Life Sciences Commons^™

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring At Wind Cave National Park, 2019 Data Report, Theresa L. Schaffner, Daniel J. Swanson, Stephanie L. Rockwood

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire) vegetation monitoring at Wind Cave National Park (WICA) in 2019. This was the ninth year of combined monitoring efforts.

Crew members from NGPN visited 18 long-term monitoring plots to collect data representing the plant communities at WICA. The NGPFire program collected pre- and post-burn data from an additional 37 plant community and forest structure monitoring plots. This work is part of a long-term monitoring effort designed to evaluate the condition of the vegetation community and understand …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring At Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2019 Data Report, Molly B. Davis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2019 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire). This was the ninth year of combined monitoring efforts.

In 2019, crew members from NGPN visited 6 long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect data on the upland mixed-grass prairie plant communities at AGFO. This work is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better understand the condition of the vegetation community and how it changes over time. NGPN staff …

Vegetation Classification And Mapping, Missouri National Recreational River, Tom Baldvins, Matt Ley, David Jones, Joe Stevens, Hannah Pilkington

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The vegetation inventory project at Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) classified and mapped vegetation within the park administrative boundary and estimated thematic map accuracy quantitatively. The project was conducted over a four year period from the summer of 2015 to the winter of 2019.

The project follows guidance provided by the National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory (VMI) Program. The overall process includes initial planning and scoping, imagery procurement, field data collection, data analysis, imagery interpretation and classification, and accuracy assessment. The initial planning and scoping meetings to support study plan development took place in December, 2009, …

Functional Dissection Of The Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum L.) Stay-Green Phenotype Associated With Molecular Variation At An Ortholog Of Mendel’S I Gene For Cotyledon Color: Implications For Crop Production And Carotenoid Biofortification, Kaliamoorthy Sivasakthi, Edward Marques, Ng’Andwe Kalungwana, Noelia Carrasquilla-Garcia, Peter L. Chang, Emily M. Bergmann, Erika Bueno, Matilde Cordeiro, Syed Gul A.S. Sani, Sripada M. Udupa, Irshad A. Rather, Reyazul Rouf Mir, Vincent Vadez, George J. Vandemark, Pooran M. Gaur, Douglas R. Cook, Christine Boesch, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg, Jana Kholova, R. Varma Penmetsa

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

“Stay-green” crop phenotypes have been shown to impact drought tolerance and nutritional content of several crops. We aimed to genetically describe and functionally dissect the particular stay-green phenomenon found in chickpeas with a green cotyledon color of mature dry seed and investigate its potential use for improvement of chickpea environmental adaptations and nutritional value. We examined 40 stay-green accessions and a set of 29 BC2F4-5 stay-green introgression lines using a stay-green donor parent ICC 16340 and two Indian elite cultivars (KAK2, JGK1) as recurrent parents. Genetic studies of segregating populations indicated that the green cotyledon trait is controlled by a …

Bird Dispersal As A Pre-Adaptation For Domestication In Legumes: Insights For Neo-Domestication, Hester Brǿnnvik, Eric J. Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Payment For Ecosystem Services: Incentives To Support Environmental Quality & Farming In Vermont, Stephen Posner, Taylor Ricketts, Eric Roy

Reports and Policy Briefs

Environmental quality is an ongoing concern in the Lake Champlain Basin. Vermont farmers are in a unique position to manage land in a way that maintains and improves environmental quality. A payment for ecosystem services (PES) program for Vermont would both support the economic vi- ability of Vermont farms and incentivize farmers to improve water quality and soil health. How- ever, conceptual and practical implementation challenges remain.

