IN A NUTSHELL: NUTRITIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IMPACTING SMALL MAMMAL SEED SELECTION IN NORTHEASTERN FORESTS

Rodents often play vital roles in their ecosystems as seed predators and dispersers and can significantly influence the succession and assembly of plant communities. We conducted seed tray experiments to assess the nutritional and environmental factors that influence selection and foraging time of three common rodent granivores: the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), and the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) for three common seeds: American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). This work was conducted at Bartlett Experimental Forest located within White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. Using mixed-effects multinomial logistic models, we identified a strong preference in all three rodent species for American beech seeds, likely due to the combination of its high energetic value and low content of harmful secondary compounds when compared to the other seed types. When beech availability was low, the white footed mouse showed a secondary preference for hemlock, the red-backed vole for red maple, and the deer mouse equal preference for both. Red maple seeds individually contain more energy than eastern hemlock seeds but also contain significantly more harmful secondary compounds. An elongated cecum may allow voles to process these compounds faster and more completely than mice, allowing them to safely forage on the red maple seeds. The resulting divergence in secondary preferences may lessen competition when beech availability is low and facilitate coexistence. Beech was not only the primary seed selected, but its availability was also the primary factor influencing foraging time. For all three rodent species, time on tray increased as beech availability decreased. The impacts of environmental factors on selection and time on tray varied by species and were only significant when beech availability was low. Effects of precipitation and stem density on selection are consistent with predator avoidance behaviors, with larger seeds more likely to be chosen in the rain and under denser shrub cover. The effects of day of year appeared significant but may have been confounded by changing levels of naturally available seeds. Precipitation and luminosity also impacted foraging time. Animals spent less time on tray in the rain, consistent with thermoregulatory behaviors. Animals also spent less time on tray on more luminous nights, consistent with predator avoidance behaviors. Our results illustrate the complexity of rodent foraging behaviors and decisions, with selections being driven by many factors. The most important of these factors is seed quality, though this can be influenced by other factors such as seed availability and environmental changes. These findings contribute to our understanding of rodent foraging patterns and underscore the importance of identifying factors influencing these patterns

IN A NUTSHELL: NUTRITIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IMPACTING SMALL MAMMAL SEED SELECTION IN NORTHEASTERN FORESTS

Rodents often play vital roles in their ecosystems as seed predators and dispersers and can significantly influence the succession and assembly of plant communities. We conducted seed tray experiments to assess the nutritional and environmental factors that influence selection and foraging time of three common rodent granivores: the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), and the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) for three common seeds: American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). This work was conducted at Bartlett Experimental Forest located within White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. Using mixed-effects multinomial logistic models, we identified a strong preference in all three rodent species for American beech seeds, likely due to the combination of its high energetic value and low content of harmful secondary compounds when compared to the other seed types. When beech availability was low, the white footed mouse showed a secondary preference for hemlock, the red-backed vole for red maple, and the deer mouse equal preference for both. Red maple seeds individually contain more energy than eastern hemlock seeds but also contain significantly more harmful secondary compounds. An elongated cecum may allow voles to process these compounds faster and more completely than mice, allowing them to safely forage on the red maple seeds. The resulting divergence in secondary preferences may lessen competition when beech availability is low and facilitate coexistence. Beech was not only the primary seed selected, but its availability was also the primary factor influencing foraging time. For all three rodent species, time on tray increased as beech availability decreased. The impacts of environmental factors on selection and time on tray varied by species and were only significant when beech availability was low. Effects of precipitation and stem density on selection are consistent with predator avoidance behaviors, with larger seeds more likely to be chosen in the rain and under denser shrub cover. The effects of day of year appeared significant but may have been confounded by changing levels of naturally available seeds. Precipitation and luminosity also impacted foraging time. Animals spent less time on tray in the rain, consistent with thermoregulatory behaviors. Animals also spent less time on tray on more luminous nights, consistent with predator avoidance behaviors. Our results illustrate the complexity of rodent foraging behaviors and decisions, with selections being driven by many factors. The most important of these factors is seed quality, though this can be influenced by other factors such as seed availability and environmental changes. These findings contribute to our understanding of rodent foraging patterns and underscore the importance of identifying factors influencing these patterns

