Botany Commons^™

Quantifying Differences In Habitat Use Between Anglers And Large Bluegills, Eric J. Weimer, Michael L. Brown, Brian G. Blackwell

The Prairie Naturalist

We compared the habitat use of large (>200 mm) bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) to the locations of anglers targeting bluegills in a South Dakota glacial lake to determine whether habitat use was similar between anglers and bluegills. Eighty- five bluegills (mean total length = 213 mm) collected in September 2002 and May 2003 were affixed with external radio transmitters and subsequently relocated three to four times per week from October 2002 through October 2003. Bluegill angler locations were recorded during bluegill tracking sessions and roving creel surveys. Habitat variables (water depth, vegetation density and height, and substrate type) were measured …

Making Nature Whole: A History Of Ecological Restoration. William R. Jordan Iii And George M. Lubick., Daryl D. Smith

The Prairie Naturalist

Ecological restoration—the process of assisting the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged, or destroyed—is being incorporated into the fabric of our society. The practice of ecological restoration of natural areas developed and grew in the twentieth century in response to widespread human disturbance of natural communities. Undoubtedly, this type of restoration will continue to increase in importance in the coming decades given the extensive alteration of ecosystems that is occurring and that is showing no signs of abating.

As indicated in the promotional material for Making Nature Whole, Jordan and Lubick have provided a seminal publication for the …

Mammals Of North Dakota. First Edition. Robert Seabloom., Erin H. Gillam

The Prairie Naturalist

As a mammalogist living in the Great Plains, I was excited to hear about the publication of The Mammals of North Dakota by Robert Seabloom. No such field guide has been compiled since the late 1920s, leaving nature lovers and researchers alike without a modern source of information about the mammals of the state. Despite my enthusiasm, I will admit that I was originally expecting a standard (i.e., boring) field guide with dry facts about the taxonomic groups of interest. Much to my surprise, this book was not a mere list of relevant information, but an engaging work providing extensive …

Diurnal Raptors Of Buffalo County, Nebraska, Thomas L. Freeman

The Prairie Naturalist

Diurnal birds of prey are apex predators, which often are utilized as indicators of potential environmental change (Newton 1979, Rodriguez-Estrella et al. 1998). While the Platte River Valley of Nebraska and the central plains are recognized as important winter habitat for numer- ous bird of prey species (United States Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS] 1981, Root 1988), there are few published studies describing the distribution and abundance of raptors in Nebraska (Mathisen and Mathisen 1968, Craighead and Craighead 1969, USFWS 1981). In addition, studies summarizing the long-term distribution or density of Falconi- formes in Nebraska are limited due to the …

Book Review: The Iowa Lakeside Laboratory: A Century Of Discovering The Nature Of Nature. Michael J. Lannoo., Bonnie S. Bowen

The Prairie Naturalist

Iowa Lakeside Laboratory (a.k.a. Lakeside Lab) is one of several biological field stations that were established in the early 1900s and that have active educational and research programs today. Michael Lannoo’s account of the history of Lakeside Lab was initiated at the centennial celebration of the lab in 2009. Lannoo’s own connection with Iowa Lakeside Laboratory began as a student at Iowa State University and continues today as a member of the Lakeside Lab summer faculty and as Associate Director of Academics and Research. In his book, Lannoo describes field stations, and Lakeside Lab in particular, as educational institutions that …

Book Reviews: Video Surveillance Of Nesting Birds. Edited By Christine A. Ribic, Frank R. Thompson Iii, And Pamela J. Pietz., Marissa A. Ahlering

The Prairie Naturalist

Observations and studies of nests have been a central component of ornithology since its inception. Until recently, studies of nesting ecology were limited to human observation, making some types of information nearly impossible to obtain, such as nocturnal behavior, or difficult to study with adequate sample sizes, such as provisioning behaviors or cause of nest failure. The use of video photography to study the nesting biology of birds has exploded in the past decade, and the most recent volume of Studies in Avian Biology, Video Surveillance of Nesting Birds, has done a nice job of summarizing the history of camera …

Mate Replacement And Alloparental Care In Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo Regalis), Shubham Datta, Will M. Inselman, Jonathan A. Jenks, Kent C. Jensen, Christopher C. Swanson, Robert W. Klaver, Indrani Sasmal, Troy W. Grovenburg

The Prairie Naturalist

Alloparental care (i.e., care for unrelated offspring) has been documented in various avian species (Maxson 1978, Smith et al. 1996, Tella et al. 1997, Lislevand et al. 2001, Literak and Mraz 2011). A male replacement mate that encounters existing broods has options, which include alloparental care or infanticide. Infanticide may be beneficial in some species (Rohwer 1986, Kermott et al. 1990), but in long-lived avian species, like the ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis) that do not renest within a season, infanticide might be detrimental. Adoption and rearing success likely provide direct evidence of competence of replacement mates as potential parents for …

