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A Systematic Study Of Fagraea Sensu Lato And A Revision Of The Peninsular Malaysian Taxa., Sugumaran Manickam

Student Works (2010-2019)

systematic study of the Peninsular Malaysian species of Fagraea sensu lato was undertaken. This was done in the light of recent revisionary work done for Borneo that documented 20 new species and demonstrated that previous species concepts for Fagraea were too broad. Parallel to this the distinction of the subgeneric groups recognised as sections, i.e., Cyrtophyllum, Fagraea and Racemosae, were investigated with molecular phylogenetic methods. Representative taxa from the Malay Peninsula and Borneo augmented by sequences from other taxa in the same subtribe and tribe were used in the molecular analysis. Gene sequences from ITS, trnL–F (trnL intron + trnL–F …

Current And Potential Distributions Of Three Non-Native Invasive Plants In The Contiguous Usa, Chad C. Jones, Sarah Reichard

Botany Faculty Publications

Biological invasions pose a serious threat to biodiversity, but monitoring for invasive species is time consuming and costly. Understanding where species have the potential to invade enables land managers to focus monitoring efforts. In this paper, we compared two simple types of models to predict the potential distributions of three non-native invasive plants (Geranium robertianum, Hedera spp., and Ilex aquifolium) in the contiguous USA. We developed models based on the climatic requirements of the species as reported in the literature (literature-based) and simple climate envelope models based on the climate where the species already occur (observation-based). We then compared the …

Environmental Adaptations Of The Gobi Desert Plants In Mongolia: An Example Of C4-Plants, Ts. Tsendeekhuu, Clanton Candler Black

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

This paper presents the results of our studies on the ecological adaptations and geographical distribution of plants with C4-photosynthesis in Mongolia using ¹³C isotope discrimination.

Previous studies identified about 80 C4-species in 8 families in the Mongolian flora. Our investigations lead to the identification of four additional species, which can be regarded as C4-plants. Orostachys spinosa (-16.26‰ ¹³C), O. thyrsiflora (-16.86‰ ¹³C), O. fimbriata (-16.15‰ ¹³C), and Euphorbia humifusa (-23.29‰ ¹³C). However, as the discrimination level for Euphorbia humifusa is very similar to that of C3-plants it may be switching between C3 and C4 types …

Reproductive Ecology Of Two Common Woody Species, Juniperus Sabina And Artemisia Santolinifolia, In Mountain Steppes Of Southern Mongolia, Katrin Ronnenberg

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The present study describes the reproductive ecology of the prostrate shrub Juniperus sabina and the dwarf shrub Artemisia santolinifolia in dry mountain steppes of southern Mongolia. Whereas stands of the juniper are located at the drought limit of the genus’ distributional range, the genus Artemisia is typical of central Asian drylands. Both species produce large numbers of reproductive organs. For Juniperus sabina, however, only 2.5% of the morphologically intact seeds were found to be viable. Correspondingly, neither seedlings nor saplings were found in the field, and recruitment by reseeding happens at most rarely under the present climatic conditions.

Instead, …

Flora Of The Gurvan Saykhan Mountains, Tseden Jamsran, Batlai Oyuntsetseg, Radnaakhand Tungalag

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Although two major books have been published on the Mongolian flora regional data are often still lacking due to the vast expanses of the country. Therefore we used published information and data from our own fieldwork to compile a relatively comprehensive inventory of the flora of the Gobi Gurvan Saykhan mountains in southern Mongolia.

Clone Size Of Andropogon Gerardii Vitman (Big Bluestem) At Konza Prairie, Kansas, Kathleen H. Keeler, Charles F. Williams, Linda S. Vescio

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Clone size of plants of Andropogon gerardii from Konza Prairie Biological Station, Manhattan, Kansas was estimated from spatial patterns of genetic variation, using proteins detected by starch gel electrophoresis and DNA content (ploidy) measured by flow cytometry. Unique multi-locus protein banding patterns and differences in ploidy were used to exclude plants as members of the same clone. Individual clones averaged about 2 m in diameter and areas of prairie of 100 m² were calculated to contain an average of 31.8 genetic individuals.

