Plant Sciences Commons^™

Bison Alter The Northern Yellowstone Ecosystem By Breaking Aspen Saplings, Luke E. Painter, Robert L. Beschta, William J. Ripple

Aspen Bibliography

The American bison (Bison bison) is a species that strongly interacts with its environment, yet the effects of this large herbivore on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) have received little study. We documented bison breaking the stems of aspen saplings (young aspen > 2 m tall and ≤ 5 cm in diameter at breast height) and examined the extent of this effect in northern Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Low densities of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) after about 2004 created conditions conducive for new aspen recruitment in YNP's northern ungulate winter range (northern range). We sampled …

Variable Synchrony In Insect Outbreak Cycling Across A Forest Landscape Gradient: Multi-Scale Evidence From Trembling Aspen In Alberta, Barry J. Cooke, Jens Roland

Aspen Bibliography

Using multi-scale trembling aspen tree-ring width data from Alberta, we show that scaling has a profound influence on dendroecological inferencing. At all scales of sampling, there is a significant climatological signal whose strength is nevertheless superseded by the pervasive effect of insect herbivory. At the smallest spatial scale, 20 km x 20 km, we demonstrate a quasi-periodic pattern of sharp growth reductions and the existence of negative spatial correlations among successive outbreaks. At the intermediate spatial scale of 20 km x 80 km, we show that the period 1930-1963 was marked by extremely low correlations in aspen ring widths, with …

Ranchsatdb: A Genome-Wide Simple Sequence Repeat (Ssr) Markers Database Of Livestock Species For Mutant Germplasm Characterization And Improving Farm Animal Health, Naveen Duhan, Simardeep Kaur, Rakesh Kaundal

Plants, Soils and Climate Student Research

Microsatellites, also known as simple sequence repeats (SSRs), are polymorphic loci that play an important role in genome research, animal breeding, and disease control. Ranch animals are important components of agricultural landscape. The ranch animal SSR database, ranchSATdb, is a web resource which contains 15,520,263 putative SSR markers. This database provides a comprehensive tool for performing end-to-end marker selection, from SSRs prediction to generating marker primers and their cross-species feasibility, visualization of the resulting markers, and finding similarities between the genomic repeat sequences all in one place without the need to switch between other resources. The user-friendly online interface …

Controlling Soil Erosion After Wildfire And Guiding Recovery In Southern Utah, Kristina Young, Kara Dohrenwend, Matt Mcettrick, Henry Grover

All Current Publications

Wildfire is a natural part of many ecosystems in the Four Corners region (Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, Southwest Colorado, and Northwest New Mexico). However, after decades of fire suppression, the intensity and size of wildfires is increasing. This fact sheet is intended to help those in dry, monsoonal regions understand what happens to land after a wildfire and explains the processes of soil erosion. It outlines factors that influence how wildfire can affect soils and plants and provides suggestions for reducing soil erosion when necessary. The information presented is relevant to both private landowners and public lands managers whose landscapes …

Comparative Genome-Wide Analysis Of Micrornas And Their Target Genes In Roots Of Contrasting Indica Rice Cultivars Under Reproductive-Stage Drought, Simardeep Kaur, Karishma Seem, Suresh Kumar, Rakesh Kaundal, Trilochan Mohapatra

Plants, Soils and Climate Student Research

Recurrent occurrence of drought stress in varying intensity has become a common phenomenon in the present era of global climate change, which not only causes severe yield losses but also challenges the cultivation of rice. This raises serious concerns for sustainable food production and global food security. The root of a plant is primarily responsible to perceive drought stress and acquire sufficient water for the survival/optimal growth of the plant under extreme climatic conditions. Earlier studies reported the involvement/important roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in plants’ responses to environmental/abiotic stresses. A number (738) of miRNAs is known to be expressed in …

Floating And Submerged Plants Of Utah: Pocket Field Guide, Kate Sinnott, Karin M. Kettenring

All Current Publications

This is a field guide to identifying floating and submerged plants of Utah. We include a page for each species and also a dichotomous key at the end for the pondweeds. Submerged and floating plant species play critical roles in aquatic ecosystems. They provide habitat to aquatic organisms, improve water clarity by trapping sediment, and absorb excess nutrients from the water column, among other vital services. However, they have been threatened and degraded by pollution, land conversion, and introductions of harmful species. Identifying native and non-native plants is an important component of tackling this degradation and promoting the conservation and …

