Find research datasets worth reusing

Plant aboveground biomass data: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

This experiment was designed to determine the relationships between plant traits, successional status, and resource reduction for five grass species that were grown for three years in monoculture in replicated field plots on soils prepared to have different availabilities of nitrogen. It also determines the results of competition experiments among various combinations of these species as well as the differing feedback effects of each species on soil nitrogen mineralization rates. All of this work has motivated the desire to more fully understand the mechanisms of interactions among plants and their resources, in the belief that this might eventually allow predictions of the dynamics, diversity, and composition of plant communities.

Plant species percent cover data: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

Soil nitrate and ammonium: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

Soil nitrogen: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

Percent light penetration and maximum plant height: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

Seed weight : Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

Available light at soil surface: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

Reproduction data for grasses: BioCON : Biodiversity, Elevated CO2, and N Enrichment

BioCON (Biodiversity, CO2, and Nitrogen) is an ecological experiment started in 1997 at the University of Minnesota's Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. BioCON's goal is to explore the ways in which plant communities will respond to three environmental changes that are known to be occurring on a global scale: increasing nitrogen deposition, increasing atmospheric CO2, and decreasing biodiversity. Why Biodiversity, CO2, and Nitrogen? While there are many uncertainties in global change biology, there are also some well documented facts. Some of these are: 1. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is rising. Since the industrial revolution, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased from approximately 275 parts per million (ppm) to about 378 ppm today. This has been largely the result of fossil fuel burning. It is expected that CO2 levels will continue to rise, and that by the year 2050 these levels will be approximately 550 ppm. CO2 is the raw material for photosynthesis and is known to affect plant growth and development. 2. The amount of nitrogen moving through terrestrial ecosystems has increased in the recent past. While natural "background" levels of nitrogen fixation have remained constant, human additions to the system through fertilizer production and fossil fuel use have increased dramatically. Nitrogen is a key nutrient for plant growth and plays a critical role in plant community structure and composition in many environments. 3. Biodiversity levels are falling. While the research and data are not as complete as they are for CO2 and nitrogen, data indicate that the number of species globally, is being reduced. Perhaps more important for ecosystem function, diversity levels on local to regional scales have fallen due to land use change, biotic invasion and many other drivers. While much is known about how each of these factors affects ecosystem functioning, many questions remain. There is also little data on how these issues affe

openOpenFeb 2011View details →

2003 Prescribed Burn Effect on Chihuahuan Desert Grasses and Shrubs at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico: Shrub Recovery Study (2003-2009)

Disturbance from fire can affect the abundance and distribution of shrubs and grasses in arid ecosystems. In particular, fire may increase grass and forb production while hindering shrub encroachment. Therefore, prescribed fires are a common management tool for maintaining grassland habitats in the southwest. However, Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama), a dominant species in Chihuahuan Desert grassland, is highly susceptible to fire resulting in death followed by slow recovery rates. A prescribed fire on the Sevilleta National Wildlife refuge in central New Mexico in 2003 provided the opportunity to study the effects of infrequent fires on shrub invasion in this region. This study was conducted along a transition zone where creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata) are encroaching on a black grama grassland.

openCustomMar 2018View details →

Microclimate and growth data under three vegetation manipulations with and without Morella cerifera seedlings and grass clipping on Hog Island, Virginia, 2018

These data represent the growth, physiology, and microclimate measurements of 30 Morella cerifera seedlings in a south Hog Island swale. There were three manipulations: shrub seedlings with intact grass canopy, shrub seedlings with grasses clipped, and plots with no shrub seedlings but an intact grass canopy. Measurements include shrub seedlings dimensions, and isotopic characterizations for N and C.

openCustomDec 1997View details →

Marsh Grass Production data from Brownsville Marsh, Nassawadox, VA 1992

This dataset contains information on the biomass of plants both inside and outside patches of Juncus in Phillips Creek Marsh near Nassawadox, VA

zenodo32/100

Figs. 1, 2 in Do Nymphs Of The Treehopper Stictolobus Minutus (Funkhouser) (Hemiptera: Membracidae) Specialize On Grasses?

