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Incorporating Sex-Diverse And Gender-Inclusive Perspectives In Higher Education Biology Courses, Breanne N. Harris, A Kelsey Lewis, Sam L. Sharpe, Teri J. Orr, Christopher T. Martine, Chloe C. Josefson

Faculty Journal Articles

Inclusive teaching is teaching in a way that reaches all students in the classroom; this is beneficial for everyone, particularly for those with minoritized identities. Instructors play a critical role in scaffolding how students are exposed to and learn science content in the classroom. In this manuscript, we discuss how biology instructors can make their classrooms more inclusive with regard to sex and gender diversity content. Many topics in biology are based on androcentric, heteronormative, and oppressive framing, even though those lenses are more reflective of our own history and culture than they are of the diversity we see in …

Carbaryl-Induced Leaf Necrosis In Vitis Rupestris B-38, Courtney Nicole Duncan

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Agricultural insecticides are formulated to target insects while minimizing harm to the intended crop. In rare instances, however, insecticides induce harmful physiological reactions in certain plant genomes, inflicting severe tissue damage. This project investigated the genetic basis of such a reaction observed in the grape genotype Vitis rupestris B38 following exposure to the insecticide carbaryl, which manifests as interveinal leaf necrosis. Through analysis of an F1 hybrid progeny of this grapevine, I mapped this phenotype to a QTL on chromosome 16. The carbaryl-sensitive trait was repeatedly mapped to the same locus using phenotype data from two different field locations and …

Disturbance-Prone Ozark Streams: Interactions Between Plants And The Stream Environment, Alexis Renea Reifsteck

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Ozark streams are extremely diverse ecosystems, despite frequent flood disturbance. Plant communities are frequently altered by bed-moving floods but are extremely resilient. We know that land-use, sediments, and nutrients can impact plant communities, but more can be divulged about how plants alter communities and how environmental variables influence plant community composition in disturbance-prone Ozark streams. To address this, I examined two key aspects of Ozark stream ecosystems: the role of American Water Willow, Justicia americana, in structuring aquatic habitats and the factors influencing gravel bar plant community composition. In the first chapter, I investigated how J. americana, a …

Rhizophora Mangle (Red Mangrove) Seedling Success In Different Habitats In Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, Usa, Mekail N. Negash

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Mangroves provide many ecosystem services in coastal environments around the world. These include water quality improvement, creating habitats for terrestrial and aquatic species, and stabilizing shorelines. In central Florida, the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle is a common species in coastal wetlands, and recently the number of individuals successfully recruiting to intertidal oyster reefs has greatly increased, possibly because biogeochemical hot spots are present on oyster reefs due to nutrient-rich biodeposits from the live oysters. To understand how well R. mangle responds in terms of survival and growth to the suite of variables associated within these two unique habitats, I tracked …

Stream Restoration Effectiveness In Mullins Creek In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Amadeo Scott, Shannon Speir

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Lotic waterways are vital for habitat, food, water, and flood protection, but urbanization poses a major threat to their integrity. Runoff from urban surfaces leads to pollution, flashiness, loss of biodiversity, and other symptoms, also known as Urban Stream Syndrome (USS). Streams can be restored in order to combat USS, but most restorations are not monitored, so their long-term effectiveness is unknown. This study quantitatively evaluated a decade-old stream restoration in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to assess its effectiveness in combating USS and achieving set restoration goals, and to gain insights for future restoration projects. Restoration goals included decreasing erosion and sedimentation, …

A Vascular Flora Of The Southern Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, California, Maria J. Jesus

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The Inyo Mountains in Inyo County, California, are an arid mountain range located between the eastern Sierra Nevada and Death Valley National Park. The study site is ca. 433 km² (167 sq mi), ranging in elevation from 549 to 2955 m (1800 to 9694 ft), and comprises the southern extent of the Inyo Mountains where the Great Basin Desert and Mojave Desert bioregions meet. This area had been poorly represented by botanical collections despite an abundance of distinctive biogeographic features and high diversity in rare and endemic plant species. The objectives of this study were to complete a specimen-based, …

