Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Soil Nematodes And Their Prokaryotic Prey Along An Elevation Gradient In The Mojave Desert (Death Valley National Park, California, Usa), Amy M. Treonis, Kelsey Sutton, Brendan Kavanaugh, Archana Narla, Timothy Mcllarky, Jasmine Felder, Cecilia O'Leary, Megan Riley, Alyxandr Pikus, Sarah Thomas
Soil Nematodes And Their Prokaryotic Prey Along An Elevation Gradient In The Mojave Desert (Death Valley National Park, California, Usa), Amy M. Treonis, Kelsey Sutton, Brendan Kavanaugh, Archana Narla, Timothy Mcllarky, Jasmine Felder, Cecilia O'Leary, Megan Riley, Alyxandr Pikus, Sarah Thomas
Biology Faculty Publications
We characterized soil communities in the Mojave Desert across an elevation gradient. Our goal was to test the hypothesis that as soil quality improved with increasing elevation (due to increased productivity), the diversity of soil prokaryotes and nematodes would also increase. Soil organic matter and soil moisture content increased with elevation as predicted. Soil salinity did not correlate to elevation, but was highest at a mid-gradient, alluvial site. Soil nematode density, community trophic structure, and diversity did not show patterns related to elevation. Similar results were obtained for diversity of bacteria and archaea. Relationships between soil properties, nematode communities, and …
Grassland Diversity And Productivity: The Interplay Of Resource Availability And Propagule Pools, Bryan L. Foster, Timothy L. Dickson
Grassland Diversity And Productivity: The Interplay Of Resource Availability And Propagule Pools, Bryan L. Foster, Timothy L. Dickson
Biology Faculty Publications
Processes operating at multiple spatial scales govern the structure and functioning of ecological communities. We conducted a resource manipulation and propagule addition experiment in grassland to evaluate the interaction of local resource availability and propagule pools in governing local-scale plant colonization, biodiversity, and above-ground productivity. The availabilities of establishment microsites and water were manipulated in field plots for two years through the application of experimental soil disturbances and irrigation, respectively. Resource manipulations led to increased invasibility of the community, as predicted by the theory of fluctuating resources. Rates of colonization,enhanced by the sowing of 32 grassland species, increased plant diversity …