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Book Reviews: Raptors Of Mexico And Central America. William S. Clark And N. John Schmitt., Jack Jack Eitniear

The Prairie Naturalist

Whether a raptor is cryptically perched in the shadows or is viewed only as a silhouette soaring in the clouds below the glaring midday sun, raptor identification can be challenging. If you are observing raptors in the North Temperate Zone, several guides (e.g., Clark and Wheeler 2001 Dunne et al.2012) will aid you with such identifications, but few resources exist for visitors south of this zone. So, if you are interested in identifying the 69 species of diurnal raptors found in Mexico and Central America, the recently released Raptors of Mexico and Central America by William S. Clark and N. …

The Great Plains Natural Science Society

The Prairie Naturalist

The Great Plains Natural Science Society, formerly the North Dakota Natural Science Society, was founded in 1967 and seeks to promote interest in and understanding of natural history in the Great Plains, to encourage the conservation of natural resources, and to provide communication among individuals, institutions, and organizations of like interests. The GPNSS actively promotes the study of natural history of the Great Plains region, including geology, plants, birds, mammals, fish, insects, and other forms of life. Together with local, state, and national conservation organizations, the GPNSS fosters natural resource conservation and preservation of outstanding natural areas. The GPNSS publishes …

Prairie Falcon Depredation Attempts On A Greater Prairie-Chicken Lek In South-Central Nebraska, Andrew J. Caven, Joshua D. Wiese, William R. Wallauer

The Prairie Naturalist

Little information exists concerning Prairie falcons’ (Falco mexicanus; PRFA) seasonal movements, habitat use, and diet outside of the breeding season; this is especially true in the eastern portion of its wintering and migratory range (Steenhof 1998, Sharpe et al. 2001, Steenhof et al. 2005). Prairie falcons prey on ground squirrels (Spermophilus spp.), prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), wood rats (Neotoma spp.), and other rodents during the breeding season (Bond 1936, 1942, MacLaren et al. 1988, Steenhof 1998, Steenhof et al. 1999, Johnsgard 2013). They utilize avian prey regionally as well, including western meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta …

Nitrogen Availability And Use Efficiency In Corn Treated With Contrasting Nitrogen Sources, Avneet Kakkar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The plant-soil nitrogen cycle plays a significant role in allocation of available N to plants, and improved understanding of N cycling helps sustainably increase fertilizer use efficiency. There are various processes (nitrogen mineralization and nitrification) involved in the availability and mobility of nitrogen in the soil. The primary objective of this study was to determine the NUE under contrasting nitrogen treatments over a period of five years. Additionally, we examined the effect of different N treatments on N mineralization and nitrification in conventional and organic farming systems.

This project was funded by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program …

Using Remote Cameras To Estimate The Abundance Of Ungulates, Jace C. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Many wildlife populations globally are experiencing unprecedented declines, and without accurate and precise estimates of abundance, we will not be able to conserve these vulnerable species. Remote cameras have rapidly advanced as wildlife monitoring tools and may provide accurate and precise estimates of abundance that improve upon traditional methods. Using remote cameras to estimate abundance may be less expensive, less intrusive, less dangerous, and less time consuming than other methods. While it is apparent that remote cameras have a place in the future of wildlife monitoring, research, and management, many questions remain concerning the proper use of these tools. In …

Assembly, Annotation And Optical Mapping Of The A Subgenome Of Avena, Rebekah Ann Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Common oat (Avena) has held a significant place within the global crop community for centuries; although its cultivation has decreased over the past century, its nutritional benefits have recently garnered increased interest for human consumption. No published reference sequences are available for any of the three oat subgenomes. Here we report a quality sequence assembly, annotation and hybrid optical map of the A-genome diploid Avena atlantica Baum and Fedak. The assembly is composed of a total of 3,417 contigs with an N50 of 11.86 Mb and an estimated completeness of 97.6%. This genome sequence will be a valuable research tool …

Characterization Of Glyphosate-Resistant Amaranthus Palmeri (Palmer Amaranth) Tolerance To Als- And Hppd-Inhibiting Herbicides, Shilpa Singh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Palmer amaranth is a principal weed problem across the United States and is resistant to several herbicide modes of action. By 2008, Palmer amaranth in Arkansas was reported to be resistant to both ALS- and EPSPS-inhibitors, but the predominant resistance mechanisms are yet to be explored. Herbicide options with different modes of action are needed to provide effective Palmer amaranth control and HPPD-inhibitors (e.g. mesotrione) are among these. The goal of this research was to elucidate the resistance profile of Palmer amaranth in Arkansas to ALS herbicides and glyphosate (EPSPS-inhibitor) as well as evaluate the differential tolerance of Palmer amaranth …

Functional Predictions Of Microbial Communities In Soil As Affected By Long‐Term Tillage Practices, Janani Hariharan, Aditi Sengupta, Parwinder Grewal, Warren A. Dick

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Core Ideas

• Microbial function is important but difficult to assess in soil.
• An omics‐driven tool, PICRUSt, was used to characterize functions of soil microbial communities.
• No‐tillage compared with plow tillage was functionally enriched for most nutrient cycles.
• Many other functions integral to soil health can be explored by the PICRUSt omics approach.

