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Darwin Core Archive File, Stover-Ebinger Herbarium, Eastern Illinois University

Darwin Core Archive Download

ZIP file contains occurrences.csv, identivications.csv, and images.csv. The meta.xml document describes the content. Fields within the occurrences.csv file are defined by the Darwin Core exchange standard.

This file is updated as new occurrence records are added.

Documenting Plant Biodiversity At The Eastern Michigan University Owned Parsons Center For Arts And Sciences, Emily R. Edwards Mrs.

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) owns an 86-acre property in northwest Michigan called the Parsons Center for Arts and Sciences. No botanical research has been done at the Center. A comprehensive plant species list will provide important resources for EMU students, all Parsons users (e.g., artists and community members), and county biologists. This research aims to collect and identify as many plant species at the site as possible and create two online, publicly available databases of the plant list and collection. Such a collection will bring awareness to the Parsons Center and add to its botanical value.

Initial field-work was conducted …

Bryophytes At Cave Entrances Across A Range Of Anthropogenic Disturbance, Morghan Mccool

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Cave entrances are critical ecosystems in their role as ecotones between the interior cave environment and the surrounding external environment. Bryophytes serve as ecosystem engineers of cave entrance microhabitats. This study piloted a method to quantify anthropogenic disturbance unique to cave entrances and characterize the bryophyte assemblages at caves in urban and other natural areas. Bryophytes and environmental variables were sampled from cave entrances; bryophytes were identified, alpha and beta diversity values were computed. So far, 144 species of bryophytes, 36 of which were state records, have been identified across 6 sites. By improving knowledge of bryophyte communities, park managers …

Mycorrhizal Fungi And Reforestation In An Eastern Lowland Rainforest Of Madagascar, Sophia Gibby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Most terrestrial plants worldwide make associations with mycorrhizal fungi, yet the fungal diversity of Madagascar is vastly unknown. This research project is a preliminary investigation into the mycorrhizal status of 19 tree species in and near Ranomafana National Park (RNP), a lowland tropical forest on the southeast coast of Madagascar. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization in these species was studied in root samples under the microscope in the laboratory of Centre ValBio (CVB). The degree of AM infection was assessed for three study areas: one directly adjacent to a protected area and two reforestation sites supported by CVB. For the 19 …

Biocultural Diversity Of Medicine In Tsum Valley, Ashira Weinreich

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Health is intrinsically connected to biodiversity in the Himalayan mountains of Tsum Valley. Medicinal plants have historically been integral to primary health care in this region. The main objectives of this paper are to explore the role of biocultural diversity on perceptions of health and to demonstrate that medicinal plant knowledge contributes to health sovereignty in times of cultural and environmental change. The nutritional and medicinal significance of plants were examined in the daily lives of villagers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from April to May 2023. Preliminary results are analyzed ethnographically. Interviews and participant observation will provide a rich understanding …

Lichens Of Ultramafic Rocks: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Understanding The Ecology Of An Understudied Organism In A Well-Studied System, Michael Mulroy

Master's Theses

Lichens are among the most prominent and successful life forms of metal-rich habitats, including ultramafic rocks and soils; however, research on lichens of ultramafic habitats is limited, especially on the North American continent. A review of the published literature on lichens of ultramafic substrates in North America yielded a total of 437 lichen species reported from ultramafic rocks and soils. Lichen assemblages of ultramafic substrates vary in composition and are dominated by acidophytic (low pH preferring) taxa with a minor, but consistent, basiphytic (high pH preferring) component. Species lists from ultramafic habitats in different geographic regions varied widely, suggesting that …

Effect Of Soil Transplantation On Fungal Communities During Restoration, Thomas Luehl

All Master's Theses

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are integral parts of natural ecological systems that provide access to nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable by forming symbiotic relationships with plants. Relationships with ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to improve plant growth rate, increase plant resistance to pathogens, and improve survival. Current revegetation practices often ignore this relationship between fungi and plants. During the revegetation of the Interstate 90 Keechelus Lake wildlife overcrossing (Easton, WA), soil from forest sites adjacent to the restoration area were collected and used to inoculate a set of experimental plots to determine whether ectomycorrhizal fungi would become established in the plots and …

Pasture Condition Guides For The Southern Rangelands, Including The Gascoyne, Murchison And Goldfields-Nullarbor, Peter-Jon A. Waddell, Philip We Thomas, Wayne J. Fletcher, Kath Ryan, Joshua E. Foster, John K. Stretch, Jim S. Addison

Bulletins 4000 -

These guides address a recognised gap in readily applicable and easily accessible information on southern rangelands pasture condition and management.

