Productivity and carbon budgets of harvested Central Appalachian forests

Land conversion and industrial pollution are two of the most influential vehicles for anthropogenic perturbation of natural terrestrial processes and both have increased dramatically over the course of the last century. This research explores the role of Central Appalachian hardwood forests in the global carbon (C) balance during a century of regeneration with changing land use and atmospheric pollution. Most of the forests in this region were logged in the early 1900s. During the century the followed, nitrogen (N) deposition rates became especially high in parts of Central Appalachia where an increasing number of regenerated mature forests are now undergoing N saturation. I explored the effects of N saturation on processes that control productivity using a model that I modified to reflect conditions associated with Stage 2 of N saturation. I then applied the model to forests that have experienced different harvest histories during the last century of forest re-growth. I found that carefully planned harvests, such as diameter-limit cutting and single tree selection cutting, can stimulate ecosystem productivity by as much as 37%. To determine the regional contribution of mature forests to atmospheric C sinks, I assessed the spatial variability of foliar and soil N concentrations and applied the validated productivity model to sites across the state of West Virginia. Generally, I found that over the century of regeneration following harvest, forests in the Central Appalachian region sequestered an average of 4 to 5 Tg C yr -1. The modeled estimate of carbon storage is stimulated up to 20% by N saturation, a process that varies in intensity across the state and may be correlated with a transition in tree species composition. Loss of these forests would add about 300 Tg C to the atmosphere that would take another century to recover

Crafting a rich and personal blending learning environment: an institutional case study from a STEM perspective

Institutional pressures to make optimal use of lecture halls and classrooms can be powerful motivators to identify resources to develop technology enhanced learning approaches to traditional curricula. From the academic’s perspective, engaging students in active learning and reducing the academic workload are important and complementary drivers. This paper presents a case study of a curriculum development exercise undertaken in a STEM subject area at a research-intensive UK university. A multi-skilled team of academics and learning designers have worked collaboratively to build this module which will be realised as a mix of online and face to face activities. Since the module addresses professional issues, a strong emphasis is being placed on establishing authentic learning activities and realistic use of prominent social tools.The learning designers are working for a cross-institutional initiative to support educational innovations; therefore it is important to carefully document the development process and to identify reusable design patterns which can be easily explained to other academics.<br/

Effect of pig weaning age and commingling after the nursery phase on humoral and behavioral indicators of well-being and on growth performance

Two hundred and sixteen pigs were weaned at 14 or 21 d of age to determine the effect of weaning age and commingling after the nursery phase on growth and behavior of pigs in a wean-tofinish facility. Pigs were divided into older and younger age groups and allotted 12 pigs/pen with nine replications of each group. At the end of the nursery phase (d 34 after weaning), one-half of the pigs in each group were removed and commingled for the grower/finisher phase and the other half remained in their original pens. Beginning at weaning (d 0), pigs were monitored via camera surveillance following weaning, commingling, and on d 65 after weaning. While in the nursery phase, older pigs had greater gain and feed intake than younger pigs, however, younger pigs were more efficient throughout the nursery phase than older pigs. Toward the end of the grower/finisher period, younger pigs had greater gain, feed intake, and gain:feed than older pigs and reached a common weight 4 d sooner. Younger pigs spent more time standing or moving during the nursery phase than older pigs. Immediately following commingling, the younger, unmixed pigs spent more time feeding. However on d 65 after weaning, the older, commingled pigs and younger, unmixed pigs spent more time feeding than older, unmixed pigs and younger, commingled pigs. In conclusion, younger pigs grew slower than older pigs during the nursery phase; however, younger pigs gained more during the finishing period. Additionally, weaning age and commingling influenced feeding behavior during the grower/finisher period

Machine Learning Approach to Simulate Soil CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Fluxes under Cropping Systems