Soil microbial communities affect the soil's biological, chemical, and physical properties, but there is still a knowledge gap regarding the long‐term impact of tillage practices on soil microbial dynamics. Additionally, the accurate identification of belowground microbial functions is a topic of active interest. In this study, microbial community …

The Cotesia Sesamiae Story: Insight Into Host-Range Evolution In A Hymenoptera Parasitoid And Implication For Its Use In Biological Control Programs, L. Kaiser, S. Dupas, A. Branca, E. A. Herniou, C. W. Clarke, C. Capdevielle Dulac, J. Obonyo, R. Benoist, J. Gauthier, P. A. Calatayud, J. F. Silvain, B. P. Le Ru

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This review covers nearly 20 years of studies on the ecology, physiology and genetics of the Hymenoptera Cotesia sesamiae, an African parasitoid of Lepidoptera that reduces populations of common maize borers in East and South Africa. The first part of the review presents studies based on sampling of C. sesamiae from maize crops in Kenya. From this agrosystem including one host plant and three main host borer species, studies revealed two genetically differentiated populations of C. sesamiae species adapted to their local host community, and showed that their differentiation involved the joint evolution of virulence genes and sensory mechanisms of …

Horticulture For Pollinator Conservation, Carter M. Westerhold

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pollinators worldwide are declining. Consequently, the agricultural and ecological services these insects provide are in danger of being lost. Land use intensification, via urbanization, has greatly influenced this decline in pollinators. Luckily, through targeted horticultural practices, stable populations of pollinators can be sustained within urban areas. The horticultural practices of planting diverse floral resources and managing pollinator habitat in urban areas can sustain these populations. Two studies were conducted with the intent to identify horticultural knowledge gaps that could be reduced to aid in pollinator conservation efforts. First, a study to compare Nebraska native and non-native ornamental plants was conducted. …

Notes: Range Extension Of The Virginia Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) In North Dakota, Lisa L. Walsh, Robert Seabloom, Cody W. Thompson

The Prairie Naturalist

The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is broadly distributed across North America from Costa Rica in the south to southern Ontario in the north and from the southern Great Plains in the west to the eastern United States. The Virginia opossum also was introduced multiple times to thePacific Coast beginning in the late 1800s and has established populations in that region. This species is a habitat generalist known to frequent wetland and hardwood habitats but also can be found in grasslands, along forest edges, and in agricultural and suburban settings throughout its range. However, the Virginia opossum is adapted …

Seasonality And Management Of Spotted Wing Drosophila On Berry Crops And Wild Hosts In Arkansas, Lizabeth Rubi Herrera

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) is a serious invasive pest of small fruit production in North and South America and Europe since 2008. The primary control method is to apply insecticides every 5-7 days. Therefore, it is necessary to develop control tactics that are less chemical dependent to enhance an integrated approach for SWD management. The objectives of this study were to monitor SWD populations in different crop systems and adjacent landscape habitats; identify wild hosts of SWD; evaluate the effectiveness of insect exclusion netting in tunnels to prevent blackberry and blueberry infestations, and compare effects of netted …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of Tart Cherries Polyphenols On The Human Gut Microbiota And Phenolic Metabolites In Vitro And In Vivo, Alba Claudia Mayta-Apaza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tart cherries are polyphenol abundant stone fruits claimed to exert health benefits further of its nutritional properties. The abundant phytochemicals content in tart cherries also referred as dietary polyphenols have been considered as an effective natural antioxidant when added in daily diet. However, it has been hypothesized the intervention of gut microbiota on the overall functionality of such compounds. This thesis contains a wide-ranging literature review focused on tart cherry as a crop, current market, functional food, and several health benefits. Furthermore, the research done describes and in vitro and in vivo assays of a short-term dietary intervention of tart …

The Effect Of Preflood Nitrogen And Flood Establishment Timing On Rice Development, Nitrogen Uptake And Grain Yield, Tyler Richmond

