Grass Research Articles

Microhabitat Conditions and Inter-Species Competition Predict the Successful Restoration of Declining Relict Species Populations.

The local populations of relict plant taxa living near the limits of their geographical range are particularly vulnerable to extinction. For example, Salix lapponum is one of the rarest and most endangered glacial relicts in Western and Central Europe. In Poland, the number of its sites has dramatically decreased over the past few decades, prompting us to take conservation measures focused on saving endangered populations. During a field experiment aimed at the reconstruction of the downy willow population in the Knyszyn Forest (NE Poland), 730 individuals of the species were planted in four different natural sites. The seedlings were obtained by micropropagation from parts of vegetative individuals taken from the most abundant population of this species in eastern Poland (Lake Bikcze). The success of the reintroduction, measured by the number of individuals that survived 2-3 years in the wild and took up growth, was about 67%, however, with low flowering efficiency (7.5%). Additionally, monitoring showed significant differences in plant survival and growth rates under different habitat conditions prevailing at the site and with different cover from competing species, especially tall grasses. However, the restoration projects for relict shrub species should include periodic removal of competing plants and protection of plants from trampling and browsing by herbivorous mammals to increase reintroduction success.

Prospects for green infrastructure development to improve the living comfort for the population of Odesa

The paper is aimed at identification of the prospects for development of green infrastructure as an element of the comfort of living for the urban population of Odesa.
 The authors briefly described the natural and climatic characteristics of the city. An overview of the research into the development of green infrastructure in urban areas and its connection with the comfort of living for the population in the latest papers of Ukrainian and foreign scientists, such as Bonetskyi, Carter, Cuthbert, Fisher, Henriquez, Huang, Liu, Martins, Nazaruk, Newell, Ocheretnyi, Pryshchepa, Rendekova, Rahman, Sakieh, Sholok, Vasylieva, Zheng, Zibtseva, etc., was performed.
 The percentage of the city's green space area per resident was calculated and compared to the normative value, a map of the provision of Odesa residents with green spaces was given, and the city districts with maximum and minimum green areas were identified.
 The paper characterized the species composition of the city’s flora, including the species of native woody, shrubby and herbaceous plants and those imported from other countries and continents.
 During identification of promising ways to develop green infrastructure within the territory of Odesa, the authors found that for improvement of the comfort of living in the city it is necessary to increase the share of green infrastructure, in particular, to form the green belt of Odesa and create green roofs and walls.
 The authors gave recommendations for the future expansion of the existing project on formation of the green belt of Odesa, which provides for a system of ecological corridors around the historical centre of the city, to all city districts and the outskirts.
 The main functions and advantages of green roofs and walls are indicated in terms of improvement of the quality of life of the urban population. In view of rather rapid climate change, when creating new green areas, the authors recommended to give attention to drought-resistant bushy trees, shrubs and perennial tall grasses, primarily of local origin.
 The paper also mentions the main possible directions of further research regarding identification of the optimal set of plantations and efficient approaches to the introduction of green infrastructure elements.

Gene Expression Datasets for Two Versions of the Saccharum spontaneum AP85-441 Genome

Sugarcane is a species of tall grass with high biomass and sucrose production, and the world’s largest crop by production quantity. Its evolutionary environment adaptation and anthropogenic breeding response have resulted in a complex autopolyploid genome. Few efforts have been reported in the literature to document this organism’s gene co-expression and annotation, and, when available, use different gene identifiers that cannot be easily associated across studies. This data descriptor paper presents a dataset that consolidates expression matrices of two Saccharum spontaneum AP85-441 genome versions and an algorithm implemented in Python to mechanically obtain this dataset. The data are processed from the allele-level information of the two sources, with BLASTn used bidirectionally to suggest feasible mappings between the two sets of alleles, and a graph-matching optimization algorithm to maximize global identity and uniqueness of genes. Association tables are used to consolidate the expression values from alleles to genes. The contributed expression matrices comprise 96 experiments and 109,050 and 35,516 from the two genome versions. They can represent significant computational cost reduction for further research on, e.g., sugarcane co-expression network generation, functional annotation prediction, and stress-specific gene identification.

