Life Sciences Commons^™

The Influence Of Snowmobile Trails On Coyote Movements During Winter In High-Elevation Landscapes, Eric M. Gese, Jennifer L. Burghardt Dowd, Lise M. Aubry

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Competition between sympatric carnivores has long been of interest to ecologists. Increased understanding of these interactions can be useful for conservation planning. Increased snowmobile traffic on public lands and in habitats used by Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) remains controversial due to the concern of coyote (Canis latrans) use of snowmobile trails and potential competition with lynx. Determining the variables influencing coyote use of snowmobile trails has been a priority for managers attempting to conserve lynx and their critical habitat. During 2 winters in northwest Wyoming, we backtracked coyotes for 265 km to determine how varying snow characteristics influenced coyote movements; …

Sagestep News, Fall 2013, No. 22, Sagestep

Newsletters

Seasonal newsletter of SageSTEP.

Constraints On Patterns Of Abundance And Aggregation In Biological Systems, Kenneth J. Locey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding the mechanisms that structure biological systems is a primary goal of biology. My research shows that the biological structure is constrained in important ways by general variables such as the number of base pairs in a genome and the number of individuals and species in a community. I used a combination of macroecology, bioinformatics, statistics, mathematics, and advanced computing to pursue my research and published several peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and open-source software as a result.

I was funded through a combination of fellowships and scholarships awarded by the Utah State University School of Graduate Studies, College of Science, and …

Optimizing Systems For Cold-Climate Strawberry Production, Tiffany L. Maughan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Producing fruits and vegetables in the Intermountain West can be challenging due a short growing season, extreme temperatures, and limited availability of irrigation water. This is particularly true of strawberries, where commercial production is limited due to late fall and early spring frosts that shorten the growing season. With the increasing demand for local produce as urban populations grow and as consumer buying habits change, growers are looking for ways to overcome these climatic challenges. High tunnels are one option growers can use. High tunnels are similar to greenhouses, but less expensive to construct and to maintain. Another way to …

Characterization Of The Hydrogen Peroxide Stress Responses Of Bifidobacterium Longum And Bifidobacterium Animalis Subsp. Lactis, Taylor S. Oberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Probiotics are living organisms which exert a beneficial health effect when consumed in sufficient numbers. Consumer interest in probiotics has increased dramatically in recent years prompting an increase in production and development of functional foods. One major problem is the decreased viability of probiotic bacteria during functional food production and storage and subsequent digestion due to environmental stresses. The most common probiotic strains belong to the genus Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium. Due to the anaerobic nature of these bacteria, they lack the required defense mechanisms for oxidative stress inherent in aerobic microorganisms. This study examined the oxidative stress responses of …

Winter Waterbird Ecology On The Great Salt Lake, Utah, And Interactions With Commercial Harvest Of Brine Shrimp Cysts, Anthony J. Roberts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Interactions among commercial fisheries and birds have been studied in open ocean ecosystems and at aquaculture facilities. On the Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, USA, a commercial harvest of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) eggs (i.e. cysts) occurs annually during fall and winter. Coinciding with commercial harvest is the use of the GSL by millions of waterbirds which has the potential to result in conflict among industry and birds. The objectives of my research were to examine fall and winter ecology of birds using the GSL and interactions with the brine shrimp cyst harvest. I examined the influence of temperature and …

Effect Of Predator Removal On Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) Ecology In The Bighorn Basin Conservation Area Of Wyoming, Elizabeth Kari Orning

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The decline of greater sage-grouse distribution and population densities across western North America has led conservation, research, and management objectives to focus efforts on understanding sage-grouse populations across their range. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of direct and indirect predation effects on hen survival and nest success of sage-grouse. The project was conducted in Hot Springs and Park Counties in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming. The study had three main objectives: 1) obtain and quantify the types and impacts of predators on sage-grouse hen survival and nest success, 2) compare the effect predator removals …

Grand County Crop Production Costs And Returns, 2013, Michael Johnson, Kynda Curtis

All Current Publications

This fact sheet is intended to be a guide used to make production decisions, determine potential returns and prepare business and marketing plans.

Are We Running Out Of Phosphorus?, Nayda Gonzalez, Rhonda Miller

All Current Publications

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient. The world’s phosphorus supplies are limited. Do we have enough phosphorus to support our needs? This fact sheet addresses this question.

Helping Children Understand And Manage Anger, Shannon Cromwell, Naomi Brower

All Current Publications

Anger is a strong emotion that often leads to negative coping strategies. Children's anger poses challenges for parents and other caregivers and accounts for stress and frustration. Engaging children in a variety of effective coping strategies can assist with their feelings of anger.

