Botany Commons^™

Coevolution Of Cyanogenic Bamboos And Bamboo Lemurs On Madagascar, Daniel J. Ballhorn, Fanny Patrika Rakotoarivelo, Stefanie Kautz

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Feeding strategies of specialist herbivores often originate from the coevolutionary arms race of plant defenses and counter-adaptations of herbivores. The interaction between bamboo lemurs and cyanogenic bamboos on Madagascar represents a unique system to study diffuse coevolutionary processes between mammalian herbivores and plant defenses. Bamboo lemurs have different degrees of dietary specialization while bamboos show different levels of chemical defense. In this study, we found variation in cyanogenic potential (HCNp) and nutritive characteristics among five sympatric bamboo species in the Ranomafana area, southeastern Madagascar. The HCNp ranged from 209±72 μmol cyanide* g^-1 dwt in Cathariostachys madagascariensis to no cyanide …

Characterization Of Echinochloa Spp. In Arkansas, Hussain Tahir

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Echinochloa species are the most problematic grass weeds in rice and soybean production throughout the southern United States. The species under this genus has high intra- and interspecific variability, with many ecotypes, observed within a species. This study was conducted to: i) characterize the morphology and phenology of Echinochloa accessions from Arkansas in a common garden; ii) verify the species identity of these accessions based on their morphological traits, and iii) evaluate the dormancy characteristics of Echinochloa accessions. Junglerice (E. colona) was identified as the most common species, comprising about 78% of the accessions collected, with barnyardgrass (E. crus-galli) and …

Arkansas Wheat Cultivar Performance Tests 2015-2016, R. E. Mason, R. G. Miller, D. E. Moon, J. P. Kelley

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Wheat cultivar performance tests are conducted each year in Arkansas by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences. The tests provide information to companies developing cultivars and/or marketing seed within the state and aid the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in formulating cultivar recommendations for small-grain producers.

B. R. Wells Arkansas Rice Research Studies 2015, R. J. Norman, K.A. K. Moldenhauer

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Variation In Leaf Wettability Traits Along A Tropical Montane Elevation Gradient, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Lisa Patrick Bentley, Alexander Shenkin, Norma Salinas, Benjamin Blonder, Roberta E. Martin, Rosa Castro-Ccossco, Percy Chambi-Porroa, Sandra Diaz, Brian J. Enquist, Gregory P. Asner, Yadvinder Malhi

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

• Leaf wetting is often considered to have negative effects on plant function, such that wet environments may select for leaves with certain leaf surface, morphological, and architectural traits that reduce leaf wettability. However, there is growing recognition that leaf wetting can have positive effects.
• We measured variation in two traits, leaf drip tips and leaf water repellency, in a series of nine tropical forest communities occurring along a 3300-m elevation gradient in southern Peru. To extend this climatic gradient, we also assembled published leaf water repellency values from 17 additional sites. We then tested hypotheses for how these traits should …

Leaf Protein And Mineral Concentrations Across The “Miracle Tree” Genus Moringa, Mark E. Olson, Renuka P. Sankaran, Jed W. Fahey, Michael A. Grusak, David Odee, Wasif Nouman

Publications and Research

The moringa tree Moringa oleifera is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree cultivated across the lowland dry tropics worldwide for its nutritious leaves. Despite its nutritious reputation, there has been no systematic survey of the variation in leaf nutritional quality across M. oleifera grown worldwide, or of the other species of the genus. To guide informed use of moringa, we surveyed protein, macro-, and micro- nutrients across 67 common garden samples of 12 Moringa taxa, including 23 samples of M. oleifera. Moringa oleifera, M. concanensis, M. stenopetala, an M. concanensis X oleifera hybrid, and M. longituba were highest in protein, with M. …

Cross Species Selection Scans Identify Components Of C4 Photosynthesis In The Grasses, Pu Huang, Anthony J. Studer, James C. Schnable, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Thomas P. Brutnell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

C₄ photosynthesis is perhaps one of the best examples of convergent adaptive evolution with over 25 independent origins in the grasses (Poaceae) alone. The availability of high quality grass genome sequences presents new opportunities to explore the mechanisms underlying this complex trait using evolutionary biology-based approaches. In this study, we performed genome-wide cross-species selection scans in C₄ lineages to facilitate discovery of C₄ genes. The study was enabled by the well conserved collinearity of grass genomes and the recently sequenced genome of a C₃ panicoid grass, Dichanthelium oligosanthes. This method, in contrast to previous studies, …

Phemeranthus Rugospermus (Holz.) Kiger, Loy R. Phillippe, Daniel T. Busemeyer

Specimens by Name

No abstract provided.

Phemeranthus Rugospermus (Holz.) Kiger, William E. Mcclain

Specimens by Name

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Effects Of Passion Fruit Peel Flour (Passiflora Edulis Fo. Flavicarpa) On Metabolic Changes In Hiv Patients With Lipodystrophy Syndrome Secondary To Antiretroviral Therapy, Simone Marques, Rosana Libonati, Armando Sabaa-Srur, Rensheng Luo, Pushkar Shejwalkar, Kenji Hara, Thomas Dobbs, Robert Smith, Robert Smith

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Endless Symbioses Most Intricate, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Orchids, such as our Wildflower of the Year for 2016, Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) (Fig. 1), exemplify the interconnectedness of life on Earth. As would be the case for many kinds of plants, pollination comes readily to mind as a prominent example of mutualistic symbiosis. Downy Rattlesnake Plantain is pollinated by bumblebees and other native bees. The bees gain nectar and the orchid gets an efficient means to move pollen from one flower to another; each organism gains benefit from the interaction, the very definition of mutualism. Pollination by bees is widespread among the orchids, but there …

Herbicide Resistantsorghum Mutants, Ismail M. Dweikat

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

This disclosure provides for four different sorghum mutants that exhibit resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides. This dis closure also provides for methods of using such Sorghum mutants that exhibit resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides in breeding methods to make Sorghum hybrids, varieties, or lines. The Sorghum hybrids, varieties, and lines provided in this disclosure can be used in methods of controlling weeds.