Independent recruitment of FRUITFULL-like transcription factors in the convergent origins of vernalization-responsive grass flowering

Flowering in response to low temperatures (vernalization) has evolved multiple times independently across angiosperms as an adaptation to match reproductive development with the short growing season of temperate habitats. Despite the context of a generally conserved flowering time network, evidence suggests that the genes underlying vernalization responsiveness are distinct across major plant clades. Whether different or similar mechanisms underlie vernalization-induced flowering at narrower (e.g., family-level) phylogenetic scales is not well understood. To test the hypothesis that vernalization responsiveness has evolved convergently in temperate species of the grass family (Poaceae), we carried out flowering time experiments with and without vernalization in several representative species from different subfamilies. We then determined the likelihood that vernalization responsiveness evolved through parallel mechanisms by quantifying the response of Pooideae vernalization pathway FRUITFULL (FUL)-like genes to extended periods of cold. Our results demonstrate that vernalization-induced flowering has evolved multiple times independently in at least five grass subfamilies, and that different combinations of FUL-like genes have been recruited to this pathway on several occasions.

Estimating the temporal heterogeneity of mowing events on grassland for haymilk-production using Sentinel-2 and greenness-index

The temporal and spatial heterogeneity of mowing on intensively used grasslands can be an important factor influencing the survival of insects or small animals after harvest. High heterogeneity contributes to the preservation of biodiversity on these grasslands. In our study we use satellite image time-series to analyze the temporal distribution of mowing events on grassland patches of Austrian farms. Our approach compares the standard deviation and the mean values of a greenness-index in Sentinel-2 time-series, and does not require to determine the date of mowing. A high standard deviation of the greenness-index demonstrates that the area of interest (AOI) includes grassland patches with tall and short (un-mowed and mowed) grass at a certain timepoint. If large parts of the AOI are mown at once, this results in a low standard deviation and a low mean value of the greenness-index. We were able to show that the haymilk farms in our study applied a more heterogeneous temporal mowing schedule on their grasslands compared to conventional farms. The data and information were obtained from the Austrian Sentinel-2 semantic EO data cube (Sen2Cube.at), which contains multi-spectral imagery data from Sentinel-2 satellites as well as derived semantic (categorical) and greenness-index layers since 2015.

Evaluating Anatomical Characteristics Associated With Leaf Rolling in Northeastern Thai Rice Cultivars During Drought by Decision Tree

Leaf rolling is a common response to drought among members of the grass family. A detailed understanding of the structural changes that occur when rice leaves roll in response to drought may assist in determining the physiological mechanisms underlying this feature and determining its potential utility in plant breeding. The anatomical characteristics of rice cultivars native to northeastern Thailand in response to drought stress were evaluated in this study. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatments were applied to seedlings of 28 native rice cultivars and two rice breeding cultivars for 10 d. When cultivated in drought-prone environments, the native rice cultivars had a leaf rolling index between 4 and 7, which was classified as moderate to high leaf rolling. Rice leaf anatomy exhibited profound changes in response to drought, with smaller bulliform cells (36.8%), thicker epidermis (10.98%), smaller vascular bundles (7.41%), and smaller bundle sheath cells (11.95%). Decision trees were used to explore the association between the degree of leaf rolling and anatomical traits. According to the decision tree models generated on the basis of the gain ratio, information gain, and Gini index, the epidermis, leaf thickness, and bulliform cells were the major factors of the root nodes, and the maximum accuracy of the models was 70.90%. Overall, the models indicated that rice leaves with a thin epidermis, large bulliform cells, thin leaves, and small vascular bundles are more likely to display high leaf rolling adaptations under drought stress conditions.

