nondestructive techniques. Longitudinal and transverse acoustic velocities were measured on white spruce, representing three condition categories assessed visually, ranging from live trees to dead standing trees with signs of decay. Generalized linear models were used to determine whether there were significant differences in longitudinal and transverse acoustic velocities among the visual categories. Longitudinal velocities significantly differed …

Soil Carbon Within The Mangrove Landscape In Rufiji River Delta, Tanzania, Zhaohua Dai, Carl C. Trettin, Mwita M. Mangora, Wenwu Tang

Michigan Tech Publications

Mangroves are among the most carbon-rich terrestrial ecosystems, primarily attributable to the soil pool. There are substantial differences in soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) due to the disparities in geomorphic settings and ecological drivers, but this insight is drawn primarily from observational studies. An objective inventory of carbon stocks in mangroves of the Rufiji River Delta, Tanzania was conducted. Seventy-five soil cores were collected within a 12,164 ha inventory area, comprising the northern portion of the delta. Cores were collected from intact and dwarf mangroves, agricultural fields, and mudflats. The spatial mean soil organic carbon (SOC) density in mangroves …

A Spectral Three-Dimensional Color Space Model Of Tree Crown Health, William B. Monahan, Colton E. Arnspiger, Parth Bhatt, Zhongming An, Frank J. Krist, Tao Liu, Robert P. Richard, Curtis Edson, Robert E. Froese, John Steffenson, Tony C. Lammers, Randy Frosh

Michigan Tech Publications

Protecting the future of forests in the United States and other countries depends in part on our ability to monitor and map forest health conditions in a timely fashion to facilitate management of emerging threats and disturbances over a multitude of spatial scales. Remote sensing data and technologies have contributed to our ability to meet these needs, but existing methods relying on supervised classification are often limited to specific areas by the availability of imagery or training data, as well as model transferability. Scaling up and operationalizing these methods for general broadscale monitoring and mapping may be promoted by using …

Image Processing In Dense Forest Areas Using Unmanned Aerial System (Uas), Parth Bhatt, Curtis Edson, Ann Maclean

Michigan Tech Publications

Description:

A detailed workflow using Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques for processing high-resolution Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) NIR and RGB imagery in a dense forest environment where obtaining control points is difficult due to limited access and safety issues.

Abstract:

Imagery collected via Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) platforms has become popular in recent years due to improvements in a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera (centimeter and sub-centimeter), lower operation costs as compared to human piloted aircraft, and the ability to collect data over areas with limited ground access. Many different application (e.g., forestry, agriculture, geology, archaeology) are already using and …

Whole-Tree Harvest Effects On Macronutrients In An Oak-Dominated System After Seven Years, Robert Richard, Evan Kane, Dustin Bronson, Randall Kolka

Michigan Tech Publications

This study assesses the impacts of whole-tree harvesting (WTH) versus stem-only harvest (SOH) on two oak-dominated stands located in Northern Wisconsin. Specifically, our study follows up on an experiment designed to better understand the impacts of WTH and whether stands are at risk of long-term nutrient losses, which could contribute to declines in productivity. The original study assessed: (i) full biomass removal (referred to as WTH), (ii) partial biomass removal (removal to 5 cm diameter bole), (iii) a traditional SOH (removal to 10 cm bole), and (iv) no harvest (control). Our data were collected 93 months after harvest and showed …

European Mushroom Assemblages Are Phylogenetically Structured By Temperature, Claus Bässler, Jacob Heilmann-Clausen, Carrie Andrew, Lynne Boddy, Ulf Büntgen, Jeffrey Diez, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

Recent global warming affects species compositions at an unprecedented rate. To predict climate-induced changes in species assemblages, a better understanding of the link between species occurrence and climate is needed. Macrofungal fruit body assemblages are correlated with the thermal environment at the European scale. However, it is still unknown whether macrofungal communities are also phylogenetically structured by thermal environments. Thermal environments are characterized by annual temperature means but also by intra-annual temperature variability (hereafter termed temperature seasonality), which are both considered in this study. Here, we used distribution data of 2882 species based on fruit body records across Europe to …