Danielle D. Ignace

Scaling metabolism from organisms to ecosystems

Understanding energy and material fluxes through ecosystems is central to many questions in global change biology and ecology. Ecosystem respiration is a critical component of the carbon cycle and might be important in regulating biosphere response to global climate change. Here we derive a general model of ecosystem respiration based on the kinetics of metabolic reactions and the scaling of resource use by individual organisms. The model predicts that fluxes of CO2 and energy are invariant of ecosystem biomass, but are strongly influenced by temperature, variation in cellular metabolism and rates of supply of limiting resources (water and/or nutrients). Variation in ecosystem respiration within sites, as calculated from a network of CO2 flux towers, provides robust support for the models predictions. However, data indicate that variation in annual flux between sites is not strongly dependent on average site temperature or latitude. This presents an interesting paradox with regard to the expected temperature dependence. Nevertheless, our model provides a basis for quantitatively understanding energy and material flux between the atmosphere and biosphere.

Differential daytime and night-time stomatal behavior in plants from North American deserts

Night-time stomatal conductance (g(night)) occurs in many ecosystems, but the g(night) response to environmental drivers is relatively unknown, especially in deserts. Here, we conducted a Bayesian analysis of stomatal conductance (g) (N=5013) from 16 species in the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, Mojave and Great Basin Deserts (North America). We partitioned daytime g (g(day)) and g(night) responses by describing g as a mixture of two extreme (dark vs high light) behaviors. Significant g(night) was observed across 15 species, and the g(night) and g(day) behavior differed according to species, functional type and desert. The transition between extreme behaviors was determined by light environment, with the transition behavior differing between functional types and deserts. Sonoran and Chihuahuan C(4) grasses were more sensitive to vapor pressure difference (D) at night and soil water potential (Ψ(soil)) during the day, Great Basin C(3) shrubs were highly sensitive to D and Ψ(soil) during the day, and Mojave C(3) shrubs were equally sensitive to D and Ψ(soil) during the day and night. Species were split between the exhibition of isohydric or anisohydric behavior during the day. Three species switched from anisohydric to isohydric behavior at night. Such behavior, combined with differential D, Ψ(soil) and light responses, suggests that different mechanisms underlie g(day) and g(night) regulation.

Leaf gas exchange and water status responses of a native and non-native grass to precipitation across contrasting soil surfaces in the Sonoran Desert

Arid and semi-arid ecosystems of the southwestern US are undergoing changes in vegetation composition and are predicted to experience shifts in climate. To understand implications of these current and predicted changes, we conducted a precipitation manipulation experiment on the Santa Rita Experimental Range in southeastern Arizona. The objectives of our study were to determine how soil surface and seasonal timing of rainfall events mediate the dynamics of leaf-level photosynthesis and plant water status of a native and non-native grass species in response to precipitation pulse events. We followed a simulated precipitation event (pulse) that occurred prior to the onset of the North American monsoon (in June) and at the peak of the monsoon (in August) for 2002 and 2003. We measured responses of pre-dawn water potential, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance of native (Heteropogon contortus) and non-native (Eragrostis lehmanniana) C4 bunchgrasses on sandy and clay-rich soil surfaces. Soil surface did not always amplify differences in plant response to a pulse event. A June pulse event lead to an increase in plant water status and photosynthesis. Whereas the August pulse did not lead to an increase in plant water status and photosynthesis, due to favorable soil moisture conditions facilitating high plant performance during this period. E. lehmanniana did not demonstrate heightened photosynthetic performance over the native species in response to pulses across both soil surfaces. Overall accumulated leaf-level CO2 response to a pulse event was dependent on antecedent soil moisture during the August pulse event, but not during the June pulse event. This work highlights the need to understand how desert species respond to pulse events across contrasting soil surfaces in water-limited systems that are predicted to experience changes in climate.

Identification of the critical timing of sex determination in Daphnia magna (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) for use in toxicological studies

Daphnia are often used as test organisms to determine toxicity of chemicals found in the environment. Fecundity and mortality are the classic endpoints in such tests; however, there is increased interest in other sub-lethal endpoints. Most Daphnia reproduce by cyclic parthenogenesis, typically reproducing asexually to produce genetically identical females. Environmental cues trigger the production of males allowing for sexual reproduction. This ability to switch reproductive strategies has been increasingly used as a bioassay endpoint in screens for sub-lethal effects of contaminants. In order to optimize such test, it is necessary to know when sex is determined during Daphnia development. A previous study using the insect juvenile hormone methyl farnesoate has shown that sex determination occurred during the egg maturation period in Daphnia. Our study exposed female Daphnia magna carrying eggs and embryos at different stages of maturation, to the insecticide toxaphene to determine if the timing of sex determination is similarly influenced by a pesticide. Our results suggest that in response to toxaphene exposure sex is determined in the immature oocyte, before the final maturation cleavage, and before the developing egg is extruded into the brood chamber. Thus, sex determination is transgenerational, being determined while the egg is still immature and in the mother’s ovary.

Removing an invader: evidence for forces reassembling a Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem

Community reassembly is an important concept in community ecology, but in most circumstances cannot be observed and is hypothetical. Reassembly of communities is an observable process that can be examined effectively following species invasions. Our study system in southeastern Arizona has declined in diversity and abundance of native winter annual plants coincident with a sustained irruption of a nonnative invasive Eurasian species, Erodium cicutarium, and a major reassembly of the winter annual plant community. To understand the role of E. cicutarium in the reassembly process, we initiated a multiyear E. cicutarium removal experiment that varied the timing of removal. Species richness was higher as a result of removal, although this effect was variable over time. Surprisingly, the abundance of native species collectively was decreased by E. cicutarium removal. However, previously rare Astragalus nuttallianus appears to be facilitated by E. cicutarium, as demonstrated by higher density and relative abund...