Herbaceous 2014, Julia I. Chapman, Keith E. Gilland, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2014 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Habitat Assessment Of Two Narrowly Endemic Plant Species, Ozark Spiderwort (Tradescantia Ozarkana) E. S. Anderson And Woods. And Newton's Larkspur (Delphinium Newtonianum) D. M. Moore, Autumn Lynn Coffey Olsen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The threat of biodiversity loss is upon us with the onset of climate change and our ever-demanding needs of the Earth's resources for a rapidly growing human population. Species highly vulnerable to loss are those limited in abundance and distribution, or those with reduced genetic diversity. Efforts to actively conserve a sensitive species require effectual data on the probable causes of their vulnerability. Two species of concern, Delphinium newtonianum and Tradescantia ozarkana, are globally rare endemic vascular plant species found only in the Interior Highlands of North America. In an attempt to understand the causes for their endemism, habitat …

Plant Community Development Of Isle Royale's Moose-Spruce Savannas, Michael C. Rotter

All NMU Master's Theses

On Isle Royale National Park, heavy moose browsing over the past 100 years has suppressed the regeneration of many tree species, gradually resulting in a shift towards more open forests and savannas. By 1996, 16% of the forests at the southwest end of Isle Royale had become savanna and another 20% were starting to break-up. The changes in understory vegetation brought about by savanna formation have received little attention, even though the future of moose and wolf populations on Isle Royale are tied to these vegetation changes. This study examined the vegetation of savannas ranging in age (date since formation) …

Stacking Of A Stearoyl-Acp Thioesterase With A Dual-Silenced Palmitoyl-Acp Thioesterase And Δ12 Fatty Acid Desaturase In Transgenic Soybean, Hyunwoo Park, George L. Graef, Yixiang Xu, Patrick Tenopir, Thomas E. Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is valued for both its protein and oil, whose seed is composed of 40% and 20% of each component, respectively. Given its high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid and linolenic acid, soybean oil oxidative stability is relatively poor. Historically food processors have employed a partial hydrogenation process to soybean oil as a means to improve both the oxidative stability and functionality in end-use applications. However, the hydrogenation process leads to the formation of trans-fats, which are associated with negative cardiovascular health. As a means to circumvent the need for the hydrogenation process, genetic …

Traversing Swanton Road, 15th Ed., James A. West

Academic, Government & Associated Organizational Research Resources

Situated at the northwest end of Santa Cruz County and occupying circa 30 square miles of sharply contrasted terrain, the Scott Creek Watershed concentrates within its geomorphological boundaries, at least 10-12% of California's flora, both native and introduced. Paradoxically, the use/abuse that the watershed has sustained over the past 140+ years, has not necessarily diminished the biodiversity and perhaps parallels the naturally disruptive but biologically energizing processes (fire, flooding, landslides and erosion), which have also been historically documented for the area for +60 years. This is an early edition of an extensive document by James A. West. Please visit the …

Antimicrobial And Antiinsectan Phenolic Metabolites Of Dalea Searlsiae, Gil Belofsky, Mario Aronica, Eric Foss, Jane Diamond, Felipe Santana, Jacob Darley, Patrick F. Dowd, Christina M. Coleman, Daneel Ferreira

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Continued interest in the chemistry of Dalea spp. led to investigation of Dalea searlsiae, a plant native to areas of the western United States. Methanol extractions of D. searlsiae roots and subsequent chromatographic fractionation afforded the new prenylated and geranylated flavanones malheurans A–D (1–4) and known flavanones (5 and 6). Known rotenoids (7 and 8) and isoflavones (9 and 10) were isolated from aerial portions. Structure determination of pure compounds was accomplished primarily by extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy. The absolute configurations of compounds 1–5, 7 …

Section Abstracts: Botany

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Botany Section for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 13-15, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

A New Species Of Cybianthus (Myrsinaceae) From Tobago And Venezuela, John J. Pipoly Iii, Jon M. Ricketson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

ybianthus pittierianus Pipoly & Ricketson (Myrsinaceae) is described from Tobago, and its taxonomic relationships are discussed. This species is often confused with C. rostratus (Hassk.) G. Agostini owing to its free portions of the filaments being longer than the anthers, and leaves with similar elliptic shapes and with petioles less than 1.2 cm. However, C. pittierianus is easily distinguished from C. rostratus by the former's leaf blade apices abruptly acute to short-acuminate (vs. long-acuminate to caudate), with secondary veins in 18 to 24 pairs (vs. 28 to 32 pairs), corollas 2.4–3 mm (vs. 2.1–2.5 mm), and corolla lobes chartaceous (vs. …