Rhaphiolepis Indica Fruit Extracts For Control Fusarium Solani And Rhizoctonia Solani, The Causal Agents Of Bean Root Rot, Ahmed A. Heflish, Said I. Behiry, Abdulaziz A. Al-Askar, Yiming Su, Ahmed Abdelkhalek, Mohamed K. Gaber

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Numerous strategies have been suggested to reduce dependence on synthetic products, such as physical, microbial, and natural methods. Among the natural remedies, plant extracts have emerged as a popular option owing to their eco-friendly character, ease of degradation, and harmless nature to humans. In our study, we used the acetone and hexane extracts of Rhaphiolepis indica fruit to combat two fungal pathogens that were isolated from infected bean plants and showed root rot symptoms. The two pathogens were confirmed to be pathogenic by pathogenicity assays conducted in vivo. The morphological and molecular identification by ITS-region sequencing revealed that the two …

Utah Florist Preferences For Local Cut Flowers, Kynda R. Curtis, Melanie Stock

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides crucial information on wholesale florist needs and preferences for local cut flowers. The information here will enhance the ability of current and potential cut flower growers to properly assess the profit potential of their decisions and assist with the long-term sustainability of their farming operations.

Establishing Big Sagebrush Seedlings On The Colorado Plateau, Kari E. Veblen, Eric Thacker, Mark Larese-Casanova, Kyle Nehring, Mike Duniway, Colby Brungard

All Current Publications

Factors such as soil type and precipitation vary across rangeland landscapes, and these factors affect restoration outcomes and ultimately mean that “one size fits all” management strategies are not effective across large, complex landscapes. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) is a foundational rangeland species that is important to wildlife habitat across the western U.S. On the Colorado Plateau, sagebrush is important browse for ungulates, such as mule deer and pronghorn, which motivates a great deal of restoration effort. However, most scientific knowledge of big sagebrush comes from the Great Basin, and we know much less about how to restore sagebrush on …

Growth, Morphological, And Biochemical Responses Of Four Native Species To Salinity Stress, Asmita Paudel, Youping Sun

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Native plants are of great value in landscape maintenance. Despite their importance in the landscape, the salt tolerance of most native plants has received little attention. The present research was designed to assess morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses of four Utah-native plants [Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (kinnikinnick), Cercocarpus ledifolius (curl-leaf mountain mahogany), Cercocarpus montanus ‘Coy’ (alder-leaf mountain mahogany), and Shepherdia ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ (hybrid buffaloberry)] at different salinity levels. Each species was irrigated with a nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 dS·m^-1 (control) or saline solutions at ECs of 5.0 or 10.0 dS·m^-1 for 8 …

Assessing Within-Field Variation In Alfalfa Leaf Area Index Using Uav Visible Vegetation Indices, Keegan Hammond, Ruth Kerry, Ryan R. Jensen, Ross Spackman, April Hulet, Bryan G. Hopkins, Matt A. Yost, Austin P. Hopkins, Neil C. Hansen

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

This study examines the use of leaf area index (LAI) to inform variable-rate irrigation (VRI) for irrigated alfalfa (Medicago sativa). LAI is useful for predicting zone-specific evapotranspiration (ET_c). One approach toward estimating LAI is to utilize the relationship between LAI and visible vegetation indices (VVIs) using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. This research has three objectives: (1) to measure and describe the within-field variation in LAI and canopy height for an irrigated alfalfa field, (2) to evaluate the relationships between the alfalfa LAI and various VVIs with and without field average canopy height, and (3) to …

Remote Sensing In Mapping Biodiversity – A Case Study Of Epiphytic Lichen Communities, Ida Palmroos, Veera Norros, Sarita Keski-Saari, Janne Mäyrä, Topi Tanhuanpää, Sonja Kivinen, Juha Pykälä, Peter Kullberg, Timo Kumpula, Petteri Vihervaara

Aspen Bibliography

In boreal forests, European aspen (Populus tremula L.) is a keystone species that hosts a variety of accompanying species including epiphytic lichens. Forest management actions have led to a decrease in aspen abundance and subsequent loss of suitable habitats of epiphytic lichens. In this study, we evaluate the environmental responses of epiphytic lichen species richness and community composition on aspen, focusing on the potential of remote sensing by combined hyperspectral imaging and airborne laser scanning to identify suitable habitats for epiphytic lichens. We measured different substrate and habitat parameters in the field (e.g., aspen diameter and bark pH) …

