Growth Responses of Great Basin Plant Species to Variation in Nitrogen Availability

For this dissertation, I examined the ability of field-grown plants to capture N presented in enriched patches or in whole-plant pulses. I assessed root proliferation in N-enriched patches when Agropyron desertorum plants had been previously fertilized or shaded. All plants responded with increased root growth rates in N-enriched patches. However, root proliferation by shaded plants was 50% less than unshaded plants. Unexpectedly, plants with higher N status had greater root growth rates in enriched patches than plants that had not received N supplement. I concluded that plants already under competitive pressure above ground for light and below ground for nutrients should be less able to respond to opportunities presented in nutrient patches. I then examined plant growth responses and biomass production of six Great Basin species (Bromus tectorum, Taeniatherum medusae, Agropyron desertorum, Pseudoroegneria spicata, Artemisia tridentata, and Chrysothamnus nauseosus) following a pulse ofN applied in the early, mid, or late spring. An equal quantity of N, applied continuously, was a control. Surprisingly, most of the species grown under the continuous supply had lower growth rates and less biomass production than plants recieving an N pulse. The exception was Chrysothamnus, which responded equivalently to all treatments. Generally, the greatest response occurred in early phenological stages. Four of the six species had their greatest response to the early-spring pulse, suggesting that these cold-season species are well-adapted to take advantage of early spring nutrient pulses. This study demonstrated that instead of benefitting from a season-long supply of N, there were times during the growing season when plants were able to use pulses of N for significant gains in biomass. I also investigated the root properties (root biomass, specific root length [the ratio of root length:root mass], and root uptake capacity) that determined plant response to pulses. Despite considerable temperature differences and changes in plant phenological stages, root uptake capacity remained remarkably constant throughout the season. However, this consistency did not explain the differences in productivity during the season. Root biomass also did not explain these growth responses to pulses. Instead, I suggest that the quantity of actively growing fine roots, plus the ability to effectively exploit the soil volume in the early spring, results in capture of early nutrient pulses

Microwave sterilization of plastic tissue culture vessels for reuse

A simple protocol has been developed for recycling plastic tissue culture vessels. The killing properties of microwaves were used to decontaminate plastic tissue culture vessels for reuse. Nine bacterial cultures, four gram-negative and five gram-positive genera, including two Bacillus species, were used to artificially contaminate tissue culture vessels. The microwaves produced by a "home-type" microwave oven (2.45 gHz) were able to decontaminate the vessels with a 3-min exposure. The same exposure time was also used to completely inactivate the following three test viruses: polio type 1, parainfluenza type 1 (Sendai), and bacteriophage T4. The recycling procedure did not reduce the attachment and proliferation of the following cell types: primary chicken and turkey embryo, HEp-2, Vero, BGMK, and MK-2.Peer reviewedMicrobiolog

Mineralization of ancient carbon in the subsurface of riparian forests

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (2008): G02021, doi:10.1029/2007JG000482.Microbial activity in saturated, subsurface sediments in riparian forests may be supported by recent photosynthate or ancient (>500 ybp) soil organic carbon (SOC) in buried horizons. Metabolism of ancient SOC may be particularly important in riparian zones, considered denitrification hot spots, because denitrification in the riparian subsurface is often C-limited, because buried horizons intersect deep flow paths, and because low C mineralization rates can support ecosystem-relevant rates of denitrification. Buried horizons are common where alluvial processes (stream migration, overbank flow) have dominated riparian evolution. Our objectives were to determine: (1) the extent to which ancient SOC directly supports subsurface microbial activity; (2) whether different C sources support microbial activity in alluvial versus glaciofluvial riparian zones; and (3) how microbial use of ancient SOC varies with depth. In situ groundwater incubations and 14C dating of dissolved inorganic carbon revealed that ancient SOC mineralization was common, and that it constituted 31–100% of C mineralization 2.6 m deep at one site, at rates sufficient to influence landscape N budgets. Our data failed to reveal consistent spatial patterns of microbially available ancient C. Although mineralized C age increased with depth at one alluvial site, we observed ancient C metabolism 150 cm deep at a glaciofluvial site, suggesting that subsurface microbial activity in riparian zones does not vary systematically between alluvial and glaciofluvial hydrogeologic settings. These findings underscore the relevance of ancient C to contemporary ecosystem processes and the challenge of using mappable surface features to identify subsurface ecosystem characteristics or riparian zone N-sink strength.We are grateful to the Cornell Program in Biogeochemistry for graduate research grants and to the U.S. EPA for a STAR Graduate Fellowship to Noel Gurwick. Support for radiocarbon analyses also came from USDANRICGP grant 99–35102– 8266, NSF cooperative agreement OCE-9807266, and an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. A graduate research grant to N. Gurwick from the Theresa Heinz Scholars for Environmental Research provided salary for Pete Seitz-Rundlett

Partial edge visibility in linear time

This research addresses the problem of partial edge visibility. This problem stems from work done in the ray guarding of configurations of adjacent rectangles [7]. In ray guarding these configurations it is necessary to be able to find a straight line through a set of adjacencies in a group of adjacent rectangles. If the adjacent rectangles are visualised as an orthogonal polygon whose boundary is the boundaries of the rectangles excluding the adjacencies between the rectangles then the problem is one of finding a straight line from one edge in the polygon to another that is completely contained in the polygon. Partial edge visibility is thus the ability to determine whether one edge of a polygon can "see" another edge in the same polygon. This research derived an algorithm to answer the question "Is some part of edge ef of a given simple polygon visible to some part of edge el of the polygon?" The problem domain places some constraints on the simple polygons that can occur and these constraints were used in developing the algorithm. The final algorithm obtained is linear in the number of polygon vertices. Future work in this area will focus on adapting the algorithm to solve the problem of ray guarding general convex polygons

Portrait of Rufus A. Sutherland

Description on back: Rufus A. Sutherland

Exploitation of Springtime Ephemeral N Pulses by Six Great Basin Plant Species

The ability to exploit short-duration nutrient pulses may be an important factor in the competitive balance of plants and in shaping plant community structure. We investigated the growth responses and biomass production of six Great Basin plant species growing in monocultures in the field following a single pulse of nitrogen applied in early, mid, or late spring. As a control, we applied the same total quantity of N that was in each of the individual pulses as a continuous series of applications at twice-weekly intervals over 10 wk in the spring. Surprisingly, most of the species grown under the control, continuous N supply had lower growth rates, fewer tillers, and less biomass production than plants receiving N in a pulse. At least one of the pulse treatments increased biomass production relative to controls in all but one species. The exception to this pattern was the shrub Chrysothamnus, which responded to all pulse treatments and the control supply with equivalent growth rates and biomass production. Each species responded differently to the set of pulses, with the greatest response occurring early in the growth phase when plants were small and growth rates were high. Thus, phenological stage determined the timing of maximum response. Four of six species not only responded to the early-spring pulse, but also had their greatest response to this pulse, suggesting that the cold-season-adapted species of the Great Basin system are well suited to take advantage of this pulse. The combination of rapid plant growth rates and predictable pulses following snowmelt would likely result in intense competition for nutrients at this time. Our study demonstrates that plants are remarkably capable of utilizing pulses of N, and that pulsed nutrients are potentially important in natural systems. In addition, it suggests that studies conducted under constant nutrient supply may not reflect the responses of plants growing under pulsed nutrient conditions. The plants, instead of benefitting from a season-long continuous supply of N, at certain times during the growing season were able to use pulses of N for significant gains in biomass