Digital Commons Network^™

It's Time To Listen: There Is Much To Be Learned From The Sounds Of Tropical Ecosystems, Jessica L. Deichmann, Orlando Acevedo-Charry, Leah Barclay, Zuzana Burivalova, Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, Fernando D'Horta, Edward T. Game, Benjamin L. Gottesman, Patrick J. Hart, Ammie K. Kalan, Simon Linke, Leandro Do Nascimento, Bryan Pijanowski, Erica Staaterman, T. Mitchell Aide

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Knowledge that can be gained from acoustic data collection in tropical ecosystems is low‐hanging fruit. There is every reason to record and with every day, there are fewer excuses not to do it. In recent years, the cost of acoustic recorders has decreased substantially (some can be purchased for under US$50, e.g., Hill et al. 2018) and the technology needed to store and analyze acoustic data is continuously improving (e.g., Corrada Bravo et al. 2017, Xie et al. 2017). Soundscape recordings provide a permanent record of a site at a given time and contain a wealth of …

Fitness Consequences Of Interspecific Nesting Associations Among Cavity-Nesting Birds, James C. Mouton, Thomas E. Martin

Aspen Bibliography

Interspecific aggregations of prey may provide benefits by mitigating predation risk, but they can also create costs if they increase competition for resources or are more easily detectable by predators. Variation in predation risk and resource availability may influence the occurrence and fitness effects of aggregating in nature. Yet tests of such possibilities are lacking. Cavity-nesting birds provide an interesting test case. They compete aggressively for resources and experience low nest predation rates, which might predict dispersion, but across 19 years of study we found that they commonly aggregate by sharing nest trees. Tree sharing was more common when aspen …

Removal Of Invasive Plants From Pando Exclosure 2018, Marc Coles-Ritchie

Aspen Bibliography

On July 10-11, 2018 volunteers and staff from Great Old Broads for Wilderness and Grand Canyon Trust removed invasive plants from the Pando exclosure, a fenced portion of the Pando Clone aspen forest adjacent to Fish Lake, in Central Utah. This area has been fenced to restore a portion of the Pando Clone that has been lacking recruitment for decades, by protecting young aspen from browsing by deer and cattle. We have been removing invasive species for five years from this exclosure.

The 2018 trip included 10 women and one staffer of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, from the states …

Whole Cell Cross-Linking To Discover Host-Microbe Protein Cognate Receptor/Ligand Pairs, Bart C. Weimer, Poyin Chen, Prerak T. Desai, Dong Chen, Jigna Shah

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Bacterial surface ligands mediate interactions with the host cell during association that determines the specific outcome for the host–microbe association. The association begins with receptors on the host cell binding ligands on the microbial cell to form a partnership that initiates responses in both cells. Methods to determine the specific cognate partnerships are lacking. Determining these molecular interactions between the host and microbial surfaces are difficult, yet crucial in defining biologically important events that are triggered during association of the microbiome, and critical in defining the initiating signal from the host membrane that results in pathology or commensal association. In …

Deciphering The Biology Of Cryptophyllachora Eurasiatica Gen. Et Sp. Nov., An Often Cryptic Pathogen Of An Allergenic Weed, Ambrosia Artemisiifolia, Levente Kiss, Gábor M. Kovács, Károly Bóka, Gyula Bohár, Krisztina Varga Bohárné, Márk Z. Németh, Susumu Takamatsu, Hyeon-Dong Shin, Vera Hayova, Claudia Nischwitz, Marion K. Seier, Harry C. Evans, Paul F. Cannon, Gavin James Ash, Roger G. Shivas, Heinz Müller-Schärer

Biology Faculty Publications

A little known, unculturable ascomycete, referred to as Phyllachora ambrosiae, can destroy the inflorescences of Ambrosia artemisiifolia, an invasive agricultural weed and producer of highly allergenic pollen. The fungus often remains undetectable in ragweed populations. This work was conducted to understand its origin and pathogenesis, a prerequisite to consider its potential as a biocontrol agent. The methods used included light and transmission electron microscopy, nrDNA sequencing, phylogenetic analyses, artificial inoculations, and the examination of old herbarium and recent field specimens from Hungary, Korea, Ukraine and USA. The Eurasian and the North American specimens of this fungus were to …

Phytochemical Screening Of Quaking Aspen (Populus Tremuloides) Extracts By Uplc-Qtof-Ms And Evaluation Of Their Antimicrobial Activity, Annabelle St-Pierre, Dorian Blondeau, André Lajeunesse, Julien Bley, Nathalie Bourdeau, Isabel Desgagné-Penix