Physiological And Canopy Temperature Responses To Drought Of Four Penstemon Species, Ji-Jhong Chen, Youping Sun, Kelly Kopp, Lorence R. Oki, Scott B. Jones, Lawrence Hipps

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Available water for urban landscape irrigation is likely to become more limited because of inadequate precipitation and the ever-increasing water demand of a growing population. Recent droughts in the western United States have also increased the demand for low-water-use landscapes in urban areas. Penstemon species (beardtongues) are ornamental perennials commonly grown in low-water-use landscapes, but their drought tolerance has not been widely investigated. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of water availability on the morphology, physiology, and canopy temperature of Penstemon barbatus (Cav.) Roth ‘Novapenblu’ (Rock Candy Blue^® penstemon), P. digitalis Nutt. ex Sims ‘TNPENDB’ …

Genetic Markers And Tree Properties Predicting Wood Biorefining Potential In Aspen (Populus Tremula) Bioenergy Feedstock, Sacha Escamez, Kathryn M. Robinson, Mikko Luomaranta, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Niklas Mähler, Zakiya Yassin, Thomas Grahn, Gerhard Scheepers, Lars-Göran Stener, Stefan Jansson, Leif J. Jönsson, Nathaniel R. Street, Hannele Tuominen

Aspen Bibliography

Background Wood represents the majority of the biomass on land and constitutes a renewable source of biofuels and other bioproducts. However, wood is recalcitrant to bioconversion, raising a need for feedstock improvement in production of, for instance, biofuels. We investigated the properties of wood that affect bioconversion, as well as the underlying genetics, to help identify superior tree feedstocks for biorefining.

Results We recorded 65 wood-related and growth traits in a population of 113 natural aspen genotypes from Sweden (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hrd). These traits included three growth and field performance traits, 20 traits for wood chemical composition, 17 traits for wood anatomy …

Anemone Cut Flower Production In Utah, Shannon Rauter, Melanie Stock

All Current Publications

Anemone (Anemone coronaria) is grown as a cool-season annual for cut flower production in Utah. Tubers can be planted as early as November in a high tunnel for blooms beginning in March. For field production, plant in fall with insulation or as early as possible in spring (i.e., the soil is workable, approximately early March) for blooms beginning in May. Flower production ceases when temperatures reach approximately 80°F, usually by early July in northern Utah. In North Logan, UT, high tunnels produced an average of 2 to 7 marketable stems per plant, compared to 1 to 4 stems …

Ranunculus Cut Flower Production In Utah, Shannon Rauter, Melanie Stock

All Current Publications

Ranunculus (Ranunculus asiaticus) is grown as a cool-season annual for cut flower production in Utah. Tuberous roots can be planted as early as November in a high tunnel for blooms beginning in April. For field production, plant in November with insulation or as early as possible in spring for blooms beginning in May. Flower production ceases when temperatures reach approximately 80°F, usually by early July in northern Utah. In North Logan, UT, high tunnels produced an average of 3 to 7 marketable stems per plant, compared to 1 to 2 stems per plant in the field. Profit potential …

Less Fuel For The Next Fire? Short-Interval Fire Delays Forest Recovery And Interacting Drivers Amplify Effects, Kristin H. Braziunas, Nathan G. Kiel, Monica G. Turner

Aspen Bibliography

As 21st-century climate and disturbance dynamics depart from historic baselines, ecosystem resilience is uncertain. Multiple drivers are changing simultaneously, and interactions among drivers could amplify ecosystem vulnerability to change. Subalpine forests in Greater Yellowstone (Northern Rocky Mountains, USA) were historically resilient to infrequent (100–300 year), severe fire. We sampled paired short-interval (<30-year) and long-interval (>125-year) post-fire plots most recently burned between 1988 and 2018 to address two questions: (1) How do short-interval fire, climate, topography, and distance to unburned live forest edge interact to affect post-fire forest regeneration? (2) How do forest biomass and fuels vary following short-interval versus long-interval severe fires? …

Asparagus Breeding: Future Research Needs For Sustainable Production, Daniel Drost