The Relationship Between Forest Management And Stream Discharge In Mazumbai And Baga Ii Forest Reserves, Tanga Region, Tanzania, Shannon Duffy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Deforestation is known to alter hydrology by reducing interception, transpiration and infiltration capacity, and increasing runoff which all leads to higher stream discharge. For rural Tanzanian communities, surface water resources are crucial for meeting basic needs, so the integrity of headwater catchments need to be maintained to ensure their reliability. The objectives of this study were to a) map the streams in the two forests because none currently exist and b) determine the effect of deforestation on discharge variability. Over fifteen days of data collection, this study analyzed variability of discharge and the degree of correlation between discharge and rainfall …

How The Atacama Skeleton Might Advance Discussion Of Responsible Conduct Of Research Responsibilities, Thomas May, Mariko Nakano-Okuno

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Controversies resulting from genetic testing on skeletal remains of disputed stewardship raise important questions about obligations inherent on genetic researchers to assure ethical chain of custody. In this paper, we analyze and evaluate several proposed positions on whether such research should be published. Following jurisprudential standards for legitimate regulatory systems, we argue that responsible conduct of research requires reasonable attention to chain of custody, but cannot require guarantees, particularly in cases of ancient remains.

Ontogenesis Of The Sella Turcica Among Egyptians: Forensic And Radiological Study, Wafaa Mohamed El-Sehly, Fatma Mohamed Magdy Badr El Dine, Mohamed Samir Shaban

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Introduction: The sella turcica has gained importance as a stable bony landmark in cephalometric studies.
Aim of the work: The aim of the work was to explore the changes that accompany postnatal ontogeny of the sella turcica until full development, and to verify its contribution in age estimation and sexual assignment among Egyptians.
Subjects and methods: Six selected measurements of the sella turcica of 215 Egyptian patients were assessed using Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT). The patients represented different ages and were referred to the Radiodiagnosis and Intervention Department. The gathered data were then subjected to statistical analysis including correlation and …

Genetic Variants Of Duffy And Hemoglobin S Genes In An Afrodescendent Population From Columbia, Diana C. Ortega, Heiber Cardenas, Guillermo Barreto

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Malaria is an endemic disease in a large part of Colombia, and the city of Buenaventura reports one of the highest malaria infection rates. Some genetic variants confer resistance to malaria, such as the heterozygote for hemoglobin S (HbS) and the homozygous variant FYB^ES/FYB^ES of the Duffy gene. The aim of this work was the molecular characterization of these genes in an afrodescendent population from the urban area of Buenaventura. A total of 819 individuals from a stratified random sampling in each of the 12 communities of this city were analysed. Molecular analysis was performed using PCR-RFLP, …

Complexity, Genetic Causation, And Hereditarianism, Charles Roseman

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Hereditarians have claimed that recent advances in psychological and psychiatric genetics support their contention that individual and group socially important aspects of behavior and cognition are largely insensitive to environmental context. This has been countered by anti- hereditarians who (correctly) claim that the conclusion of genetic ineluctability is false. Anti- hereditarians, however, sometimes use problematic arguments based on complexity and the ignorance that comes with complexity and a demand for mechanistic, as opposed to variational, explanations for the ways in which genes affect phenotype. I argue here, as a committed anti-hereditarian, that the complexity gambit and the demand for mechanisms …

Genetic Overview Of The Maya Populations: Mitochondrial Dna Haplogroups, Angélica González-Oliver, Dircé Pineda-Vázquez, Ernesto Garfias-Morales, Isabel De La Cruz-Laina, Luis Medrano-González, Lourdes Márquez-Morfín, Allan Ortega-Muñoz

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

We identified the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups A, B, C and D in 75 present-day Maya individuals, 24 Maya individuals of the colonial period and one pre-Columbian Maya individual from Quintana Roo, Mexico. We examined these data together with those of 21 Maya populations accounting for 647 present-day Maya individuals and 104 ancient Maya individuals. A demographic study based on the analysis of fertility and endogamy was carried out in two modern Maya populations to identify cultural factors that influence the mitochondrial haplogroup genetic diversity. Most present-day and ancient Maya populations show a distribution pattern of mitochondrial haplogroup frequencies A, C, …

Vegetation Monitoring At Homestead National Monument Of America, Nebraska, 1998–2017, Sherry A. Leis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network has sampled permanent monitoring sites in three vegetation community types (restored prairie, successional forest, and bur oak forest) at Homestead National Monument of America since 1998 (includes nine sample years). Network scientists record each species, aerial cover estimates of ground flora, diameter at breast height of midstory and overstory trees, and tree regeneration frequency (tree seedlings and saplings) within these permanent sites.

