Life Sciences Commons^™

Salinity Tolerance Of Three Competing Rangeland Plant Species: Studies In Hydroponic Culture, Joseph K. Sagers, Blair L. Waldrom, Joseph Earl Creech, Ivan W. Mott, Bruce Bugbee

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus) is an invasive species that displaces Gardner's saltbush (Atriplex gardneri) on saline rangelands, whereas, forage kochia (Bassia prostrata) potentially can rehabilitate these ecosystems. Salinity tolerance has been hypothesized as the predominant factor affecting frequency of these species. This study compared relative salinity tolerance of these species, and tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Plants were evaluated in hydroponics, eliminating the confounding effects of drought, for 28 days at 0, 150, 200, 300, 400, 600, and 800 mmol/L NaCl. Survival, growth, and ion accumulation were determined. …

Large-Scale Control Of The Arabian Sea Monsoon Inversion In August, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The summer monsoon inversion in the Arabian Sea is characterized by a large amount of low clouds and August as the peak season. Atmospheric stratification associated with the monsoon inversion has been considered a local system influenced by the advancement of the India–Pakistan monsoon. Empirical and numerical evidence from this study suggests that the Arabian Sea monsoon inversion is linked to a broader-scale monsoon evolution across the African Sahel, South Asia, and East Asia–Western North Pacific (WNP), rather than being a mere byproduct of the India–Pakistan monsoon progression. In August, the upper-tropospheric anticyclone in South Asia extends sideways corresponding with …

General Control Nonrepressible4 Degrades 14-3-3 And The Rin4 Complex To Regulate Stomatal Aperture With Implications On Nonhost Disease Resistance And Drought Tolerance, Amita Kaundal, Vemenna S. Ramu, Sunhee Oh, Seonghee Lee, Bikram Pant, Hee-Kyung Lee, Clemencia M. Rojas, Muthappa Senthil-Kumar, Kirankumar S. Mysore

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Plants have complex and adaptive innate immune responses against pathogen infections. Stomata are key entry points for many plant pathogens. Both pathogens and plants regulate stomatal aperture for pathogen entry and defense, respectively. Not all plant proteins involved in stomatal aperture regulation have been identified. Here, we report GENERAL CONTROL NONREPRESSIBLE4 (GCN4), an AAA+-ATPase family protein, as one of the key proteins regulating stomatal aperture during biotic and abiotic stress. Silencing of GCN4 in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana compromises host and nonhost disease resistance due to open stomata during pathogen infection. AtGCN4 overexpression plants have reduced H+-ATPase activity, stomata …

Movement Of Cryptosporidium Parvum Oocysts Through Soils Without Preferential Pathways: Exploratory Test, Christophe J.G. Darnault, Zhenyang Peng, Chan Yu, Biting Li, Astrid R. Jacobson, Philippe C. Baveye

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Groundwater contamination by oocysts of the waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum is a significant cause of animal and human disease worldwide. Although research has been undertaken in the past to determine how specific physical and chemical properties of soils affect the risk of groundwater contamination by C. parvum, there is as yet no clear conclusion concerning the range of mobility of C. parvum that one should expect in field soils. In this context, the key objective of this research was to determine the magnitude of C. parvum transport in a number of soils, under conditions in which fast and preferential …

Effect Of Wood Chips And Rice Hulls On Water Holding Capacity Of A Peat­‐Based Substrate, Jakob Johnson, Will Wheeler, Mara Braddy, Bruce Bugbee

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The study included 13 substrates with different ratios of four media components. Four species of plants were grown (Vinca, Verbena, Impatiens, and Petunia), each with two replicate plants of each of the 13 substrates.

