Digital Commons Network^™

Temporal Variability In Aboveground Plant Biomass Decreases As Spatial Variability Increases, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Ecological theory predicts that diversity decreases variability in ecosystem function. We predict that, at the landscape scale, spatial variability created by a mosaic of contrasting patches that differ in time since disturbance will decrease temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. Using data from a multi-year study of seven grazed tallgrass prairie landscapes, each experimentally managed for one to eight patches, we show that increased spatial variability driven by spatially patchy fire and herbivory reduces temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. This pattern is associated with statistical evidence for the portfolio effect and a positive relationship between temporal variability and functional …

Temporal Variability In Aboveground Plant Biomass Decreases As Spatial Variability Increases, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Ecological theory predicts that diversity decreases variability in ecosystem function. We predict that, at the landscape scale, spatial variability created by a mosaic of contrasting patches that differ in time since disturbance will decrease temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. Using data from a multi-year study of seven grazed tallgrass prairie landscapes, each experimentally managed for one to eight patches, we show that increased spatial variability driven by spatially patchy fire and herbivory reduces temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. This pattern is associated with statistical evidence for the portfolio effect and a positive relationship between temporal variability and functional …

Riparian Trees And Aridland Streams Of The Southwestern United States: An Assessment Of The Past, Present, And Future, D. Max Smith, Deborah M. Finch

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Riparian ecosystems are vital components of aridlands within the southwestern United States. Historically, surface flows influenced population dynamics of native riparian trees. Many southwestern streams has been altered by regulation, however, and will be further affected by greenhouse warming. Our analysis of stream gage data revealed that decreases in volume of annual discharge and mean peak discharge and a shift to earlier peak discharge will occur in the Southern Rockies region of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. These changes will likely decrease rates of reproduction and survival of cottonwood (Populus fremontii and Populus deltoides ssp. wislizenii), Goodding's willow …

Review Of Broad-Scale Drought Monitoring Of Forests: Toward An Integrated Data Mining Approach, Steven P. Norman, Frank H. Koch, William W. Hargrove

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Efforts to monitor the broad-scale impacts of drought on forests often come up short. Drought is a direct stressor of forests as well as a driver of secondary disturbance agents, making a full accounting of drought impacts challenging. General impacts can be inferred from moisture deficits quantified using precipitation and temperature measurements. However, derived meteorological indices may not meaningfully capture drought impacts because drought responses can differ substantially among species, sites and regions. Meteorology-based approaches also require the characterization of current moisture conditions relative to some specified time and place, but defining baseline conditions over large, ecologically diverse regions can …

Conditions Inside Fisher Dens During Prescribed Fires; What Is The Risk Posed By Spring Underburns?, Craig M. Thompson, Kathryn L. Purcell

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The use of spring prescribed fires to reduce accumulated fuel loads in western forests and facilitate the return of natural fire regimes is a controversial topic. While spring burns can be effective at reducing fuel loads and restoring heterogeneous landscapes, concerns exist over the potential impacts of unnaturally timed fires to native species. To protect native wildlife from disturbance during critical periods, limited operating periods (LOPs) are often implemented. However when LOPs for multiple species are combined into an integrated management plan, very few time windows for implementing prescribed fires remain. The use of spring burns is often effectively eliminated, …

Transcriptome And Metabolome Analyses Of Glucosinolates In Two Broccoli Cultivars Following Jasmonate Treatment For The Induction Of Glucosinolate Defense To Trichoplusia Ni (Hübner), Kang-Mo Ku, Talon M. Becker, John A. Juvik

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Lepidopteran larvae growth is influenced by host plant glucosinolate (GS) concentrations, which are, in turn, influenced by the phytohormone jasmonate (JA). In order to elucidate insect resistance biomarkers to lepidopteran pests, transcriptome and metabolome analyses following JA treatments were conducted with two broccoli cultivars, Green Magic and VI-158, which have differentially induced indole GSs, neoglucobrassicin and glucobrassicin, respectively. To test these two inducible GSs on growth of cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni), eight neonate cabbage looper larvae were placed onto each of three plants per JA treatments (0, 100, 200, 400 M) three days after treatment. After five days of feeding, …