Documenting Plant Biodiversity At The Emu-Owned Parsons Center For Arts And Sciences, Emily Edwards

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

We present the first vascular plant species checklist for the Eastern Michigan-University-owned property called the Parsons Center for Arts and Sciences. A voucher for each plant species has been deposited in the Eastern Michigan College herbarium and collection data is digitized in the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria. A minimum of three images per species are also available on iNaturalist . The Consortium and iNaturalist databases are publicly available and provide georeferenced locations for each plant. One hundred seventy-one plant species (in 137 genera and 61 families) were documented and identified, representing about 15% of plant species and 41% of families …

Wild Radish And Its Management In Crops, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) is highly competitive in crops and can cause a yield loss of 10 to 90 %.

Wild radish has fibrous stems that make harvesting difficult by choking the header comb, it is an alternative host for numerous pests and diseases, and it can cause animal health problems when grazed.

Chemical Control Of Turfgrass Diseases 2024, Bruce B. Clarke, Paul Vincelli, Paul Koch, Ming-Yi Chou

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Turfgrasses under intensive management are often subject to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Diseases usually are most damaging when weather or cultural conditions favor the disease-causing agent but not plant growth and vigor. Cultural conditions that predispose turfgrass to diseases include close mowing, inadequate or excessive fertility, light or frequent irrigation, excessive thatch, poor drainage, and shade. Good turf management practices often greatly reduce the impact of disease by promoting healthy plants that are better able to resist infections. Even under good management, however, diseases sometimes cause excessive damage to highly managed turfgrasses. The proper use of fungicides in these instances, …

South America Holds The Greatest Diversity Of Native Daisies (Asteraceae) In The World: An Updated Catalogue Supporting Continental-Scale Conservation, Andrés Moreira-Muñoz, Marcelo Monge, Mariana A. Grossi, Fabio Andrés Ávila, Vanezza Morales-Fierro, Gustavo Heiden, Berni Britto, Stephan Beck, Jimi N. Nakajima, Vanina G. Salgado, Juan Facundo Rodríguez-Cravero, Diego G. Gutiérrez

Publications and Research

Asteraceae is the world’s richest plant family and is found on all continents, in environments ranging from the coast to the highest mountains. The family shows all growth forms and, as in other angiosperm families, species richness is concentrated in tropical regions. South America has the highest diversity of Asteraceae in the world, yet taxonomic and distributional knowledge gaps remain. This study compiles an updated catalog of Asteraceae native to South America, based on national and regional checklists and ongoing large-scale flora projects. The resulting checklist includes a total of 6,940 species and 564 genera native to South America to …

Building Detailed And Accurate Whole-Plant Concepts: A Morphometrics-Informed Reconstruction Of A Zosterophyll From The Lower Devonian Of Wyoming, Samar R. El-Abdallah

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The fragmentary state of plant fossils and the modular organization of plants make whole-plant reconstructions of fossil species desirable and feasible. Such reconstructions are key for integrating fossil species in systematic studies. The ca. 410 Ma Beartooth Butte Formation of Wyoming (USA) hosts the only rich Early Devonian plant assemblages in western North America, which fills a major gap in the phytogeography of this interval. I construct a whole-plant concept for a new zosterophyll from the Beartooth Butte Formation based on a detailed morphometric study. More than 600 fragments of the new zosterophyll were observed and 200 of those were …

Whatever Happened To The Snapdragon Family?, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

The short answer is DNA sequencing and phylogenetic systematics.