With the growing number of datasets to describe greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there is an opportunity to develop novel predictive models that require neither the expense nor time required to make direct field measurements. This study evaluates the potential for machine learning (ML) approaches to predict soil GHG emissions without the biogeochemical expertise that is required to use many current models for simulating soil GHGs. There are ample data from field measurements now publicly available to test new modeling approaches. The objective of this paper was to develop and evaluate machine learning (ML) models using field data (soil temperature, soil moisture, soil classification, crop type, fertilization type, and air temperature) available in the Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network (GRACEnet) database to simulate soil CO2 fluxes with different fertilization methods. Four machine learning algorithms—K nearest neighbor regression (KNN), support vector regression (SVR), random forest (RF) regression, and gradient boosted (GB) regression—were used to develop the models. The GB regression model outperformed all the other models on the training dataset with R2 = 0.88, MAE = 2177.89 g C ha−1 day−1, and RMSE 4405.43 g C ha−1 day−1. However, the RF and GB regression models both performed optimally on the unseen test dataset with R2 = 0.82. Machine learning tools were useful for developing predictors based on soil classification, soil temperature and air temperature when a large database like GRACEnet is available, but these were not highly predictive variables in correlation analysis. This study demonstrates the suitability of using tree-based ML algorithms for predictive modeling of CO2 fluxes, but no biogeochemical processes can be described with such models

Plastid phylogenomics and green plant phylogeny: almost full circle but not quite there

A study in BMC Evolutionary Biology represents the most comprehensive effort to clarify the phylogeny of green plants using sequences from the plastid genome. This study highlights the strengths and limitations of plastome data for resolving the green plant phylogeny, and points toward an exciting future for plant phylogenetics, during which the vast and largely untapped territory of nuclear genomes will be explored

Volume 54 (2022)

The 2022 edition of The Broad River Review was edited by C. V. Davis, Meredith Bridges, Sarah Goode, Sarianna Miranda-Rosado, and Hannah Travis. COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Lex Lucius, Majestic Horses: Pancho Close-Ups 1 & 2 THE 2022 RASH AWARD IN FICTION: Maureen Sherbondy, Rules of the Rich THE 2022 RASH AWARD IN POETRY: Stephen Benz, Uncle Jerry, Missing in Action THE 2022 FOOTHILLS POETRY AWARD: Neha Patel, Too Close to the Lights THE 2022 J. CALVIN KOONTS POETRY AWARD: Hannah Ray, Aubade for the Boatman POETRY: Jeffrey Alfier, Downcoast at Hampton Roads; George Bandy, Counting Back; Tina Barr, Still Life With Fruit Dish; Roy Bentley, (Sometimes I Feel) Like a Red-Collared Dog; Peter Bergquist, Basements; Terry Hall Bodine, Paper Boats; Dorothy Howe Brooks, Wanderers; Kathleen Calby, Harvest of Ice; Camille Carter, Feet of Clay; Kenneth Chamlee, Random Hours I Look at the Clock; Douglas Cole, The Eeriness of the Nightwalk; Stephany L.N. Davis, The Unmoving; Laine Derr, Without You; Timothy Dodd, Marvel Exchange; Hollie Dugas, Self Portrait as a Swiss Army Knife; Alan Elyshevitz, The Art of Fire and Smoke; Robert Fillman, On Rembrandt’s A Lady and Gentleman in Black; Katherine Gaffney, Notre Dame, 1994; Daniel Ginsburg, Animator; Adrianna Gordey, Dorothy Gale Goes to the Beach; Patricia L. Hamilton, Idol Worship; Todd Heldt, Afternoons; Ann Howells, Graffiti; Rosa Lane, The Victorian Dissident; Mary Dean Lee, Woodstove; Mark Madigan, First Snow; Jessica Mehta, God, Mother; Ryan Nelson, Empty Nest; Cathlin Noonan, Setting the Record; Richard Parisio, The Last Man on Earth; J.C. Reilly, My Cajun Cousin Fabienne Advises on Marriage; Anna Laura Reeve, Flower Moon; Claire Scott, Still Life With Tennis Racquet; Maureen Sherbondy, Mother of Sons; William Snyder, Call Me Pain for a Little While Longer; Noel Sloboda, Motley; Matthew J. Spireng, Flight 5585, Bozeman to Chicago; Brett Thompson, Starlight; Lucinda Trew, God and All the Soldiers; Victoria Twomey, Paradise; Danielle Ann Verwers, October; Ann Weil, Sonnet While Waiting for the Hurricane; Bob Wickless, Words for Nikola Tesla; Kuo Zhang, From X-Small to X-Large FICTION: Glenn Armocida, Pinned; Terry Hall Bodine, The Burn; Jim Gish, The River of Light; Chad Gusler, Man of Sorrows; Annette Leavy, The Free Temple; Emily Mathis, Baddies; Kai Mawougbe, F3; Ray Morrison, The Man Who Got Away; Kelly Talbot, The Witch Woman; Randolph Thomas, Late Reunion; Hannah Wells, Or Something Like That Chris Wiberg, Juicebox; CREATIVE FICTION: Genalea Barker, Unless, Of Course, It Doesn’t; Timothy Caldwell, My Father’s Funeral; Miranda Campbell, The Saddest, Most Beautiful Place in Georgia; Evan Gurney, An Intruder in My House; Lucinda Trew, Mothers and Mirrors; Sara Watkins, The Child Who Ate Wordshttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/brreview/1022/thumbnail.jp