Space Programming for College of Education Building

This report is intended as a working tool for those involved in planning and is at this stage yet unfinished and still being refined. It will stay in this form, somewhat, until the building is occupied. It is reproduced at this time to show the direction of our efforts and to encourage constructive criticism and suggestions on everything except spelling, grammar and form.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/archives_documents/1000/thumbnail.jp

Flexibility in the receptor-binding domain of the enzymatic colicin E9 is required for toxicity against Escherichia coli cells

The events that occur after the binding of the enzymatic E colicins to Escherichia coli BtuB receptors that lead to translocation of the cytotoxic domain into the periplasmic space and, ultimately, cell killing are poorly understood. It has been suggested that unfolding of the coiled-coil Mull receptor binding domain of the E colicins may be an essential step that leads to the loss of immunity protein from the colicin and immunity protein complex and then triggers the events of translocation. We introduced pairs of cysteine mutations into the receptor binding domain of colicin E9 (ColE9) that resulted in the formation of a disulfide bond located near the middle or the top of the R domain. After dithiothreitol reduction, the ColE9 protein with the mutations L359C and F412C (ColE9 L359C-F412C) and the ColE9 protein with the mutations Y324C and L447C (ColE9 Y324C-L447C) were slightly less active than equivalent concentrations of ColE9. On oxidation with diamide, no significant biological activity was seen with the ColE9 L359C-F412C and the ColE9 Y324C-L447C mutant proteins; however diamide had no effect on the activity of ColE9. The presence of a disulfide bond was confirmed in both of the oxidized, mutant proteins by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. The loss of biological activity of the disulfide-containing mutant proteins was not due to an indirect effect on the properties of the translocation or DNase domains of the mutant colicins. The data are consistent with a requirement for the flexibility of the coiled-coil R domain after binding to BtuB

Settlement and Growth of quagga mussels (Dreissenia rostriformis bugensis Andrusov, 1897) in Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona, USA

Settlement and growth of quagga mussels Dreissena rostriformis bugensis were monitored in Lake Mead, NV, USA, where the first dreissenid occurrence was confirmed in the western United States. To measure the settlement rate of these invasive mussels, seven acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) pipes were attached to a line in shallow water (7.7 m below the surface) since November 23, 2007; eight ABS pipes were placed on another line in deep water (13.4 m below the surface) since January 3, 2008. Quagga mussels were sampled from these pipes on March 19, May 21, July 9, October 20, and December 19, 2008. Active settlement of veligers was recorded in all sampling events. The settlement rates of quagga mussels did not differ among the two lines and the highest settlement rate was found from October 20 to December 19. Three methods were used to estimate the growth of quagga mussels in Lake Mead: caged mussels, size distribution analyses on both natural populations and mussels attached to ABS pipes. Caged mussels were held in Las Vegas Boat Harbor from July 31, 2007 to March 19, 2008, where smaller mussels grew faster than larger ones. Size distribution data on two natural populations of quagga mussels collected from Sentinel Island and Indian Canyon in 2007 also showed that the growth rates decreased significantly as mussel size increased. Shell length data of cohorts collected from the ABS pipes were also used to estimate the growth of quagga mussels. The growth patterns of quagga mussels from the two lines were quite similar with the lowest growth rates detected from late summer to early autumn. The information on settlement and growth of quagga mussels from this study can help understand their population dynamics in the western United States

Massive Science with VO and Grids

There is a growing need for massive computational resources for the analysis of new astronomical datasets. To tackle this problem, we present here our first steps towards marrying two new and emerging technologies; the Virtual Observatory (e.g, AstroGrid) and the computational grid (e.g. TeraGrid, COSMOS etc.). We discuss the construction of VOTechBroker, which is a modular software tool designed to abstract the tasks of submission and management of a large number of computational jobs to a distributed computer system. The broker will also interact with the AstroGrid workflow and MySpace environments. We discuss our planned usages of the VOTechBroker in computing a huge number of n-point correlation functions from the SDSS data and massive model-fitting of millions of CMBfast models to WMAP data. We also discuss other applications including the determination of the XMM Cluster Survey selection function and the construction of new WMAP maps.Comment: Invited talk at ADASSXV conference published as ASP Conference Series, Vol. XXX, 2005 C. Gabriel, C. Arviset, D. Ponz and E. Solano, eds. 9 page