Optimal Deep Learning Driven Smart Sugarcane Crop Monitoring on Remote Sensing Images

Abstract Crop monitoring is a process that involves regular field visits that seem to be difficult since it needs a huge amount of time and manpower. Thus, in modern agriculture, with an extensive range of satellite data such as Landsat, Sentinel-2, Modis, and Palsar, data are readily available. Sugarcane is a tall perennial grass belonging to the genus Saccharum, utilized for producing sugar. These plants were generally 2–6 m tall with fibrous, stout, jointed stalks, rich in sucrose, that will be accumulated in the stalk internodes. Sugarcanes have a different growth pattern and phenology than many other crops; thus, the spectral and temporal features of satellite data are examined by utilizing statistical and machine learning (ML) techniques for optimal discrimination of sugarcane fields with other crops. In this study, we propose an Optimal Deep Learning Driven Smart Sugarcane Crop Monitoring (ODLD-SSCM) model on Remote Sensing Images. The presented ODLD-SSCM model mainly intends to estimate the crop yield of sugarcanes using RSIs. In the presented ODLD-SSCM technique, the sugarcane yield mapping can be derived by the use of the self-attentive deep learning (SADL) model. Besides, an oppositional spider colony optimization (OSCO) algorithm is used for the hyperparameter tuning of the ODLD-SSCM model. A detailed set of experimentations were performed to demonstrate the enhanced outcomes of the ODLDSSCM model. A comprehensive comparison study pointed out the enhancements of the ODLD-SSCM model over other recent approaches.

Hunger

Hunger Robynne Graffam (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Photo by Jules Morgan [End Page 108] She did not want to eat him. Not really. It was expected; she knew that, had always known it. But it surprised her to discover she’d rather not. A dilemma. Caught in that ineffable struggle, she avoided the issue as best she could, but the effort was draining, [End Page 109] and occasionally she found herself pulling a blade of grass from the lawn and biting down on it, just to taste the bitter spike of chlorophyll on her tongue. She liked him. This was the trouble. She hadn’t intended to, but there it was. She’d chosen him for his blandness, which she’d assumed would make things easier. He was stolid, unremarkable, dull even. Hair of indeterminate brown, eyes smallish and watery with allergies. An accountant, obviously. They went on tepid dates—the movies or dinners of pasta and dusty chianti. At the end of the evening, he held her hand in damp fingers and she let him kiss her good night, kissing back just enough to hint at what might be possible behind closed doors, a warm pink moment of affection that went no further yet planted the seed of desire firmly enough in the arid soil of his imagination. But he surprised her. Once they were engaged, he brought her small presents, delightful and unexpected. A bunch of poppies, persimmon- orange, black rings winking in the sunlight like naughty children. A scarf of tissue-thin silk, painted with delicate vines of morning glory. A swallowtail butterfly, golden-winged, that he’d caught himself in a net and released in her kitchen to flutter dazedly in search of a window. (She watched it with pleasure, snatching it up and eating it discreetly while he went to the bathroom.) And he discovered how to touch her, lightly at the waist, occasionally eliciting an almost girlish laugh she hardly recognized as her own. She hadn’t expected to enjoy him touching her and knew it would only complicate matters later. Still, she could not help smiling at his breathy kisses on her neck, his fingers resting gently on the small of her back. She did her best not to think about what they would taste like. Their wedding was a small affair. He had parents, white-haired and frail, just shy of elderly. Two unremarkable siblings, a friend from high school who stood with him as best man. She had only her mother. Slender and stern, dressed in a pearlescent gray sheath with a pillbox hat, she watched from the edge of the room, her dark, unblinking eyes betraying no emotion whatsoever. The bride did not have anyone to “give her away” (loathsome expression) and so walked down the aisle alone, which suited her. She’d never known her father, of course, and therefore did not miss him. She had wondered about him occasionally, if he was kind or strong or intelligent. Once, on an evening when she and her mother sat on the back porch watching the dusk swallow the trees like a rolling blanket of fog, she’d asked about him, about what he was like. Her mother paused a moment and said simply, “Tough.” [End Page 110] On their wedding night, she stacked extra towels by the bed, slipped the small knife into her pillowcase as her mother had instructed. She assumed this was not the marriage-bed conversation most girls had with their mothers, but that was no concern of hers. Every relationship, she reminded herself, was unique. But again, he surprised her. Emerging from the bathroom in a wine-colored satin robe, he gave a rakish grin that stirred a quick and visceral curiosity which left her involuntarily flexing her fingers. He slipped his hand behind her, pulling her to him, a vitality in his eye she was sure she’d never seen before. He kissed her with an eagerness that was equally pleasant and troubling, but she allowed herself to be led to the bed and sank down into the pillows, almost blushing as his hand found its way to the cleft...

