Global ETD Search
Search theses and dissertations gathered from participating repositories worldwide. Every result links back to the library that holds it. No account is needed.
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Showing 1 to 16 of 16 for “"soil communities"”.
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Influence of landscape-variation in geochemistry on taxonomic and functional composition of microbial mat communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Microbial communities play critical roles in biogeochemical cycles of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, but studies of soil microbial communities have been limited by the diversity and complexity found in most ecosystems. Here we report on work investigating the functional diversity of microbial …
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Herbicide management alters fungal biomass and community composition in Great Lakes coastal wetlands
… typically monitored, but less is known about how soils respond. Phragmites australis, an invasive wetland plant, can alter soil conditions, potentially impacting soil microbial structure and function. We sampled soil communities in Great Lakes coastal wetlands in southeastern Michigan dominated by …
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Low Dose, Low Disturbance: PET and PLA Microplastics Show Limited Effects on Soil Microbes via PLFA Analysis
<p>Observations of microplastics in terrestrial soils are increasing and their potential effects on soil microbial communities (and/or their diversity) are poorly understood. To understand how microplastics may affect soil communities, we performed a microcosm study using soil collected from a …
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LAND USE LEGACY REGULATES MICROBIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN TRANSPLANTED CHERNOZEMS
… long-term agricultural influences on soil nutrients and microbial dynamics is often complicated by the heterogeneity of soil environments as well as complex interactions between confounding factors of climate, topography and hydrology. A long-term soil transplant experiment located at …
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Intact soil core experiments reveal that temperature and depth influence microbial community function and impact the fate of nitrogenous fertilizer amendments
… of nitrogenous fertilizer to agricultural soil has potentially large impacts on environmental quality, including large scale emission of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide and runoff of nitrates. Through their metabolic activities, including nitrification, denitrification and …
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Multi-scale Studies of Microbial Mats and Biocrusts: Integrating Remote Sensing with Field Investigations in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys
… form visually conspicuous layers on sediment, soil, and rock surfaces, called microbial mats and biological soil crusts (i.e., biocrusts). Both microbial mats and biocrusts consist of cyanobacteria, moss, diatoms, and green algae, and also support diverse heterotrophic taxa. These communities …
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The Effects of dairy cattle antibiotics on soil microbial community cycling and antibiotic resistance
… to increase resistance to antibiotics in soil microbial communities since 40-95% of an antibiotic dose administered to livestock is excreted intact or as metabolites. Exposure to antibiotics is also known to alter microbial community composition, biomass, and physiology, but the potential …
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Antarctic biodiversity surveys using high throughput sequencing: understanding landscape and communities of the Prince Charles Mountains.
Antarctic soils are home to small, inconspicuous organisms including bacteria, unicellular eukaryotes, fungi, lichen, cryptogamic plants and invertebrates. Antarctic soil communities are distinct from other soil biota as a consequence of long-term persistence under harsh environmental conditions; …
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Soils, Symbiosis, and Succession: Eco-centric Care in Eastern Ontario
This thesis explores human relationships to soil in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Through 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork with biologists, ecologists, gardeners, farmers, and natural historians, this thesis is an inquiry into the entanglements between soil and human life. My interlocutors, who I …
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Environmental Controls Over the Distribution and Function of Antarctic Soil Microbial Communities
… community composition plays a vital role in soil biogeochemical cycling. Information that explains the biogeography of microorganisms is consequently necessary for predicting the timing and magnitude of important ecosystem services mediated by soil biota, such as decomposition and nutrient …
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Effects of land management and climate change on soil microbial communities in Appalachian forest ecosystems
… despite the central importance of microbial communities in promoting ecosystem functions, impacts of land management and climate change on soil microorganisms remain poorly understood in the region. This dissertation seeks to address the following questions: 1) How does a new forest …
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Resolving functional resilience of microbial communities to climate-induced change in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica
… simple trophic structure dominated by microbial communities, whose diversity is shaped by extreme abiotic gradients, particularly extreme aridity and oligotrophy. Regional isolation and dispersal limitations have concurrently led to the emergence of heterogeneous microbial communities with highly …
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Remnant assessment and soil inoculation to inform large-scale prairie restoration at Eastern Washington University
… characterized by rolling hills of deep loess soil, is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, with more than 99% converted to tilled farmland. To mitigate this loss, Eastern Washington University has begun prairie restoration on a tilled wheat field adjacent to campus, in the …
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Manipulating the root mycobiome to improve plant performance and reduce pathogen pressure in corn (Zea mays)
… pathogen impacts and improving access to soil water and nutrients. This study aimed to identify different fungal inoculation treatments that could increase the growth of corn seedlings sown in low productivity soils to that in high productivity soils and shift the root mycobiome …
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Fire disturbance belowground: untangling consequences for soil food webs and organic matter
Soils and the ecological communities they house provide a diverse array of ecosystem services including the provisioning of food and fiber, decomposition and nutrient cycling, water filtration, and the maintenance of terrestrial biodiversity. These complex belowground communities, and therefore the …
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Microbial succession in human rib skeletal remains and fly-human microbial transfer during decomposition
… and skeletonization stages. The microbial communities that facilitate decomposition change in a predictable, clock-like manner, which can be used as a forensic tool for estimating postmortem interval. Chapter 1 introduces this concept by describing the stages of decomposition in detail and …