Origin And Conservation Genetics Of Threatened Ute Ladies’-Tresses, Spiranthes Diluvialis (Orchidaceae), Allen L. Szalanski, Gerry Steinauer, Richard Bischof, Jessica Lynn Petersen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The Ute ladies’-tresses, Spiranthes diluvialis, is listed as a threatened orchid in west-central United States by the Federal government. Information on its origin and patterns of genetic variation is needed to develop effective conservation strategies for this species. DNA sequencing and polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to evaluate genetic variation and structure of 23 populations of S. diluvialis. In addition, four congeneric species were analyzed to determine possible origins of the putative allotetraploid S. diluvialis. DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA …

Field Maps 2000, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Historical field map scans (2000) for the permanent 100m x 105m research plot in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve.

Maps were digitized in 2022.

Clonal Growth Of Lithospermum Caroliniense (Boraginaceae) In Contrasting Sand Dune Habitats, Stephen G. Weller, Kathleen H. Keeler, Barbara A. Thomson

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The occurrence of clonal growth of distylous Lithospermum caroliniense was investigated in a population in the Nebraska Sandhills, an area where sand dunes have been relatively stable for at least 1,500–3,000 yr, and compared to a population occurring at the Indiana Dunes, an area of active sand dune formation. Spatial autocorrelation analysis indicated the occurrence of significant clonal propagation of genetically based floral morphs at Arapaho Prairie, but not for the Indiana Dunes. Apparent clonal growth in the Sandhills population had no overall negative effect on pollen deposition or fecundity relative to the Indiana population, although in some large clones …

Keys And Distributional Maps For Nebraska Cyperaceae, Part 1: Bulbostylis, Cyperus, Dulichium, Eleocharis, Eriophorum, Fimbristylis, Fuirena, Lipocarpha, And Scirpus, Steven B. Rolfsmeier

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Keys and distributional maps are provided for nine genera and 43 species of Cyperaceae documented from Nebraska (excluding Carex). Two species--Eleocharis elliptica and Fimbristylis vahlii--are newly reported for the state, while seven species attributed to the state in the Flora of the Great Plains (Great Plains Flora Association, 1986)--Eleocharis compressa, E. verrucosa, E. wolfii, E. xyridiformis, Scirpus georgianus, S. smithii, and S. torreyi--are deleted based on re-identifications, lack of specimen evidence, or specimens of doubtful provenance in the state. Notes on local systematic problems within the family are also included.

Getting The Lay Of The Land: Introducing North American Native Grasslands, Anthony Joern, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The expected catastrophic extinction of species (already under way in many places) will alter the planet’s biological diversity so profoundly that, at the known rate of extinction, it will take millions of years to recover. Yet few ecologists study extinction. Indeed, very little ecology deals with any processes that last more than a few years, involve more than a handful of species, and cover an area of more than a few hectares. The temporal, spatial and organizational scales of most ecological studies are such that one can read entire issues of major journals and see no hint of impending catastrophe. …

Introduction From The Changing Prairie: North American Grasslands, Anthony Joern, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Preserving remaining North American grasslands requires a multiability approach. In this book, we investigate three aspects of an admittedly larger problem: (1) how we as humans perceive grasslands; (2) the ecology of grasslands, in order to define the framework within which conservation and preservation efforts must operate; and (3) conservation issues. Additional sociological, economic, philosophical, and cultural considerations will provide important additional insights to preserving and managing grasslands, but are not included here. By restricting our focus to only three issues, we feel that we can provide a basic, but appropriate, understanding of grassland ecosystems for the prairie enthusiast. This …

Population Processes, Kathleen H. Keeler, Anthony Joern

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Within the prairies, myriad populations of plants, insects, small mammals, and other organisms form distinct levels of organization. The physical forces of weather and fire and the complex networks of species interactions control each species’s structure and dynamics and determine its abundance or rarity. Variation in population dynamics and interactions over time and space determine the distribution and abundance of species, and ultimately the composition and dynamics of entire prairie communities.

