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Concussion History And Heart Rate Variability During Bouts Of Acute Stress, Adam Harrison, Abbi Lane-Cordova, Michael F. La Fountaine, Robert Davis Moore Ms, Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Context

After a sport-related concussion, many athletes experience persisting neurophysiological alterations. These alterations may be absent at rest but emerge during moments of physiological stress. Unnoticed and untreated neurophysiological dysfunction may negatively affect long-term neurologic health in adolescent athletes, as they are at a critical point in development. Objective

To assess cardio-autonomic functioning in athletes with and those without a history of concussion by quantifying measures of heart rate variability (HRV) during times of physical and mental exertion. Design

Case-control study. Setting

Research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants

Thirty-four male Hockey Quebec Midget-AAA hockey players were separated into those with …

The Ghost Of Hosts Past: Impacts Of Host Extinction On Parasite Specificity, Maxwell J. Farrell, Andrew W. Park, Clayton E. Cressler, Tad Dallas, Shan Huang, Nicole Mideo, Ignacio Morales-Castilla, T. Jonathan Davies, Patrick Stephens

Faculty Publications

A growing body of research is focused on the extinction of parasite species in response to host endangerment and declines. Beyond the loss of parasite species richness, host extinction can impact apparent parasite host specificity, as measured by host richness or the phylogenetic distances among hosts. Such impacts on the distribution of parasites across the host phylogeny can have knock-on effects that may reshape the adaptation of both hosts and parasites, ultimately shifting the evolutionary landscape underlying the potential for emergence and the evolution of virulence across hosts. Here, we examine how the reshaping of host phylogenies through extinction may …

The Future Of Zoonotic Risk Prediction, Colin J. Carlson, Maxwell J. Farrell, Zoe Grange, Barbara A. Han, Nardus Mollentze, Alexandra L. Phelan, Angela L. Rasmussen, Gregory F. Albery, Bernard Bett, David M. Brett-Major, Lily E. Cohen, Tad Dallas, Evan A. Eskew, Anna C. Fagre, Kristian M. Forbes, Rory Gibb, Sam Halabi, Charlotte C. Hammer, Rebecca Katz, Jason Kindrachuk, Renata L. Muylaert, Felicia B. Nutter, Joseph Ogola, Kevin J. Olival, Michelle Rourke, Sadie J. Ryan, Noam Ross, Stephanie N. Seifert, Tarja Sironen, Claire J. Standley, Kishana Taylor, Marietjie Venter, Paul W. Webala

Faculty Publications

In the light of the urgency raised by the COVID-19 pandemic, global investment in wildlife virology is likely to increase, and new surveillance programmes will identify hundreds of novel viruses that might someday pose a threat to humans. To support the extensive task of laboratory characterization, scientists may increasingly rely on data-driven rubrics or machine learning models that learn from known zoonoses to identify which animal pathogens could someday pose a threat to global health. We synthesize the findings of an interdisciplinary workshop on zoonotic risk technologies to answer the following questions. What are the prerequisites, in terms of open …

Increasing The Spatial And Temporal Impact Of Ecological Research: A Roadmap For Integrating A Novel Terrestrial Process Into An Earth System Model, Emily Kyker-Snowman, Danica L. Lombardozzi, Gordon B. Bonan, Susan J. Cheng, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Serita D. Frey, Elin M. Jacobs, Risa Mcnellis, Joshua M. Rady, Nicholas G. Smith, R. Quinn Thomas, William R. Wieder, A. Stuart Grandy

Faculty Publications

Terrestrial ecosystems regulate Earth's climate through water, energy, and biogeochemical transformations. Despite a key role in regulating the Earth system, terrestrial ecology has historically been underrepresented in the Earth system models (ESMs) that are used to understand and project global environmental change. Ecology and Earth system modeling must be integrated for scientists to fully comprehend the role of ecological systems in driving and responding to global change. Ecological insights can improve ESM realism and reduce process uncertainty, while ESMs offer ecologists an opportunity to broadly test ecological theory and increase the impact of their work by scaling concepts through time …

A Structural Study Of The Cytoplasmic Chaperone Effect Of 14-3-3 Proteins On Ataxin-1, Seppe Leysen, Rebecca Jane Burnley, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Lech-Gustav Milroy, Lorenzo Soini, Carolyn J. Adamski, Larissa Nitschke, Rachel Davis, Tomas Obsil, Lucas Brunsveld, Tom Crabbe, Huda Yahya Zoghbi, Christian Ottmann, Jeremy Martin Davis