These guides provide descriptions and images for southern rangelands pastures with similar management requirements for the grazing of native pastures by livestock. Therefore, the focus is on palatability of vegetation to livestock, and the effects of livestock management and external factors on the condition of the vegetation and soils.

The first section provides an overview and map, introduces concepts and terms important to understanding arid shrubland management in general, these guides in particular, and includes an economic analysis of the …

Csi Botany: Dna Barcode “Fingerprints” Identify Cryptic Urban Flora, Luis R. Vega

Theses and Dissertations

As short genomic markers, DNA barcodes can play a role in conservation by identifying cryptic species and hybrids when morphological approaches fall short. Here we present our application of barcodes to the identities of two wetland taxa as part of an ongoing floristic inventory of Van Cortlandt Park (VCP), Bronx, NY. Previous barcode data by Marriott et al. (2018) identified the VCP lake water lily as the exotic Nymphaea alba, rather than the native N. odorata as historically described. In addition, cattails in the park were historically identified as the native Typha latifolia and the exotic T. angustifolia …

Competition And Herbivory Influence The Survival, Growth, And Physiology Of Native Tree Seedlings In The Kentucky Inner Bluegrass Savanna-Woodland, James D. Shaffer

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Terrestrial plant communities are shaped by competition for resources, herbivory, and abiotic processes. Savanna systems represent a dynamic coexistence of contrasting life forms (grasses and trees) shaped by competition and disturbance. The Kentucky Inner Bluegrass Savanna-Woodland (KIBSW) is described as an open woodland of shade intolerant species; however, climatic, and edaphic conditions can support closed-canopy forest. After European pioneer settlement (c1750-1800), over 99% of “savanna-woodlands” have been lost. KIBSW remnants are experiencing a recruitment failure, leading to a dominance shift in tree communities. I researched how tree-grass competition and mammalian herbivory influence KIBSW regeneration and maintenance. The KIBSW does not …

The Influence Of Cover Crops On Grassland Restoration, Josh C. Poland

Masters Theses

Grassland ecosystems comprise almost a fourth of all Earth’s land mass; however, due to ever-increasing rates of agricultural land conversion, these habitats are facing a large-scale biodiversity crisis. The degradation of grasslands extends beyond physical impacts, such as soil erosion, to include the loss of soil microbial communities as a serious risk to the health and productivity of these habitats. Cover cropping, commonly used in agriculture to revive agricultural soils, has rarely been applied to grassland restorations, and could combat or reverse the harmful effects of modern agriculture techniques. For the first chapter of my thesis, I used a greenhouse …

Macrolichen Inventory Of The Horse Mountain Botanical Area, Six Rivers National Forest, California, Usa, Sarah Norvell Conway

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Macrolichen diversity and community composition was determined for an area of high botanical interest in the Coast Ranges of Northern California – the Horse Mountain Botanical Area (HMBA) in Six Rivers National Forest. The Coast Ranges have been suggested to have high epiphytic macrolichen diversity, yet detailed site-specific macrolichen surveys are lacking for the area. Here we present comprehensive data on macrolichens of the HMBA integrated with environmental metadata at the landscape level. Twenty 0.4 ha sampling plots were positioned across the varying habitats of the HMBA and macrolichens were intensively sampled from all substrata. Out of 888 total collections, …