To the casual observer, plant populations on prairies may seem quite static, like museums containing a diverse collection of specimens that can be seen again and again on repeated …

Preface From The Changing Prairie: North American Grasslands, Kathleen H. Keeler, Anthony Joern

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

North American grasslands have figured prominently in our North American heritage. Prairies first provided significant barriers to westward expansion, and then offered both economic and sociological opportunity, as well as heartache, for settlers. Many artists have gained significant inspiration from the beauty as well as the harshness of this region and its biota. And because of ideal climate and soil conditions, these grasslands have provided the agricultural foundation of which much of the economic growth and stability of the United States has historically depended.

Yet many see North American prairies as beautiful only when manipulated or exploited: Green croplands or …

Field Maps 1994, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Historical field map scans (1994) for the permanent 100m x 105m research plot in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve.

Maps were digitized in 2022.

Local Polyploid Variation In The Native Prairie Grass Andropogon Gerardii, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The microscale distribution of polyploid variants of the dominant grass big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) in virgin tallgrass prairie was mapped using flow cytometry. The correlation between DNA content and polyploidy allows the use of flow cytometry for nondestructive determination of polyploidy in intact plants. At Konza Prairie, local plots contained from 0 to 100% hexaploid cytotypes but most showed fine-scale mixing of the polyploid variants. The relationship of cytotype frequency to moisture availability or burning history was nonsignificant

Maine's Endangered And Threatened Plants, Maine State Planning Office

Maine Collection

Maine's Endangered and Threatened Plants

Executive Department, Maine State Planning Office, Critical Areas Program, 1990.

Field Maps 1988, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Historical field map scans (1988) for the permanent 100m x 105m research plot in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve.

Maps were digitized in 2022.

Comparison Of Old Field Succession On A Tallgrass Prairie And A Nebraska Sandhills Prairie, Mary Bomberger Brown, Shelly L. Shields, A. Tyrone Harrsion, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Long held to be reasonably well understood, the process of ecological succession has recently come under attack. The predictability of successional changes has been doubted (Walker 1970), the mechanism of species replacement has been questioned (Connell and Slatyer 1977), and the reality of steady-state (climax) challenged (Botkin and Sobel 1975, Connell and Slatyer 1977, Connell 1978). In particular, several communities are presently recognized as having "cyclic succession" (Ricklefs 1973), in which the process is continually repeating. Such communities include heaths (Watt 1947), prairie pot-hole marshes (Vander Valk and Davis 1978), spruce-fir forests (Sprugel 1976, Sprugel and Bormann 1981), and intertidal …

Rare Vascular Plants Of Maine : A Critical Areas Program Report, Susan C. Gawler, L. M. Eastman

Maine Collection

Rare Vascular Plants of Maine : A Critical Areas Program Report

Based on Rare Vascular Maine Plants (1978) with Additional Herbarium Data and Rare Plants Information by L.M. Eastman.

Introduction, Criteria, Annotated Rare Plant List, Species Accounts, Additional Herbarium Data, County & Town Index Editing by Susan C. Gawler.

Executive Department, State Planning Office, 189 State Street, Augusta, Maine, 04333 (June 1981).

Contents: Acknowledgements / List of Tables / List of Figures / Part One: Introduction / Part Two: List of the Rare Vascular Plants of Maine / Part Three: Species Accounts / Part Four: Subspecific Taxa / Appendices / …

Field Maps 1981, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Historical field map scans (1981) for the permanent 100m x 105m research plot in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve.

Maps were digitized in 2022.

Cover Of Plants With Extrafloral Nectaries At Four Northern California Sites, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Percent cover of plants with extrafloral nectaries was investigated in three California habitats with the same physiognomy as habitats previously studied in Nebraska (perennial native grassland, riparian forest, deciduous forest). In contrast to Nebraska where cover of plants with extrafloral nectaries reached 14 percent, no plants with extrafloral nectaries were found in any California transect. Chaparral was also studied; no plants with extrafloral nectaries were found.