Phylogenetic Relationships Of A North American Radiation Of Clematis (Ranunculaceae), Jesse Harris, Thomas H. Murphy, Erin A. Manzitto-Tripp, Nicolás Medina, Zach Irick, L. Dwayne Estes, Stacey D. Smith

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Clematis L. is one of many plant genera that contributes prominently to the species richness and endemism of the southeastern United States. Here we examined phylogenetic relationships among species in Clematis sect. Viorna, commonly known as leatherflowers, which are distributed primarily in the southeastern United States. We used data from restriction site-associated ddRADseq to reconstruct a best estimate phylogeny of this group. Our analyses revealed that the North American members of sect. Viorna form a well-supported clade, and several of the traditionally recognized infrasectional taxa were resolved as monophyletic. Although characters employed in classification including habit and inflorescence position …

Developing Machine Learning Models For Selection Of Management Zones, Sravanthi Bachina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soil sampling and analyses play a crucial role in optimizing nutrient management and enhancing crop productivity. However, collecting representative samples across diverse landscapes is challenging due to knowledge gaps about spatial variability of soil properties, large fields, multiple samples, and analysis costs. Collecting soil samples based on the management zones can help farmers gather precise information about soil properties with fewer samples. Recent developments in precision agriculture and machine learning. This study aimed to develop machine learning models that can learn, analyze, and refine landscape and soil properties data for automated selection of soil sampling zones and generating prediction maps. …

The Hutton Project: Long-Term Agricultural Impacts On Soil Loss And Carbon Dynamics In Eastern South Dakota, Eli Halverson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Long-term and intensified agricultural land management has resulted in increased rates of soil erosion and has altered much of the carbon cycle at regional and global scales. Anthropogenic degradation of soil resources is a barrier to sustainable production, soil functioning, and ecosystem services. It is difficult to quantify the scope of pedogenic changes due to the lack of legacy data and short temporal scales. This study utilized decades to century-old soil information to quantify historical soil erosion losses and changes in soil carbon pools of eastern South Dakota soils. The results show that soils in the region have been significantly …

Plant Pathways Associated With Competition For Soybean Root Colonization By Bradyrhizobium Strains, Athira Sethu Madhavan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for the growth and development of plants. Legume crops like soybeans develop symbiotic associations with soil bacteria from the genus, Bradyrhizobium to obtain fixed nitrogen. In this mutualistic association, rhizobia are released into root nodules that provide a compatible environment for rhizobia to grow and fix nitrogen (Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation (SNF)). A caveat in such beneficial associations is the competition between different rhizobium strains in soil for infection and nodule occupancy. The elite inoculant strains encounter competition by indigenous rhizobial population in the soil to infect and nodulate a susceptible legume host, because of which …

Impacts Of Cover Crops And Diversified Crop Rotations On Soil Biochemical Properties, Hydrophysical Characteristics, And Water Dynamics In Long-Term No-Till Cropping Systems, Sainfort Vital

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research assessed the impacts of crop rotations and cover crops on the soil's biochemical and hydrophysical properties within long-term no-till systems. The research was conducted at the Southeast Research Farm, near Beresford, South Dakota. The crop rotations contain two levels: 4-year corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L.)-oat (Avena sativa L.)-rye (Secale cereale L.) (CSOR) and 2-year corn-soybean (CS) rotations. The cover crop factors also had two levels within each rotation treatment: cover crops (CC) and no cover crops (NCC). All plots were managed under long-term no-till (NT), with soils mapped as Egan silty clay loam (fine-silty, mixed, superactive, …

Aspen Forest Condition Assessment And Restoration Guidance, Paul C. Rogers

Aspen Bibliography

This preliminary report is the first installment of an ongoing aspen assessment at Bryce Canyon National Park (BCNP). Over a 1.5-year period beginning in 2021, I assembled available BCNP and conducted a preliminary field survey to gain a better understanding of the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) resource within the Park. Findings suggest a long history of vegetation mapping with mixed results in terms of highlighting aspen presence a notable species of overall low coverage as well as aspen importance, at BCNP. In brief, though this species has limited presence, it is of high biodiversity conservation value. According to …

The Genetic Diversity Of An Endangered Buttercup, Ranunculus Triternatus, Ryan Garcia

All Graduate Projects

Ranunculus triternatus, a rare endemic species of the Columbia River Gorge, faces conservation challenges due to its limited range and fragmented populations. This study assesses the genetic diversity of R. triternatus and compares it with its widespread congener, Ranunculus glaberrimus, using inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. Genetic data from 80 individuals across eight populations were analyzed using Nei’s genetic diversity, Shannon’s diversity index, and AMOVA. Results showed R. triternatus had higher genetic diversity than western populations of R. glaberrimus, with eastern populations of R. glaberrimus displaying greater diversity than western ones. PCA, UPGMA, and STRUCTURE analysis revealed …