Sexual Dimorphism Of Staminate- And Pistillate-Phase Flowers Of Saponaria Officinalis (Bouncing Bet) Affects Pollinator Behavior And Seed Set, Dana A. Dudle, Leah M. Freestone, Peter Konieczny, Michael B. Tobin, Michael M. Britton

Biology Faculty publications

The sequential separation of male and female function in flowers of dichogamous species allows for the evolution of differing morphologies that maximize fitness through seed siring and seed set. We examined staminate- and pistillate-phase flowers of protandrous Saponaria officinalis for dimorphism in floral traits and their effects on pollinator attraction and seed set. Pistillate-phase flowers have larger petals, greater mass, and are pinker in color, but due to a shape change, pistillate-phase flowers have smaller corolla diameters than staminate-phase flowers. There was no difference in nectar volume or sugar content one day after anthesis, and minimal evidence for UV nectar …

Lectotypification Of Ardisia Dawnaea (Myrsinaceae), Jon M. Ricketson, John J. Pipoly Iii

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

A taxonomically complex issue regarding Ardisia gracilis Lace, A. dawnaea C. E. Parkinson, and A. dawnensis M. P. Nayar & G. S. Giri (Myrsinaceae) from Burma [Myanmar] is discussed and resolved with the lectotypification of A. dawnaea.

A New Combination In Ardisia (Myrsinaceae) From Vietnam, Jon M. Ricketson, John J. Pipoly Iii

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The lectotypification of Ardisia tinctoria Pit. and subsequent reidentification of the type material as A. quinquegona Blume subsp. quinquegona resulted in two collections being orphaned under the name A. tinctoria var. microcarpa Pit. We elect to elevate the variety name A. tinctoria var. microcarpa and, here, propose the following new combination, A. microcarpa (Pit.) Ricketson & Pipoly, comb. et stat. nov., to accommodate these orphaned collections.

Sfa Gardens Newsletter, Spring 2014, Sfa Gardens, Stephen F. Austin State University

SFA Gardens Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Humming Birds: Pollination Facts And Fancy, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), the 2014 VNPS Wildflower of the Year, is a classic example of a hummingbird-pollinated flower: bright red petals, often with contrasting yellow tones in the corolla throat, provide visual attraction, drawing hummingbirds to the flowers, where they are rewarded with a rich supply of nectar. Whereas hummingbirds have good color vision, they have a poor sense of smell. So it is not surprising that coral honeysuckle flowers are nearly scentless, at least to the human nose; even modern analytical instruments detect only traces of volatile molecules emanating from them. And open coral honeysuckle flowers, …

The Ethnobotany Of Pistacia Eurycarpa Yalt. In Iraqi-Kurdistan: Its Uses, Chemical Composition, And Anti-Biotic Activity Of Its Resin, Peter W. Schafran

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Pistacia eurycarpa Yalt. is a wild relative of pistachio (P. vera L.} that grows in the Zagros Mountains. For the Kurds who inhabit these mountains the tree has practical and cultural applications. All parts of this tree have a use, for structural materials, food, and medicine. While weII known in this region, the ethnobotany of P. eurycarpa is unknown in the outside world. I spent May and June of 2011 - 2013 in Sulaimani, Kurdistan, Iraq, collecting information on this tree. In this time period I was able to witness the harvest of unripe fruits. Information about the tree …

A Preliminary Study Of The Role Of Nickel In Enhancing Flowering Of The Nickel Hyperaccumulating Plant Alyssum Inflatum Nyár. (Brassicaceae), R. Ghasemi, Z. Zare Chavoshi, R.S. Boyd, Nishanta Rajakaruna

Biological Sciences

Alyssum inflatum is a native of serpentine soils and is able to hyperaccumulate nickel (Ni), but the importance of Ni to reproduction in the species is unknown. We investigated if reproductive fitness is enhanced by Ni in the growth medium, and included a treatment involving a relatively high level of Mg to provide a comparison with elevated levels of another metal. Seedlings were grown in a modified Hoagland solution culture in an inert medium of Perlite and were treated with Ni (100 μM), a high concentration of Mg (5 mM), or under control conditions (solution culture without Ni or the …

Vascular Plants Of Big Lagoon County Park Humboldt County, California, James P. Smith Jr

Botanical Studies

No abstract provided.