Each 1 Liter container, with approximately 850 mL of media volume, was fully hydrated and weighed to determine a maximum mass. Plants were then grown for three days until they wilted. Wilting was visually quantified on each pot. When the plant wilted, the container was weighed again to determine the minimum mass. The container was then re-­‐hydrated to determine a second replicate maximum mass. The two …

Accelerated Increase In The Arctic Tropospheric Warming Events Surpassing Stratospheric Warming Events During Winter, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Yen-Heng Lin, Ming-Ying Lee, Jin-Ho Yoon, Jonathan D.D. Meyer, Philip J. Rasch

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

In January 2016, a robust reversal of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) took place associated with a rapid tropospheric warming in the Arctic region; this was followed by the occurrence of a classic sudden stratospheric warming in March-April. The succession of these two distinct Arctic warming events provides a stimulating opportunity to examine their characteristics in terms of similarities and differences. Historical cases of these two types of Arctic warming were identified and validated based upon tropical linkages with the Madden-Julian Oscillation and El Niño as well as those documented in previous studies. Our results indicate a recent and accelerated increase …

Quantifying The Impact Of Seasonal And Short-Term Manure Application Decisions On Phosphorus Loss In Surface Runoff, Peter A. Vadas, Laura Ward Good, William E. Jokela, Krishnapuram G. Karthikeyan, Francisco J. Arriaga, Melanie N. Stock

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Agricultural phosphorus (P) management is a research and policy issue due to P loss from fields and water quality degradation. Better information is needed on the risk of P loss from dairy manure applied in winter or when runoff is imminent. We used the SurPhos computer model and 108 site–years of weather and runoff data to assess the impact of these two practices on dissolved P loss. Model results showed that winter manure application can increase P loss by 2.5 to 3.6 times compared with non-winter applications, with the amount increasing as the average runoff from a field increases. Increased …

The Optical Trapezoid Model: A Novel Approach To Remote Sensing Of Soil Moisture Applied To Sentinel-2 And Landsat-8 Observations, Morteza Sadeghi, Ebrahim Babaeian, Markus Tuller, Scott B. Jones

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The “trapezoid” or “triangle” model constitutes the most popular approach to remote sensing (RS) of surface soil moisture based on coupled thermal (i.e., land surface temperature) and optical RS observations. The model, hereinafter referred to as Thermal-Optical TRAapezoid Model (TOTRAM), is based on interpretation of the pixel distribution within the land surface temperature - vegetation index (LST-VI) space. TOTRAM suffers from two inherent limitations. It is not applicable to satellites that do not provide thermal data (e.g., Sentinel-2) and it requires parameterization for each individual observation date. To overcome these restrictions we propose a novel OPtical TRApezoid Model (OPTRAM), which …

Linking Nutrient Transport To Soil Physical Processes During Freeze/Thaw Events To Promote Wintertime Manure Management, Nutrient Use Efficiency, And Surface Water Quality., Melanie N. Stock, Francisco J. Arriaga, Peter A. Vadas, Laura Ward Good, K. G. Karthikeyan

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The application of dairy manure to the landscape during winter is a longstanding practice for farms in the Midwestern United States and other temperate regions. Practical motivations behind winter spreading include affordability, availability of time, and the reduced risk of compaction from farm equipment on frozen soils. Wintertime manure applications, however, coincide with environmental conditions that are prone to runoff and accelerate nutrient losses from agricultural fields. Understanding the nutrient dynamics in response to winter-applied manure is especially important to Wisconsin, a leading state in dairy production, where up to 75% of annual runoff volumes occur on frozen and thawing …

Establishing Peach Trees For Organic Production In Utah And The Intermountain West, Jennifer R. Reeve, C. M. Culumber, Brent Black, Andrew Tebeau, Corey Ransom, Diane Alston, M. Rowley, Thor Lindstrom

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Adequate weed control and nutrient supply are critical for successful establishment of fruit trees. This is of particular concern in organic orchard establishment. In order to determine the best approach for establishing peach trees (Prunus persica L.) organically in climates characterized by hot dry summers and cold winters such as the North American Intermountain West, seven organic and three integrated and conventional treatment combinations were established in two first leaf orchards at the USU Kaysville Research Farm, Utah, in 2008 and 2009. Treatments consisted of different tree-row and alleyway mulch and fertilizer combinations. Compost or conventional fertilizer (16-16-16 and …