Faculty Publications

Expansion of the polyglutamine tract in the N terminus of Ataxin-1 is the main cause of the neurodegenerative disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). However, the C-terminal part of the protein - including its AXH domain and a phosphorylation on residue serine 776 - also plays a crucial role in disease development. This phosphorylation event is known to be crucial for the interaction of Ataxin-1 with the 14-3-3 adaptor proteins and has been shown to indirectly contribute to Ataxin-1 stability. Here we show that 14-3-3 also has a direct anti-aggregation or "chaperone" effect on Ataxin-1. Furthermore, we provide structural and …

Moving On Up: Vertical Distribution Shifts In Rocky Reef Fish Species During Climate-Driven Decline In Dissolved Oxygen From 1995 To 2009, Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod, Li Kui, Mary Nishimoto, Linda Snook, Milton Love

Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic climate change has resulted in warming temperatures and reduced oxygen concentrations in the global oceans. Much remains unknown on the impacts of reduced oxygen concentrations on the biology and distribution of marine fishes. In the Southern California Channel Islands, visual fish surveys were conducted frequently in a manned submersible at three rocky reefs between 1995 and 2009. This area is characterized by a steep bathymetric gradient, with the surveyed sites Anacapa Passage, Footprint and Piggy Bank corresponding to depths near 50, 150 and 300 m. Poisson models were developed for each fish species observed consistently in this network of …

Isolating Detrital And Diagenetic Signals In Magnetic Susceptibility Records From Methane-Bearing Marine Sediments, Joel E. Johnson, Stephen C. Phillips, William C. Clyde, Liviu Giosan, Marta E. Torres

Faculty Publications

Volume-dependent magnetic susceptibility (κ) is commonly used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in both terrestrial and marine sedimentary environments where it reflects a mixed signal between primary deposition and secondary diagenesis. In the marine environment, κ is strongly influenced by the abundance of ferrimagnetic minerals regulated by sediment transport processes. Post-depositional alteration by H₂S, however, can dissolve titanomagnetite, releasing reactive Fe that promotes pyritization and subsequently decreases κ. Here, we provide a new approach for isolating the detrital signal in κ and identifying intervals of diagenetic alteration of κ driven by organoclastic sulfate reduction (OSR) and the anaerobic oxidation of …

Small Studies, Big Decisions: The Role Of Pilot/Feasibility Studies In Incremental Science And Premature Scale-Up Of Behavioral Interventions, Michael William Beets, Lauren Von Klinggraeff, Robert G. Weaver, Bridget Ryan Armstrong, Sarah Burkart

Faculty Publications

Background: Careful consideration and planning are required to establish “sufficient” evidence to ensure an investment in a larger, more well-powered behavioral intervention trial is worthwhile. In the behavioral sciences, this process typically occurs where smaller-scale studies inform larger-scale trials. Believing that one can do the same things and expect the same outcomes in a larger-scale trial that were done in a smaller-scale preliminary study (i.e., pilot/feasibility) is wishful thinking, yet common practice. Starting small makes sense, but small studies come with big decisions that can influence the usefulness of the evidence designed to inform decisions about moving forward with a …

Functions Of Social Networks In Maternal Food Choice For Children In Mexico, Ligia I. Reyes, Edward A. Frongillo, Spencer Moore, Christine E. Blake, Wendy Gonzalez, Anabelle Bonvecchio

Faculty Publications

Food choice for children has important implications in establishing early-life dietary habits and preferences. Food choice for children has been studied as parent–child dyad dynamics, but little is known about the extended system of relationships in maternal food choice for children. The objective of this study was to understand the functions of mothers' social networks in the food choices that mothers make for their children ages 1 to 5 years old in rural Mexico. In-depth interviews were conducted with 46 participants in three rural communities. The interviews inquired about participants' child-feeding practices, personal and local beliefs about child feeding and …

A Southwestern United States Pilot Investigation Of Triatomine–Mite Prevalence, Kyndall C. Dye-Braumuller, Hanna Waltz, Mary K. Lynn, Stephen A. Klotz, Justin O. Schmidt, Alvaro Romero, Marvin Stanley Rodriguez Aquino, Jose Ricardo Palacios Valladares, Pamela Michelle Cornejo Rivas, Melissa Nolan Ph.D., Mph