1-65-S-Algal Blooms: Algal Blooms Threatening Lake Chapala, R. Corban Harwood

Faculty Publications - Department of Mathematics

This modeling scenario investigates the massive algal blooms that struck Lake Chapala, Mexico, starting in 1994. After reading a summary of articles written on the incidents, students are guided through the process of creating a first order differential equation from a verbal model of the factors and analyze the nonautonomous ODE using direction field, parameter evaluation, and exact solution computation to fully describe the population behavior. Students are expected to be familiar with the separable method and direction fields. Students will learn building and improving a model from qualitative descriptions, nondimensionalization, evaluating parameters, and how to use DFIELD software to …

The Chemical Constituents Of New Essential Oils From Endemic And Sub Endemic Plants Of Mongolian Gobi, Sanduin Shatar, Jordanka Stavena, Milka Todorova, Shataryn Altantsetseg

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The new essential oil-Endemic and sub endemic plants in Outer Mongolian Gobi were isolated by hydro distillation from the aerial parts of Brachanthemum gobicum Krasch, B. mongolicum Krach, B. mongolorum Grub., Asterothamnus centrali-asiaticus Novopork, A. molliusculus Novopork., Ajania trifida (Turcz) Tzvel, A. achilleoides (Turcz) Tzvel., Ferula ferulaeoides (Stend) Eug. Kor., Artemisia davajamczii Darijima., A. caespitosa Ldb, A. subchrysolepis Filat, A. schischkinii Krasch, A.intricata Franch, A.ordasica Krasch, A.gobica (Krasch) Grub., A. sphalerocephala Krasch that grown in wild in Outer Mongolian Gobi. The essential oils were analyzed by a combination of Capillary GC and GC-MS and their main constituents were described.

An Update Of The Family-Level Taxonomy Of Vascular Plants In Mongolia, M. Urgamal, Ch. Sanchir

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

A new comprehensive checklist of Mongolian vascular plant families includes descriptions of all accepted plant families, each with a basionym, homonym, and full list of synonyms. The list is a completely revised update of GUBANOV’s conspectus (1996) of the Mongolian flora. The currently list covers a total of 3,113 species, subspecies and 683 genera, 112 families of vascular plants, belonging to 39 orders, 14 classes or clades and 5 divisions of the vascular plants in the flora of Mongolia.

The Paper Trail: An Arid Connection And A Book Of A Thousand Plants, Stephen L. Young, Peter Alpert

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Following my Ph.D., I moved on to Nebraska, where as a beginning faculty member I was able to start a research program in ecology and continue to study what intrigued me most: plant competition and stress. It was during this time that I came across the paper by Peter Alpert (see his article below) and his colleagues on “Invasiveness, invasibility, and the role of environmental stress in preventing the spread of non-native plants” (Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 3:52–66). It was an “aha” moment in reading about biological invasion research and the current consensus at that time regarding …

Invasion During Extreme Weather: Success And Failure In A Temperate Perennial Grassland, James C. Han, Stephen L. Young

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Invasive and native plant species compete for resources in similar pools, with disturbances often favoring the invader. Yet, increased climate variability may be shifting the competitive edge back toward the natives. We conducted field studies in perennial grasslands to determine the effects of clipping and drought on resource availability (light and moisture) and subsequent establishment of Carduus nutans. We measured light penetration and soil moisture content in C. nutans monoculture, clipped and non clipped grassland with C. nutans, and bare ground control plots. We also tracked phenology of the invader and grasses. Our studies revealed that light was a limiting …

The Effect Of Adjuvants At High Spray Pressures For Aerial Applications, Bradley K. Fritz, W. Clint Hoffmann, Ryan S. Henry

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Controlling droplet size is a critical part of making any successful agrochemical spray application. This is particularly true for higher-speed aerial applications where secondary atomization from air shear becomes the most dominant factor driving spray droplet size. Previous research has shown that higher spray pressures can result in larger droplet-sized sprays by increasing the exit velocity of the spray liquid from the nozzles, which in turn decreases the differential velocity between the spray liquid and surrounding airstream, reducing secondary breakup. This work explores the effects of higher-than-normal spray pressures on two typical aerial application nozzles in the presence of a …