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Productivity in asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is determined in part by (1) the selection of superior, adaptive genetics, (2) matching the selected genetics to the production environment, and (3) managing the crop production system in ways to maximize harvest potential that are sustainable, profitable, and efficient. Over the last 100 years, a considerable effort by asparagus researchers has gone into breeding superior genetic lines, testing those in numerous locations, and studying how asparagus responds to a multitude of inputs (fertilizers, irrigation, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides). Farmers worldwide have benefited from all of these improvements. However, as we look to the …

Regeneration Strategies And Forest Resilience To Changing Fire Regimes: Insights From A Goldilocks Model, Tanjona Ramiadantsoa, Zak Ratajczak, Monica G. Turner

Aspen Bibliography

Disturbances are ubiquitous in ecological systems, and species have evolved a range of strategies to resist or rebound following disturbance. Understanding how the presence and complementarity of regeneration traits will affect community responses to disturbance is increasingly urgent as disturbance regimes shift beyond their historical ranges of variability. We define "disturbance niche" as a species' fitness across a range of disturbance sizes and frequencies that can reflect the fundamental or realized niche, that is, whether the species occurs alone or with other species. We developed a model of intermediate complexity (i.e., a Goldilocks model) to infer the disturbance niche. We …

Revisiting Trophic Cascades And Aspen Recovery In Northern Yellowstone, Robert L. Beschta, Luke E. Painter, William J. Ripple

Aspen Bibliography

We revisit the nature and extent of trophic cascades and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) recovery in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park (YNP), where studies have reported on Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) browsing and young aspen heights following the St. John, 1995-96 reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus). A recent study by Brice et al. (2021) expressed concerns about methodologies employed in earlier aspen studies and that results from those studies exaggerated the extent to which a trophic cascade has benefitted aspen, concerns such as: (a) the selection of aspen stands, (b) …

Changes In Metal-Chelating Metabolites Induced By Drought And A Root Microbiome In Wheat, Anne J. Anderson, Joshua M. Hortin, Astrid R. Jacobson, David W. Britt, Joan E. Mclean

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

The essential metals Cu, Zn, and Fe are involved in many activities required for normal and stress responses in plants and their microbiomes. This paper focuses on how drought and microbial root colonization influence shoot and rhizosphere metabolites with metal-chelation properties. Wheat seedlings, with and without a pseudomonad microbiome, were grown with normal watering or under water-deficit conditions. At harvest, metal-chelating metabolites (amino acids, low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs), phenolic acids, and the wheat siderophore) were assessed in shoots and rhizosphere solutions. Shoots accumulated amino acids with drought, but metabolites changed little due to microbial colonization, whereas the active …

Biochar Influences Phytochemical Concentrations Of Viola Cornuta Flowers, Abishkar Regmi, Shital Poudyal, Sukhbir Singh, Cade Coldren, Naima Moustaid-Moussa, Catherine Simpson

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Edible flowers are a rich source of phytochemicals with potential health benefits. Yet, changes in production practices can influence the phytochemical composition of edible flowers. Practices such as the addition of biochar have been used to affect growing media properties as well as to conserve peat resources. However, there is little known about how biochar affects the phytochemical composition of edible flowers. To determine if biochar affects phytochemicals in Viola cornuta, four cultivars were subjected to different rates of biochar, with and without fertilizer. At the rate of 10% biochar and without fertilizer application, flower polyphenol and flavonoid concentrations …

Bison Influences On Composition And Diversity Of Riparian Plant Communities In Yellowstone National Park, J. Boone Kauffman, Dian Lyn Cummings, Cimarron Kauffman, Robert L. Beschta, Jeremy Brooks, Keeley Macneill, William J. Ripple

Aspen Bibliography

Riparian zones are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the Intermountain West, USA, and provide valuable ecosystem services, including high rates of biotic productivity, nutrient processing, and carbon storage. Thus, their sustainability is a high priority for land managers. Large ungulates affect composition and structure of riparian/stream ecosystems through herbivory and physical effects, via trailing and trampling. Bison (Bison bison) in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have been characterized as "ecosystem engineers" because of their demonstrated effects on phenology, aboveground productivity of grasses, and woody vegetation structure. Bison have greatly increased in numbers during the last two decades …