Faculty Publications

An estimated 70 million persons in the Western Hemisphere are living at risk for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection transmitted to humans by over 156 different competent triatomine insect vector species. Prior Pan American Health Organization insecticide campaigns throughout Latin America in the 1990s and 2000s demonstrated that domestic insecticide spraying had temporary effects, which resulted in the re-establishment of triatomine species within a few years. Serendipitously, our team found ectoparasitic mites parasitizing triatomines collected from the field in multiple locations in the southwestern United States, where human–triatomine interaction was high but human parasite infection remains low. Upon further investigation …

Predicting Drug Sensitivity Of Cancer Cells Based On Dna Methylation Levels, Sofia P. Miranda, Fernanda A. Baião, Julia L. Fleck, Stephen R. Piccolo

Faculty Publications

Cancer cell lines, which are cell cultures derived from tumor samples, represent one of the least expensive and most studied preclinical models for drug development. Accurately predicting drug responses for a given cell line based on molecular features may help to optimize drug-development pipelines and explain mechanisms behind treatment responses. In this study, we focus on DNA methylation profiles as one type of molecular feature that is known to drive tumorigenesis and modulate treatment responses. Using genome-wide, DNA methylation profiles from 987 cell lines in the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer database, we used machine-learning algorithms to evaluate the …

Dosimetric Validation Of A System To Treat Moving Tumors Using Scanned Ion Beams That Are Synchronized With Anatomical Motion, Michelle Lis, Wayne Newhauser, Marco Donetti, Moritz Wolf, Timo Steinsberger, Athena Paz, Christian Graeff

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the dosimetric performance of scanned ion beam deliveries with motion-synchronization to heterogenous targets. Methods: A 4D library of treatment plans, comprised of up to 10 3D sub-plans, was created with robust and conventional 4D optimization methods. Each sub-plan corresponded to one phase of periodic target motion. The plan libraries were delivered to a test phantom, comprising plastic slabs, dosimeters, and heterogenous phantoms. This phantom emulated range changes that occur when treating moving tumors. Similar treatment plans, but without motion synchronization, were also delivered to a test phantom with a stationary target …

Urban Bat Pups Take After Their Mothers And Are Bolder And Faster Learners Than Rural Pups., Lee Harten, Nesim Gonceer, Michal Handel, Orit Dash, H. Bobby Fokidis, Yossi Yovel

Faculty Publications

Background: Urbanization is rapidly changing our planet and animals that live in urban environments must quickly adjust their behavior. One of the most prevalent behavioral characteristics of urban dwelling animals is an increased level of risk-taking. Here, we aimed to reveal how urban fruitbats become risk-takers, and how they differ behaviorally from rural bats, studying both genetic and non-genetic factors that might play a role in the process. We assessed the personality of newborn pups from both rural and urban colonies before they acquired experience outdoors, examining risk-taking, exploration, and learning rates.

Results: Urban pups exhibited significantly higher risk-taking levels, …

Relationship Between Food Insecurity And Smoking Status Among Women Living With And At Risk For Hiv In The Usa: A Cohort Study, Lila A. Sheira, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Judith Hahn, Kartika Palar, Elise D. Riley, Tracey E. Wilson, Adebola Adedimeji, Daniel Merenstein, Mardge Cohen, Eryka L. Wentz, Adaora A. Adimora, Ighovwerha Ofotokun, Lisa Metsch, Janet M. Turan, Phyllis C. Tien, Sheri D. Weiser

Faculty Publications

Objectives People living with HIV (PLHIV) in the USA, particularly women, have a higher prevalence of food insecurity than the general population. Cigarette smoking among PLHIV is common (42%), and PLHIV are 6–13 times more likely to die from lung cancer than AIDS related causes. This study sought to investigate the associations between food security status and smoking status and severity among a cohort of predominantly low-income women of colour living with and without HIV in the USA.

Design Women enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal cohort study from 2013 to 2015.

Setting Nine participating sites across the USA.

Participants 2553 …

Leaf Form Diversification In An Ornamental Heirloom Tomato Results From Alterations In Two Different Homeobox Genes, Hokuto Nakayama, Steven D. Rowland, Zizhang Cheng, Kristina Zumstein, Julie Kang, Yohei Kondo, Neelima R. Sinha

Faculty Publications

Domesticated plants display diverse phenotypic traits. However, the influence of breeding effort on this phenotypic diversity remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that a single nucleotide deletion in the homeobox motif of BIPINNATA, a BEL-LIKE HOMEODOMAIN gene, led to a highly complex leaf phenotype in an heirloom tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Silvery Fir Tree (SiFT), which is used as a landscaping and ornamental plant. A comparative gene network analysis revealed that repression of SOLANIFOLIA, the ortholog of WUSCHEL RELATED HOMEOBOX 1, caused the narrow leaflet phenotype seen in SiFT. Comparative genomics indicated that the bip mutation in SiFT likely arose de novo …