Permaculture, Roslynn Brain, Blake Thomas

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

How To Create A Wildlife-Friendly Yard, Michael R. Kuhns, Megan Dettenmaier

All Current Publications

Habitat can be hard to come by for wildlife in urban areas. A wildlife-friendly yard provides food, water, cover, and a safe place to rear young.

Investigating The Importance Of The N-Terminal Negative Residues In Human Prmt1, Brooke Siler

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Many essential physiological pathways, such as cell proliferation, gene expression, and cardiovascular health are regulated by Protein Arginine Methyltransferases (PRMTs) through methylation of arginine residues in protein substrates. Understanding how PRMTs interact with their substrates is pivotal to understanding the biological role of these enzymes, and fundamental to the goal of identifying possible sites to be inhibited through drug therapy. Natural variations in the N-terminus of the PRMTl enzymes and data collected in our lab suggest that the N-terminus is important for activity and/or the binding of protein substrates. Preliminary data collected had led us to hypothesize that the negatively …

Determination Of The Expression Patterns Of Bovine Non-Classical Major Histocompatibility Complex (Mhc) Class I Proteins, Parveen Parasar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project was funded by the United States of Department of Agriculture (USDA), which funds research aimed at improving production and animal health. The aim of this study was to advance knowledge of maternal immune tolerance to the fetus and mechanisms bovine non-classical MHC class I proteins employ to interact with immune cells and render them inert towards the fetus.

A fetus is a tissue graft inside the mother’s uterus yet must be accepted by the mother to maintain a successful pregnancy. Reproductive insufficiency and pregnancy failure are major causes of production loss in cattle, especially in cloned animals. Knowledge …

Influence Of Mountain Pine Beetle On Fuels, Foliar Fuel Moisture Content, And Litter And Volatile Terpenes In Whitebark Pine, Chelsea Toone

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) has caused extensive tree mortality in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm) forests. Previous studies conducted in various conifer forests have shown that fine surface fuels are significantly altered during a bark beetle outbreak. Bark beetle activity in conifer stands has also been shown to alter foliar fuel moisture content and chemistry over the course of the bark beetle rotation.

The objective of this study was to evaluate changes to fine surface fuels, foliar fuel moisture and chemistry and litter chemistry in and under whitebark pine trees infested by mountain pine beetle. Fuels …

Prescribed Fire On Public Lands, Wesley G. Page, Michael R. Kuhns

All Current Publications

This fact sheet helps readers understand prescribed fire planning and implementation on public lands.

Ceratobasidium Root Rot: A New Disease Of Watermelon In Arizona, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

Resilience To Stress And Disturbance, And Resistance To Bromus Tectorum L. Invasion In Cold Desert Shrublands Of Western North America, Jeanne C. Chambers, Bethany A. Bradley, Cynthia S. Brown, Carla D'Antonio, Matthew J. Germino, James B. Grace, Stuart P. Hardegree, Richard F. Miller, David A. Pyke

Articles

Alien grass invasions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems are resulting in grass–fire cycles and ecosystem-level transformations that severely diminish ecosystem services. Our capacity to address the rapid and complex changes occurring in these ecosystems can be enhanced by developing an understanding of the environmental factors and ecosystem attributes that determine resilience of native ecosystems to stress and disturbance, and resistance to invasion. Cold desert shrublands occur over strong environmental gradients and exhibit significant differences in resilience and resistance. They provide an excellent opportunity to increase our understanding of these concepts. Herein, we examine a series of linked questions about (a) …

An Assessment Of Permanent And Nonpermanent Plots In Riparian Vegetation Monitoring, Karin M. Kettenring, Caroline M. Laine, Brett B. Roper

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The aim of this research was to determine whether permanent and nonpermanent plots for describing riparian plant communities would yield the same results. This research was conducted at 4 streams in central eastern Idaho. Permanent and nonpermanent greenline plots (first perennial vegetation adjacent to stream) were sampled repeatedly from June to October 2010, and we assessed differences between plot types by comparing species richness, wetland indicator rating, and percent cover of live vegetation, forbs, graminoids, litter/moss, and bare ground. We found few statistically significant differences between permanent and nonpermanent greenline plots. Because both types of plots yielded similar results, we …

Community-Level Response To Habitat Structure Manipulations: An Experimental Case Study In A Tropical Ecosystem, Emily A. Kalnicky, Karen H. Beard, Mark W. Brunson

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Across the globe, environmental change is resulting in novel ecosystems that have altered habitat structure and functioning. Research is needed to understand how changes in habitat structure in these new ecosystems impact community interactions, especially when these manipulations are being proposed to reduce invasive species. We conducted an experiment in Hawaii to determine how changes in habitat structure, represented by leaf litter and understory vegetation, affect the abundance of an invasive generalist predator, the coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) and its potential prey (invertebrates). This study consisted of four treatments: two vegetation treatments (50% and 100% removal of vegetation with diameter …

Equine Viral Arteritis (Eva), Dirk K. Vanderwall, Kerry A. Rood, Bruce L. King

All Current Publications

Equine viral arteritis (EVA) is a serious viral disease of horses that can affect the respiratory system and/or the reproductive system. Its importance to the U.S. equine industry was highlighted during a 2006 breeding industry outbreak that was associated with venereal spread of the virus in semen. This fact sheet provides background information of EVA, including prevention and control.