Aspen Bibliography

The continual emergence of pathogen resistance is a recurring challenge and pushes for the development of antimicrobial compounds. Here, we investigated compounds from quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) as potential antimicrobial agents. Several extractions using different solvents were realized, and corresponding antimicrobial activity was tested against eight microorganisms. Results revealed that polar extraction solvents including water, ethanol and methanol gave the best extraction yields (>15.07%). Minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) demonstrated that water extracts had the best antimicrobial activity by a weak to moderate inhibition of growth of all eight tested microorganisms in addition to …

Development Of On-Shore Behavior Among Polar Bears (Ursus Maritimus) In The Southern Beaufort Sea: Inherited Or Learned?, Kate M. Lillie, Eric M. Gese, Todd C. Atwood, Sarah A. Sonsthagen

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are experiencing rapid and substantial changes to their environment due to global climate change. Polar bears of the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) have historically spent most of the year on the sea ice. However, recent reports from Alaska indicate that the proportion of the SB subpopulation observed on-shore during late summer and early fall has increased. Our objective was to investigate whether this on-shore behavior has developed through genetic inheritance, asocial learning, or through social learning. From 2010 to 2013, genetic data were collected from SB polar bears in the fall via hair snags …

Quaternary Climate Instability Is Correlated With Patterns Of Population Genetic Variability In Bombus Huntii, Jonathan B. Koch, Rémy Vandame, Jorge Mérida-Rivas, Philippe Sagot, James Strange

All PIRU Publications

Climate oscillations have left a significant impact on the patterns of genetic diversity observed in numerous taxa. In this study, we examine the effect of Quaternary climate instability on population genetic variability of a bumble bee pollinator species, Bombus huntii in western North America. Pleistocene and contemporary B. huntii habitat suitability (HS) was estimated with an environmental niche model (ENM) by associating 1,035 locality records with 10 bioclimatic variables. To estimate genetic variability, we genotyped 380 individuals from 33 localities at 13 microsatellite loci. Bayesian inference was used to examine population structure with and without a priori specification of geographic …

Comparative Strengths Of Tetrel, Pnicogen, Chalcogen, And Halogen Bonds And Contributing Factors, Wenbo Dong, Qingzhong Li, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Ab initio calculations are employed to assess the relative strengths of various noncovalent bonds. Tetrel, pnicogen, chalcogen, and halogen atoms are represented by third-row atoms Ge, As, Se, and Br, respectively. Each atom was placed in a series of molecular bonding situations, beginning with all H atoms, then progressing to methyl substitutions, and F substituents placed in various locations around the central atom. Each Lewis acid was allowed to engage in a complex with NH3 as a common nucleophile, and the strength and other aspects of the dimer were assessed. In the context of fully hydrogenated acids, the strengths of …

Down Regulation Of Vestibular Balance Stabilizing Mechanisms To Enable Transition Between Motor States, Romain Tisserand, Chris J. Dakin, Machiel H. F. Van Der Loos, Elizabeth A. Croft, Timothy J. Inglis, Jean-Sebastien Blouin

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

The neural control of transition between posture and movement encompasses the regulation of reflex-stabilizing mechanisms to enable motion. Optimal feedback theory suggests that such transitions require the disengagement of one motor control policy before the implementation of another. To test this possibility, we investigated the continuity of the vestibular control of balance during transitions between quiet standing and locomotion and between two standing postures. Healthy subjects initiated and terminated locomotion or shifted the distribution of their weight between their feet, while exposed to electrical vestibular stimuli (EVS). The relationship between EVS and ground reaction forces was quantified using time-frequency analyses. …

Influence Of Behavioral State, Sex, And Season On Resource Selection By Jaguars (Panthera Onca): Always On The Prowl?, Eric M. Gese, Patricia A. Terletzky, Sandra M. C. Calvalcanti, Christopher M. U. Neale

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

How a predator uses its landscape to move through its territory and acquire prey is a fundamental question for scientific research. The influence of abiotic and biotic factors on space use of large carnivores has profound implications for their future management and conservation. In the Pantanal, Brazil, jaguars (Panthera onca) are the apex predator, but conflicts with cattle depredations pose a risk to their future conservation. We examined whether behavioral state, sex, and season influenced how jaguars used the landscape in the Pantanal. To accomplish this, we radio‐collared four females and six males; radio‐collared jaguars were monitored for …

Collaborative Research: Abi Development: Symbiota2: Enabling Greater Collaboration And Flexibility For Mobilizing Biodiversity Data, Curtis Dyreson