PHYLOGENY OF ACRIDOCARPUS-BRACHYLOPHON (MALPIGHIACEAE): IMPLICATIONS FOR TERTIARY TROPICAL FLORAS AND AFROASIAN BIOGEOGRAPHY

A major tenet of African Tertiary biogeography posits that lowland rainforest dominated much of Africa in the late Cretaceous and was replaced by xeric vegetation as a response to continental uplift and consequent widespread aridification beginning in the late Paleogene. The aridification of Africa is thought to have been a major factor in the extinction of many African humid-tropical lineages, and in the present-day disparity of species diversity between Africa and other tropical regions. This primarily geologically based model can be tested with independent phylogenetic evidence from widespread African plant groups containing both humid- and xeric-adapted species. We estimated the phylogeny and lineage divergence times within one such angiosperm group, the acridocarpoid clade (Malpighiaceae), with combined ITS, ndhF , and trnL-F data from 15 species that encompass the range of morphological and geographic variation within the group. Dispersal-vicariance analysis and divergence-time estimates suggest that the basal acridocarpoid divergence occurred between African and Southeast Asian lineages approximately 50 million years ago (mya), perhaps after a southward ancestral retreat from high-latitude tropical forests in response to intermittent Eocene cooling. Dispersion of Acridocarpus from Africa to Madagascar is inferred between approximately 50 and 35 mya, when lowland humid tropical forest was nearly continuous between these landmasses. A single dispersal event within Acridocarpus is inferred from western Africa to eastern Africa between approximately 23 and 17 mya, coincident with the widespread replacement of humid forests by savannas in eastern Africa. Although the spread of xeric environments resulted in the extinction of many African plant groups, our data suggest that for others it provided an opportunity for further diversification.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72798/1/j.0014-3820.2002.tb00165.x.pd

Longitudinal study of urban malaria in a cohort of Ugandan children: description of study site, census and recruitment

BACKGROUND: Studies of malaria in well-defined cohorts offer important data about the epidemiology of this complex disease, but few have been done in urban African populations. To generate a sampling frame for a longitudinal study of malaria incidence and treatment in Kampala, Uganda, a census, mapping and survey project was conducted. METHODS: All households in a geographically defined area were enumerated and mapped. Probability sampling was used to recruit a representative sample of children and collect baseline descriptive data for future longitudinal studies. RESULTS: 16,172 residents living in 4931 households in a densely-populated community (18,824 persons/km(2)) were enumerated. A total of 582 households were approached with at least one child less than 10 years of age in order to recruit 601 children living in 322 households. At enrollment, 19% were parasitaemic, 24% were anaemic, 43% used bednets, and 6% used insecticide-treated nets. Low G6PD activity (OR = 0.33, P = 0.009) and bednet use (OR = 0.64, P = 0.045) were associated with a decreased risk of parasitaemia. Increasing age (OR = 0.62 for each year, P < 0.001) and bednet use (OR = 0.58, P = 0.02) were associated with a decreased risk of anaemia CONCLUSION: Detailed surveys of target populations in urban Africa can provide valuable descriptive data and provide a sampling frame for recruitment of representative cohorts for longitudinal studies. Plans to use a multi-disciplinary approach to improve the understanding of the distribution and determinants of malaria incidence and response to therapy in this population are discussed