Mullein it over: an examination of the impacts of common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) invasion and management

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Summer.Biological invasion is one of the most important problems facing modern ecologists, and while research has shown the detrimental effects caused by many invasive species, the impact of the majority of invaders in largely unknown. I investigated the effects of the ubiquitous exotic plant species common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) on plant communities in northern Colorado. Additionally, I studied the impact of a second common invasive species, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), and examined its interactions with mullein. I conducted a field experiment over two years, manipulating mullein and cheatgrass presence at two sites, either removing the aboveground biomass of one or both of the exotic plants, or leaving them intact. I measured a number of plant community and abiotic characteristics as responses to these treatments. I found that mullein invasion has few negative impacts, and that the benefits associated with management are lost within a year. Removal of mullein acts as a disturbance, creating physical and ecological openings for cheatgrass and other exotics to occupy. Percent cover of exotic species was highest when mullein was removed and cheatgrass was left intact. Since cheatgrass invasion is associated with undesired changes in the community, I suggest that resources should be used for its management rather than the management of mullein, and that mullein removal in areas with cheatgrass should be accompanied by an aggressive strategy addressing cheatgrass invasion

Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN): toward standardized evaluation of the ecological impacts of invasive plants

Terrestrial invasive plants are a global problem and are becoming ubiquitous components of most ecosystems. They are implicated in altering disturbance regimes, reducing biodiversity, and changing ecosystem function, sometimes in profound and irreversible ways. However, the ecological impacts of most invasive plants have not been studied experimentally, and most research to date focuses on few types of impacts, which can vary greatly among studies. Thus, our knowledge of existing ecological impacts ascribed to invasive plants is surprisingly limited in both breadth and depth. Our aim was to propose a standard methodology for quantifying baseline ecological impact that, in theory, is scalable to any terrestrial plant invader (e.g., annual grasses to trees) and any invaded system (e.g., grassland to forest). The Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN) is a coordinated distributed experiment composed of an observational and manipulative methodology. The protocol consists of a series of plots located in (1) an invaded area; (2) an adjacent removal treatment within the invaded area; and (3) a spatially separate uninvaded area thought to be similar to pre-invasion conditions of the invaded area. A standardized and inexpensive suite of community, soil, and ecosystem metrics are collected allowing broad comparisons among measurements, populations, and species. The method allows for one-time comparisons and for long-term monitoring enabling one to derive information about change due to invasion over time. Invader removal plots will also allow for quantification of legacy effects and their return rates, which will be monitored for several years. GIIN uses a nested hierarchical scale approach encompassing multiple sites, regions, and continents. Currently, GIIN has network members in six countries, with new members encouraged. To date, study species include representatives of annual and perennial grasses; annual and perennial forbs; shrubs; and trees. The goal of the GIIN framework is to create a standard yet flexible platform for understanding the ecological impacts of invasive plants, allowing both individual and synthetic analyses across a range of taxa and ecosystems. If broadly adopted, this standard approach will offer unique insight into the ecological impacts of invasive plants at local, regional, and global scales.Fil: Barney, Jacob N. Virginia Tech. Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science; Estados UnidosFil: Tekiela, Daniel R. Virginia Tech. Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science; Estados UnidosFil: Barrios Garcia Moar, Maria Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. CENAC-APN; ArgentinaFil: Dimarco, Romina Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Grupo de Ecología de Poblaciones de Insectos; ArgentinaFil: Hufbauer, Ruth A. Colorado State University. Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology; Estados UnidosFil: Leipzig-Scott, Peter. Colorado State University. Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology; Estados UnidosFil: Nuñez, Martin A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-Universidad del Comahue. INIBIOMA. Laboratorio de Ecotono; ArgentinaFil: Pauchard, Anibal. Universidad de Concepción. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales. Laboratorio de Invasiones Biolóogicas; Chile. Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB); ChileFil: Pysek, Petr. The Czech Academy of Sciences. Institute of Botany. Department of Invasion Ecology; República Checa. Charles University in Prague. Faculty of Science. Department of Ecology; República ChecaFil: Viıtkov, Michaela. The Czech Academy of Sciences. Institute of Botany. Department of Invasion Ecology; República ChecaFil: Maxwell, Bruce D. Montana State University. Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences; Estados Unido

Match me if you can!: phenological (mis) match in plant-insect interactions

Anthropogenic climate change is altering the ecology of habitats and the life histories of species that live within it. Not only does climate change influence phenologies and geographic ranges of individual species, but variation in temperature and precipitation can affect how and when species interact. Ecological interactions between plants and their insects, pollinators and herbivores, are affected by abiotic and biotic factors, such as; temperature, allelochemicals, and herbivory. In our study, cow parsnip Heracleum maximum Bartram (Apiaceae), in a changing elevation gradient, may experience fitness differences if its phenology is matched or mismatched with its pollinators and/or herbivores

AGU hydrology days 2014

2014 annual AGU hydrology days was held at Colorado State University on March 24 - March 26, 2014.Includes bibliographical references.In September 2013, the Front Range of Colorado experienced a 1000-year precipitation event that caused widespread flooding, channel migration, and loss of man-made infrastructure. Opportunities have seemingly arisen to speed implementation of pre-existing plans to perform flood mitigation using non-structural techniques along the St. Vrain Creek. A decision support framework was built to study preferred management actions in response to the flood considering multiple stakeholder preferences and criteria including aspects of the society, economy, and environment. Sixty scenarios were analyzed using six different analysis techniques, five different imposed stakeholder preferences, and two different sets of sub-criteria relative important factors. Results of the multi-criteria decision analysis seem to indicate that preferred management alternatives include a mixture of structural and non-structural flood mitigation techniques, indicating that environmental improvement can complement flood mitigation along the St. Vrain Creek

Additional file 17 of Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dimorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis

Additional file 17: Table S9. PheWAS UKB-MVP meta-analysis results for each index lipid variant at Bonferroni threshold for multiple testing

Additional file 27 of Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dimorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis

Additional file 27: Table S17. Sex-stratified effect sizes in UK Biobank considering all individuals or only those not on cholesterol lowering medications

Additional file 19 of Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dimorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis

Additional file 19: Table S11. Significant female-specific multi-ancestry meta-analysis results