Trinity Transcript Assembly For The Titan Arum, Alveena Zulfiqar, Beenish J. Azhar, Samina N. Shakeel, William Thives Santos, Theresa D. Barry, Dana Ozimek, Kim Delong, Ruthie Angelovici, Kathleen M. Greenham, Craig A. Schenck, G. Eric Schaller

Dartmouth Scholarship

Transcriptome analysis of the titan arum was performed using floral and leaf tissues harvested from “Morphy” and “Morphy Junior,” two titan arums housed in the greenhouse of the Life Sciences Center at Dartmouth College. De novo transcript assembly for the reads obtained by RNA-seq was performed with Trinity-v2.6.6, using the default settings of >95% identity and a minimum assembled contig length of 200 nucleotides, resulting in the assembly of 915,085 transcripts that clustered as 536,644 genes.

See the following publication for details:

Zulfiqar, A., Azhar, B.J., Shakeel, S.N., Thives Santos, W., Barry, T.D., Ozimek, D., DeLong, K., Angelovici, R., Greenham, …

Investigating The Function Of Protein S-Acyltransferase 2 In Arabidopsis Thaliana Using Crispr Mutants, Nicole Benjamin

Honors Theses and Capstones

Arabidopsis thaliana contains 24 Protein Acyl Transferases (PATs). These enzymes are responsible for catalyzing the addition of a palmitate to a target substrate (palmitoylation). However, beyond its broad enzymatic function, it is unknown how PATs interact on a cellular level. This research focuses on identifying the function of PAT2. CRISPR-Cas9 was used to create deletion mutations that would result in a non-functional PAT. Two plants homozygous for a pat2 deletion were identified: pat2-5 and pat2-6. Preliminary results suggest that pollen grains in both pat2 mutants are larger in both length and width. Additionally, it appears that mutant pollen tends to …

Trends And Patterns Of Plant Conservation Research In Borneo: A Review, Rizmoon Nurul Zulkarnaen, Sabri Mohd. Ali, Daniele Cicuzza

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Borneo hosts exceptional plant diversity, including numerous endemic species, but faces significant threats from rapid habitat loss driven by deforestation and land-use changes. This study aimed to analyze research trends and forecast future directions through a bibliometric analysis of Scopus data spanning from 1914 to 2023. The bibliometric analysis included publication outputs, citation patterns, thematic mapping, and keyword co-occurrence. We used VOSviewer to visualize bibliometric networks and the Bibliometrix package in R to perform advanced bibliometric analysis and interactive data exploration. The analysis revealed a continuous rise in publications (998 documents), with the Journal of Ecology identified as the most …

Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Associated With Maize, And Their Relationship With Soil Properties In Southern And Southwestern Ethiopia, Abebe W. Aseffa, Beira H. Meressa, Tadele Tefera, Kristina K. Green, Peter Anderson, Esayas Mendesil

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Maize is an important cereal crop in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Plant-parasitic nematodes significantly impact maize production. However, research on maize nematodes in SSA is limited. The current study aimed to assess the occurrences and densities of nematodes associated with maize and to assess the correlation of some soil physicochemical properties with nematodes in southern and southwestern Ethiopia. One hundred and eighty-six soil and root samples were collected from 62 maize fields (31 from Hawassa Zuria and 31 from Mana districts). Eleven plant-parasitic nematode genera were identified. The most important genera of plant-parasitic nematodes identified were Meloidogyne and Pratylenchus, followed by …

Characterisation Of ‘Giant’ Cysts Of The Potato Cyst Nematode, Globodera Rostochiensis, Present In Potato Fields In Kenya, James A. Price, Kelsey Hunt, Newton Nyagah, Calvince Orage, Onesmus Mwaura, Solveig Haukeland, Danny Coyne, John T. Jones

