Impacts of Exotic Invasive Vines on the Ecology and Reproduction of the Endangered Trillium Reliquum

Trillium reliquum Freeman is an endangered plant restricted to 20 counties in three states that is imperilled by habitat loss and encroachment from the exotic invasive vines, kudzu (Pueraria montana Ohwi) and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb.) My study examines the impact of kudzu and honeysuckle on native plant communities, T. reliquum population dynamics and T. reliquum reproduction

A Slow Neutron Polarimeter for the Measurement of Parity-Odd Neutron Rotary Power

We present the design, description, calibration procedure, and an analysis of systematic effects for an apparatus designed to measure the rotation of the plane of polarization of a transversely polarized slow neutron beam as it passes through unpolarized matter. This device is the neutron optical equivalent of a crossed polarizer/analyzer pair familiar from light optics. This apparatus has been used to search for parity violation in the interaction of polarized slow neutrons in matter. Given the brightness of existing slow neutron sources, this apparatus is capable of measuring a neutron rotary power of dϕ/dz = 1 × 10−7 rad/m

The neutron and its role in cosmology and particle physics

Experiments with cold and ultracold neutrons have reached a level of precision such that problems far beyond the scale of the present Standard Model of particle physics become accessible to experimental investigation. Due to the close links between particle physics and cosmology, these studies also permit a deep look into the very first instances of our universe. First addressed in this article, both in theory and experiment, is the problem of baryogenesis ... The question how baryogenesis could have happened is open to experimental tests, and it turns out that this problem can be curbed by the very stringent limits on an electric dipole moment of the neutron, a quantity that also has deep implications for particle physics. Then we discuss the recent spectacular observation of neutron quantization in the earth's gravitational field and of resonance transitions between such gravitational energy states. These measurements, together with new evaluations of neutron scattering data, set new constraints on deviations from Newton's gravitational law at the picometer scale. Such deviations are predicted in modern theories with extra-dimensions that propose unification of the Planck scale with the scale of the Standard Model ... Another main topic is the weak-interaction parameters in various fields of physics and astrophysics that must all be derived from measured neutron decay data. Up to now, about 10 different neutron decay observables have been measured, much more than needed in the electroweak Standard Model. This allows various precise tests for new physics beyond the Standard Model, competing with or surpassing similar tests at high-energy. The review ends with a discussion of neutron and nuclear data required in the synthesis of the elements during the "first three minutes" and later on in stellar nucleosynthesis.Comment: 91 pages, 30 figures, accepted by Reviews of Modern Physic

Data from: Life history trait divergence among populations of a non-palatable species reveals strong non-trophic indirect effects of an abundant herbivore

When large herbivores exert selection on their prey plant species, co-occurring, non-prey species may experience selection through non-trophic indirect effects. Such selection is likely common where herbivores are overabundant. Yet, empirical studies of non-trophic indirect effects as drivers of non-prey trait evolution are lacking. Here we test for adaptive shifts in life history traits in an unpalatable species, Arisaema triphyllum, a common forest perennial that is unique because it exhibits size-dependent sex switching. We collected A. triphyllum from six sites that experience a gradient in abiotic stress caused by deer browse pressure on prey plant species that generate indirect effects. We grew A. triphyllum from these sites in a common garden for five years to evaluate life history predictions linking strong indirect effects and abiotic stress to changes in life history traits: flowering onset size threshold, female flowering size threshold, relative growth rate (RGR), biomass allocation, and asexual reproduction. Despite observed differences among phenotypes in the field, expression of flowering onset size threshold, biomass allocation, and asexual reproduction did not differ among the six populations in the garden, indicating common plastic responses. In contrast, A. triphyllum collected from sites experiencing the two highest deer impacts exhibited smaller female flowering size thresholds and the highest RGR. Responses in these traits support the predictions of adaptive divergence in response to indirect effects. Our results reinforce the idea that non-trophic indirect effects of large herbivores can elicit evolutionary responses in some traits of non-prey species. In general, life history traits of unpalatable species may be cryptically adapting to stressful indirect effects where large herbivores are overabundant

garden_long2

This file contains size and flowering status data for all common garden plants, collected between 2006 and 2011. Cmass is the wet biomass measure generated using regression described in the methods of Heckel and Kalisz 2016

Appendix D. Statistical methods and results of analysis of independent abiotic variables, table of mean abiotic values used in principal components analysis, and MANOVA results for compaction data from experimental sites.

Statistical methods and results of analysis of independent abiotic variables, table of mean abiotic values used in principal components analysis, and MANOVA results for compaction data from experimental sites

Appendix E. Results of the stepwise backward regression.

Results of the stepwise backward regression