Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Substrate Type Affects The Drying Speed And Desiccation Tolerance Of Fern Gametophytes, Jordyn D. Regier, Mayra J. Hernandez, Camille K. Sicangco, Stephen D. Davis, Helen I. Holmlund Mar 2022

Substrate Type Affects The Drying Speed And Desiccation Tolerance Of Fern Gametophytes, Jordyn D. Regier, Mayra J. Hernandez, Camille K. Sicangco, Stephen D. Davis, Helen I. Holmlund

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Although most ferns require abundant water to thrive, some ferns can survive in habitats with limited water. Previous studies have examined the adaptations that allow xeric ferns to thrive in mediterranean-type ecosystems such as southern California. However, the large fern sporophyte only represents one stage of the fern life cycle; the independent gametophyte phase must also survive water stress, including the six-month summer drought periods of the Santa Monica Mountains. Some fern gametophytes have been reported to be desiccation tolerant (capable of recovery from near-complete drying), and this trait is believed to be dependent on the plant’s drying speed. In …


Testing For The Presence Of Botryosphaeria Dothidea In Branches Of Ceanothus Spinosus Undergoing Dieback, Katarina Carter Mar 2018

Testing For The Presence Of Botryosphaeria Dothidea In Branches Of Ceanothus Spinosus Undergoing Dieback, Katarina Carter

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Botryosphaeria dothidea is an opportunistic pathogen found in some of the cavitated branches of the chaparral vegetation in the Santa Monica Mountains. In this study, we focused on investigating the presence of Botryosphaeria dothidea in Ceanothus spinosus located on Pepperdine University’s campus. We wanted to test this hypothesis because we had observed a large amount of dieback in the Ceanothus spinosus population and wanted to identify a possible contributor. Because of the large number of cavitated branches in the Ceanothus spinosus we tested, we hypothesized that they contained fungus. To test this, we took twenty samples of twenty different Ceanothus …


An Individual-Based Model Of Chaparral Vegetation Response To Frequent Wildfire, Timothy Lucas, Dayna Mann, Reanna Dona Mar 2015

An Individual-Based Model Of Chaparral Vegetation Response To Frequent Wildfire, Timothy Lucas, Dayna Mann, Reanna Dona

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

In recent years, the Santa Monica Mountains (SMM) have been plagued by frequent wildfires which threaten the native chaparral species. Nonsprouting chaparral species are completely killed by a fire, but their seeds germinate in response to fire cues. Facultative sprouters both resprout after a wildfire and release seeds that germinate post-fire. This project is based on data collected since 1986 at a biological preserve adjacent to the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University with an average fire return interval of 7.5 years. We present a spatial model that simulates the growth, seed dispersal and resprouting behavior of individual shrubs that compete …