We assessed the effects of the elimination of livestock in riparian systems at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon, 23 years after the removal of cattle grazing, using 64 photos taken before grazing was removed compared with later retake photos. Two methods were used for this assessment: (1) a qualitative visual method comparing seven cover types and processes and (2) ...

The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method produces anonymous genetic markers from throughout a genome. We extend the nucleotide substitution model of AFLP evolution to additionally include insertion and deletion processes. The new Sub-ID model relaxes the common assumption that markers are independent and homologous. We build a Markov chain Monte Carlo methodology tailored for th...

Using non-lethal methods is especially important for the monitoring and conservation planning of endangered species and their habitats. The goal of this study is to check whether the current method of monitoring endangered micro-snail populations by soil sampling, which involves killing the snails and altering their microhabitat, could be replaced by a non-lethal method. The invasive and time-c...

The phylogenetic affinities of the grass family (Poaceae) have long been debated. The chloroplast genomes of at least some grasses have been known to possess three inversions relative to the typical gene arrangement found in most flowering plants. We have surveyed for the presence of these inversions in grasses and other monocots by polymerase chain reaction amplification with primers construct...

Foods derived from C(4) plants were important in the dietary ecology of early Pleistocene hominins in southern and eastern Africa, but the origins and geographic variability of this relationship remain unknown. Carbon isotope data show that Australopithecus bahrelghazali individuals from Koro Toro in Chad are significantly enriched in (13)C, indicating a dependence on C(4) resources. As these s...

The stable carbon isotope ratio of fossil tooth enamel carbonate is determined by the photosynthetic systems of plants at the base of the animal's foodweb. In subtropical Africa, grasses and many sedges have C(4)photosynthesis and transmit their characteristically enriched 13C/(12)C ratios (more positive delta13C values) along the foodchain to consumers. We report here a carbon isotope study of...

Fifteen cypress domes located within an extensively managed slash pine plantation were characterized according to the presence and nature of ditches and berms. Mean water depth and hydroperiod for the year 1978-79 were generally greater in the domes without these alterations. Cypress importance values were significantly higher in the unaltered, wet domes whereas hardwood importance values and s...

V~\RIOUS species have been included in the 0,-clzelimunz concinnzlnz group, seven by Blatchley (1920) and two by Rehn and Hebard (1915). In this paper we discuss three species which form the core ol' the group, however it is constituted, but which have been treated ill different ways by earlier investigators-usually as subspecies or other categories within a single variable species. O?.cheli~nz...

Phylogenetic reconstruction for Carex and relatives in tribe Cariceae is complicated by species richness and nearly cosmopolitan distribution. In this investigation, our main objective was to estimate evolutionary relationships in tribe Cariceae using DNA sequence data from two spacer regions in nuclear ribosomal genes (ITS and ETS-1f) combined with noncoding chloroplast DNA (trnL intron, trnL–...

Although nitrogen addition and recovery from degradation can both promote production of grassland biomass, these two factors have rarely been investigated in combination. In this study, we established a field experiment with six N-treatment (CK, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 g N m(-2) yr(-1)) on five fields with different degradation levels in the Inner Mongolian steppe of China from 2011-2013. Our observ...