The park has experienced similar periods of drought and wetness through the monitoring record. Ground cover estimates indicate that prairie litter and bare ground are negatively related; prescribed fire cycles …

A Moral Panic Over Cats, William S. Lynn, Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila, Joann Lindenmayer, John Hadidian, Arian D. Wallach, Barbara J. King

Stray and Feral Animal Populations Collection

Some conservationists believe that free-ranging cats pose an enormous risk to biodiversity and public health and therefore should be eliminated from the landscape by any means necessary. They further claim that those who question the science or ethics behind their arguments are science deniers (merchants of doubt) seeking to mislead the public. As much as we share a commitment to conservation of biodiversity and wild nature, we believe these ideas are wrong and fuel an unwarranted moral panic over cats. Those who question the ecological or epidemiological status of cats are not science deniers, and it is a false analogy …

Geographic And Climatic Attributions Of Autumn Land Surface Phenology Spatial Patterns In The Temperate Deciduous Broadleaf Forest Of China, Weiguang Lang, Xiaoqiu Chen, Liang Liang, Shilong Ren, Siwei Qian

Geography Faculty Publications

Autumn vegetation phenology plays a critical role in identifying the end of the growing season and its response to climate change. Using the six vegetation indices retrieved from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer data, we extracted an end date of the growing season (EOS) in the temperate deciduous broadleaf forest (TDBF) area of China. Then, we validated EOS with the ground-observed leaf fall date (LF) of dominant tree species at 27 sites and selected the best vegetation index. Moreover, we analyzed the spatial pattern of EOS based on the best vegetation index and its dependency on geo-location indicators and seasonal temperature/precipitation. …

Coral Reef Change Detection In Remote Pacific Islands Using Support Vector Machine Classifiers, Justin J. Gapper, Hesham El-Askary, Erik Linstead, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the abundance of research on coral reef change detection, few studies have been conducted to assess the spatial generalization principles of a live coral cover classifier trained using remote sensing data from multiple locations. The aim of this study is to develop a machine learning classifier for coral dominated benthic cover-type class (CDBCTC) based on ground truth observations and Landsat images, evaluate the performance of this classifier when tested against new data, then deploy the classifier to perform CDBCTC change analysis of multiple locations. The proposed framework includes image calibration, support vector machine (SVM) training and tuning, statistical assessment …

Assessment Of Watersheds For Sustainable Agriculture In Karnataka, India, Nicholas Adam Charles

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modernization of traditional small-scale irrigation tanks in India is becoming increasingly popular. This is due to high costs of the alternative, of developing and constructing large-scale projects in rural areas. Examination of management strategies, resource allocation, and collective action has become paramount for promoting food security and livelihoods in water-stressed areas of Southeast Asia. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques are valuable to assessing the management of these irrigation systems, specifically small water storage reservoirs that capture runoff from the monsoon known as irrigation tanks. The primary goal of this study is to develop a stakeholder-informed approach to …

Population Genomic Analysis Of Mango (Mangifera Indica) Suggests A Complex History Of Domestication, Emily J. Warschefsky, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Trust Humans have domesticated diverse species from across the plant kingdom, yet much of our foundational knowledge of domestication has come from studies investigating relatively few of the most important annual food crops. Here, we examine the impacts of domestication on genetic diversity in a tropical perennial fruit species, mango (Mangifera indica). We used restriction site associated DNA sequencing to generate genomic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from 106 mango cultivars from seven geographical regions along with 52 samples of closely related species and unidentified cultivars to identify centers of mango genetic diversity and examine how post-domestication dispersal shaped the …

Bird Monitoring At Homestead National Monument Of America, Nebraska, Status Report 2009–2017, David G. Peitz, Lloyd W. Morrison, Kristen L. Mecke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

