Life Sciences Commons^™

Environmental Regulation Of Tidal Wetland Microbial Communities And Associated Biogeochemistry, Ember Morrissey

Theses and Dissertations

Microbial communities play an essential role in carrying out the biogeochemical cycles that sustain life on Earth, yet we know very little about their ecology. One question of particular interest is how environmental conditions shape microbial community structure (i.e., the types of organisms found in the community and their relative abundance), and whether such changes in structure are related to biogeochemical function. It is the aim of this dissertation to address this question via the examination of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in wetland ecosystems, which due to their diverse hydrology have a profound influence on biogeochemical cycles. With …

Buckwheat As A Cover Crop In Florida: Mycorrhizal Status, Soil Analysis, And Economic Assessment, Daria Boglaienko

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyses buckwheat as a cover crop in Florida. The study was designed to demonstrate: soil enrichment with nutrients, mycorrhizal arbuscular fungi interactions, growth in different soil types, temperature limitations in Florida, and economic benefits for farmers. Buckwheat was planted at the FIU organic garden (Miami, FL) in early November and harvested in middle December. After incorporation of buckwheat residues, soil analyses indicated the ability of buckwheat to enrich soil with major nutrients, in particular, phosphorus. Symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased inorganic phosphorus uptake and plant growth. Regression analysis on aboveground buckwheat biomass weight and soil characteristics showed …

Assessing Soil Remobilisation In Catchments Using A 137 Cs-Sediment Hillslope Model, Ava D. Simms, Colin D. Woodroffe, Brian G. Jones, Henk Heijnis, Jennifer Harrison, Rob Mann

B. G. Jones

Soil redistribution studies are important, especially in water supply catchments, because the rate at which denudation is occurring has implications for offsite water quality. However, the extent to which soil is redistributed within the landscape can be difficult to determine. This challenge can be overcome using fallout caesium-137 (137Cs). This paper describes the rates of soil loss and remobilisation in two sub-catchments within the Sydney Basin region, namely Kembla and Kentish Creeks, which drain to the Cordeaux reservoir. The total inventories of 137Cs in catchment soils were determined, a 137Cs-regression equation and a theoretical diffusion and migration model were used …

Resource Legacies And Priming Regulate Microbial Communities In Antarctica's Dry Valleys, Sabrina Deni Saurey

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple mechanisms control bacterial community structure but two in particular, the "legacy" of past environmental conditions, and the "priming" of bacteria to respond to seasonal or reoccurring fluctuations in resources, have the potential to determine both bacterial communities, as well as, temporal shifts in active bacterial taxa. To begin to evaluate the legacy effects of resources on microbial communities, we added four limiting resources annually (i.e., water only; C-mannitol + water; N-NH4NO3 + water; and C, N + water) and measured shifts in bacterial community composition after seven years in a cold desert ecosystem in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. …

The Effects Of Soil Ph And Composition On Blacklegged Tick Molting Success Avian Window Strike Mortality On Union College Campus, Kaleigh Ahern

Honors Theses

The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is the one of the most significant vectors of infectious disease in the world and most notorious for its ability to transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Because both the range of the blacklegged tick and the annual incidence of Lyme disease have been increasing in North America over the past several decades, it is becoming increasingly important to better understand how environmental factors contribute to blacklegged tick survival. Past studies have shown that these factors include precipitation levels, extent of groundcover, plant and animal community composition, temperature, and soil type. Because …

Soil Chemistry: Understanding Phosphorus In The Environment, Paul Milham, Warwick Dougherty, Robert Morrison, Robert Clark, Ronald Smernik, Ashlea Doolette, Lucy Burkitt, Damian Collins, Rebeca Alvarez, Andrew Thomas

Robert Clark

It is an essential ingredient in food production, but poor management means bad news downstream. Understanding the way phosphorus behaves in the environment calls for soil and plant biology, and some new soil chemistry.

Elemental Concentrations In The Seed Of Mutants And Natural Variants Of Arabidopsis Thaliana Grown Under Varying Soil Conditions, Stephen C. Mcdowell, Garo Akmakjian, Chris Sladek, David Mendoza-Cozatl, Joe B. Morrissey, Nick Saini, Ron Mittler, Ivan Baxter, David E. Salt, John M. Ward, Julian I. Schroeder, Mary Lou Guerinot, Jeffrey F. Harper

Dartmouth Scholarship

The concentrations of mineral nutrients in seeds are critical to both the life cycle of plants as well as human nutrition. These concentrations are strongly influenced by soil conditions, as shown here by quantifying the concentration of 14 elements in seeds from Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown under four different soil conditions: standard, or modified with NaCl, heavy metals, or alkali. Each of the modified soils resulted in a unique change to the seed ionome (the mineral nutrient content of the seeds). To help identify the genetic networks regulating the seed ionome, changes in elemental concentrations were evaluated using mutants corresponding …