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urea-N fertilizer is typically applied at the 5-leaf stage to rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown in a dry-seeded, delayed-flood production system. How long the preflood-N can be delayed without adverse effects on yield potential is poorly understood. The research objective was to determine the effects of preflood-N application and flood establishment timing on aboveground-N content, 50% heading, yield components, and grain yield. Trials were established on silt loam soils at the Pine Tree Research Station (PTRS) and Rice Research and Extension Center (RREC) during 2015 and 2016. Urea-N was applied at 0, 45, 90, 135, and 180 kg N ha-1 …

Evaluation Of Provisia Rice In Arkansas Rice Production Systems, Zachary Lancaster

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the continued evolution of herbicide resistance, it is becoming more difficult to achieve adequate weed control in Arkansas rice production systems. Thus, new technologies are needed to combat these troublesome weeds. A new non-GMO, herbicide-resistant rice type is under development that is resistant to quizalofop, an acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibiting herbicide that will allow for selective grass weed control in rice. With the commercialization of this technology by 2018, research was conducted to determine the best fit for quizalofop-resistant rice in current production systems. Experiments included evaluation of off-target movement of quizalofop, determination of plant-back risk from quizalofop …

Horizontal Transmission Of Helicoverpa Armigera Nucleopolyhedrovirus (Hearnpv) In Soybean Fields Infested With Helicoverpa Zea (Boddie), Joseph Lee Black

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Helicoverpa armigera Nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) is a commercially available viral biopesticide that targets Heliothines, including Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), the most damaging pest of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) in the Mid-South. Previous formulations of HearNPV have been well studied; however, no research has been published on current formulations. The first objective of this thesis was to assess the rate of horizontal transmission of HearNPV in a soybean field infested with H. zea when HearNPV was applied as a bio-insecticide, and to identify arthropods that are important obligate carriers in dissemination. HearNPV spread 200 feet in 3 fields, and was …

Development And Characterization Of Rice Genotypes For Water Use Efficiency And Drought Resistance, Anuj Kumar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice, the second largest staple food crop, uses 30% of global fresh water to complete its life cycle worldwide. Water deficits worldwide have become a serious problem affecting rice growth and ultimately grain yield. To solve the water problem globally, improvement of water use efficiency (WUE) and other drought resistance (DR) traits in rice genotypes would be a useful strategy using advanced genomics tools. In this study, our objectives were to 1) analyze phenotypes of the USDA rice mini-core collection (URMC) for WUE and DR related traits, 2) correlate drought response phenes for physiological traits and grain yield in the …

Phyllotactic Regularity Requires The Paf1 Complex In Arabidopsis, Kateryna Fal, Mengying Liu, Assem Duisembekova, Yassin Refahi, Elizabeth S. Haswell, Olivier Hamant

Biology Faculty Research

In plants, aerial organs are initiated at stereotyped intervals, both spatially (every 137° in a pattern called phyllotaxis) and temporally (at prescribed time intervals called plastochrons). To investigate the molecular basis of such regularity, mutants with altered architecture have been isolated. However, most of them only exhibit plastochron defects and/or produce a new, albeit equally reproducible, phyllotactic pattern. This leaves open the question of a molecular control of phyllotaxis regularity. Here, we show that phyllotaxis regularity depends on the function of VIP proteins, components of the RNA polymerase II-associated factor 1 complex (Paf1c). Divergence angles between successive organs along the …

Developing An Environmentally And Economically Sustainable Sugar Kelp Aquaculture Industry In Southern New England: From Seed To Market, Charles Yarish, Jang K. Kim, Scott Lindell, Hauke Kits-Powell

Department of Marine Sciences

The long-term goal of this proposed project was to promote development of a sustainable sugar kelp industry that can help revitalize working waterfronts, and increase employment and economic opportunities for seafood production, processing, and distribution services in Southern New England and New York. To achieve this goal, we have transfer cultivation techniques of Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) from academic laboratories to commercially viable farms, introduce processing techniques, and provide templates for business plans. An additional benefit of this study are the ecosystem services afforded by sugar kelp farming. Kelp aquaculture will remove carbon and nitrogen (as well as phosphorus) from …

Developing An Environmentally And Economically Sustainable Sugar Kelp Aquaculture Industry In Southern New England: From Seed To Market, Charles Yarish, Jang Kyun Kim, Scott Lindell, Hauke Kite-Powell

EEB Articles

The long-term goal of this proposed project was to promote development of a sustainable sugar kelp industry that can help revitalize working waterfronts, and increase employment and economic opportunities for seafood production, processing, and distribution services in Southern New England and New York. To achieve this goal, we have transfer cultivation techniques of Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) from academic laboratories to commercially viable farms, introduce processing techniques, and provide templates for business plans. An additional benefit of this study are the ecosystem services afforded by sugar kelp farming. Kelp aquaculture will remove carbon and nitrogen (as well as phosphorus) from …