Establishment Of The Invasive Cactus Moth, Cactoblastis Cactorum (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) In Pakistan: A Potential Threat To Cultivated, Ornamental And Wild Opuntia Spp. (Cactaceae), Muhammad Ather Rafi, Harry Pavulaan, Muhammad Islam, Muhammad Ashfaq, Haseeb Kamran, Walija Fayaz, Gul Naz Parveen, Riffat Sultana, Ahmad Zia, Waqar Ahmed, Qudrat Ullah, Muhammad Qasim, Falak Naz, Nazeer Ahmed, Muhammad Tariq Khan, Muhammad Saeed, Jalal Hayat Khan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Subsequent to the significant accomplishment of biological control of Opuntia weeds in Australia, the larvae of the cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (native to parts of South America), were released in many countries for the biological control of native Opuntia species (Simmonds and Bennett, 1966). Inauspiciously, larvae were also released in the Caribbean, where the moth spread naturally and by the human support all over the region (García-Turudi et al., 1971). Its enhanced dissemination rate and the biological potential for invasiveness, suggests that the cactus moth is likely to become an invasive pest of Opuntia in the Southeast United States, Mexico, …

Distribution And Soil Characteristics Associated With The Neches River Rose-Mallow (Hibiscus Dasycalyx), Morgan E. Langlinais

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Neches River rose-mallow, Hibiscus dasycalyx, is a rare herbaceous perennial endemic to East Texas. The threatened, obligate wetland species is currently at risk of being lost in the wild due to habitat loss, encroachment of nonnative and native plant species, and hybridization with two other Hibiscus congeners, Hibiscus laevis and Hibiscus moscheutos. Known locations of each of the three Hibiscus species were used to measure select soil characteristics and habitat variables associated with each of the rose-mallows. H. dasycalyx was concluded to be associated with more fertile soils and slightly more canopy coverage than H. laevis and …

2022 Fall Newsletter, Plaster Creek Stewards

Newsletters

Highlights:

Reflections on Our Mission

Fall Event 2022: Future Thriving

Parking Lot Retrofits - A New PCS Strategy

Research Updates

Betty Kliewer Joins the Team

Planting Partners, Interns, and Community Organizations

Support Our Work

Upcoming Event: End-of-Year Celebration

Arthropod Assemblages At The Intersection Of Epiphyte And Soil Habitats: An Assessment Of Understory Level Nonvascular Epiphyte Communities And Their Connectivity Within A Tropical Montane Rainforest, David “Max” Jones

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Canopy arthropods communities represent a disproportionate amount of global species richness (Stuntz 2001). Understanding arthropod composition and connectivity of lower epiphyte communities is important in understanding how canopy arthropods communities are formed and will respond to change (Floren and Linsenmair 1998). As such this study examined arthropod assemblages living within nonvascular epiphyte communities (epiphyte mats) living directly upon lower trunk regions of 24 trees in a tropical montane rain forest within the Santa Lucia Nature Reserve in Pichincha, Ecuador. Trees were assessed for size, epiphyte diversity, and epiphyte coverage before arthropod sampling within the epiphyte mats. Soil assessments were taken …

Afforestation And Biodiversity: Bryophyte Richness Changes Between Icelandic Forest Types, Kian Mcdonough

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Forest-dwelling bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, hornworts) greatly contribute to biodiversity and ecosystem function but are largely under-studied in comparison to vascular plants. With Iceland’s large-scale afforestation efforts there is a need to understand how different afforestation species are affecting biodiversity, including bryophyte diversity. This study looked at differences in ground-floor bryophyte richness across Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine, and downy birch forests and found that bryophyte richness was highest in the Sitka spruce forests and lowest in downy birch forests. While this suggests a negative correlation between bryophyte richness and light availability, since the conifer species have the densest copy cover, other …

Hummingbird Diversity, Abundance, And Feeding Interactions Across Three Floral Communities On Mount Totumas, Chiriquí, Panamá, Zachary Ginn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

(Trochilidae) are a large Neotropical bird family of nectar-feeders that have evolved as pollinators of many Neotropical plants. Interactions between hummingbirds and plants form mutualistic networks that may change in structure over environmental and anthropogenic gradients. While the unique dynamics of hummingbird diversity and floral interactions have been studied throughout the Neotropics, differing drivers between locations emphasizes the need for further local research. This deficit is especially crucial in biodiverse and understudied locations like the Western Highlands of Panamá. In this study, I investigated how hummingbird diversity, abundance, and floral interactions differed between Cloud Forest, Garden, and Oak Forest on …

