Environmental Studies Programhttps://hdl.handle.net/1808/87172024-03-24T20:12:46Z2024-03-24T20:12:46ZArbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Taxa Show Variable Patterns of Micro-Scale Dispersal in Prairie RestorationsTipton, Alice G.Nelsen, DonaldKoziol, LizDuell, Eric B.House, GeoffreyWilson, Gail W. T.Schultz, Peggy A.Bever, James D.https://hdl.handle.net/1808/336332022-10-28T08:01:54Z2022-07-22T00:00:00ZArbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Taxa Show Variable Patterns of Micro-Scale Dispersal in Prairie Restorations
Tipton, Alice G.; Nelsen, Donald; Koziol, Liz; Duell, Eric B.; House, Geoffrey; Wilson, Gail W. T.; Schultz, Peggy A.; Bever, James D.
Human land use disturbance is a major contributor to the loss of natural plant communities, and this is particularly true in areas used for agriculture, such as the Midwestern tallgrass prairies of the United States. Previous work has shown that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) additions can increase native plant survival and success in plant community restorations, but the dispersal of AMF in these systems is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the dispersal of AMF taxa inoculated into four tallgrass prairie restorations. At each site, we inoculated native plant species with greenhouse-cultured native AMF taxa or whole soil collected from a nearby unplowed prairie. We monitored AMF dispersal, AMF biomass, plant growth, and plant community composition, at different distances from inoculation. In two sites, we assessed the role of plant hosts in dispersal, by placing known AMF hosts in a “bridge” and “island” pattern on either side of the inoculation points. We found that AMF taxa differ in their dispersal ability, with some taxa spreading to 2-m in the first year and others remaining closer to the inoculation point. We also found evidence that AMF spread altered non-inoculated neighboring plant growth and community composition in certain sites. These results represent the most comprehensive attempt to date to evaluate AMF spread.
2022-07-22T00:00:00ZRebuild the Academy: Supporting academic mothers during COVID-19 and beyondFulweiler, Robinson W.Davies, Sarah W.Biddle, Jennifer F.Burgin, Amy J.Cooperdock, Emily H. G.Hanley, Torrance C.Kenkel, Carly D.Marcarelli, Amy M.Matassa, Catherine M.Mayo, Talea L.Santiago-Vàzquez, Lory Z.Traylor-Knowles, NikkiZiegler, Marenhttps://hdl.handle.net/1808/323612022-01-07T09:00:53Z2021-03-09T00:00:00ZRebuild the Academy: Supporting academic mothers during COVID-19 and beyond
Fulweiler, Robinson W.; Davies, Sarah W.; Biddle, Jennifer F.; Burgin, Amy J.; Cooperdock, Emily H. G.; Hanley, Torrance C.; Kenkel, Carly D.; Marcarelli, Amy M.; Matassa, Catherine M.; Mayo, Talea L.; Santiago-Vàzquez, Lory Z.; Traylor-Knowles, Nikki; Ziegler, Maren
The issues facing academic mothers have been discussed for decades. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is further exposing these inequalities as womxn scientists who are parenting while also engaging in a combination of academic related duties are falling behind. These inequities can be solved by investing strategically in solutions. Here we describe strategies that would ensure a more equitable academy for working mothers now and in the future. While the data are clear that mothers are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, many groups could benefit from these strategies. Rather than rebuilding what we once knew, let us be the architects of a new world.
2021-03-09T00:00:00ZBuilding Community Resilience: A Proactive, Measurable, Scalable, and Comprehensive Resilience Planning and Forecasting ModelSchulte, Scott A.Fannin-Hughes, Ian J.Byers, Heather M.https://hdl.handle.net/1808/322232021-12-02T09:00:55Z2021-11-30T00:00:00ZBuilding Community Resilience: A Proactive, Measurable, Scalable, and Comprehensive Resilience Planning and Forecasting Model
Schulte, Scott A.; Fannin-Hughes, Ian J.; Byers, Heather M.
Historically, community resilience planning has been disaster-focused, reactive, and left little room to build increased sustainability to face exponentially increasing climate change impacts. Defining sustainability and resilience as both separate and interdependent characteristics of a community presents challenges for comprehensive and scalable resilience planning frameworks. However, communities can improve their resilience and sustainability within their unique set of risks and stressors if provided a framework that accounts for their Capital Stocks and Resilience Properties, identifies critical performance gaps, grades existing resilience, helps forecast potential gains from implementation strategies, and measures progress. The authors and a team of University of Kansas Environmental Assessment program students expanded, adapted and applied an existing, comprehensive, resilience planning framework in cooperation with a rural municipality, a suburban city, and a tribal nation. The teams completed a vulnerability assessment, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, resilience screening, peer community assessment, community resilience scoring, and developed resilience-building strategies. The result was a comprehensive, rigorous, scalable resilience assessment and planning framework with an adaptable grading and forecasting system. This expanded framework, named the Community Resilience Assessment and Forecasting Tool (CRAFT), reveals facets of resilience overlooked by traditional planning processes and proactively identifies critical improvement areas with actionable specificity, tied to performance metrics, empowering communities of every size to move toward greater resilience and sustainability.
2021-11-30T00:00:00ZSeasonal Salinization Decreases Spatial Heterogeneity of Sulfate Reducing ActivitySchoepfer, Valerie A.Burgin, Amy J.Loecke, Terrance D.Helton, Ashley M.https://hdl.handle.net/1808/314162021-05-07T20:15:07Z2019-04-02T00:00:00ZSeasonal Salinization Decreases Spatial Heterogeneity of Sulfate Reducing Activity
Schoepfer, Valerie A.; Burgin, Amy J.; Loecke, Terrance D.; Helton, Ashley M.
Evidence of sulfate input and reduction in coastal freshwater wetlands is often visible in the black iron monosulfide (FeS) complexes that form in iron rich reducing sediments. Using a modified Indicator of Reduction in Soils (IRIS) method, digital imaging, and geostatistics, we examine controls on the spatial properties of FeS in a coastal wetland fresh-to-brackish transition zone over a multi-month, drought-induced saltwater incursion event. PVC sheets (10 × 15 cm) were painted with an iron oxide paint and incubated vertically belowground and flush with the surface for 24 h along a salt-influenced to freshwater wetland transect in coastal North Carolina, USA. Along with collection of complementary water and soil chemistry data, the size and location of the FeS compounds on the plate were photographed and geostatistical techniques were employed to characterize FeS formation on the square cm scale. Herein, we describe how the saltwater incursion front is associated with increased sulfate loading and decreased aqueous Fe(II) content. This accompanies an increased number of individual FeS complexes that were more uniformly distributed as reflected in a lower Magnitude of Spatial Heterogeneity at all sites except furthest downstream. Future work should focus on streamlining the plate analysis procedure as well as developing a more robust statistical based approach to determine sulfide concentration.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2019-04-02T00:00:00Z