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Lab Scale Analysis Of Anaerobically Digested Municipal Wastewater Treatment, Leila Ahmadi, Ryan Dupont

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Finding alternative sources of energy for the growing world’s demand is a challenging task being considered by many scientists and engineers. Various types of renewable energy alternatives are being investigated by researchers around the world. In addition to their capacity for nutrient, metal and pharmaceutical and personal care product contaminant removal from wastewater, the abundance of duckweed (i.e., Lemna and Wolfia sp.) in wetlands and wastewater lagoons, and their rapid growth and need for biomass harvesting suggests their potential as an inexpensive source of biomass for Biofuel production. Two lab-scales, 10 L anaerobic digesters initially seeded with municipal wastewater digester …

Age-Specific Estimates Indicate Potential Deleterious Capture Effects And Low Survival Of Stocked Juvenile Colorado Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus Lucius), Scott R. Clark, Mary M. Conner, Scott L. Durst, Nathan R. Franssen

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Hatcheries and stocking programs have become necessary to repatriate or augment populations of imperiled fishes worldwide. Over nearly two decades, millions of endangered juvenile Colorado Pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius have been stocked into the San Juan River (Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah); however, recruitment of these individuals to adult life stages (age ≥6) remains low. Using a mark–recapture data set collected from annual riverwide electrofishing efforts between 2003 and 2016, we investigated apparent survival and capture probabilities of stocked Colorado Pikeminnow to identify age‐specific bottlenecks contributing to this lack of recruitment. With relatively high capture rates, which averaged between 0.34 and …

Fern Genomes Elucidate Land Plant Evolution And Cyanobacterial Symbioses, Fay-Wei Li, Paul Brouwer, Lorenzo Carretero-Paulet, Shifeng Cheng, Jan De Vries, Pierre-Marc Delaux, Ariana Eily, Nils Koppers, Li-Yaung Kuo, Zheng Li, Mathew Simenc, Ian Small, Eric Wafula, Stephany Angarita, Michael S. Barker, Andrea Bräutigam, Claude Depamphilis, Sven Gould, Prashant S. Hosmani, Yao-Moan Huang, Bruno Huettel, Yoichiro Kato, Xin Liu, Steven Maere, Rose Mcdowell, Lukas A. Mueller, Klaas G. J. Nierop, Stefan A. Rensing, Tanner A. Robison, Carl J. Rothfels, Erin M. Sigel, Yue Song, Prakash R. Timilsena, Yves Van De Peer, Hongli Wang, Per K. I. Wilhelmsson, Paul G. Wolf, Xun Xu, Joshua P. Der, Henriette Schluepmann, Gane K.-S. Wong, Kathleen M. Pryer

Biology Faculty Publications

Ferns are the closest sister group to all seed plants, yet little is known about their genomes other than that they are generally colossal. Here, we report on the genomes of Azolla filiculoides and Salvinia cucullata (Salviniales) and present evidence for episodic whole-genome duplication in ferns—one at the base of ‘core leptosporangiates’ and one specific to Azolla. One fern-specific gene that we identified, recently shown to confer high insect resistance, seems to have been derived from bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. Azolla coexists in a unique symbiosis with N2-fixing cyanobacteria, and we demonstrate a clear pattern of cospeciation between …

Utah State Magazine, Summer 2018, Utah State University

Utah State Magazine

The quarterly magazine for friends and alumni of Utah State University.

Biomass-Derived Renewable Energy: Prospective Pathways And Key Barriers To Advanced Bio-Fuels, Mohammad Sadra Sharifi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

This paper provides a short review on recent advances in production of renewable energy through thermochemical processes followed by upgrading techniques such as hydrodeoxygenation, esterification, and steam reforming. Pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction have been the main processes of interest for the production of biomass energy for the past decades. However several challenges such as high capital cost due to high energy utilization for thermal processes and hydrogen consumption make these processes less competitive with the existing fossil fuel energy. Further processing of the raw bio-oil is required to improve its fuel properties such as energy density, octane number, and …

Designing For Online Computer-Based Clinical Simulations: Evaluation Of Instructional Approaches, Ilana Dubovi

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Online computer-based simulations are becoming more widespread in nursing education. Therefore, an understanding of when and how to implement the variety of instructional strategies related to these simulations is fundamental.

Objectives: This study compares the effectiveness of online computer-based simulations designed using two alternative instructional approaches—Productive Failure and Simple-to-Complex sequencing—on learning of clinical reasoning skills.