Figs. 1, 2. Buck Creek Serpentine Barrens, Clay County, North Carolina, and host plant of Stictolobus minutus. 1, Grassy corridor, with patches of big bluestem, in woodland surrounded by stunted trees and shrubs. 2, Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii; Poaceae).

opennotspecifiedFeb 2020View details →

zenodo32/100

Supplementary dataset to "A new genome allows the identification of genes associated with natural variation in aluminium tolerance in Brachiaria grasses"

SUPPLEMENTARY DATASETS TO: A new genome allows the identification of genes associated with natural variation in aluminium tolerance in Brachiaria grasses <ul> <li>Supplementary File 1: Cumulative root length (RL), root biomass (RB), and root tip diameter (RD) during Al3+ stress (A) and control (C) conditions, and the ratio (R) between stress and control values, in the interspecific progeny between CIAT 606 and BXR 44-02.</li> <li>Supplementary File 2: Gene annotation in GFF3 format.</li> <li>Supplementary File 3: Functional annotation of the genes, including GO terms and homologous proteins in NCBI nr database, Uniprot, A. thaliana, rice, P. halli, S. italica and S. viridis.</li> <li>Supplementary File 4: Assignment of the proteins in the Poaceae family to eggNOG orthologous groups to identify shared clusters of proteins among these species.</li> <li>Supplementary File 5: Anchoring 21,145 Brachiaria ruziziensis scaffolds longer than 10 Kbp or with at least one annotated gene (533.9 Mbp) in S. italica nine chromosomes.</li> <li>Supplementary File 6: Chromosomal position of the 41,974 transcripts in Brachiaria ruziziensis based on the synteny with the S. italica genome. In BED5 format.</li> <li>Supplementary File 7: Genetic map with 4,427 markers placed at LOD 10 in 18 linkage groups, including the position of each marker in the genetic map and genome assembly.</li> <li>Supplementary File 8: Functional annotation of the 84 DE genes within QTLs.</li> <li>Supplementary File 9: Enrichment analysis of the GO terms (full ontology) over-represented among DE genes in each species with the biological processes (BP) and molecular functions (MF).</li> <li>Supplementary File 10: Enrichment analysis of the GO SLIM terms (reduced ontology) over-represented among DE genes in each species with the biological processes (BP) and molecular functions (MF).</li> </ul>   <ul> </ul> Margaret Worthington1#, Juan Guillermo Perez1, Saule Mussurova2, Alexander Silva-Cordoba1, Valheria Castiblanco1, Juan Andres Cardoso Arango1, Charlotte Jones3, Narcis Fernandez-Fuentes3, Leif Skot3, Sarah Dyer2&, Joe Tohme1, Federica Di Palma2, Jacobo Arango1, Ian Armstead3, Jose J De Vega2   1. International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), A.A. 6713, Cali, Colombia. 2. Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK. 3. Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2020View details →

opencc-zeroJul 2020View details →

Data from: Pollination and fruit set in two rewardless slipper orchids and their hybrids (Cypripedium, Orchidaceae): large yellow flowers outperform small white flowers in the northern tall grass prairie

• Species with rewardless flowers often have low fruit to flower ratios, although wide temporal and spatial variation in fruiting success can occur. We compared floral phenotypes, insect visitors, and fruiting success in four populations of the small white (Cypripedium candidum) and yellow lady's slipper orchids (C. parviflorum) and their hybrids near the northern extent of North America's tall grass prairie. • Flower and fruit numbers were observed for two seasons on marked individuals (n = 1811). Floral traits were measured on 82-140 individuals per taxon, and analyzed in relation to fruiting success. All insects found inside flowers were collected, inspected for pollen smears, and measured for comparison to floral features. • Among orchid taxa, C. candidum had the smallest flowers, lowest number and variety of insect visitors, and lowest fruit to flower ratios. These measures were intermediate in hybrids and highest in C. parviflorum, despite low flower numbers in the latter. Within orchid taxa, fruit number was positively related to flower number, but fruit to flower ratios decreased slightly, as would be expected if pollinators left unrewarding patches. Potential pollinators included the dipteran Odontomyia pubescens and hymenopterans Andrena spp., Apis mellifera, and Lasioglossum zonulum. • Cypripedium parviflorum had a reproductive advantage over C. candidum across multiple populations and years. Hybrids showed segregation for floral traits, and hybrid fruiting success increased with a deeper intensity of yellow pigment and larger escape routes for floral visitors. These same attributes likely contributed to the relatively high fruit set in C. parviflorum in the study region.