System Controls Of Coastal And Open Ocean Oxygen Depletion, Grant C. Pitcher, Arturo Aguirre-Velarde, Denise Breitburg, Jorge Cardich, Jacob Carstensen, Daniel J. Conley, Boris Dewitte, Anja Engel, Dante Espinoza-Morriberón, Georgina Flores, Véronique Garçon, Michelle Graco, Marilaure Grégoire, Dimitri Gutiérrez, José Martin Hernandez-Ayon, Huai Hsuan May Huang, Kirsten Isensee, María Elena Jacinto, Lisa Levin, Alberto Lorenzo, Eric Machu, Lander Merma, Ivonne Montes, Naqvi Swa, Aurelien Paulmier, Michael Roman, Kenneth Rose, Raleigh Hood, Nancy N. Rabalais, Anne Gro V. Salvanes, Renato Salvatteci, Sonia Sánchez, Abdelfettah Sifeddine

Faculty Publications

The epoch of the Anthropocene, a period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment, has witnessed a decline in oxygen concentrations and an expansion of oxygen-depleted environments in both coastal and open ocean systems since the middle of the 20th century. This paper provides a review of system-specific drivers of low oxygen in a range of case studies representing marine systems in the open ocean, on continental shelves, in enclosed seas and in the coastal environment. Identification of similar and contrasting responses within and across system types and corresponding oxygen regimes is shown …

Benthic Nutrient Fluxes Across Subtidal And Intertidal Habitats In Breton Sound In Response To River-Pulses Of A Diversion In Mississippi River Delta, Robert R. Twilley, Silke Rick, Daniel C. Bond, Justin Baker

Faculty Publications

We measured benthic fluxes of dissolved nutrients in subtidal sediments and intertidal soils associated with river-pulse events from Mississippi River via the operation of a river diversion struc-ture at Caernarvon, LA. Experiments measuring benthic fluxes in subtidal habitats were conducted during the early spring flood pulse (February and March) each year from 2002 to 2004, compared to benthic fluxes of intertidal habitats measured in February and March 2004. Nitrate (NO3⁻) uptake rates for subtidal sediments and intertidal soils depended on overlying water NO3⁻ concentrations at near-, mid-, and far-field locations during river-pulse experiments when water temperatures were …

Multiple Species And Deep Genomic Divergences Despite Little Phenotypic Differentiation In An Ancient Neotropical Songbird, Tunchiornis Ochraceiceps (Sclater, 1860) (Aves: Vireonidae), N Buainain, M F. Maximiano, M Ferreira, A Aleixo, N Buainain, R T. Brumfield, J Cracraft, C C. Ribas

Faculty Publications

Several bird taxa have been recently described or elevated to full species and almost twice as many bird species than are currently recognized may exist. Defining species is one of the most basic and important issues in biological science because unknown or poorly defined species hamper subsequent studies. Here, we evaluate the species limits and evolutionary history of Tunchiornis ochraceiceps-a widespread forest songbird that occurs in the lowlands of Central America, Choco and Amazonia-using an integrative approach that includes plumage coloration, morphometrics, vocalization and genomic data. The species has a relatively old crown age (similar to 9 Ma) and comprises …

Genome-Wide Association And Selective Sweep Studies Reveal The Complex Genetic Architecture Of Dmi Fungicide Resistance In Cercospora Beticola, Rebecca Spanner, Demetris Taliadoros, Jonathan Richards, Viviana Rivera-Varas, Jonathan Neubauer, Mari Natwick, Olivia Hamilton, Niloofar Vaghefi, Sarah Pethybridge, Gary A. Secor, Timothy L. Friesen, Eva H. Stukenbrock, Melvin D. Bolton

Faculty Publications

The rapid and widespread evolution of fungicide resistance remains a challenge for crop disease management. The demethylation inhibitor (DMI) class of fungicides is a widely used chemistry for managing disease, but there has been a gradual decline in efficacy in many crop pathosystems. Reliance on DMI fungicides has increased resistance in populations of the plant pathogenic fungus Cercospora beticola worldwide. To better understand the genetic and evolutionary basis for DMI resistance in C. beticola, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and selective sweep analysis were conducted for the first time in this species. We performed whole-genome resequencing of 190 C. beticola …

