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Utah Science Vol. 61 No. 2, Winter 2002

Utah Science

2 TURNING UP THE HEAT ON FIRE BLIGHT

8 TAKING THE BITE OUT OF BEETLES

10 FIELDS OF DREAMS

14 SEEDS -new people, grants and contracts in science

17 SYNTHESIS -science at Utah State

24 SEEK -students in science

25 SEARCH -science on the web

General Catalog 2002-2004, Utah State University

University Catalogs

Contains course descriptions, University college calendar, and college administration

Failure Analysis Research Summary: Mitigating The Effects Of Prolonged Darkness With Low Temperature And Low Light, Julie K. Chard, Giridhar Akula, Bruce Bugbee

NASA

Power loss is a common failure in controlled environments. The duration of power loss can be several days – and even weeks – in space environments. Long-duration power loss and the resulting darkness can cause plants to die unless remedial measures are taken during the power outage. Emergency back-up power from batteries could provide low light and reduced air temperature. Plant metabolism and growth are reduced in low temperature. As metabolism slows, energy requirements are reduced and less light is needed. The temperature should be maintained above the chilling temperature for the plant, which is species dependent. The addition of …

Variation In Overstory Nitrogen Uptake In A Small, High-Elevation Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Watershed, M. Barker, H. Van Miegroet, N. S. Nicholas, I. F. Creed

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) – Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forests of the southern Appalachians exhibit considerable spatial heterogeneity in structure, and possibly in N uptake, because of a combination of natural disturbances and heavy fir mortality caused by infestations of the exotic balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz). The objectives of this study are to determine spatial variability in tree N uptake in a small high-elevation catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, compare outcomes among calculation methods, and assess the influence of stand and landscape properties on N uptake. Tree N uptake is estimated …

Influence Of Forest Composition On Understory Cover In Boreal Mixedwood Forests Of Western Quebec, Sonia Legare, Yves Bergeron, David Pare

Aspen Bibliography

Forest overstory composition influences both light and nutrient availability in the mixed boreal forest. The influence of stand composition on understory cover and biomass was investigated on two soil types (clay and till deposits). Four forest composition types were considered in this study: aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and a mixture of balsam-fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). The cover of all understory species was recorded while the biomass of two important and ubiquitous species was measured: mountain maple (Acer spicatum Lam.) of the shrub …

Vascular Plant And Epiphytic Lichen Communities In Canadian Aspen Parkland: Determinants Of Small-Scale Species Richness, H.L. Buckley

Aspen Bibliography

Within-community species-area relationships were examined for vascular plants and epiphytic lichens on Populus spp within 100 treed patches in an area of less than 4 km² in the aspen parkland of south-central Alberta, Canada. Both plants and lichens were sampled on three scales (patch-scale and two within-patch scales). This study is one of the few to demonstrate scale-dependent species-area relationships at a small scale and highlights the importance of multi-scale sampling in ecology. At the larger patch scale, the relationship between plant species richness and area was positive for both the full plant dataset and the forest habitat specialist …

Proteolytic Specificity Of Lactobacillus Delbrueckii Subsp. Bulgaricus Influences Functional Properties Of Mozzarella Cheese, B. S. Oommen, Donald J. Mcmahon, C. J. Oberg, Jeff Broadbent, M. Strickland

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheeses were manufactured from 2% fat milk and aged for 21 d. Treatments included cheeses made with one of three different strains of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus in combination with a single strain of Streptococcus thermophilus. A fourth, control treatment consisted of cheeses made with only S. thermophilus. Although total proteolytic ability of these strains, as indicated by the o-phthaldialdehyde analysis, was similar in each of the three strains of L. bulgaricus, these strains exhibited different proteolytic specificities toward the peptide, αs1-CN (f 1-23). On the basis of their αs1-CN (f 1-23) cleavage patterns …

Regulation And Measurement Of Nitrification In Terrestrial Systems, D. R. Smart, S. C. Hart, K. A. Haubensak, John M. Stark

Biology Faculty Publications

Nitric oxide (NO) is a relatively short-lived trace gas that reacts with oxygen in the troposphere to produce the air pollutant ozone. It also reacts with water vapor to form nitric and nitrous acids, which acidify precipitation and increase N deposition. Models currently used to predict soil NO fluxes are based on the assumption that NO flux is proportional to the gross rate of nitrification or N mineralization; however, this assumption has not been tested because of the difficulty in measuring gross N-cycling rates in situ. We measured soil NO fluxes, gross and net N-cycling rates, and a variety of …