Participants: Participants in this study were undergraduate nursing students (n = 103, mean age = 23.4 ± 2.1) enrolled at a university in Israel.

Methods: Participants completed two online simulations designed using Productive Failure approach (emergency medicine, mental health) and two online simulations using …

The Role Of Small Ruminants On Global Climate Change, Alda Lúcia Gomes Monteiro, Amanda Moser Coelho Da Fonseca Faro, Mylena Taborda Piquera Peres, Rafael Batista, Cesar Henrique Espirito Candal Poli, Juan J. Villalba

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Global warming, as a consequence of excessive CO2 production mainly due to anthropogenic actions, is one of the main concerns of society due to the effects it can cause in the survival of humans, plants and animals. Several climatic consequences have already been reported, such as warming the oceans and changing biodiversity in various regions of the planet. One of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, which causes a lot of concern, is methane gas from digestion of food by ruminants. Besides that, emissions of greenhouse gases are represented also by waste management, rice cultivation, burning of residues from …

Climatic Drivers Of Ponderosa Pine Growth In Central Idaho, Joseph L. Pettit, R. Justin Derose, James N. Long

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Despite the widespread use of ponderosa pine as an important hydroclimate proxy, we actually understand very little about its climate response in the Northern Rockies. Here, we analyze two new ponderosa pine chronologies to investigate how climate influences annual growth. Despite differences in precipitation amount and timing and large elevation differences (1820 m versus 1060 m), ring width at both sites was strongly driven by water availability. The mid-elevation, water-limited site responded well to previous fall precipitation whereas the wetter, high-elevation site responded to growing season precipitation and temperature. When precipitation and temperature were simultaneously accounted for using the standardized …

Strategies For Managing Soil Fertility And Health In Organic Orchards - A Fact Sheet, E.O. Thomsen, C.M. Culumber, J.R. Reeve, G. Cardon, D. Alston, B.L. Black, C.V. Ransom

All Current Publications

This fact sheet is a report of research to provide fruit growers with locally adapted advice and solutions for managing soil fertility in certified organic stone-fruits.It includes information of transitioning to organic management; building soil organic matter and providing appropriate nutrients, including phosphorus, potassium, seconary nutrients and trace elements; soil testing; cover crops; mulches; and possible organic management systems.

Leafminers Of Vegetable Crops (Order: Diptera; Family: Agromyzidae), Diane G. Alston, Ann Mull

All Current Publications

Agromyzid leafminers are small black-and-yellow flies that are pests of vegetable and ornamental crops throughout the world. In Utah, three species of leafminer flies attack vegetable crops: American serpentine leafminer [Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess)], pea leafminer [Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard)], and vegetable leafminer [Liriomyza sativae (Blanchard)]. All three species are native to the New World (Western Hemisphere) but have spread worldwide. In the U.S., leafminers are most problematic in the southern states from Florida to California, and in Hawaii. Allium leafminer, [Phytomyza gymnostoma (Loew)] is a recent invasive pest to the northeastern U.S. that targets both wild and …

High-Precision Control Of Tracked Field Robots In The Presence Of Unknown Traction Coefficients, Erkan Kayacan, Sierra N. Young, Joshua M. Peschel, Girish Chowdhary

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Accurate steering through crop rows that avoids crop damage is one of the most important tasks for agricultural robots utilized in various field operations, such as monitoring, mechanical weeding, or spraying. In practice, varying soil conditions can result in off-track navigation due to unknown traction coefficients so that it can cause crop damage. To address this problem, this paper presents the development, application, and experimental results of a real-time receding horizon estimation and control (RHEC) framework applied to a fully autonomous mobile robotic platform to increase its steering accuracy. Recent advances in cheap and fast microprocessors, as well as advances …

Competition And Coexistence In Plant Communities: Intraspecific Competition Is Stronger Than Interspecific Competition, Peter B. Adler, Danielle Smull, Karen H. Beard, Ryan T. Choi, Tucker J. Furniss, Andrew Kulmatiski, Joan M. Meiners, Andrew T. Tredennick, Kari E. Veblen

Ecology Center Publications

Theory predicts that intraspecific competition should be stronger than interspecific competition for any pair of stably coexisting species, yet previous literature reviews found little support for this pattern. We screened over 5400 publications and identified 39 studies that quantified phenomenological intraspecific and interspecific interactions in terrestrial plant communities. Of the 67% of species pairs in which both intra‐ and interspecific effects were negative (competitive), intraspecific competition was, on average, four to five‐fold stronger than interspecific competition. Of the remaining pairs, 93% featured intraspecific competition and interspecific facilitation, a situation that stabilises coexistence. The difference between intra‐ and interspecific effects tended …