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Data from: Clonal integration enhances performance of an invasive grass

While many clonal plants are highly successful invaders, not all clonal plants share resources, often making the contribution of clonal integration (i.e., the translocation of resources among ramets) to invasion unclear. To determine if photosynthate translocation augments performance of emerging daughter ramets for a globally invasive grass (Imperata cylindrica), we combined a 13CO2 pulse-chase experiment with a greenhouse experiment manipulating light levels and rhizome attachment. Model simulations were also used to determine if clonal integration facilitated photosynthate translocation, if the performance of daughter ramets was enhanced by clonal integration, and if shaded ramets benefited relatively more from transferred photosynthate. We found that acropetal photosynthate transfer occurred between all sampled parent-daughter ramet pairs and that this resource sharing led to higher biomass and tiller production when rhizomes between parent and daughter ramets were intact. We also found that the benefits of integration to recipient clones outweighed the costs to donors, since there was no reduction in parent plant performance due to sharing. Additionally, analysis of our data show that photosynthate transfer was likely of greater benefit in overcoming growth constraints in the shade than in the full sun (posterior probability ~ 96.5%), a result that is further supported by our numerical simulations from a basic growth model. Thus, photosynthate transfer is a probable mechanism that explains why clonal integration can be particularly beneficial in heterogeneous resource environments. More generally, resource sharing among clonal plants may be a critical but underappreciated trait of invasive species.

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Processes at the soil-root interface determine the different responses of nutrient limitation and metal toxicity in forbs and grasses to nitrogen enrichment

<ol> <li>Nutrient limitation and metal toxicity have been implicated in changes of grassland communities by nitrogen (N) deposition. Belowground processes, especially those at the soil-root interface, play important roles in determining variation in nutrient concentrations in plants. However, few studies have specifically focused on the roles of these processes in mineral-element acquisition in grassland plants in response to N enrichment.</li> <li>Here we investigated the contributions of belowground processes at the soil-root interface to the differential acquisition of phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca) and manganese (Mn) by forbs and grasses of a temperate steppe in response to N addition by combining field and glasshouse experiments.</li> <li>Nitrogen addition increased the concentrations of both leaf P ([P]) and Mn ([Mn]) and decreased leaf [Ca] of forbs, while it had little effects on leaf concentrations of these elements in grasses. Nitrogen addition led to a higher activity of acid phosphatase in the rhizosphere of forb, and greater release of protons and carboxylates from forb roots than grass roots, contributing to the differential [P], [Ca] and [Mn] in leaves of forbs and grasses. Applying oxalate to soil to simulate the release of carboxylates by N enrichment enhanced [P] and [Mn], and decreased [Ca] in the soil solution. However, addition of hydrogen-ion increased [P], [Mn] and [Ca] in the soil solution. Lime addition mitigated the N addition-induced soil acidification, while it did not abolish the stimulatory effect of short-term N addition on leaf [P] and [Mn] of forbs. Therefore, we conclude that differences in the ecophysiological processes at the soil-root interface account for changes in leaf [P], [Ca] and [Mn] under short-term N addition, and that soil acidification aggravates the responses of these elements, especially [Ca] and [Mn], to long-term N enrichment.</li> <li>Synthesis: Our results highlight the contribution of belowground processes, especially those at the soil-root interface, to variation in plant element concentrations between dominant forbs and grasses in the temperate steppe. These findings greatly enhance our mechanistic understanding of the effects of N deposition on grassland communities.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Contrasted histories of organelle and nuclear genomes underlying physiological diversification in a grass species