INVASIVE POTENTIAL OF CAUCASUS PLANTS IN THE TSITSIN BOTANICAL GARDEN OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

The results of alien plant’s naturalization in the Caucasus flora exposition of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) are presented. In order to identify the characters contributing to the potential success of invasion, the naturalized and nonnaturalized species were compared. Out of the 1246 taxa have been intentionally introduced for 76 years, 57 species (4.5%) showed the ability to naturalize, while 12 species (less than 1%) actually "escaped" from the culture. The dispersal of resistant unpretentious plants was facilitated by the weakening of collection care in the 1990s. After the revision carried out in 2020, another 17 species have successfully naturalized. Apiaceae and Boraginaceae showed the highest degree of naturalization. Self- reproduction was observed in 440 species, and the greatest number of naturalized taxa (19%) belonged to plants that were reproduced both by vegetative propagation and by self-seeding, while among those propagated only by self-seeding, 16% of species were naturalized and among those propagated vegetatively, only 6%. Plants of subalpine tall grasses and forest communities of the Caucasus were the most adapted to the conditions of Moscow. None of the species confined to semi-deserts, arid sparse forests, upland xerophytic communities, steppes, alpine meadows, high-altitude rocks and screes and subtropical forests of Colchis and Talysh became invasive. Short-rooted and long-rooted perennial herbaceous plants prevailed among the naturalized plants. The widespread opinion about the difficulty of introducing endemic plants was not confirmed. In terms of the proportion of naturalized species, they were insignificantly inferior to wide range species, and superior to them in terms of the number of highly invasive and invasive species. The complex of characters that can predict a high probability of transformation of intentionally introduced plant species into invasive ones has been revealed. The results of the analysis of invasiveness of Caucasian species will be used to prevent the introduction of aggressive alien plants and to develop a scientifically based approach to plant exhibiting.

Fiber digestibility and protein value of pulp silage for lactating dairy cows: Effects of wet fractionation by screw pressing of perennial ryegrass