In 2009, the Heartland Inventory Monitoring Network initiated breeding bird surveys on Homestead National Monument of America, Nebraska, to address two objectives: (1) to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance, and (2) to improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and habitat, and the effects of management actions on those relationships. This report evaluates trends in the park’s breeding bird populations in the context of trends observed within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s (NABCI) Central Mixed Grass Prairie Bird Conservation Region, the region in which the park is located. By doing so, we can …

Bird Monitoring At Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa, Status Report 2005–2017, David G. Peitz, Lloyd W. Morrison, Kristen L. Mecke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

In 2005, the Heartland Inventory & Monitoring Network initiated breeding bird surveys on Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa, to address two objectives: (1) to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance, and (2) to improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and habitat, and the effects of management actions on those relationships. This report evaluates trends in the park’s breeding bird populations in the context of trends observed within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s (NABCI) Eastern Tallgrass Prairie Bird Conservation Region , the region in which the park is located. By doing so, we …

Rediscovery Of The Endangered Carchi Andean Toad, Rhaebo Colomai (Hoogmoed, 1985), In Ecuador, With Comments On Its Conservation Status And Extinction Risk, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Gabriela B. Bittencourt-Silva, María Torres-Sánchez, Mark Wilkinson, Jeffrey W. Streicher, Simon T. Maddock, Ramachandran Kotharambath, Hendrik Müller, Francesca Nicole Angiolani Larrera, Diego Amieda-Reinoso, Santiago R. Ron, Diego Francisco Cisneros-Heredia

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Since 1984 there have been no records of Rhaebo colomai (Hoogmoed, 1985) within the territory of Ecuador. This species was known from 2 localities in the province of Carchi, northwestern Ecuador, and the department of Nariño, southwestern Colombia, which were reported in 1979 and 2015, respectively. We report the recent sightings of R. colomai at 3 new localities in Ecuador and discuss and evaluate this species’ extinction risk and conservation status.

The Interface Between Invasive Species And The Increased Incidence Of Tick-Borne Diseases, And The Implications For Federal Land Managers, Ed Clark, Janis Mcfarland, Blaine Parker, Slade Franklin

National Invasive Species Council

Includes information on the dynamics of tick-borne disease, factors affecting the occurrence and density of ticks, matrices of ties between habitat, human activities, invasive plants, and ticks, federal resources and programs related to ticks and vector-borne disease in the United States, with references and an annotated bibliography of literature on ticks, vector-borne diseases, and invasive species.

A Comparative Analysis Of Governance And Leadership In Agricultural Development Policy Networks, Jessica Rudnick, Meredith Niles, Mark Lubell, Laura Cramer

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Agricultural development initiatives feature many public and private organizations working together across sectors and scales to pursue the goals of food security and climate resilience. Policy networks are considered a crucial ingredient for the learning and cooperation needed to effectively implement agricultural development projects and increase community resiliency, yet very little comparative empirical data has been collected to assess where and how these networks operate. We contribute to filling this gap by characterizing the governance and leadership patterns within agricultural development policy networks that connect organizations working on climate resilience and food security activities in 14 smallholder farming communities across …

Chacra Farming, Peasant Livelihood Portfolios And Identities In The Peruvian Andes, Anna C. Bebbington

Geography Honors Projects

Nearly fifty years after land reform in Peru, and in the face of dramatic climatic and social change, small-scale, high-altitude agriculture and the livelihoods of peasant households have fundamentally changed.Nonetheless, low-input subsistence agriculture, known as chacra agriculture, remains a prominent feature in Andean landscapes and peasant livelihoods. Drawing on research conducted in two agro-pastoral communities in the Ancash region of Peru, this thesis seeks to show how and why households in these communities continue to rely on the chacra as part of their livelihood strategies. While seeking to understand the role of the chacra in peasant livelihood portfolios, I consider …

A Preliminary Study For The Future Translocation Of A Saimiri Sciureus Troop From Sumak Allpa To Yasuní National Park: Assessing The Habitat Use, Population, And Behavior Of A Common Squirrel Monkey Troop In Indillama, Kenia French