Trapping Soybean Looper (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) In The Southeastern Usa And Implications For Pheromone-Based Research And Management, Daniel E. Fleming, Jeffrey A. Davis, Fred R. Musser, Silvana V. Paula-Moraes, Ronald C. Stephenson, Christopher A. Wheeler, Earl Eugene Ringpis, Tyler S. Crum, J. Khai Tran

Faculty Publications

Novel strategies for the management of soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), are needed due to its increasing importance, costs, and challenges of management in soybeans (Glycine max [L.] Merr.; Fabaceae) in the Americas. Pheromone-mediated mating disruption may be 1 such novel strategy, but an effective tool for estimating mating disruption success must be found. The technique of trapping male moths using pheromone baited traps is a common method for assessing mating disruption technology. This paper reports on the testing of 2 trap types and 3 commercially available lures containing (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate as the major active component. Trapping was …

Managing Corpses From Different Castes In The Eastern Subterranean Termite, Jizhe Shi, Chi Zhang, Sirui Huang, Austin Merchant, Qian Sun, Chuan Zhou, Kenneth F. Haynes, Xuguo Zhou

Faculty Publications

Corpse management is essential for social animals to maintain colony health. In the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, workers carry out undertaking behaviors to mitigate the risks associated with the dead. In this study, we hypothesized that termites would respond differently to the corpses from different castes based on their postmortem chemical signatures. To test this hypothesis, we 1) documented the behavioral responses of the workers toward corpses from different castes, and 2) profile the chemical signatures of these corpses. Corpses from all castes were retrieved inside the nests and cannibalized when they were decomposed <64 >h, regardless of the presence …

Biology, Ecology, And Pest Management Of The Tarnished Plant Bug, Lygus Lineolaris (Palisot De Beauvois) In Southern Row Crops, Justin George, James P. Glover, Jeffrey Gore, Whitney D. Crow, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), (Hemiptera: Miridae) is considered the most damaging pest of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in the mid-southern United States, although it is established throughout the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. The introduction of transgenic crops for the control of moths in the Heliothine complex and eradication of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, from much of the United States led to greatly reduced pesticide use in cotton fields, which allowed L. lineolaris to emerge as a new primary pest of cotton in the mid-southern United States. Since the publication of a …

Development Of A Method For Rearing Nezara Viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) On A Semi-Solid Artificial Diet, Maribel Portilla, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

A method for rearing the southern green stinkbug, (Nezara viridula L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), using a modified lygus semi-solid artificial diet was developed. First to second-instar nymph were reared in a density of 631.5 ± 125.05 eggs per Petri-dish (4 cm deep × 15 cm diam). Second instar to adult were reared in a density of 535.0 ± 112.46 s instar nymphs per rearing cage (43 × 28 × 9 cm). Mating and oviposition occurred in popup rearing cages (30 × 30 cm), each holding 60-90 mixed sex adults of similar age. Adults emerged 35.88 ± 2.13 d after oviposition and …

A Tale Of Two Representations: Energy And Time In Photoabsorption, A. R.P. Rau

Faculty Publications

This essay is based on a talk at Advances in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences 2020 (AAMOS20) in a symposium honoring Prof. S. T. Manson's decades-long contribution to photoabsorption studies. Quantum physics introduced into physics pairs of conjugate quantities bearing a specific complementary relationship, energy and time being one such pair. This gives rise to two alternative representations, a time-dependent and a time-independent one, seemingly very different but both capable of embracing the same physics. They give complementary descriptions and insight, with technical questions, theoretical and experimental, determining which may be the more convenient and practicable at any juncture. Two …

A 3d Printed Vitrification Device For Storage In Cryopreservation Vials, Yue Liu, Andy Lin, Terrence R. Tiersch, William Todd Monroe

Faculty Publications

Sperm cryopreservation by vitrification is a promising approach for small-bodied animals such as zebrafish (Danio rerio). However, most vitrification tools adopted in aquatic research were initially designed for applications other than sperm (such as human embryo freezing) and, thus, pose challenges for adoption to sperm vitrification. Three-dimensional (3D) printing combined with open hardware sharing is an emerging strategy to address challenges in the development of cryo-preservation tools. The goal of this study was to develop a 3D printed Vitrification Device for Cryo-Vials (VDCV) that can be integrated with the existing vial storage systems. The VDCV combined the vitrification and handling …

Population Structure, Gene Flow, And Sex-Biased Dispersal In The Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander (Ambystoma Bishopi): Implications For Translocations, Steven T. Williams, Jean P. Elbers, Sabrina S. Taylor