Flora Of Doe Mountain Recreation Area, Johnson County, Tennessee, Benjamin Mccullough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A botanical inventory of Doe Mountain Recreation Area (DMRA) in northeastern Tennessee was conducted to help guide conservation-based management. A total of 484 species were found in DMRA, comprising 94 families, and 285 genera, 10 species listed in the state rare plant list, and 76 exotic species. Two species, Liatris virgata and Lycopodiella inundata, were new state records. Water in the Lycopodiella seep was an order of magnitude more acid than at other sites. An analysis of the wildland-urban interface showed that only 13% of the area was classified as uninhabited. The inventory-invasion index, introduced to quantify the relative …

2022 Spring/Summer Newsletter, Plaster Creek Stewards

Newsletters

Highlights:

Staff Transitions

Spring Event

Summer Students

Green Team

Reporting Suspicious Pollutants

Spring & Summer School Partners

Watershed Support Grant #2 Awarded

Macroinvertebrate Study Volunteers Needed

A Quantitative Study Of Orchids And Their Proximate Environments Over An Elevational Gradient On The Northern Slope Of Montagne D’Ambre, Hazel Schrader

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research investigated change in orchid populations and their proximate environments on the Northern slope of Montagne d’Ambre, a subhumid forest in Northern Madagascar. Orchid density, way of life (epiphyte or terrestrial), phenology, and associations were recorded over 100m elevation gradients and between forest types (primary, secondary, dry, and humid forests at the same altitude). Additionally, orchid preferences for certain heights in the forest and DBH of host trees were analyzed. The establishment of 50X20m plots in 100m elevation gradients combined with ground survey yielded significant results demonstrating change along with elevation as well as forest types. Orchid density increased …

Phylogenomic Discordance Suggests Polytomies Along The Backbone Of The Large Genus Solanum, Edeline Gagnon, Rebeccca Hilgenhof, Andrés Orejuela, Angela J. Mcdonnell, Gaurav Sablok, Xavier Aubriot, Leandro Giacomin, Yuri Gouvêa, Thamyris Bragionis, João Renato Stehmann, Lynn Bohs, Steven Dodsworth, Christopher T. Martine, Péter Poczai, Sandra Knapp, Tiina Särkinen

Faculty Journal Articles

Premise of the study

Evolutionary studies require solid phylogenetic frameworks, but increased volumes of phylogenomic data have revealed incongruent topologies among gene trees in many organisms both between and within genomes. Some of these incongruences indicate polytomies that may remain impossible to resolve. Here we investigate the degree of gene-tree discordance in Solanum, one of the largest flowering plant genera that includes the cultivated potato, tomato, and eggplant, as well as 24 minor crop plants.

Methods

A densely sampled species-level phylogeny of Solanum is built using unpublished and publicly available Sanger sequences comprising 60% of all accepted species (742 spp.) …

Mark-Recapture Study And Habitat Assessment For The Northern Metalmark Butterfly, Calephelis Borealis (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), Weston J. Henry, Kristian S. Omland, Henry Frye, Wagner L. David

EEB Articles

Background: The northern metalmark (Calephelis borealis), is an exceedingly local, globally rare butterfly that is declining across the Midwestern and Northeastern USA. The principal stressors driving colony losses include afforestation and invasive plants that crowd out its larval hostplant (Packera ovata) and nectar resources.

Aims/Methods: To better understand its declines and guide restoration efforts, we 1) performed a mark-recapture study in Connecticut to document population trends where we were actively managing vegetation; 2) conducted a range-wide survey for evidence of phylogeographic structure, using cytochrome oxidase (CO1); 3) investigated abundance determinants of its larval foodplant, Packera ovata …

Review Of Spiders Of North America, By Sarah Rose, Michael L. Draney

The Prairie Naturalist

A field guide to spiders, the dominant terrestrial predator group, has long been a desire for North American naturalists, biologists, and spider fans, but not surprisingly, the first “real” field guide has been a long time coming. The diversity of spiders, with over 50,000 known species globally (World Spider Catalog 2022) and around 4,000 in North America north of Mexico (Rose 2022), is well beyond the diversity of more traditional field guide targets such as birds (about 1,000 species north of Mexico; American Birding Association 2022) or butterflies (about 725 species north of Mexico; North American Butterfly Association 2022). Also, …