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of substituting silage of chopped grass with pulp silage of grass fractionated once or twice in a biorefinery using a screw press on fiber kinetics, protein value, and production of CH4 in dairy cows. Six lactating multiparous Holstein cows in mid-lactation (176 ± 93 d in milk), cannulated in the rumen, duodenum, and ileum, were used in an incomplete 6 × 4 Latin square design with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. Perennial ryegrass was harvested in third regrowth from the same field at early and late developmental stage (35 and 44 d of regrowth, respectively) and subjected to 1 of 3 types of processing within each developmental stage. Grass was either harvested for normal silage making (mowed, wilted, chopped, and ensiled), or harvested fresh and fractionated using a screw press. Half of the pulp from the first fractionation was ensiled, whereas the other half of the pulp was rehydrated, fractionated a second time, and pulp hereof was ensiled. The grass and pulp silages were used with concentrates (65:35 forage to concentrate ratio) to make total mixed rations (TMR) based on either silage of chopped grass (GS), pulp silage of grass fractionated once (1×P), or pulp silage of grass fractionated twice (2×P), harvested either at early (E) or late (L) developmental stage resulting in 6 different TMR treatments (EGS, E1×P, E2×P, LGS, L1×P, L2×P). The TMR were fed for ad libitum intake and samples of intestinal digesta and feces were collected for determination of digestibility. The effect of processing on ash-free neutral detergent fiber (aNDFom) concentration in silages depended on developmental stage, but showed that within each developmental stage, pulp silage of grass fractionated twice had higher aNDFom concentration than pulp silage of grass fractionated once and silage of chopped grass. The 2×P resulted in lower (14.9 ± 0.55 vs. 17.5 ± 0.54 kg/d) dry matter intake (DMI) compared with GS. The effects of processing and developmental stage interacted such that apparent total-tract aNDFom digestibility was higher (784 ± 13 vs. 715 ± 13 g/kg) for L2×P compared with LGS, whereas no difference was found between E2×P and EGS. Moreover, the protein value was higher (106 ± 5 vs. 92 ± 5 g AA digested in the small intestine/kg of DMI) for 2×P compared with GS. Unexpectedly, processing had no effect on fractional rate of digestion of digestible aNDFom or CH4 yield (L/kg of DMI), whereas feeding forages harvested at early compared with late developmental stage resulted in lower CH4 yield. Feeding pulp silage of grass fractionated once generally yielded results intermediate to cows fed silage of chopped grass and pulp silage of grass fractionated twice. This study showed that pulp silage of fractionated grass could serve as feed for dairy cows because the fiber digestibility and protein value improved, but further research investigating effects of physical processing of forage on fiber kinetics is required.

The evolutionary landscape and expression pattern of plant lincRNAs

ABSTRACT Long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) are important regulators of cellular processes, including development and stress response. Many lincRNAs have been bioinformatically identified in plants, but their evolutionary dynamics and expression characteristics are still elusive. Here, we systematically identified thousands of lincRNAs in 26 plant species, including 6 non-flowering plants, investigated the conservation of the identified lincRNAs in different levels of plant lineages based on sequence and/or synteny homology and explored characteristics of the conserved lincRNAs during plant evolution and their co-expression relationship with protein-coding genes (PCGs). In addition to confirmation of the features well documented in literature for lincRNAs, such as species-specific, fewer exons, tissue-specific expression patterns and less abundantly expressed, we revealed that histone modification signals and/or binding sites of transcription factors were enriched in the conserved lincRNAs, implying their biological functionalities, as demonstrated by identifying conserved lincRNAs related to flower development in both the Brassicaceae and grass families and ancient lincRNAs potentially functioning in meristem development of non-flowering plants. Compared to PCGs, lincRNAs are more likely to be associated with transposable elements (TEs), but with different characteristics in different evolutionary lineages, for instance, the types of TEs and the variable level of association in lincRNAs with different conservativeness. Together, these results provide a comprehensive view on the evolutionary landscape of plant lincRNAs and shed new insights on the conservation and functionality of plant lincRNAs.

Identification, isolation, and characterization of a novel type of Fukushima-derived microparticle

In the course of the Fukushima nuclear accident, radionuclides were released in various forms, including so-called radiocesium-bearing microparticles (CsMP). So far, four types of CsMP were described: Type A is smaller in size (< 10 μm), Types B, C, and D are larger (> 100 μm). In this work, we present a novel type of CsMP (proclaimed Type E). Three particles of Type E were extracted from a contaminated blade of grass that was sampled 1.5 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in late 2011. They were located using autoradiography, isolated using an optical microscope and micromanipulator, and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and low-level gamma-ray spectrometry. Type E CsMPs are 10–20 μm in size and exhibit an unusually low and barely detectable 137Cs activity of only ≤ 10 mBq per particle. Their brittle and fragile character may indicate a high surface tension.