C4 photosynthesis evolved multiple times independently in angiosperms, but most origins are relatively old so that the early events linked to photosynthetic diversification are blurred. The grass Alloteropsis semialata is an exception, as this species encompasses C4 and non-C4 populations. Using phylogenomics and population genomics, we infer the history of dispersal and secondary gene flow before, during, and after photosynthetic divergence in A. semialata. We further analyse the genome composition of individuals with varied ploidy levels to establish the origins of polyploids in this species. Detailed organelle phylogenies indicate limited seed dispersal within the mountainous region of origin and the emergence of a C4 lineage after dispersal to warmer areas of lower elevation. Patterns of differentiation across nuclear genomes highlight repeated secondary gene flow. In particular, the nuclear genome associated with the C4 phenotype was swept into a distantly related maternal lineage probably via unidirectional pollen flow. Multiple segmental allopolyploidy events mediated additional secondary genetic exchanges between photosynthetic types. Overall, our results show that limited dispersal and isolation allowed lineage divergence, with photosynthetic innovation happening after migration to new environments, and pollen-mediated gene flow led to the rapid spread of the derived C4 physiology away from its region of origin.

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Madagascan highlands: originally woodland and forest containing endemic grasses, not grazing-adapted grassland

Long considered a consequence of anthropogenic agropastoralism, the origin of Madagascar's central highland grassland is hotly disputed. Arguments that ancient endemic grasses formed grassland maintained by extinct grazers and fire have been persuasive. Consequent calls to repeal fire-suppression legislation, burn protected areas, and accept pastoralism as the 'salvation' of endemic grasses mount, even as the IUCN declares 98% of lemurs face extinction through fire-driven deforestation. By analysing grass data from contemporary studies, and assessing endemic vertebrate habitat and feeding guilds, we find that although the grassland potentially dates from the Miocene, it is inhospitable to endemic vertebrates, and lacks obligate grazers. Endemic grasses are absent from dominant grassland assemblages, yet not from woodland and forest assemblages. There is compelling evidence that humans entered a highland dominated by woodland and forest, and burned it; by 1000 CE grass pollens eclipsed tree pollens, reminiscent of prevailing fire-induced transformation of African miombo woodland to grassland. Endemic grasses are survivors from vanished woody habitats where grassy patches were likely small and ephemeral, precluding adaptive radiation by endemic vertebrates to form grazing guilds. Today forests, relic tapia woodland and outcompeted endemic grasses progressively retreat in a burning grassland dominated by non-endemic, grazing-adapted grasses and cattle.

opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Sympatric pairings of dryland grass populations, mycorrhizal fungi, and associated soil biota enhance mutualism and ameliorate drought stress

1. There is evidence that the distribution of ecotypes of plants and their symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and other associated soil biota may be structured by the availability of essential soil nutrients; and that locally adapted partnerships most successfully acquire limiting nutrients. This study tests the hypotheses that plant genotypes are adapted to the water availability of their local environment, and this adaptation involves associations with local soil biota, including AM fungi. 2. We grew semi-arid Bouteloua gracilis ecotypes from relatively wet and dry sites, with either sympatric or allopatric soil inoculum under moderate and extreme soil drying treatments to examine 1) how varying degrees of water limitation influence grass responses to soil biota, and 2) the relationship between AM fungal structures and these responses. 3. Under extreme soil drying, the dry-site ecotype tended to perform better than the wet-site ecotype. Both ecotypes performed best in either drying treatment when inoculated with their sympatric soil biota. Sympatric pairings produced more AM fungal hyphae, arbuscules and dark septate fungi. Extreme soil drying tended to accentuate these apparent benefits of sympatry to both plants and fungal symbionts, relative to the moderate drying treatment. 4. Our findings support the hypothesis that AM symbioses help Bouteloua gracilis ecotypes adapt to local water availability. This conclusion is based on the observations that as water became increasingly limited, sympatric partnerships produced more AM fungal hyphae and arbuscules and fewer vesicles. The abundances of hyphae and arbuscules were positively correlated with plant growth, suggesting that in sympatric pairs of plants and AM fungi, allocation to fungal structures is optimized to maximize benefits and minimize the costs of the symbioses. This provides strong evidence that co-adaptation among plants and their associated AM fungi can ameliorate drought stress. 5. Synthesis: Our study documents the role of locally adapted soil borne plant symbionts in ameliorating water stress. We found a relationship between AM fungal structures in roots and plant performance. Generally, plants and fungi from the same site resulted in more positive effects on plant growth.