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Potato production in East Africa is seriously impacted by the potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera rostochiensis, where it has been recorded in at least three countries. In Kenya, it is widespread in all major potato-growing regions, often at very high densities. Consecutive cropping of potato on the same land and a sub-tropical climate have influenced PCN biology. For example, unusually large cysts have been regularly recovered. We have analysed the biological properties of these ‘giant cysts’. The giant cysts contained more eggs than those recovered from UK fields. Egg size did not differ from UK populations and there was no …

Induced Thermotolerance In Metarhizium Spp. Using Gamma Irradiation And Mass Spore Production Using Various Substrates To Control Brown Planthopper Nilaparvata Lugens (Stål), Suleiman Abba Muazu

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is a major rice pest in Southeast Asia and is developing increased resistance to chemical insecticides. Fungi from the genus Metarhizium offers a promising alternative for biological control, but their efficacy is constrained by slow infectivity and environmental sensitivity. In this study, two Metarhizium isolates, MLUBN038 and MNMHN031, were identified as M. koreanum by multilocus phylogenetic analysis. Improving thermotolerance of the fungus using gamma irradiation generated 79 thermotolerant mutants. Among them, ML038-Mt 71 and MN031-Mt 46 showed improved vegetative heat tolerance at 39 °C and conidial resistance at 45 °C, along with enhanced …

A Flora Of The Silver Peak Range, Esmeralda County, Nevada, Peri Lee Pipkin

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The Silver Peak Range and surrounding valleys lie east of the White Mountains of California in Esmeralda County, Nevada, in a transition between the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts. The flora of the region is influenced by the northern Mojave Desert to the south, White Mountains to the west, Great Basin Desert to the east and north, and additionally the Sierra Nevada to the west and Death Valley to the south. Prior to this study, the botanical diversity of the region had not been systematically investigated despite the area's need for urgent conservation action. A floristic survey over the course …

Can Multi-Species Plantings Alleviate Abiotic Stressors To Enhance Bald Cypress Restoration?, Victoria S. Ellis, Taylor M. Sloey

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Restoration researchers and practitioners alike advocate for novel restoration approaches, informed by ecological theories and principles, to enhance the likelihood of meeting restoration goals. Forested wetland restoration has historically focused on creating abiotic conditions that support the tolerance thresholds of desired species, but the stress gradient hypothesis provides guidance for potential new strategies that use biotic interactions to ameliorate stressful abiotic conditions. In this study, we tested whether multi-species planting approaches can be used to enhance the survival and growth of a target restoration tree species, Bald cypress, along multiple abiotic gradients. We conducted a fully factorial controlled greenhouse experiment …

Taxonomic Status, Distribution And Conservation Of The Critically Endangered Plant Psychotria Angustata (Rubiaceae), Walter Simbaña, Alan Tye, Timothy J. Motley, Uno Eliasson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Simbaña, W.; A. Tye, T. J. Motley & U. Eliasson. 2024. Taxonomic status, distribution and conservation of the Critically Endangered plant Psychotria angustata (Rubiaceae), endemic to Floreana Island, Galapagos. Darwiniana, nueva serie 12(2): 204-219.

Two species of Psychotria have been recognised in the Galapagos Islands, both understorey shrubs endemic to the archipelago: P. rufipes Hook.f. occurs on seven islands, including Floreana, while P. angustata Andersson is endemic to Floreana. Since their mid-19th century discovery, the taxonomic and ecological status of these species has been uncertain. To clarify this, we examined historical specimens and numerous recent collections of both species, and …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 25 2024, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Dietary Flavonoids On Growth In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Vivian Rivera

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Plant foods contain a diversity of biologically active compounds called phytochemicals, produced by plant species as secondary metabolites. A phytochemical group known as flavonoids has received much scientific attention in recent times with respect to their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory roles. This investigation examined how quercetin and naringenin, the most common dietary flavonoids, affect growth potential of yeast under optimal and stress conditions (temperature, glucose, and oxidative stress). Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model, a dose dependency effect of quercetin and naringenin was observed under optimal conditions when liquid cultures were treated with three different concentrations (75 μM, 150 μM, and …