Hordeum vulgare (Barley grass) Scavenge Free Radical and Inhibits Formation of Advanced Glycation End Products Formation

Introduction: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formation is due to glycation of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. AGEs play a vital role in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular complications and is enhanced by oxidative stress. Hordeum vulgare (Barley Grass) is a cereal plant of grass family poaceae and has been reported to exhibit antidiabetic and antioxidant characteristics and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Current experiment focused on the evaluation of antioxidant and anti-advanced glycation end products formation effect of Hordeum vulgare water extract. Methods: Free radical scavenging ability of Hordeum vulgare water extract, was evaluated using DPPH, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxidation, FRAP and metal ion chelating. Total phenolic content of Hordeum vulgare was also analysed. In-vitro antiglycation activity was done using BSA-MGO, BSA-Glu. Phytochemical screening was performed to detect the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, steroids and terpenoids. Results: The results showed Hordeum vulgare water extract ameliorated the formation of AGE and scavenge free radical from DPPH, Nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, Lipid peroxidation, FRAP and Metal ion chelating. Phytochemicals such as saponins, tannins, flavonoids, steroids and terpenoids were detected in Hordeum vulgare water extract. Conclusion: Hordeum vulgare water extract reveals antiglycation and free scavenging properties.

Dielectric properties of the small granular agricultural products in the microwave frequency band

Microwave drying and non-destructive sensing of agricultural products based on dielectric properties is an important field of modern agricultural research. The present study was carried out to improve the traditional coaxial transmission line technology and get some basic dielectric properties of agricultural products from Yunnan province of China during year 2018-19. The effective dielectric properties of vegetable seeds, coarse cereals, and grass seeds form china are measured by a non-calibrated coaxial transmission reflection method at 2~6 GHz in this work. The dielectric properties of the small granular agricultural products are obtained by relevant theoretical formulas, and variations in the dielectric properties of granular agricultural products as a function of the microwave frequency and moisture content were analysed. The results show that the dielectric properties of small granular agricultural products at room temperature are related to the microwave frequency and moisture content with a certain degree of regularity. At 2.45 GHz and for a moisture content between 2%~25%, the dielectric constants and dielectric loss factors for different kinds of small granular agricultural products ranged from 3.5~9 and 0.1~2, respectively. The mathematical relationships between the dielectric properties and moisture contents of granular agricultural products were obtained by fitting the experimental data to the microwave frequency (2.45 GHz). This work provides a reference method for measurement of dielectric properties of granular agricultural products, and the theoretical basis for the microwave assisted processing of agricultural products.

Long-term response of wetland plant communities to management intensity, grazing abandonment, and prescribed fire.

Isolated, seasonal wetlands within agricultural landscapes are important ecosystems. However, they are currently experiencing direct and indirect effects of agricultural management surrounding them. Because wetlands provide important ecosystem services, it is crucial to determine how these factors affect ecological communities. Here, we studied the long-term effects of land-use intensification, cattle grazing, prescribed fires, and their interactions on wetland plant diversity, community dynamics, and functional diversity. To do this, we used vegetation and trait data from a 14-year-old experiment on 40 seasonal wetlands located within seminatural and intensively managed pastures in Florida. These wetlands were allocated different grazing and prescribed fire treatments (grazed vs. ungrazed, burned vs. unburned). Our results showed that wetlands within intensively managed pastures have lower native plant diversity, floristic quality, evenness, and higher nonnative species diversity and exhibited the most resource-acquisitive traits. Wetlands embedded in intensively managed pastures were also characterized by lower species turnover over time. We found that 14 years of cattle exclusion reduced species diversity in both pasture management intensities and had no effect on floristic quality. Fenced wetlands exhibited lower functional diversity and experienced a higher rate of community change, both due to an increase in tall, clonal, and palatable grasses. The effects of prescribed fires were often dependent on grazing treatment. For instance, prescribed fires increased functional diversity in fenced wetlands but not in grazed wetlands. Our study suggests that cattle exclusion and prescribed fires are not enough to restore wetlands in intensively managed pastures and further highlights the importance of not converting seminatural pastures to intensively managed pastures. Our study also suggests that grazing levels applied in seminatural pastures maintained high plant diversity and prevented tree and shrub encroachment and that in the absence of grazing, prescribed fire became crucial to maintaining higher species evenness.