Growing Potato Profitably For Organic Dry Matter Production In Western Nebraska, Alexander Pavlista, Jessica J. Groskopf

Panhandle Research and Extension Center

Growing potato conventionally for dehydration is not economically feasible. The key cost would be seed under organic farming. The objective is to identify seed-piece sizes and spacings producing a profitable return for potato dehydration in western Nebraska. Atlantic potatoes were grown under dryland conditions using organic practices. Rain was 205, 270, and 360 mm in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Seed-pieces were hand-cut into five weights from 42.5 to 85.0 g and planted in five spacings from 15.2 to 45.7 cm. Seeding rates were 1.02 to 6.1 Mg/ha. Yield was highest at the spacing of 15.2 cm (16.1 Mg/ha) and decreased …

05. Bird Communities Within A Prairie/Wetland Complex: Restoration Of Former Wastewater Treatment Ponds In Southeastern Minnesota, Neal Mundahl, Bruno Borsari

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

Our 12-mo study examined the bird communities associated with three habitat types at differing stages of restoration within a prairie/wetland complex in southeastern Minnesota. The 25-ha site previously consisted of three municipal wastewater treatment ponds that were taken off-line in 2002. One pond was retained as a shallow wetland; the others were reconfigured and restored by planting with prairie vegetation (one pond in 2003 and the other pond in 2013) to provide habitat for both wetland and grassland birds. Timed walking surveys of birds in each habitat were made monthly from June 2014 through May 2015. We observed 48 bird …

10. Browsing By White-Tailed Deer On Invasive Oriental Bittersweet Spreading Into Restored Grasslands, Neal Mundahl, Bruno Borsari

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

Non-native oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.) was first detected in southeastern Minnesota in 2010 and has spread from woodlands into adjacent grasslands. Anecdotal evidence suggests that browsing by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on young oriental bittersweet slows the growth and spread of this plant. This study assessed the population characteristics of density, age structure, growth rate, and branching morphology of oriental bittersweet in small, restored grasslands (mixed native grasses and forbs) in Winona County, Minnesota, and quantified the browsing damage inflicted by white-tailed deer on bittersweet and native red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) at the end of winter. Bittersweet densities …

06. Pilot Study: Limitations To Pollination And Ovary Development In The Small White Lady’S-Slipper (Cypripedium Candidum), Marie Faust, John A. Harrington

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

The small white lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium candidum) is threatened or endangered in 10 or more of the approximately 20 U.S. states and Canadian provinces in which it is found. Our pilot study revealed a lack of pollination occurring in Wisconsin’s wild populations of this orchid. We also speculate from observations taken during the study that animal browse contributes to the state threatened status of this orchid. The results of this 1-year study are taken from three sites of low prairie in southern Wisconsin. Orchids were counted at each site; a subset of flowering plants was hand pollinated and mapped as to …

14. Ten Years Of Vegetation Observations On Formerly Grazed Oklahoma Grassland, Erica A. Corbett, Tim Patton

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

In summer 2003, we established a series of 40 adjacent, 10310-m blocks in formerly grazed grassland in southcentral Oklahoma. The blocks were allowed to rest and received no grazing, mowing, or burning. We tracked changes in the vegetation of the site over time between 2005 and 2015. Frequency sampling of prairie vegetation was performed at irregular intervals. In spring 2006 we seeded half the site with a Texas/Oklahoma prairie forb mix. We found no significant trends of change in species richness or diversity over time. However, there were subtle changes in abundance of individual species. Across fall sampling periods, Shannon …

07. The Effects Of Seed Mix Diversity On Soil Conditions And Nesting Of Bees In Prairie Restorations, Nicholas Anderson, Alexandrea Harmon-Threatt