Training Livestock To Avoid Specific Forage, Beth Burritt, Morgan Doran, Matt Stevenson

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides the basics of aversion training for livestock.

Botrytis Neck Rot Of Onion, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

Apple Maggot, Diane Alston, Marion Murray

All Current Publications

Apple maggot is not currently a pest of commercial orchards in Utah, but it is regulated as a quarantine insect in the state. If it becomes established in commercial fruit production areas, its presence can inflict substantial economic harm through loss of export markets. Infestations cause fruit damage, may increase insecticide use, and can result in subsequent disruption of integrated pest management programs.

Shothole Borer, Ryan S. Davis, Michael Caron

All Current Publications

Shothole borers (Fig. 1) are bark beetles that may attack stressed or injured trees. They have a wide host range, including all fruit trees grown in Utah, quince, loquat, serviceberry, wild cherry, chokecherry, mountain ash, hawthorn and elm. In Utah, apple, cherry, pear, and hawthorn are preferred hosts.

Physiological Ecology And Functional Traits Of North American Native And Eurasian Introduced Phragmites Australis Lineages, Thomas J. Mozdzer, Jacques Brisson, Eric L. G. Hazelton

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Physiological ecology and plant functional traits are often used to explain plant invasion. To gain a better understanding of how traits influence invasion, studies usually compare the invasive plant to a native congener, but there are few conspecific examples in the literature. In North America, the presence of native and introduced genetic lineages of the common reed, Phragmites australis, presents a unique example to evaluate how traits influence plant invasion.We reviewed the literature on functional traits of P. australis lineages in North America, specifically contrasting lineages present on the Atlantic Coast.We focused on differences in physiology between the lineage introduced …

Streptomycin Resistance Of Erwinia Amylovora Isolated From Apple (Malus Domesticus) In Utah, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

Diffuse Migratory Connectivity In Two Species Of Shrubland Birds: Evidence From Stable Isotopes, Steven T. Knick, Matthias Leu, John T. Rotenberry, Steven E. Hanser, Kurt A. Fesenmyer

Articles

Connecting seasonal ranges of migratory birds is important for understanding the annual template of stressors that influence their populations. Brewer’s sparrows (Spizella breweri) and sagebrush sparrows (Artemisiospiza nevadensis) share similar sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats for breeding but have different population trends that might be related to winter location. To link breeding and winter ranges, we created isoscapes of deuterium [stable isotope ratio (δ) of deuterium; δ ²H] and nitrogen (δ ¹⁵N) for each species modeled from isotope ratios measured in feathers of 264 Brewer’s and 82 sagebrush sparrows and environmental …

Tree Reduction And Debris From Mastication Of Utah Juniper Alter The Soil Climate In Sagebrush Steppe, Kert R. Young, Bruce A. Roundy, Dennis L. Eggett

Articles

Juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees are masticated to reduce canopy fuel loads and the potential for crown fire. We determined the effects of tree reduction and soil cover in the forms of tree mounds and masticated debris on hourly soil water potential and soil temperature at 1–30 cm soil depth. Measurements were made in masticated and untreated areas at three sites in the western Utah portion of the Great Basin. Cumulative seasonal-response variables included wet days (>−1.5 MPa), degree days (>0 °C), and wet degree days (>−1.5 MPa and >0 °C). Masticated areas had 27 more wet …

High-Throughput Rna Sequencing Of Pseudomonas-Infected Arabidopsis Reveals Hidden Transcriptome Complexity And Novel Splice Variants, Brian E. Howard, Qiwen Hu, Ahmet Can Babaoglu, Manan Chandra, Monica Borghi, Xiaoping Tan, Luyan He, Heike Winter-Sederoff, Walter Gassmann, Paola Veronese, Steffen Heber

Biology Faculty Publications

We report the results of a genome-wide analysis of transcription in Arabidopsis thaliana after treatment with Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato. Our time course RNA-Seq experiment uses over 500 million read pairs to provide a detailed characterization of the response to infection in both susceptible and resistant hosts. The set of observed differentially expressed genes is consistent with previous studies, confirming and extending existing findings about genes likely to play an important role in the defense response to Pseudomonas syringae. The high coverage of the Arabidopsis transcriptome resulted in the discovery of a surprisingly large number of alternative splicing (AS) events …