A Global Analysis Of The Impacts Of Urbanization On Bird And Plant Diversity Reveals Key Anthropogenic Drivers, Myla F.J. Aronson, Frank A. La Sorte, Charles H. Nilon, Madhusudan Katti, Mark A. Goddard, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Paige S. Warren, Nicholas S.G. Williams, Sarel Cilliers, Bruce Clarkson, Cynnamon Dobbs, Rebecca W. Dolan, Marcus Hedblom, Stefan Klotz, Jip Louwe Kooijmans, Ingolf Kühn, Ian Macgregor-Fors, Mark Mcdonnell, Ulla Mörtberg, Petr Pyšek, Stefan Siebert, Jessica Sushinsky, Peter Werner, Marten Winter

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common beingColumba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and …

Arkansas Cotton Variety Test 2013, Fred Bourland, A. B. Beach, C. Kennedy, L. Martin

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The primary goal of the Arkansas Cotton Variety Test is to provide unbiased data regarding the agronomic performance of cotton varieties and advanced breeding lines in the major cotton-growing areas of Arkansas. This information helps seed companies establish marketing strategies and assists producers in choosing varieties to plant. These annual evaluations will then facilitate the inclusion of new, improved genetic material in Arkansas cotton production.

First Report Of Curvularia Inaequalis And Bipolaris Spicifera Causing Leaf Blight Of Buffalograss In Nebraska, B. S. Amaradasa, K. Amundsen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

During the summer of 2011, foliar blight was observed on buffalograss (Buchloë dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.) lawns in Lincoln and Waverly, Nebraska. Disease symptoms were common when buffalograss was growing above 30°C and in drought conditions. Disease symptoms began as dark brown oblong leaf spots, followed by leaf tip dieback and eventual blighting of entire tillers. Leaf infections would progress into patches of thinning turf. Diseased leaf pieces were rinsed in distilled water and placed on 1.5% water agar. Two mitosporic fungal species having conidial morphology of Curvularia and Bipolaris were isolated. Colonies of Curvularia isolates grown on ¼× PDA …

Two Honeysuckles: A Tale Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

There are about 180 species of Lonicera (honeysuckles) widely distributed in the north temperate zone. These are mostly shrubby plants, but in Virginia, we have two species that are woody vines (lianas). These two lianous honeysuckles should be familiar to all Virginia Native Plant Society members. One is this year’s VNPS Wildflower of the Year, Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle), and the other is Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle), widely and deservedly reviled as one of our most aggressive invasive exotic species. Together, these two plants make an odd pair, a sort of botanical Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What is it, …

Regulation Of Growth And Stress Tolerance In Tomato Plants By Expression Of A Dominant-Negative Version Of Erecta Gene From Arabidopsis Thaliana, Hector Ernesto Villagarcia

Theses and Dissertations

Receptor kinases are the main group of signal recognition structures in plants. The large number and diversity of these receptors suggest that they perform major roles in a complex regulatory network of growth, development, and physiological responses. The ERECTA gene is a leucine-rich, receptor-like kinase that affects plant growth rates, stomatal patterning, transpiration efficiency, bacterial pathogen resistance, inflorescence and floral organ morphology, and leaf polarity. The ability to manipulate the ERECTA pathway in members of the Solanaceae family can reveal fundamental mechanisms including regulation of fruit and tuber development. This knowledge may enable changes in plant architecture and growth rates …

2matrix: A Utility For Indel Coding And Phylogenetic Matrix Concatenation, Nelson R. Salinas, Damon P. Little

Publications and Research

Premise of the study: Phylogenetic analysis of DNA and amino acid sequences requires the creation of files formatted specifically for each analysis package. Programs currently available cannot simultaneously code inferred insertion/deletion (indel) events in sequence alignments and concatenate data sets.

Methods and Results: A novel Perl script, 2matrix, was created to concatenate matrices of non-molecular characters and/or aligned sequences and to code indels. 2matrix outputs a variety of formats compatible with popular phylogenetic programs.

Conclusions: 2matrix efficiently codes indels and concatenates matrices of sequences and non-molecular data. It is available for free download under a GPL (General Public License) open …

Traversing Swanton Road, 14th Ed., James A. West

Academic, Government & Associated Organizational Research Resources

Situated at the northwest end of Santa Cruz County and occupying circa 30 square miles of sharply contrasted terrain, the Scott Creek Watershed concentrates within its geomorphological boundaries, at least 10-12% of California's flora, both native and introduced. Paradoxically, the use/abuse that the watershed has sustained over the past 140+ years, has not necessarily diminished the biodiversity and perhaps parallels the naturally disruptive but biologically energizing processes (fire, flooding, landslides and erosion), which have also been historically documented for the area for +60 years. This is an early edition of an extensive document by James A. West. Please visit the …