Review Of Methods For Ecological Research On Terrestrial Small Mammals, By Robert Mccleery, Lynda R. Lafond

The Prairie Naturalist

Small mammals are used in ecological studies throughout the world, yet the subject has lacked a clear reference that included upto- date methods pertaining to passive detection, molecular, and statistical approaches. In Methods for Ecological Research on Terrestrial Small Mammals, McCleery and his coauthors build on previous research references (Braun 2005, Sutherland 2006, Krebs 2014, Silvy 2020) and present methodologies specific to the study of small mammals that are applicable globally. Written as an asset for novice and experienced small mammal researchers alike, Methods for Ecological Research on Terrestrial Small Mammals is organized in a logical format, providing readers …

Second Twenty-Five Year Index: Volumes 26–50, 1994–2018, Jane E. Austin

The Prairie Naturalist

The first 50 years of the Prairie Naturalist reside on the shelves of libraries and personal collections. The articles and notes published over those years provide invaluable knowledge about Great Plains biota, communities, conservation, and landscape ecologies. Awareness of the wealth of information in those 50 print volumes has been limited, relying on references from other published papers or the limited number of articles that have been made available online by authors. This index serves as resource for individuals to digitally tap into the information published since 1994. This index, together with the first 25-year index, serves to complement the …

Modeling Jadera Haematoloma’S Phenotypic Variation In The Context Of Its Developmental Plasticity, Michael C. Yorsz

Honors Theses

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to integrate information from environmental cues to inform the development of its phenotype and remains understudied in biology. Models of plasticity are needed because evolution in the presence of plasticity is poorly understood. Jadera haematoloma, a hemimetabolous true bug, is an excellent animal model of plasticity, exhibiting a non-linear plastic response to juvenile nutrition that biases adult development into groups with differences in flight capability, wing shape, and fecundity. However, there is a lack of literature consensus regarding the range of developmental outcomes in the species. Some publications report the presence …

Getting To The Root Cause: The Genetic Underpinnings Of Root System Architecture And Rhizodeposition In Sorghum, Farren Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Plants are some of the most diverse organisms on earth, consisting of more than 350,000 different species. To understand the underlying processes that contributed to plant diversification, it is fundamental to identify the genetic and genomic components that facilitated various adaptations over evolutionary history. Most studies to date have focused on the underlying controls of above-ground traits such as grain and vegetation; however, little is known about the “hidden half” of plants. Root systems comprise half of the total plant structure and provide vital functions such as anchorage, resource acquisition, and storage of energy reserves. The execution of these key …

Review Of The Duck Factory: A History Of Waterfowl In North Dakota, By Mike Jacobs And Erik Fritzell, Douglas Johnson

The Prairie Naturalist

It was by geological accident that North Dakota became the heart of duck production in the continental United States. When the Wisconsin glaciation retreated some 11,000 years ago, it left an uneven layer of glacial till over much of North Dakota and nearby states and provinces, an area termed the Prairie Pothole Region. Large blocks of ice in the glacial till eventually melted and formed depressions that became wetlands, or prairie potholes. These were embedded in a matrix of soil that, with millennia of growth by deep-rooted prairie plants, became rich topsoil. The wetlands, surrounded by luxuriant grassland, were ideal …

Review Of Loon Lessons: Uncommon Encounters With The Great Northern Diver, By James D. Paruk, Kristin Bianchini

The Prairie Naturalist

Gavia immer Brunnich (Common Loon) is a bird that has captivated bird watchers, wildlife enthusiasts, campers, cottagers, and others interested in the natural world for centuries. The loon also features prominently in Native American mythology. For many, the loon symbolizes the wildness of the north, and it is often used as a sentinel of lake health. Indeed, the Common Loon has inspired a wealth of literature, both scientific and popular, describing this species’ ecology, behavior, and fitness in the face of environmental changes. To this literature, Loon Lessons: Uncommon Encounters with the Great Northern Diver adds a complete and accurate …