Occurrence, Survival, And Persistence Of The Fecal Indicator Bacterium, Enterococcus Mundtii, In Soils Of A Contaminated Watershed, Marc Carpenter

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The Clean Water Act of 1972 raised awareness of the extent of the pollution in U.S. waters and the need for monitoring and identifying sources of contamination. Surface water quality is routinely evaluated using fecal indicators, such as Enterococcus spp. Recent studies in a south Texas watershed showed that fecal bacteria were being transported to water via agricultural land runoff following rainfall, suggesting that soil may be a source of these bacteria. In this study, soils from fields under different crop covers were sampled to determine seasonal levels of enterococci and species of enterococci were identified using the BIOLOG™ Microbial …

Revealing The Ecological Role Of Gemmatimonadetes Through Cultivation And Molecular Analysis Of Agricultural Soils, Mariam Naomi Fawaz

Masters Theses

Bacteria belonging to phylum Gemmatimonadetes are frequently detected in a variety of environments using culture-independent methods. Despite their ubiquity and prevalence, almost nothing is known about their physiology or ecology because so few strains have been isolated. The first objective of this study was to determine the distribution of Gemmatimonadetes within soil aggregates and the response of the relative abundance of Gemmatimonadetes to dry/wet cycling and soil management. The second objective was to analyze the effects of soil management, aggregate size, and atmospheric conditions on cultivability of Gemmatimonadetes. Universal and Gemmatimonadetes-specific 16S rRNA gene primers were used to …

Phosphorous And Potassium Fertility Management For Maximizing Tart Cherry Fruit Quality And Productivity On Alkaline Soils, Sean D. Rowley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Suitable orchard land in regions of the Intermountain West is becoming more limited due to urban sprawl. With the loss of suitable farmland, increasing production costs, and the lack of sound fertility information for these regions, fruit growers face challenges to produce high quality fruit for market demand. Current standard management practices are not sufficient to optimize yield and fruit quality in the marginal farm land that is currently be used for fruit production. Fertility management of orchard trees is vital to tree health, yield, and fruit quality.

Three different approaches were used to investigate the effects of Phosphorus (P) …

Up Against The Wall: The Effects Of Climate Warming On Soil Microbial Diversity And The Potential For Feedbacks To The Carbon Cycle, Grace Pold, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Earth’s climate is warming, and there is evidence that increased temperature alters soil C cycling, which may result in a self-reinforcing (positive), microbial mediated feedback to the climate system. Though soil microbes are major drivers of soil C cycling, we lack an understanding of how temperature affects SOM decomposition. Numerous studies have explored, to differing degrees, the extent to which climate change may affect biodiversity. While there is ample evidence that community diversity begets ecosystem stability and resilience, we know of keystone species that perform functions whose effects far outweigh their relative abundance. In this paper, we first review the …

Phenotypic And Genotypic Characterization Of Antibiotic-Resistant Soil And Manure Bacteria Adjacent To Swine Production Facilities, Meli̇ke Eki̇zoğlu, Satoshi Koike, Ivan Krapac, Mahmut Nedi̇m Sultan, Roderick Mackie

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study aimed to identify phenotypic and genotypic resistance profiles of bacteria isolated from soil and manure samples obtained from a farm where tetracycline and tylosin were used extensively. Samples were collected from the manure and soil, before and after manure application. All of the 151 bacteria were identified based on BLAST results. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined by agar dilution and E-test methods. Class-specific primers were used to amplify 6 erythromycin and 7 tetracycline resistance (Tc^r) genes for 46 tetracycline- and 18 erythromycin-resistant isolates. Tc^r gene sequence identity between different species of isolates was identified to investigate the dissemination …

2012 Wild Blueberry Project Reports, Dorothy J. Klimis-Zacas, Vivian Ch Wu, Frank A. Drummond, Judith A. Collins, Lee Beers, Eric Asare, Alex Bacjz, Kalyn Bickerman, Sara Bushmann, Shannon Chapin, Cyndy Loftin, Alison Dibble, Lois Berg Stack, Eric Venturini, Samuel Hanes, Aaron Hoshide, Matthew S. Jones, Brianne Looze, Seanna L. Annis, Caleb Slemmons, David E. Yarborough, Jennifer L. D'Appollonio, Tsutomu Ohno, Ellen Mallory, Hannah Griffin, Katie Mcphee

Wild Blueberry Research Reports

The 2012 edition of the Wild Blueberry Project Reports was prepared for the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine and the Wild Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include:

1. Do wild blueberries alleviate risk factors related to the Metabolic Syndrome?

2. Development of effective intervention measures to maintain and improve food safety for wild blueberries

3. Control tactics for blueberry pest insects, 2012

4. Development and implementation of a wild blueberry thrips IPM program, 2012

5. IPM

6. Biology of blueberry and pest insects, 2012

7. Biology of beneficial insects and …