Hucopia: An Atlas Of Human Vs. Sars-Cov-2 Interactome And The Comparative Analysis With Other Coronaviridae Family Viruses, Naveen Duhan, Rakesh Kaundal

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

SARS-CoV-2, a novel betacoronavirus strain, has caused a pandemic that has claimed the lives of nearly 6.7M people worldwide. Vaccines and medicines are being developed around the world to reduce the disease spread, fatality rates, and control the new variants. Understanding the protein-protein interaction mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, and their comparison with the previous SARS-CoV and MERS strains, is crucial for these efforts. These interactions might be used to assess vaccination effectiveness, diagnose exposure, and produce effective biotherapeutics. Here, we present the HuCoPIA database, which contains approximately 100,000 protein-protein interactions between humans and three strains (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS) …

Comfrey In The Garden, Emmalee Rolfe, Dan Drost

All Archived Publications

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is a very hardy perennial herb adaptable to most conditions. Comfrey grows best in partial to full sun in moist, fertile soil. Comfrey is propagated by root cuttings or crown divisions. Comfrey can be planted throughout the growing season but establishes best when planted in the spring. Maintain moderate soil moisture, especially when plants are young. Once established, comfrey outcompetes weeds and does not have any reported insect or disease issues in Utah. Some leaves and roots are harvested after the first year of growth. It should be noted that consuming high doses or excessive …

Responses Of Extreme Discharge To Changes In Surface-Air And Dewpoint Temperatures In Utah: Seasonality And Mechanisms, Timothy E. Wright, Jacob Stuivenvolt-Allen, Grace Affram, Nahid A. Hasan, Cody Ratterman, Wei Zhang

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The changes in stream discharge extremes due to temperature and seasonality are key metrics in assessing the effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle. While scaling is commonly applied to temperature and precipitation due to the physical connections between temperature and moisture (i.e., Clausius–Clapeyron), the scaling rate of stream discharge extremes to air and dewpoint temperatures has not been evaluated. To address this challenge, we assess the scaling rates between stream discharge and air temperature and between stream discharge and dewpoint temperature in Utah using a well-designed statistical framework. While there are deviations from the Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) relationship in …

Digital Atlas Of The Vascular Plants Of Utah, R. Douglas Ramsey, Leila M. Shultz, Wanda Lindquist, Chris Garrard, Mindy Wheeler

Browse all Datasets

Locations of 74,755 vascular plant vouchers representing 2,425 species were digitized into a spatial database from the Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Utah (Albee et al. 1988). Source maps consisted of 1:6,000,000-scale shaded relief maps of Utah with points representing collection locations by species. Location points, representing 1 or more specimens, were transposed onto these maps from the approximately 400,000 herbarium records of 3 major universities and federal land management agencies.

Dwarf Bunt In Winter Wheat, Justin Clawson, Claudia Nischwitz, Margaret Krause, Will Krause

All Current Publications

Dwarf bunt or stinking smut is a disease that impacted Utah winter wheat production in the 1930s, resulting in fields with 95% infections. Breeding and selection of resistant varieties has irradiated the disease. As organic production of winter wheat increases, selecting resistant varieties will become of utmost importance to prevent crop loss.

A Utah-Native Plant Can Be Used To Promote Low-Impact Landscaping, Macie Booth

Research on Capitol Hill

Ceanothus velutinus Douglas ex Hook. (snowbrush ceanothus) is a native evergreen species that possesses significant potential for use in urban landscapes. Ceanothus velutinus fixes nitrogen in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing actinobacteria and plays an important soil-building role. However, it is unclear how to effectively induce nodules in C. velutinus using soil containing Frankia bacteria. The purpose of this study was to understand plant growth and nodulation of C. velutinus in different soilless substrates. Ceanothus velutinus seedlings were transplanted in cone-shaped containers with calcined clay, peat moss, or perlite and inoculated with 30 ml of native soil containing Frankia bacteria. Seedlings were …

Water Recommendations For Vegetables, Sheriden M. Hansen, Taun Beddes, Burdette Barker, Ashley Butler

All Current Publications

Traditionally, we irrigate using overhead sprinklers and/or flood irrigation. However, these methods can be wasteful, and so a way to conserve and still have a healthy garden is to use drip irrigation. It can reduce water use by up to about 50%. This fact sheet reviews water recommendations for growing vegetables.