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

With the goal of conserving native bees, current recommendations for improving habitats include increasing available floral resources by planting diverse seed mixes. However, these recommendations only account for the nutritional needs of bees while the availability of equally important nesting resources is often ignored. Here we used a novel system to investigate the effects of seed mix diversity on abiotic factors previously associated with nest sites of ground-nesting bees—available bare ground and soil temperature, moisture, and compaction—and on the occurrence of nests. We used standard bee-collecting techniques and a newer method using soil emergence tents (E-tents) to assess how seed …

Determining Factors That Influence Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina Alterniflora Loisel) Transplant Success In Community-Based Living Shoreline Projects, Steven A. Carrion

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Efforts to mitigate shoreline erosion through living shoreline methods along the USA Atlantic seaboard have often incorporated the cultivation and transplantation of smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora. Assessments of these transplants at several sites in the Indian River Lagoon have shown that survival is variable after a year (survival: 10-93%). Lower survival has been attributed to environmental variables such as dislodgement by wave energy, and transplant shock due to salinity changes from cultivation to estuarine conditions. To improve living shoreline projects, we examined the effects of cultivation salinity (0 ppt, 15ppt) on transplantation success, and the success of anchoring plants …

Reproductive Biology Of American Licorice (Glycyrrhiza Lepidota Pursh) In Western South Dakota With New Seed Insect Associations, Arvid Boe

Native Plant Focused Publications

American licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota Pursh) is a long-lived rhizomatous native legume that is common on moist prairies and meadows in the northern Great Plains and further west. This species is of interest for remediation and conservation because it is a legume that is fairly well adapted to moist saline soils. It is browsed by deer and pronghorn and its seeds are consumed by birds, rodents, and insects. Acanthoscelides aureolus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)] and Bruchophagus grisselli McDaniel & Boe (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) can decimate seed production in natural populations. Our objectives were to determine seed yield components (i.e., seeds per pod and …

Biochar Reduced Nitrous Oxide And Carbon Dioxide Emissions From Soil With Different Water And Temperature Cycles, Jiyul Chang, David E. Clay, Sharon A. Clay, Rajesh Chintala, Janet M. Miller, Thomas Schumacher

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Interactions among biochar, respiration, nitrification, and soils can result in biochar increasing, decreasing, or not impacting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This experiment determined the impact of water-filled porosity (WFP) and corn (Zea mays L.) stover biochar on CO₂ and N₂O emissions in May (spring) and August (summer). The May experiment contained two N rates [0 and 224 kg Ca(NO₃)₂–N ha^–1], whereas the August had three N rates [0, 224 kg Ca(NO₃)₂–N ha^–1, and 224 kg (NH₄)₂SO₄–N ha^{–1 …}

Invasive Species In An Urban Flora: History And Current Status In Indianapolis, Indiana, Rebecca W. Dolan

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Invasive plant species are widely appreciated to cause significant ecologic and economic damage in agricultural fields and in natural areas. The presence and impact of invasives in cities is less well documented. This paper characterizes invasive plants in Indianapolis, Indiana. Based on historical records and contemporary accounts, 69 of the 120 species on the official Indiana state list are reported for the city. Most of these plants are native to Asia or Eurasia, with escape from cultivation as the most common mode of introduction. Most have been in the flora of Indianapolis for some time. Eighty percent of Indianapolis’ invasive …

Bigtooth And Quaking Aspen Propagation From Roots Versus Seed, Joseph M. Vande Hey

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.

North American Botanic Garden Strategy For Plant Conservation 2016-2020, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, American Public Gardens Association, Asociacion Mexicana De Jardines, Center For Plant Conservation, Plant Conservation Alliance, Pam Allenstein, Robert Bye, Jennifer Ceska, John Clark, Jenny Cruse-Sanders, Gerard Donnelly, Christopher Dunn, Anne Frances, David Galbraith, Jordan Golubov, Gennadyi Gurman, Kayri Havens, Abby Hird Meyer, Douglas Justice, Edelmira Linares, Maria Magdalena Hernandez, Beatriz Maruri Aguilar, Mike Maunder, Ray Mims, Greg Mueller, Jennifer Ramp Neale, Martin Nicholson, Ari Novy, Susan Pell, John J. Pipoly Iii, Diane Ragone, Peter Raven, Erin Riggs, Kate Sackman, Emiliano Sanchez Martinez, Suzanne Sharrock, Casey Sclar, Paul Smith, Murphy Westwood, Rebecca Wolf, Peter Wyse Jackson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Role Of Plasmodesmata Localizing- And Double-Stranded Rna Binding-Proteins In Systemic Immunity And Plant Defense, Gah-Hyun Lim