The Flora And Sandhills Prairie Communities Of Arapaho Prairie, Arthur County, Nebraska, Kathleen H. Keeler, A. T. Harrison, L.S. Vescio

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Arapaho Prairie is a 526-hectare (two-section) tract of upland Sandhills prairie located approximately nine miles southwest of the town of Arthur in Arthur Co., Nebraska (Sec. 31, 32 T18N R39W). The Prairie is at the extreme southwest edge of the 52,000-km² Nebraska Sandhills (see Kaul 1975) and is floristically and ecologically typical of the slightly drier, western part of this vegetation type. Sandhills prairie which stretches across much of north central Nebraska is a unique type of "mixed" grassland (Pool 1914, Rydberg 1931, Tolstead 1942, Weaver 1965) created by impact of the dry, continental climate on the extensive …

Arapaho Prairie, Arthur County, Nebraska: Approximate Ap Grid For Gis, Kathleen H. Keeler, A. T. Harrison, L. S. Vescio

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Grid map of field sites at Arapaho Prairie in Arthur County, Nebraska. Scale 1 5/16" = 1/4 mile. Shows permanently marked vegetation quadrats, blowouts and ravine washouts, roads, and 100' contour intervals. Part of the map was destroyed by mice. What remains of the map as of 2013 is shown.

Morphology And Distribution Of Petiolar Nectaries In Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae), Kathleen H. Keeler, Robert B. Kaul

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The distribution of petiolar nectaries in 24 species of Ipomoea was investigated. Petiolar nectaries were found on 12 species (8 new reports, 4 confirmations of previous reports) and quoted from the literature as being found on 3 other species; they were absent from 9 species investigated. The structure of petiolar nectaries in the genus ranges from simple beds of superficial nectar-secreting trichomes (1 species), to slightly recessed "basin nectaries" (8 species), to "crypt nectaries," which are structurally the most complex extrafloral nectaries known (3 species). (Structures were not determined for 3 species.) Petiolar nectaries are present in all subgenera, but …

Distribution Of Plants With Extrafloral Nectaries And Ants At Two Elevations In Jamaica, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Frequencies of plants with extrafloral nectaries were determined for two elevations in Jamaica. Extrafloral nectaries were found on 0.28 of the plants at sea level (Happy Grove, Portland) and 0.00 of the plants at 1310 m (Whitfield Hall, St. Thomas). Ant abundance, as indicated by discovery of and recruitment to baits, was greater at the lower elevation site. However, despite the apparent absence of plants with extrafloral nectaries, there were abundant ants at 1310 m.

Species With Extrafloral Nectaries In A Temperate Flora (Nebraska), Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are glands on a plant, not involved in pollination, that produce solutions containing sugars (and other compounds). Long noted by morphologists, EFNs have recently been observed to be part of ant-plant mutualisms. The function of EFNs appears to be to attract aggressive insects, especially ants, which by disturbing or preying upon herbivores, reduce damage to the plant (Janzen, 1966a,b; Elias and Gelband, 1975; Keeler, 1975, 1977; Bentley, 1976, 1977a,b; Schemske, 1978; Tilman, 1978; Inouye and Taylor, 1979; Pickett ad Clark, 1979). Furthermore, they constitute an unusual plant defense against herbivores: at EFNs plants employ ants as a …

Ipomoea Carnea Jacq. (Convolvulaceae) In Costa Rica, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

This is the first report of Ipomoea carnea (Convolvulaceae) from lowland Costa Rica. These populations are unusual for the species in flower color, flowering season and pollinator. Other aspects of the biology of the species in Guanacaste, especially pollination, flower robbing and extrafloral nectary visitors, are discussed.

Microorganisms And Soil Structure, T. M. Mccalla

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

SUMMARY

Laboratory tests were made to determine the effectiveness of different compounds and microbial groups in increasing the stability of Peorian loess lumps against the action of falling water drops. The influence of these on percolation tests in the laboratory was also determined.

Many organic substances-dextrose, sucrose, starch, peptone, cullulose, and gum arabic-did not themselves contribute directly to soil-structure stability, though these substances do furnish energy material for soil microorganisms, which can convert them readily into either microbial tissue or decomposition products that increase soil-structure stability. Lignin, proteins, oils, fats, waxes, resin, and paraffin increased the stability of lumps of …