Simultaneous component analysis as an interesting preliminary data analysis method in GC-MS – An example of headspace screening of Polish grasses

Abstract70 species of grasses family (Poaceae), coming from genera: Agrostis, Alopecurus, Anthoxanthum, Apera, Arrhenatherum, Avena, Brachypodium, Briza, Bromus, Calamagrostis, Corynephorus, Cynosurus, Dactylis, Danthonia, Deschampsia, Digitaria, Echinochloa, Elymus, Eragrostis, Festuca, Glyceria, Helictotrichon, Hierochloe, Holcus, Hordeum, Koeleria, Leymus, Lolium, Milium, Molinia, Nardus, Panicum, Phalaris, Phleum, Phragmites, Poa, Saccharum and Setaria, collected mostly from natural stands in Poland during 2020 season, were subjected to GC-MS fingerprinting of headspace volatile fraction above dried material. Obtained mass spectrometry data were analyzed by means of principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Five species: Glyceria maxima (Hartm.) Holmb., Lolium multiflorum Lam., Hordeum jubatum L., Bromus tectorum L. and Bromus secalinus L. were identified as outliers, which is consistent with our earlier analysis by thin layer chromatography. These species deserve further look and their outliance is orthogonal to coumarin content, which was independently observed for odorant species of grasses.

Aquatic Systems of the Wichita State University Biological Field Station: Youngmeyer Ranch, Elk County, Kansas

Intermittent streams and rivers account for over half of the world's waterways and yet they are still vastly understudied compared to permanent streams and rivers. Wichita State University Biological Field Station: Youngmeyer Ranch presents an opportunity to study intermittent streams and stream pools across 1902 hectares of Flint Hills tall grass prairie ecosystems. We used a freely available satellite imagery program (Google Earth Pro©) to map and provide an initial inventory of streams, intermittent stream pools, and cattle ponds. We also used historic images to create connectivity (percent of downstream length with water) and hydroperiod indices (number of years out of four that pools held water). In total, we mapped 58.2 km of major (2nd to 3rd order) and minor (1st order) streams, and 13 cattle pond impoundments on the property. We used a systematic random sample to select a subset of seven stream reaches (out of 83) within the property for on-the-ground surveys of intermittent stream pools. Within selected streams, a subset of 117 stream pools were sampled in the summer of 2020 and data was collected on the average stream pool width, max depth, length, volume, and biological communities. Stream pools averaged 6.5 ± 9.7 m3 (mean ± SD) in volume, 12.50 ± 9.3 m in length, 2.97 ± 1.7 m in width, and 0.38 ± 0.26 m in depth. Stream and stream pool permanence varied widely across the landscape with pools holding water 3.2 ± 0.8 out of the four years with high resolution satellite imagery. We provided an initial baseline of aquatic systems at Youngmeyer Ranch and characterized representative intermittent stream pools in the Flint Hills and the Great Plains. We also demonstrated the viability of using Google Earth Pro© for mapping and taking inventory of aquatic systems without proprietary software or on-site access.

Introduced Spartina anglica modifies fish habitat in southern temperate succulent saltmarshes