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sumak Allpa, an organization specializing in primate rehabilitation, plans to introduce a Common Squirrel Monkey Troop ( Saimiri sciureus ), the Yasuní Troop, to the Indillama region of Yasuní National Park. This study analyzes the habitat use, population, and behavior of the Saimiri sciureus troop, referred to as the Indillama Troop, already existing in the region, from April 14th to May 4th, 2019. Focal and scan observation techniques were used to observe the troop’s behavior, and EasyTrails on an iPhone 7 was used to record GPS data. EasyTrails was also used to map the trail system in the Indillama region. …

Seeing Is Not Always Believing: Crop Loss And Climate Change Perceptions Among Farm Advisors, Meredith T. Niles, Sarah Wiener, Rachel E. Schattman, Gabrielle Roesch-Mcnally, Julian Reyes

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

As climate change is expected to significantly affect agricultural systems globally, agricultural farm advisors have been increasingly recognized as an important resource in helping farmers address these challenges. While there have been many studies exploring the climate change belief and risk perceptions as well as behaviors of both farmers and agricultural farm advisors, there are very few studies that have explored how these perceptions relate to actual climate impacts in agriculture. Here we couple survey data from United States Department of Agriculture farm service employees (n = 6, 514) with historical crop loss data across the United States to explore …

Non-Linear Regression Models For Time To Flowering In Wild Chickpea Combine Genetic And Climatic Factors, Konstantin Kozlov, Anupam Singh, Jens Berger, Eric Bishop-Von Wettberg, Abdullah Kahraman, Abdulkadir Aydogan, Douglas Cook, Sergey Nuzhdin, Maria Samsonova

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Accurate prediction of crop flowering time is required for reaching maximal farm efficiency. Several models developed to accomplish this goal are based on deep knowledge of plant phenology, requiring large investment for every individual crop or new variety. Mathematical modeling can be used to make better use of more shallow data and to extract information from it with higher efficiency. Cultivars of chickpea, Cicer arietanum, are currently being improved by introgressing wild C. reticulatum biodiversity with very different flowering time requirements. More understanding is required for how flowering time will depend on environmental conditions in these cultivars developed by …

Food And Earth Systems: Priorities For Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation For Agriculture And Food Systems, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Bruce M. Campbell, Peter J.M. Cooper, James W. Hansen, Todd Rosenstock, Eva Wollenberg

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Human activities and their relation with land, through agriculture and forestry, are significantly impacting Earth system functioning. Specifically, agriculture has increasingly become a key sector for adaptation and mitigation initiatives that address climate change and help ensure food security for a growing global population. Climate change and agricultural outcomes influence our ability to reach targets for at least seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. By 2015, 103 nations had committed themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, while 102 countries had prioritized agriculture in their adaptation agenda. Adaptation and mitigation actions within agriculture still receive insufficient support across …

Bird Monitoring At Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa, Status Report 2009–2017, David G. Peitz, Lloyd W. Morrison, Kristen L. Mecke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

In 2009, the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Network) initiated breeding bird surveys on Effigy Mounds National Monument (NM), Iowa, to address two objectives: (1) to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance, and (2) to improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and habitat and the effects of management actions on such relationships. This report evaluates trends in the park’s breeding bird populations in the context of trends observed within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s (NABCI) Prairie Hardwood Transition Bird Conservation Region, the bird conservation region in which the park is located. By doing …

Now I See: Photovisualization To Support Agricultural Climate Adaptation, Rachel E. Schattman, Stephanie Hurley, Martha Caswell

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. To remain viable, agricultural producers will need to adapt to changing climatic conditions in coming decades. Agricultural advisers play an important role in helping producers decide to adopt appropriate adaptation practices. Photovisualizations have the potential to complement currently utilized outreach and education strategies. This research uses a focus group approach to explore (1) whether photovisualizations can aid in decision-making about climate change adaptation, and (2) what characteristics of photovisualizations are most effective at conveying spatial aspects of adaptation practices. We found that photovisualizations generate rich discussions about ecological and economic effects …