Per Axel Rydberg’S Botanical Collecting Trips To Western Nebraska In 1890 And 1891, Robert B. Kaul, David M. Sutherland

Zea E-Books Collection

In the summer of 1891, Per Axel Rydberg and his assistant, Julius Hjalmar Flodman, collected plants in western Nebraska for the United States Department of Agriculture. They collected many first-records for Nebraska as well as some that became type specimens of Rydberg’s and other botanists’ names. In the following autumn and winter, Rydberg made a detailed, typewritten, carbon copied 35-page Report and 37-page List of specimens from that trip; one carbon copy is in the Bessey Herbarium (NEB) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It is these documents that we present here, extensively annotated with our geographic clarifications, original and updated …

Mapping Morels: Predicting The Locations Of Morchella Species Through Environmental Factors Using The Gis System, Emily M. Stanevicius

Celebration of Learning

Morel mushrooms, Morechella esculenta and M. deliciosa, are known delicacies across the globe, ranging from exquisite dishes in French cuisine to Eastern palates such as Japanese Matsutake. According to literature, true morels diverged as their own genus about 129 million years, again which has led to the development of more than 177 species and have been part of the human diet since their beginning. However, the elusiveness of morels has contributed to the mushrooms infamy for rarity, and has even been known to sell for more than $40 per pound. This project seeks to aid in the search for morels …

Effects Of Two Different Concentrations Of Miracle-Gro Solution On Wisconsin Fast Plant Growth, Peter Francissen, Joseph Gonziorek, Katherine Morgan, Danielle Deering

Celebration of Learning

Wisconsin Fast Plant (Brassica Rapa, Brassicaceae) seeds were planted in three six-celled planting chambers. The chambers were filled with standard potting soil under continuous grow-lux lighting. A week after germination, one planting chamber (E1) was supplied with the recommended Miracle-Gro fertilizer solution. Our second experimental chamber (E2) was supplied with 1.5x the eight was 60.4. Our t-tests showed that the height of the control plants vs. E1 was significant (P=.010563), for control plants vs. E2 it was even more significant (P=.008813). However, for E1 vs. E2, our data was insignificant (P=.318883). Our hypothesis was that supplying the Wisconsin Fast Plants …

The Effects Of Two Levels Of Salinity On Wisconsin Fast Plants, Megan M. Janssen, Emily Geison, Tiffany Bertoni, Matthew Zimmerman

Celebration of Learning

Wisconsin Fast Plant (Brassica rapa, Brassicaceae) seeds were planted in three, six-celled planting containers filled with potting soil and put beneath a continuous grow-lux light. One week after sprouting, one container (E1) was put into a separate tray filled with 0.5% NaCl solution, another container (E2) was put into a separate tray filled with 1.0% NaCl solution, and the third container was left in regular tap water. At seven-day intervals thereafter, the height of all plants was recorded, and the numbers of leaves and flowers were recorded. By week four of recording data, the average height (mm) of the control …

Effect Of Different Miracle-Gro Concentrations On The Growth Of Wisconsin Fast Plants, Eric D. Shershen, Nicholas M. Orslini, David Channon, Marvin Agyeben

Celebration of Learning

The Wisconsin Fast Plant, Brassica rapa (Brassicaceae) seeds were planted in three, six-celled containers and were filled with standard potting soil under continuous grow-lux lighting. After the first week of plant growth, E1and E2 were placed in a separate trays and given 1.0 and 1.5x the recommended amount of Miracle-Gro formula, respectively. The control was left in tap water and all were kept in 1 cm of solution. Every seven days the plants’ heights were recorded, and the total number of flowers were counted. By the fourth week, the average height of the control plants was 105.7 mm, of the …

Long-Term Sandhills Prairie Responses To Precipitation, Temperature, And Cattle Stocking Rate, John A. Guretzky, Cheryl Dunn, Heidi L. Hillhouse

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Understanding of Sandhills prairie, the most expansive sand dune region stabilized by perennial grasses in the Western Hemisphere, is limited by lack of long-term vegetation data. We used a 26-year dataset to evaluate Sandhills prairie responses to yearto- year variation in precipitation, temperature, and cattle stocking rate. Basal cover, a measurement that is constant seasonally and used to detect long-term changes in bunchgrass vegetation, was measured in 38–40 permanent plots positioned along four transects spanning 769 ha from 1979 to 2007. Across this period, total basal cover averaged 2.4 % and was dominated by warm-season grasses (81.1 %). Schizachyrium scoparium …

Effective Establishment Of Native Grasses On Roadsides In New England, Yulia Kuzovkina, John Campanelli, Cristian Schulthess, Robert Ricard, Glenn Dreyer

Other Publications and Reports

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews: A Chorus Of Cranes: The Cranes Of North America And The World. Paul A. Johnsgard (With Photographs By Thomas D. Mangelsen, And Drawings And Maps By Paul A. Johnsgard)., John G. Sidle

The Prairie Naturalist

Once again, naturalist and author Paul A. Johnsgard invites us to dance and chorus with cranes, and to appreciate their beauty and links to another species, Homo sapiens. A Chorus of Cranes is about natural history but also is a plea for conservation, which is a common foreword, prologue, preface, and/or epilogue of many wildlife books. It is vintage Paul Johnsgard text from preface to epilogue, words that emerge after a long wade through countless papers and reports, and a prolonged career of observation and reflection in the field. He has beckoned us before to cherish cranes and the natural …