Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Rooted In Hell: Predicting Invasion Rates Of Phragmites Australis, Rachel Nydegger, Jacob P. Duncan, James A. Powell

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Across the estuaries of the east coast and wetlands of the Great Lakes, the invasive grass Phragmites australis outcompetes other vegetation and destroys local ecosystems. Because its roots are tolerant to salinity that other plants find hellish, Phragmites invasions begin with vegetative spread of genetic clones in brackish marshlands. This plant can grow over three meters tall at densities of 50 stems/m2, provides poor wildlife habitat, and is very difficult to eradicate.

A discrete life stage model on a yearly time step captures seed survivorship in a seed bank, sexual and asexual recruitment into a juvenile age class, and differential …

Addressing Light Pollution At Utah State University, Rachel Nydegger

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Many outdoor light fixtures illuminate in all directions, meaning that a large por- tion of light emitted is sent upwards. This excess of light light pollution – repre- sents wasted energy and money, decreases public safety, harms nocturnal and migra- tory animals, and destroys our view of the night sky. While Utah State University Facilities does have a program in place to retrofit light fixtures, and newly installed fixtures are chosen with light pollution in consideration, many of the light posts on campus continue to pollute the night sky. With the support of the Student Sustain- ability Offices Blue Goes …

Predicting Invasion Rates For Phragmites Australis, Rachel Nydegger, Jacob Duncan, James A. Powell

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In wetlands of Utah and southern Idaho as well as estuaries of the east coast, the ten-foot tall invasive grass Phragmites australis can be found near waterways, where it outcompetes native plants and degrades wildlife habitat. Phragmites australis is an obligate out-crossing plant that can spread sexually through seed disper- sal, or asexually via stolons and rhi- zomes (Kettenring and Mock 2012). Small patches are usually a single genetic individual, spreading vegetatively (and slowly) via runners; when patches become genetically diverse viable seeds are produced and invasion rates can be increase by an order of magnitude (Kettenring et al. 2011)