K.Elsenbroek
Evaluation of mist blower application of glyphosate in the treatment of Lonicera spp. in a non-sensitive natural areas:
Asian bush honeysuckle or Lonicera maackii, originally from Asia, was brought over to the U.S. in 1855 and has since spread across the U.S. taking over our nations' local forests.
Honeysuckle is a non-native plant or “invasive species”, disrupting the native balance of our nations woodland areas. Land managers work to remove honeysuckle from forests by application of herbicide (Roundup Pro) and or removal of the shrub.
I conducted a project, which aimed to reduce the amount of herbicide needed to kill mass amounts of bush honeysuckle, using less manpower and covering greater area in less time!
Using a mist blower, (on top of an ATV) three concentrations (1%, 2%, 5%) of round up pro were applied to non-native natural areas invaded with honeysuckle. Only the 5% concentration resulted in a full kill rate of honeysuckle. Results determine that a minimum of 5% round up mix must be used when eradicating honeysuckle with a mist-blower.
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Ecotypic response of indianagrass (Sorghastrum nutans) to varying water regimes:
Less than 5% of the original prairie survives today so scientists and land managers are trying to increase that number by restoring the land. Restoration aims to bring back the native landscape and restore ecosystem diversity and services (i.e. O2 production).
Climate change is occurring and will cause changes in precipitation across the Midwest (IPCC 2007). To ensure our restoration efforts are not in vain, we must try to restore our natural areas with climate change in mind.
Indian grass is a common tallgrass prairie plant and has adapted across the Midwest to the dry areas of western Kansas to the precipitation-heavy Illinois prairies.
Indianagrass in Kans. Differs from indiangrass in Ill. In its environmental adaptations, Kans. plants are adapted to grow in water-limited environments while Ill. Plants are adapted for wetter areas.
What if you tested how each ecotype of indiangrass responded to a shift in precipitation????
I used three ecotypes of indiangrass from different precipitation regimes and tested their success under varying water levels. All ecotypes (Hays KS, Manhatten KS and IL) were exposed to precipitation from each site. Hays plants
Plants tended to do better in their home treatment, Hays plants had very efficient leaves photo synthetically speaking. Hays plants averaged a blade width of ~0.5cm wide, compared to Illinois plants which had blades ~1-1.5cm wide; but Hays had higher rates of photosynthesis!
Strangely, however, when all three ecotypes were grown together, each plant looked identical; Hays, Manhattan and Illinois indiangrass leaf width were all the same. This indicates the slight differences in each ecotype allow them to grow in harmony at all water levels.
If precipitation levels in a restoration area are unknown, experimenting with the planting of different ecotypes may yield helpful land management advice.
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Using turf-grass as a primer for prairie plant establishment in weed contaminated soil:
In this project I tested the ability of using turfgrass species as a cover crop to inhibit the growth of weedy species in a prairie restoration plot. Turfgrass is known to have allelopathic properties and may be a useful tool to knockback weedy species thus aiding in the recruitment of natives. I found that turfgrass-treated soil supported less weedy species while trying to recruit native species.
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Roots of diversity: do soil microbes drive the success of prairie restorations?:
Restoring degraded land using above ground techniques such as seeding, herbicide and prescribed burning are commonly used but not always successful. This project went belowground and looked at the microbial community structure of prairie restorations of varying success and compared them to a remnant microbial community structure. I found that remnant soil had a different belowground community structure than restored soil and may aid in recruiting “hard to establish” prairie species. Perhaps we can use REM prairie microbes to promote restoration; just like “re-poopulation” in humans or how Matt Damen creates soil on Mars in “The Martian”.
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Differential analysis of active mychorrizae present among living and deceased piñon and juniper trees in the Los Piños Mountains New Mexico:
The piñon juniper (PJ) forest in the southwest U.S.A. covers millions of acres. Climate change and the beetle borer are two things working against the survival of piñon trees (Pinus edulus) trees in the southwest. Piñon trees can handle drought, but when weakened by a fungus transferred by the borer beetle, piñon trees don’t stand a chance against predicted climate change drought. Thus, scientists predict a huge dieback of Piñon trees in the southwest
U.S.A.