Vegetation changes in saltmarsh habitat can influence fish assemblages and abundance. In Tasmania, Australia, mid‐latitude succulent saltmarsh communities have been invaded by the introduced tall grass, Spartina anglica. Eradication efforts have been ongoing since the 1990s with purported benefits for fish access to intertidal foraging grounds, but a lack of knowledge of the impact of S. anglica on fish limits understanding of the benefits and effectiveness of native habitat restoration. Here, we investigate whether fish assemblages in native saltmarshes and non‐native S. anglica grassland differ in species diversity, fish abundance, and size class distribution. We used buoyant pop nets to sample fishes in Sarcocornia quinqueflora herbland and S. anglica grassland swards at three sampling stations in northwest Tasmania. Very few individuals and low species diversity were recorded in both vegetation types at the sampling station with the most well‐established S. anglica infestation. Elsewhere, richness and diversity were higher in S. quinqueflora herbland. Overall fish abundance was higher in S. quinqueflora than in S. anglica, with a very strong effect at one sampling station. Fewer small individuals of the numerically dominant Atherinosoma microstoma were recorded in S. anglica, potentially indicating impaired nursery function. Our results provide important insights for S. anglica control, as we are the first to demonstrate a relationship between S. anglica presence and fish characteristics in southern Australian saltmarsh. These results indicate that S. anglica control is valuable for fish conservation. An extension of our research to document the effects of S. anglica removal on fishes is desirable.

BAYESIAN NETWORK ANALYSIS INDICATES A HIGH PROBABILITY OF SIMULTANEOUS SENSITIZATION TO MAJOR GRASS ALLERGENS

<h3>Introduction</h3> Grass pollen allergy impacts many patients characterized by high allergen cross-reactivity. The primary elicitor of grass allergy is Phl p 1. However, IgE to Phl p 5 or Phl p 2 also serve as markers of true grass pollen sensitization. Understanding the patterns of sensitization to grasses in certain population remains important for accurate prevention and treatment of allergy to Poaceae pollen. <h3>Methods</h3> Data obtained by multiplex allergy testing Alex² was collected from 20,333 patients. Bayesian Network analysis was used to build probabilistic patterns of patient sensitization to majpr grass pollen allergens. <h3>Results</h3> Grass pollen sensitive individuals constituted 6170 patients or 30.34 % of the entire database; 3935 (19.35 %) were sensitive to Phl p 1; 3460 (17.02 %) – to Lol p 1; 2842 (13.98 %) – to Cyn d 1; and 1772 (8.71 %) – to Phl p 2. Bayesian Network analysis indicated that sensitization to Phl p 1 was associated with sensitivity to Cyn d 1, Lol p 1, Phl p 2 and Sec c_pollen with 94.70 % probability. Sensitization to Lol p 1 was connected with sensitivity to Cyn d 1, Pas n extract, Phl p 2, Phl p 5 with 91.96 % probability. Cyn d 1 sensitization could be seen together with Cyn d, Sec c_pollen, Phr c extracts and Phl p 6 sensitization in 86.58 % of cases. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Bayesian Network analysis suggests that group I allergens are highly cross-reactive and can be a good target for AIT in the Ukrainian population sensitive to grass pollen.

Is Poaceae pollen size a useful proxy in palaeoecological studies? New insights from a Poaceae pollen morphological study in the Amazon

Poaceae (the grass family) is highly diverse, geographically widespread, and an important component of many terrestrial ecosystems. Poaceae pollen size has previously been suggested as a proxy to reconstruct the past vegetation and climates in the Amazon area, but it is still unclear if this variable can be used at broader spatial and deep-time scales. Here we set out to perform a comprehensive assessment and to test the robustness of this proxy. We generated pollen size data, as well as associated measurements of the pollen wall and pore, using 127 plant specimens from 58 species across the Poaceae phylogeny from the Amazon drainage basin (ADB). We tested the relationship between pollen size and a range of abiotic and biotic variables (vegetation type, soil composition, climate conditions, photosynthetic pathway and genome size), and fitted models using phylogenetic generalized least squares (P-GLS) and linear mixed models (LMM). Our measurement data shows that Poaceae pollen size presents a very wide range (18.77–71.62 μm), and varies not only among genera and species but also within species. There is no obvious relationship between pollen size and the explanatory variables considered here. We suggest that pollen size cannot be used as generally applicable proxy to reconstruct past vegetation and climate.