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

The various modes of defense induced upon the recognition of pathogen-derived molecules provide species level resistance to non-host pathogens, local and systemic resistance to race-specific pathogens, and basal resistance to virulent pathogens. Resistance (R) gene-mediated or species-specific immunity is induced when a strain-specific avirulence (avr) effector from the pathogen associates directly/indirectly with a cognate plant R protein. Plant viruses often encode suppressors of host RNA silencing machinery. In turn, plants recognize such suppressors via R proteins. Recognition of the Turnip Crinkle Virus (TCV) coat-protein (CP, RNA silencing suppressor) induces HRT-mediated resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. This requires the …

Composting At Parkland College, Della Jacobs

A with Honors Projects

This essay summarizes the student's efforts to establish a composting program at Parkland College. The student had previously worked to establish a garden plot to supplement the offerings at the College's food pantry and subsequently worked with the cafeteria to collect composting materials for the garden plot.

Phytopharmaceuticals In Mongolia: Past, Present, And Future, Disan Gunbilig, Ulziinyam Rentsendorj

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Over the last two decades, the consumption of medicinal plants has increased in Mongolia. Once banned by the post-revolutionary government, it is now valued by the practitioners of orthodox medicine, government as well as by the society. Yet the scientific community has to give this major and crucial component of traditional Mongolian medicine the attention it deserves, scientific knowledge about biologically active principles within medicinal plants remain poorly unknown. At the same time, due to over exploitation of plants many species are becoming extinct together with invaluable traditional knowledge being lost. For these reasons, there is a certain urgency to …

Bibliographia Phytosociologica Et Floristica Mongolia: Pars Iv, Werner Hilbig

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In Ergänzung zu den bisherigen drei Teilen der Bibliographie vegetationskundlicher, vegetationsökologischer, floristischer und pflanzengeographischer Arbeiten über die Mongolei wird in dieser Arbeit Teil IV der Bibliographie vorgelegt. Er umfasst im Wesentlichen den Zeitraum 2007 bis 2014. Auch Publikationen zur Vegetationsgeschichte und zum botanischen Naturschutz werden berücksichtigt.

English summary:

In addition to the hitherto existing three parts of the bibliography of geobotanical, ecological, floristic and plant-geographical papers on Mongolia the part IV of the bibliography is given. It comprises in the main point the period from 2007 until 2014. In addition, publications on vegetation history and botanical nature protection are considered.

Plant Communities In Eastern Mongolia, Werner Hilbig, Naidan Narantuya

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In this contribution is presented a phytosociological description of plant communities, recorded in the phytogeographical district of Eastern Mongolia, including parts of the Dornod (Eastern) and the Choybalsan aymags. The whole district is characterized by steppe vegetation. Other vegetation types, like elm (Ulmus pumila) bush vegetation, shrubbery on sandy and rocky sites, Salix miyabeana bushes, meadow and reed vegetation in the river plains and lake basins, salt vegetation and ruderal plant communities were also recorded, documented by synoptic vegetation tables or single relevés and characterized by information on the ecological conditions of their habitats. Some of the observed …

Evolutionary Explanation For Invasive Abilities Of Centaurea Stoebe (Spotted Knapweed) In Introduced Areas, Erin Koren

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Since every invasion and every exotic species presents a new challenge with novel invasion strategies, the invasion of Centaurea stoebe (synonymously referred to as C. maculosa) into North America will be used as a case study to deeply examine invasion strategies. Centaurea stoebe is a short-lived (approximately 3 years) perennial member of the aster family (Broz et al., 2007). It occurs in two different cytotypes, or with two different chromosomal factors. In its home range, it exists in both diploid and tetraploid cytotypes, but only the tetraploid version is present in introduced ranges in North America (See Figure 1; Treier …