Faculty Publications

Understanding patterns of gene flow and population structure is vital for managing threatened and endangered species. The reticulated flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma bishopi) is an endangered species with a fragmented range; therefore, assessing connectivity and genetic population structure can inform future conservation. Samples collected from breeding sites (n = 5) were used to calculate structure and gene flow using three marker types: single nucleotide polymorphisms isolated from potential immune genes (SNPs), nuclear data from the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), and the mitochondrial control region. At a broad geographical scale, nuclear data (SNP and MHC) supported gene flow and little structure (FST …

Hydraulically-Vulnerable Trees Survive On Deep-Water Access During Droughts In A Tropical Forest, Rutuja Chitra-Tarak, Chonggang Xu, Salomón Aguilar, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Jeff Chambers, Matteo Detto, Boris Faybishenko, Rosie A. Fisher, Ryan G. Knox, Charles D. Koven, Lara M. Kueppers, Nobert Kunert, Stefan J. Kupers, Nate G. Mcdowell, Brent D. Newman, Steven R. Paton, Rolando Pérez, Laurent Ruiz, Lawren Sack, Jeffrey M. Warren, Brett T. Wolfe, Cynthia Wright, S. Joseph Wright, Joseph Zailaa, Sean M. Mcmahon

Faculty Publications

Deep-water access is arguably the most effective, but under-studied, mechanism that plants employ to survive during drought. Vulnerability to embolism and hydraulic safety margins can predict mortality risk at given levels of dehydration, but deep-water access may delay plant dehydration. Here, we tested the role of deep-water access in enabling survival within a diverse tropical forest community in Panama using a novel data-model approach. We inversely estimated the effective rooting depth (ERD, as the average depth of water extraction), for 29 canopy species by linking diameter growth dynamics (1990–2015) to vapor pressure deficit, water potentials in the whole-soil column, and …

Assessing Biodegradable Mulch Duration And Nutsedge Suppression During Late Summer Cucumber Production In Mississippi And Louisiana, Kathryn Fontenot, Heather Kirk-Ballard, Christine Elizabeth Harris Coker, Ronald Strahan, Isabel Bacas, Robert Michael Ely

Faculty Publications

Environmental concerns as well as labor costs associated with the use of polyethylene plastic mulch have turned producers’ focus to alternative mulch treatments. A preliminary study was conducted to evaluate nutsedge control, mulch degradation, and cucumber yields on biodegradable mulches at two locations (Louisiana and Mississippi). Mulch treatments included two paper-based mulch products, two biodegradable plastic mulches, the industry standard non-biodegradable black plastic mulch, and an unmulched control. The heavy weight paper-based mulch and light weight paper mulches in the Louisiana location were reduced to 50% or less coverage at the end of the study. Similarly, the paper-based mulches both …

Global Flash Drought Monitoring Using Surface Soil Moisture, Vinit Sehgal, Nandita Gaur, Binayak P. Mohanty

Faculty Publications

Abrupt onset and swift intensification characterize flash droughts. Global surface soil moisture (θRS) from NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite can facilitate a near-real-time assessment of emerging flash droughts at a 36-km footprint. However, a robust flash drought monitoring using θRS must account for the (a) short observation record of SMAP, (b) nonlinear geophysical controls over θRS dynamics, and (c) emergent meteorological drivers of flash droughts. We propose a new method for near-real-time characterization of droughts using Soil Moisture Stress (SMS, drought stress) and Relative Rate of Drydown (RRD, drought stress intensification rate)—developed using SMAP θRS (March 2015–May 2021), …

On The Human Appropriation Of Wetland Primary Production, James A. Cloern, Samuel M. Safran, Lydia Smith Vaughn, April Robinson, Alison A. Whipple, Katharyn E. Boyer, Judith Z. Drexler, Robert J. Naiman, James L. Pinckney, Emily R. Howe, Elizabeth A. Canuel, J. Letitia Grenier

Faculty Publications

Humans are changing the Earth's surface at an accelerating pace, with significant consequences for ecosystems and their biodiversity. Landscape transformation has far-reaching implications including reduced net primary production (NPP) available to support ecosystems, reduced energy supplies to consumers, and disruption of ecosystem services such as carbon storage. Anthropogenic activities have reduced global NPP available to terrestrial ecosystems by nearly 25%, but the loss of NPP from wetland ecosystems is unknown. We used a simple approach to estimate aquatic NPP from measured habitat areas and habitat-specific areal productivity in the largest wetland complex on the USA west coast, comparing historical and …