Wolves In Utah: An Analysis Of Potential Impacts And Recommendations For Management, T. Adam Switalski, Trey Simmons, Shiree L. Duncan, Andreas S. Chavez, Robert H. Schmidt

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

The historic range of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Utah was essentially statewide. Although their presence cannot be disputed, the historic abundance of wolves in Utah is unknown. The release of gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 established growing populations, and increasing dispersal is bringing these wolves closer to Utah. It seems likely that wolves will commingle with Utah's other native mammals in the near future. The potential presence of wolves in Utah is generating a series of questions and debates. In this report, we review the potential of wolves in Utah and make predictions …

Quantifying Potential Urban Landscape Water Conservation Through Billing Data Analysis In Layton, Utah, Roger Kjelgren, Fayek A. Farag, Christopher M. U. Neale, Joanna Endter-Wada, Judith Kurtzman

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Locust Borer, Jay B. Karren, Alan H. Roe

All Current Publications

The locust borer, Megacyllene robiniae (Forster) belongs to the beetle family Cerambycidae, commonly known as the longhorned beetles, a name which refers to the long antennae of most of the species in this group.

Coumarins And Pyranocoumarins, Potential Novel Pharmacophores For Inhibition Ofmeasles Virus Replication, Dale L. Barnard, Z. Q. Xu, V. D. Stowell, H. Yuan, Donald F. Smee, R. Samy, R. W. Sidwell, M. K. Nielsen, L. Sun, H. Cao, A. Li, C. Quint, J. Deignan, J. Crabb, M. T. Flavin

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

A series of coumarin and pyranocoumarin analogues were evaluated in vitro for antiviral efficacy against measles virus (MV), strain Chicago. Of the 22 compounds tested for inhibition, six were found to have selectivity indices greater than 10. These were compounds 5-hydroxy-7-propionyloxy- 4-propylcoumarin (2a), 5,7-bis(tosyloxy)-4- propylcoumarin (7); 5-hydroxy-4-propyl-7-tosyloxy- coumarin (8); 6,6-dimethyl-9-propionyloxy-4- propyl-2H,6H-benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b′]dipyran-2-one (9); 6,6-dimethyl-9-pivaloyloxy-4-propyl-2H,6Hbenzo[ 1,2-b:3,4-b′]dipyran-2-one (10); and 7,8-cis- 10,11,12-trans-4-propyl-6,6,10,11-tetramethyl- 7,8,9-trihydroxy-2H,6H,12H-benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b′:5,6- b′′]tripyran-2-one (18). Three of the active drugs were propyl coumarin analogues (2a, 7 and 8), two were dipyranone or chromeno-coumarins (9 and 10), and one was a benzotripyranone with a coumarin nucleus (18). Some appeared to be rather specific and potent …

The Probability Of Moose Damage At The Stand Level In Southern Finland, Anneli Jalkanen

Aspen Bibliography

The probability of moose damage was studied in sapling stands and young thinning stands in southern Finland. Data from the eighth National Forest Inventory in 1986–92 were used for modelling. The frequency of damage was highest at the height of two to five meters and at the age of ten to twenty years (at the time of measurement). Moose preferred aspen stands the most and least preferred Norway spruce stands. Scots pine and silver birch were also susceptible to damage. Logistic regression models were developed for predicting the probability that moose damage is the most important damaging agent in a …

Is There Synchronicity In Nitrogen Input And Output At The Noland Divide Watershed, A Small N-Saturated Forested Catchment In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, H. Van Miegroet, I. F. Creed, N. S. Nicholas, David G. Tarboton, K. L. Webster, J. Schubzda, B. Robinson, J. Smoot, D. W. Johnson, S. E. Lindberg, G. Lovett, S. Nodvin, S. Moore

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

High-elevation red spruce [Picea rubens Sarg.]-Fraser fir [Abies fraseri (Pursh.) Poir] forests in the Southern Appalachians currently receive large nitrogen (N) inputs via atmospheric deposition (30 kg N ha(-1) year(-1)) but have limited N retention capacity due to a combination of stand age, heavy fir mortality caused by exotic insect infestations, and numerous gaps caused by windfalls and ice storms. This study examined the magnitude and timing of the N fluxes into, through, and out of a small, first-order catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It also examined the role of climatic conditions in causing interannual variations in …

High Frequency Of Extra-Pair Paternity In Eastern Kingbirds, Michael T. Murphy, Diane L. Rowe, Robert C. Fleischer, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications

Genetic parentage in the socially monogamous and territorial Eastern Kingbird( Tyrannust tyrannus) was examined in a central New York population by multilocus DNA fingerprinting. Extra-pair young were identified in 60% (12 of 20) of nests. Of the 64 nestlings profiled, 42% were sired by extra-pair males, but no cases of conspecific brood parasitism were detected. These results are markedly different from a previous electrophoretic study of the same species in a Michigan population, which reported 39% of nestlings were unrelated to one (typically the mother, quasiparasitismo)r both (conspecificb roodp arasitism) of the putative parents. In the New York population, extra-pairp …

Western Rangeland Noxious Weeds: Collecting, Sharing And Using Information, U.S. Department Of The Interior, Usda, Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Western rangeland weeds such as yellow starthistle, leafy spurge, Canada thistle and Russian knapweed are causing tremendous losses to agricultural industries including both crop and livestock production. Concurrently, many public lands managed by federal agencies are being steadily invaded. As a result, these lands held in the public trust are experiencing reductions in commodity yields, recreational opportunities, biodiversity and ecosystem function. Consequently, every state in the West has noxious weed management programs that endeavor to enhance the financial and technical resources available for weed management and to assist in coordination across the diverse public and private land ownership mosaic common …

Springtails, Jay B. Karren, Alan H. Roe

All Current Publications

Springtails are small, abundant, wingless insects of the order Collembola that live in a variety of moist habitats. Because of their small size and micro- habitat, they are seldom observed. Most of them live in the soil or in other concealed situations.

Cubesat: The Development And Launch Support Infrastructure For Eighteen Different Satellite Customers On One Launch , Jordi Puig-Suari, Clark Turner, Robert Twiggs

Small Satellite Conference

Stanford University and California Polytechnic State University have combined efforts to develop a means of launching small picosatellites called CubeSat. The CubeSat is a 10cm cube weighting 1 kg or less. The launching system developed will provide launches for three satellites in one launcher tube. The first mission for this launcher will be to fly six tubes to launch as many as 24 CubeSats in May 2002 on a Kosmotras, Dnepr ELV from Bikinour, Ukraine. Stanford and Cal Poly are providing active technical support for the CubeSat developers, which are mostly universities. Once the CubeSats have been developed by the …

Design Of A Long-Distance Martian Rover, Elizabeth Butt

Small Satellite Conference

Martian spacecraft have played a vital part in educating scientists about the Mars environment. Specifically, they have allowed us to believe that there are traces of water present on certain parts of the planet. One major scientific objective goal, based on this discovery, is to further explore these potential water sources. One way to achieve this goal is to send a long-distance Martian rover to Mars so that it can inspect these water sites. Although rovers have had successful missions on Mars, the idea of a long-distance rover involves re-designing many aspects of the past rovers. This paper explores the …

Tropnet: The First Large Small-Satellite Mission, J. Smith

Small Satellite Conference

Every small-satellite enthusiast has hoped for the day when small satellites would gain the sophistication, political support and commercial viability to be used for main stream missions. The first phase of such a mission is currently being constructed by One Stop Satellite Solutions (OSSS) of Ogden, Utah and will launch May of 2002. The OS-2 payload will be delivered into a 650-km orbit using a Russian Dnepr launch vehicle furnished by the launch team of Kosmotraus and Thiokol. Aboard the OS-2 mission will be two satellites, which will demonstrate technical feasibility of the TropNet concept. TropNet is an equatorial LEO …

Post-Tillage Dynamics Of Soil Structural And Hydraulic Properties Induced By Capillary Forces And External Loading, Teamrat Afewerki Ghezzehei

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Tillage modifies the soil structure to create conditions favorable for plant growth. However, the resulting loose structure is susceptible to collapse by internal capillary forces and external compactive stresses with concurrent changes in soil hydraulic properties. Presently, limited understanding of these complex processes often leads to consideration of the soil plow-layer as a static porous medium. The objective of this dissertation was to develop physically based modeling of soil structural dynamics at the pore scale, based on soil mechanical and rheological properties. The basic geometrical framework of the models was based on regular packing of monosized spherical aggregates forming unit-cells. …

Low-Flow Test, San Juan River, Final Environmental Assessment, United States Department Of Interior, Bureau Of Reclamation

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This final environmental assessment (EA) is prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (Public Law 91-190) to evaluate test flows from Navajo Dam into the San Juan River.