A Comparison Of Water Potential, Photosynthetic Rate, Electron Transport Rate, And Stomatal Conductance Between Native Malosma Laurina And Exotic Schinus Molle, Karagan L. Smith, Agatha C. Heng, Viridiana Hernandez-Lopez, Stephen D. Davis

Biology

Schinus molle is a relatively new invasive chaparral shrub in the Santa Monica Mountains and has only recently been observed to displace native shrubs like Malosma laurina. To investigate the probable cause of S. molle’s competitive displacement of M. laurina, we compared their water status, photosynthetic rates, electron transport rates, and stomatal conductance to water vapor diffusion during the fall months of 2016. We hypothesized that S. molle would physiologically outperform M. laurina indicated by higher photosynthetic rates, electron transport rates, stomatal conductance rates, and less negative water potential. We found that there was no significant difference between dry …

Economic Impact Of The Sugarcane Aphid Outbreak In South Texas, Samuel D. Zapata, Rebekka Dudensing, Danielle Sekula, Gabriela Esparza-Díaz, Raul Villanueva

Entomology Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to estimate the economic impact of the sugarcane aphid (SCA) outbreak in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), Texas. Local producers were surveyed to gather detailed information about crop production and pest control practices. Collected data were used to estimate the reduction in profit associated with the SCA infestation, as well as the monetary value of the prevented loss attributed to control efforts. Sorghum industry losses were then used to assess the overall economic impact of the SCA outbreak in the RGV economy.

Evaluating The Impact Of Two Contrasting Tillage Practices On Soil Properties In Central Kentucky, Emily Cook

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Farming practices such as no tillage and plowing can institute change on soil physical and chemical characteristics. In this research, the effects of long-term conventional and no-tillage systems on the selected soil properties were determined in a continuous corn system on a farm with Maury silt loam soil. These samples were taken from University of Kentucky's Research Farm (Spindletop Farm). The field used was tilled in 1969 from bluegrass sod and the first time research was conduced was in 1970. Each plot is 20 ft. by 40 ft. and for many years each plot was split with winter cover crop …

The Effect Of Drought On The Comparative Fitness Of Purple Needle Grass (Stipa Pulchra) In The Presence Of An Invasive Weed, Grace M. Palmer, Taylor M. Purdy, Stephen D. Davis

Biology

Studies on the relative health of Stipa pulchra, a California native perennial bunchgrass, were conducted at the transplant garden on the Drescher campus of Pepperdine University in the Spring semesters of 2016 and 2017. Following the trend of other perennial native grasses, Stipa pulchra is dwindling due to competition with Avena fatua and other invasive species introduced by human activities. In 2016, in the midst of historic five-year drought in California, stomatal conductance, dark adapted fluorescence, water potential, and height of S. pulchra and A. fatua were recorded and compared. As hypothesized, the wild S. pulchra exhibited greater overall fitness-- …

Occurrence Of Putative Endornaviruses In Non-Cultivated Plant Species And Characterization Of A Novel Endornavirus In Geranium Carolinianum, Rachel Herschlag

LSU Master's Theses

Endornaviruses are RNA viruses, which can infect plants yet cause no apparent symptoms. To date, most descriptions of endornaviruses infecting plants have been in cultivated species. A survey for endornaviruses in non-cultivated plants was initiated in 2015 and continued through 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Two hundred and seven plant species were tested for distinctive dsRNA profiles by selective extraction and gel electrophoresis, of which seven contained endornavirus-like dsRNA. RT-PCR amplification of an endornavirus-specific sequence supported the endornavirus nature of six of the seven samples. Of the six host species, one species, Geranium carolinianum was confirmed as being infected with …

Volume 2, Chapter 16-5: Bird Nests - Non-Passeriformes, Part 2, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 16-4: Bird Nests - Non-Passeriformes, Part 1, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Volume 2, Chapter 16-6: Bird Nests - Passeriformes, Part 1, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Aspergillus Flavus Soil And Corn Kernel Populations From Eight Mississippi River States, Jorge A. Reyes Pineda

LSU Master's Theses

Aspergillus flavus is a saprophytic ascomycete that can also actively invade the seed of crops and potentially contaminate them with harmful aflatoxins. Management of A. flavus currently relies mostly on biocontrol. However, there is still a lot to learn about its biology and ecology so the current approach can be improved. An A. flavus population survey was undertaken during the fall of 2014 across eight Mississippi River states to determine population diversity and geographic distribution of VCGs. Isolates from corn and soil were also characterized for VCG, sclerotial morphotype, mating type, cyclopiazonic acid, and aflatoxin production in order to determine …

Volume 2, Chapter 16-3: Bird Nests, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Subchapters

No abstract provided.