Food Waste Posing A Serious Threat To Sustainability In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia – A Systematic Review, Mirza B. Baig, Khodran H. Al-Zahrani, Felicitas Schneider, Gary S. Straquadine, Marie Mourad

Applied Sciences, Technology and Education Faculty Publications

Worldwide, food waste is one of the prime issues threatening food security and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is not an exception. With 427 kg of food wasted per capita per year, the country ranks among the top food wasters. Ironically, the Kingdom has limited arable lands and scarce water resources to support mass-scale agriculture and to feed its increasing population, KSA relies heavily on imports and subsidized food to meet needs. Yet, food is wasted at restaurants, caterers, cafeterias and, especially, by households such that food waste is the single-largest component of the landfills. The review article is …

Diel Predator Activity Drives A Dynamic Landscape Of Fear, Michel T. Kohl, Daniel R. Stahler, Matthew C. Metz, James D. Forester, Matthew J. Kauffman, Nathan Varley, P. J. White, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Macnulty

Ecology Center Publications

A “landscape of fear” (LOF) is a map that describes continuous spatial variation in an animal's perception of predation risk. The relief on this map reflects, for example, places that an animal avoids to minimize risk. Although the LOF concept is a potentially unifying theme in ecology that is often invoked to explain the ecological and conservation significance of fear, little is known about the daily dynamics of an LOF. Despite theory and data to the contrary, investigators often assume, implicitly or explicitly, that an LOF is a static consequence of a predator's mere presence within an ecosystem. We tested …

Beyond Metrics? The Role Of Hydrologic Baseline Archetypes In Environmental Water Management, Belize A. Lane, Samuel Sandoval-Solis, Eric D. Stein, Sarah M. Yarnell, Gregory B. Pasternack, Helen E. Dahlke

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Balancing ecological and human water needs often requires characterizing key aspects of the natural flow regime and then predicting ecological response to flow alterations. Flow metrics are generally relied upon to characterize long-term average statistical properties of the natural flow regime (hydrologic baseline conditions). However, some key aspects of hydrologic baseline conditions may be better understood through more complete consideration of continuous patterns of daily, seasonal, and inter-annual variability than through summary metrics. Here we propose the additional use of high-resolution dimensionless archetypes of regional stream classes to improve understanding of baseline hydrologic conditions and inform regional environmental flows assessments. …

Collaborative Research: Development And Empirical Tests Of A Mechanistic Multi-Host, Multi-Pathogen Theory, Michael H. Cortez

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Remotely Sensed Canopy Nitrogen Correlates With Nitrous Oxide Emissions In A Lowland Tropical Rainforest, Fiona M. Soper, Benjamin W. Sullivan, Megan K. Nasto, Brooke B. Osborne, David Bru, Christopher S. Balzotti, Phillip G. Taylor, Gregory P. Asner, Alan R. Townsend, Laurent Philippot, Stephen Porder, Cory C. Cleveland

Biology Faculty Publications

Tropical forests exhibit significant heterogeneity in plant functional and chemical traits that may contribute to spatial patterns of key soil biogeochemical processes, such as carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions. Although tropical forests are the largest ecosystem source of nitrous oxide (N2O), drivers of spatial patterns within forests are poorly resolved. Here, we show that local variation in canopy foliar N, mapped by remote‐sensing image spectroscopy, correlates with patterns of soil N2O emission from a lowland tropical rainforest. We identified ten 0.25 ha plots (assemblages of 40–70 individual trees) in which average remotely‐sensed canopy N fell above or below the …

Social Genomics Of Healthy And Disordered Internet Gaming, Jeffrey G. Snodgrass, Henri J. François Dengah Ii, Michael G. Lacy, Robert J. Else, Evan R. Polzer, Jesusa M. G. Arevalo, Steven W. Cole

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Objectives: To combine social genomics with cultural approaches to expand understandings of the somatic health dynamics of online gaming, including in the controversial nosological construct of internet gaming disorder (IGD).

Methods: In blood samples from 56 U.S. gamers, we examined expression of the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), a leukocyte gene expression profile activated by chronic stress. We compared positively engaged and problem gamers, as identified by an ethnographically developed measure, the Positive and Negative Gaming Experiences Scale (PNGE-42), and also by a clinically derived IGD scale (IGDS-SF9).

Results: CTRA profiles showed a clear relationship with PNGE-42, with a …