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Alterations In C:N Ratio To Understand Plant Metabolic Pathways In Response To Pressure From Goat Grazing In The Invasive Species: Rhamnus Cathartica, Vivian Marchan

2023 Ignite the Spark Outstanding Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

The high fecundity and high germination rates of Rhamus cathartica serves the species to out-compete regional plant native species. Its high abundance in deciduous forest ecosystems forces species that are unable to utilize R. cathartica as a food source to migrate to areas of lower density, further contributing to the decline in regional biodiversity. Bare soil conditions left as the result of the high concentration of Nitrogen in senesced leaves and leaf litter, cause further amplification of the migration of non-plant species to areas of lower R. cathartica density. Nitrogen is essential to primary and secondary metabolism, thus minimizing the …