Life Sciences Commons^™

Light And Temperature Mediate Algal Simulation Of Heterotrophic Activity On Decomposing Leaf Litter, Cody A. Pope, Halvor M. Halvorson, Robert H. Findlay, Steven N. Francoeur, Kevin A. Kuehn

Faculty Publications

1. Recent evidence suggests that periphytic algae stimulate plant litter heterotrophs (fungi and bacteria) in the presence of light, but few studies have tested whether this stimulation varies across gradients of light, which may covary with temperature.
2. We exposed field‐conditioned Typha domingensis litter to fully‐crossed, short‐term gradients of temperature (15, 20, 25, and 30°C) and light (0, 25, 53, 123, and 388 µmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹) and measured responses of litter‐associated algal, fungal, and bacterial production rates and β‐glucosidase, β‐xylosidase, and phenol oxidase enzyme activities in the laboratory.
3. Increased light stimulated algal production rates, from immeasurable production under …

Multiple Environmental Stressors Induce Complex Transcriptomic Responses Indicative Of Phenotypic Outcomes In Western Fence Lizard, Kurt A. Gust, Vijender Chaitankar, Preetam Ghosh, Mitchell S. Wilbanks, Xianfeng Chen, Natalie D. Barker, Don Pham, Leona D. Scanlan, Arun Rawat, Larry G. Talent, Michael J. Quinn Jr., Christopher D. Vulpe, Mohamed O. Elasri, Mark S. Johnson, Edward J. Perkins, Craig A. Mcfarland

Faculty Publications

Background

The health and resilience of species in natural environments is increasingly challenged by complex anthropogenic stressor combinations including climate change, habitat encroachment, and chemical contamination. To better understand impacts of these stressors we examined the individual- and combined-stressor impacts of malaria infection, food limitation, and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) exposures on gene expression in livers of Western fence lizards (WFL, Sceloporus occidentalis) using custom WFL transcriptome-based microarrays.

Results

Computational analysis including annotation enrichment and correlation analysis identified putative functional mechanisms linking transcript expression and toxicological phenotypes. TNT exposure increased transcript expression for genes involved in erythropoiesis, potentially in response to …

Interaction Of Ice Storms And Management Practices On Current Carbon Sequestration In Forests With Potential Mitigation Under Future Co2 Atmosphere, Heather R. Mccarthy, Ram Oren, Hyun-Seok Kim, Kurt H. Johnsen, Chris Maier, Seth G. Pritchard, Micheal Davis

Faculty Publications

[1] Ice storms are disturbance events with potential impacts on carbon sequestration. Common forest management practices, such as fertilization and thinning, can change wood and stand properties and thus may change vulnerability to ice storm damage. At the same time, increasing atmospheric CO₂ levels may also influence ice storm vulnerability. Here we show that a nonintensively managed pine plantation experienced a ∼250 g C m⁻² reduction in living biomass during a single storm, equivalent to ∼30% of the annual net ecosystem carbon exchange of this ecosystem. Drawing on weather and damage survey data from the entire storm cell, …