Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Impacts Of Plant-Microbe Interactions On Seedling Performance In A Riparian Forest Invaded By Lonicera Maackii, Taylor E. K. Strehl

Masters Theses

Soil microbes have profound impacts on plant growth and survival and can either promote or inhibit plant dominance. Exotic plants are often strongly invasive because they have escaped their natural enemies, potentially including antagonistic soil microbes. I examined how the invasive shrub Lonicera maackii and a common native tree, Acer negundo, responded to soil microbial communities to determine the role of soil microbes in regulating invasion success. This was done by growing both species with microbes from invaded (L. maackii) and uninvaded (A. negundo) soils collected from three locations within a riparian forest. Seedlings were …

Effects Of Treated Wastewater Effluent On Microbial Community Structure In A Natural Receiving Aquatic System, Matthew D. Hladilek

Masters Theses

Despite our dependency on treatment facilities to condition wastewater for eventual release to the environment, our knowledge regarding the effects of treated water on the local watershed is extremely limited. Responses of these lotic systems to the treated wastewater effluent have been traditionally investigated by examining the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and community structure; however, these studies do not address the microbial diversity of the water systems. In the present study, planktonic and benthic bacterial community structure were examined at fourteen sites (from 60 m upstream to 12,100 m downstream) and at two time points along an aquatic system receiving treated …

Plant-Microbial Interactions Change Along A Prairie Restoration Chronosequence, Anna Herzberger

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Soil microbial communities are critical in determining the performance and density of species in plant communities. However, their role in regulating the success of restorations is much less clear. This study assessed the ability of soil microbial communities to regulate the growth and performance of two potentially dominant grasses and two common forbs in prairie restorations. Specifically, I examined the effects of soil microbial communities along a restoration chronosequence from agricultural fields to remnant prairies using experimentally inoculated soils. The two grass species, Andropogon gerardii and Sorghastrum nutans, produced larger biomass with the agricultural inoculates and experienced a decline …

Analysis Of The Charleston, Illinois Water Supply For The Presence Of Organic Mutagens Utilizing The Ames Salmonella/Microsome Assay, Steven Lee Washburn

Masters Theses

Water samples from the Charleston, Illinois water supply and selected agricultural run-off areas were tested for the presence of organic mutagenic chemicals. The Ames Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity assay utilizing strains TA98 and TA100 was used to analyze concentrated water samples. A special set of samples was exposed to the S9 activation system coupled with the TA98 strain to simulate the mammalian metabolic system.

No mutagens were detected in any of the samples tested. Several positive and negative control systems were included in the testing system. Negative control systems were used to determine the average spontaneous reversion rates for each strain for …

Raw Water Quality In The New Charleston, Illinois Pump Storage Reservoir, Kevin G. Lookis

Masters Theses

Charleston, Illinois, a city located in east-central Illinois, recently implemented a new concept in a raw water system. Due to storage capacity-sedimentation problems in the old Lake Charleston-Embarras River raw water supply, the Charleston Pump Storage Reservoir was constructed. The new system involved building a dike separating the Lake Charleston impoundment from the Embarras River. Water to increase the storage capacity of the reservoir can now be selectively pumped into the impoundment from the river.

Raw water quality in the reservoir was monitored on a weekly basis for a full year from August, 1981 to August, 1982. The levels of …

A Statistical Approach To The Study Of The Ecosystems Of Seven Ponds In East-Central Illinois, Gregory Lee Orr

Masters Theses

Gross primary productivity, heterotrophic bacterial numbers, and net phytoplankton densities of seven ponds in Coles County, Illinois, were studied in relation to physical, chemical, and biological habitat variables (light intensity and duration, turbidity, water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, production, bacteria, and phytoplankton). Ten observations were made for each pond (except where otherwise noted) from 17 June through 25 August 1974. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses of the data were used in order to determine those environmental factors which were important in predicting (i.e., significantly correlated with) bacterial and phytoplankton densities, and production. A multiple linear regression equation …

Pesticide Effects In A Simulated Soil Ecosystem, Raymond J. Samp

Masters Theses

The screening of pesticides to determine which were most inhibitory to bacteria was accomplished by testing the effects of 10 pesticides on 9 different organisms using the disk assay method. Results showed that Gram positive bacteria were more sensitive to all pesticides tested than were the Gram negative bacteria. In addition, the hormone herbicides were found to be the most inhibitory to these bacteria and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), a hormone herbicide, was chosen for subsequent in vivo studies.

A soil perfusion apparatus was used to determine the effects of 2,4-D in a typical soil ecosystem. Bacterial plate counts and nutrient …