The underlying need for this proposed test is to evaluate the effect of low summer flows on various resources. The information obtained will be used in preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) on operating Navajo Reservoir to mimic a natural hydrograph in critical habitat of the San Juan River for the benefit of downstream endangered fish and to allow for future water development.

Heartrot Fungi's Role In Creating Picid Nesting Sites In Living Aspen, J.H. Hart, D.L. Hart

Aspen Bibliography

To determine the number of cavity-containing aspens in old-growth (>80 years), we counted the number of stems containing cavities in 132 0.02-ha plots in Wyoming. There were 8.7 cavities/ha of aspen type. At least 84% of the cavity stems were alive when the initial cavity was constructed; 60% were alive when examined. Fruiting bodies and Phellinus tremulae (a heartrot fungus) were present on 71% of all cavity-bearing stems but on only 9.6% of all stems >15 cm d.b.h. Cavities were present in 7.7% and 0.2% of living stems with and without fruiting bodies, respectively. Average d.b.h. of cavity stems …

Insights, Spring, 2001, Utah State University

Discovery Magazine

Bi-annual alumni newsletter for the College of Science of Utah State University in Logan.

Effect Of Forest Age On Density Of Stream-Breeding Amphibians In Skamania County, Washington, Craig A. Steele

Biology

Because the ranges of stream-breeding amphibians in the Pacific Northwest occur partly on industrial timberlands, it is valuable to study population distributions of these animals in forest environments that rarely reach old growth status and are subject to timber harvest on a regular basis. To determine how short-term changes in forest age affect the density of stream-breeding amphibians, first-order streams located on private industrial timberlands in Skamania County, Washington, were sampled during the summers of 1998 and 1999. Species captured included Dicamptodon tenebrosus, Dicamptodon copei, Rhyacotriton cascadae, and Ascaphus truei. Regression tree analysis showed that relative …

Switching Between Intensive And Extensive Searching In Predators Of Heterogeneously Distributed Prey, Zy Biesinger

Biology

Many predators of patchily distributed prey are thought to increase their searching efficiency by alternating between extensive and intensive searching behavior. To test the effects of predator satiation and prey density on a ladybird's choice of searching mode, I performed experiments in which larvae of different hunger levels experienced different prey encounter rates. Using traditional measures, I found a beetle's satiation level to have no effect. The prey encounter rate had an effect on two of three traditional measures. Less traditional methods, fractal dimension analysis and Fourier slope analysis, supported the conclusions obtained using traditional measures. Analysis of movement patterns …

Assemblages Of Spiders On Shrubs In Semiarid Environments: Experimental Models Of Shrub Architecture, Michael W. Heikkinen

Biology

Assemblages of spiders on big sagebrush are dominated by salticids. The pattern could result from many salticids in the colonist pool and random distribution as spiders disperse or a selection process by which spiders are choosing to remain on big sagebrush after initial colonization. Choices may be based on insect prey on the shrubs or related to the plant's physical attributes. Habitat structure has been associated with the distribution of many animals, and plant architecture influences the distribution of spiders. Models of big sagebrush were constructed to test plant architecture variables that spiders may use as cues in deciding to …

Utah State University Commencement, 2001 – Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

108th Annual Commencement of Utah State University

Phylogenetic Relationships, Taxonomy, And Evolution Of Host Choice In Diadasia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea), Sedonia D. Sipes

Biology

I examined the phylogenetic relationships, taxonomy, and evolution of host choice in Diadasia, a genus of New World bees. Diadasia species are particularly interesting because they are considered pollen specialists. Females of each species are believed to provision their nests with pollen from only a few closely related plant taxa. At the same time, the choice of floral hosts within the genus is diverse, and includes five distantly related plant families: Malvaceae, Onagraceae, Convolvulaceae, Asteraceae, and Cactaceae. To estimate phylogenetic relationships within this group, I sequenced ~ 2 kb of the mitochondrial genes CO I and II and tRNA …

Diversity, Distribution, And Abundance Of Flower-Visiting Apoidea (Hymenoptera) On Sand Dunes Of The West Desert Of Utah, Trent R. Toler

Biology

Three habitats (dunes, mountain slopes, and mud flats) were surveyed for bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in the Bonneville Basin in Utah on lands owned by the U.S. military, the Dugway Proving Grounds and the southern section of the Utah Testing and Training Range, in the summers of 1997 and 1998. Study of dune habitat was emphasized, as it is thought to be important for bees in arid climates, particularly in providing nesting substrate and sources of plant pollen and nectar. Species compositions of bees were determined using pan traps at 16 sites (in three habitats) in 1997, and at 5 dune …