The PJ forest is so vast and this dieback would cause a ripple effect of changes in the PJ system… but what will these changes look like? How can we predict and prepare for these changes to the best of our ability?
By practicing and learning now.
In the Los Pinos Mountains of New Mexico, an eddy covariance tower rises above the treetops, regulating water evaporation (transpiration) CO2 levels and many other variables important to the forests' sustainability.
In part of the area regulated by the tower, scientists have simulated the mass dieback of piñon trees by “girdling” them to death. When you girdle a tree, you slice a layer through the bark all the way around the tree, cutting off the network of vascular tissue (like veins in humans), which delivers nutrients to the rest of the tree. No nutrients, no food, dead tree.
Now we regulate the changes that occur in the PJ forest as a result of piñon death.
Not only does the tower collect data, but also, scientists like me, compliment that data by looking at what is going on belowground. For my research I looked at the fungal communities belowground in areas with
living VS. dead pinons.
After gathering soil from living and dead piñon areas, I analyzed the enzymes being released into the soil by fungi to better understand who was there and what they were doing. (Enzymes I looked for are “fungi spit” and by identifying the spit, I can tell what they are breaking down/eating, thus their general function in the decomposition part of the food chain). When comparing these enzymes in the living VS. dead piñon areas, we can predict the future of each scenario. We can do this because we know some things about how decomposition belowground eventually impacts above ground processes and other things like soil respiration, for example, release of C02 from the soil into the air.
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Science abstract:
It is predicted that the southwestern United States will be greatly affected by climate change and see an increase of temperature by 4oC (Diffenbaugh et al. 2008; IPPC 2007) and become drier overall (Seager et al. 2007). To predict how future environmental conditions will affect local biomes, we must understand how they function now. Piñon/Juniper (PJ) woodlands are a wide spread and significant biome of the southwest and cover ~30 million Hectares; ¼ of New Mexico is covered in PJ woodlands (http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~pth/pj.html).
Eddy covariance towers funded by the United States Forest Service were established in 2007 (control) and 2009 (experimental). The towers monitor PJ woodlands near Mountainair New Mexico (34.438450 N, -106.237694 W) and gather data such as carbon/water exchange with the atmosphere. However, little is known about belowground activities at these sites. The two fungi focused upon in this study were arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, associated with juniper trees) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM, associated with pinon trees) play an important role in belowground and plant community functions and form symbiotic relationships. It is predicted that as climate change becomes more prevalent throughout
the southwest, bark beetles and drought stress will begin eliminating mass amounts of piñon trees.
The experimental site has simulated these events by girdling the trees. We compared the mycorrhizal activity between: living piñon, dead piñon and living juniper. R1: Which tree(s) will have the highest rates of microbial activity? H1: Microbial activity would be higher under the living piñon trees when compared to the dead piñon trees. Six transects were established at each site (control and experimental).
Soil samples were taken using a 2 X 10 cm core from beneath each tree and between the two trees being compared. Soil samples were sieved using a 4 and 2-mm mesh to collect living coarse roots. Water holding capacity (WHC) was determined gravimetrically. Organic matter (OM) content of each sample was determined using a muffle oven. Extracellular enzyme assays (EEA) were measured using the following substrates: L-Leucine 7-amido-4-methylcoumarin (LAP), 4-MUB – phosphate (AlkP), 4-MUB- B-D-glucoside (Bgluc), 4-MUB-N-acetyl-B-glucosaminide (NAG).
Presence of ergosterol was measured using techniques from the Treseder Lab Protocol for Ergosterol Extraction. A one-way ANOVA analysis was used to compare the enzyme activity between living and dead piñon trees to living juniper trees. Enzyme activities were analyzed between each comparison Junipers tend to have higher rates of microbial activity compared to living and dead Piñon trees for Bgluc and LAP EEA. Patterns did not follow the same distribution for NAG and AlkP EEA.
Enzyme activities found in our study are similar to those found in Sinsabaugh et. al 2008. The study was conducted on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in a PJ forest and EEA were related to
climatic gradients. The experimental site in our study simulates predicted future climatic gradients. Climatic treatments at our experimental site had a significant effect on the EEA.